Campus Life

School Reopens With Record Enrollment to Start 172nd Year

On September 7 and 8, faculty and staff welcomed students and families back to campus in person for the start of the new school year. Warm weather and abundant sunshine provided the perfect backdrop for Student Orientation to be held on the Quad for the first time in two years. It was truly heartwarming to see students just enjoying being together as they settled into their dorm rooms, enjoyed meals in and outside of the dining hall, played games on the turf, the Quad and the Koven-Jones Glade, met their teachers, advisors, dorm parents and coaches, gathered around a firepit and a bonfire and enjoyed ice cream.

The community gathered inside the Tisch Family Auditorium to celebrate Convocation on September 11, which was followed by the first full day of classes on September 13. “A new year in a boarding school is an incredible opportunity to recreate our community based on our history, our mission, and our Core Values,” Head of School Peter Becker said at Convocation. “It is the same as when Mr. and Mrs. Gunn welcomed about 12 students into their home in 1850 to create a learning community — a learning ecosystem — out of the diverse group of people living and learning in close proximity to each other.”

The school began its 172nd academic year

with a record total enrollment of 315 students. This represents a continuation of a trend in increased enrollment in recent years, but is also a reflection of the fact that students want to be at our school like never before, as evidenced by a 10-point increase in this year’s yield. This year, 74 percent of students are boarding. There are 83 day students. Students have come from 23 states, including Indiana, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, and 22 countries, among them, the Republic of Moldova, Hungary and Ghana. Classes are composed of 54 freshmen, 80 sophomores, 81 juniors, 90 seniors, and 10 PGs. Overall, 55 percent are male and 45 percent are female.

New students account for about 40 percent of the total enrollment, and there are new classes and new faces among the faculty and staff. The Admissions Office is once again welcoming prospective students and families for in-person tours and this summer welcomed three new staff members: Dan Allen as Assistant Director of Admissions and Head Coach, Girls Varsity Ice Hockey; Caralyn Dea, Director of International Recruitment and Associate Director of Admissions; and Rachel Hedden, Assistant Director of Admissions and Head Coach, Girls Varsity Lacrosse.

In her new role, Dea works closely with educational consultants and prospective students and families around the globe, leading the school’s global student recruitment strategy. She will travel extensively, promoting The Frederick Gunn School internationally, meeting with enrolled families, and maintaining and growing the school’s relationships with educational consultants in all international markets. She also stewards our international students from their initial inquiry through enrollment, and monitors their time on campus to ensure that they are thriving at the school. A dual citizen of the United States and Australia, Dea grew up on Hayman Island on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. She has lived in Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, London, Texas, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and now Washington,

Connecticut, and brings to The Frederick Gunn School more than 10 years of diverse global education experience. She served for four years as Director of International Education and Boarding at Toorak College in Melbourne, Victoria, and helped it to become one of the most desirable schools for girls — and international female students in particular — such that the school developed a waiting list for international students for the first time in its 140-year history.

“The world is an amazing place and we are all here together, diverse in so many ways, with so much to learn from each other. But being a diverse community is different than living well together as a diverse community,” Becker said at Convocation. To live well together as a diverse community takes work. It takes mutual respect, patience, care, and sacrifice. And if we choose to spend time only with people we already know we have things in common with, whether they play the same sport, are from the same place, share the same interests, or speak the same language, that would be a missed opportunity, he said.

“We want you to practice courage, curiosity, humility and creativity every day. My request to you, individually and collectively, is to find a way to cross over from whatever is your safe place — the person or group of people with whom you are most comfortable —

Marlon Fisher ’01 of the Alumni & Development Office, right, at Orientation and establish a connection with someone different. It certainly means taking a risk and practicing courage, and it might mean choosing to become curious about why someone does what they do or believes what they do. Treat the other person the way you would hope that they would treat you. Let’s do that together this year and make this place and this year incredible.” The newest members of the Admissions Office, left to right: Daniel Allen, Caralyn Dea and Rachel Hedden

Welcoming our new Chief People Officer

Amanda Colarusso has joined The Frederick Gunn School as our new and first Chief People Officer (CPO). While the title of Chief People Officer may be unfamiliar, the role is part of the school’s vision and strategy to focus on our people, our culture and our Core Values. The addition of this permanent role also places FGS at the leading edge of boarding schools and higher education institutions.

