Summer 2015
TODAY
INSIDE (PAGE 19): Crew Coxswain Leadership - The crew program depends on a group of dedicated leaders who not only communicate with the team, but ensure their safety, execute practices, and provide feedback and motivation.
TODAY Berwick Today is published two times per year, once in the winter and once in the summer, by Berwick Academy. It is mailed to all alumni, parents, and friends of the School. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tracey Boucher DESIGN Arly Maulana CONTRIBUTOR Kathryn Strand PHOTOGRAPHY Shanlee Linney Ginchereau ’87 Marilena Canuto Tracey Boucher Arly Maulana The faculty and staff who carry cameras and capture Berwick moments as they happen. PRINTING Flagship Press Changes of address or other communication regarding this periodical should be directed to: Berwick Academy Advancement Office 31 Academy Street South Berwick, Maine 03908 207.384.2164 ext. 2303 kdemers@berwickacademy.org facebook.com/berwickacademy @berwickacademy @berwickacademy
2015 Commencement, June 6, 2015
SUMMER2015 2
Message from the Head of School
Features: Leadership 5 6
Leadership Camp in The Dominican Republic by Ellen Lynch ‘16
Student Leadership in the Upper School by Ted Smith
10 What Makes a Leader? by Lisa Goulemas
13 Leadership in Athletics by Rob Quinn
14 Leadership at Berwick Infographic
16 Alumni Leaders: Passionate Visionaries Nicole Sylvester Browning ‘99 Stephen C. White ‘71
19 Crew Coxswain Leadership 20 What is a Student Government by Izzy Salvati ‘16
22 What Leadership Means to Me by Kate Cavanaugh ‘10
23 Hilltop Happenings 24 2015 Commencement 34 Athletics 37 Arts 48 Alumni Bulletin
MESSAGE FROM
HEAD OF SCHOOL
attention to detail, the need to be empathetic, and the power of community above all else. He always had a refrain about leadership in that when we “take care of the small change, the bigger pieces fall into place.” My second important mentor was the head of school at Rye Country Day School, where I spent most of my professional career prior to arriving at Berwick. While a very different personality from my high school teacher, his lessons were equally important and probably far more practical in some ways. I learned from him what it meant to lead a school where “the trains run on time.” Closing loops, following through, and doing what you promised were all modeled with inspiring consistency. But, more than anything, his example revealed to me the kind of ethical spine one needs to do this job well. In a world that blurs major discipline, big donors, high-paying customers, and beloved faculty members, the leader can never lose sight of doing what is fundamentally right – even when it is painful.
I
t may sound odd, but I knew I wanted to lead an independent school as early as high school. My own school environment was so captivating that I hoped to have a chance to return one day and share the experience with others. My drive toward being a leader probably began with a competitiveness and work ethic I learned most clearly from my father. He always viewed himself as an underdog in his professional life and resolved that he found success purely by out-working other people. For the most part, he was probably right, although I suspect he was also naturally gifted in ways he refused to admit. I know now that leadership is more complex than mere hard work, but effort is a critical ingredient. The forced collaboration of team sports made me realize quickly that there
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SUMMER 2015
was only so much I could accomplish on my own. Athletics thrust me into some of my first leadership roles. Beyond the rich catalysts of my high school and collegiate lives, there is no question that mentors have been the most important piece in steering me toward my current role. While there have been more than I can mention here, there are two key figures who have shaped me most in thinking about becoming a head of school. The first was a teacher and coach from high school who eventually went on to be a successful headmaster himself, running one of the most prestigious day schools in the country. He has steered me at every crossroads in my career. To this day, he never hesitates to answer the phone when my number flashes across his screen. From him, I learned
There have been a number of key opportunities and programs through professional development that also have informed my sense of self and built my network. Of all the various regional, national, and graduate leadership programs I have enjoyed, I would offer that the insight of self-awareness has been most powerful. By knowing my own strengths and weaknesses, I am able to hire more effectively and predict where the pitfalls will be in the future. Self-awareness comes with humility and a willingness to change – very difficult lessons but essential aspects of being a leader. Once I became head of school, I knew immediately that I wanted Berwick to be a place where one could come to work and go on to be a remarkable leader. As a relatively young head who had people open doors for me, I talk very openly with teachers, deans, and administrators about where they are trying to go professionally. I want them to engage me in the conversation so I can help to the best of my ability. There have been times when I have had to offer
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Independent schools are ideally suited to foster leadership in students and adults. Our community is filled with leadership frontiers – classrooms, assemblies, stages, playing fields, and hallways – all of which catalyze growth and courage in unforeseen ways.” hard but honest feedback through those personal journeys. Some heads of school tend to view leadership ambition as synonymous with disloyalty. However, I view it as a worthy and important endeavor. We have sent one Berwick administrator off to be a head of school already, and I certainly hope there will be more in the coming years. When I consider our current organizational structure as a school, it would be fair to say we have invested in positions that allow our teachers to take on leadership roles. Eight years ago, we had one dean in the Upper School and a part-time dean role in the Middle School. Today we have a grade dean for each Upper School class and two deans in the Middle School. We also have a new department chair model that is intended to allow people to “lead from the middle.” I believe these roles are critical for the School and for the people in them. These positions allow one to get a taste of what administration looks and feels like. It offers a glance not merely of the excitement, but of professional and personal challenges that come with administrative roles.
Recently we have funded multiple Berwick employees to tackle the ISANNELEADS program, which is offered by our regional association for this purpose. We have also sent people to many graduate programs with leadership components as well as to national leadership development programs. Funding is a critical ingredient, along with active mentorship and open dialogue. Often it is as easy as validating an idea or telling someone to stay the course. Developing leaders need reassurance from people they trust – I still seek this out with great regularity on a personal level. It is important to acknowledge the myriad ways to lead in a school. Certainly this issue will speak to students, faculty, and staff in a variety of forums. There are people at Berwick who are tremendous leaders, who have consciously chosen to play this role as classroom teachers. There is a growing body of academic literature about what it means to be a “teacher-leader” and how these individuals are best cultivated. Leadership is not really about a title in the end – it is about the degree to which others are actually interested in your ideas, values, and opinions. Are others willing to follow your example? Can you mobilize or inspire positive change? It is also true that people who have leadership power need to understand the responsibility that comes with this gift – people watch leaders closely all the time. Independent schools are ideally suited to foster leadership in students and adults. Our community is filled with leadership frontiers – classrooms, assemblies, stages, playing fields, and hallways – all of which catalyze growth and courage in unforeseen ways. When I think about my own legacy, I believe my ability to cultivate leaders will be essential not only for me but for Berwick’s future. We need to be a place where people can grow and evolve. Some leaders dream about spawning a “leadership tree” like Bill Belichick or Bill Gates. But it really isn’t a contest to see how many independent school leaders emerge from Berwick Academy. More importantly, the goal is to see if this
environment can become one that cultivates leadership, purpose, and courage for the various constituent groups we serve. Famous leadership author Jim Collins coined the distinction between “Level 4 and Level 5” leaders in his books Good to Great and Built to Last. He articulates that Level 4 leaders are amazing and successful while they actually hold the role of CEO in their respective organizations. But the most successful companies over time benefit from Level 5 leadership – the kind where the organization continues to thrive systemically long after the CEO is gone. I have not hit either metric yet, but here’s to hoping we won’t find out the answer for quite some time. Like all of our emerging leaders at Berwick, I am still learning, evolving, and growing. For now, I encourage you to wade into the varied waters of leadership on the Hilltop, knowing that our charge of promoting virtue and useful knowledge continues to guide us every step of the way.
Sincerely yours,
Gregory J. Schneider Head of School
TODAY
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CULTIVATING
LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP CAMP
IN
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
by
Ellen Lynch ’16 y sixteen-day adventure through the Dominican Republic took me into the mountains of Jarabacoa, to the rural town of Juan Dolio, and along the beaches of Bayahibe. The heart of the trip was spent in Juan Dolio, where myself and seventeen other Rustic Pathways students were charged with the task of creating, organizing, and executing a six-day summer camp for thirty local children, ages five to twelve. Little did the eighteen of us know when we arrived, but merely our presence would trigger unconditional love and admiration from the children. To them, the chance to attend our camp was an opportunity of a lifetime. The way their faces lit up when they remembered an English word or song that we had taught them is something I will never forget. Being able to bring happiness to these children through activities as simple as duck, duck, goose or painting is truly a rewarding experience. Due to the difference in native languages, our ability to lead extended beyond what we said or how we said it. Instead, the way we carried ourselves and the example we set through our actions became the backbone of our leadership.
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STUDENT
in
LEADERSHIP
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THE UPPER SCHOOL
by
Ted Smith Upper School Assistant Director Upper School French
“Leadership is the ability to get individuals to work together for the common good and the best possible results, while at the same time letting them know they did it themselves. Some people are automatic leaders. Some can never lead. But many who don’t think of themselves as leaders have the potential to become such if they understand the fundamentals of getting individuals to work together. Those fundamentals can be learned.” John Wooden, Hall of Fame basketball coach
This is an age-old question, one closely related to the “nature vs. nurture” issue that has elicited many conversations in school hallways. Coach Wooden appears to take both sides. A longer version of the same question might be: Are certain people born with inherent leadership skills, while others are not, or can someone learn how to lead through training and practice? Regardless of where we fall in this debate, we should all agree that good and steady leaders will not emerge unless given opportunities to learn new leadership skills, or avenues through which they can exert their inherent leadership traits. Not long ago, elite independent secondary schools were largely defined by grade-point averages, test scores, and college lists. If a student could digest a lecture, memorize text, and recall theories, he or she was deemed successful at most institutions. Modern research has allowed our educational sensibilities to broaden, yet many schools still measure success in concrete results – academic grades, athletic championships, and artistic accolades. At Berwick, we would add a fourth benchmark: giving our students opportunities to develop
leadership skills necessary to navigate the ever-evolving innovations of the 21st century. This can be a fuzzy concept for teenagers. For an adolescent, leading one’s peers may be tougher than any AP Calculus test. Is it possible to measure the success of an adolescent leader? What constitutes a leader when there is no accompanying title? Is simply “getting things done” enough to label a high school student an effective leader? Of all our strengths as an institution, I am most proud of the myriad leadership opportunities available to our students. The “born vs. made” debate is rendered null and void without these chances to lead. Our Berwick philosophy is to open doors for students to exert leadership qualities, a philosophy that begins in our classrooms. A Berwick student is always offered a chance to lead a class, a discussion, or a unit. While subtle, taking over the reins of a classroom for 20 minutes while your peers and teacher react to your guidance teaches fantastic skills. Like many institutions, Berwick is moving toward more project-based learning. To that end, group work is becoming a prevalent method in even the most traditional classrooms (even veteran Latin teacher Mr. Downey is a huge fan!). In most group work,
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it is natural for an individual to take control. In my classroom, I often observe the quietest of students – those who are clearly not born leaders – use their academic or organizational skills to lead the group. Likewise, discussionbased learning (always a staple of Berwick pedagogy) also opens doors for students to drive a compelling conversation in one direction or another. Extracurricular endeavors open up entirely different avenues for teenage leadership. In those spaces, innovative thinking, necessary for success in this information age, is not stunted by textbooks, graphs, or charts. Leaders of clubs are often free to steer their group. Rather than follow a pre-scripted pattern, some of our most traditional clubs have taken on the personalities of their leaders in a given year, making them vastly different from years past. Leaders at Berwick arrive at their posts through multiple paths; some self-appointed, others elected by peers. Some are designated by faculty after an application process, while others fall somewhere in between, taking both student and faculty input into consideration. Finally, some are designated as a matter of attrition and organic succession. It is natural for some adolescent elections to devolve into popularity contests. We may not be much better than other schools in that regard. However, we are taking steps to become more deliberate in our leadership succession process by accepting nominations, requiring recommendations and interviews, and gathering input from many sources, including current student leaders. The area most prone to becoming a popularity contest, Student Government elections, has been recently reviewed and amended. What was once a vote based simply on a speech has now become a process of more thoughtful nominations, open forums for questions from the electorate, and conversations within advisor groups prior to voting. Ultimately, a leader needs to adapt to the people he or she is guiding. A leader of a Fortune 500 company requires different skills than a civic leader. Likewise, a high school student body president will need different skills than a varsity captain, who will need different skills than the president of the Recycling Club. Therefore, there is no single way to teach leadership skills. Thus far, I have danced around making broad statements about “born vs. made,” “nature vs. nurture,” and what makes a good leader at any age. But if I am to make any
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“My definition of a good leader is somebody who puts the interests of the community first. It is someone who strives to improve the environment and people around them and is unconditionally dedicated to those whom they are meant to be leading.”
