Brimmer Magazine - Spring 2025

M A G A Z I N E EXHIBITIONS OF KNOWLEDGE

04 | Active, student-centered, interdisciplinary learning across grade levels

10 | Hands-on arts curriculum unites youngest and oldest students in learning and leadership 12 | Looking back on 55 years of the Emily C. Thompson Activities Center 30 | Bissell Grogan Humanities Symposium centers on building community and civil discourse

97 | Alumni Strategic Plan honors our past while building a vibrant future

SPRING 2025

Co-Editors Sue Cuyler Director of Marketing & Communications Madison Perkins Marketing & Communications Associate Lauren Abrams Website Coordinator

Editorial Counsel Judith Guild Head of School

Contributing Writers Carl Coombs P ’27 Sue Cuyler Andrew Flint ’26 Taran Gavrin P ’37 Judith Guild Joseph Iuliano P ’14, ’15, ’18 Madison Perkins Elizabeth Smith P ’17

Photography David Barron Oxygen Group Madison Perkins Mark Sehnert

Graphic Design blazar design studio

Alumni Affairs & Development Office Elizabeth Smith P ’17 Director of Development Sharin Russell Director of Annual Giving Amanda Spooner Eppers ’88, P ’22 Director of Alumni Affairs & Special Events Enjoying Harvestfest on the Brimmer field in October

Connect with us Instagram: @BrimmerandMaySchool Facebook: @BrimmerandMay & @BrimmerandMayAlumni

Mark Sehnert Advancement Associate

Front Cover: The Grade 3 Integrated Insects Study celebrates interdisciplinary learning at Brimmer.

LinkedIn: Brimmer and May | YouTube: Brimmer and May School

©2025 Brimmer and May School. All rights reserved. Published by Brimmer and May School, 69 Middlesex Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 (tel) 617-566-7462 | brimmer.org | Please send change of address to Mark Sehnert: msehnert@brimmer.org

IN THIS ISSUE

Table of Contents

42

Features 04 |

EXHIBITIONS OF KNOWLEDGE Active, student-centered, interdisciplinary learning across grade levels

10 | CONNECTION THROUGH CREATIVITY Hands-on arts curriculum unites our youngest and oldest students in learning and leadership 12 | LOOKING BACK ON 55 YEARS OF THE EMILY C. THOMPSON ACTIVITIES CENTER Brimmer and May School’s Hardwood Haven 18 |

SPOTLIGHT ON THE KITCHEN TEAM Meet the team that plays such a vital role in the life of the School

24 |

WINTERIM Exploring the world through Brimmer’s signature experiential learning program

30 | 20TH ANNUAL BISSELL GROGAN SYMPOSIUM

Bissell Grogan Symposium centers on building community and civil discourse 91 | SAYING THE RIGHT WORDS

Andrew Flint ’26 reflects on growing up with a speech disorder, sharing his story to inspire and educate others

Alumni Happenings 71 |

WINTER GATHERINGS

72 |

HOLIDAY PARTY

86 |

CLASS NOTES

97 |

ALUMNI THREE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN

10 Around Campus 02 |

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

36 |

HARVESTFEST

40 |

DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

42 |

HOMECOMING

46 |

GETTING CREATIVE

62 |

ATHLETICS

74 |

LOWER SCHOOL SKATING NIGHT

76 |

TEMPLE FAIR

78 |

BOARD OF VISITORS DAY

94 |

BRIMMER READS

#FINDCHOMP Can you find our spirited mascot hidden within the pages of this issue?

Chomp is hiding in four places!

The first 25 readers to email us those locations at chomp@brimmer.org will receive special Brimmer swag!

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FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

a strategic vision unfolds A letter from Judith Guild Today’s students are soon to embark on their own transformative experience, as our 1970s building no longer meets the evolving needs of our School. And yet, despite its limitations, the gymnasium held a special place in our hearts, making our farewell a poignant one. I invite you to read Looking Back on 55 Years of the Emily C. Thompson Activities Center by Assistant Head of Academic Affairs Joseph Iuliano P ’14, ’15, ’18 (see pages 12-17), who shares how thankful we are for the Thompson Activities Center, a place where his own three boys enjoyed their time on its court.

A

s we bid farewell to the Emily C. Thompson Activities Center and commence the construction of the new Recreation & Wellness Center, I am reminded of the many stories our alumni have shared about their time in the gym.

Over the years, numerous alumni have shared memories of how the gymnasium transformed their time at Brimmer—a time when today’s PK classroom was their only gym. Those who walked our halls in the 1970s recall the impact of having a new dedicated space to compete, gather for socials, and celebrate school traditions. Many have also recounted fond stories of their beloved Head of School, Ms. Thompson, whose leadership and legacy resonated in those stories. These memories, woven with tradition, serve as a testament to the role place has in shaping a community.

As we look ahead, our vision is both ambitious and clear. While buildings do not define us, they serve as catalysts—vessels that enable our students to flourish, amplify their talents, and cultivate their passions. Our new facility will introduce state-of-the-art athletic spaces, additional classrooms, and dedicated areas designed to promote wellness, teamwork, and community connection. Just as the Hastings Center empowered our faculty to elevate their teaching through innovative best practices, I see this same spirit of strategic vision unfolding once more. Our Athletics Team has joined our leadership team in an intentional dialogue—one that asks essential questions about student wellness, engagement, teamwork, and achievement. Leaders of other programs, including Lower School Extended Day and Physical Education, are imagining the opportunities the additional space will offer. Through this process of thoughtful planning and collaboration, we are shaping a future that reflects both our values and our aspirations.

Above: Head of School Judy Guild kicks off the 20th annual Bissell Grogan Humanities Symposium in January (see pages 3035). At Right: Celebrating Lower School Closing Exercises in the Emily C. Thompson Activities Center in June 2000.

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In this edition of Brimmer Magazine, you will find stories of our ongoing strategic initiatives, including the launch of our Alumni Strategic Plan (see pages 97-101), our unwavering commitment to excellence, and the remarkable work of our faculty and staff. You will also feel the collective strength of our community as we embark on this transformational endeavor.

As I shared at the outset of this project, “When transformational learning meets transformational spaces, that’s success.” I am filled with gratitude for the generosity of the loyal and dedicated members of our School community who made this vision a reality. ■

SCAN FOR BUILDING UPDATES

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HEADER GOES HERE CURRICULAR EXCELLENCE

Exhibitions of Knowledge Active, student-centered, interdisciplinary learning across grade levels

By Carl Coombs P ’27, Assistant Head of School, Head of Middle School

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magine walking into school on a cold January morning to find that the Dining Commons has been transformed into a medieval village, where students transport us back to England in the 14th century. This immersive experience is what brings our Exhibitions of Knowledge—vital, signature pieces of a Brimmer and May education—to life. A curricular highlight across grade levels, content areas, and divisions, these projects ask students to create, research, write, and then defend or present their work.

Exhibitions of Knowledge are interactive displays where students showcase their understanding and creative problem-solving on a particular subject. Unlike traditional assessments or essays, these exhibitions invite students to present what they’ve learned to faculty, families, and peers. This approach moves beyond simple memorization of facts by encouraging students to connect their learning to real-world applications and asking them to demonstrate their mastery. By participating in an exhibition, students not only reinforce their knowledge but also develop critical communication and presentation skills.

Rooted in the educational philosophy of Ted Sizer, founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools, the concept of Exhibitions of Knowledge calls for teachers to engage in a student-centered approach through project-based learning experiences. Sizer emphasizes the idea that learning should be meaningful and applicable, promoting exhibitions for students to show comprehensive understanding and practical skill application.

Creativity is a key element of the process and on full display in the Grade 3 Integrated Insects Study. “This project immerses students in the role of real entomologists, providing opportunities to observe, research, and create in ways that bring their learning to life,” says Grade 3 Teachers Christina Perez and Julie O’Neill. “It’s incredible to see their curiosity and excitement grow as they make meaningful Families drop by the Corkin Dining Commons to see the Grade 7 Biomimicry exhibitions; Inset: Assistant Head of School and Head of Middle School Carl Coombs P ’27 works with a student on their exhibition materials. continued on page 6 Brimmer Magazine

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Exhibitions of Knowledge continued from page 5

This Page: Lower School students in Grade 3 share their Integrated Insect Study exhibitions with their classmates and family members; Opposite Page: Middle School students in Grade 7 host a community drop-in to share their Biomimicry Projects.

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connections across science, social studies, literacy, and technology.”

Students observe insects outdoors, creating and placing insect traps. They delve into insect anatomy and lifecycles, care for mealworms, and make scientific observations. Each student selects a testable question about mealworms, then builds a mini-lab and conducts experiments to engage with the scientific method. As they explore insect adaptations— like mouthparts, legs, and camouflage—they gain a deeper understanding of how insects thrive in diverse environments. Having researched a real insect and created a one-pager to share their findings, students then plan their own “invented insect,” with adaptations suitable for an African region.

Students build their inventions using the software solution LEGO WeDo that they program accordingly. The project also includes a creative writing element where students digitally craft a “Who Would Win?” scenario featuring their insect battling a real insect. To complete the study, students build a diorama for their insect of a simulated African habitat using low-tech materials.

“Every component of this project invites students to make choices that direct their own learning,” says Lower School Director of Teaching & Learning Ina Patel. “They feel invested in the process, gaining a sense of autonomy, curiosity, and responsibility.

Students not only showcase what they’re learning but also how they’re applying it on a larger scale. This approach highlights their deep investment in the learning process.”

This work culminates with a final community exhibition during which third graders proudly display their knowledge about African habitats and insects and practice public speaking by presenting their written and creative work to the audience.

Part of what makes these exhibitions so special is the way that Brimmer faculty continues to innovate and ask students to do the same.

What was once a traditional science fair has become the Grade 7 Biomimicry Project.

This unit of study challenges students and fosters real-world problem-solving skills. Our seventh graders investigate climate change,

continued on page 8

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Exhibitions of Knowledge continued from page 7

examining its short- and long-term impacts, both globally and locally, with a specific focus on Boston. They then delve into biomimicry, a nature-inspired approach to innovation that uses materials of the natural world to solve human challenges. Students learn how nature has inspired innovative technologies, such as Japan’s high-speed Shinkansen train (modeled after the kingfisher’s aerodynamic beak) and UV-reflective windowpanes (inspired by spiderwebs) that prevent bird collisions.

“The Biomimicry Project is a great way to stretch students’ thinking beyond what they would typically do in a science classroom,” says Middle and Upper School Science Teacher Nia Gipson. “It allows students to take charge of

This page and Opposite Page: Upper School students in Grade 9 share their Canterbury Tales Project exhibitions in the Dining Commons.

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their own learning and look deeply at the way that nature solves problems to come up with innovative and sustainable solutions.”

As part of this exploration, students participate in the Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge.

Each student selects a UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) related to climate change and designs a biomimicry-inspired solution to address a problem connected to their chosen goal. They research and develop a design concept, drawing inspiration from a living organism. In English, they craft poems that reflect the essence of their chosen organism.

In art, students explore motion in animals and, in the past, have created articulated puppets to bring these movements to life.

Simulating professional design teams, students share their final projects with the Brimmer community during an exhibition that truly elevates the kind of interdisciplinary learning for which Brimmer is known.

Upper School students are asked to build upon the foundations from their earlier years, and they are challenged to use more complex habits of mind to analyze and research primary and

secondary sources. The Grade 9 Canterbury Tales Project explores medieval society through a rich, interdisciplinary lens. This assignment requires students to analyze Geoffrey Chaucer’s work while engaging with the cultural, social, and professional nuances of the Middle Ages.

Each group conducts historical research on an assigned pilgrim’s profession. Using guiding questions, students uncover details about the profession’s daily life, ethics, and societal perception in the 14th century. Students then delve into Chaucer’s portrayal of their pilgrim, analyzing the corresponding tale, main characters, plot elements, societal critiques, and Chaucer’s potential biases. By comparing historical realities with Chaucer’s representation, students grapple with questions of fairness and the influence of social class on storytelling.

The culminating exhibition brings together these insights in a dynamic and interactive format. Using trifold boards to display their research, and a complementary diorama or artistic reproduction, students highlight relevant aspects of their pilgrim’s experiences.

Additionally, each group develops an interactive digital presentation for visitors to

explore the work at their own pace.

“It is exciting to see the Chaucer Exhibition transform the School’s Dining Commons into a bustling medieval village, with students taking on roles as guild members, clergy, and other figures of Chaucer’s world,” says Head of Upper School Joshua Neudel P ’30. “It allows ninth graders to deepen their learning, develop research techniques, and strengthen their public speaking.” This multifaceted project exemplifies how an exhibition can transform a literary study into an interactive exploration of history, culture, and creativity.

When leaving an exhibition, the joy and pride that students express is palpable. These active learning opportunities require them to take ownership of their work and share their knowledge in engaging ways. The hands-on creation of visual elements and interactive displays encourages creativity while reinforcing their understanding of key concepts. These experiences not only deepen their understanding of the assignment but also foster a sense of accomplishment and confidence that stays with them long after the event is over. ■

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COLLABORATING & INNOVATING

Connection Through Creativity Hands-on arts curriculum unites our youngest and oldest students in learning and leadership

By Madison Perkins, Marketing & Communications Associate

H

and-built with mid-fire clay and wire.

Carved, glazed, and risen from the kiln, they’re alive—they’re alive! In a unique collaboration of craftsmanship and creativity, Upper School ceramics students brought monster drawings from PK students to life, transforming two-dimensional imaginings into three-dimensional works of art.

