FENN: Winter 2016

Winter 2016

the on i t a v o Inn et s d n i M ga Deliverin ing -Think Forward ion Educat

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F R O M T HE H E A D M A S T ER

R og er F enn , o ur s c h o o l ’ s f o un d e r ,

stated in the prospectus he published before

Fenn opened its doors that The Fenn School would “employ methods of teaching that were progressive but proven.” In its eighty-six years of educating boys, Fenn has strived to be true to that vision, propelled not always consciously by progressive principle but more often by the impetus of the ever-changing larger world beyond our doors and by the dynamic state of education in general.

While Fenn has never aspired to be an indiscriminate hot bed of educational change or an open laboratory of pedagogical experimentation, it has through the years afforded an education that not only grounds boys in ways that are fundamental to sound learning but also stirs the appetite for pursuing knowledge. Exciting the imagination of boys, spurring their ingenuity, and building their intellectual tenacity are essential to provide them with the foundation to learn for life. For such a dynamic process to be successful, the culture of our School has to be one of collegial respect, intellectual inquisitiveness, considerate appreciation for the strengths, as well as the weaknesses, of the status quo, and commitment to change when it is deemed to hold promise.

A Fenn education has changed dramatically over the years and certainly in my twenty-three years at the School. While learning at Fenn for all boys remains embedded in human connection—the all-powerful relationship and rapport between Fenn boys and their teachers—how we conceive of and inquire about the world, the very content of what we teach, and the ways in which we engage boys in learning have morphed. Progressively and inexorably, the knowledge that students must learn ever expands, belying the concept of mastery of a finite body of knowledge and demanding the capacity to research, imagine, innovate, and pursue. The age old maxim, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime” has never been truer.

The catalyst for innovation is our faculty, which is influenced strongly by the young and fresh perspectives of our students. The process by which our teachers discover, assess, introduce,

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implement, and critically reassess curricular and pedagogical change is necessarily messy and often non-linear. Some teachers carry innovative ideas and best practices fresh from their graduate school studies; others remain current and creative through pursuing professional development workshops and regional or national institutes, connecting with their colleagues in education across the country; and all keep a critical eye on their well-established curriculum and teaching.

In my years at Fenn, I’ve witnessed a seachange in teaching and learning spawned by technology, not only at our school but well beyond it. Fenn boys conceive of devices that will function to accomplish a physical task, engineer the functional design, and then create and test it, often in teams, in the makerspace, a well-equipped lab for engineering and tinkering. As writers, Fenn boys nightly share their literary pieces with each other on class blogs, critiquing each other’s work as it evolves. Teachers post online for student access not only assignments and grades but minilessons reteaching a challenging concept. Boys create unique multi-media projects to convey their knowledge in science, language, or English.

This quick gloss of the changing face of learning and teaching spurred by technology could obscure the larger, more powerful mindset that is the catalyst for innovation and advancement in any school: conceiving of education as a dynamic process and not a product and pursuing knowledge in ever-changing ways. That capacity and mindset is a way of being in this world that will allow one to navigate the swift currents of knowledge. And that pursuit involves a nimble mind, a rich imagination, and a determined spirit at Fenn and in all schools.

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F E AT U R E S

the Innovation Mindset

Editor Laurie O’Neill Photography Laurie O’Neill Tony Santos Joshua Touster Llewellyn Creative Design Dan Beard Design Editorial Board Derek Boonisar Anne Ames Boudreau Verónica Jorge-Curtis Jerry Ward Lorraine Ward cover Photo Laurie O’Neill

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DEPARTMENTS

18 Faculty & Staff News 26 Around Campus 32 Athletic Report

Delivering a Forward-Thinking Education

34 Advancing Fenn

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What is “Innovation”?

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Makerspace Helps Boys Build Creative Confidence

Eighth Grade “Tinkerer” Pursues His Passion

38 Alumni News 59 In Memoriam 60 Reflections

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If You Build It, They Will Come: Trent Green ’10

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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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be a global citizen

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the Innovation Mindset delivering a forward-thinking education

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4 What is “Innovation”?

10 Eighth Grade “Tinkerer” Pursues His Passion 13 Makerspace Helps Boys Build Creative Confidence 16 If You Build It, They Will Come: Trent Green ’10

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What is “Innovation”?

Is “innovation” a synonym for technology? Does it simply mean something that is “new”? Or is innovation more of a mindset, a way of thinking that combines new ideas with traditional ones, involves experimentation, empathy, and collaboration, and requires a willingness to change, shift, adapt, seek new approaches, and embrace new challenges? In this theme section learn how Fenn has, and continues to have, an “innovation mindset” not only across divisions and disciplines, but also in areas such as service learning and other student activities.

A fourth grader presents his research during Genius Hour.

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Fenn has always been innovative.

One way, posed Nat Carr ’97, science teacher and secondary school placement director, is that we not only allow boys to pursue their passions—to play an instrument and compose their own music, write an original dramatic monologue and design their make-up and costumes, create a drone in the new makerspace, or run a fundraising initiative—but we also help them to do so, providing students with the necessary time, materials, and guidance.

When asked what “being innovative” means to them, Fenn faculty members offered definitions and examples. “It’s fearlessly trying new things, whether it’s a new app, a student-led project, or integration of the outside world with our classroom teaching, and it’s learning to accept that failure can happen,” says Elise

Mott, who teaches social studies, including a retooled sixth grade course this year titled Geography and World Cultures.

The class, in which students learn how geography is connected to conflict, is driven by questions, both by teachers and students, who are given opportunities to work on solving global issues such as a shortage of resources like oil and water.

One question is, “How does environment influence the way we live, and the way we live influence our environment?”

“We ask the boys to think, to research, and to propose solutions,” Elise says. Last fall the class talked about why School founder Roger Fenn decided on this particular piece of Concord land on which to start a school. Was there something about this site that helped shape the school’s culture and values?

The boys read what Mr. Fenn wrote

Students taking notes in an Integrated Studies class use an app called Notability.

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solve real w orld problem s

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Sixth grade science students studying water flow and quality

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Playing hand-made arcade games during the Global Cardboard Challenge

about founding the school, consulted old maps and made their own, and participated in a scavenger hunt that made them more aware of the original purpose and history of the campus.

Solving real world problems John Sharon, social studies department chair, says innovation is “education with a purpose,” adding that, “It’s making what we’re doing as relevant to the real world as possible. We don’t want to be centrist,” he declares, “but rather to cultivate a knowledge of the world with humility and cultural sensitivity to prepare kids to be real world problem solvers.”

Two years ago the social studies department gathered to begin compiling a list of essential questions that Fenn students should be able to answer in some depth. “All of them involved where we are, where we came from, and where we are going as humans and as a society,” says John. This goal “ties into our core value of empathy and into our motto, Sua Sponte,” he continues. “In what ways is the world in our hands?”

John’s Global Studies students were presented with a hypothetical problem

last fall: World scientists had announced that there would be no more oil in five years.

Students formed NGOs and had to learn about each country’s resources, cooperate with one another to find solutions that everyone accepted, give detailed presentations, and come to the culminating activity, a Sustainability Summit, prepared with solutions. Afterwards they reflected in writing on the entire process. “Being put in charge of another country is a big responsibility,” wrote Matt Sanders, “and you really get to be on the front lines of international trading. I think the Summit was the best way to teach us what economics really means.” Tyden Wilson pointed out that on the day of the Summit, “The room was buzzing with energy and excitement, despite it being our first class of the day.”

Boys in Fenn classes learn how to become problem solvers who can address real world issues besides honing their equally important skills of solving algebra equations, constructing a wellwritten essay, and conjugating Spanish verbs, for example. Look closely at what is going on in Fenn classrooms and see critical thinking in practice. You might observe Gisela Hernandez-Skane’s ninth grade Spanish students, who have researched a sustainability initiative made in a Spanish-speaking country and are making presentations to the class, and you would learn that there is an orchestra in Paraguay that creates instruments from trash.

Or, you might see a group of fifth graders taught by Jon Byrd ’76 and Tim

Seston building a small stream off a pond behind the gym last fall as part of a science unit in which they studied water flow, observing what happens to streaming water when rocks are in the way or if the bottom is sandy. Their students also studied the Concord River watershed, analyzing its water quality, and will be raising trout this winter, which they will release in the spring.

Or, upstairs in the Boll Building math classrooms, you may see Ralph Giles record lessons on YouTube so that students can repeat the problems at their own pace, or Chris Barker creating videos of new techniques that boys can revisit later. You may find Jenn Youk See using online quizzes that compel students to engage in dialogue with her on organizational/executive skills that cannot be addressed during class. And if you walked into Derek Cribb’s lab classroom last spring, you might have found his seventh graders building and testing wind turbines for generating electricity.

Innovation is everywhere at Fenn, with learning environments being made more exciting, challenging, and fun.

Student-driven learning Laurie Byron, English department chair, says that electronic devices “make it easier for students to find and share information and to collaborate.” Technology, she says, “has enabled us to be more innovative.”

One example is Lower School boys making their own books using the app Book Creator. Laurie likes to describe

Middle School boys apply make-up of their own design for a production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

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the innovation mindset as “moving away from traditional methods while still making sure boys are learning.” An important component of this approach is an emphasis on metacognition [understanding, analysis, and control of one’s thinking process], she says. Teachers want each boy to reflect on his own learning process: What is my goal as a writer? What do I need to do to get there?

Student-driven learning is “a different way of getting to the same place,” she says. One example is a project called Genius Hour in her fourth grade class, for which boys are allowed to research

anything that interests them. A visitor to Genius Hour this fall realized that a lot goes on in a fourth grader’s brain. Boys wanted to know more about rabies, tabby cats, Mars, missiles, lasers, Sparta, and the history of the piano, among other topics.

“You find you don’t have to fight the engagement battle when you give them choice,” Laurie says. Students employed posters, PowerPoint, and videos while presenting their reports, beaming while fielding questions from their classmates.

In Amy Stiga’s Integrated Studies class, which combines English and social studies, boys sometimes use the app

Delivering food items to the Concord Open Table Pantry

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Notability (which is also used in other settings, such as Chris Barker’s math class) while their teacher is talking or reading to them. Notability “speaks to all kinds of learners,” Amy says. Recently when she was reading to her class from Copper Sun, a novel that imagines a fifteen-yearold girl’s journey through slavery, “The boys took what I call ‘interactive notes,’ importing maps, drawing pictures of the major events, typing or using a stylus to jot down information, and even recording sections as I read aloud. It’s been a fabulous experience.”

Innovation is reflected in the area of learning support, says Carolyn Milligan, a Fenn learning specialist. Tutors encourage boys to be creative when approaching their schoolwork and to become independent learners by finding strategies that work for them. They might discover that putting a Latin noun declension to a melody is the key to success on a test, or that mnemonics, funny phrases, or the drawing of pictures will cue their memory.

Making it relevant Michelle Heaton suggests innovation is occurring in Fenn’s evolving community service program, now called service learning and meant not only to encourage boys to give back, but also to teach them which organization the project helps, how it works, and how their help, whether it is bringing in a bag of canned food, spending an hour or two stacking items at a local food pantry, clearing a hiking trail, or sewing scarves and blankets for the homeless, can make a difference. Boys’ interest in such projects as the Green Team, which collects and sorts recycling on campus, has skyrocketed from only a few students to dozens (with some projects waitlisted), all of whom “take it very seriously,” says Winnie Smith, who coordinates service learning in the Lower School.

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“We are empowering boys to be change makers and to realize that their actions, no matter how small, can make a difference.”

– Michelle Heaton

Michelle is working on integrating service learning into the classroom; she is having her sixth graders come up with a design for a service project associated with climate change. “We are empowering boys to be change makers and to realize that their actions, no matter how small, can make a difference,” she says.

Cameren Cousins, Fenn’s sustainability coordinator, has developed initiatives that are geared to have boys take responsibility for the world in which they live, both at school and beyond. She and science teacher Pauline MacLellan collaborated on a project to have students build, in the new makerspace, a solar iPad charger of their own design.

Tricia McCarthy, head of the Middle School, says the way health and sound decision making are discussed in Student Life classes, where the inner emotional life and identity development of boys across all divisions are addressed, is an example of innovation. Topics such as

appropriate use of the Internet reflect current issues and culture. “It is what we have done for years, but what we continually work to improve and make relevant,” she says.

Fenn may be one of the only middle schools to sustain a robust Student Diversity Committee, with boys gathering weekly to discuss inclusion, equality, and justice at Fenn and in the world beyond. Fenn organizes an annual Respecting Differences Day, hosting speakers from in and outside the School.

