The Benjamin School Buccaneer Magazine 2005

THE

BUCCANEER The Magazine Of The Benjamin School

Volume III No. 1 – 2005

at

THE

BUCCANEER In Tribute to Peter F. Graham, Head of School for his 16 years of dedicated service to The Benjamin School Family Casey Taylor, Grade 7

Mary Katherine McCloskey, Grade 7

Jennifer Abovich, Grade 6

Jacki Phillips, Grade 7

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 1

N OTE F ROM T HE E DITOR Look, then, into thine heart, and write!

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — Voices of the Night

THE BENJAMIN SCHOOL Peter F. Graham HEAD OF SCHOOL STAFF OF THE BUCCANEER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF KATHY AIELLO, ED. D. MANAGING EDITOR KINCH CATO ALUMNI EDITOR JANNA BISCHOFF ’94 CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER MOYA PHOTOGRAPHY CHRIS OAKES PHOTO SUBMISSIONS BEN MYERS, KELLY MOLLO, MONICA SWEENEY, RHONDA THOMAS GRAPHIC DESIGN KALL GRAPHICS, INC. DEVELOPMENT OFFICE STAFF KINCH CATO DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT KATHY AIELLO, ED. D. DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS JANNA BISCHOFF ’94 DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS DENNIS CHAPMAN DIRECTOR OF EVENT FUNDRAISING & SPECIAL EVENTS CHRIS SELVIG COORDINATOR OF DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS

VOLUME III NO. 1

2 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

The simple heartfelt words “thank you” introduce the writings of our third annual edition of The Buccaneer as we dedicate this 2005 issue to our retiring Head of School. Peter Graham’s commanding leadership and staunch support to our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and TBS families is witnessed in his 16-year unwavering commitment for the betterment of The Benjamin School.

Our educator, coach, and school leader has devoted more than a decade-and-a-half of his 47-year educational career to help make each and every TBS student become the best that he can be. The entire Benjamin community extends its sincerest appreciation and fondest best wishes to Pete and Jody Graham as this unforgettable TBS couple embarks upon a much deserved retirement adventure surely to become Second to None.

So it has been with mixed emotion, and in more ways than one, a year that has tugged at our heartstrings.

Our fellow citizens throughout the world and especially those of us here at Benjamin, cannot help but relay our heartwarming gratitude to the brave and courageous TBS alumni serving on foreign soil in the U.S. Armed Forces. Meet the valiant heroes among us in the opening article — Alumni Forge for Freedom.

Also featured in this issue (Letters With Love Lure Soldier Home) is a winter campus visit from the U.S. soldier serving in Iraq who traveled from his home in Alaska to offer thanks to our own troop of third graders as each captured the heart of the Army sergeant with their tender words of encouragement composed during a classroom letter writing activity.

Indeed, our hearts ached for those lives shattered throughout the world in the year’s unprecedented siege of natural disaster. The Benjamin community poured out its heart to grant support to the thousands left ravaged in South Asia by the tsunami, and to those so close to home devastated from the season’s hurricane fury. Featured within the forthcoming pages (The Benjamin Community Tenders Hope after Hurricanes and Tsunami) is the outpouring of relief extended by our students, faculty, and families to help brighten the lives of those left to rebuild their tsunami-ridden Sri Lanka, and hurricane-inflicted Haiti and Northern Bahamas.

But once again, we were heartened by the labors of our TBS students and teachers passionately engaged in select community service activities. Volunteer Commitment Kindles Care to Community and Faculty Sabbatical Fosters Futures in Kenya highlight a sampling of this year’s selfless and gallant volunteer efforts.

The on-campus care afforded from the depth of the hearts of each member of our TBS health team is also presented in this issue. Florence Nightingales Nurture Mind, Body, and Spirit details the numerous medical services Benjamin’s trio of clinic nurses provide to our students and campus community all through the school year.

Featured, too, in their heartwarming collective Report From the Field, our five alumni authors individually disclose a diverse glimpse of their personal encounters since they ventured beyond the walls of their Benjamin School alma mater. An in-depth look at three featured TBS graduates pursuing the careers their hearts so desire is also unveiled in this issue’s Alumni Spotlight.

Finally, the tenderhearted TBS tales colorfully divulged by our endeared 30-year retiring teacher in this issue’s featured interview (Masterfully Storyteller Bids Farewell), is certain to embrace the hearts and warm the souls of the many who came before us, and all of us who remain — as The Benjamin School’s much-loved Glenda Lovell bids farewell.

In closing this edition of The Buccaneer, we introduce one of our first second-generation graduates. The memorable Benjamin connections our 2005 alumna legacy and members of her family reveal, clearly touch at our hearts and further strengthen the bond toward a future ultimately tied to a past — the universal TBS link affectionately familiar to us all.

May I invite you now to experience the heart of all that is written in our TBS magazine, as you turn the page and begin your perusal of this 2005 edition of The Buccaneer.

TABLE 4 6 9

OF

CONTENTS

Alumni Forge for Freedom Benjamin Grads Serving the U.S. Armed Forces The Benjamin Community Tenders Hope After Hurricanes and Tsunami Relief Brightens Sri Lanka, Haiti, and Bahamas Letters “With Love” Lure Soldier Home Class Greets Army Sergeant Stationed in Iraq

10

Faculty Sabbatical Fosters Futures in Kenya Building Hopes…Building Dreams…Building a School

12

Florence Nightingales Nurture Mind, Body, and Spirit Nursing Team Soothes with Clinic Care

14 18 20

23

30

THE BENJAMIN SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2004 – 2005 Marianne J. Gold, Chairman Rudy E. Schupp,Vice-Chairman William F. Callahan III, Secretary John R. Purcell,Treasurer Molly Apple Rory Brown Harry M. deMontmollin Llwyd E. Ecclestone III ’80 Gregory J. Fagan

Masterful Storyteller Bids Fond Farewell Tales from 30-Year Retiring Teacher Glenda Lovell

Thomas C. Frankel

Volunteer Commitment Kindles Care to Community Service Projects Lend a Hand

Lynda Jacobs

Alumni Spotlight Hard Work and Luck: A Successful Combination Coaching a Life Path: A Personal Journey to Fulfillment For the Love of Shakespeare: A Director’s Dream A Report From the Field: A View from a Fourth Year Medical Student A View from a Liberal Arts Job Seeker A View from a Campus Writer A View from a College Student Abroad A View from a University Freshman

Lewis Hay III

Kenneth R. Kennerly Robert A. McIntosh Jack W. Nicklaus II ’80 John E. Pew Morris Propp Hal Reed James T. Ritenour Susan B. Sachs

Past and Future Connections: Benjamin’s First Legacy Journeys

32

Images of Beauty Beckon the Heart A Student Display of Visual Art

T HE B ENJAMIN S CHOOL Lower/Middle School Campus 11000 Ellison Road North Palm Beach, Florida 33408 Phone: 561.472.3452 Upper School Campus 4875 Grandiflora Road Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33418 Phone: 561.472.5998 Fax: 561.691.9017 E-mail: Support-TBS@BenjaminSchool.com www.benjaminschool.com/support-tbs THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 3

TÄâÅÇ| YÉÜzx yÉÜ YÜxxwÉÅ Name:

Name: Brad Flournoy ’91

Name: Michael Hewitt ’82

Robert G. Bozic ’85 Class Year: 1985

Class Year: 1991

Class Year: 1982

Military Branch: U.S. Marine Corp

Military Branch: U.S. Army Reserve

Military Branch:

Rank: Captain

Rank: Major

U.S. Army Rank: Major

Year of Service: 9

Years of Service: 18

Career Highlights: Helicopter Pilot; deployed in operations in support of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Operation Enduring Freedom; served in Iraq Special Operations Unit in the rescue of Jessica Lynch

Career Highlights: served active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.; awarded the Meritorious Service Medal; Acting Director of the Plans, Training, Operations, and Mobilization Section of the 3220th Garrison Support Unit

Name: Robert Flournoy ’85

Name: Raymond E. Kramer III ’86

Class Year: 1985

Class Year: 1986

Military Branch: U.S. Army

Military Branch: U.S. Army

Rank: Master Sergeant

Rank: Captain

Name: Chad Bull ’85

Years of Service: 16

Years of Service: 3

Class Year: 1985

Career Highlights: 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group; 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group out of Stuttgart, Germany; Military Freefall Instructor (HALO)

Career Highlights: served as 2nd Armored Division and 4th Infantry Division Legal Assistance Attorney; Trial Counsel (courts-martial prosecutor); Administrative Law Attorney

Years of Service:

15 Robert G. Bozic ’85

Career Highlights: 41st Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain Division; served duty at Fort Sherman, Panama for Jungle School and Sinai, Egypt, as part of the Multinational Force and Observers during Desert Shield and Desert Storm

Military Branch: U.S. Army Rank: Chief Warrant Officer Years of Service: 8.5 Career Highlights: commanded UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and served as line pilot in heavy mechanized infantry division; medevac line pilot

Name: Patrick Malley ’92 Class Year: 1992 Military Branch: U.S. Marine Corps

Name: Jack Burman ’95

Years of Service: 7

Class Year: 1995

Career Highlights: deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom

Military Branch: U.S. Army Rank: Sergeant Years of Service: 3.5 Career Highlights: awarded the Bronze Star with a “V” device for valor; Infantry Squad Leader with the 82nd Airborne in Operation Iraqi Freedom

Jack Burman ’95

4 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

The Heroes Among Us Brian J. Rooney ’91

Name: Scott Smith ’91 Class Year: 1991 Military Branch: U.S. Air Force Rank: U.S. Air Force Academy Years of Service: 3 Career Highlights:

Josh McKenna ’99

U.S. Air Force Academy graduate

Name: Josh McKenna ’99

Name: Richard Sudder ’89

Class Year: 1999

Class Year: 1989

Military Branch: U.S. Army

Military Branch: U.S. Air Force

Rank: First Lieutenant

Rank: Captain

Years of Service: 2

Years of Service: 5

Career Highlights: Signal Corps Division; awarded National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; deployed in the Republic of Korea under conditions of armistice

Career Highlights: JAG Corps; Airborne Operation on foreign soil Operation Enduring Freedom; deployed to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom; Administrative Law Attorney and Ethics Counselor; awarded Army Achievement Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal

Name: Brian J. Rooney ’91 Class Year: 1991 Military Branch: U.S. Marine Corps

Name: Andrew William Rinehart ’01

Rank: Captain

Class Year: 2001

Years of Service: 7

Military Branch: U.S. Army

Career Highlights: Deployed in support of operation Iraqi Freedom; Deputy Staff Judge Advocate to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing; served in Fallujah and Najaf; awarded Navy Commendation Medal as Senior Defense Counsel

Rank: Second Lieutenant Years of Service: Less than 1 Career Highlights: Distinguished Military Graduate – Wake Forest University Army ROTC; U.S. Army Parachutist's Badge

Name: Tom Rooney ’89 Class Year: 1989 Military Branch: U.S. Army Rank: Captain Years of Service: 4 Career Highlights: served active duty Richard Sudder

Name: Carter F. Smith ’72 Class Year: 1972 (NPBPS) Tom Rooney ’89

Military Branch: U.S. Army Rank: Retired Sergeant First Class

Other Known TBS Alumni Military Service Personnel:

Andrew Taylor ’86 Diego Hernandez ’87

Years of Service: 20.5 Career Highlights: led Criminal Investigations Command; instrumental in resolution of numerous felony investigations; Founded the Army’s first Joint Gang Investigations Team

*Information on Benjamin School alumni serving in the U.S.Armed Services can be directed to: Janna Bischoff, Director of Alumni Relations — www.jbischoff@benjaminschool.com.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 5

The Benjamin Community Tenders Hope After Hurricanes and Tsunami

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

I

It was an unprecedented year of catastrophic natural disaster for

hundreds of thousands across the world, throughout the Caribbean, within our state, and for most of us, even in our own backyards.