“Schools are obviously about people — the students, first and foremost, and the faculty and staff who create the context for the flourishing of our students,” Head of School Peter Becker said. “And yet, schools, including ours, have only just begun to learn from other professions about how to most effectively foster the growth of our employees individually as people, both personally and professionally, as well as with regard to their development as members of various teams and departments, and the organization as a whole. Our goal in creating the role of Chief People Officer is to equip our school with a senior-level Human Resources officer whose expertise and experience includes traditional HR functions, but extends to fostering a culture that supports the professional growth of all employees in ways that are aligned with our mission and Core Values.”

“I am excited for Amanda to bring her skills and experience to The Frederick Gunn School to help us grow and mature as an institution and as a community of adults dedicated to the goal of student flourishing,” Becker said. “She hit the ground running and is getting us started in raising our game with people.”

Colarusso brings to the community 15 years of experience in human resources, risk management, safety administration, and the insurance industry. She worked most recently at Ginsberg’s Foods, Inc., in Hudson, New York, where, among other leadership responsibilities, she co-created the company’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative and managed all COVID-related guidelines, screenings, and leaves during the pandemic. She managed the company’s recruitment efforts, employee relations and communications, professional development, and worked closely with senior leadership on corporate strategy. We caught up with Colarusso to ask about her new role.

What is a Chief People Officer? Many companies and institutions are incorporating the role of Chief People Officer as a best practice. It’s about taking a holistic view of developing people, building boundaries, creating a safe and harmonious environment, showing empathy and care and love. Those words are not necessarily associated with a work environment, but I do believe that if you want a flourishing employee base, you can no longer strip away the personal from the work. Most of us integrate all of it, the personal and the professional. That is becoming the norm outside of a boarding school, but in a boarding school it’s tenfold. This is definitely an immersed community and environment.

Is your role solely focused on faculty? My role here isn’t strictly faculty-focused. It’s every single employee here. It’s building and grounds, it’s safety, it’s marketing, it’s admissions, it’s all of it. I think every single employee needs to feel like they’re supported and they’re in a trusted work environment and they have an avenue to go to when they need guidance and support.

So by supporting faculty and staff, you are actually providing a benefit for students? Traditionally people might not look at it as a benefit to students, but it is. We have high expectations for our employees. They are in loco parentis, so one of the things the school has recognized, which is amazing, is that we need to pour into our faculty the way we expect our faculty to pour into their students. What does that look like? It looks like personal and professional development. It looks like an avenue for them to go to when they have questions and concerns. It looks like building boundaries to create a fair, consistent, equitable work experience for all.

Cassie Ruscz, the new Director of Residential Life, teaching Spanish

Over the summer, several faculty took on new roles, including Cassie Ruscz, who is now Director of Residential Life in addition to her duties as Prefect Advisor, Spanish teacher, Head Coach for Varsity Softball, and Assistant Coach for Girls Varsity Basketball. Ruscz has been a member of the FGS faculty since 2017. At Convocation on September 11, Ruscz was awarded The Class of 1955 Distinguished Teaching Award. She delivered this year’s Convocation Address about the time she found herself in the middle of the running of the bulls in Cuenca, Spain. (Read about her experience here: bit.ly/FGS2021NewRoles).

Asked what she is most looking forward to in her new role, Ruscz said: “I’m most looking forward to having the kids on campus and being able really to expand on the residential life piece that we didn’t fully get last year due to COVID-19. Some of the most fun in boarding school happens in the dorms and outside of classes and I can’t wait to interact with students in those moments and help build those moments in a healthy, safe, and fun way.”

