Lamplighter Spring 2018

lamplighter

THE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL

Spring 2018

Leadership 2017-2018

THE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL

Board of Trustees

Mark I. Greene, President Ronald S. Rolfe ’60, President Emeritus Joshua Harris, Vice President & Treasurer Lisa Pagliaro Selz, Secretary David R. Trower h’95, Headmaster Alexandra Wallace Creed Paquita Y. Davis-Friday Kerianne Flynn Kenneth M. Garschina Stephanie Drescher Gorman George Hall Monica Keany Peter B. Kellner ’84 Alexander Klabin Michael S. Klein Rashida La Lande Daniel Lascano Jamie Magid ’91* Greg Mondre Metin Negrin Lara Oboler Anupama Poole Liz Steinberg* Jay Wilkins Jim Wilson *member ex officio

Trustees Emeriti Marian R. Bicks Jane Phillips Donaldson Richard N. Foster D. Ross Hamilton John J. Hannan Susan B. Hirschhorn Karen T. Hughes John R. Hupper '40 E. William Judson Robert J. Katz George A. Kellner David H. Koch Robert Liberman '58 Thomas H. Lister Peter deF. Millard Richard C. Perry '70 Joe L. Roby Andrew P. Steffan Leonard A. Wilf

Alumni Council

Executive Committee Jamie Magid ’91, President Alfred Burger ’87,Vice-President Tom Zipser ’99,Vice-President Alex Klaris ’06,Vice-President Alumni Annual Fund Alfred Burger ’87, Chair

Theodore D. Agbi ’10 Charles W. Allen ’91 Paul E. Alshooler ’03 Basil L. Anderson ’08 Andrew Arias ’92 Zach T. Axelrod ’95 Neil E. Bader ’79 Jackson Baker ’13 Anthony P. Bonan ’93 Pierre A. Bonan ’89 Robert B. Buehler ’78 James Burge ’17 Robert D. Burge ’76* Andrew A. Burger ’59 John T. Carr III ’76 Kai Cedeño ’16 Erik A. Cliette ’81 Brooke B. Connell ’86 Blake T. Davis ’85 Charles Domash ’04 Adam J. P. Donaldson ’05 Maurice F. Edelson ’78 Kerim Eken ’00 Hugh Esterson ’15 Alexander C. Faherty ’98 Jason M. Farkas ’97 Michael Feinberg ’84 Van Furniss ’91 Andrew Galant ’14 Alexander G. Gellert ’79 Andrew Gellert ’16 David Goldberg ’14 Harlan E. Goldberg ’90 Evan R. Goldfischer ’81 Christopher S. Goodman ’86 Michael H. Grady ’91 Christopher J. Hallows ’87 Christopher W. Hamilton ’96 Schuyler Havens ’88 Michael W. Hedges Jr. ’77 Ian Henderson ’17 John C. Henry Jr. ’84 Ryder Henry ’17 Cannon Lyell Hersey ’92 John B. Hersey ’09 David W. Herzberg ’89 David R. Hirschfeld ’99 Patrick D. R. Horan ’85 Tristan Howard ’96 C. Andrew Hughes ’98 Alex A. Ingram ’03 Andrew A. Janko ’95 Jasper H. Jarecki ’12

Clinton V. P. Johnson ’79 Timothy Johnson ’04 Stephen H. Judson ’76 William H. Judson ’78 Devon Kalsi ’15 A. Reed Katz ’03 Cameron A. Koffman ’12 Kenneth LaFreniere ’90 Dean I. Landis ’78* Teddy Landis ’13 Ethan A. Leff ’11 Addeson Lehv ’18 Davis Lister ’15 Hale Macdonald ’13 Paul J. Mancuso ’03 Brian A. Margolis ’75 Colin McCabe ’90 Timothy C. McCabe ’94 Kenneth J. McCauley ’93 Elijah McNally ’14 Alex Melnitzky ’02 Liam R. Millhiser ’96 Ross R. Millhiser IV ’94 Max Morris ’13 Richard C. Perry ’70* Christopher Persley ’88 Vincent Peterson ’74 Matthew Petrillo ’02 Philip N. Pilmar ’01 Roger Raines ’80 Harlan Reinhardt ’83 Marc N. Rice ’84 Ronald S. Rolfe ’60* Eric Rosas ’06 Berton Rose ’97 John Rose ’90 Louis Rose ’86* Henry J. Rosenwach ’04 Alex Ross ’17 Eric E. Rothstein ’81* Alessandro M. Santoro ’07 Matthew Schnitzer ’13 Yoshiki Shimada ’75 Alexander B. Shipper ’02 Denton A. Smith ’94 Wesley Stanton ’92 Sebastian Stern ’14 Jake Taub ’12 Khalid A. Taylor ’10 Michael Tiedemann ’86 Andrew W.Vogelstein ’81 Noel E.Volpe ’85 Alexander von Furstenberg ’85 Mark Wasserberger ’82 Simon D. Wasserberger ’85* Matthew Wayland ’13 Michael Weiss ’02 Dewey S. Wigod ’77 Hans L. Wydler ’81 Clifton G.York ’78 Jared Zelman ’16 Andrew E. Zimmerman ’00 * President Emeritus

Parents Association

Liz Steinberg, President Bethan Willis,Vice-President Shilpa Gupta, Co-Treasurer Christina de Marval, Co-Treasurer Audrey Rasch, Class Representatives Coordinator Mase Kerdel-DeMarco, Communications Coordinator

School Leadership Team David Trower ’95, Headmaster Lower School Stephen Warner, Lower School Head Jennifer Zimmermann, Assistant LS Head, 1st & 2nd Grades Kristin Filling, Assistant LS Head, 3rd Grade Lauren Pemberton, Director of After School, K Specialist Middle School Kimberly Kyte, Middle School Head Ben Neulander, Assistant MS Head Upper School Steven Cohen, Upper School Head JP Jacquet, Assistant US Head

Winnie Barnes, Director of Organizational Initiatives Hydee Bressler, Director of Finance & Operations Casper Caldarola, Director of Communications Katy Duckworth-Schachter, Director of Development Susan Etess, Director of Admissions, Enrollment & Financial Aid Anne Meyer, Director of Learning Resources Jennifer Vermont-Davis, Co-Director of Community Life + Diversity

lamplighter THE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL

Director of Communications Casper Caldarola

Associate Director of Communications Sarah Woods Contributing Writers

Rich Alifano Venesha Cashdollar Steven Cohen Clarissa Crowley Alessandra Exposito Samantha Koss Sarah Kresberg Kimberly Kyte Addeson Lehv ’18 Jon Maier P’26 Tara Parsons David Trower h’95 Jennifer Vermont-Davis Meghan Wall Stephen Warner Louisa Wells Photographers Al Pereira Louisa Wells Sarah Woods Designer Mase Kerdel-DeMarco

Front cover photo by Louisa Wells: Jackson Deans ’19 in Boys, Broadway & Beyond Back cover photo by Louisa Wells: Allen-Stevenson Teams for the 48th Academic Bowl

The Allen-Stevenson School admits students of any race, color, religion, nationality, or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, employment policies, financial aid program, or any other programs administered by the School.

Spring 2018

Headmaster’s Message Around A-S

Lower School Middle School Upper School PA Events Family Benefit Boys, Broadway & Beyond Team Sports

Cover Story: A-S Features

Reimagining Lower School Breakfasts Parent Connection Meetings Boys to Men Learning Resource Center Tech Tuesdays People of Color Conference Responsive Classroom in the Art Department Affinity Groups Resource Board Around the Corner Lifelong Community Resource Oliver and the Sorting Hat Best of Social Media

A-S News Alumni

Announcements Feature: David Yazbek ’75 Reunion Community in Action News In Memoriam

Did You Know?

2 4 5 7 8 10 12 14 18 19 20 22 23 25 25 26 27 27 28 30 31 34 35 36 38 42 44 46 48

The Lamplighter is published biannually by The Allen-Stevenson School and is sent to alumni, parents, and other friends of the School.

Printed on paper containing 20% post-consumer recycled content.

message Lamplighter

H E A D M A S T E R ’ S

2

M E S S A G E

I regret very much that the word “controversial” is so disparaging. To be controversial means to have original ideas that not everybody has. What’s accepted is never what is the most important or the most interesting. To be not controversial is to remain at the lowest common denominator. —Dominique de Menil (1908-1997) In this spring issue of the Lamplighter, we highlight the many ways we learn from and support each other as a community: Parent Chats & Parent Connection meetings, Tech Tuesdays, family events, curricular projects, field trips, theatrical performances, athletic teams, reunions, networking events, professional development and affinity groups. These resources are among those that continue to strengthen our community.

The Lamplighter highlights many of the resources we offer all of our community groups. You’ll learn more about our Learning Resource Center and how it teaches the boys independence and self-advocacy. You’ll discover how Tech Tuesdays are attracting many parents to work hands-on with the same apps that the boys are learning. You’ll note that our faculty and staff who go to the NAIS People of Color Conference attend challenging workshops and reflect upon their work back at Allen-Stevenson. You can also see how alumni networking events can renew friendships from student days at Allen-Stevenson and provide opportunities to make new connections in adulthood.

Charles H. Vogl, author of The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging and Parent Chat speaker, says, “When we see that others are concerned about our own welfare, we’ll invest more in building community with them, and we’ll feel more connected.” Allen-Stevenson is a strong community and will remain connected as long as it is fostered, supported and educated.

As we work afresh to apply our “enlightened traditional” approach to education, we reflect, review and challenge ourselves.

This ensures that our pedagogy stays current, our curriculum is inclusive, and our teachers are supported and helped to grow.

These intentional efforts are joined with changes that take

Spring 2018 3

advantage of unanticipated opportunities. This spring, for example, we could not offer our annual Gilbert & Sullivan production. Instead, our theatre and music teachers introduced a magical Broadway musical revue, Boys, Broadway & Beyond, which had audience members traveling throughout the School and provided numerous opportunities for boys to shine.

Allen-Stevenson’s greatest resource is its people, its community. We have teachers and staff who are dedicated to engaging, inspiring and working with our boys. We have parents who are interested in partnering with us and also

willing to continue to learn as adults. And we have boys, 421 boys, who make this building come alive with their enthusiasm, energy and curiosity. Without these elements, Allen-Stevenson would not be as vibrant a community as it is today.

Fortiter et Recte!

David Trower h’95 Headmaster

around A-S In & out of the classroom

Lamplighter

>

4

KBM Students in Seattle

Helping A New Community Member Feel Welcome

By Sarah Woods

The boys and teachers in KBM found a fun and thoughtful way to welcome one of their classmates who would be joining them part way through the school year.

Kindergartner George was unable to be in New York City for the start of school for family reasons, so KBM teachers Blaise Bulfair and Jesse Montero made sure that he was included from the beginning. They labeled his cubby and desk so that the boys in the class were familiar with his name and considered him a part of KBM, even though he wasn’t physically there.

Ms. Bulfair and Mr. Montero also reached out to George’s

KBM in New York City

current teachers, Ms. Compton and Mr. Kesler, at the Villa Academy in Seattle, to discuss ways they could help make George feel a part of both classrooms while he was still based in Seattle. It was agreed that writing a note seemed like a good place to start. So, the boys in KBM talked about what they would like to include in this note to George’s Seattle classroom, which so happened to be called KB! They concluded that describing New York City would be interesting, with each boy listing his favorite thing to do in and around the city. (A few of these are listed on the next page.)

