Fay Magazine, Fall 2017

FAY

Fall/Winter 2017

MAGAZINE

In This Issue: Our Schoolwide Theme: Gaining Perspective Leadership in the Arts: Damian Woetzel ’81

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Contents Fay School Magazine

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© 2017 Fay School 48 Main Street Southborough, MA 01772-9106 Tel. 508.485.0100 Fax 508.481.7872 www.fayschool.org

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Robert J. Gustavson, Jr. Head of School Ann Wardwell Director of Advancement

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Lower School Update: For the Love of the Game

The athletics program for grades five and six helps both experienced players and students new to a sport find school pride, team spirit, and success on the athletic field.

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Upper School Update: Study Skills

This fall, seventh-grade students are thinking about more than just classes, homework, and tests: they are thinking about their thinking.

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Rob Crawford Director of Development

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New Perspectives Through Poetry

Upper School students embrace the joys and challenges of “unpacking” a poem.

Rebecca Lombardo Director of Annual Giving

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Stephen Gray Advancement Officer

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To Market, To Market

Fay launches a community Farmers Market.

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Stepping into the Limelight

In the Upper School, Open Mic Night showcases student talent and community support.

Stephanie Levine Publications Associate

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Magazine Design Michéle Page Design Communication Photography Ellen Harasimowicz MacKenzie Hennessey

Primary School Update: Inquiring Minds

The Primary School science curriculum has students exploring, observing, and asking questions as their engagement propels the learning process.

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Nicole Casey Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

Susan Conti Director of Parent Relations and Events

Five Questions for Damian Woetzel ’81

A conversation with Damian Woetzel, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and The Juilliard School’s seventh president.

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Erin Ash Sullivan Editor, Director of Marketing and Communications

Daintry Duffy Zaterka ‘88 P‘19 Communications Associate

Gaining Perspective, Building Community

This year’s schoolwide theme shines a spotlight on the ways our students, faculty, and staff recognize, celebrate, and talk about diversity with openness and respect.

#OwnTheBlazer

In a world full of change, what’s one thing you can count on? Fay’s dress code.

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Class Notes

Transforming lives in Thailand, building community in Boston, and an alumni meetup in Vietnam.

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Annual Report 2016 - 2017

Also in this issue: 2 Head’s Notebook 22 Fay in Brief 32 Sports Spotlight 46 In Memoriam Inside Back Cover: Faculty Profile - Kelvin Martinez

Head’s Notebook “The Opposite of Helplessness”: Nurturing Agency and Self-Reliance

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report issued by the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University in 2015 concluded that the development of agency in students may be “as important an outcome of schooling as the skills we measure with standardized testing.” The report, titled The Influence of Teaching: Beyond Standardized Test Scores, defines agency as “the capacity and propensity to take purposeful initiative.” Capacity is our ability to do something, and propensity is our inclination to do it.

Purposeful initiative is intentional action taken with a goal in mind. Thus, in order to act with purpose, we must possess both capacity, which includes cognitive skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, and also propensity—a desire and willingness to act, based on the character strengths of confidence and determination.

As hard as it may be, the best way to help our children gain confidence is to allow them to struggle, find meaning, and learn from their own experiences.

The report describes agency as “the opposite of helplessness” and goes on to state, “Young people with high levels of agency do not respond passively to their circumstances; they tend to seek meaning and act with purpose to achieve the conditions they desire in their own and others’ lives.” When we possess a strong sense of agency, we don’t sit back, complain, and expect others to make things better for us. Instead, we seek context, gain perspective, and construct meaning; we envision a better situation and find ways to make progress toward that outcome; and we take deliberate, constructive action by demonstrating commitment, perseverance, persistence, and resilience.

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Writing on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Kenneth Ginsberg has described resilience as the ability to recover from setbacks with optimism, the quality of bouncing back. “Resilient people,” he writes, “see challenges as opportunities. They do not seek problems, but they understand that they will ultimately be strengthened from them. Rather than engaging in self-doubt, catastrophic thinking, or victimization . . . they seek solutions.”

Ginsberg also makes an important distinction between resilience and perfectionism. Since perfectionists fear making any mistakes, they perform well within their comfort zone but don’t take chances. They tend to pursue only activities in which they are certain they will excel.

Resilient people are usually more broadly successful because they push their limits; they take necessary risks and view mistakes as chances to learn.

Resilience is based on confidence, and confidence is gained from experience. We can’t give our children confidence; they must acquire it themselves. But there are some things we can do to facilitate its development, the most important of which is to relinquish our desire to direct their lives. As hard as it may be, the best way to help our children gain confidence is to allow them to struggle, find meaning, and learn from their own experiences. Although difficult, we need to help them come to see—and accept ourselves—that they must learn how to make their own way in the world. In the words of poet Antonio Machado, “Traveler, there is no road; you make your own path as you walk.” We help our children develop confidence in themselves by showing them that we have confidence in them.

This past summer, our faculty and staff read the book How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims, a former undergraduate dean at Stanford, in which she makes a compelling case for the importance of allowing our children to learn how to thrive in the world rather than be protected from it. She writes, “A child learns, grows, and ultimately succeeds by diving into what interests

“Traveler, there is no road; you make your own path as you walk.” —Antonio Machado

them, doing and thinking for themselves, trying and failing and trying again, and developing mastery through effort.” This sense of intrinsic motivation and agency that she describes comes from self-knowledge, a tolerance for making mistakes, and a willingness to take action in the face of uncertainty.

Agency requires adaptability and pragmatism, based not on a desire to achieve perfect performance, but on a mindset of continuous learning, improvement, and growth. Lythcott-Haims writes with candor and humility about her struggles to break free from over-parenting her own children. “We want so badly to help them by shepherding them from milestone to milestone and by

shielding them from failure and pain,” she writes.

“But overhelping causes harm. It can leave young adults without the strengths of skill, will, and character that are needed to know themselves and to craft a life.”

In the end, as parents and as educators, this may be the best we can hope to do for our children: to nurture their self-determination, their self-reliance, and their sense of agency, so they can craft meaningful lives for themselves.

And the most effective way for us to do this is by setting high expectations, providing guidance and support when they truly need it, and serving as a perpetual source of encouragement and unconditional love.

—Rob Gustavson

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Gaining Perspective, Building Community The mission of the Upper School’s Community Connections group resonates particularly strongly this year, as students discuss issues of diversity and difference with openness and respect.

“Gaining Perspective” isn’t just the title of Fay’s schoolwide theme for this year. It’s also central to the mission of Community Connections, a student-led, faculty-advised workshop group whose goal is to encourage awareness and respect for people’s differences within the community.

Organized by English Language Program Coordinator Sarah Ripton and World Languages and History Teacher Emily Gifford, and facilitated by eight student leaders, Community Connections meets once or twice each month to discuss sensitive issues like student identity, diversity, and inclusion in a climate that encourages respectful and open listening and sharing. The Friday night meetings are open to the entire Upper School community, and students usually begin by sharing dinner and catching up with one another before the meeting begins.

Community Connections kicked off its first meeting this year by focusing on Fay’s schoolwide theme. The meeting started with a video that showed how an individual’s perception of an event can differ vastly depending on experience and identity. This was followed by a Rorschach card activity that asked students to describe what they saw in the amorphous shapes. Students were surprised by each other’s answers, but when each student explained his or her interpretation of the image, the other students found that they were suddenly able to see the same thing.

“The activity was a great illustration of how easy it is to get upset and defensive,” says Sarah, “but when you take a moment, focus on being mindful, and listen, you may be able to see another perspective and begin a conversation.”

Students also participated in an activity where they wrote down the emotions prompted by different words. The words became more loaded as the activity progressed, starting with terms like “family” and “friendship” and moving on to

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OUR SCHOOLWIDE THEME: GAINING PERSPECTIVE

concepts like “prejudice” or “racism.” Sarah noted that students who associated safety and security with the word “police” were intrigued to hear other students express an alternate view. “It’s important for middle school students to have safe spaces for open, nonconfrontational dialogue that builds understanding,” she says, noting that the ability to move beyond one’s own world view and see other perspectives is a developmental challenge common to all adolescents and young teens.

When a topic resonates strongly with the group, it can be hard to wrap the meetings up. A recent meeting on labels and prejudice, called “My Story,” produced energetic discussion as the students considered the assumptions they make about one another on a daily basis and how misguided they can be. “We opened the meeting up for students to talk about their personal experiences, and they could have kept going until one in the morning!” Sarah notes with a laugh.

While the exchanges are lively, Community Connections is more than just an outlet for discussion, and the group is also focused on countering problems with positive action. After the meeting about labels, the students created a Graffiti Peace Wall, a visual riot of positive ideas

and actionable steps that students can take when they encounter offensive speech, behavior, or ideas. “We want to move students away from the idea that they don’t have the power to fix these things,” says Sarah. “It’s important for students to have a voice and a sense of control.”

Community Connections meets once or twice each month to discuss sensitive issues like student identity, diversity, and inclusion in a climate that encourages respectful and open listening and sharing.

After a recent meeting, Community Connections studentleader Zahaan Khalid ’18 was moved to send a note to Emily and Sarah, suggesting that the group is certainly meeting that goal. “Thank you so much for an amazing workshop today,” he wrote. “I feel like I got to say things I felt that I have not necessarily been able to express. I am glad that I was able to express myself in an environment where people listen and relate rather than judge and differentiate. I am grateful and proud to be a leader in these workshops, and I feel very heard.”

COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES: What would the Fay community be surprised to learn about you?

Few middle schools have the authentic diversity that exists here at Fay. With students from fifteen states and 21 countries, the globally diverse representation of our student body continues to be one of the greatest strengths of our community. It enriches every aspect of student life, from class discussions about world history to our arts and athletic programs and community-wide celebrations.

This year, we are re-dedicating ourselves to listening and learning from one another with our schoolwide theme, “Gaining Perspective.” It is an opportunity to understand how each person’s unique worldview is shaped by his or her experiences, and a reminder of the growth that is possible when we step outside ourselves to consider the perspectives of those around us.

In that spirit, we asked students, faculty, and staff to share with us some of the thoughts and experiences that have shaped their own perspective by answering the question, “What would the Fay community be surprised to learn about you?”

“I was a white water rafting guide, licensed by the state of Maine for the Kennebec and Dead Rivers. On my first official trip as a guide, I managed to get tossed out of the back of the raft in a rapid!”

—Fiona Carr, Assistant to the Head of School

“I really like dragons, and people believe that dragons don’t exist…but I do.”

—Joey Haverty ’25

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“I competed in a hockey tournament in Lake Placid, New York, that was organized like the Olympics. I was able to carry the torch that lit the "Olympic Fire," and it was one of the greatest moments in my life.”

—Tyler Butkus ’21

OUR SCHOOLWIDE THEME: GAINING PERSPECTIVE

“I speak Russian, and my dad and grandparents also speak Russian. My friend Azariy in the class next door also speaks Russian, so we can talk together.”

