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t h e a lu m n a e & co m m u n it y mag az in e of k ath e ri n e d e lmar b u rk e s ch oo l
IDEAS IN BLOOM Professional development brings new curricula to Burke’s
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L I N C O L N PA R K S T E P S — R E V I TA L I Z E D ! Seven long years after the idea first popped up, the Lincoln Park steps revitalization project was finally completed earlier this year and feted with a ceremony on Thursday, May 28. Burke’s students were on hand to formally cut the ribbon alongside project heads and local dignitaries — a fitting finish given the school’s role in the renovation. It was during the planning for Burke’s Second Century in 2008 that Anna Yatroussis ’84, who is also an alumnae parent and the current school secretary, realized that cleaning up the school’s “front yard” would provide a tangible improvement to the neighborhood. Fellow parent Meg Autry immediately joined forces with Anna, and the two maneuvered through the grind of community meetings, approvals and applications. They formed Friends of Lincoln Park under the fiscal sponsorship of San Francisco Parks Alliance, which made the project viable, allowed for private fundraising and lent expertise in city public and private projects. Artist Aileen Barr was elected for the project, having just completed the 16th Avenue stairs tile
project in the Sunset District. With the approvals secured, a board was formed, with many Burke’s parents leading the charge in raising the funds, including Kerri Lehmann, Kathy Barish, Martha Stabler, Katherine LeBaron Phipps, Monica Morse and Liz Westover. Burke’s parent Jim Westover of William Duff Architects volunteered his time and talent to produce the architectural plans and guide both construction phases through completion. Another Burke’s parent, Gerry Agosta of BV Builders, aided in the contract management and planning with the site contractors. SF Recreation & Parks, through two large grants, would fund the repair and preparation of the site to receive the gift of the tiles. Many donors received personalized tiles that now dot the staircase at the end of the California Street cul de sac, including several special dedications: one for the newly retired Elizabeth Coleman, and another for former Burke’s controller David Smith, who died in 2014 after battling cancer. Elizabeth and David’s wife, Nancy, were both on hand for the ceremony.
In This Issue Opening Shots................................ Snapshots from Burke’s
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A Word From Michele Williams...................... Greetings from Head of School
t h e a lu m n a e & co m m u n it y mag az i n e of k ath e ri n e d e lmar b u rk e s ch o o l
Burke’s mission is to educate, encourage and empower girls. Our school combines academic excellence with an appreciation for childhood so that students thrive as learners, develop a strong sense of self, contribute to community, and fulfill their potential, now and throughout life.
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The Buzz at Burke’s ................. Spring 2015 Events and Happenings at Burke’s Graduation Celebration............................. Classes of 2011 and 2015 Destinations
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Traditions ................................. Pansy Day and Grandparents’ & Special Friends’ Day Feature ...................................... Back to School: Professional Development at Burke’s
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Alumnae Luncheon ................. Alumnae Profiles ..................... Vendela Vida ’85 and Jean Afterman ’75
KayDeeBee is produced by Burke’s Advancement Office selena shadle
meagan gallagher
Director of Advancement selena@kdbs.org
Advancement Associate meagan@kdbs.org
allison rost
Special Events Manager conor@kdbs.org
Director of Communications allison@kdbs.org filomena spero
Associate Director of Advancement filomena@kdbs.org
Distinguished Alumna............ Erica Howson Fortescue ’89
Annual Fund and Database Manager jenny.h@kdbs.org
original design by owl in a tree issue design by anna pipes
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Class Notes................................ Alumnae Class Notes and In Memoriam
conor ryan tung
jenny hogg
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Supporting Burke’s ................. Ways You Can Give To Burke’s
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From the Archives ...................
on the cover Burke’s growth in the area of professional development for faculty and staff has brought noticeable changes to campus, including a revitalized Social Emotional Learning curriculum that decorates the walls of the Lunchroom. Summer workshops and meetings enabled three teachers to craft this new program. In the first unit, students outlined their hopes and intentions for the new school year. Read more on page 28.
Everything is Awesome! Legos paid a visit to the Burke’s campus on Saturday, February 7, for the Junior First Lego League Expo. Students from as far away as Sacramento joined four teams of Burke’s students in showing off the creations they’d been working on for the past few months — Legopowered landscapes and simple machines to help solve a problem or research a topic. Burke’s four teams tackled everything from green geckos to how hospitals work, and made the dioramas to match.
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OPENING SHOTS
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DASH for the Finish Line On May 16, DASH 2015 brought families together at Crissy Field to run a 2.5 (or 5K) race to raise funds for athletics, physical education and wellness programs at Burke’s. This year, we had nearly 250 runners who braved a cold, blustery Saturday morning — and many, including these high achievers, who made a real race out of it.
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Planting Roots Some members of the new Class of 2024 kicked off their summer at Seedlings, a day camp for new kindergartners — and there were students who couldn’t quite wait to be a Burke’s girl.
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Read On At recess and lunch on May 13, the Book Exchange had Lower and Upper School students alike crowded around boxes and tables full of titles ripe for reading. Many girls even hunkered right down with their new books and started turning the pages immediately. This wide array of reads was the result of the generosity of parents, friends and alumnae donating old titles — picture books, young adult and grown-up novels alike.
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Eighth-Grade Musical The Class of 2015 took us “Under the Sea” as part of its production of “The Little Mermaid” on June 4, which served as the culminating element of its Burke’s arts education. Well done, eighth graders — and a round of applause for the teachers and staff members who made the performance possible! Visit our YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/BurkesSchool to see a selection of videos from the performance. KayDeeBee
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GREETINGS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
A Message from Michele Williams I freely admit that I am a latecomer to social media. But since I’ve started posting on Twitter (you can find me @BurkesHead), it’s proven to be helpful for sharing all of the great things that are happening on the Burke’s campus. Along with other members of the faculty, I’ve connected with professionals across the United States and around the world, and it’s been gratifying to hear that the projects we’re prototyping on campus put us on the cutting edge of what’s happening in education. (For instance, when Director of Lower School Alice Moore — who you can follow @alicemoore88 — tweeted about the week of computer-programming activities that took place at Burke’s in December 2014, the George Lucas-backed nonprofit Edutopia took notice.) A big part of my job is ensuring that we keep Burke’s at the forefront of what’s working in the field, and a big part of doing that is pushing through the Strategic Plan we began implementing in 2014. All of the goals laid out in that plan aim to prepare our girls as best we can to succeed in the 21st century. What does that mean? Of course, we’re all living in the 21st century, but for Burke’s, it means that we want to prepare our students for a world that is profoundly different than the one in which we went to school. Whereas my generation (and likely yours) had to seek out information in libraries and encyclopedias, Burke’s girls can hold more computing power in one hand than the earliest tech geniuses could ever imagine. But we don’t aim to teach students simply how to engage with technology — we want them to engage with a world where technology makes knowledge more accessible than ever. We want them to apply that knowledge toward identifying and solving problems that have plagued our society for decades or even centuries. And we are making headway toward accomplishing that task. In this issue, you’ll read about some of our early efforts, including the expansion of our professional-development program, which gives our educators the tools to teach those 21st-century skills. In the future, you’ll hear more about the work we’re just beginning to undertake, such as examining how the learning spaces we use on campus can be improved to facilitate that new curriculum and work for a diverse range of backgrounds and learning styles. However, what you’re seeing in these pages just skims the surface — we encourage you to check out our website as well as our school Facebook account and teacher Twitter feeds to see more of what we’re doing to advance the state of education not just for our students, but for lifelong learners all over the world.
