Calhoun Chronicle, Spring 2021

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Hybrid Learning

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DEI Programming

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Eat Right Now, 19 Years Later

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Alumni Class Notes

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Contents F E AT U R E S Eat Right Now: Calhoun’s Food Revolution,

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19 Years Later Hybrid Learning at Calhoun:

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Reinventing School, Maintaining Our Values

Head Lines from Steve

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Calhoun Expands DEI Programming

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Onstage

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Sports

12 PHOTO: NAHUEL FANJUL-ARGUIJO

SCHOOL NEWS

ALUMNI NEWS 29

Alumni Profile: Tamar Sinclair ‘01

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2020 -2021

The Calhoun Chronicle is created by the Communications Office:

PHOTO: NAHUEL FANJUL-ARGUIJO

Class Notes

Michelle Kiefer Director of Communications Nahuel Fanjul-Arguijo Digital Communications & Website Manager Candace Silva Communications Coordinator Alumni news by Bart Hale ‘00 Director of Alumni Relations Editorial assistance by Amy Edelman 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.

ON THE COVER: Strong student-teacher relationships remain central to the Calhoun experience, even when other aspects of school have changed.

ON THIS PAGE: Lower School—Elementary students enjoy park time.

Head Lines

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by ST EVE SOLNICK , HE A D OF SC HOOL

Finding the Joy in Hybrid Learning

ON STEVE’S BOOKSHELF Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

by Patrick Radden Keefe A stunning work of narrative nonfiction. It will stand for some time as a classic guide to the Troubles, and yet it is compulsively readable.

The Space Between Worlds

by Micaiah Johnson This brilliant debut novel about multiverse-hopping is built around an intricate, twisty plot full of rich and fully realized characters.

Johnson is a compelling worldbuilder, and she uses that world to scrutinize and invert power relationships in endlessly fascinating ways.

The Monk of Mokha

by Dave Eggers The true story of a Yemeni American who faces impossible odds in his quest to revive the once-great Yemeni coffee trade. Eggers reminds us of everything that can make America great—its embrace of entrepreneurs, the strength of its immigrant communities, its unique role as a home for dreamers.

In this year full of challenges, Calhoun faced one above all others: When school as we know it has been turned upside down, how do we hold on to the things that make Calhoun Calhoun? As we puzzled over this during the summer of 2020, we knew the solution was to keep our values and mission at the center of our focus and to keep students in the forefront of our planning.

Considering what students would need to have a meaningful learning experience amid the challenges of the pandemic, we focused on three Cs. First, students need comfort—they need to feel safe in order to be engaged in the learning process.

Second, in this period of isolation, students need connection—to other students and to adults, such as their teachers, advisers and coaches. Finally, students need community—to continue discovering their identities and self-expression in relation to others.

Amid all the constraints of pandemic schooling, we created a hybrid learning model guided by these tenets of comfort, connection and community. We knew that safety and comfort for some meant being back in the classroom, and so we put robust health-and-safety measures in place so we could reopen our doors while reducing risk to students, teachers, staff and families. For some students and families, however, comfort meant being at home. We understood that every family has a unique set of circumstances in this pandemic, and we worked hard to remain flexible and meet these individual needs. We created a hybrid learning model that could accommodate both in-person and remote learners, and that would allow families to make a range of choices based on shifting circumstances.

In every division of the school, we innovated and created hybrid classrooms that combined both remote and in-person learners in the same groups. This was a starkly different approach from the one taken by most schools, in which families were asked to “pick a lane”—online or in-person—and stick with it throughout the year. Instead, classmates and teachers at Calhoun were able to stay together regardless of where they physically were, deepening the relationships that are the foundation for meaningful learning. Our tech team built devices we called “Zoombots” to allow remote students to be a part of in-class discussions and activities. This and other technological innovations have helped us maintain a dynamic learning environment, whether students are in the school building or at home.

The path we chose was difficult, and required the reinvention of every aspect of how we teach. Yet, though we asked our teachers to do something that hadn’t been done at any school before, they responded in unbelievable ways, rising to the challenge and finding new strategies for engaging our students. Our focus on comfort, connection and community has been our guide in navigating the challenges of this year, because we know they’re the foundation of what we’re ultimately striving for: inspiring young people to find joy in learning, even during an otherwise dark period.

When I look at Calhoun classrooms lately—whether on our floors or through our Zoom screens—I see that joy in learning. It’s a testament to the commitment of our teachers and staff that the most important aspects of a Calhoun education are still visible. It’s our mission in action.

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SCHOOL NEWS

Calhoun Reopens for In-Person Learning After shifting to distance learning last spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Calhoun reopened its doors for in-person instruction this fall.

To prepare for this unprecedented back-to-school season, Calhoun assembled a team of nearly 70 faculty, staff and administrators who spent the summer studying the advice of leading health experts and plans from educational institutions around the world, and then putting into place new schedules, building layouts and safety policies that would allow school to reopen while protecting the community.

Calhoun has adopted a flexible hybridlearning model that accommodates both in-person and remote learners. Students in pre-K through sixth grade attend school five days a week, while students in grades seven and above alternate between in-person and remote learning.

Families can also choose to do distance learning full-time, or make the switch between in-person and remote school at any point in the year. When students aren’t physically on campus, they log into Zoom to participate in the same lessons as their classmates.

All students are divided into smaller groups—known as “pods” or cohorts— that limit class size and facilitate physical distancing. Other safety measures included reconfiguring classroom spaces to allow for adequate spacing, upgrading ventilation systems and installing new hand-washing stations in all buildings.

Families and employees were also asked to read the “Calhoun Community Care Commitment” document before returning to campus. Created by a task force of faculty and staff in partnership with a focus group of parents, this statement outlines a code of conduct for ensuring the health and safety of the community. Requirements include wearing face coverings in and

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outside of school and completing a daily health questionnaire to screen for symptoms.

Calhoun also rolled out weekly COVID-19 testing that uses the same technology employed by Yale University and the NBA, and hired a full-time contact-tracing director to help guard against community transmission.

The start of a new school year has never looked quite like this, but many aspects of the Calhoun experience haven’t changed. Community connections have remained strong, and teachers have continued to find innovative ways to engage students. The buildings are abuzz with students again, and while it’s been a long road to a new “normal,” no face mask can hide the tangible joy of being back together at school.

Learn more about Calhoun’s approach to reopening: calhoun.org/reopening-hub

Devices called “Zoombots” are in every classroom to allow remote students to be part of in-class discussions and activities.

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Community Newsmakers Marjorie Duffield Lends Talent to Feature-Film Soundtrack Director of Upper School Theater Marjorie Duffield lent her songwriting skills to the soundtrack of the Netflix animated film Over the Moon. Along with two co-writers, the multi-talented teacher wrote eight songs and two reprises for the movie. Songs were performed by a talented cast, featuring such notable actors as John Cho, Ken Jeong and Hamilton alum and Tony Award nominee Phillipa Soo. The feature song “Rocket to the Moon” has been recorded in 14 languages. Recently, the Calhoun community came together to celebrate Margie’s professional milestone with a virtual Over the Moon watch party.

Meghan Chidsey Shares Expertise at Anthropology Conference US social studies teacher Meghan Chidsey took her knowledge beyond the walls of Calhoun, presenting at the American Anthropological Association’s 2020 “Raising Our Voices” virtual conference. Meghan, who earned her PhD in anthropology at Columbia University, joined a panel of professionals who shared their expertise and discussed the practice of teaching anthropology in a K–12 setting.

Henry Harary’s Junior Workshop Research Published in Online Journal Calhoun senior Henry Harary is now a published author, thanks to his impressive Junior Workshop project. Henry’s research paper, entitled “The Syrian Jewish Migration of the 1990s: A Modern Exodus,” featured his ethnographic research and was published online by the history journal Tropics of Meta. The project was inspired by Henry’s own family history and included interviews with four refugees who were among the 4,000 Jews (nearly the entire Jewish population of Syria) who ultimately were able to leave Syria between 1992 and 1994.

Celebrating 125 Years The Calhoun School will celebrate its 125th anniversary in the 2021–2022 academic year!

Stay tuned for a full schedule of events and opportunities for the whole community to enjoy.

Want to get involved in the 125th planning committee?

Or are you an alum who has photos or memories to share?

Email Bart Hale ‘00, Director of Alumni Relations, at bart.hale@calhoun.org

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Processing Election 2020 During the leadup and follow-up to the 2020 presidential election, Calhoun coordinated several opportunities designed to support students and adults in processing this historic event.

Before Election Day, teachers and administrators organized activities to help students learn about the electoral process in age-appropriate ways.

Resources were also sent to families the weekend before the election to help support conversations at home.

The day after the election, check-ins were held throughout the school day for students to share their questions and thoughts. Drop-in sessions were also held on Zoom for families to process as needed.

The goal throughout was to prepare for a number of different outcomes, and to stay grounded in the commitment to equity and inclusion that is central to Calhoun’s mission. Here’s a look at election programming in each division: Calhoun’s youngest students in Lower School—Early Childhood participated in activities and conversations focused on voting. Students practiced voting on everyday decisions in the classroom, such as which book to read or which snack to eat. Older students also explored the history and importance of voting.

Teachers helped students process the emotions that arise from winning or losing, and learn tools to articulate opinions.

Lower School—Elementary students engaged in grade- and cluster-level conversations about the electoral process, with topics including decision-making, choice, and how to respectfully share differing perspectives on an issue.

Students learned about the electoral college, explored themes of power dynamics and equity in an author study, and created ballots and “I voted” stickers for a cluster election.

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Top: Dr. Peniel Joseph (bottom right) joined Upper School students at a virtual Town Meeting for a conversation on voting rights, voter suppression and the importance of active citizenship.

