Reports 2013

REPORTS

VOLUME XXVI SUMMER 2013

FOR FAR BROOK ALUMNI & FAMILIES NEAR & FAR

CURIOSITY The Creative Spark of Science

STEPPING INTO THE CLASSROOMS A Photo Tour of Nursery Through Eighth Grade

FAR BROOK’S PROGRESSIVE ROOTS Head of School Amy Ziebarth’s Education Night Remarks

REPORTS

VOLUME XXVI SUMMER 2013

18 Graduates / 20 Events / 24 Development / 27 Alumni News / 33 Faculty News / 35 We Remember

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12

16

CONTENTS

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CURIOSITY The Creative Spark of Science

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STEPPING INTO THE CLASSROOMS

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FAR BROOK’S PROGRESSIVE ROOTS

A Photo Tour of Nursery Through Eighth Grade

Head of School Amy Ziebarth’s Education Night Remarks

Editors Jennifer Barba Helen Kaplus Editorial Assistants Peggy Fawcett Janice O’Shea

Principal Photographers Emma Banay Jim Benz Michelle Bradley Ann DeCamp Stephen Giordano Todd Goodman Julie Hack Emi Ithen Helen Kaplus Penny Sokolowski Megan Wetherall William Winburn

A MESSAGE TO FAR BROOK ALUMNI AND FAMILIES ANOTHER INCREDIBLE YEAR HAS COME TO A CLOSE AT FAR BROOK. During the last month alone, I have witnessed the depth and breadth of a Far Brook education in events and activities that reflect months of work as well as year-long themes: the Middle Ages, Ancient Greece, Child and Universe, Choral and Instrumental Music Nights, and the Eighth Graders’ emotional, humorous, and always-inspiring graduation speeches, followed by The Tempest.

In the spirit of creativity and wonder, we are presenting this annual issue of Reports in color for the first time, so appropriate for a school filled with vivid experiences. You can see the students’ artwork in rich and vibrant tones. Below you see the stage backdrop, designed and painted by the students for Harmonia, the new winter celebration. Look for the colors in the garden and the Wetlands Habitat, the “Far Brook red” of the buildings, and the vibrant classroom energy in science, math, English, literature, and history.

You will read within these pages some of the science presentations faculty shared with parents this spring, outlining the thread of scientific inquiry, questioning, and creative problem-solving woven throughout the School. At the end of my third year, I am still struck by the multi-layered teaching that takes place, and how the arts deepen and enrich the learning experience for all.

Also in this issue are exciting plans for Far Brook’s campus. Our architects, Centerbrook, have shared their vision – with considerable input from faculty – with the parents for dramatically improving the facilities in music, art, woodshop and science, and sports. We are moving forward and we will update the community in the coming months.

I hope you enjoy this edition of Reports and welcome your feedback. The pictures and articles tell much of our story, and what a tale we have to tell. The Alumni News portion reveals next steps for our graduates as they move throughout their lives. The range of schools, colleges, majors, multiple degrees, and careers is great reading. Thank you for joining us in this journey that is Far Brook School. Send us news of your adventures. We love to hear from you.

WARMLY,

AMY ZIEBARTH Head of School

Student-created art hung on Moore Hall stage for Harmonia 2012.

“SCIENCE IS A CREATIVE

search for

order and harmony in the universe...our woods, fields, brook, and marsh are a continuous laboratory...No child is too young for science.

The subject matter lies in their daily experience and follows their exploration in

“

the natural environment.

From Far Brook Founding Director Winifred Moore’s The Roots of Excellence.

In physical science class, Eighth Graders prepare a sample for fractional distillation to determine the properties of a mixed liquid.

CURIOSITY:

THE CREATIVE SPARK OF SCIENCE

O

n the evening of February 13, 2013, parents gathered in Moore Hall for Transition Night, a time when they get a sense of what the next year will hold for their children. Six Far Brook teachers shared their vision of teaching scientific inquiry and problem-solving skills through myriad creative experiences in the classrooms. From Nursery through the Eighth Grade, these experiences are woven throughout a Far Brook child’s daily life in intriguing and thoughtful ways.

HERE IS A GLIMPSE OF THE FACULTY PRESENTATION, ENTITLED “CURIOSITY.“

1

AN OVERVIEW: EMMA BANAY – SCIENCE TEACHER, FIFTH – EIGHTH GRADES It is a pleasure to hear every day in the questions your children ask the ingenuity, inquisitiveness, and unexpected insight with which they approach their world.

It is a privilege and responsibility to give students the experimental framework, habits of mind, and the tools necessary to, rather than simply be told the answers, discover them for themselves.

Anyone who has visited the Middle School science lab knows that, on the wall by the door, the “Question Parking Lot” is teeming with the questions that students conjure up during science class. Often unrelated to the current unit, questions gather as proof of our students’ constant curiosity about and engagement with their world. A sampling of the current selection, students wonder: 4 Could you completely re-grow a bone if you lost more than half of it?

4Why do your ears hurt on a plane?

4How can the brain gather memory?

4What makes flowers keep their color?

Our primary purpose over the course of the Nursery through Eighth Grade science program is to create students who love science. Whatever aspect excites their interest, from mold to molecules, our job is to uncover it.

By the time they graduate, our goal is to develop students who are able to channel their lively and wide-ranging interests into self-directed, independent inquiry, where the application of prior knowledge, a robust experimental method, mathematics-integrated data analysis, and reasoning skills are second nature.

CURIOSITY / 5

In the younger grades, science class focuses on skills like observation, classification and sorting, pattern-recognition, and prediction-making. Open-ended and structured exploration, indoors and outdoors in the Wetlands Habitat, garden, or playground, enlivens children to the world around them and increases their exposure to phenomena and organisms that excite their curiosity and interest.

In Middle School, students become proficient in the experimental method. They develop hypotheses and perform and create experiments; they collect data and learn how to best represent it, creating a strong math/ science integration. It is not uncommon to hear a surprised Fifth or Sixth Grader ask whether they are in science or math class.

In Junior High, students are increasingly asked to apply the skills they have acquired. While still guided in more traditional experiments, there are more opportunities for them to create their own. As independence in experimentation increases, so, too, does the burden of explaining how and why things happen. They learn to write explanations and formal lab reports that are not only accurate but deep, thoughtful, and meaningful.

2

JOAN ANGELO – FIRST GRADE TEACHER Our Core Curriculum in First Grade is Patterns, and specifically, Patterns in Nature. As students try to define the term, they tend to use examples. [Branches are … ] “Well – like the trees outside” or “Look! On my arm, I have a branch.” Around the room there are books and photos, and children begin to make the connections. They begin to wonder and question. They want to know why deer antlers branch out and not goat horns, why snowflakes all have six branches, why a tree stretches out. Someone remembers when they studied butterflies in Kindergarten but now focuses on those black lines that permeate the wings. Someone else notices that the photo of a bat’s wing is very similar to the butterfly pattern. Suddenly the whole class is talking about this. They have uncovered the curriculum rather than just covering facts and in doing this they achieve ownership of what they learn, and they see themselves as people who can make things happen.

Their excitement and enthusiasm extends beyond the class activities. During outdoor play someone notices the roots of the old tree on the hillside spreading across the playground. They run to us. “Look!! We found a branching pattern! A tree has a branch on the top and the bottom!”

And the inevitable question, “Why?” Our activities are student-driven – their interests lead the way. This year our students started collecting leaves.

We set up an area of the room where they could sketch, draw, and use magnifying glasses to look very closely at the structure of leaves. Art is such an integral part of science, observing details and recording what we see. In our class the children recreated their leaves in the manner of Georgia O’Keeffe – large so they could capture every color and detail. To do this, they worked in groups. They learned about quadrants and assigning parts; how to work together. The conversation among the group is interesting in itself – keeping each other true to the real leaves they have observed, pointing out different variations for each class of leaf.

Lower School science teacher JoAnn Tutino leads First Graders in a discussion about turtles, part of a larger study of reptiles and other invertebrates.

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3 CHRIS MURPHY – WOODSHOP TEACHER At Far Brook, we know learning is an active experience.

