Fall/Winter 2013
bulletin
BB&N FAMILY COOPERATIVE:
MAKING A
DIFFERENCE
Inside this issue:
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Homecoming 2013
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Kathy Dorkin Completes the BB&N Cycle
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Historic Russian Exchange Turns 25
Events Calendar 2014 Ja n u a r y Wednesday, January 8 Frozen Fenway - Boys’ Ice Hockey BB&N vs. Brooks at 3:15 p.m., Fenway Park Reception to follow
Fe b r u a r y
Tuesday, March 11 BB&N in Washington, D.C.
Ap r il Thursday, April 10 BB&N in New York City Saturday, April 12 Alumni/ae Day of Service in Boston
May Saturday, May 3 BB&N Circus Lower School Campus, Buckingham Street Friday, May 9-Sunday, May 11 Strawberry Night/Reunion Weekend Upper School Campus, Gerry’s Landing Road
For a complete listing of School events including athletic games, performances, and exhibitions on campus, please visit the events calendar at: www.bbns.org/calendar NOTE TO PARENTS OF ALUMNI/AE: If this Bulletin was sent to your daughter or son and they have updated contact information, please send us their new address and email. Thank you! Please send updates to: alumni_programs@bbns.org or Alumni/ae Programs Buckingham Browne & Nichols School 80 Gerry’s Landing Road Cambridge, MA 02138
Fall/Winter 2013
M a rch
bulletin
Thursday, February 6 BB&N in San Francisco
Around Campus 2
Homecoming, BB&N’s New Website, Riemer Honored, New Trustees Named, Fall Sports Wrap-Up, Spotlight on the Arts, and more
The Family Cooperative
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Math Teacher Kathy Dorkin Completes the Cycle
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Contributing Writers Alex Ablon Joe Clifford Peter DeMarco Andrew Fletcher Molly Jackel Sharon Krauss Andrea Martinez Natalie Ralston Janet Rosen Katie Small
BB&N’s onsite daycare facility opens to rave reviews
A teacher’s journey through all three of BB&N’s campuses
Kate Jennings ’96
Award-winning cuisine in Providence, RI
Contributing Editors Sherwood C. Haskins Jr. Natalie Ralston Janet Rosen
Russian Exchange Program Turns 25
Celebrating the silver anniversary of BB&N’s historic Russian exchange program
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From the Archives
Advancing Our Mission 26
Annual Fund Changes Name to BB&N Fund; Senior Class and Senior Parents Kick Off the Year; BB&N 1974 Leadership Society Celebration
Alumni/ae News & Notes 36 Golden Alumni/ae Luncheon 46 BB&N 2013-2014 Alumni/ae Council at Work
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Head of the Charles
Associate Director of Communications Andrew Fletcher, Senior Editor Communications Assistant Bridget Malachowski, Editor
Features 14
Director of Communications Joe Clifford, Editor
Alumni/ae News & Notes Andrea Martinez Natalie Ralston Tracy Rosette Katie Small Design & Production Nanci Booth www.nancibooth.com 781-301-1733 Photography Andrew Fletcher Brian Galford Thomas Karol ’14 Bridget Malachowski Eric Nordberg ’88 Shawn Read Joshua Touster Vaughn Winchell
Board of Trustees, 2013-2014 Officers Bracebridge Young Jr., Chair Shelly Nemirovsky, Vice Chair Charles A. Brizius, Vice Chair David Randolph Peeler, Treasurer Members J. Stuart Ablon ’88 Deborah Ancona Beth Myers Azano ’95 Jeffrey Barber Joseph Chung Thomas Dingman Diala Ezzeddine Katie Gayman Mary Beth Gordon Jason P. Hafler ’00 Bob Higgins James P. Honan Andre John ’83 Philip H. Loughlin Jeffrey Moore Erica Gervais Pappendick Agnes Bundy Scanlan Jacqueline Stephen ’86 Janet M. Storella ’74 David J. Thompson ’86 Frederica C. Turner ’91 David Williams ’78 Head of School Rebecca T. Upham Front Cover:
Otis Bennett and Miles Esteves hug it out in the toddler room of BB&N’s new Family Cooperative daycare facility. (photograph by Joshua Touster) Correction:
In the Summer 2013 Bulletin, former Middle School history teacher Harold Francis was mistakenly called Howard Francis in one reference. Correspondence may be sent to: Office of Alumni/ae Affairs (bb&n_bulletin@bbns.org or 617-800-2721) or the Office of Communications (communications@bbns.org or 617-800-2403), 80 Gerry’s Landing Road Cambridge, MA 02138-5512
Former Faculty News Milestones
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT
www.bbns.org
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PICTURED [ 1 [ Antoinette Cozier ’15, Jaya Aiyer ’15, and Sarah Clavijo ’14 [ 2 [ Genevieve Cohen ’17 works some face paint magic on Chloe Rankel ’26 [ 3 [ The bouncy house was a favorite for Alexis Higgins ’26 [ 4 [ Rosie Angelone ’26 takes a respite from the fun [ 5 [ BB&N pride on display [ 6 [ Caroline Brizius ’21 and Anna Kurtin ’21 [ 7 [ Mike Samko ’14 runs through the spirit tunnel as BB&N Football takes the field [ 8 [ Members of the Upper School Chorale perform The Star-Spangled Banner under director Joe Horning [ 9 [ Alexander Berhane ’21, Justin Zukowski ’21, Nathaniel Cozier ’21, and AJ Fabbri ’21 [ 10 [ Ahcene Ouldsaada ’16 controls the ball despite the opponent’s best efforts
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Around Campus ATHLETIC RESULTS
Homecoming Weekend Puts BB&N Pride on Full Display
Football vs. Thayer Win: 35-6
In keeping with its renewed invigoration of Homecoming, BB&N pulled out all of the stops this fall for a day of festivities, fun, and fierce competition on the playing fields. Alumni/ae of all ages joined parents, faculty, and students at the Upper School for a Homecoming celebration that featured games, food, face painting, bouncy houses, and more. Director of Alumni/ae Programs Natalie Ralston described the scene: “Homecoming was truly a celebration of the entire BB&N community—all three campuses were involved. Lower Schoolers created ‘Go Knights!’ signs which were hung all over and they made a spirit tunnel before the football game, while Middle Schoolers cheered and waved rally towels. Beyond competing in the many games, Upper Schoolers had a club fair, did face painting, and The Voices of the Knight and Knightingales performed The Star-Spangled Banner before each game. In addition, alumni/ae of all ages returned to campus, including some B&N football players from the ’40s, and ’50s. The weather was beautiful and it was a fun and festive day!”
Varsity Field Hockey vs. Holderness Loss: 8-2 Boys Varsity Soccer vs. Saint Sebastian’s Win: 3-0 Boys JV Soccer vs. Saint Sebastian’s Win: 3-0 Varsity Volleyball vs Lawrence Win: 3-0 JV Volleyball vs. Lawrence Win: 2-0 Boys Varsity Cross-Country Loss: BB&N 45- Middlesex 17 Win: BB&N 23 - Saint George’s 33 Win: BB&N 18 – Thayer 38 Boys JV Cross-Country Loss: BB&N 50 - Middlesex 15 Win: BB&N 27 - Saint George’s 31 Win: BB&N 15 - Thayer 50
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Girls Varsity Cross-Country Loss: BB&N 36 - Middlesex 21 Loss: BB&N 40 - Saint George’s 20 Loss: BB&N 31 - Thayer 25
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School Unveils New Communications System
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This fall, BB&N unveiled its new communications system, featuring a new visual identity, website, and Admission viewbook package. Identity I1I One of the most defining qualities of Buckingham Browne & Nichols School is its seeming undefinability. We are a school and a community that defies pigeonholing, that eludes attempts at simplistic, one-size-fitsall summary. This is not all that surprising considering that BB&N is an institution spanning 14 grades, three campuses, 125 years, and two founding schools—one all-boys, the other all-girls.
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And yet, BB&N in 2013 is indeed a school with a focused mission and values, and an equally focused and compelling brand. BB&N is a school highly regarded for its academic excellence, for the qualities of scholarship, honor, and kindness highlighted in its motto, for its vitality and vibrancy, for its connection to Cambridge. The new primary identifier pays homage to these qualities, to the confident, ambitious, dynamic energy of its teaching and learning mission. At the same time, the identifier also honors BB&N’s proud history with its nod to the shield that anchors the School seal, as well as the long-established blue and gold color palette. Website I2I The School’s new website launched in early October. If you haven’t visited yet, tour the new site at www.bbns.org. Viewbook Package I3I BB&N has produced a new generation of viewbooks to support the Admission Office’s student recruitment efforts on each campus. Visit www.bbns.org/choose-bbn to view the publications online.
