Berkshire Bulletin Fall/Winter 2016

BERKSHIRE B U L L E T I N Fall/Winter 2016

WINTER CARNIVAL 2016

His watch half over, Eddie is by my bed.

“Awfully tired,” he whispers. Wind’s come up— Noise in the hemlocks—something like a groan And eyes from woods reflect the fire light.

“Only a curious coon,” I tell him, but he’s done well for ten.

Excerpt from Sugar Weather by Art Chase Read the full poem and a remembrance of Ed Chase ‘69 on page 93. Photo by faculty member Caddie Jackson On the cover: Brooks Hamilton ‘16 and Djemo Fade ‘17 brave the cold during evening festivities of Winter Carnival in January. Photo by Britt Plante.

/ Reflection Fall/Winter 2016

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p34 Our Mission Rooted in an inspiring natural setting, Berkshire School instills the highest standards of character and citizenship and a commitment to academic, artistic, and athletic excellence.

Our community fosters diversity, a dedication to environmental stewardship, and an enduring love for learning.

Alice Ehrenclou Cole ’76 CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Pieter M. Mulder HEAD OF SCHOOL

Rob Schur DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT

Carol Bosco Baumann DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING

p50 Above: During Reunion 2015, Bill Gulotta taught a class to a room filled with alums loath to let him go.

It was, as always, a huge hit, and nobody wanted it to end.

Bulletin Editor: Virginia Watkins SENIOR WRITER

Features

Departments

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What’s Old is New Again

2 Seen Around

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José Rivera

5 Campus News

4 Reflection/Reaction

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Green Mountain Squash

25 Bears at Play

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Alumni News

Talking Art + Life

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Class Notes

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Reunion 2015

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In Memoriam

IBC Closing Conundrum

Berkshire School admits students of any race, color, religious affiliation, national and ethnic origin and qualified handicapped students to all rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students. We do not discriminate in violation of any law or statute in the administration of our educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs.

Class Notes Editor: Nina Bjurlin ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS AND ANNUAL GIVING

Design: Hammill Design Printing: Quality Printing Company Photography: Chip Riegel, Gregory Cherin, EA Weymuller, Michael Hayes, Highpoint Pictures, Lucia Mulder, Britt Plante, Risley Sports Photography, Carol Bosco Baumann, Virginia Watkins, the Berkshire Archives Class notes: classnotes@berkshireschool.org All other alumni matters: alumni@berkshireschool.org Published by Berkshire School’s Communications and Marketing Office and Advancement Office for alumni, parents 2015 and Spring/Summer friends of the School.

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SEEN AROUND 1. Berkshire welcomes parents to campus for Parents’ Weekend 2015. 2. Students in this fall’s performance of Metamorphoses 3. Mr. Urmston’s Astronomy class prepares to send a weather balloon into the stratosphere. 4. Pink Out crowd 2015 5. Henry Thomas ’16 and Ana Tolvo ’17 show off their best moves with ensemble members in winter’s standout musical, In the Heights. 6. Students atop Black Rock on Mountain Day 7. Fall on campus 8. Firepits are a popular Saturday night activity for students in the fall. 9. Berkshire Hall in our first snow of the winter 10. Students raise the flag outside Allen Theater on a gorgeous fall day!

Photos by Carol Bosco Baumann, Gregory Cherin, Nic Emery , Britt Plante, Nadine Lloyd, Evan Nielsen and Joe Shalleck P’16

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/ Reflection /

A Letter from Dick Alford, Kent School ’56 Dated August 10, 2015 Even though I am Kent ’56, I enclose a check for your annual fund because your Bulletin is so much fun to read. As a resident of Alford, MA, I love having Berkshire School so nearby.

Now, here is my true Berkshire story: Back in the early ‘50’s, I entered Kent as a second former.

Teachers would make ice at night for us to play hockey. Back in those days, a Kent team went up to Berkshire to play a game on Berkshire’s ice, which was made in the same way. But on the day we played a practice game, the blue lines were painted green!

We soon found out that the blue lines had been placed on top of the ice. It was funny to see our defensemen skate backwards, and when they tried to go over the blue line, they would trip and hit the ice. Our guys got smart quickly and would be sure to jump the lines, and the game went on. To be honest, I don’t remember who won.

Remembering Norm Merrill and Ed Chase A teacher and coach at Berkshire from 1986 until his retirement in 2013, Dr. Norm Merrill passed away on August 17, 2015. He will be greatly missed by the Berkshire community at large and is remembered on page 94 of the magazine. As Head of School, Pieter Mulder remembered in his letter to the community, “…for all his many intellectual contributions to our community, my fondest memory of Norm is of him roaming the thirds soccer sidelines on the lower field, coaching the boys into his final year at Berkshire and setting an inspiring example of a dedicated school person through and through. It is an image, tight to the stone wall along the road, which could be placed in any decade of Berkshire’s history. Such was the timelessness and the power of Norm Merrill’s work with young people.” That letter can be found in its entirety on the same page.

Ed Chase, son of longtime Berkshire faculty, Art and Alice Chase, succumbed to cancer on August 17, 2015. He was a 1969 graduate of Berkshire and went on to attend Middlebury. He worked for forty-odd years in winter sports and was both well-respected and instrumental in many skiers’ careers. His roommate from Middlebury, Tim Etchells, notes that, “Once news of his death got out, Facebook lit up with tributes from those whose lives and careers he had touched over the years.” See Tim’s full tribute to Ed on page 92.

/ Reaction /

“Just finished reading the most recent edition of the Berkshire Bulletin and wanted to tell you how fantastic it is! You put together a truly outstanding publication yet again!”

— Jackie O’Rourke, Former English Faculty Written to Lucia Mulder, former Bulletin editor (on Facebook)

“Please get the word out, but just back from the 50th, wanted to thank and congratulate everyone for a fabulous reunion. It was great to reconnect with so many from Berkshire’s finest class and see how the School has grown and reached a higher level over the past years.”

— Peter White ‘65 Read more about

Reunion 2015 on page 50.

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Berkshire’s Strategic Plan In Action

By Jean Maher, Associate Head of School

Berkshire’s strategic planning started with the NEASC accreditation process, which involved a full year of inclusive preparation through focus groups, all asking: do we do what we say we do?

The resultant self-study meant that, even before the visiting committee arrived on campus, we knew what we needed to address. We knew what was working for Berkshire and what, strategically, we wanted to work but wasn’t quite there yet.

The strategic plan process piggybacked on that perfectly. It was an inclusive process that involved alumni, faculty, staff, students and parents and asked all of us a series of questions: Who do we want a Berkshire graduate to be?

What should they be able to do? What do they value after they graduate?

So, by backward design, we asked ourselves what we need to do as a school, in order to get to this portrait of a graduate. It was a messy process at times, as there were no answers ahead of time, which I loved! We were able to come together as a community and ask what we were doing to support our portrait of a Berkshire graduate, and what we need to do. It all came out of the process organically.

With no prescribed answers to our questions, we had freedom to think and share. The openness of the process was both productive and inclusive, and it allowed room for creativity and innovation. We dug into what sorts of skills and experiences we need to embed in our currriculum in order to support

our graduates with equal intentionality for both School and Life.

After spending last year asking ourselves what we aspire to do, we’ve now begun the process of determining how to implement these intentional adjustments. In the fall of this year, faculty broke into small discussion groups to discuss what needed to happen in order to realize this plan.

Some of the groups focused primarily on the For School objectives, and there was fascinating overlap between the groups. The recommendations are aligned with the mission of the School, the Portrait of a Berkshire Graduate, and our strategic priorities. Group-togroup, faculty were asking for the same things, much of it having to do with an intentional allotment of time.

In the group that focused on PlaceBased Learning, they discussed bringing a new level of intentionality to a piece of our curriculum that’s already rooted in the history of the School. They asked how we create connections to this place and began by asking how we already do this. In truth, we’re not taking a wild swing at changing what we do here; we’re actually bringing focus to what has always been such a central pillar of the School. We’re making a conscious decision to do this across disciplines and to better understand why we do it.

Other groups were focused on For Life strategies. The small group tasked with discussing Diversity and Inclusion worked with LeRhonda Greats, our

Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, taking what Wil Smith built so thoughtfully and carefully to its next steps. In Health and Wellness, Tess Hutchinson and Morgan Burns, our school counselors, are building a four-year program examining identity and human growth, form by form. It begins with the third form leadership retreat in the fall and will close out in the spring of the sixth form year with a program focused on how to take what they’ve learned into the next chapter of their lives. Again, the focus groups were aligned, not only with each other, but with what we all want to provide our students.

This process has been, and I’m certain will continue to be, inclusive and affirming. It has really driven home that idea that these schools are built upon tradition, and that tradition is incredibly valuable. But tradition cannot be allowed to strangle innovation. The two have to travel hand-in-hand. This whole process has allowed us to feel so good about our tradition and the mission of the School, to see how that has remained authentic and relevant for our kids today.

Jean Woodward Maher is Berkshire’s Associate Head of School and Dean of Faculty.

She is actively involved in implementating the Strategic Plan’s goals.

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Third Form Leadership Retreat

by Michael Bjurlin, Third Form Dean

The goal for each Form Dean, regardless of the year, involves asking how to create meaningful and powerful experiences for the students. The Third Form Leadership Retreat is one of Berkshire School’s first meaningful and powerful experiences for a group that we hope will be with us for four years.

The dialogue around a leadership retreat began in 2013. Among the initial discussion points were the w’s: who, when, where and why? And, could a leadership retreat take place in lieu of orientation? After more conversations, some answers became clearer: [Who]Berkshire School’s incoming third formers, because of the size of the class, offered the most logical and manageable group to participate in a retreat. [When] Realizing the transition period for many new students is a challenge, the retreat was scheduled after being on campus for three weeks. [Where] Our goal is to eventually take complete ownership over the retreat and change locations yearly. Until then, we use YMCA’s beautiful Hi Rock campus. Only 3.5 miles away as the crow flies, the camp gives our students the feeling of being far off campus.

Hi Rock has a stunning lake, great hiking, high and low ropes courses, and proper lodging.

[Why] The first bonding experiences for our students are sometimes the most formative.

A leadership retreat where the students and teachers can break down misconceptions while building stronger connections is an undeniably positive experience.

The class of 2018, who arrived on campus in the fall of 2014, was the first to participate in the retreat. Fifty-five brave and excited third formers, with nine faculty members, boarded buses and vans on a Monday morning late in September.

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/ Campus News /

Packing for a two-day retreat meant bringing warm and athletic clothes and a pillow, water bottles and not much else. Once all members arrived, they were greeted by David Bjorklund, Camp Director, and his counselors. The third form had much to do and accomplish in just two short days. On the itinerary were three major initiatives: high ropes, a long hike, and canoeing/waterfront skills.

Their work began with a quick exercise where the entire form had to arrange themselves by birthday without talking. It was as revealing as it sounds.

Each of the major initiatives required a different skill set.

The high ropes, referred to as a favorite among participants, blends trust in your counselor/leader with trust in your harness. Once up on the structure, students had the choice to take two paths; a clear and straightforward line or a less clear line with a few unseen variables. Almost all third formers not only completed the straightforward path; most circled back and completed the more difficult side, as well. The canoeing/waterfront skills offered a different challenge. After being paired up with another group member, students had to carry a two-person canoe to the shore, board it, and navigate the beautiful lake in a series of exercises. Canoeing for one is a challenge. Canoeing with two offers another level of challenges involving the communication needed to successfully complete each task. The final initiative was a long hike to and from Sage’s Ravine. Students and faculty traversed a rocky and beautiful mountainside and traveled about a mile each way.

At the turnaround, they were rewarded with a spectacular view of the Berkshire valley. Many landmarks, such as the

contemporary barn on Route 7, Cooper Hill, Salisbury School and Mount Greylock, once just references, became instantly tangible and meaningful.

Upon completion of the initiatives, the students had a second and equally important program in which to participate. Tess Hutchinson, Director of Counseling and Berkshire School’s Health and Wellness Coordinator, gave an introduction to the counseling center, spoke in fine detail about good sleep hygiene and the body’s need for four healthy experiences per day, while detailing some very helpful habits to help students stay afloat during the first quarter of the Third Form year. In addition, students were led in a 30-minute stretching, yoga, and meditation exercise. The evening concluded with the entire third form, faculty members and camp counselors joining together underneath clear skies to enjoy a bonfire and s’mores, a true retreat highlight.

In the morning, students returned to their groups, participated in their last initiatives (the one rotation not completed the day before) and then spent quality time with their faculty member in a smaller group. The goal here was multifaceted: students were asked to reflect meaningfully on the previous 48 hours, giving examples of experiences that were easy and hard, then commenting on how their perceptions had been changed through and throughout the retreat.

Third formers successfully completed the two-day retreat, learning to utilize their strength for good while cheering on and supporting all members of their class. There was a lot of cheering, some crying, even more laughing and learning throughout the retreat. Students also focused on eliminating self-defeating behaviors and negative behaviors towards others. Fourth former Ahria Simons ’18, a native of Jamaica, had this to say about the retreat: “The freshman retreat was influential in helping me find my place among the freshman class and it was responsible for me getting to know the majority of the freshman students who I didn’t typically associate myself with on a daily basis. It promoted the use of leadership skills, responsibility, teamwork, courage and, more importantly, it required us to show character in every event.”

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Health and Wellness Under the Mountain

Health and Wellness Events 2015-16:

By Tess Hutchinson, Director of Counseling

As part of the School’s commitment to helping students better understand themselves, others and their places in the world, a Health and Wellness program has been implemented on campus.

It’s an 18-week seminar course required for all Fourth Form students which focuses on student decisions, identity, and development. It covers a curriculum that spans a breadth of topics, including the neuroscience of the adolescent brain, nutrition, mindfulness and healthy relationships.

After designing and teaching the H and W curriculum for the past three years, I am excited to be joined this year by Morgan Burns. He will not only be teaching the Fourth Form classes, but will also be helping expand the Health and Wellness curriculum to the upper forms, including leadership and diversity training for Fifth Formers, and college transition preparedness for our Sixth Form students.

Central to the Health and Wellness program is a speaker and event series that allows the whole school community access to information on a variety of topics.

Some recent programs have included: Taylor Hooton Foundation (2012) Steroids/performance enhancing substances Dr. Elizabeth Rathbun (2013) Yale Stress Center John Morello (2012, 2014) One-man play, “Dirt” Cindy Pierce (2012, 2013, 2014) Author of “Sexploitation” Chris Herren (2014) Former Celtics player on addiction Maggie Bertram (2013) Active Minds Org. Eating disorders and perfectionism Boyd Blomberg (2013) Substance abuse prevention

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Suzanne Baumann (2014) “Navigating the Digital Wilderness” Tracey Steady (2013) Mindfulness and meditation Katie Koestner (2014) Sexual assault awareness and prevention Alex Myers (2014) Author of “Revolutionary” on gender and identity Meg Hutchinson (2014) Meditation and yoga Annie Alquist (2015) Meditation and yoga Dr. Steve Hoff (2013) Adolescent identity

October 12 and workshops November 19 and 20: Cornerstone Reputation – This organization focuses on online reputation management and spoke to the whole school on October 12. They also led workshops with the Fourth Form to help them learn about how to improve and strengthen their online activities and profiles.

October 22 and 23: Haze: the Gordie Bailey Story – Fourth-form students participated in a small group movie screening and discussion of this documentary about binge drinking and hazing.

November 5 and 6: Rosalie Cool – A drug and alcohol peer counselor, Rosalie spoke to the fourth-form students in small groups about her struggle with addiction beginning in high school and her journey to recovery.

December 3 and 4: Annie Alquist – A yoga and mindfulness teacher, Annie worked with the fourth-form students to teach them skills for stress management and mindfulness.

January 7: Al Vernacchio – Featured in the New York Times and three different Ted Talks, the author of the book For Goodness Sex, spoke to all students about healthy sexuality, focusing on how a focus on values, information, and consent should guide their decision-making around relationships.

January 15: Gender and Media Night – Fourth-form students watched Miss Representation and The Mask You Live In and participated in small discussion groups led by faculty.

January 21 and 22: Justine Fonte – Ms. Fonte, a health educator, spoke to fourth-form students about safe decisions around sexuality and relationships.

February 2: Angela Morello – Ms. Morello, a nurse and eating disorder survivor, spoke to fourth-form students about the links between stress, perfectionism, and eating disorders.

February 25: Chris Waddell presented his program “Nametags” to the whole school. A 13x Paralympic medalist, Chris spoke to students about identity, ableism, and resilience.

/ Campus News /

New Trustees Pauline Stokman Jenkins Pauline grew up in Westchester County, New York, and has lived in Massachusetts for the past 18 years. She attended Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, NY. She has a B.S. in Finance from Ithaca College as well as an MBA from Clarkson University. She lives in Boxford, Mass., with her husband, Pete, and their 2 children, ages 9 and 10, and is a passionate traveler, reader and outdoor adventurer. She is enthusiastic about instilling the same passions in her children.

Working full time until 2010, Pauline has nearly 20 years of business experience within the financial services industry, much of it at the senior level, as well as in various marketing and distribution roles.

Now an avid volunteer at her children’s elementary school, Pauline also serves on multiple community boards with a focus on education.

She serves on, and is former chair of, the Boxford Elementary Schools Trust Board, an organization whose mission is to foster excellence in Boxford’s public elementary schools by raising private funds that supplement basic curriculum needs.

Recognizing that an education is more than just academics, she also served on her town’s Library Board for a number of years, and is currently serving on one of their Athletic Boards.

William J. Grace ’82 William “Billy” Grace has spent his career in the world of finance and is currently the chief operating officer at Buckingham Capital Management, a privatelyheld investment management firm. Billy joined the company in September of 2011. Prior to that, he was the director of investor relations at Level Global Investors. Before joining Level Global Investors, Billy held senior roles in the equity divisions of Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Lazard Frères.

Billy currently sits on the board of the GO PROJECT, a non-profit for academically challenged children in New York City.

Billy graduated from Berkshire in 1982 and went on to earn a B.S. in Finance in 1986 from Georgetown University. He served on Berkshire’s Advisory Board from 2011 to 2015 before joining the Board of Trustees this past July.

Billy resides in New York City with his wife, Victoria, and their two young children, Jackson and Annabelle.

Left to right: Michael, Deborah, Matt ‘13, Jared ‘16, and Mark Pompi P’13 at Matt’s graduation in 2013

Renzi Family Scholarship

By Michael Hayes, Website Manager

Berkshire School is pleased to announce the establishment of the Renzi Family Scholarship, with a generous gift from the Renzi family, in honor of Michael Renzi, the late Berkshire County youth hockey coach and proud Berkshire School parent.

The scholarship will be awarded annually to a Berkshire student, with preference given to a Berkshire County resident, who exemplifies Michael’s loyalty to his friends and family, belief in the value of hard work, and his true appreciation of the entire Berkshire experience.

“Mike totally believed that education is the foundation. We always said it’s the best gift we can give our kids,” explains Deborah Renzi, Michael’s wife of 29 years.

Renzi, a lifelong Berkshire County resident and owner of Michael Renzi Painting Company, passed away last January. For nearly two decades, he served as a youth hockey coach at the Pittsfield Boys and Girls Club. More recently, he cheered on two of his sons, Matt ’13 and Jared ’16, on the ice at Berkshire.

“What the scholarship represents, honors him. He loved Berkshire,” said son Matt.

On December 27, 2015, more than 30 of Renzi’s former players reunited at the Jackman L. Stewart Athletic Center to play in the Paint Can Cup, a game held in his memory that serves as a fundraiser for the scholarship. An annual golf tournament to benefit the scholarship is also being planned.

“Mike’s example came shining through in this event. His love of his family, his community and the game of hockey were all celebrated.

Most importantly, it was a thrill to see the young men he mentored come together and celebrate such a great role model,” explained Dan Driscoll, Berkshire hockey coach and Renzi’s longtime friend.

Anyone interested in supporting the Renzi Family Scholarship is encouraged to contact Rob Schur, Director of Advancement, at 413-229-1237 or rschur@berkshireschool.org.

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LeRhonda Greats, Berkshire’s new Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, hasn’t been here long, but it’s already hard to believe she hasn’t been here forever. Walk into Berkshire Hall, and you’ll find her talking to a student, a colleague, a visiting family.

And you can bet that if she’s in conversation, she’s asking questions, and she’s listening to the answers. Because, for LeRhonda, we all have a story to tell, and all of them matter.

LeRhonda the Great B O R N I N M I C H I G A N , LeRhonda and her five siblings were raised mostly by her single mother, primarily in Detroit. It’s a city that she still loves and visits every year, even though her mother moved the family to Oklahoma by the time LeRhonda was thirteen. In Lawton, OK, LeRhonda started ROTC training, loving the structure and the organization. It was her sport and fit her personality perfectly.

That background informs all the work she does—she treats the students like family, while making her expectations very clear. And, in Diversity and Inclusion, her expectation is that Berkshire School will hold to our mission statement in every aspect of students’ lives, all over campus. “It’s my job,” she explains, “to make sure that we are who we say we are. The adults keep coming back here because we think that this place is a really good idea. Our job is to make that idea a reality. My job, specifically, has to do with including everyone in that great idea.”

She’s excited about being at Berkshire, in part, because of the unity of message coming from the School’s administration. “I feel honored to do this job, to have Pieter Mulder and the Board recognize that what I do is valuable.”

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/ Campus News /

She sees her work, in part, as helping the Berkshire community recognize its privilege without guilt or blame, just understanding that it exists. Seeing that we all share more than we differ from each other. “Schools that don’t acknowledge what they don’t know can’t manage their populations of color,” she says, expressing gratitude to Wil Smith for getting the School where we are now. “He got people talking about inclusion in a very real way. That work is invaluable to what Berkshire wants to accomplish.”

“The kids need to know that we see them,” she explains. She definitely sees the students, and they know it. Every student has a story, and she reveals what

that story means about their time here: the students in deWindt dormitory who use her microwave to make popcorn and who she’s taught to iron. The girls at the leadership meetings at the start of the year, who sat in the back of the room. The students in the GSA, who wanted to talk about dress code.

The boy from Vietnam who comes to her table every Wednesday at advisee lunch. One afternoon, she looked at him and asked, “Why do you talk to me?” He took a minute before answering, saying, “I remember that first day when I was here, and you came up and talked to me.” It’s that simple.

And that complicated. She nods her head now. “That story is what I do.”

It’s important to her that we understand that inclusion means everyone. “We work, eat, live and learn together,” she begins. “That’s also my job: to make sure that the kids who don’t feel like they’re part of this diversity piece understand that they’re just as important as everyone else. All of us are part of this process of understanding and belonging. Of living together at this great School.”

“The way we live is important,” she says, adding emphatically, “but it’s the people involved. They’re all important.

They just need to know they’re all important.”

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A Climate For Community Action

by Stuart Miller ’97, English Department Chair, All-School Read Committee Chair

Community. Global awareness. The environment. These complex and vast topics, deeply woven into our School’s mission, comprised the focus of the first three years of Berkshire’s All-School Read program. In each successive year, we asked about the individual’s role: How can one person affect a large community?

How can one person successfully confront global issues? How can one person impact the environment?

The challenge, then, involved taking these potentially overwhelming topics and making them approachable for our students—specifically, empowering our students in affecting change.

Cait Ward ’08 and Mike Dalton, science teachers, listen as Bill McKibben speaks to a class about climate change.

At the center of each year’s program was a personal story: a man bringing free health to hundreds of thousands of Burundians; a young woman’s fight for women’s education; and one teacher’s small college class’s confrontation

with the multi-billion dollar crude oil industry. Deo Niyizonkiza, Malala Yousafzai, and Bill McKibben’s personal journeys allowed students to see firsthand the awesome power of the individual. Add to that the experiences

of our alumni who sat on panels, and students were shown the very real possibility of creating change.

This year’s program around McKibben’s latest book, Oil and Honey, provided a powerful look into

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY...

“Berkshire’s dedication to sustainability is long standing and deeply held, and McKibben’s Clay Splawn Dean of Academics

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visit highlighted the ASR event by galvanizing our community, and challenging us all to take a hard look at how we, as individuals, contribute to the cause of saving our planet.”

“McKibben’s message regarding the scale of carbon in the atmosphere is daunting, Evan Liddy ‘16

but it also has a silver lining: it is not too late for us to bring about change for the better, change that can start with the smallest grassroots efforts and grow into something larger than any of us.”

/ Campus News /

Shiza Shahid presents to students, ASR 2014

current climate issues—be it during the culminating event or the ongoing work in our academic classes. To start things off, the School hosted a panel of renowned environmentalists for an afternoon discussion on climate change and environmental stewardship.

The panel was moderated by Kathy Orlando ’89, and included McKibben, Ned Sullivan ’72 and Lindsey Fielder Cook ’81. With its focus on communal awareness and activity, the panel gave students both a background in the environmental movement and access to the actions that they might take now.

Following the panel discussion, students asked questions, revealing their deep interest in, and concern about climate change and what they can do about it.