—Jonathan Aish ’24

“My grandpa was an engineer who designed railroads for trains.”

—Subhi Moorthy ’26

“I grew up on a little farm in New Hampshire—we had fruit and vegetable gardens, a little apple orchard, pigs, sheep, chickens, and a cow. Being there is where I grew my love of gardening and cooking.”

—Anne Canada, Kindergarten Teacher

“I am a pretty decent cook. The first time I started cooking, I was about nine years old. It was my parents' anniversary, and I made a macaroni and cheese casserole. I thought it was amazing, and my parents told me it was, but now I look back and think that it probably didn’t taste that great, but the cooking and preparation were fun. This summer, I cooked multiple dinners for my family, such as Mexican casserole, spaghetti and meatballs, and sriracha chicken.”

—Sobenna Egwuekwe ’18

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“I am a student pilot. The first time I went flying, I was thirteen years old. I was so nervous because I had never flown in such a small plane before. It was exhilarating, and within three lessons I was landing the plane. I am passionate about flying, and I know that I want to be a pilot when I grow up.” —Cam Lynch ’19

“I attended Berklee College of Music and wanted to be a rock star! When that plan fell through, I concentrated on working in education and eventually ended up coaching women's volleyball at Boston College, Harvard, and Holy Cross.” —Chris Ridolfi, Director of Auxiliary Programs

“I like to be really independent, and I only call for help when I really need it.”

—Peter Haseotes ’26

“Chinese was actually my first language. After that, I learned English, and now my Chinese is not as good because I usually speak only English now.

My parents still speak Chinese whenever they are talking to me, though. Chinese is a complicated but cool language to learn.” —Nicole Qian ’21

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“I am a Junior Black Belt in Hapkido, a self-defensive style of karate. Karate has been a part of my life for eight years now: it makes me confident and different, and it pushes me to challenge myself.”

—Kaitlyn Curley ’19

“Nobody would know from looking at me that I’m Italian. But whenever people say my name, they are saying an Italian word because my name in English means Jade.”

—Giada Beltramini ’25

“I love playing chess. I started playing chess when I was six years old. After doing very well in the Istanbul Chess Championship, I was so happy when I had a chance to compete in the Turkey Championship. I also won the Rhode Island championship when I was 12 and earned my first prize money!” —Berk Gokmen ’18

MY PERSPECTIVE: TEACHING UNDER FIRE World Languages teacher Alina Argueta reflects on the experience of teaching during a civil war and how that informed her perspective on life and work.

“I am originally from El Salvador, and during my first years teaching, my country was involved in a devastating civil war that took the lives of 75,000 people. When a person lives in the middle of a conflict of this magnitude, one really ponders on priorities and gains a perspective.

As a young teacher, I learned to appreciate what education could do for a generation that saw the worst of humankind in terms of violence. I learned that despite the uncertainty of life, I had to be present for my students and provide them with hope for the future. I learned that education was the tool used by both sides of the conflict to indoctrinate and instill the desire to fight. Knowing this inspired me to do just the opposite and teach about love, respect, and appreciation of human life.”

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Five Questions for Damian Woetzel ’81 In May, The Juilliard School announced that Damian Woetzel ’81 would take the helm as its seventh president beginning July 2018. An internationally renowned dancer who spent 20 years as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, Damian currently serves as the director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program and the artistic director of the Vail Dance Festival. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, was a visiting lecturer at Harvard Law School, and served on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities from 2009 to 2017.

Damian recently shared his reflections with Fay Magazine on what helped him determine his path as a dancer, and what it’s like to move from the life of a performer to the world of producing, teaching, and educational outreach.

How did your experiences at Fay connect witH tHe later cHoices you made witH regards to your educational and career patHs? What was wonderful about my time at Fay is that it allowed me the flexibility to not only experience all that Fay had to offer, but every December I was also allowed to go into Boston and perform with the Boston Ballet in The Nutcracker. As a nine and ten year-old, this kept me involved in an artistic way that really did shape the future.

I've often asked myself that "what if" question. If I hadn’t been introduced to dance, or allowed to dance, it would have been very strange because I was a very natural dancer, and it was really suited to me. What if I had lived my whole life without knowing I could do something that I was so suited to?

The teachers understood the value of an experience like that, and as it turned out, it really was valuable.

Perhaps they thought that it was enrichment, but it actually led very directly to the road that I would take.

That's something that I think about a lot, about educators having the flexibility to recognize experiences of real value. When we offer children a diversity of educational experiences, it can open the doors to new opportunities, because if children don’t get the chance to peek around the door, they might never know what they’re missing. www.fayschool.org | 11

wHat was your role in tHe creation oF tHe turnaround arts program?

Turnaround Arts is a program created by President Obama's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

The committee has been in existence for a few decades, but when I joined in 2009, it was suddenly populated heavily by artists from many disciplines: visual artist Chuck Close, actress Kerry Washington, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and me, as a dancer. We looked at each other and thought, "We have a tremendous opportunity. How are we going to make use of it?"

We decided to focus on arts education, and specifically on reaching children across the country who might not otherwise have access to the arts. Based on a study we commissioned, we realized that we could show how schools that were in trouble in some way could be aided by having the arts as a turnaround component.

Turnaround Arts is a program run by the Department of Education that gives special dispensations to troubled schools that are in turnaround status. The eight schools that we work with are using the arts as their turnaround strategy, and, happily, our methods have showed extraordinary results. The program has just blossomed, and it reaches tens of thousands of kids now.

I'm still a Turnaround artist. I have two schools that I regularly visit—Orchard Gardens in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and one on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Lame Deer, Montana. In addition to providing a mentor to each school, the program offers support, whether it's professional development, providing music instruments, a music teacher, or art supplies. It has been an amazing experience and an honor to participate.

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you’re always involved in a new production venture, wHetHer it’s co-Founding tHe new essential works program, serving as artistic director For tHe vail international dance Festival, or producing lil’ Buck@le poisson rouge. wHat drives you to seek out sucH diverse producing opportunities?

I'm lucky that I have had many different production opportunities in these last years. I was already doing a lot of different things while I was still dancing, but it has always been my goal to do both projects in the public sector as well as the more traditional kinds of projects that were expected of me.

The idea of how things mix is central to how I look at every opportunity. How does poetry mix with music, for example, or how can we combine dance and visual art? How does dance cross a boundary into education most effectively? How do these things overlap, and how do you get something new out of these mixtures?

I think that's one of the most exciting aspects of my new role at Juilliard. This is the creative person’s dream, with students of music, dance, and drama all under the same roof, all looking to their futures.

The opportunity to see how these disciplines work together for the betterment of all is very close to my heart.

ALUMNI PROFILE

a recent New York Times article mentioned tHat you are interested in preparing a new generation For tHe “d.i.y. world,” wHere tHey must create tHeir own opportunities. How do you tHink tHe role oF tHe artist is cHanging or needs to cHange For today’s world?

How Have your many years as a dancer inFluenced tHe decisions you make as a director, producer, and administrator?

When I was a dancer at the New York City Ballet, I loved to dance a lot, meaning that most seasons, you might have seven or eight performances a week, and I liked to do as many as I could. I loved an eight-performance week. I loved doing as much as I possibly could, and I think that's been part of my ethic, to try to really run the machine.

Towards the end of my career as a dancer, I really did know everything that it took to get on stage. I knew how long it would take, and I knew what I needed to do for myself to give the performance that I wanted. But in my new life, it was very different.

I didn't know how long it took to do certain things. I didn't have that same level of understanding, and I think that's an interesting process that we all go through as we try new things. Sometimes an idea plus the pressure of time is where you get the great work, and sometimes it's just a little panicky. I try to learn more about that every time I try something new.

This is something that I've certainly noticed, though I also think we are not the first generation to do this. I think there have been many historical periods when people have used a range of methods to get performances to the public, but right now especially, I notice that my younger friends are out there making their own opportunities. They're putting together interesting collaborations. They're self-producing. They're using video and technology and the Internet in ways that sometimes work and sometimes don't, but it's always about finding a new venue of sorts and redefining what “venue” even means. I love that we’re rethinking these ideas. What makes a performance? Is it enough simply to say that you’re the audience and we’re the performers, and you have to watch us or listen to us?

To my mind, these are opportunities for the artists of the future to engage in the world of ideas, and I think a lot about what that means. Who are the elders who can inform this process?

I also love the idea of finding ways to make that creative crossover across disciplines happen. I love finding a way to give artists that platform, with the goal of creating generation after generation of philosophically sound artists: artists who are not simply excellent, but who are also a part of their time, making art, and not just performing.

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Inquiring Minds

The Primary School science curriculum has students exploring, observing, and asking questions as their engagement propels the learning process.

by Daintry Duffy Zaterka ’88

Above the lunchtime chatter of Primary Commons, you may have heard some unusual topics of conversation amongst the five, six, and seven year-old diners this fall. Words like “force,” “acceleration,” and “mass” peppered the conversations as students shared tales of elaborate ramp building projects, classroom bowling matches, and cars set to crack up on a collision course.

Across the Primary School, the science curriculum has been redesigned and aligned this year so that no matter what classroom you walk into, all students are exploring the same scientific topic, at the same time, at their own level of understanding. This fall, for example, classes focused on forces, simple machines, and properties of matter.

“As Kindergarteners transition to first and second grade, they will return to the same topics but dive deeper each time,” explains Science Department Chair Tim McCauley.

Science in Primary School has also moved to an inquiry-based learning model, where teachers and students start with a question like, “What happens when two objects collide?” and explore it through hands-on learning experiences. “Instead of filling kids with knowledge, we’ve created a science curriculum based on inquiry and curiosity that truly engages children,” says Head of Primary School Teri Lawrence.

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“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

—Benjamin Franklin Kindergarteners began their study of forces by taking a walk outside this fall to explore the concepts of push and pull. The children’s observations led to a host of questions: Why can you push a chair but not a building? Why does throwing a ball a long distance require a greater push than throwing it a short distance?

Sparking their imagination with a reading of Nancy Shaw’s Sheep in a Jeep, Kindergarten teachers Anne Canada and Lee Bogaert challenged

PRIMARY SCHOOL UPDATE

the children to use ramps and tracks to get a jeep from one place to another without crashing. The children quickly realized that the height of the ramp affected how far their car would go. The children applied this information in a second round of ramp design and used linking cubes to measure the distance each car traveled.

Questions abounded as students worked through their successes and failures. “As teachers, we facilitated the conversations, but the children were teaching each other rather than just listening to us tell them why,” says Lee. “The whole process was about discovery.”

