BFS Journal Winter/Spring 2016

Experiencing Ancient Egyptian Life and Afterlife

Expedriencing Ancient Egyptian Life and Afterlife

Journal WINTER/SPRING 2016

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< P E R F O R M I N G A R T S AT B F S >

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©2015 BY CHRIS COOPER

The new café at 116 Lawrence Street

Guided by the Quaker belief

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 Message from the Head of School

that there is a Divine Light in everyone, Brooklyn Friends School cultivates an intellectually ambitious and diverse community that celebrates each individual’s gifts. We challenge our students to value and embrace difference as they develop critical thinking skills and apply their knowledge and intelligence both in and out of the classroom. In this rich learning environment, we inspire all members of our community to voice their convictions, to discover and pursue their passions, and to seek truth.

Our graduates are compassionate, curious, and confident global citizens who let their lives speak in the spirit of leadership and service.

4 Mandarin Courses Charge Ahead with Wit, Adventure, and Ambition 7 Peace Tree Ceremony 8 Alumni Class Notes 10 Alumni Profile: Andrew Guidone’94 12 A Day at the Fair 13 Meet Middle School Head Glen Pinder 14 An Expression of Values: BFS’ Magnificent New Upper School Facility 18 Life at the BFS Family Center 20 Tell Me a Story; BFS Preschool 22 Who are the Bee-Bots in your Neighborhood; BFS Lower School 24 Bringing Ancient Egypt to Life (and Afterlife); BFS Middle School

26 Stand and Act: The Second Annual Community Issues Conference; BFS Upper School BROOKLYN FRIENDS SCHOOL JOURNAL is published by the Advancement Office of Brooklyn Friends School for alumni, parents, grandparents, faculty, and friends.

375 Pearl Street • Brooklyn, NY 11201 Tel: 718.852.1029 • brooklynfriends.org Joan Martin, Editor

Journal

Fifth grader Ava Carter participates in the Pharaoh’s funeral, which is held every year in December at Brooklyn Friends School.

WINTER/SPRING 2016

COV ER PHOTO:

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A MESSAGE FROM

Dr. Larry Weiss Head of School

Since my last message that described the great turning point of the opening of our new Upper School building this summer, BFS has enjoyed an exciting fall 2015 semester. We fulfilled many of our hopes for the continuous development of our challenging academic and extra-curricular programming at all levels of preschool to grade 12, while also strengthening and deepening our commitments to Quaker values and practice.

Alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends of the school are all demonstrating generosity of time, spirit, wisdom, and commitment to our School’s programs, activities, and future planning.

We opened our fall semester with an enrollment of 898 students from our Family Center through Upper School, an increase of 143 students (19%) over five years ago. Such dramatic expansion was systematically planned in 2008, and has been accompanied and fortified by adoption of the International Baccalaureate program in the Upper School as well as major capital facilities improvements in both Pearl Street, for our Pre-School, Lower School, and Middle School divisions, and the new Lawrence Street Upper School building.

We expect to reach our planned optimum enrollment of approximately 950 students within the next 2-3 years. Although this enrollment is characteristic of a relatively large school, we will maintain a grade size of approximately 60 students, which still falls within the definition of a relatively small school.

Over the past several months, we have made significant progress in the fundraising area that has special importance in the final stages of adapting to, and paying for, our dramatic expansion. Our Light the Way Capital Campaign has generated, in its “quiet phase” nearly $3.5 million in pledges, including a very recent pledge—the largest of the campaign—from a current extended family. We also recently received a six-figure legacy gift from an alumni parent; and our annual Brooklyn Friends Fund has so far broken all historical records for gifts and participation during its first six months.

Such gifts, and a great many others both large and small, reflect what I regard as a cultural shift. What can be called BFS’ “culture of resources” is growing in all of our different constituencies. The resources are not only financial. Alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends of the school are all demonstrating generosity of time, spirit, wisdom, and commitment to our School’s programs, activities, and future planning.

Such a development is truly meaningful and exciting.

We are also making important progress in what I call our “culture of responsiveness” as defined by the ways in which prospective applicants and their families see BFS and the ways that our graduating seniors are seen by the colleges and universities to which they apply. The response of applicants to BFS this year has been dramatically positive, both quantitatively and qualitatively, for all of our entry points.

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Lifers!

It’s a wonderful life at BFS: Thirteen members of the Class of 2016 have the distinction of being “lifers” at Brooklyn Friends School, having attended since family center, preschool, and the first three years of lower school. The students are, left to right, seated: Samuel Horowitz, Abrielle Moore, Sarah Glassman, Samuel Botwin; middle row: Ruby Phillips, Caroline Campos, Anna Franceschelli, Maya Bushell, Grace Morenko; standing, Henry Jacobs, Charles Hills, Anna Levin, Bakari Cunningham. The 49 members of the Class of 2016 will graduate on June 14.

PHOTO BY AMANDA BECKER ‘18

Similarly, our new Upper School facility has been commended by the many college admissions officers who visit and meet our students during the fall semester. A striking example of responsiveness in this context has been the enthusiastic collaboration of the Wesleyan University admissions office in the planning for a February 20, 2016 event, held at the university, to celebrate the 12 BFS students who are currently undergraduates at Wesleyan. This is the largest cohort of BFS alumni students currently matriculating at any undergraduate college; they were joined on the Middletown campus by invited Wesleyan alums from the BFS parent and alumni constituencies.

Finally, as we grow into our new Upper School environment we are examining, on an all-school basis, issues related to what I call our “culture of respect”.

I attach particular importance to this subject. On a national basis, our public political discourse, social media use, and interpersonal relationships between identity groups have unfortunately all become characterized by a level of blatant, often violent disrespect unprecedented in recent history.

connection in all kinds of relationships, even those, such as teacher and student, doctor and patient, commonly seen as unequal.” Respect is seen by Professor LawrenceLightfoot in her book Respect: An Exploration, not only as “an expression of circumstance, history, temperament, and culture, rooted in rituals and habits, but also arising from efforts to break with routine and imagine other ways of giving and receiving trust, and in so doing, creating relationships among equals.”

As we examine faculty-faculty, faculty-student, and student-student relationships at BFS, among others, we recognize that much work needs to be done to heighten the appreciation of symmetry, empathy, and connection that are preconditions for a culture of respect to thrive.

Certainly, such values resonate with Quakerism and its practice; and making a special effort to become a more intentionally respectful learning community is both an obligation and a great opportunity to enhance the BFS experience for all members of our growing Friends institution.