Images of the tsunami’s horrific wall of water engulfing 200,000

Hurricane Frances also barreled through their island communities.

Residents throughout the Sunshine State and especially those of us living in its near southeastern most tip, soon realized how fortunate and grateful we were to be spared such magnanimous tragedy, even

helpless victims of 11 South Asia countries following Sumatra’s earthquake that explod-

as Hurricanes Ivan, Charley, Frances, and

Like millions throughout

ed from the sea of the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas, became dreadfully imprinted in the hearts and minds of all worldwide.

Jeanne threatened the lives and homes of our Florida and surrounding neighbors, and yes,

the world bound by humanitarian relief efforts, we,

Mother Nature’s deadly fury dared to

even those of us residing here in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

Like millions throughout the world

strike again. Earlier in September, we

too, were compelled to

bound by humanitarian relief efforts, we, too,

witnessed the horror-ridden visions of

reach out — to offer our hearts,

were compelled to reach out — to offer our

thousands trapped in rushing mudslides racing through the ravaged towns of Haiti

hearts, our support, and our aid. We had to

our support, and our aid.

when Hurricane Jeanne pounded her

do something. We had to grant relief. The Benjamin community was no exception as

wrath through the Caribbean. Impressions of the northern end

students, parents, faculty and staff devoted their time and talent, and

of the Bahamas stayed with us, too, as we observed thousands of

hearts and resources to assist their fellow humankind in South Asia,

anguished residents lingering against their splintered and shattered

Haiti, and the Bahamas through the School’s charitable relief activities.

homes, knowing a month earlier the vicious storm wind and rain from

Artwork by Randell Doane, grade 4 6 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

Tsunami Relief for Victims in Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief Awareness Day of observance opened February 8 at 10:00 a.m. in the North Palm Beach campus gymnasium with a special Lower/Middle School assembly for grades kindergarten through eight, led by Robyn Quaid, Assistant Head of School/Lower School Head.

hope the tsunami relief wristbands will serve as a constant reminder about what happened in South Asia where there are still many people struggling to survive,” said Middle School teaching assistant Cara Scarola, one of a team of faculty organizers for the school-wide fundraiser.

Additionally, Benjamin’s Boy Scout Troop #132 pitched in a donation from their treasury, along with the Upper School’s wristband sale proceeds presented to the Williams’ during a gymnasium assembly held on the Palm Beach Gardens campus.

“The compassion and concern extended to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, and the thousands affected by the tsunami is witnessed by the kindness and generosity of our students, faculty, and staff in this outpouring of support from our Benjamin family,” said Ms. Quaid.

Hurricane Relief for Haiti Instead of celebrating their December holiday party with a class gift exchange, fourth graders brought in toiletry items like toothpaste, shampoo, tissue, and soap for the children of Haiti whose parents perished during the recent hurricanes. Donations of essential toiletry supplies contributed by Benjamin’s class of 2013 were sent to Port Au Prince’s New Life Children’s Home Orphanage where the children are now residents. “Students also contributed 150 toys from the Lower School holiday toy drive for the children’s home,” said fourth grade teacher Nancy Fennell, and the division’s student council advisor.

Following the pledge to the flag and a moment of silence for all those affected by the tsunami and in memory of the thousands who lost their lives, students announced the names of each country impacted, and presented eighth grade science teacher Bobby Williams and his wife a check for the children of Sri Lanka.

Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Williams The native Sri Lankan couple donated their gift to Annunciation Convent who distributed the Benjamin funds to more than 30 orphanages located throughout the island nation ravaged by the tsunami. Sri Lanka was one of the worstaffected regions in South Asia where an estimated 31,000 people lost their lives and about 1.5 million more have been displaced. The loss of property in Sri Lanka has been estimated to be to the tune of 1.3 billion, according to statistics released by the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.

For The Benjamin School, this insurmountable calamity hit close to home, as students and faculty witnessed one of their own teachers so deeply and personally affected. Both Mr. and Mrs. Williams have family members residing in Sri Lanka suffering many losses due to the tsunami. “Some of my relatives escaped with only the clothes on their backs,” said Mr. Williams. “I am deeply touched by the love and affection shown by the Benjamin family. My wife and I are overwhelmed with both joy and sadness, and are at a loss for words to express our gratitude.”

Students raised more than $10,000 for Mr. and Mrs. Williams’ gift by selling tsunami relief wristband bracelets. Students also tied teal blue ribbons around the campus in memory of tsunami victims. “We

TBS parents Donna Eldredge and Amanda Schumacher airlift relief supplies to Haiti.

A total of 44 bags of supplies were flown over to the New Life Home on the aircraft of Donna Eldredge, who accompanied the delivery and visited the orphanage along with fellow Benjamin parent Amanda Schumacher. The School also sent over baby formula and medical supplies donated by Nancy Anderson, also a Benjamin parent who joined fellow parent Nancy Espy and led a school-wide drive in October for the residents of Gonaives, Haiti’s third largest city. More than 80,000 of the coastal town’s 100,000 residents were devastated by flash floods and mudslides spawned by torrential rains left by Hurricane Jeanne.

“Students donated canned goods and necessary items like flashlights, batteries, diapers and baby supplies, and deposited them in THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 7

Hurricane Relief for Northern Bahamas

decorated collection boxes placed at the campuses’ drop-off locations throughout our two-week HEART (Haitian Emergency Aid Relief Task) drive to aid in relief efforts,” said Anderson. “The generosity extended by our students and families was overwhelming.”

The Junior League of the Palm Beaches also pitched in to support the airlift and contributed crates of children’s clothing and shoes for the home’s 90 residents. “Everyone joined together to offer a helping hand,” said Lower School art assistant Liza DeBartolo, a member of the Junior League.

“After we toured the orphanage the children performed several songs for us,” continued Eldredge. “As we said our goodbyes each

What began as a way for Lower School art club members to work through feelings about the season’s hurricanes, turned into the means for fourth and fifth graders to help children in the northern Bahamas severely affected by the storms. The student artists began their work with a swoosh and a swirl of bright abstracts of Caribbean windswept landscapes and selected six designs that were later transformed into a set of colorful note cards.

“Proceeds from our H-ART card sales are being donated to West End Primary School in northern Bahamas,” said Lower School art teacher Ro Sammis, and advisor to the art club. “The student designs were not only inspired by the hurricane names of Frances and Jeanne, but from a myriad of master artists and mediums such as Vincent Van Gogh and his post-impressionist skies, and M.C. Escher and his tessellating patterns,” explained Sammis.

Inspirations from the ancient art of Japanese marbling, tye dye, and silk resist paintings were incorporated into the Hurricane H-ART project. The Lower School artists also integrated children’s literature and weather maps depicting the tropical hurricanes to create their Caribbean images.

Art club members featured their works at FASTFRAME — Palm Beach Gardens during the art merchant’s special November showing of Dealing with the Hurricanes. The student display was also showcased in April at Northern Trust’s Benjamin Brush Strokes

, grade nie Selz Stepha

4

Children from the New Life Orphanage in Haiti greet Mrs. Eldredge.

and every child hugged and kissed us. We then visited a small orphanage in the middle of Port Au Prince. The conditions were very cramped, with just two bedrooms and 25 children to sleep in each, and only a small courtyard to play.

Amazingly, the children were full of love and happy to have the company.”

“This wonderful experience could not have happened without the support of the fourth grade class and The Benjamin School,” concluded Eldredge.

8 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

annual exhibition and ice Jeane tte Br own, cream social. Note cards were availgrade 5 able for purchase at both exhibitions to aid in the relief efforts.

“Students learned how their art can art make a difference, not only as an expression of their experiences, but also to help others in need,” said Sammis. “Much of the West End School was destroyed.

The images our artists created are helping to restore the school.”

Letters

W

With Love’ ‘ Lure Soldier Home

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

What began as a classroom writing assignment in Ms. Pati Higginbotham’s second grade class last year, turned out to spark the motivation to get an American soldier through his deployment in Iraq.

“It was very inspiring to receive a letter from a child,” said retired Sgt. Leonard Wyatt, whose many Army duties in Iraq also included overseeing the distribution of the troops’ mail. When he opened the blind package of letters written by the members of Benjamin’s Class of 2114, Wyatt was so moved, he shared them with fellow officers and the 11 other soldiers he supervised. “It gives you energy,” said Wyatt. “These letters helped get me through my last few months overseas.”

Army soldier Leonard Wyatt thanks third graders for their letters of support.

Wyatt began emailing the students and sending them letters, and also forwarded the class a PowerPoint presentation filled with dozens of pictures he had taken while serving in Iraq. “The students sent me their class picture, but I wanted to meet and shake the hand of each and every letter writer,” said the 40-year-old soldier who retired after returning home from duty in April 2004. “I promised myself that if I ever visited Florida, I would come by and visit The Higglet Troop, 2nd Division, 2P Unit, Room 71.”

Wyatt kept his promise, and traveled all the way from his home in Alaska to do so. Following an Army conference he attended near Orlando in December, the sergeant and his wife, Sgt. Patricia Wyatt, made a special trip south to meet Benjamin’s third graders. “I just wanted to come by and say, “Thank you,” Wyatt told the students.