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Fourth Grade Visits Two Balcluthas
Top Tech Women
BLEND Dinner
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JAN 27, 2015
Carlos Oliva, Burke’s longtime Director of Maintenance, is a model ship enthusiast. When fourth graders visited the ship Balclutha at the Hyde Street Pier as part of their unit on the Gold Rush in February, he showed them the mini version of the ship in the site’s model shop! “I was there representing the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, and it was such a pleasure to have our girls,” he said.
Two of the tech world’s top women stopped by the Upper School assembly on February 2 to share their stories about how (and why) they found their way into their careers. Ruchi Sanghvi (pictured) was the first female engineer at Facebook, and Nina Mehta is currently a designer for Pivotal Labs. The two spoke about working through their fears to find their dream jobs, especially in an industry that has changed so dramatically in such a short period of time.
Each year, families and employees join together for BLEND, a potluck dinner to learn about and celebrate each others’ identities and cultures. On February 10, participants joined together once again for a broad selection of dishes and described an activity in which each student drew pictures of her family and described what characterizes its members. It wasn’t a surprise that the same adjectives — loving, goofy, etc. — came up over and over again.
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Medieval Museum
Slavery Museum
International Women’s Day
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MARCH 2015
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Students in Barbara Handler’s sixth-grade Humanities classes transformed Makery Down into a special one-off exhibition: The Medieval Museum. The class created full-blown medieval villages using building materials such as wood and clay, complete with castle, church, cottages and operational watermill. Visitors could tour the displays and hear more from class “docents,” learn about medicinal herbs and spices, thumb through a catalog of the exhibit or even play with a Minecraft version of a medieval village.
In March, eighth graders in Howard McCoy’s U.S. history classes turned the Upper School hallway into a museum dedicated to covering the slave trade, specifically in New England. Students covered various aspects of the slave trade throughout the year, and as part of their final activity for the unit, they put together exhibits that included an indepth look at the Underground Railroad; life-size displays depicting the everyday experience of a slave; and stories of freed slaves curated on iPads — among many others.
Burke’s held an assembly packed with girl power on March 3 that celebrated both Women’s History Month as well as International Women’s Day. Ann Killion, current sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle and bestselling author, spoke about her experiences in a mostly male field. Lower School art teacher Yara Herman presented art projects illustrating the chasm between standard stereotypes for girls and how Burke’s students see themselves. The seventh graders modeled T-shirts they created with positive messages about female heroes. Gugulethu Radebe, Burke’s new Teach with Africa faculty member, was introduced, followed by a speech from a seventh grader about the accomplishments and legacy of tennis player Billie Jean King.
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Auction
Mandarin Speech Contest
MARCH 28, 2015
APR 27, 2015
Burke’s rocked this year at the 2015 Dinner Auction held at the San Francisco Design Center on March 28. The auction provided funding for our student financial assistance and faculty and staff professional development programs. Guests enjoyed channeling their inner rock star by dressing like a favorite rock icon or groupie — including co-chairs Amy Felsenthal (as Amy Winehouse) and Jenny Riedy (as Joan Jett).
Eight Mandarin students from Burke’s participated in three different categories in this year’s Chinese Language Teachers Association of California (CLTAC) Mandarin Speech Contest, and three of them came home with awards.The 40th CLTAC Mandarin Speech Contest was held at Lowell High School on Sunday, April 27. Students were judged on the speeches they wrote, memorized and delivered, as well as on their pronunciation, tones, intonation, fluency and presentation skills.
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ExploraVision Finalists — Again!
Maypole
BAIAL Soccer Title
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For the second year in a row, sixth-grade science students have been named the regional winners in the Grades 4-6 Toshiba/ NSTA ExploraVision contest, making Burke’s the top school west of the Rockies. The contest calls for students to take a current piece of technology and reimagine it so it tackles a societal problem. Two sixth graders decided to tackle the error-prone biohazard suits that are meant to protect healthcare workers from exposure to diseases such as Ebola.
On May 1, the eighth graders participated in Burke’s traditional May Day maypole event, which was paired with a lunch on the front lawn for Burke’s Families. As the first of many events leading up to graduation, it brought the Class of 2015 together for the time-honored weaving/ unweaving of the green and gold ribbons.
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The Varsity Green soccer team defended its Bay Area Independent Athletic League league title with a 1-0 win over No. 1 seed Hamlin on May 6 at Marin Country Day School. It was the first goal Hamlin had conceded from play all season. “The team dug in, defended and played together one final time like there was no tomorrow!” Athletic Director Ashling Bryant said. PHOTO 20-21
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Arts Festival MAY 7, 2015
The Burke’s campus was brimming with visual artwork at the annual Arts Festival on May 7. A major highlight of this year’s festival was the fourth-grade fashion show, titled “Picturesque Parasols.” The show took audiences on a journey through different California regions and landscapes. Eighth graders injected some science into the festival by demonstrating their Rube Goldberg machines, which attempted to direct a ball from one side of their classroom to the other using a complex series of maneuvers — with varying levels of success. PHOTO 22-23
Earthquake Preparedness with Burke’s Gives Back: Community Service Program MAY 27, 2015
This year, Burke’s Gives Back expanded its work with the Richmond District Neighborhood Center, and one way was through earthquake preparedness. The fifth-grade, eighth-grade and Kindergarten classes donated items through a Disaster-Preparedness Mini-Drive, which students from many grades assembled into kits for homebound seniors. Christine Preziosi, Service Program Leader at RDNC, introduced the importance of emergency supplies and plans to fifth and sixth graders, inspiring several students to put their newfound knowledge to work at home. PHOTO 24-26
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Google I/O Youth
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On May 29, 20 Burke’s girls in fourth through seventh grades had the opportunity to attend Google I/O Youth, a new initiative aimed to bring youth voices and participation to the Google Worldwide Developers Conference at Moscone Center. The girls were inspired by speeches from tech leaders who shared their visions for the future of technology, education and computer science. Students also participated in a series of handson stations and experimented with coding and programming.
Burke’s celebrated the achievements of all of our 2014-15 athletes and acknowledged the efforts and support of their coaches on May 29. Last year’s Outstanding Athletes returned to Burke’s to honor their 2015 counterparts (Emily McCarthy and Kamryn You Mak), and the many eighth-grade three-sport athletes were recognized for their dedication to the program. The girls paid tribute to the spirit and sportsmanship of the Burke’s community. PHOTO 30-31
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G R A D U AT I O N
GRADUATION C E L E B R AT I O N
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With shrieks and cheers, graduating eighth graders left the Gymnasium as one for the last time after receiving their diplomas on June 11. Many congratulations to these 47 Burke’s girls, who are heading to the many excellent high schools listed below. In addition, the members of the Class of 2011 finished up their high-school careers last spring and are now embarking on their freshman years in college.