In friendship,

In the words of the renowned sociologist and educator Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, respect can be defined as “the deliberate creation of symmetry, empathy, and Winter/Spring 2016 BROOKLYN FRIENDS SCHOOL JOURNAL 3

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FROM YEAR OF THE GOAT TO YEAR OF THE MONKEY

Mandarin Courses Charge Ahead with Wit, Adventure, and Ambition

by Jeffrey Stanley

Two years ago Middle School parents Kathryn Scott and Wenda Gu made a philanthropic gift to BFS, and asked that it be earmarked for the school’s nascent Mandarin language program. The request might seem unusual given that the couple were

new to the school and that their daughter, now a 7th grader, isn’t yet old enough to take the courses, but there is a good reason for their passion.

Wenda Gu is an internationally acclaimed avant-garde painter and

Wenda Gu and Kathryn Scott with their daughter Simone, Class of 2021

sculptor. He was born and raised in Shanghai. He holds a masters degree from the China Academy of Art and later returned to teach there, but not until after he came to the US with just $25 and his unique artistic vision.

Today he is a superstar of the art world. Kathryn, a well-known interior designer, met her husband at an Asia Society event over 15 years ago called, prophetically for Kathryn, Asia on My Mind. “He was the guest speaker and I was attending as something different to do,” she said. “Before that, I didn’t have a specific interest in China except for feeling compatible to Taoism and admiring the landscape paintings of Guiling from my college art history class days. I certainly never imagined that one day I would have relatives in China.”

The pair married and today keep an office in Shanghai where their daughter spent much of her childhood. The trio also knew BFS’ Head of School Larry Weiss from

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their daughter’s previous school, which Larry headed before coming here. Larry holds a certificate in East Asia Relations from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs, and he spearheaded BFS’ first Mandarin language courses four years ago. It started as an After 3@Willoughby noncredit college level elective for Upper School students. From there it quickly evolved in scope and popularity.

Teacher Judy Deng

Today the courses are taught by Judy Deng and begin as an elective in eighth grade. In the Upper School the courses have now become part of the IB curriculum. The juniors and seniors who took IB Mandarin as their language elective last year were the first BFS students to sit for the IB Mandarin exam. In a recent eighth grade Mandarin course in the Middle School, students started out by reacquainting themselves with the basics they’d learned in their first few classes. Huanying means welcome. Ne how means hello. Ne man hao means hello, everyone. Beijing means north capital. Shanghai means upon the

sea. By the way, 2015 was the year of the goat, an auspicious astrological sign in China foretelling a year of prosperity. As of February 8, 2016, it is year of the monkey, which signifies adventure and ambition.

“In Chinese, one word, one meaning,” was Judy’s refrain throughout the class. She later illustrated the point of the handy catchphrase. “Huo means fire, shan means mountain, and put together they mean volcano.

That is an example of one syllableone character-one meaning. They are like pieces of blocks. If you know the meanings of individual words, you can learn new phrases very fast.” This isn’t entirely true as there are some Mandarin words that carry several meanings. As with all languages there are exceptions to the rules, but the catchphrase is a memorable starting place for beginners.

Today’s topic was numerals. An easy place to start was for students to translate their own phone numbers into Mandarin one numeral at a time.

The English phonetic spelling on the page is one thing. Pronunciations are something else. Students took turns reading their phone numbers aloud in Mandarin while the rest of the class tried to translate the last four digits aloud back into English. Given that this is only the fourth time the class has met, it was a mouthful and the students seemed to fare well.

Pronunciations, especially with the correct tone, are crucial in Mandarin. You might have heard the old joke that in Chinese ma means

mother but if pronounced wrong it means horse. Well, it’s true. A bit of aerobics helped the students memorize the tones. Judy had them stand by their desks and swing their arms like orchestra conductors while pronouncing a sound in each of the four tones; up, down, quickly down and up, and sharply down, the latter being the angriest and usually applying to unpleasant words. “It helps if you stomp your foot on that one,” Judy quipped. After a few minutes of arm swinging, foot stomping and giggles, it was time for the students to take their seats and crack open their workbooks.

Ninth grader Galen Jessop took this eighth grade class last year and is continuing with the next level this year in the Upper School. “It’s a very different language and I was interested in it,” she said. “Judy’s a great teacher and she’s great at explaining the characters.” Galen’s interest in Chinese language and culture lies partly in a visit she took to China several years ago. Now that she’s studying the language, “I definitely think that I would like to go again.”

Kathryn further explained her and Wenda’s goal with their donation.

“We felt that because of Larry’s personal interest in China, BFS would eventually have a stronger connection to Chinese studies, and it would inspire related programs,” said Kathryn. “We wanted our daughter to have a knowledge of Chinese culture and language since that is her cultural heritage.” continues on next page

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MANDARIN COURSES continued from previous page

If looking out for their own daughter had been their only goal it would have been simple enough to send her for private lessons, but Kathryn shares her husband’s proven passion for bringing awareness of Chinese art, culture and history to the world. “We believe other children should have the opportunity to learn the language as well. A direct interaction between people of different cultures bonds us together as we recognize our similarities and respect our differences. We are all connected.”

These words of tolerance and cross-cultural celebration might seem inspired by Quaker ideals but Kathryn admits they knew nothing about Quakerism before discovering BFS. The philosophical match was a happy coincidence. “We were attracted to BFS because of their combination of a standard academic structure with a focus on community.

We didn’t know much about the Quaker philosophy until then but now it seems hard to imagine a good school without the Quaker base.”

Even so, Kathryn and Wenda lament that intensive language study at the school doesn’t begin formally until Middle School (Spanish starts in kindergarten, and the afterschool program for preschool-grade 4 offers Mandarin, French and Spanish.)

They hope their gift inspires remedies in this direction. “It’s too bad that American schools don’t typically begin at an earlier age,” said Kathryn, “since children absorb language so easily.

Many years of opportunity are lost by waiting until eighth grade. But these thoughts create goals, and who knows what will be achieved over time.”

The Mandarin classes spent a day in New York City’s Chinatown and visited the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA).

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If you want to make the world a better place, begin in a Brooklyn Friends School classroom.

New Dimension Added to Middle School Peace Tree Ceremony This Year

by Joan Martin

The 2015 Middle School Peace Tree Ceremony, held on Friday, Dec. 11 in the school meetinghouse, took on special relevance this year amid the recent backdrop of violence, terrorism, bigotry and hatred in the world.

