lamplighter
THE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL
Winter 2019
Winter 2019
THE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL
Director of Communications Sarah Woods
Headmaster’s Message
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Communications Managers Lily Miller Louisa Wells
Features
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Contributing Writers Katherine Callahan Aidan Fennelly Kristin Filling Camilla Iturralde Samara Spielberg David Trower h’95 Jennifer Ziplow Photographers Ryan Burke Katy Duckworth-Schachter Jenny Hwang Lily Miller Al Pereira Jennifer Phillips Ariana Sarwari Jaison Spain ’97 Samara Spielberg Jennifer Vermont-Davis Louisa Wells Sarah Woods Designer Mase Kerdel-DeMarco Cover photos Front cover photo: Seventh graders collect origami hearts made by Middle School boys for Hearts for Hearts on Founders Day. Back cover photo: Upper School boys in an orchestra rehearsal.
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.
Around A-S
Bringing Out the Best in Our Boys
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I Carry Your Story and You Carry Mine: Storytelling in Spanish Class to Foster Empathy in Grade 8 Boys
How Do You Build Boys Who Make the World a Better Place? By Asking Good Questions
New People at A-S
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Building Project
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Spring Benefit
Strategic Plan Update Founders Day
Closing Exercises and Ongoing Schools Kellner Great Teacher Award Riklis and PA Staff Grants Summer Learning A-S News
Alumni Spotlight Alumni Reunion Alumni News In Memoriam
Parents Association
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QR Codes: We’ve added a few QR codes throughout this issue so that you can enjoy listening to a few speeches by alumni, learn about curricula activities and read key research conducted by our faculty. Simply hold your phone’s camera over the image. 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.
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H E A D M A S T E R ’ S
M E S S A G E
In families, classrooms, on athletic fields, and in communities, those in charge of boyhood have daily opportunities to make a difference for boys. Boys clamor to be themselves and reliably take advantage of every opportunity that is offered… Holding boys in relationships where they are known and loved is the best way to build good men.—Michael C. Reichert, PhD,
How To Raise A Boy: The Power of Connection to Build Good Men
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This paragraph is the conclusion to one of the wisest books I have read recently about boys and their development. It sums up the main theme of the whole book: the best way to challenge and nurture boys is connected and relational.
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This theme corresponds to the emphasis of our 20/20 Vision, which stresses that we want every boy in our care to become “intellectually, socially and emotionally strong” and to “achieve his best potential within an inclusive community of joyful learners and their families.” The three feature articles in this Lamplighter illustrate various ways in which we do so. This educational process of building good relationships invariably takes time and effort. It’s not easy, but it is fundamental to healthy development.
This idea was the basis of a recent talk I led with parents. It was called “The Art of Listening to Each Other: Not Every Discussion Is a Debate.” We had a great time talking about this topic, although we certainly didn’t solve every obstacle. What we did accomplish was to acknowledge how vital it can be to bridge differing experiences, values and perspectives with each other. In light of deep divisions in this country and the world, this year’s news has become increasingly challenging. The press is filled with what is sometimes called VUCA, an acronym that stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. These forces can make the future seem bewildering. How do we, how can we, prepare boys for this world of perpetual change? Our ongoing Strategic Planning process, in which over 50% of the Allen-Stevenson community have participated, is addressing some innovative ways to address these challenges, while also reaffirming our mission and values. But there are no easy answers, and many choices are rooted in a developmental, educational process that must take place over time.
Mr. Trower leading a Middle School book discussion
Talks with Mr. Trower
The traditional morning handshake and welcome
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In his wonderful book, The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness, Dr. Edward M. Hallowell describes five important keys to this process: connection, play, practice, mastery, and recognition. He observes, “Without ever entering politics, we can all do a lot in our own lives to help children here and around the world. We can begin by raising our children in the best way possible by giving them a connected, love-filled childhood. We can begin by turning on the magic.” Similarly, connection and relationships can foster the roots of new VUCA attitudes. For example, one author suggests thinking of VUCA as Values, Us, Curiosity, and Aspiration. Another likes to use Vision, Understanding, Courage and Adaptability as good VUCA substitutes. In either case, these re-visions can turn a threat into an opportunity, and anxiety into agency.
Educating the “whole boy” always involves a variety of domains—academics, athletics and the arts, for instance—and leads to what we call SEL, or “social and emotional learning.” The goal is to help each student develop both roots and wings, as well as what might be deemed a kind of compass—whether it is moral, artistic, social, intellectual, emotional or otherwise. In so doing, an Allen-Stevenson education affirms, as the 20/20 Vision asserts, “We help boys learn that they can make a difference, that is, to make the world a better place.” Thank you to everyone who has helped to prepare the delightful pieces in this Winter 2019 Lamplighter, and thanks to all of you for participating to make this community so caring, connected and strong. Fortiter et Recte!
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Scan this QR code with your phone’s camera to watch the “Making of Mr. America” video.
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B r i n g i n g O u t t h e B e S t i n O u r B Oy S By Katherine Callahan, third grade teacher; Kristin Filling, Asst. head of Lower School, 3rd grade; and Sarah Woods, Director of Communications A central component of the third-grade curriculum is a focus on social-emotional learning (SEL). Once a week the third-grade boys break into small groups to develop and discuss skills and attitudes that help them navigate the world we live in.
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Development of this Third Grade SEL Program grew out of work done by Third Grade Teacher, Katherine Callahan, during her master’s thesis at Teacher’s College. “Through my coursework and in the classroom, as well as using books like A Mindset for Learning, (written by Kristine Mraz and Christine Hertz), I recognized that there was a growing recognition about the importance of social-emotional learning, but I couldn’t find a curriculum that suited the needs of our boys, so a few years ago, I helped create one.”
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In the last couple of years, the entire Third Grade Team has worked together to further develop the lessons and direction of the SEL program. “We’ve managed to implement a well-rounded SEL curriculum that addresses the needs of our community. Everything we introduce in SEL is tied to real-world scenarios. We use picture books and videos and role-play to help the boys better understand the issues and challenges that they may encounter in and out of the classroom. Our discussions and activities encourage the boys to remain positive and work through problems and see the world through other people’s eyes. It’s very important that the boys relate to the situations in order for them to be meaningful and make them stick,” said Ms. Callahan. Third Grade Teacher Erica Marcus added, “This is the age where boys are becoming more self-aware and often comparing themselves to others…and like everything else, they need to practice thinking positively and develop the skills to handle their emotions more productively. They need to find their voice and not be afraid to speak up. We want to help them understand that helping others, and being a part of a community, is also a way to help themselves grow.”
The SEL curriculum begins at the start of the school year with the boys writing down their hopes and dreams. It could be anything from ‘I hope to be a mathematician’ to ‘I hope to be a skateboarder’. Once they have their ‘hope’ they talk about how they will achieve that. As a class, the boys discuss how they can help each other achieve their dreams, which helps to set the rules and responsibilities for the classroom community.
The boys spend a lot of time in the initial weeks of school, and throughout the year, talking about developing a growth mindset. Many boys in Third Grade think, “I know how to do that already,” or “I am not good at that. I can’t do that.” To encourage the boys to expand their thinking, the groups discuss how to shift their “fixed” thinking to one that embraces growth. We teach the boys that the brain is a muscle that remembers things, so if a mistake is made, the brain grows. The teachers encourage the boys to try things out and to celebrate their mistakes. Getting them to change their mindset is the goal. They learn that “I give up” or “you’re smarter than I am” is a fixed mindset. The “power of yet” encourages them to see that they may not be their best YET, that there is more to come. A lot of work goes into breaking down old ways of thinking about things and a big factor in this is the language we use. Positive self-talk is an important tool for growth and something we practice throughout the Third Grade.
As the year goes on, the third-grade teachers introduce and explore five crucial, research-based stances. Each third-grade teacher is responsible for planning and leading the learning for a specific stance. Part of this planning entails figuring out which picture books or videos might provide good examples to promote learning and discussion.
In the initial weeks of SEL we always do a kindness activity that demonstrates the ripple effect of one’s words or actions on others by symbolically dropping a marble into a bucket of water after reading out an act of kindness. We then begin exploring the five stances. The first stance that we discuss is empathy. The groups spend two weeks
reading stories, watching videos and discussing scenarios that portray empathy in various ways. Next up is persistence. The boys are required to do a hands-on activity that encourages them to keep going with something that is challenging rather than giving up. Flexibility focuses on working through a problem in a new way, all while incorporating positive self-talk. Learning to bounce back from adversity is discussed under the stance of resilience. We wrap up with the importance of optimism, which is about the power of positive thinking…and gets us right back to growth mindset!
i C A r ry y O u r S t O ry A n D y O u C A r ry M i n e : S t O ry t e L L i n g i n S P A n i S h C L A S S t O F O S t e r e M P At h y i n g r A D e 8 B O y S Adapted and Abridged research Project Shared by: Samara Spielberg and Camilla iturralde Please note: Where additional research or studies are cited, this information can be found in the bibliography in the full research paper, which is accessible through the QR Code to the left. Scan this QR code with your phone’s camera to read the full research paper, watch a video of the boys, and listen to a podcast.
The following is a summary of our action research project, which was conducted through the International Boys’ School Coalition and funded by Allen-Stevenson. The research took place mostly in Spanish during Eighth Grade Spanish class. Because our students begin Spanish in Kindergarten, by Eighth Grade they are capable of articulating their emotions and those of others in Spanish, as well as storytelling in the past, reflecting in the present, and coming up with solutions in the future, which was necessary for our research.
Why this Particular research
In recent years, we have noticed a shift in our students’ ability to connect with themselves, express emotions, and empathize with others. To create tomorrow’s global leaders, we must help boys become more in touch with themselves and their local communities, where they can safely make and grow from mistakes. To facilitate this, we created a four-part framework for teaching empathy. The third phase of this framework, utilizing personal narratives about bullying, formed the focus of our action research.
Studies we’ve read show that boys engage in bullying more than girls. Boys tend to externalize the abuse, demonstrating anger rather than sadness, but in ensuing years they internalize their problems and disconnect from their emotions. If educators can give students tools to express emotions and find outlets for resolving their problems, we can help prevent the long-term negative consequences of bullying. By focusing our research efforts on bullying, we sought to build shame resilience. Brené Brown's (2018) research highlights that gender and shame go hand-in-hand. Males are pressured not to be perceived as weak. When boys feel ashamed, they do one of two things: they try to distance the shame by silencing and hiding it, or they use shame to fight shame by bullying. We need to help our boys develop shame resilience to respond with awareness and self-compassion. By practicing intentional empathy, they can learn to respond in this way. Teachers have the unique opportunity to foster empathy in their students, cultivating a community of willing listeners
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This framework of the stances and the vocabulary of a growth mindset are central to how we approach teaching SEL, but the social and emotional challenges our boys face each day truly drive their learning. We seek to meet the needs of our boys and provide them with a positive language for addressing their problems, as situations arise in the classroom. “Because SEL is based on what is happening in the world, it is always changing. It is challenging as a teacher because you always have to be ready to adjust. We too must be positive, persistent, flexible, resilient, and empathetic. It’s an ongoing practice for all of us!” explained Ms. Callahan. “Providing the boys with a safe environment to have these types of conversations and encouraging them to think about the importance of their actions and words has been a truly amazing experience!”
