FAY
Fall 2014
MAGAZINE
In this issue: Does Foreign Language Study Make You Smarter? Faith Wallace-Gadsden ’98 and the Archimedes Project Annual Report 2013-2014
Fay School Magazine
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© 2014
Fay School 48 Main Street Southborough, MA 01772-9106 Phone: 508.485.0100 Fax: 508.481.7872 www.fayschool.org
There’s no question that learning a second (or third!) language offers an edge in today’s increasingly global world. But did you know that foreign language study can actually make you smarter? 8
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Rob Crawford Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Photography Tyler Auer Rob Crawford Ellen Harasimowicz Erin Ash Sullivan
Anatomy of a Lower School Morning Meeting
A primer on how to start your day with a meaningful 20-minute meeting. 18
Designing the Optimal Challenge: The Art of the Lesson Plan
Reflections from our Upper School teachers on how to create curricula that is challenging and relevant.
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Nicole Casey Stephanie Levine Susan Conti Publications Associates Magazine Design Michéle Page Design Communication
The Play’s the Thing: What’s Really Happening in Pre-K
It may look like “just playing” with blocks and toys and art supplies, but here’s the scoop on the important learning that’s taking place at the same time.
Ann Wardwell Director of Advancement
Erin Ash Sullivan Editor, Director of Communications
Solving the World’s Biggest Problem: Faith Wallace-Gadsden ’98 and the Archimedes Project
Faith Wallace-Gadsden ’98 is taking on the problem of clean water access with a new nonprofit and a “start small” approach.
Robert J. Gustavson, Jr. Head of School
Gail Duffney Cirillo Director of Annual Giving
Does Foreign Language Study Make You Smarter?
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A Sense of History: A Guide to Fay Traditions
A brief look at some of the objects, places, and traditions at Fay that have stood the test of time. 26
Fay in Asia
A recap of Rob Gustavon’s and Ann Wardwell’s fall visit to China, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
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FAY
Class Notes
Alumni authors, country music stars, and Olympic athletes!
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Annual Report 2013-2014
THE JOY OF TEACHING
On the cover: Ibrahim Shorbaji '24, Ada Mertz '24, and Lucie Mato '24 on a Spirit Day this fall. Photo by Rob Crawford.
Also in this issue:
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2 Head’s Notebook 12 Fay in Brief 24 Sports Spotlight 29 Faculty Profile: Tyler Auer 39 In Memoriam
Head’s Notebook: Dedicated Service: The Antidote to Self-Centeredness Rob Gustavson’s Remarks from Parents’ Weekend 2014
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n the current issue of The American Scholar, writer Paul Roberts describes the troubling consequences of what he calls a “sophisticated, self-feeding socioeconomic system that is marvelously efficient at catering to our desires.” Drawing from his new book, The Impulse Society, Roberts explains that the combination of highly efficient markets and remarkable new technologies has given us “an extraordinary measure of self-gratifying power” in “a consumer culture almost too good at giving us what we want.” Roberts believes that “in everything from relationships to politics to business, the emerging norms and expectations of our self-centered culture are making it steadily harder to behave in thoughtful, civil, social ways. We struggle to make lasting commitments. We’re uncomfortable with people or ideas that don’t relate directly and immediately
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to us. Empathy weakens, and with it, our confidence in the idea, essential to a working democracy, that we have anything in common.” Roberts goes on to point out the stinging irony that this rise in narcissism and disconnectedness is a result not of failures but of amazing successes. He believes that our economy has become so good at satisfying our immediate needs that we—and especially our children—are at risk of losing the ability to endure the kinds of disappointment and delayed gratification through which we gain patience, perspective, and character. Don’t get me wrong. I love Amazon, Google, Netflix, and Expedia, and I depend on my iPhone. The conveniences of modern life are truly extraordinary. But as a parent and an educator, I find the
HEAD’S NOTEBOOK
potential, unintended consequences of these conveniences to be deeply unsettling, and I think it’s important for us to ask ourselves what we might do to protect our children from a steady descent into mindless self-gratification. Fortunately, dedicated service can be a powerful antidote to selfcenteredness. If we are successful at instilling in our children a genuine commitment to making a positive difference in the world, they will feel a responsibility to look beyond themselves and work toward a larger, common purpose. They will develop the capacity for perspective-taking and empathy, seeing the world around them through the eyes of others instead of focusing solely on their own narrow self-interest. We may think of service as being gentle or soft, but truly dedicated service requires self-discipline and sacrifice. It means we are committed to serving not just when it’s convenient or comfortable, not only in the absence of fatigue, frustration, or boredom. If we are dedicated, we serve in spite of these things, with devotion to an ideal in which we believe. Sometimes dedicated service involves delayed gratification and a willingness to endure personal discomfort for the benefit of the greater good, and it often requires courage and leadership. As Emerson wrote, “Your goodness must have some edge to it—else it is none.”
If we are successful at instilling in our children a genuine commitment to making a positive difference in the world, they will feel a responsibility to look beyond themselves and work toward a larger, common purpose.
Engaging in dedicated service helps children develop these qualities of character, as well as other essential life skills. By understanding challenges, envisioning possibilities, and addressing real needs, they learn about the steps involved in leading positive change. They gain the ability to tolerate uncertainty and ambiguity when there are no obvious, easy answers. They become more willing to struggle and make mistakes, and they develop persistence, resilience, and grit. Fay students have many opportunities to understand and appreciate the value of service, and we are working to design new experiences through which they can engage in activities that benefit others at school, in our broader community, and beyond. They also gain an appreciation for the transformative impact of service by observing the daily efforts of the adults in our school community—from parent volunteers, to trustees, to staff members and teachers—all earnestly engaged in the joyful work of providing our students with the best possible experience. Dedicated service isn’t selfish, but it doesn’t need to be selfless. Service can be deeply satisfying and fulfilling in ways not possible with selfcentered pursuits; just as narcissism can lead to emptiness and despair, commitment to a noble purpose can fill our lives with meaning. I vividly recall the first time I encountered the words of Woodrow Wilson carved above the doorway to a classroom building at the University of Virginia: You are here to enrich the world and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand This paradox rang true for me, and it has informed my work and my life ever since. I understand that many of our graduates may not choose to pursue service-oriented careers, yet I’m hopeful that during their time with us at Fay, all of our students will internalize their responsibility to make a positive difference, and they will come to see that dedicated service, in whatever form resonates for each of them, is not just one of Fay’s core values; it’s at the heart of living a productive and fulfilling life.
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CAN FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY MAKE YOU SMARTER? There’s no question that learning a second (or third!) language offers an edge in today’s increasingly global world, as a tool for connection, creative expression, and cultural understanding. But did you know that foreign language study can actually make you smarter? Here’s how the gifted teachers in Fay’s World Languages Department approach the teaching of foreign languages as a science as well as an art.
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n a typical day at Fay, you might walk into a Primary School classroom to find a group of Pre-K students singing “Where is Thumbkin” in Spanish. Meanwhile, over in the Root Building, third graders are playing hopscotch in French; down the hall, seventh graders are sharing their research on ancient Roman villas in
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Latin while ninth grade students practice writing Chinese characters. Foreign language study is an integral part of the school experience for every student at Fay from Pre-K through ninth grade, and that’s no accident. According to World Languages Department Chair Alina Argueta, beginning foreign language study at the earliest ages is a key part of the department’s strategy and
philosophy, which is to “instill the love and appreciation of language and culture through
exploration and expression.” “We can no longer afford to be monolingual or even bilingual,” Alina says. “Foreign language study gives students a broader view of the world and the tools to be active global citizens in the future.”
COGNITIVE BENEFITS Perhaps even more importantly, foreign language study offers significant cognitive benefits to developing brains, including improved memory, verbal and spatial abilities, and multitasking skills. One research study showed that children in foreign language programs demonstrated improved critical thinking skills and greater creativity at solving problems (Bamford and Mizokawa, 1991), while another found a
direct correlation between the duration of foreign language study and verbal scores on the SAT (College Entrance Examination Board, 1992; Cooper, 1987). Interestingly, the benefits also stretch to mathematical and procedural thinking. In one study, fifth grade foreign language learners scored higher in math testing than their monolingual peers (Rafferty, 1986). And in a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers found that young adults proficient in two languages performed better on
attention tests and had better concentration than those who spoke only one language. One recent study found that the brains of early language learners are quite literally bigger. Neuroscientist Andrea Mechelli examined the brains of monolinguals compared to subjects who learned a second language before the age of 15. Mechelli found that people who speak two languages have more gray matter in the brain. The earlier the language acquisition occurred, the more gray matter there was.
One recent study found that the brains of early second language learners are quite literally bigger.
A DEVELOPMENTALLY STRUCTURED PROGRAM The World Languages teaching team— which includes department chair Alina Argueta, Erin Overstreet, Danny Chin, Kara Mertz, Kimberlee Williams, Emily Gifford, and Qianqian Huyan—offers a developmentally structured program designed for the specific needs and skills of each age group. “We believe that everyone is able to learn a world language,” says Alina. “We provide for multiple entry points for beginners in each division and make sure that
every child who enters is properly prepared to meet those challenges.” As a result, language classes look different in each division, with teachers offering a different mix of hands-on, discussionbased, and pen-to-paper activities. What the classes share is the philosophy that language should be a tool for creative expression: “The language that we teach is for active communication,” says Alina. “It is an interactive process.”
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“World languages must increasingly become windows to our deeper selves, and to the magic and creation of words and worlds.” – Ofelia Garcia
tub of water to determine what would sink and what would float (¿flota o se hunde?). In second grade this fall, students designed and created their own passports (pasaportes) in preparation for an imaginary trip around the world. As they “visit” different countries throughout the year, they learn about different cultures and traditions and acquire new vocabulary in context. Not surprisingly, the fearless approach of Fay’s youngest students results in fast progress, especially when it comes to oral expression. “You have no idea how great the younger kids on campus sound,” says Alina. “They reproduce the sounds easily and have beautiful accents.”