In return, KBM received a letter and a photo of George’s class in Seattle, which they excitedly opened as a group during circle time. The letter described the city of Seattle

and what the children in George’s class did during choice time. After reading the letter, they pulled out a globe and were fascinated to see how far Seattle is from New York City.

In November, upon George’s arrival at Allen-Stevenson his classmates greeted him warmly. To help George adjust after leaving his friends behind, KBM decided to once again compose a letter to George’s Seattle class. Together the boys brainstormed ideas and decided to write about how they would be spending the holidays. This letter was mailed and the boys look forward with great anticipation for receipt of the next response as they continue to strengthen this special relationship.

Fifth graders visit the UN General Assembly

Spring 2018

Learning from the Peace Project team

”

Fifth Grade Explores Human Rights Through Workshops with the Peace Project

Sebastian likes to go camping in upstate New York.

Brandon likes to eat Italian food at Tony’s.

Mason likes to visit his Auntie in Brooklyn.

Ryan likes to climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty.

The Peace Project, a NYCbased organization that provides human rights and global citizenship education programs, launched its human rights workshop series in the Allen-Stevenson fifth-grade classrooms on Friday, February 2. The founder of the program, Aima Raza, an A-S parent, came in with the Peace Project team to work with the students. The Peace Project addresses a critical need for civics education in New York City schools, specifically working to

5

inform, inspire, and ignite students to address human rights issues that directly affect them, their peers, their community, and their generation. The goal is to transform students from being passive receivers of information into active change makers.

This program tied in seamlessly with the AllenStevenson fifth-grade reading curriculum where boys

explore civil rights and social justice issues within their novels in particular The Watsons go to Birmingham and Freedom Riders. The Peace Project helped bridge important historical events to modern day circumstances.

It helped the students understand how the past impacts our present and how activism influences people’s lives. The Fifth Grade continued on next page

Lamplighter

around A-S In & out of the classroom (cont.) >

dedicated one reading class per week for six program sessions with a culminating field trip to the United Nations, so that they could understand that their dreams of achieving peaceful sustainable change can spread from local communities all the way to a global level.

in history: the U.S. Civil Rights movement, women’s suffrage, the current changes in national laws, and international multilateral treaties. It was very exciting to hear so many of the boys identify various human rights as causes that they are interested in learning more about.

The boys were eager to engage with this new material.

They made excellent connections to various points

To learn more about the Peace Project, please visit their website at: http://peaceprojectinc.org.

6

Learning from the Peace Project team at the UN

Seventh Graders Discuss Spain’s #NoSeasAnimal Campaign to Address Sexual Harassment

By Sarah Woods

attention to sexual harassment (acoso sexual) by comparing disrespectful human behavior to the predatory behaviors of certain animals.

Spanish Teacher Stephen Krawec introduced his seventh grade Spanish class to a clever new social media campaign from Spain entitled #NoSeasAnimal. The campaign, launched by the Andalusian Women’s Institute (Instituto Andaluz de la Mujer), is designed to draw

His seventh graders are in the throes of a novel featuring a strong-willed detective named Lola, who, in a seemingly minute chapter of the book, has a run-in with an ill-mannered and sexist taxi driver.

Since A-S boys are aware of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements here in

America, Mr. Krawec thought the timeliness of the #NoSeasAnimal campaign would be an excellent way to address the topic while helping forge cross-cultural and text-to-world connections.

Additionally, he saw this as an opportunity to help the boys develop a strong consciousness about inequality in the world around them while also working to enhance their Spanish skills.

He said, “These boys can make a difference in their community by speaking up if they see these inappropriate behaviors (comportamientos).”

After watching the ad campaign, Mr. Krawec had the boys work in groups to talk about what they observed during the campaign’s video and why it compared men to particular animals—owl,

Posters created by seventh graders

vulture, pig, octopus, crow, and sparrow—and the behaviors that typify them.

They discussed the places where they had seen this type of behavior in their own lives, and as young men, what they thought they could do about it.

Spring 2018

Stephen Krawec, Spanish Teacher, listens to group discussions about sexual harassment.

Lastly, the boys were tasked with creating their own Public Service Announcement poster for the campaign, which had to incorporate an image (either drawn by hand or made on the computer), a tagline of their own, and the campaign’s hashtag #NoSeasAnimal somewhere on it. The finished posters can be found on display in the Town Center on the 4th Floor. ¡Muy creativo!

7

Lamplighter

around A 8

The Parents Association builds a stronger Community

>

As part of our commitment to parent education and community building, the Parents Association’s Community Life + Diversity Committee hosted an inspiring Parent Chat with award-winning author Charles H. Vogl. He spoke about how we create and foster the meaningful communities we all need—communities that are strong, fervent and kind.

Scanning the room slowly and thoughtfully, focusing on every individual present, was a hugely impactful way for Mr. Vogl to connect with the audience at the start of his presentation. He then told a moving story about feeling lonely when he was a graduate student at Yale, which led him to begin a Friday night dinner group.

Sparsely attended for a while, the group ultimately grew to be so large that the organization of it had to be divided up amongst many

people. Through this experience, he realized that others were equally lonely and in search of a community Mr. Vogl shared some statistics that described how we are the loneliest of generations with fewer confidants than ever. He talked about how to build community and what that is… that we must share mutual concern for one another. It is not a community if we are not in a room actually building connections. He then walked through the seven principles for belonging from his book, The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging.

Several small group activities provided the opportunity for attendees to discuss rituals that were important to them and why, and the chance for people to be acknowledged for their efforts, vision and commitments without judgment. Through each of these exercises, community members got to know each other better and made valuable connections.

Charles Vogl

The way Mr.Vogl was able to establish our group, gave us the opportunity to learn

more about each other and

take what we learned to our larger community was very inspiring. —Liz Steinberg,

Parents Association President

By Sarah Woods

With stunning views overlooking the Hudson River, and the Statue of Liberty in the distance, families, faculty and staff, including Headmaster David Trower, gathered at Chelsea Piers for the Community Ice Skating Party on the evening of January 31.

"The beautifully lit room off the rink not only provided amazing views, it also gave everyone a relaxing space to

mingle during breaks from skating, with tables of plentiful food," said PA President Liz Steinberg.

A playlist of grade-chosen songs, from "Up-Town Funk" to "Can’t Stop the Feeling!" had skaters grooving on the ice.

Photo ops with the Devils Mascot and players, as always, were a treat, thanks to the generosity of the Harris family. Goody bags from the Devils were also a bonus!

New this year was a popcorn machine and an extremely popular photo booth, the latter bringing out everyone’s silly side. Another nice

addition was a bus, which provided transportation to and from the School to the venue, building community spirit from the start.

Liz Steinberg said, "An inside venue proved to be ideal as it meant that we didn’t have to worry about rain as we have in the past, or really cold temperatures, as was the case last night. I think the impressive turnout reflected this!"

Thank you to the co-chairs, Amy Brayman, Kristan Spamer and Liza Ganitsky, for organizing such a fabulous evening!

Spring 2018

Ice Skating Party >

Chelsea Piers Makes a Stunning Setting for the PA Ice Skating Party

9

around Lamplighter

Spring Benefit >

10

An Unforgettable Night at Camp A-S

The full summer camp experience was on offer at the Allen-Stevenson 2018 Family Spring Benefit for the over 700 campers, counselors and “staff” who attended!

Camp A-S opened to the rousing sounds of “Reveille”, played by seventh grader Colin Clark on the trumpet, before the traditional raising of the flag.

With sweeping views of the Hudson and the Manhattan skyline, the space made for an impressive camp location.

Camp activities, dotted throughout the “camp’s grounds”, covered the gamut.

Live pony rides, tug of war, the Gaga pit, and virtual reality kayaking were highlights. Equally popular were the sports games, photo booths to capture fond camp memories and, of course, the Dunk Tank, with lines of eager campers ready to dunk their teachers into the ball pit below. Campers regularly stopped by the Canteen for tattoos, friendship bracelets, and candy as well.

The Upper School boys hung out in the CIT-only Lounge chatting over games of ping pong, foosball and air hockey.

Dancers of all ages hit the dance floor to boogie down

with professional dancer and teacher Rachel Warren. The Camp A-S Cookout and Watering Hole ensured that nobody went hungry or thirsty.

Sixth grader Reed Ferguson performed “Taps” as campers and their families, with smiles on their faces and memories for a lifetime, set off into the night with their yummy s’mores kits.

Special thanks to the many people who helped to make this event such a wonderful experience for all, in particular, PA President Liz Steinberg, the Benefit Chairs, Amy Peck, Alison Coen Searcy and Ashley Smyth, Raffle Chairs Evette Ferguson, Jennifer Pinkos and Nina Whiting, and all the Benefit volunteers.

Lamplighter

aro 12

Boys, Broadway & Beyond >

Rave Reviews for New A-S Musical Revue: Boys, Broadway & Beyond

By Sarah Woods

For the first time ever, the annual winter musical was a Broadway Musical Revue, called Boys, Broadway & Beyond. This innovative and exciting theatrical experience featured numbers from shows of many eras including: Into the Woods, Hairspray, Hamilton, Godspell, Les Miserables, Oliver, Spelling Bee, Hair, Newsies and others.

Boys in Grades 5 to 9 could audition; fifth graders were allowed to audition for the chorus only, and all other grades could audition for solos, duets and trios. As always, Upper School students did all of the technical work, serving on props, as soundboard operators and stage managers. Students working on the show explored a rich curriculum in musical theatre and had the opportunity to sing, dance and act for this groundbreaking production.

The show was creatively staged in four different sites

around the School, with the audience moving from room-to-room under the guidance of the student stage managers.

“Because of the friendly, intuitive genre, the boys were able to immerse themselves in the music even before rehearsals began. It was fun to see them experimenting with styles they don’t often try here,” said Aleeza Meir, School Pianist. She added, “It was a treat to watch so many of them shine individually in a solo or small ensemble piece. You could really see how much they were enjoying it.”

Costumes were minimal and included the fabulously designed “tour” t-shirts for all company members, wigs for the number “Hair,” and tie-dyed t-shirts for the ‘60s themed location. Humor was interspersed throughout the production, as well as through the use of props, which included: a toothpaste

giveaway at the end of the number “Dentist” from Little Shop of Horrors, stuffed panda bears during “Pandemonium,” from Spelling Bee; and audience freebies of flowers and peace necklaces for the number “Hair.”

Songs with powerful messages made for a dynamic finale when all of the boys came together to sing and dance in one space to close out the show.

Director Stacy Donovan said, “It has long been my wish to work with these marvelous young men on American Musical Theatre and to give them this type of theatrical experience; however, while wishes come true, they are never free. They have worked tirelessly and learned how to function in a rehearsal like professionals. The dedication and fervor these boys gave to this piece of theatre are remarkable. They are, in every sense of the word, troupers.”

around A-S Lamplighter

Team Sports >

14

Team Sports and Its Impact on Community

By Rich Alifano, Director of P.E. & Athletics

We believe that a dynamic program of student activities is vital to educational development. Our athletics programs provide a variety of experiences that aid in the establishment of favorable habits and attitudes that prepare our boys for adult life. At its core, athletics at Allen-Stevenson functions as an integral part of the total school curriculum and offers all students opportunities to be successful.