ObservatiOn Leads tO WOnder In second grade, teachers have set up an observation table where students can bring in items to share that have captured their imagination, like a turkey feather, shells from the beach, or an interesting looking gourd. In an activity called “I Spy,” students choose an item

Meanwhile, in first grade, children explored the more complex question of how to increase or decrease the push or pull on an object. They created a classroom bowling alley composed of different sized pins and balls and considered why some were harder to knock down than others.

from the table, study it with a

Second graders investigated object collisions by setting up a track with different weighted cars set to crash into one another. Based on their knowledge of force and the influence of mass, students made predictions for each set of cars and then tested their hypotheses.

spur further investigation like

magnifying glass, and record their observations in their Science Notebook. They follow their observations with “I Wonder” questions designed to “I wonder how this got here?” or “I wonder how old this is?”

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expLOratiOn thrOugh tinkering Tinkering boxes—crates filled with all the materials, inspiration, and tools for scientific exploration—are available in the Primary School library for exploration and discovery.

Tim McCauley created ten tinkering boxes last year, and over the summer, first grade teachers Max Bogaert and Laura O’Donnell used a Summer Innovation Grant to create ten more unique boxes. Each box is built around a different piece of literature and poses the possibility of an experiment or investigation. In one box, inspired by the book Stuck!, students are challenged to build a machine to reach an object two feet above their heads, while another, inspired

by Twenty-One Elephants…and Still Standing, challenges children to make a mini bridge that can hold 21 plastic elephants.

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PRIMARY SCHOOL UPDATE

“I love that we have the freedom to explore what the kids want to explore,” says second grade teacher Kelly Porter. “They don’t want to sit and talk about what a force is. They want to learn and explore together.”

“Wisdom begins in wonder.”

—Socrates While teachers have an outline of topics to address each term, there is no set lesson plan to follow.

“We know the content we want to get through,” says Tim McCauley, “but the path we take differs based on the students’ questions and interests.”

In first grade, a discussion about fall weather and migratory animals turned into a full-blown fascination with monarch butterflies. Students dug deeper, discovering that the monarch butterfly population is dying off because winter storms have decimated the Mexican forests where they usually spend their winters. Building on that enthusiasm, the class will be raising their own monarch butterflies in the classroom this year so they can see the life cycle first hand. One benefit of the inquiry-based learning model is that “science can happen at any moment in the classroom,” says Tim, making the connections to

“students don’t want to sit and talk about what a force is. they want to learn and explore together.”

- Kelly Porter, second grade teacher other curricular subjects more visible. In a recent art class, for example, students were painting monarch butterflies while discussing the symmetry of the wings and the scientific reasons behind the butterfly’s distinctive orange coloring. In that moment the children were tying art, science, and math into an organic, cross-curricular experience.

The scientific exploration and inquiry taking place in Primary School are providing Fay’s youngest students with a scientific base of knowledge, experience in the scientific method, and opportunities to document and display their learning. Most importantly, teachers are nurturing in children a sense of curiosity about the world that will serve them well in years to come. “The emphasis on inquiry-based learning here in Primary School prepares students for Lower and Upper School science, where they have to use the content they have learned to answer open-ended questions,” says Tim. “This process helps students become better scientists because, at the end of the day, they are asking the questions that matter.”

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For the Love of the Game

The athletics program for grades five and six helps both experienced players and students new to a sport find school pride, team spirit, and success on the athletic field.

by Daintry Duffy Zaterka ’88

When Fay athletes put on their uniforms for the first time, they’re not thinking about winning or losing. In that moment, there’s the rush of pride in competing for Fay and the excitement of playing on a team with classmates and friends.

This feeling is at the heart of the fifth and sixth grade (5-6) athletic program, the beginning of competitive interscholastic sports at Fay. “These students have looked up to the Upper School athletes for years, and when they finally get to play for Fay, they take pride in that,” says Will Sargent, coach of 5-6 boys soccer and 5-6 baseball.

Most students come to 5-6 athletics from town sports, where the pressure to specialize and worries over tryouts and cuts cause many young athletes to quit a sport after just a few seasons. In contrast, Fay students can try a new sport without fear of being cut from the team; and sportsmanship, teamwork, and earnest effort are the building blocks of the athletic experience.

Everyone Plays In Upper School, students are separated into teams by experience, but fifth and sixth graders play on the same team whether they are a club team star or new to the sport. “When you have new players alongside more experienced players, it’s easier to bring the overall level of play up very quickly,” explains Lara Gleason, who coaches 5-6 girls soccer

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and 5-6 girls lacrosse. Furthermore, all 5-6 players, regardless of experience, have equal playing time over the course of the season. “The only way players can get better is by playing,” Lara notes.

While sixth graders with appropriate skills and experience are eligible to try out for varsity teams, the experienced players on 5-6 teams also have an important role to play. They mentor other players, running drills, modeling skills, and acting as on-field coaches during the game to explain calls and rules.

Throughout their time at Fay, students are encouraged try new sports, a rare opportunity in town sports, where most players already have years of experience. This is especially true for sports like field hockey, wrestling, squash, and volleyball, where there aren’t strong town programs. “Many girls who started playing field hockey here at Fay have gone on to play through high school and into college,” says Athletic Director Rob Feingold.

LOWER SCHOOL UPDATE

Another strength of the program is that in a climate where young athletes may feel pressure to specialize and play a single sport year-round, 5-6 athletes play a different competitive sport each season. Rob points to work by Dr. Richard Ginsburg, co-director of the Massachusetts General Hospital PACES Institute of Sport Psychology and director of Behavioral Health for the Boston Red Sox. In a recent blog post entitled, “The Right Age to Specialize,” Dr. Ginsburg says, “Experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics over the past 15 years have emphasized that multiple sports and diverse training and playing opportunities are far healthier for kids…a diverse and balanced training path is more likely to foster a healthy, wellbalanced and stronger-performing athlete.”

Teamwork and Sportsmanship Fifth and sixth grade athletes also learn first-hand about teamwork and how each student brings unique talents to the table. “We talk a lot about having the boy who excels in soccer but struggles in math on the same team with the boy who is really good at math but struggles in soccer,” says Rob Feingold.

English teacher Lara Gleason believes that the mixture of skill levels on 5-6 teams enriches the experience for the faculty coaches as well. “A student who is a phenomenal athlete on the field might be more reserved in the classroom. We get to see our students in a different light and appreciate their strengths from a different perspective.”

“as coaches, we get to see our students’ strengths from a different perspective.”

- Lara Gleason, English teacher At Fay, sportsmanship is taught like any other skill.

“We emphasize respect for our opponents,” says Jack Wong, who coaches 5-6 girls basketball and 5-6 baseball.

“If we lose, we want to be graceful, by shaking hands and congratulating the other team.” The concept of respect is also infused into the individual team cultures. On Lara’s soccer team, the girls set expectations for their team that included listening to one another and persevering in every game situation. The results are palpable. “As the season goes on, I see less frustration when we lose and more joy when we win,” says Jack.

Earnest Effort Every two weeks, students receive an effort grade for their athletic participation just as they would for any academic subject. “We want our athletes to improve their skills, participate fully, and do their best,” says Lara. A seasoned player’s “best effort” may look different from that of a novice, but the effort grades underscore the importance of everyone putting forth their earnest effort.

The 5-6 athletic program is integral to the overall strength of Fay athletics. When players learn to give their best effort, play as part of a team, and demonstrate sportsmanship, they become valued players on Fay’s varsity teams and beyond. “When you see a skilled player who supports his or her teammates and can stay positive in a tough situation,” says Rob, “that’s a player that you want.”

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Study Skills This fall, seventh-grade students are thinking about more than just classes, homework, and tests: they are thinking about their thinking.

by Daintry Duffy Zaterka ’88

Can you learn how to be a good student? Ask a Fay teacher, and the answer is, “Absolutely!”

New to the curriculum this year, Seventh Grade Study Skills is a course that teaches students how to organize their work, manage their time, and prepare for exams. The course was created by Director of Learning Services Sally Supinski and Learning Specialists Amy Mohn and Liz Williams, who won a Fay Curriculum Development Grant to design a class that would equip seventh graders with a set of essential skills as they enter Upper School.

The course focuses on helping students understand their individual strengths and weaknesses so they can be more productive. “So many students think

that they just need to work harder,” says Head of Upper School Sarah Remsberg. “We want to teach them to work more effectively.”

How do I learn?

Students began the fall by talking about executive function skills, the set of mental operations that help people get things done: task initiation, organization, goal-directed persistence, and time management. When it comes to academic success, strong executive function skills are arguably more important than innate intelligence.

The good news for students of every caliber is that executive function skills can be learned.

Each seventh grader took a quiz that identified his or her individual executive functioning strengths and weaknesses and then considered how these skills manifested on a day-to-day basis. One student struggling with stress tolerance might feel overwhelmed with anxiety during exam time, for example, while another student with weak organization skills might have difficulty finding an assignment in the wads of paper spilling out of the binder.

Students set personal goals for the year and shared them with the class. The goals ranged from specific action items, like “I want to estimate how long homework assignments will take so I can make a

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UPPER SCHOOL UPDATE

plan,” to metacognitive goals like “I want to understand how I think and learn to learn better.”

What’s important?

The course’s next focus was note-taking, as students often have trouble identifying what is important and how much is too much. Using their summer reading books as an example, teachers showed students how to annotate a text as they read, and then the class annotated an article together. Noting that the course was intentionally planned to support the seventh grade curriculum, Sally explains that the follow-up note-taking practice was that night’s Life Sciences homework—a class in which there is a specific template for note-taking.

Getting and staying organized can be a challenge for seventh graders, and throughout the course, students periodically checked their binders to ensure that materials were neat and easy to access. “This is a skill that students need to be explicitly taught,” says Sally, “and some students need help determining what to keep, what to throw away, and how to organize it all.”

Organizing their time can be equally daunting. In class, students talked about “time on task” and how that affects their ability to manage their workload. Each student completed a worksheet estimating how much time was devoted to evening activities: eating dinner, doing homework for each subject, getting organized for the next day, and getting ready for bed. That night, students tracked how long they spent on these tasks, with eye-opening results.

“Sometimes kids get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff they have to do,” says Sally. “ It’s good for them to see that if they are spending an hour on math homework, maybe they need to go in for some extra help.”

“so many students think that they just need to work harder. we want to teach them to work more effectively.”

- Sarah Remsberg, Head of Upper School How do I show what I know?

Seventh grade is a Fay student’s first experience with a traditional end-of-term exam period. Anticipating this event, teachers worked with students on how to study efficiently, calm exam anxiety, and be ready to perform their best on test day. “We give students clear strategies for how to prepare for a test, how to figure out what the teacher is going to ask, and how to study and retain that information,” says Liz Williams. “We want to help students figure out which strategies will work best for them.” Drawing on ideas familiar from Wellness Class, Study Skills also incorporates mindfulness exercises to help students calm, clear, and focus their minds before beginning an exam.

The ultimate measure of whether the Study Skills course is valuable will be whether students in this year’s pilot program find it useful. With the focus on keeping the classes fun, flexible, and finely attuned to the seventh grade program, the anecdotal feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive. “One of my students ran up to me worried that she was going to miss Study Skills class that week and asked if I could give her the assignment so she could work on it at home,” recounts Amy. “To see students invested to that degree is really exciting.”