Some Student Diversity Committee members carry their innovative work at Fenn to a larger audience. At an Association of Independent Schools in New England diversity conference, a team of Middle School boys presented a workshop in which they explained how they had conducted an accessibility audit of their school to find out if every part of campus is accessible to disabled people.

Embracing innovation while cherishing tradition Innovation is a journey of creation and adaptation rather than a destination.

One critical component is the ability of faculty to take advantage of professional development opportunities [see p. 21 for a description of recent work by Fenn faculty] that reinvigorate their learning and their teaching and allow them to share their experiences and knowledge with their colleagues. The workshops and conferences Fenn teachers and administrators attend on topics including developing student leadership, celebrating diversity, and encouraging children to be global citizens, the summer curriculum development work that they do which results in new classes and approaches, and the courses they take that enrich their work and directly benefit students are all necessary to sustain a culture of innovation at Fenn.

The world is ever changing and schools cannot stand still. Boys need education, Fenn knows, delivered in a way that is compatible with the world they inhabit, with its nearly limitless communication technology. Embracing innovation while cherishing tradition has kept, and will continue to keep, Fenn vital, exciting, and forward thinking. “We want to provide a sound education that looks to the future,” says Headmaster Jerry Ward, “and to hold onto what grounds us, and always, to think about what would make us better.”

A brainstorming meeting of the group designing a solar iPad charger

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Eighth Grade “Tinkerer” Pursues His Passion As a chil d , lu cia n s harpe

liked to make catapults out of spoons and rubber bands. He was happiest when

creating tracks for his toy cars, building forts in the woods, and doing just about anything that is hands-on. Lucian is admittedly “curious,” and nothing thrills him more than “figuring things out and testing them, over and over again.”

Now that he is an eighth grader, “it’s the critical thinking part” of building things that he enjoys the most, he says.

It was Lucian’s idea to make a drone, which he is working on with other boys, and to develop a vacuum cannon that will shoot a ping pong ball at high speeds—300 mph and more—a project that he has worked on tenaciously since last spring. If you spend any time with Lucian, you will be on the listening end of his running stream of chatter that is populated by terms including “pounds per inch,” “acceleration,” “prototyping,” and “schematics.” He tends to “think aloud,” he says with a grin. And you will see his tongue protruding as he concentrates on a task, like affixing tape to the pipe on his vacuum pump.

A devotee of Mythbusters, a TV show that makes science entertaining, Lucian says that most design projects seem simple in theory and look easy on television or on the Internet, but that they involve hours of research and testing. When Fenn opened its new makerspace in the fall, Lucian was thrilled. There, in one designated area, were the tools and materials he needed to continue working on his projects.

“I had a lot of failures,” he says, an

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admission to which most inventors could relate. “When you have exhausted all possibilities,” said Thomas Edison, “remember this: You haven’t.” Lucian has gotten the pump to make a “huge bang,” something he demonstrates for a visitor, but alas, he is still working on getting it to fire the ping pong ball the way he wants it to. “The invention of the light bulb took 100 tries,” he points out.

“I get frustrated and annoyed, and then take a break from it,” Lucian says.

He loves that he has the support of his friends and of Pauline MacLellan, who is the driving force behind the makerspace movement at Fenn. “They think what I’m making is cool,” says Lucian, “and they give me their opinions and suggestions.

It’s like a Think Tank!” he declares happily. Lucian, like many Fenn boys, heads to the makerspace in the morning before school and during recess.

Last year Lucian told Pauline he wanted to build a drone, which she enthusiastically approved. Now the device is an Upper School project, with a small group of boys working on it when they have time. They turned to online

instructions and downloaded a scheme for making plastic 3D parts. Next came building the drone, using Styrofoam, tent pole, and duct and electrical tape, and doing the wiring.

At home, Lucian is a tinkerer who recently made a battery out of pennies and broke apart a car charger, did some soldering, and used it to power his cellphone, “which probably is not great for my phone,” he says sheepishly. Now he is working on reengineering a skateboard so that it is electrically powered. There’s no end to the projects that excite Lucian.

“I don’t like using things other people made; I want to be the one who makes them so I can say, ‘Wow, that’s cool! I did that myself!’” he says.

Being able to solve problems by employing critical thinking is “immensely important these days,” Lucian says. He dreams about “doing something to make a difference,” maybe in the field of alternative energy or efficient transport. “Fenn has prepared me so well,” he says, “allowing me to pursue my passion and making it easy for me to do it.”

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k n i th y l l a c i t i r c Lucian works on a drone he and other boys designed and built.

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Makerspace Helps Boys Build Creative Confidence They sta nd t here

early each morning before 7:30, eagerly waiting for the

door to be unlocked. They flock to the room during recess and after school, or when their math, or English, or science class uses the materials and tools there to tackle a project.

What draws them is Fenn’s new makerspace, situated on the lower floor of the School House, and if you wander in while it is open, you will see something like Santa’s workshop, with the elves chattering excitedly as they busily work on every available surface. Boys sketch designs on whiteboard-topped tables, manipulate and solder wires, cut PVC pipe, create plastic bits in the 3-D printer, and rummage in boxes of Lego components. A poster invites them to “design and build a device that can hop, using only one human intervention.”

They can operate a dremel tool, used for cutting, grinding, sanding, buffing and shaping materials such as wood, laminate, ceramic and metal, and have access to Arduino, an open-source platform used

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for building electronics projects; Makey Makeys, which are invention kits for art, engineering, and everything in between; a hotwire Styrofoam cutter; recycled materials; LEGO robotics kits; bookmaking tools; and Little Bits electronic prototyping kits.

And of course, there are containers of safety glasses and protective gloves. “The boys must prove to me they have the skills to use tools safely,” says Pauline MacLellan, who oversees the makerspace and is largely responsible for bringing the makerspace movement to Fenn. A generous grant from The Sharpe Family Foundation is providing funds to help sustain the makerspace program’s advancement.

Above and opposite: Boys work on building prototypes for a solar iPad charger.

A sign on the wall issues a challenge to everyone who uses the space: Create Something Out of Nothing. One boy cuts through a thick piece of cardboard, his brow creased by the effort.

Another adjusts the acceleration on a robot, his tongue slightly extended as he concentrates. A third studies the

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screen on his iPad, talking quietly to himself as he absorbs the directions he is reading. Three boys chatter about their solar charger design. “It has to be cheap, easy to make, and effective,” declares one of them.

“Boys love to learn by doing,” declares Pauline. “They take ownership

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for what is going on and they’re building 21st century skills.” Makerspace is “all about active, hands-on learning, solving real world problems, and a constructivist mindset,” says Pauline, who is working to incorporate design thinking into other areas of the curriculum, showing teachers how they might utilize the space

and providing them with resources. The potential for interdisciplinary learning, which is what STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) is all about, “is enormous,” she believes.

Among other classes using the makerspace, sixth graders who work on a Build a Bird project now employ 3D CAD (computer-aided design) programs and printers to make models of their imaginary birds and fourth graders are designing tide pool creatures for their study of ocean life.

Seventh grade science uses Makey Makeys in their study of circuits and in alternative energy and invention/ engineering units. Integrated Studies students design and build a project that explains their understanding of a book they are reading. Sixth graders involved in a wetlands project in science class are making bumper stickers and other marketing materials for the environmental group they are proposing. Students in a Spanish class are using the makerspace, constructing shields which bear their favorite Spanish words. Even the drama department has utilized the resource; electroluminescent wire was used to make costumes for the Middle School play in the fall.

“We need to prepare boys to be innovative, to be able not only to solve the problems of the world, but to care about them,” Pauline says. She explains to them what a start-up is and asks them to think about what their invention might be used for and how they would sell it. “Look at how businesses are changing,” she points out, “from huge organizations to small ones. It’s a dynamic world.”

Pauline runs after-school programs on various skills such as computer programming, intro to 3D printing, and Lego Robotics, and this past fall she

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“Design thinking requires empathy and understanding, and can be a powerful experience.” teamed up with Fenn’s sustainability coordinator, Cameren Cousins, to challenge a group of Middle Schoolers to design and build a portable solar iPad charger, “something in high demand at Fenn,” she says. One of the major design challenges for Upper School participants this year is working with a four-year-old boy who lost the use of his hands in an auto accident.

The group is engineering and building a device that the child can use to feed himself. “Design thinking,” Pauline notes, “requires empathy and understanding, and can be a powerful experience.”

The boys never seem to run out of ideas and enthusiasm. They design a miniature bobsled and send it down a metal slide in the hallway outside the makerspace, competing against their friends and learning a lot about aerodynamics during the process. They invent a machine that will transport a gerbil; it even has a Plexiglas windshield. One boy is struggling with design issues as he builds a vacuum cannon. A group is working on getting the drone they built to fly. In October, Fenn participated in the Global Cardboard Challenge, with interested boys, inspired by the short film Caine’s Arcade, building games out of cardboard, string, and tape, and inviting other students to play them in the Jafari Library.

Design thinking, says Pauline, is an approach to learning that “focuses on developing students’ creative confidence,” encourages them to collaborate, and convinces them that anything is possible.

She delights in observing the boys “constantly problem solving, despite complicated challenges,” and in watching

them try new things and realize that “if they have a dream, they can make it real.”

One day when Pauline walked into the makerspace, science teacher Tim Seston was there with his fourth graders, working on a project. One boy was sawing a piece a pipe and looked up, beaming, at Pauline.

“This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever done!” he declared.

Upper School boys are building prototypes of a device that will help a disabled child.

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If You Build It, They Will Come: Trent Green ’10 Helps Create Digital Display for Nobel Foundation

The Nobel Prize exhibit opened in Singapore in October.

photo : trent green

When he st a r ted cod ing

on his Ti calculator while at Fenn, using the programming language called Python, little

did Trent Green ’10 think he would someday be observing two Nobel laureates playing with interactive software which he helped to create. That’s what Trent, a Brown University sophomore majoring in computer science, did while in Singapore last fall, after installing part of an interactive digital museum display for the Nobel Prize organization.

At Fenn, Trent was known for his focused and consistent hard work, his sense of responsibility and quiet determination, and his engagement in academics, wood shop, theatre tech crew, the school store, and sports, including his extracurricular pursuit of excellence in the trapeze.

Trent went on to Belmont Hill School, picking up coding again as a twelfth grader. Flash forward to his freshman Introductory to Object Oriented Programming class at Brown University, which was led by computer graphics pioneer Andy van Dam, the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Professor of Technology and

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Education at Brown. Professor van Dam had pitched his select TAG (Touch Art Gallery) group to his class and Trent, one of the high-performing students who qualified to join the TAG team, applied successfully for a spot on it, a process that included creating a small website.

Last winter, Trent began working with TAG, continuing through the spring and summer, which he spent at Brown. Meanwhile, the Nobel Foundation reached out to Microsoft, looking for a software platform for its digital exhibits.

TAG software is designed “to enable museums and educators to digitize and

contextualize artwork and manuscripts, especially those that are too fragile or large to be viewed in person,” according to a Brown news release. Microsoft turned to two research groups that had the ability to submit proposals and one was Brown’s TAG group.

TAG built mock-up exhibits, Trent says, and presented them to Microsoft, and then both teams demoed the software to the Nobel Foundation, which chose Brown. Representatives from the foundation came to Brown from Stockholm for a weekend in late summer to discuss the project and Trent, by then the TAG leader,

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p at h i z e “Using technology to make a difference in people’s lives is important to me.”

– Trent Green ’10

began working 100-hour weeks with the team under van Dam’s direction, trying to get everything exactly as they and the Nobel Foundation wanted it.

“I was doing my coursework at the same time,” Trent notes. “It was intense.” The project culminated with Trent being flown to Singapore in October to oversee the installation of the exhibit, which took him only twelve hours because “miraculously there were minimal snags.” He had the rest of the week to explore the city and observe the first reactions to the digital displays.

One day he watched with excitement as Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka (literature, 1986) and Stefan Hell (chemistry, 2014) interacted with the exhibit.

The traveling display, called The Nobel Prize—Ideas Changing the World, is dedicated to the world’s most renowned awards. The exhibit includes two 82-inch Microsoft touch screens that offer visitors an interactive tour through the history of the prizes and of the laureates to whom they have been awarded. The screens are so huge that some of the icons are two feet wide, which is amazing when compared to the screens of the smart phones and computers we use every day, Trent notes.