Hirsh Agarwal ’15 Student Government 2014-15 Student Body President
proclamation about leadership, it is this: all leaders must be effective communicators. Therein may lie Berwick Academy’s greatest strength – we teach high school students how to communicate well. If becoming a teenage leader is nebulous, teaching it is equally vague. We certainly teach effective written and oral communication in our classrooms. But how can we teach someone to take control of a situation or ascend to the leadership ranks of a club or organization? It is there that I remain split on whether leaders are born or made. To lead, one needs to be passionate and articulate. You can teach the latter, but the former comes from within. Again, the best we can do at Berwick is create opportunities for students to lead. When we have our annual Leadership Retreat each August, we simply present different possibilities for students to exert leadership. When we started the Leadership Retreat almost 10 years ago, we had 15 students in the room in late August on the cusp of a new academic year. Just this week, I sent
LEADERS AND the Retreat invitation to 40 Berwick students, from seniors all the way to sophomores. As a school, we remain devoted to starting every day in the Upper School with an all-school assembly. In the theater, 330 students and teachers gather each morning for 10 minutes to share announcements, talents, and presentations. These assemblies are largely student-driven. While assemblies are usually light, there is nothing more serious than student discipline. There, too, we enlist student participation and leadership. Our Honor Committee handles the major disciplinary issues for our community and has balanced representation from students and adults, who all have an equal vote in the disciplinary proceedings for our student body. There are other groups vital to our community that include student leaders or are entirely run by students. Our Head Tour Guides assign tours and work with our admissions staff to put the best face forward to our prospective applicants and their families. Our freshman orientation is almost exclusively run by the SWAT team, which also leads our Middle School students through some of their more delicate student/parent conversations. The Drama Club is almost entirely student-led; the Alliance is driven by students and remains our biggest and most popular group on campus; our ever-popular Coffee Houses are organized exclusively by students;
our new Debate Team was formed by students, as was our Investment Club and Mock Trial team; our Outdoor Club is student led; and our Company Blue Dance Team is choreographed by students. The annual Red Cross Blood Drive is a student-led effort. The list goes on and on. In facilitating our annual Leadership Retreat, where all of these groups are represented, we discuss many aspects of leadership. We agree that leading one’s peers is the most difficult position a leader can face and we talk about modeling good character. If a leader does not exemplify the virtues he or she is espousing, his or her credibility is in doubt and the ability to lead is in jeopardy. Henry James asked, “What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?” In what is another Berwick strength, our students develop character through leadership. At Berwick, we believe in student leadership because students best understand what their peers need and how they want to be led. So the question remains on whether leaders can be made, or if one has to be born to lead. We definitely agree with Coach Wooden when he said, “Leadership is the ability to get individuals to work together for the common good and the best possible results…” Ultimately, our highest goal is the common good for our community, and we achieve that goal through robust and inclusive student leadership.
“What I’ll remember when I graduate is what Berwick has given me. The teachers here genuinely care about their students and push us to do our best. They have taught me to stretch beyond my comfort zone, which has made me a better leader and person. If it wasn’t for Berwick and the support of my teachers, I don’t think I would have had the motivation to run for Student Government.”
Spencer Hedges ’18 Student Government 2014-15 Freshman Class President 2015-16 Sophomore Class Representative
LEADERSHIP Next spring, Assistant Director of Admission and Upper School Advisor Molly Gabarro will introduce juniors and seniors ext spring, Assistant Directortoof and Upper School a newAdmission history elective course in Adviser Molly Gabarro will introleadership theory.
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duce to juniors and seniors a new history elective course in leadership theory.
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I wanted to teach this course,” Gabarro says, “because our students are beginning to think about a life beyond their immediate communities and will be asked to make more decisions about the people they hope to become as they enter a larger world.” Leadership theory provides a context for discussion and reflection through which to critically examine significant historical leaders and gain a greater understanding of how these leaders came to power. Gabarro designed the course to cover topics that are foundational in the process of critically analyzing leadership, by examining not only the theories, but the societal construct and historically significant events surrounding power and legacy. Interactive by design, the course will ask students to dissect the meaning of each theory in historical and personal contexts. “The course utilizes personal inventories, readings, and discussion to provide structured reflection and critical analysis,” Gabarro explains. Students will be asked to consider questions about historic events and their link to the individuals who came to power in their midst; the connection between leadership and influence; the role of morality in leadership; and whether there is a predictor of who will become a leader in the future. “Berwick does an excellent job helping its students become confident, independent thinkers,” says Gabarro. “Giving our students the skills to critically evaluate leaders while beginning to build a value system within this framework will provide them the tools to make independent choices in the world beyond Berwick.”
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WHAT
MAKES
leadership with strong, extroverted personalities in powerful roles. Consequently, I haven’t always put myself in that category. As a middle child of Midwestern parents, I spent most of my formative years keeping the peace between my siblings and doing my best to blend in. I didn’t have a clue what career I wanted to pursue after graduating from high school, and my clarity didn’t improve much after college. So how did I end up a leader within what many would consider a highly male-dominated industry?
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” John F, Kennedy
T
o be honest, I don’t really know. I guess you could say I stumbled into it. I’ll explain that in a minute. First, you should know that I had the good fortune to have an idyllic upbringing – good, wholesome parents who ingrained in me both strong core values and work ethic. My father was a physician who, in addition to his clinical work, made rounds at the local nursing homes to help save for our college educations. My mom stayed home and furthered her education until deciding to become a high school social studies teacher. When it was time for me to find gainful employment when I was a teenager, I worked the drive-through window at McDonald’s and
A LEADER? by
Lisa Goulemas Trustee and Parent
bagged groceries to earn extra money. During my junior year of high school, I came to the conclusion that it was time for me to leave home. I had “outgrown” my small, rural town and, simply put, I was bored. Somehow, I convinced my parents that I would be better served to finish my high school education at an independent boarding school. My parents, to their credit, acquiesced with the stipulation that I attend a school within a few hours driving distance so my mom could watch my tennis matches and I could easily come home for weekends. I was the only new rising senior admitted to the school as most in my situation either repeated their junior year or did a post-graduate year, usually for sports achievement. In hindsight, I think I was a little crazy. I abandoned my childhood friends, the shot at graduating near the top of my class, and the ability to coast through my senior year. Instead, I stayed up most nights, fighting through a tough senior curriculum in comparison to my public education, while trying to make new friends with deeply entrenched female cliques from the upper echelons of the socioeconomic scale. It was all very different from my simple, rural upbringing. But this decision I made as a naive 17-year -old had a profound impact on me. While my time at the school was brief, the learning experiences I gained were multi-faceted and have made me a staunch supporter of independent school education. It also taught me that taking
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“Berwick helped me to become a leader by allowing me so many opportunities to interact with students, regardless of grade. Now, I enjoy being able to set an example for younger students in the way older students did for me when I was an underclassman.”
James Hamel ’16 Student Government 2014-15 Junior Class Representative
the unconventional path can open doors to opportunities you may otherwise not have known to exist. It taught me to trust my instincts, be confident, and be true to myself. I ended up in the financial services industry by happenstance. In the early nineties, Boston was – and continues to be – a mecca for financial services industry jobs, particularly for someone just out of college. I spent my first few years working for Fidelity Investments, gaining expertise about mutual funds and how they are regulated, while working with other twenty-somethings in a fast-paced environment. While I enjoyed it, I hadn’t yet found my calling. After a brief stint at a large bank in Charlotte, N.C., I was presented with an opportunity at Fidelity to rejoin as a product manager for their investment-grade bond mutual funds. Now, mind you, it was 1998 and Internet stocks were taking off. People were quitting their jobs to become day traders and you had to be asleep at the wheel to lose money. With my new focus on bond funds, a stark contrast to the excitement of the double-digit returns my counterparts on the equity funds were experiencing, I decided to make lemonade out of what many people considered lemons. Since my products were out of favor and I had some time on my hands, I decided to learn as much as I could about the bond market. The investment team was thrilled to have someone in the marketing department
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pay them any attention at all. Portfolio managers, traders, and research analysts spent hours with me each week, teaching me about how bonds work, how portfolios are constructed, and what shareholders should know about bond investing. I let my intellectual curiosity – honed in the independent school environment – take over and became a very integrated member of the fixed income team as a result. A few years later, when an opening arose to lead Fidelity’s operations function, I was considered for the post. I always tell anyone who will listen that I didn’t get my job based on my résumé, but because of the relationships I built. Ten years later, my role has blossomed and I find myself an influential member of the leadership team and advisor to the division’s president. I’m fortunate to work for a company that invests in its associates’ personal development and have been the lucky recipient of a personal coach, working with me this year on my leadership brand. Meeting with my coach throughout this year has forced me to reflect on my personal style, my strengths and weaknesses, and what makes me stand out. It has also given me the confidence to speak with authority and make even greater contributions to shape the future of my division. I feel honored to play a role in helping to shape the future of Berwick Academy for our truly amazing kids. Getting involved
with the School as a trustee has challenged me to leverage my leadership capabilities in a whole new way and in subjects that are less well known to me. What I most love about Berwick’s value proposition is seeing young students embark on their own leadership journeys very early on. I’ll never forget my shock and pride in witnessing my daughter perform a fourth-grade solo – something she never would have contemplated without the environment the Lower School creates. Now she’s experimenting with her bass guitar at home, jamming alongside the Arctic Monkeys as she teaches herself the notes, anxiously awaiting the Middle School spring music concert. Our children have an important leg up on their peers because of the Berwick program and the way it instills self-discovery in everyday campus life. Knowing yourself, sticking to your core values, and trusting your instincts when faced with a fork in the road cultivates leadership skills. And, who knows, perhaps the best path forward is the unconventional one.
Lisa Goulemas is the Chief Operating Officer for the Fixed Income Investment Division at Fidelity Investments. She is the mother of Caty ‘19.
Teams win and lose. Companies succeed and fail. Leadership is critical. Thinking about my career and how I got to where I am today, I guess you could say I’ve developed some of my own leadership principles. 1. Time is your scarcest resource – manage it well and know what works for you 2. Surround yourself with people smarter than you and different from you 3. Communication to the power of 10 4. Check your ego at the door 5. Know what you know and acknowledge what you don’t know– own your mistakes 6. Ask questions, educate yourself, then make a decision 7. Make it fun!
LEADERSHIP my master’s in educational leadership from the University of New England. During my first few years at Berwick, I knew quickly that I needed to further my education to become a better administrator and an effective leader. I embraced the challenge of this distance-learning program and dove into the coursework with some trepidation and excitement. It was a fantastic journey and I honestly draw on that experience daily in my role on the Hilltop.
