FENN: Winter 2015

Winter 2015

What makes a boys’ school work?

F R OM T H E H E A D M A ST E R

Boyhood isn’t a phase, something that transforms into young adulthood and then maturity.

Boyhood is something more durable than that, more real even than male adulthood. In fact, masculine adulthood is very likely an illusion. A “husk” designed to conceal boyhood. Male adulthood may be successful only insofar as boyhood is integrated into the man. But boyhood is real, it stays in the man, and keeps staying there.

IN H IS BOOK Boys Themselves about a year spent at his alma mater to observe and write about boys, journalist Michael Ruhlman summarizes Headmaster Richard Hawley’s ideas about boyhood and manhood.

If Hawley is right, the “boyness” that teachers shape every day will remain in each boy for his life as a defining part of his character and person, the unchanging core of the boy. Good boys’ schools honor and nurture without apology the “boyness” that Hawley maintains men retain their whole lives. We build our educational programs and traditions on real-life experience and practice with boys, fostering and celebrating what makes boys boys. Luckily, years of scholarly research focused on the differences between boys and girls in their cognitive make-up and related physical, emotional, and social needs has bolstered much of our understanding about the nature of “boyness” and has informed a current and compelling national conversation.

At Fenn, we take careful note of the research and current conversation as we engage our decades-old mission of educating boys. And with equal confidence, we rely on the good work and insight of skillful educators across decades here whose rich experience with boys has proved true through time. It is indeed a good time to be educating boys and especially to be educating boys in boys’ schools.

At Fenn we start always with our own observations about “boyness:” We see over and over in our boys endless physical energy; the aspiration to be just and even heroic; the joy in being physical; a delight in being comrades, friends, and teammates; an appetite for competition; an eagerness to help; a desire to solve problems; a readiness to take risks of many kinds; a quickness to move on from slight or injury; an unyielding demand for authenticity and fairness; and, perhaps above all,

a delight in and thirst for what is funny and fun.

These are powerful traits and desires, and we use them to entice boys not only to take seriously the challenging business of school but to see school as a place where learning is fun and tailored to who they are.

All schools can, if they choose, light up boys’ lives by challenging, nurturing, affirming, and delighting in them as they do the hard work of growing into full, responsible, and wholesome young men. Those schools that succeed at this crucial mission engage boys on their own authentic terms and speak to who boys are. Such schools create a haven that not only affirms boys’ strengths and appetites but actively discourages and counters the downside of male culture: physical recklessness; emotional insensitivity and even cruelty; intolerance for weakness; sexism against girls and women; and an ethos of survival of the fittest. In schools that do educational justice to the wonder of boys, their teachers, male and female, model behavior that boys understand as true, good, and worthy of their emulation and hold boys to the standard of being their better selves.

On the field, in the classroom, and at play, boys are firmly reminded when necessary and gently coaxed more often into being their best selves and engaging daily the positive role they can have in their school and in the wider community.

This Winter 2015 edition of FENN invites you to engage again who boys are and to think about how all of us—educators, parents, mentors—might best serve them as they build the husk of manhood around the core of their boyness.

Consider this an additional chapter of the national conversation about boys. Our hope is that the work we do at Fenn continues to shape the conversation about boys and their development and the “boyness” they carry with them the rest of their lives.

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F E AT U R E S

What Makes a Boys’ School Work?

EDITOR AND WRITER Laurie O’Neill EDITORIAL BOARD Derek Boonisar Anne Ames Boudreau Veronica Jorge-Curtis Harris Rosenheim ’02 Jerry Ward Lorraine Garnett Ward PHOTOGRAPHY Ellen Harasimowicz Joshua Touster Laurie O’Neill Llewellyn Creative DESIGN Dan Beard Design

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Fenn boys call their school “A place where we can be ourselves.”

Male faculty members, some of them alumni, draw on their experiences to help boys navigate the challenges of adolescence.

“Self–confidence was the most important outcome” say alumni on their years at Fenn.

DEPARTMENTS

16 Around Campus 28 Advancing Fenn 34 Distinguished Alumnus Award 2014 36 Class Notes 48 In Memoriam 50 Reflections

FENN is published twice a year for alumni, parents, and friends of the School. Letters and comments are welcomed and can be sent to Laurie O’Neill, The Fenn School, 516 Monument Street, Concord, MA 01742; loneill@fenn.org; 978-318-3583.

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What makes a boys’ school work?

Ask the boys. Gather a group of Fenn students in a room, serve them frosted ice cream cake, and ask them how they feel about attending a boys’ school. Their responses will be amusing, enlightening, surprising, and even touching. They will compete to be heard and say exactly what’s on their minds, indulge in gentle horseplay, sport icing on their noses, make outrageous puns, laugh uproariously, and, in a sudden change of mood, relate a poignant personal experience while their peers listen quietly and nod empathetically.

Through all of the boys’ story-telling and joking, threads of consensus emerge: that Fenn has fostered in them the courage to be leaders and the confidence to take safe risks. That it offers opportunities for hands-on class activities that are known to be the ways boys learn best and plenty of time to play and unwind. That it provides them with strong role models as teachers, advisors, and coaches. And that it gives them a safe place in which to show their vulnerability without fear of shame or embarrassment. As Blake, a ninth grader who for his Senior Reflection in Ward Hall demonstrated his passion for karate, declares, “At Fenn you can be your true self.”

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“A place where we can be our true selves” “I used to be so shy that I couldn’t even put in an order at a restaurant,” declares ninth grader Sammy, who in the first half of this year has appeared on stage in the meeting hall dancing hip hop, singing with Fenn’s a cappella group, competing in the annual extemporaneous speaking contest, and playing the trumpet with the Concert Band. “I don’t have to worry about embarrassing myself here. It’s safe to be vulnerable,” he declares.

Most boys are artistic and love to work with their hands. “I’d be bored if I couldn’t learn this way,” says one.

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There is copious research showing the advantages of single sex education boosting academic and social success, and much of it has been cited in these pages over the years. Boys’ schools are better equipped to meet their students’ needs because boys and girls go through their developmental stages in dramatically different ways, with the former often lagging significantly behind the latter into puberty or beyond.

Boys can be criticized in coed classrooms, especially in the middle school years, because they don’t behave like their female classmates. Though it can seem like a generalization, research has shown this is largely true: girls can sit still longer than boys, they are more attentive in class and more meticulous about their work, and they are less physical in their conduct. Boys at this

age, on the other hand, can be clumsy and awkward; they need to move around and be active, and they may find it difficult to stay organized or keep their shirts tucked in. If a boy’s development trails behind that of the girls in his class, it can set him up for failure, experts say.

In an all boys’ classroom, students are generally on a level playing field and their teachers know how to challenge them academically and encourage them to be productive and creative—for most boys are artistic and love to work with their hands—and to take risks. Beyond the classroom, boys will try activities such as singing or dancing or speaking in front of the community, which they might not do if girls were present. On Fenn’s “We Read” days, you might see a boy reading at his desk, but there will be others lying on the floor, perching

“I used to be so shy, but here you can be exposed and vulnerable and nothing bad happens.�

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in a window, or curled up under a shelf or chair. In a single sex setting, a boy’s sense of humor is encouraged; he can laugh and not fear being thought of as silly, immature, or inappropriate. As ninth grader Max says, “It’s natural to be worried about impressing girls and not embarrassing yourself.”

If girls were in his classes, says Max’s classmate, Ben, “I’d probably give an opinion that I thought sounded sophisticated or I wouldn’t raise my hand at all.” This is met with a chorus of “Me too!” from around the table. But here boys often clamor to be heard and do not fear being teased, they say, if they ask a question that someone else has already posed or offer an answer that is off the mark.

Finally, a boys’ school can let boys be children for a few more years, giving them extra time to grow up socially.

Note the pillows and “special” blankets some older Fenn boys take with them to Camp Caribou or Windsor Mountain for overnights in the fall. Walk through the hallways of the Boll Building and spy a stuffed animal poking out of a sixth

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grader’s locker. Watch young actors proudly accept a Fenn Men mug—an honor bestowed on boys who play female parts on stage. See how many boys will sling their arms around each other’s shoulders in unabashed affection. (Boys’ schools are said to foster authentic friendships in part because boys do not become rivals for a girl’s attention.) Some of these friendships might last a lifetime.

Take the trio of alumni from the class of 1951—Russ Robb, Tom Piper, and Fred Lovejoy—who meet regularly for breakfast in Concord. Or the classmates who end up rooming together in college and beyond or teaming up to start a business, such as 2003 graduates Peter Stone and George Lovejoy, who launched a car detailing company.

But the best way to illustrate what Fenn does for boys is to ask the boys themselves.

“It’s cool to be smart at Fenn.”

Their teachers employ hands-on approaches across divisions and disciplines because, ninth grader Zack says, “They know we need to physically

experience what we are learning.” That might be by raising and releasing brown trout in science, building shelters in the woods on campus to experience the challenges faced by the protagonist in the novel Hatchet, exploring Walden Pond to complement their reading of Thoreau, or writing nature poetry while sitting under a tree at the Old North Bridge.

Says seventh grader Peter, “I’d be bored if I couldn’t learn this way.” He cites his Spanish class, which sometimes ends with a game of kickball; if a boy answers a grammar question correctly, he gets to kick the ball. And just because they aren’t competing with girls doesn’t mean they don’t strive for success, the boys say. “It’s cool to be smart at Fenn,” says seventh grader Harrison, who with his peers in a Student Life class discussed the merits of a boys’ school with a visitor.

When asked how life is different at a school without girls and reminded that, after all, an entire verse in the school song laments the absence of females at Fenn, Charlie concedes that “We’d worry so much more about clothes and hair and it would take me a lot longer to

get ready for school,” a statement that elicits murmurs of agreement from the others. When another boy turns to his classmates and asks, “Would you go out for Trebles or a cappella if girls were here?” the response is a resounding “No!” Last fall three seventh graders joined with faculty members to present a workshop at an Association of Independent Schools of New England diversity conference of adult educators, sharing their experiences conducting an accessibility audit to examine the way people with a variety of disabilities would navigate their campus. Later they met one of the event’s keynote speakers, Anita Hill, a Brandeis professor. The boys impressed event organizers and workshop attendees with their preparation, poise, and courage; one of them, in an email to Headmaster Jerry Ward, called the boys “polished but natural, proud but humble. They ROCKED!” she declared.

“What if I screw up really bad?”

“We support each other at Fenn,” says seventh grader Harrison. “If a plate

falls in the dining hall, no one cheers or makes fun of you.” Nowhere is this support more visible than when a boy speaks in front of the school. When seventh grader Jackson delivered Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech during the W.W. Fenn Public Speaking Contest, his voice began to weaken until you could barely hear him, he says. Jackson felt terrible, but later his friends said, “Dude, it’s okay. I was scared, too.”

Faculty members recall moments when this kind of support was dramatically obvious. There was the time, says Lower School Head Tricia McCarthy, that a student competing in the W.W. Fenn contest walked onto the stage, introduced himself, and then burst into tears and fled. Read Albright, who taught English at Fenn for many years, strode down the aisle in Robb Hall, jumped up to the stage, and faced the audience: “This,” he declared, according to Tricia, “is how we find out who are the real men in this room.” The boys responded by falling silent—“there was no laughing, not even any muttering,” she says. Headmaster Jerry Ward often

The three seventh graders who presented at an AISNE diversity conference last fall met Anita Hill, one of the keynote speakers.

“At Fenn I’ve been given opportunities to take risks and put myself out there.”

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“I stood up to make an announcement and my voice cracked. I couldn’t stop laughing at myself, and the whole hall laughed with me and then applauded when I was finally able to speak.”

reminds the audience in the meeting hall that they are the “safety net” for students who take the risk to stand and deliver.