PRIMARY SCHOOL: EXPOSURE AND ACQUISITION In the Primary School, students study French for one-half of the year and Spanish for the other half, in classes that meet twice per week. The curriculum is based on the FLEX (Foreign Language Exploratory) approach, which focuses on helping children develop an interest in different languages and inspiring future language study. Alina describes the program as an acquisitional experience similar to how people learn their mother tongue—through literature, poetry, music, art, food, and games. Erin Overstreet, who teaches French and Spanish in the Primary School, seeks out interdisciplinary experiences that connect to the regular curriculum, such as a recent science experiment that her students conducted (in Spanish) with everyday objects and a 6 | Fay Magazine 2014
LOWER SCHOOL: A SUSTAINED COMMITMENT In the Lower School, students choose either French or Spanish and commit to a focused study of that language through sixth grade. Teachers employ the FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary School) approach, where the goal is to further improve students’ vocabulary, pronunciation, and comfort with the language. Lower School French teacher Danny Chin adds that a key goal is to “build students’ connection to the language that will sustain them when the work gets challenging, so they’re motivated to become fluent.”
FEATURE
AN OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT This spring, the World Languages Department will follow in the footsteps of Fay’s math and science departments to participate in an in-depth, external program review. A team composed of experts in foreign language instruction will visit campus to examine the world languages curriculum, visit classes, talk with faculty and students, and analyze placement data. Then the team will share their findings in a report that will serve as a springboard for reflection and possible refinements to the program. We look forward to sharing the results with you in the spring.
currency, then designed and created their own Roman coins in Fay’s Innovation Lab.
As in the Primary School, teachers offer interdisciplinary experiences that tie language learning to drama, music, and art. Students also increase the amount of time in structured grammar and vocabulary study, so that by the end of Lower School they can demonstrate written as well as oral proficiency.
UPPER SCHOOL: CHOICE AND CHALLENGE Students entering the Upper School have expanded choices for language study and choose from French, Spanish, Latin, and Chinese. The program is structured to welcome beginners in each language, for new students entering Fay as well as students who opt for a new language after sixth grade. Those students who continue their study of the lan-
guage they chose in Lower School are able to study at an accelerated pace and may ultimately end up in high school-level French and Spanish by the end of their time at Fay. Like French and Spanish students, Upper Schoolers in Latin classes participate in a rich mix of written, spoken, and hands-on activities, offered at a high school level. Lest you think Latin is a “dead” language, think again: while students do learn classical grammar and vocabulary, Latin teacher Emily Gifford also employs the “audiolingual” method in her classes, which means that students practice speaking Latin and are challenged to use it throughout classes, from responding to discussion questions to asking permission to use the restroom. Emily also emphasizes Roman history and culture and offers projects that make this time period come alive, such as a recent project where students researched ancient
Students studying Chinese also face a rigorous and structured program, where they learn Chinese characters as well as Pinyin, the standard system of romanized spelling for transliterating Chinese. Chinese teacher Qianqian Huyan points out that her students must embrace two key values of Chinese culture— diligence and attention to detail—in order to master the challenges of pronunciation, tone, and a brand new writing system. But she adds that the projects that are infused throughout the curriculum, which include music, cooking, art, and poetry, give students context and cultural understanding that make the learning process fun. Alina Argueta reiterates that regardless of the grade level, all students who learn foreign languages are doing meaningful
work that engages both sides of the brain. She likens the process to an “act of creation with a finite number of blocks.” “We want to get students to the point where they are able to mix and match those blocks to create an infinite number of ways to communicate,” she says. “Then they can recombine those blocks to truly express themselves.” www.fayschool.org | 7
Solving the World’s Biggest Problem: Faith Wallace-Gadsden ’98 and the Archimedes Project
One billion people on Earth suffer without access to clean water. One Fay alumna is looking for solutions.
FEATURE
In the fall of 2010, Faith WallaceGadsden was in Haiti gathering clues and trying to solve a mystery. She was collecting patient stool samples in an effort to identify the origin of the country’s deadly cholera outbreak, which had come on the heels of January’s catastrophic earthquake. Haiti was just one of Faith’s many stops around the world that year. A doctoral student in molecular biology at Tufts University, she was gathering data on the relationship between contaminated water and the spread of epidemics. Specifically, she was trying to understand the “tricks” employed by Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera and enables it to spread so quickly during an outbreak. As Faith got deeper into her research, however, an even greater mystery loomed. As she traveled the world collecting samples, she noted a bizarre pattern. Even in the most impoverished areas where people struggled to access clean water, consumer products like Coca-Cola were plentiful and available for sale. If big business could get their product to the hardest-to-reach consumers, how could the model be replicated for clean water distribution?
PUTTING THE BRAKES ON AN EPIDEMIC In places like Haiti, clean water access is a deadly—and seemingly insurmountable—problem. Each year, one million children around the world die of diarrhea because of contaminated water, not to mention the millions who are sickened by the spread of other waterborne diseases. Faith remembers her “lightbulb moment” regarding clean water. She was in a hotel with aid workers from the WASH Cluster, an umbrella organization coordinating nearly 700 aid workers from 100 different organizations and focusing on water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Faith Wallace-Gadsden ’98
At one meeting, the leader spoke about the challenges of battling cholera and getting chlorine tablets to northern Haiti, saying, “We’re not ahead of this outbreak and we’re not going to get ahead of it.” Faith recalls thinking, “Wait a minute. This may be a logistical challenge, but every place I’ve been, there are consumer items for sale like candy and SIM cards. How is it possible that clean water, the one thing everyone wants, is impossible to provide?” For someone like Faith, a problem of this magnitude was more of an invitation than a discouragement. No stranger to hard work, Faith has excelled in the most challenging environments and has taken on what might seem to others to be a superhuman workload. After graduating from Fay and Choate Rosemary Hall, she simultaneously majored in biology at Haverford and minored in African Studies at Bryn Mawr. While at Bryn Mawr, she was a Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellow and an HHMI Multicultural Scholar. From there, she moved on to Tufts to pursue her Ph.D. in molecular biology. From Faith’s earliest days in science classes at Fay, she felt driven to learn more about human illness, its causes, and solutions: “At first, I wanted to be a pediatrician because I wanted to help kids be healthy,” she says, “but then I realized that doctors only applied the medicine that they already had—they couldn’t create anything new. Who makes new medicine? Scientists—and that’s what drew me to research, and specifically to microbiology because of its impact on understanding diarrheal disease and children’s health in the undeveloped world.” Faith’s drive—and her experience in Haiti—are what led her in May of 2013 to establish the Archimedes Project (AP), a nonprofit dedicated to designing and launching large-scale and financially sustainable clean water social enterprises around the world. The site of their first venture: Haiti.
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GOING SMALL FOR THE BIG WIN Faith quickly learned that a lot of the solutions people had already tried weren’t working because they were expensive and non-sustainable: well-intentioned nonprofits were coming in, setting up big, expensive wells and water treatment systems and relying on expatriates to manage them. Faith’s idea was to work within the community and establish a profit motive. Knowing that those who can afford it in Haiti are already paying as much as 50% of their daily salary for water, she asked, “Can we harness a desire for people to have clean water, and their willingness to pay for it, to create a sustainable
The hope is that these women, who are respected members of their communities already, are able to make an impact in a way that an outsider would not be able to—not just through providing the means for clean water, but through knowledge sharing. The women, meanwhile, are empowered as wage earners and community leaders.
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enterprise?” Rather than seeking out donors, Faith’s idea was to use a traditional startup model and secure capital investments, then pay back investors as the venture took root, became selfsustaining, and began to generate profit. She also decided to stay local with her plan, knowing that in Haiti’s relationship-based culture, a people-to-people approach with embedded community leaders might have more credibility. But her “go small” approach had to ultimately tie into a bigger network in order to reduce the spread of cholera: “The thing about water and sanitation is that you can’t just deal with just one household or one village,” she explains. “You need a maximum amount of coverage, since water moves. If the village upstream has contaminated water and disease, then you will get sick even if your own water is clean.”
FEATURE
FROM WHAT IF TO HOW—IN THREE DAYS Faith’s strategy was to work cheap and fast, explaining, “I wanted to brainstorm in three days and be on the ground in 365.” So in November of 2013 she brought 65 people to Boston for an intense three-day weekend of design and planning. The group, which was composed of experts from the fields of business, medicine, the arts, and communications, brainstormed five different enterprises, and a panel of judges selected one to move forward. From January to July of 2014, a team of five put the pieces in place, and on June 15, they traveled to Haiti to launch the business.
COMMUNITY CHLORINATORS The Archimedes Project’s (AP) venture in Haiti is called Community Chlorinators, and as Faith describes it, it operates on the “Avon model.” Community Chlorinators employs local women who work on a commission basis to sell small bottles of a chlorine product (made in Haiti) to friends and neighbors. When added to the local water supply, each bottle of chlorine provides five gallons of clean water per household per day, for about a month. Each week, the women meet with a local community manager to check in on sales, but they also participate in educational programs on clean water, health care, and parenting issues. The hope is that these women, who are respected members of their communities already, are able to make an impact in a way that an outsider would not be able to—not just through providing the means for clean water, but through knowledge sharing. The women, meanwhile, are empowered as wage earners and community leaders.
Just a few months in, Community Chlorinators has four communities participating in the program, and the women have sold more than 400 bottles of chlorine: “This is a much faster rate of growth than expected,” Faith says. “There’s a lot of hunger for this product.”
WHAT’S NEXT With Community Chlorinators well on its way to becoming selfsustaining, Faith has freed up more time to plan the Archimedes Project’s next venture. For its next enterprise, AP will accept applications from entrepreneurs who want to build a social enterprise that can address the issue of water or sanitation in a country with which they are strongly connected. In 2015, the organization will select one proposal and work with the co-founder to refine the business plan, build partnerships, and identify funding, mentors, and staff. Once again, AP will aim to launch the enterprise within a year of beginning the incubation process, staying focused on keeping the initiative sustainable. As with their initial effort, Faith says, they’ll focus on making sure that the next project offers a solution that is well matched to the community they are serving. “You have to flip the formula and think beyond logistics and money,” she says. “You have to connect the solution to the people.”
FAY IN BRIEF BILLY CLAIRE NAMED ART EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR Congratulations to Fay faculty member Billy Claire, who has been named the Middle Level Art Educator of the Year by the Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA)! Billy was one of ten art teachers in the state—and the only one for his division—to be recognized this year for his exceptional achievements in art education. Now in his 35th year at Fay, Billy
currently serves as Fay’s Visual Arts Coordinator; he has inspired generations of Fay students in their study and practice of art. The mission of the MAEA is to advance high quality visual arts education throughout the state by empowering art educators to excel in the practice, instruction, promotion, and celebration of visual art.
