SPA Magazine Spring 2015 by St. Paul Academy

SPRING 2015

The Magazine of St. Paul Academy and Summit School

THE FUTURE IS NOW: THE CHANGING FACE OF THE SPA FACULTY

INSIDE: CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS PHOTO ALBUM

Scott Streble

>> LETTER FROM THE HEAD

ON TEACHING

As a young teacher, I would labor at night over the next day’s class, determined to craft the perfect set of questions that would lead my students to the most nuanced and compelling insights on American history. And there were times when everything seemed to fall into place. The seminar would pop and sizzle, and my students would carry the conversation in exciting and unpredictable directions and help me to see a familiar problem in new and interesting ways. Convinced of the majesty of my efforts, I would use the same plan in a different seminar, sometimes later that same afternoon. The results weren’t always as promising; indeed, sometimes the discussion paled in comparison to the earlier class. Somehow the American Revolution did not seem quite as interesting the afternoon.

I think of my days as a teacher often and especially when talking with faculty who are new to SPA. Teaching is a profoundly human enterprise and it is subject to the vicissitudes of life; you will have good days and bad days and when you walk into the seminar room, you never really know what will unfold. As my teaching career progressed I learned a very important lesson. My measure as a teacher was not what happened in a single class; it was the sum of my conversations and relationships with students, hundreds of them, played out over the months and years. Some of the best and most memorable teaching moments occurred outside the classroom: in conversations in my office late in the afternoon as students struggled to rewrite their paper; or in brief conversations in the student center as they shared a recent success. There were also transcendent moments in class when a customarily quiet student found his or her voice and I suddenly realized that they had been listening and thinking deeply while sitting quietly at the table. And there are letters and emails from students who just want you to know, years later, how important your class had been for them at a particular moment in time years ago.

Teaching is one of the most challenging and rewarding of professions because it is more than just the presentation of material: it is helping students grow and mature through the act of learning. Teachers aren’t just conveying knowledge. They are providing a model for what it means to be a scholar and a good citizen in the community. There isn’t a moment during the school day when our students aren’t watching their teachers, observing and judging them: how they respond to questions, how they express joy and frustration, and how they live their professional lives as prominent members and leaders of an intellectual community. This is why our teachers are the heart of the school: they shape conversations in the classrooms and in the hallways, and they define and preserve the culture of SPA even as students come and go, graduating and moving on to college and life. Thus, when we realized in 2009 that a third of our faculty— many of them master teachers who have given form to the SPA experience for decades—would be retiring in the next five years, we knew that a thoughtful and deliberate plan for hiring exemplary new teachers was essential to the future of the school. Nothing is more challenging in the life of a school than this transition, and this issue of SPA Magazine focuses on how the faculty has evolved: in the last two years, 29 new faculty members have joined us in all three divisions. As you’ll see in our cover story, starting on page 18, this cohort of new faculty comes from all over the country, bringing with them an astonishing array of talents, perspectives, and areas of expertise. I hope you enjoy reading about them and I also hope you will have a chance to visit school and see them at their best: in the classroom, with their students, practicing their craft, and helping us shape who we are as a school and a community.

Bryn S. Roberts, Head of School

2014-2015 BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS Charlotte Shepard Johnson ’64, President

Contents

The Magazine of St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Spring >> 2015

Mrunalini Parvataneni, Secretary Scot W. Malloy, Treasurer MEMBERS Mark W. Addicks William M. Beadie ’58 Litton E.S. Field, Jr. ’75 Elizabeth Driscoll Hlavka Anne Larsen Hooley Ruth Seely Huss ’57 Frederick C. Kaemmer ’88 David W. Kansas ’85 Allan Klein ’64 Dr. Anders M. Knutzen David Kristal Bruce A. Lilly ’70 Paul S. Moe Tim O’Brien ’77 Ann Ruhr Pifer ’83 Gail A. Ward Timothy A. Welsh Shannon McNeely Whitaker ’78 Philip W. White ’81 The Honorable Wilhelmina M. Wright

Features 1 Letter from the Head 18

On the cover

The Future is Now: The Changing Face of the SPA Faculty

In 2008, SPA’s strategic plan accurately predicted the retirement of almost one-third of the faculty. Seven years later, the result is a cohort of new faculty who are forging the school’s path into the future.

22 Changing of the Guard: Faculty Profiles

Meet some of the new faculty who are changing the face of SPA and the master teachers who are supporting them in the journey.

Departments 4 Through the Doors 10 Spartan Sports 30 Alumni/ae News 32 Philanthropy 38 Class Notes

46 In Memoriam

34 Center for Performing Arts Photo Album

Progress pictures of the new facility, set to open in the fall of 2015.

On the cover: Middle School teachers Natalie McElligott and Bobak Razavi are two of the new faculty members who are changing the face of SPA. Also pictured are (clockwise from top) Holly Fidler, Matt Donald, Meg O’Connor, Margo Kurth, and Ryan Oto. See our cover story, starting on page 18, for more. Head of School >> Bryn S. Roberts

St. Paul Academy and Summit School 1712 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 651-696-1366 (phone) 651-696-1380 (fax) info@spa.edu www.spa.edu

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Editor >> Ami Berger Contributing Writers >> Laura Billings Coleman, Alex Loveland Principal Photographer >> Scott Streble Contributing Photographers >> Ami Berger, Katie Braman ’16, Holly Hart, Greg Helgeson, Alex Loveland, Jennifer Labovitz, Tom Lundholm, Kristine Matenaer, Peter Sawkins ’81, John Severson Design and Layout >> Kimberlea Weeks, Sexton Printing

SPA Magazine is published twice annually by St. Paul Academy and Summit School for alumni/ae, parents, and friends of the school. We welcome your comments and thoughts. Please contact us at spamag@spa.edu with suggestions for stories, news, and photos, or write us at SPA Magazine, 1712 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55105.

See what we are doing at youtube.com/user/ StPaulAcademy

Check out our photo depot at stpaulacademy. smugmug.com

Read SPA Magazine online at spa.edu > About SPA > News and Media

>> THROUGH THE DOORS

MATH TEAM WINS STATE: SPA takes title for the fifth time since 2005

NEW REDLEAF SCHOLARS PROGRAM: Created with gift from Andy Redleaf ’75

For the fifth time in 10 years, SPA’s Upper School Math Team was crowned Minnesota state champion. The team qualified for the tournament by taking first place among all smaller schools in the state at the end of the regular season, and then went on to win the State tournament in its division on March 9, 2015, at South Saint Paul High School. The team is coached by Upper School math faculty Dan O’Loughlin (back row) and Bill Boulger (far right); pictured left to right are Max Chen ’16, Eliot Tong ’15, Brian Heilig ’15, Neerja Thakkar ’15, Michelle Heilig ’16, Jeffrey Huang ’19, Sandhya Ramachandran ’15, and Ben Konstan ’18. Chen and Huang also competed in an invitational event for the highest scorers in Minnesota, and Chen tied for sixth place among all individuals during the State tournament.

MIDDLE SCHOOL LEGO LEAGUE: New team makes top-three debut The 2014-15 school year marked the inaugural season of SPA’s First Lego League (FLL) Middle School robotics team. In December 2014, the SPA “Duplo Squad” competed in their first tournament and earned third place out of 16 teams—a very strong result for the team’s very first tournament, according to Middle School math teacher and FLL coach Daniel Sogin. The team includes 8 students in grades 6-8. FLL in Minnesota is part of an international robotics program that includes more than 200,000 students in 63 countries. The program introduces young people to the fun and excitement of science and technology, while challenging the students to think innovatively. Each year, teams collaborate to address a challenge made up of three main elements: the “Robot Game,” the “Project,” and “Core Values,” all of which correspond to a theme chosen for each year’s competition. The team’s third place finish put it just out of qualification for the State tournament, since only the top two teams advance—a result that Coach Sogin calls “quite an accomplishment for a first year team!” 4

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A $3 million gift from the family of St. Paul Academy and Summit School alumnus and current parent Andy Redleaf ’75 has created a new scholarship program for students entering in grades 6-9. The Redleaf Scholars Program will support endowed scholarships providing up to 50% tuition assistance to those students until they graduate from the school. The Redleaf Scholarships are a welcome addition to the school’s already generous financial aid program, which distributed $3.2 million to 24% of its 900 students for the 2014-15 school year. Andy Redleaf, who graduated from SPA in 1975 and holds a B.A. and M.A. from Yale University, is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Whitebox Advisors, a Minneapolis hedge fund. He and his wife Lynne, who are current SPA parents, were interested in creating a distinctive scholarship program that would make an SPA education possible for high-achieving students who qualify for up to 50% need-based tuition assistance from the school. The first Redleaf Scholarships will be awarded in the spring of 2015 for students entering in the fall of 2015. To apply, students will complete a special Redleaf Scholarships application in addition to the school’s applications for admission and financial aid. The process is designed to identify students who will contribute to the school’s curriculum, culture, and “accountable classroom” philosophy. “Redleaf Scholars will possess keen minds and an unflagging intellectual curiosity,” says Roberts. “At SPA, Redleaf Scholars will find peers to match their intellectual energy and engage in respectful but passionate discussion— enriching the experience for everyone.”

LOWER SCHOOL “MAKERSPACE”: A new space for technology and engineering learning As part of the school’s evolving curriculum in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the Lower School debuted a new “Makerspace” this year for students. The Makerspace is a classroom on the lower level of the Goodrich campus dedicated to hands-on creation and experimentation; it is stocked with equipment, tools, and supplies for inventions and projects largely directed by the students themselves.

The Makerspace is used by all grade levels at the Lower School, providing students at every stage of learning with the equipment, supplies, technology, and guidance to invent and create. The space includes a 3D printer, a laser cutter, electronic equipment, and a large collection of tools. Student projects in the space this year have included robots (pictured at left), catapults, Rube-Goldberg machines, laser-cut block prints, and iPad charging stations—and countless projects that consist of students taking things apart, figuring out how they work, and then putting them back together. “The students can create anything they can imagine,” Magnuson says. “It is truly a world-changing space for them.”

Scott Streble

The creation of the Makerspace was the result of research undertaken by Lower School science teacher Rick Magnuson, who was asked by the SPA academic administration to look at how other lower schools around the country were teaching science. Magnuson visited three schools on the west coast—all of which have

Makerspaces—to learn more about their science programs. After sharing his learning with Akbar Muhammad, his science colleague in the Lower School, the two decided to attend “Invent to Learn,” an educational conference focused on hands-on science learning. “Going to the Invent to Learn conference was a turning point for me and Akbar,” says Magnuson, who says that the conference was critical in helping the two understand how they could facilitate student learning by doing. “Kids learn by going through the design process,” Magnuson says. “They learn to identify problems, come up with possible solutions, test prototypes, and then likely have to start all over again. We were blown away at the power of working with kids this way,” he says, “and wanted to incorporate that into our Lower School science curriculum.”

NATURALIZATION CEREMONY Grade 8 hosts SPA’s fourth annual ceremony for new U.S. citizens

In what has become a highlight of the fall semester, Grade 8 students hosted a naturalization ceremony in November 2014. Sixteen individuals became new American citizens during the ceremony, which was presided over by the Honorable Frank Noel, Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court and former SPA parent.The ceremony is the signature event in the Grade 8 social studies unit on immigration.

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>> THROUGH THE DOORS

NEW LOWER SCHOOL MATH CURRICULUM: “Math in Focus” program has successful first year SPA’s commitment to an innovative and evolving curriculum was reflected in this year’s launch of a new and comprehensive math curriculum for grades K-5. The “Math in Focus” program, based on the Singapore math curriculum, was launched in the fall of 2014 after a year of research and review. Now halfway through the program’s first year, Math in Focus is receiving enthusiastic reviews.

Scott Streble

The Math in Focus approach emphasizes problem solving, conceptual understanding, and the use of visuals to support students’ acquisition and application of mathematical concepts at each stage of development. Content is similar to that in traditional mathematics curricula but encompasses more than computational understanding; the approach teaches students how and why math works, so they are able to successfully apply knowledge even when faced with unfamiliar problems.

“Problem solving is at the center of [the Math in Focus] framework… I have already noticed that my students are better able to express their mathematical reasoning.” —David Fuerst

Bill Boulger, who has taught math in SPA’s Upper School for 45 years and is the current Chair of the K-12 Department of Mathematics, was involved in the process of reviewing and vetting several different curricula for the Lower School. Boulger soon came to recognize the value of the Math in Focus program. “The Math in Focus texts are laid out clearly and provide a sequential approach to each topic. The exercises progress from problems designed to develop a basic understanding to more challenging problems that prompt the student to apply mathematical principles in deeper, more creative ways,” says Boulger. “The questions asked in Math In Focus lead even very young students to think more deeply and 6

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carefully about the math they are studying and push them to develop their own probing questions. This mathematical framework characterizes the Singapore approach and why it has proven to be successful.” Lower School faculty member David Fuerst, who teaches grades 3 and 4, was an early proponent of Math in Focus. During a sabbatical in 2009, Fuerst conducted research into how Singapore developed its national mathematics curriculum, which has become a model across the world.“I am delighted to be applying some of the methodologies I spent so much time learning about on my sabbatical,” says Fuerst, who notes that the Math in Focus method encourages each student to document mathematical thinking and problem-solving in an organized and visual way. “Problem solving is at the center of this framework,” says Fuerst. “By encouraging students to show their problem solving skills through visual representation, they develop the skills to solve more complex problems. I have already noticed that my students are better able to express their mathematical reasoning during our classroom shared inquiry discussions.” Fuerst’s colleague Katie Gibson, who also teaches grades 3 and 4, appreciates the Math in Focus program’s flexibility. “In every classroom, there is a range of mathematical abilities,” Gibson says. “What I love about Math in Focus is how it allows me to truly differentiate, support, and challenge each child appropriately.” Gibson also finds value in how the program moves students through the different stages of mathematical thinking. “Math in Focus ‘scaffolds’ students through the concrete, pictorial and abstract stages in math,” she says. “As students move through these stages, they gain a true understanding of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind math, rather than simply memorizing a process for each concept. Math in Focus has been an excellent addition to the Lower School’s curriculum, and not only in math,” she adds. “It complements our literacy program by teaching students to think critically and to be able to articulate their mathematical reasoning to their peers and teachers.” “The Math in Focus methodology is already having an impact on the way our students approach, analyze and solve problem in math class as well as in other domains,” says Lower School Principal Holly Fidler. “This success is a reflection of the people here at the Lower School and their openness to collaboration, trying out new possibilities, and seeking and finding the right fit to meet the diverse needs of our students.”