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Around Campus Annual Bivouac Brings Freshman Class Together For the 61st consecutive year, BB&N ninth graders packed their bags and headed north for Bivouac. The 11-day wilderness immersion helps the freshmen to form bonds and glean lifelong lessons from “nature’s classroom” in the New Hampshire woods. In addition to ropes courses, latrine digging, orienteering, and shelter building, students learned about sustainable agriculture, how to cook over an open fire, and of course…how to brave the frigid early-morning swims in Silver Lake.
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LEGACY STUDENTS AT BIVOUAC Many of this year’s freshmen at Bivouac were literally following in their parents’ footsteps when they stepped off of the bus at Camp Marienfeld. An unprecedented 13 students have parents who attended BB&N and partook in the Bivouac program. Below is a list of the parents and freshmen who can claim they survived Bivouac. Brooke Ablon ’85 and Charlie Caleb Clapp ’79 and Ellie Angela DeVecchi ’81 and Sophie Smyke Jim DeVellis ’84 and Mary Kevyn Fusco ’83 and Nell Todd Harrison ’77 and Ross Brenda Jarrell ’85 and Erica Anne Kilzer ’78 and James Josh Klein ’80 and Leandra John Lifford ’84 and Jackson JK Nicholas ’85 and Katherine Joe O’Neil ’82 and Audrey Steven Patalano ’81 and Marcus
3 PICTURED [ 1 [ Ari Benkler ’17 and Aaron Kaufer ’17 collect firewood to help get the morning started [ 2 [ Emma Voligny ’17, Ceclia Galligan ’17, Audrey O’Neil ’17, and Leah Steinberg ’17 cook breakfast [ 3 [ Lauren Jacobs ’17 on the climbing wall
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Students Explore Shallow Ocean Life at Family Science Saturday Lower School students and their parents joined the science faculty on a trip to Duxbury again this September to investigate tidal pools and shallow ocean life. The excursion was part of the Lower School’s Family Science Saturday program, an extracurricular activity that encourages the exploration of science for the entire family. Using a dragnet, pails, hand nets (and in some cases, only their hands!), students collected all manner of ocean critters as they combed the tidal pools and beach. Many of their catches came home with them to populate the salt water aquarium on the science floor of the Lower School Lehner Center. “We caught all sorts of marine life,” says Lower School science teacher Caitlin Drechsler: “a male horseshoe crab, clams, some fish called mummichogs, we have a couple of small green crabs and a mud crab, as well as a hermit crab, and periwinkle snails.” Lower School science teacher Caitlin Drechsler (in the orange boots) helps students pull in a dragnet full of marine creatures
Student Political Opinion Magazine Wins Gold Medal Kudos to BB&N’s political opinion magazine, POV (Point of View), for being recognized for excellence with a gold medal honor in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s annual contest. The magazine, which publishes three times annually, tackles politically sensitive and volatile subjects with informed, thoughtful opinions and reporting. “I suggested entering the CSPA’s annual contest/critique because I thought it would validate the efforts of the many students involved as well as suggest some areas for improvement,” says POV advisor and Upper School English teacher Rob Leith. “Now in its seventh year of publication, POV has a larger staff than ever before, and the quality and presentation of the articles has never been better.” In awarding the publication its highest distinction, the judges’ comments concluded: “The POV magazine, in both its print and digital editions, is trend-setting with its mission of presenting enlightening political commentary for its high school audience. Every commentary reflected maturity and substantive research.” Visit www.bbnpov.com to take a look.
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The program continues to serve as a wonderful “hands-on” approach to involving students in science and learning.
Around Campus
2 1 BB&N Fall Athletic Snapshots
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PICTURED [ 1 [ Will Davis ’14 controls the ball [ 2 [ Sarah Clavijo ’14 punts the ball following a save [ 3 [ Frankie Williams ’14 tries to brush off a tackler [ 4 [ Rachel Strodel ’14 on the move [ 5 [ (L to R) Emily Carter ’14 and Gabriela Gayley ’14 converge on a play [ 6 [ Sophia Taibl ’10 heads down the homestretch [ 7 [ (L to R) Alex Evenchik ’17 and Alex Lichtenberger ’17 put the pedal down
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New Trustees Named for 2013-14 BB&N welcomes seven new trustees to the board this year.
Jeff Barber s *EFF AND HIS WIFE +IMBERLY ARE THE PARENTS OF TWO CHILDREN AT BB&N, Bridget ’24 and Connor ’25. s *EFF IS A MANAGING DIRECTOR AT 4! !SSOCIATES A PRIVATE EQUITY investment management firm. s *EFF ALSO VOLUNTEERS AT THE #OLUMBIA 5NIVERSITY "USINESS 3CHOOL
serving as chair of their Private Equity Advisory Board. Katie Gayman s +ATIE SERVES AS THE FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ON THE "OARD OF Trustees. She joined BB&N in the fall of 2004 as a biology teacher after spending three years at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. s 3HE HAS FOCUSED HER TEACHING CAREER AT "" . ON ENVIRONMENTAL science and biology and has served as girls’ varsity soccer coach. In addition, she has been a member of the Upper School Achievement Study Task Force, the cross country coaching staff, and the Upper School college counseling staff. s +ATIE HOLDS A " 3 IN BIOLOGY FROM $ARTMOUTH #OLLEGE AND A Master of Education degree from Boston University. Mary Beth Gordon s -ARY "ETH AND HER HUSBAND #HRIS ARE THE PARENTS OF TWO BB&Ners, Amory ’23 and Riley ’26. s -ARY "ETH IS A PEDIATRICIAN WHO HAS WORKED FOR -ILTON 0EDIATRICS
the Boston Health Commission, and Boston Children’s Hospital. s 3HE ALSO SERVES ON THE BOARD OF THE .EW %NGLAND (OME FOR Little Wanderers. Bob Higgins s "OB AND HIS WIFE +RISTINE ARE THE PARENTS OF TWINS AT "" . ,IAM and Lexi ’26. s "OB IS A CO FOUNDER AND GENERAL PARTNER AT (IGHLAND #APITAL Partners, a venture capital firm. He has more than 25 years of experience in venture capital and has served as a director of many public and private companies.
(Clockwise from top left) Mary Beth Gordon, Agnes Bundy Scanlan, David Thompson ’85, Bob Higgins, Jacqueline Stephen ’86, Jeff Barber, and Katie Gayman
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s "OB IS ALSO A SENIOR LECTURER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AT Harvard and teaches a joint course with the Kennedy School of Government. Agnes Bundy Scanlan s !GNES AND HER HUSBAND *OHN ARE THE PARENTS OF A "" . STUDENT
Sophia ’18. s 3HE IS CURRENTLY A SENIOR RISK ADVISOR AT 4RELIANT 2ISK !DVISORS having previously served as chief regulatory officer at TD Bank. Agnes also previously served as counsel to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. s !GNES BEGAN VOLUNTEERING WITH THE "" . 0ARENTS !SSOCIATION IN 2007-08, and served in various capacities prior to her current role as vice president of the Middle School PA. Jacqueline Stephen ’86 s *ACQUELINE AND HER HUSBAND -ICHAEL "RUNELLI ARE THE PARENTS OF three BB&N students, Michael ’16, and twins Johanna and James ’19. s 3HE IS CURRENTLY SERVING AS THE 0ARENTS !SSOCIATION %XECUTIVE Committee President for 2013-14. s *ACQUELINE IS AN OBSTETRICIAN GYNECOLOGIST AT "ETH )SRAEL Deaconess Medical Center, and a clinical instructor in obstetrics and gynecology at Harvard Medical School. David Thompson ’85 s $AVID A #LASS OF "" . GRADUATE LIVES IN 3CARSDALE .9
with his wife Elizabeth and children Gus, Louisa, Bebe, and Solomon. s (E IS CURRENTLY AN ASSET MANAGER IN EMERGING MARKETS FOR 62 Capital Group, having previously worked for Credit Suisse First Boston as managing director and head of the Global/CDO Group. s $AVE HAS REMAINED CONNECTED TO "" . THROUGH EVENTS AND classmates. He also served on his 25th reunion committee.
