Cushing Today - Spring 2015

Cushing Today

SPRING 2015

Cushing exists for the students, their academic growth, and personal development. In educating the mind, shaping the character, and nurturing the creativity of an academically and culturally diverse student body, we challenge each individual, support excellence in the learning process, and promote active participation and service in all areas of life and learning. We offer a demanding college preparatory curriculum, teach skills that build confidence, and instill values that endure.

Cushing Today is a publication of Cushing Academy’s Office of Development and Alumni Programs.

Headmaster

Christopher Torino

Associate Head of School

Catherine Pollock

Director of Advancement

Bill O’Hearn

Cushing Today Editor

Amy Ostroth

Director of Marketing and Communications

Heather Hill ’90

Contributing Writers

Amy Ostroth

Chuck Johanningsmeier ’77

Jennifer Klein

Amy Logan

Photography

Jake Belcher

Sam Fuller ’15

Tom Kates

Chris McIntosh

Tim Morse

Amy Ostroth

Phil Wexler

Design

Andrea Hopkins Cheney & Company

Printing

Allied Printing Services, Inc.

Cushing Today welcomes class notes, photographs, story ideas, and comments by alumni/ae, parents, and friends. Please send them to alumniprograms@cushing.org or call 978-827-7400.

What Am I?

Can you identify this piece of Cushing’s history? Think you know where it is on campus and what it has to do with Cushing’s past? Read the full story on page 33 to find out.

In This Issue

FEATURES

20 Student Profiles

A Day in the Life of Two Graduating Seniors

22 Faculty Profiles

Mary Fern

In Memory of Dr. Joseph R. Curry

Norm Carey

33 Historical Legacy

What Am I?

DEPARTMENTS

2 On Campus

From the Headmaster

Along School Street

Show Your Work

Good Sports

The Art of Giving

38 Alumni

International Corner

Alumni News

Making History Real Class Notes

In Memoriam

Photo taken by Napat “Pop” Rochanapruk ’16 as part of his work for his advanced photography class

ON THE COVER: The entrance to Cushing Academy at the corner of School and Central Streets.

From the Headmaster

CHRISTOPHER TORINO

Cushing stories have undoubtedly deepened, widened, and expanded my sense of the proud 150 years of our school and what is made possible through a transformative education. I have listened to, read, and absorbed the stories and experiences of current Cushing students, faculty, staff, and parents, as well as those of alumni and past parents, faculty, and staff. An English teacher to the core, I relish these narratives—whether told in snippets or as whole pieces—about the Cushing in you.

This month, the Class of 2015 will graduate and make the transition from their “dear old Cushing days” as students to their lives as engaged alumni. Close on the heels of graduation, we will welcome our alumni back to campus for our Sesquicentennial Reunion Weekend, a milestone event in the life of the Academy. Commencement and Reunion weave together the many diverse stories into a fuller, more vibrant understanding of the Cushing legacy.

Whether I’ve had the pleasure to meet you in person or not, I’d very much love to hear your stories about Cushing—the faculty who made lasting impressions on you, the friends you made, the challenges through which you grew, and the things you learned. I invite you to visit www.cushing.org/alumnistories to submit your stories online, or email them to headmaster@cushing.org. Whether you have a brief moment to write a vignette recounting one smaller story, or time enough to write a more comprehensive recollection or string of recollections, your stories will “deepen and widen and expand” our sense of Cushing—where, how, and why we’ve lived and Cushing’s impact on the world one Penguin at a time. Your stories are the foundation for our Academy’s promising future.

Thank you for everything you do to support the school—attending events; volunteering your time; cheering on our athletes; making gifts to our Cushing Academy Fund, including supporting our new athletic facility; and sharing your stories. I continue to be honored and proud to be a part of and servant to the Cushing story.

I’ll close with Rudyard Kipling’s thoughts on the power of stories: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.”

So, here’s to remembering and recounting those dear old Cushing days…

BREAKING GROUND

Cushing Academy has officially broken ground on its new athletic facility, which will be named the Watkins Field House. For more information on this important project, see page 37

In her book Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott writes that stories

“deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul.”

Along School Street

A Banner Year Begins

The long-awaited year of celebration and proud Penguin history is officially underway, as we mark the start of our sesquicentennial year and honor our founding in 1865.

As this year unfolds, please visit our Sesquicentennial page at www.cushing.org/150 often for a calendar of events, the link to a timeline of Cushing’s history, a downloadable monthly calendar wallpaper for your desktop, and stories from 150 years. We look forward to hearing and showcasing your Cushing stories. In fact, you can share your stories with us right now using the form on our website at www.cushing.org/ alumni.

The year of celebration kicked off on Dec. 5, 2014, when nearly 200 people gathered at the Liberty Hotel in Boston. Board of Trustees member Robert Young ’69 welcomed the group

to the event, and he was joined on stage by Brett Torrey ’85, Sylvia Lilienthal ’40, former Trustee and Board treasurer Don Irving, and faculty member Peggy Lee, who read excerpts from Thomas Parkman Cushing’s will and remarks from Cushing’s dedication. Norm Carey, who will finish his 34-year Cushing career in June, read two poems he wrote that capture the essence of life at the Academy. Headmaster Chris Torino also spoke, telling the guests about how Cushing’s traditions and past will inform its future.

There will be a number of sesquicentennial events throughout 2015, all of which can be found at www.cushing.org/150. We hope all of our parents, alumni, and members of our extended community will join us as we celebrate 150 years of this wonderful institution.

Note About the Fall Issue of

Parents for Cushing Hard at Work

Volunteers from the Academy’s parent group, Parents for Cushing (PFC), have been hard at work this year building relationships among Cushing’s families, sharing their ideas with the school’s administration, and giving generously of their time to support the Cushing community.

In February, they put together a wonderful Faculty Staff Appreciation Day, with yummy goodies and other treats, to acknowledge the hard work done by everyone who works for the Academy. Their thoughtfulness was much appreciated by all.

The PFC has also hosted several social gatherings, including a cocktail hour at the beginning of the school year and a coffee hour at the beginning of Winter Free Weekend. “It’s important to build connections among Cushing’s families,” says Kim Samson, the group’s chairperson and parent to Evan ’16. “Part of

what makes Cushing so special is its sense of community, and we are committed to building that sense of community among the Academy’s parents.”

PFC is already looking ahead to next year. For 2015 Fall Family Weekend, scheduled for Oct. 23–24, the group is planning a live and silent auction event with Co-Chairs John and Barbara Kelly P’11,’13,’16 and Auctioneer John Terrio. They’re excited to get Cushing’s parents involved in this special event, so mark your calendars and keep an eye out for more information soon.

Parents for Cushing is an open group. Indeed, you’re a member just for being a Cushing parent. If you’d like to play a more active role in the group, however, your involvement is encouraged and welcomed. Contact parentprograms@cushing.org or call 978-827-7400.

To mark the Academy’s sesquicentennial, the fall issue of Cushing Today will be special, commemorating 150 years of Cushing excellence. We’ll look back on the people who made the Academy what it is today— Thomas Parkman Cushing, Hervey S. Cowell, Dr. Joseph Curry, and others. We’ll look at the ways the Academy has changed and the ways it has stayed the same.

Because of the content of this special issue, we will not be publishing a printed annual report in 2015, although we will publish the information online. Further, the campus news you look for in the magazine will also be found online, including information about the Academy’s 2015 commencement exercises, which took place on May 23, and the extra-special sesquicentennial Reunion Weekend, which was held June 5–7.

We encourage you to visit www.cushing. org for all the latest news about Cushing. If you have questions, please email: alumniprograms@cushing.org or call us at 978-827-7400.

Peter Clarke to Retire After a Decade at Cushing

Cushing has been fortunate to count some extremely talented teachers among its faculty. History teacher

Peter Clarke is one example of just such an educator and when he retires from the Academy at the end of the year, his commitment, wisdom, and leadership will be missed.

He got into teaching in part because of two excellent teachers he had in high school in Chappaqua, N.Y. One used Herodotus and the Greek Civil War to connect classroom learning to the very real challenge of the Vietnam War at a time when most schools and teachers refused to even discuss the subject. “The other,” Peter remembers, “held up a matchbox at the beginning of my AP history class and asked us what it was. When we said ‘a matchbox,’ he said ‘prove it.’ You’d be amazed how hard it is to prove that a matchbox is a matchbox. He was teaching us how to argue, which no one had ever taught us to do before. I thought then how wonderful it would be to be able to do that for other young people.”

Peter has gone on to spend 44 years as an educator. His first teaching job was at The Harvey School, a private boarding middle school, and although that was a short stint—just two years—he and his wife lived in a dorm and managed the lives of 15 seventh-grade boys. You can imagine the difficulty of getting those boys to brush their teeth and go to bed!

Although that job came with its challenges, it also taught Peter a good lesson about teaching. “It’s not about what you, the teacher, are going to do. It’s about what you are going to get the kids to do,” he says. “Teaching middle school taught me to be more student-centered and to really engage students in the work of the class.”

Eventually he decided he wanted to teach high school so that he could help his students ask—and answer—more intellectually challenging questions. Therefore, he earned a teaching license before heading to Reading High School, where he was a social studies teacher and the coach of the girls’ track team. He was such a successful coach there that one of his teams won the Massachusetts State Track Championship, and he was named the Massachusetts State Track Coach of the Year.

In 1983, the school needed to cut staff, which they did by seniority, so Peter once again found himself with a choice about his future. He used his savings to pay tuition at Harvard, where he earned his master’s degree in educational administration. Following Harvard, he spent 21 years as an educational administrator at both public and private schools in New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts. In 1995, his leadership in educational innovation resulted in his being named Vermont’s principal of the year.

From 2003 to 2005, Peter was Head of School at the Shackleton School in Ashby, Mass., just up the road from Cushing. The school was experimental and based on the Outward Bound program—the school took its students on threemonth learning expeditions across the USA designed to inspire self-discovery. The goal of

the Shackleton School, according to Peter, was to challenge kids and help them build character through educational travel and community service. Although Peter is quite proud of the work he did there, the school was forced to close because it needed to expand and the location in Ashby limited that.

When Peter began at the Shackleton School, his son, David ’07, was already at Cushing. Not long after, his wife, Nicki, took a job as Cushing’s Director of Development. When the Ashby school closed in 2005, Peter decided to get back in the classroom by accepting a job at Cushing. “From the first day I walked into Cushing, I loved it here,” he says. “In the 10 years I’ve been here—from developing new curricula to Cushing Scholars to Model UN—Cushing has always put its students first. I’ve never been at a meeting at Cushing where we argued about whether we should find a creative way to meet a student’s needs. I’ve never had a conversation about giving one student an advantage over another. The conversation has always been about what each individual student needs to be successful here.”

Although he’s leaving Cushing this year, Peter won’t be leaving the educational realm, as he plans to return to Vermont, where he and his wife have a home, and work as an educational consultant. He doesn’t think of it as retiring, but rather going on to another set of challenges that will use his varied educational experience, hopefully to assist a new generation of educational leaders to figure out how to meet the needs of the next generation of Vermont students.

Special Learning Opportunity for Four Cushing Students

This year, four students represented Cushing at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Student Diversity Leadership Conference during the first week in December. This extraordinary event brings together nearly 1,500 students from independent schools across the country, engaging them in an intense curriculum that centers on cultural identifiers, promotes affinity group work, and creates connections with participants from our region. We know the students returned to Cushing prepared to open conversations, jump start regional efforts, and educate their peers.

The students who attended the diversity conference (l–r): Myles Bonadie ’17, Joanna James ’15, Chyna Christman ’16, and Jarrod Simmons ’17.

Students Travel to Harvard for Global Health Symposium

In January, a group of Cushing students traveled to Boston to attend the Global Response to Emerging Infections Symposium at Harvard Medical School. This unique opportunity was made possible by Gregory Ciottone, MD, FACEP, Director of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Fellowship in Disaster Medicine and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School; and Amalia Voskanyan, RN, CoDirector BIDMC Fellowship in Disaster Medicine; parents of Vigen ’16 and Robert ’17 Ciottone.

The Cushing delegation, comprised of Cushing Scholars and students in ethics and select biology classes, joined top scholars and bootson-the-ground practitioners in the fields of crisis leadership, epidemiology, humanitarian, and disaster medicine. Guest speakers discussed such topics as technology and community engagement in the Ebola response, the ethical dilemmas in the Ebola crisis, and the challenges to global threats from an NGO perspective.

“It’s terrifying working with the Ebola virus,” said Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State University, on his experiences with response teams in Nigeria. “Ebola is the one that scares me.” Through firsthand

experiences, he chronicled what it was like donning the personal protective equipment, how his team worked to establish communication response teams, and the major role that video conferencing has played in connecting health workers to one another and accessing data.

Following the lunch break, students were greeted by the Honorable Mr. Jeremiah C. Sulunteh, Liberia Ambassador to the United States. He shared with students his personal story as a child in Liberia with no running water, no electricity, and no roads. Through perseverance and discipline, he attended school and university, and then raised the money to build a school for children in his village. “I share this story with you to say this: everywhere you go in life and in the world, there are different challenges. Listen. Be disciplined. Always remember the opportunities you have.”

When asked to share their thoughts on the day’s experience, students were quick to respond. “This conference was an amazing opportunity to hear from people who have experienced the tragedy of Ebola firsthand and are making a difference,” said Caroline Fital ’17. For Breton Lorway ’17: “The biggest take-away was to never take anything for granted.”

Developing a Leadership Culture

In October, our Dean of Student Life, Mr. Chris Howes (left), headed to The Symposium in Pedagogy of Leadership sponsored by the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute in collaboration with the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Education. The central goal of the event: to learn and absorb the art and science by which an educator can systematically instill and develop in students the desire and capacity to lead.