In the classroom and around campus, students continue to explore their

Jean Maher Associate Head of School, Dean of Faculty

Berkshire’s first All-School Read featured Deogratias Niyizonkiza, the protagonist of Tracy Kidder’s Strength in What Remains.

interests around climate change. The conversations range from a deeper examination of McKibben’s theories to presentations of other views of what’s taking place in the world today. This process enables students to develop their own views regarding current events and trends concerning climate change. In our sustainability and environmental science classes, students, as part of an environmental lecture series, discuss topics ranging from the effects of climate change on the local environmental to divestment and its practicality at an institutional level. The Advanced Math/ Science Research class explored Colony Collapse Disorder Virus, while biology classes studied bee ecology. Students in English classes used the teachings of Henry David Thoreau to help make sense of the relationships between man,

“The ASR provides the opportunity to learn and formulate and share an opinion, to debate

and discuss, to agree and disagree, and ultimately to better understand one another and ourselves from the best possible model of lifelong learning.”

society and nature.

Concluding his keynote address to the community, Bill McKibben said, “There is now an increasing number of people, entrepreneurs, innovators who are working in the right direction on these things; it’s not hopeless.”

From hearing about Ned Sullivan’s work in the Hudson Valley, Kathy Orlando’s work with the Sheffield Land Trust, Lindsey Fielder Cook’s work with the Quaker United Nations Office, and the students in Bill McKibben’s environmental class to their classroom work throughout the year, this year’s program again empowered our students to become involved and understand the impact that one person, one story can actually have.

“Oil & Honey helped me discover a passion for environmental science Brooks Hamilton ‘16

that has changed my life, and I know I will carry that with me far beyond my Berkshire career.”

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Archway to the Past

by Michael Hayes, Website Manager

On the second floor of the Bellas/ Dixon Math and Science Center

stands a memorial to Berkshire students who served during The Great War—a chestnut archway with the names of 123 students carved into the wood. The monument is both a relic and a glimpse into the School’s past, figuratively and literally.

Last spring, the archway captured the curiosity of Evan Nielsen’s Advanced Modern World History class, as students were tasked with researching the five young men whose names appear at the very top of the structure.

As Nielsen’s students would discover, the young men— Harry “Henry” Sidney Ehret Jr., Edward Hooper Gardiner, Edward Watson Hatch, Joseph Mallalieu King, and Edward McClure Peters Jr.— were first linked as early students at Berkshire, and later in death while serving their country during World War I. “I had a sense of what it was,” Nielsen said about the arch. “I thought, here we have this connection. We wanted to try to find out more about them.”

Searching yearbooks, school publications, and various online databases, the students uncovered greater details of the young men’s lives.

Edward McClure Peters Jr., they found, was one of Berkshire’s first students, attending the school from 1907 until 1912, when he graduated and went on to attend Harvard University. Peters would enlist in the Army in 1916 and was eventually sent to France, where he was killed in action in March 1918, making him the first Berkshire student to die in service during the war.

Two years later, in 1920, Memorial Hall was built as a monument to all of the young men who had come to Berkshire and eventually fought or died during the war. When the building came down in 2010 to make way for the new science and math facility, the archway was saved and later reinstalled.

Soon after Nielsen’s students’ research was complete, a mural was mounted within the archway, giving passersby a view into what once existed as the opening to the Headmaster’s office. The mural, recreated from a photograph from Berkshire’s archives, shows an open, stately room with a painting of Ernest L. Wakefield, a longtime Physics and Mathematics teacher at Berkshire, hanging from the wall.

There are currently plans to adorn the walls nearest the memorial with information about the archway and the five young men whose names appear at the top of it. Nielsen, too, would like his students to further investigate the remaining 118 names.

“The kids loved it,” he said. “Much of what the kids experienced [then], is the same now. I was proud that we were able to come up with at least a snapshot of what these men experienced at Berkshire and beyond.”

Mr. Nielsen’s Modern World History students research the alumni whose names adorn the top of the arch.

To read more about what Mr. Nielsen’s students discovered, visit berkshireschool.org/WWIMemorial

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/ Campus News /

EARLY ACCEPTANCES

Hamilton College

United States Naval Academy

High Point University

University of Amsterdam

Bates College (2)

College of the Holy Cross

The University of Arizona

Boston College

Ithaca College

University of Colorado at Boulder

Boston University

Kenyon College

University of Denver (3)

Bowdoin College (3)

Lewis & Clark College (2)

University of Maine

Bucknell University (2)

Marist College

University of Miami

Case Western Reserve University

Middlebury College

University of Michigan

Cazenovia College

Northeastern University (2)

University of New Hampshire

Champlain College

Ohio Wesleyan University

University of Richmond

College of Charleston

Providence College

University of Vermont (2)

Colorado College

Saint Anselm College

Washington University in St. Louis

Connecticut College

Sewanee: The University of the South (3)

Wesleyan University (2)

Dartmouth College

St. Lawrence University (2)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Denison University (2)

Stanford University

Dickinson College

State University of New York at Albany

Duke University

Suffolk University

Elon University

Trinity College (3)

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Tufts University

Franklin Pierce University

Union College

This good news represents almost half of the Sixth Form, as of January 2016.

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Campus News /

Abbey & Cody Turner

Addie, Liam & Bebe Bullock

Alyssa & Andrea Cass

S L

Ana & Pedro Alvarenga

Charlotte & Nate MacKenzie

I E

Cami & John Kittredge

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Chance, Sophie & Will Perekslis

Jared & Matt Renzi

Maarten & Anne van’t Wout

Kyla & Paige Rabb

Hunter & Cody Lucey

Elise, Max & Carrie Babigian

Hilary & Ivey Mueller

Maddy, Izzy & Sam Maher

Julia & Caroline Slyer

A Jodi Behr & Gavin Bigall

Carter & Andrew Allen

Eli, Ruby & Sam Merritt

Jack & Don Weeden

L

G

Matt & Jake Diamond

Berkshire Bulletin

Arianna, Roya & Neeka Daemi

B

Meritt Glover & Daly Banevicius

Michael, Kenzie, Christopher & Matthew Licata

Alea, Bryce & Chloe Laigle

Andreina & Beatriz Feijoo Gomez

Tanner & Megan Boyle

Corey Wieczorek, Lynette Prescott & Matty Wieczorek

Emmi & Hanna Graebner

Andie, Robin & Maddie McGraw

Catherine & George Frick

Kegan (& Thomas) Grogean

TJ & Titus Stewart

Kevin & Catherine Xu

Brendan, Bob & Sean MacDonald

Charlie & Catherine Quaintance

/ Campus News /

Jake, Georgie & Lara McLanahan Jackson, Dan & Will Aldam

Jay & Haley Bolton

Jackson & Nick Beaver

Josh, Chris, Shannon & Jack Lee

I

Kat (& Jeffrey) Erazo

Lindsy & Lara Dario

Anna, Kathryn, Mark & Dan Driscoll

N Taylor & Sydney Wray

C Juliette, Jared & Jade Shatkin

Christopher, Maureen & Sophia McCarthy

Zach & Zander Buteux

Kenny, Cyndi & Suzanne Sperl

Lan & Chi Nguyen

Michael & John O’Donoghue

I

Sam Cooper & Jackson Brex

Luke, Matt & Jack Scarafoni

Jim, Carolyn & Luke Street

Ian Heisenbuttel, Lisa Wardell & Anna Heisenbuttel

Cary & Victoria Barnett

Quintin & Kendall Pollart

Lydia & Julie Shedden

Jack & Ally Grace

G Alex & Tara DeChellis

Travis & Tristan Kline

Reid & Claire Lemker

S E

Xander & Jeffrey Tillou

& Kufre & Unyime Udoh

Maddie & Cameron Biasin

Chris & Hannah Cooke

Emily & Annie Hubbard

Jen & Sophie Reed

S

Katie & Tom Hargrave

Samone & Samantha DeFreese

Callan, Chase and Madison Vessels

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Campus News /

MEET THE TEACHERS Dr. Bernie Rhie / ENGLISH What you’re reading now: Stanley Cavell’s The Senses of Walden What you’re listening to now: Roomful of Teeth’s debut album, Roomful of Teeth Your favorite poem: Susan Stewart’s “Apple” in Columbarium

Andrea Dunchus / HISTORY What you’re reading now: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert What you’re listening to now: Straight Outta Compton: Soul Samples Your favorite poem: “The Tyger” by William Blake

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/ Campus News /

Berkshire’s newest faculty joined the ranks in September, in Dance, Math, History, Science and English.

You can read their official bios on the website. Here, they spend a little time telling us what they do when they aren’t teaching, coaching, dorm parenting... you know, doing their jobs.

Dr. Lauren Riva / MATH, STEAM DIRECTOR What you’re reading now: The Magic Tree House series (with my kids) What you’re listening to now: The Grateful Dead, Phish, Alison Krauss, Franz Ferdinand, Ween, Jack Johnson, my husband’s band, The Brother’s Rye, and a lot more.

Your favorite poem: I’m a fan of Shel Silverstein.

Amy Keefer / DANCE

Annie Rosenberg / THEATER What you’re reading now: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime What you’re listening to now: If it’s in my car it’s always Broadway music.

Your favorite poem: “Blue Blanket” by Andrea Gibson

Jeremy Smith / SCIENCE

What you’re reading now: I read this summer.... A Dog’s Purpose.

What you’re reading now: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

What you’re listening to now: Kidz Bop (thanks to my 2- and 4-year-olds! )

What you’re listening to now: Thievery Corporation on Pandora

Your favorite poem: A dear friend of mine, Kate Westhaver, writes tons of poetry that I love!

Your favorite poem: Don’t have one.

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Campus News /

BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Berkshire Theater’s Secret Strength

by Virginia Watkins, Bulletin Editor

At Berkshire, we’ve all gotten accustomed to being surprised by the theater productions.

From long-ago Urinetown to this fall’s Metamorphoses, the plays ask us to think, allow us to escape, and provide us with the entertainment that we all crave. But what does this process do for the students who take part in it, season after season? If what we see is accurate, the actors become more and more confident; they grow more deeply into their characters with each successive show. They also seem to genuinely enjoy what they’re doing.

Wondering about the particular alchemy that produces such a range and depth of shows, I sat down with the theater department to get some answers. In the end, it turns out that theater like this doesn’t come about simply because a group of tremendous actors are well-directed.

What consistently produces this level of shows can only happen behind the curtain. So, that’s where I went looking.

According to Theater Director, Jesse Howard, this is a natural result of involving the students in all levels of the process. While it’s a natural fit for actors to get involved in set-builds, costume choices, and prop selection, many programs instead divide their actors and tech workers. This, according to Howard, is a lost opportunity for enabling buy-in from all of the kids. Berkshire’s theater program gives students a chance to see exactly what work goes into putting a show together, outside of the acting, and gives everyone a chance to take ownership of the whole show.

Carrie Babigian ’16 has worked as stage manager on 8 or 9 shows; she wasn’t exactly sure which. Howard touts her light cue calling, comparing it to conducting, in the way that she has to finesse the exact point at which the switch is thrown. Her favorite part of every show is the beginning, during casting, when they “get to see how Mr. Howard and Annie think when they make decisions about roles.”

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/ Campus News /

For Lucia Liencres ’17, stage manager, the show itself is most satisfying. “We’re all on the same page and working for the same thing,” she says. “Being backstage and seeing everyone drop character, grab their cheat sheets, and get their props is very satisfying – everything’s very controlled backstage, and everyone has a job.”

They agree, however, that tech week is the part that they look forward to the most with each successive show.

Everyone’s exhausted, they say, but “energy is through the roof. We all go to school from 8 to 3, then have rehearsals until 10:30 at night. We’re all drained,” Liencres says, “but we’re so excited about what we’re doing.”

As Howard says, tech week has its downsides, but, in the end, “the show opens, and the kids rise up. That’s the definition of success.”

Dom Saylor, Berkshire’s Technical Director, agrees. He values the collaboration between adults that allows the students to take on real responsibilities for creating the shows’ sets. When asked the hardest set to create so far, he immediately credited this fall’s production of Metamorphoses. It was the pool, primarily, and all of that water.

During set builds, the students do everything under Saylor’s watchful eye.

The day I went by, kids were hauling plywood, and using power tools and building a pool from blueprints. The student in charge of the pool, Kelly Mauer ’18, took full ownership of that process. “She put it together,” Saylor

remarked, “and she took it back down at strike [after the show]. She has a very real knack for something that she didn’t even realize she was good at.”

Assistant Director Annie Rosenberg, who worked on her first Berkshire show this fall, says that even the pool didn’t throw these kids. She says it’s all about trust: “They don’t panic about things like a pool on the stage. They trust us, but they also just trust the whole process.”

Howard agrees. That trust, he thinks, also comes from participating in the process in meaningful ways.

“There’s always the possibility,” he says, “of feeling like magic fairies come in in the middle of the night and just do those things [props, costumes, and the set]. And then there’s no appreciation for the care, the effort, the passion that go into it. Not only are the students doing the work, but that experience makes other peoples’ work more visible in other parts of their lives. This continues, making them ask things like, ‘Who set up this meal? Who cleaned this classroom?

Who set up the cameras and the stage for graduation?’” This is the reverb of full participation.

Annie’s experience with this featured the choice of leather jackets and, in fact, a full rocker sensibility for the Underworld scene in Metamorphoses. She credits Andrea Cass ’17 with coming up with that idea, when she put on a leather jacket during a costume

excursion to Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. Andrea put on the jacket and said, “Could we all be cool in the Underworld?” They ended up imbuing that scene with the rocker cool vibe, and it wouldn’t have happened without Andrea’s input.

Lighting is a whole different story.

Because of safety, student participation is limited in this process. However, as Saylor says, “Merit Glover ’14 could have taught a college-level Intro to Lighting course.” He was smiling as he said it, but he also obviously believed it to be true. “She literally came to every light hang while she was at Berkshire.”

Annie was, in fact, prepared to manage the light hang this fall but went in to find, “the stage managers reading the blueprints and holding the ladder for each other and just doing their jobs.

I was ready to interpret the blueprints, to explain the process to them, but they didn’t need my help at that level.

Instead, I was there when they asked for help. This was my first inclination about exactly how seriously these kids take their work.”

In all, the great work that’s happening both on stage and behind the curtain at Berkshire can be summed up this way: “By the end,” Howard explains, “we stand in a circle, and I say, ‘I challenge you to find anyone in this circle who we could have done this without.’” And that is the one challenge that no one rises up to.

Berkshire Theater: the work is hard, and they always find a way.

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Campus News /

NEW SPACE, NEW LIBRARIAN A New Life for Geier Library

This fall, as Berkshire started the school year, it did so with a renovated Geier Library and a new Library Director, Nancy Florio.

Originally named in honor of Frederick V. Geier, a former Berkshire trustee, parent and supporter, the library was originally built as Geier Gym in 1950. Transformed in 1984 to

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the School’s library (then called Geier Hall), the building underwent a major renovation starting in the fall of 2014.

Today, Geier Library is a spacious and modern facility with state-of-the-art digital resources and an up-to-date print collection.

The library renovation was directed

by Boston-based Finegold Alexander

Architects, also responsible for the restoration of Berkshire Hall and renovation of the School’s Fine Arts Center.

Florio, for her part, is excited about the fact that Berkshire embraces the library and its function as a place where students can come together and be connected with the information

/ Campus News /

Nancy Florio, Berkshire’s new library director

A renovated Geier Library was dedicated on October 3, 2015, with members of the Board of Trustees, special guests Susan and Tom Young, sixth-form prefects and this year’s AllSchool President on hand with the big scissors. After opening remarks by Head of School Pieter Mulder, Board Chair Alice Cole cut the ribbon, officially ushering in a new era for the library.

they need in an accessible way. Her job, as she sees it, is to re-brand the library as a place for research, whether digital or text-based.

“I believe in an embedded librarianship,” she explained, “in which the librarian is part of course design, so that students see the librarian as a resource.”

Before coming to Berkshire, Florio served as librarian at Canterbury School, where she implemented LibGuides, a resource librarians use to gather and share information online.

She’s now doing the same for Berkshire, while making herself available for research instruction.

“Libraries are about connecting people with the information they need, in the format in which it’s most accessible. Let’s give Berkshire a common language of research, much like its common language of sustainability,” she said recently.

Florio holds degrees from Southern

Connecticut State University and the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where her interest was in digital access, and her thesis involved website design and usability. She did some digital archiving and actually redesigned a website as part of her coursework, so the digital piece of research is a large part of what she brings to the Berkshire community. Her interest in helping to answer the question of how we get and use information is at its center.

The combination of expertise in research methods and access to digital resources will make assisting Berkshire’s students in their approach to doing research that much more effective, she says. Florio adds that learning to access information while determining its reliability and understanding the ethics behind its use is a 21st-century skill that will lead to lifelong learning.

Having such an incredible new space, she says, just makes the process that much more enjoyable.

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Campus News /

Tasia Wu / September 2015

Faculty Snapshots Every month, we highlight one Berkshire faculty member, learning about their road to the School and their journey since they arrived. We’ve sampled some recent ones here. You can find the full profiles—and many more—on the website, and you can look for upcoming installments in Berkshire’s eNews.

Dr. Lauren Riva / October 2015

Mike McCabe / November 2015

Learn more about Berkshire’s faculty at www.berkshireschool.org/ facultyprofiles

Kelley Bogardus / December 2015

Bill Bullock / January 2016

Jay Cronze ’08 / February 2016

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Berkshire Bulletin

/ Bears at Play /

IRON WOMAN Berkshire graduate Julia Slyer ’14 was the youngest competitor in this year’s IRONMAN competition

by Michael Hayes, Website Manager

As a three-sport athlete at Berkshire, Julia Slyer ‘14 learned how to balance work and play. So it was little surprise when Slyer qualified as the youngest competitor at October’s Ironman World Championship held in Kona, Hawaii.

Slyer earned a spot in what has become known as the world’s most grueling event—competitors must complete a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride, and run a marathon—by finishing first in her age group (female 18-24) at the Ironman Lake Placid in July.

Three months later, with the support of her family, including sister, Caroline ’16, Slyer showed her resilience by finishing the 140.6-mile competition in 11 hours 17 minutes and 44 seconds.

Her time placed her fourth (out of 31) in her division.

“I’ve always been drawn to endurance events and crazy experiences that most people just read about and never get into,” Slyer, a sophomore at the University of Buffalo, said in an interview with her college newspaper. “My family has always encouraged me to follow my dreams and taught me that if I work hard, I can achieve anything. I love to push myself in all areas of my life to see just how much I can achieve and how well I can do, and I think that translates really well to Ironman.”

Slyer was a member of the cross-country and lacrosse teams at Berkshire, as well the alpine ski team, of which her dad, John, is still an assistant coach. In addition to a rigorous training schedule, Julia is studying biology and psychology but hasn’t ruled out a possible early career as a professional triathlete.

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Bears at Play /

FALL 2015 For more information on all our teams, go to www.berkshireschool.org/athletics and don’t forget to follow @BerkshireBears on Twitter for up-to-the minute news and highlights as they happen. #GoBears!

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Girls Cross Country / Largest team in over four years with a roster of 16 girls. Ten Bears tallied personal records (PRs) at Williston late in the season.

Additionally, the entire team ran in the NEPSTA Division II Championship.

Dalia Banevicius ’17, captain and most-improved runner, consistently PR’d at each race to wrap up the season by breaking her goal set in late August.

MVR: Haines Corrigan ’19

Football / Head coach Dempsey Quinn guided the Bears to backto-back winning seasons, finishing this fall with a 6-2 regular season record. The 2015 squad revitalized the football program, advancing, for first time in over 15 years, to a Championship Bowl game where they lost to Kingswood-Oxford 29-49. MVP’s: Charlie Erdmann ’16 and Sam Langan ’16 See page 29.

Boys Cross Country / The Bears flourished under the strong leadership of Derrick Burt ’16 and Luke Street ’17. The young team saw steady improvement highlighted by a home win against Gunnery. The boys competed in the NEPSTA Division II championship with Burt finishing his Berkshire career with a strong showing on a hilly and challenging course.

MVR: Derrick Burt ’16

Girls Soccer / Throughout the season, the Bears remained positive and continued to improve. Although the team didn’t always get the result that they wanted, they never gave up. One of the highlights of the year was a come-from-behind home victory against Miss Hall’s with a final score of 4-1. MVP: Alexis Fortune ’18

Crew / Both the girls and boys teams competed in the 51st Head of the Charles Regatta. The Bears raced in the Men’s and the Women’s Youth Fours. The boys team of Jared Renzi ’16, Wil Dyer-Kloman ’17, Henry Koch ’17, Sam Gatsos ’17, and cox Xander Amero ’17 rowed hard and had a great race, finishing 59th out of 85 teams. Catherine Quaintance ’17, Annette Key ’16, Anne van’t Wout ’16, Molly O’Neill ’17, and cox Julie Kokot ’17 raced to a 75th-place finish.

Field Hockey / Building on last year’s achievements, the Bears had two Class A wins (vs. Taft and NMH). With a record of 6-2-1 in Class B and C, they overcame many injuries to advance to the tournament where they fell to three-time defending Class B champs St. Mark’s in the first round.

Natalie Harrington ’16 and Maddie Beitler ’17 were named to the WNEPSFHA All-Star team. Sophia Peluso ’16 was named to the Class B All-Tournament Team. MVP: Andie McGraw ’17

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Boys Soccer / The defending three-time Class A New England Championship Boys Soccer team’s remarkable streak came to an end this fall as the mighty Bears fell to Northfield Mount Hermon in the semifinal match-up. The Bears finished the season with a record of 19-4. “We are so proud of this team’s resilience, persistence and dedication,” said Athletic Director Dan Driscoll. “Even though they bowed out in the semis, they are still the gold standard of New England prep school soccer.”

MVPs: Ifunanyachi Achara ’16 and Jon Garske ’16 Volleyball / This year’s squad displayed dramatic improvement over the course of the season. The Senior Day match against Wilbraham and Monson was played primarily by the Bears’ seven seniors, and they ended their Berkshire volleyball careers with a 3-1 win. Nicole Martinez ’16, Annie Love ’16, and Sophie Needles ’16, who played as an alternate, were named NEPSGVA West All Stars. MVP: Nicole Martinez ’16

/ Bears at Play /

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1 The three-time New England Class A Soccer Champions bowed out in the semifinals of this year’s tournament but played with heart and dedication all season.

2 Season MVP Lex Fortune ’18 in action against Suffield over Parents’ Weekend.

3 MVR Derrick Burt ’16 leads the pack in a tri-meet home opener.

4 Boys crew team members (right to left) Jared Renzi ‘16, Will Dyer Kloman ‘17, Henry Koch ‘17, Sam Gatsos ‘17, and cox Xander Amero ‘17 5 The Bears celebrate after a well-earned win against the Class A Taft Rhinos.

6 Ten harriers posted PR’s in a race vs. Williston Northampton in November.

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Bears at Play /

BEARS IN THE NEWS Julia Slyer ’14 was the youngest competitor in the Ironman World Championship held in Hawaii last October, a spot she earned after finishing first in her age group at the Ironman Lake Placid last summer. See page 25.

Jack Harrison ’15 was named Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in men’s soccer. He is the first player in ACC history to win both awards.

Liam Carroll ’19 was named to the Vermont State Ski Team.

Mutaya Mwape ’16 and Ifunanyachi Achara ’16 were selected to play in the 2015 High School All-American soccer game. This is the second year in a row that Berkshire has sent two players.

Photo: Morgan King

Courtney McGinnis ’16 was chosen to represent the United States in the U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup competition this summer in South Africa.

Sabrina Tattersfield ’16 was a member of the Canadian U19 womens’ lacrosse team that took home the gold medal in this year’s World Cup competition, held in Scotland.

For more athletics news go to berkshireschool.org/athleticsnews

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/ Bears at Play /

As Only Bears Can

Coach Quinn set a hardworking, gritty tone during preseason that would see the Bears to a 6-2 regular season record.

Football’s Game-Changing Season

By Dempsey Quinn, Head Football Coach

The 2015 Bears will be remembered, not for outrageous stats or their flashy style of play, but rather for their relentless pursuit of perfection and their willingness to sacrifice personal recognition for the greater good of the team. This year’s football team thrived on outworking its opponents over the course of four quarters. Though not the biggest team in stature, the Bears used their quickness and athleticism to frustrate teams with their own style of play.

Using a triple option attack on offense, the Bears forced teams into disciplined defense on each and every play. One small slip from the opposing team, and the Bears would be off and running with a big play. The entire squad bought into the system from day one and made it their mission to master the Bears’ style of play. The attention to detail and persistent up-tempo style of practice prepared the Bears week in and week out for whatever task lay ahead. By the end of each game, the opposing defense would simply not want to compete with the Bears’ offense anymore.

This could not have been more apparent than when the Bears hosted Westminster on Parents’ Weekend. Down 6-0 at the half, the Bears stuck to the game plan and continued to work deep into the second half. By the end of the game, the Martlets had surrendered 21 straight points en route to a 21-6 Berkshire win.

The hard work and consistent effort culminated during the final week of the season.

With a trip to the Mike Atkins New England Championship Bowl on the line, the Bears welcomed perennial power Williston Northampton to Schappert Field. Berkshire wasted no time as they struck gold on the opening possession and never looked back.

The offense fired on all cylinders for four quarters and the defense put forth their best effort of the year. When the final whistle blew, the Bears had earned a hard-fought 4220 victory, sending them to their first title game in nearly 15 years.

While the team fell short in the championship (a 29-49 loss to Kingswood-Oxford), this group of young men epitomized the values we look to instill in our students, persevering as only Berkshire Bears can while showing the resilience and commitment that we hope all of our students will embody during their time at Berkshire.

