WINSOR BULLETIN | FALL 2021
BOSTON, STRONGER How Winsor alumnae are building a greener and greater city upon a hill PAGE 18
CONTENTS
TAKING BACK THE STAGE! Upper School dancers accompanied Advanced Rock On for the first liveaudience performance of 2021.
IN THIS ISSUE
14
A Lasting Legacy Generations of the Mayer family make Winsor home
16 Generous Minded
Students and activists model thinking beyond self
18 Boston, Stronger
How three alums are helping rebuild the city upon a hill
26 Changed for Good
Faculty reflect on lessons learned during the pandemic
34 Celebrating the Class of 2021 IN EVERY ISSUE
2 From the Head of School 3 From Pilgrim Road 40 Alumnae News 72 First Person
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
The Winsor School HEAD OF SCHOOL
Sarah Pelmas
The Path Ahead
A
fter more than 18 months of pandemic, almost everyone I know is trying to focus on community, relationships, and balance. As we continue to manage the various masking and distancing protocols, it becomes increasingly hard to maintain our friendships, to be the kind of family members we want to be, and to stay fully present with others, especially over zoom. We know, however, that humans cannot thrive in isolation and that we utterly depend on one another. The stories you will read in this issue of the Bulletin focus not only on people in the Winsor community who understand this basic fact about humanity, but go a step further to highlight what we may have learned— and gained—from the pandemic. We have been reminded just how much we are dependent on, and must be responsible for, each other in our own lives, and around the globe. Indeed, we cannot truly thrive where others do not. Our rugged individualism has its limits, and we have some important questions to ask ourselves about how to come out of our pandemic isolation with an eye toward the health of our global community. Mariama White-Hammond ’96 puts it this way in our cover story: “The question is, how do we live in right relationship with each other, and with every organism around us?... I believe there’s a way to live where everyone gets what they need. We have not been living that way, but we could, and we have to. [Being chief of environment, energy, and open space for the city of Boston] gives me the opportunity to think about how we negotiate the work of living well now and preserving the ability of humans to live in the future.” Winsor alums have always been leaders, and have left this school committed to their vision and to the betterment of those around them. If the past 18 months has shown us anything, it is that the Winsor community is strong, resilient, and keenly aware of the need to work together to uplift those who are low, to bring health and stability to the planet, and to insist on justice not only for those in our own communities, but for all people, everywhere. We may not all be able to see one another in person this fall, but I hope that this wonderful Bulletin will remind you of the vast, accomplished, and thoughtful community of which you are a part. May we all stay connected and may we continue to support those around us as we chart a path to a better world for everyone. —sarah pelmas
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CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER
Sue Kim
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Jennifer Bub P’23, ’25, ’27 DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Colette Porter
DIRECTOR OF ALUMNAE ENGAGEMENT
Beth Peterson ’80, P’11
CREATIVE DIRECTION & DESIGN
2COMMUNIQUÉ PHOTOGRAPHY
Kristie Dean, Jessica Scranton, Aaron Shepley, Dana Smith, Winsor Communications BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2021–2022 PRESIDENT
Allison Kaneb Pellegrino ’89, P’21, ’22 VICE PRESIDENT
Larry Cheng P’23, ’25, ’28 TREASURER
Lori Whelan P’23, ’25 ASSISTANT TREASURER
David E. Goel P’23 CLERK
Elizabeth Bennett Carroll ’89 Chris Andrews P’26, ex officio Eman Ansari P’20, ’24, ’28 Mark Condon P’16, ’18, ’18, ’21 Wendy Cromwell P’21 Polly Crozier ’92 Jennifer Dolins P’23 Linda Dorcena Forry P’28 Mary Gallagher ’94 Claire Pasternack Goldsmith ’01 Jonathan Goldstein P’22, ’24 Mary Beth Gordon P’23, ’26 Lisa Jackson P’23 Sam Kennedy P’23 Jessica Lutzker P’25 Mallika Marshall P’27 Erica Mayer ’91, P’25, ex officio Elise McDonald P’26, ’28 Joseph J. O’Donnell P’05, ’07 Sarah Pelmas Marion Russell ’91, P’22, ’25 Jill Shah P’25 Kerry Swords P’23, ’27 Perry M. Traquina P’09, ’13 The Winsor School does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, creed, national origin, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, scholars programs, athletic programs, and other school-administered programs.
FROM PILGRIM ROAD
Award Winning Art 13 Winsor students received 2021 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for their artwork, selected from among 5,877 total art submissions. The competition is the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Congratulations to all our talented winners: Gold Key: Annika Cunningham ’23, Chloe Macaulay ’21 (2), Helena Nguyen ’23, Sophia Wang ’24. Silver Key: Chloe Chao ’23, Audrey Cheng ’23, Marcus Eng ’21, Julia Fulkerson ’21, Yuyuan Huang ’24, Chloe Macaulay ’21 (2), Helena Nguyen ’23, Nell Sparks ’25, Sophia Wang ’24. Honorable Mention: Kelsey Abbrecht ’21, Katya Agrawal ’23, Marcus Eng ’21, Julia Fulkerson ’21, Bibi Noury-Ello ’25, Nell Sparks ’25, Sophia Wang ’24 (2). Chloe Macaulay ’21: Lemons
FROM PILGRIM ROAD
Hitting the Road Upholding a long-standing tradition, Class VI, supported by Ms. Pribble, designed, created, and presented a banner for the senior class, taking inspiration from the ‘Road Trip’ themed Senior Homeroom.
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BROOKS POETRY WINNERS
HOS Sarah Pelmas, Hillary
Stella MacLean ’24 and Nidhi Mallavarapu ’25 were awarded the Brooks Poetry Prize, selected by a panel from among nine finalists chosen during preliminary rounds held in English class. Established in 1904, the competition awards the Class IV and the Class V student who best demonstrate understanding, articulation, and appropriateness of choice in the recitation of a published poem.
HEMENWAY WINNER
LS Head Sharon Jones-Phinney, Nidhi
US Head Ridie Markenson, Stella
Hillary Jean-Gilles ’21 was awarded the Hemenway Prize for Public Speaking, established in 1913 by Corporator Harriett Hemenway to recognize an original senior speech of substance, delivered with impact.
ILLUSTRATION BY JING JING TSONG
Student Wins National Writing Award This spring, Ashley Xu ’23 was awarded a 2021 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards national gold medal, the contest’s highest honor, for her 3,000-word, pandemicinspired short story “Boston, 3:26 P.M.” In an article on BostonGlobe. com, Ashley said that the dystopian nature of the quarantine inspired the story, and also shared that the Scholastic awards, which she has entered since seventh grade, “catalyzed my passion” for creative writing. National winners are honored each year at a ceremony in New York City. Read the June 27, 2021 story by Globe Correspondent Dana Gerber on BostonGlobe.com.
Planet Protectors’ Solar Success On a mission and determined to succeed, the members of the Lower School Planet Protectors Club gathered signatures on a petition, made their case to the Head of School, and presented a comprehensive plan before the Board of Trustees for installing solar panels at Winsor. Their thoroughly researched proposal secured a green light on the clean energy project. Winsor has contracted with Boston-based B-Corp Resonant Energy for an array on the roof of the Lubin O’Donnell Center. Next steps include selecting an installation partner, site visits, and permit filings, and the Planet Protectors will be participating in the process, and documenting progress, every step of the way.
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FROM PILGRIM ROAD
Shakespeare scenes filmed along the Muddy River
STUDENT DIRECTED PLAY This year’s Student Directed Play, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Alan Ball, was the result of months of effort by student directors Maya Bodick ’21 and Grace Abbott ’22. The cast included Katya Agrawal ’23, Ellie Carney ’23, Chloe Chao ’23, Yuyuan Huang ’24, Amanda Kosta ’22, and Olivia Sarkis ’23. The cast rehearsed on set with masks, and wore heavyduty clear masks for a live-recorded broadcast on Friday, February 19 from the stage of the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Theater in the Nancy and Richard Lubin Center for the Performing Arts. Student directed play full cast and crew
Open-Air Shakespeare Class IV students screened their filmed production of William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy Twelfth Night during a virtual all-school assembly. A beloved Winsor tradition, the cross-curricular project is the culmination of a year’s work. The cast and crew enjoyed breakfast under the tent before the screening to celebrate their elaborate production, set on the coast of the Adriatic Sea (the Muddy River), in a garden (the Winsor courtyard), and in a palace (the black box theater.) Brava to the Class IV cast and crew who managed all aspects of the production including casting, filming, set design, costume creation, music, and lighting.
Virtual Spring Concert
Students perform virtually as part of the LS ensemble
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On Wednesday, April 28, the annual Spring Concert opened a celebratory all-school assembly packed with Winsor traditions. The program featured performances by Lower School chorus and strings ensemble, and Upper School chamber orchestra, chorus, chorale, senior small; as well as joint performances with Roxbury Latin’s Senior Latonics, and independent projects completed by student’s participating in the performing arts elective Rock On.
CLASS I SHOWS NO FEAR “As with every performing arts project over the past year, the Class I play began with a meeting of the teachers saying ‘OK, how are we gonna do THIS one?’” said Performing Arts faculty Jeremy Johnson. When Performing Arts faculty Carey McKinley suggested a children’s book based on the Maya Angelou poem Life Doesn’t Frighten Me alongside paintings by artist Jean Michel Basquiat, Mr. Johnson says, “we knew we’d found a way in.” Students created dances, wrote lyrics, and improvised scenes to reflect on fear and bravery. Using Basquiat’s bright and childlike artwork, they created costumes and images in his style. Using Angelou’s verse, they created poems that echoed her rhymes. The final result was an exploration of sounds, words, movements, and ideas.
Senior Anne Joseph ‘21 (center) and the cast of Puffs record live in the theater
PUFFS Makes Stage Magic The Upper School production of the Off-Off-Broadway hit comedy PUFFS was broadcast on Friday, April 30. Upper School students collaborated on the magical performance, managing everything from the set design and creation, to costumes, to the sound, lighting, and filming.
The production featured: Maya Bodick ’21, Ava Bub ’23, Sofia Grabiel Butler ’24, Ellie Carney ’23, Chloe Chao ’23, Avery Dolins ’23, Avery Gardner ’21, Anne Joseph ’21, Liza Kuntz ’23, Eva LaFond ’24, Tristen Leone ’22, Asha Moreno ’23, Mae Myers ’24, and Olivia Sarkis ’23.
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FROM PILGRIM ROAD
WOW MUN MAKES DEBUT On Sunday, May 16, 2021, the Winsor Model U.N. club held the inaugural World of Winsor Model U.N. (WOW MUN) conference on campus. It was the only in-person Model U.N. conference of the 2020–2021 season, so it was a special moment for executive committee members Lillian Gibson ’21, Anne Joseph ’21, Abby Nickerson ’21, and Mishael Quraishi ’21, who led the opening and closing ceremonies, and for all the seniors. Customized WOW MUN bucket hats, worn throughout the conference, helped commemorate the event in the style.
The Healing Power of Art “We wanted to continue our reflection—this time through the power of art, using art as a way to process, and to start to heal the community,” said Director of Community and Inclusion Julian K. Braxton following the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. To that end, the Winsor Community Art Project: A Space for Reflection, Healing, and Renewal was created. Blank paper, markers, and pens were placed outside the dining hall, and members of the community were encouraged to write, draw, make something, share photos, add images—anything to express their feelings in response to the recent events. The individual reflections will be displayed in a mosaic mural by the dining hall entrance as a symbol of unity, healing, and growth for the community.
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On Monday, March 8, Winsor and Belmont Hill hosted a Global Investing Webinar featuring Winsor parent Jean Hynes P ’16, ’18, ’18, ’21, managing partner and incoming CEO at Wellington Management, and Tim Buckley, Belmont Hill ’87, chairman and CEO at Vanguard. Over 800 Winsor and Belmont Hill students and parents logged on to hear the two long-time industry experts. The webinar coincided with International Women’s Day, and as the first female to be appointed CEO at Wellington, Hynes says, “I didn’t worry about titles, I worried about culture.” Having chosen to remain at Wellington throughout her career, she says she will place a high priority on mentoring and increasing diversity in her expanded leadership role.
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL MORGENSTERN
WINSOR/BELMONT HILL GLOBAL INVESTING WEBINAR
Closing Ceremony Celebrates Class IV On Monday, June 7, the Winsor Community celebrated Class IV and the winners of this year’s annual Class IV prizes during the school’s 31st annual Lower School Closing Ceremony. Faculty, staff, and Class IV students and families relished the opportunity to gather under the tent, despite record-breaking temperatures, to applaud the tenacity and resiliency of the Class of 2025. Comparing the Class to a puzzle, peer-selected speaker Nidhi Mallavarapu ’25 said, “Individually, we’re a chaotic group of pieces that
don’t seem to fit together. But when you put us all together, we make a beautiful picture.” Classmates Mina Feldman ’25 (on electric guitar) and Caitlin Wang ’25 (on violin) captured the spirit of the Class through music, performing an instrumental rendition of Abba’s “Dancing Queen” to a standing ovation. On behalf of the Legacy Club, Kate Drachman presented a stained glass mosaic of the Winsor Lamp of Learning that the Class worked together to create—a fitting commemorative representation. “The
Lamp of Learning has been a symbol of the school since it was founded, so we felt that it would be a timeless emblem,” Kate stated. In her address to the group of young leaders moving on to High School, Head of School Sarah Pelmas said, “In your class you have incredible athletes, fierce social justice warriors, nuanced and thoughtful writers, inspiring and talented artists and performers, and deeply kind and supportive friends. Worship that, admire that, lift up yourselves and each other through the power of sheer admiration.”
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FROM PILGRIM ROAD
Bringing Their A Game The winter sports season got underway with hybrid schedules, practicing in person on the days the students were on campus for school, and practicing virtually on remote learning days. Working together on protocols, and adhering to current state guidelines, a limited amount of intra-school competition took place during the winter months, with participating schools collaborating to ensure the safety of every athlete. Spring brought a vaccine, and gradually loosening restrictions, and teams were able to return to competitive play, with spectators welcomed back to the sidelines in May. While records for the season were still not recorded, the athletes relished the return to a more normal season, the opportunity to compete, and the cheers from supporting family and fans.
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FROM PILGRIM ROAD
Honoring Our Winsor Retirees (2020-2021)
JULIA HARRISON ’77 (20 YEARS)
We reflect on the careers of nine wonderful faculty and staff members who retired at the close of the 2020-2021 academic year. These individuals offered a nearly combined two hundred years of service to Winsor. Given the pandemic, we included retirees from 2020 as we may not have had the opportunity to properly honor and express our thanks to each in person. To all entering their next chapter, we thank you for making a lasting impact on the lives of our students and our community.
Julia Harrison, a Winsor alumna herself, never imagined she would be back at her alma mater to teach art. From her first moments on campus, Julia had a remarkable sense of what the arts at Winsor could and should be for the students. An architect before teacher, she has been described by her colleagues as organized, incredibly knowledgeable in her field, well-spoken, thoughtful, caring, flexible, and visionary. Julia genuinely cared about the experiences all of the Visual Arts students would frequently adjust the curriculum and the art offerings to best fit the needs of the student body. She also sincerely cared about the growth and well-being of her colleagues. Because of her contributions, she has made the department a vibrant and exciting place to work, and made the arts a source of extraordinary growth for our students.
REGIS DOWNES (19 YEARS)
PAMELA PARKS MCLAURIN ’71, P ’12 (18 YEARS)
Regis, Winsor’s food services director, has been an integral part of the Winsor community for more than nineteen years. Appealing to picky eaters and foodies alike, Regis created diverse and varied menus for even the most discerning palettes. Regis was known for surprising students with a hot dog cart or special desserts at lunch, brightening the days of many just with his smile. He will be missed for his talent in the kitchen and for exuding kindness and compassion to students and staff.
CHRIS KAUTH (15 YEARS)
A much-admired teacher in the math department, Chris taught all of the grades in the Lower School and believed that his students could accomplish anything they set their minds to. He possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of every student that he taught. A tireless organizer of the Math Olympiad competitions for students, Chris especially loved to help budding mathematicians find entry points to complex puzzles and problems. On his next journey, we wish him health, happiness, long motorcycle rides, and a lifetime of good baking.
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Pam is not only one of the first students of color to graduate from Winsor, she is also the parent of an aluma who now teaches here. During her nearly twenty-year tenure, Pam was central to stewarding the school’s future during almost two decades as director of admission and financial aid. Under her visionary leadership, Winsor expanded the school’s demographic profile, which jumped in one year from 18 percent students of color to 49 percent. Beyond the numbers, Pam fully embodied and lived Winsor’s mission: to create a welcoming space for all students. Having enrolled as one of the few Black students in the early seventies, Pam understood and gave voice to the particular challenges faced by students of color. Her legacy— of diversity, inclusion, compassion, and empathy—will live on in all of us.
HARRY SCOTT (15 YEARS)
A dedicated member of Winsor’s facilities team, Harry knows the meaning of hard work, which never went unnoticed by faculty and staff members. He was the first one in the door each morning, moving like a “silent ghost” through any job. For Harry, no job was
too big or too small. An excellent mechanic, like his dad, Harry was an unsung hero of the facilities staff. We are all eternally thankful for the quiet work that Harry did, especially during the pandemic, where he created safe spaces for in-person learning. He will be greatly missed for his indelible contributions to our school. RUDY SIROCHMAN (10 YEARS)
Described by students as one of the kindest and funniest teachers at Winsor, Rudy inspires an interest and passion in physics. He is known for creating a classroom filled with corny jokes, incredible patience, loads of physics, and a hefty dose of philosophy. Students appreciate his willingness to invite their questions, to push them to think with a level of abstraction that underpins the field of physics. He understands that his students are eager to learn and up for a challenge. Of all the things we will remember, his laugh and ability to keep us laughing while “deciphering strange and abstract concepts” are at the top. In all his roles—teacher, club advisor, upper school advisor, colleague, and friend—he will be missed.
LISA TAILLACQ (42 YEARS)
Lisa was hired by Head of School Virginia Wing as a new music teacher in 1978 and has the distinction of having taught every music class at Winsor. She served as the music director for our Upper School musicals as well as the Class II musicals. She taught general music courses in the Lower School. She worked with the US Rock Band in the late 80s, she started the LS orchestra in 1993, taught US chamber music, music history, theory and arranging, led a variety of LS and US clubs, all the while developing a legendary choral program for all levels of singers in Classes I through VIII. She received two private outstanding teacher awards in 1992 and in 1993, was awarded 4 separate Virginia Wing grants, and was awarded the Eleanor T. Nelson ’49 Chair in Fine Arts in 2003, the first chair awarded to the Fine Arts department. It’s hard to not mention Small Chorus among Lisa’s many accomplishments. Under her inspired leadership since 1983, they participated in a total of 15 concert tours to 12 countries, along with singing in many music
festivals and competitions including the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Caribbean. Lisa has been described by colleagues as “kind to the bone, loving, generous and intensely brilliantly and academically gifted.” Recalling how she would melt at the sight of the Weeping Cherry blossoms in Winsor’s courtyard each spring, the Performing Arts department gifted Lisa with her very own tree for her own home, named Florence, to commemorate her retirement. After four decades, Lisa will always have a home at Winsor. KEN WONOSKI (34 YEARS)
Ken is an adored member of the Winsor community and served as a key contributor to the school’s daily operations as a member of the facilities team. Both detail-oriented and solutions driven—an expert woodworker with a green thumb—Ken’s imprint is all over campus, especially in the academic wing. But more than anything, he left a mark on the hearts of students and parents alike. For their yearbook dedication, class of 2020 students called his presence “a highlight” of their mornings. Families would drop their students off and talk to Ken daily in front of the building. John Crompton noticed that parents were left with a sense of comfort knowing that Ken was there.
