Spring / Summer 2019 Deerfield Magazine

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The Hive Is Buzzing Deerfield is different in the summer. After the excitement and rush of Commencement, soon followed by Reunion Weekend, things get pretty quiet . . . for a couple of weeks anyway. Then the first summer programs students arrive on campus— full of energy and ready to learn in KIPP-STEP, at DASAC (the Deerfield Academy Summer Arts Camp—an extremely popular program for local families), and at the Experimentory, where sixth, seventh, and eighth-graders from across the nation and around the world come to campus to “maximize their creativity and character.” School might be out for summer, but at Deerfield, there’s still a whole lot of learning going on.

This past spring was all about finishing up strong, and Deerfield students did just that—in their classes, on the fields, and elsewhere. Senior Bailey Cheetham ’19—an outstanding athlete, this year’s recipient of the Deerfield Cup, and the first female “Captain Deerfield”— and her classmate Orlee Marini-Rapoport ’19—co-editor of the Scroll, recipient of the Binswanger Award, and Cum Laude Society member, among other achievements— joined Deerfield’s alumnae ranks. They, and their Deerfield sisters, have been “leading the charge and the change” on campus and around the globe, and these outstanding women reflect on the relationship between this good work and their Deerfield experiences beginning on page 26.

Spring was also a time of bittersweet goodbyes, as four beloved faculty members retired—Bernie Baker, Karinne Heise, David Dickinson, and Claudia Lyons—as well as behind-the-scenes dynamo, Director of Human Resources Jan Kari. Together, their service totals 153 years, and beginning on page 16 you can read a little about what those years have meant to each of them. A retrospective of Dr. Curtis’ unique tenure, which begins on page 34, details not only her singular contributions to the Academy but it’s also a testament to the strength of this historic institution.

In July there was a seamless transition between heads of school as Dr. John P.N. Austin arrived on campus to take his position as “#56.” You can expect to hear about his vision for the Academy in future issues of this magazine, online, and in person at events across the country beginning this fall. Dr. Austin’s official induction will take place during Convocation on September 8, and we look forward to sharing that event with all of you via a livestream broadcast on deerfield.edu.

Now it’s August—change and expectation are in the air. Our “Experimentors” have gone home; KIPP-STEP students graduated to the cheers of their families and friends; and the summer arts camp is winding down. The first day of classes for new and returning Deerfield students is less than a month away, and the learning will begin again. I hope you enjoy what’s left of this season, and no matter what time of year it is, please stay in touch with Deerfield and your fellow alumni by sharing news, class notes, and photos—we’re always happy to hear from you! //

Jessica Day Director of Communications

Director of Communications

Multimedia Specialist

Production Manager

Design & Art Director

Archivist

Social Media & Email Manager

Jessica Day

Jacklyn Bunch

Steve Berman

Brent M. Hale

Anne Lozier

Jess Wissemann

Produced by the Deerfield Academy Communications Office: Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA 01342. Telephone: 413-774-1860 communications@deerfield.edu Publication Office: Cummings Printing, Hooksett, NH. Third class postage paid at Deerfield, Massachusetts, and additional mailing office.

Deerfield Magazine is published three times a year.

Deerfield Academy does not discriminate against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, marital status, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, age, disability, status as a veteran or being a member of the Reserves or National Guard, or any other classification protected under state or federal law. Copyright © The Trustees of Deerfield Academy (all rights reserved)

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On this page: Science teacher Mark Teutsch tends to one of four honey bee colonies on the roof of the Koch Center. The strains— two Carniolan and two from Siberian Russia —arrived on campus early this spring and were immediately put to use for study in classes and cocurriculars.

“We chose to propagate honeybees for a number of reasons,” Teutsch said.

“The Koch’s green roof and its floral bouquet invite populations of pollinators, and it’s a pleasure to provide.”

Teutsch says that given general interest in honeybee colony collapse disorder, it’s satisfying to be “in the game,” and helping to combat this worldwide problem. He has looked to recent studies that document how beekeeping with polypore mycelia (mushrooms!) boosts survival rates for colonies fighting deformed wing virus and Lake Sinai virus, and so feeds Deerfield’s colonies an extract from reishi (Ganoderma) fungi. //

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COMMENCED

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Dehdan Miller ’89

Photos by Jacklyn Bunch and Brent M. Hale

The Academy’s 220th Commencement ceremonies featured 203 graduates and perfect weather. Keynote speaker, Dehdan Miller ’89 (right), former deputy director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, reflected on the significant changes at Deerfield since his graduation. He noted that “the process that Deerfield has gone through— balancing permanence and change—is a process that each one of you must also go through, for the rest of your lives.

There are a few parts of you that make you you—parts of you that can’t change, because it will mean that you have lost yourself. But there are many more parts of you that are going to need to change over and over and over again, as you meet new people, learn new things, and experience the joy and the pain of living. Perhaps the last lesson you can learn at Deerfield is about making sure that caring is one of the things about you that never changes.”

Margarita O’Byrne Curtis, who celebrated her last Commencement as Head of School, echoed Dehdan’s remarks, telling graduates that as she prepared to leave the Academy, her hope was that they would discover more meaningful, more generous, more worthy ways of being; that they would become skillful, compassionate agents of hope and optimism in a conflicted world. “I hope you recognize that your individual aspirations are more fulfilling when paired with a higher sense of purpose,” she concluded.

President of the Board of Trustees Brian Simmons P ’12, ’14 awarded Dr. Curtis the Deerfield Medal in honor of her 13 years of service to the Academy. Colin Olson ’19 received the Robert Crow Award for academic excellence, and Bailey Cheetham ’19 was presented with the Deerfield Cup. A recording of Commencement 2019 may be watched at deerfield.edu/alumni/commencement-livestream/.

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2019 Ashley Award Recipient MOLLY SCHAUS ’06

“New Dorm” No More

Molly Schaus ’06 was presented with the 2019 Ashley Award at School Meeting on April 17. Named in honor of Tom Ashley, Class of 1911, the Ashley Award was created by the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association to recognize young Deerfield alumni/ae who are pursuing lives of service.

It honors those who can serve as an example for current students and their fellow alumni.

An outstanding athlete at Deerfield and Boston College, Molly was also a two-time Olympian, playing in the 2010 and 2014 Games. She was drafted second overall by the Boston Blades in the 2011 Canadian Women’s Hockey League Draft.

An opportunity to be an athlete role model at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games was a transformative experience that eventually led to a job with the Anaheim (CA) Ducks’ SCORE—Scholastic Curriculum on Recreation and Education—program that uses hockey to promote academic excellence, physical fitness, and to grow love for the game among elementary school students. //

left: Brent Hale; right: Jess Marsh Wissemann

During the student and employee celebration in honor of Dr. Curtis this past spring, President of the Board of Trustees Brian Simmons P ’12, ’14 (above, right) annouced that thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, “New Dorm” has been renamed “O’Byrne Curtis.” Completed in 2012, O’Byrne Curtis was provisionally referred to as New Dorm for seven years. It is located on Academy Lane on the east side of campus on the site previously occupied by Ashley House.

Watch Molly’s Ashley Award presentation at: vimeo.com/deerfield/schaus

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Model Citizens

Brigid Stoll ’19 / Best Delegate in the SOCHUM Committee (Climate Change Refugees, representing Libya)

Thirteen Deerfield students traveled to Hanover, NH, to compete in the Dartmouth Model United Nations Conference in April. They represented a number of countries and addressed global issues ranging from Brexit to climate change refugees to chemical weapons. Several Deerfield delegates emerged as leaders in their respective committees, speaking frequently and eloquently, and ultimately becoming primary sponsors on the final resolutions that passed with stunning majorities. As a result of these efforts, the following students received awards:

Harry Niles ’21 / Outstanding Delegate in the ECOFIN Committee (Economic Impact of Climate Change, representing Italy) Emma Haddock ’21 / Outstanding Delegate in the OAS Committee (Democratization of Venezuela/Argentinian Debt Crisis, representing Cuba) Mason Zhao ’20 / Honorable Mention in the DISEC Committee (Regulation of Chemical Weapons, representing Switzerland) Jing He ’21 / Verbal Commendation in the SPECPOL Committee (Yemen Humanitarian Crisis, representing Bolivia)

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Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Nine Deerfield students were honored this past spring with Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and honorable mentions by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. Established in 1994, the Alliance identifies teenagers with exceptional creative talent and provides opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication, and scholarships.

Sarah Jung ’20, Yongjin Park ’22, Mia Silberstein ’20, Sabrina Ticer-Wurr ’21, and Lukas Trelease ’20 all won Silver Key awards, and Jing He ’21 was awarded the highest regional honor, a Gold Key, for her poem “Half Forgotten.” Oscar Depp ’21, Daisy Dundas ’21, and Isabella K.A. Rolfe ’21 received honorable mentions. //

HALF FORGOTTEN / Jing He ’21 Come New Years’ and nai nai sits with calloused fingers dipped in murky water, shaping dough into crescent moons.

She gives me pieces of her past, pieces laid on the blue China: of when the night was raw and the air was cold, of when ration cards gave her nothing but thin lips, pale with frost, and empty hands. Her voice grows quiet as she dips her fingers back in the bowl, the oil dissembling slowly in the water.

Muted conversations hold her stories, stories that divides us by generations; like the lines created by water and oil when it drips down her white powdered palm. Nai nai tells me these stories until I am old enough to understand, but I still go to sleep, sweating, trying to ward off the timeless heat. But come New Years’ again

and nai nai ’s myths still haunt me

like a half-forgotten nightmare.

Advanced Placement Photography Portfolios Students in AP Photography work to build a portfolio of images with a range of subject matter, levels of abstraction, varying points of view, depth of field, color, and lighting.

Digital and film cameras are used, and the class takes multiple field trips to various New England locations. Classwork emphasizes formal elements and priciples of design and creative storytelling with photography.

The course concludes with students’ submission of their AP portfolios to the College Board. Pictured to the right are a few excerpts from those portfolios. // More at: deerfield.edu/arts/photography.

Samuel Crocker ’19

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Andrea Lopez ’19

Symphonic Honors

Paul Marotta

Meriel Bizri ’20, who won first place at the 2019 Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition, also won the 2019 Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and subsequently performed as a soloist in May at Harvard University’s Sanders Theater. The Boston Musical Intelligencer called Meriel’s first movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto a strikingly secure and beautifully inflected account.

“She has chops aplenty for virtuoso display but chose a work of deep musicality,” they added. “Probing poetry, intense emotion, and spot-on technique. As the well-drawn unsettling truculence from the orchestra resolved to noble resignation, Bizri returned with a luscious benediction.”

Meriel spent part of this summer touring with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in Brazil. // PULLED

FROM

THE PULSE For Deerfield news and news of interest: Visit deerfield.edu/pulse

Izzy Hamlen ’20

Julia Placek ’20

Hunter Keller ’20

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Mollie Domian BEHIND THE BENCH

Varsity Tennis

Bob Howe filled a staff vacancy this past spring, and, although it was a new name for his coaching roster, it wasn’t unfamiliar. Mollie Domian has long been an asset—albeit a behind-the-scenes one—to Deerfield’s tennis program, having spent the past decade tutoring many of its players.

Since the Amherst, MA, native’s initial commute to Deerfield in September of 2008 to meet-and-greet her first student—Oliver Hopkinson ’12—the Big Green boys have been playing some pretty impressive tennis. During that span Deerfield has not missed a New England Class A Championship Tournament invite, which are issued to only the top eight teams throughout the region.

“It’s exciting . . . it’s my first head coaching job, yet I feel very comfortable here,” said Domian. “I know the kids, I know the courts, I know the campus, and I know the community.

Everything just feels natural and I consider myself fortunate because I don’t think too many coaches have the opportunity to begin their careers with so many advantages.”

“When we began the search for a new boys varsity tennis coach we knew we were looking to hire the most qualified person we could find to oversee the program,” said Howe of Domian’s selection, which—along with the Forman School in Litchfield, CT—appears to make Mollie only the second woman to be named to such a position in the New England Prep School Athletic Council’s District IV. The district, NEPSAC’s second most populous, represents 67 schools throughout Western Massachusetts, Western Connecticut, and Eastern New York.

“That part’s not really a big deal to me,” said Domian. “I feel if you know how capable your team is and you know how capable you are, then I don’t see any problem with a woman coaching a boys’ team.”

“Mollie has earned an impeccable reputation in the area as a quality person and coach,” added Howe. “Combined with her coaching experience at the collegiate level and as an independent tennis instructor, we’re excited to have her aboard.”

b y B o b Yo r k / p h o t o g r a p h : J e s s M a r s h W i s s e m a n n

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“I’ve come to know Mollie over the last couple of years,” continued Howe. “I like her demeanor and the way she works with the players. I felt hiring her would seamlessly bring a new coach on board.”

Those probably most in tune to just how seamless a transition it was between Coach Will Steer and Coach Domian are the players who have competed for both. According to recent graduate Alfi Auersperg, 2019 Big Green co-captain, it was smooth sailing.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better coach,” said Auersperg, who was Deerfield’s No. 1 seed in both singles and doubles and who will be playing at Trinity College next spring. “She knows how to get the most out of her players.

“She’s a stickler on fitness,” added Auersperg.

“By the time you finish one of her practices, you’re exhausted. It’s all good though . . . she wants you to feel as though you’re deep into the third set of a crucial match and that you’re confident you have the stamina to continue.”

Domian’s tennis career began at the age of eight. Private lessons quickly paid off, allowing her to debut for Amherst-Pelham Regional High School in 1999 as the first freshman in Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association history to capture a state singles title.

Unfortunately for Amherst, however, what Domain described as “a pretty good start,” quickly led her to a more competitive level of play: the US Tennis Association Tournament scene. That quantum leap failed to slow her accomplishments throughout her teens, as she wound up third in the 14-and-under category, fourth in the 16-and-under bracket, and second in the 18-and-under competition. Domian was also one half of the No. 1 doubles team in the USTA’s New England Region.

“SHE’S A STICKLER ON FITNESS, SHE WANTS YOU TO FEEL AS THOUGH YOU’RE DEEP INTO THE THIRD SET OF A CRUCIAL MATCH AND THAT YOU’RE CONFIDENT YOU HAVE THE STAMINA TO CONTINUE.”

Domian brought her tennis talents to Cornell University as an undergrad in 2003. Her former Big Red mentor, Laura Glitz, recently commented, “It’s great news that Mollie’s a head coach. I just know she’ll do an outstanding job at Deerfield.”

At Cornell Domian played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles as a junior and senior and earned All-Ivy honors as a doubles player her senior year. “She loved tennis and she loved to compete, and you can be sure those attributes she had as a player, she’ll have as a coach, too,” Glitz said.

“I think the best way to sum up Mollie,” she added, “is that I remember her as being a great person, a great teammate, a great leader, and a great player who listened, worked hard, and kept getting better because of it.”

Domian comes to Deerfield after a successful three-year stint as an assistant coach at Amherst College, where she helped guide the Mammoths to a second-place and a pair of third-place finishes in the Div. III NCAA Women’s National Tennis Championships.

Cosmo Hunt ’19, co-captain who played No. 3 singles and partnered with Auersperg in the No. 1 doubles slot, shared his teammate’s enthusiasm for their new mentor.

“Mollie’s been great, but I knew she would be . . . I’ve been taking lessons from her the past two years,” said Hunt, who plans to walk-on at the University of Virginia next spring. “When it comes to tennis, she’s intense and knowledgeable and she instills confidence in you. She has the ability to spot even the smallest mistakes you’re making, then explains what you’re doing wrong and helps correct them.

“She also stresses fitness and stamina,” added Hunt. “Just the other day, we thought we were all through practice and the next thing you know, we’re running a half-hour worth of wind sprints.”

Nobody’s complaining, though, and certainly not after a winning season. //

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2019 season record

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Water Polo

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Deerfield Academy

Mark Scandling

There’s a long-standing tradition in water polo that—whether it be push, pull, throw or jump—the coach whose team wins the New England Prep School Athletic Council Championship is expected to join their conquering heroes in the pool as part of the victory celebration.

For Mark Scandling, that ritual has resulted in a half-dozen dousings throughout the years, thanks to the four pennants his boys’ teams have captured and the two titles his girls’ teams have won. For someone with a knack for organizing and preparing, however, you just knew Scandling would concoct a plan to curtail the carnage—and he did. He always brought a change of clothes.

“You should never expect to win,” said Scandling philosophically, “but whenever we made it to the finals, I’d plan on sneaking a dry set of clothes onto the bus . . . just in case. I never wanted the kids to see them because I didn’t want them to feel any extra pressure, and at the same time, I didn’t want them to feel overconfident, either . . . I just wanted to make sure I had a dry ride home.”

Over the past three decades at Deerfield, Scandling has joined a band of brothers and sisters that is now fast becoming extinct: three-sport coaches. In addition to leading the girls’ polo team since its inception in 1997 and boys’ team since 2005, Scandling has spent his winters coaching wrestling, and celebrated the 1993 New England Championship with Head Coach Horst and the grapplers. For Scandling, whose “day job” at Deerfield is teaching English, coaching isn’t his only gig when it comes to water polo. The veteran mentor also lends his organizational skills as president of both the NEPSAC boys’ and girls’ water polo committees.

“I don’t think we’ll really know how much Mark does around here until he’s not here anymore,” quipped Athletic Director Bob Howe.

“Seriously though, I think all of us at Deerfield have a very good idea as

to just how much Mark contributes to the school on both the scholastic and athletic fronts . . . he has an extraordinary commitment level to the school and to our student-athletes.”

When Scandling arrived in Deerfield in the fall of 1987, his initial assignments were English teacher and reserve football coach, but when he was named Art Horst’s assistant coach on the wrestling team that winter, some familiarity returned to his life.

“Wrestling’s the only sport I’d ever really competed in,” said Scandling, who, as a freshman at Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, VA, probably didn’t scare too many opponents at 5-7 and 98 pounds. “I wrestled quite a bit with my older brother, John, who was about the same size as me. In fact, we both wrestled at Davidson College, and by the time I graduated, I considered myself a good-to-average wrestler.”

Water polo was next on Scandling’s coaching carousel, where he assisted Steve Murray, now head master at the Lawrenceville School, “and we made a rather interesting staff,” quipped Scandling. “Steve knew quite a bit about water polo, but had no previous experience coaching. I, on the other hand, had some coaching experience, but didn’t know anything about water polo.

“I remember saying, ‘I’ll do it for a year,’” said Scandling, explaining how he took on the head coaching duties when Murray departed to become a headmaster at University School in Cleveland. “We won just one game that year, but those players worked so hard and they never gave up, so after the effort they put forth, I just couldn’t walk away. It’s in the tough times like those that you not only learn a lot about your team, but you also learn a lot about yourself.”

“If it hadn’t been for Coach Scandling, I might have quit water polo a couple years ago,” Monet Meyer ’19 recently said. A 2019 girls’ team captain, a couple years ago Meyer said she was feeling unsure about her ability to play the game and contribute to the team.

“So I asked Mr. Scandling if we could talk,” said Meyer. “We had a great conversation.

Mr. Scandling told me that he not only had complete confidence in my ability, but that my teammates did, too. He reassured me that water polo is a difficult sport to master and that I was just suffering some growing pains . . . just like probably every one of my teammates had experienced at some point.”

Thanks to that chat, Meyer stuck with it, becoming a standout—and a captain—in the pool.

The biggest difference between the boys’ and girls’ version of water polo, according to Scandling, is the size of the ball; the girls use a smaller, lighter ball. From a coaching standpoint, though, Scandling approaches both teams in a nearly identical manner.

“I think the only variation in my approach to the teams is that I moderate—a bit—what I call my ‘command voice’ for the girls,” said Scandling.

That tone originated on the home front; Scandling’s father served in the Army, and Scandling was the recipient of an ROTC scholarship at Davidson and later served four years in the Army as well. “That made us an Army family,” said Scandling, “where order and organization were a way of life.”

SOMETIMES YOU FIND YOURSELF BELIEVING IN THEM MORE THAN THEY BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES BUT THAT’S WHAT TEACHING AND COACHING ARE ALL ABOUT. Those organizational skills still serve Scandling well—just check out one of his practices.

“We always use a clock that’s set to run down from 90 minutes,” explained Scandling, whose boys’ teams won gold in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and girls’ teams prevailed in 1998 and 2013. “It helps govern the length and pace of practice and helps keep all the athletes engaged in activity throughout the practice.”