The first of the two experiences that the Brown team developed centers around Alfred Nobel’s handwritten last will and testament, which established the annual prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine, economics, literature, and peace. It serves as the anchor for the exhibit. Key words and phrases link to interactive photo collections that tell Nobel’s life story as an inventor and industrialist. The second

experience includes information on all 900 past laureates; visitors can look them up by prize category, country of origin, gender, and other attributes.

Trent says the existing TAG software was well suited to the task, but that the team needed to make several key modifications so that the Nobel experiences worked. For example, TAG is designed to be connected to the Internet, but there was no reliable connection available at the first showing of the exhibit, in a Singapore museum, so the group had to load all of the data onto the machines, a labor-intensive task, he explains.

Using technology to make a difference in people’s lives is important to Trent, he says. Last spring he was one of three students (another was fellow Fenn alumnus Dan Giovacchini ’08, who was featured in a FENN story last winter) who worked on a project with a mentor company to create a start-up venture. They developed EquiTrue, which seeks to redefine the role of balance and propriocep-

tion in athletic performance training and concussion management. Using a rocker board, accelerometers, and a proprietary software application, the team designed a working, interactive prototype to quantify a user’s balance score in a thirty-second game of Doodle Jump. With the system, athletes can systematically reduce injury and improve performance as well as objectively determine their neurological state post-concussion.

Though characteristically modest and unassuming, Trent grows excited when talking about the importance of the makerspace movement and the teaching of coding in schools, saying that “it’s so important” for young people to acquire the skills to be designers, inventors, and problem solvers. Though he had considered engineering as a major, Trent is passionate about his chosen field. “I love it,” he says, with a smile. “There’s so much freedom in computer science. You can do anything you want,” he declares. “If I imagine it, I can make it happen.”

Trent, center front, and members of his team, including Professor Andy van Dam, back row center

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Dave Duane, far left, on the Great Wall with other hikers and their guide

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19 The Road to Hangzhou: A Faculty Adventure in China 21 Spotlight on Faculty 23 Meet Our New Faculty & Staff

The Road to Hangzhou: A Faculty Adventure in China Dave Duane, John Fitzsimmons, Cameren Cousins, and Rob Morrison never dreamed they would spend part of last summer in China, hiking the Great Wall, climbing Tai Shan, one of five sacred peaks, and standing in vast Tiananmen Square. And that they would be working with students and teachers for two weeks at the Wahaha Bilingual School in Hangzhou. [ continued next page ]

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Taking advantage of an opportunity that arose in the spring, Dave, John, and Rob visited the Chinese school for two weeks in July; Cameren and her husband, Josh, headed there later in the summer. Wahaha was looking for U.S. teachers to work with and teach study skills in English, science, and history to thirteen- to fifteen-year-old Chinese students—rising seventh graders who would be attending the school in September. The opportunity included compensation for working at Wahaha, airfare, and accommodations.

Dave, in a detailed travel blog, noted that the group’s Chinese hosts were “amazingly polite and magnanimous, and took wonderful

care of us in all aspects, from arranging rides through convoluted streets to playing the role of passionate and enthusiastic tour guides to providing traditional meals, which included jellyfish and frog.”

The mission of the Hangzhou school, named for the Wahaha Group Dave and students in his science class enjoy some grapes while on a field (the leading beverage trip to a local farm. distributor in China and a major School Meeting. supporter of education in that country) The most rewarding part of his is to train a new generation of young stay, Dave writes, was the group’s work leaders. A contingent of Wahaha school with Chinese teachers at the Wahaha representatives visited Fenn earlier last Summer Teacher Training Institute. year, spending time in classes and at All The experience was capped when these teachers—“whose passion, enthusiasm, and fun-loving ways will serve the school and their students extremely well,” Dave writes—produced a video about the Fenn faculty members’ work with them.

Dave said his role was “more of an English as a Second Language teacher” than as a science instructor. He not only introduced a science vocabulary to the students but also helped to reinforce their English skills in general. “Talking slowly, enunciating, and probing for the words that they are familiar with have been hallmarks of my efforts,” he writes in his blog. “It was an honor to participate,” Dave says. “Sometimes the contacts you make by happenstance launch fascinating journeys.”

l to r: Paul Quan, principal of the Wahaha School; an unidentified art teacher; and John Fitzsimmons, Dave Duane, and Rob Morrison, who are holding calligraphed messages about inspired learning that were given to them by the art teacher

“It was an honor to participate. Sometimes the contacts you make by happenstance launch fascinating journeys.”

– Dave Duane, Science Teacher

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Spotlight on Faculty Director of Diversity Tete Social studies teachers Elise Cobblah, John Sharon, Mott and Matt Ward ’00 Headmaster Jerry Ward, joined John Sharon, departand English and social studment chair, to tackle a summer ies teacher and Diversity curriculum project aimed at Associate Kofi Obeng presentrefocusing the sixth grade social ed a workshop at the National studies program. The new Association of Independent course is titled Geography and Schools’ People of Color World Cultures and is meant Conference held in Tampa, to encourage Fenn boys to gain FL, in December. The worka better understanding of what shop, “Quilting Our Stories,” it means to be global citizens addressed the question “In and to provide opportunities what ways can we use personal for them to connect with other stories, difficult conversations, (l to r): Jerry Ward, Verónica Jorge-Curtis, John Sharon, Jenn Youk See, and Kofi Obeng students internationally. at the People of Color Conference. and institutional stories to quilt together a greater experience as a ing All School Meeting, the Faculty Jon Byrd ’76, Dave Duane, Tim Seston, model for transformation, while honorDiversity Institute, advisee groups, and Jeff Trotsky ’06 worked on updating the historical culture and identity of diversity committees, and other seting the fifth grade science curriculum a school?” tings,” said Tete. Also attending the over the summer, focusing on stream Workshop presenters shared their conference were Assistant Director ecology, water flow, and water quality, personal stories with participants: of Diversity Jenn Youk See, Lower with the purpose of having students John talked about how his disability School teacher Kristen FitzGerald, and learn in a more hands-on way the effects provided him with the opportunity to Director of Advancement Verónica of our natural and man-made ecosystem help educate the non-disabled about Jorge-Curtis. on a watershed. The approach the three the interdependence of all people and Michelle Heaton in South Africa reflected on how he thinks empathy is “something we are born with and the world has a way of chiseling it out of us.

As a teacher, I’m interested in chiseling it back in,” he said. Kofi recalled feeling like a cultural outsider from other African-Americans and the suburban community of Wellesley as he developed an awareness of his Ghanaian heritage and racial identity, and Jerry reflected on his Boston Irish-Catholic childhood and how it influenced his worldview and subsequent work as a school leader.

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teachers designed is more experiential, says Jon, and in the fall students spent significant time outdoors, even building a small river behind the New Gym to better understand the idea of flow and the elements of a stream such as head waters and tail waters.

Michelle Heaton, service learning coordinator and science teacher, traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, last summer to participate in the International Boys’ School Coalition 2015-2016 Action Project. Michelle is one of a group of U.S. educators who will conduct research on the topic of boys as global citizens at their schools. She was thrilled to hear Desmond Tutu give the keynote address and called the entire experience, which included going on a safari, “inspiring.”

Tory Hayes ’02, assistant director of admissions, and Kofi Obeng attended the Diversity Leadership Conference held at the Episcopal School in Alexandria, VA, last summer. “I think I speak for Kofi and myself when I say that we had a truly impactful week at the institute,” says Tory. “We were privileged to connect with so many other diversity practitioners and to participate in some incredibly rich and challenging workshops and are excited to share our new knowledge and perspectives in our classrooms, with the Student Diversity Committee, and in our work in admissions.

In November, Steve Farley, assistant headmaster for the academic program; Jeff LaPlante, director of technology; George Scott, head of the Lower School; Eden Dunckel, director of learning support services, and Matt Ward ’00, who teaches social studies, attended the fourth annual EdTech Teacher iPad Summit in 22

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Boston. Brendon Bates, Lower School teacher; Nat Carr, science teacher and director of secondary school placement; Eden Dunckel; Laurie Byron, chair of the English department; Steve Farley; and Lower School teachers Brendon Bates, Jon Byrd ’76, and Jen Waldeck attended Harvard’s Learning and the Brain conference on “Science of Character: Using Brain Science to Raise Student Self-Regulation, Resilience, and Respect.”

FREE MaineWomenMagazine.com

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Winnie Smith (right) on cover of Maine Women

Tricia McCarthy, head of the Middle School, attended “Meaningful Advisory Time: Building Programs for Student Success,” a conference run by the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education.

Tony Santos, photography teacher; Paul Heinze, woodshop teacher; Seema Shenoy, gift entry and data coordinator; Kofi Obeng; and Tete Cobblah attended AISNE’s (Association of Independent Schools in New England) Diversity Conference titled “Equity and Inclusion in Today’s Education.”

Pauline MacLellan, science teacher and coordinator of the makerspace program; Michelle Heaton; and Cameren Cousins, Latin teacher and sustainability director, attended the New England Environmental Education Association’s annual conference this fall, the subject of which was climate change. Pauline also attended the Design Thinking Institute at the Nueva School in California. “It was a powerful and affirming opportunity to focus on developing curriculum and challenges that help students develop empathy, encourage ideation, build metacognitive awareness, and foster active problem solving,” she said.

Three Rivers Anthology, a book of poetry

by English and woodshop teacher John Fitzsimmons, was made available on iTunes as an iBook in November. It is a collection of more than 150 poems, essays, songs, and ramblings on life, writing, family, and community. “The iBook format is pretty cool in that it allows me to embed audio and video for many of the poems and songs,” he says, “and to update and add new content as it is created.”

Lower School teacher Winnie Smith competed in the Tri for a Cure triathlon last August, the only all-women event of its kind in Maine and the largest cancer-fighting fundraiser in the state.

Proceeds support research, education, and support programs. The USATsanctioned event asks participants to plunge into the cold Atlantic for a onethird mile swim, ride for fifteen miles, and complete a three-mile run. Winnie was featured on the cover of Maine Women magazine last August, where she is shown running in the 2014 event.

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Meet Our New Faculty and Staff The Fenn community extends a warm welcome to the following new teachers and staff members.

Brendon Bates joins the Fenn community as a Lower School Intensive Literacy Program teacher. A former NCAA football player, Brendon has a B.A. in theater from Allegheny College, an M.A. in acting and creative dramatics from The McGregor School at Antioch University, and a M.Ed. in moderate disabilities from Lesley University. Brendon comes to Fenn from the Carroll School, where he taught classes including reading fluency and study skills.

An actor and playwright, Brendon is a resident cast member at ImProvBoston Theater in Cambridge and has appeared in numerous equity and non-equity theatrical productions. During a visit to campus last spring, Brendon attended All School Meeting and says, “It was clear to me then that Fenn ‘walks the walk’ when it comes to cultivating a community that values citizenship.” He counts “supportive colleagues” as among the “pleasant surprises” of working at Fenn. Brendon and his wife, Kristen Bates, have two sons, Andrew (4) and Henry (7 months).

Frank Crowley ’06 has returned to Fenn as Athletic Director Bob Starensier’s assistant in the mornings, scheduling games and preparing equipment, and to coach sports across all divisions in the afternoons. Being an alumnus “definitely made the move back very appealing,” he says. A former college athlete, Frank says that when he began work here, “seeing teachers who I had as a student letting their guard down around me was a little weird at first.” He is still getting

used to the idea of calling them by their first names. In his free time Frank likes creative writing and playing sports.

Frank attended Concord-Carlisle High School and expects to complete work for his economics and finance degree from Bentley University next spring. He has worked at FastHockey. com, a website on which are streamed all junior hockey games from the U.S. and Canada. Frank has some radio experience, having spent sixteen weeks in 2014 at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Needham, MA, learning on-air and behind-the-scenes skills.

port. Last summer Isabel served as an intern with the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, assisting with its institutional advancement efforts.

Isabel says she can “positively identify with Fenn’s holistic approach to education as it is one I both value and share due to my own liberal arts background.”

She has found Fenn to be a place with a “strong sense of community.” In her spare time Isabel enjoys crafting and scrapbooking, playing the piano, reading, swimming, and “a good game of tennis, preferably doubles.”

