Crimson Magazine, Fall 2014

Fall

2014

The Morristown-Beard School Magazine

Ad Astra!

To the Stars!

Fall 2014

Crimson Board of Trustees

Michael Ranger, President Paolo Cucchi, Vice President John Egan, Vice President Thompson D. Grant, Jr. ’69, Treasurer Judy Taggart, Secretary Peter J. Caldwell Mary-Ellen Campbell (Honorary) Shane Connell John Fay Wilfredo Fernandez David Ferry David Gately Abbie Shine Giordano Jeffrey Gronning David V. H. Hedley ’64 (Honorary) Allan P. Kirby, Jr. ’49 (Honorary) Gail Kurz ’86 Michael Magner Michael Mariano Joseph Robillard Gilbert Santaliz Roger Schwarz, Esq. ’66 Katie Simon ’85 Elizabeth Warner

Director of Institutional Advancement Betsy Patterson

Director of Development Joseph Locandro

Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Monya Taylor ’88

Communications & Website Manager Sara K. Huneke

Marketing & Design Manager Jaimi Talarico

News & Information Manager Steve Patchett

Contributing Writer Carol Selman ’64

Photography

Kelsh Wilson Photography David Kramer ’69 Steve Patchett

Printer

Action Graphics

Cover Image:

Alexa Rojek ’15, Bailey Rechler ’16, Harrison Kern ’17, and Richie Carchia ’18 in the MBS Performing Arts Department's 2014 production of Peter Pan in the Theater at Founders Hall

Contents

2 Remarks from the Headmaster 4 “Crimtributors” 8 The Weather Man 11 A Star Ascending 12 Going Up 14 “Were You in Class That Day?” 16 Poetry: A Lifetime Journey

17 Engaging the Facebook Generation 18 Talking Tech 21 On Grit and Resilience 22 Crimson Corner 28 Sailing by Skype 30 Moving Up

31 Commencement 32 Reunion 2014 34 Back Home 36 Class Notes 48 In Memoriam

50 Crossword: “Sports Stars”

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Remarks From the HEADMASTER Dear Friends of MBS,

The excitement of a new school year always inspires me. The energy and eagerness of our returning students and faculty give us the impetus to reflect upon our goals for the months ahead. A hallmark of this community is that we approach new challenges with a sense of possibility. At MorristownBeard School, we hold exceptionally high expectations for both our faculty and students, and embrace an ambitious educational vision. We know that putting this vision into practice will not always be easy, but we draw strength from our School motto — Ad astra per aspera — “to the stars through struggle.”

We know the remarkable accomplishments of which our students are capable: analytical and conceptual thinking; clear, cogent writing; imaginative problem solving; breathtaking creativity. We pride ourselves on being current with the latest research on learning and on adopting best practices as they emerge in the field of education. Across the curriculum, we push beyond simple mastery of content and work to foster in our students a deep engagement in their own academic journey. Bringing this new academic vision into being has been the focus of the latest five-year Strategic Plan, now entering its final year, and we are proud of the many successes we can point to in fulfilling the goals of that plan. This work will continue as we embark upon our next fiveyear plan. We will set new priorities — and set our vision even higher — as we continue to nourish this great learning institution.

This issue of Crimson celebrates our “rise to the stars” — the ambitious educational vision and the impressive accomplishments that members of our Community are achieving in the classroom, on stage, and on the playing fields, as well as in their own personal, civic, and professional lives.

By setting the bar high, and by encouraging students to risk new endeavors, we are seeing our students excel in a multitude of ways — from engaging in a complex exploration of computer facial animation or by capturing a thrilling State Championship in boys’ ice hockey. In the case of our spring musical, Peter Pan, we witnessed our students, literally, 2 Crimson

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soaring to new heights (about 25 feet!) above the Founders Hall stage.

Our alumni achievements have been equally compelling. In this issue, you will read about Zach Gray ’12, who developed and launched STRIVR, an iPhone app dubbed “social media with purpose,” that allows people to give and receive everyday help. Other graduates like Dr. Holly Ponichtera ’03, Reva Dhingra ’10, and Dr. Scott Robertson ’99 are modeling the mindset of lifelong learners, proving by example that the world is ours to explore and understand. In addition, I invite you to take a look at the unprecedented number of Class Notes submissions that tell the stories of our alumni family’s noteworthy moments and milestones.

On campus, the 2013-14 academic year was a busy and ambitious one. We conducted a comprehensive Parent Survey, engaged in a thorough self-study in preparation for our decennial NJAIS Accreditation, hired a marketing firm to help us refine our message, and began preparing for our upcoming fiveyear Strategic Plan. We expect the same level of ambitious, productive action this year as we welcome a visit from the NJAIS team, flesh out the details of our 2015-20 Strategic Plan, and continue to develop our new marketing and messaging campaign.

Once again, thanks to your generosity, the Morristown-Beard Fund exceeded its goal of raising over $1 million last year. Your support of this Fund allows us to offer the array of programs you will read about in this issue, along with many other elements of our richlydiverse community.

I couldn’t be happier about the energy and momentum on campus as we enter the new academic year. I encourage you to visit the School and see firsthand how our tradition of excellence endures.

With best wishes from campus,

Peter J. Caldwell Headmaster

Friends of the Morristown-Beard Fund Name: Life-changing class:

Olivia Schreiber ’15 Algebra II with Mrs. Marone. Truthfully, I’d always struggled with math — until Mrs. Marone helped me personalize my approach to the subject.

Thanks to Mrs. Marone’s guidance (and patience!), I’ve grown to really enjoy math and understand its significance in the world.

Proudest MBS moment:

Bringing "Stack the Caps" — a charity effort that provides new baseball caps to kids battling cancer — to MBS. Our community responded by doubling our goal, eventually stacking over 700 caps to donate. I’m filled with pride for MBS whenever I think of this experience.

Thanks to the MB Fund:

I’ve been able to pursue my passions — both within the classroom, and beyond it. The Fund supports the people and activities that make my MBS experience special: student-led charity programs, Mrs. Marone, and the Fashion Club, to name a few!

Message to donors:

Morr isto w

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My time at MBS has been amazing — due, in part, to the thoughtful people who give to the Morristown-Beard Fund. When you donate, you make an impact on students like me, immediately and significantly. Thank you for making a positive difference in my MBS journey.

I’m very grateful!

It's easy to support talented MBS students like Olivia. Please use the enclosed envelope or visit www.mbs.net/annualfund.

Thank you for considering a gift!

“Crimtributors”

“Crimtributors” are back! This section briefly appeared in Crimson from 2002 to 2004.

This issue’s “Crimtributors” reflect on their favorite MBS moments:

John Farhat grew up on the West Coast, in Seattle and San Francisco. He initially studied music at the University of Washington, but eventually ended up with B.A.s in English and French and a Ph.D. in French. John spent many years living and working in Paris, and enjoys riding his Harley during the summer and autumn months. He currently serves as Chair of the World Languages Department.

Boni Luna was born in Cuba but grew up in Union City, New Jersey. She earned her degree in International Relations and Spanish from Brigham Young University.

After working as a Spanish teacher for many years, she earned her Master’s degree in Educational Supervision and Evaluation from Seton Hall University. Boni loves the outdoors and on any given weekend can be found hiking at South Mountain Reservation or in the New Jersey Highlands.

“I can't circumscribe my MBS experience within a single moment. What I appreciate is the range of relationships (with both students and colleagues) “I can think of two times during the course of my day that bring a smile that the MBS space makes possible. We’re open to divergence, supportive to my face. The first is greeting students and parents upon their arrival at of creativity, and engaged in the enterprise of growth — in the larger school. Some kids are sleepy, some are perky, and some tumble out of the sense. I love the extraordinary as much as the next person, and pursue it car. It’s a joy to watch the school day begin for our students. The second as an end in itself, but the ‘everyday’ is where I live out the greater part time is lunchtime. My window is situated near the exit to the Middle of my life, and the ‘everyday’ at MBS counts for quite a bit.”

School and the entrance to the cafeteria. Every day at 11:10, I see and hear a pack of students, usually boys, running towards the cafeteria in Sara K. Huneke grew up in suburban Washington, D.C. a burst of glee. It reminds me how young our middle schoolers are and and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude how the simple expectation of a meal fills us human beings with joy.” from Haverford College, where she studied French. She went on to pursue a Master’s in French Language and Steve Patchett is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall Civilization from NYU in Paris, and married Michael College and the University of Michigan, and has worked Huneke of South River, NJ this October. in the MBS Communications Office for the past 10 years.

A former sportswriter, Steve is an avid runner “You can’t beat the experience of the ‘aha’ moment in class. It’s exhilarating. who is looking forward to competing in his third Boston Last year, my French students would buzz with palpable excitement Marathon this spring. when they grasped a linguistic concept together. That’s why I love our students here — their love of learning gets them giddy and glowing.”

“The atmosphere on campus was absolutely electric after the boys’ ice hockey team defeated Delbarton in this year’s State Semifinals. There Mike Kelly grew up in Iowa among the bookshelves of was such an incredible amount of positive energy and School spirit his parents, both of whom taught English. Despite his throughout the MBS Community!” early conviction to do his own thing and avoid following in his parents' footsteps, he “caught the bug”early and Alexa Rojek ’15 began her MBS career as a freshman it never left. in 2011. She has been involved with theater arts since grade six, debuting as an Oompa Loompa in Charlie “My favorite MBS moment is one that recurs more frequently here and the Chocolate Factory. Since then, Alexa has finethan in any previous school I have been associated with, and that's the tuned her skills and most recently played Peter Pan in moment when our students are essentially ‘lost’ in the moment itself.

It might be a performance on stage in Founders, where a passion for the MBS Spring Musical Peter Pan. During school, she takes pictures singing, dancing, or acting takes over (sometimes all three), or a piece for The Crimson Sun and Salmagundi, and is president of the theater of poetry in the classroom that suddenly moves them toward a greater club “Founders Keepers.” understanding of how language occasionally delivers, with clarity, the “I will always appreciate and remember the special relationships I have profound complexities of the human heart. Whatever the trigger might with my teachers. People usually say they had one or two favorite be, to witness a student entering this sacred space of heightened awareness teachers in high school, but MBS is different — almost every teacher and emotion is always a continual source of a satisfaction for me, and is my favorite! I feel so grateful to be able to go to a school where I can why I suspect I will be doing this until they put me out to pasture.” do a secret handshake with the librarian, talk college with my history teacher, and gossip about incoming Broadway shows with the chair of the theater department all in the same day!”

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Carol Selman ’64 graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University and has advanced degrees in American Studies and History. During 30 years of teaching, she was a three-time gubernatorial appointee to the NJ State Historical Commission. Carol was MBS Alumni Field Representative from 2000-2009 and has written for Crimson for ten years. She has had published hundreds of articles, largely in the arts, and is married to the jazz guitarist/composer Bob DeVos. “I think back to the sense of discovery, the earnestness, the excitement of my Beard classes, and to friendships made over brown bag lunches and laughter.”

Jaimi Talarico has been a part of the MBS Community since 2012. Originally from South Jersey, and having recently moved to the area, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Jared, discovering all that North Jersey has to offer. Jaimi is a graduate of Rowan University, where she received her B.F.A. in Graphic Design.

“I will never forget the feeling of coming to MBS for the first time. It was magical. I instantly had this sense of belonging. I knew that MBS was exactly where I wanted to be.”

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Friends of the Morristown-Beard Fund

Name: Life-changing class:

Contemporary Music Workshop (CMW), one of our student-led co-curricular activities. It’s a neat thing — students are ultimately responsible for a night of musical performances, and they learn leadership skills and make life-long friends along the way.

Proudest MBS moment:

Watching a student find his or her voice, whether performing on stage or directing the action behind it. Feeling the warm embrace of the MBS Community through CMW is a transformative experience for many of my students.

Thanks to the MB Fund:

Message to donors:

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Chris Finn, Visual & Digital Arts Department Chair

Unique activities like CMW exist and thrive to the benefit of generations of MBS students. CMW has been around since 1987, and it’s great to know that the MB Fund supports it, each and every year.

Thank you for supporting programs like CMW by giving to the Morristown-Beard Fund. CMW encourages our students to take risks and to shine, and your support makes it happen.

Support meaningful student activities like CMW — and inspirational faculty like Chris Finn — with a gift to the MB Fund. You may give via the envelope found in this issue or by visiting www.mbs.net/annualfund.

Thank you.

Mead Named an NAIS Teacher of the Future Congratulations to Rob Mead, Morristown-Beard Middle School science teacher and Director of Student Life, who is one of 25 educators nationwide to be selected to participate in the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) Teachers of the Future program for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Each year, NAIS selects a group of teachers who exemplify creativity and innovation in the classroom to participate in the Teachers of the Future program. These individuals inspire academic excellence in students, and are respected leaders among their peers. They also weave environmental sustainability, globalism, equity and justice, and the use of technology into their classroom teaching.

Through the NAIS Teachers of the Future program, Mead and the other teachers will be given an opportunity to share their work with the broader independent school community.

Program participants will gather for a summer conference at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA before leading online educational discussion forums throughout the school year. The group will also participate in the NAIS Annual Conference in Boston in February, 2015.

This program — and the development of online educational communities — are part of NAIS’s goals to provide valuable networking opportunities and to enhance the excellent education provided at independent schools.

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Learning

for Life

The Weather Man MBS science teacher Jeff Yuhas talks meterology and shaping students to be citizen scientists

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By Steve Patchett

It’s a question that unites us all, and it’s the first thing you want to know when you wake up in the morning — what’s the weather going to be like today? For Morristown-Beard School science teacher Jeffrey Yuhas, this question led to a passion for meteorology — and he shares that excitement with his students every day.

weather information on the radio, television, and Internet.

Although his programs gained tremendous interest among Concord-Carlisle students, Yuhas said he knew his course with Mr. Lane would never be a regular part of the curriculum there.

