The Village Green, Winter 2018

WINTER 2018

Now We Gather, Men of Avon HOLIDAY TRADITIONS 2017

ARTS AT AVON • REGIONAL ROBOTICS AWARD • INTERSESSION 2018

AVON OLD FARMS SCHOOL ESTABLISHED 1927 HEADMASTER Kenneth H. LaRocque EDITOR Morgan C. Cugell

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From the Headmaster

2 Arts at Avon

6 Intersession 2018

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News and Notes

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Athletics

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8 Digital Storytelling

17 Now We Gather, Men of Avon: Holidays 2017

The Elephant Remembers

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The Last Word

DESIGNER 2k Design www.2kDesign.com PRINTER Benchemark Printing, Inc., Schenectady, NY The Village Green is published for the alumni, parents, and friends of Avon Old Farms School. It is distributed to approximately 8,000 readers. All rights reserved.

AVON OLD FARMS SCHOOL 500 Old Farms Road Avon, CT 06001 www.avonoldfarms.com (860) 404-4100 ADMISSIONS (800) 464-2866 admissions@avonoldfarms.com ALUMNI We enjoy hearing from you!

Please send us your latest news and notes: Email: abramsonl@avonoldfarms.com Phone: (800) 336-8195 Fax: (860) 404-4631 EMAIL Members of the administration and faculty can be emailed by using the following formula: last name + first initial @avonoldfarms.com. The directory on the school website also includes email links.

Avon Old Farms School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school.

It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, disabilities, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

from the editor Dear Readers, Happy New Year!

I hope you enjoy this glimpse into winter life at Avon. As always, he holidays on campus are a sight to behold, and this year’s festivities did not disappoint—from the tradition and celebration of the Boar’s Head Festival to the quiet contemplation and joyful songs of Christmas vespers, and to the extraordinary fundraising for Toys for Tots.

In its third year, Intersession was again a huge success and our students enjoyed the opportunity to enrich their academic experience with some unique course offerings.

Stay tuned for the spring issue of the Avonian in late May. As always, I welcome your feedback!

Aspirando et perseverando, Morgan C. Cugell, Editor cugellm@avonoldfarms.com (860) 404-4239

The Avonian Online Find past issues of the Avonian online at www.avonoldfarms.com/ avonian

Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com /avonoldfarms

Follow us on Twitter @avonoldfarms

from the

Headmaster

by Kenneth H. LaRocque P’01, ’10

Greetings, The winter issue of the Village Green provides us the opportunity to share with you many of the exciting events that have taken place over the course of the past several months, when our campus was brimming with the spirit of tradition that makes Avon Old Farms such a special community. I am thankful to our students, faculty, administration, staff, and parents for their many contributions to our school that resulted in such a successful first semester to the school year.

Family Weekend provided us with wonderful weather as guests attended classes in record numbers on Friday morning and our music department hosted our first concert of the year on Friday evening. Saturday morning included the opportunity for parents to meet with their sons’ teachers and for parents of upperclassmen to attend some college guidance workshops. The weekend ended with a full slate of athletic contests on Saturday afternoon, during which we won two football games and four soccer games!

We hosted the Unified Sports Regional Soccer Tournament in October, and our students who regularly work with special athletes successfully orchestrated the entire affair. November was packed with activity on campus and included our National Council’s fall meeting, our night football game versus Phillips Exeter (49-12 victory), the hosting of the visiting committee of the NEASC re-accreditation program, an admission open house, our theater department’s excellent production of Rope, and our first blood drive of the year.

Because of the considerable success of our varsity football and soccer teams, they were both honored to participate in postseason play. Our soccer team lost a tough home game in overtime to Worcester Academy, and our football team, playing in the New England championship game, lost to Choate.