Speaking in public is an expectation for Fenn boys; there are the W.W. Fenn and the Hector J. Hughes Extemporaneous speaking contests, the Senior Reflections delivered by every ninth grader, the presentations various students make about sustainability, diversity, or community service, for example, and even the announcements or sports reports that boys make during All School Meeting. They deliver campaign speeches when they run for office and participate on the Fenn Radio team.

Says eighth grader William, “It’s hard enough to make an announcement and get it right; but you’ve also got 350 faces looking at you!” By the way, William recently played a lead role in the Upper School drama The Elephant Man. Ninth grader Nick fretted about presenting his Senior Reflection. “What if I screw up really bad?” he asked himself, but realized, “I knew that if I did, my classmates would laugh with me, not at me.” An example of this has become a

Fenn legend. At an All School Meeting last fall, ninth grader Mart, rising to deliver a sports announcement, heard his voice crack and leap an octave. He immediately began to laugh at himself— and he couldn’t stop; he’d start again, his voice would crack, and he’d double over in hilarity once more. All of the boys in the hall laughed with him, and when Matt finally managed to continue his announcement, they applauded him.

“It’s okay to show your feelings.”

Some people get shy in front of girls, Cam pointed out. “They don’t want to share their feelings. But it’s different here.” Sometimes when sharing a personal narrative in English class, a boy will tear up and immediately be comforted by his peers. One day in Integrated Studies, the class was discussing 9/11 and the boys were asked if the event had an impact on their parents. His dad had been on a flight to California that day, seventh grader Riley said, and for a while his mom thought her husband’s plane had crashed. “When I told the story,” says Riley, “I got all

“We support each other at Fenn.”

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Learning How to be Leaders choked up, but no one made fun of me.

They listened quietly.”

In Student Life classes, says ninth grader Matt, “We can say anything.”

Named a Model Program by the National Association of Independent Schools, Student Life at Fenn for grades six through nine reinforces the school’s core values of honesty, respect, empathy, and courage. The curriculum covers such age appropriate topics as the social, emotional, and physical changes of adolescence, relationships, digital citizenship, and safe decision-making.

“We feel so comfortable asking what’s on our minds,” he adds.

Sometimes one image becomes indelibly associated with life at an all boys’ school. At one of the first All School Meetings in September, three new fourth graders from the same town sat next to each other in Ward Hall.

The smallest of the three was visibly apprehensive and was leaning into one of his friends for comfort while that boy’s arm lay across his shoulders. The scene was tender, but not unusual. It was just part of daily life at Fenn.

Fenn boys are encouraged to be leaders.

They are selected by their peers and/ or teachers to serve in roles including president and vice president of the School, chairs of committees, captains of teams, class senators, Peer Advocates, band officers, and Big Brothers. They lead in different ways—quietly, by example, or more visibly, in high profile positions— but their goal is to guide, motivate, and inspire their fellow students.

“To look out and see all of those faces looking back at me—knowing that the younger boys are listening and maybe aspiring to be in my position—is amazing,” notes ninth grader Alex, who is student body president this year. “It is a great opportunity to be able to lead the community and serve as a role model.”

Alex runs All School Meeting on Fridays, standing in front of the stage as the youngest students look up at him with awe. He has learned to feel comfortable in front of his classmates and teachers, introducing speakers, calling on students and faculty who make announcements, and leading the gathering in song.

Stephon, another ninth grader, was named a captain of the varsity football team last fall. He helps out in the school store, is a member of the Diversity Committee, sings with the a cappella group, and serves as a Big Brother to a fourth grader. Stephon joined the community two years ago, having been prepared by Steppingstone Academy in Boston for the opportunity to attend an independent school. Stephon coaches children on his former Pop Warner football team, the Mission Hill Fenway Buccaneers. “I love being able to teach

them how to play the game safely,” he says, and adds that modeling discipline on the field—and in the classroom—is important to him.

Dalton, another football co-captain last fall, is the only eighth grader to serve in that position in Coach Nat Carr’s memory. Dalton “put the team’s needs in front of his own,” Nat says, “and led by example, giving one hundred percent in practices and games and earning his teammates’ respect.”

Eighth grader James is passionate about engineering and design and is a leader in Fenn’s technology initiatives.

He has worked as a student mentor during the Hour of Code event held on campus for the last two years. Fellow eighth grader David demonstrates leadership as a Peer Advocate, helping to mediate conflicts among his classmates, and he serves as vice president of the Concert Band and trombone section leader, guiding his fellow musicians through their music.

Leadership is not only in evidence in the Upper School. Seventh grader Conrad, for example, founded and runs the Middle School Debate Club and Junior Model U.N., serving as the moderator during debates. For the last few years James, now an eighth grader, has been an ambassador on campus for Heading Home, a Boston-based program that locates and readies permanent housing for homeless people. He has recruited several volunteers from the Fenn community.

The way to help others, these boys demonstrate, is by showing the way. As Stephon says, “To lead people to do great things is my goal.”

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WHAT M AKES A BOY S ’ S C HOOL WO RK

Modeling What it Means to be a Man FOR NAT CARR ’97,

it was working at Star Camps and Summer Fenn during

and after college, alongside Fenn teachers including Derek Boonisar and Bob Starensier; for George Scott, it was realizing that “something was missing” in his life when he worked as a stockbroker; and for Matt Ward ’00, it was growing up on the Fenn campus and having teachers be “an integral part of my life.”

Tory Hayes ’02 couldn’t imagine a “better community to come back to” when he joined the Fenn admissions team last summer, and Kofi Obeng, who has just begun his teaching career, knew back in high school that he wanted to teach and to mentor young people.

Though teaching is an overwhelmingly female profession, and more than three-quarters of all teachers in kindergarten through high school are women, according to Education Department data, Fenn’s faculty is comprised nearly equally of men and women. According to research conducted

by MenTeach, a non-profit clearing house for anyone seeking information about men teaching, in 2012 only 18.6% of elementary and middle school teachers were men, and of those, only 9.8% were African American and 10.3% Latino. The numbers of male teachers are somewhat

higher in boys’ schools. The men who teach at Fenn, six of them alumni, say they are committed to helping boys navigate the challenges of adolescence and can draw on their own experiences to do so.

Nat, who arrived at Fenn ten years ago to teach science and math and coach football and lacrosse, and who still teaches and coaches but now also serves as secondary school placement director, says that sometimes parents of a Fenn student tell him that “This is the first time my son has had a male teacher.”

Having a gender balanced faculty is “so important,” says George. “I really appreciate this about Fenn. Boys need to have all kinds of role models, and we have many talented female advisors, teachers and coaches.”

Fenn’s male faculty members possess the motivation, as well as the desire, to serve as role models for boys. It is their

“Being a man means that one can be strong yet kind, warm, and empathetic. There are a range of role models here and no archetype of what it means to be a man.”

– Tory Hayes ’02, assistant director of admissions

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“Fenn was so good at taking an interest in and caring about me.”

– Nat Carr ’97, science teacher and director of secondary school placement

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vocation. After spending a few years as a ski instructor and fly fishing guide out West, then working as a stockbroker and financial advisor in Virginia, where he had attended UVA, George earned an M.S. in teaching math, then taught at Belmont Day School. He joined the Fenn faculty in 2007 and became the head of the Lower School a year later.

“I can draw on my own experience,” says George, who attended Collegiate School in Richmond, VA, where, although it is coeducational in lower and upper school, boys and girls in middle school are separated for their academic classes. This builds confidence and enables students to express their opinions and ideas comfortably, George says. He “gets” the energy boys have, and their needs for hands-on learning and moving around. “‘Sit and get’ is death in a boys’ classroom,” he declares. Also, boys in their middle school years “can sometimes become obsessed if girls are in the mix with worries such as ‘Do I smell good?’, ‘Does my hair look terrible?’, or ‘Was that a stupid answer I just gave?’, which distracts them from academic focus,” he says. “Boys feel confident being themselves here at Fenn while striving to be academically competitive.”

Nat began pursuing teaching positions when he was a senior at Bates College. Working at Star Camps, which he now runs, and at Summer Fenn, and doing his student teaching in Maine, he knew that a career in education “was what I truly wanted.”

He began teaching here ten years ago, and remembers correcting papers while Bob Duncan, the Lower School head at the time, taught math. “I learned a lot from him, and would mimic what he said with my classes.” Nat, too, knows

what it is like to be a student in a boys’ school. “I had been shy at my previous school, but I experienced a huge growth of confidence here. Fenn was so good at taking an interest in and caring for me.”

He calls his time in Kathy Starensier’s Lower School class “transformative.”

Matt, who became a Fenn social studies teacher last fall after having taught at the Advent School in Boston, says he was “drawn to a place that prides itself on understanding the needs of boys—boys at a critical stage of their lives, when many decide school is not for them.” His own Fenn teachers “helped me explore my interests in a supportive environment. I truly believe,” he says, “that I became a well-rounded and compassionate person because of my time here, and I wanted to be a transformative figure in students’ lives as my teachers had been in mine.”

When Tory was a new student at Fenn all those years ago, he recalls “feeling like Harry Potter when the sorting hat came out. I didn’t know a soul, and I was terrified.” Two people stand out as his sources of support and encouragement. His teacher Sue Finney “straightened me out,” he says with a smile, and his Big Brother, Alan O’Neill ’98 (who served as an Admissions assistant at Fenn, as Tory is now) “was so patient with me, a non-athlete—he was a calming influence.” And Walter Birge instilled in Tory “an enduring love of poetry” and “took my writing up to a new level.”

After his graduation from Middlebury, Tory worked at Bottom Line in Boston, counseling young people to stay in college (and sharing an apartment with his girlfriend, Chloe, and with Fenn classmate Jon Weigel).

While at Middlebury he had taught low income students in the summer, but was apprehensive about going into a classroom at 22, even though “I knew I wanted to be in that world.”

When he learned of an admissions opening here, he saw it as a way to get back into schools. Part of the appeal of working at Fenn, he says, is that “I am not limited to one role.” Tory handles transportation, and every day he “gets face time” with the boys as some seventy of them ride shuttles and buses to and from school. He trains student tour guides for admissions open houses and covers Lower School lunch.

“Fenn doesn’t necessarily subscribe to the prevailing assumption of masculinity being associated with loudness and aggression,” he notes.

“There are men here who represent the idea that being a man means that one can be strong, yet kind, warm, and empathetic. There are a range of role models here and no archetype of what it means to be a man.”

Kofi, Fenn’s diversity and teaching associate, arrived in September 2013 and assists Ellen Campbell with her seventh grade Integrated Studies class.

His father, Pashington, a professor and minister, grew up in Ghana and Kofi’s grandparents’ schooling ended after fifth grade, a fact that has instilled in Kofi not only a deep respect for education, but also the knowledge that teaching can take place outside the classroom, too, in the form of mentoring. Kofi feels it is important to teach boys “what it means to be a man,” and “about male privilege, systemic marginalizing, and how to filter, process, and engage with mass media.” His rewards, he says, come on a daily basis at Fenn, “especially those

moments I see boys grasp a concept and solve a problem, or when I watch them having fun as they learn.”

The biggest challenge of teaching boys, Fenn’s faculty members—both male and female—agree, is matching their often boundless energy. “It’s a blast to teach them, but it’s exhausting,” Nat says with a smile, “and you need to prepare well and keep up.” He has heard more than one parent say that his or her son “used to be punished for being a boy and having so much energy—but not here.” That’s because “boyness” is celebrated at Fenn, says Nat. “We focus that energy and enthusiasm.”