“We realized it was impossible to get a co-taught seminar-style course into the public school system,” he said. “I spent the last couple of years thinking about getting my Ph.D. because I was convinced that the only place I could teach this course was on the collegiate level. Then, I heard about the Geosciences Program at Morristown-Beard School. It is extremely unique, and it gives me the opportunity to teach what He said the infamous Blizzard of 1978 — which I want to teach, and catch the audience I want dumped more than 27 inches of snow in the to catch. My students are 17 and 18 years old; Boston area — also influenced him. “I think that blizzard created a lot of meteorologists,” they are just becoming voters; they are gaining independence, and this course really gives them he laughed. “It was impressive, especially where the tools to make thoughtful decisions.” we were on the coast.”

From an early age growing up in Marblehead, Massachusetts — a coastal community just north of Boston — Yuhas has always had an interest in weather. “I had a paper route in junior high, and when you have to deliver the newspaper before school every day, you become very interested in the conditions outside,” he said.

His interest led to a B.S. at Brown University before he earned a Master’s in Meteorology from Penn State.

Today, Yuhas’ classroom discussions go far beyond weather forecasting, however. Through his Advanced Geosciences course, Yuhas regularly engages his students in some of the most pressing environmental issues of the day: climate change and the human effect on ecosystems. In addition to focusing on the science itself, they also tackle a number of issues including the messaging of science, economic considerations, and policymaking.

Over the summer, Yuhas helped set up a WeatherBug station on campus — complete with a lightning detector system — to provide real-time data. This fall, he is working with two sophomores on an independent study project on climate and forecasting, and he hopes to establish a weather club soon.

“The key to long-term sustainability and success is that the club should grow organically, and be run by students — preferably underclassmen,” he said. “I’ve been asked to help set up a Middle School Weather Club as well.”

He also hopes to expand the scope and diversity of the Climate Consortium. I would love it if “The fact that we are teaching an Advanced we got a third school involved — perhaps an Geosciences course to high school students inner city school that’s not in the Northeast is amazing,” said Yuhas, who joined the MBS faculty last fall. “I think we are uniquely — to offer a completely different perspective.” preparing our students to be citizen scientists.”

While his plans are ambitious, there is one Before coming to MBS, Yuhas and Concord- weather project that Yuhas says he has no Carlisle history teacher Stephen Lane co- interest in pursuing: being a weather consultant for Peter J. Caldwell and Eddie Franz when it taught the course to students in a four-school comes to school closings. consortium in Massachussetts. Yuhas also created a meteorology program there, as well “Unless they corner me at the lunch table, I try as a fourth-grade meteorology program, and to stay out of it,” he laughed. “It’s too much founded Concord-Carlisle Weather Services pressure.”

(CCWS), a student-based group that provides

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Forecasting Success As a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), Yuhas presents regularly at the AMS Annual Meeting, and he makes sure that his students take part in this prestigious conference. “It’s the pre-eminent meteorological meeting in the world, so it’s quite an opportunity for them. This is the fifth year that I’ve brought high school students — and each year, they’ve been the only high school students presenting in the main conference,” said Yuhas, who co-chaired the Pre-College Education Session at the AMS Annual Meeting and also serves on the Board of Outreach and Pre-College Education.

This past year, Morristown-Beard senior Christian Capocci ’14 attended the conference in Atlanta with Yuhas. “For Christian, it was a chance for an 18-year-old to see how science is really done,” said Yuhas. “It’s not about being alone in a lab with a textbook; it’s about engaging with other people and exchanging ideas. He was brilliant with his networking.”

Yuhas and Capocci gave a presentation about the “Climate Consortium” — a joint venture between the Morristown-Beard Advanced Geosciences class and Yuhas’ former students at Concord-Carlisle High School in Massachusetts.

The consortium course focuses on the science of climate change, and engages students through seminars, collaborative presentations, and social media. Its central theme is how to get something done. As a final project, students are required to make a presentation that develops a quantifiable solution to climate change issues, and they must include a plan for enacting their solution.

This January, students Sam Nadler ’17 and Olivia Braunstein ’17 will travel with Yuhas to Phoenix, Arizona to present at the 2015 AMS Annual Meeting. Their presentation will showcase the Facebook-Group-based forecasting class — a foundation for their independent study course — that they are taking with graduate students (and former students of Yuhas) at the University of Oklahoma and Millersville University.

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A Star Ascending

By Steve Patchett

After her high-flying performance in the title role of Peter Pan on the MBS stage last spring, Alexa Rojek ’15 was one of six budding high-school thespians nominated for a coveted Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award. The annual awards are modeled after the Tony Awards, with nearly 100 entered productions from public, private, and parochial high schools. Previous winners have included Oscarwinner Anne Hathaway and Broadway favorite Laura Benanti.

Rojek’s performance as Peter Pan not only included singing and dancing, but also “flying” over the Founders Hall stage with some help from the widely-respected theatrical flying company Flying By Foy. MBS Performing Arts Department Chair Susie Speidel, who directed the musical, praised Rojek for her skill and leadership in Peter Pan. “Alexa Rojek is a terrific young lady who has a lot of talent, but also has an incredible work ethic. She was truly the heart and soul of our production, and she inspired the rest of the cast in every rehearsal,” said Speidel.

Flying added extra dimension to the show — both visually and technically. Speidel noted that Rojek was a natural in learning this new skill.

“We had a great time bringing this musical to the MBS stage, and bringing in the technician from Flying By Foy to help us create that extra theater magic was the icing on the cake,” she said. “Alexa excelled at flying, too, and took to it with ease. We knew that our new performing arts facility at Founders Hall gave us the technical capacity to do such a large and complicated show.”

Before her memorable role as Peter Pan, Rojek delivered an awardwinning performance as Puck, the clever and mischievous sprite in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She won the “Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Classical Work” category at the 2013 Theatre Night Awards at Montclair State University.

She has also appeared on the Founders Hall stage as Katherine Wiley, the intrepid president of the New Jersey Consumers’ League, in the gripping historical drama Radium Girls. Before that, she portrayed Mrs. Macafee in the musical comedy Bye Bye Birdie.

When the curtain rises for the 2014-2015 performing arts season at MBS, it’s a safe bet that Rojek will once again be taking center stage in Founders Hall, showcasing her talents and reaching new heights.

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Risk-

Taking

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Going Up!

By Alexa Rojek ’15

I have always been afraid of heights, so when I first heard that we were doing Peter Pan, I considered not auditioning for Peter because of my fear. Yet when the time came, I decided to ignore my fear and go for Peter anyway. When I got the role, many people came up to me asking if I was ready to fly and I would say “Of course!”, but on the inside, I grew more and more terrified for the day to come.

Before our first flying rehearsal, I was pretty calm . . . that is, until I got my harness on, and then it finally felt real. Amir, our wonderful and talented flying master was running through the safety basics, and although I was smiling and nodding, my palms were growing increasingly sweaty. Finally, he asked who wanted to go first and the room got quiet; nobody else in the harnesses wanted to go first, and I felt like everyone was looking at me. I asked myself “What would Peter Pan do?” and as I stepped forward to volunteer, I could see the relief in some of the others’ eyes.

Flying is the strangest feeling. The point of contact between the fly line and your harness is right between your shoulder blades on your upper back, so it vaguely feels like a giant is pinching your back with two fingers and lifting you up. Your first instinct is to make your stomach parallel to the floor and to wave your arms and legs around. After spending five minutes on the wire, it started to feel less terrifying and more fun!

As one might expect, there is a sense of freedom that comes with flying.

The finale of Act One comprises a sequence called the “aerial ballet,” in which we flew back and forth on stage for two minutes, until the music stopped. That was my favorite flying moment, because it is where flying really feels like flying. Every other time I flew in the show, I was acutely aware of the wire and of the mechanics of what was happening; every move was choreographed. The aerial ballet was different. Amir just told me to just have fun and play around in the air. As a result, no two performances were the same, because I was just doing whatever felt right in the air. In those moments, I really felt like I was soaring across the stage, in control of my movements, and navigating the Founders Hall sky!

My fear of heights became irrelevant because I was in character, and Peter’s objective at that moment was to have fun while flying . . . so I did! It was so much fun that it was impossible to be preoccupied with fear. Flying on stage was an amazing privilege that few will ever get to experience and I am so thankful to have been among the lucky few.

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MBS Teachers On

Engagement

"Were You In Class That Day?"

By Dr. John Farhat

A four-year high school education lasts about 650 days. For how many of them were you actually present? From my own experience, I can easily recall Mr. Wilson on roller skates as he imitated the behavior of an electron. There's my geometry teacher who used class time to tell his story about buying mulch using the formula for volume of a cylinder.

Mr. Schmidt and "agar" — though I'm not sure what that one's about.

The "coefficient of memorability" (if there is such a thing) is pretty low.

Out of the 650 days it took to educate me, I was there for at least three: once in chemistry, once in math and once in biology. I don't know how many class hours you yourself can remember, but I'm willing to bet

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that the ratio of "content remembered" to "content forgotten" is pretty low, so much so that a cynical observer might conclude that the de facto purpose of a high school education is to forget as much as possible and still graduate.

So what did I, in fact, learn in high school? The point of the above anecdote is to activate the "content" vs. "engagement" debate. Simply put: when teaching, do we focus on content (mathematical formulae, the canon of English and American literatures, the present perfect?) or do we focus on engaging minds? The two are not mutually exclusive,

One of the ways we at MBS have decided to enhance our commitment to student engagement is to focus on skills. Not only are skills more meaningful in today's world, they are generally more engaging.

Spectator sports aside: doing is usually more engaging than watching.

Of course, doing is also harder than watching. There are elements of risk, of failure. However, creatively-enhanced doing is probably going to increase your chances of success. Finding novel connections between disciplines is one way to enhance creativity, and if you take the time to evaluate the givens of the task at hand, you are also more likely to see your way through. In the language classes, we don't neglect content (verbs, adjectives, pronouns, vocabulary, etc.) but we try to privilege engagement by asking ourselves: what do we want the kids to be able to do? (as opposed to: what do we want them to know?). In this regard, learning and teaching are both variations on the performing arts, or a sport. Everybody plays, everybody learns. And since all of the above happens in conjunction with other people, communication in one form or another is always a requisite.

The skills that we are trying to grow are also, I believe, the skills that you'd like to see in your kids. Is breadth of content sometimes sacrificed?

Yes. Cultivation of the skills alluded to above (creativity, making connections, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and communication) takes more time than “pushing content” and is even somewhat content independent. For instance, if your student learns these skills while reading Hamlet, I for one can live quite easily with the fact that she didn't also read Othello, The Merchant of Venice or Henry IV Part One. Why? Because if she has read Hamlet well (which takes time) I know that she has acquired the skills needed to read the rest of the plays on that day (during spring break?) when she herself decides that mastery of English literature is what she wants to do. That's what college is for.

We cannot decide for them, and the adage, trite as it is, is also very true: You can lead the horse . . . but . . . .

Some of you might wish to throw down the gauntlet of academic content: "All right, doc, so you say you can remember the classes on electrons and on the volume of geometrical figures. Forget about the agar. We'll start with you telling me all you know about electrons; then, we'll examine your ability to calculate the volume of three dimensional figures, beginning with various cylinders." Beyond a balding man on skates, my content knowledge of electrons is rather limited (but isn't that what the library — now Internet — is for?). I could do better on the second test: volume of cylinder is πr2 x height of cylinder; volume of rectangular solid is length x width x height; volume of sphere is . . . etcetera, etcetera. The foregoing are, of course, lesser avatars of our culture's obsession with standardized tests. But before concluding the exam I'd scribble on the bottom of the blue book: "Dear Examiner, but neither are they perfectly compatible. What, for example, is the you seem to be missing the point." Of course, as a teenager, I was often point of creating hours of great historical content if nobody remembers missing the point. That's just part of growing up. I'll take my share it? Not only are your students not learning your great content, they of responsibility in the matter. But, if it was true that I was at times are not even in class with you. The sad fact is that great content is not missing the point, it is also true that the point was at times missing inherently engaging. If you think otherwise, try getting your teenagers me. Our task as teachers is to pull the student and "the point" together. to spend spring break catching up on their Shakespeare. Great content, And if it helps to reevaluate the point itself of a high-school education, certainly, but . . . good luck with that. Engagement, on the other hand, shift the focus away from content, more towards engagement and the is almost always memorable and very often meaningful. development of skills that students will use in whatever they eventually choose to do, then a school with the courage of its convictions will do just that.

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Poetry: A Lifetime Journey

By Jeremy Meserole

I love poetry, and I love sharing poetry with my students, too. I use that word “sharing” intentionally — reading poetry brings people together and allows them to see the world from new perspectives.

Discussing a poem can be a creative act, just as creative as the process of writing a poem. So, I share poems with my students to help them understand what it means to live lives that are creative, thoughtful, and exciting.

One of the poems I like to use with my students at the beginning of the year is Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” A famous poem, the piece discusses the importance of choices we make in life. I have my students consider the imagery in the poem, “the yellow wood,” “[the path] grassy and want[ing] wear,” “[the path] in leaves no step had trodden black,” and ask them to picture the scene in their mind’s eye. Have they seen places like this in the woods? Have they been for walks in the forest? What does it feel like to be in the forest alone?

What are the smells, the sights, the sounds of such an experience? I then ask the students what it feels like to make important decisions in life — is there stress involved? Excitement? Anxiety? Joy? Why would Robert Frost connect making important decisions to a path in the woods?

Another poem I share with my students is Seamus Heaney’s “The Forge.” The poem discusses the role of art and craft in our world, and the transformations — good and bad — that technology creates.

Again, I start with imagery of a blacksmith at work, “the hammered anvil’s short-pitched ring” and “the unpredictable fantail of sparks”; I ask the students to consider the metaphor of an anvil to a unicorn — why would a poet make such a connection? And then I ask the students to wrestle with the implied question at the end of the poem — why is the blacksmith angry? Why has the changing world around him upset him so much?

In studying and reading poetry, my hope is that students begin to make connections about the world around them, and that as they read closely, they begin to develop a sense of awe and wonder about the mystery of life and its inherent beauty.

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Middle Schoolers On Poetry “Poetry is not just rhyming words. It’s an art. Poetry requires a deep mind and the ability to paint pictures in the mind’s eye. I have studied a few poets in my time, such as Robert Frost, Henry David Thoreau, e.e. Cummings, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. These great poets’ poems excite the senses and inspire the mind. It’s almost like their words touch the soul.”