CLASS OF 2015 HIGH SCHOOL DESTINATIONS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Bay School Berkshire School (Massachusetts) The Branson School Brentwood College School (Canada) Convent of the Sacred Heart Crystal Springs Uplands School Drew School International High School Latin School of Chicago Lick-Wilmerding High School Marin Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (New Hampshire) Redwood High School San Francisco Waldorf High School St. Ignatius College Preparatory The Thacher School University High School The Urban School
CLASS OF 2011 COLLEGE DESTINATIONS • • • • • •
Barnard College Boston College Bucknell University Colgate University College of Charleston Cornish College of the Arts
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Davidson College Duke University Fordham University Franklin & Marshall College Georgetown University Harvard University Haverford College Lewis & Clark College Loyola Marymount University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Middlebury College Northeastern University Occidental College Pitzer College Princeton University Regis College Southern Methodist University Stanford University United States Military Academy University of Alabama University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Santa Barbara University of Chicago University of Colorado, Boulder University of Puget Sound University of Southern California University of Tampa University of Virginia Vassar College Wesleyan University Yale University
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TRADITIONS
PANSY DAY Much-needed rain hit the Burke’s campus on Wednesday, May 10, forcing the traditional year-end ceremony inside the Gymnasium. But thanks to some foresight from for mer head David Fleischhacker, students were still able to shower graduates with pansy petals from above.
CLASS OF 2015 PANSY DAY AWARDS SARA KASHANI-SABET PERFORMING ARTS KATELYN FLANAGAN NORA RIEDINGER VISUAL ARTS Sarah Babcock Award Established in 1992 in honor of alumna Sarah Babcock, this award commemorates Sarah’s spirit and her love of photography and the arts.
ELIZABETH FLAHERMAN KATE SCHEYER Patricia Swanson Franklin Writing Award Established in 1999 by friends and classmates of Patricia Franklin Swanson ’66, this award is presented to Burke’s students with outstanding talents in and love of writing.
AMBIKA JAY Julie Song Award Established in 1998, this award recognizes the eighth grader whose kindness, good humor and generosity of spirit make every day a better one for all around her.
MADELINE MCDONOUGH May Hickey Award This is awarded to a girl who, by vote of the eighth-grade class, has demonstrated the most care and concern for the younger students in the school.
EMILY MCCARTHY KAMRYN YOU MAK Outstanding Athlete Award The Burke’s Outstanding Athlete award honors an athlete who has played three varsity sports in her eighth-grade year and has demonstrated excellent skills in all of her endeavors.
ELENA SKARUPSKI PIPER STACEY Head’s Cup Awarded to an eighth-grade student who demonstrates seriousness of purpose, devotion to excellence and citizenship.
MADELEINE DOWD ISABELLA MORALES Head’s Award This honor goes to an eighth-grade student for her generosity of spirit, appreciation of others and strength of leadership.
LILY EPSTEIN Georgia Malan Award Named in honor of Burke’s long-time Lower School Head, this is given to a fourth-grade student who exemplifies the qualities of high personal standards, good nature, selflessness and kindness to all.
ERICA HOWSON FORTESCUE ’89 Distinguished Alumna Award This award is given each year to an alumna who embodies the values at the heart of the school’s mission to educate, encourage and empower girls. The recipient exemplifies a life of learning, service to community, individuality and the ability to make a difference in the world.
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TRADITIONS
Grandparents’ & Special Friends’ Day T HE M O S T S P E CI A L M E M B E R S O F TH E BU R KE ’ S CO M M U NI TY C O M E T O CA M P U S F O R A N ANNU A L SH O W -A ND -TE LL.
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MANY GUESTS HAVE attended Grandparents’ & Special Friends’ Day each year over the course of a Burke’s girl’s full nine years on campus — or beyond, if they happen to know multiple students. Several of these guests graced us with their presence on May 8 for the beloved annual tradition. One such grandmother is Linda Schwarz (Jessica ’17), who is also the mother of an alumna (Trudi ’82) as well as a former Burke’s teacher. For her, Grandparents’ & Special Friends’ Day is a way to reconnect with the school she loves. When she was on the faculty, she was a kindergarten co-teacher alongside Lyn Gustafson, who was diagnosed with cancer early in that fall semester and died in December. Linda collaborated with her kindergartners and the entire Burke’s community to create the tiles surrounding the mirror by the Lower School playground in Lyn’s honor. “I came to truly understand that Burke’s is not just a school, but a family,” she says. “It’s been wonderful watching the place that has meant so
much to me and my daughter become the same for Jessica.” This year, Linda came to the event for the seventh time, joined by her husband Peter, as well as Jessica’s other grandfather, Mort Sherry. Along with nearly 300 others — a record for the event — the Schwarzes first sat down for a sunlit lunch in the Upper School Courtyard. Then, they adjourned to the Gymnasium for an all-school assembly featuring performances and a demonstration of Burke’s revamped Social Emotional Learning curriculum (see page 28). Then, it was time to head to class. Guests accompanied their Burke’s girl to the classroom for special activities — in kindergarten, that meant reading a story together, while older grades showed off tinkering in the Makery and practicing photography skills across campus. And before heading home after school, students and special friends alike stopped for a quick snap in our photo booth to record a memory of the day.
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FEATURE
Back to School
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NEW YORK CITY, a spot off the Columbia River in Washington state, even Africa — the list of summer destinations sounds like someone’s bucket list. But the Burke’s teachers who ventured to all of these locations last summer weren’t heading out on vacation; they were there to learn. In New York, teachers Nayo Brooks and Valerie Hansel took part in the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Institute at Columbia University. Upper School music teacher Deborah Thomson learned about using iPads in her classroom at the Mike Klinger Music Technology Retreat in Carson, Wash., while Lower School music teacher Lisa Mandelstein spent three weeks in Ghana as part of an immersive course in African music and dance. When Head of School Michele Williams came on board in 2012, she brought with her a passion for continued enrichment and learning for educators of all stripes. “My dream is to have a faculty and staff that is supported to the fullest, to be the best that they can be, so they in turn can do that for our girls,” she said. In fact, professional development is such a priority for Burke’s now that it occupies its own goal under the Strategic Plan, which calls for ongoing, substantial and standard-setting practices. After several years of increased emphasis on the topic, the effects are already trickling down into the classroom. Students are using cuttingedge methodologies in learning how to read, curricula such as the Social-Emotional Learning program have been revitalized (see next page) and Lower School music students are broadening their
horizons by performing African dances and songs in their spring concert. In addition to immediately affecting the classroom, professional development is another way that Burke’s teachers model a love of lifelong learning for their students.