“We have a unique opportunity teaching here,” reflects Matt. “I truly believe we can nurture and challenge boys here in ways that may not be possible in a coed middle school.

No boys leave Fenn feeling onedimensional,” he adds. “They know themselves well and they know that their teachers care about them.”

“Boys in their middle school years can become obsessed with worries such as ‘Do I smell good?’, ‘Does my hair look terrible?’, or ‘Was that a stupid answer I just gave?’

Here boys feel confident being themselves.”

– George Scott, Lower School director

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“Self-confidence was the most important outcome” Years, sometimes decades, after graduation, alumni reflect on what Fenn meant to them.

“I may have not known it at the time, but learning to be yourself without focusing on how others see you is much easier in a boys’ school environment. I know I was much more concerned about what girls thought of me than other boys when I was in middle school. Most young boys have to deal with that every day at school, but at Fenn, it’s one less thing to worry about … Looking back, I know I was able to learn who I was, what I enjoyed as an individual, and quite frankly, what I didn’t enjoy, because Fenn didn’t have girls. If it did, I would have been much more interested in getting to know them rather than getting to know myself.” Harrison Frost ’08

“I remember feeling like sharing was a means to develop my thinking rather than to impress others with it.”

“I was able to make authentic relationships with other boys without feeling the competitive pressure that comes as boys compete for females’ attention…I was far more willing to ask questions and admit when I was confused or didn’t comprehend something (which was often). Instead of holding back for fear of how my comments might be received, at Fenn I remember feeling like sharing was a means to develop my thinking rather than to impress others with it.” Chris Gauthier ’91

“Now that I have my own son, I realize how different boys are— literally from birth. It’s important for them to be in a place where they are understood so that their energy and their mischief are seen in context and not viewed as ‘problematic.’ No way would I have run for president in eighth grade. I wouldn’t have wanted to take the risks I did in getting up in front of the school and making bad jokes and questionable promises. When [my running mate and I] lost the election, I was disappointed but not embarrassed. Disappointment is a part of life, and this was an important opportunity to learn to manage and eventually overcome it. Had the disappointment been mixed with embarrassment because I’d been defeated in front of girls, it would have been a much more complicated experience and I doubt I would have benefitted in the same way.” Nat Hargreaves-Heald ’95

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“During the time I was at Fenn, there was a prevailing myth [in society] that boys will be boys, thus excusing violence and other forms of aggression. But Fenn offered me a haven where those things were unacceptable and instead they helped boys evolve into gentlemen. The natural world of the school setting conspired with the compassionate guidance of the faculty and staff to help transform any negative habits into productive behavior.” Nic Tuff ’92 School President Nic Tuff, right, with Vice President Chas Keegan and actress Goldie Hawn when a scene from the 1992 film Housesitter was shot on a set built in the Fenn Gym.

“Being at a boys’ school absolutely had an effect on building the self-confidence that manifests itself in Fenn graduates, though I mostly realized that when looking back. Now I appreciate the value of Fenn’s encouragement for boys to take safe risks and to form lasting friendships with classmates, the opportunities it provided for boys to compete on a level academic, emotional, physical, and social playing field, the way the educational program addressed the specific learning styles and challenges of boys, the stress reduction resulting from removing the anxiety associated at the middle school level with interaction with girls, and simply the idea of ‘letting boys be boys’—with some defined boundaries … I would have just as soon died before reciting a poem or speech in front of the entire school prior to Fenn, so I was pushed in ways I never imagined. The self-confidence Fenn instills in its boys may be the most important outcome. It helps with careers, relationships, family, and simply navigating everyday life. When your convictions are challenged, life throws you a curve ball, and you may be on a bumpy road, that’s when self-doubt creeps in and you need to be resilient, and that is perhaps the Fenn education/experience at its best: helping graduates navigate the challenges of life.” Scott Van Houten ’83

“Now I appreciate the value of Fenn’s encouragement for boys to take safe risks and to form lasting friendships ... that is perhaps the Fenn education/ experience at its best: helping graduates navigate the challenges of life.”

“Attending an all boys’ school at the middle school level was critical in my development as an individual. Any ambivalence or intimidation I felt upon entering the community lasted only moments when I realized that ‘We are all in this together.’ I fell in love with the school ... I was tested academically and athletically and there always existed healthy competition between us. In my ninth grade year I was asked to play a female role in a school play and to this day I am certain that if you can stand in front of 300 boys dressed as a woman and deliver memorized lines, you can do anything.” Patrick Jones ’98

W WIIN NTTEERR

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Meet our new faculty and staff Fenn extends a warm welcome to new members of our community.

Its culture of “appealing to a boy’s sense of good judgment as opposed to taking a more heavy-handed approach” is what most drew Chris Barker, who teaches math in the Upper School, to Fenn, he says. Chris earned a

l to r: Diane Monteith and Julia DeGemmis

Tim Seston

l to r: Ryan Miklusak and Chris Barker

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B.A. in mathematics at St. Lawrence University. He is a private math tutor and a wrestling coach at Concord Academy and has served as director of technology at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School. Chris performs with the New England Classical Singers in Andover and is president of its board. He and his wife Jill have a son, Benjamin, who graduated last spring from Northwestern University and is pursuing an acting career. Chris’s experience here has been “extremely positive,” in part because of Fenn’s “warm and welcoming community.”

He was “touched” when during the first week of school the student body sang “Consider yourself (one of us)” from the musical Oliver to all of the new faculty, staff, and students.

Originally from Newport, RI, Chris Brown earned a B.A. in urban studies from Brown University and an M.F.A. in film studies from Columbia University, where he became “one of those passionate Red Sox fans who doesn’t hate the Yankees.” Chris is teaching Integrated Studies and is a seventh grade advisor and a cross country, basketball, and track coach.

A positive experience teaching at St. John’s Preparatory School and a desire to continue working with middle school students, which he did at Chelsea’s Eugene Wright Science and Technology Academy, led him to Fenn.

Chris and his wife Andrea Diaz have two children, Emilia (2 ½) and Lucas (9 mos.). Chris is “a huge film fan” and likes to make abstract collages from found materials, read, write creatively, and run.

Steve Cambria, who is teaching seventh and eighth grade Spanish, is a New England native who has more than twenty years of experience

Steve Cambria

l to r: Tory Hayes ’02, Chris Brown, Matt Ward ’00

teaching at independent schools, including Shady Hill, Episcopal Academy, and Concord Academy. A graduate of Dickinson College, where he earned a B.A. in Spanish magna cum laude, Steve has an M.A. in Spanish language and culture from Boston College. He says Fenn’s close knit community attracted him. Steve enjoys cycling and he often commutes to campus by bicycle.

Julia DeGemmis, who grew up in nearby Boxborough, has filled a maternity leave, managing, updating, and building out Fenn’s new website and managing its social media presence. Referring to the website switchover, Julia says she “joined the team at a particularly exciting time.” Julia earned a B.S. in studio arts at Skidmore College and spent semesters studying art and design in Florence and in Paris. She continues to hone her extensive technology skills and has done graphic and web design. Art is a passion and Julia enjoys viewing exhibitions in New York City, where her siblings live.

“People are really passionate about what they do for a living here and they have a lot of Fenn pride,” she says.

Tory Hayes ’02 has joined the admissions team as assistant director and transportation coordinator.

Originally from Acton, Tory has lived in Boston for the past four years since graduating from Middlebury College with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in teacher education. Most recently he worked as a Senior Success Counselor for Bottom Line in Boston, advising low-income, first generation college students in order to help ensure their academic persistence. Tory lives with his girlfriend, Chloe, and another Fenn alumnus, Jon Weigel ’02. “Coming back to Fenn,” he

says, “was like returning home. The sense of community is so strong here and I was drawn back to Fenn’s openness to having its faculty and staff wear many different hats as professionals.”

Ryan Miklusak, who is teaching math in the Middle and Upper Schools and coaching soccer, hockey, and baseball, had a mentor in high school who helped him develop confidence and maturity. Ryan “wanted to positively impact the lives of students as my teacher did” and says Fenn “seems to have the same values I have, with students growing up in a caring community.” Originally from Chicago, Ryan met his wife Meghan at Dickinson College, where he earned a B.A. in international business and management and captained the baseball team.

Most recently he worked as a learning skills instructor at Vermont Academy.

Fenn students, he says, “are encouraged to engage in new adventures, have the confidence to take on new challenges, and put forth their best effort in every aspect of life here.”

Diane Monteith joined the Alumni and Development Office as gift entry and data coordinator in November.

Diane, who earned a B.S. in consumer studies at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, most recently served as the development assistant to the executive director at Winchester (MA) Community Music School. Diane is a runner with three marathons under her belt, enjoys tennis, golfing, and boating, and volunteers for organizations including WGBH, Cradles to Crayons, and the Somerville Road Runners.

Tim Seston, who is teaching fifth grade science and coaching hockey,

hails from Illinois and has instructed music, drama, math, and science at schools including Concord Academy and Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall. He writes stories and songs and performs them at various venues in the greater Boston area and Cape Cod, calling his business “From Page to Play.” A graduate of Colby, where he earned a B.A. in biochemistry, Tim and his wife Sally Zimmerli live in a dorm on the Concord Academy campus, where Sally teaches history. They have three children: Charlie (9) and twins Luke and Owen (6). Fenn’s culture appealed to Tim, who “loves to help kids actively explore, play, and learn.” One of the highlights of his first few months was demonstrating “a volcano in a cup” for his students. “It’s fun to set up parameters for kids and then follow the different paths they discover.”

Matt Ward ’00 is not only from Concord; he is also from Fenn, where he pretty much grew up; his mom and dad are Headmaster Jerry and Lorraine Ward. Besides teaching eighth grade social studies and sixth grade Integrated Studies, Matt is an advisor and a football and lacrosse coach. A Fenn Fellow in 2009-10, he formerly taught at the Advent School in Boston. Matt graduated from Skidmore College with a B.A. in history and government and has an Ed.M. from Harvard. Matt and his wife Courtney were married last June.

Outside of the classroom he enjoys playing lacrosse, reading, listening to music, and spending time with his family. So far Matt’s experience as a Fenn faculty member has been “fantastic,” he says.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment, even when my dad poked fun at me during the first faculty meeting for having less hair than he does!”

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Spotlight on Faculty and Staff Associate Headmaster and Head of the Upper School Derek Boonisar and teacher and Secondary School Placement Director Nat Carr ’97 attended a two-day symposium on the Pedagogy of Leadership hosted by the Garner Carney Leadership Institute.

The GCLI strives to teach teachers how to foster leadership in their students.

Derek attended the International Boys Schools Coalition annual meeting in Nashville last summer, with educators from around the globe who explored the conference theme of “Building Boys into Good Men.” Nat also attended a November Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE) workshop titled “Lessons from Positive Psychology to Help You and Your School Flourish,” during which the role that well-being plays in learning and professional engagement was discussed.

and tradition in his native Ghana. Last summer Tete, accompanied by videographer Andreas Sheikh ’12 and Assistant Diversity Director Jenn Youk See visited a Cobblah family friend who is a leading folk musician and expert on Palm Wine music, so named because it originatTete Cobblah, center, with Jenn Youk See and Andreas Sheikh ’12 in Ghana ed when early African guitarists played at gatherings where revNAIS People of Color Conference in elers drank the naturally fermented sap Indianapolis, titled “Leading the Race of the oil palm. As a member of one of Toward Equity and Justice.” the royal families in his home town of Aburi, Tete was invited to a ceremony Fenn’s teaching and diversity associate for the installation of a new chief and Kofi Obeng traveled to south India last queen mother. Jenn took hundreds of summer with his father Pashington, photos while in Ghana, some of which a minister and professor of Africana were displayed in the Kane Gallery at Studies at Wellesley. Kofi assisted Fenn last fall (see p. 26). In December, his dad in the latter’s research on the Tete, Jenn, Assistant Headmaster for African Indians of Karnakata and their Director of Diversity Tete Cobblah the Academic Program Steve Farley, ability to leverage power despite being is creating a documentary exploring and Science Department Chair Dave marginalized by society. He accomthe importance of preserving history Duane attended the 27th annual panied his father because he wanted “to tap into this part of his life,” and Kofi Obeng, center, with his father (at left) and villagers in India said that the experience deepened their relationship. During his two-week visit, Kofi celebrated his 24th birthday and was serenaded by villagers. “Changed profoundly” by the experience, he will return next summer and is interested in someday implementing an adolescent wellness program in the area, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world among young people.