Scientific thinking comes into play in the woodshop, where students learn to become makers and inventors by having the freedom to create open-ended projects of their own designs. Sixth Grade projects incorporate movement utilizing simple mechanics, requiring students to integrate a wide variety of skills including science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Already having mastered an array of technical woodworking skills using hammers, nails, and saws, they have also developed sophisticated thinking from their years in science and other classes. To accomplish a successful project, a student must rely on observation, experimentation, analysis, and revision.

Far Brook’s new 3D printer has enabled a collaborative project between the Sixth Grade science and woodshop classes. Students study climate change in science class and learn about renewable energy resources. For their joint project, they are tasked with fabricating wind turbine blades using computer-aided design programs, including the 3D printer, which gives students the ability to rapidly prototype their designs.

[Ed. note: Chris has received a Faculty Endowment Fund grant this summer to develop a new curriculum with the 3D printer. He will also purchase a second and faster 3D pinter, necessary to extend this curriculum, with the assistance of the Fund and a grandparent donor.]

IN THE YOUNGER “GRADES,

Young students are always curious about nature.

science class

focuses on skills like observation, classification and sorting, pattern-recognition, and prediction-making.

“ CURIOSITY / 7

Posters by Fifth Graders document their investigation into activities that affect heart rates.

4 MARNIE STETSON – JUNIOR HIGH ENGLISH TEACHER How Do We Teach Students to Find Answers?

Our students, to be prepared for the future, must have the intellectual flexibility that allows them to generate questions, formulate answers, and evaluate a subject from multiple perspectives. These are the kinds of skills they develop in science, but also across disciplines. Students further flex some of the muscles they have developed as scientists during our nature-writing unit in the Junior High.

This unit begins with two questions that teacher Ed [Solecki] and I ask of the students: The first is: “What is nature writing?” … It is a question that the students will disagree about. However, with that question in mind, we set out to hone some sophisticated higher-order thinking skills. As the students work their way through a series of complex, and very different texts, they get practice with the following skills: reading and understanding challenging texts; identifying shared characteristics of these texts; and finally, much like the Third Graders sorting seashells at Sandy Hook, the Seventh and Eighth Graders sort the characteristics of the texts according to which ones they believe are most important to making something into “nature writing.” Students read essays and articles, write about them, and discuss their ideas with their teachers and classmates. They ask and answer, “What do Henry David Thoreau and Annie Dillard, Wendell Berry, and Barbara Kingsolver have in common?”

The next question that Ed and I ask is: “How do your interactions with nature affect you?” This is where Far Brook’s experiential learning meshes so well with the rigors

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of the intellectual inquiry with which we begin the unit.

Now that students have unearthed what they think nature writing is and what nature has meant to other writers, they must mine their own experience. Over the course of the unit, students write about many different nature experiences, some they have had at home, at School or at Pok-O-MacCready. It could be canoeing, climbing a wall blind-folded, or cleaning up the Far Brook Wetlands Habitat. Nature experiences can be as diverse as swimming to a remote island or thinking about the streets of Newark.

Each Junior High student sifts through his/her multiple experiences, living in nature and writing about it, and crafts a single essay that encapsulates the effect nature has on him/her. The students learn in concrete ways the power and necessity of close observation, much like the observations they make during science. As one writer remarked in her essay: “As I looked around, feeling the frosty air sting my cheek, I searched for those small things that make a person feel connected to a place. I saw a rut on the side of the street, formed from many hikers traveling the trail, a cluster of leaves whorled in the wind and softly settled down, a green inchworm wiggled off a branch.

In the woods these things were everywhere around me, almost overwhelmingly present, but having the smaller things noticeable on the road made it more special. I can see the faint glint of light from the camp up ahead.

I look behind me at the long street and I wish for the winding black pathway to go on, but just as Robert Frost said, ‘Nothing gold can stay.’”

5

JOANN TUTINO – SCIENCE TEACHER, NURSERY – FOURTH GRADE As the students grow, so does our inquiry process.

Throughout Lower School, students observe, question, and often make models of what they observe. We also sort and classify our models or natural objects we have collected.

The First Graders are sorting pictures of birds by feet type.

Our conclusions center on why birds need certain types of feet. Is it because of the surfaces they land on? Do they need to catch and hold onto their food?

The Third Graders do a sorting activity with shells they collected on their seining trip to Sandy Hook. A small group of students is given a container of shells and they choose the criteria for sorting. Some sort by species, some by texture, and some by size. This leads us to discussions about scientific classification.

Students also explore and evaluate leaf veins and edges.

Why do some trees lose their leaves and others do not?

What do trees need to grow? How can trees help humans and how can we help them? In Second and Third Grades, students record their data in a science journal. Questions about the world around them may include: Do plants need light to grow? Do they need light to be green? Why do some objects fall quickly while others sort of flutter to the ground? Students make predictions and construct and label diagrams as they record the data from our experiments. We analyze our data and make conclusions and hypotheses based upon it.

“ OUR STUDENTS,

to be prepared for the future, must have the intellectual flexibility that allows

“

them to generate questions …

In Third and Fourth Grades, we make careful measurements during our experiments. We obtain and evaluate information on all aspects of our topic. Students gather information about the anatomy of plants and trees, including plant cells, the process of photosynthesis, and the importance of soil. They collect soil samples from different areas of Far Brook. They perform a clumping test, measure the pH of their soil, and determine its composition by utilizing a settling test and by measuring and identifying the layers. They generate and research questions such as – What types of plant and animal life might my soil support, and why? What type of ecosystem might evolve from this soil type?

Fourth Graders make hypotheses about the magnified object under the microscope.

CURIOSITY / 9

“...WE OBSERVE CURIOSITY “ at its best in class discussions,

everyday small moments, and conversations.

6 JAMIE WANG – SECOND GRADE TEACHER How does one measure curiosity?

Some may say that to measure a student’s curiosity is difficult, but in Second Grade we observe curiosity at its best in class discussions, everyday small moments, and conversations. I see it when students ask questions like, “What would happen if we took DNA from a narwhale’s horn and a horse’s body? Would we get a unicorn?” Or, “What would happen if the world tilted upside down?

Would we feel it?” We sense their awe and wonder on our way to sports when we see the faint reflection of a pale moon in the sky.

In our Second Grade classroom, we value inquirybased teaching. Questions about the natural world and phenomena begin with the student. As Alfred Novak, a leading researcher on inquiry-based science, says,“One implication is that inquiry-oriented teaching begins Sixth Graders enjoy identifying dominant and recessive traits – in this case attached and detached earlobes – during their genetics unit.

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with stimulating curiosity or wonder…Inquiry involves activity and skills, but the focus is on the active search for knowledge or understanding to satisfy a curiosity.”

Fortunately in Second Grade, with our curriculum focusing on “Child and Universe,” what better way is there to inspire awe or wonder than with subjects like the first mission to the moon, the Milky Way galaxy, and the stars and planets?

In light of awe-inspiring topics such as the universe, our hope is that students, like scientists, get a small glimpse of how big, how great, and how endless our universe is. And this means that the amount of unanswered questions to explore are equally great and numerous.

In our study of the planets, students divide a large sheet of construction paper into three sections. The first is labeled, “What I know,” the second, “What I want to know,” and the last, “What I learned.”

Students write down what they think they already know about the planets and questions they have. These authentic questions, derived from the students, are what drive their research. One student exclaimed, “Jamie, I don’t have enough room for all my questions!”

Some questions include: “Why is Mars red?” “How many dwarf planets are there?” “Why is Jupiter so big?”

“Is there life on other planets?” “How many galaxies are there?” Interestingly enough, these are the very same questions that NASA scientists are asking.

In addition to the research our students conduct, we extend our learning by meaningful, memorable, and sometimes delicious ways. When students asked about the sizes of each planet, we chose fruit to represent the relative sizes of the planets and made fruit salad to help them visualize just how much bigger Jupiter (the size of a honeydew melon) is to Earth (a green grape). This year as we made our salad, the students gasped, “I can’t believe Earth is that small!” “Jupiter can crush all the other planets!” These are not just “fun” or “cute” science activities, but the students are participating in what real scientists do: they make models, make observations, and use the power of analogy to help them wrap their minds around something as huge as craters on a moon’s surface or the size of planets to something observable and tangible.

“The Far Brook curriculum is a balance of the sciences and the arts for at their deepest level, both rely on original questioning and on a penetrating imagination...the scientist, along with all creative thinkers, is full of curiosity and holy intuition...”