“Coach Scandling keeps everybody busy,” said Amanda Brooks ’19, also a team captain.

“He usually breaks us up into three groups during practice . . . one might be in the diving pool working on passing, while the other two could be working on shooting or defense in the big pool. Then, after a set amount of time, we’ll switch and work on something different.

We get a lot done in 90 minutes.

“Mr. Scandling’s a great coach and a great teacher,” added Brooks. “In fact, I took one of his English courses last year simply because of the way he presented his pregame speeches.

They were always inspirational and often focused on examples from past teams, and he always got my attention.”

“Working with kids in the classroom as well as the athletic arena has been one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done in my life,” added Scandling. “Helping student-athletes believe in themselves when it may seem as though their efforts are for naught is a truly rewarding feeling. Sometimes you find yourself believing in them more than they believe in themselves, but that’s what teaching and coaching are all about.” //

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By Dean of

SUMMER READING

College Advising Mark Spencer

FISKE GUIDE TO COLLEGES

BY EDWARD B. FISKE Founded by a former education editor for the New York Times, the Fiske Guide, is the guidebook to help parents and students learn about more than 300 colleges. It not only contains standard facts and statistics but also provides excellent insight into each school, including student quotes that present each institution in a straightforward manner without views from the editors. The well-written short summaries on each institution offer a helpful introduction to each school. In fact, this is the book our College Advising Office tells students to start with when exploring colleges. It can help a student narrow a large list of potential college visits down to a more manageable number.

COLLEGES THAT CHANGE LIVES: 40 SCHO OLS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT COLLEGES

BY LOREN POPE

Brent Hale

Loren Pope wrote this book in 1995 in response to the growing obsession with the college system and the focus on achievement as the only measure of worth. The perspective here is that higher education should be a transformative experience for students, and Pope highlights 40 schools that do just that; schools whose strength is helping students “find themselves, raise their aspirations, and empower them.” Those 40 colleges have adopted the moniker, “CTCL,” created their own website, and travel across the nation as a unit to present themselves to the public. Further information, including their travel schedule, can be found online at ctcl.org

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MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS PROCESS. OP-EDS, EDITORIALS, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AND BOOK AFTER BOOK ARE PREDICTABLY PUBLISHED DURING THE FALL APPLICATION PROCESS AND THE SPRING DECISION SEASON. SOME WRITERS PROVIDE HOW-TO GUIDEBOOKS WITH STEP-BY-STEP CHECKLISTS. OTHERS OFFER ADVICE TO CALM WORRIED PARENTS AND NERVOUS STUDENTS. THERE ARE EVEN THOSE THAT CL AIM TO HAVE THE “SECRET TO GETTING IN,” WHICH, OF COURSE, DOES NOT EXIST. GATHERED HERE ARE THE BOOKS I FIND THE MOST INSIGHTFUL AND INFORMATIVE, AND HAVING SPENT 25 YEARS IN THIS FIELD OF COLLEGE ADMISSIONS, THESE ARE THE RESOURCES I RETURN TO AGAIN AND AGAIN.

WHERE YOU GO IS NOT WHO YOU’LL BE

BY FRANK BRUNI As the subhead states, this book is about offering “An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania.” With college applications continually rising and an increasing number of colleges with admit rates below 10 percent, this book is timely in pointing out the flaws of popular college rankings and supports the argument that a student’s path to success is not through the perceived prestige of a college. Students can be successful at a range of colleges, not just a few elite schools.

Obviously, a well-heeded lesson that still needs to be learned given the recent scandal that included over 30 parents engaging in fraud in order to send their kid to the “right” college.

If you want to follow a good thought thread on college admissions, Frank Bruni’s New York Times education articles are worth reading.

ADMISSION MATTERS: WHAT STUDENTS AND PARENTS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING INTO COLLEGE

BY SALLY P. SPRINGER, JON REIDER, MARION R. FRANCK Admissions Matters is as close to a fully encompassing guide for the college admissions process that exists out there. It does a nice job answering almost all of your questions in a realistic and forthright manner. This book covers topics ranging from how to find colleges that fit your interests to standardized testing to early admittance options to paying for college, and much more.

I like that it even has several questionnaires to help students get to know themselves better by identifying their college priorities, for example.

As one book reviewer stated, “Admission Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting into College is a fantastic, realistic tool that will help students cover all bases to ensure they are prepared to proceed with their college journey.”

THE BIG TEST: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MERITO CRACY

BY NICHOLAS LEMANN For those, like me, who find history enticing, this book will be a fascinating summer read! In The Big Test, Nicolas Lemann dives into a historical analysis of the creation and rise to prominence of the SAT in college admissions. The SAT was essentially an experiment created by James Bryant Conant, President of Harvard University, and Henry Chauncey, head of the brand-new Educational Testing Service (ETS). According to the author, “The idea was to use the new science of intelligence testing to assess and classify American students in order to create a new democratic elite that would lead postwar America to progress, strength, and prosperity.”

Nowadays we can recognize this is as an experiment gone awry in many ways, as evidenced by the over 300 top-tier colleges and universities who have chosen to go SAT-optional in their admission practices.

THE GATEKEEPERS: INSIDE THE ADMISSIONS PRO CESS OF A PREMIER COLLEGE

BY JACQUES STEINBERG When I first read this book back in the early 2000s, I sent a copy to my parents saying, “If you want to know what I do for a living, read this!”

This is not a guidebook that unveils “secrets” to the admission process, but, instead, it’s an engaging account of a New York Times education reporter’s first-hand experience of the admissions process at one of America’s highly selective universities. After being turned down by several institutions, Jacques Steinberg was finally granted the opportunity to shadow an admissions officer for a year as they visited high schools, read files, and sat in on admission committees for the Wesleyan University Class of 2003. The admissions process has not changed much since then, and The Gatekeepers highlights the fact that there are many componets to an admission

decision. Quantifiable measures such as rank and GPA are important but not the only considerations. As Steinberg reports, “Admissions was a process in which the objective criteria were always changing depending on the particular candidate and the institution’s specific need at that moment.” One book reviewer, Mona Molarsky, succinctly stated, “Anyone who believes that passage through the gates of America’s most esteemed colleges is based on merit will understand by the end of the book that it isn’t.”

Although these are some of my favorite reads related to college admissions, there are many other sources out there worth reading on this topic. I encourage you to email me the names of any books that particularly stood out for you.

And, if you are looking for further summer reading recommendations, CTCL has an extensive “bookshelf” on its website: ctcl.org/bookshelf/ Enjoy your reading and happy summer!

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21 YEARS

Bernie Baker B y D a n i e l l a Vo l l i n g e r / Photographs by Stephanie Craig

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“Of the fifteen men who sat in Wannsee, Germany, in January of 1942 to plan the Holocaust, eight of them held PhDs and two of them were medical doctors,” said Bernie, sitting calmly with his hands clasped together on his lap as he reflected on what teaching means to him. “That’s that education of the head in the absence of educating the heart, and that can make you incredibly dangerous.”

Bernie Baker, who retired from the Academy this past spring, is the son of Eastern European immigrants from the Poland-Russia border. His family’s shtetl was wiped out during the Second World War. The notion that ordinary men have the capacity to do extraordinary evil is not lost on him, and he bears the weight of his responsibility to teach not only the facts of history to young minds, but to also teach empathy. The idea that an education should be focused on career choice never occurred to Bernie, who, after all, said that he had “majored in protesting the Vietnam War.” Instead, an education should prepare one to be a good citizen. Social justice is at the core of Bernie’s work, and to him, social justice is purely “the idea of creating a world that is more just, fair, equitable, and humane.”

Bernie’s classroom, ensconced in Georgian -style architecture with views of expansive greens, is soberly decorated with images that are central to the lessons taught. The walls are “filled with remarkable examples of student work that underscore Bernie’s unusual talent for activating the passion and imagination of his pupils,” says Conrad Pitcher, who has worked with Bernie for 20 years. “Alongside this student work hangs portraits of the famous and the marginalized, as well as a vast array of quotes and slogans designed to help students avoid the trap of comfort and complacency.

Bernie prominently displays Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s assertion that “education is never neutral, it either liberates, domesticates or alienates.” Bernie’s true gift is providing his students with the lens to see their education as both political and personal, and, ultimately, as a vital act of liberation.”

Bernie has that remarkable gift all truly great teachers possess: the ability to shift a student’s consciousness. As Dean of Faculty John Taylor put it, “Bernie’s students are always moved, affected, and in the end, transformed by his classes because he places as much importance on educating their hearts as educating their minds.” John remembers a moment when one of Bernie’s students sought him out at the end of the day to ask him if he had any hope that the world could become a better place. “She was so deeply moved that she was eager to engage in a meaningful conversation about what we could do to change the world. That day, Dr. Baker had told his class that ‘if we resist complacency, if we educate our hearts, we can be part of the light in the world.’”

A sunny, spring breeze moves over the lawn and fills the classroom with cool air. A large picture of a person with hands covering his eyes with the words “Please Open” written across the bottom hangs on one wall along with another poster featuring a Dante quote: “The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in times of moral crisis retain their neutrality.” The seriousness of Bernie’s mission seems to contradict the idea of the free-spirited man who, in his 20’s, looked over at his wife Laura and said, “Why not?” in response to an ad in the paper that read “Why not rent a house on the ocean in Maine?” A man who then packed

IF WE RESIST COMPLACENCY, IF WE EDUCATE OUR HEARTS, WE CAN BE PART OF THE LIGHT IN THE WORLD.

his 1965 Chevy Bel Air and moved across state lines to coastal Maine with his wife in the midst of the 1974 recession, without a job and $40 to his name. Perhaps it was less youthful naiveté but more an unwavering trust in oneself and in humanity.

At that time, many other young couples moved to rural New England in the back-tothe-land movement. The parallels of that time to today are striking: economic uncertainty, fallout from a global real estate and stock crash, a restructuring economy, investigations into the US executive branch, geopolitical tension with Russia, a failing war, rising drug addiction rates, questions on capitalism vs. socialism, and a nagging sense that the West has seen its best days. The pioneering spirit that inspired so many young people to move ahead as masters of their own destinies, uninhibited by fear of failure or a feeling of victimhood in a tragic world, is inspiring.

“We weren’t afraid,” says Bernie. “We believed that with a good education and a strong

work ethic, good things would happen.” Young people today should be inspired to take responsibility for their own lives while being change agents for the world. “Accept others and work for the benefit of the larger community and larger culture, not just yourself.”

Bernie admits that he has wrestled with the fact that he taught some of the most privileged students in the world and has wondered at times if he is complicit in maintaining the huge wealth gap. Before teaching at Deerfield, Bernie had spent almost two decades teaching at a public school in Maine where many of his students were so poor that they did not have adequate heating in their homes. Yes, the world is unfair and broken, but we carry on because our purpose is to represent the world as it should be, as it could be. Teaching at Deerfield has given Bernie the opportunity to shape the minds of some of the most gifted students, he says, and he’s betting that for those Deerfield students to whom much has been given, much more will be given back. //

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Jan Kari

29 YEARS

By Daniella Vo l l i n g e r / Photographs by Stephanie Craig

“We have a tradition at Deerfield of walking guests from place to place during their visits,” says Jan Kari with a glimmer of pride as she looks out toward the mottled Buttonball tree at the school’s entrance.

Moments earlier, she sat in her cozy office on the “Garden Level” of the Main School Building, where she has spent the last 29 years working in Human Resources. Antique maps hang on the walls, framed photos of people dear to her line the shelves, and a careful collection of shells catch the eye. Everything is in its right and proper place.

Jan glances down at a list she has made of topics and events that she wants to cover. As Director of Human Resources, she’s usually the one interviewing and not the interviewee. "I developed a sense of equity early on in my life,” says Jan, reflecting on how she came into her role within the world of HR. “As a young person, I had a sense of both wanting to help people and to be a resource for them. I wanted to see people being treated with fairness, no matter who they were, whether they were privileged or not.”

18 | ALBANY ROAD

When Jan arrived at Deerfield in August of 1990 as the school’s first full-time Director of Personnel­—and only a year after the school returned to coeducation— her work focused mainly on businessrelated issues. She developed the first harassment policy, which at the time focused more on sexual harassment and gender but would later evolve to incorporate an overall anti-harassment policy for all protected classes. “We worked together to develop Deerfield’s culture to have a high bar for civility,” says Jan when she thinks about all the training and the ever -growing employee handbook.

“Among other positions, Jan had worked as a train dispatcher,” says Associate Head of School for Operations and CFO Keith Finan.

“She had experience with keeping numerous moving parts going in the right direction at the right times and the right speeds. Those are critical components when working with people and programs,” he adds.

Jan was also drawn to Human Resources because of the balance between left and right brain skills required to do the work. In 1993, when six female employees were pregnant, Jan worked on the first paid maternity leave policy, which later evolved into a parental leave policy. “HR does a lot of work helping people adjust to normal life changes: professional development, a growing family, college savings, financial counseling, and coping with death or divorce.” The faculty and staff need to be supported in different ways, given that the faculty live where they work. “DA is not a job; it’s a life! Both faculty and staff give so much to the school.”

“The attribute I have valued most in my working relationship with Jan is that she does not back away from telling me what she disagrees with and why. That approach broadens my perspective and knowledge. She is also compassionate and takes joy in the ‘softer’ side of employee relations,” says Finan. Over the years, this has included planning all-employee gatherings—events where everybody steps back from the hecticness of the school year, relaxes, and simply enjoys one another’s company.

Jan retired at the end of the fiscal year as a new head of school was coming in, and she reflected on the changes she has seen over the years, including several leadership transitions at Deerfield. “The world and our society have changed, and that has shaped DA more than any person or leader,” she says as she contemplates the last three decades. “Leaders have to respond to changes in the world. Each head of school was hired for different reasons in response to the times.” The evolving policies that guide Deerfield are in place to preserve the rich heritage and mission of the school while accommodating the rapidly-changing world in which we live.

Beyond the office window, a large green and white tent has been erected for the 2019 Commencement ceremonies. A miniature cairn of stacked, weathered pebbles balances on a nearby table in Jan’s office; it’s metaphor for life she says. It’s about finding your way on your path. If she could give the graduating

class any advice for their future careers, she would tell them that, wherever they go, they should seek out people they can help in addition to people who can help them.

Her wish for all Deerfield employees is for them to recognize their shared experience, no matter what their role at the school might be or what differences in occupation, education, or access to opportunities they might have, and to learn from one another.

“If we only surround ourselves with people just like us, how do we grow and what do we learn? We each experience DA differently and it’s important that we value each person’s contributions.”

In terms of generational challenges in the workforce, Deerfield works to assist employees in every phase of their working careers. There is an emphasis on family life and work-life balance at Deerfield. Jan herself was the beneficiary of having “incredible support” raising her son while being part of the Deerfield community and having “the flexibility to be a working mom as well as the flexibility to care for an elderly parent.” She remembers many times when she brought her young son to work with her, and a smile draws across her face as she recalls him toddling around the office playing hide and seek with her colleagues.

Jan is passionate about her work and grateful to the Academy for its generosity, but it’s time to begin a new journey. She and her partner, Bill, are about to actualize their dream of becoming an “itinerant retirees.” They will embark on a new adventure in a large camper that they recently bought in anticipation of a rambling retirement, trekking across the country to state and national parks and beyond. After three decades in one place, the open road is calling Jan’s name. //

“IF WE ONLY SURROUND OURSELVES WITH PEOPLE JUST LIKE US, HOW DO WE GROW AND WHAT DO WE LEARN? WE EACH EXPERIENCE DA DIFFERENTLY AND IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE VALUE EACH PERSON’S CONTRIBUTIONS.”

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30 YEARS

Karinne Heise B y D a n i e l l a Vo l l i n g e r / Photograph by Stephanie Craig

20 | ALBANY ROAD

Karinne Heise starts her morning routine with a hot cup of coffee and NPR in the background before heading out to teach her first period class. She has a calm and deliberate presence.

Her colleagues say that she’s not a self-promoter, and it’s clear that Karinne would rather not have the spotlight on her. Instead, she lights up when describing her favorite class to teach: American Nature. Karinne looks to the verdant hills surrounding Deerfield for inspiration in both the classroom and in life. “The American Nature class is based on interplay between the world of nature and human nature,” she says enthusiastically. “We read American literature that touches upon how nature impacts characters. We head out on field trips to experience the natural world firsthand and to reflect on our own relationship with nature.” Karinne, who retired at the end of this school year, says it’s a class she will greatly miss.

When Karinne arrived at Deerfield as an English teacher in 1988, it was a completely different school from the one she’s leaving behind. That was the year before Deerfield returned to coeducation. The excitement on campus was palpable, but as with any major institutional change, there were many conflicting perspectives. Some students welcomed the change, and others, who had enrolled thinking they were going to complete their education at an all-boys school,

YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE SCHOOL LIKE IT'S YOUR FAMILY. AND IT HELPS TO INVOLVE YOUR FAMILY IN THE LIFE OF THE SCHOOL. I LOVE THE PEOPLE: MY COLLEAGUES, MY STUDENTS, AND ALL THE GIRLS I COACHED— MY PLAYERS. I ALSO LOVE THE PLACE—THE WOODS, THE FIELDS, THE RIVER.

Brent Hale

I’M GOING TO MISS IT.

were not as keen on the new direction.

Deerfield, as one of the last schools of its kind to go coed, benefited from seeing how other schools had made the transition. “A lot of thought and planning went into it, and I think we did it well,” says Karinne, reflecting on what could have been a more turbulent time.

“The return to coeducation was certainly a crucial step toward making Deerfield the more diverse, global place it is today.”

Heidi Valk, who joined the faculty shortly after Karinne, recalled how she and other female faculty members saw Karinne as a role model during that time of transition. “Karinne was one of a few female faculty members when I arrived, and if you were a young, female teacher, you were looking for someone to show you the way. Karinne was that leader for us,” says Heidi. “Female students and faculty embraced being in a place going through change, and we were willing to work hard for women and for girls.” Part of the hard work ahead of them would be the task of building the girls’ athletics program from the ground up.

Karinne was instrumental in developing the girls’ field hockey and squash programs in the ’90s, and eventually she coached the girls’ soccer team, JV hockey, and other fall sports.

She was a trailblazer for girls’ athletics. “Few Deerfield coaches have been as successful as Karinne, but no one would ever know it; the spotlight has always been on her players for all the right reasons,” says Dean of Faculty John Tayor. “Karinne pushed her players to win but she cared a lot more about them as individuals.

She wanted them to represent Deerfield and themselves as best they could. One could argue that she paved the path for many other teams to play with the same competitive spirit as the ones that she led. Countless Deerfield alums will undoubtedly say that they are very proud to have played for Ms. Heise because they became better people as members of her teams.”

Karinne and her husband, former and also longtime Academy history teacher Tom Heise, built a life at Deerfield that spanned three decades. There was never any question that Karinne would, every year, teach four classes, coach two competitive teams, and supervise the corridor to which she was assigned. She also served five years each as English Department chair and assistant dean of faculty.

As John Taylor put it, Karinne “juggled the demands of a triple-threat faculty member with grace and humility.”

When she reflects on her time at Deerfield and how she balanced her professional life and family life as a mother, Karinne concludes that this is a path you take because you love what you do, and in order to live this lifestyle, you have to fully embrace it. “You have to be willing to immerse yourself in the school like it’s your family. And it helps to involve your family in the life of the school. When my children were young, they loved running around the dorm, going to the Dining Hall, playing in the gym,

being ball boys on the soccer sidelines,” Karinne says wistfully. “I love the people: my colleagues, my students, and all the girls I coached—my players. I also love the place— the woods, the fields, the river. I’m going to miss it.”

Karinne and Tom will be moving full-time to their home in New Hampshire, which they have lovingly renovated over the years, and where they have enjoyed many glorious summers with their sons, Kurt ’12 and Jack ’10.

New Hampshire was also where Karinne spent time as a graduate student at Dartmouth where she completed her MALS in Liberal Studies, writing her thesis on the novels of Toni Morrison.