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FAY IN BRIEF EMPATHY IN ACTION: FAY RESPONDS TO NATURAL DISASTERS

While the beginning of the school year is a tumultuous time for all, it was especially true for the millions of people affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, as well as the devastating earthquakes that hit Mexico in September. The Fay community immediately put this year’s theme, “Gaining Perspective,” into action as they came back to school full of ideas for how they could support the communities that are working to rebuild.

In the Lower School, that effort was spearheaded by Ms. Gleason’s homevisory group, which sponsored a penny drive and collected much-needed school supplies for a school in Texas that had been impacted by the hurricanes. Meanwhile, students on the Upper School Antler Club’s Philanthropy Committee coordinated a bake sale for Fay’s Friday Night Lights event. Members of the Antler Club, the varsity field hockey team, and Parents’ Association volunteers all contributed baked goods and hot chocolate, while Lower Schoolers pitched in the night of the event to sell the treats. The bake sale was a huge success, raising $735 for the American Red Cross’ disaster relief efforts.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico hit some members of our community especially hard. Susan Mantilla-Goin, Fay’s Associate Director of Admission & Director of Financial Aid, has many relatives living on the island, and their first-hand reports of the overwhelming loss and destruction caused by Maria brought the severity of the situation into sharp relief. Susan organized a Fay community donation drive to collect non-perishable food, batteries, solar powered chargers, personal hygiene products, baby supplies, first aid supplies, and cleaning products.

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STUDENT LEADERS TAKE THE HELM IN FAY’S STUDENT COUNCIL

Congratulations to the students who were elected to Student Council this fall! The council, which is led by President Stephen McNulty ’18 and Vice President Andrew Shenouda ’18, also includes grade-level representatives Athena Zarmakoupis ’18, Theo Koay ’18, HP Park ’18, Ben Bochicchio ’19, Elizabeth Chou ’19, Erick Obukhanich ’19, Tina Yang ’20, Alex Shenouda ’20, and Erin Kim ’20. Meeting every other week, the council is already providing a valuable line of communication between the student body and faculty/administration. Some issues on the table for discussion this year include occasional free seating instead of family-style seating at meals and new community events.

NEW ADVANCED 3D DESIGN COURSE

Ninth grade students with an interest in design now have the opportunity to expand their design and technology skills even further with a new course called Advanced 3D Design.

This yearlong elective, taught by Director of Innovation David Dixon, incorporates six design-and-make projects spread over three terms. The course will also include an essay each term related to an area of study and a final project in the spring term requiring students to submit a commercial artifact that reflects how a professional designer might resolve a design problem.

Projects in the fall term included designing an indoor frisbee, a coat hanger that can hold two coats, a surfboard, and a cardboard reading chair that can be used by a Primary School student.

The course is enriched by partnerships with local companies that can add insight and inspiration to the students’ experiences. This fall, Nolan Collins, lead board-building instructor with Grain

Surfboards, visited Fay to talk about surfboard design and manufacture. Students also took a trip to Grain Surfboard’s workshop in Amagansett, New York, to see the manufacturing process firsthand. Later in the term, students visited the Velcro factory and design offices in Manchester, New Hampshire, as well as the nearby Currier Museum of Art, which is located at the Zimmerman House, where the building, interiors, furniture, gardens and even the mailbox were designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

“My primary objective with this course is to expose students to the world of design in an industrial context,” says David. “Our briefs and design challenges will often be framed by access to real designers so that students can see personally how design informs the way that products are eventually marketed to meet people’s needs.”

ELIZABETH CRAWFORD ’19 NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL BY BROADWAY WORLD

Fay eighth grader Elizabeth Crawford has been nominated for Best Actress in a Musical by the BroadwayWorld 2017 Boston Awards for her portrayal of Young Violet in the American Repertory Theater's production of Violet. The show, which takes place on a moving bus with just 28 audience members, tells the story of a woman named Violet whose face was disfigured in an accident at a young age. The audience is transported back in time to 1964, and they travel with Violet (and many colorful passengers) on a bus from Spruce Pine, North Carolina to Tulsa, Oklahoma, home of a famous televangelist whom Violet is absolutely certain can heal her face. Elizabeth, whose acting credits include the National Broadway Tour of Irving Berlin's White Christmas and the original Broadway musical Tuck Everlasting, performed in Violet during the spring of 2017. She's looking forward to auditioning for the Fay School musical this winter!

FAY WELCOMES SARAH REMSBERG AS HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL

Fay is delighted to welcome Sarah Remsberg as Fay’s new Head of Upper School.

Sarah comes to Fay after serving as Assistant Head of Middle School at Greens Farms Academy, an independent day school in Connecticut. She also previously taught and coached at Northfield Mount Hermon School and The Hun School of Princeton. As Head of Upper School, Sarah is responsible for monitoring the academic, social, and emotional development of students, overseeing the advisory and residential life programs, and maintaining student discipline. In just one term, the Fay community has already made quite an impression on Sarah. “I have seen such sincerity and spirit,” notes Sarah. “From performances by the Chamber Singers, to the hard work shown on service trips, and the athleticism on the fields, I have been repeatedly impressed by the students and faculty of the Upper School. The members of the Fay community take pride in everything they do, and it's great to be part of that.” www.fayschool.org | 23

FAY IN BRIEF

FAY WELCOMES RON LIEBER FOR IDEAS&INSIGHTS SPEAKER SERIES This fall, Fay welcomed New York Times columnist and best-selling author Ron Lieber, author of The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids who are Grounded, Generous, and Smart about Money.

Lieber’s presentation emphasized the importance of frequent and open discussions about money, noting that the choices we make about spending are inextricably linked to what we value as a family. After his presentation, parents had the opportunity to pose questions and discuss solutions for their own thorny questions surrounding children and money.

FAY LAUNCHES THE EARLY LEARNING CENTER The pitter patter of some very little feet were heard on the Fay campus this fall, as the Early Learning Center (ELC) at Fay School opened its doors. Fay’s new early childhood program for children ages two years, nine months through age five welcomed 54 students from 11 different towns in Massachusetts. In addition to ELC Program Coordinator Lauren Cilley, the program has six new full-time teachers and six part-time teachers’ aides running three classrooms in the Primary School Building. With some very young students coming to school for the first time, Lauren was expecting to see some firstday jitters from her new charges. “We were prepared for there to be tearful goodbyes and difficult separations, but almost every child walked into these beautiful classrooms ready and eager to join their new friends and teachers for the start of a wonderful adventure.”

With a few months of school under their

belts, the ELC students are already starting to feel like members of the wider Fay community. “The teachers have done a great job making the ELC a fun and engaging place to learn,” says Lauren.

“The children are making discoveries, exploring new things, and building relationships every day.”

CLASS BOARDS GET A NEW LOOK The lower hallways of the Root Academic Building are lined with history, thanks to the generosity of current trustee and Fay grandparents Harvey Steinberg and his late wife Arline.

The Steinbergs are credited with starting the Grandparents’ Association back in 1998 and have been long-term enthusiastic supporters of Fay in honor of their grandchildren, Melissa Kaufman ’02, Jonathan Kaufman ’05, Lea Steinberg ’14, and Jennifer Steinberg ’15.

The Steinbergs recently funded a project to redo the class boards, large wooden plaques that list the names of the members of each class. The class boards are a tradition that started in 1989. As part of the project, the boards were expanded to include the names of students who departed after eighth grade, in addition to the ninth grade graduates. The class boards also received a new location, moving from the Root Meeting Room to a higher-profile spot

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along the hallways that students traverse daily. “We are so grateful to the Steinberg family for making these new class boards possible,” says Director of Advancement Ann Wardwell. “The new location in the hallways of the Root Academic Building will allow our current students to appreciate those students who came before them, as well as their own special place in Fay history.”

FAY FACULTY HEADS TO SUMMER SCHOOL

A

s Fay students started their wellearned summer break last June, many of our faculty members were getting back to work, using their time off to expand and enrich their toolbox of teaching skills. Lower School teachers Katie Frazzette and Gabby Giordano participated in a weeklong training in the Orton Gillingham approach, which is a methodology of teaching reading, writing, and comprehension using techniques that incorporate the auditory, kinesthetic, and visual learning pathways.

Director of Innovation David Dixon and Innovation teacher Allison Bishop attended the Innovation Camp for educators at NuVu, a full-time innovation school for middle and high school students in Boston, where they focused on integrating design thinking into the classroom. Allison also traveled to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she attended a workshop entitled, “Visual Arts as Sources for Teaching.”

Director of Athletics Rob Feingold was in Alexandria, Virginia for the National Association of Independent Schools’ School Leadership Institute at Episcopal High School, while Upper School math teacher Janet Drake spent three weeks at Leysin American School in Switzerland as part of her master's degree program in International School Administration at Endicott College. Her research focuses on learning in the "flipped classroom," where students are introduced to new concepts during homework time and then follow up with practice and discussion during class time.

Director of the Educational Program Julie Porrazzo, English Department Chair Paul Abeln, and Upper School math teacher Cassandra Papalilo traveled to Shanghai, China to pilot a new FaySummer Program. This two-week

overnight academic experience offered 27 Chinese students the opportunity to develop their English language skills, participate in academic courses focusing on critical thinking and problem solving, and experience life in an American boarding school. This opportunity also gave Julie, Paul, and Cassandra a better understanding and appreciation for the lives and cultural experiences of their school-year Fay students who come from China. "Not only were the students from China immersed in a U.S. boarding school experience, our Fay teachers were also immersed in Chinese culture,” says Julie. “The teachers returned transformed as educators who are better able to appreciate the different perspectives that students bring with them as they enter the Fay community.”

BUILDING CONNECTIONS WITH OPERATION PLAYHOUSE Habitat for Humanity returned to Fay this September so our boarding students and faculty could participate in "Operation Playhouse," a program where volunteers build, design, and decorate children’s playhouses, which are then donated to local families and children’s organizations. Five faculty members and twelve ninth graders made up this year’s volunteer corps, who measured, hammered, and painted until the project was complete. The final product was a fabulous American flag-themed playhouse that they were proud to present to Air National Guard veteran Brittany Laughlin and her two daughters.

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NEW PERSPECTIVES THROUGH POETRY

P

oems can be puzzles. As densely packed arrangements of words and ideas, they offer a challenge to even the most intrepid critical thinkers. But there are significant rewards that come with being able to “unpack� a poem, among them the opportunity to consider the world from a new, and perhaps unexpected, perspective.

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PROGRAM UPDATE

Fay’s schoolwide theme, “Gaining Perspective,” has infused new energy into the Upper School’s focus on poetry. This fall and winter, students are exploring the work of poets from a range of eras and cultural backgrounds. And, according to English Department Chair Paul Abeln, while students are certainly benefiting from the exposure to a wealth of new perspectives and ideas, they are also honing essential critical thinking and writing skills that they can apply across every discipline.

