The Record (Summer 2013)

DURHAM ACADEMY

THE MAGAZINE OF DURHAM ACADEMY

R ECO R D • S UM M E R • 2013

Celebrating 28 years of Special Olympics at DA Upper School welcomes more than 400 athletes to the Durham County Special Olympics Spring Games

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

are most urgent? Which are most important?

3. What do you do best? — What are your

absorbing and ultimately using nearly 1,200

What do you think are the best things you bring

new names is a daunting challenge. Like our

to your work and the school?

students, I look forward to using whatever

Milo Zanecchia

mnemonic devices, Veracross lists, iPad apps,

What skills, traits or practices do you want to

graphic organizers — and a few hundred daily

strengthen? How can I help?

pop quizzes as I encounter our students in

5. What else should I know to best serve

A

With apologies for assigning homework just as our teachers were tasting the sweet

years at DA offer good foundational knowledge about the school. But one never steps in the same river twice. Knowing that I will be a DA

their classes and around our campuses. I trust this project will teach me a bit more about learning.

• I will probably fail. My last school has

liberty of summertime, I promised to do my

about 650 students. While I knew the names of

best to pay them back for their labors. I will

nearly every one of them, there were always a

read their ideas with attention, pull common

few that escaped me. It may be foolish to think

themes from the faculty and staff and share all

I can learn more than twice that many names

I can during our opening meetings in August.

at DA. Failing boldly (and now publicly) is a

Similar questions helped me understand the

scary prospect. It’s also a healthy practice —

needs and aspirations of the Upper School 10

both for learners and for teachers.

years ago. Now I am eager to look for wholelong with my family, I am

tips, tricks and tools I can find — flash cards,

do you want to learn in the coming year?

you and the school in the coming year?

exceedingly glad and grateful to be home. My

• To learn about learning. Memorizing,

distinctive contributions to the DA community?

4. What can you do better? — What

EDITOR’S NOTE: In November 2012, Michael Ulku-Steiner was appointed by the board of trustees as head of school, succeeding Ed Costello, who served at Durham Academy for 14 years.

Michael taught English and Spanish at DA from 1992 to 2000 and served as Upper School Director from 2003 to 2008. July 1 marked his first day in the role of head of school.

relationships can’t go far without names.

school opportunities for celebration and growth.

Second, I’ll do all I can to learn the names of our students. Why? • I want to know every child. Durham

By next June, I hope to know the name of every Durham Academy student.

Third, I will host an autumn series of roundtable listening and learning sessions with students, parents and alumni. I’ll let Sheppy Vann, Carolyn Ronco, Jon Meredith,

rookie again next year, I am eager to learn all I

Academy exists not to strengthen its programs,

Lee Hark and Tim McKenna guide me to the

can from and about our students, faculty, staff,

improve its campus or fill universities. It

best timing and settings for these meetings.

parents and alumni.

exists to change individual lives for the better.

The format will be simple: frank, casual and

Parenting my own two former/future DA

sincere conversations based on questions 1, 2

students taught me that one thing matters

and 5 above. Please stay tuned for details and

more than anything else in the development

invitations.

For this reason, I have mapped out three projects for the summer and fall: First, I emailed all DA teachers and staff in early June, asking them to respond to the

of truly excellent schools: the daily experience

Thank you in advance for helping me

following questions before Aug. 1:

of each single child. Until I know a bit about

learn about our school, and — if all goes well —

each of those children, I’ll be floating in the

helping us all see where we are and where we

dangerous ether of administrative abstraction.

want to go.

1. What do we do best? — What makes Durham Academy a truly extraordinary learning community? In what programs, at what times, in what places do we do our best work?

2. What can we do better? — How can

• Names matter. As a former (and I hope future) English teacher, I concur with Confucius, who said, “the beginning of wisdom is calling

we develop in our teaching, learning and living

things by their right names.” Communities

together? Which school improvement projects

are built one relationship at a time, and

Michael Ulku-Steiner, Head of School

DURHAM ACADEMY Record • Summer 2013 • Volume 40 • Number 2

16 DURHAM ACADEMY 3601 Ridge Road Durham, NC 27705-5599 telephone: 919-493-7363 email: communications@da.org website: www.da.org www. flickr.com/DurhamAcademy www.facebook.com/DurhamAcademy www.twitter.com/DurhamAcademy www.youtube.com/

DurhamAcademyComm

www.pinterest.com/Durham Academy

Michael Ulku-Steiner, Head of School Leslie Holdsworth,

Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

Kathy McPherson,

Associate Director of Communications

Tim McKenna,

Associate Director of Alumni Affairs

The Magazine of Durham Academy

20 Front Cover

62 32

Alissa Makligh ’15 carries Morehead Montessori Elementary School student Elliot Kuehn during the Durham County Special Olympics Spring Games on April 26. Each Upper School student and teacher participates in the games in some way. Many, like Makligh, serve as “buddies” for athletes. P h o t o b y J u l i a W a l l

2 6 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22 26 27 28 30 31 32 34 35 36 37

Class of 2013 challenged to make a new game Seniors write about their experience at Durham Academy Elizabeth Parry wins George Watts Hill Community Service Award Community service — local or global — is a way of life for Cavs Brothers’ mission to clean up India’s drinking water offers lessons Financial aid endowment fund honors Ed Costello Finding inspiration in faces from the past What kind of a leader is Michael Ulku-Steiner?

Special Olympics involves the entire Upper School Want to know what happened to the Lost Colony? Ask a DA fourth-grader!

Tactics, strategies, attacks, gambits and decoys are all part of the game of chess Journey through China was a trip to remember ‘Always be on time and don’t forget to smile’ — Preschoolers’ advice to Ed Costello ‘A taste of the world’ lets preschoolers ‘travel’ the globe First-year faculty reflect on what it’s like to teach at DA Hershey Award recognizes French teacher Teresa Engebretsen Oklahoma! DA Upper School musical was far more than ‘OK’ DA Middle School performs Seussical Jr., The Musical Too young for a driver’s license, but driving a race car at 150 mph Trustees welcome six new members From the Green Alumni Stories: Distinguished Alumni Award winner Ward Nye ’81 • Alumni Board honors Ed Costello • $100,000 raised for Evergreen Campaign • Class Notes • Geoff Lamb ’86 • David Ravin ’89 • Andrew Tyson ’05 • Katherine Hodges ’12 • In Memoriam • 2013 Spring Regional Events • Alumni babies

Inside Back Cover Something to howl about Back Cover College choices for the Class of 2013 Mission Statement “The purpose of Durham Academy is to provide each student an education that will enable him or her to Photo by K athy McPherson

The Record is published bi-annually

by Durham Academy Kathy McPherson, Record editor Linda Noble, designer Theo Davis Sons Inc., printer

Photos by Melody Guy ton But ts and Nathan Clendenin

live a moral, happy and productive life. The development of intellect is central to such a life and, thus, intellectual endeavor and growth are the primary work of the school. The acquisition of knowledge; the development of skills, critical judgment and intellectual curiosity; and increased understanding are the goals of the school’s academic program.”

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

1

|

D U R H A M

A C A D E M Y

|

2 0 1 3

C O M M E N C E M E N T

E X E R C I S E S

|

1

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 1. Betsy Bennett, former director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, delivered the commencement address. 2. Salutatorian Ashley Jowell introduced Bennett to the crowd gathered at UNC’s Memorial Hall.

2

4

3. Valedictorian Zander

Moss urged his classmates to aspire to make positive changes in the world. 4. One-hundred and three students comprised the Class of 2013, Durham Academy’s largest-ever graduating class. 5. Christian Browning was among the graduates who rose for solos in the class's performance of “Wagon Wheel.” 6. Nora Ghanem, Jennie Jaggers, Briana Kelly, Mattis Collier, Meghan Scott, Anica Green, Carly Waffa, Cara Peyser and Claire Murchison pose for a photo before the ceremony.

7. Raghav Bansal, Matthew Attarian and Ally Arocha were among the 2013 graduates.

8. Sacha Gafinowitz accepts his diploma from board of trustees Chair David Beischer as Headmaster Ed Costello looks on. 9. Nash CareyEwend ’14, incoming Student Council president, hoists the DA banner after receiving it from 2012-2013 President Amanda Jowell.

7

Photos by Nathan Clendenin

2

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

8

|

D U R H A M

A C A D E M Y

|

2 0 1 3

C O M M E N C E M E N T

E X E R C I S E S

|

Class of 2013 Challenged to Make a New Game

3

B y M el o dy G u y t o n B u t t s , D i g i ta l Co mmu n i c at i o n s S p ec i a l i s t

T

5

6

9

he concept of a zero-sum game — in which one person’s success must be balanced by the suffering of others — seems so ingrained in today’s culture that it may be difficult to imagine a world without it. But Zander Moss, valedictorian of Durham Academy’s Class of 2013, can envision a world with more mutually beneficial outcomes, and he used his valedictory address to urge his classmates to join him in realizing that vision.

“We all make the rules,” he said from a lectern in UNC-Chapel Hill’s Memorial Hall at the May 24 commencement exercises. “Humans invented these games, and we can create new ones. We aren’t bound to bad games and zero-sum games because we have the creativity to make alternatives where everyone benefits. We can refactor, we can reconfigure and we can regenerate.”

Each member of the Class of 2013, no matter the career he or she pursues, can choose to play a “positive-sum game” or even an “increasing-sum game,” Moss said.

“Ultimately, you don’t have to worry about being successful ... or wealthy, or famous or any of the other things that people say matter but don’t really matter,” he advised. “The only thing you really have to do to live is to open your mind to the mutability of your reality and start hacking away at it. Let love be your guide and your mind, your hand.”

Commencement speaker Betsy Bennett, the recently retired director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, also challenged graduates to be a force for good. To effect major change and thrive in today’s interconnected world, it’s crucial to make global connections, she advised.

Bennett led the Raleigh museum through a major expansion and was named The News & Observer’s 2011 Tar Heel of the Year. More than four decades ago, she spent a year teaching science at Durham Academy. She illustrated her point about global connections by reflecting on an evening that she spent on a remote Kenyan island with a group of DA students, years after she taught at the school.

The DA group set up a telescope and helped dozens of Kenyans to identify the moon. A boy, around the age of 10, spoke both English and Swahili and helped the visitors communicate with the locals, staying up until around 2 a.m. when the last of the moon-watchers had their fill.

“When it was finally time to take down the telescope, this young man, his eyes wide with wonder, told us he never dreamed he’d see the moon close-up,” Bennett recalled. “I knew that he would forever see the moon and his world differently.”

The experience also helped her see her own world differently, she said, and it informed her work as she helped museum visitors to see their worlds in new ways.

“It often takes just one experience like that to change how you think about your future, the possibilities, for it is a very powerful experience to help someone see, for the very first time, something new, even if it is in their own backyard,” Bennett said.

She urged students to forge their own global connections, whether they’re made through international travel or some other way.

“The United States needs people who understand the big picture and can provide creative solutions,” she said. “... In today’s world, we cannot solve environmental problems or investigate scientific solutions to our pressing scientific questions without looking at the larger picture.” continued

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

3

|

D U R H A M

A C A D E M Y

|

2 0 1 3

C O M M E N C E M E N T

2

1

4

10

|

3

6

5

8

7

E X E R C I S E S

11

9

12

1. Aris Hart (from top left), Lauren Katz, Delaney Herndon, Jamie Salzman, Maeve Lentricchia, Jasmine Williams, Joyce Erasga and Amanda Kim smile for the class photo. 2. Mazin Nour Ahmed

and Carly Waffa take a self-portrait. 3. Maggie Chambers, Maya Golightly and Joyce Erasga pause for a quick photo before the ceremony 4. Ally Arocha smiles for a family photo. 5. Rodnei Crutchfield shares a moment with Annabella Gong ’15. 6. Twin sisters Amanda Jowell and Ashley Jowell flash matching smiles. 7. Anica Green enjoys a special day with her family. 8. Briana Kelly and Nora Ghanem pose for a photo beneath the shade of their mortarboards. 9. Nick Sullivan and David Peters ham it up for the camera. 10. English teacher Jordan Adair and commencement marshal Catherine Yang ’14 pose for a post-ceremony photo. 11. Franchesca Johnson takes a family photo with her parents, Graham and Anne-Marie, and sister, Georgina ’16. 12. Delaney Herndon and dance teacher Laci McDonald pause for a portrait on a sunny post-graduation Friday afternoon. P h o t o s b y N a t h a n C l e n d e n i n a n d M e l o d y G u y t o n B u t t s

4

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

|

D U R H A M

A C A D E M Y

|

2 0 1 3

The Class of 2013 by the Numbers •

•

•

• •

• •

• •

•

•

• • • •

• 1 student will attend an all-male college (Hampden-Sydney) 103 graduates (54 females, 49 males) submitted a • 1 student will attend an HBCU total of 566 applications to colleges and universities (Howard University) • 3 students will attend a technical university 338 applications were accepted, 67 applications (MIT, NC A&T, VA Tech) were waitlisted • 2 students will attend a fine arts college 198 applications were submitted “early action” (Belmont University, Berklee College of Music) or “early decision,” with 94 students submitting • 20 students will attend small liberal arts colleges at least one EA or ED application (enrolling less than 3,000) 5.5 is the average number of applications submitted • 18 students will attend a flagship public institution 103 graduates will enroll in 58 different colleges and universities in 22 states and the United Kingdom • 26 students will enroll at their single-choice, early decision college or university 2 students will take a gap year 46 will attend colleges and universities in N.C., 25 at public institutions and 22 at private institutions; 57 will attend colleges and universities • National Merit Scholarship Finalists: 11 outside N.C. 63 will attend colleges and universities in the South • National Achievement Scholarship Finalists: 1 • 1 Tisch Drama student at New York University 14 will attend colleges and universities in the • 1 Management and Technology student at the Mid-Atlantic University of Pennsylvania 13 will attend colleges and universities in • 1 Screenwriting student at the University of New England Southern California 6 will attend colleges and universities in the • 2 U.S. Dept. of Education Presidential Scholar Midwest Finalists 6 will attend colleges and universities in the West • 1 Presidential Scholar at Davidson 1 will attend an international university • 1 National Achievement Branch Banking & Trust 32 will attend public colleges and universities Company Scholarship 71 will attend private colleges and universities • 1 National Achievement Reynolds American Foundation Scholarship GPA range: 4.25 to 2.36 unweighted, on a 4.0 scale The following schools awarded scholarships Mean GPA: 3.54 unweighted (ranging from $5k-$50k) to matriculating students: Davidson College, Duquesne University, Furman University, George Washington University, Guilford Critical Reading: 660 College, Hampden-Sydney College, Howard Math: 665 University, Loyola University-New Orleans, Writing: 659 University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Critical Reading and Math: 1325 (out of 1600) North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Oberlin College, Rhodes Critical Reading, Math and Writing: College, University of South Carolina, Southern 1984 (out of 2400) Methodist University

Distinguished Honors and Programs

Standardized Testing • •

Mean SAT Scores • • • • •

Mean ACT Scores • • • • •

English: 31 Reading: 28 Math: 31 Science: 29 Composite: 30* (out of 36), equal to 1980 (out of 2400) on the SAT

Application and Matriculation Details •

• •

C O M M E N C E M E N T

4 students were recruited to their respective institutions to play varsity sports (D1 and D3) 11 students will enroll at Ivy League institutions 3 students will attend a women’s college (Barnard, 1; Meredith, 2)

The 10 schools that received the most applications from DA: • (41) UNC-Chapel Hill • (37) Duke University • (18) UNC-Wilmington • (14) Elon University • (14) Stanford University • (13) Vanderbilt University • (11) Furman University • (11) NC State University • (11) Northwestern University • (11) Princeton University

E X E R C I S E S

|

The schools yielding the most DA students: • (14) UNC-Chapel Hill • (13) Duke University • (4) Elon University • (3) Furman University • (3) NC State University • (3) UNC-Greensboro • (3) Stanford University One or more members of the Class of 2013 will attend the following institutions: American University, Appalachian State University, Barnard College, Belmont University, Berklee College of Music, Bowdoin College, Brown University, Bucknell University, Carleton College, Chapman University, Columbia University, Cornell University (2), Dartmouth College (2), Davidson College, Duke University (13), Duquesne University, East Carolina University, Elon University (4), Emory University , Franklin and Marshall College, Furman University (3), George Washington University, Guilford College, Hampden-Sydney College, Harvard College (2), Howard University, Loyola University New Orleans, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Meredith College (2), Miami University-Oxford, New York University, North Carolina State University (3), Northeastern University, Oberlin College (2), Pomona College, Princeton University, Rhodes College, Sarah Lawrence College, Southern Methodist University (2), Stanford University (3), Trinity College, University of Cambridge, University of Georgia, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Miami, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (14), University of North Carolina-Greensboro (3), University of North Carolina-Wilmington (2), University of Pennsylvania, University of South Carolina (2), University of Southern California (2), Virginia Polytechnic Institute , Wake Forest University, Washington and Lee University, Washington University in St. Louis (2), Western Carolina University, Yale University

Commencement Awards • • • •

• •

•

•

Valedictorian — Zander Moss Salutatorian — Ashley Jowell Ginny Buckner Memorial Award — Hayley Cartee George Watts Hill Community Service Award — Elizabeth Parry Frank Hawkins Kenan Award — Alex Thompson Elizabeth Adams Old Senior Award — Robin Blazing and Ashley Jowell Scott Jameson Filston Memorial Award — Brandon Regnerus Headmaster’s Award — Amanda Jowell and Zander Moss

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

5

|

S

E

N

I

O

R

S

R

E

F

L

E

C

T

|

Seniors write about their experience at Durham Academy

Some of these members of the Class of 2013 have attended Durham Academy since Preschool, others were only here for their junior and senior year, but Durham Academy has left a mark on all of them. Read what these nine seniors wrote when they were asked to reflect on their Durham Academy experience. Here were some questions to get them thinking: What is the most valuable lesson you learned at DA? What is the strongest memory of DA you’ll take with you? How has DA stretched you or changed you? What teacher or experience has meant the most to you and why? What would you tell a student who was considering attending DA?

W

“ hen I think about Ally Arocha DA, I think of friendship, role models, overcoming challenges and self-realization. As I reflect now on my change over the past seven years here at DA, I cannot begin to express the profound effect that this wonderful community has had on me. Being in a supportive community that is committed to encouraging intellectual curiosity and challenging me fostered the perfect environment for my personal growth. I couldn’t have asked for a better place or a better group of people to be surrounded by during this stage of my life because when I stumbled along the way, I always had someone there for me.

Teachers and staff like Ms. [Liliana] Simón and Ms. [Kemi] Nonez provided me with all of the necessary tools I need to be a successful student, while also emphasizing the importance of having high values and strong morals.

Though leaving DA will be difficult, I am eager to put into practice all the lessons that my mentors here have taught me.”

— Ally Arocha

I

“ arrived at Durham Academy in the fourth grade as a self-conscious introvert. Awkward and shy, I gradually emerged from my shell, embraced in the loving community here. I became a confident, outgoing man — a part of me I never knew existed. Encouraged to pursue what I enjoyed, by senior year I was surprised to find myself an athlete, singer, dancer, teacher, accountant and orator. Durham Academy

6

Ben Salzman

has led me on a path to self-actualization I never could have imagined as a fourth-grader.

DA cultivates individuality in an exemplary community where everyone can do what they love, be who they are, and most importantly, surprise themselves.”

— Ben Salzman

DA

“ is a place that lets different people from diverse cultural backgrounds come together and create. It is really easy for people at DA to take up opportunities to create things together, as there are so many of them around the school. Being involved mostly in the music program at DA, I found that the numerous options that our music director, Michael Meyer, has presented to the school give everyone a chance at creating music. This helped me learn to take any opportunity to play music with other people that I would never have interacted with otherwise. I like to believe that DA has one of the most strongly knit-together music department in any school because we are not just creating music, but friendships and memories that will last for many years.”

— Daniel Holt

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

Daniel Holt

N

Dita “ oticing Sankar my love of words, my third-grade teacher, Mrs. [Erin] Robb, let me make my own vocabulary lists with words like “zeitgeist” and “zestiest.” That individualized Photos by Mary Moore McLean attention is uniquely DA; this year, my French independent study allows me to explore my favorite subject on a one-on-one basis with Mme. [Stephanie] Derfeuil, whom I look up to. Among other extracurriculars, I’ve been able to get involved in the school newspaper and the tennis team alike, even though athletics is one of my weaker points. My supportive peers and standout teachers have given me the confidence to challenge myself in a setting that promotes both academic integrity and risk-taking.”

— Dita Sankar

|

Nick Sullivan

Rodnei Crutchfield

S

E

N

I

O

R

S

R

E

F

L

E

C

T

|

are excited about their respective fields and are overjoyed when students come to them seeking more knowledge past the restrictions of curriculum. In short: if you are curious, DA will feed you.”

— Zander Moss

Zander Moss

I

Alex Thompson

Frances McDonald

T

“ he most valuable concept that I will take away from my four years at Durham Academy is family. Having a strong family history with Durham Academy, my excitement was magnified by my first day of school in the ninth grade. I was nervous about joining what in my eyes was a bigger school, but I was soon welcomed by exceptional students and faculty that I have built lifelong friendships with. From my time here, I leave DA with a newly formed family and through my experience feel as though I am a Durham Academy ‘Lifer.’ ” — Nick Sullivan

DA

“ has been a part of my life for 14 of my 18 years. It is difficult to encapsulate my experience within a few words, but through my time here, I can say that I’ve learned how to live life with intensity. And now that I’m leaving, I

can’t live any other way.

When I reached the Upper School, I created a network of teachers that served me well, but I found that one teacher in particular who became my everything.

He happened to be my advisor, Mr. [Owen] Bryant. He is my mentor, teacher, therapist, comedian, mediator, punching bag, role model and friend. He’s almost like a surrogate dad. I’ll miss him. I hope that future DA students will be able to find their one teacher too.”

— Rodnei Crutchfield

T

“ he most striking aspect of DA is its academic intensity and diversity of educational opportunities. My time here has taught me to seek out information and experience in areas that interest me. DA can certainly be coasted through, but it can also be mined and used as a tool to push yourself to your intellectual limits, expanding them greatly in the process. This aspect of DA (which is not entirely unique to this place, but is extraordinarily rare, especially among secondary schools) is due to the excellent array of teachers working here. Not only are they some of the best available, but most all of them

“ t seems like I have spent my entire life at Durham Academy.

I have only been to one other school — one year of preschool before I was old enough to enroll at DA. After graduation will be the first time in 14 years that I will not be a DA student, and that seems very strange to me. Durham Academy has been a place of challenge, enrichment, but also comfort, since I was 4 years old. One of my favorite parts about our school is the sense of community. We have fewer students in our entire Pre-K through 12th-grade school than most public high schools, but that makes us a family. Everybody knows each other and is friendly to one another. The teachers know each of their students personally, and they genuinely care about their well-being. I have valued the time I have spent as part of the Durham Academy community, and I will cherish the relationships that I formed here.”

— Alex Thompson

W

hen I transferred into Durham Academy “ my junior year, I can honestly say I was not ready for what I was about to encounter. While somewhat surprised by the academic intensity and rigor, I found myself totally caught off-guard by the exceptional outreach of support I received from my teachers and peers. As I became involved in various campus activities, I was never met without a smiling face or encouraging words.

While my two years have gone by quickly, I can honestly say they have thoroughly prepared me for my next four. I cannot thank Durham Academy enough for the education offered, the new friends found and the great memories made.”

— Frances McDonald

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

7

ELIZ ABE T H PARRY ’13 E AR NS GEORGE WAT T S HILL COMMUNI T Y SERV ICE AWARD

‘We have to start with education’

BY MELO DY GU Y TO N BU T T S ,

ABOVE: Elizabeth Parry describes community service, particularly service that involves children and education, as her top priority at Durham Academy. RIGHT: Parry worked closely with Hope Valley Elementary School students through the Augustine Literacy Project.

S

upporters of Durham Academy fine arts will recognize her infectious smile from Upper School drama and music performances, where it has lit up the Kenan Auditorium stage over the past four years. At Hope Valley Elementary School, that same smile has helped illuminate struggling students’ academic potential.

The smile’s wearer, Elizabeth Parry ’13, is most proud of the latter accomplishment.

Despite success in the classroom and on stage, community service has been the hallmark of her final four years at DA, and she was honored with the 2013 George Watts Hill Community Service Award at commencement.

“I’m very passionate about working with children, and I think that to better the world, we have to start with education,” Parry said. “I strongly believe that if we start with education and start with helping children, everything else will just spark from there. That’s why I decided to make education and working with kids my number one priority for my four years of the Upper School.”

8

In announcing Parry as recipient of the award — the school’s highest honor in recognition of community service — Upper School Director Lee Hark described her as “a model member of the Durham Academy community, leading by example through service as she works tirelessly to connect her peers and teachers at Durham Academy with the broader Durham community.”

The Hope Valley Tutoring Club, which provides tutoring and recreational activities for Hope Valley students each Saturday of the school year, likely would have ceased to exist in the 2012-2013 school year if it were not for Parry, Hark said.

“She believed strongly in the mission,” he said. “She recruited her classmates to participate, doing her best to build the close ties between her peers and the children of Hope Valley Elementary School.”

From the first day that she volunteered with the club as a freshman, Parry knew it was

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

an effort worth investment of her time and energy. “I just fell in love with it,” she said.

“I’ve been working with some of the same kids for four years,” she explained. “A lot of the kids are siblings, and sometimes they’re responsible for taking care of their younger brothers and sisters. It’s really nice to give them a place to go for a couple of hours of Saturdays to just be kids.”

In addition, Parry serves as a student leader of SOCK Camp, a free, one-week day camp for elementary schoolers who would not normally have a summer camp experience for financial reasons. Camp counselors are all members of the DA Upper School community.

“Most of the kids wouldn’t have a solid

Melody Guyton Butts

Heather Hille

D I G I TA L CO M MUNI C AT I O N S S PEC IA L I S T

Service to others is at the heart of DA’s mission

he founders of Durham Academy were so committed to educating responsible civic leaders that service was the third leg of their mission statement, along with academics and athletics. Educating the mind and promoting the health of the body had equal billing with development of civic awareness and responsibility. Service remains an integral part of Preschool through Upper School, as various age groups are exposed to community needs through such activities as raising thousands of dollars for the rescue of sea turtles, making 1,000 sandwiches for the homeless or performing in a benefit concert to raise money for a local music nonprofit.

The seeds of awareness of community responsibility and commitment are sown at very young ages, and must be encouraged and nurtured through childhood and adolescence to continue this essential contribution to American society. Encouraging students to identify needs in their community — whether that means their city, their state, their country or the world — and find ways to alleviate the suffering of others offers an opportunity to creatively contribute to making the world a better place, but it also helps to widen the world in which they live without leaving home.

From DA’s earliest days, service has played a prominent role in the mission of the school, and the commitment to service has continued as the school has grown. The Durham County Special

Olympics Spring Games have been hosted by Durham Academy for 28 years, with more than 400 special-needs athletes welcomed to our campus each year. Every Upper School student, teacher and administrator participates in these spring games. Much instruction precedes the actual competition, with freshmen being led through a series of role-plays and “what-ifs” led by Special Olympics student committee members. The day before the games, all Upper School students attend an assembly featuring a short speech by a special needs guest, as well as an overview of what to expect and how to act in sometimes challenging situations by Kristen Randall, Special Olympics coordinator for Durham Parks and Recreation.

DA’s Parents Association provides a strong backbone of service that has helped fund a substantial financial aid program at the school.

Each year, parents organize social events and fundraisers that result in more than $100,000 contributed to the programs of the school.

Unsold books from the Parents Association Used Book Sale are donated to local nonprofits like the Emily K Center — where they are put to use helping highly motivated, low-income students succeed educationally. The lessons of service begin at home for Durham Academy students!

Service events without an accompanying educational arm can become little more than hollow gestures to “do good stuff.” By regularly making awareness a focus of any of these activities, depth is given to the efforts. Whether it is Lower School children making Valentine’s Day cards for shut-ins with the Helping Hand program in Durham while listening to stories of the people who will receive the cards; the background that participants receive as they await the actual meal-packaging at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Stop Hunger Now event; or the video shown at the intermission of a benefit

concert for a school in Africa that depends on our help to provide a safe place for young girls to learn to read and write — each outreach effort is a well-used opportunity to educate students about the community in which they live. They learn about the immense variety of needs that they are capable of meeting, one small step at a time.

Students are exposed to myriad ways to help in hopes that at least one will resonate with each student. In our alumni, we find that this grows into a lifelong interest.