Patrick Merrigan ’20 “Poetry is a story from the heart shortened into a few lines — it is a message written to explain things in an abstract way.”

Mitch Cassella ’20

Engaging the Facebook Generation in Class

By Mike Kelly

It’s very easy to look at technology, especially in the hands of a teenager, This “threading,” or commenting on a comment, is second nature to as an enemy of critical thinking; nevertheless, regardless of how we the Facebook generation, and to be able to employ it in an academic as teachers, parents, or students feel about the ubiquitous presence of setting has proven a great asset. technology in the 21st century, it is here to stay, and my own recent strategies in teaching are an extension of embracing this fact.

The morning after this nightly buzz of activity (which I can view and comment on as well), I find that students come to class already armed For instance, in my classes we use an app called Subtext, which with a good sense of the text, where the interesting points of debate allows each student in the class to communicate with every other might be, and how to advance to deeper phases of our collective inquiry. student while reading the same text. Reading a text for homework, students can view each other’s commentary on a particular passage, Consequently, the time we spend in class, sorting through our findings, but more excitingly, they can respond to one another in real time by is much more focused and, I believe, enriching. While it is difficult to supplementing a student’s observation with another, connecting it to envision the effects technology will produce in the next generation of something from history class, or challenging the idea with a new claim. readers, it’s harder to imagine turning back.

Students can go even further by creating survey questions, testing the class’s assessment of a recent decision made by the book’s protagonist.

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Talking Tech Head of Middle School Boni Luna on better understanding how teenagers use technology — and on finding common ground with the “ digital natives” we teach

By Sara K. Huneke

All of us are immersed in a rapidly-expanding environment of information and ever-changing technological tools. As educators, we are committed to helping students thrive in today’s information-rich culture by using technology effectively. Our students are already tech savvy, but that isn’t enough — it is our role as educators to see that they develop into capable and responsible information seekers, problem solvers, and decision makers. Likewise, it is important not only that we understand the technology that our students are using, but also how they are using it. When it comes to social media, the “how” is something that often eludes us. In many ways, our students’ networked lives can seem very foreign to our own generational experiences as adolescents. Observing these differences can be healthy and fruitful, providing a context for exploring questions of identity, privacy, and the quality of life of our students.

These questions are at the heart of an ongoing conversation among our faculty. Over the summer months, Middle School faculty read several chapters of Danah Boyd’s It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens and discussed their reactions to her sociological study in the fall. While the book (which argues that “society fails young people when paternalism and protectionism hinder teenagers’ ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions”1) proved controversial, our teachers’ clear purpose remained unanimous: to better understand the “digital natives” they 1"It's Complicated." It's Complicated RSS. Web. 1 Sept. 2014. <http:// www.danah.org/itscomplicated/>.

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teach, and to find common ground between tradition and the new.

In an effort to bring this conversation to our Crimson readers, I talked with Boni Luna, Head of Middle School.

Crimson: In her book, one of Boyd’s underlying assumptions is Crimson: How is our Middle School addressing issues that are often

that “Networked publics [e.g., social networking sites] formed through raised by social media, such as online bullying and privacy? technology serve much the same functions as publics like the mall or the park did for previous generations of teenagers.” Based on your own BL: We are working to address these issues both organically and observations, do you feel that this is an accurate assessment of “where” intentionally. As a school, we seize the moment to teach timely lessons when issues arise. Our advisor program and small size gives us the our students are now spending their socialization time? flexibility to collectively address issues quickly. Advisory is a forum for Boni Luna: It goes without saying that the public spaces teens used ongoing discussion on friendship, communication and decision making. to inhabit have been reduced, yet teenagers’ underlying need to socialize We formally discuss issues such as peer pressure, personal safety, and remains the same — it is part of the human experience. Socializing with teasing in our Wellness classes. Additionally, we use Morning Meeting classmates is normal and encouraged, and social networking provides and grade-level meetings for group discussions. In October, our Middle a vehicle. The virtual spaces where the lives of our teenagers unfold are School girls will be participating in a Kindness Campaign workshop, and just as “real” as the physical places (the mall, movie theaters, etc.) that will view its documentary. The Kindness Campaign works with schools and girls nationally on the premise that kindness brings awareness and they also inhabit. healing to the negative and lasting effects of meanness. While the girls participate in the Kindness Campaign, the boys will be working on a Crimson: Boyd also argues that teenagers’ need to see themselves program developed by our school counselor on the topic of gratitude. “as part of a broader community” is just as important today as it was in generations past. In what ways does social media help build a sense of community? Conversely, what are other ways that we as mentors and Crimson: What advice would you give to parents of so-called “digital natives” who are looking to better understand the way in which teenagers parents can help foster this sense of belonging in our teenagers? are using social media?

BL: Social media sites like Facebook have the capacity to build community BL: The Internet has closed some doors for socializing and yet social for everyone — not just teens. Families post pictures of special occasions, friends find each other after many years, or post interesting articles that help tie us together. Social media amplifies our ability to project our experiences and involve others in big and small ways.

media has opened others. Parents constantly worry about the safety of their kids — in both physical and online spaces. We (adults) are all too aware of the dangers that can befall them while they are still seeing the world through children’s eyes.

Whether at home or at school, we can help foster a sense of belonging in It is imperative that adults talk to teens at home and at school about social teens by encouraging them to get involved in “peer” groups with people media. It is the primary way to gain the insights we need to help and of all ages and backgrounds. Peer interactions that revolve around a support our teens. We need to converse with them about what sites they shared interest — be it music, environmentalism, art, books, or sports are on, what they post, and how to set and understand privacy settings.

— support both intellectual and emotional growth in our teens, and help There are many books, including Boyd’s, that do an excellent job of create a sense of community, agency, and connectedness. providing the teen perspective. At times, Boyd is not very sympathetic toward adults, but the book does offer insights through case studies.

Community building at MBS starts with the warm and supportive “cloak” After having read her book, I feel greater empathy towards our young in which we envelop our students. A spirit of belonging is encouraged students as my understanding of the challenges they face deepens. through participation in co-curricular programs, after-school activities, and community service. Our teachers’ ongoing commitment to a We know that teens inherently struggle with managing social situations collaborative approach to teaching and learning is visible everyday at and boundaries. Adolescence was a messy and difficult time for most of us, our school: students learn to work together to further their learning. and social media allows for new and sometimes unforseen manifestations Activities that involve students and teachers of all ages can sometimes of this “messiness.” There are no easy or ready answers, but as adults we be the most fun, like CMW and our All-School House challenges. It’s must gain as much information as possible in order to help and support exciting when everyone gets involved. The environment we create is our students and children through the social complexities they must face. remarkably empowering: students flourish in places where they feel at home and at ease.

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On Grit & Resilience

By Boni Luna

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), “ad astra per aspera” is translated as “from the mud to the stars”. Albeit a whimsical departure from the more literal “to the stars through great difficulty,” this translation comes close to capturing what our School means when we talk about grit and resilience leading to success. Perhaps “through some mud to the stars” would best encapsulate this truth: we believe that setbacks provide teachable moments for success, and that learning to overcome obstacles will strengthen our students for lifelong achievement.

This philosophy is a subject of popular discussion in education right now. Dr. Carol Dweck’s research on the concept of a growth mindset has, in part, given impetus to this conversation, working off of the premise that “[people’s] most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work — brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities .”

At MBS, as parents and teachers, we expect a strong work ethic from our children and students. Likewise, we know that grit and stick-toitiveness are key to strengthening them for lifelong achievement. For many of us, resilience means responding positively to adversity. So, what does this look like in a school? Can resilience be taught?

Teaching character — though not easy — can be a way to teach resilience. The researcher Angela Lee Duckworth says that “one of the things that makes you gritty is having a growth mind-set. The attitude ‘I can get better if I try harder’ should help make you a tenacious, determined, hard-working person.” As educators, we strive to instill

these character traits in our students. It is why we use the workshop model for developing writing; the workshop model requires a commitment to the process. The skill of writing can only be developed through editing and reworking, time and again. Furthermore, so much of the work we do in our Middle School is about character development.

Duckworth goes on to state, “In terms of academics, if you’re just trying to get an A or an A-, just trying to make it to some threshold, and you’re a really talented kid, you may do your homework in a few minutes, whereas other kids might take much longer. You get to a certain level of proficiency, and then you stop. So you actually work less hard. If, on the other hand, you are not trying to reach a certain cut point but are trying to maximize your outcome — you may want to do as well as you possibly can — then there’s no limit, ceiling, or threshold. Your goal is, “how can I get the most out of my day?”

In other words, this attitude is not about getting the A but reaching for limitless learning and the possibility of growth. If there is one thing educators can impart to students, it is a love of learning for its own sake.

In addition to clearly establishing a commitment to hard work, honoring grit, and rewarding resilience in our students, our own stories can serve as examples to our children. What we, as the adults in children’s lives, have overcome can serve to model and inspire the young. The experiences we provide, the stories we tell, and the expectations we set will help our students and children develop the perseverance and resilience they will need as they grow up to face the challenges that every life encounters.

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CRIMSON CORNER

VARSITY SPORTS ROUND-UP WINTER & SPRING 2014 Boys’ Ice Hockey

It was a season to remember for the MBS boys’ varsity ice hockey team (21-5-2), which tied Christian Brothers Academy, 4-4, to secure a share of the NJSIAA NonPublic State Championship in March. The Crimson advanced to the State Finals at Prudential Center in Newark following a historic 4-2 triumph over rival Delbarton, Morristown-Beard’s first win over Delbarton since February 10, 1994. The Crimson also captured the 2014 Mennen Cup following an impressive 4-0 win over Chatham. Luke Moser ’14 and James Callahan ’15 were named First Team AllMorris County, while Max Cuomo ’14 and Danny Porth ’16 picked up Third Team honors. Porth, a first-year goalie, was also named Morris County Rookie of the Year.

Girls’ Ice Hockey

Morristown-Beard was named The StarLedger’s Girls’ Ice Hockey Team of the Year after the Crimson captured a fifth straight Women’s Interscholastic Hockey League of the Mid-Atlantic (WIHLMA) title in 2014. The Crimson defeated Portledge of New York, 2-0, to skate away with the championship. They finished with a 14-4-1 record this season. “We had to put in a lot of work to attain our goal,” said Head Coach Bruce Driver. “Our high level of play was due to hard work and persistence.” MBS had three First Team All-State selections including Player of the Year Kendall Cornine ’15, Kelly Dolan ’14, and Carolyn Chambers ’14. Kathleen McNamara ’15 and Emma Polaski ’17 were Second Team All-State selections, while Christina D’Alessandro ’15 and Mikhaela Schultz ’14 were Third Team picks.

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Boys’ Basketball

It was another successful season for the boys’ varsity basketball team, which finished the year with a 17-10 record, and posted a big win over Dwight-Englewood in the first round of the State Tournament. The team was led by captain Ben O’Connell ’14, who received the team’s Crimson Award, and was a true leader on and off the court.

Matt McFadden ’15 was named to the AllMorris County Defensive Team, while Stephen Sangree ’14 earned a spot on the All-Morris County 3-Point Specialist Team.

Senior Mark Aboyoun ’14 also had a terrific season, and was named the Male Winter Sportsmanship Award winner.

Girls’ Basketball

The girls’ varsity basketball team enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in 2013-14 with a formidable 18-8 record. Just a year ago, the team finished with a 9-17 mark. Not only did the Crimson qualify for State Tournament play, but they captured the Liberty Division Conference Championship, which was a first for the program. They played into the finals of the Prep Tournament and the quarterfinals of the Morris County Tournament. Their season culminated with Head Coach Mike Sturgeon being named Daily Record Coach of the Year. On the court, the Crimson were led by Morgan Bartner ’15, a Second Team All-Morris County selection. Zaire Alston ’16 earned the team’s Crimson Award.

Swimming

There were plenty of highlights in the pool this year, as MBS finished with a 6-3 regular season record. The Crimson enjoyed a third place finish at the Wardlaw Relays, and the

boys’ team had an impressive second place finish at Preps. Ryan Waters ’17 led the way for the boys at Preps, placing second in the 200 IM, and first in the 500 freestyle.

Trevor Baptiste ’14 placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke, and the relay team of Kevin Budd ’15, Jack Hughes ’17, Ryan Waters ’17, and Trevor Baptiste ’14 placed fourth in the 400 free relay. Liza MacCowatt ’15 placed second in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 200 IM at the Girls’ Prep Meet.

MacCowatt and Waters both qualified for the Meet of Champions at the Morris County Tournament. Waters was named First Team All-Daily Record for the 500 free, while MacCowatt earned Third Team All-Morris County for the 100 breaststroke.

Skiing

The MBS ski team finished the season on a high note, sending two skiers — Calvin Wetmore ’16 and Drake Hawks ’17 — to the Race of Champions. Wetmore finished 13th overall, and Hawks finished 9th overall, qualifying him for the Eastern Regional competition in New Hampshire.

At Regionals, Hawks, who is just a freshman, had a great giant slalom run, placing him 48th out of 124 boys. He also finished 61st for slalom. The team’s Crimson Award was presented to junior Peter Sanna ’15, who has shown tremendous improvement, a strong work ethic, and good sportsmanship.

Baseball

The varsity baseball team finished the year with a 14-9-1 record, and clinched the conference championship with big wins over Hanover Park, Whippany Park, and Madison. The Crimson were seeded second in the Prep Tournament, and posted a great

comeback victory over Gill St. Bernards before dropping a heartbreaker to Newark Academy in the finals. The team was led by sophomore first baseman Pat Davis ’16, one of the area’s top young sluggers, hitting .440 with four home runs and 26 RBI. Davis, a First Team All-Morris County selection, also excelled on the mound, going 5-2 with a 1.93 ERA. Senior Travis Nardin ’14, a Second Team All-Daily Record selection, was a true utility man, playing every position except second base, while still hitting .400. Jeremy Westaway ’15, Dean Grogg ’14, and Chris Bernardon ’14 were all Honorable Mention All-Daily Record selections.