SEASON HONORS First Team Class B All-New England: Charlie Erdmann ’16 (FB/LB) Sam Langan ’16 (WR/DB) TJ Simpson ’16 (OL/DE) First Team All-Western New England Independent League: Charlie Erdmann ’16 (FB/LB) Sam Langan ’16 (WR/DB) Brandon Malarney ’16 (FB/DL) TJ Simpson ’16 (OL/DE) Connor Waldron ’16 (HB/LB) Second Team All-Western New England Independent League: Jay Bolton ’16 (OL/DL) Caleb Cilumba ’16 (WR/DB) Drew Pitcher ’17 (QB) Harrison Yaste ’16 (HB/LB)

Sam Langan ’16

Charlie Erdmann ’16

Dempsey Quinn is a member of Berkshire’s math department and the house head of Buck Dormitory. He also serves as head varsity boys basketball coach. His football coaching staff includes Mike McCabe, Jay Cronze, John Malarney and his father Jack Quinn, a Pittsfield native.

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Bears at Play /

MLS SuperJack!

Jack Harrison ‘15 Drafted No. 1 in MLS SuperDraft

By Michael Hayes, Website Manager

Former Berkshire boys soccer captain Jack Harrison ’15 was chosen as the first overall pick of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. Harrison, who led Berkshire to three straight NEPSAC Class A championships and was named 2015 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year as a senior, was selected by the Chicago Fire as the draft’s top pick before being traded to New York City FC. “It’s been my dream since being a little boy,” Harrison said about playing professionally. “I would have never thought it would be in the U.S., but I’m so thankful that it is because I’ve made so many connections and met so many great people here.”

The Bolton, England, native announced earlier this month that he was leaving Wake Forest University to pursue his professional career after

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signing on with Generation Adidas.

Harrison said the contract with Generation Adidas will allow him to pursue his academics while he plays soccer professionally. “I’m going to be taking some online courses to complete my degree. That was a key part of the contract for both me and my mom,” he said. At Wake Forest, Harrison scored 8 goals and tallied 11 assists in his first season and was named ACC Offensive Player and Freshman of the Year.

He finished his career at Berkshire with 44 goals and 65 assists. He also captured the Massachusetts Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year two years in a row (2014 and 2015). “This is an incredible moment for Jack and his family, and I know I speak for the entire Berkshire community when I say we are all so proud of him,” said Berkshire soccer coach Jon Moodey. “What makes

this so special is that it couldn’t have happened to a better person than Jack.

He has always put the team and school community ahead of himself, and despite his countless achievements on and off the field, he has remained the same kind and humble kid that he was when he arrived at Berkshire,” Moodey added.

Playing for NYCFC will be a homecoming of sorts for Harrison, as he previously played for the Manhattan Soccer Club while at Berkshire. Spring training for Harrison’s new team will begin on January 22 in Florida. “It’s going to be a quick transition, but it’s exciting,” said Harrison, adding that he was looking forward to playing for coach Patrick Vieira and NYCFC director of football operations, Claudio Reyna.

/ Bears at Play /

#GoBears Root for your fellow Bears at a spring athletic event.

For a complete schedule of athletic events, both home and away, visit berkshireschool.org/athleticschedule

Fall/Winter 2016

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FALL HOMECOMING & WINTER ALUMNI GAMES

On Saturday, October 17, alums were back under the Mountain for a chance to reconnect and enjoy Berkshire’s most beautiful season! They enjoyed an alumni soccer game and the Twiggs Myers Fun Run, then spent the afternoon cheering on the Bears on every field. Also Parents’ Weekend, campus was packed with Bears of all ages!

Titus Stewart ’89 & Nicolas Emery ’01

Alumni Soccer vs. Boys Varsity Soccer

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/ Bears at Play /

Alumni and Faculty Hockey

Classmate competition: Jose Rivera ’07 & John Diebold ’07

On Saturday, January 9, Berkshire hosted its Winter Games, and alums again converged on campus. This time, they chose from Basketball, Hockey and Squash match-ups, getting a reminder of just how much fun it was under the Mountain during the winter. After a Family Skate, alums were able to spend the afternoon cheering on their favorite teams.

Seth Beamer ’02 and family

Alumni Basketball vs. Boys Varsity Basketball

Robin McGraw ’70 and faculty member Heidi Woodworth

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WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN The 1982 Gymnasium Gets an Update

Berkshire raised what was then called the new gym.

Originally housing basketball and volleyball courts, the space added squash courts later. Squash players welcomed the new state-of-theart facilities, as they were a vast improvement over the two courts in the basement of Geier Library.

Fast-forward to 2016, and the 1982 gym feels understandably dated, especially when compared to the rest of Berkshire’s campus.

What was once cutting edge is, 34 years later, ready to be updated.

Dan Driscoll, Berkshire’s Athletic Director, sees it this way: “The renovation will have a transformative effect on the daily experience for our students. The gym has always been a hub of activity, whether it’s squash in competition or on Sunday free time, kids climbing the rock wall, while others are taking swings in the batting cage. All students find their way to the gym in all three seasons, just for fun.”

What won’t change is that relationship between teammates, between players and their coaches. As Driscoll reminds us, some of the most important learning that takes place on campus happens during sports. And a lot of that comes from conversations between coaches and their teams. In the new space, one basketball court will still be called Duryee Court, remembering Bill Duryee’s great work with his basketball teams, while other naming opportunities exist for both basketball and other court sports. Driscoll reminds us that, “The most exciting part of this project is its inclusivity; it has a far reach, and we are deeply appreciative of the support our parents and alumni have put behind it.”

IN 1982,

For information regarding naming opportunities and other donations, please contact Rob Schur at rschur@berkshireschool.org or 413-229-1237.

Center: Entry to the new gym and squash center; Below: squash center; Above right: Duryee Court

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“Often, squash players had to be cultivated from tennis players using my dad’s (English teacher Jack McKenna) considerable persuasion and my mother’s (Art teacher Gail McKenna) culinary skills. My dad’s devotion to the sport and his carefully crafted teams led to some David and Goliath-esque seasons—beating teams with pedigreed players and state-of-the-art facilities. My dad loved being the underdog, and nothing gave him more pleasure than shocking teams who looked around in disgust when they arrived. I think the squash program kind of mirrored the vibe of Berkshire in the 80s and 90s —not polished, never favored, but surprisingly good.”

– Keira McKenna Holbrough ’92

“The prospect of playing volleyball next fall in a renovated gym is exciting and will certainly enhance the experience for players at all levels. I look forward to forming a few more memories on the Bill Duryee Court.

– RG Meade, volleyball coach

“It all started with my first game, in what is now the library, in December of 1980 and ended on the Duryee Court two years ago.

Coaching our daughter Sarah Kinne ’08 has to be the greatest gift the sport gave me, something too few dads ever experience. There is no way to explain the joy a coach can feel on the sidelines while witnessing what happens on the court in my favorite color, Green!

How lucky can one person be?”

– Peter Kinne, basketball coach

“For the first time in my life, I picked up a sport from scratch my freshman year and loved it.

My teammates, our fans and my coach, Mr. Turner, inspired me to give my best for the program and Berkshire. This idea of competing for a larger group, straying from individualistic reward fueled my determination to compete, train and enjoy the great game every time I stepped onto the court.”

– Sam Perkins ‘14, Wake Forest University

“DK’s (varsity girls squash coach A.J. Kohlhepp) squash journals, which I begrudgingly participated in at Berkshire, are treasures that I look back at now to see how I’ve changed as an athlete, scholar, friend and teammate.”

– Maddie Hunsicker ’11, graduate of Colby College

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JOSÉ RIVERA PROFILE OF A BERKSHIRE SQUASH PLAYER

On meeting José Rivera ’07, you might not guess his history, how hard he’s worked, or how many goals he’s set for himself. What you will recognize, almost immediately, is that this is a man who knows himself. Who knows what he wants to accomplish and what he has to do to make that happen. In that process, he has gone from being a city kid, playing urban squash with Boston’s SquashBusters, to a prep school kid, trying to figure out how to hold onto himself while making the most of his time there, to an adult, first working for SquashBusters, then serving on their Board and heading their alumni committee. “It feels amazing to have worked there and now come back,” he says. “One of the best parts is to have been on both sides of the mentor, mentee relationship.”

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HE GREW UP IN CAMBRIDGE, where he had to learn English to keep up in school. “There was so much I didn’t know,” he says now. “I just learned it all in tiny pieces.”

He joined SquashBusters as part of its Year Four when he was in seventh grade and says now that that decision conclusively changed his life.

He wasn’t perfect. He was a good student, but he was mischievous and admits now that he really didn’t like having people tell him what to do. But because of his grades, he was chosen to go through the prep school process, an opportunity that his parents were open to, despite the fact that boarding school was not really part of their lives. “They may not have understood exactly what was being offered,” José explains now, “but they understood what it meant.” He understood even then how strong his family was. “Mostly,” he says now, “I feel really lucky.” At the end of the process, José knew that he would be going to Berkshire as a freshman, but he also wasn’t sure what that meant.

He knew that, if he didn’t like it, he could always go home. But, as he remembers it, he’d already begun to feel a little different from everybody else because of squash. “I mean, I was walking through the halls of my school carrying a squash bag. Nobody even knew what squash was.”

In the fall of 2003, he remembers that it didn’t hit him that he wasn’t going back home until he was sitting at his desk that night, with just a notebook and a pencil and his new hundred-dollar calculator – no computer, no book, no magazine – and not yet knowing his roommate. He had some time to think, and what he thought about was this: he needed to prove something academically – to prove that he earned his scholarship. He didn’t want anyone saying that he was the wrong kid to give that spot to. So, he set out to prove his worth on campus. At the same time, he didn’t want to give up his identity, to relinquish his ties to home. That fight quickly became central to his everyday life.

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HE SOON FOUND THAT WHAT BERKSHIRE DOES BEST IS FIND WAYS FOR KIDS TO CONNECT, making friends on Norm Merrill’s thirds soccer team in the fall. “He was amazing; he totally knew the deal,” José says now about Merrill. “There were a couple of kids who hadn’t made JV who took it pretty seriously, but most of us were there because we didn’t have a fall sport.

Everyone got time to play, and he treated us all equally. I got a chance to meet people from every dorm, from every part of the School. He was awesome.”

José was still navigating the School when squash season began, and he quickly realized that being on a competitive team was very different from playing for SquashBusters. “It was tough to be part of that group, and I was fighting to keep my spot all year.”

AJ Kohlhepp, who coached José that year and was his advisor for all four years, remembers that José wasn’t really willing to take on any big challenges.

He was likely, when faced with the

The José Rivera Fund When José attended Berkshire, his smaller expenses were taken care of by a fund for students on full scholarship. This past fall, his long-time partner, Ashley Mahoney, began the process of garnering the same type of funding for current students, this time in José’s name. At Christmas, after working closely with Rob Schur, she was able to present José with the beginnings of that fund, which is not yet fully funded. ______________________________________ Given annually to a Berkshire student who receives financial aid, the purpose of the Fund is to provide a deserving recipient the resources to participate in all aspects of Berkshire School life beyond tuition. This $1,000 annual award will be paid in equal installments weekly throughout the academic year into the student’s Berkshire School account. Acceptable uses could include, but are not limited to, entertainment, bookstore items, medical expenses, clothing, personal and/ or school-related travel.

If you’re interested in contributing, please contact Rob Schur, Director of Advancement at 413-229-1237 or rschur@berkshireschool.org.

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José, fifth from right, with the newly elected prefects, spring 2006

possibility of failure, to give up. José explains, “it was easier to pretend not to care than it was to do badly.”

That conflict led him away from squash his fourth form year and into basketball. “When I saw the joy he took from it,” AJ remembers, “I knew it was the right decision. He just needed to play.” But, as it turned out, José’s love of basketball didn’t extend to being coached in it, and he hated playing for a team. “I would get all of DeWindt out there for a pick-up game. We’d play til ten o’clock then come back to the dorm for snacks, but playing as part of a team ruined it for me.” He found himself spending his free time on weekends back on the squash courts.

By his fifth form year, he was ready to go back to squash and ready to change some things in bigger ways, as well. “I was feeling much more comfortable with what was happening in my life. I stopped fighting myself. There were two Josés going on, and I had to ask myself: ‘Why am I fighting who I am?’ I accepted that I could be a kid who was going to go to college, I could be a leader—I wasn’t too cool to be a leader. I’m okay with having responsibilities. I became more talkative and felt more at home.”

He remembers the squash piece this way: “I rejoined squash and met Jasper Turner for the first time. He was very nice, very energetic, and communicated really well with the team. I’m trying out for varsity. I’m playing, and I haven’t had team practice in a long time. I just kept beating people, until there wasn’t anyone else to beat. It felt good not to get beaten,

but I was surprised by how much better I’d gotten after taking a year off.”

“Coming back, I fell in love with it again. I wanted to practice. I started taking it really seriously. I was number one, and Oscar [Leon ‘07] played number two. We played each other every day. Two Latinos, number one and two. 2005-2006.

The kids were awesome. John Diebold was like an adult already. He was a beast, a great guy. Crawford was great, too, brought what he knew from tennis. We weren’t that good, but we had a fun team. Jasper really pushed us and got pissed off at me.

Said—‘you could be an actual number one. You don’t even give yourself a chance to compete.’ That had an effect. It got me thinking.” By his sixth form year, José was a prefect, squash captain, and was accepted to every school he applied to, save one.

He’d managed to achieve more than he set out to, a characteristic that reemerges at every stage of his life, so far.

“Mostly, Berkshire itself was a lifechanging experience for me. College was nothing compared to what happened to me between fourteen and seventeen, and playing squash here kept me connected to myself. I was able to carry something that felt like it belonged to me through my time here. I was fighting myself, growing as I fought it out on the court. It was very similar to the battle I was fighting inside myself—am I going to go for it, or am I not? It helped me realize that I needed to go for it. I went for it on the court.

Okay to use a squash reference here?

I’m still aiming; it’s never going to be a perfect drive. I just have to be comfortable with keeping the point going.”

GREEN MOUNTAIN SQUASH A Unique Extracurricular Initiative

By A. J. Kohlhepp, English Teacher and Girls Varsity Squash Coach

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Neeka Daemi ‘17, captain of Girls JV Squash, coaching the girls on important elements of the game during GMS’s two-day clinic at Berkshire last summer.

In the past two decades,

urban squash programs, which connect kids through athletic coaching, academic tutoring and personal mentoring, have cropped up in northeastern cities such as Boston, New York and Philadelphia, and spread as far as Cincinnati, Houston and San Diego. Meanwhile, far from the asphalt and steel of the urban landscape, a committed team of Vermont educators and squash enthusiasts is undertaking a related initiative.

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Berkshire’s own Bebe Bullock ’86 and Carol Farley P’13, both living in rural Vermont as the urban squash programs were being founded in the mid-1990s, were looking for ways to enhance extracurricular opportunities in Arlington, population 2,000, where approximately half of the students are eligible for the free and reduced lunch program.

Bullock, who teaches English at Berkshire, and Farley, who teaches at Arlington’s Memorial Middle and High Schools, took the plunge during the summer of 2014 to found Green Mountain Squash (GMS). Farley’s connections to the school system and Bullock’s passion for squash, which she played at Berkshire, have proven to be a potent combination.

That blend of connection and passion was instrumental in enrolling the first group of GMS participants. “It sounded really exciting,” notes Isabella, age fourteen. “Plus my favorite teacher [Farley] was involved, which was pretty cool too.”

The first summer featured a four-week program with emphasis on squash training, social entrepreneurship and outdoor leadership. Over the course of the school year, the GMS participants met with Farley on a weekly basis for tutoring and to refine their service projects, and Bullock made the trip up to Arlington for regular squash sessions.

Bullock and Farley put together a rich experience for the GMS kids during the summer of 2015. “The campers developed their squash skills, implemented the non-profit organizations they designed last summer, and undertook outdoor leadership training to facilitate their roles in their non-profits,” says Bullock. The outdoor leadership work was facilitated by Bullock’s husband Bill, History teacher and avid angler, who also happens to be a squash coach.

Although they lack some economies of scale that the established urban programs enjoy, GMS reaps benefits from their small size. The coach-mentors have gotten to know the ten participants, and their families, exceptionally well. The program, at that size, is also easily transportable. During the first year, GMS has enjoyed cultural opportunities in Arlington and nearby Williamstown, MA; toured Southern Vermont College, Green Mountain College and Williams College; and even ventured to New York City to watch the Tournament of Champions, one of the most important events on the professional squash tour. For many of the kids, this was their first visit to The Big Apple; for some, their first trip outside of Vermont.

No matter how far they travel afield, GMS retains a distinctive home town feel. In its early phase, participants learned about the Arlington community by talking with the town historian, a town representative and a local business owner, ultimately developing service projects they would like to see in town. The boys have designed an outreach program to teach senior citizens how to stay connected through social media outlets.

Meanwhile, the girls have planted a community garden at school and are developing cooking skills that will provide the Arlington community home-grown, homemade meals.

“We learned what the community needs,” observes Saige, age fifteen. “And then we figured out how to deliver it.”

There has also been a great deal of internal reflection. “The most important thing I learned was to work through difficulties,” notes Saige’s sister, Sonya, age thirteen.

“It has been challenging trying to get the right swing, but I learned if you work through your frustration you can do anything.”

One difficulty that GMS faces is a lack of funding, but they recently learned that the Agnes M. Lindsay Trust had awarded them a grant to fund five participants in the second summer. Given the shoe-string nature of the operation, Bullock and Farley have also had to depend on a philanthropic spirit in the Arlington area and are indebted to their local sponsors for support: Arlington Memorial High School, Mack Molding, The Arlington Arts and Enrichment Program, and The Vermont Community Foundation.

The second, and more serious, challenge that Green Mountain Squash faces is a lack of available facilities, which also happens to be an issue nationwide. “Access to squash courts is now the main constraint to growing participation in the U.S.,” notes Kevin Klipstein, president and CEO of U.S. Squash. GMS has been training on a single private court in Arlington and would love to move to a bigger home.

To make up for their lack of court access in Arlington, Bullock and Farley put together an overnight stay this past July at Berkshire, about ninety minutes south of Arlington, to make use of the School’s athletic facilities. Over two days, the campers and coaches enjoyed a tour of the school, leadership training at the foot of Mt. Everett, and a lot of squash. It was great to have the kids on campus, and Berkshire squash players and coaches enjoyed the opportunity to take part in their training.

The GMS connection to Berkshire athletics suggests a prototype that other small-town squash programs might emulate. As Klipstein of U.S. Squash points out, “The concept of rural squash, which pairs available school facilities with kids who otherwise would have no opportunity to play, is exactly the kind of programming we need to encourage all across the country.”

By turns quixotic and fanatical, inspiring and unlikely, rural squash, a homegrown movement from tiny Arlington, Vermont, might just be the next big thing in American squash. For their part, the GMS founders are less interested in national trends than in local outcomes. “Our goal is pretty simple,” observes Carol Farley. “We want these kids to be able to envision a future for themselves.” In doing so, Farley and Bullock are also helping to change the climate of expectations, or possibilities, in one rural Vermont town, one squash player at a time.

This past October, A. J. Kohlhepp, girls varsity squash coach, spent twentyfour hours at the Squash Summit in Philadelphia. The event, sponsored

by U.S. Squash, brought together many different constituencies in the squash community with a focus on growing the sport at every level.

On October 15, he met with a group of Berkshire alums to take in the action at the U.S. Open, one of the biggest pro events on the international circuit. The courtside reminiscing about their experiences on the courts and under the Mountain prompted talk of an on-campus reunion once the new courts are built.

The next day, Kohlhepp presented a paper on the topic of rural squash, exploring ways in which state-of-theart high school and college venues in low-density areas might provide another means by which to bring the sport to new competitors and audiences. He also met with reps from court-construction firms to talk about Berkshire’s new courts and with the director of SmartSquash, Philadelphia’s urban squash organization.

The conference gave Dr. K a chance to see alums, to talk about many aspects of Berkshire’s squash program, and to learn about new ways of expanding interest in the sport while watching some fabulous matches. All strengthening the idea that we are at the precipice of an exciting new era in Berkshire squash.

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/ Alumni News /

Talking Art + Life with Photographer Maggie Meiners

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/ Alumni News /

In January,Maggie Ross Meiners ’90 exhibited a collection of photographs in Berkshire’s Warren Family Gallery titled “Revisiting Rockwell,” inspired by a visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum. This winter, she’ll be returning to Berkshire and to her teaching roots when she brings the class “Pretty as a Picture” to Pro Vita week. The Bulletin caught up with the teacher-turned-artist for a conversation about showing at your alma mater, getting outside of your comfort zone, and going with your gut.

Berkshire Bulletin (BB): It’s so exciting to have another alumna’s work here in the Warren Family Gallery. Tell us about “Revisiting Rockwell.”

Maggie Meiners (MM): The show actually came about during a visit to Berkshire when I went to the Norman Rockwell Museum.

I was with my family, and I was observing how everyone at the museum was reacting to Rockwell’s paintings. I had never seen them up close, so it was really exciting for me. There was a general sense of nostalgia for the “good old days,” and also a real relatability and accessibility to the viewers. As an artist, that’s something we talk about a lot. Some conceptual art can be really hard to relate to and that makes it intimidating, so people feel like they don’t understand art.

Afterwards I started researching Rockwell, and I became intrigued by his life and by what he focused on. I thought it would be interesting to take what he was illustrating and painting at the time, and put a modern twist on it in the hopes of making art accessible to people, but also commenting on current issues in society.

BB: What were some of the challenges with this show?

MM: I don’t shoot people very often, so working with models and having to direct them is uncomfortable for me. I discovered that if you look at the chronology of my work, as I got more into photography, I started shooting more people.

This project as a whole was really outside my comfort zone, and aesthetically it’s not really how I express myself as an artist. It was much more of an intellectual exercise for me.

BB: When did you know you wanted to be a photographer?

MM: I came into photography and art in my thirties. I was in London with my mom right before I got married, and we went to see a retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum (the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design). I just loved it, and I thought, I can do this too. I was teaching fifth grade and started taking a Photo 101 darkroom class at night.

I eventually retired from teaching so I could pursue photography. I still shoot both film and digital. I love film. There’s something traditional about it. I love the process of putting the film in the camera, and I also really love using old vintage cameras.

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/ Alumni News /

“I would encourage people to ask themselves what they consider success, not somebody else.

You’ve got to go with your gut.”

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/ Alumni News /

BB: What’s next for you professionally?

MM: I’m in a collective with six other women photographers, and in April, we have an exhibition of portraits of one another in Chicago. I’m not a portrait photographer so this project is really daunting. I did my first formal portrait in November, and I was really pleased with the result. I love having that freedom to be able to evolve. When you’re working in a collective, you push each other and having the support of these women, and also having them as the subjects, has been a great experience.

BB: Did you take any art classes at Berkshire?

MM: The only art class I took was AP art history which I loved. Larry Valentine was my teacher (and my tennis coach), and he had a big impact on me. During my junior year at Berkshire, I spent a year abroad in Rennes, France, with SYA (School Year Abroad), and I really loved it. It was the spark that kept me interested in the arts.

BB: You’ll be teaching a class during Pro Vita week. What can students expect?

MM: We’ll look at the work of different photographers and how they weave their personal experiences into everything. It will be about storytelling, narrative and professional practices.

We’ll also be talking about the students’ personal narratives as artists and how to do a longer term project. I’m excited to work with this age group.

I hope to emphasize the importance of building a community around yourself that’s going to push you and challenge you and support you all at the same time.

BB: Do you have any advice for those interested in pursuing a career in the arts?

MM: My suggestion would be to not be afraid of it. I think sometimes we think that being an artist is not a real job. The fact is that the artists I know are some of the most entrepreneurial and hardworking people. I come from the school of thought that if you’re passionate about what you do, you’re going to make it work. I would encourage people to ask themselves what they consider success, not somebody else. You’ve got to go with your gut.

Maggie Meiners (b. 1972, Chicago) is an artist and photographer. She holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from University of Colorado-Boulder and Masters in Education from DePaul University in Chicago. Most recently, her work was featured at FotoFever in Paris. In addition to her personal projects, Maggie balances her art with client work, where she specializes in brand narrative and storytelling. Maggie’s work is represented by Anne Loucks Gallery in Glencoe, IL. Meiners, pictured here with Pieter Mulder, Head of School, during her exhibit at Reunion 2015.

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/ Alumni News /

DID YOU KNOW?

BERKSHIRE’S ANNUAL FUND supports every

dimension of the Berkshire experience. It ensures that the best students have access to Berkshire’s education, that our faculty have access to the best of resources, and that students are able to realize their potential in academics, the arts and in athletics.

YOUR CONTRIBUTION ALLOWS BERKSHIRE TO BE THE BEST IT CAN BE.

$

25 $50 $75 $100 $250 $500

one week’s electricity for a faculty apartment

one week’s worth of art supplies

travel to an away game

one set of snowshoes for RKMP

lab supplies for one chem lab

one year’s worth of student textbooks

2016 Annual Fund Goal: 1.9 million dollars

WHAT YOUR GIFT HELPS US DO: CONTAIN TUITION It bridges the gap between what tuition pays and what it costs to educate one student, every year. That’s $25,000 per student or $10,000,000 for the whole student body.