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and caring citizens. However, giving and receiving empathy takes practice. As one receives empathy and its rewards, giving it becomes easier. Through storytelling, students can actively rehearse emotions, vulnerability, and trust-building. Students can assume new identities in stories, allowing them to change perspectives and identify emotions. Additionally, writing and sharing stories fosters healthy peer relationships, ultimately creating a culture of kindness.
Our research Project
Our project explored how teachers can intentionally scaffold the building blocks of empathy into storytelling via the following research question: How does the sharing of personal narratives foster empathy in Grade 8 boys?
empathy
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Empathy among students seems to be in decline and storytelling is a promising catalyst to regain empathy. Though socialemotional learning is considered a “soft” skill, the research demonstrates the need to make it the core of our work. Our literature review illuminated this both as a problem and a solution for educators.
Here are some suggested readings & videos to watch:
Emotional literacy is paramount to building empathy. We must consider how our world has changed. Today's adolescents grow up in a different world than previous generations. They are flooded with information, influenced by social media, and spend less time connecting with others. Young people grow up in a self-absorbed world. Michele Borba (2017) in Unselfie coins the term “the Selfie Syndrome” and explains that “the condition is all about selfpromoting, personal branding, and self-interest and exclusions of others’ feelings, needs, and concerns” (Borba, 2017). Borba discusses how “self-absorption kills empathy, the foundations of humanity, and it’s why we must get kids to switch their focus from ‘I, Me, My, Mine’ to ‘We, Us, Our, Ours’.”
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IS YOUR INTEREST PIQUED?
Adolescents also deal with higher levels of anxiety and stress, greatly affecting their response to the world. Sapolsky (2015) argues compellingly that stress interferes with one’s empathetic response, citing Martin and Mogil’s findings that when we are stressed, our brains secrete hormones altering our brain function and "disrupt aspects of learning and memory, impair judgment and impulse control, and increase the risks of anxiety and depression. As it turns out, the hormones also disrupt aspects of empathy" (para. 3).
Storytelling
While many studies have confirmed that storytelling increases empathy, both through listening to and telling personal narratives, we found none that measured a change in empathy going from listening to another's story to telling one's own. We decided the best way to study this was to have our students write personal narratives about bullying, sharing with someone they knew, and then recasting into the first person.
research Context We randomly selected a group of 18 Allen-Stevenson Grade 8 Spanish students, whose proficiency in Spanish because of their eight years of study, meant they were readily able to delve into more nuanced content. Our research was conducted during class, which met three times weekly.
Researchers from around the world
“How to Activate Kids’ Empathy”: Dr. Michele Borba (a video)—Character.org “The Road to Character” David Brooks (Oprah podcast) “Empathy is a Verb” Dr. Michele Borba, TED Talk “The Innovation of Loneliness” (a video) “Boys and Self-Loathing: The Conversations That Never Took Place” by Mark Greene Unselfie—Michele Borba, Ed.D.
Our Action
Data Analysis and Discussion of results We used various data collecting techniques to ensure credibility, authenticity, and trustworthiness in our research. We collected data through a baseline survey, interviews, questionnaires, conversation classes in groups, observations, work samples, reflective journals, and a concluding survey and exit interview. Our analysis of the collected data evidenced the four themes: perspective taking, recognizing emotion in self and others, staying out of judgment, and feeling with others. Additionally, unexpected themes emerged throughout the process and during the final reflections including the ability to forgive personal wrongdoings, preparation for future schools, the ability to both practice and receive empathy, and the cathartic nature of storytelling. These will unquestionably impact our future teaching practices.
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recognizing emotions in Self and Others through Storytelling To ensure the boys had the Spanish necessary to articulate their emotions and those of others, we created a nuanced Spanish vocabulary list based on Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions (see image of the wheel to the left) stemming from eight basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, anticipation, surprise, joy, sadness, and trust. Vocabulary building games and interpersonal activities helped boys internalize this language. We recognize that in order to get boys back in touch with their emotions, frequent rehearsal is imperative. Therefore, emotions were scaffolded into the writing process. In first drafts, boys were asked just to write "what happened." Second drafts built on this, adding emotions. Explicit direction to assign nuanced emotion to characters helped the boys tap into their own emotions and connect with those in others.
Without being prompted, many boys shared that they noticed shifts in their partner while sharing their personal narratives face-to-face. Several said that the connection helped them to feel another's emotions because they were able to read the tone of voice and use body language cues. They also referenced their partner's voice, eye contact, posture, and facial expressions. We noticed in day-to-day interactions that our boys used more eye contact, more head-nodding to show connection, and they physically turned towards one another more.
Perspective-taking
The ability to change perspectives needs to be explicitly taught and rehearsed frequently to become instinctive. The boys, therefore, were given multiple opportunities to put themselves in others’ shoes through activities that asked them to stop, reflect, and consider another’s experience.
Post-action interviews demonstrated that storytelling promoted perspective-taking. The act of writing and rewriting a past moment allowed our boys not only to see a story from different perspectives but also to consider their own biases.
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The most authentic shifts in perspective occurred when students were introspective (versus listening passively) while sharing personal narratives, especially when they used “I” while retelling these narratives. Perspective-shifting was also evident when boys shared their stories in pairs and then retold their partner's story in the first person. This was the most effective activity. As one boy expressed, "When you had to retell your partner's story you could really be in those shoes and you could kind of learn from that situation and really feel.…[You] feel vulnerable cause it’s like you’re telling something that happened that’s bad and it’s coming from the first person, so it sounds like and feels like it’s your story even though it’s not. It makes you vulnerable and teaches you, if you bully someone how these things affect them, and it just really puts it in perspective. I really felt the weight.” (Watch the video by going to the QR code for more student voices.)
Feeling with People
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One student articulated, “We are designed as social creatures. When one person suffers, we all suffer.” Our theory was that at this developmental stage, boys need deep, personal connection to a story in order for it to resonate enough to elicit empathy, which was proven.
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To begin, stories from movies, books, and YouTube were shared. Many boys discussed how little an impact that had on them. “Movie characters are created for you to care about in the short term because they are not real.” This was reiterated by many participants, “I didn’t feel the same level of emotions,” “I didn’t really feel anything with those and obviously they were stories of how someone was feeling so I felt something. But it wasn’t just anything I could connect with.” As expected, the type of story mattered and had a direct impact on empathy.
We next shared a bullying story written by an Allen-Stevenson alumnus when he was in Grade 8, and boys began to feel with others. "I feel like that kind of resonated with me because I didn't really know about anything that serious. But again, once you heard the story of someone in your own community that's when it really changes.” Unexpectedly, the word “close” or “closer” emerged in much of the boys’ reflections. “Knowing that it was a student at A-S, that can change a lot of things. Rather than like seeing something on YouTube or listening or reading a book…. It's closer.” Another boy shared, “As it got to Allen-Stevenson, it got closer to home.” The closeness of the story to the reality in which the boy was living made it resonate more deeply. Almost all participants acknowledged in their post-action write-ups and exit interviews that the last two phases–sharing their personal narrative and retelling their classmates’ in the firstperson–allowed them to connect most with the other’s feelings. Boys remarked that listening to their partner’s story was the most impactful exchange of storytelling, as the face-to-face exchange contextualized the story so they could recognize their partner’s feelings from facial expressions and body language.
The final assignment asked boys to “carry one another’s stories,” where they described the experience with the most empathy and identified their own shifts in empathy. “When you retell it, you feel like you’re the person who is being affected. So, it makes you really think in your perspective and their perspective. It molds the two together to a logical and emotional response.” Using the first-person for someone else’s story was a powerful tool for empathy: “I could feel what my partner must have felt during that situation because I acted like it was me in that situation for a moment and I could really step into his shoes. It was different than other bullying stories I have heard in this unit before.” Another boy spoke about experiencing the discomfort of his partner in the retelling, “I felt very vulnerable even though the story is not mine. When you dictate a bad experience from the first person, no matter whose experience it is, you feel vulnerable and uncomfortable.”
reflection Statement This project informed us immensely as educators and exposed the importance of giving boys the opportunity and tools to talk and write about their emotions and experiences. We cannot turn a blind eye to the emotional needs of our boys and should purposefully and continuously be considering how we can address these needs in our classroom. Social-emotional learning is central to creating global leaders of tomorrow. For students to
Talk about connection! ALL of this came out of a teacher helping a boy many years ago. He gave inspiration and permission to use his story.
learn, they need to be healthy in their minds and bodies, and happy in their hearts. They need to feel safely connected to be their authentic and ever-evolving selves. We loved being able to work with the International Boys’ School Coalition and to connect with other educators of boys around the world. The process of undergoing action research was truly powerful for us as pedagogues. It forced us to pause, reflect, and go deeper than we had before. This work has connected us to so many schools around the world. We’ve begun to present it at national world language conferences and are looking forward to developing it even further. We are eternally grateful to the supportive members of our school who made this happen, especially the boys, their parents, Steven Cohen and David Trower. Muchísimas gracias.
h O W D O yO u B u i L D B Oy S W h O M A K e t h e W O r L D A B e t t e r P L A C e ? S tA r t B y A S K i n g g O O D Q u e S t i O n S By Aidan Fennelly, upper School english teacher
good Questions Any teacher knows that the simplest questions are also the hardest. Take this one, for example: what does it mean to live a good life?
Although the world’s greatest minds have spent millennia trying to answer the question of what makes a good life, schools today spend most of their time and energy avoiding the question of goodness in favor of other, less complicated questions. Questions like: How many hours of independent reading do our students need to increase their test scores? Which recipe of extracurricular activities will get Johnny into Harvard? What is the best way to remediate math instruction so that our students score in the top percentile of the ACT? No one can fault these questions or the people in schools who ask them. I’ve asked them myself (and, when I was a student, about myself) countless times. These are the questions of our age; which is to say that they are not questions of goodness, but questions of achievement, of advancement, of how to win and get ahead. In other words, although the president has said that “we’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning,” we haven’t quite gotten there yet. Which makes me think of another good question: What if winning doesn’t make you better? What if you achieve all of The Things— the test scores, the diplomas, the accolades, the financial security, the admiration of the Important People— only to find yourself, absent an unchecked item on your list, unfulfilled, wanting more?