IN
ATHLETICS by
Rob Quinn Director of Athletics
Beyond the classroom, the experience has given me the confidence to pursue additional leadership opportunities outside our campus. I served as a board member for Great Bay Rowing, while overseeing our transition in initiating a crew program at our school. This was a beneficial experience for both Berwick and GBR as we helped each organization navigate the partnership. I am proud to say we just completed our third year of crew and our first as a stand-alone program, having completed our partnership with GBR. The other leadership position I experienced recently was serving my fellow athletic directors as president of the Eastern Independent League. The duties of the league president are to preside at meetings of the league athletic directors, refer matters of special concern to
the heads of member schools, and facilitate communication among member schools on all issues of interest to the league. This was a challenging yet rewarding experience, and I grew to understand the delicate balance of diplomacy and compromise while working with league administrators. This role also helped me build stronger relationships with my EIL colleagues, and my working relationships with them have improved. My next leadership adventure will be attending a professional development opportunity this summer at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA. The School Leadership Institute (SLI) is an in-depth residential program that will help me cultivate an individualized professional development strategy based on my strengths and areas for improvement. I am curious and intrigued by this next professional step, and it is my hope to strengthen my leadership skills and develop a network of peer leaders. I hope to then come back to the Hilltop, energized with new ideas and opportunities to change and improve my leadership role in Berwick’s vibrant community.
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Reading Buddies is a partnership between the third grade and kindergarten classes. Throughout the year, the two grades get together regularly for the third graders to read aloud to their kindergarten buddies and engage in other inter-grade teamwork activities.
Door Holders
Reading Buddies
The concept of line leader and door holder teaches practical aspects in lower grades of students leading the class to various locales and holding the door for others.
LOWER SCHOOL
The Fourth Grade Student Ambassador Program The programs gives the students in our oldest Lower School grade an opportunity to practice leadership skills that support Berwick’s Wellness Program. On a weekly basis, five ambassadors don blue and white Berwick sports jerseys during recess, lunchtime, and special events to offer assistance to our student body and faculty/staff in those areas of our program.
Lego Robotics Students who participate on our
Lego Robotics teams have the opportunity each year to visit the Lower School and help younger students with their robotics work and serve as judges for Lower School competitions.
Poetry Club In this after-school activity, students take on the role of teacher or facilitator by organizing activities that promote reading and writing original poetry once weekly.
Student Government
Middle School Alliance Middle School Student G o ve r n m e n t m e e t s weekly to discuss school initiatives and represent the needs of the student body. The group organizes socials, spirit weeks, and community service opportunities.
Middle School Alliance is a new activity period group dedicated to promoting equality, inclusion, and individuality. Members of this group conduct outreach to Middle School students to help them understand the value of individualism.
Head Tour Guides
Through Big and Little Buddies, seniors become mentors for Lower School students, support their progression, and cultivate a PK-12 community of kindness.
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Big and Little Buddies
This elected group of Upper School class officers is composed of a president and three representatives from each grade-level. These students serve as the link between the faculty, administration, and students and are often consulted for feedback on school policy changes or developments.
Each year the co-leaders choose a focus and project for the group. Past topics have included world wide progress and challenges in LGBTQ human rights and gender stereotypes and their negative impact on all people.
The role of the Head Tour Guide is to provide visitors with an authentic and welcoming Berwick experience. Head Tour Guides schedule tours, train tour guides, represent Berwick at on-campus events, and work with the Admission and Communications teams to help develop content for our website and social media channels.
Lower School Production Fourth graders assume a leadership role in the Lower School Production as principal characters. The entire show follows a design-thinking model for all students in creating scenery, props, and character interpretations.
Social Thinking Program Our Lower School Social Thinking Program brings specific skills to the awareness of our students, as an important complement to our responsive classroom approach. Students learn about the language of social communication from our academic coordinator and counselor. These pragmatic skills include eye contact, noise level, personal space, body language, tone of voice, feedback, turn taking, staying on topic, positive comments, and clarification.
Public Speaking Students in all four grades are required to present to an audience of adults at some point during each school year. In these instances, they must face an audience and share research and opinions as well as answer questions from the audience. The presentations at each grade level include history documentary (eighth), science fair (seventh), presentations (sixth), and pioneer project (fifth).
Community Service
MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Student Wellness Advising Team (SWAT) is a group of
juniors and seniors interested in the wellness of the Upper School student body. SWAT Leaders are involved in several events throughout the school year, including Freshman Orientation, Wellness Day, the Freedom from Chemical Dependency program, and Seventh Grade Sexuality Night.
Student Wellness Advising Team
Peer Leadership M e m b e r s o f t h e Pe e r Tu t o r Leadership Club help Upper School students who need support in coursework across the curriculum. Through the Peer Mentor Program, qualified 10 th, 11 th, and 12 th graders work closely with an assigned Middle School student who is in need of academic and social-emotional support from an older peer.
Three student representatives (two seniors and one junior) and three faculty members make up the School Honor Committee. This group serves as the Academy’s judiciary board. Elections are held annuHonor Committee ally for these positions.
Students participate in a range of community outreach opportunities organized by the School. Additionally, many students take on leadership roles by initiating their own community service efforts and reporting back to the community on what was accomplished.
Coffeehouses are some of the best attended social events in the Upper School, and it is important for the leaders of these events to create a warm and welcoming environment that promotes student performers signing up to take artistic risks in front of their peers.
Coffeehouse Coordinators
UPPER SCHOOL
ALUMNI LEADERS:
PASSIONATE
VISIONARIES 16
A great American statesman and sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.� Two Berwick alumni, both accomplished leaders, were asked to reflect on this quote and describe their own definition of leadership. Their personal leadership experiences provide the backdrop for their views on developing leadership skills, the leaders who influenced them, and how Berwick shaped them as leaders.
Nicole, in the fourth red cap from the left, rowing in the USA team boat that won the 2005 Head of the Charles.
The Leadership Ecosystem Nicole Sylvester Browning ’99 is a 2003 graduate of Cornell University, where she captained the women’s rowing team, served as a Cornell Traditions Fellow, was a member of the NCAA student advisory committee, and was awarded the Charles Courtney and Lianne Ritter Memorial awards for scholarship and athletic leadership. She currently serves as a board member and board president-elect of the Pride Foundation, the world’s largest LGBTQ community foundation, whose mission is to expand opportunities and advance full equality across the Northwest. Nicole also acts as chair of the Corporate Volunteer Council, which convenes corporate citizenship professionals to nurture the development of effective employee volunteer programs. She counts among her role models servant leadership movement founder Robert K. Greenleaf; the members of the1976 Yale women’s crew, who helped define Title IX; and Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. In her time at Berwick, Nicole came to appreciate the many contributions of the faculty, including Ted Sherbahn, John Downey, Dana Clinton, Raegan Russell, and Brad Fletcher. “The faculty understood the balance of being a teacher and having a positive mentor relationship with students,” she says. “I really appreciate that Berwick gives young leaders the opportunity to lead.”
I really appreciate that Berwick gives young leaders the opportunity to lead.
Nicole believes it is important to recognize leadership as more than a process of influence. Leadership, she says, maximizes the efforts of a group toward a shared vision, and leaders understand that the causes they’re championing are furthered by the actions of the group. “A leader embraces and holds the vision for change, while creating the kind of environment where others are motivated and empowered to achieve the vision,” she says. “A leader is inspirational, accountable, and inclusive; he or she is responsible for welcoming diverse voices to the table and ensuring they all are heard. A leader can shake up complacency, cultivating greatness in others so they can bring their best elements to the table.”
Nicole’s advice on developing leadership skills: •
Be the kind of leader who can recognize the voices not at the table and welcome them to participate in a genuine way.
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Learn when to “step up or step back.” It takes many great minds to achieve something great.
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Any effort to create real or lasting change involves setbacks and occasional failure. Be resilient in the face of adversity. Learn from your mistakes.
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Find a mentor or several mentors, people you trust who will hold your dreams for you and who can help you navigate your struggles.
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Take risks, try things you are not comfortable with. Having a lack of confidence can be a great tool; be aware of the areas in which you lack confidence and learn from others who possess those skills.
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Following a five-year restoration, Mystic Seaport took the last remaining wooden whaleship in the world back to sea. Last summer, the Charles W. Morgan sailed on her 38 th Voyage to New England ports-of-call.
How a Leader Behaves Stephen C. White ’71 has served in many leadership roles, including head of Fay School, a private day school in Southborough, MA. He is the current president of Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. In 2015, he was named Connecticut’s tourism leader of the year. Steve counts among his personal role models 35th President John F. Kennedy, for the inspiration he provided by putting a man on the moon; Pope Francis, for his personal qualities; Microsoft Founder Bill Gates, for his commitment to innovation; and Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. Steve is proud of the decision by the Mystic Seaport Museum to sail the Charles W. Morgan, a 153-year-old whaling vessel that was restored and launched in 2014 on its first voyage in more than 100 years. “That decision inspired our staff to have hope, to dream, and to embrace what may happen,” he says. “The idea became so inspirational that we simply had to do it. It united us around a single goal.” At Berwick, Steve admired dorm parents Bill Matthews, Rick DelPrete, and Bud Kellett and admired many on the faculty, including John Streetman and Mike McGinley. Steve remains proud of the educational values he learned at Berwick. “I have had many strong mentors,” he says. “My skills have been developed because those before me had great skills. I borrowed them and blended them with my personality. Their words and deeds are never far from my mind.”
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My skills have been developed because those before me had great skills. I borrowed them and blended them with my personality. Their words and deeds are never far from my mind.
Stephen’s advice on developing leadership skills: •
Why would one choose mediocrity as acceptable? Why not strive to be the finest there is, and accept what it will take to do that.
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Take risks, accept opportunities to lead, earn the respect of your peers.
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Bring passion and relentless commitment to everything you do.
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Ask yourself where you find your own inspiration. You have to be able to answer that question.
CREW COXSWAIN
LEADERSHIP
Emily Borkowski ’15 Being a coxswain is an incredible responsibility. Oftentimes, the team turns to the coxswain for daily instructions and general rowing questions. This makes it critical that the coxswain is always prepared and knowledgeable about crew. Despite the pressure involved, I love it.”
Claire Breger-Belsky ’16 By virtue of my role as a coxswain, I have become more assertive. My experience in crew has taught me to be the person who takes charge if no one else is willing to act or speak. This position has helped me find a balance in leadership between taking charge and listening.”
Tala Osborne ’17 You have to be very vocal as a coxswain, constantly talking to your crew when in the shell. That responsibility has helped me speak up more in class and not be afraid to express my opinions.”
Sammy Pickering ’18 As a coxswain, communication is half the job, and it is important to execute commands and deliver information in a concise and effective way. The most rewarding moment of being a coxswain is during the middle of a race, when you can see that your words are positively impacting your crew.”
“The role of the coxswain asks student-athletes to take on a unique leadership position on the team. They assume responsibility for the safety of the crew and equipment, act as assistant coaches, execute practice plans, provide feedback to athletes and coaches, and motivate crews to push themselves past mental limits to reach peak physical performance. We are lucky to have a group of talented and dedicated coxswains who have each developed a unique leadership style and taken on a significant responsibility with their own crews and within our program as a whole.”
Brian Sweeney
Crew Coach US History, History Department Chair
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Class of 1965 Senior Council Seated: Walter Field, Mr. Burnham, Bruce MacLellan (Secretary). Standing: Richard Stocker, Jon Bagg (President), Mark Sirotkin, Jon Kellogg, Larry Littlefield (Treasurer). John Umlauf is not shown above.
