CA Magazine Spring 2014

spring 2014

CONCORD ACADEMY MAGA ZINE

Life at the Center of Design

Editor

Editorial Board

Contact us:

Jennifer McFarland Flint Associate Director of Communications

Ben Carmichael ’01 Director of Marketing and Communications

Design

Karen Culbert P’15, ’17 Leadership Gift and Stewardship Officer

Concord Academy magazine 166 Main Street Concord, Massachusetts 01742 (978) 402-2200 magazine@concordacademy.org

Irene Chu ’76

John Drew P’15 Assistant Head and Academic Dean

Letters to the Editor Do you have thoughts on this issue?

We’d like to hear your suggestions and responses. Please write to us at magazine@concordacademy.org.

Hilary Wirtz Director of Development Billie Julier Wyeth ’76 Director of Engagement

© 2014 Concord Academy

Committed to being a school enriched by a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives, Concord Academy does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, creed, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin in its hiring, admissions, educational and financial policies, or other school-administered programs. The school’s facilities are wheelchair-accessible.

spring 2014

Contents

2 Message from the Head of School 3 Campus News 8 Arts 12 Athletics 16 Faculty Retirements 20 Bookshelf 22 Alumnae/i Profiles ► Caitlin FitzGerald ’02 ► H.K. Park ’88 ► Meg Winslow ’77, P’17 ► Carolyn Beecher ’72

27 Alumnae/i Association

40 Class Notes 80 In Memoriam

Correction

In the fall 2013 issue of the magazine, the names of Anne Davidson Kidder ’62 and Jane S. Davidson ’64 were misspelled. We regret the error.

ON THE COVER: The new judicial center in Salem, Mass., designed by George Perkins ’75, P’13 with Goody Clancy, employed glass to reflect the transparency of the modern court system. See “Life at the Center of Design,” on page 28.

Photo © Anton Grassl/Esto

Aamodt/Plumb Architects

by Jennifer McFarland Flint Alumnae/i architects balance arts and engineering, form and function, to create spaces that both shelter and delight, while keeping the human beings who use these spaces at the center of their focus.

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Tom Kates

28 F EATURE: Life at the Center of Design

mess ag e f ro m t h e h e a d o f s c h o o l

Gabriel Cooney

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or a moment, imagine that you are walking into the chapel. You step through the double doors into the small, silent entryway. From there, you pass through the interior doors, under the worn wooden beam, and into the large, two-storied space. This room is beautiful—simple, clean, and bright. Its weathered wood comforts; its soaring height inspires. It is a place that fills those who come here with joy, with peace.

It is a house of stories, a sacred place—a place of history, of community, of lives captured in words, music, and laughter. It lends meaning and structure to our school’s most celebrated rite of passage: the senior chapel. In his book The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman talks about the need to put human beings at the center of design, to match the things we make with the way humans think and act. The result, to quote faculty member Chris Rowe, has the power to “delight” us. The chapel does precisely that, and more: It serves its core purpose perfectly, yet it is also adaptable to other important gatherings, from school meetings to concerts, even many CA weddings.

In this issue’s feature story, “Life at the Center of Design,” we profile alumnae/i who are bringing these principles to life in their work.

They are transforming our ideas about space by focusing design on human needs. From Boston to Brooklyn, Maine to Africa, these projects have transformed spaces, while keeping humans at the center of them.

Our goals for CA’s main campus are similar.

In the next decade, we need to renovate and build spaces that serve our students and our teachers the way the chapel does; spaces that honor our past, while providing for our evolving 2

needs; spaces that are beautiful, whose design inspires and delights; and always, spaces and buildings that are true to CA’s human scale.

In the previous issue of this magazine, I described how, in thinking about our vision for Concord Academy, we began with a simple but critical question: What should teaching and learning at CA look like in the future? In answering that question, we have developed a strategic plan that will honor and build on CA’s history by deepening our model of engaged teaching and learning, and doing so in time for our centennial in 2022. Like the architects in this issue, and like the chapel, we will keep our educational and human needs, as well as our history, at the center of our plans.

I look forward to sharing our vision and our plans with you in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Rick Hardy Head of School Dresden Endowed Chair

A student-teacher pair take teaching beyond the curriculum

Kristie Gillooly

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unho Won ’14 came to CA as a sophomore and quickly fulfilled the mathematics requirements, and then some. Last summer, he took two classes at Columbia University and two or three others elsewhere. One evening, at Junho’s request, George Larivee walked him through the entire AP statistics curriculum. They have also met for “an unofficial class” every Wednesday evening, to discuss measure theory and integration, over

dinner in the Stu-Fac. “He picks up this stuff faster than I do,” says Larivee.

This year, Junho traveled to Cambridge, Mass., every week to take part in the MIT PRIMES program. Participants work on unsolved problems alongside graduate students, who serve as mentors. Junho was paired with second-year grad student Chiheon Kim, who provided support along the way — from encouraging Junho to persevere through

difficulties, to helping him format his research. Junho presented his findings, which related to graph theory, at the Joint Mathematics Meeting in Baltimore, Md., one of the largest mathematics events in the world. He was a rarity among presenters, most of whom were undergraduate or graduate students. Even so, Junho received an award for outstanding presentation.

He says he looks forward to studying mathematics

in college, and that his experiences here and the significant support he has received along the way have helped him narrow his focus. “I had been thinking a lot about studying physics, astronomy, or brain science,” says Junho, who came to CA from South Korea. But the varied exposure to different areas of mathematical study, both on- and off-campus, confirmed his passion for the field. With many thanks, he says, to his mentors.

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Mathematics and Mentorship

C A MP U S N E WS

Lessons in Bipartisanship Students invite Scott Brown to campus

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Chameleons on the Quad A public-art project brings color to the campus

Tim Morse

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Scott Brown (center) with Rick Hardy (left), David Rost (right), and student organizers

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here were the usual daffodils and lilacs, and of course the spring showers. But spring this year also saw the blossoming of a crop of colorful chameleons around the quad. The installation featured about two dozen wooden cutouts, painted by students and alumnae/i, in the spirit of other public-art fund-raisers, such as the “Sharks in the Park” that decorated Chatham, Mass., last summer, or the cows that have paraded through cities worldwide. The chameleons will eventually be auctioned off, with the proceeds benefiting a cause to be determined by the students.

To see a slideshow of the chameleons, visit www. concordacademy.org/chameleons-on-the-quad-2014.

Photos by Bryan Gallagher ’14

n Jan. 18, students from schools across the greater Boston area gathered at Concord Academy for the Political Conversation Conference, featuring former Sen. Scott Brown as keynote speaker.

He spoke about the political gridlock in Washington, boiling it down to a lack of conversation and problem solving. “When having your political conversations,” Brown said, “remember there are great people on either side of this issue. You don’t have to get personal about it. You can debate until you’re blue in the face, and then go out for pizza and a soda.”

That, after all, was the point of the conference: At a time of ever-increasing political polarization, Nathan Greess ’15 and Serena Frechter ’14, the two CA students who organized the conference, felt the need for open discussion. (They are the heads of the Democrat and Republican clubs, respectively.) Head of School Rick Hardy quoted Serena in framing what was at stake: “You don’t really know what you stand for until you … see someone who stands against it. And when we do figure out what we really care about, let’s hope that we all have the guts and the wherewithal to stand up for it.”

Following the keynote speech, students attended a series of workshops on such topics as the history of political parties, campaign advertising, and negotiation. “I’d say the conference was a great success,” says Nathan. “I heard a number of open, honest, and fair dialogues. I only hope that those conversations continue beyond Saturday.”

This mirrored what Brown said during his opening remarks. “Treat each other with respect and dignity,” he said. “You’re not Democrats or Republicans. You’re Americans first.”

Collaborative Cartography Area students make a new map of Concord

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he town of Concord has a rich cartographic history — but perhaps it has never before been mapped in quite this way. A new initiative of the Concord Art Association called C-art is bringing together students and faculty from the three high schools in town, as well as artists and curators, to create a map of Concord that merges artistic vision with a geographic sensibility.

Participating students from CA, Concord-Carlisle High School, and Middlesex School each received an 18-by-18-inch birch panel and a randomly assigned section of town. They worked with curator Ilana Manolson to explore

the idea of mapping with different media.

Then they interpreted their assigned area of town into a map. “They can interpret that map in any way, using any medium,” says Justin Bull of CA’s Visual Arts Department. “They run a wide gamut, including every form of art available at CA. Some may be literal, some abstract.”

The panels were assembled to create a 16-by-12-foot map of town that was on view with the exhibit “Personal Terrain: Contemporary Mapping,” at the Concord Art Association in April and May. The organization plans to continue to engage area students in coming years, giving them opportunities to work alongside artists and curators, as well as their fellow students from neighboring schools. This is great news, given that the level of student excitement on this project, according to Bull, was “unabashed.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Winterfest 2014

318 Number of students attending

$10,518 Total raised for financial aid

$1,665 Proceeds raised by seniors taking pies to the face

priceless Student exposure to the tradition of philanthropy

The Giving Spree eb. 21 was an inspired day for philanthropy at CA: Between two different programs, students gave away a total of $11,200.