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS:

Rubicon, IBID and Art & Literature win state and national awards SPA’s student publications had another year’s worth of state and national recognition for excellence. In October 2014, all three publications won numerous honors at the Minnesota High School Press Association’s (MHSPA) journalism convention at the University of Minnesota. At the convention, the 2014 issue of Art and Literature, SPA’s student art and literary magazine, earned an All-State Gold award—the highest honor awarded to student publications at the state level. In addition, eight student contributors to the magazine staff members were awarded MHSPA Gold Medallion Awards for exemplary work in writing, illustration, photography, and design. SPA’s student yearbook IBID was also recognized as a top student publication in Minnesota at the convention. IBID was awarded the All-State Bronze Award for its outstanding writing, editing, photography and design. The Rubicon newspaper was honored in multiple ways this year. At the MHSPA convention, The Rubicon’s print edition and the

digital RubicOnline (2013-14 issues) were awarded All-State Gold awards and “Best of Show” awards. In addition, 19 members of the the 2013-14 staff were named to the Minnesota Journalists Honor Roll, which recognizes student staff for their excellence in academics and leadership in journalism. The Rubicon was also recognized by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), an affiliate of the Columbia University School of Journalism. The CSPA awarded The Rubicon’s print and online issues a Gold Medal with All Columbian Honors in the CSPA Critique Competition— one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for student journalism. The comments from the CSPA judges reflects quality of The Rubicon: “...outstanding journalistic writing style with each piece of copy showing substantive research and interviewing; cover images all so different, excellent; credits done properly when from another source or when an illustration; Excellent publications.”

ACADEMIC WORLDQUEST TEAM: Jennifer Labovitz

SPA team wins state title for fourth year in a row For the fourth year in a row, SPA’s Academic WorldQuest team has been crowned Minnesota State Champion. Academic WorldQuest is a national high school competition which challenges students on their knowledge of global affairs. The team (pictured left to right) of Jack Labovitz ’15, Shaan Bijwadia ’15, Tommy Toghramadjian ’15 and Raffi Toghramadjian ’17 took first place in the state tournament in February 2015. The SPA Academic WorldQuest team is advised by Upper School history teacher Ryan Oto. “I’m so proud of their accomplishments,” says Oto. “Our team prepared tirelessly for the competition and demonstrated a level of world knowledge that was incredible.” Oto reports that SPA’s dominance was noted during the tournament: “As this year’s competition began, the emcee asked, ‘Can someone beat SPA so another team has a chance at nationals?’ Clearly, the boys decided that would not happen on their watch!” Oto says. www. spa.e du

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>> THROUGH THE DOORS

NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALISTS: Nine seniors are honored Nine members of SPA’s class of 2015 were named National Merit Semifinalists in the fall of 2014. Nationally, less than 1 percent of high school seniors are awarded Semifinalist recognition.

Ami Berger

National Merit Semifinalists are determined by Preliminary SAT (PSAT) scores; according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, about 1.4 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2015 National Merit competition by taking the PSATs. Semifinalists are those students who scored the highest on the exam in each state. SPA’s Semifinalists in the Class of 2015 are (back row, left to right) Brian Heilig, Thomas Toghramadjian, Shaan Bijwadia, Ian Sussna; (front row) Sandhya Ramachandran, Neerja Thakkar, Julia Hansen, Emmeline Prozinski, and Eva Perez-Greene.

Tom Lundholm

These students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for one of 2500 National Merit Scholarships which will be awarded in the spring of 2015.

SPA Summer Enrichment Workshops Debate Institute u Collaborative Leadership Training Institute u Advanced Training in Collaborative Leadership u Mathematical Modeling and Forecasting u A Week at Hogwarts: Writing Workshop u Science and Technology Research Skills for Girls u Competition Math u Techno-Mathematics u MakerCamp: Make-Hack-Play u MakerCamp: Amazing Mazes u MakerCamp: Rube Goldberg Machines u MakerCamp: 3D Printing and Laser Cutting u Chess Camp u Movie-Making Camp for Middle Schoolers

www.spa.edu >About SPA > Summer Programs 2015 8

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STUDENT COMPETES IN STATE “GEO BEE”: Jonathan Pomerantz ’19 is first SPA competitor at Minnesota National Geographic State Bee In March 2015, Middle School student Jonathan Pomerantz ’19 competed in the 2015 Minnesota National Geographic State Bee, sponsored by Google and Plum Creek. This is the first time an SPA student has qualified for the State Bee, which was held at St. Cloud State University. Jonathan qualified for the competition by outlasting an “impressively-deep pool of well-prepared participants” during the school-based bee held in the Middle School, according to Middle School English and Social Studies teacher Bobak Razavi, pictured above with Jonathan, who coordinates the Geography Bee for SPA. As school champion, Jonathan then took a qualifying test, which included a written essay; his results put him in the top 100 students in Minnesota.

MINNESOTA SCHO SCHOLASTIC ART AWARDS: Twenty-six SPA student artists earn awards The 2014-15 Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards (MSAA) program recognized the outstanding work of 26 SPA student artists in February 2015. Thirty-seven SPA pieces/portfolios were chosen for awards out of 2900 individual entries and 300 portfolio entries submitted by high school students across the state. The student artists receiving MSAA awards are Boraan Abdulkarim ’16, Marley Applebaum ’15, Macy Blanchard ’17, Drew Fawcett ’18, Olivia Fitch ’15, Stephanie Frisch ’18, Ivan Gunther ’17, Ora Hammel ’16, Michelle Heilig ’16, Catherine Johnson ’16, Nora Kempainen ’17, Sophia Lundberg ’17, Sonja Mische ’15, Thomas Monserud ’16, David Nicholson ’16, Phoebe Pannier ’17, Oona Prozinski ’17, Catherine Riley ’15, Emma Rodgerson ’15, Elizabeth Shaheen ’16, Emilee Skadron ’16, Amber Skarjune ’15, Raegan Small ’17, Daniela Tiedemann ’15, Eva Zaydman ’15 and Nina Zietlow ’16.

Catherine Riley ’15 | “Making Friends at Best Buy”

Drew Fawcett ’18 | “Web Eating”

Tommy Monserud ’16 | “Vase” Eva Zaydman ’15 | “Times Square”

Daniela Tiedemann ’15 | “Leaf Skeleton”

Oona Prozinski ’17 | “Predator”

Marley Applebaum ’15 | “Mirrors” David Nicholson ’16 | “Days on the Lake #1”

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>> SPARTAN SPORTS

Fall 2014 Season Wrap-Up

Throughout the season, the girls’ soccer team lived up to high expectations: the team finished with a record of 12-5, conference record of 4-1, and State Class A ranking of #7. The team went on to secure the #4 section seed in the postseason and eventually advanced to the Section Semifinals where they fell to a tough Visitation team in overtime. Captain Molly Fiedler ’15 returned as a team standout: she was named one of four finalists for Ms. Minnesota Soccer, received All-State and All-Conference Honors, and became the leading scorer in SPA girls’ soccer history. Lauren Hansen ’17 set a SPA season record of 22 goals. Hansen, Claire Ristau ’16, and Taylor Rients ’16 received AllConference honors, in addition to juniors Minnie Arnold and Briget Hoffmann’s AllConference Honorable Mentions.

BOYS’ SOCCER

Peter Sawkins ’81

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Molly Fiedler ’15 keeps the ball away from a defender.

Boys’ soccer finished the season with a 106-1 record, putting them back in the top 20 in the state rankings. In the postseason, the Spartans were seeded #5 in the section and continued their success until a close 1-0 loss to the 2014 State champion Como Park team. Overall, the team included a mix of new and returning players who all made significant contributions to the team. Captain Tyler Seplak ’15 earned First-Team All-State, was named to the IMAC AllConference team, and was voted one of the top five players in the conference. Eli Goldman ’18 and Captain Jordan Moradian ’15 were voted among the top ten players in the conference. Ethan Maione ’17 and Sam Suzuki ’15 earned All-Conference Honorable Mentions. Finally, Dean Isaacson ’15 provided solid leadership and presence all year as the Spartan goalkeeper.

On Wednesday, February 4, St. Paul Academy and Summit School seniors Molly Fiedler and Isaac (Ikey) Forsgren signed national letters of intent to play Division 1 soccer for their chosen colleges in the fall of 2015: Fiedler at the University of Minnesota next fall and Forsgren at Loyola University in Chicago.

Molly Fiedler

Isaac Forsgren

SPA

The letter-signing ceremony was held at SPA in a room filled with classmates, friends, family, SPA coaches, teachers and staff. “Sending two of our Spartans to D1 programs is definitely a cause for celebration,” says SPA Assistant Athletic Director Mike Brown. “This is a very special occasion for our student-athletes and our community.” Molly Fiedler has had an outstanding career at SPA. In her SPA varsity career, she set the school record for most goals scored and for most assists by an SPA player. She also earned All-State honors, was chosen for the “All Pioneer Press” soccer team, and was one of five finalists for Ms. Soccer (Class A). “One of the best parts of today is not only celebrating Molly’s career, but the fact that for the next four years, you can go the Elizabeth Lyle Robbie stadium and cheer for Molly as a Golden Gopher,” says head girls’ soccer coach Ben

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Alex Loveland

TWO SOCCER STANDOUTS IN THE CLASS OF 2015 SIGN WITH DIVISION I SCHOOLS

Bollinger Danielson, who calls Fiedler “an artist on the field.” Ikey Forsgren played a key role in taking the Spartans to two State Tournament appearances in 2011 and 2012. In addition to his time as a Spartan, Forsgren played for his club team, the Minnesota Thunder Academy. “We are very proud of Ikey’s success,” says SPA Director of Athletics Peter Sawkins. “We look forward to following his soccer career at Loyola and what are sure to be his many successes down the road.” Both Fiedler and Forsgren come from families with a history of athletic success as Spartans. Fiedler’s older brother, Matt Fiedler ’13, was also a D1 signer for the University of Minnesota baseball team after a storied baseball career at SPA. Forsgren’s siblings also have a strong Spartan history; after their SPA soccer careers, Nick ’11 went on to play soccer at the University of Vermont and Sam ’13 currently plays at Northwestern University.

SPA FOOTBALL JOINS CO-OP WITH BLAKE AND MINNEHAHA

Peter Sawkins ’81

SPA will join forces with Minnehaha Academy and the Blake School to form a cooperative football team for the 2015-16 season. The three-school co-op was officially approved by the Minnesota State High School League in early April. The partnership between SPA, Blake, and Minnehaha comes at a time of dwindling participation in football at all three schools and focused conversations about the sustainability of football at SPA, which had to forfeit a sectional game in the fall of 2014 due to a lack of healthy players. The forfeiture led Bryn Roberts, SPA’s Head of School, to appoint a task force of alumni/ae, parents, faculty, and staff to examine the state of football at SPA and make recommendations for its sustainable future. According to Director of Athletics Peter Sawkins ’81, who chaired the task force, the three-school co-op will give SPA football players a strong foundation for future success. “The task force’s work made it clear that keeping football as an option for SPA students through a healthy cooperative team was the ideal outcome, and the partnership with Blake and Minnehaha has achieved that,” Sawkins says, noting that all three schools are seeing dwindling participation in football and were looking for ways to rejuvenate football at their schools. Sawkins also says that the new co-op will provide increased opportunities for SPA’s football players, including the chance to develop skills on a junior varsity team. Neither SPA nor Blake had the numbers to field a JV team in the 2014-15 season. Mike Destache ’15 leads the pack for the Spartans.

The three schools are now working together to develop the co-op program, coaching roster, and schedule. The SPA/Blake/Minnehaha team, which will be known as the Wolfpack, will begin practices in August 2015.

CROSS COUNTRY FOOTBALL This year’s winless season did not keep the team, made up of players from SPA in addition to Mounds Park Academy, Twin Cities Academy, Great River School, and Nova Classical Academy, from showing admirable spirit, drive and determination. The players’ experience levels varied but throughout the season, resilience levels were all the same. Captains Luke Bishop ’15 and Ben Pettee ’15 provided strong leadership throughout the season and played a large role in keeping the energy positive. Significant challenges faced the team including injuries and dwindling participation, forcing the team to forfeit its final game of the season, a sectional playoff against Highland Senior High. SPA will enter a new football co-op with Blake and Minnehaha Academy for the 2015 season (see story above).

Peter Sawkins ’81

Girls’ cross country won the IMAC Conference Championship with captain Mary Naas ’15 taking first place in the conference championship meet. The team finished second at the section meet, earning a trip to the State meet. Naas, Lexi Hilton ’16, Carenna Saunders ’19, and Val Hart ’18 received All-Conference Honors. At the State Class A meet in Northfield, the girls’ team finished seventh, the best finish in school history; the girls’ team was ranked 17th in the nation by season’s end. Boys’ cross country finished fourth in the conference this season. At the conference meet, Mike Destache ’15 finished in fourth place, earning All-Conference recognition. Destache also received first place in the maroon division of the Roy Griak Invitational, second place at the Section 4A Conference Championship and third place at the Swain Invitational; his performance earned him a trip to the state meet.

A solid season for the girls’ tennis team.

GIRLS’ TENNIS Girls’ tennis finished with an overall record of 6-8, as well as a final conference record of 2-3. The doubles team of Ella Hommeyer ’16 and Amber Skarjune ’15 had an exceptional season, earning second place in the Section 4A doubles tournament and a trip to State. On the other side of the net, Alexandria von Tersch Pohrer ’20 took third place in the Individual Section Singles Tournament. Senior Captain Sheila Sullivan and rising star von Tersch Pohrer were All-Conference recipients with senior Captain Bella Martinez, Skarjune and Hommeyer earning AllConference Honorable Mentions.

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>> SPARTAN SPORTS

Winter 2014-15 Season Wrap-Up

Fall 2014 Season Continued

It was a rebuilding year for the dance team, which competed in one minimeet at Cannon Falls, performed at other SPA athletic events, and spent the season practicing technique and perfecting kicks. The team also welcomed many new faces and developed as a team under the leadership of captain Calla Saunders ’16. The entire team will return for the 2015-16 season to build on this year’s growth.

VOLLEYBALL The girls’ volleyball team had a tremendous season, finishing with an overall record of 15-11 and 8-2 in conference play to secure the first ever IMAC Conference Championship in SPA volleyball history. Under the leadership of new coach Jim Abbott, the team put up exciting wins over Breck, Providence, Minnehaha, New Richmond, and Blake. The team also held strong with top teams in the state. Mira Grinsfelder ’15, Nancy Moyers ’15, Sophia Rose ’18, and Blythe Reints ’19 received All-Conference Honors and Kennedy Strombeck ’15 and Katie Ademite ’15 earned All-Conference Honorable Mentions.