As a lover of poetry and non-fiction, Karinne intends to make time to work on her own writing, resurrecting several projects she has in draft form. “I’m looking forward to the next chapter—having the opportunity, as Thoreau put it, ‘to live deliberately,’ and, along the way, discover more open-ended days of spontaneity and possibility.” //

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Claudia Lyons

22 | ALBANY ROAD

73 YEARS

David Dickinson

By Daniella Vo l l i n g e r / Photographs by Stephanie Craig + Brent Hale

Every Christmas as a child, Claudia Lyons asked for a free-standing chalkboard, colored chalk, and workbooks so that she could gather the neighborhood kids for lessons. In the second grade, she clinched her first teaching gig assisting a teacher with the kindergartners. She was hooked. “That smell when you walk into the classroom at the beginning of the year,” says Claudia with a deep inhale, “I just love the smell of the new books, the smell of the chalk.” Claudia was born to teach.

It was 1978, right after finishing graduate school at Tufts, when Claudia—who had recently become engaged to her high school sweetheart, David Dickinson—was considering three job offers. Judd Blain, then the Academy’s dean of faculty, was trying to convince her to come to Deerfield to teach French. At one point, Claudia remembers Judd asking her to stand up in the Dining Hall so she could appreciate the full scene. “All I saw was a sea of blue blazers,” says Claudia animatedly. “But Judd charmed me beyond belief and made me want to be here.”

As one of six women and the youngest faculty member at what was a very male institution when she arrived, Claudia knew that she might encounter some challenges but took comfort in knowing that she was a strong, spirited woman.

Besides, she thought, if she didn’t like it, she could leave after a year, and perhaps she could manage to change a few views along the way. Claudia lightheartedly recalls the day when she was first setting up her new mailbox and the postmaster—who would later become a good friend—told her, matter-of-factly, that “this place” would chew her up and spit her out. To which Claudia quipped: “I’ll outlast you, sir.”

Claudia, who became known around campus as “Madame,” soon came to realize that her role at Deerfield was more than a teacher’s. Behind all the surface-level, athletic bravado, the students were just teenage boys in need of guidance. “We were ‘in loco parentis,’” she says. “And at the end of the day, underneath all the blue blazers and khaki pants, they were just a bunch of teenagers trying to find their way in the world.”

Claudia’s students came to see her as “an energetic, enthusiastic, witty, and caring teacher and mentor,” says Language Department Chair Haley O’Neil. “As a French language teacher, she built a vibrant and rigorous program that immerses students in the language, cultures, and literatures of the Francophone world. Claudia has been a bedrock of Deerfield’s Language Department.”

David, who remained in Boston to pursue a career in graphic design and commercial art, eventually joined Claudia at Deerfield. For a while though, he had his eyes back on the eastern part of the state, where there were more opportunities available in his field. He never intended to teach but was approached by the Stoneleigh-Burnham School in 1980—after they had seen his work—with a request to build their art program. “I stumbled into teaching, then all of a sudden I became immersed and fell in love with it,” says David, reflecting on how he discovered his calling—his love for the arts is undeniable. “I wanted to build a program that offered all the things I was never taught. I wanted a program with academic rigor in the arts.”

While at Stoneleigh, David was approached by Deerfield to join the Academy, but he couldn’t pull away from Stoneleigh until he had fully realized his vision for their program. Several years later, Deerfield knocked again; the timing was right. When David joined the faculty in 1987, the visual arts program was small but vibrant, and Dean of Faculty Skip Mattoon and then Headmaster Robert Kaufmann were forward thinking and supportive of future growth and the continuation of Dan Hodermarsky’s inspired diploma requirement. The 1990 renovation of the formerly-named Memorial Building to include the Reed Center for the Arts was perfect for the advent of coeducation.

Fellow visual arts teacher Mercedes Taylor praises the program David built, as well as his creativity and ability to draw out latent talent in each student while still pursuing a high standard of excellence.

David’s students are equally enthusiastic about his contributions.

Morgane Dackiw ’19 describes “Mr. D’s class” as “bigger than an art class and bigger than Deerfield’s curriculum.” He created an environment “where all students would feel equally encouraged, teased, and pushed to think and to perform without forgetting why [they] are where

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JUSTIFY YOUR EXISTENCE. FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE AND SHARE WHAT TALENTS YOU HAVE. AND WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU DO, DO IT WITH CONVICTION.

[they] are and who [they] are.” Caroline Carpenter ’19 found “Mr. D” to be a bright spot in her day, and it “saddens [her] to think that students in the future will not have the opportunity to know him.”

David’s and Claudia’s contributions to the Deerfield community are too numerous to list; they are seen as fixtures and icons by many, and their joie de vivre has been infectious. They have each chaired their respective departments, both were recipients of the Greer Family Distinguished Teaching Chair, David held the John S. Hilson Chair in the Fine Arts, and Claudia was presented with the Independence Foundation Chair. Just this past year, an endowed fund was established by Trustee Amy Sodha Harsch ’97 and her mother Lynnette in Claudia’s and retired science teacher Andy Harcourt’s honor. Claudia also served as an associate director of Admission for about 35 years, including chairing and co-chairing the junior/senior/post-graduate Admission committee and then co-chairing the international applicants committee.

She “vividly recalls” the day Deerfield admitted its first girls after the school’s return to coeducation: Former Headmaster Robert Kaufmann came to the meeting to witness the historic moment.

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In the words of Dean of Faculty John Taylor, “David and Claudia are two of the hardest working, most dedicated, talented, and funniest faculty members I’ve ever encountered. What’s remarkable about both of them is that they got their students to shine and laugh at the same time. They will both be remembered for the joyfulness they brought to Deerfield in and out of the classroom. Their generosity of spirit has been limitless.”

On this particular day, David and Claudia sit across from each other in a Kendall classroom, interrupting each other’s stories, and filling in blanks for one another as only two people whose lives are so entwined can. Their youthful energy is a testament to a life lived in service of one’s true calling—they are retiring only because it’s time to begin a new adventure. While splitting time between Prince Edward Island and Northampton (MA) each year, David and Claudia plan to explore new interests and revive all the creative projects they have put on the backburner, as well as some community service work—Claudia wants to teach English to new immigrants. She also wants to take up Italian, and David, who is a musician, wants to start a band (he was in both the rock and jazz bands at Deerfield over the years) and pick up magazine illustration once again. They also have a long bucket list of travel that includes plans for some theme-based adventures—mainly around tennis and golf events—a big Asia trip, and, of course, a trip to France or a French-speaking country every year.

The late-afternoon light is waning on the west side of Kendall.

There’s a lull on campus before the next flurry of activity begins and a touch of spring fever in the air. These are the final few weeks that David and Claudia will spend at Deerfield. They both pause to reflect on the many changes they’ve seen over the years. “Today, the curriculum has expanded, there’s a global education and international studies, Chinese and Arabic languages are taught, the arts have exploded, and the Dining Hall is an impressively professional operation. There has been expansion in a lot of areas, especially in athletics,” says Claudia. But with that has come the feeling that there is an imbalance between academics and athletics, she says. David agrees. “Let’s first remember why we are here: for scholarship. It’s an academy, a school, and everything else is an extra add on,” he says. As a longtime varsity tennis coach at Deerfield, David once told his players, as they were squabbling after a long Deerfield day, that they were students first; the tennis court provided “recess.” Nevertheless, a plaque in the Morsman Tennis Pavilion reads: In Honor of David Dickinson, Girls Tennis Coach, 1992-2016, 231-45 Record. Paid for by the families of David’s former players, it is a testiment to his belief that, if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

Now, after 73 years of combined service in the classroom and countless lives touched, David and Claudia look forward to enjoying a well-earned recess of their own. They leave today’s students with one parting nugget of advice: Justify your existence. Find out who you are and share what talents you have. And whatever it is that you do, do it with conviction. //

DAVID AND CLAUDIA ARE TWO OF THE HARDEST WORKING, MOST DEDICATED, TALENTED, AND FUNNIEST FACULTY MEMBERS I’VE EVER ENCOUNTERED. WHAT’S REMARKABLE ABOUT BOTH OF THEM IS THAT THEY GOT THEIR STUDENTS TO SHINE AND LAUGH AT THE SAME TIME.

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leading the charge 26

and the HANGE DEERFIELD GIRLS ON CAMPUS AND IN THE WORLD

BY NAOMI

FJ Gaylor

SHULMAN

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Bailey Cheetham ’19 took a long look in the mirror last fall. Seeing herself in “Captain Deerfield’s” flowing green cape, brandishing the tall green staff . . . well, one could excuse the 17-year-old for needing a minute. “How do I even put it?” she asked months later. “It was overwhelming.”

There are older traditions—Captain Deerfield first made an appearance in 1995—but the title was bestowed by the previous year’s Captain Deerfield, and the kids who donned the cape were always loud, rowdy, and gregarious. They had to be! How else were they going to stir up school spirit on Choate Day? Captain Deerfield had always been one other thing, year after year after year: a boy.

Until Bailey. “That first time I dressed up, I was more nervous and scared than excited and happy,” she admits. “I kept wondering if this

was what students wanted? Were they ready for a very different experience?” Bailey, like most kids—and in their hearts, most grownups, too—wanted approval from her peers. “I do care about what other people think,” she says. “And I think this was the moment in time when I cared the most. I didn’t want to mess up a tradition because I was a girl.”

Bailey took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and did what any Captain Deerfield had to do: She put on her game face.

Bailey wasn’t the first Deerfield girl to put on her game face.

Not long ago, pretty much anything a girl did on campus was a first.

Katy Farmer ’92*, who concluded her term as Vice President of the Academy’s Board of Trustees this past spring, first visited Deerfield as a prospective student just prior to the school’s transition back to coeducation. The all-male campus of the 1980s was a “sea of blue blazers,” especially because boys outnumbered incoming female students by four to one. Current Trustee Amy Harsch ’97 echoes that sentiment. By the time she arrived on campus, the ratio between boys and girls had started to even out, but boys still outnumbered girls. And alumna and Director of the Annual Fund Betsey Dickson ’94 is frank about her early days on campus.

“Back then, I felt that it was a boys’ school with girls attending.

I felt like we weren’t 100 percent part of the school,” she says simply. Well, if it was sea of blue blazers, there was really only one thing for girls like Farmer, Harsch, and Dickson to do.

“We just had to dive in and make a difference.”

Farmer says she was one of only two girls in her English class— a scenario that would never happen today, when the ratio of girls to boys has hovered at 50/50 for well over two decades. “We girls definitely had to hold our own with all those boys,” she remembers.

But she’s not complaining. Being among the first female Deerfield students was a choice she made willingly. “I thought it was a great opportunity to go to a school that didn’t have established norms and ways of doing things for girls,” she says. Farmer—a producer at CBS’ 60 Minutes—credits her time at Deerfield with her confidence in a demanding career. “I’m very comfortable in male-dominated environments, which often the workplace can be,” she points out. Harsch, too, works in a male-dominated industry; she is now the first female partner at a private equity firm. She credits her Deerfield experience with helping her learn to navigate the famously choppy waters of finance. “In order to succeed in any demanding field, you need tenacity, a willingness to roll with the punches, and the ability to get up and do it again.”

Vanessa (Brooker) Eastman and Katy (Textor) Farmer circa 1992.

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Deerfield Academy

Being a girl at Deerfield in those early coed days could sometimes be challenging, but ultimately it inspired confidence, independence, and self-esteem. Of course, one might argue that all of this was true of being a student at Deerfield, regardless of gender identity.

Being a girl at Deerfield in those early coed days could sometimes be challenging, but ultimately it inspired confidence, independence, and self-esteem. Of course, one might argue that all of this was true of being a student at Deerfield, regardless of gender identity.

The point of any school, especially an independent school such as Deerfield, is partly to pose constructive challenges. As Marjorie Young, Director of Inclusion and Community Life, says, “I think the ethos of a Deerfield education isn’t just what we’re doing on campus; we’re preparing students to become leaders in a rapidly changing world. We’re looking at the bigger picture.” Young wasn’t on campus in 1989, but since she joined the faculty in 2013, she has seen a lot of shifting, “and gender equity is just part of it. Other things, such as cultural competency skills and recognizing the LGBTQ community are also expressions of Deerfield being more conscious, aware, and inclusive,” she points out. “When I first arrived here, I heard comments about how sometimes Deerfield still felt like a boys’ school in some ways. I don’t hear those comments anymore.”

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“I think the ethos of a Deerfield education isn’t just what we’re doing on campus; we’re preparing students to become leaders in a rapidly changing world. We’re looking at the bigger picture.”

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Marjorie Young, Director of Inclusion and Community Life

Deerfield Academy

That doesn’t mean there’s no work left to be done. As co-editor of the Deerfield Scroll, recent graduate Orlee Marini-Rapoport ’19 kept a keen, and sometimes critical, eye on her surroundings. Orlee was smitten with Deerfield from the moment she arrived on campus, but not naively so. “I heard that it was an old-boys network,” she says. “I think there are vestiges of that, but they’re grossly overestimated. Many kids come from unique, nontraditional backgrounds—like me. As far as I know, I’m the first Deerfield kid with two moms.” It’s partly because Orlee has been an outspoken agitator around gender issues that she can vouch for how supportive the administration has been of all students, regardless of gender or background. She also focused on how much airtime boys and girls get in the classroom—at Deerfield and elsewhere—and delivered a TEDxDeerfield talk on the topic last year. “It started in my history class; my teacher began using an app that tracks how much people talked. Boys talked twice as often and for twice as long,” Orlee points out. “There’s a lot of research on classroom participation by gender, what we can do about it, why we should care, and concrete ways to change it. It’s not only pertinent to Deerfield, but we’re actively talking about it here and figuring out how to take action.”

Which is more than one can sometimes say for the world at large. “The news of the past several years makes it patently obvious that we as a country have a lot of work to do,” Harsch says pointedly. Young agrees, “Gender inequity is a thing. The world is unequal for women. Here at Deerfield we’re dealing with a little piece of a much bigger issue.” Orlee echoes this idea, viewing Deerfield not only as a microcosm of the world, but an especially hopeful one, because the work being done at Deerfield is exactly the kind of work that needs to take place around the globe. “There’s this feeling that when a school is imperfect, it’s the school’s fault, but a lot of it is society,” she says.

“We walk into Deerfield with life experiences, and learn that certain behaviors with respect to gender aren’t okay—not just at Deerfield, but anywhere.”

One area where the evolution of gender at Deerfield has been especially striking is on the playing fields. Athletics play an integral role in every Deerfield student’s life, and every effort was made to “level the playing field” beginning in 1989. Nevertheless, simply measured in years of establishment, it’s fair to say that the school was more deeply invested in the boys’ teams than the girls’.

No longer. “Bob Howe joined us as director of athletics as we were developing the strategic plan for inclusion,” says Young. “With that plan, each Senior Staff member has responsibilities for carrying the work of inclusion forward.” Howe’s responsibilities have included addressing gender equity in athletics, and Young says his work has had a profound impact on campus culture. “Everything from ordering new uniforms for the girls’ teams, to parity in transportation—who gets the fancy coach buses versus the school buses, for example? Not to mention equal facilities in the Athletics Complex.

Even the sizes of trophies! If the size of a trophy for a boys’ team is huge but not the girls’ trophies, it’s noticed—it matters. One way or the other, we’re making a statement.”

Molly Schaus ’06, a hockey star on the ice at Deerfield and in college, former Olympian, 2019 Ashley Award recipient, and current marketing manager with the Anaheim Ducks, always felt her athletic contributions were valued as a student. Even so, she appreciates these intentional changes. “I’m encouraged to see the continued push for equal treatment on campus,” she says. “Improvement can always be made. Women’s sports are all fighting for equal rights with their male counterparts; I have felt that my whole life.

It’s an ongoing battle and much bigger than Deerfield.”

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front pointing: Newly elected, 2019-20 Captain Deerfield, Hanna Deringer ’20

Multiple changes have been implemented on campus that reflect “a shift toward greater value and greater soliciting of input and contributions from girls, and subsequently, more girls step up to meet those invitations.”

“When we see society reflected in an institution, we might want to blame that institution,” says Young, “but it says more about the broader community and society in general. It’s not like the world around us is equal for women, but Deerfield has been and is actually taking steps.” Many of those steps lead right to Amie Creagh, Assistant Head of School for Student Life, who has been on campus for twenty of the thirty years since Deerfield’s return to coeducation.

She recalls a moment from her early days that may seem small, but told her a lot. “I was being interviewed before Choate weekend, and when I referred to ‘sportspersonship,’ it caught so much negative attention,” she says. “This kind of reaction to a non-gendered word made me a little anxious.” Well, that was then. Today, multiple changes have been implemented on campus that, in Creagh’s

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opinion, reflect “a shift toward greater value and greater soliciting of input and contributions from girls, and subsequently, more girls step up to meet those invitations.” Some of these include the creation of a gender symposium that addresses issues specific to women and girls on campus, as well as ensuring that student council and student program committee members have representation from all genders. What students might feel more acutely, Creagh points out, is the reconfiguration of dorms in 2015 to create the Ninth Grade Village, which has allowed for more organic friendships to form between boys and girls. “That was followed up by a survey we did of the juniors who had experienced both pre-reconfiguration and post-reconfiguration of the dorms,” Creagh says. “They definitively noted better gender relations.”

FJ Gaylor

Betsey Dickson agrees that the campus feels vastly different to her now. “I wasn’t the only girl in all male classes,” she says.

“It was partly a numbers thing, but maybe the administration didn’t really consider what it would mean and how it would feel to be the only girl in a classroom,” she reflects.

“That would never happen today. Starting with having had a female head of school for more than a decade, and girls active throughout the community—it’s really changed. The numbers have shifted, too.

I think girls today feel every opportunity at Deerfield is open to them, and I think there are more conscious decisions made, whether it’s scheduling classes or setting curriculum or choosing leadership positions, thought is really given to make sure that boys and girls have equal opportunities.”

Almost a year after she first donned Captain Deerfield’s cape, Bailey says that the fact that she was the first girl in the role quickly melted into the background. But she also hopes by virtue of having inhabited the role, she’s helped in some small way to further inclusion efforts at the school she loves.

And what exactly did Bailey ask herself as she stood in front of the mirror in her Captain Deerfield outfit? What can a girl do—at Deerfield, and in the world? In a sense, it’s a question that Deerfield Academy has been posing ever since the fall of 1989. Bailey, Orlee, Farmer, Harsch, Dickson, Schaus, and thousands of other Deerfield girls have been answering that question for decades. It turns out the answer is anything. //

*It is with sadness that we must note that soon after Katy Farmer was interviewed for this article, she passed away. Katy’s obituary may be found on page 89.

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A Great Moment A Reflection on Deerfield Academy’s 55 th Head of School Dr. Margarita O’Byrne Curtis

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IN THE WINTER OF 2006, THE HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH COMMITTEE MET IN NEW YORK CITY T O S E L E C T T H E I R N O M I N E E FO R T H E ACA D E M Y ’S NEXT HEAD. THERE WERE THREE STRONG CA N D I DAT E S T O SU C C E E D O U T G O I N G H E A D M A ST E R E R I C W I D M E R ’ 5 7, B U T B O A R D P R E S I D E N T J E F F L O U I S ’ 8 1 P ’ 1 8 ,’ 2 3 WA S C O N F I D E N T I N H I S P I C K .

MR. LOUIS PLACED A BOWL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM AND ASKED ALL EIGHT COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO WRITE D OWN THEIR FIRST CHOICE F O R T H E N O M I N AT I O N . C E R TA I N T H AT H I S WA S THE UNCONVENTIONAL VOTE, MR. LOUIS WROTE “ M A R G A R I TA C U R T I S ” O N A P I E C E O F PA P E R A N D S T E E L E D H I M S E L F F O R W H AT H E WA S S U R E W O U L D B E A L O N G P R O C E S S . O N C E E V E RY O N E H A D P L A C E D T H E I R PA P E R S I N T H E B O W L , M R . L O U I S TA B U L AT E D T H E R E S U LT S : E I G H T F O R M A R G A R I TA C U R T I S . “ W E A L L J U S T L O O K E D AT E A C H O T H E R A S I F T O S AY, ‘ N O WAY ! R E A L LY ? ’ ” H E R E C A L L S . “ I T WA S A G R E AT M O M E N T.”

Stephanie Craig

BY JULIA ELLIOTT

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55 th Head of School Dr. Margarita O’Byrne Curtis

larly one focused on bolstering academics; having participated in Andover’s recent strategic planning process and having served as an academic dean gave Margarita valuable experience. Lastly, in her letter submitted to the trustees as part of the nomination process, Margarita expressed her respect for Deerfield’s heritage; at the same time, she made it clear that she would prioritize evolving the school to “address the challenges of the next decade.”