Athletics plays an integral part in the life of an A-S boy and his school community.

Through our program we strive to advance fellowship and goodwill, promote selfrealization and encourage learning of qualities of good citizenship.

Varsity Flag Football

Varsity Cross Country

JV Soccer

Spring 2018

Varsity Soccer

Varsity Wrestling

15

aroun Lamplighter

Team Sports (cont.) >

16

Our boys discover a great deal from their participation in interscholastic athletics.

Lessons in sportsmanship, teamwork, competition and the ability to win and lose gracefully are an integral part of our athletics program.

Furthermore, athletics plays an important part in helping our boys establish a healthy self-concept as well as a healthy body.

We strongly believe that athletic competition adds to school spirit and helps students, both spectators and participants, develop a pride in their school.

JV Basketball Gold

JV Basketball Blue

Please come out and support our teams and help us build a stronger community at Allen-Stevenson.

Varsity Basketball

JV Baseball

Varsity Lacrosse

We strongly believe that athletic competition adds to school spirit and helps students, both

spectators and participants, develop a pride in their school.

—Rich Alifano, Director of P.E. & Athletics

Varsity Track & Field

Spring 2018

Varsity Baseball

17

A-S Features

strong, inclusive community support, kindness and resources process.

Building a with

filled

is our goal. See where we are achieving success in this ongoing

Lamplighter

R E I M AG I N I N G L OW E R S C H O O L B R E A K FA S T S

By Stephen Warner, Head of Lower School

18

In order to build a more inclusive school community, we do a lot of self-reflecting. Are we meeting the needs of our changing population? When planning events, do we consider the schedules of working parents, single parents or parents who live far away? Lastly, in line with our mission of being an “enlightened traditional” school how do we honor the traditions of the past while meeting the needs of our increasingly diverse population that is choosing to be part of our school? This led me to take a closer look at our Fathers’ and Mothers’ Breakfasts and ask myself the question: How does a boy who doesn’t have both a mom and a dad feel when we have these events? Even further, it left me wondering how a child like my beloved niece, Avery, who has two moms would feel about coming to school for a Fathers’ Breakfast when she does not have a biological father in her life?

This was the impetus for looking at our Fathers’ Breakfast and Mothers’ Breakfast and reevaluating its purpose. In the last few years, we have welcomed in several single parent and gay-headed families and we felt these breakfasts presented unnecessary challenges.

Instead of having separate breakfasts, this year we offered two separate Family Breakfasts. This allowed a family to decide how they wanted to be represented based on their composition and schedule not simply on the assumption that each boy has a father and a mother or a flexible schedule.

We launched these breakfasts this past November, and hosted another in January, and parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and special family friends shared time in the classrooms with their Lower School boys. Having the breakfasts in the classrooms also gave the boys a chance to share both ongoing and completed assignments as well as various items around the classroom that they considered important.

Sharing classwork at a Family Breakfast

I was happy to feel such a warm sense of community at each of the breakfasts, and it pleased me to hear from so many attendees how grateful they were for having the flexibility to choose which breakfast to attend. Watching our families see our amazing teachers in action was equally wonderful!

MAKING CONNECTIONS AT PA R E N T C O N N E C T I O N M E E T I N G S

By Kimberly Kyte, Head of Middle School Parent Connection meetings offer opportunities for parents, our consulting psychologist, Dr. Michael Schwartzman, Division Heads and others, to come together and discuss developmental milestones, social and emotional issues, as well as current topics such as technology and anxiety. Each grade level meets twice a year, early in the morning.

Over twenty-five years ago, our very wise nurse, Daryl Shapiro, approached Dr. Schwartzman and me to discuss a forum for the School to share information with parents about what it means to be a boy within our School, our city and the larger world. Ms. Shapiro felt that parents needed to replicate the so-called “sandbox” opportunities from their sons’ nursery school days for conversation, with other parents, about their boys’ social and emotional growth.

I look back on those times and realize how relatively simple all of our lives were, however there is a common thread that exists between then and now. We remain a school that is focused on the developmental stages of boys and rely on the wisdom of Dr. Jean Piaget whose four stages of cognitive development are at the core of our work at Allen-Stevenson. We believe there are certain conversations that parents benefit from having as a grade. Those would include: when a boy can stay home alone, children’s use of video games, when a boy walks to and from school alone, bedtimes, if playdates are arranged by parents or boys and boys’ “online” lives. Parents certainly don’t always agree, and that’s one of the reasons the conversations can be rich. We also continued on next page

Family Breakfast

Spring 2018

At the January breakfasts, kindergartners proudly showed off their Friends and Feelings Books, while first graders leafed through their writing journals before playing popular board and card games. The boys in 2R discussed lists of their favorites, from foods to sports, with guests, while in 2P they worked together on winter paintings of a cardinal bird. 2D boys played a variety of traditional board games as well as looking through recent schoolwork. Third graders read an article with their guests and discussed an upcoming debate to take place on School uniforms.

19

A-S Features (cont.)

believe that talking about academics is best left to the teachers and individual parents and perhaps the Division Head.

Lamplighter

Though each Division Head may have their own approach to the meetings, the common thread is that Dr. Michael Schwartzman is able to help us understand a topic developmentally and to learn from our collective experience as parents and as a school.

Bringing parents together to share what works and what doesn’t bonds us as it makes us wiser.

20

Parents are encouraged to share experience, question, and give their opinions. Division Heads are able to bring their experiences of boys, the school and years worth of information, examples, anecdotes and love for boys this age. As we search to talk about and sometimes find meaning in some of the more timely questions of today, the various perspectives are helpful as we discuss the issues. In Middle School, an example of something that comes up each year is when a boy may have his own cell phone. The school would offer that a boy needs a cell phone when he walks to and from school alone. A parent may offer that this is their way of being able to be in touch with their child during an afterschool activity or playdate. It always makes me smile when a parent says, “can we raise our hands if a boy has a cell phone?” This is an easy way to further understanding and have a conversation.

My hunch is that very often our meetings could go on for much longer than the time allotted.

We are fortunate to work in a school that values parents coming together to learn from each other and hear different ways of handling social, and emotional issues. In addition, there are multiple opportunities available to our families through Community Life + Diversity’s Parent Chats and other guest speakers to help parents learn about raising boys. However, Parent Connection meetings are an important way for parents to connect with others whose boys are at the same moment developmentally. These discussions of shared experiences help create a stronger grade level community and in the end, a stronger school.

B OY S TO M E N

By Steven Cohen, Head of Upper School When boys are younger, it is easier to feel a part of a community with other parents, all engaged in raising sons. You talk with other parents at dismissal, on the sidelines of games, volunteering in the library, chatting at birthday parties. Boys, themselves, are happy to share their lives with you—what happened at school, who their best friend is, and so on. However, as boys enter early adolescence, they begin to create their own communities that prepare them for more meaningful interactions with adults and the ability to take control and make decisions for themselves. They come and go on their own, they no longer want you volunteering at school, their peer group swells in importance and overshadows the family and can sometimes feel shrouded in secrecy.

Parent Connection meeting

How do you recreate the community you once had on the sidelines of the soccer field or at pickup outside of school? You have to be creative and accept that there are now two communities. There’s the one you, the School, and other parents work to create. And then there’s the peer community from which adults are largely excluded. This is a good thing. But one that changes the game for parents and requires new strategies for staying involved in, and knowledgeable about, their sons’ lives.

Spring 2018

Upper School boys

Be sure to nourish your relationships with other parents. It’s important to find ways to connect with and talk with them. The combined parent community is like the proverbial blind men trying to identify an elephant by touch. Each only has imperfect, partial knowledge of the whole.

Sharing intel together, parents have a better chance of gaining a more accurate picture of the whole. Parents who have been part of The Allen-Stevenson School need to stay in touch even as their boys give them less of an excuse to reach out to one another. Maintain the ties you created in earlier grades. As you once arranged social dates for your sons, you now need to arrange them for yourselves. Make it a point to get together for coffee, make dinner plans, or arrange family outings. For parents who are relatively new to the community, Parent Connection meetings are a good start. Joining PA Committees and walking Safety Patrol is another opportunity to meet and share with other parents. Try and attend games and performances. Finally, don’t be shy about using email and the phone. Call other parents and ask questions. If your son is going over for a playdate, call to confirm and use the opportunity to introduce yourself if necessary.

Some boys share easily and often. Others shield their expanding and independent lives from what they perceive as prying eyes. The boys can be a resource too. Once happy to engage in family activities or to have you arrange a playdate for them, many boys are now striking out on their own and don’t seem to want to invite you into, or share, their developing community of peers. Michael Thompson, a psychologist specializing in boys and who has worked with AllenStevenson faculty and administrators in the past, offers this advice. When your son fires you as his CEO, reapply as his consultant. You need to approach things less directly than you once did.

Resist peppering him with questions or bestowing your hard-won wisdom, seek his counsel and advice. If he tells you about a friend, rather than offer your opinion about him or her, check your impression with your son. ‘So-and-so seems like a good friend, is that true?’ Cultivate your son’s friends as well. Hire them as consultants as well. While your son may need to keep you at bay,

21

A-S Features (cont.)

his friends usually do not have the same agenda. Your son’s friends will often share far more about the peer group than your son will. Finally eavesdrop. I’m not suggesting violating your son’s privacy, but if he and his friends are chatting around you, pay quiet attention.

Boys entering adolescence are hard at work forging their adult identities and finding their place in the larger world. It’s exhausting work, which often involves disentangling themselves from the bonds of their families and communities. However, they need their families and communities more than ever. Rather than giving up on my community, the goal is to reshape and adapt that community.

Lamplighter

FOSTERING LEARNING—A LIFESTYLE THE LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER

By Learning Specialists Venesha Cashdollar, Clarissa Crowley and Meghan Wall

22

It’s 7:40AM and the Learning Resource Center (LRC) is already buzzing with boys ranging from Grades 4 to 9. One by one they come in, each ready to work on any extra executive functioning or academic support they might need. This support is highly individualized, as each student has specific areas on which he is focusing. While this morning time truly benefits students’ classroom success, it has also become a moderately social time. Boys from various grades and different classes cross paths on a routine basis. They come to know one another, and look forward to seeing each other.

The LRC is a place for boys to learn, build confidence, and help their peers. It is a versatile space.

The mission of the LRC has always been to provide any Allen-Stevenson boy with short-term, skill specific support on a point-of-need basis. This support could be academic, social, and/or emotional. We aim to improve skills around prioritizing assignments, outlining before writing, planning long-term projects, proofreading, and more.

Additionally, the LRC is not only a resource for students, it is a place where teachers and outside tutors can explore ideas and learn about new teaching methods. Collaboration on new teaching methods and pedagogy, as well as best practices and research-based methods is fostered in the LRC. In an effort to encourage collaboration and a supportive community, our goal is to have an open dialogue to address learning. As a team, the learning specialists meet weekly to discuss boys and establish action plans that cater to their

A moring session with Clarissa Crowley

Anne Meyer in the LRC

Students Share LRC Experiences

It is my first year at Allen-Stevenson and the LRC was a place for me to familiarize myself with the school and catch up on any subjects I was falling behind in. —Class of ‘22 The LRC helped me feel calm and allowed me to get help with things that I had trouble with. I learned tools to help me study for quizzes. It also felt good knowing that there was someone I could rely on if I had trouble with school work. —Class of ‘22 I like that the Learning Center has two separate rooms so just in case you have something you want to do in silence you can go into one of those rooms and focus better.The LRC is a great place to learn! —Class of ‘23

specific needs. We partner with classroom teachers for ways to cultivate confidence, and develop skills and strategies that will help boys be successful. The LRC is a place students can come to proactively solve problems, analyze reading materials, learn to advocate for their needs, settle in for the day by organizing materials, and produce quality work they are proud to hand in.

