Lamplighter Winter 2022/23

lamplighter

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

One of the first qualities one hears about Allen-Stevenson is its strong community feel. The warm welcome I have received here from all corners of the school attests that this reputation is richly deserved. In the pages that follow, readers of this magazine will see threads of our far-reaching and long-lasting community.

This year David Kersey has moved into a new role as Alumni Liaison. Recently, we sat down together—one of the newest employees at the school speaking with our longest-serving faculty member. As you can read in this issue of the Lamplighter, we enjoyed discussing our shared love of teaching, literature, and sports and our interest in the lives of our alumni.

Speaking of alumni, Stuart Robinson ‘76 and Caleb Stein ‘10 have stories worth reading about. Their achievements represent the passion and compassion for life and learning we instill at Allen-Stevenson. Kerim Eken ‘00, who spoke at Founders Day, a tradition near and dear to the school, is another such alumnus. Student work from the A-Z Files, a publication Kerim helped launch and continues to oversee, showcases the various creative outlets we develop and encourage at the school.

Of course, the program is at the core of the student experience. Take a look at the school’s new robots and how they are creating opportunities for the boys to collaborate and innovate. Read about the importance of teaching executive functioning or examples of the new ways that math is being taught using fractions as a thread. In addition to academics, three of our eighth-grade student-athletes eloquently describe the value they get from participating on the school’s sports teams. Highlights of the fall theatre productions and a unique chorus performance round out the 3As and showcase the many ways to be a boy at Allen-Stevenson.

In the Welcome section, I hope you enjoy meeting new members of our community as well as other sections covering the varied undertakings of our Parents Association and alumni across the years. Please join us at some of the events planned for the rest of the year. If I have not had the chance already, I look forward to the opportunity to thank you in person for all you do to ensure that Allen-Stevenson continues to educate boys who become the Renaissance men depicted in these pages.

Duncan Lyon Head of School

A-Z

Front Cover Photo: Kindergarteners in Jennifer Vermont-Davis’ science class are planting kale, lettuce, basil, tomatoes, and carrots to grow in the Greenhouse.

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.

The Lamplighter is published 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.

MEETING HEAD OF SCHOOL DUNCAN LYON

An Interview with David

Kersey

Duncan Lyon: Were you here for the big New York City blackout?

h’98, Alumni Liaison

San Francisco, but I looked it up, and it’s only been around since 1975. So you were the history of the school.

David Kersey: I was with the school, I’m pretty sure, but it was a summer phenomenon, I think, and I’ve never been here in the summer—always been elsewhere, which is the whole idea of school teaching.

Duncan: You mean your whole career is about the summer?

David: Well, July and August are the teacher’s favorite words, and I must have had some sense of the summer when I decided to be a teacher, but I don’t think it was foremost in my mind. I hope not.

Duncan: What was your first teaching job?

David: It was in Brookline, Massachusetts, in a public school on Harvard Street in Coolidge Corner, two streets away from where Jack Kennedy was born. He spent some time in that same school, or at least they claimed he did. That’s home—Massachusetts and Boston—and then I taught for two years at the Landon School in Bethesda. That was my first experience of an all-boys school, and it was boarding, so I was learning to teach by immersion and with boys the same age as those that I would teach later on—fifth and sixth graders in the dorm and a fourth-grade class.

David: And where did you start teaching?

Duncan: University High School in San Francisco.

David: So you taught at the school you went to?

Duncan: Yes, I taught at my high school. I was graduating from Berkeley with a degree in history and a former history teacher of mine (Sudie Sides) said, “You should get into teaching. You should come back and teach in our SummerBridge program and you should coach. You should get involved. We need good coaches.” And then the school offered me a substitute maternity-leave position, but I wasn't quite ready. I was 21, and I was very much committed to going back to grad school and getting my master's degree, but they said “You can do it. You've got the chops. So we'll pay for you to finish your master’s degree.” So that was it.

David: They captured you at that moment.

Duncan: That's right. But they saw something in me that I didn't see myself. And then, a few years later, I was sitting around a table with the Senior Dean and several of my former teachers, and they said they wanted me to be the new Senior Dean. I said what? Why? It should be the other way around. And they were very serious.

David: So, were you surprised by these moments where somebody saw something in you?

Duncan: Yes, and they said. “You are the history of the school. You understand the history. You appreciate the history. History matters to you. And we are looking for people who can carry this on.” And so they were investing in me.

David: I mistook your high school when I saw it in your bio. I thought it was a Jesuit high school attached to the University of

Duncan: I was. I graduated from there in 1987. When we won the basketball championship, it was the first basketball championship the school had won.

David: This was a prep school league?

Duncan: It was a prep school league, but we actually ended up beating the top team in San Francisco who were the defending state champions.

David: What other sports did you play there?

Duncan: The founder of the school, Dennis Collins, understood that to attract boys, the school needed a strong athletic program, so when I was graduating from the Eighth Grade at Cathedral, an all-boys school, University High School made me an offer because they said, “You're the scholar-athlete that we're looking for.” And I needed financial aid, so I got a full ride to go there and play basketball, soccer and baseball.

David: And, when you came back to University High School, you coached?

Duncan: I didn't coach baseball. I coached soccer and basketball.

David: Was that a full immersion right from the get-go?

Duncan: Yeah. And it was repaying that financial-aid debt. That's how I perceived it. So when I actually got paid I thought, oh, okay, this is it now.

David: Okay, you crossed the line.

Duncan: And several years later, when I worked at Dalton, whose school motto is “Go Forth Unafraid.” At a meeting some wisecracking faculty member said it’s actually “We Go Forth Underpaid.” That’s when I began to see myself as a professional. By comparison, University High School was provincial and a school that I knew, and knew me, and I felt I was part of a family. At Dalton, I learned that there was a business aspect to schools and that we were in the business of working with families.

David: I don't know if I've ever seen myself that way—as a professional. I’ve resisted it and preferred to think of teaching as a vocation, some sort of calling. I think I still do.

Duncan: I identify with that.

David: I wonder if we could go back to Bay Area high schools for a minute—to McClymonds High School in Oakland, and McClymonds’ alumnus and University of San Francisco star, Bill Russell. When I was 13, Bill Russell came to Boston to play for the Celtics, and in the next 13 years, the team won 11 NBA championships. So he was a big part of my growing up—nothing but winning. I’m still pretty green today. So you beat the likes of high schools like McClymonds?

Duncan: Well, we didn't beat McClymonds; we beat a school called Balboa, who were the defending state champions. And I grew up playing on San Francisco playgrounds, anywhere I could find a game against adults. So, Bill Russell and the USF Dons were a big deal to me too. It was great to see when Bill Russell died recently that there were proper accolades for his greatness on the court and off the court.

David: Brown v. Board of Education was handed down in 1954 and my elementary school teachers paid a lot of attention to the decision and all that was going on. But Bill Russell is the one who made sense of things to me—a superb athlete, of course, but also a man of enormous intellect and determination, an extraordinary man—and a black man.

Duncan: Right, that there's some measure beyond the immediate, beyond the temporary.

David: Yes.

Duncan: So the fact that Russell did all this in Boston was part of his story.

David: Oh, very much part of his story. He didn't like Boston, and for a long time, perhaps until David Ortiz came along, the city's sports suffered from the fact that great black athletes didn't want to come to Boston in any sport. I was always so ashamed.

Duncan: Right.

David: Part of that was based on Russell's experience there. I think it's different now, but the Boston of Russell’s time was tribal, divided along religious, ethnic and racial lines.

Duncan: I think it's hard for young students, say the K-12 population, to understand someone like Russell, due to recency bias perhaps, or also someone like Muhammad Ali, who was much more than a boxer. At one point worldwide, Ali was better known than the Pope.

David: I think so. He said so anyway.

Duncan: And one of the questions we share as history teachers is what stands up to the measure of time. I've been ruminating on this and thinking about Herman Melville going to his grave and not being celebrated as a great writer. Rembrandt. Even someone like Harriet Tubman—it’s posthumously that we fully appreciate the dimension of all her work.

David: Or Dickinson

Duncan: What I think is so hard about today's day and age is the advance of technology and its proliferation. A friend of mine whom I got to know at Dalton, a guy named Tom De Zengotita wrote a book called Mediated. He's kind of a Marshall McLuhan figure who taught philosophy at NYU, but had one very popular class at Dalton. In exploring what is real, Tom asked his students to imagine being in the middle of Saskatchewan when the car breaks down. At that moment, he says, you're really in reality—a kind of Jack London survivalist state that's real. There's nothing to assist you, it's man and nature. And we've gotten so far from that. We've insulated ourselves, and we are ill-prepared for nature's indifference. But what he was really saying is, our whole life, our whole experience is mediated and that it's not real. It's gotten away from being authentic. He said that the opposite of reality is options. That's what life is about, and it includes education. What parents want to hear is that their child has options. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but I do think that it has shaped our society, where everyone feels entitled to whatever options they want. I can watch any channel I want at any time, and I'm a few clicks away on my phone from getting any food I want. And that lack of perspective on what's real I think is plaguing our society.

David: I was supposed to give the graduation speech last June, but I ended up in Lenox Hill Hospital, so I didn’t make it. I was thinking about talking to the boys about Thoreau's advice to walk into the woods until you get lost and then you will begin to find yourself. This has something to do with what you're talking about, I think. But I realized at some point that the boys we teach cannot get lost, that their parents can call them on the phone no matter where they are on the planet. So I gave it up as a theme.

Duncan: I once gave a graduation speech to a group of 8th graders where the advice was “don't stay dry.” They had gone on an outdoor trip right before their graduation—a hike to a beach one day and a hike back the next day, about 14 miles total. And on the way back, we encountered a major rainstorm to the point where everyone really had to pay attention to what they were doing. And the kids had the best time. They really enjoyed it because there was no technology that was going to protect you from the rain. So it came down to your wits and what you could do. And I saw a side of students that I hadn't seen before. So in this graduation speech, I said most times when it's raining outside, people will tell you to “stay dry,” and there's some wisdom to that, but I advised, “Don't stay dry, get wet. Because then you're your most authentic selves.” It's kind of the same idea as what you're talking about.

David: Yes, just do it. Take chances. Take a deep dive. Walk till you’re lost.

Duncan Lyon and David Kersey sharing memories and a laugh

Duncan: So, are you optimistic about the youth?

David: I'm often asked whether the boys have changed over the time I taught. I don’t have much perspective because I never stepped away, but I think they're much the way they used to be. At least 12 and 13-year-olds seem the same to me over time, and I enjoy them as much as I did 50 years ago. So yes, I guess I’m optimistic. The other day a colleague suggested that somehow I'm well out of things because the new breed of child is different. I don't believe that's true.

Duncan: So, at the first faculty meeting in August, I said to the faculty that change and preservation were both possible.