From Far Brook Founding Director Winifred Moore’s The Roots of Excellence [Ed. note: The above presentations were edited by Carol Sargent.]

TOP and BOTTOM: All students have the opportunity to go into the Wetlands Habitat for classes.

MIDDLE: Seventh Graders list evidence of the way energy causes change in the world.

CURIOSITY / 11

STEPPING INTO THE CLASSROOMS A PHOTO TOUR OF NURSERY THROUGH EIGHTH GRADE

By Helen Kaplus

There’s nothing better than having the opportunity to become a character in a favorite nursery chant or song.

Here the NURSERY children are reenacting “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed,” a story everyone knows.

These smallest students see Fourth through Eighth Graders present plays in Morning Meeting and they put on their own plays in the classroom. While having fun, the class is developing literacy skills, such as rhyming, sequencing, oral memory, and prediction. Stories and songs are an integral part of the Nursery day. In addition to their twice-weekly music class, music and dramatic play occur throughout the day as part of the Nursery classroom activities.

NURSERY

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KINDERGARTEN

When FIRST GRADERS look at a new pattern in nature, they are often presented with a problem to help them understand how that pattern develops, “How can you cover the greatest amount of space on the classroom rug by using your bodies?” After a lot of guessing and regrouping, the children discover that if they stretch out their bodies they cover the most space. One child said, “We branched out our bodies!” Voilá they understand what a branching pattern is! From there the children begin to notice other branching patterns in nature and often transfer their knowledge to things they see in the man-made world. Have you ever noticed that an umbrella has a branching pattern?

KINDERGARTNERS are always eager to engage in block building and free-form construction, which are important parts of the whole development of the child.

Physically handling objects gives children a tangible understanding of concepts across all disciplines such as understanding spatial relationships, making comparisons, discovering balance and proportion, and learning decisionmaking and collaboration. Kindergartners (as well as Nursery students) build with different kinds of blocks, large and small, and of varying shapes and materials.

FIRST GRADE In this photo, SECOND GRADERS in music class prepare for their Instrumental Music Night debut. Rhythm patterns from the classic hand clapping game “Lemonade, Crunchy Ice” are combined with Director of Music Emeritus Ed Finckel’s “Ladybug” to create a unique and whimsical version of “Far Brook Animals.” Other ‘playground games’ ranging from American culture to traditions from every corner of the world allow our children to experience another dimension of the core curriculum, “Child and Universe,” through the simple and timeless joy of hand clapping games, balls, sticks, and jump ropes.

SECOND GRADE

STEPPING INTO THE CLASSROOMS / 13

THIRD GRADE

The core study in the FOURTH GRADE is Ancient Egypt. Students begin to investigate the animals of northern Africa in the classroom where they learn about the important status the animals held for the ancient Egyptians, especially the role they played in the myths and stories of the time. The study extends in science class where they further research the animals and create field guides. As a culminating project, student use their original sketches of the Nile River Valley animals to create silkscreens and print the images onto t-shirts and felt with the help of a visiting artist. At the end of the year, an Egyptian Feast is celebrated, and the children wear their silkscreened shirts and taste the cuisine that they have prepared based on recipes written thousands of years ago.

Students in THIRD GRADE are involved in the yearlong curriculum about Native Americans, which unfolds from historical, cultural, and contemporary points of view. This study is explored through several experiences in the classroom, including the reading of Louise Erdrich’s Birchbark House, which tells the story of Woodland Indians. When they study the Plains Indians, they create their own personal shields, choosing powerful icons to represent what they believe is important in their lives, and write their own Iktomi stories. Third Grade conversations about how Native Americans are represented today has led to important and meaningful discussions about stereotyping.

FOURTH GRADE

FIFTH GRADERS are immersed in the study of Ancient Greece all year. After reading about different aspects of life in the Golden Age of Ancient Greece, each child chooses a topic that he or she is interested in, such as medicine, government, theater, women, or war. They learn the stepby-step process of writing a research paper: how to take notes, how to write an outline, how to write a draft, and how to revise and edit their work. They do their drafting and editing on laptops in the classroom. The class then studies the ancient Greek Olympics and holds an Olympics of their own out on the sports field.

FIFTH GRADE

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SIXTH GRADE

This year in history class the SEVENTH GRADE focused on Ancient China and the Italian Renaissance. English and history merge when the students write research papers.

They spend classroom and homework time honing their outlining skills as they develop their reports on topics such as the terracotta warriors, Renaissance cuisine, and the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci. In preparing their outlines, students learn how to condense their thoughts into topic headings instead of sentences, and how to break down their ideas into sub-categories. These are essential tools for Eighth Grade and beyond. Here, teacher Ed Solecki chooses a former student’s outline on the Ming Dynasty as an example to discuss with his class.

SIXTH GRADERS started the school year studying the Roman Empire which was complemented by their class play, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Part II. The students explored the Barbarian tribes of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East during the Dark Ages and enjoyed moving their desks to simulate tribe migrations and aggressions.

This year, as part of their studies about the height of the Middle Ages, the students worked with alumni parent and artist Liz Demaree to create authentic medieval illuminations, making their own ink from oak gall and their own paints from tinctures and dyes using a mortar and pestle. The stunning results were framed and displayed in Moore Hall.

SEVENTH GRADE In addition to the heavy and diverse EIGHTH GRADE course load of English, American history, physics, French, algebra, drama, and music, in the last year at Far Brook students put on two performances of a full-length Shakespeare play, either The Tempest or A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as their graduation “gift” to the School.

They also make their own diplomas with calligraphic lettering and build, engrave, and stain the frames in woodshop. The diplomas hang in Moore Hall during the final week of school and the students take them home after the last performance of the play.

EIGHTH GRADE

STEPPING INTO THE CLASSROOMS / 15

FAR BROOK’S PROGRESSIVE ROOTS

By Amy Ziebarth, Head of School

[Ed. note: What follows is the bulk of the speech Amy Ziebarth delivered to parents on Education Night, October 17, 2012.]

A

typical day here at Far Brook might be considered quite extraordinary anywhere else. Through our core curriculum, the pervasive influence of the arts, the opportunities we have to dig deeper and to slow down, we continue to strengthen our community and ourselves. The interactions and reciprocal relationships between adults and students on this campus are both simple and profound. ...We celebrate the power of our entire ensemble – the joy that comes from contributing to something bigger than ourselves.

Our School grew out of an educational community formerly known as Buxton Country Day School, founded in 1928, which was one of the first progressive schools in New Jersey.

Winifred Moore, formerly the Lower School Director at Buxton, was encouraged by several parents to become Far Brook’s first Director, which she was from 1948-1973.

She, indeed, has left a legacy. As our school history says, “Her contributions ranged from the mundane – she had the buildings painted red – to the truly sublime – she wrote The Roots of Excellence, an eloquent statement of Far Brook’s philosophy.” Her educational philosophy was in line with and influenced by such worldly philosophers as John Dewey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Albert Einstein.

One paragraph from The Roots of Excellence...illustrates our commitment to learning through the arts and our

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interdisciplinary approach to teaching. “No learning takes place unless the child himself makes the connection … No discovery of a new concept, of seeing the ‘interrelatedness’ of things comes without a leap of the imagination. Schools should cultivate the imagination. Therefore, the Far Brook curriculum is a balance of the sciences and the arts, for at their deepest level both rely on original questioning and on a penetrating imagination – on creative thinking.”

Far Brook’s deep commitment to language, literature, scientific inquiry, Nature, the power of metaphor and the arts, and our progressive roots, is who we are. Our educational approach is multi-layered and engaging, by intention and design. Experiential teaching and learning through the arts are at the heart of who we are and are an important aspect of a progressive education.

John Dewey, many would argue, was one of the most influential thought leaders on education in the 20th century. One quote of his really resonates with me and with our work at Far Brook.

“The world is moving at a tremendous rate. Going no one knows where. We must prepare our children, not for the world of the past. Not for our world. But for their world. The world of the future.”

Dewey believed, as we do here at Far Brook, that the student initiates learning.

Dewey wrote about four primary and common natural instincts of children: 4 Children’s innate desire to solve the mysteries before them. We could simply call this our natural curiosity about how things work.

4 The proclivity children have to communicate orally – and we all know that!

4 The delight children find in the construction of things, real and imagined 4Their natural gifts of artistic expression These values are as relevant in our school today as they were when John Dewey was writing in 1916.