Mr. Howes served as a presenter in a session called Transforming Culture Through Leadership Development. Drawing on his past experiences working at Severn School and his work at Cushing this year, he spoke about developing and building a pervasive and fully integrated culture of student leadership. “It is possible for every child to develop leadership skills,” he said. “It is our obligation to provide them with the avenues to exercise and practice these skills.”

He relayed that attendees were particularly interested in Cushing’s revised student handbook. “We went from rules and policies to expectations and values, and people were really excited about hearing how we did that. The lens through which I presented our student-centered approach was perhaps a different lens for them, and it clearly struck a chord as we discussed the conduct system, shared responsibilities, and leadership programming.”

As for his own take-aways from the symposium, Mr. Howes shared discussions on brain research and its relationship to education and children. “Working with kids, it’s important for us to understand where they are in the process of growth, and most important, to recognize that they aren’t ‘done’—they’re still ‘becoming.’”

Cushing students listen attentively at the Global Response to Emerging Infections Symposium at Harvard Medical School.

Cushing Academy Performing Arts Series 2015

Last year, Cushing’s performing arts faculty and Headmaster Torino had an idea: to inaugurate an annual performing arts series, bringing professional artists to campus, enhancing the education that our students receive, and inviting residents of Ashburnham and the surrounding area to campus to enjoy the performances. In September, the Academy’s hard work toward that goal bore fruit when the first performance in Cushing’s Performing Arts Series took place.

It is safe to say that the first year was a wonderful success. Attendees at the events included local residents from Ashburnham, Westminster, Fitchburg, and Winchendon; Cushing alumni; current Cushing parents; others who have no particular affiliation with Cushing from southern New Hampshire, central Massachusetts, Worcester, and Greater Boston; as well as Cushing faculty, staff and students. All performances in the series this year were free of charge.

Nearly 300 people attended the first event, held in Cowell Chapel, featuring The Rebecca Rice Dance Company. Rebecca Rice is Cushing’s Director of Dance—as was her mother before her —and she is a resident of Ashburnham. Many of the guests were local and had connections to Rebecca, her family, or Cushing’s dance program.

In January, cellist Ning Tien and pianist Monica Tessitore (pictured below) of Cushing’s piano faculty, performed music of composers

from three different eras and continents. This event was held in the Joseph R. Curry Academic Center’s performance space, which was filled to capacity. The intimacy of the venue added to the powerful music, and attendees were heard to whisper, “That was breathtaking!”

The final event was held on March 28 and featured Jerry Sabatini and his band, the Sonic Explorers Octet. An audience of nearly 250, including Jerry’s current students and the Oakmont Regional High School jazz band, enjoyed music composed by Sabatini and rooted in the history of American jazz, blues, funk, and rock, blended with Eastern European Gypsy and Middle Eastern flair. As we celebrate Cushing’s 150th anniversary and the Town of Ashburnham’s 250th anniversary, connections such as this event strengthen bonds between the Academy and its surrounding community.

“The feedback we have received on the series has been overwhelmingly positive,” noted Julia Ohm, Chair of Cushing’s Performing Arts Department. Julia indicated that some in attendance have lived in the vicinity for up to 35 years, but had never been on campus; another was astonished that performances of this caliber were offered free of charge. Desh Hindle, Cushing’s Director of Music, agrees. “The feedback has been extraordinary and heartfelt. We have received multiple emails and letters of appreciation from Cushing parents, local alumni, and

others who have no affiliation with Cushing— not to mention personal sentiments of gratitude throughout the series.”

This professional series has no doubt benefited Cushing’s students as well. “I think our students have realized the power of the arts more intently because they have now seen it through the eyes of an adult audience,” noted Julia. “When you are surrounded by different generations, and especially those who are not related to you, you tend to view things through a different lens. Our public audience has helped even more to validate what we teach and direct during the year.” The students also had the opportunity to assist with a wide variety of tasks and production elements associated with these performances, giving them the chance to see firsthand how the administration of a performing arts series is executed. Cushing plans to expand the arts administration opportunities for students in future years.

The benefits to the Academy are multifold. Desh observed, “The series has provided our educational program with greater visibility because our performances have featured Cushing faculty as both creators and performers. In future seasons, we hope to include Cushing alumni as well. Our artistic community at Cushing is vibrant, active, and thriving, and we should be openly sharing that with the greater community, especially considering the communicative nature of our artistic disciplines.”

The professional Performing Arts Series has exceeded the Academy’s expectations by every possible measure. We have expanded our relationships with local and regional communities, reestablished contact with alumni who have a particular interest or career in the arts, and expanded educational opportunities for our current students, as well as potential students.

The series will continue in 2015–2016, and we are in the early stages of planning those performances.

Visit www.cushing.org/PASeries for more information.

Incredible Winter Musical

Congratulations to the cast and crew of this year’s winter musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ! It was a super show from start to finish and we’re pleased that so many members of the Cushing community were able to enjoy the hard work and dedication that went in to creating such an enjoyable production.

Cushing Artist Named Gold Key Winner

Congratulations to Ja Youn “Bee” Lee ’16 for being named a Gold Key winner in this year’s Boston Globe Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the regional division of a national program that awards honors, exhibit opportunities, and scholarships for students in grades 7 through 12. Presented by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Globe competition is in its 65th year, and received over 20,000 entries this year from over 8,000 students. We’re quite proud of Bee’s good work!

Photography

Orchestra Honors for Cushing Student

For the eighth year in a row, Cushing was represented at the Massachusetts Central District Honors Festival. Yilin “Catherine” Zeng ’18 was admitted to the orchestra and performed with the honors orchestra at Mechanics Hall in Worcester.

Exhibit by Samantha Fuller ’15 Samantha Fuller ’15 began taking photography as an afternoon activity when she was a freshman and says it was “kind of a whim.” Some whim. During March, she presented her photography series, “It’s Written All Over Your Face,” in a monthlong exhibit in the Carter Gallery. The exhibit features portraits of Cushing poets with their own lines of poetry across their faces. She borrowed the idea from advanced photography teacher Rebecca Cinclair. Sam hopes to attend Ithaca College and plans to major in photography.

Samantha’s portraits of Brendan Miller ’15, above, and Breton Lorway ’17, below

Learning the Way of the World Taxes. Town budgets. Competing priorities. Funding schools or police? These are the issues that face mayors, town councils, and citizens around the globe. One teacher at Cushing Academy is teaching his students about them, too.

Each year, Bob Macioci—who teaches history, economics, and ethics—divides his classes up into groups and gives them a town budget with a deficit. Each group plays the role of a town council in an upper-middle-class town, and the students have to determine how best to balance the town’s budget. More than that, they have to present their budget to a mock town meeting, where the citizens are made up of their classmates and faculty and staff who join in the fun.

Issues facing each council? Health insurance for teachers, school vouchers, school staffing, fire and police stations, snow removal, road paving, tax rates on residents and businesses, public transportation, and more.

The groups come up with a number of good ideas—both to raise revenue and to decrease spending. One group proposes closing the town pool, saving the town $1 million per year. One group recommends asking teachers to pay a higher percentage of their health insurance premiums. One proposes bringing in a Walmart to increase the town’s tax base. Another suggests

an increase in property taxes. Another, closing fire and police stations.

Of course, for every idea to increase revenue or reduce spending, there is a citizen who offers an opposing view. Classmates, playing the role of townspeople, ask each group hard questions. When a group proposes closing fire stations: “What about areas that are now farther away from the station?” When a group suggests closing a police station: “How can you cut police when our town is already seeing an increased crime rate?” Regarding school vouchers: “I don’t have kids, but I think our tax dollars should be spent in our town, not sent to other towns.” From a citizen without children: “The budget we have is more than enough to fund our schools. We should spend our budget on something else.”

Obviously, these are real-world issues playing out in a controlled space, but it’s a good lesson for Cushing’s young students, whether they’re playing the role of a member of town council or a citizen. Macioci hopes that the exercise will teach the students that solutions are rarely simple and that many of society’s challenges don’t have indisputable solutions, but are dilemmas to which we must bring—as Cushing’s Portrait of a Graduate reads—integrity, empathy, compassion, and courage.

Cushing Scholars Visit JFK Library

Last fall, the Cushing Scholars traveled to Boston to visit the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The group began with a session in the museum’s classroom, where they explored events and issues of the early 1960s using primary source documents and audiovisual materials. Following the classroom session, the museum educator worked with students in the museum, helping them make connections between the museum exhibits and the classroom discussions.

Next, they explored the topic of “Launching into the Sixties.” Acting as members of President Kennedy’s Press Office, the group was given an assignment to prepare a briefing for the President on topics that may come up in a specific press conference. To fulfill this assignment, they explored the museum and used primary source documents.

According to Peter Clarke, one of the Cushing Scholars’ advisors, “This was one of the best trips we’ve taken with the Scholars, and the staff complimented us on how seriously our students took their work.”

One of the groups presents to Bob Macioci’s class.

Cushing students at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston

Cushing Students are Serving Their Communities

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” There are a number of ways Cushing students are learning that important life lesson at the Academy.

Each spring, our students participate in our annual Tony Fisher Day, during which groups of students go out into the surrounding community to perform various acts of service. In the last few years, our students have volunteered at food banks and state parks, as well as locations around Ashburnham like the senior center, town library, and town’s safety complex. They’ve even been as far afield as Walden Pond and the Greater Boston Food Bank. The day is in honor and memory of philanthropist and Cushing alumnus Tony Fisher ’69.

But the Academy’s contributions to community service happen more than just one day per year. In the fall, first-year Academic Support teacher Shawn Gebhardt (above left) began advising the Academy’s community service afternoon activity. He discussed with the students what they would like to do, and the kids told him they’d like to work with younger kids; so, Shawn reached out to J.R. Briggs Elementary

Day program welcomed the opportunity to have the Cushing students visit, and so they set up visits to take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 5 pm. Each day, half of Shawn’s 15 students would visit the school, helping out with homework, playing games with the kids, supervising outside play, and doing arts and crafts. The Cushing students loved it, as did the kids from the elementary school.

Track coach and ESL teacher Stirling Ince (above right) got his students involved in a com munity service project as well. Stirling has been volunteering at the Cleghorn Neighborhood Center in Fitchburg for several years, and last winter he decided to get a few Cushing students involved. Three students signed up and they visited the center as part of their afternoon activity. Once at the center, the Cushing students help with homework, arts and crafts, science experiments, and other tasks that the staff at the center need help with. He continued the activity during this most recent winter term.

Stirling says it can be discouraging work because sometimes the kids at the center have trouble doing schoolwork that should be relatively simple for them, and sometimes there are kids at the center who clearly have the desire and ability to learn at a higher level, but

Even so, he acknowledges that the experience is beneficial both to the students at the center and for the Cushing students who help out. “It’s a reminder that not everyone has the same opportunities,” says Stirling. “It’s a reminder for our students that they have things to be thankful for.”

There’s a real need for this kind of support at the center. Sometimes they have as many as 40 kids at the center with very few staff members to help. And although he’d like to do it all year round, Stirling coaches in the fall and the spring, so it has to be just a winter activity. “I’d like to get more people involved,” he says, “but they need to be doing it for the right reasons.”

These community service efforts are a reminder that at Cushing we value education that includes action on behalf of others.

Rust Cup Champs

On Feb. 28, the Varsity B Boys’ Hockey Team won the Bob Rust Cup Memorial Tournament with some serious Penguin Pride. It was a hard-fought championship game vs. Avon Old Farms that needed overtime to decide the winner! Congrats to the coaches Mike Kowalenko and Matthew Tuller ’02 as well as every player on the team for a great season and an even better ending!

The Varsity B Hockey team with their Rust Cup trophy

TEDx Cushing

In March, Cushing held its first ever TEDx Cushing, spearheaded by Jessica Kinsley ’16 (below) along with her committee (above): Myles Bonadie ’17, Rachel Guerriero ’16, Joanna James ’15, and Yashi Thakurani ’18.

Jessica was motivated to set up a TED talk at Cushing because of the diverse interests of Cushing students. “At first what motivated me to organize this was that I knew I could do it and that it could become something

my committee and I received about this event was really inspiring and made us even more excited to organize this event.”

The committee held auditions where interested students had to fill out an outline of their talk and prepare a one-minute opener. In the end, four students were selected: Chyna Christman ’16, Gia Nghi “Jack” Chau ’17, Zara Tarter ’17, and Kylie Caouette ’15.

The students presented their thoughts on issues that affect them. Chyna talked about the power of language to affect how we view ourselves and each other; Jack talked about unpacking your self-confidence and not being afraid to take a risk, make new friends, or get involved with new activities; Zara talked about solving problems by looking at them from a new perspective; and Kylie talked about how our own expectations of ourselves can sometimes keep us from being honest about our feelings.

“The theme for the event is Changing Perspective, and that's exactly what I told the speakers to focus on with their TED talks,” said Jessica. “Sometimes living inside Cushing can make it seem like we all see things the same way, and my hope is that with these TED talks, people will be more open to different topics involving students today.”

Congratulations to the committee and the presenters on a job well done!

A Moby-Dick Whaling Dance

In November, Dr. Norm Carey’s Advanced Literature class was given a choice during their reading of Moby-Dick—write an essay, or replicate a tavern dance set to a 19th century whaling song featured in the 1956 film starring Gregory Peck. As one might guess, the group chose the dance. But there was a hitch: a panel of judges would decide if the performance was robust enough to warrant a passing grade. If not, the class would write the essay.

So, on an overcast day, the group headed to School Girl Square, where they were met by a group of faculty and staff judges, and student spectators. On went the music, and the group performed a jaunty dance around and around the statue. After the conferring of the judges, it was deemed that the dance was nicely choreographed in the spirit of the movie and deserving of a thumbs up all around.