Jessica Lyon, World Language Department Chair, officially became Dean of Faculty on July 1. She is also a Spanish teacher and Head Coach for Girls JV Soccer. Lyon hit the ground running, launching a newsletter for faculty over the summer based on feedback she received from the annual faculty survey, and she is working closely with the Academic Office and new Chief People

Faculty Take on Officer Amanda Colarusso. “The past 18 months have been hard for so many of us and to feel a sense of normalcy is incredible!” Lyon said in September, shortly after faculty and New Roles students returned to campus in person. “Our Gunn community is a great one and, I think, we’ve prospered as a whole. Our faculty are filled with hope that this year will bring us into the next chapter of life after facing what seemed like an eternity of challenges. What I love about our faculty is that they all bring so many different perspectives to our community and allow our students to experience this through their guidance and teaching. I hope to bring excitement to our faculty to empower them to take this year on with confidence. I really strive to be a resource for our faculty body and want to encourage them all to grow personally and professionally. Our Professional Growth Task Force Team has worked over the summer to bring growth and vulnerability to light in order for us to grow professionally. While Jessica Lyon, Dean of Faculty that will take time, I am excited to help our faculty thrive to be the best versions of themselves. There will be good days and there will be difficult days, but if we work to move forward, as individuals and as a community, great things will come! As Dean of Faculty, I work hard knowing that they’ve entrusted me to be a representative of their hope and growth and continue to make strides towards a thriving work environment.”

The English Department faculty gathered to take this photograph with retiring member Rod Theobald P’09 ’14 (center) at the end of the Spring Term. Left to right: Misa Giroux, Richard Martin P’20 ’23 ’25, English Department Chair, Tim Poole, Karoline Theobald P’09 ’14, Chris Visentin, Blaire Farrar, Nick Benson, and Kori Rimany ’14.

Fond Farewells to Faculty & Staff

In the spring Bulletin, we paid tribute to Peg Small, who retired on April 1, after 42 years as School Registrar. At the close of the school year, we recognized these faculty members for their years of service and thanked them for their many contributions to the students and our school.

Roderick M. Theobald P’09 ’14 of the English Department faculty retired at the end of June, after four decades of teaching, including 23 years at The Frederick Gunn School. As a tribute to him, the title of Honorary Senior Master was bestowed upon him at Commencement by his colleague, Ed Small, the Anne S. and Ogden D. Miller Senior Master. Theobald also gave this year’s Baccalaureate Address.

Theobald began teaching in 1978, and dedicated his life and career to independent schools, beginning with The Boys’ Latin School in Baltimore, where he was a student. “Mr. Theobald is what we call reverently in boarding schools, a school person,” Head of School Peter Becker said at the Baccalaureate service. “A school person is a teacher or administrator in a boarding school who loves the whole ecosystem, who believes passionately in the transformational power of a teaching and learning community filled with teachers who practice hope and optimism about each student.” Over four decades, Theobald served as a teacher and coach at Berwick Academy in Maine, at The American International School (TASIS) in Surrey, England, at Cardigan Mountain School in New Hampshire, at Wasatch Academy in Utah, and at Look backward into your memories to navigate The Frederick Gunn School, life. Even as you move forward, they become arriving in 1998 with his wife, episodes of the important times that shape us, Karoline P’09 ’14, who joined him as a member of the English define us, and eventually, accumulate into a Department faculty, and their mosaic of pictures that become the cairns that two young daughters, Maisie direct us on life’s journey ahead.” Theobald Dokonal ’09 and Lindsay Theobald ’14, who grew – Roderick M. Theobald P’09 ’14 up on campus and became Gunn graduates. Through the

years, Theobald developed a keen insight into students and the teaching craft, and shared his passions as a guitarist and avid fly-fisherman.

“We all know he cuts a dashing figure on his beloved cobalt blue Honda Metropolitan moped. And he’s the only person in Washington able to pull that off sporting a tweed jacket and a bow tie,” Becker said. “His signature bow tie, I am told, is an homage to Archibald Cox … one of the prosecutors during the Watergate trial, which unfolded as Mr. Theobald came of age.” Cox was also an avid fly-fisherman, and his grandson was once Theobald’s student.

In addition to teaching, Theobald was Assistant Director of College Counseling for 18 years. He was the faculty advisor for the Outdoor Club, led a Fly-Fishing Club, and as Head Coach, led the wrestling team to win the Western New England Championship in 2000, 2007 and 2012. He also coached JV and Varsity Boys Lacrosse, boys soccer, and is a steadfast fan of the school’s hockey teams.