Around Campus Riemer Appointed as Honestas Future Leader Instructor This fall, Upper School science teacher Rachel Riemer was named as the inaugural recipient of the Honestas Future Leader Instructorship. An endowed position funded by parents of the Class of 2013, the Honestas Future Leader Instructorship recognizes the special contributions that promising early and mid-career faculty have made to the School community, their academic accomplishments, exceptional leadership both in and out of the classroom, and evidence of personal growth. Now in her sixth year teaching at BB&N, Riemer has become an integral member of the Upper School science faculty by virtue not only of her outstanding work in the classroom with students, but also through her contributions to curriculum development. Riemer recently played a key role in the revamp of the Upper School physics curriculum, a challenging overhaul that has received enthusiastic feedback. “The new curriculum modernized the program with a new emphasis on using many forms of resource materials other than the traditional textbook,” notes Upper School Director Geoff Theobald. “The transition was smooth and productive in large part thanks to Rachel—her work was marked by extreme thoughtfulness, meticulous planning, and big-picture understanding.” As a teacher, Riemer is recognized for her command of material, clarity of purpose in the classroom, and skills as a peer mentor. She also demonstrates an innate ability to pull the best out of her students. “She’s not just a purveyor of material,” says Theobald. “She excels at assessing students and designing feedback to target their needs.” Students who enter her classes always leave as better thinkers and have noted that they felt “cared for and listened to.” Although she focuses on AP and Honors Physics at BB&N, Riemer’s previous teaching experience included a wide range of subjects: geometry, calculus, chemistry, astronomy, and visual mathematics and design science. This cross-discipline curiosity led to Riemer partnering with Arts Department colleague Paul Ruhlmann in 2010 to create a collaborative course called Connections, which explored the relationship between physics and woodworking. Riemer has embraced leadership roles at BB&N as well, most recently serving on an ad hoc faculty workload committee. And Riemer’s teaching hasn’t been confined to the classroom; as BB&N’s varsity field hockey coach she has relished the opportunity to assist students outside of the hallways. One peer noted, “Rachel’s coaching style matches her teaching mentality—she’s always looking for ways to improve, both herself and her students/players.”
The Etter Bible, an Athletic Tradition The two giant leather-bound tomes in the office of Athletic Director Rick Foresteire ’86 stand out like Model T automobiles in a BB&N parking lot. Fraying edges, faded covers, and a healthy dose of scotch tape hold these relics together, but despite appearances they serve a more than symbolic purpose. “They’re showing their age a little,” laughs Foresteire. “But they still get the job done...I enter every game we schedule into these.” Foresteire is referring to a 40-year tradition in the athletic office known as “keeping the bible.” Begun under the late Athletic Director Jack Etter ’49 in the fall of 1974 (the year of the merger), the “bible” is the first and last authority on every game scheduled by the School. In a digital age where the vast majority of program logistics are maintained via computer, this is one tradition that has bucked the trend. Any number of well-known BB&Ners—Tish Biggar, Joe Gill, Kathy Newell, etc.—have taken their turn at keeping the bible, and while Foresteire appreciates the historic slant, the reason the tradition has continued is simpler than that: “Frankly, it’s straightforward and easy,” says Foresteire. “If I need the information, it’s right there. It’s a habit.”
Foresteire with one of the Etter bibles
Alumni/ae and current families: Don’t forget that the Nicholas Athletic Center is open for your use on Saturday mornings. Family Skate runs from 10-11 and Hockey Skate runs from 11-12 (dependent upon games). 9
Greg Faxon ’10: Spartan Racing for Zack McLeod ’10 Having made the decision to stop competitive wrestling in 2011, Class of 2010 graduate Greg Faxon found himself looking for a new challenge. When he stumbled upon the world of Spartan Racing that same year, he knew he’d found the answer. Designed by seven ultra-athletes and a Royal Marine, the sport began in 2005 as an attempt to create the ultimate obstacle-course race, one that tests resilience, strength, stamina, quick decision making, and an ability to smile in the face of adversity. Meanwhile, Faxon’s friend and former classmate Zack McLeod was facing an obstacle course of his own, a daunting recovery from a devastating football injury that has left him severely impaired. Beyond the challenges of the physical recovery, as McLeod approaches age 22 this year, many of the state programs that have been helping him will cease their coverage. Faxon knew that McLeod (who has begun working part time at BB&N, helping out with athletic programs) and his family were searching for ways to continue McLeod’s recovery without these essential funds. So, Faxon undertook the additional challenge of raising money for McLeod through his recent Spartan Race Championship in Killington, Vermont. The money will help meet McLeod’s remaining rehabilitation expenses. The Bulletin caught up with Faxon to learn more about his efforts and racing. How did you learn about Spartan racing and what attracted you to it? I’m not sure exactly how I found out about Spartan, but as soon as I saw their website, I was intrigued. I signed up for an open heat and actually ended up winning it. After that I was hooked. You sometimes get to a point where just working out isn’t enough, and the races have really filled my need for competition and camaraderie. You need to be well-rounded in your training, since they combine strength and endurance. There is something very primal about the races, and to me they are much more interesting than a 5K or a marathon. What made you think of combining your racing with fundraising for Zack? The idea came to me during Zack’s 5th anniversary, which was only a couple of days before a race in Virginia. I watched a video the night before on the Spartan blog about a guy who was running 50 races over the course of the year to raise money for Alzheimer’s, and I think that was still in the back of my mind when I woke up the next day. Zack and I go way back, and I knew this was a very uncertain time for his family, since state funding can sometimes drop pretty drastically once someone in Massachusetts reaches 22. It just hit me as a natural way to weave two things I am passionate about into one; I love competing, I love Zack, and I know that he would be out there dominating these races if he could. How much money was raised? We were fortunate to raise $5,330 in under three weeks. What is even more impressive is that 104 different people donated, the majority of whom were BB&Ners. Their contributions are really a testament to the type of guy Zack was at BB&N, and the impact that he still has. I simply set up a web page and a lot of people helped spread the word. Originally, my fundraising goal was only $1,200 but I quickly increased it to $5,000 because five or ten people had donated in one hour on the first day! But it goes beyond the money—I really wanted to let Zack and his family know that he is not forgotten and that he continues to be a real inspiration to the community. How did the championship race go, did you survive? The championship was a blast. I came in 7th for my age group and 28th overall in a pretty tough field of competitors—there were racers from all over the world, including a few Olympic athletes. And the course was absolutely brutal. At one point we had to fill a large bucket with rocks and take it up one of the Killington black-diamond slopes without spilling. The great part about the races is that you never know what the course is going to have. It forces you to stay present and think about what you are doing, not what you have left to do.
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Around Campus
Monahon ’09 Wows Alma Mater with All in Good Fun Performance Formerly a prominent presence on BB&N stages, Talene Monahon ’09 returned to the US Theater on November 5th to perform All in Good Fun, the one-woman show she conceived and developed last year as a Senior Fellow at Dartmouth College. In this tour de force, Monahon portrays over 25 characters—students, alumni/ae, professors, administrators—who talk about hot-button issues particular to Dartmouth and representative of those on campuses nationwide. She played to sold-out audiences at the College last spring and was invited to perform twice in late October at the United Solo Festival at Theatre Row in New York City.
Faxon ’10 mid-race
“I wanted to create a piece of interview-based theater, inspired by the work of Anna Deavere Smith,” said Monahon, whose interest in this genre is rooted in her BB&N senior-year independent study with Barrows Family Master Teacher Chair and drama teacher Mark Lindberg. As the recipient of a Dartmouth Senior Fellowship, Monahon began working toward that goal by interviewing 42 people, and Lindberg stepped back into the scene by serving as her required “outside” advisor, joining two on-campus advisors in guiding Monahon’s year-long project. “I’m struck by how open people were with you,” said Lindberg during a talkback following the show. “It’s kind of amazing.” “I tried to ask questions that inspired story telling,” replied Monahon, “but I let them talk about whatever they wanted. And people really wanted to talk.” That talk focuses on gender relations, sexual assault, a social scene dominated by fraternity/sorority life, and hazing, to name a few of the charged issues All in Good Fun addresses through individuals’ own words. Acknowledging that many campuses are confronting these difficult issues, Monahon explained that her subjects were often responding to specific incidents at Dartmouth. She began her project just when tensions were running particularly high. “People who love Dartmouth were trying to reconcile their great affection for the school with their confusion and their frustration with elements of it. Doing this piece was a way to explore the darkest parts of the culture,” said Monahon. While serious issues fill the bill in Monahon’s thought-provoking monologues, her myriad transformations as an actor are fascinating. With a hunch of her shoulders, a strained set of her mouth, an accent, she changes personas seamlessly and convincingly.