Aidan Fennelly teaching the Fortiter et Recte Class
One paradox of the 21st century seems to be that as we achieve more, we also suffer more. This is especially true of our kids: according to the Journal of American Medicine, youth suicide rates are the highest they’ve been since 1960, the year the government began collecting data on self-harm.1 The students who achieve the most, who are the most “successful” by traditional standards, are also some of the most unhappy.2
This makes the question of how our children can live a good life central to our work as teachers. At Allen-Stevenson, we are still working on an answer. But one conclusion we’ve drawn is this: To be better—and, maybe, to begin to be good—you need to care about the world around you. You need to want to make it better, too. This is why when drafting our new Vision Statement, we resolved to “build boys who make the world a better place.” 1 2
https://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-suicide-rates-rising-teens-young-adults-20190618-story.html https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285221097_i_can_therefore_i_must_Fragility_in_the_upper-middle_classes
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The fact that serious thinking people have spent thousands of years contemplating the question of goodness seems to suggest that, apart from being a simple, hard question, it is also—for lack of a better term—a good one. And though as a human I may not be qualified to answer the question of what makes a good life, as a teacher I feel equipped to tell you what makes a good question: A good question is easy to understand but difficult to answer. In other words, it is simple, but it is hard.
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Of course, this raises another question, this one more practical than philosophical: How do you do that?
Our answer in the Upper School comes in the form of three new elective offerings, each of which encourages our boys to think about improving themselves and the world around them. Each course, “Health and Wellness,” “Digital Fluency,” and “Fortiter et Recte,” recognizes that we need to do more than just teach the academic subjects if we expect our boys to thrive in a complex world. Each of these classes is centered around a question central to what it means to live a good life and to what it means to make the world a better place.
What Does it Mean to Live a healthy Life?
a better place if you don’t take care of yourself first.
It is difficult to make the world
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“Health and Wellness,” a course created by Learning Specialist Meghan Wall and Nurse Meghan Little, encourages the boys to think about their physical and mental well-being. Instead of being characterized by the Puritan voyeurism that defined abstinence-only health class in the late 20th century and early aughts, Ms. Wall and Ms. Little’s health course teaches the boys to have honest conversations about their bodies and their minds, on topics ranging from consent and gender to body image and positive psychology.
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But, rather than preach to the boys about how to approach these topics, Ms. Wall and Ms. Little explain to them that a person’s health and wellness is the result of a series of choices an individual makes. Some of these choices—like whether or not to see a doctor regularly—are easy. But some, like when a person should become sexually active, are not, and depend on a variety of important and nuanced factors that are different for each individual. By encouraging the boys to talk about these issues (and to include their parents in the conversation), Ms. Wall and Ms. Little help them cultivate a sense of informed independence. Such conversations also help to teach boys the importance of being open and honest with their feelings, and that sometimes being awkward and vulnerable is, well, healthy.
What Does it Mean to be an informed Citizen? the world if you don’t know anything about it.
You can’t improve
That is the premise of Digital Fluency, a course Liz Storch created to teach boys about how to live in a world in which the internet has surpassed the real world as the primary place human beings look to for information.
Initially hailed as the connective tissue that would bind humanity together in a web of shared experience, the internet has evolved into something much more morally ambiguous. If used well it is capable of fostering empathy, sparking social change, and democratizing access to a wealth of information that just thirty years ago would have astounded the publishers of Encyclopedia Britannica. Unfortunately, the internet has also proven itself capable of facilitating great evil. From the dark corners of 8Chan to the trolls trading misinformation on Twitter, the internet’s ecosystem teems with as many predators as good Samaritans. What is perhaps most alarming is that, according to a study published after the 2016 election, more than 40% of traffic on the internet is fake.3 This means that as our boys peruse the web, they are almost as likely to be interacting with content created by a bot as with content created by a real person.
thankfully, the boys have Liz Storch. Liz Storch designed her Digital Fluency (Dig Flu) course to teach boys information and technology literacy skills. Boys take Dig Flu in both their 7th and 8th grade years. In the 7th Grade, they learn how to ethically and effectively gather information, construct knowledge, communicate ideas, and interact with others in a technologyintensive world. They also learn how to be critical consumers of media and to determine which sources are valid and which are suspect.
Of course, it is true that as we consume media, it consumes us. This happens in obvious ways, like with our data, but also in not-so-obvious-ways, as in the media’s ability to peddle stereotypes, spread misinformation, and shape our worldview. This is why the 8th grade year of Dig Flu centers around teaching boys about the social identifiers, how they are represented 3
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/how-much-of-the-internet-is-fake.html
(or misrepresented) in the media, and how the boys can prioritize ethical leadership and responsible action online.
What Does it Mean to Live Strongly and rightly? “Fortiter et Recte,” the School’s motto and Latin for “strongly and rightly,” is the newest elective offered in the Upper School this year. Taught by myself and Upper School Head Steven Cohen, Fortiter et Recte is a course about ethics. Although it’s true that ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with moral principles—right and wrong—Fortiter et Recte is not designed to teach the boys what they need to do to be good; instead, it is designed to teach them how to think critically about goodness. In other words, we teach the boys that ethics is a way of thinking about what it means to live a good life. Someone with a strong sense of ethics has determined for themselves which principles govern their behavior, and they act in accordance with those principles.
Over the trimester, we look at how some of the 21st century’s most difficult questions are ethical ones. Take the example of self-driving cars. Should a selfdriving car be programmed to protect the driver or to cause the least amount of casualties overall? Before you answer, consider this wrinkle: You are alone in a self-driving car. To your left is a couple riding a motorcycle; in front of you is an 18-wheeler; and to your right is a minivan full of children. If the minivan illegally swerves into your lane because the person driving it had one too many pinot grigios at dinner, should your car be programmed to: (a) collide with the minivan, potentially harming the children, (b) collide with the motorcyclists, almost certainly resulting in their deaths, or (c) collide with the 18-wheeler, potentially killing you but saving the most lives overall? Does your answer change if the minivan’s driver were sober? What if the motorcyclists weren’t wearing helmets? Also, is a computer programmer who makes these decisions committing murder?
Eighth graders working through an ethical question
Of course, there is no one, right, easy answer to an ethical dilemma like this one. But by teaching our boys to cultivate an ethical mindset—to use logic and reason to think through their decisions and come to their own conclusions—we hope that we can make these difficult questions approachable.
Building Boys Who Make the World Better In spite of several thousand years’ worth of trying, we still haven’t figured out what it means to live a good life. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t made progress in our attempts to answer this most difficult of questions. We know that a good life is balanced; we know that it centers around taking care of yourself so that you can take care of other people. We know that if we want to build boys who spread goodness, then we need to teach them how to take care of themselves; how to consume information and communicate with others; and how to approach sticky moral situations.
We also know what doesn’t work. We know we can’t stand in front of our boys and pretend that we have it all figured out. That we know for a fact exactly how to talk to your family about your sexuality; or which websites are 100% safe and which are not; or whether or not we should have self-driving cars. As much as we wish we knew the answers to these questions, we don’t. But that doesn’t mean we can’t teach our boys to ask them and then help them to find an answer.
A student in my Fortiter et Recte class approached me at lunch the other day. “I really like our class about ethics, Mr. Fennelly,” he said. “Why?” I responded. “Because it takes these questions that seem so simple and easy to answer, and it makes you realize that they are in fact really difficult! And now I feel like I can’t escape ethical questions. I find them everywhere: in my other classes, with my friends, and even at the dinner table.”
Speaking to him made me realize something. How does one live a good life? Like the inquiry itself, the answer is simple but challenging: Ask Good Questions. And then dare to answer them.
Winter 2019
The course is centered around a single case study about a tricky ethical dilemma. Boys respond to the case study by initially sharing what they think “should” be done. We then teach them three major ethical frameworks: Consequentialism (the ends justify the means); Kantian ethics (centered around duty and universal rules of right and wrong); and Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics (about individual moral character). Having learned about different ways to think about right and wrong, the boys then tackle the case study a second time, explaining how a Consequentialist, Kantian, and Aristotelian would solve the ethical dilemma before giving their take.
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Jaxon Au (3rd Grade) and Mathis Au (Kindergarten)
Henry Feuerstein (4th Grade) and Toby Feuerstein (Kindergarten)
Jack Rosenthal (2nd Grade) and Luke Rosenthal (Kindergarten)
Joshua Salama-Caro (Fifth Grade) and Jake Salama-Caro (Kindergarten)
Kabir Seth (Kindergarten) and Vikram Seth (2nd Grade)
Grant Uger (2nd Grade) and Teddy Uger (Kindergarten)
Lamplighter:
WELCOME
WeLCOMe neW SiBLingS
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Grayson Voorhis (Kindergarten) and Cooper Voorhis (3rd Grade)
Aryn grossman (1st grade, 5th grade) Aryn Grossman is a new member of the Allen-Stevenson community, having relocated to New York City from Greenwich, CT last summer with her family. Until her retirement in 2005 as Executive Vice President at Rubenstein Public Relations, Aryn had spent her career managing media relations and crisis management for high profile accounts, in addition to the daily operations of the company. Aryn currently serves on the board of The David Lynch Foundation, which promotes widespread implementation of Transcendental Meditation to improve mental and physical health, and on an advisory committee for Fairfield County Hospice House, which provides a home for people and their families at the end of life. Previously, she has held board positions with The Young Friends of Mount Sinai Hospital, Rescue Inc., and Playground Partners (a division of the Central Park Conservancy). Aryn earned a B.A. in Communications from Boston University in 1998. Aryn has three boys at Allen-Stevenson, Ace (5th Grade), and twins Grey and Leo (1st Grade). She is currently in training as a tour guide for the Admissions Office.
Alex Klaris ’06, Alumni Council President Alex Klaris graduated with a B.S. in Public Relations from the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 2013, after attending Choate Rosemary Hall and The Allen-Stevenson School. During his time at Syracuse, he was the President of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and later President of the Inter-Fraternity Council.
Alex began his career at Viacom (Nickelodeon Network) and has now been at Hulu for the last four years where he currently holds the role of Account Executive covering sales business in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and New York.
Alex Klaris has most recently served as President of The AllenStevenson Alumni Council, as well as serving as a class agent for Choate. Alex also serves on the A-S Strategic Planning Committee to help shape the future of Allen-Stevenson.
Audrey Rasch has been a parent at The Allen-Stevenson School for the past 6 years and a tireless volunteer for the Parents Association. She has two sons at A-S, Ryder (6th Grade) and Ryan (2nd Grade), and currently serves as the President of the PA and on the Strategic Planning Committee. Previously, Audrey served as PA Vice President, PA Coordinator for Class Representatives and Class Parent in the Lower School.
Audrey is a CPA, holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Public Accounting from Pace University and from 19962007 was a Vice President at J.P. Morgan. Her husband, Reginald, graduated from SUNY New Paltz and received his law degree from St. John’s University. Reggie is currently the General Counsel at Rakuten USA, a Japanese-based technology company, where he has been since 2004.
thomas uger (Kindergarten, 2nd grade) Tom Uger is the head of the business services group at Public Pension Capital and has over 18 years of private equity experience. Previously, he was a partner and head of merchant banking at LionTree LLC, a boutique investment bank and a partner and co-head of North America Media and Communications at KKR, where he worked for 16 years.