Following Thanksgiving break, we returned to classes and immediately engaged in our Toys For Tots fundraising effort. Our students, led by Warden Kevin Huveldt and the Student Council, held numerous events to raise money to

donate to the Hands On Hartford organization to provide more than 500 needy children and their families with toys for Christmas morning. Pasta dinners, dress down days, raffles, fasts, and dances all helped the Men of Avon raise more than $17,000 for this worthwhile cause that the Winged Beavers have been supporting since 1983. At the last morning meeting before winter break, Dean Arthur Custer delighted all with his animated explanation of the origin of our Boar’s Head festival, and Barbara Shaw, the executive director of Hands On Hartford, thanked our students for the mountain of toys that were on display for all to see. Later that morning, our students delivered the toys to Hartford, and that evening the Class of 2018, under Dean Custer’s direction, produced the Boar’s Head festival for the 63rd time in the Riddle Refectory!

After our boys left for their holiday break, we readied ourselves for the arrival of seven hockey teams to join us for the 35th Winter Hockey Classic. After winning the Classic the past two years in a row, the Winged Beavers finished third with an overtime loss to Kent. As school closed for the holiday with the first semester completed, students and faculty excitedly anticipated the second year of our Intersession program. With more than 30 programs for boys to choose from, everyone enjoyed the chance to venture outside of our traditional academic curriculum to explore new areas of interest, or to gain more knowledge about familiar topics. Our third year of Intersession proved to be even more successful than the first two! In mid-January we hosted our Alumni Hockey game, which was a tremendous success. With some 80 alumni returning to campus to participate in this event, we need to schedule two games with a family skating period in between them!

Our Board of Directors held its winter meetings on campus January 19 and 20, and I announced to our school family at morning meeting on January 19 that I am going to retire in June of 2019. I will have much more to say on my decision in the spring issue of the Avonian.

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Village Green, and I invite you to visit campus soon. Happy 2018!

The Village Green Winter 2018

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News and Notes

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From the Studio…

Arts at Avon

his winter, eight of Avon Old Farms School’s most talented artists were recognized for 13 awardwinning art submissions at the CT Scholastic Art Awards, the most competitive exhibit/competition for the visual arts in Connecticut. Their work was included in the 2018 Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards exhibition at the Silpe Gallery, at the Hartford Art School.

“I am so very proud of all of our artists and am excited to see their work on display at this inspiring student art exhibit,” commented Visual Arts Chairperson Cristina Pinton. “The Art Department staff is proud to work at a school where the faculty can teach to their passions and adjust how we approach art to complement our students’ talents. At Avon, we are able to offer our students opportunities to be creative young men and to see their world differently. I think that shows in how many works of art were recognized as exceptional by this competition.”

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The 2018 Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards exhibition features select work from 150 students attending Connecticut schools in grades seven through 12. Selected from approximately 2,500 total art entries, 683 works were accepted for exhibit at the University of Hartford. Judges awarded 259 Gold Keys, 197 Silver Keys, and 225 Honorable Mentions.

“When we attended the exhibit on Jan. 28, it was surprising how few young men were exhibited, versus the majority of young women,” commented Pinton. “This is only one more measure of the courage and spirit of our boys searching for creativity, to grow beyond their bounds or expected limitations, and to tap into a more emotional, fragile part of their identity all the while developing stronger, more powerful inner voices.”

Following the close of the Connecticut regional exhibit, the artworks of the Gold Key award winners from each

“The Art Department staff is proud to work at a school where the faculty can teach to their passions and adjust how we approach art to complement our students’ talents. At Avon, we are able to offer our students opportunities to be creative young men and to see their world differently. I think that shows in how many works of art were recognized as exceptional by this competition.”

— Cristina Pinton, Visual Arts Chairperson

Awards

national region will be reviewed by a blue-ribbon panel of judges at the national level in March. The national jury will select gold medal national winners and call in their artwork to be exhibited in New York City in June.

In addition to the Scholastic Art Awards, eight Hartford County students displayed at the National Arts Program exhibit held at Capitol Community College in Hartford on Saturday, Jan. 27. Artists included Sean Desjardin ’21, Matthew Jensen ’19, CJ Calcinari ’19, Sam Krupnikoff ’19, TJ Shaw ’18, Graham Deckers ’20, Max Gart ’20, and Cam Andrews ’19.