Our society depends heavily on the support and generosity of those with the resources to contribute. The commitment by DA to promote civic education prepares our youth to live in the world they grow up in. “Americans are the most generous contributors to philanthropic causes” — so says Dan Pallotta in a September 2012 Wall Street Journal piece. In fact, Americans give twice as much per capita as the next largest givers, the United Kingdom. Americans’ annual contributions average about $732 for each man, woman and child in this country.

In 2007, the Association of American Colleges and Universities addressed the concerns of inculcating social responsibility in graduates, advocating that civic, ethical and moral development should no longer be optional for college students. Duke University’s DukeEngage is one example of efforts made to strengthen the civic-mindedness of its graduates by financially supporting students’ service-oriented projects.

Student U, a program for public school students which has been closely connected to DA from its inception, has had close ties to DukeEngage.

“Giving back” is not a new idea to America nor to Durham Academy. The generous donation of time, the efforts to increase awareness of the needs of the community and the commitment of those with resources to make this world a better place, make us uniquely who we are.

summer experience [otherwise],” she said. “It’s a great week for them, just to relax and not worry about anything.”

Parry was one of 10 DA students who participated in the Augustine Literacy Project, a phonics-based training program, her senior year. For DA seniors, participation is for course credit, and tutors spend one class period and lunch period at Hope Valley Elementary two to four times a week, working one-on-one with students. Parry chose to spend her Senior Project time intensely tutoring her student

each day for two weeks.

Hope Valley Principal Micah Copeland said he was “so very impressed” with the work of Parry and the other DA tutors.

“This was such a wonderful learning experience for these students and a tremendous addition to the work that is taking place in the classroom,” Copeland said. “I believe that this is a great example of a powerful and effective partnership to serve and support children.”

Fall 2013 will bring a new chapter in

Parry’s life, as she begins her studies at UNCChapel Hill. She is committed to continuing her dedication to service in college, with plans to launch a UNC chapter of the Augustine Project at some point in her time there. She’ll major in English and has set a goal of participating in the Teach for America program, a teacher corps that places college graduates and professionals in low-income communities, after graduation.

No matter which path she chooses, her well-known smile — and the passion and enthusiasm behind it — will take her far.

BY A N N E M C N A M A R A ,

CO M M U N I T Y S E RV I CE D IR EC TO R , U P P E R S CH O O L

T

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

9

Community service — local or global — is a way of life for Cavs B Y M E LO DY G U Y TO N B U T T S , D I G I TA L CO M M U N I C AT I O N S S P E C I A L I S T

T

hrough both grand actions and

everyday gestures, many Durham Academy

Ja son L apidus ’15 Lapidus’ mother, Pia, is a

students go above and beyond school

native of the Philippines, and

community service requirements to enrich the

more than 20 of his extended

world around them. The following students —

family members remain

who have served their communities both close

there. So the archipelago

to home and half a world away — represent

has always been a big part of

only a small sample of those who are making a

his identity. It wasn’t a hard

difference.

sell when Lapidus’ cousin

EL IZ ABE T H E A SON

Sachi, who lives in the island

El iz abe t h E a son ’1 3 Motivated by a desire to provide the DA

nation, suggested that they team up for a program to

community an opportunity to do something

help provide Filipino school

extra during the holiday season, Eason secured

children with nutritious meals

permission to install a “giving tree” — which

during the rainy period when

contained wish-list items of Durham County

the ocean is too treacherous

Special Olympics athletes — on the Upper

for their families to fish for

School campus her junior and senior years.

food. To raise money for the

Students, teachers and faculty provided

effort — which they termed Go

athletes with more than 50 gifts both years. In

Palakas (“Go strong” in the

addition, she earned the Volunteer Center of

Filipino language of Tagalog)

Durham’s Mayor’s Award twice, for her work at

— Lapidus refereed games for

the Habitat ReStore during summer 2011 and

a local youth soccer league

at the Ronald McDonald House of Durham

and worked as a counselor

during summer 2012.

at a DA soccer camp, and a

“My parents have always instilled in me

JA SON L APIDUS

Photos by Melody Guyton Butts

group of donors matched his

that community service and giving back to

earnings. The $1,600 he raised funded meals

better to know that they’re being supported

your community is important. At the end of

at two elementary schools, and he traveled to

and that someone wants to help them out with

the year, as a family, we make a list of all of the

the province of La Unión in summer 2012 to see

the things they’re going through.”

organizations we want to give to and decide

the program in action. He will do so again this

how we can best support them. ... But Durham

summer, and he plans to create a Go Palakas

Academy also does a really good job of teaching

club at DA to help support the program.

us that community service is important. I

“Just to see the smiles on the kids’ faces

C ar t er Owen ’1 8 Community service isn’t necessarily something that Owen and his family do

personally love the community service days

when you give them a soccer ball or a chess

consciously. Rather, it’s integrated into nearly

each year. Not only is it fun advisory bonding,

set — the joy that they get from that is the main

every facet of their lives. His birthday parties

but we’re able to offer these organizations

reason to do something like this. If you can go

have included such service-minded activities

assistance and we learn more about them so

out and help someone in the local community

as sorting donations for Book Harvest. After

that we can go back individually and volunteer

or in different places around the world, it makes

numerous stints of volunteering with Stop

in our spare time.”

you a better person, and it makes them feel

Hunger Now, Owen has become a near

10

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

C AR T ER OW EN

LUC V EL A ZQUE Z

Rica have included time to

with its 2013 Key Volunteer of the Year award in

bring donations of clothing

the youth category, and the Ronald McDonald

and soccer balls to nearby

House named Velazquez its Junior Volunteer of

schools. Owen credits his

the Year.

parents with sowing the seeds of his dedication to

told me about how difficult illness can be for

service, and he suggests

not just patients — but also their families. I really

they’ll bear fruit throughout

believe in what the Ronald McDonald House

his lifetime.

does. It gives families whose kids are in the

“I am especially

hospital a warm, comforting place to stay at a

interested in helping with

really difficult time. Spending time with people

international problems

in worse situations than me is really humbling. ...

because I think that there

Volunteering is an integral part of how I live

are enough people with

my life.”

enough money that we shouldn’t need to have these problems in America. The

A MBIK A V IS WANAT HAN

“My dad, who is a cardiologist, has always

Ambik a Viswanat han ’14 Viswanathan has volunteered with

food problems in Africa —

KidZNotes, a nonprofit that aims to counter the

they don’t have as much

negative effects of poverty via classical orchestra

money as the U.S. does. I

music instruction, since her freshman year,

think in everyone’s job, they

teaching violin lessons to students at Eastway

can do that. No matter what

Elementary School. She spearheaded the creation

I am [professionally] when

of Durham Academy’s KidZNotes Club in the

I get older, I can help the

2012-2013 school year, during which it raised

community.”

more than $2,500 — enough to sponsor one child in the KidZNotes program for one year —

L uc Vel a zque z ’1 3 Velazquez volunteered 303 hours at the Ronald

by helping to organize an In The Pocket benefit concert and a Unicycling Club fundraiser.

“Music is so important to me, and I see how

McDonald House of Durham

these [KidZNotes] kids come from families where

in summer 2012, well above

there’s no way they could have afforded music

the 100 hours required fulfill

lessons otherwise. ... I was always incredibly

the Volunteer Center of

privileged to be able to take music lessons, and to

Durham’s Mayor’s Award

be able to give back, to share that, is important

requirements. He answered

to me. Some of these kids are so talented —

expert at packaging meals for shipment to

phones, helped with other administrative tasks

they’ll go home and practice even more than I do.

Third World countries. Family trips to South

and worked to help RMH families feel welcome

Seeing their progression and what this means to

Africa (his mother, Jenni Owen, directs the

in their home away from home. In recognition

them has motivated me to be a better musician

DukeEngage South Africa program) and Costa

of his service, the Volunteer Center honored him

and to set a good example for them.”

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

11

‘It's OK to fail’ ... AND OT HER LE SSONS LE AR NED IN T WO BROT HER S’ QUE S T TO CLE AN UP INDIA’S DRINK ING WAT ER B Y Z AC H A R Y H U N T E R ’19 A N D A I DA N H U N T E R ’ 22

W

hen Zachary Hunter '19 approached Durham Academy Middle School Director Jon Meredith with a plan to spend a yearlong academic sabbatical traveling around the world with his family, including brother Aidan Hunter '22, and distributing water filters to Indian families, he found Meredith to be warm to the idea.

The experience would surely afford learning opportunities that couldn't be replicated in a classroom, Zachary recalled him advising.

So Zachary and Aidan set out on a six-continent journey with their parents, Justin and Lenora Hunter, with a belief that the world is an enormous classroom. Four months of the adventure were spent in India, where the brothers are distributing hundreds of water filters to families in need through Aztech Labs, a small nonprofit that they created. The brothers share a few lessons that they learned through the experience below.

Lesson 1: Most people in India drink unsafe water.

When we were delivering water filters to our first village, we met a kid who was about our age who had white spots on his face that were caused by worms in his drinking water. He told us that the worms sometimes hurt his stomach so badly that he couldn’t go to school. Over 650 million people in India, or more than one in two, have similar problems because they only have access to unsafe drinking water. In the United States, we take a lot of things for granted — like not getting sick from the water we drink or the food we eat, and being able to take warm showers. In many places in the world, people don’t have these luxuries.

Lesson 2: When facing a daunting job, you just have to get started.

We wanted to make a difference by providing 1,000 families in India with water filters. Before we could do that, there was a huge amount of stuff that we needed to do. Trying to do everything at once would have been overwhelming, so we broke our tasks into three categories and did a little each day. We worked on a lot of different tasks spanning the categories of funding, filters and distribution. Thanks to completing all of those things, we now have a solid foundation that will allow us to keep providing water filters to needy families for years to come.

Lesson 3: When creating a fundraising campaign, make it fun and interesting enough that newspapers will write about it.

When we were first getting started, we created a simple website at www.aztechlabs.org and asked friends and family to contribute. That 12

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

strategy only raised a modest amount of money. To raise more funds, we realized we needed publicity, so we thought up a fundraising ABOVE: Biosand water filters do a terrific job campaign based on the UNC of filtering impurities from water. TOP LEFT: vs. Duke basketball rivalry.

Zachary and Aidan Hunter created a nonprofit, That idea was a turning point Aztech Labs, with a goal of raising enough money for us. During our contest, to install 1,000 water filters in India. BOTTOM we contacted four local LEFT: Biosand water filters, which can be purchased newspapers, hoping at least for as little as $25, typically last 25 to 30 years. one would be willing to write an article. Instead, we got immediate responses from three newspapers that all ran the story. We have pursued a handful of different fundraising initiatives including a campaign on indiegogo. The most fun and interesting of those, the Duke vs. UNC contest, has been responsible for most of the money we have raised so far.

We plan on doing it again next year.

Lesson 4: $30 can make a big difference.

In America, people can easily spend $30 on two pizzas. Spent thoughtfully, that same amount of money could buy a water filter that would provide safe water to an entire family for 25 to 30 years. We researched numerous types of water filters before finally selecting the bio sand filter (BSF) to distribute to needy families. We chose the BSF model to distribute instead of other types of water filters because it is effective, very durable and costs only $30 per filter. Its ingenious design removes almost all pathogens (a fancy-sounding word that means germs), all worms and other solids from unsafe water. Not only that, but the BSF is extremely simple to use, works without any electricity or chemicals and is easy to maintain. The $30 cost per filter even includes the cost of hiring a local trainer for a year from the village who is responsible for teaching the other villagers how to clean and take care of their filters. Because of the inexpensive cost of BSFs, we’ve been able to afford to provide hundreds of families with clean water for decades to come.

Lesson 5: It’s OK to fail.

We intentionally set an ambitious goal for 2013 to install filters into 1,000 houses (or about 10 villages consisting of 100 families each). To do this requires $30,000. Six months into 2013, we have raised about $10,000.

While this is enough money to provide filters to 330 families, this amount puts us behind schedule, and it is looking like we might not meet our goal within this year. But that’s OK, because we know we’re trying our hardest and we’ll still have helped hundreds of families get clean water for the next 25 years. We would rather fail to achieve a really ambitious goal than successfully achieve an easy goal. The year is not over yet.

If you are interested in learning more and/or making a donation to support our efforts, please visit our website at www.aztechlabs.org.

Kathy McPherson

PAREN T S A SSOCIAT ION NAME S US CONF ERENCE ROOM F OR OU TGOING HE ADMA S T ER

enrollment and a sound, long-term financial plan; and, most visibly, the marked and necessary improvements to all three campuses that have allowed the educational program to grow and flourish.”

Money raised for the Edward R. Costello Financial Aid Endowment Fund count as part of the endowment goal under The Evergreen Campaign, a comprehensive campaign to fund the new Learning Commons and Kirby Gym at the Upper School, as well as grow the endowment and annual fund. When DA’s summer magazine went to press, the campaign stood at $8.6 million raised, or 95 percent of its $9 million goal.

Parents Association also chose to recognize Ed Costello by naming the conference room in the new Upper School Learning Commons in his honor. Parents Association is a leadership donor to The Evergreen Campaign, committing $500,000 to the campaign, including making the very first gift to the campaign in 2008.

On hand to make the announcement at the Parents Council yearend luncheon were Elizabeth Aldridge, Parents Association president, as well as all of the past Parents Association presidents who were instrumental in making the campaign gifts and selecting the naming opportunity.

“It is a fitting tribute to name the conference room for Ed, because it honors the countless hours Ed spent in meetings making important decisions to run our school so very well,” Aldridge said. “On behalf of Parents Association, we are thrilled to recognize Ed for his terrific leadership.”

Financial aid endowment fund honors Ed Costello B Y L E S L I E H O L D S W O R T H, D I R E C TO R O F D E V E LO PM E N T

Photos by Melody Guyton Butts

O

utgoing Headmaster Ed Costello will be remembered for his 14 years of leadership at Durham Academy in several meaningful and permanent ways.

This spring, the board of trustees led an initiative to establish an endowment fund in Ed’s honor to support DA’s financial aid program.

The fund, totaling more than $103,000 in donations from more than 50 current and former trustees and members of the school’s administrative team, was a surprise to Ed and was revealed to him at the trustees’ annual year-end reception. Board Chair David Beischer ’85 made the announcement during a special ceremony to thank Ed. “Without a doubt, Durham Academy has enjoyed a period of tremendous progress and stability that most of our peer schools would envy, thanks in large part to Ed’s selfless service and sound leadership,” Beischer said. “We can be grateful to Ed for many key accomplishments: that during his tenure DA’s academic reputation has only grown stronger; that we have become home to the most diverse independent school student body in the Southeast; that Ed and the school directors have recruited and retained an outstanding faculty who are committed to the school’s mission; that financially the school has never been stronger or more stable with record

ABOVE: Current and former presidents of Parents Association were on hand May 16 to announce that Parents Association was naming the Upper School conference room in honor of outgoing headmaster Ed Costello.

LEFT: Costello also was honored at a school-wide ice cream social on May 29. Among those attending was his daughter, Anna Bland Costello ’07.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

13

Finding inspiration in faces from the past

BY MICHAEL ULKU-S TEINER, HE AD OF SCHOOL

EDITOR’S NOTE: In his “Five Questions” video interview for Durham Academy’s January News & Notes e-newsletter, Michael Ulku-Steiner offered a quick view of the photographs near his desk at The American School in Switzerland (TASIS). We asked Michael to share a bit more about those photographs and the stories behind a couple of them.

I

often talk to dead people.

Though I was raised in New Mexico (known for its crystal-worshippers, hallucinogenic cactuschewers and Ouija board users), I don’t believe in ghosts in the conventional sense. I do, however, believe deeply in the power of memory, ancestral wisdom and the inspiration provided by our elders.

On and around my desk are photographs of people who matter to me. Some are living, some are dead. All of them stare or smile back at me, reminding me that the raging rapids of today are a tiny part of a much longer river of time. The dead people keep me honest. They remind me that my blessings come not from me but rather from all those who came before me. Like biography and fiction, these photographs help me feel both humbled and potent, insignificant and inspired. As Tryon Edwards put it, “We should be as careful of the books we read as of the company we keep. The dead very often have more power than the living.”

Among my inspirational conversation partners is Dr. Robert Kirkpatrick.

Tall and bald, with bright blue eyes and a nose like an eagle’s beak, Dr. Kirkpatrick taught the first college class I ever took. I had just turned 18.

Within minutes of beginning the class, he leaned back in his chair — I can still remember his bow tie and seersucker suit — and recited, from memory, without stumbling over even a syllable, about 80 lines of a Yeats poem. His giant knuckles kept time on the wooden table, his eyes closed and head tipped back as if drinking from a fountain on the ceiling. It was strange and beautiful and impressive and really really weird to watch. But riveting — and clearly a sign that this man had wisdom to offer.

I soon decided to take any course he taught, for Dr. Kirkpatrick seemed to know everything.

But he was also wonderfully down to earth. A native South Carolinian and a gourmet cook, Dr. 14

K. taught me how to barbecue ribs on the grill. At one point years ago, he wanted to lose a little weight. Rather than exercise or eat fruit and rice cakes all day, he invented a variation on the Atkins diet that consisted entirely of water and potato chips. He was one of a kind. His classes were more like worship than academics — he was singing out praise to language and music and truth and beauty. He was probably the most influential force in my choice to become a teacher.

As was fitting in Dr. K’s serendipitous swirl of the universe, I had the good fortune to serve as the advisor for his daughter Mela during the last four of her years at Durham Academy. Mela, too, is now an English teacher — one of the thousands of students taught by her father just how broad and surprising and delightful the world could be.

Near the face of Dr. Kirkpatrick is a photograph of Mrs. Fleming. For newcomers to its Lugano campus, TASIS Founder M. Crist Fleming might seem a distant and dusty figure — peering down from her portrait in the library, her name carved into plaques around campus, her stories floating between the smiles of the older faculty.

In fact, Mrs. Fleming was probably the most vigorous, radiant and truly alive person I’ve ever encountered. I first met her on her 90th birthday.

She used to say, “If and when I die ... ” And we all used to believe her.

Mrs. Fleming was like a hurricane of enthusiasm, curiosity and love. At 98 she was still telling dirty jokes with a mischievous glint in her eye. At 68 she had the energy of a teenager, sweeping young teachers and students up and into the whirlwind of her dream and founding schools in Greece and England and Cyprus and France.

Mrs. Fleming loved parties and road trips and picnics and interesting strangers. She wore bright red lipstick, big gold earrings, wrists full of jingling bracelets. She was graceful and cultured and diplomatic, but never shy, always opinionated and endlessly fun to be around.

She was as lively, engaging and generous with ambassadors and princes as she was with cleaning ladies and maintenance men. How sweet and fitting that the personale at TASIS — who labored through the decades in the kitchen and the laundry, cleaning bathrooms and mowing lawns — chose to march in procession behind the casket at her funeral, a last tribute to their queen.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: Michael UlkuSteiner’s grandfather with Roberto Clemente • 13-yearold Michael with John Wooden • Dr. Robert Kirkpatrick with young daughter Mela and son Robert • Albuquerque priest Father Jose Rodriguez • TASIS founder M. Crist Fleming • Jimmy Leonardi

I’ve always loved this idea of Albert Einstein’s: “A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving.”

Scattered around the images of Dr. Kirkpatrick and Mrs. Fleming are two dozen photographs, each with a distinct and compelling personality behind it: my former ninth-grade DA student and inspirational writer Jimmy Leonardi, Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi, my grandfather with Roberto Clemente, my 13-year-old self with John Wooden, Albuquerque priest Father Jose Rodriguez, DA parent Doug Marlette. Their faces sit beside those of my wife, children, parents, colleagues and friends. They remind me daily that “I must exert myself” to give as much as I receive.

What sort of leader will Michael Ulku-Steiner be?

Here’s what his TASIS colleagues said about him EDITOR’S NOTE: These comments were taken verbatim from a tribute book created by The American School in Switzerland (TASIS) as a parting gift for Michael UlkuSteiner, who served as dean of students 2000 to 2003 and headmaster 2008 to 2013. They provide a preview of the type of leader, administrator and person Durham Academy is getting in its new head of school.

“I admired your brilliance and your perseverance, appreciated your sense of humor and your open style of communication (which was a huge help), — and last but not least was touched by your kindness and continuous patience.”

— Susi Nussbaum, assistant to the headmaster “No task is beneath you and your work ethic is unsurpassed, which makes it a delight to work for and with you. You approach your job with passion, your stories and toasts are unparalleled, you are kind in your responses to our idiosyncrasies, and you temper the many whims and personalities of TASIS with incredible grace. Mostly, you are just good at your core and that makes this community a better place.”

— Arrington McCoy, faculty and dorm parent “Some headmasters are leaders and some managers. Michael is the exception in succeeding in both of these roles while maintaining his sense of humor and his ability to be a fun sports buddy and a happy family man. His will be a difficult act to follow.”

— Paul Greenwood, 35 years on the TASIS faculty “Michael embodies what it means to be a good leader. He leads with integrity, empathy, and a strong moral compass. He leads by example, incorporating his ideals in everything he does. This generates respect from all those who work with him. … He expects great things and motivates people to be the best that they can be.”

— Jennifer Broggini, parent and board of directors “In innumerable ways — your earnest effort to learn each student’s name, your tenacious commitment to equity and fairness, your sincere dedication to service, and so many other ways, you exemplify

what it means to be not just an educator, but a member of this community. It has been an honor and a delight to work alongside you, and it has been an inspiration to learn from your example.”

— Courtenay Mastain, faculty and dorm parent “He actively looks for genuine opportunities to interact with people and establish sincere connections.”

— Jennifer Blum, faculty and administrator “Michael is one of the calmest administrators I have known. I’ve never seen him lose his temper.

He is 15 years younger than I am, but I have still relied upon him as a mentor. One of his greatest strengths is the number of tasks he is able to accomplish in a limited amount of time. Many have marveled at this ability.”

— Nyman Brooks, head of TASIS elementary school “Michael is the kind of person who always finds the time to answer your requests. He makes everyone feel like he or she is the most important person in the world at that moment. He never failed to tell us that each one of us is an important member of the TASIS family. … And as I wonder about what lies ahead, I will think back to his wise words, words that I repeat to myself always in times of stress, ‘It will all work out!’”

— Francesca Mueller, administrator with 20 years experience at TASIS “Michael is an all-around Superstar at school administration. His energy is always apparent, always positive, always inspiring. He embraces major projects one after the other, and brings everyone in on them. Big things get done.”

— Rick Bell, TASIS alumnus ’65, parent and board of directors “Michael lives his role as Headmaster with youthful gravitas and wise vision. Regardless of the topic, he remains open-minded and focused, intent on understanding the issue at hand. He unabashedly motivates stakeholders to take responsibility. I particularly enjoy his wickedly compassionate sense of humor and his pragmatic temperament steeped in humanism. Michael’s superb communications skills and penchant for transparency have opened doors and paved ways.”

— Alexandra Heumann Wicki, TASIS alumna ’80 and board of directors “When asked to describe you I have always said you were the best communicator I have ever

experienced, oral or written. Your storytelling is unique and ever so visual.”

“Whether for the Board or for any other part of the TASIS community your ability to present all sides of a case in order for you and those concerned to be able clearly to understand and therefore agree on the best decision has proven its value time and time again.”

— Jan Opsahl, TASIS alumnus ’68 and board of directors “Perhaps most impressive about your achievements is that you always give credit to others. Your management style is collaborative, inclusive, and consensusbuilding, thus creating a team spirit which brings out the best in your colleagues. However, you do not shy away from taking a stand in the School’s interest, even if it may be considered controversial by some segments of the community. You lead by example and are personally connected with the students.

How you are able to memorize the names of all the students in the HS/MS in the first two weeks of the school year is remarkable. Your class visits and feedback to teachers are legendary. You are an educator in every good sense of the word. Your natural instincts and moral values drive your decision making.

Above all, you have the ability to raise the bar and set expectations which everyone wants to meet. That is the ultimate test of an effective leader.”

— Fernando Gonzalez, former faculty and administrator, currently on the board of directors for TASIS and the TASIS Foundation “Michael has preached and taught us the value of transparency. When facts are shared with all stakeholders, better outcomes are almost a certainty, for the result is increased input of potentially good ideas, improved understanding of the nature of both the problems and opportunities we face, and eventually more ‘buy-in’ to decisions ultimately reached. Moreover, it is Michael’s very nature to share credit. I am always struck that in his public utterances, spoken and written, he goes out of his way to compliment others and acknowledge their contributions. His personal modesty and generous spirit, plus a notably judicious and thoughtful temperament, contribute not a little to his success in team-building. At the same time, Michael does not fear to confront promptly, fearlessly, fairly, and directly issues of both policy and personnel when problems arise in the community. But he can always be counted on to do this in a professional manner with superb interpersonal skills.’”

— Berkley Latimer, former TASIS administrator and board of directors

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

15

16

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

Durham Ac ademy:

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

The Durham Academy Upper School hosted the Durham County Special Olympics Spring Games for the 28th year on April 26, welcoming more than 400 Special Olympics athletes with open arms, high fives and cheers of encouragement. The Upper School cancels classes each year for the event so that every student and teacher can volunteer. Responsibilities range from planning DA’s efforts weeks in advance to serving as athlete “buddies” and managing individual events.

Photos by Melody Guyton Butts, Kathy McPherson and Julia Wall

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

17

Want to know what happened to the Lost Colony?

Ask a DA fourth-grader!

B Y M I C H E L L E RO S E N ,

Photos by Kathy McPherson

LO W E R S C H O O L L I B R A R I A N

More than 400 years ago, an Englishman named John White sailed to the coast of North Carolina to rejoin a colony he had established three years earlier. The days at sea seemed infinite, for he knew the group, which included his daughter and newborn granddaughter, were in great need of the supplies he carried aboard…

As I begin the story, the eyes of the fourth-grade students widen with excitement.

They lean forward just a little to hear what comes next.

White finally reached the outer islands of North Carolina, where he decided to stay the night. He looked across the water towards Roanoke, relieved when he noticed evidence of life — smoke from cooking fires rising from the trees. Tomorrow he would be reunited with family and friends! But when White finally came ashore at Roanoke Island, the colony had vanished — people, houses, everything. The only clues were the letters CRO carved into a tree and the word CROATOAN carved on the post…

18

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

The students inch closer to me. Their eyes are even wider than before.

Desperate to find his family, White sailed to the nearby Croatoan Indians. But the area known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic was not kind to his ship. Stormy waters and strong winds turned his ship back towards England. For the rest of his life he would agonize over the fate of the 116 colonists he had left behind.

happened to the colonists. You have to prove, with credible research, what no one else has: what happened to those 116 people who disappeared in 1587?”

After the shock wears off, the students are ready to go! It’s on to the computer lab to get direction from Michele Gutierrez, Lower School technology coordinator.

“We started the unit learning to evaluate online information and resources,” Gutierrez said. “Students looked at websites to evaluate Silence … the fourth-graders are not sure what to think. They stare at each other and slowly the credibility of the information being presented.

Evaluating the author, URL (Web address), source of information and the date of publication are all steps the students have learned to take when looking for resources online.”

Gutierrez also addresses the impact of social media on finding valid information. Although fourth-grade students are not using Twitter and Facebook yet, they have to evaluate information that is sent to them in the form of emails from their friends. “Students need to understand that even when information is shared by friends, it can be incorrect,” Gutierrez said.

“They need strategies to determine what information is appropriate to use.”

After several classes of computer instruction, students LEFT TO RIGHT: Lower School librarian Michelle Rosen worked with were ready to begin the actual fourth-graders Anna Catherine Wilson, left, and Julia Kelley to edit their research papers. • Students did research and developed their own theory of what happened research. First, they had to figure out what evidence would convince to the Lost Colony. • Rosen helped Cecile Meredith hold a measuring tape so them a certain theory was true, and students could visualize the size of the colonists’ ship. then they had to find that evidence on the Internet. This process required a bit of a begin to speak. “Did anyone find them?” “Did paradigm shift for our fourth-graders, who had anyone besides John White ever look for them?” only been accustomed to taking notes from a “They had to have found them … people don’t secondary source (such as an encyclopedia) and just disappear!” writing a report. Now they had to prove their These questions spark a long discussion of theory with evidence. the various theories that have evolved as to the After hours of investigation, fourth-grader fate of the colonists. These include going to live with the Croatoan Indians, drowning at sea in an Reece Bradford decided that the most likely theory was that the colonists went to live with the attempt to sail back to England, moving on to Croatoan Indians. He said what convinced him their original destination of the Chesapeake Bay was an article he found about a recent excavation or dying at the hands of the Spanish or enemy at Croatoan. “They found an arrowhead and Indian tribes.