Middle School students demonstrated that they are cognizant of these issues, while firmly rejecting all forms of hate as a means of conflict resolution. They did so by decorating an evergreen tree on the stage of the meetinghouse with their hand-made cards and ornaments to express their concerns about the state of the world today. They were about the Black Lives Matter movement, climate change, the plight of the Syrian people, and the killings in Paris, San Bernardino, Colorado Springs, Sandy Hook and elsewhere.

There also were student messages of hope and resilience.

One group of students wrote about what Quakers call “the light within,” completing the phrase, “My fire is lit by/when . . .” As one student wrote, “My fire is lit by music, because it is a language anyone can speak.

It has the power to spark feelings.” Other students acknowledged their parents and the friends, family, and special people in their lives who bring forth goodness and light. Another student group honored the life and lyrics of folk singer Woody Guthrie, whose music continues to be heard at anti-war demonstrations all over the world.

Middle School teacher Marna Herrity is a Quaker and member of the BFS All-School Quaker Life Committee and the Care Relationship Committee of the Brooklyn Monthly Meeting. In the weeks before the event, she helps to organize the students and teachers in each Middle School advisory group to discuss the Quaker peace testimony, choose a theme or activity, and make

ornaments to place on the tree representing their learning. Every advisory is called to the meetinghouse stage to make a presentation that underscores the expectation that “our city, our nation, and all people in the world today need us to work toward peace, toward equity and justice for all.”

The Peace Tree Ceremony is a long-held tradition in BFS history. Started in the early 1980s when Stuart Smith was Head of School and Kenneth Lightell was Middle School Head, it has taken place continuously since that time, touching the minds and hearts of generations of students, faculty, and staff members.

Our query for today’s Peace Tree Ceremony is “What can we learn from the words, the images, and the ornaments that are shared today, and how can this knowledge lead us?”

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Alumni Class Notes

by Lekeia Varlack Judge ’99

1970s

Eric Drooker’s ’77 artwork was featured again on the cover of the New Yorker magazine, this time depicting the debate of gun laws and gun accessibility in our society.

We are very proud as an institution to witness Eric combining his artistic talents with social commentary; this is very much aligned with a Brooklyn Friends education.

It was a pleasant reunion when Michael Henderson ’79 visited BFS and got a tour of the new Upper School building from the Larry Weiss and David Gardella.

It’s great to see his school pride has remained after all this time!

1980s

Lucinda Duncalfe ’81, Monetate CEO, was featured in moneytalksnews.com, where she made statements about trends in consumerism on mobile devices versus desktops.

Congratulations to Adam Block ’82, who holds a new title as Advisory Board Member at Asbury Park Music In Film Festival.

Alexander Burns, father of Elizabeth Burns ’82 and Jacqueline Burns ’83 passed away on September 3, 2015 in Greensboro, NC. The students and teachers of the era may remember Alex for coming into BFS to join the community by eating one of the grilled lunches cooked

by Joules or watching a basketball game, reading his newspaper and wearing his beret. At the 1983 graduation, they recall their dad sharing a message for the graduates that expressed this sentiment: “You will have many titles in your life, I hope of all, you will hold on to that of a ‘learner’.” Therefore, to honor his value of exploratory learning and the community of peer learning cultivated at BFS, the Burns family has designated that donations to honor his life will be welcomed for the Scholarship Fund, enabling the next generation to benefit from BFS! Brooklyn Friends is deeply touched and honored to receive such a meaningful gift, and we hold the Burns family in the light during this difficult time.

Marcella Fuchs Benda ’84 has been working at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine for the past 15 years. She is the assistant to the Hospital Director and is in charge of Hospital Operations. She describes it as an amazing place where state of the art diagnostic research and techniques are being performed and explored every day.

IN MEMORIAM: Ron Koven ’53 Herb Weiss ’82 Khamal Pearce ’99

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E-mail your news to alum@brooklynfriends.org or telephone 718-852-1029 x208

1990s

In addition to running an afterschool film workshop for Upper Schoolers at BFS, Joey Coppa ’99 has his own family friendly entertainment business called JoeCus Pocus where he is a magician! Book him for your next children’s party or family event at facebook.com/ joecuspocus.

2010s

2000s We were thrilled to hear an update about Dante Pilkington ’12, who is now a senior English major, with a creative writing focus, at Kenyon College. He also lives and works on the Kenyon Farm, and manages all aspects of the farm. Dante started running at BFS and it changed his life. He runs a 10K every day and recently he won a 5K race on parents weekend.

The Enrollment and Alumni Offices sponsored an outreach event on January 6 for prospective Upper School families in the new 116 Lawrence Street building.

Cassie Broadus Foote ’01 moderated a panel discussion of young alumni who spoke about their BFS experiences and how they were prepared for college and careers.

In photo (l to r) front row: Karine Blemur-Chapman, Katie Chamberlain ’12, Karen Edelman; standing: Cassie Broadus Foote ’01, Lekeia Varlack Judge ’99, Crystal Backus ’96, John Vielot ’09, Janna Joaissainte ’13, Anna Emy ’14, Elinor Hills ’15, Ryan Ladouceur ’09, Sidney Bridges, Fiona Sharp ’15.

We were so proud to see Jacob Ginsberg’s ’12 Quaker values in action, when his letter to the editor about reflection and compassion in addressing gun violence was published in the New York Times. His reply to the “A New Way to Tackle Gun Deaths,” article by Nicholas Kristof (column, Oct. 4) offered thoughtful and innovative ways to combat the growing gun violence issue in this country.

Thank you for sharing your ideas for a more peaceful society, Jacob.

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ALUMNI PROFILE:

Andrew Guidone’94

by Jeffrey Stanley

Emmy-winning producer Andrew Guidone ’94 entered BFS as a ninth grader. He’s never been a practicing Quaker, but a seemingly prophetic encounter the year before his arrival in 1990 sparked his curiosity. “I had a tutor during my last year of junior high school,” he intimated, “and she revealed to me on her last day that she belonged to a religion called the Society of Friends.” Andrew had never heard of it. Frankly, he thought it sounded strange. “She said, ‘I bet you have some misgivings about this but it’s not a cult, it’s a way of life, without all the pageantry of Christianity. We encourage free thinking and individuality, and for people to question things.’ I took a liking to that.”

Indeed he found the BFS classroom experience to be atypical of what he had encountered before. “The textbook was a tool, it wasn’t necessarily words to live by,” he recalled. “You didn’t regard whatever was in the book as law. You were encouraged to make you own decisions.”