Seventh and eighth graders are reading selections from A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry, while ninth graders are reading from A Turning Back to Poetry, an anthology edited by the poet Billy Collins. Paul Abeln explains that the department selected both books for the diversity of authors represented in each—a breadth that reflects Fay’s own student population, which this year includes students from 21 countries. “It’s important to hear voices from multiple backgrounds,” Paul notes, “because it helps our students understand who we are as a school culture.”

Paul explains that the poetry unit also affords the opportunity to develop key skills essential to good expository writing—developing a compelling thesis and supporting it with concrete

evidence—on a smaller scale. “The challenge is intense,” he says, “but the quantity is manageable. With poetry, we can show students how to put a microscope to a single line of text, take apart the language, and look for patterns of meaning.” Then, Paul explains, by the time students read more complex works that are also rooted in poetic language, like The Odyssey or Macbeth, they have a toolbox of skills that they can use to understand the material on a deeper level.

Choosing more obscure poems for close reading offers another unique benefit in the Google age: it’s harder to crowdsource the answer. Paul explains: “With lesser-known works, there are no short cuts. Students can’t check their own interpretations against what they can find on the Internet. Instead, they have to grapple with texts that are sometimes challenging and complex in their language. They have

The Girl she stands there. all alone. shaking nervously. patiently waiting in the curtains, on the sideline, for her time to shine. backstage she is clumsy, she is loud, she is weak, she is tired.

She hears her cue.

Runs out on stage.

All of her fears drip away.

All of her flaws shed off.

Onstage she is a different person.

No longer trapped inside her body.

She escapes reality as she takes on a new person.

A new character That she could only be in her imagination.

to come to their own understanding, trust their judgment, and figure out how to support their opinions with textual evidence.”

So how do students crack open a poem?

There are a host of strategies, says Paul, and the goal is to expose students to a wide enough selection that each student can find an approach that works best for him or her.

In Paul’s class, for example, ninth graders this fall examined a poem a day, writing “puzzle papers” where they struggled through ideas independently and then shared their interpretations during class time.

In Deb Smith’s class, students used themes as a way to build their understanding. They explored poems that shared a common thread, such as nature, travel, or a moment in time, using these poems as a way to learn poetic devices.

Then students wrote their own poetry inspired by those themes.

Visualization exercises are another way to help students make sense of a poem.

When the eighth graders in Dan Roy’s class examined "The Kingfisher" by Mary Oliver, they created their own visual interpretations of the poem, using colors, shapes, and other representative drawings to emphasize key elements of the piece.

Meanwhile, in Kathryn Maslak’s class, students dove into spoken word poetry, focusing on the work of poets like Sarah Kay and Donovan Livingston, and using their work as a vehicle for discussions on identity and social justice.

In the end, Paul says, the goal is to support students as they become independent, careful, and competent readers who trust their own ability to wrestle with new ideas. “We want them to have the strength of their convictions,” he says, “but also the confidence to express those ideas effectively.”

—Elizabeth Crawford ’19

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Over an eight-week season in September and October, local farmers and other vendors filled Harlow Circle at the Fay School Farmers Market, selling their wares to campus residents and members of the local community.

The venture came together thanks to an enthusiastic committee of faculty and staff, who not only volunteered their time on Saturday mornings but also recruited vendors and publicized the event.

To Market, To Market “Buying local” took on new meaning this fall at Fay with the launch of the Fay School Farmers Market

“In talking to other faculty and staff who live on campus, we realized that there were many of us who care about sustainability and wanted to have a farmers market nearby,” says Upper School history teacher and Service Learning Coordinator Emily McCauley, who serves as a dorm parent in the Village Dorms along with her husband, Tim. After a spring pilot market and a busy few weeks of preparation and publicity, the market was born.

Vendors sold a broad array of goods, including produce, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, baked goods, and handmade crafts. Chestnut Hill Farm, a local organic farm administered by the nonprofit Trustees of Reservations, was an anchor vendor,setting up shop for the full eight weeks. Students in Fay’s Greenhouse Club even got in on the act, selling basil plants and other herbs and donating the proceeds to Community Harvest Project, a local nonprofit

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supplying organic produce to neighbors in need.

Close to the action, boarding students enjoyed waking up to Saturday mornings, where they could wander down to the market and pick up a fresh-baked muffin or a ham-and-cheese crepe prepared on the spot. Many boarders also opted to volunteer at the market, assisting vendors or running games and face painting activities for younger children.

Like many farmers markets, Emily notes, the Fay School Farmers Market was successful in that it served a range of purposes. “The market was a real-world example to our students of how communities can foster sustainability by supporting local vendors, and it also helped to build Fay’s connections with the broader Southborough community.

Food is a great way to bring people together.”

Vendor Spotlight: Papa’s Catch Salmon if you stopped by the Fay Farmers Market this fall, perhaps you purchased some delicious, wild-caught salmon from papa’s Catch salmon, which is owned and operated by Fay’s own Josh pierson. Josh has been a member of Fay’s faculty since 2004, and he currently serves as one of Fay’s secondary school placement counselors. but for the past 18 years, he has also headed to the pacific northwest each summer to live on a boat and fish for salmon.

For the past six years, Josh has been running his own boat, and papa’s Catch has been in operation for the past year. Josh cares deeply about bristol bay, where he fishes from June to august each year. “it’s one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world because of strict regulations set up by biologists in the alaska department of Fish and game,” he explains.

Josh is intimately involved with every step of the process, from pulling the nets to selling the fish. through his website and local farmers markets, Josh is excited about being able to share his catch with a broader community. “We get to eat the most amazing food every day on the boat,” he says, “and i want other people to be able to experience that.”

You can learn more about Papa’s Catch at papascatchsalmon.com.

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Stepping into the Limelight

In the Upper School, Open Mic Night showcases student talent and community support.

Two Friday nights per year, the stage in Harris Theater hosts an old-fashioned variety show known as Upper School Open Mic Night.

Complete with a student emcee, the hour-long event is a true theater of the unexpected. The audience might be treated to anything from a song performed by a student with a Broadway pedigree, to a solo modern dance improvisation, to an impromptu group sing-a-long to Carly Rae Jepson’s catchy classic “Call Me Maybe.”

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STEPPING INTO THE LIMELIGHT

“Open Mic Night provides an opportunity for us to showcase things that we tend to keep to ourselves—it lets us see a different side of our friends and encourages them to lean into a little bit of discomfort . . . but in front of an audience that is supportive and grateful for their effort.” - Stephen McNulty ’18

Popular with day and boarding students alike, Open Mic Night is an opportunity for students to show off their talents and to sometimes reveal new ones to the unsuspecting crowd.

“It’s this totally special window of time within our community where day students, boarders, and parents come together to see these kids put themselves out there,” says Dean of Residential Life Courtney Sargent. “Students perform and often blow us away with their talent or their strength of character in owning that performance. To see the genuine, authentic, appreciative response from the audience is pretty special.”

This fall’s Open Mic Night was emceed and organized by ninth grade boarder Stephen McNulty, who warmed up the crowd before the show, introduced each act, and led the appreciative applause as he thanked and complimented each performer in turn.

The show featured ten acts, including solo and group song performances and two dance performances. Stephen describes Open Mic Night as a unique event in the school social calendar as it both entertains and challenges Upper School students to see their classmates in a different light. “Open Mic Night provides an opportunity for us to showcase things that we tend to keep to ourselves—it lets us see a different side of our friends and encourages them to lean into a little bit of discomfort,” says Stephen, “but in front of an audience that is supportive and grateful for their effort."

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Records

Fay’s athletic teams marked yet another successful season, going undefeated in Parents’ Weekend games (11-0) on their way to an impressive overall record of 69-45-8.

This fall, five out of our seven varsity teams enjoyed winning seasons.

Girls cross-country was undefeated, taking first place out of nine teams at the Roxbury Latin Jamboree and finishing the season at 9-0. Varsity field hockey went 11-1-1, while girls varsity soccer placed third out of six teams at the inaugural Indian Mountain Tournament. Varsity boys soccer also had a great season, finishing at 9-2-1.

Among the team’s many highlights was their performance at the Eaglebrook Tournament, going 3-0-3 to claim third place out of 12 teams.

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Varsity Field Hockey: 11-1-1 Cross-country (Girls): 9-0 Cross-country (Boys): 4-3-1 Varsity Soccer (Boys): 9-3-1 Varsity Football: 3-3 Varsity Volleyball: 6-3 Varsity Soccer (Girls): 2-7-1

Another highlight of the season was Fay’s varsity football team’s win against Fenn at the “Split-F” Bowl on November 3. For the past eight years, Fay and Fenn have participated in this friendly rivalry, where the winner keeps the game ball for the next year.

After six consecutive wins for Fay beginning in 2010, Fenn won in 2016, so this year, the stakes were high. The game got off to a rough start, with Fenn taking an early 14-0 lead, but Fay came back to tie the game at 1414. With six minutes to go, Fenn reclaimed a 20-14 advantage. Fay would not back down, however, driving the length of the field to score a touchdown and tie the game at 20-20.

With one minute remaining, Fay's two-point conversion was successful,

giving Fay its first lead of the game at 22-20. In the final seconds, Fay's defense forced Fenn to turn over the ball on downs, closing out a dramatic win and reclaiming the coveted “split F” ball for Fay's trophy case.

Most importantly, notes Director of Athletics Rob Feingold, Fay continues to support the participation and commitment of athletes in every sport and at every level. Over the course of this year, Fay will be fielding a total of 20 sports, 57 different teams, and 10 intramural options. “Our ‘no cuts’ program is a great way to develop athletes across the board,” Rob says, “because our students have the opportunity to find challenge and rewarding team play at every level.”

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#OwnTheBlazer

by Daintry Duffy Zaterka ’88

More than one hundred and fifty years after its founding, Fay School students continue to wear their blazers with purpose, pride, and a dash of sartorial panache.

Whether plaid, checked, corduroy with elbow patches, or classic navy, the Fay blazer has taken many forms over the years, but it has always been a foundation of the Fay School dress code.

Starting in grade three, boys are required to wear a navy or black blazer, and girls must do the same starting in fifth grade.

Among students in the Fay community, the blazer has become a symbol of rising status and increased maturity. “I feel like I’m older when I wear my blazer,” says sixth grader Charlotte Crawford ’21, who joined Fay way back in Kindergarten, when a polo shirt sufficed to meet the Primary School dress code.

“In sixth grade, you wear a blazer with everyone else, and it means you’re one of the leaders of the Lower School.”

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#OWNTHEBLAZER

If you are wondering whether students feel stiff and formal in their blazers, you need only observe Lower School recess. Across the fields, you can see navy blazers reimagined and repurposed as picnic blankets, baseball bases, and markers for the outlines of a soccer goal.

Soccer teams are frequently organized into blazers vs. non-blazers, and when recess is over, the blazers—and their owners—are dusted off to head back to class.

