ECFREPORTER The Magazine of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Ethics at ECFS: Living our mission in the service of the common good
Summer 2014
WELCOME TO THE REDESIGNED ECF REPORTER. While we are changing the look of this publication, we are not changing our mission of providing substantive news and engaging articles about members of our community. ECFS’s legacy of excellence in progressive education is a product of its students, faculty, parents, alumni, and friends—and we are proud to share their stories on these pages.
F E AT U R E S
Contents
04 ALUMNI LIVING OUR MISSION Alumni reflect on their Fieldston education
08 RE-CENTERING ETHICS AT ECFS What it means to teach through an “ethical lens”
10 MICKEY LEMLE ‘65 SPEAKS ON FOUNDERS DAY The filmmaker urges students to perpetuate a culture of ethics outside the school
12 SHIFTING PARADIGMS Students challenge themselves in new environments and contemplate their moral responsibility at home and abroad
20 A ROADMAP FOR FIELDSTON’S FUTURE Envisioning progressive education in the 21st century, ECFS develops a campus master plan
D E PA R T M E N T S
02: 19: 22: 25: 30: 33: 34: 38: 54: 56:
HEAD OF SCHOOL PERSPECTIVE DOUBLE TAKE ON CAMPUS GRADUATION 2014 OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM ANNUAL BENEFIT ECFS ALUMNI REUNION 2014 CLASS NOTES IN MEMORIAM LIVING THE MISSION
Contributors: Maria Asteinza, Clara Campoli, Meredith Halpern, Ruth Samuelson Photos: Chela Crinnion, Toby Himmel, Philip Kessler, Erica Lansner, Lucas Philips, Andrew Stern Design: White Communications Inc., Tuxedo, NY
printer to insert correct FSC logo in this area. 20% black.
Perspective
Around the middle of felix Adler’s life, h.G. Wells’ novel The Time
machine becAme An internAtionAl sensAtion —thrillinG its reAders With the possibilities of science, And friGhteninG them With dArk visions of the future. I often wonder if Felix Adler would have liked to have a time machine of his own, if he would have taken a chance to speed into the future and have a peek at how the world turned out—and whether he made a difference. I admit, sometimes I worry about what Felix would think if he showed up in his time machine today. What would he make of the recent front page article in The New York Times,“Changed Life of the Poor: Better Off but Far Behind”? How would he reconcile our 21st-century wonders of science, travel, and communication with the fact that even the middle class struggles to afford health care? How would he feel about America’s economic inequality? Would he be surprised that immigrants and minorities still seek basic rights, adequate housing, and good education for their kids? Would Felix be appalled by the state of our democracy? Would he think he failed?
Damian J. Fernandez, Ph.D. Head of School
But Felix had a keen sense of history, and he wasn’t naïve. He knew the path to progress would not always be a straight one. At a time like the present when the path appears to veer, Felix would say, “How do we set the path straight again?” He’d look around, be amazed by the technology around us, sense an opportunity, ditch that old rickety time machine, and get to work. He’d set up a Facebook account and immediately make connections with people from all walks of life. He’d fill his Instagram page with images of people helping people, reminding us of the struggles and hopes all around us. He would take some time for fun, too. I think he’d prefer Words with Friends to Flappy Bird. I imagine he would watch Lady Gaga on YouTube, but I cannot imagine him taking a selfie. Felix did like to wax eloquent, so I’m not sure his Twitter feed would have been too active. But one entry would be retweeted endlessly— and all he would need is 19 characters: Head. Hands. Heart. That’s the essence of Felix’s philosophy. Use your head to think and learn, your hands to make and do, and your heart to connect it all with compassion and care. I think Felix would use his head, hands, and heart to devise the ultimate technological tool for all times: the Felix Adler app.
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If Felix were to look at our community today, he would see what I see— the future, the beautiful future. Again, no time machine required. He would see that despite the world’s many problems, there are still people who care and are committed to changing the world for the better. He would see that no, he did not fail. That the expanse of knowledge we have at our fingertips today leaves more room than ever for our hands to grasp that knowledge, and wring from it futures of glory, defined by equality, animated by love, guided by empathy.
Features would include detailed, interactive maps that would let you view the world in terms of population density, wealth distribution, educational attainment, and more.You could pinpoint a neighborhood in the South Bronx and determine the life expectancy of a child born there to a Latino family or a black family, or compare the career opportunities of a girl born in Manhattan to those of a girl born in Madagascar. This interactive map would help you see how the world could be. You could use the app to share knowledge and ideas with people around the globe, teach a skill and learn a new one, look up places where you can use those skills to help build a community or improve the lives of others. You could ask the app for advice when facing an ethical quandary, comparing your choices with those of others and discovering new ways to solve problems, alone or together. You could imagine and plan a better world, drawing on your unique abilities and our common humanity.
We have been given a code that enables us to accelerate into fully formed ethical beings with fully purposeful lives.
You could use the app to build your mind through learning, strengthen your heart through ethical thinking and moral exercise, and work with your hands to make a physical, lasting difference.
It’s not magic, and it isn’t even science. It’s just the whole wide world, reimagined in the recesses of your minds, revived in the chambers of your heart, and, most of all, remade—right there in the palms of your hands.
Guess what? Felix created that app. That’s right: there is an app for that. Felix built that app when he founded this school, ensuring that generations of children and young adults would learn the value of the freedom to make choices with their heads, hands, and hearts. He built that app by inscribing in all of us a code requiring us to be responsible and accountable for ourselves, our actions, and the communities we aspire to be a part of. He built that app by entrusting the future to each and every one of you.You are the app. Felix doesn’t need a time machine to be here today. He launched himself into the future through the language and ideas that are now a part of all of us. Like our own version of a time machine—a 3-D printer of sorts—we have been given a code that enables us to accelerate into fully formed ethical beings with fully purposeful lives and to build new worlds with a new code we adapted from the one Felix gave us. By living the precepts of Felix Adler, we burst forth not to strange new worlds, but to the future and the worlds we create ourselves with our own hands.
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A LU M N I L I V I N G O U R M I S S I O N
Feature
severAl Alumni AnsWered our cAll to the question: hoW hAve your fieldston educAtion And experience—pArticulArly As they relAte to ethics—helped you nAviGAte A morAl dilemmA in the WorkplAce or your professionAl cAreer?
Michael Kaplan ’90
Darren Martin ’98
Cynthia Petterson ’79
Sam Florman ’42
Peter Selwyn ’72
photo credit: Jeff miller/university of Wisconsin-madison
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Michael Kaplan ’90
Co-founder and CEO, Fashion to Figure
After finishing business school, along with my brother Nick ’88, I started a fashion retail company focused on providing contemporary options for the too-often-ignored market of plus-size women in America. Begun as a single store in a shopping mall that we ran ourselves, Fashion To Figure (or FTF, as most people know us) has been an incredible journey. Our days have been filled with constant ethical dilemmas. We navigate to stay true to our company’s mission. We rely on our values and education but can never be sure to get everything right when we deal with moral issues. We started FTF to help people to positively impact communities, and to make a meaningful difference in the world. We believe retail stores offer a chance to lift people’s moods as well as provide a compelling career path for individuals from any background to learn and develop skills. We were taught these values at Ethical and Fieldston while also growing up around a family-run business founded 115 years ago by our great-grandmother, Lane Bryant. Having a purpose other than profit is critical for any business but does not guarantee an easy path to success. Starting small and working closely with people at every level, Nick and I have faced difficult decisions, from encouraging someone to leave our company to pursue higher education in spite of its not being in our interest to lose a valuable employee, to severing ties with a lowest-price vendor that exhibited questionable business practices. The toughest situation we faced was when we learned a loyal, tenured colleague suffered from drug addiction. How could we help on a human level while at the same time try to maintain a safe work environment for everyone else? It wasn’t an easy decision to let someone go professionally while offering to help personally, or to continue to focus on our business’s success while someone who had helped us was suffering. One’s ethics and morals are the guidelines for facing such challenges, and Nick and I are constantly reminded of the values we learned at home and as students. It was hard to appreciate at the time the very special ECFS education we received, but I assure anyone pursuing a path in business that you will be well served by what you learn, and you will always think of and be thankful for those teachers who taught you such valuable lessons.
Cynthia Petterson ’79
President and Co-founder, Share Hope
I was nervous as the plane landed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I knew no one, didn’t speak the language, and the U.S. State Department website gave no degree of comfort about the safety and stability of this small island nation. If my trip ended up being successful, I would have found a nice factory to manufacture a contract of 100,000 T-shirts for my client.That was, at best, what I expected to happen. Like everyone else, wasn’t I just pursuing “affordable labor”?
Yes. It is because of these things. But it is about so much more. It is also because my Ethical Culture Fieldston education prodded me to ask the difficult questions while still in the formative years of my childhood. My first understanding of human justice was that it must happen outside of the barometer of race, class, ethnicity, and religion. Justice is a birthright. Social justice is a cause for which we must never stop fighting. Mandela likened poverty to slavery and apartheid, and reminded us that those living in the world’s most impoverished nations live “imprisoned, enslaved, and in chains.” Haiti has unemployment rates of approximately 60 percent. Eighty percent of Haitians live below the internationally determined poverty line. Fifty-four percent of Haitians live in extreme poverty. “Affordable labor” comes at a price that none of us should be willing to pay. We can end extreme poverty in our lifetime. One way to help is by fighting for decent jobs. Our company, Share Hope, was founded in 2010 as a social business. Share Hope addresses extreme poverty by dedicating its efforts to job creation in the garment industry in Haiti, and to investing its resources into social programs that benefit the lives of the Haitian garment workers. To date, more than 1,000 Haitian workers are employed producing higher-value garments on contracts brought to Haiti by Share Hope.
The short drive from the airport to the industrial park proved, however, that this was about so much more. I was confronted with the insidious face of abject poverty for the first time in my life.With that came the confirmation of what I had known on some innate level all of my life: poverty is just another brand of injustice that we prefer to close our eyes to. All of this happened in the space of 10 minutes.Then I crossed the gates into the industrial park. What I saw there changed the course of my life.Within these walls were people striving to grasp at a chance at human dignity that comes with having a job.The faces of these working people were different; there was purpose in their stride and hope in their eyes.
Living ethically means living not only for ourselves and our own well-being, but dedicating our lives to building a just and equitable global community where each and every human being can have the dignity he and she was born to have.