The real excitement comes, however, when I pottery pieces, and these would be things that both the English and Indians would have used. announce their assignment: There was also a gold ring found that belonged to “You have to scour the Internet to find what actually one of the men who traveled to Roanoke.”

Isabella King and Caroline Aldridge believe that the Spanish killed the colonists. When they set out looking for evidence they decided to search for Spanish voyages to the New World. “We were looking for when the Spanish sailed and we saw that they sailed at about the time the colonists were settling at Roanoke,” said the girls. “Because they had fought a war against each other, we assumed they were still rivals and that the Spanish would have wanted to take the English supplies.”

Jack Preble believes yet another theory — that the English were lost at sea making their way to the Croatoan Indians. “North Carolina is known for its shoals and stormy weather, and it’s the Graveyard of the Atlantic. I just thought they couldn’t have gotten out of there alive. Then I found proof of a hurricane that hit Roanoke in 1588.”

Abby Goldman agrees with the lost-at-sea theory, but she believes they were lost in the Atlantic Ocean on their way back to England.

“They were having such a hard life, they would have wanted to go home, not somewhere else in the New World,” she said.

At the conclusion of the two-month-long project, more than half of the grade said they believed that the colonists went to live with the nearby Croatoan Indians. Becoming lost at sea was the second most popular theory, while a handful of students said they believed the colonists had fled farther inland for better protection. The least popular theory was that the colonists died at the hands of enemy Indians or the Spanish.

Upon hearing the theories and evidence, Lower School Director Carolyn Ronco applauded the students for their investigative prowess. She added that the Lost Colony project should go far in developing strategic information literacy skills.

“This research is just the type of challenge our fourth-graders need,” she said. “In a technology-saturated world, there is most often a wide variety of information for children to use.

The essence is in analyzing the information and reading it critically. The fourth-grade Lost Colony project is highly motivating and gives children an authentic venue for learning about reliable sources, synthesizing information and presenting it in a logical and interesting way.”

While the Lost Colony officially remains the state’s oldest mystery, I think our fourth-graders would say that it can now be put to rest. They’ve done the research and found the answer. Case closed.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

19

Tactics, strategies, attacks, gambits and decoys

BY CR AIG JONE S,

“In chess the most unbelievable thing for me is that it’s a game for everybody: rich, poor, girl, boy, old, young. It’s a fantastic game which can unite people and generations! It’s a language which you’ll find people ‘speak’ in every country. If you reach a certain level you find a very rich world! Art, sport, logic, psychology, a battlefield, imagination, creativity…”

— J udit Po lg ar o f Po lan d, N o. 1 rank e d f e m al e p la ye r o f all t im e

I

love chess and always have. I assume that anyone I share it with will, in one way or another, enjoy it as well. Most children can learn the basics in a couple hours (or faster) and be able to play a reasonable game and go from there as they may. Kids don’t really think of how difficult chess is, they just play and learn and give it a try. The idea that it’s difficult, and too daunting a task to try, is an alien concept that only seems to infect us at a much later age in life. Chess is wonderful in so many ways but it’s also harsh, and that’s okay. Playing a great game and winning at whatever level you are feels great. Losing, at times, can be a very unpleasant experience, and learning to deal with that in a healthy, smart way is a very valuable skill to acquire in life.

Regular, organized chess classes at Durham Academy were scheduled to begin on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003. Several one-day chess classes had been held on Saturdays in fall 2002 for DA Middle Schoolers through a parent coordinator.

Durham Academy had no chess culture, nor did the surrounding community, so I expected interest to be modest (15 kids, I was guessing), and so I scheduled chess classes for one day per week in the Lower School.

A couple days after placing fliers for the chess class in Lower School teachers’ mailboxes, I received a call from Durham Academy. It was Beth Crawford, Lower School secretary, and she said something along the lines of “Mr. Jones, you must have 80 children signed up for your chess classes. What do you intend to do?” The 20

Photos by Kathy McPherson

D U R H A M AC A D E M Y C H E S S COAC H

ABOVE: Craig Jones, DA chess coach, explains a move to a Preschooler who participates in the after-school chess instruction.

DA chess community was born on the spot. It’s hard to not feel wonderful about a place that so welcomes that which you most cherish. Chess and its great reputation were already at DA; it just needed a facilitator to bring it to life.

What so impressed me about Durham Academy from day one was how much the teachers care for the children and how hard they try to find a special something in each child and encourage that part to flourish. I saw immediately that chess could be one of those things! Chess could be something many children could flourish in and make it easier to find something each child can excel in outside of their normal academic expectations. That was my goal from early on, and I think it has been achieved with fantastic success. Chess is different for almost each person who participates, and, for many, that participation remains social and casual but nonetheless important. Chess creates a milieu where one can feel and experience many different things, and this experience is greatly beneficial in many ways.

Chess at DA is mostly concentrated among its youngest students. In a given year, about 60 to 65 percent of all kindergarteners will give chess a try. Since I have been at DA, about 375 kindergarteners have learned to play chess.

When they are this young, chess is an adventure.

They learn quickly but tire easily, not realizing the great effort they are putting forth. At this age chess is all concrete. Two plus two always equals four. The abstract side of chess remains hidden.

Situations where time is more valuable than

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

material or one type of material, which normally is of more value is of less value, doesn’t exist yet. It’s fun watching a child first get a glimpse, perhaps unwittingly, of this future they may one day understand.

Chess is taught by rules — seemingly endless rules — which players have developed for hundreds of years simply as an attempt to steer us through the enormous complexity that is beyond our grasp. Mastering the rules gets you to a pretty high level; learning the exceptions and how to break them takes you to a much higher level. Questioning the very rules and successfully implementing your questioning takes you to a world-class level. But before all that, you probably should get on to first grade!

Chess for young children is perfect. You can develop and grow and learn and improve with relatively minimal effort and time expenditure.

Since it’s all so new, the learning curve, relatively speaking, is good. With interest, some practice, good coaching and an opportunity to compete, the chances of success are reasonable for young kids. With above-average time spent practicing and extra training/lessons, kids can really excel if they find this is something that appeals to them.

Chess early on at the elementary level is about forming good habits, what works and what doesn’t work at a basic level and learning to pay attention to simple details. I am constantly reminding the kids that the more effort you put into something, the more you will enjoy it. The journey of chess is best if you feel passionate about it. Developing passion in others, if that

can be done, is always a work in progress. I try to inspire mostly by showing how important and fun chess is to me. If I love it, others who are around me have a better chance of becoming passionate about it as well.

One needs to also be curious, and this is best done by presenting chess as a problem to be solved. Chess is such that many different types of problems can exist. You develop trial-and-error skills, tinkering, exploring and sometimes just brute force, and learn when each of these is best.

Dedication is the final ingredient in the development of passion. This applies to most things I believe; this dedication can be externally

presented and required, but has to be internally accepted. Otherwise, it qualifies as routine and not passion!

Each year a child ages, his or her ability to learn increases. It seems that the first gigantic leap is from kindergarten to first grade, and even though the development is still growing each day, the rate of growth slows somewhat on average after this. This, in a way, makes learning and playing chess even more convenient for the under-12 set. You feel internally like you are doing great and you are, because the breadth and depth of knowledge seems unrecognizable and abstract, and any increase feels like progress.

By the time puberty kicks in, the intellectual curve sharpens yet again and the ability and potential to learn becomes enormous. Around age 12 to 14, the young chess player can develop very fast and, as appealing as this sounds, it actually has practical downsides. If you are learning quickly, then you get to your ceiling of knowledge and ability much faster than you did when you were 7 or 8. This fuels the need for more and more time

to be spent, because you now have the equipment (more brain power!) to keep developing. You can get to the next level faster than before, but now to get to the next level requires more and more effort and time and dedication coupled with a time in your life when time becomes less and less.

Durham Academy’s No. 1-ranked player of all time is Connor Labean ’10. He had the very unique situation of learning chess as a rising eighth-grader during a DA summer chess camp in June 2005. Labean would break our all-time record less than three years later as a 10th grader, showing he was a talented player who combined his “perfect age for fastest improving” and spent the required time needed to get there.

Above all the great successes we have in competitions, I wish that the students of Durham Academy take with them the lifelong ability to appreciate, communicate and express themselves in the chess sense of logic and data-driven solutions. The level of calculation required, the organization of thought, the vast information pool to draw from and the frustrating search for truth — which we never find while playing — all are priceless memories and also intellectual advantages to take with you.

LEFT: Craig Jones, Veronica Quiett and Maya Dolan wait to see what play Maddie Moore will make in the Lower School’s after-school girls-only chess club.

DA CHESS THROUGH THE YEARS • DA competed at Spring Nationals in 2003 with nine players and only five weeks of chess classes under their belts. Eight had never played in a single chess tournament!

• The following November, 51 DA students played in a chess tournament at Davis Drive Elementary School in Cary, marking the beginning of large numbers of DA chess players competing. Forty-two of those 51 kids had never played in a single event!

• About 175 DA kindergarteners have played at least one rated game of chess since 2003. Three of the four highest-rated kindergarten players of all time were in this year’s class: Wolf Martin, Luis Pastor-Valverde and Tyler Barritt.

• Rising third-grader Pete Crowley’s successes are many. He is a former national champ and had back-to-back, perfect 7-0 state

championship performances. He was the highest-rated first-grader, by a wide margin, in North Carolina history. His record stands nearly 200 points above the second-highestrated N.C. player ever.

• Chess Coach Craig Jones is a longtime friend and mentor to current U.S. No. 1 and top-10-ranked player in the world Hikaru Nakamura. He spent nearly the entire 2006 Spring Nationals in the DA team room hanging out, commenting on games and conversing with parents and players. Nakamura would later make three visits to DA. • Getting girls to participate more is a problem everywhere — the same low percentages at DA exist worldwide, and girls’ participation needs to be higher. The highest rated Lower School chess player of all time was Natahja Graddy. She moved to Florida, but in her two-and-a-half years here she left a permanent mark on Durham Academy chess.

• DA chess first competed as a team at the state level in 2004, and the best team result was fourth place. DA won four state team titles in 2005 and has won 28 team titles from 2005 to 2013. No other school is remotely close.

DA’s K-1 team has competed 19 times, taking first place 18 times and finishing second the only time it didn’t win at states.

• DA has won three national team titles.

• Matthew Novak ’12 was 2006 National K-9 Under Champion.

• Indira Puri ’12 was the 2011 National All Girls Champion and a three-time state all girls champion.

• Rising sixth-grader Christopher Chaves has played more rated chess games than any player in DA history. He is the 2013 N.C. State K-5 Champion and the youngest DA student by far to ever cross the 1500 rating mark.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

21

Journey through China was a trip to remember

BY CO L L E T T E PAT EL ’15 A ND EL IZ A BE T H H A L L ’15

F

ive minutes during an Upper School morning meeting isn’t really enough time to talk about anything, especially a two-week trip to China. So, we figured we could write about all our adventures here so that our classmates and the rest of the Durham Academy community could read it if they wish.

Our first stop was Beijing, and after a long, 15-hour flight, we finally arrived!

There we went to the Great Wall (which we got to toboggan down — no big deal), the Temple of Heaven, a kung fu show, the Bird's Nest and Water Cube (the 2008 Olympic stadiums) and the Forbidden Temple. But that’s not all! We visited a park where tons of people were playing hacky sack, doing gymnastic-esque activities and practicing Tai chi. There, we were taught by a Tai chi master and learned (or tried to learn) the basics.

22

ABOVE: Durham Academy students gather in a Shanghai shopping square outside a popular dumpling restaurant.

TOP LEFT: Students and teacher Joanne Shang pose for a group photo outside the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

TOP RIGHT: Scott Carsanaro ’16, Charlie Berman ’16 and Collette Patel ’15 pet llamas on Guilin Market Street in rural China.

Another major activity we did was shopping (xuě pīn!) in markets. Now, this may seem like a normal kind of thing here in the states, but in many of the markets in China, we got to haggle — which was an experience in and of itself. Want a pair of Beats, Jimmy Choos, Ray Bans or a pair of Tory Burch shoes? You could haggle the price (in Chinese) to get as much as 90 percent off. As a group, we turned this into a sort of game to see how little of a price we could get (Collette won with a 95 percent discount). Not only did we get to do all of these amazing things, but we were

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

also treated like celebrities. Some people would grab us to make sure that we were in a picture with them (or throw their kids at us), and others would pretend to take pictures of monuments when they were really taking pictures of themselves with us (sneaky, sneaky). However, when we offered to pose for a picture, they would proceed to “fangirl” ... this was by far our favorite reaction.

Our next stop was Shanghai, where we got to watch a tea ceremony, visit the Pearl Tower, see a silk factory in action, visit continued on page 24

TOP LEFT: Students flash peace signs along the Great Wall in Beijing. BOTTOM LEFT: Students take in the sights of the Forbidden City. TOP RIGHT: Collette Patel ’15, Scott Carsanaro ’16, Christy Cutshaw ’17, Lucy Wollman ’15 and Elizabeth Hall ’15 took a cooking class. BOTTOM RIGHT: Students show off their green umbrellas in a Shanghai “water town.”

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

23

Our Trip to China, continued from previous page Tongli (think Venice, China edition), sing at a karaoke club, get massages and visit the Jade Buddha Temple (which was right next to an Apple store, so we saw a lot of monks on iPhones). The Pearl Tower has a floor made of glass that allows you to look down about 90 meters. (For those of you who don’t work in meters, that’s about 300 feet).

Another place we visited was Yangshuo, a more rural area famous for its natural limestone formations and beautiful scenery that we enjoyed while bamboo-rafting (they let us paddle for few minutes!) down a river. There, we got to visit a farmer’s house, pet llamas and hold falcons, shop at local markets and visit a local school. Visiting the school was amazing; getting to see the differences and similarities between our school and theirs was fascinating. Also, they were super friendly and we got to hang out with them during their free time, playing ping pong, badminton, volleyball and jumping rope.

We also had a sing-off, which was pretty cool because they were able to recognize some of our songs and us theirs.

Our next and final stop was Hong Kong. For many people, whether or not Hong Kong is part of China is a little confusing. Yes, Hong Kong is part of China technically, but Hong Kong sort of does its own thing. For example, it has its own currency, and you have to use your passport to get into Hong Kong from anywhere else, even China. In Hong Kong, we experienced the different types of transportation, such as the famous Star Ferry, doubledecker bus, tram and subway. One night, the skyline on both sides of the harbor presented the “Symphony of Lights” — a laser show with music. We also got to see the zoo and visit Victoria Peak, which gives the famous panoramic view over practically CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Students took a tai chi lesson at an exercise park outside the Temple of Heaven. • The group visited a water park in Hong Kong. • Collette Patel ’15, Lucy Wollman ’15 and Elizabeth Hall ’15 pause for a photo outside a farmer’s house in Guilin. • Christy Cutshaw ’17 holds a falcon on Guilin Market Street. • Collette Patel ’15 jumps rope with a local student in Guilin. • Olivia Hall ’17 smiles for a photo at a school in Guilin. • Elizabeth Hall ’15 described this Shanghai “water town” as China’s version of Venice.

24

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

all of Hong Kong. Later we visited a Daoist temple, where we had our fortunes told, and later that night we got to watch an acrobatics show featuring contortionists, people juggling, motorcyclists in a dome and many other awe-inspiring acts. On our last day, we visited an Ocean Park filled with animals, (yes, we saw pandas!), water rides and all types of roller coasters.

Now something about China that deserves its own paragraph would be the food. You don’t know great food until you visit China. We had all types of food, such as Peking duck, frog legs, all kinds of dumplings (if you ever go to China, Ding Tai Fung has the greatest dumplings probably on the planet), and we even got to have a cooking lesson by a professional.

And the rice was really good. We also had a lot of “interesting” dishes — the bullfrog soup really stands out in our minds, but we finished the entire bowl because it was so good. On the other hand, we weren’t as adventurous with the pig ears; there were often lots of them going back to the kitchen unfinished. One of our favorite meals was lunch in a greenhouse. The inside was beautiful with plants growing everywhere, and when we looked out the windows we could see the Great Wall of China. Halfway through the meal, the servers took a poll on who was the cutest on the trip ... and Scott Carsanaro won.

But they were very encouraging; when we tried to order in Chinese, we were met with encouraging nods and smiles.

Now since we are practically out of room, we are going to use this last little paragraph to shamelessly promote next year’s trip! It should include some of the things we did above, plus getting to hug a panda, feed monkeys up close and chant with a Tibetan monk. If you have any questions, feel free to ask anyone who went on the trip (Collette Patel, Elizabeth Hall, Lucy Wollman, Charlie Berman, Scott Carsanaro, Olivia Hall, Christy Cutshaw and Talia Rasiel). We highly recommend going. It’s absolutely amazing, and you won’t regret it!

First trip to China another step in growth of Chinese program B Y M E LO DY G U Y TO N B U T T S , D I G I TA L CO M M U N I C AT I O N S S P E C I A L I S T

F

or the eight Durham Academy students who participated in the first-ever school-sponsored trip to China, each day of the two-week journey was an eye-opening experience.

“Every day, they’d say, ‘This is the highlight of the whole trip.’ And then the next day, they’d say, ‘No, this is the highlight of the whole trip,’ ” recalled chaperone Joanne Shang, who teaches Chinese in the Middle School and Upper School. “Every day, there was something new and exciting.”

The March 2013 trip, following a school-sponsored journey to Taiwan in summer 2012, served as a milestone of sorts in the evolution of DA’s Mandarin Chinese program, which was introduced to the Upper School curriculum in 2009. Offerings were expanded to the Middle School in 2010, and the Upper School will offer Advanced Placement Chinese Language and Cultures for the first time in fall 2013.

Shang, who has been certified to teach AP Chinese since the College Board first offered certification in 2006, has helped grade the AP Chinese exams of students from around the globe since 2007, and she authored a Barron’s study book for the AP exam in 2009. She has been looking forward to teaching this most advanced Chinese course to DA students for quite some time.

“This is a group of very sophisticated learners, and it’s awesome to see them all the way through Middle School,” Shang said. “You feel like you’re growing with them as well.”

With the addition of the AP course to the program, a second teacher will join Shang in fall 2013; Anne Taylor Smith will teach intermediate Chinese courses and a few English sections at the Upper School, while Shang will continue to teach Middle School courses and the more advanced sections at the Upper School.

The trip to China was open to seventh-graders who had taken Chinese courses and to older students, regardless of their background in Chinese. Of the eight students who participated, two had very little prior Chinese-language experience and they did just fine, Shang said.

“I think the greatest personality [trait] one can have in learning new languages is to be very, very curious,” she explained. “They went all-out and tried everything. They tried the language, they tried to learn the numbers and they were actually out on the street haggling in Chinese while shopping.”

Those students’ positive experiences can serve as a lesson for others who are interested in enrolling in Chinese courses but who are intimidated by a language that may appear and sound truly foreign, Shang said.

“With a very healthy dose of curiosity and confidence, and just being brave enough to jump in and try it, students will be very successful,” she said. “Especially in the classroom, I keep reminding students that it’s a very safe environment. Just try it. So what if you make a mistake? That’s how we learn from each other.”

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

25

PRE SCHOOLER S’ ADV ICE TO DEPART ING HE ADMA S T ER ED COS T ELLO

‘Always be on time and don’t forget to smile’ B Y S H E P P Y VA N N , P R E S C H O O L D I R E C TO R

W

e mark the end of each Preschool year with closing exercises during which we recognize our kindergarten “graduates” and the many folks who have made our lives better.

This year we said thank you to one who has made our entire school a better place, the man who presided over Durham Academy for the past 14 years, who saw to it that the very building we occupy was uniquely fitted to the needs of young learners, who made our lives richer because of his support of diversity and who made certain our academic program was the best in the region through support of faculty development and an outside evaluation.

Faculty and parents associate all the above with Ed Costello, but to the Preschool children, he is the man who dons many hats at a Preschool assembly, who teaches them songs, makes them laugh, reads them stories and enjoys their performances of Army Ants and Molly Malone.

When Durham Academy’s kindergarten students learned that their headmaster, like them, was preparing to begin something new (he’ll be interim headmaster at a school in Virginia), they offered him some advice which we compiled in a book with their own renderings of him in some of his memorable hats.

Some advice was related to exercise and diet.

• Do pushups and situps, and stretch before heading off to school.

• Eat a stack of pancakes for breakfast every morning.

• Pack a lunch every day … with cookies.

Parental advice was echoed in some suggestions.

• Brush your teeth every morning.

• Go to the bathroom before heading off to school.

• Remember to keep your shoes tied.

There were concerns related to “school rules.”

• • • •

Wear a tie!

No playing golf in the school building.

Be sure you do a good job.

Always be on time and don’t forget to smile.

There was the hope that they will be remembered.

• • • •

Bring a picture of DA with you.

Don’t forget to take your silly hats with you.

Sing your songs with the new kids.

Come back to see us!

Finally, they want the “new kids” to know that they are lucky.

• Tell them you are a good headmaster and we will miss you.

And we will, Mr. Costello, we surely will!

26

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

ABOVE: The Preschool’s “A Taste of the World” was just that! Preschool students and their families watched Lebanese dancing; made flags for countries around the globe; celebrated their heritage by wearing clothing from their home country; tried a variety of art projects; experienced African drumming; and shared the joy of a special evening together.

‘A Taste of the World’ lets Preschoolers ‘travel’ the globe

A

B Y F R E YA CO H E N , P R E S C H O O L D I V E R S I T Y CO O R D I N AT O R

•

P H O TO S B Y K AT H Y M C P H E R S O N

“ Taste of the World” is a family evening sponsored by the Preschool Diversity Committee. Preschool children travel from one continent to another to discover our fascinating and diverse world. With passport in hand, they explore artifacts, sample new foods, listen and dance to music and create their own crafts. The last stop is Antarctica, where a snow cone is waiting and a penguin needs a good home.

“Food, fun, friends and family — it all comes together on International Night,” said Kara Turner, a parent volunteer who helped plan the evening.

An informal poll of students revealed favorite activities during their travels “around the world” were eating snow cones, getting penguin tattoos, playing African drums, joining in with Lebanese dancers and rock painting.

We want to thank all of the Preschool parents and the Upper School Diversity Club for helping make this event such a remarkable learning experience. Thanks to all who attended and shared this special night.

“This was the best event of my life,” was one Preschooler’s take on the evening!

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

27

I love t o hear what each st udent has on t heir mind or wha make me feel like we are all one big family! The t hing t ha what t WHAT’S hey do. My favorit e part of each day is any t ime I amazing advisory, a st udent looking for t heir next great read IT LIKE challenge has been get t ing t he st udent s t o see me as a resou TO TEACH AT DA? t ime, but I’ve been able t o help more and more st udent s an children in t he morning. Their faces are full of expect at ion. are ret urned t o me many t imes over. My spirit s immedi is t he warmt h of t he families, my colleagues and t he comm t o do t heir best when t hey come t o school. This eagerness t o school day is early in t he morning, before t he school day beg and wit h me. It is a great way t o st art t he day. My biggest schedule t o a 45-minut e class schedule. Making sure t he lesson a challenge, but it also helps me t o be more concise in my sub favorit e professional act ivit ies is t o writ e curriculum. I en t hen be t aught t o st udent s who will have t he opport unit evolves int o a product t hat displays t heir underst anding of t hrough curriculum I developed is very grat ifying. My fi was so welcoming and accommodat ing! There were t empt in soot he a rough day or perfect ly iced cupcakes just because, yo t ast e bud’s desires. Speaking of t he workroom, I felt Heaven’ supply closet ! I appreciat e having all t he necessary mat eri not one but t wo iPad cart s and t hree well-appoint ed comp meet ing. I t hink it became my favorit e part because it wa t o know anot her layer of t he st udent s’ lives — t heir hobb genuinely happy. I have been impressed by DA’s commit need t o provide st udent s wit h t he most effect ive inst ruct i facult y member, DA ensures you are well equipped t o do writ ers workshop. I am const ant ly amazed at how eager m t hey produce during workshop t ime. My biggest challenge t he day many enrichment opport unit ies are offered for t h t he st udent s love t hem, it has really caused me t o ensure t h t hroughout t he day. I have been most impressed wit h t he c Angie Duty Beth Ellis Shannon Harris Starting a new job is an exciting time full of possibilities and a bit of a stressful time full of potential pitfalls. For a teacher, that’s likely exciting and stressful times 18 or however many students they face each morning. The Record asked several faculty members who joined the Durham Academy community in August to tell us about their first year here. Here’s what they had to say.

ANGIE DUTY Teaching Assistant, second grade • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? The generosity, support and love from our DA parents.

• What is your favorite part of the school day?

Our morning meeting. I love to hear what each student has on their mind or what their plans are for the weekend. Our morning meetings make me feel like we are all one big family!

• What has been your biggest challenge?

Learning to wear comfortable shoes!

• What would we be surprised to learn about you?

I am a water lover. I am on my paddle board whenever I can steal a few minutes. I love to paddle board!

BETH ELLIS Physical Education, Preschool and Lower School • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? The thing that has impressed me most has been how much everyone enjoys what they do.

• What is your favorite part of the school day?

Morning meeting • What has been your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge was learning all of the students’ names in the Preschool and Lower School.

• What would we be surprised to learn about you?

I survived the 1989 California Loma Prieta Earthquake.

SHANNON HARRIS Librarian, Upper School • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? The people I have worked with at DA. Everyone (students and faculty alike) is just amazingly kind and accepting. I have felt very welcome!

• What is your favorite part of the school day?

My favorite part of each day is any time I get a chance to connect with a student — whether it’s 28

my amazing advisory, a student looking for their next great read or someone needing help with research.

• What has been your biggest challenge?

For me, the biggest challenge has been getting the students to see me as a resource for more than just checking out books. It’s taken some time, but I’ve been able to help more and more students and faculty as the year has gone on.

• What would we be surprised to learn about you?

I much prefer a tangible book to an e-version. I’m old fashioned and love the experience of turning pages in a good book!

HARRISON HAYNES Photography, Upper School • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? The support and the camaraderie extended to me by the faculty • What is your favorite part of the school day?

Talking with students individually about their photography or video projects • What has been your biggest challenge?

Streamlining the digital photography program at DA • What would we be surprised to learn about you?

As a touring musician, I have traveled to Australia, Japan, the U.K. and across the U.S. many times.

LLOYDETTE HOOF Teaching Assistant, Kindergarten • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? The joyful children, the committed and creative faculty, and the fabulous academic program • What is your favorite part of the school day?

I love the arrival of the children in the morning.

Their faces are full of expectation. I enjoy greeting each child with a big smile and hug, which are returned to me many times over. My spirits immediately soar.

• What has been your biggest challenge?

Apparently I can learn some new tricks! Updating

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

Harrison Haynes

Lloydette Hoof

Doreen Johnson

my technology skills in this computer-savvy community has been my biggest challenge, but also a great reward. I’m becoming more proficient every day. Much more to learn …

• What would we be surprised to learn about you?

Like my kindergarten students, I like to play in the dirt! A great day for me is working in the garden — weeding, picking up sticks, planting or finding an interesting worm hanging around the pond.

DOREEN JOHNSON History, sixth and eighth grades • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? What has impressed me in my first year at DA is the warmth of the families, my colleagues and the community. I have noted that students are excited to learn and to do their best when they come to school. This eagerness to learn is a hallmark of the school.

• What is your favorite part of the school day?

My favorite part of the school day is early in the morning, before the school day begins, when the students come in and visit with each other and with me. It is a great way to start the day.

• What has been your biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge has been the transition from an 80-minute block schedule to a 45-minute class schedule. Making sure the lessons are thorough so that our time is used efficiently has been a challenge, but it also helps me to be more concise in my subject matter so that students learn the content.

• What would we be surprised to learn about you?

One of my favorite professional activities is to write curriculum. I enjoy seeing how a series of lessons becomes a unit, which will then be taught to students who will have the opportunity to learn about a specific topic.

What the students learn evolves into a product that displays their understanding of the material.

To know I had a hand in teaching someone through curriculum I developed is very gratifying.