“Memory and imagination are intertwined,” Theobald said in his Baccalaureate Address. “Important memories will, as the author John Steinbeck wrote in his novel ‘Cannery Row,’ burn into our picture memories. Memories give us the landscape to

grow and enhance our curiosity, and ultimately to solve problems and to ponder solutions. Look backward into your memories to navigate life. Even as you move forward, they become episodes of the important times that shape us, define us, and eventually, accumulate into a mosaic of pictures that become the cairns that direct us on life’s journey ahead.” Maggie Bucklin P’10 retired in June, having served for 21 years as the College Counseling Assistant and Testing Supervisor. In her role, Bucklin supported hundreds of FGS seniors through the college process and was a warm and welcoming presence for students and families throughout the years. Bucklin lives in Litchfield and enjoys taking road trips with her husband, Bill, an English teacher at Forman School, spending time with her golden retrievers, Riley and Sadie, and visiting her children and grandchildren in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles. Robyn Giordano, who joined the school community in February 1996 and was a member of the Business Robyn Giordano Office for 25 years under two Heads of School and three Chief Financial Officers, retired on July 30. Giordano was an integral member of the Business Office and the school through thick and thin, often working in unsung-hero roles. Her dedication to the school and faithful contributions throughout her time here are to be commended.

In June, the College Counseling Office expressed their good wishes to Maggie Bucklin P’10, center, upon her retirement. Left to right: Craig Badger, Associate Director, Kate McMann ’05, Director, Seth Low, Associate Head of School, and Emily Abelson, Associate Director.

Prefects Lead by Finding the Silver Lining

We are pleased to introduce the prefects for the 2021-22 school year. In the true spirit of Frederick Gunn, these student leaders have shown resilience in the face of adversity through their ability to see the silver lining in the new opportunities and learning experiences that can come from difficult times.

GAVIN BROWN

5-YEAR SENIOR, DAY WASHINGTON, CONNECTICUT

SERDAR KALTALIOGLU

4-YEAR SENIOR, BOARDING NEWBURGH, NEW YORK

LIAM KOVAL

3-YEAR SENIOR, DAY NEW PRESTON, CONNECTICUT “The past year was full of challenges, from being in a virtual classroom to having limited opportunities to hang out with friends. Fortunately, however, thanks to the hard work of students and faculty, we created new environments like hanging out on the Glade and the evening volleyball league that we hadn’t had before.

During my senior year, I am hoping to work with my fellow prefects to create a smooth and fun transition back into life on campus with the new health guidelines. In addition to everyone becoming reaccustomed to campus life, I also hope we can help reintegrate many of the awesome social experiences like Firepit Fridays, dorm challenges at School Meetings, and bringing back the Game of the Week that we’ve had on campus historically, and that are open to the student body as a whole.”

“It took an extra year for me to get my driver’s license, but fortunately, I learned to skateboard and rediscovered my love of biking. Those activities also brought me closer to my family.

This year I’m looking forward to working on making our campus more sustainable and environmentally focused. I want to work on reducing the amount of trash we send to landfills. We could add more recycling bins around campus, especially outside, and talk to students about limiting disposables like plastic bottles and single-use masks. I’d like to get composting efforts off the ground, helping to educate the community on that. I also want to start a conversation with the administration about the community’s energy usage, and ways we could use renewables in the future. I want to push everyone to set ambitious goals for themselves and the community as a whole, and continue setting a culture of respect for the planet.”

“Being away from school, I did miss my friends and FGS family but was grateful to spend quality time with my family that I would’ve missed otherwise. With my friends, we learned to communicate better among obstacles. We would spend time together outdoors playing basketball, biking, and finding new hobbies. I learned to always look at the bright side of any poor situation.

One thing I hope to accomplish this year as a prefect is to encourage students to take risks and find value in trying new things. For me, trying new things looks like trying a new sport or joining a new club on campus. Being engaged and involved in co-curricular activities at school is a great way to meet new friends, find new interests, and to find your niche on campus.”

AVA MARTI

3-YEAR SENIOR, DAY GOSHEN, CONNECTICUT

CLARA PRANDER

2-YEAR SENIOR, BOARDING STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

EDDIE RAYHILL

4-YEAR SENIOR, BOARDING NEW HARTFORD, NEW YORK

ALEX WARREN

4-YEAR SENIOR, BOARDING OSSINING, NEW YORK

YOYO ZHANG

“In the spring, I really enjoyed being back on campus, in the classrooms, and on the sports fields. I learned that I have to take advantage of what I have now and not take anything for granted because we never know if something so abrupt will occur again.