“ Quaker values help us become more inquisitive people. We’ve always been taught or shown ways of being more philanthropic, to give back, not just to the people who helped us but to humankind.” <ALUMNI>

BFS was also this lifelong Brooklynite’s first experience at an independent school. “I was in a Brooklyn public [junior high] school beforehand. Some other friends of mine were considering private educations. BFS seemed like a nurturing place, which I liked,” he said. At Andrew’s junior high school, 35 students per class was the norm. “You felt like you were among the throngs of people, and I wasn’t what you would call an A+ student. BFS gave me a second chance at making good. They were willing to work with someone like me. From the outset it seemed like you had a good deal of individual attention, which is the main reason why you would consider a private school. I remember my parents telling me the teachers’ hearts would be into it.” After spending a few weeks here he felt inclined to agree with them. “The teachers felt human.”

He elaborated further about those teachers. “History teacher Lawrence Gibson was the first one I met. He was the one who was extending the branch, if you will. At the time he was the Head of the Upper School. He said you need to get on the ball and do the work but I see potential in you, and I think you’ll have a fruitful experience here. He, like a lot of the teachers, took a vested interest in his students’ future.” He also named Head of School Jim Handlin as an influence. “He brought us Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka – the vagabond poets he called them.”

Being Brooklyn born and raised, with an Italian-American dad from the borough and a mother from Shanghai, Andrew was careful not to sound dismissive of Brooklyn’s educational system. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t have evolved in public school but Quaker values help us become more inquisitive

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BECAUSE OF BROOKLYN FRIENDS SCHOOL...

Andrew recently filmed some promotional videos for the school’s new website, including interviews with current seniors Abrielle Moore and Charlie Hills, ninth grader Maxine Simons, Upper School Head Sidney Bridges, teacher Mark Buenzle, and parent volunteer leader Allison Dunn.

Visit http://brooklynfriends.org/meet-the-school/ to experience his stellar handiwork.

people. We’ve always been taught or shown ways of being more philanthropic, to give back, not just to the people who helped us but to humankind. It was the kind of school where we’d go to hearings at Borough Hall in our free time. Can you imagine being allowed to do that at another school?” Quaker values also inspired him to work after school as a writer for a humanist newspaper in his Park Slope neighborhood.

Today Andrew is an Emmy-winning videographer, and he made clear that he considers BFS directly responsible for this career path. A parent who worked as a network TV videographer had made a sizable donation of video equipment to the school but there weren’t yet any formal film or video courses, so the equipment sat underutilized in a small room in the library. “I played around with that and made what I’d like to think is the school’s first newscast. I dubbed it BFS News. It was played during student assemblies.

Any event at the school, in any grade, maybe it was current events and how it was being taught in a classroom, we’d cover that, sort of as a way of informing the rest of the school what was going on.”

Andrew’s work spurred enough interest from other students that later on BFS brought in an alum of the school to teach a film production course. “It was one factor that motivated me to pursue a career in film,” he said. When senior year rolled around, “I got plenty of encouragement from my advisor Sue Aaronson, and the alum nudged him to enroll in the School of Visual Arts. My school newscasts served as a reel for me to show SVA and they gave me a partial scholarship. That certainly helped my parents’ pocketbook.”

After college Andrew worked initially as a freelance editor. “I had just gotten an award from the Academy of Television Arts & Science, the Emmy people, and opened a company in Tribeca with a couple of college

buddies,” he explained. “The majority of my work was for network cable television, the music industry, and a lot of videography as well.” After nearly a decade he made the move from editing to producing, and has for the past six years worked for New York City’s government-owned television stations NYC Life and NYC Media.

“I produce content that’s relevant to New Yorkers. It informs them of how city government works for them, be it the Department for the Aging or the Fire Department.”

This might sound like bureaucratic drudgery but Andrew points out that the work is high quality and engaging. “We’re celebrating the city’s history and architecture through long-form documentaries,” he said. “I’m working on an Emmy-winning show now called Blueprint | NYC which has been on NYC Media since 2004. We won an Emmy in 2009 for a piece I did on Henry Hudson. I have to tip my hat to my History teachers Lawrence Gibson and Jack Ramey on that. Anything I do that has to do with history I think about the lessons I learned in class. ‘Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it,’ was one of Jack’s favorite lines. I took that to heart, and I still try to learn as much as I can.”

Outside of work, Andrew spends time with his wife, Kristine, exploring the city’s multifaceted food scene. “Well, who isn’t a foodie nowadays,” he joked, “but we do the foodie thing. We met through a bowling group. It’s what united us.”

Joking aside, even during his off hours Andrew’s usually got a camera in his hand. “I have a natural curiosity for people, especially those who are disenfranchised,” he said. “Being an adult makes you pay attention to more of the ills in the world. It causes you to pick up that camera and point out what’s wrong. That’s the heart of any documentarian, putting a spotlight on what is unjust.”

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A Day at the Fair

by Lekeia Varlack Judge ’99

Let’s get one thing straight – I am not a morning person. When I was asked to help chaperone the Upper School trip to the Westtown School Multicultural Students Conference and College Fair in Pennsylvania, I was excited...until I was told we had to board the chartered bus at 6am.

On a Saturday.

As the Director of Alumni, I like to take advantage of opportunities to get to know our students before they graduate. This relationshipbuilding process is an important aspect of my position, and it helps students to maintain the connection to Brooklyn Friends School long after graduation. After mentally preparing for the 6am starting time, I agreed to chaperone with trip organizer Tiffany Huggins, the Associate Director of College Counseling. So, with coffee in hand, I joined a bus of our Upper Schoolers ranging from freshmen to seniors, along with several parents, and headed to Pennsylvania.

Tiffany Huggins Westtown School is a pre-K to 12 Quaker day and boarding school. Founded in 1799, Westtown is the oldest operational coeducational boarding school in

the nation, located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Every other year since 2005, Westtown hosts the Independent School Multicultural Students Conference and College Fair, which attracts a growing group of independent school students from both local towns and surrounding states. The school boasts beautiful grounds that are similar to that of a college campus, providing the perfect ­backdrop to a day of collegiate i­ nformation and exploration.

The day started off with a variety of conference workshops that covered a wide range of topics including The Anatomy of an Application, Paying for College and Launching your College Search. Each hourlong session was facilitated by a panel of experts and recruiters from participating colleges, who shared their advice and expertise with all of the attendees. I found the workshops to be both informative and interesting, and everyone’s questions were addressed. After breaking for lunch, we were joined by Head of Upper School Sidney Bridges, for a keynote and panel discussion about Diversity and Inclusion in the 21st Century. During this discussion, representatives from Wesleyan University, Dartmouth College and Rice University shared their views on this topic and answered

questions about current trends in admission, application strategies and other related issues raised by students and parents. The event ended with a college fair; recruiters from 100 colleges and universities provided materials and individualized information sessions with interested students.