Bottom: Virtual pre-election programming included a discussion on the electoral college led by US history teacher Jason Tebbe.

In Middle School, teachers used advisory time to lead discussions on community building, conflict resolution, political values, and how to prepare for the unexpected. Cluster advisors focused on creating a scaffolding that would support students’ processing both before and after the election. In class, students covered topics such as the tenets of democracy, voting rights and the electoral college.

Upper School students had the opportunity to join talks and roundtable discussions with teachers and outside experts. Sessions included a conversation on the electoral college with history teacher Jason Tebbe; talks on voting and polling; tips on and resources for how to watch the election, spearheaded by Head of School Steve Solnick; and a presentation by special guest Dr. Peniel Joseph on voter suppression and the importance of active citizenship.

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Remembering Three Cherished Calhouners JUNE SALTZMAN SCHILLER ‘42 Honorary Trustee June Saltzman Schiller ‘42, an Honorary Trustee, passed away on December 7, 2020, at age 95. June’s connection to Calhoun ran deep and spanned decades of devotion to the school.

June was responsible for building our modern-day alumni relations program, serving as the Director of Alumnae/i Affairs from the early 1980s until 1992.

From 1995 to 2000, June served on the Board of Trustees. In that time, she was on the search committee that helped hire Head of School Steve Nelson and a member of the centennial steering committee to celebrate the school’s 100th anniversary.

June and her husband, Jerry, were dedicated philanthropic supporters of Calhoun, contributing as annual donors for a combined 35 consecutive years.

They also provided funding for key Calhoun campaigns, including the purchases of the 74th Street building and the townhouse on 81st Street, and the expansion of the 81st Street campus.

In 1993 June was named an Alumna of Distinction, and she was named an Honorary Trustee in 2003. At her 75th Reunion in 2017, she reflected on Calhoun’s history: “I graduated when Mary Calhoun was Head of School, and it was so formal that we had to stand whenever she entered the room! It’s amazing to see how things evolved over all these years, and it makes me very proud of the school.”

PAT HAVAS Longtime Assistant to the Head of School Pat Havas, who worked at Calhoun from 1967 to 2002, passed away on April 11, 2020, due to complications from Alzheimer’s.

During her 35-year career at Calhoun, Pat worked as Assistant to the Head, serving under five of the 11 Heads of School—Pem McCurdy, Gene Ruth, Neen Hunt, Mariana Leighton and Steve Nelson.

Her tenure stretched from Calhoun’s days as an all-girls’ school to the move to the 81st Street campus, and through numerous expansions and growth along the way.

Beyond her title and experience, which she first began as a parent volunteer at the school, Pat was known as the “Calhoun Mom” to both colleagues and students who arrived at school each day. She knew and cared for everyone, embodying the compassion and love that defines the community. Nearly 1,000 students passed through Calhoun’s doors while Pat served the school. As Upper School science teacher John Roeder noted upon her retirement, “Whenever we had a problem we didn’t know how to handle at Calhoun, we’d take it to Pat Havas.”

Pat is survived by her daughters, Debbie Havas Aronson ‘79, Calhoun’s Director of Community Service Learning, and Linda Gammon, and grandson Jacob.

MIRTA MEDINA DE DRAKE Former Upper School Spanish teacher Mirta Medina de Drake, Upper School Spanish teacher from 2007-2018, passed away on March 1, 2021, after a long battle with cancer. Teachers, students and alumni who knew Mirta will remember her as an expert Spanish teacher, compassionate cluster advisor, considerate colleague, and a caring friend to all.

Tributes to Mirta have been pouring in from her former students, who praise the warm, nurturing connections she built with everyone. Eli Rami ‘15 notes, “Mirta taught me one of the most valuable lessons of my Calhoun experience—the importance of extending a relentless and unwavering level of compassion towards others. Her wealth of knowledge, along with her generous supply of hugs and smiles, was well-known throughout Calhoun. I am honored to have been one of the countless lives she impacted and inspired.”

Outside of Calhoun, Mirta was an author and a journalist, and volunteered every summer for a number of educational institutions and social activist organizations in Argentina. She published two novels, La Rubia de Kentucky and Los Juegos Siniestros Argentinos, which won an award from the Fondo Nacional de las Artes in Argentina. Mirta’s career as an educator included three decades of teaching at the college and secondary levels in Argentina and the United States. Mirta is survived by her husband, William Drake, and her daughters, Carolina Drake, Diana Drake and Valeria Peimer Cañaz.

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SCHOOL NEWS

Calhoun Expands DEI Programming Over the course of the past year, Calhoun expanded its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming, offering additional opportunities for both students and families to explore these complex, nuanced topics with fellow community members.

Teachers broadened their classroom curriculum, centering more perspectives and voices that are all too often left out.

In the wake of the George Floyd murder and acts of racial injustice, Calhoun alums and students of color were inspired to raise their voices on social media through the @blackatcalhoun Instagram account. The perspectives they shared and their demands for action moved school leadership to develop Calhoun’s Anti-Racist Action Plan, a critical addition to alreadyestablished DEI programming that promises to guide this work into the future. Here’s a look at some recent DEI initiatives across the school.

Upper Schoolers Found Diversity and Accountability Board In spring 2020, amid the turmoil of a pandemic and continued racial injustice, a group of Upper Schoolers came together to form the Diversity and Accountability Board (DAB), which partners with school administrators to make Calhoun a more equitable community.

Since its inception, DAB has shared its mission and goals with the school community and has already begun to shape the continuing DEI work at Calhoun.

The group has partnered with faculty and staff to create mandatory affinity groups in the Upper School, spearhead a BIPOC student and alumni network, and plan events for Black History/Futures Month.

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Middle Schoolers participated in a Black Lives Matter Week of Action teach-in, part of a series of programs held across divisions during Black History/Futures Month.

Expansion of Affinity Groups Affinity groups—groups of people who share a common identity—provide an environment in which students can build community and explore their identities in a safe space. While affinity groups had already been established at Calhoun for Lower School—Elementary, Middle and Upper School, this year the program grew

to include Calhoun’s youngest learners.

Building off of the Students of Color Society (SOCS) affinity group in Lower School—Elementary, the school launched the Little Students of Color Society last spring in Lower School—Early Childhood.

Little SOCS offers students of color in kindergarten through second grade a space to learn about race and ethnicity

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Eighth grade English teacher Krystal Reddick (above) is among the Calhoun teachers diversifying the texts students read in class.

in age-appropriate ways. Little SOCS is facilitated by first grade teacher Destiny Orr, second grade teacher Kyoko Honma and Shnieka Johnson, Assistant Director of Admissions, Preschool—2nd Grade, while the SOCS group is facilitated by fifth grade math teacher Kyle Anderson and Spanish teacher Daniel Ercilla.

This year, the Upper School affinity groups also saw a shift, thanks to the partnership between DAB and school leadership. One of the first goals of DAB was to create a more robust anti-racist affinity-group program by making affinity groups a requirement for all Upper School students. The shift has given Upper Schoolers the opportunity to dive deeper into issues of race and further emphasizes that the work of making a more equitable school and society is a responsibility that every member of the community shares.

Diversifying Humanities Curriculum Calhoun’s English and social studies teachers came together this fall for a series of professional-development sessions focused on the intersection between DEI and curriculum. Alongside Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion John Gentile, teachers explored opportunities for centering BIPOC experiences and storytelling in Calhoun’s humanities classes.

In her class, eighth grade English teacher Krystal Reddick is diversifying the literature students read by bringing in more characters and authors of color. Students have read texts such as We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “Girl,” an essay by Jamaica Kincaid, and Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve’s story “The Medicine Bag,” about growing up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. “Diversifying

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Exploring racial identity development is an important aspect of Calhoun curriculum.

the texts [we read] broadens the discussion and deepens students’ critical thinking and empathy,” reflects Krystal.

Racial Identity Development Series In the winter of 2020, Calhoun launched a series of virtual events for families focusing on racial-identity development.

Featuring guest speakers specializing in diversity, equity and inclusion in independent schools, the program offered a variety of perspectives while exploring the role racial identity development plays in education and at home. The series aimed to create a partnership between the school and families in thinking critically about race and continuing the community’s anti-racist work.

Read Calhoun’s Anti-Racist Action Plan: calhoun.org/diversity

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SCHOOL NEWS

BLACK@RTS Virtual Art Show In commemoration of Black History/Futures Month, Calhoun and the Ross-Sutton Gallery hosted Black@rts: Joy in Learning; Joy in Belonging, a virtual art exhibition that showcased work by Black-identified students in grades 6–12. The mission of the show, which featured submissions by Calhoun students alongside those from students around the world, was to center students’ expression of joy and belonging through the visual arts. “In a year marked by a global pandemic and pain fueled by racism, Black@rts offered a powerful counter-narrative of the nuanced experiences of Black-identified students,” says Katy Saintil, Director of Administrative Services and Auxiliary Programs. View the exhibit: calhoun.org/blackarts

Al-ameen I., A Big Similarity. Femi Omolade Private College, Nigeria, 12th grade.

Zoe P., Untitled acrylic and oil. Berkeley Carroll, 11th grade

Lila H., Untitled 3. Frank McCourt High School, 12th grade

Savilla L., Untitled watercolor. Calhoun, 9th grade

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Emily L., Untitled painting on canvas. Calhoun, 7th grade

Sydney S., Breonna Taylor drawing. Calhoun, 9th grade

Simone A., Untitled wood with sand, sticks and glass rocks. Calhoun, 6th grade

Amadi W., Pass it down. Packer Collegiate, 12th grade

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Calhoun Cultural Excursions: Kandinsky at the Guggenheim We were delighted to welcome alumnae, grandparents and parents of alumni in November for our first-ever virtual Calhoun Cultural Excursion, Kandinsky at the Guggenheim. The program was led by a museum curator and featured an overview of the life and achievements of Vasily Kandinsky, a renowned Russian artist (1866–1944) known for his abstract paintings. The live Zoom event was interactive and connected Calhouners around the country to the world-renowned New York City museum.