I am looking forward to bringing back more school spirit such as involving everyone in traditions, cheering on our classmates, whether it be on the sports field or going to the plays/musicals, and to helping lead our school on a good path. Prefects are a helping hand to those around us, faculty and classmates. Everyone sometime in their life will need help. So as a prefect, I want to be a friendly helping hand to others.”

“The School offered different, fun courses for students to choose from during those three weeks of Winterim, and I got an amazing new learning experience in the class “Scientific Thinking in Real Life,” taught by Mr. Bailey and Mrs. Haverstock, about the process of making a new vaccine.

This year, I would like to bring the community together as well as making everyone feel welcome. I remember my first year at The Frederick Gunn School as a junior and how the prefects at the time always made me feel welcome and as someone that immediately was a part of the community at the school, even though it was only my second day. I want to provide the same security and be as inviting as they were, so that everyone can feel like they belong in this community from the first moment they step foot on our campus. I hope that will bring our community even closer.”

“After half a year of being isolated and not being able to do the things I love most, it was amazing to be able to do it again on campus. It was great to see The Frederick Gunn School after such a long time and get some sense of normalcy back in my life.

I am extremely excited to get started on campus and work with my other prefects to create an environment that is enjoyable for everyone. This year in particular, I want to first achieve a culture where no one feels like an outsider. I believe that culture is something that the leaders of the community create, and I want to set a culture where everyone is able to succeed while feeling comfortable taking risks while being supported.”

“People that I know, as well as myself, found this unprecedented time as an opportunity to explore our passions and talents, as well as to reevaluate values. I, in particular, became more in touch with my creativity, where I found myself painting and drawing more often. I enjoyed it so much that I was able to use my art to spread awareness in nearby towns using a George Floyd poster I made. I find that it is so important from time to time to pay attention to what you want to do, so you don’t lose track of your passions, and to use what you have to make a difference.

During my senior year as prefect I look forward to reuniting students seamlessly using exciting activities, dorm challenges, and school dances. I also want to ensure that this year is a positive one that is filled with enthusiasm and hard work so we can carry it on for years to come.”

“I achieved a lot during the 17 months I spent in Shanghai. I became a tour guide in Shanghai, telling the stories of Chinese revolutionists to tourists. I was able to spend time with my family and met a lot of excellent peers. My peers and I designed a creative writing summer camp for middle school students. I truly enjoyed working with those middle school students, and it was interesting to see how everyone tells their story in a different way.

I can’t wait for my senior year to start and serve as a prefect. I am looking forward to meeting more people and listening to their stories. I am also excited to make the activities on campus more fun but in a safe and healthy way, especially during this pandemic.”

A Different Viewpoint

Outdoor Program Brings Lessons on Leadership, Independence, Competence Into Focus

On September 11, the same day the school gathered for a memorial service on the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, and celebrated the official opening of the school at Convocation, Dan Fladager, the new Director of Outdoor Programs, led 15 students on a sunset hike to Waramaug Rock in Macricostas Preserve. The uphill climb to the summit takes on average 45 minutes to an hour to complete, but those who frequent this trail are rewarded with beautiful views of Lake Waramaug and the surrounding hills. The trek seemed a fitting way to begin the new school year, giving students an opportunity to spend time in nature, employ their sense of wonder, and reflect on a different viewpoint. It was also an indication of things to come, as Fladager has great plans for where he’s taking the school’s historic outdoor program next.

Since the time of Frederick Gunn, students at his school have been encouraged to experience their natural surroundings — and grow in their knowledge of the outdoors as leaders — by hiking, camping, canoeing, backpacking, and taking their lessons outdoors. Such activities are naturally encouraged by the school’s location in the beautiful Litchfield Hills as well as its proximity to the Catskills, White Mountains, and Adirondacks. Under Fladager’s leadership, the program, now called Gunn Outdoors, will offer more opportunities for students to engage with the outdoors, both close to home and farther afield.

“I want the outdoor program to have more of a role in students’ lives and provide more services for the school,” he said. The program will also be more focused on building leaders and developing independence through outdoor skills and competencies. “When you go backpacking, there will always be a student leader of the day. We talk about decision-making, putting the needs of the group over the needs of the individual, and developing skills that will determine how far the group can go.”