You can witness these principles here in every classroom, every day. They are: 4 An integrated curriculum and our focus on project-based learning 4 Emphasizing problem solving and critical thinking as higher order skills 4 Collaborative work and the development of cooperative social skills 4An education for further social responsibility

Increasingly today, one hears about the “Four C’s” needed for success in life – creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. In your children’s future, admission directors and prospective employers will be looking for tenacity and grit, your child’s contribution to the group, to the team, to the larger community. They will also want to know about character – persistence, patience, resiliency, and flexibility, and, most importantly, the development of empathy, a sense of justice and ethics.

We work hard on developing all of these attributes at Far Brook.

Our mission and philosophy are strong. Far Brook continues to evolve and grow from the foundation established by Winifred Moore. Such growth is part of what happens when a community is creative, flexible, and collaborative.

OPPOSITE PAGE: Fourth Graders dramatized The Tale of the Two Brothers, a story set in Ancient Egypt.

THIS PAGE LEFT TO RIGHT: Fifth Graders presented Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Part II, was the Sixth Graders’ class play. Seventh Graders staged Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I. Eighth Graders presented Who Am I This Time? by Kurt Vonnegut.

PROGRESSIVE ROOTS / 17

CLASS

OF

2013

We present the newest Far Brook graduates, the Class of 2013. Most have been here since Nursery or Kindergarten, the majority of their young lives. A consistent theme runs through all of their thoughts – that Far Brook is a very special welcoming place, a community that has supported and guided them. They have completed their Eighth Grade year by gifting their school community with two productions of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in June. Now that they have left the nest, we wish them luck in their high schools and beyond, knowing that they are ready to continue on their educational journey.

5 OUR NEWEST GRADUATES, THE CLASS OF 2013, IN COSTUME FOR THE TEMPEST LEFT TO RIGHT BACK ROW: Shane Iverson, Benjamin Barba, Andrew Tartaro, ShaBria Clark, Lily Mynott, Leila Curtiss, AJ Bernstein LEFT TO RIGHT MIDDLE ROW: Matthew Melillo, Henry Kraham, Roggi Chuquimarca, Matthew Hawkins LEFT TO RIGHT FRONT ROW: Elijah Chilton, Chloe Benz, Amanda Celli, William Klein, Laila Shushtarian, Nathaniel Bess, Sophie Ricciardi, Gavin Branch

18 / CLASS OF 2013

BENJAMIN BARBA was one of the eight ensemble actors who portrayed Prospero in The Tempest. He also played the Boatswain. Ben will miss “knowing everyone so well” and remembers his First Grade teacher, Joan Angelo, who took extra time to help him learn to read.

Next semester, Ben will begin at Newark Academy.

LEILA CURTISS will miss being able to do everything at Far Brook – play sports, be in the play and sing every year! One of her favorite memories is going to Pok-O-MacCready Camp in Seventh and Eighth Grades. Leila was also part of the Prospero ensemble in the play and will be off to Morristown-Beard School soon.

CHLOE BENZ shared the role of Prospero in The Tempest. Chloe fondly remembers the Medieval Feast shared by Kindergartners and Sixth Graders and making the costumes. She also had fun during the Third Grade sleepover. Chloe will miss singing at Morning Meeting and feeling so welcome at School. Chloe will attend David Brearley High School next fall.

MATTHEW HAWKINS came to Far Brook in Third Grade. He will miss the strong sense of community at School and keeps as his favorite the memory of the Medieval Feast. Matt played Alonso in The Tempest and will be heading off to the Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music High School in New York City.

AJ BERNSTEIN was a member of the ensemble that portrayed Prospero in The Tempest. He says he will miss his friends and remembers watching the Junior High baseball games when he was younger. AJ will be going to The Pingry School in September.

NATHANIEL BESS also shared the role of Prospero in the play.

He will miss the small classes and his teachers and friends. One of his favorite memories? Playing in the sandbox! Gill St. Bernard’s School is Nathaniel’s next educational stop.

GAVIN BRANCH started at Far Brook in the Fourth Grade and will miss his teachers and friends who supported him through his five years.

Gavin enjoyed playing the Lord of the Manor during the Medieval Feast in Sixth Grade when he dubbed the knight. His role in The Tempest was Gonzalo and he will attend Seton Hall Preparatory School.

AMANDA CELLI was Miranda in The Tempest. Amanda loves that at Far Brook she did everything – played sports, acted in plays, created art, and sang in the choir. She says that each morning she was excited about what she was going to do that day. The Pingry School will be the next step in her education.

DANIELLA CHARTOUNI will miss knowing the nams of everyone at School. Daniella likes best that at Far Brook the older and younger students can be friends. She still remembers her Thanksgiving Processional partner when she was in Nursery and knows that she will be remembered by her Nursery partner in the same way. She is headed to The Pingry School next. (not pictured) ELIJAH CHILTON played Ferdinand in June’s play. Eli came to Far Brook in Sixth Grade and appreciates the intimacy at School. He found the community welcoming and supportive and remembers the feeling of being part of a whole. He will attend West Orange High School in September.

ROGGI CHUQUIMARCA also joined the class in Sixth Grade and will miss many of the “little things that make Far Brook unique.” His favorite memories are of the trips to Canada and to Pok-O-MacCready Camp. Roggi played the part of Antonio in The Tempest and will start at Delbarton School in the fall.

SHABRIA CLARK began her Far Brook years in Sixth Grade. She will miss the close-knit friendships she has made and says she enjoyed playing dodgeball in sports class. ShaBria also played Prospero in The Tempest and will attend Saint Vincent Academy next semester.

SHANE IVERSON enjoyed singing every day in Morning Meeting.

He loved his teacher, Donna, in Kindergarten and drew pictures of her while other kids played with blocks. Shane was Caliban in the play and will attend Newark Academy next.

WILLIAM KLEIN’s favorite memory is the Kindergarten trip to Central Park! He will miss his friends and is excited “to enter a new environment and make new friends” at the Fieldston School in New York. Will played the role of Sebastian in The Tempest.

HENRY KRAHAM joined the class in Fourth Grade. Henry also speaks of the “welcoming and helpful” community at Far Brook. Henry remembers watching the Eighth Graders cry last year on their last day of school. This year was his turn. He was part of the ensemble that played Prospero in the play and will be off to The Pingry School next.

MATTHEW MELILLO has the funny memory from Nursery when teacher Bill Deltz asked his class to clap their feet and stomp their hands! Matt says he will miss the encouragement to “always be your best.” Matt played the part of Ariel in The Tempest and will attend Newark Academy in the fall.

LILY MYNOTT loves the small size of Far Brook and will miss being friends with everyone. She shares her memory of the Red Hot Swingin’ Peppers, a “swinging team” she and her girlfriends created on the playground. Lily also played the role of Prospero and will be found “swinging” at Millburn High School next year.

SOPHIE RICCIARDI played the role of Adrian and will miss the traditions at School and communicating with the younger children. Her favorite memory is the all-day hike at Pok-O-MacCready Camp when her classmates told each other stories to motivate each other to keep hiking. Sophie will be at The Pingry School next year.

LAILA SHUSHTARIAN calls Far Brook home and will never forget its special sense of community. Her favorite memory is of the Eighth Grade sleepover at School when Matt H began playing “Don’t Stop Believing” on the piano and everyone broke into song. Laila was Stephano in the play and will attend Newark Academy in September.

ANDREW TARTARO will miss all of his friends and teachers the most. He remembers playing the Cock in the holiday Masque when he was in Fifth Grade and befriending the older students also in the Masque. Andrew took the part of Trinculo in The Tempest and will be off to Millbrook School in Duchess County, NY.

CLASS OF 2013 / 19

STUDENT ART SHOW

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GRAND FRIENDS MORNING April 5, 2013 – Grandparents and Other Special Friends Visited Far Brook

EVENTS / 21

MUSICAL JOURNEY AN AFTERNOON OF CHAMBER MUSIC AND CHOCOLATES

A Benefit Concert for Far Brook’s Music and Instrument Fund Sunday, January 27, 2013 LEFT TO RIGHT: Ashley Horne, violin; Paul DiDario, piano; F. Allen Artz, piano/Far Brook Director of Music; Erasmia Voukelatos, piano/Recital Coordinator; Daryl Goldberg, cello; Orlando Wells, viola; Laura Karel George, flute; Claire Chan, violin; and William Shadel, clarinet.