NATAKI MCCLAIN Fourth grade • What has impressed you in your first year at DA?

at t heir plans are for t he weekend. Our morning meet ings at has impressed me most has been how much everyone enjoys I get a chance t o connect wit h a st udent — whet her it ’s my d or someone needing help wit h research. For me, t he biggest urce for more t han just checking out books. It ’s t aken some nd facult y as t he year has gone on. I love t he arrival of t he I enjoy greet ing each child wit h a big smile and hug, which iat ely soar. W hat has impressed me in my first year at DA munit y. I have not ed t hat st udent s are excit ed t o learn and learn is a hallmark of t he school. My favorit e part of t he gins, when t he st udent s come in and visit wit h each ot her t challenge has been t he t ransit ion from an 80-minut e block ns are t horough so t hat our t ime is used efficient ly has been bject mat t er so t hat st udent s learn t he cont ent. One of my njoy seeing how a series of lessons becomes a unit, which will y t o learn about a specific t opic. W hat t he st udent s learn f t he mat erial. To know I had a hand in t eaching someone irst year as part of t he facult y has been rewarding. Everyone ng t reat s at every corner; whet her you needed chocolat e t o help ou could count on t he workroom t o provide you wit h your n’s gat es open wide when I first caught glimpse of t he covet ed ials — in every color, shape and size, not t o ment ion access t o put er labs. My favorit e part of t he school day is morning as “new” for me. During morning meet ing, I was able t o get bies, favorit e weekend past imes – t hings t hat made t hem t ment t o providing t eachers wit h t he resources t hat t hey ion. W het her it is supplies, t echnology or support of anot her your job. My favorit e part of t he school day is t eaching my st udent s are t o writ e and t he level of writ t en work has been adapt ing t o t he busy schedule at DA . Throughout he st udent s. W hile t hese opport unit ies are import ant and hat I maximize every minut e of my inst ruct ional t ime creat ivit y of t he st udent s, collaborat ion wit h t he t eachers Photos by Kathy McPherson

LAUREN STARNES Language Arts, Middle School • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? The thing that impressed me the Nataki McClain Anna Mesen Lorena Ochoa Caroline Petrow Lauren Starnes Harry Thomas most about Durham Academy is how kind, supportive and students. While these opportunities are My first year as part of the faculty has been welcoming everyone has been. important and the students love them, it has really Fellow teachers, faculty, parents and especially rewarding. Everyone was so welcoming and caused me to ensure that I maximize every minute the students have helped make my first year at accommodating! There were tempting treats of my instructional time throughout the day. at every corner; whether you needed chocolate DA an enjoyable learning experience. to help soothe a rough day or perfectly iced • What would we be surprised to learn about you?

• What is your favorite part of the school day? cupcakes just because, you could count on the I am an avid photographer. I am traveling to Each day I look forward to teaching my eighth workroom to provide you with your taste bud’s Turkey for two weeks this summer and am excited grade language arts class. I challenge them desires. Speaking of the workroom, I felt Heaven’s about taking my camera along and trying out my almost daily with difficult texts and writing gates open wide when I first caught glimpse of the new wide-angle lens. assignments, but the students never give up coveted supply closet! I appreciate having all the and never fail to surprise me with their depth, necessary materials — in every color, shape and LORENA OCHOA wit and resilience. size, not to mention access to not one but two Spanish, Upper School • What has been your biggest challenge? iPad carts and three well-appointed computer • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? My biggest challenge this year has probably been labs.

The talents of students at DA impress me. They learning the fine art of constructing a reading seem able to do it all: excel in academics, play • What is your favorite part of the school day? quiz. My quizzes are either too hard or too sports well and do amazing displays of art.

My favorite part of the school day is morning easy, so I am still trying to find the ideal balance meeting. I think it became my favorite part • What is your favorite part of the school day? between softness and strength (I think that is the because it was “new” for me. During morning I enjoy spending time with my advisees during Angel Soft tissue slogan!). meeting, I was able to get to know another layer advisory time. It is fun to hear all their stories!

• What would we be surprised to learn about you? of the students’ lives — their hobbies, favorite • What has been your biggest challenge?

I am a big animal lover! As a child I wanted to weekend pastimes — things that made them It has been challenging to teach teenagers again. become a world-renowned marine biologist. genuinely happy.

• What would we be surprised to learn about you?

I took a literature course about Gabriel García • What would we be surprised to learn about you?

HARRY THOMAS Márquez (Colombia writer, Literature Nobel Prize English, Upper School You may be surprised to know that next year, 1982) taught by his sister, Aida García Márquez, I’ll take on the responsibility of Lower School • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? when I was in high school. I have read almost all math specialist! I’m ready to meet the challenge, The tremendously high quality of both my while excited to share my passion for children’s his works. students and my colleagues. My 10th graders, mathematical development. for example, are reading texts that I read as a CAROLINE PETROW senior in high school and are doing wonderfully ANNA MESEN Third grade with them. And my colleagues are both kind Second grade • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? and amazing: hearing about what’s going on in I have been most impressed with the creativity of • What has impressed you in your first year at DA? their classrooms makes me want to refine and the students, collaboration with the teachers and improve and innovate in my own.

I have been impressed by DA’s commitment to support from the parents. providing teachers with the resources that they • What is your favorite part of the school day? need to provide students with the most effective • What is your favorite part of the school day?

The morning. From first period to about tutorial. instruction. Whether it is supplies, technology or My favorite part of the day is morning meeting, The weather is cool, the kids are focused and support of another faculty member, DA ensures where the class gets to connect together as a some really great discussions are possible. you are well equipped to do your job. community and practice interpersonal skills.

• What has been your biggest challenge?

• What is your favorite part of the school day?

• What has been your biggest challenge?

Adjusting to high school teaching, and trying My favorite part of the school day is teaching My biggest challenge has been adjusting to the to figure out what kinds of assignments are writers workshop. I am constantly amazed at how ever-changing daily schedule and remembering appropriate for which grade level. I want to eager my students are to write and the level of what “day” it is. I now can think in terms of “It’s always be challenging my students and written work they produce during workshop time. Day 3” instead of “It’s Monday.” pushing them, but I also don’t want to be • What has been your biggest challenge?

• What would we be surprised to learn about you? overwhelming them.

My biggest challenge has been adapting to the You might be surprised to know that my favorite • What would we be surprised to learn about you? busy schedule at DA. Throughout the day many food is Indian curry and I enjoy making jewelry in That someone with a Ph.D. in literature still enrichment opportunities are offered for the my free time. reads, and still loves, superhero comic books.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

29

Photos by Melody Guyton Butts

LEFT: Middle School French teacher Teresa Engebretsen addresses students during tutorial. RIGHT: Engebretsen mingles with rising ninth-graders (from left) Elizabeth Biersach, Lily Tendler and Maggie Paul after the Middle School closing exercises, when Engebretsen was honored with the Hershey Award.

Hershey Award Winner Teresa Engebretsen

Beloved teacher gives 100 percent S

BY G LY N I S H I L L- C H A N D L E R , D E A N O F S T U D E N T S , T H E H I L L C E N T E R

age, excellent advisor, mentor, much-loved teacher — these are just a few of the words used to describe this distinguished educator.

One might say that she has a joie de vivre as exhibited by her many ways of being involved at Durham Academy.

Teresa Engebretsen has taught at Durham Academy for a remarkable 33 years. During that time she has held the positions of French teacher, seventh-grade team leader, registrar, curriculum coordinator of foreign language, after-school care coordinator and softball and cheerleading coach. But mostly, as described by her students, she has held a position in their hearts. Her students not only love her French class, they love her.

On the first day of school each year, Engebretsen sets the bar high when it comes to her expectations in her class. Her students respect her for all the effort and care she shows for them. The French program is a vibrant program thanks to her endeavors. She doesn’t stop at teaching French in the classroom. Each year she takes a group of eighth-grade students to France during spring break. Every year the students come back full of stories of how much they learned and how much fun they had. “It was my favorite trip ever! Those are memories that will last a lifetime,” said one of her students. And when students can’t travel with Engebretsen, she makes sure they understand the language and get the true French experience through classroom skits, playing board games and cooking and eating French food! She also welcomes a group of students from France to the Durham Academy community each year.

Students like knowing they can count on their teacher to be an advocate for them in the classroom, but they rejoice in knowing that their teacher follows them outside of the classroom as well. Engebretsen demonstrates this balanced commitment as an avid supporter of Middle School and Upper School athletics and can be seen cheering them on at sports events. She also was the leader of GO (Girls Only) Club for seventhand eighth-grade girls. What an accomplishment to provide Middle School girls the opportunity to know that they have a safe haven to 30

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

discuss issues pertinent to young females. Engebretsen truly understands the academic, social and emotional challenges that her seventh-graders face each year. She patiently engages in countless one-on-one discussions with them, offering advice when needed and, at other times, encouraging them to take the initiative to solve those issues on their own.

In addition to her work with students, Engebretsen is a muchsought-after colleague for advice. She is always ready with a helpful answer and will find time to lend an ear and offer her advice. One of her colleagues said, “She is a warm, caring, compassionate true friend to all of us.” Another colleague said, “She has been a role model and inspiration to me for a long time!” Engebretsen is active in the Durham community as a food blogger and has contributed food columns to The Herald-Sun. She is a member of the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina and is past president of the North Carolina chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French.

Engebretsen loves to travel, and in 2008 she spent time working in France as a chef’s assistant at a bed and breakfast. She enjoys cooking, particularly French cooking. She is also a talented writer, and perhaps there is a novel in her future. These experiences have contributed to enriching what she shares with students in her classes.

Engebretsen is a loyal, dedicated teacher who has poured her heart and soul into Durham Academy. She embraces the learning and teaching of French and has expanded her own horizons of understanding the language through continued education and travel. Her two sons were “lifers” at Durham Academy, and her husband is a Durham Academy administrator. The entire Durham Academy community recognizes that Engebretsen gives 100 percent and is most deserving of the F. Robertson Hershey Distinguished Faculty Award.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Glynis Hill-Chandler was the 2012 recipient of the F. Robertson Hershey Distinguished Faculty Award.

DA Upper School musical

Nearly 100 students were involved in the Upper School's production of Oklahoma! Feb. 21 to 23, making it one of the school’s largest-ever productions.

It was a fitting send-off for departing Headmaster Ed Costello, who counts Oklahoma! as his favorite musical.

Photos by Julia Wall

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

31

Seussical jr.

The Musical!

DA Middle School Performance

Enthusiasm for Seussical Jr. — the Middle School's first large-scale musical production in many years — was so great that the May 16 performance enjoyed a sellout crowd.

Every eighth-grade chorus, drama and movement student participated, and even Middle School Director Jon Meredith (top right) got into the action as a Wickersham brother.

Photos by Will Phillips ’13

32

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

33

Too young for a driver’s license, but driving a race car at 150 mph B Y K AT H Y M C P H E R S O N ,

T

A S S O C I AT E D I R E C TO R O F CO M M U N I C AT I O N S

ate Fogleman has been behind the wheel since he had barely begun to walk, sitting in his grandfather’s lap and “driving” on the family farm in northeastern Durham County. He began racing quarter midget cars when he was 4. As a 13-year-old, he’s now running with the big guys, driving a full-size car at 140 to 150 mph in races that run from 150 to 300 laps.

The rising Durham Academy eighth-grader races from February to Thanksgiving in the Pro All Star Series (PASS) and competes from Florida to Maine, running in 25 or more races this season. Racing is in his blood. His grandfather raced, and his dad, Jay Fogleman, has been racing for 30 years and is a car owner and a car builder.

Tate’s mom, Kim Fogleman, said she knew racing would be in the cards if they had a son and he showed an interested in the sport.

“That’s why I tried to get Tate involved in soccer and basketball!” she said with a laugh.

But racing is what took hold with Tate. His mother said she gets more nervous watching Logan, Tate’s twin sister who also attends DA, compete in horseback riding with the North Carolina Hunter Jumper Association than watching Tate drive a race car. “Tate is fully enclosed in a race car. If Logan fell off her horse, that’s probably more dangerous,” she explained.

Tate has been racing full-size cars since two days after turning 12, the minimum age to compete, and he won the third race he entered.

His dad had to raise the seat and move the pedals so Tate, who is now 5’2”, could reach the clutch and operate the straight-drive car.

When Tate celebrated his 13th birthday this past March, he became eligible to drive cars with more horsepower. His current car is a straight rail super late model with a 500 horsepower engine.

Jay Fogleman said racing has made Tate “grow up a little faster on that end, but I make sure he’s a 13-year-old when he’s not in a race car.”

He likes to be outdoors hunting, fishing, tubing and wakeboarding or indoors playing basketball.

When it comes to racing, he’s a professional, winning prize money and trophies on the track. Most races pay $4,000 to win, but a victory in Maine’s Oxford 250 could mean up to $50,000 for the driver who takes the top spot on July 21.

Tate has a national sponsor, Speedco, a truck lube and tire company for tractor trailers. “Money and sponsorships dictate how far you can go,” Tate’s father said. “You can win every race and still not pay the bills without a sponsor.” It costs $350,000 to $400,000 per car per year to race in the PASS series, and the amount goes up as a driver advances to higher levels of racing.

Tate was involved in a crash in a March 8 race at Dillon, S.C. As he 34

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

Tate Fogleman

came out of a turn, the car ahead of him went sideways; he hit that car, the car behind him hit Tate’s car and they hit the wall. “It went by really fast, and when it was over I realized the body was off my car,” he recalled.

He didn’t have any injuries in the crash, but before he began racing in the PASS series, he broke his arm when it caught in the steering wheel.

He admits to being nervous when he’s getting buckled in for a race, but “when they drop the green flag I’m not nervous anymore.”

Racing is a sport, and Tate trains for it by working out to increase strength in his upper and lower body and to build his stamina. He drinks Pedialyte to keep hydrated during a race, which could last from 30 minutes to four hours.

“Those races wear you out; your arms get really tired,” he said.

“If the power steering goes out, I can barely turn the steering wheel.

I lost power at the end of a race at South Boston (Va.).”

With all that time driving on a race track, is Tate anxious to get his driver’s license and drive on the road?

“It would be fun at first, but it might be boring because I couldn’t drive fast.”

Trustees Welcome Six New Members THE DURHAM ACADEMY BOARD OF TRUSTEES WELCOMES SIX NEW MEMBERS: Demetra Kontos, Tom Pfeil, Garrett Putman ’94, Karen Rabenau, Jamie Krzyzewski Spatola ’00 and Charlie Wilson ’89.

• Demetra Y. Kontos earned a B.A. in

• Karen Rabenau is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate

government from the College of William &

of Hollins College and holds a J.D. from the

Mary and an M.A. in political science from the

University of North Carolina School of Law. She

University of Richmond. She worked in Virginia

is a partner with Twiggs, Strickland and Rabenau,

state government prior to moving to Durham, and since 2004 she has been a teaching assistant

Demetra Kontos

Karen Rabenau

P.A. in Research Triangle Park. She has served as co-chair of DA’s Innisbrook fundraiser, a member

in the Lower School. She has been chair of

of Parents Council and a volunteer with The

DA’s annual benefit auction, faculty chair for

Evergreen Campaign and the annual fund. The

the annual fund and is president of Parents

Rabenau-Harpole family includes DA students Gil

Association. She is the mother of Michael, DA

Mebane, a rising second-grader; Lauren Harpole,

Class of 2012, and Alexi, a rising junior at DA.

a rising eighth-grader; and Caroline Harpole and Tom Pfeil

Jamie Krzyzewski Spatola ’00

Sydney Harpole, rising sixth-graders.

• Tom Pfeil holds a B.S. in business administration (marketing) from the University of

• Jamie Krzyzewski Spatola ’00 is a graduate

Florida and an MBA (concentration in marketing)

of Durham Academy and holds a B.A. in English

from the University of Texas. He is founder and

from Duke University, an MBA from Cameron

managing partner of The Link Group, a marketing

University and an M.A. from Duke. She is a writer

research company with offices in Atlanta and Durham, and has worked in marketing research at

Garrett Putman ’94

Charlie Wilson ’89

for Mental Floss, Inc.; secretary of the Emily K Center Board of Directors; administrator for

Procter & Gamble and The Coca-Cola Company. He has been a

Duke Basketball Camp; and vice chair of the Duke Memorial Weekday

member of the DA communications committee. He is the father of DA

School Board. She has been president of DA Alumni Board and was a

students Alex, a rising fifth-grader, and Evan, a rising second-grader.

member of the Head of School Search Committee. She is the mother of John David, 3 1/2, and Mackenzie, 17 months.

• Garrett Putman ’94 is a graduate of Durham Academy and Wake Forest University, and he holds an MBA from Duke University. He is a

• Charlie Wilson ’89 is a graduate of Durham Academy. He earned

marketing director at GlaxoSmithKline and is president of the SEEDS

a B.S. in civil engineering from N.C. State University and an M.S. in civil

Board of Directors. He has served on the DA communications committee

engineering/construction management from the University of Texas.

for two year and is the president of the DA Alumni Board. He is the

He is vice president of C.T. Wilson Construction Company. He is a past

father of DA students Will, a rising first-grader, and Wesley, a rising pre-

president of the DA Alumni Council and served on the DA Board of

kindergartener.

Trustees from 2005-2007 and 2009-2011. He is the father of DA students Charlie, a rising seventh-grader, and Anna Catherine, a rising fifth-grader.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

35

FROM THE GREEN FROM THE GREEN F R O M

T H E

• Upper School’s ‘Oklahoma!’ ensemble wins Triangle Rising Star Award

Nearly 100 students were part of the cast and crew of the Durham Academy Upper School’s spring 2013 musical, Oklahoma! — so when the production won the Triangle Rising Star Award for best ensemble in a musical June 2, close to a quarter of the student body could take a bow.

The Oklahoma! ensemble topped three other finalists, all of them large public schools: East Chapel Hill High School, Broughton High School and Cary High School.

In addition to the ensemble award, senior Elizabeth Eason and junior Alex Flores-Burgess were finalists for best actor and best actress honors. Eason, who portrayed Laurey in Oklahoma!, competed against 11 other bestactress finalists from the greater Triangle area. Flores-Burgess, who played Ali Hakim, competed against seven other best-actor finalists.

The 2013 Triangle Rising Star Award winners were announced during a June 2 event at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC).

It was the culmination of a fourmonth audition period in which representatives from DPAC, Theatre in the Park, Playmakers Repertory Company and ABC 11 attended musicals around the Triangle.

• 26 DA faculty, staff honored for 425 years of service Twenty-six Durham Academy faculty, administrators and staff were honored June 6 at DA’s closing faculty/staff meeting for their years of service to the school. All together, they have been a part of DA for 425 years! Elizabeth Aldridge, president of Parents Association, presented each of them with a book to commemorate their 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years of employment at DA. Honored for 30 years of service 36

G R E E N

were Margie Billinger, Development Office; Bonnie Boaz, Lower School; and Marian Saffo-Cogswell, Middle School. Billinger and Boaz retired in June.

Kate Cadwallader, Upper School; Wanda Moore, MS; and Trish Whiting, US, were recognized for 25 years of service.

Martha Baker, LS; Michelle Graham-Freeman, Preschool; Libby Lang, LS; and Richard Meyer, LS, were honored for 20 years at DA. Virginia Hall, MS; Janet Hampton, PS; Trevor Hoyt, Technology; and Howard Lineberger, US, were recognized for 15 years of service.

Honored for 10 years of service were Elizabeth Allan, LS; Jeff Biersach, US; Lindy Frasher, US; Jennifer Garci, US; Dena Hanna, PS; Jennifer Longee, MS; Mike Meyer, US; Joanne Minnis, LS; Thomas Phu, US; Michelle Rosen, LS; Liliana Simón, US; and Elizabeth South, LS.

the 12 designs and place your order at www.da.org/AlexsLemonade.

After you place your order, DA parent Kirsten Bushick will be in touch to arrange payment (by cash or check) and pickup.

In addition to the notecard fundraiser, Middle School advisories often set up lemonade stands around Durham on community service days to raise money for ALSF. The fall community service day alone raised $1,776.50 for the foundation.

• N.C. Soccer Coaches Association honors DA athletes, coach, athletics director

The North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association showered honors on several members of the Durham Academy community at its statewide spring program June 1, including the Region 1 Coach of the Year honor for girls soccer coach Susan Ellis and private school • Sale of notecards Athletic Director of the Year honor designed by fifth-graders for DA’s Steve Engebretsen. benefit pediatric cancer Six members of the DA girls foundation soccer team were recognized.

Inspired by the story of a 4-year- Named to the NCSCA all-region 1 old cancer patient who pitched a team were Lakin Barry, Lily Doron, lemonade stand in her front yard to Frances McDonald, Tara Nagar, raise money to aid in the fight against Dana Rowe and Dana Williams pediatric cancer, several Durham McDonald and Nagar were Academy students are doing their part also named to the NCSCA all- state team. to carry on her legacy.

Several fifth-grade advisories spent their May 8 community service • DA fourth-graders win awards in water day working with the national Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) conservation poster contest — named for Alex Scott, the young Water is a precious cancer patient who ultimately raise more than $1 million before her death commodity, and two Durham at age 8 — to create notecards to raise Academy fourth-graders combined creativity with lessons learned in awareness for the cause. science class to produce prizeThe designs were approved winning posters in local and stateby the national organization, and wide contests promoting water the notecards are now available for ordering. Cards are available in packs conservation.

Caroline Aldridge and Helene of eight (two each of four selected Worthington were recognized for cards) for $6 and individually for $1 their winning interpretations of each. You may choose from among

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

the annual Water Conservation Poster Contest at the May 6 meeting of the Durham City Council.

Worthington’s poster won first prize in the Durham contest for grades three through five and second prize in the state contest for that grade level. Aldridge’s poster took second prize in local competition and first place in the state contest. Aldridge’s and Worthington’s posters were selected from 377 entries in the local contest. Over the last seven years, 15 DA Lower School students have been winners in the water conservation poster contest.

Congratulations to the students and to Lyn Streck, Lower School science teacher.

• Save the date: Fourth Annual Turkey Trot is Nov. 16 The date is set: the Fourth Annual DA Turkey Trot will be held Saturday, Nov. 16. Mark your calendar and plan on coming out for the 5K race and the Fun Run for those 10 and under. Check the Parents Association page on da.org for registration information this fall.

• Used Book Sale raises $14,500 for DA, supports the broader community The Durham Academy community celebrated its love of reading as the annual Used Book Sale and Bake Sale opened its doors April 18 to 21. The Middle School gym was transformed with 16,264 books and a near-endless stream of delicious goodies and cold drinks. The gym was packed with titles ranging from board books for toddlers to serious tomes for researchers.

The sale raised more than $14,500 for Parents Association. In addition, nearly 1,000 books were donated to nonprofit agencies Book Harvest, the Emily K Center and the Latino Educational Achievement Partnership.

Calendar

ALUMNI

EMAIL: ALUMNI@DA.ORG WEBSITE: W W W.DA.ORG/ALUMNI

CALENDAR 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4

SAVE THE DATE 2013 Fall Alumni Weekend • Oct. 4 and 5 FRIDAY, OCT. 4

Homecoming Events • 5 p.m. — Alumni Pregame Social and Cookout Sponsored by Big Boss Brewery

Va r s i t y At h l e t i c E v en t s • 4:30 p.m. Varsity Field Hockey • 5:15 p.m. Varsity Volleyball • 6:30 p.m. Varsity Boys Soccer Game SATURDAY, OCT. 5

• 10:30 a.m. Alumni Boys and Girls Basketball Team Reunion Games (Kirby Gymnasium) Followed by a cookout and social in the Upper School quad

• Reunion Parties for Classes ending in 3s and 8s 7 p.m. — Tobacco Road Café, Durham For more information and to register for the reunion parties, visit www.da.org/fallalumniweekend

Sept. 17 • 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 19 • 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 4 • 5 p.m.

Oct. 5 • 10:30 a.m.

Oct. 5 • 7 p.m.

Nov. 5 • 5:30 p.m.

Nov. 27 • 8 p.m.

Feb. 11 • 5:30 p.m.

March 6 • 6:30 p.m.

April 3 • 6:30 p.m.

April 8 • 5:30 p.m.

April 11 • 6 p.m.

April 24 • 6:30 p.m.

April 30 • 7 p.m.

May 1 • 1 p.m.

Alumni Board Meeting Business After-Hours Social (at a Durham restaurant TBA) Fall Alumni Weekend — Pregame Social Sponsored by Big Boss Brewery (Upper School Lacrosse Field) Alumni Boys and Girls Basketball Team Reunion Games and Cookout (Kirby Gym) Reunion Parties at Tobacco Road Café, Durham (Classes ending in 3s and 8s) Alumni Board Meeting DA Alumni Party at Alivia’s Durham Bistro Alumni Board Meeting Alumni Networking Social in Charlotte Alumni Networking Social in Boston Alumni Board Meeting Spring Alumni Reception Alumni Networking Social in Washington, D.C. Alumni Networking Social in New York City DA Golf Tournament

Visit www.da.org/alumni for updates on venues and additional alumni information.

CONNECT WITH DA • DA on Flickr: www.flickr.com/DurhamAcademy • DA on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DurhamAcademy • DA Alumni on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DACavsAlumni • DA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DurhamAcademy • DA Alumni on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DurhamAcademyAl • DA on YouTube: www.youtube.com/DurhamAcademyComm • DA on Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/DurhamAcademy

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

37

D A

A L U M N I

Nye

2013 Distinguished Alumni Award Photos by Julie Wall

Business leader Ward Nye ’81 emphasizes integrity and ethical behavior M

By Seth J. Jernigan ’96

artin Marietta Materials is the nation’s second largest producer of construction aggregates (rock and stone), with approximately 5,000 employees, annual revenue in excess of $2 billion and a market spanning 30 countries.

Does overseeing all of this sound like a lot of responsibility? Yes, to most people, but Ward Nye ’81 makes it look easy. Nye leads with a grace and style that is notable among his friends, colleagues and competitors.

considering an individual who had achieved the very highest level of success in the business world. Nye’s résumé alone was most impressive.

However, for those familiar with DA’s culture, it should be no surprise that professional success by itself is not the only consideration for this award.

In an effort to fully vet Nye as a DA can applaud the fact that this year’s possible award recipient, several members of Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is the Alumni Board attended a CEO lecture the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company. series at N.C. State University where Nye Moreover, he reached that level of spoke. His lecture was impressive in many achievement the right way, and continues ways, but a notable, impactful component to promote honesty and integrity as a of his talk was the importance Nye and critical component of success. his company place on integrity and ethical behavior.

Nye is the chief executive officer Mark Anderson ’81, Nye’s close of Martin Marietta and the recipient of friend, DA classmate and former Durham Academy’s 2013 Distinguished college roommate, acknowledged in his Alumni Award. He was honored at the comments at the Distinguished Alumni Spring Alumni Reception on April 12.

Award ceremony how even one of Nye’s After graduating from Durham Academy, fiercest adversaries in the business world Nye attended Duke University, graduating acknowledge Nye as being a man of great with honors in 1984, and earned his law de- integrity. During Nye’s acceptance speech, gree from Wake Forest University in 1987. he again referenced the importance of The DA Alumni Board is charged ethical and moral behavior, referencing the each year with selecting a Distinguished portion of DA’s mission statement that says Alumni Award recipient. When learning DA strives to enable students “to live moral, of Nye and his position, the board happy and productive lives.” immediately recognized that it was To further qualify Nye, after spending 38

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

TOP: Rob Everett ’86 (back to camera) talks with Chris Spatola, center, and Geoff Lamb ’86 at the Spring Alumni Reception on April 12 in the Upper School Learning Commons. BOTTOM LEFT: Ward Nye ’81 was honored with the 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award. BOTTOM RIGHT: Seth Jernigan ’96, vice president of the Alumni Board; Ward Nye ’81, Distinguished Alumni Award recipient; Jamie Krzyzewski Spatola ’00, immediate past president of the Alumni Board; and Garrett Putman ’94, president of the Alumni Board.

a few minutes with him, most would agree that he’s friendly and down to earth. At the award ceremony, Anderson quipped that in high school Nye was the guy who everyone’s parents liked … “Oh, that Ward Nye, he’s such a nice boy.”

DA can applaud the fact that this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company. Moreover, he reached that level of achievement the right way, and continues to promote honesty and integrity as a critical component of success. The business community needs more leaders like Ward Nye, and DA is proud to call him one if its own.

D A

A L U M N I

Costello Alumni Board honors Ed Costello with Faculty/Staff Legacy Award

Julie Wall

By Jamie Krzyzewski Spatola ’00

ABOVE: Ed Costello served as Durham Academy’s headmaster for 14 years, the second longest tenure in the school’s history.

I

t took on the appearance of an unenviable task: I had to deliver the news to Ed Costello that the Durham Academy Alumni Board wished to honor him and his legacy with one of our two annual awards.

I was nervous. I had been warned that Mr. Costello’s first reaction would likely be one that denied his own merit.

He welcomed me into his office, and I am certain he was curious about why I had asked to meet. We talked a little sports, of course, and, with ice sufficiently broken, I moved on to the business at hand.