Dr. Carey will retire this year after more than 30 years of service to the Academy. Read more about his career at Cushing on page 30.

No Dr. Carey event involving the great white whale would be complete without the harpoon, which he brought out for the occasion. The group later took a trip to the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

A whaling dance

Show Your Work Architecture

IN JANUARY, BOB JOHNSON’S ARCHITECTURE CLASS had a very special guest: Jake Droogan ’11, who has been studying architecture at Roger Williams University.

Jake came back to campus with some of the work he’s produced at college and to talk to Bob’s students about what college-level architecture is all about. By the time he was a sophomore at Cushing, Jake knew he wanted to be an architect. The classes he took at the Academy helped smooth his transition to college because he learned to draw by hand, as opposed to learning computer-aided design (CAD). CAD is necessary too, but Bob is a firm believer that learning to draw designs by hand—and properly measure the space you’re designing for—is critical, and Jake agrees. “Computers are great, but you’ve got to be able to draw,” he says.

During his visit, Jake told Bob’s students that he uses tweezers to create his extremely detailed 1/16th-scale models. He also has to create blueprints and design with landscape in mind. “You have to decide if you’re going to design around the landscape or mow it down,” he told them. He also has to create his designs in days, rather than weeks, as Bob’s students do. “When I’m working on a project, I sometimes spend more than 60 hours a week of my own time working on it,” Jake says.

At college, his projects start with a list of requirements like occupancy, square footage, materials, and budget. He has to design with those parameters in mind. Of course, part of the challenge of architecture is working within restrictions. “Anyone can do anything they want,” Bob says. “But working within the restrictions is the difference between good and great.”

Jake’s visit gave Bob the opportunity to talk about the requirements of realworld design in terms of the Emily Fisher Landau Center for Visual Arts. Bob noted that there is sometimes a conflict between what the architect’s design and what the engineers say is necessary, a conflict that was especially evident in the process of designing a building created specifically for art. Such a building requires different kinds of filtering and vents to accommodate fumes generated by some of the art created at Cushing. “There were 12 designs before we settled on the final one. You have to listen to what’s going on and pay attention to what your client wants,” Bob observed.

An architectural model crafted by Jake Droogan ’11 during his studies at Roger Williams University (continued)

Show Your Work

On the day that Jake visited, Cushing students were designing their dream homes before moving on to commercial properties. For the projects pictured here, Bob’s architecture students had to pick their favorite fast-food restaurants and fix any problems they thought the restaurant to have. They also had to incorporate corporate branding into their designs.

As their final exam, the students designed a city, pulling two requirements from a hat: the location of the building and the type of building (e.g., post office, shoe store, pharmacy, etc.). They worked in small teams and, in the end, they had to sell Bob on their design. “Cushing students leave here with a better understanding of real-world applications and what design really entails,” Bob says. “I’m not just pulling things from a text book; I’m teaching students how to do real-world things.”

That knowledge certainly benefited Jake, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Roger Williams in December 2014. He’ll complete his master’s degree in the spring of 2016. He’ll go on to an internship and hopes to go into commercial design.

Fast food restaurant architecture projects created by Bob Johnson’s students

ABOVE: Ally Hess ’15 shows Bob Johnson and Erika von Graevenitz ’15 her architecture project.

BELOW: Jake Droogan ’11 shows his work to Bob Johnson’s architecture students.

Good Sports

Cushing Baseball Hits the Road:

Florida Spring Training, 1976 and 1977

BY CHUCK JOHANNINGSMEIER ’77

ALL I HAD IN MY MIND was the prospect of leaving the cold and snow of Ashburnham behind, spending two weeks with my teammates having fun, seeing parts of the country I’d never seen before—and, oh, also playing baseball. Fortunately for me, I got to do all of these things not once but twice, in both 1976 and 1977.

What I have only recently learned, as a result of two long phone calls with McGowan and Sanborn (both now semi-retired) is that these trips were the result of their shared desire to improve Cushing’s baseball program. One major obstacle to attaining this goal, they believed, was the long New England winter, which usually prevented

the team from getting much practice time until shortly before the season’s first game. To help remedy this situation, they dreamed of getting an indoor pitching mound, a batting machine, and a net to protect the interior of the Heslin Gymnasium from batted balls so that we could practice during the winter. At a time when funds were very scarce at Cushing, though, the high price tags for these items seemed to put them very much out of reach. It was then that McGowan hit on the idea of raising money by grilling hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs on the porch of Lowe Hall every Friday and Saturday night, weather permitting, and selling them to hungry stu-

THIRTY-NINE YEARS AGO, during my junior year at Cushing, I had no idea that the awesome trip to Florida I was soon going to take over spring break with my baseball team had come about because of a shared dream of my coaches, Dan McGowan and Wayne Sanborn.

dents. Purchasing the supplies wholesale from the Cushing food service, McGowan sold the hamburgers and hot dogs for 50¢ each; cheeseburgers could be had for 65¢. For a great many students who attended Cushing during those years, the memory of biting into a hot, delicious late-evening snack while hanging out with friends on that porch remains quite vivid.

But for players on the baseball team, the funds raised from these grilling sessions—as well as from the raffle tickets they sold—would lead to even greater memories. Enough money was taken in not only to purchase the pitching machine and net (the Cushing maintenance crew was able to build a makeshift mound out of lumber scraps) but also to subsidize something McGowan and Sanborn had only imagined in their wildest dreams: a trip to Florida for spring training, just like the pros did each year.

The Cushing trips, of course, resembled the pros’ warmweather experiences only in broad outline. For one thing, we rode not in airplanes but in the two Econoline vans the school owned. We also did not stay in high-end hotels; our lodgings were typically much more humble. Our meals were purchased cheap and in bulk. The only truly professional-looking part of our team’s experience was getting to wear snazzy new polyester uniforms, which thanks to the generosity of alum John Biggs ’33 had replaced the wool uniforms I wore during my sophomore year.

But no one on the team would have thought of complaining about anything. After all, because of the success of the coaches’ and players’ fundraising efforts, each

player received round-trip transportation to Florida during spring break, lodging for about 12 nights, meals, and a variety of fun excursions—all for the very low price of approximately $110. A real bargain, even then!

What really made the coaches’ and players’ dreams come true was the invaluable assistance of Mr. William D. Barry, father of Bill Barry, one of the players on the 1976 team. In a letter to McGowan during the winter before the first trip, Barry offered to help make the arrangements for a team trip to Florida, which he had heard from his son was something the coaches were considering. The coaches, of course, wrote back to say they would welcome his aid. Amazingly, McGowan still has the letter Barry sent a month or so later; in it he provided addresses and phone numbers of his contacts all up and down the East Coast who would be willing to provide lodging, baseball fields, teams to play against, and so forth. (This letter, I might mention, was a powerful reminder to me of how things got arranged in the pre-Internet age!)

So finally, in the early morning hours of Saturday, Mar. 13, 1976, the team assembled at the vans parked next to Lowe Hall, put our gear inside, and took to the road. Our first stops each year were in Hadley, Mass.; in 1976 we picked up player Jeff Mish ’76 at his home, and in 1977 we picked up David Farnham ’77, who lived in the same neighborhood. At both houses, the parents welcomed us and generously fed huge amounts of delicious breakfast food to our hungry pack of teenage boys to keep us satisfied for the long drive ahead. Dinner that first night was at the home of Dan McGowan’s parents near Bridgeton, N.J. And then came a long stretch of driving that brought us to our first night’s stop: Burlington, N.C. Here, a business associate of Mr. Barry’s paid for us to stay two nights at the local Hilton Inn and also arranged for us to play baseball at the Elon College facilities. I will never forget waking up on my first morning in North Carolina, walking outside with my teammate Steve Jordan without any jacket on, and smelling spring in the air—a good month before either thing would be possible in Ashburnham.

During our day or two in North Carolina we not only got to practice outdoors, but we also drove around the Duke University campus, had dinner at the home of Betsy

“I will never forget walking outside with my teammate Steve Jordan without any jacket on, and smelling spring in the air—a good month before either thing would be possible in Ashburnham.”

Farnham ’76, and even took a tour of a cigarette factory (which Mr. Barry had described in his letter as “an educational experience for the team”). From there we headed to Charleston, S.C., where we put our sleeping bags on mattresses at the Charleston Army Depot. At Jacksonville Beach, Fla., we stayed four to a room in a hotel within walking distance of the beach; each room cost a whopping $14 a night! In that area, too, we played an actual game against a team from Episcopal High School. Although we held our own, it was clear to all of us that this team was really good (as were all the teams we played in Florida); being semi-intelligent teenagers, we figured out that this must have been due to the fact that they got to play outdoors all year round.

The long van trip south didn’t vary a great deal from 1976 to 1977. But what was quite different was our ultimate destination or home base (so to speak!) in Florida, where our days were chiefly focused on playing baseball. In 1976, we stayed in the National Guard Armory in Lakeland, Fla., and scrimmaged against a number of local teams. The next year, we got to stay at and attend the Fort Lauderdale

began. And we certainly did play a good bit of baseball. But recent conversations with my former teammates Lew Goldstein and David Farnham have confirmed for me that what the majority of the players likely remember best are the great times we had off the field. Going to Disney World. Visiting a Gulf Coast beach near Tampa. Seeing the Detroit Tigers (in Lakeland) and New York Yankees (in Fort Lauderdale) at their training camps. Eating at a string of all-you-could-eat restaurants (a wise choice, this, given the caloric intake necessary to keep teenage boys full!). Hanging out at Daytona Beach along with thousands

Baseball School and Camp, based at Boca Raton Community College, for an entire week. Clearly, the fundraising efforts had gone very well that year, because despite this camp costing $130 per person, the amount each player on the team had to pay was the same as the year before.

My teammate Lew Goldstein ’77 recalled recently that what he remembers most about this baseball school/camp was “how incredibly well done the sessions were.” I would second that, and add that those were the best baseball fields I have ever played on in my life, with no depressions in the infield grass or pebbles in the stone dust, as we had back home in Ashburnham. The stiff competition we faced from other teams was also an excellent incentive for improving our skills. What I remember best, though, is watching Lew stump one of the instructors, former New York Yankee Steve Whitaker, with numerous questions about his teammates’ batting, pitching, and running statistics back in the 1960s; it was abundantly clear to all of us watching this conversation that Lew clearly knew more about Whitaker’s team than he did!

The ostensible purpose of these trips, of course, was to give us an edge on all our New England opponents who couldn’t get much outdoor practice time before the season

of college students. Almost four decades after his trip, David recalled to me with a laugh how much fun he and some other players had at Daytona with teammate Glen Kimball ’77, who had brought a scary Halloween mask with him and put it on to walk down the beach, much to the surprise of passers-by. Lew distinctly remembers how at Disney World, because everyone knew he didn’t want to go on a roller-coaster, they got him to wait in line with them by convincing him that the Matterhorn ride was just a moving walkway/3D experience (he did go on it, but he closed his eyes the entire ride).

And who could forget the long van rides themselves? In the days before iPods, cell phones, or even Walkmans, what we had to keep us entertained was AM radio, blasting at high volume to reach the back seats. I still think of those trips, in fact, whenever I hear the song “Oh What a Night…” by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, a new release that got a lot of airtime on various radio stations during one trip. Open windows were our only air conditioning. Sleeping was especially difficult: at a time when seat belts were not mandatory, we either stretched out on the bench seats or lay on the floor, parallel to the seats. The most coveted position, actually, was the one where

“...the really fun part was taking kids on a whole different experience, especially the ones who had never traveled much before.”

ABOVE: Coach Wayne Sanborn with his wife, Jeanne, in 1976 Lewis Goldstein in his 1977 senior yearbook picture

RIGHT: The Cushing Academy baseball team on the beach in Daytona, Fla.

Coach Dan McGowan in 1976

BOTTOM

you could lay your head against the warm engine cowling up front and put your legs under the first one or two bench seats. Lew, David, and I also distinctly remember how fun the trip home was in 1977 when, shortly after the accompanying picture was taken, we all piled into the vans and drove almost non-stop back to Ashburnham. How coaches McGowan and Sanborn did this with only about a twohour nap at a rest area in Virginia still boggles my mind.

I’m unsure whether or not getting to play baseball for a few weeks in a warmer climate these two years translated into more baseball victories for my two teams during the season back up north. Eventually, the dream of creating, in Sanborn’s words, “a premier baseball program that would make Cushing stand out to prospective student players” was definitely realized, and maybe this was due in part to our having established a tradition of taking the team south over spring break: in the years since that time, under the able coaching of Wayne Hancock, the baseball squad has perennially been one of the top-ranked prep teams in New England. The two teams I played on, alas, could not exactly have been described in such terms!

To me, though, and I think the rest of the players would agree, the real “payoff” from these trips can’t really be measured in games won or improved batting and pitching stats. Looking back, Sanborn says, “The really fun part was taking kids on a whole different experience, especially the ones who had never traveled much before.” McGowan similarly recalls that the best part for him was

“seeing the number of players who enjoyed the trips, and building the relationships with the kids.” Sanborn notes, too, that at many alumni events over the years, former players have come up to him and reminisced about these and other spring training trips.

Looking at my senior Penguin yearbook the other day, I saw that one teammate, Scott Berube ’77, had written, “Never forget Florida,” and Lew Goldstein wrote, in part, “Thank you for your singing performance in Florida.” While I’m hoping my singing exploits are now long forgotten, I’m glad that I still have so many vivid memories from those weeks. As one of the “kids” McGowan and Sanborn talk about, I can say that truly, those trips are an indelible part of my “dear old Cushing days.”