Although my days of applying to college are long behind me, I understand how valuable this conference was to those who attended. In the college process, information and connections are key, and there was no shortage of either one at the Westtown School College Fair. On the way home, I had the opportunity to speak to a few of our parents, and it seemed as if everyone was very appreciative of their experience that was provided to them by our College Counseling Office. It was an extremely successful school trip and well worth the 5am wake up call.

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MEET MIDDLE SCHOOL HEAD

Glen Pinder

BFS by Way of Philly, Morehouse, Kuwait and Newark

by Jeffrey Stanley

New Middle School Head Glen Pinder grew up in Willow Grove, PA, a suburb two miles north of Philadelphia. One can’t live that close to William Penn’s City of Brotherly Love without exposure to Quakerism, and Glen was no exception.

“Abington Friends was close to where we grew up. My grandmother enrolled us in the day camp there.

To us they were the rich people on the other side of town,” he chuckled.

“They had this wonderful facility, a pool, acres of space that we had access to. I didn’t know much about Quakerism but later I learned it was very much aligned to what I believe.”

Years later as an educator, Glen became captivated by the philosophy of “servant leadership” as espoused

by Robert K. Greenleaf in the 1970s. Only recently did Glen learn that Greenleaf was a Quaker, so a position at BFS seemed a perfect fit.

Glen graduated from the prestigious Morehouse College in Atlanta with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. “I thought I wanted to be a lawyer,” he said. “I started substitute teaching to make extra money and realized that I had a talent for working with children. I was pretty good at it. I went back and got my certification.”

After two years of teaching in Atlanta, Glen got the urge to travel.

He attended an international teaching job fair, and soon he was teaching in Kuwait. “I lived abroad for three years. While I was overseas I learned about The College of New Jersey’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership degree,” he said. The degree is especially geared toward those who want to become school principals. Soon he was off to the Garden State.

Two years later Glen had earned the M.Ed. and remained in New Jersey working as a school principal in public schools and charter schools in the metropolitan area.

One such school was the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy in Manhattan, where he served for three years as principal of the elementary and middle school.

“Harlem Children’s Zone is a social service organization that seeks to provide wraparound services to underprivileged children,” he explained. “The mindset is, we’re going to remove the obstacles that get in children’s ways to education. When I got there, the Promise Academy was one of the worst performing schools, and when I left it was one of the highest.”

During his tenure Glen adopted Columbia University Teachers College’s reading and writing workshop model for English and Language Arts. After three years the school went from an F rating to an overall A rating, ranking in the top 1% of all New York City K-8 schools, a fact of which he is clearly proud.

Immediately before his appointment at BFS, Glen was Executive Director of the Lady Liberty Academy, a charter school in Newark. “It was the equivalent of a superintendency position,” he said. “In New Jersey you’re under district-level requirements.”

He continued: “Somewhere around the end of last year I decided to make the change. After 12 years as a public school administrator I believed I was beaten around and kicked around enough,” he quipped. A friend heard about the BFS Middle School position and urged Glen to apply. “BFS was my first choice,” he said, “and I feel fortunate to have the job.”

Glen’s master plan for his first year is to get acclimated to the surroundings.

“I want to learn the culture, get to know the children, advocate for them, learn about their families. I’ll also focus on goal-setting and things of a strategic nature,” he said.

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The new BFS Upper School — and not just the student body — is beginning its second semester in continuing elegance, openness and style. Take a moment to enjoy these stunning images captured by photographer Chris Cooper, courtesy of the Upper School architects, FXFOWLE. Spread across three floors, the Upper School has nearly 40,000 square feet of space, which 210 students and 35 faculty members now call their BFS home.

AN EXPRESSION OF VALUES

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We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.

PHOTOS ©2015 BY CHRIS COOPER

– Winston Churchill

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CL ASSROOM AND COMMUNIT Y:

Life at the BFS Family Center

by Sara Soll, Director of Family Center

Two year olds are ready for school. They are always gathering information about their world through observation, open-ended, hands-on exploration and play.

They are also ready to learn in an intentional, guided way.

“Academics” – literacy, reading, math, science, social studies, art, and music – are present in everything they do. While concepts and facts are important, learning how to learn, how to persist when something is hard, and how to ask questions are perhaps even more important at this age.

At the Family Center, the children are building a foundation that supports all learning; this is not just for

when you are two and three years old, but for the more “academic” structured learning in the years ahead. The skills necessary to create that solid foundation come from the children learning about themselves in the context of a classroom community. Here, structured routines shape and enhance a child’s experience and growth while fostering a sense of security. When children follow a consistent routine, they know what they will be doing and what to expect. Transitions are also part of every day at the Family Center. The two to three year old child comes to

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learn that you may have to stop doing something before you are ready to stop for reasons you don’t understand or agree with. Learning how to navigate a transition – and learning to understand why you need to stop – can seem arbitrary and confusing, especially if the next activity may not be of your choosing. Think of all the things we have to do every day at school or at work that are out of our control!

One of the most common phrases used in early childhood education is “Use your words.” We want the children to understand that in our school culture the way we communicate, make our needs known, and resolve conflicts is with our language. They learn that crying, whining, yelling is not a productive or positive way to communicate. Children also learn they need to listen to their classmates’ words. This develops an awareness of others’ needs and ideas even if they are not in agreement with yours.

Sharing and taking turns is a major learning curve for children this age. The materials in the classroom belong to the classroom, to everyone in that community. It isn’t your toy, but it can be your turn with that toy. After your turn it will be someone else’s turn. You learn to wait and be patient. You learn to pass something along to a friend who is waiting (and the smile you get makes it worthwhile).

Through all of these experiences in the Family Center, the children are learning, exploring, and discovering as they build an “academic” foundation for the many years of schooling ahead.

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by Maura Eden, Head of Preschool Storytelling enriches our lives – it connects us all and builds a love of reading and writing in our youngest Brooklyn Friends students. Since day one of the 2015-16 school year, all six preschool classes have been immersed in storytelling, reading aloud, and the practice of reading books.

We began our storytelling journey this year with a September visit from author and illustrator Sophie Blackall, a 2016 Caldecott Medalist. Sophie visited the Fours classes and read her book, The Baby Tree, the tale of a curious child who seeks to find out how babies are born. The story sparked lots of conversation from our preschoolers, who – as you might imagine – had their very own ideas about where babies come from!

