Chronicle 2022-2023

THE CALHOUN SCHOOL 2022–2023

Chronicle

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The Calhoun Chronicle is created by the Communications Office:

Alumni news by Bart Hale ’00 Director of Alumni Relations

Michelle Kiefer Director of Communications

Editorial assistance by Amy Edelman

Emma Woodcock Digital Communications Specialist Allana Edwards Communications Coordinator

Design by Christine Zamora ’81, CZ Design Thank you to all of the community members who shared their stories, lent a hand and helped bring the Chronicle to life.

Contents THE CALHOUN SCHOOL 2022–2023

F E AT U R E S Coaching Workshops: A Cornerstone of Calhoun Athletics

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Adventures in STEAM: Building Skills for Tomorrow

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SCHOOL NEWS Opening New Doors: Innovative Dual-Track Early-Childhood Program Set to Launch

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New Teaching Spaces Debut at 81st Street

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John Roeder Marks 50 Years at Calhoun

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Onstage

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Sports Highlights

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ALUMNI NEWS

CALHOUN’S MISSION: To inspire a passion for learning through a progressive approach to education that values intellectual pursuit, creativity, diversity and community involvement.

Class Notes

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Alumni Spotlight: Senior Work

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ON THE COVER: Sixth graders participate in a hands-on science lab.

ON THIS PAGE: Facilities Manager Eddie Ayala greets every student as they arrive at 74th Street in the morning.

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Head Lines

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“ From computer science to the arts, students are learning to look at problems from new angles, think creatively and adopt a growth mindset. These skills are crucial to prepare students to become innovators and shape an unknowable future—their future.”

Preparing Students for an Unknowable Future One of the great challenges facing educators everywhere is that we can barely imagine the world into which our students will be entering. From advances in artificial intelligence to emerging technologies in renewable energy or genetic engineering, the pace of change seems to be accelerating. We can barely extrapolate the skill sets our current ninth graders will need for college; anticipating what our kindergartners will need to know 15 years from now seems impossible.

Our goal as educators is therefore to both give students a thorough understanding of subject matter and prepare them with a roadmap for navigating the future. As part of this strategy, Calhoun employs an interdisciplinary approach to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) education that emphasizes the skills needed for the future. In this issue’s feature on STEAM learning, we offer a glimpse into this kind of teaching and learning, which happens from early childhood through high school.

Through STEAM education, our teachers are breaking down the silos around learning that don’t exist in the real world. Students learn to work across disciplines—this is “learning without walls” in action. This approach allows students to explore the interconnectedness of subjects and how they can be applied in real-life scenarios. From computer science to the arts, students are learning to look at problems from new angles, think creatively and adopt a growth mindset. These skills are crucial to prepare students to become innovators and shape an unknowable future— their future.

The focus on STEAM learning at Calhoun is not new.

For years, we have been at the forefront of this type of

education. Our curriculum has always incorporated the principles of science, technology, engineering, art and math in a way that is accessible and meaningful for students at all grade levels. We have long recognized that these fields are not mutually exclusive, and that in fact, they are deeply interconnected. The STEAM approach allows for crossdisciplinary connections that strengthen learning outcomes and provide students with a comprehensive set of tools to navigate the complexities of the world they will inherit.

At Calhoun, we believe that the unknowable future is not something to be feared but rather embraced. Our students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but rather active participants in their own education. They are encouraged to take risks, to experiment, to fail, and to try again. They are taught that success is not a fixed state but rather a mindset that can be cultivated through hard work, perseverance and creativity. Our teachers provide the guidance and support necessary for students to develop these skills, and the results speak for themselves.

We are proud of our alumni who have gone on to become leaders in their respective fields. From artists to engineers, from entrepreneurs to educators, our graduates are making a difference in the world. We are confident that the education they received at Calhoun played a significant role in their success. We are equally confident that the current generation of Calhoun students will continue this legacy of excellence.

As we look to the future, we are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. The world is changing rapidly, but with the skills and tools provided by a Calhoun education, our students are well positioned to succeed in whatever they choose to do. We hope that this issue of the Calhoun Chronicle will provide you with a glimpse into the innovative ways in which we are preparing our students for the future.

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School News

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Opening New Doors: Innovative Dual-Track Early-Childhood Program Set to Launch An exciting chapter is on the horizon for The Calhoun School.

A new dual-track early-childhood program, the result of Calhoun’s merger with the Metropolitan Montessori School (MMS), will officially open its doors in the fall of 2023. This will be the first program of its kind in New York (if not the country!), offering families of preschool-through-third-grade students the choice between two curricular paths—Calhoun’s signature Open Inquiry track; or the Montessori track, known as MMS@Calhoun.

This unique addition to the New York City independentschool scene is designed to nimbly respond to students at a stage when their learning styles, preferences and talents are rapidly evolving. “Often when families are looking for school options in the early-childhood years, they are unsure of how their children will ultimately learn best, and our unique dual-track program allows for additional flexibility for students to unlock their full potential,” says Jessy Trejo, Calhoun’s Director of Admissions. “Families have been intrigued by the options they’ll have, within this program, to adjust to their children’s ever-developing learning style, while still having access to the resources and broader community of an ongoing pre-K–12 school.”

The introduction of a Montessori track to the Lower School also represents a sort of homecoming for Calhoun, where the tradition of Montessori education runs deep.

In 1916, Calhoun opened a kindergarten led by one of the earliest protégées of Dr. Maria Montessori, developer of the internationally esteemed method. Calhoun closed its Lower School in 1937 in the wake of the Great Depression, but when

it reopened in 1958 and ever since, elements of Montessori teaching and learning have continued to be an influence.

Indeed, the shared values between Calhoun and MMS have become ever more apparent. Academic teams from both schools have engaged deeply with one another’s curriculums in their preparations for the merger. Calhoun’s Open Inquiry track draws on a range of methods to engage and challenge children, while the MMS@Calhoun track utilizes the same Montessori materials and methods found in Montessori classrooms around the world. Though the two tracks differ in their approach, they also have fundamental similarities, such as a mutual emphasis on hands-on experiences and student-driven learning. Their commonalities have helped lay the groundwork for the future of the program, while ensuring that no matter which track students enter, they’ll be well prepared for fourth grade and beyond.

The merger will bring additional benefits for Calhoun’s youngest learners. The Lower School will move from 74th Street to the MMS building, a recently renovated space on 85th Street with an elevator, gym, full-size kitchen and rooftop terrace. The adjacency of the two tracks will create new opportunities for collaboration among teachers, as well as for community-building among students.

Ultimately, the launch of the dual-track early-childhood program represents the latest step in Calhoun’s ongoing effort to find new ways to best serve students. Whether a family chooses the Open Inquiry or the Montessori track, Calhoun’s Lower School will continue to shape independent and compassionate citizens and learners.

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SAVE THE DATE

The Magic of Little Calhoun: Celebrating our Past, Present and Future June 9, 2023 Calhoun Announces New Director of the Lower School After an extensive national and international search that elicited more than 100 applications, Calhoun is pleased to announce that April Thompson has agreed to become the Director of the Lower School, effective July 1.

April is currently assistant director of the primary school at the Lowell School in Washington, D.C. She has been at Lowell since 2015, starting out as a classroom teacher. Prior to that she was a teacher in D.C. public schools. She received her bachelor’s from Howard University and master’s from American University. She is completing a PhD in sociology at Howard University.

The feedback from all community members who met with April was glowing. She received high praise for her thoughtful responses to questions about our new dual-track early-childhood program, her empathy, her commitment to progressive values and her leadership qualities.

Welcome to Calhoun, April!

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Learn more: www.calhoun.org/littlecalhoun

New Teaching Spaces Debut at 81st Street In September, Calhoun unveiled new teaching spaces at 81st Street. The project, completed over the summer, introduced new Middle and Upper School science labs on the seventh floor, and transformed the Upper School classroom areas on the fourth floor. While still retaining Calhoun’s signature openness, the latter spaces were upgraded with new lighting and acoustics, modern furniture and fixtures, and a brand-new student lounge area. “I really appreciate that we were able to keep the openness of our floor plan so we have maintained that feeling of being in touch with what is happening all around the floor, but with a fresh, clean look,” says Ellen Kwon, Upper School teacher.

The spaces have been very popular with both faculty and students. “The renovations to the fourth floor have breathed new life and energy into the Upper School,” says Palmer Pyles ’23. “Having additional space and equipment [on the seventh floor] has made labs flow seamlessly and helped reignite my passion for chemistry,” adds Tori Ashton ’23. “As for the fourth floor, we’re lucky to still have the lively atmosphere that’s true to our signature ‘no walls,’ but the redesign has helped my focus and engagement dramatically. I’m glad we get to have a little more intimacy within our classes while still feeling like the Upper School is one open community.”

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Calhoun Partners with Corlears School for Middle School Enrollment Transfer Initiative Calhoun is partnering with the Corlears School to forge an innovative and unprecedented enrollment agreement.

Corlears—a progressive school for toddlers through fifth graders on West 15th Street—already has a strong tradition of sending its graduates to Calhoun.

Starting with the class of 2024, all of Corlears’ fifth-grade graduates will have the opportunity to directly transfer their enrollment to Calhoun’s sixth grade.

This partnership reflects the schools’ shared commitment to offering Corlears students a seamless and exceptional educational experience, extending from early childhood through high school, and from downtown to the Upper West Side. It also allows Calhoun to form a new relationship with the downtown community and to add even more Corlears graduates and their families to the Calhoun community. Both schools will remain completely independent and continue to operate as separate institutions.

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“We have a long history of welcoming Corlears graduates to our Middle and Upper Schools and have enjoyed watching them thrive at Calhoun. We look forward to building this partnership in the years to come,” says Steve Solnick, Head of School.

Calhoun and Corlears share similar philosophies regarding progressive education, including open-concept classrooms, an emphasis on inquiry-based learning, and values-driven community, making the agreement a natural next step. We look forward to continuing to welcome Corlears graduates into the Calhoun community, and to building this partnership in the years to come.

Umuganda Day: More Than 100 Attendees Come Together for Good Calhoun’s Umuganda Day, hosted by the Parents Association this past October in partnership with Riverside Park Conservancy, was a memorable morning of community service. Calhoun families gathered at the Ten Mile River Playground in Riverside Park to help with coastal cleanup, mulching, weeding and more.

After two consecutive virtual Umuganda Days during the pandemic, a record number of attendees participated in this year’s in-person event—more than 100! The turnout was a testament to how the Calhoun community comes together to make a difference in our city.