It was incredible to have almost 50 members of our community join from far and wide, Florida to Indiana to California.

Thanks to all who were a part of it! A special recognition goes to Dorit Paul, Class of 1946, for joining us in her 75th Reunion year!

We welcome your ideas about future Cultural Excursion opportunities you would be interested in. To suggest an exhibit, program or museum, please contact L. J. Mitchell, Director of Development, at lj.mitchell@calhoun.org.

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Peggy Guggenheim was a member of Calhoun’s Class of 1915, when the school was still known as The Jacobi School. She was in our 11th class, with just 17 graduates, and they were educated in a brownstone on West 80th Street. Peggy’s father died in the sinking of the Titanic, and her uncle, Solomon Guggenheim, is the museum’s namesake.

Peggy’s own art collection and legacy lives on at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, where she lived in her adult years.

Calhoun’s Cultural Excursion event at the Guggenheim was attended virtually by nearly 50 community members, including alumnae from our all-girls era.

At right (top to bottom): Dorit Paul ‘46, Ellen Goodman ‘63, Patricia Whitehead ‘61 and Mindy Anderson ‘68.

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Onstage

UPPER SCHOOL THEATER

She Kills Monsters—from Home!

This past December, the Upper School theater program staged a virtual production of She Kills Monsters, by playwright Qui Nguyen.

The drama-comedy tells the story of Agnes Evans, who, after losing her teenage sister in a car accident, plunges into a fantasy role-playing game as a way to learn more about her sister’s life.

Calhoun thespians, along with Upper School theater production teacher Lee Kasper, are no strangers to the work that goes into producing a full-scale theater performance, but the entire crew had their work cut out for them as they took on an entirely new challenge—presenting She Kills Monsters from home.

For the student-actors, creating theater from home introduced them to an entirely new set of techniques and methods, and the process at times was more akin to shooting a television show than performing a staged play. Students began rehearsing in October, and then filmed their scenes in November. Since the thespians were performing at home, they had the luxury of doing multiple takes to get the best performance recorded for the final product.

Technology, of course, was instrumental in permitting a full production to take place during the pandemic, but it sometimes led to challenges and very specific opportunities for growth.

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“We figured out that tech sometimes doesn’t do what you want it to do,” says Lee. “Toward the end of production, we had to have three days of re-shoots because the audio was off in a few scenes.” But instead of re-shooting entire scenes, Lee took the opportunity during this unconventional production to coach the student-actors in a skill they wouldn’t normally focus on in theater class—voiceover work. The students rerecorded only the audio, which was then dropped into the video recordings.

The tech crew also had to reimagine their involvement in the production. Just as they had for in-person plays, the tech students created the props—including the dragon masks in the final scenes, which each took more than three hours to make—and they also took on some of the camerawork. Scenes that didn’t involve any of the actors and needed more space to pull off were staged and filmed in the 81st Street theater by the tech crew and Peter Russo, the play’s production manager.

The entire Upper School theater team took on this experiment of an at-home performance with an enthusiasm that was clearly displayed in the final product. “I felt them come together as an ensemble, like we do when we are in person, in a way that I wasn’t sure was possible in this format,” says Lee. “To see that happen organically speaks to the magic of theater and the magic of Calhoun students.”

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SPORTS

Fall Athletics 2020: Innovating and Inspiring

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced Calhoun to reimagine every aspect of school life, both within and beyond classroom walls.

But while the health crisis sidelined student-athletes last spring and led to the postponement of the fall athletics season, that hasn’t meant a stop to sports at Calhoun. In fact, the Calhoun Athletics Department created sports programming this fall that preserved much of the essential learning and community building that happens on the court, field or track.

When the New York City Athletic League (NYCAL) announced the postponement of the fall 2020 interscholastic athletics season, Calhoun made the decision to hold three condensed seasons starting in January 2021. However, knowing the importance of sports for many Calhoun students—and the real benefit of having a positive outlet during a challenging time—the Athletics Department stepped up to reimagine what sports could look like in the interim, and turn disappointment into opportunity.

“We asked ourselves, ‘What are the things that, if we had a real preseason, we would want our athletes to work on and get better at?’” says Sabrina Zurkuhlen ‘06, Director of Athletics.

She and Nicola Zimmer, Assistant Director of Athletics, began brainstorming, seeking feedback from student-athletes along the way. As they planned, they stayed focused on the program’s values, ensuring that while the format might be different, the core of their mission would stay the same—to bring people together through sports and movement.

The result was a slate of fall athletics classes that allowed student-athletes to build physical and mental skills while experiencing the positive benefits of being in community. Upper Schoolers could take movement-only classes—Circuits & Core,

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Body & Mind, or Run Club—or blended classes that combined one day of movement with one day of class discussion. Students chose from courses like Race, Activism & Sports, which examined athlete activism and racial power dynamics in sports; Sports Psychology; and Captain’s Corner, a leadership-skills class.

During the second session of fall classes, additional sport-specific options were available to give Upper Schoolers opportunities to train for an upcoming season.

For Middle Schoolers, fall sports programming included one day of a general workout and one day of a sport-specific workout, such as jump training for volleyball, or endurance and footwork for soccer and basketball. In both Middle and Upper School, classes were adapted to accommodate hybrid learning schedules, and students could opt to do fully remote classes on Zoom. The majority of athletics classes were taught by in-house coaches, who all showed a tremendous amount of dedication and creativity in leading these after-school sessions.

The fall programming was a hit, attracting not only seasoned student-athletes but many students who were participating in Calhoun sports for the first time. The delay of regular seasons also had an unexpected benefit by giving student-athletes extra time to get in shape and build additional skills before January. “This has allowed us an opportunity to engage with our athletes in a way that we haven’t before, [focusing on] physical skills like endurance, movement, jump training and strength, plus a lot of mental skills that research has shown are critical for scoreboard success,” says Sabrina.

There’s no doubt that we’re all missing the ritual of gathering on the eighth floor to cheer on the Cougars, but sports at Calhoun have always been about more than the fans in the stands. While the result of a game or match is a strong motivator for any athlete, Sabrina points out that much of the growth that studentathletes undergo happens in the day-to-day experience of being part of a team. “If you’re a fan, the game is the only thing you see, but for teams, [the competition] is just one sliver of the entire experience,” explains Sabrina. “From the perspective of an athlete or a coach, it’s really about the everyday, the [practice] routines, those moments of, ‘I’ve been working on this skill and I finally nailed it.’” It’s those experiences, for students and coaches, that, despite the unprecedented circumstances, haven’t been lost.

Ultimately, continuing to engage in community movement has had a tangible impact on the well-being of students during an otherwise difficult time. Athletes and coaches alike agree that the Calhoun athletics program continues to be a refuge, and a space to find joy, growth and community in spite of it all.

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Spotlight: Fall Athletic Classes Among the Athletics Department’s reimagined offerings this fall were “blended” classes that combined physical exercise with a deeper dive into sports-related topics.

BODY & MIND with Mike Zurkuhlen ’06, MS teacher and MS Soccer coach, and Kevin Randazzo, MS teacher and JV Girls/Non-Binary Volleyball coach In Body & Mind, students learned applied yoga practices and mindfulness tools to enhance balance, strength and flexibility, decrease stress, and find more success in sports.

Key Activities Students practiced mindfulness skills, such as breathing exercises and mental body scans. Each class also contained a vinyasa yoga session. Throughout the class, students learned to recognize our emotions’ impact on our bodies.

CAPTAIN’S CORNER with Raven Scott, assistant director of programming for leadership and character at Wake Forest University Captain’s Corner gave student-athletes an opportunity to develop their leadership skills, covering topics such as energy, communication, accountability and personal reflection, with the goal of becoming more adept at working through situations that might arise on teams.

Key Activities Students created their own definition for a team leader, then built an action plan for how they wanted to grow during this nontraditional season.

The class read excerpts from The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown, exploring how imperfection offers opportunities for growth and learning. Students also learned different strategies for building confidence, and ways of creating connections with teammates even when virtual.

RACE, ACTIVISM & SPORTS with Sabrina Zurkuhlen ’06, Director of Athletics and Girls/ Non-Binary Varsity Volleyball coach, and Nicola Zimmer, Assistant Director of Athletics and Girls/Non-Binary Varsity Basketball coach This class delved into the subjects of athlete activism and racial dynamics in sports, exploring how sports are a microcosm of society.

Key Activities Each week the class addressed an essential question, ranging from “What role do professional athletes play in U.S. society?” to “How does athlete activism subvert racial power dynamics in sports?” Students also looked at the history of athletes’ protesting racial injustice in the United States to draw connections between the past and present.

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FEATURE

Think of typical school lunches and the word “revolutionary” doesn’t exactly come to mind, but when Calhoun reimagined its food program in 2002, it was exactly that.

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Eat Right Now: Calhoun’s Food Revolution, 19 Years Later

by Candace Silva

SUMMER 2018

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FEATURE

The food program extends beyond the kitchen and into the classroom. For one Lower School—Elementary math project, students interviewed Calhoun chefs to gain insight into the precise calculations necessary to provide daily lunch service.

After recruiting Chef Bobo to lead the charge, Calhoun saw its lunch transformed from standard school mealtime into something extraordinary—a holistic approach to healthy eating that appealed to both students and parents. With the Eat Right Now program, nutritious meals were being crafted daily by skilled chefs, featuring a plethora of diverse flavors, exposing students to new tastes and encouraging balanced eating habits. Nineteen years later, the program remains a staple at Calhoun, benefiting more and more children with each passing school year.