Isabel Dau joined the advancement office as an intern in October. A 2015 graduate of Hamilton College with a B.A. in classical studies, Isabel is working on engaging alumni, managing social media, and providing overall sup-

Frank Crowley

Brendon Bates

Isabel Dau

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Paul Heinze is Fenn’s new woodshop teacher, coach, and advisor. Paul taught Latin and chaired that department at The Pike School in Andover, MA, also leading projects to assemble a go-kart and to design and build an iceboat hull. He earned a B.A. in classics at the University of Montana. Paul says he had visited Fenn several times professionally in his roles as a teacher and ninth grade team leader at Pike, and “each time I was taken by how purposefully the community strives to live up to its mission and motto.” As a coach, Paul says he enjoyed competing against Fenn because its students “are always well-coached and display excellent sportsmanship and character.” Paul loves wood working, especially “building and innovating,” he says. He designed and built a vacation home for his family.

Paul likes singing and spending time with his family. He and his wife, Andrea, who is on the staff at Brooks School, have two sons: Ben (14) and Andrew (11), who is a Fenn sixth grader. “I really enjoy the all-boys atmosphere, their earnestness, sincerity, foibles, untucked shirts, all of it,” Paul declares. “It’s a fantastic, welcoming, inclusive community.”

continues as librarian part time. Most recently Sam was a library teacher, diversity and curriculum consultant, and family and faculty S.E.E.D. facilitator at the Chestnut Hill School. She has also worked at Nashoba Brooks as a library teacher, technology department member, and S.E.E.D. facilitator. Sam has a B.A. in English from Middlebury College, an M.A. in Education and Reading Disabilities from St. Michael’s College, and an M.A. in Education and Library Science from Cambridge College.

Sam sees familiar faces at Fenn, as she taught many future Fenn boys at Nashoba Brooks. She feels “welcomed and energized” by her Fenn colleagues’ passion and dedication and looks forward to collaborating and developing

Samantha Kane joined Lisa Francine in the Jafari Library in November as full-time library director, while Lisa

Jan Maguire

Paul Heinze

Samantha Kane

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integrated research projects with them.

Sam and her husband, Tom, the theatre director at Middlesex School, have a sixteen-year-old daughter, Zoe. Sam loves to read and write books for children, is a quilter, is passionate about “inclusivity, equity, and social justice work,” and is “never far from my camera.”

Learning specialist Jan Maguire’s association with Fenn began in 1986, when she was hired to teach math (and took over the student activities position as well, which meant chaperoning a lot of Fenn/Nashoba Brooks dances).

The relationship deepened when her son, Conor ’98, started as a fourth grader. His six years at Fenn, Jan says, “were among the most significant and rewarding in his development.”

Jan taught math in public and independent schools for many years. She earned a B.A. in education and history and an M.A. in educational philosophy from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Joining the math tutoring

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team at Fenn “has been a blessing,” Jan says, “as I am able to connect with hardworking and engaged students and still have some time to enjoy my new granddaughter, Claire, and continue my work at Our Father’s House, a sober house shelter in Fitchburg.” Her husband, Billy, is the head of the math department at Groton School.

Joining the advancement team as Alumni Giving and Engagement Officer in January, Bobby Nasson comes to Fenn from the non-profit More Than Words Bookstore and Café in Waltham, where he was senior development officer. A Lexington native, Bobby is a graduate of Wesleyan University, where he earned a B.A. in American government, and has attended the Boston University School of Management, taking classes in its executive program in entrepreneurship and management. His connections with Fenn include having been coached as a Little League and Babe Ruth baseball player by former Fenn learning specialist and coach Joe LoPresti, “who always raved about Fenn.”

Bobby has found the campus beautiful and the people friendly and passionate about Fenn’s mission, and says, “Everybody seems to be in sync working together.” He enjoys traveling, reading, and sports, playing recreational softball and soccer, and outdoor activities including kayaking, running, and hiking. He has served as a scout for the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs.

Seema Shenoy works in the advancement office as the gift entry and data coordinator. One of her first Fenn experiences, she says, was discovering how helpful people are. As she was parking her van on her first day at work, a colleague whom she had not yet met took

Bobby Nasson

Bart Temple

Seema Shenoy

the time, she says, to guide her to a better parking spot. “It’s so important for a newcomer to feel at home right away,” she declares.

Seema has several years of experience in program management and coordination and most recently designed and built a website for Project LEARN, managing its data base. She has served as the outreach and program coordinator for Saheli in Burlington, MA, recruiting and training volunteers for a program that supports South Asian women, and she supervised its computer literacy and English as a Second Language program in Cambridge, Burlington, and Waltham.

Baking with her daughters Keerthi and Aparna and bicycling with her family, including her husband Sunil Kamath, are two of her favorite activities.

Bart Temple, formerly the maintenance supervisor at Concord Mews Apartments, joins the Buildings and Grounds evening crew. He has had many years of experience maintaining properties, including companies and apartment complexes, and served as an EMT for Medstar Ambulance in Leominster for several years and prior to that, as a firefighter/EMT with the Westborough Fire Department.

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From the woodshop to Ward Hall and everywhere in between, fall was abuzz with activity, with boys performing on stage, coding on their computers, reading in the library, creating in the makerspace, collecting items for the annual canned food drive, trying out musical instruments, collaborating on projects in the classroom, doing yard work for former Fenn faculty members, playing games at the Fall Festival, and enjoying recess outdoors.

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26 Around Campus Photos 30 Respecting Differences Day 30 Music and Poetry at Thanksgiving Assembly 31 Fenn Forum Features Current Parents

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Faculty Share Their Stories on Respecting Differences Day When Fenn Librarian Lisa Francine finished speaking to the Upper School on Respecting Differences Day in October, the boys filed out, many of them stopping to thank her for sharing her story.

Lisa spoke about her life as a mother, educator, and partner in a same-sex marriage and answered questions. She began by quoting e e cummings: “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” After her presentation, Associate Headmaster and Head of the Upper School Derek Boonisar called it “an incredible personal story of growth, evolution, and humanity.”

Lisa wasn’t the only faculty member who talked about her life during the annual program organized by the

Lisa Francine speaking to Upper Schoolers on Respecting Differences Day

diversity staff. Lower School teachers Kristin FitzGerald, Jen Waldeck, and Liz Wei addressed their fifth grade students about their childhoods and family make-up.

Fourth graders viewed an award-winning documentary That’s a Family about the wide variety of family constellations and relationships and followed it with a discussion in their advisor groups. Middle School boys heard two representatives from Speakout, a non-profit organization which seeks to

create a world free of homo-bi-transphobia and other forms of prejudice by telling the truths of people’s lives.

Respecting Differences Day is held during an assembly period each autumn and focuses on respect for differences and acknowledgement of similarities. “I hope these programs continue to bring attention to and reflection on issues of inclusivity, discrimination, acts of violence, and name-calling that persist in our schools and communities at large,” said Diversity Director Tete Cobblah.

Music and Poetry Shared at Thanksgiving Assembly Ward Hall was the scene of poetry and reflections on the changing seasons, instrumental and choral music, and student expressions of personal gratitude at the annual Thanksgiving Gathering on November 25. Headmaster Jerry Ward welcomed students, faculty, staff, family members, alumni, and trustees who attended the assembly. “This is when we come together to give thanks for the lives we have,” he said.

Several faculty and staff members and students offered poetry from authors including Mary Oliver, Maya Angelou, Wendell Berry, and Robert

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Frost, and other reflections of the season, and songs and prayers across cultures and faiths. The Fenn String Ensemble performed two American fiddle tunes, “Old Joe Clark” and “Bile Them Cabbage Down” under the direction of Maeve Lien, and Julian Yang played “Vocalise” by Sergei Rachmaninoff on the alto saxophone. Choral Director Mike Salvatore led the Treble Chorus in “You’ve Got a Friend” and John Fitzsimmons offered a guitar and vocal performance of “Urge for Going” by Joni Mitchell.

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The ninth graders recited a collaborative poem, in which one boy said he was thankful for his classmates, “who make me laugh every day.” As is traditional, the Headmaster called on dozens of boys

across all divisions who offered appreciative comments about their families and friends, their school, and other people and places for which they are thankful. One boy, perhaps after glancing at the clock and seeing an hour had passed, declared, “I’m thankful for the break we’re going to get soon!” which drew laughter from the crowd.

At the program’s close, ninth grade senators Sam Farley and Sam Pring announced that the November food drive had met its goal due to a last minute surge in donations, with many trips having

been made to the Open Table Pantry in Concord. “We so appreciate all the help that Fenn students and their teachers provide to Open Table,” said representative Kathe Falzer in a message to the School.

“We know how much effort goes into the food drives as well as into the regular pickups and deliveries of the bags.”

Following the assembly some 75 alumni from recent years gathered to catch up with faculty, staff members, and each other, and they enjoyed a pizza lunch and a raffle.

Fenn Forum Features Current Parents “I don’t feel as if I’m going to work each day,” declared Langley Steinert (father of Max, a ninth grader, and Nick ’15).

“I do it because I love it.” Langley, who launched the auto shopping website CarGurus in 2006, and, with a partner, founded TripAdvisor, one of the world’s largest travel websites, in 2000, was one of four current or former Fenn parents who spoke at this year’s first Fenn Forum, held during an assembly on November 4.

Joining him were Margaret Crouse Skelly (mother of William, a seventh grader), a poet who used to practice law in the Boston area; Cindy Aiena (mother of Braden, a seventh grader, and Tiernan, a sixth grader), the executive director of finance for the Massachusetts General Hospital, who is a runner and triathlete; and Dave Duane (father of Anthony ’15), chair of Fenn’s science department, who talked about his experience on a cultural exchange program in China this past summer.

Langley said his businesses are “all about collaboration” and that the principal attribute he looks for during the

Langley Steinert

hiring process is “curiosity.” He left the boys with this advice: “School will help you solve real problems later in life, so pay attention, do your homework, and have fun with it all.”

Margaret, who shared a poem by Billy Collins and then one of her own, titled “Sauce Day,” has been writing poetry for forty years and last year published Art of Cancer, inspired by her battle with esophageal cancer. “Incorporate your passions into your life,” she urged the audience.

“I never thought I would stand up on a stage and say ‘I’m a triathlete’,” Cindy declared. Telling the boys to “Have courage to take a risk,” she noted that the time in which she finishes isn’t the point.

“I push myself, and all that matters is that I’m doing what I am passionate about.”

“The Chinese people revere their invited visitors and take very good care of them,” said Dave, who spoke of teaching and working with students and faculty at the Wahaha School in China. “Taking the opportunity to have adventures helps one learn how to adapt and be flexible, better understand other cultures, and realize,” he said, quoting St. Francis of Assisi, that, “It is in giving that we receive.”

The Fenn Forum, which features shorter versions of TED talks, was suggested by Fenn parent Cristina Blau a few years ago, and the events have featured a number of Fenn alumni, faculty, and parents who have talked about their vocations and avocations, including working as a patent attorney, as a doctor volunteering in Ethiopia, as a fly fishing guide, and as a restaurateur.

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Fall Sports Report Varsity and junior varsity teams wrapped up stellar seasons this fall, with cross country runners capturing “amazing” course records.

The cross country team won fourteen of seventeen meets, with runners setting some “amazing” course records throughout the fall, said Coach Dave Duane. Eighth grader Jimmy Allen first set the 2.1-mile course record with a time of 12:41, only to be bested by his fellow co-captain, ninth grader Tad Scheibe, who finished in 12:33.

The team took fifth place (among fifteen schools) at the Roxbury Latin Jamboree, with Tad and Jimmy medaling and Reid Gekle, Matthew Gainsboro, and Colby Freeman rounding off the top five runners.

At the Jim Munn Invitational, Fenn raced to eighth place (among 33 schools), with Tad, who came in sixth in a field of 1000 runners, and Jimmy (thirteenth) earning medals and Reid, Matthew, and Nick Landman among the five swiftest Fenn competitors. Nathan Soukup was the third best runner on the squad, but due to injuries he had to miss the Jamboree and the Jim Munn, which is the largest cross country race for this age group in the country, according to Coach Duane, who was assisted by John Fitzsimmons. “It was a very successful season for the team and for runners achieving their goals set earlier in the fall. All runners improved dramatically as the season progressed.”

S

Varsity soccer (5-2-2) “worked incredibly hard and improved each day,” according to Bob Starensier, who coached with Jason Rude, Freemon Romero ’04, and Kevin White ’93.

Among its victories was a 7-0 win against Belmont Hill at Homecoming.

The team placed fifth at the New England Junior Schools Eaglebrook Tournament. “The ninth graders were excellent leaders who truly led by example,” said Coach Starensier. “The competition we played was outstanding this year and the Fenn team battled in every game whether they won or lost. It was a fun and rewarding season!” Team co-captains were Matt Kirkman, Mark Reiss, Matt Sanders, and Max Steinert.