Lastly, our work extends into the classroom setting for all boys as well. Starting in Fourth Grade, boys begin taking a Study Skills class. The point of this course is to provide boys with executive functioning tools they need to be successful at A-S and beyond. This includes time management skills, using paper or digital planners effectively, note-taking and annotating, listening skills, and overall organization. Ideally, by the time our students get to Eighth and Ninth Grade, they already have a solid foundation of the tools and executive skills necessary to be successful in a wide variety of settings.

In all that we do, our goal is to develop skills that create independence and self-advocacy. We want each boy to know himself as a learner and understand that it is okay to ask for help.

We are rewarded to work with boys who are eager to check-in and demonstrate what they know.

T E C H T U E S D AY S

By Sarah Kresberg, Library Director Roughly once a month, on Tuesdays after drop-off, the library-tech team at Allen-Stevenson invites parents to join them to explore technology. Given that educational technology is an ever changing landscape, our faculty has to work hard to stay current. For parents, being aware of trends in technology use among children, as well as how technology can be used to enhance learning, is very important. It is also extremely difficult to do! The purpose of Tech Tuesdays is to help parents understand the technology we use at the School, including why and how we use it. We also aim to empower parents to talk more knowledgeably with their sons about technology and to make the best decisions about tech use for their families. Tech Tuesdays give parents a chance to interact with our entire library-tech team, including those MVPs who are usually continued on next page

Spring 2018

Meghan Wall assisting boys

It’s not much of a hassle going.The LRC really helps you get organized. Instead of throwing papers in binders you learn to use your folders. It also helps to have extra time to get your homework corrected and ensure you are meeting expectations, or to have help studying for a test. —Class of ‘21

23

A-S Features (cont.)

Panel discussion Chris Brazee, Technical Support Specialist, demonstrates Garage Band at a Tech Tuesday

Lamplighter

behind the scenes! It also gives the School the opportunity to learn from parents about how their sons are interacting with technology when they are at home.

24

Among our most popular meetings are the ones where parents get to have fun playing with our tech tools. In December each year we hold a Tech Tuesday about coding, to coincide with the national Hour of Code initiative.

Parents roll up their sleeves and program using Bee-Bots, Scratch, Lego Robotics, Kodable and more. In addition, we’ve provided some hands on demonstrations at Tech Tuesdays featuring apps we use for learning at school such as Explain Everything, Storyboard That and Typing Agent. One Tech Tuesday was specifically centered on playing with apps that support learning in the arts.

At other times we have had discussion-based Tech Tuesdays, such as a talk about the pros and cons of digital reading. Last year the Parents Association hosted a screening of the film Screenagers. The following morning we held a Tech Tuesday where we explored our hopes and fears around the boys and technology use. Recently, we hosted a panel discussion about online privacy.

We sincerely hope that we have succeeded in opening up a new line of communication with our parents about a topic that is complex, and often laden with emotions. Technology offers tremendous advantages to our boys as learners but the pitfalls are also all too clear. This is a tricky path and we should be navigating it together.

For more information about past Tech Tuesdays, including all the resources we share, go to aslibrary.net and click on the Tech Tuesdays tab at the top. If you have ideas for future Tech Tuesdays, please contact any member of the library-tech team. We appreciate your input!

The Tech Tuesdays have introduced me to so many of the applications and other digital information the School is imparting on my children.

The hands-on sessions were great, as I tried out technology that I wouldn’t learn on my own.The privacy panel, while not hands on, reminded me that reviewing technology and what your child is learning has to be woven into parenting. Like cooking a meal or driving your child to school, allocating time out of each day to review digital technology is necessary.

– Audrey Rasch P’23, ’27 The Tech Tuesdays have been useful in building a base of knowledge and getting a good sense of what is appropriate age-wise. I’ve also enjoyed being able to take what I’ve been shown at the different Tech Tuesdays and to use it at home.

– Sarah Oh P’27, ’27 (Lin) It’s been an eye–opening experience for parents to see in detail all the tech education that is going on at the School. I also think it is extremely important to see a demonstration to understand exactly what something is and how it works, and so much more reliable than having it described to you in the abstract.

– Kyle Bisceglie P’23, ’25, ’26

PEOPLE OF COLOR CONFERENCE

By Jennifer Vermont-Davis, Co-director of CL+D In December 2017, Lorenzo Bellard, Devin LaSane, Sarah Luposello, Jennifer Phillips, Erik Resurreccion and I attended the 30th Annual National Association of Independent School (NAIS) People of Color Conference in Anaheim, CA. We were among six thousand teachers and administrators, in addition to fifteen hundred students who descended upon Anaheim—the first city founded in Orange County.

A-S at PoCC

The PoCC serves independent schools, their faculty, and students by affirming the lived experience of people who, by virtue of their racial or ethnic identities, occupy a minority status.

Attending the PoCC provides a forum where for three days, feelings of marginalization, and separateness completely disappear. Thus are engendered feelings of rejuvenation and empowerment that pervade the proceedings and presentations and thereby strengthen participating school’s communities.

Listening to the powerful words of the opening keynote speaker, Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term “intersectionality,” proved electrifying. She provided an in depth history lesson on the impact of racial, gender, and class discrimination to the assembled educators.

Author Ta-Nehisi Coates continued to captivate the audience with his honesty, his patience in responding to the questions put to him, and the vulnerability he exhibited. He encouraged participants to continue to be the voices for equity and justice upon returning to their respective schools.

This conference is unique in that it asks faculty and administrators to use the time not only to attend practitioner-led workshops, but also to use the time to replenish, rebuild and reflect upon their work and themselves. One of the many highlights of this conference is the opportunity to connect with long familiar colleagues, as well as newer ones, and to share and discuss our work creating and sustaining inclusive, equitable, and just school communities.

R E S P O N S I V E C L A S S RO O M I N T H E A RT D E PA RT M E N T Alessandra Exposito and Tara Parsons, Art & Woodshop Teachers Boys enter the woodshop and art room with a lot of energy! We challenge them to harness that energy—to build, paint, sculpt—to contemplate decisions, work collaboratively, with freedom and expression.

In both Art and Woodshop, we have designed a sequential art program that develops fundamental skills, and encourages creative individual expression and critical thinking. We scaffold learning so boys can build on new skills, sometimes fail, always with the opportunity to try again. Boys become comfortable with the design process that involves a series of steps— imagining, planning, reflecting and problem-solving. continued on next page

Spring 2018

The PoCC is a leadership development gathering that provides people of color a unique space for learning, networking, and engaging in critical conversations about the ways in which, race and ethnicity influence all aspects of independent school life.

25

A-S Features (cont.)

Alessandra Exposito with students

Lamplighter

It is also an ideal environment to work on impulse control, and a range of social and emotional skills. Boys stand next to each other as they work, sometimes shoulder to shoulder, share materials, exchange ideas. They can move around and get what they need, work big, and work on the floor. It requires boys to be careful with their words, their noise level, and their bodies, as they navigate around the room, or around large drying artworks. Have a moment of weakness and want to put glue all over your hands? That will probably happen in one of our rooms.

26

We’ve been excited to apply some of the ideas in the “Responsive Classroom,” and in the book, The Power of Our Words, Teacher Language that Helps Children Learn, in ways that apply more directly to our specialties, and the unique environments in which we teach. We also had the opportunity to attend a one-day workshop at Pace University put on by trained “Responsive Classroom” teachers, and work more closely with lower school teachers who are implementing similar ideas in their classrooms. We already help boys assimilate visual information through questions and conversation, and use consequences for negative behavior, but it’s been helpful to have new ideas with a concentration on careful, thoughtful, language.

With the “Responsive Classroom Technique,” a teacher might describe the behavior to help a boy understand what to do, or not to do. One might say, “I noticed you were walking really fast around that giant wet painting on the floor.” This could help him think about how he is moving, and give him the opportunity to change his behavior, before a misstep! Boys are encouraged to examine their actions, as opposed to being told simply to stop a specific behavior.

When boys show us a work in progress, one way to employ the “Responsive Classroom Technique,” would be to describe to them, in detail, what we see, without rendering judgment, or dictating a specific direction. This could allow for more fluid thinking on the part of the student.

It might alter the trajectory of the piece, or its content. This also conveys, to the boys, our shared investment in the outcome of the work.

A F F I N I T Y G RO U P S : A N I N T E G R A L PA RT O F COMMUNITY BUILDING

By Addeson Lehv ’18 In this day and age where people are trading face-toface time for Facebook, and/or divided over our various political issues, the need for communities is ever so important. Communities come in all different shapes and sizes…school, religion, sports teams, bands, clubs…the list goes on. Communities can be purely for fun, for education, or for both. But, the most

BOCAS alumni group

important thing about communities is that they bring people together through one common goal or value, regardless of one’s other individual beliefs. AllenStevenson does a great job building and providing communities through affinity groups that all students can elect to be a part of.

My experience in the BOCAS program, underscored this idea of being able to find (and build) community in affinity groups. I joined BOCAS when I was in Fourth Grade, and I remember that the first activity that we ever did was with Popsicle sticks and trying to break them. The idea was that it is really easy to break a singular Popsicle stick, which symbolizes one person; but it is nearly impossible to break an entire group of Popsicle sticks, which symbolizes a group of people.

This activity was my first realization of the power of community and why I wanted be a part of BOCAS—that a strong community has the ability to stand up for each other and what they believe is right.

Later, when I was in the Seventh Grade at Allen-Stevenson, I, along with Zachary Omar ’17 and Santiago Vargas ’18, wanted to help further solidify community in BOCAS using a medium that all 12-14 year old kids love…FOOD! We created a program called Ethnic Buffet, which focused on teaching BOCAS members’ cultures through their native, ethnic food. Reflecting back on the program, I realized just how much closer our group was because of these buffets, and people would always say at the end of them “WOW! I really liked ____ food that you and your family made!” It is moments like these that strengthen community more.

Now that I am an alumnus of Allen-Stevenson, I truly miss my time being a part of the affinity group community. That said, I do not think it is a coincidence that I’m more in contact with the members of BOCAS than those who were not.

THE A-S WEBSITE RESOURCE BOARD— Y O U R G O - T O P L A C E F O R I N F O R M AT I O N

By Sarah Woods, Associate Director of Communications The Resource Board on the School’s website is a comprehensive, easy-to-use resource for parents, alumni, faculty and staff. It is designed to feed only that information relevant to a specific Allen-Stevenson community member, based on their role within the School. For instance, if you have a child in the Lower School, you don’t need to wade through facts provided for Upper School families about the Secondary School Process, so you won’t see this box on your Resource Board.

And of course, anything that is pertinent to the whole school is accessible to everyone.

Once logged in to the Allen-Stevenson website and after clicking on Resources on the top left of the menu running across the top of the page, the Resource Board appears displaying boxes identified by icons representing a number of useful subjects. (See image on following page.) continued on next page

A RO U N D T H E C O R N E R

By Casper Caldarola, Director of Communications How many times have you stopped in at Butterfield Market? Did you know it’s a family business? Did you know Teddy Appelbaum bought into Butterfield in 1974 and worked there until he was 91 years old? What happened between 1974 and now is a wonderful family story.