“Your words meant so much to me and the other soldiers that are there. Till this day, I still read your letters as a reminder of how truly blessed and grateful I am.”

Members of the Class of 2014.

It was an emotional reunion for Wyatt, Ms. Higginbotham, and Assistant Head of School/Lower School Head Robyn Quaid during a class assembly held in the North Palm Beach campus’ Music Center as students greeted their pen pal soldier with their handmade banner that simply read “Welcome Home Sgt. Wyatt.”

The soldier described his Army duties to the class during a brief presentation, and fielded questions posed by the third graders. “Did you have any solo missions? How come you wanted to join the Army and not play baseball? Was your training hard?” Perhaps the question that drew the biggest reaction: “Did you get to see Saddamm Hussein?” “Yes, the night he was captured,” Wyatt answered. “I was part of the task force that caught Hussein.”

Wyatt urged students to keep writing to the troops as he concluded his visit. “They need your support, your prayers, and your love,” he said, as he presented Ms. Higginbotham’s class a parting gift — his plaque of gratitude engraved with the following inscription: For special thanks to the second grade students of The Benjamin School for their support and prayers for the soldiers who are fighting to win freedom for others.

— An American Soldier Wyatt exchanged salutes with the class as he and his wife bid the students a tearful farewell, but not until the soldier leaned over and shook the hands of his 80 letter writing pals…each and every one.

Above artwork by Jacki Phillips, grade 7

Ms. Pati Higginbotham, Sgt.Wyatt and Ms. Robyn Quaid.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 9

Faculty Sabbatical Fosters Futures in Kenya

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D. HE’S

TRAVELED THROUGH

50

COUNTRIES AND SIX CONTINENTS OF THE WORLD, BUT HIS MOST SIGNIFICANT

JOURNEY THUS FAR HAS BEEN TO

BENJAMIN’S UPPER SCHOOL THROUGH

IN

KENYA’S

SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER JIM

HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S

“I

EAST AFRICA,

AFFILIATED GLOBAL

RURAL WESTERN COMMUNITY OF

CUMMINGS

WORLD TEACH

BUNYORE

BEGAN HIS TEACHING CAREER

18

WHERE

YEARS AGO

PROGRAM.

“I continue to learn of Kenyan culture and politics and these

weeks in 10 different African nations over a 12-month period and

cross-cultural interactions,” explained Cummings, the 2002 founder

explored Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, and Mali, to name a few,” he said.

and president of the non-profit organization — Kijana Educational

“My time on sabbatical gave me the opportunity to see vast

Empowerment Initiative (KEEI).

amounts of the world which rela-

“My experiences in Kenya continually

provide

me

tively few people have been, and

with

gain a broader perspective to

unique resources to learn, teach,

think, analyze, and view the

and share,” said Cummings. “The

United States and the world we

knowledge I have gained is of

live,” explained Cummings. “These

fundamental importance to my

direct personal experiences with

teaching and, in particular, of

culture, politics, geography, and

African civilizations and compara-

language have provided me with

tive politics.”

better internal resources with

The School awarded and

which to teach in general.”

funded a year’s sabbatical to

Cummings has furthered his

Benjamin’s Advanced Placement

interest in improving Kenya’s living

comparative

government

and

nonwestern civilizations teacher

conditions and especially educaSocial studies teacher Jim Cummings strengthening relationships in Kenya.

where Cummings spent the 20032004

school

year

working,

studying, and rebuilding a school

“Two small groups of Upper

“These direct personal experiences with culture, politics, geography, and language

community in Kenya.

“During my leave, I spent 26

School students have joined in with me in the summer to help refurbish the Ebusiloli Secondary School,”

have provided me with better internal resources with which to teach in general.”

10 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

tional opportunities for its children.

said Cummings.

“We traveled

together in South Africa with two student groups from the U.S.” “We painted the school building, built walkways, planted tree seedlings, and constructed a classroom, he said. “It’s hard work, and the living conditions we stay in while we’re there are quite simple and basic.”

“Our work is on-going, said Cummings, “and the opportunity to experience that with our students can only help to broaden their perspective of other cultures beyond our own.”

“My exploratory and educational year on sabbatical helped to further my knowledge and understanding of differing cultures, and

The enthusiasm generated for the Kenyan school has expanded

to see my teaching in a fresh light,” reflected Cummings. “I would

into on-campus TBS community service projects and educational

hope my experience will help to encourage fellow faculty members

activities. “Once a year, our students host a community picnic and

to consider a sabbatical opportunity for their personal and profes-

fundraiser at the beach park in Jupiter,” said Cummings. “We’ve also

sional growth, too.”

had some division bake sales. The proceeds we’ve earned from the sale of African jewelry, clothing, and art made by Kenyan residents helps to fund building supplies for our work project. We’ve also purchased textbooks and science equipment for the school.”

“Our work is on-going, said Cummings, “and the opportunity to experience that with our students can only help to broaden their TBS students and Mr. Cummings join with other U.S. student groups in South Africa.

perspective of other Students in the Middle and Upper School have also exchanged letters with their newly established pen pals at Ebusiloli, and created

cultures beyond our own.”

video projects throughout the year following classroom presentations by Cummings, who has documented his African travels and refurbishing efforts with an extensive photography and artifact collection. At the invitation of Cummings, Charles Anabaka, a school board member of Ebusiloli, visited with students in TBS classrooms during a 2003 trip to the United States.

In addition to his work with the Kenyan school, Cummings continues to assist the Bunyore community to help improve their living standards through his efforts in KEEE. “We’ve worked with the local people to provide a water collection system, and we are exploring energy resources,” said Cummings. “We’ve also recorded our work activities in two newsletters that have been published, in addition to establishing a website for the organization.”

“These efforts have provided much needed employment for the community, which has helped to cultivate a tremendous amount of goodwill toward our community and our nation from this small rural Kenyan community,” added Cummings.

The Ebusiloli Secondary School in the community of Bunyore.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 11

The Benjamin School’s healthcare clinic team — Karen Velinsky, Phyllis Hughes, Mary Beth Donaldson.

Florence Nightingales Nurture Mind, Body, and Spirit “My head hurts, my throat hurts, everything hurts,” announced the teary-eyed boy as he sadly entered the TBS clinic.“I think I have a broken heart.”

When Lower/Middle School nurse Phyllis Hughes queried more, she soon learned the distressing aches and pains of her first patient of the day resulted from being cast-off by a friend — in particular, a female friend. After a quick “heart-to-heart,” and guarantee that his head, throat, and heart were in excellent physical condition, the newly comforted young student heaved a quick sigh of relief, and eagerly headed back to his classmates and teachers in his Lower School classroom.

“We heal the internal hurts just as often as the physical ones,” said the campus nurse, who shares the duties of caring for Benjamin’s pre-kindergarten through eighth graders with nurse Karen Velinsky. Nurse Mary Beth Donaldson takes care of Benjamin’s ninth through twelfth graders at the Upper School campus clinic in Palm Beach Gardens.

If you asked the trio of school nurses what their primary role is, their resounding answer would be “to ensure the safety of every single student on campus.”

A day with the TBS nurses certainly comes with that guarantee, and a whole lot more. The three RN’s also administer medication, tend to students with minor injuries like cuts, splinters, and abrasions, in addition to educating students on health related activities, such as hand-washing, diet, and exercise.

Nurse Phyllis Hughes 12 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

“With our new AED’s (automated external defibrillator), we’ve been conducting training with students in the Middle and Upper School,” said nurse Donaldson. “Our goal is to have as many students as possible certified in their usage, now that we have a total of seven located throughout both campuses. Knowing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and how to use the AED can be life-saving in an emergency.”

“We also visit classrooms and talk to students about various medical conditions, like asthma and allergies, to help them better understand what a classmate with a particular disease or illness may be experiencing,” continued nurse Velinsky. “We’re able to answer many questions to make it supportive and comfortable for the individual student and the class.”

The medical education and training doesn’t stop there. The three conduct in-service workshops for Benjamin’s faculty and staff throughout the year in biohazard management, playground safety, and CPR/AED. Palm Beach County Health Department guidelines requiring specific health related training for teachers is led in-house

by Benjamin’s nursing team.

“We do have students on campus who require frequent monitoring and support with diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile diabetes, chronic asthma, severe allergies, and other illnesses,” she said. “Fortunately, we all work together to make sure students receive the care they need while on campus,” explained Donaldson.

“Students know we’re here for them.”

Nurse Karen Velinsky

The immunization record-keeping the Health Department mandates is also managed by the TBS nurses. Their computer software program SNAP, serves as a central database for all health records, clinic visits, dispensing of medication, and any other necessary medical details related to the student. “This gives us an immediate resource for charting student health information,” said nurse Hughes. “Each of us has the same records available at either campus, so we can follow-up with a student no matter which one of us cared for him previously.”

The health team’s effort frequently extends beyond the school day, too, when the nurses are occasionally called upon to accompany students and faculty on select out-of-town field trips. In addition, “a great deal of our time is spent keeping in telephone contact with parents,” said nurse Velinsky. “We like to communicate information back-and-forth to provide the best health support possible for our students.”

Benjamin’s clinic team is part of the student services umbrella of support services available to students and families of the School. “If we have a child with a need for outside referral, we work together with parents and our guidance counselors,” explained nurse Donaldson.

(above) Mrs. Velinsky leads sixth graders in a CPR/AED classroom workshop.

Students know it so well, on an average day about 50 visitors frequent the Lower School clinic, and about half that many on the Upper School campus. “The largest number of students who came to see us one day at the Lower School clinic was 93,” recalled nurse Hughes. “But that was flu season.”

“Many times students are simply looking for a band-aid, or cough drop, even pretzels when they get hungry,” explained nurse Hughes. “We hand out plenty of Nurse Mary Beth Donaldson. ice for minor bumps and bruises,” added nurse Velinsky.

But for those days when medical emergencies arise, or students become ill at School, and for those who need their everyday assistance, it’s reassuring for students and parents to know Benjamin’s Florence Nightingales are ready, willing, and able to lend their safe care and comforting support. Benjamin’s nurses have even been known, on at least one occasion, to strive their best to soothe a broken heart.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 13

Masterful Storyteller

Bids Farewell An Interview with 30-Year Retiring Teacher Interviewed by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

Q. A.

What influence from your past led you to select teaching as a profession?

I am a fifth generation teacher. It’s genetic by now and probably quite lucky that I truly love teaching. Had I considered another profession, it might have proven difficult at those family reunions.