David Amram Visits Far Brook

By Megan Wetherall If you are not familiar with David Amram, just Google him and your jaw will drop. He has composed more than 100 orchestral and chamber works as well as film scores, and there seems to be no instrument he cannot play. He is also, as our community had the privilege to discover during his two-day residency on campus in March, a soulful gentleman who lives and breathes music in the most infectious way. [This experience was made possible by the Fredda S. Leff Special Projects Endowment.]

Mr. Amram led a special Morning Meeting and workshopped with every grade, introducing the students to his vast collection of percussion instruments from around the world, and teaching them about song writing. “We are all born with a song in our hearts and a heartbeat with a rhythm,” he told them, “and if you can sing it, you can find a way to play it on any instrument.” He demonstrated how playing a reedy pipe from Egypt or another from China can whisk you right to that part of the world without a visa or a passport. And that playing a piece of music from a thousand years ago or longer can create a

22 / EVENTS

sense of timelessness. “Did you hear that?” he asked. “We were there and there was here.”

On the evening of the second day, Mr. Amram collaborated with staff and students to present a concert to the extended community. The music and joy created that night in Moore Hall left a deep imprint on us all. Mr. Amram finished by paying tribute to an old friend and fellow musician: “Finally, at the age of 82, I found out where Ed Finckel [Director of Music Emeritus] spent 30 years of his life! And I know why … Far Brook is something really special. This is a place where everyone sings.”

Alumni Gathering IN UPPER MONTCLAIR - APRIL 28, 2013

Learning Specialist Nicole Fabian Engelke ’88

Host Juliet Sutherland and Daughter Rose Koven ’06

Rose Koven ’06 with John ’53 and Elena Santoro

Robert Johnson ’67

Robyn Mick Ryder ’78

Glenn Ollendorf ’78, Ann Pollack ’72, and Dan Wesson ’78

History Teacher Ed Solecki, Pache Barcliffe ’92, Technology Coordinator Heather Chaffin ’92, and Math Teacher Sally Adams Chernoff ’57

Philip Fryberger ’70 with Sally Fryberger Braley ’75

PARENT SOCIAL MARCH 1, 2012

This painting was one of the many auction items generously donated by parents

More than 130 Far Brook parents gathered in Moore Hall amidst twinkling lights, paper lanterns, café tables, and a myriad of auction items for friendly bidding and socializing. Over $20K was raised to enhance our playground and play spaces.

EVENTS / 23

PLANS FOR FAR BROOK’S FUTURE

TOP TO BOTTOM: Music and Arts Building - Centerbrook’s Rendering of the Orchestra and Choral Room Science and Environmental Center - Centerbrook’s Rendering of the Junior High Science Lab

24 / DEVELOPMENT

I

n 2011, Head of School Amy Ziebarth and Far Brook’s Board of Trustees undertook a Master Planning process for Far Brook to develop the campus in ways that are consistent with the mission of the School, its desire to remain a leading academic institution, and its commitment to sustainability. This process was designed to meet the current and future needs of our students and also allow the School to consider how new, much needed facilities, will enhance the curriculum and the extraordinary learning that makes Far Brook unique.

In the fall of 2012, Far Brook hired Centerbrook Architects, a highly regarded architectural firm based in Connecticut with more than 30 years of experience in institutional and school design. Their clients include: The Collegiate School, Buckingham Browne & Nichols, Colgate University, Williams College, and Yale University.

Centerbrook truly understands Far Brook’s philosophy and culture. Amy Ziebarth, the Board of Trustees, and the Faculty and Administration have been collaborating with Centerbrook over the last nine months on designs for a new Science and Environmental Center, a Music and Arts building, and a multipurpose Athletic Facility.

These buildings are in the design phase and will be built in stages beginning with the Science and Environmental Center and the Music and Arts building. The designs for the Music and Arts building include a larger and more functional orchestra and choral room with direct access to an outdoor amphitheater, a larger Lower School music room with flexible space to accommodate dance and instrument storage, and a larger, more functional fine

arts room with direct access to the outdoors. The Science and Environmental Center includes three separate labs with breakout lecture space for Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools science, all with age-appropriate furnishings, layouts, and equipment. Attached to the science building will be a new Woodshop. The buildings are to be constructed toward the back of the campus, facing the Wetlands Habitat, our wonderful natural resource.

Quiet fundraising has already begun, and construction is currently planned for 2014. The architects were on campus this spring sharing plans with Far Brook’s current parents and also with our neighbors. Feedback from these sessions was extremely positive. Work will continue throughout the summer, and Centerbrook will be on campus this fall to update Alumni and Alumni families.

THIS IS AN EXCITING TIME FOR FAR BROOK, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO UPDATING YOU AS THESE PROJECTS MOVE FORWARD.

FAR BROOK DEVELOPMENT / 25

SIMPLE GIFTS

CAN BE EXTRAORDINARY Over the years, we have been the proud recipient of bequests from members of our community who hold Far Brook so close to their hearts. As a way to recognize and encourage planned gifts to this extraordinary School and community, Far Brook has initiated The Simple Gifts Society, to highlight how easy it is to create such a gift, as it provides significant funds for the Endowment and for Far Brook’s future. More recently, we have been pleased to learn of those who included Far Brook in their estate plans many years ago. We encourage you to do the same!

A bequest is the simplest way to do this, by specifying a gift amount or percentage from your estate. You can be included in future planned giving lists for creating such a gift or you can remain anonymous. There are other ways to direct planned gifts to Far Brook as well.

Mary Sue Fisher, Chair of the newly established Simple Gifts Society, remarked, “Although there are many ways to support Far Brook, planned giving is an effective and convenient way to help the School in years to come.”

Bequests are vital to increasing Far Brook’s Endowment and ensuring that the School is here for generations, long into the future.

If you would like a copy of the Simple Gifts Society brochure or more information, email Carol Sargent at CSargent@farbrook.org or call her at Far Brook at (973) 379-3442.

FAR BROOK’S 2013-14 ANNUAL FUND, A COMMUNITY OF GIVING, IS NOW UNDERWAY EVERY GIFT MATTERS! VISIT...

www.farbrook.org/onlinegiving

MAKE YOUR GIFT TODAY Thank you to our generous donors who supported the 2012-13 Annual Fund raising $500,674 487% of Current Parents 447% Gave at Fair Share Level or Above 470% of Faculty and Administration 4$58,881 in Matching Gifts Participation from Alumni, Current Parents, Alumni families, Faculty and Administration, and Grandparents is key and vital to our success.

SUPPORT FAR BROOK’S ANNUAL FUND TODAY!

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ALUMNI NEWS SHARE YOUR ALUMNI NEWS! Graduation, wedding, birth, promotion, anniversary, award, or retirement?

Submit news of your major life events via email at alumni@farbook.org Friend us on facebook.com/farbrookalumni

1953

1962

1971

1986

Attended: The Putney School ’57; Harvard University ’61; University of Massachusetts ’76 From Meudon, France, Arthur offers guided strolls through Paris on the internet: www. franceonyourown.com and www. netprof.fr/Histoire-de-Paris/Tousles-cours-en-video,21,0,0.aspx.

Attended: Morristown-Beard School ’66; Ohio Wesleyan; Northwestern University Laird is enjoying retirement. He flew Boeing 737s for Continental Airlines. He still loves to travel and has recently been to Alaska and western Europe.

Attended: Bethany College ’78; The Drama Studio ’79; Benedict Language and Business School ’80; Ohio University ’82 As an Elder of Old First Reformed Church and the Classis of Brooklyn, David attended the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America in Chicago in 2012, a business, educational, and communal gathering of representatives of Reformed Churches from across the country and Canada.

Attended: The Pingry School ’90; American Academy of Dramatic Arts Sanjiv is an actor of television, film, and theatre. During the month of December 2012, Sanjiv’s Bumbug the Musical enjoyed its world premier at the Clurman Theatre in New York.

The rock opera, co-written with Samrat Chakrabarti, is a musical reinvention of A Christmas Carol told through the eyes of New York City immigrants.