Why was this so compelling? Why does this pull on my heartstrings on a daily basis? Is it because I’m a child of the ’60s? Because of listening to Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech every year of my life as I grew up?
read more
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A LU M N I L I V I N G O U R M I S S I O N
Sam Florman ’42
Civil engineer, general contractor, author
I was pleased when, in the fall of 2010, I was invited to meet with Form V and VI students taking a course called “Moral Leadership in Personal and Professional Life." The invitation spoke of the complex ethical and moral dilemmas that people encounter today in their professional lives. One could say I was an ideal candidate for this discussion. As a civil engineer in the construction industry, I am in a field that the New York State Organized Crime Task Force has found to be pervaded by corruption and racketeering. Beyond the Mafia and other committed criminals, we find problems with run-of-the-mill employees and civil servants. In 2008 a New York Times article about the NYC Department of Buildings was headlined “Agency with a History of Graft and Corruption,” and examples were given dating back to 1871.Yes, I was an ideal candidate for this forum, although I feared that the discussion might prove to be simplistic. Happily, the class showed a level of maturity and common sense beyond my expectations. They appreciated the complexity of building effectively, achieving results, without “crossing the line” — it was a student’s phrase — into illegality or even impropriety. It can be done. One can be scrupulous about observing the law and “doing the right thing,” without taking on the role of detective, police, or clergy. Everyone agreed that in the classroom time seemed to fly by, and later I felt we had concentrated too much on avoiding sin at the expense of considering potential positives. How about the committees on which I have served seeking improved standards for safety and economy? How about “affirmative action” and equal opportunity for minority workers? How about the special satisfactions of building subsidized housing, hospitals, and schools? Well, the topic of “moral leadershp” doesn’t lend itself to easy definitions, which I suppose adds to its interest and importance.
Darren Martin ’98
Student Services Coordinator, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The main ethical challenge that I’ve seen at the local level and in higher education broadly is how postsecondary education has tried to react to “diversity” on campuses through programs, services, admissions, and campus climate initiatives. Higher education’s push to be more inclusive via cultural as well as via socioeconomic diversity has been where I’ve been tested with personal and professional moral/ethical issues. Colleges tend to be very reactive in planning and policy on the back-end as opposed to proactive in this area, thus leading to questions of sincerity and motivation. This has been the
Peter Selwyn ’72 I have been caring for patients with HIV infection and AIDS—mostly drug users and other vulnerable, high-risk populations—since the epidemic began in the early 1980s. For most of this time I have worked at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, which sits on a rise facing Fieldston, literally across the valley of Van Cortlandt Park, which lies in the middle between them. (In fact,
intersection for me with personal and professional lives, having seen similarities and differences between ECFS and UW-Madison’s responses and approaches to diversity. In making ethical decisions, I feel that being consistent with myself and my work, along with the background that ECFS’s ethical culture framework gave me, allows me to work with institutional, state, or federal laws in my work. I feel that my primary responsibility and question to any of the current work that I do in advising and financial aid administration is, how do I contribute to the retention, recruitment, and graduation of students from my institution?
Chairman, Department of Family and Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center
at times during residency when I was on nightcall at Montefiore or the adjacent North Central Bronx Hospital, I would look out from a westward-facing upper-floor window, and catch a glimpse through the darkened cityscape of the bright lights of the Tate Library, clearly recognizable across the valley and seeming as far away as another world, which in some ways they were.) During these past 30 years, I have been involved in many situations that have raised ethical and moral questions for me, both as a physician and as a person. I have also felt at times that my education and experience at
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Fieldston have given me a strong foundation for approaching these challenges.The following is one of these (identifying information has been changed), though the issues are common to many others. Gloria was a 36-year-old former drug user who had been diagnosed with HIV for over five years, and had been clean from heroin for over a year. She was relatively stable when she was taking her antiretroviral medication, but had a long history of unstable housing, and had repeatedly lapsed in her treatment adherence
during the times when she was homeless. For the past six months, she had had a new boyfriend, Frank, a 45-year-old mechanic who let her stay in his apartment as an alternative to the shelter system when she had no other options. While she liked him and was grateful to him for letting her stay there, she was also wary of him because he had a temper, especially when he had been drinking, and she was afraid he might harm her if he ever got too out of control. One day she came for an outpatient clinic visit with me, and beneath the surface conversation about her medications and lab results, she seemed more unsettled than usual. I was surprised, since for the past few months she had seemed to be happy with the relationship, and was doing well with her treatment and the more secure housing arrangement. After I asked if there was something wrong, she blurted out that she was afraid that she might have exposed her boyfriend to HIV, because they had not used protection when having sex a few days before. She had told me in the past—which she reaffirmed at this time—that ever since she had learned she was infected with HIV, she had insisted on using condoms with every boyfriend she had had, because she would never want to give this to anybody else. But she had also told me that she had previously informed her partners—including her new boyfriend—that she had the virus, and now admitted that she hadn’t done this. When I asked her why, she said that she was afraid that if he knew he would leave her and she would lose this relatively safe place to stay. Even more, she was fearful that if she told him he might get violent, especially if he came home drunk one night. I now had information that her boyfriend might be at risk of acquiring HIV infection. Was I ethically obliged to tell him to prevent harm? To insist that she tell him? To say nothing? I also had information that if she were to disclose her status, it could put her medical care, health, and even personal safety at risk. Was I ethically obliged as her physician to protect her from this harm? What should she do? What should I do? Gloria and I discussed her conflicted feelings, and all the options we could consider:
(1) That she not disclose to him, that she commit to using protection 100 percent of the time, and hope that this one lapse did not pose a significant risk to him (which, in fact, it likely didn’t, based on the low level of virus in her blood and the fact that her HIV infection was well-controlled on her medication, when she was taking it); (2) that she disclose to him and take her chances with whatever his reaction was; (3) that she allow me to notify the Health Department about her case and have them initiate their “partner notification” program, in which named contacts are notified that an unidentified person has indicated that they may have been exposed to HIV, and follow-up counseling and testing are offered (health care personnel are not required to do this, but are legally protected if they choose to disclose this information to the public health authorities); or (4) that she tell her boyfriend that she had a serious medical problem which she wanted to talk with him about, and invite him to come for a visit with her to see her doctor, who could discuss the situation with both of them. After thinking about it for a couple of days, she decided that the last of these four would be the best option. While I would have accepted any of these—the first one was the one I was most uncomfortable with, but I have had patients for whom that is the only safe choice, and I have accepted that—I was most happy with the choice that she made. What I have not accepted, and felt was ethically compromised in other similar cases, is when patients have both declined to disclose to their partners and have also continued to engage in high-risk behavior, knowingly putting others at risk, and as in one rare but memorable instance, when an HIV-infected patient who had brought his uninfected wife to a visit with him to see me, told her in my presence that he had been tested and was HIV-negative, and then asked me to endorse this in front of her. (In that case, I asked his wife to excuse us, and while she waited outside told him that I was not prepared to be an active accomplice in lying to his wife, and that if he didn’t tell her the truth when she came back into the room, I would.) Gloria made an appointment to see me again in a week, and brought her boyfriend, Frank, who had agreed to come. As planned, as the
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three of us talked, she shared with him the information about the diagnosis, crying at first, admitting to being ashamed and afraid and saying she was sorry she hadn’t told him before, then telling him that she cared about him and always did whatever she could to keep from exposing him. He seemed surprised at first, a little angry and hurt, and then a little relieved, saying,“I thought when you told me you wanted me to come to the doctor with you, like you had some kind of bad cancer or something. I know a guy at the garage who has that, and he’s been doing good with the medicine they have now to take care of it.” We addressed all of his questions, talked about the risk of transmission and how to minimize it, and I was able to assure them that they could have a close, loving relationship and he would have a very low risk of becoming infected. They both seemed OK with that, thanked me, and left. Six months later, Gloria is still doing well, and she and Frank are still together. She felt that a big burden had been lifted when she was finally able to tell him about her diagnosis, and told me at a follow-up visit that she thought they might even have gotten somewhat closer as a result of his knowing this now. Things don’t always work out so well, but no matter what the situation, I’ve always felt that honoring a few basic, well-established qualities—honesty, respect, empathy, nonjudgment—always helps to navigate the right path. At least some of that I learned at Fieldston.
E T H I C S TA S K F O R C E
Re-Centering Ethics at ECFS
We are clear as an institution that ethics is an important part of who we are.
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Feature
ecfs pArents, teAchers, students, And Alumni spent the pAst feW yeArs developinG A five-yeAr strAteGic plAn. throuGh toWn hAll meetinGs, surveys, And countless conversAtions Within the community, the strAteGic plAn committee developed A strAteGy thAt celebrAtes certAin Aspects of the ecfs experience And strives to improve upon others. FAR LEFT mariama richards, director of progressive and multicultural education LEFT laura stewart, diversity coordinator and ethics teacher
The plan includes an architectural assessment of the upper and lower campuses, with suggestions on how to remodel certain spaces. It also examines several areas of scholarship and policy within the ECFS experience that require clarification and renovation in the years to come. Faculty and staff have spearheaded research in some key areas of focus— library efficiency, financial aid endowment, science and math curriculum, and ethical learning—and have spent months evaluating strengths and areas for improvement. Mariama Richards and Laura Stewart are co-chairs of the task force aimed at “Re-Centering Ethics.” Richards, director of progressive and multicultural education, and Stewart, diversity coordinator and ethics teacher, both have worked within the ECFS community addressing ethical study. In collaboration with people representing each
faculty see ethics in a lot of different places but aren’t necessarily able to come to an agreement on what it means.”
division, they have written a comprehensive evaluation of the current ethical environment at ECFS and suggested ways to improve upon the school’s understanding of what it means to learn in an “ethical culture.”
Adds Richards,“We are clear as an institution that ethics is an important part of who we are.” But, she says, the most important next step is to “continue to create opportunities for people to participate in the narrative of ethics in our school.”
They began their study with both internal and external research. Internally, they surveyed teachers and students about their current understanding of what ethics means in their ECFS education. They looked at ethics classes and curriculum and examined how ethical principles have informed other areas of study. Externally, they researched similar institutions throughout the country to see how those schools use ethics and social justice in their curriculum and identities.
Both Richards and Stewart believe that an orientation in ethical learning—particularly ethical learning at ECFS—is an important way to integrate new teachers and staff into an ECFS mind-set. They also hope to find ways to open this discussion up to current and prospective students. Both believe that much of ECFS’s academic and extracurricular programming is already operating within an ethical mind-set, but they believe the institution needs to more pointedly label it as such.
At the end of their research, the committee agreed that there is a need for a more unified understanding of ethics as it relates to an ECFS education. Stewart notes,“Students and
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Richards notes, “As a school we’ve continued to develop programming that has a particular lens, but we haven’t always reminded people that it’s an ethical lens.” The committee submitted a report to the head of school at the close of the 2013-2014 school year that breaks down the details of their research, but they are clear that their work is far from over. They plan to spend more time visiting some of the schools they’ve studied and to continue the dialogue within the ECFS community. They hope that by fall of 2015 they will be ready to begin a school-wide dialogue about exactly what it means to study at a school named Ethical Culture.