“The Alumni Board has chosen you as this year’s Faculty/Staff Legacy Award recipient,” I said.

His reaction to the news was one more testament to why there could be no other choice.

“But there are so many other people who deserve this more,” he said.

But I had come prepared for a debate.

And, indeed, one was underway.

Handing Mr. Costello a printed copy of the Durham Academy Faculty and Staff Legacy Award criteria, I proceeded to cite numerous ways in which his leadership has served as a case in point of the kind of legacy the Alumni Board seeks to honor with this award.

“The recipient(s) should have: Embodied the best of the teaching profession in general and of a particular commitment to excellence at Durham Academy;” I cited faculty recruitment and

retention, facilities and student success.

“Shared a history with the school that is long and/or substantial enough to have impacted a significant number of Durham Academy alumni;” I pointed out that 14 years is a long tenure in the world of independent school heads, reminding him also that he leaves the school a better place than it was when he came here and departs in a way that is undisruptive, if not unceremonious — always emphasizing what is best for the school and diverting attention away from himself and his integral role in the school’s success.

“Imparted lessons that transcend subject matter and extend beyond classrooms;” Over these years, Mr. Costello has been a leader in both word and deed, particularly with regard to crisis management, selfless leadership, the importance of face-to-face communication, preparedness and, above all else, the focus of education as being the experience of the students.

“Instilled values and/or modes of thought in Durham Academy’s students that continue to play a role in students’ careers and lives after graduation;” Mr. Costello imparted many lessons during his time at Durham Academy while also nurturing and growing an environment in which critical lessons are imparted in DA classrooms every day.

“Served as pillars of the Durham Academy community by representing the school’s mission and core values of living a moral, happy and productive life.”

Certainly Mr. Costello has been a pillar of our community and a worthy role model for educators and anyone else who

seeks to be moral, happy and productive.

But the part of the criteria that made the selection of Mr. Costello most clear to our board was the part that identified the recipient as one who “… best represents the alumni’s aspirations for Durham Academy.”

As alumni, our aspirations for our school ought to be for its growth in academic reputation, its growth in diversity, its recruitment and retention of special and outstanding faculty committed to the school’s mission, its financial security, and its establishment and maintenance of a physical plant that is supportive of all of the learning that goes on here. During Mr. Costello’s tenure, there has been exceptional, in fact incredible, progress in all of these areas.

And so, Mr. Costello was the winner of the award, but I was the hands-down winner of the debate.

It was easy, really. I had the truth on my side.

And it is the way in which he received the news that humbled me to be in the room with the man — knowing that, during his 14-year tenure as our school’s headmaster, not for one moment had any of it been about him.

For Mr. Costello, it was always about the students. And that is why the changes that have taken place over the past 14 years are ones that have vastly improved the student experience at Durham Academy.

Needless to say, the “unenviable task” was, in reality, an incredible privilege that I will not forget. I am proud to be a part of the Alumni Board that chose to recognize the tremendous legacy that Ed Costello leaves at Durham Academy.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

39

D A

A L U M N I

Alumni Board helps raise $100,000 for Evergreen Campaign L

ast December, the Alumni Board took on the challenge of trying to raise $100,000 to name the new meeting room in Kirby Gymnasium. Thanks to numerous phone calls, emails and personal appeals, the Alumni Board is thrilled to announce the goal has been achieved and the naming opportunity is now a reality.

Neal Ellis ’88

Seth Jernigan ’96

Geoff Lamb ’86

This campaign was significant not only because of the dollars raised, but also because it involved 40 alumni who either had not made a donation to the school in the last five years or for whom it was their first gift to DA. Donors included 20 boys basketball alumni (Classes 2006-2012) who made individual gifts to the campaign to show support for a project that was very dear to their hearts.

The Alumni Board will decide whom or what to name the room in honor of during its fall meeting. The success of this campaign ensures that Durham Academy students now have facilities and resources that are on par with other independent schools. Thanks go to all who made this endeavor a success.

John Lindsey ’08

Garrett Putman ’94

Morgan Edwards Whaley ’97

G A R R E T T P U T M A N ’ 9 4 W I L L L E A D DA’ S A L U M N I B OA R D

40

Real Estate Associates. A magna cum laude graduate of N.C. State University with a degree in business/finance, he serves on the board of directors at The Forest at Duke and is a deacon at Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church. He is the father of Wyatt, a rising firstgrader, and Stella, 2.

• Geoff Lamb ’86 is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. He holds a JD from Case Western Reserve and an advanced degree in family business from Case Western’s Weatherhead School of Management. He is the owner and founder of Big Boss Brewing Company. He is the father of Alex, a rising ninth-grader, and Sydney, a

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

Photos by Megan Morr

G

arrett Putman ’94 has been named president of Durham Academy’s Alumni Board. He follows Jamie Krzyzewski Spatola ’00, as president of the board.

Assisting Putman as vice president will be Seth Jernigan ’96. The Alumni Board welcomes four new members for 2013-2014: Geoff Lamb ’86, Neal Ellis ’88, Morgan Edwards Whaley ’97 and John Lindsey ’08.

• Neal Ellis ’88 earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Virginia. He is the father of Emma, a rising eighth-grader, and Cate, 4.

• Seth Jernigan ’96 and DA “lifer,” is vice president of brokerage and business development at

rising eighth-grader.

• John Lindsey ’08 graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in business administration and a commercial real estate development concentration. He is the founder and president of Lindsey Self Storage Group, a selfstorage brokerage, development and management company based in Durham. He is president of the South Carolina Self Storage Association and is an actively involved with The Caring House.

• Garrett Putman ’94 is a graduate of Wake Forest University and holds an MBA from Duke University. He is a marketing director at GlaxoSmithKline and

serves as president of the SEEDS board of directors. He has been vice president of the DA Alumni Board and has served on the DA board of trustees’ communications committee. He is the father of Will, a rising first-grader, and Wesley, a rising pre-kindergarten student.

• Morgan Edwards Whaley ’97 is a graduate of Wake Forest University and holds a master’s degree in anthropology from George Washington University. She works in the finance department at The Hill Center, volunteers in Chatham County and assists her husband, John, with his real estate ventures.

She is the mother of Charlie, a rising kindergartner, and Jackson, 3.

CLASS NOTES Class of 1976

78 Class of 1978 Reunion

D A

A L U M N I

DA Fall Alumni Weekend

Oct. 4 & 5, 2013 class letter. In Eric Ashbaugh (’79 and me sets at 50 to Spread the word. the meantime, — for our annual fishing trip at 80 percent Register at www.da.org/alumni.

Minky and I his brother Dave’s (’75) plant off retail in a are celebrating nursery. It is great fun and we factory direct 15 years of catch a lot of fish! However, every warehouse marriage by holding a second year, Bob catches and releases the setting. Louise (’82) is still the birthday party for our youngest biggest fish of the trip moments middle school coordinator at son, Tom, who is turning 2 years before we arrive. Go figure.”

The Hill Center and very much old. (Tim, I’ll be an empty nester Diane Stadler: “I’ve lived in enjoys teaching. By the time this in the 70s — my 70s.)

Portland, Ore., for the past 12 is published, our son Will (’09) years with my husband, Scott, and hopefully will be a graduate of three children. I’m the director of Auburn University, Carlton the graduate programs in human (’12) should have finished her nutrition at Oregon Health and first year at UNC, and Sarah Erik D. France Science University so I spend (’16) will be close to finishing efrance23@gmail.com my days — and many evenings her freshman year at DA. Bob — teaching, mentoring graduate Johnson is planning to reel in a Bob Johnson: “Moved to students and conducting clinical number of us — Randy Few, Bethesda, Md., in August 2013 Bo Buehler, Carlton Byrd, so our sons could get closer to nutrition research. My husband their high school in Washington, D.C. Still building homes and doing renovations in Potomac & Bethesda, Md., and Arlington, Va. Three boys, 12, 15 and 17 — all active in soccer, golf and even one who aspires to be a football place kicker. My wife, Patti, is very active in our school and church. I survived a short bout with prostate cancer in January. I had robotic surgery to remove the prostate, which went very well and eradicated all known cancer. For my mid-life crisis, I purchased a 1954 Chevy truck to restore to approximate the truck my grandfather drove for his hardware store in Concord, N.C.” Dana Johnsrude: “My wife Evangeline (Jing) and I have been chef proprietors of Magnolia Bakery Cafe & Garden Gift Gallery in Beaufort, S.C., since 2002. Our URL is magnoliacafebeaufort. com and physical address is 703 Congress Street, Beaufort, S.C. 29902. Please check us out if you’re ever in the area!” Steed Rollins: “After being laid off by my previous employer at the end of last summer, I started a new business (a quasi-franchise) as the TOP and BOTTOM: For his self-described “mid-life crisis,” Bob Johnson ’78 bought a 1954 Mattress Guy here in Durham. I Chevy truck and restored it to approximate the truck his grandfather drove for his hardware store sell mattresses and bedroom in Concord, N.C.

CLASS NOTES Gordon Crovitz gordon.crovitz@gmail.com

Billie Worde Mann and Rob are celebrating 14 years of marriage, outnumbered by three dogs and two cats. Billie is the box office staff coordinator for the North Carolina Museum of Art, so we should all get redcarpet access. Making his first appearance in the class notes, Jim Sidbury reports that he has recently moved to Rice University in Houston after teaching for 20 years at the University of Texas at Austin.

Jim reports he is “adjusting slowly to a city defined by oil and a university defined by plenty and political insulation rather than scarcity and vulnerability.”

He is the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Rice, which sounds distinguished indeed.

Another of our academics, Tim Borstelmann, who teaches at the University of Nebraska, reports that he and Lynn are celebrating their 25th anniversary by becoming empty nesters, with youngest son Danny a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis. “Researching and writing a book on the 1970s for the past decade sharpened my already enduring appreciation of how richly we lived in the early years of that decade, alive not only with the raw joy of well-fed youth but also the unusual historical moment of cultural openness and excitement,” Tim says. Writing a book about the 1970s sounds like an excellent way to relive our high school years. I hope to hear from more of you in our next

Class of 1978

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

41

D A

A L U M N I

and I enjoyed a year as ‘emptynesters’ which was short-lived as all of our kids are heading home this summer for jobs and colleges in Oregon. We love living in the Pacific Northwest and hope that anyone visiting in the area will give us a call!” Emily Oates Wingfield: “I am still living and working in Richmond, Va. I am currently serving as deputy clerk for the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Alan and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in 2012. Daughter Julia is in her third year at Washington & Lee University. Son Henry is a high school sophomore.”

Class of 1979 Claire Sanders mrsb@jbalfour.com

Congratulations are in order!

Cornelia Lauf, who still lives in Rome, Italy, is getting married on June 1, 2013. However, Cornelia neglected to tell us who the lucky man is. In addition to getting married, Cornelia has a “big show,” entitled “A Very Light Art,” that opened on May 29, 2013, in Venice at the Museo Ca’Rezzonico. As if that’s not enough, Cornelia has started a little curatorial agency, Golden Ruler, to match clients with artists for custom-made commission.

Laurie Fein Hesselink visited Cornelia — yes, in Italy — last year. Laurie reports that she had a great trip and enjoyed seeing Cornelia again after all these years. Anne Fischer is on the move. Anne has relocated from Dallas, Texas, to Birmingham, Mich., to become chief of pediatric surgery, surgeon-inchief of Beaumont Hospital Systems and a full professor. As a result of having turned 50, Malcolm Kendall “can’t seem to remember anything.” That 42

would explain why he submitted information twice. Malcolm is still in Vancouver and reports that life is good. His family is good, Malcolm is gainfully employed and doing better than he deserves, so he says. Malcolm sends props to Bob Hughes who flew in for his 50th birthday, and he invites everyone to visit one day. Bob Hughes reports that there’s not much new in Atlanta, apart from shoveling the pollen off the driveway. Bob’s daughter, Emily, is a rising junior at the University of Texas at Austin, loves the city and the school. Bob is the North America director of IT for Novelis, a producer of aluminum beverage cans and cars. It’s all pretty glamorous, according to Bob. Bob sees Sam Harmon on occasion, and those occasions usually involved canned beverages. Can anyone say job security? Judy Fridovich-Keil sends best wishes to all from her home in Decatur, Ga. Judy and her husband, Mark Keil, have two children: David, 20, a sophomore at Princeton majoring in electrical engineering, and Sara, 17, a junior in high school. Judy is a professor in the department of human genetics at Emory University, and Mark is a professor in the department of computer information systems at Georgia State. Also from the Atlanta area, Lee Williams reports that he is going to be the father of the bride in July; his daughter, Carol Ann, is getting married. His other daughter, Alicia, graduates from the University of Georgia in May 2013 year and is looking for a job in interior design. Youngest daughter Elizabeth is a junior in high school and is just starting to look at colleges, so Lee and Wendy are not empty nesters, yet! Lee’s wife, Wendy, is in her fifth year teaching kindergarten at Perimeter Christian School and Lee is in his fourth year back

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

at ARRIS Group (after six years away in residential real estate development). Exciting times at ARRIS, as they just closed on the acquisition of the home division of Motorola. Lee also had a great time touring Italy last summer, where he and Wendy left Alicia for the summer. In his spare time, Lee helps lead Movers and Shakers Furniture Ministry, which provides furniture to families making a fresh start. Mary Ruth Mellown Houston and husband John really are empty nesters.

She and John continue with their mountain-climbing adventures in between practicing law (Mary Ruth) and teaching psychology (John). Since Kilimanjaro in 2011, they’ve hiked the Inca Trail, tried to climb Mt. Hood (stopped by a blizzard and avalanche risk) and hiked the Grand Canyon.

Now Mary Ruth and John are looking for the next adventure.

Lauretta Spell Hamilton and her husband, David, are also empty nesters. Kenan and Hannah are students at Mississippi State University, and David and Lauretta are adjusting. The empty nest isn’t as bad as Lauretta thought it would be. Lauretta’s really big news is that she is retiring at the end of this school year after 28 wonderful years teaching in the public school system. Lauretta wonders how she we can be old enough to retire. Didn’t we just graduate?

Lauretta does not have immediate plans for her next venture; at the moment she just wants to relax and hopefully something will present itself. Lauretta so reports that she has enjoyed catching up with classmates on Facebook.

Jon Gellman is still in Charlotte and married to Laura. Their children are ages 22, 20 and 8 years old. John plays in a band and has left the Ritz-Carlton hotel to return to carpentry; he has begun HVAC contracting. To

quote Jon, “Love outside. Hate running.” Like Jon, Carroll Hill Stone has three children. Her oldest, Sydney Chopping, from Carroll’s first marriage, is 24 years old, a DA alumna and N.C. State grad. Sydney is married and living in Grafenwohr, Germany! Carroll is married to Clint Stone; their children are Taylor, 5, and Morgan, 3. Carroll admits to being crazy. Carroll still operates Quail Roost Farm and Equiventure LLC (another branch of the farm specializing in showing and eventing).

They have over 70 horses on the property, mostly clients’ horses. Carroll teaches the UNC Equestrian Team and the UNC PE riding program, a summer camp and runs a full-service boarding operation. Yours truly is still living in Fort Worth, Texas, and working at Texas Christian University. When not harassing, I mean teaching, students, I’m working in the yard, attending a Jazzercise class or a yoga class, and trying to learn to quilt. I travel to North Carolina at least twice a year to visit my parents, and always spend some time with Janice Langlois Albaugh. My husband, Burton, still gardens and manages our wine cellar.

Class of 1984

Durann Williams durann.williams@gmail.com Tom Liverance’s recent visit to his parents in Chapel Hill helped spur a few events for DA class of 1984 and friends to get together.

While in town, Bryan Hulka, based in New Bern, convinced Tom and Jody Maxwell to run in the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh. Sarah Warner Burdick hosted a dinner that turned into a mini reunion for classmates who were in town.

The attendees from our class

D A

A L U M N I

Class of 1986

Rob Everett Jonathan Avery rob@teamapartments.com javery@ravenscroft.org

ABOVE: 1984 Reunion, Back row: Becky Henegar Gould, Pat Biggs Porcelli, Carolyn Back, Dagmar Cooley, Lenore Wilber Plymire, Sabrina Walton, Andrea Mia, Holly Gallagher Samet, Brunson Hoole, Nata Kornberg Bozymski, Ken Bowers (’85), David Brower (’85).

Middle, sitting on sofa: Tom Liverance, Boots Thurston, Serena Russoli Hutcheson, Chris Verwoerdt. On floor: Lauren Alexander Singdahlsen (’85), Chris Han, Brian Hulka, Durann Williams Archer, Jody Maxwell, Sarah Burdick.

included Pat Biggs Porcelli, Becky Henegar Gould, Serena Russoli Hutcheson, Carolyn Back, Chris Han, Chris Verwoerdt, Steve Loehr, Dagmar Cooley, Nata Kornberg BozymskivLenore Wilbur Plymire and Holly Gallagher Samet. Brunson Hoole attended with his wife; they are living in Chapel Hill, and he is working in publishing.

Elizabeth “Boots” Thurston was able to attend, and she currently works at Weaver Street in Hillsborough. Sabrina Walton was in town visiting her parents from Atlanta where she works for the CDC. Thanks to Sarah for hosting such a great event. Jennifer Ching Creger has changed jobs and entered the world of bank regulatory consulting in March 2012, which has enabled her to meet bankers throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. In addition to a new job, she writes that her husband, David, will enter a

nurse practitioner’s program later this year. A big highlight of the year was a trip to Hawaii to celebrate her aunt’s birthday.

Sarah Warner Burdick traveled out to Nashville, and Craig Havinghurst was able to get her tickets to the Grand Old Opry. Di Pickard has been dealing with health issues over the past 18 months. She and her husband, who is retired, live in Kentucky. Her son, Zach, has returned home to Kentucky and is working in modeling part-time.

Janis Bergman Tillman writes that she is keeping busy with two teenagers; they are focused on college prep and plan to use the summer to visit colleges.

Deborah Bossen Lorber continues to teach but has taken on the new challenge of running a new engineering program.

As for her children, her son, Malcolm, will enter Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall and her daughter, Hannah, will start her junior at Oberlin, which

is also Deborah’s alma mater.

Beth Brown is teaching prekindergarten, and her son will graduate from high school this year. Cathy Howe Sheafor is adjusting with her children being in college and is zipping around town in her hybrid vehicle. She has a busy summer of travel planned throughout North America. Serena Russoli Hutcheson and Becky Henegar Gould will both have children at UNC-Charlotte in the fall, so I look forward to seeing more of them. As for me, Durann Williams Archer, it has been a busy year. My husband, Steve, and I took a trip to England that included an inner circle tour of Stonehenge. For our first anniversary gift (paper), Steve presented me with a raffle ticket for a Share the Food event and I won a convertible car. It goes without saying that I am enjoying riding around town. If you have any updates, I can be reached on Facebook or via email.

Rumors that Joseph J. Kalo IV left the practice of law are “ungrounded and probably planted by my father or disgruntled clients or both.” Joe is transitioning into a health care practice at his Burlington firm (Wishart, Norris, Henninger & Pittman), but he still continues to dig into the dirt of real estate law. William Frederick Wilson, on the other hand, has in fact put his law degree on the shelf and is instead “practicing” real estate. Fred has developed a portfolio of rental properties in Eugene, Ore., where he finds the hardest and most rewarding home to manage is his own. Christopher C. Bennett, who has yet to diversify into real estate, is doing some kind of nebulous equity venture stuff for businesses, basically turning straw into gold. Sadly, Chris’ seventh-grade son can now easily outplay and out-dunk him in basketball. Phillip R. Brown just received a work promotion to some fancysounding position that is “not as important as it sounds,” though he still finds it “nice to be appreciated.” Gabriel M. Paletz continues to teach film in Prague, though it is doubtful he teaches any films mastered/ distributed by Phil. Michael F. Neelon, who himself attended a fancy prep school, is keeping it real on the mean streets of Asheville. Mike is very excited, if skeptical, at the idea that the Durham Academy Glee Club ’86 will be acknowledged on the Alumni Hall of Fame. Geoff Lamb continues to earn his way onto the Hall of Fame

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

43

GEOFF LAMB ’86

The ‘Big Boss’ of Craft Brewing

By Tim McKenna, Associate Director of Alumni Affairs

I

f you have attended one of the most recent Fall Alumni Weekend gatherings, you would have seen a familiar face serving some of his famous Big Boss craft beers. Geoff Lamb ’86 and classmate Andrew King ’86 have been generous enough to sponsor the alumni ABOVE: Geoff Lamb ’86 came to the beer business from the world of corporate law. social gatherings just prior to the Homecoming soccer games. Lamb came to the beer business from the world of corporate law; he had spent 10 years as general counsel for General Casting, an Ohio manufacturer of parts and components used by ITT Corp., Goodyear and General Electric. Ohio never really became home, however, and Lamb, a Chapel Hill native, says his desire to return to the Triangle and control his own destiny were factors in his decision to look for opportunities in North Carolina.

So in 2006, Lamb bought the assets of Edenton Brewing and created new beers and branding around the Big Boss name with the help of McKinney advertising agency. The brewery and tasting room are located in Raleigh, off Capital Boulevard. Lamb says Big Boss’s mission is to brew quality, balanced beer.

“We brew over 20 different beers each year to craft one style for everyone’s palate,” Lamb said. “Big Boss is designed to be appreciated but crafted to be enjoyed. It’s a beer drinker’s ‘house brand’ — always satisfying.”

This mission has made Big Boss a household name in local restaurants and bars, at grocery stores, bottle shops and at beer festivals throughout North Carolina.

“We have added more production capacity in the second half of 2012 than we brewed in all of 2011,” Lamb said. “Big Boss expanded the brewery space by over 50 percent and is in the process of installing a new bottling line and adding a second bar and a merchandise shop. In 2013, we added distribution to eastern North Carolina.”

Lamb is not only excited about the future of Big Boss, but also for the opportunities he has had to reconnect with Durham Academy. He and his wife, Loren, have two daughters — Alex ’17 and Sydney ’18 — who attend DA Middle School. Lamb also was recently appointed to serve on the Durham Academy Alumni Board.

“I have been involved as a student, parent and now on the Alumni Board,” Lamb said. “DA gave me a strong education and an independent spirit to tackle life’s challenges. To me, the Alumni Board is about the commitment to make DA stronger and engage with alumni and students (future alumni) to accomplish this goal.”

When Lamb isn’t in Raleigh working on his microbrews or running the girls around, he enjoys watching college sports and playing soccer with his family.

Lamb 44

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

by serving up delicious Big Boss beer at alumni events such as the annual Distinguished Alumni and Faculty/Staff Legacy Awards celebration. Unlike Mike Loehr, Tony Han at least calls when he is in town; next time, Han, next time. Speaking of making time for his old friends, the illustrious Rob Phay has promised to do just that when he is in town this October. Rob is serving his 14th year as inhouse counsel at Commonfund, which manages money for nonprofit organizations like Durham Academy. Two years ago he took on responsibility for the compliance program, meaning he is the guy who goes to jail if anything goes wrong. Meanwhile, Rob’s wife Siu is teaching secondgraders at Riverdale Country Day School and daughter Sofia is now in, gasp, the 10th grade. As for your faithful correspondents, Jon R. Avery overcame a tremendous family hurdle when he helped one of his fourth-grade daughters with an egg-drop object by wrapping it in weatherstripping and putting it back in its carton. Nesteggsity is the mother of eggvention. Equally monumental, Rob O. Everett coached son Henry (DA ’22) and the mighty Firebirds to a 10-1 record in the Woodcroft Boys Basketball League. The Firebirds’ only defeat came on a last-second, half-court shot to the other undefeated team — a tough loss, but as Coach John Wooden used to say, it’s about the journey, not the destination.

On a somber note, we wish to take this opportunity to express our sadness at the passing of classmates Mark Verwoerdt on June 4, 2012, and Pat Eudy on June 20, 2013.

D A

Class of 1987 Craig Powell craigp6891@yahoo.com

Greetings from the Class of 1987! Let me start by thanking Lawrence Warner for compiling this for the last 25 years. Big shoes to fill. So now, in order of receipt … The first to check in is Ian Patrick. “I got the chance to go back to Durham for work again in December of 2012 and got a tour from Coach Engebretsen as the new gym was being completed.

It is awesome — they put up some of the old floor on the wall in the entryway. I also enjoyed the magazine article about the amount of time Coach E took keeping the gym up and running.

Equally cool was meeting fellow grad Chris Claypoole for dinner and getting caught up with him.

That was the first time we have seen each other in 25 years! It is also great to hear he has kiddos as Cavaliers now. My daughters Kiley and Allison just turned 9 and 6, respectively, and along with my wife, Debbie, we are still in the busy stages of life as parents.

Looking forward to seeing John Lowman over the summer down in Atlanta, and I will reach out to Tom Beischer on my next trip to California! From a work perspective, I was accepted into the Senior Leadership Academy sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges for the 2013-2014 academic year, designed to further prepare you for leadership posts in private colleges and universities. I am excited! Thanks to Larry Warner for 25 great years of class notes.

Go Cavs!” Received a short note from Deb Markland: “Truckin’ along here in Atlanta … trying hard to keep up with kids. Cole is now 15, Jake is 13 and Emma is 10. I am still teaching preschool and really enjoy it.” Catharine Campbell also checked in with

a quick note: “I am working in Raleigh as a real estate agent specializing in the default services industry. I work with major banks to sell off their inventory and help homeowners avoid foreclosure by selling short sales. I’m celebrating my 22nd wedding anniversary with my husband, Herb, who owns a commercial film company.”

Sounds like Jen Phillips may win the award for the busiest year. “I got married to Billy Owens in October and moved to Charleston,” she wrote. “Will graduates this Friday from DA and will be heading to Appalachian.

Chris will be a senior majoring in engineering. I now also have a stepdaughter, Tiffany, who has a son, Owen, and daughter, McKinley, and a stepson, Ryan, who has a son, Davis. I am loving living on the water and enjoying the great seafood!” Adam Spilker checked in from Minnesota, and it sounds like he is doing well. “For me, there isn’t any real update. I continue in my position as senior rabbi at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul where my wife also serves as a cantor (clergy responsible for the music of services.) Our kids (ages 16, 14 and 9) are doing well and next year will be in three different school systems just to keep things interesting.” And yet another message from Minnesota, this time from Bruno Freeman: “All is well here in Minneapolis, my home for the past three years.

The snow has finally melted and we’re gearing up for our brief summer season. In addition to traveling as much as possible during the winter months, I have been able utilize my art history degrees by being active at our world class contemporary art museum, The Walker Art Center, where I have had the privilege of contributing to patrons’ educational series and sitting on acquisition committees.”

Now, getting closer to home, Mason Cox writes, “I am married

to Jennifer Scott Cox, and we are living in Chapel Hill and raising our three kids, Mackenzie, 13, Mason, 11, and Mary, 8. Jenn is an interior decorator at ML Designs, and I work with Chris Porter at CLINIPACE, a medium sized CRO in RTP.” And now news from West Virginia from Marjorie Havighurst Cooke, who has plans to have her family meet up with Sybil Rockwell Robb and her family in London this July. “I’m still engaged with kids and music education through my work managing the West Virginia Youth Symphony. Our senior orchestra traveled to Eastern Europe last June with 55 young musicians on a 10-day, three-performance tour. My work is fun and keeps me out of trouble. Son, Will, 14, and daughter, Hayden, 12, continue to delight and challenge us daily! Andy and I are trying to get them to love the Greenbrier River as much as we do. It’s almost heaven … West Virginia!” And with another report from Chapel Hill, Kirsten Vollmer writes, “Life is good in Chapel Hill — I have a new job, working for UNC Health Care, programming for their HL7 interfaces. My husband, David Idzi, is still doing well at Merck. Our 5-year-old, Calvin Idzi, will be entering in kindergarten in the fall. A side note: Sasha Gallis, wife of Alex Gallis, is one of his current teachers … At this point, our activities mostly revolve around Calvin — reading, playing, bath time and the inevitable iPhone apps! We just got back from a week of vacation in Duck, N.C., and are relaxed and ready for some warm weather!” Thanks for trusting me to pull this together.

It’s awesome seeing the notes coming in. For those who didn’t write in, hope all is well with you. And finally, for me, your humble servant, I am enjoying

A L U M N I

my first year of retirement from the Navy and not having to worry about my next move. I still work for Uncle Sam, but now as a defense contractor. While I work in Norfolk, I actually live in Virginia Beach. I just celebrated my second anniversary with Anne Weisner. Looking forward to summer when my daughters, Madeline, 17, and Katherine, 13, visit from Texas, when we will spend as much time as possible at the beach. And that’s a wrap. If anyone makes it up to the Virginia Beach area, let me know; I would love to catch up in person.