Softball

The MBS varsity softball team continued to improve throughout the year, finishing with a 10-14 record. The team tallied four more wins than last season, and also posted a 50 percent improvement in runs scored.

The Crimson lost a close first round Morris County Tournament game to Whippany Park, and were seeded 5th in the Prep Tournament before losing a heartbreaker to Gill St. Bernards in the semifinals. They also hosted a State Tournament game against Dwight Englewood. The team was led by Crimson Award winner Sara Seuffert ’16, who secured a spot as the number-one pitcher on the team and also came up with some big hits for the Crimson.

Track & Field

Despite a small roster with many newcomers, the MBS track & field team realized some great accomplishments by a host of athletes. Halia Rosemond ’15 won the Discus competition at the Morris County Championships, with Kyle Larsson ’14

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taking 3rd place in the 800 meters, and Lizzie Hunt ’15 placing third in Javelin.

Micaela Reilly ’14 and Sam Siaragusa ’15 also continued to excel at the highest levels of competition. MBS sent six athletes to the NJSIAA Group Championships after they excelled in the State Sectional meet.

At Sectionals, Halia Rosemond ’15 placed first in the Shot and first in the Discus while Lizzie Hunt ’15 placed second in the Javelin.

On the track, Kyle Larsson ’14 finished first in the 800 with a new school record of 1:58.12. Other top performers in the Sectionals included Jaime Sheppard ’17, Max Borchert ’16 and Micaela Reilly ’14.

Golf

The varsity golf team finished with a stellar 16-7-1 record and clinched a conference championship when they tied Madison High School. The Crimson golfers also fared well in the Prep Tournament this year, finishing fourth overall. In their final match of the season, MBS capped an outstanding season by defeating Morris Knolls, 166 to 184. Senior Spencer Shepperly ’14 ended an outstanding high school golf career by shooting his lowest nine-hole round of golf for the year — a 36, which is par for the course. Earlier in the season, Shepperly and co-captain Karl Larsson ’14 helped the Crimson defeat Newark Academy for the first time in 15 years.

Girls’ Lacrosse

It was an exciting and successful season for the girls’ varsity lacrosse team, which captured the Prep B Championship by defeating Newark Academy in a 13-12 thriller. The team finished the regular season with a 9-7 record, and was seeded 10th in State Tournament play, but lost an 18-12 battle to Saddle River Day School.

Throughout the season, MBS was led by senior Carolyn Chambers ’14, who notched her 100th career goal in May, and received the team’s Crimson Award. Five members of the team were named All-Prep B including: Jill Burke ’15, Carolyn Chambers ’14, Devon Flinn ’14, Chelsea Kramer ’15, and Alissa Masini ’16. Devon Flinn ’14 was also named an Academic All-American.

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Boys’ Lacrosse

The boys’ varsity lacrosse team had a tremendous season, finishing with an overall record of 19-3. The team played to the semifinal round of the Prep Tournament as well as the Morris County Tournament, and made the School’s first appearance in the NJSIAA Non-Public B Championship game since 2008. In the State Finals, the Crimson played a very competitive game before falling to Immaculata, 17-13. Teddy Hatfield ’15 and Thomas Rago ’15 finished first and second in the state in scoring with 170 and 149 points, respectively. Hatfield and Rago were named All-Conference, along with teammates Trevor Baptiste ’14, John McDonald ’15, and Matt Sefcik ’15. Baptiste, the leading faceoff specialist in the state, won 80 percent of his draws while scoring 42 goals, and was named First Team AllState. Baptiste was also named First Team All-Morris County, while Hatfield and Rago picked up Second Team honors. Head Coach Sal Tromonda was named the Daily Record’s Coach of the Season for spring 2014.

Boys’ Tennis

The boys’ varsity tennis team posted a regular season record of 8-9 this season with some big wins over Hanover Park and Wardlaw Hartridge. The Crimson participated in the Morris County Tournament, Prep, and State Tournaments — both as a team and as individual qualifiers. The team placed 6th out of 21 schools in the Morris County Tournament, with first singles player Peter Daly ’14 competing into the semifinals.

Daly was named Second Team All-Morris County, and was hailed by Coach Eddie Franz as “easily the most gifted tennis player I’ve had the privilege to coach here at Morristown-Beard School.”

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Morr isto w

nd d Fu n - B e ar

Thanks to you,

We did it again!

The Morristown-Beard Fund Tops

$1 Million

For the Third Year in a Row It is with great excitement and gratitude that Morristown-Beard School announces that the 2013-2014 Morristown-Beard Fund surpassed a million dollars in unrestricted giving for the third year in a row.

Morr isto w

n -B ea

d n u F d r

This achievement is a testament to the generosity of the entire MBS Community and to our collective belief in our School and its mission.

We are immensely appreciative of every donor who helped us reach this tremendous milestone.

Morr isto w

nd d Fu n - B e ar

The Morristown-Beard Fund 2014 – 2015

Each year, MBS parents, alumni, grandparents, faculty and staff, and friends join together to secure Morristown-Beard School’s bright future. The common bond we share is a commitment to a greater ideal — that we can help each generation of MBS students enjoy the most challenging and fulfilling student experience possible. A gift to the Morristown-Beard Fund represents your active participation in this effort, and your welcome inclusion in our valued community of benefactors.

Join our community today.

Please use the enclosed envelope to participate, or call (973) 532-7579.

You also can give online at www.mbs.net/annualfund.

Thank you for your kind support of the Morristown-Beard Fund.

Sailing by Skype

Sixth Graders Videochat with Guernsey Students

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By Steve Patchett Last winter, Crimson Tide — Morristown-Beard School’s sixth-grade sailboat that had been set adrift in the Atlantic Ocean in December 2012 — was recovered by a fisherman in Guernsey, an island in the English Channel.

While MBS students had been using the GPSequipped boat to help them study the winds and tides, a significant aspect of the project hinged on the hope that the students could connect with their peers across the globe when the boat reached a foreign shore.

In June, that hope became a reality as MBS sixth graders gathered in Lisa Swanson’s classroom to speak to students from St. Martin’s School in Guernsey via Skype. A loud cheer erupted as the session began, and the students saw their counterparts more than 3,000 miles away.

Ellen Greer, a teacher at St. Martin’s School, contacted MBS after reading about the boat’s journey in The Guernsey Press. St. Martin’s School also happens to be the alma mater of Paris Broe-Bougourd, the fisherman who recovered the boat in the English Channel.

MBS students have been embarking on a crossdisciplinary study of the island of Guernsey since Broe-Bougourd found the boat there in February. Their initial Skype session provided an opportunity to share their research on topics ranging from local cuisine and climate

to architecture and government in Guernsey.

Some of their information even surprised the Guernsey students — including the fact that literary great Victor Hugo lived on the island for 15 years, and that the majority of Les Misérables was written while he resided there.

The Guernsey students shared their views on the pros and cons of living on the island. They also compared notes on the most popular sports where they live (football, swimming, cricket, rugby, and rounders for Guernsey), as well as on their favorite novels (The Twilight saga, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Harry Potter were mutual hits). Minecraft was also a universal favorite.

“It was a really exciting experience for our students to connect with the kids from St. Martin’s School,” said Lisa Swanson, who is arranging future Skype sessions with Guernsey and plans for the conversations to continue during the 2014-15 school year. “Our students are building real understanding about another culture as they discover how living on an island in the English Channel affects the way people live there. This will be a lasting experience for our students. Their active engagement with this ongoing project has already resulted in meaningful, memorable learning.”

FaceTime, using these tools to connect with a variety of interlocutors, including a business executive in Dubai, a Holocaust survivor in France, and classes of French students near Paris and Marseilles.

The use of a virtual tool to connect with the Guernsey students also made for an interesting lesson about the way we communicate in our increasingly-networked, increasingly-flat world.

While it is no longer necessary to be in situ to “meet” others, first encounters — both virtual and face-to-face — remain predicated on a commonality: something shared, real, and tangible. In the case of our middle schoolers’ new friendship with the students in Guernsey, virtual contact was made possible by something concrete and physical: Crimson Tide.

And the boat’s journey isn’t over yet. Plans are in the works to repair and re-launch the sailboat in the near future.

In addition, last year’s MBS sixth-grade class launched its own sailboat, Crimson Cruiser, in December, and this year’s class is already in the process of building its own boat this fall.

In recent years, MBS students have made an increasingly-regular practice of engaging in cross-cultural conversations through Skype and

To read more about the initial recovery of Crimson Tide in Guernsey, go to www.mbs.net/news.

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Moving Up

Founders Hall was filled with a euphony of applause on June 6, as family and friends gathered to celebrate the 52 eighth graders who received certificates and advanced from the Middle School to the Upper School. “I can assure you that every teacher in this room is feeling joyful [. . . ] because of the role that students play in our lives,” said Head of Middle School Boni Luna. “The joy we receive from seeing our students succeed is the fruit of our calling.”

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“To the graduates: go forth and continue the work that you began here — continue to work for the greater good.”

Peter J. Caldwell, Headmaster

“I can confidently say that the future leaders of this country may be sitting on this very stage. Future doctors, engineers, lawyers, and more are all sitting side by side. And, come on: ‘President Jake Beeber’ always did have a nice ring to it.”

Jake Beeber ’14, Class President

“[As] I stand here with this great honor, I cannot help but feel that it is the people who sit around me today who deserve the recognition. […] I have been fortunate to have spent the past seven years learning and growing alongside some of the most talented and brightest people I know.”

Ashley Young ’14, Class Valedictorian

Commencement

On June 7, donning excited grins and dapper Commencement attire, soon-to-be MBS alumni followed in procession to the jubilant orchestral march of Pomp and Circumstance. Families, friends, and loved ones congregated on the lawn of Senior Circle to celebrate the achievement of this significant academic milestone, and to wish students well as they move on from MBS powerfully prepared for the challenges of college and university studies.

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Graduating Class of 2014

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Reunion Weekend 2014 Under a perfect sky, Morristown-Beard School welcomed alumni, their families, and friends to a day of festivities, activities, and entertainment at Reunion — and the excitement of alumni reunited matched the warmth and inviting beauty of the spring day. A moment to celebrate the impact the School has had upon the lives of alumni, this May’s Reunion was a convivial backdrop for Beard School, Morristown School, and Morristown-Beard School graduates to look back fondly on old memories — and to create new ones.

The campus was a hub of contagious energy as alumni excitedly donned MBS tee shirts — a gift to all alumni — over their summer attire at Registration and as student ambassadors rolled out the “Crimson carpet” for their predecessors on campus tours.

Attendees marveled at the spectacular student performances (and physical plant) at Founders Hall, alumni cried out with surprise and laughter as they leafed through curated albums of photos and ephemera from the School’s archives, and conversations bubbled over beverages and fresh fare throughout the day.

In the evening, alumni capped off the celebration at a Headmaster's Reception and a seated dinner. The cheerful tenor of the event left alumni energized with a shared sense of community and MBS pride.

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Back Home

An Interview with Monya Taylor ’88

By Sara K. Huneke

Crimson: Congratulations on joining the MBS Office of Institutional Advancement. This experience must feel like a homecoming of sorts for you . . .

member since 1988 — every alumnus/a is a member. Because our Community is so warm, open, and closely knit, it’s easy to get involved in one way or another.

Monya Taylor ’88: Absolutely! I’m new to my position here as Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, yet I am in no way new here at MBS. I am a proud graduate of the Class of 1988 and also a “lifer”— I spent the entirety of my middle- and upper-school years here at MBS. Even before stepping foot on campus as a student, I remember cheering at my older brother’s Crimson Baseball games. I was barely seven at the time — as you can see, MBS is in my blood!

That's why I'm excited to work with our alumni family — the rich histories interwoven among Morristown School, Beard School, and Morristown-Beard School. I love hearing the personal narratives that alumni tell about how their experiences here continue to enrich their lives. Stories like that inspire me. I strongly believe in this School and the powerful educational experiences it continues to provide, and I am proud to be an active part of it.

Crimson: How have you stayed active in the MBS Community Crimson: What are the most important ways in which the MBS since you graduated?

Community can support the School, even from afar?

MT: During the past four years, I served as a Trustee; prior to that, I MT: There are many! I have an acronym that I like to use when alumni was active with the Alumni Board for five years, serving as Secretary for three of those years. Of course, I’ve been an Alumni Association

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ask me this question — it spells out Crimson:

Updates From the Alumni Board Come back to campus for various events: mark your calendars and plan now to attend 2014 Homecoming, featuring “Friday Night Lights” Football, an Alumni Tailgate, and the Athletic Hall of Fame program on Friday, October 17. Visit www.mbs.net for a complete list of events and activities throughout the year.

Reach out to us with important personal or professional milestones that you would like to share with us in Class Notes. I welcome you to also include any updates to your contact information at the bottom of the Note.

Invest in Morristown-Beard and in our talented students with an annual fund gift to the Morristown-Beard Fund. You can make your gift via the web at www.mbs.net/annualfund or call me directly at (973) 532-7578.

Make new memories with your former classmates and teachers — join us for Alumni Reunion 2015 on Friday, June 12 and Saturday, June 13!

Sport your MBS apparel! Promote our School by wearing MBS gear to the grocery store, the gym, or wherever your travels take you. It might even strike up a conversation or two!

Open up to others about your positive experiences at MorristownBeard School. Be an advocate for MBS! Never miss a beat by following us on social media. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to “follow” MBS on Facebook and Instagram — we generate new content daily!

Please know you are always welcome at MBS and that we hope to see you soon on campus!

A new school year is here! At MBS, there is a palpable energy on campus, and the Alumni Board feels it, too. We’re back, and full of energy with a group of wonderful volunteers. Some are veterans, while others are new. All share the same passion, however – to help MBS continue to grow.

It’s my hope to see more alumni on campus, joining the Alumni Board in service — and in celebration — of our School. There are many ways you can be involved. Volunteering with the Alumni Board is rewarding, as is helping to rally the troops as a class agent. Participating in Reunion efforts plays an important role, too. Finally, simply sharing news in Crimson is a good way to start!