These impressive alums are committed to fostering a meaningful and lifelong connection to the Berkshire Community.

STRENGTHEN ARTS PROGRAMS

SUPPORT ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

Your gift helps Berkshire Arts put on about 35 performances and art shows every year.

RETAIN EXCELLENT FACULTY

PROMOTE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

It helps about 30% of our student body prepare for a college athletic experience.

Your participation helps provide professional development opportunities that have kept 20 faculty members at the top of their game and engaged in their work for 15+ years.

Your Annual Fund gift allows Berkshire to teach approximately 150 students in 17 different AP courses each year.

“Giving each month gives me a connection to the School I find meaningful.”

– Benjamin Spencer Cross ’91

Annual Fund donor since 1998 with monthly gifts since 2010

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“I grew up at Berkshire; it taught me the importance of education. I learned to study at Berkshire. Equally important, I began to enjoy studying.”

– Lt. Col. Robert L. Walsh Annual Fund donor since 1987

/ Alumni News /

THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING To our loyal Berkshire Community: First and foremost, a huge thank you to each and every member of our community who came together to support our Hail Berkshire campaign and our Annual Fund. To the 2,441 Bears who stood to be counted, our gratitude could not be deeper, and our sense of optimism for the future could not be stronger as we chart our course for the future, fully supported by your collective votes of confidence.

As you know, support for Berkshire comes in many different forms, from all over the world, and is crucial to our collective work. Moving forward, Berkshire will continue to prepare our students, faculty and staff to meet the very real and complex challenges of the 21st century.

To do that, we combine the best of teacher expertise, educational resources and technology in a place-based, collaborative learning environment that’s second to none.

We will build upon the generosity of the past to enhance our student and faculty housing while providing optimal facilities to support the daily needs of the School. Our collective ability to attract, matriculate, hire and retain the best and brightest students and faculty possible—and fully support them in the ongoing development of their personal, scholastic, athletic and artistic growth—is essential in building the School’s next generations.

However, as we look at the ways we all, collectively, can help ensure Berkshire remains the special place it is, our support of Annual Giving and building our endowment are the most important steps we can take. The Annual Giving program helps Berkshire meet its most immediate needs and allows us to sustain excellence throughout all aspects of the School. Participation in the Fund not only honors your class and experience at Berkshire; it also helps provide funds for financial aid, faculty support, equipment, supplies, and improvements to our physical plant. Our goals for the Annual Fund, however, go well beyond dollars and cents—increasing the number of

alumni, parents and friends who support the Fund, at any level, is our top priority. Growing our participation is essential and makes a bold statement about community pride.

While Berkshire is well positioned, thanks to your support, we face the same challenges as all independent schools regarding the rising costs of tuition and housing, and the need for financial aid. Tuition alone does not cover the full cost of an education. At Berkshire, this nearly $25,000 gap is filled each year for every student in the School in the form of the Berkshire Grant which is made possible by gifts from parents, alumni, and friends who have supported the School’s endowment. Every student’s experience at Berkshire is directly impacted by the generosity of those who have come before them. It is imperative that our endowment grow to the point where it can generate the income required to benefit every aspect of the School and secure Berkshire in perpetuity.

Thank you for your continued support and passion for Berkshire. Your collective dedication to developing our students’ lives via an educational experience that is not only rigorous, but inclusive, authentic and rooted in the development of character, citizenship and appreciation of place is awe-inspiring. On behalf of all of us in Advancement, I look forward to working alongside you as we continue our collective journey on behalf of the School we love.

Climb the Mountain,

“I give to Berkshire because my four years there made me who I am today. It was (and still is) an integral part of me, and to give back means that others can experience the same sense of growth and enrichment that I was able to experience.”

“I received financial aid when I attended the School in the 1950s and now that I can, I am of the frame of mind to give back to this excellent school.”

– Michael O’Neil ’91 Initiated monthly gifts to the Annual Fund in 1991

– Charles Fatum ’57 Annual Fund donor since 2008

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/ Alumni News /

Kat Gaudin (Kollmer) ’05 Talks Mentoring Kat Gaudin has been working in PwC’s Financial Services Advisory Consulting practice since 2010, after starting as an intern and working her way up. She credits her success in great part to the Berkshire alums who advised her along the way.

“WHILE I WAS STILL IN COLLEGE,

“My mentors have made me passionate about giving back to Berkshire and to the School’s graduates.”

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Kirk Kellogg ’87 brought me to his company, Kellogg Partners, in New York City, which gave me a chance to work on the NYSE. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and think it may have determined everything I’ve Kirk Kellogg chosen to do since.”

She met Chip Perkins ’73 at an alumni event at Berkshire during her fifth form year. “He saw me on a panel and gave me his business card, then told me to call him when I was looking for a job. I called him during my sophomore year in college, when I was looking for an internship.

I learned so much from my time at Perkins Fund Marketing, it’s hard to choose one Chip Perkins thing. I will say that I still call on Chip when I’m making any career decision.”

Perkins, for his part, is still impressed

by Gaudin’s taking him up on his offer. “She took the open invitation that I could have given anyone. She followed up, and I wouldn’t have turned her down.” He suggests that mentors should listen to young graduates about their dreams and give encouragement, while also showing them what it takes to make it. The most important thing is to pay attention to the specific mentee. Don’t try to fit them in; see where they fit best.

Gaudin is thrilled to be part of Berkshire’s mentoring program because of the value it adds to the Berkshire experience. “Having a mentor provides an objective perspective on the unique ways that people can differentiate themselves and mold their careers. I would love to participate in this program— my mentors have made me passionate about giving back to Berkshire and to the School’s graduates. It’s an exciting opportunity!”

Considering the many ways that older alums can help more recent graduates, she pauses. “I think that this will work really well at Berkshire because our alums naturally want to give back and are passionate about wanting younger students to succeed. We’re so grateful for the teachers and others who helped us that we can’t wait to help someone else!”

/ Alumni News /

Announcing Berkshire Connect and Upcoming Career Networking Events Whether you’re a college student searching for the perfect summer internship or a seasoned professional eyeing your next career move, the vast network of Berkshire alumni stands ready to help. All alumni are invited to join our own official networking platform, Berkshire Connect (www.berkshireconnect.org).

You can sign up in less than two minutes by importing your LinkedIn or Facebook profile.

Berkshire alumni are employed at the top companies in the U.S. and abroad, and they are ready and willing to assist fellow Bears with career advice and networking opportunities. This is also a great way to offer your expertise to others in the community by volunteering to act as a mentor.

Register today to take advantage of the networking opportunities open to you through your Berkshire network!

Berkshire Connect enables you to:

RE-CONNECT GIVE BACK GET AHEAD EXPAND

Find and reminisce with classmates, see what they have been up to and stay in touch.

Introduce, employ and be a mentor to our graduating students.

Advance your career through inside connections working in top companies and access to exclusive opportunities.

Leverage your professional network to get introduced to people you should know.

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Reunion 2015

REUNION 2015 REUNION STATS

61

384 TOTAL GUESTS

YEARS OF BERKSHIRE HISTORY

REPRESENTED BY CLASSES 1949-2010

1965 + 2010

MATT BRAND ’88 CHALLENGE VEST WINNERS CLASS OF 1986 MISSES THE MARK BY 3 PEOPLE

Lionel Shaw ‘86 purchases Matt Brand ‘88 Challenge vests for his entire class that attended Reunion Weekend.

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MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2010 MOST ATTENDEES AT REUNION

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Berkshire Bulletin

3 BIRDS OF PREY 1 OSPREY, 1 OWL, 1 RED-TAILED HAWK

19 FORMER FACULTY

+

45 CURRENT FACULTY

Reunion 2015

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BERKSHIRE BEAR

REUNION 2015 WAS EXCEPTIONAL, giving alums a chance to reconnect and remember while the weather cooperated, and the The Bear emerged often enough that people came to expect him. Look for casual photos here and for your class photos in Class Notes. Looking forward to welcoming 1’s and 6’s this spring – get all of your friends together and register soon!

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Reunion 2015

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1

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4

7

5

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8

1. Classmates reunited! 2. (L-R): Brooke Beebe Noble ’00, Ellen Kim, Alex Shuman ’00. Elizabeth Ross ’00 3. Class of 1991 4. Saturday afternoon hike to Black Rock 5. Classmates enjoying a hike up the mountain 6. Loving Hamlen ’90 and Andre Appigani ’90 7.Tyler Reighley ’10 and Kit Landry ’10 8. Rhonda Randall ’80, Wendy Lee Joakim ’80 and Collette Peters ’80

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Berkshire Bulletin

Reunion 2015

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14

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15

9. (L-R) Andrew McCarthy ’10, Henry Latour ’10, Will Hearty ’10, Cheryl Geerhold, Klayton Johnson ’10, Emily Couch ’10, Peter Quilty 10. Saturday morning class with Dr. April Burch 11. Associate Head of School Jean Woodward Maher and Cait Ward ’08 12. (L-R): Randy Reyes’10, Mauricio Gonzalez ’10, Marjorie Simpson ’10, Sharnae Moore ’10, Shannon Brown ’10 13. Brian C. Luts ’90 14. Natalie Dillon ’90 15. Head of School Pieter Mulder, Billy Wigton ’65, Gordon Crawford ’65, Mary Brush, Charly Burh ’65, Bill Spalding ’65, Theron Marsh ’65, Bill Bullock

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Reunion 2015

Volunteer of the Year and Distinguished Alum for 2015 Bill Spalding ’65 and Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui ‘85

In June, Berkshire Head of School Pieter Mulder was honored to award Bill Spalding ’65 with the Volunteer of the Year Award and Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui ’85 with the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award.

A respected friend of the School, Spalding can frequently be found on campus, helping in whatever capacity he is most needed. RG Meade, with whom Spalding has coached volleyball over the years, reminds us that, “Of course, Bill bleeds green, but he is more than just a super fan of all things Berkshire. In his love for Berkshire, its setting, and its people, Bill brings both a positive energy and a collaborative approach. In short, things just go better when Bill is involved.”

For his part, Spalding calls Berkshire a “home away from home…The fact that I have been able to give back is just a small token of my esteem and admiration for Berkshire. I have, and will continue even in retirement, to do whatever I am able to do for the School and will never be able enough to express my true gratitude to Berkshire!”

Arregui, recently named as one of Real Leaders magazine’s 100 visionaries, has spent his time since Berkshire working to transform society for all of its members. He’s received numerous awards, including being named one of the top 30 Social Entrepreneurs of the world by Forbes Magazine and receiving a National Entrepreneurship Award from the President of Mexico. His work reaches far, and its implications run deep.

Classmate Lionel Shaw ’85 remembers Arregui’s proficiency at crew. “He seemed unfazed by the strenuous workload, regardless of the 54

Berkshire Bulletin

level of intensity. His indomitable smile and constant optimism helped boost morale on the team, and his sense of humor always made difficult practices on the frozen lakes of Sheffield more tolerable.” Shaw goes on to call Arregui, “a truly exceptional example of what it means to be a contributor to Berkshire in all the best ways.”

Arregui believes that, “I grew up and became a man under the Mountain —my classmates and teachers at Berkshire taught me what I am today, for which I will ever be grateful.

One of those great lessons was to be who you are, always, no matter the

circumstances. Such confidence was the drive for me to reach mountain peaks, and once I reached them, I realized that once you have reached the summit, you have the potential to have a great impact on the lives of thousands, maybe millions. That is why you’ve been given the opportunity: not to celebrate, but to respond to that opportunity.”

Berkshire celebrated both recipients, thanking them for their commitment to the School and to its mission, and congratulating them on lives in which they lead by example and give so much of themselves.

“I grew up and became a man under the Mountain—my classmates and teachers at Berkshire taught me what I am today, for which I will ever be grateful. “ – Alvaro Rodriquez Arregui ’85, Distinguished Alumnus of the Year 2015

Reunion 2015

Service of Remembrance James Harris remembers Twiggs Myers Hon. ‘57

James Harris, former Bulletin editor and faculty member, reading his remembrance

“My name is James Harris, and I came rather late to the Twiggs Myers party.

In 1995 Twiggs retired from teaching, in a ceremony on the Berkshire Hall steps presided over by the man Twiggs called the Right Reverend Doctor Unsworth, the seventh of the thirteen headmasters under whom Twiggs was to serve. Mr. Myers then set up shop in a vast closet of clutter in Memorial Hall and emerged a few years later with an archive that rivaled any other school’s. It was a treasure trove that contained the autobiography of Seaver Buck, the plaid pants of Jack Stewart, and everything else Berkshire in between.

My office happened to adjoin that closet and, as the new editor of the Berkshire Bulletin, I was hungry for Berkshire lore. Twiggs fed me platefuls

of it, from the ABCs of Allen, Buck and Chase to trivia such as the mellifluous names of some of his former students: Ludlow North, Peter Alternative, Buff Montana, David Orefice, Crocus Beaver and, here this weekend, Vixen Peare. From mere colleagues, Twiggs and I came to be fellow hymn singers, sparring partners, amateur cardiologists, butchers of chickens, knights of the highway. When he died he was my best friend in the world— and, I like to think, Berkshire School’s as well.

I was also his digital amanuensis, because while Twiggs did buy a computer one day, he sold it the next.

Twiggs would proudly boast that he didn’t do email, an activity he described as “firing missives into the void.”

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Reunion 2015

“What happy, happy fate that the lonely little boy from Philadelphia’s Main Line and later Harvard Law School dropout would somehow find his way to this school under this mountain.”

– James Harris, former faculty

Twiggs also disdained airplanes, ethnic food of any type, chamber music, breakfast, Ronald Reagan, cities in general (New York City in particular), and picking up a check. Any check.

Of course, Twiggs preferred to accentuate the positive, so the list of things he loved is much longer—among them, trees and dogs, railroad trains and old tractors, books and used bookstores, the Phillies, pigeons, geese and chickens, being a member of the Berkshire School class of 1957, clouds, begonias, the patience of cows, tapioca, Dixieland music, BLT’s, all things Adirondack, cod at the Old Mill, and an assortment of heroes ranging from Abraham Lincoln to FDR, Art Chase to May Sarton, John Godman to Ulysses S. Grant, Frank Beattie to Chuck Bednarik.

Oh, the adventures we two had on our way to visit far-flung alumni and former faculty. Twiggs insisted on driving and let me tell you, in the last few years it was harrowing. Twiggs didn’t miss a trick on either side of the highway. He’d point and gesticulate with one hand and sometimes two, often leaving the steering wheel to itself as he launched into his Twiggsian stream of consciousness. “Look, it’s a red-tailed hawk. See it? Know what they call those flowers over there?

Bouncing bet. Bouncing bet! Isn’t that a wonderful name? See that yellow

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Berkshire Bulletin

tree on the hillside? That’s a tamarack.

Walter Prichard Eaton called them pillars of fire…they grow cheek-by-jowl with the white pines. Cheek-by-jowl.

When was the last time you heard anyone use THAT expression?”

We all know of Twiggs’s intellectual breadth and spiritual depth. But on these trips you’d hear the slightly offcolor Twiggs, stories he’d told you over and over again. About how LBJ compared the presidency to being a jackass hunkered down in the middle of a hailstorm. About how cross country running is the only sport where you can enjoy lunch twice, and the second time it’s hot. About the surprising number of Civil War generals who were killed while relieving themselves behind a tree. You learned that Twiggs adored ceremony—isn’t it fitting that he died on Flag Day? He also liked flamboyant titles, like Minister Without Portfolio.

One day he turned to me and, out of the blue, said “The idea of field marshal somehow appeals to me.” Of the women in his life, he said, “I tried to limit their number,” although I’m here to tell you that the love of his life was Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.

What happy, happy fate that the lonely little boy from Philadelphia’s Main Line and later Harvard Law School dropout would somehow find his way to this school under this

mountain. And Seaver Buck’s school to boot! By the way, you can add Seaver Buck to Twiggs’s list of heroes. The two never crossed paths—Mr. Buck died three years before Twiggs arrived on campus. But what a moment it was when Twiggs met Mr. Buck’s daughter, Caroline Cluett, then approaching ninety, at her home in upstate New York. He sat down beside her, put his arm around her and all of sudden, as if on cue, the two sang the Berkshire hymn together. All three stanzas.

Twiggs was also a huge fan of Mrs. Cluett’s daughter and Seaver Buck’s granddaughter, Jane Hansen, and of her husband Arthur, who are here with us this morning.

How appropriate it is that Berkshire has planted a tree in Twiggs’s memory, a gesture he would really appreciate. As the namesake of a confederate general, Twiggs had sympathy for the Army of Northern Virginia and for Thomas Stonewall Jackson, perhaps its greatest general. Twiggs would frequently recall Jackson’s last words “Let us cross the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” And so Berkshire students can now cross Glen Brook and rest under the shade of the tree, Twiggs’s tree, the Myers Maple. Long may they cherish it.

And long live Twiggs Myers.”

Reunion 2015

word THE

ON REUNION 2015

“A highlight for me was spending time with my classmates in the gallery, admiring Maggie’s photos.

The conversations were great, as were the people.

And the art was fantastic!”

– Jeremy LaCasse ’90

“Our 25th reunion was such an incredible weekend! We all had a blast being back together, and my stomach still hurts from laughing so much!” #BestWeekendEver – Nina Bradley Clarke ’90 Pictured above: (L-R) Tracey Ranta ’90. Maggie Meiners ’90, Nina Bradley Clarke ’90, Jen Tost ’90

“LOVED being back on the mountain! Was very special to run in the Twiggs memorial run, catch up with old friends and teachers and attend Gulotta’s final class ...every time I come back, I feel like I never left.”

– Kat Gaudin (Kollmer) ’05

“I was thrilled to return and excited that so many of my 2010 classmates were able to attend.

I think our class demonstrated how special the weekend can be if everyone buys in and I urge future classes to do the same. I will always be proud of Berkshire and spending some time back on campus was special.”

– Kit Landry ’10

Please get the word out, but just back from the 50th, wanted to thank and congratulate everyone for a fabulous reunion. It was great to reconnect with so many from Berkshire’s finest class and see how the School has grown and reached a higher level over the past years.”

– Peter White ‘65

“I loved it. It was well planned and a great way to get us all back together.

Most of us wouldn’t have done it on our own, and I loved getting to see everyone. It’s crazy how much we’ve all grown up and what a huge part of that was thanks to Berkshire.”

– Taylor Watson ’10

SEE YOU THIS SUMMER!

Reunion 2016 JUNE 10-12 Fall/Winter 2016

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1967

1967 varsity squash team: Front: Harris, Hessler (capt), Gardner, Back: Mr. Alford, L’Hommedieu, Ressler, Meads, Van Sciver

is PAST PROLOGUE 58

Berkshire Bulletin

2016 2016 varsity boys squash team: Front: Dongchan Ryu, Peter Koeningsbauer, Charlie Boyle, Back: Coach Jasper Turner, Jack Grace, Liam Bullock, Jesse Lee, Tyler Morse, Tanner Boyle

Squash has been on Berkshire’s winter sports schedule since about 1963, with some adjustments over the years, first adding girls in 1976, and then creating separate teams in 1982. They originally played underneath the library in courts resembling a darkened cave, later moving to the “new” gym. This year, when the gym is renovated, Berkshire will add new courts and reconfigure them for the first time since the building was constructed.

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Connect with Berkshire

/ Class Notes /

CLASS NOTES Beginning with this issue, we’re excited to unveil a new approach to Class Notes. Everything you’re used to will still be there, some just in a new place. The pictures of celebrations are blocked together, so that you can see all of the weddings in one place and the babies in another. We hope you like this new format. Please feel free to contact us at bulletin@berkshireschool.org and let us know what you think – we love to hear from you!

39 Robert S. Kieve writes: “October was a month of reunions for me. First, the 75th anniversary of the first broadcast by the Harvard radio station (now known as WHRB) on which I read the station’s first newscast. The second reunion was the annual dinner of former White House assistants, who served under President Eisenhower some 60 plus years ago. That reunion included a tour of White House offices, including those that had been occupied by each of us.

Today, I continue to work as CEO of two radio stations in San Jose, CA.”

REUNION 2016 • JUNE 10-12 Welcoming back ’1s and ’6s!

Jackson, MS. He also appreciated the warm welcome at Berkshire, where his southern accent was appreciated as fun, rather than something to ridicule.

His education at Berkshire was key in changing his point of view regarding civil rights, the violence of which he witnessed firsthand in Mississippi. He has been a pacifist and a member of the Society of Friends (Quaker) all of his life. “Thank you, Berkshire!”

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Every year a clan of ’49ers returns to campus in November to enjoy time together and reminisce about their Berkshire days.

Philip W. Goodspeed

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50

70th

48 George Church III

43 Robert Riche writes: “You may be interested in my new memoir, composed as poetry, entitled All the Days. It spans a life lived amid the tumult of the last century, including the travesty of 1950’s McCarthyism, the exhilaration of living for a year in Paris caught up in revolutionary politics, a return to the U.S. and entry into the world of radical unionizing…available from Amazon.”

Teddy Sumner is alive and kicking!

He remembers cross-country skiing up the Mountain, which he was faster at than coming down! He loved the snow, having never experienced it in

Robert W. Doyle, Sr. robertwdoyle@hotmail.com

From left: Ben Davenport, Bob Doyle, Rollie Schopp and Head of School Pieter Mulder. Front: Moe England and Sparry Sparks via phone.

Gerald B. O’Connor barnard.oconnor@gmail.com

Robert S. Kieve ’39 in front of what used to be his office at the White House under President Eisenhower

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Charles K. Elliott, Jr. chazel303@gmail.com

Charles Elliott, Jr. writes: “The only classmate I’ve seen recently is Dick Whittemore, who splits his time between a development in Manlius, NY (which features an air strip for use by owners in the complex) and his place in Florida. I, too, maintain residences in Mt. Pleasant, SC and Madison, CT. Last summer we visited with all three of our children and most of our six grandkids.

It rained only at nights, no jelly fish in Long Island Sound, and lots of cribbage with friends and relatives. Ann and I would be happy to see any classmates in either place. Let us know at 203-2458944 in Madison or 843-884-4782 in Mt. Pleasant.”

51 Robert Riche ’43 and his dog Coco, as painted by his daughter, in an Illustration from All the Days, a memoir in poetry

65th

John B. Hull III (413) 528-1528

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/ Class Notes /

53 John G. Cluett jcluett@aol.com

From Tony Austin: “My youngest daughter, Sharon, 23, who graduated from UNC’s School of Information and Library Science now works for Northrop/Grumman in Huntsville, AL. Her starting salary was more than either her mother or I ever made!”

From John Cluett: “Who says that life slows down when you retire! I’m married to my second wife, Mary, and reside in The Villages, FL. I keep quite busy on the golf course, pickle ball courts and attending classes at the charter school (over 200 courses). I have two children, five grandchildren and one step great-grandchild. We travel several times a year visiting those places you never had time to go to when you’re working. The Canadian Rockies were spectacular! I visited Berkshire last year and got a great tour of the campus with all the new buildings. Seaver Buck would be very proud of what he started 109 years ago. All Hail to Berkshire!”

Lee Cole writes: “When the Berkshire Bulletin arrived last, it reminded me that I might give an update on my current activities. I have been giving talks in the Cincinnati/Dayton area.

Subjects include: Anne Hutchinson, my 7th great grandmother, the current situation in Ukraine, genealogy research, and ancient DNA. I find these both challenging and enjoyable.”

Preston Cooper writes: “Trying to keep healthy by playing lots of tennis, sailing and biking, though I would rather be skiing. However, we are in Naples, FL for most of the winter, so I only get a few ski runs in before Christmas (though it’s nice that at our age the skiing is free, one of our few benefits!). Had been on our community board, including president, for several years, but now looking for some other volunteer activity to pick up the slack. Still love to travel, with recent trips to Scandinavia, Germany and Czech Republic. One fun activity has been putting together 18-minute travelogues. Our community has one of the leading senior programs in the 62

Berkshire Bulletin

nation for continued study, and my wife and I have enjoyed that.

Unfortunately, we are in a holding pattern after learning that one of our daughters has a rare blood cancer (Myelodysplastic Syndrome or MDS) and will likely be going in for a bone marrow transplant soon. She will be in isolation for about 100 days, and we will be taking over home duties in Oakland with her 10- and 13-year-old children.

The rates of survival aren’t great, but we have confidence she will pull it off. With our small class, we need you all to show up at our next Reunion in 2018 (oh that we all make it!).”

Jim Harmon writes: “Married 58 years this past year, with three children, all doing well, and we have four grandchildren: one a senior at Brown, one a banker at Goldman Sachs, and two are babies. Not managing the aging process very well. I have three jobs – my day job is managing an emerging market fund. My “night jobs” invade my day job. I am chairman of the World Resources Institute (www.wri.org), a leading research and policy institute focusing on solutions to environmental challenges, and then in 2012, I agreed to chair the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund (www.eaefund.org). The latter means I am in D.C. and Cairo more than I would have expected at this age. It’s a great assignment launched by Obama and HRC with funding by Congress.

Somehow I keep playing tennis and golf, which has helped me to keep my weight as it was at Berkshire.”

James McCurrach has decided to continue his work in the field of education. He is teaching a full-time assignment with one of the Millbrae Elementary schools out in the San Francisco area and very much thriving as a working elder.