Class of 1990 Les Evans les.evans@gmail.com

Things are going well in northern Wake County. We adopted a dog just a few weeks ago — she’s been great with our two girls (8 and 4½) and is a great companion on my trail runs along Falls Lake.

My wife and I are still working hard at our recently recapitalized company, hoping all the hard work pays off for the long run.

We just spent an evening with Leigh Kramer LaFalce and her sister Laurie (’78) at another Delta Rae concert — they opened for Lyle Lovett at a charity event our company sponsored.

Delta Rae, in case you don’t know, is a locally based band with three siblings that happen to be Leigh’s two nephews and niece.

Also joining us at the concert was the recently married, friend and neighbor to many DA folk, Jordan class of ’90 graduate, Banks Harvard. Continuing the Delta Rae theme, Guy Foulks and his wife Deb are also now big fans, having caught the band in D.C. Guy and Deb continue to travel a lot, recently returning CONTINUED ON PAGE 47

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

45

D A

Ravin

A L U M N I

DAVID RAVIN ’89

Q & A with David Ravin ’89, architect turned commercial real estate developer ‘Mor e opp or t uni t ie s a r ise in t he wor s t of t ime s’

By Tim McKenna, Associate Director of Alumni Affairs How did you get involved in the commercial real estate business?

I studied architecture in college and graduate school. I’m not sure how many architects Durham Academy has produced over the years, but it was something I was always interested in. However, once I graduated from UNC-Charlotte and the University of Michigan and I started working at an architectural firm, I quickly realized development was much more appealing to me. The developers were the architect’s clients and really made most of the project decisions. So I went back to school at MIT, as we received little to no business training in architectural school. After I finished graduate school in Boston, I took a job in Charlotte at a small, private real estate company called Crosland. I worked in the multi-family division developing apartments and condominiums there for 14 years.

Where do you do the majority of your business? What are a few of the special projects you are working on?

Interestingly enough, most of my work has been back in RaleighDurham. I have developed 22 projects there. Whenever I am back in Raleigh-Durham, I complain about how congested it has become, but I should probably be the last one to complain. Cosgrove Hill, in Chapel Hill, was an interesting project. I passed that undeveloped site along 15-501 a hundred times driving back and forth between Durham and Chapel Hill while at DA. Being involved with the development of Southpoint Mall was pretty chaotic, as the owners of South Square Mall (if you remember that) were fighting like crazy to keep Southpoint from being approved. Today, we are doing a lot of work down around Glenwood South in Raleigh and building a pretty large, mixed-use project in Cary at High House and Davis Drive. This being a small world, Charlie Wilson of C.T. Wilson, a DA classmate, is constructing a project directly across the street in Cary. We also just purchased a 51-story residential tower in Charlotte called the VUE. It is pretty rare to build residential condos that tall in the Southeast, so that has had some interesting challenges associated with it, but the views that high up are outstanding.

Commercial real estate, like many other industries, has had its ups and downs. How have you weathered and prospered during these times?

Like they always say, more opportunities arise in the worst of times.

In my case, Crosland, which had been in existence for 75 years, had to shrink from 300 associates to less than 100 during the last recession. At the time I was president of our multi-family division, and, not wanting to lay off so many people, I offered to purchase the division and start again 46

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

David Ravin ’89

as Ravin Partners. I even let my father and brother invest and believe they were part of the business opportunity — which they never stop talking about. But seriously, it was a scary proposition at the time. I took 93 people and moved to new offices and set everything up to start over. We have now grown to 157 associates and are doing work in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Texas. Despite the general slowdown in real estate, multi-family has been the lone bright spot so we have really been more lucky than good. We also formed a venture with a large equity firm in New York called Northwood Investors. We rebranded ourselves to Northwood Ravin, which is the name we operate under now.

What are some things that you like to do when you are not working?

Mandy [Turvey Ravin ’89], my wife who was also at DA with me, would say I am always working. She would also be the first to say that always working would have been the last thing she would have predicted while we were in high school together. But when not working, it seems like we are running our three kids around to their various events from sun-up to sundown. In an attempt to try to not always just watch the kids play their various sports, I do play on an adult soccer league in Charlotte. I am getting to that age, though, where my mind thinks I can do things my body gave up long ago. During a recent game, my oldest son videotaped me with my iPhone, and his commentary throughout the video of how slow and lazy I was seemed to be pretty accurate.

Was there a teacher from DA who had an influence on what you are doing today?

There were actually two teachers I recall very well. Mrs. [Julie] Singdahlsen was the art teacher when I was in high school. Given my interest in architecture, she was always encouraging me to take art classes. She also encouraged me to go ahead and research architectural schools and enroll. The other teacher, Mr. Scott Hutchinson, was my fifth-grade homeroom teacher. It was my first year at DA, and I was interested in everything other than homework. My parents started to become concerned and went to talk to him during one of the parent/ teacher reviews. He told them not to worry, that I was just a late bloomer and to give it time. They bring that conversation up at every family gathering even today. Unfortunately, I now have to tell them to stop referencing my early DA years as my children are now inquiring about seeing my middle school report cards to do some quick comparisons.

Hopefully, we will just leave it at that.

D A

from a wildlife siting extravaganza in Thailand. They are excited that Guy’s folks have moved back to North Carolina — Wilmington to be exact! Leigh Taylor Koch writes, “Our family has had an amazing year in the D.C. area.

This summer we are headed back to Jacksonville, N.C., for two to three more years. I am looking forward to being back in N.C., but will miss all that northern Virginia has to offer!” Bobby Croom and I are both in Raleigh and it turns out that Lance Daniel works between where the two of us live! Lance commutes here from a small community in northern Durham County where he lives and the three of us hope to all have lunch together soon. “Not much new for me,” says Keri Ehle Nasenbeny.

“Still living in Seattle, working at the University of Washington Medical Center, where I am the nurse manager for two busy ICUs. My twins, Lucy and Will, started kindergarten this year, which has been fun. Other than that, we’re just living the dream in the Pacific NW and staying busy camping, gardening and hanging with the kiddos.” Jennifer Hoog Nichols now has two children at DA. “My daughter is in fourth grade, getting ready for the fourth grade play, which they still do!

I’m still scarred from my oompaloompa days. My son is in fifth grade and loving the freedom (and the iPads). It’s really great to see the same teachers and the same traditions from back in the day. I keep in touch with Jenn Webb Crowder and Betsy Hage and love seeing Katie Moylan Little at school pick-ups! I also get to see Durward Williams at soccer games. Myatt (’87) and Melissa Kaluzny Williams’ (’87) son is in fifth grade with my son, and they play on the same soccer team. I could go on and on with the DA connections. It’s really

something …” Speaking of Betsy, she reports that she is “happy, busy and healthy in Raleigh!”

Health has been the main issue in her family this year as her mom has bravely fought breast cancer and has received great care at Duke. “We (the Hage crew) are all working on getting healthy and more active as the spring has set in and my mom’s treatments come to an end! Being back in Durham on a regular basis has been good and surreal! I miss the class of 1990! I hope you all are healthy, happy and continue to prosper wherever you are! P.S. I encourage all my classmates to get your yearly physicals and ladies go get ’em squeezed!” Katie Moylan Little says that she and Heather Shavender Zucker, Cindy Allen and Frank Hyland all got together a few weeks back for a reunion for our elementary school.

“We had a blast catching up! As for me, I live in Hillsborough and have been working at Duke in the pediatric blood and marrow transplant unit for 14 years. I am currently getting my master’s in nursing at UNC (Go Duke!) I used Betsy Hage’s driveway to park for my N.C. State clinicals this spring. My kids Lucas (7) and Shelby (5) go to Durham Academy. My husband, Darin, and I are enjoying every DA experience from musicals, plays and sporting events. I run into Jennifer Hoog Nichols all the time in carpool. We enjoy reminiscing about our DA days.”

spend time together on a regular basis. Personally, I just completed my fourth amazing school year at Rye Country Day School in the suburbs of NYC, where I’ve been the assistant director of admissions, running the financial aid program and coaching varsity boys basketball. My twin girls recently turned 2 and keep me extremely busy. I am also happy to report that after a great experience here at RCDS, I recently accepted a job as the director of diversity at The Town School on the Upper East Side in NYC. I will be happy to make the short commute into the city and will get to spend time with several DA alumni.

Douglas Dicconson is living close by in Westport, Conn., with his wife, Kimberly, and their 16-month-old son, Parker Douglas Dicconson. He recently completed an interesting short film project for GE Focus Forward that took him to film festivals all over the world.

Doug’s son loves hanging with his aunt, Edith Dicconson ’89, in Manhattan and with Edith’s kids, Ella and Arlee. Adam Ravin is living in Lake Norman outside of Charlotte with his wife, Blake, and two boys, Brady and Gates. Adam is a plastic surgeon with Carolinas Health Care System. He told me the exciting news out of the Ravin household is a recent adoption of a rescue dog named Lilly. Jonathan Tsipis is the head women’s basketball coach at the George Washington University, after working for nine years at Notre Dame. He has an 8-yeardaughter who loves basketball and running and a 6-year-old son who loves basketball and tee Torsie Judkins ball. He lives in Arlington, Va., torsiejudkins@gmail.com and loves exploring Washington, D.C., with his family. Jon enjoys The members of the class of working with DA alum Omar 1991 all turned 40 this year, and Bell ’94 at GW and promises the 40 must be the new 60 because Judkins girls basketball scholarships my classmates were very slow to respond. Our class is a pretty tight- in 16 years! Paul Rockwell remains executive research and knit group and many of us still

Class of 1991

A L U M N I

development chef with Diversified Foods and Seasonings, Inc., in the greater New Orleans area. He’s developed several retail food products that are currently in the marketplace at stores like Costco, Kroger, Wegmans, Schnucks, Winn-Dixie and Publix. Shrimp and grits, seafood gumbo, shrimp and tasso rotini, and queso-ricestuffed chicken breast with mole sauce are some of the items that they are currently producing.

Jeremy Durack and his wife, Mindy, moved to Manhattan about a year-and-a-half ago. He’s an associate professor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in interventional radiology, while Mindy works on Madison Avenue in an advertising firm. Ashley Atkins is living in Durham, where she practices law in the Triangle and is continuing her music career. Virginia Reves Hall is in her 15th year teaching at DA, and both her daughters are attending DA (Allison in first grade and Catherine in pre-k).

Laura Horton Virkler reports that she is still in Hillsborough on her farm with a boarding stable, beef cattle operation and lots of chickens. She has three kids at DA (fifth grade, second grade and pre-k). Libby Lang ’89 teaches her middle child, and Virginia Hall is teaching her fifth-grade daughter! Laura is on the DA board of trustees at and was on the search committee for the new headmaster. She is very excited about Michael Ulku-Steiner coming back! Her oldest was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in December and although life has changed, she has been absolutely amazing. So Laura’s new focus has been diabetes research and fundraising. Tracey Richardson Hughes reports: “All is well here in McKinney, Texas. We have two boys, Tyler and Ayden, ages 10 and 8. They are both into soccer and love to be outdoors! We have land

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

47

D A

A L U M N I

out in East Texas in Emory and love to ride ATVs. There is not even a McDonald’s or Walmart out there; it is wonderful! I love to go antiquing and spend weekends at flea markets hunting for treasures and got my boys into it as well! I work in Dallas at JE Dunn Construction Company as a project coordinator. I still ride horses once or twice a week, depending on soccer schedules. Life is good, loving Texas!” Allison McWilliams reports: “Finishing up my third year back at Wake Forest as director of mentoring and professional development. Love being back in Winston-Salem and at Wake, and have enjoyed getting to see Kathy Oakes, Clint Acrey, Jason Lang (when we can find him), Laura Virkler and Nicole Epstein Ramsdell again. Also really love being back close to my family in Durham and Raleigh. If any one’s ever headed this way, stop by!” Clint Acrey reports: “I’m living in Winston-Salem with my wife, Stuart, and daughter, Ellie. who is starting kindergarten in the fall. Occasionally Allison McWilliams, Kathy Oakes, Jason Lang and I will have a mini DA gathering. We’d love to expand the group if there are other DA alums in the area! In 2011 I left GMAC to open Acrey Insurance Agency. I’m fortunate to work with my brother and DA alumnus Brad Acrey (’04) every day. I’m also coaching tee ball, and despite my best teaching and genetics, I haven’t passed along the ability for Ellie to hit a baseball.” Matthew Hawkins reports: “Staying busy in Port Orchard, Wash., (close to Seattle) with work (regular and Navy reserve duty), finishing up another graduate degree and four kids (all 6 and under) excited to see me the minute I walk in the door. Maybe one or more of them will be a 48

better basketball player than I was.

Good chance we will be relocating back to the East Coast this summer in the D.C. megalopolis. I’m not looking forward to exchanging NW summer weather for swamp heat and humidity.” Laura Ritchie Taliaferro reports: “I still live in Norfolk, Va., where I am the speech pathologist at our neighborhood elementary school. My husband, Lloyd, is now working for a tugboat company. Our two boys, Lawson (9) and Bo (7), are very involved with baseball, which is where we spend most of our weekends.”

Lee Sullivan reports: “Big news for us was having our second daughter, Louise, last year! And Lucille turns 5 this year. We are still living in London, and I’m still doing effects for films; recent projects include The Great Gatsby and the Total Recall remake. And I’ve now passed the 10 year mark as an expat. ...” Jessamy Selim reports: “Married 12 years this summer, still living in Greensboro.

Dan is working as a media sales manager at WFMY TV. And I am now working full-time as an account executive at Rock92 and 107.5KZL. Michael (9) and Jack (7) are doing great at Greensboro Academy. We are all looking forward to our trip to Jackson Hole/Yellowstone Park and our stay at a dude ranch in Wyoming this July. Although, I am not so sure about this sleeping-outside thing.” Becky Davidson reports: “I live on a lovely mountain near Chattanooga, Tenn., and have been in the area for seven years. It’s gorgeous. I’m a clinical social worker in private practice and my kids, Julia and Sam, are 10 and 8, respectively.

With spare time I seek out places to mountain bike or visit the S.C. coast, where I hang with my brother, Ben (’88), and often get to see the Reves sisters and their families.”

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

Class of 1994 Bev Foulks bevfoulks@gmail.com

The Class of 1994 continues to have its fair share of new babies, jobs and doctoral degrees to announce. Betsy Reves Sidebottom reports that things are a little crazier in Charleston with the arrival of her son, Wesley, in March 2013. He is adored by his twin sisters, Ella and Reves, who are 18 months older than him. Betsy continues to work part-time at the Medical University of South Carolina in the marketing department.

She writes, “Richard and I love our growing family and try to maintain our sanity in a house full of laughter, baby talk, dirty diapers, two dogs and surrounded by a constant state of chaos!”

Sean Bilsborrow also added a third child to his family with the birth of Parlan Quinn Bilsborrow on 12/12/12 — a date that Sean says “even I will have trouble forgetting.” Parlan joins big brother Jet (6) and Sasha (5). This is Sean’s 12th year coaching the DA boys tennis team, which had a 7-0 beginning to its season.

Brent Hilpert’s second daughter, Mackenzie Grace, born Oct. 7, joins older sister Molly, age 3.

Brent will be leaving Woodward Academy in Atlanta after 15 years to begin a job at the Boys’ Latin School of Maryland in Baltimore.

He will be a grade dean in the upper school and teach a couple of sections of chemistry and physics. Molly Williams Pugh welcomed a baby girl, Alwen Rebecca Pugh, into her family on April 2. She weighed 8.9 pounds, was 21 inches long and had a beautiful head of silky dark hair, which was a stark contrast to her sister Meredith, who turned 3 on March 31; Meredith was in the 6-pound range, 19 inches long and bald at

birth. Molly teaches at Episcopal High School in Virginia. In the fall she taught a new course to juniors on American Protest Literature, which started with founding literary fathers (Paine, Jefferson, etc.) and then followed three broad categories — race, gender and environment — and included Tupac Shakur and Bill McKibben. Taking advantage of being so close to D.C., they attended several protests to observe and analyze their “literature” or their words about themselves. Millie Barritt is in Chapel Hill and working as a gastroenterologist at UNC. She now has two kids at DA: Connor in second grade and Tyler in kindergarten. Incidentally, Connor is a friend and classmate of Collin Thornburg, who is Bronwyn Leech Thornburg’s son! Bronwyn writes that her daughter, Shea, will be joining her big brother Collin when she starts kindergarten at DA in the fall. David McCoy reports that he has a new job at Bank of America in Charlotte as AVP in mobile banking technology. Shara Lee earned her doctorate from the University of Central Florida in educational leadership with a concentration in higher education in December 2012. Her dissertation was about building transferable skills through undergraduate education. As for myself, after spending the fall semester on maternity leave following the birth of my daughter, Haley Lynn McGuire, I returned to teach Asian Religions at UNCWilmington this spring. I still enjoy living at the coast and being able to reconnect with former DA classmates and teachers (Dave Gould!) in Durham and Chapel Hill. I hope everyone has a wonderful summer, and I look forward to hearing from folks again next year!

D A

Jay works at Vermillion Asset Management, and his wife is a pyschotherapist at Columbia University’s counseling center. The newlyweds recently ran into Amanda McCoy Sachs and her husband, Mike, at a party in NYC. Amanda is deputy general counsel at designer Tory Burch and admits

Caroline, who is an active and very fun 3-year-old. We live in a suburb of NYC and try to get into the city any chance we get!

Sarai Rightmyer Repoley reports: “All is well here in Asheville! Our daughter Amalia turned 4 on Thanksgiving, and we welcomed Elizabeth Margaret ‘Bertie’ on January 19. They are both just delightful and we feel so blessed.” In April she returned to work as a gardener and garden designer for her company

ABOVE: Sharon Califf ’96 and daughter, Brooke, had a blast when they made their first visit to the American Girl store. RIGHT: Meredith Stockman ’96 and husband, Koury, live in Cary with their son Jameson, 4, and daughter, Ashley, 2.

spring working as the Upper School counselor in addition to her regular teaching and advising duties. Kristin Hughey Bowie is living in Chicago with her husband, Ryan, and her three children — Lily, 7; Grace, 5; and Liam, 3. They are looking forward to spending time back in Durham this summer. Tom McGee lives in Ashburn, Va., with his wife and their two children — Ginny, 6, and Owen 3. He writes, “I get down to N.C. every once in a while and try to make it to at least one Duke game a year.” He had fun catching up with our classmates, Margaret Prestwood Chiou and Brian Meyers at halftime of the Miami game. Thanks for all your updates and please be in touch!

Class of 1996

William vonReichbauer william@williamvonr.com

Class of 1995

Martha Rundles Palmer marthapalmer76@yahoo.com Hello from Connecticut! There are some great updates from our classmates this year. “What a wild year it’s been!” writes Liz Kay, who is counting down the days before getting married to her fiancé Jeremy on July 13 at Mountain Top Inn in Vermont.

In other life changes, she’s started a new job coaching basketball at Amherst High School in Massachusetts this year. And, since she’s moving an hour north with her soon-to-be husband, Liz is leaving her teaching post at Suffield Academy after 10 years for a job at Williston Northampton School, which she’ll begin in the fall. Jay Tatum married Megan Voris in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 18, and they now live in New York City. Jay and Megan were introduced by Brandon Henry.

A L U M N I

she’s acquired a lot of new shoes through her work gig! Rheanna Platt and I shared something very special this Thanksgiving Day — we both had baby boys on the same day! Rheanna and her husband welcomed baby Paul on Nov. 22, and although they aren’t sleeping much, they are very happy. Once she finishes her medical training — a fellowship in child/adolescent psychiatry at NYU — the family is moving to Baltimore in August. My husband Steve and I were thrilled to bring home our new baby boy, Alexander Wayne, back in November to meet his big sister

Graceful Design Gardens, which is in its seventh season. She talks regularly with Elizabeth Bast and had great fun seeing Rheanna and Suzanne Perrault Blakely on a theater trip in NYC last June. Lindy Krzyzewski Frasier and husband Steve are expecting their third son, Caden, this July. He’ll be joining Quin, 7, and Remington, 4. “Aside from trying to keep up with my brood,” she writes, “I continue to be busy at both Duke and Durham Academy.” Lindy serves as performance development coordinator for Duke men’s basketball; at DA, she began last

Hello class of 1996! Sharon Califf writes: “I am still working in clinical research at Duke and loving it. My office moved to downtown Durham last year — this area has changed so much since we were in high school!

I’m enjoying all of the different restaurants and things to do down here. It’s such a fun area now!

Other than that, my daughter, Brooke, keeps me pretty busy.

We always seem to be on the go these days but we have a lot of fun. I braved the American Girl store for the first time and we did the Color Run 5k for her 9th birthday this March. Life is pretty great!” Loren Clemens continues to live in San Francisco but is sick of the rat race and is currently contemplating a six-year cross-country ice-cream-tasting tour of the United States. Sean Curry was married in June 2012 on a goat farm in Luray, Va. “Great wedding, even Drew

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

49

D A

A L U M N I

Sharma danced!” Sean graduated from UVa in 2012 with a master’s in management of information technology. He and his wife live in Falls Church, Va. “No kids yet. But we are living the dream, one day at a time ...” Eric Haber writes: “I’m still up to the same thing. I live in San Francisco and have been here for seven-and-ahalf years. Life is going well out here. I’m not married yet, but do look forward to that happening one day (when the right lady comes along). Work wise, I’m still working with Lucasfilm in their information systems department.

We are starting to gear up for the new Star Wars episode movies (first one coming out in 2015).

I’ve managed to survive (for now) through all the reorganizing that the company has been doing since we were bought out by Disney at the end of last year.” Heather Foulks Kolakowski writes: “I am finishing up my MBA and expect to graduate in December.

It’s interesting being a teacher and taking classes at the same time.

Still loving life up in the Hudson Valley and teaching at The Culinary Institute of America.

My parents retired and moved to Wilmington, N.C., to be close to my sister, Beverley (Foulks) McGuire ’94. I look forward to hanging out at the beach with them this summer.” Drew Sharma and his wife still live in the Boston area. He is spending time traveling and just launched a new company, TravelInsurance. com, which allows consumers to compare and buy travel insurance plans online. Meredith Stockman and her husband, Koury, live in Cary now with their kids Jameson, 4, and Ashley, 2. “Life is great!” Charlotte Wannop Simons writes: “My husband Paul and I are excited to be expecting our third little munchkin mid July. Prior to that we will be moving to our 50

ABOVE: Arabella, who turns 5 in July, and Mackenzie, 2 1/2, are the daughters of Charlotte Wannop Simons ’96. LEFT: The girls celebrated with Charlotte after she ran in Australia’s Sydney Color Run earlier this year.

new home mid May in Sydney, Australia, as we just sold our house a couple weeks ago.” As for me, William vonReichbauer, I have recently relocated to Houston, Texas, with my nowfiancée, Heather Nabors, who has taken a job directing the dance program at Rice University. I continue to play lots of music. In June, I will celebrate the release of an album, Your Crazy Heart, with my now-former band, The Bo-Stevens, that we have spent the last two years writing and recording. Until next time, best wishes for another great year!

Class of 1997

Kadi Thompson kadithompson@gmail.com Ashley Horton Freedman, her husband and two kids are excited to be moving to Durham in June.

Her daughter, Logan (4½ years old), will be attending Durham Academy in the fall, and she will be in kindergarten with Morgan Edwards Whaley’s oldest son, Charlie. Morgan and her husband, John, live in Chapel Hill, and she

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

works in the finance department at The Hill Center. Charlie, 5, and Jackson, 3, will be attending many DA camps this summer.

Julia Hamner Cheatwood is still living in Charlotte with her husband and three kids, Avery, Griffin and Lila. Patrick Hale and his wife, Kati, are in Charlotte. They welcomed their second daughter last June. Her name is Lilly Calhoun Hale.

Patrick finished his MBA last August and he works for Merrill Lynch. John Sheffield and his wife, Krista, have recently added a second child to the Sheffield clan: Violet, born last September.

John also took on a new job working as a sales account manager with Tableau Software.

Brendan Cox is currently on the Turkey-Armenia border.

He’s spent the last year traveling around the world, specifically in Southeast Asia and India. He’ll be returning to the U.S. in June and will be driving his car from Fairbanks, Alaska, back to San Francisco. Brooke Staton writes from Indonesia where she is working at Jakarta International School. She’s excited to change

grade levels next school year and will be taking on second grade. She’s been very fortunate with all the great travel opportunities she’s had; most recently she went to Raja Ampat (Papua), to Kalimantan (Borneo) to see the orangutans and to Tana Toraja (Sulawesi), one of the most culturally rich Indonesian experiences. The next stop for Brooke is a long summer vacation traveling in the U.S., where she’s thrilled to get back to visit family and friends! I, Kadi Thompson, decided to move back to San Francisco last summer after five years in New York. I am currently working for Sephora as a Director of Inventory Management. I’m thrilled to be back on the West Coast, where I can spend lots of time with my beautiful niece and nephew.

Class of 1999 Nina Jacobi nina.jacobi@gmail.com

Liz Larson Clapham graduated from dental school at UNC in 2012 and is currently practicing in Durham. She has been happily married for almost 10 years now and has two wonderful kids,

D A

Sebastian, 6, and Evelyn, 3. Liz says that they are lucky to have their son in Mrs. Whilden’s (aka Jessica Crowe Whilden ’00) kindergarten class at DA. Mary Guiteras is enjoying life in New York City, still working hard in both theater and comedy. Over the past year, she has gotten to travel with several shows performing in Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Charleston and even exotic Carrboro. Daniel Raimi has been working at the new Duke University Energy Initiative, where he works with policymakers and academics.

He writes papers on energy policy issues such as energy subsidies, “cap-and-trade” programs and shale gas development. He is relocating to Nashville, Tenn., this summer, and is excited to get all caught up in country music.

Mike Dolan got married to Natasha Shurtz on April 6 in Saint Louis. Jason Sholtz was one of the groomsmen (I’ve edited out the fond nicknames that Mike included for Sholtz here). Mike is working in the advanced marketing group at John Deere and has been spending time on projects in Brazil. He is really enjoying the opportunity to work internationally. Amar Goli is living near the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., and working in commercial real estate. Amar does investment sales and commercial leasing with a focus on retail and office buildings. In the retail category, he’s currently leasing spaces to shops and restaurants in West LA, primarily Venice and Santa Monica. For office buildings, he focuses on creative spaces for entertainment company clients such as film production, music production and marketing/PR firms in Los Angeles. Amar is also attending Pepperdine University’s fully employed MBA program and will be graduating in May 2014.

Margaret Jones is in her second year of residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Washington.

She loves Seattle and everything that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Despite her former hatred of winter, she now loves snowshoeing, is learning how to ski and even attempted winter camping. Margaret reports that it’s a great life out in Seattle for her, and people are welcome to visit anytime — she is already planning Lindsay McCrory’s visit this summer. Matt Crawford graduated from medical school at UCSF in May and will be moving back to Durham to start orthopaedic residency at Duke. He is looking forward to being closer to family and reconnecting with old friends.

After 15 months of working for Ole Communications as the attorney for E! Entertainment Television Latin America, Erika Estrada Boden recently went back to Fox International Channels Latin America, where she worked for almost four years prior to moving to E!. She is now executive director of business and legal affairs at Fox. Erika says that it feels good to be “home” again — “many of the same faces, and a lot of new professional challenges, which the nerd in me really enjoys.” Erika and her husband, Jeff, purchased and moved into their first home in October 2012 in Coconut Grove, a suburb of Miami. They’re enjoying the yuppie, suburban life with their crotchety cat, Sofi, and their adorably sweet Pomeranian, Cameron. As for me, I’m in D.C. working in consulting at McKinsey, where I’ve been focusing on public health and healthcare. I travel most of the time and have become quite a pro at navigating airport security lines.

As always, it’s great to hear from you all. Keep in touch!

Class of 2001

Amelia Ashton Allison Kirkland amelia.ashton@gmail.com allison.kirkland@gmail.com Unlucky 13? Hardly for the members of the Class of 2001 grads, who were extremely fortunate this year. Several grads welcomed new additions to their families, including Ben Larson, who, along with wife, Danielle, is now parent to twins Bradley Arthur and Samantha Marie.

“They are happy and healthy,” Ben reports, “and we are doing a lot more laundry.” Also with onesies in the wash is Molly Kane Frommer and husband Scott, whose daughter Lucy was born in October, and Gudrun Jorgenson and husband Jay, whose daughter Clara Emilie Ellsworth was born in March.