This fall, Taylor Vaughn’s PK class unleashed their imaginations as they were tasked with designing their very own monsters. The young artists eagerly sketched creatures adorned with horns, tails, pointed teeth, and even an extra eye or two. Some were tall and lanky, others short and stout, with each monster bursting with vibrant colors and bold patterns. No two creatures were alike, showcasing the students’ limitless creativity and unique perspectives. Once their masterpieces were complete, these

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budding Picassos handed their drawings over to Ceramics and Sculpture Teacher Amy Carpenter’s Upper School ceramics students for the next stage of creation.

The Upper School students carefully analyzed the PK artwork, ensuring they captured every unique detail. “At first, this project seemed fun and easy,” said Carpenter. “How hard could it be to turn a child’s drawing into a sculpture? What my students quickly realized is that crayon doesn’t translate instantly to clay. They had to find ways to make thin fingers

less fragile and spiky hair smooth to the touch. They experimented with underglaze colors, mixing them to get accurate hues.

They were constantly thinking of the PK students, wondering how they would react to receiving their monsters, wondering if they would recognize them, and hoping they would be happy with what they received.”

Using sgraffito techniques, students sculpted the monsters with precision and care. After a bisque fire to solidify the forms and lock in the base colors, the final glaze coat was applied, giving the monsters texture, color, and a glossy finish. Emerging from the kiln,

“I had a lot of fun with the monster project. It was exciting taking a kid’s drawing of a monster and bringing it to life. It was also a great way to learn how to look at a picture and turn it into a sculpture.”

—Aaron MacLean, Grade 9

“Creating and gifting the monsters was such a fun experience. When we delivered them to the PK class, it was so rewarding to see their faces light up with excitement and shock that we created them.”

—Sylvie Sitkoff, Grade 9

the completed monsters were ready for their grand debut. “It was a sweet moment when we walked across the street on a gray, rainy day with our bright packages of finished work and got to see the reactions we’d been anticipating during each stage of the process,” said Carpenter.

With great excitement, the Upper School students hand-delivered the ceramic monsters to their PK counterparts. The joy and amazement on the young artists’ faces as they saw their designs come to life was heartwarming, and the older students took pride in their ability to apply their newly acquired ceramics and design skills, from shaping and glazing the clay to bringing the monsters’ personalities to life with color and texture.

This project exemplifies the kind of crossdivisional collaboration Brimmer is known for, showcasing how students of different ages can learn and grow together.

“Collaborations across grade levels foster a sense of connection and mentorship, enriching the learning experience for Lower School students,” said Kimberly Formisano, Head of Lower School. “These interactions allow younger students to learn from older peers, building confidence and inspiring curiosity, while older students develop leadership and communication skills. Such projects strengthen the sense of community at Brimmer, encouraging mutual respect and shared learning among students of all ages. By embracing these partnerships, the school cultivates a culture of collaboration that benefits the entire community. I take great pride in being a leader in a school that

prioritizes and seeks out opportunities for cross-grade-level connections.”

Cross-divisional projects like this aren’t limited to the Lower and Upper Schools. In December, Middle School students partnered with Upper School students on a community service project to build bicycles. Working together, they followed a set of instructions and fully assembled 24 bicycles, fostering teamwork and a shared sense of purpose.

The completed bikes were then donated to the South Boston Neighborhood House, a nonprofit organization that supports local

families. Through this initiative, older students mentored younger ones, creating a meaningful experience for all involved.

Whether it is shaping monsters out of clay or assembling bicycles, Brimmer students learn the value of communication, collaboration, and creativity across age groups. These experiences strengthen bonds within the community and develop confidence in children’s leadership skills.

They also remind us that working together builds relationships that extend far beyond the classroom. ■ Brimmer Magazine

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Looking Back on 55 Years of the Emily C. Thompson Activities Center Brimmer and May School’s Hardwood Haven

By Joseph Iuliano P ’14, ’15, ’18, Assistant Head of Academic Affairs

F

or the past 54 years, the Thompson Activities Center—the gym—has hovered conspicuously over the landscape at the western edge of the Brimmer and May School campus, a mash up of a faux, fauxModernist chapel and a New England state park camp pavilion. While it has frequently provoked quizzical, wry, and censorial looks from passersby and attracted the interest of parkour and skateboarding enthusiasts with visions of scaling or surfing its urban-alpine rooftop, it is manifestly our gym. This iconic structure has, year after year for more than half a century, anchored Brimmer’s athletics

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program: team practices for every sport ever offered and competitive games for basketball and volleyball, PE classes for energetic students in grades PK-6, and muscle massbuilding reps and cardio health training in the fitness center. All of this, yes…and so much more.

From the spinning globe of the larger sports world—from Yaz and Orr to Lobo, Raisman, and Brady—and from the singlegender version to the all-gender version of Brimmer and May, the Thompson gym has stood firmly and housed not only our

athletic program but also essentially much of our student life, contributing uniquely and significantly to the culture and climate of the School. The Thompson gym has been a hub of communal activity, spinning like the Earth itself on an axis of school spirit with athletics at the North Pole and a multiplicity of school events at the South Pole.

Above: John Welter ’97 tests the height of the gym roof in 1997; Opposite: Construction begins in the spring of 1969 with a groundbreaking ceremony.

REFLECTION

Beyond its paramount role in athletics, the gym has been host to a plethora of community events: the Development Office’s Spring Auction and Game Night fundraisers, the Parents Association Summer Reading Book Sale, the Admissions Office Pizza Party welcoming new Lower School students, multiple theater performances—before we had the Ruth Corkin Theatre (1998) and before the fitness center remodeling (2015)—too many Middle School Dances (I personally supervised/survived 30 of them continued on page 14 Brimmer Magazine

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Looking Back continued from page 13

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during my 10 years as Middle School Head) and Upper School Dances (retired Lower School Head Thomas Fuller attended a dance in the Thompson gym when he was a student at Kimball Union!), Lower School Closing Ceremonies, Summer Camp Athletic Activities, and on and on to nose-swabbing during the pandemic and Saturday morning old man basketball games.

Opposite Top: Activities from basketball to dance filled the new gymnasium in the early 1970s; Opposite Middle Left: Performing a concert in 1985; Opposite Middle Right: Students in 1992; Opposite bottom left: Boys Soccer poses in 1994; At Top Left: Longtime Athletic Director Jeff Gates P ’13, ’13, ’15, ’15 coaching students in the early 2000s; At Top Right: Commencement 1986; Above: Head of School Emily Thompson gets piped in by bagpipers ahead of the dedication ceremony of the new building named in her honor.

Despite seeing consistent 12-hours-aday usage throughout the years, the gym has held up remarkably well over time, though not without its share of wear and tear: faulty HVAC, shattered windows, and crater-pocked walls—the latter the result of students’ errant ball throwing while practicing field sports (baseball, softball, lacrosse) indoors during wintertime preseason workouts or inclement springtime weather. Undeserved punishment, this, for its steadfast contributions to the Brimmer community.

The gym had a refresh a decade ago; interior walls were splashed anew with a fresh coat of paint and the lobby was recarpeted. The

original gym floor was replaced, bringing life to every bounced ball and to the basketball keys and mid-court logo. The stage was replaced with a floor-level fitness center and a new wall with netting to the ceiling was added. The locker rooms were refloored and refurbished. This remodel gave the Thompson gym new life, like adding sleek tires to a heavy-duty delivery van. We were sporty again.

People enter and exit the building through every door—those facing the Hastings Center offer easy access to the interior after one drops off equipment used for the outdoor sports, while those facing the parking lot offer both immediate entrance to the court and quick egress to a waiting bus, parent, guardian, or friend. When students and guests enter through the lobby, they may encounter Athletic Trainer Larry Stahley on the right, or their eyes may catch the trophy case brimming with awards from recent and ancient championships. If they look left, they will spy the wall of plaques that is continued on page 16 Brimmer Magazine

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Looking Back continued from page 15

The End of an Era

Trustee Leslie Stimmel Guggiari ’73 Reflects on Thompson Gym Impact stage as well. While the shape of the building did not work well for a stage curtain nor a backstage, we used it for every occasion: skits, plays, speeches, award ceremonies, and graduation. We even had our first invitational dances with boys’ schools, who bused their students to Chestnut

What a difference a building can

Hill so we could finally socialize

make in the life of a school. In my

on our own campus. What a

case, it was the construction of

transformation!

the Emily C. Thompson Activities

16

Center in the early 1970s. It was

We had the most modern

soon to be known around the

gymnastics equipment for PE; I

neighborhood and within the

learned how to balance on the

Brimmer and May community as

beam, jump on and off the pommel

the Flying Nun, as it so resembled

horse, and hold onto the rings. Our

the cap Sally Field wore in her

families could come to cheer us on

1960s TV series of the same name.

as the first basketball teams played

The roof was pure white and

on a real court...with an electronic

shone brightly on Middlesex Road,

scoreboard. Imagine! It changed

but underneath that roof was an

the life of the school, brought

entire school coming together

us closer together, and made us

to strengthen its community. We

stronger. It was truly a building that

gained not only a gym—with

had an impact. But now, 50 years

basketball courts, locker rooms,

later, it is time for a much-needed

and offices for the Athletic

upgrade. RIP Flying Nun, you

Department—but a performance

served us well.

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the School’s Athletic Hall of Fame—much of that fame earned in the very building.

But when they enter center court and look directly ahead, they will see the sum of the School’s athletic success displayed in large letters and numbers and hanging confidently on the netting of the Fitness Center: our championship banners.

Retired Athletic Director Jeff Gates was the denizen and proprietor of the gym for 29 years. Like Scatman Crothers’ character Dick Hallorann in the movie The Shining, Mr. Gates has watched over the gym from time immemorial. He was the scheduler of all events athletic, summoner of referees, distributor of uniforms, keeper of the clock and scorebook, greeter of all and bouncer of some (mostly students who kept shooting too long after he had called for all to exit late on Friday evenings), coach of many teams, joyful teacher of Lower School PE, and cheerleader for all athletes no matter their skill or ability.

Tom Nelson has taken on this role now, though he has spent more than a decade pacing the sidelines during basketball games and joyfully teaching Lower School PE himself. The building is the building, but the people are the building too: Mrs. Woods, Ms. Lin, and all the longtime coaches, too—Mr. Barker-Hook, Mr. Hardman, Mrs. Reardon (Ms. Stec), Mr. Slaski, Mr. Stratter, to name a few.

Thoughts of the gym bring to mind a mix of sensory experiences: the smell of the newly waxed floor; the feel of the steaming hot, humid, summertime air mass trapped between the hardwood of the floor and the hardwood of the ceiling (or during a near-fire-codebreaking crowd of 400 Middle School students dancing en masse to Britney Spears’ “Toxic”); the chill of the arctic air when the HVAC was off during an early morning practice; the sting of the sunshine knifing through the west-end windows just as one pulls up for a wing jump shot, an eye-blazing defender; the consternating acoustics that left most announcements half heard; the piles of student backpacks under the trophy case and engulfing the floorspace like a Vesuvian lava flow; the dull thud of a basketball dribbled onto a dead spot in the original floor; the clang of a shot off the rim or the swish of the ball through “nothing but net;” the thrill of a front-row

seat to every game; the ear-piercing screams, laughter, cheering, and applause of the players, coaches, and fans; the sound of the whistles and of the horn ending the game…

Built of cinder block with a hyperbolic roof of wood and stained beams, lit with fluorescent bulbs, and climate-controlled by a combination of open doors and a throaty heating system,

the Thompson Activities Center has served as a monument to Brimmer’s athletic successes and community cohesion. And, yes, everyone— students, faculty, staff, parents, alums—is excited and thankful for the prospect of a new, beautiful, spacious, well-appointed Recreation & Wellness Center to continue and grow what has been achieved on this parcel of the School for the past 50+ years.

Thank you to the Thompson Family for all the wonderment and fulfillment that this old iconic building has provided us. Thank you to the many donors who have given us the opportunity for “bigger and better,” for the resources our students need to thrive in the 21st century, for enabling us to build our community for 50 more years. The queen will be retired; long live the queen! ■

MARCH 2025: THE FINAL WALKTHROUGH

Clockwise from Top Left: Middle & Upper School students sign gym benches as keepsakes; (L-R) Director of Instructional Technology Jen Kunkel, Assistant Head of Academic Affairs Joe Iuliano P ’14, ’15, ’18, and Math Chair Nancy Bradley view the archival photo display; Students stop by to say their final goodbyes to the Thompson Gymnasium and share some of their favorite memories.

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spotlight on

THE KITCHEN TEAM Given the central and vital role that the Brimmer Kitchen plays in the life of the School, we wanted to shine a light on this incredibly dedicated team. “Without our Kitchen Team, Brimmer would not be the same,” says CFO Julian Hickman. “Their hard work and imaginative menus provide the energy and joy that our students, faculty, and staff need to excel both in and out of the classroom.” We sat down with Head Chef Taran Gavrin P ’37 to hear more about their team dynamics and the special kitchen culture they have been cultivating over the years.

We have loved getting to know you in your new role as Director of Food Services. What vision do you have for the Brimmer Kitchen as Head Chef?

I have loved getting to know the people. I started at Brimmer as Sous Chef during the peak of the pandemic, one of the most impersonal times to begin a new job. Because everyone was masked and socially distanced, it certainly took longer than normal to feel part of the community. My new role as Head Chef, combined with my son enrolling as a student, has given me the opportunity to feel fully involved in the complete Brimmer experience.

My vision for the Brimmer Kitchen is to ensure we are an extension of the learning experience. I want to give students an opportunity to smell new smells, taste new flavors, and embrace new cultures through their plates. And I want that learning experience to happen in a safe and welcoming environment. [Former Head Chef] Craig Roman elevated the standard of the Brimmer lunch, and my goal is to continue to meet that standard and hopefully, on occasion, surpass it.