Winnie Smith and Jen Waldeck attended a November workshop in Baltimore for teachers interested in using the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race as a teaching tool in their classrooms.

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While reading with her class the Gary Paulsen novel Hatchett, Winnie had discovered that Paulsen had competed in the Iditarod, and she and her class became fascinated with the annual 1049-mile race, an event that requires preparation, endurance, and perseverance. The entire social studies department, led by Chair John Sharon, attended the National Council of Social Studies Annual Conference in Boston in November. Highlights of the conference included a workshop on teaching world culture and geography.

Attending an Ed Tech Teacher iPad Summit in Boston on integrating technology into the curriculum were Director of Technology Jeff LaPlante, Steve Farley, and faculty members Amy Stiga, Laurie Byron, and Freemon Romero ’04. Lisa Francine and Elise Mott attended an Ed Tech workshop at Harvard in which they learned about using iMovie with iPads and about the versatility of using video in the classroom specifically as an assessment tool. Gisela Hernandez-Skayne, Rob Morrison, Lorraine and Jerry Ward, and John Sharon accompanied

Dominic Anthony DiMatteo

Steve Farley and son Sam, an eighth grader at Fenn, hiking in Canada

the ninth grade class to hear former President Jimmy Carter speak at the JFK Library in November. Carter discussed his new book, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power.

With the help of a Fenn travel grant Steve Farley and his family took a trip

across Canada last summer and did lots of hiking and exploring. Drama Coordinator Tiffany Toner was married to Mike Culp in a Darien, CT, ceremony.

And dining hall staff member Cesar Acosta and Buildings and Grounds staff member Dave DiMatteo welcomed new members of their families.

Sean Sergio Acosta

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Memorial Bench Dedicated to Bob Duncan A memorial bench was dedicated in October to the late Bob Duncan, a former teacher, advisor, and coach at Fenn for nearly 30 years and grand-nephew of the School’s founder, Roger Fenn. Bob’s wife Lucinda welcomed family members, faculty and staff, and friends to the ceremony, at which Headmaster Ward, former Headmaster Walter Birge, and several alumni and former and current faculty members, including John Boger ’04, Bob McElwain, Elise Mott, and Lynn Duval, offered reflections.

The bench is engraved with one of Bob’s favorite inspirational sayings to his students over the years: “Let’s pull

Roger Duncan ’86 sprinkles Atlantic Ocean water onto his father’s memorial bench while holding daughter Eva

up our socks, boys!” To “christen” the memorial, Bob’s son Roger Duncan ’86 doused it with water from the North Atlantic, where Bob loved to sail and spend time; Jon Byrd ’76 scattered a handful of ice on it from the Middlesex hockey rink, where Bob helped many Fenn boys learn to skate and love hock-

ey; and Glee Wieland, for many years in charge of the kitchen staff, sprinkled it with tap water from the Connolly Dining Hall. Bob also served as the Fenn Marching Band’s unofficial assistant for many years, providing ongoing support and inspiring the boys with his enthusiasm.

One-to-One iPad Program Implemented in Grades 6-9 “It’s great to have all of my work in one place!” declares eighth grader James, who uses an iPad in his classes and for homework. His classmates agree on how helpful the devices have been. In an effort to support efficiently and effectively Fenn’s mission of promoting productive, lifelong learning, a one-to-one mobile device program was successfully launched last fall for students in grades six through nine. The iPads also allow teachers to support students and collaborate with colleagues.

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English classes, and several classroom sets of iPads were made available for teachers to check out from the library.

This year’s one-to-one program in the Middle and Upper schools is a dramatic improvement on the previous deployment of technology, which was largely a lap-top cart and classroom-based computer approach.

Equipping students with iPads eliminates unpredictable access to devices when needed, lengthy start-up times, and an inability for the boys to personalize devices to their own learning styles, according to Assistant Headmaster for the Academic Program Steve Farley and Director of Technology Jeff LaPlante.

The one-to-one program follows a year of study, including work by a tech-

nology advisory committee of faculty from each department and division who conducted visits to and held conversations with colleagues at independent and public schools that had established one-to-one programs.

Forum Speakers Captivate Audience Three Fenn parents and a faculty member spoke last fall to the community at the first Fenn Forum this year, held in November. Participants who shared what in life they are passionate about were Eric Raciti, a patent attorney who works in the fields of alternative energy and medical devices; Greg Flemming, an author whose fascination with the true story of a teenage fisherman captured

by pirates in the 18th century led him to write a book about it; Trisha Perez Kennealy, owner of a Lexington inn and restaurant who feels that food is a way to bring people together; and Kofi Obeng, Fenn’s diversity and teaching associate who traveled to India last summer, bonding with his father and learning that adventure is an opportunity one should never turn down.

l to r: Greg Flemming, Trisha Perez Kennealy, Kofi Obeng, and Eric Raciti

“Any Dream Will Do” for Kirsten Gould Calling the event one of the “highlights” of her life and an “incredible tribute,” Kirsten Gould, who for twenty-eight years served as drama teacher, advisor, and chair of the arts department, looked on with family members, current and former faculty and staff members, alumni, students, and current and past parents as the stage in Ward Hall was dedicated in her name during Homecoming last September.

“Kirsten created with vision, imagination, and dedication the modern day Fenn arts program as we know it…Today is a day of recognition for her transformative work,” said Headmaster Jerry Ward. Former Headmaster Walter Birge chronicled Kirsten’s journey to Fenn, beginning with the time he asked her in 1984 to assist with writing and performing scenes of school life that he and Read Albright called “The Fenn Fables.” Kirsten “taught us how to dance, how to act, how to deliver lines. We all just fell in love with her,” he said, noting that she brought the staging of musicals to Fenn and initiated the presentation of “Fenn Men” mugs to the boys who play female roles.

Kirsten Gould

After opening remarks, the curtain opened behind Kirsten to reveal a chorus of current and former colleagues who serenaded the astonished honoree with “Any Dream Will Do” from her favorite musical, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Then, the fabulously colored floor-length coat, fashioned for a Fenn production of the musical by costume designer Kathy Booth, was slipped onto Kirsten’s shoulders.

Visibly touched, Kirsten said that Walter and Jerry “share my belief that a boy’s education is not complete without the arts” and thanked the former for “giving me the best job in the world.” She acknowledged the late Bob Duncan, who “helped me though my early challenges,”

such as when her entire drama class, in the middle of a skit, jumped out the first floor window of the classroom and didn’t come back. Bob found them on the sports field and “gave them an appropriate lecture.”

Kirsten expressed gratitude to former music teacher Heather Thomsen, “who helped me get my bearings when I first arrived here”; Mike Salvatore, current arts chair whom she called Fenn’s “music guru”; Charlie Streff, the School’s former consulting clinical psychologist who volunteered (and still does) his time to the drama program; former faculty member Chris Gorycki, who incorporated a theatre tech program that has been continued by Rob Morrison; and current Drama Coordinator Tiffany Toner Culp, “who has taken the reins without missing a beat.”

“Thank you to the Fenn boys I have taught and to all Fenn boys for working to find their own personal artistic passion,” said Kirsten, who retired three years ago.

“Teaching drama and watching the boys work their magic, be so courageous, and grow before my eyes while receiving the applause of an audience was a thrill.”

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A fine fall characterized

by sunny skies and seasonal temperatures allowed lots of outdoor play and provided spectacular weather for Fenn’s first Homecoming (see pp.

32-33). Many events and activities, from the annual Fall Festival to community service projects and athletic contests to We Read days and music and drama productions, kept boys busy and happily productive in the classroom and beyond.

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Jenn Youk See Exhibits Photos An exhibit of photos taken during a trip to Ghana last summer by math teacher and Assistant Director of Diversity Jenn Youk See was displayed in the Kane Gallery in December. Jenn took still photos with her Nikon 3200, focusing in closely on her subjects, such as a lizard, a yellow bird, a guitarist, and many local men and women because “the beauty of an ordinary thing,” she says, “is in the details.”

Robb Hall Remembered in Pictures A photo exhibit titled “Remembering Robb Hall” has been installed in the lobby of the old hall, behind the Jafari Library. Stop by to see photos of study hall, drama productions, musical performances, and many other events held in the hall over the years.

Rob Travers ’63, center, in 1963 production

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Evening study hall c. 1953

Fenn Sports

FALL 2014 Varsity soccer posted an 8-1-2 season and took seventh place at the 41st Annual New England Junior Schools Soccer Tournament at Eaglebrook School. Team captains Walker Davey, Chewy Bruni, and Nick Steinert “gave it all they had and played with great passion,” said Coach Bob Starensier, who was assisted

by Freemon Romero ’04 and Jason Rude.

Highlights of the season include coming back from two goals down against Hillside to win 5-3 and from three goals down against Fessenden to tie 3-3.

running defenders protected the goal with exceptional determination to move the JV soccer team to a season record of 7-2-3, according to Coach Dave Sanborn. The team was ably captained by Matt Hart and Sam Breault.

Despite facing big, fleet varsity opponents most of the time, a wealth of young talent with flashy foot skills and individual scoring instincts gelled gradually into a cohesive offensive force, while a reliable corps of sturdy, experienced, hard-

Cross Country had a perfect season, defeating all opponents in dual and trimeets, and emerging fifth out of fifteen teams at the annual Roxbury Latin Jamboree. The team “ran awesome” throughout the fall, says Coach Dave

Deserving mention is a feisty sixth grade team that, despite limited practice time, seized second place in the 39th Fessenden Sixth Grade Soccer Tournament. Coaches were Freemon Romero, Derek Cribb, and Kevin White ’93.

Duane, and at the Jim Munn Invitational, his runners placed fourth overall, with seven boys placing in the top fifty, the best performance of any school. Captains were Conor Zachar, Billy van Walsum, and Tad Scheibe. Chris Brown helped coach the team.

Captains Stephon Kindle, Christian DiPietrantonio, Ben Sackett, and Willie Swift led their varsity football team in physical play and “were great role models,” said Coach Nat Carr ’97. A young squad with more seventh graders than ever faced teams of mostly older and bigger boys, and an 0-6 record “in no way is a reflection on our players,” he added. All four team coaches are Fenn alumni; the others are Matt Ward ’00, Jeff Trotsky ’06, and Topher Bevis ’02.

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Welcome to our New Trustees Fenn is extremely fortunate to have an exceptional group of volunteers who give generously of their time and energy as members of the Board of Trustees. Our thanks go out to them for their tireless efforts and selfless support of the School.

Matthew Boger ’89 is the president of the Alumni Association. Matt is director of state relations for the New England Organ Bank, the federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) for the New England Region that is tasked with increasing organ and tissue donation registrations and educating the public on the importance of donation.

Working with the public and governmental agencies in the six New England states, Matt has helped pass several pieces of legislation to promote donation.