From the first moment she arrived on campus, Mr. Louis says, Margarita seemed to know that “balancing that tension between tradition and evolution” would be her legacy.

Mr. Louis gets goose bumps when he reads back over the speech he gave to the Board presenting Margarita as the Search Committee’s nominee. Not only have nearly every one of the committee’s predictions for her come true, Margarita far surpassed their expectations with what she achieved over her thirteen-year tenure. “Whatever part I played in bringing Margarita to campus,” says Mr. Louis, “was one of the proudest things I’ve done in my life.”

Deerfield Academy

Dr. Curtis and former Board President Jeff Louis ’81 P’18, ’23 at Commencement 2007.

Like Mr. Louis, everyone else in the room thought they were casting the sole rogue vote for Margarita Curtis. As Dean of Studies at Phillips Academy Andover, Margarita had no experience running a school, while the other two candidates were boarding school headmasters. Some in the Deerfield community had expressed fear that she might “bring Andover to Deerfield,” an unhappy prospect, given Andover’s very different culture. Then, there was the simple fact that Deerfield, an all-boys school until 1989, had never had a modern-day female Head.

For all these reasons, Margarita had been a reluctant candidate at the start. The first time she met with the Search Committee, she told them: “Please don’t bring me to campus unless I have an equal chance. I know that I’m the dark horse, and you need to ask yourselves whether the dark horse can win.”

Quickly vaulting from long shot to frontrunner, Margarita impressed the committee with her intellect, genuineness, and obvious enthusiasm for boarding school life. Deerfield was also in need of a strategic plan, particu-

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Margarita O’Byrne Curtis was raised in another valley, one carpeted by sugar cane fields and surrounded by the Andes Mountains, in Cali, Colombia. The second of five children, she grew up surrounded by a large and loving extended family.

In 1965, the O’Byrnes moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where Margarita’s father Alvaro had accepted a three-year exchange professorship at Tulane University. He had a thriving ophthalmology practice in Cali, but Margarita’s mother was increasingly concerned about political violence. At age twelve, Margarita started ninth grade at a Catholic school in New Orleans. Of course, she should have been entering eighth grade, but that class was full, so her mother—always one to set high expectations—placed her in the ninth. Thus, Margarita began navigating the transition from Colombian girl to American teenager. Peanut butter and jelly, basketball, Edgar Allen Poe —all of it was new, exciting, and challenging.

Education was an important theme in the O’Byrne household. Margarita’s mother, Maria Teresa, grew up in Spain during the Civil War and never attended college. She let it be known that her four daughters would have the same opportunities as her son; they would get educations and become professionals. She modeled hard work and the importance of being an upright person. “There was this sense that ‘the O’Byrnes will do good things,’” Margarita says.

Margarita attended Tulane and received her teaching degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato. While at Mankato, a Spanish professor died suddenly of a heart attack. Knowing that she was bilingual, the University asked Margarita if she could step in to teach. “I was put in front of a class with no instructions,” she says. “They just gave me the textbook! But I loved it. I think that experience really hooked me.”

After marrying her college boyfriend, Harry Manning Curtis, Margarita taught for a year in Guadalajara, Mexico, and then at Metarie Park Country Day School in New Orleans. When they moved to Boston so Manning could pursue a residency and fellowship in cardiology, Margarita entered Harvard as a PhD student in Romance Languages and Literatures.

Manning eventually joined a practice in Andover, Massachusetts, and in a glimpse of her trademark non-stop energy, Margarita continued working on her PhD, commuting several times a week to Harvard to teach—and winning awards for that teaching four years in a row—all while raising two small children, Heather and Patrick. In 1986, she began teaching part-time at Andover, finally accepting a full-time position after completing her award-winning dissertation on the Spanish novelist Benito Pérez Galdós. She became head of Andover’s Division of World Languages in 1997 and served as Dean of Studies from 2004 until she departed in 2006 to become Deerfield’s 55th Head of School.

t: Family portrait at Margarita’s fall 2006 induction as Head of School; l to r: daughter Heather Curtis, Alvaro O’Byrne, Manning Curtis, Margarita, Maria Teresa O’Byrne, Patrick Curtis l: Margarita and Manning lead a group of students from Metairie Park Country Day School to Guatemala in 1979.

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55 th Head of School Dr. Margarita O’Byrne Curtis

Mr. Greer accompanied Margarita on countless fundraising trips, and says she was by far the campaign’s greatest asset. “People just loved her,” he says. “She’s so authentic, she communicates beautifully, and she’s a very likable person.

It’s hard to say no to Margarita!” In her humble manner, Margarita is quick to deflect praise.

above: Margarita with former Associate Head of School for Alumni Affairs and Development David Pond (left) and former President of the Board of Trustees Philip Greer ’53 P’94 G’22,’23 in Asia.

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Given an upbringing marked by close family ties and history as well as change, hard work and opportunity, it is perhaps not surprising that Margarita approached her new role at Deerfield by balancing “tradition and translation,” as she framed it in her induction address. In her first year at Deerfield, Margarita made a point of understanding the Academy’s past and present in order to best plan for its future. She met one-on-one with nearly every faculty member and relied heavily on the guidance of her Senior Staff, particularly Associate Head of School for Alumni Affairs and Development David Pond P ’92, ’98 and Associate Head of School and Director of College Advising Marty Lyman.

In her second year, Margarita hit the ground running with the strategic planning process. Believing that a diverse set of constituents should weigh in on the school’s first-ever strategic plan, she included over sixty people—trustees, faculty, and staff— on various committees. Additional faculty, students, and the broader community gave input at special meetings. Former faculty member and Chair of the History Department Tom Heise P ’10, ’12, who worked closely with Margarita to write the final report, says that not only did she bring her previous strategic planning experience to the process, she led with “great openness to change and possibility.”

The result, Imagine Deerfield, offered a bold, comprehensive vision for the school’s people, programs, and place. Enthusiasm ran high, and plans were in the works for the Board to approve a campaign—Imagine Deerfield: A Campaign for Deerfield Students and Teachers —the following year.

Then, in the fall of 2008, crisis hit. The world financial markets collapsed, and Deerfield’s endowment fell from $380 million to, at its lowest point, just above $300 million.

Suddenly, not only was approval for Imagine Deerfield shelved, but the school was facing difficult financial decisions. Then-Board President Phil Greer ’53 P’94 G’22, ’23 remembers sitting in the Manse with Margarita and discussing cutbacks for the first time in the school’s history. “It was a very nervous time,” he says.

Deerfield Academy

If anything shows the character of a leader, it is a crisis. With what she describes as the “tremendous” support of Senior Staff and trustees—particularly Mr. Greer, then-Finance Committee Chair Rodgin Cohen ’61, and Vice President Randy Hack ’65 P’03—Margarita acted decisively to cut staff positions, reign in discretionary spending, and ask all Senior Staff, including herself, to take a pay cut. She was determined to minimize any potential impact on the community, particularly students. “That was not a universal view,” says Mr. Cohen, noting that others were advocating for much deeper cutbacks.

Making any cuts was “very painful,” says Margarita, but “the job of a leader in times of crisis is to do the right thing for the institution that you are responsible for—and to share the pain.”

Even so, Margarita could not stop looking forward. Mr. Greer still sounds incredulous as he recalls how Margarita wanted to move ahead with those plans under Imagine Deerfield that required a long lead time. At her urging, in January 2009, the Board voted unanimously to approve the strategic plan. Margarita also convinced Mr. Greer to revisit two crucial facilities improvements that had been paused that fall—a new fitness center and renovations to the Greer Store—and to raise the remaining funds solely from the trustees. “This was also extremely courageous leadership on Margarita’s part,” he says.

Eventually, of course, the Great Recession ended, and in 2011 the Office of Advancement launched the public phase of the Imagine Deerfield capital campaign. The target goal was to raise $200 million over five years. Mr. Greer accompanied Margarita on countless fundraising trips and says she was by far the campaign’s greatest asset. “People just loved her,” he says.

“She’s so authentic, she communicates beautifully, and she’s a very likable person. It’s hard to say no to Margarita!” In her humble manner, Margarita is quick to deflect praise. “It wasn’t me,” she says. “If you give them a good proposal and you tell them how it’s going to impact our community life and help with our students’ learning, Deerfield people deliver.”

Fundraising for the school has been successful in part because Margarita, along with Mr. Pond, Mr. Greer, and with the help of Trustees Tay Cho P’03, ’05 and Stanford Kuo ’78 P ’13, ’16, placed great emphasis on community building in Asia. Margarita personally visited mainland China, Hong Kong, and Korea annually during her tenure, and some years, Singapore and Thailand as well. She approved the creation of the Asia Council—a group of alumni and parents that function as a remote Board. In recent years, gifts to Deerfield from Asian parents and alumni have risen to 15-20 percent of total giving. “That doesn’t happen overnight,” says Mr. Greer, who credits Margarita’s hard work, strategic thinking, and willingness to build on the groundwork laid by her predecessor, Eric Widmer.

Another factor in her fundraising prowess —and her leadership in general—is Margarita’s trademark high energy. “Many a gift officer has sprinted down the streets of New York, trying to keep up with her,” jokes Chief Advancement Officer Ann Romberger. Current Board President Brian Simmons P’12, ’14 has traveled with Margarita to Asia and says that “you better have your game on.” He describes getting emails from her at midnight, responding to her at 7:30 AM the next morning, and hearing back from her immediately. Special Assistant to the Head of School Judie O’Donnell describes Margarita as simply “indefatigable.”

And many in the Deerfield community wonder if she ever sleeps.

Four years into the Imagine Deerfield campaign, the school had raised $252 million.

It was a record amount for a secondary school, far exceeding the $200 million goal, and the Office of Advancement announced that it would close the campaign a year early.

While the campaign is a tale unto itself, the most important story is the many ways in which Imagine Deerfield has touched every facet of life and learning at the Academy.

The most obvious transformation, of course, has been to Deerfield’s campus. In addition to renovations to the Greer Store and the Strandberg Fitness Center, facilities projects under Imagine Deerfield included the Hess Center for the Arts, a Dining Hall expansion, the Boyden Library renovation, and a 30-room dormitory now named O’Byrne Curtis in Margarita’s honor. Remarkably, not long after Imagine Deerfield concluded, Margarita led a facilities campaign that raised $100 million to complete the Morsman Tennis Pavilion, the 136,000 square foot Athletics Complex, and last but not least, the D.S. Chen Health and Wellness Center. “To have raised a total of 350 million dollars is unbelievable,” says Ms. Romberger, adding, “She has enhanced our setting one hundredfold with all these beautiful buildings.”

At the heart of Imagine Deerfield, however, was a focus on people, particularly what Margarita describes as “continuous, ongoing growth and improvement for the faculty.”

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55 th Head of School Dr. Margarita O’Byrne Curtis

Stephanie Craig

As much as she looked to the future—investing in excellent faculty, innovative programs, and spectacular new facilities—Margarita was equally committed to preserving the best of Deerfield’s past, particularly its distinctive focus on character education.

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From-the-Hip-Photo

Most significantly, the school hired several new teachers and coaches and increased funding for professional development by 400 percent. Equally important has been an investment in Deerfield’s students, with financial aid doubling from $5.23 million in 2006 to $10.2 million in 2018.

Margarita frames her programmatic priorities as the “Triple A’s:” academics, arts, and athletics. Her first priority was the enhancement of every academic department, with highlights including the development of interdisciplinary classes taught collaboratively by faculty and the creation of the Center for Service and Global Citizenship, under which domestic and international travel programs for students and faculty have more than doubled in scale. The Hess Center for the Arts has significantly elevated performing and visual arts at Deerfield, and the completion of the Athletics Complex raised the bar on Deerfield’s athletics programs. And while he appreciates the investment in his department, Athletics Director Bob Howe P’20, ’22, ’22 says that what ultimately drew him to Deerfield was that Margarita strives for excellence in all areas. “A school is at its healthiest when multiple programs within the community are thriving,” he says. “Margarita has done good work embracing the arts, academics, and athletics equally.”

With the guidance of stellar investment committees, Margarita also made funding the endowment a priority of Imagine Deerfield.

As a result, Deerfield’s endowment grew to nearly $600 million from $359 million over twelve years. This is crucial for Deerfield’s future, says Mr. Cohen, because the school now has tremendous financial flexibility.

When it comes to spending money, Associate Head of School for Operations and Chief Financial Officer Keith Finan admires that Margarita willingly spends on projects that align with the school’s priorities. “She’s frugal otherwise,” he says with a laugh, but from where he sits, Mr. Finan has appreciated her balanced approach.

As much as she looked to the future— investing in excellent faculty, innovative programs, and spectacular new facilities— Margarita was equally committed to preserving the best of Deerfield’s past, particularly its distinctive focus on character education.

In this, she drew inspiration from legendary

Headmaster Frank Boyden and his wife Helen. “One thing that both Mr. and Mrs. Boyden understood intuitively,” Margarita says, “is that we should pay attention to the question: ‘What kind of human beings do we want to become?’”

Deerfield students frequently heard Margarita’s exhortation to “do good even as you strive to do well,” to “look sideways as you move forward,” and “you make Deerfield worthy, not the other way around.” Michael Cary, former faculty member and past headmaster of the Lawrenceville School, points out that, in an age when “head of school” is often solely a managerial role, it is noteworthy that Margarita “has taken very seriously her obligation to provide moral and civic instruction to these young people.”

Once a week, Margarita led School Meeting, and by elevating student voices, celebrating their achievements, and bringing in speakers focused on civic values, she created what Mr. Cary describes as “an enriching and cohering experience.” Similarly, the entire school still gathers for sit-down meals, a Deerfield tradition that Margarita steadfastly defended. “A lot of other schools speak about community,” she says, “but we actually practice it.”

Perhaps most significantly, Margarita has continuously and deliberately modeled the institutional values she espouses. “She is present around campus,” says Deerfield Parents Network President Julie Halloran P ’17 ’20, who saw Margarita at many of her daughters’ field hockey, lacrosse, and ice hockey games. “I think the students took note and appreciated her presence,” she adds. “Deerfield is a place where you need to have your head up to greet people and engage in the community, and Margarita set that important tone daily.”

By paying attention to issues big and small, Margarita elevated the culture at Deerfield. Over her tenure, students elected several female class presidents, a female student council president, and the firstever female “Captain Deerfield.” Margarita also made it a priority to hire, promote, and mentor women as department heads and in Senior

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Staff positions. Mr. Greer, whose daughter was in the second class of girls at Deerfield and whose granddaughter is Class of ’22, reflects on Margarita’s legacy and says, “The most important thing I can say about Deerfield today is it is truly a coed school.”

Mr. Cohen, who succeeded Mr. Greer as Board President, points to Margarita’s efforts to prioritize diversity and inclusion by creating the office of Inclusion and Community Life, hiring Director Marjorie Young, and supporting a strategic plan for inclusion. Additionally, Margarita has shown a commitment to diversifying the faculty. “We have a diverse student body,” says Academic Dean Ivory Hills, “and they should be able to see themselves in the adults on campus.” Along with inclusion, Margarita has encouraged a culture of transparency in which students can speak openly about contentious issues. “It’s the people who count at Deerfield,” Mr. Cohen says, “and due in large part to Margarita’s leadership, we’ve put Deerfield in a better place by trying to make it a welcoming place, irrespective of backgrounds, race, or religion.”

Margarita led Deerfield through a difficult decade, confronting pressures from without and within—contentious national politics, race riots in Charlottesville, the #MeToo Movement, and accusations of gender discrimination, to name a few. Throughout, she guided the school with steadiness and poise. Perhaps at no moment was this more on display than when alumni came forward to accuse former teachers Peter Hindle and Bryce Lambert of sexual abuse. Pledging transparency, Margarita hired an outside investigator to gather the facts. Showing great compassion, she personally met with the victims. The first to come forward, Whit Sheppard ’83, wrote that Margarita “displayed a clear moral authority and offered unconditional support from the start.” Because of her exemplary leadership, over the years many other schools have sought her counsel during similar crises.

Of course, no one accomplishes as much as Margarita has at Deerfield without help. “My gosh, I worked with talented people!” Margarita exclaims. Not surprisingly, she placed a premium on diverse teams, and assembled a Senior Staff that she hoped would complement her skill set. She also encouraged the nomination of trustees of varied backgrounds, ages, and professions, and facilitated increased participation by and communication with parents through the creation of the Deerfield Parents Network. Margarita says that one of the greatest joys of leading the school has been the “generosity of spirit” of her Senior Staff, trustees, and parents. “They give of their time, their talents, and they are personally committed to making the institution the best it can be,” she says.

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In turn, those who have worked with Margarita have nothing but positive words for her: intelligent, scholarly, accessible, energetic, optimistic, genuine, diplomatic, steady, equanimous—it is a long list.

Those who know her well cannot emphasize enough that her most important quality, however, is her humanity. She is someone who genuinely cares about others—often interrupting an urgent conversation with some version of, “But I forgot to ask, ‘how are you?’”

Faculty members list any number of personal challenges that Margarita has supported them through with warmth and empathy. Brian Simmons has witnessed countless instances where Margarita has gone above and beyond for a current student, “and nobody knows anything about it,” he says. “She just helps people. She goes out of her way.”

“Not only is she there emotionally,” says Dean of Faculty and Associate Head of School John Taylor, telling the story of how Margarita taught three Spanish Five classes for a faculty member on extended sick leave, “she’s there physically to do what it takes to support someone.

To me, that speaks to her caring and her humanity and her work ethic—and also her love of kids.”

Senior Staff, trustees, alumni, employees, and of course Margarita herself enthusiastically welcome John P.N. Austin as Deerfield’s 56th Head of School. Dr. Austin inherits an institution with state-ofthe-art facilities, a robust endowment, a strong Board, and amazing employees and programs in place. “Margarita set the table perfectly for him,” says Ms. Romberger.

The overwhelming assessment of the Deerfield community is that Margarita leaves Deerfield in excellent shape because she never lost sight of those themes of “tradition and translation” that defined her very first days as Head of School. When he thinks of the many alumni who’ve gone out into the world having had the benefit of a Deerfield education under Margarita’s leadership—an education that he says “balanced the future on the most important elements of the past,” Mr. Simmons feels tremendous optimism. At the end of the day, doing what is best for Deerfield students, helping them to become, as Dr. Hills puts it, “good and effective adults,” has been Margarita’s lodestar.

Margarita knows she will miss Deerfield’s campus, the beauty of the Pioneer Valley, and the surrounding hills. Primarily, though, she will miss the people—the constant bumping into colleagues or students on paths or in the hallways, and the ability to interact daily with others—especially young people—with whom she shares a common purpose. She hopes that even after her departure, Deerfield will continue to prioritize renewal and growth. And she wants the Deerfield community to know that she walks away with a sense of fulfillment and enormous gratitude “for the opportunity to have led an institution of this caliber, and to have been allowed to grow with so many committed, talented people. I never lost sight of the fact that this was a gift I had been given. It wasn’t just a job, it was my life.”//

Deerfield Academy

55 th Head of School Dr. Margarita O’Byrne Curtis

She wants the Deerfield community to know that she walks away with a sense of fulfillment and enormous gratitude “for the opportunity to have led an institution of this caliber, and to have been allowed to grow with so many committed, talented people.�

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

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1946 “Gerald Lauderdale, known to many as Cub, died on February 12, 2019 at Rivercrest long-term care facility in Concord, MA, at age 90.

He was born on November 27, 1928 to Vance and Katharine Browne Lauderdale and grew up in Short Hills, NJ. He was the brother of the late Vance Lauderdale Jr. After graduating from Deerfield and Harvard (Class of 1950) he served in the Army in Korea as a first lieutenant and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service.

In 1952 he married Lydia (Stone) of Providence, RI, and upon discharge from the Army settled briefly in Boston, then became a longtime resident of Concord, MA, with summers spent in Nonquitt, MA. He began his career working in industrial sales at Baldwin -Lima-Hamilton in Waltham, then moved to the advertising business at Humphrey Browning MacDougall in Boston where he was in charge of the Parker Brothers account. He was public relations director at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at its beginning and was in charge of

their first annual report. He was on the board of the National Braille Press for 15 years; he was a long-time class agent for Deerfield Academy. At Harvard he sang with the original Krokodiloes and was vice president of the Spee Club, one of the first gender neutral final clubs.