Head Chef Taran Gavrin P ’37 working on a French recipe with Lower School students during after-school Cooking Club. Photo by Lower School French Teacher Géraldine Naddaff P ’15.

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How did you develop your love of cooking?

I was never one of those people who dreamed of becoming a chef; I stumbled into it. I started working in restaurants at age 19, when I was in college. I spent a month frying seafood and chicken strips at Town Docks in Meredith, NH. When I was offered a job waiting tables at one of their sister restaurants, I jumped at the opportunity. I wouldn’t seriously cook again until I went to culinary school at Johnson & Wales 10 years later. Returning to the service industry felt like the right place to be. I soon realized that cooking is a profession that rewards curiosity. The more questions you ask, the more cuisines you explore; the more flavors you encounter, the more qualified and rounded you become as a chef. I really fell in love with that. Cooking became a way to connect with and explore the world around me. Kitchens are welcoming environments, and I loved the opportunity to work with people from all over the world, who shared life experiences different than my own.

Meet Sous Chef Carlton Buckley “My passion for food began at a young age, watching my dad do most of the cooking at home. I guess you could say that image subliminally inspired my decision to become a chef. Growing up, I became the best in the family at preparing breakfast—pancakes, cheese eggs, and sausages; I will always remember that meal.

After graduating from the Art Institute of New York, I worked in several of New York’s premier three-star New York Times-rated restaurants and Michelin star-rated restaurants such as La Grenouille, Montrachet, Picholine, Le Cirque, Public, and Wallsé. I have prepared food for President Bill Clinton, Bono, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and many foreign dignitaries.

I spent a brief period as a Personal Tour Chef for Jay-Z and his family.

Since moving to Boston and starting my family (including fiancé Shadé, our four-year-old daughter Cheyenne, and our six-year-old pug Lala Sous (MY sous chef), I have loved being a part of the

Brimmer and May ecosystem. I truly enjoy cooking for the students and young adults on campus. Cooking for my own family helped me realize that joy. The Kitchen Team makes my job easy and fun every day; they keep me on my toes, and I cannot thank them enough! We work well together each day to get the job done.”

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New to my role this year, I have been leading the after-school Cooking Club. Having never taught before, I have embraced this challenge and tweaked the format to focus on both cooking and culture. With the help of Lower School French Teacher Géraldine Naddaff P ’15, we are exploring France, its flavors, smells, cooking techniques, and basic kitchen skills,

as well as the role of food in French culture. I hope to continue exploring the role of food in different cultures with our young students and with the help of our diverse faculty.

How do you come up with your menu choices each month? What are some Brimmer fan favorites?

I plan my menu about a month in advance.

The first consideration I make is determining who will be on campus on a given day.

If it is just the Lower School, I will cater

to younger palates. If Middle and Upper School students are present, I might be a little more experimental. I also try to consider the weather and time of year; stews or chilis are more comforting in the colder months.

Cooking for such a range of ages and backgrounds presents some challenges, so our ability to offer diverse options is important.

I also must take serious account of allergies and religious restrictions, all while providing a combination of old favorites and new flavors.

It becomes a combination of asking “Who am I cooking for?” and “Can I easily modify the dish so that everyone is safe and included?”

As for favorites, we offer something from the “Lunch Hall of Fame” every Friday, such as chicken tenders, pizza, mac and cheese, or grilled cheese and tomato soup. These are all very popular. However, some of our more adventurous dishes have become crowdpleasers as well. Bao buns, jerk chicken, and taco salad seem to be our most frequently requested menu items.

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Tell us about your joyful team and the magic that happens behind the scenes.

Debbie has been here for 25 years and has, in her own way, become woven into the fabric of not just Brimmer dining but the entire Brimmer community. She has been serving meals, helping set up and break down the Dining Commons, and creating relationships with everyone from the shy student to members of the Board of Trustees. She is always there if a student needs a bowl of cereal or a shoulder to cry on. A one-woman shipping and receiving department, Deb meticulously checks in and stocks every item on just about every order we receive. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of where everything goes and can locate a pan even if it hasn’t been used in several years.

Every delivery driver knows her, and she will usually send them on their way with a warm cup of coffee and a story.

“I love learning new things, meeting new people, and feeling a sense of accomplishment. I especially love getting to know our students; making people happy brings me the most joy!”

Deborah O’Malley, Food Services

Martha moved to Boston from Colombia in 1992 and began working as a dishwasher at Brimmer 17 years ago. She was later replaced by her aunt, Bella, and went on to work in just about every position in the kitchen.

She is now our salad bar expert, making sure it is fully stocked with a wide selection of salad bar staples as well as some unique items. Her house-made croutons have a devoted following, and it is not uncommon to see both faculty and students filling to-go cups with them. She is best known to both our Lower and Upper School students, to whom she serves hot meals daily.

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“Being part of a productive and diverse team with a shared goal makes me happiest at work, while sharing time with family and friends brings me the most joy outside of work.”

Martha Arroyave, Food Services

Joanna has come of age in the Brimmer Kitchen. She started helping her grandmother, Bella, working in the dish area at age 16. As she has grown up, she has continued to take on more responsibility. She has been a full-time member of our team for over six years, and she oversees the bread and sandwich stations. She stocks the bread for the deli bar and soup station, she makes the premade sandwiches for our Lower School, and she maintains the yogurt machine, building yogurt cups ahead of Lower School lunch. She has taken charge of making all our house-made dressings and our popular hummus. She is best known to both our Lower and Middle School students, to whom she serves daily with a warm and welcoming smile. Just don’t ask her for seconds on dessert!

“Seeing my kids happy and accomplishing their goals brings me joy. As a mom, my job is to give them the trust and support they need to do everything they set their mind to. Their happiness is my happiness. Other joys include listening to music that puts me in a good mood; getting my hair and nails done and feeling pampered; and a nice, sweet, iced coffee. I am thankful for all these things.”

Joanna Mesa, Food Services

Melany is in her sixth year serving as Catering Manager. She is the go-to contact for all on-campus events that need anything from a pitcher of water to a continental breakfast or a full dinner. She coordinates it all. A graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, she is an incredibly talented chef in her own right. Melany frequently makes small-batch breakfast items for any number of catered events, but her daily soups have developed a cult following in the Brimmer community.

Fluent in three languages, her ability to translate when needed is invaluable to our kitchen’s overall success. A trusted confidant to me personally and to everyone else in the kitchen, Melany is the glue that holds the kitchen team together.

“The happiness and success of my husband of 29 years and my three children brings me the most joy, as does reading a good book with a nice cup of tea, crocheting, crafting beautiful things, and, of course, seeing others enjoy my cooking.”

Melany Ferrimy, Catering Manager

Luz, a cousin of Martha, is in her fifth year at Brimmer and is an incredibly talented home cook. I am trying to encourage her to cook more on campus. She oversees the daily snack offerings for the entire School,

“I love spending time at home with my family, at work with my extended family and colleagues, and when I travel back to my home in Colombia every summer to spend time with my family there.”

Luz Restrepo, Food Services

diligently separating the Lower School snacks by classroom. Her fresh house-made muffins for Friday Middle and Upper School Snack are always a hit. At lunch, she oversees the deli bar while also serving Lower School students

“I love spending time with family, watching a good movie with my granddaughter, and snuggling with my dog, Luna. You can always find me drinking coffee while making my coworkers laugh with a joke or story—I truly enjoy the camaraderie I have with my Brimmer coworkers.”

Patricia Lopera, Food Services

from our satellite cart and hot lunch to the Upper School.

Patricia is in her fifth year as our dish wizard. Although not the most glamorous position, it is perhaps the most important one. She is a tireless worker with a wonderful sense of humor. Patricia fills the kitchen with laughter, whether it is her own or that of those around her. She is Joanna’s godmother and an aunt and cousin to Luz and Martha.

New to Brimmer this year, Carlton is our Sous Chef. He is a talented and experienced chef with cooking experience from many different kitchens [see sidebar on page 19]. Cooking for a school presents unique challenges compared to traditional kitchens.

Carlton has embraced these intricacies with enthusiasm while bringing an outgoing and welcoming personality to our team. ■ Brimmer Magazine

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Winterim 2025

Exploring the world through Brimmer’s signature experiential learning program

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TRAVELS AROUND THE WORLD

O

n their way to becoming global citizens, our Upper School students have the opportunity to explore and engage with the world through immersive, authentic travel.

The curricular focus of each trip is as diverse as the destinations themselves, with advanced prep work that lays the groundwork for truly meaningful travel experiences. Read on to learn about this year’s program!

Panama: Locks, Legends, and Landscapes Students on this STEAM-focused trip experienced the natural beauty and rich history of this Central American country, including a visit to the world-famous canal and the man-made Gatun Lake to see why it is considered one of the greatest feats of human engineering ever undertaken.

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Italy: The Campania Region Students journeyed to the enchanting region of Sorrento, Capri, and Pompeii, where history, natural beauty, and culinary delights intertwined to create an unforgettable cultural experience with breathtaking views from sea and land.

Boston: What Makes Beantown Tick?

With visits to local news and media stations as well as local state government, students had a chance to explore what makes our historic city tick from the inside out.

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Costa Rica: Wildlife, Waterfalls, and Whitewater Rafting Students discovered the natural wonders of Costa Rica with an eye toward environmental sustainability and ecological tourism.

Brimmer Alumna Cindy Brown ’64 (center with hat) recognized our group during a chance encounter!

Shakespeare’s London: The Original Will and Harry Students had the tactile experience of engaging with the source material for some of the most memorable works in English literature, including William Shakespeare and Harry Potter.

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Puerto Rico: The Science of the Senses Students embarked on an enriching educational expedition to this captivating island with a tapestry of history, culture, and natural wonders.

Austria & Germany: History, Culture, and Architecture Students had an opportunity to learn about the history and contributions of the Habsburg dynasty and the Austro-Hungarian Empire with visits to Vienna, Salzburg, Bavaria (including Munich) as well as a solemn journey to Dachau.

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Switzerland: Scenic Views and Alpine Adventures Students immersed themselves in this country of stunning vistas and picturesque towns and cities, with four official languages, and considered how its history lead to its language diversity.

Spain: Art, Culture, and Flamenco Students embraced the rich histories, countless traditions, and timeless architecture of Barcelona and Madrid while considering how these varied locales illustrate the diversity of cultural influences within a civilization.

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SPARKING INTEREST IN HUMANITIES

20th annual bissell grogan humanities symposium Building Community & Civil Discourse

By Sue Cuyler, Director of Marketing & Communications

At Top: Keynote Speaker Jason Craige Harris; At Left: Director of MS/US Library and Symposium Co-Chair Elyse Seltzer; Above: (L-R) Head of Upper School Joshua Neudel P ’30, Co-Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees John Fitzgerald P ’07, Symposium Namesake Kenyon Bissell Grogan ’76, Director of Development Elizabeth Smith P ’17, Head of School Judy Guild, Keynote Speaker Jason Craige Harris, Director of MS/US Library and Symposium Co-Chair Elyse Seltzer, Upper School Humanities Teacher and Symposium Co-Chair Bradley Starr, Assistant Head of School and Head of Middle School Carl Coombs P ’27, Chair of the Board of Trustees Chris Chou P ’29, ’33; Opposite Top Right: Student committee members Stephanie Altschul ’25 and Chloe Scolnick ’25 introduce our keynote speaker.

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n January 21, the Brimmer community came together for our annual Bissell Grogan Humanities Symposium.

We were thrilled to welcome international consultant, facilitator, and strategist Jason Craige Harris to the Corkin Theatre for a dynamic keynote address that explored skills for engaging in meaningful and courageous conversations across differences. Following the keynote, Upper School students participated in related workshops across diverse fields of interest, including team building, media literacy, dance, diplomacy, and freedom of speech, to name a few. “This year’s symposium helped us think about the importance of building, participating in, and caring for the community we live in each day,” said Head of School Judy Guild. “Mr. Harris provided practical tools for navigating challenging dialogues, fostering understanding, and building connections in diverse communities.”

Keynote Speaker Jason Craige Harris Building Bridges: 10 Skills for Better Conversations Across Differences

at our annual symposium. “We can have conversations about anything at all, as long as we have the right skills.”

’25 and Chloe Scolnick ’25

Before digging in, Harris set the tone by inviting the audience to take a collective inhale and exhale and communicating what he called Brave Space Guidelines: Be here. Be open. Be engaged. Be respectful. Be the change.

We are living in divisive times, and having the skills to communicate respectfully could not be more important. But how do we navigate difficult conversations when there is so much disagreement? “It is possible to have better conversations,” said keynote speaker Jason Craige Harris when he took the stage

Harris’ talk centered around three interconnected values essential for having kind and respectful conversations: empathy, curiosity, and humility. “Humility is a lost art in our culture,” he began. “When you listen and find yourself saying, ‘I need to know more,’ that is an invitation into empathy.” He

Introduced by Stephanie Altschul

J

ason Craige Harris is a voice for healing, transformation, and the power of storytelling. He brings together insights from diverse fields as a facilitator, conflict mediator, leadership coach, and spiritual teacher. He works in a variety of contexts, with a range of constituents, and across industries to promote cultures of dignity, belonging, and repair. He regularly advises leaders on how to solve big challenges, manage complex crises, and pursue lasting change.

As a researcher, educator, and strategist, Harris holds expertise in organizational development, dignity and belonging, dialogue and group dynamics, the psychology of identity and leadership, and conflict transformation and restorative justice. In all of his work, he draws on a deep well of research, practice, and mindfulness to transform leaders, teams, and organizational cultures.