Rewind to 2002: The food landscape in schools looked more like a desert, and the idea of expertly trained chefs providing daily meal service to school-age children seemed beyond imagination. It wasn’t, however, beyond the imaginations of Calhoun’s leadership and the dedicated search committee who made it their mission to revamp Calhoun’s food service.

Along came Chef Robert Surles. Chef Bobo, as he is more lovingly known to Calhouners, was tasked with bringing quality, wholesome meals to the school community. It was no easy undertaking, but Bobo was up for the challenge.

After being trained at the French Culinary Institute (now known as the International Culinary Center) and working as former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter’s personal chef, Chef Bobo certainly had the chops. But beyond his culinary skills, what Chef Bobo brought to the Calhoun kitchen was a

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love for working with children. He saw his role as Executive Chef & Director of Food Services as an opportunity to use mealtime as a tool to educate students on how to care for their bodies through food and to diversify their palates by exposing them to new ingredients and textures.

Calhoun’s kitchen team took on the task of making well-balanced, portion-controlled lunches for students that were both delicious and fun to eat. Gone were the prepackaged hot dogs and chicken fingers. Now lunch consisted of a full spread made with fresh ingredients, organic or purchased from local farms, when possible. Every meal included a main entree and vegetarian option, sides, soups and sandwiches, as well as a full salad bar featuring fresh vegetables and fruit.

Though a vast improvement over the previous lunch options at the school, the change still came with its own unique set of

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challenges. Some students resisted the transition and some parents worried their kids wouldn’t take to the new and expanded menu options. But picky palates were no match for the talented chefs of Calhoun, who skillfully weaned Calhouners off frozen foods and introduced delicious global flavors inspired by their own travels and cultural backgrounds.

The Eat Right Now program was designed as a holistic approach to eating. The focus went beyond the food on the plate, offering the Calhoun community an opportunity to learn more about nutrition, the politics of food, and environmental concerns. Plates in the cafeteria were recyclable and portions were carefully measured to reduce food waste. Chefs became a presence in school classrooms, providing hands-on lessons in areas like nutrition, biology and chemistry. In recent years, in classes like the Politics of Food elective in the Upper School, students learned about corporate farms, food lobbyists and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), among other things, providing insight into issues of food access and ethics, and giving students the tools necessary to be conscious consumers.

Like former Head of School Steve Nelson once wrote: “As the world learned about Calhoun and Chef Bobo, the world paid attention.” It wasn’t long before Calhoun’s food

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CALHOUN CHEF ALUMS MAKE AN IMPACT Eat Right Now had a wide influence, with many alums of the Calhoun kitchen team going on to revamp lunch programs at schools and institutions around the country.

Here are just a few of the chefs and programs who were inspired by Calhoun’s example: • Bennett Fins—executive chef and director of food services at The Equity Project Charter School • Andrew Gerdes—chef at IRC MAKE Projects, the International Rescue Committee’s nonprofit social enterprise to help refugee and immigrant communities • Akira Onizawa—former executive chef/director of the food and hospitality department at The Branson School • Chad Goslee—former head chef at the Bank Street School for Children • Rose Walker—former food services director and executive chef at Rockland Country Day School and The Spence School

The Eat Right Now program has had a strong connection with the Calhoun Green Roof. Chefs tend to the rooftop garden to grow ingredients such as cauliflower, kale, swiss chard and various types of lettuces, as well as the fresh herbs used to garnish daily lunches.

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I remember one student who came to Calhoun in ninth grade, and he didn’t want to eat [the prepared lunch]. But, by his senior year he was eating everything. When he graduated and returned for a reunion years later, I asked him what [had] changed his mind and he said, “I didn’t realize the food was that good!”

I have had many alums come back and thank me for showing them that items like broccoli and quinoa can be delicious.

Q & A with Chef Bobo Eighteen years and countless meals later, the man who helped launch Calhoun’s food program, Chef Bobo, announced his retirement at the end of 2020. Under his leadership, Eat Right Now has thrived for nearly two decades. We recently sat down with the beloved chef to talk about the program, its early challenges and its impact.

What made your role at Calhoun a dream job for you?

Right before I entered culinary school, I had read a book called Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser. It’s about the birth and the growth of processed food and fast food in the United States. Reading it, [I realized] I wanted to teach kids about what they’re eating and show them what real, healthy food is.

During the first few weeks of culinary school, I met with the dean, Chef Alain Sailhac. He asked me what I wanted to do after I graduated. I said, “I want to feed kids.” He remembered, and after I graduated we met again. He told me, “There’s a school on the Upper West Side called The Calhoun School— they’re looking for someone just like you.” [I interviewed at Calhoun] and they hired me on the spot.

Getting up [and] going to school every day and knowing that I was going to be surrounded by kids who I loved dearly and who loved me . . . what could be more rewarding than that?

You have said that you believe that learning how to eat is a life skill. What does that mean to you?

What you eat is going to determine your energy level, your health, and in a way, it’s going to determine your success.

You can’t accomplish things if you don’t have the energy, strength and the healthy nutrition in your body to do it.

What were some of the challenges you faced in starting the program?

Sometimes I would hear, “My kid doesn’t like the food,” but I always felt that if we could get a child to try it, the child would come around.

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What is the kind of relationship that you hope that students have built with food as a result of the lunch program at Calhoun?

I hope that they will limit the amount of processed food they eat. I hope that they will understand the environmental impact of what they eat, are conscious of where they buy their food and know its source. And I hope they will pass this knowledge on.

I want them to have a good relationship with food, understanding that their future and [the] country’s future depend on that relationship.

Aside from leading the food program, you taught classes at Calhoun. Can you share about your experience in the classroom?

The cooking team and I taught a number of cooking classes in the Lower School and for eighth graders. The kids really learned a lot about cooking, and we’d often talk about where the food comes from.

My favorite course was teaching [the Upper School elective] The Politics of Food.

Throughout the course, we explored how political our food system is. We looked at the power of food lobbyists, corporate farms and the meat industry. We would have debates in class on topics like organic farms vs. small farms. For one final project, the students created a marketing plan for a fresh food product. They also wrote a weekly blog for six weeks, focusing on different topics. In their final article, they would advocate for a topic, writing about how to make our food system better.

I once had a student who was studying migrant farmers, how terribly they are treated and paid. To this day she’s advocating on behalf of migrant farmers. If we can inspire that, we’ve done something good.

How do you feel about the future of the food program now that you are moving on?

I’m very comfortable with its future because of the people who continue to be part of the team: Interim Director of Food Services Chef Ilya Malachias, Senior Roundsman Jose Roman and Chef Oscar Benavidez.

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program began garnering attention from media around New York and beyond. Articles and news stories about Calhoun’s food program were featured in The New York Times, NPR’s All Things Considered, The New Yorker and countless other outlets, all of which praised Chef Bobo and Calhoun for the program’s comprehensive approach to reinventing school lunch.

That attention was a springboard, and years later Eat Right Now’s impact and influence have reached far beyond the walls of the school. Inspired by his work with Calhoun, several institutions consulted with Chef Bobo as they revamped their own food service, and a number of Calhoun kitchen alums have since taken the knowledge they gained at 81st Street to other schools, where they head food programs.

Today, Eat Right Now’s influence can be seen in the programs of institutions like Rudolf Steiner School, Metropolitan Montessori School, The Spence School and several others.

Now, in 2021, it is almost impossible to imagine Calhoun without its lunch program. From the very first lunch service to today, the core of Eat Right Now has always been much more than just quality food; it has consistently reflected Calhoun as an institution. Like the classes they take, the meals Calhoun students eat each day provide them with an education, teaching them healthy eating habits and providing them with broader knowledge about their role as consumers in the world beyond the classroom. These are the lessons they will take with them long after they leave the school.

(Above) Lunch in the Calhoun Commons provides students with the nutrition they need to tackle the day while exposing them to new flavors that prove healthy foods can be delicious.

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On the Menu Through Eat Right Now, Chef Bobo brought a number of new foods and flavors to lunch time.

Below are just some of the items he introduced to Calhouners’ palates throughout the years: SOUPS: Tomato Basil Soup Caldo Verde (a Portuguese soup made with kale, potatoes and chorizo) SANDWICHES: Avocado and Black Bean Cemita (a Mexican-style sandwich) Pan Bagnat Portobello Reuben SIDES: Roasted cauliflower Rutabaga fries Freekeh MAIN DISHES: Cajun Catfish Chicken & Andouille Jambalaya Haitian Griot (braised pork shoulder with citrus)

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HYBRID LEARNING AT C A L H O U N : Reinventing School, Maintaining Our Values

by Michelle Kiefer

Calhoun classrooms look different this year. Students and teachers wear masks, and desks are spaced six feet apart.

Devices Calhouners call “Zoombots” are in every classroom and allow students to connect virtually with their teachers and classmates via video-conferencing.

To open school safely during the pandemic, Calhoun adopted a hybrid learning model, which means that some students attend class in person, and others join virtually from home.

Implementing this model has called for a reinvention of nearly every aspect of the school experience. But throughout it all, Calhoun has done so in a way that leans on our long-held values of student-centered learning, innovative teaching and equity.

A hybrid classroom at Calhoun: Some students participate remotely via Zoom, while others attend school in person.

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Hybrid Learning in Action FIRST GRADE READING Lower School—Early Childhood teachers Erika Brinzac and Destiny Orr have a half-remote and half-in-person first grade cluster, and so they design assignments to engage and build connections among both groups of students.

Erika and Destiny replicate small-group reading sessions with tools like Raz-Kids, an online interactive reading program that helps ensure that both at-home and in-person students have access to the same books.