Gudrun lives in Alexandria, Va., and works at Williams & Connolly, the law firm where Mike Munson works as a contract attorney. Mike also sends big news: In November 2013, he will marry Sophia Chase, whom he met in law school.

Recently admitted to the D.C. Bar, Amelia Ashton joined the same firm in November. After taking several months off to condo hunt and travel (including a jaunt to Yellowstone that included some close run-ins with elk and bears; inquire for details within), she is very much enjoying her new lawyer gig. She often reminisces about the DA days with Anne Lacy Gialanella, who lives in D.C. and enjoys her job as a therapist. From the Big Apple comes the news that Maggie McPherson is engaged to Richard Weir. Congrats!

Also in New York is Allison Kirkland, who graduated with an M.F.A. in creative nonfiction from The New School in May. Getting ready to make the move

A L U M N I

from New York City back to Durham is Caroline Mage, who will continue her work, via telecommute, at MDRC. We also heard from another alumna in the area, Jessica Streck Ortolano, who just finished her first year of library science grad school at UNC-CH, focusing in school media. She received high honors her first year. She recently finished working at the DA Upper School Learning Commons as a library assistant and will complete her field experience at Durant Middle School in Wake County.

Also helping to make Durham Academy a better place is Everett Anderson, who serves on the Alumni Board. He still holds his position at Raymond James as a financial advisor, and he wants to congratulate his wife, Candace, who just ran her first full marathon. Congratulations are also in order for Katie Ballou on her marriage to Robert Gardner on June 22!

Brendan Bradley, still loving life in sunny California, has some fantastic news to share as well: He just began filming a new sitcom for B.E.T. called “Mr. Box Office.” At this point, he’s not sure how many episodes he will be in, but he should appear a few times in the second and third season, so keep an eye out and set your DVRs! A big announcement of the academic variety comes from Laura Kasson Fiss, who just earned her Ph.D. from Indiana University in English, with a minor in Victorian Studies.

Her thesis, titled “Laughing with the Victorians: Humor and Interrupted Reading,” sounds like something we’d very much like to read. Congratulations to Laura! Bringing us other research breakthroughs is Jennie Cheeseborough, who has spent the past year focusing on research in plastic and reconstructive surgery. She recently received an

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

51

D A

A L U M N I

astounding $2.5 million grant from the Department of Defense to study a new treatment for nerves in limb amputees. She explains: “We take the nerves that used to go to someone’s hand, for example, and sew them into the muscles they still have.

This prevents pain at the nerve endings, called neuromas, and allows us to give them smart prostheses (bionic arms) that interpret their thoughts through the new muscle contractions.”

This sounds incredible to us, and makes Amelia even more grateful that Jennie was her sophomore year physics lab partner. It has certainly been another amazing year of accomplishments for the Class of 2001. Thanks for sharing your joys with all of us!

Class of 2003 Andrea Fjeld andreafjeld@gmail.com

Ten years ago, 96 fresh-faced teenagers paraded through the quad toward the podium and our diplomas, grateful that high school was over. Our parents were beaming as we tried to play it cool. That night, some of us went to a Dave Matthews concert. The rest of us partied at various houses around town and cried and hugged our best friends, already reminiscing about that one time at The Loop.

So much has changed since 2003. We have smartphones and Facebook and a new Daft Punk album. We communicate in 140 characters. None of us listens to DMB anymore, but we’re all atwitter about Beyoncé’s baby #2. We’ve changed, too. We’ve matured, gotten real jobs — and some of us are settling down. Best wishes to Rebekah Brenner (UNC-W ’07), who got engaged to Ben Mark (UNC-CH ’07) over Labor Day in Hilton Head.

52

03 Class of 2003 Reunion

DA Fall Alumni Weekend

Oct. 4 & 5, 2013 In case you her clinical Spread the word. missed it, the psychology Register at www.da.org/alumni. engagement internship at was featured in West Virginia Durham Magazine School of last February, a month after they Medicine in Charleston, W.V. bought a house in Country Club In August, she’ll receive her Heights. The wedding is planned Ph.D. from UNC and move for this fall. to Minneapolis to begin a Emily Luger (also UNCpost-doctoral fellowship at the CH ’07) is nearing her six-year University of Minnesota with a anniversary with New York focus on eating disorder research.

City and her three-year with Lily Schroeder (Yale ’07) Federated Media. She leads graduated from law school at content marketing and social UC Berkley a few years ago. She media for big-name companies spent a year clerking in San Diego like Citibank, L’Oreal and before following the siren call Target. She’ll keep working back to North Carolina. She lives for Federated Media when she in Durham and clerks for a judge moves to Detroit soon — which, in Raleigh. But this fall, she’ll in my opinion, is the next head up to Washington, D.C., to Williamsburg-esque hipster trap. join fellow DA alumna Amelia (I mean that in a good way.)

Ashton (’01) at the law firm This spring, Sara Malenbaum Williams and Connolly. Still on (Duke ’07) graduated from the West Coast, Monika Lind dental school at the University of (USC ’07) lives in LA with a cat Pennsylvania. She plans to stay and her boyfriend. She writes in Philadelphia for three more movie scripts (often collaborating years for her residency program with her brother, Jason), tutors in orthodontics, also at Penn. teenagers and coaches basketball.

Two years ago, Mike Johnson (She also has short red hair (another UNC-CH ’07 grad) now — in case anyone doesn’t married his college sweetheart, recognize the once-blond woman Becca. He’s just finishing his on the red carpet.) It’s been six first year of business school at years since I graduated from the UNC Kenan-Flagler, where University of Chicago — six he was elected president of wonderful yet hectic years spent the Marketing Club. Over the in New York. In September, I summer, he’s interning in Dallas started freelancing as a writer, with the brand management editor and copy editor while I department at Dr. Pepper Snapple search for a full-time big-girl Group. (So I think you know job. I write for ExitEvent.com, what you should be drinking a blog dedicated to the North tonight.) I always picture Sarah Carolina start-up community, Landis (UNC-CH ’07) as a and volunteer at Communities Latin teacher. Didn’t you? Well, In Schools of Durham as she’s been filling that role in New a marketing strategist and Orleans for three years. However, copywriter. I’m currently splitting she’s searching for a new teaching my time between N.C. and N.Y., job in Chicago, where she and but I’m looking forward to the her boyfriend are moving in June day when I sign the lease for my so he can complete his residency brand-new Brooklyn apartment, at the University of Chicago. permanently move back north (Go Maroons!) Emily Pisetsky and reunite with my cat. Next (Wesleyan ’07) is finishing up year, writing these notes may

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

not feel as special as they do now. But today, I’m excited to honor my wonderful classmates who graduated with me 10 short years ago.

Congratulations to all of your successes — I hope you’ve enjoyed the surprises, and see you next year.

Class of 2004

Stephen Barlow barlow.stephen@gmail.com Brit Bussian became engaged to Tyler Birch last November. They’ll be married at Duke Chapel on Nov. 16, 2013. Emerich Gutter and his wife, Cate Walker Gutter, are expecting their first child, Mark Timmins Gutter, at the end of July. Emerich works for DLA Piper in Chicago, primarily in mergers and acquisitions. Heather Brooke Whaley married Jason Dennis O’Dell on April 12, 2013, in Nashville, Tenn., where they currently live. Heather is a nurse practitioner with the liver transplant institute at Vanderbilt University, and Jason is a system engineer with Clair Global.

After wrapping on Showtime’s “Homeland” in Charlotte, Ken Greenleaf headed up to New York City to work on FX’s “The Americans.” He recently enjoyed a productive five-year reunion at Duke University. Madeleine Pulman reports: “I’m still keeping busy working for Nissan North America. I currently manage 10 dealerships in South Florida where I fly to every week from my home in Atlanta, Ga. Next April I’ll be marrying the love of my life, Brett Smithwick, in Palm Beach. During our free time we enjoy spending time with Brett’s two children: Saige, 9, and Mason, 6. I love them to pieces!” Rena Gower Stein received her master’s of social work in 2011 and has worked in development in the nonprofit

D A

She also just started working at American Equity Mortgage, so it promises to be a busy and rewarding summer for her. Leigh LaVange is living in New York City and engaged to Andrew Clark, while her friend Maggy Taylor is set to marry fellow Rice Owl Sean Britton. Maggy recently moved back to Houston to teach at a Title I school in the area, but is very excited to return to Chapel Hill in August for the wedding.

Representing the guys of the Class of 2005, David Hutchings also “put a ring on it” a few months ago. He is engaged to Lauren Pearson, who happens to be a fellow Spanish teacher and UVa TOP: Madeleine Pulman ’04 and fiancé Brett Smithwick will be married in Palm Beach, Fla.in April. alumna. This BOTTOM LEFT: Jason O’Dell and Heather Whaley ’04 were married April 12 in Nashville, Tenn. year, David’s BOTTOM RIGHT: Emerich Gutter ’04 and Cate Walker were married Sept. 3, 2011, in Asheville. two girls cross country teams sector since receiving her degree. both brought home Virginia In addition to her full-time job, state championships — a repeat Andrew Weinhold she has launched GoodyBags, performance for the varsity team andrew.weinhold@gmail.com a non-profit organization that and the first for the middleshe co-founded. The mission schoolers. Bethany Walters To nobody’s surprise, it has been is to give backpacks of items to and Brad Waffa (’08) have another busy year for the Class children living in poverty or both successfully navigated the of 2005. There is big news in unstable conditions. They have trials and tribulations of three the world of engagements, as just partnered with a foundation years of vet school classes at several of our classmates are hard that is based in St. Elizabeth’s N.C. State and are now moving at work sending out wedding Parish, Jamaica, and she and her into the their fourth-year announcements. Grad school is co-founder will be traveling clinical rotations. Bethany was beginning for some, ending for there in December to distribute honored with two awards at others and transitioning for those items. Joshua Kon moved to the end of the year: a leadership who cannot get enough of it.

Boulder, Colo., last year with award from the NCVMA, and Some from the group are even fiancée Caitlyn. He is working a spontaneous “MVP” award quickly becoming young leaders as a software developer at a from her classmates. She is across the professional world. technology consulting company, plunging headfirst into a crazy Laura Johnson recently became and his fiancée works at Google. year of two-week rotations with engaged to Leslie Shelton IV, and They are getting married in small animal, large animal and is working toward a master’s in September and moving into their zoological species, and is super library and information science first home this summer. excited that Bailey Brame ’09 at East Carolina University.

Class of 2005

A L U M N I

will be attending N.C. State’s vet school in the fall. She also is happy to speak with anyone else who may have the remotest interest or curiosity in veterinary medicine.

Down the road in Chapel Hill, Sarah Goldstein will graduate in May from UNC’s medical school.

After a well-earned break, she will then begin her residency in internal medicine at a local dark blue school that more closely fits her lifelong sports allegiance. In the meantime, Emily Glick moved to Chicago and has thoroughly loved living there. She is becoming a mainstay in entertainment and media. At any given time you can find her performing in the theater, singing gigs with a string quartet or working as a hand model in advertising spots for DiGiorno Pizza. A bit closer to home, Ben Chambers was named Fayetteville Young Professionals Business Man of the Year for 2012. He was also among the Fayetteville Observer’s “40 under 40,” which honors influential young leaders in the local business community. Ben’s work in the area extends beyond his job, as he serves on five separate boards and committees ranging from the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival to Methodist University and the Highland Country Club. He also placed second in Fayetteville’s local version of Dancing with the Stars, a fundraiser that collected over $112,000 for charity. Ben even had the opportunity to take a transformative eight-day trip to Haiti in February with a group from First Presbyterian Church, providing medical treatment and construction assistance to more than 2,700 people. The international experience of the Class of 2005 does not end there, as Sarah Scott has firmly established herself in Ushuaia, Argentina — the southernmost city in the world. She recently started her own transcontinental CONTINUED ON PAGE 55

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

53

D A

A L U M N I

A NDR E W T Y SON ’05

April 30 debut at Kennedy Center brought cheers and three standing ovations

Tyson

L ou Pa r ry urged A ndr e w Ty son to se a rch f or ‘b e au t y a nd t ru t h’

By Mary Clyde Bugg

A

Photos by Tony Powell

picture in the 1999 yearbook shows a cute little sixth-grader playing clarinet in Jeff Zentner’s beginning band class. Who would imagine that this quiet adolescent, just 14 years later, would be making big noises in the international classical music scene — on the biggest grand pianos all over the United States and Europe!

Today Andrew Tyson ’05 has many good memories of Durham Academy teachers, friends and experiences — all of which stretched his imagination and inspired him to put his extraordinary talent to work. He recently recalled English teachers Tina Bessias, Jordan Adair and Eric Teagarden’s love of the poetry of Beowulf in Old English, the artist diploma as well as Harriet King’s personal program there. notes to him following his concerto Since 2011, Tyson with the Chapel Hill Symphony. has won awards He praised current and former DA and honors in at music teachers like the Melody least five major Zentner and Jeff Zentner in Middle international School and Mike Meyer and Nick piano LaCasse at the Upper School. competitions and Tyson loved DA’s jazz-rock in May made the ensemble In the Pocket, which semifinals of the physics teacher and musician Herb Queen Elisabeth Lamb led in accompanying West International Side Story (in 2002) and other Upper TOP: Andrew Tyson ’05 made his Kennedy Center debut on April 30. BOTTOM: A full hall of music lovers heard Competition School musicals. Playing keyboard, Tyson play Mozart, Bach, Scriabin and Chopin, resulting in three standing ovations and two encores! in Brussels, sometimes piano or organ, Tyson Belgium. His performances occasionally evoke quite negative reactions caught Lamb’s infectious joy in playing jazz. Most of all, his Upper School from reviewers or fellow competitors, but Tyson believes those very critics advisor, Lou Parry, instilled in him the artistic urge to “create beautiful have significantly contributed to his growth as an artist and have built things … to search for beauty and truth.” As he explained the connection his confidence and courage on stage — exactly what he seeks in these between physics and music, Parry promised to go hear Tyson when he sometimes long and grueling competitions. He continues to express every plays at Carnegie Hall! human emotion through music — in his own quite inimitable way!

Graduating from Durham Academy in 2005, Tyson won a full From childhood, Tyson has experienced support in the Triangle, scholarship to The Curtis Institute of Music for his bachelor’s degree, then often playing in concerts with the Duke String School Orchestra and earned a master’s in performance at The Julliard School and is currently in 54

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

D A

offering recitals at UNC and numerous retirement communities. Most frequently since 2008, he has appeared in the St. Stephen’s Concert Series, playing once or twice each year at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. At this, his home church, he has had two mentors — Joseph Kitchen, church organist and music director, and Dorothy Kitchen, director of the Duke University String School — as well as several local piano teachers and groups which have supported and mentored him over the years. A group from St. Stephen’s chartered a bus to Washington, D.C., for Tyson’s Kennedy Center debut on April 30. On the bus were nine former DA parents and other fans from the Triangle area. They joined a full hall of music lovers at the Kennedy Center, and all stood and cheered at the end of Tyson’s exciting concert. Three standing ovations, two encores, Mozart, Bach, Scriabin and Chopin — just about everything in the world of musical communication!

Even as his future concert/recital schedule grows, Tyson is very generous in returning to the Triangle to perform. Next year, he will be in Durham to play with Nicholas Kitchen three Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano, the third performance in a popular, three-year series.

In January, Tyson will play Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. In April, he collaborates with Duke’s renowned Ciompi Quartet to play the Chausson Concerto for Piano, Violin and String Quartet. Tyson finishes his hometown season with a solo recital at St. Stephen’s on June 1.

About the shy little boy who always worked so hard, a fellow piano student, now a great fan, described Tyson: “From the start he was all business at the piano.”

Tyson has kept his humble heart, grateful for the nurture of his loving family, many teachers and school friends — and now of multitudes of fans who follow his career. We mobbed him in the “green room” after his Kennedy Center debut — all ecstatic that we had seen and heard Tyson’s very spirit through his passionate and inspired playing. That night he surely found “beauty and truth!”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mary Clyde Bugg taught at Durham Academy from 1969 to 1999, much of that time teaching sixth-grade language arts. Andrew Tyson’s sixth-grade year was her last year at DA.

Andrew Tyson awarded $25,000 Avery Fisher Career Grant

Pianist Andrew Tyson has picked up yet another award: a $25,000 grant from the Avery Fisher Artist Program. The grant, which was announced May 15 at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, is given to artists believed to “have great potential for major careers.” The stipend is to be used in furthering a career.

The first Avery Fisher Career Grants were awarded in 1976, and all of the 128 recipients are currently working musicians. Five grants were awarded this year: two to pianists, two to violinists and one to a string quartet.

travel company there: Freestyle Adventure Travel. The business (freestyleadventuretravel. com) focuses on Antarctic cruises, benefiting from Sarah’s experiences visiting and driving zodiac boats for tour ships there.

Here’s to another year of success and adventure for the Class of 2005!

Class of 2006

Imani Hamilton imani.hamilton@gmail.com Here we are in 2013, most of our class at the 25-year mark or rapidly approaching it. Now officially mid-20s, we’re at least not total freshmen in real life anymore, but still very much in the first stages of pursuit: of careers, the next best show or getaway, new homes or friends or cities. First this year is Nick Gallo, who loves his job as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s writer for the team’s website and publications. I like it, too, because he comes to San Francisco to visit whenever they play the Warriors! Another visitor to California this year (a weekend skiing with me in Tahoe), Kyle Sloate will be starting Duke’s PA program come August. Before that grind begins, she is trying to fit in some more traveling.

Matt Wysenski delivers some exciting career news; he just finished construction on a prototype build/design for a bridge erection boat for the U.S. Army and is hoping to win a $200M+ contract. He has had a handful of his boat designs built since he started in Port Angeles, Wash., and he’s been working on a design for a 50-foot, $2M combat/patrol craft that the Chile Department of Defense, the Dutch Coastguard, Hong Kong customs, Oman and a few other potential clients are

A L U M N I

interested in. He’s advanced the marketing and sales departments of the company vastly with 3D rendering and CAD abilities, and his career has progressed handily as a result. His company is expanding quickly enough that he was also able to find positions for both his brother and a good friend from yacht design school, so they will both be moving to Port Angeles soon. He is now an ABYC certified marine technician. For his personal enjoyment, he is slowly working on the design and construction of a 19’ fully enclosed jet boat so that he can occasionally escape to British Columbia and commute across the strait of Juan de Fuca for work. He’s also been testing his green thumb with gardening and caring for his lawn, and recently finished rebuilding his 1970’s moped. He laments that Alex Nozick is no longer at DA, and credits him for being one of the main reasons he’s gotten into his current career path in which he’s flourishing and enjoying more than any other option imaginable. Meanwhile, John Tabor is finishing a third year of teaching in Hawaii, ran the Honolulu Marathon in December and became a first-time uncle when his sister, Tess (’99) gave birth to baby Jack a few weeks ago! In the fall, John will be moving to LA to start his MBA at USC. Caroline Stubbs, soon to begin her fourth and final year of dental school at UNC, will be going on two externships this summer: one at the Pender County Health Department in N.C. and the second at the West LA VA hospital in Los Angeles, Calif. Christine Sailer, at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, reports that she can’t believe she has been on the wards (in the hospital) fulltime for a whole year now!

Her application process starts

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

55

D A

A L U M N I

Charlotte. I teach around 250 kids a year and I love it, it’s what I was meant to do. Piedmont is a magnet IB school that has won many awards including Magnet School of the Year in 2012. Next year I will be helping out with the Science Olympiad team and I am trying to start a club girl’s lacrosse team. This summer I will be working at the U.S. National Whitewater Center here in Charlotte, which is really neat and serves as the Olympic training site for all whitewater sports. When I’m not teaching and have free time, I am frequently in Hickory

ABOVE and RIGHT: Matt Wysenski shared these images of his personal jet boat design and the engine that’s going into it.

in September for residency in internal medicine (three years), and she is currently planning to do a fellowship afterwards in cardiology (three to four years).

Drew Littlewood finds it hard to believe that it’s been seven years since he’s lived in N.C., but in August he will move to Raleigh from Washington, D.C. Drew Sutton is still living in Charlotte, though he started a new job working for a private equity firm last August. He also went to the Galapagos Islands with his family last summer. Also in the finance world, Matthew Michel spent the last two-anda-half years as a financial analyst for Cisco Systems in corporate strategy. He will leave Cisco in the fall in pursuit of an MBA at Columbia University. In midMarch, LaQuesa Gaillard made her way back into the world of television, joining ABC11-WTVD as a production assistant. After a short hiatus, she is so excited to be back in the industry and even more excited to see where this market takes 56

her. Meredith Hall’s note is far better quoted than third person: “Last June, I resigned as general manager of the Hampton Inn & Suites in Huntersville to do what I had always wanted and become a teacher. The hotel job was actually pretty neat, we were ranked #1 in the world (out of over 1600 Hampton Inns) for several months, and the hotel was owned by Drew Sutton’s mom’s company, Daly Seven. I quit in June when I was accepted into TEACH Charlotte, which is a program that puts lateral entry teachers at some of CharlotteMecklenburg’s neediest schools.

So now I am a middle school Spanish teacher at Piedmont IB Open Middle School in

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

to see my sister, Rachel (’10). She was captain of Lenoir-Rhyne’s lacrosse team, president of her sorority (Delta Zeta) and just won an award for having the highest GPA of any elementary education major at Lenoir-Rhyne.” I hope you’re all enjoying the spring into summer, in all your various parts of the world. Meanwhile, I will be doing all I can to convince Christine Sailer to do her residency at UCSF and LaQuesa Gaillard to move to California, the both of them to hopefully one day join Jordan Schiff and Tarun Wadwha and me in the Bay Area, or at least for a visit.

The same goes for the rest of you.

Thanks to those of you who sent me your updated email addresses, please continue to do so!

Class of 2007

Brooke Hartley allisonbrookehartley@gmail.com It’s hard to believe that members of the Class of 2007 have been DA alumni for six years. This past fall, we celebrated our five-year reunion at Tobacco Road and reminisced over old yearbooks and glasses of wine. Since then, our class has had some pretty memorable accomplishments over the last few months.

Michelle Sutton is living in New York City, working in sales at Bloomberg. She manages accounts in South Florida and sells the Bloomberg Professional Service software. She travels to Florida usually three times a month but still gets to spend her weekends enjoying all NYC has to offer. Truly the best of both worlds!

Sarah Ransohoff is another NYC resident.

She’s currently pursuing opportunities in design, product creation and story-telling. In keeping with the New York crew, Patrick Toomey is working as an analyst at the Benenson Strategy Group, a Democratic polling and strategy firm. He’s definitely working towards his senior superlative: “Most likely to be President of the United States.” Taylor Diamond has been in NYC for the past two years, working for an IT company. She’s loved her time in the city, but plans to return to North Carolina to attend law school at Campbell University in the fall. Fun fact: Taylor and I are members of the same New York gym so I’ll miss running into her around the treadmills! Natalie Sutton took a new job at ING U.S. a year ago in the strategy and corporate development group.

It’s been a very exciting time as

08 Class of 2008 Reunion

D A

A L U M N I

DA Fall Alumni Weekend

the company has been working towards an IPO, which was successfully executed in May. She lives in New York with her sister, Michelle. As a future doctor, Patrick McLendon is a rising second-year medical student at GA-PCOM in Atlanta, Ga. He was recently elected president of his medical school’s surgery club, and he will be spending part of his summer working in a foreign aid medical clinic in the Andean village of Layo, Peru. Also taking the graduate school path, Adam Marshall is a rising third-year law student at George Washington University, focusing on constitutional law, and a member of the GW International Law Review.

He’s also been working with the Innocence Project. This summer he’s interning with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, where he’ll be focusing on protecting everyone’s digital rights and working with Congress to reform privacy laws. Margaret Russell lives in Delray Beach, Fla., where she’s both a student and yoga/ meditation teacher. She’ll graduate in June from Florida Atlantic University with a B.A. in history and a minor in women, gender and sexuality studies.

This fall, she’ll be moving to New York to start a master’s program in women’s history at Sarah Lawrence. Jamie Gutter has completed his second year working for Teach for America and has completed his master’s degree in education. He is living in Nashville, Tenn. Closer to home, Sam Mumma is working in Charlotte as an events coordinator for QuintEvents, the official hospitality package providers for the NFL, NBA, Churchill Downs and a few other events. This spring she had the opportunity to go to the Masters, the Kentucky Derby,

Oct. 4 & 5, 2013 a motorcycle U.S. in August.

Spread the word. race in Austin Also in the Register at www.da.org/alumni. and a Pro U.K., Edward Bowl meeting Ohman in Honolulu. recently moved She’s made some serious dents in to London for a six-month any sports fan’s bucket list! After stay with his company, LEK graduating from the University Consulting. Following a tradition of Central Florida, Robby he’s kept since high school, Burroughs lives in Orlando, Fla., he’ll be headed to Sweden this and is recently engaged. Congrats summer. Chloe Rousseau is to Robby! Anna Bland also a London resident, working Costello is a true Cavalier and is for the local government as a working in the admissions office public health analyst and hoping at Durham Academy. She loves to start a graduate medical her time on campus and being program in September 2014. able to go to fun DA traditions She also recently got engaged. like the Kindergarten Mexican She’s getting married next July fiestas and the spring Special in Spain, her fiancé’s home Olympics. As she says, “I guess I country. Christine Hardman can’t get enough of this place!” continues to work on Capitol Down in Texas, Becki Feinglos Hill for Rep. Hal Rogers from is completing her second year Kentucky as his press assistant teaching bilingual kindergarten and legislative correspondent. as part of Teach for America.

She’s living with Stephani At the end of the school year, Tindall in Georgetown. Finally, she’ll transition to a role on the I, Brooke Hartley, still live in TFA staff as a manager of teacher New York City. Last summer, leadership and development, my company, Buddy Media, was working with Dallas/Fort acquired by Salesforce.com and Worth corps members. She was has grown rapidly. I’m a manager recently selected to represent on the customer retention and the Dallas/Fort Worth region in strategy team, overseeing highLower Elementary School as a risk accounts. I continue to run nominee for the National TFA into my fellow DA grads with Sue Lehman Teaching Award. surprisingly regularity and love Becki is engaged to a fellow TFA hearing what everyone has done corps member and planning a since graduation. I hope everyone wedding for next spring. Further has a great summer! north, Nellie Snider is finishing up her first year of vet school at Cornell and hopes to work with horses after graduation.

Anna Cooperberg She’s taking advantage of her alc2181@columbia.edu time in Ithaca, learning to crosscountry ski and hiking with her Just five years after our high adopted dog. Across the pond, school graduation, the class of Katherine Buse is finishing up 2008 is going through major her second master’s degree as part changes — college and graduate of her Marshall Scholarship. She school graduations, big moves, earned her first M.A. in science new jobs, engagements and fiction studies at the University of marriages. Zac Allison Liverpool and is now completing graduated from UNC-W in May an M.A. in English at Cambridge. 2012 and is currently living in She’s excited to be back in the Chapel Hill. He’s working in the

Class of 2008

information technology industry in sales for NetApp, a data storage and management company in the Research Triangle Park. Ashley Brasier is an associate consultant at Bain & Company in Washington, D.C., where she enjoys working with clients in a variety of industries, including retail and aerospace and defense.

On the weekends she volunteers at the National Building Museum. Lauren Bronec lives in D.C. and works as a consultant for Accenture’s commercial practice. She’s been an active member in the Duke and Theta alumni groups, and is looking forward to vacationing in Ireland this summer. Caitlin Burk is wrapping up a year of pediatric allergy research at UNC, the highlight of which was traveling to San Antonio to present her work. In August, she’ll be starting medical school at UNC, though she’ll remain a Duke fan! Devon Cunningham will be graduating from ECU this May and is deciding between graduate school at UNC-G, becoming a bond trader at Falcon Square Capital or entering into the exciting world of koozie sales. Alexander Daly graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill last May, and has moved to NYC to pursue a career in acting.

This April, he will make his feature film debut in an indie comedy. Thomas Davidson works in Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management division, focusing on international clients.

He enjoys living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Alexandra Davidson-Palmer is finishing her first year of graduate school at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., where she is working towards a master’s in applied developmental psychology. This year, she worked as a graduate research assistant on a project studying social-emotional learning in preschoolers. Molly

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

57

D A

A L U M N I

Dektar is finishing her year exploring rural traditions in Norway on a Henry Russell Shaw fellowship for purposeful travel.

Next fall, she’ll begin studying at the fiction MFA program at Brooklyn College. Catherine Donatucci is living in northern Virginia, working for a government defense contractor.

