Focus Winter 2014-15

Winter 2014/15

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02 From the Executive Director 03 From the Editor

22 The 2014 ASF Art Fair Students, professionals and art legends came together to display their works at ASF

04 From the Board of Trustees

News and Events 06 A look at what’s been happening over the last few months, including school camps, Independence Day and Halloween

Features

28 Defense Mechanisms ASF students got some anti-bullying tools from an expert

By Andrew Livingstone

30 No Ordinary Joe NFL legend Joe Montana’s visit to ASF

By Kelly Arthur Garrett

13 Commitment to Excellence The Center for Teaching Excellence ensures ASF has the best faculty around

34 Into the Blue A nature photographer’s inspiring message to the ASF community

By Kelly Arthur Garrett

By Andrew Livingstone

18 Turtle Trip, 2014 Helping hatchlings find the sea: a first hand report

38 Student Voices Self-esteem and its challenges

Institutional Advancement 39 The Annual Fund Kickoff Patrons braved the rain to launch an ambitious fundraising plan 40 Driving for Scholarships Lorena Ochoa was the special guest as sponsors and donors enjoyed a day on the links

Alumni 43 Profile: Mauricio Argüelles Actor, producer and Alumni Council president 46 Alumni Events The Alumni Bowl and Career Day 48 Class Notes 49 Reunions

By Alice Kanitz, ASF Senior

By Eva Sánchez, ASF Senior

50 In Memoriam

20 Repentino. Period.

The student-led art and literature magazine has come of age

52 Kids’ Corner

By Kelly Arthur Garrett

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from the executive director

| SPECIAL GUESTS This issue of Focus features a number of distinguished visitors to the ASF campus, including artists, athletes, authors and photographers. Here are some you’ll be reading about in the pages ahead:

Dear ASF Community, As the holiday season rapidly approaches, it is gratifying to share this space to wish everyone a most rewarding and well-deserved winter break.

I also want to highlight a few of the many activities and endeavors that have helped to build community throughout the current semester.

The Center for Teaching Excellence has organized exciting professional opportunities for our faculty, allowing teachers to take on new challenges and modeling an important aspect of the ASF mission for all of us to be “life-long learners.” These opportunities help us work to improve the classroom environment and deliver a rigorous academic program. At the same time, a growing number of opportunities for extracurricular activities are available to students, making the campus a vibrant and lively place to be not only during the week but also on weekends. The Athletics and Extended Learning team work diligently to ensure greater inclusion in athletics and have created more course offerings in the after school program.

Campus life has also been enhanced by the hard work from groups such as Gamma, our Upper School student-led community service organization, which provides academic and recreational activities for children from the surrounding neighborhood. This is one example of how the school focuses on community and service learning.

Finally, the semester has given us many occasions to come together through art and music from student performances to visits from professional groups such as Tambuco. The visual arts have provided wonderful displays of student talent and, in the fall, the Art Fair in its 45th year brings us together through art, music and conversation. We have had a variety of speakers and guest lecturers who have challenged us to think and reflect on subjects of current concern and to enhance our lives.

Without a doubt, ASF is a great place to be a part of. Thanks to everyone for the many contributions that make ASF better and better every day.

Paul Williams Executive Director

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Lorena Ochoa (page 42) No one doubts that the former worldwide No. 1 ranked female golfer was the best player at the 12th Annual ASF Golf Tournament at the Bosque Real Country Club on October 27, but she wasn’t there to compete. Ms. Ochoa instead dedicated her appearance to supporting the event’s fundraising for scholarships by signing golf balls and Tshirts, and speaking to the participants and spectators at the after-tournament luncheon. She also made time to grant an interview to Focus editor-in-chief Andrew Livingstone.

Joe Montana (page 30) The four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback and hero to a generation of American football fans came to Coach Colman Field in October to speak with ASF studentathletes as part of his Mexico City tour to promote healthy living. Montana, who also won a national championship while playing at Notre Dame, gave the young players pointers on the fine points of the game, as well as secrets to success in life.

Trudy Ludwig (page 28) The prolific children’s book writer spent hours at ASF showing students and their parents that they have the tools to overcome and even prevent bullying. And she didn’t just tell students what they can do when confronted by bullying, she demonstrated by inviting them up on stage for role-playing.

The kids were noticeably encouraged by Ms. Ludwig’s upbeat and practical advice.

Manuel Lazcano (pages 34 and 39) The renowned nature photographer’s pictures and videos of wildlife in its natural habitat awed and inspired his audiences during his ASF visit in September, which included students during the school day and an evening gathering of ASF supporters at the Annual Fund Kickoff. Lazcano’s work, especially his underwater images, is breathtaking in its beauty but also carries with it a serious message — we must protect the natural environment of the species that remain on earth.

from the editor

FOCUS A magazine for the ASF community Winter 2014/15 Vol. XIII | No. 3 | Mexico City Paul Williams Executive Director Susan Olivo Head of Early Childhood Center Tara Fitzgerald Head of Lower School Rebecca Crutchfield Head of Middle School Amy Gallie Head of Upper School Robert Wilson Head of Athletics & Extended Learning

Dear Readers, Welcome to another edition of Focus magazine, the last for 2014. As you read this you’ve already enjoyed your Thanksgiving dinner and your thoughts are now firmly focused on the holiday season. So are ours, but until the last bell on the final day before the winter break, it’s a busy time of year here at ASF. Toward the end of the year is when we traditionally hold some of our most important events, and 2014 was no exception. First and foremost, there’s the Art Fair, which brings the whole community together to celebrate not only some great visual art, but also performing arts, food and all sorts of entertainment.

Our six-page spread on the Art Fair (starting on page 22) captures the event’s spirit with some eye-catching photography and interesting interviews.

In late October the 12th Annual ASF Golf Tournament saw around 180 keen golfers drive, pitch, putt – and eat and drink – their way around 18 holes at Bosque Real Country Club. With help from special guest Lorena Ochoa, the day was a huge success (page 40). Both the Golf Tournament and Art Fair served to raise money for the Annual Fund, which will help ASF provide more financial aid to a greater number of deserving students.

But it’s not just about the community events. Day to day academic studies are the core of what we do as a school, and ASF is always looking to improve on our already-excellent teaching. Kelly Arthur Garrett’s look into the Center for Teaching Excellence (page 13) delves into one of the school’s best examples of working with our faculty to develop new and innovative teaching methods.

Editorial Staff Violeta Ayala, Director of Communications Andrew Livingstone, Editor-in-Chief Kelly Arthur Garrett, Editorial Consultant Daniela Graniel, Art Director Álvar Martínez, Photography Parent Association Adriana Ramos, President Marissa Russell (’92), Vice President Advertising Sales: 5227 4942 FOCUS es una publicación cuatrimestral editada por The American School Foundation, A.C., Sur 136 #135, Col. Las Américas, México, D.F., C.P. 01120. Editor Responsable: Andrew Livingstone.

Derechos de Autor: Licitud de Título y de Contenido 16220. Reserva de Derecho: 04-2008-111212240200-102.

Distribuido por The American School Foundation, A.C. Sur 136 #135, Col. Las Américas, México, D.F., C.P. 01120. Se prohibe la reproducción total o parcial de los textos de esta revista sin previa autorización escrita de The American School Foundation, A.C.

Don’t miss reading about some very special visitors who have inspired and entertained ASF students over the last few months, including photographer Manuel Lazcano (page 34), Trudy Ludwig (page 28) and the comeback kid himself, Joe Montana (page 30).

I hope you enjoy reading about these great personalities and much more in this edition of Focus. Enjoy the holiday season.

Andrew Livingstone Editor-in-Chief

On the cover: Co-Artist of the Year Lucía Ocejo (’14) displays her work at the 45th Art Fair.

Photo by Álvar Martínez

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from the board of trustees

Without a doubt, one of ASF’s greatest strengths is its volunteers.

Throughout the history of the institution, volunteers have played a crucial role. That role started with the actual founding of the school in 1888, and then continued over the next 126 years to ensure the financial health of The American School Foundation.

In fact, as you may know, the land where the school stands today was donated by parents. It is thanks to countless such generous donations — large and small — by community members that the school has always had state-of-the-art facilities where the faculty can implement the most modern and effective teaching methods and the students can take maximum advantage of their educational opportunities.

It is also thanks to this generosity that the school’s scholarship fund has continued to grow to the point where today 13% of the student body receives financial aid.

One of the best-known volunteers in ASF’s history was S. Bolling Wright.

His oldest son used to tell the story about how his father got involved with the school. Here is the anecdote as he told it: I was sitting in my first grade class when the legs of my little chair sank right into the floor. It was hilarious and I couldn’t wait to get home to tell the family what a good time we’d had at school that day. My father didn’t think it was funny.

The next day he appeared in the classroom and examined the floor. Termites.

The 2014-15 Board of Trustees Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87) Chair Thurston F. Hamer (’81) First Vice Chair Joan Danielle Liechty Treasurer Carla Ormsbee Cedeño Secretary Aliki Botton de Elías (’85) César Buenrostro Moreno (’85) Sebastián Fernández Cortina Fernando Franco Bustillas Fernando Gutiérrez Ochoa Frances E. Huttanus Antonio Rallo Verdugo Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui John Santa Maria Otazúa (’75)

From that day in 1919 until his death in 1975, Mr. Wright dedicated his life to improving ASF. When community members are generous with their time, talent and treasure for the benefit of the school, they make a significant difference in the quality of education that ASF students receive.

Today, there are many ways to help the school and strengthen the ASF community. Donating is one way. Another is to join one of the many school support groups.

For example, if you are an ASF parent, you can become active in the Parent Association. You can join Bear Boosters. You can also help by volunteering time in the classroom, chaperoning an academic activity, or giving a conference.

If you are an alum, you can join the Alumni Council, or participate in one or more of the many alumni-organized events.

I encourage all of you to become involved. By doing so, you will become more knowledgeable about the great education that students are receiving at ASF. I like to believe that there is a little bit of Mr. Wright in all of us. By giving of ourselves we will make a difference in the next 126 years of ASF! Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87) Chair of the ASF Board of Trustees

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Ex-Oficio Members: Eric A. Flohr Randall S. Nelson

Committees: Buildings and Grounds Cesar Buenrostro Moreno, Chair Executive Rosa Marentes de Pisinger, Chair Finance and Investment Joan Danielle Liechty, Chair Governance Carla Ormsbee Cedeño, Chair Institutional Advancement Frances E. Huttanus, Chair Technology Antonio Rallo Verdugo, Chair

News & Events

Middle School

MS students get green fingers

The entire Middle School took a trip into the State of Mexico in August to add some green to Mexico. The Fundación Coca Cola-sponsored tree-planting trip to Huitzizilapan, in the municipality of Lerma, near Toluca, gave some 530 students the opportunity to plant a total of 1,160 saplings in an effort to reduce their impact on the planet.

The trip was coordinated by the environmental non-profit organization Pronatura, whose staff demonstrated the correct way to plant trees, and also educated students and faculty members about the benefits trees provide for the environment and people’s health.

Parent Assn.

A day of family fun

Just days after students returned to ASF to start the 2014-15 school year, parents and families shared food and games at the annual Parent Association Welcome Picnic.

While former Fighting Bears competed in the Alumni Bowl in the background (see page 46), the community enjoyed a laid-back atmosphere on the Middle School field, with music and entertainment. Newcomers were especially welcome, as some got their first look at the school community coming together to celebrate the beginning of another year.

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Teachers get Google Certified All ASF

It’s official – ASF has more Google Certified Teachers than any other school in Latin America.

After a competitive selection process, Google held its first certification course in Mexico last October. During the course, LS teacher Velia Sotomayor, MS teacher Patricia García, US teacher Carlos Alaniz and Center for Teaching Excellence staffer Carlos Guerrero joined previously certified Patty Zamora and Tracey Bryan, both from the CTE, in gaining the qualification, meaning they have mastered the use of Google Apps for education, and can pass that knowledge on to other teachers for use in the classroom.

Patty Zamora said that the high number of Google Certified Teachers shows that the ASF faculty is made up of innovators and risk takers who are always looking for new ways to explain educational concepts in the classroom.

Another ASF teacher, Christopher Muller from the MS, will take the total of ASF Google Certified Teachers to seven in December.

Helping Odile’s victims All ASF

While many at ASF and around Mexico were enjoying the Independence Day holiday weekend in September, Hurricane Odile was battering the southern coast of Baja California Sur. But as school resumed, the community made a huge effort to help out those whose livelihoods had been severely affected by the storm, especially in the Los Cabos region.

In a two-week campaign across the whole school, 72 boxes of food and other supplies were raised and donated to the Mexican Red Cross, which flew the goods to Baja California Sur to be distributed to those in need winter 2014/15 | 7

news & events All ASF

Celebrating Independence Day

The red, white and green of Mexico’s tricolor was seen all over ASF in September, as the students, staff and faculty gathered to celebrate Independence Day. The school’s diverse community all became Mexican – at least for the day – each holding their own “Grito” to celebrate the start of the movement that led to the country’s eventual independence from Spain.

Middle School

Fascinated by Darwin

Middle School students got hands-on at the San Ildefonso Museum’s Charles Darwin exhibition earlier this year, learning about the English naturalist’s discoveries and making their own mini-gardens.

Science classes took notes on how Darwin developed his theory on natural selection as a driving force of evolution by studying how animals had adapted to the diverse living environments on the Galapagos Islands.

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Lower School

Fun and games at the Lower School The Lower School community came together on a sunny Saturday in October for Lower School House Fun Day.

Wearing the colors of each of their houses, kids and their parents joined teams to take on rival houses in a range of activities, including soccer, volleyball, scavenger hunts and a sponge race, before enjoying a communal lunch.

All ASF

ASF summons the spirits

When the days begin to get shorter and colder and the clocks turn back, ASF doesn’t get depressed. Instead, students, faculty and staff dress up and a enjoy day of fun, frights – and a lot of candy – on Halloween.

The usual vampires, witches, killer clowns and zombies of all ages were joined by some more traditional Mexican Catrinas and calaveras, and some movie heroes as each school paraded, competed and partied.