Harris is committed to educating the public. He is a member of the speakers’ bureau at Pollyanna, a national organization working to promote racial literacy and cultural competency. He writes on issues pertaining to leadership, culture, conflict, abuse, repair, and religion/spirituality. He is also the social impact producer for a documentary with Impactful titled Race to Be Human, a film on how to talk about race and mental health. In addition, he serves as a senior partner at a consulting firm that serves organizations around the world.

Previously, Harris was the director of diversity and inclusion at an independent school in New York City, where he co-led the school’s peace, equity, and justice department and taught courses at the intersection of ethics, history, and religion. He sits on the boards of Seeds of Peace, Hidden Water, and Getting to We. continued on page 32

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Bissell Grogan Symposium continued from page 31

Workshops

Building Community & Civil Discourse Telling Our Truths: The Transformative Power of Storytelling Jason Craige Harris, Healer, Strategist, Crisis Manager, Conflict Mediator, Dialogue Expert, and Leadership Coach May I Have This Dance, Please?

Rodney López, Educator, Artist, and Nonprofit Leader Beyond the Game: Building Connections & Community Through Civil Discourse Willeen Capehart, Mental Health Consultant Navigating Crucial Conversations Elizabeth Carroll, New England Program Director, Facing History & Ourselves Talk It Out: How Respectful Conversations Build Stronger Communities Mallory Rohrig, Executive Director, Fenway Community Center Story Telling, Story Listening Cindy Rivka Marshall, Award-Winning Storyteller, Educator, and Facilitator Civil Discourse in Town Meetings: A Model for Local Government Ben Kaufman, Town Clerk, City of Brookline, MA

THE BISSELL GROGAN

HUMANITIES SYMPOSIUM

Building Community Through Windows & Mirrors

WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2006 IN

Jessica Christian P ’33, ’35, Brimmer Director of DEIB Rachel Wolf Heyman P ’29, ’32, Brimmer Lower School Drama Teacher

GROGAN, FORMER CHAIR OF

Want to Build a Better Community? Reach Across the Political Divide!

Kent Lenci, Teacher and Author

HONOR OF KENYON BISSELL

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND BRIMMER GRADUATE OF THE CLASS OF 1976. THE GOAL OF THE SYMPOSIUM IS TO

BOTH EDUCATE AND ENGAGE

Freedom of Speech and of the Press in the Age of Social Media

STUDENTS IN RELEVANT TOPICS

Ken Levine, Brimmer Upper School Supreme Court Elective Teacher Howard M. Cooper, Attorney Janet Sanders, Civil Litigation Judge

ATTENDED BY STUDENTS IN

Using Dialogue to Promote Civil Discourse in Wellesley Lise Olney, Wellesley Civil Discourse Initiative

OF TODAY. AN ANNUAL EVENT GRADES 8-12, IT COMMENCES

WITH A KEYNOTE SPEECH AND IS FOLLOWED BY WORKSHOPS THAT EXPLORE A DIVERSE

RANGE OF SUBJECTS ON A CHOSEN TOPIC.

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opened by sharing what empathy looks like in a conversational setting, including using attentive body language, echoing what you hear, and checking for understanding. “You want people to feel understood,” he said. “You want to show up to the conversation with this intent.”

As a way for students to practice empathy directly, Harris invited the audience to weigh in on a sample conversation between people set in their ways. The thoughtful questions that followed showed how common it is to find ourselves in similar scenarios, where listening to understand is critical. “When self-centered people are in dialogue, they can’t practice empathy,” said Harris, who went on to remind students that understanding is more important than relatability. “I don’t have to be you to connect with how you feel.”

Bringing curiosity to a conversation also takes practice, and Harris reminded us how important it is, even when triggered, to remember to slow down and say, “Tell me more.” Being curious means you are listening to learn, not just to respond. You are asking good questions. You are calling in, not calling out. Doing so can lead to a productive dialogue that widens your own viewpoint. “Pause your internal monologue so you can fully hear someone else’s perspective,” he encouraged.

“Remember that everyone has wisdom to offer.”

(L-R) Brimmer Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Jessica Christian P ’33, ’35 and Brimmer Lower School Drama Teacher Rachel Wolf Heyman P ’29, ’32

When discussing the third value of humility, Harris homed in on one of the bigger problems in difficult conversations: constant interruption.

This kind of challenging conversation almost always creates a stress response, but adopting an intentional four-pronged approach can help shift a negative reaction. First, question your assumptions; acknowledge that you could be wrong. Second, speak your truth using only “I” statements. After all, the only person you truly know is you. Third, disagree but don’t dismiss—achieved by saying, “I don’t see it that way.” And finally, own your impact.

Take responsibility for your own behavior by acknowledging when you could have said something differently.

“By coming to every conversation with these three values,” said Harris in closing, “we open up the possibility of a better world.” ■

(L-R) Brimmer Upper School Supreme Court Elective Teacher Ken Levine and Hon. Janet Sanders, Civil Litigation Judge.

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Bissell Grogan Symposium continued from page 33

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Opposite Top Left: Rodney López, Educator, Artist, and Nonprofit Leader; Opposite Top Right: Lise Olney, Wellesley Civil Discourse Initiative; Opposite Bottom Left: Cindy Rivka Marshall, Award-Winning Storyteller, Educator, and Facilitator; Opposite Bottom Right: Kent Lenci, Teacher and Author; At Top Left: Willeen Capehart, Mental Health Consultant; At Top Right: Elizabeth Carroll, New England Program Director, Facing History & Ourselves; At Bottom Left: Ben Kaufman, Town Clerk, City of Brookline, MA; At Bottom Right: Mallory Rohrig, Executive Director, Fenway Community Center.

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HEADER GOES HERE

2024 Harvestfest

Our annual School-wide event celebrates fall in New England!

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HEADER GOES HERE

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DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

brimmer in the 2024-2025 school year

By Elizabeth Smith P’17, Director of Development

T

his has been a busy and productive year for the Development & Alumni Office at Brimmer, and we’re excited to share some updates with our community.

For our alumni and alumni parents, we were proud to launch the Alumni Strategic Plan 2025-2028 this past December (see back of issue for full plan). As Director of Alumni Affairs & Special Events Amanda Spooner Eppers ’88, P ’22 and I noted in earlier communications, this plan underscores our unwavering commitment to fostering lifelong connections between Brimmer and its alumni, while supporting the continued growth and success of the School. Special thanks to Trustee Leslie Stimmel Guggiari ’73 for championing this initiative and consistently elevating alumni voices in our advancement efforts.

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We have also made remarkable progress on the Building Our Tomorrow campaign, which went public in May 2024. To date, we have raised $7.2 million for the endowment and $18.9 million in capital gifts, bringing our total to $26.1 million. We have secured 133 gifts for the campaign, including 5 gifts of $1 million or more, 25 gifts of $100,000 or more, and numerous gifts ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. All gifts can be pledged over 3-5 years to maximize their impact.

Thanks to the generosity of many, we began demolishing the current Thompson Activities Center in March and broke ground on the new Recreation & Wellness Center soon after. As many of you know, we have already met the goal for our Faculty Compensation & Teaching Excellence Endowment, and we are thrilled about how the initiatives the

endowment supports will positively impact both current and future students.

We are also on track to meet our $1 million goal for the 2024-2025 Annual Fund.

The Annual Fund is our highest fundraising priority each year, supporting every aspect of the Brimmer experience. It gives the Board and administration the flexibility to respond to the School’s needs throughout the year—whether through supporting faculty development, financial aid, classroom technology, a well-maintained campus, a healthy lunch program, or strong PE, athletics, and arts programs. Remember, you have until June 30 to contribute to the Annual Fund—every gift counts, and every gift makes a difference. It is particularly important that we keep our

ALUMNI

parent and alumni participation numbers up as we reach out to outside foundations for support.

In addition to our fundraising efforts, we have hosted several exciting events this year, including the Homecoming soccer games and BBQ on Orr Field in October, the Board of Visitors Day, our Alumni Holiday Party, and the 20th Anniversary of the Bissell Grogan Humanities Symposium. Our annual Circles: A Coffee House in January was another highlight, as was the Next Chapter Community Celebration & Auction in April.

In May, we will host Alumni Day, featuring the first open Alumni Association meeting in over 15 years.

This winter, the Alumni Office traveled to New York City, Washington, D.C., and Florida for alumni events and professional development (see page 71). We were deeply moved by the consistent feedback from our alumni about the lasting impact of their Brimmer education, which continues to resonate—often even more with the perspective of time.

We are incredibly grateful to all of our alumni, parents, alumni parents, trustees, and grandparents who support the School and remain connected through their belief in the power of a Brimmer and May School education. ■

please join us for

ALUMNI DAY on May 10, 2025

Opposite: The Brimmer Alumni & Development Office celebrating the holidays at The Street in Chestnut Hill, including (L-R) Director of Alumni Affairs & Special Events Amanda Spooner Eppers ’88, P ’22, Advancement Associate Mark Sehnert, Director of Annual Giving Sharin Russell, and Director of Development Elizabeth Smith P ’17.

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GETTING CREATIVE

Lower School Fall Community Performance Show the World

This year’s performance was inspired by the theme of self-expression. Lower School Creative Arts classes explored a diverse range of literature this fall that influenced the art, music, drama, dance, stories, and poetry performed on stage.

Students made personal connections to the theme, contributing their own imaginative ideas and feeling empowered to “show the world” who they are through each of their unique talents and voices. The colorful mural that served as the set was created by Lower School art classes. Hidden amongst the geometric shapes were student-generated words of affirmation, inspired by the bold geometric paintings of American painter and art educator Alma Thomas.

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GETTING CREATIVE

Middle School Play The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe Dramatized by Joseph Robinette and directed by Middle School Drama Teacher Andrea Underhill-Curtin, this production brought the classic tale of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia to life, highlighting the magical world’s struggles and the journey of the Pevensie children. Underhill-Curtin knew the production would remind audiences of the deeper story behind the popular book series. “It’s a classic tale that everybody knows, but when you talk to people about it, it seems as though they forget the details of how and why the kids get to Narnia, and how they manage to get out,” Underhill-Curtin said.

—Journalist Leo Latino ’28 for The Gator

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GETTING CREATIVE

Upper School Play Puffs Creative Arts Department Chair Bill Jacob P ’06 directed this comedic take on the magical world many are familiar with but from the perspective of “normal” students. Written by Matt Cox, the play is a comedy about magical students who aren’t worried about world-saving adventures. According to Jacob, the play is a “very fast improv-show” and that “audiences familiar with a certain famous book series will recognize characters, themes, and events quite a bit.” The “small but mighty group of sixteen” who made up the cast play multiple characters, noted Jacob, with some playing upward of ten different characters.

—Journalist Leo Latino ’28 for The Gator

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GETTING CREATIVE

Winter Concert What a joyful celebration of the season! Thank you to The Gator Scales, 4th & 5th Grade Chorus, May Chorale, Greenline, and the Faculty & Staff Choir for filling our theater with beautiful music in December. Shout-out to our amazing faculty leadership, including Middle & Upper School Music Teacher Max Holman, Lower School Music Teacher Caroline Scheibe, and Instrumental & General Music Teacher Dr. Alex Ostergard.

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GETTING CREATIVE

Winter Instrumental Music Concert Congratulations to the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade bands, as well as The Gator Scales, for an entertaining performance in January. Special thanks to Instrumental & General Music Teacher Dr. Alex Ostergard for leading and inspiring our student musicians.

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GETTING CREATIVE

Untitled-1.indd 1

Circles 21: A Coffee House Another outstanding Coffee House is in the books! Creative Arts Department Chair Bill Jacob P ’06 and Upper School History Teacher Ted Barker-Hook P ’23 have organized and hosted this amazing event for the past 21 years, and it never disappoints.

Thank you to all our talented students, faculty, and alumni who participated in the evening.

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12/16/24 12:12 PM

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award-winning artists

The results are in, and Brimmer knocked it out of the park with a total of 27 awards! We are incredibly proud of all our artists and the amazing work they create every single day. While some of the award-winning work was created outside of class, we are happy to recognize these students as part of our community. Join us in congratulating the following artists for receiving these coveted awards.

—Kathryn Lee P ’32, ’34, Director of Innovation & Design Middle & Upper School Art Teacher

Isaac Morris ’26, Expanded Art Honorable Mention

Ben Dykeman ’25, Photography Silver Key

Aryaa Mutha ’26, Expanded Art Silver Key

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Giulia Laurenza ’25, Fashion Honorable Mention

Congratulations to our award-winning students for their art created outside the Brimmer classroom!