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADE GIVE THEIR BEST ON FALL SERVICE TRIPS “Your students were insightful, patient, happy, and so enthusiastic about being at the farm. I have been working with kids since 2003, and they definitely rank way, way up there as one of the best groups that I have ever worked with.” –Casey, Natick Community Organic Farm Fay’s core value (and schoolwide theme) of Dedicated Service loomed large for Fay’s seventh and eighth graders this fall as they participated in multi-day service learning experiences. Seventh graders participated in projects on campus and in the local community. At Fay, seventh graders designed and taught lessons to Primary and Lower School students, wrote letters to service members overseas, and welcomed visitors from the Lisnow Respite Center, an organization in Hopkinton that provides emotional and physical support for individuals with disabilities and their families. Off campus, students harvested vegetables at the Natick Organic Community Farm and helped with forest maintenance at the Lyman Reserve and Powisset Farm.
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The eighth graders’ service learning adventures took them further afield to New York City, where they collaborated with the NYC-based nonprofit Youth Service Opportunities Project (YSOP). Students prepared and served food at soup kitchens around the city, including the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen on the Lower West Side. They weeded, cleaned, and harvested at community gardens, and they worked with toddlers and preschoolers at Hour Children, a day care center serving children whose mothers are incarcerated. Throughout both trips, faculty and volunteers worked with the students to help them understand the complexities of poverty and need in our society. Students had ample opportunities to share perspectives and make connections to their own lives.
FAY IN BRIEF
INTRODUCING IDEAS&INSIGHTS This fall, Fay introduced Ideas&Insights, a new series of events open to our community and the general public that features informative speakers, workshops, and presentations on topics that are relevant to parents today. On October 22, Fay welcomed Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Ed.D., a child development expert and professor emerita at Lesley University. Dr. Carlsson-Paige is the author of Taking Back Childhood: A Proven Roadmap for Raising Confident, Creative, Compassionate Kids; her presentation focused on what parents can do to support healthy, imaginative play, nurture children’s sense of security, and build positive, loving relationships.
AT THE INTERSECTION OF MIDDLE ROAD AND BROADWAY Fifth grader Elizabeth Crawford will return to Fay School in January after spending much of the fall playing the role of Susan Waverly in the national tour of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. After a week of rehearsals in New York City, the cast performed in Peoria, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Boston (at the Wang Theatre), and New Haven. Elizabeth, who first wowed Fay audiences when she played the role of “Spider #4” in Fay’s second grade play, Squirm, back in 2012, was tutored three hours a day while on tour (following Fay’s curriculum) and even participated in the fifth grade public speaking event via video. Elizabeth follows in the footsteps of another Broadway performer in Fay’s Lower School, sixth grader Marcus D’Angelo, who has performed in the national tour of Les Miserables and the Broadway production of Matilda over the last two years. Although he’s back at Fay full-time this year, Marcus continued to fill in at weekend performances of Matilda when needed this past fall.
FAY CROSS COUNTRY COACH SOARS AT CHICAGO MARATHON Fay's new head cross country coach, Nicole Casey, placed 48th overall among a field of 20,000 women (and 433rd among all 40,802 total finishers) at the Chicago Marathon in October. Her remarkable time of 2:49:56 (a pace of 6:28 per mile) was a personal best. Nicole, who also serves as Fay's Marketing and Public Relations Associate, captained her cross-country and track teams at Bryant University and still owns several long distance records at her alma mater. Since graduating in 2008, she has continued to compete as a member of the Greater Boston Track Club, a renowed running club that has counted as members running greats Bill Rodgers and Alberto Salazar. "For Chicago, I trained early in the morning, because in the afternoons, my focus was on Fay's cross-country team," she explains. "Those kids truly inspired me! You can if you will!"
FAY LAUNCHES CREATORS’ CLASS Upper School students are stretching their creativity and critical thinking skills in a new course called the Creators’ Class. This class, which meets one period per six-day rotation, is designed to build students’ “creative confidence.” Creators’ Class takes place in Fay’s Innovation Lab, a 3,000 square-foot space on the second floor or Reinke that includes high-tech tools for designing and making, including a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter, 3-D printers, and equipment for building and programming circuit boards, as well as a host of “low tech” supplies, from wood to fabric to cardboard. The Innovation Lab expanded this year by adding a new woodworking room. Students will be able to spread out and
work independently with workbench hand tools. The goal of the program is to give students the ability to isolate a problem they want to solve, and then design and build solutions using the design thinking process, an empathybased problem solving mindset. Teachers will also continue to teach some of these same concepts in Lower School Digital Literacy and the Primary School's library class, as in prior years.
Correction: In the Summer 2014 issue of Fay Magazine, the secondary school of Grant Summermatter ’14 was incorrectly listed. Grant is attending Phillips Exeter Academy this year. www.fayschool.org | 13
The Play’s the Thing: What’s Really Happening in Pre-K
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alk into the Pre-Kindergarten classroom any morning, and you’ll be sure to see “serious fun” in action. The classroom is divided into dedicated areas—for block building, dramatic play, art, snack, reading, and science, just to name a few—and for at least 90 minutes each day during Activity Time, the children immerse themselves in the activities that capture their interest. Are the children playing? Yes! Are they having fun? Definitely. But are they learning? Absolutely. Fay’s Pre-K is a play-based, inquiry-based program, which means that the development of foundational skills in reading, writing, and math happens within the context of projects and activities that the students choose. The job of the teachers is to be responsive to the students’ interests and to guide their learning, with the goal of connecting skills to children’s lives in a meaningful way. Play is an essential part of learning for young children—and, sadly, in many schools, the opportunity for play is disappearing as districts devote more time to test-based learning and assessments. So while we may see students “just playing” when we visit Pre-K, here’s a behind-the-scenes tour of what’s really going on during Activity Time, as explained by our Pre-K teachers Yuka Terada and Lauren Roby.
“Through play, children build the foundation they need to understand the concepts they learn in school, but play offers an even deeper benefit as well. Through play, children continually regain their sense of equilibrium, which is what allows them to greet learning tasks in school with openness and confidence.” —Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Ed.D., Professor Emerita, Lesley University 14 | Fay Magazine 2014
THE DRAMATIC PLAY AREA goes through many transformations throughout the year, from pet shop to restaurant to theater, depending on the children’s interests. While students are dressing up and “playing pretend,” they are also developing basic literacy, language, and social skills. Yuka Terada: The dramatic play area is currently set up as a doctor’s office: the children love putting on scrubs and playing with the stethoscopes and other tools. The children are doing a lot of writing: they fill out forms where they write their patients’ names and “symptoms,” and they are learning and using real medical terms in context. Though most of the children aren’t reading yet, they are using first initials to predict words and sounding them out using context clues. As the children engage in pretend play together, they’re learning how to practice empathy and switch perspectives, two big cognitive challenges at this age. The children have experienced going to the doctor, for example, but now they have to imagine the experience through the doctor’s eyes. The dramatic play area is also where students practice compromise, as they generate multiple solutions to social conflicts.
THE ART TABLE is where Pre-K students create what the teachers and students call “beautiful stuff”—but what to parents’ eyes might appear to be a bizarrely glued and taped amalgam of paper scraps, craft sticks, and cardboard tubes. Take a closer look, and you’ll see students practicing fine motor skills while also developing problem solving and critical thinking skills. Lauren Roby: Creating “beautiful stuff” requires creativity, planning, and execution. One student wanted to re-create the entire story of Rapunzel in three dimensions, from the princess trapped in the tower to the rescuing prince. She had the idea of using the paper tube as the
PRIMARY SCHOOL tower, so she experimented with glue and tape to keep the tube upright and secure the rocks. She used ribbon to make Rapunzel’s hair and then drew the prince directly onto the construction paper. All of the folding, cutting, gluing, and taping she did develops the motor skills she will need for formal writing later on. And her re-creation of the Rapunzel story is a great way to build literacy skills as she thinks about character and plot.
THE SNACK TABLE is another choice during Activity Time, and it’s more than just a place for a tasty break—it provides an opportunity to practice literacy, motor skills, and manners. Yuka Terada: After students wash their hands, they have to read the menu—which is written by one of the students—to determine what kind of snack they’re having that day, and how much of the snack they may serve themselves. The children pour their own water to drink and open and count out their own food. In some cases, children need to figure out what tools they need—such as scissors to open a yogurt tube, for example. When the students sit down to eat with just one or two other classmates, it’s a great time to practice manners and the art of communication.
THE BLOCK AREA is a hive of activity, where you’ll find boys and girls building walls, towers, ramps, and houses. It’s a great place for students to practice the scientific process as they learn about the principles of engineering and physics. Lauren Roby: The students recently became fascinated by rolling beads and marbles down the wooden tracks they had built, so we challenged them to get a marble up a ramp without pushing it. After a lot of experimenting and testing, they figured out that if they built two ramps, one steeper than the other, they could build speed and momentum. We also challenged the students to change the direction of the marble by having it ricochet off a barrier. In an informal way, the children were using all the steps of the scientific process as they tested their hypotheses. They also had to practice managing frustration when their experiments failed—and persevering until they were successful. Like all of the choices during Activity Time, the block area is all about learning independence. We want the children to take ownership of the learning process and experience the positive challenges that come with developing new skills. Some of the goals they achieve on a typical day may seem small—but they’re all a key part of becoming a successful learner in the long run.
UPDATE
Anatomy of a Lower School Meeting “When I was in the Lower School, I looked forward to Morning Meeting and I would sit there and listen to the silence. Morning Meeting gives students and teachers time to stop and think about what's happening right now; not in the future or in the past, but in the moment.” –Angela Scumaci ’17
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Consider the typical day of a Lower School student, and it’s probable that you’ll think of words like energy, action, movement….and noise. But each Wednesday morning at ten minutes to eight, you’ll find all 144 Lower School students, plus the Lower School faculty, gathered in the Primary School Multipurpose Room with the lights out, in a circle, in stillness and silence. Complete. Silence. Lower School Morning Meeting is a part of the weekly routine for grades three through six. It’s a carefully structured event designed to give each individual an opportunity for inward reflection—as well as to bring the entire Lower School together as a community. Here’s a closer look at how twenty minutes can make a difference in the whole day.