Parents joined children at the ECC Halloween party, while older students paraded their scary, funny and sometimes downright strange outfits onstage, before enjoying live music and games on a spooky Friday afternoon. winter 2014/15 | 9

news & events

Lower & Middle School

Into the great outdoors

Grade 4 students spent the first week of November in Oaxaca as part of their educational unit on migration. They learned about the many cultural influences on the area and the Zapoteca and Mixteca cultures.

Grade 5 students traveled to the state of Puebla to study society and government. During their camp they visited the cities of Cholula and Puebla to compare their structures and political systems.

They also visited some of the state’s major companies to understand economic influences in the area.

At the same time, grade 8 students were at a Pipiol camp in Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico, engaging in a high ropes course, building shelters and learning about the local culture and economy. Earlier in the year, grade 6 students enjoyed the same camp spot, riding horses and mountain bikes and traversing streams.

Athletics

The Fighting Bears show off in front of a record crowd

The annual Homecoming football game at ASF has always been a true American-style tradition, and this year the community supported the Fighting Bears more enthusiastically than ever, turning out in record numbers to witness the home team easily defeat Halcones Marinos, 48-6.

In fact, the victory was so decisive that the mercy rule was applied, bringing the game to an early end shortly after half time.

That didn’t matter to the spectators, who enjoyed some skilled plays from the ASF team and an entertaining halftime show from the LS flag football team.

The varsity football team is continuing to look stronger week-on-week with some excellent offensive play, and the Homecoming victory gave them an impressive 3-0 start to the season.

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All ASF

Back to school... for students and parents

Students across all grades were welcomed back to ASF in mid-August, arriving on campus to find that the school’s maintenance team had been busy painting, constructing and renovating facilities while classes were out for summer.

Extended Learning

ASF debaters host (and dominate) the ASOMEX tournament

Each of the four schools held a Back to School Night early in the school year, where parents had a chance to meet the faculty and staff, take a tour of the classrooms and facilities, and even sit in their children’s places while teachers explained how they can keep in touch with the school and their kids’ progress.

The ASF debate team dominated the ASOMEX tournament held on campus over the Day of the Dead weekend, with both novice and varsity teams impressing the judges with strong arguments and speaking styles.

Three ASF varsity teams and four novice teams made their respective quarterfinals, with two of the novice teams battling it out in the final.

ASF debater Genoveva Silva was named best varsity speaker, and colleague Adrian Lask runner-up. Dalia Zuckerman also won best novice speaker, showing the depth of debating talent at the school.

Tambuco hits a beat All ASF

Students, staff and parents were challenged to hear things in a new way when Mexico’s Tambuco percussion group shared a series of interactive concerts. Using traditional instruments such as the marimba – as well as everyday objects found in kitchens and garden sheds – the four members beat, plucked and drummed a variety of rhythms.

In the morning, younger students were invited onstage to experiment with the huge range of percussive instruments the group uses to create unique sounds, while later that evening, the Parent Association and Tambuco put on a free concert for the whole community in the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center, during which the band explained the meaning of some of their music. winter 2014/15 | 11

news & events

Upper School

Colleges come to ASF seeking talent

Around 120 universities from Mexico, the United States and around the world came to ASF on September 27 looking for the best and brightest minds at this year’s College Fair.

Held for the 31st time in 2014, the College Fair allowed students from ASF and other schools around Mexico first-hand access to information and recruiters from some of the world’s best universities. Seniors and other Upper School students, as well as parents and even some youngsters, turned out in huge numbers to take advantage of the free information session.

As students left carrying bags full of leaflets, flyers and enrolment information, they took the next step on their path towards becoming global citizens for a changing world.

Middle School

Students drive green changes

When new drinking fountains were installed around the campus recently, it marked the culmination of an almost two-year campaign by a dedicated group of students.

In March 2013, a group of Middle School students were selected by their teachers to represent ASF at the Global Issues Network conference in Costa Rica. There they shared ideas for improving their communities. The ASF group brought the idea of limiting the use of plastic by selling reusable aluminum bottles, so that students wouldn’t need to buy single-use plastic bottles every day.

The campaign was a big success, and they sold hundreds of bottles.

But that led to a new problem – there was nowhere on campus where they could be refilled. The existing water fountains were fine for direct drinking, but there was no way to fill a bottle from them.

So the group consulted with school leadership. It happened that ASF was looking to install water fountains with better filters to improve the quality and taste of potable water on campus. The students proposed installing water fountains specially designed for filling water bottles and, working together with school management, brought the project to light.

Now the school can count on better quality water from drinking fountains that encourage the community to use less plastic.

All ASF

School spirit comes home

In the week leading up to Homecoming, ASF students from all grades took part in a series of fun activities to show their school spirit.

Each day saw students enjoying a different theme – wearing pajamas to school, dressing as identical twins, celebrating UN International Peace Day and splashing themselves in powder paint for Color Day. Meanwhile, sports teams benefited from enhanced support from the community at swim meets, soccer and volleyball games and tennis matches.

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FEATURE

Commitment to Excellence Four dedicated teaching professionals make sure that the ASF faculty is the best there is — and getting better every day

By Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent

The four-person team at ASF’s Center for Teaching Excellence is charged with carrying out the school’s stated goal of providing “continuous training to attract and retain exceptionally qualified educators.”

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CTE Coordinator Lucinda Wiser: “I’ve taught at nine different schools in seven different countries and this is the first school I’ve been at that has a Center for Teaching Excellence.”

ercedes de St. Aubin has taught at The American School Foundation for 33 years. Highly respected and by any measure extremely successful as an instructor, she’s always in demand by graduating seniors come capping season. One would think that such an experienced educator would have plenty to teach her colleagues and little to learn from them. One would be half right.

Because as each new semester rolls around, you can find Ms. De St. Aubin hunkered down, learning from teaching coach Patty Zamora (’81), receiving new classroom ideas and exploring ways to improve the old ones.

She’s also glad to get support for operating the myriad digital organizational tools that are now so much a part of teaching at ASF — PowerSchool, Moodle, Atlas, Turnitin.com, electronic hall passes, and so on.

And it’s through Ms. Zamora’s input that Ms. De St. Aubin can offer her students the kind of clear maps, and PowerPoint presentations that do so much to bring home her subject matter (world history).

“I talk to Patty every new year,” Ms. De St. Aubin says. “She’s always helping me to update.”

Ms. Zamora does these things because she’s part of the team at ASF’s Center for Teaching Excellence. The CTE is there to make sure that the school’s stated goal to provide “continuous training to attract and retain exceptionally qualified educators” are day-to-day realities and not just an aspirational statement.

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Few Focus readers will doubt that the ASF faculty is indeed among the best in the world. But perhaps just as few (teachers and administrators excepted) are aware of the CTE’s role in achieving that status.

In fact, parents, alums and even students can be forgiven for being only vaguely aware of the CTE’s very existence. It’s extremely rare for a K-12 institution to fund such an undertaking — in Mexico, the United States or anywhere else.

“This is unique,” says Lucinda Wiser, who took over as CTE coordinator a year ago. “I’ve taught at nine different schools in seven different countries and this is the first school I’ve been at that has a Center for Teaching Excellence.”

The projects the CTE uses to foster excellence are many, and they are by no means limited to tech support. Topping the list, perhaps, are the on-campus professional development conferences that turn five Fridays a year into days off for students and into demanding but productive training sessions for teachers.

The CTE also coordinates programs that help ASF teachers earned advanced degrees or International Teaching Certificates.

It provides what’s known as lesson study training, an improvement process in which teachers form groups to create and develop new lesson plans and then try them out in the classroom.

CTE staff members scour the research and sometimes trot the globe in search of new advances in education science and innovative approaches to teaching, which they bring to the attention of faculty members and in many cases help implement.

The CTE plays a role in getting new teachers up to speed on the special requirements for teaching at an international school in Mexico, and at ASF specifically. For many, that means understanding what exactly is meant by “the best of American independent education,” as promised in the school’s mission statement.

Clearly, these folks at the CTE have plenty on their plate. But in truth there’s even more going on than the above partial list might indicate. That’s because a lot of what they do is ad hoc.

“Teachers come in because they’re interested in some new technique or improvement and they ask us to help implement it,” Ms. Wiser says. “Then more come because they saw how we helped in other classrooms.”

Adds Ms. Zamora, “They all need different kinds of support, but basically they come to us because they know they can learn new things that will enhance their teaching.”

Beyond Tech Some assume the CTE is essentially a tech support service for teachers. That assumption is mistaken but understandable, for two reasons.

One is that the CTE occupies the link in the faculty food chain that other, CTE-less schools fill with a tech support team and nothing else. The other is that, yes, as a matter of fact, much of the CTE workload does have to do with training on computers and other digital devices, because that’s where so much teaching work is done today.

Some of the tech support is of the raw, how-does-this-thingwork variety. Here’s where Carlos Guerrero, the CTE’s resident tech guru, comes in.

“Carlos is here in the lab” — i.e. the CTE’s spacious work area where the Parent Association office used to be — “to answer questions and provide just-in-time training for teachers who didn’t know they needed the training until the question came up,” Ms. Wiser says.

That’s a nice way of saying that if you can’t figure out what keys to press and you need to have everything ready by next period, it’s time to see Mr. Guerrero.

But the bulk of the training provided to teachers, especially those new to the school, is more substantial.

“When you come to teach at ASF, there are a lot of things that are unique to us, to our culture,” Ms. Wiser says. “Some of it is simple, like where to put your trash, since we have recycling. But some of it is more complex, and involves the processes we use, how we do assessments, how decisions are made, what kind of strategies we use to move things forward if a class doesn’t seem to be on the right path.”

Teachers, then, are required to know the basics of teaching at ASF. Even for the best prepared, most highly qualified instructors, that requires training. And that training is tailored to the individual teachers — its content is adjusted according to whom they’re teaching, the subject they’re teaching, at which level they’re teaching, and their experience.

Inevitably, it’s highly technical. But keep in mind that the technology is the how of the material, not the what.

Take for example, the Atlas program, which ASF teachers must master and use. Atlas is a curriculum management tool that, among many other things, helps teachers keep track in great detail of what’s going on in their classrooms over time, and to collaborate at the grade or departmental level. Is learning it a question of tech training? Sure. But you’re also learning curriculum management, ASF-style. That existed before computers were invented.

ASF takes these requirements seriously. New teachers have their initial training goals identified, follow a program for their completion and then must earn certification of their basic competencies after a performance evaluation at the end of the school year.

Returning teachers develop a personal professional development plan at the beginning of each school year and have that

Patty Zamora: “We’re teachers ourselves. We know about being in front of a classroom. Our passion is helping other people.”

evaluated at the end of the year. Both first-year and returning teachers engage in a reflection of their evaluations to guide them in the next year’s professional development plan.

It’s easy to imagine students squealing with delight when they hear that the teachers too are dealing with expectations of “basic competencies,” with “performance evaluations” and with “learning goals” and “reflections.” Their glee is a good thing, CTE digital literacy coach Tracey Bryan says.

“If a teacher is going through a learning process, for example, working to get their technology certificate, and maybe struggling sometimes, that gives them more empathy for their students,” says Ms. Bryan, who is also an Apple distinguished educator, a Google certified teacher and a flat classroom certified teacher. “If you’re trying to learn and balance your life and family and everything else at the same time, then you understand what it’s like for your students.”

New teacher training alone is a huge undertaking. Turnover at ASF may not be as high as other international schools, but you still might be looking at two or three dozen incoming instructors each year. How does a team of just four professionals — Lucinda, Carlos, Patty and Tracey — handle that kind of workload all by themselves?

The answer is simple: They don’t. Faculty development is supervised, organized and carried out by a humming network of ASF personnel, including division heads, academic deans, grade level coordinators, department chairs, AP and IB coordinators and various kinds of coaches, among others. The CTE may be the hub of the wheel, but many people keep it spinning.

That includes other teachers. In fact, much of the hands-on training of new faculty members is done through the mentoring program that the CTE coordinates.

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Tracey Bryan: “Brain science alone has advanced hugely, and we have a lot more information about learning than we had before. We need access to that.”

“We connect them with somebody who has been a stable presence at the school and knows what’s going on,” Ms. Wiser says. “So a lot of the stuff doesn’t have to come from the four of us. But there are things we want to make sure they know by the end of their first year.”

Professional Development The government requires Mexican schools to have two professional development days for teachers each year. ASF has five, organized by the CTE. These are not casual get-togethers. The conferences take place on campus and every teacher attends. Students stay home on these “Blue Fridays.”

The full day consists of practical, in-depth training. The topics are not chosen for popularity. They deal with issues that are directly relevant to the ASF curricula and processes.

Example: The American School Foundation has adopted the Common Core, which is a set of standards developed in the United States that details precisely what K-12 students should know at each grade level.

But it’s one thing to adopt an initiative and quite another to implement it effectively. “There’s the drop-down menu style of adoption, where teachers go down the list of standards, think about what they’ve always done that’s most closely aligned to them, check off the boxes and don’t change a thing,” says Ms. Wiser. “Or you can really dig into what the standards mean, evaluate how you’re doing on them, and make changes in your instruction in order to meet them. You start by truly understanding the standards up front, and then the process is to work through them to get them implemented.”

The September professional development day on campus

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was dedicated to making sure ASF followed the second approach, with an expert in college and career readiness brought in to work with the faculty on Common Core standards.

The October conference featured expert training in standards-based assessment from the ACSD, which is a U.S.-based international non-profit organization specializing in curriculum development services. “The idea is once you know what your standards are, how do you know if your kids are achieving them?” Ms Wiser says. “That’s what standards-based assessment is all about.”

Other topics at recent Blue Friday events have included research tools, intellectual property protection, digital media production, other kinds of technology integration, and strategies for teaching at a school where most students are speaking their second language — be it Spanish or English — about half the time.

The CTE can also arrange attendance by individuals or groups at off-campus conferences or workshops under the appropriate circumstances. “There’s a budget for that,” Ms. Wiser says. “This school is very dedicated to professional development.”