LUC ANDERSON ’18 PHOTO, SILVER KEY ROBERT AUGHTRY ’19 DRAWING, SILVER KEY BURAPOL BHAKDIBHUMI ’18 PHOTO, SILVER KEY CJ CALCINARI ’19 QUILT, HONORABLE MENTION GRAHAM DECKERS ’20 CLAY VASE, SILVER KEY BULL/BIRD SCULPTURE, GOLD KEY PAINTING, SILVER KEY MATTHEW JENSEN ’19 CONNECTIONS PHOTO, SILVER KEY FOUR-COLOR PORTRAIT, GOLD KEY PEIQI ‘TONY’ LIU ’19 PANDA DRAWING, HONORABLE MENTION PENGYU SI ’19 CHAMELEON, HONORABLE MENTION SELF PORTRAIT IN RED, GOLD KEY FUSION #3, GOLD KEY

News and Notes

From the Studio…

Pengyu Si ’19

“In

addition to regular sketching and toning, decision-making was crucial in each painting I’ve completed. Self Portrait in Red, for instance, was originally designed to focus on the head and have a neutral umber background to support it, but the color and brushstroke combinations just did not work. I changed the composition, adding

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a bright, rich red background, adjusting the tone of the face, and partially covering the face with interesting strokes.

This aspect of decisionmaking also applies to Fusion No. 3: I changed the color of the teapots, added the folding screen background— inspired by a painting I had seen—strengthened the contrast, and experimented with bold strokes, all of which were decisions made along the way.

As my impatience grew and the time remaining in the course waned, I started to make bad decisions and bad things started to happen.

The cycle kept going until I felt like I was on the edge of insanity and some of my seemingly insane decisions started to work. After all the exhaustion, when I saw my paintings in the Ordway Art Gallery and learned that two of them had won Scholastic Gold Key awards, I could not hold back my tears or smile.

I believe art is simply a synonym for beauty—the beauty of nature and of the human society. I do not intentionally force an idea into an artwork just for others to decipher or interpret; I like to let my instinct and intuition lead the way and see what happens. Although I do not plan a theme for my works, they all reflect my experience and personality in one way or another.”

Graham Deckers ’20

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raham Deckers has pushed himself hard to grow with every piece he creates. His commitment to excellence is unparalleled in all my years of teaching here, and he is never afraid of tackling a new medium, technique, or perspective. His more recent designs are whimsical, meaningful, and wellexecuted, and it’s clear he is setting himself down with a kind of narrative, which I strongly encourage.

His enthusiasm and passion remain among my most favorite things I’ve experienced as a teacher, and I hope I can continue to augment his education in a way that sufficiently broadens his mind and ideation.”

—Kate McSpadden, Visual Arts Teacher

Matt Jensen ’19

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he compelling imagery of Matt Jensen’s work consistently combines a technical acuity with original thinking. Intellectual curiosity and innovative thought are the hallmarks of his remarkable portfolio.”

—Greg Calibey, Art Teacher

News and Notes

Intersession 2018

From Surviving a Zombie Apocolypse to Fly-fishing

By Art Custer P’04, ’05, ’10, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction

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Our founder, Theodate Pope Riddle, strongly believed in an approach to education in which students work alongside their faculty mentors to produce their own meaningful work. Intersession honors that tradition by encouraging students and faculty alike to delve deeply into a single topic that interests them and to produce something tangible and valuable through their efforts.

During the week, students and faculty devote all their academic

attention to one course; the course may explore a traditional academic topic in great detail (Roman history, psychology, finance and investing), or it may focus on an area outside the traditional curriculum (beekeeping, situation comedies, food security). At the end of the week, each class, in the manner that best befits its experience, presents its work to the wider community. The idea behind Intersession is to broaden the curriculum while creating opportunities for excursions, making things, experiential learning, and interdisciplinary work. Beyond that, we hope that their experience in Intersession will influence how students and faculty approach their work in the traditional curriculum.