XIAODONG ZHAO P’04 (22 YEARS)
Xiaodong, a Chinese teacher in the World Languages department and AsIAm advisor for the past 22 years, instilled a love of Chinese culture and the Mandarin language in each of her students. She helped build Winsor’s Chinese curriculum and the China Exchange program from the ground up—designing curriculum and teaching classes. But founding the program was an order of magnitude more complicated. It meant challenging tradition and broadening the mindset of the school. In addition to teaching, Xiadong organized seven student trips to China while welcoming nine groups of visitors from the country over the past 16 years. Her contributions have enriched the World Languages department and inspired many students to continue their study of Chinese long after their years at the school.
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PROFILES IN GIVING
A Lasting Legacy Generations of the Mayer Family Make Boston — and Winsor — Home
F
or the Mayer family, Winsor has been a central part of their lives for generations. When Jane Mayer P’91, ’95, GP’25 reflects on “Winsor’s legacy to her family,” she says it all began with the unique and transformative
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experiences daughters Erica Mayer M.D., M.P.H. ’91 and Rachel Mayer Judlowe ’95 had as students. “They arrived at Winsor with very different talents, and both benefited enormously from the first rate education they received here” she says. Both
students went on to excel at Williams College, but Jane adds proudly, “The underpinnings of the fantastic women they have become were forged at Winsor.” Rachel followed her passion for the arts to NYC, where she
lives in Manhattan with her family and runs a communications firm specializing in art and culture. Erica, who was the valedictorian of her class at Williams, is a medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. For Erica, Boston has remained home, and “my Winsor ‘sisters’ have remained among my
Independent Learning Experience (ILE) projects in breast cancer oncology. And on a more proud and personal note, daughter Kate is now a member of the Class of 2025. A TRADITION OF PHILANTHROPY
Philanthropy has always been a priority for the Mayer family. Robert Mayer M.D., a leader in the
“I am so thankful for my Winsor education and all the tools Winsor gave me to support my academic, professional, and personal life.” —ERICA MAYER M.D., M.P.H. closest friends over the years,” she says, adding, “I am so thankful for my Winsor education and all the tools Winsor gave me to support my academic, professional, and personal life.” She remains deeply connected to the school. An enthusiastic supporter of the strategic plan for Winsor’s Boston campus, Erica spoke before the Boston Redevelopment Authority in 2011 in support of the long term plan which included the building of what is now the Lubin-O’Donnell Center. Erica looks out on the leading-edge structure, and the adjacent fields, from her offices at Dana-Farber every day. She has served on Winsor’s Alumnae Board from 2012-2018, returned as vice president in 2019, and became president in 2021, a role which makes her a non-voting member of the Board of Trustees. Erica is equally as dedicated to helping educate the next generation of leaders in the field of medicine, mentoring Winsor students during their senior
field of oncology since first joining Dana-Farber in 1974, is a Professor of Medicine and Faculty Associate Dean of Admissions at Harvard Medical School. He is a life trustee and has served as co-president of the board of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The family relishes time spent at Tanglewood each summer, and maintains a deep connection to the BSO and it’s phenomenal musicians. Jane worked for 25 years at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and has remained actively involved in numerous institutions and causes that mean the most to her family, including serving for a decade as the vice president of resident services for a company that developed affordable housing in the city of Boston. Jane is on the board of the Friends of Dana-Farber and chairs the Art & Environment Committee. She is also on the Board of Advisors at the Museum of Fine Arts, chairing the Conservation Committee and is
also a gallery instructor at the MFA leading school group tours. Other charitable involvements include participating as an advisory board member for an El Sistema-inspired music program for inner city children from northern Berkshire County. Jane and Robert also support the Terezín Music Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to amplifying the musical legacy of the artists imprisoned in the Terezín Concentration Camp during World War II. And then, there’s Winsor. After both daughters graduated from Winsor, the school remained top-of-mind. From her office window while still the director of the Social Work Department at Beth Israel, Jane could gaze out at the same playing fields that Erica overlooks today, a reminder of the formative years spent there. She also continued volunteering and conducting tours at the MFA, often for Winsor alums. The proximity of both endeavors to Pilgrim Road afforded the opportunity to easily attend Winsor events over the years, and a strong friendship forged with former Head of School Carolyn McClintock Peter remains an essential connection. In 2009, Jane made Winsor a priority when she joined the Winsor Corporation, and she remains an active and essential advocate and advisor. Embracing Winsor’s legacy to their family, the Mayers have made a legacy of their own, remembering Winsor in their will. The forward-thinking decision will ensure that their generosity will have a lasting impact on the future of Winsor, not only for their grandchild, but for generations to come.
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GENEROUS MINDED
Activists Inspire Action Lessons on becoming an agent of change
W
insor welcomed a range of timely speakers to campus virtually, including three unique activists who shared their insights on activism and the fight for social justice.
JAMIRA BURLEY, CHAMPION OF CHANGE
After leading a meaningful session with faculty and staff in the fall of 2020, esteemed social justice advocate Jamira Burley returned to inspire students. An activist from an early age, and currently head of youth engagement and skills for the Global Business Coalition for Education, Ms. Burley works with youth, agencies, business leaders, and governments around the globe to devise and implement ways to engage, educate, and activate young people. Ms. Burley was recognized by the Obama White House as a “Champion of Change,” was a 2020 Oprah Magazine Visionary, and a Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree. DREAD SCOTT AND THE ART OF PROTEST
Winsor’s Art of Protest elective invited renowned artist and activist Dread Scott to join a panel discussion with juniors and seniors from Winsor and Boston Latin School.
Timely in the context of current events and Black History Month, “Dread Scott spoke with candor and courage from the heart about his commitment to using his voice to fight for social justice,” notes history faculty Amy Lieberman. “I think students responded to his authenticity and were able to envision how they could be changemakers in their own worlds.” CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS, ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATE
Internationally recognized author and advocate for equal water and sanitation Catherine Coleman Flowers joined an Earth Day environmental justice assembly organized by the student club Conserve Our World (COW) to raise awareness about the intersectionality of worsening environmental issues in vulnerable communities and the growing public health crisis. A member of the Biden-Sanders Climate Unity Taskforce, and the inaugural White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, Ms. Flowers is helping draft policies to deal with climate change with a strong focus on environmental justice. Counterclockwise from top left: Jamira Burley, Dread Scott, and Catherine Coleman Flowers
YEARBOOK HONORS MS. MARSHALL For being the unwavering, warm welcome at the start of each day, and a constant source of support and inspiration, the students dedicated the yearbook to Ms. Marshall! Yearbook heads Alex Gorham ’21, Caroline Cromwell ’21, and Abby Quigley ’21 delivered the dedication during an all-school assembly. Throughout the pandemic, when Winsor was unable to welcome families on campus, Ms. Marshall brought her signature brand of support and reassurance to new and current families via the phone, making calls to check in and ensure families still felt welcome.
Ethics Bowl The Upper School Ethic Club made the semi-finals at the Regional Ethics Bowl hosted by Tufts. “They were incredible--poised, collegial, eloquent, smart. They did Winsor proud,” shared English Department Head Courtney Jackson, who is the club’s faculty advisor. Thomasina Hare ’21 organized and coached the team, which included Helen Buckley-Jones ’21, Elly Pickette ’21, Nora Estrada ’21, Tristen Leone ’22, and Abigail Stephenson ’24. Founded in 2012, the National High School Ethics Bowl engages students in democratic citizenship by fostering collaboration in the navigation of challenging moral issues in a rigorous, systematic, and open-minded way.
COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVES EARN FIVE GRANTS In May, Winsor Parents’ Association Volunteer Coordinators and students were recognized with five Parents Independent School Network (PIN) grants for their work adapting annual service initiatives during the pandemic. Programs recognized included: “Helping the Homeless,” “Giving Our Kids the Basics,” “Alumnae Outreach,” and “Books and Art Kits for the Ellis School.” Lindsay Whelan ’23 was recognized for Winsor’s collaboration with Beaver Country Day School and Boston Community Pediatrics to provide ongoing tutoring to at-risk youth in the Boston area. And ChopA-Thon coordinators and student outreach leaders Delaney Holland ’22 and Claire Ackerman ’22 were recognized for transforming Winsor’s long-standing, one-day service project into a school-wide, weeklong project to benefit the Pine Street Inn.
SOMOS Fundraiser Unites Area Schools When crops and homes across Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize were decimated by back-to-back hurricanes in the fall, SOMOS, Winsor’s Latinx affinity group, took action. “This is a humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed,” says Katherine Torres ’22, head of SOMOS, noting the combined impact of the storms, the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing drought, and increasing poverty and food insecurity. A collaboration with Newton Country Day, Dana Hall, Fontbonne Academy, and Roxbury Latin raised funds through the sale of student-designed T-shirts; and in partnership with the non-profit Food for the Poor, raised funds and donations went to providing training, tools, produce seeds, and agricultural products to help generate food and revenue for farmers.
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FEATURE COVER STORY
BY JULIET EASTLAND ’86, P’23 PORTRAITS BY DANA SMITH
HOW THREE ALUMNAE ARE BUILDING A GREENER AND GREATER CITY UPON A HILL
BOSTON, 18 WINSOR FALL 2021
Tooke in City Hall Plaza, where her firm is leading the transformation of the space into a welcome urban oasis.
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A FEATURE
A half-empty cup of curdled coffee lingers on a desk. A potted plant, sadly withered, droops on a windowsill. It’s July 2021, and Boston City Hall is finally reopening fully to staff for the first time since the pandemic hit. Workers are trickling in, facing the detritus of what for some has been more than a yearlong absence. Their office may be exactly as they left it, but outside their front door is a surprise: City Hall Plaza, the seven-acre space surrounding their building, is no more. It’s been demolished, and what was once an empty, windswept, treeless expanse of brick now resembles a tomb site under excavation, with massive pyramids of gray rock towering over a dirt desert. Diggers, cranes, and other construction vehicles rumble their way through the debris. Between dust and din, it’s hard to imagine what might fill the void. In fact, what’s planned is not simply a replacement, but a total reimagining of what a community space can be in this post(ish)-pandemic era. Kate Tooke ’98, landscape architect and principal with Sasaki, the firm leading the redesign, is excited for the transformation. “City Hall Plaza is really the people’s plaza,” Tooke says. “This is the front yard of the city, and it’s meant to be a democratic space.” Although it did not exactly arise in a democratic manner–21 blocks of the vibrant, historic
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Scollay Square neighborhood were razed in the 1960s to make way for the new Brutalism–the plaza ultimately became a center for expression of all types, from farmers’ markets to First Night celebrations, peaceful protests to anti-busing violence. But the vast scale that rendered the plaza ideal for mass movements made for an intimidating, unfriendly space on an individual level. Tooke’s firm has designed a more inviting area that she hopes people will want to visit, not just for large events or government business, but for everyday interaction and pleasure. It will be an urban oasis with shade trees, plenty of benches and resting spots, and an enormous new playground--a welcome haven after a year of isolation. “It will still be a place where celebrations and protests can happen,” Tooke says. “The main gathering space is still there, it’s just been right-sized... with lots of places where citizens can get together on a daily basis...and people visiting the city can gather and understand what Boston’s urban government is like.” For a lone sunbather, a small coffee klatch, or a 12,000-person protest, the space will be a truly democratic one, welcoming to all. Tooke is one of several Winsor women working to make the city its best self by transforming its public spaces into more accessible and sustainable urban refuges. These efforts are coming at a critical moment. For Boston, as for the world, it’s been, to put it mildly, an unsettling few years. People are emerging from more than a year of isolation, fear, and, in many cases, emotional and economic devastation. The city’s housing crisis continues apace, driven by high prices, low availability, and historic redlining
(the denial of financial or other services to residents of certain areas based on race). Climate change has caused flooding in coastal areas and scorched inland neighborhoods. Residents face a historic revision to the city’s examschool admission process and an unpredictable, if exciting, mayoral race. In this maelstrom, Tooke sees an opportunity to reengage citizens in public life. “Think about last summer,” she says. “[The outdoors] was the only place we could get together with friends and neighbors. All of a sudden, that space was really important for our social cohesion, for recreation, for that breath of fresh air everybody was so in need of. So I think coming out of the pandemic, there’s this renewed optimism and sense of the importance of public space in the environment.” But rebuilding is moot if spaces can’t withstand the weather. Boston, with it’s peninsular coastline and expansive landfills, is particularly vulnerable to climate shifts. In fact, Tooke’s firm has completed master plans for several spots along Boston’s Fort Point Channel, including Boston Children’s Museum, with the goal of creating inviting community spaces that are protected from rising sea levels. Standing just blocks from the waterfront, City Hall Plaza in its new iteration will incorporate sustainability from the ground up. The old plaza was entirely paved with bricks, cemented together into an airtight “floor. Unable to permeate the surface, stormwater sheeted off directly into storm drains, ultimately flooding into Boston Harbor. As a result, the few trees on the plaza were parched, storm drains overflowed, and harbor pollution increased because the incoming drain water accumulated contaminants along the way.
White-Hammond outside Boston City Hall, in front of installation by artist Jeff Smith.
For the new city hall, Tooke’s firm is replacing the original brick with “permeable pavement,” brick with gaps in between the joints to allow water to flow through and soak into the ground. “A space that used to have no trees and no way for stormwater to infiltrate is now a place that will be cool and shady in the summer, where stormwater can soak into the groundwater, keep our trees and groundwater healthy, and keep the groundwater out of the storm system,” Tooke says. “We’re providing a way for Boston to understand what kinds of infrastructure benefits can be achieved just by planting trees and allowing stormwater to soak into the soil.” The very doorstep to Boston’s government will be green. Up on the seventh floor of Boston City Hall, Mariama White-Hammond ’96, chief of environment, energy, and open space for the city, watches this sustainable, modern-day public square rise from the rubble in real time. White-Hammond oversees a literal A-to-Z list of city departments and initiatives, from animal control to zerowaste efforts. Her overarching goal is to foster what she calls “ecological justice,” whereby residents from all neighborhoods, not just a wealthy few, can live healthy, fulfilled lives. She’s undertaking this mission against the background of a long, contradictory city history. Faneuil Hall, known as “the cradle of liberty” for its central role in citizens’ civil disobedience against British tyranny, is just across the street from her office; down the street, an auction site for buying and selling enslaved people stood for years. The city that served as a national hub for abolitionist efforts in the 19th century became notorious for redlining and anti-integration violence in the 20th. The “city upon a
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COVER STORY
hill,” itself founded on Native American land, has striven mightily to embody democracy for almost 400 years, with mixed success. White-Hammond is determined to tilt the balance and ensure that citizens live respectfully with each other, and within their larger environment. “How do we live in right relationship with each other, and with every organism around us?” she asks. “I believe there’s a way to live where everyone gets what they need. We have not been living that way, but we could, and we have to.” Her role, she says, allows her to “think about how we negotiate the work of living well now and preserving the ability of humans to live in the future.” One serious issue for the city is “heat islands”–neighborhoods with few trees and a lot of concrete, which tend to trap higher temperatures. “We have to look at how we help our folks stay safe in the heat,” White-Hammond says, particularly those living without central air conditioning. “And how do we help folks who have to work outside, including some of my own staff, stay hydrated and cool?” As she speaks, the Northeast is emerging from a heat wave, the third of the summer. Her office has implemented emergency measures, including opening splash pads early, erecting cooling stations near public libraries for Wi-Fi and shade, and partnering with medical facilities to provide heatstricken patients with prescriptions for fans or air-conditioning units. These are necessary but short-term solutions. White-Hammond wants to address the deeper-seated inequalities exposed by the stresses of climate change, which pose threats both societal (can we maintain a community that embodies our stated ideals of justice,
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equity, and democracy?) and existential (can we survive as a species?). By facing the disparities between neighborhoods honestly, assessing communities’ needs, and involving residents in solutions, White-Hammond believes we can do both. “I define environmental justice as an equilibrium between the burdens
until Mayor Marty Walsh departed to become the U.S. secretary of labor in March 2021. The mission of the new cabinet-level office: to embed equity in all city policies, regulations, and practices, across 60-plus departments and 18,000 employees. “We have a special obligation and sense of call to do right by a city that’s
“ How do we get resources and access to folks who’ve been denied too long? How can we make real structures, institutions, and policies to support that? What does ‘democracy’ mean, what does ‘freedom’ even mean, and for whom?” and the benefits,” she says. “And we’ve had some communities getting a lot of benefits and no burdens, and other communities getting a lot of burdens and no benefits.” Her former colleague Karilyn Crockett ’91 understands this historical imbalance intimately. Crockett is a historian, a professor of urban history, public policy, and planning at MIT, and the author of a People before Highways, a book about a multiracial coalition of Boston residents who successfully resisted a proposed 1960s highway extension that would have decimated lower-income neighborhoods. “[Bostonians] have this history of remaking ourselves,” Crockett says, “building out Back Bay, filling in neighborhoods, lots of bridges, lots of manipulation of the physical ground.” The question is, and always has been, who gets to dictate the terms, and who pays the costs, she says. In June 2020, Crockett became the inaugural chief of equity for the City of Boston, a position she held
majority people of color, and that has a profound racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity,” she says. Equity must be a “corrective act,” not simply a vague ideal. She assembled a team from the ground up, and communicated with employees and department heads about this newly-articulated goal. After leaving city hall, Crockett began consulting on programs and policies for the Boston Chamber of Commerce, focusing particularly on a partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. She cites The Color of Wealth in Boston, the bank’s infamous 2015 report contrasting the median net worth of white families in the city ($247,500) with that of Black families ($8). (Yes, you read that right.) The discrepancy stems primarily from historically unequal access to home- and liquid-asset-ownership, and reinforces Crockett’s concern: “How do we get resources and access to folks who’ve been denied too long? How can we make real structures, institutions, and policies to support that?” In the largest
Crockett in Southwest Corridor Park, the center of many of the city’s spatial equity fights.
sense, she asks, “What does ‘democracy’ mean, what does ‘freedom’ even mean, and for whom?” White-Hammond has decided to address these questions head-on, neighborhood by neighborhood. Her office commissioned a heat study and found “major differentials between, for example, West Roxbury and Roxbury,” she says. “Many of those differences align with the places in the city where redlining was a major factor in shaping the investment in neighborhoods.” Research from the Boston nonprofit Speak for the Trees bears out her findings: In certain majority white areas of West Roxbury, for example, residents enjoy a 50-plus-percent tree canopy, which keeps average summer temperatures at around 72 degrees, while in nearby Roxbury, where a majority of residents are Black, some blocks have close to zero tree canopy, and summer temperatures average around 84 degrees. Increasing the city’s tree canopy would provide shade and help lower nighttime temperatures, as well as reduce fine particulate matter air pollution and offer emotional solace–a benefit White-Hammond, who spent a recent weekend weeding garlic on a Blackowned New Hampshire farm, appreciates (“I feel my blood pressure going down when I go there,” she sighs). In keeping with the newly arboreal plaza taking shape outside her office, she’d like to plant more trees in urban areas, but her department can’t do it alone: City greening must be a community endeavor. “We need to figure out how we both educate and engage folks, because we will need an engaged citizenry if we’re going to innovate and live in new ways...No office can do that by itself.”