Lifelong Learning Indeed, professional development is one manifestation of an idea that’s almost a mantra for the CTE, as well as the school as a whole — lifelong learning. It’s right there in the school’s vision statement, which emphasizes “the joy and importance of lifelong learning.”

If you think about it, lifelong learning should be considered more of a requisite for good teaching, not a bonus. “I could have got my degree and left it at that, but if I had I’d be teaching the way people taught 20 years ago,” Ms. Bryan says. “But brain science alone has advanced hugely in that time, and we have a lot more information about learning than we had before. We need access to that.”

The mentoring, the initial and ongoing training, the conferences and the workshops all further the cause of lifelong learning for ASF teachers. But another significant program that ASF offers through the CTE is master’s degree study via an agreement with the State University of New York’s Buffalo campus.

ASF teachers can earn a master’s — at a discount — while carrying out their classroom duties.

This is a popular perk with ASF teachers. But it’s not there just as a way for them to build their résumés. “It’s not only for the teachers’ benefit,” Ms. Wiser says. “It’s all about the kids.”

Here she points to a sign on the CTE office wall: “We support teachers as learners in order to best serve students.”

Her point was that more education makes for better teachers. But there’s another way that the master’s program — and

other post-graduate pursuits of knowledge — inspires students, which is by modeling the a culture of lifelong learning.

“You see your teachers working to get their master’s, or second master’s, or third, and that’s an important role model for students,” Ms. Bryan says.

There’s another way the CTE gives students a taste of learning as a cumulative, rather than finite, process. It happens during the classroom phase of lesson study projects.

“The teachers have to show evidence directly from the classroom that they have incorporated the new skills and technologies,” Ms. Wiser says. “We explain to the kids that their classroom is a laboratory temporarily as we’re trying to find out how to do things better. So they see the process and they’re part of it.”

The CTE team also helps the level of ASF teaching continue to improve by acting as advance scouts in the world of pedagogy. “We read the research, distill it and then take it to to teachers and say, hey, maybe you haven’t seen this and it might be interesting,” Ms. Bryan says. “Or they can invite me to their planning meetings where I can listen to their ideas. And if I know about something that might support their teaching, I can suggest it.

“We find out about conferences they many don’t know about.

We’re always figuring out ways to give them more information. For example, we keep a Pinterest board, Twitter, other social media. We participate in Tweet-ups, which are education chats. We share ideas.”

Sometimes CTE support can come about in unusual ways.

Earlier in the fall semester, for example, Tracey Bryan and teacher Luis Betancourt could be seen reviewing video tapes like a couple of football coaches.

Mr. Betancourt is the Early Childhood Center music teacher, a vital position at that level. He had asked Ms. Bryan to make a video of a public performance, because he can’t really observe the individual kids well when he’s directing the group. He noticed that some kids who sang eagerly in the classroom would clam up during the actual show. He and Ms. Bryan were studying the tapes to find a solution.

“That’s the kind of stuff we do with teachers on their lunch hours,” Ms. Bryan smiles.

All four CTE staff members emphasize that they don’t push innovations on teachers. That’s not their role.

“We support them if they ask for it,” Ms. Wiser says. “A teacher might come to us and say, I want to try something new.

Can you help me out?’”

All four also point out that they are not more “advanced” than the colleagues they’re helping. They just have a different assignment.

“It’s not that I’m better and I want to bring you up to my level,” Ms. Wiser says. “Coaching means being intentional, thinking

Carlos Guerrero: “Carlos is here in the lab to answer questions and provide just-in-time training for teachers who didn’t know they needed the training until the question came up,” Lucinda Wiser says.

The sign on the wall at the CTE laboratory says a lot about its mission and philosophy.

about our practice. You talk about it, I talk about it, and through that process of reflection we learn things and grow together.”

“Most important of all, we’re teachers ourselves,” Patty Zamora says. “We know about being in front of a classroom.

Our passion is helping other people.”

Mercedes de St. Aubin, who isn’t shy about requesting CTE help (she’s a “frequent flyer” in CTE parlance), agrees. “Patty is a great teacher for students and a great teacher for teachers,” she says.

Ms. Zamora could say the same about Ms. De St. Aubin.

More than three decades ago, she was one of Ms. De St. Aubin’s first students at ASF. Now she’s her teaching coach. But, says Ms. De St. Aubin, “She still calls me Miss.”

winter 2014/15 | 17

FEATURE

Turtle Trip, 2014 Juniors and seniors traveled to the Oaxaca coast to help baby turtles get to the sea and to support the local community

By Eva J. Sánchez Vela, ASF Senior

Clockwise: ASF students enjoyed the view of the sun setting from the southernmost point in Oaxaca.

Students from ASF made friends with children from the village of Vainilla.

Students help newly hatched baby turtles find their way to the Pacific.

T

he Turtle Trip is an annual opportunity for junior and senior ASF students to travel to the Oaxaca coast. Under the guidance of Upper School teachers Luis Cárdenas, Leo Trías and Rubén Martínez, the trip offers two important experiences — the release of newly born turtles into the sea and supporting a small community that has joyfully received ASF students for many years.

Last October 2, as they flew to Puerto Escondido, the participants were eager to begin an adventure that took the concept of community service well beyond the boundaries of their everyday extracurricular activities.

The students spent the entire first afternoon by the seashore setting up the tents for their camp. Night time brought splendid surprises. At the ecological reserve of La Escobilla, they showcased their scavenger hunt skills, exploring the area to find turtle nests spread out all over the beach.

The dedicated teenagers assisted baby turtles emerging from more than 50 nests, each with approximately 100 eggs, by digging into the sand and picking them up 18 | winter 2014/15

with their bare hands to bring them closer to the waves that crashed against the shore.

It was a beautiful moonlit spectacle.

La Escobilla is one of Mexico’s most famous protected beaches. They learned about the ecology of the area from local community members who have worked especially hard over the past several years.

After the sea turtle and crocodile trade was finally banned, the people of La Escobilla formed a cooperative which allowed them to work together toward a green future.

As the sun came up on the second day, the students traveled to the small community of Vainilla, just a few minutes from the campsite. Part of the preparation for the turtle trip had included collecting school supplies and first aid kits to deliver to that community. They were greatly appreciated.

The visit to Vainilla gave these diligent adolescents an opportunity to bond with the people of Vainilla, as they asked insightful questions and helped organize the provisions they had brought.

Next came a visit to the turtle museum in nearby Mazunte. By learning more about the variety of turtle species, the students became even more inspired to

release baby turtles into the ocean, which they did again that night.

But first another surprise awaited them. The juniors and seniors hiked up a hill known as Punta Cometa, which overlooks the beach, where they witnessed a stunning natural landscape as the sun set and the sky turned pink — bringing to life the saying that “the best view comes after the hardest climb”.

A new day arrived and the Upper School students had more energy than ever. They took a guided tour in the Vainilla community through a mangrove area that led them to an island that is home for crocodiles, turtles, iguanas and even a capuchin monkey.

Afterward, in Puerto Ángel, they were taken on a boat ride to search for adult turtles at sea, and to snorkel in the natural habitat of thousands of marine species.

The last evening they had supper at Cero Largo in Mazunte, a renowned ecological hotel located on a cliff by the beach.

Everyone was able to relax, chat, and laugh over homemade food while gazing at the mesmerizing natural landscape.

It was the perfect ending to an unforgettable volunteering experience.

FEATURE

Repentino.

Period.

The student-produced literary arts magazine has hit its stride. And there’s more to it than you might think.

By Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent

Above: Upper School librarian Harry Brake with ASF senior and magazine editor-in-chief Alia Suhaimi.

Left: The ASF literary arts publication staff is a big one. What you see here is less than half of it.

T

here are three things you may not know about Repentino, the literary magazine for ASF student work.

The first is that it’s not called Repentino, exactly. The second is that it’s not a literary magazine per se. And the third is that it’s not just for ASF student work.

The correct name of the annual publication is Repentino., with a dot at the end, no matter where it falls in a sentence.

Thus, for the rest of this article, what may look like spurious periods overlooked during proofreading have in fact been intentionally inserted in obeyance to the preferred orthography.

“I don’t know how exactly the period got there,” says Harry Brake, the Upper School librarian who serves as adviser to the Repentino. staff. “But once it started to appear people liked it. They said it gave it personality. So we kept it.”

Adds Alia Suhaimi, an ASF senior who is Repentino.’s editor-in-chief, “The last thing I do in the editing process is go through the entire magazine and make sure every time the name is mentioned there’s a period at the end of it.”

20 | winter 2014/15

As for the second point, Repentino. was born with the intention of publishing short stories and poetry, but it soon became apparent that there’s too much good art and photography out there to ignore.

“I describe it now as a literary arts magazine.” Alia says. “We try to have an equal amount of literature and art.”

As for student work, there’s plenty of it in the magazine, but much of the content comes from ASF staffers, off-campus students and professionals in Mexico, and a growing selection of international artists and writers.

“The idea is for the staff to get in contact with people outside their own circles,” Mr. Brake says. “That broadens the perspective and makes the magazine more universal in terms of what kinds of things are in there.”

So, to review: Repentino. with a dot.

Text and images. Far-flung contributors.

Those three issues being cleared up, it’s appropriate now to point out that Repentino. is one of the great campus success stories. It started four years ago when a handful of creatively oriented students sought to fill the void left by

Reflections, its highly regarded predecessor that had run its course, as even the best literary magazines tend to do sooner or later.

They wanted the reincarnation to have its own identity, which meant coming up with a new name. After a brief flirtation with “Baby Cakes,” cooler heads prevailed and Repentino, at first without the dot, carried the day. It means, in Spanish, “sudden” or “unexpected.”

From that initial effort has grown a school-sanctioned extra curricular club of 69 members, all of whom are working after school to produce the fourth annual issue of Repentino., which is expected to be out in May 2015.

That’s a pretty big staff for an annual magazine, about 65 more than for Focus.

But it is, after all, a student undertaking, so the emphasis is on involvement, teamwork and a learning experience (as well as putting out a high-quality product).

The club members are divided into four staffs at the beginning of the school year — art content, literary content, layout and an important outreach category called PR. The first order of business is

to get the submissions in so there’s something to put in the magazine.

This the content editors do by issuing a call on the Repentino. Tumblr site (repentinomagazine.tumblr.com), along with the criteria for what the work should consist of. Submissions that don’t meet the criteria, such as the pizza recipe that came in once, are the first to be rejected (always with an appreciative thank you note).

The priority deadline for the fourth issue is December 10, which has most likely passed as you read this. But there’s a secondary deadline on February 14, 2015, so finish up that poem or digital art piece you’ve been working on and send it in.

“Once the submission period is closed — and even before that — the accepted ones go to the layout people,” Alia says. “I work with layout extensively to help figure out how we’re going to put the magazine together and what images go best with which stories.”

That’s the hard part. Don’t go spreading this around, but the truth is that if you read your share of poetry and short fiction, and pretty much know how English works (or Spanish sometimes; Repentino. is bilingual), then you can do a passable job as a literary magazine editor. Not so with design. When you’re actually creating physical pages to be printed, you have to know what you’re doing.

“There’s a whole learning curve with design,” Mr. Brake says. “You need to work with InDesign and connect it with

Photoshop. There’s been some training classes. Before, we used to wing it.”

The hard work has paid off. The current (third) issue is thinner than the last one, but without a skippable page in it.

“Mount Olympus” by ASF senior Alice Kanitz (who also writes essays; see page 38) contains perhaps the truest words in the magazine: “the coffee makes sense.”

ASF faculty member D.J. Hamilton contributed “Parque México,” which at times gives us a glimpse of what Dylan Thomas might have sounded like had he lived in our century: “. . . their skintight, lycra-light, water wicking workout clothes.”

There’s a profound and disturbing exploration of suicidal tendencies, ironically titled “My Love,” penned by a nowgraduated varsity football player who stunned the staff — and re-shattered an outdated stereotype — with his compelling poetry submission.

And, as they say, there’s much, much more. You can get your copy at the ASF Upper School Library, or by requesting one at asflitmag@gmail.com, or by calling (55) 5227-1900, adding the country code 52 at the beginning if you’re calling from outside Mexico. Repentino. costs 80 pesos.

But what if they published a school literary arts magazine and nobody knew about it? That was indeed a concern with the earlier issues. But no more. The reason for the change can be summed up in three words: Open Mic Night.

The quarterly informal showcasing of local talent — open to anybody with the chutzpah to get up there and perform — is organized by the Repentino. club and always packs the US Library where it takes place.

“Most people didn’t know about the magazine until they found out through Open Mic,” Alia says. “With Repentino., we obviously want to encourage artists and writers to express themselves. But with Open Mic Night we’re reaching out to a broader community — musicians, dancers, actors — so they have a place to go whenever they want to perform something.”

The Repentino. club, in line with ASF tradition and values, is also starting to get involved with community service projects. Staffers recently mentored Middle School students involved with NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month — and in the planning stage is an Empty Bowls night, where paying guests are served dinner in student-crafted ceramic bowls that they get to keep, while other bowls are auctioned off. Proceeds go to charity.

“When we do these other projects — an open mic here, empty bowls there — people understand that the club is not just self-serving, that it promotes the arts in a bigger way,” Mr. Brake says.

Adds Alia, “The magazine is annual, so we have an entire year to do as much as we can with the community, especially with the artistic community.”

FEATURE

You at the Fair

The 45th ASF Art Fair proved once again that art really can bring diverse people together

By Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent

22 | winter 2014/15

o matter how many ASF Art Fairs you’ve attended, you still feel that little leap in the heart when you walk into the usually businesslike campus and find it transformed into a carnival of sight and sound.

If you time your entrance right, and if it’s the 45th annual fair on November 8, the sound part might surprise you. You never know what the traditional morning hours’ strolling musicians will consist of; you just know they’ll start playing in the Founders’ Garden after the welcoming speeches and later give way to the more stationary recitals of ASF performing arts students, under the direction of Deborah Lawrence, the performing arts coordinator.

Last year there were mariachis, you remember. This year it’s a brass ensemble.