Herb Roskind writes: “We also regret the news about Joel Spivak. We recall his famous father brought his band to our senior prom. I still remember my date Mary Ann Cantor. She was very pretty, did not marry, and is a close friend of my cousin Pauline Gilbert (NYC), former Miss Tennessee. This is our third summer visiting our grandkids in Santa Monica and biking a bit. We

intend to visit Berkshire in September when back East. We also teach Global Trade at Arizona State University.”

Allan Simpson writes: “I thought I should drop a line to let you know that another member of the Class of ’53 is alive and well and enjoying my 16th year of retirement. I live with my wife, Barbara, outside of Reading, PA, in the small rural community of Bernville.

Our three kids and seven grandkids all live in the same general area. You may not be aware that my brother, Howard Simpson, passed away from lung cancer in Cleveland Heights, OH, in September of last year. I do follow happenings at Berkshire, and am very pleased to see that our alma mater is doing as well as it is.”

54 David W. Sauer stillpoint@windstream.net

Peter Young ’54 and Ben Davenport ’49 at the Greenwich Reception in October 2015

55 Stephen V. R. Spaulding III rensf@yahoo.com

Andrew Olins writes: “Living, as always it seems in Brookline, MA, but with a second home in Harpswell, ME. The best “Lessons for Life” from Berkshire were from Frank Beattie’s music classes. I have four great kids, firstborn taken by ALS (awful disease), and four grandkids. Aging carefully, and drinking good wines.”

Lew Sadler is still living on Hollydot Golf Course in Colorado City, CO, enjoying golf and life.

Terry Twichell writes: “I now have four of my seven grandchildren attending The Thatcher School, the

/ Class Notes /

place where I worked for 33 years.

We are again going to school plays and games to watch them in action.

What a delight! So sorry I missed our 60th reunion. We need to get together sometime soon while we can.”

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60th

Daniel C. M. Crabbe dan.crabbe@comcast.net

Joe Geiger writes: “My book Entrepreneurial Success, 102 Business Principles, The Road to the Top is now in its third edition. You can see more details at www.TheRoadToTheTop.com.”

university’s three-pronged approach of finding efficiencies, building collaborations and generating new revenue ended up saving the University of Colorado millions of dollars, and stands as a business lesson to other similar institutions. While their efforts have seen success, Benson notes there is always more work to do. “If public institutions want to remain a viable option for all students, they must learn to operate more like businesses – because easy state money is not coming back.”

Mac Odell is safely back in Washington, DC after roughly three months in Pakistan last summer helping to start up a new $127 million project to create Centers for Advanced Studies in Agriculture, Water and Energy, in partnership with UC-Davis and six other US and Pakistani universities. What with ongoing security problems in Pakistan – and now across the Middle East and Europe – he’s particularly glad to be back with his three new grandchildren (between 1 and 3 years of age) in NYC and Palo Alto, CA. Life is good, and although it’s clouded by the disturbing election circus and unraveling of the Middle East since the Iraq disaster, he remains ever optimistic of an eventual good outcome when and if America–and the world at large–comes to its senses.

58 Book cover of Joe Geiger ’56’s Entrepreneurial Success, 102 Business Principles, The Road to the Top

57 Walter S. Henrion walthenrion@gmail.com

President of the University of Colorado Bruce Benson wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal on August 26, 2015 entitled “Giving College Administrators a Business Education.” Benson expounds upon the ways in which he and others at the University of Colorado were forced to become efficient and more fiscally responsible in the wake of dramatic state funding cuts. With nearly 50 years in big business, Benson notes that tough economic times force measures that one should likely be taking anyway. The

Ben Rosin is finally retiring in 2016.

Rosin writes: “We stopped by Berkshire on October 22 and were impressed with the newly-renovated Berkshire Hall. Campus was empty except for two cordial faculty members (Director of Admission and a lovely Fourth Form English teacher) who told us the School had 400 attendees and invited us to go into Berkshire Hall, which we did.

Escaping study hall made me study and for that I am eternally thankful.”

and one daughter joined us with our five grandsons, ages 16, 11, 6, 4 and 2.

Busy young boys and always a pleasure to have them visit our home.

Dan, our oldest son, is living on the West Coast selling real estate and insurance. Jason, his brother, has been teaching and coaching in our hometown of Merrick, NY at Calhoun High School since he graduated college. He teaches AP Senior English and has coached varsity soccer for 12 years, although he has retired from coaching to spend more time with his sons. Both like sports and are doing very well in school. I thought someday Jason would make his way up to Berkshire to teach and coach! Our daughter Caren and her husband live in Brooklyn. Caren was in marketing for many years and then decided to take a break and be with her sons.

We joined Carl and Paddy Albright and family for New Year’s Eve. It is more than 40 years that they have had their annual New Year’s Eve party. Always a good time and a great place to celebrate.

Many of us are looking forward to our 76th birthday celebrations this year.

The best to all of you for a Happy and Healthy New Year.”

60 Stephen P. Norman steve@spnormanco.com H. Todd Spofford tspofford@charter.net

59 Richard H. Elias mardic68@hotmail.com

Dick Elias writes: “All is well here at 39 Manfield Avenue and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our two sons

Steve Norman ’60 and Joe Bodak, Jr. ’60 reconnect at the NYC Holiday Party in December, where nearly 260 alumni and friends gathered to celebrate the holiday season–a record turnout

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/ Class Notes /

61

55th

Peter R. Kellogg pkellogg@iatre.com

62 Andrew S. Berkman aberkman@cpny.com

63 Ray H. Garrison rgarrison40@comcast.net

64 John R. Hendrie jrhendrie@gmail.com

Bay, north of Burlington, VT, and plan to divide time between there and San Francisco. Their daughter Alexandra works with the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya and is based in London.

John Kennedy writes: “Pete Skinner and I are excited to report that our Health Access Sumbawa malaria elimination project broke ground on construction of the village clinic in November in South Central Sumbawa, an island east of Bali in the Republic of Indonesia. We plan to have a small malaria lab and treatment

John Hendrie writes: “I think it’s safe to say we’re all still recovering from our 50th Reunion and no doubt seeking warmer climates for the winter upon us.”

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50th

Harlan J. Swift timswifty@gmail.com

65 James T. McKinley jim@jtmckinley.com

Kit Ames continues to work for the California Attorney General’s Office on a part-time basis. He and his wife Carol have bought a house on Malletts

center operational soon. I will spend two months in the village this winter, guiding the program. A number of our Berkshire ’65 classmates are supporting the program, which is especially gratifying. Thanks, fellas! (Alas, no girls at Berkshire back in our day). Health Access Sumbawa now has a Facebook page as well as our website, www. healthaccesssumbawa.org, so supporters can easily follow the progress.”

Bill Spalding writes: “I just finished up my third year back at Berkshire coaching the varsity volleyball team.

I really enjoyed this group of young ladies, and it’s always fun to coach with RG Meade. I am looking forward to spending two months in Florida this winter with Nancy Duryee-Aas.”

Final sketch for Health Access Sumbawa’s village clinic, provided by Pete Skinner ’65 and Jack Kennedy ’65

Tim Swift shares how he fortuitously ran into current Berkshire student Anna Flaherty ’16 on the slopes this past November: “I was skiing at Vail over Thanksgiving weekend and pulled into the lift line at Chair 11, Northwoods Express. Right in front of me was a parka that was emblazoned with ’Berkshire School Ski Team’ on the back. Naturally, I had to say something.

Turns out the parka was occupied

by John Flaherty’s daughter, Anna, and John is best friends with Hans Carstensen ’66 from the Vineyard, small world as this is. Short story was

’65

First row: Jack Holton, Nick Wallner, George Lapp, Bill Braman, Bill Wigton, Terry Marsh, Andy Power; Second row: Tristam Johnson, Steve Platz, Geoff Wickwire, Joe Matteis, Sam Crawford, Andy Brown, Peter Skinner, Jack Kennedy, Bill Spalding; Third row: Charlie Brush, Gordon Crawford, Dan MacMillan, David Farrar, Peter White, Alexander Walsh, Jim McKinley, Bob Doyle ’49, Dan Barnes; Not Pictured: Phil Deely

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Berkshire Bulletin

Tim Swift ’66 meets current student Anna Flaherty ’16 out on the slopes at Vail

/ Class Notes /

the Class of 2016 meets the Class of 1966 – separated by a mere 50 years!”

67 F. Woodson Hancock III whancock3@aol.com

After more than 40 years in newspapers, Chris Eddings retired at the end of 2014, but not completely.

Recently elected president of the MDDC (Maryland, Delaware, DC) Press Foundation, he’s now focused on funding to support summer internships for college journalism students and is also consulting with various companies and organizations in Maryland.

From Tom Nolan: “Here’s what has transpired since I graduated in 1973 from UVM with a BSCE. Worked for Metcalf & Eddy in Boston. Got my Professional Engineer license in 1973.

Graduated in 1978 from Boston College’s School of Management with an MBA in finance. Got married in 1980 to Rhonda, a nationally recognized ornamental decorative artist. Have two sons: Ian (in NC, single) and Jeremy (in CO, married to Chelsea, two grandkids – Adeline, age 10, and Dylan, age 9). Worked 17 years for GTE Sylvania Corporation, including as Plant Engineer, Manufacturing Superintendent, Plant Safety Director and finally ’Manager of Employee Safety and Industrial Hygiene.’ Was the Manager of Safety Assurance for Cabot LNG, the wholly owned liquefied natural gas (LNG) business of Boston-based Cabot Corporation from 1995 until 1999. Built a 4,300-sfhome on 147 acres in Winchester, NH. Started my company, Safety Assurance Management (SAM), in 2000. In 2007, was recognized as the ’Safety Professional of the Year’ for the six New England states. In 2008 and 2010, was elected the American Society of Safety Engineer’s Area Director for the 6 New England States. Became a trainer for the OSHA Training Institute Education Center, New England in 2011. Bought a retirement home in Mooresville, NC in 2012. Moved to NC in 2013. Currently, closing down SAM after 16 years.

Looking forward to retirement. Hobbies: Wood working, reading, antiquing with

1966 Remember these 1960s dance crazes? the Hitch Hike

the Stroll

the Continental

the Madison

the Monster Mash

the Watusi

the Monkey

the Frug

the Pony

the Swim

the Mashed Potato

Don’t miss your 50th!

BERKSHIRE SCHOOL REUNION WEEKEND

JUNE 10-12, 2016

Register today! Call Jodi Rathbun at 413-229-1308, email jrathbun@berkshireschool.org or register online:

Berkshireschool.org/reunionweekend Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Class Notes /

George Ripley ’67, Werner Minshall ’69 and Steve Connolly ’67, holding up a copy of the 1966 Berkshire Trail which they are all in. This photo was sent in by Page Minshall who said, “Great photo of George Ripley (my neighbor in Washington, DC), Werner Minshall ’69 (my father-in-law), and Steve Connolly (my father). Steve and George have been friends for almost 50 years (since Berkshire), and they recently connected with Werner when I met my husband. We were all gathered in DC for the baptism of my son, and Werner and Steve’s grandson, Mac, when this photo was taken. Lucky to have these three exceptional people and Berkshire alums in my life!”

Rhonda, taking our travel trailer around the country, especially to Colorado to see our grandkids. Please reach out if you’re ever passing through Mooresville! 648 E. Iredell Ave, Mooresville, NC 28115 704-621-7176.”

Tom Nolan ’67 accepting his Safety Professional of the Year award in 2007

68 L. Keith Reed lkreed.mt@gmail.com

Davis Anderson writes: “Let’s aim for 100% turnout for our 50th Reunion

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in 2018, especially from those who have not yet been back. Some of us missed the chance to see Twiggs again–let’s not miss out on seeing other old friends, too. It will be a lot of fun, and a big turnout really makes a big difference!”

Chris Blair writes: “I had dinner with David Cox and Wenda Habenicht recently. We caught up and also considered the design of a new art studio for Wenda who is intent on returning to her sculpture roots. David works for the Cornell Cooperative Extension as a Program Leader in the agricultural and horticultural areas. He sings regularly in the Berkshire Choral Festival in the summer, a wonderful study and performance program bringing large chorale music to Berkshire School. We go when we can and see Thomas Dixon, Ross Hawkins, and some others in the audience.

Jeff and Lucy Masters, Rick and Karen Spaulding, assorted kids, siblings and other friends gathered in Burlington, VT for a group celebration of some of the nearby parents in the group. We ate and gabbed and had a great time.

I continue with my design practice.

My wife Karen runs a robust landscape design business providing both design and installation in the tri-state area.”

Rob Hessler writes: “I retired from Boeing 18 months ago. I now do some volunteer work with Living Free Animal Sanctuary in Mountain Center, CA, working primarily with dogs. I’m co-facilitating a Coaching Leadership series with one of my former Boeing colleagues through her International Coach Institute. I play USTA League tennis and am currently captaining a 7.0 Mixed Doubles team in the Southern California league. I’ve also been coaching a high school-age rugby team, and I continue to run in some 5K races. Getting to our age is not for the weak at heart.”

Keith Reed writes: “My news, if you haven’t heard, is that Lisa and I have moved full time to Three Forks, MT, about a half hour west of Bozeman, and we’re very much enjoying life out West.

My email is Lkreed.mt@gmail.com. Let me know if you’ll be out here fishing, skiing, visiting Yellowstone, etc.”

John Thompson is pleased that his middle grade novel The Girl from Felony Bay was named Best Children’s Book by the Southern Independent Booksellers, and is a finalist for the Best Book awards in seven states (SC, GA, ME, MD, IN, NE, KS).

Arthur Wood and his wife Peggy are happy to report that their daughter Daisy was married September 19, 2015 to Jamie Tolles in Lake Forest, IL. Daisy’s twin, Abby, was the maid of honor.

69 Kent S. Clow ksc3@msn.com

K.C. Clow writes: “Marty and John Hermans have retired to Mt. Pleasant, SC. They sold their business and their home in Millerton, NY and are full-time residents of SC. Jim Hooper was injured in the Kent football game in 1968. Now 46 years later he had a total knee replacement at the end of January. Seamus McKeon and K.C. Clow are working

/ Class Notes /

with the School on a memorial for Ed Chase. It will have something to do with the ski team as Ed’s career was in that industry. As we know more we will let you know.”

70 Robert L. W. McGraw blackrockfarm@hotmail.com

Tom Bolmer writes: “I’ve completed my last set of holidays at sea. This Christmas and New Year was it! It’s lucky I like doing this kind of work.

Hoping to retire 4/1/16—I hope the date isn’t too auspicious.”

Robin and Buzz McGraw had quite a fall. At the National Convention in Dallas, Robin was inducted into the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Hall of Fame for “Funding the Mission.” As one of five members of the leadership cabinet for the $250 Million NOW (No Opportunity Wasted) Campaign for Research, Robin traveled back and forth across the country during the last six years raising awareness and over $50 million from individual donors to reach their goal by the end of 2015. Robin is a longtime volunteer and member of the Board of Trustees for the Greater New England Chapter of the National MS Society.

He was then featured in Dana

Robin McGraw ’70 (center) was inducted this past fall into the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Hall of Fame as one of five key members recognized for leadership in fundraising for the NOW (No Opportunity Wasted) campaign

Farber Cancer Institute’s newsletter, IMPACT, for continuing his family’s longtime support of Dana Farber by donating a million dollars from the Donald C. McGraw Foundation to establish the McGraw Family Fund for Head and Neck Cancer Research.

Dr. Robert Haddad, leader of Dana Farber’s Head and Neck Oncology Program, writes: “The McGraw family has been tremendously supportive of Dana Farber. Robin’s generosity

will be transformational in helping to elucidate the alterations driving these malignancies, identify new drugs, and deliver more effective treatments.”

While Robin’s philanthropic interests are vast, he knew his support of Dana Farber would not only drive research but contribute to the Institute’s overall patient care. Robin writes: “The team approach made a huge difference and helped me to stay positive. I am so proud to be able to help advance their work, and hope that others are inspired to support this lifesaving research.”

The McGraws hit the trifecta when their daughter, Andie, a junior at Berkshire and first-year goalie on the Varsity Field Hockey Team, was selected MVP. She also plays Varsity Ice Hockey and Varsity Lacrosse. Most happy on the ice, in January Robin played in his 35th Alumni Hockey game in this year’s Alumni Winter Games.

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’70

Charles “Ned” O’Hara, Stanley Bridges, Robin McGraw, Tim Brooks

45th

Participating in the 2015 Wicked Wickets 27th Annual Croquet Tournament were Berkshire’s Kevin Bruemmer, Monty Reis, Bill Cushman and Duke Blackburn ’72 at John Shaker’s home in Darien, CT. Numerous Berkshire alumni have been winners of the Wicked Wickets Trophy Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Class Notes /

including John Shaker, George Coyne, Bob Shaftoe, Monty Reis and Duke Blackburn.

Fun to see the Anderson siblings at the Boston Holiday party. Bob Anderson ’61, Mary Anderson Shannon ’71, Berkshire’s first female graduate, and Pete Anderson ’63

72 John Y. G. Walker III jwalker2353@gmail.com

John Y. G. Walker shared a picture from last summer.

’75 First row: Dana Bradshaw Reinhard, Elizabeth Mayer Carlisle, Alison Gerold Dale, Maryann Lane Barbara Ho, Frank M. Kirschner, M. Elizabeth Batchelar Klesse, Joseph Fusco; Second row: Barlow L. Peelle, Howard T. Pitts, Harrison C. Williams, Pamela Walker, Bill A. Bernart, Harrison Weisner, Gerald N. Katz, Frank T. J. Potash; Third row: Ward J. Doonan, James F. Craig, Gordon W. Harris, L. Pete Marechal, Nataniel F. Bruning, Jonathan R. Leet, Wayne W. Andrews; Not Pictured: Chuck Del Grande, Kenny Friedman, David Peck, Holly Hall Quillan, Lance Walsh

of which Stowe is responsible for $30 million (the state paying other half).

In his two years as dean he has raised $24.3 million towards construction and an additional $4.5 million for programmatic support. The new building will open in 2018. Stowe’s wife of 35 years, Martha (PhD from Texas A&M) also teaches at UNLV. Stowe encourages all those passing through Las Vegas to stop by the college.

68

Jack with Emma, Lucy and James, son and “great nieces and nephew” of John Y. G. Walker ’72. “Their mom, Dana, is like our second daughter. She lost her mom and dad in a house fire in 1980 and has spent much of her life with us.”

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Leon J. Weil jerryweil.tennis@gmail.com

Joseph M. Fusco joe@techworkers.com

Stowe Shoemaker, PhD writes that he is still enjoying his role as Dean of William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at University of Nevada, Las Vegas – a position he has had for two and a half years. The College is in process of building a 92,000 sq ft, $60 million dollar academic building,

Joe Fusco writes: “This is the time of year when we see Facebook photos of Ken Friedman, Chuck DelGrande, and Frank Kirschner, making me wish that I were with them in Vail for the epic ski (and après-ski) activities. You’ll see Nat Bruning too – although he’s in New Hampshire, for cross-country

Berkshire Bulletin

Louise A. Clement luluinsf2005@yahoo.com

skiing. If you have any “selfies” you’d like to share, please post them online in our Class of 1975 group; Ward Doonan is in charge and I’m sure he’ll oblige!”

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Stephen H. Hassett stevenhass@aol.com

77 David W. C. Riatti riattid@gmail.com

78 Birney B. Boehland birney@birneysfoods.com

79 Robert D. Thomas bthomas@wwsg.com

Van Johnstone writes: “Jeanne and I were able to visit Chris Eubank in Utah (Cache Valley, Powder Mountain) over Christmas break. We were able to shred some powder and catch up on old times. Super fun this past season.”

/ Class Notes /

Van Johnstone ’79 catches a wave off the coast of Nicaragua

From Susie Norris: “I’m now writing grants and brochure copy for the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.

Still making it back to the Berkshires periodically. My best to you all!”

Lisa Wardell writes: “I still live in Salisbury, CT, where I work as a nurse in the Dementia Unit at Noble Horizons in Salisbury and volunteer at the Guiding Eyes for the Blind socializing the lab puppies. My son Ian is a student at Berkshire, graduating in 2017. He started off living in Buck Dorm, which has now been renovated, and now is in Eipper Dorm, which used to be a girls’ dorm when I was there.

My daughter graduated from Berkshire in 2013 and is going to Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. I hope everyone can attend our next reunion. Our last reunion in 2014 was a lot of fun, but hardly anyone attended! It was great to see Susie Norris, Dave Gefke, Rich Hanson, Rick McCullough and Ben Barrett there. It is also nice to see that Amanda Morgan is still at Berkshire, the only teacher from my school days.”

Michelle Edwards Arnold ’81 with her two sons and their girlfriends

University of Florida planning to major in Actuarial Sciences, and her older son is a junior at Georgia Tech majoring in Biomedical Engineering. It has been an adjustment becoming empty nesters. Her family looks forward to the holidays (when they can all be together) even more now.

Allen “Max” Maxwell writes: “I will be volunteering at Snowbird again.

I’m still working for the real estate brokerage firm in the SF Bay area. I like the work and have a great team working for me. I’m also building some pretty cool tools for realtors on mobile devices that we hope will be very successful. My wife Cathy continues to tolerate my intolerable behavior on a regular basis, and the kids are

doing well. Ben is running a group of programmers for a startup here in Salt Lake City, Danny is a junior at the University of Utah (Go Utes!), and Caitlin has an apartment close by and is working. I’m hoping that a trip out to Berkshire for the next reunion is in the cards. I would really like to reconnect with my class again, and the last reunion was a lot of fun.”

Buddy Ontra, owner of Ontra Stone Concepts, a family-owned Buddy Ontra ’81 accepts fabrication/ board membership with installation the Marble Institute of company located in America in November

80 K.C. Fuchs kcfuchs@silvershieldfoundation.org

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Annie R. Clyne clyne@optonline.net Sue Ann Stanton sasroyale@yahoo.com

Michelle Edwards Arnold proudly reports that her younger son is at the

’80

Wendy Lee Joakim, Frank Mann, KC Fuchs, Steven Koffman, Rhonda Randall, Ralph Lamberto; Not Pictured: Amy Lesser, Collette Peters Summers, Steve Veronesi

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Class Notes /

Bridgeport, CT, was voted to serve on the Board of Directors for the Marble Institute of America in November 2015. Buddy will represent Zone 1, serving the northeast corridor of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Mike Rodgers writes: “I have been working for a small software company for the last 15 years and love it. I’ve seen the company evolve from an office building setting to all homebased, a nice bonus. My wonderful wife works for a home-and-officecontents appraisal company, and we have a daughter who just earned her graduate degree from the University of Denver. She accepted a teaching position at Williston Northampton and all the extra responsibilities that come with being a dorm head, teacher, coach, advisor, etc. I will have to split allegiances at Bears vs. Bobcat games since she is also the varsity womens basketball and softball coach!”

John B. Voss writes: “I am now an independent construction process consultant working for American Bridge Company in Pittsburgh. I live in Charlotte, NC, when I’m not sailing in Florida. I was blessed with my second grandson in September, and my first turned two in October.”

82 Anthony P. Addison anthony_addison@ml.com Thomas B. Fahy bfahy44@gmail.com

Wags Berl writes: “I was happy to attend Alumni Homecoming this fall and ran into a few friends whose children are attending Berkshire. I also sat with a few teachers at lunch and they were so nice and friendly.

My brother, Ennalls Berl ’81, and I watched the football team win with a few trick lateral passes. We talked to some parents, made some new friends, and it was a fun time. The hockey rinks and athletic center look great. I hope to skate there sometime. I want to go back as a PG! I saw Terry Gregory in

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Boston, and we went to my first ever professional baseball game, the Red Sox! He seems very happy, and it was great to see him. I moved to Burlington, VT, and it is so beautiful and healthy up here. If any of you get up this way, look me up. Cheers! Missing Mr. C. Twiggs Myers Hon. ’57.”

83 Karen Schnurr Secrist karensecrist6@gmail.com

Sarah Bakhiet writes: “After 16 years in San Diego, I left La Jolla to come to Maui, HI. I’m the Head of School of Seabury Hall, a wonderful school in upcountry Makawao. Every day I’m grateful for this exquisite place and its kind and loving people. Warm aloha to all my Berkshire friends, classmates, teachers and colleagues.

Mahalo nui loa!”

Alana Bernstein Beattie writes: “I am still in Durango, CO with my husband Todd and our two sons. We try to take advantage of all the San Juan Mountains have to offer. When we are not skiing, the boys play a lot of soccer, and I watch a lot of soccer. For 12 years I have worked as a hand therapist at a private therapy practice. I am rarely in New England, but I look forward to visiting family in the Berkshires.”

John Fletcher writes: “I live in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL and own a commercial property and casualty insurance brokerage company and have been doing that since 1990. I have three kids: John Jr., a freshman at Bates; Olivia, a senior in high school; and Phoebe, a 6th grader. When I tire of the heat and humidity in Florida, I escape to the mountains of North Carolina where I have a place.”

Katie Saxby-Welsh Schindler writes: “Turned 50...time for change.

We moved to Kennebunk, ME last year, and this fall I shifted careers and am now Minister for Children, Youth and Families at St. George’s Episcopal Church. As part of my job I am the Executive Director of an Early Learning Center, which is a church outreach project that provides quality affordable childcare for all families. We serve

many families who might not otherwise be able to afford childcare. At 51, it is exhausting, but so rewarding and so much fun. My family is great. My oldest daughter will be graduating from Mt. Holyoke in the spring, my younger daughter is a freshman at the University of Southern Maine, and my son is a freshman at Kennebunk High School.