And since in my self-centered teenage years I didn’t have a clue what it took to make those trips and memories happen, I’d like to take the opportunity now to say a huge thank you to coaches McGowan and Sanborn, who gave up so much of their time during the school year, as well as their spring breaks (a big thanks, too, to their wives, Ruth and Jeannie, who sacrificed precious time with their husbands!). I’m sure that I, and most of my teammates, while we might wince at the prospect of sleeping on thin mattresses at National Guard armories, prefer to fly instead of ride in cramped vans for hours on end, and be extremely sore from playing baseball for more than twenty minutes in a day, would jump at the chance to take that trip again if we could.

TOP ROW L–R: The 1976 baseball team

Chuck Johanningsmeier in his 1977 senior yearbook picture

L–R: The tradition that started way back in 1976 continues to this day. Here, the 2015 baseball team is pictured during their spring training trip in March.

David Farnham in his 1977 senior yearbook picture

A Day in the Life of Two Graduating Seniors

Vinny Grimaldi is from Belchertown, Mass. Boarding school was his idea, rather than his parents’. He felt Belchertown was too rural, and he wanted the opportunity to experience more cultural diversity. “No one at my school even knew how boarding school worked,” he says. “I wanted to expand my cultural horizons.” Vinny toured four or five schools, but in the end, he applied only to Cushing. “I couldn’t imagine anywhere other than Cushing,” he says. “It was the right size and the right community.”

Freshman year wasn’t all fun for the young Vinny though. He suffered from homesickness and went home often. Early on in his first year, he remembers heading to the shower with his keys in hand. He put them on top of the wall separating the stalls, which would have been a fine place for them except for the gap in the cinderblocks. You guessed it: his keys fell in the hole. There he was, in the shower, and no way to get back into his room. He was ultimately rescued, and replaced his keys and his ID. It was a lesson learned, however, and he never again took his keys to the bathroom. At the end of the year, he retrieved the long-lost keys using a string with a magnet on the end.

Despite this inauspicious beginning, Vinny has taken full advantage of the opportunities at the Academy. He’s served on Student Faculty Senate. He’s been a proctor and a tour guide—this year, he’s the head tour guide. He’s been on the Honor Council, served as his freshman class secretary and this year is senior class president. He’s a member of the Student Development Advisory

Board and is on the staff of The Breeze. Athletics have played an important role in his experience, too. He played JV football for two years and varsity football for two. He’s also been on the skiing and lacrosse teams. “Being on those teams has helped me connect with a different group of friends and peers than I otherwise would have,” he says.

He’s also taken classes in metalsmithing and fused glass as well as media production. “Media production was a beneficial experience that taught me how to use video editing software that still benefits me now when it comes to making video projects for different classes,” he says. He also appreciates the opportunity to learn different art disciplines. “I’m actually starting to see a little bit of an artistic side of me I didn’t really know I had,” he laughs.

As he’d hoped in the beginning, Vinny’s time at Cushing has indeed broadened his horizons. “I love meeting different people,” he says. “In just one day, you hear so many different languages and interact with so many different cultures. You can build friendships you keep beyond Cushing.” And although his schedule is very busy, he still finds time to spend with his friends on the weekends, during free periods, while watching

A TYPICAL DAY FOR VINNY

6:50 am out of bed after a 10-minute snooze

7:10 dressed and on the way to the dining hall

7:35 at the library for 15 minutes before heading to class

8:00 classes until 2:30 with a break for lunch

2:30 pm extra help with teachers

3:00 in the locker room, getting ready for practice

3:30 on the bus, heading to the mountain

4:00 arrive at the mountain for 90 minutes of practice

6:00 back to campus to clean up and have dinner, meetings until 7:30pm

8:00–

10:00 study hall in the library

10:00 back to dorm to do homework until finished

12:00 pm in bed

games, and, of course, in the dining hall.

The faculty, too, have left an impression on Vinny, particularly Raja Bala, who teaches in the Academy’s English Department and serves as the Associate Dean of Academics. “The way he thinks is amazing. He makes me think differently about how people are. He connects the class materials to our lives. It’s more than an English class. It’s kind of a therapy class,” Vinny laughs.

Asked what he’s most proud of from his time at the Academy, he says, “Taking advantage of all of the clubs Cushing has. That’s doing Cushing the right way. You have to use the opportunities you have here that you don’t have at a regular high school.”

Vinny will head to Syracuse University in the fall, where he’ll join several other Cushing alumni and intends to major in journalism. And although he looks forward to that next stage of his life, he’ll miss Cushing too—the crazy community at basketball games and the way you really know the players, getting candy from the drawer in Mrs. Fay’s office, and giving tours to prospective students and their families.

A TYPICAL MONDAY FOR KAYLA

7:10 am after 3 alarms, out of bed

7:55 leave room for study time in library during A period

8:45 to class

10:15 assembly in Cowell Chapel

10:45 back to class for the rest of day, with a break for lunch

2:35–

3:00 pm extra help time, often for math

3:15–4:45 at Heslin Gym for practice

5:30 dinner

6:00 library to do homework, plus often meetings for Student Faculty Senate, Yearbook, etc.

8:00 proctor dorm duty, and studying 10:00 back to dorm, chat with dorm parent or friends in the dorm

11:16 Internet off; if homework is done, go to bed; if not, stay up until complete

Kayla Sargent is a native of Holbrook, Mass. She came to Cushing as a freshman, in part because of advice she received from an uncle with experience in the independent school world. But advice from adults is rarely the only reason a teenager makes a decision, so she visited the Academy and, as many of our students do, she liked the sense of community and the feel of campus. “I felt like I fit in,” she says.

Even so, the first year was a tough one for the 14-year-old Kayla. Homesickness is a problem for many students in the first year, and it was for Kayla, but she notes that the support she received from the faculty at Cushing was amazing. “I went home almost every weekend that first year,” she says. “But each year I went less and less.”

Beyond a sense of belonging, Kayla knew she’d get opportunities at Cushing that she wouldn’t get at home, and she’s taken full advantage of that. As a member of the volleyball team, she attended preseason each year, helping her to feel more a part of the community and learning the importance of teamwork. She also played softball and has been team captain of both squads this year. But Cushing is also about

learning new things, so she tried JV ice hockey even though she was a poor skater, an experience that taught her to try things outside her comfort zone, a lesson that will no doubt serve her well for years to come.

In addition to athletics, she’s been a proctor and a tour guide; served on the Honor Council and the Student Faculty Senate; and worked on the yearbook for three years, including the last two when she served as editor. She’s taken a class in stained glass, which taught her to love art, though she had dreaded it at her old school. She’s been a Cushing Scholar for four years, and this spring, she went to New Jersey with Cushing’s Habitat for Humanity group to help build houses destroyed during super storm Sandy [read more on page 36]. This summer, she’ll join a Cushing trip to Tanzania where the group will help build a schoolhouse.

She hopes to study medicine in college, and she’s had the chance to learn more about that at Cushing. She shadowed Dr. Ciottone (P’16, P’17), a doctor who, among other things, works in the emergency room at Beth Israel Hospital. In January, she also went to a Global Health Symposium at Harvard, which taught her, she says, “There are so many things you can do as a doctor. Even

when bad things are happening, we can help make the world a better place.”

That trip to Harvard left an impression on Kayla, but it’s not the only thing she says she’ll remember about the Academy. “It’s a great community. Everyone feels comfortable, and there are no limitations on who can succeed here,” she says. And when she needs support after a bad day or a hard test, there are people here to do just that. Her advisors have changed each year— an uncommon occurrence at Cushing, but unavoidable in Kayla’s case. Even so, she says that Beth Stone, her advisor this year, is the first person to congratulate her on a good test grade and is always there when Kayla is stressed out by her busy schedule or when it feels like things are going badly. Her roommate, Paranya Bow Jareonvongrayab ’15, who is from Thailand, also positively influenced Kayla’s time at the Academy. “I’m a shy person,” Kayla says, “and Bow was the first person I connected with.”

Kayla is proud of the time she’s spent at Cushing. She’s come out of her shell and become a true leader on campus. She remembers looking up to a few of the senior girls when she was still just a freshman. “I’m proud that I’ve become someone freshman girls can look up to now,” she says. “I’m also proud that I’ve worked hard to stay on high honor roll.”

It’s time to move on from her high school years now. She’ll miss the teachers, who, she says, “genuinely want us to succeed.” She’ll also miss what she calls the “purple Adirondack chair season,” when the weather is finally warm enough after a long winter to bask in the sun outside.

We wish Vinny and Kayla the best of luck in the future and look forward to welcoming them back as alumni!

Mary Fern

IN SPITE OF THE CHILLY WEATHER, she was encouraged by the warmth of the people she met; and by the time the 1967–1968 school year started, she was on the faculty, teaching English, creative writing, and drama.

To say she had a multitude of talents would be an understatement, which was a good thing, because there was no Performing Arts Department at Cushing when she arrived, so she had to start from scratch. She was committed to sharing her love of drama with Cushing’s students. “I wanted to give as many kids as possible the chance to have the drama experience,” she said in 1998. She increased the number of productions and carved out time between athletics and classes so students could pursue the arts. At first, that meant her students had rehearsals from 6:00 to

7:30 in the morning, but the kids stuck with it, and Mary applauded their diligence.

The Cushing community loved the performances, and they became quite important to life at the Academy. Her students performed classics like Death of a Salesman and The Importance of Being Earnest, but they also performed original one act plays—a tradition she began in those early years and which would last until after she’d retired from teaching at Cushing.

For Mary, though, the arts truly took center stage after the arrival of Headmaster Curry. “When Dr. Curry came in, he did so much to make it possible for drama and dance. He made it easy for kids to be in productions, and I’ve never forgotten that,” she said in 1998.

By late May, it is usually springtime in Massachusetts—even in Ashburnham—but

May 23, 1967, when Mary Fern made her first visit to Cushing, it was snowing.

When I was a “faculty brat,” Mary was directing the musical South Pacific. She was kind enough to include some of the faculty children as extras in the show. Our role during this scene was to be dancing on an elevated catwalk which was built off the side of the stage in Cowell Chapel. I fell off the staging—two stories up, it seemed to me— and landed on the ground. When I rose to my feet to let everyone know I was still alive, the crowd went nuts. After the show, in Mary’s subtle way, she said to me, “Well, you stole the show. They seemed like a dead crowd before that; anyway, nice job.” I’m sure she was trying to relieve my embarrassment. I was happy she wasn’t mad.

BRUCE LEMIEUX ’85

At Bunnell High School in Stratford, where Mary first taught, a group of her voc-ed students were sufficiently inspired by her teaching to mount an impromptu march to the principal’s office carrying “Hamlet” on their shoulders. I think Mary, then a young teacher, was somewhat surprised that they had been so moved by their classroom experience. As Mary gained further experience of the years at Cushing as a play director and English teacher, and later as a college admissions advisor, she retained that creative spirit and gift of inspiring others.

SALLY GRAHAM JACQUET (MARY’S SISTER)

It was back in 1985 when a cocky 30-year-old basketball coach and a demanding 65-year-old theatre director became fast friends. I’m not sure what the attraction was, but I suspect that it had something to do with the fact that we both liked martinis. I remember when I was doing the lighting for the faculty play Deadwood Dick. The Celtics were in the playoffs, so I snuck a small TV into the lighting booth during a rehearsal. I had one line in the play that I was supposed to shout out from the booth. Well, I got a little too into the game and missed my cue. Mary was so [annoyed] that she took the line away from me and gave it to Dave Korman, who, by the way, was watching the game with me.

BILL WENNING, FACULTY MEMBER

Mary was a fixture at the Academy, and her work mattered to decades of Cushing students. “I had a real house, and I was able to have students over for coffee or sand wiches,” she remembered. “We had a number of those sessions. They were teaching sessions, but it was an awful lot of fun.” She also made a point of producing large productions so “lots of kids could try their stuff.”

It wasn’t just the students who benefited from her enthusiasm, however. Fellow faculty members performed too. “I had wonderful people to work with,” she said. “Some of them were very, very talented. We had a good number of plays and even more opportunities for teachers to get to know students. They got to know students not just in a regular classroom. And students got to know their teachers too.”

She remembered fondly a young Tony Fisher ’69, who, among other things, did lighting for her productions. “It seemed to me he had a particularly loud voice when he called for a certain light that’s a yellowish shade and it’s called Bastard Amber,” she said. “Tony would yell to ‘put on the Bastard Amber!’” There was a gentleman in the chapel who was very upset to hear such language and wanted to know why Tony was yelling “Bastard Amber.” Mary tried to explain, but the gentleman just didn’t think it was very nice. “So I went in and I asked Tony—who I know just loved doing it—to tone down the noise.” Tony responded he couldn’t because everyone needed to be able to hear him. That seemed like a good enough reason to Mary, so she let him continue.

Sometimes she spent time in the chapel by herself when it was quiet, because she felt that was when she got her best staging ideas. But she also acknowledged that sometimes there was sadness in the quiet. “I would come down when the students I knew and loved were going to go out and graduate and… a couple of times I came down here to weep because I was going to miss them very much.” That was just

the kind of teacher she was. She and her husband never had children, but when people would ask her if she had any, she would say, “Oh yes. About 5,000 or so.”

Eventually, Mary was named the Chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department, a role she kept until the arrival of Whit Wales in 1988. She retired in 1992, having spent her last four years working in the Alumni and Development Office. By the end of her tenure at the Academy, she had also been the Head of the English Department, taught public speaking, and worked in College Counseling. For her contributions to the Academy, she was named an honorary alumna in 1992.

She was proud of the work she did at the Academy, the students who passed through its doors, and the faculty who taught there. In a 2007 interview, she said, “The faculty is student-centered, very much so, still. And I hope that never changes because that’s a big part of what Cushing is. It is a student-centered place. It is also devoted to the idea that you have a freshman or first-year student and you do your very best as a faculty member to bring out the best in them.”