David: Yes.

Duncan: What do you think most needs to be preserved about Allen-Stevenson?

David: I don't want to speak too quickly about this, but some of the answers are obvious—music, for example. I’d hate to see that go because it has marked us as different—particularly at its height. I'm not really sure where it sits right now. And also the balance among arts, athletics, and academics.

And I suppose this also shouldn't die. There's something about a boys’ school. There's something boyish about this place. The whole boyland phenomenon. All of it. The good and the bad and the ugly and the beautiful. Yeah, I think that needs to be cherished. I also think that the school is better than it's ever been. I think the faculty is quite remarkable. I keep meeting these young teachers, and I'm very impressed with them.

I imagine that this is something you must be thinking about, worrying about probably even.

Duncan: Yes, on the preservation side, I agree with you about the music and the overall balance of the 3As. I said to an admissions group earlier today that you wouldn't go into Lenox Hill Hospital and say I'd like 1980s medicine, please. Of course, you want a modern curriculum.

David: Of course.

Duncan: That's what we're about, and you mentioned the quality of our colleagues, and I agree with you. But, I do think that there's some sine qua non when you get to the essence of a great boys’ school, and I think that's knowing every boy, and endeavoring to know them as they evolve—knowing them in a way that their parents don't know, knowing them in a way that they don't entirely know themselves, seeing things in them that they may not see. But I think people shouldn't worry that our music program is going to go away or our commitment to athletics is going to wane or anything of that nature. But it does come down to the use of space and time and where we want to put emphasis. I'm also a big believer in developmental stages and I'm concerned about the impact technology has on development and also the pandemic, and the two in combination. I think the jury's out right now. We'll know years from now, maybe, the full extent of it.

David: Now that I'm doing a job that involves the alumni of the school, I’m very interested in the larger school community and pulling it together, and in what direction the school is moving. You and I are going to see Los Angeles alumni in February and I think of the trip as introducing you to them and presenting the school as it is today. So that’s very much in my thoughts—the school today and how it’s perceived.

Duncan: I'm interested in the lives of the alumni and the fact that the alumni with whom I've spoken have been very clear that but for Allen-Stevenson they would have a little different life. They would be less cosmopolitan, less appreciative of the arts and less active politically. And I know, speaking to Sally Cole, Desmond's daughter, that this was something that was really important to her father, the idea of being of the city for the city.

David: Yes, the same thing that we hope happened to the alumni happened to me. I had never met people who were serious about serious music until I came to the school and to the city. I had never listened to opera. I had never had gay friends. A whole world opened to me by being here. I even played the cello in the orchestra for 10 years, and I’d never done anything like that. I, too, became less provincial and more cosmopolitan. I began to take in more of the world. I became a better boy.

Duncan: You can take the boy out of Boston and put some New York into him.

David: That's right. But don't think that I have any love for the New York Yankees. I don’t.

Duncan: We share that. This is interesting to me, what you're saying. John Dos Passos said it is important for one generation to speak to another generation. And I think we need to know how to do that. I once had a chance to meet Studs Terkel. He was in his late 80s at the time, and Dalton was performing his play Working When I thanked him for coming to the school he said, “No, no, thank you, because this is what keeps me going. Telling the story to the next generation.” To me, that's what schools do better than many other institutions—they tell the story of the past, and they allow the past to be in conversation with the present.

David: It seems conceited of me, but last year I taught the boys who are in the Eighth Grade now. I am a lot older than they are, but if you asked them, I think they would tell you that I was able to bridge that generation gap and that we were all together as we took up American history.

Duncan: Well, I know your Allen-Stevenson story is far from finished. That's my hope.

David: Mine too.

Around A-S

AS SEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA...

Third-grade students are nearly done with their exciting math investigation! This week, boys ventured throughout the school, seeking information from various staff and faculty members (many of us received wonderful visitors!). Students collected data, including people's birth year and how many years they’d worked at Allen-Stevenson.

Practicing their subtraction skills, boys used an open number line to calculate faculty and staff members' ages.

This project is a work in progress, with a big reveal planned before Thanksgiving break! We look forward to seeing the A-S family timeline in the hallways very soon!

#AllenStevensonMath #AllenStevensonThirdGrade

#AllenStevensonPassionate

Mr. Jesús Parra's sixth-grade Spanish class is learning the subtleties of conjugating the verbs "Ser," and "Estar."

Mr. Parra and the Spanish team created an exciting scavenger hunt for the boys where they had to find prompts and complete them with the correct verb and tense. The first group to successfully complete the scavenger hunt wins— both the competition, but also the ability to conjugate these tricky verbs!

Allen-Stevenson's faculty are always tapping into innovative ways to engage our boys and bring learning to life.

Can you complete the sentence, Señor Divan ___ maestro muy talentoso de ciencias?

#AllenStevensonSixthGrade

#AllenStevensonSpanish

#AllenStevensonScience

As part of the Billion Oyster Project (BOP), Allen-Stevenson fifth-grade Science & Engineering students were back at the East 90th Street Ferry Landing with Ms. Katie Donahue and Ms. Lynda Rivers. The boys evaluated water quality, measured oysters, identified the ecosystem’s fauna and flora, and continued to collect data for Allen-Stevenson’s oyster cage. The A-S Science & Engineering curriculum is literally embedded in the local community, and students apply their efforts to solving real-world challenges.

Lower Division Teacher Librarian, Ms. Maria Paz Alegre, invited kindergarten students to “The Egg,” a cozy, welcoming space for our youngest Allen-Stevenson readers. Upon their first visit to the library, each boy was invited to take out a book and choose a "stuffy" reading partner.

Stuffed animals prove to be good listeners. Boys love to read… and we encourage them in many creative ways!

After reading From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by e.l. konigsburg, Ms. Lindsay Litinger's fourthgrade students visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Art Teacher Ms. Julia Kunin as their guide! The boys embarked on a scavenger hunt for the places and artwork featured in the story bringing an already exciting work of fiction to life!

The bounty of coats, hats and mittens so generously donated by the Allen-Stevenson community became an opportunity for the first graders to learn how they can get involved in service learning. The boys worked together to sort and count the clothing items before they were sent to P.S. 83.

The count: 62 coats, 145 hats, 13 scarves and 74 pairs of gloves & mittens! Thank you to everyone who donated to the drive!

FALL THEATRE

The first of this fall’s theatrical hits was the sixthgrade performance of Willy Wonka, Jr.—a musical coproduction with the 6th Grade at Nightingale-Bamford (directed by NBS Director Diane Davis). The performers truly captured the hearts of the audience with their delightful singing and dancing. Next up were two mystery plays under the umbrella of Whodunnit…a Night of Mysteries (Enlightenment by Emma Wagner DeFrange and Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher), which gave the Allen-Stevenson seventh and eighth graders a chance to display their acting skills alongside seventh and eighth graders from NightingaleBamford. Allen-Stevenson’s student tech crew masterfully ran the show's lights and sound. A huge thank you to Julie Montero (Robles), Director of Theatre and Technical Theatre.

Scan to watch Whodunnit…a Night of Mysteries

Stuart Robinson ’76

Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics, New York University

By David Kersey h’98, Alumni Liaison

In 2020, after 28 years of working at SUNY New Paltz, including coaching soccer, teaching English, working as an assistant to the President of the College and serving as Athletic Director for the last 19 years, Stuart Robinson ’76 was appointed Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics at New York University.

Like his work at New Paltz, Stuart's work in Student Affairs ranges broadly—from co-directing a scholarship fund for first-generation students to programs for student athletes and mental health. This role is not new to Stuart because, in all of his previous experiences, he has prioritized the learning and well-being of his students.

As NYU’s new athletic director, Stuart’s goal is “to chart a new course for athletics at the university” by which he means creating meaningful athletic experiences for as many of the 25,000 undergraduates and 25,000 graduate students as possible. At present, there are 600 varsity women and men on eleven teams competing in the University Athletic Association, a Division III league made up of eight urban universities committed to academic and athletic excellence. There are also 900 students on club teams and 11,000 in intramural and recreational programs. A further challenge comes from the fact that NYU owns no outdoor athletic facilities, and student-athletes practice and compete all over lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. “Like A-S boys busing to Randall’s Island,” Stuart remembered. Stuart is also preparing to move the

athletic department into a part of NYU’s new 735,000-square-foot multi-use complex at 181 Mercer Street in Greenwich Village. In addition, to help realize all of this, Stuart directs a staff of 77 full-time and 70 part-time employees. Stuart Robinson is a busy man, and he seems to love it.

And he loves sport, all of it—watching, as he does now with his NYU athletes, coaching, as he did for 15 years with the New Paltz soccer team, organizing, as he did as a student at Williams College where he started a club baseball team, and competing as he did at A-S (soccer, basketball and baseball) and on through his time at Hotchkiss School and Williams.

Stuart admits to being competitive (“Just ask my brother Glenn, A-S ’78”) He remembers, as a new sixth grader in 1972, his very first day of soccer practice at Randall’s Island, when after having beaten the other boys in Coach Pariseau’s length-of-the-field wind sprints, he was pitted against the putative fastest boy in the school, Jason Selch ‘75, and beat him. An auspicious start for a new boy—the (new) fastest boy in the school!

NEW ROBOTS EXCITE NEW LEARNING

By Tatyana Dvorkin, Upper Division Educational Technology Integrator, and Peter Fletcher, Lower Division Academic Technology Integrator

This question encourages an animated and thoughtful conversation with our fourth-grade students in robotics class as images of a washing machine, an iPhone, and a Roomba are projected onto the screen. Does a robot need to be able to move? Does a robot need to think for itself? Does a robot only need inputs and outputs? A washing machine has both inputs and outputs, so does that mean it is a robot?

With the arrival of brand new LEGO Education SPIKE Prime robots this year, the Technology team has been improving and innovating the robotics program. The new robots combine the colorful LEGO building blocks the boys are already familiar with and a drag-and-drop, block-based coding language. With easy entry-level projects for beginners and a high ceiling for those who want to do more, these are a great way to get boys ready for the engineering and design curriculum they will experience in the Upper Division next year.

Before the fourth graders begin to work with the robots themselves, they learn how robots are helping innovate everyday life, from Amazon distribution centers to hospitals to disaster relief rescue missions. The idea is to connect what we are doing in class to real-world applications and understand how the classroom robots are small but realistic representations of what robots are capable of in the real world. How can ultrasonic sensors prevent collisions both in our classroom and on the road with self-driving cars? How can motor control get our SPIKE Prime robots to travel along a grid in the library just as a robot can travel along one on a construction site checking for gas leaks?