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COVER STORY
And why stop at trees? A coordinator of a local community garden herself, she encourages neighborhoods to create their own gardens, but says even a tiny outdoor deck can provide fertile ground. Her office is working with a composting organization and with the Department of Neighborhood Development “to figure out solutions for how to feed ourselves, how to be more self-sufficient, and how to engage young people in getting closer to the land,” she says. Self-sufficiency, of course, requires job opportunities. White-Hammond launched a Green Jobs community advisory group to solicit input on ways “to encourage and cultivate job paths that specifically help lift up those folks in our community who have not
experienced a lot of the prosperity of the last 20 years,” she says. Her mind teems with possibilities. Could park staff be trained as arborists? Could city agencies help create more solar operators? As the city increases buildings’ energy efficiency, what’s the best way to support electricians while ensuring that gas workers aren’t left behind? What about “deconstruction” (reclaiming and reusing materials from demolished buildings), which she says “creates many fewer toxic chemicals in the air, allows us to save great materials that have a story to them, and employs folks to do that work?” Communication and education will be key. “We could plan every climate change intervention, open every park, save every historic building, but if
people don’t value those things, if they’re not held in the hearts of our community, if we plant the trees but nobody cares for them, we know they can shrivel and die...Our work is [to ensure] we don’t just have great plans in binders, but that they’re coming alive for our residents, that residents understand what we’re doing to protect ourselves from sea-level rise, that they understand the role trees play, that they take responsibility for that park.” Crockett, a lifelong Dorchester resident, likewise values neighborhood residents as “problem-solvers, policy-makers, and decision-makers.” She’s seen firsthand “the difference it makes in terms of making social change real and lasting, for people to feel powerful, to be able to say ‘I live in this
CREATING COMMUNITY, ARTFULLY Hungry? Enjoy art? Visit Pho Hoa restaurant in Dorchester, Mass. Before you order your pho tai, stop to admire the majestic three-story mural gracing the building’s brick face. A woman and boy paddle a boat through azure water; a tree flowers into a bouquet of smiling faces. “Community in Action: A Mural for Vietnamese Folks” is the brainchild of multimedia artist, activist, and educator Ngoc-Tran Vu ’06, who enlisted a crew of locals to help paint her vision of “Vietnamese cultural narrative, unity, and growth.” The artwork perfectly distills the Dorchester native’s artistic principles. “I’m motivated by creating artwork that cultivates and fosters conversation, that’s rooted in community, and that’s free,” she says. “Artwork that’s truly collaborative and supports local talent, not just art that ‘pops up’ and you have no idea who or what it’s for.” For Vu, art can “help people enter really hard conversations, and foster and facilitate relationships.” Last year, she worked on “Say Their Name,” a project whereby high school students research Black lives lost to violence and honor those lives through art.
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When the venture stalled during the pandemic, Vu joined an online artists’ community, and in virtual partnership with Indigenous artist/musician Leela Gilday, co-created “Healing Journeys: A Collaboration to Honor our Ancestors, Culture and Land,” a multimedia project about “healing the land we’re on, about our ancestors.” Vu was also one of nine artists tapped by the city to encourage vaccination in underserved communities. Her bilingual materials, including infographics, stickers, and Quarantine Bingo, may be adopted by the CDC. Like many artists, Vu wears multiple hats. She lectures on Asian Women in the U.S. at University of Massachusetts. She’s part of a Dorchester community alliance supporting families at risk of displacement. Although it’s “changed and evolved in some ways,” she says, Boston “is still very much a segregated city... A lot of people of color, especially Black and Latinx families, are being pushed out.” Vu considers Boston home, although it almost wasn’t; born in Vietnam, she was set to immigrate at age four with
neighborhood, and what I’d really like in this neighborhood is’—then become engaged in the process. This is how you get to investment, stewardship, and local control.” To make it work, “You team up with folks to bring resources, recognition, and attention to those communities, and answer what they say they want and need... This idea that we’re [only] including communities of color, or immigrants, or other folks–no, no, no. These are the folks who’ve been living this all along. What we’re trying to do is bring everyone else along who’s been outside of the consciousness.” What she calls the “inclusionary act,” in other words, requires that communities demanding change and the people with power and resources
to help effect that change come together—and listen. This approach resonates with Tooke, who tries to bring a “listening ear” to every project. “Our practice is grounded in community engagement and input,” she says. “We’re not bringing a vision to impose, we’re actually listening and trying to understand what the community is interested in.” She cites a recent Sasaki commission, the redesign of Copley Square. “People are incredibly passionate about Copley Square,” she says. “We’ve had a nine-month public-engagement process and have heard from over 2,500 voices.” Tooke mentions the Black Lives Matter movement and the national debates around social equity that have
her family to California, but the sponsor family reneged. At the eleventh hour, a Boston family stepped in. “My dad said, ‘Boston, there are some good schools there!’” she laughs. Before purchasing her own home in 2018, she was rejected several times because “people didn’t believe I was [financially] stable enough as an artist, or as a single woman,” she says. The experience inspired her to create a community seminar covering alternative communal-living models, home-ownership for artists, and renting and eviction, co-taught with a housing attorney. “The housing lottery, the housing shortage, rising costs are through the roof in Boston,” she says. “How do we combat that in a way that’s sustainable, and takes into consideration the people most vulnerable?” Recently, Vu joined Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad arts nonprofit as Strategic Initiative Director, focusing on cultivating partnerships and building national multimedia projects. Naturally, the community will be involved.
erupted in recent years. “I think when it comes to public space, the idea of inclusion and universal access has never been more important than it is now,” she says. “The idea of engaging communities in an authentic and meaningful way in the design of their own public space has become even more important than it always was.” And so, the heart of Boston evolves anew. The old City Hall Plaza–steeped, in Crockett’s characterization, in a “challenging and egregious history”–is no more. Outside White-Hammond’s window, a team of workers labors to bring a greener, more inclusive city center into existence, tree by tree and brick by brick. They’re constructing Boston’s next incarnation the only way possible: together.
Vu in her old neighborhood in South Boston’s Old Colony Projects.
Juliet Eastland ’86, P’23 is a writer in Brookline, Mass.
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FEATURE
Changed for Good
I
n early 2020, the global pandemic turned the world upside down. One day, we were doing the things we always do, like going to school, and to work. The next day, we were not. The rapid spread of the coronavirus, and the disruption it caused to all aspects of our daily lives, tested our mettle the way only that kind of unthinkable, unforseen circumstance can. Over the last year and a half, we gained a new understanding of what we were prepared for, and what we were capable of. It remains to be seen how the ripples of the pandemic will continue to affect us. There have been so many losses and hardships, and acknowledging them is an essential part of moving forward. Many of us feel changed. And many of us have pulled closer to what is most meaningful to us, discovering a deeper sense of gratitude for the people, places, and passions in our lives. As we prepared to return to the classroom in the fall, we reached out to Winsor faculty to get their thoughts on what worked—and what didn’t—with remote learning. In their own words, they share the frustrations, surprises, and even silver linings that emerged. Their stories reveal how Winsor, as it turns out, was indeed ready to tackle the unforseen challenges, and why some of the creative and innovative solutions that helped problem-solve pandemic roadblocks just might stick after we return to “normal.”
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SARA MACAULAY — HEAD OF VISUAL ARTS, ELEANOR THOMAS NELSON ’49 CHAIR IN FINE ARTS
Calm in a Virtual Storm We are lucky with the visual arts—sometimes our best work is done in solitude. However, because we had to work at home, apart, alone, we now understand more profoundly the importance of collaboration and working in tandem to create. Developing deeper focus: More than anything, we were impressed by the quality and quantity of artwork that students created. As faculty, we made a conscious decision to slow down—to do fewer projects but with greater depth and focus. The result was highly successful. Students learned to be creative about supplies and to problem solve. They learned to work with what they had, and to experiment, like using markers dipped in water to make paint or recreating Hokusai’s iconic Great Wave with found materials at home. Reveling in process over product: Students seemed to value art and their creative time, recognizing that art offers a way of thinking and working that is different from other classes. During the lockdown in particular, art gave students
opportunities to re-center, take a break from all the screen time, do something hands-on, and use their brains divergently. Discovering the joys of process over product surprised many of us. Experimenting with more technology: We used some technology that made our lives easier—and will definitely continue to use when we return to school. For example, every student had a digital portfolio on Smugmug—a wonderful way to share progress and finished work with teachers and classmates. The IT Department was kind enough to provide IPEVO document cameras, allowing us to draw something in real time with the camera trained on our hand and what we were drawing. This was a lifesaver as it effectively permitted us to do demos while remote. And although it was not the same, we mimicked studio time on Zoom—everyone online together working on their own individual art projects—sometimes quiet, sometimes talking, sometimes asking questions.
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FEATURE
“ I noticed students owning their challenges and successes more readily, and finding joy in sharing their experiences.” —KIM RAMOS
KIM RAMOS — INTERIM HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL, ESSENTIAL WINSOR SCIENCE CHAIR
Change is a Constant Developing new skills: New ways to craft lessons, share content, and communicate with students and fellow faculty included recorded mini-lessons to introduce concepts, short videos to present assignments or offer feedback, and ways of redeveloping the curriculum where students could approach content in a more self-directed way through their asynchronous work. I noticed students owning their challenges and successes more readily and finding joy in sharing their experiences with teachers and peers. Adapting the curriculum: Because some of our regular long-term projects could not be translated effectively virtually,
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especially certain labs, we came up with new ways to teach those units. Some that come to mind include Class II students creating a model of the heart using materials at home; Class IV scientists implementing an engineering design tool that allowed them to design mousetrap cars and test them in a virtual environment in order to understand the forces involved; and Class V students basing their independent research data on past projects rather than on hands-on experiments. Several classes took advantage of Skype a Scientist— a program to bring scientists into the classroom from afar— as well as virtual field trips.
JULIA CONNOR — AFTER SCHOOL MUSIC PROGRAM COORDINATOR PERFORMING ARTS DEPARTMENT
On Tempo Teaching orchestra virtually was certainly a challenge! Nevertheless, Zoom proved to be something of an equalizer in terms of balancing student personalities. Using the chat function to engage students who might otherwise be too shy to speak up in class served useful and surprisingly fun. It also allowed students to ask me questions privately, which encouraged them to seek help and bolstered their confidence. Developing new skills: During virtual learning, students could not play together because of the lag time on Zoom. Disappointing! Instead of playing together, students learned a great deal about recording themselves and syncing their audio with others in the class. The learning curve was impressive to say the least. Implementing new tools: One terrific tool I discovered was Sight Reading Factory—a website that generates music for students to sight read, which means that they play the music without being able to practice it beforehand. It’s a great way to deepen skills and celebrate the love of music. Producing performances: Having to perform over video translated into a lot of extra work for both faculty and students, as video editing takes a tremendous amount of time. I was awed by how beautifully students and faculty stepped into their new roles as amateur videographers. The concert videos were a real boost to the Winsor community—a musical balm for our spirits.
“ I also know—more deeply than ever—how important it is for our skills and our souls to practice and perform together. How joyful it will be to reconnect in person.” —JULIA CONNOR WINSOR FALL 2021 29
FEATURE
DENISE LABIENIEC — PHYSICS TEACHER, INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCHER, RECIPIENT OF THE 2021 VIRGINIA WING OUTSTANDING TEACHER AWARD
Freedom to Explore Embracing flexibility: For me, one of the more positive outgrowths of the pandemic was flexibility. I’ve been at Winsor for a long time and one of the things I always appreciate about our school is that we have generally eschewed fads and gimmicks when it comes to the classroom and have valued a deliberative process when exploring ideas. Alongside this, our faculty has always held itself to very high standards. Also good. Both of these approaches, however, have a downside, which is that it becomes harder to try new things if you worry too much about the outcome. The pandemic gave teachers and students the freedom to explore new tools and processes; a freedom that surprisingly pushed us, positively, in and beyond the classroom. For example, instead of a strict schedule of timed, in-person tests, I collected and commented on student work along the way, which helped me—more than tests would—understand student progress with asynchronous learning. Discovering new tools: I will definitely continue to use several tools I implemented during virtual and hybrid learning, tools that allow students to express their understanding with a variety of modalities such as Flipgrid for quick videos, Explain Everything for diversifying my own lessons and making videos, and my favorite, Pear Deck for slideshows. Pear Deck allows you to run through interactive slides with your class, and students to work through slides at their own pace, while you watch their progress and offer real-time feedback on embedded questions. It’s the virtual equivalent to walking around the room during group work with the added benefit of a digital record of their work and your comments
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LISA STRINGFELLOW — ENGLISH TEACHER, CLASS I AND II
Classroom Communities Creating a different sense of community and collaboration: Despite the challenges of virtual and hybrid learning, students and teachers became classroom communities. Zoom allowed me the flexibility and ease to meet with students one on one and communicate with them in multiple ways. I found many students more willing to reach out with questions and thoughts. Using screen-sharing and other tools, I could still work directly and effectively with them on their writing. Students also had opportunities to get to know me in different ways from our normal environment. For example, one of my cats was a frequent visitor to my virtual classes and allowed unexpected moments of laughter and sharing—a levity we all appreciated. Going forward: The reduced instructional time in our hybrid schedule caused teachers to focus on the essential skills and content in our courses. In Class I and II, we read and discussed literature and wrote in a variety of forms, but our thinking always returned to the skills we wanted students to master. Having to re-examine our instructional paths became a sort of compass, something we will want to consider intentionally as we return to fulltime in-person instruction. Making necessary changes: The new school year allows us to significantly reconsider our curriculum. In Class I English, for example, that has meant examining our theme of “community” and re-evaluating what voices have been left out or erased in the past. Voices from Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC) have systematically been underrepresented in the curriculum and this year brings an opportunity to change that. All of our novels this year will be by authors of color, often writing about characters that share some aspect of their identity. We’ll dovetail with the Class I History’s study of Native nations by shifting the literature circle unit to center on contemporary novels by Indigenous voices. I’m greatly looking forward to this change and seeing how it will support not only the important skills of literacy but our antiracist goals as a school.
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FEATURE
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“ Ironically, being isolated offered many of us the opportunity to shed some of our masks.” —SHERREN GRANESE
SHERREN GRANESE — DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
Ahead of the Game Who knew our athletics program could—and would—continue to thrive without athletes and coaches even leaving our houses? Unquestionably, it wasn’t the same; there were the collective losses of companionship, in-person teamwork, and competition. But our athletes were able to focus and develop their skills with new and different strategies, which in many ways helped them take risks and discover strengths—physical and psychological—they previously had not mined. Developing new skills and taking novel risks: In bedrooms, basements, and backyards, our athletes focused on practicing and improving their small stick and ball skills. We also mixed it up with scavenger hunts, Jeopardy and Kahoot games. We held team workouts and dress-up days, and made Tik Tok videos. We had weekly skill and fitness challenges, some with other schools. These activities helped
our bodies and minds, and some pushed us to overcome fear of trying something new, and maybe failing, along the way. Developing fresh perspective on competition, being or not being on a team, and sports and wellness overall: We craved being a part of a team and having that connection. In the student evaluations, students talked about athletics giving them something to look forward to and, post virtual workouts, a meaningful sense of accomplishment. Emphasizing benefits of sports and movement during the pandemic: The hunger for competition was palpable. Each step in the transition from virtual to hybrid to in-person school brought huge smiles and unfettered enthusiasm. Emerging from our cocoons, we celebrated being able to have in-person games, matches, races, and meets. It felt like a joyful rebirth.
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COMMENCEMENT
Celebrating the Class of 2021 As the Class of 2021 prepared to trade life on Pilgrim Road for the open road, they took time to reflect on the challenges, and relish in the successes, of their Winsor journey. Though the pandemic required the cancellation of some traditional events and milestones, and inspired the reimagining of others, it never dampened the resolve of the 66 seniors determined to make the most of every moment. Grateful for the opportunity to close the year with an in-person Commencement surrounded by family and friends, the graduates laughed, and cried, and bid an emotional farewell to one another, and to Winsor.
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COMMENCEMENT
With Open Minds, Seniors Chart a New Course
O
n June 8, 2021, families, faculty, and staff gathered under the tent in the Winsor courtyard to celebrate the 66 graduates of the Class of 2021 during the 127th Commencement. Head of School Sarah Pelmas opened the ceremony with praise for the seniors. “In this incredible year, they have been true leaders who have shown all of us how to find silver linings, persevere in the midst of real challenges, demand improvement where it is needed, and find joy whenever possible. They have led the school with energy, creativity, high standards and the Winsor trademark generosity, and they have given us much to celebrate.” Jane Hwang ’21 delivered the class reading from the Pixar animated film, Ratatouille. “In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau’s famous motto: ‘Anyone can cook.’ But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist
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can come from anywhere.” Pulling from Anton Ego’s critique of the restaurant Gusteau’s, Hwang chose a passage that challenges our preconceived notions of who can succeed—even a rat as a chef in a fancy French kitchen. Allison Kaneb Pellegrino ’89, P’21, ’22, president of the Winsor Corporation, offered an emotional and heartfelt congratulations to the graduates, sharing her own wisdom and reflections. “You’ve managed an incredibly complicated, disappointing, and unpredictable year with determination and grit. You’ve been role models for all of us. It wasn’t just the students in Classes I through VII who looked to you for guidance, but also the faculty, staff, and even the board as well. You are the very definition of resiliency.” A performance of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” by Advanced Rock On was met with a standing ovation, screams, and applause. Music featured prominently in the ceremony with Performing
Arts Faculty Andrew Marshall leading the graduation choir in the anthem, “Blessing” by Katie Moran Bart, “Jerusalem” by C. Hubert Parry, and “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”—the latter two accompanied by Performing Arts Department Head Felicia BradyLopez on piano. Senior Small Chorus also performed “The Road Home” by Stephen Paulus. Mishael Quraishi ’21 was chosen by her classmates to be the speaker at Commencement. She shared, “I won’t dwell on how being stuck at home might have felt like the title of one of my quarantine reads: 100 Years of Solitude. Instead, I’ll give you a quote from it: ‘There is always something left to love.’” She went on to explain, “The statement is so definitive, ‘always,’ yet I’ve come to appreciate its truth. The things you love can be grand or seemingly insignificant to others. But your ability to see the bright side of a situation, your mindset, is what shapes your future. Winsor taught me that.”
Ms. Pelmas began her address by thanking the faculty and staff who made this year possible, including Director of Health Services and School Nurse Diane Sneider. In her thoughtful remarks, she highlighted two modern-day trailblazers, scientist Kate Kariko and 19th-century Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, using their stories to underscore the importance of holding on to your beliefs, and also keeping an open mind. “One lesson you might take from this [story] is that you should allow yourself to change your beliefs,” she said. “Indeed, you will not be engaging with a variety of beliefs if you do not remain open to the possibility of changing your own beliefs from time to time. And, when something is fundamental to how you see the world, fight for it. Even if you are the only voice saying what you say, speak the truth.” She added, “And also, perhaps more importantly, allow for the possibility that other people might change their opinions as well.”