The following month Kay Olan, a Native American storyteller from the Mohawk nation, visited the children as part of the school’s Indigenous Peoples Day observance.

Kay told children the story of why owls have big eyes and another about how birds are thankful to the bald eagle for their distinctive feathers.

She also shared the ways in which stories teach lessons and help us to understand our relationships with one another and the world.

Parents and extended members of our school community have been a special part of the fabric of our storytelling culture. Many family members come in to read books and tell stories connecting the children to cherished stories of holidays, family traditions, and favorite tales. Jeremy Hawkins (Middle and Upper School teacher), Cheryl Foote (our beloved receptionist) and Orinthia Swindell and Russell Marsh (Director and Associate Director of Diversity) have all been regular storytelling visitors to Preschool.

Our resident librarian on wheels, Robin Stewart, is a steady presence in the children’s lives – reading aloud, singing songs, and creating activities related to the book of the week. When our aeroponic garden tower (Greenie) was overflowing with greens and vegetables right after our winter break, Robin helped the children harvest their bounty. She then read

them a story called The Little Pea, and created a delicious morning snack of mixed lettuce, basil, and peas – the Preschool’s own version of “tower to table.”

Poetry, Journals, and Friendship Through storytelling, the children get to see their personal and collective work take an important place in the classroom. Blue Room friends created poems that tell us how special they are; those poems were illustrated by teacher/ photographer Bianca Sanchez’s evocative photos. The Green Room Friendship Book, created by all of the children themselves, is displayed on the classroom bookshelf along with short stories other friends have illustrated and authored.

In the Purple Room, the children have been dictating their own stories into their personal journal books, complete with characters, problems, and resolutions. The storyteller then selects classroom peers to act out their tales. This tradition continues throughout the year and the journals will go home to parents in June. After reading Fox Makes a Friend (about a lonely little

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Teacher Linda Villamarin with children in the Yellow Room

fox whose mother sends him out to make some friends), Orange Room children were inspired to create an art project using sticks and leaves to form creatures of their imaginings.

Working together helped to foster new friendships along the way.

Dance stories were another way for preschoolers to express themselves and imagine their lives in other spheres. Children in the Blue Room became astronauts and traveled to the moon complete with helmets, oxygen, backpacks and special moon suits as part of their studies with dance specialist Jules Skloot.

Even at an early childhood level, books have the ability to promote

deep and thoughtful critical thinking in the youngest of children.

As an example, the Yellow Room read the songbook, This Land Is Your Land with words by Woody Guthrie and illustrations by Kathy Jakobsen.

The book has one illustration of a poor part of a city, with people standing in line at a soup kitchen and a deserted lot full of garbage.

Said teachers Kate Engle and Linda Villamarin: “We talked about how the song was written because the author believed that everyone should have enough food, a safe place to live, and clothes to wear. One of the children observed that some people are homeless, and the class talked about what that

means – not everyone has a safe home to stay in, and that’s unfair.”

Some books that we read give additional support to the ideal of respecting and helping one another. Teacher Sharon Carter, for instance, reported that the Red Room children had a productive group discussion after hearing the books, Words Are Not for Hurting

by Elizabeth Verdick and Hands Are Not for Hitting by Martine Agassi.

“The children came together with thoughts and ideas about working together and being a good friend,” Sharon said.

It’s always a good result whenever and however that happens.

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The mindful inclusion of technology as a conduit to enhance the learning experience gave first grade students a rich STREAM experience, while also placing demands on their collaborative and creative skills.

Who Are the Bee-Bots in Your Neighborhood?

by Christina Karvounis, Lower School Librarian Deepening inquiry. Learning across disciplines. Having fun. Challenging our students to grow and integrate prior skills and new knowledge. The Bee-Bot program in the first grade undertook all of this and more.

An anchor of the first grade curriculum is the neighborhood study. Over the course of the year, students learn to carefully observe neighborhoods, measure them, draw them, build them, and consider how they function and who is part of one, including themselves.

Developmentally, this is right in line with 6- and 7-yearolds: there is a new awareness outside of oneself and a desire to learn more about how life unfolds each day in their community.

In December, the first grade team and many specialists worked together under Lower School Technology Integrator Tracy Chow and Math Specialist Jonathan Edmonds’ leadership to provide an added dimension to this already strong curriculum. Cross-disciplinary efforts from many specialists and classroom teachers pulled into action a STREAM experience for our first grade. S is for Science, T is for Technology, R is for Research, E is for Engineering, A is for Art and M is for Math. The research component expands upon the STEAM experience begun in the Brooklyn Friends Family Center and Preschool.

This practice lays a strong foundation for future research experiences including the IB curricula in the Upper School.

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Getting from Point A to Point B and So On. . .

The magic happens when students harmonize their prior knowledge and brand new knowledge around STREAM topics in their partnerships to tackle the problem of moving the Bee-Bot from one point in the classroom neighborhood (“Friendsville”) to the other. First grade teacher Laura Leopardo said it best, “Partnerships worked so well: students had to plan, discuss, listen and execute their plans. All of these are so important for not only their social development but also for their own learning and mastery of new skills in many areas.”

A Bee-Bot is a programmable robot designed with the youngest learner in mind. This technology tool naturally fits and then extends every point in the math, science and technology curricula in the first grade. Students also learned – and put to use – new skills in geometry, spatial reasoning, programming and computational thinking.

Classroom teachers and specialists complemented these skills by adding in research, art, and engineering components to the experience.

There were read-alouds and study in the library around neighborhoods and programming; collage and map-making in art; and discussions throughout around constructing and building the Friendsville block community. As Jonathan Edmonds aptly remarked, “The Bee-Bot requires students to take a different perspective [the Bee-Bot’s], and in doing so, it fosters the comparison of where you are with other reference points.”

In the first combined math and technology class, the first graders were introduced to Bee-Bot and to the use of computational thinking strategies to help create a program to navigate Bee-Bot in Friendsville from one building to another. Students learned about the importance of deconstructing big problems into smaller problems and giving specific and ordered instructions (algorithms). Students also discovered that they need to give instructions for movement based on the perspective of the Bee-Bot.

In the second math and technology class, students reviewed their first Bee-Bot programs to find ways to optimize the code. Students discovered that using the computational thinking strategy of pattern matching, we could use loops (or iterations) to make our programs simpler and more efficient. This brought forward mathematical thinking that is linked to multiplication and representation.