A great deal of time has also been spent building the boys’ coding skills. Beginning in Kindergarten, students use game-based apps like Kodable to learn basic programming concepts, including sequences, loops, and conditionals. They also try their hand at simple robotics with Beebots. As they move into First Grade and on, they begin to work with ScratchJr

and later Scratch for coding. Scratch uses block-based code to dive deeper into programming and has more design and creative components.

While recognizing the importance of robotics and coding for the boys’ futures, we also know that robotics class offers so much more than just hard skills. For starters, the boys are learning organization skills as they put their pieces in order and establish what they’ll need to access and when. Then there’s problem-solving, persistence, and patience to work out glitches and bugs if something doesn’t fit or perform its function.

The boys learn responsibility for their tools. We explain that they can’t lose pieces, and ask them to check that all pieces are back in the container because if they don’t have all the components, they won’t be able to complete their robots. They also have to remember to plug in and charge their robot. Finally, they get exposed to the basics of the iterative design process, a tool they will use more and more in STEAM related courses in the Upper Division.

An equally important skill they are learning is how to work with others. We group the boys into teams of two or three, which means they have to agree on the design of and code for their robots and use their knowledge and skills to collaborate and negotiate with their partner.

Peter Fletcher working with fourth graders

“Is it a robot or a machine?”

We take the whole semester to build and learn to control the robots. It may look slow-going but programming how a robot moves and turns is not straightforward and draws on physics and math concepts that need scaffolding for the Fourth Grade. To code this type of movement also means understanding rotation and the degrees of rotation, as well as both the metric and standard systems of measurement.

It is our hope that at the end of the course the boys will be able to more deeply understand what robots are and how they are used in the real world across industries. We also want them to become comfortable with following directions, solving problems collaboratively, iterating solutions, and learning from their mistakes to grow their skills.

Collaborative problem-solving

A-S CHORUS PERFORMS WITH PROFESSIONAL CHAMBER CHOIR

Musica Viva NY and our Allen-Stevenson Select Chorus brought the audience at All Souls Church to their feet! This autumnal performance of Carl Orff’s iconic work, Carmina Burana, was nothing short of extraordinary and merited the lengthy standing ovation it received.

Praised by The New York Times, Musica Viva’s Chamber Choir of professional singers was joined by two deft pianists and a rousing percussion section. Allen-Stevenson’s boys held their own with the pros and sang like a chorus of angels!

Ms. Demko, A-S Music Department Head, once again applied her talent and expertise to bring out the very best in our boys. We are grateful to her for creating this unique opportunity for our students to perform before a full audience for what was certainly an evening to remember.

Enjoy listening to an excerpt from the performance.

A-S Select Chorus performing with Musica Viva NY

A slide from a robotics lesson

Caleb Stein ’10 Photographer

By David Kersey h’98, Alumni Liaison

“When I look at the photographs taken by Caleb Stein it’s hard to wrap my mind around the idea that he is just at the beginning of his photography career. And if I can predict correctly, it’s a career that will undoubtedly lead to a level of mastery that will equal the greats. His work is so well seen, with such clear, unflinching vision, that his storytelling is profound and singular.”

Aline Smithson Lens/cratch 2017

At 28, Caleb Stein ’10 is a highly acclaimed art photographer whose work has been exhibited in London, New York and most recently at the prestigious Rose Gallery in Santa Monica. His work is published in anthologies and magazines here and in the UK, and is included in museum collections, the latest being The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Caleb is drawn to subjects that affect him personally, and he focuses on them in-depth—a nineyear look at a watering hole in Poughkeepsie, New York, two years in Hanoi with Vietnamese War veterans and their descendants and more recently, extensive travel throughout the United States for his project, “American Glitch,” which investigates the conspiracy theory that Americans are living in a virtual simulation and the internet postings that purport to offer evidence of glitches that support this contention.

Though Caleb is a solo photographer, he prefers collaborating with others. This was true of his work with Vietnamese War veterans and when he joined one of his English teachers at Vassar College, Amativa Kumar, to create an op-ed piece in The New York Times. Most often though, he works with his multi-media artist wife, Andrea Orejarena, whom he met when they were firstyear students at Vassar.

He says this of his interest in art: “Art has always been important to me. My family was filled with creative people; my grandfather was a painter and an incredible draftsman; my father’s an architect; my mother’s a film producer who was very involved in art in New York; and my stepmothers were art dealers. It’s always been there.

“Those years at Allen-Stevenson were very formative. It was the moment when I was very excited about learning. I remember loving art classes at Allen-Stevenson because they were a place to experiment, and the teachers were sweet, open and encouraging. I have very, very good memories of making art at Allen-Stevenson, but I think my real interest in school then was words. It was more about words at that point and trying to get some command over them and learning how to tell a story, learning how to express myself.”

Caleb in the Upper Division Speech Contest, April 2009

When asked if he had advice for A-S boys of today: “The good thing about Allen-Stevenson is that if you want to learn and you want to take a really deep dive, there are people there who will do it with you—whatever it is, particularly if you engage. My advice is to take it seriously because then the teachers will take you seriously, and special things start to happen. I’ve taken that philosophy throughout my education.”

And influences? “I’m a big believer in remaining a student— always. So, I look widely at everything. During the pandemic, I spent about six weeks looking at the entire online collection of the Tate Britain—varied images which became a kind of flow, an ocean of art that I found very generative. As to individuals who do personal documentary work (or lyrical documentary work), I’m very interested in the work of Sergio Lorraine, William Klein, Mozet Modele, and Josef Koudelka, who is my god. I looked through his whole archive, something like 30,000 images, where I discovered that once in a while a photograph gets away from its maker and that’s the sort of thing that inspires me, that’s the sort of magic that sometimes happens with photography.”

As to the future, Caleb said that he couldn’t talk too much about what’s next in terms of exhibitions and publications, but he did enthusiastically describe his interest in wrestling. So much for us to look forward to.

Caleb Stein ’10 and his wife, Andrea Orejarena

2020 Sanjay & Sherika, Watering Hole, Down by the Hudson, Caleb Stein

A Look at Allen-Stevenson Math Through Fractions

By Mary Leonard, Math Department Chair, and the A-S Math Department

Mathematics is, in part, about recognizing patterns and making predictions. These patterns are all around us. Inspiring our boys to key into their beauty at a young age can instill in them a sense of wonder and curiosity about their world. Giving them experiences and encouraging them to harness their ideas, evaluate them, and grow them is the basis of mathematics. Call it logic or intuition, but either way we want them to connect their thinking with what their experience proves true, and clearly express their thinking, both orally and in writing.

Unlocking the language of algebra is essential to building a strong foundation in numeracy skills, and one of the concepts that lays the groundwork for deep understanding in advanced mathematics is that of fractions. Fractions are the building blocks to patterns in music, nature, engineering, life sciences, art, finance, physics, and sports—to name just a few.

Using blocks to understand fractions

Understanding their properties, such as how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, is key to unlocking the principles of algebra, geometry, and calculus.

Our earliest learners use blocks to explore shapes and their attributes. In the First Grade, the boys develop fractional thinking using blocks to compare sizes and to differentiate between a whole and part of a whole. They move on to trying to cover shapes with other shapes using congruent pattern blocks, which tangibly represent parts of a whole. As they progress through the early grades, they continue to use manipulatives but also draw pictures to express different parts of a whole. Giving them context is the basis of the K-4 curriculum. It helps the boys move from whole-number theory to the realm of rational numbers, as they see that there are values less than one, or there are values that lie somewhere in between two whole numbers on the number line. Sophy Joseph, Math Learning Specialist, observes that much of the learning is done

through students sharing their ideas and their thinking with one another.

In Grade Two, for example, students learn the difference between money, which is part of 100, and clock time, which is part of 60. Alice Heminway, a second-grade teacher, states, “In the Time and Money unit, we study the analog clock and how it can be split into halves; we use the language of half past. We then look at how the clock can be split into four equal parts and introduce the term quarters. We use the language of quarter to and quarter past. Some students are able to distinguish between a quarter of a dollar and a quarter of an hour. Then they have these big “Aha” moments where they say, ‘Oh! That’s why that coin is called a quarter.’”

Explaining the relationship of time and money

By the time our boys reach the Fourth Grade, they see division problems as fractions and recognize remainders as both fractions and decimals, thus using mixed numbers as well as decimals to express quantities and fluidly convert between them. As they grow in their reasoning abilities, they start to see decimal numbers as part of a whole and can express the difference between decimal place value as powers of ten and that of a denominator of a fraction. Crucial in their understanding is that the denominator of the fraction depicts the number of equally sized pieces the whole is divided into. To build on the second-grade time unit, for example, as students progress in their thinking they are able to compute

with time and differentiate between the notation of part of an hour expressed as a decimal and part of an hour expressed in minutes out of 60, rather than 10 or 100, so they see that a time-lapse of 3.20 hours is not equivalent to 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Grade Five is the year when we would like to see students solidify fraction operations. There are many types of fraction problems liberally furnished throughout the curriculum to encourage the students to see how the composition of something—from musical notes to recipes to measuring— requires them to develop a facility with parts of a whole. Some examples include:

• Putting musical notes together as ¼ + ¼ + ¼ + ¼ to equal a full measure in common time, then substituting notes with different powers of two in the denominator

• Following recipes to explore doubling and halving

• Measuring polygonal dimensions to the nearest eighth or sixteenth of an inch and calculating area and perimeter

Exposure to fractions in these various platforms helps drive home the “why” behind the procedures for fraction operations. Rather than memorizing the procedures, we would like to see students detect patterns and come to realize through their own experience why combining fractions necessitates a common denominator and what it means to multiply and divide fractions. We would like them to intuitively understand, for example, that multiplying two proper fractions together yields a smaller product than either of the two proper factors, something different from what they initially experienced when multiplying whole numbers.

By the time a student is in the Sixth Grade, he is working with fractions as ratios and rates so that when he makes the transition to Pre-Algebra, he uses proportional thinking to solve problems with similarity. “Proficiency with fractions in all their different forms and applications is one of the boys' first introductions to abstraction, and it’s the secret sauce to successfully mastering algebra. Sixth-grade mathematics offers boys the opportunity to see the interconnectedness between fractions as ratios, decimals, and percents. They learn that there are many ways to use their knowledge of fractions to tackle problems,” says Sixth Grade Math Teacher Annette Perez. As students transition to Pre-Algebra and Algebra I in the Seventh and Eighth Grades, they generalize as algebraic fractions are introduced and the concept of negative fractions brings to life more abstract concepts. Math Teacher Robin

Keats says of the seventh-grade Pre-Algebra course, “In Seventh Grade, students use their new understanding of negative fractions and deepening understanding of variables to explore the new realms of probability and statistics.” (see probability example below) Suppose a student has a strong foundation with fraction concepts when the numerator and denominator are numerical. In that case, substituting variables will not throw them off course, and they can extend their thinking to apply their understanding to multivariate expressions and equations.