F O U N D E R ’ S D AY
Feature
on mAy 2, ecfs students And teAchers GAthered to honor felix Adler And the institution he
shAped. this yeAr, mickey lemle, A member of the clAss of 1965, Addressed the croWd With experience, humor, And Wisdom. Lemle, a native New Yorker, filmmaker, and social activist, has traveled the world making documentaries about remarkable people. His work has won awards and critical acclaim. As Head of School Damian Fernandez noted, Lemle’s films “highlight the spiritual and contemplative as forces of change… [and] celebrate the power of an individual to reshape the world.” In his speech, Lemle shared some of his experiences, and with selfeffacing humor, mused on the meaning of life. He encouraged students to pursue their passions as a way to find individual meaning and happiness and to make the world a better place. Throughout his career, Lemle has interviewed influential people including the Dalai Lama, Ram Dass, Sir Laurens van der Post, and Joseph Campbell, and has spent months in their communities absorbing their philosophies. He has observed how they find meaning and how they effect change, and he has created films that strive to understand their personal transformations and how that has influenced their world views. Against the backdrop of such diverse experiences, Lemle came to the podium at Founder’s Day with a broad and inclusive message. He urged the Fieldston community to seek happiness, to make a difference, and to find individual passion, but he encouraged each person to do it on his or her own terms, noting, “however you define your life is what it will become.”
acknowledged the challenges facing future generations, and believes that one of the only ways to effect change is to focus on human attitude.“The highest thing we can aspire to is to participate in the transformation and evolution of human consciousness,” he said.
In a separate conversation, Lemle shed more light on his experiences and how he has created such a varied career. He made his first film in college by borrowing a camera, writing his own script, and persistently finding subjects to shoot and interview. He continued making films through college, and by graduation had already directed pieces for television. Throughout the years, he has approached projects boldly, and he credits his years at Fieldston as foundational to his prolific career: “One of the things Fieldston promoted was to learn by doing.” He mentions sewing, cooking, and shop classes where “everyone had to learn how to do these things,“ and says that a practical curriculum that forces action in addition to theory encouraged him to dive into his craft.
Lemle was shaped by this culture in his years at Fieldston but is even more impressed by how the school has improved upon this mission. He watched his son Aaron ’09 thrive in a Fieldston community in which there was a “total assumption that racial equality was a given” and where students were even more encouraged to make change by following their own passions. He closed his speech by calling students to action and encouraging them to grow Felix Adler’s vision of ethical consciousness: “I invite you to commit yourself to holding that intention and join with others to co-create that culture of ethics.” He notes that current students are coming of age in a difficult social and economic time: “The problems that are confronting [them] are massive,” he said. He believes that “the only hope is a major shift in consciousness,” but that these students “can be at the forefront, because change will come from a place like Fieldston.”
Lemle’s drive is apparent in his work, but he also attributes much of his success to the simple fact that he loves what he does. He echoed this sentiment in his speech, urging students to find whatever it is that makes them happy and to go at that passion “wholeheartedly.” He encouraged students to embrace their interests and use their mediums both to find happiness and to create change for the better. As he reflected on the Fieldston experience, he emphasized Felix Adler’s desire to create a culture of ethics that would help educate hearts as well as minds. He
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LEFT Aaron lemle ’09, the third generation of lemles to attend ecfs, joins his father at this year’s founder’s day.
The highest thing we can aspire to is to participate in the transformation and evolution of human consciousness.
HONORING DR. FELIX ADLER
Mickey Lemle ’65 Founder’s Day Speaker
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TOP After a 45-hour journey, david fishman ’15 arrives in Antarctica.
CENTER sophia blankenhorn ’15 stands with one of her students who proudly shows off his honor roll certificate.
BOTTOM sam koppelman ’14
Feature
students chAllenGe themselves in
neW environments And contemplAte their morAl responsibility At home And AbroAd.
Shifting Paradigms ANTARCTICA: the last Great Wilderness By David Fishman ’15 My first glimpse of Antarctica came suddenly, towering high above me, after 900 miles sailing through the Drake Passage, a stormy body of water that separates South America and the Antarctic continent. Fourteen million square kilometers of ice stretched out across a continent one and a half times the size of America and host to some of the harshest conditions and the coldest climate on the planet, Antarctica is home to no human. Researchers and environmentalists only visit.Temperatures on the continent can reach -130 degrees Fahrenheit. Nevertheless, from the early 19th century to the present day, this vast slab of ice and snow has fascinated the developed world. And for good reason. Antarctica
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provides roughly 90 percent of Earth’s ice and 70 percent of its fresh water. For this reason, among others, 50 countries signed into law the Antarctic Treaty in 1959. “Antarctica,” reads the treaty, “shall be used for peaceful purposes only.” Fifty-five years later, the treaty is set to expire, opening Antarctica up to the possibility of exploitation, environmental ruin, and even war. By annually introducing a group of young people, scientists, and businesspeople to Antarctica, Sir Robert Swan—a polar explorer, environmental advocate, and leader of the organization 2041—has made it his mission to demonstrate firsthand what we have to lose, show examples of climate change, and create a plan to stop global damage. In March, after having been offered a spot on “Team Inspire” (as Swan and crew called us), I, along with 88 people from 28 different
STUDENTS LIVING OUR MISSION
nations, traveled to Antarctica for two weeks to gain exposure, experience, and understanding of the urgency of protecting this lonely continent. A rough voyage by any standard: we experienced waves nearly 30 feet tall, and fierce winds that battered and rocked the ship. For 45 hours we remained in our cabins, riding on, as team leader Adrian “Jumper” Cross put it,“a roller coaster that you can’t get off.” “Where you’re going wants you dead from day one,” explained Swan. Frequent storms, bloodfreezing temperatures, and avalanches are dangerous to both animal and human alike. But, after we recovered from a rough passage and the water calmed down, the huge slab of ice that is Antarctica beckoned me. It was day two in Antarctica, and I was eager to get off the ship. So, lifejackets on and waterproof boots snug, I embarked on my first Zodiac ride.The water around me shone like glass, reflecting snowy Mount Français looming 10,000 feet above. I visited Admiral Brown base and made contact with the native gentoo penguins, who pecked curiously at my legs.The gentoo, Adélie, and chinstrap penguins all seemed exceedingly comfortable with the aliens snapping pictures. Because the sea ice that provides Antarctic penguins access to food and places to reproduce is shrinking due to elevated temperatures, their populations are at risk. I hiked up mountains and saw Skontorp Cove, Neko Harbor, and Pléneau, a body of water
nicknamed “the iceberg graveyard” because of the huge ice chunks breaking off from the surrounding mountains. On my Zodiac rides I passed by monstrous, 500-pound crab-eater seals who yawned at me while they sun-bathed on floating ice blocks.Their pungent red poop ruined my appetite. On day three preparations began for “survival night,” a night out on a flat piece of ice far away from the ship. All 88 of us became arctic campers, equipped with little more than a sleeping bag and some hand warmers. After dropping us off, the boat sailed out of sight, leaving us in freshly dug-out ditches in the snow and ice (engineered to keep out the wind in the absence of tents). Sleep didn’t come easily for me. My thoughts kept coming back to the vast wilderness around me, including the 30-foot lion seals just a stone’s throw away.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report projects that there will be an “increased displacement of people” due to extreme weather events caused by rising temperatures. Additionally, the report states,“all aspects of food security [will be] potentially affected by climate change, including food access, utilization, and price stability.” But what is causing these disastrous occurrences? Solar radiation reaching Earth and the greenhouse effect. In short, we need some radiation to make Earth a habitable place, but an increase in greenhouse gases due to higher carbon dioxide emissions (from burning coal, the combustion of gasoline used in transportation, and the production of mineral products) have trapped too much radiation on our planet. This, subsequently, raises the temperature of the earth’s surface causing severe weather events like Hurricane Sandy ($82 billion in damages, according to reinsurance firm Aon Benfield), heat waves
Upon our return to civilization, my teammates and I pondered what the 88 of us could possibly do to advocate for the preservation of places like Antarctica. As temperature continues to rise, weather disasters will become more frequent—resulting in loss of life and expensive repair costs. So, what can we do about it? Some answers finally came, but not until after our voyage through the Drake Passage back to South America.We’d been meeting daily for two weeks, discussing climate change, global warming, and rising greenhouse gas emissions. Everyone knew by this point on the expedition that as a society we were heading in the wrong direction. A recently issued
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TOP taking a polar plunge photo credit: Jack James
ABOVE A gentoo penguin
STUDENTS LIVING OUR MISSION
sweeping Europe, and droughts in the Midwest ($35 billion in losses, according to Aon Benfield). Many of the solutions to our high carbon emissions come in the form of renewable energy. This might sound simple enough — a few solar panels here and there — but in fact it is much more complicated. Our economy, argues Jonathan Shopley, expedition participant, and managing director of the Carbon Neutral Company, operates according to a code of conduct stuck in the Industrial Age. We still run our planet on the assumption that natural resources are abundant, and thus market growth can continue exponentially without regard to the environment. Mallika Ishwaran, another ambassador on the trip, is a senior economist in global strategy and business environment for Shell International. Shell, the 12th-biggest company in the world, is a top producer of oil, packaging over 3.2 million barrels a day. Why is Shell sending an employee to Antarctica? Ishwaran’s job, she explained, is to investigate economically viable options for renewable energy for the company and share them with the world. Shell, Ishwaran says, understands that the world is moving away from oil and toward renewable solutions. By 2050, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, global greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase by 50 percent due to a projected 70 percent growth in energyrelated carbon emissions. Enter Shell Scenarios, a branch of the company tasked with investigating new energy solutions so that it can consider “long-term trends in economics, energy supply and demand, geopolitical shifts and social change.” Shell, along with its
developments in renewable energy will help to address “the key challenge: reducing the costs.” And in terms of a grass-roots movement, one is already underway. The alumni from the 2014 International Expedition to Antarctica are on the job, advocating for renewable energy in 28 nations around the world. Some graduates have quit their jobs in pursuit of their missions, and others are instituting reform in their schools. Increasing climate change is imminent, but I am optimistic that with alumni like ours (Swan has run similar expeditions for the past 10 years), our planet is in good hands. The next generation of environmentalists—from students in Dubai, to economists at Shell, and this one Fieldston student— is driven, innovative, and ready to help preserve Antarctica while stopping harmful climate change around the world. As for myself, I’m headed to Washington, D.C. , to lobby our country’s politicians for climate reform.
competitors, realizes that it either has to adapt or die. More and more corporations are joining the sustainable train, becoming “industry transforms,” according to Shopley. Intel, for example, uses 100 percent green power with a mixture of biogas, biomass, hydropower, solar, and wind. But the movement has to extend beyond the major corporations and become a global effort, each of us contributing in small and large ways every day. But ideas have been out there for some time. Ever since the creation of the IPCC in 1988, governments and environmentalists alike have been shouting out the need for major environmental reform.What’s changed, however, is the reality and awareness that we are simply running out of time. As quoted in The New York Times, Ottmar Edenhofer, a German economist and co-chairman of the IPCC Working Group III, said, “We cannot afford to lose another decade. If we lose another decade, it becomes extremely costly to achieve climate stabilization.” But, Edenhofer said,“we have a window of opportunity for the next decade.” Rajendra Pachauri, the IPCC’s chairperson, echoed Dr. Edenhofer’s statements, emphasizing that climate change should “jolt people into action.”