Members of the Youth in Philanthropy (YIP) program presented two grants at an all-school assembly, and the ceramics students continued the decades-long tradition of selling their creations to raise funds for charity.

For the YIP group, the day represented the culmination of months of work: At weekly meetings, they had learned about philanthropy, budgets, and the ins and outs of a grant proposal, among other things. Then they reviewed requests from six area nonprofits. Participating students, who were led by faculty members Susan Flink and Mark Engerman, considered how their contributions would serve the organizations. The students also set out to raise $1,000 on their own.

“They were really interested in maximizing their impact,” Flink says, “and they wanted to make sure they were contributing to an organization that was strong, where our support would really matter.” After much thoughtful debate, the students settled on the Children’s Charter, where the funds will support a Spanish-speaking therapist for victims of trauma, and Resiliency for Life, which provides academic support services for students in Framingham, Mass.

The ceramics sale originated as an effort to support the local homeless and hungry populations. Former CA teacher Kendra Conn was among the ceramics educators who initiated the effort in the 1980s. Ben Eberle ’99, who studied under Conn, has helped keep the tradition going with his ceramics students.

“It definitely has a close

place in my heart, since I see kids willingly give beautiful pieces away,” Eberle says. “It teaches kids the valuable lesson that letting go is sometimes better than clutching tightly. Art can

change the world, in significant and small ways.” This year’s group decided to dispatch their proceeds to the far side of the world, to help the rebuilding efforts in the Philippines.

‘It teaches kids the valuable lesson that letting go is sometimes better than clutching tightly.’

— Ben Eberle ’99

Students from Youth in Philanthropy present their grants

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Fond Farewells At the end of the school year, CA will be bidding farewell to two beloved members of the community.

Road Trip Students and alumnae/i met up in the nation’s capital over spring break.

Sixteen students traveled to Washington, D.C., to learn about the various tribes at work in our nation’s capital. Modeled after last year’s trip, where students met alumnae/i and parents working in Silicon Valley, the itinerary included: • Foreign-policy discussion with H.K. Park ’88 and Claudio Lilienfeld ’80, both private consultants, prior Department of Defense employees; • Tour of CBS News studio with Jane Chick ’94, CBS News producer;

Ben Eberle ’99 returned to campus to teach ceramics in the fall of 2008. Since then, he’s had “a hell of a lot of fun, making a mess, making art.” He credits his brother, also a teacher, for coining the phrase that best fits his perspective on his time here: “I don’t work, I teach.” He will continue the fun of teaching this summer at the Snow Farm, a craft school in Williamsburg, Mass., and then will be “a free agent.”

Barbara Piantedosi started working here in 1999, at first for the development department, then in support of the academic dean, dean of students, and community life. The term “retiring” doesn’t seem to suit her, so Piantedosi says she is moving on to the third stage of her life, which will be full of travel and time with friends and family.

“I’ll miss CA a lot,” she says.

• Tour of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo hospital with veterinarian Nancy Boedeker ’88; • U.S. Capitol visit with Tim Bergreen ’82, chief of staff to Rep. Adam Shiff; • Supreme Court visit arranged by Dan Epps ’00, former clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy; • A meeting with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, arranged by former field coordinator Mike Firestone ’01; CO N CO R D AC A D EM Y M AG A ZI N E S PR I N G 2014

• Behind the scenes at the National Gallery with curator Meg Morgan Grasselli ’68; • NASA’s Goddard Space Center with Lucy McFadden ’70, planetary scientist and chief of university and postdoctoral programs.

The connections made — between the students and alumnae/i, but also among the alumnae/i in the D.C. area — strengthen the community in wonderful ways. Future trips in any city where CA alumnae/i and parents live and work are on the radar.

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Joining the Ranks The 2013–14 school year brought a number of new faces to departments across campus. Whether they are returning employees, returning alumnae/i, or entirely new to CA, we welcome the new energy and fresh perspectives that they bring to their work.

Megan Campos Development Officer Ben Carmichael ’01 Director of Marketing and Communications Allison Fraske Associate Director of Marketing Amy Fredericks Chief Financial Officer

Susan Hagopian Admissions and Financial Aid Administrative Assistant (returning employee) Victoria Hallowell Assistant Director of Admissions Allison Levy Engagement Officer

Margaret MacSwan Coordinator of Student Activities and Camp Programs Jennifer McFarland Flint Associate Director of Communications Kevin O’Rourke Assistant Athletic Trainer Jennifer Wright Receptionist/Finance Office Assistant

nd Geek a Nerd

ning Redefi ms the Ter

If the terms “geek” and “nerd” conjure negative images in your mind, itʼs time for a redefinition of terms.

In my chapel talk, I tried to dispel the myths. For me, a geek is simply a person with a singular passionate interest that they obsess over. It could be science, or it could be film, woodworking, history, music, English, and maybe even sports, if youʼre ambitious. Really all that matters is that you have a passion for what you do.

Nerds, on the other hand, are defined by a more general sense of curiosity, a willingness to try something simply because it increases their knowledge of the world around them. Theyʼre cerebral, deeply curious.

When asked to imagine what a geek or nerd looks like now, I hope itʼs a bit different for some of you.

— by Connor McCann ’14

Hands-on Singularlly Passionate

Witty Jooke

Theoretical Curioous C

Technical Joke

IF ALL IS NOT T....

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THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE 127.0.0.1 0.1

ERE WHERE T? IS IT?

Geek

Which are you?

Find out by taking our online quiz! www.concordacademy.org/geeknerd

NERD

A RT S Trial by

HAIRSPRAY The newest member of the music faculty leaps into Hairspray immediately upon arrival, getting an orientation by collaboration.

ichael Bennett, CA’s new music teacher and chorus director, knows how to make an entrance. In the course of a week, he bid farewell to his post at a summer-stage program in Tacoma, Wash., boxed up his belongings in New Jersey, and U-Hauled up to his new home on campus in late August. By the second week in September, he had already met with Keith Daniel, the former director, “to go over passing-of-the-torch things”; prepped for the four courses he would be teaching; and run auditions, held call-backs, and finalized the cast for

Kristie Gillooly

CO N CO R D AC A D EM Y M AG A ZI N E S PR I N G 2014

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the fall mainstage production, Hairspray.

It was intense, he says.

The transition was made smoother by months of preparation, beginning when he was hired. Almost immediately, Bennett says, emails started whirling from Megan Gleeson and Amy Spencer, who were directing the musical and its choreography, respectively. (Bennett was the music director.) They decided on Hairspray, in part because Bennett had worked on it before. “Of all the things I was coming into with this job,” he says, “I was the least concerned about [this], because I feel most at home … working with students on musical theater.”

Through that early collaboration with his fellow faculty, Bennett got a thorough orientation to CA culture. “There was a tremendous amount of sensitivity to being authentic to the time period,” Bennett says. From Spencer’s concerns that the dance movements stay true to the era, to the design concepts and orchestration, it was clear to Bennett that he was “working with a team that was so committed to this authenticity,” he says.

From the students in the cast, crew, dance ensemble, and pit band, Bennett

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Photos by David Gammons

ummer Stages Dance and the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston presented PERFORMANCE, a Co-Lab: Process + Performance commission by choreographer Rashaun Mitchell ’96, singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, and artist Ali Naschke-Messing, last February.

The program was inspired by a quote by Richard Avedon: “We all perform. It’s what we do for each other all the time, deliberately or unintentionally. It’s a way of telling about ourselves in the hope of being recognized as what we’d like to be.”

Students brought 1962 Baltimore to life in the November production of Hairspray. Megan Schy Gleeson directed the musical, Amy Spencer directed the choreography, and it all came together with the support of a talented cast and crew.

observed how CA’s classroom experiences inform performance. “Even in a musical theatre piece like Hairspray that’s all about the music and dance, to the extent that it’s almost a caricature, there was still room for thoughtful response to the material,” he says. “The kids were incorporating historical perspective into their performance.”

Bennett is pleased to find himself, right out of grad school, among students who are committed and part of a faculty with such “illustrious backgrounds,” he says.

And while it might not always the be the case at other schools, “at CA they welcome the fresh perspective. I know that was a factor that went into hiring a 24-year-old first-year teacher into a position that was held previously for 30 years by a really wellloved, well-respected member of the faculty,” he says. “I have felt so encouraged and welcomed.”

To see more photos, please visit www.concordacademy.org/hairspray.

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n February, the Performing Arts Department staged The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov. His final play, it debuted in Moscow in 1904; Chekhov died six months later, at age 44. The Cherry Orchard remains one of his most beautifully written plays, about the disquieting release of a family estate to the next era. The production was directed by Megan Schy Gleeson and produced by David R. Gammons.