WHAT
IS
GOVERNMENT? A STUDENT 1925 Executive Council
was written by Izzy Salvati ’16 as part of her coursework in the Modern Historian research elective. She was asked to reflect on and research the evolution of student leadership at Berwick by examining a range of archived documents. Her work is a fitting example of how student leadership manifests itself in various ways on our campus. 20
ccording the 1923-24 School catalogue, the Berwick student government system was composed of the General Council, which consisted of the entire student body, and the Executive Board, a committee made up of elected students. Similar to the format of our student government today, the Executive Board included a president and representatives from each grade level of the Upper School. The purpose of the Executive Board was “to discuss issues and create solutions for anything concerning the student body and to nominate officers for school and athletics.” Reflecting on
Extracurricular Requirements
Believing that the true aim of education is to train for leadership and that the best training for such leadership comes through participation in numerous school activities carried on outside the classroom, the Board of Trustees voted that a minimum must be required of each student before a diploma would be granted. The requirements are: Freshman 10 points, Sophomores 15 points, Juniors 20 points, and Seniors 25 points. To obtain credit, the work done in each activity must be of such a quality that the teacher in charge of the club or class advisor will approve. A list then followed, which outlined an array of activities and the corresponding points. For example, editor of the Hilltop Breeze 10 points, participation in assemblies 4 points, baseball or basketball 2 points, and major part in dramatics 5 points.
this definition 90 years later, we have, for the most part, retained the same basic structure. However, the roles and responsibilities of the Student Government have changed. The winter 1965 edition of The Academy Quill, a student-run newspaper, published an article that raised this question: “Just what is a student government, an idea or a reality?” The article addressed several issues regarding the functions of the Student Government, which then consisted of the student body and the Senior Council. The main concern was that the Senior Council was focusing less on improving the lives of students and more on discipline. This caused the rest of the student body to ask that ambiguous question: “What is a student government?” The author of this particular article, a 1965 senior, felt that the Student Government was charged with being a voice for the rest of the student body rather than a voice against them. From this stems the question of what to do when the students feel their government does not support them. In 1965, the advice given was “don’t sit in little cliques and destroy your best voice, help it.”
The Student Government in 1965
Today, exactly 50 years later, the relationship between the Upper School Student Government and the student body is a positive one. There is a definite comfort among the student body in knowing there is a group of peers willing to stand up for them, no matter what. However, this may not always be the case. Each year, we elect new members of the government, and with them comes the potential of conflict or unrest among the students. The maintenance of the positive
relationship should not be left only to the elected leaders. The Student Government is faced with the difficult task of serving as a link between its peers and the faculty, and because of this it is likely the two groups may not always feel they have equal voices. This not only requires each class president and representative to think deeply about what they feel that duty is as a student leader, but also requires the student body to be understanding of the challenging dilemmas their leaders may face. The Student Government cannot be a voice for the students if its members do not know what that voice is. Any member of the student body has the potential to be a leader by respectfully making suggestions and taking action to help build a strong relationship between the students, their elected leaders, and the faculty. Bringing back the concept of a General Council, like the one that existed in the 1920s, may give students more confidence in their ability to have a voice, even if they are not elected members of the government. It is important for everyone in the Berwick community to feel they have this voice and that anyone can be a leader. Many students who are not members of the Student Government, captain of a sports team, or leader of a club, are fully capable of leading their peers. There are many other ways to be a student leader beyond these labeled positions, and when that is encouraged and realized by students is when the Berwick community will be able to grow into an even more cooperative atmosphere.
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WHAT
LEADERSHIP
ava by Kate C
MEANS
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TO ME
hen I was a student at Berwick, leadership meant Student Government, Honor Committee, and academic reputation. Upon my graduation in 2010, I had grown weary of that leadership paradigm. I appreciated Berwick and all its nurturing community had done for me, but I felt more than ready for a fresh perspective and a chance to edit my identity in ways not permitted by a class of about 65 students, many of whom remembered me as a teen with braces and an unfortunately triangular haircut.
whose words informed my own thinking. It was through these meaningful bonds forged over study sessions, beers, heated debates, and office-hour discussions that I grew into some sense of self-awareness too. I developed a healthier and more understanding relationship with myself than I had in the past. I got close to people who showed me my weaknesses. With their help, I trained myself to see how I came across to other people. I grew comfortable putting my hand up and unapologetically sharing opinions and (almost) equally comfortable knowing when it was best just to listen.
College, I decided, would be a selfish time for me. I studied what I wanted. I picked my favorite professors and followed them, even when it meant taking a class I wouldn’t have considered otherwise. I spent my time with the people I wanted around me and quickly shed friends who proved to not truly understand the meaning of the word. Sometimes I attended the heady evening lectures, and other times I opted for pizza with my roommates. I never regretted my decisions either way.
When it came time to graduate from college, I again felt ready to move on to something different, though I felt largely unprepared for the workforce. I didn’t want to enter a wasteland of menial administrative tasks, but I didn’t have much in the way of marketable skills. Despite this, I stood staunchly by my liberal arts experience, positive that I had grown tremendously in the last four years and optimistic that somebody, somewhere, would appreciate that.
I focused on relationships, but not necessarily in a LinkedIn, networking kind of way. These were relationships with my friends and peers, with my professors, and, more abstractly, with the authors I read in class
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First came a cross-country road trip and several weeks in Southern California plagued by malaise and uncertainty, followed by a stint back at home, where I freelanced, networked, and actively pursued the attention of HR departments everywhere (with varying
success). Never once in an interview was I asked in any great detail about my GPA or coursework or extracurricular involvement. Don’t get me wrong, I participated in my few carefully selected activities and research opportunities, all of which helped me to stand out on paper, but the questions asked of me during the job-hunting process leaned in a different direction. Potential employers wanted to know the following: Was I confident in entering a new industry? How would I adapt? Could I think creatively? How did I come across in an interview and relate to other people? What had I learned about myself from past experiences? How persistently did I follow up on potential job opportunities? Could I hustle on my own without anyone holding my hand? And who with a good reputation could vouch for me? Two months into a six-month internship with a company in Washington, D.C., I was offered a job working in digital media strategy, the position I wanted from the beginning. I had worked hard, sure, but the real reason I was hired, I found out, was that in one meeting I caught the attention of a company executive who noticed that I didn’t carry or conduct myself “like an intern.” This was in part because I spoke up at the meeting to offer strategic insight and because I participated in a joking conversation. After hiring me, my new boss added with a smile that he wanted me on his team because I had the nerve to give him a hard time. And now, here I am. Half of my income goes toward rent, and every day I entertain ideas of running my own company, being an award-winning writer, and preferably both. I am very much at the bottom of the proverbial totem pole and I don’t think what I’m doing now will be my career. And yet I am humbly confident in my current position. Why? Because I have spent the last few years seeking out and creating environments that have allowed me to learn myself. Beginning to learn myself has, in turn, engendered a kind of self-leadership that positions me for more opportunities to lead others down the road. I believe there are precious few “wrong” career choices that a twenty-something can make, and that the most interesting paths are those that ramble. So, may we all get a little lost, take time for ourselves, and strengthen our most genuine relationships, for leadership cannot always be captured on paper. Rather, it can live in small moments and is cultivated from within, manifesting outwardly in our posture, our presence, our day-to-day conversations, and the ease with which we are simply and proudly ourselves.
HILLTOP HAPPENINGS Spring and Summer 2015
TODAY
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
COMMENCEM
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SUMMER 2015
2015 Commencement
MENT
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
“Henry David Thoreau said: ‘It is never too late to give up your prejudices.’ I am, unfortunately, more skeptical of that statement, because I believe people who are my age are fairly wellformed by their own experience, their bias, and their prejudice. Sometimes the best we can do is acknowledge and own the biases we’ve formed, even when they have been to our personal advantage for so many years. You, however, are about to launch into environments at a time in your life that will fully challenge your assumptions – simply by being thrust into a community of learners that will be far more diverse than this one. And you will make mistakes – unless you choose to avoid them. If there is one thing you can do for us, your teachers, promise us that you will make a few mistakes.” GREG SCHNEIDER Head of School
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SUMMER 2015
2015 Commencement
“I am deeply honored by the title of valedictorian…yet our common privilege as a class was the time spent learning and growing on the supportive, ever-striving campus of Berwick Academy… and that the Class of 2015 shared that time with friends. With peers. With teachers. With family. With our mentors.” CLAYTON JACQUES Valedictorian TODAY
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
“We’ve never been more different from each other than we are right now, but because of that we are more together than ever. Some of us have been lucky enough to have such a strong sense of self from the beginning, but others, like myself have had to wait a little longer. I’ve watched some of my closest friends transform into entirely new yet happier and fulfilled people, and that amazes me.” EMMA BRIN Salutatorian
“And most particularly for the Class of 2015, feel the deep deep value of play. More than any class in recent memory–and I have been here a long time–you all have brought to my classroom and to our Upper School life such a strong yearning and natural belief in the worth of play. Play isn’t always just fun; there is work in the most meaningful of play, and risk too. Your resilience and heart and youthful spirits and camaraderie, however, have carried you through right to this night. The world will spin its mess at you from all sides, but please, pick yourself up, and play on.” TED SHERBAHN, Baccalaureate Speaker 28
SUMMER 2015
2015 Commencement
“I have come to realize that awareness is the purest form of humility, and the surest shield against the gravest of vices, both within and outside ourselves. If we are to truly set our minds free, we must first throw off the shackles of complacency and ignorance which are weighing down on our collective psyche with unprecedented force. We should seek fulfillment rather than happiness, and live lives which enrich us and those we touch both intellectually and spiritually. These are my thoughts and I hope they will stir some thoughts of your own.� JAKE GREENSPAN, Baccalaureate Speaker
To read the complete versions of the 2015 Baccalaureate and Commencement speeches and to view the photo gallery, please visit www.berwickacademy.com/page/commencement
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
2015 Baccalaureate and Commencement Awards
Baccalaureate Awards PERKINS PRIZE The Perkins Prize was created in the memory of Thomas Allen Perkins and is awarded annually to the junior or senior who is a native and resident of the state of Maine and has attended Berwick Academy for at least two years and attained the highest rank in English and history.
William Duffy
PARSON THOMPSON AWARD This award recognizes a male or female senior who has been involved in charitable work or community service beyond the Hilltop.
Jillian Clark
CLASS OF 1915 AWARD The Class of 1915 Award is provided by an anonymous donor who established a fund from which an annual $100 award is to be given. The recipient is to be selected by the Head of School, Chair of the English Department, and Chair of the Mathematics Department. The award is given to “an academically and financially deserving student.”
Emily Borkowski
Honor Awards The Honor Awards are made annually to students who are outstanding in specific fields of academic endeavor. Biology Computer Science Dance English French History
Margaret DuChene Aidan Cookson Natalia Suraci Emily DuChene Madison Cassidy Isaac DuBois
Latin Math Music Physics Spanish Visual Art
Jake Greenspan Clayton Jacques Brooks Jalbert Matthew Crawford Emma Brin Taylor Knox
Stalwart Awards The Stalwart Awards recognize graduates who have attended Berwick Academy since Kindergarten or Grade 1.
Hirsh Agarwal Natasia Burzynski Caroline Clapp Brooke Downey Jessica Harley 30
SUMMER 2015
Mark Hoyt Austin Kennie Rachael McManus Kennedy Tischner Sarah Yanofsky
JANE ANDRES POETRY PRIZE This award was established in memory of Jane Andres, the wife of Charles J. Andres, Chairman of Berwick’s Art Department from 1965-1981. Poems are submitted to a panel of teachers and judges, who select the recipient of the award.
Kristen Jones
DOUGLAS DARRAH HOLLIS MEMORIAL AWARD The Douglas Darrah Hollis Memorial Award was established through a gift of $1,000 by this deceased student’s father to honor that senior who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in the dramatic arts during his or her career at Berwick Academy.
Stephanie Storey
2015 Commencement THE HILLTOP AWARDS
MARIE DONAHUE AWARDS
Selected by the Athletic Director and the Head of School with nominations from the coaches, this award recognizes a male and female senior for their athletic ability and achievements on the Hilltop.
Named for an alumna of the Class of 1937 and later a teacher at Berwick, the Marie Donahue Award recognizes an outstanding senior for exceptional commitment and contribution to Berwick.
Liam Darcy Julia Mini
Kristen Jones Brennan Santaniello
HEAD OF SCHOOL AWARDS
BIG BUDDY PROGRAM AWARDS
Selected by the Head of School from nominations submitted by the faculty, the Head of School Award is given annually to that member of the senior class who best typifies the ideals and spirit of Berwick Academy.