Next, I must thank Carol Selman ’64 and Bob Greenberg ’64 for leading 50th year Reunion efforts for their classes. Thanks to their school spirit and tireless networking, attendance at this past Reunion was outstanding! This year, Reunion will be held from June 12 to 13, 2015, and the Alumni Board needs leaders to promote attendance for class years ending in 5 and 0. Help us have another terrific Reunion by motivating classmates to attend!

Speaking of alumni events… Thank you to alumni who attended 2014 Homecoming! Held October 17th, MBS alumni celebrated the Athletic Hall of Fame induction of Betsy Bayne Curtis ’81 in Kirby Chapel before heading to Wilkie Hall for the Alumni Tailgate. After a buffet dinner, alumni watched the Crimson Football Team defeat Morris Catholic by a score of 29-0. Our signature fall event also featured the 22nd annual running of the Kirby Mile (kindly sponsored by Allan P. Kirby, Jr. ’49) at halftime of the football game. Overall, an enjoyable night celebrating our pride in Morristown-Beard School!

Go Crimson!

Caroline Turben ’87 Alumni Board President

fl www.facebook.com/morristown.beard @MorristownBeard

Ready to volunteer?

Need info about upcoming alumni events?

Please visit www.mbs.net/alumni or email alumni@mbs.net.

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Class Notes 1938

Dorothy Eisele Graesser says that it gives her great pleasure to still be in contact with three of her good friends from The Beard School — Ann Lounsbury Brundage ’37, Virginia Bittles Warnock , and

Peggy Tobin McKenna.

1944

with Nancy Tasman Brower and her wonderful husband, Bailey.

I’m sorry there weren’t any other classmates there. I’m living in Boca Raton, Florida and loving it! I would love to hear from any other Beard alums. My e-mail is vallytc@aol.com.”

Janet Evans McBride writes, “Let’s

1948

Anne Matteson Sisson and her

recently moved to Brevard, North Carolina after living in Greensboro for 47 years. “Although we miss Greensboro, Brevard is a nice small town,” she writes. “It’s very friendly and has beautiful waterfalls, interesting wildflowers, and white squirrels!”

get in touch with each other, Class of 1944! Share where you are and what you are doing in our Class Notes. If we can’t get to our Reunion, let’s get together this way. The best to you all!”

husband are keeping busy in their retirement at the Tallgrass Country Club in Wichita, Kansas. She has many fond memories of her years at The Beard School, where her great aunt, Miss Sara Turner, was a headmistress in the 1940s.

1947

Nancy Tasman “Taz” Brower

serves on the MBS Alumni Board, and is Aquatics Director at Noe Pond Club, which she and her husband, Bailey, started 59 years ago. “We are looking forward to our 60th anniversary at the Club next year,” she says. “Classmates, please let us know how you are doing!”

Vally Taishoff Chamberlain Flint says she had a great time two years ago at her 65th reunion. “I stayed

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A n ne D eL a m a t e r H a n s e n

Norman J. Merksamer reports that

he will turn 85 this November. “I now use a walker most of the time; otherwise, I am pretty healthy.”

Joan H. Miller keeps in touch with Joan Edwards, Helen Giammattei and Margie Noyes often. She is eagerly awaiting the birth of her ninth great-grandchild in the fall!

1952 Hanna Alger shared news of her adventures on the Camino de Santiago.

She writes, “This year, a friend and I spent 41 days walking about 500 miles on the Camino from Pamplona, Spain and then on to Finisterre and Muxia. I was rejuvenated both physically and spiritually by the experience. I met wonderful fellow pilgrims from all over the world. I saw magnificent scenery, watched spring arrive, was soaked by heavy downpours, worshipped in cathedrals and country parishes, saw extreme poverty and deserted villages, drank good local wine and ate salada mixta ad nauseum. Each day had a destination and a purpose: a perfect combination for renewal. The rocky shores of Muxia provided the perfect ending to my Camino: blustery, exciting, full of possibility…the end of the earth, the beginning of the unknown…a confirmation of my mortality and the richness of my life.”

1949

Dr. Marion Gedney says, “It’s

been kind of a sad year; we lost my oldest sister Joan (Class of 1942) last June. I’m still working as a clinical psychologist and doing a lot of music, too, which is fun. I had a very nice visit with Buffie McKim Powell, who came to New York for a few days.”

1951

1954

friend enjoyed a “Sharing Milestone 80” birthday celebration. “Threeinch rocks (milestones) were the table centerpieces,” she writes.

Tucscon, Arizona in June after living in New Jersey for the past 78 years. “It’s quite an adjustment, but I moved here to be near my oldest

Hope Harrison Lampe and a

Vallie Hill Beckwith moved to

car and 1924 Franklin, have to be restored and put on the road — that is a current project after 20 years of procrastination.”

Additionally, “On Tuesday, April 8th, Bill Bride, Frank Berry, and Dick Seabury had lunch together at Frank’s Golf Club (in Florida).

Bill Whitson, another “snow bird,” was unable to join us. We plan a R ichard (Dick) Seabury, III “return event” during the winter writes, “I’m retired, still very active, of 2015. The tales were tall and in good health and enjoy four adult the drinks taller.” (Photo: left to children and eight grand kids. At right – Dick Seabury, Bill Bride, age 77 it was apparent that two and Frank Berry) “barn finds,” a 1922 Dodge Touring

1954

son, his wife, and my grandson,” she writes. “My middle son still lives in New Jersey with his wife, and my youngest is now back in New Jersey, having returned from Afghanistan in June. I have two grandsons, one a senior in college, the other here in Tucson. He is an accomplished concert pianist with experience in all kinds of music.”

Joe Nye is still teaching internationa l relations at the Ha r va rd Ken nedy S chool of Government. His latest book, Is the American Century Over?, is set to be published in early 2015.

1955

Robin Rockafellow retired from

30 years of school social work in June, 2013. “My husband of 55 years passed away in November and I wondered if retirement had been a good idea. I had an opportunity

to find out when my successor had a baby in December and I returned to the job for three months. I was right!” she says. Robin is now keeping busy with many new activities, and is sorting through all of the things she has collected in her home of 50 years. “I’ve had lots of support from Peggy Pattyson Greene, who visited this summer and keeps me supplied with hugs of all kinds,” she says.

Lois Dane Soule is “still chugging

along, keeping busy with various activities – book clubs, church, friends, and family. I have three grandchildren nearby and one in Vermont. I haven’t sent Christmas cards for two years…I hope to change that!”

1956

Barbara Newberry Lindsley has

been spending time in Millbrook,

New York in the winter and at a 200 year-old terrace house in Kirkcudbright, Scotland in the summer. “K irkcudbrig ht is a delightful town, and we are involved in the local life, including golf, guiding at the National Trust for Scotland ’s Threve House, and working at one of the local charity shops. Fun!”

Emmy Lou Lehman Smith and

her husband Bob are happily busy in New York City and Connecticut.

“Bob is an active lawyer, and I am on several boards, enjoy seeing family and friends, and taking trips!” she writes. “We have been very fortunate to visit family and friends over the summer in Vermont, Sun Valley, and Nantucket. We have been in touch with or seen classmates Betsy Ferris Puchner, Lisa Blauvelt , Ann Linen Probert , and Sally Brooks Smith , and all are great!

Wishing everyone continued good health and happiness.”

1957

Nancy Coppedge Lynn spends her

summers in Mere Point Brunswick, Maine. She has four grandsons, ages 8 to 20, and still keeps up with Jill Carroll and Nancy Leavens.

1958

Doug Mockett married R ita

Getzelman in September of 2012.

“We enjoy travel, and one of the highlights was visiting Cuba in November of 2013 with a State Department ‘People To People’ trip. We’re off to the Far East in

September and St. Croix in the winter before a racing trip and safari to South Africa in the end of January,” he writes. Doug has enjoyed racing cars for more than 35 years “with the scars to prove it,” and will be driving in the Historic Formula One in Singapore in mid-September. He is also a flying enthusiast, with more than 30 years of experience and five transatlantic crossings.

1959

Linda Daidone Hallad lives in

Morristown and currently works at Chatham Day School. While not at work, she enjoys spending time with her nine grandchildren, seven of whom live in Chatham and Madison, and two in Minnesota.

“Life is good!”

1961

Caroline von Hessert-Hodge

says she had a fun mini-reunion last November at The Island Inn on Sanibel Island, Florida. “A few ladies couldn’t make it at the last minute, but we had a great time any way. We made ‘sloppy joe’ sandwiches for lunch one day in honor of our New Jersey roots! We enjoyed beautiful weather, the beach, The Shell Museum, and great food.

When Beard girls get together, it’s always a special time!”

1962

Marie Younkin-Waldman is happy

to announce that her third book, Simply South County, Revisisted: Celebrations of Small Town Life,

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will be released in November, 2014

by Gentility Press. It is a collection of essays related to the pleasures and rewards of life in New England small towns.

1964

Carol Selman writes, “The Beard

Class of 1964 enjoyed their 50th Reunion; we were 17 strong, and traveled from Mexico, California, Monta na , Colorado, New England, the tri-state area, and metro Washington, D.C. Bravo all! Many additional classmates participated through shared emails, photographs and responses to class questionnaires (Shout out to Holly Berdan Sweetow and Nancy Quad Cochran for calls to classmates, and to Nancy for her imaginative survey questions.) The final survey question brought some surprising responses: ‘Who is the most famous person you have ever met?’ Mine was Miles Davis, but I have also met many former New Jersey governors through my past service as a public member of the NJ Historical Commission. I was most inspired by a conversation with Joan Baez, and an interview I conducted with artist Will Barnett for an article that appeared shortly before his 100th birthday.”

Dorcas Hardy is founder and

pr i nc ip a l of D. R . H a rd y & Associates, a public policy firm, which she established in 1990.

Dorcas was U.S. Commissioner of Social Security under President Ronald Reagan. She and husband Dr. Samuel V. Spagnolo were later introduced by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. Dorcas serves on many boards, including Early Bird A lert, Inc., Wright Investors Mutual Funds, the Social Security Advisory Board, and the Board of Home Care Standards Bureau. She is also active with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

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Julie Glover writes, “I started out

as a social worker in New York City, and then created a huge multidisciplinary model youth development program (The Door) with 30 other youth professionals in Manhattan in 1972. This model program attained national and international recognition (it was honored at a day-long event at the Reagan White House in 1986), and I spent 20 years helping more than 100 cities, states and countries to replicate The Door model in a variety of unique environments. Through my involvement with The Door, I have met an abundance of famous people: Mick Jagger, Paul Newman, the Dalai Lama, the Reagans and the Cabinet members in 1986, and a variety of celebrities connected with The Door in some way. Lloyd Bridges was the most fun!” Julie enjoys singing, and is a solo artist as well as a member of two a cappella groups. She is currently working on a CD of Celtic, Balkan, and Appalachian music. Julie lives with her husband on Whidbey Island, Washington.

Sally Swanson Dulin took over

her late husband ’s business in 1987, exporting Mexican mineral concentrates to European smelters.

Two years later, she opened her own company. “I currently export zinc fines from the Mexican galvanizing industry to zinc sulfate producers in the United States,” she writes.

Sally has met Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo, and Nobel Laureate author Carlos Fuentes.

Sharon Grady and husband and

fellow scientist Michael Marks recently moved to Portland, Oregon from Colorado to be closer to their three adult daughters, son in law and grandchild. She writes, “I have been in a basic research position at the University of Colorado, Boulder for 28 years, studying nicotine and nicotinic receptors in a neuroscience

lab. I am now working part-time. I will continue my affiliation with the lab for at least another year after we move this summer. This has been a great job. I have worked with other scientists from many states as well as England, Finland, Italy, and Australia. Smoking is a health problem everywhere.”

Kerry O’Brien says, “I worked

for 10 years as a dietitian. I got an MS in Therapeutic Nutrition at Rutgers, and worked at Perth Amboy Hospital for a year, then moved to Maine, and worked another nine years in the same field. At 42, I went to law school and worked 10 years as an assistant attorney general in Maine. I litigated child abuse, workers comp, tax fraud, Medicaid provider fraud, and was at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

At 55, I followed my passion and worked in landscaping and garden design, and did interior painting in the winters. In 2009, I moved to Maryland, and now am again moving with my daughter and her husband and their four young children to southern California. I am their full-time nanny; childcare is the most challenging work so far! Every day I am bested by very small children… it is infuriating, humiliating and hilarious.”

1965

Pamela Norman Apito reports

t h at , a s a te a c her at Br iel le School, her team of I.C.–HOPE (Integrated Curriculum – Helping Our People Eat) 8th graders won the Governor’s Cup two years in a row for its contributions to the statewide “Students Change Hunger” campaign. Pamela retired in July and continues to work as an educational coach and advocate, and enjoys spending time with her husband and family—including seven grandchildren!

1966

Elizabeth “Betsey” Rose Carson

and her husband spent a month in Boulder, Colorado enjoying the great outdoors with her oldest nephew and his family. “Now, it’s back to reality—getting prepared for my 40th year of teaching and coaching at Dwight-Englewood,” she writes.

“One of the highlights of this past year was connecting with so many Beard classmates from 1966 via Facebook. Come on, the rest of you…connect with us!”

Ted Lawson says he has been

readdressing his life after his wife of 40 years, Tina, died last year.

“Our love was for each other, the New York City arts, dining out and traveling. We did short trips across the U.S., and more extensive vacations overseas — Egypt, Turkey, Russia, cruising the Baltic and Mediterranean, and cruising rivers in Europe,” he writes.

“I am continuing to travel with a 24-day trip to China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Russia this fall.” He continues with his transplant work as chairman of the Public Policy Committee of the Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO), and as a board member of TRIO Manhattan Chapter and Transplant Support Organization — Westchester. “I would love to see any Morristown Prep graduates if you get to New York City or if you are coming to Morristown!”

Bill Terhune and his wife, Linda,

welcomed their first grandchild, Alexa Grace Terhune, who was born to Brian and Kate Terhune on October 24. As Brian, Kate, and Alexa recently moved to Seattle, Bill wonders if any classmates are living there that he could connect with during his next visit. “I’m looking forward to our 50th reunion in 2016!”