Tom received a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College in 1996, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of New Alternatives for Children, a not-for-profit organization that provides health and social services to children with disabilities and chronic illnesses. He and his wife, Bonnie, have three boys—Grant (2nd Grade), Teddy (Kindergarten), and a toddler, Hayes. They split their time between New York City and Millbrook, New York, where they hosted the AllenStevenson Summer Social.
Winter 2019
WeLCOMe neW truSteeS
Audrey rasch (2nd grade, 6th grade) Parents Association President
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Jack Cooley
Science Department head
New Faculty & Staff
Maria Paz Alegre
Lower School teacherLibrarian
Lamplighter:
WELCOME
Maria Paz Alegre graduated from Emerson College with a B.F.A. in Acting and Theatre and holds an M.L.S. with a Certificate in Children and Young Adult Services from Queens College. Ms. Alegre spent the past five years at The Dalton School as a Lower School Librarian.
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What is your favorite book or genre to teach and why?
My favorite genre to teach is folktales! Folktales are so rich in content because they not only provide a window into the beloved stories of another country, but also introduce students to geography, history, traditions, and heroes that they can celebrate. it’s especially satisfying when we study a folktale from a specific country with which a student may have a connection. the opportunity to provide both windows and mirrors into different cultures and perspectives is one of my favorite parts of being a teacher librarian!
Jack Cooley graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Psychobiology and holds an M.S. in Secondary Science Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and an M.S. in Nutrition from the University of Massachusetts. Mr. Cooley comes to AllenStevenson from The Chapin School where he was the Middle School Science Department Chair at Chapin and founded the Robotics Program. Mr. Cooley is also co-founder of a nonprofit organization called The Community BOTS Inc, which provides equipment and training in STEM-robotics for middle-school girls and their teachers in underserved communities in New York and overseas.
What motivated your decision to join an all boys’ school? How do you think it will be a change from your previous environment?
During my visits to AllenStevenson last spring, i was struck by the warmth of the school. it reminded me of what i had experienced myself while attending an all-boys school. Coming from an all-girls school, i have found so far that there are more similarities than differences. i look forward to learning more from the professional community, parent body, and especially the students.
tatyana Dvorkin
Middle School and upper School educational technology integrator
Tatyana graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Anthropology and holds an M.A. in Instructional Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University. Ms. Dvorkin has been working for a non-profit organization, The Jewish Education Project, for the past four and a half years, and prior to that position was at Avenues: The World School.
What curriculum unit are you most excited to bring to Allen-Stevenson and why?
i’m very excited about bringing my game Design elective to Allen-Stevenson. it tends to be popular with students. Often, they just get excited about the idea of games, but once they start working it goes so much deeper than that. evaluating existing games teaches students to think deeply about why certain games are fun and challenging and why others get boring very fast. in building their own games they have to really consider what will challenge their players and keep them engaged, as well as how to make a game with real replay value. We work on a lot of higher order and strategic thinking skills, patience, persistence, and creativity. i am also a big believer in mastery learning and the iterative design process is very parallel to that. if a student’s first try isn’t their best, i think it is important to
Dasha Polzik
provide concrete feedback and then give them the opportunity to improve and do a better job–that’s of course built into game design both in the real game industry and in the class.
eighth grade history Leave replacement teacher
Print and Digital resources Manager
gina Ma
third grade Associate Leave replacement teacher
Gina Ma graduated from New York University with a B.A. in Urban Studies and holds an M.S. in Elementary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Ms. Ma comes to Allen-Stevenson having most recently worked at The Hong Kong International School as a Fifth Grade Teacher, and as a substitute teacher at AllenStevenson this past year. Ms. Ma is also the mother of an AllenStevenson eighth grader.
What do you love most about teaching and why?
the first thing that comes to mind are the students. i adore children and i love to teach them. Knowing i can have a positive influence on the education of young children is extremely fulfilling, and the ’oohs’ and ’ahhs’ i hear when students learn a new concept is the best affirmation a teacher can have. teaching fuels my soul, and i love sharing that feeling with the boys at A-S. i relish working in a school community like A-S, where i can be a lifelong learner. i am fortunate to work amongst colleagues who are smart, thoughtful, funny, and incredibly encouraging.
Pilar Okeson graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.F.A. in Theatre and holds an M.L.S. from the City University of New York, Queens College. Ms. Okeson is a returning A-S faculty member, having spent the past four years at The Severn School in Severn Park, Maryland.
What do you love most about teaching and why?
My favorite aspect of the Print and Digital resources Manager position is managing our 18 parent volunteers. they are such a special group who are so devoted to the library. the library program could not offer such rich programming without their support.
What curriculum unit are you most excited to bring to Allen-Stevenson and why?
i’m delighted that the eighth-grade boys will have an opportunity to explore Communist China this semester in our world history course. As China continues to grow in geopolitical and economic significance, learning about its recent history and culture is no longer merely interesting for its own sake, but is also becoming increasingly important. Our earlier study of ancient Chinese dynasties will inform our investigation of Mao’s tactics (e.g. harnessing the force of some deeply ingrained Confucianist traditions) as we consider whether he was an effective leader. And because Chinese communism (and its Marxist economic underpinnings) will initially appear quite alien to boys raised on the ideals of American democracy and capitalism, it will be all the more useful as an example of an “other” in history that is both a window and a mirror.
Julie robles
interim theatre Director and technical Director Julie Robles graduated magna cum laude from Pace University’s School of Performing Arts and holds an M.F.A. in Acting from The University of North CarolinaGreensboro.
What do you love most about teaching and why?
i love being able to combine my two passions: teaching and theater. Watching my students take what i give them and create their own art turns me back into a student, and i always learn something new from them; the teacher and the artist never stop learning. it is my biggest joy to see my students develop an appreciation for any and all aspects of the arts.
Winter 2019
Pilar Okeson
Dasha Polzik graduated summa cum laude from Boston University with a B.A. in Philosophy and holds an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Chicago. Ms. Polzik comes to us from The Oliver Scholars Program where she has been teaching literature and writing. Ms. Polzik also has teaching experience at Rye Country Day School and The Hotchkiss School.
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Claire Schlegel
Director of instrumental Music Claire Schlegel graduated from Bowling Green State University and holds an M.S. in Music Education from Kent State University. Ms. Schlegel joins us from Bloomfield High School where she was the Director of the Orchestra for 7 years.
Silvia rodriguez
Lamplighter:
WELCOME
Science teacher
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Silvia Rodriguez graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Science and holds an M.S. in Education from Bank Street Graduate School of Education. Ms. Hansen spent the last school year teaching children science in grades Kindergarten through Four at The Ramaz School. Ms. Hansen has two children who are students at St. Bernard’s School and The Chapin School.
What curriculum unit are you most excited to bring to Allen-Stevenson and why?
At Allen-Stevenson i am most excited about collaborating with colleagues in the Lower and Middle School, and to continue to add ways for students to dynamically apply their growing scientific knowledge to daily life.
What is your favorite musical piece or genre to teach and why?
Picking one favorite piece to teach is a hard choice to make but i always enjoy teaching students how to play waltzes. Whether it be the popular Viennese “Blue Danube Waltz” by Strauss or the Mexican waltz “Sobre las Olas” by rosas, there is something both sentimental and fun about waltzes. teaching the importance of the “boom chunk chunk” rhythmic exchange between the lower voices and the middle voices, to the melody line in the higher instruments allows students to hear that all parts, no matter if they have the melody or the harmony, are equally important. Students also connect to waltzes since it is a form of dance. When i have taught waltzes in the past, i have caught my students swaying in their seats to the tempo which showed me that they were engaged with the music and enjoying themselves while also learning important musical concepts.
Lily Miller
Communications Manager
Lindsey guercio
Business Office Associate
Lindsey Guercio graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a B.A. in Communication Fine Art. She comes to us from the business office at The Rodeph Sholom School in New York.
What fact about yourself do you think others would be surprised to learn? My husband and i are avid squash and tennis players. We play several times per week both recreationally and competitively.
Lily Miller graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio with a B.A. in Psychology. She comes to us from Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, a non-profit organization, where she worked for the development and communications teams.
What fact about yourself do you think others would be surprised to learn?
When i was in elementary school, i trained dogs for agility and sheepherding competitions in my home state of California. i was, and still am, obsessed with animals. My first pet was a tortoise named tylenol, and just a few months ago i adopted my first dog—a lab mix named rupert.
A number of our faculty changed
titles. We asked
them to reflect on excited about this
coming school year. Here are their responses!
Kindergarten teacher
Alice heminway
Second grade teacher
this year, i will move to Second grade after teaching in the Kindergarten for many years. it is always invigorating to try new things, and i feel it is beneficial for my professional growth to teach a new curriculum with a different age group. Although the boys are only two years older, second graders are at a very different developmental stage from kindergarteners. i remember many of the boys in my class when they were in Kindergarten, and it is really impressive to see how they have grown socially and academically.
Maya Jourieh
health and Wellness educator and health Office Assistant
this year i will be joining the health Office! this opportunity allows for me to work with the boys in a different light. i am lucky to have been given the chance to wholesomely work with the students in Physical education, teach health & Wellness, and now work in the health Office as well.
this year i will be stepping into the position of lead teacher. Change is exciting! this new role gives me the opportunity to broaden the application of ideas we’ve been developing at AllenStevenson. i love teaching Kindergarten!
tara Parsons
ginny rowe
Kindergarten teacher
After thirty-six years teaching Second grade, i am thrilled to be part of the Kindergarten team. this opportunity allows me to work with a teaching partner, and this age level has always appealed to me. For many years, i taught art and music to incoming kindergarten boys at the rookie Camp and loved it. Learning the ropes of a new curriculum is exciting, fun, and very energetic. i am so grateful for the warm welcome i have received from my colleagues as they lead me forward.
Winter 2019
what they are most
Jesse Montero
Art Department head
this year i will be assuming the role of Art Department head. i am excited for the new connections that i will make with students, teachers, administrators and parents and i’m looking forward to the great art that we will make in the new spaces! Former department head, Julia Kunin, has always been and continues to be a trusted mentor, and i’m thrilled to step into this role after years of her guidance.
Marissa Zelmanowicz Director of educational technology
this year i am assuming the role of Director of educational technology. i’m excited to find new ways to naturally integrate technology into our current curriculum so that it will meet the needs of both our teachers and students. i want to use technology in engaging and collaborative ways to reach students in the classroom, as well as to help teachers feel more confident in using these tech tools.
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Spring Benefit
Lamplighter:
SPING BENEFIT
Parents, faculty, staff and guests gathered for a ’night in Havana’ at the AllenStevenson Spring Benefit on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 in support of the Francis Bellows Allen Scholarship Fund, which helps to provide scholarship support for our boys.