The Big Buddy program partners seniors with Kindergarten students to meet and collaborate on projects, providing an effective connection between our youngest and oldest students.
Isabel Reis Benjamin Thut
MIDDLE SCHOOL WILLIAM LAMBERT COGSWELL BOOK PRIZE The William Lambert Cogswell Book Prizes are presented each year to the ranking scholars in the underclass levels.
Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8
Lily Mansfield Sarah Lummus Sophia Estes Bryce Morales and Kelsey Walker
Cambria Horner Juliet Moore
Underclassmen Awards TIMOTHY KELLIHER PRIZE Claire Berger-Belsky UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER BAUSCH AND LOMB AWARD Christina Grassie BROWN UNIVERSITY AWARD Claire Berger-Belsky HARVARD BOOK PRIZE Christina Grassie CHEMISTRY AWARD Page Waldo
Baccalaureate Honors and Awards
RENSSELAER MATH AND SCIENCE AWARD Claire Berger-Belsky
MIDDLE SCHOOL AWARDS
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE AWARD Nina Dashti-Gibson
These awards were established to recognize citizenship, contributions to the school and fellow students, and academic excellence.
Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8
Beau Colvin and Carley Freund Megan Hopkins and Arlo Winokour John Luchsinger and Laney Towle Olivia Beauchesne and Declan Bristol
MIDDLE SCHOOL HILLTOP AWARDS Selected by the Athletic Director and the Head of School with nominations from the coaches, this award recognizes a male and female eighth grader for their athletic ability and achievements on the Hilltop.
SMITH COLLEGE BOOK AWARD Page Waldo YALE BOOK AWARD Lilly Hedges BLUE AND WHITE AWARD Siobhan McDermott and Eric Rawn JUNIOR CUM LAUDE INDUCTEES Siobhan McDermott and Eric Rawn
Adara Groman Tucker Smith
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
2015 Commencement
CLASS OF 2015 COllege matriculations Hirsh Agarwal: University of Edinburgh Nathan Anderson: Swarthmore College Chandler Ashburner: University of Maine-Orono Jake Ball: Elon University Isabel Ballou: Wake Forest University Emily Borkowski: Brown University Devin Boyle: Emmanuel College Tatiana Bradley: Hamilton College Amy Briand: Castleton State College Emma Brin: Tufts University Dana Brooks: Tufts University Kelly Burke: Elon University Natasia Burzynski: Providence College Madison Cassidy: Bryn Mawr College Caroline Clapp: Dickinson College Ali Clark: Northeastern University Jillian Clark: Dickinson College Stephanie Clark: Endicott College Jules Cook: University of Mississippi Aidan Cookson: Worcester Polytechnic Institute Matt Crawford: Tufts University Liam Darcy: University of New Hampshire Haley Dixon: Eckerd College Abigail Donoghue: Wellesley College Brooke Downey: Connecticut College Emily DuChene: University of Michigan Maggie DuChene: Kenyon College Isaac DuBois: Hobart College Will Duffy: Vassar College Isabella Eldridge: Lynchburg College Spencer Fascetta: Endicott College Will Grant: St. Lawrence University Jake Greenspan: University of Chicago Jake Gross: University of Maine-Orono Drew Hale: St. Lawrence University Charlie Hardy: McGill University Jessie Harley: University of New Hampshire Henry Henkel: University of Vermont Cambria Horner: State University of New York at Oneonta Susan Hourihan: LIM College
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SUMMER 2015
Mark Hoyt: Unity College Clayton Jacques: Dartmouth College Brooks Jalbert: Villanova University Parker Johnson: University of New Haven Kristen Jones: Brown University Rachel Kenney: Elms College Austin Kennie: Hobart College Addie Kline: Denison University Taylor Knox: State University of New York at Oneonta Joey Lazzarro: Phillips Exeter Academy Lukas Linemayr: Babson College Jake Lizama: University of South Carolina Taylor Lyman: Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Garrett McDonald: Roger Williams University Rachael McManus: Northeastern University Luke McNamara: University of Maine-Orono Chris Michaud: Maine Maritime Academy Julia Mini: Williams College Juliet Moore: Syracuse University Shane Napolitano: Quinnipiac University Brent Phillips: Juniors Hockey Isabel Reis: Princeton University Patrick Robb: University of Massachusetts-Amherst Connor Ronan: Bentley University Mei-Lin Salas: University of Miami Brennan Santaniello: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Peter Shaw: Virginia Polytechnic Institute Stephanie Storey: Emmanuel College Natalia Suraci: University of Hartford Ashley Szczapa: Bentley University Stephen Terenzio: The Catholic University of America Ben Thut: New York University Kennedy Tischner: Elon University Sarah Trojan: Quinnipiac University Connor Tully: University of Maine–Orono Marshall White: Northeastern University Sarah Yanofsky: Tulane University Will Zakian: University of Mississippi
Berwick Parent Community
HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
A night of success
THE BPC COMMUNITY BENEFIT
O
n April 18, 2015, the Berwick Parent Community held its Community Benefit at the Wentworth by the Sea. The evening was the platform for the auction that supports the BPC grant program for teachers as well as the annual Fund-A-Need. The Fund-A-Need raised a record $174,175 to support the Walsh Wellness Center at Oakes House. The monies raised will go specifically to constructing a courtyard that will be named after the Assistant Head of School Cindy Briggs.
The Walsh Wellness Center at Oakes House The Walsh Wellness Center at Oakes House, set to open in September 2015, is well on its way to completion. The historic Oakes House is being transformed into a state of the art health facility offering the physical space, programs, and resources to cultivate wellness in our community.
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
Winter and Spring 2015
ATHLETICS UPDATE
GIRLS VARSITY HOCKEY With a 23-3-3 record, the Girls Varsity Hockey team earned the most wins of any Division II team in New England. After winning the NYA Holiday Tournament and then the EIL title over Newton Country Day, the team also earned its second consecutive trip to the NEPSAC tournament, where Berwick defeated Proctor in the first round to secure the program’s first tournament victory. The team fell to the eventual champions, Rivers, in a one-goal game. Two Berwick skaters earned all-NEPSAC recognition, and four earned EIL kudos, including Tilly Burzynski ‘15, who was named player of the year.
GIRLS VARSITY HOCKEY
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SUMMER 2015
Athletics
GIRLS VARSITY LACROSSE The Girls Varsity Lacrosse team celebrated another successful season this year. The team finished the season with a 10-1 record, going undefeated in league play and earning the girls their third consecutive Eastern Independent League title. As a result, the team received the top seed in the league tournament. All season, one of the team goals was to finish as tournament champions, an achievement that has eluded Berwick for the past two years. The girls faced Newton in their first game and Pingree in the final, earning decisive victories over the two teams that had eliminated Berwick in previous years.
GIRLS VARSITY SOFTBALL A 7-2 regular season translated to a second-place finish in EIL play for the Berwick softball team. The team traveled to Portsmouth Abbey for the EIL Tournament. After defeating Bancroft soundly in the first round, Berwick beat hometown Abby to capture the EIL title. Seniors Taylor Lyman and Juliet Moore led an outstanding team effort with grace and fire all season. Lyman will continue her softball career at Division I Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne next year..
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
Athletics
BOYS VARSITY LACROSSE
SWIM The Berwick Academy swim team captured two major firsts, an EIL Championship for the boys and the NEPSAC Division III Championship for the girls. The championship teams were led by captains Isabel Reis ‘15, Abby Donoghue ‘15, Teddy Vatcher ‘17, and Drew Macdonald ‘16. Both Reis and Macdonald earned swimmer-of-theyear honors for Berwick at the EIL meet. Reis also earned MVP honors for the NEPSAC Division III meet.
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SUMMER 2015
Heart and hustle characterized the 2015 Boys Varsity Lacrosse team, with leadership from 10 seniors. The team finished the season with an overall record of 9-7, including a 5-2 mark in the EIL. Outstanding wins against Hebron and Tilton were among the highlights. These successes led to an invitation to the McCoy cup, formally known as the New England Small School Tournament, for the first time in four years. Goalie Peter Shaw ‘15 earned team MVP honors, while the Coaches Award went to Joey Lazzaro ‘15. All-League representation included Liam Darcy ‘15, Drew Hale ‘15, and Brad Simas ‘18. Shaw and Byron Welch ‘17 earned honorable mentions.
Arts
HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
Dance Show, May 16, 2015
Winter and Spring 2015
ARTS UPDATE
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
Eric Rawn ’16
Tyler Van Etten ’17
S Emma Stine ’17
SUMMER ART PROGRAMS
everal students attended select programs in art and design at top art schools and universities this summer. Emma Stine ’17 and Julia Caple ’17 attended the Rhode Island School of Design Pre-College Program, a six-week intensive in studio art disciplines. Emma was accepted into the drawing program, while Julia was accepted into the fashion design program. Tyler Van Etten ’17 attended a program in graphic design and motion media at
Savannah College of Art and Design. Tyler received a merit scholarship for this study, based on his portfolio review. Eric Rawn ’16, who has been working on a long-term Berwick Innovation Center Innovation Pursuit in game design, attended USC’s game design and development program in Los Angeles. Eric is one of 30 students nationwide who were accepted into this highly selective program.
LITTLE BEAST OF THE FIELD: JEWETT AND THE ART OF NATURAL SELF
A
uthor and Berwick alumna Sarah Orne Jewett (Class of 1865) was forever preoccupied with thoughts of human nature and the natural environment. She sought liberty in the beloved Maine outdoors, finding kinship in the life she encountered there. Her simultaneous desire for independence and a sense of belonging is illuminated in her writings, both public and private. In the spirit of Ms. Jewett, and in our continuing efforts to involve students in meaningful ways beyond the Berwick community, we have worked with the Sarah Orne Jewett House to curate an art exhibit
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SUMMER 2015
featuring Berwick student artists. The show, Little Beasts of the Field: Jewett and the Art of Natural Self, opened June 5 and runs through August 30. On display in Downtown South Berwick are nearly 50 works from 21 of our Upper School artists that demonstrate the theme of natural self so prominent in Ms. Jewett’s writings. The show, managed by Brooke Steinhauser of the Jewett House, involved collaboration between the historic site and Berwick students and alumni. The Berwick participants were instrumental in reproducing Ms. Jewett’s extensive hand-painted lettering contained
in her writing. These carefully crafted words have been integrated into the show, complementing the artwork of the Berwick students. Ms. Jewett, who helped design and fund the Fogg Memorial building in 1894, commissioning stained glass windows from artist Sarah Wyman Whitman, likely would have been pleased with the current student participation in this exhibit. At the centennial of the Academy, Ms. Jewett wrote, “It is the sincerity of the students…that make together the School’s soul…”
Arts
TECH CREW LEADERSHIP: SPENCER FASCETTA ’15 and Stephen TERENZIO ’15 W
hen you attend a live performance at Berwick, you may take for granted that you will be able to see and hear the actors, that the music levels will be appropriate and pleasing, and that the lighting will reflect the mood of the show. A wellproduced show doesn’t happen by accident. A crew of well-trained students are working feverishly behind the scenes to ensure that the sound and lighting enhance the performance. Seniors Spencer Fascetta and Stephen Terenzio were the co-leaders this past year for Berwick’s Tech Crew. With direction from Director of Dance and Theater Technology Sasha Malone, Fascetta and Terenzio led a group of 16 students responsible for the sound and lighting for all Berwick performances. They credit Ms. Malone and their student mentors, Dan Perreault ’14 and Maddy Keefe ’13, for helping them hone their skills, and were committed to passing on what they learned to the younger students in the group.
events all over campus, including assemblies, performances, and dramatic and musical productions. They move their equipment from the theater to the gym, to the third floor of Fogg, depending on the need. They have even done technical work for Berwick’s dance performances at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH. The Tech Crew designs all the lighting and sound for each performance, making its design choices based on music and mood.