A member of the John Harvard Society, he was also secretary of his class committee for recent reunions. He was a loyal member of Trinity Church, Concord, where he volunteered in the soup kitchen program. He also participated in Meals on Wheels, the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program, and served on the Concord town finance committee. Cub’s great love was sailing. He enjoyed many cruises with family and friends from Maine to the Caribbean and travel abroad on tours. He also enjoyed tennis, golf, and swimming, and was a member of the Concord Country Club for many years. He is survived by his wife Lydia and three children.”

—Randy Lauderdale—“For my father, Gerald Lauderdale”

“Thanks to the generosity of families of the Class of 2019, individual donors, and the Chen family, the D.S. Chen Health and Wellness Center at Deerfield Academy will help students to lead balanced, healthy, mindful lives for years to come. Thank you.”

—Ann Romberger, Chief Advancement Officer

deerfield.edu/give

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1948 “Dr. Robert Barnett Binswanger—a teacher, educational advocate, and civic steward for over six decades— passed away March 16 in Hanover, NH, in the company of his family. Robert Binswanger was a builder of educational institutions, an engineer of systems change, and a social entrepreneur before there was a label for such practitioners. Robert believed everyone should have an opportunity to succeed, and that meant a high-quality education for all. He was an advocate for equality and civil rights to the most disadvantaged Americans because he saw it as an act of patriotism and an extension of his civic duty. Upon learning of Robert’s passing, former President Bill Clinton said, ‘Bob Binswanger was a pioneer who proved that students can succeed against challenging odds in schools with a rigorous curriculum and great teachers and principals who believe in them and their ability to learn. He was a national treasure and an inspiration to me.’ A graduate of Deerfield and Dartmouth College, Robert began his career in the Philadelphia real estate business founded by his father but quickly realized his path lay elsewhere.

Under the guidance of his mentor Frank Boyden, Robert began his teaching and coaching career at Deerfield and was encouraged by Mr. Boyden to earn master’s and doctorate degrees at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Robert was a teacher to students in many venues between 1955 and 2015, including Deerfield, the Peace Corps (where he was one of the first training officers), Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, the University of Maine, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Boston Latin Academy, Hampton University, and Dartmouth College. His students enjoyed his teaching and regularly sought his mentorship, career advice, and coaching. He maintained relationships with former students for years and encouraged many to enter and become leaders in the field of education. In addition to his teaching positions, Robert played a role in shaping education policy, beginning with his role as the Executive Director of PACE, a local citizens’ group that worked to help improve the quality of education and race relations in the Greater Cleveland area schools. Later, he worked

Upon learning of Robert’s passing, former President Bill Clinton said, ‘Bob Binswanger was a pioneer who proved that students can succeed against challenging odds in schools with a rigorous curriculum and great teachers and principals who believe in them and their ability to learn. He was a national treasure and an inspiration to me.’

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Throughout his life, Robert marched to the beat of his own drum and kept marching even when it meant risking his own career ambitions. He also firmly believed in service to country, community, and family.

as the head of the Experimental Schools Program at the US Department of Education during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Robert also helped reshape curriculum and academic policies as Vice Chancellor of the University of Maine and strengthened the teaching and academic curriculum as Headmaster of Boston Latin Academy, a public exam school serving mainly low-income students from communities of color. During the course of his career, Robert was consulted on a wide array of educational programs. He was a proud Jew who helped build—and taught in—two synagogue communities. Robert also recommended reforms to academic standards at parochial schools run by the Archdiocese of New York and served on a Department of Defense Commission recommending improvements to the education provided to children living on US military bases around the world. ‘Bob devoted himself to public service and improving the minds and the lives of young people in Maine and throughout the country. His passion for teaching and his commitment to high standards has left a lasting impression on his community and on the students and colleagues whose lives he touched,’ said former Maine Senator and Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Robert also served on the Boards of Deerfield Academy (where he also received the Heritage Award), Macalester College, Hampton University, and the Jackson Laboratory. He received his first honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Bowdoin

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College, and gave several high school and college commencement addresses over the years. During the course of his life, Robert was a participant in many civic activities, ranging from organizing social gatherings at Psi U and Casque & Gauntlet while at Dartmouth, to marching in the annual Philadelphia Mummers’ parade, to serving as a background actor in productions by the Cleveland Opera, to joining weekly luncheons at the Rotary Club in Hanover, NH. Robert began his adult life as a Wendell Willkie Republican and migrated to the Rockefeller wing of the party before becoming a strong supporter of President Clinton. In the fall of 2004 Robert moved to Columbus, OH, to volunteer for the presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry, and in 2008, at the age of 78, Robert moved to Green Bay, WI, to volunteer for the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama.

Throughout his life, Robert marched to the beat of his own drum and kept marching even when it meant risking his own career ambitions.

He also firmly believed in service to country, community, and family.

He was extremely proud to be a US Army veteran. Robert was a world traveler who met with Popes and Prime Ministers, and was close friends with business leaders and entrepreneurs. His favorite place was Rockport, ME, but he also delighted in finding the most authentic, out of the way, and often uncomfortable places to visit.

His energy, enthusiasm, and sense of humor were infectious both at work and at play. He took a personal, lifelong interest in the lives of his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and the friends of his children, all of whom were targets of both his love and his elaborate practical jokes. Robert and his beloved wife Penny were married for over fifty years. Robert deeply enjoyed Penny’s company, her wry humor, and her efforts to check his more exuberant impulses, until her passing in 2017. He is survived by his three sons, Ben ’78, Josh ’80, and Morgan ’84; daughters-in-law Karen and Kim; grandchildren Lucy, Colin, Sally, Samantha and Sam; and his brothers Frank ’46 and John.”—Morgan Binswanger

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1949 “Dear Class of 1949: Dorothy Helen Grybko Rosario passed away on March 19, 2019, of complications from lung cancer and other medical issues. She was a long-time resident of Royal Palm Beach, FL. Born on April 12, 1931, in Montague, MA, she was the daughter of the late Frank Grybko and Helen Gritz. She moved to New York and modeled before traveling to Europe. In Madrid, Spain, she worked as a cartographer and met and married her husband, Felix Rosario. Due to Felix’s occupation, they lived in Texas, Virginia, Panama, Japan, Okinawa, and Hawaii. After her divorce in 1974, she worked as an assistant to the Associate Dean of the University of Hawaii’s College of Education and the Teacher Corps. Dorothy was an artist and showcased her oil paintings at Hawaii’s premier outdoor art gallery, Art on the Zoo Fence. She was once complimented on her work when actor Jack Lord stopped by, and she received ribbon awards for some of her paintings. She was creative with sumi-e (Japanese black ink painting) and created beautiful note cards. Dorothy enjoyed foods from around the world, loved to read, enjoyed movies, and was always keeping up on the news. She traveled several times with her daughter in Spain, France, and on a Mediterranean cruise. Paris was one of her favorite cities (she loved making paté). Dorothy is survived by her daughter Monica J. Pileggi and son-in-law Anthony Pileggi, son Felix C. Rosario, sister Shirley Clark, and numerous nephews, cousins, and friends.

She was predeceased by her siblings, Charlotte Maynard and Frank Grybko Jr. All of her friends and family experienced her love and devotion, and she will be deeply missed.”—Monica J. Pileggi John Notz was awarded the 2018 Preservation Hero Award by the Library of American Landscape History. The award celebrates Notz’s decades of commitment to the study of preservation of American landscapes. It was given in recognition of his indefatigable research into the origins of designed landscapes in the Chicago region and his enthusiastic support of historic landscape scholarship nationwide.

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Dorothy Helen Grybko Rosario ’49

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“Floyd Ronald ‘Buz’ Dimond of Vero Beach, FL, and Wilson, WY, died on February 12, 2019, at the age of 82. Buz was born on February 23, 1936, in New York, NY, the son of Renwick and Lucy Dimond. He graduated from Deerfield and Yale University, Class of 1958, and obtained his MBA from Columbia University in 1962. He worked for many years as an advertising executive in Manhattan, at First National City Bank and later at Marine Midland Bank. Buz spent his early years in New York City and Boston, on a farm in Flemington, NJ, and in North Hero, VT. In 1970, he was married to Allison Brewster White of New York and West Falmouth, MA. The couple and their two children lived in New York, Long Island, and Vermont. Following their divorce, Buz renewed an old friendship with Charlotte O’Neil Oliver, who became his longtime partner. A skilled athlete, Buz played ice hockey, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and football during his school and college years. He was a confident and strong golfer and skier well into his last year of life. With Charlotte, he spent much of the past three decades in Jackson Hole, WY, skiing, playing golf, and

enjoying the natural beauty of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Buz also loved spending time on his boat, cruising the waters from Maine to Florida. Buz will be remembered for his intellect and wit. He enjoyed crossword puzzles and entertained a multitude of friends with his seemingly endless repertoire of jokes. He leaves his daughter, Allison Brewster Dimond, and her husband Christian Bundy, of Asheville, NC; and his son, James Longfellow Dimond, and his wife Julie Barber, of Anacortes, WA. In addition to his partner of 30 years, Charlotte Oliver, he leaves his brother, Renwick ’53, of Palm Beach, FL, and his grandson, Luke Alexander Bundy, of Asheville, NC. He is survived as well by a niece, a nephew, three great nephews and two great nieces.”—James Dimond for Floyd Ronald ‘Buz’ Dimond

1955 “Charlie and Sharon Thebaud are enjoying the good life nowadays in Cummaquid, MA, a relaxing township with an American Indian name that’s nestled in the Barnstable area of Cape Cod. (Mr. and Mrs. Boyden may have whimsically taken notice of the town name when they visited the Cape in the summertime.) Charlie related that he and Sharon met at the Presidio in San Francisco. They were also excited to have been stationed there at the beginning of his career as a military intelligence officer in the US Army.

Lou Greer reported, ‘The passing of my wife of ten years, Dee Shields, brought about some other significant changes. I moved from our retirement community in Greenville, SC, to the city next door, Greer, SC . . . yeah, Greer. I’m in a small house in a small city in the upper left corner of South Carolina. As the attached picture, taken at the entrance of the Greer City park shows, it’s just me, my Brittany Spaniel Nola, and some new friends. I am pleased that the Greer connection to Deerfield remains: great niece Greer Anderson ’22 started last year, and her brother will be a freshman in the fall. But beyond that, Tom Spater’s granddaughter Whitney ’21 started this year as a sophomore at Deerfield. I was flattered to be asked by Tom’s son Gordie to recommend her to our school. Although I no longer run on the lacrosse field, I remain active with the South Carolina Upstate referees, and stay close to the Furman University lacrosse staff, having been a member of the team that established their Division I program. I hope that this shows my belief in the adage, Growing older is mandatory; growing up is optional.’

Don Jenkins and his twin brother Bill are now respectively living in Bronxville, NY, and Southwest Harbor, ME. Several classmates have chosen to retire in the scenic New England state including Marty Gleason, Bill Jenkins, Kevin Sheehan, Al Smith, and Gerry Tipper. If I’ve inadvertently left out any of our Down Easters please contact me at tmlski@roadrunner.com. Also, a note from any ’55er will be welcomed and shared. Be well.”—Tom L’Esperance

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Lou Greer ’55

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1956 Worcester Academy honored eight members of its community during Reunion Weekend, May 3-4, 2019. Those being honored included (posthumously) former WA Board of Trustees President Bayard DeMallie II as a 2019 Hall of Fame Inductee. As a trustee, president of the board of trustees, and parent of three Worcester Academy alumni (Paige DeMallie Rockett ’82, James DeMallie ’85, and Craig DeMallie ’87), Bayard was an important school leader during the 1980s and 1990s. Before his untimely death in 1997, he was managing partner of Worcester law firm Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie and Lougee with a focus on business and banking law. He was a graduate of Deerfield Academy, Williams College, and the University of Virginia Law School. Bayard served as a member of the Worcester Academy Board of Trustees of from 1983 to 1993. He was president of the board during his final three years as a trustee. He focused initially on student life issues, especially bridging the gap between boarding and day students. Bayard encouraged expansion of WA’s commitment to coeducation. He worked to bring WA through challenging times of enrollment decline, helping to stabilize the WA student population and pursuing vigorous recruitment and programmatic development that did much to place WA back onto a firm growth track. Colleagues recall him as the board president who provided all trustees an active participatory role and set a collegial precedent for all head search and appointment processes that have occurred since then. He was renowned for running a no-nonsense, on-schedule board meeting.

Bayard was very involved in community affairs. He was a former director of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Goddard House, Family Services of Central Massachusetts, and the Bank of Boston-Worcester. He was also an avid golfer and longtime member of Tatnuck Country Club, where he served as a board member.

1958 “My son, Daniel Kellogg, has just been appointed President of Young Concert Artists effective July 1, succeeding Susan Wadsworth, who founded YCA in 1961 and has been its guiding force since then. YCA is a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying and providing aspiring and highly gifted musicians with access to a minimum of three years of management services, career engagements, publicity and career guidance plus coveted recital debuts in New York City and at the Washington, DC, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Annually YCA holds auditions to identify young classical musicians and chamber groups. It is not a competition, as there is no limit on how many musicians are chosen in any given year. Among those who have had their careers started with YCA’s support are pianists Emanuel Ax and Murray Perahia, violinist Pinchas Zuckerman, flutist Paula Robison, cellist Fred Sherry, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and composers Kevin Puts, Kenji Bunch, and Mason Bates. Currently Daniel is the Head of the Composition Department at the College of Music at the University of Colorado, Boulder.”—Spen Kellogg

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On behalf of all 600+ members of the Boyden Society, thank you, Margarita and Manning, for your energy and optimism, your contributions to Deerfield’s intellectual rigor and civility, and your profound and sincere care for the Deerfield community.

We wish you happiness and success in your future adventures!

Drs. Margarita and Manning Curtis have done so much for Deerfield Academy over the past 13 years, and they leave a fine legacy of achievements. As proud members of the Boyden Society, they have also arranged to leave a legacy to Deerfield in their estate plans.

To find out more about including Deerfield in your will, trust, life insurance or IRA, please browse through the information at plannedgiving.deerfield.edu or call 413-774-1584. By including the Academy in your financial plans, you are automatically eligible to join the Boyden Society.

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1964 “Jack Saunders Parker Jr— ‘Capt. Jack,’ as he liked to be called, passed away from a lingering illness in his home in San Diego on February 27, 2019. Born in Boston, MA, in 1945 he called California home for over 50 years, residing in Berkeley, Malibu, Van Nuys, and Shelter Island. After graduating from Deerfield Academy and Ripon College, he attended University of California, Berkeley, in the field of drama and theater and the Lee Strasbourg Theater and Film Institute in Los Angeles. He registered with the Screen Actors Guild as Jason Parker—the name that stayed with his immediate family. Jack had a curiosity and zest for participating in life, continually learning from the varied people he encountered and seeking experiences and adventures that challenged him. From acting to special effects engineering, to ranching and volunteer fire fighting, to sailing and acquiring his captain’s license, to opening a business services store and creating his own photography dark room, he never stopped asking questions and wanting to share and teach others what he learned. Jack leaves behind his loving daughter Raine Noel and husband Tony Pushckor and granddaughter Sky of Issaquah, WA; stepdaughter Tracey Grady and her beloved family in Shoreline, WA; sister Diane (Greg Peters) in Shelburne, VT; many caring cousins; and his special friend and caregiver, Vicki Everett. He was recently predeceased by his devoted parents, Jack and Bety Parker of MA.” —Raine Pushckor

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1965 “Chris Kocher and his wife Michelle were pleased to attend Ellis and Janice Davison’s 50th wedding anniversary recently and send their congratulations to the happy couple!

The celebration was held at the Chesapeake Culinary Center building in Denton, MD, which was a former schoolhouse that Ellis’s mother and grandmother had attended. Ellis himself played a big role on the committee that converted and repurposed the building to serve as a community center and culinary school. Chris’ son, Theo, is now a freshman at Syracuse University and was recently admitted into their design school”.—Andy Steele

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1966 “The Drakes and the Clements got together for their annual lunch on Hilton Head Island this past winter (photo below).

Art and Elizabeth take a week-long respite to the South Carolina coast during the New Year’s holiday and this year the weather cooperated particularly well. Nancy and I were delighted that young Arthur ’00, could join the old-timers for this year’s luncheon.”

—Peter Drake

1970 “This is a life moment indeed. Holding our grandson, little Joseph Bradley Mangano, a little more than an hour after he was born (photo right). It was hard to wait but when we finally got back to the room I had to hold him as soon as I could. I started to cry loudly as soon as I picked him up; this is me crying with great and unadulterated joy. Love him so much already. Thank you, Maria Mangano for marrying me and bearing Dino (Mangano), and thank God for bringing her and Bradley (Bennett) together so this moment could happen! Dino and Bradley live 500 feet from us. My plan is to close my law office in downtown Durham when Dino goes back to work in the fall (she teaches three miles from us) and work from home three days a week and take care of JB the other two days.

This will be fun!”—Daniel Read

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Stephanie Craig; drone pilot: Jacklyn Bunch

A Proud Moment for the Class of ’69 Members of the Class of 1969 posed in front of the Civil War Monument on the Common before their 50th Reunion dinner in June. They were commemorating their part in the installation of a new bronze replica of the original statue of a bearded Union soldier, standing at parade rest, which was erected on the Common in 1867.

The original statue, cut and carved from Connecticut Valley sandstone quarried in Portland, CT, suffered from extensive deterioration after 148 years of New England weather.

A 2013 project to professionally clean the statue, led by Academy students Peter ’14 and Lauren ’14 Stobierski, revealed the extent of the damage, and experts warned it would eventually collapse if left in place. The statue was removed from its plinth in 2015 and now resides in the Deerfield Town Hall, encased in plexiglass.

Lauren and Peter worked to secure a grant from the state Department of Veterans Affairs to the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, which was matched by their parents, John ’78 and Pam. Subsequently, Community Preservation Act funds, support from the Academy, the PVMA, the Town of Deerfield Historical Commission, and the generosity of the Class of 1969 allowed for the production of the bronze replica.

In the late 1800s, the Batterson Monumental Works made several monuments with nearly identical bearded soldiers, including the original Deerfield statue. The original goal for creating Deerfield’s replica was to take a mold directly from Batterson’s Knight monument in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, CT, which was selected as a model for its completeness.

When it was discovered that the Knight monument was slightly larger than the Deerfield monument, and would not properly fit the original base, the sculpture was digitally scanned to a resolution of .5mm.

The captured imagery was then digitally resized to match the desired dimensions. The resulting data provided input to carve a full-scale pattern in foam, which was transported to Modern Art Foundry for bronze replication. A silicon rubber mold was made to cast a wax model for the centuries old “lost wax” casting method. Channels were added to allow the flow of molten metal and the escape of hot gases that occur during casting. The wax model was encased in plaster and placed in a kiln where the wax melted from the interiors, creating a hollow space in the plaster. The foundry team then melted ingots of bronze, and by crucible, poured the white-hot liquified metal into the plaster hollows. After cooling, the bronze surfaces were finished with a patina designed specifically to harmonize with the original sandstone colorations, and a protective coating sealed the surfaces to prevent surface corrosion. //

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1976

John Winter ’76

“Todd Winter claims that his four years at Deerfield were responsible for much of his success in life. Todd is the president and CEO of Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics. He also is CEO of True Blue Power, the first company in the world to develop and TSO a safe, lithium-ion main-ship battery. ‘I literally was born into aviation,’ Todd said. ‘My father, John, worked at Aircraft Radio Corp in Boonton, New Jersey. He was involved in developing and refining some of the first general aviation autopilot systems. Several years after our family moved to Texas, I attended my first AEA meeting in San Antonio in 1968. The rest is history, and I’ve been attending AEA meetings throughout the world ever since. AEA members truly are part of my family. I strive to support my friends and help serve their customers well.’ Todd is an FAA-certified private pilot, a past board member and current member of the Aircraft Electronics Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, National Business Aviation Association, Helicopter Association International, Wichita Aero Club, the Experimental Aircraft Association, World Presidents’ Organization, and the Condor Squadron. Founded in 1964, Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics is an FAA/EASA authorized repair station and AS9100D-certified manufacturing facility. The company specializes in the manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft instruments and avionics.”—John Winter

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1983 Peter Geary joined Doug Cruikshank and friends during his annual ski weekend. The posse from metro NYC spent a fun-filled weekend in the mountains of Colorado and enjoyed the great conditions. Nearby Colorado classmate John Knight was unable to attend this year and was much maligned by his classmates. Deservedly so.