With expedition mates on a peak in Antarctica
With near-catastrophic climate change on the horizon, is there any hope for the future? “The good news,” reports New York Times writer Justin Gillis,“is that ambitious action is becoming more affordable.” Citing a recent report from the IPCC, Gillis writes that new building codes and reduced car emissions can save energy. Most important, according to the report, technological
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BELOW LEFT Jesse sobotka ’15 with haitian students
BELOW lucas philips ’15 and sophia blankenhorn ’15, co-leaders of the haitian Aid club
donors and focused on fund-raising within the Fieldston community. They held regular waffle dinners to raise money for the orphanage and sent proceeds directly to their Haitian contacts without much interaction. Lucas and a few older members of the group took a trip to Haiti that winter, and while it offered valuable insight into the world they were raising money for, they felt more like tourists than effective service workers.
HAITI: the power of cultural exchange When 10 Fieldston students shuffled bags, magazines, and pillows through a fluorescent JFK terminal last February, they weren’t sure what to expect upon landing in Port-au-Prince five hours later. They had engaged in two months of planning and meeting with 10 teachers from across the New York area (three of them from Fieldston) to plan lessons. Each student had taken charge of a suitcase of school supplies she or he was transporting to Haiti. But they knew that no amount of organization could prepare them for the relationships they were about to create, the world they were eager to absorb. They had not yet felt the heat of Haiti’s open skies, driven over its rolling landscape, or swayed to the rhythms of French and Creole songs. Most important, they had not yet experienced the power of cultural exchange—of bringing some of their knowledge to another part of the world, and leaving with knowledge they could never find in New York.
They lacked a personal connection to the people they were helping, and felt that despite their efforts, they weren’t able to offer enough financial resources. Lucas notes,“To us, $2,000 was a ton of money, but [the orphanage] wanted a $16 million renovation. It was so hard to know that we were really motivated students, but we couldn’t offer that much money.” In Sophia and Lucas’s second year, they became club leaders and worked with CapraCare, a health services organization with U.S. headquarters in Brooklyn. They organized toy drives and volunteered at CapraCare fund-raising events. But, again, they felt their primary role was giving money. They were eager to help in more direct ways. Sophia notes that in her first two years in the club, they were “still trying to find [their] identity and how [they] could be doing the most as a club.” In 2013, at the start of Sophia and Lucas’s junior year, Fieldston hired a new English teacher who was able to help provide the hands-on service experience they were looking for. Gregory Grene came to Fieldston with an eclectic background in theater, music, and teaching, and with a strong connection to Haiti. His twin brother, Andrew Grene, a U.N. official who was killed in the earthquake, is now the namesake of an organization called the Andrew Grene Foundation. Grene founded this organization in his brother’s honor and is director of the U.S. branch. (It is a publicly registered charity in both the U.K. and the U.S.). The foundation runs a microfinance organization in southern Haiti and a high school in Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince. The school opened in 2011 and graduated its first college-bound class this spring. Built where no school had existed before, in one of the poorest areas of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the school is run by a deeply committed headmaster who last year welcomed Grene’s offer of an English immersion week, which took place in March 2013.
As co-leaders of the Fieldston Students for Haitian Aid Club, two juniors, Sophia Blankenhorn and Lucas Philips, spearheaded the club’s involvement in the trip. Like their classmates, they returned from the fiveday trip awed by Haitian optimism and warmth, and eager to improve their involvement for years to come. In their third year in the club, they had come a long way as group organizers. And as satisfying as their trip had been, they have not lost sight of the club’s history and the ways it has allowed them to experiment with many types of service. When they came to Fieldston as freshmen in 2011, the group was raising money for organizations reeling from the earthquake in 2010. Both Sophia and Lucas had previous interest in Haiti. Sophia, who started at Ethical Culture as a kindergartener, watched her older cousin form the group in 2010. Lucas had previous experience fund-raising for Haiti that stemmed from his relationships with Haitian employees at summer camp. Both were ambitious and eager to join the student-run group.
When Grene arrived at Fieldston, he became faculty advisor to the Students for Haitian Aid group. Buoyed by Lucas and Sophia’s enthusiasm, he set to planning a second English clinic, bringing back many of the teaching staff from the prior year, but adding the new element of the Fieldston students. Sophia explains that after two years of
In Sophia and Lucas’s first year, the group was working with an orphanage in southern Haiti called Pwoje Espwa. They were primarily
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STUDENTS LIVING OUR MISSION
donation-based service, she was primarily looking for “a partnership between two schools. I thought that was really important and special to get students interacting with students as a cultural exchange. It was an opportunity for a richer experience for both [Haitian and Fieldston] students.”
is a way to do something in addition to fund-raising that is meaningful for both parties,” she says. She is eager to continue working closely with the same school next year, and in similar environments throughout her life. She notes that after the trip she’s realized “that it’s not something intangible, and not as intimidating as it once seemed.”
The group traveled to Haiti for a week in February, and following the prior year’s English immersion, they devised a range of different workshop approaches (poetry, music, art, storytelling) that offered an opportunity for students to express themselves creatively and spend a week speaking and writing in English. They acted as guest teachers at the school, and at the end of the week each of the 343 Haitian students received an English immersion certificate.
Lucas has explored his interest in devising unique fund-raising strategies and his passion for helping people discover new worlds. He envisions himself working in some type of leadership role within the world of foreign aid so that he can widen people’s access to service. Both rely on Grene for guidance within the Haitian Aid Club and with their own long-term goals. And the three, who each have a twin, feel a unique connection. Lucas visits Grene’s office twice a day to bounce around ideas for fund-raising, and Grene and Sophia have already started brainstorming ways to improve the workshops and trip dynamics for next year.
Both Lucas and Sophia were moved by the experience and had a crash course in how to organize and lead trips. Sophia recalls that when she arrived to teach her first poetry workshop she came with ambitious lesson plans and envisioned the students creating elaborate performance pieces. “When we got there we essentially had to rework everything we had planned” because of disparities in English language levels, she says.
Grene matches their enthusiasm and respect:“What they brought to the table is something quite unique: a combination of real dedication, passion, selflessness, and, at the same time, joy. You never had the feeling that they felt anything other than real zest and delight in all the miracles they were working, and this was true from the time we arrived at the airport at 4 a.m., through to the last returning sunburned student heading out into the night from JFK. This is an extraordinary school, and even within that context, these are extraordinary students.”
Lucas, who acted as group photographer, carefully documented the trip and took satisfaction in watching his fellow students have the same awakening to the joys of community service that he experienced on his earlier trip to Haiti. He notes,“I was most excited about the trip not because I was going to Haiti but because…I remembered what had happened when I had first gone to Haiti in terms of how I was transformed and became so devoted to this cause. I was excited to see that happen to the other students in the club.”
BELOW LEFT fieldston upper english teacher Gregory Grene (l) visits Andrew Grene high school, named after his late brother.
Since the trip, Lucas and Sophia have explored their own interests within the world of service. For Sophia, the trip was empowering because it allowed her to form relationships with people from very different backgrounds. “What I learned most from this trip is that there
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BELOW ready for a day of teaching at Andrew Grene high school.
NEW YORK: A high schooler learns the challenges of being a teacher By Sam Koppelman ’14 I stand at the front of the class— lesson, handouts, and materials in hand—and I don’t have any idea where to begin. I had been training to be an STS (Students Teaching Students) leader for months. The STS program allows 24 high school juniors and seniors at my school to teach an ethics class three days a week at the middle school for the entire year. It was an honor to be chosen, and I took the preparation very seriously. Over the summer, I’d read hundreds of pages of material ranging from “The Art of Powerful Questions” to “An Introduction to Leadership,” and spent 20 hours at school learning how to teach middle schoolers, instead of going to the beach, playing golf, or doing myriad other things typical teenagers do in the summer. By the end, after all those hours of preparation, I felt I knew exactly how I was supposed to interact with my students. And yet now, as the class is about to start, I felt I knew nothing. As a student and a teacher-intraining, I can’t think of anything more important for our schools than making sure teachers have access to the types of technology that enable them to teach lessons that work for all students. Each of my students is at a different level of maturity, physically and emotionally. While one student is practically a walking dictionary, with a vocabulary equal to that of the average college student, others, understandably, lag far behind.
And though I knew this would be the case going in, when put in the position to teach every kid the same lesson, regardless of the disparities, I’m baffled. Standing in the front of a room full of 13- and 14-year-olds, I feel— for the moment, at least— completely inept.
Our eyes have been opened to the incredible amount of work teachers face every day. the classroom, this has been an eye-opening learning experience.
Ultimately, with the help of my coleader, I get my act together and power through the first lesson. Then the next one, then the next. It isn’t perfect, but every lesson improves upon the previous one, and the program’s other leaders and I get into the groove of teaching. We figure out some effective ways of communicating information (e.g., starting our lessons with certain games) and making students feel more comfortable (e.g., creating an open environment, confessing to them my secret love of One Direction), so that our class becomes something they look forward to. While we still have so much to learn and have yet to encounter many of the challenges teachers often face in
Mainly, our eyes have been opened to the incredible amount of work teachers face every day. Because here’s the catch: I’m in charge of teaching just six students each quarter. In the U.S., the average class size in lower secondary schools is 24.3 students. I struggle with tailoring my lessons to each of my student’s needs, and I only have six students to think about at a time. With the help of my school’s homework technology, which enables me to view all of my students’ homework online, I have a fairly good sense of how receptive the students in my class have been to each of the lessons. But I’m only reading six kids’ homework each night. I’m sure
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that if I had 20 other students, I wouldn’t pay nearly as much attention to the intricacies of each kid’s homework—I just wouldn’t have the time. Further, not only do I not have to worry about teaching to a test at the end of the year, I basically am not too worried about sticking to our curriculum at all. Of course, we would rather cover all of the information in a given day’s lesson, but we don’t really face any consequences for not doing so. Our jobs aren’t in jeopardy if our students don’t perform well on their final exams. And if students have specific questions they want to ask that aren’t a part of the curriculum, we’re not only permitted but encouraged to go down that route. read more
STUDENTS LIVING OUR MISSION
As I look forward to the rest of my year in STS, I’ve begun to look back at the teachers who have made an impact on my life, and I’m appreciating more and more the time they took to educate me. But I’m also looking forward, trying to figure out how teaching is going to be reshaped tomorrow, in ways that will enable more teachers, regardless of their class size, to tailor their lessons to each and every student’s needs. And this is where technology comes in. The ability to track every student’s progress online, administer tests tailored to individual students, and give students constructive criticism outside of the classroom are
invaluable resources to teachers. While classroom discussions can be remarkably powerful for many students, inspiring every student in a discussion alone is nearly impossible. But with the help of technology, teachers can gain an understanding of what types of discussions and what methods of teaching work for each student. As a student and a teacher-intraining, I can’t think of anything more important for our schools than making sure teachers have access to the types of technology that enable them to teach lessons that work for all students, regardless of skill level or learning style. This technology exists, and we must get it in our classrooms if we want to create a
more effective, efficient, and engaging learning environment for all students. Yes, the technology present in the classroom and the reading I did in preparation for this course were helpful, but the only way I’ve truly been able to learn as a teacher is by teaching. When students ask insightful questions, make connections between lessons and create arguments of their own, I’m reminded of why I spent so much of last summer prepping for this course and why I have spent so much of this year thinking about how to make it better: the students.