GIRLS’ SWIMMING The SPA Sparks swim team, a cooperative team with Highland Park Senior High, had a solid season. Senior Captains Katiana Taubenberger ’15 and Evva Parsons ’15 led the team and created a fun and productive atmosphere. They improved as the season went on and finished 2-3 in the conference. Kathryn Schmechel ’17 placed seventh at Sections with her 400 Freestyle Relay teammates from Highland Park. The team also earned the MSHSL Academic Silver Award for their exceptional academic performance.

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Katie Braman ’16

Setter Chloe Wilkins ’16 (#5) sets up middle hitter Blythe Rients ’19.

Drew O’Hern ’17 (left) and Sal Ciresi ’17 at the State fencing tournament.

FENCING SPA fencing began a new era this season with the introduction of new head coach and SPA alumna Grace Hartman ’09, who led the team to a championship season that ended with both the boys’ and girls’ teams taking overall team championships at the State Tournament. The team ended the regular season undefeated, with a perfect record which included a thrilling 14-13 win over Blake. The Spartans also traveled to Culver, Indiana for the competitive Midwest Fencing Open. In a pool of over 300 competitors, the team had a great outing, including top finishes by Colin O’Hern ’17 who placed seventh in men’s saber and Sabrina Rucker ’18 who finished sixth in women’s saber.

Kristine Matenaer

Peter Sawkins ’81

DANCE

Karsten Runquist ’16 at the 2014-15 Conference meet.

BOYS’ SWIMMING The boys’ swim co-op with Highland Park High School, the Trojans, had a championship 2014-15 season. The team finished the conference dual meet competition with a perfect 6-0 record, including a big win against longtime rival St. Paul Central. By winning the St. Paul Conference title, the team advanced to the Twin Cities Championship where they beat Southwest and won the overall Twin Cities title for the first time since 1977. The team also competed at St. Catherine University in the Conference Championships. In this meet, the boys claimed the team title and several individual All-Conference honors. The team was lead by Karsten Runquist ’16 and Sam Matenaer ’16, who both won All-Conference awards. The Trojans are in for another great year with all of the team returning next season.

IMAC CONFERENCE DEBUTS WITH FOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR SPA The debut year of the Independent Metro Athletic Conference (IMAC) has been a successful one for Spartan athletics. In the fall and winter seasons, four SPA teams won IMAC conference championships: girls’ volleyball, girls’ cross country, boys’ basketball, and girls’ Nordic skiing. Three more teams placed second in the conference: boys’ and girls’ soccer and girls’ tennis.

The IMAC was formed in 2014 by SPA and five other Twin Cities independent schools—The Blake School, Breck School, Minnehaha Academy, Mounds Park Academy, and Providence Academy—in the wake of changes to the Tri-Metro Conference, the former home of the six schools. In recent years, the Tri-Metro expanded the number of member schools to sixteen, creating a large disparity in enrollment numbers of the member schools and posing significant scheduling challenges

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY

GIRLS’ NORDIC SKIING

Photos Courtesy SPA Athletics

SPA Director of Athletics Peter Sawkins says that SPA’s success in the new conference is a testament to the success of the conference itself. “We were excited to bring these six quality institutions together to create a new paradigm in conference governance, and it’s clear that this new paradigm is working.” Sawkins says. “The IMAC’s cooperative, supportive and innovative approach to serving our student-athletes has been good for our kids and good for SPA athletics.”

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

ALPINE SKIING

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

The Alpine Ski team had an excellent season with the boys’ team finishing third in the conference and the girls’ team finishing fourth. The girls’ team placed 12th out of 22 teams in Sections, with a strong performance by Katie Brunell ’17 who placed in the top 25. Brunell earned All-Conference honors along with Lauren Hansen ’17 who earned an All-Conference Honorable Mention. In Sections, the boys’ team placed fourth of 25 teams. The team’s success was led by Peter Baker ’16, John Sorano ’17, and Kevin Patterson ’15 who all placed in the top 25 of 130 racers. Baker also qualified for the State Championships meet where he placed third overall. Baker, Sorano and Patterson each earned All-Conference honors with Tom Patterson ’18 and Eli Zelle ’15 receiving All-Conference Honorable Mentions.

Girls’ basketball had a promising season with a mix of experienced returning players and new younger players coming out for the team. Their 7-19 record for the season included big wins against rivals Trinity, Mounds Park Academy, and Spectrum. Captains Katie Ademite ’15 and Sarah Romans ’15 were exceptional in mentoring the team. Notable performances also included Katey Brattland ’18, scoring her 1000th point in the midst of the season. Brattland also received AllConference honors along with Romans and Ademite who received All-Conference Honorable Mentions.

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SPARTAN FACES IN THE CROWD DEAN ISAACSON ’15: SOCCER, HOCKEY, AND LACROSSE

Katie Braman ’16

>> SPARTAN SPORTS

Last year, as a junior on the boys’ soccer team, Dean moved from field player to goalie because the team was in desperate need. The steep learning curve during his first year led to a brilliant showing in 2014: Dean was a critical piece of the turnaround season for the team; his performance in the net put him among the best goalies in the IMAC conference. Dean played varsity basketball on the conference championship team, and this spring, is one of the players on SPA’s new co-op boys’ lacrosse team.

ELLA HOMMEYER ’16: TENNIS, HOCKEY, AND SOFTBALL In the fall, Ella Hommeyer played number-one doubles on the girls’ tennis team, qualifying for the State tournament with her partner Amber Skarjune ’15. She was also a key player on the #4-ranked United girls’ hockey team, which powered its way to the Sectional Finals this season. In the spring, Ella captains the girls’ softball team, leading in the field and at the plate with a fierce competitive spirit.

JORDAN MORADIAN ’15: SOCCER AND HOCKEY As captain of the boys’ soccer team, Jordan was a force in the midfield, helping to return SPA boys’ soccer to the top 20 teams in the state and earning IMAC All-Conference Honors. He also captained the boys’ hockey team in their historic 23-5 season, leading Spartan boys’ hockey to the sectional final game for the first time since joining the MSHSL in 1975.

ABDULSALAN OSMAN ’15: BASKETBALL At 6’4”, Abdulsalan Osman ’15 was a force on the basketball court and a key piece of the team’s IMAC Conference Championship and success in the 2015 postseason. Abdulsalan had a remarkable inside game and rebounding skills that tested opponents’ defenses. He averaged more than nine points per game and pulling in 165 rebounds during the season, earning him IMAC All-Conference honors.

LAUREN ’17 & JULIA HANSEN ’15: SOCCER, ALPINE SKIING, AND TRACK Sisters Julia ’15 (left) and Lauren Hansen ’17 are both three-sport athletes, competing together in girls’ soccer, Alpine skiing, and track and field. Julia is a three-sport captain this year, helping the girls’ soccer program to a top 10 ranking and second place in the IMAC. Lauren was also a standout athlete this season: she earned All-Conference and All-State Honorable Mention in soccer, set a season record for goals (22), and received All-Conference Honorable Mention in Alpine.

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Abdulsalan Osman ’15 (#52) goes for the jump ball.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL Expectations were high for boys’ basketball after last year’s trip to the State tournament. The team finished with a regular season record of 17-9, winning 10 of their last 11 games. They won the IMAC Conference title with an 8-2 record, beating rivals Breck and Minnehaha. The team went on to secure the #4 section seed in the postseason and eventually advanced to the Section Semifinals where they lost to Roosevelt by one basket in the final seconds of the game. Dalante Peyton ’16, Kent Hanson ’16, and Abdulsalan Osman ’15 received All-Conference honors.

Photos Courtesy Seplak Family

MINNESOTA’S “TRIPLE A”AWARD IS A FAMILY AFFAIR FOR TYLER SEPLAK ’15

All-Conference Nordic skiers Ellen McCarthy ’15, Lexi Hilton ’16, and Val Hart ’18.

Catherine Johnson ’16 in the net for Girls’ United hockey.

NORDIC SKIING

GIRLS’ HOCKEY

Dedication, hard work, lots of racing, and fun contributed to a spectacular season for both the boys’ and girl’s Nordic ski teams. The girls’ team claimed the 2015 IMAC Conference Championship and placed third at Sections. Ellen McCarthy ’15 led the team and earned first place in the 11th annual Peter Westra Sprints. McCarthy, Val Hart ’18 and Lexi Hilton ’16 earned All-Conference honors. At the section competition McCarthy, Hart, and Hilton medaled and advanced to the State Meet. The boys’ team was lead by Mike Destache ’15 who earned All-Conference honors. Overall, the boys’ team placed third in the conference and seventh at Sections.

Girls’ United hockey, a co-op team with Visitation, finished the season with an impressive record of 19-8-1 and celebrated big wins over Breck, Orono, Benilde, and Mahtomedi. The team consisted of many young players who contributed significantly throughout the season. Lauren Boettcher ’17 earned All-Conference honors, with 38 points (14 goals and 24 assists). Standout goalie Catherine Johnson ’16 received All-Conference Honorable Mention, standing tall all season in goal with a 2.12 goals against average and .912 save percentage. Defender Clare Tipler ’17 also earned All-Conference Honorable Mention with 17 assists. In addition to the All-Conference recipients, Bridget Hoffmann ’16 (13 assists), Ella Hommeyer ’16 (8 assists), and Olivia WilliamsRidge ’18 (7 assists) were also significant contributors. United secured the #1 seed in Sections, moving all the way through the postseason until losing a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker in the sectional finals.

Katie Braman ’16

Holly Hart

Scott Streble

Spartan hockey and soccer standout Tyler Seplak ’15 was awarded a regional “Triple A” award from the Minnesota State High School League in spring 2015. The Triple A program recognizes and honors high school seniors who have excelled in the classroom, in athletics, and in the fine arts. Tyler, who will attend Northeastern University in Boston in the fall, is both a force on the ice and on the stage as a member of SPA’s Academy Chorale. In winning the Triple A, he is also maintaining a family tradition: his father, Jeff Seplak, won the same award in 1990.

Matt Dahlseide ’17 gets one past the Johnson goalie.

BOYS’ HOCKEY It was a historic year for boys’ hockey: the team won 21 out of their 25 regular season games and recorded wins over top teams Breck, Luverne, Blake, Holy Angels, and Rochester. The team scored 4.5 goals per game and only gave up 1.5 goals on average. Andy Beran ’18, who was named to the Pioneer Press All-Metro East team, and David Nicholson ’16 were outstanding in goal all season. Matt Dahlseide ’16 led the team in scoring with 53 regular season points, with Dev McCabe ’18 not far behind with 46 points; both received All-Conference honors. Tyler Seplak ’15, Cullen McCabe ’16, Justin Jallen ’16, Jack Johnston ’17, and Noel Parker ’17 all received All-Conference Honorable Mentions. Captains Seplak and Jordan Moradian ’15 provided leadership and strength as the only seniors. For the first time since the team joined the MSHSL in 1975, the #2 seeded Spartans advanced through the postseason to the section finals before losing to powerhouse Mahtomedi to end their season with a record of 23-5.

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HOMECOMING 2014

Homecoming 2014 was a week-long Spartan celebration in all three divisions. During the week, students enjoyed dress-up days, special activities, athletic contests, and plenty of blue and gold. The highlight of the week was Friday, the traditional Blue and Gold dress-up day. This year’s Spartan (Jackson Lea ’15) was joined by members of the Upper School Council at the Lower School to begin the day with SPA’s littlest Spartans. Lower Schoolers learned the “Spartan Beat” and played field games in their blue and gold attire. Over at the Randolph campus, the afternoon featured the Pep Fest, the all-school Homecoming Carnival, and the Homecoming football game.

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THE FUTURE IS NOW:

The Changing Face of the BY LAURA BILLINGS COLEMAN | PHOTOS BY SCOTT STREBLE

When Max Delgado started the school year in his new role as Dean of Students in the Upper School, he was met with plates of cupcakes, dozens of coffee invitations, and a surprising degree of curiosity about his plans for the wellworn green couch he inherited from his predecessor, Judy Cummins. Until her retirement in spring 2014, Cummins had served as Upper School dean for nearly 35 years. Starting as a French teacher in 1970, her tenure at the school spanned more than 44 years—so long that at his first Back to School Night for Upper School parents, Delgado met several SPA graduates who shared their own stories about visiting Dean Cummins when they were students. Honoring that legacy and learning from it is one of the reasons that Delgado and Cummins met several times before he took over the role last year. “Judy was incredibly gracious about sharing what she knew, and you could see it was because she cares so much about the students and the school,” says Delgado. Together they covered small details “about how to keep the trains running on time,” he says, and much deeper discussions about the school’s curriculum and culture. “I asked her, if she were to stay in the job for another 10 years, what kind of initiatives she would be taking on, and where would she be putting her administrative focus,” Delgado says, noting that they talked about everything from the school’s new concussion protocol to a fresh approach to drug and alcohol training. “She was in the best position to tell me where the school has been, and where it’s headed. But just like the conversations I’ve had with other faculty, the tone was never about ‘This is how we do things at SPA.’ Instead, it was ‘This is how we’ve done things—and now we’re excited to see how you do it.’” Delgado says that spirit of openness and collaboration has been the foundation for his positive first year as Dean. “No matter what, your first year in any job is like drinking from a fire hose. But this is such a welcoming community, it’s like we start with the premise that you’re one of us and you’re in the right place.” While there is now a new couch in Delgado’s office, he was careful to find a new home for Cummins’ beloved green couch in the Middle School.

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BUILDING A SUCCESSION PLAN Managing the succession plan for Cummins and a cohort of more than a dozen other long-tenured retiring faculty members has been a major part of the school’s planning since 2009. In that year’s strategic plan, administrators foresaw that nearly a third of the school’s faculty members were within a decade of retirement age—a changing of the guard they knew would bring both challenges and opportunities. “Like a lot of independent schools, SPA had come to a point where we saw a lot of faculty members who were coming up to the end of distinguished careers, and we knew that it was going to be a big transition,” says Head of School Bryn Roberts. “It’s a testimony to the strength of the school that so many teachers stayed for so long, and have been effective for so long through the shifting currents in education. As we were developing the strategic plan, we knew we had to understand where that cohort of senior faculty were, what their plans were, and make sure that we were prepared for that.” Talking openly about future plans and retirement prospects was especially critical for a school community of SPA’s size and character, says Upper School principal Chris Hughes. “The faculty really do set the tone for the school, whether that’s in the feel of the classrooms or the expectations around student behavior,” he says. “All the things that make the school ‘click’ are borne and supported by the faculty.” In the Upper School, those recent retirements included such master educators as Tina Barsky, a 20year veteran of SPA’s Science department; John Finch, a fixture at SPA’s History department for 34 years; and Fine Arts faculty member Robert Jewett, who spent 42 years building the school’s outstanding ceramics program, starting with the firebrick kilns he built in the early 1970s.