She’s also studying for the GRE and looking into master’s programs involving criminal justice. Nick Drago works in regulatory affairs for women’s health drugs at Bayer in New Jersey. He enjoys going to New York on the weekends, and hopes to get back into cycling this summer. Rebecca Freedman is finishing her first year of medical school at Emory University. She became engaged to Tom Neustein after graduating from Penn last summer, and will be getting married in June. She is excited to explore Spain on her summer honeymoon and start her second year at Emory. Daniel Goldstein is graduating with a bachelor’s of environmental design in architecture from N.C. State. This summer, he’ll be interning at Elkus|Manfredi Architects in Boston, and will return to NCSU in the fall to start the master’s architecture program, from which he’ll graduate in 2015. Rachel Hodges backpacked through Europe the summer after graduation. Now living in Nashville and working as a healthcare consultant for Huron Consulting Group, she’s studying for the GMAT and plans to pursue an MBA. She’ll be moving to Dallas in the fall. David Hoffman graduated from N.C. State last May with a B.S. in horticulture and was president of the Horticulture Club. He studied in Peru for six weeks to practice Spanish, and now lives in Kranenburg, Germany, where he is doing a year-long internship at Stauden Peters. David Kern is 58

working as analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Dallas, Texas, in the corporate debt products division covering large corporate insurance companies.

He’s also in the process of pursuing his CFA (chartered financial analyst). Samantha Leder has spent the last year working for a law firm in Charlotte. She will move back to Chapel Hill at the end of the summer and begin graduate school preparations. Harrison Lee finished his undergraduate degree in philosophy at UNCChapel Hill in December, and is now coordinating WXYC’s local music show, “The Backyard Barbecue.” He’s considering philosophy master’s programs that he’s been accepted to for the fall.

John Lindsey launched Lindsey Self Storage Group over the past year, and was elected to the South Carolina Self Storage Association board of directors. He was also recently elected to the Durham Academy Alumni Board, and is actively involved with the Caring House in Durham. Julie McCracken spent the summer after graduation doing research at Duke on inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. She is now doing a volunteer program in West Baltimore helping with social work in a community hospital, and is looking forward to moving back to Durham in August and getting back to research. Ryan O’Connor will be moving to San Francisco to “fulfill my destiny as the James Bond of financial statements,” and asks that anyone needing tax, assurance or advisory services let him know. Leslie Ogden is the senior government relations associate at a boutique political firm in Washington, D.C. She works on a variety of policy issues with lawmakers and their staff on Capitol Hill. She’s looking forward to many more years in

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

the nation’s capital. Will Ramsey lives in Arlington, Va., and does market research for the shipping company Maersk. Next month, he’ll be heading overseas to manage a team of arts educators at The American School in Switzerland, Michael Ulku-Steiner’s “old” school!

Justin Rose is graduating from N.C. State this May then moving to Boston in the fall, where he’ll be working as a community organizer for a social justice organization. Hillary Scott is living and working in NYC, doing marketing and product development for a natural cosmetic company. She ran her first marathon in April, and can’t wait to start training for her next one. Yates Sikes will graduate with an M.S. in mechanical engineering from N.C. State in May. In June, he will be marrying Maria Lazzara in Chicago. After the wedding, he’ll be working in the Chicago area as a mechanical engineer, designing for a mass transit seating firm. Emilia Sotolongo will be graduating from Elon with a degree in middle school education. She spent last semester teaching at Hawfields Middle School in Mebane. She’ll be attending ECU for a master’s of education in reading education, and was selected to be the graduate assistant for the graduate director of the school of education. Noah Steege is finishing up college, after which he’ll be moving to the D.C. area to work for Fairfax County or Prince William County Fire and Rescue Departments. Eric Steinberger graduated from Santa Clara University in December 2011 and is living in San Francisco, where he works at Franklin Templeton Investments in product management for US equity funds. He is in the process of taking the CFA. AJ Strauman

is graduating from Northwestern in June with a degree in radio, TV and film, and plans to go into professional sports television broadcasting. She’s now working at a Big Ten baseball broadcaster.

Raj Sundar is finishing up his first year at UNC-CH School of Medicine. This summer, he’ll be in Geneva, Switzerland, working with GAVI Alliance. Isaac Uhlenberg graduated with a B.A. in psychology from UNCChapel Hill, and has been traveling up and down the East Coast teaching and training dance. Next year, he hopes to teach regularly at a studio before moving to LA to pursue higherlevel training and bookings.

Brennan Vail is finishing up a master’s in public health at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and will be starting medical school at UCSF at the end of August. Everett Wilson is graduating from N.C. State with a B.S. in biological sciences with a human biology focus and a Spanish minor. He’s preparing to take the MCAT in July, and will be applying to medical school this application cycle. Finally, I (Anna Cooperberg) will be graduating from Columbia’s Journalism School with a M.S. in magazine journalism. After graduation, I plan to travel and freelance for several fashion magazines and websites.

Class of 2009

Collin Burks Worth Newman newj@wharton.upenn.edu collin.e.burks@dartmouth.edu Hello from the Class of 2009.

As Carmen Augustine says, it feels like no time has passed since we were all in Carolina Theatre getting our diplomas! Carmen can’t believe she is already graduating from Duke. After

D A

graduation, she will be traveling around Asia before moving to New York to begin work at the end of June. Also graduating from Duke, Peter Gudaitis, with a degree in history, will be moving to Boston. He is starting a job in September with a boutique management consulting firm, Altman Vilandrie & Company.

He plans to spend his last summer vacation traveling around Europe and the United States with friends and family. Peter still has no idea what he wants to do with his life and is considering eventually attending law or business school.

Bekah Pea is graduating from Duke with a psychology major, English minor and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. She will be attending the UNC School of Social Work next year. After Duke, Kyle Mumma will be continuing his career in athletics after four years as a men’s basketball student manager that included trips to China, Dubai, Hawaii and the Bahamas as well as a national championship. He is graduating with a sociology major and a markets and management certificate, and is hoping to be a Division 1 athletic director one day. Fellow Dukie Adrianne Soo is graduating with a major in neuroscience and with distinction in English. She will be attending either Wake Forest or UNC Medical School next year. This summer, Adrianne will be playing on the Duke Ultimate Frisbee team. Mitchel Gorecki, graduating from Duke in biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering and financial economics, is currently working as an analyst at MaxPoint Interactive, a startup computational advertising firm.

In the next few years, he will decide between pursuing his own startup, a PhD or an MD. Graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in political

science and Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures, Margaret Anderson will be moving to Memphis, Tenn., for at least two years with Teach For America. Claire Burridge, also at UNC, is graduating with a degree in history and hoping to pursue graduate study in history within a few years. Before applying to grad schools, she will be taking a gap year to study several required languages. She will be spending her summer in Ireland followed by a year in Germany. If anyone visits the Freiburg area, let her know. After an amazing summer in Manhattan interning with the premier sports, entertainment and media company, IMG, Sarah Sessoms returned to UNC for her senior year and began interning with the compliance wing of the UNC athletic department and continued an internship with the Carolina Hurricanes. After graduating, she will be working with IMG College, a company that represents over 200 different NCAA member schools. After UNC, Noah Katz will pursue a career in aerospace or the movie/ TV industry. If the job market is still unfavorable, he will attempt to study futurism and technological development at a university in the U.K. Noah recently completed an undergraduate honors thesis in digital culture and technology studies that explored the changing definitions of physical and digital space in the 21st century and beyond; his thesis also advocated for a more advanced and sustainable future. His dream job-title is “futurist,” and his favorite food is still sushi. After graduating from the journalism school at UNC, Claire Carstens is thrilled to be moving to Chicago. She will be working at Leo Burnett advertising agency in the corporate communications and reputation department. Studying

for a double major in political science and economics at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Cliff Drake has one more year left in his five-year program. He is still a DJ/music blogger for Dissociative Identity Productions on WKDU Philadelphia, 91.7 FM, which won best college radio station at the CMJ festival in 2010 and 2011 and was named a top 10 college station by WSJ in 2011.

This spring, Cliff is working on a 15’ x 12’ garden with everything from onions to radishes, peppers and carrots. He is also serving as the director of social media and communications for Dragons for Palestine, a new student organization on Drexel’s campus providing dialogue on the conflict. At UNC-Wilmington, Erika Murray is graduating magna cum laude with a degree in elementary education and a minor in English as a Second Language education. This spring, she was student teaching in San Pedro, Belize. She will teach in North Carolina for at least four years to fulfill the requirements of her Teaching Fellows scholarship before possibly teaching abroad.

David Lopez-Lengowski is graduating with a degree in neurobiology from Harvard University. While his post-grad plans remain in a state of flux, he hopes to work at the intersection of healthcare and business. If that doesn’t pan out, David plans to move to LA to pursue a career in acting. After graduating from Dickinson College this May, Phoebe Oldach will be traveling around South America for a month before moving to Delhi, India, where she has a Fulbright grant to conduct research on microbial bioremediation of the organic pollutant HCH. Also interested in research, Andrea Stacy is graduating from Wake Forest University and will begin working for the

A L U M N I

National Institutes of Health at the beginning of June. She has received a post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award to conduct research in a laboratory of brain and cognition.

At the University of Richmond, Natalie Gallo is graduating with a B.S. in psychology and a double minor in business and sociology. She finished her fouryear field hockey career with a third Atlantic 10 Regular Season Conference Championship and the best record in recent school history. Natalie is planning on working for a few years and then returning to graduate school to pursue a master’s or PhD in counseling or sports psychology.

Graduating magna cum laude from Elon, Kate Giduz will be working as a paralegal with a local law firm or as a special education teacher with Teach For America in Eastern North CarolinaDurham. Her senior thesis was on how the “own-race bias” in children impacts eyewitness misidentification. Michael Roubey just completed his junior year at Tufts University, where he is a double major in quantitative economics and psychology.

Outside the classroom, Michael directs plays and is a manager for the Tufts University football team. This summer, he is interning at Simon-Kucher & Partners. Your recorders, Collin Burks and Worth Newman, have enjoyed catching up with our class! This year, Collin has been working on her senior thesis in anthropology on local immigration enforcement. After graduating from Dartmouth, Collin will be coaching soccer for a year in Nicaragua. Worth, sad to leave Penn, will be traveling throughout Southeast Asia this summer before starting work in NYC in July with Credit Suisse in its Latin American investment banking division.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

59

D A

A L U M N I

KATHERINE HODGES ’12

Class of 2010

he Washington and Lee University Mock Convention is a quadrennial tradition run by students with a goal of predicting the presidential nominee of the party currently out of the White House.

Thus, the 2016 mock convention will attempt to select the Republican primary candidate.

Washington and Lee claims the nation’s most accurate mock convention since its Katherine Hodges ’12 inception in 1908. The students have 18 correct predictions in 24 attempts, and only two errors since 1948. Time magazine described it as the “biggest and boomingest” of all amateur gatherings, while Newsweek deftly described it as “the most realistic” student assembly. The convention has been commended on the floor of the U.S. Senate for being an “outstanding practical experiment in politics.” In addition, it usually receives gavel-to-gavel coverage on C-SPAN. Katherine Hodges ’12 was selected to be a tri-chair for the 2016 Mock Convention. It’s a huge job, because the tri-chairs handle all operations of the convention, from fundraising to hiring and firing of team members. Tri-chairs are selected as during their freshman year, with the convention planned for their senior year.

As political chair for the 2016 mock convention, Hodges will be in charge of getting the prediction right. Her roles include overseeing regional and state chairs, conducting research on a grassroots and national level, and acquiring prominent political speakers for the convention. Speakers in past years include Jimmy Carter in 1972, then a little-known governor of Georgia, and Bill Clinton.

Since 1952, the Washington and Lee mock conventions have followed a template of thorough research. Across the campus, 99 percent of students put aside their political preferences and work together researching issues to ensure an accurate nomination.

Jonathan Chamberlin is a rising senior at Beloit College in southern Wisconsin. Double majoring in computer science and theater arts (design), he spent the last year developing software for the history department and stage-managing. This summer he will be living in downtown Durham and building an iOS game for Gamer-Nation Studios.

Caitlin Cleaver is a rising senior at Duke and still loving every minute of it. Having spent the fall semester in Florence, Italy, she returned with a voracious appetite for Italian food and a mastery of the language, which encouraged her to pursue a minor in Italian studies. This summer, she will intern again for the political consulting firm Chong + Koster in Washington, D.C. Charlotte Dunn is a rising senior at Wellesley College. After spending a fantastic semester in Córdoba, Spain, she traveled to Honduras with the Wellesley Global Medical Brigades to open medical clinics in two rural communities. This semester, Charlotte is assisting in on-campus research and subsequently spends a large portion of her time measuring the internal pressure of leeches.

This summer, she will assist with clinical research at the Durham VA Medical Center and volunteer at Duke Children’s Hospital.

Ryan Griffin is a rising senior at UNC-CH. This past summer, he obtained dual citizenship with Bulgaria. He hopes that this will allow him to not only further explore his lineage, but to also see what the rest of Europe has to offer. In addition, he is looking forward to his internship with a pharmaceutical company, Banner Pharmacaps, in High Point.

Elise Hartley had a fantastic

Hodges A big role in the ‘boomingest’ mock political convention T

60

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

Caitlin Cleaver caitlin.cleaver@duke.edu

year pursuing her double major in psychology and food studies at UNC-CH. Through a unique honors seminar, Elise had the opportunity to experience and study food pathways throughout the Triangle, Asheville, New York and, most recently, San Francisco. When not traveling or feasting, she worked as a research assistant for the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, where she will continue to work this summer. Additional summer plans include beginning her thesis with the Duke Diet and Fitness Center, volunteering with Duke Hospital’s adolescent obesity clinic, prepping for graduate school and enjoying life as a Tar Heel. Sam Jones is completely in denial about entering his final year at Carolina.

Calling his time there the best three years of his life doesn’t come close to doing it justice. He will be finishing his term as president of the Honors Student Executive Board in the fall and serving as UNC Psychology Club president for the year as well. This summer, Sam will be in Atlanta interning for Deloitte Consulting in the strategy and operations division.

Julia Kelsoe is a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania.

She spent her fall semester in Bologna, Italy, studying history and interning at an international law firm. She is currently working on her senior undergraduate thesis regarding the Court of Star Chamber, an English prerogative court of law from the 16th and 17th centuries. She will travel to London this summer to continue primary research. Nick Marek is a rising senior at Arizona State, and he couldn’t have picked a better journalism school in the country. He co-founded the Walter Cronkite Sports Network — a club for students interested in pursuing sports journalism.

Nick is a broadcasting junkie, so it’s not surprising to see that he

D A

will run the broadcast department and announce the games for the Fayetteville SwampDogs this summer. Jennifer McMorrow had a great junior year at Bowdoin.

The obvious highlight of her year was spending the spring in Alexandria, Egypt. She will spend this summer at Bowdoin, reuniting with friends and family while beginning her senior research.

Tatum Pottenger spent her fall semester in Berlin, improving her German and traveling throughout Europe. Back at Davidson, she continues to keep busy with various theatrical endeavors and will serve next year as an intern with Davidson’s Friends of the Arts program, promoting the arts within the campus and broader Davidson communities.

In addition to her previously declared religion major, Tatum will also major in German studies.

She has received a pre-ministerial fellowship this summer and will spend eight weeks at Durham’s Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church. Ben Preston is a rising senior at UNC-G and is doublemajoring in physics and math. This past year he has started teaching physics lab and it has been great.

He has also gotten much more involved on campus, joining the fraternity Theta Delta Chi, and running for student government.

He plans on going to N.C. State for his master’s in engineering after undergrad. Maggie Ramsey is a rising senior at UNC-G. This year included her first formal solo recital and two principal roles in the school operas. Maggie has also continued to sing with her school choir, and they recorded a CD in the fall with the UNC-G wind ensemble. Maggie looks forward to studying this summer in Madrid, Spain, and starting to apply to graduate schools this coming fall.

Casey Rogers is a rising senior at Elon University and is having a blast. She is currently teaching

fourth grade and will be teaching kindergarten or first grade her senior year. This summer, she will co-teach with Erika Murray (’09) at DA Summer Programs. Abby Schoenfeld is a rising senior at Barnard College of Columbia University, studying political science. She plays cello in various ensembles at Columbia and has recently started writing sketch comedy. In summer 2013, she will be interning at the Council on Foreign Relations in Manhattan and worrying about the GRE. Audrey Williams is a rising senior at Reed College. She spent the fall semester studying wildlife management in Kenya and Tanzania and will be working on a zebra fish retinal stem cell research project this summer. She has also started playing the fiddle, which she enjoys much more than her neighbors. Tevin Wilson is a rising senior at East Carolina University. He was awarded the ECU Senator John P. East Scholarship and the University Book Exchange Scholarship for the 2013-2014 academic year by the ECU Political Science Department. He was also named an official political science departmental representative by the department chair. Tevin was recently elected vice president of the ECU political science honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha, for the 2013-2014 academic year. He is in the process of preparing for the GRE exam and researching graduate schools. Josh Zoffer is a rising senior at Harvard, studying economic history and international political economy. He continues to pursue his high school passion for debate at the collegiate level, winning both the National Championship and North American Championship this year.

This summer he will be interning for McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm in New York City.

A L U M N I

in memoriam • ELIZABETH PAIGE THOMPSON CLINE ’94 died Feb. 10, 2013, at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, Myrtle Beach, S.C. She attended the College of Charleston, where she was a Chi Omega, and graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Survivors include her father, Hayden King Cline, Jr., of North Myrtle Beach; and her mother, Susan Thompson Wrazen of Pinehurst, N.C. • HASKELL FITZ-SIMONS ’67 died May 12, 2013, from lymphoma.

He was artistic director of Raleigh Little Theatre for 30 years and directed more than 160 productions. Although primarily known for directorship at the Raleigh Little Theatre, he was equally involved in music and founded the wellknown Oakwood Waits, in which he sang and arranged music for 29 years.

His knowledge of all music genres, composers, conductors and operas was as expansive as his knowledge of the theater. He was a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in directing and theater management and an M.F.A. in theater. He is survived by his three brothers and their families.

• JOSEPH ANTHONY MOYLAN, JR. M.D., 74, died May 16, 2013.

He served as a trustee at Durham Academy from 1980 to 1986. He had been chief of the trauma service and professor of surgery at Duke Medical Center and was instrumental in the formation of Duke Hospital’s Life Flight program.

A man who was motivated by his deep faith and commitment to community, Dr. Moylan and his wife, Ann Carole, founded the Durham Nativity School in 2001. This tuition-free middle school for inner city, under-served boys spans an 11-year program from sixth grade through college, with the goal of returning young men to the Triangle area to give back to the community.

Surviving are his wife of 51 years, Ann Carole McGurkin Moylan; his children, Sean P. Moylan ’82, of West Hartford, Conn., Michael F. Moylan ’84 of Hillsborough, Brendan J. Moylan ’85 of Durham, Maura M. Sullivan ’86 of Durham, Kiernan P. Moylan ’88 of Vero Beach, Fla, and Katie M. Little ’90 of Hillsborough; grandchildren, Declan, Mairin, Eamon, Maeve and Quinlan Moylan; Finn ’18, Donovan ’20, Rory ’22 and Maisie Moylan ’24; Fergus and Beckett Moylan ’25; Maddy, Owen, Bridget and Nick Sullivan ’13; Liam, Seamus and Sloane Moylan; and Lucas ’24 and Shelby Little ’26.

• PATRICK LLOYD EUDY ’86 died June 20, 2013, when his twin-engine plane crashed during a training flight. He attended Vanderbilt University and UNC-Chapel Hill, and was founder and CEO/President of Matthews, N.C.-based American Broadband Communications. He also participated in numerous philanthropies and was widely known for his generosity to friends and others in need. He credited proximity to the ocean as one of the reasons he and his family moved to the Charleston area, with homes in Charleston, S.C., and Kiawah Island. He lived in nearby Mt. Pleasant at the time of his death. His passion for sailing and racing were frequently the focus of conversations, and when not on the water he could be found flying one of his three planes, recording thousands of flying hours in air travel for business or traveling with his family. He saved his greatest enthusiasm for his family: Jane Rountree Eudy, his former wife of 18 years; Mary Alexander Eudy, 13; William Lloyd Eudy, 12; Katherine Elizabeth Eudy, 9; and John Patrick Eudy, 7. He is also survived by his mother, Mary Ward Eudy Berini, and two brothers, Bruce Eudy and Keith Eudy, all of Durham.

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

61

D A

62

A L U M N I

Regional

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

Photos by Tim McKenna

Events

D A

A L U M N I

Regional Events Charlotte, Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia and New York City

This spring, Durham Academy’s alumni office hosted regional networking events in Charlotte, Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia and New York City. It was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, make new ones and hear about all the exciting new happenings at DA. FAR LEFT TOP: (right) Richard Weir, Maggie McPherson ’01 and Jay Tatum ’95.

FAR LEFT MIDDLE: Audie McRae, Win Chesson ’02, Nancy Newton Sipp ’79, John Sipp, Sterly Wilder ’79, Torsie Judkins ’91 and Payman Vakil-Zadeh ’92. FAR LEFT BOTTOM: Mike Munson ’01, Alex McCarthy ’02 and Amelia Ashton ’01. CENTER TOP: Back row, Lower School Director Carolyn Ronco, Katherine Hamilton ’11, Jordan Baker ’12, Matthew Novak ’12, Erik Heaney ’10, Kyle Fairchild-Carbonell ’12, Worth Newman ’09, Upper School Director Lee Hark and Head of School Michael Ulku-Steiner; front row, Julia Kelsoe ’10, Dan Browning ’10, Jonah Binstock ’10 and Meredith Burger ’10. CENTER MIDDLE: Stephani Tindall ’07 and Christine Hardman ’07. CENTER BOTTOM: Julia Lacy Gaylord ’03 and Stuart Ramsey ’03. LEFT: Back row, David Ravin ’89, Charlie Wilson ’89, Mandy Ravin ’89, Caroline Dudley ’95, David Barwick ’97, Nicki Ramsdell ’91 and David McCoy ’94; front row, Margie Gudaitis ’07, Samantha Leder ’08 and Sam Mumma ’07.

DA Alumni Party at Alivia’s Bistro

Wednesday, Nov. 27 • 8-11p.m.

Cash Bar for 21 and over • Complimentary Appetizers Kick off the Thanksgiving weekend with your DA classmates and enjoy drinks, food and fun!

A L I V I A ’ S

•

9 0 0

W . M A I N

S T R E E T

D U R H A M ,

2 7 7 0 1

•

9 1 9 - 6 8 2 - 8 9 7 8

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

63

A L U M N I

BABIES

D A

ALUMNI

BABIES

1. Richard and Betsy Reves Sidebottom ’94 with their children

Ella, Reves and Wesley

2. Helen, daughter of

Millie Long Barritt ’94

3. Paul, son of

Rheanna Platt ’95

4. Reagan, Cooper and

1

3

2

Truett, children of

Amanda Teer Lloyd ’96 5. Zachary, son of

Lauren Cavalitto

Lippman ’00

6. Bennett,

son of Jordan Harris

Gaskins '00

4

6

5

7. Kate, Matthew and Mike Malenbaum ’00 8. Clara Emilie Ellsworth, daughter of Gudrun Jorgenson ’01 9. Danielle and Ben Larson ’01 with twins Samantha Marie and Bradley Arthur 7

64

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD | SUMMER 2013 | WWW.DA.ORG

8

9

Something to howl about Pre-kindergarten classes celebrated their study of animals and oceans with an animal adventure party on May 17.

Safari hats, treasure hunts, fossil digs, fishing ponds and face painting were all part of the fun, and Max Albright thought it was something to howl about! With Max are (from left) Owen McCain and Nicholas Friga.

Photo by Kathy McPherson

D U R H A M A C A D E M Y 3601 RIDGE ROAD DURHAM, NC 27705-5599

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID DURHAM, NC 27701 PERMIT #1083

College Choices for the Class of 2013

COLLEGE CHOICES ABOVE, from left: Jamie Salzman and Claire Murchison • Elizabeth Eason and Upper School Director Lee Hark P h o t o s b y M e l o d y • Carson Bishop and Matt Hodgin • Kayla Rocamora and Carly Waffa P h o t o s b y N a t h a n C l e n d e n i n

• Ally Arocha....................Davidson College • Matthew Attarian..........Furman University • Raghav Bansal...............Columbia University • Carleigh Barnett.............UNC-Chapel Hill • Carson Bishop...............East Carolina University • Robin Blazing................Duke University • Addy Bollerslev..............Gap Year, Duke University • David Bradley................Gap Year, Carleton College • Chris Brasier..................North Carolina State University • Christian Browning........UNC-Chapel Hill • Harry Burr......................Berklee College of Music • Christina Bush...............Duke University • Jessie Byrd......................UNC-Chapel Hill • Lauren Carroll................North Carolina State University • Hayley Cartee................New York University • Emma Caudle................Duke University • Maggie Chambers.........UNC-Wilmington • Mattis Collier.................University of South Carolina • Rodnei Crutchfield........Sarah Lawrence College • Mairin Daubert..............UNC-Chapel Hill • Belinda Davenport.........UNC-Greensboro • Oceania De Luca Westrate........................Western Carolina University • Charlie Dektar...............Stanford University • Adam Della Maggiora...Chapman University • Lily Doron......................Duke University • Carolyn Doyle................University of Massachusetts Amherst • Tommy Dvergsten.........Washington University-St. Louis • Elizabeth Eason.............UNC-Chapel Hill • Joyce Erasga...................Guilford College • Lina Esmail....................Meredith College • William Etheridge..........Duquesne University • Peter Fox........................UNC-Chapel Hill • Sacha Gafinowitz...........Washington and Lee University • Nora Ghanem...............Duke University

• Maya Golightly............... University of Southern California • Anica Green...................Brown University • Aris Hart........................American University • Delaney Herndon..........Yale University • Matt Hodgin.................UNC-Chapel Hill • Daniel Holt....................UNC-Chapel Hill • Mairead Horton............Princeton University • David Jackson................Stanford University • Jennie Jaggers.................Rhodes College • Franchesca Johnson.......University of Cambridge • Melissa Johnston...........Loyola University New Orleans • Amanda Jowell..............Harvard College • Ashley Jowell..................Stanford University • Lauren Katz...................Duke University • Briana Kelly....................UNC-Chapel Hill • Amanda Kim.................Wake Forest University • Jennifer Kraus.................Elon University • Sam Lane.......................UNC-Chapel Hill • Susie Lee........................Pomona College • Quincy Leech.................Bowdoin College • Maeve Lentricchia..........Dartmouth College • Braxton Lloyd................University of South Carolina • David Luo......................Cornell University • Austin Mack..................Northeastern University • Frances McDonald........Trinity College • Maggie Mishra..............UNC-Wilmington • Spencer Moore..............Belmont University • Jimmy Mosca.................Duke University • Zander Moss.................Massachusetts Institute of

Technology • Claire Murchison...........Oberlin College • Evan Murray..................Duke University • Mazin Nour Ahmed.......George Washington University • Elizabeth Parry...............UNC-Chapel Hill • Kate Paulson.................Barnard College • Joshua Perry...................Miami University, Oxford

Guyton Butts

• David Peters...................Southern Methodist University • Chris Peterson...............Virginia Polytechnic Institute

and State University • Cara Peyser....................Elon University • Will Phillips....................Appalachian State University • Leigh Anne Pollard.........Elon University • Michael Pollard.............Furman University • Nick Pruthi....................Dartmouth College • Cameron Rabb..............Oberlin College • Brandon Regnerus.........North Carolina State University • Will Richardson.............UNC-Chapel Hill • Kayla Rocamora............UNC-Greensboro • Ben Rousseau................Duke University • Ben Salzman..................Duke University • Jamie Salzman...............Emory University • Dita Sankar....................University of Pennsylvania • Nathan Saper................Franklin and Marshall College • Dylan Schroeder............Elon University • Meghan Scott................Southern Methodist University • Cameron Simpson.........Duke University • Nick Sullivan..................Hampden-Sydney College • Ben Taylor.....................Duke University • Kelly Thomas.................UNC-Greensboro • Alex Thompson.............Furman University • Julie Upchurch...............UNC-Chapel Hill • Nina Varela....................University of Southern

California • Luc Velazquez................Bucknell University • Carly Waffa...................UNC-Chapel Hill • Maggie Walton..............University of Georgia • Betsy Wiener................... Washington University-St. Louis • Jazzie Williams...............Meredith College • Alex Young.....................Howard University • Zack Zebley....................University of Miami • Emily Zoffer...................Harvard College • Zach Zweig-Vinegar.......Cornell University