As students move onto secondary school mathematics, the theme of rate of change is a central concept in advanced algebra and coordinate geometry, which relies on a solid understanding of fractions. Students graph functions to see how they change over time. They must differentiate between a constant rate of change (linear) to rates of change that are exponential or parabolic. (see graphs below that show rates of change) And, being able to graph functions, interpret the data, and predict their behavior is a building block of the sciences.

Our Science & Engineering and STEAM classes extend the boys’ work with numeracy since ratios and rates are a central concept that is key to their understanding properties of physics and chemistry. Throughout the curriculum, our boys have many opportunities to put into practice the lessons learned in math class. Connecting those lessons to their broader experience will help deepen their number sense so that they think critically and correctly interpret their experiences. Sparking imagination and curiosity to bring about positive change is what it means to educate a boy at Allen-Stevenson.

Annette Perez teaching a class

ALLEN-STEVENSON CELEBRATES 140 YEARS ON FOUNDERS DAY

This year's Founders Day, which took place on October 7, celebrated AllenStevenson’s 140th school year. Beginning in the gym, the older boys accompanied their buddies to hear remarks from Head of School Duncan Lyon and Alumni speaker Kerim Eken ’00. An architect and co-founder of Eken Design, Eken shared the profound impact Allen-Stevenson has had on his life and honored the memory of his friend and classmate Zach Levy ’00, who was the inspiration behind the founding of our annual literary journal the A-Z Files (see a few excerpts on pages 18-19).

Students returned to classrooms with their buddies, where older boys spent time reading Peppe the Lamplighter to their younger peers and discussing its themes. An art project followed, which encouraged boys to reflect on the many ways they support those around them.

Listen to the Founders Day speakers

A-Z Files

The photograph, poem, and short written piece on these pages are only a few of the many works that appeared in the A-Z Files This publication features exemplary original work by A-S students and alumni and was designed in memory of Zach Levy ’00 by his friends and classmates Kerim Eken '00 and Jonathan Klebanoff '00.

Each year, boys in Grades 6 to 8 submit writing, music, artwork, and more to be featured in the A-Z Files alongside the work of our alumni. This publication is a unique way for our boys to leave their mark on our community.

WHERE I AM FROM Michael Ganitsky ’24

I am from the city that never sleeps, The buildings that don’t stop growing, The streets that never stop barking, like The rush in Times Square on a Monday morning, The dogs on 3rd avenue that bark as loud as an announcer at a Knicks basketball game.

I am from the generation that will change the future, The family that lives from the big apple to Soda city, The family that reads from the torah when they are 13, and The family that cooks hispanic fiesta ses when we visit.

I am from the family that never forgets anything about you like, When we look back at the past and remember when we were in Miami and go see our great grandpa for dinner at our grandparent’s house, A house that watches over the pear leading to the unknown, We eat pasta con pollo, rice, and other foods you would find in South America, They find these recipes passed on generation to generation, and The food originated from Bogotá, Colombia where my family lives today.

I am from the room that builds legos and that will one day build houses The basketball lays under my bed that bounces as high as the moon, The morning greeting from the doorman that I get to start my day, I live on the 6th floor only 6 floors away from my grandma, I have lived in this house that has comforted me since the day my parents brought me home from the hospital.

I am from the generation that has survived a global pandemic. I am from the generation that will solve some of the greatest problems.

Charles Greenwald ‘23

THE SUBWAY Maurya Srivastava ‘22

Some people hate the subway. They complain about the grime that coats every wall, floor, and ceiling like peanut butter on the roof of your mouth; the smell of thousands of people mixed with the unbearable heat; and of course, the inevitable delays.

As one of the millions of New York City subway riders, I can attest to the great displeasures one experiences as a daily punishment when on the train, which is, of course, only for the measly price of 2.75. Only in New York would people pay and tolerate such trouble just to get to their destination.

Despite this, in the decade I have spent riding the subway, in the seemingly endless stream of people pouring into each and every door in that unbearable heat, in that dirty smell, and on that floor probably covered with every disease known to man, I have learnt that there is something to be appreciated amidst the chaos. For me, to ride in the subway is to witness the real New York - not the city that surrounds Allen-Stevenson, lined with fancy cars and elegant stone buildings - but rather, the city where people new and old, rich and poor, White, Black, Latino, Asian—somehow manage to coalesce into one subway car with just forty-four seats. The city where a beggar will always get money from someone in the train car; where I have witnessed two men physically fight and no one could care less, and where I have made new friends, while forging stronger bonds with old ones. There’s something authentic about the subway, something almost magical—whether it be the lady selling churros on Roosevelt Avenue or the man playing the drums on a Home Depot bucket at Fulton Street; or something entirely different—that feeling that this only happens in New York, only in the subway, really warms your soul knowing how fortunate you are to be surrounded by so much history, so much culture.

As for me, I recently witnessed that culture. The other day—at around 3:45 pm as I was coming home from school, two men, dressed in identical red and green jumpsuits, stepped in the half-full F-train car. One of them was carrying a boombox, the cheap kind with the LED lights, probably one you might find at a PC Richard and Sons (Are those even around anymore?), and it was connected to his iPhone. Immediately, he and his partner cranked up the music and began dancing, doing elaborate somersaults and spinning around the metal poles. This lasted for a minute or so, and eventually I noticed that everyone’s eyes were fixated on the duo, almost in harmony. When the performance finally ended as the brakes of the train began to screech along the age-old rails, everyone, including me, rose and gave them a standing ovation. The pair didn’t even ask for money—but were still given it because people had been so moved by their performance.

You see, this is the kind of thing that only happens in the subway—and that wasn’t even everything—as the doors opened and the performers stepped onto the platform of East Broadway, bound for another car, the echoes of classical music from a violin filled our ears, flowing through the doors like we had just turned on a faucet and let all the water out in a smooth stream. Then, in what seemed like a split second, it was gone, drowned out by the familiar beep of the doors closing and the electric hum of the train.

It was then that I realized how much I had longed for that music to continue, for those performers to keep on dancing, and for that multitude and flow of expression to keep on… happening. It was then that the uniqueness of New York made its way into my heart and soul and burrowed into a place that will never disappear. It was then that I realized that the Subway is what makes New York, New York.

Understanding the Development of Executive Functioning

By Olivia Moores, Upper Division Learning Specialist

“Set the alarm, get up, brush your teeth, make your coffee to-go, grab your keys, phone, wallet, and out the door by 7:45AM in case there is traffic.”

An interior monologue adults are all too familiar with, but how and when did we learn to do these things in an efficient and effective way?

It’s second nature right? Wrong. Which might be the reason why you are pulling your hair out every time your child forgets something at home or at school.

Daily routines and habits that have become second nature to most were once skills we learned and developed over time. This brain function controlled by the frontal lobe is called executive functioning. It allows us to plan, focus our attention, and juggle multiple tasks at the same time.

Executive functioning is not a stand-alone brain function; it is actually made up of three areas: cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control. These three areas may develop and change at different rates, creating strengths and weaknesses in your executive functioning abilities. These brain functions continue to develop through learned strategies that have become engrained skills for adults but need to be explicitly taught to children.

Cognitive Flexibility

It’s 2PM on a Sunday afternoon when your child tells you, “I have to build a 3D model of an animal cell for school tomorrow.” Do they have the poster board? No. Do they have their science book? No. Do they have all the materials they need to build? No. After a wave of frustration that washes over you, you begin to ask serious questions. “How long did you think this project was going to take you? You didn’t think to bring any of your stuff home? Or maybe tell me about this project last week?”

What you may not think about at that moment is that your child’s cognitive flexibility is not fully developed, and they may not have the strategies to plan ahead for projects like the 3D animal cell model.

Cognitive flexibility is the ability to switch between tasks and adapt to changes in the environment. “Referred to by shifting, attention switching or task switching, and includes both the ability to disengage from irrelevant information in a previous task and focus on relevant information in a forthcoming task” (Buttelmann & Karbach 2017). A child with poor cognitive flexibility may have trouble keeping track of due dates, long term planning, task completion, and managing multiple materials or tasks.

The development of cognitive flexibility can be explained as “rapid increase during early and middle childhood suggesting that this may be a period of high plasticity and malleability sensitive to developmental as well as environmentally driven changes'' (Buttelmann & Karbach 2017). Due to the progression of cognitive flexibility from early childhood to adolescence, strategies and interventions should be put in place to help your child develop stronger cognitive flexibility related to a child’s academic achievement.

Solution

Providing children with a large color-coded calendar so they are able to see impending due dates will help develop their long-term planning skills. Children can also benefit from chunking a project into smaller steps and estimating the time each step will take. Providing children with a visual and tangible time for each step will help them plan ahead for bigger long-term projects.

An additional way to help develop a child’s cognitive flexibility is by having a child talk out how they will complete a task using the 5 W’s. What are you going to need? How much time will this take? When does this need to be done? Who will you need help from? Where will this project get done? Verbally mapping out a project like this may help your child see holes in their planning or help them recognize factors they may not have previously thought about.

Inhibitory Control

Finally, after gathering all the materials required to begin the 3D animal cell project with your child, you sit down and read the directions of the project. Before you are able to get through the first line of the directions, your child is already reaching for scissors and glue to cut out their poster board. While it may seem like an easy task to sit down, read the directions, and create a list of steps for completion to us, it is actually very challenging for children who have not fully developed their inhibitory control skills.

Inhibitory control refers to the ability to sustain attention and regulate emotions during task completion. A child with poor inhibitory control may struggle to focus on one task at a time, become easily frustrated with assignments, or struggle to recognize when something isn’t working. This cognitive function continually develops from early childhood to adulthood with “dramatic improvement from early childhood to adolescence” (Peterson et al. 2016).

Solution

Due to the impulsivity that comes with a lack of inhibitory control, children may benefit from having explicit routines and procedures for task completion. If children are required to follow specific steps before beginning a task, you may see a reduction in impulsivity. An example of a clear routine for work completion may be (1) read directions 3 times, (2) highlight or write down important information, (3) make a list of all materials you may need, (4) make a checklist for each step of the project, (5) work on each step for 15 minutes and take a 5-minute break after each 15-minute period. When children are provided with structured tasks and predictable routines they are less likely to act out of impulse resulting in more streamlined task completion.