Students appreciate that the blazer and dress code is a fashion equalizer. “I don't have to worry about not fitting in because when I look down the hallway, everyone is pretty much wearing the same thing as me,” says Emily Randolph ’19. “I like having a dress code because it makes getting dressed in the morning so much easier.”

Far from cramping their fashion sense, many of our students even feel that the blazer and dress code only add to their flair. “I've always enjoyed dressing up, just to look sharp and be ready for whatever event I'm going to,” says seventh grade boarder Ezra Frain ’20. “Learning how to dress properly is also very useful. I’ve learned, for example, from my mother, father, and Mr. Duggar, that you don't wear a different colored belt with your brown or black shoes.”

Far from cramping their fashion sense, many Fay students feel that the blazer and dress code only add to their flair.

For Fay students, blazers are celebrated symbols of color team pride. Every year on Prize Day, the outgoing red and white color presidents pass along their team’s red and white jackets to the incoming color presidents. Like the donning of the storied green jacket at Augusta National, this symbolic passing of the blazer is a ceremony laden with tradition and pride. “It is an honor to wear such a well-known blazer,” says Red Color President Shane Kelly ’18. “I get to represent my color team while looking sharp, and although the blazer may be massive on me, the Red Team gets excited every time they see the blazer come out of the dry cleaning bag.”

And for Fay alumni, a simple navy blazer can trigger powerful memories. “I remember buying blazers for my daughters for the first time. I was so excited, and they thought I was crazy,” says Rachel Sandler Diamond ’87, mother of Catherine ’15 and Sarah ’19. “It brought me back to my blazer and my time at Fay. I'm so grateful my children have the opportunity to walk in my childhood shoes as part of the Fay community.”

As for the future, who knows what new uses our students will find for their blazers or what fashion iterations it will take? It’s clear, however, that generations of Fay students to come will continue to #OwnTheBlazer.

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CLASS NOTES 1941 MICHAEL COE shared his latest news: “My late wife Sophie and I were recently designated "Legends of Chocolate" at the Big Chocolate Show in New York City.

The honor came because of our book, The True History of Chocolate, now in its third edition. Sophie began the book as a correction for the completely ignorant "histories" that had been put out in the past by the big chocolate manufacturers, and I finished it for her after her death. Chocolate was first made in Mexico and Central America about 4,000 years ago and became a prized beverage by Aztec emperors and eventually European rulers and churchmen.

Some older Fay alumni might remember that once a week, the boys could pick up their generous candy allowance, and I remember stuffing myself with super-sweet, sugar-laden chocolates, to the detriment of my teeth (the local Southborough dentist operated his drill by pumping with his

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A still from a video by Jesse Szynal ’93.

foot, and the only "anesthetic" was oil of cloves). The pain was excruciating.

I'm now hard at work with co-authors on a new edition of my book on Angkor and the Khmer civilization, and on the 8th edition of my book Mexico.”

CLASS NOTES

1952

1968

1973

DAVID SCOTT writes, “We took a Viking trip to Europe in July 2017.

We traveled the rivers from Budapest to Amsterdam and visited many German towns and castles. It was a wonderful trip.”

TONY BROCK-FISHER has reconnected with Fay! He writes, “I retired from Philips Electronics in 2013, after a rewarding 35-year career as a Biomedical/EE in Medical Ultrasound. I live in Andover, Massachusetts, with my wonderful wife of 33 years (changed my last name when we got married). We have two awesome sons, Christopher, 26 and Taylor, 21. After many years of 'radio silence' I have decided to renew my ties to Fay School, in anticipation of a 50th reunion coming up next spring! I'm looking forward to catching up with classmates from a halfcentury ago. While we were at Fay, the school celebrated its 100th birthday, and I remember thinking that was old. Now we have been away from Fay for half that long! Sort of puts things into perspective.”

JEFFREY JAY writes, “I have been named a member of Harvard University’s Committee on University Resources (COUR), which recognizes university-wide leaders who are engaged in strengthening university resources.

Recently I co-chaired my 30th Harvard Business School reunion, where we raised approximately $15M for the school, a class record. This October, I

1956 BILL GUBELMANN had this update: “Just to let those classmates still hanging on, I am still involved in overseeing our family’s office in West Palm Beach, Florida, while spending half the year in Palm Beach and the other half traveling, mainly in Europe. I would be happy to hear from any of you when you are in Florida. I am usually there between Thanksgiving and Memorial Day. Contact me by email: wgubelmann@gmail.com.”

Jeffrey Jay ’73 with Boston Bruin Patrice Bergeron.

An Alumnus Remembers: Charles Cerf ’57 on Kenneth Graham Charles Cerf recently contacted us with his memories of Fay faculty member Kenneth Graham.

“Fay had some good and some bad teachers.

Mr. Graham, who may have been in his late thirties or early forties at the time, taught English, and he must have been a good teacher because his table in the dining hall was perennially popular. Since I never had him, he must not have taught any “A” sections. It is possible indeed that he had a sideline in what are now called learning disabilities.

He was also the counselor—read therapist—for the school.

I found this out only when summoned to his office for a counseling session where he turned out, astoundingly, to be a great listener and to be able to draw me out on any subject.

And he was the faculty advisor for the Pioneer—read, editor-inchief. He appointed me Special Editor or something like that, and I turned in a math column, totally plagiarized from a book

by George Gamow, which I had received the prior June as a prize for something (best grades?). One Two Three Infinity was an interesting book; Mr. Reinke had chosen well.

My column began with “In the great temple at Benares” and continued for two or three paragraphs, copied from that book.

Mr. Graham, to his credit, did not reproach me. (I’m sure he recognized that it wasn’t my style and thus had been copied from somewhere.) He simply rewrote the column, adding a couple of other math problems that he thought appropriate.

When I saw it in print, I felt the sting of his never-expressed reproach, so I knew not to plagiarize again.

Mr. Graham did not subscribe to the “strict disciplinarian” or “run a tight ship” philosophy of Mr. Reinke and several of his colleagues. He would have been right at home in the Fay of today. In B-school parlance, he subscribed to what Douglas McGregor called Theory Y rather than Theory X, while Fay was run along the lines of Theory X. If you ever put up a statue of a faculty member from my era, it should be of Kenneth Graham. From my fellow students, I heard only good about him the whole time I was at Fay.”

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CLASS NOTES

had the opportunity to meet with Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruin Stanley Cup winner and gold medalist in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, and speak about his career. The good news for Bruins fans is that he is extremely happy living in Boston!”

1975 ALICE HARLOW RONCONI shared this update with us: “Massimo and I are downsizing because our home of almost 30 years is just too big and needs a new, young family. Fortunately, we found our perfect home in a development called 'Tuscany' AND we found the perfect young family to purchase our home. We will still have two guest bedrooms for visitors to Las Vegas.

We spent a couple of weeks in Italy during the month of September to visit Massimo's family in Rome. Lastly, we will be travelling to St. Paul to see our son, Armando, in Forever Plaid, Plaid Tidings in December.”

1987 KIT MCLEAN (who went by Katy Stanbro while at Fay) writes, “My youngest daughter has a movie coming out in December that she is the lead in, called Permanent, with Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson as her parents. I sell real estate and have been happily married for 16+ years.”

Transforming Lives: Enrique Cuan ’85

B

usiness travelers often go from hotel room to car to conference room and back again, barely registering the rhythms and patterns of everyday life in a foreign city. In 1995, Enrique Cuan ‘85 was stuck in such a pattern.

Based in Singapore and working for Merrill Lynch, he was traveling to Thailand for four to five days every month. But, increasingly, he began to notice aspects of Thai culture that bothered him deeply. “Like a lot of poor countries, women are the backbone of the family in Thailand, and they have a resilience about them that is inspiring,” he notes. However, these women are often abandoned and left with children and aging parents to support. They have few attractive options to earn money and little prospect of bettering their circumstances.

Enrique felt a responsibility to help, but what can a “salary-guy” do to make a real difference?

Enrique placed an ad in the Bangkok Post, advertising an open house for a new non-profit (NGO) that was looking to hire some staff. In 2000, the Pratthanadee Foundation opened its doors as a free school, teaching English and computer skills to underprivileged women in Bangkok. Pratthanadee, which means Goodwill in Thai, was funded entirely by Enrique. “If you are in a position to help someone, whether it’s one person, or a hundred, that’s a privilege.”

The school was popular, and, through word of mouth, Pratthanadee attracted lots of young women eager to learn marketable skills. But Enrique questioned whether what they were doing was really helping. “What good is knowing how to use Hotmail if you don’t have enough to eat? I felt that we weren't really dealing with the reality that these women were living every day,” he says.

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CLASS NOTES

In 2005, Pratthanadee broadened its focus to include career and personal development workshops with a goal of increasing women’s overall economic earning power. The majority of Pratthanadee’s clients come from low-end service industry jobs working as maids, nannies, and even prostitutes. The workshops offer concrete skills that make women compelling applicants for better and safer employment, such as negotiating and knowing how to ask for a raise, practicing self-defense, and presentation skills like dressing and applying makeup for the workplace.

“We put together a program that focused on building a women’s self-esteem and confidence,” says Enrique, “because if you are confident in how you look and how you present yourself, that manifests in the way that you are able to make a living and what you can earn for that work.”

The other benefit of focusing on building women’s selfesteem and confidence is the trickle-down effect that these efforts have on the entire family structure. Enrique echoes the sentiments of Ghanaian educational scholar Dr. James Emman Kwegyir-Aggrey, who famously posited that “If you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a family.”

Pratthanadee is making a startling difference in the lives of its clients. According to Enrique, almost half of the women who take the workshops report an increase in salary of 30%. For many, that difference enables them to put their children in school, provide healthcare for a parent, or save money for the first time in their lives. The difference is also clearly visible in the women themselves. When women first come to

Pratthanadee, they are videotaped answering a few basic questions about who they are what they want to do with their lives. Six to nine months later, the staff videotapes them again, and Enrique notes that the confidence they have gained manifests in the way they look, speak, and carry themselves.

While Pratthanadee is still funded largely by Enrique, it is educating 2,500-3,000 women a year in Bangkok and rural Ubon Ratchathani, a poor province in northeast Thailand.

Enrique hopes to build the program to a national scale. In 2014, Pratthanadee was awarded the Mid-Sized Thai NGO of the Year by the Resource Alliance and Rockefeller Foundation. This summer they honored Pratthanadee again with their 2017 “Big Impact, Small Budget” Social Impact Award. “We do as much as we can with what little we have,” says Enrique.

To learn more about the Pratthanadee Foundation, visit www.pratthanadee.org.

“If you are in a position to help someone, whether it’s one person, or a hundred, that’s a privilege.”