Q. A.

How did you become introduced to North Palm Beach Private School?

In 1974 two neighbors had their children enrolled here and invited me to attend the Christmas program. Watching the North Palm Private Chorus and the band perform and finally seeing Mr. B. arrive with his Santa hat smiling and greeting the children, I remember getting chills, thinking that I wanted so much to be a faculty member here.

Q. A.

What were the campus surroundings and the school climate like during your early years here?

Trees, exotic foliage, and the ever-winding paths that led to the playground, classrooms, and to the office all created an enchanted environment for all. For extra measure there was the fishpond, the source-meeting place for those initial interviews in those green Adirondack chairs. Springtime’s arrival was deemed official when the froggy peepers sang their hatching song from the fishpond to all.

Behind the old rooms #7 and #8 were areas where various critters showed up from time to time. Many a land crab somehow made it across U.S. 1 and the FPL station to the back lot of our rooms.

Finding an entrance they danced the sideways dance right into our open sliding glass doors. We’d catch them by sweeping them up into the garbage cans and then someone would donate part of their peanut butter sandwich for its lunch. After lunch we all went out to release them.

Another memorable critter was Boxy the tortoise. Boxy usually lived out of sight but on Mondays he often appeared, having

14 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

Glenda Lovell forgotten that the wide open weekend was now over. Boxy burrowed a fine abode right behind that sliding glass door, and he was the last thing the kids wanted to see in the afternoon and the first in the morning when they got to school. We roped his lot off for him and made a fine sign that said “Home of Boxy.” Many creative writing stories appeared in his mailbox. Somehow, he never wrote back.

Q. A.

Do you have a memory or two that are your fondest or funniest?

In those early days one corner of the classrooms was the designated site for reading. On cold days I’d bring a blanket so we could snuggle and be “toasty readers.”

Once Jane Hig got moved to second grade the fun really started.

Glenda Lovell and Jane Hig No one wanted to be absent because there was always something going on in second grade that was too good to miss. For instance, there was the common heating system rigged up beside the closets. It was easy to hear through the vents and so every time a student in her room sneezed, our class would yell, “Bless you!”

Jane and I had another plan for our “needys of the day.” Those were students who had lost a pet, or were sad for some reason.

Jane would send that student to my class. “Go over there and ask if you can borrow a box of chalk,” she’d say. Off the student would go, happy to just run an errand for her. But that wasn’t where it ended. The student was ushered in and asked to wait while I found some chalk. Into the closet I went, bringing out

Christmas decorations, ribbons, old belts and scarves, hats and jackets that were left, anything that we could salvage for the dressing project. I’d say, “Let’s give Missig a surprise!” The bewildered student suddenly caught on as the class offered suggestions about how to dress him up. I’d wrap masking tape around his middle and put the box of chalk there, then put a hat on his head, stick a scarf here and there for accent, and staple papers together for notebook paper gloves. As he went out the door I’d say to my class, “Shhhhh…let’s listen to see how her class likes what we did!” Everyone was deathly quiet as they waited for the response. Presently we heard Jane answer the door and say, “Woooooomygoodness! What DO we have here!” And her class laughed and laughed and we laughed and laughed.

A.

There are several Hig moments.

The first one occurred when I stopped into her Pre-K art room where she was teaching before we teamed up in second grade. I spied a piano in the corner and as she was up on a stool hanging pictures, I began to play. I never told her that I had been playing for years. It was around Christmas time so I played “O Holy Night” in a dyslexic classical style in which I rolled out promising layered arpeggios and ended up in the wrong key with the ending note. She told me later that she had felt so sorry for me that she planned to put me on the church prayer list and help me get a hearing aid.

Somewhere along the line we got down to doing a little Carden. It was easy to get them to concentrate and get good academic results; we simply bribed them. “Now children,” we’d say, “if you’d like these little surprises and (right) Second grade teacher, Glenda Lovell, mirthful moments to continue, in her early years at The Benjamin School. perhaps a grade of 100 on tomorrow’s spelling test would be in order!” And they did.

And we continued the laugh and learn plan.

We were reading “The Bluebird Book” and studying about birds. This was a geography science unit we created to go along with the Carden and the children loved it. It was particularly convenient that we studied this when the mourning doves built their nests in the white columns outside our doors.

The children were very quiet coming in and going out of the classroom so as not to disturb the parent birds. Mr. Phoung would bring a ladder for me to climb from a safe distance to see if the eggs were in yet when the parents left the nest. The birdy reports were a daily must.

When Gordon Terwilliger was the Lower School head he arrived on the scene with little or no experience. It took intensive training on the part of Jody Shuman and Lisa Arline to remind him about what needed to be done when. He took most everything literally. Between Jane Hig’s room and mine was THE teacher restroom. On one particularly cold morning I took a 3" x 5" note card and taped it across from the toilet Middle school teacher, Glenda Lovell, with her seventh grade history students.

In an attempt to elevate the that read, “Seat warmers hands-on experience one of our students brought in a dead bird available in room #7.” Gordon, not wanting to be out of the loop, one morning. Jane and I were rather appalled to say the least. went into Jane’s room and asked for a seat warmer. Jane had not But what to do! yet seen the notice to know that once again she was the object of I could hardly wait to go and show this to Joanna Hogan and mirth and she replied, “Seat warmers? WHAT seat warmers? Seat Catherine Kelly. I told them to open the cigar box and see what warmers. I don’t know anything about seat warmers. But it sure they were getting for an end of the year bonus. Meanwhile, this is cold in that bathroom!” Gordon turned red and left the building was a serious issue to be solved. Jane and I quickly formed a quicker than Elvis. plan. We’d have a funeral.

How long did you teach second grade and what sparked your First the cigar box was lined with tissues. Then some of the mind to teach Middle School history? children sneaked out the sliding door and the flower committee was dispensed to pick a few weeds. The choir was chosen to sing I taught second grade Carden for 17 years. In the afternoons we the National Anthem as a processional. I was tempted to change were departmentalized and I taught geography science and various the lyrics to “O say can you see any bird mites on me?” The rest forms of creative writing and history. When the Middle School of the class donated stickers to decorate the Hav-a-Tampa casket. became a reality, I asked Pete to let me go to seventh grade and Then off we went. The birdy-bearers took their job seriously but I teach World History I. Once I left, he never let me come back to unwisely chose 4 little hands that belonged to 4 different brains Lower School and get a doughnut on Friday. and unfortunately birdy spilled onto the walkway. Fortunately, however, the tissue bringers came to the rescue and plopped birdy Is there a particular student and/or faculty incident you recall that back into his box and on we went to the back yard of the is memorable to you?

Q. A. Q.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 15

classroom. There a hole was dug and birdy was laid to rest, probably somewhere near the lost time capsule.

There was a very large cat that appeared at the school. It was said to belong to Mrs. B. but we were not exactly sure. It was a morethan-usual longhaired Persian with a voice that sounded like Lauren Bacall gargling Texas Pete and claws that could be called talons. However, it never caused any trouble and if we had our doors open on a nice day the cat occasionally appeared. But Jane didn’t like cats so her door was closed Aha. One day I sneaked outside and looked in Jane’s window. There she was with her head in the closet. “THE” cat was lying outside in front of her door. I picked the cat up and tossed it in her room and made the Glenda Lovell performs with Middle School vocalists at the Benjamin Breakfast Club.

“SHHHhhhhhh!” signal to the kids. “Missig!

Missig! There’s a cat in here!” “Now everybody needs to be quiet.

Finish up your work!” she said from high on a stool. Then all of a Any comment about Mr. Benjamin you would care to make? sudden she turned around and saw the cat. “What is THAT thing doing in here?” One philosophical student was unphased by the Marshall commanded respect because he dispensed it freely among whole event. He said, “That’s not important. I just want to know his students. If they held each other in high esteem it was because why would a teacher throw a cat in the room.” he modeled it so well.

Q. A.

Can you share your experience leading students on international studies to London and Italy?

The greatest part of any trip is to see a student gain and share observations. They begin to connect parts of history together and all kinds of questions are born of discoveries. Visual memories stay with them like screen savers in their minds.

Q. A.

How have you combined your natural musical gifts with your teaching?

It has been fun to compose a theme around music and poetry for student productions. We presented three programs that we wrote ourselves in second grade in which every student was involved in singing, dancing, and acting in many ways. The use of art has also been helpful.

Drawing and illustrating points, the use of symbols and color to teach architecture, heraldry, or the walled ancient cities of China in front of the students helps them to visualize and engage freely in the fine art of design and doodling for problem solving.

Glenda Lovell and Jane Hig reunite during a joint second and seventh grade Egyptian history lesson.

16 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

Q A. Q. A.

What is your primary mission/goal you have strived to get across with your students?

That every child has a mission to find a passion that allows them to contribute and participate in making their own history, whether it is in the area of literature, the arts, math, science, music, athletics, or the languages. Also, if a student is not recognized by a teacher for making progress, slow thought that may be, it is like withholding fertilizer from a plant and forgetting to weed.

Q. A.

How has the new technology influenced your teaching the past few years?

I have mastered the art of responding to Benjamin emails. I have not yet outsmarted the SmartBoard but I am working on that, too.

The most unique adventure at this school aside from its amazing faculty is the advent of technology. My students can pull up excellent sources from the Benjamin library to do their research papers while creating files for home access. Our excellent tech staff keeps us up to date and wellinformed about operations and opportunities, and we are able to produce excellent results.

Q. A.

What have you enjoyed most about working for so many years at TBS?

Q. A.

Would you care to share any details regarding your upcoming retirement plans?

This summer I will marry someone I have known since middle school from the small town of Clinton, North Carolina. Being avid Tar Heels fans, we’ll be right there for every home basketball and football game. I will send along my email address when I get computer oriented and I hope to hear from students, friends, and parents as well. I will be returning from time to time and will keep up with the website, probably wishing that Rhonda was prompting me to add more to my website. And I DO hope SOMEBODY will send me some of those faculty emails to which I can add comments.

Q. A.

Are there any parting words of wisdom you have for us here at TBS?

Everyone I have taught, taught with, and taught for has influenced me. Developing lasting memories and witnessing a student’s defining moment gives such joy. To teach in a school in which hopes and dreams can be planted, fed and realized is a humbling experience.

Another thing that is enjoyable is talking with former students and parents and sharing those memories and updates on those dreams.

Q. A.

Is there anyone one else you would care to comment about?

Ms. Lovell at the 2005 Middle School field day.