The Student Support Team running a workshop for parents

Working Memory

While you're sitting at the kitchen table, your child starts to work on step two of the project; (1) labeling each part of the animal cell and (2) listing its function. You repeat the directions to your child and then head into the kitchen to make a snack. In about 5 minutes, your child says, “I’m done!” You walk over and see that all they have done is label the parts of the cell. What should have been an easy two step-task has now turned into you telling your child they are not done to which they respond, “I did, I labeled the parts of the cell.” A child’s inability to take in and execute two-step directions correlated to the assigned task is a lack of working memory skills on display. Working memory is the ability to take in information and manipulate it to perform a task. Your child may have repeated the directions back to you, but if they have a weak or underdeveloped working memory, they may struggle to remember the steps of a direction and complete the full assigned task. As children develop their ability to retain and manipulate more parts of a concept also increases. A well-developed working memory can hold about 7 items plus a few more at a time; an underdeveloped or weak working memory can only hold about 5 items. When children are given more items than their working memory can hold, that is where we begin to see gaps in execution of tasks (Cowan 2016).

Solution

In order to help children with developing working memory, reducing the number of items a child has to hold at one time should be the priority. Strategies like writing down the tasks with your child so they have a visual to refer to or chunking steps into bite-sized pieces will help children manipulate the information they receive more effectively. Limiting the amount of multitask demands we put on children can also help their working memory. For example, instead of doing homework and eating a snack, allow children to have a snack break and then return to their homework. Providing children with a dedicated and quiet workspace will reduce the number of external stimuli and give the child more opportunity to take information in rather than filter distractions.

Connecting the Dots

It is important to remember that the three areas of executive functioning may develop and change at different rates, creating varying strengths and weaknesses in your child’s executive functioning capabilities.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

Disclaimer: These are not overnight fixes but ways we can support children as their brain function continues to develop.

Tips to Support Executive Functioning:

• Using a color-coded desk calendar

• To-do list

• Setting timers for focused work periods

• Identifying time wasters

• Routines for work completion

• Verbal planning (5 Ws)

• Repeating directions

• Chunking info into bite-sized pieces

• Checklists

• Reduce external stimuli

• Reduce multi-tasking

The efficacy of a child’s executive functioning is directly impacted by their level of development. It is critical to remember that tasks adults may find as second nature require more mental energy and brain function for developing children. Executive functioning is an essential skill that helps children both in and out of school. Children who struggle with components of executive functioning may experience affected performance at school, find difficulty forming or maintaining relationships, mood issues, low self-esteem, avoidance of difficult tasks, low motivation or loss of interest in activities (Villines & Juby 2022). It is important that we provide them with strategies and support to help reduce feelings of frustration and stress. Here are a few tips and tricks to help meet children where they are in their executive functioning capabilities. References for this article

Students and Specialists in the Learning Resource Center

CONGRATULATIONS TO

THE CLASS OF 2022!

The Allen-Stevenson School came together to celebrate Closing Exercises for the Class of 2022 on June 15, 2022, in the school’s beautiful new gym. Inspiring remarks from retiring Head of School David Trower h’95 and Board President Metin Negrin set the tone for a joyous and emotional celebration. Musical selections from the combined choruses of Grades 3 to 8, the Upper Division Chorus, a cello duet by eighth graders Phillip Negrin and Daya Singh, and a clarinet solo by Alexander Moeder impressed and moved the audience. Speaking on behalf of his classmates, Paul Wilpon gave the Eighth Grade Farewell speech.

Teachers were honored on this occasion, as both Fourth Grade Teacher Clarissa Crowley and Seventh Grade Teacher and English Department Chair Aidan Fennelly were awarded the annual Kellner Great Teacher Award by Mr. Trower.

The event was a fitting tribute to this vibrant and resilient group of graduates, their devoted teachers, and their loving families.

WHERE OUR GRADUATES ARE GOING

We congratulate the class of 2022 who are excited to be attending the following high schools:

HIGH SCHOOL Day Schools

Brooklyn Friends School

The Browning School

Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School

The Dalton School

Dwight School

Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Grace Church School

Horace Mann School

LREI School

Miami Country Day School

The Packer-Collegiate Institute

Riverdale Country School

Trinity School

York Prep School

Stuyvesant High School

Boarding Schools

The Hotchkiss School

The Loomis Chaffee School

Middlesex School

St. Andrew’s School

St. George’s School

Suffield Academy

The Taft School

Westminster School

Lamplighter:

Athletics and Educating the Whole Child

Interview by Candace Silva, Communications Manager

Athletics at Allen-Stevenson not only provides opportunities for all types of students but the goals of our athletics program stretch beyond winning. We seek to instill a lifelong appreciation for movement, school spirit, camaraderie, a positive can-do attitude, true sportsmanship, and self-esteem.

Director of Athletics Rich Alifano and Communications Manager Candace Silva sat down with three of our studentathletes to hear how athletics has played an essential role in their time at Allen-Stevenson and its positive impact on their education and well-being.

What sports do you play at Allen-Stevenson?

Ben Harris (Eighth Grade): At Allen-Stevenson, during the fall, I play soccer. During the winter, I do wrestling. And during the spring, I do track.

Tyler Parrot (Eighth Grade): During the fall, I play football. During the winter, basketball, and during the spring, baseball.

Charlie Sossen (Eighth Grade): I play basketball during the winter.

What is your favorite part of being on a team at AllenStevenson?

Ben: I would say the best part about being on a team at Allen-Stevenson is that I’ve known almost everyone on the team for at least five years because I've been at this school for a really long time so I know them very well.

Tyler: I'd say I really like bonding with kids in other grades as well. Back when I was in Seventh Grade, I made a lot of friendships with a lot of the eighth graders that I really didn't know before. And the same thing goes for this year with the current seventh graders. I really like that element of the sports at A-S.

Charlie: I agree with Tyler. I made a lot of new friends who were in the Eighth Grade last year and this year, with those in Seventh Grade. I also like when we play games and friends from our grade come and support us and watch us.

In what ways do you feel that you've grown as a result of your time on these teams?

Tyler

Tyler: I feel like I’ve really grown a lot, not only as an athlete but in terms of my mentality as well. Before, I would be tough

on myself, and I feel like sports has really helped me to get myself together in times like that and I just keep on playing.

It's really helped me with my maturity as well. I feel like when we're on these teams, we're making a big commitment to the school and all the responsibilities we have to these teams.

Charlie: Playing has really helped my leadership a lot because at times, I would feel kind of shy or afraid to speak up. But it’s in this last year and current year that I've had to be a leader on the team, and that is really helpful.

Ben: I would agree with Charlie. It's helped me as a leader, especially this year in Eighth Grade. I was the captain of the soccer team, and playing with both the seventh graders and my eighth-grade friends showed me how to keep everybody's heads up and make sure no one gets down so we can all play at a hundred percent the whole game.

How do you feel that your participation in sports adds to your overall experience at this school?

Ben: I think the sports at Allen-Stevenson adds an element that I feel you don't always get at other schools. Allen-Stevenson is known for the plays that it puts on and the musical performances, but it also has a great athletics program that gives students a way to express themselves—not only through the arts but also through sports.

Going to an all-boys school can be very competitive. So, I feel like sports really lets us show that competitiveness on the court and on the field rather than in school and in our classes. It just brings a lot of fun because you get to really show off your stuff. I really like that.

It allows people to be well-rounded. Like Ben said, some people express themselves through the arts, but having sports at school and being able to participate gives a lot of people the ability to express themselves through that aspect. Having all of [those options] is really important and that's something the school does really well.

Are there any lessons that you learned through athletics that you can apply to other places, either in school or in your lives?

Ben: I would say the biggest lessons are camaraderie and teamwork. Being able to lift people up when they're down, making sure that you can keep everybody together as a team… I feel like that can be used through a school project or if you're working on something at home with a sibling. It is useful in other aspects of your life.

Tyler: Like Ben said, it goes back to teamwork. It really teaches you to be the bigger person and how to pick [teammates] back up. That’s how everyone on the team is. Everyone's there for each other. I think [the coaches] do a really good job of teaching everybody the overall lesson of helping each other out. We're like a brotherhood at the school. We're all in this together.

Charlie: In life you work a lot in groups, and it's really important to have skills to work with other people—even if you're not friends with them or know them well. Playing a sport at this school and meeting new people in different grades builds that skill which can help you outside of athletics.

How do you balance your time playing sports and your academic workload?

Being able to manage my schoolwork and athletics has been a big part of my life for the past five or six years because I also play a sport outside of A-S. Balancing my schoolwork with A-S athletics as well as my outside athletics has definitely been a challenge, but I also think it brought out the best in me at times.

Knowing when I need help from my teachers to do work or making sure I communicate with both my coaches here as well as my coaches outside has helped my communication skills.

Tyler: Similar to Ben, I've been playing sports outside of school, and just sports in general for as long as I can remember, so I'm pretty used to managing and balancing my workload with my athletics. I feel like the school does a really good job of providing time during the day and even after school for our practices so that we have time to get the sports work done, and then after that we can go home, get our schoolwork done and get ready for the next day. A-S does a good job of mapping out the times for us to do all these different things.

Charlie: I agree; during the school day, we have a lot of time to do work, and that helps me a lot, especially because I also play sports after school. Like Ben said,

being a student-athlete helps me with time management and communication with all my teachers. I'll always reach out to a teacher if I need help, and all the teachers at A-S will always respond to you and are so helpful. Like these guys said, I've just been playing sports for so long that it’s become a routine now. I think if I didn't play sports outside of school, my time management would not be as good because I have to be very effective with the little time that I have. I think that’s really helped me for the future.

Is there anything that you like particularly about your school team versus being on an outside team or vice versa?

Tyler: I think it's the best feeling to play sports at such a competitive level with all of your [school] friends. There's just this feeling when you win while your whole school is watching because you see all these people every day.

Charlie: We've built a great community here, especially with the sports. I love when my friends come and watch me at the games and that really builds me up and gives me confidence when they're coming and cheering for me. I really enjoy that. What would you say to younger boys who are considering joining sports here at A-S?

Ben: Go for it. It doesn't matter if you play the sport outside. If you're just coming into it, there will be a place for you on an A-S team. There's always a friend that will be there to support you, whether you do well or whether you make a mistake. There will always be someone to support you throughout your Allen-Stevenson sports career.

Tyler: I have a little brother in Sixth Grade, and I tell him all the time: just have confidence. You really have nothing to lose in the sports we play at Allen-Stevenson. I mean the school gives us so many opportunities to play sports and I think everyone should try to take advantage of that.

Don't be worried or scared. Just play, have fun, be confident, and just try to make the most of your

Like Tyler said, everyone should take advantage of the opportunity [to play sports] because we're really lucky to have it. I think it's important for everyone to branch out and try new things and they shouldn't be afraid because they have great support from their friends, the coaches and the community.

Ben

Charlie

Alexis Hunter P’25

Alexis Hunter has been a part of Allen-Stevenson for the past seven years since her son, Miles (6th Grade), enrolled in Kindergarten. She is a lawyer for HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations. At HSBC, Alexis serves as an Associate General Counsel in the Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Group within the U.S. Legal Department. In this role, she manages complex litigations and significant regulatory and law enforcement inquiries and

conducts internal investigations, all in support of HSBC’s global businesses and functions. Before joining HSBC, Alexis spent several years in private practice at two international law firms and as a state and federal prosecutor in New York and California, respectively.