– Enrique Cuan ’85

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CLASS NOTES

Tapping into a Passion: Chip Stone ’94 CHIP STONE ‘94 is passionate about beer. As a long-time home-brewer and self-described “prolific volunteer” at beer festivals, Chip always assumed his devotion to craft brews would remain a hobby. In 2013, Chip was living in St. Louis, Missouri, a city with a thriving beer scene, working as a systems administrator in the IT Department at Washington University.

By chance, he found himself pouring beers at a festival one weekend next to a brewer from Schlafly, Missouri’s largest locally-owned independent brewery.

Chip was a big fan of Schlafly beers and had always considered the brewery to be his dream employer. The two men got to talking (as fellow beer aficionados do), and his new acquaintance mentioned that Schlafly needed help with a Siemens automation system that was used in the brewery. Did Chip happen to know anyone who understood beer and computers? Did he ever.

Chip jumped at the opportunity and joined Schlafly that summer as an automation engineer. Earlier this year, Chip was recruited to join Elysian Brewing Company in Seattle, Washington as Lead Brewer. Thrice named Large Brewpub of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival, Elysian Brewing operates four neighborhood restaurants in addition to a production brewery. Elysian is particularly well known for its seasonal pumpkin brews and hosts the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival in Seattle each fall.

Chip made the move to Seattle and now finds himself in the happy position of having passion and purpose united. “Beer people are good people,” notes Chip. “I’m still that guy who loves going to festivals and being out with people who are passionate about beer, and I like seeing people enjoy what we made.”

1991

’91

SETH MARTIN has a wonderful announcement! “This past March we welcomed our second child, Marigold, into our family, and she is already showing her ‘chip’-iness in this photo. Her grandmother MARY MARTIN is happy to encourage this.”

1993 Marigold Martin, daughter of Seth Martin ’91 and granddaughter of former faculty member Mary Martin.

1989 MEGHAN GREENBERG LOCKWOOD writes, “Chip, Charlie (age 2.5), and I have moved to Melbourne, Australia! Chip is a research fellow at Australian Catholic University, and I work in education consulting.”

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We got this update from JESSE SZYNAL: “Just wanted to pass along news of a travel video I created with my brother. We captured the beautiful country of Colombia in a 19-day, 2200mile loop starting in Bogota. For those out there with wanderlust, this should be on your list. Of course, I was able to practice the Spanish I learned long ago at Fay! I’m really starting to love the creation of films and am now planning a documentary for a two-month ride from

Panama to Los Angeles in January. To those who might want to ride a leg of the journey and make a cameo in the video, ¡Vamos!” You can see Jesse’s video at https://youtu.be/HWRm31zJpgE. We also heard from NATHAN HASSELL: “I will be graduating this year with a master’s degree in public health. I'm living in New Hampshire right now but will be moving afterwards.

I still keep in regular touch with JIM MCDANIEL and his family. My brother RYAN HASSELL ’98 recently just moved back from Los Angeles to Martha's Vineyard. He is doing well and is looking for work editing film. If there’s anyone from Fay who wants to reconnect or is in the field of public health let me know! Best wishes to all.”

CLASS NOTES

1994

2008

JULIE SACCHETTI WHITE writes, “After high school, I went on to Simmons and Suffolk University Law School. I sit on the bar in Massachusetts. I live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I've been employed as the lead flight attendant and operations manager for a private individual since graduating from law school. Our flight department is based between Boca Raton and the Hamptons. I'd love to connect with fellow alums living in South Florida!”

Here’s an update from JAKE CAHILL: “I am now working as a geometry teacher at Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut, the secondary school that I attended after graduating from Fay. In addition to teaching math, I am also coaching soccer and swimming as well as living in the dorms!”

MILLENNIAL MEALTIME REDESIGNED: ALBERT NICHOLS ’05 When Albert Nichols ‘05 first sat down in the Fay dining room as a new seventh grader, he might not have recognized it as a business opportunity. However, almost 15 years later, Albert’s dining experiences at Fay and Deerfield have inspired Hall, the subscription-based dining hall he recently opened in Boston’s Back Bay. Growing up in Maine, dinner at the Nichols house was an opportunity to catch up and connect with one another at the end of a busy day. That communal dining experience continued at Fay and Deerfield, where meals were served family-style, and the dining hall was a place where students could socialize, interact, and get to know one another.

But once Albert graduated college, things changed. “All these things that I had taken for granted—the socialization, seeing classmates and friends, and the opportunity to meet people—just disappeared,” he recalls. Like most of his peers, Albert suddenly found himself standing at the supermarket checkout line after work, spending considerable money on food that was less healthy, to be consumed in his apartment by himself. He felt stuck in a cycle that was deeply inefficient and isolating. “There’s a reason why people have come together in large groups to eat for millennia,” he points out.

Albert recalled how there was always one kid’s room in the Fay dorms where everyone gathered to hang out. In that spirit, he started hosting informal dinners at his apartment every Monday night and inviting his friends to join. The offer was simple.

Albert would provide a basic home-cooked meal and people could come and hang out, work, socialize, or take the food to go.

“More and more people began to come, and I realized that there was value here,” says Albert. That experience became the starting point for Hall.

Located on Gloucester Street in the heart of the Back Bay, Hall is a flexible space where members can grab a healthy, home-cooked meal Sunday through Thursday. Members can eat a quick meal

and leave, meet friends and socialize, or just take their dinner to go. Open from 6:00 a.m. to midnight every day, Hall is available for private parties Friday and Saturday and open for members to drop in during the day and grab a coffee, host a business meeting, or just take a break from the everyday grind. The meals offered at Hall are a far cry from the cooking repertoire of the average twenty-something. Every weeknight, Hall offers a light dinner option that is vegetarian, free of gluten, dairy, shellfish, and tree nuts.

They also offer a heartier option that is made with no added salt or fat. For $69 a week, Hall members could be eating chickpea pasta primavera, farro and short ribs, or chicken tikka masala with roasted broccoli and jasmine rice.

The Hall space is decorated simply with a variety of different spaces, from work areas, to flexible social spaces, to dining areas where members can have dinner and hang out or eat and go.

Albert designed Hall with intentional fluidity with a respect for the individual, a value that was nurtured in his time at Fay. “Fay encouraged me to look at people and understand where they are from and what makes them different from me,” says Albert. “At Hall, we didn’t want to make the space uniform. We didn’t want to force people into an idea of how people should eat and what the space should look like,” says Albert. “Our goal is to build spaces where individuals can come together.”

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CLASS NOTES

DESIGNED TO INSPIRE: MOLLY CURLEY ’09 It’s fair to say that Molly Curley ’09 has spent her entire life researching her new Molly J swimwear line. From summering with her family on Cape Cod, to years spent modeling swimwear, Molly has experience beyond her years in the design and fit of a good bathing suit.

“I grew up on the water, in a bathing suit, so swimwear is really close to my heart,” she notes. On top of that, entrepreneurship is definitely in her blood.

Both of Molly’s parents started companies at a young age, and her brother Jake Curley ’12 has started his own sport fishing charter company, Jakamo Sportfishing, as well as a tackle design company, JC’s Offshore Tackle.

When Molly completed her major in professional sales at Bentley University in three years, she recognized an opportunity. With all her friends still in college, Molly decided to dedicate herself to starting her own swimwear company, and the Molly J brand was born.

One of Molly’s earliest strategic decisions was to forego outside investors. “I had saved up a lot of money from modeling, and I felt that if I invested my own money it would really feel like my baby, and it would make me work all the harder.”

Once in research and design mode, Molly spent time trying to find just the right fabric for her suits. “So many suits can be super cute, but if the fabric isn’t good, it doesn’t work.” Molly’s first line of five suits came out this year, and while she doesn’t gear her designs toward any particular age group, she says her designs are all about the connection between beauty and confidence. As she notes on her site, Mollyjswim.com, “having confidence in your own skin, and having confidence in what you are wearing, is the key to feeling beautiful.”

Each of Molly’s suits has the company logo, a gold compass rose, sewn into it. Inspired by a compass rose necklace that Molly received for her 21st birthday, the logo reflects the Molly J brand mission, which is to inspire women to “be the navigator of your own destiny.” Molly says, “I want this company to have an inspirational aspect, and when you see the Molly J brand, I want it to be empowering.”

Mini reunion: Jeff MacArthur ’13 and Savion Rivers ’14, both students at Williams College, headed to Middlebury for a football game and happened to meet up with Meg Fearey ’14, who is currently a student at Middlebury. (In case you were wondering, Williams won in the last six seconds!)

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CLASS NOTES

Some Shanghai alumni and family members gathered this past summer for a dinner with members of Fay’s faculty. Left to right: Qiang Sun, Paul Abeln, Annie Zhou, Cassandra Papalilo, Amy Jin ’17, “Ella" Jing Yu, Julie Porrazzo, Kevin Zhou ’17, Ling Huang, Irvin Li ’17, Qingjia Lu, Xiyun "Shirley" Zhou, Xiaofei "Sophie" Yu.

Avery Nasworthy ’14 and Andrew Estella ’14 met up last June at the Central Massachusetts All Star Soccer game. Avery is a freshman at the University of Vermont, and Andrew is a freshman at Swarthmore College.

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SHARING PERSPECTIVES ACROSS THE WORLD: AMY TOURNAS ’12 MEETS ALBERT TING ’87 Amy Tournas '12, currently a junior at Colby College, spent the fall semester in Vietnam, and documented the experience for friends and family on her blog. In a post titled, “Fay School Goes Global,” Amy wrote about meeting fellow Fay alum and trustee Albert Ting ‘87, founder of Saigon South International School, during her Vietnamese travels. Over breakfast, Mr. Ting shared with her some of the history of Ho Chi Minh City and the role that the Ting family played in its economic development and the creation of its infrastructure and educational institutions. Amy was impressed to discover not only the scope of impact that a single family could have on a country but to find that the Ting family’s work was grounded in a respect for preserving what is authentic about Vietnamese culture. She wrote: Everything surrounding us was extremely modern and developed. Describing everything, Mr. Ting talked about his contributions to his surroundings. Then, he pointed to the center of the lake, where the water arched in. There was a big forest in the middle with native trees and vegetation. He explained how when

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developing the area, they wanted to keep that part of the land just like it was from before the development took place. "Vietnamese people tend to forget. We wanted to keep that part so they remember what life was like before all of this came along."

Amy noted in her blog that this reverence for remembering where one came from impressed upon her the depth of connection that she and Mr. Ting have in their shared Fay experience. “I think being able to meet Albert Ting shows both the strength and the values Fay School holds,” she wrote. “Mr. Ting

Amy in Vietnam

and I are years apart in age, and miles apart in location. Yet somehow, we were able to meet and relate on a level that I will value for my whole life. I only hope one day that a Fay student reaches out to me to learn the impact I have had on a community, and if it is even one-one hundredth of the scale of the Ting family, I would be proud.”

Helping Future Students Establish a Foundation for Success: Glenn Prichett ’92 “Fay was instrumental in creating a foundation that enabled my brothers and me to be successful. The School’s ability to provide focused care for individual students was extraordinary and ahead of its time.”