Kathleen Devine. Kathleen is one of the best natural resources of The Benjamin School. There is no aspect within our three divisions that escapes her notice; with her passion, strong moral convictions and character she has influenced many.

What an intellect for education she has! We shared a teamship that has been truly a delight. Marshall Benjamin would have realized that Glenda with friend and academics were prospering within colleague, Kathleen Devine. any classroom where Kathleen dwelled therein. To have a best friend with whom one can share a profession is a rare and fine gift. I am a better teacher for having known her. I am a better friend to others because she has been mine.

Some of the best teaching comes from forming a conspiracy with the kids.

This is the same advice I would give a great babysitter. I learned that from Roald Dahl’s obituary in the New York Times. It takes a group to form a conspiracy and a bond forms among its members along the way. Plotting goals and participation methods involve input from all the conspirators and result in a lovely shared leadership in which everyone is valued.

One of my favorite things to do is remember each student on the last day of school. I started this my first year of 1975-1976 when I went down the row and told each student something that I remembered about them during the year. It often appeared as a form of blessing and featured observations and predictions of how I “see” them in the future. It let them know that they were actually noticed and remembered. The blessing, of course, ended up being mine.

Q. A.

Any other comment you wish to make?

I will miss this place for the rest of my life. Images of so many of you will appear in unexpected times at unexpected places. The rich and varied heritage from the past and present characters in Benjamin will pop up in dreams and images, during parallel events and for episodes of problem solving and creativity. What an adventure this has been! How fortunate I am to have lived in a place in time that coincided with The Benjamin School.

What an adventure this has been!

How fortunate I am to have lived in a place in time that coincided with The Benjamin School.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 17

Volunteer Commitment Kindles Care To Community

Grade Level Volunteers Make for a Special Field Day When Palm Beach County School District faculty member Pam Malone asked the Middle School for help with Dwyer High School’s Annual Field Day this year, the 91 members of Benjamin’s class of 2009 responded with a unanimous yes.

For the past five years, the TBS parent and adapted physical education teacher has planned, organized, and directed the annual athletic event on Dwyer’s football field for 100 special education students from Dwyer High and Jupiter Middle School.

“I never have any help,” she said. “It’s always just me, and I couldn’t handle it by myself anymore,” said Malone. “Besides the athletic events, we also hold opening ceremonies, have a cookout, and give award medals to the students.”

“Pam contacted us and asked us if we would help,” said Barb Petterson, a member of the TBS parent Hospitality Committee who also assisted with the activities. “We thought it was a great cause and it’s hands-on for the kids.”

From the start, Benjamin's students embraced the project enthusiastically. With Malone’s input, eighth graders helped design the official field day T-shirt, planned their roles in the event, and also raised money.

Throughout the day’s activities, Benjamin’s eighth grade volunteers steered wheelchair participants across the finish line in the 100yard dash, paired-up with runners and led those on crutches down 18 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

the track in the 440-yard relay, escorted leapers to their mark in the standing broad jump, and guided the arms of participants lined up for the tennis ball toss.

Benjamin’s field day assistants also distributed bottled water and grilled hot dogs, set up tables, and offered enthusiastic cheers of encouragement throughout the day’s festivities. A celebration water balloon toss concluded the annual athletic competition.

“It's an awesome experience to know you’re helping out these kids,” said eighth grader Erika Strasser, a member of the timing/recording committee who also sang during opening ceremonies. “It’s just awesome.”

Next year, organizers hope to do even more. “We’re hoping this continues, establishes a tradition,” said Middle School faculty member Kathleen Devine. Undoubtedly, Malone and Benjamin’s rising eighth grade class, and especially the 2006 Field Day participants looking forward to next year, would wholeheartedly agree.

Service Projects Lend a Hand

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

Student Service Helps to Educate

Sam Silverman Books on Tape

AJ Gold Operation Hope

Sam Silverman is helping

When the Class of 2007

to improve literacy in area

helped refurbish Operation

public schools through the

Hope House two years ago,

Books-on-Tape project he

eighth grader AJ Gold was

founded as an eighth grader

part if the TBS work crew

three years ago as part of his

that helped paint the home-

TBS community service com-

less shelter’s hallways, din-

mitment.

ing, and office areas.

More than 400 Bookson-Tape are now available to

She also inquired to Executive

Director

Ken

low-income elementary students in Palm Beach County classrooms

Bowers about additional needs of the women and children temporar-

as a result of the partnership the Benjamin junior initiated with

ily residing in the community facility. Since that time, the Benjamin

Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.

sophomore has dedicated nearly every Sunday teaching basic com-

“College students are the readers for the tapes.” Silverman said.

puter skills to the Hope House residents.

“There weren’t many tapes around that matched the books students

“My girlfriend and I first had to equip the shelter with comput-

needed for school. Now they have some and we’re making more. It

ers that were donated,” Gold explained. “We then started teaching

takes a long time, but it’s worth it.”

the kids how to use them. Their moms wanted to learn, too.”

Silverman has also been raising funds for tape recorders, so stu-

Each week during her two hour computer sessions, Gold

dents in need of reading support will have the opportunity to further

teaches the women common software programs like Word and Excel.

their reading at home.

“Eventually they leave the shelter and need to find work,” said Gold.

The Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties

“They need to know how to use the computer.”

took note of Silverman’s efforts at their annual recognition ceremony

“We use some educational computer games to show the kids

in December, and presented him one of their five Unsung Hero

how to do better on their FCAT tests,” revealed Gold. “The kids have

Awards, along with a check for $5,000 to continue his work with

fun with it, and so do we.”

Books-on-Tape.

“When the women and children move out of the shelter, they’ll

The 2005 Dwight Allison Fellows Award honoree was noted as

need computers to practice what we’ve shown them,” said Gold.

“an ordinary citizen who serves his community in extraordinary ways.”

“I’m excited the project is growing,” said Silverman. “I’m glad I could help.”

“We’re working on trying to get some computers donated they can take with them when they leave.”

“The skills AJ has been teaching will be a tremendous help to our residents as they reenter the work force and when students get back to school,” said Bowers.

In appreciation of her hard work and volunteer efforts, the Board of Directors of Operation Hope recognized Gold in December with their Outstanding Community Service Award “for your positive contributions in making a difference in the lives of women and children.”

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 19

A LUMNI S POTLIGHT

W ILL R HODY ’00

Hard Work and Luck: A Successful Combination “IF

YOU WANT TO BE GOOD,

YOU’VE GOT TO WORK HARD AND HAVE A LITTLE LUCK.”

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

T

That’s the advice from place kicker Will Rhody, a 1st Team Division II All-American from Valdosta State. The 2000 Benjamin alumnus shared his quick menu for success during a recent visit on the Upper School campus where you can sometimes catch the professional hopeful giving tips to Bucs players.

“I actually enjoy instructing young kickers,” said Rhody. “In fact, I’ve given a few lessons to some of our Benjamin players. I’ve also coached some area middle and high school kickers since I’ve been in town, too.”

Rhody moved back to Palm Beach County after his graduation from Valdosta State in 2004. His record both on and off the field is staggering.

Rhody set a NCAA Division II record his senior year with 19 consecutive field goals, kicked 22 for 23, went 6 for 6 from 40 yards, and scored 56 of 57 point after attempts to help put the Blazers in contention for the NCAA Division II National Title.

“When you get to a championship game, stats don’t matter much,” said Rhody. “It’s whoever wants it more.”

He should know. Rhody hit 5 for 5 field goals for the Blazers in his two trips to the National Championships in their 2002 and 2004 attempts.

“I played soccer and football for two years at the University of Central Florida after playing for Benjamin,” said Rhody. “It was good experience to play for a Division I soccer team. I put in a lot of time punting and kicking while I was there.”

“Now I work out five to six hours a day kicking and conditioning,” said Rhody. “I also take yoga classes. It’s been very helpful for my concentration and flexibility.”

20 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

Clearly the accounting and finance major did much more than kicking at his college alma mater. Rhody completed his academic career with a 3.5 GPA and was named to Valdosta’s President’s List and Dean’s List for his academic accomplishments.

“I felt really prepared for college, especially my English courses,” Rhody said.

“The Feyks’ taught us what we needed to know. Mrs. Wissner’s math classes helped me out, too.”

Part of his spare time at college was spent volunteering at the local elementary school during his junior and senior year. “Some of the players and I we went over every Friday night and read to first and second graders,” said Rhody. “Looking back, it was a good experience to volunteer while I was in high school.”

“My senior internship at Benjamin was also a positive for me,” recalled Rhody. “I interned with the Golden Bear Golf Tour and found out I liked business. I combined that with my math interests and had a successful college experience.”

“Now that I’m back home, My dad and I have gotten together with Coach Ream a few times snook fishing which has been great,” he said. I enjoy getting out in the boat.”

“For now I’m focusing on playing ball professionally,” explained Rhody. “My agent and I are looking at some possibilities. It takes a lot of hard work.”

Clearly, the former Benjamin Buc is not afraid of hard work.

Maybe now, all he needs is a little stroke of luck.

A LUMNI S POTLIGHT

H ALLIE C RAWFORD ’91

Coaching a Life Path: A Personal Journey to Fulfillment

E

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

Even with a decade of work experience behind her and degrees in communications from Vanderbilt University (B.A.) and the University of Illinois in Chicago (M.A.), the now 32-year-old Hallie Crawford still didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up.

That is, not until recently.

“I was working for private and non-profit corporations in marketing and public relations after I finished college, and it just wasn’t for me,” said the class of 1991 Benjamin School alumna.

“I wanted to find something more satisfying — something that fit me both personally and professionally,” said Crawford. “I wanted to channel my communication skills with a career lifestyle that could help others find fulfillment in their personal and professional lives.”

Crawford took a job as an affiliate life coach a year ago at The Center for Balanced Living. “There I found my passion,” said the founder of Authentically Speaking and certified life coach from the Coaches Training Institute.

“It’s so rewarding to help people become empowered,” she said.

“Their energy increases; they attract themselves to more people and possibilities; they become more expressive; they’re able to make positive changes in their lives.”

“Coaching is such a motivating resource to help people find direction and set and achieve goals,” continued Crawford. “As a life coach, I help people break through barriers and focus on who they are and where they want to go. The plan helps give people a chance to have greater balance in their lives. They feel less frustrated and accomplish more.”

“My clients learn they don’t have to settle for less than what they could be,” explained Crawford, who works with professional career seekers, job changers, and business executives, as well as new stay-athome moms and young adults in search of their career and life path.