Leading by Example Professional development has long been a mainstay in both public and private education as a way for teachers to continue developing new skills and strategies long after they formally transition from student to teacher. No Child Left Behind, while controversial, does require that professional development be a major focus for public schools across the United States. According to a 2007 study published by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education, a “substantial” amount of professional development (on average, 49 hours spread out over six to 12 months) can boost student achievement by about 21 percentile points. But a teacher’s professional development leads to many student benefits that can’t necessarily be tracked by hard statistics. Nayo Brooks, one of the Burke’s attendees at last summer’s Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Institute, said at the end of the 2014-15 school year that she was still trying out new tips and tricks from the experience that were helping her teach reading in new ways to the full range of students in fourth grade, making sure Burke’s can meet each girl where she is. “I can tell that the girls have this enhanced love
“It’s challenging, rewarding and powerful work that causes you to be very, very intentional.” Alice Moore
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SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING AT BURKE’S
When students arrived at school, they saw chalk messages on the driveway. When they went to lunch, they spotted a large paper tree on the wall of the Lunchroom. Some of the most visible changes on campus in the 2014-15 school year were the result of the revitalized Social Emotional Curriculum in the Lower School. Art teacher Yara Herman, Counselor Jessica Nenner and Kindergarten teacher Dynelle Chan crafted the program over summer 2014 through their joint professional development activities. The goal? To strengthen how Burke’s teaches life skills
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such as character and understanding, which is also outlined in the Strategic Plan. “I love that the scope and sequence of Social Emotional Learning provide a common language and common vision for students and teachers to explore together,” Herman said. “I also love that students are actively learning to share their emotional worlds with each other, thus validating their social growth as much as their academic learning.” While a strong Social Emotional Curriculum has long been a hallmark of a Burke’s education, the Lower
School team decided to infuse it with broader, more practical meaning. Five different themes were introduced at assemblies throughout the year, with activities extending into the classroom and beyond. For instance, the first theme of the year — Hopes & Intentions — saw students adding their thoughts to flowers that were displayed on that paper tree. Later topics included gratitude, how to be an ally, problem-solving and reflection. The ally unit took place around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, dovetailing with social studies curricula. While the Social Emotional Learning program is specifically targeted to the youngest Burke’s girls, the centrality of the exhibits provoked thought amongst a broad range of students and faculty. “It’s been a really great way to help the girls bond in this way that I don’t even know they are quite aware of,” said fourthgrade teacher Nayo Brooks. “Even in my classroom, the girls are much more conscious of their actions and thinking much more about the impact they’re having. I haven’t always seen that, so it’s been a really wonderful change.”
of reading that I had not witnessed in earlier years,” she said. “They love to talk about reading, and they are becoming more critical thinkers not only in their reading, but they are also transferring that skill to other aspects of their lives and the curriculum.” Alice Moore, Director of the Lower School, agrees with the power of that kind of workshop: “It’s incredibly rich, it’s incredibly stimulating. You come back from that experience just wanting to dive in, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen,” she said. “It’s been rewarding to see the conversations that are happening among teams and across grade levels about reading and writing.” Bringing the learning opportunity to the classroom is one of the main aims in Understanding by Design (UbD), an educational framework that connects the dots from concept to practice. Burke’s has been exploring various facets of UbD: “Last summer, we learned about this process of designing curriculum with the end goal in mind. When you start to frame your program in that way, it really changes things,” Moore said. “It’s challenging, rewarding and powerful work that causes you to be very, very intentional.” Most recently, Understanding by Design came to campus for the second annual Professional Development Institute. Held the week after school ended in June 2015, the institute’s first workshop was led by UbD’s Kristen Swanson, who teamed up with Blink Educational Diversity Consulting’s Alison Park to work with teachers on building a fully inclusive curriculum from the ground up, focusing on standards and assessments that best help a variety of students understand the subject matter. Other activities taking place over the last 18 months that have directly impacted the classroom include: • Upper School math teacher Joy Cooper’s experience at the Mathematical Modeling Institute at San Francisco International High School, where the study of real-world situations
and student-generated questioning methods manifested as unique in-class problem-solving. • A trip to the Stanley H. King Counseling Institute outside of Boston by last year’s eighthgrade advising team (Susan Deemer, Pedro Mena, Deborah Thompson and Lisa Spengler), which resulted in more student-led advising sessions in that grade. • Anthony Sabedra and Emily Otero, Upper School Spanish teachers, learned about how Middlebury College has used the Middlebury Interactive Language Program to advance understanding in its classrooms. Mike Matthews, who is now in his second year as the Director of Curriculum & Program Innovation, envisions and promotes professional development and works with teachers to find the best opportunities for both their needs and to advance Burke’s Strategic Plan goals. He came to that position after several years of teaching fifth- and sixth-grade science at Burke’s, during which he was able to show his own students the value of this extracurricular work. “Professional development allows us to show our girls here at Burke’s that we’re not just teachers, but that we’re also learners,” he said.
Developing Professionally at Burke’s This push for better and broader professional development was first implemented just after the end of school in June 2014 (and after the Strategic Plan was completed in May 2014). The inaugural Professional Development Institute during the week after Graduation included work with Understanding by Design as well as a national workshop for math teachers in Kindergarten through second grade called Counting and Computation. The second institute, one year later, married that work on building inclusive curriculum with a two-day session on differentiation, which is the practice of tailoring curriculum to meet students of various levels and needs. “Engaged Learning for Every Student” was facilitated by educator Judy Rex and based on the
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work of renowned differentiation expert Carol Tomlinson. Bridging the two was a full year of rich professional-development activities, both on campus and off. A variety of in-service days addressed those same topics of differentiation and inclusivity, but also included design thinking, curriculum mapping and the computer programming activities that powered Burke’s full week of Hour of Code activities in December 2014.
For the 2nd-4th Grade Concert in spring 2015, Lower School music teacher Lisa Mandelstein incorporated storytelling, dancing and song she picked up in Ghana over the three weeks she spent there the previous summer.
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Teachers and staff members have also attended a broad range of conferences throughout the school year. Six Burke’s employees participated in the National Association of Independent Schools’ People of Color Conference, which took place in Indianapolis last December. Matthews went to SXSWedu (a component of South by Southwest) in Austin, Tex., with Makery Up Facilitator Jenny Howland during the second week of March, then went immediately from there to the National Science Teachers Association’s annual convention in Chicago to co-present a session on learning through making with Makery Down Facilitator Marilyn Schaumburg.
(Not to be left out, Howland co-presented with Lower School Librarian Susan Faust at the 2014 Internet Librarian Conference in Monterey about the Makery’s collaborative relationship with the Library.) Professional development at Burke’s isn’t just about our teachers taking in information; they’re also giving it out. The Bay Area Maker Educators organization held a meeting in the Makery in February, where members got to take a look at Burke’s innovation lab, and teachers from around the world have come to campus to witness the cutting-edge ideas that are manifesting in our classrooms. Teachers are also making sure their professional development doesn’t stick only with them; they provide accounts of what they learned to their colleagues in person and by using online systems once they finish up and return to campus. Just a few months ago, Burke’s teachers headed out for another summer of learning opportunities around the world, this time powered by a new concept called Curriculum Idea Grants. These stipends were specifically designed to give faculty members the time and space to bring concepts they learned through professional development into their classrooms. What made Curriculum Idea Grants possible? Dinner Auction 2015.