McLeod (left) at this year’s Homecoming, where he continues to inspire the community
“I thought Talene did a masterful job making those transitions,” said Lindberg. “There’s inevitably a certain amount of caricature involved in this type of performance, but she managed to capture character. It’s impressive.” 11
Alumni/ae Spotlight on the Arts Film s Video s Theater s Photography s Books s Ceramics s Music s Design s Sculpture s Drawing s Painting s Architecture
Rebecca (Tita) Bailey ’79, Ph.D., Author [ 1 [ Rebecca’s commitment to the well-being of children and an intense desire to protect children from exploitation of all kinds drove her to write a book. Safe Kids, Smart Parents builds on Rebecca’s years of experience as a family psychologist helping real families deal with real situations. From abduction to abuse, she explains how parents can speak to their kids about troubling topics while building their self-esteem and teaching them how to protect themselves. Rebecca is the granddaughter and one of many generations of descendants and legacy alumni/ae of Robert F. Bradford ’18, BB&N alumnus and Governor of Massachusetts, 194749, for whom a Scholarship Fund was established in 1981 to perpetuate his memory. www.transitioningfamilies.com Rob Jones ’02, Film Director [ 2 [ In recent years, Rob has worked as a writer/director on various projects throughout Los Angeles. His work has garnered him the Princess Grace Film Award and Paul Robeson Award as well as national TV exposure when his short film Mashed Potatoes was acquired and aired on the ShortsHD channel. His webseries Blanco Boys was featured on the Writers Guild of America’s ‘Hotlist’ as one of the web’s “most cutting edge new media content” and led to a contract with GMT Management. He most recently spent time on the shows Major Crimes and The Hart of Dixie training as an episodic director under veteran producer/ director Mike Robin. He is currently in pre-production for his first feature film Chasing Demons, about a crook forced to question his path in life after a botched blackmail attempt leads to his girlfriend’s kidnapping. vimeo.com/robjones Sharlie (Pratt) Sudduth ’57, Artist [ 3 [ Sharlie writes, “I waited to start painting seriously until I retired and became a grandmother. I started taking classes at RISD and attending workshops with Paul George and Charles Reid. I have been painting for 12 years and am currently a member of the Providence Art Club, The Westport Art Group, and the Marion Art Center. I have paintings in oil and watercolor of landscapes and from seascapes wherever I have traveled. My work is exhibited at Collier’s Gallery in Mattapoisett. I have also shown at the Marion Art Center and the Providence Art Club. “I start painting with a feeling of beauty about the places I am in and just enjoy the process of drawing and finding my way into what I think I want to paint. Often I discover something more as I go along doing the painting. I settle in, feeling the sun and the wind, often losing a sense of time and myself as in a meditation. I travel to Europe often with painting groups and find settling in a town is a lovely way to see and sense the way others live and enjoy painting these beautiful places. My paintings tell stories and reflect the feelings of the places I paint.” www.sharliesudduth.com 12
Ethan Rossiter ’93, Musician, BB&N Middle School English Teacher [ 4 [ Ethan’s latest recording, Magic Watermelon, recently won a 2013 Parents’ Choice Award! In 2007 his first son, Jack, was born and that is when kids’ songs began to form in his head. The themes and inspiration around parenting gave him a new burst of energy to be creative. The songs you find on his two albums are a reflection of these years. Ethan and his band, The Jamberries, continue to play their toe-tapping, family-friendly music all around the Boston area. They plan to start recording a new album next summer. Check out their website for upcoming performances and new releases. sites.google.com/site/erjamberries Priscilla Cogan ’64, Author [ 5 [ Priscilla writes, “Many of my Buckingham classmates are into their second, if not third careers. I started out as a clinical psychologist who later trained in Lakota (Sioux) medicine, which certainly challenged my notions of what constituted ‘reality.’ Out of such questions about the nature of death, spirits, and an animistic view of the world around me emerged my first novel, Winona’s Web, which catapulted worldwide into 10 other languages and began a trilogy. My Buckingham teacher said she approached that novel ‘with no expectations whatsoever’ and ‘was flabbergasted by the quality of writing.’ Obviously, I didn’t stand out in my English classes with a talent for prose! My novels explore issues around the nature of reality, cultural differences, medical problems, and the vagaries of the human heart. I finished 24 book signings this summer for my sixth novel, Clinging To The Moon (a love story between a former English teacher at BB&N with traumatic brain injury and a younger, quadriplegic man), and concluded I am getting too old to keep up with these book tours! “So, I am off and running into my third career—playwriting. Actually I did dabble in screenplay writing for two film companies and absolutely hated the process. Dorothy Parker, the satirist, sold out in the 1930s and saddled subsequent screenwriters with a contract that gives the film companies ownership of the copyright, meaning they can dumb down your script without your consent while paying you big bucks. That is not true of novels or plays. My first play, The Summer Cottage, is currently under consideration for production in Michigan. It asks the question: What do we owe our ancestors and what do we owe our descendants? It features four generations of women, two of whom are ghosts. Obviously, I am experienced with and comfortable with the paranormal. It helps that my Cherokee husband, Duncan Sings-Alone, has been a Native American medicine teacher, Buddhist priest and sensei, and
Please send submissions to alumni_programs@bbns.org or mail to BB&N Alumni/ae Programs Office, 80 Gerry’s Landing Road, Cambridge, MA 02138
a psychologist. This just goes to show that there is life after high school and after one’s first and second career. It does occur to me, though, that a private school like BB&N might make an interesting setting for a future play.... “Amazon.com features many reviews of my six novels. If you like my novels, be sure to post a review. If you don’t like them, keep very, very quiet. There is also the my website (see below) to order personalized, signed copies of my novels and a Facebook page, Priscilla Cogan-Author, in which I post future book signings.” www.twocanoespress.com
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BB&N’S FAMILY E X P A N D S W I T H N E W “ C O O P E R AT I V E ” D AY C A R E FA C I L I T Y By Peter DeMarco
LOWER SCHOOL TEACHER CRIS WEST IS RIGHT ON TIME FOR HER AFTER-SCHOOL FACULTY MEETING. FOREMOST ON THE AGENDA: DID MYLES, HER THREE-MONTH-OLD SON, HAVE A GOOD NAP TODAY? The meeting, so to speak, is at BB&N’s new Family Cooperative early childhood center, where BB&N teachers from all three campuses gather at the end of each work day to scoop up their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. As West cradles Myles in her arms, she waves to other incoming parents—some of whom she had lunch with in the faculty dining room earlier that day. The Cooperative was opened this fall to give BB&N faculty and staff an affordable, in-house solution to their childcare needs. Located in the lower level of the 46 Belmont Street building, which underwent a complete renovation, it boasts all the accoutrements of a state-of-the-art daycare facility, from a community room to cubbies, from book nooks to “open” bathrooms where adults can peer over a wall to monitor a classroom while changing a baby’s diaper. ÕÌ Ì i «iÀ>Ì Ûi] Ü V à V À« À>Ìi` >à > «À wÌ] à Ài Ì > Þ ÕÀ >ÛiÀ>}i `>ÞV>Ài program. With a curriculum chosen by BB&N teachers, a board of directors made up of BB&N faculty, and its “cooperative” mantra of parental volunteerism—enrolled BB&N faculty and staff members are involved in everything from fundraising to cleaning to organizing snack time—the operation is a new branch of the school. “The research you have to do about what daycare to send your kid to is overwhelming,” West Ã>Þð º9 Õ >Ûi Ì >Ûi > } ` wÌ] > ` Ì i À } Ì wÌ v À Þ ÕÀ V `° / i LiÃÌ Ì } >L ÕÌ Ì i
«iÀ>Ì Ûi Ü>Ã Ì >Ì ` ` ½Ì >Ûi Ì w ` > « >Vi v À ° i >` > « >Vi À } Ì iÀi°» School-provided daycare programs are rare, but BB&N wasn’t alone in debuting one this fall: MIT’s David H. Koch Childcare Center also opened to rave reviews. By providing convenient, quality, and affordable childcare, schools such as MIT and BB&N hope to retain faculty members tempted to leave after having children, as well as attract more candidates for job openings. When new Middle School art teacher Stephanie Moon was interviewing for BB&N last spring, she was astounded to learn that a daycare program was in the works. “When I heard it was a possibility, I just kept wishing that it would come true,” said Moon, whose 11-month-old daughter, Nienna, is enrolled. “As a parent and working professional, I would absolutely say it’s a major perk. Had there been another school of a similar nature to BB&N that had a daycare program, and BB&N didn’t, I probably would have taken a job there.”
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ABOVE: The toddler room at the Cooperative is designed expressly for their age group and needs 15
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ONE: Middle School art teacher Stephanie Moon and her daughter Nienna TWO: Lower School reading specialist Anne Mackay and her son Jasper THREE: Lower School Beginner teacher Cris West and her son Myles FOUR: Middle School science teacher Michael Ewins with daughter Emma FIVE: Lower School Beginner teacher and Family Cooperative President Binal Patel with Upper School biology teacher Katie Gayman’s son Cody
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The Family Cooperative opens as early as 7:15 a.m. to allow teachers time to drop off their children and get to their own classrooms. (To guarantee full enrollment this fall, the daycare also accepted children of some teachers who do not work at BB&N.) Its closing time coincides perfectly with the end of teachers’ days. It also mimics BB&N’s academic calendar, closing for school holidays and summer recess.