“I give them a fresh perspective — the practical tools to guide them through the process. Together we plan strategies so they can take action.”

“It takes confidence to set your standards high and achieve what you want,” Crawford said. “I feel very fortunate to have the confidence it takes to try new experiences. My 14 years at Benjamin helped to instill that, I believe, by setting high standards and giving me opportunities to achieve those expectations. The School was always caring and nurturing.”

“It’s been exciting coming back to TBS this year and speaking to students in the Upper School,” she said. It brings back fond memories of the time I spent there — the puppet shows, the sixth grade trip to Washington, D.C., playing in the band, and learning to read with Mr. Benjamin.”

“The people you meet here, stay with you,” the Benjamin lifer told the members of the class of 2005 during one of her classroom guest speaker visits. “It’s essential even before you head to college to think about values and begin to select choices that interest you.”

Crawford conveyed a few of these same tips to TBS seniors she shares in the young adult group forums she also conducts in her life coaching business. “The support network you already have in place with your friends and teachers is always there,” she said. “It’s vital to keep in touch.”

“Staying connected is important to giving your life balance, and also helps for inroads into your career,” advised Crawford who is also a member of the International Coach Federation. “Your past experiences and those you’re about to realize will help you to create your own unique mission,” she said.

“My own individual discovery has been the source for me to unlock my life’s purpose,” Crawford revealed. “Now I’m able to guide others through the steps to their personal journey to a fulfilling life path.”

It’s a tall order that satisfyingly fits this confident and creative life coach, and a welcome challenge she enthusiastically musters.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 21

A LUMNI S POTLIGHT

S EAN D ANIELS ’91

For the Love of Shakespeare: A Director’s Dream

Y

“You can never get too far away from The Benjamin School theatre group,” said Cal Shakes Associate Artistic Director Sean Daniels, who recently traveled to New York City to audition TBS alumnus Peter Katona ’93 for a cast part in the San Francisco theatre company’s upcoming Charles Dickens production.

The class of 1991 Benjamin School graduate joined Cal Shakes last summer after 10 years in Atlanta leading Dad’s Garage Theater Company as its co-founder and artistic director.

“The day after my graduation from Florida State, nine of my college buddies, all improv artists, headed from Tallahassee to Atlanta and rented a warehouse to start our theatre,” said Daniels. “We thought the crowds going to the 1996 Olympics would be interested in seeing some theatre. We quickly learned the only thing they were going to watch in Georgia were the Olympics.”

Despite the entrepreneurial miscalculation, Dad’s Garage quickly gained national reputation for its ability to not only produce original work by nationally known playwrights, but to attract a much younger audience to the theatre.

Daniels went on to produce over 50 plays, half of which were world premieres, and 20 were commissioned by the theatre. The company won numerous prestigious theatre awards under Daniels’ direction, including five years running as Best Atlanta Theatre Company and Daniels’ himself being named Best Director of 2000 and 2001 by the local paper, Creative Loafing.

Daniels was also named One of Seven People Reshaping And Revitalizing the American Musical by American Theatre Magazine, in addition to being praised by critiques as “one of the top 15 up and coming artists in the U.S., whose work will be transforming America's stages for decades to come.”

“I credit my parents for instilling in me the passion to pursue my dreams,” said Daniels who was introduced to the theatre by his mother at age eight when she signed him up for a recreation center drama class where he was cast as Winnie the Pooh.

Daniels also became involved in school plays when his parents enrolled him at The Benjamin School beginning in the eighth grade.

“We had a lot of fun on that little stage in the Music Center,” said Daniels. “I remember how much we enjoyed doing Grease my senior year. Mrs. Salivar was really dedicated and worked so hard on everything for the theatre department.”

“She really inspired me,” Daniels recalled of his former drama

22 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

teacher and Benjamin’s current Upper School Performing Arts Chair.

Mr. Kehl was really good to me, too,” said Daniels of the former TBS Headmaster. I had to go to his office a few times for conferences with my parents. He always stuck up for me. I think Mr. Kehl knew I really wasn’t all that bad.”

Now as Cal Shakes Associate Artistic Director, Daniels is already proving how good he can be with his 2004 critically acclaimed debut production of Comedy of Errors, his first Shakespearean attempt.

“You’ve got to make your own way, and always keep working,” said Daniels in describing his success. “We’re introducing new generations of theatergoers to the classics with creative and unconventional productions,” said the 31-year-old resident director who is also leading the theater’s efforts to develop younger audiences.

Artistic Director Sean Daniels (center) at Cal Shakes Theatre.

“Nobody owes you anything, is how I approach what I do,” said Daniels.

Combine that philosophy with Daniels’ strong work ethic, and it’s assured his upcoming projects of Shakespeare’s Othello and Dickens’ The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby are certain to be acclaimed hits.

Unquestionably, Atlanta theatre lovers are better off because of what Daniels gave them at his Dad’s Garage. It looks like San Francisco’s audiences will be better off because of him, too.

A REPORT FROM THE FIELD

A View from: A College Student Abroad

by Paul Lawler ’02

I

am a junior at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill majoring in Political Science. However, this semester I am studying abroad in Sydney, Australia, at the University of New South

Wales. The school is huge with over 40,000 students including 8,800 international students from more than 120 different countries. I live with nine other guys in a house in an eastern beach district of Sydney called Coogee. One of my roommates is Devin Kirvin ’02, and Justin Roemer ’02, who attends University of Sydney, lives right around the corner. I am taking a full course load that includes a political philosophy class that counts towards my major as well as an interesting Australian history class.

I attended a pre-semester marine science program on Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef. The ecosystem of this island is incredible as it is surrounded by a rim of coral that you could easily snorkel out to and explore. Because the island serves as one of the largest nesting places for sea birds in the world, its existence is partially based on the calcification of their droppings. I was assigned to the lucky group that was responsible for recording, weighing and dissecting collected guano!

On our way to Australia we were lucky enough to stop for three nights in Fiji. It is even more beautiful than it looks in pictures. The diving was also incredible as the coral was the most beautiful color I have ever seen. My school schedule allows me to travel on weekTraveling alums Paul Lawler ’02 and Devin Kirvin ’02.

ends, which is my favorite part of studying in Australia. In fact, this past weekend Devin and I traveled to New Zealand. We went skydiving from 15,000 feet, which allowed us a 70 second freefall. It was quite a thrill.

Kyle Smith ’91 and Scott Masaitis ’91, who studied at UNSW 10 years ago, gave us a lot of good advice about what to see both while traveling and in Sydney. They recommended climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and I did when some friends from Chapel Hill come to visit in mid May. Following the end of the semester in June, I plan on spending a month traveling around Asia, including Singapore and Thailand.

I will not return home until mid July, and when I return, I plan on beginning my preparation for the LSAT exam for admission to law school.

this semester I am studying abroad in Sydney, Australia,

at the University of New South Wales. The school is huge with over 40,000 students including 8,800 international students from more than 120 different countries.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 23

A View from: A Graduating Medical Student

by Jeanmarie Burigo ’97

just recently finished

I

the connections that I

medical school at the

made there have contin-

University of Florida

ued to help me along my

and will begin my resi-

career path.

dency in pediatrics in early

At Duke University, I

July. I was drawn to pedi-

was able to design my

atrics because it will give

own major, entitled “The

me the opportunity to

Psychosocial and Ethical

serve as an advocate for

Aspects of Health.”

children,

toward

apply to medical school, I

health policy reform, and

had to complete courses in

engage in growing and

the core premedical sci-

enduring

work

To

relationships

ences (i.e., general chem-

with my patients as they

istry, organic chemistry,

mature and learn. I find

physics,

the challenges and pleas-

These classes are also nec-

ures from interacting with children and participating in

their

and

biology).

essary prerequisites to take Jeanmarie Burigo with her patient Hannah Musgrove at Shands Hospital.

development

the MCAT, the standardized test that plays a signif-

exceptionally rewarding. No doubt I will face emotional and physi-

icant role in medical school admissions. With four year of

cal challenges during my residency; however, children ignite my

undergraduate education completed and an acceptance into medical

inner spirit and when you love your patients, it becomes easy to

school, I was ready to embark on the four toughest years of my edu-

work hard for them.

cation. The first two years primarily focused on the study of basic sci-

Although the preparation for becoming a physician does not

ences such as anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology,

officially begin until college, it unofficially begins much earlier. In

microbiology, and immunology. The second two years focused on

fact, my preparation began as early as second grade in Mrs.

the clinical sciences of medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry,

Higginbotham’s class at The Benjamin School. Learning how to read

obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics. I am now about to embark on

and write was no easy task, yet it was the determination to learn and

my pediatric career and become a resident (resident implies some-

succeed that I acquired at such an early age. Furthermore, the deduc-

body who lives at the hospital because you spend so much time

tive reasonings that I did in Mrs. Ashley’s fifth grade class taught me

there that you might as well live there!).

how to think critically — an important aspect to becoming a physi-

Looking back, I found that each step of the journey — the Lower

cian. In addition, the weekly poems that I had to memorize in Mrs.

School years, the Upper School years, the undergraduate years, the

Hogan’s class helped me develop the skills necessary to memorize

medical school years — to be exciting and rewarding in and of them-

the plethora of information that was thrown to me in medical school.

selves. I have tried not to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel

You wouldn’t think that Mrs. Wissner’s calculus class would have

but rather, enjoy each stage of the journey.

benefited me on my path to becoming a physician; however, those

journey, the most important thing that I have realized is that even in

long math equations helped develop my analytical skills and ability

this age of high-tech health care, a friendly smile, a caring touch, and

to solve complex problems. The skills that I learned at Benjamin and

a kind word are still extraordinarily powerful medicines.

24 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

Along this incredible

A Day in the Life of Fourth Year Medical Student

Jeanmarie Burigo ’97 4:45 a.m. Beep, Beep!

minimal amount of pain that is being adequately treated

I hit my snooze button and roll over in bed.

with Ibuprofen 125 mg q6-8 hours p.m. for pain relief.”

After my brief presentation, we walk into the room and

5:00 a.m. Beep, Beep, again!

discuss the plan with Hannah and her mother. “On to the

I hit my snooze button once again.

next patient.”

5:15 a.m. The last beep, beep!

I shut off my alarm and touch my feet to the ground.

11:30 a.m. Rounds are finally over.

It is now time to go down to the pediatric radiology reading

It’s time to wake up for another day. I quickly shower, get

room to look at our patients’ imaging studies with the

dressed, grab a granola bar and hop in my car on my way

radiologists. Time for Diet Coke #2.

to the hospital.