Don Hindman tracked down Brian Steward during a recent business trip to San Antonio; they toasted to the Class of ’83.

“Adrian Steckel ’85 has been named CEO of OneWeb—“one of the world’s largest satellite-based broadband initiatives.” “We were thrilled to have Head of School Margarita Curtis back in Denver for her last visit; she retires in June. King’s Academy (Jordan) Head of School, Dr. John P.N. Austin, takes the DA helm in July. (Director of Research, Innovation, and Outreach at DA, Peter Nilsson, will become King’s Academy’s next Head of School!) It was a nice turnout and the wheels are turning for Denver’s Deerfield family to keep connecting!” Sam Zales, 53, of Tucson AZ, died on January 15, 2019.

Avid reader, writer, beloved son, brother, and uncle. He will be missed by his mother Ruth, sister, Melissa (Tim), three nieces, Katherine, Emily, and Juliana, stepfather Ken, and many more aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. “Everything passes, only truth remains.”

—The Brothers Karamazov—John Knight

Don Hindman tracked down Brian Steward

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“I just learned on Facebook that one of my best friends from Deerfield and some years thereafter, Sam Zales, passed away. Sam made freshman year especially bearable. I can still remember his Renfield in Dracula all these years later, and I will cherish his trumpet playing in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which I have on DVD. He had to leave at intermission, so only the trumpeter playing harmony can be heard in the second act. This photo, taken

by Rich Royce, is a wonderful memory of my favorite weekend in New York. It’s pretty devastating to think that I’m the only one still alive of the three of us in the photo. I was never expecting to see Paul Gleason again, but I guess I figured I’d see Sam at least one more time. I’ll miss you.”

— Carl Levinger

t: Carl Levinger and Sam Zales; b: Carl Levinger, actor Paul Gleason, Sam Zales

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I can still remember his Renfield in Dracula all these years later, and I will cherish his trumpet playing in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum which I have on DVD. He had to leave at intermission, so only the trumpeter playing harmony can be heard in the second act.

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Submitted by John Knight ’83:

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1. Here’s to Mark Beaubien and his daughter Maddy ’19 who graduated from Deerfield on May 26! She joins her older sister as an alumna.

2. Kudos to PB Weymouth and Hardie Jackson for connecting over breakfast while PB was in town for ‘work’ events related to the Super Bowl.

3. Leave it to Hank Lemieux to still have a crisp DA ’83 tie in his closet to wear for his recent attendance at a DA in NYC event.

He’s pictured here with Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement Jenny Hammond. Way to represent Hank!

4. By some magic coincidence, Whit Sheppard and his daughter Emily, while vacationing in Australia, bumped into Margarita (and Manning) Curtis! Looks like fun was had by all.

5. Congrats to Andrew Nash for surviving his birthday flight in a biplane!

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6. I formalized my first-ever visit to Hong Kong the way you might expect…over lunch with David Ho! David continues to lead Macy’s Candies, which has also expanded into fresh salads, sandwiches, and sushi for local grocers and even school lunches! Much better than Siler’s Food service, I expect. Thanks again for the effort to meet up, David.

7. Me and Margarita Curtis in Denver.

8. Hardie Jackson and Dave Madden were recently able to get in a few runs together in Sun Valley, ID. Lookin’ good fellas!

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83

THANKS SO MUCH TO CHRIS LYNCH FOR THIS FIND. Maybe related to 1983 Pocumtuck yearbook? Class officers?

Look in the shoe boxes in the back of your closets gentlemen!—John Knight ’83

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For Kristin Simmons, the goal of creating art is to elicit a response from viewers, and if she’s lucky, convince them to re-evaluate the stereotypical views on consumption and gender that they may harbor. In her Holy Prophet series, for example, Simmons playfully pokes at our fascination with consumerism by reimagining an American Express card. “American Excess” reads the face of one card, and in the space where the cardholder’s name would traditionally appear, “Insert chip here.”

In her Wordplay series, Simmons takes a provocative swipe at sexism. “Be a badass with a great ass,” she suggests,

KRISTIN SIMMONS ’08 A RT I S T

/ b y L o r i Fe r g us o n

deftly skewering society’s double standard, which demands that women carve their own path and maintain a great figure while they’re doing it. “I use my art to spark discussions in humorous ways, allowing people to engage in conversations that can often be difficult,” she explains.

And engage they have. Simmons’ art has found homes in corporate and private collections alike, and she is represented in galleries from New York to the UK. In March of this year, she was honored with a Women of Change Award from the SDG5 Global Alliance, named the first SDG5.US Artist in Residence, and commissioned to create a series of five artworks that advance gender equality around the world: the fifth of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (hence, “SDG5”).

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is Life’s EZ Pass series. “As women know all too well, Simmons is honored to have been chosen and admits, with a laugh, beauty can be an asset or a liability, and the five-dollar bill echoes the fifth sustainable goal,” she explains. that she came to the attention of the award committee due to a spirited A selection of the project pieces will be shown at the U.N. headquarters in New York City in September discussion on gender equity with and will also be reproduced and distributed on chair Jim Van Eerden, co-founder t-shirts, tote bags, and posters. and president of 5th Element Group Simmons is thrilled to contribute to women’s PBC, a global business development empowerment and grateful for the public platform accelerator committed to delivering art affords her. And she insists none of it would be technology solutions that achieve possible had she not attended the Academy. “Deerfield the U.N.’s sustainable goals. “Jim was pivotal to my artistic development. I was never was telling me about the group’s great at athletics or debate, but I had a knack for initiatives to support women in technology, healthcare, and finance, art.” Fine arts teacher David Dickinson recognized particularly in Third World countries,” that talent, says Simmons, and became a mentor.

Simmons recalls. “I asked him, ‘Can “Without David’s encouragement, I wouldn’t have you name three women actresses?’ thought I could pursue art as a career.”

Under Dickinson’s watchful eye, Simmons says and he said yes. ‘Three women she learned the important foundational skills that authors?’ to which he also replied have allowed her to realize success as an artist. affirmatively. ‘What about three “You learn to play by the rules, and once you know women artists?’ And he fell silent.” what they are, you can break them,” she observes.

Several weeks later, Simmons received a call informing her that her “David always said, ‘Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously.’ I still subscribe to this words had captured Van Eerden’s advice today. attention and that she was being “People always told me that my appreciation for named the SDG5.US Artist in ResiDeerfield would grow the further I got from my time dence, charged with using her art there,” concludes Simmons, “and that’s been the to generate conversation about gender equality and motivate positive change. case. There’s absolutely no way I could do what I’m doing today without having had that experience.

She is all in. “I’ve experienced the I am so grateful.” // effects of gender inequality not only as an artist, but also in my former corporate career in advertising,” she explains. “You would think that this professional arena would be fairly liberal, but I had to fight twice as hard to earn the same salary as my male counterparts. Gender equality needs to be addressed.”

Galleries representing The art that Simmons creates for Kristin Simmons: the SDG5 project will be released quarterly beginning this summer.

“The first piece is from my Women of Change series,” she says. The work is  FD GALLERY (NYC) entitled, “What Sense Would You Give Up for a Dollar,” and depicts  SORAYA CARTATEGUI (NYC) 80 cents worth of pennies, because  FORMATION (VAIL, COLORADO) women in the United States are paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men.”  HANGING MAN (UK) As part of the project, Simmons is also planning to reimagine the Lincoln five-dollar bill as part of her Beauty

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Safe and Effective Medication - Moss / 31x25 in. / 2016 / Mixed Media and Collage

1984 “Jim ‘The Professor’ Ewing ’52 and I met at the Horseshoe Cafe in Southport, CT, a few months ago, after I noticed him wearing a classic style Deerfield Academy baseball cap. Jim is a much loved and respected local legend at ‘The Shoe,’ where he is the only person in the establishment’s 85-year history to be honored with a chair at the bar, complete with an etched brass plate bearing his name. We have become fast friends talking about history, politics, and memories of Deerfield.”—Steve Klammer

1988 “Last week, I had the great honor and pleasure to attend the promotion ceremony of an old friend, the most recent accomplishment in his stellar career. But he wasn’t being promoted to partner in a law firm or an investment bank. He wasn’t being promoted to CEO. My old friend from boarding school, Jamie Sands, was being promoted to Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. Until last summer, I hadn’t seen much of Jamie for many years. While I had spent the last three decades in various comfortable civilian ventures, pursuits, and follies, Jamie was planting underwater bombs on enemy ships and fighting ISIS. Jamie had graduated from the United States Naval Academy, become a Navy SEAL, risen to the rank of Captain, and commanded an entire SEAL base (Group Two in Little Creek, VA).

He thought about getting out last summer, which is when we reconnected, but his country needed him, and he stayed in. Now he’s a Rear Admiral and has 25,000 sailors reporting to him. He’s the first SEAL in the history of the Navy to oversee Naval Service Training Command—in other words, Jamie will oversee the training of every single person who joins the Navy who is not at the Naval Academy.

Maybe it’s a coincidence that a SEAL is now in charge of training new Navy recruits, but it’s worth noting that this is happening as the age of fighting extremists and terrorists is starting to give way to an age of increasing threats posed by the professional forces of countries such as Russia, China, and Iran. My personal view is that the Navy wants to raise its game. Whatever the case, I can tell you one thing—the men and women I met at Jamie’s promotion ceremony at the Special Operations Memorial at MacDill AFB in Tampa and at the reception that followed are some of the finest people I have ever been around. If you ever want to feel humble, spend a few hours with a group of admirals, generals, and special operations personnel.

(Special note: if you want to feel especially humble, may I suggest trying to open a bottle of beer without an opener while surrounded by admirals, generals, and special operations personnel until you give up and have to ask a SEAL to do it for you.)

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Kidding aside, my experience in Tampa was so incredibly humbling. There was the immediate visceral humility that comes from being around people who have dedicated their lives to serving their country, but there was something else, too. It was the humility that arrived with the renewed appreciation of what happens when uncommon values combine with time and discipline. I’m completely amazed by what Jamie has accomplished. Of course Jamie is a special person—he’s smart, dedicated, and, of course, physically fit, but you know what else he is? By most measures, he’s completely normal! Without close observation, you probably wouldn’t be able to single him out of a lineup as a soldier, let alone an admiral. But I don’t think you could spend ten minutes with him and not know you were talking to someone with special values.

When Jamie walked to the podium to give his remarks, the effects of passing time were evident; the golden mane and the senior-year suntan of 1988 had given way to a headful of salt with a dash of pepper and some epidermal evidence of years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Aside from his new admiral’s cover (that’s Navy speak for cap) and shoulder boards, Jamie had perhaps never looked more normal.

And that was the beauty of it. Time, and the accumulation of the choices he made, guided by values, day after day, had transformed him. The duck hunter and soccer player of 1988 had compounded into a Rear Admiral in 2019.

I realize now that I have spent so much time in my career applying the term “value” to financial instruments and transactions that the word as it relates to principles and standards has lost some of its meaning for me. So I’m really not capable of articulating just what Jamie’s values are. However, I’d like to share a list of four leadership principles that Jamie shared with me. He attributed them to his mentor, Vice Admiral Timothy Szymanski, who was present at the ceremony to administer the oath of office to Rear Admiral Sands. I think they are broadly applicable. They are as follows: Always improve your fighting position.

Exploit all your tactical and technological advantage Aggressively build, maintain, improve, sustain, and push situational awareness up, down, and across.

In the absence of orders and direction, take charge and lead.

Admiral Sands, thank you for your service.”—Burke Koonce

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I’d like to share a list of four leadership principles that Jamie shared with me. He attributed them to his mentor, Vice Admiral Timothy Szymanski, who was present at the ceremony to administer the oath of office to Rear Admiral Sands. I think they are broadly applicable.

They are as follows: ALWAYS IMPROVE YOUR FIGHTING POSITION EXPLOIT ALL YOUR TACTICAL AND TECHNOLO GICAL ADVANTAGE AGGRESSIVELY BUILD, MAINTAIN, IMPROVE, SUSTAIN, AND PUSH SITUATIONAL AWARENESS UP, D OWN, AND ACROSS. IN THE ABSENCE OF ORDERS AND DIRECTION, TAKE CHARGE AND LEAD.

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“DIFFERENT HONEYS HAVE DIFFERENT PURPOSES,” SAYS BLOMSTEDT. “SOME ARE LIGHT AND SWEET, WHILE OTHERS ARE FULL-BODIED. HONEY IS LIKE WINE; YOU PAIR IT WITH FOODS ACCORDING TO PURPOSE.”

WILL B LO M ST E DT ’03 BEEKEEPER

/ b y L o r i Fe r g us o n

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Photograph courtesy of Will Blomstedt ’03

BLOMSTEDT’S FAVORITE? His own Slovene Chestnut honey, a strain that is strongly flavored and very dark.

“It’s delicious drizzled on a bit of gorgonzola and arugula.”

SLOVENE CHESTNUT HONEY

Everyone has something that makes their heart sing. For Will Blomstedt, it’s more like a resonant buzz. Blomstedt is an apiculturist, as a beekeeper is technically called, and for the past decade, he has dedicated his life to learning all he can about bees—the types, their tasks, the structure of the colony—and the business of honey.

As a beekeeper, Blomstedt is intimately involved with the colonies under his care, feeding them, protecting them, and harvesting their honey for commercial purposes. But this relationship is much more than simply transactional; it is a delicate, and sometimes draining, pas de deux that unites his twin passion for animals and travel in a manner that is endlessly fascinating.

An animal lover since childhood, Blomstedt has long harbored a keen interest in the often-symbiotic relationship between animals and humans. His parents planted the seed for these interests, taking him and his sister bird watching in Belize and horse packing in the Canadian Rockies.

As he grew, Blomstedt continued to explore, spending the summer before his freshman year at Dartmouth College working on a grizzly bear population study in Montana and the year after on hiatus in New Zealand, where he worked first on a sheep, deer, and cattle ranch and had his fateful first encounter with beekeeping. Blomstedt even explored the human/animal bond in his senior thesis, writing on the relationship between elephants and villagers in Kenya. At the end of four years, Blomstedt found himself with a geography degree and a challenge: how to join his passions for animals and travel in a viable career. “I took stock of it all and beekeeping floated to the top.

A good day with the bees is filled with simple moments that tell a much bigger story.”

Today, Blomstedt is a freelance geographer, writer, and beekeeper living in Ljublijana, Slovenia. He has travelled through 50 countries and many jobs to reach this place, and for a beekeeper, it’s an idyllic spot. “If Slovenia had a national animal, it would be the bee,” he explains. “There’s a strong beekeeping culture here—everyone has an old uncle who’s a beekeeper and children learn about bees in school.”

Blomstedt first experienced the country in October of 2010 as a Fulbright Scholar. “I hadn’t been to Europe and I knew that Central Europe had a strong beekeeping culture, so I looked at the map and decided to try Slovenia.” The choice was solid; Blomstedt loved the country and apiculture he encountered there and ultimately decided to make the place his home. “After my year in Slovenia, I worked in Chile and Australia and then completed a master’s in geographical information science at the University of Edinburgh. When I finished, I knew I wanted to live abroad, and Slovenia won. Also, my girlfriend —now my wife—is Slovenian, so that was a big pull, too,” he confesses with a soft laugh. Since returning to the country in 2014, he has worked as a freelance geographer and a part-time beekeeper, selling honey and experimenting with bee’s wax lip balms and candles. His next venture: teaching others about this intriguing profession and the way it is practiced in his adopted homeland.

“Slovenia is the beekeeping capital of the world— at least that’s the way it would like to be seen,” Blomstedt explains. In 2017, officials successfully lobbied the United Nations to recognize May 25 as the official holiday “World Bee Day” and more recently launched a course at the Beekeeping Academy of Slovenia to train beekeepers to work on bee development projects around the world. “It’s sort of like a beekeeping Fulbright,” says Blomstedt. “I’ll be teaching a ‘Worldwide Beekeeper’ seminar as well as ‘Beekeeping English’ and will likely travel to help beekeepers elsewhere in the world.”

Blomstedt also writes about bees, something he has been doing since publishing his first article in the American Bee Journal in 2009. “Writing offers me a nice supplemental income for my travels and I’ve discovered I enjoy it.” He has published more than 70 informational articles for the trade and in 2018, published his first book, Foraging Afar: Tales for a Decade of Beekeeping Across the World.

Blomstedt is also fresh off editing an informational book that instructs American beekeepers on how to use a Slovene beehive and is kicking around ideas for several new publications. “I’m trying to find ways to combine my passions for geography and beekeeping,” he explains. One thought he is entertaining: a coffee table-style, worldwide bee atlas documenting beekeeping practices in various locales. Another idea: a beekeeper’s perspective on what people can do to help bees. “People frequently ask me what they can do to help bees, and quite honestly, becoming a beekeeper isn’t necessarily the best way,” Blomstedt says. “I’d like to instruct people on activities such as planting bee-friendly gardens and avoiding harsh pesticides that are harmful to bees.” And to further the cause, says Blomstedt, all the proceeds from the book would go to helping beekeepers.

Blomstedt realizes he is fortunate to have the opportunity to follow his passion and credits Deerfield faculty for planting seeds that started him on the path. “Richard Ginns’ environmental classes helped to foster my curiosity for nature and Suzanne Hannay’s English classes kept my literary interests flowing. It can be hard to discover what you want to do with your life, and I was lucky to find bees,” he concludes.

“They sparked something in me and gave me a job to do. Beekeeping is a skill and you must be dedicated to pursue it, but it’s also a profession filled with wonderful moments. I’m learning every day.” // //

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l: Asha (Maliakal) Echeverria ’96 caught up with Kenya (Pinder) Williams ’96 b: Leslie (Yeransian) ’96 and Tom Dolsak, welcomed their first baby girl, Beatrice Faith

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1990 &1991 “I am sorry to pass on news of the death of an alumnus: Michael Stroeh ’90 lost his fight with cancer on April 10, 2019. Michael Rolf Stroeh, age 46, of Manassas, VA, passed away on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. He was born in Nassau, Bahamas, on December 4, 1972.

Michael graduated from Deerfield, received a BA degree from Duke University, and obtained a JD degree from the University of Richmond School of Law. For over twenty years, Michael worked in restaurant management. His parents, his brother, his family in the United States and in Germany, and the many friends who loved him are saddened by his death.”—Julia Gillespie ’91

1996 Asha (Maliakal) Echeverria caught up with Kenya (Pinder) Williams in Los Angeles in January. Asha’s conference was conveniently right across the street from Kenya’s downtown office.

Leslie (Yeransian) and Tom Dolsak, welcomed their first baby girl, Beatrice Faith, who joined their three sons, Jack (seven), Roman (four) and Oscar (two). Bea was born in Washington, DC, and is bringing her family great happiness. Les had a wonderful mini-DA reunion in DC with Annie Lukowski ’97 and Ali Lee ’97, she’s also had a great time catching up with Caroline Cook ’96 in VA.

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2003 “Last August I married Sam Hoar in a beautiful ceremony up in the Adirondacks. We were joined by friends and family from around the world for a beautiful three-day event. Kara (Durocher) Hebb was my maid of honor and stood by my side just as she always has since our freshman year at Deerfield. Two months later, we celebrated Kara’s marriage to Jay Hebb in Chatham, MA, complete with a New Orleans-style parade down Main Street.”

—Kate (Hession) Hoar

03

t: Kate (Hession) Hoar ’03 with husband Sam Hoar; b, l to r: Kara (Durocher) Hebb ’03, Katie Guay ’01, Sam Hoar, Kate Hoar ’03, Kris Loftus, Chris Loftus, Amanda (Harris) Herzberger ’00, Beth McNamara. r: Kate Hoar and Kara Hebb / Photo credit to Orchard Cove Photography (aka Amanda Herzberger ’00, our proctor from freshman year on Mather 1)!

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“We spent most of our Deerfield days together, so it didn’t come as a surprise that Kate (Hession) Hoar and I set our wedding dates just two months apart in 2018. I was honored to serve as Kate’s maid of honor on August 18 where she married Sam Hoar at his family’s home in the Adirondacks. Kate returned the favor standing by my side in Chatham, MA, on October 20 when I married Jay Hebb.”—Kara (Durocher) Hebb

t: Kara Hebb and Kate Hoar (formerly Hession) l: Kara Hebb (formerly Durocher) ’03 with husband Jay Hebb

03

2004 On May 6, I was hired by The Water Institute of the Gulf, an applied science and research institute dedicated to helping coastal and deltaic communities thoughtfully prepare for an uncertain future, to serve as the General Counsel and to develop and eventually lead an applied legal policy research arm within the Institute.”—Beaux Jones

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Photo credit to Greg Gibson Photography.