“Because you know everyone who’s involved, you know your daughter’s in good hands,” sums up Murphy.
Thanks to its streamlined schedule, participating parents save about 25 percent on their annual daycare expenses, said Binal Patel, a BB&N Beginner teacher and president of the daycare’s board of trustees. (Patel, who is expecting, intends on registering her own child next fall.)
As Caitlin Drechsler, a 5th-and-6th-grade science teacher, tells it, she was sitting at lunch a few years ago when the topic of childcare came up. One teacher after another complained >L ÕÌ Ü Ì Õ} Ì Ü>Ã Ì w ` `>ÞV>Ài Ì >Ì wÌ Ì i À Ü À schedule and didn’t break their budget.
The center’s proximity to BB&N’s three campuses is certainly > Ì iÀ Li iwÌ° º/ >Ì iÝÌÀ> £ä ÕÌiÃ Ì i À } > ià a big difference,” says Anne Mackay, a Lower School reading specialist who drops of her preschooler, Jasper, on her way to work.
Drechsler, who does not have children, took up their cause, putting together a childcare survey with fellow teacher Jamie Scavone. Together they polled the entire faculty and «ÀiÃi Ìi` Ì i À w ` }Ã Ì ÃV vwV > ð -V>Û i ivÌ E Óä£Ó >À}i «>ÀÌ] à i Ã>ÞÃ] LiV>ÕÃi Ì LiV> i Ì ` vwVÕ Ì v À iÀ Ì ià iÀ L Ü Ì `>ÞV>Ài°®
But parents of Cooperative children say the center has many more selling points. The daycare adheres to the renowned Reggio Emilia emergent learning philosophy, in which daily iÃà à v Ü Ì i y Ü v V `Ài ½Ã ÌiÀiÃÌà > ` Ìi iVÌÕ> curiosities. If, for example, a child spots a praying mantis in the playground (as one child recently did), the group dives into discussions and projects related to insects and nature. While each age group has its own room, there’s plenty of interaction. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers alike play together every Friday in the facility’s large common room. Should a preschooler want to say hello to an infant in a crib, or play with a favorite toddler, any other day of the week, they are encouraged to do so.
That the Cooperative (which opened August 19, and currently serves 32 families) would be such a success was never a foregone conclusion, particularly in light of its humble beginnings.
Over the next several years, more teachers became involved. West and Patel visited model daycare facilities in Boulder, Colorado, and the Google School in Mountain View, California, to glean knowledge. Thom Greenlaw, BB&N’s former CFO, offered advice on how to incorporate as a «À wÌ° E ½Ã `iÛi « i Ì Ìi> ÃiÌ >L ÕÌ À> à } Ì i necessary money to fund the renovation and furnishing of the center, and many generous parents also donated toys and other supplies. With Head of School Rebecca T. Upham’s support, the lower level of 46 Belmont was chosen for the Cooperative’s home. Construction began in March and was completed this summer.
“The Cooperative’s just changed who she is,” says Cristina Murphy, a Lower School Spanish teacher whose daughter, Emma, is in preschool. “Even with her friends outside school she’s a totally different girl, collaborating more and playing more. The other day she set the table at our house. She was so proud. It stemmed from snack time at the Cooperative, where kids help set up.”
>Ìi ÕÀÀi ] > Óä Þi>À `>ÞV>Ài «À viÃà > Ài` LÞ > committee of BB&N teachers to direct the center, said it’s unlike any she’s ever worked at. Leading a tour, she points out Ü >}i ëiV wV À à >ÌÕÀ> Þ vii` Ì > >À}i] V room. Kitchen sinks are conveniently placed; bathrooms are all “open” concept; mirrors in the infant room let babies see themselves. The list goes on.
Moon says that her daughter, Nienna, doesn’t want to leave when it’s pick-up time.
“I’ve never been at a place that was designed to be a childcare center. Most places are just in the basements of churches,” Burrell says. “I think our biggest problem is that Üi Ü Li ÌÕÀ } «i « i >Ü>Þ° V Õ ` w > Ì iÀ Ì `` iÀ room right now.”
“She’s making friends and building relationships with her caregivers,” Moon says. “Those to me are signs they are doing the right things.” That BB&N members are so involved in running the Cooperative also makes it a special place. Murphy says she’s made new friends with faculty from BB&N’s other campuses with whom she normally wouldn’t interact. Working for the fundraising committee, Moon feels a further sense of ownership in the program. “That we all volunteer contributes to a sense of community,” she says. “We want it to be a place that thrives.” The intertwining of professional and personal lives adds > Ì iÀ iÛi v ÌÀÕÃÌ i ` ià ½Ì À > Þ w ` >Ì > `>ÞV>Ài center, BB&N faculty also said.
As children awake from their afternoon naps in teacher Cate Murphy’s preschool room, they gravitate to a visitor. Grabbing his hand, they speed him around the room, showing off bizarrely-shaped gourds, trains, framed photos of their parents, a table that lights up like an x-ray board, and that praying mantis, now expired and preserved in a glass box. They can hardly contain their excitement. They aren’t the only ones. “This all started with a conversation in the lunchroom with my V i>}Õià > i Ì } Ü >À` w}ÕÀ } ÕÌ `>ÞV>Ài Ü>Ã]» says Drechsler. “Now the conversation I hear is how amazing the daycare is. I think it’s really serving a purpose. I’m glad it’s making a difference.” Y
17
Kathy Dorkin Completes the BB&N Cycle
In BB&N’s own version of baseball’s hitting for the cycle, Kathy Dorkin occupies a solo berth in School record books for having taught on all three campuses. A Lower School math teacher for 10 years, she then taught at the Middle School for 12 years—10 of which she was also department head—and then retired, or so she thought, in 2011, BY  SHARON  KRAUSS until re-signing this fall for a career-postseason stint at the Upper School, where she now teaches one section of Advanced Algebra 1. Additionally, Dorkin logged three years as a trustee and a combined 28 years as the parent of two BB&N lifers—a kaleidoscope of experiences that has afforded her a peerless view of the School. And what she has seen through these multiple lenses, Dorkin says,“is a truly caring place that values and encourages achievements of many sorts—including academic, extracurricular, leadership—and especially the respect for and consideration of others.â€? Dorkin has wondered if her various behind-the-scenes perspectives would dampen her enthusiasm for the School, but, she says,“Every single time I’ve moved to a new role, it’s been even better than I was expecting. Even at the Board level, I was amazed by people’s energy and devotion and attention to detail. From all these different angles, I’ve seen the amount of effort and care people put into the School; it’s been incredibly reinforcing.â€? First introduced to BB&N as a parent, Dorkin realized that working school hours might be more conducive to raising her small children than freelancing as a professional harpist. Already possessing a degree in math from Harvard, she then earned a master’s in Harvard’s mid-career math and science teaching program. Three years after her daughter, Molly ’99, had enrolled and when her son, Robert ’02, was entering kindergarten, Dorkin VWDUWHG WHDFKLQJ Ä—UVW Ä—IWK DQG VL[WK JUDGHV DW WKH /RZHU 6FKRRO “People don’t understand the challenges of teaching at that level,â€? she says.“We’re very responsible for giving these kids a grounding in something—in my case, math—that they’re going to build on forever, and we are building on basic, bare bones. What we do there is give them the best foundation possible.â€? Also demanding, Dorkin notes, is “physically being on all the time—accompanying the children at lunch and recess and walking WKHP EHWZHHQ EXLOGLQJVßáEXW JHWWLQJ WR REVHUYH WKH KXJH GHYHORSPHQWDO FKDQJHV EHWZHHQ Ä—UVW DQG Ä—IWK graders was fascinating.“First graders want to hug you all the time,â€? she says with her characteristic smile.“By sixth grade, it was interesting to address challenges of both the kids who were struggling and those who were UHDG\ IRU PRUH GLIÄ—FXOW ZRUN Ăź One of Dorkin’s former sixth-graders, Daniela Lamas ’99, is now doing a fellowship in pulmonary/critical care medicine at Harvard. She says,“I was teetering on the edge of deciding that I simply wasn’t good at math and so perhaps I should stop trying. But Kathy changed my belief in my own abilities that year. I remember I could have fun and make mistakes and feel comfortable trying to be good at math because my teacher saw that ability within me.â€? 18
Dorkin paid attention to her own need for new challenges, and when the opportunity arose, in 1999, she moved to the Sparks Street campus.“I kind of got middle school after having two kids pass through that age,â€? she says with a laugh. “Middle schoolers have so much energy, and they’re changing in so many ways— physically, emotionally, academically. We have to be adaptable with curriculum we design and in our everyday interactions with kids; we have to meet them where they are in the moment.“The advisory curriculum, ranging from study skills to anti-bullying behavior, has evolved in order to meet these needs. Dorkin also credits being a successful middle school teacher to a good sense of humor, patience, and listening skills, traits that she herself exhibited, according to her former seventh-grade student, Rachel Talamo ’14.“Her warmth spurred FRQÄ—GHQFH LQ PH WR UHDFK RXW DQG IRUJH connections with later teachers. I owe her for not just one but many meaningful relationships I’ve made here.â€? Already this fall, Dorkin has established those connections with her Upper School students.“Ms. Dorkin has made it her goal WR EXLOG P\ ZDYHULQJ VHOI FRQÄ—GHQFH Ăź says Alexis Sher ’17.“Her problem-solving explanations are clear and concise, which make understanding algebraic equations much easier.â€? Building on their training in the Middle School, Dorkin has expected her freshmen right out of the gate to take more responsibility for their work and to advocate for themselves.“It’s good for the new kids to see that it isn’t shameful for students to meet with a teacher; they learn that’s the normal culture.â€? Dorkin is enjoying the intellectual challenges that these older students offer.“It’s exciting because they are so smart and aware—you can have a real give-and-take in terms of knowledge and experience.â€? As impressive, she notes, is the caliber of the faculty.“What’s remarkable is not just their passion but their intelligence and the awareness of