In her introduction of Commencement speaker Dr. Karilyn Crockett ’91, Senior Class President Alexandra Lee ’21 shared, “From climate change, Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements, to starting an equity board here at Winsor, there is a clear passion and push for change that is much needed in today’s world.” A Professor of Urban History and Public Policy & Planning at MIT, and formerly Boston’s first chief equity officer, Dr. Crockett talked about being raised by her nana and cultivating passion. Gazing out over the audience she said, “When I look at you I feel a sense of fire, resolve.” Sharing powerful perspective on issues, and invaluable advice for the graduating class, she said, “Don’t let college get in the way of your education,” which elicited a good chuckle from the crowd. To end the ceremony, she added, “It’s time to go and you are totally ready.”
WINSOR FALL 2021 37
COMMENCEMENT
The Ann Nowell Kramer ’48 Drama Prize
The Ruth S. Thayer Prize for Excellence in Latin
Maya Bodick ’21
Lauren Hogan ’23
The Brooks Parkman Woodard ’48 Memorial Prize
The World Languages Department Prize for Excellence in Mandarin
Katherine Burstein ’21 The Dance Prize
Franchesca Vilmenay ’22 The Clare Cutler ’62 Memorial Prize for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts—Acting
2020-2021 PRIZE WINNERS ATHLETICS AWARDS The Cross Country Cup
Eve Lesburg ’21 The Field Hockey Cup
Samantha Maynard ’21 The Soccer Cup
Ava Nace ’21 The Volleyball Cup
Alexandra Gorham ’21 The Basketball Cup
Chloe Davidson ’21
The Sailing Cup
Annette Adams ’21 The Softball Cup
Eve Lesburg ’21 The Tennis Cup
Margaret Eng ’21 The Madras Science Prize
Alexandra Gorham ’21 The Richard P. Binzel Prize
Karen Li ’21
Nell Sparks ’25
The Mathematics Prize
The Clare Cutler ’62 Memorial Prize for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts—Tech
The Frances Dorwin Dugan Prize
Anita Rodriguez ’25
Ellie Wang ’21
Thomasina Hare ’21 The Class of 2002 Award
Suzanne Pogorelec ’24
The Brooks Prizes for Poetry Reading
The Banner
The Track and Field Cup
Stella MacLean ’24 Nidhi Mallavarapu ’25
COMMENCEMENT AWARDS
Kaitlin Kolb ’21 The Bremer Athletic Prize
Eve Lesburg ’21 The Class of 1972 Prize
The Annie Lawrie Fabens Crozier ’47 Memorial Prize
Helen Buckley-Jones ’21
Presented this year during the Awards Celebration The Hemenway Prize
Hillary Jean-Gilles ’21
Chloe Davidson ’21
The Ruth Sabine ’24 Prize
ARTS, ACADEMIC, AND COMMUNITY AWARDS The Nancy Shelmerdine ’72 Memorial Prize
Josie Mastandrea ’22
The Class of 1994 Leadership Prize
The Adele Bockstedt Spanish Prize
Emma Charity ’21
Kaitlin Kolb ’21
The Nina Cies ’68 Memorial Award
The Frances Cabot Putnam ’15 French Prize
Caroline Cromwell ’21
Brigid O’Connor ’22
The Virginia Wing Outstanding Teacher Award
The Lacrosse Cup
The Nora Saltonstall ’11 Memorial Scholarship
Denise Labieniec
Caroline Cromwell ’21
Reah Donohue ’21
The Ice Hockey Cup
Avery Gardner ’21 The Squash Cup
Caroline Eielson ’24 The Swimming Cup
Ellen Pickette ’21
Franchesca Vilmenay ’22
The Crew Cup
The Linda Alles ’71 Memorial Award
Alexandra Lee ’21
Brigid O’Connor ’22
38 WINSOR FALL 2021
First row (sitting, l-r): Reah Donahue, Salma Ibrahim, Alexis Vilmenay, Amelia Zhang, Ellie Wang, Mishael Quaraishi, Helen Jean Gilles, Jane Hwang, Avery Gardner, Stephanie Lee, Catherine Friendly, Anne Joseph, Caroline Cromwell, Madeline Petro, Abigail Quigley, Maya Bodick, Elizabeth Ross, Rebecca Coombs, Ellen Pickette
Middle Row (standing, l-r): Megan Abate, Hawa Yusef, Olivia Hall, Elizabeth Macenka, Ava Nace, Eleanor Pelligrino, Caitlin Smith, Chloe Davidson, Eve Lesburg, Emily O’Connor, Abigail Nickerson, Kelsey Abbrecht, Kaitlin Kold, Annette Adams, Anya Hanitchak, Katie Burstein, Emma Charity
Second row (sitting, l-r): Charlotte DeWitt, Anna Murphy, Rani Balakrishna, Lillian Gibson, Elizabeth Tweedy, Pardis Koplos, Alexandra Lee, Isabella Santamaria-Dehni, Emma Farsheed, Eve Condon, Alexandra Gorham, Anjali Palepu, Naomi Mekonnen
Last Row (standing, l-r): Chloe Macaulay, Mirabelle Brunswick, Thomasina Hare, Catherine McCurley, Eva Fisherman, Aria De Marco, Becca Goldenson, Camille Chung, Jordan Young, Nora Estrada, Karen Li, Helen Buckley Jones, Ashley Brone, Mya Salazar, Samantha Maynard, Julia Fulkerson
“ I won’t dwell on how being stuck at home might have felt like the title of one my quarantine reads: 100 Years of Solitude. Instead, I’ll give you a quote from it: ‘There is always something left to love.’...The statement is so definitive, ‘always,’ yet I’ve come to appreciate its truth. The things you love can be grand or seemingly insignificant to others. But your ability to see the bright side of a situtation, your mindset, is what shapes your future. Winsor taught me that.” — MISHAEL QURAISHI ’21
WINSOR FALL 2021 39
ALUMNAE NEWS CLASS NOTES
Lettie Cabot ’19 rowing for Winsor during her senior year.
40 WINSOR FALL 2021
PHOTO BY AARON SHEPLEY
Cabot Wins Gold at Worlds A junior at Standford University, Lettie Cabot ’19 recently took home gold in the women’s four at the 2021 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. Rowing for Great Britain, Lettie (3), along with teammates Amelia Standing (b), Holly Dunford (2), and Daisy Bellamy (s) held off the United States by 1.86 seconds for the win. Lettie was also a member of the 2019 Under 19 National Team, an accomplishment she now proudly shares with sister Imogen Cabot ’22, who was recently selected to the 2021 Under 19 National Team.
CLASS NOTES
Alumnae Board 2021–2022 PRESIDENT
Erica Mayer ’91, P ’25 VICE-PRESIDENT
Ashley Marlenga Herbst ’01 SECRETARY
Miwa Watkins ’83 MEMBERS AT LARGE
Des Allen ’98 Hillary Brown ’80, P’17 Susan Holzman ’67 Elizabeth Flint Hooker ’95 Jennifer Inker ’83 Lindsay Mullen Jeanloz ’00 Danielle Johns ’05 Ruth Chute Knapp ’60, P’86, GP’21 Katherine McCord ’02, Co-Chair, Alumnae Giving Jillian Campbell McGrath ’02 Johanna Mendillo ’96 Julia Broderick O’Brien ’56, P’87 Jennifer O’Neil ’93 Julie Rockett Paulick ’92 Elizabeth-Anne Finn Payne ’94 Mary Noonan Quirk ’05 Lacey Rose ’06 Nancy Adams Roth ’66 Catherine Frankl Sarkis ’82, P’23 Ann Bainbridge Simonds ’66 Rebecca Stevens ’05 Meg Weeks ’04
Entrepreneur Talks Business Students Advocating Gender Equity (SAGE) welcomed Unique Hodge ’18, who recently co-founded Oak Systems while working on her undergraduate degree at Harvard. Oak Systems uses an algorithm to offer personalized hair product recommendations to Black Unique Hodge ’18 women based on their responses to an online assessment, and also incorporates an add-on that searches for products offered by Black-owned businesses. Unique says it was a business club that led her to the Harvard Innovation Labs Venture Program, and eventually, to Oak Systems. Her advice to students inquiring about starting a business: be creative and be authentic if you want people to believe in you, and trust that you can do it. “You’re in the same boat as everyone else. It’s important to remember that. No one really knows what they’re doing! Just jump in, and learn along the way.” She also credits Winsor for planting the seeds for her success. “Winsor taught me that I can do what I put my mind to. Winsor instills that belief in yourself, and that’s crucial to starting a company.”
EX-OFFICIO LIFE MEMBER
Allie Flather Blodgett ’52
ASIAM ASSEMBLY EXPLORES ASIAN CULTURE
PAST PRESIDENT
Audrey McAdams Fenton ’93, P ’26 CO-CHAIR, ALUMNAE GIVING
Caitlin Crowe ’89
CO-CHAIR, ALUMNAE GIVING
Julia Livingston ’66, P’85, ’07 CO-CHAIR, YOUNG ALUMNAE COMMITTEE
Mary Aidan Hanrahan ’11
CO-CHAIR, YOUNG ALUMNAE COMMITTEE
Kerry Noonan ’07
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF YOUNG ALUMNAE AND LEADERSHIP GIVING
Samantha Lovewell
DIRECTOR OF ALUMNAE ENGAGEMENT
Elisabeth B. Peterson ’80, P’11
Affinity group AsIAm led an all-school assembly to encourage appreciation of Asian culture in honor of Lunar New Year. A panel of Winsor alums joined from as far away as London. “It’s been hard to try to find the same sort of place [in college] that AsIAm offers at Winsor,” noted Crystal Yang ’20, who, along with alums Erin Simshauser ’17, Katie Tsai ’19, and Audrey Wu ’20, encouraged students not to take for granted the small community, opportunities for cultural exposure, and affinity groups at Winsor. Crystal Yang ’20
OVERHEARD
“ Maybe we will manage to hold onto that knowledge, that being in a classroom together is not a given nor to be taken for granted. That would definitely be a silver lining.” —SARA MACAULAY, ARTS FACULTY 42 WINSOR FALL 2021
ALUMNAE SPRING BOOK CLUB 2021
Circle of Excellence
Alums gathered from across the country on Zoom to discuss the new and very popular The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. Set during The Great Depression, the novel tells the story of protagonist Elsinor “Elsa” Martinelli and her journey through the Dust Bowl storms of Texas to migrating for refuge and the empty promises of work in California all while enduring being mom to two. Alums discussed themes that resonated especially during crises a century later, the weights that affect how women walk through the world, and what courage really means.
The Fall 2020 issue of the Winsor Bulletin was named a Council for Advancement and Support of Education(CASE) 2021 Circle of Excellence Award winner, an award honoring institutions worldwide. A special thanks to Patricia Elam Walker ’71, who wrote the powerful cover story; Celyn Brazier, whose original art graced the cover; 2communiqué, for elevating the design of every issue; and all the writers, photographers, and members of the Winsor community who contributed.
WINSOR BULLETIN | SPRING 2020
BOLD AND UNAFRAID
Patricia Elam ’71 tells the story of Winsor’s first students of color PAGE 24
YAC Pizza Party Young Alumnae Committee hosted alums from classes ’17, ’18, ’19, and ’20 for our first on campus gathering in quite some time! It was great to have alums back at Winsor.
WINSOR FALL 2021 43
CLASS NOTES
CLASS NOTES
1949
Wine Tasting with a Twist In February, over 130 Winsor alums from all over the country joined Hadley Douglas ’92 and husband TJ, founders of Urban Grape, for a virtual version of the anticipated annual alumnae wine tasting that usually takes place in their Boston store. In honor of Black History Month, the event featured wines from Black-owned wineries, which make up less than 1% of all wines, but 10% of Urban Grape sales thanks to the couple’s commitment to raising awareness and promotion. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the winemakers, and for alums to learn more about wine, the Urban Grape mission, and the industry. Assistant Director of Young Alumnae Engagement and Leadership Giving Samantha Lovewell and Director of Alumnae Engagement Beth Peterson ’80, P’11 organized the unique event, ensuring the wines and pairing snacks arrived in time for all the virtual attendees to enjoy together. Following the tasting, alums joined break out rooms, and by the close of the evening, all were in agreement that a new Winsor tradition had just begun!
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Susan Conant Holden This has been a sad and miserable year for so many people. I have been fortunate to keep busy with my children, grandchildren and patriotic societies. I am still the Recording Secretary for two of them (thanks to Winsor) which have been held virtually or on zoom and are a bit of a challenge especially when they decide to have a joint meeting. There is always yard and house work and projects. I am so lucky and thankful to be able to live in my home.
1951
Catharine-Mary Donovan It’s hard to believe that 70 years have passed since entering Winsor and to see the changes that have been done since my time there so long ago. Thanks to all my classmates who have contined to respond to my requests for the Annual Fund. It is much appreciated. 2020 has been a year of years: adjustments both for those at home and for those still working. It’s been a year of challenges especially for those keeping us safe. My prayers go out to the thousands and thousands who have left us and to the various people involved who have sacrificed so much for the sick and the dying. Hopefully there is an end in the tunnel.
1951
Margaret Lawrence Drinker After 50 plus years of living in the Boston area we moved to a condominium in Vermont to be closer to several of our children. Six years later we moved a few miles “down
the road” to a retirement community in New Hampshire (Kendal at Hanover). Five of our six grandchildren and one great grandchild now live in Boston. My husband, Phil, died in 2017. We had 64 years of a wonderful life together!
1951
Ann Underhill Rosenbaum I am amazed to find myself 87 years old. The good news is that seven years ago I survived a large sarcoma in my right thigh, and have been well and quite mobile since then. Of course, I have all my faculties, am active in two book groups and a political action group (Women On Watch). My husband, Hal, and I live in a condo in Stamford, CT. So I still cook, etc., which has been a good thing during the pandemic. We have both had completed Pfizer vaccinations. We miss seeing our children (daughter in NY State and son in Concord) and grown grandchildren, but hope we will be able to soon. I wish my classmates well, and hope you have escaped the virus. It was great knowing you at Winsor.
1952
Mary Lane Connolly Cairns Delightful time at ALLIE’s, great to be together! Looking forward to our 70th and can’t believe it in 2022!
1953
Natascha Simpkins Halpert Living life quietly here with my beloved, staying close to home in our apartment as we remain safe so far and comfortable. Getting our vaccinations, doing our writing, expecting our third great grandchild, no special news otherwise. How the years fly
by! Two years until our 70th. How strange is that!
1953
Suzanne Ellis Stoyer As if the Covid epidemic was not enough for 2020–2021, we were hit by Hurricane Sally which played an unexpected and unwelcome visit in mid-September. The weather report was not as accurate as usual so we were not as well prepared as we should have been. While our living area remained livable, the wind and storm surge destroyed much of everything else. We recover slowly.
1956
Ann Chapman Churchill I moved with Jerry to Kendal at Hanover a Quaker continuing Care Facility in 2016. We were close to the Churchill Tree Farm in Vermont where all the family visit often. Jerry passed away 3 years ago. During the pandemic, I moved with a daughter to the farm and walk, garden and quilt. I serve on the Vestry of my church and a Social Justice
Committee. I am grateful to be in reasonable health and await the time when I can be more socially active.
1958
Mary Eliot Jackson Life is firmly here: I sold my 1810 house in Royalston, live in a 1960 condo in Cambridge, don’t drive, but happily see kids and grands. I remain concerned about effects of racism and have reconnected with Joyce Allen-Beckford, P’ 98, my co-chair of Winsor’s first Diversity Committee. I found Movement Voter Project an epiphany - something to do in a blue state to get rid of Trump. MVP finds, vets, and supports unrecognized grassroots groups and helps them understand that their civic responsibility to vote from the lowest levels up will help them achieve what they want for themselves, i.e., what Stacey Abrams did in Georgia to elect Biden, Warnock, and Ossoff to break Trump and O’Connell’s grip. Also helped the Boston Athenaeum move out a disastrous directress and hire her smashing replacement, Leah Rosovsky; learned about More than Words; and Jim O’Connell’s Health Care for the Homeless.
1960
Mary Lane Connolly Cairns ’52, Allie Flather Blodgett ’52, Jill Johnson Whiting ’52, Jack Whiting, and Nancy Paige Parker ’52
Eleanor Canham Shanley A quiet year, although no lack of grandchildren, plus two local daughters to keep me busy and amused. We all gathered in Wareham in July —4 daughters, their husbands, seven grandchildren. A great time was had by all. Heading to Woodstock shortly for six days of Spa delights while my daughter skis (and Spas). Cannot wait for a change of venue! Love to you all.
1960
Elise Cutler von Koschembahr SO sorry to miss our 60th Reunion last spring —thanks to Covid. I celebrated my 80th Birthday last month; and I am still grateful to hope that I have a sound mind in a sound body especially after receiving my double dose of Moderna vaccinations! Peace and blessings to you all!
1961
Gayle Zelermeyer Golden JFK encouraged us to”ask what you can do for your country.” Those inspirational words propelled me into a fulfilling career as a social worker. Working in medical, educational and private practice settings, I helped people face challenges and develop their own capacities to find resilience. I now realize that acknowledging the accomplishments of others is another way to fulfill the mandate to serve. I honor the contribution of my courageous immigrant ancestors, the values of love and faith learned from my parents and the joy I have as the wife of a gentle and loving husband for 51 years, mother of a wonderful son and daughter-in-law and grandmother of an ebullient grandson. I am grateful for the sacrifices my parents made to send me to Winsor. The quality of the faculty and opportunity to study with intelligent and congenial classmates were incredible gifts.
1961
Molly Morse Holmes Best to all my amazing classmates from 1961 and special thoughts for those who have moved on from here. So hard to believe that 60 years have passed by and that I have lived through all of them. In life you
WINSOR FALL 2021 45
CLASS NOTES
are given a test that teaches you a lesson.” And what lessons I have learned. I love being the Mother of two and Grandmother to three. They have taught me so much about how I show up in the world with understanding and love. I got divorced in 1996 and that is when I really received my chance to become me. I had my work cut out for me. I now spend my days helping others, never feeling alone and so grateful for my life. I am blessed by the results of all the work I have done and continue with my Singing and Sports which is now golf. Take care everyone. Love, Florel Morse Holmes
1962
Sarah Cannon Holden Monthly ZOOM meetings with classmates have been a positive experience for all of us. We share past, present and future experiences, commitments and dreams. We are learning to know each other all over again and in a deeper and richer way. Try it! The Class of 1962 is full of active, thoughtful and intelligent women. Each of us is thriving in our own particular way. We are glad to be back together where we are working through some of the difficult conversations of our day.
1969
Averill Babson I find it uplifting and super interesting to be meeting up with a younger class in their experiences with racial justice and inclusion. Other than that, and reading and ZOOMING, I have been hibernating in NH or Maine or CT with family. I am a grandmother now of 2 boys in Maine (Henry 2 years and Theo 4 months)
46 WINSOR FALL 2021
and have been helping during the pandemic as much as I am able toand have had one shot so far! Be well all!