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Even when I stood at the front of the classroom on the first day of school, clueless as to what I was going to say, I forced myself to say something because these students were counting on me — just like I have counted on teachers almost my entire life. And in spite of the difficulties inherently linked to teaching, there’s perhaps nothing more rewarding than helping students gain knowledge. Sam Koppelman is a contributing blogger for Amplify.com and The Huffington Post. This article was commissioned by Amplify Education Inc.The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent those of Amplify Education Inc.
DOUBLE TAKE ecF RepoRTeR Asks An Alumnus And A current student A series of questions on common interests And shAred pAssions. RANDY WILKINS ’97
Randy Wilkins is a director, cinematographer, and editor. he received a B.a. in english from Franklin & marshall college and an m.F.a. from new York University’s Tisch School of the arts Graduate Film program. Wilkins’ graduate thesis short film, osvaldo’s, earned an exclusive license agreement with hBo for broadcast. he has worked on several films with Spike Lee, including inside man and When the levees broke.
JEFFERSON RANDALL ’16
What is your fondest memory of ECFS?
What made you decide to pursue a career in film?
RW: As corny as it may sound, my fondest memories of Fieldston consist of the day-to-day interactions I had on campus. I enjoyed being at a school where it felt like our own little world and we had the chance to shape it how we wanted every day.
RW: I didn’t make the decision to pursue film. Film chose me. A series of events in my life unfolded in a way where film was a discovery and one I felt divinely compelled to pursue. I believe it was meant to be and the decision was made on my behalf.
J R: My fondest memory from my days at ECFS would have to be any time I was able to present to the school something I created—whether that is the time I performed poetry that I had written, or any time a film I have made is shown.
JR: I just really love filmmaking, and I always have had an interest in it. I love writing something that I find to be somewhat worthwhile, and making it come to life and watching it take shape as something great. It’s just pretty rewarding, and it’s always enjoyable, even if I have to work hard to make it happen.
What’s your favorite movie? RW: I have too many favorites to name—(The Empire Strikes Back, Taxi Driver, The Royal Tenenbaums, Amores Perros, A Clockwork Orange, to name a few)—but my most important movie is 25th Hour by Spike Lee. I saw it and decided I wanted to be a filmmaker for the rest of my life. J R: My favorite movie is Woody Allen’s Manhattan. Since I first saw it, it has changed the way I think about films and screenplays, as well as simply being a really beautiful, great movie.
RW: I would love to see Michael B. Jordan play me in my twenties. I’m not sure I would want to watch, though. Hahaha. JR: I have often been told that I remind people of Jason Segel, so I guess he would be a good fit, or whichever Jonas brother has an acting career.
What’s the best snack to eat while watching a movie?
What’s the last movie you saw that you would recommend?
RW: Popcorn, of course. That is the only time I eat popcorn, by the way.
RW: The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson. Fantastic movie.
J R: Really, any snack will be a sufficient accompaniment to your movie-watching experience, as long as it doesn’t make too much noise. Many people love popcorn, but I actually think it is a terrible movie snack. I know too many people that just have no regard to controlling the noise level of their mouth when there is popcorn in it. Carrots too, just don’t eat carrots in movie theaters, not that anyone ever does.
JR: I recently watched In Bruges, made by Martin McDonagh. It’s hilarious, dark, and unexpectedly sad, as well as being loaded with well-played politically incorrect humor.
How has ECFS encouraged your interest in film? Jefferson Randall is a Form V student at Fieldston Upper School and a film enthusiast who has taken classes with Visual arts/Film teacher Larry Buskey.
If you were casting a movie about your life, who would play you (at any age of your choosing)?
RW: I didn’t have any interest in being a filmmaker when I went to Fieldston. I didn’t even know it was possible to be a filmmaker. What Fieldston did was build an appreciation for all disciplines of the arts, the craftsmanship in the arts, and the confidence to explore a career in the arts. I didn’t realize that foundation existed until I became an adult. J R: Well, Mr. Buskey (Visual Arts/Film teacher) is just a really great teacher who has encouraged me to be creative and make interesting films. The films that we have watched in class have all taught me something different about filmmaking, and this has led me to watch as many films as possible, and pick up as many lessons as I can from each one.
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What movie have you watched the most during your life? How many times? RW: The Empire Strikes Back. I’ve seen it over a hundred times. I believe it inspired my childhood imagination. Darth Vader is my favorite movie character of all time. I love it. JR: I have watched Titanic II many times. It’s on Netflix and it is just a horrible, horrible film about a cruise ship in 2012, irresponsibly named after the Titanic of 1912. The acting is horrible.The writing is embarrassing. The special effects are laughable. It is just all around ridiculous. For some reason I enjoy watching it.
M A S T E R P L A N U P D AT E
A Roadmap for Fieldston’s Feature envisioninG proGressive educAtion in the 21st century, ecfs develops A cAmpus mAster plAn.
If you could create a wish list for Fieldston’s campus, what would you add? A nature path around the school grounds? Learning labs for tinkering and building with electronics, plastics, wood, and different materials? A multidisciplinary classroom with flexible space for cooking and performing plays? These were just a few of the suggestions that students, faculty, and staff made on June 3 at a “charrette” that brought together some 50 members of the ECFS community to brainstorm design solutions for the school. The exercise was part of a collaborative effort to develop a master plan for both campuses of Ethical Culture Fieldston School. After many years of smaller projects, the school is creating a roadmap for ECFS’s spaces for decades to come. “This is an exciting moment for the school,” said Head of School Damian J. Fernandez.“We’re examining our values—prizing collaboration, learning by doing, hands-on education—and envisioning how the campus can embody them, while also being true to this generation’s approach to learning.” One idea that’s emblematic of this approach is the “Adler Labs,” a space where students can design, create, and experiment with different materials.The labs, named for ECFS’s founder, Felix Adler, will mirror “innovation labs,” newly popularized environments that invite innovation and play with different tools. “They are the woodshops of the 21st century,” said Fernandez. The impetus for the master plan came from the Strategic Plan and highlights select buildings and areas to update, including the science labs, Tate Library, and common areas, as well as the Ethical Culture building. It also advocates for adapting classrooms for specific disciplines, enhancing connections between the divisions, and reclaiming green space.
The process of developing a master plan began in fall 2013 when the Master Plan Committee, comprised of faculty, alumni, trustees, and administrators, engaged in a full due diligence process of soliciting requests for proposals from 17 nationally renowned architecture firms. “We chose New York City-based FXFOWLE, in large part because the firm recognized the importance of student input—that was a key draw for the members of the Master Plan Committee,” said Director of Strategic Planning Lorena Cabezas. The firm is committed to innovative design inspired by urbanism, technology, and sustainable strategies, and has several educational institutions in its portfolio, including The Calhoun School,The Ramaz School, and Columbia University’s School of Nursing. This past spring, FXFOWLE began meeting with stakeholders to learn more about the school’s philosophy, and its needs, and to understand how the spaces on campus could be better used. FXFOWLE studied the ECFS culture and its values. At first, the firm expected to spend roughly six weeks on these interviews, but quickly realized they’d just be scratching the surface. “ECFS is a very complex place—and that’s part of its DNA and richness,” said architect Nick Garrison, FXFOWLE’s project design director. “We’re entering into an environment that has a keen sense of itself, which is hard for an outsider to understand.There’s a pride in the nonobvious Ethical Culture way of doing things, in not being overly formal, in placing particular importance on certain spaces on campus.” One key finding has revolved around the middle school’s sense of belonging to the larger campus and a desire to be more present on the quad.
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“The quad acts as a campfire by the way that all the buildings circle around. It’s the heart and soul of the campus—and they want to be a bigger part of it,” said Garrison. This summer, the firm and various stakeholders engaged in design workshops and met on a regular basis to discuss particular aspects of the master plan. In the fall, FXFOWLE will present a menu of design options to the Board of Trustees and to the ECFS community in various town hall meetings, through which students, faculty, staff, trustees, and alumni will provide feedback. “It is incredibly exciting to be part of this collaborative process and help envision how our students and faculty can engage in progressive education of the 21st century,” said Caryn Seidman-Becker, co-chair of the Master Plan Committee. FXFOWLE has been a welcome presence on both campuses, having spent 12 weeks engaging with the different constituencies that included student groups, faculty, members of the P&T, and others. The design charrette was just one small piece of that process—one that affirmed many of the ideas already gathered by the architects. During the charrette, the conversation focused on changes for the campus. Many suggestions related to improving the best of what Fieldston already possesses—increasing environmental consciousness, developing more collaborative spaces, accessibility, and much more. As Danielle Cohen ’15 said,“We made a list with three categories—problems, solutions, and charm—which encompasses the things that we like most about Fieldston.”
BELOW LEFT A map of the bronx campus of ethical culture fieldston school
Future
The ECFS Master Plan Diagrams
BELOW fxfoWle’s 3-d diagram illustrates space utilization at the ethical culture school.
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ON CAMPUS ETHICAL CULTURE
Post Office Open for Business By Maryann Mazzacaro, EC Kindergarten Teacher
T
he All-Kindergarten Post Office became an annual event in 2002 and has since become a much-anticipated divisionwide favorite. Each year, after winter break, the kindergarten classes begin preparing for the late-February opening.