2005 “My husband and I were married on June 9, 2018 at the Brooklyn Historical Society in New York. Many Deerfield alums joined us including Hillery Williams Stack ’04, Charlie Williams ’70, Grier Potter ’01, and Alexandra Traber ’02. Another close Deerfield friend, Margaret McSpadden ’04, made a special cameo on the dance floor. We had so much fun, we completely forgot to take a DA pic! We are grateful to our friends and family for celebrating this special day with us.”— Christy Williams Coombs

2006 Clayton Flanders (Buckingham, Browne, & Nichols, 2006) and Tracy Flanders ’06 welcomed a baby girl, Avery Virginia, on May 8, 2019. Clayton is a derivatives trader at Susquehanna International Group, and Tracy is finishing up her neurosurgery residency at University of Pennsylvania.

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2009 “It’s (maybe long) overdue, but to stay consistent with the trend established by a few of my classmates, I wanted to share the update that I, too, was married in 2018 to my girlfriend of close to six years, Tala.

We were married in Los Angeles and since I’m not sure when my last class note was, I’ll add that we now call Los Angeles home, having moved here from New York with our cocker spaniel Apollo in June of 2017.

—Andrew Wood

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2014

Acadia Mezzofanti was awarded first prize at “Renewal,” the 2019 Winter Members Show at the Copley Society of Art, America’s oldest art society. In 2014, before graduating from Deerfield, Acadia was elected as the Society’s youngest full professional artist member, and last September she received the competitive Copley Artist (CA) designation after several juried exhibitions. “Renewal” featured 33 artists, opened on Newbury Street in Boston on February 28, 2019, and ran through April 28. Acadia’s winning work, “Self-Portrait: Untamed,” was selected from over 200 juried submissions. See more of Acadia’s art at acadiamezzofanti.com, and some of her most recent photography—from her fifth Reunion just this past June—on page 74.

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ACADIA M E Z Z O FA N T I ’ 1 4 P H OT O G R A P H E R

PORTRAITS OF REUNIONS 2019

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“REUNION UNFOLDED THROUGH MY LENS: AROUND CAMPUS AND IN BACK-TO-SCHOOL CLASSES, WITH CHERISHED MOMENTS FROM THE ROCK AT SUNSET AND BY THE RIVER’S VERDANT TREES, THE DELIGHT OF OUR CLASS DINNERS AND CLAMBAKE— AND OF COURSE THE PIZZAZZ, STIR, AND EMOTION OF BOTH DANCES.”

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Claire Collins sees rowing as a sport of contradictions.

“From the shore, you see one thing . . . you see what appears to be a rowing team working together effortlessly . . . what you see looks truly beautiful,” said Collins, a senior co-captain of this spring’s Princeton University women’s rowing team. “Inside that boat, however, it’s more like controlled chaos as nine people try to function as one.

“The other contradiction is that from the shore, it may look as though we’re all rowing in one fluid motion, and hopefully, we are,” added Collins, a two-time All-American and three-time All-Ivy League and Academic AllIvy League 8+ rower. “There’s only one proper way to put your oar through the water, though, so again, it looks easy but it’s not.”

However, no choreographers need apply at the Princeton boathouse; Collins and her teammates have adapted quite nicely to the norms of this sport. Collins, who helped lead Deerfield to gold-medal finishes in the girls’ 4+ Division at the 2014 and 2015 New England Championships, describes rowing as “the ultimate team sport.”

Collins’ skill and experience helped her to earn a seat in Princeton’s varsity No. 1 boat four years ago—an extremely rare accomplishment for a freshman—and it seems as though she brought a motor along to power the 55-foot craft, which is only 1.8 feet wide at its broadest point. Over the past four years, the Tigers have rowed their way to a 44-3 regular-season record and a seventh place overall finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships. As for international waters, Collins helped her 8+ crew win bronze during last year’s Women’s U-23 World Championships and helped grab silver in that event the previous year.

With or without Collins, the women have represented Princeton quite well at the NCAA Rowing Championships, as it is one of just three programs to compete in this national showdown every year since the inaugural regatta in 1997. With Collins on board, the Tigers have accumulated three top-ten finishes: fifth in 2018, ninth in 2017 and sixth in 2016.

Like many collegiate student-athletes, Collins also found time to help serve her community. She spent her senior year as

vice president of the Princeton Varsity Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was recognized for her efforts this spring with the PNC Student-Achiever Award. Each season, one male and one female athlete is nominated by their head coach and then selected by a panel of senior athletics administrators.

“I was one of about 20 who would meet once a month with members of the athletics administration,” said Collins. “It was our job to explain to the administration what daily life is like for a student-athlete at Princeton; how we manage and balance our often hectic schedules, and how they might help to improve the daily lives of student-athletes.”

CLAIRE COLLINS ’15 R OW E R

CHOREOGRAPHED CHAOS / b y B o b Yo r k

76 | THE COMMON ROOM

As VP of the advisory committee, Collins also spent much of her senior year as a leader of one of committee’s primary initiatives: No Tiger Too Tough. No Tiger Too Tough helps create conversation and awareness around mental health issues for all Princeton students.

It was Collins’ primary responsibility to plan and organize events with school psychologists at athletics events and create monthly newsletters for all student-athletes regarding mental health issues.

“Claire’s been very successful and a very creditable force in the classroom, in our rowing program, and throughout the Princeton community. We feel fortunate that she chose to come to Princeton; she’s the epitome of a student-athlete,” said Coach Lori Dauphiny, who nominated Collins for her StudentAchiever Award. Collins was also a 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.

“It’s quite rare that a freshman earns a seat on the No. 1 varsity boat, not just at Princeton, but at any Division I collegiate program, and then remains in that boat for all four years like Claire has,” added Dauphiny. “I’m not surprised, though, we have around 50

rowers in the women’s program here and the competition’s stiff—every one of them would love nothing better than to earn a ride on our top boat. The key was that Claire asserted herself right from the start and hasn’t changed a bit. That’s exactly why she was one of our co-captains this year.”

When Collins entered Deerfield in the ninth grade, swimming was her primary sport, and she attained All-American status during her time at Deerfield. Volleyball, her “back-up sport,” earned a trio of All-New England team honors with Collins on board.

“I decided to try rowing my freshman spring,” said Collins, “and I loved it.” Obviously, it loved her back.

In addition to winning back-to-back New England rowing titles her junior and senior years at Deerfield, Collins won gold those same years during the Youth Rowing Championships and competed for the Junior National Team from 2012 through 2014, where she picked up a pair of silver medals as well as a fifth-place finish.

As a senior, Collins was presented with the Sheldon Award for her athletic prowess, and

the Deerfield Cup, which is awarded “to that student in the senior class who, during the year by their attitude in the classroom, sportsmanship on the field, and conduct among fellow students, has exemplified best the Deerfield ideal.”

“I’m thankful to Deerfield for giving me the opportunity to be able to prosper in an Ivy League classroom as well as the chance to learn a sport I truly came to love and could compete in at a high level in college,” said Collins.

“I’m also extremely grateful for the teachers and coaches I had at Deerfield who stressed the importance of humility,” Collins added, pointing to Spencer Washburn, her college advisor, Heidi Valk, “a great (science) mentor,” and Marjorie Young, her proctor, as three faculty members who had a real impact on her life.

“The Deerfield faculty also showed me that it’s impossible to be the best at everything you do, and worrying about that can bog you down,” added Collins. “They encouraged me to create my own version of success and to make it both attainable and fulfilling.” //

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BRANDON WU ’15 GOLFER

OPEN SEASON

USGA TWITTER

/ b y B o b Yo r k

Wu, 22, closed with a 74 to finish at 1-over 285 for the tournament AND received his diploma from Stanford at Pebble Beach!

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Four years ago, Brandon Wu climbed atop the medals podium at the KingswoodOxford Invitational Golf Tournament to receive one last handshake and one last handout—the medalist’s trophy—on the prep school circuit. This June, Wu received another handshake and his Stanford University diploma at Pebble Beach while in the midst of playing in the US Open.

That moment may have been the high point of a busy month for the young golfer, whose additional achievements included helping Cardinal golf to an NCAA team title and competing for the United States in the Arnold Palmer Cup, but it didn’t end there. In early July, Wu did something that no other amateur has done since 1967: He qualified for the US Open and the British Open in the same summer (without the need of an exemption).

Winning medalist honors at Kingswood-Oxford was a fitting finale for Wu’s high school career, and it prompted former Deerfield Academy golf coach Nick Albertson to put an exclamation point on his statement about Wu being “the best golfer we ever had during my 17 years at Deerfield...” Praise that was payback for a resume that included three consecutive undefeated regular-season showings and three straight top-ten finishes at the Kingswood tourney. One can only imagine what Albertson is saying now.

After Deerfield and coupled with summers chock-full of top-five and top-ten finishes in American Junior Golf Association tournaments, a highly-recruited Wu took his game to Stanford. At the time, he was ranked 60th in the Class of 2015 golf wannabes—a group that totaled 8,622 players.

“Brandon’s played a lot of golf for us and he’s developed into a very strong golfer . . . I think he has a good chance to be named an All-American this year,” predicted veteran Stanford Coach Conrad Ray. During Ray’s 15 years leading the Cardinal, his teams have qualified for 12 NCAA tournaments and won the 2007 edition.

As a player at Stanford, Ray was a member of the 1994 championship team, and a teammate of Tiger Woods. True to Ray’s highly-educated guess, Wu, ranked sixth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings as of July 2, was also a second-team member of both PING and Golfweek’s All-American teams.

“Attending Stanford—much like attending Deerfield— has been a tremendous experience and a tremendous challenge both scholastically and athletically,” said Wu, who earned Pac 12 All-Academic honors the past three years and graduated with a 3.3 GPA and a degree in Product Design. He’s hoping, however, that he can delay putting that degree to work for at least a little while.

“Playing in the PGA has always been a dream of mine and this is probably the only time in my life I’ll be able to give it a shot,” added Wu of joining the Web.com tour, which has become the primary route for players to make the PGA. “To make it to the PGA, you have to finish among the top 25 money winners by the end of the year in order to get a PGA membership for the following season,” he explained.

As for Wu’s major, Product Design, which is part of the university’s Mechanical Engineering curriculum, Wu admitted describing the course to a layman “would be difficult, but you can say it enables you to problem solve real-life situations.” Stanford says: “The course’s mission is to graduate designers who can combine technology, human factors and business factors into the service of human need. The program teaches a design process that encourages creativity, craftsmanship, aesthetics and personal expression and emphasizes ideas and need finding.”

“Looking back, I know I never would have been able to accomplish what I did at Stanford had it not been for the tremendous amount of preparation I received from my teachers and coaches at Deerfield,” said Wu. “I think, like most Deerfield graduates, you come to appreciate all the tips you receive, particularly on time management, especially when you’re participating in college athletics.

“Our fall season ran from September to October, while our spring season runs from February through May,” explained Wu. “It also took us from Georgia to Hawaii, so we spent a lot of time away from school . . . you still have to read the books and write the papers, though.”

Wu also has words of appreciation for Toby Emerson, his former college advisor, “who instilled in me that achieving academic excellence should be a constant goal, and who gave me confidence to always strive to be the best.”

He also mentioned Nick Hall, “who got me interested in the field of science,” and of course coach Nick Albertson, “who was always positive and taught me that whenever I make a bad shot, just put it behind me.

He’d always say, ‘forget about it; concentrate on the next one.’ When it comes to golf, and life, I think that’s the best advice I’ve ever gotten.”

As of press time, Wu was “concentrating on the next one,” and his pro plans were on hold as he was hopeful for a Walker Cup invite.

Many also see Wu as a “shoo in” for U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby’s ten-man team, which will compete at Royal Liverpool in September.

No matter what, Wu says he’s “just trying to enjoy the journey . . .” and what a trip it’s been so far. //

BRANDON WU SCORECARDS: 2019 U.S. OPEN / 6/13-6/16

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

80 | THE COMMON ROOM

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Anything short of Williams capturing its first NESCAC women’s It’s become obvious to Meghan Halloran’s teammates at Williams College, as well as her opponents throughout the New England lacrosse championship since its one-and-only title in 2010 will likely Small College Athletic Conference, that it makes little difference if pale in comparison to Halloran’s recent hockey exploits, however. she’s clutching a lacrosse stick or a hockey stick—she’s proficient at In March, after helping lead the Ephs to the 2019 NESCAC Women’s Hockey Championship, Halloran became only the third sophomore using the business end of both.

Halloran reached the midway mark of her collegiate career this to ever be named NESCAC’s Women’s Ice Hockey Player of the Year spring, and with two years down and two to go, “halftime” seems to since its inception.

“It was both exciting and surprising to win the award,” said Halloran, be an opportune moment to push the pause button and acknowledge the fact that this former Deerfield standout has accomplished more who has been voted associate captain of next year’s team. “I never in NESCAC athletics arenas in two years than most conference dreamed I’d win it; I guess the chemistry created by playing on the same line with two outstanding skaters such as Abby Brustad and contestants will achieve in four.

Anne Rush for the past two years really paid off. ” As she closed out her sophomore year this spring, Halloran was fresh off a lacrosse campaign that once again saw her wielding a weighty stick. It packed some punch, too, registering 22 points on 13 goals and 9 assists. This point parade, which reached 17 her freshman season on six goals and 11 assists, has long been a consistent part of Halloran’s lacrosse regimen. During her senior year at Deerfield, the Big Green captain tallied 28 points on 18 goals and 10 assists to ICE HOCKEY earn All-Academic All-American honors.

MEGHAN H A L LO R A N ’17

P L AY E R O F THE YEAR b y B o b Yo r k / P h o t o g r a p h s b y Ryan Co l eman / d3 pho to g raphy

82 | THE COMMON ROOM

NESCAC’s 2019 Women’s Ice Hockey Player of the Year 2nd team American Hockey Coaches Association All-American Div. III honors THROUGH 2-YEARS AT WILLIAMS:

65 points in 53 games on 30 goals and 35 assists

The plaudits don’t stop there, however. Halloran also landed second team American Hockey Coaches Association All-American Div. III honors and a first team All-NESCAC berth after helping the Ephs (21-5-3) capture the conference championship . . . and guess who scored the title-clinching goal? Halloran. Her tally with 9:08 remaining in the finale earned Williams a 3-2 victory over Middlebury.

That goal was Halloran’s twentieth of the season, and along with 19 assists, put her atop the NESCAC scoring chart with 39 points. For two years now, Halloran—the lone freshman in the league to earn All-NESCAC honors last winter—has tallied 65 points in 53 games on 30 goals and 35 assists.

“Winning the player of the year award is a tremendous honor and Meghan’s very deserving,” said Meghan Gillis, Williams women’s hockey coach. “She’s one of the finest all-around athletes I’ve ever been associated with. There’s more to her success than talent, however.

She has an outstanding work ethic, too. It seems like every spare minute she’s at the rink honing her craft and because of that, she just continues to get better and better.

“She led us in just about every offensive category you can think of,” added Gillis, “because she’s involved in everything; she played on our first line, our power play, and our penalty killing unit and was outstanding in all three.”

Alice Lee, the Ephs’ lacrosse coach, described Halloran as an “incredible athlete who works unbelievably hard at perfecting her game. She’s extremely humble and is always focused on the big picture, not herself, and that sets a tremendous example for our freshmen.

“We’re fortunate to have numerous two-sport athletes at Williams,” added Lee, “but it’s rare to see many competing in back-to-back seasons like Meghan does. Nevertheless, she’s thrived in both sports and I think that’s partly because both are very similar; both involve tactical play, and when it comes to tactical, Meghan gets it.”

Halloran’s former Big Green coach Gen Pitt had the good fortune to experience a full four years of coaching Halloran at Deerfield. “Meghan was instrumental in helping Deerfield girls hockey move from a mid-tier to a top-tier program,” said Pitt, who stepped away from coaching just last year. “She worked tirelessly over four years to leave the program better than when she found it. Not only was she our leading scorer and captain her junior and season years, but she did all the little things necessary to help our team find success “In my eleven years at Deerfield,” added Pitt, “I can think of few, if any, other players who have had such a transformational impact on our program, and Deerfield athletics on the whole, as Meghan Halloran.” //

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ALUMNI ATHLETE

Deerfield alumni athletes scored big at colleges and

HIGHLIGHTS

some of our collegiate athletes and current Deerfield students:

universities across the nation this past winter season.

Congratulations to all on their successes! For stories about

Annie Blasberg ’16

Ali Dougal ’18

Dartmouth (Women’s Squash)

Bowdoin (Women’s Ice Hockey)

• Played in the No. 1 spot for the Big Green in all 15 matches; earned sweep victories against St. Lawrence, Brown, and Amherst •Co-Captain for the Big Green • College Squash Association Individual Championship quarterfinalist

Maddie Chai ’17 Harvard (Women’s Squash) • Won all six scoring matches she played in; 3-0 as the team’s No. 9, 2-0 as the team’s No. 8 and won 3-0 against Tufts as the team’s No. 6.

• Team completed a perfect season, winning the Team National Championship

Sam Chai ’15 Princeton (Women’s Squash) • Earned CSA Scholar-Athlete honors; went 6-1 in the Ivy League and 2-1 at the Howe Cup . . . played majority of the season at the No. 5 position • Team finished 4th in the country in the Howe Cup

Mimi deLisser ’17 Cornell (Women’s Squash) • Competed in every Cornell Women’s Squash match as a sophomore; finished tied for the team’s best individual win-loss record • Helped team capture College Squash Association’s 2019 Kurtz Cup (the Kurtz Cup is the College Squash Association’s ‘B’ Division national championship) earning wins over #9 Dartmouth and #10 Virginia

84 | THE COMMON ROOM

deerfield.edu/athletics

• Played in 24 games on defense; recorded one assist this season

Kevin Doyle ’15 Connecticut College (Men’s Ice Hockey) • Played in 24 games for the Camels in his senior season

Ericka Ekahtor ’17

Jenna Greenbaum ’17 Colby (Women’s Ice Hockey) • Played in eight games on defense for the Mules this season

Andrew Hadley ’16 Tufts (Men’s Ice Hockey) •Appeared in five games as a sophomore •NESCAC Championship Quarterfinals

Meghan Halloran ’17

Wesleyan (Women’s Basketball)

Williams (Women’s Ice Hockey)

• Played in nine games averaging

• Played in all 28 games for the Ephs and

1.7 points and rebounds per game • NESCAC Championship Quarterfinalist with the Cardinals

Danny Finnegan ’17 Navy (Men’s Squash) • Competed in 14 matches as a sophomore; playing in the 6th through 9th spot

David Gagas ’17 St. Lawrence (Men’s Basketball) • Played in 22 games for the Saints as a sophomore, totaling 35 points, 21 rebounds, and 11 steals • Earned Liberty League All-Academic honors

Megan Graves ’18 Springfield (Women’s Basketball) • Played in five games in her first year with the Pride; scored five points and had two assists versus Mount Holyoke setting her career records in both points and assists •NEWMAC Championship finalists

recorded a team-leading 39 points for the second consecutive year (20 goals and 19 assists) and led the NESCAC in points (20), goals (10) and assists (10) • NESCAC Player of the Year and received All-NESCAC First Team honors •NESCAC All-Academic honoree • Voted Second Team All-America by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) • Named to the DIII All-Star Team by the New England Hockey Writers • The Ephs were the top seeded team in the NESCAC Championship for the first time in program history • NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championship Quarterfinalists

Ossie Heard ’18 Bates (Men’s Diving) • At the NESCAC Championships, finished in 9th place in 3-meter diving, after scoring 298.55 points in preliminaries and scored 340.95 points in the championship finals of 1-meter diving, placing eighth.

• Team finished 5th at NESCAC Championships

Brenna Hoar ’18

Nick Osarenren ’18

Bailey Smith ’18

Trinity (Women’s Ice Hockey)

Hamilton (Men’s Basketball)

Northeastern (Women’s Swimming)

•Played in three games registering an assist in her rookie season.