1967

Frank Johnson is entering his

11th year as an independent wine importer, after starting out in publishing. “I find it both difficult and exciting to specialize in small estates. I represent wineries in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and California, and travel abroad annually in connection with my business,” he says. “Within the past year, I’ve been in contact with Jim Macdougall as well as Chuck North ’66 and Russ North ’68.

The Red Bank Regional High School Board of Education has appointed Tom Pagano as Interim Superintendent. This is Tom’s second interim assignment since retiring in 2010.

1968

Bob Dunbar retired in January and

now resides in Wake Forest, North Carolina with his wife, Helen. “We look forward to being able to attend more Morristown-Beard events,” he writes. “I have always regretted not being able to participate in the Larry Totton Golf Tournament. He was a great mentor in my life and the highlight of my Morristown School experience. His inspirational leadership taught me what it took to be successful in my professional and personal lives. He was taken from us far too soon. As Paul Simon wrote, ‘Preserve your memories; they’re all that’s left of you.’”

1969

David Bauer is officially retired

after earning three and a half degrees, and spending 15 years in the oil industry and 20 years as a civil/environmental engineer. He resides in Fort Collins, Colorado with his two children and two dogs, and enjoys cycling, music, and travel.

“What a long, strange trip it’s been!”

Calling all Alumni of the Beard School, Morristown School & Morristown-Beard School!

Save the Date for

Reunion 2015 Friday, June 12 & Saturday, June 13, 2015

Celebrating reunion class years ending in 0s & 5s Activities for all on Saturday, June 13, including: * Alumni Barbeque on the Quad * Headmaster’s Cocktail Reception * Reunion Dinner * Campus Tours & More!

Young Alumni Reunion Party ~ Friday, June 12 ~ Open to graduates from the Classes of 2004 - 2014

Mark your calendars!

For more information, email alumni@mbs.net or call Monya Taylor ’88, Associate Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving, at 973-532-7578

Interested in rallying your class to come to Reunion?

Call Monya today and volunteer!

This spring, David Kramer was honored by the National Football Foundation chapter of Morris County for his 20 years of service as team photographer.

1970

Delevan Barrett recently moved

to Asbury Park, NJ. Delevan is named after his grandfather, Delevan Whaley, who served as Lower School Headmaster of the Morristown School. Delevan would love to reconnect with his classmates, and invites you to get in touch or to come visit him at the shore and enjoy the ocean breeze.

This summer, Bruce Kessler completed a Leave No Trace Master Educator course in sea kayaking in the San Juan Islands, WA as part of the National Outdoor Leadership School. The Leave No Trace program is a national awareness campaign designed to provide backcountry wilderness travelers and front country users the most up-to-date information about how to travel in different wilderness ecosystems without disturbing the natural world.

1974

Bob Namar runs his own content

marketing company, Namarketer, a ut hor i n g we b c ont e nt a nd developing social media strategies for Fortune 500 companies.

1978

Wendy Goldberg Taffet has owned

Enjou Chocolat in Morristown since 1986, making gourmet chocolates, gift baskets, corporate gifts, and wedding and party favors. Her husband, Dr. Berton Taffet, is an orthopedic surgeon who practices at Morristown Memorial Hospital, and they have a 20 year-old son, Zachary, who is entering his junior year at the University of Richmond.

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1979

1987

Angeles for the past 14 years, and works at both Disney Consumer Products and at ArcLight Cinemas.

She volunteered to work at this year’s Telluride Film Festival during Labor Day Weekend. She enjoys staying in touch with fellow MBS graduates Donna Ward ’78 and Nancy Seijas Vermuelen ’82 via Facebook.

enjoying life with her husband, Gary, and their 9 year-old daughter, Carly, in Sarasota, Florida, where they have been living for three years. “We had dinner with Nick Drizos and his wife, Denise, a few weeks ago and had a blast,” she writes. “I am busy launching a new company called KidBacker, which is a crowdfunding and educational website for kids that allows them to raise funds for their schools, and teaches them about entrepreneurship, business fundamentals, online marketing, and finance. It’s been a tremendous experience so far!”

Kate McMains has lived in Los

1981

Mike Gettinger is living in the

Pacific Northwest with his wife of 20 years and his three children: Austin, 25; Heidi, 13; and Cassidy, 6. He enjoys playing ice hockey on a semi-pro team, and coaching his daughter’s team when he is not playing. “I just wanted to say hi to all my old classmates,” he writes.

“It’s been a long time, and I’ve been thinking lately about Mo-Beard!”

Sarah Jahries Kenyon is still

working at Northfield Mt. Hermon School in Massachusetts, where she serves as a college counselor, coaches field hockey, teaches a course in diversity and social justice, and runs a dorm. “It’s a lot of fun,” she writes. “My partner, Nicole, and I are also chasing our four children around. Thankfully, the two oldest are freshmen at Northfield Mt. Hermon this year, which has reduced the chaos. I see Brooke Billings Bulmer ’82 periodically; she’s great! If you’re ever in Western Massachusetts, please stop by!”

1982

Sandy Campbell MenendezA p onte i s a m a rke t i n g a nd innovation consultant living in Stamford, Connecticut with her husband and two children.

Heather Holst K nudsen is

1988

Kathleen Costello-Sullivan has

been named Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY.

1990

Jay Friedel is excited to be starting

the new school year teaching 7th grade math, science, and social studies at Springman Middle School

1987

The artwork of Dr. Louise van der Does was featured in “The Art of the Barn” show in New Hope, Pennsylvania. The show celebrated the bucolic region of Bucks County, and proceeds from the exhibit supported the Bucks County Audubon Society. in Glenview, Illinois. “It brings me back to my days at MBS Middle School,” he says.

1987 Alex Ewig says, “It’s hard to believe that two of my four children attend

MBS, with Trip, my oldest, entering his senior year…where the heck does the time go? The summer was filled with college visits, college essays, and many conversations regarding the next road. It wasn’t all work; there was plenty of play, too, with time to visit Costa Rica with friends. We enjoyed zip-lining, marlin fishing, hiking, white water rafting, and taking 4x4’s through the streams in the rain forest. We hit the ground running again with school starting, as well as the usual crazy sports schedule that accompanies the culmination of another great summer. Cheers to all!”

Lynne Saliba Moronski and Lenise Cummings had a chance

to catch up with each other briefly this spring. “Usually, we catch up just for a few minutes annually during Newark Airport layovers, but there was enough time to actually sit down for a cup of coffee in Morristown and to have an extended conversation this time,” said Lynne. “We picked up right where we left off and Lenise is doing well. She is practicing geriatric medicine in St. Louis, and is happily married to a sociologist.”

A f ter spending four years in Portland, Oregon and four years in Boston, Massachusetts, Robert Stankavish, his wife, Jenny, and their t wo year-old daug hter, Emerson, have moved back to Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

“There were four reasons for our relocation: there was a great career opportunity for my wife at the UNC Kidney Center; we would enjoy close proximity to our family; as a home-based employee with SAP, I could keep my same job; and four winters in Boston was enough,” he writes. “Right now, life is good!”

1991

Chip Rollinson , a mathematics

teacher at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, MA, recently gave a presentation a b out De smos — a n on l i ne graphing tool — at the Anja S.

Greer Conference on Mathematics, Science and Technology at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.

Former MBS math teacher and administrator Barbara Anastos attended the conference and gave her former student high marks.

“The conference is highly regarded as one of the best, and people from all over the world attend. As his former math teacher, I want to

1995

Electric Vehicle Program Manager at Florida Power and Light Company in Juno Beach, Florida. Anne-Louise and her husband Richard Beni are the proud parents of twin girls born in February. They reside on a small horse farm in Loxahatchee, Florida.

lives in San Diego, recently published The Autobiography of No One, which includes essays, scrapbook images, lyrics, and more. Howard, who currently performs with a number of bands including The Heavy Guilt, The Black Sands, The Midnight Pine, and Rebecca Jade and The Cold Fact, began putting together the elements for the book in 2006 and has been slowly adding to it ever since.

Anne-Louise Seabury-Beni is

Alfred Howard , a musician who

1996

This fall, Jeff Grace is directing his first feature film, Folk Hero & Funny Guy. The comedy, which he also wrote, is a road trip buddy movie about a struggling stand-up comedian who goes on tour after reuniting with his friend, a free spirited singer-songwriter whose career is taking off.

1992 Kyle Wiswall moved to Detroit, where he opened up Freighty Cat, a

cargo bike shop designed to encourage cycling as a viable alternative to cars. He spent six months as an apprentice at the Center for Appropriate Transport in Eugene, Oregon where he learned to weld cargo bicycles, including his “Schooner,” the one that he rides today. compliment his teaching and his willingness to improve teaching and learning. It was fun to be in the audience and have our student/ teacher roles reversed,” she wrote.

Missy Randolph Martin is living

1991

1992

in Holly Springs, North Carolina with her husband, Greg, and her two daughters, Megan Alice (4) and Mary Amelia (1). “I am fortunate enough to still be in contact with many MBS alums, but wish I got to see them more,” she writes. “I am lucky to see Lindsey Pearce Foster often, and it’s fun to watch our children grow up together.”

1994

Eric Rochkind regrets that he was

unable to attend his 20th Reunion, but says that otherwise life is great.

“I’m living in Mount Laurel, NJ, practicing law, and married to a wonderful woman, Aria, with two beautiful daughters, Naomi (2 yrs.) and Madalyn (8 months).”

Whitney Brusman Shelton says,

“Shawn, Harper and I welcomed our second daughter — and little sister — Olivia Tobin Shelton, on July 16th, weighing in at 8 lbs, 10 oz. and 20 inches. We are all in love with our new addition, and are now adjusting to being a family of four.”

1997

Bradford Seabury, Supervising Assistant Prosecutor with the Morris County NJ Prosecutor’s Office, received a Meritorious Team Honor.

Brad and his wife Dale have a son, Wyatt.

1999

Brian Dougherty is an owner of a luxury real estate firm with six offices on Cape Cod and two offices in Boston. “My partner Nick and I live in the South End of Boston with our two large dogs, Riley and Russell. I always love bumping into MBS alumni!” he writes.

After completing his Ph.D. at Penn State University, Scott Robertson began a Kennedy Fellowship at the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. He works for Senator Tom Harkin at the Disability Policy Office of the Majority Office of the Senate Committee on Health,

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Scott Robertson ’99 Uncovers MBS History

By Steve Patchett

When introducing Dr. Scott Robertson '99 at Morning Meeting last May, Dr. Alan Cooper stated that listing Robertson’s accomplishments “could take up more time than we have.” He wasn’t kidding.

Among Dr. Robertson’s interesting findings: * The varsity boys’ ice hockey program is older than all 30 NHL teams and 56 of 59 Division I college teams.

Dr. Robertson is one of the nation’s leading disability advocates. After earning degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Carnegie Mellon, * Morristown alumni from famous families include George Merck ’11 and Penn State, Dr. Robertson worked at both the state and national (former President of Merck & Co.), Frank Damrosch, Jr. ’06 (son of the level for disability rights advocacy, conducting research on how technol- Juilliard School founder), and Chapman Grant ’08 (a noted herpetoloogy can aid those with a range of disabilities, including autism. He is co- gist and grandson of President Ulysses S. Grant). founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and is employed by U.S. Senator Tom Harkin’s Disability Policy Director through a fellowship * MBS alumni have won Gold Medals in the Pan-American Games and the Olympics. position with the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation.

During his recent visit to campus, Dr. Robertson also proved himself to * Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, noted for his detective stories about Sherlock Holmes, spoke at St. Bartholomew’s School (the predecessor to Morrisbe a dedicated historian, as he delivered a lively and informative glimpse town School) in 1894. into the history of the Morristown School, the Beard School, and

Morristown-Beard School.

Dr. Robertson credits MBS with instilling in him a passion for history, and he added that he had a strong desire to bolster the information on Morristown-Beard’s Wikipedia page. When he began his project, only five notable alumni were listed on the page. There are now more than 80 notable alumni listed, as well as detailed information about the School.

“I hope that you will use this list as inspiration,” he told the students.

“Maybe one day, you will be listed as well.”

* Beard School alumna Marion Clyde McCarroll ’10 was the first woman to be issued a press pass by the New York Stock Exchange. * Morristown School alumnus William Pene du Bois ’34 was a noted author and illustrator who won the Caldecott Honor Award twice. A former goalie at The Morristown School, he was also the founding Art Editor at The Paris Review. * MBS alumni include two descendants of signers of the Declaration of Independence.

To learn more, please visit the Morristown-Beard School Wikipedia page.

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Education, Labor, and Pensions.

“I help develop leg islation to improve access and opportunity for people with disabilities in the areas of healthcare, education, and employment,” he writes.

1999 1999 Kate Rockland bought a house

in Madison, NJ with her husband and sons, Joseph (3) and Liam (2).

Her second novel, 150 Pounds, was published by St. Martin’s Press.

2003

Jane Cooper, Valedictorian of the

Class of 2003, is now an associate in the Antitrust/Competition Group of the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Ms. Cooper has worked on several mergers and acquisitions, including Weil’s representation of Signet Jewelers in its acquisition of Zale Corporation, and Forest Laboratories in its acquisition of Aptalis Pharmaceuticals and its sale to Actavis plc. She received her J.D. from the Yale Law School, where she was the managing director of the Yale Visual Law Project and co-director of the Criminal Justice Theory and Practice Workshop. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Barnard College, Columbia Universit y where she studied Political Science and Sociology.

Arielle Leigh and Robert Paster

were married on December 7, 2013 at The Wilshire Grand in West Orange, NJ. She is currently working in human resources for Ralph Lauren.

The couple resides in Hoboken.

2000

2002

Susan Stoever married Xingxia

Zhang on March 20, 2014. The wedding was held in Puerto Rico with 60 of their closest friends.