Matt chairs a committee on the national Donate Life American Advisory Council. He lives in Concord with his wife Lindsay and their two children, Addison and Penn, and is an active member of the community, serving as chair of the Concord Democratic Town Committee and a member of the Concord Library Committee. He is also the district chief for Region 1 for Beta Theta Pi Fraternity and has served on the Board of the Brookline Art Center.

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Mary Beth Lisman is serving as the Parents Association president for the 2014-2015 school year. She is the founder of a private legal practice representing clients ranging from independent entrepreneurs to private-equity portfolio companies and multinational corporations in all aspects of legal affairs. Mary Beth has counseled clients in industries including software development, biotech, life sciences, online and digital media, event management, and B2B publishing.

Previously Mary Beth was at Reed Elsevier Inc. in legal executive positions and established the Legal Department of Reed Telepublishing Ltd, a $1 billion operating division of a multi-national information, technology, and publishing company, serving as its senior vice president and general counsel. Mary Beth has been an active volunteer in many charitable, community, and school organizations. She chaired the Fenn School Auction in 2013 and is the lead parent liaison for the tenth grade class at The Rivers School. She lives in Sudbury with her husband Eric and their two sons, Zack ’13 and Lucas, an eighth grader.

Dan Schiebe, who with wife Annie Montesano is the parent of Lilly; Tad, a Fenn eighth grader; Peter, who is in fifth grade; and Hans, has been the head of school for Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA, since 2012. Dan began his work in schools while a one-year intern teaching English at Jakarta International School in Indonesia, after which he joined the faculty as a class dean at Blair Academy, where he created and taught the English curriculum for international students and served as a dorm head and coach.

Dan joined Middlesex School in 1998, teaching English and religious studies, directing the chapel program, and eventually serving as assistant head of school.

A graduate of Taft School, Dan earned a degree in literature at Yale, a M.Div. at Princeton’s Theological Seminary, and an M.A. in Liberal Studies at Wesleyan.

In addition to his work in schools, while at Princeton Dan was the general manager for a thirty-acre vineyard, overseeing all aspects of the enterprise from sales to farming and wine making. The Shiebes live on the Lawrence Academy campus.

“He found beauty in a leafless tree” Conservationist, Philanthropist Provides Bequest Stephen M. Stackpole ’40 lived a quiet life after Fenn. He was a member of the Class of 1948 at Harvard and went on to become a conservationist and philanthropist who was passionate about the environment. “He found beauty in a leafless tree and enjoyed cloudy days as much as sunny ones,” according to an obituary published after his death in January 2014, at the age of 88. Mr. Stackpole donated generously to support many organizations, with his favorite success story being the restoration of the osprey and bald eagle to Michigan, where he was a life-long resident of Grosse Pointe Shores. He loved steam locomotives and early aviation and was well-versed in classic literature and ancient history.

It was with surprise and pleasure that we learned recently that Mr. Stackpole had provided a generous bequest to Fenn, showing his lasting appreciation for his time spent as a student here.

When young Stephen had to withdraw from school because he had contracted pneumonia, his mother wrote to Roger Fenn saying that she and her husband “can never really express to you our deep gratitude for all you did for our boy. We will always remember your patience and kindness. His year at your school was such a happy one for him and for us as we watched his

improvement and progress.”

Antoinette Russin recalls visiting Mr. Stackpole, her father’s youngest cousin, about a decade ago in the Michigan home in which he grew up and finding him “pouring over” drawings of early airplanes developed by Samuel Pierpont Langley, a distant Stackpole relative who was an astronomer, inventor, physicist, and the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution from 1887-1906 and founder of its Astrophysical Observatory.

Mr. Stackpole’s father, Stephen Theodore Stackpole, was assistant vice president of The Pennsylvania Railroad; his mother was Annette Shelden Stackpole. Mr. Stackpole is survived by cousins, extended family members, and caregivers.

Among Fenn’s most committed and forward-thinking donors are those who provide for the School in their estate plans.

While receiving a bequest distribution is necessarily touched with sadness, we cherish these special gifts which reflect a donor’s deep and enduring love for Fenn. If you have included Fenn in your charitable estate planning or if you wish to receive information about making a provision for Fenn in your estate plans, please contact Veronica Jorge-Curtis, director of advancement, at (978) 318-3520, or email vjorgecurtis@fenn.org.

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Changing Landscape of Teaching and Learning is Theme of Annual Visitors Meeting A T IT S 1 3 TH A N N UA L M E E T ING

at Fenn in November the Board of

Visitors heard from Headmaster Jerry Ward about the School’s “evolving” programs, including a successful one-to-one iPad program for grades six through nine (see article p. 20), an improved daily class schedule, a service learning program that this year focuses on hunger and homelessness, and opportunities for boys to “tinker and invent” in a MakerSpace environment where they can use a 3-D printer, explore robotics, and engage in other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities.

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Board of Visitors Chair and current parent Adam Winstanley ’82 welcomed some ninety Visitors who would later visit classes, enjoy a panel discussion by students and teachers, and regroup for lunch, and reminded them that his goal is to help members build and maintain a strong connection with Fenn. In his remarks Mr. Ward said that Fenn is “leaning into the future. But we wish to be certain that we are preparing boys well in the context of community,” he added, explaining that although the School has embraced technology thoughtfully and creatively, “we’re still very grounded in the idea of boys and teachers together.”

Board of Trustees Chair MaryWren vanderWilden reported the trustees are working on a ten-year plan for Diversity Enrollment and Financial Aid and a ten-year plan for Buildings

and Grounds and is continuing efforts to ensure a successful Annual Fund.

“We truly believe in the mission of this school—what it’s done for our boys and perhaps for ourselves as alumni.”

The keynote address was delivered by John Palfrey, headmaster of Phillips Andover Academy and a former distinguished professor of law and vice dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School.

Palfrey has written and spoken extensively on how young people are learning in an age of technology. He is the author of Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives and Access Denied: The Practice and Politics of Global Internet Filtering.

Palfrey talked about efforts Phillips Andover has made in the use of technology to explore and advance innovative approaches to teaching and learning and answered questions from the Visitors.

He urged that schools “not undo the things that are fabulous,” such as seminar-style discussions held in device-free classrooms, a format he employs in his U.S. History class, but should incorporate technology in meaningful and

helpful ways so that students can move into a world of rapid change and globalization. Palfrey noted that Fenn has produced more Phillips Andover student body presidents than any other school.

After attending All School Meeting, guests heard a discussion by a panel of teachers who talked about innovative approaches they are using in their classes and students who commented on which programs are especially helpful to them. In her science classes, Pauline MacLellan brings in “real world problems,” she said, and asks her students to solve them, a process during which “I learn with them.” One recent topic was the study of invasive plants in Concord, for which the class conducted research and worked with the town’s Planning Committee. Her Middle School science classes have a Twitter account to share their ideas on the issue and elicit feedback from other students and from parents and educators.

The purpose of the Board of Visitors is to extend and strengthen Fenn’s wide circle of friends. Members are asked to act as ambassadors for the School in their communities, to strengthen its identity, and to promote its mission. Membership for two-year renewable terms is diverse and includes former trustees, alumni, former faculty, current parents, parents of alumni, and close friends of the school.

“We truly believe in the mission of this school—what it’s done for our boys and perhaps for ourselves as alumni.”

– Mary-Wren vanderWilden, chair of the Board of Trustees

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HOMECOMING 2014 Hundreds Come “Home” to Fenn Nearly 500 Fenn alumni, students, parents, faculty members, staff, and friends of the school came “home” to Fenn on September 27. It was the School’s first ever Homecoming celebration and on a glorious early fall day children had their faces painted, decorated pumpkins, and played laser tag. A 5K race was run through Estabrook Woods; alumni of all ages squared off against each other—Blue vs.

Gold—on the turf for an exciting soccer match, and the varsity football team was sent out onto the field with a performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” by the Treble Chorus. During halftime the Marching Band played “Anchors Aweigh” before Alumni Association President Matt Boger ’89 and Headmaster Jerry Ward presented Rob Tod ’83, founding owner of Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, ME, with this year’s Distinguished Alumnus Award (see article p. 34). Following the game, the stage in Ward Hall was dedicated to Kirsten Gould (see article p. 21).

A tailgate party for alumni and their parents followed at the Headmaster’s house.

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Rob Tod ’83 Founding Owner of Allagash Brewing Company alarm goes off and he must venture out of his Falmouth home into the misty chill of a Maine coast morning, he doesn’t mind.

In fact, he can’t wait to get to work.

“This is where I want to be,” he says, standing in a pristine room flooded with natural light, in front of a row of shiny silver fermenters inside the Portland, ME, brewery he founded twenty years ago to create some of the first American Belgian-style beers. “Who wouldn’t want to spend ten hours with a bunch of enthusiastic people? It’s energizing,” he says.

After Fenn, Middlesex, and Middlebury, where he majored in geology and thought about becoming a teacher or a cabinet maker, Rob wandered west and worked construction and restaurant jobs in Colorado WHE N ROB TOD’S

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for a couple of years before realizing he missed his native New England.

Returning to Vermont, he rented a room in Middlebury and called a former classmate to ask if he knew of any job openings. The next day Rob reported to Otter Creek Brewery as a part-time keg washer and within two days, he says, “I knew I had found what I wanted to do.

Brewing combined my love of science, creativity, and mechanics.”

Rob spent a year at Otter Creek before he decided in 1995 to start his own brewery in a Portland warehouse.

He knew he would have to “keep things simple” and decided to produce one beer—a draft—and sell it locally.

Assisted by his dad, he installed a few dairy tanks and did the welding and some of the electrical work himself.

“Strangely, I wasn’t intimidated by

taking on such a risky project,” he says.

“I had to be methodical, incremental, and careful, but also innovative and willing to take reasonable risks. I had confidence in the project from day one.” The first ten years were “a grind,” but “then we gained traction. I got people into the right roles and learned to delegate, and then saw them do a much better job than I did. They are inspirational.”

His confidence, trust in his employees, and willingness to take risks paid off. Allagash, situated on a landscaped lot in an industrial park, has grown dramatically, in size and in volume; the brewery produces about 70,000 barrels a year now of several kinds of Belgian beers, including seasonal and specialty brews, some of them made in limited batches. Belgian beers are known for their unique palette of ingredients. The company’s flagship Belgian White ale has notes of coriander, lemon peel, and clove (though the actual mix of spices is top secret). Rob chose to produce Belgian beers because other craft brewers weren’t making them at the time, he says, and “because experimenting and innovating are part of the Belgian brewing experience.”