Teddy Appelbaum’s daughter, Ann, married Alan Obatz who worked for the phone company. When Teddy became an owner of Butterfield, he brought Alan into the business as a partner. Back then it was a service business and 85% of orders were placed on the phone by staff of the wealthy families of the neighborhood. Not many customers entered the market and it looked more wholesale than retail. Today, Butterfield has approximately 2,000 sales per day in the store and the phone isn’t quite as noisy.

Spring 2018

At Allen-Stevenson, there are three affinity groups for the boys: BOCAS (Boys of Color at Allen-Stevenson), ERGO (Exploring Race, Gender, and Origins), and the recently formed GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance). Each group meets at least once every two weeks, during designated lunch and break periods. These groups bring boys together under a mission statement, and with the guidance of faculty facilitators, each meeting thoughtfully discusses an event or incident that is pertinent to that group. Although I was able to take part in meaningful and edifying conversations, I was also able to find a group of students (and faculty members) who I knew were there to listen to anything that was on my mind.

In the early 2000s, Ann and Alan’s children, Joelle and Evan joined the business. Joelle worked in catering and event planning and over the last several years has established a huge catering business for Butterfield.

Evan has taken over much of Alan’s role of managing the day-to-day operations, but they are in this together. The three of them are a solid team and always keep a keen eye out for new.

Over the years so much has changed. Alan, Evan and Joelle all agree that change has kept Butterfield current and popular.

Whether it’s catering, prepared foods, smoothies or frozen yogurt Butterfield has stayed current while so many of its fellow specialty markets have gone out of business. And by the long line of parents, students and teachers at the frozen yogurt window most afternoons, we’re glad Butterfield is here.

The next generation of Butterfield owners is still young, but you may have seen Joelle’s 3-year-old daughter, Leah, on the block whom we lovingly call Ms. Butterfield!

27

A-S Features (cont.)

Resource Board The Resource Board is a treasure trove of information allowing you to: • Check on what is happening in your child’s class, by going to Canvas.

• Pay your bill, by clicking on Smart Tuition.

• Find the day and location to appear for safety walk under Safety Patrol.

• Identify the name of a particular PA committee member to volunteer at an event by going to the Parents Association Board.

• Reread the ASpect or an email about an upcoming chat or conferences that can no longer be found in your inbox, by clicking on Archived Emails and Publications.

Lamplighter

• Find uniform requirements for School and Athletics, as well as how and where to place an order, under Uniforms.

28

• Read important parenting articles that were once featured in the ASpect and are now housed in Parent Reading.

• For faculty and staff, find a medical claim form or the Gym Calendar under Faculty and Staff Resources.

• Access the Library and all of its many resources by clicking on the box titled Tisch Library Media Center.

• Questions such as—What’s the Menu for the day? and How do I pull a Student Directory?—can be answered too.

An added bonus...some boxes, My BackPack and Smart Tuition, are now set up for single sign-on which means these sites open up automatically with a click on the icon, where in other circumstances they require an additional log in.

There’s more, so take a look next time you log on to the website. The answer to your question could be just a click away.

A L U M N I H AV E A - S A S LIFELONG COMMUNITY RESOURCE

By Sarah Woods, Associate Director of Communications Providing opportunities for Allen-Stevenson alumni to connect is all part of the School’s commitment to its community. There are a variety of events designed to appeal to an alumnus’ individual interests.

The biggest draw of the year is usually the Alumni Reunion. This year’s reunion celebrated the many firsts that an Allen-Stevenson boy might experience during his formative years at the School… whether it was his first music lesson, first backpack, first performance, or first team

Alumni at the Alumni in Finance gathering sport. A Friday evening event with many faculty and staff members present began the weekend festivities. This was followed on Saturday morning with an open house at A-S, and Saturday afternoon with a wine tasting at Terroir in Tribeca. On Sunday, a group of alumni, parents, faculty and staff saw The Band’s Visit, a musical for which David Yazbek ’75 wrote the music and lyrics. The group was lucky enough to have a talkback with David and many members of the cast.

Then there are the special interest groups, the brainchild of Simon Wasserberger ‘85, who recognized that there was an opportunity to bring together alumni from within one industry as well as those who were interested in what goes on in a particular industry. To date there have been interest groups for Finance, Law, Real Estate, and Marketing & Advertising. The Finance group was the first, to meet, with Chris Hamilton ‘96 P’27 the speaker who chose the theme of Any Upside Left in US Equities? Thank you to all of the alumni who have hosted an industry gathering to date.

Spring 2018

A couple of Allen-Stevenson alums, Addeson Lehv ’18 and Zac Omar ‘17, along with Jennifer Vermont-Davis and Jaison Spain ’97, have created an Alumni of Color group that is intended to connect current A-S boys of color with alumni of color. Their first meeting in the fall was incredibly well attended. The discussion centered around the importance of community, connections, and the role that alumni can play to help current students. Everyone present echoed their appreciation for the academic opportunities at A-S, along with athletics and the arts. Mr. Spain '97 said, "A-S will give you the chance to do almost everything. It's overwhelming, and that's a good thing." The plan is to meet again this spring as well as to find other ways in which to connect. (see page 42 of this Lamplighter).

29

Joining the Alumni Council is yet another way to get involved, and to give back to the School.

Being a part of the Council means helping to shape the alumni experience for all A-S alumni.

Members range from young alumni to the more experienced, older alums. The group meets several times a year and plans events and talks about how alumni at Allen-Stevenson can take advantage of the resources that are available to them. Living in NYC is not a requirement for membership – we now offer a conference line for members!

If you are an alumnus who wants to share knowledge in your industry, volunteer in some other way, or simply reconnect with the School and fellow alums, please contact Samantha Koss, the Director of Alumni Relations, at skoss@allen-stevenson.org.

We can’t wait to welcome everyone back to school!

Members of the 2017-18 Alumni Council

A-S Features (cont.)

Jon Maier P’26, Oliver Fletcher-Maier ’26 and Peter Fletcher, Technology Resource Teacher and P’26

Lamplighter

O L I V E R A N D T H E S O R T I N G H AT

By Jon Maier P’26

30

When Oliver received his acceptance from Allen Stevenson, I felt as if the sorting hat had selected him for Gryffindor. As a father I was so proud, and grateful—an exciting educational journey into a great school. And those feelings only seem to grow as time goes on. Reflecting on it all thus far, it’s easy to think that, Wow, the sorting hat got it right.

Oliver is a kind and athletic toothless little man (don’t worry, the Tooth Fairy has been good to him). And he loves his new school. He roams the halls like it is his home.

He has his own little routine down already each day! There is nothing like entering the building in the morning with the most pleasant greetings from Mr. Acerbo and his team. Oliver follows the protocol of shaking hands with the door monitor of the day and walks up the stairs to the Third Floor. He drops his homework off in Ms. Zimmermann’s room, stops by Mr. Fletcher’s room to kiss his dad hello, and then heads off to 1S to have an exciting day of learning with Ms. Shindler.

Oliver did not begin his time at A-S as a kindergartner, the common entry point. But six months into his first year of First Grade you would never know there was an adjustment period.

Academically, Oliver has grown by leaps and bounds. The acceleration of his learning this year is remarkable. The small reading groups stand out for our little Harry Potter.

But Oliver’s learning goes beyond the classroom. His experiences with schoolmates extend from Manhattan to the East End, which gives him consistency on weekends. And he’s already looking forward to hanging out with his friends over the summer. Recently, it dawned on me that he has probably developed the basis for lifelong friendships in just a few short months. And so have his dads.

If you didn’t pick up on it already, Oliver has two dads. His other dad, Peter, is the technology teacher for Kindergarten through Third Grade. Both faculty and parents have welcomed us with open arms. We have found common interests beyond our kids with many of the parents, and as much as Oliver fits in well, we think we as parents do too.

There is no doubt in our minds, Allen-Stevenson is a special, inclusive community. Seeing Oliver wander the hallways as if he owns the place is a joy. I cannot tell you how nice it is to see our boy comfortable, and happy, and in an environment that provides such a great backdrop for him to learn with such enthusiastic teachers. The care shown for his development, by what feels like the entire school community, makes A-S just the right place for Oliver and for us as a family.

We love being a part of this village!

Spring 2018

ALLEN-STEVENSON BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA 2017-2018

31

Lamplighter

ALLEN-STEVENSON BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA 2017-2018 (Cont.)

32

Spring 2018 33

Lamplighter

News Jill Collura-Welborn, Clarinet Teacher, and her husband Bill Welborn welcomed Charlotte Hypatia Welborn two weeks early, on October 23, 2017, at 1:56AM! Typical musician, working early hours and arriving on a deceptive cadence!

34

Art Teacher Alessandra Exposito will have her artwork appear in a show entitled “Queenie: Selected artworks by female artists from El Museo del Barrio’s Collection” from March 21 to June 23, 2018 at Hunter East Harlem Gallery in New York City. The show takes its title from one of Alessandra’s sculptures, an embellished horse skull that illustrates an imagined story of a young girl and her pet horse.

Art Department Chair Julia Kunin will have her work appear in an exhibition called "Raw Design" at the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design that runs from June 2—October 28, 2018.

Julia has appeared in many other exhibitions recently: one at the Dorsky Gallery in LIC, NY, called Molding/Mark Making, Ceramic Artists and their drawings; another called" Re-Construction," at McClain Gallery in Houston; and two group exhibitions in New York City—one at Honey Ramka Gallery in Brooklyn in April and at one at Leslie Heller Gallery in May.

Nicolas Rìo Montero (6lb 6oz and 19 inches) was born at 6:03PM, on Saturday, December 2, 2017 to Anne and Jesse Montero, Kindergarten Teacher. Mom and dad took

the subway 4 train to the hospital Friday evening and Nico was born the next day.

Nico is a true New Yorker!

Spanish Teacher Samara Spielberg spoke on a panel for the World Language Summit in Washington, DC. The focus was Global Leadership. Samara is due to present at the AATSP centennial conference in Salamanca, Spain with her college professor in June about empowering student voice through the arts. In addition, Samara, along with fellow Spanish Teacher Camilla Iturralde, presented at ACTFL in Nashville earlier this year, and will be presenting at a Teaching with Technology conference on using BREAKOUT EDU. The two also received a research grant through IBSC to study storytelling for boy learners.

Science Teacher Chap Warren and his wife Chloe welcomed Landon Florence Warren on Saturday, March 3. She weighed in at a healthy 6lbs 15oz. Mom and dad are over the moon with happiness!

A group of A-S faculty and staff members saw Waitress on Broadway on Thursday, February 15, and said they loved it! This is the second show the group has gone to see together this year and the fourth since its inception.

Looking for Alumni

We are delighted to note an increase of interest in Allen-Stevenson among alumni who have sons of school age. Because of this, the School has developed a policy to handle Legacy Status: alumni may request an early admissions decision although Legacy Status does not mean an automatic or guaranteed acceptance. Alumni who are interested in applying their sons for Kindergarten 2019 should call the Admissions Office before June at 212-606-0884.

From time to time, alumni come to the School to share an interest or skill in conjunction with something the boys are studying or discussing.