Now in its third year, Intersession has offered courses ranging from Understanding Modern Art to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse and from Beekeeping 101 to America’s War on Terror. Students and faculty have spent their time researching school history in the archives, tying flies and fishing in the Farmington River, interviewing Goldman Sachs executives about life as an investment banker, sitting in meditation,

peering through telescopes into the night sky, and turning their own baseball bats on the lathe. Along the way, they have been exposed to Darell Tibbles’ extensive understanding of game theory, Brian Malchoff ’07 and Keith Lee’s passion for fishing, and Cristina Pinton’s love of all things Italy. They have written songs, made blankets for the needy, repaired drywall, and learned about the magic of compound interest.

Winter 2018 The Village Green

Tapping Into Faculty Expertise The curriculum for Intersession is diverse and wideranging because faculty members are encouraged to create courses in their areas of special interest and expertise.

When the students get to choose the courses in which they have the most interest, the process pairs highly enthused faculty with highly engaged students. The result can be—as it was this year—the Meditation Retreat group meditating in silence while the Law Enforcement class learns to clear a room (presumably not in silence) a few hundred feet away or one class delving deeply into Roman history while students in another class lower their fishing lures deep under the ice on West Hill Lake. The result, we hope, is an engaging experience that broadens students’ horizons and helps them to see things—potentially including themselves—from a different perspective.

Alumni Get Involved When students returned to campus this month, they ushered in the new year by exploring innovative topics thanks to an offering of 32 Intersession courses, 14 of which were new for 2018.

During the week, students and faculty explored a traditional academic topic in great detail, or focused on an area outside the traditional curriculum.

One such course, Understanding Personal Finance and Investments, focused on making the world of finance and investing a little less intimidating for our boys. The course description, written by faculty members Glenn Sieber P’17, Joe Martinez, and Bob Orenstein, says: “A vast majority of high school students enter college without knowing how to manage or invest their money and without understanding the most basic of financial concepts. We firmly believe that the stock market and the greater financial world will not seem so complicated once you learn some of the lingo and major concepts.”

Course topics included setting priorities, learning the basics of banking and investing, understanding the stock market, controlling debt, hiring financial help, buying a car, and understanding taxes. In addition, faculty advisors worked with Avon alumni Jack Sebastian ’84, Michael Reilly ’08, and Strat Dennis ’00 from Goldman Sachs to bring current Men of Avon to Wall Street. The alumni explained to students what working in the field of global investment banking, securities, and investment management is like.

“Of all the institutions I am affiliated with, Avon is the closest to my heart—I want to do everything I can to help the school and the young men at Avon,” said Strat Dennis, who has worked at Goldman Sachs since 2004 and has served on Avon’s Board of Directors since 2010. “I was always interested in bringing Avon students in to learn more about investment banking, and a few years ago the introduction of Avon’s Intersession created the perfect opportunity to do so.”

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News and Notes

From the Winged Beaver Blog

Five Steps to Becoming a Digital Storyteller

By Ryan Davey, Latin and English Teacher, Digital Media and Production Teacher

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hen I was young, I learned about traditional Irish storytellers called seanchaí, men who traveled from town to town, telling stories in exchange for a place to stay and a hot meal. Often, they used a hand drum or another small instrument to help tell their tales, and their purpose was to preserve the past. As a teacher of Digital Media and Production, I think of myself as a modern-day seanchaí, my instruments being my cameras.

With our new Digital Media and Production class at Avon Old Farms, I have the privilege of showing students how to convey their own stories in a multimedia-driven world. I spend a lot of time talking to students about finding their voices. And just like with writing or speaking, finding your voice is critical to conveying a story. If you are looking to improve your skills as a storyteller and are interested in taking on the challenge of Digital Media and Production, here are some things that will get you started.

1. It’s Personal The best stories we tell are ones we have a connection to.

When shooting films, it is critical that we as storytellers have a connection to what we are trying to say. Luckily for me, most of what I do is try to capture the essence of my home, Avon Old Farms School. Whenever there is a school event, you will more than likely see me running around trying to capture those things that make our community unique. I do this because I want people to see AOF how I see it, I want people to see the beauty I see, and most of all I want that to resonate with our entire community. This is easy for me because I am passionate about AOF and what we do. When working on digital media projects, make sure that you are not simply putting together a series of shots; connect with your subject on a level that is personal.