Photos by David Gammons

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Photos by Tim Morse

This photograph, taken by Jackson Sypher ’17 for Photo 1, was among the visual artwork on display at the student art show in January in the MAC, showcasing a wide variety of work, from digital graphic design to tie-dyed quilts.

student art show

<

> Gracie Mason-Brown ’17 Painting 3

Amadea Bartle ’16 Drawing 1

Nate Cassidy ’14 Digital Graphic Design

Maya Vaishnaw ’17 Fiber Arts: Tie-Dye

Charlotte Mines ’17 Photo 1

Adrian Hwang ’17 Drawing 1

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To view full-size student artwork from the show, please visit www.concordacademy.org/fall-2013-student-art-show.

AT H LE T I C S

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Photos by Kellie Smith

Fall and Winter Sports Highlights

by Matt Simon ’15

Several of the fall and winter teams had standout seasons — for some of them, the best in school history.

he boys varsity soccer team finished a very successful season at 10–2–3 and advanced to the finals of the NEPSAC tournament.

The girls cross-country team finished the regular season 8–2, with outstanding showings at both the EIL Championships and NEPSTAs, finishing third and fifth overall, respectively.

The boys cross-country team won all eight of its regular season races, then cruised to a first-place finish at the EIL Championships. The team also finished third at the Division III New England Championships.

The girls varsity volleyball team won the Chandler Bowl and ended the season with a second-place finish in the EIL tournament.

Girls varsity soccer goalkeeper Louisa Dodge ’14 earned EIL All-League honors at the end of the season for her outstanding play in the net.

Becca Miller ’14 and Austen Sharpe ’14 of the girls varsity 13

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AT H L E T I C S Tom Kates

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For a full accounting of the teams’ successes, including all the individual honors and spring sports, please visit the athletic team page at www.concordacademy.org.

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Photos by Kellie Smith, Emily Marcoux ’14, John McGarry, Sydney Nagahiro ’17

field hockey team were honored with EIL All-League selections.

Zach Bloom ’14 competed in the 2014 National Prep Wrestling Championships after finishing second in the New England Championships. He was one of just seven unseeded wrestlers at the tournament to be named an All-American, and he finished in fifth place.

After a commanding season of wins, the boys and girls alpine ski team sent its top six boys and girls to the New England Championships, where the boys finished second and the girls placed fifth.

The boys varsity squash team sent three representatives to the Class B New England Interscholastic Squash Championships, finishing in eleventh place as a team.

The boys varsity basketball team finished in first place in the EIL tournament, and on Feb. 12, Malin Segal ’14 reached 1,000 points — a significant milestone, especially since he reached it in only three years of play.

Congratulations to all of our student athletes, who pushed through demanding seasons, pulled off some significant victories and, better yet, took individual and team challenges in stride.

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FACULTY R ETIR EMENTS

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he walls of Sandy Stott’s small office are papered with maps: of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the Wapack Trail, and a poster-sized nautical map of the waters of Penobscot Bay, off Stonington, Maine. They represent paths Stott already knows well, but “given some luck,” he looks forward to spending more time along their routes, whether on foot or by kayak, after he leaves CA at the end of the year.

As every day delivers him a step closer to those explorations, Stott says his reflections have evolved. “I’m sure I’ll feel sentimental about it, because that’s my nature,” he says. “But mainly, right now, I’m grateful for the time I’ve had here.”

It will be difficult to go without the daily interactions—quiet talks with advisees and the satisfying work with students on their writing, “their most personal fingerprint,” he says. Of his colleagues, Stott says, “You come to work alongside people who are asking spirited questions all the time. That will be hard to leave behind.”

The work has suited him well, beginning in 1983, when he started coaching tennis and soccer. He transitioned from athletic director into the English department in 1993 and served as dean of faculty from 1999 to 2008. Over the years, he developed courses that reflect his interests outside the classroom, from creative nonfiction to Henry David Thoreau.

His own writing has always been a “fits and starts” affair, so retirement offers the opportunity to write more regularly.

But he and wife Lucille have promised one another “not to replace this job with another before we really get a feel for what it’s like to have the luxury of time,” he says.

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Sandy Stott English Department

Photos by Kristie Gillooly

Lucille Stott S

o much for a senior spring. In her last semester at CA, where she began teaching in 1978, Lucille Stott is teaching a new course on short fiction.

“It’s a good deal of work, but it’s the best kind of work because you’re learning alongside your students. It’s exhilarating,” she says, “finding these little gifts to bring into class each day. The daily-ness of learning: That’s something I take for granted here.”

After holding many positions in the school, including academic dean and

acting head of school, Stott feels the greatest treasure she has reaped is the accumulation of several decades’ worth of students and advisees, who have enriched her life. “These connections are such a privilege—a gift to us as much to the students,” she says. Though excited by the possibilities ahead, one thing she does not look forward to is life without chapel talks: “Peeking into a student’s world three times a week is always so moving, so special,” she says.

As for what comes next, she and

husband Sandy will move to their house in Brunswick, Maine, where they will be in no big rush to “figure it out.” Given the contingent of former students, parents, and colleagues in the Midcoast area, she is excited by the idea of starting a CA book and discussion club for the region.

“That would be fun, and it would keep us connected to what we love. I don’t think you ever really leave CA. The spirit of the place, the habit of lifelong learning, is ‘a moveable feast.’ We’ll take a lot of CA with us,” she says.

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English Department

FACULTY R ETIR EMENTS

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fter 34 years of teaching art at CA, Antoinette Winters is to be forgiven if she tears up when she talks about leaving. And she does. “It continues to amaze me when observing my students in the process of making art,” she says. “Their willingness to go with me, to trust me, and then throw themselves into the experience is still remarkable.”

Winters moved to campus in 1976 with her husband, Brian, to run a house.

She took a part-time teaching role in 1980, which also gave her the freedom to work on her own art. In 1987, she got a studio space in Waltham, Mass., “and I’m still there,” she says. “I always felt that the work I was doing in my studio had a significant impact on what I could bring back to the classroom and vice versa. I loved that. In every class, there was an exuberant embrace of whatever I asked the students to do. Then I’d go back to my studio and say to myself, ‘Ok, Antoinette, let’s apply that same willingness to explore and create.’”

For Winters, art is all about process.

“All these little decisions that the students make along the way that they don’t even anticipate from the beginning become really important,” she says. “Risk-taking is part of it. Mistakes are going to be made, and what do you do with that? If we can keep them moving through the difficult parts of art-making, the outcome, more often than not, is magical.”

As much as this partnership has fueled her own creative energy, Winters says she looks forward to going back to her studio full time and having time to travel and connect with former students.

She also looks forward to the birth of a grandchild: Her son, Damian Winters ’00, and his wife are expecting a baby this summer. “I’ll never be at a loss as to what to do,” she says.

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Kristie Gillooly

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Antoinette Winters Visual Arts

The On-Ramp NEW FACULTY IN 2013–14 Kristie Gillooly

An innovative program helps the faculty’s newest hires get up to speed

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Shawn Bartok Mathematics

Michael Bennett Performing Arts, Music

Sutopa Dasgupta History

Anne Falk Modern and Classical Languages, German

Nicholas Hiebert English

Kimberly Kopelman Tutor, Academic Support Center

Amanda Mead Science

Claire Nelson History

Elizabeth Penland ’89 Modern and Classical Languages, Latin

Christopher Rhodes ’07 Wilcox Fellow, Visual Arts Department Faculty Coordinator, Community and Equity

Katie Rye History Teacher, Testing Coordinator

coincided with their arrival on campus, as an opportunity to provide significant input right away. “I know a lot of people were overwhelmed with the change, but I’ve used Google for many years,” Bartok says. “So I felt very comfortable there and was even able to help some veteran teachers set up some shared Google docs to open communication with their students.”

Anecdotes suggest that the program is working. At one of their meetings, Laber gave the group a writing prompt: Use a driving analogy to describe the process of acclimating to CA. “I said it’s like driving on a country road through a small town,” Bartok says. “It’s a comfortable pace, and you might hit some bumps every once in awhile, but the locals are friendly and will help you out.”

To learn more about the Faculty Leadership Fund that makes this work possible, please visit www.concordacademy.org/faculty-leadership-fund.

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ith nine teachers joining CA last fall plus two midyear appointments, every academic department has at least one new face this year. Jenny Chandler, dean of faculty, recognized both a pressing need and an opportunity in the number of new hires: the necessity for the new cohorts to feel as though they’re a part of the faculty quickly and easily, and the chance to take full advantage of their strengths as soon as they arrive on campus. Modeling the very sort of collaboration she hopes to encourage in the new faculty, Chandler worked with Abby Laber from the English Department to create a curriculum for the new hires.