UPPER SCHOOL CHEMISTRY Science teacher Naomi Choodnovskiy pairs each in-school student with a remote student for chemistry labs. While in-school students physically carry out the experiments, their at-home peers record the data and procedures.

Apart from giving Upper Schoolers the chance to experience the different roles that scientists play in a lab setting, the hybrid lab experience requires students to practice science communication skills by finding a way to describe what’s happening to their partner.

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FLEXIBILITY IN THE MIDST OF UNCERTAINTY When schools nationwide shifted to hybrid learning, many presented two options for families—either your child learned remotely as part of an entirely virtual class, or they learned in person as part of a class that was entirely physically present at school. While this approach was simpler in some ways for the school, Calhoun’s planning team realized that it wasn’t necessarily what would best serve families.

“With so much uncertainty around what the year would look like, our concern was that the decisions families made in August wouldn’t necessarily be what they’d choose later in the school year,” says Steve Solnick, Head of School.

Instead, Calhoun designed a hybrid model that offers families a wide range of options. Families have the ability to move between in-person and fully remote learning at any point during the school year. Furthermore, unlike typical hybrid models, any class has the capacity to include both in-person and remote students.

Calhoun’s hybrid model gives families the flexibility to make choices based on potentially shifting circumstances over the course of the pandemic, and in doing so, meets students and families where they are.

“We are taking into account all of the circumstances that families bring to the table, which speaks to the individualized nature of what we do and is an extension of who we are as a whole-child institution,” says Eric Osorio, Associate Head of School for Teaching and Learning.

Another driving factor in Calhoun’s decision-making was an understanding of the equity issues at stake. “We know that this virus has impacted some folks in our community in a disproportionate fashion, and our flexibility allows us to take that into consideration,” Eric says.

“Some communities, particularly communities of color, have been hit especially hard, and are more nervous about coming to school,” Steve adds. “We wanted to take that out of the equation and define our classroom groups independent of a family’s comfort with coming to school.”

The flexibility of Calhoun’s hybrid approach has the distinct advantage of keeping class groups together throughout the year. This consistency not only maintains a strong network of support for students during an otherwise difficult year, but preserves the strong student-teacher relationships that are the foundation for robust learning and growth. “We wanted to create the constancy of teachers seeing the same students on a regular basis, whether in person or on screen, so that we’d continue to have the [student-teacher] connection that is fundamental to what we do,” Steve says. “Our ability to get kids excited about learning comes from our understanding

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of them, and we didn’t want to compromise that by bouncing kids between different groups.”

Staying nimble and responsive to student and family needs has meant that even though the physical layout of school is different, the depth and dynamism of a Calhoun education have remained intact. “A lot of the [projects and assignments] that we would have done originally or that I might’ve chosen to do if we were in person, I have still been able to do,” says Sam Meester ’21.

“Students are receiving the same level of instruction.

Do they miss sitting and having lunch with their friends?

Yes, that’s the part that we can’t replicate [with hybrid learning]. But the learning and growing together—we have still been able to maintain all of that,” says Julie Torres, Academic Dean for Grades 6–12.

(Opposite page) An Upper School math class engages both remote and in-person learners. (Above) Students in the 3’s through sixth grade attend school in person five days per week, but families have the option to remain remote if they choose. (Right) New technology tools facilitate hybrid learning.

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATION Shifting to hybrid learning has required Calhoun teachers to reimagine how they teach. Luckily, they’re no strangers to innovative thinking.

“There’s no doubt that [this process] was an incredibly heavy lift for teachers, but it has certainly helped to be in an environment where we already have a culture of thinking about innovation in the classroom,” Eric says.

Despite the unprecedented nature of teaching during a pandemic, faculty have demonstrated a heroic commitment in finding inventive ways to engage students. “We have teachers with decades of experience who have had to relearn their tools, and that’s hard,” Steve says. “What’s extraordinary about our teachers is that they’re so dedicated to their students and to the craft of teaching that they’ve done that.”

The principal challenge of hybrid learning is ensuring that the in-person and remote experiences are equally successful.

“Hybrid is the most challenging of models because a teacher has to pay attention to students who are physically present and at home, and figure out how to engage both groups in a way that feels natural in a very unnatural setting,” says Julie.

Calhoun’s solution to this challenge was the Zoombot, a device created by the school’s IT team that consists of a computer mounted on a movable stand equipped with a

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“

We are taking into account all of the circumstances that families bring to the table, which speaks to the individualized nature of what we do and is an extension of who we are as a whole-child institution.”

— Eric Osorio, Associate Head of School for Teaching and Learning

camera and microphone. Through Zoombots, remote students can fully participate in class activities and discussions, and teachers are able to seamlessly connect in-person and at-home learners.

“Teachers have done a wonderful job of making the Zoombot part of their class. [Zoombots] have been really effective in ensuring that everyone continues to feel part of the school community,” Julie explains. Upper School student Lauren Hardy ’22, who was fully remote for the first half of the school year, says, “Every single teacher I’ve had has made sure that

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“

Every single teacher I’ve had has made sure that they focus as much on students who are online as students who are in person.”

— Lauren Hardy ‘22

they focus as much on students who are online as students who are in person. It feels like I’m an equal part of the class.”

In addition to the Zoombots, Calhoun teachers use a variety of different technological tools to help bring learning to life in the hybrid classroom, including: Jamboard, a collaborative virtual whiteboard; Padlet, an online bulletin board; Pear Deck, an interactive slideshow tool; and Book Creator, an app for making digital books. Using these and other tools, teachers have been able to re-create the same dynamic and experiential learning that is central to a Calhoun education, even for students who are tuned in from their living rooms.

Now, walking around Calhoun classrooms, you see situations that would have been unimaginable pre-pandemic. Middle Schoolers in a chemistry lab, measuring materials and logging data, are joined by virtual classmates who are equally immersed in the experiment from their homes. In an Upper School politics elective, the debate is as lively in the Zoom breakout room as it is in the physical classroom. Or in a Lower School Spanish class, the teacher has the rapt attention of kindergartners, whether they’re circled around her on the rug or peering from boxes on the screen.

All of these scenes of engaged learning can be attributed to the skill and commitment of our teachers. “What I observe in classrooms is nothing short of masterful,” says Alison Rothschild ‘85, Director of Lower School—Early Childhood.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and while the hybrid model was born from less-than-ideal circumstances, it has also paved the way for unexpected innovation. The integration of cutting-edge technology tools into the classroom, a process that normally takes years for schools, has happened virtually overnight.

(Opposite page) Calhoun’s hybrid approach maintains strong student-teacher connections. (Above) Despite the challenges of the school year, teachers continue to create dynamic learning opportunities. (Right) Exploration and growth continue for students, whether in school or at home.

Calhoun’s Hybrid Schedule 3’s–6th Grade Divided into non-mixing “pods” (classroom groups); in-person five days/week

7th & 8th Grade Non-mixing pods; in-person three days/week; remote two days/week

9th–12th Grades Divided into two cohorts; in-person two days/week per cohort

All Grades Option to remain fully remote

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“

e have teachers with decades of experience W who have had to relearn their tools, and that’s hard. What’s extraordinary about our teachers is that they’re so dedicated to their students and to the craft of teaching that they’ve done that.”

— Steve Solnick, Head of School

Technology Tools “[Hybrid learning] has forced us to learn all of these new ways to share content,” Julie says.

Some virtual tools, like Jamboard or the Zoom chat function, have added new layers to class discussions and encouraged wider participation. Video-conferencing has also allowed for guest speakers and scholars from around the world to present to our students.

“In the long run, when we’ve recovered from the trauma of the pandemic, I think this situation will build the toolkit of teachers,” says Steve.

Creating a successful hybrid learning experience hasn’t been easy, and in many ways Calhoun’s approach has been an even greater challenge. Yet, when we look back on this experience, we can be proud, because the core aspects of who we are haven’t been compromised.

“The way we’ve decided to do this is hard, but we did it because we felt it served the students better,” Steve says.

“We take the values at the core of our mission—community, student-centered learning and joy—really seriously. And if it means we need to reinvent how we learn in order to serve students better during a difficult year, we will do that.”

Seesaw the online learning platform used by 3’s through fifth grade students Schoology the online learning platform used by sixth through twelfth grade students Jamboard a collaborative virtual whiteboard Padlet an online bulletin board Pear Deck an interactive slideshow tool Book Creator an app for making digital books Edpuzzle a tool that turns videos into interactive lessons Raz-Kids an online guided reading program Quizizz gamified quizzes, lessons, presentations and flashcards

(Opposite page) Robust health and safety measures facilitate in-person learning while reducing risk to students, teachers and families.

(Top right) Technology has expanded the ways teachers share content.

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ALUMNI EVENTS

Alumni Connections Go Virtual While the pandemic may have interrupted in-person events, that hasn’t stopped Calhoun alumni from coming together. Some classes commemorated their milestone reunion years by organizing their own Zoom celebrations. Even when they weren’t celebrating a reunion, alums across class years continued to gather virtually—a true testament to the strength and spirit of the alumni community!

CLASS OF 1960

CLASS OF 1980

CLASS OF 1990

CLASS OF 1994

CLASS OF 2000

CLASS OF 1983

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CLASS NOTES

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Alumni News MARRIAGES Carner Round ’13 to Tony Binder

BIRTHS To Taiyo Ebato ’00 and Sarah Ha, a boy, Jayu Mele To Emily English Dimon ’03 and Patrick Dimon, a girl, Leighton Marquis To Samara Savino Antolini ’06 and Michael Antolini, a boy, Raphaël To Sonia Balaram ’06 and Saad Yousuf, a girl, Safina

IN MEMORIAM Shirley Greene Sugerman Rosenberg ’36 June Saltzman Schiller ’42 Sonia Morgenstern Dorfman ’46

1 Rebecca Seiff Marcus ’48 (2017) Barbara Zeitz Arn ’51 Roslyn Ganger ’55 (2019) Paula Middleman ’60 Kijana Saunders ’91

1930s

Shirley Greene Sugerman Rosenberg ’36 died on November 23, at age 101. She was a scholar, philosopher and healer of the mind through her career as a psychoanalyst. Shirley had a PhD from Drew University’s Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, where she also served as a trustee emerita and founded the Shirley Sugerman Interfaith Forum to promote the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas. In 1976, she authored the book Sin and Madness: Studies in Narcissism.

