58 minute read
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).
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.
BROOKS POETRY WINNERS
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.
LS Head Sharon Jones-Phinney, Nidhi
US Head Ridie Markenson, Stella HOS Sarah Pelmas, Hillary
HEMENWAY WINNER
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.
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.
Shakespeare scenes filmed along the Muddy River
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.
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
Students perform virtually as part of the LS ensemble
Virtual Spring Concert
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.
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.
WINSOR/BELMONT HILL GLOBAL INVESTING WEBINAR
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.
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.”
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.
Honoring Our Winsor Retirees (2020-2021)
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.
REGIS DOWNES (19 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.
JULIA HARRISON ’77 (20 YEARS)
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.
PAMELA PARKS MCLAURIN ’71, P ’12 (18 YEARS)
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.
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.
Activists Inspire Action
Lessons on becoming an agent of change
Winsor 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.
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 STRONGER
BOSTON, Tooke in City Hall Plaza, where her firm is leading the transformation of the space into a welcome urban oasis. WINSORSTRONGER FALL 2021 19
FEATURE A 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 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
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, 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
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 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
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.”
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.
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 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.
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.
Juliet Eastland ’86, P’23 is a writer in Brookline, Mass.
Vu in her old neighborhood in South Boston’s Old Colony Projects.
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.”
Changed I
for Good
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.
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, 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
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
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.
“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.
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.
With Open Minds, Seniors Chart a New Course
On 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 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.”
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 Ice Hockey Cup
Avery Gardner ’21
The Squash Cup
Caroline Eielson ’24
The Swimming Cup
Ellen Pickette ’21
The Crew Cup
Alexandra Lee ’21
The Lacrosse Cup
Caroline Cromwell ’21
The Sailing Cup
Annette Adams ’21
The Softball Cup Eve Lesburg ’21
The Tennis Cup
Suzanne Pogorelec ’24
The Track and Field Cup
Kaitlin Kolb ’21
The Bremer Athletic Prize
Eve Lesburg ’21
The Class of 1972 Prize
Chloe Davidson ’21
ARTS, ACADEMIC, AND COMMUNITY AWARDS The Nancy Shelmerdine ’72 Memorial Prize
Franchesca Vilmenay ’22
The Linda Alles ’71 Memorial Award
Brigid O’Connor ’22
The Ann Nowell Kramer ’48 Drama Prize
Maya Bodick ’21
The Brooks Parkman Woodard ’48 Memorial Prize
Katherine Burstein ’21
The Dance Prize
Franchesca Vilmenay ’22
The Clare Cutler ’62 Memorial Prize for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts—Acting
Nell Sparks ’25
The Clare Cutler ’62 Memorial Prize for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts—Tech
Anita Rodriguez ’25
The Brooks Prizes for Poetry Reading
Stella MacLean ’24 Nidhi Mallavarapu ’25
The Annie Lawrie Fabens Crozier ’47 Memorial Prize
Helen Buckley-Jones ’21
The Ruth Sabine ’24 Prize
Josie Mastandrea ’22
The Adele Bockstedt Spanish Prize
Kaitlin Kolb ’21
The Frances Cabot Putnam ’15 French Prize
Brigid O’Connor ’22
The Nora Saltonstall ’11 Memorial Scholarship
Reah Donohue ’21
The Ruth S. Thayer Prize for Excellence in Latin
Lauren Hogan ’23
The World Languages Department Prize for Excellence in Mandarin
Margaret Eng ’21
The Madras Science Prize
Alexandra Gorham ’21
The Richard P. Binzel Prize
Karen Li ’21
The Mathematics Prize
Ellie Wang ’21
The Frances Dorwin Dugan Prize
Thomasina Hare ’21
The Class of 2002 Award
The Banner
COMMENCEMENT AWARDS
Presented this year during the Awards Celebration
The Hemenway Prize Hillary Jean-Gilles ’21
The Class of 1994 Leadership Prize Emma Charity ’21
The Nina Cies ’68 Memorial Award
Caroline Cromwell ’21
The Virginia Wing Outstanding Teacher Award
Denise Labieniec
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
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 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
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