Rock climbing, fly fishing, and backpacking, current or future skills represented in the program, will teach students how to be competent in an outdoor activity, and how to take care of others who might be less competent to achieve a goal or complete an activity. Students will learn how to plan a trip, plan the route, and make sure everyone stays hydrated. “We’re going to broaden their horizons and push their boundaries a little bit,” Fladager said. We’re going to broaden their horizons and push their boundaries a little bit.”

– Dan Fladager, Director, Outdoor Programs

Training student mentors

Prior to the start of the fall term, Fladager transformed the small cabin named for longtime art teacher Elizabeth Kempton into indoor and outdoor classroom spaces he has dubbed “Kempton Commons.” Faculty are welcome to reserve the outdoor space, which is equipped with camp chairs, an outdoor white board, a firepit, rain shelter and sun shelter, for lessons or meetings. Students are also welcome to perch in the Adirondack chairs on the porch, or gather inside, in the meeting space that doubles as Fladager’s office.

“I want this to be a place where people hang out and not something that I covet for myself,” Fladager said, noting that Emily Gum, Assistant Head of School for Teaching & Learning, was eyeing the cabin for the Gunn Scholar program’s book club meetings this fall.

His near-term plans call for students in the Outdoor Leadership co-curricular program to build new trails for the Varsity Cross

Facing page top, students at Waramaug Rock, overlooking Lake Waramaug, on September 11; At left, Dan Fladager, Director of Outdoor Programs, helps Simon Rhodes ’22 with a clove hitch at Kempton Commons while Ursula Anderson ’22 and Luke Miller ’22 look on. This page: Fladager at the peak of Down’s Mountain in the Wind River Range, Wyoming.

Country team to use at South Street Fields. Fladager is also working towards delevoping a new leadership curriculum, through which students aspire to become Frederick Gunn Guides. “We will have a group of students who are like the prefects of the outdoor club. If we are going on a backpacking trip, or a canoe trip at Lake Waramaug, or teaching a Leave No Trace class, we’ll invite them to come and be mentors. They will be a group of outdoor prefects who are super engaged with the outdoors, want to be mentors with their peers, and that gives them a chance to practice leadership, independence and competence,” he said.

His five-year plan for Gunn Outdoors will expand the program further. He is already thinking about developing trails at the school’s 25-acre property off Frisbie Road, and giving the Neergaard Cabin there, built in 1959, new life. “That cabin is pristine. The floor and foundation and framing are in good shape,” said Fladager, who envisions taking students snowshoeing and camping there, and using the site to start a “solo program,” where students could practice independence by camping alone for 24 hours with minimal equipment.

In the meantime, he has already swept out the environmental classroom at South Street, which he is using as the Outdoor Leadership classroom. “I have all the gear out there, sleeping bags, tents. That’s where I hold Outdoor Leadership classes. There’s a lot of space for us to set up tents and it could be a staging ground for backpacking trips. We can take everyone out to South Street and get ready there. It will serve as the liminal space between campus and the outdoors,” he said. New faculty member Jordana Graveley (in cap), who is co-leading Outdoor Leadership with Fladager and Karoline Theobald P’09 ’14,

As early as August 2022, Fladager watches as Leo You ’22 builds a fire for the envisions leading a two-week backpacking first time at the school’s Frisbie Road property. trip, perhaps in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, which he knows well after working as a Wilderness Ranger for the Forest Service for five years.

Closer to home, he is intent on leading students on rock climbing adventures. “We have great access to rock climbing. Thirty minutes away we have St. John’s Ledges (near the Appalachian Trail in Kent, Connecticut). We’re 90 minutes away from the Shawangunks (near New Paltz, New York). In New Hampshire, there’s Rumney. It’s not a mecca but it’s darn close.”

The through line for all of these outdoor experiences is a revamped mission for Gunn Outdoors to be guided by three habits of mind that help students be successful in- and out-of-doors: “Those three habits of mind are leadership, independence and competence. We see these as things that Gunn Outdoors helps students practice in the outdoors but they are transferable skills, transferable habits of mind. That is what a competitive outdoor program does. It takes people who have never set foot outside and it can turn them, in a semester, or in a year, into competent leaders of their peers in an outdoor skill, whether that is fly fishing, canoeing, backpacking, or birding.”