Building the Framework As part of a video presentation to kick off the Raise the Paddle portion of Auction, Matthews said this: “At its core, this initiative is about our mission. It’s about educating, encouraging and empowering our teachers to be able to educate, encourage and empower our girls.” It must have struck a chord, because in the minutes immediately following, Burke’s parents raised their paddles to the tune of more than $225,000 — by all measures, a smashing success. That sum funded a wide variety of Curriculum Idea Grants over summer 2015, including: • An opportunity for new seventh-/eighth-grade science teacher Ian Van Wert to attend the twoweek Integrated Physical Science Workshop at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo.
“Professional development allows us to show our girls here at Burke’s that we’re not just teachers, but that we’re also learners.” Mike Matthews
• Spanish teacher Anthony Sabedra’s creation of several short films to better illustrate the cultural and grammatical topics he tackles in his sixth- and eighth-grade classes. • Many chances for Burke’s faculty to rework curriculum topics, learn tech tricks and collaborate with each other while staying local. Just as Raise the Paddle supported Curriculum Idea Grants (with Auction 2015 overall supporting professional development and student financial assistance), the Raise the Paddle portion of Auction 2014 made the first Professional Development Institute possible. This measure of support continues to stun members of Burke’s faculty. “We were so overwhelmed by the generosity of the Burke’s community in supporting professional development. It has allowed us to do so many amazing things, and the impact on the girls is tangible.” Moore said. “We’re really excited about the potential for next year.” Indeed, the expansion of the program fits right in with the growth mindset espoused by Williams and the Strategic Plan — that elevating the school means elevating all of the people who make the school possible. That of course includes Burke’s girls, who are at the core of everything we do, but it also means that teachers get to be students every now and then.
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ALUMNAE LUNCH
Alumnae Luncheon
2015
O N A P R I L 2 4 , T H E A N N U A L A L U M N A E L U N C H E O N was held at the Metropolitan Club in
downtown San Francisco. Nearly 125 alumnae enjoyed reminiscing with their classmates thanks to yearbooks and cards featuring favorite teachers on each table. After a short video about Burke’s as it is today, attendees heard from Head of School Michele Williams and Distinguished Alumna Erica Howson Fortescue ’89, who delivered a great speech about what her Burke’s education did for her. Many thanks to Aimee Fowler Carlson ’85 for chairing the Luncheon again this year — and mark your calendars for Friday, June 3, for the 2016 Alumnae Luncheon.
Class of ’80 Back row, left to right: Sarah Tilton, Heather Fullerton, Alexia Hamm Ryan, Fiona Dorst, Elizabeth Kramer Wrege, Eleanor Brigham Wehlen, Tory Hauser Winnick, Mindy Henderson, Lila Schilling, Liza Kuney. Front row, left to right: Lindsay Dunckel, Margaret Grohne, Lisa Bransten
Constance Crowley Peabody ’36 stops by for a quick visit
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Dana Goldberg ’90, John Cervantes and Julia Kim ’90
Margot Kramer Biehle ’82, Amy McNamara Hall ’82, Claire Myers ’82, Isabella Whitaker Gamble ’79, Anne-Marie Fowler ’82, Kimberly Fullerton ’77e
Penny Rearwin MacKenzie ’60, Gail Goldyne ’60, Mina Barrett Lunt ’60, Tania Whitman Stepanian ’60 and Victoria Escamilla Fleishhacker ’60
The Alumnae Board poses for a shot
Diane Major, Morgan Cosby Howson ’96 and Elizabeth Coleman
David Fleishhacker and Kimberly Fullerton ’77e
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Moira Holden Smith ’74, Ellen Heffelfinger ’74, Natalie Landsinger ’05, Jeanine Marie-Victoire Landsinger ’74
Max Boyer Glynn ’94 with longtime Burke’s French teacher Toni Wagner
Marie Wiley Ross ’47 and Mary Franck ’50
Kathleen Harper ’65, Kathryn Johnston, Joan Cahill Mittendorf ’65, Ruthann Ballou Conway ’62, Head of School Michele Williams, Constance Williams ’62, Lea Park ’62
Class of ’85 Back row, left to right: Erika Litchfield Elliott, Sheri Quirt, Vendela Vida, Summer Laurie, Samantha Bley DeJean, Aimee Fowler Carlson, Tanya Miller, Shafia Zaloom, Jennifer Bunshoft Pergher, Jessica Stewart Kaludis, Maki Berger. Front row, left to right: Marianna Stark, Charlotte Stimson Ottley, Katherine Orr Traina, Hilary Kivitz.
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Back row, left to right: Marky Quayle ’68, Melissa Kenady ’69, Laurie Mettier Hills ’70, Donna Wagner ’69. Front row, left to right: Cathryn Berl Deutsch ’69, Nancy Evers Kirwan ’69, Nancy Bibbero Cherney ’70, Carolyn Kenady ’70.
Class of ’90 Back row, left to right: Sarah Estefor, Mary Shen O’Carroll, Amy Harris Cebrian, Christina Lauricella Klineman, Sophia Middlebrook Hayward, Dana Goldberg, Julia Kim. Bottom row, left to right: Sarah Garlinghouse, Canby Cohen, Abiah Folger Karthauser, Bethany Edstrom.
Hilary Kivitz ’85 and Katie Traina ’85 speaking with Gabrielle Kivitz ’89
Mary Jones Kelly ’50 and Louise DeMartini Vejar ’50 chat with Joan Molfino Leonard ’50 over yearbooks
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ALUMNAE PROFILE
Vendela Vida ’85 When you were a student at Burke’s, what did you dream you’d be doing at this point in your life? I wanted to be a journalist covering international relations. I don’t know if I was 100-percent sure what “international relations” meant, but I liked the sound of it.
You may have recently heard Vendela Vida ’85 interviewed on NPR or reviewed in the New York Times — her fifth book, The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty, was released this summer by Ecco/HarperCollins. She is also a founding board member of 826 Valencia, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works with youngsters on improving their writing skills, and an editor of the literary journal The Believer. After Burke’s, she moved on to University High School, later heading to Middlebury College and then Columbia University, where she earned her MFA. “I lived in New York for a while, waiting tables and working various jobs in publishing while writing my first book,” she says. Vendela now works her wordly magic back home in the Bay Area, where she lives with her husband, the author Dave Eggers, and their two children.