Calhoun’s Umuganda Day of Service is modeled after the monthly practice in Rwanda, in which the entire country cleans up neighborhood litter and gathers as a group to keep their surrounding park spaces beautiful.

Homecoming a Celebration of Community and School Pride Calhoun Homecoming brought together Cougar Nation for a days-long celebration of community and school pride.

Calhouners of all ages showed their support for the Varsity Cross Country, Soccer, Tennis and Volleyball teams, and donned green for festive spirit rallies at both the 74th and 81st Street buildings. The week also included special events like an ice cream social for families and students of color on the Green Roof, a garden cleanup in Riverside Park, and an Upper School dance—with Cougar pride front and center!

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From helping Calhoun become a “physics-first” school, to the numerous awards you’ve received, you’ve been at the forefront of innovation in science education. How has Calhoun’s approach to teaching science remained forward-looking and connected to real-world issues?

John Roeder Marks 50 Years at Calhoun The 2022–23 school year is Upper School science teacher John Roeder’s 50th at Calhoun! We spoke with John about some of the changes he’s observed at Calhoun over the years, how STEAM education has evolved, and what it means to him to be the employee with the longest record of service to the school.

You’ve observed a lot of changes at Calhoun in 50 years.

In your experience, what changes or additions have had the most impact on Calhoun’s program?

Although Calhoun has done an excellent job of adopting technological innovations in education, I would applaud Calhoun for holding close to its educational philosophy.

When [former Head of School] Gene Ruth hired me, he emphasized the importance of students becoming independent learners. To this end . . . [in most subjects] students learned individually instead of in classes. After we moved into our present building in 1975, a group of students requested a meeting with the faculty to tell us that while they subscribed to the ideal of becoming an independent learner, they felt they needed “group meetings” [Calhoun’s name at the time for classes].

When Neen Hunt succeeded Gene as Head of School, she shared a quotation from a Calhoun yearbook that [referred to Calhoun’s] warm and caring educational philosophy. When Steve Nelson became Head of School near the end of the twentieth century, his espousal of progressive education reminded me of the meetings I attended in my first decade at Calhoun. As the saying goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

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I was hired by Gene Ruth to teach both physics and chemistry in grades 7 to 12. Only one science course was required for graduation at that time, and most of the seniors fulfilled that requirement with biology. To spark interest in physics and chemistry, I thought to develop courses in these sciences that emphasized how they affected our everyday lives by including applications of science to society. As a result of being on a panel discussing [these kinds of courses in 1982], I became a cofounder of the Teachers Clearinghouse for Science and Society Education and have edited its newsletter for the past 41 years.

One of the things I have done as editor of this newsletter has been to keep track of the multitude of studies and recommendations for improving science education. The National Science Education Standards (NSES) established inquiry as a foundational principle that should guide science education. With Calhoun’s emphasis on learning science by doing it in the laboratory, most recently in the Active Physics course I have taught to all of Calhoun’s ninth graders since 1994, Calhoun was already in compliance with the NSES before they were established. Active Physics also gives students experience with the physics that relates to their everyday lives.

In 2011 the NSES were replaced by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which set forth three dimensions of science education by combining science and engineering practices and cross-cutting concepts with the topics normally associated with science courses. The point I would make here is that Calhoun’s approach to teaching science is really “mainstream” in terms of the NGSS, and that it is the “traditional” schools that are out of step.

What does it mean to you to be the Calhoun employee with the most years of service? What has kept you here for all these years?

When I first came to teach at Calhoun, I had no idea how long I’d stay, but the complaints I’d hear from teachers at other schools gave me the feeling that I was better off at Calhoun, where I was surrounded by people who were a joy to work with. But it was really more than that: I feel that Calhoun has nurtured my professional development in the same supportive way that it has nurtured the academic and personal development of its students, and for that I will always be grateful.

When it comes to being Calhoun’s oldest employee, at least a generation older than most of my colleagues, I’m grateful that they don’t treat me that way—they have made me feel welcome as one of them. I have especially found that I love teaching Active Physics to ninth graders, and I have told Steve Solnick that I would like to continue teaching at Calhoun as long as I feel physically able.

New and “New Again” Parent and Guardian Receptions Build Community Calhoun kicked off the school year with a New Parent and Guardian Reception—the first time this annual event has been held in person since the start of the pandemic. Families who missed out on an in-person gathering the past two years were also welcomed at a “New Again” Parent and Guardian Reception. Both events gave parents and guardians of new students the opportunity to get to know one another and start the new year with a focus on community.

Remembering Mark Kaufmann, Honorary Trustee Mark Kaufmann, former Calhoun parent and Trustee and longtime friend and supporter of the school, passed away in November. Mark was a member of the Board during the critical period in Calhoun’s history when the 81st Street building was conceived of and built. He most recently attended the 125th Anniversary Trustee Dinner in June 2022.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to Mark’s family, and we are grateful for having him as a part of the Calhoun family for all these years.

Parents of Alumni Cocktail Party an Evening of Reconnection Parents and guardians of alumni from the classes of 2012–2022 were invited back to Calhoun in December for drinks, hors d’oeuvres and reconnection. The evening was a chance to catch up with old friends and Calhoun faculty, hear updates from Head of School Steve Solnick and get a preview of the newly renovated teaching spaces at 81st Street.

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Residency at New-York Historical Society Inspires Fifth Graders to Participate in Democracy

by Emma Woodcock For four days in November, fifth grade students had the unique opportunity to call the New-York Historical Society home, gathering in the museum classroom and exploring its various galleries and exhibits. They were there as part of the Tang Academy for American Democracy (TAAD) residency program, an immersive experience meant to teach fifth and sixth graders about democracy—from ancient Athens to the present-day United States. Through experiential learning and hands-on activities, students examined how democracy has evolved since its initial founding and gained a better understanding of the importance of civic participation.

Fifth grade social studies teacher Giovanni Pucci, who organized the trip, envisioned the residency as a continuation of what happens all year in the classroom at Calhoun. As he writes, the trip supported his efforts to help fifth graders analyze “how the governments and the people we study are living up to the promise [of democracy].”

He hoped the trip would encourage students to “think critically about the systems of power around them, and the active role they have an opportunity to play in this one.”

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The three central questions students contemplated during their residency were: 1) What is a democracy?; 2) How does a democracy work?; and 3) How do disenfranchised people make change in a democracy? The group began by studying ancient Athenian democracy and its early roots in America.

This part stood out for Felix Lincoln ’30, who stated he knew a lot about government in the United States, but not its Greek influence or the role played by individuals like the Athenian statesman Pericles. As the days progressed, students continued their deep dive: examining the difference between direct and representative democracy, the significance of theater in ancient Athens, and the impact of activism in the U.S. Their days were broken up by art sessions that allowed them to create symbols and slogans to depict the concepts they were studying, like voting rights and civic engagement. Woven into their lessons were conversations about how different groups of people experience democracy and how to advocate to make society more just. For their final presentation, students worked in groups to make an exhibit that captured the key takeaways from their time at TAAD.

Throughout the four days at the museum, students worked collaboratively and made decisions as a group.

“It felt like we had our own democracy, and it was fun to participate,” Téa Padro ’30 recounts. This was best exemplified by an activity on the second day, when the group experienced firsthand the difference between direct and representative democracy. Students donned togas, stood in a circle, and voted on whether to get rid of all athletic activities or all arts activities in Athens. After voting, they learned that only two people’s votes counted, as just 10 percent of the population in ancient Athens was enfranchised. To simulate representative democracy, students broke into teams and used the game Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who their representative was; the representative then cast a vote on behalf of the entire team.

Amaryllis McCutchin-Bougas ’30 noted her representative “voted for what he believed in, not for what we believed in. . . . It’s not democracy.” As Giovanni observed, “It was powerful to see students realize, ‘I don’t have a voice in this.’” The activity offered students a window into the idea of exclusivity and how power functions in a democracy.

Their time at TAAD impressed upon students the importance of democracy while highlighting the need for everyday citizens to get involved. After the trip, Amaryllis stated, “Democracy isn’t always fair, and you can change that, so when I grow up, I want to change that.” Though as fifth graders they’re too young to vote, Felix said the trip

made him want to, “because it’s a right to vote and not everyone has that right.” Overall, their time at TAAD motivated students to find ways to have their voices heard— from protests to boycotts—and to “participate more in democracy,” added Téa.

At school, fifth graders have already begun getting involved in the community around them through the Leadership class taught by Giovanni and Director of Community Service Learning Debbie Aronson ’79. According to Giovanni, the group has gone to soup kitchens, planted bulbs in the park and engaged in the participatory budgeting process for District 6. The goal of the Leadership class echoes the purpose of the TAAD residency, where students “begin to understand the direct impact our actions have on our fellow citizens.”

Learning beyond the classroom, whether through a field trip or volunteering, “helps kids to make connections between what we’re learning about the world outside and the community that actually exists,” Giovanni explains.

The concepts of democracy and civic participation aren’t just ideas in books; they involve “actual people’s lives, and our own lives and our own ability to make change.” Their time at TAAD reaffirmed for fifth graders that even children can make a difference in democracy, and that it’s everyone’s responsibility to get involved.

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On Stage

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Theater 1. Upper School Winter Workshop: (re)act In January, six Upper School playwrights had one week to write, cast, rehearse and perform an original one-act play on a stage set built by Calhoun’s Theater Tech & Design class. The cast and crew arrived on a Saturday morning for thirty hours of rehearsal, preparation and collaboration (and a sleepover at school!) that culminated in a public performance on Sunday evening.

2. Upper School Fall Production: Metamorphoses In December, Upper School students brought Ovid’s tales to life in Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses.

The ancient met the contemporary as the cast embodied gods, heroes, legends and storytellers, all in the hope of a better understanding of what it is that makes us human.

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3. Middle School Classwork Demonstration Seventh and eighth graders in the Middle School Acting elective put on an informal classwork demonstration in November, followed by a group improv exercise.

Students performed scenes from The Odyssey: A Dramatic Retelling of Homer’s Epic and Middle Class: Scenes from a Middle School.

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Music Sounds of music and applause drifted out of the Mary Lea Johnson Performing Arts Center as Calhoun’s Middle and Upper School ensembles hosted several concerts this past winter. Chorus and vocal workshop students sang solo and group numbers, and our winds & brass, strings and jazz ensembles played a variety of musical styles.

1. Middle & Upper School Strings Concert 2. Middle & Upper School Instrumental Concert 3. Middle School Chorus Concert

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4. Upper School Jazz Concert 5. Upper School Chorus & Vocal Workshop Performance

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Fall/Winter Sports Highlights The Varsity Girls/Non-Binary Students Volleyball team finished with an impressive record of 12-4 in the regular season and competed against top teams in New York City in out-of-league games. In addition to their success on the court, the volleyball program raised more than $1,200 in the annual Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser.