A love for teaching high school outdoor programs

Fladager has been working in outdoor education since 2012, when he became a wilderness ranger for the Forest Service in Wyoming. In that role, he was in charge of running a trail and wilderness crew and built a section of the Continental Divide Trail with a group of volunteer high school students. He brings to The Frederick Gunn School a wealth of knowledge and expertise from his three years there, and as a curriculum developer and backpacking guide for the High Mountain Institute in Colorado. “This is where I developed my love for teaching high school outdoor programs,” he said. He also has completed outdoor educator training from the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), the goldstandard in outdoor education. “I’m tasked with taking the outdoor program and making it more academic, finding new and interesting ways to serve students and the school, and making it a nationally competitive program. To do that, I’m using curriculum and developing ideas I’ve seen at NOLS and the High Mountain Institute and other model schools. Those are North Stars for me.” The NOLS curriculum, he added, “is a curriculum that I’m trained in and have taught to students before. It’s teaching them how to lead their peers, and then as a support for that, they are learning outdoor skills. They’ll learn how to camp, learn how to backpack. If you want to teach them outdoor curriculum, you teach them the NOLS curriculum. There’s nothing better.”

Kiki Shelters ’22, Jenna Hunt ’22, Natalia Zappone ’23, Annie Scovill ’22, Anabel Lota ’22, and Maya Sellinger ’23 at the Pinnacle during the All-School Walk on October 7.

Fladager’s original field of study was English, which he currently teaches at The Frederick Gunn School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Gonzaga University, and a master’s in English from Purdue. He served as a researcher for the Eppley Institute for Public Lands at Indiana University, where he is a doctoral candidate in English and taught courses including Adventure Literature and Wilderness: What is it Good For? His dissertation, “Genres of Preservation,” explores the 19th century literary genres that helped build and give shape to the burgeoning preservation movement that was getting started while Frederick Gunn was starting his school and inventing recreational camping.

an eye toward collaboration

During Winterim in December, the school’s new, two-week, intensive curriculum, Fladager and Ed Surjan, Educational Technology and Library Director and an avid outdoorsman, will co-lead “Exploring the Mountains,” a winter mountaineering course with a writing component that will culminate in a winter peak attempt of a nearby mountain. The course will take a deep dive into “questions about the narrative and experience of mountain climbing — why we do it and how to write about it,” Fladager and Surjan said in the course description. “Why are stories of intrepid explorers climbing mountain peaks so compelling? What makes us want to follow in their tracks? What in the world is a crampon and how do I use it?”

The class will take every opportunity to get students outside — snowshoeing, hiking, and of course, attempting to stand on a summit. “Students can expect to read a few stories, write one of their own, and take workshops in mountaineering, risk management, and outdoor leadership.”

Fladager and Seth Low, Associate Head of School and Director of Co-Curricular Programs, have talked about getting the outdoor program to touch every student’s life in some way at least once every year. That can be accomplished through self-selecting programs like Outdoor Leadership, and through events such as the All-School Walk in October, Firepit Fridays, and the Live Like Fred activities that are continuing as part of this year’s Community Weekend programming. “I’m on the Student Activities Committee and we are developing programming for all of these things. We are going to think very intentionally about making those experiences ones that are really memorable,” Fladager said.

Another collaboration, with new science teacher Jordana Graveley, is introducing students in Outdoor Leadership to birding and naturalism. In a few short weeks, the Outdoor Leadership program was visited by hawks, goldfinches, mushroom hunters, and even an industrious beaver. Graveley, who is teaching AP Environmental Science, is also passionate about augmenting the school’s existing composting program, and plans to make that a service project for Outdoor Leadership this winter. Down the road, Fladager would like to collaborate with Graveley to develop an interpretive trail at the Frisbie Road property, and he is talking with Jay Bell, Interim Director of the IDEAS Lab, about bringing students in the school’s engineering classes there, to see what new uses they might propose for the cabin there.

Although the outdoor program has evolved through the years, Fladager still sees its purpose as linked to what Frederick Gunn believed: that education should not be bound by the walls of the classroom and that experiencing the outdoors contributes to the development of character. It’s also about developing skills in the outdoors that are transferable in life.