Her family shares, “She loved her psychoanalytic practice as she did her academic life, as both were windows for applying investigation of human nature for the sake of growth and understanding. She spent a lifetime seeking truth and inspiring others to do the same.”

1940s

Toby Core ‘92

NOTE: Though many updates shared in Class Notes come directly from alumni themselves, not every item is self-submitted.

In cases where information is published elsewhere or obtained from a classmate, parent or other third party, every effort is made to contact the alum to confirm accuracy. We apologize for any errors and welcome corrections for our records. Submissions for an upcoming issue can be directed to alumni@calhoun.org.

s June Saltzman Schiller ’42, an Honorary Trustee and Alum of Distinction, passed away in December. See page 5 for a tribute to her.

1950s

Shelley Goodman GoldringSilverman ’55: “I have been living in Scottsdale, AZ, full-time for 10

years now. I had been seeing Ora Gorin Kurland ’73 in my synagogue every week until they closed due to COVID-19.

My first husband has been gone 19 years now, and my new husband and I are going on our 15th year in March. He just turned 90 on New Year’s Day, and we are great-grandparents now. I hope everyone stays healthy!”

1960s

Joan Simon Hollander ’60: “I’m excited to share that my youngest daughter, Barbara, had her third son last April, joining his brothers, aged five and three.

My oldest daughter, Ellen, spent the last year doing her part on the front lines of health care, as a nurse practitioner in a clinical setting, while continuing her work toward her doctorate, as well as supervising her sons, 16 and five, in their remote learning at home.

Middle daughter, Rushie, continues her work at the JCC remotely, while supervising her daughter and son in fifth and eighth grades in their remote studies. I am continuing my mathematics tutoring practice with middleand upper-level students via FaceTime and have gotten very comfortable doing this virtual teaching over the past year. It has been so very hard to not be able to be together with all my children and grandchildren, but I am optimistic that ‘normal’ is coming in the not-too-distant future.

And the absence of theater in my life has been incredibly painful.

I will never again take the pleasure of theater for granted!”

Marion Schwartz Davis ’61: “I now have eight grandchildren and am thrilled to say that I will become a great-grandmother

for the first time in June; my 26-year-old granddaughter, Kara, is having her first child.

Our entire family eagerly awaits this new arrival! I am now living in Tucson, AZ, where I hope to be an integral part of the baby’s life.”

Susan Brown ’62: “I continue to volunteer in NYC with the English-Speaking Union (ESU) program English in Action, tutoring immigrants in Englishconversation classes. It’s a wonderful program that moved to virtual classes in March and continues to thrive through the new times we are all living through.”

Susan Sherer Mayer ’63: “Sending best wishes to all of my classmates. I think of you often, while enjoying fond memories of life at Calhoun!”

Irene Blum Packer ’64 continues “fighting the good fight” as a 10-year board member of the National Caucus & Center on Black Aging. She has been living in Frederick, MD, and has 45 years of experience in training and on-site technical assistance for nonprofit and communitybased leadership-development organizations in indigenous Native and Latino communities.

“My lifelong goal has been to contribute to the strengthening of just and fair communities where indigenous rights are upheld and there is equal opportunity for all,” Irene reflects.

Loretta Wick Holland ’68 reports that she enjoyed connecting with classmates at Calhoun’s Cultural Excursions’ virtual tour of the Guggenheim Museum this past fall; she also had the pleasure of a Zoom

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CLASS NOTES

celebration with classmates for her birthday in July. “Classmates Mindy Anderson ’68, Jane Birnbaum ’68, Linda Wolf Grad ’68 and I have wonderful memories of our years at Calhoun.

I thought Calhoun was such a big school until I took the tour of the 92nd Street building a few years back. May 2021 see us remain healthy and hopefully have the pandemic behind us.”

s Monica Bernier ’69 had a series of her paintings in the Deep Design virtual exhibit at the Bowery Gallery from December 2020 through January 2021. She lives in New York, and more of her beautiful artwork can be viewed on her website: monicabernier.com.

1970s

s Laurie Goldrich Wolf ’71: “I am living in Oregon and have a cannabis-edibles business, Laurie and MaryJane, which employs about 15 people. We’re humbled to have won a bunch of awards for it.

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I have also written about 10 books —some craft, some food, some cannabis—and my most recent publication is The Cannabis Apothecary: A Pharm to Table Guide for Using CBD and THC to Promote Health, Wellness, Beauty, Restoration, and Relaxation.”

They balance time between Oyster Bay on Long Island and an apartment on the Upper West Side, not far from Calhoun! Marco is in his third year at Amazon Web Services, where he works as an enterprise service manager.

Susan Joyce ’80 is publishing her first children’s book this summer, Billy the Rescue Dog. It is a true story about Billy, a treeing Walker coonhound that Susan and her wife adopted, and his adventures and challenges as he embarks on his new life with a Lab named Oliver, two cats, three goats and 19 chickens. Susan (and all her animals!) live in Foster, RI. For more details: billytherescuedog.com.

s Mary Engel ‘79 shares, “I have been busy working on the centennial celebration of my mother, photographer Ruth Orkin, which falls on September 3. There will be various shows and a new book. Among all the memories, Ruth spoke at Alec’s photo class in the late 70s when I was at Calhoun.” Mary is the founder and president of the American Photography Archives Group and the director of the Orkin/ Engel Film and Photo Archive, overseeing it since its inception in 1985. She works with photography galleries, museums and auction houses and has published four catalogs of photography.

For anniversary details: orkinphoto.com/ruth-at-100

1980s

Marco Aurelio ’80 moved back to the East Coast from the San Francisco Bay Area in March 2020 along with his husband, Jason.

a global-security foundation in Washington, DC. He has 30 years of nuclear-weapons-policy experience and has testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was closely involved with successful efforts to end U.S. nuclear testing in 1992, extend the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1995, ratify the New START Treaty in 2010, and enact the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. He co-authored a book that came out last summer, also with Secretary Perry, The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump.

1990s

Candace Cavalier ’90 was part of a well-attended Zoom Reunion for the Class of 1990 on July 21, celebrating 30 years together. The attendees included Jill Aronson McEnery, Jeff Belkin, Stav Birnbaum, Julian Boxenbaum, Barbara Caraballo Tadijanovic, Kareem Cook, Lane Gold, Naomi Horowitz Fowler, Dianna Martin, Ilana Plutzer, Jacquelynn Powers Maurice and Dr. Bill Surkis.

s Tom Zamora Collina ’84 co-authored (with former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry) an opinion article for The New York Times on June 22, 2020, “Who Can We Trust with the Nuclear Button? No One,” which looks at the unsettling absolute authority a president holds.

As the subtitle states, “The Cold War is over and all presidents make mistakes. Yet they still have sole control over whether to start a nuclear war.” Tom is director of policy at Ploughshares Fund,

s Bill Surkis ’90 has been a heroic front-line health-care worker in Philadelphia, PA,

CLASS NOTES

during the pandemic. He is the internal-medicine program director and interim associate vice president for medical affairs at Lankenau Medical Center in Philadelphia and associate chief academic officer at Main Line Health. In an interview on Calhoun’s blog, he reflects, “Closing our hospital doors to visitors was one of the most upsetting experiences that those of us in the field have faced.”

He also notes, “I’ve been most proud of how the medical community has come together— from physicians, nurses and respiratory specialists to those who clean the hospital, the cooks in the cafeteria and the security officers who keep us safe. It’s been wonderful to see the united culture of everyone supporting each other as a family.” For more: calhoun.org/blog t Kijana Saunders ’91 tragically passed away on March 23, 2020, in Jacksonville, FL. Kijana attended Calhoun from 1988 to 1991 and was a member of the Varsity Boys’ Basketball team that won the ACIS league title in 1990. After a postgraduate year at Northfield Mount Hermon, Kijana graduated

from Haverford College, where he majored in philosophy and was a member of the varsity basketball team. Kijana went on to coach several basketball teams, including that at the Trinity School. “He was an incredible intellect, an avid reader, excellent writer and natural philosopher, with a deep love of music, history and basketball,” reflected his close friend and classmate Zeke Edwards ’91.

Kijana is survived by his mother, Debbie McDuffie, his sisters, Courtney and Ayan, and his brother, Kemal.

Alejandra Navarro-Benbow ’94 tells about virtual gatherings she has held with classmates on Zoom during the past year.

“We have seemed to find the silver lining in this pandemic. Our connection has been an invaluable form of support through these circumstances,” she reflects.

Alex Dworkowitz ’97 returned to Calhoun this year in a new role— as a parent! He and his wife, Amy, enrolled their son, Evan, in kindergarten. Alex is an attorney at the firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, where he practices health-care law.

(L-R): Josh Israel ‘91, Zeke Edwards ‘91, Kijana Saunders 91, Dale Allsopp ‘91 and Oliver Chase ‘91, as seniors in the old Calhoun gym.

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Elie Gamburg ’97 moved across the pond to London in August to assume a design-principal role for KPF, the architectural firm where he has been serving as a director for the past seven years.

Rebecca Tunick Gotlieb ’97 and her husband, Dan, are new Calhoun parents; their older son, Ezra, started in third grade last fall and their younger son, Owen, just started first grade this winter.