The Varsity Girls/Non-Binary Students Tennis team, which brought together an exciting combination of new and experienced players, worked hard and demonstrated great teamwork and sportsmanship. They won many individual matches this season and had impressive ties as well.

The Varsity Girls/Non-Binary Students Soccer team made great strides in their knowledge of the game, playing to a tie at our Homecoming match in October and ending the season with two wins. Beyond the field, the athletes also came together to raise money by playing in a charity futsal tournament, and attended a match of the local women’s pro team, Gotham FC. The Varsity Boys/Non-Binary Students Soccer team had a lot of fun this year. They displayed great sportsmanship and impressive character during every game and practice session and have high hopes for next season.

The Varsity Cross Country team’s hard work and dedication paid off later in the season. Zach P. ’24 finished second in NYCAL and the Boys/Non-Binary Students team qualified to compete in the NYSAIS state meet.

All eligible Basketball teams made the playoffs this season! The Junior Varsity Boys/Non-Binary Students and Girls/Non-Binary Students Basketball teams both won the NYCAL Championship in an exciting doubleheader. This marks the first time both Junior Varsity teams won the NYCAL in the same season, and the first time Junior Varsity Boys/Non-Binary Students Basketball has won it in 10 years.

Calhoun established a Varsity Table Tennis team this year! The team hosted the first-ever table tennis match at Calhoun in January.

The Varsity Indoor Track team placed at the NYCAL championships!

Zach P. ’24 won the 1000-meter and 1600-meter race. Calhoun also came in first place in the 4x400-meter relay, run by Daniel S. ’23, Aneldy V. ’26, Harrison Z. ’24 and Zach P. ’24.

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FEATURE

Coaching Workshops: A Cornerstone of Calhoun Athletics 18 | CALHOUN CHRONICLE

(Left) Coach Sabrina Zurkuhlen ’06, Varsity Volleyball; (above) Coach Mary McCarty, Middle School Girls/Non-Binary Students Volleyball

by Allana Edwards Strength, communication, inclusion. These are a few of the themes Calhoun coaches emphasize with their teams during competition. Their goal is to create an environment that pushes athletes to compete at the highest level while building leadership skills that will help them both on and off the court, field or track. Calhoun coaches learn to create and seize these teachable moments in their seasonal internal coaching-development workshops, where they learn to foster both sports-based and leadership skills on their teams and to support the personal growth of student-athletes.

These intentional workshops have been instrumental in encouraging student-athletes to become strong-minded and resilient individuals, even long after their athletic careers at Calhoun are over.

Sabrina Zurkuhlen ’06, Director of Athletics, created these workshops as a way for coaches to develop leadership skills and do more internal work to provide an optimal experience for the students: “We wanted to be intentional about teaching coaches how to be effective leaders overall, while also building community between them,” Sabrina reflected.

While the workshops struggled to thrive in the beginning, Sabrina worked hard to find content and activities that felt

relevant and purposeful, and requested the workshops be mandatory to ensure attendance. Drawing ideas from her other sports experiences, Sabrina constructed a space where coaches could discuss their challenges and seek improvement through intentional conversations about the student-athlete experience. Over time, the workshops became an opportunity for coaches to learn how to apply important leadership skills in practices, huddles and other team activities, so that they could provide a better environment for players overall. These days, there is no question surrounding the efficacy and the importance of these developmental workshops; Calhoun’s student-athletes are walking testaments to how instrumental a developed coach can be for personal and athletic growth.

In these workshops, coaches discuss topics such as motivation, practice-planning, sports ecology, team-building, sports psychology, identity and communication, and learn to apply them to real situations during competition. In these conversations, the coaches are able to forge closer relationships with one another, which can also have a positive impact on the student-athletes.

“A huge benefit of these workshops is the relationshipbuilding between coaches. When it comes to providing a high

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“ A huge benefit of these workshops is the relationship-building between coaches . . .

If the fall volleyball coach and the spring track coach have the same student on their team, a good rapport between them can strengthen the web of support for the student.”

— Nicola Zimmer, Assistant Director of Athletics and Varsity Girls/Non-Binary Students Basketball Team Coach

level of support to the student-athletes, this is key. If the fall volleyball coach and the spring track coach have the same student on their team, a good rapport between them can strengthen the web of support for the student. Both coaches can discuss and have a better understanding of what exactly the student needs,” says Nicola Zimmer, Assistant Director of Athletics and Varsity Girls/Non-Binary Students Basketball Team Coach.

These workshops have become a cornerstone of the coaching experience at Calhoun, and the diversity of the department makes them that much more valuable. Having a variety of perspectives when discussing different coaching methods, athletic skills and personal improvement can help coaches explore new avenues, and potentially discover new ways to serve a student that hadn’t been considered before.

In their own athletic-development workshops, studentathletes work on the same skills that are the focus of coaching workshops. This intentional overlap improves communication between coaches and student-athletes, and helps them develop good working relationships. In the end, everything our coaches teach their student-athletes comes back to the Athletics Department’s core values: self-awareness, teamwork, empathy and resilience. In their huddles with their teams, the coaches emphasize how to get and stay motivated, the crucial difference between achieving success and winning, and the best ways to communicate. They focus on the way students relate to one another to build teamwork, which is always at the forefront of all instruction.

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“During games, I have experienced many times when something that we discussed in a coaching workshop came up, and I needed to use it. I was grateful that we went over this idea as a coaching staff, because I knew exactly what to say to my team. We are always looking for more tools as coaches, and these workshops only help make our toolkits larger. We aren’t just trying to build great athletes but great human beings, so learning about connecting to our players through multiple avenues is priceless,” says Casey Shane ’06, Varsity Boys/Non-Binary Students Basketball Team Coach.

This fall, the coaching-development workshops were centered around the theme of “belonging.” The concept describes environments where all identities feel welcome, comfortable and accepted, in contrast to “fitting in,” where a person might feel they have to adapt to be accepted. All coaches came together and discussed current examples of this in the department, such as the policy of not cutting students from teams, or using inclusionary language for all genders. They examined the difference between “belonging” and “fitting in,” and then reflected on their feelings on both subjects, drawing on their own life experiences. The coaches’ discussion focused on the differences among students on

(Above) Coach Oral Channer, Varsity Girls/Non-Binary Students Volleyball; (right, clockwise) Coach Justin Drucker, JV Green Girls/ Non-Binary Students Volleyball; Coach Mike Zurkuhlen ‘06, Middle School Soccer; Coach Casey Shane ’06, Varsity Boys/Non-Binary Students Basketball; Coach Nicola Zimmer, Varsity Girls/Non-Binary Students Basketball

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(Above) Coach Scott Tuchman, Varsity Boys/Non-Binary Students Baseball; (right) Coach Heyden Ashton, Varsity Tennis

their teams, and how they can create team environments that are accepting and welcoming for everyone, meaning that no student would be forced to fit in. To increase this sense of belonging in their program, the coaches then discussed how to prioritize relationships between coaches and student-athletes, so that student-athletes feel invested in and seen by their coaches and their community, as well as how students are expected to learn from and treat one another as a means to pursue collective goals and understand what it truly means to be part of a team.

“From the very beginning of each season, I make sure student-athletes know that everyone is welcome on the team, regardless of skill, gender or ability. I also make it clear that each of us is responsible to make sure that’s true, and every interaction is an opportunity to increase someone’s sense of belonging or take it away. It takes practice and awareness, but it is possible if everyone is committed to it,” says Michael Zurkuhlen ’06, Middle School Soccer Coach.

In the future, the Athletics Department plans to continue holding space for these important conversations and finding new avenues to provide support to student-athletes. These workshops demonstrate that being a strong athlete and a strong coach requires time and space devoted to building leadership skills, and to sharpen these skills, you must devote

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“ We are always looking for more tools as coaches, and these workshops only help make our toolkits larger. We aren’t just trying to build great athletes but great human beings.”

— Casey Shane ’06, Varsity Boys/Non-Binary Students Basketball Team Coach

the same amount of time and focus as you do in workouts and practices. In Calhoun Athletics, both commitments are paramount; one does not thrive without the other. In this way, participating in sports at Calhoun becomes an extension of the classroom and a place where student-athletes gain useful, lifelong tools to build successful relationships and excel beyond their sport. It all starts with the investment and belief of the coaches, and the workshops where they strive to find the right way to bring out the best in each student-athlete.

Every minute spent in these workshops translates to students’ future success, not just in sports but in all endeavors.

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24

FEATURE

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Adventures in STEAM: Building Skills for Tomorrow

by Emma Woodcock, Michelle Kiefer and Allana Edwards STEAM learning at Calhoun can’t be boxed in. True to the acronym that represents an integration of subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math), STEAM education at Calhoun is interdisciplinary and dynamic. “It’s a living, breathing [discipline] that’s all-encompassing,” says Jessica Cathcart, Lower School—Early Childhood STEAM teacher. In STEAM activities and projects, Calhoun teachers deliberately break down traditional silos to make the learning come to life.

Throughout their journeys at Calhoun, students explore STEAM topics through a multifaceted lens that requires them to use different intellectual muscles—like building 3D models to represent weather events, or refining their communication skills for an engineering presentation.

“It’s important to remember that these subjects do not stand alone, but are very connected. By incorporating them, students understand each topic in a more meaningful way,” says Arisa Hirabayashi, Upper School math teacher.

Beyond a firm grasp of subject matter, Calhoun students are building other essential competencies through their STEAM investigations. They learn to approach problems from different perspectives, collaborate with one another, think innovatively and practice a growth mindset. Though the fields of STEAM are themselves ever-changing, Calhouners develop the best possible toolkit—enabling them to one day create their own solutions to real-world problems.

Here’s a glimpse into just a few aspects of STEAM learning at Calhoun, across our divisions.

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In the 74th Street STEAM lab, students build digital fluency and other technical skills.

Early-Childhood STEAM Lab Nurtures Innovation and Creativity Vivid digital drawings adorn the walls and colorful books and supplies fill the shelves of Calhoun’s 74th Street STEAM lab.

With maker tables and pieces of technology spread throughout, the room is a space for innovation and creativity, where kindergarten through second grade students learn about topics ranging from coding and the engineering design process to digital citizenship and systems thinking. “Even though these concepts seem big, they’re still accessible to our young learners,” explains Jessica Cathcart, Lower School—Early Childhood STEAM teacher, who adds that teaching STEAM in early childhood is “a way to preserve the joy of learning and that insatiable curiosity while still digging into important skills.”