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Attendees arrived decked out in “Havana Chic” evening attire for a fantastic night at Guastavino’s, which was fabulously decorated to transport guests to sunny Cuba. Attendees enjoyed a dinner buffet, danced to the music of Tito Puente Jr. and his Orchestra, and relaxed in draped cabanas or visited the Hemingway Lounge to hit the casino tables and learn the art of making authentic handrolled cigars. The evening also featured a Silent Auction, with an impressive selection of items, and a farewell churro truck offering savory empanadas and freshly made hot churros by Cuban born chef, Eddie Garcia. Sincere thanks to 20182019 Parents Association President Liz Steinberg; Vice President Audrey Rasch; our dedicated Co-Chairs Jennifer Ceccarini, Kerry-Ann Evans-Thompson and Priya Pandit; our Silent Auction Co-Chairs Erika Greff, Amy Peck and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson; and Graphic Designer Mase DeMarco for their hard work putting together such an entertaining and community building evening.
Thank you also to our wonderful benefactors, silent auction donors, and everyone who helped to support this event and the scholarship fund. Thank you also to the numerous other volunteers who lent a helping hand and especially the Peck Family for their creativity in designing and building the hat and flower glam walls.
Winter 2019 23
“…a one-time peek at the new parts of the School, not entirely a school as yet, but
startlingly beautiful, a gleaming feast of glass and light and air that seems to float behind the 19th century façade. It’s very exciting
to see it.”—David Kersey from October 2019 The cabinetry that has been installed in one of the science labs Progress to date of the new middle school regulation-size gymnasium A renovated classroom on the 5th Floor
Lamplighter:
BUILDING UPDATE
Blue & Gold
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Some of the prep space and cooking equipment in the new kitchen A stunning skylight in one of the art spaces
New lockers in the renovated main schoolhouse
Photos from the Community Design Day
S t r At e g i C P L A n u P D At e
All of the work that we have done together has resulted in a significant amount of quantitative data and qualitative information and feedback. With our external consulting partner, Leadership+Design, our goal has been to run a comprehensive and best practices process that yields a result that is best suited for the future of our school and our boys in particular.
Over the summer, a working group, including our Headmaster, read through all of the information that we have gathered in our discovery process and analyzed it to identify key themes.
Those themes were presented to our volunteer Strategic Planning Team that includes parents, teachers, administrators, alumni, and trustees this past week. It has also been presented to our Board of Trustees. The initial themes include:
• educating the Whole Boy
• Being experts on Boys education
• Focus on Professional Learning and Development for our Faculty and Administration • An engaged Community • A Connected Campus
We are excited to explore these themes further and will continue to engage with the broader community over the coming months to create a vision, goals, objectives, and initiatives together to support them. We are looking forward to sharing our exciting plans for the School in early 2020.
Winter 2019
Thank you for participating in the many workshops, interviews, surveys, and well-attended community day that have been organized or distributed since we started the strategic planning process in January. More than 50% of our school community has contributed ideas thus far and we thank you for your input, feedback and time. Although we have made significant progress, there is more to do, and we look forward to your continued involvement.
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Lamplighter: FOUNDERS DAY
Denton Smith ’94 Speaks on importance of Moving Forward as a Community
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To hear Denton Smith’s Founders Day speech simply hold your phone’s camera over the QR code.
Allen-Stevenson celebrated its 137th birthday at Founders Day on Friday, October 11. Headmaster David Trower opened by showing everyone Mr. Allen’s original desk from the School’s first year, when the enrollment was only three boys. Said Mr. Trower, "We are the School, and all the people who have been a part of Allen-Stevenson through the years played a role in building our community.”
This year AllenStevenson was fortunate to have Denton Smith ’94 as the speaker. Mr. Smith regaled us with stories of his family and childhood days at Allen-Stevenson and gave a moving speech to our assembled boys on the importance of community. “When we let our light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same,” said Mr. Smith. “that light
shines in every one of us, and it connects us as a community and moves us forward.your life intertwines with that of everyone else around you here. together we move forward.”
After Mr. Smith’s talk, the boys returned to their classrooms where they participated in a number of activities bringing boys across grades together, in celebration of our vibrant community and the history behind the School. These activities included an AllenStevenson scavenger hunt for information on the history of the School, inter-grade arts and crafts, signing of alumni cards and origami hearts made as part of the Middle School’s boy-led Hearts to Hearts community service project in aid of Puerto Rico.
Mr. Smith is a born and bred New York native who attended The Frederick Douglass Academy and Columbia University after leaving Allen-Stevenson. He currently works in the nonprofit sector at The Fortune Society. He is also the founder of his own marketing company, Urbindy Omni Media, and an actor who has appeared in plays, short films and trod the boards of the Delacorte Theater. Mr. Smith is a championship winning basketball coach,
respected veteran of the West 4th Street basketball courts, and a gifted freestyle MC who has appeared in the Genius issue of National Geographic.
Winter 2019
Denton Smith ’94
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Lamplighter:
CLOSING EXERCISES
Closing Exercises
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Upper School Closing Exercises took place on June 5 at the Eighth Church of Christ Scientist. The featured speaker for the morning, alumnus John H. Pollack ’82, Curator of Research Services in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, at the University of Pennsylvania since 1995. Mr. Pollack regaled the audience with a story from his time being taught by David Kersey, who was honored last year for completing 50 years of service to Allen-Stevenson.
To listen to John Pollack’s Closing Exercises speech simply hold your phone’s camera over the QR code.
Said Mr. Pollack, “It’s a real honor and a pleasure for me to be here today for this celebration, where we turn our attention inward to your accomplishments and outwards to the world that awaits us out there in the summer and years ahead.” Alexander von Maltzahn ’19 gave the Class of 2019 Farewell Speech, in which he reminisced about the memories all the graduates have shared through the years. To close out the ceremony, Mr. Trower bid farewell to the Classes of 2019 and 2020 by speaking about the meaning of the word ‘Farewell.’ “It’s a way of saying goodbye,” said Mr. Trower, “but it’s also a way of wishing someone a safe and wonderful journey.”
“Among A-S memories that I carry with me, many were episodes that pushed me and my classmates to look beyond ourselves, to look outside at the world with a different perspective.”
—John H. Pollack ’82
OngOing SChOOLS Allen-Stevenson students are always well served in the secondary school application process. the goal of the process is to find the right “match” for every boy. each boy should be looking for the school that will best serve his needs as he moves onto high school, inspiring him to grow and develop into the best possible student and person. For some boys that is a boarding school, for others a day school with a campus, and for others a more urban setting. Some of the factors that boys consider when looking at schools are size, location, academic program, extracurricular offerings, and approach to teaching. Our boys are known for their range of interests and their willingness to contribute to a wide variety of school activities. As such they are highly sought after by ongoing schools. Below is a list of high schools that last year’s graduates are attending as well as colleges to which our graduates have been accepted over the past three years: We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Allen-Stevenson students who were accepted to 67 different schools this spring. As of this fall, Allen-Stevenson is currently represented at these high schools. Private Day Avenues: the World School the Berkeley Carroll School Birch Wathen Lenox School Brooklyn Friends School the Browning School Chaminade high School Collegiate School Columbia grammar & Preparatory School the Dalton School Dwight School Dwight-englewood School ethical Culture Fieldston School Friends Seminary grace Church School hackley School the harvey School horace Mann School Léman Manhattan Preparatory Loyola School the Masters School Moses Brown School the Packer Collegiate institute Poly Prep Country Day School riverdale Country School Saint Ann’s School trevor Day School trinity School uniS the Wheeler School
Public School the Bronx high School of Science Brooklyn Latin School Brooklyn technical high School eleanor roosevelt high School Fiorello h. Laguardia high School herbert h. Lehman high School urban Assembly gateway School for technology Boarding Avon Old Farms School Berkshire School Blair Academy Brooks School Choate rosemary hall Cranbrook Deerfield Academy episcopal high School Forman School the gunnery: Mr. gunn’s School the hill Academy the hotchkiss School Kent School the Loomis Chaffee School Millbrook School Milton School Phillips Academy Andover Phillips exeter Academy Pomfret St. george’s School St. Mark’s School St. Paul’s School Suffield Academy the taft School Westminster School
College
Members of the Class of 2014, 2015 and 2016 are attending the following colleges, among others. Babson College Barry university Bentley university Brown university Claremont McKenna Colgate university Columbia university Cornell university Dartmouth College Duke university emory university Fordham university georgetown university harvard university Lehigh university new york university Michigan State university Middlebury College new york university northwestern university
Parsons School of Design Princeton university Stanford university Suny Albany Syracuse university tufts university university of Chicago university of Michigan university of Pennsylvania university of richmond university of Southern California university of Wisconsin Vanderbilt university Villanova university Wake Forest university West Point yale university
Winter 2019
high School
If you have not updated the Alumni Office about where you attend college, please send us an email at alumni@allen-stevenson.org.
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Faculty & PA Staff Grants
the Kellner great teacher Award
Lamplighter:
FACULTY GRANTS & STAFF AWARDS
was initiated by a gift from george and Bicky Kellner, parents of Peter ’84. it recognizes outstanding achievement by an Allen-Stevenson teacher, the 2019 recipient of the award was Kristin Filling, Assistant Lower School head, third grade.
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“When David Trower first announced that I was chosen to receive the Kellner Great Teacher Award in the midst of the Third Grade Closing Exercises I was stunned and completely overcome in the moment. I cried happy tears. I don’t tend to tear up easily, so that speaks to how very much this recognition means to me. I am deeply honored to be recognized by my colleagues for my teaching and leading. I have had the pleasure of working at Allen-Stevenson for 23 years and have forged many powerful connections with fellow faculty members, students and families. Those connections, collaborations, and deep friendships have been my greatest reward for being a caring, committed teacher. While that still holds true, receiving the Kellner Great Teacher Award rounds out this dedication to teaching with something tangible. I am humbled to have been recognized in such a way by the School and I am honored beyond words. The Allen-Stevenson community is a special place to teach and learn, and I am deeply grateful to work in a school full of so many GREAT teachers.” —Kristin Filling
the first riklis grant was established in 1999 by Marcia riklis a former trustee and mother of David hirschfeld ’99, to provide one teacher an opportunity for professional and/or personal renewal. the original award was established through the Betty and Pinhas riklis Faculty Fund.
in addition, over the last 18 years, members and former members of the Board of trustees have contributed towards more riklis-inspired grants. teachers can apply for projects, trips, or other experiences that they believe will provide such special opportunities. the May 2019 recipients were Brian Alifano, Kathy Allen, Lisa Anderson, Katherine Callahan, Alessandra exposito, Jenny griffiths, Sophy Joseph, Julia Kunin, Meghan Little, erica Marcus, robert McCallum, Jesús Parra, Barbara Shindler, Samara Spielberg, and robert Wiseman. the Parents Association initiated the PA Special Staff grant for rest, renewal and professional development for staff in the following departments: admissions, business, communications, food services, maintenance, nurse, security, and technology. this May 2019 recipients were Pat Begley, renée Jenkins, Marissa Zelmanowicz, and Juan Crespo.