If you are interested in volunteering your time in this way, please feel free to reach out to alumni@ allen-stevenson.org.

Affinity Events Build Connections and Opportunities Are you taking advantage of the vast network of alumni who have careers in everything from finance, real estate and medicine to the arts, the movie business and architecture? Allen-Stevenson boasts alumni affinity groups for all professionals and at every level, whether you are just starting your job search, or seeking to expand your knowledge after years in your field.

Check out the Alumni section on the Allen-Stevenson website to learn more about upcoming affinity events.

Alumni in Advertising, Marketing & Digital Media

Spring 2018

Announcements

Alumni

Legacy Admissions

Alumni Attorneys Group

Alumni in Architecture & Design Alumni in Entertainment Alumni in Finance

Alumni in Real Estate Don’t see your field represented? Learn how to start an affinity group by contacting the Alumni Office at alumni@allen-stevenson.org.

35

alumni feature CC: What differences do you see in New York City now from having grown up here in the 70s?

DY: There’s a lot less variety

Lamplighter

in terms of people and I don't like New York as much as I did. It feels like the middleclass has been hollowed out.

I also think it’s way more crowded than it used to be and not as genuine. It was kind of funky then, too. There were also things that were not good in the 70s. You couldn't walk in Central Park at night.

I was mugged several times and so were most of my friends. On the other hand, artists could afford to live in Manhattan and that's not true now.

36

CC: What do you remember most about your time at AllenStevenson?

DY: A very high degree of

academic rigor. After going to Allen-Stevenson, everything was easy. A-S was not easy, Riverdale was a degree easier and Brown was a breeze.

David Yazbek ‘75 Interview by Casper Caldarola, Director of Communications

CC: Were there any teachers who made an impact on you or whom you remember well?

DY: My music teacher Stanley Gauger afforded me this very complete look at music starting early on. In class, several times a week, we would sing from the “Fireside Book of Folk Songs” and dozens of those songs are still stuck in my head. Also, one of the things I do is I write comic songs and I remember very distinctly Mr. Gauger playing us an Allan Sherman record.

He introduced us to the comedy of Allan Sherman when we were only 8 years old! Also Stan Freberg and Spike Jones, who remain two big influences.

And then of course there was the orchestra. By the time I was in Ninth Grade, Mr. Gauger had me playing four different instruments in one concert. I was really a cellist but have a facility for instruments so I played viola, cello, bass and piano and then he let me conduct. That’s very supportive to a 14 year old, you feel like you’re capable of anything.

CC: When did you first discover your love of music?

DY: Well, I think it wasn't

discovered so much as it was just there. Like one’s love for water or oxygen is just there.

CC: And when did you start playing an instrument?

DY: We had a piano at home

and I started playing around with it when I was very young.

I started taking lessons when I was six or seven and stopped when I was eight because I didn't like lessons.

And then I took cello at AllenStevenson for about seven years. I really didn't like lessons there either, but I loved playing in the orchestra.

I loved the sound of the cello, but I don't think I liked playing it physically.

CC: Was there any type of music that you were drawn to most?

DY: It goes in phases, but

thanks to my parents, Gauger and I guess my own curiosity, I had a very wide variety of interests from the very beginning. My parents took me to see Miles Davis when I was 12. And of course we saw a lot of musicals. They had a subscription to the Philharmonic and the opera.

From the time I was 12, I played in rock bands and we played everything – Stones, Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Chuck Berry... Rock and Roll was younger then so it was easy to play it all.

I grew up near Central Park in a building with lots of musicians playing all kinds of music all the time. I grew up hearing Flamenco dancers

with castanets, opera lessons, folk guitar, and my piano teacher was literally in the apartment below us. Then I’d go out to the park and hear people playing Afro-Cuban percussion. The Museum of Natural History was six blocks away from my house and I’d go there and hear music from Ghana and China. All of it was fascinating.

The Lincoln Center Music Library, which was 10 blocks away from where I grew up, gave me access to thousands of albums. You could go in and they had listening stations and I’d sit there for hours. Almost every weekend I'd spend at least a few hours listening to everything. I’d just get a stack of records and listen. And now you can do that on your computer.

I think the Boston Public Library is digitizing their entire collection of vinyl and I think it's tens of thousands of albums. When I teach master-classes, this is my big emphasis—you can go online and hear just about anything with a click of the mouse so do it. Cultivate your curiosity and it will enrich your music.

We don’t need more generic Music Theater or Jazz or any category.

CC: Do you have a record collection?

DY: I have boxes of albums

that I haven't opened in 20 years. I’ve got a lot of records that I found in thrift shops.

I have this giant collection of Folkways field-recordings

Alumni Reunion talkback at The Band’s Visit with David Yazbek and cast members

David Yazbek was born in

NYC and graduated from

Allen-Stevenson in 1975. He has written the music and

CC: We all have boxes of LPs and it feels sacrilegious to get rid of them.

DY: Right and now people are

collecting them again. And I always think, I do like the way they sound better and maybe I should invest in a system.

CC: What is the criteria you use when choosing a musical?

DY: Well, the first is, is it

interesting enough for me to feel engaged while reading the source material, whether it's a novel or a movie or a play.

The next question- is the concept something I feel I must to do. And then there's another criteria which is “Should this be a musical?”

That's pretty subjective but I follow my instincts.

CC: So what was it that moved you in The Band's Visit?

DY: It's a gorgeous movie.

There are three things that got me. First, it’s heartbreakingly beautiful as a movie and watching it, you don't quite know why. It leaves you with an intense feeling of beauty but it's not manipulative. It’s just very genuine. The challenge was “Can we make a musical that feels as genuine as the movie?

Can we somehow bring that kind of honesty to the most button-pushing of art-forms?”

If so, that’s something I haven’t seen. The book writer, Itamar Moses, had hours of discussions about this before we started writing.

Another thing that got me is this—I have a deep interest and affection for Arabic, Middle Eastern and Northern African music. I knew I would like to spend some time in that world as a composer.

And the final thing was that I realized that all the characters had something to say that directly related to Buddhist and Sufi concepts that I hold dear. The story leaves you with a sense of Unity.

CC: The Band’s Visit is really beautiful. It is a lovely piece of work. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I noticed it was on TV so I recorded it and will watch it.

DY: Oh good. You're going to

like it—it’s really great. I love the screenwriter and filmmaker, Eran Kolirin. He’s a real artist. It took him a long time to write and make the film. The musical stands on his shoulders.

CC: The songs in the show are truly beautiful. I felt like in this time in our country and world to have a story like that is so simple and we can translate this to what's going on now.

DY: We are an insane society

and a fairly insane world.

The closer you get to the ground and the more of a microscopic look you take at individual people or individual little groups, the more you realize how much everyone has in common.

lyrics for 4 Broadway shows: The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Women On The

Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and The Band’s Visit. Number 5 is coming next season, Tootsie.

He’s been nominated 3 times for Best Score Tonys and has won 2 Drama Desk awards, and Lucille Lortel, Outer

Critics and New York Critics Circle and Obie awards. He

also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for his work on Late Night with

David Letterman. He is also a

recording artist, vocalist and

pianist known for his thrilling live performances and

irreverent style. He’s made 5 albums plus cast albums for all of his shows and has 2

Grammy Award nominations.

Spring 2018

from all over the world that I found outside a thrift shop — a big box of 40 or 50 of them.

I remember I was 17 years old and I offered the person in the store $30 for the collection and they were still wrapped. He said he’d sell them for a dollar an album and so for about $50 I had this amazing passport to all kinds of music from all over the world.

37

Alumni Reunion 2018 This year, Allen-Stevenson alumni had three full days of events to gather and celebrate their alma mater.

Lamplighter

On Friday, March 9, an AllAlumni Reception was held at Marta in The Redbury New York Hotel. Marta, one of Danny Meyer’s restaurants, was the perfect spot for alumni, faculty, and staff to gather and catch up over signature cocktails and plenty of delicious food. A few people even tried to get the recipe for those chocolate cupcakes with olive oil buttercream!

38

Jamie Magid ’91 P’27 welcomed the alumni, reminding them that there are many opportunities to reconnect with A-S, and encouraged everyone to give a gift of any size to the Annual Fund. Last year, 416 alumni helped A-S reach 20% giving participation. If 636 alumni make a gift this year, we’d reach our goal of 30% participation. It would be a shame if Buckley, St. Bernard’s, and St. David’s beat us, right!?

Jamie then welcomed David Trower h’95 to the podium to recognize faculty and staff members who have reached their 25-year anniversary at Allen-Stevenson. Patrick Begley, Michael Schwartzman, Christaline Wilkins, and John Zufall were all present to receive their award. Marty Appel and Bonnie Tucker were not able to attend the reception, but they both were happy to receive their awards after the reunion weekend.

The weekend continued on Saturday morning, March 10, with an Open House back on 78th Street. Alumni were treated to tours by current students Daniel Dudley ’18, George Lucas ’18, and Zale Peart ’18 and Zachary Rahaman ’18. The alumni watched rehearsals of the spring musical Boys, Broadway & Beyond, paged through old yearbooks, and chatted over breakfast.

On Saturday afternoon, alumni, faculty, and friends attended a seated wine tasting at Terroir in Tribeca. The owner, Paul Grieco, appointed Headmaster Trower a master sommelier and asked him to kick off the tasting by describing the first wine. The tasting continued with lots of laughs, and everyone left with a new appreciation for Reisling and Madeira, and a few more new favorite wines!

The music and score for the show were written by one of our own alums, David Yazbek ’75. After the show, David was joined by members of the cast and the creative team to talk with the Allen-Stevenson group. They answered questions, told stories, and David let the group know about his newest project, Tootsie. Yes, we’ll have to get another block of tickets to see the new show when it opens!

On Sunday March 11, alumni, parents, and faculty enjoyed an afternoon at the theater!

Following a pre-show gathering at The Perfect Pint, everyone walked over to the Ethel Barrymore Theater to watch The Band’s Visit.

Thanks to everyone who attended the events this year, we look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Alumni Reunion

( C O N T. )

Our Alumni Community in Action EVENTS 2017-2018

Lamplighter

B-I-N-G-O, Let’s Eat!

In October, the PA hosted parents and children at the Seventh Annual Family Dinner + Game Night. The evening began with a delicious dinner prepared by Sage Dining Services and an exciting game of Bingo. Parents mingled as the boys feverishly filled their Bingo boards. After the first round, the boys lined up to call out numbers for the next round.

When the last “BINGO” was called and everyone got a prize, the boys ran up to the gym for fun games including Gaga Octagon and Bowling Pin-Knockdown/Jackpot organized by Jaison Spain ’97, Jon Burgos, Nick Schroth ’10 and Yaya Diack. Many thanks to the PA for hosting such a great night!

of poems that he calls some of his favorites, along with many he’s written himself.

Joking with the boys that when he was a student at Allen-Stevenson there were dinosaurs roaming 78th Street, Mr. Salomon opened with one of his poems, "Old Boy", about a man who goes back to visit his childhood school.

Laughter quickly followed with "I Have a Short Attention Span" which consisted of one line, "I, What?"

42

At the conclusion, the boys asked thoughtful questions curious to know how Mr. Salomon decides what to write about, what his writing process is and which poet inspires him the most.

A huge thank you to Mr. Salomon for his inspiration!