Taylor Liu ’27 Drawing and Illustration, Silver Key Erny Peng ’25 Photography, Honorable Mention Sabrina Wang ’29 Drawing and Illustration, Silver Key Printmaking, Gold Key Drawing and Illustration, Gold Key Printmaking, Gold Key Drawing and Illustration, Gold Key Painting, Gold Key Zoey Zheng ’25 Painting, Honorable Mention Mixed Media, Silver Key Photography, Silver Key Portfolio, Honorable Mention Drawing and Illustration, Gold Key

Lucas Williams ’25, Photography Honorable Mention

Caleb Meranus ’26, Photography Honorable Mention

Ady Jaeckel ’25, Mixed Media Silver Key continued on page 60 Brimmer Magazine

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Award-Winning Artists continued from page 59

Lucas Williams ’25, Photography Silver Key

Caleb Meranus ’26, Photography Honorable Mention

Caleb Meranus ’26, Photography Honorable Mention

Ady Jaeckel ’25, Ceramics Gold Key 60

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Ariana Lorenzo Matos ’27, Drawing & Illustration Honorable Mention

Phillip Lane ’29, Mixed Media Honorable Mention

Zoey Zheng ’25, Drawing Honorable Mention Brimmer Magazine

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HEADER GOES FALL HERE & WINTER ATHLETICS

Varsity Boys Soccer

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FALL AWARDS & ACCOLADES Alexa Dykeman ’27 Varsity Girls Soccer IGC All-League

Charlotte Woolley ’30 Varsity Girls Cross Country MBIL All-League

Maya Tedrake ’27 Varsity Girls Soccer IGC All-League NEPSAC All-Star

Lucas Williams ’25 Varsity Boys Soccer MBIL All-League

IGC All-League

Isaac Morris ’26 Varsity Boys Cross Country All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention MBIL All-League

Gloria Laurenza ’29 Varsity Girls Cross Country All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention MBIL All-League

Huck Jennings ’25 Varsity Boys Cross Country All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention MBIL All-League

Elliana Barros ’30 Varsity Girls Cross Country MBIL All-League

Sam Gavin ’25 Varsity Boys Cross Country All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention

Sophia Sampaio ’26 Varsity Girls Volleyball

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FALL & WINTER ATHLETICS

Varsity Girls Volleyball improved significantly, executing bump, set, and hit plays with precision, setting the stage for a promising future. In just three years, the Brimmer program has grown to include Varsity, JV, and Middle School teams.

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Varsity Girls Cross Country had a banner year, clinching the MBIL championship. They were also named 2024 IGC Champions with three All-Star runners recognized. Varsity Boys Cross Country placed second in the NEPSTA Division 4 championships—the highest finish ever for Brimmer.

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FALL & WINTER ATHLETICS

Varsity Girls Soccer had an impressive run, advancing to the IGC semifinals.

Their thrilling quarterfinal victory on penalty kicks was truly inspiring.

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Varsity Boys Basketball

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FALL & WINTER ATHLETICS

Congratulations to our Varsity Girls Basketball 2024-25 NEPSAC Class D Champions and IGC League Champions!

Congratulations to Jaliah Duplessy ’29 on being named MVP of the championship game!

Photo credit: Twin ViZuals Photography

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Varsity II Boys Basketball

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FALL & WINTER ATHLETICS

Varsity Curling had another outstanding season, securing multiple titles and showcasing our continued excellence in the sport. The team added to their impressive achievements by claiming the Country Club Cup (awarded to the high school league champion), the Winsor Trophy, and the British School Trophy, along with finishing as runners-up for the Dexter Southfield Trophy.

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ALUMNI

Winter Alumni Gatherings

Washington, DC

We had a wonderful time meeting up with Brimmer alumni in Washington, DC while we were there for a CASE/NAIS conference! (L-R) Advancement Associate Mark Sehnert, Director of Annual Giving Sharin Russell, Guest of Kusumitha Mallidi ’19, Kusumitha Mallidi ’19, Elizabeth Teklu ’17, Director of Development Elizabeth Smith P ’17, Director of Alumni Affairs & Special Events Amanda Spooner Eppers ’88, P ’22, Michelle King ’89, Lisa Comer Sion ’87, Eleanor Whittemore Latimer ’65.

New York, NY

Palm Beach, FL

We had a fabulous luncheon with our alums this past February! Front Row: (L-R) Leslie Fitzgerald Fallon ’66, Head of School Judy Guild, Trustee Carol Tesone Croffy ’67; Back Row L-R): Katie Maloney ’84, Director of Development Elizabeth Smith P ’17, Director of Alumni Affairs & Special Events Amanda Spooner Eppers ’88, P ’22.

What an excellent evening catching up with our alumni in NYC for our annual gathering. This year, we brought fanfavorite faculty member (and Math Department Chair) Nancy Bradley—a treat for all who attended. At Top: (L-R) Susanna Calhoun ’15, Holly Eaton ’09, Head of School Judy Guild, Sam Eigerman ’19, Anja Westhues ’20, Chloe Berlin ’20, Quinn Iuliano ’14, Former Administrator Cassie Abodeely, Math Department Chair Nancy Bradley, Michael Laskaris ’07.

At Bottom: (Back, L-R) Director of Alumni Affairs & Special Events Amanda Spooner Eppers ’88, P ’22, Susanna Calhoun ’15, Quinn Iuliano ’14, Sam Eigerman ’19, and Chloe Berlin ’20. (Front, L-R) Head of School Judy Guild, Michael Laskaris ’07, Math Department Chair Nancy Bradley, Holly Eaton ’09, Anja Westhues ’20, Former Administrator Cassie Abodeely, and Director of Development Elizabeth Smith P ’17.

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alumni holiday

party

(L-R) Jaye Giglio ’12, Marlee Giglio ’10, Kaleigh Marcotte ’12 and Fiancé, Ali Fisher ’12, Former Head of Lower School Thomas Fuller

Members of the Class of 2024 with Head of School Judy Guild

(L-R) Assistant Head of Academic Affairs Joseph Iuliano P ’14, ’15, 18, Jake Fay ’13, John Powell ’13, Athletic Director Tom Nelson

(L-R) Joe Levinger P ’19, Trustee Karine Ernest P ’09, ’14, ’19, Elizabeth Lefevre P ’15

(L-R) Head of School Judy Guild and BOV Member Lawrence Siff P ’15, ’17, ’17

(L-R) Claire Fleming ’25, Mark Fleming P ’25, Rachel Renton P ’25

The Class of 2025 with Head of School Judy Guild

(L-R) Director of Alumni Affairs & Special Events Amanda Spooner Eppers ’88, P ’22, Angela Baggett P ’24, Charlotte Dixon P ’25

(L-R) Director of Enrollment Management Brian Beale P ’35, ’37, Sarah Smith ’17, Enna Spivak ’17

(L-R) Trustee Leslie Stimmel Guggiari ’73, Board Co-Vice Chair Suzzara Durocher P ’18, ’21

(L-R) Oliver Baggett ’24, Lucas Williams ’25, Binyam Tsegai ’26, Conno Wagner ’25 Brimmer Magazine

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lower school skating night What a great turnout we had for this beloved annual event at Larz Anderson Park in Brookline, MA!

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winter 2025 temple fair Celebrating Chinese culture and the Year of the Snake with arts and crafts, games, and prizes in the Hastings Innovation Space.

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HEADER GOES HERE

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CELEBRATING LEARNING

board of visitors day

Authentic Learning & Bold Thinking

Members of our Board of Visitors (BOV)—including former trustees and staff, alumni, parents, educators, and friends—joined us on campus in October for a morning of faculty and student panel discussions; a keynote address from PK Teacher Taylor Vaughn and Associate Director of College Counseling Dan Birdsall; a beautiful performance from Greenline, Brimmer’s award-winning Upper School student choral ensemble; and a state of the School address from Head of School Judy Guild. “Board of Visitors Day exceeded expectations,” says Director of Development Elizabeth Smith P ’17. “Our guests expressed their enjoyment of the keynote address about authentic learning and bold thinking starting in PK and ending with the college application process, and they relished interacting with current students about Brimmer today. Thank you to all of them for staying informed and engaged with our School.”

Lower School In her presentation, “Becoming Changemakers: Global Education and Taking Action for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS),” Kindergarten Teacher and Global Education Curriculum Coordinator Sarah Wyllie shared the ways in which Brimmer helps students develop global competency skills every day through our Core Values, SEL curriculum, and DEIB work, not only in the classroom but through cross-grade activities.

“The magic really comes to life when we engage in this work with our Buddies,” shared Wyllie. “We use Share and our Buddy Groups as an opportunity for students to feel empowered to share their own perspectives, expertise, and understanding.” Special thanks to our fourth-grade changemakers who presented what they’ve learned about these global challenges through these classroom initiatives.

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Middle School Middle and Upper School Science Teacher Nia Gipson presented on the new VEX IQ robots acquired for their Grade 7 Science robotics unit.

Joined by student Lila Saghbini ’29, they shared that beyond just learning how to construct and code a robot in class, they broadened their understanding of robotics to include the societal impact and ethical implication of robotics. “The unit began by examining robotics via the lens of science fiction by first learning about Asimov’s Three

Upper School Charlotte Wolfstich ’26 and Paloma Hassan ’27 gave our visitors a glimpse into their Brimmer experience by each highlighting an impactful course. “Last year, I took a valuable class on healthy relationships as part of our wellness curriculum,” shared Wolfstich. “We discussed the use of boundaries, communication, and respect and conducted research on the concept of green and red flags (or how to recognize the negatives

Laws of Robotics,” shared Gipson. “We then compared what we see portrayed in science fiction with the reality of robotics.

Finally, students were challenged to create their own two-page comic exploring the ethical challenges that could potentially arise in the future when it comes to human/robot interactions.”

and the positives of your relationships). I have been able to apply these lessons to my friendships, family, and even my relationships with teachers and employers.” Hassan had a similar experience in her Core 9 class, a freshman requirement that focuses on essential skills like time management, workload organization, and identifying learning styles. “One of the lessons that impacted me most was understanding whether I’m a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner,” shared Hassan. “This has helped me tailor my study habits, take charge of my learning, adapt to various academic challenges, and make the most of the resources available to me.” continued on page 80 Brimmer Magazine

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KEYNOTE ADDRESS

It Starts with the Four-Year-Olds: Authentic Learning and Bold Thinking Taylor Vaughn, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher Dan Birdsall, Associate Director of College Counseling & Director of US Leadership Programs With PK Teacher Taylor Vaughn representing the entry point to Brimmer for many students, and College Counselor Dan Birdsall focused on preparing students to leave the School, we welcomed them both to the BOV keynote podium to share how this year’s theme comes to life in both our youngest and most seasoned learners.

Who Are You?

By Taylor Vaughn, PK Teacher

As we continue to explore the ABCs of education this year—Authentic Learning, Bold Thinking, and Compassionate Community—I’d like to share what these concepts look like for our youngest learners.

If I were to ask the question “Who are you?” or even “What are your words?” or “What makes you special, unique, and different?”, how would you answer? It feels like a complex question, right? Some might tell me their name, while others might give me descriptors or tell me about their career.

For some, it might feel easy to answer while others might need to think a bit longer before answering. The question “Who are you?” has layers; it takes exploration and thoughtfulness. But what if I told you that this is the very first question that we ask our PK students at the start of the year?

When we posed this question to our PK students this year, we asked them to think about the things that make them special and unique, things that they might tell someone about themselves. Our students began to make a list. They said that they are scientists, engineers, artists, sisters, brothers, learners, kind friends, MBTA experts, and so much more. They boldly expressed their love for exploration and

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desire to share in community without limiting the complexity of their identities.

Students found commonality in their vast yet short existence. While they are all different and unique and offer different skills to our classroom community, we learned through this project that much about them intersects.

Authentic Learning Few of us can remember back to our PK or kindergarten years. But if we could, we might have fond memories of coloring and playing. But what did it all mean?

Oftentimes, when we hear the word “play,” we think of chaos. We think loud, messy, and unstructured. When we hear the term “play-based learning,” we might envision a free-for-all. But when children engage in play inside of the classroom, they are collaborating, problem-solving, thinking critically, and building empathy. For young students, when given simple play tools, those tools can become anything our students’ desire.

Let’s look at a conversation that happened recently at the sensory sand table: S (scooping sand into a bucket and adding stones to the top): Look C! I made an ice cream cone!

C: Mmmm. I love ice cream. Vanilla is my favorite.

S: I like chocolate ice cream.

C: I love that ice cream, too!

S: I like all different types of ice cream.

C: Yeah. Sometimes I go and get ice cream with my family.

S: Me, too!

The next day…

C: Look N! I made an ice cream cone!

N: Oooo C, why don’t we make ice cream for each other!

C: Ooh, good idea. I’ll add sprinkles.

N: Or maybe we can make ice cream for everybody!

C: That’s a great idea!

Opposite Left: PK Teacher Taylor Vaughn helps her students explore attributes that make them special and unique. At Top: PK students cast their vote for the name of their ice cream stand.

After these two conversations, almost every student went to the sand table to create ice cream. At Morning Meeting, we acknowledged what students were exploring and discussed other areas where they could incorporate ice cream. Students ultimately decided to turn dramatic play into an ice cream shop. They worked together to come up with a list of things needed for a shop, including scoops, bowls, cones, and, of course, ice cream.

One of the big things they insisted they needed was a menu. Each student dreamed up an ice cream item and crafted a representational drawing of their treat. By simply making these drawings, students are learning how to hold their writing instruments correctly. They are thinking about shapes (an ice cream cone is a triangle and circles). They are practicing number formation when pricing their items. Let me tell you: Inflation is real, and it starts in PK! Once students had the menu set, it was time to decide on the products. Using model magic and markers to make ice cream, they worked on color mixing and made buckets of tissue paper scoops. In the Makerspace, they built three-dimensional bowls, cups,

and cones. Students were impressed with a classmate’s ability to create a 3D bowl using cardboard shapes and tape. During Closing Meeting, this student had the opportunity to walk his classmates through his design process, sharing photos of each step he took and encouraging them to head to the Makerspace in the following days to explore their own 3D shapes.

Finally, what is an ice cream shop without a name?! Our PK students couldn’t decide on just one. We heard options like Ice Cream Tavern, Cheese Popsicle, The Fox, and Dot, Dot, Not a Lot of Ice Cream On the Cone.

With so many great ideas, I understood why they couldn’t agree. As we began to think about a fair way to select a name, someone suggested taking a vote to decide. As a class, we’ve voted before: on what book to read at story time or whether we should have indoor or outdoor recess. Some students had even discussed or gone with grownups to vote in local elections. But this wasn’t just any vote!