My husband Steve and I just try to keep up with them!”

84 Steven G. Sanders writes: “In March 2015, I was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Appeals Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where I have served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney since 2007.

In June 2015, at a ceremony at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, two colleagues and I received Director’s Awards for the successful prosecution and conviction of Paul Bergrin, a defense lawyer (and former federal prosecutor) who used his law practice as a racketeering enterprise, engaging in witness murders, cocaine trafficking, and prostitution, among other crimes.”

85 Lionel A. Shaw lionel_shaw@yahoo.com

Charles Fletcher ’85 coaching his son’s flag football team

Charles Fletcher writes: “I graduated from law school in 1997, and by 2007 I formed my own firm, practicing in the areas of criminal defense and personal

/ Class Notes /

David Weiner writes: “After 13plus years at Entertainment Tonight, I’ve moved on from broadcast and online entertainment to something a lot more fun: print. I’m the executive editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland, a magazine I loved reading when I was growing up. I still get to interview the likes of Mark Hamill about Star Wars and John Landis about An American Werewolf in London, but I don’t have to write anything about the scariest thing of all: Kardashians.”

’85 First row: Gail Darche Short, Edward B. Harris, Mary Brosnahan Wachter, Garland Hill Kincaid, Joan Fusco, Penniann Johnson Schumann, Lauren Okie Clark, Olivia Cabot Sawyer, Kate Nichols Olney, Heather Steck Von Seggern; Second row: Andrew Herrick, Steve Kaczmarek, Shawn Ingram, Bruce Fina, Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui, Mike Gibbons, Lionel Shaw, Kenny Coard, Vixen Peare, Lila Townsend; Third row: Morgan Dennehy, Wendy Jordan, Peter Scott, John Stout, Pedro de Movellan, Dudley Shotwell, John Kittredge, Chris Pugsley

injury. I currently live in Jacksonville, FL, and I’m married with four kids (three of them are teenagers). In my free time I coach my son’s flag football team and hit the beach.”

Bob Killebrew writes: “Doing well in Ruxton, MD, trading stocks on my own, which I love. I communicate regularly with Lionel Shaw and Charlie Fletcher, and live right around the corner from EB Harris. Berkshire had a very positive impact on my life, and I think about it often. Such a unique place with great friends and wonderful teachers. I hope you all are doing well.”

Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui writes: “In November at IGNIA we raised US$90MM for our second fund through the Mexico Stock Exchange making us the first publicly listed impact investing fund in the world and the first time in Mexico that local pension funds have invested in venture capital.” As a guest speaker during Pro Vita, Alvaro presented to the community on social entrepreneurship, engaging students and faculty, alike.

Lionel Shaw writes: “Enjoying life under the Mountain (Mt. Tamalpais, that is) in Mill Valley, CA, and keeping in touch with Berkshire through

reunions and local alumni gatherings.

Enjoyed wearing an old Green/Gray plaid wool sports coat of C. Twiggs Myers Hon. ’57 over the holidays–it didn’t even need tailoring. I think of Twiggs often, as well as the many other positive influences from Berkshire.”

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Rhonda M. Bentley-Lewis rbentleylewis@partners.org Lara Schefler McLanahan lsmcl@optonline.net

Cover of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, of which David Weiner ’86 is executive editor

Deb Lapin Wright visited Berkshire this past fall with her children, Charlotte and Parker. Parker is applying to be a third-former next year.

Deb Lapin Wright ’86 with children Charlotte and Parker inside the Jackman L. Stewart Center this fall

87 Tess Haskel, daughter of Jim Haskel ’86 and Annie Zimmerli-Haskel ’86, on campus with her mom this fall during her admission interview

Brad Matheson writes: “I’m living and working in Colorado, still playing hockey (old guy style) and doing a lot of cycling around the mountains, the Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Class Notes /

biggest ride being the Triple By-Pass.

Also, I did my best to spread the word about Movember and raise awareness regarding men’s health. If any alumni happen to be out near Golden, give me a shout and we can grab a beer!”

Classmates from ’87 and ’88 gathered for the 12th Annual Scooter Open, held in September in Central New York. From left: Kirk Kellogg ’87, Matt Azar ’87, Tony Schwartz ’88, Steve Altman ’88, Wyndham Lewis ’87, Corey Gilkes ’88, Matt Brand ’88 and Scott Falso ’88 Brad Matheson ’87, living and working in Colorado

Annalisa Hinckley Savin writes: “We are enjoying living in Vail, CO. Children, George, age 15, and Ingrid, age 12, are Big Mountain skiers. They were both pleased to qualify for the IFSA Nationals last ski season. In July, 2014, George summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, following community service work there. I hope everyone is well.”

89 Andrew D. Allen andrewdrexelallen@gmail.com David H. Wanamaker davewanamaker@yahoo.com

Jen Roberts writes: “I would love to connect with any classmates living in South Florida. I just moved to Miami after accepting the position of

CEO with Design Miami, which is a sister fair to Art Basel. Wishing all my classmates the best.”

Todd Thomas writes: “I’m in the midst of a really cool project as cofounder of Tinker|Bristol, RI’s Non-profit Manufacturing Incubator & Makerspace.

Check us out at www.tinkerbristol.org.

We are very excited about the launch of this new concept of a 12,500-sq ft manufacturing business incubator facility with a commercial-grade Makerspace,

George Savin, son of Annalisa Hinckley Savin ’87, summiting the Uhuru Peak of Mount Kilimanjaro

88 Scott M. Falso sfalso@gmail.com

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’90 First row: Jennifer Tost Masterson, Erin Day Healer, Natalie Dillon, Hilary Dattel Rosenberg, Lauren Duryee, Loring Hamlen, Tracey Riccio Ranta, Frank Lizza; Second row: E. A. Weymuller, Peter Brett, Robyn Horsky Arthur, Deirdre McGaffey Schwein, Adam Carey, Wil Meya, Taylor Doggett, Andre Appignani; Third row: Brian Luts, Scott Graham, Rupert Young, Nina Bradley Clarke, Stephen Smith, Maggie Ross Meiners; Fourth row: Alecia Guequierre McCrillis, David Campbell, Chris McKhann, Jeremy LaCasse, Jon Nicolazzo, Kate Cutler Coughlin, Sarah Aird Robinson, Kate Fisher Fitzgerald, Amanda Wachter Hill; Not Pictured: James Shiftan

/ Class Notes /

celebrating the making of things. We would love to network with alumni who are in manufacturing in New England.

We’re also looking for folks to play an Advisory Council role and for donations of used manufacturing equipment (wood, metal, electronics tools, etc.) as we are a non-profit! I can be contacted at todd@tandtdev.com.”

90 Natalie Bradley Clarke ninabclarke@gmail.com Natalie Dillon natdillon@gmail.com

Vice President of American Funds, and Berkshire School Advisory Board Member, Jon Nicolazzo presented a talk titled “How Innovation Fuels a Global Economy” at Berkshire’s alumni reception in Seattle in January.

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John K. Fretz jfretz@bmedtech.com

Jo-Ann Barett writes: “I am excited to report that Aromas Boutique Bakery was selected Best of Weddings 2016

by The Knot magazine in the Wedding Cake and Dessert Category. This is our second year in a row. I have been in this industry over 10 years, and I opened Aromas in NYC with my sister in 2012. We continue to offer catering, corporate gifts and cakes in and around Manhattan for private customers as well as companies like JetBlue, Harlem RBI and the CUNY School of Health.”

92 Abram W. Duryee III bduryee@hotmail.com

Matt Emprimo writes: “My wife Kristine and I had our first child, Everly Rose Emprimo, on August 29, 2015, and she currently attends Berkshire School’s Undermountain Child Care Program. I am a First Vice President of Commercial Banking at Berkshire Bank where I have worked for 18 years. I also own a car wash in Great Barrington and recently built a house in Sheffield. I see Continued on page 76

1991 Remember these popular 1990s TV shows?

Beavis and Butt-head

Full House

Dawson’s Creek

Saved By The Bell

Family Guy

Seinfeld

Friends

The Simpsons

South Park

Twin Peaks

The X-Files

Don’t miss your 25th!

BERKSHIRE SCHOOL REUNION WEEKEND

JUNE 10-12, 2016

Register today! Call Jodi Rathbun at 413-229-1308, email jrathbun@berkshireschool.org or register online:

Berkshireschool.org/reunionweekend Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Class Notes /

Births 2

1

Kate Stringham Mihalick ’93 writes: “Our big news for the year: my husband David and I would like to announce the birth of our daughter, Anna Katherine Mihalick. She was born on November 11, 2015, weighing in at just 4 lbs, 11 oz and 19 inches long. Anna is doing great, and she was welcomed home by her two older siblings, Grace, age 11, and Zachary, age 3. We couldn’t be happier!”

From Nicholas S. Corrao ’97: “My wife Amanda and I welcomed Angelo Teodoro “Theo” Corrao into the world on August 12, 2015. Born in Birmingham, AL, he weighed in at 8 lbs and was 20 inches long. Theo likes long walks outside (which put him to sleep) and playing in his play gym. He is very much looking forward to his first hike

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3

up the Mountain at our next reunion!”

Jeremy Greenstein ’97 writes: “Aria Harper joined the Greenstein family on May 6, 2015! She’s a beautiful, sweet baby, and Ellen and I couldn’t be happier.”

Kiran Waldbaum ’97 and John Stephenson had a baby boy, John Eric, on December 28, 2014.

Timur Pakay ’98 is happy to report that he and his wife welcomed a son by the name of Oliver Zeki Pakay on April 30, 2015. He also started a new job as Assistant Director of the Rothman Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ. Shawn Baron ’01 and wife Hollyn welcomed their daughter Juliette

4

Laurel this past summer on July 12, 2015. She was born at Mount Sinai hospital in New York City and is quickly adapting to city life.

Caren Coffin Buscovich ’01 writes: “My husband Chris and I welcomed our first child, Abraham Chase Buscovich on February 14, 2015. The three of us and our black lab Stella have moved to London, taking a small sabbatical from the US. We look forward to introducing Abe to Berkshire in the coming years.”

Johnny Kim ’01 and his wife Melissa welcomed their first son Everett on July 13, 2015.

Charles Alejandro Plungis III was born on December 14, 2015 to Sharolyn and Charles Plungis ’01 in Fall River, MA.

/ Class Notes /

5

6

7

From Julia Hansen Lynch ’02 and Justin Lynch: “Madalyn Jane Lynch arrived on September 11 weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and measuring 18 inches long. All are happy and healthy and feeling blessed.

She has already had a play date with Joel Marshall, son of Jaclyn Brander Marshall ’02 and Steve Marshall.”

Jaclyn Brander Marshall ’02 and her husband Steve welcomed their son Joel in February. Joel has already had many play dates with a few future Berkshire Bears, including Hudson and Lucas Berry (sons of Kate Daigh Berry) and Madalyn Jane Lynch (daughter of Julia Hansen).

Jane Walker Blake ’03 writes: “My husband Tommy and I welcomed twin boys on December 15. Thomas Henry

8

Blake, IV and Webster Walker Blake were both 7 pounds and 20 inches.

Big sister Hollis, who will turn two in March 2016, already loves telling Henry and Webster what to do. Life with three under two is a little busy, so y’all will have to look for pictures in the next Bulletin!”

Carter Stern ’04 writes: “My wife Beth and I welcomed our first child, William Fitzgerald “Fitz” Stern on May 9 of this past year. Fitz was just shy of 10 pounds at birth and has been wearing us out ever since with his boisterous personality.”

Chi Fan Johnson Cheng ’05 and his wife Gloria Kwan had a baby boy, Issac Cheng, on August 27, 2015, 7 lbs, 7 oz at Hong Kong Sanitorium & Hospital.

9

1) Crawford Francis Stovall, born April 1, 2015 to Bailey Duffy Stovall ’05 and Peter Stovall 2) Beth and Carter Stern ’04 with their son Fitz 3) Kate Stringham Mihalick ’93 and husband David welcomed their third child, Anna Katherine Mihalick, on November 11, 2015.

4) Juliette Laurel Baron, daughter of Hollyn and Shawn Baron ’01 5) Aria Harper Greenstein, daughter of Ellen and Jeremy Greenstein ’97 6) Madalyn Jane Lynch, daughter of Julia Hansen Lynch ’02 and Justin Lynch 7) Nick Corrao ’97 and wife Amanda with son Theo 8) Mae Anderson, born August 25, with mom Megan, daughter of Rusty Mathews ’66 9) Jaclyn Brander Marshall ’02 and husband Steve Marshall welcomed son Joel last February.

Fall/Winter 2016

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Classmates from ’93: Jamine Hill, Ananda Siregar and Agatha Simandjuntak Ellis in Jakarta, Indonesia this past fall in front of one of Ananda’s business ventures, a movie complex

Continued from page 73

Richard Herrington ’91 and Winthrop Barrett ’91 often and keep in touch with Michael Posey ’91, Ian Law ’91 and classmate Burr Duryee.”

“It was great catching up, and it felt like we all just saw each other a few days ago – the conversation didn’t skip a beat. It’s refreshing to know the bonds we built over 20 years ago still hold firm.”

93

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Hilary A. Mueller hmueller@berkshireschool.org

Francis A. Blair francis.blair@gmail.com

Tenley E. Reed Tenley@mac.com

Fran Blair writes: “After 17 great years living in New York City, in 2015 my family and I relocated to nearby

Macy Allatt McGinness writes: “My husband Mac and I moved our family to Santa Barbara, CA last spring and are loving it here. We also welcomed our third child, a baby girl named Finley, in June. We look forward to any future Berkshire gatherings in this area!”

Kristin Baker and her husband Sam Kusack had a baby girl named Alida on January 15, 2015. They live in Brooklyn, NY and West Cornwall, CT. Jamine Hill met up with Agatha Simandjuntak Ellis and Ananda Siregar in Jakarta, Indonesia. Jamine is on a temporary work assignment for six months in Manila, Philippines and made the trip to Jakarta to catch up with old friends. Agatha relocated back to Jakarta several years ago. She is married and has two children and runs a thriving import business. Ananda is recently married and looking forward to life with his new bride. Jamine writes: 76

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’95

Fairfield, CT. I’ve found that wherever you go, you don’t have to look very hard to find a member of the Berkshire community. In Fairfield, I now count classmates Jen Lizza O’Connor and Chris Weiss as my neighbors. I see them often and both are doing well.

Last fall I traveled to the Boston area to see Jeremy Freid, who lives with his family in Newton, MA. That same weekend, Dave Friend flew in from South Bend, IN, and the 3 of us attended the Notre Dame vs.

Boston College football game played at Fenway Park. It was a great event, and fortunately for Jeremy and Dave, both originally from South Bend, the Irish were able to pull out a victory.”

Jenn Stringham Gaudron reports that things are great in Charlotte, NC, where she lives with her husband and daughters Emilie, age 11, and Sophie, age 8. Jenn still works at Bank of America in Online and Mobile Banking.

Sarah Gee reports that she is well, living in Maplewood, NJ with her husband Jake, son Otto, age 6, and daughter Minna, age 4. Sarah had a great time at the Berkshire holiday event in New York City, and strongly encourages Berkshire alumni in the area to attend next year’s party on December 13, 2016.

First row: Sven Tarantik, Caroline Andrew Zahler, Vanessa Bolger, Zara Fernandes, Ellie Page Kellershon, Sarah Hindels Regan, Jennifer Melis; Second row: Brad Hunt, John Brusie, Toure Folkes, Shane Ashton, Ted Zacharopoulos, Coalter Powers, Geoff Chait; Not Pictured: Jennie Burkhard Jadow

/ Class Notes /

95 Bradley P. Hunt Bradley_hunt1313@hotmail.com

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20th

Julie A. Lemire juleslemire@hotmail.com Katherine C. Mahan katiecking@yahoo.com Tatum E. Smigelski tvittengl@yahoo.com

Services Advisor for HotChalk, Inc., an educational technology startup.”

Patricia Verones, a current Berkshire employee writes: “I attended the Eastern States Exposition horse show last July where my niece Lindsay Slattum Johnson won three Grand Champion awards in three different classes competing against seven other horses and riders in each class and also qualified for the Nationals. Lindsay works at Chase Collegiate School as their director of college counseling.”

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PTSD, won a “Vetty” award from the Mission Complete organization, in the “Veterans Mental Health” category of the inaugural Veterans Awards held on November 11, 2015. For more info, see www.theveteransawards.com or www. the296project.org.

Scott Gordon ’99 (center, with medal) honored at the Veterans Awards in November

Gordon B. Kellam gordonkellam@yahoo.com

Michael Gutenplan writes: “Wherever I travel in the world, I always bring a little Berkshire with me.

I think it’s time for a new shirt, hat and sweatshirt!”

Lindsay Slattum Johnson ’98 at the Eastern States Exposition Horse Show

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Kristina Laskovski McElhinney writes: “I recently moved to Winston Salem, NC to start a palliative care fellowship at Wake Forest. It’s a big change from delivering babies and family planning but just as rewarding.

I’m going to miss hanging out with Lauren Lareau, but I’m also looking forward to exploring the surrounding mountains and hosting visitors.”

Malinda L. Lareau mllarnie@yahoo.com

99

Class of 1997 mini-reunion at Berkshire in September: Stuart Miller, Hasan Afroz, Kristina Thaute Miller, and Ingrid Miller spent the day together touring Berkshire, as Hasan had not been to campus since graduation.

Lauren A. Levin lauren98@aol.com

Brenda Van Deusen Austin writes: “I recently relocated to the San Francisco Bay area with my husband and daughter, Anja, who is now in kindergarten. My husband Daniel works for Google, and I am a Student

Michael D. Gutenplan michaelgutenplan@aol.com George S. Scoville gscovillempp@gmail.com

Scott Gordon’s nonprofit, The 296 Project, an organization that provides free art therapy to veterans trying to cope with and recover from

Michael Gutenplan ’99 and his many excursions in Berkshire gear

Mike Ryan is the Chef de Cuisine at the high-end Elements restaurant in Princeton, NJ. He is eager to bring an openness to inventive cuisine featuring global influences and is particularly drawn to Japanese preparations and flavors and local ingredients.

George S. Scoville reports that he started law school this fall as a Faculty Emeritus Law Scholar at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

Fall/Winter 2016

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and I am now in my second year of graduate school at UNH, teaching and working towards a PhD. I enjoyed seeing everyone under the Mountain at this year’s Alumni Winter Games.”

’00

Brooke Beebe Noble, Alex Shuman, E.J. Ross; Not Pictured: Giulia Saviano Ennis

00 Brooke T. Noble brookebeebe@gmail.com

Giulia Saviano-Ennis graduated from Ithaca College with a major in business administration. Giulia is married to James Ennis and has a fouryear-old daughter Sofia Ennis. They live in Allendale, NJ. She is Part Owner and VP of Operation of PGM Billing, LLC, an integrated physician billing, practice management, and electronic medical record service. Giulia writes: “Since 1981, we have provided physicians with innovative solutions that help their practices run more efficiently. Today we are one of the fastest growing health care service and technology companies in America. Check us out at www. pgmbilling.com.”

01

15th

Shannon M. Flynn flynnshannonm@gmail.com

Nicolas Emery and his wife Giulia Laveto Emery moved to Great Barrington, MA last winter. Nic has returned to work in Berkshire’s Office of Advancement, and is enjoying cheering on the Bears and hiking on the Mountain.

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Berkshire Bulletin

Congratulations to Rebecca Russell and her appointment as the first female hockey coach in the Newfoundland and Labrador Senior A League in Canada with the Clarenville Caribous!

Edmund Saw is studying theology at the Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI. He may even be able to make it to reunion this summer.

02 Matthew P. Sposito Matthew.sposito@gmail.com

Scott Kenneth Davidson married Megan Elizabeth Van Mater on September 19, 2015. The ceremony was held in Colts Neck, NJ. Scott holds a Master of Engineering Management from Dartmouth College and a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Fairfield University. He is a Vice President with Seabury Group, an aviation and aerospace consulting firm. The couple honeymooned on safari in South Africa and live in Manhattan.

From Devon O’Rourke: “We enjoyed our first fall together as a family picking pumpkins in New Hampshire, although Finny was our favorite little pumpkin.

Jackie has been working hard in her new capacity as Dean of Residential Life and Leadership at Tilton School,

Finnoula Rose O’Rourke, daughter of former faculty Jackie and Devon O’Rourke ’02

Elizabeth G. Scoville was recently promoted to Assistant Director, Parents & Family Programs at Vanderbilt University. Additionally, she is earning a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lipscomb University in Nashville.

Congratulations to Gary Vider for advancing to the finals of last fall’s Season 10 of America’s Got Talent.

Gary made his stand up TV debut on The Conan O’Brien Show in 2014. His jokes have been published in the New York Times and Time Out NY Magazine.

He was named a “Comic to Watch”

by Esquire and was the winner of the 2014 Carolines on Broadway March Madness competition where he beat out 63 of the best young comedians.

He has told his jokes in the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Laughing Skull Festival, Boston Comedy Festival, and on the stage of Allen Theater during Berkshire’s Pro Vita Week this January.

/ Class Notes /

03 Jane Walker Blake janewblake@gmail.com See the Weddings and Births Sections for news from the class of ’03!

04 William C. Stern cstern@johnsontrent.com Kraig D. Strong kskraigstrong@gmail.com

Bears near and far gathered recently in Hoboken, NH at Amanda’s Restaurant. Second row from left: Melissa Morgan ’05, Kat Kollmer Gaudin ’05, Courtney Miller ’05, Nicole Unis ’05, Sukey Mullany ’05, Roxanne Gaudiel ’02, Front row from left: Dillon Kollmer ’10, Courtney Kollmer ’06

Jason Pagotto writes: “I decided to go back to school this year to pursue my MBA at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. I moved to Toronto with my girlfriend Emily and our 10 month old puppy, Charlie. U of T is one of the top MBA programs in Canada, and the best program for students looking to get into the finance world. It seems that I leave Montreal every five years to pursue a new challenge in life, Berkshire in 2004, France to play professional Hockey in 2010, and now my MBA in Toronto. I can’t help but think that my time at Berkshire not only helped me become more independent, but also helped shape who I am today.”

05 Matthew G. Crowson matthew.g.crowson@gmail.com Ryan Farrell mryanfarrell@gmail.com

’05 First row: Nicki Wiart, Meagan Beck, Rob Vilches, Becky Zavisza, Ori Goldman, Sukey Mullany; Second row: Dan Staino, Shane Knapp, Johanna Becker, Courtney Miller, Kelsey Mullen; Third row: Will Beckham, Tyler Spofford, Reuven Shapiro, Logan Smyth; Not Pictured: Karina Kiriakedes Baldelli, Kat Havens

Nicole Wiart writes: “I will be moving from the San Diego area to Montreal in January for a new role. I will be transitioning from an Advanced Product Development Engineer for TaylorMade Adidas Golf to a Product Developer for Reebok-CCM Hockey.

I am very excited to start working in a sport that has meant so much to me throughout my life, especially during my time at Berkshire. I am also excited to be moving closer to family and friends back east.”

Continued on page 82

Fall/Winter 2016

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6

Weddings Javier Winnik ’96 writes: “I’ve finally found the woman I can look forward to spending the rest of my life with in Carey Lee Nava! We happened upon a beautiful park in Maine and were wed there this past September. I was fortunate enough to have Nakia Howell ’96, Crystal Mendez-Covington ’98 and her husband Charles to share in our day, along with many of our closest friends and relatives. I am so happy to have this new chapter to enjoy in my life!”

Tom Thibeault ’97 married the love of his life, Michelle Hines Abram, on October 18, 2015, with Arseni Tomkevich ’97 looking on as his best man. The ceremony was held in Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, NY. Arseni’s wife Ekaterina was also a bridesmaid in the ceremony.

Andrew Zoppo ’97 married Ashley Harrington on September 19, 2015 in Austin, TX. Andrew recently earned 80

Berkshire Bulletin

an MBA from The McCombs School of Business at University of Texas and Ashley earned an MD from the University of Texas and will graduate from her residency program in physical medicine and rehabilitation in July.

Newlyweds Lauren Levin ’98 and Jeffrey Leichenger, married in Chicago on August 22, 2015. Berkshire Bears in attendance included classmate Allison Crawford ’98, Anne Workman Mulholland ’99, Julie Rubinstein Bronder ’97, Katie Shea ’97, Sarah Scheinman ’00, and friend of the groom and current Berkshire faculty member Evan Nielsen.

Scott Kenneth Davidson ’02 married Megan Elizabeth Van Mater on September 19, 2015. The ceremony was held in Colts Neck, NJ. Scott holds a Master of Engineering Management from Dartmouth College and a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Fairfield

7

University. He is a Vice President with Seabury Group, an aviation and aerospace consulting firm. The couple honeymooned on safari in South Africa and live in Manhattan.

Ashley Eldredge ’03 and Bret Wilhite were married last year on May 2, 2015.

John W. Hull ’03 writes: “I got married May 2, 2015 to Christie Stokan of Atlanta, in Atlanta at Christ the King Church and Summerour Studios. My brother Alden Hull ’06 was the best man with a slew of other Berkshire people present, including Alex Hudgins ’03, Frank Jewell ’03, Ashley Tedder Watson ’03 and Evan Margulies ’03.