For many of her students, she was a defining point in their Cushing experience. Throughout the years, on birthdays and also at her retirement, people have submitted their stories and memories of the amazing Mary Fern, and there are constant threads throughout. She was a perfectionist— never willing to settle for anything less than the best. But still, she was compassionate and devoted to her students. She gave the gift of confidence to the students she taught. And in return, Cushing got something, too. Dr. Richard Kleefield, Trustee emeritus and parent to James Kleefield ’83, said, “Mary’s gift to Cushing: the best years of her life. There can be no finer legacy for any human being.” He noted, too, that she was “the epitome of a dedicated teacher filled with warmth and a special love and caring for each and every one whose life she has touched.” The Academy will be forever grateful for her contributions.

These days, Mrs. Fern resides in Leominster, where she is regularly visited by Cushing faculty and generations of grateful former students.

“The faculty is student-centered, very much so, still. And I hope that never changes because that’s a big part of what Cushing is. It is a student-centered place.”

MARY FERN

3.

Remembering Dr. Joseph R. Curry

Editor’s Note: Many thanks to Amy Logan for writing this article honoring the Academy’s 9th Headmaster. Excerpted remembrances offered at the time of Dr. Curry’s retirement (noted with an asterisk) and after his passing are shared throughout this article. A memorial service for Dr. Curry was a highlight of Reunion Weekend and took place at 11 am on Saturday, June 6, in Cowell Chapel.

DR. JOSEPH R. CURRY, 9th Headmaster of the Academy, died on Dec. 12, 2014, at the age of 81. Visionary and inspiring, he led the Academy from 1972 to 2000 through turbulent years and into a new era of great growth and strength.

At the time of his retirement, Dr. Curry reflected, “I didn’t ever expect to be a builder of buildings, or for Cushing to be a school of 400 kids. My vision was having a school where we put kids and our love of kids first, measuring Cushing by community, by caring, and by goodness.” By those measures, and by all others, he succeeded brilliantly and shaped Cushing profoundly, earning the respect and gratitude of countless students and their families and leaving an extraordinary legacy of community and excellence.

He was born in Clover, S.C., on Feb. 27, 1933, the son of Grady Webster Curry and Maude Jackson Curry. After graduating from Clover High School, he entered the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, graduating in 1955 with a commission to the U.S. Army. He decided against an Army career, later explaining that “to be a successful officer, one had to be willing to give up individuality, join the old boy network and use systems for preferment… none of this appealed to me. I valued my freedom more than the opportunity.”

The next chapter of his life and educational journey was transformative. To explore the role that a religious vocation might play in his life, he applied and was accepted to Harvard University. He often spoke of the intense intellectual excitement of those years and of the exhilaration of his complete immersion into the pursuit of knowledge. At the conclusion of his studies, he left Harvard with an S.T.B. in theological learning and the decision to continue studying history and philosophy. And even more importantly, he left having met and courted Jeannette “Jenny” Powell, a fellow Harvard graduate student in education and a gifted artist, whom he married in June 1958.

In July of that year, the Currys drove to El Paso, Tex., to report for his two-year stint in the Army, which he described as a wonderful experience. Reflecting on that time, he later noted, “It was a period of consolidation for me. I had opportunities to learn about avocations that were always of interest to me. Our daughter, Dana, was born there in 1959 and I have a true love for that part of the country.” That love of the Southwest would later provide an entry into his contributions to Native American education through Cushing’s founding partnerships.

At the conclusion of his military service, Dr. Curry embarked on his master’s degree in history at Trinity College, intent upon a secondary school teaching career, and in 1961 he accepted a position at the Mount Hermon School (now Northfield Mount Hermon), where he taught, coached wrestling, and served as the Director of their summer session. He recalled, “It was a fortuitous choice because I learned the craft of teaching, and had the opportunity to do virtually everything I wanted to do, from editing a book to continuing graduate school during summers to traveling abroad.”

Having taken a leave of absence in 1971 to complete his doctorate in education at UMass Amherst, he embarked on another job search, ready to lead a school as headmaster. Though not originally on the list of schools that he considered, he was intrigued by an opportunity at Cushing. The challenges were enormous—declining enrollment, financial instability, and a tumultuous time in education—and, to Cushing’s great good fortune, he saw it as the right opportunity for his experience, passion, and daunting energy and intellect, and he began in 1972 what would be his remarkable 28-year tenure.

The challenges of the early years cannot be overstated, as he rightly saw his first job as saving the Academy from closure. After having accomplished through sheer determination what seemed impossible to others, he embarked on a period of ground-breaking educational innovation

(continued on page 29)

� � �

*What I always remember about Dr. Curry was on Saturdays, when there were a lot of athletic events around campus, somehow he managed to be everywhere. [He was] almost like a political candidate—in one city at 10:00 am and in another state by noon. As a cross-country runner, I’d see him as I was coming out of the chute behind the football field. When I came down from the graveyard, there he was at the girls’ lacrosse game. Minutes later I’d see him on the varsity field. He should have suited up for us.

GEOFF GRANDBERG ’89

� � �

Spring was coming and, as student body secretary, many students approached me about getting shorts approved for the dress code. I met with Dr. Curry, who had me first draft a policy inclusive of what defined “shorts” (i.e. Bermuda length, no rips, no jean shorts, etc.). Then he wanted me to get approval from the faculty. The further I got, the more he gave me to do, so I assumed he just didn’t want it and it would never happen.

Then, during an assembly, he mentioned to the faculty and student body that students were not dressing appropriately and that if they wanted shorts in the dress code to be seriously considered, they had better start dressing appropriately. Some students balked and then I stood up and said, “Please just tuck in your shirt and don’t wear ripped pants. I’ve been working hard to get you shorts so help me out.”

At formal dinner that night, to my great surprise, Dr. Curry came up to me and said that he was going to permit shorts and that I could announce it in the next assembly. He then told me he put me through these challenges and obstacles so that I could learn how a bureaucracy worked.

Ten years later, I visited campus and met with Dr. Curry. I repeated the story to him and told him that I thought he made an incredible contribution to Cushing. He simply replied, “This place is worthy.” That response aptly sums up to me the great man, educator, and teacher that Dr. Curry was. I will never forget him.

PETER BLITZER ’91

� � �

I have the deepest respect for a man who led with respect, and always had his heart in the right place. Dr. Curry was an incredible leader, who embraced Cushing Academy whole-heartedly. For those of us who knew him, it’s impossible to think of Cushing Academy without thinking of Dr. Curry. He was a remarkable man. I was lucky to have him touch my life.

BARBARA DRONS-CARROLL ’76

� � �

*I remember years ago [members] of the board were sitting around trying to decide whether to close Cushing. Fortunately, a young man from Harvard was willing to take a chance on us. I don’t think anyone who was not present at that time can appreciate the effect and success Dr. Curry has had on this great school.

HAZEN MASTER ’44 (D) FORMER TRUSTEE

� � �

While Dr. Curry was an imposing physical presence, he was a warm and caring person. I attended Cushing during his tenure and respected him tremendously. He remembered everyone’s name (and I mean everyone), even if he had met them only once, or if it had been years since he had seen them.

REBECCA CHANIN ’85

� � �

*He gave his encouragement and support to the arts. Today, one has only to walk through the beautiful fine arts building, attend the marvelous dramatic and musical productions and the inspiring concerts to realize the success of his vision.

[He embraced] strong convictions from the beginning in regard to the promotion and support of women in important positions in all phases of the school. As a result, an outstanding, dedicated group of women have contributed to Cushing in countless ways over the years, and continue to serve today.

(READ

MARY G. FERN, HON ’92

� � �

His great influence in my formative years has led to many moments of fond memories and appreciation for the privilege of his tutelage. To the chagrin of many other authority figures in my life, Dr. Curry set the standard of what it means to earn someone’s respect. Few ever came close to his example. Instead of missing him, I have chosen to embrace what he continues to teach me through his memory daily.

DOUG

COLTER ’78

� � �

Dr. Curry was tough, but he was fair. I always knew where I stood with him and respected him very much.

BEN

IBBETSON ’90

MORE ABOUT MARY FERN ON PAGE 22)

through programs that would forever touch his students and the broader educational landscape, and then to building the facilities that he strongly believed Cushing students deserved.

A pioneer in understanding how students with learning-style differences learn best, he launched Cushing’s renowned Academic Support Program, creating a model that many other schools would follow. Likewise, the English as a Second Language program that he developed expanded the Cushing family worldwide and ushered in Cushing’s identity as an international educational leader, while building on a proud history of early international enrollments. He embarked on innovative uses of the campus and creative collaborations, including new summer programs.

He focused, always, on excellence: in academics, athletics, the arts, and in challenging students to excellence, along with his familiar exhortation to “make good choices.” Superb teaching was a hallmark of his tenure, and faculty considered themselves as learning from the best, striving to meet the high standards that always raised the bar. He never lost sight of what was at the heart of Cushing, noting that, “At any school, the most attractive asset is the teaching faculty. It is important, however, to distinguish between the most important asset and the most important activity at a school. It isn’t teaching—the most important activity is learning.”

Cushing’s campus blossomed under Dr. Curry’s boundless energy and discerning eye, inspiring a partnership with the Academy’s extraordinarily visionary and generous benefactors Edward G. Watkins ’56 and the late M. Anthony Fisher ’69, and with Theodore Iorio, the late George Cook ’39, the late George Wallace, and countless other trustees and contributors. Thanks to the remarkable investments by these leaders, the Fisher-Watkins Library in 1984 was the first of many much-needed facilities, followed by the Fisher-Watkins Dining Commons, the Theodore Iorio Arena, and the Emily Fisher Landau Center for the Visual Arts. The campus boundaries expanded, as well, with the purchase of additional acres.

In 1988, he co-founded the Native American Preparatory School, a summer program designed to make available to Native American students in the Southwest the same opportunities long-enjoyed by students at independent boarding schools. In recognition of his leadership, the Navajo Nation awarded him the Chief Manuelito Award, one of its highest honors.

Beloved by the community, Jenny served alongside Dr. Curry as gifted teacher, talented artist, respected colleague, gracious hostess, and treasured friend. Their children, and then also their grandchildren, were a source of great joy and pride to them both. Following his retirement in 2000, the Currys continued as residents of Ashburnham, purchasing a historic home adjacent to the campus. Jenny’s untimely death in November 2000 was a profound loss for the entire community. Dr. Curry is survived by his daughters, Dana Curry Lorway ’78 and Lisa Curry ’79, and two grandchildren, Savannah Grant and Breton Lorway ’17.

At Cushing today, the Joseph R. Curry Academic Center and an endowed faculty chair honor him, just two signs of the immeasurable gratitude of the community and the esteem in which he was held. Any reflection on his legacy, however, must begin and end with the impact he had on the lives he touched. These remembrances live in the hearts of all who knew Dr. Curry.

Turning the Page

Dr. Norm Carey, after 34 years in the English Department at the Academy, has taught his last class. He retires in June 2015.

NORM CAREY’S STORY BEGINS with an inspirational teacher—as such stories often do. Young Norm grew up in Rumford, Maine, a small town between Waterville and the New Hampshire border. His ninth-grade English teacher taught him two important lessons that have resonated throughout his life: have an opinion and don’t settle for mediocrity.

Norm’s parents expected him to take over his family’s oil business, but that task fell to his brother when Norm went to college at Bowdoin. The college is home to the Na-

thaniel Hawthorne Collection, and Norm spent a fair bit of time studying Hawthorne’s manuscripts. That, coupled with another teacher who left an impression—this time the Herman Melville scholar who served as Norm’s advisor—left him with a lifelong love of 19th and 20th century American literature. His honors thesis at Bowdoin, on Hawthorne, earned him summa cum laude honors and inspired him to continue his education at the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed his doctoral degree with an expansion of his undergraduate thesis.

Norm’s photo here is the work of Sam Fuller ’15 and was part of her March show in the Carter Gallery in Cushing’s Emily Fisher Landau Center for Visual Art.

Not Exactly Dead Poets’ Stuff

It was a common enough thing, Walking into another teacher’s classroom

To hand out a quiz in her absence— A small favor for a friend—no big deal. There they sat, honors freshmen, The promise of tomorrow in their eyes. And suddenly the years melted, and I saw another class— Just as young, their eyes equally bright, Now come and gone, chasing their dreams while I sit here Facing the years ahead with the sudden awareness That these kids will never know me, That I will never be able to show them The beauty of words, the beauty of their own minds, And the terrible, precious wisdom that waits for them In Melville’s sea, Whitman’s grass, and Gatsby’s smile. I pay the price all old teachers pay, and it’s okay— I’ve given so many of them just what they needed, And it’s comforting to know that they can take it from there.

– NORM CAREY

He came to Cushing in 1978 and has been here since, with the exception of the three years he spent in Santa Fe, N.M., as the head of a school for Native American students. He found that job because of Cushing’s Native American Preparatory School program. Although he clearly didn’t stay in Santa Fe, he developed an appreciation for the deeply spiritual culture of his students.

He returned to Cushing at the request of Headmaster Joseph Curry, where he took up the job as head of the English Department. He figures that, of his years at Cushing, he spent 27 of them as head of the English Department, and he’s seen some amazing teachers come and go during that time. He also spent more time than he wanted to dealing with budgets and developing curricula, so a few years ago, he prevailed upon Rebecca Lefcourt to take over that role so he could focus on what he loves best—his students.

Norm’s office shows evidence of his taste in literature. A bookshelf contains Shakespeare, Salman Rushdie, James Joyce, Dante, and George R.R. Martin, plus a copy of Moby-Dick, of course. Anyone who has ever taken an English class with Dr. Carey knows of his love for Melville’s influential work. Though the books may seem rather eclectic, many feature a common theme: the hero quest. A few years ago, Norm read Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces, and the book left an impression. Indeed, Norm thinks the book provides a unified theory that

explains all of literature in a way that really makes sense to him. The hero journey, he says, is a universal theme that transcends time, culture, and genre. Suddenly, he saw heroes everywhere. His interest in that theme is evident, not only on his bookshelf, but also in a senior seminar he teaches on the subject.