Jessica kicks off each unit in a way that draws students in—by bringing in an expert in the field, letting the children explore the technology they’re going to be using, or reading a story that connects to the lesson. At the beginning of the school year, all kindergartners, first graders and second graders read the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, which follows a student who doubts her artistic ability until she draws a dot on a page that her teacher then frames. Jessica uses the book “to talk about growth mindset and how hard it is to learn something new or to try something for the first time.”

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With that wisdom in mind, kindergartners make their own dot drawings to “make their mark,” using the iPad app Seesaw.

After starting with one dot, they draw concentric circles around it, building their digital fluency skills while “also practicing the growth mindset of ‘I can do things I don’t know how to do . . . it’s okay to take a risk,’” Jessica explains. This lesson lays a foundation for students’ time in the STEAM lab.

One of the major units of STEAM class is coding, which, as Jessica notes, is becoming more prevalent in early-childhood education—something “students are just experiencing along with math and reading.” Calhoun kindergartners’ first introduction to coding is with Blue-Bots, or simple programmable robots. They learn what each command means before coding their own devices to move to various letters on an alphabet map. Second grade students use Blue-Bots as well, even attaching balloons to the tops and coding them to drive along a parade route. Additionally, second graders do puzzles and play games on Code.org to develop their coding skills, and they read books like How to Code a Sandcastle and How to Code a Rollercoaster.

Most projects incorporate an artistic element, as art allows students to engage with and absorb key lessons while expressing themselves through color and design. Students are also able to make connections to lessons they’ve learned outside of STEAM class—for example, Jessica has designed a

(Left) In one project, students built, then tested block structures; (right) Kindergartners presented engineering designs at a STEAM share.

“ [Teaching STEAM in early childhood] is a way to preserve the joy of learning and that

STEAM Lab Projects

insatiable curiosity while still digging into

The STEAM lab uses a dynamic curriculum “based on the world happening around us today,” says Jessica. Here are a few examples of the projects students work on:

important skills.”

— Jessica Cathcart, Lower School–Early Childhood STEAM teacher

unit around second graders’ study of types of communities, and talks with students about inventors from diverse backgrounds as part of their cluster teachers’ lessons on changemakers.

During their time in the STEAM lab, students spend a lot of time working on technical skills, like engineering and coding, in addition to learning how to safely navigate the technology they interact with on a daily basis. Through play-based learning, STEAM lessons aim to nurture children’s natural curiosity while preparing them to navigate the in-person and digital world around them. With all of the projects they do, “the ultimate goal for this program is that students come out with agency, knowing that they can solve their own problems,” says Jessica. “That’s valuable in every subject. It’s valuable in all of their learning.”

• Kindergartners follow the engineering design process to design their own “not a box,” inspired by the book of the same name.

• First graders learn about the different parts of a tree, and, in a chromatography experiment, they explore why leaves change color.

• Second graders make digital portraits using Seesaw, honing their tech and design skills to share about themselves.

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Third graders construct 3D models depicting weather patterns.

Third Grade STEAM Examines Climate Change, Social Justice and More

“ Art helps students digest complex concepts

In third grade STEAM, the curriculum includes investigations into environmental science, climate change, math and robotics. Kyle Anderson, third grade STEAM teacher, also prioritizes an intersection of social justice and inequities in her lessons to help students make connections to the current world. By incorporating art, she gives students an additional outlet to express their understanding of the material. “Art helps students digest complex concepts and is an important avenue in their learning in STEAM. Without art and design, there would be very few ways to tell the stories of science,” says Kyle. Through the STEAM curriculum, third graders are exposed to a diverse collection of concepts and subjects that they may choose to pursue as they grow as thinkers.

In their climate-change unit this year, third graders focused on graphing the high temperatures in the month of January to build on their data-analysis, math and graphing skills. The class also used design-thinking challenges and KAPLA blocks to show their understanding of extreme weather like hurricanes and tornadoes. In these challenges, Kyle wove in math, science and art, while encouraging teamwork and partnerships and stimulating curiosity.

STEAM. Without art and design, there would

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and is an important avenue in their learning in be very few ways to tell the stories of science.”

—Kyle Anderson, third grade STEAM teacher

Additionally, she discussed with students the impact of extreme weather on communities around the world, particularly those that are disadvantaged. “While learning about climate change is fun, understanding that these scientific decisions have consequences [for] humans is essential to being great scientists,” Kyle says. “These weather events can have a significant impact on people’s lives.” By teaching students to consider all perspectives in their lessons, Kyle is helping prepare smart, innovative thinkers who will one day have the skills to make their own impact on the world.

A goal of the sixth grade math investigation was to not only assess students’ knowledge, but have them be able to articulate their understanding.

Sixth Grade Math Investigation Asks Students to Document Problem-Solving Process John Williams theme music played in the background and a fantastical feeling was in the air as sixth graders were introduced to Pigzits Academy, a magical school that would serve as the backdrop for the class’s math investigation. Instead of doing magic, students were solving problems and making formulas. For their investigation, sixth graders were tasked with a problem-solving project that revolved around the Pigzits’ magical lockers—asking them to determine how many of the school’s 1,000 lockers were left open after students had cast locker-opening spells, and then opened and shut various lockers along the hallways. Working in groups, sixth graders pulled from lessons on common factors and prime factorization to tackle the problem, before preparing a report to document their findings.

The math investigation assessed students’ understanding of major topics from the unit they were concluding. More important, it encouraged them to dig deeper into their understanding—applying their knowledge to something that’s not just a worksheet and articulating concepts in their

“ The most important part is not the calculation, but the explanation of students’ thinking and why the strategy they chose works.”

—Dana Marra, Middle School Learning Support Coordinator

own words. With the scalability of the math investigation, everyone in the class had something to improve upon and something to gain.

Middle School Learning Support Coordinator Dana Marra was an architect of the locker problem. As she explains, “The most important part is not the calculation, but the explanation of students’ thinking and why the strategy they chose works.” The locker problem focused on having students share their thought processes, showing that even if there’s one correct answer, there are many ways to arrive at that answer.

When it came to actually solving the locker problem, no one was able to determine the correct number of lockers left open right away. Sixth graders had to collaborate and learn from one another; working with partners required them

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(This page and opposite) Middle and Upper School students build and test their robots.

to think in a different way, as well as share with and listen to their peers. At the start of each class, students discussed which strategies worked well, and what they had to change moving forward. Students were asked to reflect on their choices and how what they were doing was connected to what they previously learned. As a result, students were able to guide themselves to the answer. To wrap up the project, sixth graders put together a Google Slides presentation that chronicled how they determined the number of lockers left open.

The world of Pigzits Academy made learning more engaging and helped students push through some of the more challenging aspects of math. Their investigation proved to sixth graders that some math may require multiple attempts to arrive at a solution, but they have the tools to find the answer. By being granted the space to work through the problem, students’ thought processes were validated— empowering them to use their problem-solving skills well beyond the magical environment of Pigzits Academy.

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Robotics Program Launches at Calhoun The robots have come to school! Options for STEAM exploration are expanding at Calhoun through the introduction of robotics courses. Excitement is growing for the program as students roll up their sleeves and dive into cutting-edge technology.

“In robotics, students engage with multiple aspects of STEAM learning—engineering, coding, programming, math and science,” says teacher Susan Ma, who helped launch a robotics elective in the Upper School this year. A similar elective in the Middle School, taught by Katie Yang, began during the 2021–22 school year, following a successful run as a summer camp. These elective options build upon some early forays into the subject in the Lower School.

For Calhoun’s budding engineers, delving into robotics starts with developing a firm foundation in coding, with assignments tailored to accommodate different levels of familiarity. In the Upper School, students new to coding learn to read block-based codes and perform simple coding tasks, while more experienced students use a program like Scratch to create an entire game or digital story. Coding tasks are similarly scaffolded for Middle Schoolers: All students in the class receive basic codes to test, but students who took the

class last year are encouraged to further refine the codes to make them more efficient.

With a solid grasp of coding under their belts, students begin to construct their robots. Once the robots are assembled, students tackle a series of progressively difficult tasks as they learn to program and maneuver the robots.

Each challenge adds a new layer of complexity, from racing robots through a maze or competing in games of robot freeze tag in Middle School, to the culminating experience for Upper Schoolers of navigating robots through a labyrinthine obstacle course that students build themselves.

While learning to make a robot transport an object or compete in a game of robot soccer is a lot of fun, the robotics courses also strengthen a wide range of skills. Beyond the technical and mathematical components, students become better collaborators as they work together in small groups to build and program the robots. Robotics can often mirror some of the same team-building that happens in sports, with students learning to communicate effectively with one another and develop empathy to understand how someone else approaches a problem.

Another invaluable lesson comes from the problemsolving and resilience inherent to coding. “An important part of mastering engineering is being able to keep going until

“ An important part of mastering engineering is being able to keep going until you succeed.

I always tell students that your code will fail 100 times, but what matters is the 101st time, [when] it works.”

—Katie Yang, Middle School robotics teacher

you succeed,” says Katie. “I always tell students that your code will fail 100 times, but what matters is the 101st time, [when] it works.” The persistence that students develop through this iterative process is something they can apply to any future challenge.

While the robotics program is still in its early stages, momentum is building—and considering the way Calhouners have embraced this new opportunity, there’s no telling where their innovation might lead them!

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An Upper School science lab in action

Upper School STEAM Electives Open New Dimensions The assignment: create a hypothetical redesign of the lower-level floor at 81st Street. The judges: teachers and administrators from throughout the school, who gathered to evaluate the Upper School students’ proposals.

Projects like this one from Intro to Engineering encapsulate the way that students in Upper School STEAM electives are gaining skills applicable to real-world scenarios.

In this case, the students had to draw upon their knowledge to solve a common engineering conundrum: how to come up with an idea within a narrow set of constraints that is both feasible and appealing to an outside audience.

Equipped with a strong foundation in core math and science courses, Upper Schoolers have access to a broad range of electives that “allow [them] to go deep into topics they are excited about, and really individualize their STEAM journey,” says Danny Isquith, Upper School Director. Starting early in their high school careers, students can investigate topics such as programming, bioethics, environmental science, the history of math and much more.

As in all Calhoun classes, students in US STEAM electives are given ample opportunity to take ownership over the

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“ [By taking these electives] you’re exploring whole new dimensions. In seeing all of the various fields, it shows you a lot of avenues where this knowledge can be used.”