•NESCAC Championship Quarterfinalists

Will Hrabchak ’17 Cornell (Men’s Swimming & Diving) • Took second in the B final of the 100 back at the 2019 Ivy League Championship, posting a 48.72 to

•Played in 29 of 30 games as a

Championship debut in the 200y

per game, 4.1 points per game

backstroke and placed 8th overall

and 3.2 rebounds per game

in the 100y backstroke

•NESCAC Championship semifinalists

Bret Pastor ’18 Middlebury (Men’s Ice Hockey) •Played in all 25 games in his rookie

rank No. 6 in school history. Also

campaign; registered one goal and four

scored in the 200 back, taking 19th.

assists as a defenseman

•7th place team finish at the Ivy League

•NESCAC Championship

Championships

Quarterfinalists

Katherine Jackson ’15

Kaleb Robinson ’17

Middlebury (Women’s Ice Hockey) • Played in 27 games for the Panthers,

Sarah Lawrence (Men’s Basketball) • In sophomore season: 23 games played,

recorded 18 points (5 goals and 13

four games started, 156 points (6.8

assists)

ppg), 49 rebounds (2.1 rpg), 33 assists,

•NESCAC Championship Semifinalists •NESCAC Player of the Week (2-25-19)

Billy Lahart ’17 Bates (Men’s Basketball) •NESCAC Winter All-Academic selection.

•Played in five games

Jackson Mannix ’17 Union College (Men’s Basketball) • Started 20 of 22 games as a sophomore; led the Dutchmen by averaging 12.5 points per game, reached double figures in 13-of-22 games • Named MVP at the Sig Makofski Invitational • Named to the Liberty League All-Academic Team

Bobby Meyer ’17 Amherst (Men’s Swimming) • Team finished season 3rd at NESCAC Championships

Brendan O’Connell ’16 Connecticut College (Men’s Ice Hockey) •Played in eight games for the Camels

• Earned bronze medal in her CAA

first-year; averaged 13.6 minutes

• 6th place team finish at CAA Championships • Championed the 200y backstroke seven times and the 100y backstroke two times in her rookie season with the Huskies

Ellie Uhl ’17 Boston College (Women’s Swimming & Diving) • Placed 32nd in the 3M at the ACC Championships • Placed 30th in the 1M at the ACC Championships

25 steals, 2 blocks.

• Team lost in the first round of the Skyline Men’s Basketball Championship

Colman Shea ’18 Hamilton (Men’s Basketball) • Played in 10 of 30 games as a first-year • Averaged 2.2 minutes per game.

Miles Smachlo ’16 Michigan (Men’s Swimming & Diving) • CSCAA All-American (100-yard Butterfly) & CSCAA All-America Honorable Mention (400-yard Freestyle Relay) • Two-time Big Ten champion (100-yard Butterfly, 200-yard Medley Relay) • All-Big Ten (First Team) & Academic All-Big Ten • Received University of Michigan Athletic Academic Achievement • 2019 NCAA Championships (March 27-30): Finished 3rd in 100-yard Butterfly (44.84) and 35th in 200-yard Butterfly (1:44.60)

this season

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REGIONAL CLUBS & EVENTS

SA N F R A N C I S C O, CA

S E E EV E N M O R E F R I E N D LY FAC ES !

flickr.com/deerfieldalumni L O O K FO R U P C O M I N G EV E N TS :

deerfield.edu/events REUNIONS 2019 86 | THE COMMON ROOM

DENVER, CO

D AY O F S E RV I C E / N Y C

D AY O F S E RV I C E / D C

DURHAM / NC

D AY O F S E RV I C E / M A

H AV E F U N M O B C !

87

This bench, installed by members of the Class of 2018, is dedicated to the memory of their classmate Brian Weber.

It faces the Hunt Track and Field, where Brian spent many afternoons as a teammate and co-captain.

2018

“Brian Weber was endlessly kind, funny, and giving to all those around him, regardless of how close of a friend they might be. He was exceptional and someone I strive to emulate because his spirit never faded no matter the time of day or the situation at hand. Brian, you are deeply missed and forever loved. Thank you for being a friend to all and an integral part of what makes Deerfield so unique. Your memory will live on forever.”

—Adeliza Grace

88 | THE COMMON ROOM

Katherine Textor Farmer ’92 The Deerfield Academy community was saddened to learn of the death of alumna and trustee Katherine “Katy” Textor Farmer on June 14, 2019. She was 45 years old. Born in Seattle, WA, to George and Wendy Textor, Katy was the oldest of three children. She leaves behind her husband, Colin, and their two children, Riley and Will.

Katy’s New York Times obituary read in part: She embodied grace, kindness, humor, and determination throughout her life and especially during her recent battle with cancer. By her own admission, Katy’s greatest joy and source of pride was her immediate and extended family. She was a loving and tireless mother, wife, daughter, sister, and cousin. She never let the long distances between her many family members limit their closeness. A perfect day for Katy was spent in the Thousand Islands, on the water with her children, spreading joy, mischief, and sugar.

Katy was an accomplished producer and television journalist. She began her career in the political unit of ABC News, where she covered the 2000 Presidential election. She joined the White House press corps in 2001 as a producer for ABC News covering the Bush Presidency, including the launch of the coalition invasion of Iraq. In 2003, she returned to New York and joined CBS at 60 Minutes where she worked as an associate producer and producer, collaborating extensively and over many years with Morley Safer. While at 60 Minutes, Katy was credited with 22 stories as a producer or co-producer and earned multiple Emmy nominations; her 23rd piece will air next season. She produced profiles, features, and investigations, including the first television interview with Ruth Madoff, the Theranos whistleblower case, and the Syrian refugee crisis.

In a tribute to Katy from the Academy, President of the Board of Trustees Brian Simmons said: Katy was a role model even before her decade-long service to the Academy as a trustee. A member of the Class of 1992—one of the first classes to include girls after the Academy’s return to coeducation—Katy was a leader on campus who gave it her all in the classroom and on the playing fields. She always exhibited grace under pressure, setting the highest standards of open-mindedness, empathy, inclusion, and candor during her time as a student and as a member and Vice President of our Board. Katy moved Deerfield forward in new, more inclusive directions—effectively shaping the school and defining by her actions Deerfield’s enduring cultural values of community, excellence, and service to others.

Her finely honed sense of humor, cheerful optimism, and sharp mind enhanced our community in so many important ways. Katy truly lived the words of the Academy’s motto, ‘Be worthy of your heritage,’ and she will be cherished in loving memory by all who knew her. //

89

Edwin G. Reade Jr. Longtime Deerfield faculty member Edwin Reade died on March 15, 2019. He was 98. The following obituary appeared in Massachusetts newspapers the Vineyard Gazette and the Daily Hampshire Gazette; it has been edited for length.

Edwin Reade grew up in Watertown, CT, spent his teaching and coaching career at Deerfield Academy, and in retirement split his time between Vineyard Haven and Tampa before moving to Easthampton (MA) in 2015. He was born in 1921 to Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Reade. His brother, Colonel Robert A. Reade, predeceased him in 2011. Reade graduated from the Taft School in 1939 and Williams College in 1946, after serving in the military. In 1950 he married Florence Anne (Petey) Hofmann of Montclair, NJ. They had three children: Ned (Deerfield Class of ’71), John (Deerfield Class of ’73), and Kate. Following Petey’s death in 1993, Reade married Mary Lee (Lippy) Rogers in 1995, a longtime friend from Martha’s Vineyard. The couple spent a joyous 20 years together, playing tennis and golf and enjoying their friends on the Vineyard and in Tampa.

An avid sportsman, Reade called himself a racketeer. He played tennis into his 90s and squash for more than 40 years. While coaching at Deerfield, he often determined that lads who could beat him while he played lefty would make junior varsity; those talented enough to compete against Reade’s right hand would rise to varsity.

Reade spent many summers teaching tennis at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and participating in tournaments in Massachusetts, Florida, and Bermuda.

He kept opponents at bay with his American twist serve, short angle cross court forehand, and the unnerving ability to play ambidextrously. He relished golf as well, especially in retirement at Farm Neck and at the Palma Ceia Club in Tampa. Though never a club champion, he did score a hole-in-one at 89! This lifetime of sports forged enduring friendships far and wide, which he treasured.

When World War II began, Reade left Williams and joined the Army Air Corps. He served from 1942 to 1945, including eighteen months in New Guinea as a pilot in the Fifth Air Force where he was a first lieutenant and won the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. Reade returned to Williams for his senior year, was elected to the Gargoyle Honorary Society, and played varsity tennis and squash.

Mr. Boyden hired Reade in 1946 to teach Spanish and French and coach varsity squash and tennis. Reade remained a respected teacher, coach, and mentor at Deerfield for 38 years. During that time, he also completed graduate work in Spanish at Middlebury College and Tufts. At Deerfield, Reade was honored with the Scaife Chair in the Humanities. While living in Deerfield, the Reades were devoted congregants of St. James Episcopal Church. Reade was an active member of the Deerfield Volunteer Fire Department.

Upon retiring from Deerfield in 1984, Reade and his wife Petey moved to Vineyard Haven to a home Petey’s family had owned since 1936. The house, formerly a seamen’s bethel, was originally built in 1745. The Reades were active members of the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and Trinity Episcopal Church in Oak Bluffs. The civic-minded Reade served as Senior Warden at Trinity Church in Oak Bluffs; board member of Havenside; chairman of the Williams Street Historic District Commission; member of the Tisbury Zoning Board of Appeals; and on the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club’s Board of Governors.

90 | THE COMMON ROOM

1938

Frank McFarlane Collingwood, Jr. July 15, 2018

1939

Miss Margery B. Avirett August 27, 2017

1940

James Averell Clark, Jr. January 1, 1990

Thomas Elkinton September 24, 2018

John Francis Kruk February 2, 2019

John Wood Sauter April 19, 2014

John Patterson Weitzel December 8, 2016

1941

Ralph M. H. Coburn June 5, 2018

Peter Werner Josten February 23, 2019

IN MEMORIAM Russell Joseph Minott, Sr.

Jerome Foote Page, Jr.

October 2, 2011

June 18, 2017

Frederick Schenck Scarborough

Ogden Rogers Reid

December 24, 2018

March 2, 2019

1942

Francis Hunter Rowley

Robert Perkins Bass, Jr. November 2, 2011

Thomas Gilbert Brown, Jr.*

July 8, 2017

Edward Henry Toole

1946

Gerald Lauderdale *

Wilson Alexander Campbell, II

February 12, 2019

April 12, 2019

Malcolm Ormsbee MacLean

1957

April 22, 2018

Ward E. Morehouse June 26, 2012

March 28, 2018

James Mayo Walters

1944

June 14, 2011

John Victor Hastings, III

Rufus C. Finch, Jr.

1947

May 9, 2017

May 22, 2017

January 22, 2019

Thomas Edward Putnam

Richard E. Foreman *

September 5, 2011

February 12, 2019

Ansley Wilcox Sawyer, Jr.

John Carr Lowman

February 23, 2017

April 3, 2019

1943

Samuel Chamberlain Doyle December 18, 2017

Samuel Pruyn Hoopes, Jr. April 13, 2019

Charles Davis Smead March 13, 2013

Stephen Briggs Smith April 19, 2015

1945

Samuel Williams Meek, Jr.

Donovan Craven

February 26, 2019

December 15, 2018

1956

Cornelius Thurston Chase, IV December 3, 2018

Robert Hunter Harrison July 5, 2012

David Buick Van Dusen October 16, 2018

1948

Leonard Dawson Adkins, Jr. February 3, 2019

Robert Barnett Binswanger March 16, 2019

Louis Benjamin Fauver, II October 13, 2018

1959

John William Arata * February 5, 2019

Samuel Braley Gray, III March 28, 2019

Gero Schlieker June 21, 2018

Peter Stevens Weed 2018

1964

Jack Saunders Parker, Jr.* February 27, 2019

1972

Anthony Ciresi August 29, 2018

Donald William Eber

Dorothy Helen Grybko Rosario

May 13, 2018

March 19, 2019

1974

1949

Alan Ashley Clough

Allan A. Ryan, III *

February 17, 2019

March 2, 2019

1976

1950

Fred Lennox Hudson, III

Gerald Wilcox Fisher, Jr.

November 15, 2018

January 31, 2019

1990

1952

Michael Carl Parzick

Nicholas Sheldon Howe

January 20, 2019

April 4, 2019

1954

Floyd Ronald Dimond * February 12, 2019

John Putnam Hopkins

Michael Rolf Stroeh April 10, 2019

2018

Brian Ryusei Weber April 12, 2019

November 13, 2018

Milton Richard Schroeder December 2, 2017

* Boyden Society Member

In Memoriam as of May 2019. Please go to deerfield.edu/commonroom for the most up-to-date information on classmates, including obituaries.

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F I R S T P E R S O N / Thomas Vail ’44

BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS: SUNDAY, MAY 31, 1970

Thomas Vail had been publisher and editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer for only seven of his 42 years at the newspaper when he was asked to deliver the keynote address at the Class of 1970’s Baccalaureate service. Focused on current events of the day, Mr. Vail’s speech is startlingly relevant nearly fifty years later. As he wryly noted, “It seems to have ‘stood the test of time.’”

Now, as the Class of 1970 prepares to celebrate their 50th Reunion in June of 2020, we are pleased to share with you Mr. Vail’s Baccalaureate address. A video of the Class of 2019’s Baccalaureate service is available at: vimeo.com/deerfield/bacc2019

92 | THE COMMON ROOM

As it is just over 25 years since I attended this marvelous school, and as I am a newspaperman, I will base my remarks on these two experiences, as they represent a link with Deerfield and, I hope, a small contribution to the purposes of this school and this nation.

What times we are living through. The old order is gone or going.

There are new relationships, of parents to children, country to country, government to people, and boy to girl. When I graduated from Deerfield in 1944, there was concluding the last chapter of the cultural, political, and business domination of the world by Europe.

Outside of the immediate problem of the war, a business career then was more important to my classmates than politics. Athletics was as important as education. Religion was presented much as it was in the 19th century. The race issue was seldom mentioned.

Coeducation was somewhere else.

Pollution and environment were unheard of. American involvement in the war was not questioned.

Our morals were neither improving nor discussed. We were not confused, except by Latin. I am inclined to believe that the only thing we really agreed on then was that it was important to beat Choate in football, and that the headmaster was a unique and great educator who was good to have on your side.

Looking over these observations of the past, I surmise there is a dramatic change at Deerfield . . . except that it is still important to beat Choate, and to have the headmaster on your side.

The national and world revolution we are experiencing is directly the result of advances in science, and includes the news media, which I happen to be involved in. The fantastic accumulation of knowledge through computers, the walk on the moon, the television tube, the automated newspaper, have brought forth a desire from young people for a new social order, a new government, and a new morality. The question before us now is how these worthy ideas will be put into effect.

The greatest danger at the moment is the polarization of people— old against young, black against white, rich against poor, suburbanite against city dweller, and the well-educated against the less educated.

It is disheartening to see all this at times coming to violence, for violent action accomplishes nothing and brings out the worst in all of us.

Everywhere I have been lately—in our newsroom, on college campuses, at the annual meetings of newspaper publishers and editors— it is clear that the student revolution is not based only on Vietnam and Cambodia, but really seeks a new approach, a better way of life.

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F I R S T P E R S O N / Thomas Vail ’44

THE NATIONAL AND WORLD REVOLUTION WE ARE EXPERIENCING IS DIRECTLY THE RESULT OF ADVANCES IN SCIENCE, AND INCLUDES THE NEWS MEDIA. Unfortunately, this worthy goal has been obscured in 1970 on our college campuses by extremists who seek destruction of our system and our progress. While our news columns are dominated by these violent and confusing situations, we cannot forget that change opens doors for the talented, if they have constructive solutions.

The only reason my graduating class was not confused by the events of the day was that we were at war defending ourselves. Our country had been attacked and we knew we had to do something about it. Another reason we were not confused was that our opportunities were less. There were fewer alternatives and there was less saturation by the news media. We knew less.

One of the most potent forces for change today is the all-encompassing media: shocking, instant, more comprehensive, forcing on everyone decisions about everything. No one is now excluded. The farmer, the urban dweller, the conservative, the liberal, the foreigner, the rich, the poor, all receive much of the same message. For good or bad, everyone is involved with the same problems and possibilities.

The frustrations created are greater, but the chances for error can be less. Frustrations are with us because knowledge makes the world restive for improvement. The chances for mistakes can be less, because more is known about the other person’s point of view.

94 | THE COMMON ROOM

However, these marvelous new scientific tools are of little value unless we use them with compassion and consideration; unless we use our matchless heritage and new power to change our system and not destroy it. This has been the genius of America. Our differences have been settled more often by discussion than by arms and violence. This is one tradition we must preserve.

I am bothered sometimes by a lack of tolerance in our onward thrust. The great religions have always preached a tolerance and consideration for others as a counterpoise to power. It is a resurgence of this splendid sentiment that we need so much now.

An exciting possibility about the new world science has created is not only the more numerous opportunities now available, but also the new concern for moral and ethical values on which this church and all religions have historically based their existence. While some religious symbols are being questioned and modernized, I have never known a time when thoughts about God and morality and our fellow man have been higher on the list of priorities of the young.

If the form of worship is to be changed, I discern that the meaning of religion has never been of greater interest.

There are other changes.

As I said, the most thoughtful students whom I see and talk with today are now interested in the quality of life. The moral and ethical position of people is more discussed than it was 25 years ago.

FOR GOOD OR BAD, EVERYONE IS INVOLVED WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES.

THROUGH TECHNOLOGY, THROUGH THE MEDIA, AND WITH THE MATCHLESS EDUCATION YOU HAVE RECEIVED HERE AT DEERFIELD, YOU ARE BETTER PREPARED AND MORE ABLE TO LEAD THE WORLD THAN ANY GENERATION SO FAR.

Underpinning, making possible this new interest in morals, ethics, religion, and human quality, is the emergence of the United States as the unquestioned great power of the world. This country now consumes almost half of the world’s goods and services. Every statistic and projection I know of indicates the United States will be further ahead in national power 25 years from now. This startling fact should escape none of us.

Starting way behind, we streaked to the moon last year in a display of technological power and ability which left our closest competitor far behind in a race they once led. The world cheered and took note— that when we want to show our American technical and organizational power, no one can compete successfully against us.

Our predominance in the world has given us time to think, not just about money and food and shelter, but also about our attitude toward others. So far, our sensational technological advances have not been matched by similar progress in human relations. But, most heartening, human considerations are major topics of student discussion. What students say they seek today is that elusive goal: the universal brotherhood of man. This new humanism is everywhere among young people, and I applaud you for it, if it is applied in practice as well as words.

It was recently mentioned to me by a brilliant professor at a famous college that the walk on the moon had one bad effect, and that was to assume human problems could be solved as easily as technical ones. Perhaps the professor is right, but our human problems will respond to student concern, if you will pursue a considerate, constructive course. Through technology, through the media, and with the matchless education you have received here at Deerfield, you are better prepared and more able to lead the world than any generation so far.

There may be some who will urge you to take it easy, to take care.

I urge you to do just the opposite.

I urge you to go ahead, to continue what you have started, to bring on a new more responsive government, a more profound curriculum, a more humanistic society, a more glorious religion.

But your pursuit must be considerate and non-violent, or the enemies of progress will defeat you in the name of “order.” You need the establishment and it needs you.

A well-known English author based a story of his life on the rule of palmistry that the lines of your left hand are your heritage, and the lines of your right hand are what you make yourself. I know the lines of your left hand—your heritage—are excellent. As for my class at Deerfield, we are counting on the lines of your right hand, which is what you will make yourselves. //

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WO R D S E A RC H P UZZ L E

KEY WORDS

FROLIC

RADIANT

TEMPERATURE

ABLAZE

INSOLATION

RECREATION

TRADITION

BALMY

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SUMMERTIDE

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will reveal a line from a famous poem. Send it to Communications Office, PO Box 87, Deerfield, MA 01342, and you’ll be entered to win two S’well Water Bottles!

The winner will be chosen at random from all correct answers received by September 16, 2019.

*Tips: Circle only the key words listed above.

WIN THESE!

Fill in the blanks to reveal the hidden phrase: “ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ , / _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ .”

96 | THE COMMON ROOM

More gear at: store.deerfield.edu

D E E R F I E L D M AG AZ I N E ’S

OBJECT LESSON DAV I D D I C K I N S O N ’S C OAC H I N G F O L D E R

Deerfield Academy Archives

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DE E RF I E LD M A G A Z I N E

Deerfield Academy | PO Box 87 | Deerfield, MA | 01342 Change Service Requested

Jamie Malcolm-Brown