SPA Faculty Left to right, first row: Ryan Oto, Margo Kurth, Jennie Sorensen, Chelsie Jolley, Aaron Shuler. Second row: Kristen Johnson, Matt Hoven, Daniel Sogin, Shannon Browne. Third row: Natalie Leeman, Katie Gibson, Scot Hovan, Helen LaRoue. Fourth row: Matt Donald, Jon Peterson, Emily Anderson. Fifth row: Meg Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor.

“We lost more than a hundred years of institutional knowledge with those retirements, and there’s no way to replace it,” Hughes says. “No one is going to come in and teach ceramics the way Bob did, and so you can’t really think about replacing those people because it’s not possible. Instead, you want to fill those positions with talented people who are going to bring their own point of view to the classroom.”

PROMISING CANDIDATES Since 2013, SPA has recruited and hired 29 new teachers, many of whom have filled roles occupied by long-tenured faculty members. In the past two years, nine new faces have joined the Lower School, including new Principal Holly Fidler. The Middle School has also hired nine new teachers since 2013, and the Upper School has hired eleven. The 29 new arrivals represent close to 30% of the school’s entire full-time teaching faculty, which numbers around 105. To find the best candidates for teaching positions, SPA calls on its own independent school connections, alumni networks, and even nation-wide search firms to seek out talented teachers with just the right

combination of content mastery and classroom experience to meet SPA’s growing needs. The most promising candidates arrive on campus for a rigorous interview process that includes meetings with search committee members, department heads, faculty members, and in the Upper School, a panel of students. While every faculty job description is different, Roberts says SPA’s goal in the process is always the same. “We go into faculty recruitment greedy and ambitious on behalf of the children in the school, and that’s really critical,” he says. “We want people who have the intellectual mastery of their content, a deep understanding of children and the classroom environment, and a commitment to education as a profession.” SPA’s search efforts have resulted in a new generation of faculty members who come to the school from a wide variety of backgrounds. Upper School biology teacher Andrea Bailey, who joined the school in fall 2014, had been researching baboon behavior in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park in preparation for a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota before she started at SPA. Grade 5 teacher Kristin Johnson (a 2014 hire), and Middle School math teacher Natalie McElligott (2013) got their first tastes of teaching through the Teach for America program, while Grade 1/2 teacher Margo Kurth came to the Lower School in 2013 with 14 years of teaching experience, most of it in communities with high rates of poverty. Several new hires have come from first careers outside of education: Max Delgado got his career start working in family therapy settings in California, while Middle School language arts and social studies teacher Bobak Razavi pursued a career as an attorney in a large law firm before turning to teaching. While the new faculty are a diverse group, Middle School Principal Dr. Jill Romans says they do have a critical characteristic in common: the ability to embrace and support change. “All the teachers we’ve hired in the last two years are coming into departments where there’s a lot of change in the curriculum and in the discipline as a whole, and they’re really jumping in and providing their own ideas,” she says. “This is a group of teachers who don’t just sit back and say what’s good is good enough—they’re bringing new perspectives to what we do every day.” Roberts says the experience these teachers bring from public

Clockwise: Amber Ruel, Philip de Sa e Silva, Andrea Bailey, Daryn Lowman, Ned Heckman, and Diane Mancini.

school systems, private business, and the nonprofit sector only strengthens the offerings that SPA can provide for its students. “We need the consistent nourishment that comes from having interesting people from varied backgrounds who want to teach here,” he says. “They represent a tradition of great teachers who are masters of their discipline, but they also represent an exciting process of renewal. These are people who are going to provide all kinds of energy in interesting ways, challenge our norms, stretch our boundaries, and take us in directions we might not have gone.”

teachers, who are paired with more experienced colleagues. “I love the co-teaching element at the Lower School,” says Kristin Johnson, a 2014 arrival, who team-teaches Grade 5 with Andrew Currie, who has been at SPA since 2010. “So much more is possible when there are two eager, creative, and highly motivated adults in the room. SPA also provides nearly unlimited professional development and support, and an incredible amount of time to collaborate and plan.” While the Lower School’s team teaching structure often pairs new faculty with experienced teachers, less formal but no

“A superb faculty has been and must continue to be one of the distinctive elements of SPA. Very simply, without this outstanding group of teachers, the school cannot provide students with an exceptional educational experience. At the same time, within the next decade, as many as a third of the existing faculty will likely retire. This will require the school to recruit, acculturate and support a far larger number of faculty members new to SPA than has been the case in the past.” –SPA Strategic Plan, October 2009

ACCLIMATING TO THE ACCOUNTABLE CLASSROOM Ryan Oto was still an undergraduate majoring in history at Carleton College when he visited SPA as part of Carleton’s teaching licensure preparation program. “SPA made a big impression on me,” says Oto, who joined the faculty in 2014. “It looked like teaching nirvana.” With his first school year at SPA now coming to a successful conclusion, Oto says those first impressions have proven true. Oto, who now teaches World History and Comparative Politics in the Upper School, is particularly grateful for SPA’s small class sizes. “With just 15 students around a Harkness table there’s just no hiding,” he says. “As a teacher, you can be engaged with every single student.” Oto is also engaged with his colleagues who are also new to the division, and is a member of an informal “book club” of new faculty members who meet regularly to discuss current books and articles about education, and to share their own learning curves as they become more familiar with SPA’s culture and “accountable classroom” philosophy. That philosophy has been a powerful draw for a number of new teachers, who say that the school’s enviable studentteacher ratio of 8:1 is as important to them as it is to prospective families. In the Lower School, those small class sizes are complemented by the team-teaching approach—a particularly helpful element for SPA’s newest Lower School

less important mentoring relationships flourish in the upper divisions. For instance, in his first year in 2013-14, Upper School science teacher Ned Heckman worked closely with retiring department chair Tina Barsky, a connection Heckman says helped him to think about how to structure and manage his own classroom. “I learned so much from Tina, but as a young faculty member, I’ve also found that new ideas are very welcome,” says Heckman, who recently helped honors biology students study the effects of acid rain by creating a plant model that mimicked the environment. “One thing that amazes me is how three-dimensional SPA students are, with so many diverse interests, ideas and passions. When you’ve got 12 students, you can take their questions and really work with them in detailed ways. I tell them that one my favorite questions is ‘Why should I care?’ which sounds irreverent but it really isn’t. You care about the material when it’s connected to your real life.” Margo Kurth, who joined the Lower School faculty in 2013, also finds herself reflecting on some of the same ideas in her kindergarten classroom, where a big part of “real life” means learning how to be part of the SPA community. “I see so many of the same SPA traditions in place, and it’s great to be experiencing those now as a teacher,” says Kurth, who spent the early part of her teaching career in California and Baltimore. “Character education has always been really important to me—teaching kids how to treat each other—and I’ve been glad to see that kind of learning and teaching still in place at SPA.” u

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Holly Fidler (Lower School Principal) and Max Delgado (Upper School Dean of Students) both joined SPA in the fall of 2014.

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Holly Fidler and Max Delgado: Two new school leaders are building community from the first to the final years of school New Lower School Principal Holly Fidler loves the gaptoothed grins and infectious energy of her students, but knows that the Goodrich campus isn’t all about fun and games. “It’s easy to look at these kids and say, ‘Aww, they’re so little…and it’s all so fun,’ but what we’re doing here is also fundamental,” says Fidler, who began her new role as leader of the Lower School in the fall of 2014. “We’re seriously cute over here, but the skills we’re building around shared values like accountability and community create the foundation that makes the higher academic work possible. It all starts here.” What begins with Fidler in the Lower School has a huge payoff when students reach the Upper School, says Max Delgado, the Upper School’s new dean of students. “One of the things I’ve liked most about SPA is seeing that this is a school that has a big appetite for exploration. It’s a school where you’re able to pursue your passions with some freedom, and where a lot of different kinds of kids can survive and thrive,” says Delgado, who, like Fidler, joined SPA in the fall of 2014. “The result is that you see kids take big risks here—singing a song or making a senior speech in front the entire school—and then, even more amazingly, everybody knows exactly how to support that kid.” Two of the newest members of the school’s administrative leadership team, Fidler and Delgado found their way to SPA from opposite ends of the country. Delgado got his start working in a drug treatment center in California, where he learned that he loved working with teenagers. Though he considered a career in family therapy, an offer to serve as assistant dean at a college preparatory school in Oakland pulled him into independent education, and later, Minneapolis’s Blake School. “There are so many pivot points in adolescence where kids are both guarded and vulnerable as they’re making big decisions about life,” Delgado says. “During these years, kids are becoming who they want to be, how

they want to be, and I enjoy being at ground zero for that.” A graduate of St. George’s School, a boarding school in Rhode Island, Fidler was studying French at Emory University and looking toward a future in the high-flying world of corporate consulting before a career fair convinced her she was on the wrong track. “All through my educational experience, I’d been doing volunteer work that taught me to really love that interaction with children,” says Fidler, who volunteered teaching elementary science and dance in the Atlanta public schools and also served in the Big Sister program. Returning to her native Ohio, Fidler earned her master’s degree at Ohio State University, and then joined the Laurel School, an independent girls’ school outside Cleveland. At Laurel, she taught and directed the North Star Collaborative, an innovative all-girls educational partnership pairing Laurel students with girls attending a single-gender Cleveland public school. “Teaching was not something I chose—it was something that chose me,” Fidler says, noting that she observes that same sense of calling and commitment in the faculty members she now works with in SPA’s Lower School. “They have a real openness and willingness to look at what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and how it feeds into helping children be successful as they move on to Middle School,” Fidler says. “There’s positive energy, good will, and a desire to do more and be better.” Delgado says he sees the same qualities in the culture of the Upper School. “This is an accountable place,” he says. “If kids hear about something another student did that they think is great, they’ll reach out and let them know, and if they see something they don’t like, they’ll risk saying something, too. I’ve seen it in action and I think it’s pretty special,” Delgado says. “I don’t know yet exactly what the secret sauce is, but it’s something we want to build on.” u

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Jim McVeety and Bea White: “Math with a mission” is a unifying force for master teachers and their new colleagues When Bea White came to SPA for a job interview in the Upper School math department last year, long-time math teacher Jim McVeety may have been more anxious about the outcome than the job candidate herself. “When someone as promising as Bea comes along, you want to close the deal as quick as you can,” says McVeety. “Everything on her resume bespoke talent and enthusiasm for teaching, and when you see a young person who is that good at math, and who has made the decision to be a teacher, you want to grab hold of that as quickly as possible. When she came to sit in on our classes I told [math teacher] Bill Boulger that I hope we gave a good performance. We just knew we wanted her at SPA.” White is a 2010 graduate of Carleton College, where she was recruited as a fellow in the Math for America program, a national nonprofit committed to improving mathematics education in the U.S. by encouraging the best and the brightest undergraduates to become secondary school mathematics teachers. White loved her work at a Brooklyn, N.Y., charter school, but with family in Minnesota, she’d begun to explore the possibility of moving to the Midwest. Though she cast her net widely, looking at public, charter, and independent schools for her next position, “something that was important to me was that a school have a sense of mission that was communitywide and that was meaningful in the daily life of students,” says White. “After meeting the principals, and meeting with students, I could see SPA would be a good fit.” White, who primarily teaches in the Upper School, says she saw a sense of mission in SPA’s approach to teaching mathematics. “All of the teachers have their own personalities and teaching styles, but at the same time there’s a real unified belief in math as a language, and that precision and notation and vocabulary are so important when it comes to giving students a strong functional knowledge of math,” she says. “If you think about linear algebra, geometry and beyond—those skills really form the foundation for how comfortable a student might be in a calculus class in college, and that foundation can open up a lot of doors. That’s really what drew me into wanting to teach high school.”

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Making sure that all of SPA’s graduates benefit from the same firm grounding in mathematics is a commitment that’s grown over the last decades, according to McVeety, who was recruited to join SPA’s math department in 1983 by Bill Boulger. “What has changed markedly over the years at SPA is that now we have a math department that works for all students,” he says. “Anyone will tell you that Bill is the best math teacher there is, and he made a huge difference in terms of how our math department is peopled, that we’re staffed 50-50 with men and women, and that the courses are distributed evenly,” says McVeety, who adds that “once upon a time we did not see as many young women as we should have seen in the honors math track, and now those courses are wellbalanced, and appropriately so, by gender.’’ Another major change McVeety applauds is the Upper School’s 2013 shift to block scheduling, in which classes meet fewer times per week but for significantly longer periods of time per meeting. “The bell used to ring every 45 minutes, so by the time you greeted students, congratulated them on last night’s game or concert and checked in on their lives, you had effectively 38 minutes of teaching time,” McVeety says. “The block schedule allows for much more intellectual integrity in terms of my presentation in class, and when you’re doing something like Euclidean geometry, there’s simply more time for students to play around with ideas and really master the material.” White says she likes the block schedule, too, and has spent much of her first year at SPA taking a close study of how the school’s Middle and Upper School math courses fit and flow together. “A big part of this year for me is getting a sense of how math is done at SPA,” she says. “Looking at the art of the courses that have a strong history at SPA and seeing them in their entirety and asking ‘How do I bring my personality into that material, and how do I bring my teaching style?’” McVeety says the answers White and other new math faculty members such as Carl Corcoran and Dan O’Loughlin are bringing to the table only enhance SPA’s mission-driven approach to math. “This is a place where you can really focus on teaching, and there’s always an opportunity to keep learning and growing,” he says. “It’s been invigorating to have so many new and enthusiastic and excellent young teachers who’ve joined us. I feel like an old dog with new pups—it’s wonderful.” u

Jim McVeety has taught Upper School math at SPA since 1983. Bea White joined the Upper School math department in the fall of 2014.

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Natalie McElligott and Bobak Razavi both joined the Middle School faculty in fall of 2013.