“That’s something that the outdoor program has built into it. That is its soul. Those are the things that it does. We do goal-setting. We learn how to lead each other. We learn how to be good followers. We learn how to work as a team to accomplish a goal. And we learn how to be uncomfortable. The outdoors is an uncomfortable place. You get bit by ticks. You sit in lightning storms. You get rained on, you get snowed on, you get muddy and dirty and gross, and you learn how to have a smile on your face despite all that, because where you are invites joy and invites you to forget the little discomforts in the face of the big beauty of the world. So when you are in college as a freshman and you’re in a tiny dorm room and your roommate is keeping you up all night because they like to play electronic dance music, and you don’t have a car and your bike got stolen, and you have to walk all the way across campus … you’ll be equipped to handle that stuff,” Fladager said.

New Archivist Co-Teaching Gunn Scholar Program

Along with new student leaders, two Gunn Scholars for the 2021-22 academic year were announced at Investiture on May 31. They are Grace Noh ’22 and Robin Wright ’22. With the start of the Fall Term, these students began their primary research in the Paula and George Krimsky ’60 Archives and Special Collections, guided by Emily Gum, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, and Moira Conlan, the school’s new Assistant Librarian and Archivist, who are co-teaching the Gunn Scholars this year.

The students began by reading “The Master of The Gunnery,” to learn more about Frederick Gunn and the history of the school as a backdrop for their own projects. They are expected to complete almost all of their primary research and to have an annotated outline written by the end of the term, so when they begin writing their 10,000-word research papers this winter, they will have everything they need, Gum said. The scholars are tentatively scheduled to present their original research at the Rooted Research Conference on campus on April 24, 2022.

One of Conlan’s first lessons was to teach the scholars about paleography, or

Gunn Scholars Robin Wright ’22 and Grace Noh ’22 with Assistant Librarian and Archivist Moira Conlan and Emily Gum, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, who are co-teaching the program.

how to read old handwriting. She gave them practice in reading some of the early letters that passed between Mr. Gunn and his wife, Abigail Brinsmade, in the years before they were married and started their school.

Conlan brings to the school both education and experience in libraries and archives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a master’s in library science with a concentration in archival management from Simmons College. She has a strong background in library archival best practices, including creating systems and strategies for organization, documentation, and preservation. Since 2016, she has worked as an archival consultant, training volunteers, librarians, and museum professionals in archival best practices as part of the State of Connecticut’s “Traveling Archivist” program. She has created workshops as well as individualized training for the general public and local institutions on preservation, digitization, and collections management topics.

As Executive Director of the Sharon Historical Society, Conlan led a team of volunteers on a project to create finding aids for the collection, implement archival collections and records management policies, and completely process the Institutional Archives. As the project was completed, they were able to reach new researchers by sharing the collections through the Connecticut Archives Online, and other statewide initiatives. She was also an archivist for the Yolo County Archives in Woodland, California, and the Delaware Public Archives in Dover, Delaware, where she coordinated the State Historical Marker Program. Noh and Wright conducting their original, place-based research in the Paula and George Krimsky ’60 Archives and Special Collections

“I firmly believe that the ultimate goal in archival organization and digitization should be making the collections easily accessible for patrons and easily usable for reference staff. Balancing preservation in this task is paramount, but the new technologies available in the field are making this goal more achievable than ever,” Conlan said.

While at Yolo County Archives, she collaborated with the San Jose State Library School to create an internship in which she taught graduate students to digitize the photograph collection and create metadata. At The Frederick Gunn School, she also hopes to make the resources in the school’s archives more accessible, for use by the Gunn Scholar Program as well as other researchers on and off campus, and to inspire more students and faculty to use the archives and learn about Mr. Gunn and the school’s history. “Adolescents in particular are such curious learners, and working with primary source materials at this age leads to strong research and critical thinking skills. This is why programs like Connecticut History Day, the Gunn Scholar, and the Rooted Research Conference are so important.”

I firmly believe that the ultimate goal in archival organization and digitization should be making the collections easily accessible for patrons and easily usable for reference staff. Balancing preservation in this task is paramount, but the new technologies available in the field are making this goal more achievable than ever.”

– Moira Conlan, Assistant Librarian and Archivist