2006 Lee Grant Bogaert and Max Bogaert were married on August 16th

at the Newagen Seaside Inn on Southport Island, Maine. Members of the MBS Community in attendance were: Jennifer Conway ’06, Tom Grant ’69, Jackie Grant Pellenberg ’02 , Dan Pellenberg ’02 , Molly Pribor ’06, and Christine Raia ’06. After a honeymoon in Bermuda, the bride and groom now live in Brookline, MA. They are both teachers.

Shane Vince and Michelle Wade

Julia Rafal-Baer was appointed

Assistant Commissioner at the New York State Education Department in April. A former teacher in the Bronx, Julia says that she is humbled and honored to serve the educators, families, and students of New York State. She has lived in the U.S., the U.K., Spain, and Australia, and completed a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge with a focus on special education and inclusion policy and practices.

1987

2004

were married on June 6, 2014 at the Ashford Estate in Cream Ridge, NJ. MBS graduates in attendance included Perr y Heath , Matt Moschella, Jill Selby, and Daniel Vince.

2005

Niral Patel is in his fourth year

Jack Ingber has been promoted

to Captain in the United States Air Force. In February, he was awarded The Air Medal for “superior leadership, exemplary airmanship and selfless dedication to duty while engaging Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents during 20 Operation Enduring Freedom combat missions” in Afghanistan.”

as a medical student doing clinical rotations. His goal is to get a residency next year in pathology and hopefully a fellowship in forensic pathology or cyto-pathology.

2006

Cor y Doyle and Lauren

Formisano recently announced their engagement. Members of the

Class of 2006 who were on hand to celebrate the announcement included: John Kean , Andrew Lewis , Andy O’Connor, Mark Leonardis, Dan Karzinski, and Ryan Pinkas.

D a n ie l K a gd i s re c e i ve d a n MBA with honors from Fairfield University.

Justin Leigh recently earned his

law degree from The John Marshall School of Law. He resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Eriqah Williams returned to

campus for a visit in September.

Eriqah graduated from Spelman College in 2010 with a B.A. in Comparative Women's Studies. She is currently working at The National Wildlife Federation as the Southeast

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45

Holly Ponichtera ’03: The Power of Persistence

By Steve Patchett

Dr. Holly Ponichtera ’03 is a living example of the power of determi- “In college, hard work takes on new meanings,” she said. “The tasks get hardnation and hard work. Her academic career has been truly impressive er and more demanding, but you get accustomed to the process. The beauty — from her undergraduate work at Dartmouth College to her master’s of college is that you will choose your passion in which to concentrate your degree in Biology at Tufts University to her Ph.D. in Immunology efforts.” from the Tufts University School of Medicine. She has proven herself to be an accomplished scientist with a keen understanding of disease.

For Dr. Ponichtera, that passion was biology, and she soon completed a Masters in Biology at Tufts University Medford campus. “I learned as much Her athletic career has been equally remarkable. A graceful figure as I could about all fields of biology: neuroscience, immunology, developskater since the age of five, she was one of the nation’s top junior skat- mental biology, endocrinology, genetics, and molecular biology,” she said. ers during her days as an MBS student. At Dartmouth College, she was a four-time national champion, and her team was undefeated dur- During the past five years, Dr. Ponichtera pursued her Ph.D. in immunoling all four of her years there. ogy at Tufts School of Medicine in downtown Boston. “It has been a truly amazing academic experience,” she said. “It has challenged me, it has inIf that’s not enough, she’s also the proud owner of a talking parrot spired me, and it has taught me to think independently and solve problems.” named Cowboy.

She said that teamwork and collaboration — skills she first developed at In April, Dr. Ponichtera returned to her alma mater to speak to Morristown-Beard School — have also played a big role in her graduate Morristown-Beard students about her journey since her graduation, work. and the lessons she has learned along the way.

“The importance of working together with your peers, to understand conDr. Ponichtera began her speech by showing a picture of a small vase cepts and advance your knowledge…these are all things that I learned in my that she made in Bisa Washington’s beadweaving class during her high years at Morristown-Beard — in chemistry, in the art studio, on the field, school years. The vase, which was embellished with at least 8,000 tiny and in the theater.” glass beads woven on in an intricate pattern, clearly had a special significance for her. “I remember threading the beads onto the glass, one On April 16, Dr. Ponichtera defended her 200-page Ph.D. thesis, which by one, in class and then at home at night after I had returned from focused on a devastating parasitic disease known as schistosomiasis. While practice. It was, at the time, perhaps the most tedious project I ever it is rare to make a significant discovery during one’s Ph.D. research, Ms. attempted,” she said.

Ponichtera discovered a novel receptor that contributes to the development of severe disease. She also presented her work at the American Association To this day, she keeps the vase with her. For her, it is a reminder of the of Immunologists Conference in Pittsburgh later in the spring. power of persistence.

Dr. Ponichtera is now working as a research fellow in medical oncology at “Every one of you can accomplish what you set out to do if you are the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. “I am working on an exciting determined to work hard,” she told the students. immuno-oncology research project in the laboratory of Dr. Anthony Letai.

I could not be happier,” she said.

Work hard is exactly what Dr. Ponichtera did when she studied biology and Spanish at Dartmouth College.

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Fall 2014

Campus Field Coordinator in the Campus Ecology Program, where she manages conservation education and communication for colleges and universities in the Southeast. She is engaged to James W. Vincent, and they will be married on May 31, 2015 in Atlanta, GA. Her mom, Ms. Kathleen Williams, and her fiancé accompanied her on her visit to MBS, where she was warmly greeted by faculty and staff. “Sometimes in your life you have the most amazing teachers who do much more than teach you from a book. MorristownBeard was so good to me because of teachers like this and for that, I am forever grateful,” she said.

Wealth Management Americas in Weehawken, NJ. John has assumed the role of Business Acquisition and Integration Analyst covering the Northwest and New England markets of the United States. In his spare time, he continues to hone his skills on the golf course and support his youngest sister Alissa Masini ’16 on the lacrosse field.

2007

I n M ay, A nt hony B oi a rdo graduated from New York University magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with honors in French. He also wrote an honors thesis entitled “La reconstitution du souvenir: la tentative de guérir dans L’Amant de Marguerite Duras.”

Elizabeth Aiello is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work at Columbia University.

After working in promos at CBS, John McHale is now working as a content editor for ABC. “I started in January, and I put videos on the ABC news website,” he explained.

“I also assist with live streams and edit videos.”

2008

Ma x Bevan ’s senior thesis at

Skidmore College on the Eurozone debt crisis was published in the UCLA Undergraduate Journal of Economics. Max graduated from Skidmore summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. The paper can be read at www.uclaeconjournal. com/current/.

Adam Dubov sends well wishes to all fellow alumni. He is currently working in the life insurance industry.

2009

After completing his Master of Finance degree from Fordham University, John Masini joined UBS

2010

Breena Beck was cast in the new

Off-Broadway comedy Going Once!

Laughing Twice!!, which made its premiere at St. Luke’s Theatre in September.

After graduating from Brown Universit y la st spri ng , Reva Dhingra '10 left for Jordan on Fulbright grant to study and work with the growing Palestinian, Iraqi, and Syrian refugee populations there.

To learn more about her research project, go to http://watson. brown.edu/news/explore/2014/ RevaDhingra.

This spring, Ryan Kramer was named to the All-Centennial Conference baseball team. As a pitcher for Dickinson College, Kramer went 5-2 with a remarkable 1.61 earned run average over 61.2 innings. He set a pair of school records, holding opponents to a batting average of .188 this season, and .225 for his career. His ERA was the second lowest in Dickinson College history.

Scott Geron graduated from

Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. He was ranked fourth in his class out of 449 students (top 1 percent), with summa cum laude honors recognition.

Tom Glancy served as a captain for

the 2014 Muhlenberg College men’s lacrosse team. He was second on the team in scoring this season, finishing with 20 goals and five assists. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Media and Communication.

Kathleen Magner recently graduated from Bryn Mawr, where she

was captain of the women’s lacrosse team. This past spring, Magner was named Athlete of the Week for the Owls as well as the Centennial Conference Co-Player of the Week.

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47

Zach Gray ’12 : Paying It Forward — With an App

By Steve Patchett

Crimson: To help promote the app, you embarked on a “Month of STRIVR.” What did that entail?

MBS graduate Zach Gray ’12 is determined to change the way people think about social media.

In September, Gray launched STRIVR, an iPhone social networking app where people can give and receive everyday help with everything from painting a room to moving into an apartment. Gray calls it “social media with purpose,” and he has spent the past year and a half transforming his idea from a side project into a business.

The “Craigslist”-like app features profiles similar to other social networking apps, and also includes reviews and point systems for users who contribute. There are two options for asking for help: posting to a friend’s circle, and also a location-based circle for when someone needs help, but friends aren’t close by.

ZG: STRIVR can go in a million different directions — from giving a person a ride to tutoring someone — but its central core is about helping one another. So, to illustrate that, we filmed ourselves doing random acts of kindness for 30 straight days in June. Seeing the impact you can make on other people is pretty wild. One day, we helped a woman carry groceries to her car, and she asked us if we were from another planet.

The amazing part is that by volunteering, you often end up feeling just as good, if not better, than the people you’re helping.

Crimson: How much time are you dedicating to the app?

ZG: Right now, it’s about 10 to 12 hours per day, and even when I’m not working on STRIVR, my thought process automatically goes there and I’m thinking about it. The truth is, it’s fun and it doesn’t feel like work.

Crimson: What are your goals for the app?

Gray, a junior at Lehigh University who is pursuing a degree in business and entrepreneurship, is taking some time off from school this fall to focus full-time on building STRIVR.

ZG: I would like to impact people’s lives and bring positive aspects into social media with underlying themes like “friends helping friends” and “paying it forward.” The goal is to get as many people using STRIVR as possible. Whether people are helping friends by walking a dog, offering a ride, or painting a house, these may feel like little things, but these actions can make a huge impact.

Crimson: How did you come up with the idea for STRIVR?

Crimson: Did the MBS Community help instill your passion for community service?

Zach Gray ’12: I was in my dorm room at Lehigh during my freshman year, reading an article about social networks, when the idea popped into my head. At that point, I knew nothing about the process of launching an app, and I was not a tech person, but I began talking to people, getting advice, and raising funds for the project. It’s been pretty incredible seeing STRIVR come to life in a year and a half. During that time, the nittygritty details have evolved, but the vision has remained constant, and that was to create social media with purpose.

ZG: Absolutely. My teachers and my service work during my years at MBS helped shape my thought process that ultimately led to STRIVR. When I first sat down with Mr. Caldwell, I knew that this app would resonate with MBS because of the closely-knit community feeling that already exists there. I’m hoping to link up with other schools and universities as well, to help STRIVR catch on and grow. There are so many directions STRIVR can go in . . . it will be up to the users to put their own creative spin on it.

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Fall 2014

Emily Martuscello graduated in

May with a BFA from The Boston Conservatory. She is now living in New York City, where she is pursuing a career in acting and music.

Kelly Parker returned to campus

“Month of STRIVR” Recap

this fall as an assistant field hockey coach.

A l ia Roth g raduated from

Week 1: Donated blood; gave away 15 scratch off lottery tickets; gave roses to random mothers on Mothers’ Day; paid dinner check for a family in a diner; picked up trash on the side of the road; gave a brand new baseball bag to a little leaguer; carried groceries for elderly people.

Week 2: Donated clothing and furniture to the Vietnam Vets of America; helped a college student move out of his apartment; left kind, inspirational notes on strangers’ cars; paid for the car behind us in the Wendy’s drive-thru lane; brought donuts to elementary school teachers and staff; brought a friend who had surgery his favorite meal; drove someone to the airport at 5:30 AM. Week 3: Picked up a friend from a bar and gave him a place to sleep; gave a sad boy a STRIVR T-shirt at a Mets Game; donated to a Memorial Day Vets fund; collected canned goods from friends and family to donate to a food bank; donated to “Pump It Up for Platelets” cause; brought an afternoon snack to town workers; drove a friend to the train station.

Week 4: Babysat a neighbor’s young child; gave a little leaguer a free baseball lesson; gave a NYC homeless woman two meals and some cash for her family; put clues in public places leading people to gift cards; planted a lilac tree at a local school; bought reusable grocery bags and gave them out at a local store; brought balloons to the pediatric ward of a hospital; donated toiletries to “Soap for Hope” for battered women; STRIVR team ran in "Pump It Up for Platelets" 5K run.

To learn more about STRIVR, go to www.strivr.com.

Connecticut College, where she earned Dean’s Honors for the spring semester. She was awarded the Harriet Buescher Lawrence Prize and the Holleran Center Community Activism Award at the annual Honors & Awards ceremony in May.

2011

John Fay earned High Honors

Dean’s List last spring at Gettysburg College. John is a four-year football player entering his senior year as strong safety for the Bullets.

2012

Jessica Greene f i nished her

sophomore year at the University of Miami, where she currently holds a GPA of 3.98 and is active in her sorority and Hillel. This summer, she had an internship in New York City with 5W, a full-service public relations agency.

Jay n ie Siegel i s a ju n ior at

the University of Wisconsin in Madison, pursuing a doublemajor in rhetorical studies and entrepreneurship and a minor in global health. Last summer, she was an integrated marketing intern at Bauer Publishing, and during the past school year she was a marketing ambassador for GNC. She recently finished a summer internship at Nanette Lepore and was recruited to the global Red Bull team as a Student Brand Ambassador for the Midwestern region of the U.S.

2013

Shaan Patel was named to the Dean’s List for the spring 2014 semester at the Universit y of Delaware. He recently transferred to the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University.

Wi l l Ta g ga r t wa s pa r t of a

songwriting duo whose song "Open The Gates" was featured in HBO's hit series True Blood. Taggart is a sophomore at Syracuse University, majoring in Music Business Studies.

Spencer Zubrow was recently

featured on a well-known website for bass players called No Treble.

Spencer attends Berklee College of Music in Boston and practices the bass six to eight hours a day in addition to teaching a number of students privately. “The main focus of my studies is to learn the language of the jazz masters through transcription,” he says.

Calling All Alumni!

Send us your news for the Spring issue of Crimson! Keep the MBS Community updated on your latest personal, professional, and civic achievements.