Our faculty and staff are so very grateful for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that these grants make possible. here are a few shared moments from a few recipients of the 2019 riklis and PA Special Staff grants Awardees: Kathy Allen, Lower School Reading Specialist Traveling to the
Mediterranean coast of France and Spain to visit vineyards and winemakers, Kathy Allen had the chance to attend many tastings with fellow sommeliers while learning about old world wine techniques and different terroirs.
Lisa Anderson, Fifth Grade Teacher and STEAM Coordinator,
traveled to Colombia and Peru with her daughters this summer, where she learned a great deal about the infrastructure of Incan Civilization, which she looks forward to integrating into the fifth-grade history and STEAM curriculum on Mesoamerica. These lessons will center on how the Incas were master builders and created buildings, bridges and roadway systems, as well as how the city structures of Machu Picchu have withstood earthquakes, and rainy seasons.
Pat Begley, Maintenance Staff,
used his PA Special Staff Grant to take his daughters and grandchild on a trip to Sesame Place, a children’s theme park and water park in Langhorne, Pennsylvania that is based on the Sesame Street television program.
Katherine Callahan, Third Grade Teacher, attended self-help
conferences and courses geared towards work on mindfulness and meditation practices. She looks forward to incorporating her learning into our third-grade social-emotional learning curriculum. During her meditation and mindfulness activities, Ms. Callahan spent time trying to take the perspective of a student to experience how the boys might feel when she begins to implement such activities into the classroom.
Sophy Joseph, First Grade Teacher Exploring art galleries and
museums in England, Paris, and Amsterdam, was how Sophy Joseph used her Riklis Grant. She was particularly wowed by her visit to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where she gained a deeper understanding of Van Gogh’s life in The Netherlands and how it was expressed in his art.
Julia Kunin, Art Teacher, explored Serbia and Hungary this summer. While in Hungary, she was a visiting artist in the ceramic department at the University of Pecs. Ms. Kunin has been returning to the University of Pecs since she participated in a Fulbright Program there in 2013. In addition to developing a new series of sculptures, Julia mentored university students and continued her studybof Hungarian. As research for her work, Julia visited several synagogues in Serbia and Hungary, designed by Jewish architects at the end of the 19th century. She also visited the Serbian artist Nicola Macura who turns weapons used during the Balkan wars into musical instruments.
this summer, our faculty were busy engaging in a variety of educational professional development and learning opportunities. here is a selection of their activities.
Robert McCallum, Art, Woodshop, and Computer Teacher, used his Riklis Grant to work with a Tamil community in northern Sri Lanka that has experienced displacement and genocide as the result of a decades-long civil war. Together with ArtsAction Group, Dr. McCallum undertook a STEAM project to research the origins of the trash that frequently washes up on the local beach. They collected objects, traced their origins, and researched the sea currents that brought them to the beach. Afterwards, they designed and built model machinery to clean up oceans and beaches using these repurposed found materials. The culmination was a museum exhibit highlighting the full scope of the project. Dr. McCallum is looking forward to sharing this experience with his A-S students this school year!
on fostering empathy through storytelling at the IBSC Annual Conference, “Boys and the Arts: Great Minds, Big Hearts.” Others in attendance at the conference were Music Department Head Michelle Demko, Spanish Teacher Stephen Krawec, Music Teacher Ian Taggart, and Headmaster David Trower. Camilla and Samara also presented at The New York State Association for Foreign Language’s Summer Institute at SUNY Oneota about their research and their third-grade curriculum, which they structured to be inclusive and diverse.
Barbara Shindler, First Grade Teacher, traveled to visit friends
in the Catskills, Long Island and Connecticut. She said, “We talked for hours, visited local haunts, reminisced and shared our hopes and dreams. It was a way for me to “reset,” enjoy the present, and focus on the future. My friends inspire me and after each adventure, I returned home refreshed, motivated and energized.”
Marissa Zelmanowicz, Director of Educational Technology, traveled to Seattle, Washington to visit her brother and celebrate her niece’s first birthday party thanks to the PA Staff Grant.
Winnie Barnes, Director of Organizational Initiatives, and Sarah Luposello, Fourth Grade Teacher, attended the "Leading
the Curriculum Process" conference, where they focused on creating curriculum frameworks and structures that support the innovative and diverse instructional strategies that our talented faculty bring to Allen-Stevenson.
School Nurse Meghan Little,
attended the National Association of School Nurses conference in Denver. She, along with her co-president, represented the Independent School Nurses Association of NYC and met with school nurses from across the country.
Winter 2019
Spanish Teacher Camilla Iturralde and Spanish Department Head Samara Spielberg, presented their 18-month research project
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Ben Neulander, Assistant Middle School Head, shared his love of history with Prep 9 students at Prep for Prep this summer.
Stephen Warner, Lower School Head, went to the Early
Childhood and Lower School Leaders’ Conference where he brainstormed what it means to be honest and open-minded and discussed the importance of modeling as adults the change that we want to see in children.
Andy Zevon, Director of Technology, and Marissa Zelmanowicz, Director of Educational Technology, attended the International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference where they explored the importance of getting educational technology into the hands of teachers and training them to efficiently use it.
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NEWS
F A C u L t y A n D S tA F F
Sharon Coburn, Database Manager and Registrar, married Paul Cook at the Coachmen Lodge in Bellingham, Massachusetts on September 20, 2019. They had an amazing day with close friends and family and the weather couldn’t have been nicer.
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Jean Colebank, former Upper School Math Teacher, recently published a picture book titled Sit Down, Little Prince! about a boy who must prove he is a genius with numbers before he can study to become the famous mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss.
Gjilberta Lucaj, Instrumental Instructor, was invited by Ilir Meta the President of Albania as one of the 60 Albanian-American Women of Excellence at the presidential palace in Tirana, Albania this past June 2019. Gjilberta also got married this summer at Oheka Castle in Huntington, NY.
School Pianist Aleeza Meir’s music ensemble Baroquelyn has just announced its 201920 season! The first concert on Sunday, November 17 will include Purcell’s glorious celebration of music: “Come, Ye Sons of Art,” for soprano, countertenor, baritone, choir and orchestra. Also on the program is Bach’s fifth Brandenburg Concerto, featuring Aleeza on the group’s newly acquired harpsichord. Baroquelyn is a modern baroque chamber orchestra series that Aleeza founded in the fall of 2017.
Tara Parsons, Art Department Head, was the Grand Marshal for the Garden State Fondo bicyle race, the #1 Fondo in the country. She also spoke on a panel at the Museum of the City of New York on September 17.
Lower School Music Teacher Ian Taggart performed with the Chelsea Symphony.
We also welcomed many new members to the Allen-Stevenson family!
Physical Education and Athletics Teacher Tony D’Itri and his wife welcomed their son, Matteo D’Itri on April 16, 2019.
Assistant Director of Admissions Devin LaSane and her husband welcomed their son, Greer Ellison LaSane on August 7, 2019.
Winter 2019
Director of After School Alligator Soup Programs and Assistant Lower School Head of Kindergarten Lauren Pemberton and her husband welcomed their daughter, Ava Golden, on September 22, 2019.
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Physical Education and Athletics Teacher Frank Peduto and his wife welcomed their son, Michael Frank Peduto, on June 26, 2019.
Middle and Upper School Math Teacher Robin Keats and his wife welcomed their daughter, Quinn Willow Keats, on May 19, 2019.
Third Grade Teacher Cate Campo and her husband welcomed their daughter, Josephine “Josie” Preen Campo on July 30, 2019.
Spanish Teacher Jesús Parra and his wife welcomed their daughter, Lucia Arya ParraGinty on August 18, 2019.
alumni NEWS
Alumni Spotlight
J i M WA L K e r ’ 7 2
By Jennifer Ziplow, Special events and Alumni relations Associate
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We understand that you are a merchant mariner. Can you describe what this role entails?
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Merchant mariners are the men and women who serve aboard commercial ships such as containerships, oil tankers, tugs, research vessels and so on. All crew members are licensed or certificated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). Besides carrying commercial goods or people from one place to another, many of our deep-sea sailing merchant ships in the American merchant marine also carry US military equipment, munitions and NGO food aid. People don’t realize that the US Navy doesn’t have cargo ships and oil tankers for moving war material. That job is carried out by merchant mariners and commercial shipping companies I’ve spent the past 40 years as an officer and captain in the merchant marine and have carried all sorts of military equipment and strategic fuels, conducted classified military operations as well as carried commercial goods around the world. I started as a cadet at the New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler—about a 20-minute cab ride from Allen-Stevenson— in the Bronx. Over the years, I worked my way up through the officer ranks to become a ship’s master (captain) and am licensed to command any size ship upon any ocean. I am also considered a master mariner, which is a loose term for someone who is not just licensed to be captain of any size ship
on any ocean, but also has a significant amount of command experience (10 years or more). I have spent 20 years as a ship’s captain. Most of my career as a ship’s master has been with Maersk Line, Limited. My first couple of commands with Maersk was in the government division where I was master of two different Special Mission ships. I spent six years conducting maritime counter-drug interdiction and missile “research” as a civilian. Believe it or not, most of that kind of work is handled by civilians. After those two commands, Maersk transferred me into their commercial division as captain of the oil tanker Maersk Rhode Island—and subsequently onto other oil tankers. Maersk Line, Limited is the company that owns the Maersk Alabama, the ship that was taken by Somali pirates in the movie Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks. The ship’s actual captain, Richard Phillips, was a colleague of mine in that we both worked for the same company, although we don’t know each other directly.
Do you recall your first trip to sea?
My first trip to sea as a young third officer—straight out of the Maritime College, was aboard a general cargo ship called the Jeff Davis. During the voyage, we loaded cargo in US ports along the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast and discharged the cargo at ports along the Red Sea and in India. When the ship was empty, we backloaded guar gum, a common thickener used in processed foods such as ketchup, in Bhavnagar, India and coffee from Assab, Ethiopia. The Jeff Davis was an old fashioned cargo ship with lots of cargo booms and rigging. Today, the ship would be appropriate as a museum ship but then, it was a state of the art general cargo ship. The voyage was like living in a National Geographic magazine. For instance, in Kandla, India, the guar gum was brought to the ship in large carts drawn by camels. Now, whenever I see a bottle of ketchup, I always think of that trip.