Junior varsity soccer (7-2-2) earned seven victories, five of them by tense, one-goal margins, and dropped just two matches, said Dave Sanborn, who coached with Rob Morrison. He praised all the boys on the squad, which often faced “much bigger” varsity players on opposing teams, and said “the resolute defense yielded an average of just a goal a game over the course of the season.”

Coach Sanborn noted seventh grader Will Dean’s “massive presence at center back, which anchored our defensive corps. He was the most influential player on the field, scoring some of the most critical goals of the season.” Co-captains were James Ewing, Owen Heaton, and George von Weise.

Varsity football (4-2) had “an incredibly successful season,” according to Nat Carr ’97, one of four alumni who coached the team; the others were Frank Crowley ’06, Jeff Trotksy ’06, and Matt Ward ’00. “The boys played with great grit,” Coach Carr said, adding that “the leadership, energy, and passion for football that several seventh grade players brought to the team made the season special.” Coach Trotsky called the team “the hardest working, closest knit group I’ve worked with in my three years at Fenn,” and Coach Ward made note of the defensive line, whose members were “often overmatched physically but were tremendously courageous.” Team co-captains were Colin Cunningham, Cal Fries, Lucas Lisman, and Andrew Metellus.

Sixth grade soccer took twenty players to the Fessenden Tournament, where the boys played very well, going undefeated in the morning, with impressive comefrom-behind ties v. Pike and Fessenden and a win against Fay. Despite being undefeated, Fenn placed in the second tier bracket and played Tenacre for third place, but lost that game and finished fourth in the tourney. “The boys played hard and were very good, supportive teammates,” said Coach Paul Heinze. “It was a fine team effort.”

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Welcome to Our New Trustees Fenn is very 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.

Silvy Brookby is serving as the Parents Association president this year. Silvy earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Northwestern University, a master’s degree in computer and mathematics education from Stanford University, and a doctoral degree in mathematics education from the University of Missouri.

Silvy is the mother of two Fenn boys: Charles, an eighth grader, and Walter, a sixth grader. Silvy has taught at several independent schools, including Fenn, and is an assistant professor at Framingham State University, where she teaches mathematics and science education courses and monitors student teachers.

Silvy has been a grade parent at Fenn, has served on the faculty/staff appreciation committee and the Board of Visitors, and has been chair of the Annual Fund. “I am thrilled that my boys have had the full Fenn experience for their most formative years and am most grateful for the expertise and excellence of the Fenn teachers and the leadership the School has taken in educating boys,” Silvy says.

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Jim Kitendaugh co-founded The Wayland Group, Inc. in 1984, and for nearly thirty years he has advised more than 150 organizations on institutional advancement strategy and designed fundraising programs to achieve goals ranging from $1 million to over $1 billion. A graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover, and Harvard College, Jim earned an M.A. in theatre from Tufts University, for which he served as director of the capital campaign from 19811984. He has taught high school English and drama and established a summer theatre program in Manchester, MA, that continues today. He has served as the first managing director of the Boston Shakespeare Company and as general manager of The Boston Ballet School.

Jim and and his wife, Lynne, are the proud parents of David ’97, who serves on the Alumni Council, and Ben ’05.

“Lynne and I have a great appreciation for Fenn as a superb school for boys,” Jim says. “It has meant so much to our family. The Fenn faculty and staff work so diligently delivering on Fenn’s mission that serving on the Board is a privilege rather than a chore for me.”

Ana M. Martinez-Aleman is professor and chair of the Educational Leadership and Higher Education Administration department at Boston College in the Lynch School of Education. An accomplished writer and editor, Ana is editor of Educational Policy and her work has appeared in several publications, including the Journal of Higher Education. Her most recent book is titled Accountability, Pragmatic Aims, and the American University.

Ana’s scholarship is focused on the study of gender, race, and ethnicity in higher education. She has a B.A. in psychology, Spanish Language and Literature and an M.A. in social sciences from the State University of New York, Binghamton, and an Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The mother of Nico, a Fenn sixth grader, Ana is a member of the Northeast Angels Ice Hockey Team and is an avid cyclist.

“It is my hope that my professional insights can serve as a positive contribution to Fenn,” Ana says. “As a trustee, it is my responsibility to add to the conversation and deliberation on policies and practices in order to enrich the educational experience for all of our students and to enhance the professional experiences of faculty and staff.”

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A graduate of Lesley University, Carol Moriarty, mother of John ’04, taught in public and private schools for ten years and has remained active in the educational field. She is a past co-chair of the Colby Parents Committee, a member of the President’s Visiting Committee at Bowdoin College, chair of the Winchester Community

Music School Board, where she is now on the advisory board, and is a past board member and Parents Association president at Concord Academy. Carol is a member of the Board of the Westford River Watershed Alliance and is a long-term member of the Board of Trustees at Lesley and chair of its advancement committee.

“I am pleased to be serving on the Fenn board,” says Carol. “As a teacher, I know the importance of a high quality education. As a past Fenn parent, I have seen the outstanding work that happens at the School and look forward to supporting it and being a member of the school community once again.”

Abbott T. Fenn ’34 Bequest to Encourage Summer Exploration and Learning The Fenn School is pleased and grateful to announce the establishment of The Abbott T. Fenn ’34 Fund for Summer Exploration and Learning, a board-designated bequest that “celebrates Abbott’s appreciation of the immense value that a rewarding summer experience can have on a child’s overall learning.”

Abbott’s love for Fenn inspired him to leave a generous bequest to Fenn. It was his passion for nature and the outdoors and his belief that children thrive when they participate in summer programs through which they can engage in what interests them that inspired his family to ask that his bequest be used to set up the fund. Abbott passed away last year at the age of 93.

The income generated by the fund will be awarded to Fenn students receiving financial assistance and wishing to participate in a summer program for the purpose of attending camp, pursuing a passion, or strengthening their skills.

The distribution of the grants and the selection of students will be determined by the Headmaster and his appointed administrators.

Growing up on campus with his father as founding headmaster and his mother as a teacher, Abbott,

the School’s first enrolled student, absorbed the values he was taught in his own home and those that guided all of the boys in his parents’ school.

Among the principles he observed, according to Abbott’s son, Ethan, were that “education is not one-size-fits-all” and that boys learn in different ways, including by having outdoor experiences and by being allowed to pursue their interests.

An environmentalist and educator, Abbott graduated from Middlesex School and Harvard College and returned to Fenn for a year as a teacher in the mid1940s. But his proudest achievement was having run, with partners, the Keewaydin Camps in Vermont for forty years. There, he created an environmental education experience for schools that brought groups to the camp, and he led wilderness trips in Canada.

Abbott, according to his son, was heavily involved with the American Camping Association, where he voiced his belief that “one style of camp is not necessarily the best for everyone.

Some campers may do best at a tripping camp like Keewaydin, but others might enjoy a sports, or music, or computer camp.”

Abbott, pictured in 1995, was instrumental in founding the Vermont Audubon Youth Camp.

“We are very excited about this gift because we all appreciate how important Fenn has been in our family history,” says Ethan, who lives in Vermont. “I think my father felt that the School was a great influence in many aspects of his life, both in helping to get him started in summer camping and teaching, and in deeper ways, like wanting to pass on Fenn’s values of tailoring an education to the individual boy and getting boys to actively participate in their own education.” w i n ter

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A D VA NCIN G F ENN

Board of Visitors Looks to the Future of Fenn Saying that Fenn

“remains grounded in the magic that has worked

for so long,” Board of Trustees Chair Mary-Wren vanderWilden set the tone for the annual Board of Visitors meeting in November by adding, “We are holding onto what grounds us while we think about what would make us better.”

The purpose of the day’s program was to help Fenn map the road ahead by gaining the perspective of BOV members on how the school might move forward with its strategic priorities. “As we lean into the future,” Headmaster Jerry Ward told the gathering, “your perspective is vital and extraordinarily rich.”

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Before the members gathered in groups to discuss the various strands of the 2012-2022 Long-Range Strategic Plan, BOV Chair Adam Winstanley welcomed members and offered anecdotes about his son Tucker, a sixth grader, that illustrate the power Fenn has to build confidence, character, sportsmanship, and camaraderie in boys. Announcing he will be stepping down after five years as chair, Adam introduced his successor, Jay Remington ’84, who has been on the BOV for eleven years. Jay is the father of two boys, Peter, nine, and Patrick, six.

Jerry introduced Secondary School Placement Director Nat Carr ’97,

Assistant Headmaster for Finance and Operations Dave Platt, and Director of Admissions Amy Jolly, each of whom provided an update and several interesting facts, with Amy reporting that the School is fully enrolled at 331 boys and that it is working to bring the numbers down to a more ideal size of 325. “Scale matters and we want to continue to be a school where every single boy is known well,” she said.

Jerry closed the presentations by saying that Fenn “is thriving, well grounded, and above all things, forward looking.” Among the examples he provided were the School’s emphasis on global education and its makerspace

program, which is a way for faculty to teach across disciplines. “The design thinking approach is taking root here,” he said. Jerry pointed out that Fenn has taken a measured approach to the use of technology in the classroom, saying that “The human connection is, in the end, what will inspire boys and lift them up.”

In the round table discussions that followed, BOV members discussed Fenn’s remaining strategic priorities and ranked their importance, also noting their own personal priorities. Among the many discussion threads were the importance of working to build Fenn’s student and faculty diversity, growing the makerspace program, and increasing the School’s endowment to keep costs down and remain competitive.

The purpose of the Board of Visitors is to extend and strengthen Fenn’s wide circle of friends. Members, who serve twoyear renewable terms, represent former trustees, alumni, former faculty, current parents and parents of alumni, and close friends of the School. They are asked to act as ambassadors for Fenn in their communities, to strengthen its identity, and to promote its mission.

“Fenn remains grounded in the magic that has worked for so long.

We are holding onto what grounds us while we think about what would make us better.” – Mary-Wren vanderWilden, chair of the Board of Trustees w i n ter

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Homecoming 2015 On a glorious late September Saturday, students and alumni and their families and former and current faculty and staff gathered for Fenn’s second annual Homecoming. Ninth grader Tad Scheibe won the 5K, with science teacher Derek Cribb finishing a close second and Tad’s dad, Dan, coming in third. Varsity soccer routed Belmont Hill 7-0, after which Jeff Cook ’62 accepted the 2015 Distinguished Alumnus Award.

A lively alumni (and others) flag football game followed, the Marching Band and Trebles performed, the crowd enjoyed a barbeque lunch, children flocked to games and crafts, and a picnic was held at the Wards’ house for alumni and alumni parents at day’s end. A good time was had by all!

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[

photos by joshua touster

]

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38 Homecoming 42 Distinguished Alumnus 44 Class Notes 56 Reunion

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“I’m proud to say ‘I’m a Fenn Boy’.”

John “Jeff ” Cook, Jr. ’62, Fenn’s Distinguished Alumnus 2015 AS A SIXTH G R A D ER ,

Jeff Cook was “parachuted into Fenn,” he says, laughing. But it was a fortuitous “landing.”

Fenn was “one of my best academic settings,” he declares. “My success goes back to those Fenn people who believed in and encouraged me.”

Jeff jokes about his arrival at Fenn because it came with little advance warning. One March weekend his mother drove him down from the family farm in Williamstown to what he thought was an outing in Boston. The next thing he knew, Jeff was sitting opposite Dave Edgar, the assistant headmaster, for an interview, after which he was whisked back home to pack and delivered to Fenn’s door a day later. He slept that night in his room in the Farm House dormitory, wondering what had happened.

His mother, Jeff admits, felt Jeff with some of his eighth grade classmates in 1962; he is in the top row, second from left. he needed “more structure” and less time exploring the Williams Athletics were Jeff’s passion; but Jeff’s best campus that abutted Pine Cobble, his as a strapping young man who would friends at Fenn elementary school. “I was only homesick grow to six feet, four inches, he was too included Eric Best for a day or two,” recalls Jeff. “So many big to play football at Fenn.

Basketball ’62, whom he sees a few times a year; people were kind to me.” Among them and baseball were his best schoolboy Bucky [Frederic] Putnam ’61, who is the were Mark Biscoe, his basketball coach, sports, and he went on to play football godfather of Jeff’s oldest son, Ransom, and his wife, Jane, Fenn’s librarian; Bill and lacrosse at St. Lawrence University, 29 (Jeff has another son, William, 27, Travers and his wife; Bill Dunnell; John which later inducted him into its and a stepdaughter, Sarah Rosa); John O’Keefe; Peter Keyes; and Charles Ward.