Save for the absence of psychedelia, they put you in mind of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Then, as if to confirm the association, they break into that very song as soon as Lic. Máximo Vega, the Public Education Secretariat’s director of private schools,

cuts the ceremonial ribbon to open the fair. They pretty much stick to LennonMcCartney the rest of the morning.

The color and pageantry of the fair stretch out before you, with scores of community artist displays filling the green areas that form an L around the Lower School.

The LS Multipurpose Room, you’ll soon see, is packed with art by ASF students, K1-12.

To your left, through the glass of the Hojel-Shumacher Gallery that occupies its two levels of lobby space in the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center, you catch glimpses of the work of more than a dozen of Mexico’s most prominent artists.

You wonder how it’s possible that year after year the school can bring in such distinguished work. The person to ask is Adriana Ramos, who as president of the Parent Association is the main organizer of the fair.

“I come from a family that’s always been involved with the arts,” she tells you.

“So I have a lot of contacts, and it’s a privilege to have such important Mexican artists represented here.”

Yet you know it’s more than that. To be able to display great art, you first have to want to display great art. A lot of community art events, after all, are quite content with seascapes and sunsets.

Not so ASF. Hence this year’s theme of Heritage, which Adriana takes seriously.

“Culture gives us our humanity,” she says. “It is the heritage of mankind.”

Above: Community artists included Gina Iturbe from Oaxaca — shown here at the upper left with her work, her nephew Alonso Iturbe (’14), and her brother (Alonso’s father Armando Iturbe) — and Mexico City’s Rocío Cejudo (bottom right). At the upper right, Adriana Ramos, who as Parent Association president led a team of tireless volunteers that made the fair possible, shares ribbon-cutting duties with IB co-Artist of the Year Lucía Ocejo (’14) and Public Education Secretariat Director of Private Schools Máximo Vega. And that smiling face at the lower left belongs to K-12 Visual Arts Coordinator Susan Siebel, who could’t have been more proud of the student work featured at the fair. Right: Lower School teacher and auctioneer par excellence Trent Parcells closes a sale on a remarkable piece of art by Early Childhood Center students.

winter 2014/15 | 23

Left: PA volunteers, many of whom are posing here with Executive Director Paul Williams (third from right) and (second from left, front row) ASF Board of Trustees Chair Rosa Marentes de Pi example, history teacher Isabel Duque lends a hand at a food booth run jointly by the Gamma Club and the staff of the school literary arts magazine. Right: Luz Bermúdez (left) and a team of

Which, of course, is why the arts are emphasized at ASF. As an ASF mother, Adriana appreciates that.

“It’s very important to me to sow the seeds of art and music in young people,” she tells you. “The world is full of experiences and emotions that can only be understood by being part of this marvelous world of art and music. It will always be with you throughout life.”

So where to begin?

Well, Lucía Ocejo, a co-Artist of the Year, has her space staked out in the little grassy area just outside the Admission Office. The other Artist of the Year, Fiona Käch, couldn’t make it, which reminds you of what it takes sometimes to do the Art Fair.

The Artist of the Year is chosen based on the IB exhibition of work by ASF art students in their senior year. That means they’re away at their first year of college come Art Fair time, in Lucía’s case the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. She’s majoring in painting and industrial design, minoring in sculpture, and presumably learning what truly cold weather feels like.

It’s a trek, but here she is. “I felt it was an honor,” says Lucía, who attended ASF from kindergarten on. “It’s not every day you can be a featured artist.”

You notice that the work displayed 24 | winter 2014/15

around her is varied, a little bit of everything, it seems. There’s a reason for that.

“When I was in the IB visual arts program my main concern was form and function, so I did a lot of studies in light and volume, in subject and object,” she says. “Now my art is a search, which is why you see so many different styles. I’m still experimenting with life. I figure that’s what college is for.”

Refreshed by a young artist speaking with little pretension and much common sense, you turn and face the Sculpture Garden, where Adele Goldschmied’s booth is set up just behind where Executive Director Paul Williams and Board of Trustees Chair Rosa Marentes de Pisinger, among others, have recently delivered the opening addresses.

Adele is a professional ceramicist, a retired ASF art teacher, a mother of two ASF alumni, a former editor of this magazine, and still an ASF volunteer. This is her 30th Art Fair, which may be some kind of record.

She has been rewarded for her longevity by getting the pole position in the counter-clockwise fair layout — that is, the first exhibit you visit if you go in order, which nobody does. She also was presented with an extra “l” in her first name on the booth’s nameplate.

“You’d think after 30 years they’d spell

my name right,” she smiles. But she’s joking. She doesn’t mind.

You wonder if, after so many appearances, the Art Fair may be getting old hat for her.

“Not at all!” Adele answers, with a hint of reproach at the absurd question. “I love it. And I get to see so many people that ...”

She stops short, having just seen one of those people. They hug. They talk. You move on.

As you stroll among the community artists vending their wares, you’re pleased to see several former students returning to the fair as professional artists. Among them is Jennifer Troice (’05), whose sculptures — many of them of animals and of (human) hands — have been grabbing much attention in recent years.

Gosbinda Vizarretea (’11) has shown her work at the fair often since she was Artist of the Year at the 2011 event. She’s not here herself this year, but her mother, Ana Teresa, is on hand to show some of her daughter’s new photography, alongside some work from her ASF days. She reports that Gosbinda will be graduating in 2015 and is exhibiting in New York.

As though on cue, you see ASF art teacher Pat Patterson guiding a handful of fairgoers through some displays. Ms. Patterson served as the K-12 visual arts coordinator for several years, so much of what

isinger (’87), worked tirelessly for most of the year to bring the community seven magical hours on fair day. Center: Volunteers came from all segments of the ASF community. Here, for f bus supervisors sold tostadas to hungry fairgoers.

she is seeing today, especially the work of students and recent grads, has to be a source of pride.

Same goes for Susan Seibel, Ms. Patterson’s successor as arts coordinator. If you ask her about the student artists, or especially about the co-Artist of the Year, stand back for her answer.

“Lucía just took over the Founders Garden with her amazing artwork at the IB Exhibit last spring,” you remember Ms. Seibel saying at the opening ceremonies an hour or so earlier. “As an art teacher I was so impressed that I immediately took out my cellphone and took 10 million pictures, like every proud teacher does, and posted them all over Facebook and Instagram, so all my fellow teachers and artists back in the States could see them.”

Looking closely at the staggering diversity of work along community row, as the Artists’ Gardens might be called, you remember your responsibility as an art viewer. Pleasant as it is to be carried away by the sheer sensuality of your surroundings — the color, the conviviality, the light, the music, the festivity of it all — there are individual art pieces here to be appreciated, and that requires some effort on your part.

Not a lot of works these days make quick connections. They’re not even meant to. You the viewer have to bring something to the party. Give something

of yourself to the work and it might give something back.

That’s certainly the case with Rocío Cejudo, a Mexico City artist who seems to work in whatever medium feels right to her at the time. She makes no secret of the fact that her work is intensely personal.

“Our need for expression is different every day, and it’s not always easy to fill that need with words,” she says. “So with painting I have a space to express whatever is on my mind, wherever it rambles.”

She often does that with collage, but sometimes she engages in free expression — which in her case might mean putting a canvas on the ground and throwing things on it. “I’m discovering new sides to myself,” she says.

She’s also discovering the ASF campus. “I’ve never even been on the grounds before,” she confides. “My husband was across the street at the Columbia School all his life but it never occurred to me to come in here.”

Which reminds you: One of the purposes of the ASF Art Fair is community building.

At a nearby booth, your attention is caught by the work of Gina Iturbe. She’s also making her first appearance at the ASF Art Fair, even though her nephew, Alonso Iturbe (’14), was a student here.

“They’d told me about it but I thought

it was for selling fruitcakes and stuffed Santa Clauses,” she tells you. “Then my brother” — Alonso’s father — “sent me some photos of the fair and it looked really nice.”

Gina lives in the artsy town of San Agustín Etla, deep in the Oaxacan mountains (which may explain why she only recently became aware of the difference between the Art fair and the Christmas Bazaar).

“I love plants and I love flowers, so where I live is perfect for me,” she tells you. “I am surrounded by nature. I’m a full-time artist there and part-time yoga teacher, and then I come to Mexico City from time to time to sell my work and see my family.”

Nice life, you think.

Then Gina points to a piece on the temporary display wall behind her and explains one of her techniques. It’s an eight-segment chunk of corrugated sheet metal that has been painted, etched, photo-transferred, drilled and otherwise modified, all with an herbal theme.

It’s the most compelling — and, yes, beautiful — marriage of botany and roofing material you’re ever likely to see.

It’s been sold, Gina informs you.

The buyer, it turns out, is none other than Amy Gallie, full-time head of Upper School and, you now learn, amateur art collector. winter 2014/15 | 25

“Left: The Hojel-Shumacher Gallery in the Fine Arts Center featured world-class works from more than a dozen of Mexico’s most prominent artists. Middle left: Eagerly awaiting the Art to Art José Guillermo Gutiérrez, and Trustee Aliki Botton de Elías. Middle right: The Jumex and Tamayo Museums offered workshops for young future artists. RIght: ASF students’ musical talents we

“I save up before every Art Fair,” Ms. Gallie lets you know. “I always buy things.”

The community artists section deadends at the far end of the Lower School open area, so you turn the corner and wander into what for many is the main attraction of the fair — the student art exhibit.

Talk about sensory overload. The spacious Lower School Multipurpose Room seems ready to burst, too small to hold its contents. There is art on every wall, and just about every space on the floor.

Of course, the first person you see is Ms. Seibel. “I’ve been here since 7 in the morning,” she shrugs.

The work is from every grade level, including the Early Childhood Center, where art and music just may be the main development tools.

“There’s one ECC piece that I took to the Art to Art Auction people to be bid on,” Ms. Seibel says. “They didn’t believe me that it was from the ECC. They had to email Danielle [Schnell, the ECC art teacher] to confirm it. That’s how wonderful her kids’ work can be.”

And sure enough, you’ll find out a little while later, that same ECC piece was the first one sold at the fundraising auction of student art. It went for 1,700 pesos. That’s going to look good on a résumé 20 years down the road.

Ms. Seibel is equally enthusiastic about the Lower School contributions (and about everything else in the room for that matter). “The Lower School keeps topping itself year after year,” she says. “The art teachers are amazing. I adore them!”

The amazing, adored Lower School art teachers are Jeri Holley and Rodrigo 26 | winter 2014/15

Priego. Their theme this year is “Time Travel” or, as the sign on the wall puts it, “from early cave paintings to contemporary art, a voyage presented by the Lower School students.”

Then there’s Middle School. Your eye is caught by a crowd of standing cut-out figures, life-size and variously bedecked.

You know that the German conceptual artist HA Shult is famous for his “Trash People” installation consisting of just this kind of cut-out figures covered in waste. What you’re looking at now is the result of two Middle School art teachers — Ivette Berentsen and Ms. Seibel — having assigned their seventh graders to emulate Shult.

“So we talked about the difference between an installation and a sculpture, and then the kids had to find any type of material they wanted for their cut-outs and bring it in,” Ms. Seibel tells you, quickly adding, “except glass.”

She begins to point from figure to figure. “The stuff on that one was all found in the Starbucks garbage, right here in the school,” she says. “For that one” — here she points to a figure covered in bottle caps — a girl had gone to the beach with her mother during a puente and they picked up every plastic cap they found. There are enough left over to cover another figure, just from one beach. The brown cardboard tubes on that one are from the hand towels and toilet paper in the bathrooms here.”

It occurs to you that such a project might have been frowned upon in your own seventh grade art class back in the day. But it’s nothing compared to the eighth grade contribution.

“One of our students visited Damien Hurst’s studio in London and saw his spin art,” Ms. Seibel says, referring to Hurst’s 1990s-era revival of the folk art technique of using centrifugal force to create and then manipulate patterns by pouring paint on a spinning surface on the floor.

“So we decided to do that here. We ended up with eighth graders sending paint flying all round the room. It was hard to get them to stop and clean up.”

Ms. Seibel smiles at the memory and says, “That’s the kind of thing that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning and come to school. I have the best job on the entire campus.”

You step outside and realize you’re hungry. You’re in the right place. The Lower School field is surrounded on three sides with food booths (the fourth side is a stage with live music).

The booths are run by student clubs and other school-related organizations, who pay a fee for their spot and a chance to raise funds for their cause. Their booth fees, those of the community artists, the ticket sales and the auction proceeds go to the Parent Association, who then present it to the school, principally for use in the Annual Fund for Financial Aid. At the choripan booth you see history teacher Isabel Duque helping out. “I’m here to support Repentino and Gamma,” she says, referring to the literary arts magazine and the community service clubs, who are sharing the booth.

You buy a tostada from a booth run by the bus supervisors, who keep order on the school buses so the driver can watch the road. “We’re very happy to be here,” says

t auction are, from left to right, ASF Board of Trustees Chair Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87), Executive Director Paul Williams, PA volunteer Blanca Santacruz, Trustee Carla Ormsbee, her son ere also on display, under the direction of K-12 performing arts coordinator Dr. Deborah Lawrence.

Luz Bermúdez, one of the supervisors. “We enjoy the family atmosphere, especially when we don’t have to watch the kids.”

The purpose of the tostada sale, you learn, is to pay for the annual staff party after the last day of school before winter break. Given that there are some 80 bus ladies, most with Mexican-sized families, you understand the need to fund raise.

Next time they should charge more than 15 pesos, you suggest.

Luz is interested. “How much should we charge?” she asks you.

Maybe 25 pesos?

“Okay,” Luz says. “You can give me 25.”

You see maintenance supervisor Leonardo Alva standing nearby, taking it all in.

He has a long afternoon ahead of him.

You remember that Mr. Williams earlier that morning had gone out of his way to thank the maintenance crew for their hard work. “Without them,” you remember him saying, “we would not have what we have here today.”

It can be added, you think to yourself, that without them we will still have what we have here today well into the winter break. Leonardo is waiting for the fair to close, so that he and his crew can take down the installations they had just put up. No rest for the weary.