Allagash is now the second largest craft brewery in Maine. Its products are sold in markets and liquor stores and are on the menus of fine restaurants along the East Coast and in the Chicago and California areas. The brewery features a tasting area and gift shop, which

“I knew I had found what I wanted to do. Brewing combined my love of science, creativity, and mechanics.” drew more than 22,000 people who also live in Maine. Wearing in 2014. Rob no longer pera Fenn cap and accepting a gift sonally brews the beers, but he from Headmaster Ward and oversees the entire operation Alumni Association President and spends long days there, Matt Boger on Reynolds Fields working with some seventy during halftime of the varsity employees “who are passionate football game, Rob was clearly about what they do, whether happy to return to campus, it is in production, sales, or reconnect with old friends, and marketing.” One of the secrets spend time near where he grew to his company’s success is that up in Carlisle. he does not micro-manage his While a Fenn student, Rob employees, he says. “I know said after accepting his award, (l to r) JoAnn and Bob Tod; Rob and Betsy Tod and their children Greta and Eliza they do their jobs well and I his sixth grade teacher Nancy trust them.” dollars to Maine organizations—about Grady made “a huge difference” in his Rob is proud that Allagash not $260,000 in 2014 alone, some of which life, helping him to focus. “I don’t know only has brought culinary diversity to went to a scholarship fund for pediatric how she had the patience, but she did. the area, but that it also gives back to nurses at the Maine Medical Center and You’d be hard pressed to find a teacher the community. Besides creating jobs to historic preservation, arts, and suswho cared more about her students.” Rob over the years, Allagash contributed tainable agriculture projects and facililoved woodshop, won the Lower School hundreds of thousands of ties. Rob serves as vice chairman Public Speaking Award, captained the of the Brewers Association, which cross country team, played hockey and promotes and protects small indelacrosse, and studied trumpet with Dave pendent American breweries, and Huston. He was elected a Senator in fifth works with state legislators who and ninth grade. have “stepped up on behalf of “Remember your school motto, craft brewers,” he says, helping Sua Sponte,” he told students gathered with many industry initiatives. with parents, faculty, staff, past parents, Rob was honored with the and alumni on the turf. “It’s in your Distinguished Alumnus Award hands to take advantage of everything at Homecoming in September; Fenn offers.” And then it was back to he attended with his wife, Betsy, Maine and the work he loves. “I’m havdaughters Eliza, 12, and Greta, 7, ing too much fun,” he declared, “to do and his parents, Bob and JoAnn, anything else.” (l to r): Classmates Rob Tod, Rich Nolan, and Steve Janes at Fenn in 1983

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Class Notes Introducing Fenn’s New Alumni Class Senator Program More than 50 alumni volunteers are now representing their class and keeping their classmates connected with each other and the School. The goal of the Alumni Class Senator is to be your class ambassador, help generate enthusiasm for Fenn, and encourage your classmates’ involvement with alumni events, submission of Class Notes, and participation in the Annual Fund. If you don’t see an Alumni Class Senator representing your class and want to get involved, please contact Harris Rosenheim ’02 at (978) 318-3517 or hrosenheim@fenn.org.

1947 Peter Davis wrote the following reminiscences: Reading the latest [Summer 2014] Fenn magazine I realize I must have been a contemporary of Chris Davies [’44; “Safe Haven” p. 28], although I do not know the exact dates that I was a Fenn pupil [1940-44]. I too crossed from Liverpool, England, on the SS Duchess of Athol and we were indeed escorted to the halfway point by a destroyer…We landed in Montreal and I stayed with a family for a very short time before leaving by train to stay with Dr. and Mrs. Richard Cameron who lived

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in Concord in a large house, next to the Assabet River if I recall correctly. They had five children, so looking after a strange English boy for four years was amazingly generous…My time at Fenn School was very agreeable, as was all my time in the United States. I do remember having to learn the Declaration of Independence and having to swear allegiance to the American flag each day, and the lessons in American civics are with me to the present day, but I did slightly resent having to swear that I would not attempt to overthrow the United States government by force when I left for England as I was only about 11-12 years

old at the time!...I qualified as a doctor in London in 1959, as a surgeon in 1964, and was passed as a Master of Surgery in the University of London in 1968. I ended up as a consultant plastic surgeon at St. Thomas Hospital, London, where I worked until my retirement in 1998. I married Jenny in 1965 and we have two children and two grandchildren and still live in London. I have always had warm and grateful feelings to my American foster parents, to Fenn School, and to the generosity of all people of the United States for looking after me and all the other English refugees from the European war.

CL AS S N O TES

1970 Alumni Class Senator Charlie Denault

1971 Joe Ellis marked his 20th season with the Denver Broncos in 2014. In addition to his role as president, this past summer he added the responsibilities of chief executive officer.

1979 Mark Lagon has accepted an offer to become president of Freedom House, a non-profit organization founded by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1941, effective January 2. Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world.

Mark was formerly chair, global politics and security and professor in the practice of international affairs at his alma mater, Georgetown University.

1980

headed for the BBC in the late fall/early winter. It’s about a monastery on the border of Tibet and Cambodia. Fortunately, both of these clients will follow me, and we will work together on the next books in the series and next documentary, respectively, with me recording live in studio in LA, and them directing me from studios in NYC.” Rob Cantu is an orthopedic surgeon at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. His medical specialty is orthopedic trauma, mostly operating and caring for patients with fractures.

Alumni Class Senator Alex Zavorski Andy Boger and his wife, Olivia, welcomed their first child on September 4, a son named Stuart Crawford Boger. Josh Schohn and his wife, Carina, are the proud parents of daughter Selena Blake Schohn, born on June 8.

1983 Alumni Class Senator Scott Van Houten

1984 Jay Remington and Chip Dinsmore caught up with each other one evening last June.

1985 Alumni Class Senator Nick Elfner

Peter Okurowski is living in the San Francisco area with his wife and 18-yearold son, Jeffrey. His 22-year-old daughter is scheduled to graduate as a teacher from Arizona State University in May.

Phil Svahn went to George Washington University. After graduation he worked for Senator Ted Kennedy before going to Syracuse University Law School. He now lives in Austin, TX, with Becky, his wife of fourteen years, and their two children, Carl (12) and Kristin (9). Phil coaches lacrosse in his spare time.

1982

1988

In September, Paul Bellantoni and his family headed west to Los Angeles. He writes, “I have long been anxious to dive into the bigger ‘pools’ of certain types of voiceover work to be found only (or mostly) in LA. I just narrated my first full length audio book for Hachette (A Place called Hope by Philip Gulley). It’s a sweet, ‘Prairie Home Companion’ feel of a novel about a small town in Indiana and its Quaker preacher and townsfolk. I also just narrated my first full-length documentary Life and Death at Preah Vihear, which is

Ned Jastromb and his wife, Medina, welcomed the birth of their second son, Jack, on November 15. Josh Ledeen and his wife, Megan, celebrated the birth of their daughter, Juliet Kenyon Ledeen, on December 2. She’s a healthy 7 lbs. and 20 inches long.

Alumni Class Senator Jon Cappetta

1990

Stuart Crawford Boger, son of Andy Boger ’90 and his wife Olivia Achtmeyer Boger, Fenn’s director of marketing

Julian Bignami, son of Adrian ’89

1989 Adrian Bignami and his wife, Petra, welcomed their third child, Julian Drasko Bignami, on Sept. 17, 2014.

Chip Dinsmore and Jay Remington, both class of 1984

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1992 Alumni Class Senator James McNamara In May, Wyeth Lynch stepped into the boxing ring during a Haymakers for Hope amateur charity bout. With the tagline “step out of the office and into the ring,” Haymakers raises money to benefit cancer research at Dana Farber and The Jimmy Fund. Wyeth raised more than $4000 fighting in memory of Read Albright, “an outstanding teacher, mentor, and coach who guided me through the tumultuous middle school years.” Wyeth’s fight bio included one of his favorite Albright stories from the final football game of his last year at Fenn. “We had just played our archrival and in his post-game speech Read talked about effort and pride, but in a tone that was supportive, as if we had lost. Halfway into Read’s speech, the assistant coach whispered to him, “You know the game ended in a tie.” Read’s eyes nearly popped out from behind his thick glasses in amazement.

Coach had no idea what the score was, nor did it really matter to him, as he was more concerned with coaching than the outcome.”

1993 Ian Armstrong is engaged to Becky Brown.

He works for Arc’Teryk as a sales rep in

Colorado. A February wedding is planned, and they will live in Boulder. Joe Eddy and his wife, Jeannette, are the proud parents of daughter Madeleine Lorine, born on May 14, at 6 lbs. 7 oz. and measuring 19.5 inches. Ian Nurse married Amanda Allen on November 8.

1994 Alumni Class Senator Breman Thuraisingham Alec Duncan married Megan DuBois on August 23. Todd Neustat and his wife, Lauren, welcomed a son, Zachary Myles.

Jon Rosen got engaged to Katy Merritt in June.

1995 Alumni Class Senators Nat Hargreaves-Heald James Southern On July 12, Nat Hargreaves-Heald and his wife, Liz, welcomed a son named Miles.

1996 Alumni Class Senators John Jenkinson Glenn Kasses

1997 Alumni Class Senator Nat Carr Nick Blum and his wife celebrated the birth of their son Christen Blum on July 24.

Manjari and Sameer Puri welcomed Taran Kumar Puri to their family on July 22.

1998 Alumni Class Senators Richard Connolly Patrick Jones In October, Ben Bonoma got engaged to Sarah Booth in New Zealand. Richard Connolly married Allison Linley Smith on June 21 at St. Luke’s Church in Darien, CT, with a reception following the ceremony at her parents’ home. Alex Wayman was a groomsman. Brendan McGuire married Ann Steward on June 15. Alex Wayman married Ashley Harmeling on May 31 at Twin Farms in Barnard, VT. The couple currently lives in the South End in Boston.

1999 Alumni Class Senator Ryan Connolly

Jeannette and Joe Eddy ’93 with daughter Madeleine

Miles Hargreaves-Heald, son of Nat ’95

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Richard Connolly ’98 and Allison Linley Smith

Alex Wayman ’98 and Ashley Harmeling

Despite Hearing Impairment, Scholar Athlete Excels at Brown On the football field, however, where HE’ S GO T G R IT. And determination. in 2013 he led the Bears’ defensive unit And an abiding belief that “My constant with 66 total tackles, Dan realized he advantage is that my element has always could not rely on his hearing aids and been shifted against me, and I have had to depend solely on visual cues learned how to overcome this to the to learn drills and follow the practice. point of habit.”

In competitions, “it required extra The “element” to which Dan attentiveness to see what I could not Giovacchini ’08 refers is his hearing hear.” At Lawrence Academy, where impairment, a condition of unknown he was a two-year football captain and origin with which he has lived since he middle linebacker and helped lead his was eighteen months old. Dan’s superb team to back-to-back Independent School athletic skills have catapulted him to fame on the Brown University football team, where he was a captain and starter last fall at inside linebacker, and have garnered him a host of awards since high school.

Dan’s Acton childhood was marked by periods of poor health that resulted in countless surgeries and otolaryngology consultations and required that he receive academic support in elementary and middle school so that his specific learning challenges could be Number 48, Dan Giovacchini ’08, co-captain of the Bears accommodated. He credits his League titles, he wore a specially designed Fenn teachers and Dr. Honore Weiner helmet equipped with a communication for providing that assistance. But he system so that plays could be relayed to also taught himself the resilience and him on the field. (At Brown, the helmet resourcefulness necessary, he says, to is not necessary as a hand signal system transition “from a managed classroom already in place was sufficient.) environment to a largely unpredictable While at Lawrence he earned academic and residential setting.” A a Sullivan Award, which honors the determination to be proactive—to use nation’s outstanding amateur athletes hearing devices and “put myself in who best epitomize leadership, situations where I can succeed,” such as character, sportsmanship, academics, sitting in the front row during lectures and accomplishment in sports. and being “persistent with my professors While people might infer that a if I missed something they said”—has hardship like his is disadvantageous, helped him achieve success.

“it has in fact been the opposite,” Dan says. Football players know that “game day is unpredictable, the opposing team is going to run plays you did not prepare for, your body is never going to be perfectly healthy, the weather can alter an entire game plan, and dominant teams on paper can get beaten by underdogs.” The key, he says, “is to become comfortable with the unexpected and to be resolute even when chaos is around you. What better way is there to learn how to win against odds than to always be slighted?” he asks.

An Honorable Mention All-Ivy inside linebacker, Dan was named to the Capital 1 Academic All District Football 1st Team last fall and was a National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete Award nominee.