“Kathy changed my belief in my own abilities‌â€? - DANIELA LAMAS ’99 WKHLU Ä—HOGV Ăź VKH VD\V Ăť3HRSOH KDYH VR PDQ\ GLYHUVH LQWHUHVWV too, that enrich what they’re presenting in the classroom.â€? And now, as Dorkin enjoys the latest stop in her own evolution at BB&N, the School’s prevailing traits are becoming all the more clear to her:“It’s simply a stimulating place to learn, a dynamic place to teach.â€? Through her various roles, Dorkin has seen students on all three campuses experience a well-designed progression of challenges.“Kids are given the chance to explore in ageappropriate ways, and guiding and supporting that exploration is something that BB&N does very well.â€? Y 19
Love,
Pastry, c & Cheese 1111 1111
Kate Jennings ’96 and Farmstead, Inc. Restaurant By Andrew Fletcher
The first thing you notice about Kate (Barger) Jennings ’96 as you enter her restaurant, Farmstead, Inc., is the energy. Although she has taken the day off, you wouldn’t know it from her graceful swoops through the intimate kitchen and around the prodigious cheese counter that anchors the trendy eatery in Providence, Rhode Island’s Wayland Square. Jennings offers French press coffee right away, popping her head through the kitchen window to inquire about cream, takes a moment to a greet a few of the many regulars who have stopped in for lunch, and finally settles down at a high table in one of the 40 seats available to customers. “There is no such thing as a day off in the restaurant business,” she notes. It’s not a complaint—her unfalter- ing smile speaks to this; it’s just a fact. “When we start- ed out, my husband (co-owner and chef, Matt Jennings) and I were working 16-hour days.” So, why do it? The cliche “labor of love” fits perfectly, and not merely because Jennings went into labor with her second child at 5 a.m. in the kitchen. “People are more excited about food now than they have been in a long time,” she says. “I love the joy that we bring people and the creativity that comes with designing that food and that experience for them.” It’s an experience that she and her husband have been 20
providing discerning diners for nearly ten years, a story that includes Matt being a two-time finalist for the pres- tigious James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef Northeast” award, a three-time winner of Boston’s Cochon 555 pork competition, Kate being named a “Local Food Hero” as Farmstead’s acclaimed pastry chef, and write-ups in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bon Appétit, and Art Culinaire, among others. But all of that came later. Initially it was a story about love, pastry, and cheese. Kate and Matt (whose stepfather was the late BB&N his- tory teacher Bob Porter) met while working the cheese counter at Cambridge’s Formaggio Kitchen, just a stone’s throw from BB&N’s Middle School. After dating for six months, the couple rented a Penske van, threw their dog in the middle seat and headed to California where Kate attended the Culinary Institute of America to become a pastry chef, because she notes, “I wanted to do something creative—and I love sweets.” A year later they settled in Providence where Matt and a friend opened a cheese shop while Kate worked at an artisanal bakery nearby. When Matt took over the shop on his own, Kate quit her job to help out. It was an unusual niche to carve out in Providence. “Everyone looked at the shop and said, ‘Who are these two kids who like cheese?’” she remembers. “But by three years in, we just loved our little cheese shop, and people really liked us, too.”
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www.farmsteadinc.com
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: [1] Kate Jennings ’96 behind the cheese counter at Farmstead, Inc. [2] Kate’s famous berry pie [3] Kate and Matt during a break; home life is no less hectic with two beautiful boys, Coleman (9) and Sawyer (4)
Cheese is a difficult business, though. “It has a shelf life, and it’s expensive,” says Kate, especially the rare and locally made varieties that Farmstead hung their hat on. So, in 2005, the couple expanded and built a cozy little bistro connected to their shop. Kate and Matt moved from their familiar cheese counter environs to the kitchen, where they made desserts and dinners respec- tively from scratch, and soon the word was out. “When we first opened, we were jamming…some nights there was a 90-minute wait for a table,” says Jennings. Their rustic, handmade fare and desserts, along with their established cheese reputation (now paired with wine!) brought a new stream of clientele into Farm- stead. In 2005, they were at the forefront of the farm- to-table movement, using locally grown ingredients, produce, meats, and cheeses whenever they could. “The emphasis from the start was about scratch baking and using locally sourced products,” says Jennings. “Our cheese was always domestic, and we always want- ed to support locally if possible—and then the food just made sense, we’ve got great farmers here.” Beyond buying a pig locally for pâté or chorizo, Kate and Matt have stretched their blueprint to create a more interactive experience for customers. “We’ve always tried to be creative and a step ahead, not just in our food,” says
Jennings. “We hosted a ‘Bloody Sunday’ event where we served Bloody Marys while Matt did an entire pig breakdown on the butcher block in the middle of the store—and then there was an auction for the different parts of the pig.” This sort of thinking has led to Matt being named one of America’s “Most Sustainable Chefs,” being selected as one of Food & Wine Magazine’s “Big Thinkers,” and even to a co-starring role in a recent Travel Channel episode of Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods. Finishing up her coffee as the lunch crowd begins to arrive in earnest, Kate looks around affectionately. Patrons chatter pleasantly at tables, two women hem and haw over the cheese counter, and Matt tosses a burly smile her way between expert chops with a knife. It seems a picture of contentedness, but Jennings is always thinking about the next thing, how to innovate, how to grow. She is keen to expand their charcuterie and prepared foods business—jams, jellies, mustards, olive oils, etc. She would love a larger space for production and refrigerators. “I’m 35, which is not that old; I can still do much more,” Jennings says. “This is step one, chapter one of many chapters.” At that moment, a customer catches her eye at the door, and she’s off again…on her day off. Y 21
The visiting BB&Ners outside of St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow: (L to R) Lincoln Gamble ’76, Armen Dedekian, Nat McCully ’86, Rebecca T. Upham, Linda Jackson ’80, Liz McCully, Willa (Chamberlain) Bodman, Anne Casner ’78, Nancy Cohen P’93, P’97, and Wendy Cohen ’97
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A Tale of
Two B luffs:
BB&N Celebrates 25-Year Exchange Program with Moscow School 1232 BY ANDREW FLETCHER
In May of 1988, President Ronald Reagan found himself in Moscow attending a series of summit meetings with Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Global tensions were palpable as a result of the Cold War. Hoping to score political points during the talks, Reagan decided to reach out with the proposal of a student exchange program between the two countries. It was, his advisors assured him, a suggestion that Gorbachev would dismiss, thereby painting Reagan as the magnanimous peacemaker next to Gorbachev’s Grinch. When Reagan offered the idea, suggesting 100 students partake in the exchange, Gorbachev shockingly replied, “One hundred? Why not make it one thousand?” The die was cast, and from such a bluff was born BB&N’s longstanding exchange program with Moscow School 1232. Shortly thereafter a letter from Washington, D.C., arrived at BB&N, inviting the school—based on its outstanding Russian program started by George Deptula in the 1950s—to partake in the exchange. But, if the exchange owes Reagan and Gorbachev’s called bluff a hearty “thanks,” it owes former BB&N Russian teacher Armen Dedekian an equal one. Dedekian laid the foundation upon which the program was built, and that story involves a bluff of his own. Initially, in accordance with the organization Sister Cities International, BB&N was to be paired with a Russian school from Cambridge’s sister city Yerevan, Armenia. Dedekian, who attended high school in Yerevan, knew it would be a fun city for BB&N students, but worried about the authenticity of the experience: “Yes, Yerevan had Russian schools, but it wouldn’t have been the same as visiting a Russian school in Russia.” So, Dedekian took matters into his own hands. “I was very involved in citizen diplomacy during the Reagan era and I was vice president of the American Soviet Cultural Exchange,” recounts Dedekian. “Shortly after BB&N was contacted about this possible exchange, a high-powered delegation from the Russian Ministry of Justice was invited to a banquet at Harvard, and so was I!” At the banquet, Dedekian asked the Ministry of Justice delegates what was the best English school in Russia. The unequivocal answer was Moscow School 1232 (at the time called English Language School 27), deemed the gold standard by the Russian delegates.