You reach the cafeteria area, taken over by the Jumex and Tamayo Museums’ art-making workshop for smaller children, which is as colorful as the rest of the campus, if a bit messier.

That reminds you that the those two organizations are Art Fair sponsors.

You make a note to thank them and the rest of the official supporters: Banorte,

Kimberly-Clark de México, Starbucks, Smuckers, the Latin American Jazz Orchestra, Aon, Arte Material, Mr. Music and Obela.

You’ve saved time and energy for the featured artists’ work in the Fine Arts Center.

There’s Ángela Gurría (born 1929), who defied gender stereotypes to become one of Mexico;s leading sculptors since the 1960s.

There’s Antonio Chemor (1952) and Arno Avilés (1971), two other Mexico City sculptors.

There’s Gilberto Aceves Navarro (1931), who is still painting at age 83, though he is a tot compared to Gustavo Arias Murueta (1923), most admired for his painting and drawing but also a sculptor and poet.

There’s Jorge Obregón, known for his mountains and volcanos. As long as there is a Mexico, there will be great landscape painters.

There’s José Luis Cuevas (1934), the self-taught artist who led the break with the old muralist tradition and is now prominent enough to have his own museum.

There’s Juan Soriano (1920-2006), the late painter/sculptor whose four-ton bronze “Paloma” outside Monterrey’s Contemporary Art Museum is a national icon.

There’s Luis López Loza (1939), who specializes in xylography, a method of printing from woodcuts.

There’s Manuel Felguérez (1928), the painter/sculptor who, like Cuevas, was a leader of the Ruptura movement and, also like Cuevas, is one of Mexico’s most prominent artists.

There’s Miguel Castro Leñero (1956), an internationally admired painter of contemporary Mexican art.

There’s the Swiss-born painter Roger van Gunten (1933), who arrived in Mexico in 1957 and continues to work in Tepoztlán, Morelos.

There’s Vicente Rojo (1932), who came to Mexico from his native Barcelona at age 17 to become one of this country’s greatest artists, as well as greatest publishers, having founded the universally admired Editorial Era. And finally there’s Yvonne Domenge (1946) who captures your attention because it’s her imposing sculpture that sits just to your left if you face the Fine Arts Center entrance.

Typical of Domenge, it consists of broad contours folding into each other suggesting a circle. It has an unexpected cube-shaped space in the middle — unexpected, that is, until you learn that its title is “Mandala of Unity and Harmony.”

The material is surprisingly lightweight; the piece looks heavy but it’s not.

But what really impresses you is how natural it looks in that space alongside the Founders Garden. You’re not the only one who has to stop for a second and ask yourself, “Has that always been there?” winter 2014/15 | 27

FEATURE

Defense Mechanisms Children’s author and public speaker Trudy Ludwig came to ASF in September to share with teachers and parents the latest research on confronting bullying, and to give Lower School students some powerful tools.

By Andrew Livingstone, Communications Coordinator

“Y

our hair is stupid,” says the student rudely to the red-haired woman on stage.

The woman, holding a plastic wrench, looks back with a mischievous grin. “I know … it’s silly

isn’t it?”

Then, addressing the audience and holding up the wrench, she says, “Now which tool am I using?”

“Agree,” they shout back in unison.

“Excellent,” she says.

Trudy Ludwig is used to being insulted by kids. In fact, she asks for it. But when she has her “toolkit,” nothing gets to her. Ludwig visited ASF in September for two days of workshops with grade 1-5 students, as well as talks with teachers and parents.

28 | winter 2014/15

She is a well-known speaker and children’s book author based in Portland, Oregon. Her first book, “My Secret Bully,” which came out in 2004, gained a lot of attention in the United States, as it addressed an often-overlooked type of bullying called relational aggression.

Relational aggression, she said, is a way of using relationships to manipulate and hurt others. Examples include giving the silent treatment, intentionally excluding others, gossiping and spreading rumors.

Ludwig said that because relational aggression is less overt than physical bullying, it doesn’t get as much attention, but it can be just as damaging to victims.

“In the workplace for adults,” she said, “that is the form of bullying.”

An expert on dealing with bullying, Ludwig has written nine books, both fiction and non-fiction, and keeps up with the latest research on the topic. But she can also reach kids on a level few adults can.

Using a colorful array of props like the “toolkit” and the “bully hat,” she gets the young students up onstage in the Fine Arts Center to role-play scenarios.

She pulls out eight plastic tools, each representing a “tool” kids can use to avoid a bullying scenario. In addition to agreeing with an insult, they include changing

the subject, acting silly, asking “why?,” turning the insult into a compliment, saying “who cares?,” assertively telling the person to stop and simply walking away.

Together, the kids practice mastering these tools to answer the person wearing the bully hat.

“We can help kids by building their emotional resilience,” she said.

Trudy Ludwig is just as comfortable working with kids on stage as she is talking to parents or educators. That’s something that comes from years of working with people of all ages, and from raising two children of her own.

“Kids are so much more sophisticated now than when we were kids because of their access to the Internet and technology,” she said, adding, “It’s really a different world, so I want to help them to understand their world better and how to navigate through it in healthier and more helpful rather than hurtful ways.”

Ludwig avoids labeling people as bullies. She refers to them instead as people engaging in bullying, something she says we all do from time to time. Children who often bully others, she said, are much more likely to be incarcerated and suffer from drug or alcohol dependence in later life, so they too become victims.

She’s also adamant that it’s not just about the victim and the perpetrator – bystanders have a very important role.

Says Ludwig, “It’s really important to train kids from a young age to understand their powerful role as bystanders, because what the research is showing is that bystanders have a lot of influence in preventing bullying.”

Bystanders, she adds, have the power to stop most cases of bullying in less than 10 seconds.

The same evening, Ludwig addressed parents in a talk titled “Understanding Our Kids’ Social World: Friendships, Cliques and Power Plays.”

“I guess I want to help parents understand what they can do to help their kids thrive in their social world,” she says.

“What I want them to do is role-play with kids so they understand the skills, so they have that sense of self-worth and pride.”

Feedback from Ludwig’s visit was overwhelmingly positive from parents.

She says that parents must move on from the old clichés that you should stand up to a bully and fight back, as this usually proves counterproductive. But now, newly armed with their toolkits, ASF Lower School students don’t need to fight back – they have the tools to stand up to anything.

FEATURE

No Ordinary Joe ASF footballers were treated to tips, advice and words of inspiration from an NFL legend and exemplary role model.

I

By Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent

t’s a privilege to learn from the best, and ASF student-athletes got a chance to do just that in early October when none other than Joe Montana — generally regarded as the greatest pro football quarterback of all time — came to Coach Colman Field to conduct a clinic and speak about the role of sports in life.

Nearly 250 students — including most members of the ASF football squads, as well as players from other schools — came to campus early on a Sunday morning to warm up for an hour before Montana’s arrival at 10:00 a.m.

Guillermo Quiros, a 14-year-old member of ASF’s junior varsity team, remembers that among the pointers Montana imparted were passing tips, such as bending your arm at a 90-degree angle and releasing the ball with an upward motion.

This is not unlike Yo-Yo Ma coming to campus to demonstrate fingering techniques on the cello, or Phillip Roth advising creative writing students on handling metaphor. Although Guillermo, like all his teammates, was born after Montana retired, the import of that oncein-a-lifetime learning opportunity was not lost on him.

“I was really happy and excited,” he said after the clinic. “He was a great player who broke a lot of records, and it was an honor to have him here at our school.”

For the uninitiated, Joe Montana led the San Francisco 49ers to four National Football League championships during his 16-year Hall of Fame career in the 1980s and early 1990s. That was a golden era of U.S. sports in which several best-evers (Wayne Gretzky in hockey, Michael Jordan in basketball, plus Montana) were in their prime.

But it may as well have been the Middle Ages as far as the decidedly 21st-century ASF student body is concerned.

“We realized during the registration for the event that the dads were more excited about Joe Montana coming than most of the kids,” Ernesto Alfaro, ASF’s head football coach, said a few days before the event. “It was up to the parents to take charge of making sure the kids understood just who Joe Montana is.”

Either the parents did a bang-up job in briefing their sons and daughters, or the young athletes were more aware of Montana’s stature than previously thought, as Guillermo’s comment above indicates. The latter is likely, because even while he was still playing, Montana surpassed mere stardom to achieve legendary status. Legends transcend generations.

(To bring the point home to grown-up Focus readers, I can safely say that Joe DiMaggio — a legend if there ever was one — played well before my time. Nonetheless, I knew all about him and would have been thrilled if he’d visited Hollywood High School to speak to us on the baseball team about batting techniques, or brewing the perfect cup of coffee, or proposing successfully to Marilyn Monroe.)

30 | winter 2014/15

Joe Cool The Montana legend, I’m convinced, grew not so much out of his successful outcomes as from the impressive, almost awe-inspiring way he achieved them. There was no razzledazzle in Montana’s game, not much in the way of spectacular athletic feats. He played quarterback with his eyes, mind and heart more than with his arms and legs.

So it’s not surprising that one of his messages to the students that Sunday morning focused on the non-physical component of success — on the field and off.

“It’s always about what’s in your heart,” he told the kids after the clinic. “It may be sports, it may be academics, but whatever it is you want, dream big.”

“If you want something bad enough there’s no one who can tell you that you can’t do it.” joe montana

He might have mentioned another key to success that he embodied at least as much as any other field marshal in the history of the game — an uncanny ability to stay calm when the going gets rough. That priceless attribute, combined with fierce, never-say-die determination, translated into a mind-boggling 31 fourth-quarter come-from-behind victories in his career.

Some of that miracle-working occurred in big games, such as the 1982 NFC Championship Game when Montana’s completion to Dwight Clark in the end zone with 51 seconds left on the clock pulled out an improbable 28-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, sending the Niners to the Super Bowl. To be honest, Clark’s fingertip reception was probably more splendid than Montana’s pass, which is why the event has been forever enshrined as “The Catch.”

No game was bigger, however, than 1989’s Super Bowl XXIII at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, where San Francisco found themselves on their own eight yard line, down 16-13 with 3:20 left in the game. Cool as always, Montana methodically led his team 92 yards to pay dirt, hitting John Taylor in the end zone with 34 seconds left to seal the victory over Cincinnati.

It was widely considered Montana’s finest moment of many fine moments. Yet it was the only one of his four Super Bowl victories for which he wasn’t named the Most Valuable Player. That honor went to receiver Jerry Rice, who caught 11 passes for 215 yards, both Super Bowl records at the time.

(I can reveal that Montana received at least one vote. It was the last year that Sport Magazine sponsored the Super Bowl winter 2014/15 | 31

MVP award, and as the editor of that publication at the time, I had a vote. Rice, a best-ever in his own right, was certainly not undeserving of the award. But it was Montana who won that game.)

Grace under pressure and relentless perseverance.

Are there any more valuable traits to instill in young people?

“If you want something bad enough there’s no one who can tell you that you can’t do it,” Montana told the students.

“You have a lot of great people around you here [at school] who want to help you be successful. So use that trust and never, ever give up on your dream, no matter what.”

Montana talked a lot during his visit about overcoming obstacles — real or imagined — to achieve goals. He pointed out that even in the NFL — a big man’s league — there are several top receivers 5-9 or shorter. And he pointed to the case of Derrick Coleman, legally deaf, who nevertheless was the starting fullback for the Seattle Seahawks when they won the Super Bowl last season.

“It doesn’t matter how big you are or how small you are,” he said. “It’s not about size. It’s about how much you want to play and how hard you work.”

The Power of Sports Montana’s visit was organized in Mexico primarily by the ABC Medical Center, which works with the NFL in its campaign for breast cancer prevention. Diabetes and obesity awareness, as well as generally healthy living, were also on the former quarterback’s agenda in Mexico.

“One thing I’ve always loved about the NFL is how it gives back to the communities that support it,” he said.

“I’m proud to be here as a partner with them and to support their breast cancer initiative, as well as obesity awareness.”

Then, directing himself to the ABC Medical Center personnel in attendance, he added, “The NFL is a great organization but it can’t do these things without people like you.”

Montana’s Mexico City itinerary included a reception at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, where he was the guest of honor at a reception attended by representatives of business and nonprofit organizations, sports media, universities and the government.

“The NFL shares our belief in the power of sports to teach values and help people develop the skills that they need to succeed in life,” Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne said, noting that the U.S. Embassy also works with the NFL on sports diplomacy initiatives, such as flag football clinics with youth. “And we know that these programs are even more valuable when we reach children who don’t have all the family support and opportunities that others might have.”

Montana told the gathering, “With hard work, we can come together through sports to change the world.”

He was also honored in the Olympic Stadium at the national university (UNAM) campus, in a ceremony attended by UNAM Rector José Narro Robles and Arturo Olivé Hawley, the director of NFL México.

Montana’s presence in that iconic stadium underscored a fact about football in Mexico that comes as a surprise to many. It’s big. And it’s not just the NFL on television that’s big. It’s big as a college sport.

“A lot of people think that American football isn’t very important in Mexico, but I can tell you that at the amateur level it’s the most important sport in 32 | winter 2014/15

“It’s not about size.

It’s about how much you want to play and how hard you work.” joe montana

Involved in the event were The American School Foundation, the ABC Medical Center and the National Football League. Left to right: ASF Head of Athletics and Extended Learning Robert Wilson, ASF Executive Director Paul Williams, ABC Medical Center Director of Early Breast Cancer Diagnosis Dr. Gerardo Castorena Roji, ASF head football coach Ernesto Alfaro, ABC Medical Center director of PR and marketing Nancy Stich, NFL México director Arturo Olivé Hawley, ASF Extended Learning Coordinator John Powell and ASF Athletics Coordinator Matthew MacInnes.

Mexico,” Alfaro, the ASF football coach, said. “If you go to a college-level soccer game, there’s usually nobody there watching it. But for a football game, there may be 40,000 people in the stands.”

That level of interest is likely to grow. And Alfaro, with many years under his belt as a university-level football coach, plans on being ready for it.