2014 Dance Show
2014 US Play, A Murder is Announced
“Being in this position has been a huge honor,” says Fascetta. “It has taught me how to work with other people and given me access to conversations with teachers.”
“Doing the sound is tricky,” says Terenzio. “A lot of shows have live music. We need to make sure the sound is balanced between instruments so actors can be heard. We need to understand the difference in levels between the pit and the actors. It’s all in the moment. There are lots of adjustments. You have to remain calm.” Berwick offers a class in theater technology, which crew members take. “I took this class to fulfill my art requirement,” says Fascetta. “It has been really nice to develop this side of myself over the course of the last couple of years in conjunction with all my other activities.”
The Tech Crew has grown tremendously in the past five years. The group handles 2015 US Musical, Once Upon a Mattress
TODAY
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
Arts
SNAPSHOTS
Spring Concert
Upper School Musical, Once Upon a Mattress Dance Show
AP Art student artists
Spring Concert 40
SUMMER 2015
Lower School Production, Our Big Beautiful Planet
HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
FACULTY AND STAFF HAPPENINGS
Jen Hill, Middle School Spanish Teacher, hosts a show at Portsmouth Public Media, Comcast Channel 98, called Intuition Nutrition. She teaches how to cook easy and healthy dishes, interviews local wellness practitioners, and leads gentle yoga and movement.
To extend and expand on her devotion to Bikram yoga, Charlene Hoyt, Upper School Math Teacher, was recently trained by ChildLight Yoga of Dover in a yoga teacher training intensive, designed to inspire and empower teachers to share yoga and mindfulness techniques developed especially for teens. Her training focused on developmentally appropriate yoga postures, breathing techniques, reflective discussions, and other meditative practices, with the intention of cultivating self-esteem, resilience, healthy body image, and stress management.
Raegan Russell, Visual Art Teacher, was recently awarded the Quimby Fellowship by the Maine Art Educator’s Association (MAEA), which allowed her to study printmaking for two weeks at Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Deer Isle, ME. The fellowship is awarded to one art educator in the state of Maine and is based on professional strengths in art education, art advocacy, and service in MAEA. Haystack is an international craft school offering intensive studio sessions and artist residencies. Russell worked in the Japanese Woodblock Printmaking session with New York artist Takuji Hamanaka (takujihamanaka.com).
Bill Clapp, Upper School Math Teacher and Curriculum Coordinator, ran the Boston Marathon for the first time this past April, finishing in 3:21:57. It was a cold, rainy day as 30,000 runners made their way from Hopkinton to Boston, MA.
Lindsey Weiner, Grade Two, attended the 2015 Independent School Diversity Seminar sponsored by Diversity Directions. Combining the most current academic research with intellectual strength and emotional engagement, the seminar team helps schools develop a common vision and strategic methods to examine and address the personal, interpersonal, and institutional factors that can advance or impede a school’s inclusion initiative. She looks to employ these strategies while developing her curriculum this summer, reacting to the socio-emotional needs of her students and interacting with many Lower School families at Berwick.
Moira McKinnon ’88, Upper School College Counselor, was named the 2015 Maine recipient of the New England Association for College Admission Counseling (NEACAC) Professional of the Year Award, presented to one college counselor from each New England state each year. The honor identifies individuals whose contributions to the field of college admissions and counseling deserve such recognition. Recipients are “strong and ethical advocates for students and/or their institutions and have a proven record of accomplishment throughout their careers. They demonstrate honesty, patience, thoroughness, and sensitivity in their work with students, parents, and colleagues. They are mentors, leaders, and consummate professionals.” TODAY
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
MEET OUR NEW FACULTY AND STAFF 1
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3 Michael Buensuceso Michael will join Berwick Academy as the director of cultural competency. Born and raised in New Jersey, Michael comes from the Trinity School in New York City, where he served for five years as the director of diversity. He is relocating with his spouse, Kathy, and new Berwick Academy students Kaia (fifth grade) and Sienna (second grade).
4 4 Claudia Castillo
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Claudia joins the Foreign Language Department in the fall of 2015 as a Middle School Spanish teacher. She began her journey of teaching foreign languages after receiving her bachelor’s in English education from the University of Colima in Mexico. She came to Troy, NY and began working as a Spanish TA for Russell Sage College. She has enjoyed various positions teaching nearly all age groups, from Pre-K to adults.
5 Ian Cross
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Ian will join the Upper School next fall to teach Algebra II, Pre-calculus, and an independent study. In addition, he will be serving as the assistant coach for the Upper School swim team. Ian is a 2007 graduate of Colby College and has most recently worked as a math teacher at Blair Academy.
6 Jonathan Douglas
1 Alexandra Asacker Alexandra is thrilled to join the team of educators at Berwick Academy as Lower School music teacher and Middle School chorus director. Alex holds a master’s in music education from The Boston Conservatory and earned her undergraduate degree from McGill University. She has previously taught at Shore Country Day School and for The Boston C o n s e r v a t o r y ’s P r o g r a m f o r Students on the Autism Spectrum.
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2 Christie Barnes Christie joins the Foreign Language Department in the fall of 2015 as a part-time Mandarin teacher in both the Middle and Upper Schools. She is a 2010 graduate of Duke University, where she majored in cultural anthropology and Chinese and played varsity lacrosse for four years. Along with teaching Mandarin, Christie will serve as the yearbook coordinator and coach Middle School Girls Basketball and Upper School Girls Varsity Lacrosse.
Jon joins Berwick Academy as its Chief Financial Officer. Originally from Los Angeles, Jon comes to Berwick after spending nearly five years as the director of finance and operations at School Year Abroad. Jon’s office can be easily identified by his trusty M&M dispenser and an oddly extensive collection of Mr. Potato Heads.
7 Krysta Ibsen Krysta will teach eighth-grade science, beginning in the fall. Along with her work in the classroom, Krysta will serve as an assistant Middle School soccer and lacrosse coach. Krysta is no stranger to Berwick, having completed her master’s in education through the Collaborative Internship Program with Lesley University and doing her apprentice teaching on the Hilltop. Prior to her appointment at Berwick, Krysta spent seven years teaching outdoor science at the Ecology School in Saco, ME.
New Faces 8 Jeoff Jarnot Jeoff joins Berwick after spending the last year at The Pike School (Andover, MA), where he taught first through fourth grades, while earning his master’s in elementary education from Lesley University. Jeoff will teach AP Psychology and serve as an assistant teacher in the Lower School. Additionally, Jeoff will be the head coach for both the boys varsity golf and hockey teams.
9 Jason Murray Jason joined the Berwick community in February 2015 as the director of facilities. He comes from a family with a long line of engineering- and construction-orientated careers, stretching across the country. Prior to arriving at Berwick, Jason worked at SUR Construction in Rochester, NH. Both of his children, Hannah and Tyler, will attend Berwick in the fall.
10 Janet Powell Janet joins the Foreign Language Department as a part-time French teacher in both the Middle and Upper Schools. Prior to coming to Berwick, Janet worked for 12 years at Gill St. Bernard School and served as both a French teacher and department chair.
11 Jufen Rui Jufen joins the Foreign Language Department as a Mandarin teacher in both the Lower and Upper Schools. She received her master’s from Tianjin Foreign Studies University and has been teaching Mandarin at both the Portsmouth Middle School and the One World Language School since 2013.
12 Lindsey Weiner Lindsey Weiner is a graduate of Trinity College and Lesley University, where she earned her master’s in elementary education. Lindsey joined the Berwick community in 2014 as a Lower School assistant teacher, admission office intern, and varsity assistant coach. She will teach second grade this year.
2015 - 2016
NEW TRUSTEE MEMBERS Dr. Talal Al-Shair is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Cristal Metals, the second largest Ti02 producer in the world today. He also is the founder and chairman of Shairco Ltd. Dr. Al-Shair has initiated and developed various industrial projects in the Middle East, including DAHAB precious metals refinery and Midad Toner printer products. He co-developed the Safra solvent refinery, Saudi Union Co., and Al-Rowad National Plastic Co. Dr. Al-Shair received his B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Maine in 1977 and went on to earn an M.B.A. at Maine the following year. He completed his education with a Ph.D. in international business administration from Kennedy-Western University in 1987. Active in many organizations, Dr. Al-Shair is vice chairman of TASNEE, National Industrialization Co.; chairman of Saudi Union; former chairman of Yanbu Chamber of Commerce & Industry; board director of DAHAB and MIDAD; a member of the Saudi American Relationship Committee of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce; and former member of the Madinah Region Council. Dr. Al-Shair is also the father of two students in the Upper School, Huda ‘16 and Nuha ‘17.
Stephanie Jaggars ’89 lives in Greenland, NH, with her husband, Jeff, their three children, and the family’s two labradors. She earned her B.A. from the University of New Hampshire and currently works as a substitute teacher at the Greenland Central School and as an independent distributor for the Juice Plus Company. Stephanie spent more than a decade as a Berwick student. She has devoted the last 25 years to nurturing the bond between members of the Class of 1989. She worked for four years in Berwick’s Alumni Office as assistant director of development and alumni relations, extending her passion for the School beyond her classmates. Stephanie is currently serving her third year on the Alumni Council. In July, she will take over as president, earning her a position on the School’s Board of Trustees. She looks forward to serving on the Board and learning from its work.
The father of three Berwick alumni, Mark H. Tay is an attorney at the firm Tay & Tay in Exeter, NH. He earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, and his Master of Laws in taxation from the Boston University School of Law. Tay is a member of the New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Federal Bars and has been a frequent lecturer for legal education seminars on residential housing issues. He has also been a member of the New Hampshire State Board of Manufactured Housing since 2004, serving as its chairman since 2007. He is vice president of the New Hampshire Manufactured and Modular Housing Association and is a member of the National Network of Manufactured Housing Attorneys. Tay says his proudest and most rewarding personal experience came as a trustee on the Berwick Academy Board from 2002 to 2013, including five years as its president. Tay is also proud to be the father of three Berwick graduates, Brianna ‘06, Alyssa ’12, and Sabrina ’14. TODAY
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
Sligo, that is exactly what we were given. We had arrived at Mullaghmore. When I stepped off the bus, I felt like I was living in my imagination. To me, the views offered at Mullaghmore are what people think of when they conjure an image of the Irish countryside. It was dominated by grassy knolls, a castle in the distance, crisp, fresh Irish air, an incredible view of the ocean, and an overwhelming sense of freedom and tranquility.