Key aspects of our preparation include designing stamps and T-shirts, voting on a name for the post office, and creating a sorting station, individual mailboxes for each classroom and office, as well as large blue mailboxes for the first through fourth floors. We also visit post offices, read books about letter-writing and mail delivery, and watch DVDs that describe how the U.S. Postal Service operates. Over the course of three weeks, each kindergarten class is responsible for picking up, canceling, sorting, and delivering mail. It is an extremely labor-intensive project that provides ample opportunities for reading, writing, and math experiences and also is a tremendous amount of fun. Kids delight in sending, receiving, and delivering mail and in helping people in the building get important information to one another. We look forward to this activity each year and are thrilled to have the ongoing support of the community.
UPPER SCHOOL
Fashion Forward By Emily Hamilton ’14 f someone made a list of 100 things to do before graduating Fieldston, participating in the annual Fieldston Fashion Show would definitely hold the No. 1 spot.The Fieldston Fashion Show has turned into an amazing tradition that truly radiates the spirit of the school. It was started many years ago by sculpture teacher Nancy Fried.The rules of the show are simple: create and wear an outfit made out of any material except fabric.
I
This year’s show consisted of 75 unique outfits crafted by upper and middle school students and one brave Fieldston Lower second
grader, who made her dress out of Danimals yogurt containers. Senior Serena Silver opened the show and walked out in a stunning yet fierce black number made from the floor padding one places under a rug. She was followed by sophomore Emily Koh, who used some 3,000 gummy bears for her outfit, which weighed about 40 pounds. Another incredible dress was created and modeled by junior Tessa Epstein. Using wire, Tessa made tiny individual rings and looped them together to form a beautiful, short chainmail dress. She spent three years working on it and used 1,500 feet of silver wire. Senior Matt Stadler used beads to create the perfect Fieldston-themed
dress.The top was patterned with the orange Fieldston tree logo, while the bottom featured a giant black and orange flying eagle and the question “What would Felix do?” Senior Miranda Einhorn modeled the dress. Inspired by the Björk swan dress from 2001, senior Daniel Nathan created his very own pink flamingo dress, which was modeled by fellow senior Juliet Lewis.The dress included a pink feather skirt that transformed into the bird’s neck and head. One of the most realistic-looking dresses was created by sophomore Julia Florman, who used a Rainbow Loom and 17,000 blue and pink rubber bands. Senior twins Ryan and Griffin Peer were the final duo
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to walk the red carpet. Ryan was dressed in a full-length lace gown made entirely of hot glue, and Griffin sported a white dress shirt and black pants, also made solely of hot glue. A black bowtie and suspenders added the finishing touches. The final group of students to walk the runway was the 10 members of the 3-D art major class. Among the materials they incorporated into their respective outfits were bamboo, birch bark, yoga mats, and acrylic paint. Senior Maya Newman made a dress out of glitter and Mod Podge glue on Saran Wrap. My dress was made out of the chain one uses to pull light switches or ceiling fans. I’d estimate that I used approximately 1,500 feet of it. To connect the
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Six Fieldston Mothers Speak at Eighth-Grade Women’s Leadership Panel ore than 40 eighth-grade students gathered for the panel “Women’s Journey in the Workplace and the World,” featuring six Fieldston mothers, in early June. Each mother shared stories about how her passions and interests influenced her career path.
M
Spearheaded by eighth-grade history teacher Vicky Pasquantonio, this discussion was part of a series of lunch meetings centered on women’s leadership and professional lives. The mothers work in a broad variety of industries, from medicine to the arts to global economic development to business—as in the case of Valerie Colville ’77, mother of Amelia Nierenberg ’14, who started her own software company, CC Solutions, which processes international loans. “I never thought that at age 55 I would be an entrepreneur,” Colville said to the crowd after recounting how she tested out different careers,
including working on Wall Street, until she started her company. Similarly, Elia Yi Armstrong, who is the mother of Sara ’18, said she didn’t begin with a clear goal at the outset of her career. But after working on women’s issues around the world, she eventually ended up in her position as chief of the Development Management Branch in the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs. “I didn’t really have a plan. Maybe I had a mission,” said Armstrong. Minni Gopal, mother of Rohit ’14 and Prajit ’12, told the students that they should pursue a field that excites them, rather than one where they excel but the job isn’t stimulating. Gopal found fulfilling work as an emergency pediatrics doctor at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
chain, I knotted the strands together in segments and then connected the segments together to form the dress. I began working in February and finished with only one day to spare! “Creating an outfit this year was incredibly challenging. It wasn’t that my material was extra difficult to work with, but rather that, as a senior, I knew this would be my final fashion show and I didn’t want it to end,” said Newman.
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Several panelists work in artistic and creative professions, including Carolyn Ferrell, mother of Karina Lewis ’20 and Ben Lewis ’16. Ferrell is a short story writer and a professor at Sarah Lawrence. Pam Hogan, mother of Ryder ’14 and Aaron ’07, was planning to attend law school, but instead, encouraged by her mother, pursued her interest in the arts. Hogan became a journalist and documentary filmmaker, and has made several documentaries about women’s issues in the U.S. and throughout the world. Dina Weinberg, mother of Charlotte Blackman ’16, is an artist, art teacher, seventh-grade English teacher at Fieldston, founder of a community garden, yoga instructor, and co-founder, with her chef-husband, of NY Chup, a gourmet ketchup company. She encouraged the students to work in several fields and industries at once if the jobs excite them. Why limit yourself if you’re happy? she said.
ON CAMPUS
FIELDSTON LOWER
Wilkinson Triumphs. Can the Aurora Borealis Be Far Behind?
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elestron, the company that made Fieldston Lower math and science teacher Michael Wilkinson’s telescope, put out a call for people to submit essays answering the question, “Where do you Celestron?”Wilkinson, who occasionally brings his telescope to school to show his students the sun and the moon, responded by writing a brief article,“I Celestron on the roof with my students.”
“I thought it might inspire other educators to think about sharing telescope time during the school day with their students,” said Wilkinson. The prize for the winning essay was a trip to Alaska to see the Aurora Borealis.“Seeing the Aurora from a ‘proper’ latitude has always been a dream of mine, and then being able to share that experience with my students through my photos, video, and stories would be great,” said Wilkinson. Celestron whittled the entries down to five finalists, one of which was Wilkinson’s. After an intense, nail-biting period of online voting,Wilkinson emerged the victor, garnering just 10 more votes than his closest competitor. He is headed to Alaska in late winter when there is greater activity and the skies are darker. “The real winner was STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics] Education. For me, it’s about astronomy outreach, and I think it is going to be an incredible opportunity to experience this amazing event and be able to bring this back to the ECFS community,”said Wilkinson.
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GRADUATION 2014 one hundred fifty younG men And Women GrAduAted from ethicAl culture fieldston on June 12, reAdy to embrAce the responsibilities And chAllenGes of WhAt lies AheAd in colleGe And beyond.
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G R A D U AT I O N 2 0 1 4
“you’ve had the opportunity in these years at fieldston to think about what matters to you, what your values are, what it means to live ethically—not just when everybody is watching, but most especially when they’re not. looking back at myself at your age, i wish i had known that the greatest moments of happiness are not the awards, the famous people met, but the relationships that i have with other people. i GuArAntee you thAt When you All look bAck At lonG, productive lives, the moments you’re GoinG to cherish most Will not be the WAys you did Well, but in the WAys you did Good—not by the thinGs you Got, but by those you GAve.” —cynthia mcFadden, Senior Legal and investigative correspondent for nBc news
heAd of school dAmiAn fernAndez reminded the seniors thAt the morAl educAtion they developed At fieldston is criticAl for A lifetime of serendipity.
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“We, the class of 2014, are balloons. like balloons, we are filled with a gaseous expectation, an unsettling understanding that we will float high and that we will succeed greatly. We are hopelessly and tragically afraid of being that one balloon floating alone, lost in a contorting gray sky, with no notions of where we are going and no concept of what we’ll encounter when we get there. but it’s ok. We knoW this becAuse no mAtter hoW tumultuous the turbulence We do not hAve to brAve this floAt Alone. We Will be floAtinG toGether, literAlly or metAphysicAlly, us, our GenerAtion, our lAttice, our GrAduAtinG clAss, As We cross from childhood to Adulthood.“ —andres Vaamonde
ABOVE (l-r): scout inghilterra, olivia rubin, pablo tamarin, and caroline katz
LEFT fieldston music teacher kathleen hayes leads members of the ecfs faculty in a rendition of “We rise Again” as a tribute to the seniors.
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G R A D U AT I O N 2 0 1 4
“i am extremely dependent on this class. for the past four years, almost every thought i have had that is not about food, is an addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division of your thoughts. my ideas are inspired every day by every one of you, whether that is through the dance concert, the theater company, the wild sports games, or even just in class. every decision i mAke is incredibly influenced by the culture And environment We hAve creAted As A community.” —neha anandani
“We cAn’t simply look to the pAst. this is A dAy About the future. soon, a mighty flock of eagles will leave their eagle nest, blotting out the sun, going out into that wide world to devour weaker prey. that eagle nest? it’s actually fieldston. And those eagles? they aren’t fieldston. i don’t know what they are. i don’t understand that part of the metaphor.” —nathaniel Werner
College Destinations — Class of 2014 Amherst College Bard College Barnard College Bates College Boston University Bowdoin College Brown University Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Colorado College Columbia University Connecticut College Cornell University Dartmouth College Elon University Emory University Fordham University
George Washington University Georgetown University Goucher College Hampshire College Harvard University Ithaca College Johns Hopkins University Kenyon College Kings College, Nova Scotia Lafayette College Macalester College McGill University Maryland Institute College of Art Middlebury College New York University Northwestern University Oberlin College
Pace University Pomona College Princeton University Reed College Rhodes College Stanford University SUNY Albany Swarthmore College Tufts University Tulane University University of California Santa Barbara University of Chicago University of Colorado University of Illinois Urbana University of Indiana (Dance) University of Michigan
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University of North Carolina University of Pennsylvania University of Richmond University of Southern California University of Virginia University of Wisconsin Vanderbilt University Vassar College Wake Forest University Washington University Washington & Lee University Wellesley College Wesleyan University Williams College Yale University
ABOVE (l-r): Alonzo cee, Joshua usdan, christopher Walker
FAR LEFT (l-r): matthew vance, Julia cohen, Alphonse humphreys
LEFT (l-r): olivia horwitz and emily orchant
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OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
the
ELEPHANT HIGHWAY 30 ECF Reporter : Summer 2014
W
hen mAx And Josh kAuderer left for An AfricAn sAfAri in 2012, they thouGht they Were GoinG on A fAmily Adventure thAt Would AlloW them to hike, cAmp, And see some of the AnimAls they hAd leArned About in their bioloGy clAsses. throuGhout their trAvels in kenyA And
tAnzAniA, they becAme fAscinAted With elephAnts: their emotionAl lives, their loyAlty to one Another, And their similArity to humAns. but As the trip neAred An end, their Group encountered A deAd elephAnt, Which hAd been killed by poAchers for its ivory tusks.