—Seth Coulson ’23

material, which fosters self-motivated problem-solving. For example, in Experimental Design, students pursue scientific research on a topic of their choice. “It’s been really cool to do something on our own, because we’ve learned the correct way to analyze reports and conduct experiments,” says Sydney Weinberg ’23.

In Coding, where a final project is creating a digital game of one’s choice, students don’t just learn to follow a template, but also to navigate the process of trial and error that is inherent to the field. “Self-learning is a big part of coding, so my goal is to give students the tools to continue their journey and think about the higher-level concepts they might want to learn,” explains teacher Arisa Hirabayashi.

Examples of Upper School STEAM Electives Forensic Science Anatomy for Artists Introduction to Engineering Bioethics Coding Personal Finance, Investing & Entrepreneurship Experimental Design Women in Science History of Mathematics Robotics Environmental Science The Science of Food

This higher-level problem-solving is reinforced by the interdisciplinary nature of the electives. In Personal Finance, Investing & Entrepreneurship, Upper Schoolers draft and present a financial plan for a volunteer faculty member, a project that requires facility with data, research skills, and the ability to communicate an idea to someone who might be less familiar with financial terminology.

US science teacher Naomi Choodnovskiy explains how faculty deliberately emphasize the interconnectedness of STEAM concepts, which in turn prepares students to tackle problems that don’t fit neatly into one category.

“The interdisciplinary way we teach these topics models how things come together in the real world,” says Naomi.

“We talk a lot about how you have to pull tools from different experiences you’ve had to apply to the problem at hand.”

Beyond honing their critical thinking, the opportunity to explore helps students realize the possibilities of what STEAM is and can be—maybe even sparking a passion they didn’t know they had. “[By taking these electives] you’re exploring whole new dimensions,” says Seth Coulson ’23.

“In seeing all of the various fields, it shows you a lot of avenues where this knowledge can be used.”

“ The interdisciplinary way we teach these topics models how things come together in the real world. We talk a lot about how you have to pull tools from different experiences you’ve had to apply to the problem at hand.”

—Naomi Choodnovskiy, US science teacher

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Alumni News We love hearing from you— and your classmates love hearing from you even more!

Whether you have launched a new career, moved to a new part of the world, welcomed a baby or a grandchild, or simply want to share recollections of Calhoun memories, Class Notes are a wonderful way to stay connected to your friends and classmates.

Share your updates by writing to Bart Hale ’00, Director of Alumni Relations, at alumni@calhoun.org.

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MARRIAGES

IN MEMORIAM

Joanna Johnson ’98 to Scott Hanna

Edna Hamburger Coggan ’40

Chris Kompanek ’01 to Heather Otrando Todd Garrin ’02 to Dan O’Connor Ben Abrams ’06 to Lindsay Talve Katherine Schreiber ’06 to Edward Cullen Casey Shane ’06 to Laura Helm Amy Blackman ’07 to Leonard Navarro Dan Stein ’07 to Lizzy Rodkin

Nora Schapiro London ’41 Betty Strauss Salzer ’41 Helen Fredericks ’45 Renée Meyers ’47 Audrey Friedman Troy ’47 Joan Ross Logan ’48 Judith Kutcher Penziner ’49 Diane Diamond Bernstein ’50 Maria Irene Jacobson ’50 Carla Levitan Berger ’61 Francine Zimet Perlman ’63

Mark Freedman ’08 to Samantha Rockler

Peggy Maibrunn Klein ’64

Ryan Greene ’08 to Alexandra Savona

1940s

Katie Jackson ’09 to Quinn Murphy Destiny Orr ’10 to Reginald Sanders Jr. Ben Waters ’10 to Matt Hellman Sarah Mozeson ’11 to Tim Simon

BIRTHS To David Merrill ’00 and Christine Amorose Merrill, a girl, Joanna Avalon To Ben Seldon ’00 and Stacey Seldon, a boy, Mark Aaron To Rikat Baroody ’03 and Leigh Gilpin, a boy, Gabriel Elias To Whitney Ferguson ’03 and Malik Brown, a boy, Nasir To Amanda Baker ’05 and Mike Mazur, twin girls, Avery and Brooke To Patti Gomez Baker ’07 and Josh Baker, a boy, Brooklyn To Stephen Bradley ’08 and Elizabeth Bradley, a boy, Rian To Kate Davis ’10 and David Anthony, a boy, Leonardo To Lauren Perry McVicker ’93 and Michael McVicker, a boy, Hudson To Gaby Yitzhaek Tegen ’12 and Tyler Tegen ’12, a girl, Mila Alana

s Renée Meyers ’47, a former Calhoun Trustee, passed away on November 4. Renée served on the Board from 2002 to 2010, at a time when our Growing Up With Calhoun campaign led to the expansion of the 81st Street building.

She was always generous to Calhoun and a strong advocate for financial aid; she believed in Calhoun’s mission and in carrying it forward through future generations. As a student, Renée was equally involved—serving as president of the Students League, class vice president, and a student faculty representative. She also played varsity basketball all four years of high school.

Renée’s interior-design career spanned 60 years, from her time at McMillen, Inc., to that at Patterson Flynn and Martin, where she worked until her retirement in 2018 as their top custom-carpet sales representative.

Marilyn Paris Dipkin ’49: “I am so sad to report that my oldest and dearest friend, Judith Kutcher Penziner ’49, died on February 1, 2022.

She lived in White Plains, NY, and was a docent at the Rye Nature Center.”

1950s

Maria Irene Jacobson ’50 passed away in New York in June. The first director of the Office of International Students at CUNY Graduate Center, Maria had an extensive career in international education, primarily advising foreign college students. At CUNY, Maria received numerous awards for her expertise and the empathy she demonstrated toward the young people she counseled; she was described as playing the role of surrogate mother to hundreds of international graduate students, who were experiencing culture shock and needed help with immigration and visa issues. The daughter of German refugees who moved to New York in the 1930s, Maria entered Calhoun at 12 and graduated at 16. Her teachers were kind, and she excelled at school. Yet she felt different from her peers, due to being a bit younger and coming from a modest, Lutheran home.

Maria’s father, an immigration attorney, became ill and passed away while she was a teenager.

A happy memory from her teens was taking the train to Washington, D.C., and watching him argue the Ellen Knauff case at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Maria earned her BA in history at Hunter College in 1954

and then won a grant to study abroad at the Goethe Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1960, she received a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. A ballet and classical-music enthusiast, Maria was also an environmentalist, a doll collector and an avid family historian. She always kept her Calhoun ring. The school’s progressive outlook aligned with her family’s values and helped foster her interest in world affairs, as well as her commitment to public service, education, freedom of religion and cultural diversity.

1960s

Merle Rein ’60 returned to Calhoun this fall to tour the facilities of our main campus, noting how impressed she was by the theater! Merle, who has her degree from George Washington University in sociology and speech communication, continues her work as a conflict and communication coach, working with individuals and organizations to understand how conflicts evolve and how to effectively shift communication styles.

Alexandra Spingarn ’61: “After almost three years of COVID, I’m so happy to say I just returned to Brookline, MA, from a special visit to Portland, OR. I went to see my son Noah Koff and his wonderful wife, marketing executive Arabella D’Oyly, and my almost-16-yearold granddaughter, Matilda, and 12-year-old grandson, Orlando. Then I went to L.A. to see my son Jason SpingarnKoff, with his 11-year-old son, Julian, and brilliant artist wife, Sabrina Gschwandtner. It filled my heart with joy to see [my grandchildren] at the ages I was when I attended Calhoun! We went to museums and enjoyed all that nature offers us.”

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Marion (Mara) Schwartz Davis ’61 is currently living in Tucson, AZ, and recently welcomed her second greatgrandchild, Cielle Natasha Bearden. She reports: “I became a great-grandmother for the first time to Brynn Noelle Bearden on June 25, 2021, and in November, we were thrilled to welcome her new sister. I have thoroughly enjoyed time spent with them.”

Tedra Levine Schneider ’64: “My days are busy, making up for lost time from the pandemic, visiting my children and grandchildren across the country. I am holding my dear Calhoun friends close to my heart.”

s Monica Bernier ’69: “My new cutout Cityscape entered the collection of Wright State University in Ohio in February 2023.”

1970s

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Jessica Sibley ’87 was named chief executive officer at Time, effective November 21. In her trailblazing career, Jessica has led global revenue teams, launched innovative new initiatives and products, and driven significant growth for major media brands, including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Condé Nast, in addition to Forbes, where she most recently served as chief operating officer and contributed to record revenue growth over eight consecutive years. In a Time press release, Jessica reflects, “It is an incredible time to join this brand whose impact and opportunity for growth is at an all-time high. What the world-class team at Time has built to date is inspiring, and I am honored to lead the next phase of evolution and transformation, continuing to extend the authority and trust of the brand and delivering for Time’s customers.” During her tenure as chief operating officer at Forbes, she was responsible for all revenue and initiatives for the brand.

Jessica led the organization to consecutive years of record revenue results and introduced several innovative products and initiatives, including BrandVoice products, ForbesLive virtual events, Forbes’ Representation & Inclusion Practice, ForbesOne, Forbes Demand Engine, and the CxO Growth Survey. In her time at Forbes, prior to COO, she held the roles of chief revenue officer, chief sales officer and, before that, senior vice president of U.S. and Europe.

s Jordan Modell ’77: “It was nice to connect with the Class of 1977 at our reunion last year, still the most represented class in all reunions! I started a doctoral program, and found the most fun but totally useless one possible—theology and philosophy. Since semiretirement 10 years ago, I have been working on reproductive rights issues, resulting in my TEDx talk. Should you want to get involved, please reach out—we need you more than ever (the photo is of me and one of my heroines, Lizz Wanstead, protesting in Congress). If you are in Asbury Park, NJ, in September, I also welcome you to come to our free festival, AP PorchFest.”

Amy Stiller ’79 will be performing in The Seagull/ Woodstock NY, a modern adaptation of the Chekhov play by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by Scott Elliott at The New Group and opening in February 2023.

1980s

Rama Wiener Dunayevich ’84: “My family kicked off the new year with wonderful friends, Calhouners Michael McCormick ’84 and

s

Daphne Muscarella Dennis ’76: “My husband and I live on an old family farm, which we share with our rescues: nine dogs, two cats, a pot-bellied pig, chickens and a variety of other critters. We plan on adding a horse, donkey and goats soon.

In addition to my career as a forensic genealogist, I train service dogs for my work with the disabled. After writing scripts for a number of true-crime podcasts, I plan to release my own soon, and I started a theater company years ago, Murdertainment, producing original musical murder mysteries in repertory.