7:50 – 7:55 A.M. QUIET REFLECTION Lower School Morning Meeting begins as students file into the darkened Primary School Multipurpose Room and find a quiet place in the circle.
Which brings up the big question: how do you get 144 students between the ages of 8 and 12 to sit in complete silence, for what can be as long as five minutes? (And if you’ve ever tried to meditate, you’ll know that five minutes can seem like an eternity.) Head of Lower School Lainie Schuster explains that it’s a gradual process. “At the beginning of the year, we try to start with two minutes, and we build from there. The first few meetings are a challenge, but the students learn to embrace the quiet.” Lainie is passionate about the importance of this time in the day for the Lower Schoolers. Before coming to Fay, she taught at a Quaker school in North Carolina and was struck by how the community’s meeting times played such a pivotal role in the children’s ability to stay calm, focused, and centered—and in contributing to the school’s sense of cohesion. So she modified the meeting format to meet the needs of Fay students. “We live our lives in noise and chatter,” she says. “We want our students to participate and express themselves, but
LOWER SCHOOL there’s also a huge benefit for our students in learning how to be silent and to give room to that inner silence.”
why they like it. It’s a great way for them to practice public speaking in a safe and supportive setting.”
“That quiet time when you walk into the space and the lights are out is wonderful,” Lainie says. “It’s a moment when students— and teachers—can let go of the hustle and bustle that brought them to school in the morning, the fight they might have had with their little brother, their other day-today concerns. It’s a moment to look within and settle into the day.”
8:00 – 8:10 A.M. GRADE-LEVEL UPDATES
7:55 – 8:00 A.M. COMMUNITY GREETINGS After three cleansing breaths, students greet their neighbors on either side by name. Students are mixed by age around the circle, so it’s a great opportunity for older and younger students to connect. Over the years, a tradition has developed where students volunteer to read a favorite poem aloud to the group and talk about their reasons for choosing it. “Students from all the grades come to me in advance and offer to read a poem,” says Lainie. “It’s up to them to pick the poem, but they need to be ready to talk about why they chose it and
Next in the meeting is a time for students at each grade level to share classroom news about what they are studying and the projects they’re working on. “Students love this part of the meeting,” Lainie says. “It’s exciting to hear about all of the projects that are going on. The younger students like getting the preview of what’s in store for when they’re older, and the older students get a kick out of hearing about the projects that they know and remember well.”
8:10 – 8:20 A.M. COMING TOGETHER Often, there’s time for students to participate in a short group activity to illustrate a concept or skill that the faculty want to reinforce, such as the importance of collaboration or communication. Other times, it’s a chance for students to speak up on topics that matter deeply to them. “One of our most powerful meetings took place last Thanksgiving,” Lainie explains. “We invited
UPDATE
the students to ‘speak to the silence’ about what they were thankful for. The activity required an enormous amount of active listening so students wouldn’t speak over one another, and their reflections on their loved ones and the other parts of their lives that they were grateful for showed amazing thoughtfulness and care.”
8:20 A.M. THE “SQUEEZE” Each Lower School Morning Meeting traditionally closes with “the squeeze.” Everyone in the circle holds hands, and Lainie randomly picks a child who squeezes his or her neighbor’s hand. The next child squeezes the hand of his or her neighbor in turn, and so the squeeze “travels” around the circle as a symbol of goodwill and connection. Finally, the child who started the squeeze closes the meeting with the words that will send every community member off into the world, recharged and ready to begin: “Have a great day!”
“I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own.” —Chaim Potok, The Chosen www.fayschool.org | 17
Designing the Optimal Challenge: The Art of the Lesson Plan
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UPPER SCHOOL
UPDATE
For Fay teachers, lesson planning is so much more than reading a pre-written script from a textbook’s teacher guide. Good lesson planning is an art, and the process requires broad and deep content knowledge, a thorough understanding of where students are in their academic progress, and the ability to spark interest in the material. And as teaching tools and resources evolve in remarkable ways, Fay teachers take pride in their ability and willingness to integrate new technologies into their lesson plans. It may sound like a tall order, but Fay faculty are more than up to the challenge. In their own words, here’s how three of our Upper School teachers create challenging, engaging, and meaningful lessons.
ESL teacher Sarah Ripton with students. www.fayschool.org | 19
pictures of growth curves, students counted the number of yeast cells in cultures I had grown in the classroom, added their data to a shared Google doc, and created a scatter plot to show the results. As students looked at the data—which showed a significant population crash on day seven of the experiment—they had to struggle with whether the results indicated experimental error or a scientific phenomenon.
HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES, HIGH LEVEL THINKING: Warren Perdrizet, Biology The study of biology offers the incredible opportunity to see and engage with the content first-hand. And the resources that we have here at Fay make it possible for students to participate in the scientific process in an authentic way. At the beginning of a unit, I like to provoke a lot of questions: I want to get students looking, thinking, and wondering so the content they learn will answer their questions—and hopefully generate new ones. For our unit on cells, for example, I started by getting each student in front of his or her own microscope to look at cells. The students had a chance to observe the shapes, draw their observations, and puzzle about what they were seeing before we even began talking about cell structure and function. Textbook illustrations of cells almost never match up to what you see through a microscope, so this was an effective way for students to experience real science in action. At the same time, the
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Planning and coordinating authentic science experiences for the students takes time. But those are the moments that help students understand what being a scientist is really about. I have many goals for this course, but my biggest personal goal is for my students to walk out of the classroom feeling excited about biology, and to believe it’s a course where they can do well.
Planning and coordinating authentic science experiences for the students takes time. But those are the moments that help students understand what being a scientist is really about. students were learning important science process skills, like focusing a compound microscope. Biology at Fay is a challenging high schoollevel course. As I plan lessons, there’s a constant tension between “depth” and “breadth”: sometimes I make the conscious choice to reduce the amount of content so students have the time to go deeper, and we can increase the complexity of the material. As a result, our class can get a little messier than a traditional biology class, which is also more in line with the experience of “real” scientists. In a recent lesson, students explored logistical and exponential growth curves by looking at population changes in yeast cultures. Instead of just looking at
USING MODERN TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE ANCIENT HISTORY COME ALIVE: Dan Blanchard, Ancient History Eighth grade history at Fay focuses on Greek and Roman history: much of it is focused on the theme of political evolution and the development of democratic constitutions. While the content addresses events from thousands of years ago, the class is a “living class” and the reader we use is a “living document.” Every summer, I re-edit the student reader, which includes primary source documents and historians’ perspectives, and change some of the readings. This year, I’ve added an online component to the course materials. To make the content more accessible to all the students, I recorded and uploaded an audio version of the reader. Some of the selections from the reader are quite challenging—such as the opening reading from Polybius—so now when students study on their own, they can listen to the
UPPER SCHOOL UPDATE
audio and follow along with the printed text. The recordings help students understand pronunciation; I can stress words with my voice to facilitate their comprehension. I’m also making audio recordings of my classes that students can download. During their independent study times, students can revisit our classroom discussions in order to reinforce concepts. Our class web page also has links to class notes, library databases, and slide show presentations that students can use to review materials and dig deeper. For the students who are seeking more content, I’ve also started filming five-minute “mini lectures” on topics related to our
I believe that learning cannot take place if students are passive; I like to challenge them to respond actively to the content.
classroom study. One recent video was about the historical relevance of the Trojan War in relation to other military events throughout history, such as the D-Day landings. Ancient History is not a traditional survey course. Instead, we focus in detail on a few specific events, with the goal of helping students to develop the tools they need to think critically about history, to analyze materials, and to ask themselves, “Is this source credible, accurate, and trustworthy?” I believe that learning cannot take place if students are passive; I like to challenge them to respond actively to the content. I don’t like it when the teacher drives the boat and serves as the motor. I’m in charge of the rudder and steering, but the power is coming from the students. My planning is entirely based on where students are in their comprehension and the degree to which they are willing to engage with the material.
CONTEXTUAL LEARNING, RESPONSIVE TEACHING: Sarah Ripton, English as a Second Language (ESL) In the Upper School, we offer a one-year ESL program to international students whose English skills are still developing. Their courseload includes two language classes: ESL Reading and ESL Grammar and Composition. A single grammar or writing textbook would not be a good fit for my classes: I have students with a wide range of experience and skill, so my challenge is to meet each of my students’ learning needs in a way that will be meaningful and effective. In my composition class, my strategy is to use the students’ own writing as the starting point, and to make the students become the teachers. First, I read the students’ essays and generate a list of topics that we need to cover, from using articles correctly to knowing how to vary sentence
structures. Then, I assign one topic to each student: he or she becomes the “expert” in that concept and teaches his or her peers. I can jump in, fill in the gaps, and reteach when necessary to make sure the students’ comprehension is solid. When I teach writing, it’s important to break the concepts down into manageable components. Remember that these students are learning how to craft essays—a challenge even for native speakers at this age—while also becoming proficient English speakers and writers. Recently, my students read Natalie Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting, the story of a family who struggles with eternal life after drinking water from a magic spring. The students’ challenge was to analyze the theme of immortality, but instead of having them write a five-paragraph essay right off the bat, I wanted them to have a thorough understanding of what it means to analyze something: how do you talk about big ideas, dissect language, and use evidence from the text to back up your thoughts? So we started with a video challenge instead. Each student created a video in which he or she argued either for or against immortality from the perspective of one of the novel’s characters. Their videos incorporated images from the story and were accompanied by the students’ own writing. I was able to sit down with each student during the editing phase and discuss their writing in context, addressing issues like word choice and subject-verb agreement. The project helped students develop key skills that they can apply directly to the essay writing process. As an ESL teacher, the most important principle I keep in mind is to meet the students at their level. It’s important to be flexible and responsive, and to assess students based on the progress that they’re making rather than on whether they’re achieving a predetermined standard of perfection.
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Reds and Whites, Chips and Twigs:
A Brief Guide to (Some) Fay Traditions
At a special ceremony at the beginning of the year, a Lower School student receives his color team assignment “now and forever.”