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Continued from previous page “So, I knew this was the school to get paired with to ensure success, but I had to give Washington, D.C.’s State Department a reason why we should be matched with this school,” says Dedekian, and in the telling, an endearing, mischievous smile unfurls from beneath his signature mustache. “Well, from way back, I used to lead summer trips for BB&N and non-BB&N students where we would spend the whole month of August in the Soviet Union. I said that from these previous trips, our students had met these students from this school in Moscow, and we had a long, long relationship with this school…and they bought it,” Dedekian laughs. “Of course, I really had no idea about this school.” “And you know,” he adds proudly, raising one of his prominent eyebrows, “…of the 20 U.S. schools originally invited to partake in the exchange, BB&N is the only one that has maintained the program.” Dedekian attributes this impressive accomplishment to support from Russian faculty and BB&N heads of school (past and present) as well as to the strength of the two acclaimed and dedicated institutions. “It is a feat worth celebrating,” Dedekian says. This fall, Head of School Rebecca T. Upham, Dedekian, former Russian teacher Willa (Chamberlain) Bodman, and seven other alums and spouses did just that, traveling to Moscow to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the program. “It was an honor to be part of the anniversary of this OPZ[VYPJ°L_JOHUNL ¹ ZH`Z <WOHT ¸)L`VUK [OL HJHKLTPJ ILULÄ[Z HUK PU[HUNPISLZ [OH[ P[ WYV]PKLZ [V V\Y students, the program’s longevity speaks to a spirit of collaboration and breaking down barriers that resonates as powerfully today as it must have in 1988.”
During the celebration—which coincided with the 50th anniversary of Moscow School 1232’s founding—the BB&N visitors were treated to performances I` Z[\KLU[Z H O\NL IHUX\L[ ÄYL^VYRZ HUK ZL]LYHS acclaimed alumni/ae speakers. In addition, Upham and Moscow School 1232’s headmaster Gija Jelia planted a chestnut tree together to symbolize the two schools’ exchange. Every year, that exchange sends roughly ten students from each school to visit the other for two weeks— BB&N hosts in April, and Moscow School 1232 hosts in early June for warm weather reasons. “The exchange is probably 75 percent immersion, and 25 percent excursion,” says current BB&N Russian teacher Josh Walker. “We take the kids out to see the sights over there, but most of the time this is not a tourist experience for them…they go to bed and wake up in Russian households.” (JJVYKPUN [V >HSRLY [OL ILULÄ[Z HYL T`YPHK Students clearly improve their language skills, but beyond that, they become versed in a “cultural Å\LUJ`¹ [OH[ ZOHWLZ [OLT HZ 9\ZZPHU Z[\KLU[Z HUK PZ very noticeable in their approach to the language after they return. “As a teacher, I love to see how much more engaged they become as a result of the exchange,” says Walker. “There is also a huge sense of accomplishment that comes with negotiating a foreign culture on its own terms…and the friendships they make with their Russian peers are wonderful to see.” Here’s to the next 25 years of an exchange that has paid dividends both personally for students, and internationally for the U.S. and Russia. “It’s one of those instances where the politicians got it right,” says Dedekian. “Even if they didn’t mean to.” Y
LEFT: Heads of School Rebecca T. Upham and Gija Jelia plant a chestnut tree to symbolize their schools’ partnership RIGHT: A photo of the first BB&N delegation to visit Moscow School 1232 in 1989; Armen Dedekian is at the far right 24
The Archival Treasures Keep Coming!
[1]
BB&N’s renewed emphasis on mining its extensive archives continues to yield surprising and delightful discoveries. With new archivist Samuel Bauer at the helm, the School’s business and external affairs offices at 46 Belmont Street, Watertown, have begun to take on the look of a museum, featuring displays and timelines that celebrate the School’s vast history. Below are just a few of the recent finds being featured. Markham photo book, ca. 1900 [1] Dating from the turn of the last century, this beautiful yearbook catalogs the students in Miss Markham’s school on Buckingham Street, the location of the current Lower School. Jeanette Markham ran the school house that in 1902 was officially incorporated and named The Buckingham School.
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Professionally bound and created by Wing and Company Manufactured Photo Goods in Charlestown, Mass., this six-by-six inch yearbook features tintype photographs from the winter of 1900-01, and appears to be the oldest relic of the Markham School. 80 Sparks Street photo, 1886 [2] Few may know that the current Middle School campus at 80 Sparks Street was once home to a beloved neighborhood cow who greeted neighbors and Cambridge residents every day, much as a pet dog might today. “The house was originally owned by the Deane family who sold it to the Musgraves who, in turn, sold it to Buckingham,” says School archivist Bauer. “The famous Cambridge painter Charles S. Hopkinson recalled that Mary Hellen Deane and her cow ‘used to walk to the river and home each day; the cow grazing its way through Cambridge. It was a day’s work for both.’” Built in 1859 by Charles Dean, 80 Sparks Street was originally a clapboard house on an estate that included a large vegetable garden, apple trees, and a cow [foreground in the photo]. The property was purchased by Buckingham in 1949.
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Browne & Nichols musical recording, 1949 [3] BB&N has a long history of music and theater, including this fun piece of history from March 1949. Recorded by Class of 1950 graduate Ellery Woodworth, this 45-rpm record was created the first year that 45s replaced the 78-rpm record, and features the finale of Act I of Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera Iolanthe. It is unknown who the students in the photo are, but the yellowing paper sleeve does reveal that it was a co-production by Browne & Nichols and the Beaver Country Day School.
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Advancing Our Mission
The BB&N Fund: The Difference Between a Good School and a Great School When you contribute to The BB&N Fund, you are participating in a powerful philanthropic tradition: annual giving. We renamed our annual giving program this year to help inspire our 2,000+ donors to feel more connected to our annual fundraising initiatives. Because tuition covers only 83 percent of the cost of a BB&N education, the balance must be provided from other sources such as income generated from the endowment and annual gifts to The BB&N Fund from alumni/ae, parents, past parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends. Every gift counts! The BB&N Fund provides day-to-day support for every aspect of the school. These annual gifts directly sustain the student experience, supporting financial aid, faculty and academic programs, athletics, and culture and community. Not many schools in the Boston area can boast that they offer six foreign languages, wonderfully dedicated and creative teachers (85 percent of whom hold advanced degrees), 61 years of offering a program such as Bivouac, and other long-standing traditions such as Circus, One School One World, Maypole, and the MLK Day Brunch. In 2012-13, we raised $2.78 million and I look forward to working with our community this year to help raise the $2.85 million the School needs from The BB&N Fund. Last year, 30 percent of the Fund was raised by volunteers and more than 2,000 donors answered their calls, took action, and gave back! Recently I heard a thoughtful quote from current Middle School Fund Chair Becky Velander P’19, ’21, ’26: “The difference between a good school and a great school is its Annual Fund.” I would add that volunteers play an enormous factor in this equation as well. Thank you for your dedication to BB&N! - Alex Ablon P’17, Director of The BB&N Fund
Jason Hafler ’00, Trustee, The BB&N Fund Chair 26
Senior Class Ambassador Committee Kicks Off The 2014 Senior Class Ambassador Committee Co-Chairs Max Frank and Katie Loughlin are in the process of recruiting their committee for this year’s class gift campaign. The Senior Class Gift is coordinated by the Senior Class Ambassador Committee and provides an opportunity for BB&N seniors to work together to achieve a common goal in support of their school community. The Ambassadors will be reaching out to classmates throughout the year to encourage each and every classmate to support this gift initiative. The goal is to reach 100 percent participation by graduation! Strong student philanthropic support of BB&N shows prospective students and their families that our students are proud of the education that they have received and care about the BB&N of tomorrow. The Senior Class Gift is part of the legacy that the Class of 2014 will leave the School as they transition from students to alumni/ae. Max Frank ’14 and Katie Loughlin ’14, Co-Chairs of the Senior Class Ambassador Committee
Class of 2014 Senior Parents’ Gift to Raise Funds for Financial Aid The Senior Dinner in September that marked the start of senior year for Class of 2014 students and their parents was also the official launch of BB&N’s traditional Senior Parents’ Gift campaign. A large and enthusiastic committee of parent volunteers, chaired by Ellie and Phil Loughlin (parents of Katie ’14) and Jeff Moore and Barbara Southcote (parents of Becca Moore ’14) has been reaching out this fall to senior parents to seek their financial support for a special class gift that will serve as a permanent legacy at BB&N after their children graduate. As Ellie Loughlin shared at the class dinner, this year’s Senior Parents’ Gift will be used to create the Class of 2014 Financial Aid Enrichment Fund, which will support the supplemental portion of BB&N’s financial aid budget. Of the $7 million budgeted for financial aid this year, approximately $300,000 will be spent on non-tuition expenses to enable financial aid students to benefit from the full BB&N experience. Expenses covered by this growing area of the budget include books, transportation to and from school, academic tutoring, computers, travel grants, field trips, and other miscellaneous needs.