PK students used their bold thinking to hold a classroom election.

We first held a primary election in the continued on page 82 Brimmer Magazine

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classroom to narrow down the choices from twelve to two. Students created voter registration cards and election posters, and some even campaigned for their favorite name. When you combine bold thinking and authentic learning, compassionate, global-minded community members follow naturally.

While learning about voting as a civic duty, students are learning about the importance of their voice—that their thoughts and ideas can influence a classroom and a community at large. Because of the sand table, students were able to practice collaborative skills, use appropriate communication, and show care and kindness when disagreeing. They became emboldened to change the landscape of their classroom setting, recognizing that even at ages four and five, they have creative and innovative ideas to share.

Our hope for our youngest learners is that they continue through their Brimmer

community reflecting our Core Values in action, making Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Honesty, and Equity integral parts of their identity as they change and grow. Our goal is that they walk through their Brimmer experience as innovators and collaborators while sharing their interests, thoughts, and the foundations of who they are.

Authentic learning is going apple picking with a fifth-grade Buddy and then using said apples to explore measurement and sorting.

It is taking the initiative to teach classmates about an important topic by leading a discussion, like one student did when sharing the story of how she got her name: “I was named after my great-grandmother. Her name was the same as mine, but they called her Honey!”

The second big question we ask students to explore is, “What is your role in your community?” PK students have been exploring the difference between wants and needs and helping fill backpacks full of school supplies for students just like them in the Greater Boston area. To inspire students

to design with great imagination and skill, we paired them with our ninth-grade Geometry students to design birdhouses for the Brimmer Organic Garden.

Through Family Share, where students and parents share important aspects of their culture and family dynamics, students build compassion, empathy, and understanding for their classmates and the various cultural differences that come together to make our beautiful Brimmer community. In PK, we believe in setting the foundation for what it means to be a student and a learner, not just within the walls of Brimmer but out in the world as global ambassadors for change.

We see them reaching Middle School and joining the play or musical, feeling confident on stage; trying a sport that feels unfamiliar; or adding their background knowledge of engineering and coding to the Robotics Team. We see them reaching twelfth grade with a greater understanding of who they are as they start the College Counseling process. We see them one day becoming the engineers, scientists, artists, and teachers they said they were at age four. ■

Leaving a Legacy

By Dan Birdsall, Associate Director of College Counseling, Director of US Leadership Programs As with the start to their Brimmer experience, students begin their work with the College Counseling team—the first formal step in their extended exit interview from high school—by considering who they are, what they value, and how this might translate into a university experience. By the time they reach us, the exercise is lighter on finger paint, Play-Doh, and crayons and more oriented toward online surveys and college database platforms, though the core task is remarkably similar. As we regularly remind students and families, there are approximately 2,000 four-year colleges and universities in the United States! This means both that there is somewhere for everyone in the American college landscape and that there

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is a great deal of variety to consider. This is where knowing oneself comes in.

While the college process is heavily oriented toward forward-thinking, as students conclude their time at Brimmer they are also tasked with considering their legacies at the School through the 12th Grade Project. This flexibly defined requirement asks students to contemplate how they would like to be remembered as they prepare to depart the student body—and join the alumni community—and conceive of a project that distills and captures that essence for display in a community-wide symposium at the end of the academic year.

The students who fully engage with this project consistently produce results that align with their personalities and activities and astonish with their creativity, vision, and passion.

Many students also take advantage of opportunities at Brimmer to build and strengthen their leadership skills. The Gator Aide Program sees seniors selected to be mentors to ninth-grade students, meeting periodically in small groups and individual settings to provide support and guidance to students as they acclimate to the demands of high school. For seniors, it’s an opportunity to reflect upon and practice role modeling, as well as a sometimes-bracing experience in managing group dynamics and leading discussions in a classroom setting during group meetings.

The monthly Leadership Institute is a colloquium-style discussion series where students may begin to think about and develop a variety of professional and leadership skills.

The workshops—required for Gator Aide Mentors, members of the Upper School Student Senate, and sports team captains, though open to anyone—cover topics including résumé and cover letter writing, public speaking, approaching challenging conversations, and effective networking. They are designed to be a useful starting point and hopefully a springboard for students to continue sharpening these skills as they approach adulthood.

Opposite Left: Associate Director of College Counseling Dan Birdsall leads Brimmer seniors through the college application process

Upper School students are required to apply their education beyond the walls of Brimmer, as well. By graduation, students must demonstrate a minimum of 40 hours of approved community service, typically with a local organization of their choice, requiring them to put to practice what they are learning in the classroom, to explore new potential areas of academic or professional interest, and to contemplate how they might harness the privileges that many of them enjoy for the benefit of others.

I’d like to share with you a bit of a closer look at how students’ final years at Brimmer challenge them to demonstrate their authenticity, their boldness, and their sense of compassion, which are the themes of this academic year.

Authentic Learning A Brimmer education encourages, and requires, students to consider both who they are and who they aspire to be. Our Core Values—Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Honesty, and Equity—speak not only to institutional expectations of how we will treat one another at school but also how we inhabit the world and live our lives beyond our time at Brimmer. The formal start of the College Counseling program partway through junior year is far from the first time a Brimmer student will have been asked to consider their values and identity or to embody them daily.

We expect students to be comfortable with selfreflection by the time they reach us.

The College Counseling office prides itself on focusing upon the idea of “fit” as the guiding principle in researching colleges. Fit encompasses many considerations. Some are measurable metrics: location, student body size, academic offerings, extracurriculars, and, yes, weather. Others are more abstract: student culture, campus energy, “vibes.” One student recently even had this impression of a school: “too institutiony.” Weighing the relative importance of all of these requires students to be in touch with their authentic selves and to know in what kind of intellectual and social environment they are most likely to thrive.

The relative mix of factors that constitute fit is different for every student.

The notion of authentic learning requires students to understand their own learning styles and how to best position themselves for academic success. It requires students to develop priorities and chart an academic path at Brimmer that emphasizes their mental and emotional well-being as much as more traditional markers of raw achievement such as number of APs, Honors Distinctions, and test scores, and to understand the inextricable linkages between health and success.

Such an emphasis on honest self-reflection extends beyond the halls of Brimmer. As a visiting university admissions representative recently underscored to students: “We are interested in: ‘Do you know yourself ? Do you know how much is too much?’” In an era of record applications and enrollment, colleges and universities are intent on building student bodies that display more than a collective capacity to grind toward surface indicators of excellence.

Brimmer nurtures classroom excellence, but it also encourages experiential learning through the community service requirement. In the College Counseling office, as we familiarize ourselves with students’ academic and extracurricular profiles to write their college letters of recommendation, it’s striking to see the number of students who go beyond the required 40-hour minimum. It is a marker of students who are discovering the different things that drive them and finding joy in their work. It is also a perfect distillation of the idea of authentic learning.

Bold Thinking A community as small and intimate as Brimmer makes it extremely difficult for any student to hide, to fall through cracks, or to escape the attention of faculty, administrators, or other students. In an environment where it can be a challenge to find a quiet study space or an unoccupied corner to make a private phone call or Zoom appointment, students are rarely, if ever, physically alone.

Yet the college application process is, for many students, simultaneously solitary and social. It demands boldness and fortitude. continued on page 84 Brimmer Magazine

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Today’s high school students face a higher education landscape radically different from the one most of us in this room navigated.

The cost of attendance of some colleges now approaches that of home ownership; institutions traditionally thought of as something of a backstop, open to most students with a reasonably successful high school record, now boast elite reported levels of selectivity; the imperatives on institutions to deliver a sharply defined ROI trickle down to students, pressuring them to identify— and, sometimes, to commit to—a career path before they have even had their first job; cottage industries in test preparation, internship and summer academic enrichment, and college and pre-professional advising market themselves aggressively, implicitly implying that students risk being left behind in a hypercompetitive world before they have even entered it.

If this weren’t enough to contemplate, today’s students negotiate all the above in a panopticon in which they are both observer and observed. At their disposal are reams of data about various admissions rates, career outcomes, starting salaries, strengths of academic programs, average net costs and debt loads, and overall alumni satisfaction, all of which may be true or spun to varying degrees, depending on the source. They are flooded with social media accounts of their peers’ successes and failures, advantages and disadvantages in the college process, and (often half-baked) “inside information” about institutions. And, at Brimmer, where there is quite literally nowhere to hide, even our more introverted or private students go through a college process that is difficult to shield from prying eyes, either of their teachers or peers.

It is not for the faint of heart!

Yet somehow, every year, all our students pull it off. What more apt descriptor than bold can we use to describe the high-achieving student who applies to an elite institution, knowing that all the accolades that distinguish them at Brimmer likely place them in an ocean of similarly accomplished candidates, knowing

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that the statistical chances of rejection outweigh those of success by a factor of 10 or more? How better to describe the student aspiring to be the first in their family to attend college, navigating all these challenges without a generational familiarity with higher education? Is there a better word than bold to categorize the more marginal academic performer—surrounded by greater classroom achievement or ambition in a school that prides itself on an annual 100% matriculation rate to four-year colleges—who embraces a possibly lesser-known institution that fits their learning needs and academic background?

There is boldness in authenticity! To move in one’s own direction when many others may be moving in another requires the confidence and genuineness that Brimmer seeks to instill in all its students. It also requires comfort with falling short—or, at the very least, a grudging acceptance of its possibility. If I may paraphrase a captioned picture that’s posted in the College Counseling office of Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, which I will remind you boldly goes where none have gone before: It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life.

Compassionate Community A recently overheard exchange between two seniors in the College Counseling office, whom I will refer to as “Student A” and “Student B”: STUDENT A: I’m nervous about my list of schools. I think they might be too selective.

Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll get in anywhere.

STUDENT B [stands up in front of Student A, adopts an indignant tone]: Student A! Your grades are slay! [I learned some contemporary teenage slang here; “Slay” is good.] You have an amazing list of activities, you’re a great writer, you’re one of the nicest people at Brimmer, any college is going to want you, and if they don’t, that’s their problem!

STUDENT A: I love you.

While compassion at Brimmer doesn’t always manifest itself quite so…aggressively, the fundamental attitude of this exchange permeates the community. Brimmer students

are inclined to lift one another up and to consider all students as peers worthy of their support, not just those in their own classroom or grade. Witness the number of Upper School students who volunteer at Brimmer summer camps, in Lower School classrooms, as Peer Tutors or Gator Aide Mentors.

Brimmer has an institutional understanding of success as a collective concept, whereby individual achievement reflects positively on all members of the community, and the success of others is to be encouraged and celebrated as if it were one’s own. Similarly, falling short of one’s goals is not to be thought of as failure (remember Jean-Luc Picard?) but as a setback that brings with it an opportunity to learn and try anew.

The college application process has an impersonal and quasi-bullying quality that can make students feel that their entire lives up to that point are being summarily judged by a distant and faceless admissions committee that will deem them worthy or unworthy based on a few pages of data and writing. Students are pressured to find ever more creative ways to “stand out” but also to avoid oversharing or coming across as needy, desperate, unbalanced, or just plain weird. It’s a process that is not best navigated alone, though letting others in is itself a vector for judgment, criticism, and implicit competition.

Should I apply to more schools? Fewer? Is my list unrealistic? Does SHE really think she can get in there? Then maybe I could, too? Wow, he hasn’t finished his personal statement yet?

Does that mean I rushed through mine? Can I afford to go there even if I do get in?

One way or another, the college process leaves students exposed to the scrutiny of their peers in ways they may have been previously able to avoid. Our students largely know where their classmates are applying. They also often know when they are applying. The frequency with which Brimmer students (and students in general) apply via binding Early Decision (ED) implicitly underscores a degree of privilege, showcasing an ability to commit to enrollment without regard to the financial terms. While maintaining financial flexibility and bargaining power certainly isn’t the only reason a student

might decline to apply ED, on average the variety of available application deadlines often has the crude side effect of sorting students into groups of haves and haves-lesses. It can reflect not only on students themselves but on their entire families. Negotiating these delicate truths requires an exquisite sensitivity, a level of emotional maturity that is nurtured in a setting such as Brimmer, where successes are celebrated and setbacks are commiserated in a context of support and care.

It’s hard to make it to Brimmer’s Upper School without a deeply ingrained sense of authenticity, boldness, and compassion. We assume this of our students by the time we begin working with them on our end, and we put these qualities to the test perhaps to a greater degree than they have ever experienced.

It’s also important to underscore our students’ individual journeys and the varying ways they come to embody this academic year’s theme. For some, identifying examples of their authenticity, boldness, and compassion is indeed as easy as ABC. Others, though,

Above: The Class of 2024 in their college sweatshirts.

come to demonstrate these qualities gradually, indirectly, or in their own unique and surprising ways.

I’ll close by sharing the story of one such recent student who Taylor and I both know well. Moni Thomas transferred to Brimmer partway through high school and came from an educational setting that could hardly be more different than ours: a large urban public school with several thousand students. Perhaps not accustomed to the degree of individual attention all Brimmer students receive, Moni could be hesitant around adults, and many teachers would likely have described him as quiet and not likely to take the first step in reaching out for help or support when needed.

Moni’s authenticity, his boldness, and his compassion didn’t manifest in the classroom as saliently as some students, but he found himself through his 12th Grade Project work perhaps more than any student in his class.