During one class day this winter, he was teaching a poetry class and an advanced literature class. The assignment for the young Cushing poets: find a poem—or write an original one—and bring it to read aloud to the class. Sam Reynolds ’15 read “O Captain! My Captain!”, which prompted Dr. Carey to remark that he planned to use a gift certificate he received for Christmas to get “Yawp” tattooed on his arm. He also told the class that Walt Whitman wrote that particular poem about Abraham Lincoln, whose death had pained him. Among the other poems read that day: “The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Dylan, “Out” by Ginsberg, and “Fire and Ice” by Frost.

Every poem is an opportunity for learning, of course. Dr. Carey points out how alike Ginsberg and Whitman are, how the Frost poem has a connection to Dante’s Inferno, and gives a high five to a shy student who volunteers to read. Class ended with a rhyming game, the winner of which won a “Get out of deadlines” pass for the following week. The game ends the class on a joyful and laughter-filled note.

Ten minutes later, the advanced literature students

arrive, prepared to delve into William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. Later, Dr. Carey said sotto voce that he doesn’t teach this novel every year because it requires a certain type of student. “These kids are good enough to read it and work things out for themselves. That’s better than me just talking to them.” To the class he remarks, “It’s okay if you can’t figure it all out. Some of it isn’t figure-outable.” And of course, everything has some connection to Moby-Dick. He asks the class, “Wouldn’t it be fun to do a creative writing assignment where Benjy and Ahab have a conversation over lunch?”

learned something new or when they’ve learned to feel better about themselves. And so, as his story began with an inspirational teacher in a small town in Maine, Norm’s Cushing story ends with an inspirational teacher as well, only this time it is he.

Of course, while he’s leaving the Academy, he’s still the same Norm Carey—never one to sit still for long, and it doesn’t sound like he’ll be doing much retiring. He got married in April and plans to spend lots of quality time with his bride. He also plans to publish a book of poetry, go to school to learn auto repair, get a Harley, learn Chinese so he can go to China with son Nate ’97, proofread grant proposals for extra pocket change, and travel and have adventures like Bilbo Baggins.

Safe travels, Norm!

“No,” came the unequivocal reply from his students. Asked why Moby-Dick holds such a fascination for him, he says, “My reading experience of that book paralleled my life experience. When I read that book at different stages of my life, I was ready for what it had to say.” He’s fascinated by the power of the book as a veiled prophecy about what happens if we don’t pay attention to how we treat our environment. He goes on to say, “Moby-Dick stands for a lot of things. That’s the beauty of a symbol.”

For Norm, his time at the Academy really has been all about the students, and he has left quite an impression. He tells the story of seeing an alumna at a recent holiday party in Boston: “It really came home to me then. She came to the event with her yearbook and showed me what I had written in it. She told me she had used my note as a way to guide her life. Teachers are really given an exceptional opportunity to change people’s lives.”

Unsurprisingly, when asked what he’s most proud of in his career, he doesn’t talk about his own accomplishments, but rather those of his students. He says he’s proud of the kids who learned to like school, or enjoy reading, or learned that they could succeed. What he’ll miss most is the way the students look at him when they’ve

“My reading experience of [Moby-Dick] paralleled my life experience. When I read that book at different stages of my life, I was ready for what it had to say.”

What Am I?

What Am I?

THE ORIGINAL ASH HOUSE was constructed in 1912. According to Cushing historian Frank Rand (1908), “Its cost was $95,000, its capacity 65 roomers. It also contained a dining hall with 140 seats, a small infirmary, steam heat, and space for a possible swimming pool.” It was almost named Fairbanks Hall—in honor of the Academy’s largest benefactor apart from Thomas Parkman Cushing—but the recently constructed Ashburnham town hall bore his name and the Academy’s Board worried that having the same name would cause confusion. The completion of the new dormitory allowed for more rooming space for girls in Lowe as well as a larger common area.

By 1912, Mr. Cowell had been Principal for 25 years. Professor Lane was still teaching—the only member of the faculty who had been there in 1887 when Cowell arrived. There had also been a host of other changes at the school in that time. The number of buildings had doubled from three to six. The number of faculty had more than doubled from seven to 16. The size of campus had quadrupled from five acres to 20. $12,000 had been added to the scholarship fund. Cushing sported a full complement of athletic teams, rather than just baseball as had been the case in 1887. Cushing had a newspaper, literary societies, and more than 1,000 alumni.

In a straw vote taken at Cushing in 1912, William Taft was preferred as president over Theodore Roosevelt, who was running for a third, non-consecutive term. Also running for president that year?

Principal Hervey S. Cowell, who was on the Prohibitionist ticket. He received three votes in the Cushing straw poll.

That was the year that Ivers Adams paid $50,000 to have a water system installed in town, bringing fresh water from Lake Naukeg

into town—indeed, we still get our fresh water from Lake Naukeg— and giving Ashburnham what they hoped would be enough water for ample fire protection.

In the end, however, it would not be enough. The 1915 basketball team had finished their 10–1 season at the end of February, but by April 12, their coach Frank Hardy would be dead, perishing just feet from the entrance in the fire that destroyed the three-year-old Ash House. In addition to Frank Hardy, two town girls were trapped by a falling wall, and one tragically succumbed to her injuries.

The replacement Ashburnham House was completed in an astonishing six months, with students and alumni working tirelessly to secure the necessary funding to make it happen. Students sold candy, food, and pencils. The school sold tickets to lectures given by the faculty. Townspeople, local organizations, and visitors to the town were all induced to make donations. The Class of 1894, having witnessed their own fire (see the Spring 2013 issue of Cushing Today for that story), were especially generous. The new building had three stories, rather than four, but a “somewhat larger ground area, more fire protection devices, no space for a swimming pool, and about the same rooming accommodations,” according to Rand.

The fireplace medallion itself was a gift from Alfred Whitney and his wife. Alfred Whitney was one of the original 66 gentlemen students at Cushing. He was a longtime member of the Board of Trustees and with his brother, Orange, was owner of the chair factory at which Frank Hardy worked following his graduation from Cushing. Incidentally, Alfred Whitney’s mother was Eliza Cushing, making Alfred a distant cousin to Thomas Parkman Cushing.

This is the medallion above the fireplace in Ashburnham House. The fireplace was once located in the dormitory’s common room, but that space is now part of the dorm parents’ residence.

MORE ABOUT FRANK HARDY

Frank Hardy was a member of the Cushing Class of 1899. An athlete from Rindge, N.H., he enrolled at Cushing in 1895. He played at guard on the 1896 football team when, according to Rand, “he suffered an injury of such a nature as to preclude an active participation in sports.” Not able to play, he took on the role of manager and coach to various teams, despite the fact that he was still a student. After he graduated, he worked for three years at the W.F. Whitney Chair Factory.

In 1900, Mr. Hardy assembled a team he called the Cushing Graduates to play at the Sportsman’s Show in Boston. The show was, according to Rand, arranged to arouse an interest in the game of basketball, then less than 10 years old. The team was composed of James Vose (who would become Cushing’s Principal after Dr. Cowell’s retirement), Fred Dunn, John Vose (James’ twin), Amos Foster, and James Wheelan. They defeated Dartmouth by a score of 9 to 6 to win the tournament.

Hardy returned to Cushing in 1902 as a coach, and his teams had some substantial successes. In addition to his work at Cushing, he was a committed servant to the town, taking on several roles, including Selectman.

He was known to be a modest man, but passionate about good sportsmanship. According to Rand, “He was respected and admired by directors in other schools, and was much in demand as a basketball official.”

The plaque in his memory, mounted in the Main Building one year after his death, indicates that he died trying to locate the source of the fire. Other stories say that he was trying to find Mrs. Cooke and that he was trying to save valuables. “Presumably,” says Rand, “… he was trying to be everywhere, arousing occupants, or perhaps even trying to combat the flames, and was overcome by smoke.” We’ll never know exactly what happened. What we do know is that Frank Hardy gave his life in service to his Academy. We are in his debt.

TOP L–R: Ashburnham House common room in 1917, with the medallion clearly visible. • Frank Hardy’s 1900 “Cushing Graduates” Championship Basketball Team. Seated, l–r: James Wheelan, John C. Vose, Frank Hardy, Fred Dunn, James Vose; standing: Amos Foster • Outside views of Ashburnham House in 1917.

IN COLOR: Ashburnham House today

• Ashburnham House’s common room renovated in 2014.

Art of Giving

NOT GLAMOROUS.

That’s how Vi-Anne Brown describes the recent Habitat for Humanity trip she chaperoned with eight Cushing students.

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy demolished homes in more than 15 states. The state of New Jersey was particularly hard hit. Since the hurricane, the nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity has been working to rebuild and renovate houses to help those impacted by the storm. This spring, a group of eight Cushing students—Fred Morlock ’16, Joanna James ’15, Savannah Zhong ’15, Kira Tierney, Kat Lemieux ’15, Kayla Sargent ’15, Jessica Kinsley ’16, and Rachel Guerriero ’16—joined in that effort.

They spent several nights in a church and drove back and forth to the work site each day, where they worked from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. The Morgan family, whose home they were building, had been staying in their grandmother’s small home since the storm hit in 2012. To complicate matters, Mr. Morgan’s wife died shortly before the hurricane and he suffered a heart attack this past November. The family was faced with the prospect of having to be out of their current living situation by May 1, so the need for a new home had become critical.

The Cushing kids spent several days at the work site, where they did all kinds of work helping with the construction. They knew from the beginning that they’d need to be flexible during the trip, and their ability to do that

was certainly put to the test. One day, several of the kids dug holes for the foundation. It was muddy, dirty work. When the inspector didn’t visit as scheduled to review the work, they had to repeat the same job the next day.

The Cushing group of spring break students was the first to go to New Jersey. Habitat for Humanity has sites all over the world and they are common destinations for students on spring break, but the sites most kids want to go to are in warm, sunny locales. New Jersey is hardly that in early March.

Although the kids didn’t see the house finished, ViAnne hopes that the experience of seeing another home dedicated during their visit will help drive home the importance of the work they were doing. “It was striking to me just how devastating the storm was and that people are still out of their homes three years later with no end in sight,” Vi-Anne says. The students also got to know each other better, and it was a good opportunity to learn that not everyone has the same opportunities that they do.

To go on the trip, the group had to raise money for transportation, food, lodging, and materials. The kids held several fundraisers and also asked the broader Cushing community to help out by making donations. Their successful fundraising meant that the students themselves didn’t have to contribute money as well as their time.

ABOVE L–R: The Cushing group poses with the Morgan family. Savannah Zhong ’15 hard at work

There was some time for fun too. Here, the group poses in Times Square in New York City.

Construction on Cushing’s New Athletic Facility is Officially Underway

GROUND HAS BROKEN for the Watkins Field House, set to open in spring 2016. This new athletic facility is named in recognition of the lead gift made by the E.G. Watkins Family Foundation. Trustee Emeritus Edward G. Watkins ’56 is a longtime leader and benefactor whose commitment continues to transform the Academy.

Construction on the $12 million facility began in late March with the clearing of snow from the site. On April 16, a small groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the official start of the project. We anticipate the building will open next spring, assuming there are no construction delays.

The new facility is being constructed along Pleasant Street between the baseball field and the Joseph R. Curry Academic Center and will echo the design of Cushing’s historic Main Building and other nearby buildings. Together, these buildings will enclose a classic campus

quadrangle in which students and community members can gather and socialize, making the building more than simply an athletic space.

The gymnasium space will include one college regulation court that will run the length of the building. Two more courts—both high school regulation—will run perpendicular to that court. These courts will allow for more court time for both teams and individual students, enabling the Academy to provide more practice time for indoor sports. The fitness center will be more flexible and more than double the size of our current fitness area. It will have space for weight and strength training, as well as two rooms for group exercise. In addition to the athletic spaces, the new facility will feature a well-appointed lobby on the main floor and a three-story entry tower that will help commemorate Cushing’s proud athletics history.

The E.G. Watkins Family Foundation has

made a $6 million matching lead gift honoring the Watkins Family. When Cushing raises $6 million in support of the Watkins Field House, the E.G. Watkins Family Foundation will make a donation of $6 million in honor of the Watkins Family in support of the project.

Members of the school’s Board of Trustees have committed $3 million to the project. In addition, the Academy is raising an additional $3 million from alumni and parents to complete the matching gift. There are a number of naming opportunities—from prominent inside spaces to bricks in the courtyard outside—that will allow donors to make a lasting impression on Cushing’s campus.

For more information on the facility, updates on its construction including a live webcam of the site, and to make a donation in support of its construction, please visit www.cushing.org/athleticcenter.

AT LEFT, L–R: President of the Board of Trustees Dick Harrington, Karen Watkins, Edward G. Watkins ’56, and Headmaster Christopher Torino at the groundbreaking of Cushing’s new athletic center, the Watkins Field House.

International Corner

International Alumni and Parents Host Accepted Cushing Students

Many thanks to our Asian families and alumni who hosted receptions this spring for newly accepted Cushing students and their families.

The Hong Kong event, organized by Michael Ho ’06, president of the Hong Kong Alumni and Parent Council, welcomed 36 attendees, including current Cushing students home for

The Shanghai Alumni and Parents Council, headed by Amy Chen (mother of Nelson Zhou ’16), hosted 16 guests, and the Korean Mothers Association welcomed 27. Said Kyung Ha Lee, mother of Kobe Ko ’16 and president of the Korean Mothers Association, “We had a great event for accepted students and parents. Current students explained the general environment of Cushing and two alumni shared their

time for accepted families as they make their decisions.”