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Bobak Razavi and Natalie McElligott: A lawyer and an engineer find their calling teaching Middle School When Middle School students in Natalie McElligott’s math class bump up against a big problem, they know better than to complain that they’ll never need to solve an equation so complicated in real life. “In math, you sometimes hear people say, ‘Why am I learning this when I’m never going to use it?,’” says McElligott. “But with my background, I can tell them that I used mathematics at a really high level all the way through college, and there are plenty of reasons they’re going to want to be fluent in math.” McElligott, who started at SPA in 2013, earned her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas, but took a detour from industry into education after a stint as a supplemental university instructor. “I just fell in love with teaching,” she says. A veteran of the Teach for America program in Baltimore, with a master’s degree in teaching from Johns Hopkins, McElligott believes that having prepared for a career outside of education has helped make her a more effective math teacher. “I’m not someone who learned calculus and then never used it again,” she says. “Coming from an engineering background shows me that if my students learn math and learn it really well, they’re going to be able to use it for the rest of their lives.” McElligott’s path to SPA is similar to her Middle School colleague Bobak Razavi, who also joined SPA in fall of 2013 and began his professional career in a very different field: a high-powered law firm. Razavi, who teaches Middle School language arts and social studies, graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts and earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin. He then worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, provided pro bono services on human rights cases, and logged 80-hour work weeks doing business litigation for a large firm before having a major change of heart. “I quit the law firm one week, enrolled in teacher’s college the next Monday, and every day has been amazing since then,” he says. “I feel like I’m

living another life.” While Razavi admits he felt burned out by the legal profession’s combative, high-stress culture, he brings many of the best skills he honed during his legal career into his classroom at SPA. “Social studies as a discipline is driven by inquiry and reasoning, and a lot of what I do in class relies on the Socratic method, which is all part of my background in law,” he says. “A big piece of what we do with kids in social studies is collaborative learning, and working together to solve problems. Coming from a confrontational profession, where you’re butting heads with people you need to work with, I’m always cognizant of the social ramifications in the classroom, and making sure that everyone has a role in being productive helpers.” A graduate of Cincinnati’s Country Day School, Razavi says he felt at home with SPA’s small class size and big family feel even during his stint as a substitute teacher before joining the school fulltime. “When you go into a school as a sub and the kids are actually respectful you know it’s because the teachers are doing something right and the parents have made this a value of the community,” he says. “It was clear to me pretty quickly that this is a joyous place with an undeniable sense of community. This is a school where all stakeholders are working together on the same goal—parents, students, staff, administration—everyone is rowing in the same direction.” Now into his second year at SPA, Razavi says he has no regrets about giving up a life of courtroom litigation for a career in the classroom. “In any given minute when I’m teaching, I can make eye contact with every single kid, and I can tell if they’re getting it, and what’s going on with them, because there’s no poker face in middle school,” he says. “It’s a gift to be able to look out for all of these kids in a way I can feel really good about.” u

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Ben Pierce and Nikki Loria: A team approach to Kindergarten After 15 years of teaching in SPA’s Lower School, Ben Pierce still can’t believe how fast kindergarteners grow. “They are literally changing in front of your eyes,” he says. “You can say goodbye to them before Thanksgiving break, and when they come back five days later, they actually look different.” That rapid rate of growth—emotional, physical and intellectual—is what keeps Pierce and his new teaching partner Nikki Loria energized about the role they play as SPA’s first teachers to a classroom of 19 young learners. “There are so many jobs out there where you don’t necessarily feel you’re making much of a change—but here you can see it happen,” says Pierce. “When kindergarteners come in every fall they’re babies, and by the end of the year, they are experts in how to do school.” In fact, the whole concept of kindergarten is evolving nearly as quickly as the kindergarteners themselves. “There’s no question that kindergarten has become much more academic, and that’s why it’s great to have Nikki’s perspective here at SPA,” Pierce says. Loria, who was one of several new kindergarten teachers hired after long-time teachers Molly Kleven, Jayne Nelson, and Jane Zeddes retired, is a graduate of the University of Minnesota who started her career in public and charter schools before joining SPA in 2013. “I come from a very standards-based methodology, having been a public school teacher where kindergarten is a very academic experience,” she says. “Here at SPA, the Lower School has revitalized the way they look at kindergarten academics over time, so I bring a standards focus to some of our work, especially with the reading and writing curriculum I worked with at the U of M.” Pierce says his new teaching partnership with Loria has encouraged him to try some new things in the classroom, such as asking students to work more independently and to collaborate on group projects. “You become a different teacher every time you begin a new partnership,” he says. “With academic standards ramping up, kindergarteners are expected to be operating on their own while the teacher is with a small group, and this year, they’ve really proven they can do it.” One aspect of SPA’s Lower School curriculum that hasn’t changed is the value of play, and that is clear in Pierce and Loria’s classroom. “To have fun and enjoy school, kids need to be outside twice a day, making their own choices, navigating socially—that’s all crucial,” says Pierce, who adds that SPA’s team-teaching model in the Lower School is the key to making that transition to school positive for young learners. “I think there’s a recognition that kindergartens everywhere are ramping up their academics, but doing that with one teacher and upwards of 30 kids in a class is a challenge.” “What I love about teaching here is that with 19 kids and two teachers you can honestly do anything,” says Loria. “We can meet kids exactly where they are academically, and we can do the fun and innovative activities that get them really excited about school. That is every teacher’s hope,” she says, “but here it’s not just a hope— it’s a reality.” u

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Ben Pierce has taught in SPAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lower School since 2000. Nikki Loria joined the Lower School faculty in the fall of 2013.

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>> ALUMNI/AE NEWS

ALUMNI/AE

COUNCIL CORNER

Alumni/ae Supervisors for Senior Projects: Interested in serving as a mentor for the Senior Project experience? Want to interact with enthusiastic seniors who bring creativity and a fresh perspective to your organization? The Council is looking for alumni/ae interested in mentoring a SPA senior during their Senior Project experience. Please contact Jen Jung at jjung@spa.edu or (651) 6962014-2015 1302 if interested and to receive additional COUNCIL MEMBERS information.

Lauren Nuffort ’02 President lauren.nuffort@gmail.com

Greetings SPA Alumni/ae! SPA’s alumni/ae community provides alums the opportunity to network, attend events held on and off SPA’s campuses, and contribute, either through volunteer time or financial means, to support the School. This year, the Council continues its work to spearhead initiatives in all these categories. We invite you to join us and participate in these opportunities! Alumni/ae Council Speaker Series: After much anticipation, on October 2014 and February 2015 the Council hosted its first two Speaker Series events, recapped at right. If you weren’t able to join us this year for one of our Series events, please mark your calendar to attend the series next fall, on October 22, 2015. The Alumni/ ae Council Speaker Series is a semi-annual event that acknowledges the unique projects and achievements of our alumni/ae while offering graduates, parents and friends of the School an opportunity to meet and network while enjoying hors d’oeuvres and beverages.

New Council Members: The Council welcomed five new members with terms beginning in 2014-2015: Mercedes Henderson Clark ’88, Sarah Crandall ’02, Meaghan Moriarty ’99, Alex Nemeth ’95, and Pierce Norton ’08. We are excited that their ideas, their personal SPA experience, and their dedication to the School will help shape future alumni/ae initiatives. If you are interested in serving on the Council, please contact me or Jen Jung to discuss the position in greater detail.

Joe Benson ’68 Dan Citron ’89 Mercedes Henderson Clark ’88 Sarah Crandall ’02 Aram Desteian ’01 Lindsay Giese ’05 Hilary LeBon ’91 Meaghan Moriarty ’99 Alex Nemeth ’95 Pierce Norton ’08 Zach Pettus ’99 David Salchow ’88 Craig Smith ’87 Nikki Stennes ’05

UPDATE: Alumni/ae Day of Giving: On April 30, 2015, the Council sponsored the school’s first-ever Alumni/ae Day of Giving. The goal of the event was to exceed 800 total alumni/ae donors to the SPA Annual Fund for 2014-15. We are pleased to report that the day was a huge success: we exceeded our original goal of 800 alumni/ae donors by April 30, reaching 816 total. Thank you to all alumni/ae who have given to the Annual Fund, and a special thanks to those who participated in the Day of Giving!

ALUMNI/AE EVENT CALENDAR June 2015 Commencement June 7, 2015, 4 p.m.

Randolph Campus, North Lawn Visit www.spa. edu > alumni > events for more information on all of our upcoming events!

August 2015

September 2015 Reunion Weekend 2015 Sept. 11-12, 2015

Visit www.spa.edu/alumni/reunion_weekend for details.

October 2015

Golf and Tennis Classic August 17, 2015

Huss Center Opening Gala October 10, 2015 | Randolph Campus

Visit www.spa.edu/alumni/events for details.

Alumni/ae Council Speaker Series: “The State of the Media”

White Bear Yacht Club

Panel presentation featuring Dave Kansas ’85, Catherine McKenzie ’88, and Andrea Scott ’79 October 22, 2015, 5:30 p.m. | The Minneapolis Club Visit www.spa.edu/alumni/speaker_series for details.

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SPA ALUMNI/AE COUNCIL SPEAKER SERIES RECAP

ANDY REDLEAF ’75

The Alumni/ae Council wrapped up a very successful inaugural year for the Alumni/ ae Council Speaker Series. The Council created the series to showcase the unique achievements and projects of SPA alumni/ae, while also providing alumni/ae, parents, and friends of SPA an opportunity to connect with each other and learn about other industries. The first event in October 2014 featured Josh Meyers ’92, CEO of Slickdeals.net and was moderated by Sasha Aslanian ’86, Minnesota Public Radio reporter and current SPA parent. Josh shared stories of his time at SPA and his success after graduation, while also amusing the audience with the “slickest deal” he ever found on his website—an extra large roll of aluminum foil. The February 2015 event featured Andy Redleaf ’75, Founder and CEO of Whitebox Advisors LLC, and was moderated by Tim Welsh, Current Parent, Trustee, and Director (Senior Partner) of McKinsey. Andy shared insight on a few of his principles of investing, and also spoke about his recent donation to the school to create the Redleaf Scholarship. The Council is excited to continue the Speaker Series in the coming years. The 20152016 events will be hosted at the Minneapolis Club in October and February, and will showcase all new speakers and moderators. To learn more about the Speaker Series, please visit the Speaker Series webpage at www.spa.edu/alumni/speaker_series. You can watch videos of previous events and obtain information on future speakers. Hope to see you all next fall at the October 2015 Speaker Series event,

JOSH MEYERS ’92

Zach Pettus ’99 and Aram Desteian ’01 Alumni/ae Council Speaker Series Co-Chairs

REUNION 2015 Reunion Weekend will be held September 11-12, 2015. On Friday night, the All-Alumni/ae Art Show and Reception will feature the displayed art of selected alumni/ae artists in the Drake Gallery, while a live alumni/ae band and drinks and appetizers can be enjoyed under a tent in the Lilly courtyard. Don’t miss this great new tradition! On Saturday night, we will celebrate class parties for Reunion alumni/ae in classes ending in 0 and 5. Whether you are celebrating a Reunion or not, all alumni/ae and their guests are invited to come to the School for various events throughout the weekend! To be sure you receive all Reunion communication, (and even if you aren’t celebrating a

Reunion, we like to have current information for our alumni/ae) please send any new information including mailing address, email, phone number, etc. to alumni@spa.edu.

Photos from all of Reunion events can be viewed online at stpaulacademy. smugmug.com > Alumni/ae and Advancement > ReunionWeekend-2014.

We encourage you to set the dates of Reunion Weekend aside and plan to join us and your classmates for a great weekend. See you in September!

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>> PHILANTROPHY

HUSS CENTER CAMPAIGN

ENDS OVER DOLLAR GOAL

The campaign to raise funds for the Huss Center for the Performing Arts officially came to a successful finish on December 31, 2014. The campaign ended over its dollar goal of $19.2 million, with a final total of $19.4 million. The additional funds will be used to address the school’s “wish list” of features that will enhance the building’s infrastructure and aesthetics. “It’s wonderful that we exceeded our goal, but just as terrific is the fact that over 450 donors—faculty and staff, alumni, current and former parents as well as grandparents—helped us get there. With gifts that ranged from $10 to $5 million,

from recent grads to people who graduated decades ago, this success is a community effort of which all of us can be proud” says Dorothy Goldie, Director of Institutional Advancement. As of May 2015, the Huss Center is on schedule to open in the fall of 2015. The relatively mild winter allowed for construction to continue on pace throughout the winter; the exterior walls were largely completed by November 2014, and the interior and mechanicals will be finished by spring. Over the summer, work will continue on the interior finishings, landscaping, and the construction of the “knuckle”—the connecting corridor between the Huss Center and Briggs Gymnasium.

ANNUAL FUND LEADERSHIP GIVING GROWS: THANK YOU NEW MEMBERS! SPA’s Leadership Giving Society (LGS) honors donors making gifts of $2,500 or more to the school’s Annual Fund. The group continued to grow in 2014-15: by the end of May 2015, a total of thirty-six new members were added to the LGS roster, with nine of those members making new gifts at the President’s Circle level of $10,000 and above. Your extraordinary gifts create excellence and opportunity every day at SPA, and open the door to further acts of generosity. Thank you for your commitment to St. Paul Academy and Summit School.

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Spring 2015

President’s Circle: New Members • Mark Addicks and Tom Hoch • Jane Davis Bennett ’59 • Betty Wold Johnson ’39 • David Kristal and Cristiana Giordano • Richard and Karen Kuntz • Christopher and Angela Larson • Alexander and Amanda Liu • Robert and Kimberly Scott • F. T. ’49 and Nancy ’49 Weyerhaeuser

You make a difference to St. Paul Academy and Summit School with your gift to the Annual Fund Your Annual Fund gift supports ...student voices ...extraordinary teachers ...our dynamic learning experience Make your gift to the Annual Fund before June 30, 2015 at www.spa.edu/giving.

SAVE THE DATE: Huss Center Opening Gala, October 10, 2015 SPA will celebrate the opening of the Huss Center for the Performing Arts with a gala event on the evening of Saturday, October 10, 2015. The evening will include opportunities to see the new building and a performance by our extraordinary student actors, musicians, and vocalists. Watch for more information about the event this summer and plan to join us!

Leadership Giving Society: New Members • Peter ’45 and Sally Anson • John ’93 and Theresa Cosgriff • Ariel Dickerman ’52 • John and Anne Dowdle • Anne and Litton E.S. Field, Jr. ’75 • Mark and Sally Foster ’68 • Rose Hammes-Nestor and Charles Nestor • Amanda Hawn and Nathan Larsen • Robert and Marlyn Holman

2013-14 Annual Report Correction Please note the following correction to SPA’s 2013-14 Annual Report, which was included in the Fall 2014 issue of SPA Magazine. We extend our apologies for this error. Susan and Paul Bullard ’80 should have been listed as donors to the Annual Fund, as well as donors to the James Adams Memorial Gift Fund. Todd Freeman ’59 should have been listed as a donor in the St. Paul Academy Class of 1959.