1975 & 1977

1988

ARTHUR GILLETTE

LAIRD JOHNSON

1954

CHRISTOPHER MATHEWSON Attended: Case Institute of Technology ’63; University of Arizona ’65 and ’71 Chris retired as Regent Professor in May of 2011 from a long and distinguished career of teaching at the College of Geosciences of Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. During his tenure, he developed and nurtured the Engineering Geology Research Program involving exposure to classical geology, fundamental engineering, agricultural soils, geotechnical engineering, soil and rock mechanics, hydrogeology, and site investigative techniques.

This research program evolved into the Center of Engineering Geosciences, of which Chris became director in 1992. He currently serves on the Council of Examiners of the National Association of State Boards of Geology. Governor Rick Perry recently appointed Dr. Mathewson to serve on the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists, 2012-2017.

DAVID VON SALIS

RACHEL ROTHENBERG Attended: Newark Academy ’92; Tufts University ’96 Solomon Bodhi was born to Rachel and her husband, Ross Singer, on November 18, 2012.

The family, which includes their first son, Leo, resides in Wakefield, RI. Congratulations to all!

John David Mann ’69

1969

5JOHN DAVID MANN Attended: Changes High School; Mannes College of Music John’s latest book, The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America’s Deadliest Marksmen, was released by St. Martin’s Press in April 2012 and immediately hit the New York Times bestseller list.

It is coauthored by John and is the true story of Brandon Webb and his behind-the-scenes look at the SEALS sniper program. Brandon and he are working on their next book together.

SANJIV JHAVERI

Kate Paddon ’77 and Jamie Paddon ’75

1984

Blair Gardiner ’90 Visits Far Brook With His Neices and Nephew, Children of Allen Gardiner ‘84

PATRICIA STERN ZELKOWICZ Attended: Montclair-Kimberley Academy ’92; Wesleyan University ’96; Columbia University ’02 Congratulations to Tricia and her husband, Steve, on the arrival of their second son, Caleb, born May 20, 2013. Caleb joins his brother Matan who is in Far Brook’s Class of 2022. The family lives in South Orange, NJ.

ALUMNI NEWS / 27

ALUMNI NEWS CONTINUED

MATTHEW MANDELBAUM

1990 Alumna Melissa Fabian Friedman’s Children Jason and Hannah with Cousins Will ’19 and Alec ’22 Engelke

1990

5MELISSA FABIAN FRIEDMAN Attended: Kent Place School ’94; University of Rochester ’98; Hunter College Melissa, husband Michael, and big brother Jason welcomed Hannah Elizabeth to their family on November 19, 2012. Hannah was also welcomed by her cousins Will Engelke ’19 and Alec Engelke ’22, sons of Nicole Fabian Engelke ’88.

John Brooke Junior, son of Blair Gardiner ’90, in His Far Brook Cap

5BLAIR GARDINER Attended: Newark Academy ’94; Lafayette College Blair and his wife welcomed J. Brooke Junior into the world in August 2012. Blair and his family live in West New York, NJ.

28 / ALUMNI NEWS

Attended: The Pingry School ’94; University of Pennsylvania ’98; NYU ’03; Bank Street College ’07; Fordham University ’13 Congratulations to Matt who has just received his PhD in educational psychology from Fordham University and a DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) Team Building Intensive Training Certification for 2013-2015. Matt continues as Director of Outreach at the Robert Louis Stevenson School and as an adjunct lecturer at Hunter College’s Department of Educational Foundations and Counseling. His daughter, Ella, is now four, and Levi is a toddler of just over one year old.

1992

ALEX BROUNSTEIN Attended: The Pingry School ’96; Emory University Alex is busy building his hamburger empire in Georgia. He has franchised his original lunch counter restaurant, Grindhouse Killer Burgers, in Atlanta and opened a new one in terminal D of Hartsfield Airport. In addition to the free-standing Grindhouse in midtown Atlanta, Alex recently opened another in Athens near the University of Georgia. A last venture is a sandwich shop called Villains, a collaboration with two other chefs. They serve Wicked Heroes.

ADAM KEIL Attended: The Pingry School ’96; The Wharton School Congratulations to Adam and Liz ’93 who welcomed Naomi Sydney Keil into the world on January 21, 2103! She weighed in at 6 lbs., 9 oz. The family lives in Summit.

1993

Laurie Burgdorff ’94 with Her New Book

1994

5LAURIE BURGDORFF

Leila Kaplus Marcovici ’93 with Her Husband, Bryan, and Vivienne, on Her First Birthday

ELIZABETH PLOTKIN KEIL

Attended: Principia Upper School; Middlebury College; Lesley University Laurie has written and illustrated a children’s picture book, Lewis the Lamb, published by Shaggy Dog Press. In her story, the spunky and playful Lewis dreams of leaping off a ski jump! Laurie is currently working on a new book about a balloon.

Attended: Morristown-Beard School ’96; Lafayette College; Parsons School of Design Congratulations to Liz and Adam ‘92 on the birth of Naomi Sydney in January!

KATHARINE BURGDORFF TYLER Attended: Principia Upper School; Middlebury College Katharine had been living in Perth, Western Australia, for almost six years, and then relocated back to the States in 2009. She married Andrew Tyler on August 21, 2011 and they now live in Washington, DC, where she is a geology consultant for Baker Hughes working with the Asia Pacific team. Katherine still travels to the office in Australia a few times a year.

Amy Brounstein ’95 and Nate Carota on Their Wedding Day

1995

5AMY BROUNSTEIN CAROTA Attended: The Pingry School ’99; University of Pennsylvania ’03 Amy married Nathaniel (Nate) Carota on October 21, 2012, in an Audubon, PA, apple orchard followed by an elegant reception in an historic barn. Amy currently works at LEK Securities in the Financial District as a FIX specialist. Nate works in postproduction TV and films. The

20th Reunion of the Class of 1993!

4On Saturday, April 27, seven members of the Class of 1993 met in the Old Library to reminisce thanks to energetic organizer Liz Burke and Director of Advancement Carol Sargent. (Liz’s son, Alex, is in Far Brook’s Kindergarten!) Photos of their Far Brook days were posted and the DVD of the 1993 Masque was played. Elizabeth Plotkin Keil brought her husband, Adam ’92, and their new baby, Naomi; faculty members Ed Solecki, Bill Deltz, Valerie McEntee, Nancy Muniz, and Heather Chaffin ’92 dropped in for short visits, too. Afterwards, the alumni reconvened for dinner at Martini’s in Millburn.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Jennifer Pomerantz, Becca Wildman Repetti, Liz Burke, Brian Chernoff, Katharine Burgdorff Tyler, Leila Kaplus Marcovici, and Elizabeth Plotkin Keil

newlyweds reside in New York City. Congratulations to them and to their families!

MICHAEL CHERNOFF Attended: The Pingry School ’99; Princeton University ’03 And SARAH KEIL

CHERNOFF

Attended: The Pingry School ’99; Brown University ’03; Northwestern University ’05 Mike, Sarah, and son, Brody, welcomed new baby Owen Benjamin on June 2, 2013!

Congratulations to the family, who lives in Cleveland, OH.

1996

WHITNEY BROWN Attended: Montclair Kimberley Academy ’00; Kenyon College ’04; Auburn University ’06; Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine ’11 Whitney is spending two years at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine fulfilling her residency in theriogenology (animal reproduction). She will sit for the specialty board exam at its completion in August 2014.

Whitney loves her specialty because she works with mostly healthy patients and cute babies!

Amanda Richardson speaks on women’s issues

1998

5AMANDA RICHARDSON Attended: The Pingry School ’02; Amherst College ’06; Columbia University Law School ’10 Amanda is a land tenure specialist at the Landesa Rural Development Institute, based in Seattle. In June she spoke about women’s land tenure rights and women’s empowerment at various events in Geneva, Berne, Zurich, and to United Nations agencies in Rome. Amanda works to secure land rights, impacting women’s financial, social, and domestic status, and resulting in increased food security and nutrition.

1999

ALEX SPRINZEN Attended: Summit High School ’03; New York University Alex started in December as a full-time aide in the special education program for grades one through five at the Jefferson School in Summit. He loves working with children. Alex also runs a sports nutrition and wellness-related business. He lives in New Providence.