1971
Kate Pratt Lapping I am still living in Western Massachusetts and very involved with the Vipassana Meditation Center in Shelburne. Because of the pandemic we had to close the center temporarily to regroup and figure out how to hold ten day courses safely. With the help of a student who is also an infectious disease specialist, we managed to open after a few months, albeit with fewer students(from 150+ students to only 38 per course!). It has been a wild ride! For information about the meditation courses visit: www.dhara.dhamma.org
1978
Nancy Rappaport I am adapting to the times and trying to support educators and parents through the pandemic, giving lots of Zoom talks! (www.nancyrappaport. com) you can check them out search covid). Had opportunity with virtual psychiatry to spend time in Colorado with my family, a huge relief. Hope everyone is safe.
I am in my twenty-first year as the school counselor at The Walnut Hill School for the Arts, an international boarding school for high school artists. As you might imagine, it’s been an interesting year supporting the mental health of teens this year, both masked and in-person, and remotely over Zoom. Luckily for me I did meet the gorgeous great granddaughter of someone. Donna has brought sports back into my life, as well as the outdoors. I’ve learned how to ski and mountain bike and love every minute of it! I hope everyone is well. I remember so much of my three years at Winsor and truly remember so much about each member of the class of ’81.
1981
Eiblis Goldings What a year! Before I knew what was happening, I added a new pup (2.5yo) to my family. (This made the Pandemic Porch Photo Picture an added challenge!) Sweet Pea has lived up to and beyond her name. Training has been rewarding, and she is full of joy now. We love walking in woods
1981
Eve Berman Forty years ago I predicted that I would be psychoanalyzing Freud’s gorgeous great grandson. Remember our prediction page in the year book? Well, I was both on target and off. I am working with adolescents in a therapeutic manner, but it turned out I would have been more interested in Freud’s gorgeous great granddaughter.
Eiblis Goldings ’81 (dressed for zoom meetings) in a Pandemic Puppy Porch Photoshoot with new pup: Sweet Pea (Lab Mix), and Decker (left), Ohna (right).
NEWSMAKER: LISA MONACO ’86
DOJ Swears In Lisa Monaco On April 21, 2021, Lisa Monaco was sworn in as the 39th United States Deputy Attorney General. As the Department of Justice’s No. 2 official, Lisa will be a critical member of the Biden administration as it confronts the nation’s most pressing safety concerns, including the rise in domestic extremism and increasing threats of foreign cyber attacks. An expert prosecutor, Lisa first joined the Department of Justice (DOJ) as an intern 26 years ago. Over the course of her impressive career, Lisa served as counsel to Janet Reno when she was attorney general, and was a federal prosecutor in Washington when she joined the Enron task
and fields in the Boston area—get in touch if you want to join us!
1981
Amy Linenthal Halliday Time has been doing strange things during the pandemic, or maybe it just does strange things as the years pass. It amazes me that Paul and I have lived in Charlottesville for nearly twenty-one years, longer than either of us has lived anywhere else. Our nest is empty now, as our sons (Arthur, George, and William) find their way in the world. For the past five years, I’ve been leading a team of writers and editors in the marketing function of the Boston Consulting
force, helping lead the prosecution of five former Enron executives. In 2006, she became counselor and then chief of staff to then F.B.I. Director Robert S. Mueller III. In 2011, she assumed the role of head of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and in 2013, went on to the White House to serve as President Obama’s top homeland security adviser. Lisa’s ability to build consensus has always been an essential component to her continued success. In an April New York Times article, Ken Wainstein, Lisa’s predecessor as the head of the DOJ’s National Security Division, said of Monaco, “Good ideas die all the time because people don’t go to the right congressman or cabinet secretary and get buy-in. That’s the kind of thing that Lisa is masterful at.” A release from the DOJ on the day she was sworn into office captured Lisa’s dedication to the new role. “DAG Monaco reiterated her commitment to reaffirming the Department’s foundational mission and core values, pursuing the Constitution’s promise of equal justice, and ensuring the safety of all who call America home.”
Group, a job I’ve done remotely all along. Every day, I call on the skills our teachers urged us to practice: listening carefully, reading critically, asking the right questions, speaking up. Honing these is a life’s work! Choral singing is a through-line for me. Fingers crossed that by the time you’re reading this, we’ll be singing — and doing many other fun things— again.
1981
Rachel King To today’s students, the Class of 1981 is one of those distant classes of “older women”—but when we see each other (on Zoom) this
spring, you will all look as beautiful and fresh-faced to me as you did when we graduated! The last forty years of my life in a breathless list: Brown 1985 … Columbia (Master’s) 1988 … Nonprofit communications and fundraising career … Children: Hannah (b. 1997) and Matthew (b. 1999) … Converted to Judaism (2002) … Divorced 2005 … Remarried 2012. Today, I am executive director of a Jewish history organization in Boston; my kids are launching into their adult lives; and I am married to a man who makes me laugh and think. Life is really good. I am forever grateful to Winsor for my love of learning, my passion for good
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CLASS NOTES
literature, my writing ability, and my feminism. The sisterhood and empowerment I experienced there sustains me to this day.
1983
Catherine Livingston After graduating from Wellesley College, I taught Biology and Physics in the Brighton High School in Boston. I am now teaching Biology at The Lawrenceville School while earning my Masters of Science in education from the University of Pennsylvania as part of the Teaching Fellows Program.
1986
Lynn Harris Well, it’s been...a year. Could not have gotten through it without the support of Juliet Siler Eastland and Emily Abedon, and so many other awesome classmates on Facebook. One other highlight: I opened GOLD Comedy on a new platform, where we can truly be *the* online comedy world for young women + non-binary folks who want to nerd out about comedy together. Let’s hope 2021 is funnier than 2020! (The bar is low.) Love to all.
1994
Marie MacLean Riley Woollacott Grateful for the Colorado outdoors as my family and I hunker down, work from home, stay engaged in school and cohabitate to a degree we never thought possible! I’ll only say, online school for my 8th grader is a far cry from the rigor of Winsor academics!!! Essays, theorems, and late night studying?? More like, eating all day, sleeping while class ‘plays’ and not changing clothes!! Here’s to a brighter future soon!!! Resilience!!!
ALUMNAE CREATORS
ADCOLOR Receives Emmy® Nomination For over two decades, Tiffany Warren ’92 has been a leader in the field of diversity, championing diverse professionals in the creative industries, and garnering tremendous industry respect. The founder and president of ADCOLOR, and current executive VP, chief diversity & inclusion officer for Sony Music Group, can now add an Emmy® nomination to a long list of prestigious accolades. In September 2020, ADCOLOR partnered with The Apollo Theater to bring Grammy Award-winning HaitianAmerican rapper, musician, and actor Wyclef Jean to the Main Stage to perform his iconic debut album, “Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival.” The historic, virtual ADCOLOR 2020 After Dark production kicked off The Apollo Theater’s all-digital fall 2020 season, and was streamed free of charge on the Apollo’s Digital Stage and as part of ADCOLOR Everywhere. The production garnered an Emmy® nomination for ADCOLOR in the Entertainment - Long Form Content category. In an interview for Harlem World Magazine in September, Jean said. “I’ve been wanting to do a complete performance
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of The Carnival for a while now, and I’m excited that I’m able to combine energies with the Apollo and ADCOLOR to pull it off. All three of us are here to celebrate culture, diversity, and the Black American experience, and we’re ready to provide a historic performance that does just that.” In the same piece, Tiffany shared, “It’s truly a remarkable moment for our organization to partner with the Apollo, and it’s all the more iconic with Wyclef doing his first-ever complete performance of The Carnival. I’m here for it, and I know our community will be too.”
1996
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Amanda Katz My spouse, Kara Swisher, and I welcomed a baby girl, Clara Jo Swisher Katz, in October 2019. She joins my two stepsons, Louie (18) and Alex (15). We moved to Washington, DC, in Feb. 2020 — friends who are here, feel free to drop me a line!
2001
Claire Pasternack Goldsmith What a year of tragedy and injustice—littered with silver linings and reason to hope. Brian and I and our children (Eliza, 4 years old and Teddy, 2 in May) baked a lot of challah— when we weren’t connecting into Zoom preschool or singing about excavators. I grew more in my field of online learning this year than I had in the prior ten, as my little corner of education became front and center. I was thrilled to volunteer on our friend Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for President, lead strategic planning for a national professional association, join the board of our synagogue here in LA, and become a Trustee at Winsor. Other than Paris (nothing’s changed), the first place I want to visit is Pilgrim Road. My Winsor classmates are still my best friends. We must empower and educate the women of the future; we will need their leadership.
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2006
Laura Gaylord Resch Still living in Shaker Heights, Ohio with my husband Garner and daughter Regan. Working in preventive conservation at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Wish we had the opportunity to gather this spring on Pilgrim Road to celebrate the 15th reunion for the Class of 2006- will have to go big
1. Ali (Pearlman) Michel ’96 with her family in Palo Alto, CA. 2. From left: Scott, Sophie, Emma, and Alyssa Penwell ’96. Maldives, December 2020. 3. L to R: Ben, 7, Nick, Callie, 9, and Emily (Young) Williams ’96 spent a lot of time outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here they are enjoying a hike in their hometown of Andover, Mass. 4. Elizabeth Lewis ’96 with her husband, Dave, and daughters, Alexandra (now 9) and Stella (now 5). 5. Haley Moulton ’11 Dartmouth White Coat Ceremony 2016
WINSOR FALL 2021 49
CLASS NOTES
PMI! grants enables children of incarcerated parents to participate in team sports
for year 20! This year I have enjoyed connecting with alum’s from various classes as we work together to make Winsor and the wider world a more just and equitable place to be.
2006
Curry Wilson In February of 2021, I closed on my first home in the Denver area, finally planting some roots in a city after living in multiple places over the past 15 years. My dog, Camden, and I are absolutely loving having a space to call our own!
2007 NEWSMAKER: ALEX HORVITZ ’11
Increasing Access to Sports Put Me In! (PMI!) increases access to recreational and competitive sports for Children of Incarcerated Parents (CIPs) and one of Winsor’s own, Alex Horvitz ’11, is a founding member and serves as their marketing & communications lead. Put Me In! invests to close the opportunity divide for CIPs. PMI! funds annual financial aid grants of $1,000 per year per enrolled CIP to support participation in sports through targeting enrolled CIPs during middle school and supporting them through high school. PMI! identifies CIPs and their caregivers through referrals and collaboration with community-based organizations (“CBOs”), government agencies, and other non-profits serving CIPs and system-impacted families. Alex shared the inspiration behind PMI!: Playing sports at Winsor helped define the person I am today. I remember in middle school going from dryland training at 6 AM, to soccer practice after school, to my evening swim practice after that. I rushed from a swim meet to an indoor lacrosse game every Saturday during the winter months. In high school, I was a tri-varsity athlete and captain of my varsity lacrosse and swim teams. Winsor gave me confidence; sports gave me a sense of self. Sports also helped me develop tangible skills that I have used and will continue to use throughout my life – leadership, teamwork, strategy, and focus. I say this recognizing that the reason I could have these experiences was because I grew up with two parents who supported and encouraged me, and my family had the money to pay for league fees and equipment. This is not often the case, particularly for children of incarcerated parents. Head to putmein.org to learn more about what we do.
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Mary Catherine Quinn My husband and I welcomed our first child in January! We had a boy and his name is TJ. It’s been an exciting start to 2021!
2007
Denee Reaves I am now a Wealth Coach working with people, especially women, to change their mindset and behaviors with money in order to live their lives to the fullest. I do this through my company, Focused Work, and am currently in the process of receiving official certification as a coach.
2014
Rachel Scholz-Bright I am thrilled to share that I graduated from Georgetown Law this May! I will be moving back to Boston this summer, and am excited to start my legal career as an associate at Ropes & Gray.
2016
Natalia Lindsey I received a Fulbright grant to live in Spain during Spring 2021.
ARRIVALS AND ADOPTIONS
IN MEMORIAM
1996
1939
Amanda Katz and Kara Swisher a daughter, Clara Jo Swisher Katz October 2019
2005
Stephanie Brenman-Reed and Elizabeth Brenman-Reed a son, Holden James Brenman-Reed March 2021
2007
Mary Catherine Quinn and Tony Vorlicek a son, TJ January 2021
2008
Paige Beaton Coulier and Pieter Coulier a son, Noah Beaton Coulier August 2020
Elizabeth Billings Roitman
1940
Faith Killiam Warner
1941
Margaret Waite Arnold Gertrude Trumbull Burr Ann Williams Wardwell
1942
Alice Hedge Brewer Eleanor Jones Dorsey Marion Ware Jolliffe Phyllis Darling White
1943
Emlen Lowell Wheeler
1944
Ruth Cunningham Cross Isobel Parke
1945
Martha Davis Barnes
1946
Barbara Beatley Anthony Sheila Paine
1947
Constance Walker Haddleton Elizabeth Storer Paynter Patricia Ross Pratt
1948
Josephine Hornor Belknap Emily Weston Frankovich Mary Eaton Lee
1949
Elise Faulkner Jones
1950
Alicia Gardner Sinclair Pollie Thompson Frothingham Nancy Stevens Fuller Judith Thompson Sapers
1951
Ann-Elisa Wetherald Black Phoebe Barnes Caner Sandylee Weille Maccoby
Get Reconnected Introducing the new Winsor ALUMNAE CONNECT app
Connect with other alums, create your own groups, find your classmates, search for jobs or post your own, see Winsor alums in your area or meet up across the country, with our newly redesigned, user-friendly, interactive app.
REGISTER TODAY
See for yourself and register today. Visit winsorconnect.org Questions? Contact Samantha Lovewell at slovewell@winsor.edu.
WINSOR FALL 2021 51
CLASS NOTES
1955
Anne King Palmer
1956
Barbara Elliott Niles
1957
Mary Rhinelander McCarl Judith Prien Turzanski
1958
Judy Bishop Friend
1959
Judith Innes
1960
Virtual Alumnae Day 2021
1961
Ellen Pinderhughes ’71 was selected by her classmates to deliver this year’s 50th reunion address. The following is extracted from her remarks.
Kathleen Emmet Darman Anne Thompson Vaughan Carolyn Mitton Ford Louisa Shaw
1963
Gabriella Burrage Haroutunian
1965
Anne Harwood
1967
Astrid Glynn
FROM THE ARCHIVES
City Living “There is excitement right outside our door,” reflected one student on how strongly Winsor’s identity connects to its urban location. With the Longwood MBTA station a short walk from campus, students travel by “T” on visits around the city, viewing Boston as an extended classroom. Starting 50 years ago, sixth graders studied Boston intensively, taking weekly field trips to discover Boston past and present. Many graduates fondly remember exploring neighborhoods and cultural institutions in and around the city while becoming veterans of public transportation.
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REMEMBERING AND REFLECTING
“We came of age in a troubled world — on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, during the Black Power Movement, as the Women’s Liberation Movement was underway, during the Vietnam War. And now, as we celebrate our 50th reunion, again we find ourselves in a troubled world. The country is reckoning with four centuries of violent and systemic discrimination that has privileged some and marginalized others... As Winsor, its students, and alums transact with this reality, we all must consider Winsor’s history.” OUR TIME AT WINSOR
“We were such a diverse class… and yet we didn’t know how diverse we were. We were Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, agnostic, straight, lesbian, from varied income backgrounds, of different ethnicities, though White and Black... Although expected to fit the ‘Winsor girl’ mold (and I could never), our class found ways to assert our interests and ourselves... Our class has — to this day — been the only class to vote to wear what we wanted [at Commencement]. For many of us, the choice was something other than white. Our Commencement picture reflects the
REFLECTION, DISCUSSION, AND CONNECTION: THE 1996 PANEL
diversity whom we were and would become, but were not able to fully express in all its complexity while at Winsor and be affirmed. I wonder how many of us here today know the historical significance of our action. I didn’t until days ago. After our vote, which signaled a moment of reckoning, Winsor was able to reimagine itself...Winsor listened to, accepted, and attempted to understand our protests, and redefined its decades-old self-image that it proudly presented yearly at Commencement. Never again has the entire school been white. WE did that!!! RECKONING AND REIMAGINING
Through my lens, Winsor’s last 57 years — since Patricia Elam Walker ’71 and I walked through its doors as its first Black students — has been a complicated history. Winsor has certainly evolved and progressed. Critical changes, including affinity groups and the student-led Board for Equity and Inclusion, signal Winsor’s
aspiration to be more inclusive and equitable. Creative, determined admissions processes have helped Winsor reflect more of the diversity in Greater Boston. This complicated history also includes the inability to acknowledge and incorporate awareness of some of Winsor’s mistakes, notably a failure in 1996 to disseminate the alumnae/ student panel video on being Black at Winsor from the 1960s to 1990s. See Reflection, Discussion and Connection story for more on the video, which is now available to view on the Winsor website. As Winsor reckons with the current reality of its hidden voices, we once again are in a moment full of possibility for reimaging and redefining Winsor. Students will only be equitably supported in their pursuits of self-exploration and expression through a full historical accounting of Winsor’s history. We must bring the decades-old hidden voices of Winsor into the light – perhaps lit by the Winsor lamp.
In July, alums and members of the Winsor community virtually joined Head of School Sarah Pelmas, former Director of School Carolyn McClintock Peter, and former Director of Admission Pamela Parks McLaurin ’71, P’12 for a viewing of the recorded 1996 panel discussion among alums and students of the experiences of Black students at Winsor from 1964 to 1996. The viewing was followed by a moderated conversation. The event, created in partnership with Independent Trust, the network designed to build connections, engage, and support the professional goals of independent school alums of color, was facilitated by Gloria Fernandez Tearte. Independent Trust will be inviting BIPOC alums to a meeting later this fall. “To move forward in our critical DEI work, we must examine where we came from and how our history influences who we are as a school and community today; this video and the lived experiences of our alums are an important part of that history,” said Sarah Pelmas. “More importantly, reflecting on the past and how it influences our present can help us to continue to evolve to create greater equity and inclusion within our community.” The recording of the event is available on the Winsor website, under Alumnae News.