As the oldest junior boarding school in the United States, Fay embraces many traditions that continue to bring our community together. Whether you’re a member of the Class of 1945 or the Class of 2025 (our current Pre-K), it’s likely that you share some experiences that that are unique to Fay and our beautiful New England campus. As we approach our 150th birthday in 2016, we’re launching a series of articles that will take a closer look at the objects, places, and traditions that have stood the test of time—and some of the ways we keep those traditions vibrant today.
Color Meeting, 1951
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REDS AND WHITES
T
he tradition of dividing the entire student body into two teams—the Reds and the Whites— dates back to 1923. As historian Scott Steward ’78 noted in Fay School: A History, “from the first, the rivalry was intense, as the boys competed in every area of school life, from academics and athletics to discipline and neatness. Each activity was assigned a numerical score, and each week the scores were added up for each student as well as for the team rivalry.” The Reds and Whites tradition is alive and well. Students entering Fay participate in an induction ceremony at Morning Meeting, where, amidst cheers from their fellow students, they are identified as a member of the Red Team or the White Team, “now and forever.” Today, as in 1923, there are Color officers charged with the task of keeping the friendly rivalry going and encouraging their teammates to give their best effort. And Founders’ Day—a field day packed with games, races, and the traditional tug-of-war—is the culminating event that determines which team holds the Redmond Cup for the coming year. Effort continues to be a key measure of success in the Red/White rivalry. Beginning in third grade, each student receives an effort grade every two weeks (on a five-point scale) based on teacher feedback. The color team with the highest average at the end of each effort period earns the honor to see their team’s flag fly atop the other team’s flag on the Quad. Head of Upper School Matt Heard notes that in recent years, the variety of contests has expanded to include multiple aspects of school life. In addition to athletic games, students in every division have the option to compete in other disciplines. The Math Grapple and Grammar Grapple, for example, are challenging problems designed to test students’ critical thinking, problem solving, and content knowledge, while the SmART Challenges include art puzzlers where students match works of art to the artist and sort them in chronological order. “This is one way for us to celebrate the talents of all our students,” Matt says. “The competitions are a fun way to bring us together as one school, and for our older students to demonstrate leadership within the community.”
Francesca D’Angelo ’14, who was Red Color President for the 201314 school year, looks on as her brother, Anthony D’Angelo ’15, dons the red jacket as the new Red Color President. The names of all the Color Presidents since 2005 are embroidered inside the jacket.
CHIPS AND TWIGS
W
ith nearly 150 years of history, it’s not surprising that Fay is part of many family traditions. Here on campus, we refer to children of alumni as “Chips” (as in a “chip off the old block”), while other relatives of alumni (siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, and so on) are called “Twigs” (as in a twig on the family tree). This year’s student body includes 38 Chips and 210 Twigs. Catherine Diamond ’15 is both a Chip and a Twig: her mother, Rachel Sandler Diamond ’87, is a graduate of Fay, as is her aunt, Stephanie Sandler ’77, and her cousins, Gabrielle Bonavire ’13 and Ben Bonavire ’15; Catherine’s sister, Sarah, is in fifth grade. “With my mom and my aunt, I’ve seen how important Fay is in fostering lifelong friendships, and I’m making those same connections with my friends, too,” Catherine says. “It’s great being at school with my sister and cousin,” she adds. “I think my family members’ shared Fay experiences have brought us closer together.” Here’s where it gets interesting: when a Chip (a child of a Fay alumnus or alumna) enters Fay, he or she joins the color team of his or her alumni parent. So what happens if a student is the child of two Fay alumni – one Red and one White? Alice Harlow Ronconi ’75, daughter of former headmaster A. Brooks Harlow, Jr. ’49 and Mimi Harlow, recalls, “I remember asking Mom and Dad that question in the seventies when Fay was newly co-ed. My mom replied that the child would be whatever color the father was, but Dad said he thought the child should be able to choose.” And choose they did. After our somewhat limited research, we’ve found exactly one “Pink”: Chappie Wick ’12, the daughter of Emily Roberts Wick ’78 (Red) and Bryant Wick ’77 (White). Chappie explains what happened: “We ultimately decided I would be a White because my father was a White, and I carry his last name. I remember wanting to be a Red to balance out the family—since my mother and her brother were the only two Reds— but we decided that it made more sense to follow my last name.”
www.fayschool.org | 23
Sports Spotlight
I
t was a building—and winning—fall season for Fay’s athletic program, and according to Director of Athletics Rob Feingold, athletes on every team showed noteworthy growth. Afternoon practices emphasized skill building, strategic thinking, and team play, and at game time, Fay athletes put their skills to the test, with excellent results.
A highlight of this season was Fay’s first-ever “Friday Night Lights,” an athletic event on campus that was sponsored by the Fay Parents’ Association. The evening featured girls varsity soccer pitted against Park School, and varsity football versus longtime rival Fenn. Spurred on by the glow of the bright lights and the screams of the crowd, Fay athletes gave it their all.
SPORTS SPOTLIGHT
In the girls varsity soccer game, Park came out strong and scored early, but Fay battled back to tie the game at 1-1. Park kept up their strong attack in the second half and managed to gain a 3-1 lead. Megan Christy ’16 scored a beautiful goal from 20 yards out into the top left corner of the net to bring the score to 3-2, but Fay could not get the equalizer in the closing minutes. It was a terrific game overall, with outstanding performances by Avery Asherman ’15, Megan Christy ’16, and Shelby Howard ’16. In the varsity football game, the players walked down to the field as one team and then competed with passion from the opening kickoff to the final whistle. The offense came out firing on all cylinders and scored touchdowns via the air and the running attack. Defensively, the boys played with heart and determination, and even caused a turnover on Fenn's first play from scrimmage. Special contributions were made by Rafa Sanchez ’16, who rushed for one touchdown and threw for another, and Anthony D’Angelo ’15, who caught Rafa’s touchdown pass. After a game full of excitement for the fans, Fay walked off the field with a 25-0 victory. Fay athletes are already deep into the winter season, with students participating in ice hockey, basketball, squash, wrestling, skiing and snowboarding, fitness, and drama/movement. Stay tuned for our season results in the spring!
Team Records Fall 2014
Football: 8-1-1 Field Hockey: 9-1-2 Girls Varsity Soccer: 7-3-3
Varsity Volleyball: 7-3 Boys Varsity Soccer: 4-7-2 Cross Country: 7-4 (boys) 3-4 (girls)
Building the Fay Community Far From Southborough: Rob Gustavson Visits Asia Over the course of a whirlwind two weeks, Head of School Rob Gustavson and Director of Advancement Ann Wardwell headed overseas to Asia this fall to connect with members of the Fay community. Rob and Ann arrived in Taipei to a warm welcome by members of the Chen family— Donna ’92, Jenny ’93, John ’96, and Fudy ’99—who served as gracious hosts for the duration of their stay (sister Tina Chen ’94 lives in New York). Rob and Ann were also the guests of Albert Ting ’87 and Arthur Ting ’90, who hosted a dinner where Rob met several prospective Fay families. After a brief visit in Hong Kong to meet with current families, Rob and Ann proceeded to Shanghai and Beijing, where they hosted a gathering in each city for current families and also had an opportunity to meet with parents of alumni. While in Beijing, Rob and Ann had the good fortune to visit the set where past parent Da Ying (father of Rudi Ying ’14) was filming his latest production. Top two images: On set with past parent Da Ying P’14, Bottom left: Members of the Suh family, who graciously hosted Rob and Ann at their hotel. Front row: Ann Wardwell, Rob Gustavson, and Jinny Suh ’01; Back row: Yun Sook Suh, Jung Ho Suh, and Joanne Suh ’00.
Far left: At dinner on the final night in Seoul: Rob with Jae Hoon Kim ’85 P’17 and trustee Rae Eun Sung ’94. Middle left: Ann Wardwell P’06, ’09 with Brianna Ong ’06. Middle right: In Shanghai with parents. Front row: Jing Yu, Rob Gustavson, Ann Wardwell, Vicky Zhuang and daughter; Back row: Chunhua Jin, Liping Zhang, Xiang Gao, Qingfeng Huang, Eliena Tang, George Wu. Far right: Rob with John Chen ’96.
The last stop in Asia for Fay was Seoul, where Rob and Ann were hosted by current Fay families, along with trustee Rae Eun Sung ’94 and her husband, Bryan Koo. Both Rob and Ann were delighted to connect with so many Fay families and grateful for the generous welcomes by all. “Our visits to Asia are an important way for us to stay connected to our alumni and meet prospective families,” Ann says, “but it’s also wonderful to visit with current families, who have
entrusted their children to us. Both Rob and I feel that it’s important to understand where our students come from, and there’s no better way to do that than to visit their home countries.” Ann adds that while this trip did not allow time to visit the home countries of all Fay’s boarders, plans are in place to visit more “Fay countries” in the next few years.
Summer is just around the corner! Registration opens January 15 for FaySummer 2015 Day Camp and Specialty Camps
for ages 3-15 Nine one-week sessions, June 22 – August 21
English Immersion Overnight program for ages 10-14 Two sessions: July 12 – August 7 (four weeks) and June 28 – August 7 (six weeks)
Academic Adventures
Overnight academic enrichment for students entering grades 5-7 Two two-week sessions: July 12 – 24 & July 26 – August 7
Learn more at fayschool.org/summer
The Fay School Annual Fund “I love teaching at Fay because of the opportunities I have to get to know my students well, both inside and outside the classroom. Thanks to the Annual Fund, I have access to a wide range of resources, so I can continue to refine my curriculum and challenge my students.” —Deb Smith, Upper School English teacher & recipient of the Mann Teaching Chair 14 years at Fay
Can you name the teachers who made a difference in your life?
O
ur teachers are our greatest asset. Their expertise enables them to create learning experiences that are challenging and engaging, and their passion for teaching drives them to make meaningful connections with their students—as teachers, coaches, and dorm parents. Every day, our teachers make a difference. So can you.
“The Annual Fund postively affects every aspect of my teaching. The music faculty has access to materials, instruments, trips, and professional development so we can help our students become musically literate.” —Philip Montgomery, Arts Department Chair 20 years at Fay
Your gift to the Annual Fund is essential in helping our teachers continue their important work. The Annual Fund supports faculty and staff salaries and professional development, pays for books and teaching supplies, and supports the maintenance of our classrooms and campus. Your gift demonstrates your belief in Fay’s mission and validates our teachers’ dedication and commitment.