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What is your favorite international city? Stockholm. My mother is from a small town in Sweden, so we go back and visit a lot, and we always spend time in Stockholm. I like taking the ferries between Stockholm’s 14 islands, and my kids love the Vasa Museum, which is home to a beautiful 17thcentury ship that sank on its first voyage. When your kids are jetlagged and wake up at 3:30 a.m., that museum is perfect. It opens at 8:30 a.m., so you only have five hours to kill. What are some of your favorite memories of teachers at Burke’s? I had so many thoughtful, kind, generous and talented teachers, so it’s hard to choose. I’ll just list the first few memories that come to mind. I loved that Ms. Scattergood taught us about Sumerian ziggurats and told us that it was rude to brush our hair in public — and she did both of these on the same day. I think of her whenever I see a ziggurat or
someone brushing their hair in a public space. I remember Mr. Fleishhacker teaching us about Hitchcock films during an intersession class; Ms. Mosheim inspiring us to write stories about a place called the Glum Factory; Madame Wagner introducing us to büche de Noël; Mrs. Johnston sharing stories with us about her (then) baby and how her baby loved listening to “Walking on the Moon” by The Police; Mrs. Clark telling us about her years in the Peace Corps; and a young creative writing teacher we had who showed up one day a few minutes late to class. She walked into the classroom in a full scuba-diving outfit and said: “Write a story about what happened to me and how I got here.” Who would you invite to your fantasy dinner party and why? First of all, a chef, given I don’t cook very well. Then, it seems the most important person is the one who knows when to call it a night. My father was masterful. I remember dinner parties that my parents would have for their friends when my sister Vanessa and I were growing up. When it was time for everyone to leave, my father would clap his hands together once, stand up and say, “Well, that was a great evening!” What advice would you give to a current Burke’s student? Be kind. I can’t emphasize enough how important I believe it is that women support other women; it’s just as essential — if not more so — that girls support other girls.
ALUMNAE PROFILE
Jean Afterman ’75
At the moment, Jean Afterman ’75 holds a position that no other woman does: the Assistant General Manager of a Major League Baseball team. She has served in that capacity for the New York Yankees, where she’s also a Senior Vice President, since December 2001. She left Burke’s for Lowell High School, UC Berkeley and the University of San Francisco School of Law (“All great schools,” she says, “but the best education I ever got was at Burke’s”). She embarked on quite a path — one that took her from Paramount Pictures to the National Organic Standards Board to, of course, the Bronx Bombers. Her passion for baseball turned professional in 1994, when she began work as an agent and legal advisor for players. She is also paying forward her Burke’s education by organizing Yankees-sponsored Read-a-Thons and student mentor programs and volunteering with the NYPD Explorers program.
When you were a student at Burke’s, what did you dream you’d be doing at this point in your life? I had a lot of dreams when I was at Burke’s — and a lot of those dreams were nurtured there. I had long held the dream of becoming a doctor like my father, but I also had my first taste of acting in the theater at Burke’s and so that became a dream, which did become a reality early in my working life (although my dream really was all about living in London and working on the West End!). There’s no doubt, though, that if you were a Burke’s girl, even way-back-when, you had big dreams about a full life! What is your favorite international city? That’s a tough one, but probably London. However, Tokyo has been an important part of my baseball career, so perhaps a split between London and Tokyo. Who was your favorite teacher at Burke’s? My seventh-grade teachers all changed my life in a lot of ways. Nancy Clark, Elizabeth Noll, Bill Hughes and Myna Hughes (no relation to Mr. Hughes) were not only excellent teachers, but they were engaged with us, encouraged us and nurtured our “big Burke’s dreams.”
literature, I am not sure that I imagine Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I tucking into a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc with me and my pals. The older I get, the more I realize that it is true what the Good Witch told Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” (by the way, one of my first roles at Burke’s!): “There is no place like home.” So, I think it is me and my family and some friends, enjoying a really good dinner with some fantastic wine, stress-free and worry-free, with all of the time in the world. What advice would you give to a current Burke’s student? My best advice would be to learn as much as you can and take advantage of the fantastic education that Burke’s has to offer. Believe that the world is full of limitless possibilities, and don’t stress that you haven’t figured out where you are going to be in five or 10 years. One of the graduating seniors my first year at Burke’s had a terrific quote on her page in the yearbook — “One thing done, the rest follows” — and I have found that to be, so far, very true.
Who would you invite to your fantasy dinner party and why? While I have heroines and heroes from history and
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DISTINCTIONS
FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS, Erica has been designing, launching and scaling innovative educational programs, driven by a goal of seeing high-quality education experiences made accessible to all children. She has raised more than $12 million to support worthy educational organizations around the globe, to grow small education projects that are backed by high-quality research into sustainable multi-site organizations, and to build meaningful collaborations between underserved communities, museums and research universities.
Erica Howson Fortescue ’89 2015 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA AWARD The Katherine Delmar Burke School Distinguished Alumna Award is given each year to an alumna who embodies the value at the heart of the school’s mission to educate, encourage and empower girls. The recipient exemplifies a life of learning, service to community, individuality and the ability to make a difference in the world. The awardees are nominated from the alumnae community and voted on by the Alumnae Board.
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Currently, Erica serves as Associate Director of the Center for Childhood Creativity at the Bay Area Discovery Museum. In this role, she and her colleagues pursue a mission to ignite and advance creative thinking for all children. In addition to developing teacher-training programs, she advises Fortune 100 companies on product and media development and speaks publicly at major national conferences. She also serves as a volunteer advisor to GreenLight Fund Bay Area, a philanthropy group investing in innovative education projects worthy of replication. Erica holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University and a dual master’s degree from the Stanford School of Education, with a focus on Policy Analysis, Curriculum and Teacher Education. She lives with her husband and two sons in Corte Madera, Calif.
The following is adapted from the speech Erica Howson Fortescue gave on Pansy Day to the Class of 2015. Creativity isn’t necessarily just about the arts, but about being the kind of person who finds interesting problems to solve — rather than being the kind of person who gets a problem handed to them. In any situation, you have to figure out the important problem and what kind of solution you can propose. Start being the kind of person who finds interesting problems to solve. Everyone has tremendous creative potential. It’s a terrible myth that there’s a small group of creative geniuses who are just born with this talent. You can grow and practice your creative skills throughout your life, and the people who practice creativity are the people who become amazing creative problem finders. My advice is to start figuring out what really interests you. What are you curious about? Of all the books you read at Burke’s, which one did you like the most and why? Asking yourselves these kinds of questions helps you get in touch with what we call intrinsic motivation. The topic’s not something that’s going to win you an award, no one’s going to pay you — you just really find
it interesting and care about it. When you run into a rough patch and it’s not easy to get to the next step, it’s something you are internally motivated to do. My second tip is about your idea tank. I recommend that you cultivate your imagination and start building up a reservoir of creative ideas. It can be something as simple as trying a kind of sandwich you’ve never eaten before. Think about what it tastes like — that’s a new and different experience. Or visit a place in nature that you go to all the time and challenge yourself to see something fresh. Look deeply at the spider web; look at the pattern on the ground. Find ways to find new and interesting pieces of information — and figure out how to capture them. Successful creative people have good ways of capturing their ideas even when they’re not totally gelled. The next thing is, learn how to fail. We do a lot for ourselves by embracing failure; failing forward, failing fast. Don’t expect to get stuff perfectly right the first time around. Be mindful of paying attention to what worked, what didn’t work and then do it again. This is the kind of iterative learning and design process that is going to lead you towards wild success, but it takes a long time and it takes a lot of failure.