Berwick across the globe
IRISH ADVENTURE by Brennan Santaniello ‘15
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ur day at Giant’s Causeway was rather cloudy, obscuring the view we’d been told would grant us a clear line of sight across to the coast of Scotland. But for the 22 of us – and two adult chaperones – on this Irish adventure, we’d have to wait for another day for the sun to burn through the Irish mist. We got our glimpse of the Aran Islands and the breathtaking Galway Bay on a day when the sun was on our side. But, like Giant’s Causeway, the beauty of the natural vistas was balanced by the innate tourist nature of those stops – welcome centers and gift shops that take away slightly from the natural charm of the place. It wasn’t until we reached Mullaghmore, a tranquil home to ocean views as far as the eye can see, that I had time for reflection. And I fell in love with the place. More on that later. I couldn’t help but let my mind wander during the flight home from our nine days in
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Ireland. I had experienced so many amazing things. Our group had learned about “The Troubles” and fight for Irish independence. We had seen ancient burial grounds that predated the Egyptian Pyramids. We had even visited the build site of the ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic. We got to spend time in different city centers, including Belfast, Galway, and the capital city, Dublin. Our itinerary put us in Dublin on March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day, which included a parade bursting with colorful floats, and, for some of us, faces painted with the Kelly green and orange of the Irish flag. Erin go Bragh! (Ireland Forever!) On the flight back to Boston, my mind looped through our days in Ireland and the predominant image was watching the sunset over the Irish coast. Before we arrived in Mullaghmore, our group had spent the previous four days in the three different cities, and we were all itching for some open space. After a two-hour bus ride from Derry to County
As I said, the other major countryside stops we made at the Cliffs of Moher and Giant’s Causeway were also beautiful, but places overflowing with tourists who are expected to visit – almost as a rite of passage. Mullaghmore is much simpler than any place I have ever been. Our group was totally alone, completely immersed in the countryside. It was one of the few times in my life when all other thoughts seemed to vanish. None of us had a care in the world. We were all just so happy to be part of the trip. We took pictures, rolled in the grass, explored the coastline, took in deep breaths of coastal air, and left with smiles on our faces. It occurred to me that the day felt
Student Life
like a carefree weekend at Berwick, and I felt as grateful as ever for the privilege of being a student at the School. I thought about why Mullaghmore had captured so much of my attention. We had seen so many interesting things. We had experienced Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day. How much more spirit could we want? But Mullaghmore kept calling my name. I contemplated why it had been such a special place to me. Perhaps I was drawn back to the breathtaking views the peninsula had to offer. But, more likely, I was drawn to Mullaghmore for the camaraderie it had generated. It was at Mullaghmore that I realized what a great group of people I was with – there in our temporary home of Ireland and back at School. It was in the coastal town in County Sligo, more than three thousand miles away from the Seacoast of Maine, that I realized how lucky I was to have been a part of such an incredible journey.
Berwick across the globe
ORDERING LUNCH IN CHINA by Sarah Yanofsky ‘15
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onths have passed since our group of 12 returned from China, but our shared experiences made for unforgettable memories. If nothing else, we banded together to figure out how to order lunch. In Mandarin. Ten Berwick Academy students and two teachers arrived at Logan Airport at 3 a.m. on a cold and raw day in March, ready to embark on a trip to the other side of the world. We did not know what to expect of the country and, over the 11 days we spent in China, we were confronted with many challenges. Our carefully planned itinerary led us to major historic and cultural sites in every city. We were able to cross off pieces from our bucket lists in each city – Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. We visited the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, and a pearl factory in Beijing; saw the Terracotta Army and rode bikes on the ancient Xi’an city wall; tasted world-famous dumplings; ascended to the highest glass-bottomed floor in the world (despite the fog that obstructed our view); and saw the world’s largest bronze Buddha in the grand city of Hong Kong. These sights were a great part of the experience, but the most memorable moments were the challenges we faced in China. A surprising challenge for one student in our group was when we got to teach him how to ride a bicycle on the Xi’an city wall. “Every time I would nearly crash into passerby, I would call out ‘wo bú huì qí,’ which in Mandarin means
‘I cannot ride,’” said Charlie Hardy ’15. What cooler place to learn to ride a bike than in China? Our most frequent obstacle was the language barrier, which impeded our ability to procure food. Half of our group studied Mandarin Chinese at Berwick, so it was great to witness these students applying their classroom skills in real-life situations. One lunch, I remember, about half of our small group wanted to dine at an authentic dumpling shop. We found this small, crowded restaurant with a winding line of locals and decided to give it a try. Coming up to the order counter, however, we realized that the menu was all in Mandarin, and that nobody in the shop spoke one word of English. “The language barrier turned out to be an adventure, and even fun at times,” said Alexa Mocklis ’18. “This is one of the reasons the China trip was so much fun.” After a while, those among us who spoke Mandarin somehow managed to order us all exactly what we wanted. “Learning in the classroom and having to use it in real life are two very different things, so some other students of Mandarin and I discerned what they had and how much it cost,” explained Toby Larkin ’17. “The employees mostly understood me, and with some pointing as well, everyone’s lunch got ordered and paid for. It felt so satisfying to be in a real-life situation where I could use what I learned at school.” TODAY
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HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
2015 Poet-in-Residence
POET RICHARD BLANCO IS FIFTH AGAIN
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n a bitterly cold January 20, 1961, poet Robert Frost stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and read an original poem prepared for the inauguration of 35th President John F. Kennedy. Frost was the first poet asked to read at an inauguration. The most recent of the four asked to do the same since Frost was Bethel, ME resident Richard Blanco, who read “One Today,” at the 2013 inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama. On May 15, Blanco visited Berwick – again as the fifth in line – this time as the School’s fifth Poet-in-Residence. During his visit, Blanco read selections of his poetry to 235 members of the extended South Berwick community gathered in Jackson Library. In his spring letter, Head of School Greg Schneider wrote, “The energy in the library was invigorating in its focus on the intellectual discourse of savoring words and forging meaning.” A Latino born in Spain and raised in Miami, Blanco writes poems that address the
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Richard Blanco* by Emily Christie ‘20
Wearing a yellow button down and classy, but athletic black shoes made in Cuba and born in Spain traveling around the world to write and read poetry. Now at my school teaching me and my classmates about poetry. The classroom is silent except for his deep voice. Time flies as he talks, everyone listening. Soon the class will be over, we will leave for lunch, wishing he could come back. *a poem inspired by Richard Blanco’s visit
negotiation of cultural identity and universal themes of place and belonging. In his visit to Berwick, he focused on the theme of home, which resonated with the intimate School community. In addition to his reading at Berwick’s poetry night in the Jackson Library, Blanco spent a week in the Middle School, working with our students. Both Ms. Anker and student Olivia Beauchesne ‘19 were impressed by Blanco’s humility and accessibility to the students. “When Richard Blanco read, it felt like we were all at his kitchen table for dinner,” said Beauchesne, who runs the Middle School Poetry Club. “He brought us to his childhood.” Established in 2011, the Poet-in-Residence program offers Berwick students a broad perspective of the world through poetry. The School so far has welcomed poets Kimberly Green, Thomas Moore, Naomi Shihab-Nye, and Sofia Snow. Spoken-word poet Joshua Bennett is the next scheduled Poet-in-Residence.
HILLTOP HAPPENINGS
2015 Grandparents and special friends day
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randparents and Special Friends Day is an annual spring event, during which grandparents and special friends are invited to spend a day at Berwick. The day is an opportunity for students to share their Berwick experiences with some of the most important adults in their lives. It allows them to introduce their friends and family members to their teachers and classmates, as well as the environment in which they learn. The time grandparents and special friends spend on campus gives them a glimpse into the forces that influence the growth and development of their loved ones. Grandparents and special friends are a very important part of the Berwick Academy community. They contribute to the education of their loved ones in many ways, and Grandparents and Special Friends Day is Berwick’s way of saying “thank you” for all they do.
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Philanthropy
AN UNCOMMON ALUMNUS: TIMOTHY BURR ’86
Parent Volunteer
PAGE RICH
I Class of ’86 as eighth graders. Tim is in the first row, far left.
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hough Timothy Burr spent only two years – eight and ninth grade – as a student at Berwick Academy, that doesn’t mean he didn’t have time to form a lifelong connection to the School. But because of his brief stay at Berwick, Burr’s story is a bit unusual.
Tim, Berwick awarded $3.5 million in financial aid to 35% of current families.
“I had a very good experience at Berwick,” he recalls, noting that he only left because he wanted to experience boarding school life. “I benefited from interaction with classmates and teachers and gained a lot of personal confidence. Over the years, as my capacity to give has increased, I have increased my donations and tried to give back to honor what the School gave me.”
“I was impressed with Greg, his clarity of vision and purpose,” says Burr. “His message resonated with me. RGI provides more flexibility for the School, enables it to weather economic conditions, and take on new initiatives.”
In many ways, Burr is not unlike the many alumni who benefit from financial aid at Berwick each year. Like them, he feels compelled to help the current and future generations of students who need financial assistance. Burr’s Annual Fund donations go directly into Berwick’s operating budget, which feeds the financial aid program. Last year, because of the generosity of people like
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Not only is Burr a loyal Annual Fund donor, but he also decided to support the Rising Generations Initiative (RGI) after meeting with Head of School Greg Schneider to discuss School priorities.
With two daughters attending an independent school near the Burrs’ home in Newton, MA, staying connected to Berwick gives Tim insight into trends in modern secondary school education. “Seeing the kinds of programs and initiatives that Berwick is offering,” he says, “will help me and my wife as we evaluate the next school for our children.”
n each of Page Rich’s first three years as a Berwick parent, she and her husband have given to the Annual Fund. This year, with the reinvigoration of the volunteer network, Rich was quick to sign on to help. As a volunteer, she educates others about the importance of the Annual Fund to Berwick’s continued success. Her work generates excitement and support for the Fund and has played an important part in helping the community reach its goals. Berwick’s strength is dependent on the philanthropic leadership of community members like Page Rich. It is their efforts that allow the School to fully live it mission and achieve its vision. “I believe in Berwick Academy and, by giving to the Annual Fund, I support the work the School is doing to provide the best experience for its students and the best support for its faculty. I have enjoyed my volunteer work because it has been exciting to talk with parents about their experiences at Berwick and feel the energy of our support coming together as we let the School know that we believe in what is happening on the Hilltop each and every day. Trust me, it is not always easy to ask fellow parents if they will consider making a gift to the school! There have been moments when I’ve had to take a deep breath before picking up the phone or sending out another email to the patient parents in my children’s classes. To them, I most certainly owe a huge thank you.”
ALUMNI BULLETIN Spring and Summer 2015 Class of 1965 Senior Council Seated: Walter Field, Mr. Burnham. Standing: Richard Stocker, Jon Bagg (President), Mark Sirotkin. Not pictured: Bruce MacLellan (Secretary), Jon Kellogg, Larry Littlefield (Treasurer), and John Umlauf.
The Class of 1965, in commemoration of their 50 th class reunion this year, has undertaken a remarkable and unprecedented alumni effort to raise significant funds in support of The Walsh Wellness Center at Oakes House. The class considers this challenge to be pivotal in establishing a legacy of leadership in fundraising for future classes celebrating their 50th.
TODAY
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ALUMNI BULLETIN
Lynn Wildnauer, Lisa and Ralph Kleinmann
Ned Thompson, Susan Ridgway, and Margot Thompson
Ralph Chauvin and Jacqueline Pellegrino
FORMER PARENTS COME TOGETHER
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arents of Berwick alumni gathered in Portsmouth in April to reconnect and catch up on news about their alumni children. This second annual Berwick-hosted event presents a special opportunity for former parents, as well as current parents who have one or more alumni children.
Alex Auty, Mary Schleyer, and Debbie Bauder
2015 ALUMNI INDUCTION
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raduating seniors were welcomed into Berwick Academy’s Alumni Association during their June 5 Baccalaureate dinner. Amy Smucker, director of advancement, welcomed the Class of 2015 to the Alumni Association and spoke of the resources available to Berwick alumni. She encouraged the seniors to remain involved with the School after the Hilltop. Next, Lucas Merrow ‘81 spoke about the role Berwick continues to play in his life as a business owner and parent. Each senior received an alumni pin, bearing Berwick’s iconic belltower, to wear during graduation. The pins were dispersed by Berwick alums, ranging from the Class of 1988 to the Class of 2012. They served to visibly acknowledge the seniors’ transition from students to alumni.