He attended a coaching clinic in August given by Jerome Bettis, another NFL great (as a running back mostly with the Pittsburgh Steelers) before organizing the Montana event.

“I don’t want to develop a group of excellent athletes who aren’t also excellent academically,” he told me. “The program will only works when both are achieved.”

But he sees no conflict between that balance and winning more football games.

“The plan is to take the program to a better level with better results,” he said.

He certainly brought in a good role model for achieving good results. The Bears can take inspiration from knowing that they host games on a field where Joe Montana once trod. winter 2014/15 | 33

FEATURE

34 | winter 2014/15

Into the Blue In a bid to educate students about their place in nature and the role they can play to conserve it, renowned photographer and videographer Manuel Lazcano visited ASF in September to talk about animals in their natural habitats and the changing seasons. Focus editor-in-chief Andrew Livingstone caught up with him just after Lazcano gave students a glimpse of life in Mexico’s seas over the summer months.

T

he dark theater lights up in deep shades of blue as underwater images fill the screen. Students gasp as a great white shark swims into focus. They cheer as seahorses move across coral reefs, and they stare as whale sharks open their enormous mouths to feed.

Most students have never seen these animals on a big screen before, and almost none have seen them in their natural environment. But one man wants to change that.

winter 2014/15 | 35

Diver, photographer and videographer Manuel Lazcano came to ASF in September to share his knowledge and love of nature, particularly the environment that lies beneath the seas. The Mexico City native has photographed and filmed nature on every continent and almost every sea, from beluga whales in the Arctic to orcas in Argentinean waters.

Students from all grades had a chance to witness his talk, and each group left the theater with a sense of wonder.

It was the first of a planned four sets of presentations at ASF, and during each visit Lazcano will talk about the animals that can be seen in and around Mexico – as well as the other parts of the world where he has filmed – during the current season.

Lazcano’s first presentation was about the summer months, and the migratory animals that make their temporary home in Mexico’s waters during that season.

He also took the time to exhibit his photos and give a presentation at the launch of ASF’s annual fund for 2014-15, speaking passionately to parents and donors about taking kids to experience nature while they are young.

Lazcano’s film and photography perfectly demonstrate his love for nature, particularly underwater scenes, as well as his desire to share that love and turn it into actions that will help conserve wildlife.

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The journey that made Manuel Lazcano a world-renowned nature photographer started a long time ago.

“When I was 8 years old, I started snorkeling and from there my passion grew,” he said. “Later, I started diving in Acapulco, then in the Caribbean, first in places near the coast.”

Lazcano’s love for diving led him to earn certification as a dive instructor in the United States at the age of only 18 – making him the youngest ever instructor in that country at the time.

Starting a career as a diver was not easy – especially in Mexico. Lazcano found work training the army and police in underwater search and rescue and recovery. But a love of diving had also given him a strong love of nature.

“It was just the pleasure to be in the outdoors and to see it,” he said. “I think nothing beats nature.”

After saving up for his first underwater camera, Lazcano moved on to photography, and from there, he forged a diverse and successful career.

“I started doing video and making movies and professionally filming for television,” he said. “Then I did my own productions and series. I also built my own diving company where we teach and sell equipment.”

Lazcano’s company organizes high-end expeditions to see wildlife in Mexico and other parts of the planet. Tours in Mexico include the well-known diving trips at the reefs of Cozumel, and snorkeling with whale sharks off the Yucatán coast. But there are also more exclusive adventures, such as diving inside the

cenotes of the Riviera Maya and getting into the water with great white sharks off Guadalupe Island. Elsewhere, he organizes safaris in Africa, dives in Indonesia and the South Pacific and trips to see newborn polar bear cubs in Canada.

Inspiration But while he’s been around the world many times, Mexico will always be home to Lazcano, and he says it is definitely among the best places in the world to see nature.

“I love my country,” he said. “The two places I like the most are the Mexican Caribbean and the Sea of Cortez.”

And it’s that love for Mexico’s wildlife that motivates Lazcano to share his experience with students. “When I see the eyes of the children and their emotion, I’m just thinking ‘I hope these guys make it to see what I have seen, or at least enjoy and grow with a new idea of what nature is and how to live around nature,” he said.

“We need to educate kids about new things, new ways of dealing with nature. We have the old school of collecting shells, of keeping souvenirs of nature and many old ways of looking at nature, so I think we have to show them that aquariums and places that they keep dolphins and orcas in is not good entertainment.

We have to change people’s habits.”

Lazcano passionately believes that living things belong in the environment in which they naturally interact, and that removing them from that environment is destructive. So he encourages young people to visit Mexico’s natural areas (leaving no trace, of course, and taking only photographs) rather than expecting nature to be brought to them, such as with the zoo experience.

He wants to convince young people that all of us need to do more in our everyday lives to preserve wildlife and their natural areas.

Using his photographs and videos to show students the wonders of animals in their own habitat helps him carry out that mission.

“I try to inspire with my pictures, tell my stories, and help teachers teach new behaviors,” he said.

Lazcano points out that it’s young people such as the ASF students he’s working with this year who will be making the decisions in the future. He wants them to make good ones.

“If the kids learn something special and they are inspired by something, I’m going to be very happy with that,” he said.

Seasons The planet’s seasons are a major theme in Lazcano’s work.

“Every season has its beauty,” he said. “I want to show the kids what’s happening in the oceans over the different seasons — the arrival of animals, of birds.”

As Mexico’s summer turned to fall in September, Lazcano showed students some of the best sights of the season. His camera followed a sea turtle as it swam to the shallow sea floor to feed on coral. He explained that while the coral provides sustenance for the turtles, the turtles in turn feed only on sick and dying coral, helping promote the growth of healthier coral.

Students were awed as the camera showed the full size of a whale shark’s mouth, as the largest fish on earth opened wide to feed on some of the smallest creatures in the sea off the Yucatán coast.

And of course, there were the great whites. Lazcano doesn’t hesitate when asked by young students to name his favorite animal: Sharks.

“This is an amazing animal that has been in the ocean for centuries and they’re completely different from the idea of sharks that we grow up with,” he said. “It’s a perfect animal. The shape, how they swim, everything. Amazing.”

Lazcano took time to explain to students how humans are not sharks’ natural prey, and when very rare shark attacks happen, they are usually a case of the animal mistaking a person for another animal, such as a seal.

When asked if he’s ever been attacked, he told the students of the one animal that has attacked him many times … the mosquito.

Lazcano said that in the coming seasons, Mexico will experience migrations that bring sailfish, bull sharks and whales to Mexico’s coasts, as well as about the monarch butterflies that travel south from the U.S. and Canada.

As students left the theater, they stopped to thank their virtual tour guide, inspired to visit Mexico’s natural habitats. It seems likely that many ASF parents will be begged to take their families to the coast these holidays.

winter 2014/15 | 37

Student Voices

Self-Esteem and Its Challenges

By Alice Kanitz, ASF Senior

he world likes beautiful people. But it is never satisfied with the level of beauty of real people.

There is always a “next” level — a younger, prettier, more airbrushed ideal that is impossible to achieve.

As we are constantly bombarded by ads telling us that there is one more thing we aren’t doing right, and another way we’re not good enough, the need for support for teenagers in school has increased. In eighth grade, we even had a speaker here at ASF on the subject. She came to talk about how Barbie’s proportions are not viable in reality, and about how models on blown-up billboards are photoshopped until they’re unrecognizable.

I didn’t pay much attention back then, because I didn’t know yet how much it affected me and so many other girls yet.

The “selfie” culture may be deemed narcissistic by some, yet it serves a very noble purpose at the same time: equal chance of visibility even for those usually not featured in magazines.

While models in ads and magazine covers usually fit a very small demographic of very skinny and usually white people (and God forbid any of them be physically disabled), the access to selfies and online platforms helps those who would not fit the very specific demographic of people who can become “models” to be seen by the world.

This kind of confidence is, I think, just as important as the seminars at school. For a lonely tween with low self-esteem, seeing someone “like them,” even if solely through a camera phone picture on the Internet, can be incredibly reassuring.

There has been a recent surge of popular songs promoting girls who are, by these impossible standards, deemed “overweight.” (“All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor, for example.)

Celebrities have spoken out against photoshopping — among them high-profilers like Beyoncé, and celebrities within the same age range as their target audience, such as Lorde.

However, there is a problem with this as well: Even the girls considered “overweight” are conventionally attractive in other ways, and they’re never too overweight because that would turn people off to their message. Society’s level of comfort with the “acceptable” sizes that people can be just isn’t inclusive enough.

Of course, in the culture of perfection, everyone gets the short end of the stick. I have always been skinny. My metabolism is fast — I’ve never been on a diet in my life, yet people like to assume. I can’t count all the times I’ve been told to “eat more” even when I was already filled to the top, or how many times I’ve been called “anorexic” and people have expressed their unwarranted, holierthan-thou concern over my weight.

Women’s bodies are a battleground as far as general society — and yes, that includes all of us — is concerned. Their bodies do not belong to them; they belong to a culture that will scrutinize them and put them down no matter what their size is or what 38 | winter 2014/15

Student Voices is a page in Focus for Upper School and Middle School students to express their point of view on a current issue of interest to the ASF community. This issue’s essayist, Alice Kanitz, is a 16-year-old from the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. She will be graduating from ASF in May 2015, and hopes to pursue a career in acting. Her favorite pastimes include theater, novels, cats, the TV show “Orphan Black” and feminism.

She says she was inspired to write about body image by her own struggles with selfconfidence. “And I watched my peers go through the same thing,” she says.

they look like. That is an extremely disturbing mentality.

This is also not restricted to girls. Men are scared that if they aren’t ripped like such-and-such actor, they will not be good enough. When they do work out every day until their bodies are hard as a rock, they’re called “disgusting” by some and “obsessed with their appearance” by others. No one can win.

And yet, we are all part of the problem. “Society,” as mentioned before, is not some far-off entity that does not include us specifically. It isn’t an authoritarian dictator making all the decisions for us. We live in this culture; we create it and we perpetrate it.

This is why it is important that adults talk to students about it and make sure they are not attempting to harm themselves in the arduous process of becoming someone they are not. This is why it is necessary to build up the confidence of our youth — a youth that believes that their appearance is more important than their individual talents and abilities, a youth that includes me. In the “age of narcissism” as nicknamed by our elders, we just don’t seem to have enough confidence to go around.

institutional Advancement How You Can Give Are you interested in contributing to ASF to help the school meet its goals? Are you thinking about donating but haven’t made up your mind yet?

Or are you simply curious about what being an ASF donor means?

Either way, the best first step is to call or email Alejandra Naranjo, director of ASF’s Office of Institutional Advancement. You can reach her at (55) 5227-4904 (country code 52 if you’re calling from outside Mexico), or naranjoal@asf.edu.mx.

Here are some helpful facts about becoming an ASF donor: • Any gift, no matter how small or how big — is appreciated. Remember, it’s not the size of the contribution that matters.

What matters is the outcome your giving produces.

• Your donation to the Annual Fund Campaign enhances student body diversity by providing financial aid to qualified students whose families could not otherwise afford an ASF education.

Top: The Hamer family has been devoted to ASF for decades. Attending the kickoff were (left to right) Allison Hamer (’90), Thurston Hamer, Sr. (’52) and Thurston Hamer, Jr. (’81), who is a member of the Board of Trustees. Bottom: Attendees at the Annual Fund Kickoff in the Fine Arts Center included (middle row from left) ASF parent Paola Guzmán, Roberta Hernández and ASF Executive Director Paul Williams, as well as guest speaker Manuel Lazcano (front row, second from left) and Annual Fund Committee Chair Yvette Romero de Hernández (front row, fourth from left). Inset: Manuel Lazcano, renowned nature photographer, helped ASF kick off its Annual Fund Campaign.

• Your donation to the Capital Building Fund enables the school to refurbish the campus and upgrade technology. These improvements depend on donations.

• Tax-deductible receipts, both in Mexico and the United States, are available upon request.

• You may pay by check. Make it out to The American School Foundation, A.C.

The 2014-15 Annual Fund Kickoff ASF thanked its donors and introduced the new campaign

T

he 2014-15 fundraising season got off to a memorable start on September 22 when past and future donors from various segments of the school community gathered in the Fine Arts Center to have a good time at the Annual Fund Kickoff, a social event organized by the Office of Institutional Advancement to thank everybody who has contributed to ASF. The Kickoff also welcomed the attendees to this year’s Annual Fund Campaign, a fundraising effort for the Endowment Fund for Financial Aid, which provides tuition relief for families that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford an ASF education.

The Annual Fund Campaign is especially important this year now that the Board of Trustees has set the ambitious goal of increasing the percentage of ASF students benefiting from financial aid from an already-significant 12.7 percent to 20 percent over the next 15 years.

There was a special touch to this year’s kickoff.

With the generous support of event sponsor Banamex and the hard work of ASF’s Annual Fund Committee, attendees were treated to an inspiring presentation of nature photographs and videos by the renowned Mexican photographer Manuel Lazcano.

Lazcano’s impressive work, emphasizing wildlife in its natural habitats, served as a reminder of the importance of ASF’s mission, which includes the International Baccalaureate commitment “to develop internationally minded people who recognize their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet.”

Lazcano also spoke to ASF students about the importance of environmental education and firsthand nature experiences. You can read more about this important artist and see more of his work beginning on page 34.

• You may pay by credit card. VISA, MasterCard and American Express are welcome.

• You may make a one-time payment or pledge a monthly or annual fixed amount.

• In-kind gifts, specifically solicited by the American School Foundation, are welcome.

• You can find out more about the giving program by going to the school’s web site at http://www.asf.edu.mx and then clicking on Support ASF.

ASF would like to thank its sponsor:

winter 2014/15 | 39

institutional advancement

Driving for Scholarships ASF’s 12th Annual Golf Tournament raised money for the Endowment Fund for Financial Aid. It also featured competitive play and a lot of community-building

Above: Not only was the weather ideal for the 12th Annual ASF Golf Tournament, the course at Bosque Real Country Club was in beautiful condition and offered spectacular views.