2. Shoot Your Shot I’ve heard this phrase a lot lately, and it absolutely applies to digital storytelling. Your phone is your best friend. Whether you are attempting to capture moments for your social media or weaving something into a bigger project, you need to be at the prepared at all times. There is no better tool at your disposal than your smartphone. Having a cell phone at the ready puts you in a position to capture magic at a moment’s

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notice. See your phone as something creative and productive rather than something consumptive. Vlogs, interviews, and incredible pictures are attainable now more than ever.

Moreover, the ease with which this can be accomplished is incredible. Never underestimate the power of B-roll and setting. If you see something that moves you, get it.

Growing up, I was always the friend who carried his camera around. Sure, there were times I never took it out of the bag, but I will always be grateful for the times I saw something worth capturing and I got it. Be prepared and you will always see the world as a storyteller, and you will always be in the right place at the right time.

3. Story Over Gear

5. Sharing Is Caring

Our class and our program are lucky to have high-end gear to work with, but nothing will ever take the place of a good story.

Good stories are thought-provoking, heartbreaking, inspiring, and captivating. We do not judge literature by the paper it was written on or the pen that put the ink down. The magic of the spoken, written, or visual story lies with the storyteller. Drone shots, 4K cameras, and expensive equipment are nice, but they will not make a lackluster story better. Consider this: you can spend money to buy an expensive sports car, but that will not make you a better driver.

Telling a personal story involves risk. As digital storytellers, accept and embrace this risk. Will people like this? What if it doesn’t work? How do I make this better? These are questions you will ask yourself over and over. At some point, you are going to click that upload or share button. It’s scary, and, like a shot in basketball, the moment it leaves your hand, forces of nature take over. Be courageous and believe in what you are doing. Share something with the world that has not been seen before. Believe that your one minute of film or that one picture will inspire the person looking at it.

4. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Key Takeaway

When it comes to editing, you are always going to find things that need your attention. You will pore over the one second of footage that might not be correct. You will spend hours (yes, hours!) wondering if somebody will notice that one of your transitions is slightly off. Nobody will be a harsher critic of your work than you are. It is important to take your work seriously and to care deeply about how it looks when presented to others, but you will have to learn when to stop.

Being satisfied with your work will be difficult at first, but with practice, you can discover your unique process. Just as with any other new skill, the more time and energy you spend editing and learning your process, the easier it will become.

We tell stories because we want to connect. We want to connect because doing so makes us a part of something larger than ourselves. By showing people who we are, by telling our own digital stories, we are able to provide the world with something unique, and preserve our experience for others to take in. It is an honor to help create a new generation of storytellers, and I look forward to what they have to say.

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News and Notes

Avon Old Farms Ranks Among Top Ten in Regional Robotics Competition

By Jacqueline Sembor

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fter months of creative team engineering in the iconic Avon Old Farms Forge Lab, the Avon Old Farms Rocket Beavers robotics team placed fourth in a regional competition held in Danbury, qualifying them for a state competition held in Greenwich on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The AOF team is captained by senior Peter Feng, China, and supported by a drive team of freshman Calvin Xu, China, and junior Tony Liu, China; autonomous section coder junior Cam Andrews, Burlington, Conn.; and pit worker freshman Dash Corning, Avon.

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), the organization behind the FTC robotics competition in Danbury, compiled these team

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statistics: for its excellent score of 158 in its second-round match, Avon received a spot in the statewide Top Ten list of high individual match scores. The Rocket Beavers are ranked 18th in the state overall, with an average match score of 102, the third highest in the state. The average winning margin of their matches is 64, the second highest in the state.

For most of the day during the Danbury competition, Avon’s alliance score was the day’s high score. To faculty mentors Kimberly Finn-Bolster and Joe Thompson, these are encouraging signs.