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2015
OCTOBER 2-3, 2015
Weekend
Alumni
Friday, October 2, 2015 11 a.m. – Noon, Upper School Classroom Experience Noon – 1 p.m. Lunch in the Commons 2:30 – 4 p.m. Historic Campus Tour 3:30 p.m. Student Athletics 5:30 – 7 p.m. Class of ’65 Welcome Reception
Saturday, October 3, 2015 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Dog Days Family Fun Fair on Fogg Field 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Upper School Athletics Noon – 1:30 p.m. Hilltop Luncheon in the Commons including the Alumni Awards presentation 2 – 3 p.m. Tour of The Walsh Wellness Center 3 – 4 p.m. Historic Campus Tour 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. 100 Club Alumni Cocktail Reception
ALL ALUMNI ARE INVITED TO SIGNATURE EVENTS OF THE WEEKEND:
THE HILLTOP LUNCHEON celebrates the reunion classes and alumni award winners during a lovely noontime buffet lunch in the Commons Dining Hall. The afternoon features a presentation from Head of School Greg Schneider as well as student musical performances. THE 100 CLUB COCKTAIL RECEPTION is the perfect way to kick off an evening with your classmates. The beautiful downtown Portsmouth location will feature cocktails and hors d’oeuvres along with musical guests Ben Baldwin and Kent Allyn. INVITATIONS are in the mail. REGISTER online at www.berwickacademy.org/alumniweekend
More information about the weekend’s events is available through our website at: www.berwickacademy.org/alumniweekend Contact Kathryn Strand in the Alumni Office with questions or to register at 207.384.6307 or kstrand@berwickacademy.org.
ALUMNI BULLETIN
2015 ALUMNI WEEKEND C
lasses ending in ‘0’ and ‘5’ are celebrating milestone reunions this year, but all alumni are welcome to join in the festivities. Mr. Sullivan will be back on campus and at the Saturday night 100 Club reception. The Hilltop Luncheon promises a lovely buffet, musical performances by talented students, alumni awards, and a greeting from the Head of School. Go to www.berwickacademy. org/alumniweekend for a complete schedule and online registration.
They said it couldn’t be done, but 71 of them did it!
One of the 7 daily 3-minute rushes
THE THREE MUSKETEERS
Chemistry, one of the most important and interesting of B.A.’s subjects, really packs them in.These happy-looking seniors, under the watchful eyes of Mr. Conroy, really get a BANG out of Chem lab. They are: Mercier, Rix, Ellis, Pike, Mayo, Quaglietta, and Libby.
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Alumni Weekend, October 2-3, 2015
“Through her halls of fame and honor...”
“We have made our friendship fonder.”
TODAY
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ALUMNI BULLETIN
ALUMNI GATHERINGS: NYC, BOSTON, HARTFORD Photos clockwise from right: Jennie French ‘05, Sharon Fogarty ‘82, TJ Jurevic ‘94, Director of Advancement Amy Smucker; Jeff Warmick ‘08, Head of School Greg Schneider, Tim Labrie ‘08; Kim Toomire ‘08, Keegan Mehlhorn ‘08, Tim Labrie ‘08, Lindy Reid ‘08, Kathryn Egan ‘08; Bill Roots ‘64, Rob Perkin ‘65, Peter Arakelian ‘65; Jeff Rego ‘03 and Ryan Thorpe ‘03
Seeking Out Alumni Perspectives
ALUMNI HORIZON THINKING EVENTS
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his spring, Berwick hosted a new type of alumni gathering that not only built stronger connections between alumni and the School, but enabled Berwick to benefit from the experiences and insights of its graduates. At a pair of Horizon Thinking lunches in New York City and Boston this past spring, Head of School Greg Schneider shared Berwick’s vision and initiatives, while eliciting feedback. Michelle LaRoche ’90, Tim Armenta ’00, Chava Kallberg ’93, and Adam Sirois ’02 attended the New York City luncheon, hosted by Michelle Laroche ‘90 at News Corp headquarters in midtown. Alumni at the Boston luncheon included Rob Howie ’72, Ken Lafler ’82, Sharon Fogarty ’82, Timothy Burr ’86, Sara Gibbons ’97, Lillian Wong ’01, Jennie French ’05, and Keegan Mehlhorn ’08.
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Greg Schneider reported back to the guests about some of the compelling insights and suggestions he took away from the gatherings: • Continuing to pursue the tremendous benefits of wellness • Keeping our eyes on the future of Berwick’s academic program • Reinforcing Berwick’s commitment to diversity through our financial aid policy • Engaging alumni as a valuable resource for current students • M aintaining our commit me nt t o innovation The Alumni Office will reach out to alumni for future Horizon Thinking gatherings. Please contact Kathryn Strand (kstrand@berwickacademy.org) if you would like to participate in the future.
ALUMNI BULLETIN
WILLIAM CASHMAN, JR.
IN MEMORIAM 1935: Vera Gallant Day, June 27, 2015 1937: Roger J. Renaud, April 24, 2015 1941: Evelyn G. Cheney Rix, February 7, 2015 1942: Delphis Omer Roberge, May 11, 2015 1942: Roger Cecil Snow, March 1, 2015 1946: Irene Avis Young Lemke, February 16, 2015 1957: Dorothy Stevens Goodwin, June 15, 2015 1958: John Edwin Hilliard, March 11, 2015 1965: Francis Joseph Mulcahey, September 11, 2013 1974: Nancy B. Roberts, January 29, 2015 1975: Eric L. Weeks, July 3, 2015
William “Bill” Cashman, Jr., Berwick’s head chef from 1962 to 1964, died on May 9, 2015, at the age of 82. A resident of Somersworth, NH, Cashman was a U.S. Army Veteran, who served in Germany from 1952 to 1955. He attended the Culinary Institute of America and spent many years honing his craft. Cashman is survived by his wife of 59 years, Barbara; four children; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
A Tribute to ARTHUR “TERRY” DOGGETT As a remembrance to former faculty member Terry Doggett, who passed away in October last year, the Doggett family is planning to have a granite bench installed on campus. Those wishing to make a contribution to the purchase of the bench may go to www.berwickacademy.org/ giving or contact Kathryn Strand in the Advancement Office at 207.384.6307 or kstrand@berwickacademy.org.
Remembering RICHARD NORCROSS
F
ormer Lower School faculty member Richard Norcross passed away on July 1. A memorial service was held on campus on July 10. Richard was a valued member of the Berwick community for more than 20 years. He is survived by his two daughters, Aliza ’05 and Julia ’08. A Berwick Academy scholarship fund has been established in Richard’s name. To make a donation, go to www.berwickacademy. org/giving or contact Kathryn Strand in the Advancement Office at 207.384.6307 or kstrand@berwickacademy.org.
TODAY
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ALUMNI BULLETIN
Planned Giving
The Chadbourne-Thompson
SOCIETY T
he Chadbourne-Thompson Society, which currently boasts 27 members, recognizes donors who make planned estate gifts. Planned gifts are an essential part of Berwick’s long-term financial future and have helped shape the Berwick of today.
For more information, contact Director of Alumni and Stewardship Kathryn Strand at 207.384.6307 or kstrand@berwickacademy.org.
CARRYING ON A FAMILY TRADITION:
KAREN AND LARRY MARTINEAU ’64 A
ll donors have their reasons for making a gift. For Larry ‘64 and Karen Martineau, giving is rooted in a family legacy of generosity. Both Larry and Karen grew up watching their parents give back to the schools that educated them. Karen’s father, Douglas M. Brown, was a member of the Hoboken, NJ-based Stevens Institute of Technology’s Class of 1931. But the death of his father and the subsequent financial strain on his family put his graduation at risk. Stevens awarded Brown a scholarship, which enabled him to stay and complete his education. That experience motivated him to establish a scholarship fund at Stevens in his will. Every year, the Martineaus receive information about the students who receive the scholarships. “I love hearing the stories about students who are being helped by my father,” says Karen. “His spirit and generosity live on. It got the wheels turning in my head. Larry and I wanted to do something meaningful and lasting, just as my father did.” Inspired by their parents, the Martineaus are establishing an endowed scholarship fund at Berwick. “I’d like other young people to have the opportunity to experience what I
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SUMMER 2015
experienced,” Larry says. “Berwick is a special place. At that time in my life, it was a difficult period. Berwick gave me an opportunity to grow outside my biological family. Teachers and coaches like Dave Morton, Ed Paul, and his wife, Marge, reinforced in me the values taught by my parents.” Making an endowed planned gift requires donors to take a leap of faith that the institution they are supporting in perpetuity will continue to operate with the values they share, but the Martineaus are confident in their decision. “Berwick has managed to weather all the trials and tribulations over the past 200-plus years. We have great faith in the leadership of the School. Greg Schneider and the trustees are doing a wonderful job and have a great vision.” Berwick will certainly benefit from the Martineaus’ generosity, but they also see a benefit to themselves. “This is a family legacy,” says Larry. “I hope our sons will feel proud that we have helped others and will be inspired to do the same. An even bigger benefit would be if other Berwick alumni were inspired too.”
Chadbourne-Thompson Society Members Anonymous James Cook ’63 and Paula Cook Bradley M. Damon ’63 Marie A. Donahue ’37 Aurora Dube ’25 Preston N. Eames ’65 C. Dennis Fink ’44 Nancy B. Fort Adolph Geyer ’31 Russell Grant ’45 and Marty Grant Doris Dixon Griffith ’39 Seth A. Hurd ’90 Alberta Morrill Johnson ’28 Kennett and Patricia Kendall Mary Jacobs Kennedy 1908 Lawrence A. Martineau ’64 and Karen Martineau Perley D. Monroe ’48 Olive Purrington Moulton ’22 Victor Perreault ’33 and Helen Hasty Perreault Nancy Pindrus ’69 Richard and Susan Ridgway Anna May Flynn Smith ’31 William R. Spaulding Owen Stevens ’48 and Margaret Stevens Ella Estelle Geyer Stonebraker ’29 Mark H. Tay Roger Thompson ’25 and Theresa Thompson
Class of 2015 Senior Walk
YOUR GIFT HELPED THE BERWICK ANNUAL FUND SOAR TO ITS HIGHEST LEVEL EVER! Thank you for your generosity and support of the 2014-15 Berwick Annual Fund! Your gift, and those from other community members, helped the School raise $875,070 –the most in our 224-year history! Congratulations!
The success of the Berwick Annual Fund is a remarkable accomplishment, and your gift is a wonderful testament to the culture of philanthropy Berwick Academy has established.
RAISED
$875,070 THE MOST IN BERWICK’S 224-YEAR HISTORY!
We thank you for your investment in our School and students!
BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2015-2016 President: Matthew Friel Vice President: Lucas Merrow ‘81 Treasurer: Robert J. Hoy Secretary: Eric Katz ’84 Dr. Talal Al-Shair Lisa Goulemas Elizabeth J. Hetz James Jalbert Jamie James Kennett R. Kendall, Jr. James Lawson Holly A. Malloy Susan Noerdlinger Barbara O’Connor Greg Raiff
Paula Reid Robert Richard Michael J. Schafer Gregory J. Schneider Malcolm E. Smith, III Patrick Spearman Mark H. Tay Karen G. Walsh Suzanne Miller, ex officio Stephanie K. Jaggars ‘89, ex officio
ALUMNI COUNCIL, 2015-2016 Trustee Emeriti John Armacost Raymond Ramsey “Ray” Charles V. Clement, III Richard Ridgway “Hap” C. Dennis Fink ’44 Mary Z. Schleyer O.P. Jackson Claire deTarr Smith Joan R. Jarvis Owen R. Stevens, D.V.M. Russell W. Jeppesen Mark H. Tay Kennett R. Kendall, Jr. “Skip Joan Trimble Michael Ramsey “Mitch”
President: Stephanie K. Jaggars ‘89 Vice President: Bill Tarmey ‘63 Melissa Gagne Falzone ‘03 John Fogarty ‘53 Chris Glancy ‘76 T.J. Jurevic ‘94 Glenn Michael ‘65 Rebecca Oliver-Palanca ‘01 Greg Schneider, Head of School Kathryn Strand, Director of Alumni and Stewardship Honorary Council Member: Richard ”Hap” Ridgway
Berwick Academy 31 Academy Street South Berwick, ME 03908 www.berwickacademy.org
For parents of alumni: If this issue of Berwick Today is addressed to your son or daughter who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, kindly notify the Advancement Office with the correct mailing address at kdemers@berwickacademy.org or 207.384.6303.
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