Young Alumni Day

In November, more than 40 alumni returned to AllenStevenson for Young Alumni Day. This year, the boys enjoyed catching up with many of their teachers, coaches and friends before the long Thanksgiving weekend, and were reminded by David Kersey that they are always welcome here on East 78th Street.

The alumni were also the first to hear the new name of our Unicorn mascot, Robby, announced by Headmaster David Trower.

opportunity to rekindle friendships, the event aims to strengthen the bond that exists between gentlemen of A-S.

Alumni of Color Gathering

In November, more than 30 alumni, current students, and faculty/staff participated in the first Alumni of Color gathering.

The current students are members of BOCAS, a school affinity group for boys of color at Allen-Stevenson. The group is overseen by Jennifer Vermont-Davis, a faculty member who is also a member of the Community Life + Diversity team.

The class years of the alumni and students ranged from 1976 through 2020.

Turning to some classics, Mr. Salomon recited a portion of the song sung by a ghost in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Rudigore, particularly appropriate with Halloween nearing.

A class discussion about Shakespeare’s influence on common phrases in everyday language fascinated the boys, and was summed up in "On Quoting Shakespeare" by Bernard Levin.

Mr. Salomon then brought Shakespeare’s Macbeth to life by performing a scene from the play complete with props.

Alumnus Jack Salomon ’62 Shares Passion for Poetry with Sixth Grade Boys

Pete Haarmann’s Sixth Grade English classes were fortunate to hear alumnus Jack Salomon ’62, a poet by avocation, recite an array

Other poems Mr. Salomon shared included “Mrs. Matterhorn’s Secret”, "You Don’t Understand", "The Good Boy”, "The Commentator" by Gareth Owen, and "Passing Sixth", the view of school from the perspective of a student who never progresses to seventh grade until his son is in school with him.

Jaison Spain '97 and Ms. VermontDavis led an honest and open discussion about the importance of community, connections, and the role that alumni can play to help current students. Everyone present echoed their appreciation for the academic opportunities at A-S, along with athletics and the arts. Mr. Spain '97 said “A-S will give you the chance to do almost everything. It's overwhelming, and that's a good thing.”

Young Alumni Day is an annual event at Allen-Stevenson, where high school and college aged alumni return for a visit during fall break. By providing an

One of the initiatives of this newly formed group will be the start of a mentoring program. Alumni of color recognize the importance of giving back, and one

We hope to match each member of BOCAS with a mentor from this group who will provide guidance and support throughout their time here at A-S and beyond.

Alumni at A-S: Andrew Arias '92

The following article is an excerpt of an article by Braden Queen ’20, a member of the Upper School Newspaper elective group.The start of his journey was at A-S, where he had, The greatest education [he’s] had in [his] life.

He loved Allen-Stevenson. He says he feels fortunate to be an active alumnus. At Allen-Stevenson, he said he learned many important skills that helped him later on, such as kindness, respect and a love for theater. After his education at Allen-Stevenson, he went to the Hill School and Bucknell University. After college, he still didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, so he went to graduate school. He got a degree in political science and history. After graduate school, he

still had no idea that he was going to go into law enforcement—until one shocking day. On a sunny September day, Mr. Arias begrudgingly reported to jury duty. On his way downtown, he received a message that jury duty was canceled. Immediately, he could tell something was amiss, and he noticed a sense of panic in the streets around him. He pondered the cause of the commotion until he saw it for himself when he was walking home: a plane had struck the Twin Towers. As Mr. Arias watched smoke rise from downtown Manhattan, he witnessed a second plane collide with the buildings. When he saw the second tower fall, he wished he could do something to help protect his fellow New Yorkers.

In 2003, Mr. Arias told his mom he wanted to join the NYPD for just two years, and then he would find another job, even though he still works there today. When Mr. Arias first joined the police department, he was confused. He didn’t know what a police officer did. All he knew was what he saw on TV, which was not the case.

When Mr. Arias first started, he patrolled the streets from 11:00 pm to 8:00 am. From this experience, he knew every single homeless person around his beat and their story. He also knew everybody who went to work in the morning. Mr. Arias learned something from this experience.

He learned that life doesn’t always go your way. However, he said that people can fight to survive if there is mutual respect. Later, Mr. Arias was promoted to a sergeant.

He was what he called, prisoner administrator. Afterwards, he became a Lieutenant and then Captain. From his work, he knew

that everything people did had repercussions. Mr. Arias’ thoughtful and informative remarks are a testament to his bravery and hiscommitment to keeping people safe. Mr. Arias still serves the NYPD as a Captain in the Detective Bureau, preventing the bad apples from spoiling the Big Apple.

Allen-Stevenson Alumni Council Update

The winter meeting of the AllenStevenson Alumni Council took place in February. After a welcome to all attendees and a roll call, the group got down to business. The main agenda items for the meeting were the Alumni Reunion weekend, the Annual Fund, and the Industry/Affinity groups.

After going through the reunion weekend schedule, the discussion centered around finding class representatives for the classes ending in ’3s and ’8s. The Alumni Council members also agreed to reach out to their fellow alumni, regardless of class year, to encourage them to attend.

The discussion then turned to the Annual Fund. At Allen-Stevenson, as at most independent schools, tuition and other earned income covers only a portion of educating every boy. The Annual Fund provides critical unrestricted resources that supplement and expand the School’s programs both inside and outside the classroom. The members agree that participation in supporting the Annual Fund, whether it’s a gift of $5 or $500, is a vote of confidence in A-S. Whether you graduated last year or 50 years ago, we all hope you will remember your time at your alma mater, and make a gift today.

Finally, the group had a very lively and thoughtful discussion of the reinstatement of the industry and affinity groups. Kicking off next week with the Alumni in Finance

event, and continuing through the spring, there will be a variety of events being hosted in NYC. These meetings are a great opportunity for alumni to gather and continue to encourage a lifelong love of learning.

If you are interested in joining the Alumni Council, please reach out to Samantha Koss, Director of Alumni Relations.

Friday Morning Meeting– A-Z Files

In March, the Friday Morning Meeting opened with Jordan Wasserberger ’19 and Kerim Eken ’00 reaching out to the boys in Grades 6 to 8 asking them to submit writing, music, artwork and more, for this year's A-Z Files, its 6th edition. The A-Z Files is a publication that features exemplary original work by A-S students, and was designed to honor Zach Levy ’00. This year a section featuring foreign language submissions has been added.

Mr. Eken encouraged the boys to use their upcoming Spring Break to "explore ideas that they’ve conceived and to express them through a medium that makes them happy." He went on to say, "The A-Z Files is a great way to leave your mark at AllenStevenson." Keep an eye out for the next edition in late spring!

Spring 2018

transformational way is through a mentoring program. Having this program will give members of BOCAS an opportunity to network, make connections, and have candid discussions. But the main purpose will be to build a community of support.

43

Proctor 1955

alumni NEWS

1955

Phil Proctor '55, one of our most loyal sources of news, shared a picture of his Fire Captain pin from his time here at A-S. Anyone else out there have one of these?

Lamplighter

1960

44

Michael Joseloff ’60 book Chasing Heisenberg: The Race for the Atom Bomb was published recently on Amazon.com. Years ago he produced a segment on J. Robert Oppenheimer for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and has long wanted to reexamine that history. All he needed was a fresh approach, a new untold story. Chasing Heisenberg is that story. It's the history of the bomb told through the lives of Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Sam Goudsmit, three Allied atomic scientists, and their former friend turned bitter enemy, Werner Heisenberg, Adolf Hitler's chief nuclear scientist.

1970

David Holleb '70 writes that he and his wife Regina (a Wharton '77 classmate of Richard Perry '70) live in Gladstone, New Jersey with their Shiba Inu puppy Max. Their two sons, Matthew (age 28) and Peter (age 25) have flown the coop and are out working or going to medical school. Peter is a first year medical student at St. George's University in Grenada. Matthew lives in Charleston, SC and is a deck officer for Crowley Maritime out of Jacksonville, Florida. He is busy providing disaster relief supplies to Puerto Rico. David and Regina are busy with their financial planning practice with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management in Morristown, NJ. They are active cyclists and hope to cycle the Natchez Trace in Tennessee this Spring and Portugal this Summer.

1981

Jason Anderson '81 keeps track of many A-S classmates on FB, including classmate Erik Cliette '81. He and his family recently notched a full decade of living in British Columbia, and have recently graduated to empty-nester status as their youngest has flown the coop to California for university. Their two eldest are committed Canadian West-Coasters, but Jason is still carrying a soft-spot for friends and family in New York and New England.

Evan Goldfischer '81 reports that he's published a new book, Even Urologists Get Kidney Stones - An Essential Guide to Kidney Stone Treatment and Prevention. The book is a primer for patients who are preparing to undergo stone surgery, and for

Holleb 1970

Rice 1984

those who want to prevent stones from recurring. The book contains many illustrations and graphics and is meant to be approachable and readable by the average patient, and not too technical.

Steve Klammer '81 stopped by A-S recently with his son, Chas.

Enjoy your food tour, we hope to see you again soon!

1984

Marc Rice '84 reports that he and his family have just returned from a trip to the Pacific Northwest, where they traveled to Washington and Oregon. They are now up to 42 states and are hopeful to complete all 50 states by the Summer of 2019. The remaining states are Hawaii (in March), North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota (this summer), Wyoming, Montana, Idaho (next Christmas), and Alaska for Marc's 50th birthday in August 2019. Maybe there could be some A-S alumni reunions in those last 8 states!

1986

Oliver Kramer '86 and his wife Sarita Schueller-Kramer welcomed the arrival of their 2nd child, Ava Shoshana Kramer, in November. Sarita and Baby Ava are both doing great and Big Sister Mia is always on the ready to lend a hand!

1987

Pete Conlon '87 has been keeping busy in Los Angeles. He's been working with Judd Apatow and the good people of Netflix designing and animating the dramatic opening title sequence for Judd's new one hour stand-up special, “The Return”. He also worked on a Patton Oswalt special, also on Netflix. Pete says the special is a powerful piece of stand-up, both funny and heart breaking. A must watch!

Kramer 1986

Elgart & Asser 2006

1997

Matthew Ferraro '97 is now a senior associate at the Washington, DC office of the law firm WilmerHale LLP, where his practice focuses on regulatory law and defense and national security-related legal issues. He was delighted to attend his 20th Allen-Stevenson reunion in New York in April 2017 and to take a tour of A-S for the first time in many years. It was a treat to see so many old friends and fabulous former teachers.

Jaison Spain '97 was happy to see so many alumni at the Alumni of Color Gathering, including the Simmons brothers, Derrick '15 and Daniel '18.

2006

Jack Elgart ’06 and David Asser ‘06 with David's partner Mike in their new venture — non-dairy soft serve at 120 MacDougal St. - https://mikeanddaveeats.com

2009

Sam Bernstein '09 was named one of Forbes 30 under 30 for 2018. LoftSmart, the company he founded with his business partner Sundeep Kumar, connects student renters to apartment buildings looking to fill leases.

2011

This summer, Michael Duffy '11 was awarded the 2017 SABR Jack Kavanagh Memorial Youth Baseball Research Award.

Michael Duffy, a rising senior at Bard College in New York, majoring in American Studies, was selected as the winner in the college division for his paper, "Babe Ruth: Changing Baseball and Changing America." Congratulations Michael!