Athletic Hall of Fame.

Lee ’62; Kenny Winslow ’62; the Hobbs “I’m dyslexic,” Jeff notes, “and While at Fenn, Jeff worked in the brothers—Fritz [Franklin] ’61 and Billy my tutor, Mrs. [Diana] Seamans, had kitchen on Sunday nights and remem’63, and Bill Newbury ’62. unbending confidence in me.” Marjorie bers boys being allowed to walk or Being awarded the Faculty Prize, Wiles (later Gornall), in the front office, bike to town.

He took full advantage of Shop Prize, and other honors at graduawas “den mother to all of us boarders. this privilege, going off campus to get tion was especially gratifying to Jeff, who We’d visit her in her office for a chat and his braces adjusted. On those trips his says, “I struggled, all the way through she’d give us a piece of candy.” He was pockets would bulge with the quarters college. I was, and still am, a practical, thrilled that Marjie traveled from her his classmates had given to him to buy hands-on learner.” He graduated from home in Arizona to watch him receive sweets at The Country Store. his Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Westminster in Connecticut, calling that

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school “my second best fit, after Fenn.”

At first, college wasn’t a good fit for Jeff. At the beginning of his sophomore year, he dropped out of St. Lawrence and began working in Harlem at an alternative education program run by the Urban l to r: Eric Best ’62, and Brooke and Jeff Cook League of New York. He a Harvard professor who recruited and tutored kids off the streets “wanted to do something l to r: Alumni Council Presiden t Matt Boger, Jeff Cook, and Jerry Ward to help set them on a college-bound about all of those students path. This experience taught Jeff valuhanging out in Harvard Yard, making advised fund that promotes the values able lessons about giving back to the noise about the environment but not of sustainability, social entrepreneurcommunity and helped him realize the doing anything about it.” ship, and individual action. value of a college education. He petiJeff put together the program in six Jeff’s work ethic and entrepreneurial tioned his way back into St. Lawrence months, raising money from large and spirit come from his father, who estaband graduated on time. small foundations, and grew the venture lished and expanded a wire manufacHome for Thanksgiving after gradufrom ten interns to thirty-five, then sevturing company in Williamstown. The ation and searching for something meanenty-five, in the first three years. By the lesson that hard work is satisfying comes ingful to do with his life, Jeff got an idea time he was twenty-six he had offices in from his mother, who ran Wendling from his sister, Rebecca, who was develBoston, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Farm in Williamstown, which is now oping an environmental intern program Seattle and was placing hundreds of owned and managed by one of Jeff’s while a graduate student in Boston. The interns in paid positions in governmental brothers. As a young boy, Jeff helped goal of the program was to match young agencies, corporations, and non-profits. care for the family’s cows and chickens people with environmental work. The For ten years the ECO was a speand brought in the hay, learning that, “If next day, he was driving to Montpelier, cial project of Mass Audubon, before you want the land to take care of you, VT, in a snowstorm “to sell a program I incorporating. It ran for twenty-five you need to take care of it.” didn’t yet know much about” to an envimore years, until 2007, with a mission In his remarks at Homecoming, ronmental official. to advance and protect the environment Jeff said he was “honored and humbled” He returned to Boston with a goal: through the development of professionto accept the Distinguished Alumnus to find a place where they could house als. “It was a problem solving activity Award. “I am proud to say I am a Fenn the program that would become the that used the energy and talents of boy,” he declared. He encouraged current Environmental Careers Organization young people,” Jeff explains. The pracFenn students to pursue their passions but (ECO). A meeting with the executive tice of stewardship—“leaving a place to “be patient in finding them. Remember director of the Massachusetts Audubon better than when I arrived”—continues that fulfillment is more important than Society, during which Jeff promised to to guide him. Today Jeff works with success.” In closing, Jeff urged the boys raise the money himself to launch the such organizations as the Emerald to “take advantage of your Fenn expeprogram, showed him that “timing is Necklace Conservancy and the Trustees rience—its people and this community. everything.” The director had just had Collaborative for Boston Parks and a visit from a Mass Audubon donor, They will serve you well.”

Open Space, while managing a donor-

“My success goes back to those Fenn people who believed in and encouraged me.” – Jeff Cook, Jr. ’62 w i n ter

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Class Notes 1951 reunion Russ Robb reports that his grandson, Justin Robb (Fenn class of 2014), is now a junior at Acton-Boxborough High School. He plays first string on the Blazers club soccer team, which won the regional tournament for 16-year-olds, and went on to West Virginia for sectional championships.

1954 Ten years into retirement, John Hall is still busy in Jerusalem, Israel. Having completed the multi-beam sonar mapping of over 12,000 km2 of Israel’s three seas, John has just marked the completion of a 50-week drift of his research hovercraft R/H SABVABAA from the highest Arctic.This expedition, called FRAM-2014/15, saw two Norwegian scientists doing geological, geophysical, and oceanographic measurements over 2200 km of drift. Five crossings in unexplored regions of the trans-Arctic Lomonosov Ridge yielded valuable evidence on the origin of

the large Amerasia Basin. In August, John chartered the last working sealer in Spitzbergen and crossed the Atlantic to pluck the hovercraft, its scientific cargo, and Professor Yngve Kristoffersen from a quarter-acresized ice floe. The expedition was presented on Columbus Day to King Harald V and the Norwegian Academy of Sciences in Oslo, and John was cited for his crucial support of this pioneering accomplishment. Back in the 1960s, John did his Ph.D. studies on the Alpha Ridge. The weekly reports of this expedition can be followed at http://www. geonova.no. This year John also ended his six years of service on the Board of Overseers of Bard College at Simons Rock, the early college his mother, former headmistress of Concord Academy, founded in the Berkshires some 50 years ago. Anthony Willcox and his wife still live in Colorado. They just returned from New England and a wedding in Newport, RI. Anthony reports, “It was wonderful to catch up with old friends in Concord and stuff ourselves with lobster. Ski season is once again upon us. I did indulge

in a new and comfortable pair of ski boots.

At my age I need all the comfort I can get along with sunny day skiing. I am still taking courses on our Constitution at Hillsdale College. I do miss Fenn. What a wonderful opportunity for a young man growing up.”

1955 Spencer Borden writes, “I am expanding my consulting practice, as senior director of leadership consulting for LxSolutions, a division of the American Association for Physician Leadership. We train practicing physicians with the skills and competencies to become leaders of health care organizations.” George Gentsch reflects, “Remarkable that it`s been six decades since graduation. On October 15, I had a marvelous visit to Fenn, graciously guided by Anne Spitzer of the Alumni Office.

I saw Headmaster Jerry Ward and shared with him that my two years at Fenn were the happiest of all my pre-college education. The current size of the student body and its diversity of backgrounds were a joy to see.”

John Hall ’54 and his research hovercraft in the Arctic

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Metropolitan Opera Cellist Has Musical Memories of Fenn T he fir s t n i g h t Steve Ballou ’65 spent at Fenn as a sixth grade boarding student, he longed for home and worried about his parents, who were far away in Venezuela. Seeking reassurance, he knocked on his housemaster’s door, and “Mr. Biscoe provided words of comfort.” The latter and his wife, Jane, “were very welcoming as house parents,” Steve recalls.

Steve keenly remembers his three years at Fenn, including his “excellent” English teacher Bill Travers, who nurtured his writing skills and instilled in him an appreciation for literature, and the time he received a red ribbon in shot-put while on the track and field team. This was “unbelievable,” he concedes, as “I was mostly ineffectual with propelled objects.” Nonetheless, he also played baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. The hours he spent in wood shop, instructed by Arthur Davis, came to mind recently when Steve sanded, stained, and finished the wooden front door of his house.

Fenn “fostered and guided me in the aspiration of becoming a complete human being,” Steve says. “What was great is that one was encouraged to try one’s best, whatever one’s innate ability or inexperience…We were taught to accept ourselves and each other while developing our own special talents.”

Music has been Steve’s passion as far back as he can remember. He performed in every piano recital at Fenn, for which Martin Segal, his teacher, was “an important positive influence.”

Many of Steve’s Fenn memories involve

Steve Ballou ’65

music, whether it was Don Frothingham improvising popular tunes at the piano or his own solo performance on the cello at a Fenn concert, for which he wore a cast and carried crutches—he had broken his leg skiing a couple of weeks earlier.

As a toddler, Steve was “fixated” on the sound of the cello, he says. He is now in his 29th season with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. “The dramatic power of music fascinates me. Music from an orchestra creates everything, moving the action forward (battle, love scene, prayer, parade, etc.), depicts the setting (storm, sunset, palace, dungeon, mountaintop, etc.), and conveys the different emotions and motivations of the characters, even their deepest psychological dilemmas,” he explains.

Steve came from a household filled with music, “so it was always in my blood” and the decision to perform professionally was not a conscious one, he says. “Being a musician has always been who I am and what I do.”

After attending Lexington High School for two years, during which time he studied at the New England Conservatory, he moved to London to pursue cello and music more intensively, fulfilling his high school academic requirements while there. He returned and studied at the Curtis Institute and graduated from Hampshire College. Among his important teachers and mentors was Pierre Fournier in Geneva, Switzerland, where Steve subsequently held a position with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

In addition to his demanding Met schedule, Steve has performed in solo recitals and in chamber music and orchestral ensembles all over the world and has taught master classes. He has performed a solo program traversing the Six Suites of Bach to commemorate the tri-centennial of Bach’s birth and more recently as a benefit concert for the Japan Society’s Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Fund. Last June Steve offered a solo concert of the 12 Caprices Opus 25 for solo cello by Alfredo Piatti in New York City. As of this writing, he was preparing for a trio concert with two other Met musicians.

Married for thirty-seven years to Annie, and with two grown sons, one of whom works in education and the other who is a composer and songwriter in New York City, Steve lives in northern Westchester County, an hour from Manhattan. “I have no interest or desire to ever retire,” he declares, “as performing, teaching, and constantly practicing and rehearsing give me a sense of purpose each and every day.”

“Fenn fostered and guided me in the aspiration of becoming a complete human being.” – Steve Ballou ’65

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1956 reunion We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes.

presented by the American Forest & Paper Association, recognized Seaman Paper for energy efficiency and GHG reduction.

1970 Alumni Class Senator

1957

Charlie Denault

David White reports, “I could be the Bionic Man! Last spring I had my second hip replacement and more recently had my second eye cataracted. Both appear to have been successful. I enjoy my summers in Vermont with the Marlboro Music Musicians, which has been such a rewarding part of my life for nearly sixty years. I look forward to attending The Nutcracker Suite offering at Boston Ballet.”

1961 reunion We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes

cadenault@gmail.com

1971 reunion Alumni Class Senator Jamie Jones

jbjones@seamanpaper.com

1972 Nick Wallerstein is the winner of the 2015 Distinguished Faculty Award at Black Hills State University, where he is a professor of English. The award is BHSU’s top faculty honor.

1976 reunion 1966 reunion We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes

1977

In November 2015, George Jones accepted a sustainability award on behalf of Seaman Paper Company. The award, one of seven

Neal Graneau married Mayela Zamora in Oxford, England, on July 14, 2015, while the New Horizons probe had its closest approach to Pluto, sending back the newest images of our solar system. Neal is a physicist in the

George Jones ’68 accepting a sustainability award on behalf of Seaman Paper

Neal Graneau ’69 and Mayela Zamora on their wedding day

1968

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We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes

fields of fundamental electromagnetism and novel renewable energy sources, and Mayela works on mathematical interpretations of current biological discoveries. After Fenn, Neal attended Phillips Exeter Academy before studying physics at King’s College, London, and then continued his research at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford. FENN has learned that Steve Carell has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony took place on January 6 in front of Grauman’s Egyptian Theater, with actor Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay on hand to help with the unveiling. Steve’s latest movie is The Big Short, where he plays one of the financial experts who predicted the housing market collapse in the mid-2000s.

Congratulations, Steve!

1978 Stiles Bennet writes, “I have fond memories of my two years at Fenn, great teachers like Jim Carter and Bart Winchell, and a great three-season sports program. We have a son who is now a junior in high school, and he is following in my footsteps as a cross country runner. We also have a daughter in 8th grade, and her passion is volleyball. As for me, I’m closing in on ten years with a high-end vacation rental company called WIMCO Villas.