We perform at least one show a month and they’re a blast.

Bernard; me; Michael; Erika;

We’re growing fast, so any actors out there looking for a gig are welcome to contact me.”

Erika Milvy ’82, with a sunny, yummy lunch in downtown Mill Valley, CA, where we live.

Pictured, L-R: Our 15-year-old daughter, Kika; my husband,

and Michael’s wife, Susan.

It was a perfect beginning to the new year and hopefully portends a fabulous year for all.”

Stephan Kolbert ’86 and his spouse, Ingrid Marcroft, celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their business, Upper West Side Yoga and Wellness, on 85th Street off Columbus. As they reflect, “We opened on December 18, 2012, and just figured it out, step by step. Since Stephan’s mom had run a pottery studio in the 1970s (Clay Crafts), we knew that it was possible to do this brick-and-mortar-store thing.

We went from a mess of an old dry cleaners (Best Cleaners) and turned it into a haven for ourselves and over 20,000 people over the last decade.

So many lessons learned! And so many blessings, SO much love. What an awesome ride it has been and continues to be.

We are filled with gratitude!”

We’re happy to report that a few of Stephan and Ingrid’s students are the parents of Calhoun alumni that Stephan taught when he worked at Calhoun teaching kindergarten from 2005 to 2012.

s Ross Kleinberg ’88 shared news of his annual Thanksgiving gathering with fellow Calhouners, a longstanding tradition, which brought together alums from the 1970s to the 1990s. Pictured, L-R: Arlo Chase ’89, Ed Freiberg ’88, Jordan Modell ’77, Ross Kleinberg ’88, Zeke Edwards ’91, Oliver Chase ’91, Mark Lubell ’88 and David Potischman ’88.

kinesiology, which is a system of neuromusculoskeletal diagnosis and treatment that encompasses a large body of techniques designed to address structural, physiological and emotional stressors. I live in Fairfax with my husband, Mike, my children, Yosef and Chaya, and our 94-pound Doberman, Zusha.”

s Shahana Koslofsky ’88: “After 20 years living on the West Coast, I moved back home to the East Coast. I left my career in academia and clinical practice to work for the U.S. government on mental health, health equity and immigration policy. I’ve enjoyed exploring the D.C. metro area with my husband and two daughters and make regular visits to the Upper West Side to visit my mom.”

1990s

Erica Statman ’90: “I am celebrating my 25th year in chiropractic practice and my 15th year as a diplomate in pediatrics and pregnancy.

I have owned and operated Maimonides Chiropractic in Fairfax, Virginia, since 1999.

Of note, this year I will be completing my 300th hour in training in applied

Oliver Chase ’91 made it back onto the Calhoun basketball court for the annual alumni game, representing the famed 1990 championship team along with classmate Zeke Edwards ’91. Oliver is a partner in the law firm Hirschen Singer & Epstein LLP, where he is a practitioner in both nonprofit and for-profit real estate development, including the construction, rehabilitation and preservation of multifamily affordable housing, mixed-use projects, transitional shelters and other complex real estate developments.

s Oren Segal ’92, VP of the Center on Extremism for the Anti-Defamation League, was featured in an interview by the Las Vegas Sun in November.

He spoke about “the current state of hate in the United States” and his team’s work to combat extremism.

as I studied six years at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. We miss NYC but visit every year. Please let us know if you’re coming through Laguna—we’d love to connect.

I often reflect on the deep friendships I still have with my Calhoun classmates; they will always be family to me. I truly treasure it.”

t Hazel Gurland-Pooler ’95 has a feature-length documentary, Storming Caesars Palace, that premiered as the opening-night film at the BlackStar Film Festival on August 3, 2022. It was also honored with a Best Documentary Feature nomination and won the Shine Award for a first-time filmmaker. The film is continuing its festival run at the Pan African and Big Sky film festivals, among others this winter, before broadcasting nationally on the PBS Independent Lens series on March 20, 2023. Storming Caesars Palace is one of only

Lauren Perry McVicker ’93: “On March 12, 2022, Michael and I welcomed our miracle baby, Hudson. We are so grateful. We live and work in Laguna Beach, CA. We have an insurance agency and I practice my Brennan work when I can,

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Alumni Spotlight Senior Work Calhoun alumni go on to make an impact on the world, no matter what field they choose. In their final mod of Upper School, twelfth graders have the chance to explore professional opportunities through Senior Work, a program, now in its 23rd year, that serves as a bridge between students’ experience and their next steps in the world beyond Calhoun. They participate in a senior project or internship in a field of interest, engage in a professional mentorship, and take electives in topics including health and wellness, personal finance, workplace communication, and more. The goal is to prepare seniors for anything that comes their way after Calhoun, as well as create connections that can help them in their future.

We asked a few alumni about their current positions and how their time in Senior Work influenced their professional goals and decisions. As seen in the featured stories, the program provides a strong foundation for Calhoun students to build a variety of skills and make the successful transition to the next stage of their lives.

Name: Will Tarshis ’12 Senior Work Internship: Nickelodeon Occupation: Manager, Current Programming, Scripted Content at NBC Universal (Television and Streaming) Most rewarding part of Senior Work: Having my first access to the corporate world while in high school was invaluable. I got to make connections with other young professionals while [learning] a lot of the basic skills needed to succeed in the workforce.

The Senior Work experience at Nickelodeon showed me how one should carry oneself, what to prioritize, and how to stay organized, all of which helped me succeed in my future internships and first few jobs post-grad.

Name: Ethan Lichtenstein ’18 Senior Work Internship: Prep cook at Landmarc Occupation: Line cook at Dagon Most rewarding part of Senior Work: The chefs at Landmarc taught me so many cooking fundamentals that I use every day. My Senior Work experience at Landmarc was humbling, and my time there showed me the mentality necessary to succeed in a professional kitchen. I learned that you’ll only go as far as you push yourself, and gained some thicker skin as well.

Name: Eugene Luke Padayogdog ’18 Senior Work Internship: Teacher fellow at George Jackson Academy Occupation: Humanities teacher at George Jackson Academy Most rewarding part of Senior Work: My Senior Work experience helped solidify my interest in education, which led me to confidently pursue the field in college. The relationship I forged during

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my Senior Work experience allowed me to reach out for a summer internship during my third year of college, which later translated into a formal job offer right out of college.

Name: Alex Tritto ’12 Senior Work Internship: Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency Occupation: Sales associate at Penguin Random House Most rewarding part of Senior Work: The Senior Work experience definitely impacted my career! Prior [to that], I hadn’t even really thought of publishing as a career. I knew I loved reading, but I had no idea that I’d be able to translate that into a job.

So simply getting my feet wet, learning about the industry, and meeting folks opened my eyes.

Name: Dalas Zeichner ’15 Senior Work Internship: Hospital for Special Surgery Occupation: Emergency medical technician, BSN student Most rewarding part of Senior Work: This Senior Work experience exposed me to the different sides of service delivery. Clinically, it showed me what care can look like at the outpatient, orthopedic level. I’ve taken these skills and practices to my profession as a health care worker in emergency medical services, and further in how I intend to become an effective nurse.

In the long run, I want to go into healthcare management and education.

Are you interested in offering a Senior Work internship or mentorship? Contact Lisa Merritt at lisa.merritt@calhoun.org to get involved.

four films selected this season to have Indie Lens Pop-Up community-engagement screenings, with 45 events in 36 states already scheduled.

The film tells the story of Ruby Duncan and a group of lowincome mothers who launched one of the most extraordinary Black feminist anti-poverty movements in U.S. history, providing a blueprint for an equitable future.

s Kilolo Strobert ’96 realized her dream of opening her own wine store, Fermented Grapes, near Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. While the pandemic brought plenty of challenges, Kilolo’s career expertise in the beverage industry, entrepreneurial energy and personal warmth has led to growing success in the Crown Heights neighborhood. Kilolo has already been featured in Bon Appétit, and last August, she was featured in a Washington Post article, “More Wine Sellers Make Representing Diverse Vintners a Priority.” Kilolo also graciously supplied the wine for Calhoun’s All-Class 125th Anniversary Reunion last year.

s Joanna Johnson ’98 lives in Dubai, and she began a new job in July as senior

project manager for Multilem Worldwide, a design and construction company whose main activity is to create, develop and assemble exhibition stands, events and interior spaces for a wide range of clients. But an even bigger event in 2022 for Jo was her marriage to Scott Hanna on April 8 at the Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland. The couple had a mini-moon at the Wineport Lodge in Ireland, with a honeymoon planned for New Zealand.

Nicole Wilson ’99 is an awardwinning and internationally published fashion, portrait and celebrity photographer, creative director and artist.

Her photography and creative direction have most recently been featured in the pages and on the covers of Vogue Italia, Vogue, L’Officiel, KALTBLUT, Boys by Girls, L’Effronte Journal, and GQ. To see more of her work: nicolewilsonphotography.com

2000s

s David Merrill ’00 and his wife, Christine, welcomed their daughter, Joanna “Jojo” Avalon Merrill, last summer.

Jojo joins pug sisters Gertrude and Matilda at their home in sunny San Diego. David owns Camisado Marketing, which offers digital marketing services to grow small businesses.

Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers in New York City, as proud sister Liza Garrin ’08 looked on.

Kendra Vizcaino-Lico ’02 served as best woman, and Alex Dichne ’02 and Max Torgovnick ’02 were also on hand. Todd is in his third year with ABC News, where he’s a supervising producer at the Tamron Hall show.

s Mark Rentschler ’00 and his wife, Lindsay, collaborated with their two kids last spring to bring a Calhoun tradition to their own home—constructing a family egg drop, which they staged from the roof of their home in North Carolina. Mark is a senior outbound marketing manager for Amazon Ads, a new position he assumed last April.

Ben Seldon ’00 welcomed a baby boy to his growing family in January with the arrival of Mark Aaron Seldon, born 6 lbs 7 oz. He and his wife, Stacey, are doing well and their daughter, Whitney, is excited by the big-sister role!

s Chris Kompanek ’01 tied the knot to Heather Otrando at a wedding celebration at the New York Botanical Garden last June, joined by classmates James Andrews ’01 and Adam Messinger ’01, Lou Armistead ’04, and sister, Nina Kompanek Leksin ’05. Chris is a writer and journalist, and the newlyweds live in New York.

Todd Garrin ’02 celebrated a joyful marriage to Dan O’Connor on April 9, at The

s Rikat Baroody ’03 lives in Michigan, working as a trauma/critical care/acute care surgeon, along with her husband and fellow doctor, Leigh Gilpin, who is a urologist.