A Japan event was held as well, hosted by the Japanese Mothers Association.

Their hard work—on the other side of the globe—benefits Cushing every day. Thank you!

For more information or to learn how you can help in similar ways, please contact us at parentprograms@cushing.org

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The Hong Kong Alumni and Parents Council accepted students welcome event • The event in Korea • The accepted students welcome event in Shanghai • The Hong Kong event included a biking excursion • Hong Kong Alumni

Parent Council President Michael Ho ’06 speaks to the group

Cushing Travels to Asia

In January, Headmaster Chris Torino and Director of Development Caitlin O’Brien traveled to Asia to meet with Cushing alumni and parents. We’re happy to share these photos from their visits in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Taiwan, and Shanghai.

TOP ROW L–R: Celebrating in Seoul • Andy Chen ’90

SECOND ROW: Hendrick ’92 and Sylvia Sin with Caitlin O’Brien and Headmaster Torino • Ji-Ho Hyun ’90 and Sean Lee ’92

• Headmaster Torino with Tyler Chu ’06, Johnson Lo ’03, Jonathan Lee ’96 and Michael Ho ’06

THIRD ROW: Shiori Go ’13 and Ryutaro Nojima ’13

• Celebrating in Hong Kong • Ken Chang ’92 with Headmaster Torino • Caitlin O’Brien, Headmaster Torino, Tyler Chu ’06

FOURTH ROW: Cherry Zhang ’09; Amy Chen, mother of Nelson Chau ’16; Kayco Zhou ’09; Michael Ho ’06 and his girlfriend • Andy Chang ’14 and Renny Ling ’92

• Parents in Taiwan with Cushing’s Chris Sheahan and Caitlin O’Brien

Alumni News

Tiffany Blood '00 Award Honors Life of Alumna

In 1998, Cushing Academy won its first and only Field Hockey championship, in part, because of the dedication and passion of the team’s goalie, Tiffany Blood ’00. When Tiffany passed away last winter due to complications from Crohn’s Disease, her teammate and friend Brittney Carr ’00 wanted to honor her life and contributions to Cushing and to the sport field hockey with an award at the Academy. So she called Cushing Athletic Director Bill Troy and together, they made it happen.

During an assembly in November, Tiffany’s family and some of her teammates gathered on Cushing’s campus to witness the presentation of the first annual Tiffany Blood Field Hockey Award. In talking about Tiffany, Trustee Melissa Irving Christensen ’00, who was one of Tiffany’s teammates on that championship team, described Tiffany as an intense competitor, a devoted teammate, a passionate player, and a loyal friend. Tiffany was an inspiration to her teammates, Christensen said. She was the first one at practice and the last one to leave. She was a leader on and off the field and she embodied the Penguin spirit.

The award will be given each year to the field hockey player who embodies those qualities. This year, the award was presented by Tiffany’s sister to Emma Tufts ’15. Emma will go on to play field hockey at Syracuse University next year.

During the presentation, Bill Troy encouraged each of Cushing’s athletes to play with the same drive and passion that Tiffany did. “Playing sports is about more than winning. It’s about the competition. It’s about time spent with your teammates and coaches. Play hard this weekend and honor Tiffany by celebrating both the wins and the losses.”

Wayne Sanborn Honored

A few years ago, Cushing Academy Athletic Director Bill Troy and alumnus Brett Torrey ’85 nominated Wayne Sanborn— former Cushing Academy coach, Athletic Director, and longtime administrator/faculty member of 37 years—to have one of the NEPSAC bowl games named in his honor and also for a distinguished service award. This year, that became a reality. On Saturday, Nov. 15, Brunswick took on Governor’s Academy at Avon Old Farms in the Wayne Sanborn Bowl. Brunswick defeated Governor’s Academy, 46–20, to win the championship. What a wonderful honor for a quintessential Cushing Penguin!

Emma Tufts ’15 is the first winner of the Tiffany Blood Field Hockey Award.

Traveling South for the Winter

During spring break in March, Headmaster Torino, Caitlin O’Brien, and Cushing’s new Director of Advancement, Bill O’Hearn, traveled to Florida to meet alumni, parents, and friends of the Academy. Jay Massirman ’76 and Samuel Getz ’75 hosted an event in Miami Beach. Chris Watkins ’56 hosted an event in Palm Beach. The weather was warm and so was the company! Florida wasn’t the only place our Cushing folks traveled this spring. The Academy held events in Colorado, Illinois, California, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania as well.

Chris Torino with Anton Werner ’93 Samuel Getz ’75 and Jay Massirman ’76, who hosted the Miami Beach event

Josh Schrager ’92 ’65 and his guest, Elaine Libert • Lisa Allen ’75 sporting her Cushing jacket

Karina and Enrique Samaniego ’84 Lueder ’60, not pictured), Jim Sexton, Patricia Sexton ’56, Allan Goldberg ’49, former Trustee Joe Marzilli, and Peggy Marzilli Jim Sarantos ’71 with Chris Torino

FOURTH ROW L–R: Roger Whitcomb, father of Tim Whitcomb ’85, with Chris Torino

Patrice Worcester ’79

• Max Getz ’07 and Eleanor Crowley ’07

• Walker ’03 and John ’00 Shipley

Dennis Driscoll ’61

Making History Real for Cushing Students

EVEN FOR ADULTS, HISTORY IS OFTEN AN ABSTRACT CONCEPT. For high school students, it can be even more intangible. Mr. Dave Stone, Cushing’s Dean of Faculty, teaches a class on the Vietnam War, but he knows how important it is to put historical events in perspective for his students. To do that, he invited Dennis Driscoll ’61 to speak to his class about what it was really like to fight in that war.

Captain Driscoll grew up in Mount Hermon, Mass., but is one of four generations of Cushing Academy alumni. He noted that he wasn’t a big fan of school, in particular of reading, but that his Cushing teachers took an interest in him and taught him to appreciate learning. Following his time at Cushing he attended Stonehill College. When he graduated, he volunteered for the army and spent a year training with his troops before heading to Vietnam. He spent a lot of time reading about World War II and the United States Indian Wars, figuring it would help him understand what was happening in Vietnam—and he was right. He and his men did survival training, squad tactics, and more. It was hard work, but he knew how important it was. “You’ve got to do the work,” he told Mr. Stone’s students. “If you want something, you have to be willing to work for it.”

As you might imagine, being in Vietnam during the late 1960s wasn’t easy. He soon learned that all kinds of smells carry—be it cigarette smoke, shampoo, or last night’s dinner. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, he and his men would jump in the river and use the water and sand to wash the scents from their bodies. They also had to evade all kinds of wildlife, including leeches, snakes, and even sharks. Booby traps were common, and excrement was used as a weapon.

But his time in Vietnam wasn’t all bad, and he even ran into some folks who knew Cushing. One day, on a branch of the Ho Chi Minh

Trail, he made small talk with a fellow from Massachusetts. During the conversation, he learned that this fellow’s brother was married to a girl from Ashburnham, whose father was a teacher at the Academy named Paul Heslin. In December 1967, Captain Driscoll was injured and sent to the hospital for surgery. Several years later, after the war, he was at an Ashburnham swim club when he ran into his surgeon, Dr. Joseph Hill, who also just happened to be a member of the Cushing Academy Board of Trustees.

He learned a lot from his time in Vietnam. He and his men helped one Vietnamese woman give birth to twins. Such help was common for the soldiers, and while he saw many American soldiers lose their lives just helping, he understood how important it was to do good. In fact, he says, “We have an obligation to help one another—both overseas and at home.”

On his way to Vietnam, he didn’t think much about what was going to happen because he was too worried about preparing his men. It wasn’t until he was on his way home that he understood how bad things really were. And when he got back, in spite of his courage in fighting a difficult war, people called him baby-killer and threw excrement at him because the media focused so much on the bad parts of the war. “The good stuff—holding babies and helping out—that didn’t make it to the news,” he said.

The lessons he learned about helping out followed him after his return from Vietnam. He spent four years teaching history at Cushing before spending more than 30 years at Oakmont and Overlook, the public schools in town, where he was a teacher, coach, and assistant principal. Indeed, the park behind Oakmont High School is named after him. These days, he volunteers at the VA so that soldiers and their families have someone to talk to who understands what they’re going through.

Clearly, Dennis Driscoll believes in giving back and knows that his experiences can teach current Cushing students—not just about history, but also about how to make a positive difference in the world. We’re grateful for his lifetime of service.

“We have an obligation to help one another—both overseas and at home.”

Leave a Legacy

Thomas Parkman Cushing founded Cushing Academy with a bequest, leaving a legacy that has been the basis for the education of thousands of young people for 150 years. The generosity displayed by Thomas Cushing

has been echoed by many friends, alumni, and parents at Cushing who have also made planned gifts to the Academy and who have been recognized as members of our 1865 Society.

We invite you to leave your own legacy.

Whether it is a bequest, a life income gift, a life insurance policy designation, or something else, you can help lay a foundation for Cushing’s future success.

For information on the ways you can support Cushing Academy, visit www.cushing.org/support.

On the Web: cushing.org

By Phone: 978-827-7400

By Email: alumniprograms@cushing.org

By Mail: 39 School Street

Ashburnham, MA 01430

Donor Creates Class of 1950 Worthy Student Scholarship Endowment

Last fall, a member of the Class of 1950 made a generous contribution to the Academy to create the Class of 1950 Worthy Student Scholarship Endowment. The scholarship will be given each year to a Cushing student who is a resident of New York City and who has a financial need. Recipients will be selected by a committee made up of the Dean of Admissions and senior faculty.

The endowed fund was established using stocks as well as a matching gift, showing that a variety of methods can be used to fund a gift. Further, this fund can be added to by any interested donor, increasing its value and the impact it can have on a worthy student.

Minimum Named Endowment

Amounts at Cushing

FUND TYPE MINIMUM

Faculty chair $1.5 million

Full scholarship $1 million

Library Resources $100,000

Headmaster's Fund $100,000

Class Notes

1942

Richard Mansfield is still hale and hearty in Sarasota, Fla., and says Cushing will always be tops in his memories.

1944

Marcia Wells Seely is proud of her daughters. Dr. Ellen Seely is a professor of medicine and on the board at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She’s also a professor at Harvard University Medical School. Anne Seely is a district attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y.

1948

Al Hixon is still actively playing music. In the fall, he was pleased to be named an Ageless Creativity - Longboat Luminary by the Longboat Key Center for the Arts of Ringling School of Art & Design. His Al Hixon Jazz Groups regularly play balls, concerts, dances, festivals, and other events.

1949

Edgar Bourgeois recently wrote an autobiography.

1951

Class Agent: Lilian Goss

20 Apple Blossom Drive

West Lebanon, NH 03724

Home: 603-298-5564

A book co-authored by Nancy Craig McGrath was published in June. It's entitled No Man's Land. Nancy has been busy painting as she’ll be exhibiting at a gallery in Meredith, N.H., this summer. She is still singing in the choir, and she and her son are working on a book, The Magic Mirror Company, that they hope to get finished this summer.

1957

Captain Peter Joseph, USCG (Ret) was recently selected as one of the 125 Graduates of Distinction of the United States Coast Guard Academy. Peter's nomination by his peers was primarily based upon his numerous at-sea rescues in which he was involved in the saving of over 100 lives throughout his career.

1961

Dennis Driscoll visited campus this spring to talk to a Cushing history class about his experiences in the Vietnam War. See page 42 for more.

1964

Several members of the Class of 1964 got together in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in January, including Sarah Krug Barbee Nancy Johnson Richards Rich Mohlere, Peter Carleton, Ellen Weaver, and Donna Merrill Stout, along with Betsy Johnson Messenger ’71. They realized at last year’s reunion that about 10 of them were in the area so they decided to continue the celebration in Florida. They look forward to doing it again next year.

1965

Class Agent: Jim Rondeau

7 Robert Arthur Way

South Dennis, MA 02660

Home: 508-394-8250

Cell: 805-292-6994

Email: jimr2121@comcast.net

1966

Class Agent: Thomas Doughton College of the Holy Cross

1 College Street

Smith 503

Worcester, MA 01610

Email: tdoughton@gmail.com

1968

Class Agent: John Shirey

3 Millview Court Malahide Co., Dublin Ireland

Home: 353-184-56581

Email: john@shirey.com

Class Agent: Alan Crocker

50 Winnecowett Drive

PO Box 781

Ashburnham, MA 01430

Home: 978-827-5787

Cell: 978-424-6949

Email: abccrocker@gmail.com

1971

Betsy Johnson Messenger joined her sister, Nancy Johnson Richards ’64, at a small reunion of the Class of 1964 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in January.

1982

Paul Dever is in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he works as the Deputy Human Resource Officer at the Embassy of the United States. As of March, he had been there for eight months with 16 to go. His wife and daughter are passing the time with family. Prior to Afghanistan, he worked with the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs office in Baghdad, then a soft landing in Fiji for about two years, both with the Department of State. Feel free to drop a line at DeverPS@state.gov or Dospaul2002@ hotmail.com.

Mark Friedman played a lawyer in the Apr. 1, 2015, episode of Law & Order: SVU.

1984

Jennifer Clickner-Engel is living in Geneva, where she and her family spend weekends at their ski chalet, making the most of ski season. Her son Tristan just turned eight and is in a bilingual school (French and English). Her husband is a documentary

Vero Beach in February.

Mini reunion of the Class of 1964 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

David Cowell ’82—great-grandson of Dr. Hervey S. Cowell, Cushing’s third headmaster—visited us this spring. Here, he stands in front of Dr. Cowell’s portrait.

film maker, and she runs between two jobs, as a media trainer at the United Nations and as a culture commissioner for the government. She’s missing her Cushing classmates!