We specialize in the rental of private villas in the Caribbean and Europe, with concierge service. It’s a very active and interesting space. Check us out online and let me know what you think.” Bill Lawrence has been teaching at George Washington University in

Steve Carell ’77

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Washington, DC, and recently testified before the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the crisis in Libya and North Africa. He is also a regular guest on NPR, BBC, and France 24 television and also teaches and lectures regularly in the intelligence community on radicalism and threats emanating from the Middle East and North Africa. In January, he is planning to move back to the Middle East to take up a new position in the private sector supervising work on risk analysis and assessment, while continuing with many of his other activities. Ben Williams reports, “I am in my 18th year as headmaster at the Cate School in Carpinteria, CA. The third of our three children is now a freshman there and the other two are out of college and in the working world. Geography makes it difficult to maintain much of a connection to Fenn— other than giving to the Annual Fund! When we are not in California we are at our cabin in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana. There, the Rosebud River flows conveniently past our backdoor, and I can satisfy my fly fishing addiction with abandon. Most of my family remains in the Northeast and I have just joined the Board of Trustees at Westminster School, where I went after I graduated from Fenn. So while I still do journey back to New England, I am just as happy to host any Fenn visitors coming West.”

1979 Chris (Fadiman) Hardman writes, “My niece Jamie Palmer Keating is a Concord resident. She is a school teacher and an

Stiles Bennet ’78

up-and-coming artist. I am looking forward to her two-year-old son, Wyatt, joining the Fenn student body in the years to come.

Look her up on Facebook!”

1980 Alumni Class Senator Jon Cappetta

jcappetta@colonial.net

Jon Cappetta is enjoying teaching 4th and 5th grade in Concord at the Thoreau School and sends best wishes to all his classmates.

Paul Senese married Jocelyn Marie Senese on November 21, 2015, at the Old North Bridge in Concord, MA.

1981 reunion Joe Williams, who is currently assistant head of school for external affairs at Kimball Union Academy, was recently appointed the 23rd head of school at New Hampton School in New Hampshire.

1983 Alumni Class Senator Scott Van Houten scott@vanhoutendesign.com

Steve Janes married Paula Bresnahan on September 19, 2015. Andy Majewski was engaged on Christmas morning, 2015, to Myra Garza, whom he met five years ago at Harvard’s Peabody Museum, where Andy, an education specialist at the museum, was run-

Jocelyn and Paul Senese ’80 at their Old North Bridge wedding

ning a training program for members of various Latin American groups on campus who wanted to help out with the museum’s annual Día de los Muertos Family Festival. Andy and Myra will be married next winter in a Spanish Mission-style church “so far down the map that it’s just barely within the U.S. boundaries,” he said. “In fact, you can see the border of Mexico across a field where the Rio Grande separates the two countries.”

1985 Alumni Class Senator Nick Elfner

nelfner@hotmail.com

1986 reunion We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes

1987 Chris Broyles, his wife, Jacky, and their three children, Josie and Emma (11) and Nate (6), left Chicago and vacationed in Boston and Maine over the summer. They made time to come to Fenn for a tour and visit. Ben Smith ’85 was able to reminisce with them, and they enjoyed a great time seeing what was new (and what was still happily the same!). Chris continues to work for FTI Consulting as head of the Americas for their Digital & Communications Practice. Craig Surman reports, “I got the chance to teach a three-day course in

Josie, Nate, and Emma Broyles pose with Roger Fenn during their summer 2015 visit to Fenn. w i n ter

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“We are all friends together as equals.”

Halby Brothers Run Camp for Adults of All Abilities W i l l Ha l b y ’ 86 and his brother Peter ’91 have always been drawn to “the culture of disability and the diversity of the disabled community, particularly in the arts where ‘success’ and value are less objective,” says Will, adding that he finds it “wildly creative to figure out ways to include people who are not celebrated in traditional society.”

Will, who recalls loving “shop and all my sports” at Fenn, and Peter went on to Belmont Hill School and the University of Vermont. Will has been a special education teacher, both brothers have taught adaptive skiing, and Peter

was an instructor in adaptive sports with Access Sports America. Will and Peter once volunteered at Camp Jabberwocky on Martha’s Vineyard, a residential vacation camp for adults and children with disabilities that later inspired them to create their own program.

In the early 2000s, the Halbys, including Will’s wife, Vanessa, and Peter’s wife, Ila, who share their husbands’ passion for helping others, began running specialty music, art, and sports camps in Florida, California, and elsewhere. In 2008 they acquired twenty acres in Lincoln, VT, to establish an East Coast facility and

merged their other, distant camp entities into a single organization called Zeno Mountain Farm, a non-profit named for the road on the property. They launched a film camp in southern California in 2013 as a non-profit. The families now run annual programs in California, Florida, and Guatemala, and a winter camp at Sugarbush, a Vermont ski area. There are Zeno gatherings year-round, including premieres, work weekends, and sports events.

All of the camps run on donations, including film screenings they host all over the country, and no one pays, or

Peter Halby is on the far left (hand in the air) and Will is on the top of the bus on the far right (with his hand in the air).

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clothing, saloon brawls, showdowns at the poker table, and villainous characters.

In 2015, a documentary directed by Michael Bennet titled Becoming Bulletproof was filmed in Vermont about the making of Zeno’s film. With a purpose to raise awareness and promote integration of and creative opportunities for people with disabilities, the film garnered critical acclaim. “If you want to see real courage… it’s in this documentary,” according to a review in The New York Times. “As entertaining as it is inspiring,” trumpeted The Hollywood Reporter.

Calling itself “a big family,” Zeno has a mission that is simple and heartfelt. It includes this statement: “We believe that the most important thing in the whole world to us human beings is friendship, community, and the knowledge that we matter to each other.”

Will is in front with his wife, Vaneesa, and their son, Addy.

is paid—from directors to cooks—to participate. Both Halby families— Will and Vanessa have three children with another on the way, and Peter and Ila have two—share all of the responsibilities of running Zeno.

Zeno produces films that feature adults with and without disabilities, all of whom collaborate on the project at their Actor’s Camp in Los Angeles. On their website they playfully describe the camp community as consisting of “people with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, law degrees, teaching certificates, cognitive delay, carpentry skills, Williams syndrome, a willingness to dance in public, and spina bifida.”

Will says they do not use the terms “campers” or “counselors” or “staff”

because “We all are friends together as equals.” Over the years, the films, produced for budgets of $25,000 or less, have included a pirate-themed musical, a horror movie, and a mockumentary about a defunct ’60s rock band. They have drawn celebrity participants and included cameos by Ted Danson, David Arquette, and Ozzy Osborne. “It’s never been hard to find creative, talented people who want to help,” Will says.

Bulletproof, a Western produced in 2013, featured a 45-member cast and crew including eighteen actors with physical and cognitive difficulties, including cerebral palsy and Williams syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder. Three were in wheelchairs.

Bulletproof boasts authentic Western

CONN E C T W I T H F E NN Like us on Facebook Network with Alums on LinkedIn The Fenn School Alumni Follow us on Twitter @FennSchool

“We believe that the most important thing in the whole world to us human beings is friendship, community, and the knowledge that we matter to each other.” – Excerpt from Zeno Mission Statement

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Prague to clinicians from seven European Union countries on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Being that close to the former ‘Iron Curtain’ brought back great memories of the world-expanding Russian trip of 1987. Anyone want to trade something for my New Balance sneakers?”

1989 Andrew White writes, “I don’t think I’ve updated Fenn in a really long time. I live out in Portland, OR, with my wife and our dogs. I’m currently the associate director and co-owner of the Portland DBT Institute (http://www.pdbti.org), which is the oldest and largest free-standing provider of evidence-based treatment for individuals experiencing suicidal behavior in the country, which I think is wicked awesome.

I’m also still actively playing music. Hope folks are doing well; look me up if you are in Portland.” In July 2015, Stew Williamson was named a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from the state of Vermont for his work teaching science to 7th through 12th grade students. These awards are presented annually to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country. The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators following an initial selection process done at the state level. Each year the award alternates between teachers teaching kindergarten through 6th grade and those teaching 7th through 12th grades.

1990

1994

Alumni Class Senator

Alumni Class Senator

Alex Zavorski

Breman Thuraisingham

zavorski@gmail.com

Andy Boger and Olivia Achtmeyer Boger are new parents to Jackson Achtmeyer Boger, born on December 21, 2015 and weighing 7 lbs. 7 oz. and measuring 20 in. long; he joins his brother, Stuart. Sam Clemens’ company, InsightSquared, was named to The Boston Globe’s list of “Top Places to Work in Boston.”

Sixth on the list of medium-sized employers, InsightSquared is a business intelligence/ analytics company with 133 employees. Josh Schohn met up with Jean and Jim Carter ’54 in Reno, NV, this past summer.

1991 reunion We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes

Rob Achtmeyer continues to live in Rockville, MD. He is teaching English and history at the Maret School. Additionally, he has been elected chair of Rockville’s Historic District Commission. He and his wife, Kate, have two boys. Garreth Debiegun continues to live in Maine with his spouse, Debbie, and two children, Holtyn and Lydianna. He is working at Maine Medical Center as a clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine. He is also the medical director for the ski patrol at Saddleback Maine. He spends time as well working with the American College of Emergency Physicians, biking, and most of all, spending time with his family.

1995 Alumni Class Senators Nat Heald

nhheald@yahoo.com

James Southern

1992 Alumni Class Senator James McNamara

jamers2000@gmail.com

Adam Dretler writes, “Over the summer I had a great reunion with my old friend and fellow Fenn classmate Damon Corkin. We met at Harvard Stadium to watch the Massachusetts state lacrosse championship game (congrats to my high school, Lincoln-Sudbury, for the 12-4 win). We had many laughs reminiscing about our Fenn days and I look forward to seeing other ’92 classmates in the future.”

breman_t@yahoo.com

JSouthern@Halstead.com

David Mulvany and his wife, Katy, are the proud parents of twins born on August 10, 2015. Big brother Jack welcomed William and his sister, Isla, to the family.

1996 reunion Alumni Class Senators John Jenkinson Glenn Kasses

jfjenkinson@gmail.com gkasses@yahoo.com

1997 Alumni Class Senator Nat Carr

Josh Schohn ’90 with Jean and Jim Carter ’54

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Class of 1994 friends Rob Achtmeyer (left) and Simon McKay

ncarr@fenn.org

Elizabeth and Jamieson Bretz welcomed their first child, Jackson Xavier Bretz, on October 17, 2015, weighing 9 lbs. 2 oz. and measuring 21.5 in. Already more punctual than his parents, Jackson arrived promptly on his due date with the support of a doula at the holistic birthing program at Valley Hospital in New Jersey. His sleep-deprived parents are completely in love with their new addition. Nat Carr and his wife,

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midnight ride to Brigham & Women’s Hospital from Marion, MA, where earlier that day I shot the best golf round of my life—fitting, since I won’t A Day Camp for girls and boys ages 5 - 15 play much anymore.” In Day Camp Program Specialty Camp Day Tripper Camp July, Moody Jameson finished up his internship at the VA. Julie and Conor Maguire celebrated the Katie, welcomed their first child, Adelaide arrival of daughter Claire on March 9, 2015.

Southworth Carr, on August 16, 2015.

Andy Sjogren moved to Southern CaliforSophie and James Ward celebrated the nia in October to join his fiancée, Candace arrival of son John “Jack” Avery Ward on Klein. Their wedding is planned for May May 7, 2015. in Montebenichi, Italy. Alex Wayman and his wife, Ashley, welcomed baby daughter Isabella Anne Wayman to their family on 1998 August 24, 2015. She weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz.

Alumni Class Senators and measured 21.5 in.

Richard Connolly Patrick Jones

riconnolly@gmail.com

Patrick.jones.p@gmail.com

On August 17, Richard Connolly and his wife, Allison, celebrated the birth of Richard Francis Connolly IV, who will go by Finn. Richard reports that Finn was born three weeks early, after “a Paul Revere

family, Emily “Brooks” Fincke. Brooks was born on September 14 at 1:45 p.m., weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. and measuring 19.5 in. long.

Brooks and her parents are doing great.

They would love to meet up with any alumni in the CT/NYC area! Conor FitzPatrick and his wife, Masha, had a baby girl, Keira, on July 8, 2015. Ryan Kieffer married Monty Rentschler on September 19, 2015, in New York City. Sam Takvorian writes, “After living in Boston for nearly a decade, my wife and I have plans to move to Philadelphia this upcoming June, where we will begin our training in oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. Come visit!”