Together, they welcomed their first child on October 6—a boy, Gabriel Elias Baroody-Gilpin (pictured).

s Whitney Ferguson ’03 is the latest alum to become a Calhoun mom, joining the parent community this year with her daughter, Aliyah, entering kindergarten. Among the full-circle moments for Whitney: Her daughter has loved having PE teacher Amy Brown for gym class each day!

Whitney and her partner, Malik, also welcomed a baby boy, Nasir, to their growing family on May 28.

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Alumni Pub Night Thursday, November 17, 2022 Alums gathered at Legends NYC this past November to kick off the Thanksgiving season at our 15th Annual Alumni Pub Night.

s Jack Hale ’03 spent a fall weekend in New York City with his wife, Erin, and two daughters, Eliza and Molly.

The family lives in Rochester, NY, where Jack took on a new position last May as director of business development for Digital Hyve, a subsidiary of advertising agency Butler/Till.

The New York visit included a brunch with Andrew Booth ’03 (along with Andrew’s wife, Gaby, and their son, JP), Darko Latic ’03 (and Darko’s wife, Camilla, and their son, Mateo), and Tommy Grotchal ’03.

The small-world moment came full circle when they ran into Michelle Schindler Williams ‘03 at Lincoln Center with her family. All alums pledged to return for their 20th Reunion this spring!

s Amanda Baker ’05 is a proud new mom. Amanda and her husband, Mike, welcomed identical twin girls to the world on February 13, Avery and

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Brooke (pictured). “They came at 26 weeks and 5 days but are doing incredibly well!” shares Amanda, who is a nationally certified Pilates teacher and health coach based in Midtown East.

Nina Kompanek Leksin ’05 transitioned to a new job last summer, working in customer success and operations for ZogSports, America’s most popular social sports community, with more than 120,000 players around the country each year. Nina had spent eight years working at Calhoun, most recently as Director of the School Office and Summer Programs. Her initiatives, which included organizing community events such as the Winter Creatives Fair and expanding the school store, left a lasting impact on the school. Congratulations on your new role, Nina!

Max Marcus ’05: “I finished my pediatric residency in 2020 at Cohen Children’s Medical Center at Northwell, and decided I wanted to become a child psychiatrist. I started a general psychiatry residency at Weill Cornell in summer 2020, and I got married to my wonderful wife, Meredith Firetog, who’s an employment discrimination lawyer in June 2021. Last summer, I started my final two years in training at New York–Presbyterian as a

child-psychiatry fellow and hope to work as a child psychiatrist in New York City.”

s Chelsea Stilman-Linehan (formerly Sandomir) ’05 is living in New York City with her husband and two-year-old son.

She started her own Etsy business, Loose Ends Knits, in December 2022, selling warm and cozy items such as knit hats, ear warmers and cowls.

Many former students fondly remember Chelsea from her years at Calhoun, where she taught humanities in the Middle School and worked alongside her dad, longtime MS English teacher Larry Sandomir.

About Exercise Addiction: Understanding the Dark Side of Thinspiration, is an author and New York City–based psychotherapist. Last July she joined Juniper Therapeutic Services, where she provides evidence-based treatment and talk therapy to adults, couples, and teens struggling with emotion regulation, depression and anxiety, panic disorder, ADHD, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Previously she was the assistant program director for The Bridge, Inc., Manhattan Assertive Community Treatment, providing social work services to individuals living with severe mental illness across Manhattan. In addition to her clinical work, Katherine publishes frequent articles about mental health, relationships, and psychology for a variety of in-print and online outlets including Psychology Today, Time, Centennial Media, and Cosmopolitan. In 2021, she married her high school sweetheart, Edward Cullen.

They live together in Riverdale.

surprise that the talented couple performed at their own wedding. Casey works in the Athletics Department at Calhoun and serves as Head Coach of the Boys/ Non-Binary Students Varsity Basketball team.

Patti Gomez Baker ’07 and her husband, Josh, are enjoying parenthood with their son, Brooklyn, who is turning two.

The family lives on Amelia Island, FL. Patti continues her communications career, currently serving as the director of marketing at The Fortegra Group, a global specialty insurance company.

Katherine Schreiber Cullen ’06, who has an MSW from Fordham and is the co-author of The Truth

Rachel Jackson ’07 and her husband, Nate Adler, are launching a new restaurant this spring in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Gertrude’s will open at 605 Carlton Avenue, at the intersection of Saint Marks Avenue. Rachel also owns Williamsburg’s popular Jewish American restaurant, Gertie, where she generously hosted Calhoun seniors for a site visit as part of their Senior Work program last May. t Dan Stein ’07 and Lizzy Rodkin celebrated their wedding last summer at the South Brooklyn Foundry, with a long lineup of Calhouners

s Amy Blackman ’07 made her Off-Broadway debut with the Mint Theater Company last winter, playing the title role in The Daughter-in-Law

by D. H. Lawrence, described as “a beautifully nuanced performance” in The New York Times. She married Leonard s Ben Abrams ’06 celebrated his wedding to Lindsay Talve on April 23 at Montage Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, SC. His sister, Bari Abrams ’09, was among those proudly looking on. The newlyweds live in New York, and Ben, who holds a BBA in finance from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business, is an investor with Holocene Advisors, LP.

Navarro on July 30 at Foxfire Mountain House in Mount Tremper, NY. They met at the University of Michigan and live in Harlem with their beagle, Darwin. Amy’s brothers, Ben Blackman ’10 and Joe Blackman ’17, were in attendance as well as Amy’s classmates Wade Brill ’07 and Rachel Bekkerman ’07.

in attendance—including Dan’s sister, Rebecca Stein Rogers ’00, Alex Gumpel ’07, Rachel Jackson ’07, Andrew Otton ’07, Andrew Ronan ’07, Liza Garrin ’08, Sam ScarrittSelman ’08 and Katie Jackson ’09. Dan is a talented bass player who plays in gigs around the city and is a longtime music teacher at Calhoun.

s Casey Shane ’06 married Laura Helm at Hudson House in Jersey City on October 23, in a celebration that was full of Calhoun family. His best man was Nate Silverstein ’06 and groomsmen included Jonathan Jimenez ’06, along with Calhoun PE teacher Justin Drucker. Casey and Laura met in 2017 during a production of Grease, and so it was no 2022–2023 | 41

s Stephen Bradley ’08, a doctor of pharmacy living in New City, NY, shares the happy news that he and his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Bradley, welcomed a son, Rian Bradley, born on October 1. “Parenthood has been bringing new joys every day!” Stephen says.

s Mark Freedman ’08 lives in Washington, D.C., and last August launched Rebel Global Security, as founder and CEO. The company provides security consulting services to help businesses become truly secure and resilient in today’s volatile global threat environment.

Mark also married Samantha Rockler in May, capping off a busy but exciting year. Classmate Andrew Conlin ’08 was in attendance as the best man.

s Ryan Greene ’08 celebrated his wedding to Alexandra Savona on August 27 in Glen Cove, NY. A full delegation of Calhoun friends were on hand,

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including classmates Andrew Conlin ’08, Nicole Cahill-Yi ’08, Liza Garrin ’08 and Samantha Sheft ’08. Ryan, who serves in the new role of alumni co-chair for The Calhoun Annual Fund this year, runs Go Go Quincy, a company he built as a student at Columbia Business School in 2021 that provides senior citizens with vetted technology assistance. Ryan was featured in Poets&Quants’ “Favorite MBAs,” and the company was featured on Charlotte Today and Yahoo Finance.

Samantha Sheft ’08, Liza Garrin ’08, Sam Blank ’08 and Rebecca Kruysman ’08 took their Calhoun friendships to international heights, adventuring to Paris in November. Samantha is a film and television associate at the entertainment and media law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks, P.C. in New York.

Katie Jackson ’09 tied the knot with her partner, Quinn Murphy, at a ceremony in Lyme, CT, on October 1.

s Ben Waters ’10 and his partner, Matt Hellman, held a beautiful Hawaiian wedding on the Kohala Coast, at Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection, on December 10.

The couple lives in Seattle.

As an architect with his B.Arch from Cornell University, Ben founded Bureau Braun in the spring of 2018 to meet a growing demand from personal clients to provide interior architecture services.

s Sarah Mozeson ’11 and Tim Simon celebrated their wedding day on September 17 at Monteverde at Oldstone along the Hudson River. In attendance were classmates Holly Holtz ’11, who served as a bridesmaid, and Miranda Watson ’11. The newlyweds went on to honeymoon in Italy.

Sarah is an actor, teaching artist and real estate agent who has been serving on the leadership team of Calhoun’s Alumni of Color Network since 2020.

2010s

s Kate Davis ’10 is loving her new role as a mom; her son, Leonardo, was born in May. She splits her time between Athens, NY, and the Upper West Side and continues running her company Knockout, where she creates self-defense rings and a new design-forward pepper spray.

s Rachel Lippin-Foster ’11 recently started a new role as a clinical social worker at Cognitive & Behavioral Consultants. In this role, she treats individuals with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. She also specializes in working with parents of anxious children and adolescents. Rachel was invited to present at the upcoming Anxiety and Depression Association of America conference in D.C. about addressing familial accommodation in childhood anxiety disorders.

s Gabriel Berenbaum ’12 had a busy year composing music for film and television at his production studio, PMGRNT Productions. He composed the theme song for the TV series And Just Like That . . . , and among his other credits was his work on Netflix’s Sweet Tooth, the feature film Marry Me, and Bryan Greenberg’s upcoming film, Junction. Gabriel has also mixed and recorded production audio for clients including the United Nations, Vice, HBO Max and MSG Network, and is the head of the audio department at MCM Creative, a boutique film-production house located in Chelsea.

s Gaby Yitzhaek Tegen ’12 was included as an honoree in last year’s Forbes “30 Under 30’’ in retail and e-commerce for her work with Smartrr.

Gaby, who is married to classmate and proud husband Tyler Tegen ’12, co-founded Smartrr to help brands offer customer-friendly subscriptions that can be easily customized.

Smartrr works with hundreds of DTC brands, including skincare brand Starface, CBD company Joggy, and Cameron Diaz’s wine company Avaline.

The 30-employee company has raised more than $17 million in funding. To top it all off, Gaby shares, “we also welcomed a baby girl, Mila, a month ago!!

Lots to celebrate!” t Carner Round Derron ’13 showed that special moments are worth the wait. Her 2020 wedding day to Tony Binder was turned into a small backyard ceremony to make it official, while their full reception and celebration with family and friends was held at the Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms on June 4, 2022, surrounded by lush greenery and unique views.