Far left: The ASF leadership team took the opportunity to pose with Mexican golf legend Lorena Ochoa. Left to right: Director of Communications Violeta Ayala, Director of Finance Silvia Nuñez, Director of IT Javier Landeros, Ms. Ochoa, Board of Trustees members Frances E. Huttanus and Carla Ormsbee Cedeño, Executive Director Paul Williams, Director of Human Capital Elisa Penela and Head of Athletics and Extended Learning Robert Wilson.

Left: Refreshments were de rigeur over a grueling 18-hole marathon day.

chinagirl.mx

40 | winter 2014/15

I

t was a beautiful day for golf and a beautiful day for growing the Endowment Fund for The American School Foundation’s financial aid program.

There was plenty of both — golf and fundraising — at the 12th Annual ASF Golf Tournament that took place on Monday, October 27 at Mexico City’s beautiful Bosque Real Country Club.

The tournament was a joint effort by the participants, sponsors, school staff and countless volunteers who worked tirelessly to make the event a success.

Among the attendees was Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, the former world No. 1 who made a special guest appearance (see page 42).

All proceeds from the event will go to the ASF Annual Fund Campaign.

But many participants did not come away emptyhanded. Thanks to the generous support of dozens of event sponsors, a large number of prizes were awarded.

You can see the logos of the sponsors on these pages.

While scholarships was the motive, the fivesomes who competed were out to win, and the competition was intense and of impressive quality. So congratulations are win order for the winners.

The Category One winners consisted of the five-person team made up of Carla Montalvo, Carlos de Icaza, Francisco Montalvo, Luis Felipe González and Bernardo Martínez Díaz.

Category One runner-ups were Roberto Jones, Enrique Rivero, Juan José Salazar (a student), Alonso Rivero and Erendira Jones.

Third-place honors in Category One went to the team of Francisco Del Valle Perochena, Eduardo Domit, Rodrigo Elizundia, Jaime Martin del Campo and Manuel Roza.

For Category Two, the winning fivesome consisted of Alex Kuntzy, Eduardo Guzmán, Tak Kuga, Carlos Alberto López de Nava and José Cerna.

Finishing second in Cateory Two were Alejandra Serrano, Andrés Icaza, Christian Casaereau, Diego Fernández Cueto and Jorge Serrano.

Third-place in Category Two went to Sven Wallsten, Fernando Villaseñor, Bob Lebosse, Fabiola Arango and Linda Wallsten.

There were also individual honors for those whose tee shots ended up closest to the pin on each of the course’s four par threes. Prizes were given for the four best O’Yes, as they’re known in the parlance, in each.

For the par-three second hole, the four prizewinners, fourth to first, were Takaki Kuga, Juan M. Ortega, Eduardo Kimura and Sergio Alejo.

At the seventh hole, the fourth best O’Yes was made

by Fernando Gutiérrez, the third-best by Alberto Gutiérrez, the second-best by Carlos A. López de Nava and the best by Esteban Vega.

At the 11th hole, the four best were (fourth to first) Luis de la Vega, Mauricio Serrano, Joe Turi and David Rodríguez.

The last par three on the course is the 14th. There Manuel Reza was closest to the pin and Lutfallah Bachalani second closest, Larry Malonga third and Benjamín Gómez fourth.

For their fine efforts, each won a prize of either a check-up at ABC Hospital, a meal at Morton’s Steakhouse, a Krups coffeemaker or a Citizen watch.

The exception was David Rodríguez, whose tee shot was closest to the pin of all 16 prizewinners (at 1.50 meters, or just under five feet). For that honor, he was awarded two passes to the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, a PGA event that took place in November at El Camaleón Golf Club in Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo. But the best O’Yes of the entire tournament belonged to none of those 16, but rather to Alfonso Callada, Jr., whose tee shot came to a stop a mere 55 centimeters from the pin. That means he missed a hole-in-one by less than two feet. For his overall best O’Yes, Alfonso won a Scotty Cameron putter.

winter 2014/15 | 41

institutional advancement

Lorena Ochoa Pitches in for ASF Scholarships The woman who put Mexico on the golfing map was eager to help the cause at this year’s ASF Golf Tournament.

Here’s why.

By Andrew Livingstone, Editor-in-Chief

Lorena Ochoa, winner of 30 professional golf tournaments during a brilliant eight-year career, with ASF Executive Director Paul Williams at the 12th Annual ASF Golf Tournament in October 2014.

Ochoa signed balls and shirts to help raise money for the ASF Annual Fund.

Lorena Ochoa: “I found this opportunity to help raise funds for the provision of scholarships very interesting.”

F

or a true sporting icon, Lorena Ochoa is very down to earth.

In fact, if it weren’t for the ring of fellow golfers waiting to have their pictures taken with her at the 12th Annual ASF Golf Tournament last October 27, she could have passed for just another player at the Bosque Real Country Club.

Of course, she’s not just another player. The only thing that could stop Ochoa’s more than three-year reign as the world’s top woman’s golfer was her decision to retire in 2010 at the age of 29.

But retirement for Lorena Ochoa does not mean rest. It means starting a family and working to build the Lorena Ochoa Foundation. Her charity helps marginalized children by working with partners to offer them better educational opportunities.

It’s a mission similar to that of The American School Foundation’s Annual Fund. In fact, chatting with Focus after the ASF tournament, Ochoa said that she shares the Annual Fund’s goal of boosting the number of financial aid recipients.

“I’m very interested in the theme of education,” she said. “So I found this opportunity to help raise funds for the provision of scholarships very interesting.

“I am 100 percent sure that education is the best way to help children change their life – to have a brighter future and to break 42 | winter 2014/15

the vicious circle of a life with many limitations.”

As she signed golf balls and shirts to help raise more money for the Annual Fund at an auction held during the post-match dinner, Ochoa said it was important to her to support a range of educational programs in Mexico.

“Something we have to focus on is that all children receive the education they deserve,” she said. “I’m doing my small part. I have my elementary and middle school to which I dedicate a lot of time and effort. But all educational programs in Mexico are important, we have to support them all.”

And while she no longer plays competitively, Ochoa is still actively involved in golf through the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, a tournament she brought to Mexico City for the first time in November of 2014.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to bring the tournament here to Mexico City,” she said. “To me it’s one of the best tournaments in the world, and the best in the country, so we’re really happy that it’s here.”

Ochoa, who decided at a young age that she wanted to be the world’s best golfer and worked until that dream became a reality, said it’s important that young people realize they can do big things.

“Everyone has to decide what he or she wants to do with their life,” she said. “The most important thing is that young people dare to dream, and that they work to achieve those dreams.

Alumni

A scene from “Huérfanos” with Mauricio Argüelles (left), at the Teatro Milán in Mexico City through December 28, 2014.

Never too busy for ASF Mauricio Argüelles (’00), is a producer, actor, writer and businessman.

He’s also the Alumni Council president.

M

ost alums and parents, no matter how much or how little they volunteer, probably feel they don’t have the time to support ASF as much as they’d like. That’s understandable. Adult life is complicated, and we do what we can.

But if you want a role model for fitting school volunteer work into your schedule, look no farther than current ASF Alumni President Mauricio Argüelles (’00). Here’s a guy who’s living a life and a half, juggling a half-dozen professional pursuits that would make Hercules look like a slacker, all the while raising three kids.

Yet he’s such a ubiquitous presence at ASF events — both behind the scenes while they’re being organized and as they happen as a participant — that one can be forgiven for assuming he does nothing else.

Of course, he does plenty else.

If you’re ambitious and talented, and drawn to the performing arts, you might dream of writing screenplays, or directing plays or movies, or producing them. You might even want to appear on screen, or act on stage.

Mauricio does all those things, often simultaneously. And he does them professionally, not just for fun, although he seems to have plenty of fun in the process. What’s more, his acting, writing, directing and producing are in addition to running his business — a production company called Neverending Media.

44 | winter 2014/15

Despite his overflowing plate, you’ll still see him here involved with the Alumni Bowl (and often playing in it), the Run for Education, the Alumni Soccer Tournament, ASF Talks, Career Day, and countless other activities.

Back in 2013, he not only helped organize and host an Alumni Breakfast, he wrote about it afterwards here in Focus, giving a glimpse of what being on campus more than a decade after graduating means to him: “It was here that I had gathered with my friends, experienced life events,” he wrote, adding for the record, “and accumulated so many tardies.”

It was also here that he played junior variety and vanity football, and like most former high school athletes, he’s happy to talk about the glory days: “I was a wide receiver, running back and quarterback,” he says. “In 1999 we won the championship.”

He’s bilingual, but that’s only partly owing to having been born in Brownsville, Texas. He grew up in Mexico City, and was enrolled at ASF at K1. “I’m 100 percent bilingual thanks to ASF,” he says.

As they do for most ASF students, his years at the school exposed him to a universe of ideas and experiences that many never know. “Going to ASF is like being in a microcosm of the world,” he says. “You’re exposed to different cultures, different religions, different activities, different realities.”

After graduation, he immediately continued his education — but not at any university. Instead, he backpacked through Europe for six months, the modern young person’s version of the Grand Tour.

Then it was Universidad Anáhuac, where he studied communications for a year before transferring to Emerson College in Boston.

“Once I finished college I went to Los Angeles to pursue my acting career, he says. “I started working for a production company there, and at the same time in television and radio commercials, as well as movies and theaters.”

Back in Mexico, he appeared in “Amar a Morir,” the well-received 2009 debut film of writer/director Fernando Lebrija, set in Mexico City and Michoacán; in the low-budget “Raíces Torcidas” (2008); and in television series such as “El Diez.”

He also appeared in and co-produced a 2011-12 production in the Teatro de los Insugentes, of “Filomena Marturano”, the 1946 work by the Italian playwright Eduardo Di Filippo.

Today, Mauricio’s career is taking off. He is currently starring in an adaption of “Orphans,” Lyle Kessler’s 1983 hit that was brought to Broadway in 2013 in with Alec Baldwin. It’s playing as “Huérfanos” at the Teatro Milán through December 28, so you might have time to catch it if you live in the Mexico City area (and — who knows? — its run could be extended).

What’s even more satisfying for Mauricio is what’s happening on the big screen in 2015.

“I’m about to release my first film that I wrote, produced and act in,” he says. “It’s called ‘Una Última y Nos Vamos.’ I co-wrote the movie with César Rodríguez. We have a wonderful cast with Héctor Bonilla, Martha Higareda, José Sefami, Hernán

Mendoza and Mariana Treviño.

“I’ll be producing three feature films next year.

I’m very excited.”

Mauricio Argüelles is remembered on the ASF campus as Mauricio Quintana, the name he went by as a student here. By whatever name, he’s still as active as ever as Alumni Council president.

“I love ASF,” he says. “I’m the person I am today thanks to ASF. It gave me all the tools I needed to succeed in life.”

Which is why he’s still volunteering.

“Giving back to ASF is the least I can do,” he says. “And as an ASF parent, I love being close to my kids. They have the same passion I had when I was here as a kid.”

His advice for his own kids is the same as he has for every other ASF student: “Don’t let your fears stand in the way of your dreams.”

Alumni | EVENTS

Most of the 2014 Career Day alumni participants posed for a group photo in the FAC.

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César Buenrostro (’85), an architect who directs a construction and project management firm, and who serves on the ASF Board of Trustees, has students’ full attention when he spoke during Career Day.

Career Day 2014: Rewarding for Students and Alums Alike

areer Day — when ASF alumni return to campus to talk to students about career and study options — exemplifies the school’s sense of community as well as its commitment to the success of its students.

By sharing their post-ASF professional and educational experiences, the alumni help students make good decisions about their future.

On September 26, some 20 of them did just that, offering guidance and a dice to Upper School students who will soon be making their own way in the world.

Career Day is also a rewarding experience for the alumni themselves.

“Being able to share my knowledge and passion for what I do, with the thriving young minds of ASF was a true pleasure,” Ximena Aspe (’03) told Focus. “As an alumna it fills me with great pride to see the students take interest in their near professional future, and as a headhunter hopefully I shed some light regarding their doubts about the different career paths and jobs that are out in the market.”

Back on the Gridiron

The annual Alumni Bowl gives ASF grads a chance to re-live the camaraderie of a football team and put on the pads again. But make no mistake about it — though it´s a “friendly” game it’s not a cupcake contest. The opponent (CUM Gamos, a university team) is perennially tough and the competition is always fierce. That was certainly the case last August 16, when the 2014 alumni Bowl took place. We’ll let Blake Davis (’11), a former ASF quarterback and team captain who is now studying law at Universidad Anáhuac, run down the highlights:

T

he ASF alumni have been playing an Alumni Bowl for five years, and since graduating I have played in every one. The alumni from various ASF generations from 1992 to 2013 won the first four by a big margin. This year, fate had something else planned for the ASF faithful.

The game started out even, but in the second quarter CUM scored a touchdown that put them up 6-0, a score that held into halftime.

CUM scored again early in the third quarter on a long touchdown pass and deep pass and then made a twopoint conversion, taking the score to 14-0.

In the fourth quarter the ASF quarterback (yours truly) broke out an 85-yard touchdown run which would have given us some hope. But sadly there was a flag and the play was called back.

Later in the fourth quarter CUM scored again to take a commanding 20-0 lead. The game ended with a Bear defeat for the first time in the five-year history of the event.

Needless to say, the Bears alumni team is eagerly awaiting next year’s Alumni Bowl, when it will be looking for redemption.

Despite the result, it felt great to go back to ASF, put on the maroon and white and play as a family again while representing the school that gave every one of usi so much.

46 | winter 2014/15

Alumni | CLASS NOTES & MILESTONES

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Melanie Hogan writes: “ASF really is a family and I am so thankful to be a part of it — and to introduce its newest member! His name Alec Fux Hogan, and he was born in San Diego, California on October 25, 2014. The photo shows Alec with his mom (me!) and the proud father, Xavier Fux.

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Alexis Matta Santos, a holistic health coach certified by the Institute for Integrative Medicine, is offering workshops on healthy eating.