Central to the program is a mentoring relationship, where pairs are, by design, cross-departmental. Shawn Bartok, who joined the Mathematics Department, for example, was matched with Sarah Yeh from the History Department. They had many conversations at the beginning of the school year, when Bartok could safely pose all the questions a newbie has to ask. (Why do we say “mac” and “shac” but not “pac”?)

Mentors are encouraged to sit in on their mentees’ courses — and vice versa. “I was primarily interested in getting feedback in my first semester,” Bartok says. “But this semester, I’m asking if I can sit in on others’ classes.”

The group looks for opportunities to learn from one another, studying texts about teaching, then engaging in conversation and role-playing exercises to hone particular skills. Laber says the hope is that the group’s work won’t end with the school year, but that members will “continue to look for opportunities for collegial exchange and engage other teachers in that process.”

Another piece of the curriculum is designed to “help the new faculty feel empowered to make a difference in the school right away,” Chandler says. “Rather than asking them to assimilate, we want them to infuse the school with their ideas.”

To that end, each mentoring pair is assigned a month of the school year and tasked with considering what worked and what didn’t from a programmatic sense.

At least a few of the new teachers cite the school’s transition to Google Apps, which

Photograph is courtesy of Transaction Publishers

CO N CO R D AC A D EM Y M AG A ZI N E S PR I N G 2014

Julia Glass ’74 And the Dark Sacred Night Pantheon, 2014

Susan Minot ’74 Thirty Girls Knopf, 2014

Henriette Lazaridis Power ’78 The Clover House Ballantine Books, 2013

Midlife hits Kit Noonan hard. Feeling untethered, he struggles with the demands of parenthood, a marriage strained by long-term unemployment, and a desperate need to find himself. Could the fact that his mother never revealed his father’s identity be the cause of his presentday woes? At the urging of his wife, Kit reluctantly embarks on the search and begins with a visit to his stepfather, Jasper. In a moment of clarity, Kit comes to realize that this man, who raised him even after his mother moved out, provided a sense of belonging stronger than any biological tie.

However, it is with Jasper’s help that Kit discovers the path to his paternity and finds the extended family he has wondered about his entire life.

A chance dinner party in Manhattan provides the catalyst for Jane’s introduction to the plight of a particular group of Ugandan students, as the mother of one of the girls tells the story of how they were forced into Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. Jane sets off for Uganda, determined to tell the story of the forgotten girls. Impervious to the urgings of the rehabilitation staff, Esther Akello has kept her story of capture, indoctrination, and its aftermath to herself — until the day the journalists come. On this day, Esther discovers her voice and finds in Jane the person with whom she can share her innermost thoughts, thoughts rooted in deep-seated shame caused by unspeakable acts she had been forced to perform in order to survive.

Things have never been right between Callie and her mother, Clio. When Callie’s uncle dies, leaving her the contents of his home, Clio coldly discourages her from coming to Greece to deal with them. Before Callie flies from Boston to Athens, she recalls an unfinished conversation from her last visit with him: “There are things you need to know. … But not now.” Although it is her uncle’s physical belongings that she comes to claim, what awaits her is a confrontation with her family’s past. As Callie sorts through the boxes of carefully arranged belongings, she begins to piece together the truth, something her mother has spent a lifetime guarding.

Marcia Graham Synnott ’57 Student Diversity at the Big Three: Changes at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton since the 1920s Transaction Publishers, 2013 Only in the aftermath of World War II did the Ivy League schools make significant strides in allowing students of differing religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds access to their hallowed halls. Breaking years of entrenched thinking behind the preservation of educating a certain “type” of student did not come easily. This in-depth exploration of the attitudes toward privilege, quotas, and elitism over the past century reveals how such beliefs played a critical role in admissions policy development within America’s top academic institutions.

Comprehensive, informative, and thought-provoking, Synnott’s presentation of the data allows readers to form their own opinions regarding evolving admissions policies and how they affect students at all levels of higher education.

In the next issue » Vicky Fish ’80 • Huntley Fitzpatrick ’81 • Jess Lander ’06 • Matt Taibbi ’87 20

Mining through a wealth of data on issues relating to the well-being of children across the globe, Heymann presents critical findings on how improvements in legislation and public policies over the past decades have given the world’s poorest people increased access to health care, education, and employment. Despite significant gains, more advances are needed to level existing inequities. The charge now is for world leaders and citizens alike to take further action in both political and social spheres to ensure all children the equal opportunity to move beyond survival and instead live healthy and productive lives.

Adam Ford ’83 Molly Rides H Bar Press, 2014 When young Molly takes a tumble on a challenging slope, she comes out intact, but her trusty skis need some extended time in the repair shop. Can this expert skier bring herself to try snowboarding in the interim? Following some embarrassing moments on her behind, Molly soon discovers the joys of carving her way down the hills of Vermont. Relayed in gentle rhymes, this cheerfully illustrated picture book is sure to be a read-aloud favorite for snow-loving readers.

Have you published a book or released a film or CD in the last year?

Please contact Martha Kennedy at martha_kennedy@concordacademy.org, and consider donating a copy to the J. Josephine Tucker Library’s collection of alumnae/i authors.

Bookshelf

by Library Director Martha Kennedy 21

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Jody Heymann ’77 with Kristen McNeill Children’s Chances: How Countries Can Move from Surviving to Thriving Harvard University Press, 2013

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Caitlin FitzGerald Class of 2002

ALUM NAE I PRO FILES

A Work of One’s Own An actor sets out to create more strong, female characters

by Ben Carmichael ’01

I

F YOU search IMDb for Caitlin

T H I S

I S S U E

► Caitlin FitzGerald Class of 2002 ► H.K. Park Class of 1988 ► Meg Winslow Class of 1977, P’17 ► Carolyn Beecher Class of 1972

CO N CO R D AC A D EM Y M AG A ZI N E S PR I N G 2014

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FitzGerald ’02, you will find no mention of the productions of her youth in Camden, Maine, where the rising actress first graced the stage. As a sophomore in high school, FitzGerald traded Camden for Concord in search of a great theatre program. In former CA theatre director David Sinaiko and current director David R. Gammons, that’s precisely what she found. “My brain was turned on in a way it had never been in Camden,” FitzGerald says. “It was a truly remarkable education.”

After CA, FitzGerald went on to NYU, and then directly into trying to make it as an actress. “I auditioned for everything I could, and I paid my dues,” she says. In one internship, for the late Philip Seymour Hoffman’s theatre company, she laundered everyone’s dirty wardrobes. Slowly, she got bit parts. Her big break came when she landed the part of Juliet in a Shakespeare Santa Cruz performance—an experience that gave her great confidence.

As her credits accumulate, FitzGerald has reason to be confident: She played Meryl Streep’s daughter in It’s Complicated, alongside John Krasinski; starred in two Ed Burns films; appeared on a few TV shows, including Gossip Girl and Law & Order; has written and coproduced her own screenplay; and appeared in an assortment of other movies, shows, and plays. In her largest role yet, she plays a lead character alongside Michael Sheen in

the Showtime series Masters of Sex. She will soon be appearing in Brother’s Keeper, a movie starring Nick Kroll.

When young actors and actresses ask her how she got to this point, FitzGerald points to lessons she learned at Concord Academy. “The work ethic I learned at CA has served me well as an actress,” she says. “I remember the weeks of exams, when you had to work so hard—and then work even a little bit harder. I learned how to be responsible for my education and how to push myself. CA gave me a lot, in that regard.”

FitzGerald is finishing a short film she wrote and directed this fall, her second screenplay. This is more than a creative project, FitzGerald explains.

“There is a real lack of female voices in Hollywood. Only about 16 percent of the people behind the camera are women,” she says. “That’s worse than politics.” It’s not only who creates the roles, but what those roles look like. “I read hundreds of scripts every year, and women are almost always written as foils to men. We need more strong female characters.”

She traces the pleasure of writing back to CA’s theatre program. “We did these wonderful theatre pieces at CA. They were so respectful of our creative ideas. What Eddie [Burns] and David Gammons taught me was the great satisfaction of creating one’s own work.”

FitzGerald says simply, “This feels like my calling.”

‘There is a real lack of female voices in Hollywood.

Only about 16 percent of the people behind the camera are women. That’s worse than politics.’

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— Caitlin FitzGerald ’02

H.K. Park Class of 1988

A Path to Foreign Policy

by Nancy Shohet West ’84

H

.K. Park ’88 was only in his 20s when he was hired as deputy assistant to the secretary of defense during the Clinton administration, a role in which he coestablished the Pentagon’s first homeland security organization and acted as an advisor on foreign-policy issues. It was a high-powered start to a high-flying career—and it can all be traced back, he says, to two CA connections: one with a faculty member, one with an alumnus.