ELEPHANT POACHING: ECFS STUDENTS RAISE AWARENESS AND STIR PEOPLE TO ACTION.
They left Africa startled by this violence. When they returned to school and talked with their friends about it, they were shocked by how little people knew about elephant poaching. They decided to take action. Max ’14 (left) and Josh ’15 were raised with the expectation that they should use their advantages to make a difference in the world. Their Jewish upbringing and early schooling stressed the importance of tikkun olam—“repairing the world”—so they were easily moved to action after observing the casualties of elephant poaching. They decided that the most important way to start was to raise awareness of elephant poaching. They founded Elephant Highway as a way of sharing information. They prepared videos and PowerPoint presentations, and spoke at school assemblies and community events about the realities of the ivory trade. They researched other elephant conservation organizations and started to build relationships. As they continued their work, they realized they could serve a dual purpose by raising awareness and money at the same time. So they created T-shirts, bags, and bracelets with images of elephants and slogans like “Only elephants should wear ivory.” Max explains this idea:“What better way to raise awareness and money at the same time than actually selling something that has our message across the front?”
Now, in its second year of operation, Elephant Highway works with four other conservation organizations (The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Hands Off Our Elephants, Big Life Foundation, and The International Fund for Animal Welfare), and raises money for each one through online donations and the sale of Elephant Highway products, which they sell through their website, at street fairs, and at speaking events. It wasn’t easy for two teenagers to set up an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit and liaise as equals with international organizations.They needed adults to help them open Elephant Highway’s bank account and had to contact co-organizations several times with budgets and business models before they were taken seriously. But they were resilient and never doubted their ability to effect change. And as they set the basic structure and cash flow into place, they were able to expand their practice and experiment with different kinds of aid. In addition to raising money to send overseas, Max and Josh were inspired to help shift the entire culture of elephant poaching by investing in poor rural villages where poaching practices are the only means of survival. Max, who is interested in microfinancing, notes,“By us investing in these villages, it expands the entire village and actually creates a micro economy. Creating more money read more
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OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
in the village means that fewer people will turn to poaching as a means of survival and raising money for their families.” The brothers set up an elephant adoption fund that directly benefits artists in these rural villages. Through local artists such as Robert Aswani, a Tanzanian artist they met on their trip, they purchase beaded elephant key chains and other artwork made in rural communities and sell them for $25 on their website as a symbol of elephant adoption. The money used to purchase the art goes directly to the artists, and proceeds from the symbolic elephant adoption go to Elephant Highway’s partner organizations.
and Josh’s understanding of how to be effective in the world. They came to Fieldston with a desire to make the world a better place, and in their time here they have not only deepened their awareness of this responsibility but gained specific tools to make change happen. As Max goes off to college in the fall, and Josh continues with his demanding schedule, they are committed to maintaining Elephant Highway’s impact. They plan to return to Africa in the summers and divide the workload of processing orders and
The idea to invest in a village’s economy as a way to ultimately combat poaching is a direct result of the bridge between Fieldston’s ethics and community service program and its more traditional academic coursework. Josh and Max chose Fieldston for its commitment to social change. “One of the great things about Fieldston is they don’t only teach about social action and making a difference, but they also teach that you should personally make a difference—you should go out of your way to do something,” says Josh.
maintaining their web presence. To them, it never feels like work because of their innate passion for the project and fascination with elephants. Josh says,“I feel like once you start a nonprofit it’s such a commitment. With a nonprofit you feel this commitment to help your partners and accomplish your mission.” And Max adds,“So much of it is doing something you care about. Because if you really don’t care about the cause, you’re going to get bored with it really quickly. But if you’re passionate about it, you can work as much as you want at it, and it’s never going to get boring.”
the kauderer brothers sell sweatshirts and other items to raise money for several conservation organizations.
They admire this philosophy but have also found the specific tools to make change through classes and relationships with particular teachers. Max has been interested in economics and issues of microfinance throughout his time at Fieldston. He attributes much of his excitement about using this knowledge to build Elephant Highway from working closely with a former economics teacher who mentored Max and supported his interest in microfinancing. Josh, who studies film, has been able to expand and hone his filmmaking techniques and understanding of how to use documentary film for social change through his relationship with Larry Buskey (Visual Arts/Film teacher). Buskey is currently helping Josh develop a feature-length documentary about elephant poaching and the ivory trade. This kind of cross-curricular instillment of ethics and community service not only allowed two ambitious teenagers to launch a successful nonprofit with business partners and IRS recognition, but it helped shape Max
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A night in venice more thAn 900 members of the ecfs community Were trAnsported to the WAterWAys And piAzzAs of venice on sAturdAy, mArch 8, At the school’s AnnuAl benefit. thAnks to the leAdership of benefit co-chAirs lAnA hArber And peter mensch And the tireless Work of the dedicAted pArent volunteers, the event rAised $1.1 million to benefit the school’s mission.
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2014
Reunion
E C F S A LU M N I
Alumni reconnect and celebrate with classmates and faculty at Reunion 2014. the quAd WAs brimminG With fieldston Alumni And fieldston pride on sAturdAy, June 7, When more thAn 400 Alumni, representinG clAsses every five yeArs betWeen 1954 And 2004, returned to cAmpus to celebrAte the plAce thAt ABOVE upper school english/history teacher bob montera photobombs members of the class of 2004.
helped shApe them into Who they Are todAy. the clAss of 2009 celebrAted its 5th-yeAr reunion A Week lAter At A
LEFT ellen lazrus elkins ’79 gives a warm welcome to classmate eve niedergang ’79.
locAl tAvern, orGAnized by clAss reunion committee members michAel shindler, lizzie roberts, tAbiA sAntos, And Jeff stone (pictured in bottom photo on p. 37).
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Class of 1954
Class of 1959
Class of 1964
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Class of 1969
Class of 1974
Class of 1979
Class of 1984
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Class of 1989
Class of 1994
Class of 1999
Class of 2004
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Class of 2009
IN MEMORIAM Muriel Silberstein-Storfer ’40 died March 25, 2014, at age 90. A pioneer and advocate for children’s arts education, Muriel was the first female to chair the New York City Arts Commission. She also served as a board member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her Doing Art Together program brought hands-on art courses to schools and social service agencies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the former Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon. She is survived by two sons, a daughter, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Frank E. Karelsen III ’44 died August 27, 2013. A fourth-generation New Yorker, Frank was a senior partner of the law firm Kurzman, Karelsen & Frank. He graduated from Columbia University and Yale Law School. Frank was a member of a deeply committed ECFS legacy family who spanned three generations and also included his late wife, Ursula, who served on the ECFS faculty for 15 years. He served as chair of the Board of Governors from 1986 to 1989. His survivors include a son and daughters, Juliet ’80 and Eva ’82, and a sister, Ellen Karelsen Solender ’41. Robert Wechsler ’45, chairman of Wechsler Coffee Corp., a business his grandfather started that distributed coffee to restaurants and hotels, died November 18, 2013. Robert also served as chairman of the Daily Grill and Restaurant Associates. He graduated with a B.A. from Harvard College. In 1965 he traveled through the South with civil rights marchers to register black voters. Robert’s four children, Jessica Wechsler Waters ’75, Maura Wechsler Brickman ’78, Eric Wechsler ’77 and Gale Wechsler, and two sisters, Grace Wechsler Forrest ’40 and Elaine Wechsler Slater ’42, survive him. Tom Scheuer ’46 passed away on July 27, 2013. A graduate of Columbia Law School,Tom practiced law well into the last years of his life, most recently as chief counsel of Louis Dreyfus Commodities. He served as chairman of the National Committee for Effective Congress, as an advisor to the Columbia Law School Association, and president of their Board of Visitors.Throughout his life,Tom was an avid
horseman and a dedicated cyclist, runner, swimmer, and skier. Philip Brickner ’46 died at his home in Riverdale on March 24, 2014. He was 85. After receiving a degree in zoology from Swarthmore College, he attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University and did his residency at Bellevue Hospital. In the late 1960s, Philip, along with colleagues at St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he was chairman of the community medicine department, set up a free clinic at a nearby single-room-occupancy hotel. In the 1980s, he directed a pilot program in 19 cities to address the medical needs of the homeless. It became the basis for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act of 1987. That law, since amended, finances programs in some 250 cities. Philip also worked with researchers to battle a resurgence in tuberculosis in homeless shelters. His work, in collaboration with the Harvard School of Public Health and others, resulted in two patents for devices to generate germ-killing ultraviolet light. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, a son, Jed Brickner ’72, two daughters, Nell Brickner Eakin ’75 and Maude Brickner ’80, a sister, Marian Brickner ’54, and seven grandchildren. Peter Koch ’47 died July 1, 2014.The long-time owner of the Upper West Side lingerie store Town Shop, Peter was himself an Upper West Side institution who was devoted to the New York Giants, horse racing, and his weekly poker game. He is survived by his children and grandchildren, including Fieldston alumni Hannah ’04, Nomi ’06, and Raphael Ellenson ’12. Roger Meyer ’50, an attorney who practiced for more than five decades, died September 3, 2013, in Portland, OR, after a long battle with cancer and ALS. He was 81 years old. A graduate of Oberlin College and Yale Law School, Roger settled in Portland, where he joined, and subsequently became a partner in, Sabin, Malarkey, Dafoe & Newcomb. In 1985, he formed Meyer & Wyse, which he led until his retirement. As a cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Oregon, he represented Gladys McCoy in seeking to strip the City Club of Portland of its
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tax-exempt status for its exclusion of women from membership, a suit that was rendered moot in 1973, when the club finally reached the two-thirds vote necessary to admit women. A proud Oregonian, Roger took enormous advantage of and pleasure in the natural beauty of the Northwest. He is survived by his wife and three children. Hugh Nissenson ’51, an author who often explored religion and questions of faith in his works, died on December 13, 2013, at his home in Manhattan. Hugh’s first novel, My Own Ground, traced the troubles of a Jewish teenager on the Lower East Side in the early 20th century. For The Tree of Life, a finalist for the National Book Award in 1985, he spent years studying the Ohio frontier of the early 19th century. His most recent book, The Pilgrim, published in 2011, is a historical novel about 17th-century Puritanism. Hugh received a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in 1955 and worked briefly as a copy boy at The New York Times after graduation. Hugh’s survivors include his wife, two daughters, Katherine Nissenson Scott ’88 and Kore Nissenson Glied ’95, and four grandchildren. Nora Safran ’51 died at her home in Charlottesville,VA on May 30, 2013. A graduate of Oberlin College and the Yale School of Architecture and Design, Nora was an accomplished designer and artist known for her raku pottery and innovative glazes. She founded Windmill Lane Pottery in Amagansett and was included in group shows at the Greer Gallery in New York and the Cooper Gallery in Newport. Thomas Peter Kugelman ’52, a Hartford-area dermatologist in private practice for nearly five decades, died on August 18, 2013, at his home in Bloomfield, CT. An avid music lover and noted authority on 18thcentury Connecticut furniture,Tom graduated from Yale College and Yale School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in dermatology at the University of Michigan and set up a dermatology practice at Hartford Hospital, retiring in 2011. He supervised physicians and students at Hartford Hospital and Yale School of Medicine, where he also was associate clinical professor. His passion for
Connecticut furniture and decorative arts prompted his dedication to the Connecticut Historical Society, where he served as a trustee and chair of the Museum Collections Committee. He enjoyed playing cello with the Connecticut String Orchestra, organizing several European concert tours, and serving as president and librarian for many years. He is survived by his wife, three daughters, and eight grandchildren. Nan Rosenthal ’55 died at home on April 27, 2014. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard. She began her career in journalism, but turned to the study of art history, focusing on post-World War II American artists. She served as senior consultant of 20th-century art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until her retirement in 2008. She also served as curator of 20th-century art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and previously as a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Elena Citkowitz ’57 died on June 25, 2013, after a courageous struggle with cancer. Elena graduated from Cornell University, received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and her M.D. from Yale University. A board-certified internist and lipidologist, she was a member of the Department of Medicine at the Hospital of St. Raphael and a clinical professor of medicine at Yale Medical School. An inveterate environmentalist, she was passionate about conservation causes and the preservation of animal life. Elena is survived by her husband, her brother, Robert Citkowitz ’54, her halfsister, a niece, and two nephews. Stephen Kurtin ’57 died November 2, 2013, in his home in Atlanta after a long battle with prostate cancer. After graduating cum laude from Princeton, Steve received his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, interned at Mount Sinai Hospital, and did his residency in dermatology at NYU Hospital. He joined the department of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and participated in the training of over 200 residents. He was named “Teacher of the Year” twice. In 2012, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award “for decades of teaching and mentorship to the next generation of dermatologists.” He later moved to Atlanta, where he joined a private dermatology group, before retiring in 2011. A competitive swimmer, Steve continued to compete in Masters
Swimming up until his 60s. He is survived by his three children and seven grandchildren. Raymond Neubauer ’60 senior lecturer in biology at the University of Texas at Austin, died July 13, 2014. He had been teaching in the College of Natural Sciences since 1994. His most recent book, Evolution and the Emergent Self: The Rise of Complexity and Behavioral Versatility in Nature, reflects his belief that evolution is not inconsistent with religious belief. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Raymond received an M.A. in English from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Texas. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, two children, a granddaughter, a sister, Eva Neubauer Jacob ’51, a brother, Frank Neubauer ’55, and cousin Ruth Neubauer ’59.