1985

Class Agent: Esther Young

“Onaway”

36 Pitts Bay Road

Pembroke, HM 06

Bermuda

Home: 1-441-296-4749

Cell: 1-441-504-0375

Email: esthernew@hotmail.com

Tim Whitcomb is completing his 16th year of teaching at Zayed University in Dubai. He invites you to email him at samuelsuncletim@hotmail. com, especially if you are traveling to Dubai or Sri Lanka.

1987

David Elliott performs in a duet with his mother, Dionne Warwick, on her new album, Feels So Good. The duet is “Windows of the World.” David’s daughter, Cheyenne, also performs a duet, “Let There Be Love.” Available on iTunes.

Will Day was recently featured in an article for Colorado Homes & Lifestyles. You can read the article at www.coloradohomesmag.com/Day-Time/.

1990

Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent welcomed a daughter, Poppy BrentBerkus, to their family in March.

Congratulations!

In March, Mike Landers and some of his West Point hockey colleagues raised over $50,000, in a

charity game with former Bruins, to aid veterans. They played for the Fisher House of Boston, which provides housing for family members of veterans being treated at the VA in West Roxbury.

Pete Snyder and wife Burson added a beautiful baby girl, Bee, to their family in January.

1993

Japanese alumnus Taro Fujikawa visited campus in February with his niece and brother-in-law for an interview with the Admissions Office.

1996

Dex L. Lewis is a civil engineering working in Farmington, N.M.

Tom Poti was back on campus in November, where he spent an afternoon on the ice at Iorio Arena. The former NHL player assisted in the Varsity Boys’ Hockey practice, running drills and working with the players and coaches to kick off the 2014–2015 season.

2001

Isaac Fitzgerald was a guest on the Today show in January, talking about books to read before they hit the big screen. Isaac is the books editor at Buzzfeed.com. If you’re looking for good advice on books, you can follow him on Twitter @IsaacFitzgerald. He’s also got a blog at penandink.tumblr. com all about tattoos and the stories behind them.

2003

Shantih Chanel Lewis is employed at a ski resort north of Durango, Colo.

2005

Michelle Lu Saetersmoen attended Boston College from 2005 to 2009.

She studied sociology and biochemistry, but realized toward graduation that she wanted to pursue a career in research. She applied to the University of Oslo in the program of molecular biology/medicine and started in the fall of 2009. She has been living in Oslo since then and she is very happy with her decision. She says it can be cold, but the summers are amazing and after what she saw of the New England winter this year, she thinks it’s not much different from Norway. She’s currently a Ph.D. candidate working at the Radium Hospital of Norway in Oslo and living with her husband, Ola, and her German shepherd, Max.

Ashley Zimmerman is a graphic designer at Dinardo Design, a small educational publishing company in Concord, Mass.

2006

Class Agent: Mike Nadler

375 Howard Street

Northborough, MA 01532

Home: 508-393-7865

Cell: 774-258-1040

Email: mbnadler@gmail.com

2007

Jill Barry will be traveling to Rwanda in July as part of a final project for her Applied Theatre master’s degree at the City University of New York. Applied Theatre is a specialized field that uses theatre in a variety of non-traditional contexts in nontraditional spaces. It can be used for education, community building, and social justice. It is often found in places such as schools, prisons, hospitals, and churches. She’ll be sharing the practices she has learned over the past two years with the Rwandan students and learning about the techniques that they have developed in their program in Rwanda. To learn more, or support her travel, visit life.

founders of a video game company (CMGE). They live in Hong Kong. Their company went public on the US NASDAQ in 2012. They’re both wearing red ties.

Taro Fujiwaka ’93, his niece, and brotherin-law are joined by Peggy Lee in the Admissions Lounge.

Daniel Suharya ’99 recently took these pictures of His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck ’99, the King of Bhutan.

and-learning-applied-theater-inrwanda.

Whitney Raelynn Cheree Lewis is attending Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo.

Amelia King Randolph was married in May 2014. Three of her bridesmaids were Cushing alumnae: Marina “Boo” Vernon, Mary Hannah O’Brien, and Rachel Sommers Andrea Del Bello also attended and made the bridesmaids’ necklaces for the event. The ceremony and reception were outdoors at Adventures on the Gorge in West Virginia.

2010

On Jan. 31, 2015, Scott Baron became engaged to Katherine “Katie” Cadieux. The couple both attended Utica College and they plan to live in Clinton, N.Y. It was quite the proposal. Scott says, “I had a limo pick us up without her knowing in the morning. I took her shopping and to a spa and to lunch. Then, at the end of the day when I told her we were going home, we took a detour to Green Lakes State Park in Syracuse, N.Y., and I took her by the water and proposed. We plan to have the wedding in the Adirondacks by the mountains and by the lake with our family and friends. The wedding is planned for August 2016.”

Class Agents and Representatives

Rob Hollomon, a senior at Central Connecticut State, was named a finalist for the 2014 Walter Payton Award. Rob was one of 25 considered for the award, which goes to the most outstanding player at the NCAA Division I FCS level.

Hyung Suk “Robert” Nam is completing his degree at Northwestern. He expects to graduate in December 2015 with a degree in economics. He worked for a hedge fund in NYC last summer and will do so again this summer. He expects it will turn into a full-time job. He keeps in touch with Derek Salama, who graduated from Dartmouth and is now working at Google. Robert also keeps in touch with Jeremy Manore, who is in the business world.

Phil Pressey was on campus in February, being interviewed by Comcast SportsNet for their “Deep Green” segment, an in-depth piece on a Celtics player. If you missed it, you can watch it online here: www. csnne.com/blog/celtics-talk/deepgreen-pressey-visits-his-alma-matercushing-academy.

2011

Jake Droogan visited Cushing this spring to talk to Bob Johnson’s architecture class. See page 12 for more.

In March, Sam Kane and Paul

Burns won the NCAA DIII National Ice Hockey Championship as part of the Trinity College team.

New Mexico native Robin Yoshida is a senior defenseman on the hockey team for St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. A sociology major, Robin wants to get her master’s in public health with a focus on epidemiology and maybe global health. Of her time at Cushing she says, “That experience was the best thing I could have done to prepare myself for college not only in hockey, but academically as well.” Read more at www.uscho. com/2014/11/27/st-anselms-yoshidaproof-that-talent-can-be-found-innew-mexico.

Former Faculty

Former faculty member David Grant recently published a book called The Social Profit Handbook: The Essential Guide to Setting Goals, Assessing Outcomes, and Achieving Success for Mission-Driven Organizations

The book is available through Amazon.

There are a number of ways you can help your alma mater. You can attend events, mentor young alumni (see www. cushing.org/alumni for more information), make a gift, or serve as a class agent or class representative.

Class agents help raise funds for the Cushing Academy Annual Fund and other special projects, like the new athletic facility, by building enthusiasm and asking classmates to contribute. Class representatives work to build relationships among class members and to keep the Academy informed of news and updates among members of the class.

This is a fairly new program at the Academy. The classes who have agents and reps have that information listed in the Class Notes section of this magazine. If you don’t see a class agent or class rep listed, it means we don’t have one for that class yet. If you’d like to serve as either—or both!—please call us at 978-8277400 or email alumniprograms@ cushing.org. You can help make Cushing’s alumni bonds strong.

Phil Pressey ’10 on the court with Athletic Director Bill Troy

Scott Baron ’10 with fiancée Katie Cadieux

Lost Alumni Listing

Barbara Brown

Ralph Browne

James Day

Judith O'Neill Feldman

Cynthia Buehr Haas

Marjorie Harvey

Edward Keough

Patricia Haran McDuffee

Helene MacDonald Meyers

Bruce Moyer

Eleanor Collinge Remol

Julio Samudio

Ruth Rideout Steinhart

Estelle Weir

1950

Nelida Aragon

Miriam Douglas

Castalia Finales

Fernando Gonzalez

Geraldine Greene

Judith Ludlum Hitch

Marilyn Corbin Rubin

Charity Meeker Spurgeon

Barbara Stewart

Joan Wenzel

1955

Deborah Dunning

Francisco Franchi

Robert Hall

Theoria Houston

Jean Pollock Hutchings

Judith McGrath

Richard Hupprich

James Langan

Kathleen Meade

Judith Parker

Lawrence Wentzel

Davida Williams

1970

Nartida Amrung-Buchakorn

Charles Bradley

Arrd Burkhardt

Alison Clough

Michael Dewey

William Duran

Charles Gould

Jeremy Jansson

Charles Keating

Karen Mason

Carol Owen

Toby Pett

William Rose

Jared Sherman

Martha Sparling

1975

Gordon Chang

Gary Craver

Russell Fig

Avi Hayon

Steven Jackson

Kimberlee Johnson-Morcom

Thare Marquez

Kim Wright Murphy

Sheila Nolan

Susan Gidley

Franklin Glover

Peter Graf

Phinit Rasivisuth

Youpadee Rasivisuth

Yoko Shimizu

Sultan Shonifi

Virat Techakalayatum

Anna Vanvoorhees-Seaton

1985

Hugues Cremona

Christopher Heider

Jonathan Holzer

Suzanne Widenhouse Kall

Emi Kishimoto

Theodore Kuzmeskas

Anthony Miller

Ricardo Rodriguez Leon

Hildegard Striem

1990

Cathy Hamilton

Lauren Himmel

Elaine Ho

Pairin Jamtim

Sye Park

Page Chadwick Rossiter

Angelica Sepulveda

Christopher Ward

Theodore Yntema

Mao Furukawa

Khaleb Grant

Alison Oates Hart

Kalle Jaaskelainen

Edward Jordan

Patrick Kusombi

London Lawler

Jason Lee

Victor Li

Mario Merino

Erin Midgley

Yuriria Miranda

Georgette Motta

Tejiera Norris

Mark Northup

Amy O’Brien

Eduardo Pecchio

Eimi Sakano

Seiichiro Satoh

Nicole Schmitt

Cortney Brixey Stinnett

2000

Shinezaya Batbold

Christopher Brackett

White Chirakranont

Andreina Garcia

Caleb Greer-Carney

Peter Karassik

Bo Kyung Kong

Bon Yeol Koo

Seung Hyun Lee

Joo Young Park

Gretchen Peterson

2005

Daniel Barnhart

Travis Bleidt

Kyu Young Choi

Elizabeth Chu

Angel Heredia

Jean Ko

Stephanie McNally

Drew Pennetti

Eve Potthoff

Samantha Staub Quigneaux

Chris Wie

2010

Petter Aronsson

James Chiappa

Michael DiPasqua

Gesar Dorji

Matthew Entwistle

Leah Hurley

Daniel Lee

William McGillicuddy

Mariah Sebastian

Dong Min Shin

Alvito Tarjono

Abigail Williams

Catherine Ross Merwin ’35

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Trustee Emerita Catherine Ross Merwin ’35 on Sept. 7, 2014. Mrs. Merwin, affectionately known as “Tink,” died peacefully at Rivermead in Peterborough, N.H.

A remarkable and loyal alumna, and a devoted and dedicated trustee from 1960 to 1980, Mrs. Merwin treasured her Cushing legacy, which was a lifelong source of delight and pride. Her grandparents met as Cushing students in the 1880s, and her father, Wallace Ross ’05, served as a trustee from 1920 to 1957, and then as an emeritus trustee. Following in his footsteps, Mrs. Merwin was elected to Cushing’s Board in 1960, where she served with distinction for 20 years, and she too was honored with election as a trustee emerita in great gratitude for her service.

Trustee Emeritus and Former Board President Dr. Joseph Hill wrote, “Tink was a wonderful friend of Cushing, and an excellent Trustee. During the early years of our tenure on the Board, she was a very hard working and insightful Trustee and a great help to Dick Dunn ’31 and then to me as Board President. Her family legacy to the Academy is equaled by few in the history of the school.”

Mrs. Merwin was born on Jan. 15, 1917, in Hanover, N.H., daughter of the late Wallace and Helen (Hartshorne) Ross. She attended Newton High School prior to Cushing. She then earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Mount Holyoke College, with which she was also very involved throughout her life.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Merwin is predeceased by her daughter, Judith Poor, and sister, Ruth Ross Reebie ’40. She is survived by her husband, Gaius W. Merwin Jr., three children, 14 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and many devoted friends. She is deeply missed.

In Memoriam

This list includes those people whose passings we have learned of since October 2014.

1928

Virginia Lewis Sawyer

1935

Catherine “Tink” Ross Merwin

1939

John R. Briggs, Jr.

1941

Lois Gates Bliss

1944

Lewis Crowell

1945

Doris Bourgeois Mullins

1947

Robert Johnson Bernard Riley

1948

Lucille King Martin

Betsey Cutler Perry

1949

Marilyn Meyer

1950

Edward McSweeny

1953

Susan Burr Hartz

1955

George Hixon

Edward Voelker

1971

Kim Allen

1999

Caitlin Snaith

Former Trustee

Dr. William Jordan

Former Faculty

Marianne Coleman

Dr. Joseph R. Curry

Judith Starkweather

Your Gift Matters

Your gift to the Cushing Academy Fund makes possible everything that makes a Cushing education special.

Gifts purchase supplies like those Dr. Sponholtz and his students use in the laboratory. They pay for transportation that allows Julia Ohm to take her theatre students to New York City. They ensure we’re able to build the infrastructure that allows our students to take advantage of the latest technology. They allow us to add new spaces like the patio outside the student center, and upgrade existing spaces like creating the semiprivate space in the Fisher-Watkins Dining Commons. They allow us to offer scholarships to worthy students both domestic and international.

Your gift today will allow us to do all of that and more. TO MAKE A GIFT, return the enclosed business reply envelope or go online to www.cushing.org/give. If you have questions about how to give or why your gift matters, please contact us by phone at 978827-7400, by email at alumniprogams@cushing.org, or visit our website at www.cushing.org/gifts.