“When I was 12, my family moved to [what was then] West Germany when my father took a job as an engineering contractor for the U.S. Army in Heidelberg,” Park says. “I became very curious about the origins of a divided Europe and the parallels to divided Korea, where my parents were born.” Park immersed himself in the study of German history and culture, a passion he brought with him to Concord Academy. Former German teacher Susan Adams encouraged him to do an independent study that involved interviewing a German war veteran about his experiences in World War II. “That sparked my passion for foreign policy

H.K. Park with his wife, Sarah; daughter, Avery, 8; and son, Spencer, 5

CO N CO R D AC A D EM Y M AG A ZI N E S PR I N G 2014

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and its impact on the course of history,” he says.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, he made his second life-changing CA connection: “Before the Internet, it was difficult to research careers, especially those without a very specific path,” Park says. “I searched the CA alumnae/i directory for anyone with a job remotely related to foreign policy. I found one person, Claudio Lilienfeld ’80, who worked at the Department of Defense.

I cold-called him and asked for career advice. He told me to go to grad school and then apply for the Presidential Management Fellows Program. Without that advice, I wouldn’t have ended up where I am now.”

Following Lilienfeld’s directive, Park earned his master’s degree in international affairs at Columbia University, was accepted into the presidential fellows program, and eventually ended up at the Pentagon as a foreign-policy specialist for Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen.

Park later helped Cohen form the Cohen Group, a business-advisory firm based in Washington.

“My work now focuses primarily on helping companies enter emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East,” Park says. “I help American companies adapt to foreign business practices and manage the risks associated with operating under different political systems.

I also help clients appreciate and understand that they may have to make certain concessions to cultural differences abroad.”

In March, Park and Lilienfeld spoke about their careers to CA students who had traveled to Washington, D.C. “Many students think only of the State Department or the CIA, but there are many more jobs in foreign policy to consider: at think tanks, trade associations, other government agencies,” Park says. “I remind students that most great jobs and internships are never advertised. You can’t search from the comfort of your laptop.

You have to be out there knocking on doors and meeting people over coffee to understand what employers are looking for. Lastly, I remind them to pursue their passion. You are likely to excel doing that which you enjoy.”

Meg Winslow Class of 1977, P’17

Curating Mount Auburn’s Legacy An art historian finds her calling among the collections at Cambridge’s historic cemetery

by Nancy Shohet West ’84

E

ARLY IN their courtship, in

1993, Matthew Longo took Meg Winslow ’77, P’17 to one of his favorite Boston-area landmarks: Mount Auburn Cemetery. It was a transformative moment. “I fell in love,” Winslow says, “not only with my husband but also with the extraordinary beauty of the landscape of Mount Auburn, the magnificent trees, the artwork in stone. I was amazed by the obelisks, the pedestals, the columns, and the sarcophagi.”

At the time, Winslow already possessed a passion for art history, thanks to a seminal course at Concord Academy taught by Janet Eisendrath, beloved teacher emerita. Winslow went on to major in French and art history at Carleton College, so she appreciated what she saw during that initial visit to Mount Auburn for its artistic and historical importance, as well as its beauty. “I was aware of Mount Auburn’s international significance as the nation’s first rural cemetery and precursor to our park system, but I was surprised to find works of fine art by the first generation of great

American sculptors. I learned about Mount Auburn’s role as a patron for these early sculptors,” Winslow says. “And amid the cemetery’s magnificent horticulture, I found a treasure trove of funerary art that fascinated me.”

Winslow and Longo eventually moved near Harvard Square. She was working as a fine-arts advisor, helping collectors with their acquisitions, and she volunteered her services to the cemetery.

Soon she was giving tours of the monument iconography to some of Mount Auburn’s 200,000 annual visitors. After two years of volunteering, she was hired in 1995 as a full-time curator, a position created specifically for her.

Mount Auburn’s grounds and the records that illuminate their history are unique, Winslow says. “I know of no other archival collection with such a complete chronicle of a cemetery’s history,” and it’s available to staff, researchers, and the public, she says. “In addition to overseeing these collections and prioritizing their conservation, my role includes providing content for interpretive programs

by mining the historical collections for material that informs both the research done here and the evolving interpretations of the cemetery and its context.”

Winslow speaks easily about the remarkable range of art and history found within the cemetery’s grounds, but singling out her favorite pieces is more difficult: “It’s like saying which of your children is your favorite,” she says. “On the grounds of Mount Auburn, you find a rich tapestry of styles and materials: marble, granite, brownstone, slate. Every single piece, whether it is a humble flat marker that says simply, ‘My Nurse,’ or a lavish Baroque display of angels, has a power. Together, the monuments create a meaningful collection of fine and vernacular art, experienced in the landscaped site for which they were created. There’s an unexpected art experience to be had in a cemetery. Nothing expresses my experience at Mount Auburn as well as the words of Goethe: ‘I am in this world to be amazed.’”

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Meg Winslow ’77, P’17 sits with a marble mastiff, a symbol of loyalty, at the monument to William Frederick Harnden, who pioneered the express business between Boston and New York in 1839.

Carolyn Beecher Class of 1972

Glacier Guide A summer adventure becomes a lifelong pursuit

by Nancy Shohet West ’84

L

IKE COUNTLESS young people

before and after her, when Carolyn Beecher ’72 finished college, she spent the summer backpacking.

But unlike many of those other young adults who embarked on more traditional postcollege careers after their adventures, Beecher was so affected by the experience that she decided to make outdoor adventures her profession.

“After that month-long backpacking trip in the Sierras, I realized I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in an office,” Beecher says. Instead, she moved within a few years to Montana and worked at various jobs, which eventually led to a role with the Glacier Country Tourism Board.

There, in 1991, she met the owner of a company that runs hiking tours. “I heard a little bit about what his life was like, and I recognized that I would love to have a job like that.”

‘At the very beginning of a vacation, people are tired from traveling and may be having tense little spats with their spouse, and then after a couple of days of hiking, they’re like newlyweds.

It really removes all their stress.’

Marian Lindberg ’72

Beecher, who in the off-season has a cartography business and lives about 90 minutes from Glacier National Park, started out as a backpacking and riverrafting guide. She eventually found her niche as a day-hiking guide, taking groups out for six or seven consecutive days, with overnights in national park lodges.

“It’s very refreshing to see people get out of their daily lives and open up their senses,” Beecher says. “That happens easily in nature, and especially in Glacier, where the views are so spectacular. I’ll notice that at the very beginning of a vacation, people are tired from traveling and may be having tense little spats with their spouse, and then after a couple of days of hiking, they’re like newlyweds. It really removes all their stress.”

And the dichotomy between her clients’ daily lives and their vacation behavior grows only more vivid with the recent advances in technology, Beecher says.

“In Glacier National Park, we still have large areas with no cell phone or Internet [access]. In this day and age, that makes for a transformative experience for a lot of people. They discover how to step out of the mode of constant responsiveness to electronic media. Initially, for some people, that’s a challenge, but then they find it to be a relief.”

Beecher remembers one client for whom this relief was particularly apparent.

“He asked if there was cell phone coverage in Glacier National Park,” Beecher says. “I said, ‘Not really.’ A big smile broke out on his face, and he said, ‘Oh, good. My boss said if it was possible to stay in touch with the office, I had to do so. But now I can’t.’”

Beecher, who is nearly 60, concedes that she’s older than many of the other hiking guides. “I’m taking it year by year,” she says. “Sometimes I think I’m done, but I keep coming back, because it’s just such a wonderful way to spend the summer and be able to work with people in a place that I love.”

To learn more about Beecher’s guided hikes, go to www.glacierguides.com or www.cwadventures.com. For more photos, visit www.concordacademy.org

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CA Volunteers: Thank You, From Concord Volunteers strengthen our community. CA’s reach is worldwide because of you.

San Francisco and L.A. Alumnae/i scout for venues to launch CA Talks with Chris Rowe, a member of CA’s visual arts faculty.

NYC Alumnae/i host a 1990s and 2000s networking evening at their office.

Concord Alumnae/i interview prospective students.

.

At Connecticut College, Drew University, Yale University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Trinity College Young alumnae/i tour current students around their campuses.

H H

H H HH

H H

H

H

H

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H H H H

Texas A class agent encourages classmates to participate in the Annual Fund.

Florida An alumna opens her home to host the CA community in the area.

Washington, D.C. Alumnae/i welcome 16 students into their workplaces during spring break.

Bangkok Alumnae/i welcome Head of School Rick Hardy, Ben Bailey ’91, and current parents.

A

S I APPROACH the end of my tenure as president of your Alumnae/i Association, I thank the volunteers who have dedicated time and energy to serving our community. The experience for me has been fun and memorable. I am especially grateful to the Steering Committee, for its wisdom, guidance, and humor.

Volunteers empower our community by interviewing prospective students, celebrating the diversity of our current students, and coordinating programs that further strengthen the relationships among our graduates. Our volunteers also work closely in support of CA’s Annual Fund and in the selection of recipients for the Joan Shaw Herman Distinguished Service Award. Your commitment to each other humbles me. I look forward to supporting you, my fellow alumnae/i, well beyond my tenure as a volunteer leader. Cheers.