Jonathan said, “This learning opportunity placed teachers as thoughtful facilitators alongside students.

Teachers discussed goals of the project – anticipating project problems, which ones to take away as unproductive hurdles while leaving in place the productive struggle of gaining a new set of skills, while the experience for students was to solve a problem across the disciplines. It was wonderful to see students struggling in ways that we anticipated, and learning about how the struggle is useful – trial and error.”

Tracy added, “Persistence is key! Even if you arrive at a solution, it’s not necessarily the most efficient. In technology, there is a great deal of problem solving and utilizing knowledge across disciplines, to reach an optimal solution within the various constraints of a problem.”

This experience mimicked those that are found in the real world today. Problems are best solved with a multidisciplinary approach, and with the understanding that there will be successes and challenges along the way. The Bee-Bot addition to the first grade neighborhood study underpinned this seamlessly by the nature of the delivery by specialists and teachers. The mindful inclusion of technology as a conduit to enhance the learning experience gave first grade students a rich STREAM experience, while also placing demands on their collaborative and creative skills. As first grade teachers Jill Fiengo, Laura Leopardo and Elizabeth Machuca said, “Every single child was excited, engaged, and invested in this unit. It appealed to all learners at every stage and took the unit to a new level for everyone involved.”

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Bringing Ancient Egypt to Life (and Afterlife)

by Jeffrey Stanley

“The room was darkened and hushed. Quiet, mysterioussounding Egyptian music played as each student took up a role to bring the Pharaoh into the afterlife. There was a focused and serious tone to the proceedings. Each person played his or her role attentively.”

Middle School Humanities Teacher Amanda Goodwin described what might seem like a Halloween haunted house project. It actually took place in December and wasn’t about the spookiness per se. It was about resurrecting the shadows of ancient Egypt along with her fellow Humanities Teachers Kathleen Clinchy and Michael Roth.

As they do every year, fifth graders wrapped up the fall semester with a unit on ancient Egypt that culminated in a funeral procession through the halls of 375 Pearl Street.

A rite of passage begun over a decade ago by teachers Ticia Vreeland and Laurice Hwang, the event includes period clothing, a weeping Pharaoh’s wife and professional mourners who wail and moan.

A life-size Pharaoh in his sarcophagus would be a bit unwieldy so a mummified apple is used instead.

Amanda explained the importance

of this macabre element of the Egypt curriculum. “We do the funeral as a way of engaging kids to become interested in ancient Egypt. When students get a chance to physically engage by acting or playing out an event or ritual in history, they experience that material in a more significant and meaningful way than by simply reading about it.”

As part of the lead-up to the burial, students spent weeks studying Egyptian funeral rituals and learning about their roles. They made their own props and replicas of sacred objects. “The student portraying the priest wrote out the spells and charms needed to gain access to the afterlife on ancient papyrus,” said Amanda. “The coffin maker carefully painted the sarcophagus with an image of the Pharaoh, and the cook prepared authentic Egyptian delicacies for the Pharaoh and his hungry minions to enjoy at the funerary feast.”

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That’s not to say there isn’t also a rigorous amount of reading and research prior to the fun and theatrics. Students not only learn about ancient Egyptian culture, they compare it to that of other ancient civilizations. “One of the key concepts of the year is to understand how the first great civilizations evolved,” explained Amanda. “Our curriculum emphasizes the skills needed to effectively read maps, take notes, prepare for quizzes, write summaries, and to write a research paper.”

The unit also included a field trip to the Brooklyn Museum’s Egyptian wing, where students took turns presenting brief lectures to their classmates about artifacts related to their own individual research papers.

Topics ranged from Egyptian jewelry to the canopic jars used to hold embalmed organs, to varieties of Egyptian sculpture. “We broke into small groups and travelled around the exhibit,” explained Amanda, “stopping to let each student talk a little about their area of knowledge...It was a wonderful showcase with real-life examples of students researching their topics of interest.”

Middle School Head Glen Pinder, a self-described “history geek,” spent time living, teaching, and traveling in Kuwait and Egypt in the late 1990s; he’s so enamored of the region that a large framed photo of the Giza pyramids adorns his office wall. Not surprisingly, he’s been thrilled to observe and learn about the Egypt unit. He

accompanied the students on the Brooklyn Museum trip this year and plans to become more involved next year, including sharing his many photos and perhaps bringing in an Egyptologist colleague as a guest speaker.

Glen expects to focus on geography and how the ancient Egyptians interacted with their environment. He explained his passion for the subject. A political science major, he initially planned to teach social studies in an Atlanta public school. Instead he was assigned to teach geography, which seemed a frustration at first. “I hadn’t majored in geography. I was learning it right along with the students,” he quipped, but it led to his overwhelming desire to see more of the world and to take a position teaching in the Middle East.

“The pyramids are not the coolest things about ancient Egypt,” he insisted. “The tombs at Luxor, Aswan, the Valley of the Kings and Queens, that’s where you get a sense of the great architecture. I was amazed.” Prior to his stay in the Middle East, Glen had studied African religion as an avocation. Of the funeral reenactment he had much to say about the topic of Egyptians’ spiritual views 3,000 years ago: “History teaches that they were polytheistic but really they are monotheistic. They just personified facets of the god Ra to create parables for people to understand. It’s an Eastern approach to religion, it’s more holistic than what we have in the West where everything is more compartmentalized.”

He pointed out that as an African-American, exposure to this culture for our students is especially important.

“I see Egypt as the first high civilization, and it’s in Africa.

It gives me a sense of pride that we were also builders of civilizations. In the West we tend to only hear about the Greeks and the Romans. Egypt is in northeast Africa and they identify themselves as Africans, which impressed me...Timbuktu in West Africa, Memphis in Egypt, these were the first universities.” He lamented the modern trope, even among young African-Americans, that the most important thing they’ve contributed to culture is hip-hop. “Our contributions to modern civilization and society go much further.”

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“ Our issues are important, our issues are real, These issues run deep with emotional feel.”

– Michaela Guy ’18*

Stand and Act:

THE SECOND ANNU AL COMMUNIT Y ISSUES CONFERENCE

by Natania Kremer

Director of Service Learning and Civic Engagement Take 190 teenagers, 40 expert speakers from 30 community partner organizations, and add in 20 more teens and teachers from six neighboring schools. Multiply by 14 student-identified community issues and what do you get: The Second Annual BFS Community Issues Conference.