My fourth idea is to team up. There’s this odd idea in our world that creative geniuses do everything on their own. Thomas Edison is known for inventing the light bulb, and there’s this lore that he did it alone. Well, the truth is, he actually had dozens and dozens of people working for him — they were his muckers, machinists and engineers, and they filled an entire upper floor of his building. He didn’t have the first patent on the lightbulb; he had a patent on a slight improvement of the light bulb. One of the best ways to change the world is to find a weird lone nut out there who has a great idea and have the courage to stand up and follow them. My last piece of advice is about timing and picking your moments. One of the reasons we shut down in our creativity is that sometimes, we choose a really bad moment. When you take the SAT, don’t pick that day to be creative. Start developing discretion around when when it’s a good time to come up with an unusual and surprising idea and when it’s not. It takes a little bit of practice to get there, and you’re going to make mistakes, but make them and learn. Imagine that I’m giving you instructions for your life, and the instructions are: Be creative. Go out and do it — the world lies ahead for you.
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D I D Y O U K N OW ? •
•
T U I T I O N does not cover the full cost to educate each Burke’s girl
The Annual Fund bridges that gap with support for student F I N A N C I A L A S S I S TA N C E •
1 3 % O F A LU M N A E donated to the Annual Fund in the 2014-15 school year!
It doesn’t matter how much you give — only that you do. Help future generations of students benefit from the same education that you did. Donate to the Annual Fund now by visiting kdbs.org/give.
www.kdbs.org/give
CLASS NOTES
ALUMNAE UPDATES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Clara Abecassis ’92 President Danielle Broude Yokell ’96 Vice President, Governance Jennifer Haas ’92 Vice President, Development Katy Congdon Williams ’96 Vice President, Special Events Kelli Denning Walker ’92 Secretary MEMBERS
Julia Baron ’01 Betina Suessmann Baumgarten ’88 Readie Callahan ’97 Aimee Fowler Carlson ’88 Laurie Hanna Carrade ’92 Bella Shen Garnett ’89 Max Boyer Glynn ’94 Alysse Godino ’06 Camille Hampton ’94 Sophie Middlebrook Hayward ’90 Gabrielle Kivitz ’89 Cary Rose ’92
BURKE’S ALUMNAE BOARD 2015–16 Dear Alumnae, What a great start it has been here at Burke’s! Since arriving here as the Advancement Associate in June, I have had the pleasure of meeting with several of you to hear more about your experiences, both at Burke’s and beyond. I have witnessed in a very short time the spirit and dedication that alumnae have for this school. I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to get to know many more of you, especially at the
various events we have planned throughout the year. Please remember to save the date for the 2016 Alumnae Luncheon to be held on Friday, June 3 at the Metropolitan Club in San Francisco. We hope all of you take the opportunity to join with fellow Burke’s alumnae for lunch and conversation, particularly those classes celebrating important milestone reunions. Please do not hesitate to reach out and introduce yourself — you can reach me at 415-751-0177, ext. 231 or at meagan@kdbs.org. I am excited to be here and to work with all of you in honoring the great heritage and legacy at Burke’s. Regards, Meagan Gallagher
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CLASS NOTES
Alumnae Updates From Burke’s
CLASS OF
1952
MARILYN “DIDI” MOORE BORING appeared in Leah Garchik’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 4, 2015, with a journal belonging to her mother,
CLASS OF
1973
GLADYS GILLIG MOORE ’27.
A construction worker had found the journal in a Pacific Heights apartment building that was being remodeled and approached the Chronicle for assistance in locating a descendent. Garchik mentions in the column that the journal, according to its inscription, was given to Gladys by Katherine Delmar Burke. Thanks to NINI CHARLES MCCONE ’51 for alerting us to the article. KAREN CARR DOHERTY says, “My youngest son and wife, who have a free secondary school for girls in Kenya, are having a baby in August 2015. It will be our 10th grandchild, and we also have two great grandchildren.”
CLASS OF
1958
SUSIE COLOMB PFAU
writes that she is “still having fun tracking down and selling antique quilts and being a granny nanny.” CLASS OF
1961
CHERIE WHITE ROSS reports: “After being engaged for 25 years, I finally got married last June to Rob Hauth, the most wonderful guy on the planet.”
ANDREA ALBAN says, “My historical novel, Anya’s War, will publish in its paperback edition in 2016. The book is loosely based on my Jewish father’s childhood in the French Quarter of Shanghai, a little known passage in Holocaust and immigrant history.” BONITA RODDEN reports
that she just finished a twoyear stint as president and the only woman on the board of directors of the regional transit agency in Portland, Me. It’s “very rewarding bringing bus service to the community,” she says.
CLASS OF CYNTHIA PINNEY GARVEY
relays that she is still living in Saratoga after more than 40 years there. “I keep active as a member of several civic and volunteer organizations and as a big Giants fan, as well as keeping track of six grandchildren,” she says.
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1966
STEPHANIE KATZ has retired after teaching Spanish at Lehigh University for many decades. She and her husband relocated to Redwood Shores in June 2015.
1
CLASS OF
1978
ANN MCLEOD MURPHY
writes: “I love the handmade Valentines I received from Burke’s! Very clever!” CLASS OF
1986
ALIX SPIVACK contacted the Alumnae Office so she could pass on a Burke’s doll that she had held onto for several decades. Accompanying the doll (pictured) was a note: “For a strong, brave Burke’s girl who knows the difference between right and wrong.” PHOTO 1
CLASS OF
1989
Karin Flood ’82, Catherine Bellis Brown ’80, Lisa Guggenhime Hauswirth ’84 and Anna Yatroussis ’84 pose with their newly minted alumnae daughters (Anna-Liisa Eklund, Phoebe Brown, Emma Hauswirth and Daphne Carwin) after Pansy Day 2015.
ERICA HOWSON FORTESCUE
says that she’s keeping busy with two boys, aged 4 and 8, and helping the Bay Area Discovery Museum launch a research and teacher training center to promote creative thinking in childhood. Read more about her on page 38. SALLY MCGRANE wrote a piece for The New Yorker in September about the refugee crisis in Europe and how newly
arrived Syrians are interacting with their host families in Berlin. CLASS OF
1991
GEORGEANN (GEORGIE) EDWARDS HANLIN spoke to eighth-grade English students in May about her book, Benchmark, a young adult novel she cowrote with Shannon Swann. PHOTO 2
CLASS OF
2
1997
JESSICA FURST reports the passing of her beloved father, Larrie Furst, on May 7, 2015. Larrie, who worked in San Francisco real estate, died unexpectedly at the age of 77.