• S. Jean Kim ’89 and Dr. Casimir Wierzynski • D. Christian and Amy Koch • Constance ’59 and Daniel Kunin • Frank* and Julia Ladner • Brian and Mary Longe • Nancy Jasinski Lotane ’80 and Philip Lotane • Irene McNeely ’82 • Amy and Christopher Pearson • Benjamin Rasmussen ’88 and Eva Bagen • Andrew Redleaf ’75 and Lynne Singer Redleaf

• John Reinartz and Satoko Suzuki • John and Jill Romans ’86 • Kathy Spraitz ’80 and Mike Swanson • Robert and Sue-Mi Tuttle • Ansis and Ann Viksnins • Frank ’58 and Susan Ward • Jerome and Jennifer Will • Timothy and Jennifer Ziemer *Deceased

The names listed here reflect new leadership gifts to the Annual Fund between July 1, 2014 and May 26, 2015. A complete list of leadership donors will be printed in the 2014-15 Annual Report. www. spa.e du

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PHOTO ALBUM

HUSS CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS A snapshot of the construction from Spring 2015

This page: A view of the audience chamber with the “dance floor”—a platform designed to allow the crew to install and access the catwalks above.

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Below and right: crews work the backstage areas, including dressing rooms for boys and girls.

Above: a view of the Arts Commons (left) and study area (above).

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This page: The crew pours concrete for the loading dock (above) and scene shop (right).

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This page: The crew installs the windows on the west side of the Huss Center.

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>> CLASS NOTES

with a major video game company in Seattle, something she’s wanted to do since she was seven years old. Nicky was also able to escape the cold for a bit when she visited Lolly at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, AZ.

’50 CLASS AGENT J. Bradner Smith jbradner575@comcast.net

James J. Barnes recently

received the 2014 Eli Lilly Lifetime Achievement Award for recognition as a historian whose work includes topics such as the American Civil War, the American Revolution, the British book trade, Nazi Germany, and International Copyright. He was the recipient of the St. Paul Academy and Summit School Distinguished Alumni/ae Award in 1989, and is now Emeritus Professor of History at Wabash College in Indiana.

’52 CLASS AGENT Dean W. Alexander promedica1@aol.com

Dean Swanson was the

guest curator for “LeWitt x 2” exhibit at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. He also wrote two essays in the exhibition catalogue. Dean is an independent curator and art consultant who lives in Minneapolis. In addition to “LeWitt x 2,” he has organized numerous exhibitions for the Walker Art Center, where he was chief curator from 1968-1978, and the Minnesota Museum of American Art, where he served as director for three years.

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Carol Daniels Jacker says 2014 was “a bad year physically, but an interesting one.” She was whisked off to the hospital in January with severe pain, which turned out to be a pinched vertebrae and herniated disk. She had surgery in December and is happy to say her “default position is no longer falling down.” In July, she and Dick visited Minnesota’s North Shore for a tour of Lundie houses, one of which was her mother’s.

s Dean Alexander celebrated his 80th birthday this year with family, including his son Marc and three grandsons.

s Austin Pryor spent the summer playing “his usual rounds of golf.” He also continues volunteer management consulting via SCORE where he is the webmaster and counsels around 100 entrepreneurial “wannabes” each year. Dorothy, his wife, still plays the piano but has also become enamored with watercolor painting. Additionally, she is the chair of the library committee. The most exciting news for this couple, however, is that after many years as residents of Connecticut, they will be moving back to Minnesota later this year and into Trillium Woods, a new retirement community in Plymouth. The addictive draw of their extended family, convenient cultural activities, rising Viking football team, resident classmates, and comfy winters simply became irresistible.

s James Wallace reports seeing that John Ramaley was honored at an “Inspiration Lunch” at the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute. They honored John’s dedication to their programs, and his inspiring attitude and work ethic.

’53 CLASS AGENT Judith S. Blake judith.blake@att.net

Nicky Benz Carpenter

celebrated two family weddings in 2014; one granddaughter married in August and another in December. A third of Nicky’s granddaughters started a job

Mary Dosdall Guyer and Reyn ’53 traveled from Boca Grande

in December for a gathering at their daughter Lisa’s house to celebrate Mary’s 80th birthday. Marlene Heger Bixby and Ned

gathered for a Thanksgiving Bixby family reunion in New York at their son Tim’s home. The whole family was there: Anne came from Minneapolis, Scott and his family came from Kansas, and grandchildren came from Phoenix, and Vermont. A second reunion a few nights later attracted an even larger Bixby clan of cousins; there were 32 for dinner. Mar and Ned went to Naples in January where they expect to have plenty of family visiting. After going to a miniDartmouth reunion, they plan to be back in Minnesota in April, before heading to their lake place in Danbury.

Ann Luyten Dieperink

weathered the winter by walking a couple of miles, three times a week at the Bielenberg Center in Woodbury. She no longer plays tennis and misses the contact with her group of regular players. Ann said she enjoyed Todd Driscoll’s 80th birthday party at the St. Paul Hotel in December 2014.

Bonnie Mairs reports seeing two classmates recently. She saw Andy Russell Bowen at their new apartment near Stillwater where they look out on a pond plus birch and pine trees, and Ginnie Weyerhaeuser in Florida who sees the Gulf from her porch.

’57

Caco Myers Baillon continues

CLASS AGENTS

to have boundless energy. She participates in zumba and pilates, plays tennis two or three times a week, and hits the gym 12 times a month, spending 1/2 hour on the treadmill and working all the machines, including lifting weights. She reports she is busy, but that life goes on pretty much the same.

Dutton Foster duttonfosters@comcast.net Susan Rose Ward cswsrw@comcast.net

Ellen Widmer still teaches

full time at Wellesley and reports she is “totally fine.” She recently heard Faure’s Requiem in performance, recalling the Summit Singers performing it with Shirley Fisher!

Judy Blake has un-retired

herself and is the resident writer for a local monthly magazine, which gets her out of the house and meeting lots of interesting people. She likes that she can write about pretty much anything she wants. She also enjoys that she can work as much or as little as she’s inclined, so there’s still time for the lake and Mexico!

’54 CLASS AGENTS Bonnie Mairs bonnie1673@earthlink.net Wally Mayo mayowalter@yahoo.com

Marna Schrader and Bob

switched houses with their daughter, son-in-law and two young grandsons in June 2014. Marna says, “They get our 40 year life-home: acre, pool and fine K-8 school next door. We get less work, smaller quarters and yard, sidewalks, closer neighbors to meet, a lifestyle more suited to our advancing age.” The family’s real estate agent was shocked that both families did not want to put their houses on the market and reap the rewards of a sizzling market. The couple has now downsized to fit in their attractive, older home in Redwood City, CA: 2803 Carson St., 94061.

Have news to share? Email your news to alumni@spa.edu or send it to Class Notes: St. Paul Academy and Summit School 1712 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55105

s Tuck Langland spent a wonderful week in an apartment in Burgundy with friends. The group did a little eating and sampling and finished the trip with a fifth crossing home on the Queen Mary 2. A second highlight of his year was installing a sculpture of Ernie Pyle, War Correspondent, on the Indiana University Campus in Bloomington before the newly dedicated Pyle School of Media Studies. Tuck is also getting into writing, “some things for the grandkids, some for me.”

We look forward to hearing from you!

Become a Class Agent! Class Agents keep in touch with their classmates and provide updates on SPA happenings. Class Agents also help with special events and reunions. All classes welcome additional volunteers and multiple Class Agents are encouraged.

Don Drew and Paula had a year fraught with difficult, idiopathic health issues but they are both grateful for recovery. Don also reports several pleasant year events. Paula has spent some time getting to know several relatives on her father’s side who the couple find to be very positive and affirming. She has also renewed some old friendships, which has brought enjoyment and rekindled memories of good times in the past. Don is cutting back on his math tutoring clients. He took on a couple of year 8 students this year, which reminded

To become a Class Agent, please contact Jen Jung, Alumni/ae Relations and Giving Manager at jjung@spa.edu or 651-696-1302.

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>> CLASS NOTES

him of very pleasant times in his first 3 years of classroom teaching. The couple adds, “Gandhi once said: ‘Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.’ We hope you will have much happiness in 2015; we are planning to have much idiopathic happiness.”

’73 CLASS AGENT Charles A. Zelle charlie.zelle@state.mn.us

John Ratigan and Barbara

celebrated their 50th anniversary this fall with a brief trip to Italy. John also is in his second year as president of the Arlington, Virginia Philharmonic. He adds, “Sounds like we would love to play in the new Huss performing arts center. Highest marks to Ruthie and John for their leadership on that.” Dutton Foster and Caroline

are chugging along, doing lots of reading, almost no TV, a few plays and concerts, some writing and painting “when the spirit moves us,” walking about here and there looking for birds, keeping up with friends, getting together with their kids and grandkids, and “trying to make ourselves useful when we see a chance.”

’64 CLASS AGENTS John C. Maher jmaher1@maine.rr.com Cynthia Piper cindypiper46@gmail.com

Cindy Piper challenges all

the Summit School classes to count their grandchildren and their great grandchildren. So far there are 79 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren from 18 members of the Class of 1964 of the Summit School. Let’s see who else will count!

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Chuck Strouse, editor of the Miami New Times paper, won the Sigma Delta Chi Award for the nation’s best columns in a non-daily publication. His paper also broke the Alex Rodriguez, performance drugs story, which won the coveted George Polk prize in journalism. Terry Allen recently took a trip to Alaska and saw caribou, moose, bears, bald eagles and Mount McKinley. He labeled the experience “an amazing frontier.”

s Dorothy Goldie reports, “I am still happily employed at SPA, doing fundraising and alumni/ae relations work with great people. I am spending a good deal of time in Seattle with my first grandchild, Lyra Rose Schwartz, who was born in August 2014. Lyra is the daughter of son Max Schwartz ’03 and his wife Colleen. Max is a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Being a grandparent is the most wonderful thing and I look forward to spending more time with Lyra! In March 2015, my husband Ralph Schwartz and I visited our son Sam Schwartz ’08 in Zhuhai China, where he is teaching at United International College.”

’77 CLASS AGENT Hank A. Brandtjen hbrandtjen@kluge.biz

Jamie Forman received the Mark D. Wisser William Mitchell Collegiality Award at the William Mitchell College of Law Golf Tournament.

Lisa Roetzel is a member of the Orange County Women’s Chorus in California who received an Outstanding Arts Organization Award this year. The ensemble is now planning their first-ever international tour where they will sing in Wales and England. If you have plans to travel abroad and happen to be in the “neighborhood, “ she would love to see you! Pamela McInnes recently traveled with her husband to Seoul, Korea to attend the Bridges Art Math Conference. Side trips included a “strange” visit to the DMZ between North and South Korea, as well as visiting ancient fortresses and caves.

daughter who is studying in Shanghai. Anne Hodgson and her husband have launched an online satirical newspaper. According to Anne, “life is not slowing down, it is speeding up!” Check out www.theparsnipperty.com to read their work.

’80 CLASS AGENT

The Class of 1980 is looking for Class Agents! Please contact alumni@spa.edu to find out more.

Denise Lilyholm Callahan’s two oldest sons have college in their future. After two great years playing junior hockey in the USPHL, Andrew (20 years old) heads off to his first choice school St. Lawrence University in the fall, where he’s hoping to play lacrosse (and, a little bit of hockey), and James (17 years old) got his commitment to play Division I hockey at his first choice school, #10 ranked Quinnipiac University (for 2016). Brady (13 years old) is nipping at their heels and is following in his older brothers’ footsteps, shining at hockey and lacrosse. Proud parents! Life is good!

’85 CLASS AGENT

Gretchen Glenny Damon

went to Brazil to take in the FIFA World Cup and cheer on Team USA. This was her second World Cup as she traveled to the tournament in South Africa. Arlys Greenberg Freeman

took a “dream trip” to Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and China as she visited her

David W. Kansas dkansas@mpr.org

Cathy Paper writes, “It’s an odd thing to be an alumna and now a parent of kids at SPA. Some of the hallways look the same, and the SLUDGE project still exists. My kids make me pull out the yearbook and they can’t believe we had a Homecoming King and Queen, Tom Wedes ’86 and Susan Bagnoli Truman.

They love reading all the notes; I promise I’ll bring it to reunion if you come into town. Hope to see you soon!” David Kansas ran into the

Homecoming royalty over the winter. He saw Tom Wedes ’86 and classmate Terry O’Brien at the Twin Cities Civil War Roundtable and had a nice visit with Susan Bagnoli Truman at the SPA Pops concert. Additionally, David continues to be ensconced at Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media. He and Monica are also preparing for Henry to start kindergarten at SPA in the fall and, according to David, “Little Mary is dreaming of the same.” Dave has also heard from classmate Sean Gilshannon: “in anticipation of our 30th reunion, Sean sent me a picture of the old SPA/ SS alumni/ae magazine from 1985 with our graduation speaker, George Schumacher, on the cover! He also sent a PDF of the story about Mr. S., who was leaving for St. Louis after his speech. We’ll be sure to include it in the reunion packet!” Dave says. Rick Sutherland completed

Becka McKay is in Florida

beginning her sixth year teaching creative writing at Florida Atlantic University, now with tenure. She is also in her

Richard Barlow ’88

Phil Everson was named the

chair of the department of mathematics and statistics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Daymond Dean is looking

forward to seeing his classmates at their 30 year SPA reunion celebration this fall. The reunion conversations have already begun on Facebook; join us in the “SPA Class of 1985” group! Not on Facebook? Send an email to SPAClassof1985@gmail. com and have it posted to the Facebook group page.

’87

’87 took him up on the offer. The Smiths, with their daughter Lark ’18, picked up their older daughter Maya ’16, who had spent the summer in Switzerland, on their way to Italy. The Smiths then met up with Peter Butler in Venice on their way to Tuscany where they met up with Brad, Mary and two daughters Katie ’17 and Janie ’19, as well as Felix ’87 and Kerstin Ladenburger with their children Felix, Vera, Georg and Franz. The group spent a spectacular week at

a villa in the Tuscan hills near Arezzo. They mixed in day trips to nearby Tuscan cities with evenings enjoying the rustic, idyllic villa in the company of lifelong friends.

’88 CLASS AGENT Daniel H. Deuel dhd823@comcast.net

s Richard Barlow has been keeping busy in the last few years. He states that his biggest news was taking a position as an Assistant Professor of Art at

CLASS AGENT Carol A. Bagnoli cbagnoli@yahoo.com Jay A. Ettinger jayettinger@comcast.net Robert W. Mairs robert.mairs@gpmlaw.com

his multi-decade tour of all the current major league baseball parks! He completed this big, personal accomplishment when he saw the Twins take on the Rockies in Denver earlier this year. Rick has now seen a home game of all 30 current MLB teams. Rick works in the Twin Cities as an actuary at Travelers.

second year as the director of the MFA program in Creative Writing. In addition to her university duties, Becka has also published a book of personal poetry, three translations of Hebrew fiction, and one translation of Hebrew poetry. She was also invited to teach literary translation workshops at Stanford, the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Seoul University, and the Nida Institute in Misano Adriatico, Italy. She attended the AWP conference in Minneapolis this April.