There was a buzz of excitement at Brooklyn Friends School in the early hours of Nov. 12, as the Class of 2018 welcomed the Upper School student body, faculty members, and special guests to their Community Issues Conference. The students in the 10th Grade Service & Justice Seminar: Exploring Parallel Struggles with C.A.R.E. took the lead in organizing the conference during the month of October by designing the conference posters, identifying authentic community needs, researching community partners, conducting outreach, and planning the workshop sessions.

After a full month of preparation, with over 200 people seated in the Pearl Street Meetinghouse, tenth graders Anthony Hohn, Michaela Guy, and Miranda Chang took to the stage to begin the day.

“The goal for the morning is for all of us​to learn about significant local community issues,” said Anthony. “We will connect with representatives from local partner organizations doing incredible work, and identify ways that we​, as young people, can support constructive change in the community.” Miranda added, “We hope that this morning will generate interest, curiosity,

understanding and an incentive to become involved and take action!”

Amanda Becker ’18 introduced NYC Youth Poet Laureate Ishmael “Ish” Islam as the conference’s keynote speaker and the excitement went up another notch. Ish energized the room with his opening remarks, poetry, and musical performances, creating a bridge between artistic achievement and civic engagement. He emphasized the importance of having meaningful context before serving in the Ishmael Islam community, and he encouraged students to use their voices to address inequity and injustice. As Gabriela Sanchez ’18 commented, “Our keynote speaker was amazing. Saying that he wished that there had been events or conferences like ours when he was in high school shows that not all schools do this. The fact that our voices are being heard is special.”

Every student then attended three out of a total of 14 workshops focusing on topics identified by the tenth graders. These included the Asian American experience; climate change; cognitive and developmental delays; feminism, womanism and the intersections of race

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* Read Michaela’s complete poem at brooklynfriends.org/serviceday

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Amanda Becker ’18

and gender; gun control; homelessness; human trafficking; LGBTQIA+ rights; police brutality and accountability; rape culture; sexism; social and emotional development in young people; and substance abuse and addiction. Students discussed the complexities, underlying causes, and manifestations of these issues, and they were encouraged to think about how many of these issues intersect and connect, as well as how to support the local organizations that were represented.

We were very grateful that BFS parents – asha bandele, Lumumba Bandele, Mark LaRiviere, Chris McConnell, Priscilla Smith, Elizabeth Stong, and Wendy Syzmanski – as well as alumna Asha Boston, shared their areas of expertise in the conference workshops.

Also, we were pleased to welcome guest students and teachers from Dalton, Lycee Francais, Packer, Poly Prep, Trevor Day, and Chapin.

Devon Schwitzman ’19

Charles Campbell ’19

BFS student leaders had good practice in collaborative event planning, navigating institutional structures, and public speaking. As Upper School Head Sidney Bridges observed, “Our students, especially the sophomores, modeled the institutional mission we espouse: that we be respectful and responsible community partners; that we listen, learn, and reflect to prepare for action to address injustice and inequity.”

The student organizers followed up with participants to share a consolidated list of action opportunities that were generated during the event. One guest speaker remarked, “It was so refreshing and empowering to be surrounded by kids who continues on next page

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COMMUNITY PARTNERS Brooklyn Autism Center Brooklyn Community Pride Center CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities Center for Constitutional Rights Charles B. Wang Community Health Center Children’s Art Express Covenant House DreamStreet ECPAT Freedom Institute Girls Education and Mentoring Services Girls for Gender Equity Global Kids Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Mt. Sinai Roosevelt Addiction Institute National Alliance on Mental Illness NAACP Legal Defense Fund New Yorkers Against Gun Violence New York 2 X Coalition New York Civil Liberties Union Program for the Study of Reproductive Health at Yale University Realization Center Sanctuary for Families Stop Mass Incarceration Network The Sikh Coalition U.S. Bankruptcy Court Undoing Racism Internship Project Urban Word NYC

Miranda Chang ’18

COMMUNIT Y ISSUES CONFERENCE continued from previous page

were interested and knowledgeable about social justice!” Another added, “This was a terrific experience for me as well. I would be delighted to keep in touch with any students who have an interest in the issues that we discussed, and to be a resource for you and the service and justice program at BFS.” The Community Issues Conference was an intentional opportunity for our students to work with community partners in raising awareness about a broad range of justice and equity issues.

Many students left with renewed drive to take action i​ n their communities, and excitement about connections that grew out of the experience.

The event was a success thanks to the passion and energy brought by our students and our community partners, as well as the support of our cafeteria, facilities, and information technology staff. We look forward to continuing to build accountable, reciprocal relationships that will evolve into ongoing service learning and civic engagement opportunities that are meaningful for everyone involved.

STUDENT REFLECTIONS “I was very inspired by the workshops that I attended, but more so by the look of intent focus and interest in my friend’s eyes.

I will reach out to some of the partners to do some service, and I hope that others will as well.”

“It was inspiring to see how passionate the guest speakers and many of the students were, and that has encouraged me to take action to try to improve many of the issues.”

– JUL IE T R A ME Y-L A R I V IER E

“I was able to learn more about certain topics and have a more indepth understanding of what is affecting society today. Many of the sessions gave opportunities for ways we could get involved in programs and issues.”

– A L IC E QU

– NI A MH HENC H Y

Michaela Guy ’18

“It’s really interesting to hear another person’s view or experience in some topics that you may have never thought of or considered before.

It broadens your thinking.”

– SCO T T MOR R IS

“When I was both in a position of leadership and a participant in a session, I began to understand the importance of having the capacity to listen with an impartial ear, and to assume the role of a leader who ushers thoughtful discussion, not one who seizes the opportunity to impose one’s convictions upon others.”

– A L E X VA N BIEM A

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FALL TEAMS AND RECORDS Boys Varsity Soccer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-5 Girls Varsity Soccer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1 Boys Middle School Soccer . . . . . . . . . . 10-1-1 Girls Middle School Soccer . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4-4 Girls Varsity Volleyball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4 Girls JV Volleyball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8 Girls Middle School Volleyball . . . . . . . . 8-4

WINTER TEAMS AND RECORDS Boys Varsity Basketball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-10 Girls Varsity Basketball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10 Boys JV Basketball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-10 Boys Middle School Basketball. . . . . . . 15-0 Girls Middle School Basketball . . . . . . . 12-1

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Brooklyn Friends School 375 Pearl Street Brooklyn, NY 11201

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID S. Hackensack, NJ Permit # 79

Address Service Requested

Helen Lipsky, Class of 2018

Oliver Slater-Pons, Class of 2019

Violet Reimer, Class of 2020

Cameron Glassman, Class of 2019

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