How did you get involved in being a merchant mariner? After Allen-Stevenson, I attended The Fay School and then Tabor Academy. At Tabor, I joined the crew of the squaretopsail schooner Tabor Boy which is a training ship owned
When I started looking at colleges, to be honest, I wanted an economics degree. The New York Maritime College was the only Maritime College that offered an economics degree. The idea of getting an economics degree and a USCG license as third mate was very attractive and a good fit with my academic interests along with my interests in anything related to the water. An added attraction was that the Maritime College had (and still has) a very fine sailing team which has been a launching board for a number of graduates (including me) into America’s Cup campaigns. After graduation, I joined the 1980 America’s Cup defense with skipper Dennis Connor—yes, we won that year.
We heard that you worked with Max Warncke ’99 over the summer. Could you tell us how that came to be and about that A-S connection?
Max signed aboard my ship about five years ago when I was master of the oil tanker, Maersk Michigan. The ship was moving strategic fuel for the military to overseas bases in the Far East, Persian Gulf and Mediterranean. He was our third mate and had recently graduated from the SUNY Maritime College graduate school. After he had attended Lehigh University for an undergraduate degree in engineering, he found out about opportunities in the maritime industry. So, he got into this business by going to the Maritime College for a combined master’s degree and USCG Third Officer license.
Not many people in this line of work come from Manhattan; most of the New Yorkers at the Maritime College come from Long Island. So, in the course of signing him aboard the ship, I quizzed him about where he went to school in NYC. Lo and behold, he said he had gone to A-S and we have been pals ever since. Max is an outstanding officer and it was such a pleasure working with him.
What are the things that stand out to you about AllenStevenson and the education you had there?
Max and I often talked about our days at Allen-Stevenson. We both agreed that A-S offered many unique opportunities for a student to pursue and excel in interests besides academics. For a student to discover having an aptitude for certain skills
as a young man is extraordinarily empowering. Allen-Stevenson provides many opportunities for this. Allen-Stevenson’s athletic teams, orchestra, Gilbert & Sullivan productions, and student council among others all offer chances for a student to excel in aptitudes beyond academics.
What are your fondest memories of A-S? Can you share one in particular?
One? The short answer is no. I have so many fond memories of A-S. I loved playing the oboe in the orchestra and being in the Gilbert & Sullivan productions. Stanley Gauger was the Music Director—what a fabulous guy to work with. He made each of us feel uniquely special, which made us work all the harder for him. I also loved the A-S sports and being on the student council. I was an active guy at A-S and the idea of being stuck in a room doing homework was terrible. A-S provided, and I’m sure still provides, lots of opportunities to excel outside of the classroom.
What advice do you have for current A-S boys?
Winter 2019
by the school. I first learned about maritime academies and careers in the maritime industry from the captain of Tabor Boy who was a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY.
A-S offers all sorts of activities—try them out and see what you like. I am a big believer in pursuing activities that match well with your aptitudes and Allen-Stevenson offers those opportunities. How else is someone going to find out if they are good at something unless they jump in with both feet? I found that I had an aptitude for leadership and problem-solving which was evident since I was on the student council, captain of the wrestling and soccer teams and played the oboe in the A-S orchestra. I ended up pursuing a career where leadership and problem-solving are vital and have been very happy with my career.
How does “many ways to be a boy” resonate with you?
There is nothing more empowering for a boy than to discover strengths and skills comparable to those of an adult. A-S exposed me to different activities outside of the classroom, and then nurtured those newfound strengths. This was a huge bonus—and made me work harder. Strengths and aptitudes in leadership, management and problem-solving are not going to emerge if one is just doing schoolwork.
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alumni NEWS
reuniOn 2019
An impressive 315 alumni, spouses, faculty and friends returned for this year’s Alumni Reunion on May 31 at 583 Park Avenue, a gorgeous domed space ideal for the occasion.
For their impressive 25 years of service to Allen-Stevenson, Chris Brozyna, Susan Etess P’00, Thomas Sullivan, and Pete Haarmann were recognized for their dedication to the community.
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Susan Etess took the stage to honor retired Food and Nutrition Director Monica Matthew P’93. Ms. Matthew spent 30 years teaching countless A-S boys the importance of a balanced diet. Mr. Trower followed to bid farewell with our grateful appreciation to the important faculty who left Allen-Stevenson after a wonderful 25+ years of educating young boys— Phil Amplo P’15, Randy Schrade ’76, Glenn Lieberman, Bonnie Tucker, and John Zufall.
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Mr. Trower then gave a special presentation honoring David Kersey h’98, who celebrated an unbelievable 50 years of service at Allen-Stevenson. “Mr. Kersey epitomizes teaching and learning at Allen-Stevenson. He has had many roles at A-S: Math Teacher, History Faculty, Athletic Director, and Alumni Liaison,” said Mr. Trower. “This has allowed him to touch the lives of hundreds of boys throughout his time here. Over his half-century at A-S, he has never stopped learning or adapting to be the best teacher he could possibly be for the boys.”
Alumni Council President Jamie Magid ’91, P’27 closed the award portion of the evening with a simple statement. “Reunion is a special time for the School—it encourages us to reflect on the rich history of Allen-Stevenson and the many experiences we all share as members of this community. Let’s all raise a glass to AllenStevenson. Fortiter et Recte!”
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alumni NEWS
rO n rO L F e ’ 6 0 D i S t i n g u i S h e D A L u M n i S e rV i C e AWA r D
Dr. Andrew Burger ’59, receives Distinguished Alumni Award
Dr. Burger has been a practicing physician in NYC for almost 50 years and has given tremendously to his patients and to the residents and students he teaches. As a member of the Allen-Stevenson community, Mr. Burger is an alumnus, parent of three A-S graduates, and grandparent of a current A-S fifth grader. He is a devoted member of the community and a long-time supporter and advocate of the School. Congratulations, Dr. Burger!
Pictured left to right: Michael Burger ’89, Andrew Burger ’59, Barbara Burger, Alfred Burger ’87, Milo Burger (5th Grade), Charles Burger ’91
t h e D A V i D W. K e r S e y h ’ 9 8 h A L F - C e n t u ry S C h O L A r S h i P F u n D
This year the Allen-Stevenson Alumni Council created the David W. Kersey h’98 Half-Century Scholarship Fund to honor Mr. Kersey’s 50 years of teaching at Allen-Stevenson, endowed with a lead gift from Louis Rose ’86. This fund provides general scholarship support for admitted boys with demonstrated need. We are grateful to the 225 donors who generously gave to the Kersey Scholarship Fund and raised over $220,000.
“It was Mr. Kersey who put me into my first business, a concession stand we called “Lovely Louie’s” for all the Gilbert and Sullivan plays. To this day, I look back on the impact he had on my life: from his coaching technique— “Where’s Rose?—here sir!—Rose, take a lap...” to our remedial math classes, Saturday Club, ducking erasers and, of course, confiscating and eating my candy— all character building exercises and cherished memories— I couldn’t have done it without you Mr. Kersey. Thank you!” —Louis Rose ’86
Winter 2019
In May, the Allen-Stevenson Alumni Council honored Dr. Andrew Burger ’59, with the Ron Rolfe ’60 Distinguished Alumni Service Award. This award recognizes outstanding alumni who are pillars in their chosen field and have shown exceptional civic leadership or made significant contributions benefitting their school, community, or nation.
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alumni NEWS
Khalid taylor ’10 Speaks at Ally Week
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A-Z Files This summer, Allen-Stevenson published the eighth edition of the A-Z Files, a publication that features exemplary original work by A-S students and was designed to honor Zach Levy ’00. Edited by alums Kerim Eken ’00 and Jonathan Klebanoff ’00 and faculty member, Pete Haarmann, the A-Z Files ensures that Zach’s love for words and stories lives on through the imagination of Allen-Stevenson boys. This year’s edition not only includes remarkable photographs, illustrations and written work, but also features a wide range of music by both current students and alumni. As the boys continue to explore their creative talents, the A-Z Files hopes to document their evolution.
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As the culmination of Ally Week, during Friday Morning Meeting Middle and Upper School boys heard from Khalid Taylor ’10, a queer Afro-Latinx performer, documentary songwriter, speaker, and life coach originally from Brooklyn, NY. Khalid spoke on the importance of empathy and vulnerability, shared some of his own experiences coming out and the importance of creating safe spaces for people to express themselves. Khalid’s talk was incredibly powerful, as were his musical performances. Later that day, Khalid led the eighth grade advisory as a follow-up to his discussion of empathy.
“Empathy and vulnerability are key to building any type of community and any type of relationship. If you want to have a good friendship or if you want to have a good family relationship, you have to share things that are uncomfortable sometimes, things that are sometimes scary. We have to break out of that suffering of silence. But at the same time if someone does that to you, don’t make fun of them. Don’t laugh at their hurt.That was very courageous of them to even trust you to open up that space.You have to find the space of empathy and caring to meet someone as they meet you.That is how we heal, that is how create bonds that last for a lifetime and that is how we grow.”—Khalid Taylor ’10
Khalid Taylor ’10, Jaison Spain ’97, Nick Schroth ’10
neW StuDent LegACieS
At the end of the training, some of the mentors, Addeson Lehv ’18, Tyrel White ’10, Kristoffer Harris ’95, Ralph Rella ’93, Kristoffer Harris ’95, Hasani Figueroa ’10, Paul Coverdale ’98, and Jaison Spain ’97, did what was expected of an AllenStevenson alum—they told wonderful and inspiring stories of their education while they were AllenStevenson students. The full list of mentors includes: Jesse Taylor ’85, Joe Ayala ’86, Ralph Rella ’93, Denton Smith ’94, Kristoffer Harris ’95, Clarence Fruster ’97, Jaison Spain ’97, Paul Coverdale ’98, Keith Williams ’98, Hasani Figueroa ’10, Khalid Taylor ’10, Tyrel White ’10, and Addeson Lehv ’18.
Colby Brinberg (Kindergarten) and Robert Brinberg ’90
Winter 2019
A huge thanks to the amazing group of alumni who are being trained to become mentors to our Boys of Color at Allen-Stevenson (BOCAS) students in the Upper School. They listened, they inspired, they encouraged, and they guided each other for more than two hours while having fun. This generous and thoughtful group of scholars and gentlemen were very enthusiastic and wanted to be well-prepared for their task. Most importantly, they were thrilled for the opportunity to be mentors. They have shown their commitment to the mission of the School in building community and their utmost desire to stay connected with A-S. At the end of the training, they came away with these goals: helping mentees to realize their potential, building positive values,
conversations and topics and being responsible, but the most important take away for the mentors was learning how to listen to the mentees and encourage them to succeed.
”
Alumni Mentors By Jennifer Vermont-Davis Chair, CL+D team
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Santiago Jimenez (Kindergarten), Luis Jimenez ’85, Rafael Jimenez (Kindergarten)
alumni NEWS
Out AnD ABOut
Back to 78th Street: the Class of 2016 returned to Allen-Stevenson to celebrate all of their accomplishments on May 29, 2019.