“The Loomis and Hopkins robots are impressive and scored well, but by now they are complete, finished products,” said Thompson. “Ours is more of a workin-progress, with tremendous upside potential in the

ABOUT FIRST

FIRST is the world’s leading child-serving nonprofit advancing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). For nearly 30 years, FIRST has inspired innovation and leadership by teaching STEM, teamwork, and problem-solving skills through engaging, handson robotics challenges developed to ignite curiosity and passion in students in grades K–12.

FIRST Robotics Competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Teams of ten students or more are challenged to design a team brand, hone teamwork skills, and build and program a robot to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors.

Students develop design, project management, programming, teamwork, and strategic thinking skills; work alongside professional engineers; build and compete with robots of their own design; learn and use sophisticated hardware and software; and access exclusive scholarships from hundreds of colleges and universities.

autonomous and endgame phases of matches. We consistently put glyphs (scoring cubes) in the box, which got us to where we are. If we can score points in autonomous and bag a bonus or two in the endgame in addition to balancing on the board, we can move up to another level. We’re looking forward to our next two events.”

Each FIRST Robotics Competition season culminates with district and regional events where qualifying teams compete for awards and a spot at the FIRST Championship. Avon Old Farms competed in a local event on Saturday, Feb. 3 and in the state finals in Greenwich on Saturday, Feb. 17, where they vied for a spot in the Pennsylvania Super-Regional in April.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Qasim Basir Visits AOF

In

recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Avon welcomed film writer and director Qasim Basir to campus.

“Mr. Basir’s presentation opened my eyes to what’s going on in the world, and challenged me to see the need to help effect change,” commented Joel Vega ’19.

Basir is an award-winning filmmaker who often weaves autobiographical elements into his movies.

He offers dynamic post-screening discussions of his films as well as engaging keynotes that explore issues of race and Islam, drawing on his experiences growing up black and Muslim in the United States.

His first feature film, MOOZ-lum (2010), was a coming-of-age tale about a Muslim boy going to college around the time of the September 11 attacks. It has received much critical acclaim, with nominations from the NAACP Image Awards and the Black Reel Awards. Basir’s most recent film, Destined, has won nine awards, including Best Director and Best Actor at the American Black Film Festival, and Best Narrative Feature at Urbanworld.

Destined tells the parallel stories of Sheed and Rasheed, played by the same actor. In one world, he is a hardened criminal who has spent years building his drug empire. In another, he is an ambitious architect who has been working his way up the corporate ladder. Uniquely illustrated through parallel lives, Destined explores the idea of destiny as well as how the smallest incident can manifest itself as a life-changing event.

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Athletics

Alumni Hockey Weekend 2018

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or the 2018 Alumni Hockey Faceoff, more than 60 of Avon’s alumni hockey players returned to campus to get on the Jennings Fairchild ice once more. In total, 150 alumni, family, and friends of Avon hockey came together for a weekend full of fun.

Activities kicked off with a reception on Friday night and words by Chris Higgins ’01, Mike O’Neill ’00, Headmaster LaRocque, and of course Coach Gardner.

Together, they set the tone for the weekend and shared news of plans for significant rink renovations, which will begin this March. Many reception attendees continued their hockey reunion at the Olive Bar, where they were warmly welcomed by owner George Psaras ’98.

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Saturday’s game was eagerly anticipated. With alumni from the class of 1971 through 2016 present, event organizers decided to split up the large group into two games: game 1 featured players from the class years 2000 and “older,” and game 2 featured 2001 and “younger.”

Brothers, fathers, and sons were on the ice at the same time. Seeing NHL players on the Avon ice was certainly a treat for all in attendance. There might have been a bit of a difference in the pace between the two games, but the energy and enthusiasm were sky high in both. Every player on the ice made us proud of what it means to be part of the legendary Avon Old Farms School hockey program.

The perfect ending to the day was the family skate, which provided a glimpse of what the next generation of Avon hockey might look like. The memories for some and the dreams of others of wearing the AOF hockey jersey were palpable.