We currently live in the Buckhead area of Atlanta with our dog and love it. Look me up if you’re ever passing through!”

Jacob Nagy ’04 was married this past April in St. Barth’s to Annie Kautz.

Karina Kiriakedes Baldelli ’05 and Brad Baldelli, a Salisbury graduate, married on August 29, 2015, surrounded

/ Class Notes /

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12

9 13

10

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by friends and family, including Berkshire grads Taryn Blume ’08, Meghan Blume ’04 and brother Andrew Kiriakedes ’02.

Matt Crowson ’05 married his longtime girlfriend, Caroline Hamman, in Grand Haven, MI this past August. Ryan Farrell ’05 was part of the wedding party and enjoyed the festivities. Matt writes: “We were sorry to miss the reunion this past year, but we look forward to catching up with everyone under the Mountain soon. If anyone is down in North Carolina, feel free to drop me a line at matthew.g.crowson@gmail.com.”

Ori Goldman ’05 writes: “I married my beautiful wife Christine Lee on a beautiful June day at Chateau Bouffemont, France. Berkshire guests were Kat Kollmer Gaudin ’05 and her husband Andrew. In other news, I founded a company named Loftey last February, as the only rental focused real estate firm in NYC that provides

14

financial incentives to renters. We recently completed a round of funding and made our first series of hires.

We are currently in the process of partnering with different companies and colleges to provide greater benefits to employees and graduates from select firms/schools. After 5 years in finance, running my own business is more stressful but certainly more rewarding. Still a ton of work ahead but exciting so far!”

Erica Ginsberg Murphy ’08 writes: “I married Michael Murphy on June 13, 2015 at the Wild Dunes Resort right outside of Charleston, SC surrounded by friends and family. We live in Wilmington, NC, and I work as an office manager at the Frank Institute for Health and Wellness as well as at a local running store as a hobby. I just completed my sixth marathon and have already begun training for number seven.”

15

1) Nick Iacovin ’94 and his wife Heejae Choi, December 27, 2015 2) Courtney Miller ’05 and Jaime Jimeno Passi celebrated their wedding in Santiago, Chile on October 10, 2015. They are currently living in Boston, MA. 3) John Hull ’03 with his bride Christie Stokan 4) Andrew Zoppo ’97 and bride Ashley Harrington 5) Scott Davidson ’02 and Megan Van Mater 6) Ashley Eldredge ’03 and Bret Wilhite 7) Tom Thibeault ’97 marries Michelle Abram with Arseni Tomkevich ’97 as best man 8) Berkshire faculty – both current and former – joined former faculty member Ruthie Fish and Rodney Jehu-Appiah at their wedding in July at Colgate University. Those present were Steph and Jasper Turner (and baby Charlotte), Kate Garbutt, Elizabeth and Dan Skoglund, Christine Fitzgerald, and Kristina and Clay Splawn.

9) Ori Goldman ’05 and his bride Christine Lee at their wedding in France 10) At the wedding of Lauren Levin ’98 to Jeffrey Leichenger are, from left: Anne Workman Mulholland ’99, Julie Rubinstein Bronder ’97, the bride, Katie Shea ’97, Allison Crawford ’98, Sarah Scheinman ’00 11) Bridegroom Matthew Crowson ’05 and groomsman Ryan Farrell ’05 at Matthew’s wedding this past August 12) The Duryee family at Steve’s wedding to wife Tatiana this past July: Burr Duryee ’92, Nancy Duryee-Aas, Steve Duryee ’99, Lauren Duryee ’90 and JC Duryee ’00 13) Karina Kiriakedes Baldelli ’05 with husband Brad Baldelli and their wedding party 14) Bride Erica Ginsberg Murphy ’08 with sister Lauren Ginsberg ’06 (right) and Samantha Macchi ’08 (left) 15) Nakia Howell ’96, Crystal Mendez-Covington ’98, Javier Winnik ’96 and his bride Carey Lee Nava, and Charles Covington

Fall/Winter 2016

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Continued from page 79

06

10th

Courtney J. Kollmer courtney.j.kollmer@us.pwc.com Emily K. Lichtenberg emily.k.lichtenberg@gmail.com Stephen W. Piatelli Steve.piatelli@gmail.com

Jeffrey Wexler is happy to report he is still living in Washington, DC, working as a Presidential appointee at the U.S. Small Business Administration as Advisor to the Administrator.

2006

07 Casey A. Larkins casey.larkins@gmail.com

Remember these “one-hit-wonders” from the 2000s?

Daniel Powter, “Bad Day”

D4L, “Laffy Taffy”

James Blunt, “You’re Beautiful”

Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy”

Bo Bice, “Inside Your Heaven”

Crazy Town, “Butterfly”

Terror Squad, “Lean Back”

Dream, “He Loves U Not”

Don’t miss your 10th!

BERKSHIRE SCHOOL REUNION WEEKEND

JUNE 10-12, 2016

Register today! Call Jodi Rathbun at 413-229-1308, email jrathbun@berkshireschool.org or register online:

Berkshireschool.org/reunionweekend 82

Berkshire Bulletin

Allison A. Letourneau letourneau.allison@gmail.com

Matt Altman writes: “After graduating from Drew University in 2011, I accepted a job at JP Morgan in New York. I really enjoyed living and working in the city, and it was great to catch up with all of the Berkshire alumni at the many great events held in New York. I’ve recently moved to Chicago to pursue an opportunity at Fitch Ratings, where I conduct credit analysis and research on utility, power and gas companies. I am definitely looking forward to meeting more Berkshire alumni out here in the Midwest, and feel free to look me up if you are ever in Chicago.”

After his move to New York City last spring, Ryan Foss found some successes in the music business. He finished his first EP Something to Remember with a Grammy winning engineer, “Bassy” Bob Brockmann. You can find it on iTunes. He also signed with HAUS Music as a writer, and they are currently promoting the EP. Ryan is very grateful to be playing venues such as The Bitter End and Rockwood Music Hall. He is also dipping his feet into the acting world. You might see him in the background on major TV shows shot in New York or in the upcoming indie film Bear’s Frolic, in which he plays a

/ Class Notes /

musician name Jarvy. For more info visit www.ryanfossmusic.com.

08 Erica Ginsberg eginzie@gmail.com Melissa M. Fogarty Mmfoga08@gmail.com Christopher J. Buonomo cjbuonomo@gmail.com Abigail I. Tufts abigail.tufts@gmail.com

09 Gregory T. Piatelli gpiatelli@gmail.com Molly L. Ryan mollyryan1024@yahoo.com

Colin Hill writes: “I moved to Norway last year and have been working for TIDAL, the music streaming service that Jay Z and Beyonce and several other recording artists purchased. It was pretty crazy when Jay Z and Beyonce surprised us at the office in Oslo one day when they were on a European vacation. I have also been skiing all around Norway. Last spring I went above the Arctic Circle to ski in Lofoten, which was a dream come true. It is one of the most magical places I have ever been. I am currently living in Copenhagen, studying software development at the Copenhagen School of Design and Technology.”

JJ Jemison writes: “I am now in my third year at Berkshire and enjoy coaching the same sports I played (soccer,

Colin Hill ’09 atop the Northern Island Alps of Lofoten, Norway

’10 First row: Shannon Brown, Dalisa Espinosa, Alex Colbert, Emily Couch, Whitney Colbert, Emily Perry, Marjorie Simpson, Karina Srb, Chelsea Guerrieri, Kelsey Markiewicz, Ali Ziefer; Second row: Ebun Benjamin, Sharnae Moore, Brony Long, Katherine Smyth, Paige Chilson, Sadie St. Germain, Lindsay Harnett, Meredith Fulco, Amanda Lees, Maura McGovern, Lizzy Steiner, Shannon Nelson, Selina Sun; Third row: James Coenen, Aurelie Humes, Colin Puth, Dillon Kollmer, Tristan Shrager, Tim McErlean, George Torsilieri, Chris Wickham, Michael Beucler, Randy Reyes, Taylor Watson, Mauricio Gonzalez, User Kushaina; Fourth row: Tyler Reighley, Kyle Lockwood, Will Hearty, Ty Roselli, Henry Latour, Andrew McCarthy, Kevin Sullivan, Charlie Brey, Keith Veronesi, Ben Chwick, Kit Landry; Not Pictured: Klayton Johnson, Malcolm McCain

marketing side of Motorsports. I enjoy a little NASCAR racing myself, as well as playing hockey as much as I can. I’ve been abroad much of 2015, but I hope to return to campus in the near future.

Class of 2009 is the best. Go Bears!”

10 Christopher B. Landry landrycb@gmail.com Shannon E. Nelson senelson@wesleyan.edu Richie Pallai ’09 made a bet with Elias Wissman ’09 back in 2007 and won. Congratulations to Elias and his bride! Richie reports he won’t be cashing the check in honor of their friendship.

basketball, and track) while also being a dorm parent (Allen, the same dorm I lived in) and an advisor (six advisees).

Berkshire is a wonderful environment, and I couldn’t have asked for a better job out of college. I would highly suggest working in independent schools for anyone who may be interested.”

Richie Pallai writes: “Since I graduated from NYU in 2013, I’ve relocated to Charlotte, NC where I work on the public relations and

After completing AT&T’s industry leading Business Sales training program in Atlanta this past year, Will Campbell has returned to the Northeast where he works as an AT&T Business Account Manager. He is responsible for maintaining and growing the revenue of the business accounts in Westchester County, NY. He specializes in virtual private networks, cloud solutions, IP telephony, Internet circuits, workforce management software and connected devices.

Nancy Conolly reports: “I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to Switzerland, Southeast Asia, and Australia, all in the last year. Each place Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Class Notes /

has certainly been an adventure and fueled my desire to travel even more. I was so sad to miss our 5th Reunion, but I heard it was amazing!”

Since my return from Chile, I have been working with choreographerartists in NYC, was the project assistant to Ni’Ja Whitson, founder of the NWA Project and current Brooklyn Arts Exchange Artist-in-Residence, performed as part of the ITINERANT Performance Art Festival and am currently the Spring Festival Intern for Movement Research.”

11

5th

Kristy M. Barnes kristy.barnes@bc.edu Mary K. Connell connellm@lafayette.edu Switzerland, Southeast Asia and Australia, a compilation of travel for Nancy Conolly ’10

Randy Reyes writes: “Since graduating from Williams in 2014, I traveled to Germany and Chile to participate in experimental physicaldance-theatre programs thanks to receiving the Hubbard Hutchinson Fellowship Award in Dance. I was a selected emerging choreographer for Chen Dance Center’s NewSteps series and was an artist-in-residence at Earthdance as part of their E|MERGE collaborative process. I worked closely with a group of artists in a project titled CONSPIRE to develop a performance around Restorative Justice, political trauma, energetic/somatic practices and healing. Last summer I was the dance instructor for the NJ SEEDS College Prep Program at Hobart & William Smith.

Currently, I am working on the development of my project Barrio Cartography: The Present Sense that will premiere in April and occur between Jersey City, West New York and Union City, NJ. The project will traverse various domestic, site-specific, studio spaces and will invite audiences and participants to experience the psychic-physical landscapes that have been cultivated, informed and contextualized by the communities I grew up in, Latinidad, queerness, task meditation improvisations, choreography, Chinese Energetics, spirituality and more.

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Kristy Barnes reports: “I’m about to start a Fulbright Fellowship this year, which I certainly wouldn’t have achieved without the support of Berkshire and the teachers there (Mr. Kinne and Mr. Dalton for sure).”

Colin Chang writes: “I recently graduated from Emory, and have since been in Shanghai, China, immersing myself in the language and culture.

China is truly an amazing place, but there are many aspects that make me miss the states. Most notably, media censorship. It was hard to adapt without FB, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Google! Apart from that, my time here has been life-changing.

Similar to the diversity at Berkshire, attending language school in Shanghai has allowed me to meet people from all over the world and from different cultures, from Russia to Italy to Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan, all of whom are trying to learn Chinese. If you are ever in Shanghai or have questions about China, please give me a shout!”

Bill Kelly moved to California after graduating from Emory last year and is currently working on AdWords at Google HQ in Mountain View.

abroad for a year in both Cape Town, South Africa and New Zealand, I am back at the University of Richmond wrapping up my senior year. While I look forward to graduation, I’ll be sad to leave this wonderful place. However, I am definitely looking forward to the next step in life!”

Anna Johnston writes: “I’m working at Acquavella Galleries dealing in 19th, 20th and 21st century masterworks.

I’m moving to uptown Manhattan in May and graduating from NYU in December.”

Chelsea Preston writes: “As I begin to think about graduating from college, I think back to my time at Berkshire and how influential it was in helping me to decide what I wanted to do in my life. Had it not been for Mrs. D’Arco’s graphic design class, I would have never considered pursuing an art major, let alone a career in graphic design. I was also fortunate enough to play soccer and win the college’s first NESCAC Championship at Connecticut College thanks to the help and mentoring of Mr. D’Arco. I owe a lot to Berkshire (and the D’Arcos) for helping to get me where I am today, and I look forward to coming back for Reunion!”

13 Steven H. Halperin shalperin93@gmail.com Charles G. Yorke cgy2@mac.com

12 Juliet E. Shatkin jes714@nyu.edu

Kienan Brownrigg writes: “After having the time of my life studying

Tony Amolo ’13 and Sam Clougher ’13 at the NSCAA convention this past year. Soccer teammates at Kenyon, they were both first team All-American, and Sam was also first team scholar All-American.

/ Class Notes /

Casey Lyons ’12 and Britt Brown ’13, former Bears and current lacrosse rivals, Delaware and UPenn, respectively Jetsetters Lucia Perkins ’14 and Eliza Berg ’13 met up in Italy this past fall.

Eliza Berg spent the past semester studying abroad in Italy and traveled all over Europe, namely Milan, Cinque Terre, Lake Como, Rome, Bologna, Venice, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Florence, Barcelona, Paris and London.

Britt Brown has transferred from UVA to UPenn and will be playing lacrosse (goalie) for the Quakers this spring. Her experience has been awesome so far, and she’s already landed a summer internship with Wells Fargo Securities for fixed income sales and trading.

Grace Fowler writes: “This summer I was a Coordinator for Colby Outdoor Orientation Trips (COOT), a required orientation program that introduces students to the great outdoors of Maine, their peers, and upperclassmen mentors. My co-coordinator and I organized an intensive week-long training for our leaders and 58 threeday trips for the Class of 2019. I’m an environmental policy major and education minor and have been busy this fall with classes, hiking trips, and my jobs as an EcoRep and a Sexual Violence Prevention Peer Educator. I’m excited to study abroad in Patagonia, Chile next semester with Round River Conservation Studies.”

Chase Gerber writes: “I am a junior at Wake Forest, studying economics and just returned home from an amazing semester in Florence, Italy.”

From Ximena Lascurain: “Hello from Mexico! Everything is going well but I miss Berkshire very much. This past summer I was able to get together with some Berkshire people while in NYC. I had an internship at the number one restaurant in the country and number four restaurant in the world, called Eleven Madison Park. Brendan McGovern ’12 also had a great experience interning at JP Morgan this past summer and is loving Middlebury.”

A Berkshire mini-reunion: Kyla Rabb ’13, Isiah Nunez ’14, Creedy Acosta ’13, Charlotte Weil ’13, Lilly Weil ’13 and Ximena Lascurain ’13 meet up in New York City in the summer of 2015

14 Jacob A. Grant jkgrnt12@gmail.com Emily M. Hubbard emilyhubbard1@gmail.com Samuel G. Perkins samgperkins@gmail.com

Ximena Lascurain ’13 and Brendan McGovern ’12 enjoyed New York City together last summer

Christiena Auguste was cast in Columbia’s production of the Musical Variety Show, set to open in April.

Fall/Winter 2016

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/ Class Notes /

Austin Brandt became a certified EMT at the University of Michigan.

Pamella Dutra transferred from Syracuse to Northeastern this past fall.

Bryan Gerstenfeld now plays for the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

Aly Hall transferred from West Point to Covenant College.

Tipper Higgins started at West Point this past fall after playing juniors hockey for the Chilliwack Chiefs last year.

Emily Hubbard transferred from Charleston to St. Lawrence University.

Devon Kessler transferred from Tulane to Cornell.

Sam Lewis now studies at Naropa University in Boulder, CO. He has also created an online creative community called Create for Cause: www.facebook. com/create4cause. Proceeds earned by selling his art will benefit the Adam J. Lewis Preschool in Bridgeport, CT, as well as fund future art projects.

Maureen McCarthy transferred from Charleston to Emerson.

Max Miller transferred from Pace to the University of Miami.

Mike O’Brian started at Trinity this past fall after playing juniors hockey all of last year with the Middlesex Islanders.

Kevin O’Neill and the St. Lawrence University soccer team won the Liberty League.

Amelia Patsalos-Fox ran the New York City Marathon for the second time this past fall.

Lucia Perkins spent first semester studying abroad in Rome, Italy.

Craig Puffer started at the University of Vermont this past fall after playing juniors hockey for the Chilliwack Chiefs last year.

Julia Slyer placed first in her age group at the Iron Man Lake Placid competition last fall and participated in the Kona, Hawaii national competition, where she placed fourth in her age group with a time of 11:17:44, a halfhour faster than her Lake Placid time.

Catherine Xu spent the past five months back-packing throughout Central and South America.

Austin Zaepfel transferred from Case Western to Bentley this past fall.

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Berkshire Bulletin

Photo taken by Lexi Merison ’15 of the Swiss Alps while studying and traveling abroad this past semester

15 Jeffrey A. Erazo erazo.jeffrey@gmail.com Chelsea A. Leeds chelsea1101@gmail.com Arwen E. Neski arwen.neski@yale.edu

Hannah Honan spent this past semester abroad in London on a writing program in association with Arcadia and Hamilton College where she learned about British media and the

News?

Send a note to classnotes@berkshireschool.org

influence it has on national identity.

Lexi Merison spent this past semester abroad in Switzerland where she had the opportunity to travel all over Europe to places such as Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, Barcelona, and Venice. She started classes at Southern Methodist University in January.

Congratulations to Katie Soper for landing the lead role in Roanoke’s late winter production of These Shining Lives, which ran February 25-27. This is the first time a freshman has ever been cast as the lead!

Musings?

Mail a missive to bulletin@berkshireschool.org

/ Class Notes /

Former Faculty Jenny Anderson returned to Virginia Episcopal School (VES) where she again became the Chair of the World Languages Department as well as the Director of Global Initiatives. She led her cross country team this fall to one of its most successful seasons in recent memory.

Cory Anderson now works at Liberty University as an Educational Technologist in the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Their oldest son, Logan, is a sophomore at VES and their daughters are in middle and elementary schools, respectively.

Former faculty Tom and Susan Young, on their way west, stopped for a visit with former faculty member Bob Duchardt, P’84, P’87 and his wife, Sharon, in Xenia, OH. Bob has retired from his position as trainer at Cedarville College and now relaxes in his woodshop where he creates beautiful pieces of furniture.

From The North Andover Wicked Local, posted January 1, 2016: People’s United Bank has hired Alexander G. Moody, of North Andover, as its new senior vice president and senior private banker, serving wealth management clients in the greater Boston market.

Mini-reunion at the McGraws’, a mix of former faculty and alumni: Robin McGraw ’70, Andie McGraw ’17, Jeremy LaCasse ’90, Heather Forrest, Jen Gaenzle-Smith, Buzz McGraw, Diana LaCasse, Judith Winters, Lisa Weitzman, Maddie McGraw ’07 and Colin Smith ’87

Moody brings more than 10 years of wealth management and private banking experience to his new role, most recently as vice president and private banker for TD Bank’s wealth management group, serving the North Shore and Boston Metro areas.

Moody received his bachelor’s degree from Colby College and was a coach and faculty member at Berkshire

School and Brooks School. A resident of North Andover, he has served in the disability mentoring program for The Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton and is currently a volunteer for Special Olympics and an active member of the Middlesex Bears hockey and lacrosse clubs and the North Shore Ice Hawks.

From The Bradenton Herald (Florida): Roser Community Church on Anna Maria Island welcomes Kristen Stanton as the new director of music ministries. Stanton comes from Newton, IA, and attended Monmouth College in Monmouth, Ill. She received her master’s degree in music education from Brigham Young University. She has just completed her 33rd year of teaching music to various ages and abilities. Scott Stanton retired this spring after 37 years of instrumental music instruction.

The Stantons have taught collaboratively at the College of Eastern Utah in Price, UT, and founded a community music school there. They also spent three years teaching at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass.

Jack Harrison ’15 post-game with the Andersons, Cory, Jen and their oldest Logan. Jack led the Deamon Deacs past UNC Charlotte in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament this past fall and the Andersons were fortunate to catch up with him after the game.

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/ In Memoriam /

The Berkshire School community extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of the following alumni, former faculty and friends of the school. To send obituaries or remembrances of classmates or family members, please email bulletin@berkshireschool.org.

Henry “Pat” R. Hoysradt ’37 Ancram- Henry “Pat” R. Hoysradt 97, of Ancram, NY, passed away peacefully at the Sharon Healthcare Center in CT August 13, surrounded by his loving family.

Born on May 7, 1918, Pat, attended Berkshire as well as Williams College. He later owned and operated a dairy farm. In 1940 he married the love of his life, Helen Jessup, in Ancramdale, NY. Mrs. Hoysradt survives him at the Sharon Health Center. His final years were spent loving and caring for his wife.

A true Yankee to the core, Pat played four years of professional baseball with the Yankee Organization from 1938-1941. His love of baseball continued as a dedicated fan of the New York Yankees. Pat was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church as well as a former council member, a life-time member of the Ancram Fire Co, and a member of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia County. Pat was also in the Dutchess County Hall of Fame for both baseball and basketball.

In addition to his loving wife, Pat is survived by his children, daughters Judith Hatch of Stamford and Susan Hamburger of Clinton Corners; sons, Russell of Newfoundland, Canada, David of Ancram, and Daniel of Copake Lake; as well as 13 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

Abbott M. Smith, Jr. ’37 Abbott M. Smith Jr., 97, of Barboursville, passed away Sunday, November 22, 2015, at the Village at Riverview in Barboursville.

Born August 4, 1918, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he is survived by his beloved wife of 53 years, Peggy Smith of Barboursville; his children, Wendy Atterbury and her husband, Harry, of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Abbott M. Smith III and his wife, Emily, of San Jose, Calif.; and his four grandchildren, Tucker, Jami, Andrea and Alisa.

Abbott proudly served his country in WWII as a Captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was a lead bombardier and flew 27 missions with the 303rd 8th bombardment group, earning the Air Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart, the American Defense Service Medal, the ETO Theater Ribbon and the American Theater Ribbon.

He was an honorary member of the Patriot Warrior Riders, a member of Beta Theta Pi for over 75 years, served on the executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America and was a member of the WV Chamber of Commerce.

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Samuel A. McClung, III ’38 Samuel A. McClung, III 96, of Longwood at Oakmont on Monday, January 12, 2015. Beloved husband for 60 years of the late Adelaide “Adie” (Smith) McClung. Loving Father of Mary “Polly” (Kenneth) Gayer and Judith McClung.

Grandfather of Allyson (Michael) Thompson, Samuel Pegram, and William Pegram. Great-grandfather of 3.

After Berkshire, McClung graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and enjoyed traveling abroad with his wife. As a lifelong Pittsburgher and descendant of Thomas Mellon, Sam loved relating stories of his Uncle Andy who was Secretary of the Treasury, his grandfather who was a judge and other family history.

He was a Deacon and Elder in the Presbyterian Church and enjoyed the family home on Cape Cod where they spent over 30 summers. He loved golf and driving on road trips. He was especially proud of his 1908 Buick, which is now housed at the Frick Museum.

Stanley M. Babson ’42 Stan Babson passed away on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, Maine, after a sudden contraction of aspiration pneumonia.

His blindness due to macular degeneration and increasing dementia did not inhibit his adventurous spirit and desire to be useful to others in his final years.

After Berkshire, Stan attended Williams College, graduating in the class of 1946 after taking time out to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. He served in West Africa and the campaigns in Italy before returning to finish his B.A. degree in English.

In 1947, he married Amelia Lowery Ogden from Utica, N.Y. He received an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and worked as a certified public accountant before pursuing a career in corporate financial management. Stan could not suppress his urge to write and composed diaries, poetry, fishing stories, and contemplative essays he eventually assembled into self-published books.

Stan is survived by three children and their spouses: Bradley Ogden Babson and Katharine Earle Babson, Mary Darby Babson and Michael Dumont, both of Brunswick, Maine, and James Gorham Babson and Colette McInerney Babson of Tacoma, Wash.; and by seven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and two more on the way.

A memorial service will be held at a time when family and friends can gather together near his 90th birthday date in July.

/ In Memoriam /

Jerome Eppler ’42

Edward Ver Planck ’48

Jerome C. Eppler ’42 passed away on December 16, 2015 at his home in Denver, Colorado. He was born on March 16, 1924 in Englewood, New Jersey, and was a 50 year resident of Morris County, NJ. After Berkshire, he attended Rice University and Texas A&M and graduated with an MBA from Wharton in 1949.