Alexis received her B.A., with honors, from Brown University in Environmental Studies and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. She grew up in Oakland, California but has long considered New York City her home. Alexis and Miles reside in Harlem.

Alexis and Miles

Reed Katz ‘03

A. Reed Katz, class of 2003, recently joined the Allen-Stevenson Board as President of the Alumni Council. He has been an active member of the Alumni Council since he graduated 20 years ago. He is an Executive Director at JPMorgan Private Bank where he is responsible for providing wealth management solutions for ultra-high net worth families, foundations, and endowments. He has a particular focus working with hedge fund principals and corporate executives.

Reed received his B.A. from Bucknell University and attended Poly Prep for high school. He lives on the Upper West Side with his wife, Caroline, and their twin boys, Graham and Oliver.

Blair Klaff P’29, ‘24

Blair Klaff has been volunteering for various not-for-profit organizations in Manhattan for most of the last decade.

At Allen-Stevenson, she was a library volunteer from 2015 to 2019, a class representative and welcoming and hospitality PA coordinator since 2019. These past few years, Blair has been a tour guide for prospective families where she has enthusiastically shared her passion for the Allen-Stevenson community. Blair continues to give back on the development and enrollment committees as a Board Member at Surprise

Blake, Blair, Josh and Owen

Lake Camp, where she spent several summers as a counselor as a teenager. She served on the Parents’ Association at Temple Emanu-El Nursery School for six years until 2020. At the Hospital for Special Surgery, Blair is a member of the Pediatric Council, which is responsible for the annual benefit to support the Lerner Children’s Pavilion. Prior to volunteering and being a full-time mother of two boys, Blair was a Buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue from 2005 until 2011. Blair started her career in Investment Banking at JP Morgan in Leverage Finance. She has a Bachelor’s of Science from the Binghamton University School of Management where she graduated summa cum laude.

When Blair isn’t volunteering, you can find her strolling on the Upper East Side with Brooklyn (the family’s cavapoochon), cooking, obsessively reading medical journals and historical fiction, enthusiastically cheering for her boys (Owen in 2nd Grade and Blake in 7th Grade) on the sidelines or spending quality time with her wonderful family on Long Island.

Graham, Reed, Caroline and Oliver

Heather McAuliffe P’28

Heather McAuliffe joined the Allen-Stevenson community in September 2019 when her twin sons, Lachlan and Hugh, started Kindergarten, now in Third Grade. She grew up in New York City, in the same neighborhood where she now lives with her husband, Philippe, and their three children.

Heather has had a long career in marketing communications. Until 2015, she was at J.Crew Group helping to grow its domestic presence and global footprint. During her 13 years with the company, J.Crew grew into an omnichannel operation and expanded globally. She was instrumental in the launch of Madewell, J.Crew Bridal, crewcuts, and other smaller businesses and initiatives under the JCG umbrella, as well as participated in many historical moments, including inaugurations, fashion weeks, and award shows. Earlier in her career, Heather worked at the fashion communications agency, Harrison & Shriftman, and eventually headed the Fashion and Beauty division, working with high-end clients and events across luxury goods in fashion, beauty, and retail.

Beyond A-S, Heather is involved with several philanthropic initiatives prioritizing urban green space and children's needs. She has been active with the Central Park Conservancy since 2015 and serves on the Board of the Women's Committee of the Conservancy, where she chairs several committees and, until recently, was chair of their Playground Partners Committee. Outside of Central Park, Heather has also been on the Pediatric Support Committee at New York-Presbyterian Komansky Children's Hospital since 2013 and volunteers with their Child-Life Services Division. In addition, Heather is on the Board of the Quogue Junior Theater Troupe, a professional youth theater program in Quogue, NY, and previously chaired the children's local summer program, Junior Sports.

During her family's time at A-S, Heather has been an involved parent participating in admissions events, engaged directly with prospective parents during the pandemic, volunteers in the Library, and now is a third-grade class parent. Her daughter, Chloe, began her freshman year at the Groton School this fall. Heather attended Chapin, Miss Porter's School and later the University of Vermont and the Universidad de Sevilla, Spain. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a minor in Spanish.

In her free time, Heather, together with her family, is an avid traveler. In addition, Heather loves sports, actively plays tennis, skis, and enjoys long-distance running in Central Park. She recently completed her first New York City Marathon to raise money for Central Park.

Michael Schrieber P’27

Michael Schrieber is a Managing Partner at Cassena Care, a healthcare organization, which owns and operates fifteen skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities throughout the five boroughs, Long Island and Connecticut. Michael is also involved in the daily operations of a pharmacy, consulting firm, home care agency, outpatient rehabilitation facilities, and staffing companies. The overall size of the companies manages 6,000+ patients’ lives in addition to 10,000 employees.

Since the onset of COVID-19, Michael took the lead alongside the corporate Medical and Clinical team to direct, create, and write the strategies, policies and procedures pertaining to the ongoing regulations and directives rolled out by: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC Health), and New York State Governor’s Office. With healthcare policies and regulations continuing to change, Michael has become the liaison between Cassena and the above organizations.

Michael serves on the board of a number of health care organizations, as well as being on the board of The Business of Sports School (BOSS), which is a small Career & Technology Education (CTE) public high school designed in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, New Visions for Public Schools, and F·E·G·S Health and Human Services System that opened in September 2009.

Since the 2018-2019 school year, with a COVID pause, Michael was able to integrate the Upper Division of Allen-Stevenson with one of his facilities, Upper East Side Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, which is two blocks away from the schoolhouse. An inter-generational program was developed where students would interact with the Facility’s residents where stories would be exchanged, histories shared and friendships forged. This program continues through today.

Philippe, Hugh, Chloe, Heather and Lachlan

Michael received his BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan and MBA, MPA, MPH from New York University. He lives in Tribeca with his son Andrew, who is currently in 4th Grade, his partner Jennifer and her daughter Shannon age 14, who attends Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

Michael and Andrew

Andrew S. Willis P’21, P’24

Andrew serves on both for profit and philanthropic boards. In addition, to Allen-Stevenson, he has served as Co-chair of the Montefiore Einstein Council from 2011-2021, and on the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program Advisory Board at Columbia Business School from 2019-present. He also serves on the Board of Advisors at Georgetown McDonough School of Business in Washington, DC, and as an advisor/board member for several startups in technology, education, healthcare and biopharma.

Andrew co-founded a healthcare technology company, Crossix Solutions, in late 2004 to bring technology-enabled, privacy-safe data and analytics offerings to healthcare, marketing and media customers. He joined at the company’s inception, assisting in writing the business plan, raising capital from outside investors, and operationalizing from start up to fast growing business with hundreds of employees, and ultimately led a process resulting in sale of the company in November 2019 to Veeva Systems (VEEV). He continued as EVP while a part of Veeva completing his commitment in November 2021.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

2022-23

Executive Committee Metin Negrin, President

Ronald S. Rolfe ’60, President Emeritus Alexander Klabin, Vice President & Treasurer Rashida La Lande Duncan Lyon, Head of School Jay Wilkins

Kerry-Ann Evans-Thompson* Kerianne Flynn Aryn Grossman Alexis Hunter Lauren Irwin Chris Joes Monica Keany Blair Klaff

A. Reed Katz '03* Cameron Koffman '12 Colm MacMahon Heather McAuliffe Amy Peck

Anupama Poole Audrey Rasch Ian Schrager Michael Schrieber Thomas Uger Andy Willis

Dr. Christian Chung, Advisory * member ex officio

Trustees Emeriti Marian R. Bicks

Jane Phillips Donaldson

Richard N. Foster

D. Ross Hamilton

John J. Hannan

Susan B. Hirschhorn

E. William Judson

Robert J. Katz

George A. Kellner

Andrew started Crossix with a client from his prior career in Investment Banking, most recently at NM Rothschild in London where he helped to establish a Private Finance Group in Europe. Andrew joined Rothschild from the Private Finance team at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York. He initially joined Credit Suisse First Boston from Columbia Business School in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group.

Originally from Portland, ME, Andrew has a passion for all things Boston sports, and has worked hard to achieve family unity in this regard. He received his B.S.B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University, his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. Andrew lives in NYC with his lovely wife Bethan, originally from England, sons Oliver (Packer Collegiate ’25, A-S ‘21) and Henry (A-S ‘24), and cavapoo Wellington.

Robert Liberman '58

Thomas H. Lister

Peter deF. Millard

Richard C. Perry '70

Joe L. Roby

Lisa Pagliaro Selz Andrew Steffan

Leonard A. Wilf

Henry, Oliver, Bethan and Andrew

Hudson (Kindergarten) and Thomas (TJ) McManus ‘95

Benjamin (2nd Grade) and Owen (Kindergarten) Braun

Joseph (3rd Grade) and Gabriel (Kindergarten) Edelstein

Fisher (Kindergarten) and Mickey (6th Grade) Peck

Andrew (Kindergarten) and Anthony (5th Grade) Pierre

Benjamin (Kindergarten) and Maxwell (4th Grade) Siegel

Nayel (Kindergarten) and Faris (2nd Grade) Sultan

Wyatt (Kindergarten) and Phoenix (4th Grade) Utsch

Ryan (Kindergarten) and Gavin (2nd Grade) Weinstein

Romina Arciniega

Romina Arciniega is delighted to join the Allen-Stevenson community as a third-grade teacher and member of the A-S Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Committee. With a B.A. in Environmental Science from the University of San Francisco and a Master’s Degree in Teaching from Reach Institute For School Leadership, Romina taught 4th and 6th Grade in her native San Francisco for the past eight years. In her free time, Romina enjoys traveling, Solidcore, SoulCycle, time with friends and family, and exploring the outdoors (Romina and her boyfriend Oliver have a goal to visit every national park in the United States). Being new to New York, Romina would love any recommendations the A-S community has to offer!

in Tampa, FL. Thomas holds a Bachelor’s in Education from The University of Tampa and a Master’s in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education. While at The University of Tampa, Thomas played on the Men’s Lacrosse team—he will be coaching the A-S Lacrosse team this spring! He also currently serves as the Goalie Director for 2Way Lacrosse in Greenwich, CT. In his free time, Thomas enjoys traveling, surfing, reading, and training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He currently lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Emma.

Casey Gise

continue learning about Second Language Teaching and Learning. Vanesa strongly believes that everyone is capable of learning a second language through compelling and engaging stories. In her free time, Vanesa enjoys running long distances, learning languages, and spending time with her cats.