Give today at fayschool.org/giving 28 | Fay Magazine 2014
Faculty Profile:
Tyler Auer
Walk by Tyler Auer’s corner classroom in the Root Building, and you’ll find Lower School students actively engaged in the study of math, whether they’re exploring the geometric properties of reflections or wrestling with a Fermi question (a problem where students use estimation with extremely large numbers to solve real-world problems).
the science behind teaching math: there is a lot of research out there about how students learn math concepts, and at Fay we’re putting that research into practice.
Tyler began his teaching career at Fay soon after graduating from Williams College, and this spring he will complete his master’s degree in math education at Boston University. As a fifth and sixth grade math teacher and football coach, he gets to know his students in multiple contexts—and he has also contributed to the Fay community as a gifted photographer whose lens gives the rest of us a kid’s-eye view of campus life.
On the field, I get to see my students in situations where they’re facing very different kinds of challenges, but I’ve found that they need the same skills they use in the classroom in order to succeed: they have to work hard and pay attention to detail.
What brought you to Fay? My degree at Williams was in geosciences, so I came to Fay as a science intern. After my first year, I joined the math department, and I’ve been fortunate to be mentored by [Lower School Head] Lainie Schuster, a master math teacher. I’ve loved learning
What have you learned about your students as their football coach?
What do you enjoy most about photography? Fay is a great place to take pictures: there are so many subjects to choose from in so many different settings. I especially love shooting candids of the students in the Lower School, but it’s a challenge—you have about half a second to capture the moment, and then it’s gone. My favorite Fay photos capture the joy of being a student at Fay.
CLASS NOTES 1952
Fay alumni continue to share their news and milestones with us. This fall, we also asked alumni to share some of the most noteworthy books they have read of late; you’ll find some of their answers below.
1936 FAIR GOODALE, a loyal contributor to Class Notes, checked in this fall: “I don't have much good news except I'm still enjoying life. I've read many wonderful books this year. One of the best is A Literary Education by Joseph Epstein. Our eldest son, Tad (Class of 1962), died of bladder cancer several months ago, and it's taking the family quite a while to come to grips with that terrible loss. I painted with oils some years ago. This year, I'm painting with watercolors and am having great fun with it as a rank amateur. I've attached a photograph of me so engaged. I'm delighted that Fay School is thriving.”
Fair Goodale ‘36, painting with watercolors.
1945 PAUL HERTELENDY’S response to our question about what he has been reading: “Well, truth be told, my allencompassing book right now is the IRS one with instructions on making out the 2013 tax returns, with deadlines looming darkly! Can’t put it down!”
KEN MARSHALL has let us know that he will be retiring from the active practice and teaching of plastic surgery at the end of this year. He writes, “I will still do volunteer work, such as my many trips to Guatemala, but it may be elsewhere. I plan to do some writing about my many experiences, both medical and otherwise. I will continue to serve on the Board of the USS Intrepid, now the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York City. I am still pursuing a real memorial for the Cocoanut Grove Fire of November 28, 1942, which led to revolutionary changes in fire safety, building code regulations, occupancy rules, changes in burn care, the first use in the civilian world of penicillin, and the first paper documenting PTSD. My committee achieved a street name change in Boston last November in memory of that Pictured above: Watercolor by Fair Goodale ‘36.
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CLASS NOTES
tragedy, the first street name change in 50 years in Boston. I plan to continue traveling to ‘bucket list’ destinations. And, of course, I will spend more time with my two sons and their families. Regards to the Fay family and to my classmates.”
1953 MIKE BRODY shares that “Judi and I have returned to Florida after a wonderful summer in Maine. Our children remain in Pennsylvania along with our grandchildren. Two are in college, and the youngest is in grammar school. I volunteer with several organizations: in Maine, I volunteer at the Rockland Festivals and Owls Head Transportation Museum. In Florida, I volunteer at ORCA and am a board member of two organizations, along with being president of our HOA. In retirement, it appears that I am busier than when I was working.”
1954 DUTCH HEIDSIECK is doing well and has this update: “Turning three quarters of a century this summer was both astonishing and exciting, and I’m still feeling as fit as ever, too. We still split our time between Boca Grande, Florida, and Irvington, Virginia; we also travel to Hawaii to see our son and grandkids once a year. Life is indeed good.”
1956 From TY FULLER: “I retired last December after teaching tennis for 50 years. I taught tennis throughout New England, West Africa, and Japan. The past 40 years have been spent here in Atlanta, Georgia. My wife, Prudence, who is an artist, and I have been married for almost 44 years. We have two children and five grandchildren.”
A photo by David Rassin ’57 from his recent trip to Antarctica.
1957 Here’s the news from DAVID RASSIN: “I have had another great travel year. I made it to Antarctica and to the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia (the history of these countries over the last century is absolutely a lesson in how low and high a country can go). My favorite, discussion-inspiring, recent book is The Circle by David Eggers; it brings the whole social networking agenda up for some deep thought.”
1962 MCKIM SYMINGTON writes, “In retirement from the CIA, I spend all my time volunteering at various museums. I am a docent at the CIA Museum as well as at the National Firearms Museum. I am a glorified "Walmart greeter" at the National Gallery of Art and the US Holocaust Museum on the Mall. Life is good.”
1963 LUIS MENOCAL was enthusiastic about sharing his recent literary favorites: “The book that has by far and away held my interest is Peter Matthiessen’s Shadow
Country, an epic about Edgar J. (“Bloody”) Watson, a bandit and killer from the late 1800’s who was one of the early settlers and pioneers of the Florida Everglades. He was killed in 1910 by his neighbors in Chokoloskee, Florida, a small township next to Everglades City. Shadow Country holds your interest throughout because it is well written, often from the perspective of the various characters who frequently narrate their version of the story. The book is equally fascinating as a picture of that part of America during that era, complete with a vivid description of the squalid living conditions, the abject poverty, the lack of education, the deep rooted prejudices, and the pioneering American spirit. What sticks with me most is that I constantly saltwater fly fish in Flamingo and Chokoloskee, where most of the story takes place. You can recognize all of the landmarks, including Chatham Bend, where Watson’s house and sugar cane farm were, and where some of the notorious murders took place. I find myself fishing in that mangrove backcountry totally engrossed in what happened there just over a hundred years ago. More than anything I feel like I’m living a small bit of American history.”
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1967 BILL MCGRAIL wrote with this reflection: “I graduated in 1967 under the ancien regime of Harrison Reinke, Shields, and Mann. I am now living in Bozeman, Montana after a career on Wall Street. Fay was tough back then, but I'm sure many of my classmates will agree that in the long run we took more out of Fay than Fay took out of us!
And the only Latin I remember is Poteris Modo Velis. I would love to hear from old classmates and can be reached at wpm827@gmail.com.”
1973 JEFFREY LAING has this news: “I watched the Blackhawks beat the LA Kings in probably the best overtime game I've ever seen. Two minutes into
double overtime, Michal Handzus scored with a beautiful backhander to beat Quick. The first overtime period took 26 minutes in real time. The refs were letting them play—it was awesome.” He also urges his classmates to contribute to the Class Notes: “You gotta have some good memories you can share, or just let others know what you're up to. Try it; you'll like it!”
A L U M N I AU T H O R S
Always a Catch by Peter Richmond ’67 What happens when a teenage boy whose greatest love is playing the piano goes out for the football team at his new prep school—and to everyone’s surprise, becomes the star receiver? That’s the premise behind Always a Catch, the new young adult novel by Peter Richmond ’67. Don’t let the “Young Adult” tag dissuade you: as numerous articles in the literary press have pointed out in recent years, young adult (YA) fiction is “hot.” These days, YA reaches a broad audience of many ages, and the genre is beloved by many for its sincerity and willingness to address serious themes. It’s the first such foray for Peter, who until now had made a career as a writer for “grown-ups.” Primarily a sports writer and historian, he has written for numerous newspapers and magazines and was a staff writer at GQ. He is also the author of Ballpark, the story of Camden Yards; Badasses, about the Oakland Raiders of the 1970s; and The Glory Game, a book co-written with Frank Gifford about the impact of the 1958 NFL Championship game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts. His stories have been anthologized in more than a dozen books, including Best American Sportswriting of the Twentieth Century, and he co-hosts a public radio show about his self-described “tragic attachment to the New York Giants.” Beyond the world of sports, Peter is also the author of Fever, a New York Times bestselling biography of Peggy Lee, and My Father’s War, the story of his father’s experience in World War II. Peter spent three years teaching English at Indian Mountain School, and it was during this time that he was inspired to make the shift from nonfiction to fiction—and young adult fiction at that. “One morning I opened my laptop, came up with a kid based on me, and within a week I had six sample chapters,” he explains. To his delight, Penguin leapt at the opportunity to publish the novel, and it’s now available on Amazon and at major booksellers. “I used elements of my own experience at Fay,” Peter says, noting that like the main character of Always a Catch, he was not a “born” football player. “In eighth grade, the coach threw me a few passes, and for some reason I could catch a football. I had one game when I caught eight passes…it was like the ball just stuck to my hand.”
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CLASS NOTES
JEFFREY JAY writes, “Had lunch with Mitt and Ann Romney. I could not tell whether or not he is running for President, but he is keeping his options open for sure.”
1985 JAY TRAVIS ’85 reunited in Tokyo with his roommate, KEISUKE WADA ’85. The two had not seen each other in 29 years.
1991 SAVILE LORD writes, “Living in Southern Minnesota at the present time, enjoying my work in marketing while helping build an entrepreneurial training program for my county. I send my best to Fay and the graduating class of 1991.”
1998
Jeffrey Jay ’73 with Kris Canekeratne P’11, ’12, playing golf in New York. Jeffrey notes, “Mickelson is out of sight in this photo, standing on the next tee box, and he did not appreciate my loudmouth shorts!”