Craig Smith visited Felix Ladenburger (German

exchange student in class of ’87) last summer. Last year, Felix offered to host his SPA friends and families for a reunion in Europe and Peter Butler ’85, Brad Brunell ’87, Craig Smith ’87 and Merritt Clapp-Smith

Craig Smith ’87

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December 2014 Reunions

s Class of 2004 10th Reunion | Front Row: Martha Polk, Sam Beck. 2nd Row: Matt Morley, Heather Morley, Evart Fairman, Leelee Fairman, Maya Dusenbery, Lauren Nahurski, Zenas Hutcheson, Abby Greenwald, Liz Hadden, Corey Hadden. 3rd Row: Matt Simenstad, Sam Salyer, Sarah (Anderson) Raisch, Peter Raisch. Back Row: Matt Ross, Pat Jarosch, Will Cassayd-Smith, Tyler Olson, Jessica Butler, Kyle Simonson, Elizabeth Ullyot, Mike Borneke, Caroline Blodgett, Arne Gjelten, Kate Logan.

Hartwick College in the fall of 2013. He moved to Oneonta, NY to take the position. During the summer of 2014, he took a research trip to Amsterdam and the UK, which was funded by a Jerome Travel and Research grant and Hartwick College Faculty Development grant. An article on his experience was published through Composite Magazine. Additionally, one of Richard’s large-scale sequin drawings, Pixelated Bromide, was recently installed as part of the permanent collection at the Weisman Museum in Minneapolis. Another one of his large sequin drawings, based on a digital photo he took at the site of the first silver negative photograph, Lacock Abbey in England, was in the 2015 Drawing Discourse exhibition at UNC Asheville, juried by Val Britton. Finally, this December Richard was featured in a one-man exhibition at CANO Oneonta, NY.

’96 CLASS AGENT Minette Loula mmloula@gmail.com

s Class of 2009 5th Reunion | From left to right we have: Hubert Li, Ellie Socha, George Plummer (back), Conor Richardson (mid), Grace Hartman (front), Marco Pavoloni (front), Joe Stanoch (back), Andrew Dougherty (mid), Mallory Abuzeni (front), Kristin O’Brien (mid), Andrew Magne (back), Erin Lowenthal (mid), Karin Obaid (front), Jackson Smith (back), Christina Sallis. 42

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Aaron Bohr professed his first vows during a Vow Mass on August 9, 2014.“I feel that this is the end of a two-year journey but the beginning of the rest of my life,” Bohr said. “I look forward to living these vows because it is something that I truly feel deep inside that I am called to do.” By professing first vows, Bohr took the next step in the 10-12 year formation of a Jesuit, which includes the ordination to priesthood and final vows.

’97 CLASS AGENT Dena C. Larson denacitronlarson@gmail.com Jeff Jarosch jeff.jarosch@gmail.com

Hilary Gebauer started her

CLASS AGENT Lisa Stein lisaannestein@gmail.com

@gmail.com

s Michael DeCourcy and Vanessa (Denis) DeCourcy ’01—both SPA “lifers”— married on July 26, 2014 in Minneapolis. The couple turned an engagement party hosted by Vanessa’s father and stepmother into a surprise wedding to the delight of family and close friends in attendance. Michael’s father, a retired judge, officiated the ceremony. Michael and Vanessa are both attorneys and live in St. Paul.

Sasha Aslanian ’86, Tony Sanneh ’90, and Sarah Radosevich ’02 all returned

to campus for Speaker Day 2015, a day-long conference organized by students around a specific theme. This year’s theme was “Immigration”; Sasha, Tony, and Sarah each offered two workshops for students during the day exploring different facets of immigration in Minnesota. Sasha is a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio and often covers stories related to immigration; Tony is the President and Executive Director of the Sanneh Foundation, which uses soccer to connect and serve with urban youth; and Sarah is a policy research analyst for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

’01

gathering this winter. Jason, Daisy Pellant ’85 and her husband, Jeremy Stein ’98

CLASS AGENTS Tiffany L. Clark tlcpapillon@gmail.com Aram V. Desteian

and his fiance Ann Terry,

Jason Ketola hosted the

Jesse Kanson-Benavav ’99, Alex Rice ’01, Elizabeth Pabst ’01, David McVeety ’10, and Sam Rock ’10 shared stories

first Boston regional reunion

and memories of their time at

desteian@gmail.com

own business this winter. “Gather” is a first of its kind creative alternative to giving towels and toasters as wedding gifts. Currently, Gather is an online shop that features a curated collection of work by Minnesota artists. Hilary and her business partners are currently working on the next phase of the business which is to create an online wedding registry for art. Check it out at gatherartregistry.com!

’99

Serendipity Photo, LLC

In Spring 2013, Minette Loula kicked her east coast habit and moved her New England family to Minnesota. The boys, Patrick (6) and Quinn (3) are enjoying their new home and all the activities that Minnesota has to offer. Minette and her husband are adjusting to the frigid temperatures, but also loving, and taking full advantage of, the close proximity to family. During the weekdays, Minette is an in-house counsel for Target. She says, “I am always up for connecting with my fellow SPA-folk—those living in MN and those who visit the tundra from time-to-time—for play dates (with kiddos) and happy hours (sans kiddos). My email is tmmloula@gmail.com.”

Four years after a chance’ meeting in San Francisco, Elissa (Fisher) Moriarty ’99 married Brendan Moriarty ’00 on June 21, 2014 in

Occidental, California. Joining them were Chuck Fisher (Director of Counseling and Human Development, ’93-’08), Carrie Childs (Fisher ’97), Meaghan Moriarty ’99, Jesse Baltes ’00 and Claire AmleyMartinez ’99, not pictured).

Ellen Fisher Moriarty ’99

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CLASS AGENT Derek A. Schaible derek.schaible@gmail.com

Peter Labuza’s book

Anna Kromroy Syverson ’03

SPA and the school’s “strong, formative effects.” There was also a lot of discussion of other alumni/ae in the area and who could be invited next time!

’02 CLASS AGENT Lauren E. Nuffort lauren.nuffort@gmail.com

Greg Paulus and Nick DeBruyn, who make up the

group “No Regular Play,” were honored at the Young Patrons of Lincoln Center Fall Gala in October 2014. The DJ duo were named Young Patrons of Lincoln Center Artist Honorees, an award given to emerging artists.

’03 CLASS AGENTS Thomas Christ kiselblat@gmail.com Emily Shor emilyshor@gmail.com Aleksander K. Sims aleksander.sims@gmail.com Kendra Ackland Jillian Degerness Brenden Goetz brendengoetz@gmail.com

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s Anna Kromroy Syverson married in August 2014. In addition to tying the knot, Anna also became a stepmom to “the two most amazing kids in the world,” Gabe (7) and Alice (4). At the wedding ceremony, the new family celebrated by creating a “Unity Painting” that now hangs in their living room.

Approaching The End: Imagining Apocalypse in American Film was published in October 2014. His book rethinks apocalyptic cinema and examines American films that push these traditional apocalyptic plots. Peter’s book is the first release from The Critical Press, a publisher whose primary focus is shortand medium-length books on classic and contemporary cinema. In addition to his book release, Peter was also featured in The New Yorker speaking at the Museum of the Moving Image about his

book. Peter is a noted film critic, host of The Cinephiliacs podcast, and editor with Masters of Cinema. Elizabeth Berg is playing role

of Kate Monster in the offbroadway production of Avenue Q at the New World Stages Theater in New York City. She took on the role in late April and will continue through the end of July. s

’07

Andrew Paulus, his brother, Greg Paulus ’02, and their

mother Patty Paulus, who teaches art in SPA’s Lower School, attended the Grammy Awards in honor of their late father, Stephen Paulus, who was nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

’04 CLASS AGENTS Andria Cornell andria.m.cornell@gmail.com Tyler M. Olson tolson@smcpros.com Ashley Anton antonashley@gmail.com Sarah M. Raisch sarah.m.raisch@gmail.com

Tyler Olson successfully

raised capital for his company, SMCpros, providing it greater opportunities to accelerate its growth and continue to win international awards in the social media marketing industry.

Andrew Paulus ’07 and Greg Paulus ’02

’08 CLASS AGENTS Vanessa Levy vanessalevy1@yahoo.com Nolan Filter nolan.f.filter@gmail.com Jessica Garretson Jessiepiper@gmail.com Ariella Rotenberg rotenberg.ariella@gmail.com

s Louise Parker was featured in an article on New York magazine’s “The Cut” website. The article highlights Louise’s impressive career as a model and a photo series she took while on fashion week casting calls. Read her article, Walk, Point, Shoot: A Model’s Behindthe-Scenes View of New York and Paris Fashion Weeks at www.nymag.com/thecut/. Sarah Arum Hwang earned a

Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy on May 3, 2015.

’14 CLASS AGENT

The Class of 2014 is looking for Class Agents! Please contact alumni@spa.edu to find out more.

Harrisen Egly, who is finishing his first year at Columbia University, was named Rookie of the Week on March 21, 2015 by sports blog ivyleaguesports. com for his contributions to Columbia’s baseball team. Harrisen’s performance on the mound was a factor in three of the Columbia Lions’ four wins that week: he picked up his second save of the year in the Lions’ 13-10 victory over Army; worked out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts to get the win over Dartmouth; and finished the week with 2.1 innings of one-hit relief in a win over Harvard.

s Sam Schwartz and Chrissy Haikel traveled in China in the winter of 2015. Sam is currently living and teaching English in Zhuhai, China, at United International College.

s Ashley Johnson returned to the Randolph Campus in January as a panelist for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day assembly in the Upper School.

Being A College Athlete

Ben Braman

James Hargens

Allison Mills

Matt Fiedler

Tania Russel

This winter the SPA Athletic Department hosted a “Being a College Athlete” discussion. The evening featured a panel of SPA alumni/ae student-athletes who shared their experiences playing sports in college. Thank you Ben Braman ’13 (St. Olaf College, soccer), Allison Mills ’06 (St. Olaf College, soccer), Tania Russel ’11 (Hamline University, soccer), James Hargens ’13 (Macalester College, soccer and track) and Matt Fiedler ’13 (University of Minnesota, baseball) for participating in the panel!

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’35 Elizabeth “Betty” Moore Whitman passed away on August 7, 2014. Betty was born on January 22, 1918, in St Paul and attended Summit School. She adored her father, Frank Emerson Whitman, who, she said, let her children learn from their own mistakes. Her mother, Edith, gave Betty her love of history and of birds. Betty had an older brother, Albert ’29, and a younger brother, Allen ’43. Her family spent summers at White Bear Lake. Many of her favorite childhood memories were of swimming and being with family at their summer cottage. She graduated from Vassar College and Columbia University with a Master of Arts in Religious Education. Betty visited the rainforest of Costa Rica and the island of Sri Lanka, walked the Great Wall of China and climbed to Manchu Picchu—just to name a few of the many places she traveled. Betty directed religious education programs in Minneapolis, in Dayton, Ohio, and in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. When she

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returned to St. Paul, she developed the program at Unity Church with Rev. Arthur Foote. She built a home in Afton on a hill wooded with oak and overlooking grassland. Serving on the Afton Planning Commission and officiating at elections, she was actively involved in community. When young neighbors visited, she offered ginger ale, cookies and wisdom. She loved the beauty of the seasons—even winter when shoveling snow from a very long driveway. She found solace and joy in being in nature, observing wildlife, especially birds.

’36 Donna Riedel Mirick passed away on January 2 after a brief illness. Donna was active in many organizations even late into her life, including the PEO sisterhood Chapter BC, St. Paul College Club, the Ramsey County Historical Society, The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis, and the Town and Country Club. She was also active in her church circle at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church; the group disbanded 30 years ago but the members kept meeting anyway up until 3 years ago. She attended Camp Lake Hubert as a little girl and was proud to send her

granddaughters there and her grandsons to Camp Lincoln. She was an alumna and supporter of Summit School and Smith College. Her kind and gracious nature never deserted her, even in her final illness. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Mirick, and her sister Janet Riedel Whitney ’38; and survived by her sons James (Mary), Dustin (Zella), grandchildren Ed (Katie), Gudrun, Nora Guerrera (Chris), Robert, and Sarah, and great-grandchildren Degory, Lily Guerrera, and Zoe.

’40 Barbara J. O’Shaughnessy passed away peacefully and surrounded by her children on September 20, 2014 at the age of 92. Born on July 5th, 1922 in Austin, MN to Clara and Clifford Streeter, she spent most of her youth in St. Paul, Minnesota. She attended Mills College in Oakland, CA and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1944. After graduation, Barbara volunteered for the US Army in California scheduling transportation home for soldiers on leave. Barbara married Donald E. O’Shaughnessy in 1946 and moved to Midland, Texas in 1950. She was very active in the Midland community, from St. Ann’s Church and School to the Midland Community Theatre where she performed in numerous plays. She also served on the boards of the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation, Midland College Foundation and was a

Governor Emeritus of the Midland Memorial Foundation at Midland Memorial Hospital. A natural athlete, Barbara was an excellent golfer and tennis player. She and Don enjoyed traveling, and she remained curious and up to date on local and world events until her death. Barbara was a surrogate mom to many and a genuine friend to all. She leaves a lifetime of treasured memories and a legacy of love, laughter, wit and grace. Barbara will be greatly missed by all who knew her. She is survived by her six children: Karen, Steve, Mike, Dan, Peggy and Kaki O’Shaughnessy, 18 grandchildren, and 10 greatgrandchildren. She is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 49 years, Don, and her granddaughter, Nicole DeBerge and grandson, Chance DeBerge. John Doar, who graduated from SPA and was one of the nation’s preeminent voices against segregation in the south, died on November 11 at the age of 92. Mr. Doar graduated from St. Paul Academy in 1940 and attended Princeton University and the University of CaliforniaBerkeley Law School. He served as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1960 to 1967, playing a role in some of the most important political moments of that time. In 1962, he stood by James Meredith’s side as he integrated the University of Mississippi. In 1963, he stood in front of an angry mob in Jackson, Mississippi, after the murder of Medgar Evers and stopped even more violence

from taking place that day. In 1964, he was the first federal official notified of the disappearance of civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, in events which were later depicted in the movie Mississippi Burning. Doar was the federal prosecutor who secured the convictions in that case, and he was instrumental in drafting the Voting Rights Act signed into law by President Johnson in 1965. He left the government in the waning months of the Johnson administration, returning in 1974 as Chief Counsel for the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, which was then investigating the Watergate scandal and preparing articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon. He served as senior counsel with the law firm Doar Rieck Kaley & Mack in New York until just before his death. He returned to SPA in 2011 to deliver the Commencement address, speaking to the Class of 2011 about his career as a public servant. A year later, he was one of 13 individuals selected by President Barack Obama to receive the 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom. “We talk a great deal in this country about the virtue of public service, but it is rare to have as clear an example of the power of public service as John Doar,” said SPA Head of School Bryn Roberts. “Through his personal actions and his unfailing commitment to upholding the legal and moral standards to

which this country aspires, Mr. Doar had a discernible impact on modern American history. Our overwhelming pride in claiming him as an SPA graduate is now joined with a profound sadness in learning of his passing.” John is survived by his children, Burke, Gael, Michael, and Robert; his brother W.T. Doar ’39, his nephews Tom ’69 and Pat ’83, and his niece Kathleen ’66. Michael O’Brien passed away on October 20, 2014 at the age of 94 after a five year struggle with Alzheimer’s. Michael’s great grandparents came from Ireland and settled on Madeline Island in 1857. A lifelong St. Paul resident, Michael attended St. Paul Academy and enlisted in the Army Air Force and became a B-24 pilot during WWII. He was awarded the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross. Following the war, Michael became the luckiest man in St. Paul when he met Polly Goodrich. They were married in 1947 and raised their family in Highland Park. Michael had a career in the insurance business and pursued his other great loves (in addition to his wife and family): flying, spending summers on his beloved Madeline Island, lawn mowers, extra thick chocolate malts, Polly’s chocolate sauce, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, Hershey Bars, Milky Ways... you get the idea. Michael was preceded in death by parents Christopher Dillon and Mary Foley O’Brien, siblings Christopher ’32, Mary Louise ’31, Thomas,

Jessie ’35, and Craig ’42.