Meghan Wall, Daniel Rosen ’16, Kim Sklow, Andrew Gellert ’16, Jamie Gallea ’16, Jean Gellert P’14, ’16, ’18, Richard Hausman ’16, Kathy Allen
Dylan Mack ’16, Meghan Wall, Andrew Gellert ’16
Roxanne Palin P’11, ’14, ’16, Christine Mack P’16, ’21, Tracy Pogue P’16
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Front: Khalil Abebreseh ’16, Nigel Thompson ’16, Zach Gronfein ’16, Ben Palin ’16, Andrew Gellert ’16, Trevor Jensen ’16, Alwin Peng ’16, Jamie Gallea ’16. Pictured Back: Luke Morris ’16, Hoppy MacDonald ’16, Josh Friedman ’16, Dylan Mack ’16, Daniel Rosen ’16, Richard Hausman ’16
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Alwin Peng ’16, Peter Haarmann, Trevor Jensen ’16
Summer Social: South hampton, ny August 17, 2019
Lawson Wright, Justin Durso, Nathaniel Edelson, Adam Lipman
Susan Etess P’00 and new Kindergarten parents Heather McAuliffe, Philippe McAuliffe, Elijah Duckworth-Schachter
Winter 2019
new Alumni Breakfast with last year’s graduates, June 5, 2019
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David Peart, Nolan Dando-Haenisch, Jay Henry, Max West
Robin Esterson P’15, ’18, (7th Grade) and Tim Hutfilz (2nd, 6th, 7th Grade)
Jaison Spain ’97 and Oliver Schneider
Bilal Sikander (Kindergarten), Ayesha Sikander (Kindergarten), Aima Raza (5th Grade)
O u t A n D A B O u t ( C O N T. )
headmaster’s Circle reception September 19, 2019
Maxwell Butensky (3rd Grade) and his father Steven Butensky
Bill Burkoth (2nd, 4th Grade), Jennifer Livingstone (2nd, 4th Grade), Charles Linke (4th Grade), Donovan Spamer ’91 (4th Grade)
Julie Fowler (Kindergarten), Melissa Goldsmith (2nd Grade), Lianne McNally P’14, Diana Butensky (3rd Grade)
Ron Rolfe ’60, P’05, ’18, Alex Klaris ’06, Jamie Magid ’91 (2nd Grade), Metin Negrin (4th, 6th, 8th Grade)
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Summer Social: Millbrook, ny June 15, 2019
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Townsend Crum ’90 and Brook Mason P’90
headmaster’s Circle reception (cont.)
Pam Esterson (P’15, ’18, 7th Grade), Monica Keany (4th, 7th Grade), Robin Esterson (P’15, ’18, 7th Grade), Aischa Mitchell (8th Grade)
the Allen-Stevenson Alumni Council
Winter 2019
Meredith Kellner, Peter Kellner ’84, Elizabeth Comen (1st, 3rd Grade), Avi Weitzman (1st, 3rd Grade)
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The Allen-Stevenson Alumni Council, under the new leadership of President Alex Klaris ’06 (pictured front row, far left), met on October 16, 2019, for their fall planning meeting. Alums from the 1970s through to our recent graduates were in attendance.
Chris Hallows ’87, on the right
alumni NEWS
Call for class reps! Are you interested in becoming a representative for your class. If so, we’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to alumni@allenstevenson.org.
Chris Hallows ’87 is currently serving as Lieutenant Colonel Battalion Commander. He commands the 1st Battalion, 504th PIR “Red Devils,” 1st Brigade and 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Double Belgian, a film from Graham Larson ’83, premiered at the Manhattan Film Festival in April 2019 at Cinema Village.
On July 17, Tristan Howard ’96 and his wife Sadie welcomed baby boy Enzo Glen Howard. Best wishes to the growing Howard family!
1983
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Alex Bartner ’10
1984
Over the summer, members of the Allen-Stevenson Class of 1984 joined together to celebrate the birthday of Peter Kellner ’84.
1996
Tristan Howard ’96
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In September, Will Schutt ’96 won the Raiziss/De Palchi Fellowship for his translation of the work of Italian poet Fabio Pusterla.
2000
Kerim Eken ’00 and wife Caitlin welcomed baby girl Ela Violet Eken on July 21. We are so excited for the Eken family!
Jeremy Kramer ’84, Geoff Thomas ’84, Conor O’Neill ’84, Peter Kellner ’84, Chris Weitz ’84, David Rosenthal ’84
1985
On February 9, Blake Davis ’85 welcomed a sweet baby boy, Crosby Southworth Davis, into the world. Congratulations to Blake and his wife Eliza!
1987
Pete Conlon ’87 worked on the recent Netflix stand-up special for comedian Whitney Cummings titled Whitney Cummings: Can I Touch It. Pete designed and animated openings and titles for the special.
2004
Will Hershey ’04 and Tim Maloney ’04 recently launched Roundhill Investments, an exchange-traded fund focusing on the competitive video gaming industry. In May both men were featured talking about the gaming industry and their ETF: Nerd.
2010
Alex Bartner ’10 performed in an immersive production of Alice in Wonderland titled The Unbrunch. This site-specific event took place in an undisclosed five floor members-only club with each floor representing a different layer of Wonderland.
In April, Hakeem Dixon ’10 hosted his undergraduate photography thesis show. The exhibit, titled “What’s Left,” was displayed for one week at the Pratt Photography Gallery in New York.
Jon Linen ’10 and current student Jack Wilkins (4th Grade) spent a beautiful night fishing on the Long Island Sound together over the summer.
2015
Over the Summer Hugh Esterson ’15 worked for the Indy 500 for racers Scott Dixon #9 and Felix Rosenqvist #10. He attended the Indy Grand Prix in May.
Caleb Dando-Haenisch ’17
George Lucas ’18, Dare Rolfe ’18, Zale Peart ’18
Caleb Dando-Haenisch ’17 and Angel Vasquez ’18 worked as Junior Counselors for the Allen-Stevenson Robotics and STEAM Summer Program in June.
2018
George Lucas ’18, Dare Rolfe ’18 and Zale Peart ’18 welcomed our incoming kindergarteners to Rookie Camp as counselors in June. These alumni helped introduce the new boys to AllenStevenson and made sure they had some summer-time fun!
in MeMOriAM—FOrMer truStee AnD truStee eMerituS David H. Koch P’14 served on the Allen-Stevenson Board of Trustees from 2009 to 2014, and he continued to serve the School as Trustee Emeritus until 2018. His son, David Jr., is a member of the AllenStevenson Class of 2014.
Mr. Koch was well-known for his generosity to numerous arts institutions, hospitals, universities and schools, including Deerfield Academy, his own alma mater, and to AllenStevenson, his son David’s school. As a scientist by training and as a highly successful businessman, Mr. Koch took great interest in education to prepare the next generations and community leaders.
2017
Luis Gruson ’15, Philip Tinker ’17, Coco Gruson ’17, Vittorio Assaf ’17, James Burge ’17, and Aidan Wood ’17 travelled to Croatia together in June. They explored over 5 small cities and towns throughout the country.
Through a lifetime of devoted, philanthropic work, Mr. Koch made a big difference for others. He was instrumental, even visionary, in helping Allen-Stevenson purchase the townhouse at 126 East 78th Street in 2012, which led to our current, transformational building project. Born on May 3, 1940 in Wichita, Kansas, Mr. Koch passed away on August 23, 2019 at his home in Southampton, Long Island. We send our condolences to his wife Julia, his daughter Mary-Julia, and his sons John and David, Jr.
Winter 2019
Luis Gruson ’15, Philip Tinker ’17, Coco Gruson ’17, a friend of the group,Vittorio Assaf ’17, James Burge ’17, Aidan Wood ’17
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P A r e n t S A S S O C i At i O n
the Parents Association created two new opportunities for parents and sons to unwind together in a relaxed and low stress environment.
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Mothers of Allen-Stevenson Boys (MASB) introduced the inaugural mother-son “Mindfulness Monday” this year. Cathy Trentalanci—the founder of MindScience, trainer at MNDFL, and former faculty member at Allen-Stevenson—has been invited to teach mindful meditation to our community. Mindfulness meditation is a great way for mothers and sons to come together to alleviate emotional pressure, lower anxiety and stress, and set a positive mindset for the coming week. At the first gathering, everyone sat in a large circle in the School Dining Room, where they were led in various mindfulness exercises to help them start to build their own toolbox for handling difficult moments, including the Mindful Breath, the Body Scan and the STOP philosophy of S—stop, T—take a Breath, O—observe and P—proceed.
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Fathers of Allen-Stevenson Boys (FASB) organized the first-ever Allen-Stevenson camping trip for fifth- and sixth-grade boys and their fathers. Together they took part in an impressive array of outdoor activities including rock-climbing, canoeing, archery, basketball games, tennis matches, soccer, baseball, and a spirited tug of war battle. Despite a little rain delay, the Saturday BBQ was a huge success (thanks to the dads with umbrellas that kept the burgers dry). With 56 campers, there were certainly lots of s’mores enjoyed by the campfire that night.
“Introducing the camping trip was important to me because it builds and strengthens community and camaraderie amongst the boys and their fathers or guardians. It’s a fantastic opportunity to spend quality time together in nature, participating in a number of outdoor activities that were designed for exactly that.” —David Cheng (5th grade Parent)
Try This:
Mindful Breath
—provided by Cathy Trentalancia
Purpose: To develop a habit of ‘mental exercise’: to pause, reset, unload and create space.
Frequency: Do this daily at the same time and place. First thing in the morning, on your commute to work/school, or before bed are recommended times. Instruction: Sit comfortably in a position where you are both relaxed and alert. Rest the mind (you can use your breath as a resting place). Bring your attention to your breath or another object you choose. Let the attention be strong and stable. If your mind gets distracted, bring it back to your breath. Continue like this for 2-5 minutes (roughly 20-40 breathes). You can repeat breathing in, and “I know I’m breathing in while inhaling. I’m breathing out and I know I’m breathing out while exhaling” if that helps you focus.
2019-20 PA Executive Board: Audrey Rasch President Liz Steinberg Immediate Past President Kerry-Ann Evans-Thompson Vice-President Christina de Marval Treasurer Mase Kerdel-DeMarco Communications Coordinator Simran Singh Community Engagement Coordinator Andrea Voorhis Logistics Coordinator Jennifer Sossen Class Rep Coordinator Jennifer Ceccarini School Store
Allen-Stevenson grandparents and Special Friends play a vital role in supporting our boys as they grow to become gentlemen and Scholars.
interested in getting involved? Learn about how you can volunteer and get involved at Allen-Stevenson by visiting the grandparents section of our website, or emailing:Â jziplow@allen-stevenson.org.
THE ALLEN-STEVENSON SCHOOL 132 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075-0381
ide! t s n I r Lookal Repo u Ann 018-19 2
Non-Profit Organization U.S.Postage Paid New York, NY Permit No. 757