KENLEY BRADSTREET (pictured below) shares news of her wedding! “My husband, Shawn Busteed, and I were married on September 20, at The Hope Club in Providence, in a very fun and very Fay-inflected celebration. The wedding marked the first major public appearance for Everett, the son of my brother BARRET BRADSTREET ’94
and his wife Barbara, who was born on August 14 in Phoenix. It was also an opportunity for many to meet Quincy, the sixteen month-old daughter of my brother JOSH BRADSTREET ’92 and his wife Priscilla. CAITLIN O'HARA was my maid of honor, with JACQUI HAMILTON and ALLISON STONER GODOFF as beautiful bridesmaids. KATIE BRADSTREET KULIK ’87 lent me her daughters, Chloe and Addison, to serve as very sophisticated flower girls. Shawn and I are now preparing to pack up our things in New York and start new adventures in Chicago. We'd love to hear from Fay folks out that way.”
2000 JAMES BURCH visited campus this spring and had this update: “Since graduating from Yale and Georgetown Law School, I worked at the ACLU in Los Angeles for about a year. Since then, I have been working for an e-commerce startup in San Francisco. Coming back to Fay to visit, it is amazing how fast time
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CLASS NOTES
ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 25, 2014, SERGEANT PATRICK CURRIE ’02 was greeted by his wife, Heather, and their 16-monthold son, Alexander Nicholas, at Pope Army Airfield, Ft. Bragg. He and his fellow paratroopers returned from Camp Phoenix, Afghanistan after serving more than eight months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Patrick’s older brother, Ian, was also on hand to welcome him home and take this picture. Patrick is a member of A Company of the 2-508 Parachute Infantry Regiment, “2 Fury”, which is part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, the famous All-American Division based at Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville, NC. During deployment, Patrick missed out on Alexander’s first Christmas and first birthday but kept in touch with Heather and Alexander via Skype whenever possible. He went home with his family to a new home in Fayetteville that he had previously only seen online. Heather not only took care of Alexander but planned and executed the move to their first purchased house. Prior to deciding upon a career in the Army, Patrick was a Marine with the 1st Battalion 9th Marines. As a member of a Marine infantry unit, Patrick served a tour in the Ramadi area of Al Anbar Provence, Iraq, during the Operation Iraqi Freedom surge. He also was deployed as a member of a Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard a landing dock ship in the Arabian Gulf and the Horn of Africa.
flies. It seems that just recently I graced these halls, learning (often through trial and error) how to carry myself as a young adult. I have and continue to carry with me the lessons I learned and will always be thankful to Fay, its faculty, and its students.”
2002 JONATHAN DEMELLO is currently living in Boston and is founder and CEO of Voyager Medical, LLC. Voyager Medical was founded in 2013 to provide innovative technologies to hospitals and medical centers in the Northeast Region of the United States.
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You can learn more about Jonathan’s company at www.voyagermedical.com. SGT PATRICK CURRIE, who is currently a sergeant with the 82nd Airborne, wrote in with this news and recommendation: “As a Fay alumnus and current sergeant in the army, I approve and encourage selfless service as this year's theme. There is nothing more satisfying as helping others who need it. I make every man in my squad read No True Glory by Bing West as well as Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Both are amazing reads about brotherhood, sacrifice, service, fortitude, and growth.”
2005 JACK OLIPHANT has recently moved to San Francisco to start employment with CBS Interactive.
2009 JEFF OTT writes, “I am currently on a gap year between my sophomore and junior years at Harvard. From October to December, I backpacked through Australia and New Zealand. If you have any interest in following my travels, I posted pictures, stories, and life lessons at jeffreyott.org.” HANNAH AUERBACH is currently pursuing a
CLASS NOTES
Singing Out to Help Others: Jessie Chris ’12
Even more impressively, Jessie is using her talent to make a difference in the lives of other teens as part of this year's Allstar Nation Tour, a peer-to-peer anti-bullying music tour that is traveling the nation visiting hundreds of schools. The tour features current Top 40 performers, including The Voice’s Branden Mendoza. Jessie (who went by her given name, Jess Langway, at Fay) has always loved music and has studied guitar since she was nine years old, but her commitment to music as a career got serious in eighth grade, when she participated in a talent search at a local recording studio. Over the next two years, she honed her craft and developed her personal style as a country artist, which led her in November of 2013 to head down to Nashville to record an original album. Working with her producer and guitar teacher, Miguel Perez, and session musicians at Dark Horse Recording (where Taylor Swift recorded her first album), Jessie put together a collection of
songs—some co-written with Perez, some written by other songwriters—that reflects both her artistic sensibility and her perspectives on growing up. Her song, “Chameleon,” addresses the pressure teens face to fit in, for example, and the importance of staying true to oneself. “Butterfly,” another song on the album, was written by Jessie as a thank you to her parents, Nancy and Robert, for their love and guidance. The song explores the stages that a girl goes through as she grows up and becomes more independent. She wrote the song without her mom’s knowledge, Jessie says, “and when she heard it for the first time in the Nashville studio, she cried. I just wanted to thank my parents for being so supportive.” Songwriting has become a meaningful way for Jessie to make sense of her world. “It’s my way of coping with life,” she says. “Songwriting gives me a chance to take control of a situation and find closure. I can take hurt and pain and turn it into a song.” Jessie is also grateful for the connections she has made with other teens during the Allstar Nation Tour. She finds it rewarding when her songs resonate with the crowd, and the individual feedback she receives from fans reminds her of the important role music can play in building tolerance and understanding. Jessie's EP, Wildfire, will be available soon on iTunes and will be sold on the tour. You can learn more about Jessie and her music at www.jessiechris.com.
Photo: Justin Mayotte
Jessie Chris hasn't yet graduated from high school, but she's already making a name for herself in the country music world. A budding star on the scene, she has already performed in a wide range of venues, opening for country stars Chris Young and Ayla Brown as well as American Idol's Erica Van Pelt and The X-Factor's Jillian Jensen.
CLASS NOTES
Diana Muggeridge ’09 and Ben Hart ’09 met up in Copenhagen this fall.
neuroscience degree at St. Andrews and teaching herself how to code in her spare time. In response to our “What are you reading?” query, she responds, “The most meaningful books I have read lately are from the Foundations trilogy by Isaac Asimov. Brings me back to when I was trying to read every sci-fi book in the Fay library!” DIANA MUGGERIDGE has this news: “I feel insanely lucky to say I’m writing this message from my dorm room in Copenhagen, Denmark. I’ve been studying abroad here since late August and am already dreading my departure in December. Copenhagen is an amazing city, and I’ve loved getting to know it. If you’re bored and/or interested in my
experiences over here, I’m having a try at blogging for my school, University of Richmond at http://urtravelogues.wordpress.com/category/fall-2014/diana-indenmark/. It was so great to see lots of familiar faces at the Young Alumni Gathering at the beginning of the summer. It was especially nice catching up with my old advisor Heidi Qua, with whom I’ve stayed close over the years, and I also discovered then that my classmate BEN HART would be in Copenhagen this semester too. We’ve connected a few times so far and can’t wait to do so more!”
2010 OLIVIA FLEMING writes, “I spent the first semester of my freshman year studying abroad in London and ventured back to Boston to spend my second semester at Northeastern. This fall, I am attending Vanderbilt University in Nashville.”
2011 JANE CHIAVELLI is at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where she plans to study in the Business School and is a member of their NCAA Divison III Equestrian Team. She writes, “I still get to see many of my Fay classmates. In fact, KARINA MASRI and I went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina this summer to see my family. Hope all is well in Southborough!” CHRIS DEMELLO shares that he is now in his senior year at Hotchkiss, where he is playing varsity soccer; Hotchkiss is currently ranked #5 for all prep school soccer teams in the nation.
2012 LAURISSA MADDOCKS is having a wonderful experience at Ridley College in Canada. She writes, “Last spring I earned the role of prefect (only 15 were chosen out of 65 who applied), which means I am leading my grade this year. I had a successful year in sports and was on varsity
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Keep in Touch! Send your news and photos to Erin Ash Sullivan, Director of Communications, at esullivan@fayschool.org. basketball, volleyball, and soccer. My basketball team won the CAIS tournament in Quebec, and I won MVP of the whole tournament. I also won the Youth Philanthropy Initiative and got a $5000 grant to donate to a charity called Project Share.” KELSEY SHAKIN has this update: “Tabor has been an exciting journey to say the least. Last year I had the amazing opportunity to go to the Virgin Islands for a week to study coral life. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Last year, I led the varsity sailing team to their first win in the Women’s New England Championship in a long time.” MAX ROGERS reports that he did a threeweek service trip in Panama this summer.
2013 BIGGY NANDABHIWAT writes, “My junior year has been good so far, but considering that I’m currently a class chair, a monitor, and playing varsity sports, I have to admit that it has been a challenging experience for me. I love catching up with Fay students here in the Admissions Office, especially during this time of the year.” JEREMY LIANG is thoroughly enjoying his time at Concord Academy and is finding junior year an exciting challenge with a full courseload. He adds, “I've begun participating in the Boston
CLASS NOTES
Alumni Athletics EMMA FITZGERALD ’13 was one of seventeen athletes named to the 2014 U.S. Youth Olympic Team for track and field. Only one athlete per country earns a place in any single track and field event, and any athlete making the team may only compete in one individual event at the Youth Olympic Games in addition to a possible appearance on the 8x100m mixed relay team. The Youth Olympic Games took place August 16-28 in Nanjing, China: Emma placed 14th in women’s javelin and eighth in the mixed final relay. Fay alumni are making a name for themselves on the St. Mark’s cross country team. At a meet on Family Weekend with Roxbury Latin, Belmont Hill, and Rivers School, MATT THALMANN ’14 led the way for St. Mark’s in the 5K race, finishing second overall in a time of 17:04. Surging for sixth place was JACK THALMANN ’15, who broke his prior personal record by over thirty seconds with a time of 17:46. Jack’s time is the best by a St. Mark’s Third Former during the regular season in at least a decade. Interestingly, the only other Third Formers at St. Mark’s to break 18:00 in the regular season during that time period are Matt (17:49 in 2013) and fellow Fay alumnus WILL LYONS ’11 (17:58 in 2010). Former Fay varsity football player AARON MCLEAN ’12 has been ranked the #11 football recruit in Massachusetts by ESPN. Currently a senior at St. Mark's School, he will be playing Division I football at the University of Connecticut next fall.
Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO). I've moved up every year I've participated in the program, and this year I'm in the top orchestra, Boston Youth Symphony (BYS). For the past two years I have had the pleasure of playing with fellow Fay alumnus HENRY SCOTT. Performing and rehearsing is never easy, but it’s always satisfying at the end of it. Our orchestra has a concert coming up at Symphony Hall, and I'm extremely excited to perform.” JOEY CARADIMITROPOULO shared this update: “I am loving my hectic fall of junior year at Concord Academy. I am challenging myself with advanced electives such as economics and music theory. I am a co-head of both coed singing groups, The Chameleons and Concord Cabaret; in addition, I have worked with the music director to introduce a new, all-boys singing group to the school, and I am working with one of my classmates to elevate the group to the same skill level as the other groups. Between calculus, physics, advanced Latin, and a poetry elective, my schedule is challenging but also enjoyable. I am grateful that Fay gave me an appreciation of the effort that I put into my work. To this day, no research paper has seemed as challenging or as satisfying as the Alexander the Great paper in Mr. Blanchard's Ancient History class. That says a lot about how much Fay prepared me for high school, and I will be forever grateful to all the teachers and my advisor, Mr. Beloff, for helping me get to where I am now. Thank you all!”
2014 After finishing her freshman year at Middlesex School, ABBEY ROGERS spent the summer traveling around the country playing lacrosse. STEPHANIE LI is also at Middlesex and is enjoying her new school. ANDREW ESTELLA shares, “My sophomore year at Saint John’s has been going well. I have been
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CLASS NOTES
playing lacrosse for Team Central and am looking forward to my second year playing hockey for Saint John’s this winter.” NOAH TRAYLOR writes, “The transition between Fay and Belmont Hill was almost seamless, as I felt Fay prepared me well for secondary school, and I hope others feel that way too. Even though we are only a few months into school, I am starting Student Ambassador training at Belmont Hill, and I am looking for various other leadership opportunities. I am contemplating whether to go to Cuba or Quebec with my classmates this year for service trips.” JOSEPH RAGAN shared
this news: “I am off to a wonderful start here at Boston University Academy, and I am so glad that I chose to go here. The classes and work are extremely rigorous, yet I am learning a great deal. I auditioned for, and made it into, the BUA a cappella group Nota Bene and the BUA Advanced Male Quintet. I'm currently running for the BUA cross country team, and I'm involved in an outside-of-school production of West Side Story.” CINDY KOH is in her sophomore year at Andover, where she has been actively involved in the Music Department, as principal violinist in the Academy Orchestra, and a member of the
chamber orchestra and the chamber music group. She is also the principal violinist in the Massachusetts All State Orchestra. She is especially excited about an upcoming spring trip to Shanghai, when her music groups will perform at Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall. She adds, “I'm also part of Girls Leadership Project (GLP), and I go to many events they host as I am a strong feminist!”
2015 MIMI LARRIEUX reports that Middlesex is “more hectic than relaxing” but adds that “Fay helped me a lot with the transition.”
Reconnect and Remember
Mark these important dates on your calendar for spring alumni gatherings
Founders’ Day: May 2, 2015
Save the Date! Young Alumni Reunion Classes of 2007 - 2014
Saturday, June 6, 2015 Kick off the summer by reconnecting with your Fay friends! More details to come
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Join us for reunion events and special celebrations to honor the memory of former Head of School A. Brooks Harlow, Jr. ’49.
In Memoriam CHARLES M. FAIR ’30 July 28, 2014 Charles M. Fair died of lymphoma at South County Hospital in Wakefield, Rhode Island on July 28, 2014. He was 97 years old. He was a multitalented man with a varied career: editor, poet, banana importer, computer-company executive, script writer/narrator, historian, and neurology researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1963, Charles went as a Guggenheim Fellow to UCLA's Brain Research Institute, and the following year he became a resident scientist in M.I.T's Neurosciences Research Program, one of the few to have held an appointment there with no academic degree. Charles published light verse in Punch and The New Yorker, book reviews in The Washington Post and The Providence Journal, and a regular column in the American Poetry Review. He authored three books on neuroscience: The Physical Foundations of the Psyche, Memory & Central Nervous Organization, and Cortical Memory Functions; a number of papers on brain function; and three nontechnical books: The Dying Self, From The Jaws of Victory, and The New Nonsense. He had a lifelong love of jazz, and he played both piano and vibraphone. He loved sailing, the Red Sox, good conversation, and he even tried his hand at farming. He also wrote and narrated the soundtrack for the original Salem Witch Museum, in Salem, Massachusetts. The only child of Charles Maitland Fair and Gertrude Bryan Fair, he was born in New York City and was raised in Manhattan and in Oyster Bay, New York. He attended the Buckley School, Fay School, St. Paul's School, and Yale University. Charles is survived by his wife of 34 years, Louise Sadler Kiessling M.D., FAAP, and two daughters, Ellen Bryan Fair of New York City and Shushan, New York, and Katherine Healy Fair, Ph.D., and
her husband, Raphael Colb, of Fort Ann, New York, and Exeter, New Hampshire. He was predeceased by his son, Charles M. “Chip” Fair, and his former wife Kay Ruddy Fair.
ARTHUR WILLIAMS ’41 December 28, 2013 Arthur Williams, 87, of Fayston, Vermont, died December 28, 2013, at Copley Woodlands in Stowe, Vermont. He was born on July 3, 1926, in Bath, Maine, the son of John Winslow Williams and Emma Kaiulani Sewall. After attending Fay, Arthur graduated from the Clark School in Hanover in 1946 and received his bachelor’s degree in English and American history from Bowdoin College in 1951. Arthur joined the American Field Service during World War II, where he served as an ambulance driver for the French Army. After teaching at private schools in Connecticut and New York, he and his wife Hanne moved to Vermont’s Mad River Valley in 1958, and they taught together in one-room schoolhouses in Moretown and Fayston. Arthur was one of the original investors in Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont. He served three two-year terms as town representative from Fayston and was appointed the first executive director of the State Council on the Arts. He retired from the Arts Council in 1986 and stayed on as curator of the Vermont State House to oversee the State House restoration project. He later founded the Friends of the Vermont State House to support the ongoing financial needs of the restoration project. Arthur was an avid polo player for 40 years. He and a group of longtime
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In Memoriam (continued) friends founded the first professional polo league in the Mad River Valley, and he played in tournaments throughout New England and in Canada. Arthur always loved an adventure, whether exploring the Maine coast in a favorite boat, skiing down the slopes at Sugarbush, or playing in a polo game. Later in life, he discovered a love for painting and completed dozens of oil paintings of maritime scenes. He also loved to write, and he recently completed his memoir. Survivors include his sister Anne Winter; sisters-in-law Ann Williams, Birgit Deeds and her husband Andy; his children, Astrid, John and Nate; four grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. His wife of 55 years, Hanne Nielsen Williams, and his two brothers, Jack and Sewall, died earlier.
FAIRFIELD “TAD” GOODALE III ’62 May 24, 2014 Fairfield Goodale III, fondly known as Tad, age 64, died peacefully on May 24, 2014, at his home in Brooklin, Maine, surrounded by his loved ones. After attending Fay, Tad graduated from St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, and from Virginia Commonwealth University; he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Photography at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York. In 1995, Tad co-founded Compass Point Real Estate in Blue Hill, Maine, a company that still flourishes today. He was a member of the Hancock County Board of Realtors, served on the Brooklin Planning Board, and was a longstanding board member of The Ark, in Cherryfield, Maine.
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Tad is survived by his wife of 42 years, Elizabeth Lindsay Hitch; his parents, Fairfield Goodale, M.D. ’36 and Mary Margaret Lyman Goodale of Duxbury, Massachusetts; and siblings Anna Goodale Peterson and husband Harvey, of Belfast, Maine; John Goodale and wife Martha of Groton, Massachusetts; Susan Goodale, M.D. and husband Chris Brown of St. Paul, Minnesota; and Timothy P. Goodale and wife Kathy of Belchertown, Massachusetts.
JACK PIROZZOLO, Former Trustee August 20, 2014 Jack Pirozzolo died peacefully on August 20, 2014 in Surry, Maine. He leaves his wife of three years, Cynthia White Pirozzolo of Lancaster; seven adult children and their spouses: daughter Lisa Pirozzolo ’79 and Chris Goddu of Boston; son Jack Pirozzolo ’80 and Anne Depew of Brookline; son Josh Pirozzolo ’81 and wife Tracy of St. Paul, Minnesota; daughter Jennifer Madden ’83 and husband John of Cohasset, Massachusetts; son Jason Pirozzolo ’85 and wife Julie of Glens Falls, New York; daughter Jessica Pirozzolo of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin; and daughter Rebecca Jan Pirozzolo-Mellowes and husband John of Fox Point, Wisconsin. He is preceded in death by his wife of 31 years Joan Woodruff Pirozzolo, who died in 1993. Jack was a skilled trial lawyer who appeared regularly in courts throughout the United States to litigate landmark cases establishing significant principles of patent and copyright law. A longtime resident of Lancaster, Massachusetts, he served on Fay’s Board of Trustees from 1980 to 1990; he also served on Lancaster’s Planning Board and the Nashoba Regional School Committee.
Row 1: Paul Abeln, Alina Argueta, Tyler Auer, Colleen Barnett, Megan Benson, Bruce Chauncey, Danny Chin. Row 2: Maggie Cooper, Rob Crawford, Maria D’Eramo, Dava Dunne, Christine Fearey, Peter Fearey, Rob Feingold. Row 3: Devan Fitzpatrick, Emily Gifford, Gabrielle Giordano, Lara Gleason, Sara Horowicz, Qianqian Huyan, Chris Kimball. Row 4: Haimin Luo, Sharon Lux, Doug MacLeod, Erin McNally, Amy Mohn, Philip Montgomery, Brooke Noble. Row 5: Brittanny O’Meara, Leslie Overbye, Erin Overstreet, Josh Pierson, Julie Porrazzo, Kelly Porter, Heidi Qua. Row 6: Sarah Ripton, Laura Roberts, Lauren Roby, Bob Rojee, Dan Roy, Courtney Sargent, Lainie Schuster. Row 7: Brad Sicchitano, Deb Smith, Kendra Staley, Sally Supinski, Jennifer Telles, Kath Walton, Diana Zito.
One of the marks of an excellent teacher is the ability to see the world through your students’ eyes. Here’s proof positive that we were all young once: photos of some of our incredible faculty members, taken when they were the age of the students they now teach. How many can you identify?
Young at Heart
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