A business entrepreneurship and organizations major, he would like to work as an associate to a venture firm or join a tech startup after graduation this spring. For the last two summers he has interned with top tier venture capital/ growth equity firms, one in Cambridge and the other in Palo Alto, CA. Dan has fond memories of his advisors, including Liz Wei, Jon Byrd, and Mike Potsaid, and of serving as a Senator and playing chess and guitar. “I view Fenn as the academic institution most responsible for shaping me into the person I am today,” Dan says, adding that “I look back to Sua Sponte and call on Honesty, Empathy, Respect, and Courage every day.”

“I view Fenn as the academic institution most responsible for shaping me into the person I am today.” – DAN GIOVACCHINI WINTER

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2000

Bay Area venues. Topher Bevis was married to Sarah Ryder on August 8, 2014.

Alumni Class Senators George Carr Matt Ward

2003

Adam Bakow recently became general manager of operations and vice president of baseball at the Sports and Entertainment Co. LLC. Joey Robbins married Francesca Abdel-Nour on May 25. Chris Skipper is living in Royal, MI, and working for Chrysler. Matt Ward married Courtney McManama on June 21.

2001 Topher Bevis ’02 and Sarah Ryder on August 8, 2014

Alumni Class Senator Jimmy Hall Chas Andres is leaving CBS and going to get a master’s degree in creative writing, with the goal of eventually teaching at the collegiate level. He is engaged to Emma LaBelle. Brooks Diehl married Mika Strickler this past summer. Lars Trautman married Bryce Moffett on September 20 at DelFosse Vineyards in Faber, VA. The wedding party included Eric Trautman ’00, serving as his brother’s best man, and Brooks Diehl and Taylor Yates as groomsmen.

2002 Travis Minor ’02 and Rebecca Patterson

Luke Marchand ’02 and Jacqueline Deysher

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Alumni Class Senators Will Howerton Graham Jenkins Davis Rosborough Andrew Hack married Ashley Minton on August 24. Rohin Jaiman became engaged to Manasi Sinha last spring. Luke Marchand married Jacqueline Deysher on August 31 at Flat Point Farm in West Tisbury, MA. Travis Minor married Rebecca Patterson on August 10 at the Willowdale Estate in Topsfield, MA. Rebecca is also from Concord and is now at Boston University earning her master’s degree in social work. Charlie Moore is living in San Francisco and working in commercial real estate. His band, Guy Fox, plays to big crowds at San Francisco and

Alumni Class Senators Jack Carroll Bronson Kussin Christian Manchester Mike Spiak Stephen McCarthy received his master’s of divinity degree from Yale in May.

2004 Alumni Class Senator BJ Moriarty Jared Jammal wed Kelley Crowley on June 21.

2005 Alumni Class Senators Spencer Lovejoy Will Stone Pete Valhouli-Farb Clark Bakewell is enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Eric Beaulieu is now in Washington, DC, having just started the Georgetown MBA program. It’s going well and he is very excited. Brad Mattison is currently enrolled at the Tufts School of Dental Medicine.

2006 Alumni Class Senators Tyler Davis Luke Rogers Jay Beaulieu has moved out to San Francisco.

Andrew Bernard returned to Fenn to speak with John Sharon and Rob Morrison’s classes in November. He just graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies and spoke to students on the recent background of sectarianism in the Middle East and the rise of ISIS. Dan Gleason is a 3rd grade special needs teacher at the Channing School in West Roxbury, MA.

Both Long is teaching Spanish at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA. Luke Rogers is back in the Boston area and working for The Trustees of Reservations. Joey Santullo graduated from Connecticut College with a B.A. in economics.

2007 Alumni Class Senators Will Joumas Joe Rinaldo Mike Hernandez graduated from Denison University in May with a B.A. in economics and philosophy. Connor Lesneski graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. Robert McBride graduated from Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business with a B.S. in management. Jackson Moore is a senior at USC in Los Angeles, majoring in politics, philosophy and law, with a minor in entrepreneurship and a minor in music industry. He graduates in May. Joe Rinaldo returned to Fenn last summer as an intern in the Alumni and Development Office and again in October and November to cover

the gift and data entry coordinator position.

Joe, who graduated from Dickinson College, where he majored in history and Italian studies, said he was happy to discover that “the overall message of teaching the whole boy” and the School’s guiding motto of Sua Sponte are “still Fenn’s foundation,” but that calling teachers by their first names and being called Mr. Rinaldo “was very strange!”

Last spring Teddy Swift graduated from Vanderbilt University, went hiking for three weeks in Peru, and then headed off to Chicago looking for employment.

2008 Alumni Class Senators Dan Giovacchini Chris Walker-Jacks JC Winslow Robert Costa played on the Tufts University varsity football team this past fall. Dan Giovacchini was co-captain of this year’s Brown University football team (see profile on p. 39). Michael Woo started his junior year at Stanford by spending the fall semester in Berlin.

2009 Henry Bumpus played defensive end for the Brown University varsity football team. Sam Doran spent the fall term studying journalism in the Washington Semester Program at American University.

He interned over the summer at WBZ NewsRadio 1030, where he learned how to write for broadcast, calling it “truly a dream come true.” While in Washington, DC, Sam interned with The Kojo Nnamdi Show at WAMU. Some of his writing made it on the air at both stations. Thacher Hoch rowed in the 2014 Head of the Charles regatta as a member of the University of Virginia varsity crew team. David Shapiro spent the fall term of his junior year at Wake Forest University studying in Madrid. Nick Stewart has transferred from Bates College to Yale University. Christian Wesselhoeft spent the summer learning Arabic at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon. He transferred last year from Davidson College to Columbia University.

2010 Alumni Class Senators Gabe Arnold Drew Coash Will Crowley

Alumni gathered at Forum in Boston’s Back Bay on November 20 for a Pub Night.

Andrew Bernard ’06 with teacher Elise Mott

Carl Hesler ’09 played for Dartmouth against Harvard on October 31, with the game ending in a 3-3 tie.

Trent Green ’10 receives his diploma at Belmont Hill School’s graduation last spring

Drew Coash was named an ISL All-Star in baseball last June. In crew last spring, Will Crowley rowed for Belmont Hill’s 4th boat in the New England championships and won the gold medal. Trent Green graduated from Belmont Hill and is attending Brown University. Tucker Marchese graduated cum laude from

Tucker Marchese ’10, right, and Jim Carter ’54 at Tucker’s St. Paul’s School graduation WINTER

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There’s No Business Like Show Business for Classmates Mark Berger and Ryan Melia MARK BE R G E R ’ 0 3 remembers vividly the time he presented a monologue from the film Roxanne as his entry in the W.W. Fenn Public Speaking Contest. Steve Martin, as the movie’s protagonist, responds to a taunt about his character’s enormous nose by offering a series of better insults.

When Mark delivered the opening line in Robb Hall at Fenn, his classmates and teachers erupted in laughter. “It was the first time I can remember really taking hold of an audience—it was totally empowering,” he declares.

Mark went on to attend Concord Academy and the Tisch School of the

Arts at NYU. He has been in the cast, playing a number of different roles, of The Laramie Project and in the world premiere of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, both directed by Moises Kaufman. Mark is an actor and producer for The Discipline Committee, a film collective founded in 2012 to produce comedy sketches and longer-form dramatic web content.

A recent moment on another stage rivaled the thrill of his public speaking experiences at Fenn. In June Mark accepted a Tony Award with the production team of the smash Broadway production Hedwig and the Angry Inch, for which he is an associate producer;

Mark Berger ’03 (far left) with cast members and fellow producers at the 2014 Tony Awards

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Hedwig was honored as Best Revival of a Musical. Mark also worked on another Broadway show, Of Mice and Men, which starred James Franco and Chris O’Dowd.

In his role as associate producer he has “had my hands in everything,” he says, “from marketing ideas to casting to designer choices.”

“It was an absolutely surreal experience,” Mark says of that night onstage at Radio City Music Hall, when he was invited to walk the red carpet with Hedwig producer David Binder and to participate in the press lines after the show. When the Tony for Hedwig was announced, members of its production

“At Fenn I was opened up to so many possibilities.” – RYAN MELIA team sprinted to the stage, where Mark stood next to Neil Patrick Harris, then the star of the musical, who won a Tony that night. Hedwig tells the story of a transgendered German singer, and is, Mark says, “about love and finding your other half within yourself. It’s very special,” he adds, “to be part of something that pushes the envelope and encourages people to look at theater and life through a new lens.”

Mark lives in Manhattan’s East Village with his girlfriend, Jessie Komitor, an actor, and when he is not working as an associate producer, he likes to cook, play golf, and bike around the city.

He began building furniture last year, inspired, he says, by his days in the Fenn wood shop.

Mark’s Fenn classmate and fellow actor and producer Ryan Melia ’03 knew that acting might be in his future when he played the cat in Honk while a ninth grader at Fenn. Ryan, who went on to Middlesex School, helped found PigPen Theatre Company, now based in New York City, with six friends in his first year

at Carnegie Mellon’s drama school. (The name was inspired by the message on a t-shirt worn by one of the men when they had only ten minutes to complete an application for a college student festival at which they hoped to present an original show.)

PigPen stages productions that employ folk tales, music, puppetry, and shadow play, and the ensemble employs ordinary objects such as sheets, burlap, flashlights, bottles, and umbrellas; plays the banjo, fiddle, and accordion; and creates elaborate shadow puppets, the sum of which is a production filled with clever and surprising musical and theatrical effects. In August, the company presented The Old Man and the Old Moon at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, with Ryan playing the title character; the show had an off-Broadway run in October and was staged at ArtsEmerson in Boston in November. The story is a parable about why the moon waxes and wanes; it has sprung a tiny leak and the never-ending job of the Old Man is to climb to the

top of a very high ladder to refill it with liquid light, a Sisyphean chore. One day his wife, weary of her husband’s absences, sails away, and he abandons his duty and departs on a sea voyage to find her. Adventures ensue, such as the Old Man captaining a ship of sailors through dangerous waters and ending up in the belly of a fish.

The company has garnered acclaim for its inspired work, the goal of which, Ryan says, “is to create a story and experience that people of every age can laugh and be moved by.” PigPen has been honored for general excellence at the New York Fringe Festival and received awards for “Best Original Music in a Play” and “Best Sound Design” when the group presented Old Man at The Writers’ Theatre in Chicago in 2013. The Huffington Post called the production “Rousing, silly, sweet, and bursting with good songs.”

At Fenn, Ryan was “opened up to so many possibilities,” he says, and it was here that he realized “I was good at making people laugh, even if it was just my friends.” He “performed, sometimes when I wasn’t supposed to, but my teachers encouraged exploration.” Those same teachers “were vocal in the belief” that Ryan should continue acting, “and I listened,” he adds. What he loved most about Fenn is that “it matured you but it allowed you to mess up.” Ryan asked that it be noted he was a Blue and that by association, “all seven members of the company are Blue as well!”

Ryan had lost touch with Mark after graduation, but the two have reconnected and enjoy updating each other on their current and future projects.

Ryan Melia (second from right) with members of the PigPen Theater Company

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St. Paul’s School. Gil Roddy was the captain of the Deerfield tennis team last spring and is now attending Bowdoin College.

2011 Alumni Class Senator Nathaniel Sintros Last June, Hunter Arnold was named an All-Scholastic in lacrosse as well as a Dual County All-Star and a first-team All-American. He plans to play lacrosse at Keene State College this year. Duncan Norton graduated magna cum laude from St. Paul’s School. Miles Petrie was co-captain of Middlesex School’s undefeated cross country

team this past fall. On November 9, in the culminating race of the season, Miles placed 6th out of 142 runners at the New England District III championship race held at Vermont Academy.