6:00 a.m. Pre-rounds begin.

12:30 p.m. Noon conference.

Today’s topic is acute renal failure in children. My stomach

I must designate enough time to visit my patients, read

is grumbling. Thank goodness, lunch is provided. I sit

their charts, and write my progress notes. I walk into my

down and my thirst is quenched by Diet Coke #3.

first patient’s room and get my daily hug from Hannah, a very special seven year old girl who has been in the

1:30 -

hospital for the past month due to a rare congenital lung

4:00 p.m. Running the list.

disease called a cystic adenomatoid malformation. “Good

It is time to assign the list of tasks that must be completed

morning, Miss Jeanmarie,” Hannah says, as she wraps her

for the day. I have one new patient to see and two patients

arms around my neck. “I took all my medicines last night

to discharge. In addition, I must check that all labs have

just like I promised you.” I continue with my pre-rounds,

been drawn on my patients, medications have been

visiting a wide variety of patients, from Hannah to a seven

administered, and imaging studies have been done. In the

day old with jaundice to a 16 year old with cystic fibrosis.

midst of feeling overwhelmed, I am stopped in the hall by

7:30 a.m. Daily conference.

My team, comprised of two senior residents, two interns, and four medical students, congregates in a room as the cardiology attending physician discusses the shunt pattern associated with a ventricular septal defect. It is time for my first Diet Coke of the day.

Hannah who is dragging her IV cart behind her so that she can receive a continuous infusion of her antibiotic. “I have a present for you”, she says. “My mom and I bought it in the gift shop.” She then hands me a gift bag and in it, there is a beany baby dressed up as a bride. I am overwhelmed by her kind gesture and am reminded of why I chose to become a pediatrician. Suddenly, the code alarm sounds

8:00 a.m. Morning report.

through the halls. My heart begins to rapidly pound in my

The room is packed full of attending physicians, residents,

chest. “What room, what room?”, I ask the charge nurse.

and medical students who are eager to learn about a

“Room 15,” she screams back at me. I run to room 15,

patient in the hospital whose clinical course will prove to

only to find out that it was a false alarm. The code alarm

be a good teaching case. Hannah’s chest X-ray flashes up

was accidentally pushed and the patient is lying peacefully

on the projector screen and I beam with excitement

asleep in his bed. Back to work.

realizing that we are going to discuss my patient.

5:00 p.m. Time to check out to the night team.

8:30 a.m. Rounds begin.

Throughout my day, I watched knowledge being shared

Presentations, progress notes, and orders must all be done

and diagnoses being uncovered. I was overwhelmed by the

with efficiency and speed. My team gathers outside our

courage that children exhibit when faced with needles

first patient’s room. “How’s Hannah Banana doing

and surgery, torn by having to witness the unconditional

today?,” my senior resident asks me as we stand outside

devotion that parents have in loving their children

her door. I reply, “She had a chest tube placed in her left

through their illnesses, and amazed by the incredible

chest yesterday in the hopes that it will drain the lung

power of love.

infection. If this is unsuccessful, she will need a left upper lobectomy. She has been afebrile and is experiencing a THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 25

A View from: A Liberal Arts Job Seeker

by Stacey Williamson ’00 would have considered that option, but given that even the Girl Scouts had abandoned this tactic, I thought that I could do better.

I decided that maybe moving back to Palm Beach Gardens wasn’t the avenue for me. I resolved that I would move to a new city, and I chose Atlanta, Georgia, as my destination of choice. I started planning my trip, and realized, I don’t know anybody in Atlanta! That is where my ties with The Benjamin School really helped me. I went on the alumni website, and emailed everybody that was listed on that site who lived in Atlanta. I approximate that I emailed 15 people, and every single one emailed me back. I was stunned. I didn’t know any of these people, many of whom had graduated from Benjamin several years before I even entered high school. Yet, because of the bond that Members of the Class of 2000 RaeAnn Mitrione, Benjamin created, they were willing to help me in any endeavor I Stacey Williamson and Megan McLaughlin. wished. I felt like I could trust their judgments on everything from livfter graduating from college in the fall, I, like many of my ing conditions to job situations. I met a real estate agent who went to peers graduating across America, had absolutely no idea what Benjamin, who I knew I could trust to find the best apartment for the sort of vocation to turn to after receiving our respective best price. I even met with one alum for drinks who told me everydegrees. I graduated from Wofford College, a wonderful liberal arts thing I would ever need to know about living and finding jobs in school that is laden with southern charm. My degrees were in Art Atlanta. We talked about the good old days of Benjamin, reminiscing History and Government, a combination that usually raises some eyeabout our favorite teachers and memories. All of the alums I emailed brows. I can tell you all day long about atmospheric perspective or the proved to be the best resource for moving to a new city — far better political undertones of Homer’s The Iliad, yet I am still not quite sure than those websites I had been using. how to make double-sided copies, much less develop an investment In the end, I decided against Atlanta because I got a wonderful plan for retirement. However, a liberal job offer in Palm Beach Gardens at arts education is wonderful because it UBS Financial Services. I assist the shows you how to discover and learn a liberal arts education Senior Vice President with all client independently. I wouldn’t change my service issues and I am facilitating her is wonderful because it education for anything. I credit everymarketing campaign. It has been a lot thing to Benjamin and Wofford. I do fun, and besides learning so much shows you how to discover of have to admit, though, it makes the job regarding economics and my own savsearch challenging. Thank goodness ings plan for the future, (I would like and learn independently. millions of others are in my same posito retire as soon as possible!) I have I wouldn’t change my tion, and we will all gain job experience gotten to work with The Benjamin with time.

School.

I used my resources at education for anything.

So off I went in search of fortune Benjamin to give my boss a unique after graduating from college.

Of marketing opportunity to help parents I credit everything to course, I searched the usual websites pursue their college funding plans for Benjamin and Wofford. with job banks that have thousands of their children. I got to relive my years jobs listed, which lead you to believe at Benjamin, go to the BASH Fashion that finding a job isn’t so hard after all.

Show, and introduce my boss to all of However, this imagination ends when those companies I had applied my old teachers and friends. This was a lot of fun for me. And yes, to started calling me for interviews. Even though my Benjamin eduI did eventually learn to make double-sided copies. cation had taught me to explore all options, I decided that some After much consideration, I have decided that I am going back stones were best left unturned. For instance, I highly doubt that my to graduate school for my master’s degree in mass communications education from Benjamin primed me for selling door to door, which and journalism. Those who know me, know that I have always had the company pitched to me as a “unique opportunity to personally something to say, so why not make it my profession? I feel really old involve yourself with prospects.” I had a distinct feeling that this knowing that my five-year reunion is coming up, but I can’t wait to probably would not lead to career growth. Perhaps in yesteryear I see what everyone else is up to!

A

26 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

A View from: A Campus Writer

by Jamie Weinstein ’02

rom high above Cayuga’s waters, I

F

Each Tuesday, I send my work to the Sun’s associate editor by

wish everyone at Benjamin greetings. I

noon. Later in the day, I get a return email with suggestions or gram-

have been asked to update the com-

matical corrections. I make the changes I want to make and email it

munity on what I have been doing since I left

back to the editor one more time. That night I go down to The Sun’s

Benjamin’s hallowed halls. Currently I am

office in Ithaca and read over it one more time with the editor just

finishing up my junior year as a double major

to make sure everything is right. Then, the next morning, my article

in Government and History at Cornell Univer-

appears in print and I am often barraged with a host of critical emails

sity, where it seems that it is constantly snow-

from people all over the United States and the world — sometimes

ing — that is probably because it nearly

even emails from people of note.

always is. Needless to say, it is quite a contrast from the golden beaches and warming sunshine of North Palm Beach.

At Cornell, I have been very active politically since the moment

I have found writing to be very enjoyable and rewarding, allowing me to think positions out so that I can argue them cogently. It has also allowed me to garner national attention, as my work has

I stepped foot on campus.

been published in such places

Whether it is debating oppo-

as The South Florida Sun-Sentinel

nents on Ho Plaza or organizing lobbying trips to Washington, D.C., much of my time is spent outside the classroom.

Much of that extracurricular time has been spent writing.

From day one at Cornell, I have been a writer. For two years I wrote an online column for The Cornell Review, a bi-weekly conservative paper founded by Ann Coulter in 1984.

As an

At Cornell, I have been very active politically since the moment I stepped foot on campus.

Whether it is debating opponents on Ho Plaza or organizing lobbying trips to Washington, D.C., much of my time is spent outside the classroom.

(37th largest paper in America) and on David Horowitz’s online magazine, FrontPage. My column also appears weekly at RenewAmerica.us.

This summer I will be interning in Washington, D.C., for The American Israel Public Affairs Committee. While not necessarily related to journalism, it is an organization that I have been involved with for

online columnist, I had great

some time, and even was

discretion of when and what I

named

wrote. It was a great experience.

Last fall I was asked to be the conservative columnist for The Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell’s paper of record. Writing for The Sun has

one

of

their

2004

Activists of the Year. It should be interesting work and I look forward to spending some time in Washington, a city which is at the epicenter of the political world. If you’re in the area, give me a call.

been a far different experience than my previous post at The Review.

The Cornell Daily Sun publishes five days a week. My column, ‘Timeout,’ appears every Wednesday.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 27

A View from: A University Freshman

by Josh Sommerfeld ’04

N

othing could possiDavid, one of my best friends in my dorm and astrophysics class, bly prepare you for wants to start a tea company after his intended graduation with a “adjusting” to that B.A. in East Asian Language and Civilization. Sam, a friend down the state of being which is colhall, spent his childhood in Thailand while his American mother was lege life. You will meet peocompleting research for her anthropology dissertation. He later went ple different from you in to a high school in San Francisco where the majority of class instrucways you’ve never fathomed tion was conducted entirely in French. He now incessantly reads (in could exist. You will meet both French and English) about urban anthropology and subcultures. these people in ways you’ve Rachael is utterly in love with a thirty-three year old man named never considered. You will Jason who got his B.A. from Harvard and his M.F.A. from the prestilive in ways you’ve never gious Iowa Writing Workshop. She, merely eighteen, will be living considered living too. with Jason (whose favorite book is actually Lolita) in his Mongolian Consider this brief and yurt (basically a modern, trailer-home-sized mud hut) this summer. bizarre example of college The best part about college is everyone is normal in their own living — relatively normal by U Chicago standards; I met a nocturnal way, and you will learn to understand just how much that actually human being for the first time as I was walking back from a late dinmeans. No one is alone either; nocturnal Bob has a troupe of nocner one evening. This nocturnal man’s name is Bob Gay, and he lives turnal friends, and Rachael’s not the only girl I know dating a “real” down the hall from me, apparently. adult. In college, there’s not just I later learned while brushing my something for everyone; there’s a teeth before bed — as he sang treasure trove of whatever it is you Adjusting to college is while taking his “morning” shower may be seeking, and sometimes about embracing the fact — that he has seen me many such you don’t even have to look for it. times on his way to “breakfast.”