2012

Adam Koeppel '12 recently celebrated his 21st birthday and invited many A-S friends. Pictured below are Nick Hershey '12, Oliver Rowles '12, Franny L’Esperance '12, Noah Koeppel '10, Adam Koeppel '12, George Frank '12, Erik Silberstein '12 and Cameron Koffman '12. Happy belated birthday Adam!

Koeppel 2012

Lozano 2013

2013

Brayan Lozano '13 is currently studying Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science at Dartmouth College, and was recently featured in a spotlight about his internship at the Dartmouth Organic Farm. Congrats Brayan!

2016

Heidi Garson was at Carnegie Hall recently and enjoyed seeing one of her students Benjamin Edelson '16, along with Trevor Jensen '16 on stage with the New York Youth Symphony. Harrison Ringel '16 was also there to cheer them on and enjoy some Schumann and Rachmaninoff.

Jensen, Edelson, Ringel 2016

Spring 2018

Spain 1997

2017

45

Kilin Tang '17 spent the afternoon at A-S during his Thanksgiving break, catching up with his teachers and friends.

It was great to see you, hope you enjoy your A-S hat!

2018

Daniel Simmons '18 recently participated in his first concerto competition at the Manhattan School of Music. He writes, "Even though I didn't win, I feel inspired to do better." Bravo Daniel, we're all very proud!

Tang 2017

Simmons 2018

In Memoriam

Faculty & Staff

Jon Paul Borella ’86, 46, of Verona, New Jersey, passed away on

Jacqueline 'Jackie' Brown Director of Alumni Relations from 2002-2009

November 30, 2017.

He is predeceased by his mother, Sheila Borella, and is survived by his wife, Penny (Palevsky) Borella; daughter, Casey; father, Ed Borella; aunts, Carol Borella and

Roberta Jennings, and her husband,

Thomas; his uncle, Stephen Borella, and his wife, Renee; his in-laws, Frances,

Stanley, and Keith Palevsky; and treasured friend, Loretta Ahlrich, all of whom he loved very much.

JP attended The Allen-Stevenson School, and then Horace Mann, from which he

graduated in 1989. After he graduated first in his class, summa

cum laude, from Georgetown University in 1993, JP worked for 14 Lamplighter

years at JP Morgan, and then was employed for 6 years at Bank of

46

America in their Global Investor Marketing divisions, before joining Ziff Brothers Investments as a Director in 2010.

Jon Paul had a unique passion for life. He often arose before 4am

and was intensely dedicated to his family and friends, his job, and the world of sports, particularly golf, hockey and his daily Stairmaster workout. We will all miss him very much.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make donations in JP’s

memory to: Cycle for Survival, a fundraiser for rare cancer research that his daughter, Casey, is dedicated to (online at Cycle for Survival), or the 1789 - JP Borella Scholarship Fund at Georgetown University, set up by JP and Penny

(online at giving.georgetown.edu — please designate it for the 1789 - JP Borella Scholarship Fund).

Jacqueline Cannon Brown, 79,

peacefully passed away at home on December 9th with Snickers, her

beloved Schnauzer, by her feet. Jackie

was an independent, strong and fearless

woman. She was a loving friend, sister, aunt, mother, and Grammy.

Born in Erie, PA to Isabelle Tollon Cannon and George Woodward Cannon, she is survived by her daughter Amanda (Matthew),

grandson, Charlie, sister Jane (Charles) and preceded in death by

her brother John (Naomi). Aunt to Scott, Betsy, Ann, Susan, John, David and Linda, she was loved by her family and many friends.

In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to New Jersey Schnauzer Network, P.O. Box 36, Fanwood, NJ 07023.

Brian Farrell Fifth Grade Homeroom Teacher from 2006-2008

Brian Farrell died suddenly on January 2. Brian passed away too

soon, he was just 44 years old. After leaving A-S, Brian followed his heart to Washington, DC and then moved on to Michigan, where he and Dr. Justin Klamarus married. Brian continued a career mentoring and teaching children.

Brian had a great, and sometimes irreverent sense of humor! He

was kind to all, had friends and colleagues in many corners of the School, and found his way into the music and drama programs within A-S. The months proceeding the Gilbert & Sullivan

productions were among Brian’s

favorite times at A-S. Brian would juggle teaching and working on G & S—

happily! After he left A-S, for a while

Brian would reappear in March to catch a performance.

Michelle Demko had a memory of

Brian’s magnificent puppets. Brian was

a practicing believer in social emotional

learning. The puppets were his students or a co-teacher. Brian told

life stories as well as helped children settle differences through the puppets.

Brian also had a passion for dogs … for anyone who remembers,

at the beach, having intense heart-to-

Lexington. Brian was a frequent flyer at the pet store. We all knew

quietly by, so those dear to her knew

hearts in the wee hours, or sitting

there used to be a pet store between 77th and 78th Streets on

they were never alone.

he wanted to run the store! He finally settled for buying, not one but two dogs one day! In reading his obituary, their three dogs

Dr. Terry spent the last 25 years along-

were an important part of his life.

side many dear colleagues teaching

science and the roots of self-directed

Brian’s passion was teaching and working with his colleagues. Brian

discovery to so many boys rolling

his background in learning issues supported teaching his wide

through their formative years at The Allen-Stevenson School in

know the boys, asked lots of questions and then went to the work

neurobiologist was allowed to blossom as an energetic educator -

range of boys at A-S. He studied his group each September, got to of inspiring the boys to learn and making them feel good about

their academic, emotional and social life in his classroom. Brian taught the whole child.

Mary Terry Science Teacher/STEAM from 1992-2017

Born Mary Patricia Meeley, Dr. Mary M Terry passed away on Christmas Eve after a decades-long battle with breast cancer. She is

survived by her only son, Daniel Terry '10, of Long Island City, and life partner Gregory Koch. Surviving also are mother Mary Ellen,

sister-in-law Joanne (Tricia, Kate, Bessa), sister Carolyn with hus-

band Chuck (Bill, Charlie, Caitlin), and brothers Stephen with wife Stacye (Keara), John with wife Donna (Thomas, Lauren, Colleen), Robert with wife Liz (Joseph, James) and Brian with wife Sybil (Colin, Claire).

For those in her counse—family, friend, or colleague—Mary could always find the quiet struggle in the room and connect with the one bearing it, draw it forth, examine it, laugh at it, and give its

power back to those carrying the burden. And we all watched her draw on her own inner strength in the process. Her humor and

wisdom touched so many, whether by making up poems to tame

and befriend elusive words, reading aloud and adding drama and excitement in the most amazing voices, donning silly garb and

conducting science experiments with the little ones around a table

Manhattan. This is where her scientific background as a PhD

teaching exploration and inquiry while holding the hand of another.

Please join us in remembrance in all of these ways, and in any

personal and singular ways she will surely have inspired. Be it in

person, in spirit, through gesture or quiet meditation, call to mind the gifts she has given to each of us. Wish her well. Take comfort

in her peace. Take pride in her triumphs. And take a moment now

and again to call to mind the tiny gifts and the grand visions at the times and places she would have filled for you, were she still at your side. She is, and always will be, Our Peach.

Spring 2018

was a people person! Brian came to A-S from Eagle Hill School and

47

Did You Know? is a column that highlights our many interesting parents.

If you’d like to submit

information for our next issue, please email it to Casper Caldarola.

Lamplighter

I am obsessed with helping make organizations better. I work with companies to grow and maintain internal and external culture and community. I also advise organizations on everything from customer experience and service to training, hiring and communications.

48

With a passion for hospitality, I was the first employee at SoulCycle. For more than a decade, I helped build SoulCycle from a start-up with a single NYC studio to one of the country’s leading boutique fitness companies with 70 studios nationwide and 20,000 riders a day.

I worked in virtually every department in the company before becoming Chief Culture Officer.

Before joining SoulCycle, I worked at Condé Nast for almost ten years in public relations at Glamour and dominomagazines, where I received several awards and accolades. I began my career at NBC in New York City.

I am a tenacious problem-solver and motivating communicator, and deeply invested in making companies successful—and believe that taking care of employees is an integral part of success.

Some companies I work with today are Lenox Hill Hospital, WeWork, UrbanStems and The Wing and each brings a different set of challenges.

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and received my BA in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin. I live on the Upper West Side with my husband, Geoff, and our two sons, Mickey ’26 and Fisher who is 1.

Amy Peck P’26

I am in the business of delivering sun, sand and sea to those looking for a holiday while simultaneously strengthening the economy and ecology of a country. As the Chief Marketing Officer for Atlantis, Paradise Island, I have the daily gift of reinvigorating a 20-year-old iconic brand and lifting up not only 7500 amazing Bahamian employees – including 185 marine aquarists, biologists, animal behaviorists and chefs who care for 50,042 marine animals at Atlantis - but also 300,000 citizens of the country.

While I do this directly by running brand strategy, on property activation, advertising, social media, communications, website, partnerships, iconography and guest activities, I do this indirectly by believing that every bit of cultural sharing CAN make a difference. When I returned to The Bahamas, I discovered a renaissance in cuisine, music, art, fashion and pride that immediately became an obvious addition to the rebranding of Atlantis.

Today, amongst the known incredible experiences at the resort, our guests meet emerging Bahamian artists and watch Bahamian cultural entrepreneurs build their businesses all over the resort. The result is the reason I love travelling between New York and Paradise Island (other than the magnificent views). Watching the interchange between guests and locals, our amazing staff and marine life delivers moments of great understanding and appreciation for our planet and Bahamian culture. Travel today is about discovery and sometimes that discovery can change our lives.

Lauren Schneider P’19 and ’20

Fashion designers conduct research on not only the current climate, but also the future projection of fashion amidst global society. After interpretation for my specific audiences, we bring innovative concepts to both companies and manufacturers. This is the essence of a designer’s role. It helps my customers choose styles that represent their personalities, moods, and reflect the times we live. Also our ambitions and desires are translated through our exterior portrayal of our inner self.

I have always loved fashion, with the beauty of this art form being the centerpiece of my existence. I started my first collection during senior year at VCU School of Design. After years of training, I have not only continued through consulting, but have launched a successful brand self-titled ndrew Yu. This has afforded me the luxury of selling globally with my audience being QVC UK, France and Italy.

I am not interested in following trends, as much as I tend to concentrate on making women look and feel beautiful whatever their age or size. I often draw my inspiration from fine art, music, architecture, pop culture and daily life in these ever changing times. To not only know fashion, but create its future is and always will be my passion for life.

My son, Sebastian, recently joined the A-S family and loves the school beyond words. Our family couldn’t have asked for a better environment with both dedicated educators and devoted families.

There is love emanating from the walls of our school and we are a beyond proud to be part of this community.

Andy Yu P’27

A 135-year Tradition of Excellence in Educating Boys

Please make Allen-Stevenson a Philanthropic Priority For 135 years, Allen-Stevenson has produced generations of Scholars and Gentlemen. Your gift to the Annual Fund is an investment in a New York City treasure and an education that includes one of the finest music programs in the city.

Allen-Stevenson was the first independent school in New York City to host its own orchestra over 65 years ago, and has long-emphasized a curriculum that fosters a boy’s ability to work, play, and create through playing instruments, singing and musical games.

For more information, contact Liz Roberts, Director of the Annual Fund, at lroberts@allen-stevenson.org or 212-933-5238.

THE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL 132 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075-0381

Allen-Stevenson Teams for the 48th Academic Bowl

Non-Profit Organization U.S.Postage Paid New York, NY Permit No. 757