Prior to attending Wharton, Jerry served in the US Navy as a Lieutenant JG on USS La Porte, and later served on the staff of Admiral Louis Denfeld (Chief of Naval Operations) in Washington, DC. In 1961, Jerry created Eppler & Company as a private, independent advisory and investment firm focused on managing portfolio assets for a number of family groups.

In the transportation sector, he played a role in the establishment of the New York Central Railroad and later served as a director of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (1965-1969). In addition, Jerry helped to found US Airways through the acquisition of regional carriers including Mohawk Airlines and Lake Central Airlines.

Jerry will be remembered by his many friends and family as a quintessential venture capitalist with a keen business vision and strong entrepreneurial spirit. Jerry is survived by his wife, Debora Nye Eppler, his five children (Stephen, Randy, Margaret, Elizabeth Vidmar and Edward), eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He will be laid to rest in a family plot in Mendham, New Jersey.

Edward Ver Planck of Bedford died on August 15, 2015, at the age of 86. Born in Boston, he was raised in Waban, graduating from Newton High, Berkshire School and Northwestern University. Mr. Ver Planck served in the US Army Counter Intelligence Corp during the Korean War era.

Since 1963, he has been a familiar figure in Harvard Square, Cambridge as the owner of Dickson Bros. True Value Hardware. He was a past president of the Harvard Square Business Assoc,. and a past member of the Board of Directors of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce. For many years, he has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Salvation Army and, since 1977, he has been a member and former board member of Cambridge Rotary International with the distinction of being a Paul Harris Fellow.

He leaves his wife Mary (McDougle), daughter Janet of Casco, ME, son Edward P. Ver Planck, Jr. (Ned) and his wife Elena (Capasso) and grandchildren Hailee, Ryan and Caroline.

A celebration of his life was held on Monday, August 24th at The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Phillip T. Davidson, Sr. ’43 and Past Trustee Phillip T. Davidson, Sr., 90, of Farmington, Conn. and beloved husband of Barbara (Jarmon) Davidson, passed away Friday, Nov. 27, 2015.

After graduating from Berkshire, Phillip joined the United States Navy where he served as an officer aboard the USS Columbia in the South Pacific during World War II. At its conclusion, he returned to Connecticut and received his B.S. from Trinity College. A long believer in education, Phillip served his alma maters as Trustee of Berkshire and Trinity.

His son, Phil wrote that, “Berkshire was a special place for Dad. We are grateful for the opportunities and life lessons Berkshire provided him. He was proud to be on the Board of Trustees. One of the last car trips he made was this fall to visit the campus. He said campus looked great!”

After college, Phil, Sr. joined his family business, Davidson & Leventhal (D&L Stores), and founded The Weathervane. A leader in civic and community affairs, he was named Citizen of the Year by the New Britain Elks.

Besides his wife Barbara, he leaves five children: Merry Davidson Bush (Charles) of Southington; Thomas Davidson (Joan) of Southington; Anthony Davidson (Sheila) of New York City; Wendy Davidson of Shirley, Mass.; and Phillip Davidson, Jr. (Lindsay) of Swampscott, Mass. and ten grandchildren.

Robert J. Dau ’49 Robert Jensen Dau 84, of Petoskey, passed away peacefully Monday, November 23, 2015 at Independence Village of Petoskey.

Born on March 27, 1931 in Petoskey, Michigan, Robert was President of Wood Welded International, the marketing arm of the Michigan Maple Block and Bally Block Companies. He retired in the mid – 80’s to pursue his passions of art collecting and travel.

Throughout his life he was known as a philanthropist, an art collector, a classical music enthusiast, an avid gardener and a skilled wood carver. Robert will be remembered as a good, hard-working man who enjoyed spending time in the company of others. His warm smile and keen intellect were always on display among friends, family and strangers alike.

Until recently, Robert spent his time among his three homes in Petoskey, MI, Kenilworth, IL and Palm Desert, CA. Robert is survived by his daughter Fernanda (Brian Fisher) and granddaughters Roberta Fisher and Sofie Fisher of Arlington, VA. He was preceded in death by his parents, and two wives, Kendra Isbey Dau in 1997 and Nancy Anderson Dau in 2009.

Memorial services celebrating Robert’s life will take place in Palm Desert, CA in the spring of 2016 and in Bay View, MI in the summer of 2016.

Valley News (White River Junction, Vermont) - December 8, 2013 Sunday

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/ In Memoriam /

Robert P. Withington, Jr. ’56

Dean McChesney ’66

On Dec. 3, 2013, Robert P. Withington, Jr. passed away with his family by his side. Bob was born in West Newton, Mass., on Sept. 11, 1937.

After serving in the Third Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany, he enrolled at the University of Colorado. After graduating in 1964, he married JoAnne Lewis of Merriam, Kan., and moved to Philadelphia, Pa., where he began his graduate work at the Wharton School.

In 1976 he received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and continued teaching at Plattsburgh until retiring in Jan. of 2003.

He leaves his beloved wife, JoAnne; two sons--Robert III and his wife, Jennifer, of Oneonta, N.Y., and their children, Robert IV and Wyndam; and William and his wife, Rachel, of Stamford, Conn., and their children, Eleanor and Elizabeth.

His brother, George E. Withington, also survives him.

Along with photography, travel was one of Bob’s great passions and included trips, many with his family. With JoAnne, he did a number of long distance walks in England and Ireland, and numerous road trips across America. With his best friend, Joe Kelley, he explored several of America’s waterways by canoe.

Graveside services will be in the spring at the Hillside Cemetery in Norwich and will be announced at a later date.

David McChesney, 68, of Greenport died peacefully at his home on August 2, 2015. He is survived by his loving wife Jan Harting-McChesney. All Services are private.

Peter Charles Ince ’63 Peter Charles Ince of Indialantic, Florida, formerly of Boca Raton, passed away on Sunday, February 15.

He was pre-deceased by his parents Richard and Martha and his brother James. Peter is survived by his sons Whitney Richard Ince of Savannah, GA and Payton James Ince of Boca Raton. He is also survived by his brother Richard (Martha) of Birmingham, AL, sister Carol Ince of Panama City Beach, FL and several nieces and nephews.

Peter was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Bronxville, N.Y., and after attending Berkshire, graduated from Miami University, Oxford, OH. He had a successful career with Proctor and Gamble before moving to Boca Raton in 1979 and becoming a luxury home builder. Peter was an avid tennis player and collector of fine wines.

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Horton-Mathie Funeral Home

Ed Chase ’69 Ed Chase, son of longtime faculty members Arthur and Alice Chase, passed away on August 17 in Branford, CT, surrounded by family, after a long-fought battle with cancer.

He learned to ski on the Berkshire Hill with his father Art’s rope tow, and the first ski area he went to was Butternut, in Great Barrington. It was also the last. He and Seamus McKeon ’69 traveled for a visit last March, after which they came to the School and met up with Mike Dalton at the Chase Sugar House. See page 92 for more.

Theodore S. Gary III, ’75 Theodore S. Gary III, 59, passed away in his home in Rock City, Illinois on September 18, 2015. He was an avid animal lover who spent a good portion of his time living on Madeline Island, Wisconsin, raising huskies and malamutes with the dream of one day participating in the Alaskan Iditarod dogsled race. Theodore produced and published a book with beautiful pictures of polar bears and other northern wildlife. In the last several years, Theodore was also an active EMT and a wonderful cook. He had a great love of all sports, especially hockey.

Theodore is preceded in death by his father, Theodore S. Gary, Jr., his brother, James Hadley Gary, and his step-father, Albert Dickens Williams, Jr. He is survived by his mother Joyce Hadley Williams, his two children, Genevieve Blackwood Gary and Hayden Sauvinet Gary, and his sisters Laura Brown Gary, Whitney Williams Jones and Leslie Williams Mahler. He will also be missed by his dear friend of many years Laura Malek.

Theo was a happy, fun-loving man who generously gave of himself, loved life and lived it to its fullest. He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by his family and many friends.

Published in a Chicago Tribune Media Group Publication from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1, 2015

/ In Memoriam /

Former Faculty & Staff Richard “Don” Rutledge History teacher 1981-1994

Norman Williams Merrill English and Foreign Language teacher 1986-2013 Norman Williams Merrill, 68, died October 1, 2015 at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Norm was born October 4, 1946 in New York City, and graduated from Brooks School in 1965, the University of Vermont in 1969, and the University of Cincinnati with a PhD in Latin in 1974. From 1976 to 1986, he worked at Rumsey Hall. From 1986 to 2013, Norm taught and was head of the departments of English and Foreign Language and coached hockey, soccer, and golf at Berkshire. Norm retired to Woodstock, Vermont in 2013.

Norm was the Woodstock Country Club golf champion eight times. He published a book on etymology, and an article in the Journal of Public Policy titled, “ Who was that Woman I didn’t see you with Last Night.” He was the recipient of the Seaver Buck Award for excellence in teaching and the Kellogg Grant for travel.

Mr. Merrill is survived by his wife of 46 years, Jeanne (Wile) Merrill, his son Norman Williams Merrill II ’94 and his wife Jennifer Hancock, his son Dr. Richard Mark Merrill ’98 and his wife Natalie Nagy, his 5 grandchildren: Reilly, Ty, Lukas, Kyah, and Ainsley, his brother Fred Merrill and his wife Peggy, as well as a number of beloved nieces and nephews, including Killy and Gabe Merrill, Russell and Amy Morin.

Richard “Don” Rutledge died Wednesday, December 16, at his home in Pembroke after a long illness. He was born in New York City on January 31, 1928 and later joined the U.S. Army in 1945. He went on to receive a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in History from Boston University.

Don taught at Cheshire, then moved to Lenox School for Boys, where he taught history and coached soccer and skiing and was recently inducted into the Lenox School Hall of Fame. In addition to teaching, he worked as a carpenter and installed woodstoves. He retired from Berkshire in 1994.

Don built a cabin on the Shore Road in Perry, felling the trees, peeling the logs and carrying stones from the beach to make the chimney and fireplace. His young family spent many summers there. In the 1970s, he tried his hand at acting, taking part in several local productions.

Upon his retirement, he moved to Pembroke, Maine, where he raised bees and sold honey, cut wood for his woodstoves, built dinghies and dories in his workshop and tapped maple trees for syrup. He read history and sailed “Peggy,” his beloved catboat.

Don is survived by his wife of 24 years, Lynn Vickery Rutledge, his son, Norman of Canaan, NY; his daughter, Marian of Pittsfield, MA.; his son, Matthew and his wife, Annie of Pittsfield, MA; his daughter, Win of Gray, ME; his grandchildren, Elizabeth and her husband, Rob Shryock of Portland, OR; Eleanor of Pittsfield, MA; and several nieces and nephews.

His wife Peg tells us that at his service in late December, he received full military honors and, as an honorary member of the Patriot War Riders, was accompanied by their motorcycles, riding honor guard to the cemetery. They stood in line, one by one, before his casket before saying good-bye with a crisp salute.

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/ In Memoriam /

In Memory of Ed Chase ’69 (1951-2015) Ed’s good friend and college roommate, Tim Etchells penned the following remembrance for Ski Racing Magazine.

Tim was Ed’s roommate for three years at Middlebury, and on the ski patrol with Ed. Tim worked as the Head of Communications at Middlebury, and before that, spent two stints editing Middlebury Magazine. He also spent about a dozen years as editor of Ski Racing. The following is a condensed version of a piece written for Ski Racing online.

Ed Chase ’69 and Phil Mahre

Ed Chase, a winter sports industry legend, ski technician for Olympic and World Cup champions, and a Berkshire School alumnus, died on August 17 in Branford, Conn., with family by his side, after a five-year-long battle with cancer. He was 64 years old.

Born on April 11, 1951, in Sheffield, Mass., Edward Lance Chase was the only son and youngest of three children of Arthur C. and Alice Ann (Anderson) Chase. Ed’s parents were both faculty members at Berkshire School for 35 years, from 1937 until their retirement in 1973, and gave their name to the annual Arthur C. and Alice Ann Chase Commendation Awards. Arthur Chase was an English teacher and Alice Ann Chase was the school’s librarian.

The Chase name also appears on two campus landmarks: Chase House, once home to the Chase family and now to the Berkshire admissions office, and the Arthur Chase Sugar House.

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Ed grew up in Sheffield, where everyone called him Eddie, and spent his early years on skis negotiating a rope-tow-equipped slope created by his father. Ed went on to attend Berkshire, graduating in 1969. He then headed to Middlebury College in Vermont, where he was a member of the Class of 1973. There, he played soccer and was on the first formal men’s rugby team at the college. He was a member of the Middlebury College Snow Bowl Ski Patrol and, like many of the other patrollers, joined the Alpha Sigma Psi fraternity, better known as Slug.

It was at Middlebury that he got the nickname Sleazy Ed, eventually shortened to Sleez. The ski patrol, and the fraternity, already had an Easy Ed, so Sleazy Ed it was.

Tom Beach, a K2 colleague, recalls how Ed became a mentor to a generation of K2 folks. “Without ever getting cranky, he showed us tricks with 8-inch files, Scotchbrite, 220-grit carbide paper and wax that most of us couldn’t have imagined, regardless of our own parochial skiing histories,” Beach said. “He suffered our questions, and opinions, with a generosity of spirit that I suspect marked his whole life. I don’t think we realized how much of a mentor he had become until much later in our lives.

Now we’re on our own.”

Ed Costie, who worked with Ed on the World Cup circuit, said what made Ed successful was his outlook on life. “Everyone loved Sleez,” Costie said, “and he was comfortable with everyone.

He kept everything under control, kept things light, and projected a lot of positive energy.” Ed had a legendary sense of humor, Costie said, and with his height, his big smile and even bigger moustache, he became one of the most recognizable figures on the World Cup circuit. And when the race was over and tomorrow’s skis were ready, Costie said, “After a couple of brews, Sleez would sometimes say, ‘You know, this could turn into something.’ ” Ed is survived by his sister Ann Chase Redman of Branford, Conn.; his son, Peter Robson Chase, of Phoenix, Ariz.; Peter’s mother and Ed’s ex-wife, Lisa Chase, of Gunnison, Colo.; a nephew, Arthur Chase Rhodes; and two nieces, Amanda Elizabeth Wheeler and Jennifer Maria DelVaglio. He had previously lost both parents, Arthur and Ann Chase, and his sister Janet.

/ In Memoriam /

Read the original, complete remembrance on Ski Racing’s website: http://www.skiracing.com/stories/ ski-industry-legend-ed-chase

One of the many roles that his father Arthur played at Berkshire was running the school’s sugaring operation. He was also an accomplished poet; the Arthur C. Chase Poetry Prize was established to honor him, and a collection of his poems, Steam from the Sap House, was published in 1990. In a poem called “Sugar Weather,” he talked about sugaring with his young son: … The year that Eddie was ten he wanted most of all To show that he could run the rig himself, Not just in daylight but like other men To take the middle watch from twelve to four.

Though tall for ten, he could hardly stretch his arm To skim the farthest pan, Yet knows exactly what to do to slow A runaway boil—slosh in cold sap— Throw check doors back—a drop of oil To quell the wildest roil.

His watch half over, Eddie is by my bed.

“Awfully tired,” he whispers. Wind’s come up— Noise in the hemlocks—something like a groan And eyes from woods reflect the fire light.

“Only a curious coon,” I tell him, but he’s done well for ten. …

High praise from Arthur Chase, an imposing figure whose nickname was “The Bear,” and not only for his size; he was not known to be easy to please. (At Berkshire, Ed inevitably became “Mini-bear.”) Fifty-four years later, as news of Ed’s death spread, more than a few ski industry colleagues, family and friends were reflecting on Ed’s career and the life he lived, and echoing his father’s sentiment – he’s done well.

Ed with Phil and Steve Mahre

Skiing with Ed I’m deeply saddened in losing such a great person and friend of all of us at Berkshire. I feel honored in that I was fortunate enough to have seen Ed at our last Class reunion. I would have never known Ed’s condition was as grave as it was.

At Berkshire Ed and I were good friends.

Although I played hockey as my sport, I spent all my free time skiing. I have fond memories of skiing through the trees with Ed. Before the Annual Open School Ski Races, Ed would coach me on my racing skills. His influence has stayed with me to this day. I still love to ski in the trees!

Over the years past I have remembered Ed and his subtle mentoring on the ski slopes, beginning with my own racing in college to my two daughters at Berkshire.

I always thought of Ed and his influence over me. Reading the article about Ed’s accomplishments in the ski industry shows one how Ed carried himself throughout his life. Ed never seemed to boast or display his accolades yet he had acquired many friends and followers who looked up to him.

Looking back I have one regret: that Ed and I did not ski Tuckerman’s Ravine at the end of our senior year. I want to thank Seamus McKeon ’69 for his friendship with Ed and how he stayed with him over the years. Ed will be remembered for many years to come and will be surely missed.

– Richard Muhlfeld ’69

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/ In Memoriam /

Memories of Norman Merrill On the death of beloved Latin teacher and soccer coach, Norm Merrill, Berkshire was flooded with remembrances.

We’ve published some here, revealing just how much he was loved by students and faculty, alike.

Merrill literally brought Shakespeare to life and made Berkshire a better place to live. O Captain My Captain!

– Andre J. Horton ’01 ________________________________ He was the first to welcome me to Berkshire when I arrived as a nervous sophomore, and shaped my entire school experience for the better. Norman embodied the best of the teaching profession and a Berkshire education.

He was a scholar, but was never content to leave a discipline in its scholarly silo.

Instead, he brought subjects to life with his wit and by encouraging students to bring their knowledge to bear on other parts of their life or studies. When I encountered trouble with school authorities (thankfully not a common occurrence), he never failed to bring me back to earth with a gentle but firm reminder not to be a “dope”. Rarely a week goes by that I don’t remember and appreciate his lessons concerning rhetoric, etymology, or life. I offer my sincerest condolences to Jeanne , Norman, Jr. and Richard.

– John Daly ’93

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Mr. Merrill was one of my favorite teachers at Berkshire. I had him for Latin class for all three years I was there, where his presence and his Latin class became a staple of my Berkshire career. From translating The Odyssey to daily class discussions to driving us into town for the day, Mr. Merrill (or as we liked to call him, “Mere-Dog”) was a faculty member I could always rely on or turn to when I needed to talk. Becoming my adviser junior year strengthened our bond even more. He will be greatly missed by the many people who had the privilege of working with or learning from him.

– Rachel Hechtman ’08 ________________________________ Back in 2005-2006, we set up a storage area for used electronics and such in the carport that existed in the back of Allen Dorm. It eventually became a central recycling place for clothing, electronics, batteries, bulbs, and printer cartridges. As you can imagine, places like this usually get real messy, especially with access from the entire community. After a few months passed, I started to wonder why our area was always so clean. I couldn’t imagine that everyone was doing their part, putting everything where it was supposed to go.

After some investigation, I found out that Norm was cleaning it once a week, without anyone knowing, and not looking for any credit. He just wanted to make sure it worked. That is some real character.

– Frank Barros, former faculty

I first encountered Mr. Merrill as a shy 7th grader at Rumsey Hall . We met on the soccer field, and I was introduced to his Golden toe. From that day forward, he became the best teacher and coach I ever had, someone I looked to while being away from home. We followed each other to Berkshire and continued our friendship.

Whether it was in a classroom or on the sideline his compassion, caring, generosity and great sense of humor made my days feel like some of the literature he would share. On the sidelines for game days I would hear him cheer and glance over to see him with my parents. Classroom glares or dinnertime conversation always turned humorous with Mr. Merrill, something I still talk about today. He was an amazing man, teacher, coach and mentor, and I am proud and happy our paths crossed.

– Greg LaCava ’89 ________________________________ I am very saddened to hear of Norm’s passing. I remember him well as my most trusted advisor. His guidance and influence on me as a youngster reflect on me today.

Norm made a very big impact on my life during my time at Berkshire, and I am deeply appreciative. May he rest in peace.

– Michael DeLeo III, MD, ’99 ________________________________ As a person you could not find a kinder, gentler, more sincere and humble man than Norm Merrill. As an educator, his knowledge of the Classics was beyond reproach, and if you were lucky enough to be a student in his class, you were truly blessed. He was a true gentleman whose only minor shortcoming was his periodic inability to make the threefoot putt. For all of us who knew him, he surely will be missed.

– Peter Kinne, faculty

/ In Memoriam /

Pieter Mulder on the Passing of Norm Merrill October 2, 2015 Dear Alumni and Friends,

Norm was a dear friend, an amazing colleague, and the perfect advisor for my son Aaron J. Romano-Meade ’99. While he may have appeared gruff on the outside, he had a soft spot and big heart for children of all ages. He opened his heart and home to his advisees, many of whom found a father figure in him. Whatever the holiday, faculty children delighted to see the many blow-up decorations on his lawn. When I walk by Keep House, I think of Norm and miss my friend and colleague.

– Anna Romano, faculty ________________________________ Dr. Norman Merrill: “Be he ever so humble, there was no one like Norm.” He was kind, compassionate, witty, joyful, intellectual, and loyal and loving to his family, school and friends. I miss him deeply and think of him every day.

– William F. Gulotta, former faculty ________________________________ I loved spending time with both Norm and Jeanne as they always were a wealth of knowledge, and I often thought about how much I would have enjoyed being a student in his class. I knew beneath that tough exterior was a teacher who cared deeply about his students and took great pride in their performance. On a personal note, I will always cherish my friendship with Norm and Jeanne. They were a part of my life when I lost both Bill Duryee and Einar Aas, and during those difficult times, they were among those few whom I considered my guardian angels.

– Nancy Duryee-Aas, former faculty

I write with the sad news that Norm Merrill passed away last night.

Norm, as many remember well, served Berkshire tirelessly and distinctively for 27 years. He was our resident scholar, a lover of great books, maps, and the ancient world. Norm taught English, Latin, and Greek at different times during his teaching career, and he was a former chair for both the English and Language departments. As a teacher, dorm parent, coach, and advisor, he impacted and inspired the lives of nearly three decades of Berkshire students. Norm retired in 2013, along with his wife, Jeanne, our long-serving library director, and they enjoyed the early years of their retirement in Woodstock, Vermont among family and friends.

The corridor of cheering faculty and staff through which Norm passed following his final Latin class is a Berkshire memory I will treasure always. Norm was the last teacher to move from Memorial, staunchly insisting that his well-worn, first-floor classroom, with its many maps and antiquities, was the appropriate home for his Latin classes and Sixth Form English elective. He was happy to make his students walk a little out of their way to join him each day for discussions of language, literature, and life!

And yet for all his many intellectual contributions to our community, my fondest memory of Norm is of him roaming the thirds soccer sidelines on the lower field, coaching the boys into his final year at Berkshire and setting an inspiring example of a dedicated school person through and through. It is an image, tight to the stone wall along the road, which could be placed in any decade of Berkshire’s history. Such was the timelessness and the power of Norm Merrill’s work with young people.

All of Berkshire’s thoughts and prayers are with Jeanne and their two sons, Norman, Jr. ’94 and Richard ’98.

I’m sorry to be writing with such sad news.

– Pieter Mulder

Fall/Winter 2016

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Front row: Moe England ’49; Back row: Ben Davenport ’49, Bob Doyle ’49, Rollie Schopp ’49 and Head of School Pieter Mulder.

“When I think about Berkshire, what stands out the most are the people.

The bonds formed under the Mountain are ones that have stayed with me. I could not think of a better way to honor Berkshire, and those lasting relationships, than to establish the Moe England ’49/ Scott Family Scholarship through my estate plan so that future generations of Bears will have the same life-changing experiences I had.”

– Moe England ’49

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Berkshire Berkshire Bulletin Bulletin

Create Your Legacy For more information on how to become a part of our John F. Godman Society, or to learn how you can support Berkshire through your estate plan, please contact Rob Schur, Director of Advancement at 413-229-1237 or rschur@berkshireschool.org

/ Closing Conundrum /

Bears on the Go Identify these Bears and what they might be doing.

To solve the Closing Conundrum or submit a photo (all will be returned), email: bulletin@berkshireschool.org or write to: Closing Conundrum, Berkshire School, 245 North Undermountain Road, Sheffield, MA 01257.

Closing Conundrum Gets an Answer!

“I’ve got some answers for your Spring/Summer 2015 Closing Conundrum.

The photo was taken in the spring of 1978 or 1979, most likely, in Hamilton, MA at a Project Adventure open house. The Project Lifeline group would leave campus after classes, go rock climbing at Chapel Ledge, then head east and camp out and head to Project Adventure in th morning to play on their ropes course and learn new ideas for outdoor programming. The bearded guy on bottom right is me, the girl on the left is Ruth Shapiro, I believe, and in the middle with the watch cap is Steve Brand.” – Don Morley Project Lifeline 1978 Top: Cobb, Anderson, Clark; Middle: Brent, McCarty; Bottom: Thaute, Shapiro, Martin, Morley; Missing: Valentine. Photo by Amanda Morgan

245 North Undermountain Road Sheffield, Massachusetts 01257-9672 Address Service Requested

For Parents of Alumni: If this magazine is addressed to a son or daughter who no longer lives at home, kindly call us with the correct address: 413-229-1225

This magazine was made with reusable energy, using soy-based inks printed on recycled stock.

In the Heights This February 18 through 20, students, faculty, parents and friends of the School came out to see Berkshire’s production of In the Heights.

See page 20 for more on the theater program.