Pink the Rink Varsity B Hockey Hosts Sixth Annual Event

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nce again, Avon’s varsity B hockey squad hosted its annual Pink the Rink event on campus this January. The Winged Beavers defeated the Connecticut Chiefs U15 Elite team 5-2. In conjunction with the event, Avon Old Farms sold Pink the Rink T-shirts for $10, and hosted a dress-down day during school for a $5 donation. Proceeds will go to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, an initiative of the American Cancer Society.

The Kevin Driscoll Bowl

Famed AOF Football Coach Honored

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et ready for the Kevin Driscoll Bowl! Coach Kevin Driscoll ’72, P’08, Avon’s varsity football coach from 1985–2013, was recently honored with election into the NEPSFCA Coaches Hall of Fame. The former New England Prep School championship game will be renamed in his honor.

Coach Driscoll not only influenced the athletic careers of many young Winged Beavers but also was a true mentor to hundreds of students.

Congratulations, Coach!

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Holiday Traditions at Avon Old Farms 2017

Holidays 2017

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Holidays 2017

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Holidays 2017

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Holidays 2017

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A Holiday Tradition in Loving Memory of Pedro L. Vega Jr. ’12

By Jacqueline Sembor Remembering the loss of a loved one is never easy, and ensuring that his memory lives on is always difficult. But for the third year in a row, on Dec. 10, members of the Vega family worked their way out of their beds and set out do both.

Pedro L. Vega Jr. ’12 tragically passed away on Dec. 10, 2013, from what was later discovered to be arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD), a rare form of cardiomyopathy. The shock reverberated throughout the Avon Old Farms community, and many began to ask, “What we can do?”

“Richard and Deborah Previdi, parents of RJ Previdi ’12, who graduated with Pedro, decided to start a scholarship fund in Pedro’s memory the following spring,” shared Pedro’s mother, Carmen, who works as campaign administrator in Avon’s Alumni and Development Office.

“And then, we decided to build around that idea by starting the Pedro L. Vega Jr. Foundation.”

The mission of the foundation is to ensure that Pedro’s legacy lives on and that his personality is never forgotten. His love of music, basketball, and family drive the foundation, especially during the holiday season.

“In 2014, my husband and I were thinking about what we could do to keep Pedro’s influence alive around the holidays,” Carmen continued. “We always heard him talking about the Toys for Tots initiative at Avon—filling the stage with toys, the giant raffle, Mr. Custer telling the story of the Boar’s Head Festival, and then it clicked: we needed to help collect toys.”

Not sure where to start, the family posted about collecting toys in Pedro’s memory on Facebook. And the rest, you could say, is history. Toy and monetary donations started to come in, and a new tradition was born.

Now, on Dec. 10, family members have a family breakfast. Then they go shopping, using the donated funds to pay for a pile of toys they take back to Avon Old Farms.

“We stack the toys around Pedro’s jersey and take a picture, so we can remind everyone that this is Pedro at work, still helping out with Toys for Tots,” said Carmen. “While

I could sit at home and be very sad about losing my son, this is a way for us to fill the day with happy memories of our amazing boy.”

The toys are added to the large display in the Susan B. Casey Auditorium, and the event rolls on. And, most of the time, the Vegas’ efforts go unnoticed at the Toys for Tots event.

“This is about remembering Pedro, and celebrating the things he loved in life,” Carmen continued. “It’s not about pushing hard and raising the most amount of money... While that would be really good, this is more about letting those people who want to help Pedro’s legacy continue to do so.”

In addition to the toy drive, the foundation’s money has also provided funding for the Art Department, purchased a basketball machine for the basketball program, and this fall, provided a financial scholarship to junior Marquis Wilson, of Windsor, Conn.

One hundred percent of all funds raised by the Pedro L. Vega Jr. Foundation goes directly to the fund at Avon Old Farms School. Each May, the Vega family hosts a golf tournament, which brings in between $20,000 and $25,000.

The 2018 tournament on May 29, 2018, will be the fifth annual event, and the family hopes to raise $30,000.

For now, we hope that Pedro’s memory continues to live on, in the memory of Avon Old Farms School.

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Elephant The

Remembers

From the Hartford Courant in 1949 The snow lasted just long enough for the Avon Old Farms School to hold its mid-winter holiday weekend.