2012 Alumni Class Senators Will Baxter Andreas Sheikh Carter Jones was named an EIL All-Star in tennis last June. Andrew Kielar is a captain of the Concord-Carlisle High School football team this year, starting for CCHS on both offense and defense.

Johnny Lamont was named an ISL All-Star in baseball last June. Jack Lyne was named an ISL All-Star in lacrosse last June.

Andreas Sheikh writes, “This summer Mr. Cobblah and I travelled to Ghana to explore Ghanaian culture and how it is being preserved and passed down amidst the pervasiveness of technology and other ‘western movements’ in the country. To get a sense of history and traditions in Ghana, we documented an ancient chief ceremony, interviewed one of the leading musicians and story tellers in the country and visited the castles where slavery began. We ended up with over six hours of footage, which we will craft into a finished product in the near future.”

CONNECT WITH FENN Like us on Facebook Network with Alums on LinkedIn The Fenn School Alumni Follow us on Twitter @FennSchool Attendees at Fenn’s Young Alumni Summer Barbeque on August 14

Matt Boudreau ’11, Miles Petrie ’11, and Tim Joumas ’12 at the New England District III cross country championships on November 9

44 www.fenn.org

Assistant Head of School Josh Hahn ’93 and Associate Director of Alumni Relations Megan Denault NBSC’03 hosted their first “Nashoba Brooks/Fenn Feed” at Hotchkiss School on November 3. Conversation ranged from faculty and experiences they had in common to the construction projects on the Fenn and Nashoba campuses, all enjoyed over a pizza dinner. In attendance were (l to r) Quincy and Ben MacShane ’12, Alan Zhang ’15, and Emily and Annabel Von Weise.

Where Are They Now?

2013

Former Faculty and Staff Check in

Alumni Class Senators Jake Goorno Mitchell Groves Reid Shilling Robert Griffin has been named a captain of the 2015 Belmont Hill varsity football team. Austin Hoey was named a Dual County League All-Star in lacrosse last June. Cole Winstanley was named a Dual County All-Star in track last June.

2014 Alumni Class Senators Chad Arle Andrew Brown Ryan Ewing P.J. Lucchese Christopher Ruediger Cormac Zachar

2015 Alumni Class Senators Paul Michaud Nick Schoeller Dylan Volman Ben Zide

Toby Baker wrote in to say that he had just read the latest issue of FENN [Summer 2014]: “A wonderful view of the bronze likeness of Roger.

I was so lucky to have started my teaching career under his tutelage 1959-60. What a way to start forty years in such an honored profession. How he cared for, mentored, students and faculty alike.” Toby lives on Wings Neck in Buzzards Bay, still sails, and occasionally sees former student Ned Perry ’60 at the BSO. David Okata has finished medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and is doing his residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he recently cared for current Fenn Network Administrator Eric Corfield’s father. Liza Jones is a full-time substitute at the Atrium School.

Thomas Hill is teaching Latin at Saint Anne’s School in Brooklyn; he and his wife have two children, Helena (4) and Cyrus (2). Lindley Hall van der Linde teaches math and science at Burke Mountain Ski Academy; she and her husband have two children, Linden and Stella.

Curtis Singmaster is the chair of the Visual Arts Department at the Besant School in Ojai, CA. Kate Lee Padden DuBon teaches English at Concord-Carlisle High School; her son Tim ’03 was married last summer.

Pierson Wetzel is chair of the Arts Department at Middlesex, where he teaches music. Jen Pineau Wilson is an assistant director of college counseling and a teacher at McDonough School in Baltimore. Kim Evelti is the associate academic dean at Williston Northampton School. Kristin Hudson Goldman lives in San Francisco and

A Day Camp for girls and boys ages 5 - 15

Day Camp Program

Specialty Programs

Day Tripper Adventure

Jim Carter and his wife Jean (a former art teacher at Fenn), with some Fenn friends, spent the month of September visiting China, Tibet, Mongolia and Hong Kong, “just in time for the demonstrations,” Jim says.

L to r, front row: Bev Gauthier (past parent), Nancy-Jo Kessler (past trustee, past parent, current grandparent).

L to r rear: Dick Gauthier, Jim, Jack Kessler, Jean Carter

works for Teachscape, which produces software tools, professional learning resources, and expert services that are geared to improving teaching expertise. Mike Rosovsky teaches writing at Emerson College, where he gets excellent reviews from his students. Robbyn Levanthal lives in Oahu, HI, and teaches first and second grade; she and her husband have two daughters, five and seven. Dave Irwin is “happy to be working with middle school students again” and is director of student life at Cardigan Mountain School, where he and Mandy, who is teaching science, are running a dorm.

Ed Lemire lives in Derryfield, NH, teaching math and coaching basketball and softball at Derryfield Academy. Todd Nelson is head of a coastal high school in Maine. Rob Shoemaker is retired and living in Gettysburg, PA, where he works as a battlefield guide. Arnold Klingenberg is retired and working as a college counselor in Leesburg, VA. Hobart Winchell is a real estate salesman in Waltham, MA. Jeri Goetz serves as director of development at The Canterbury School in Fort Myers, FL, an opportunity that has allowed her to “grow my career and be an active caregiver to my family.” Previously Jeri worked at The Chestnut Hill School. Peter Carter, a Fenn student teacher in 1972, is a general surgeon in Portsmouth, NH.

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CL AS S NOT E S

Adventures in Kenya: James Christian ’86 WHE N JAMIE CH R I ST I A N ’ 8 6 and his family take an evening walk, they might spy impalas, zebras, elephants, and gazelles. On their 3000acre property in Laikipia, Kenya, Jamie and his wife Kerry manage Karisia Walking Safaris. The couple purchased Tumaren Ranch in 2006 as a base from which to launch their safaris in northern Kenya. Karisia Limited is dedicated to conservation and actively supports the communities in which it works. The company’s walking safaris traverse magnificent country that includes ancient geological structures and which features artifacts such as flints, graves, and pottery shards that are strewn over much of the ground near its camps.

Last fall Jamie visited Fenn to talk about his experiences in Kenya and to encourage the boys to seek adventure and travel at every opportunity. He

46 www.fenn.org

Jamie Christian ’86 with one of his children

showed dozens of photographs of the wildlife all around him at home, including reticulated giraffes, hyenas,

hippos, aardvarks, ostriches, leopards, lions, tarantulas, and white-tailed mongooses; some of the creatures are endangered and very rare. The photos elicited gasps of amazement from the boys gathered in Ward Hall, some of whom may have been envious of the day-to-day experiences of Jamie’s sixyear-old twins, Rufous and Daisy.

After Fenn, Jamie attended Middlesex and studied wildlife biology at the University of Vermont. He is an avid photographer who has travelled extensively through Africa and who developed a passion for wildlife and ecology while going on safaris with his mother, who grew up in Kenya. Jamie has worked as a biologist, mostly with endangered birds, and has shot video footage that has been used in public television programs.

in memoriam

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the families of these Fenn graduates and friends.

Michael P. Baldwin ’75 November 4, 2014 Alain J. Chardon ’46 November 11, 2012 Robert C. Cobb, Jr. ’40 June 6, 2013 Daniel Cox ’06 October 23, 2012 Bradley Dewey, Jr. May 12, 2014 Father of Brad Dewey ’57 Grandfather of Brad ’86 and Cameron Dewey ’88 William H. Drury III ’68 March 12, 2014 Barbara Gifford August 1, 2014 Mother of Peter ’67 and Ben Gifford ’73 Grandmother of Sam Gifford ’07 Nancy [MacSwan] Harbison Fenn Tutor 1985-1995 October 14, 2014 Lucas W. Kamp ’59 March 30, 2014

Kevin C. Melia Former Fenn Trustee 2001-2007 June 17, 2014 Father of Sean ’99 and Ryan Melia ’03 Samuel C. Newbury ’59 May 22, 2014 Brother of David ’56 and Bill Newbury ’62 Malcolm S. Nichols ’70 September 25, 2014 Thomas M. Porter May 25, 2014 Father of David Porter ’72 George S. Reichenbach October 6, 2014 Father of John Reichenbach ’72 Jonathan A. Spound ’72 September 6, 2014 Brother of Mike Spound ’71 Spencer E. Streetman ’97 August 14, 2014 Brother of Tyler Streetman ’94 Nancy E. Thompson April 24, 2014 Mother of Tom ’73 and Matt Trieschman ’79

WINTER

2015 47

R E FL E C TIO N S

“Fenn is a Bright Spot of Hope”– by Margaret Skelly of the most valuable observations I ever made as a parent: when they were very young, my daughter, now a senior in high school, and my son, William, now a sixth grader at Fenn, were playing with matchbox cars together on the kitchen floor. Caroline, gingerly driving her little car along the rug, politely asked, “Want to go for a ride with me?” William, hurling his car up the furniture, more like a rocket ship, boomed, “VROOM, VROOM! Minnneeeeowwwwvrooom. Let’s race!”

That Y chromosome has an impact on everything from personality to energy.

Times have changed—kids tend to play more with toys that buzz electrons through space than with metal cars that travel the tiles of our kitchen floors—but the underlying differences in how boys and girls socialize and learn is the same in the 21st century. And in a world where we continually read about failures in education, in training future leaders, and in raising boys and girls with compassion, Fenn is a bright spot of hope.

My husband and I admired Fenn from our first encounter with the summer camp, and then through close friends who had sent three boys to Fenn. It was always in the back of our minds that if we could give William the privilege of this special place, we would.

What we saw every time we visited Fenn was not just a bucolic place to learn, but happy boys running. Did you catch that? Running — not being straightjacketed HERE IS ONE

Margaret Skelly, mother of William, a Fenn sixth grader

to stand still in line, or slow down. Boys need to move. A lot. When we came to Fenn, we also met young men who looked us in the eye, held the door open, shook our hands, and smiled. They were eloquent and brave speakers. They were happy — even in middle school.

Fenn educators work hard to make learning engaging both intellectually and physically for boys. We knew William, with his curious mind, would benefit from the smaller classes that some schools could not offer, but we were not prepared for how much fun those classes would be. I recall the day William came home and could barely contain his excitement as he described how his math class played a game called “Division Relay.” We have also had terrific conversations about books

he absolutely loves reading. And then there was the “epic” chariot race project involving wagons and real boy “horses” and gladiators when he studied ancient Rome.

Of course, we wanted top-notch academics for our son, but we quickly discovered that Fenn is about so much more than the classics, math, science, and the arts. Fenn embodies whole boy education and development. It’s a community dedicated to helping raise fine young men. Fenn’s cornerstones, Empathy, Respect, Honesty and Courage, are taken seriously here. My friend, Linda HammettOry, put it best: “Fenn not only gets how to teach boys; they like teaching boys.”

Three years ago, at the time we were applying to Fenn for William’s admission, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 esophageal cancer. It was devastating for our family.

At that point, I knew more than ever that my son needed to be at Fenn. I knew in my heart that he would be buoyed up and guided by the Fenn community.

When my cancer recurred last year, I was overwhelmed by the support from the Fenn community, not only for my own well-being, but also for the well-being and care of William as we faced turbulent days.

My son is loved at Fenn. From what I have observed, I believe that every boy is a cherished part of this school.

Of course, none of us knows what the days will bring. But every day I pick up William from school and ask how his day was, he bounds into the car and bellows, “Awesome!”

Every day when I pick up William from school and ask how his day was, he bounds into the car and bellows, “Awesome!” – Margaret Skelly 48

FENN MAGAZINE

The Fenn School 516 Monument Street Concord, Massachusetts 01742-1894

Parents of Alumni If this publication is addressed to your son, and he no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the alumni office of his new mailing address (978-318-3525 or aboudreau@fenn.org).

Thank you!

NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID N READING MA PERMIT NO. 121