WINSOR FALL 2021 53
CLASS NOTES
ALUMNAE PROFILE
Class of 2020 Spotlight Sarah Albert-Rozenberg Since Brown’s Covid plan did not allow freshmen to begin a full courseload until January 2021, I spent my fall semester in Paris. During my time there, I visited with family, took a freshman seminar class through Brown, privately tutored Chemistry and Writing, and worked as a teaching assistant for Harvard Medical School’s MEDscience program. I then had my first semester on campus at Brown in the spring, during which I started completing some pre-med requirements. Outside of classes, I joined an a cappella group (The Ursa Minors), the Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment (BRYTE) organization, which is similar to Winsor’s Greenwood program, and the executive board of Brown’s chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA). This summer, I am working as a counselor at Camp Kinderland, where I have been going since I was eight. Between the end of my semester and the beginning of camp, I resumed my teaching position at Harvard MEDscience and helped develop and write curriculum for their summer program. I also continued volunteering as a French interpreter and translator for the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project, for which I began volunteering as part of my ILE. Indi Aufranc Since graduating from Winsor last year, I finished my freshman year at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD where I’m currently
54 WINSOR FALL 2021
pursuing a BA in international studies! After a remote first semester, I moved onto campus in January and was able to meet a lot of my classmates and explore the city. I’d also joined a student-run podcast earlier in the year (the Hopkins Podcast on Foreign Affairs– check us out on Spotify!!!) that I became more involved with in the spring and am continuing to work on this summer as Chief Marketing Officer. I’m spending this summer in Seattle, WA interning at a food blog and media company and staying with my extended family. Next semester, I’m looking forward to being an orientation leader, moving back on campus, and having a more normal year than the last one! Danya Dubrow-Compaine Like many people in my grade, I decided to take a gap year this year. I spent September-May living in Israel, first in Jerusalem and then in Tel Aviv. While I was there, I interned at the Jerusalem Press Club, worked at a local garden, and volunteered at a women’s community center for Eritrean refugees. I started taking Brazilian Ju Jitzu classes and even became a waitress for a few weeks at a restaurant that had just opened. I also had the chance to travel around the country and cross more than a few items off my bucket list: rappelling, SCUBA diving, and skydiving to name a few. As someone who is interested in studying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in college, my time spent there was invaluable. Against the rules of
my program, I went into the West Bank to volunteer with a Palestinian shepherd and talk to Palestinians living in Ramallah. I was also there to experience the most recent flair up in violence and had to run to bomb shelters on multiple occasions. After two weeks at home, I packed up again and moved to spend six weeks living in Aix-en-Provence, France on the Saltonstall scholarship. During my time here, I’m taking classes on psychopathology and media and conflict and using my free time to explore as much as I can (currently on a train to Paris as I write this). This year has been an amazing whirlwind of experiences, and I can’t wait for the adventure to continue when I start college in the fall. Tina Gong While not originally intending to, I ended up taking a gap year because of the pandemic. I spent my gap year exploring new and interesting fields by taking some cool online classes in subjects not offered at Winsor, like digital painting, concept art illustration, and computer science! In my free time I began regularly exploring Boston’s variety of (both new and old) restaurants (in a covid-safe manner), creating lots of art, watching movies, sharpening my cooking skills, and taking care of my plants at home. This fall, I will finally be on campus as a freshman at Harvard! I’ll be fencing for the Crimson team and am interested in studying computer science, physics, and maybe a touch of philosophy and art at Harvard.
Michelle Pu
Briggs Negron I am currently in my sophomore year at NYU and have begun to complete required courses for my major in political science and am working with the program You Can Too, a mentorship program in which we mentor black and hispanic kids applying to college. As a You Can Too mentor I connected with my mentee in Texas via zoom and helped her design her resume, understand the common app, and navigate other college application resources. While clubs and sports were mostly closed or held only via zoom last year, a couple of clubs I am looking forward to joining in the coming in-person school year are the Puerto Rican Association (Pra), possibly some form of student government, and the BIPOC LGBTQ+ club Sisters. I also want to join the crew team when sports open up again in the fall and take advantage of all the in-person resources NYU has to offer!
Women Strong Girls and am now a member of the executive board. I was also a member of Tufts EMS-AID, which collected and distributed medical supplies to hospitals in Venezuela. This summer, I’m an intern at The Price Center, which serves people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. I’m also volunteering for Horizons for Homeless this summer and next semester. In my free time, I’ve been taking care of my 75 plants, drawing, and playing volleyball. Next year, I will play club volleyball, volunteer, and mentor. This past year has been an amazing and challenging growth experience and I’m looking forward to next semester!
Danya DubrowCompaine
Briggs Negron
Michelle Pu I had a great first year at Tufts University! I am planning to double major in Biology and Child Studies and Human Development on the premedical track. During school, I mentored with the organization Strong
Sarah Albert-Rozenberg
Indi Aufranc
Tina Gong
WINSOR FALL 2021 55
CLASS NOTES
Eva Shin
Eva Shin After graduation, I spent the summer working at a beekeeping company, helping with the Summer at Winsor basketball program, and spending time with my family! Beekeeping was supposed to be my ILE but didn’t work out due to COVID, so I was really excited that I had the opportunity to work there over the summer. I got to drive all over the state checking on people’s backyard beehives and then harvesting the honey. In the fall, I was lucky to get to attend Haverford College in person (although like many, all my classes were virtual). Between COVID, a campus-wide strike for racial justice, a concussion, and trying to acclimate to being out of state without the option to travel home due to the pandemic, it was certainly an unusual and challenging freshman year. Fortunately, I had a great roommate (whose grandmother taught at Winsor!) and had the opportunity to play lacrosse, a welcome change from spending so much time in my room. I’m happy to be home and to get to see friends in person for the first time in more than a year, and I’m looking forward to a more normal sophomore year!
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Shantel Teixeira
Shantel Teixeira Though this past year certainly defied all expectations, I learned so much about myself as an emotional being and dug into areas of my craft as a musician that I never thought I’d encounter before. Spending the entirety of my first year at Berklee College of Music in my bedroom and studying an aural art form through a computer screen felt so unnatural, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of having my exploration of the vast world of music as my primary focus. I also had the privilege of becoming a member of Treble Threat, Berklee’s only all-women & non-binary a cappella group! Though we never had the opportunity to sing in the same room, we were surprisingly able to accomplish so much in a virtual setting. I actually recently became President of the group as well so I am definitely looking forward to leading the group and performing in-person this upcoming year! Apart from college life, I’ve also released my first piece of original music and featured in a powerful song and music video with an artist friend of mine! Wishing all of us a more fruitful and promising year ahead :)
Ifeanyi Umunna Hi Class of 2020! Since we graduated, I have interned for a congressional campaign, completed my first year at American University where I’m majoring in political science, and am presently interning at the Baltimore Office of the Public Defender. Although my freshman year was remote, next year, I’ll be an RA for our on-campus Black Affinity Housing and a TA for my Leadership certificate program. I also serve on the executive board of our Black Student Union. On a fun note, I also learned how to make whipped cream from scratch! I hope everyone is well! Anahita von Andrian Since graduating, I have moved to New York City to study Film & Television Production at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and run my freelance corporate, commercial, and personal creative content production company. I directed a multi-phase creative “social-first” ad campaign for MUZE Music Inc, a platform for individuals to book live entertainment online over Zoom, directed
Ifeanyi Umunna
Audrey Wu
Anahita von Andrian
and produced three short silent experimental films, and wrote eight scripts (one of which is currently in production). I also helped create the pilot episode of Art Majors, a majority LGBTQ+ crew & cast TV show pushing for queer representation in the TV and media industry, as assistant director, executive producer, assistant editor, and graphics animator. I have spent a lot of valuable time this past year on my peer’s sets as a director of photography and continue to pursue independent creative visual projects through various mediums - photography, multi-dimensional animation, digital imaging, editing etc. Because the nature of filmmaking is so incredibly collaborative, I ran into plenty of challenges given the pandemic and social distancing. Navigating the exhausting and expensive road to ensuring COVID-19 precautions and standards were practiced on all
sets, big and small, required a higher level of organization, which I’d argue beneficially resulted in more precise filmmaking. Creating and collaborating on films this year was not for the faint of heart, but it wasn’t impossible, and in a way, forced me to develop as a creator in ways I may not have sans-pandemic. It will be interesting to see how I will apply and grow on these skills during the next academic year, hopefully post-pandemic. Audrey Wu Hello! I’m writing from London, currently pursuing a degree in composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. I’ve spent my past few weeks finishing up a new work, “receive | repeat | restore | redeem,” commissioned by The Halfmoon ensemble, who premiered my music at the Roslindale Substation on Wednesday,
June 23. This is part of a multimedia piece called “PrintWorks” that opened the annual summer concert series by SoHIP (Society for Historically Informed Performance). One of my other major projects this year was a work for full orchestra, recorded text, and fixed media titled “IN HONOR OF ETHEL.” The piece pays homage to British composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth, a notable figure in the history of classical music — and whose music I played in Winsor’s Community Ensemble under the baton of Ms. Rice! The work is a part of a larger initiative, the Illuminated River project, which is a massive art installation that lights up the bridges across the Thames River. We’ve been asked to write music to celebrate the project as a collaboration between the Guildhall School and the City of London.
WINSOR FALL 2021 57
REUNION BIOGRAPHIES
50TH REUNION
Class of 1971 1st row L-R: Mary Barnes, Elizabeth Nardi, Martha Gergely Picciotti, Elizabeth Colten, Patricia Elam, Anstiss Miller Wynn, Miss Wing, Barbara Gardner, Miss Dresser, Priscilla Olive Motley, Laura Potter Cahn, Hope Coolidge, Andrea Casner Stephens, Franny Wheeler-Berta. 2nd Row L-R: Sara Lacy, Catherine Rogers, Marie Ryburn Foster, Elisabeth Wright Wigglesworth, Barbara Clark McCartney, Cynthia Sortwell, Elizabeth Swartz, Ellen Pinderhughes, Pamela Parks McLaurin, Marilyn Dawson, Alice Agoos, Mary Sullivan, Amy Rappaport Arambula, Louise Riemer, Virginia King Greenwood, Augusta Mixter Edwards, Ellen O’Donnell Broggi, Margaret Quine McGovern. 3rd Row L-R: Kate Pratt Lapping, Susan Dean, Sarah Wilson, Patricia Green Dunn, Joy Beane Brieant, Barbara McLean O’Neil, Lucy Bradshaw, Martha Rhodes, Emily Feinberg, Nancy Braasch Allen, Susan Lafferty, Jennifer Slingerland Skeele, Luisa Hunnewell, Diane Souvaine, Andrea Frost Young, Pamela Jenney Taft, Linda Alles, Karen Gordon Mills, Wendy Harding French
58 WINSOR FALL 2021
Alice Agoos Fifty years ago, my graduation speech focused on friendship. I still believe that friends are the best part of my Winsor experience though I also appreciate how many opportunities have come my way thanks to Winsor instruction. Milestones: college, moving to New York for graduate school, writing jobs, marriage to Patrick Ryan, two children, Molly and Solomon; 28-years living in a NYC suburb with multiple volunteer commitments; co-founding a newsletter/conference business with my husband; surviving working together for 20 years and selling the business; becoming a Florida resident (while insisting I was too young); writing a children’s book (based on a Class VII French assignment); starting another blog/newsletter with my husband (looking into having my sanity checked); becoming a grandmother; spending much of the last four years
bemoaning the state of our country; thankful to visit our children on the West Coast, even last summer; hopeful we are making progress. Joy Beane Brieant After Winsor, I did a PG year at Andover, then Barnard College and Fordham Law School. Married to Charles Brieant; we have three children, the youngest, Emily, is a sophomore at Stanford, so I am still working. I have had a varied career path, starting out in a federal clerkship, moving on to a large law firm for 12 years, then eight years in academia, and nine years in judicial education. I am currently enjoying work as a court attorney referee in Westchester Surrogate’s Court, as well as continuing as an adjunct at Pace Law School. I clearly remember walking into the Winsor vestibule for my interview with Miss Knapp (!) when I was in 4th grade and deciding then and there
that I would go to Winsor. I had no idea about private schools and vaguely thought my parents might be sending me to a private school because there was something wrong with me, but I have never (before or since) been so certain of a decision. My eight years at Winsor were occasionally bumpy; especially in the lower school, I questioned whether I belonged. I value the excellent education, and I think often (and fondly) of our classmates. Laura Potter Cahn Overall adulthood has been very good to me. I recently retired from my dream job-staff attorney with the Juvenile Rights Practice of the Legal Aid Society. It turns out thirty-eight years representing abused and neglected children in Brooklyn Family Court was enough. I have been married thirty-seven years to a man who can be best described as a true soul mate. We have three sons, two daughters-in-law and two grandchildren. I have been able to indulge my passion of travel to unusual places including Mongolia, Madagascar, Greenland, Patagonia, Laos. We had a trip planned for Cambodia but covid got in the way. I am glad that Winsor is addressing the huge problem of racism in this society. I do worry, however, that perpetuating a system of small elite prep schools, no matter how integrated, actually does more to exacerbate rather than ameliorate systemic racism. Hope Coolidge Four years at Williams College (first admitted class of women, so immediately a sharp contrast to Winsor), emerging with a degree in Russian area studies/history, and the man I
would marry about 10 years later. We spent a year in Mark’s hometown of Louisville, KY, where I worked for the Lost Cause Press selling microfiche to universities. Then back to the Boston area and a job as business manager at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Then a Simmons MBA, followed by a variety of finance/CFO positions at some great nonprofits - National Consumer Law Center, Danforth Museum, Royal Oak Foundation in NYC, Central Square Theater, Boston Public Library Foundation. Now CFO at Star Island (based in Portsmouth, NH, so mostly remote). Two great children born somewhere between ISGM and the MBA: Emily, a learning technology specialist at the Harvard libraries, and Clayton, a structural engineer at SGH. We’ve traveled all over as a family, most recently to visit Mark’s family in France, with a side trip to Mont St Michel, a place I’d always wanted to see. Mark and I live on a dirt road in Sherborn, MA and spend a lot of time in the White Mountains of NH. Patricia Green Dunn It’s hard to believe that its been 50 years post Winsor! I am feeling blessed and content with the path I have traveled since graduation. I continued my education at Pine Manor ’73, Colby College ’75 and received an MBA from Babson College in ’77. Married Steve Dunn in 1978 (Belmont Hill ’70, Brown ’74). We raised 3 children in Wellesley and Needham. Somehow they followed in our footsteps: Melissa- Winsor ’98, Colby ’02, Rob- Belmont Hill ’01, Colgate ’05, Cornell ’10, and ScottBelmont Hill ’03, Brown ’07. During
the children’s school years, I was an active volunteer in their schools as well as with the Friends of Dana Farber and my garden club. I became interested in floral design and after many classes and workshops I joined Winston Flowers in their Wellesley location for 10 years. Steve joined a firm in Manhattan in 2005, and after a lifetime in Boston, we moved to Greenwich,CT. I became interested in garden design and studied to become a Certified Landscape Designer. I have been practicing on my own for the past 11 years. Steve retired at the end of 2019 and we now live full time in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. We have 4 beautiful grandchildren that bring us great joy. When I’m not working, I like to stay active and enjoy tennis, pickleball and golf. Patricia Elam-Walker First of all I still don’t understand how this happened. How it is our 50th reunion and how when I look in the mirror do I now see my mother even though I still feel 30ish on the inside? (My body would probably beg to differ, though.) But here we are at our 50th reunion. I have to say it was wonderful to see everyone (even on Zoom) and hear some of what people have been up to all these years. I have been back to visit and speak at Winsor a few times and I’m pleased with the strides it has made in terms of diversifying the faculty, staff and student body. I know it still has further to go and I’m glad younger folks are holding Winsor’s metaphorical “feet to the fire”. Pam McLaurin and I took gap years after Winsor, were roommates and only applied to colleges that began with “A” and were in the front of the college handbook. She went
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REUNION BIOGRAPHIES
to Antioch and I went to Adelphi. A big LOL but it turned out fine for us both. Even though I loved writing I couldn’t see the path forward so I did what many scared writers do—went to law school. Practiced for 16 years in Boston and Washington, DC where I ended up raising my three incredible children. Justin, 38, is an actor, writer and producer in LA; Denzel, 32, is a basketball golf coach at a private high school in VA; and Nile, 28 is a professional dancer currently working with a dance company in Seattle. They amaze me with how smart, creative and wise they are. And they are thoughtful, caring people doing good in the world. What more can you ask? No grandchildren, though, only grandpets. Oh and along the way, I’ve had three marriages. The one I’m in now is my last, I promise. He’s a lawyer I met when I was in law school some 40 whatever years ago. I wouldn’t date him then cause he was too nice. Lol again. We reconnected some 14 years ago and have been married 8 years. We live in Takoma Park, MD after I dragged him kicking and screaming from Boston. He’s retired but still teaching law, drawing cartoons and taking stunning photographs as he jogs and bikes around town. I teach fiction and creative non-fiction to my brilliant Howard University students and have begun writing children’s books, partly in honor of my mom, a children’s librarian. The first, Nana Akua Goes to School came out last summer and the second, Dream Street, will be published in September. I’m also finishing another adult novel, writing plays, essays and short stories. I love my life, want to stay healthy and travel to see more of this world. I just pray for enough time to do it all!
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Emily Feinberg I am fortunate to continue to have productive work and family close by. I have remained in Boston (Jamaica Plain) and work at BU Medical School doing mental health services research focused on improving primary care systems for vulnerable families. I also work as a pediatric nurse practitioner at a local health center. My kids live within walking distance. I get to see them and the 4 grandkids very often. Two years ago, my spouse who was also my best friend and colleague, died of pancreatic cancer after a brief 6 months. I never expected grief to be so difficult and could not have made it through without support of family and friends (including Winsor classmates). I love to escape to the woods to cross country ski and hike. Last winter (preCOVID), I squeezed in an amazing trip to Yellowstone National Park. The election was a high point of an otherwise hard year. It was great to engage the whole family in get out the vote efforts. I am so relieved by the change in country’s direction and impressed by the incredible work done by voting rights activists. I am encouraged about our collective reckoning with the racism and am cautiously optimistic about the future. Marie Ryburn Foster After almost 40 years of living in Annapolis, MD where our 4 children were raised, my husband Malcolm and I bought a 2nd home in Damariscotta, Maine - 5 miles away from his family’s summer home and near to his siblings. We are now both retired and divide our time between Maine and Annapolis, often stopping on the long drive to visit our son and 1 & 3 year old grandsons who live in the Boston area.
We spend as much time as possible either on the water or in our gardens, and look forward to the time when we can visit with friends and family in a Covid free world! Wendy Harding French Gosh, I can’t believe 50 years have past. I must say I have lived a great life. I have been married for 47 years to Jim French. (Ha ha, remember how poorly I did in French.) We live in Southborough MA, and have raised six children, two boys, and four girls. The boys work as landscapers, two girls are nurses, one a teacher, and one a nanny. We did it. Love having a big family. They all live near, except for one who is in NC, living by the beach, where we tend to go for our vacations. The oldest got married 4 year ago, and the fifth one got married two years ago. Last Fall we were blessed with our first grandchild, a boy, who lives about 1/2 hour away. It is so nice to see him a lot, especially during these turbulent times. During the years, I have watched other people’s children for extra cash, and cashiered at BJ’s. Otherwise, I was a stay at home mom raising my children. Jim and I became Christians 40+ years ago, and have been very active in our church over the years, and made most of our friends there. Strange watching Church on Facebook and Zooming Bible Studies. We love to grow vegetables, read thrillers, and go camping. Virginia King Greenwood After leaving Winsor, I attended Penn, where, as a sophomore, I began dating Rick, the man I later married. We were in DC for a few years after graduation. I worked first as a volun-
teer, then as paid staff, for Legal Aid as a paralegal and manager of the Family Branch office. We moved to Providence RI after marrying in 1978 for Rick to attend Grad School at Brown. Vowing never to work domestic relations again, I had several menial jobs before ending up back as a paralegal, doing Domestic Relations again and worked for the same attorney, at two different firms until my retirement. Rick and I had three kids, Molly, Sam and Lucy, and I now have three grandsons. I lost Rick to cancer in 2014 and still miss him terribly. However, I live in one of the most beautiful and serene places on earth (Little Compton, Rhode Island) am very active in my new community and have taken several great trips with Jennie Slingerland Skeele and Margaret Quine McGovern and since Covid we’ve been zooming regularly. Luisa Hunnewell 50 years ago, a lifetime since we graduated, but it’s gone so quickly. After Winsor, college, business school (no business background, but could write a coherent argument thanks to Winsor and managed to get through) and then long stints at Chemical Bank and Willowridge Partners (an investment business I built from the ground up with my brother-in-law). A couple of years in Madrid, but basically have lived in NYC where I married, and we brought up two wonderful children. Over the years I was lucky enough to convince my husband that Wellesley would be a good ultimate home. We’ve just retired and moved back, across the street from where I grew up. Retirement so far is not what we expected, but
it ultimately will be. We are blessed with health, family and friends, trips to visit our children and new granddaughter in California and hopefully further explorations as things open up. We have lots to do and learn in taking care of a big garden and look forward to becoming more involved in a variety of different Boston organizations with interests ranging from horticulture to social support networks - all things I missed in an all too busy work environment. Susan Lafferty At commencement in 1971, wearing my non-white dress proudly, I watched the 50th reunion class file in and wondered what I would be like when I celebrated my own. Now I know. Here are the highlights: Graduated Bard College 1975. After a brief stint in advertising, I joined the training program at Filene’s in Boston. After my first horrendous day, which was also the blizzard of ’78, I spent the next week at home wondering if I had made the wrong choice. That marked the beginning of a 37-year career in the fashion world. Along the way I managed to I marry, move to Connecticut, have three children, run the Boston Marathon, resume my career in NYC, lose a husband to cancer, become a single parent, move to Martha’s Vineyard to recalibrate, return to Connecticut, re marry, relocate to the Berkshires, and reinvent myself for this next chapter. Fashion and design still play a major role in everything I do- gutting and renovating two houses in Stockbridge, writing a blog and speaking in public. I am now a Realtor, a grandmother of three and wonder if I am really as old as Miss Dresser.