Instead of a first dance, they performed a first song together for all of their wedding guests; Tony played the ukulele, and Carner sang. The newlyweds, who met during Carner’s freshman year at Calhoun, created a new last name for themselves, taking the der from “Binder” and the ro(u)n from “Round” to make “Derron.”

In Denver, Carner leads marketing and communications for Aspen Digital, a program of the Aspen Institute that works at the intersection of technology and information with diverse communities.

With expertise in nonprofit brand-building, she brings their efforts to life through strategic storytelling.

Farah Taslima ’13 moved across the world in 2022, thanks to a unique opportunity with her employer, The Blackstone Group. She is now living in Singapore, where she has been able to balance her work as a vice president in Private Wealth Solutions with cultural immersion and travels throughout the region.

Stella Lemper-Tabatsky ’14 moved back to New York after two years living in San Francisco. She continues her work with the financial technology platform Adyen, and in April, she became a senior account executive with the company. She is also part of an evening fiction workshop and is working on a short story collection.

SAVE THE DATE

2023 Alumni Reunion Friday, June 2, 2023 Milestone recognition for class years ending in 3 and 8.

All alumni are invited to join us!

Special tribute: Honoring John Roeder’s 50 years of teaching at Calhoun www.calhoun.org/reunion

2022–2023 | 43

Jessie Wachtel ’14 completed the first two didactic years of medical school at St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada in December. She returned stateside for her first certification exam and to start her clinical years with hospital rotations in Manhattan, on her path to becoming an oncologist.

Sara Franck ’15 is already impacting the next generation of students in her own classroom. Having earned a master’s in teaching from Quinnipiac University, she’s now in her third year as an early-childhood educator in Morristown, NJ. Sara also serves as a brand consultant for venues in Morristown.

Thomas Gatanis ’15 has continued following his passion for soccer and transitioned to a new job in January, working in sales for the Major League Soccer team the New England Revolution, based in Foxborough, MA. Thomas moved to Boston last spring, at the time working as a business account manager for e-commerce company Wayfair.

He also returned to the playing field in the fall, helping coach the varsity men’s soccer team at Wheaton College, where he played as an undergraduate.

Styles’s music video “Music for a Sushi Restaurant.”

He describes one memorable moment: “I got slapped by a squid” upon asking if he could touch Harry’s tail. Zeus was featured in a People magazine interview about his experience on the set.

Dalas Zeichner ’15 is currently in an accelerated nursing program at New York University. She is pursuing a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing, with her sights on eventually pursuing a doctorate in the field, “[combining] my skills acquired with my current master’s in public health to improve the health and wellness of communities and populations in need of greater health justice.” She adds, “This past May I hosted recent graduate Jonas Beise ’22 for his Senior Work internship with Park Slope Volunteer Ambulance Corps, which gave Jonas the opportunity to begin his career as an emergency medical technician, responding to medical emergencies requested through the Fire Department of New York’s 911 response system.”

Sacha Rogosin ’16 seized a rare opportunity and took three months to backpack through Asia in the fall. He spent time in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Japan, among other places.

Tyler Battino ’17, with a background and degree in sports business, started a new position in January with LEARFIELD, as part of the St. John’s Sports Properties team.

His new post is as manager, business development.

Michaela Harvey ’17 began a new job in New York last May, working as a consulting analyst for Accenture. Out of the office, she also reached a running milestone of consecutive personal records in the New York City and Brooklyn half marathons that she completed last spring—and she’s looking forward to running those same races in 2023!

t Zeus Rocancourt ’15 continues getting work in film and video. He had a role on the basketball set for the Disney film Rise, and last year he made his music-video debut in Harry

s Austin Lichtenstein ’16 made his television debut with his band, Mike Sabath & The Moongirls. The group took center stage on CBS’ The Late Late Show with James Corden on January 26 as they performed “Who You Are” for the taping in Los Angeles.

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Maxwell Reitkopf ’16 graduated from the University of Vermont’s Sustainable Innovation MBA program in August. After completing his degree, he moved to Philadelphia, where he began a new job as a business consultant for Tata Consultancy Services, working within their Strategy and Transformation Group and specializing in Change Management.

Rea Brayshaw ’18 is living in Paris, France, after earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California last year. Following a passion in photography, she is earning her master’s degree in documentary and photojournalism in a joint program with Magnum Photos and the Spéos School for Photography. Her Paris roommate is Calhoun classmate and close friend Flora Morrison ’18, who is a visual studies student at The New School.

s Teresa Chico ’18 delivered the senior address at Bates College’s commencement last year, graduating with a double major in rhetoric, film and screen studies; and Africana studies. Her speech described her Chinese money plant as a symbol of the ways she has grown and learned to take care of herself during her time at Bates. When asked about addressing the class, Teresa reflected, “I’m usually very introverted, but as a firstgeneration student and as a woman of color, I felt it was important for me to share my experiences. I also want to let other people who are graduating know that, yeah, college is hard enough for everyone, but it’s just different for people that are going to a predominantly white institution or people that are going to be the first person in their family to go to college. And even though my story is very personal, I think there’s a bigger story of growth there that everyone can relate to.”

As a graduate, Teresa is back in New York working for Vox Media Studios.

Eli Fortunato ’18 is back in New York following his graduation from Tulane University with a BS in management, accounting and finance last spring. In January, he started a new position as a business analyst in sales and distribution at Starr Insurance Companies.

Talia Kurlansky ’18 began a Fulbright Program last August, serving as an English teaching assistant for a year in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Having recently graduated from Bates College with a double major in political science (with a concentration in security, cooperation and conflict) and dance, and a minor in Asian studies, Talia hopes to pursue a career in public policy and international relations, with a focus on diplomacy and the facilitation of cultural exchange.

Caleb Bart ’19 spent his fall semester studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. His time in Europe included travels through Germany and Spain, while furthering his studies toward a BBA in marketing and international business at Emory University. As Caleb departed Edinburgh, fellow Calhouner Will Deckelbaum ’20 arrived, starting his own semester in the Scottish capital.

Julia Labusch ’21: “I made my Off-Broadway debut last August in one of the first fully staged productions of Happily the Musical, written and directed by Livi Perrone and performed at the Actors Temple Theatre in New York.” t William Baker ’22 and Esme Brayshaw ’22 both had banner seasons in their first year of competition at

the collegiate soccer level.

William’s school, Rutgers, won the first-ever Big Ten Conference Championship in any men’s sport in school history. At Georgetown, where Esme is also a freshman, the women’s soccer team earned a number-five seed in the NCAA tournament after winning the regular season and beating Xavier University for the Big East Conference Championship.

Congratulations to both alums on a great season!

Liam Harvey ’22 has shifted roles with Calhoun’s Varsity Track & Field team, returning this winter as an assistant coach after setting trail-blazing school records on the team during his senior year. Last fall, Liam spent time living in Hong Kong and immersed himself in an internship for the global logistics company Crown Worldwide Group while on a gap year from the University of Chicago.

2020s

t Holliss Hirsch ’21 along with her dad, Scott Hirsch ’86, sailed 635 nautical miles in the biennial Newport Bermuda Race last June. Holliss is currently a sophomore on the Bowdoin College varsity sailing team, and Scott is a Bowdoin sailing alum from the class of 1990.

FORMER FACULTY/STAFF

Steve Nelson (Head of School, 1998–2017): “As the oldest member of the Class of 2017, I’m pleased to report that I’m still alive! I am still writing: a blog, a newspaper column, and for a Colorado magazine.

I also serve on the board of a wonderful progressive school— the Watershed School in Boulder. I spend time with my grandchildren and mountainbike nearly every day, despite the crash and spinal cord injury of 2020. I’ve visited with a few Calhoun folks in recent years, including Arielle Silverman ’03, Luke Alpert ’09, Linda Zhang ’09, Tiffany Poon ’14 and [former US Director] Kirk Smothers. I hate Facebook, but it provides welcome Calhoun connections. I would love to hear from any Calhoun folks at stevehutnelson@gmail.com.”

s Alistair Nalle ’22 utilized his gap semester by traveling through Nepal and hiking the Himalayas, with altitudes that peaked at 15–16,000 feet, before starting at Middlebury College in February.

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Alumni Events Friday, January 6, 2023 • New Year’s Gathering & Basketball Game Alums came back to Calhoun in January for the Young Alumni New Year’s Gathering, which welcomed grads home from college. Following the reception, alums from across class years met in the gym for a “battle of the decades” during the 17th Annual Alumni Basketball Challenge!

(Above) Alums from the classes of 2019–2022 reconnected with classmates and former faculty. (Bottom right) The winning team of the Alumni Basketball Challenge, which included alums from the classes of 2012–2021.

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#CalhounForever Alumni Legacies Throughout the years, Calhoun has remained home for alumni and their families. For alumni who have chosen to send their own children to Calhoun, the school’s central values—the importance of student voice, social justice, interdisciplinary learning and close-knit relationships—have transcended generations. Whether it’s in seeing their child learn from a teacher they once had when they were a student, or passing down a beloved school tradition, alums often note the joy found in re-experiencing Calhoun through the lens of a parent. Currently, 17 alums are parents at Calhoun—a testament to the spirit of #CalhounForever.

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1. Brian Peters ’97 with Journey Peters ’31; 2. Ellie Spielberger Wertheim ’89 with Allegra Wertheim ’21; 3. Lori Serling Sklar ’75 with Andrew Sklar ’07 and Robin Sklar ’14; 4. Zeke Edwards ’91 with Azadeh Kebriaei-Edwards ’34; 5. Odetty Tineo ‘08 with Kairo Tineo-Rodriguez ’32; 6. Rebecca Tunick Gotlieb ’97 with Ezra Gotlieb ’30 and Owen Gotlieb ’32

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One The Calhoun Annual Fund 2022–23 Commit to Calhoun. OPEN Possibilities.

Every dollar contributed to The Calhoun Annual Fund supports our operating expenses and allows us to open new possibilities for our community.

Supporting The Calhoun Annual Fund illustrates your commitment to Calhoun.

Learn more and give www.calhoun.org/giving

“ Supporting The Calhoun Annual Fund is a way for us to help ensure we provide our children with a community they can thrive in as students, athletes, artists and anything else they strive to be.”

— Denise James-Walker and Gamal Walker, P’25, P’27

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WINTER 2023 | 49

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

433 West End Avenue New York, NY 10024 www.calhoun.org ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

To the parents of alumni: If this issue is addressed to your child who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the Alumni Office with the correct mailing address. Call 646-666-6450 or email alumni@calhoun.org.

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PAID PERMIT NO. 566 UTICA NY