José Ivan Román ’98 President Alumnae/i Association

Interested in becoming more involved?

Contact Courtney Pfeffer at courtney_pfeffer@concordacademy.org or (978) 402-2238, or visit www.concordacademy.org/alumnaei/get-involved.

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ALUMNAE/I ASSOCIATION 2013–2014

Honolulu A class secretary collects notes from her classmates.

A new courthouse in historic Salem, Mass., designed by George Perkins ’75, P’13 with

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Goody Clancy

LIFE CENTER AT THE

OF

DESIGN

Architects transforming spaces for the human scale

Photo © Anton Grassl/Esto

I

t’s 12:50 on a Friday afternoon in March, and all that stands between Chris Rowe’s architecture students and 17 days of spring break is a presentation of their work to three architects from the firm Dewing Schmid Kearns. In a lower-level hallway of the MAC, a trestle table is crowded with scale models of the assignment: a personalized study module. The surrounding walls are papered with SketchUp design iterations and photographs for inspiration—Saarinen womb chairs, Swiss Army knives, honeycomb storage boxes. Everyone must be thinking about spring break, but if they are, they hide it well.

One by one, students talk through the process of creating their 512-cubic-foot study modules. Each was designed from the inside out, according to the designer’s own study habits, sensory needs, and physical proportions, which were measured down to the inch.

The students are their own clients. Scale photographs of each one are propped outside their cardboard models, a reminder of the human beings who will occupy the space.

In preparing for the project, Rowe, who has been teaching the course for eight years, tries to convey the importance of “understanding the way humans have to interact with space. That’s sometimes lost in architectural

design,” he says, “either in the architect’s ego or by imposing a design on people rather than working with them.” The study-module assignment capitalizes on teenagers’ self-awareness. “They know how critical this kind of space is in their lives, and they’re quite conscious of how they do or don’t study well,” Rowe says. “They just know.” And they’re learning—through exercises such as the study module, lectures, and visits to sites such as Gropius House—that “the goal of architecture is not to celebrate genius or status,” Rowe says, “but to give people buildings that shelter and delight.”

If any of Rowe’s students should decide, perhaps over the lull of spring break, to carry these lessons into future careers in architecture, they will be joining a significant cadre of CA alumnae/i in the practice. Some of those featured on the following pages, just a fraction of those working in the field, refer to inspirations honed at CA, or a foundation in the arts that was established here. Their work is varied, both public and private, from towers to huts, as are the ways they approach the transformation of space. But central to their work, which walks a left-brain/right-brain balance, between art and engineering, form and function, is this focus on the human beings who interact with and take shape within these spaces: the lives at the center of design.

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BY JENNIFER MCFARL AND FLINT

Photo © Anton Grassl/Esto

A modern building brings new life to the campus of Holyoke Community College, which was otherwise designed in the Brutalist style, as seen in the concrete structure on the right.

The new building was designed by George Perkins ’75, P’13 and Goody Clancy.

R

ARE IS the visitor to Boston’s City Hall Plaza

CA students build cardboard models of their study-module projects for Chris Rowe’s architecture class. The course serves as an example of the “school’s emphasis on the arts as a serious pursuit,” according to Rowe.

30

who looks out over the bleak plaza and the hulking concrete structure above it and thinks, “This is beautiful.” To enjoy Brutalism, George Perkins ’75, P’13 says, “I think you have to be an architect. In my case, I had to be an architect in practice for decades before I got it. When I go by City Hall now, I experience it in a way that took me years to understand.” Part of that understanding, Perkins says, goes back to his days in Janet Eisendrath’s classroom, where “she really taught us to look deeply at the physical world.”

City Hall Plaza is “clearly ugly,” he says. “It’s massive and strange and different.” But channeling those art history courses at CA, “I’ve learned to go beyond those words, to try to think beyond what we expect ourselves to think, or what society expects you to think, and just try to look at it with a clean slate.” That requires taking away the history of Scollay Square, “and the regret we all feel for that, and taking away our love of the Old State House and the brick work and the wonderful rich historic district. When you look beyond those constraints and just look at City Hall inherently for its forms, it’s really magical,” he says. “It’s certainly not

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts wanted a modern facility to house several courts on one campus in downtown Salem, Mass., a historic but economically challenged city. Responding to the “tremendous challenges” of building in “one of the most beautiful 18th-century cities in America,” according to George Perkins ’75, P’13, Goody Clancy chose an architectural language, rhythm, and scale in keeping with the existing structures along Federal

J. M I C H A E L RUA N E JUDICIAL CENTER Salem, Mass.

Architect: Goody Clancy George Perkins ’75, P’13 Builder: Daniel O’Connell’s Sons 195,000 square feet

clients — jurors, judges, detainees, among others — into one that is as dignified as possible, by allowing natural light in every courtroom, for example. “We had to play some architectural tricks to do it,” he says. “These people are there day after day, often with no choice.

Natural light is a huge part of making that as good an experience as possible.”

Photos © Anton Grassl/Esto

LEED Gold

Street. By moving and reusing a church and acquiring land from three derelict houses and a highway cloverleaf, the campus brings new life to the city center.

Where the former court was bunker-like and dark, “the new building’s architectural genesis reflects, with the open glassy transparency from inside to out, the transparency of the modern court system,” Perkins says. The interior space aims to transform the experience of the court’s

a perfect building,” he adds. About the Congress Street elevation, for example: “Brutal is too kind a word,” he admits.

This capacity to find beauty in Brutalism, a style that has long been a punching bag of public opinion, has been particularly useful in his work at Boston-based architectural firm Goody Clancy, which he joined in 1999. His recent projects have included new buildings at UMass Boston and Holyoke Community College, both campuses built in the postwar period in the Brutalist style. “They were not designed in the most sensitive manner,” Perkins concedes, “but they did have many wonderful elements.” Leveraging the better qualities of these postwar facilities, or looking deeply at what they offer, has been a “fun challenge,” he says.

In the case of Holyoke, the existing campus presented a series of low-slung, modern concrete buildings around a central courtyard. “There’s a windswept feeling to the courtyard,” Perkins says, a bit reminiscent of City Hall Plaza, “but it also happens to be an effective social magnet that really unifies that campus.” The new structure that Perkins helped design for Goody Clancy, the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development, serves as the new entrance to that courtyard—literally the new gateway—capitalizing on its functionality but improving on the form. In contrast to the concrete structures around it, hulking and heavy, the new building is glassy and inviting. Windows allow you to look inside and see human beings occupying the space. “It helps realize the potential 31

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‘The goal of architecture is not to celebrate genius or status, but to give people buildings that shelter and delight.’

— Chris Rowe

T R I PL E - D E C K E R Portland, Maine Designed by: Jenny Scheu ’69 of Redhouse Architects, David Lloyd of Archetype, P.A., Nancy Adams, Peter Bass, Lin Lisberger, John Ryan General Contractor: Wright-Ryan Construction Inc.

What do architects build when they build for themselves? For Jenny Scheu ’69, the answer is a home that is understated, energy efficient, and designed to minimize maintenance — and shared with friends.

When Scheu and her husband were ready to downsize from their 3,900-square-foot Victorian home, they teamed up with two other couples to design a new urban house. The group, which included two architects, a developer, a sculptor, a nurse, and an engineer, purchased a 50-by60-foot vacant lot in the Munjoy

Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine. The surrounding streets are packed with modest woodframe houses. “We didn’t want to build some sort of architectural piece of sculpture,” Scheu says.

“We wanted to fit in.”

Given the team’s vast collective experience designing and building in Portland, they knew where to push — on materials, on energy efficiency gains — and where to not push back, such as asking for zoning changes.

After a couple of years in their single story, 1,600-square-

foot apartment, Scheu hasn’t looked back. “Our heating bills are much smaller than our cable bills,” she says. Even better, the collaborative arrangement has resulted in what they call an “unintentional community of friends,” where neighbors share keys, snow shoveling, and the occasional pet care. And now that she doesn’t have to spend her free time taking care of an old home, Scheu has found more studio time for watercolor painting and printmaking.

Photos by Trent Bell

‘For a building to be meaningful, for it to be architecture instead of just a building, that’s where the artistry comes in.’

— Mette Aamodt ’92

CO N CO R D AC A D EM Y M AG A ZI N E S PR I N G 2014

of the campus,” Perkins says, by “creating a focus on the pleasure of the user in a very direct way.”

The campus at UMass Boston was also due for a reorientation. “It was very carefully designed for the automobile but not so sensitive to the human beings,” Perkins says. The university has drafted a new master plan, which aims to shift the focus toward the human experience, beginning with the Integrated Sciences Complex. Whereas the previous center of the campus was another spare plaza on top of a parking deck, “The vision here is to bring the outdoor spaces down to grade, greening and landscaping, then creating a focus on the human beings, the users of that space,” Perkins says. Like Holyoke, this is a gateway building: It’s your first view as you arrive by any means of 32

transportation. It’s also a symbol of the Commonwealth’s commitment to invest in state-of-the-art science opportunities, with its students at the center of that attention, Perkins says.