Together, they have been working at Digs Realty Group, a residential real estate company they founded in 2014 with an innovative commission-sharing model.

Erika Nakamura ’99 launched a new business venture with her wife, Jocelyn, amid the challenges of the pandemic, drawing on the skills she honed in building a trailblazing career. Butcher Girls LLC is a virtual butcher shop that is a membership-only, subscription-based service that hires furloughed food and beverage workers to deliver directly to doorsteps. “We subscribe to a fully sustainable model, which allows us to serve customers from the Hudson Valley to the Hamptons,” Erika says. She adds, “We are doing our best to provide a sense of creativity and wellness by providing unique and exceptional ingredients to cook with, and context to support learning around whole animal utilization and cookery.” Erika and Jocelyn are also enjoying time with their daughter, Nina, age two.

Nicole Wilson ’99 officially launched her full-time portrait and fashion photography business, Nicole Wilson Photography, this past year. Nicole works as both an artist and a photographer; her photography has been

Nicole Wilson ’99

internationally published, most recently in Vogue Italia. She specializes in portrait, fashion, celebrity, branding, lifestyle, headshot and engagement/ couples photography. nicolewilsonphotography.com.

2000s

s Taiyo Ebato ’00 and his wife, Sarah, welcomed a baby boy in August—Jayu Mele Ha-Ebato.

Jayu means “freedom” in Korean, and Mele means “song” in Hawaiian, Taiyo notes. The family lives in Queens, NY, and in a smallworld scenario, are neighbors with classmate Gaby Paskin ’00.

Iris Lee ’02 is now in her ninth year working at Columbia University, where she has served in different capacities in several schools in several schools and departments. In 2019, she became the finance and operations manager for the Columbia Journalism Review.

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CLASS NOTES

Alumni Profile Tamar Sinclair ’01: Leading by Example

by Michelle Kiefer

Tamar Sinclair ’01 has always wanted to be a teacher. Now, as she describes her journey from student to educator, her passion and dedication are evident. And at a time when teachers are on the frontlines of the pandemic, Tamar continues to lead by example, finding new ways to give back to her students and the communities that shaped her.

Tamar, endearingly known as “Tammy” at Calhoun, is the coordinator of student activities/senior advisor at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn. On top of this role, Tammy teaches courses in leadership, government and economics.

She’s been at the school since her student-teaching days; she majored in Africana studies and history at the University of Pennsylvania, then went on to get her master’s in secondary education and a second master’s in school building leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.

It’s fitting that Tammy has taken on the role of guiding future student leaders; as a Calhoun student, she was student body president in both her junior and senior years. “I think that [experience] is where a lot of my voice comes from,” she reflects.

Tammy came to Calhoun in seventh grade, and describes it as a place that “felt limitless.” In addition to student government, she was on the JV and Varsity Girls Volleyball teams, and was

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

ßa member of various student clubs. She emphasizes that faculty were always supportive of her interests—whether it was starting a step team or founding a new club called DISH: Discussing Issues of Sexuality and Health.

“If we had an idea, there was always support to pursue it,” Tammy says. “I think that’s such an important thing for students to know, especially students who may come from a background where there are more limits.”

Tammy says her time at Calhoun helped shape the educator she is today. She recalls how Shelley Greenberg, former MS English teacher, taught her the tenets of good writing; how former librarian Beverly Lane fostered her love of reading; or how her love of history was sparked in discussions in former social studies teacher Jim Greene’s class. “There were so many positive experiences that influenced me in the decisions I made, and how I see myself now as an educator,” she says.

In her work as a teacher, Tammy strives to create the strong student-teacher relationships and deep engagement in learning that were hallmarks of her own time as a student. Above all, she understands the powerful influence school has on students, and is committed to helping members of the next generation develop their confidence and voice. “If I had to describe my Calhoun experience in one word, it would be ‘empowerment,’” Tammy says. “That’s something I try to do with my students now.”

Never has this level of dedication been more challenged than now, with the colossal impact the pandemic has had on education.

She has taken on an increased administrative role overseeing student affairs and describes some of the hurdles she’s faced, from shifting to online learning to finding new ways to celebrate seniors. But Tammy is even more committed to serving her students during this time, even if it means going above and beyond the normal call of duty. “For some students, school is the only positive influence in their lives. If I can go the extra mile during this time, I will, because where else will students see that if I’m not leading by example?” she says.

Indeed, even with the challenges of teaching through the pandemic, Tammy isn’t slowing down; in fact, she’s thinking about new ways to give back. This past summer, Tammy engaged in conversations with alums at Calhoun around racial equity and inclusion, and she speaks eagerly about expanding her involvement in her school and the communities that have had an impact on her life. “I want to be more involved and find more supportive roles with the different institutions that helped shape me,” she says.

As Calhoun looks ahead to its 125th anniversary next year, Tammy has hopes for the future of the school: “I want Calhoun to keep learning and growing, to continue being at the forefront.”

We need look no further than the example of alums like her, who will continue to push our community forward.

CLASS NOTES

Rikat Baroody ’03 joined Central Michigan University Health this winter as a trauma and criticalcare surgeon to the multispecialty surgical team in Saginaw, MI. Rikat obtained her medical degree from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University’s College of Medicine in Syracuse, NY, then pursued surgicalresidency training in New York and West Virginia. She has just completed a fellowship in surgical critical care through Wright State University in Dayton, OH, this past year. Congratulations, Rikat!

s Emily English Dimon ’03: “We welcomed our daughter, Leighton Marquis, on June 25. She joins her big brother, Rowan, who is now two years old. We said goodbye (for now!) to the Upper West Side and moved to Hoboken, NJ.”

s Emma Dumain ’04 spoke to Upper School students in a townmeeting assembly in January on

the state of politics in Washington.

She has been a reporter on Capitol Hill since her graduation from Oberlin College in 2008, having held posts at Congressional Quarterly, Roll Call, The Post and Courier and McClatchy. Last May, Emma assumed a position as congress reporter for E&E News, where she covers the politics of energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill.

Seth Melnick ’05 moved out to the West Coast in 2018, initially relocating to San Francisco for his work with the ride-share company Lyft, where he was senior manager for growth. In 2019, Seth went south to Los Angeles and has taken on a new role, now working for the social media company TikTok as their head of user and product operations. Seth also celebrated his marriage in 2020, capping off an eventful few years!

Samara Savino Antolini ’06 welcomed a baby boy, Raphaël, in October 2020. “It is the first child for my husband, Michael, and me,” reports Samara, who works in college counseling for The Dalton School in New York.

Sonia Balaram ’06 and her husband, Dr. Saad Yousuf, are proud to announce the arrival of their new daughter. Safina Balaram Yousuf was born on National Daughters Day— September 25. She joins big brother, Samir, and big sister, Sarina, in bringing joy to her family!

Angela Bonilla ’06 is in her fifth year of teaching and is now a math and dual-language instructional coach at Scott School in Portland, OR, part of a four-year grant that will lead to a certification in

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but we’re thrilled to have them in their new capacities at Calhoun!

Angela Bonilla ’06

Portland State University’s Deepening Understanding of Mathematics Teaching, Learning and Leading program. She is also a member of the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT), working to support other members as a guild representative, as well as being a part of the advocacy committee. At press time, Angela was running for PAT’s board of directors—wishing you well, Angela!

Mirella Brussani ’07 became an associate producer at 60 Minutes last summer, assigned to correspondent Lesley Stahl and producer Rich Bonin. Her first assignment was the sit-down interview with President Donald Trump that abruptly ended when he walked out. Her second story was at the Capitol for an interview with Speaker Nancy Pelosi two days after the January 6 siege.

Both segments received international attention.

Emily Capkanis ’07 and Dan Stein ’07 are representing the Class of 2007 back at Calhoun this year, taking on full-time teaching positions at the school. Emily is a Lower School—Elementary art teacher, and Dan now works as an Upper School music teacher.

Both had been in their respective departments before, Emily as a leave replacement for art teachers in the Middle and Upper divisions and Dan in an adjunct position,

Andrew Otton ’07 returned stateside in October, moving back from Prague with his wife, Stephanie, and their dog, Ranger, after three years abroad. Andrew had been working for IBM, but he started a new position with another tech company named Slalom. He and Stephanie are now living in Denver, CO, enjoying the Rocky Mountains.

Ryan Greene ’08 will receive his MBA in May from the Columbia Business School, where he has been involved with the university’s startup lab as strategist-inresidence and the business school’s student government.

Since September, Ryan has also been interning as a venture associate for Alpaca VC, supporting B2B marketplace deal flow, research and diligence.

Odetty Tineo ’08 is a proud new Calhoun mom; her son, Kairo, has joined the Class of 2032!

Odetty, a graduate of Wesleyan University, is a labor and political organizer with a history of working in nonprofit organizations. She has been working for the New York State Nurses Association since 2017, and last summer, took a new position as the downstate political director for them.

2010s

Kate Davis ’10 continues her great success as an entrepreneur with her startup company Knockout, a jewelry company that features an elegant line of rings designed to help women protect themselves. Poise Brand selected Knockout to receive a $15,000 COVID-19 relief grant, along with

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CLASS NOTES

Introducing Calhoun Professional Networks The Calhoun Professional Networks program will bring together our community to support career connections and cutting-edge conversations around evolving industries. Whether your goal is to expand your own network, hear from leaders in a field, explore new industries, learn about trends or make connections with fellow Calhouners, the Professional Networks program will harness the expertise in our community and passion we have for our school.

STAY TUNED FOR OUR FIRST EVENT: Technology as a Disruptor, Spring 2021 calhoun.org/professionalnetworks

Connect with Calhoun on LinkedIn! linkedin.com/school/calhoun-school

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

nine other women-run small businesses. Kate also participated as a vendor in Calhoun’s virtual Winter Artists and Creatives Fair this past December.