Thomas Brill

Thomas Brill is thrilled to be a new member of the first-grade team and the larger A-S community. Previously, Thomas taught 6th Grade History for three years at Endeavor Middle School in Brooklyn. A New York native, Thomas also taught Kindergarten at The International School of Brussels in Belgium and 5th Grade at Trinity School for Children

Touria Ghaffari

Touria Ghaffari has a B.A. in International Affairs and a Master’s Degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. With over a decade of teaching experience in New York City schools, Touria began by teaching humanities at the Beekman School in Manhattan, in addition to teaching French, U.S. Government, and Economics. Subsequently, she was an English teacher and ENL Coordinator for The Equality Charter School in the Bronx for four years. Touria moved to the U.S. eleven years ago from Iran, where she taught college-level English. Here at AllenStevenson, she is a long-term maternity-leave teacher for 6th Grade English teacher, Ms. Lambe. In her free time, Touria loves to read, travel, go for long walks, or visit museums, and she highly recommends reading the book, “I’m OK, You’re OK,” by Dr. Thomas Harris.

Casey Gise is excited to have recently joined AllenStevenson’s Health Office as our School Nurse. Previously, Casey was across the street at Lenox Hill Hospital where she worked for the past three years as a registered nurse caring for mothers and newborns. A native of Southampton, NY, Casey is a graduate of Adelphi University, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She loves traveling, reading, going to the beach, and spending time with family and friends.

Jordan Henry

Jordan Henry is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education and a Master of Education in Transformative Education with a concentration in social justice and equity. Jordan taught Kindergarten for one year and 2nd Grade for five years in Cincinnati, Ohio, prior to joining the first-grade teaching team at Allen-Stevenson. His interests in education include antiracist teaching and learning and inclusive classrooms.

Vanesa Gutiérrez

Vanesa Gutiérrez was born in Madrid, Spain, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics to Language Teaching and completed Ph.D. courses in Didactics of Languages and Literature. When she graduated, Vanessa began teaching Spanish as a second language in Madrid, teaching summers in Singapore and Portugal. In 2013, Vanesa moved to the U.S. and taught Spanish at independent schools in Nevada and Virginia. During that time she attended conferences and workshops on Comprehensible Input and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) to

Jordan is a part of the Learning for Justice Elementary Cohort and serves as a book reviewer for the Center for Anti-Racist Education. Jordan also enjoys SoulCycle, Barry’s Bootcamp, and exploring New York City, and is honored to teach First Grade at The Allen-Stevenson School, where there are many ways to be a boy.

Maya Liran

Allen-Stevenson’s new Kindergarten Associate Teacher, Maya Liran, supports all three kindergarten classrooms. A native of New York’s Upper West Side, Maya obtained her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology with a focus on child development. Maya later attended NYU School of Medicine, interested in a career in pediatrics. However, after three years, she switched gears to pursue a career in education. Maya has previously worked in both pre-K and kindergarten, but her passion for kindergarten-aged children is what brought her to A-S. In her free time, Maya is training for her first marathon! She also loves to paint, spend time with her beloved goldendoodle, and is learning to play the ukulele.

number of full and part-time learning specialist positions at Sacred Heart, Marymount, The American School in Madrid, Dalton, and The School at Columbia, Beth has most recently served as the Upper School Learning Specialist and Psychologist at Buckley for the past ten years. Beth is a strong proponent of single-gender education. She especially enjoys working with boys and their families and teachers to help them embrace the full depth and breadth of their social and emotional lives. Beth loves to travel and recently spent a week eating olives near Kalamata, Greece. In her spare time, she loves to read, knit, and play with her dogs, Coco and Rue. She also competes in triathlons and recently finished 7th in her age group at the 2022 New York City Triathlon in July.

Olivia Moores

Elizabeth (Beth) McLaughlin

Beth McLaughlin is honored to be serving as Allen-Stevenson’s first full-time psychologist. She holds a B.A. from Yale University in Psychology, an M.S. from Teachers College in Learning Disabilities, and a Ph.D. from The Graduate Center, CUNY, in School Psychology. Following a

Ingrid Menéndez

Ingrid Menendez is our newest member of the Art and Woodshop team. A native of Venezuela, Ingrid began teaching at Allen-Stevenson as a substitute Spanish teacher. With her Master’s Degree in Art from Queens College, Ingrid’s artwork has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums. Prior to joining A-S, Ingrid taught art for many years at other New York City independent schools. In her free time, Ingrid loves meditating, singing, spending time with her daughter and friends, and, of course, creating art!

Olivia Moores joins AllenStevenson as an Upper Division Learning Specialist with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies Education (Concentration in Elementary Education Licensure) and a Master’s Degree in Special Education. Olivia has had the opportunity to work with many grade levels in a variety of settings, including general education, special education, and sheltered English immersion. Previously, Olivia taught fifth-grade math and science, and she is a new and passionate educator focused on creating strong interpersonal bonds with her students. Her approach focuses on educating the whole child by providing them with a space to take risks and grow in both their strengths and weaknesses. Having recently moved to New York City from Beverly, Massachusetts, Olivia is excited to be closer to her grandparents in Long Island. Outside of school, Olivia enjoys good food, live music, and spending time with the people she cares about.

Massachusetts, Lynda lived in L.A. for 20 years before moving to NYC, where she has taught for the past eight years. Lynda has an MFA in non-fiction writing and a Master’s Degree in Childhood Education and in Special Education. She has completed graduate-level coursework in science at NYU as part of the Environmental Conservation Education graduate program. Outside of school, Lynda loves Wordle, kayaking, sailing, and being outdoors. Lynda enjoys teaching science because “it is where facts and imagination come together!”

Lynda Rivers

Lynda Rivers is excited to join Allen-Stevenson’s Science & Engineering team, where she is teaching 2nd and 5th-grade science. A native of

Chloe Stiffle

Chloe Stiffle is energized by and committed to nurturing the curiosity and passion of her 6th and 7th Grade American History students and her 7th Grade Advisory. Chloe joins us after four years of teaching high school A.P. United States Government and Politics, Economics, and American History in both the Bronx and Philadelphia. Chloe earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Colgate University where she double-majored in History and Educational Studies. Immediately following graduation, Chloe attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and attained her Master of Science in Teaching Secondary Social Studies. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live music, traveling, reading, running, spending time with family and friends, and hiking the Colorado 14ers.

RECENT RETIREMENTS

At the end of the 2021-22 school year, the school said farewell to these longtime faculty and staff members who have touched the lives of so many generations of Allen-Stevenson boys. Thank you for sharing your talents, wisdom and kindness.

Tricia Zephyr

Tricia Zephyr is AllenStevenson’s newest addition to the Kindergarten team. With a Bachelor’s and Master's Degree in Literature from Queens College, Tricia plans on completing her second Master's in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, in the near future. A New York native, Tricia has spent her entire teaching career at independent schools, including Trevor Day School, Williamsburg Northside, and most recently, The School at Columbia, where she taught for six years. Her experience ranges from Kindergarten to 3rd Grade. Tricia continues to be captivated by the exponential growth and learning that occur in early childhood and enjoys instilling and preserving the magic of learning in all her students. In her free time, Tricia enjoys exercising, laughing, reading, podcasts, both cooking and dining out, and opportunities for adventures.

Rob McCallum

Anne Meyer

Michael Schwartzman

Ray Seeback

Barbara Shindler

David Trower h’95

This fall our parents have been contributing to the Allen-Stevenson community in multiple ways:

• sharing knowledge

• bringing joy

• sponsoring cheerful “sweet treat” celebrations

• giving back

• going on outings

• engaging in discussions

• hosting authors

• encouraging friendships to create a true sense of community and belonging!

PA Executive Board:

Front Row (L-R): Lindsay Sklar, Co-Chair School Store; Lauren Erbst, Vice President; Kerry-Ann Evans-Thompson, President; Blair Klaff, Community Engagement Coordinator.

Back Row (L-R): Stacy Westreich, Co-Chair School Store; Andrea Voorhis, Treasurer and Logistics Manager; Marie Espinel, Class Rep Coordinator

Book Club

Community Campfire Conversation

All School Picnic

MASB Roller Skating

FASB Chessmates

Team Professional Development at PoCC

Members of the Allen-Stevenson community traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to attend the 35th Annual NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC), the first in-person PoCC since 2019! With 7,800 adults and students from independent schools participating, attendance for the conference was at a record high. Because team professional development is so valuable, Allen-Stevenson sent eight representatives from the school: Lower Division Teacher Librarian Maria Paz Alegre, 4th Grade Head Teacher and Co-Director: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Lorenzo Bellard, 5th Grade Homeroom Teacher Maurice Hicks Jr., Admissions Coordinator Darlene Mays, Kindergarten Homeroom Teacher Jennifer Phillips, Communications Manager Candace Silva, General Manager of Performance Spaces and Art/Woodshop Assistant Jaison Spain, and Community Life +Diversity Chair and Science Faculty Jennifer VermontDavis.

For four days, educators and administrators from all over the U.S. and beyond gathered for professional learning, community building, and personal empowerment and restoration. While there, members of the A-S community engaged in a number of workshops and activities that focused on topics relating to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in independent schools, which will help inform planning at A-S in the future. Inspiring speakers included social scientist, author and activist J. Luke Wood, social entrepreneur, civil rights activist, and the CEO and founder of Rise Amanda Ngyuen, and acclaimed poet, activist and educator Nikki Giovanni.

Maria Paz Alegre, one of the official planners and presenters for the AAPI Affinity Group, hosted her first solo presentation in which she shared the impact of AllenStevenson’s Book-A-Day program. Reflecting on the event she says, “It was such an honor to present at a national conference for educators representing The AllenStevenson School. I am so proud of our incredible Book-A-Day program and parents can’t stop raving about it. Over 60 educators were in attendance at my presentation and it is clear that they cannot wait to bring Book-A-Day to their schools as well.”

A-S PoCC

Representatives: Front Row (L-R): Maurice Hicks Jr., Jennifer Phillips, Lorenzo Bellard, Jaison Spain

Back Row (L-R): Darlene Mays, Jennifer VermontDavis, Candace Silva

Maria Paz Alegre presenting

Alumni Out & About

BACK TO 78TH STREET

On June 7, the Allen-Stevenson Class of 2019, along with their parents, returned to Allen-Stevenson to celebrate their accomplishments as they prepared to graduate from high school. David Trower h’95 welcomed these young alumni back for this special mini-reunion.

ALUMNI INDUCTION CEREMONY

Before Graduation on June 15, Allen-Stevenson eighth-grade boys gathered for the Alumni Induction and Pinning Ceremony. These youngest alumni received Allen-Stevenson lapel pins from members of the

Xander Goodman ’22 and his, father, Chris Goodman ’86

Jaison Spain ’97 and Gavin Milien ’22

Ford Holmén '19, Luke Jovanovic '19, Julian Corcoran '19, Henry Adkins ’19, Charlie Susser '19, Kiran Mediratta '19, David Trower h’95, Alex Wilf 19, Holden Lipton '19, Jackson Deans '19, Ben Nayman '19, Ben Forman '19 and Jordan Wasserberger '19

Alumni Council, as well as some alumni fathers.