T

HE WORK of Mette Aamodt ’92 of Aamodt/

Plumb Architects, a firm she partners with her husband, Andrew Plumb, is similarly tuned to the human experience within a space, particularly on a sensory level. “We’re constantly interested in finding ways to create experiences through architecture, in ways that are meaningful but also deeply rooted in the function of the work itself,” she says. “For us it’s about the experience of a space.

Not every project gives you that opportunity. But whenever we can, we look for that.”

Aamodt/Plumb Architects

Aamodt/Plumb Architects

Jane Messinger

Mette Aamodt ’92 designed this house in the Hamptons that is exposed to the ocean on one side, the bay on another. Aluminum screens with patterned cutouts protect the tall glass windows from the elements, provide privacy from the neighbors,

On the south shore of Long Island, in the Hamptons, for example, the firm designed a house that faces the ocean on one side and the bay on the other, with neighbors tucked in close on either side. The site is exposed to the elements and sits squarely in a flood zone. Working from those fundamental needs, for privacy and protection, Aamodt/Plumb looked for solutions that would also introduce beauty and the sensory experience of the place. One strategy was to build a set of ornamental aluminum screens, patterned with foliage cutouts and anchored to the outside of the house. As light filters through the screens, they “create this atmosphere on the inside, with constantly changing light conditions, as patterned shadows move around throughout the day and

the sun tracks around,” says Aamodt. The screens aren’t just there to create the folly of the shadow play, although they do that, too, she says: Their primary function is to provide privacy from the nearby neighbors, protect the tall glass walls against hurricanes, and filter light, so as to reduce heat gain inside. “It’s most interesting for us when there’s something that’s deeply rooted in function but can also be transcendent and create an experience that is way beyond that,” she says.

In every project, Aamodt searches for those opportunities to solve a functional challenge with an artistic solution. She traces her vision and this spirit of discovery back to her days behind the camera, in Cynthia Katz’s photography class at CA. “A lot of the experimental things that I’m 33

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and create shadows that change as the sun tracks across the sky every day.

SM O K E H O US E Winnipeg, Manitoba Aamodt/Plumb Architects Mette Aamodt ’92 100 square feet

Images courtesy of Aamodt/Plumb Architects

Smokehouse was one of five installations selected in 2013 by Warming Huts, an art and architecture competition along the River Trail at the Forks in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Mette Aamodt ’92 found inspiration in primitive structures such as ice-fishing cabins, teepees, yurts, igloos, and Viking longhouses, all elemental structures with one small opening in the roof for the smoke of a fire. The walls of the Smokehouse hut are layered with overlapping felted wool panels, “meant to evoke pelts, furs, or carpets that you might have used to make an interior warm,” she says.

The doorway is intentionally low, so visitors have to bend down to enter. “That physical movement helps with the transition from one space to the next, from the bright snowy outside to the

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interested in very clearly can be connected to the black-and-white photography I did then—studying composition and the thinking about light and shadow have all influenced my work as an architect,” Aamodt says. “We always listen to what the clients are interested in; then we try to find things that are unique and beautiful within each project to bring out. That allows us in each case to explore something different, always with our own lens.”

It’s hard enough, Aamodt says, to build a watertight box that could stand for a hundred years, or to create an inspiring art installation. “But it’s very difficult to do both,” she says. “For a building to be meaningful, for it to be architecture instead of just a building, that’s where the artistry comes in. And that’s something we’re still practicing.”

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dark, cozy, warm interior, with this tactile sensation. So you have this whole transformation of experience, with the way the light comes through the slots in the roof, or the way the smoke catches the light, or the smell of the smoke,” she says. “That’s what we think is very powerful about what good architecture can do: making something powerful — an intense sensory experience — out of what could have been a mundane stopping point along the way.”

OMETIMES THE architect has to find the

artistry in even the most basic of materials.

Alexis Kraft ’83, a professor of architecture at Parsons the New School for Design and a principal at Kraft Studio, has worked on a number of shipping-container projects, both commercial and residential. It’s the ultimate transformative challenge: using rusted steel boxes to realize a structure that looks, feels, and performs like a home. “It’s a strong aesthetic decision to be the person who lives in a container house,” Kraft says. But certain clients love the idea, in part because of the alluring cost of the materials, at $2,000 a piece.

Kraft has partnered on these projects with LOT-EK, a firm that started experimenting with the form about 20 years ago. In that time, “the

Twenty-one shipping containers are transformed into a home in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., designed by Alexis Kraft ’83. The rendering (below, right) shows how the materials were stretched for maximum efficiency: The brown corners that were cut away from the second floor become the basis

rules have changed, in terms of what people want and need and what you’re allowed to build in New York City,” he says. These homes are expected to perform like any modern structure, with regard to comfort and efficiency. The task for the architect is to craft those transformations, “so you don’t feel like you’re rattling around inside,” Kraft says, but without going too far. “It still has to feel somewhat like a shipping container house.”

Beyond walking that line, perhaps the most significant challenge for the architect is both how to make a container home interesting, “when we’ve more or less trended past it,” and how to manage public perceptions, which are sometimes still lagging. Kraft is in the midst of building a shippingcontainer home for a client in Williamsburg,

Brooklyn, and the project pops up with some frequency on Curbed, a popular blog that keeps tabs on real estate. Judging by the posts, “People are obviously confused about what this thing is,” says Kraft. “And it’s tricky to work in an environment like that.” He cites the example of a friend, an architect in charge of a large-scale addition to a Kansas City art museum that courted controversy: The architect would drive himself crazy visiting public forums, trying to explain the project in terms people would accept. But people were calling for the building to be torn down. Then, on opening day, thousands of people showed up, Kraft says, “and they all celebrated it.”

It’s all part of the process, Kraft says, when a project pushes the public outside their comfort 35

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Images courtesy LOT-EK/Kraft Studio

of the third floor, for example.

Photo by Bruce Damonte

Thanks to SHoP’s software — and the time they’d had to refine it — the firm was able to wrap the shell in 12,000 uniquely shaped pieces of steel to create a compelling design that boasts a sense of belonging to its neighborhood.

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zones. “It’s one of the problems architects have to deal with all the time. We’re building the physical environment that people live in and play in, and I think—I hope!—as architects, we all want to make sure that environment is appropriate for the users. But we may have different ideas of what that means,” Kraft says. “It’s my hope that we’re pushing the culture forward in how to understand these things.”

Kraft has witnessed this friction first-hand in his own Brooklyn neighborhood, a few blocks from Barclays Center, the sports arena that opened in 2012. Kraft admits he was among the doubters, as the project dragged on through years of controversy. “The idea of having 18,000 Nets fans show up in your neighborhood a few times a week 36

is a little scary,” he says. This hesitancy might be expected coming from your average resident (and it did). But Kraft is a fellow professional, a fellow CA alumnus, and even a personal friend of Kimberly Holden ’84, one of the principals of SHoP Architects, the firm that stepped in to create the final design. But just like in Kansas City, Kraft and his neighbors “got it,” about a week after the Barclays Center opened. They saw for themselves that it would all work out.

The arena still has its critics, as would be expected for any public project of similar scale, but one of SHoP’s greatest successes was in turning public opinion. As a result, Barclays became the fulcrum for the firm’s success. In the years leading up to it, SHoP had been exploring new ways to

B2 Brooklyn, N.Y. Architect: SHoP Architects Kimberly Holden ’84 General Contractor: Skanska USA Building 326,000 square feet

B2, above, is the first of three modular towers going up in

When it is completed, B2 will hold the record as the tallest modular building in the world, at 32 stories, and it carries the unusual distinction of being constructed entirely in a Brooklyn warehouse. B2 is the first of three residential towers going up in the Atlantic Yards, the 22-acre area nestled around Barclays Center, and will include 350 residential units — a mix of market-rate, moderate-, and lowincome housing.

Every individual apartment is assembled, down to the towel racks, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, using union labor. Then the mods are transported two miles to the construction site and stacked into place, like the Lego tower of a child’s dreams.

To overcome the challenges of building low-income housing with union labor, in a high-rise project, with a compelling design, SHoP had to find a new means of affordable construction. The firm’s innovative software allows for an uncommon efficiency in construction, resulting in high-quality design on an affordable scale.

the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, N.Y. The residential towers and the final design of the adjacent Barclays Center (left) were designed by SHoP Architects,

design buildings, inspired by design technology they saw being used in the aerospace industry.

They tested the process for the first time in 2000, in an entry to the young-architect competition

by MoMA/P.S.1. That project, Dunescape, was made of 6,000 individual cedar strips, modeled on a computer and assembled to create an undulating form, like an urban sand dune. SHoP Architects won the competition that year.