To be included in the next issue, please email us at alumni@mbs.net

by Friday, February 6.

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Fall 2014

49

In Memoriam Dr. Alfred (Fred) Jaretzki III ’37, May 29, 2014, age 94. Dr. Jaretzki

enjoyed a long and distinguished medical career, including many decades in the Department of Surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in NYC. After retirement, he continued at Columbia Presbyterian as Professor Emeritus of Clinical Surgery, as a special lecturer, and as the medical director of its operating rooms from 1992-1996. In addition, Dr. Jaretzki spent a decade at Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, NY. His achievements included writing the seminal paper on the development of synthetic vascular grafts; the work helped usher in the modern era of aneurysm surgery. During his Columbia Presbyterian years, he was recognized nationally for his research on the thymus gland and on the surgical therapy of myasthenia gravis. At age 85, Dr. Jaretzki was named co-investigator of the NIH-funded Recommendations for Clinical Research project undertaken by the Myasthenia Gravis Task Force. After Morristown, Fred excelled at Harvard University, where he played junior varsity football, was treasurer of the Lampoon and was an accomplished skier. He was also a founding member of the Cooperstown Planning Commission and President of the New York Thoracic Society. Dr. Jaretzki and his wife, who survives him, maintained residences in NYC and Essex, CT. Other survivors include his sister, four children, and his stepson, along with his stepson’s wife and two children.

Jesse Leland McEwan, III ’37, March 23, 2014, age 95. A lifelong

resident of Whippany, NJ, Jesse’s family owned and operated the Whippany Paper Board Company. Jesse’s passion was flight: he served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, then worked as a commercial pilot for Eastern Airlines before becoming a private pilot.

He owned a Piper Club aircraft, gave flight instruction, and was also a tow pilot for gliders. As a younger man, he was a lifeguard both in Bay Head, NJ and in Palm Beach, FL. Jesse was awarded a life membership in “Cowboys of the Sea” for saving a life. He played trumpet and loved jazz, especially Duke Ellington.

Mary Helen Blaicher Morrow ’37, May 6, 2013, age 93. Mary was

born in Newark, NJ. After graduating from Miss Beard’s, she graduated from Bradford Junior College and Berkeley College in East Orange. She was active in her home communities of Wilmington, DE and Culver Lake, NJ. She was a 36-year member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, both in Sussex County and in Delaware, active in the AM Investment Club, secretary of her area AARP, and a member of the 2nd Wednesday Bridge Club. A longtime member and volunteer of St. Alban's Episcopal Church, she also belonged to the Normanock Association, the Women’s Club, and Christ Union Chapel of Culver Lake, served on the Board of St. Michael's Nursery, and volunteered as a Girl Scout leader.

She is survived by her husband of 62 years, three children, and their families, including three grandchildren.

Frances (Frannie) Robertson Chandler ex’44, May 12, 2014, age 88.

After Miss Beard’s, Frannie graduated from Ethel Walker’s and Bennett Junior College. She married Kent Chandler in 1948, and the couple

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Fall 2014

moved to Illinois, where her husband was an attorney; they were married for 63 years. She was an avid sportswoman, excelling in golf, tennis, riding, hunting, and fishing. She also traveled extensively, loved bridge, and wrote poetry. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church bell choir, Clumsy Mumsy, the Ladies' Board of the Chicago Botanical Garden, and the Infant Welfare Society. She is survived by her sister, Gail Robertson Marentette, ex’51, a son and daughter, and six grandchildren.

Elizabeth Jane (Bets) Collyer Hayes, ’44, January 15, 2014, age 86.

Bets grew up in Newark, NJ. After Miss Beard’s, she received her degree from Mount Holyoke College, majoring in English literature. A lifelong member of Holyoke’s Alumnae Association, Bets always sent news to MBS. She married Kirby Hayes in 1949; they were married for 43 years until his death. The couple raised their two daughters in Amherst, MA; her daughters and their families including six grandchildren survive her. In Amherst, Bets was actively involved in town, public school, and University of Massachusetts activities. In the mid-1980s, the couple moved to the Eastham Community in Grantham, NH where Bets served on many committees. She was also a member of the South Congregational Church in Newport and was a volunteer fundraiser for both the American Diabetes Association and for David's House in Lebanon. Bets remained a close friend of Anne Matteson Sisson Beard ’44; Bets had been Anne’s maid of honor in 1951.

Barbara Hurff Christensen ex’46, June 4, 2013, age 85. Barbara grew up

in South Orange, NJ, and with her husband of 61 years, lived for 51 years in Chappaqua, NY and spent summers in Cuchogue, NY. A graduate of Ethel Walker and Mt. Vernon Junior College, Barbara had been active in Chappaqua real estate sales and was an enthusiastic skier and tennis player. An avid gardener, she belonged to the Chappaqua Garden Club and to the Herb Society of America. Barbara was a longtime Member of the Chappaqua Congregational Church. Her husband Robert, three sons, and their families, including nine grandchildren survive her.

Todd W. Boy ’52, March 23, 2014, age 81. Todd grew up in Aurora, IL

and Chester, NH. After Morristown, he served until 1953 as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Benning, GA. Todd then entered the footwear business founded by his father. Starting with two branches in Illinois, Todd built a four-state, multi-brand retail shoe store chain. His brands included his Todd’s Naturalizer Shoes. An accomplished pilot, Todd flew his own Piper Saratoga on business trips to his stores. After selling his chain, he continued as a consultant for many years. Todd loved travel; after retiring, he drove annually between Iowa and Arizona, living in his Fifth Wheel trailer until he made Arizona his permanent home. He also captained a Carver Cruiser, navigating Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Great Lakes, and beyond. Todd was married twice; both of his wives predeceased him. His sister, six children, and many grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews survive him.

Announcing

The Inaugural Morristown-Beard School Alumni Concert Thursday, January 8, 2015 Founders Hall

Douglas (Doug) Keen Lovell ’52,

Come back to MBS for an evening of performances by talented alumni! They’ve appeared on our stages and continue to perform beyond Morristown-Beard.

Join us to enjoy performances by:

• Kathryn Allison ’10 • Emily Martuscello ’10 • Casey Miller ’12 • Rachel Moss ’13

and more!

John A. Hatch ’66, February 5, 2014, age 67. Born in Illinois, John

grew up in Convent Station, NJ. At Morristown, he enjoyed playing on the baseball and football teams. He attended the University of South Carolina for two years before leaving to join the U.S. Marine Corps; he served in Vietnam during 1968 and 1969. An avid tennis player and a sports enthusiast, he rose from sportswriter to executive editor for The Daily Record. John owned and ran the Country Gallery in Chester, NJ; his work can be seen in many area establishments. Devoted to his family, he is survived by his wife, two children, three grandchildren, and his sister and daughter-in-law.

• Welcome Reception – 6:00 p.m.

• Concert – 7:00 p.m.

• Post-Concert Reception – 8:00 p.m.

Daniel Richard Wheeless ’95, May 3, 2013, age 36. Dan loved

acting and singing, and began performing in title roles as a teenager.

Dan performed in a dozen plays as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where he earned a B.A. in drama. At MBS, Dan also loved playing baseball, but theater was his love and life’s work. He began working as technical director at Summit High School, and later, with his wife Kate Middleton, Dan founded Ground Up Productions, an off-Broadway theater company that mounted 18 shows in seven years. Dan and Kate lived in NYC’s West Village, where Dan earned a masters degree in educational theater from NYU. At the time of his death, Dan was in his “dream job” as theater technical director and art and drama teacher at the Susan Wagner School in Staten Island.

An adventurous traveler, Dan backpacked in Europe, camped in New Zealand, and visited many countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

His wife, parents, brother, and many relatives survive him.

Attendance is free for all, but you must register for this special event. Please contact Monya Taylor ’88, Associate Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving at 973-532-7578 or via email (mtaylor@mbs.net) to register. Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate the Arts and our talented alumni at MBS. Register today!

Interested in participating in this event or future concerts?

Please contact Susan Speidel, Chair of the Performing Arts Department, at sspeidel@mbs.net!

Performing Arts Alumni Event

February 10, 2014, age 81. A Morristown School boarder from Glen Ridge, NJ, Doug was a triple-threat athlete, captaining the varsity track team and playing varsity basketball and football.

He also sang in glee club, and his love of music continued as a retiree as he rarely missed an MBS Alumni Adventure to Paper Mill Playhouse musicals. Doug was a fixture on the MBS campus at alumni events, and he enjoyed visiting the Marathon, NY mansion built by his grandfather; his great, great grandfather had built an earlier home on the site. After Morristown, Doug earned a degree in business from Lehigh University and entered a career in marketing. He had been a senior marketing representative for IBM, specializing in servicing leading NYC banks. Doug is survived by his two daughters and their families, including one granddaughter.

“Sports Stars” 1

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Across

2 Billings and Hartman coached this team to titles in 1984 and 1986 7 Beard athletic rivals to the Athenians 12 Harvard and Morristown-Beard moniker 14 First name of Headmaster’s niece who competed in Sochi Olympics 15 Undefeated 1986 state championship girls’ team 17 Boys’ team that shared a 2014 state championship 19 Girls’ hockey coach & former NJ Devil 20 1949 graduate and namesake of Homecoming mile race 22 Current Upper School Athletics Director 23 Golf tournament namesake and former coach 24 Field where MBS football and lacrosse games are played 26 All-American archer, Class of 2008 27 Animal mascot that can be found on the sidelines 28 Discontinued boys’ sport that won titles from 1964 to 1966 30 Former Crimson Club President Harry Carr coaches this team 31 Namesake of newly-renovated baseball field 35 Boys’ ice hockey home arena 37 All-State lacrosse player Baptiste ’14 currently plays here 38 Spike Billings’ real first name 39 Daily Record 2014 Spring Coach of the Season

52 Crimson

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Think you've aced our Athletics Crossword Puzzle?

You could win a fabulous MBS prize! Send your completed puzzle to us at Office of Institutional Advancement, Morristown-Beard School, 70 Whippany Road, Morristown, NJ 07960 by Friday, November 21 to enter our crossword contest and be eligible to win a prize.

Still stumped? The answers to this fall's crossword puzzle will be available on the MBS website (www.mbs.net) on Monday, November 24.

Down

1 Graduate who played for San Diego Chargers from 2007-2010 2 Athletic Center is named after this former Secretary of Treasury 3 First team inducted into the MBS Athletic Hall of Fame 4 Devils’ GM who spoke at 2012 Hall of Fame induction 5 Launched girls’ lacrosse at MBS, Peck, and Newark Academy 6 Former Headmaster Curtis coached this sport at Princeton University 8 Alum who designed custom putters for golfers Mickelson and Els 9 Daily Record 2014 Winter Coach of the Season 10 MBS grad elected to College Football Hall of Fame in 1954 11 Acronym of the league that the girls’ ice hockey team has won 7 times 13 Former NHL player and announcer who coaches boys’ ice hockey 16 Beard graduate and Pan American Games Gold Medalist 18 Former Morristown and MBS soccer coach honored recently 21 Name of 25-meter indoor pool at MBS 25 MBS boys’ lacrosse captured this division title in 2014 29 Former Headmaster Tilghman played this sport at Morristown Prep 32 Baseball coach who notched 300th win in 2012 33 Hall of Famer, former football coach and director of Day Camp 34 Hall of Fame boys’ basketball and tennis coach 36 Morristown’s gold medalist in rowing at the 1956 Olympic Games

Friends of the Morristown-Beard Fund Name:

Valerie Riback ’82

Life-changing class:

For me, and for my two children who are MBS alumni (Ethan ’11 and Dana ’14), the classes in the History Department were real gamechangers. While we all had varying levels of interest in history entering Morristown-Beard, we graduated with a passion in the subject matter, clearly fostered by our thoughtful, dedicated teachers. In fact, Dana is planning on majoring in history in college!

Proudest MBS moment:

A few years back, the MBS Middle School boys’ basketball team was overwhelming an opposing school’s team — it simply wasn’t enjoyable or rewarding for anyone, neither participants nor spectators. Our team chose to adjust their playing style to allow the boys from the other school the opportunity to compete meaningfully.

We won by a smaller margin than we could have, but we exhibited amazing sportsmanship.

Thanks to the MB Fund:

Our School was able to develop a new digital arts curriculum and a television studio, both amazing examples of how all of us in the Community can work together to bring innovation in classes and facilities to MBS. As an alumna and as a parent, I like knowing that the MB Fund consistently focuses on making the student experience better.

Message to donors:

Morr isto w

nd d Fu n - B e ar

Every gift helps! MBS teachers are constantly seeking new ways to improve the curriculum, and the Morristown-Beard Fund provides the resources needed to try new courses and approaches. Please join me and participate!

Support from every part of the MBS Community – parents, alumni, parents of graduates, grandparents, faculty and staff, friends, and others – is valued and appreciated. Join Valerie by making your gift today using the enclosed envelope, or by visiting www.mbs.net/annualfund. Thank you!

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Caldwell, NJ Permit #1268

70 Whippany Road Morristown, NJ 07960 (973) 539-3032 www.mbs.net

Change Service Requested

Moving?

Help us keep your magazine coming by emailing your new address to alumni@mbs.net. Or, fill in the address change form below and send it to us before you move.

Name _______________________________________

Class Year ____________________________________ Address _____________________________________ City ________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip _____________ Phone _______________________________________ Email _______________________________________ Mail to: Office of Advancement, Morristown-Beard School, 70 Whippany Road, Morristown, NJ 07960

Parents!

If this magazine is addressed to your son or daughter who has established a separate address, please notify us of the new address at alumni@mbs.net.

Photo by Jack Gill P’17

State Champs!

The MBS boys’ ice hockey team capped a historic season by skating to a 4-4 tie with Christian Brothers Academy at The Prudential Center in Newark to capture a share of the State Championship. It was the first time the Morristown-Beard School boys’ ice hockey team took home a State Championship since winning back-to-back Gordon Cup titles in 1965 and 1966. The Crimson finished the 2014 campaign with a spectacular 26-5-3 record. For more coverage of MBS athletics, please see Crimson Corner on pages 22-25.