Andrew Luzmore ’11 has been playing a valuable role in the pandemic by helping to keep farmers in business, notes one of his biggest fans, Chef Bobo.

A graduate of Cornell University with a BS in agriculture and life sciences, Andrew has been working at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY, as a market forager, responsible for sourcing and purchasing all produce, grains, dairy and dry goods.

Gabe Berenbaum ’12 carries on his work as a musician; most recently his song “Swing” was placed in an upcoming Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson film titled Marry Me. When he is not working on Hollywood projects or teaching from his home studio, Gabe is creating original pop music and film scores as co-CEO of PMGRNT Productions, a recording studio and production facility located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Olivia Hamilton ’12: “After losing my mom in 2016, I really dove deeper into food and healing.

I spent some time in the culinary industry but knew my true calling was in helping others heal (particularly from grief, autoimmune conditions or unhappiness, since these are all things I’ve struggled with in the past). I accidentally ended up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, right before the borders closed, and now I’m living in a 32-person lobster-fishing village in a house my six-times-great-grandfather built, fulfilling my dream of helping people heal (remotely). Sometimes

the universe can beat you down, and sometimes it has your back in ways that are unexpected.”

s Max Lemper-Tabatsky ’12 is now living in sunny southern California, having moved to Santa Barbara this year from San Francisco. He also transitioned his career from investment banking firm PJT Partners and has co-founded a new venture, Loyal, which designs, builds and curates a one-of-a-kind collection of modern urns and memorials to celebrate the lives of loved ones and pets using hand-crafted and sustainably sourced materials.

For more: trustloyal.com Karina Rykman ’12 was featured on ABC’s Eyewitness News last October for her career as a musician in the face of the pandemic. Titled “Bass Wonder Karina Rykman Keeps Rocking, Even During COVID Pandemic,” the story highlights a new single she has put out, called “City Kids,” a song for New Yorkers like herself.

Karina also discussed her unique role as a female bass player, saying, “It’s often . . . just me, and a pack of men and a pack of boys, and it’s been that way for quite some time.” On her efforts to provide joy through music in these challenging times, she reflects, “We’re all bogged down by so

CLASS NOTES

much these days. If I can just give people a little bit of relief through music, that’s an amazing thing.”

Maggie Stein ’12 is continuing her teaching career overseas in Casablanca, Morocco, where she teaches at George Washington Academy, an international school.

“It’s been a big change in so many ways, but the country is so welcoming and kind! The nice weather helps, too!” she writes. t Carner Round Derron ’13: “Like much of life, COVID-19 threw a wrench in our wedding plans.

But I still married my partner of now 11 years, Tony Binder, on June 6, 2020, in a small backyard wedding at our home in Denver, CO. We have created a new last name for ourselves, combining the “der” from “Binder” and the “ro(u) n” from “Round” to make Derron (pronounced like “Darren”). I also started a new job in April at the Aspen Institute, leading marketing and communications for its Aspen Digital program. Last fall, I was also using my afternoons and evenings to volunteer to call voters in high-voter-suppression states to make sure they had what they needed for the election.”

Tim Gruber ’13 and Will Sacks ’13 are two of our newest Calhouners on the West Coast, enjoying southern California together as roommates after they moved out to Los Angeles. Following in their path, Adam Krevlin ’16 and Austin Lichtenstein ’16 report that they too have moved out to L.A. to pursue their passions in music, living together following their graduations from Skidmore College and Kenyon College, respectively. Clearly Calhouners make the best roommates—and nothing runs deeper than old friendships!

Emmanuel Ntow ’13 has carried on his pursuit as a young legal advocate ever since his Calhoun Senior Work internship at the offices of the Queens district attorney. He graduated from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law last year, where he was a member of the National Black Law Students Association, and in October he started as an assistant district attorney for the Bronx DA’s office.

Heidy Rodriguez ’13 can be found back in the classrooms at Calhoun these days, now as one of our newest faculty members! Heidy

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teaches Middle School English, following two years at the Trinity School. She earned her MS in education from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in English language and literature from Vassar College. Welcome back to Calhoun, Heidy!

Bernny Ramirez ’14 has been pursuing his master’s in biomedical engineering at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, a degree that he will complete this year. During his time back in New York from Clark University, where he earned a BA in physics with honors, Bernny also worked as a research assistant for Mount Sinai Hospital’s Robert and John M. Bendheim Parkinson and Movement Disorder Center.

Tyra Martinez ’15 is completing her MS in biology this year at the University of Vermont, where she also earned her BS in neuroscience. While on campus, she is also a graduate student researcher in the epilepsy, cognition and developmental group for UVM’s College of Medicine. Starting in June, upon graduation, Tyra will be working at Boston Children’s Hospital as a research assistant.

s Noah Levy ’16 has spent the last year as a front-line worker

“The Barts” hit the links. (L-R) Caleb Bart ‘19, Jake Bart ‘17 and Bart Hale ‘00 golfing last summer.

in the pandemic, as a certified pharmacy technician for Duane Reade on the Upper West Side.

“Pharmacy work requires critical-thinking and decisionmaking skills, and working with medications has felt impactful to me,” he reports. As the pandemic began, he recalls, “patients would request to receive their medication along with all the refills prescribed for it at once, afraid production of their medications would cease entirely. The pharmacy was the busiest it had ever been during my time there.” In reflecting on what he finds most fulfilling, Noah adds, “It’s knowing I truly helped a patient with a problem they were struggling with, whether that’s getting medication covered, reducing the cost, or being able to offer the solution to an issue that the patient is experiencing.”

Thanks for your service to the community, Noah!

Gabby Montes ’16 has been supporting Calhoun’s athletics program this winter, working as the assistant coach for one of the Middle School Girls/Non-Binary Basketball teams for the 2021 season. She joins Casey Shane ‘06, who continues his work with both the US and MS Boys/Non-Binary basketball teams, and Athletic

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CLASS NOTES

Virtual

Calhoun Alumni Cocktail-Making Class December 16, 2020

Director Sabrina Spiegel Zurkuhlen ‘06, who coaches the other MS Girls/Non-Binary Basketball team, to round out a force of alumni coaches.

2020s

William Deckelbaum ’20 did not waste any time once he found out his start to college would be delayed at Brown University due to the pandemic. Will spent the fall months enrolled in the Semester at Sea program, where he studied oceanography and marine biology along with seamanship and leadership.

The nautical adventure took him island-hopping throughout the Caribbean, starting in Antigua and including a voyage to Granada and a student-led passage to Barbuda.

Kira Friedland ’20 followed her musical passions by releasing a single on October 9, “Breathe Down.” It is available on all music platforms and includes a music video posted on YouTube. Her poignant song offers a muchneeded reminder to take a step back and focus on what really matters amid these challenging times.

FORMER FACULTY/STAFF

Alumni gathered on Zoom for a festive celebration to connect with one another and try their hand at cocktail making. Two grads in the culinary field, Rachel Jackson ‘07 (above left) and Gianni Cionchi ‘03 (above right) walked the group through the process of creating their favorite holiday cocktails. They were joined by some beloved teachers, including Chef Bobo, Francesco Filiaci and Ellen Kwon, and Head of School Steve Solnick also joined to share an update on Calhoun.

The alums came away with a lot of laughs, and a new set of skills to impress family and friends.

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

s Marie Wilson (Librarian, 1970s–1995) writes: “When I left

Manhattan for California last March, I never expected to be on the West Coast through Christmas and the New Year! Surely, 2020 was a year for the unexpected.

I spent four months in Southern California, with my son, Mark, and his partner, Tim, and then in Portland, OR, with daughter Becky and her family for the summer/fall.

In November, I came back to sunny California, where I remained until January. Then I headed off to be with my elder son, Peter, and his partner, Scott, in Palm Beach, FL. Hopefully, I’ll be able to check on my Manhattan apartment in late spring, a year or so after my COVID-19 odyssey started.

And of course, visit with my daughter Sara and her husband, Mike, in New Jersey.

Thankfully, while away from New York, I am able to continue attending Riverside Church Sunday worship services via YouTube and Zoom with fellow parishioners on the Congregational Survey Committee and the Tower League’s Congregational Care meetings and Bible Study. What a blessing to be able to maintain those connections.

Otherwise, I remain very healthy, and I have enjoyed my extended time with my extended family and most agreeable weather options as well. I hope to see and/or hear from Calhoun friends in the coming year!”

SHARE YOUR NEWS! Please share updates on family, jobs, new adventures or your favorite Calhoun memories by writing to Bart Hale ‘00, Director of Alumni Relations, The Calhoun School, 433 West End Ave, New York, NY 10024, or alumni@calhoun.org

The Calhoun Annual Fund #GrowTogether

The Calhoun Annual Fund is one way that our entire community can support Calhoun—together.

Your contribution ensures that all of our students develop strong roots.

Calhoun x Garden Marcus: Monday, April 26, at 6pm on Zoom All community members welcome!

Get in the growth mindset with a special celebration of plants and positivity with social media star and Choice Forward co-founder, @garden_marcus!

Register by April 23 at calhoun.org/growtogether

Current Family Giving Day: Tuesday, May 18 240 gifts needed from new donors* to reach 75% family participation in The Calhoun Annual Fund! Join in and help us grow. *Current families who have made a gift to The Calhoun Annual Fund since July 1, 2020, already count toward our 75% participation goal—thank you for your generosity! If you’ve already given and would like to further support the campaign, please consider joining us as a #GrowTogether volunteer.

Learn more or volunteer: calhoun.org/growtogether

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

PAID PERMIT NO. 566 UTICA NY

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.

Fifth graders drew inspiration from the circus arts to create wire and clay sculptures depicting bodies in motion.