Spend enough time around Moni and you will learn that he has a natural gift for connecting with kids, and his role as a classroom aide in Taylor’s class during the month of May couldn’t have fit him better. Around these five-year-olds, Moni was both a kid himself— unguarded, at ease—and one of the coolest

adults they’d ever met. During the 12th Grade Project symposium, many of Moni’s classmates learned for the first time what he did for his project when they saw the photo display and report he presented on his month in the Lower School classroom. Anyone who didn’t make it to his booth quickly caught up when Taylor and her entire class came to see his presentation, and the Dining Commons erupted in delighted squeals of “MONI! MON-EEEEEEEEEE!” The entire class flocked around him as if he were a celebrity signing autographs, queuing up for hugs and high-fives.

It was a beautiful confluence of the beginning and the close of the Brimmer student journey, a snapshot of the most seemingly distant members of our student community opening themselves up to one another, finding a way to learn from each other and grow together despite being separated by more than a decade. It was a perfect illustration of the authentic learning, bold thinking, and compassion that permeate the Brimmer community and why these notions underpin this academic year. ■

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Class Notes

ALUMNI

MS/US Administrative & Operations Manager Claire Harrison, Upper School Science Teacher Zoë Stublarec, Kaylee Rivera ’25, Shyla Fernandez ’25, and Haracy Cardosa P ’25 at the Alumni Holiday Party in December (see pages 72-73).

1948

1959

1975

“Alive in Sarasota, Florida. My three children live in California and survived the fires! I will be 95 years young in September and love to hear any 1948 news, though many are in heaven! Welcome to any Brimmer and May folks escaping the cold!”

“Still doing well! I’m volunteering in Stockton, CA, traveling, and enjoying life.

Wonderful memories of Brimmer and May in the 1950s.”

“Hello! Hard to believe we are approaching 50 years! Happy and healthy, thank God. Best to all!”

Mary Jo Goggin Hopkins

1955

Mary Cooper Little

1960

Constance Cutler Goodman

Sara (Sally) Withington “I retired last year after 50+ years in real estate, surviving recessions and booms. That was preceded by working after college for Social Security (still in its infancy, equal pay!) on 125th Street in New York City, followed by State Street Bank dealing with mutual funds and a year in Europe with four months each on Hydra and in Vienna, going behind the Iron Curtain five times (Prague to East Berlin to US sector to Budapest to Yugoslavia).

Several trips north and south of the Equator over the years. It has been good overall, and now I am enjoying two grandnieces born last year. We had a family reunion in Hawaii this fall with immediate family all born in the Territory of Hawaii (T of H). Brimmer and May School was a very important transition from my life in T of H during WWII. Our military contacts during the war meant we did ok—better than those on the east coast.”

Constance sent in the following note with her recent donation: “My gift is in. Thanks for the wonderful influence that Miss McCoy had on my life.”

1962

Penny Gutman Link “I’m living in St. Louis Park, MN. I am retired from hospital work and painting daily for fun.”

Laura Whitney

1979

Jamie Kurzman Mahler “Although I live in Boca Raton, FL, I maintain relationships with two of my former classmates, and last summer we were able to get together for an afternoon of laughter filled with memories. Bonnie Kaplan also graduated in the Class of 1979 while Electra Rozefsky Nemrow attended Brimmer and May from 1971 through 1976. We have maintained a friendship for more than 50 years!”

(L-R) Jamie Kurzman Mahler ’79, Electra Rozefsky Nemrow, Bonnie Kaplan ’79.

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ALUMNI

(L-R) Kacey Brown ’93, Amanda (Shoemaker) Berra ’93, Allison Joyce ’93.

1988

2003

“Working at being an artist, wife, and mother in South Carolina.”

“I recently produced a movie that just premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Two of my former Brimmer classmates, Rajuli (Khetarpal) Fahey ’03 and Vanessa (Sullivan) Vicaire ’03, attended the festival with me. Rajuli is actually in the film! My brother, Joe Patton ’01, also flew in from Boston to attend. You can find more details about the film “Didn’t Die” on the official Sundance page, where I’m listed as a producer.

Erica (Kit) Wilson Mandau

1993

Allison Joyce Great to hear from Allison who sent in a photo of herself with classmates Kacey Brown ’93 and Amanda (Shoemaker) Berra ’93 taken over the holidays.

Luke Patton

Rajuli Khetarpal Fahey ’03, who appears in classmate Luke Patton’s new film, at the Sundance Film Festival premiere.

continued on page 88

Joe Patton ’01 with son, Hugh, aged two.

Joe Patton ’01 (L) and Luke Patton ’03 (R) at the Sundance Film Festival premiere of Luke’s film “Didn’t Die.” Brimmer Magazine

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ALUMNI Class Notes Cont’d from page 87

Julie Eaton Ernst ’05 was recognized by City Awake, a program of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Christopher Dawson ’04 (R) with girlfriend and bakery co-owner Chelsea Kravitz

earned a spot on the list until a customer told them amid the Christmas Eve rush.” (Sabrina Lam, Globe correspondent). We wish them continued sweet success in 2025!

Courtney Camps Toomey

2004

Christopher Dawson Courtney Camps Toomey ’04 wrote in to say that classmate Christopher has been named by the New York Times as one of the best bakers in the country. Chris and girlfriend Chelsea Kravitz own and operate a small bakery in Camden, ME, called The Place, and it serves sweet and savory goodies. In a quote from The Boston Globe, “The owners, Chelsea Kravitz and Chris Dawson, said in an Instagram post that they didn’t know they’d

Courtney wrote to us to let us know that she welcomed her second son in December.

“Louis Quinlan Toomey—our Christmas present! Born in the early hours of December 15 under the full moon. We are all doing great, and big brother Charlie is loving on Lou!”

2005

Julie Eaton Ernst Julie was a 2024 Ten Outstanding Young Leaders Honoree for her work as a Climate Resilience Practice Leader. Each year City Awake, a program of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Foundation, honors

10 of the region’s emerging young leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors who demonstrate a commitment to improving the overall well-being of Boston and its residents. Congratulations, Julie!

2006

Nathaniel “Nate” Heywood “One of the greatest parts of being in the entertainment industry is the ability to collaborate with some amazing people. This fall, I had the opportunity to join a production team of Hadestown Teen Edition. I served as the lighting designer. I am not going to lie…I was VERY nervous to take on this work. This show is killing on Broadway, and the task was to create our own look and feel without copying what is in New York right now.

Between the sets, costumes, students, and the people I was working with, I knew that I had a task to elevate my game and push myself

IN MEMORIAM

CONSTANCE CAMPBELL WORCESTER ’39 MURIEL CUMMINGS PALMER ’39 MARY LOWELL BOLAND ’39 JANE SUGDEN ’44

PATRICIA FOLTS DOOLEY ’45

CAROL RABB GOLDBERG ‘49

NANCY JONES ROWLAND ‘59 Courtney Camps Toomey ’04 welcomed son Louis in December

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SYDNEY FRIEDMAN ’78

JEANETTE “JENNY” (MCNEIL) LAMAY GALLES ’80

ALUMNI

to create something special. Long story short, what we were able to ‘cook’ up was beyond my wildest dreams.”

2012

Corey Murphy Kaubris Corey shared a recent wedding photo featuring guests from the Class of 2012.

2013

Sarah Calmas “Very excited to share that I’ve recently joined the Leadership Board at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Looking forward to being the third generation in my family to join the board and continue the legacy of tikkun olam by highlighting the incredible and innovative work of the hospital and staff and their role in the community.”

2015

Susanna Calhoun ’15

Bobby Brooks ’15 and wife Becca were married last summer.

Susanna Calhoun “I’m honored to be one of two people awarded Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media Pathways Alliance Prize. Thank you to Unanimous Media for this opportunity to share my film, Absenteeism in Queens, and for recognizing it with this esteemed award!”

Bobby Brooks Bobby Brooks and wife Becca celebrated a summer wedding with fellow alums David Labossiere ’15 and Mark Gasperini ’16 in attendance.

Mark Gasperini ’16, Bobby Brooks ’15, and David Labossiere ’15 at Bobby’s wedding in August.

(L-R) Ali Fisher ’12, Samantha Cacciatore ’12, Jaye Giglio ’12, Victoria Foster ’12, Corey Murphy Kaubris ’12, Megumi Milla ’12, Kaleigh Marcotte ’12, Emily Gobbi ’12, Shane Sager ’12

continued on page 90 Brimmer Magazine

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ALUMNI Class Notes Cont’d from page 73

to have received the Erica Mann Jong ’63 Writing Fellow Award in recognition of my commitment to accessible pedagogies!”

2022

Neel Kumar Neel writes that he won an award at this year’s Clark Tank, Clark University’s version of Shark Tank, where he competed against 16 other venture entries and received a $1,050 grant for his music production company, Masala King. Congratulations, Neel!

(L-R) Dylan Rigol ’18, AJ Reeves ’18, Ethan Eastwood ’18

2020

Chloe Berlin

Monica Morales Bayron ’18 celebrated her wedding to Brendan Bayron last summer with her family, including brother Hector Morales ’15 (L)

“Last month, I had the privilege of graduating cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University with a double major in History and Psychology. I feel so much gratitude for my family, educators, and mentors for supporting me through a uniquely challenging college experience. I am particularly appreciative of the Barnard College Writing Fellows for three wonderful years of teaching and learning. I am honored

2018

Neel Kumar ’22

Monica Morales Bayron Monica sent us a photo from her June 2024 wedding to Brendan Bayron in Searsburg, VT.

AJ Reeves AJ sent in a photo from his recent game in Portland, Oregon as a member of the Rip City Remix. Classmates Dylan Rigol ’18 and Ethan Eastwood ’18 made it to the game to watch AJ play.

Raymani Walker ’17 (R) and Liz Teklu ’17 (C) recently caught up with former faculty member Frank Van Atta (L) as they all live in the Washington DC area.

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Chloe Berlin ’20

STUDENT VOICE

Saying the Right Words: My Journey Through Stuttering

Andrew Flint ’26 reflects on growing up with a speech disorder, sharing his story to inspire and educate others.

By Andrew Flint ’26 for The Gator

T

his story first appeared in The Washington Post on Saturday, November 23, 2024, under the headline, “I am 16 and have a stutter. Here’s what most people don’t understand.” A more in-depth version is republished here with permission from Andrew Flint and The Washington Post.

Stuttering is not what you think it is.

Stuttering is not just getting stuck on words.

It’s not just having a hard time saying a

sentence. There is a deeper, hidden aspect to stuttering to which many people remain oblivious.

Stuttering is like an iceberg. The top part of the iceberg, the one sticking out of the water, that’s what everyone sees. But the tip is not the whole picture. What they don’t see are the turbulent emotions I feel while stuttering.

Stuttering, also known as Childhood Onset Fluency Disorder, is a speech disorder that affects about one percent of Americans.

Stutterers know what they want to say, but they have a hard time saying it. There are three types of stutters: blocks, repetitions, and prolongations.

When a block occurs, the stutterer’s mouth and voice are stuck. Sometimes it feels like they can’t breathe as well. To make it worse, the harder the stutterer tries to push through a block, the more stuck they become.

The second type of stutters are repetitions.

This is where a stutterer repeats a sound multiple times. For example, if they’re trying to say paper, they might say p-p-p-paper.

Prolongations are like repetitions but involve prolonging the sound.

continued on page 92

At left: Flint learning his letters in Kindergarten; At right: Flint listening to his teacher during a Morning Meeting (photos courtesy of the Flint Family) Brimmer Magazine

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Saying the Right Words from page 91

For example, if a stutterer is trying to say school, they might say sssschool, prolonging the initial s sound in school.

The exact cause of stuttering is unknown, but most researchers agree that there is a neurological and possibly genetic component to it. In my family, there are three stutterers: me, my dad, and my maternal aunt. There is no cure to stuttering, but speech therapy can mitigate its effects.

There have been numerous research studies showing that the brains of individuals who stutter have atypical structures. Specifically, the speech production centers in their brains function differently, resulting in certain limitations that can affect speech fluency.

However, these limitations can be combated with careful attention to conversation. When someone is stuttering, you may want to avoid eye contact or say what they are saying. The best thing to do is to maintain eye contact and let them speak in their own time.

It may be tempting to move the conversation along by finishing their sentences, but doing so will only remind the stutterer that they are doing something abnormal and making the other person impatient.

The best way to really understand what it means to stutter is to give you an inside glimpse at my life as a stutterer.

I am standing at the front of an eighth-grade classroom full of people I have known almost my entire life. They know I stutter, and I know that they know I stutter. That does not make what I am about to do any easier.

In history class, we have been learning about the Supreme Court. I am now presenting the final part of what I have learned this year. I am in a debate. The facts are simple, and I am confident I know them, but I do not feel calm.

This is because the facts cannot help me here.

It is my turn to ask questions, and when I start speaking, everyone quiets. Besides my voice, there is no sound in the room. The eyes of 20 people I know are on me, and I suddenly feel a tightness in my throat.

My heart starts to beat faster, and I feel my chest heating up. I say my question with great difficulty. I’m speaking very fast, but because I’m stuttering so much, the actual words are coming out painfully slowly.

The one- or two-minute turn for me to ask questions feels like an eternity to me. This eternity is not pretty, either; it is filled with fear, anger, and guilt. As I am speaking, my mind is elsewhere. I should be focusing on what I am saying and trying to say it as clearly as I can, but I can’t.

Deep down, I know that my classmates are understanding of my stuttering, but this voice becomes buried by a louder one. This one yells, “You should be ashamed of your stuttering,” and “No one stutters but you.”

Eventually, I’m able to piece together my argument, and I sit back down. I should feel proud, but I don’t. Instead, all I feel is anger and guilt.

As the debate progresses, I am left wondering whether anyone else realizes how much courage it takes to do what I just did—to speak, to defy stuttering. But deep down, I know they don’t.

They can’t, and that’s the worst part.