“I teach my clients to create a happy, healthy life in a way that is flexible, fun and free of denial and discipline,” she told Focus. One is called the “Lunch Saludable Workshop,” which teaches stay-athome-moms and working parents how to prepare a healthy, economical and delicious lunch to help their children thrive.

The workshop name comes from Lunch Saludable, an organization co-founded

by Alexis to combat child obesity. You can ask for more information at alexis@ lunchsaludable.com.

“Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze,” written by Sarah (“Sally”) Law (sarahllaw1@gmail.com), was published in November by Arcadia Publishing. “My book is a pictorial history of the Pittsburgh (PA) Point Breeze neighbor’s u rgh hood with a foreword graP it t sb b r ee ze Poin t ciously written by current N Mayor Bill Peduto,” says Sally, who attended ASF from 1974 to 1978. Point Breeze is an iconic, upscale neighborhood that has been home to authors Annie Dillard, Albert French, and David McCullough, as well as Willie Stargell, a former MVP with the Pirates, and L.C. Greenwood of the Steel- ers. And for many years, Point Breeze residents could claim as their own the most famous neighbor of them all, Mr. Rogers. t ’s Poin

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The ASF Class of 1970 is planning its 45-year reunion for 2015. For information, contact Jane Dabdoub Bartlett at jdb622@yahoo.com.

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Richard D. Rich (Drdickrich@aol.com), shown here in 2004, writes: “I received Focus magazine and am very impressed. The American School has changed a lot in the last 60 years. The graduating class is about twice the size of our 1954 class, and their accomplishments and their worldly awareness seem to be more than twice ours. “I have been looking back at our 1954 Anahuac. Several of my classmates are among my Facebook and Classmates contacts. Some of my previous contacts have passed away. Some died before there was any such thing as social media. “I have attended several reunions of The American School and Boy/Sea Scout groups over the years. My older brother Don (’49) and my younger sister Edie (’56) and I came to a reunion in Mexico in 1983. I have not been back to Mexico since then, but other groups met in San Antonio and Dallas. “We are living most of the time in Massachusetts to be near our youngest grandchildren. We spend the worst of the winter months in North Carolina. The older grandchildren have moved on, but our daughter lives in Asheville. “We have been studying our family history and I have found at least two ancestors who were caught up in the Salem witch hysteria. We have turned up several Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers, but no Mayflower ancestors.”

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John Hannes (jayweststudio@gmail.com) took the professional name Jay West more than 50 years ago when he began his career as a golden-throated on-air DJ and later owner-operator of the Jay West Studio and Jay West Productions.

You see him here at age 22 with a McAllen Texas radio station. You can also hear what he (and Top 40 radio) sounded like in the mid-70s by going to YouTube and typing in Jay West-KILT radio. “It’s an air check of yours truly, which is a telescoped down version of a portion of my show on the first day of summer, 1975,” he told Focus. “The music is edited out to showcase the voice. Most disc jockeys used them when applying for a job. My air checks were taped daily on cassettes (remember those?) for my program director to listen to and critique. It’s kinda what they did back in those days in major market radio.” John (Jay?) also wrote in to share an anecdote from his ASF days: “While I was working my daily radio shift at XEL, and still a senior at the American High School, we had a Saturday night segment with live music from local musicians. For the very first broadcast in that format we had as our guest, a newly formed rock band known as Los Teen Pops with a lead singer named . . . Enrique Guzmán. Needless to say, that singer went on to become an international star, with many movies and countless No. 1 records. Now I’m not saying that I had anything to do with that, but it’s a fact his very first public appearance with his early band was on my radio show in Mexico City in 1958.”

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Alumni | reunions

Class of 1974 Two Reunions are Better than One The Class of 1974 celebrated its 40-year reunion with a number of events that included a tour of the ASF campus in October. It was an occasion for memories.

“We couldn’t stop talking, remembering anecdotes and getting each other up to date on our lives,” said class member Beatriz Estrada.

For most, it was their first glimpse of the facilities that define today’s school — the Wellness Center, the Fine Arts Center, the third floor on the remodeled Upper School, the current Middle School, the indoor pool and the Lower School Multipurpose Room.

“We were amazed at the evolution the school has undergone since we graduated,” Beatriz said. “How it’s changed for the better! We loved it!”

Taking the campus tour were Freddy Charlot, Sara Roque, Licha Solís, Margarita

Koestinger, Beatriz Estrada, Arturo Bonet, Laurie Ortega, Carlos Osuna, Inge van Marweijk, Eva María Carrera, Eloísa Jacinto, Noemí Stolarski, Isabel Kubo and Tony Turok.

The campus tour was by no means the extent of the reunion. The class spent the weekend of October 25-26 together, in a number of activities that included a restaurant lunch on Saturday, drinks and a tequila at the home of Laurie Ortega Saturday evening, and a Sunday brunch.

Joining their classmates for those activities were a number of 1974 alumni who couldn’t make the campus tour, including Lenny Spilk, Stevie Beimler, Tommy Cajiga, Carlos Escobar, Pablo Pinedo, Joe Naffah, David Rophie, Lisbeth Quintero and Narciso Hernández.

More than 40 members of the Class of 1974, mostly different ones, had also gotten together last June in San Diego. Both events were enjoyed by all who attended.

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to reconnect with our classmates,” Beatriz said. “Many of them had not seen each other in 40 years.”

Lynnette Rivera: The Deserving Recipient of the 2014 Alumni Homecoming Award There were a lot of events during last October’s Homecoming Week activities, but none was more appropriate than the honoring of ASF alumna Lynnette Rivera (’89) with the Alumni Homecoming Award.

Santiago Kneeland (’98), Alumni Council member, presented the award. Here are his words: Good evening friends and fellow ASF community members, I am here today to present the Alumni Homecoming Award to an outstanding athlete and person, both on and off the field. Her dedication to ASF throughout the years is truly admirable and her involvement in every aspect of this school is proof of her passion for our values of justice, understanding and truth.

It is my pleasure to announce this year’s awardee, Lynnette Rivera.

Lynnette Rivera graduated from ASF in 1989. While attending ASF, she played volleyball, basketball and softball. She mastered softball and joined the Puerto Rican team, which won championships in 1989, 1990 and 1991. Internationally, she participated in two Pan American Games, the first in 1991 in Havana, Cuba, and the second in 1995 in Mar de Plata, Argentina, where she won a silver medal with the Puerto Rican team.

She also participated in the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1993 at Ponce, Puerto Rico, on the gold-medal winning Puerto Rican team, and the World Cup of Softball in 1992.

Lynnette, who has a bachelor’s degree from Universidad Iberoamericana and, worked as an ASF softball coach while she was attending college. Not only has she been an active alumna in our community, but she is also a proud mother of three ASF students: Isabel in grade 10, Fernando in grade 8 and Alejandro in grade 2.

Lynnette has been a homeroom mother various times in the Lower School and Middle School, and has been the Bear Boosters vice president for the last three years.

Lynnette embodies true commitment to ASF and its community. She has gone from being an outstanding student and athlete, to becoming an engaged alumna and a proud ASF parent.

Thank you Lynnette for transmitting ASF’s mission both in and outside of our community.

winter 2014/15 | 49

Alumni | In Memoriam

Oliver Koch (’98): A bright smile through struggle Oliver Koch, who pursued a career in counter-terrorism studies after graduating from ASF, died at his family home in Tepetlaoxtoc, in the State of Mexico on October 4, 2014 at age 34.

He lived with diabetes and a neurological disorder for most of his life, but is remembered for his outstanding heart and bright presence when walking through the ASF halls.

He attended the Columbia and Panamerican Schools before enrolling at ASF. After graduation in 1998, he went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in political science from Grinnell College in 2002, and a graduate degree in counter-terrorism studies from Syracuse University in 2008.

He was laid to rest at La Putificación in Tepetlaoxtoc, alongside his older brother Ben, who passed away at age 9 in 1980, the year Oliver was born to Steve Koch and Carol Koch (née Patrick).

“He was a good person who was taken too soon from us,” said Nicholas Koch (’95), who offered the following words about his brother: “Oliver valiantly endured the harsh demands of managing a diabetes diagnosis from age seven and a neurological disorder that developed later.

“Exhausted from the unrelenting struggle to survive, he returned to the family home in Mexico in February of 2014, seeking the comfort and support of his mother, family and friends.

“Ever the independent over-achiever, Oliver was increasingly helpful to his mother over the last six months of his life, doing whatever he could within his abilities to support her, even though his condition made helping difficult and stressful.

“Sadly, Oliver passed just as he was starting a new medical treatment, hopeful of a remedy. I was at Oliver’s side when he died of heart failure at 8:10 a.m on a Saturday.

“Oliver loved Mexico, his home. In his more lucid moments he dreamed of being released from his daily struggle and once again become the security specialist he always wanted to be.

“We take comfort in remembering his warm heart and bright smile, his abiding hope and fortitude, and in knowing that in the end, he followed his heart home.

“May Oliver rest in peace.”

Luis Sánchez Chew (’49) Luis M. Sánchez-Chew (1928-2014) was the eldest of three brothers who traveled from Pachuca in the state of Hidalgo to attend what was then called the American High School. He passed away recently surrounded by his wife Ana Luz, his daughter, his four sons and 10 grandsons. He is remembered by the extended Sánchez-Chew family as a good husband, father and friend.

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Alfredo Phillips Olmedo (’54): A tireless public servant The American School lost one of its most distinguished graduates on October 11 with the passing of Alfredo Phillips Olmedo, whose long career in public service earned him the respect and admiration of all who came into contact with him.

Mr. Phillips attended ASF in the 1950s along with his sister Irene (’55) and brothers Carlos (’58) and the late Eduardo.

He is survived by his wife Maureen Greene, sons Alfredo and Ricardo, and daughter Adriana.

His family includes niece María Dolores José Phillips (’82), an ASF mother and active Parent Association volunteer.

Mr. Phillips’ passing is felt beyond his family and the ASF community.

His service with a number of government agencies such as the Finance Secretariat, Banco de México and Bancomext, was dedicated to Mexico’s economic development.

He played an important role in improving U.S.-Mexico relations, having lived in Washington D.C. for five years where he occupied leadership positions at the Inter-American Development Bank the International Monetary Fund, and then in San Antonio, Texas, where he was responsible for founding the North American Development Bank.

Later, as ambassador to Canada, he was instrumental in bringing that nation into the NAFTA negotiations, and he also served as vice-president of the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce.

An economist trained at London University, Mr. Phillips was also a federal deputy, ambassador to Japan, and a supporter of science and the arts. He served as vice president of the Board of Directors of the Dolores Olmedo Museum, the beautiful Xochimilco cultural center bequeathed to the nation by his mother.

Though retired, Alfredo Phillips was still active in public life at age 78 when a tragic traffic accident took his life.

On behalf of his family, son Alfredo Phillips Greene has shared the following remembrance: “My father spent his life working for a dream, for an ideal, for his family and for his country. I can only describe him as a man of principle who was firmly committed to a better world.

“His marriage of 54 years is an example for all of us. He was with my mother for more than two-thirds of his life, which in itself shows not only his love for her but also for all of us, his children and grandchildren, as well as his commitment to constantly building a better future for everybody.

“My father was not a religious man, but I’m sure he would have very much liked the recent sermon when the priest — Irish like my mother — described him with the phrase that ‘one drop of love is worth more than an infinity of wisdom.’ And believe me, my father was very wise!

“I know that his friends also miss him. His love was not limited to his intimate family. It belonged to the world. That was clear just in the way he saw the people around him, something that distinguished him from other human beings. They will surely miss their trips together with the group they called “the wandering economists,” their Saturday breakfasts, and the opera that he loved so much.

“His was a life well-lived, full of feeling and color, happy and successful. He did so many things, touched so many people, enriched so many lives.

“We have received countless messages, and each and every one of them confirmed the legacy that my father left behind. That legacy is of an upright and honest man who was committed to his loved ones and dedicated to his ideals.

“He lives on in all of us as long as we remember him.”

A Remembrance: Harry William Mazal Cami (’54) May 10, 1937 - August 22, 2011 Harry Mazal attended The American School before studying at Georgia Tech and UNAM. He later worked with his father, also named Harry, building Harry Mazal S.A. and Científica Mexicana into successful companies dedicated to manufacturing, importing and exporting medical, scientific and educational equipment.

He also found time to indulge his lifelong love of baseball by pitching for the Southern Fried Chicken All-Stars, who played softball at the ASF ball field for a number of years.

Harry retired from business in 1990 when he and his family moved to San Antonio. There he became aware that there were those who denied that the Holocaust had taken place.

In response he founded the Holocaust History Project, consisting of Jews and non-Jews dedicated to posting online factual, referenced data relating to the Holocaust and answering questions from readers and students.

As part of these activities, he built what is said to be the largest privately owned library of its kind, which included a complete set of documents used by Robert Kempner, prosecuting attorney in the Nuremberg Trials, which were entrusted to him by the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. After Harry’s death from throat cancer, the Mazal Holocaust Library was donated to the University of Colorado University in Boulder, and to the San Antonio campus of Texas A & M University.

He is remembered as a scholar of history, an able and creative businessman and a contributing member of society. Harry was also my loving husband and an attentive father to our two children — daughter Aimee (’89) and son Dan (’93).

— Jerry Mazal

Kids’ corner

Recognizing our Uniqueness

Grade 1 students had their first writing assignment as part of their first unit of inquiry, “Who We Are.” The central idea was that as we grow to recognize our uniqueness, we learn to accept and care for others.

In this writing assessment, students had to tell me about their best friend. They made a graphic organizer before they wrote to help them plan out their thoughts. They had to tell me a sentence about who their best friend was, how that person makes them feel, what they like about their friend, and what they do together to have fun.

We were still just focusing on what makes a complete sentence (capitals, ending marks, a noun, and a verb) and including four or five sentences – one for each aspect of the graphic organizer.

At the beginning of the year, most of my students had trouble writing more than one sentence, but in just a few months, their stamina has increased so much. Now we are working on things like sequencing and using words like “first, next, then, and last” to start our sentences.

– Amy Olson, Grade 1 teacher

52 | winter 2014/15