From that point forward, “we tried to push what we could do with the software, modifying it, and always scaling it up in complexity and size,” Holden says. A big break came in 2003 with the renovation of a 1905 warehouse in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District into residential condos, featuring a zinc façade made possible by their

proprietary software. “We believed so much in what we were doing that we were willing to take the hit on that project if it didn’t work out,” Holden says. They teamed up with the developer and took sweat equity—a rare move for an architecture firm.

Then the recession of 2008 hit, and SHoP was hit with it.

“The slowdown allowed us to go into R&D and really work on the technology,” Holden says.

And it paid off. By the time SHoP had a shot at Barclays, Forest City Ratner Companies, the developer, was in deep: They’d had to scrap the original design by Frank Gehry, although the shell had been built and the steel had been ordered. Thanks to SHoP’s software—and the time they’d had to refine it—the firm was able to wrap the shell in 12,000 37

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with Kimberly Holden ’84.

Photos by Pearl Emmons

THE M AR ANYUNDO SCHOOL Nyamata, Rwanda Architect: Straton Uwizeyimana Daphne Petri ’68 (liaison)

Sometimes architecture can transform even hearts and minds: Before the Maranyundo Girls School opened in 2008 in Rwanda, authorities were concerned about creating educational opportunities for all the country’s children — but the rural poor weren’t necessarily high on that list. The area was one of the most devastated by the country’s 1994 genocide; many teachers were killed and schools destroyed. “There was concern among some,” says Daphne Petri ’68, that in allocating resources, “the poor kids, and especially the poor girls, might not be able to succeed.”

Within its first year, “this little school turned that thinking on its head,” Petri says. “The school was very successful very quickly and became the number one middle school in the country. It showed

that underserved girls, who were orphaned or too poor to go to school, who had nothing, could come to a place with a lot of care, support, and focus on excellence, and they could just blossom. We transformed minds.”

The school was built in a “slightly American style,” Petri says, similar to a quad, with buildings edging the perimeter of a traditional Rwandan oval. “It feels safe, and you can see everyone all the time. The architect really wanted it to feel like it was going to be there forever. The materials were chosen for their simple, strong, and sustainable characteristics.”

Petri, who has worked for many years as a residential architect, joined the project as the liaison between Rwandan design and building teams and the founders.

This role allowed her to exercise

“a nice combinations of my skills and interests.” It has also transformed her own outlook. “This is a much bigger contribution than I can make on domestic residential projects. I loved that work, but in this work I feel really blessed to be helping underserved girls in an East African country that is rebuilding. It is work that feeds my soul.”

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uniquely shaped pieces of steel to create a compelling design that boasts a sense of belonging to its neighborhood.

The exterior takes cues from Brooklyn’s characteristic grittiness and the surrounding palette of brownstones. “We really wanted to be respectful of the environment,” Holden says. “We believed that if we could make people understand that this was for everyone, then people would come around to the idea.” In design terms, this conviction translated into transparency: The open plaza invites people to congregate and, once there, allows easy views of the practice court and the scoreboard inside, for example.

“When I think about our work and the nature of transformation, for us really it’s about technology 38

The Maranyundo School is a nondenominational boarding school for 180 low-income girls in Rwanda, run by an order of Catholic nuns with a long tradition of providing educational opportunities to vulnerable populations.

and the way it’s radically changing the way we build buildings,” Holden says. SHoP is collaborating in new ways with builders (they’ve also spun off their own construction company, SHoP Construction), and developers are lining up to innovate with the firm. In the last year, the firm has expanded from 80 to 170 employees to keep up with the work that continues to pour in—from Botswana to Detroit.

SHoP seems to be transforming the practice of architecture itself.

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IN MEMORIAM

b Alan C. Aisenberg father of James Aisenberg ’77 and Margaret Aisenberg ’78 William J. Beckwith son of Deborah Winship ’61 John S. Bonavia father of Virginia Webb ’99 Mary Bonnell ’46 Eleanor Pryor Booher daughter of Diana Knowles Cashen ’58 and brother of Thomas Pryor ’86 Josephine Knowles Brayton ’36 Roger H. Brown Sr. grandfather of Farrell Mason-Brown ’07 and Grace Mason-Brown ’14 Anne (Nancy) Colt Couch ’50 mother of Susan Couch Lowell ’75, cousin of Diana Jewell Bingham ’54 and Lucinda Jewell ’76 Stanley B. Coville husband of Nancy Read Coville ’49 Pearl Darling mother of Dereck Jones ’85 Michael Gilmore father of Rosa Gilmore ’05 CO N CO R D AC A D EM Y M AG A ZI N E S PR I N G 2014

Leith Symington Griswold grandmother of Belinda Griswold ’90 Nell Little Hall ’29 Susan Lawrence Hazard ’32 cousin of the late Lydia Cobb Perkins ’38 and Emily Cobb ’40 Suzanne Herrick sister of Caroline Herrick ’64

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Julia Ingersoll Hikory ’64 sister of Ann Ingersoll Boyden ’57

Melvin A. Prives father of Elizabeth Prives ’99

Elmira Ingersoll mother of Ann Ingersoll Boyden ’57 and the late Julia Ingersoll Hikory ’64

Nancy Gathercole Riaz ’45 sister of Joan Gathercole Rice ’48

Arlene Swift Jones mother of Jeanne Jones ’71, Robin Jones ’73, Kristin Jones ’75, and grandmother of Michaela Slavid ’07 Franklin T. Locke son of the late Mary Trumbull Locke ’35, brother of Helen Locke Cook ’56 and Miriam Locke ’64, nephew of the late Sally Locke Ffolliott ’26, the late Helen Locke Driscoll ’28, the late Susan Locke Smith ’30, the late Joan Trumbull ’40, and the late Faith Trumbull Reed ’47; and cousin of Abigail Senkler Kazanowski ’56 and Susan Senkler McMullan ’59 Gordon Loomis ’76 brother of Mary Paul Loomis ’66 and Lucy Loomis ’74 Sarah Lydgate ’51 Austin F. Lyne father of Jane Lyne Oakes ’74 and Elizabeth Lyne Tucker ’76 Ziauddin Mahmood father of Fawzia Mahmood ’03 Bucknam M. McPeek father of Douglas McPeek ’86 Willem Nieuwenhuijs husband of Remcoline van Tyen Nieuwenhuijs ’50 Deborah Chamberlin O’Brien ’59 Josephine Pelote ’85

Rosalind Appel Ritchie ’49 sister of Elizabeth Appel Brown ’47 and Beatrice Appel Halsted ’51 Virginia Rothschild mother of Nina Rothschild Utne ’71, sister-in-law of Phyllis Rothschild Farley ’42, and aunt of Alison Bradford ’64 and Deborah Bradford ’68 Roy Schotland father of Rebecca Schotland Wolsk ’89 George Senkler son of the late Susan Locke Smith ’30, brother of Abigail Senkler Kazanowski ’56, and Susan Senkler McMullan ’59, stepbrother of the late Susan Smith Huebsch ’50 and Lydia Smith Nader ’53, cousin of Margaret Lewis Herbert ’56 and Helen Locke Cook ’56, and nephew of the late Sally Locke Ffolliott ’26 and the late Helen Locke Driscoll ’28 Run Run Shaw grandfather of Veronica Woo ’81 Lisa Glaser Tyre grandmother of Taylor Berkley ’12 and Lincoln Berkley ’17 L. Alexander Vance brother of Jane Vance McCauley ’58 and Phebe Vance ’62 Margaret Johnson Whitehouse ’49 Richard Williams husband of Cynthia Hill Williams ’46

Kristie Gillooly

— A Legacy of Giving —

A Future of Possibility

by Sandy and Lucille Stott T HROUGHOUT our years at CA—31 for Sandy and 27 for Lucille— we’ve had the privilege of teaching and advising extraordinary students. As we head toward our retirement in June, we find ourselves sharing stories from across the decades, relishing again an inspiring chapel, a class that taught us well, and the many moments of surprise and delight that have kept us in touch with all that is young and hopeful.

This focus on the future, so integral to our work at CA, is a habit we hope to sustain as we move ahead to new adventures. So when we thought about what we’d like to leave behind

in honor of all the students who have enriched our lives, we decided it should be possibility—in the form of financial aid.

A CA education would have been financially out of reach for both of us.

Planned giving—including Concord Academy in our estate planning—will allow us to create an endowed scholarship fund that will make this transformative education available to future students who would not otherwise be able to afford it. We’ve seen firsthand, and many times over, the benefits of financial aid to a thriving school. CA would not be CA without it. Scholars, artists, musicians, athletes, writers,

activists—so many of our talented, catalytic students have needed the school’s help to enroll, and our time here would have been impoverished without them.

Including CA in our will helps us accomplish for the future something we care deeply about but cannot accomplish immediately. In that way, it’s a lot like teaching, a continuation of what we’ve loved doing at CA for so many years.

If you are interested in planned giving or making a gift in honor of Sandy and Lucille, please contact CA’s Advancement Office at (978) 402-2237.

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