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A year later, I entered a speech therapy program at Emerson College. My parents enrolled me in this program, and I relearned speaking through a difficult process that required patience and discipline. The program asked me to walk up to a stranger in a park and survey them about stuttering.

To a non-stutterer, this might seem a bit nervewracking but doable. For me, however, it was terrifying.

Stuttering makes this usually easy task feel daunting and seemingly impossible.

Nevertheless, I spot someone sitting on a bench and start walking over to them. On the short walk over, my mind races, imagining all of the bad things this stranger could say: They might ask me to go away or say that they don’t want to talk to a stutterer or even make fun of my stutter.

That is the miserable reality of stuttering; every interaction feels like I’m walking on eggshells.

In my head, I always fear that the worst will happen, even though it never does.

I reach the person on the bench and say, “Hello, my name is Andrew Flint, and I stutter. I’ve been working on my speech in speech therapy. Can I ask you four questions about stuttering?”

To my relief, they tell me that I can. I ask them what they think causes stuttering, if they feel uncomfortable or embarrassed around a stutterer, if they know anyone who stutters, and what they think someone should do to overcome their stutter.

In the end, this conversation went perfectly. It was not at all like what I envisioned and feared.

Nevertheless, I was apprehensive surveying another person because I was still afraid.

Now, the fear that someone might not be as kind and understanding as the first person consumed my mind. See, the fear never fully disappears. It lingers, reminding me that this struggle is inescapable.

At left: Flint performs with The Gator Scales during the Winter Instrumental Music Concert (see pages 55-55); Opposite: Flint playing on the Brimmer Varsity Soccer team this past fall.

Every day is either a good day or a bad day for my speech. On some days, I just stutter more than others. This is beyond my control, and it just happens.

One day in particular stands out to me. My history class involved frequent discussions, and I knew that I would stutter severely in discussion.

When reading aloud, I always choose the shortest paragraph and am mindful of the initial sound.

The letter “s” is particularly challenging for me.

Eventually, I had an opportunity, and I started to speak. Immediately, a knot tightened in my throat. My breathing quickened and my heart beat faster and faster.

As I read the paragraph, I got stuck on words here and there, but I was eventually able to say them and continue speaking. That is, until I came across a word that I could not say fluently.

Even before I started saying the word, I knew I would stutter on it. And I was right. I stuttered a lot; I stopped saying it, then started saying it again, but that didn’t help.

which ones my group mates are doing, and I have practiced mine extensively.

I have prepared for every possible question.

Nothing can possibly go wrong, I think. Usually, that would be the case. For anyone else in my position, that would be the case. But I have a stutter. I can’t just know the content; I have to

’’

the next person’s turn. He does an even better job, explaining the slide well and giving so much additional information that even a baby could understand what he was talking about.

Then it is my turn. I look left at my group mates, who are all smiling and giving me encouraging looks. I look right at the screen

When someone is stuttering…the best thing to do is to maintain eye contact and let them speak in their own time.

After what felt like minutes—but was actually about 20 seconds—a classmate whispered the word I was stuck on to me. At that moment, I had a realization: “Do they think I don’t know how to pronounce this word?”

That moment, I realized something: People don’t know that much about stuttering, even classmates I’ve known for years. While I know they’re just trying to help, these efforts often have the opposite effect.

Another year has passed. I am once again presenting in front of a large group of people.

There are a few key differences this time, though. First, I met this group of people just four days prior. I barely know them.

On top of that, there are 50 of them. If this stressful situation isn’t stressful enough, all their parents are here. I am presenting medical cases, a topic I am not that familiar with.

Just as before, though, I have done my research.

I know these four cases like the back of my hand. I know which slides I am presenting and

know how to say the content fluently.

Stuttering is another hurdle I must complete to present. But I already took care of it. I already practiced my presentation. I spent the previous afternoon saying it repeatedly in the mirror, then in front of my family.

Nothing can possibly go wrong.

My group is called to present. The teacher opens it on the big screen. One of the other group mates introduces all of us and presents the first slide.

He does a good job of presenting, and it is now

with the slide I have to present. This slide is simple information that doesn’t need any explanation.

I literally just have to say what is on the slide.

My heartbeat and breathing speed up. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and start speaking. I open my mouth and freeze.

I can’t speak. Everything can possibly go wrong when stuttering is involved. My mouth is open, and to everyone else, it looks like I don’t know what to say. My group mates whisper the words, trying to help, but I can’t get them out. ■ Brimmer Magazine

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FACULTY & STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS

brimmer reads (& listens!)

Faculty and staff share the books and podcasts that have resonated most for them this past year.

This re-

This piqued

the love column: literature, irony, humor, the

imagining of

my interest

individual, and the defense of free expression.”

The Adventures of

because of my

Huckleberry Finn,

previous studies

This is a new

by Mark Twain,

of The Body in

favorite of mine.

is told from the

Pain by Elaine

Rooney expands

perspective of

Scarry. Rushdie

her prose style of

Huckleberry’s

illuminates the

writing to include

friend, Jim, the

point when life

the stream-of-

meets death and intersects with the body

consciousness form

saying, “Well, of course…” and I felt both sad

and mind’s ability to handle it. Rushdie’s

where the diction

and humored by the the senseless gullibility

friend Christopher Hitchens captured the

and rhythm reflect

and the naive human condition of the people

essence of the book when he wrote, “The

a main character’s fractured self. As a Faulkner

depicted in the book.

affair drew a line between “everything I hated

fan, I always appreciate a look into the interior

versus everything I loved. In the hate column:

life of a character and their struggles.

Podcast Picks

escaped slave in Twain’s novel. I found myself

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dictatorship, religion, stupidity, demagogy,

Judy Guild

censorship, bullying, and intimidation. In

Head of School

Greeking Out

By National Geographic Kids!

My current family car ride podcast tells stories from the Greek World myths and tales of gods and heroes. It also branches out to stories from other ancient cultures around the world, such as India, Africa, China, and Mexico.

I recommend it for families with kids who finished all the Percy Jackson books and are looking for the next thing. National Geographic has published two books based on this podcast.

Brimmer Magazine

Smash, Boom, Best As a family, we also listen to this funny, smart debate show that pits two cool things against each other, such as weekends vs. vacations or cats vs. dogs, and celebrity debaters have to use facts and wit to convince a kid judge to award them the winning points. It is very silly but often educational as well.

Elyse Seltzer Director of Middle & Upper School Library

This story by the author of Crazy Rich Asians is a lot of fun and very over-the-

If you loved his earlier novels (Rules of

top. It features a down-on-his-luck British

Civility, Gentleman in Moscow, and The

aristocrat who needs to marry for money.

Lincoln Highway), give this collection of

It is like a Jane Austen novel if it were set

short stories a try! Towles is a master

in 2024. It also has a line about someone

at this form. His short stories are

going to Brimmer and May, to which a

brilliant.

friend alerted me. It is in no way serious

Janet Sweezey Grade 2 Teacher

or heavy, and that has been a real delight.

Kenley Smith Upper School English Teacher

This story is historical fiction about a

As a dog owner, reading this book has

nurse who serves in the US Army Nurse

made me rethink the way I speak to

Corp during the Vietnam War. I was

my family dog, Bailey. It begins with a

drawn to this book because three of

young adult getting a dog they name

my family members were in the army;

Enzo. As the human family grows, Enzo

my oldest sister was an army nurse. In

is worried about his place in the family.

the book, the friendships made, and

The owner and Enzo never lose their

the experiences shared by three women

bond. Much happens in the book, and

from very diverse backgrounds, had an

Enzo’s interpretation of situations is

impact on me. The term sister does not necessarily mean biological sister. Upon their return to the United States, their acts of patriotism were not appreciated by all from home.

and taking the train.

The War on Cars This podcast provides a different perspective on “America’s Love Affair with the Automobile.” As an avid cyclist (my primary way to commute), I appreciate that the hosts also talk about the joys of walking, bicycling,

Len Wholey Upper School Math & Engineering Teacher

The Hidden Brain Per the website, the goal of this podcast is to “help people see the world with fresh eyes.” I love to listen because I learn so much about human behavior. It really showcases the many ways in which we can learn from each other.

Melany Ferrimy, Catering Manager

quite humorous.

Nancy Bradley Mathematics Department Chair

Ologies A friend recommended this, and I’m glad I finally gave it a try! While browsing through the episodes, which include deep dives into everything from neurotechnology to sciuridology (squirrels), I came across an episode on Puffinology. I have always loved puffins, and it was fascinating to hear more about them. For example, did you know that puffins’ beaks are only brightly colored during mating season? Whatever your interests, you are sure to find something to enjoy.

Alissa Rosellini Lower School Librarian

continued on page 80

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Brimmer Reads continued from page 95

Director of Middle & Upper School Library Elyse Seltzer also recommended James.

This book follows a family of Mi’kmaq workers from Nova Scotia who travel to Maine in the summer to pick blueberries.

A daughter goes missing early in the story, and the family tale unfolds from there. It gives a glance into the world of indigenous

In this retelling,

migrant workers, tells a very human tale, and works on a higher

Everett writes

cultural level as a commentary on the power of a dominant

with a clear

culture over an indigenous one, and the struggle to retain or

fugitive pedagogy

reclaim identity.

that centers subversive practices of education and

I listened to this on my commutes to and from Brimmer

knowledge-sharing that Black Americans

in the fall, and it packs a real punch. It is a hard story, with

have historically employed to resist systemic

little redemption, but when it does come, it shines a light. It

oppression. Much like Twain, Everett is a

is inspired by Dickens’ David Copperfield and tells a tale that

master at taking a deep look at society while

feels particularly American in flavor and setting. It is a timely

still providing an entertaining story.

commentary on the state of affairs for many US citizens today.

Kingsolver is an amazing storyteller, and the audiobook actor brings the narrative to life.

Elyse Seltzer Director of Middle & Upper School Library

Julie Williams-Krishnan Upper School Photography Teacher .

This book resonated with me because it helps couples, families, and individuals go from “stuck” to “unstuck.”

The Buddhist teachings that go along with the practical wisdom are a nice bonus.

Brice Hobbs Middle & Upper School Art Teacher

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I was eager to read Powers’ latest work given he is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory, one of my top 10 reads of all time. It did not disappoint. He is masterful at weaving multiple storylines that somehow miraculously come together at the end in unexpected ways. Part environmental activism, part AI thriller, the novel focuses on the beauty of our oceans and delivers a twist at the end that I did not see coming. Absolutely brilliant.

Sue Cuyler Director of Marketing & Communications

alumni three year2025–2028 strategic plan

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ALUMNI THREE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN 2025–2028

HEADER GOES HERE

ALUMNI THREE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN 2025–2028

Alumni Strategic Plan continued from page 97

Alumni Engagement Mission Brimmer and May knows the importance of lifetime relationships with alumni from the time of enrollment through their adult life. We uphold the mission of the School, honor the lifetime connection of our alumni, and strive for the ambitious standards of communication and stewardship.

We recognize the critical role alumni play in the greater School community.

Our vision for Brimmer’s future alumni engagement and improved programming focuses on three key areas: engaging alumni across decades and varying identities; expanding on our strategic alumni outreach and communications; and building on a lifetime alumni connection to strengthen the bond with today’s Brimmer.

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ALUMNI THREE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN 2025–2028

1

Expand Alumni Engagement & Representation

Expand alumni engagement and representation across the decades and varying identities to ensure a strong and authentic alumni role in Brimmer today.

The School will cultivate a vibrant, inclusive alumni community reflective of the School’s history and diversity by: • Expanding and formalizing the Class Agent program.

• Elevating the alumni Trustee role on the Board of Trustees and Board of Visitors.

• Working with the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Board Committee to identify special diversity programming for alumni.

• Prioritizing alumni peer leadership for key alumni honors and awards, such as Alumni Recognition, Athletic Hall of Fame, and Creative Arts Hall of Fame.

• Holding the Alumni Association Annual Meeting on Alumni Day in May. • Regularly recruiting alumni as speakers, classroom guests, panelists, and faculty and staff members to highlight Brimmer’s lifetime impact.

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ALUMNI THREE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN 2025–2028

Alumni Strategic Plan continued from page 99

2

Prioritize Outreach & Communication

Prioritize strategic alumni outreach and communications.

To enhance alumni awareness and participation in the life of the School, Brimmer will prioritize targeted and personalized communication by: • Continuing to prioritize alumni articles, class notes, and “From the Archives” pieces in Brimmer Magazine to connect our alumni with today’s Brimmer.

• Enhancing the role of the Alumni Association in communications directly to Brimmer alumni.

• Formalizing alumni research and survey process to receive consistent feedback and establish trend lines.

• Continuing to communicate and formalize ways to receive updated contact information from Brimmer alumni directly and through the database, and from postal and social media notifications.

• Increasing alumni engagement through expanded travel and individual meetings.

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ALUMNI THREE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN 2025–2028

3

Build Connections

Build on the lifetime alumni connection and honor the link between our alumni and the continued advancement of the School.

To strengthen the bond between the School and alumni, Brimmer will further formalize recognition for their lifelong contributions and connection back to today’s Brimmer by: • Ensuring that alumni events provide an authentic connection between our alumni and the Brimmer of today, always with a lens of inclusion and belonging.

• Continuing to formalize alumni recognition through alumni leadership and engagement with the Alumni Association.

• Building on alumni leadership and individual alumni support of the School through peer-to-peer outreach and a new Planned Giving program.

• Incorporating Brimmer’s rich history in orientation for all new Trustees and alumni Board members.

• Planning for an updated history book and community celebration of Brimmer’s sesquicentennial (150 years) in 2030, starting in 2027 with an alumni committee that includes all alumni Trustees.

Brimmer Magazine

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