Jonathan Winnerman ’00 Along the West Bank of Luxor, the Nile Valley and Temples in the Background

2000

5JONATHAN WINNERMAN Attended: Montclair Kimberley Academy ’04; Princeton University ’08 Jonathan is in his fifth year of graduate school at the University of Chicago and is currently preparing his dissertation proposal. He was in Edfu, Egypt, during the winter as a member of the Tell Edfu project. Most of the archaeological work at the site is centered on the hill or “tell” adjacent to the large temple.

Jonathan’s work focused on approximately 350 stone blocks scattered near the base of this hill, inscribed with texts or reliefs.

He will return this fall to complete the project.

Christina Capatides ’01 Married Doug Vollmayer

2001

5CHRISTINA CAPATIDES VOLLMAYER Attended: Newark Academy ’05; Georgetown University ’09 Best wishes to Christina, who married high school sweetheart Douglas Vollmayer on October 20, 2012. Doug is a television editor for various shows that air on PBS. Christina worked for several years as a producer at ABC News, but recently went back to grad school to pursue a master’s degree at NYU’s Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. At Doug and Christina’s wedding, the bridal party dressed in the colors of the Processional and processed into the church to “Simple Gifts.”

ALUMNI NEWS / 29

ALUMNI NEWS CONTINUED

2002

EMILY ABRAMOWITZ ADAM Attended: Kent Place School ’06; Gettysburg College Our congratulations to Emily who married Justin Adam on December 30, 2011 and who gave birth to a daughter, Brooke Michelle, on January 24, 2012. Emily works at Tronex International, a medical disposables company, in Mount Olive, NJ. The family lives in Hackettstown.

THAYER CASE Attended: Phillips Exeter Academy ’06; Georgetown University ‘10 Thayer will be entering her second year at Washington and Lee University Law School in the fall.

4HALEY DOUDS

DEVON MCINTYRE

ZACHARY OPPERMAN

Attended: Kent Place ’06; Colby College ’10 Devon recently learned of her acceptance to Cooper Medical School, the medical school of Rowan University. She is elated!

Attended: Montclair Kimberley Academy ’10 Zak is majoring in criminal justice and English at the University of Pennsylvania. Last summer he interned for the public defender in Washington, DC, and is considering a career in law.

2003

LEO SPRINZEN Attended: Summit High School ’07; Oberlin College ’11 After graduating, Leo stayed in Ohio for training in green construction, housing systems, and energy assessments. He recently moved to Burlington, VT, to work in those fields.

2006

SPENCER CASE Attended: Phillips Exeter Academy ’10 Spencer is enrolled at the University of Manchester in England.

Attended: Newark Academy ’06; Amherst College ’10 Haley is in Boston working as an asset manager for a commercial real estate firm, Long Wharf Partners. In May, she and her family visited her brother, Erik ’06, in Copenhagen and stopped in Stockholm as well.

Haley Douds ’02 and Erik Douds ’06

5ERIK DOUDS Attended: Seton Hall Preparatory School ’10 Erik attends Colby College where his dual major is environmental policy and science. During the spring semester, he lived with a family outside of Copenhagen while doing an internship with the head oceanographer of NASA at the University of Copenhagen.

30 / ALUMNI NEWS

2009

2010

6ANNABELLE PATTON Annabelle attends Columbia High School and spent the past year at Woodstock School in Mussoorie, India, which is in the foothills of the Himalayas. While on the subcontinent, she toured Delhi, Agra, and parts of south India.

She will return to Columbia High for her senior year.

ANTHONY BRODEUR Attended: Shattuck-St. Mary’s School ’13 The New Jersey Devils drafted Anthony in the NHL finals pick in June. Anthony had been tending the goal for the Shattuck-St. Mary’s hockey program in Minnesota. He will be playing with the Gatineau Olympiques while attending the University of Ottawa in the fall.

COLE FUTTERMAN Attended: Montclair High School ‘13 Cole was on campus during the final weeks of school helping out with the Sports program as part of the “senior option” at Montclair High School, which allows students to intern during their final weeks of high school in a work setting. Cole wanted to be at Far Brook because he believes the school gave him so much, and he is hoping to give back to Far Brook. He will attend Williams College in the fall.

Annabelle Patton ’10 in India

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2009, WHO WILL BE ATTENDING THE FOLLOWING COLLEGES THIS FALL: Bucknell University Colby College Duke University Elon University Franklin and Marshall College Georgetown University Gettysburg College Haverford College Millersville University Mt. Holyoke College Newcastle University (England) New York University Northeastern University Syracuse University University of Hawaii University of Ottawa University of Wisconsin Washington University in St. Louis Williams College Yale University

2013-2014

Tommaso Zanobini, Chair Robert Kelly, Vice Chair Michelle Swittenberg, Secretary Tony Stovall, Treasurer Amy Ziebarth, Head of School Carol Chartouni Carmine Fanelle Mary Sue Fisher Janine Kane Anne-Marie Kim Tom Kligerman Leah Kronthal Marybeth Leithead Krissy Mannello Megan Martin Elyse Post ’78 Christine Susko Bradford Wiley, II ’54

ADMINISTRATION

2013-2014

Amy Ziebarth, Head of School Marcela Figueroa, Executive Assistant/Placement Coordinator Paula Levin, Director of Lower School Jim Benz, Director of Upper Schools Student Life Nicole Engelke ’88, Director of Upper Schools Faculty and Academic Support Admissions Mikki Murphy, Director of Admission, Placement and Financial Aid Kathy Ike, Admissions Assistant Business Office Donna Chahalis, CFO/Business Manager Janice O’Shea, Accounting Manager Development Suzanne Glatt, Director of Development Caroline L. Sargent, Director of Advancement Jennifer Barba, Director of Communications and Volunteers Peggy Fawcett, Development Associate Heather Chaffin ’92, Communications Coordinator Front Office Alisha Roig, Office Coordinator Jerilyn Campbell, School Nurse After-School Program Greg Bartiromo, After-School Program Director Mona Boewe, After- School Program Coordinator Facilities Arthur Gannon, Plant Supervisor Melissa Stampoulis, Kitchen Coordinator

ALUMNI NEWS / 31

THANKSGIVING PROCESSIONAL RECEPTION

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TOP TO BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT: 1) Tori Murphy ’09 and Nicholas Strain ’07 2) Julian Chartouni ’11, and Noah Wagner Carlberg ’11 3) Gavin Branch ’13, Grace Schwartzstein ’11, Jeremy Brodeur ’11, and Brian Miller ’12 4) Noelle Broussard ’12, Isabella Zanobini ’12, and Dayna Beatty ’12 5) Nick Fazio ’12 and Nick Celli ’12 6) Ming Goetz ’12 with Shane Iverson ’13 and Maeve Price ’12 7) The Miller Siblings: Noah ’75, Jeni ’77, and Charlie ’81 8) Nina Yoshida ’12, Charlotte Fisher ’07, Lauren Burr ’12, Duncan Fisher ’04, and French Teacher Rosemarie Alagia

Profile: Dorothy O’Neill Dorothy O’Neill is retiring at the end of the summer. Dorothy has been the Director of Finance since 1998, and before coming to Far Brook, she was the business manager at Oak Knoll School in Summit for 25 years. Dorothy has brought so much wisdom, common sense and humor to the office and to many teachers,

past and present, over the years.

She has been a professional and personal mentor to CFO and business manager Donna Chahalis and many others. Dorothy will ‘graduate’ from Far Brook and receive a diploma created by an Eighth Grade student.

First on Dorothy’s list of Things to Do is to “spend

lots of time” with her twelve grandchildren of all ages who are spread from NY/NJ to Boston and to Chicago. She is researching volunteer opportunities that will enable her to “pay forward” or “pay back” for the good fortune she has had throughout her life.

And she may just “take the time to smell the roses!”

FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION NEWS French teacher Rosemarie Alagia is expecting a baby in July. Rosemarie and her husband, Anthony, live in Jersey City.

In January, Director of Music F. Allen Artz, conducted the Carrollton Chorale singing a program of all a cappella music for Christmas and also on the theme of flowers, entitled “And Still It Blooms” in Morristown and Cranford. He also conducts five large choral concerts each year at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church in Plainfield, where he serves as both Director of Music/ Organist and Artistic Director of Crescent Concerts.

6Congratulations to physical education teacher/athletics coach and After School Program director, Greg Bartiromo, and his fiancé Erin Kelleher who will marry in August in New Vernon, NJ. Best wishes to the happy couple.