FORMER FACULTY Junis Roberts Marcus, who taught English at Fieldston from 1967 to 1972 and served as head of the department for a year, died on June 18, 2014. In addition to teaching, Junis shared a passion for collecting art and jazz. She also owned a jazz club. She is survived by her husband, two children, and four grandchildren. Eva Schulz died July 5, 2014. Eva taught at both Fieldston Lower and Ethical Culture from 1960 until her retirement in 1987. She was a classroom teacher as well as a reading specialist for children in the elementary years. Eva is survived by children Kate Schulz Benison ’65, Elizabeth Schulz ’70, Andy Schulz ’72, and grandson Will Schulz ’09.
ECFS REMEMBERS 1930s Ralph Brosseau ’34 Ralph Eichhorn ’34 Edward Fox ’37 Nancy Willstatter Gordon ’37 Arline K. Howdon ’38 Robert Jacobson ’38 1940s Sydelle Luber Berman’40 Anne Alexander Einhorn ’40 Robert S. Rodwin ’40 Carol Mitler Kahn ’41 James Berman ’42 Judith Rosen Hedrick ’42 Leonard M. Miller ’42 Grace Schechter Rubin ’42 Thelma Friedricks Turkel ’42 Suzette Eisenberg Brenner ’43 Zachary Rosenfield ’43 Steven Scheuer ’43 Richard Arkway ’44 Mary Butler Williams ’44 Noah Brenner ’46 Daniel Butler ’46 Lewis M. Kleinkopf ’46 Ann Kubie Rabinowitz ’46 Mimi Mulwitz Abrons ’48 Joan Kurash Gross ’49 Mimi Levine McLauglin ’49 1950s Myra Kapp Levitt ’50 Gerta Stein Norvig ’50 Martin Rabkin ’50 Sheila Burger Rosenblatt ’50 Ernest Hartmann ’51 Leslie Yale Rabkin ’52 Iris Gerber Damson ’56 Sukie Unobskey Miller ’58 Ellen Weber Banks ’59 Marjorie Shriro Seidman ’59 1960s Norman Bensley ’61 Veronika Borsiczky Mann ’63 1970s Marie Hershkowitz ’72 1980s Theodore (Ted) Hirsch ’82
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LIVING THE MISSION:
Living the
I N T E R V I E W W I T H M A R V I N C A B R E R A A N D C H A U M T O L I H U Q P ’2 2
FOR THIS ISSUE OF ECF REPORTER, WE’RE KICKING OFF A NEW SERIES, LIVING THE MISSION,
WHICH WILL EXPLORE HOW DIFFERENT MEMBERS OF ETHICAL CULTURE FIELDSTON SCHOOL’S COMMUNITY EXEMPLIFY THE SCHOOL’S PRINCIPLES: VALUING CIVIC DIALOGUE, DIVERSITY, PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, SERVICE LEARNING, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
F
or our inaugural Living the Mission, we interview
Marvin Cabrera and Chaumtoli Huq, parents of Zarif Cabrera, who has attended Ethical Culture since kindergarten. Marvin and Chaumtoli give back to the Ethical Culture community by participating in events, committees, and other
parent volunteer opportunities. They also have constructed a bridge between Zarif’s fellow
Why did your family choose ECFS?
students and children in Bangladesh—where Chaumtoli was born—through an ongoing collaborative art project in which both groups share and discuss their homes, cultures, and creative impulses.
Marvin: We looked for a school that would be welcoming of both the ethnic and religious diversity in our own family. Chaumtoli was born in Bangladesh and is Muslim. My family is Dominican, and I was raised Catholic. Even more importantly, we wanted Zarif to be engaged with society and respectful to others. We thought that Ethical Culture would teach him those values.
Now that you know ECFS, what do you think makes it special? Chaumtoli: Our first interaction with the school, the admissions process, was indicative of what we love about ECFS. Zarif was always very inquisitive and
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independent. He wanted to understand certain directions and why things were happening, rather than just accept every order. Even during our admissions playdate, he was respected as a learner. Every year, I hear similar stories that affirm this mentality. The school is cultivating a joy of learning and being part of the community.
What volunteer programs have you been involved with in the ECFS community? Marvin: I’ve been a class parent, a tour guide, a grade chair, and I’m currently serving as one of the chairs of the allschool multicultural committee. I also go on class trips and help with science projects.
Mission Why is it important to you to make time for that? Marvin: It’s important to know your child’s community: the teachers, the administrators, and other families. We’re stakeholders in our child’s education, and we want to show that. Chaumtoli: We both feel that engagement is important, but Marvin has a flexible schedule, and my schedule is less flexible. Whatever you can contribute, that’s wonderful, even if it’s on a small scale. For parents, attending events is an easy way to show support, say thank you to other parents, and send the message that we’re all in this together.
Do you see any connection between your professional careers and the ECFS mission? Marvin: For the past 20 years, I’ve been working for organizations that help youth get into college—currently the “I Have A Dream” Foundation—and I’m also a product of those organizations here in New York City. My job and my ECFS volunteering experiences do inform each other. So, for example, I saw the documentary The New Public at Fieldston. I made a connection with the director, and was able to bring her and some of the protagonists into my organization. Likewise, through an ECFS school project, I met one of Zarif’s fourth-grade classmates, who contacted me to inquire how she could help younger kids in my organization. I introduced her to my colleague so that she could tutor first, second, and third graders at our East Harlem site, as well as assist with a tree planting ceremony with the same children. Chaumtoli: In January, I joined the Office of the Public Advocate. I’ve always worked as a lawyer doing public interest work, so cases relating to race,
education, and injustice. Recently, I was looking at a potential case, and it turned out that an Ethical Culture parent is handling this case pro bono. His child is in Zarif’s class, so I shot him an email and we scheduled a phone call. In moments like this, my work world and school world feel seamless. That convergence relates to Ethical Culture’s mission. Parents who send their kids here are probably going to be similarly minded around social justice issues.
What about the ECFS mission resonates most for you? Marvin: I’m drawn to the focus on the child and respecting young people and their ideas. I work with youth, and they’re often put down in subtle ways. Aside from that, I went to Catholic school my entire life, and there is an ethical aspect to that education. I like how at Ethical Culture, there are values engrained from an early stage.
Tell us about the art collaboration that you’ve created between Bangladeshi students and Ethical Culture students. Marvin: We go to Bangladesh every two years, and we wanted to create a cultural exchange between children here and there. We started by collecting arts materials that children in Bangladesh don’t use. Then, this past summer when we came back from our last trip, we brought art created from the environment: jute, palm leaves, clay. That’s a natural way kids create things there, and it has been lost here, at least in New York City. Now, we’re trying to have children at Ethical Culture create things with local natural resources to share with the children in Bangladesh. Hopefully, the connection will continue building. We’re going to be living there during the 2014−2015 school year, so I think that’s definitely very feasible.
Chaumtoli received a research fellowship focused on the garment industry and labor rights. During that time, I will continue building the art exchange we started with Ethical Culture Fieldston and my organization, Art in a Suitcase. Chaumtoli: As parents, our only hesitation with private school was the economic disparity between kids here and those in other environments. I don’t want Zarif to endure hardship, but I do feel that we are informed by our experiences. I just worry: would he be able to relate to a child who doesn’t have as much? Not feel a sense of charity, but genuine empathy? This project allows him to see a different childhood than what he’s going to see day-to-day.
Why is the idea of giving back so important to your family? Chaumtoli: My mom was a single immigrant mother. She couldn’t be involved—she had to raise two kids and work. But she benefited from people who had more flexibility both in their schedule and financially. That helped me to succeed, go to college, and be a professional.
Do you think it’s important for families to volunteer at ECFS, and if so, why? Marvin: Giving back to ECFS enriches your life. It reminds you that you’re part of a community that has given so much to your children. Also, you form wonderful relationships with other parents and families. I’m a runner, and there are some fellow runners here, so we’ve bonded at races over the weekends. Other Ethical Culture kids come and sleep over. We’ve connected deeply with several families here, and that’s something that will last a lifetime.
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HOMECOMING 2014!
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Saturday, October 18