Ian Peck ’83, with son, Jesse Peck ’22

Tristan Howard ’96 and Will Henry ’22

Alumni Out & About

SUMMER SOCIALS

In July and August,

Allen-Stevenson hosted three well-attended summer socials in East Hampton, Southampton, and New York City. Parents, alumni, faculty, staff, alumni parents and grandparents enjoyed connecting with one another and meeting Head of School Duncan Lyon and his family.

Veronica Agosta, Duncan Lyon, Jordan Gershuny P’28, Diana Gershuny P’28 and Jennifer Strong-Andrei P’29

Judy Chung P’22, ’24, Derrick Diggs P’21, ’26 and Rashida La Lande P’21, ’26

Steve Cohen, Ben Neulander P’20, Rick Singh P’21, ’22, ’24 and Kyle Bisceglie P’22, ’24, ’25

Kimberly Many P’19, Luke Jovanovic ’19, Valia Negrin P’20, ’22, ’24 and David Negrin ’24

Alfie Burger ’87, P’23 and Reed Katz ’03

Lauren Dell P’28, ’30 and Sandra Goodman GP’28, ’30

YOUNG ALUMNI HOMECOMING

22,

On November

we held our annual Young Alumni Homecoming event for our high school-aged alumni. We had over 70 young graduates join us to catch up with one another and beloved faculty members.

Lorenzo Brigode ’21, Rich Alifano, Brian Alifano and Ajai Singh ’21

Chris Brozyna P’20 Blue, Steve Cohen, Nathan Neulander ’20 Blue, Skyler Brozyna ’20 Blue and Ellis Resnick ’20 Blue

Susan Lukas and Jamie Resurrección ’20 Blue

Duncan Lyon, Maurya Srivastava ’22 and Jackson Smith ’22

Neil Thompson ’20 Blue, Steve Cohen, and Will Pinkos ’20 Blue

Paul Boorady ’21 and Michelle Demko

Tony D’Itri and Nathan Neulander ‘20 Blue

1971

In May, Jeffrey Beers '71 stopped by Allen-Stevenson to tour the new building and visit with David Trower h’95.

1977

In April, an Upper Division Assembly featured Artemis Joukowsky '77, who spoke to students about a memorable assignment he was given as a student at Allen-Stevenson. He was joined at the Assembly by two fellow classmates, Dewey Wigod ’77 and Bradley Kulman ’77.

1984

John Henry '84, P'17, '20, '22 presented the Robert Zuckert '84 Award to Luca Micheletto '22 and Gabriel Viscogliosi '22, in memory of his classmate.

1985

Jeffrey Haber '85 and classmate Andy Mercy '85 enjoyed a night out at a Yankees game in May.

1981

In May, Reverend Dr. Hiram Ratliff '81 graduated with his Doctor of Ministry degree from the New York Theological Seminary. Congratulations Hiram!

Evan Goldfischer '81 was elected to a one-year term as president of LUGPA’s (the national voice representing independent urology in the United States) Board of Directors. Evan's goals for his term as president include expanding LUGPA’s political advocacy efforts and growing LUGPA membership.

1986

Bill Konigsberg '86 came out with his seventh novel, Destination Unknown. It focuses on his experience growing up in the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic.

Jeffrey Beers ’71

1998

In October, Graham Winfrey '98 screened his film 'Cape Carl' at the Katra Film Festival. He was joined by Paul Coverdale '98, David Kersey h'98, Graham Winfrey '98, Neal Kamsler, Caesar Fabella and Pete Haarmann.

2013

Scott Leff '13 spoke at the Upper Division Assembly this fall in honor of Solidarity Week. He highlighted the importance of having true allies here at A-S. Thank you for sharing your story, Scott!

2002

Matt Butler '02 has written a ‘Springsteen-On-Broadway’ style one man show that debuted in June 2022. He also performed in the fall at an Upper Division Assembly. All of us at AllenStevenson enjoyed his music, and we are so proud of his work!

2018

In May, Max Esterson '18, sim racer, announced a new partnership for his racing with ButtKicker Haptics, the world’s leader in haptic feedback technology!

2019

Holden Lipton '19 and Lucas Simon '19 visited Allen-Stevenson in the spring to see their former teachers.

2020 Gold

A few of our Allen-Stevenson alumni who currently attend Dalton got together following the end of fall sports. Pictured from left to right is Griffin Arndt '20 Gold, Daya Singh '22, Alex Wlodarczak '21 and Ajai Singh '21

Gabe Jaffe ’20B started his own company, Teen Hampton, along with other teenagers to provide sports lessons and babysitting services to families over the summer. Congratulations, Gabe!

2022

Xander Goodman '22 and Dino Georgiopoulos '22 stopped by Allen-Stevenson on their fall break from boarding school to visit their old teachers.

2020 Blue

Skyler Brozyna '20B has formed a band called Basement Theme. They performed at the Bitter End in NYC last June.

Matthew Fratepietro '22, Soham Sethi '22 and Luca Micheletto '22 stopped by Allen-Stevenson to visit their former teachers, including Ms. Jennifer Vermont-Davis.

The U.S. Under-19 Men’s Youth National Soccer Team invited Charlie DeMarco '20B to train at their highly selective camp in California. Charlie has just signed on to play soccer at Georgetown University. Congratulations, Charlie!

Field Day remains a tradition here at Allen-Stevenson. Over the years, Field Day has taken place at Baker Field, Asphalt Green, Allen-Stevenson and, as is the case currently, Randall’s Island.

We had a look through the Archives to find some fun photos of boys participating in this end of the school year event, all organized by our Athletics team. What games and activities do you remember from your Field Day?

Randy Schrade ’76

These pages are dedicated to alumnus Randy Schrade '76 who returned to serve as our devoted director of orchestras. Over almost 30 years Randy built up the instrumental program at A-S from eight boys to four large, healthy orchestras and a thriving lesson program, providing lasting inspiration and building countless close relationships in our community along the way, and helping to create the school's renowned reputation in NYC for its unique music program. He taught A-S boys how to be musicians and gentlemen and enriched the lives of everyone in the A-S community through his poetic artistry. Damian VanCamp's reflection below describes Randy beautifully.

Years after graduating college, I was walking back from a doctor's appointment and spotted Randy on his lunch break seated outside a restaurant. The food hadn't yet arrived, and without hesitation, he invited me to join him, a welcoming grin beaming across his face. As we ate, we talked about everything and nothing—like we always had. Randy and I understood one another—valued each other's humor, sarcasm, insight— he confided in me that he was thinking about retiring. I remember him sitting with the sun on his face, smiling, perfectly content and at peace. I felt exceedingly happy for him. We exchanged personal info, and we went our separate ways—me to the crosstown bus, and he to grab his signature Starbucks-and-Symphony-Bar combo before returning to work.

I didn't know that it would be the last time I would ever see him again. Many of what I consider to be core, self-defining traits and experiences of mine would not have come to pass had it not been for Randy's influence, and I have no doubt that there are countless others who can proudly say the same.

There are so many things I could say about Randy and the many gifts he gave me over the years—lessons, instruments, Bill Murray jokes.... But what I am most grateful for, perhaps, is that the last time I met Randy, it was not as teacher/ student, nor was it as mentor/mentee. The last time I met with Randy, we met as friends—as equals—two scholars and musicians breaking bread in the sun, genuinely happy to have serendipitously run into one another—even if it was for one last time.

—Damian VanCamp ’00

MEMORIAM

Montague Hackett, Jr. '47, a devoted husband, and proud and loving father and grandfather, passed away on January 2, 2022, at the age of 89.

He was a graduate of Allen-Stevenson, St. Paul's School, Concord, NH, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA. He practiced law for approximately eight years as associate and partner in the law firm of Kirlin, Campbell & Keating. Subsequently he served as Executive Vice President and Director of Bridger Petroleum, Ltd., a Calgary based oil and gas exploration company. He later served as co-chairman of International Gold Resources Corp. from 1993 until sale of the company in 1996 to Ashanti Goldfields Corp. He previously had served as chairman of American Gold Resources from 1988-1993. He also served from 1989-1994 as President and Director of Wood River Capital Corp., a small business investment corporation (venture capital) as well as chairman of Garnet Resources Corporation and a Director of First International Oil Corp. He later became co-chairman of Victory Ventures, an investment firm, and a Director of International Energy Services.

If you would like to acknowledge a community member, whether a parent, grandparent, or past faculty or staff member in the In Memoriam section of our next issue of the Lamplighter, please email the Alumni Office at alumni@allen-stevenson.org.

Dr. C. Redington Barrett, Jr. '48 died peacefully in Needham, Massachusetts, surrounded by his family, at the age of 89.

Rud grew up at the family’s homes in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Greenwich, CT, attending The Allen-Stevenson School and later Deerfield Academy where he played on the tennis team, as well as goalie on the soccer team. He graduated from Yale University in 1955 and went on to study medicine at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.

He met Elizabeth Emmet Biddle at a dance in New York City and the couple married in 1958, first living in Manhattan’s Washington Heights as Rud completed his medical training. Following a two-year stint in Berlin, Germany where he served as an army doctor, Rud and Liz lived for forty years in Englewood, New Jersey, where they raised three children, Connie, Red and Morris.

Rud spent his entire career at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, retiring in 2005 after serving as Acting Head of Pulmonology. He was also Director of the hospital’s critical care units. Rud pioneered fiber optic bronchoscopy procedures at St. Luke’s. He was devoted to medical research throughout his career, directing AIDS and breathing studies. He enjoyed teaching medical students and was known to be calm and empathetic with the families of his patients.

In addition to his scientific and medical pursuits, Rud had a deep love and knowledge of classical music. He took up the cello as a young adult, studying with a member of the New York Philharmonic and playing in a Manhattan community orchestra. He also played the piano and sang with Liz in the Oratorio Society of New York, performing Handel’s Messiah numerous times in Carnegie Hall, and touring with the group in Europe.

Rud was an avid outdoorsman and athlete, leading his young family up Mt. Katahdin in Maine, sailing off the coast of Cape Cod, and skiing in the Green Mountains. He taught his children squash and was a lifelong tennis player.

An electronics enthusiast, he was just as likely to build and assemble hi fi equipment and computers than to buy the latest models. He constructed amplifiers, speakers and computer hard drives throughout his life, maintaining a well-equipped work room and helping to instill a love of carpentry in his sons. Rud was known by family, friends and colleagues alike for his bright intellect, sense of humor and gentle nature. He wasn’t one to force an opinion or outcome, preferring to steer by consensus.