6Congratulations to math teacher Liz Colleran, her husband, Jon, and three-year-old Sean upon the arrival of Landon Beckett on May 28. Liz and her growing family live in New Providence.

Executive Assistant/Placement Coordinator Marcela Figueroa announces the birth of her grandson, Liam Gregory Lepore, born Feb 7, 2012. The happy parents, Ann Marie and Greg Lepore, and Liam live in Philadelphia.

Sally Chernoff’s Granddaughter, Katrusian McPeek

5Junior High math teacher Sally Adams Chernoff ’57 is a grandmother six times over! Her son, Rob, and his wife, Natalka, welcomed Katrusia Halyna McPeek into the family on August 8, 2012. And on May 25, 2013, her son, Mike ’95, and his wife Sarah Keil ’95, and son Brody, welcomed Owen Benjamin into their family.

Landon Beckett Colleran

First Grade teacher Erin Comollo has two exciting pieces of news. An essay featuring her mom’s letters to her and to her siblings about their adoptions has been included in Carried in Our Hearts, a book by Far Brook parent Dr. Jane Aronson. Jane has committed 10% of all the proceeds to go to Worldwide Orphan Foundation. And Erin has been accepted into Rutgers University’s Educational Doctorate program for Teacher Leadership, which focuses on professional development and teacher education.

Kathy Freeman

5Former teacher Kathy Freeman moved to Point Pleasant, NJ. Kathy was a Kindergarten teacher for one year, then a Nursery teacher for four more years. A wine and cheese reception for faculty and administration members was held in her honor at school in October.

Greg Bartiromo and his fiance Erin Kelleher

FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION NEWS / 33

FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION NEWS continued Director of Drama James Glossman’s adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Trouble is My Business had its world premiere at the Portland Stage Company (ME) in January. He directed a sold-out April performance of Unexplored Interior, a new play by Jay O. Sanders about the Rwandan genocide produced by the Public Theater and the Flea Theatre, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. Jim was named associate artistic director of the Shadowland Theatre in New York and is directing Bruce Graham’s The Outgoing Tide there in June.

Jim also received a commission to adapt the award-winning novel A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne for City Lit Theatre in Chicago. It premieres in the fall.

Art teacher Nancy McIntyre was part of an invitation-only group art exhibit which opened on April 6 at Coldwell Banker in Morris Plains. This first exhibit was a launch of what they hope to be an annual event. Look for her signature, Nancy Katzenberg, on ten oils and pastels. In addition, Nancy has begun cutting silhouette collages that include various subject matters, including a series of dancing cats.

Former math teacher Anna Maria Licameli is now Anna Maria D’Ippolito. She married Frank on June 22, 2012, with Junior High English and history teacher Ed Solecki, math teacher Sally Chernoff ’57, and Director of Music Allen Artz in attendance.

Anna Maria teaches eighth grade math at Brookwood School in Manchester, MA. The couple lives in Arlington, MA.

Nancy Ring

5First Grade teacher Nancy Ring had a painting included in the Summit Visual Art Center’s Blank Canvas Benefit Auction in April.

She plans to spend this summer at the artist-in-residence program of the iPark Foundation in Plantsville, CT, and in August as artist-inresidence at Ucross Foundation for the Arts in Wyoming. Several of her paintings and a fabric sculpture will be exhibited in a solo show at 73 See Gallery in Montclair in the fall.

Megan McCall and Kojak Martin

Caroline Sargent

5Caroline Sargent, Director of Advancement, was honored by her choir, Schola Cantorum on Hudson, at a gala evening on April 24 at Amanda’s Restaurant in Hoboken. Tribute was paid to Carol as a founding soprano member, former long-time member of the board, and a committed supporter.

6Congratulations to former Junior High math teacher Dominic Seals and his wife, Camille, on the birth of Astrid Emilie on October 11, 2012. He says she sings already! The family lives in Cleveland, OH.

Astrid Seals

Erasmia Voukelatos

5Last summer, Lower School music teacher Erasmia Voukelatos spent two weeks examining and evaluating Greek language pedagogical materials for the University of Rethymno in Crete, and hopes to return this summer to research Greek folk songs and to devote time to transcribing and choral arranging. In October 2012, she performed the Concerto No 23 in A, K. 488 by Mozart with the Antara Ensemble at St. Peter’s Church in the Citicorp building, New York City. Her performance can be found on YouTube. This March, Erasmia was a presenter in a teacher workshop titled “Listen! The Lyrics are Singing” for the Organization of American Kodaly Educators (OAKE) National Conference held in Hartford, CT. 6Second Grade teacher Jamie Wang is busy planning her wedding to Robert Yang on September 1, 2013 in Somerset, NJ. Congratulations to the happy couple who were engaged earlier this year at the same spot where Jamie first agreed to start dating Rob – right outside the Princeton Library. This photo was taken in the Far Brook wetlands.

5Third Grade teacher Megan McCall travelled to Jamaica with Kojak Martin for their wedding this summer. Later, they celebrated with family and friends back home in Kansas City where they had been high school classmates.

Far Brook Student Artwork

34 / FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION NEWS

Jamie Wang and Rob Yang

WE REMEMBER MALCOLM WARNOCK

SHEPARD PHILIP POLLACK

MARY ELIZABETH (BETTY) CRUM

November 26, 2012 Peter Hughes graduated from The Pingry School, Lafayette College, and Rutgers Business School. He and his late wife, Agneta, attended the Gala at Far Brook in 2006 with the entire Hughes clan. His mother, Betty, and his siblings Jay ’56, Betsy Templeton ’63, Barbara Gibson ’65, and their families celebrated Peter’s life at a memorial service on Long Island shortly after his passing.

December 24, 2012, Alumni Parent and Former Trustee Shep Pollack’s career began in President Truman’s executive office, as an advisor from 19491953. He worked in Ford Motor Company’s finance department, and later at Curtiss-Wright Corporation before joining Philip Morris USA in 1959. In 1977, he was named CFO and led the acquisition of 7-Up. In 1978, Shep became president and COO of Philip Morris USA. In 1985, Shep joined American Express Life Assurance Co. (formerly Fireman’s Fund) in San Francisco as President and CEO. In 1993, he became chair of advertising agency Mandelbaum Mooney Ashley. Mr. Pollack is survived by his wife, Paulette Long; her son, Claudio Saunt; his children, Susan ’70, Ann ’72, and Peter ’78; their mother, Arlene Pollack; his sister, Ethel Cohen, as well as seven grandchildren, including John ’08 and Trevor Gilman ’12, and two step-grandchildren.

May 9, 2013, Far Brook’s Former Business Manager and Transportation Coordinator 1974-1997 Betty Crum was a valued presence at Far Brook during years of major growth for the School. She managed the overall transportation system in the days of Far Brook’s little yellow school buses and the new building construction, the first since the 1950s. She was a standing member of the Finance and Scholarship committees and was a constant and valued presence at Board meetings. Betty’s sound judgment, wise counsel, and great sense of humor were ever-present traits in her life and work at Far Brook. After retiring, Betty returned for familiar events and as a volunteer for many years until her family moved to the shore area. She lived there with her daughter, Far Brook alumni parent Catherine, and son-in-law Fred Sandler, and her granddaughter, Elizabeth Mazzarisi ’05.

MARY SOVEREL

IRENE TRAVIS

December 4, 2012, Alumni Parent Mary Soveral most recently lived in Brunswick, Maine. She is survived by her children, Frances ’67 and James ’69.

April 28, 2013, Alumni Parent Irene Travis taught pre-K through third grade at the Kentopp School in East Orange, NJ, for 26 years. She then moved to Texas where she became a minister at the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas.

She is survived by her daughter, Nancy Travis Kofie ’77; her son, David Jr.; her sister, Frances Ehrhardt; former husband, David Sr.; and one grandson.

October 9, 2012, Alumni Parent Malcolm Warnock went to Princeton and graduated from Columbia University and Columbia Law School. During World War II he worked on the Manhattan Project. Until he retired in 1973, he worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

Malcolm continued to play tennis into his 90s. He is survived by his daughters Margaret Carlough ’57 and Eleanor ’62; and grandson, William Carlough.

PETER HUGHES ’59

WE REMEMBER / 35

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me that nobody sees “ Inside Is a story that never ends. “

-FAR BROOK FIRST GRADER