CLASS OF
2003
CYNTHIA WHITMAN tells us
that she played an elementaryschool teacher in a sitcom pilot titled “Two Many Moms.” The pilot is currently being shopped around to television and online networks. She invites fellow alumnae to learn more about the show at rockcityproductions. com. Most recently, she appeared in a production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Patience” with the Blue Hill Troupe in Harrogate, England. PHOTO 3 CLASS OF
2005
ELIZABETH “LIBBY ” ORRICK
has joined Burke’s for the
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CLASS NOTES CONTINUED
2015-16 school year as an associate teacher in the 1B classroom with Seneca Gupta. CLASS OF
2007
ANA CLARE SMITH says
that she and fellow alumna ALLEGRA FRIEDMAN ’13
have started working with the San Francisco nonprofit organization Project Glimmer, which provides empowering gifts to teenage girls in need. She invites all Burke’s girls to check out the organization at projectglimmer.org. CLASS OF
2011
JENNIFER GOLDEN , who recently graduated from Branson School, spoke at the Upper School Assembly on January 6 about her experiences as a volunteer for the SPCA, which earned her the Youth
At the annual Burke’s & Beyond event on Monday, June 8, the graduating members of the Class of 2015 gathered with five alumnae who were soon heading off to college (or already there) to chat about the nuances of high school life and the college admissions process. Many thanks to Maggie Svendsen ’11, Marina Chen ’10, Cecilia Zhou ’11, Hanna Chan ’11 and Alyssa Ivancevich ’11 for participating in our panel! Philanthropy Heart of Gold award. She raised more than $10,000 by baking and selling cookies to help keep an SPCA branch open near her family’s annual vacation spot in Nantucket. She also brought some of the treats, called Sconset Sweetreats, based on her family’s secret recipe, to Burke’s for tasting. PHOTO 4 CLASS OF
2013
SARAH ANCHETA finished up her sophomore year at University High School. “I’m a teaching assistant for chorus, and learning how to conduct!” she says.
CLASS OF
2014
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KATHERINE BERNSTEIN
enjoyed her freshman year at Morristown-Beard school
4 in New Jersey, where she is playing volleyball and singing in the chorus. Are we missing your news in this edition of Class Notes? Send in your submission by emailing it (along with any pictures you’d like included) to meagan@kdbs.org or sending it to the Alumnae Office, Katherine Delmar Burke School, 7070 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94121.
IN MEMORIAM
Jane Triest Burrows ’39
Janet Ford Crandall ’58
Gail Aguirre Watson ‘59
Jane A. Sooy ’66
Burke’s is proud of its long legacy of graduating strong, confident women. We sadly report and mourn the loss of these members of our alumnae family.
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www.kdbs.org/give
Planned Giving At Katherine Delmar Burke School
Barbara Burke Legacy Society Burke’s is the sum of every girl who has passed through its gates. For 107 years, the school has educated generations of girls, with much thanks to the generosity of women and families who have chosen to support the school through a planned or estate gift. They have offered new generations of Burke’s girls the same opportunities they enjoyed and helped create confident, resilient, global citizens. How do you make a planned gift and become a member of the Barbara Burke Legacy Society? There are many ways to support Burke’s that may also include tax advantages for you and your family. The simplest way is to name the school as a beneficiary of your retirement fund or leave Burke’s in your will. For more information about making a bequest or planned gift, please contact Filomena Spero at 415-751-0177, ext. 301, or filomena@kdbs.org. You may also visit our new Planned Giving website at www.kdbs.org/plannedgiving.
Burke’s
Educate, Encourage and Empower Girls
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SUPPORTING BURKE’S
WAYS YOU CAN
Give to Burke’s Cash, Check or Credit Card Gifts of cash, typically payable by check, and credit card gifts are tax deductible and provide immediate funds to the school. The easiest way to give is online at www.kdbs.org/give. You can also send a check to: Katherine Delmar Burke School Advancement Office 7070 California Street San Francisco, CA 94121
Matching Gifts Many companies offer their employees the opportunity to double or, in some cases, triple their gifts to certain programs or organizations by matching them. Please check with your employer about its Matching Gift Program.
Securities and Property Gifts of stocks, other securities or property have two significant advantages to the donor: They are tax-deductible for the full fair-market value of the gift when it is made, and the donor does not pay capital gains on the appreciated value of the stock or property. Contact the Advancement Office for more information on making a gift of securities or property.
Planned Giving The Barbara Burke Legacy Society honors alumnae, past parents, grandparents, current parents and friends who have remembered Burke’s by bequest in their estate plans or who have made a life income gift or other type of planned gift. You can become a member by: •
placing Burke’s in your will
•
making Burke’s the beneficiary of a retirement account
•
making a gift of a life insurance policy (a gift of life insurance can result in tax savings and can be made through an existing or a new life insurance policy)
•
establishing a charitable trust
•
making a gift of real estate or other tangible property
Each of these gifts can result in substantial tax savings for the donor. Please consult the Advancement Office or your tax advisor for more information, or visit Burke’s new planned giving website at kdbs.org/plannedgiving. Please notify the Advancement Office if you have made a deferred or planned gift to Burke’s so that you will be included in The Barbara Burke Legacy Society.
Other Deferred Gifts It is possible to make gifts of property that may allow income tax benefits for the donor during his or her lifetime, may be used during the lifetime of the donor, and which would revert to Burke’s, with possible estate tax savings. Institutions can achieve stability and growth through planned giving. Contact your tax advisor for specific advice that relates to your particular circumstances.
Gifts in Kind Burke’s welcomes donations such as classroom supplies, athletic equipment and other items related to the educational program, as well as donations of auction items to the annual Dinner Auction. Gift value is determined by the donor through appraisal or a record of purchase. Please contact the Advancement Office if you would like to make a gift in kind.
For more information about making a gift of any type, please contact Selena Shadle, Director of Advancement, at 415-666-3204 or selena@kdbs.org. To make a gift online, please visit www.kdbs.org/give.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
Ahead of Her Time While women now earn the majority of bachelor’s degrees in the United States, the situation was far different in 1908. The wave of feminism that eventually resulted in women earning the right to vote in 1920 was also starting to cause ripples among educators who taught girls, including Katherine Delmar Burke. It’s long been a point of pride for Burke’s that its founder thoroughly believed that her institution ought to prepare young women for the top colleges and universities rather than simply serve as a finishing school. As early as 1912 the school offered a specific track for students looking toward additional secondary schooling, and by 1913, Burke’s was accredited by the University of California. But Katherine Delmar Burke’s pursuit of a top-notch college prep environment never wavered over the nearly 21 years she spent as the head of school. She traveled to the East Coast several times to visit other schools (mostly those started by women) to examine their best practices, as well
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as prestigious women’s colleges to ensure that her students would find a place there. In one journal that she kept during her travels in 1921 and 1922, she dedicated a whole section to her experience visiting Vassar College in New York. On one of those days, she wrote: “Had a very nice talk with Miss McCaleb” (Ella McCaleb, Vassar’s first dean) “who told me they wanted my girls, all that could come — said they were well-prepared and held up well in every way.” Over the next few years, Vassar popped up in the Alumnae section of Works & Days quite a bit — at first, alongside such local stalwarts as Stanford, Cal and Mills, but later on with other women’s colleges like Smith, Bryn Mawr and Sarah Lawrence. Many thanks to Diana Morris Wild ’66 for her guidance and thoughtful care of the Burke’s archives.
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