Highlighting the activities were the outdoor sports which presented a choice of skiing, skating, tobogganing or, horseback riding. On the schedule was a spirited hockey game.The weekend also featured a songfest and a formal dance, lighted only by candlelight, in the povost’s residence.

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opposite page :

this page :

An informal hockey game

A songfest in Provost Pierpont’s living room

On the way to play some hockey (Paul Child photo)

Visitng Provost Pierpont’s home

Students with Major Cauldwell (at the transit, Frank Leavitt ’52, later AOF director of admission)

Horseback riding down on the fields

The Village Green Winter 2018

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The Last Word

Revisiting Mrs. Riddle’s Campus: a 360–Degree Virtual Tour

By Jaqueline Sembor

Do

you ever daydream of strolling through Mrs. Riddle’s campus of stone and oak, only to open your eyes and realize that the place you once called home is far, far away? Do you ever look back on a yearbook photograph and wonder, Is that tree outside my dormitory window still there, with the bench nestled in its shade? Alumni who have not visited recently would be astonished not only by what’s changed on campus but also by what’s exactly the same.

Now, thanks to the Avon Old Farms Communications Department, alumnus Richard English ’81, and the Class of 1963 Differ Fund, which underwrote some of the costs, you can relive your fondest Avon memories with just a few clicks of the computer mouse. English, a photographer, a virtual tour designer, and the owner of Studio360.pro, has created a virtual world where the Village of Old Farms comes to life on any digital device. With the creation of an immersive 360-degree panoramic virtual tour, it is now possible to travel up the front drive, pass through the Diogenes Arch, and experience a walk across the Quad, all from the comfort of your computer or mobile device.

A lover of photography since his time at Avon, English began to explore the World Wide Web and web design in 1996.

“When we moved to California, we settled in Sonoma

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Winter 2018 The Village Green

County, the first county to offer free internet to its residents,” remembered English. “My mind for puzzles was immediately intrigued, and before too long I was designing my own web pages.”

English’s first website was for Jacquard Products, for which he shot all the photography himself. He was soon completing sites for the local airport, public works, transit, and larger local companies.

In 2001, English and his wife, Colleen, moved back east to Connecticut to raise their son, George, closer to family.

In 2005, English took his career in web development to the next level, offering database integration and the creation of content management systems. Shortly thereafter, he began to notice 360-degree images, another code for him to crack.

And with some patience, he did just that.

“If there’s something that interests me that I do not understand, I study it until I do, and if there is a problem, I find a solution,” explained English, who soon became a Google Street View Trusted Photographer and saw his career in 360-degree photography take off.

“360-degree photography and virtual tours make any location accessible to anyone with a keyboard or a mobile device from anywhere in the world,” he explained. “You really get a sense of what the environment is like.”

With Avon’s new tour, English hopes that this is true once more, especially for prospective students. The web experience combines 360-degree panoramic images with traditional still images and student-produced content to offer those not physically on our campus an opportunity to interact with our world and our students. What does it take to create a tour of an area as big as Avon’s campus?

“It’s eight gigabytes worth of data—in terms of man hours, it was a lot,” said English. “This has been the most involved custom tour that I’ve done. Looking at it through the eyes of an alumnus wishing to share this place with the world was a very pleasurable experience.… Avon has always had a special place in my heart. It was here, that I learned how to work hard, solve problems, and forge lifelong relationships. I am proud and honored to be able to participate in this project and hope people will enjoy it.

Aspirando et perseverando!”

Access the tour at WWW.AVONOLDFARMS360.COM.

2018 Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition

The Village Green Summer 2010

C

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Albany, NY Permit No. 97

500 Old Farms Road Avon, Connecticut 06001 www.AvonOldFarms.com CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Parents If this issue is addressed to your son or to your family, but your son no longer maintains an address at your home, please reach out to us with the correct address.

Email us at: alumni@avonoldfarms.com or use our form online at: www.avonoldfarms.com/UpdateAddress

Now We Gather, Men of Avon Holidays 2017