Glenn Prichett ’92 considers his time at Fay as a pivotal experience—not just for himself, but also for his brothers, Reid ’87 and Trevor ’89. The three brothers all excelled at sports and were valued members of Fay’s championship wrestling team in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Beyond the shared experience of athletics, however, the three boys had different skill sets, and, Glenn notes, “Fay knew what to do to ensure that all of us graduated with a solid foundation. The teachers, the coaches, and the administration held every student accountable for their actions, and they worked with us on what we needed to improve.”

After Fay, Glenn went on to Woodberry Forest School and then Williams College, while Trevor attended Exeter, Harvard, and Wharton, and Reid attended Brooks, Williams, and the University of Wisconsin. Trevor is an

entrepreneur who is currently Chief Operating Officer at Yards Brewing Company; Reid is now Dean of Faculty for Teaching and Learning at Pingry School; and Glenn serves as a Senior Director at BNY Mellon Wealth Management focusing on national and international business development for the firm’s Family Office and Charitable Solutions division.

The lessons that Glenn took from Fay stay with him to this day, even though at the time, he may not have immediately appreciated them. “I can remember arguing with Mr. Harlow about wearing ties,” he recalls. “I fought against the formality. But he reminded me that we were, all of us, ambassadors of Fay. I have thought about that my whole life: that you’re a representative of the institution you come from, and your actions should reflect that.”

Glenn, Trevor, and Reid Prichett are members of Fay’s 1866 Society, a group of alumni, parents, and friends of Fay who have made a bequest to Fay in their wills. Through planned giving, these generous donors are helping to make sure that Fay will continue to be a strong and vibrant community that provides each student with the foundation for a meaningful life.

To explore further how a planned gift for Fay School may be right for you, please contact Stephen Gray, Senior Advancement Officer, at 508.490.8414 or sgray@fayschool.org. If you have already named Fay as a beneficiary in your will, please let us know. We would like to welcome you as a member of the School’s 1866 Society.

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WARNER BANES October 31, 2017 Warner Banes, age 92, of Houston, Texas and Winter Harbor, Maine passed away peacefully at his home, surrounded by his loving family, on October 31.

In Memoriam

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Warner and Peggy Rosengarten Banes, Warner attended Fay and then St. Paul's School. In 1942, he enlisted in the Navy and served as a Seabee in the Pacific Theater, receiving an honorable discharge in 1946. Warner then came to Houston to visit his father, where he met and married Mary Ann McDonald, the girl next door.

Warner graduated from the University of Houston in 1949 and began his long teaching career at St. John's School, where he delighted in making science come to life in the minds of his students. His classes were legendary for experiments, knowledge, laughter and inspiration. In 1976, he married Marjory Cross, who also taught at St. John's.

Marjory predeceased Warner in 2012. Warner was bestowed with the title of Faculty Emeritus in 1981 by St. John’s School’s Board of Trustees, and in 2016, he received the Honorary Alumnus Award. After retirement, Warner split his time between Houston and his beloved Winter Harbor.

Warner is survived by his daughters, Becky Banes and Margaret Banes Marshall, along with many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

BYRON TAGGART EDWARDS ’51 September 27, 2017 Byron Taggart Edwards passed away on September 27, 2017 while at home in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, in the loving care of Françoise, his wife of 39 years.

Tag was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1937 to Josephine Brown Taggart and Alfred Stapley Edwards. Following the death of his father and the end of World War II, Tag returned to his maternal home in Watertown, NY. After Fay, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy and then Harvard College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in art history.

Following his 1959 graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served as an officer in amphibious tanks at Camp

Pendleton and Twentynine Palms. Upon returning to civilian life, he entered Harvard Business School in the class of 1964.

While at Harvard, he met and married his first wife, the late Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards.

Tag's career was devoted to the paper and pulp industry, initially at St. Regis Paper Company into which his family’s company, Taggart Paper Mills (1866) had previously been merged. In successive years, St. Regis was acquired, first by Champion, later

by International Paper Company. At the time of Tag’s retirement some twenty years ago, he was Executive Vice President for Champion’s vast forest lands and pulp production. He served for ten years on the Board of Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development. Winthrop Rockefeller’s founding vision for Winrock was to advance the state of global agriculture to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources. Tag was called as Winrock’s interim President & CEO from July-December 1998.

Tag leaves behind his beloved wife Françoise Nguyen; his daughter, Alison Edwards Curwen; his younger sister, Josephine Edwards Bullard; his younger brother, Marcus Rice, MD; his grandchildren, Darcy, Tag and Stapley Curwen; numerous nieces and nephews; and his cherished French Brittany, Xa.

WILLIAM LOOMIS ’55 June 30, 2016 William F. Loomis, an emeritus distinguished professor of biology who spent 50 years as a faculty member at the University of California San Diego, died June 30, 2016. He was 76 years old.

Loomis was born in 1940 in Boston. After attending Fay, he received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1962 and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965.

He did postdoctoral research at Brandeis University, joined the UC San Diego faculty in 1966, and became Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 2010.

Throughout his career at UC San Diego, Loomis focused his research on elucidating the mechanisms regulating the development of Dictyostelium, which shares many of the genetic features that are retained in humans, but is much easier to use for experiments. He discovered molecular processes that control how cells

interact in Dicty and showed that humans work the same way.

William published more than 240 articles, books, and book chapters. His achievements were recognized by advancement to Distinguished Professor, the highest faculty rank at the University of California, election as the president for Society for Developmental Biology, and his election as a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also awarded a National Institutes of Health Senior Research Scientist Fellowship and named an American Cancer Society Scholar.

Loomis was also a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who loved to paint, write, work in his garden and travel. He is survived by his wife, Maria (Marga) Margarita Behrens of Del Mar and daughters Catherine Healy, Emily Murphey and Carolina Arahuetes; and by his six grandchildren.

MARK MATTISON ’55 June 28, 2017 Mark Mattison died peacefully on June 28, 2017, after a valiant battle following a double lung transplant for pulmonary fibrosis.

Mark attended Buckley, Fay, and St. Mark’s School, as well as Shrewsbury School in England. He graduated from Fordham College in 1964. After a career in newspapers that spanned 45 years, he retired to Edgartown and Vero Beach. He was a member of many organizations, including the New York Yacht Club, Edgartown Yacht Club, Edgartown Reading Room, and Riomar Country Club.

He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Karel; his children, Delphine, Graham, and Alissa; and seven grandchildren.

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In Memoriam JOHN CORCORAN ’61 April 7, 2017

RYAN SEBASTIAN ’03 June 15, 2017

John R. Corcoran of Marshfield, Massachusetts, formerly of Brockton, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on April 7, 2017, at the age of 70. John was born in Brockton, the son of the late James T. Corcoran and Mildred C. (McLaughlin) Corcoran. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Jane E. (Arnone) Corcoran. He was the devoted father of Timothy, Michael, and Jason ’92. He was the brother of Jane M. Corcoran and the late James T. Corcoran. John was passionate about the arts; he was an accomplished artist and an avid reader, and he loved spending time at Rexhame Beach with his family and friends.

Ryan Oscar Sebastian, 29, passed away on June 15, 2017, surrounded by family and friends after a valiant fight with cancer. He is survived by his wife Caitlin B. (Salvatore) Sebastian and his son Charles “Charlie” Ryan Sebastian; his parents, Richard R. and Maria S. (Bumann) Sebastian; and his sisters, Heather and Mariah Sebastian ’07. He is also survived by his maternal grandmother, Marian Bumann; his paternal grandparents, Richard and Judith Sebastian; and a large extended family.

JONATHAN SANDS WOLF ’68 May 1, 2017 Jonathan “Jolly” Sands Wolf, 63, of Torrington, Connecticut, died May 1, 2017, after a protracted battle with cancer. He was born July 13, 1953, in Sharon, Connecticut, and he was the son of the late George W. Wolf, Jr. and Jeanne S. Wolf.

After Fay, John graduated from the Storm King School and from Lyndon State College. He lived and worked in Falls Village his entire adult life and managed various properties in the area. John was nicknamed “Jolly” as a toddler, and anyone who knew him understood why. He will be remembered for his remarkable spirit and positive outlook, even when illness overtook him; it was impossible not to be lifted by his presence.

Jon leaves behind his daughter, Keeley Walcott, and her two children; his son, Tim Wolf; his partner, Pat Lucas; and his two brothers, Skip Wolf and Peter Wolf ’63.

48 | Fay Magazine 2017

Ryan was an avid hockey player since the age of six and also played lacrosse and football. After three years at Fay, Ryan graduated from Milton Academy. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, graduating with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering with an aerospace concentration. He was a proud brother of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji).

Ryan was active in experimental rocketry since the age of eight, thanks to his father and his uncle, Ron Sebastian. Ryan moved to Sacramento, California, in 2011 to take a position at Aerojet Rocketdyne. He then went on to join SpaceX in Los Angeles in 2014.

At the time of his passing, Ryan was leading a team of dedicated engineers in improving the production of the Falcon 9 Second Stage.

Faculty Profile:

Kelvin Martinez What is it like raising a family on campus?

Kelvin Martinez is certainly someone Fay students can look up to. That’s not just because of the many roles he plays at Fay—it’s also because in his spare time, he’s an amateur pilot. A graduate of Union College, Kelvin has become an integral member of Fay’s faculty since coming to campus in 2016. He teaches Spanish in the Lower School, coaches soccer and basketball, and serves as an advisor and a dorm parent. Kelvin grew up in Honduras and came to the United States as a boarding school student himself when he was 13, attending Northfield Mount Hermon School. He speaks four languages and wants to learn a fifth, something he believes is helpful to him as a teacher. Kelvin lives with his wife Nora and two young children, two year-old Isa and one year-old Maceo, in Webster House.

Do you have a favorite aspect of the work you do at Fay? I love the dorm life because it’s home for the kids for ten months out of the year. If they’re comfortable there, then it affects what’s happening in class, in athletics, in advisory. It’s important that when they come back to the dorm, they feel that it’s a good environment.

It’s wonderful. We love the relationships that my daughter is building with the students in the dorm.

She knows everybody’s name, and everybody knows her name. It’s a good relationship both ways—for my boys in the dorm to be able to interact with a little girl and for her to interact with them.

You speak four languages (Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Garifuna, the native language of the part of Honduras where Kelvin is from), and you want to learn Italian. Why is learning another language important to you?

As a teacher, it keeps me grounded. I think it’s easy to forget the challenges of learning a new language—what comes easily and what’s not so easy. I go through the same process my students are going through when they are learning Spanish, and it helps me to understand their challenges—mastering vocabulary and conjugations, keeping it all straight, and not confusing one language with another one. I think the process makes me a more empathetic teacher.

Tell us more about flying.

I’ve always loved it, and I have wanted to be a pilot since I was five. It’s such a liberating experience to be flying.

You get 15,000 feet up in the air, and it’s just you and the open skies.

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