Kate Pratt Lapping How to compress 50 years into 200 words? After graduating I ended up in India after an overland journey full of misadventures (my passport stolen in Afghanistan in the middle of winter was one of many...). I heard about Vipassana meditation courses from some of the other western hippies and it was like a fire had been lit. I sat my first course in Dalhousie in 1972 and found a wonderful tool for the rest of my life. Fast forward to 1982 when a group of us founded the first Vipassana Meditation center in the US, located in Shelburne, Massachusetts. The property had an old house and barn on 8 acres of land and we didn’t have a clue what we were doing! But we were all young and enthusiastic and somehow it all worked out. Now the center has facilities for 155 people, with 10-day residential courses every two weeks. Barry and I married in 1982 and we are the head teachers for this center as well as one in Delaware. It has been a satisfying life so far! If anyone is interested you can see the center at: www.dhara.dhamma.org and I’d be happy to give you a tour. Margaret Quine McGovern Following college, I moved to New York City for a few crazy years in advertising, before driving cross-country to San Francisco, where I still live. Worked some more in advertising before making a switch. Had a wonderful 7 month back-packing trip in New Zealand with Jim, and got married in Vermont after we returned. We have a son Grant (35) and daughter Ashley (32). I have been working for Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute for about 20 years, supporting a couple of research teams and
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coordinating the Institutional Review Board. Traveling has been a passion, internationally and our National Parks. I’ve enjoyed being in a flute choir for a number of years. I have kept up with a few close Winsor friends, notably Sarah Wilson, Jennie Slingerland Skeele and Ginny King, and Jeannette Herrmann. I really wish we could all be getting together in person for our reunion. It was such a special time ten years ago. Pamela Parks McLaurin When my second life at Winsor ended in June 2020 after 18 years as Director of Admission & Financial Aid, I decided to spend time becoming a better artist. A juried review of five of my sculptures earned me membership into the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) along with an invitation to join the Massachusetts chapter (NAWAMA). I showed pieces in two group exhibitions this past fall in the SOWA art district galleries here, in Boston. My husband Bill and I hope to move to Savannah, Georgia by the end of 2021 where we bought a home, sight unseen, in 2019. 9,000 artsy fartsy students study at SCAD contributing to Savannah’s wonderfully eclectic (and quite ‘blue’) southern city. Our daughter, Evan Joy ’12, will continue teaching health full-time at Winsor. Barbara McLean O’Neil Writing, reading and art have been life-long pleasures for me. Perhaps it began with handwritten notes passed in secret in the Winsor School library, or memorizing The Lake Isle of Innisfree for a seventh grade assignment. Singing Handel’s Messiah, two glee clubs joined one
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Martha Gergely Picciotti After graduation from Winsor I received a BA in arts focusing on architecture from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. This was followed by a move to Los Angeles where I earned a master’s degree in architecture from the UCLA School of Urban Planning and Architecture in 1981. For the next 3 years I remained in Los Angeles working for various architectural firms with a focus on residential design. In 1984 I decided to escape from the city life of Los Angeles and moved to Mammoth Lakes, California to ski and practice architecture. I met my husband Ron on the slopes and joined him in Ventura, California where he was working for Chevron Oil Company. We were married in 1987 in the house I grew up in Nahant. From 1985 to 1993 I worked for several architectural and development firms in Santa Barbara and obtained my California architectural license in 1987. In 1993 I founded my own practice based in
winter evening. Reviewing lists of Latin vocabulary with a friend as we trudged home from school. English essays returned with teacher comments; “Give more detail.” And so I did, and still do. With a colleague, I created a library at the newly formed Atrium School and taught literature, folklore and research to young students. I made books by hand with my two daughters, sewing bindings with waxed thread, and filling the pages with writing and drawing. Now I do the same with my three year-old granddaughter. Over the years, I have developed my own writing practice, studying with many teachers. I now lead writing groups locally, prodding others to share their authentic stories. I run a yearly retreat, Deepening the Writing Life, gathering writers from across the country in Taos, New Mexico. In 2020, my writing classes on Zoom brought us closer in a year of isolation. David and I have lived in the same place for forty years. Roots deep in Lincoln soil. 1
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1/2. Pam McLaurin sculptures; Head is named “Act III” and the hands are “Stop! #MeToo”
Ventura specializing in custom residential architecture. We purchased a vacant lot on the Ventura hillside in 1999. Together with my husband acting as owner/builder I designed and Ron supervised the construction of our house with attached office overlooking the Pacific coastline. We love it here, although I will always be an east coaster at heart. Ron works with me in the practice. We have two cats and no children. I stay busy with my work as an architect, my passion developing the Ventura Botanical Gardens, practicing yoga and making pottery - I always wished Winsor had a ceramics studio. My life is full and fulfilling. Ellen Pinderhughes How to distill 50 years’ highlights into 200 words- here goes...My Winsor years were so formative not just in excellent academic preparation, but also in navigating White spaces, which I have done through most of my academic and professional career. Early career: day care 3
3. Ellen Pinderhughes ’71
teacher and director, psychologist/ therapist. Professor in academia since 1989: Cleveland State, Vanderbilt and Tufts Universities, with some administration as department chair and interim Chief Diversity Officer. At Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Study and Human Development, I study cultural processes in/contextual influences on parenting in families facing challenging circumstances. Teaching focuses on promoting understanding of our social identities and systemic marginalization in culturally sensitive interactions and research. Also teach in Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Program. Love mentoring young professionals. My personal update: lived in Colorado, Connecticut, Ohio and Tennessee, am now in Brookline with my husband, Bernard Greene (now retired, Chair of Brookline’s Select Board). My children have been highlights of my life as I loved each of their developmental stages. Olivia lives in Brooklyn with her partner; she’s an international lawyer. Marshall lives in Boston with his wife and attends UMass part-time. Love meditating, yoga, sunrises and sunsets, walking, swimming, movies and reading. Treasure my friendships. Martha Rhodes Oh, rather than look back at the year, I’d rather look ahead—more poems to write, students to teach, friends to get together with—after too long apart—a move out of—but an inch away from NYC, more trips around this troubled but hopefully healing country. We are, at this writing, doing well in our NYC loft in Tribeca. We will move to a house we own in NJ, ground level rather than walk up (though I will miss our loft). A
garden—for this New Yorker, that’s something to really look forward to. And a splendid view of Manhattan which I have grown to love, though I am, in my blood, always a 10-miles-southwest- of-Boston Bostonian. Let’s get together in 2022 for real. Sick of this virtual stuff. Jennifer Slingerland Skeele My “Winsor” numbers: 50 years since graduating, 8 as a student, 44 (and counting) teaching English (from class III to seniors), and another 12 as a Winsor parent while daughters Kate and Anna attended. Have I had any non-Winsor years? Six: four in college, two post college before returning to Winsor to teach and learn ever since. Winsor’s English Department became “home” when I had Judy Robbins. After I married Charlie in 1975, I’ve loved watching our two daughters grow up, and now, at last, I’m relishing perhaps my favorite role as Granny to Kate’s kids, Henry (8) and Eliza (5) and Anna’s kids Zoë (3), and Ava (1.5). I have found and done what I have loved most, filling my years with teenagers, books, and new ideas. I’ve also done some traveling (though not enough), some skiing (again, not enough), and am now embarking on learning to sail our small sailboat. Ginny and Margaret, my nearly lifelong friends, have become my spring break trip buddies. We look forward to more travel when the world re-opens. Winsor, it turns out, has done more than start my life; it has been, in large measure, my life, for which I am grateful. Cynthia Sortwell “Oh the places we’ll go and the paths we’ll travel.” I could never have imag-
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ined my life 50 years post graduating from Winsor. After a year in Paris and graduation from Boston University, I was fortunate enough to have gotten into medical school at Washington University followed by a residency in Pediatrics in Rochester NY, and then to practice in Portland Maine. After four years of ear infections and a curiosity about the mind, I went back and trained as a child and adult psychiatrist both on the west coast and here in Portland, Maine where I continue to practice. In my thirties, I was extremely fortunate to meet my spouse, Jessie who was up for adopting an infant from Cambodia now a 22 year old adult. My family is the thing that I am most grateful for, as they are loving, generous and forgiving. I will say that I’ve never lost my love of the outdoors or of physical activity which keeps me sane. The years at Winsor with the small classes and caring teachers were such a solid and important foundation to the rest of my life. Mary Sullivan A quick recap of 50 years. A wonderful husband, two terrific daughters, and now a son-in-law, a grandchild, and another on the way. Throughout these years school, work, and family have brought me across the country from Alaska to Detroit to Montana to Philly to Kentucky. Visiting children and various nieces and nephews has meant sleeping in the desert of Wadi Rum, walking through the markets of Arusha, Tanzania, and visiting health clinics in the KwaZulu Natal of South Africa. What a big, gorgeous world. My career path was set early by a wonderful father who urged me to go to law school at age 16, and
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by Miss Elma Lewis, founder of the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Roxbury, who came to the school in the late ‘60s and urged those of us who were interested in social justice to go out and work with the white communities from which we came. And so, after working for a few years after getting out of college, I became a labor lawyer. I worked with the building trades unions here in Greater Boston to expand the training programs and their membership to include more women and people of color, and represented employees in employment discrimination cases, among other things. After nearly three decades of that work a lucky star appeared, and my application to the bench was accepted by Governor Deval Patrick. I have served on our state intermediate appeals court for a decade and will retire upon reaching mandatory retirement age in two years. Perhaps then this pandemic will be over and I can board an airplane again to travel the world again. Our years at the school were difficult ones both in the world at large and within the walls of Pilgrim Road. Like many of you I have not returned, except for the presentation organized by Ellen at our 25th reunion, as moving and important and event as one could attend. But I made lifelong friends. And the education we received, from teachers like Sylvia Sherman (RIP), Nancy Leverich (RIP), and Judy (Wortham) Robbins rivaled any class I took anywhere, including those I took at Amherst College as a five college visiting student. They gave me the career and the life I now have. They taught us to think and they taught us to write. What rare gifts.
Frances Wheeler-Berta Hello all! I feel compelled to write given the weighty and dubious distinction of 50 years - Long story short, my professional and civic life has been focused on advocacy; I worked for 25 years as teacher/counselor and administrator at an alternative high school and also co-founded a non profit that supports teens in the mid coast Maine community I’ve called home (and where we raised our family). Fast forward to 2015 when I found myself in Tucson, working with asylum seekers at Casa Alitas, a shelter that provides food, clothing and goodwill. It is an extraordinary place and one where we experience the best of humanity each day. I’m glad to be in touch with a few classmates online and wish all of you the very best! Sending much love to you all. Sarah Wilson After college, I worked at the Opera Company of Boston’s costume shop, in the North End, where women still chatted with one another out of their windows. Moved to Chapel Hill, NC, a place full of old time and bluegrass musicians, where I took up fiddle and the guitar. Day and nightlong music parties at old farmhouses in the country, and camp-out festivals throughout the South, where jamming was the main activity. I am still playing music. After nursing school, I worked as an RN at Duke University Hospital, on psychiatry and surgery floors. After my MSW, moved to Seattle and worked at community mental health and family counseling agencies and as a psychiatric social worker in the ER. Major obsessions were aikido and the fiddle. I had six years of training with a gifted aikido
teacher, then left, with a few others, in the wake of his improprieties. We renovated a new practice space and started our own dojo, now thriving. Later, I moved to San Francisco. In 2016 I lost my sister Anne, Winsor ’66, who died from multiple autoimmune disorders. I’m partnered with a man I knew through music, a widower and father of three. Lately I’ve been “orthopedically challenged”, but I hope soon I can get back to hiking. I am hugely relieved to have a new president in place.
wanted to do - public school teaching. I taught middle school science until 2018 and loved just about every minute. I retired on schedule to help manage my mother’s increasing needs. I continued to present special projects in the schools and take some long-term subbing up until 2020. My husband and I live on acreage on the Big Walnut Watershed in west central Indiana. We raise bees and flowers, garden, hike, drive tractors and enjoy visits from grandchildren.
Anstiss Miller Wynn After my father died in late 1971, I took a year in between Winsor and college to gather my wits, focus on new goals, really, to find myself. That took an awfully long time. However my journey through a decades-long sampling platter gave me experiences that eventually turned into resume builders and stories to tell my students, children and grandchildren. I developed an interest in agriculture during my senior year at Winsor. I pursued that topic with college education in small steps, interspersed with life experiences and jobs. I married, had two sons, and owned a sheep farm in upstate NY for a few years. I also worked in a large animal clinic. Eventually, as a newly single mother, my interests turned to education. When my youngest entered 1st grade, I transferred into Cornell and graduated in 1991 with a degree in Agriculture, General Science and Biology education. We moved to Indiana in 1991. I married again 1992. I worked as an education programs manager at the Indianapolis Zoo, ran a small business with my husband, then finally arrived at what I really
25TH REUNION
Class of 1996 Sarah Melvoin Bridich Although still a New Englander at heart, Denver definitely feels like home at this point. My husband, Jeff, and I have spent over 15 years here and our kids (Ben and Maya, ages 12 and 11) consider themselves Coloradans. When we first came out West, I was a high school administrator and history teacher. As the kids arrived, I pivoted back to grad school (in Ed Leadership); since graduating, I have worked in a non-profit, conducted research on education leadership, taught as an adjunct professor, served on multiple non-profits Boards (charter school, independent school, and non-profit) and am currently exploring the intersection between civic engagement and education. I also spend a great deal of time shuttling the kids around town (and am thankful that this is even possible) and watching Rockies baseball games. While it would be lovely to connect in person, I am grateful that we can gather virtually.
Liese Fritze Brown It’s hard to believe that we graduated 25 years ago. After Winsor, I took a gap year to travel around the world. Then it was onto college where I rowed for two years, played squash for two years and met my husband Dave. Two months after graduation, I was a third grade teacher in the South Bronx as part of the New York City Teaching Fellows. And here I am twenty years later...a third grade teacher! I’ve worked in public, charter and private schools in NYC and LA, where we currently live. Thankfully, my school schedule allows us to get back to the east coast for the summer so we can connect with family and friends. Our three kids think that 60 degrees is cold and that swimming outdoors all year is normal. Lucky them! Hope we see one another at an in-person reunion soon. Catherine Connolly After graduation, I earned my BS from Reed College, MS from NYU, and MBA from Simmons SOM. I am now the VP, Development at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, where I oversee fundraising efforts, community engagement and benefits, and the plans for an upcoming campaign. Previously, I was the Director of Development at Milton Academy, where I am proud to have managed the most ambitious campaign in the school’s history. Earlier, I was the CDO at Horizons for Homeless Children in Roxbury, MA and the DOD at the Sloan School of Management, MIT. When at Winsor, I lived in Jamaica Plain, and I still do! My husband, Sander Cohan, and I have lived there together since 2004. We welcomed son Peter in 2010 and
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First row (L-R): C. Connolly, R.Bobruff, M. Mohiuddin, K. Chisholm, D. McHenry, A. Dickinson, K. Robison, E. Hubbard, E. Springer, S. Casseus, S. Flier, K. Werbe-Bates, S. Ragovin-Polonsky, A. Katz, J. Topalian, A. Fenlon, M.White-Hammond, S. Holiday. Second row (L-R): A. Bradley, S. Rothberg, J. Frashure, L. Walsh, M. D’Ambra, A. Light, N. Seiler, H. Collins, C. Pagitsas, A. Lee, Mrs. Bezan, Mrs. Peter, N. King, A Day, S. Boxer, M. Pagano, A. Sarango-Petruccelli, A. Chick, E. Hart, E. Botsford, E. Young. Third row (L-R): S. Tobin, S. Melvoin, S. Boardman, E. Sousa, D. Croffy, J. Harding, C. Murphy, C. Morgan, M. Cleary, J. Holzman, E. Brownell, J. Mendillo, A Pearlman, E. Lewis, L.Fritze, A Cherkerzian, A. Penta, Z. Vilakazi, B. Wong, S. Grice, V. Galvanek-Goldman, N. Abdulrazak, K. Stone, H. Smyth, L. Pitarys
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Louis in 2013. Most recently, our sheepadoodle Popper joined the gang just in time for pandemic therapy in March 2020. We also enjoy our home in the Berkshire woods. Abigail Day To sum up 25 years in a paragraph... After college, I moved to Chicago where I started my career working for an MEP firm as an HVAC engineer and project manager. I worked in a variety of buildings in the Chicago area including the Sears(Willis) Tower. I left Chicago in 2008, drove across the country for 2 months touring baseball stadiums, national landmarks and returning to Massachusetts in time to help my sister Caroline ’92 plan her wedding. I started a new job in Boston (same type of firm) right before the
2008-2009 collapse. I learned a lot at that firm about what to do and what not to do in a company. I quit that job in early 2019 to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I fell into my current job at Vantage Technology through my network. It’s been an amazing ride over the last 18 months starting a new job, being promoted to Design & Engineering Business Leader and a pandemic. I’m looking forward to a summer of seeing family, friends and being outside. Sarah Flier I majored in Biology and Philosophy at Brandeis and met my now husband on the first day of my 4 years on the varsity fencing team. After college, I moved to NYC for medical school and then residency at Mount Sinai. I returned to my roots for GI training
at BIDMC and have been on faculty since graduating in 2010. Today, I clinically focus on patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and direct both Quality Improvement and the GI Fellowship Training Program for my Division. I also have multiple teaching roles at Harvard Medical School including co-director of one of the pre-clinical GI courses. I am certainly never bored but often sleep deprived! My most rewarding endeavor, however, is being mom to Penelope (9) and Linus (5.5). Even on the most exhausting days, their warm hugs and keen observations about the world keep me grounded, happy and hopeful for the future. Katherine Flynn After attending Winsor, I graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon. I then earned a BA in Sociology from Stanford and an MA in Sociology from Duke, where I met my husband, Corey. I then worked in several industries (real estate, university administration). In 2013, I returned to school, this time for a law degree. I now work as a federal prosecutor. Corey and I live in South Carolina with our daughters Natalia (17) and Alexandra (14). Jennifer Harding Fritz I have been living in Washington DC for the past 15 years with my family, where I work in residential real estate for Sotheby’s. My three children are 12, 9 and 6 now. We travel to Boston often to see family and friends. During Covid, it has been fun to do a virtual book group with my Winsor friends. I am in frequent touch with Meghan Cleary Hamilton, Sarah Boardman Pendergast, Molly D’Ambra (who I see often in DC),
Erin Sousa Guden and Christina Morgan. Hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to connecting this spring. Meghan Cleary Hamilton I live in Dedham with my husband Peter and our three children, Henry (9.5), Gus (8), and Georgia (2.5). After graduating from Williams, I worked in investment banking before realizing that I really wanted to be back in a school community like Winsor. I have worked at Noble and Greenough School for the last 16 (!) years where I am Associate Director of College Counseling. I love helping kids and families, and I feel really lucky to be part of such a strong community. In my free time, I love cheering my kids on at their sporting events and spending time together as a family. I also connect with Winsor girls any chance I can—Jennifer Harding Fritz, Sarah Boardman Pendergast, Molly D’Ambra Michael, Christina Morgan Cahoon, and Erin Sousa Guden. Our text chain has gotten me through the Pandemic. Can’t wait to reconnect with everyone at Reunion! Lydia Walsh Kogler Twenty-five years have flown by! I met my husband in business school and after graduation moved to Manhattan to work for American Express in product marketing. Jordan and I spent five wonderful years exploring the city, before moving back to Boston. We were able to work remotely for AMEX and wanted to be closer to my parents as we started our own family. We have three children (Jack 8, Caroline 7, & Liza 3) and we live in Belmont. I am currently
home raising our kids and busy with PTA, coaching, and Town Meeting activities. It will be nice to see classmates via Zoom for our reunion, but I am eager for a time when we can all gather in person again safely. Elizabeth Lewis I live in Washington, DC, with my husband, David Fahrenthold, and two daughters, Alexandra (9) and Stella (5). We have lived in DC (except for two years) since college, and it now feels like home, though we get to Boston often to see my parents. I recently joined Blackstone as a Managing Director of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). Prior to that, I led external engagement on climate change and impact investing for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group. I have spent my career in sustainable and impact investing. I serve as a Harvard Alumni Association Committee Member; for several years I co-chaired the Harvard Schools Committee for our area - a big job that allowed me to connect with this city in new and rewarding ways. I also serve as a Trustee of the Nature Conservancy’s MD/DC Chapter, on the Winsor Corporation, and as Vice President of the Stella P. Holt Foundation. I hold an AB in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. I feel fortunate that my education (Winsor included!) prepared me so well for my work and for the world we live in. I continue to be grateful for the friendships, education and opportunities Winsor provided me and hope to see class-of-1996ers in person soon!