The people you meet (not to that life has a lot more to While strange, this exchange epitomention the classes you have the offer than you ever thought mizes how profoundly the ways in option to take) when “adjusting” to which you interact with people will college are nothing short of amazing, it did. That process will change in college. However, (as and as a result of interacting with this develop you in potentially Mr. Feyk would say) “turning down newness, the way you perceive at the volume,” you may not meet the world will drastically change. miraculous ways. any nocturnal Bob Gays in college, Invariably, you will change too. but you just may find yourself lisLet’s just briefly consider tening to — or even engaging in — conversations about subjects myself as an example. When I moved into my dorm, I hung a poster you’ve never even heard of (ex: psychoneuroimmunology, ethnohisacross from my desk, of an ostentatious a nouveaux-riches mansion tory, algebraic topology, etc.) while sipping a cold cup of java in the with flashy cars lined up in the driveways. In bold print that would dorm lounge at 3:00 AM; “just to kill some time,” you’ll say. appeal to an aspiring investment banker, the poster triumphantly And college dorm living is even more splendid. Yes, not only aggrandizes the image of wealth with an eerily disillusioned motto: will you be having these amazingly new kinds of interactions with the people you live with, you’ll also be having them with people who will utterly shatter your definition of “diversity” and tremendously broaden the scope of your experience and understanding of all that which is indeed human.

Even a brief, and unforgivably superficial description of some of my own new friends is quite telling of the “college” experience.

28 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

“Justification for Higher Education.” When I move out of my room in June, I’ll be taking down a large tapestry of the Buddha that I have recently purchased to hang in the poster’s place. Need I say more?

Adjusting to college is about embracing the fact that life has a lot more to offer than you ever thought it did. That process will develop you in potentially miraculous ways. How substantial this whole process seems as it unfolds is inexplicably profound, and

despite my trying, only the individual who is there can really understand to the fullest that which I am trying to convey.

Nothing could possibly prepare you completely for the moment you realize that the sheer number and variety of opportunities for you in college expand exponentially every day.

Suddenly, it will seem like the door to the real universe has just been opened.

Indeed, nothing can completely prepare you, but a high school can do a lot if it has faculty who have the skill and passion to make an education

Josh Sommerfeld ’04, Sarah Hartman ’04, Upper School teacher Mary Ditaranto and Jourdan Levy. ’04.

come alive and prepare for the life to

minds (and souls?) of its students with the tools necessary to open those massive doors that gateway to the college experience. A high school can instill within one the courage walk through those doors and engage the world beyond them. This should be the aim of high school education I think: preparing the student to engage with the totality of knowledge and experience that waits beyond. Looking back on it all, I truthfully feel that Benjamin fulfills that aim. As I’ve said, Benjamin is no microcosm of the world, and she left me with a profound gap in my understanding of the diversity of

come. A high school can attempt this one of two ways.

There is the first and more commonly approached method that

humankind. However, Benjamin taught me how to explore the limitlessness of the world and use the vast experiences of college to fill

would seem to characterize nearly all of my non-Benjamin friends’

that gap with the exacting wisdom of new experiences. individual experiences in high school. One must simply demonstrate In addition to being prepared to learn and grow by interacting some sort of proof that certain cookie-cutter rations of “knowledge” with so many new kinds of new people, as a Benjamin alum, I feel have been successfully acquired to that I was prepared for college graduate with a diploma. For stuclasses in an uncommon way. While dents blinded by this method, educamost of my peers seemed more In addition to being tion has nearly no capacity to ever than ready to complete a reading prepared to learn and grow be fulfilling, and such are the lives of for Humanities class, I felt that I was so many teenagers who cram their among a more prepared elite of the by interacting with so many brains chock-full of all sorts of class ready to really engage the new kinds of new people, as knowledge without really ever getassigned text. In discussion secting the slightest explanation why.

They are the products of an education focused exclusively on its end rather than its means. Students learn facts, but not how to learn. In col-

a Benjamin alum, I feel that I was prepared for college classes in an uncommon way.

lege, no discipline is an exception, the ultimate goal of all your education will be learning how to add to a body of knowledge rather than read from it.

Comparing my experience to the experiences of my nonBenjamin friends, it is now glaringly obvious how my education was different and how my experience “adjusting” to college has been different as a result. Benjamin may hardly be a microcosm to prepare for the astounding diversity of the world, but what besides your own journey through life could anyways?

Yes, comparing my school to that of my friends, it is clear: Benjamin is different. Benjamin is different because the way in which it approaches education is different, and if you care enough to apply yourself, the education you receive at Benjamin can enrich you in ways that another high school’s mere instruction in facts cannot.

Contemplating how a “preparatory” high school could best prepare it’s pupils for college, I feel that more than anything a high school’s chief focus should be on teaching one how in addition to what to learn. After all, a high school has the power to equip the

tions, where many a peer just seemed to scribble notes silently, I was ready to bring up the ideas that they scrawled down tirelessly.

Walking out of lecture while watch-

ing a peer do all but beg to be spoon-fed a final-paper topic, I’d already have a thought-provoking set of quotes reeling in my head.

Talking to other Benjamin friends makes it abundantly clear that I am not alone in my experiences. We are prepared, and it is something special. It is something beautiful. “Adjusting to college” is not a terrifying ordeal but a fascinating journey into a new life that is just beginning. Indeed, coming from Benjamin, my immersion into college has not been a painful process of adjustment; it has been a process of walking through the gates of a carefully pruned garden and into the meadows beyond….

And if you’re reading this… and you’re in that garden now… seriously stop. Take a look around you. You won’t be there long.

Explore all of it. Remember every detail of every flower you can find.

Hurry! You won’t be there long, and it will make the meadow beyond all the more beautiful. I promise.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 29

Past and Future Connections:

Benjamin’s First Legacy

by Kathleen H.Aiello, Ed. D.

Jo McIlvaine, Judy McIlvaine Schmalhausen ’80 and Sara Parker ’05.

W

When Sara Parker walked across the stage to accept her diploma at the Eissey Theatre in May at Benjamin’s 2005 commencement ceremony, she introduced a new TBS tradition as one of the School’s first second generation graduates.

The Benjamin legacy and National Honor Society member is the daughter of Judy McIlvaine Schmalhausen, an alumna of the class of 1980, who’s also helping to plan the school’s 25th reunion scheduled for the fall of 2005.

Judy’s daughter entered TBS in pre-kindergarten and after completing her final year at the School, is now a member of the 14 Year Club. Sara also spent one year studying in Hong Kong as an exchange student in the eighth grade.

“I wanted to see what it would be like going to a different school in a foreign country,” said Sara. “Most of the students were from the United States and the curriculum was college prep. The school was actually much like Benjamin. It was a good experience for me, and helped me to appreciate what I had.”

Like her mother, Sara’s spent much of her time after school at the North Palm Beach Country as a member of the Bucs swim team.

This year she helped lead the Benjamin swimmers as the team’s varsity co-captain.

“We loved hanging out with the team at the pool,” recalled Judy.

“My whole family was always there, too, to watch us practice and attend the meets.”

Sara’s grandparents, Dr. William and Mrs. Jo McIlvaine were no strangers to the Country Club either, or to any of Benjamin’s sporting events for that matter. The late Dr. McIlvaine was one of Benjamin’s biggest sports fans.

He was the announcer at all of the swim meets,” said Mrs. McIilvaine. “He announced the meets for our kids, and the grandkids. He loved it.”

30 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

“My grandfather was a fanatic about Benjamin sports,” said Sara. “He followed all the teams, and when he’d pick me up from school, he’d always ask me questions about the players. He even went to play-off games and state championships that were out-of-town.”

“We originally picked Benjamin to send Judy, Billy (’89), and Lucy (’81) to because we knew it had the best education around,” said Mrs. McIllvaine. “We liked the feel of a small school.”

“We got to know all of the families back then,” said Mrs. McIllvaine. “Everybody knew everybody.”

“Benjamin is still like one big family,” concurred Judy. “That’s one of the reasons we sent Sara and our son, Hunter (’07), to the same School I went to. I liked Mr. Benjamin and his methods of teaching. I respected the traditions he established, too, like dress-up days for assemblies.”

“I remember the dress-up days we had at line-up every Friday morning in Lower School, too,” echoed Sara, who will soon travel to Durham, North Carolina, to begin her fall freshman classes at Duke University.

“Our family has a lot of history here,” remarked Sara.

Clearly the new graduate has left a piece of history with the School, too. So have her mother, aunts and uncle, and her grandparents.

And in the future when this family of three generations recalls their shared experiences, undoubtedly, the Benjamin link will help to further strengthen their connection — the bond toward a future ultimately tied to the past.

Journeys John Raimondi’s monumental bronze sculpture Journeys stands as a symbol of The Benjamin School’s mission to prepare our students for the journey of life.

Journeys by John Raimond

The renowned sculptor regards the contemporary piece erected near the entrance of the Upper School campus as a representation of the Celebration of Life.

(left) The student body celebrates the dedication of Journeys at the Upper School campus.

The sculpture is dedicated to The Benjamin School in honor of Peter and Jody Graham for their years of leadership, dedication, and service to the School.

Peter and Jody Graham stand with Journeys sculptor John Raimondi at the May 18, 2005, dedication ceremony on the Palm Beach Gardens campus.

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 31

Images of Beauty‌

Laura Seaman, Grade 12

Emma Healey, Grade 1 Ryan Sylvester, Grade 3

Tara Pillersdorf, Grade 12

Sarah Davis, Grade 12 32 x THE BUCCANEER 2005

Beckon the Heart

Vanessa Engelhardt, Grade 5

Sara Muschkin, Grade 7

Blake Packer, Grade 1

Alexandra Guildford, Grade 5

Kindergarten and Grade 1, group ceramic

THE BUCCANEER 2005 x 33

Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID West Palm Beach, FL PERMIT NO. 474

11000 Ellison Wilson Road North Palm Beach, Florida 33408-3108

The Benjamin 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 and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.