Survived by wife of 67 years Polly, children: Sandy and Judy and their children Drew (Carrie Valverde), Tara (Rob) Cain, Katie (Benjamin) Dillon; Craig ’70 and Maureen and their family; Elizabeth ’73 & Olav & their family; eight great grandchildren many, many nieces, nephews and cousins.The family wishes to express its utmost gratitude to all the staff at the Minnesota Vet’s Home for the wonderful, diligent, and sensitive care they provided to Michael and all the veterans in their care.

’41 Laura Dean Platt passed away on October 9, 2014. Laura was born in St. Paul on September 13, 1923 to Muriel Smith and Winter Dean. She did graduate work in Medieval History at the University of Minnesota. She also served on the Board of the Madeline Island Music Camp, the Ethical Practices Commission for the City of St. Paul and the Common Cause of Minnesota. She is survived by children, Robin Roderick ’64, Timothy Platt ’66 and Märta Silber, Nancy ’67 and Bill Jones, Katherine Platt ’68, and Stephen Platt; grandchildren Anders, Daniel, Emily, and Charlie Platt, Sarah and Annie Straubinger, Nicolas and Valentina Capula; great-grandchildren Oscar and Benjamin Capula. She is also survived by Craig Woolley and a brother, Ed Dean ’53. Laura was preceded in death by husband, Lawrence Platt ’43 (1996), daughter-in-law, Runa Berglund (1988), son-in-

law, Mark Roderick (1998) and brothers, Alden ’44, Bud ’42, and Bill Dean ’53.

’46 Barbara Judson, Summit School Class of 1946, was born on September 9, 1928 and passed away on Thursday, May 30, 2013. Barbara was a resident of Oakland, California. As a former colleague stated, “Barbara was a “dame” in the truest sense. Fearless traveler, take-no-prisoners agency representative, and all-around classy woman. Barbara lived life on her terms. Rest well, Ms Judson.” Congressman William E. Frenzel died November 17, 2014 at his home in Virginia just outside Washington with his family by his side, according to an announcement from the Economic Club of Minnesota, which he cofounded. He was 86. Frenzel voluntarily left Congress after serving 10 terms, though his career afterward was about as active and interesting as it was when he was a leading member of the House Budget and Ways and Means committees in the 1970s and 1980s. He served as a special adviser to democratic President Bill Clinton to help pass the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s. The next president, republican George W. Bush, tapped Frenzel for the Social Security Commission and the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. Frenzel was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and an alternate member of the House

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>> IN MEMORIAM

of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics. Frenzel never believed politicians should stay on Capitol Hill forever. With each new Congress, he introduced legislation, which never went anywhere, to limit service in the House to nine two-year terms. When he announced in 1990 that he would not seek an 11th term, he said he was sick of the republican party being in the “seemingly permanent minority” and he wanted to be useful elsewhere. Frenzel was known for his doodles, drawn while he was in meetings or on the phone. People all over Capitol Hill have “Frenzel doodles” pinned near their desks. After he left the House, Frenzel was encouraged by prominent members of his party, including Boschwitz, to run for governor. Frenzel opted to stay near the Hill and continue working on trade issues. One of his most noteworthy achievements came while working for the Clinton White House: getting members of his own party to support NAFTA. Frenzel said in later interviews that he set up shop in an office on the House side and met with every republican caucus member to convince them free trade with Mexico and Canada was a good idea. Frenzel was succeeded by Jim Ramstad, also a republican, who called Frenzel “the last of an endangered species” of people who truly relished working across the aisle; “He was highly respected for his moderation. He personified bipartisanship,” Ramstad said. Earlier this year, the Mexican

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government bestowed on Frenzel the highest honor it can give noncitizens — the Order of the Aztec Eagle, presented by Mexican Ambassador Eduardo Medina Mora for Frenzel’s work on NAFTA. Bill was born in St. Paul on July 31, 1928, and graduated high school from St. Paul Academy. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Dartmouth College and served in the Naval Reserve during the Korean War. He served eight years in the Minnesota Legislature before he was elected to Congress in 1970. Bill is preceded in death by his parents, Paul and Paula, and his brother Thomas ’49. Bill is survived by his wife of 63 years, Ruthy, three daughters, Debby, Mitty, and Pam; and his brothers Bob ’44 and Peter ’54. Mr. Frenzel’s family has requested that memorials be made in his honor be directed to St. Paul Academy and Summit School. Patricia Appel Malloy died on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 after a long illness. She was born on February 12, 1929 to Monte Appel, assistant Attorney General under Billy Mitchell and President Theodore Roosevelt, and Gladys McGrew Appel. She was married to John Washington Davidge, Jr., in June 1949. During the next 20 years she became very involved in the civic life of Washington, DC. Among her volunteer activities were President of the Madeira Alumnae

Association, Board Member and President of the Hillcrest Children’s Center, which at that time was the Department of Psychiatry of Children’s Hospital, and President of the Junior League of Washington from 1964 to 1966. After returning to school to obtain her BA from American University and Masters in Social Work at Catholic University, she had a career over twenty years as a Clinical Social Worker, as a psychotherapist specializing in couples and family therapy and worked for three years as the Chief Social Worker at the Washington Home Hospice, from 1985-1988. She was divorced in 1975 and remarried on March 6, 1982 to Dr. Bernard Mathis Malloy. She leaves four children: John W. Davidge III (Deborah Lott) of New York City, Nicholas Davidge and his wife Jill, of Charleston, South Carolina and Franconia, New Hampshire, Katharine Weeks Davidge (John Dorfman) of Newton, Massachusetts and Dorsey Davidge or McLean, Virginia and two beloved step-children, Elizabeth Malloy (Dan Sturman) of Los Angeles and Bart Malloy and his wife Susan of El Cerrito, California and 11 grandchildren: John Davidge IV and Alexandra Davidge, of New York City; Henry and William Davidge of New Haven, Connecticut; Tom, Anna and Jamie Davidge of Newton, Massachusetts; Cate and Daisy Chapin of McLean, Virginia and Jack and Matt Malloy of El Cerrito, California.

’51 Cynthia Clark Woodward was born on May 27, 1934 and passed away on October 29, 2014. Cynthia was a resident of Harwich, Massachusetts. She graduated from Summit School in 1951 and was preceded in death by her husband, Van Woodward.

’55 Joan L. Shapiro passed away in Mendota Heights on November 29, 2014. She was preceded in death by her parents Rosalind and Harry Shapiro, and her brother Mort ’53. Joan was an alumna of Summit School Class of 1955, and Wellesley College Class of 1959. She served as a faculty member at Summit School from 1964-1968 and as a Board Member for St. Paul Academy and Summit School in 1980. Joan was also a former Board Member of St. Paul Red Cross, Family Service of St. Paul, Vail Place, United Hospital Foundation, Jewish Family Service of St. Paul, Friends of Gillette, St. Paul Ramsey Hospital Volunteer Service and DARTS. Peter Vaughan died at his French home in the Loire Valley. Vaughan had moved to France with his wife, Dana Wood, after retiring from the Star Tribune. They lived in a country manse in Saint-Senoch, in central France, where Vaughan was able to indulge his tastes for good wine and food. Born in London, Vaughan and his mother moved to St. Paul when he was a child. His

father, Tom Vaughan, was an amateur theater enthusiast who became a critic himself after he retired from an academic career. Peter Vaughan graduated from St. Paul Academy in 1955 and received degrees from Yale and the London School of Economics. He started his career at the Minneapolis Star as a reporter, winning an award in 1974 for working on a team that investigated the value and reliability of auto repairs. It was as a theater critic, though, that he was remembered best. In a valedictory when he left the Star Tribune, Vaughan called theater “a unique forum to probe the political, social and personal forces that shape our lives.” “Probably the most disappointing aspect of Twin Cities theater is how often good, even exceptional work, is ignored by audiences,” he wrote. “One might argue that we have too much theater and that the exceptional often gets lost, but I fear that too often, people shun theater for the very reasons I am attracted to it.” Peter was preceded in death by his daughter, Rachel ’80. He is survived by his wife, Dana, her daughter, Tiffany, two sons from his first marriage, Tom and Jeremy ’87, and his sister Felicity Swayze ’55 (Townsend).

’61 Jim Clark passed away on January 9 at the age of 72. A beloved father, brother, uncle, and friend, Jim will be remembered for his integrity, his intelligence,

his thoughtfulness, and his spirituality. Jim was a graduate of St. Paul Academy (class of 1961), where he made many lifelong friends, and later attended the U of M. He worked as an analyst at 3M and contributed two decades of service to the State of Minnesota as a senior systems programmer in network management. He also loved music, travel, and lively conversation. Jim was preceded in death by father Frank Clark, mother Evelyn Donahower (nee Broe), and stepfather John Donahower. He is survived by sons Benjamin (Andrea) and Samuel Clark and their mother, Christine Dahl; sisters Linsay Meisner-Jensen and Perry Perry ’59; stepsisters Lynn (Fred) Levine ’61

and Deborah Donahower; stepbrother Channing Donahower ’63; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

’62 William Peet passed away in Kansas City, MO on January 8 from pancreatic cancer. Bill was the creator of Dr. Peet’s Talkwriter, an early literacy software program. He attended St. Paul Academy and spent summers on Madeline Island. After graduating from Amherst College, he served four years in the Peace Corps on Ifaluk Atoll in Micronesia. He then earned his Ph.D. in sociolinguistics from the University of Hawaii where

he and his first wife Corrine Yamamoto Peet raised their daughter Noelani. Bill had a passion for singing songs of love and social justice with his guitar, and playing classical piano. He was a keen sailor, windsurfer, water-skiier, jogger, and enjoyed flying small aircraft. Survived by wife and musical and professional partner Libby (Lancaster) Peet; daughter Noelani Peet (Anton Russell); sisters Elizabeth (Peet) Runge ’67; Sarah (Peet) Renner; and grandsons Andreas Rezaei and Dylan Russell; and stepchildren Lori and Daniel Hardee.

’91 Pelina M. Wilson of St. Paul passed away on December 1, 2014 at the age of 42. Pelina was a graduate of St. Paul Academy and Summit School. She is survived by her parents, William “Bill” and Willie Mae Wilson; brother, Bertrand (Cindy); niece, Naomi; and, a host of relatives and friends.

Friends Luther T. Prince Jr. passed away of Parkinson’s on November 24, 2014 at the age 87. Luther, of Minneapolis, was the first African American inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame. A native Texan educated at MIT, Luther was recruited by Honeywell in 1953. In 1967, Prince became CEO of Ault, Inc., spearheading its growth until he retired. Luther was the first african-american to serve on the St. Paul Academy and Summit School Board of Trustees; he served from 19911997. A life-long tinkerer, his children fondly remember him building his own electronics, and conceiving humorous inventions. Prince is predeceased by his parents, and by Evelyn Berryman Prince, his beloved wife of 40 years. He is survived by his children Linda, Terry, Kathy, Karen, and his grandchildren Kapria, Aris, and Dakota.

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>> PERFORMANCES

MIDDLE SCHOOL FALL PLAY | Alice@Wonderland | OCTOBER 2014

UPPER SCHOOL FALL PLAY | One Man, Two Guvnors | NOVEMBER 2014

For more photos from the SPA’s student performances, visit stpaulacademy. smugmug.com/ performances

MIDDLE SCHOOL WINTER CONCERT | DECEMBER 2014

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Photos by John Severson

UPPER SCHOOL POPS CONCERT | DECEMBER 2014

UPPER SCHOOL ONE-ACTS | JANUARY 2015

HUSS CENTER OPENING GALA | SAVE THE DATE | OCTOBER 10, 2015

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Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 3400

1712 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105-2194 Change Service Requested

TO PARENTS OF ALUMNI/AE: If this is no longer the current mailing address for your son or daughter, please let us know at alumni@spa.edu or 651-696-1366. In spring 2015, SPA embarked on the “Great Signature Project,” in which the signature of every student, teacher, and staff member at the school was collected digitally using iPads. The signatures will be imprinted on a wall panel that will be permanently mounted and displayed on a southeastern wall of the Arts Commons in the Huss Center for Performing Arts. For more photos of the Huss Center construction progress, see page 34.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS June 2015 Commencement June 7, 2015, 4 p.m.

Randolph Campus, North Lawn

August 2015 Golf and Tennis Classic August 17, 2015

September 2015 Reunion Weekend 2015 September 11-12, 2015

Visit www.spa.edu/alumni/reunion_weekend

for details.

October 2015

White Bear Yacht Club

Huss Center Opening Gala October 10, 2015

Visit www.spa.edu/alumni/events

Randolph Campus

for details.

October 2015 Alumni/ae Council Speaker Series: “The State of the Media” Panel presentation featuring Dave Kansas ’85, Catherine McKenzie ’88, and Andrea Scott ’79

October 22, 2015, 5:30 p.m. The Minneapolis Club

Visit www.spa.edu/alumni/speaker_series for details.