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Adrienne Penta Lissner While 25 years has passed, I have stayed close to Winsor, completing two terms on the Board of Trustees last year. In my professional life, over the past 13 years I have held various positions at Brown Brothers Harriman after leaving law firm life in 2008. My most rewarding role by far has been founding and managing the BBH Center for Women & Wealth for the purpose of supporting women as they create and manage wealth. The financial services industry has not always done a good job for women, but Winsor taught us that all women should have a seat at the table! Personally, I live in Charlestown with my ever-supportive husband Dan, 6-year-old daughter, 9-year-old son and our excessively friendly labradoodle puppy. I feel fortunate to remain close with several Winsor friends and look forward to connecting with others during this reunion year. Johanna Mendillo Hi everyone and happy 25th! I live three traffic lights away from Winsor with my family. After Cornell, I came back to Boston and worked on Boston Harbor and the Harbor Islands for a few fun years. Then, I went to Harvard and got my Master’s in Education. I have been teaching middle school science at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science (one of the three Boston Exam Schools) for the last 16 years. I try to take everything wonderful about Winsor that I experienced, and the leadership qualities Winsor nurtured in me, into both my teaching and my advocacy at the faculty and district-wide level... particularly import-
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ant this year! I still love the Red Sox, still love to travel, sing, and bake, still bike on Block Island every chance I get, and have enjoyed passing down BU Hockey fanaticism to my kids!
time at an enterprise SaaS company. It’s a fun challenge but I’ve been too busy. I look forward to slowing things down this year and also reconnecting with my Winsor classmates!
Molly D’Ambra Michael After studying International Relations in college and moving to New York City in 2001, I was inspired by the September 11th attacks to go into counterterrorism as a federal government analyst. I’ve spent a lot of the past two decades between the federal government and the New York Police Department in this field. My most exciting adventure, however, has been having identical twin girls, Aliza and Zoey. I’ve been lucky enough to keep in touch with Winsor classmates. As the years go by, I feel increasingly thankful for the nurturing, challenging environment that we all shared on Pilgrim Road.
Arden O’Connor First, I hope that your families are safe and healthy. This past year has brought laughter (the purchase of a THIRD, crazy puppy), sadness (loss of my aunt to COVID), returns to childhood (quarantined with my parents for 10 mos) and gratitude for friends, family and a job that I love. After switching jobs three times in three years after business school, it’s a miracle that I still run O’Connor Professional Group ten years later (celebrating our anniversary this July). The work continues to be challenging, interesting, rewarding and my team has made me into a better leader. I’m moving into a new home this summer in preparation to have a child on my own, a decision I made in the last two years. It’s not the journey to parenthood I imagined—we didn’t discuss (frozen embryos and surrogates in my Catholic Sunday school), but I am very excited about it. I look forward to our reunion! Love, Arden
Alexandra Pearlman Michel After MIT, I attended Stanford where I met my husband, Raphael. I started my career in San Diego at HP and since then have worked at startups in Product Management and Product Design. Raphael and I moved back to the SF Bay Area after we got married in 2006 and have been living in Palo Alto for over 13 years. We speak English and French at home with our daughter Sophie (12), and son Remy (9). And our goldendoodle, Koda! I fundraise and volunteer at the kids’ school and pre-pandemic, coached the kids’ softball & baseball teams. I developed a vegan protein bar throughout 2020 and launched the brand, Zuda Bar, this past winter while working full-
Chrissa Pagitsas Since graduating from Winsor, I’ve lived in and around the Washington, DC area with frequent travel abroad. While I landed in the energy and consulting fields serendipitously after college, they served as the foundation for my career in sustainable financing, energy efficiency and environmental, social, governance (ESG). Most recently I founded and led the Green Bond business and ESG strategy at Fannie Mae. Now I am writing a
book on Chief Sustainability Officers at global corporations and consulting independently on sustainability and ESG. At home, Lee and I have two boisterous boys, Cosmo and Felix, and have muddled through pandemic parenting as best we could! It’s been wonderful being in touch with Winsor friends over the last 25 years and I look forward to in-person reunions soon. Alyssa Chick Penwell After leaving Winsor in 1996 and graduating from Georgetown in 2000, I moved to England to pursue a master’s degree at Oxford. Although a one-year program, I am still in London 20 years later. While living in England, I married my husband (a native Californian), qualified as an English solicitor, and had two wonderful daughters - Emma (9 years) and Sophie (8 years). I continued to work after having the girls and am now Global Head of Funds-Legal for a Swiss-based asset management firm. Back in 1996, I never could have predicted that my life would go in this direction. To those lucky girls still at Winsor, my advice to you is actively seek opportunity, take risks, travel the world, and for God’s sake, listen to your parents — they are so much wiser than you give them credit for! Katherine Stone Sonnenborn Hello class of 1996! I live in NYC with my husband Jonah, and our three children Stella (10), Tait (8) and Noah (5). After falling in love with art history at Winsor, I studied the subject at Dartmouth and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and went on to a career in museums and the visual arts. I am currently in my ninth
year as co-director of Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, a residency program for emerging visual artists from around the world. Susannah Barton Tobin A quarter-century sure sounds like a milestone! With the way time plays tricks on us, though (never more so than in the pandemic), it could have been yesterday that we left the courtyard as Winsor graduates. In one way or another, I’ve spent these last twenty-five years in education (first as student and now as teacher, administrator, advisor). I’ve thus grown only more appreciative of the superlative education we all received on Pilgrim Road and how much work went into providing it. And, as ever, I’m grateful beyond measure for the friendships that began in homeroom and persist to this day. So many alums in the Class of 1996 and others have helped make this challenging world better through their commitment to truth, science, and equality. I think often of Winsor’s worthy goal of educating competent, responsible, generous-minded young women and still work on living up to it. Sasha Polonsky Tulgan After two decades of living outside of MA, I’ve finally returned to the Boston area and I can’t wait to take my kids to Head of the Charles (especially when social gatherings return in force). Ben (5) and Sid (3) are loving living five minutes away from their cousins and their aunt Rachel (Polonsky) Sundet ’99. I am enjoying working at Harvard Law School and eating a ton of Mamaleh’s cuisine. I look forward to reconnecting with classmates this spring—and before long, in person!
Zamile Vilakazi After 20+ years of living and working in New York City, I moved to the Boston area in 2019 with my husband and two daughters (currently 7 and 2). I returned to begin a new role as Head of Integrated Production at Arnold - a Boston based ad agency. My time in NY was (almost) everything I had hoped it would be when I settled there after college. I spent my junior year away from Spelman on exchange with BU in Madrid, and also at NYU. I fell in love with both cities, but decided a domestic life was the one for me. I’ve spent my entire career in advertising. My job as a broadcast producer allowed me to travel around the country and the world making ads for just about every type of product you can imagine, and also enabled me to get my SAG card. I’ve shot campaigns for giant brands as well as small non-profits, and have enjoyed (almost) every one. I am no longer at Arnold, but I’m so glad that the opportunity brought me back home. Still based in Boston, I’ve been Head of Production at an agency headquartered in Atlanta since September 2020. In the 25 years since I left Winsor, I’ve been able to keep in touch with some of you, and look forward to reconnecting with many more. Stay Healthy and well. Mariama White-Hammond I went from Winsor to Stanford and back to Boston in 2001 to become the Executive Director of a youth social justice arts organization, Project HIP-HOP. In 2014, I left PHH to go to BU School of Theology and was ordained an elder in the AME Church in 2017. Now I pastor New Roots AME Church, a multiracial, multiclass, LGBTQ+ affirming congregation
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REUNION BIOGRAPHIES
in Dorchester. Always the activist I have continued to be engaged on many justice issues with a heavy focus on ecological justice. I’ve been married to Turahn Dorsey since 2007. We have a consulting practice and are owners in a cooperative farm in NH. I love knitting, gardening, scuba diving, jam-making, canning and candle-making. I have finally accepted that I can’t make a 26 hour day and am working to lean into the beauty of sacred Sabbath. Emily Young Williams I’m happily living in Andover, Mass., with my husband, Nick, and our two children: Ben, 7, and Callie, 9. I’ve worked in the communications and advancement offices at Brooks School for the past 12 years. Hope all of our classmates are doing well!
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Hilary Smyth Wirtz So amazed that 25 years have passed — hello to classmates near and far! After college, I stayed in the Boston area and worked in and around the city in advancement first at Harvard and then at Milton Academy and Concord Academy. I married my husband Mike in 2004 and we have two children Charlie (9) and Frances (7) and a rescue pup, Hudson. Five years ago we moved to Tarrytown, NY and live on campus at Hackley School where Mike is Head of School. We stay connected to New England through my job working remotely for New England Conservatory of Music and spending time at our house on Cape Cod. And we remain firm Red Sox fans even in NY!
1st Row (L-R) W. Wang, E. Garcia, A. Mitchell, S. Levitova, J. Smith, S. Gonzalez, L. Ferrara, L. Kokotailo, P. Stoddard, E. Lucas, L. 2nd Row (L-R) L. Abrams, D. Howland, J. Hyman, Susannah Ryan, S. Brock- Wilson, Rachel Friis Stettler, M. Ferguson, Kate Grant, L. Lu, C. Downs. 3rd Row (L-R) M. Hanrahan, S. McEvoy, K. Bulger, K. Subramanyam, M. He, H. Yu, G. Olson, R. Bernstein, A. Michalowski , L. Mitchell, J. Callahan, V. Simmons. 4th Row (L-R) H. Moulton, H. Galvin, E. Claro, C. Nockleby, R. Benjamin-Pollack, S. Eyuboglu, S. Coleman, M. Johnson, A. Horvitz, A. Navarro, G. Guarino. 5th Row (L-R) A. Edwards, P. Lev, C. Evans, M. Chin, A. Jin, C. Gu, Y. Inam, J. Rando, W. Lu, H. Murray, E. Kania, E. MacLean, E. Gangemi, C. Farkas
10TH REUNION
Class of 2011 Zoe Bulger I have been Boston-based since 2015 (although on the other side of the river in Cambridge and now Somerville). Professionally I am pursuing a career focused on racial equity and systems change, including time at The Bridgespan Group, City of Chicago Mayor’s Office of Equity in Racial Justice, and the Harvard Kennedy School. If you are working in the social sector loosely defined, I’d love to connect! When not working, I spend my time running (on trails nearby Boston as much as I can) (some things don’t change!) and hosting loud, wine-filled dinner parties (at least pre-COVID). Sarah Coleman I just finished my first year of Business School at Columbia University. This summer I will be heading to Chicago to intern with the Boston Consulting Group, specifically to focus on consumer packaged goods and food and beverages. Prior to business school, I was a multi-asset trader at JPMorgan in the Private Bank responsible for ultra high net worth client accounts and relationships. Out of undergrad I worked at Berkshire Capital, a boutique M&A advisory firm in NYC. I graduated from Columbia College in 2015 with a bachelors in Economics-Philosophy. In my spare time, I enjoy riding my road bike with friends in Central Park or along the Hudson River. Alexandra Horvitz Alex Horvitz is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration at
Harvard Business School. While completing her degree, Alex is a part of the founding team of Put Me In!—a nonprofit focused on providing access to sports for children of incarcerated parents. She also worked as the Director of Operations for fitness-tech startup Struct Club. Before business school, Alex worked as a consultant in Accenture Strategy’s Communications, Media, and Technology group. She completed her undergraduate studies at Tufts University with a dual-degree in Economics and Psychology and a minor in Communications. Alex is a certified spin instructor with a passion for all things fitness, music, food, and travel. Julia Hyman I graduated from Harvard College ’15 with a degree in primatology and then worked in a lab at MIT for a year before going to Harvard Medical School ’20. I guiltily walked by Winsor nearly daily for 4 years and finally poked my head in for the pre-COVID UTL. I am now a resident in internal medicine at UMass Memorial in Worcester and quite happy. I’ve crossed paths with many, wonderful Winsor Women over these past 10 years. Anna Michalowski 2021 is a busy year for me— I graduated medical school from Tufts University School of Medicine, and I will be starting my orthopedic surgery residency at Tufts Medical Center this summer! Haley Moulton Hard to believe it’s really been 10 years. Since graduation I’ve made my way up to New Hampshire—major-
ing in biology modified with ethics at Dartmouth undergrad, and I’m finishing up my last year of medical school at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Dartmouth is finally getting rid of me though—I’m thrilled to share that I just found out I’ll be starting my residency in pediatrics at Brown, summer 2021. I mentioned spinning, craft beer, breakfast eggs, and curating Spotify playlists as hobbies on my residency application—glad I didn’t scare them off. Some things haven’t changed—still have my awesome cats Taco and Coco, still watch too much reality television for my own good, and I still love Nick Jonas. As someone who’s been through a lot of school—Winsor truly has been the best education. I hope everyone is well, love you my Winsor peeps! Kriti Subramanyam After graduating from Harvard in 2015, I started my Ph.D. at MIT in the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics Program. My research is focused on developing chemotherapy-releasing implants for treatment of ovarian cancer. Outside of my time in lab, I served as one of the directors of a group called MIT Hacking Medicine, which helps build grassroots innovation efforts in healthcare and mentors early-stage start-ups. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to cities around the world, including Buenos Aires, Oslo, Amsterdam, Riyadh, Athens, and Mumbai to organize events on behalf of the group. I’ve recently been busy training my new English cocker spaniel puppy, Linus, who will be turning one this summer. I am planning to complete my Ph.D. later this year and am looking forward to the next step in my career.
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FIRST PERSON
“We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams” Curiosity, scientific passion, and a commitment to social justice fuels one student’s dream to shape the future of healthcare.
W
hen biology faculty Gail Lima came to SISTERS, Winsor’s Black Affinity Group, promoting the YES for CURE Program, Emma Charity ’21 applied (at her mother’s urging). After three years of summer research projects and biomedical research, Emma talks about her experience. Why are you interested in this field? My extended family on my Black side have all, in some way, experienced prejudice in the American health care system. Knowing that I am taking steps to create a more inclusive future and make them proud of me is very rewarding. My grandparents, retired physicians themselves, faced unimaginable obstacles to even exist in the medical space. The opportunities I have available are immense compared to even two generations ago, not to mention the centuries preceding.
What’s been most surprising about your health equity work? I have been surprised by both the extreme good and extreme injustices existing in the medical sphere. Some statistics and narratives around health equity are truly horrifying. On the flip side, there are doctors of all colors from all over the world creating a sort of social movement within medicine to make a change, which I find extremely impressive and promising.
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PHOTO BY KRISTIE DEAN
How do health and institutionalized racism collide in your work with the YES for CURE Program at Dana Farber and the Harvard Cancer Center? The fight for proportional research inclusion, primarily geographic and racial, is viewed as a way to combat institutionalized racism in medical treatment. Genetic cancer research is the foundation upon which physicians build their future cancer treatments. If research is not equipped with a diverse study population, then future genetic treatments may not have the capability to treat all populations equally. We are quantifying the disparity in research inclusion specifically for prostate cancer genetic research.
“ WINSOR’S LEGACY TO OUR FAMILY” Jane Mayer P’91, ’95, GP’25
PHOTO BY AARON SHEPLEY
When Jane Mayer P’91, ’95, GP’25 reflects on “Winsor’s legacy to our family,” she says that it is rooted in the positive experience and lasting impact it had on daughters Erica Mayer ’91 and Rachel Mayer Judlowe ‘95. “They arrived at Winsor with very different talents, and both benefited enormously from the first rate education they received here,” she says. Both students went on to graduate from Williams College, where Erica earned the distinction of becoming the school’s first female science
valedictorian. “The underpinnings of the fantastic young women they have become were forged at Winsor,” Jane adds proudly. Gracious and forward thinking, Jane and Robert Mayer chose to include Winsor in their estate planning. Their gift will continue to build on their Winsor legacy, and help ensure others, like granddaughter Kate Drachman ‘25, will have the same life-changing opportunities their daughters had.
Have you remembered Winsor in your will or retirement plan? Let us know and we’ll welcome you to the Lamp of Learning Society. Please contact Anna Fravel P’28, senior philanthropic advisor, at afravel@winsor.edu. www.winsor.edu/giving
THE WINSOR SCHOOL 103 Pilgrim Road Boston, Massachusetts 02215 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED If you have received this for your alumna daughter who is living elsewhere, please let us know by contacting Alumnae Relations at (617) 912-1321 or alumnae@winsor.edu.
CAPTURING THE MOMENT Seniors gathered on the terrace to celebrate their final week on campus as a class.
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