Rebecca T. Upham with Senior Parents’ Gift Co-Chair Jeff Moore P‘13, ‘14 27
Advancing Our Mission
The 1974 Leadership Society Gathers to Celebrate Annual Successes More than 100 members of The 1974 Leadership Society gathered in early October at The John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse to celebrate a year of successful fundraising for the School. Our host was federal judge, The Honorable Nat Gorton ’56, P’88, ’90, ’92, former chair of the BB&N board, who gave courthouse tours and shared lively stories with alumni/ae, current and former parents, and grandparents about his experiences serving on the bench. The program also included remarks from Head of School Rebecca T. Upham and trustees Brace Young P’14, ’14, ’17 (Chair) and Jason Hafler ’00 (The BB&N Fund Chair). All three speakers thanked members for their leadership support of BB&N and shared that Leadership Society membership had increased from 350 to 410 in one year. Gifts to The 1974 Leadership Society drive the Fund, generating 90 percent of the $2.78 million raised for annual giving last year. These funds are vital in helping to offset the actual cost of a BB&N education.
The 1974 Leadership Society Gift Levels Renaissance Associates $100,000 and above Cantabrigian Associates $50,000 - $99,999 Comitas Associates $25,000 - $49,999 Litterae Associates $10,000 - $24,999 Honestas Associates $5,000 - $9,999 Founders $2,500 - $4,999
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Young Alumni/ae Leadership Society College Years $50 5th Reunion – 9th year out $100 10th Reunion – 14th year out $250 15th Reunion – 19th year out $500 20th Reunion $1,000
The 1974 Leadership Society offers an opportunity for BB&N to demonstrate its deep appreciation to those parents, alumni/ae, grandparents, and other friends whose commitments of $2,500 or more in a given fiscal year provide the School with an especially strong financial foundation. The name of this society recognizes the union in 1974 of two Cambridge academic institutions, Browne & Nichols and Buckingham, who brought together their traditions of excellence to form Buckingham Browne & Nichols.
PICTURED [ 1 [ Hon. Nathaniel M. Gorton ’56, P’88, ’90, ’92 [ 2 [ Head of School Rebecca T. Upham [ 3 [ The Honorable Nat Gorton leads a tour of his courtroom [ 4 [ Pierre and Francine Brosens P’77, ‘81, GP’09, ‘12, ‘15 [ 5 [ Jennifer Epstein P’18, ‘20, Jeff and Sarah Beir P’11, ‘13, ‘16, Audrey and Steven Reny P’11, ‘13, and Ofer Nemirovsky P’16, ‘17, ‘19 [ 6 [ Freddie Turner ‘91, P’25, Trustee, Niels and Meredith Peetz-Larsen P’26, and Emily McComb P’26 [ 7 [ Ofer and Shelly Nemirovsky P’16, ‘17, ‘19, Trustee, Kristine Higgins P’26, ‘26, and Rebecca T. Upham (Patrick Fischoeder P’25, ‘26 in background)
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2014 Strawberry Night/ Reunion Weekend Friday, May 9 — Sunday, May 11 Save the date to return to campus and reconnect with classmates and friends, and to celebrate the BB&N community of today! Strawberry Night will be held Saturday evening, May 10, in the Nicholas Athletic Center. There will be a reception, dinner, dancing, good conversation, and fun. Highlights of the weekend will include: !N OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT 5PPER 3CHOOL CLASSES ON &RIDAY s &RIDAY LUNCH IN THE 5PPER 3CHOOL #OMMONS s 0ETROPOULOS !RT %XHIBITION AND 2ECEPTION s 3PRING 0LAY /PEN 2EHEARSAL s ,EADERSHIP 3OCIETY THANK YOU COCKTAIL PARTY s "IRD AND &LOWER GUIDED WALK IN -OUNT !UBURN #EMETERY s "" . $AY AT THE "OSTON -USEUM OF &INE !RTS 30
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[ ONE ] More than 1,200 parents, faculty, students, and alums contributed feedback toward the look and content of the new site through meetings, focus groups, and surveys.
NEW TEXT MESSAGE: Girls’ Junior Varsity Soccer Cancelled “Better get to the upper school to pick up my daughter”
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T hings About BB&N:
The School’s New Website
[ TWO ] On-the-move users can subscribe to an RSS feed for up-to-the-minute alerts on calendar changes, game updates, or news items.
[ THREE ] The new site offers BB&N parents the convenience of Single Sign On, which provides password-protected access to grades and reports, online billing, important health and athletic forms, and the community directory.
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[ FOUR ] Close to 600 web pages were overhauled, turning BB&N’s online flagship into a more visually appealing and user-friendly experience.
... [ FIVE ] Smart phone and tablet integration make the website an interactive experience from anywhere you can get a signal.
[ SIX ] The BB&N website averages over 1,350 unique visits every day, which works out to nearly a half a million per year.
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lthough Ben Wright ’40 had an unusual journey through BB&N, his loyalty to the School has remained strong throughout the 75+ years since he attended both Buckingham and Browne & Nichols.
In the early 1930s following the death of his father, Ben moved with his mother, brother, and sisters back to their family home in Cambridge. Ben attended Buckingham in the 4th and 5th grades along with sisters Sylvia Wright Mitarachi ’34 and Phyllis Wright King ’37, while their mother (Margaret "Margot" G. Stone Wright) worked as a secretary and taught French at the B&N Lower School. Ben attended B&N from 6th through 10th grade and after his mother passed away, the Headmaster suggested that Ben finish his schooling at Governor Dummer Academy as a boarder. He went on to attend Harvard before being called to serve in World War II. After graduating from Boston University Law School in 1950, Ben spent his career as general counsel at The Badger Company, a subsidiary of Raytheon, retiring in 1987. In addition to the law, Ben’s other love was figure skating, which he pursued as a youngster initially at the Cambridge Skating Club and later at The Skating Club of Boston, of which he is a still a member and currently Chairman of the Board. When it became clear that he was not going to be a competitive world-class skater, Ben found his way into judging at the age of 19. He served as a referee at six Winter Olympic Games and as a referee and judge at 23 World Championships and 25 National Championships. He also wrote the definitive 75th -anniversary history of the U.S. Figure Skating Association and the 100th -anniversary history of the International Skating Union. Ben has remained a loyal and generous supporter of BB&N over the years and, in 1997, he augmented his support by creating a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) with low cost basis stock. By creating the CRT, Ben received a charitable income tax deduction on the full fair market value of the stock and he also receives a quarterly income for his lifetime, after which time BB&N will be an ultimate beneficiary. Ben recently told BB&N, “I am so grateful for the experiences I was able to have at BB&N that I created the CRT in recognition of what the School did for me.” Through this commitment, Ben is a member of BB&N’s Almy Society, which recognizes those who have made a gift to the School through their estate plans or through a life income gift like Ben’s CRT. For more information about membership in The Almy Society and gift planning opportunities at BB&N, contact Janet Rosen at 617-800-2729 or jrosen@bbns.org, or visit bbns.plannedgiving.org.
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School 80 Gerryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Landing Road Cambridge, MA 02138-5512 www.bbns.org
2014
Strawberry Night/ Reunion Weekend Friday, May 9-Sunday, May 11
Save the date for a return to campus to reconnect with classmates and friends and to celebrate the BB&N community of today! Strawberry Night will be held Saturday evening, May 10, in the Nicholas Athletic Center.
Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID Worcester, MA Permit No. 2