2000 Alumni Class Senators George Carr Matt Ward

1999 Alumni Class Senator Ryan Connolly

reconnolly@gmail.com

Greg Fincke and his wife, Page, are excited to welcome the latest member of their

gcarr4@gmail.com mward@fenn.org

George Carr reports, “In October my wife, Molly, and I moved from Boston to Freeport, ME. I’m now working in Portland at a wealth management firm named RM Davis as a portfolio manager. I’m thankful to only be two hours away from Concord and look

Kevin White ’93: 1978-2015 K evi n W hi te, who passed away at age 37 after being stricken ill at his home in Boston on December 14, 2015, remained close to Fenn after his graduation in 1993 and had recently finished his third season coaching the Fenn varsity soccer team. He was “someone who led by example,” according to Bob Starensier, Fenn’s athletic director. Kevin, an accomplished soccer player, worked primarily with the team’s goalies. “His ability to challenge them was remarkable,” Bob says. “He gave them the confidence to push themselves to get better every day.” The players “loved Kevin’s enthusiasm for the game and will always remember the fun they had playing with and against him in scrimmages during practice,” Bob adds.

Kevin, a graduate of Lawrence Academy, earned a B.S. in finance and economics from Villanova University and an M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University. Throughout his career he worked with several financial private equity firms in both Chicago and Boston. In April 2013, Kevin and his parents were standing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, within yards of the first bomb explosion. Kevin was knocked unconscious and suffered shrapnel wounds, a perforated eardrum,

and two concussions while his mother, Mary Jo, suffered a broken arm and foot and his father, Bill, would lose his lower right leg from the blast. Kevin talked about the long road back for his family, including Andrew ’89, after the tragedy in a Reflections piece in the Winter 2014 issue of FENN. He visited Fenn Upper School students last year to talk to them about his experience.

Despite his ordeal, Kevin returned to the marathon finish line in 2014, this time wearing a race bib. Though he had not previously been a runner, Kevin began training with the Marathon Coalition, a collective of charity teams that hosts weekly group runs in advance of the big race. He competed in two Boston Marathons and was training for his third. Kevin was described as a model of “fortitude and discipline,” and as “supportive and positive—always thinking of others,” in an article posted on the Runner’s World website. He was “a dedicated member [of the Coalition], attending every run.”

Kevin’s “positive and generous spirit was ever present,” Bob says. “He left an indelible mark on the Fenn soccer program, and we will always remember and truly miss him.”

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forward to continuing to see friends and former classmates at Fenn events.” Josh Parker married Rachel Warner on May 3, 2015, and honeymooned in Italy.

2001 reunion Alumni Class Senator Jimmy Hall Adelaide Southworth Carr, daughter of Nat ’97

Elizabeth and Jamie Bretz ’97 with son Jackson

jkhall4@gmail.com

On July 4, Chas Andre married Emma LaBelle in Epping, NH. Matt Kilfoyle completed his M.B.A. at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business in May 2015.

2002 Alumni Class Senators Will Howerton

Keira FitzPatrick, daughter of Conor ’99

Finn Connolly, son of Richard ’98

Conor Maguire ’98 and daughter, Claire

Jack Ward, son of James ’97

Brooks Fincke, daughter of Greg ’99

will.howerton@gmail.com

Graham Jenkins

grahamwjenkins@gmail.com

Davis Rosborough

davis.rosborough@gmail.com

C Abry and Jessica Bereszczak welcomed the arrival of their daughter, Mira Anna Abry, on August 26, 2015. Topher Bevis bid adieu to Fenn in June after six years as assistant athletic director. He is now working for Berkshire Hathaway in Boston in their real estate division. Aaron Colby is living in Boston’s Back Bay with his good friend Tudor Foote and older brother Luke Colby ’96. He continues to enjoy wearing multiple hats at work, from biotech startup to research fellow, while trying to find time to dance and paint in the evenings.

2003 Alumni Class Senators Jack Carroll

je.carroll10@gmail.com

Bronson Kussin

bronson.kussin@gmail.com

Christian Manchester Mike Spiak

Jackson Achtmeyer Boger, son of Andy ’90

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Isabella Ann Wayman, daughter of Alex ’98

manchech@gmail.com

mspiak06@gmail.com

Tyler Godoff is in the second year of his M.B.A. at Yale and is enjoying life in New Haven. He is serving on the University’s Schwarzman Advisory Committee which was created by Yale’s president to advise him and the Yale Corporation on how best to utilize a $150 million gift to renovate and re-imagine an 84,000 square foot complex.

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S AV E T H E D AT E !

at the same camp. The trio preserved the encounter in a photo (see page 58).

2006 reunion Alumni Class Senators

Founder’s Day Celebration Thursday, April 14, 2016 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

2004 Alumni Class Senator BJ Moriarty

jmoriarty@jwcapitalpartners.com

2005 Alumni Class Senators Spencer Lovejoy Will Stone

slovejoy424@comcast.net

william.l.stone12@gmail.com

Pete Valhouli-Farb

pvalhoulifarb@gmail.com

Lindsey Kennard attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, and graduated in 2012 with a major in computer science and a minor in studio art. After working as

The Lenox Hotel (Dome Room) 61 Exeter Street Boston a software engineer for a year, he received a National Science Foundation Fellowship and attended Northeastern University to pursue his master of science degree in computer science. He graduated from Northeastern this past spring. He is now returning to Rensselaer with a graduate fellowship to pursue his Ph.D. in computer science. Lindsey’s area of research will focus on static and dynamic program analysis, cyber-security, and gaming theory. Tejas Pathak is serving in the military in Alaska. While in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania last August, Joe Shapiro discovered what a small world it is when he ran into Elliot Stevenson ’15 and his brother, Herrick, a Fenn 4th grader,

Tyler Davis

davist.boston@gmail.com

Luke Rogers

lucianjrog@gmail.com

Colin Beckwitt is currently an M.D.-Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh after graduating from MIT in 2013. He has finished the first two years of medical school and is four months into his Ph.D. Colin is doing cancer research and pursuing orthopedic surgery clinically. Fred Essieh reports that, “the Fenn Alumni soccer team recently won its league championship this past fall in an exciting final which went down to penalty kicks. The heroics of JB Henderson, in net for the second game in a row, helped secure the first championship for the team since leaving Acton Indoor Sports and playing in a league in the Boston area. The team is comprised of me, Luke Rogers, Tyler Davis, Scooter Manly, and JB Henderson.”

Ben Lamont is living in Washington, DC, and working on Asia issues at a think tank.

2007 Alumni Class Senators Will Joumas

wbjoumas@gmail.com

Joe Rinaldo

josepher715@gmail.com

2008 Alumni Class Senators Dan Giovacchini

giodan25@gmail.com

Chris Walker-Jacks christopherwjacks@gmail.com JC Winslow

MAST’ on Province Street in Boston was the place to be on November 19 as more than 35 alumni spanning the decades gathered to connect and reminisce.

jcwins16@g.holycross.edu

Winston Pingeon is finishing up his senior year at American University in Washington, DC, where he’s been interning for the United States Marshals Service, working at headquarters. He’s looking forward to graduating with a B.A. in justice and law studies and with a certificate in advanced leadership studies from the School of Public Affairs. He hopes to continue a career in the law enforcement field upon graduation this spring. As a management intern for Roc Nation this

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summer, Christopher Walker-Jacks worked directly with some of the biggest names in the music industry and their managers over the course of his two-month internship. From writing press releases to touring with the band Haim, the opening act on Taylor Swift’s “1989 Tour,” Chris was given a wide scope of responsibilities that allowed him to gain new insight into the music industry from a management perspective. Contributing to putting on one of the largest concerts in the country was a “dream come true,” he says. “I’ve always been intrigued by the music industry,” says Chris, an environmental studies major at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. “Last summer I had the opportunity to work for the largest independent music publishing company in the world, Imagem, which was great,

but I’ve always wanted to see the industry from a management perspective,” Chris says.

“I had general conceptions of what managers did, but I had no idea how extensive their involvement was in basically every aspect of the business.” On campus, Chris is a member of the varsity soccer team and joined the concert committee as well as the HWS radio station last fall.

2009

Early in 2015, Julian Baeza Hochmuth ’10 convinced Sam Doran to pledge the Phi Alpha Tau Fraternity at Emerson College.

They are now brothers in Tau, the nation’s oldest communicative arts fraternity. The friendships and experiences in this organization have had a profound impact on their lives, and SLD expresses his eternal gratitude to JBH. Sam is anchored in Boston, where he worked last summer at the State House News Service. Carl Hesler earned ECAC Rivers School Homecoming in October featured both JV and Varsity soccer games Hockey All-Acaagainst Groton and a chance for a group Fenn photo. (l to r, top row) Fenn Director of Technology Jeff LaPlante; Rivers players James Correia ’15 and Cole LaPlante ’15; Alec demic Team honReiss ’14, Stefano Viacava Vera ’12, Patrick Ryan ’15, and Zahin Das ’13 from Groton; ors for 2014-15. and former Fenn Director of Alumni Giving and Alumni Relations Harris Rosenheim Carl, who is now ’02. (l to r, bottom row) Fenn 9th grader Mark Reiss; Groton players Nick Steinert ’15, Walker Davey ’15, Chewy Bruni ’15, and Witt Cadwalader ’16 of Rivers. Missing from in his sophomore photo: Scott Correia ’12 (Rivers) and Owen Gund ’15 (Groton) year at Dartmouth,

This year’s Concord-Carlisle High School football captains (l to r): Patrick Crowley, Ethan vanderWilden, Austin Hoey, and Jon Stasior, all class of ‘13. At least fifty percent of CC’s team captains over the last several years have been from Fenn.

“I’m grateful to Fenn for providing so many of our players with such a strong foundation,” said Coach Mike Robichaud.

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was recognized with a spot on the newly created commissioner’s level, designed to honor the first-year player with the highest GPA after one year with the program.

2010 Alumni Class Senators Gabe Arnold

ggbbe3@gmail.com

Drew Coash

dcoash@middlebury.edu

Will Crowley

wcc2ab@virginia.edu

Julian Baeza Hochmuth is abroad for the fall semester at Berklee College’s Valencia, Spain, campus as he works to complete a music technology minor.

2011 reunion Alumni Class Senator Nathaniel Sintros

nathaniel1756@gmail.com

2012 Alumni Class Senators Will Baxter

will.baxter.1996@gmail.com

Andreas Sheikh

andsheikh21@gmail.com

Matt Azarela was named an ISL All-Star in lacrosse this past June. Carter Hochman received an offer to play Division 1 soccer and entered University of Massachusetts Lowell this past fall. In June 2015, Carter Jones was again named an EIL All-Star in tennis. Alaric Krapf was awarded the Franklin D. Roosevelt Debating Prize at the 2015 Groton School Prize Day. In June 2015, John Lamont was named an ISL All-Star in baseball. He also received the Charles Lanier Appleton Prize at the 2015 Groton School Prize Day. The prize is awarded to members of the Sixth Form who have greatly served the school. John will be living in Argentina for a month and in Madrid for three months during his gap year. In June 2015, Jack Lyne was once again named an ISL All-Star in lacrosse. In addition, he played defense for Team Stx, which defeated Team Wounded Warrior 25-18 in the Boston Lax All-American Game on July 8. He is a senior at Middlesex School, where he also plays football and basketball and captains both teams. In football, he’s a tight end

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(l to r) Class of 2012 classmates Brendan Seifert, Ben Stone, and Tim Joumas sport their Fenn alumni ties at Lawrence Academy graduation in May 2015.

(l to r) James Correia ’15 and Cole LaPlante’15 join St. Mark’s teammates Ben Winters ’16 and Boyd Hall ’15 at the Rivers School Homecoming football game in October. Hunter Corliss ’14 and Zach Lisman ’13 (not pictured) played for Rivers.

and kicker. In basketball, he plays center and power forward. Jack has made a verbal commitment to attend Johns Hopkins University, the Big Ten lacrosse champion and one of the most storied programs in college lacrosse.

Patrick Crowley was named a Dual County All-Star in lacrosse this past June. Zahin Das received the Williams Book Prize at the 2015 Groton School Prize Day. The prize is given to a member of the Fifth Form who has demonstrated intellectual leadership and has made a significant contribution to the extracurricular life of the school. In June 2015, Austin Hoey was once again named a Dual County All-Star in lacrosse, and Cole Winstanley was once again named a Dual County All-Star in track.

2013 Alumni Class Senators Jake Goorno Mitchell Groves Reid Shilling

jbgoorno@gmail.com mitchmgroves@gmail.com rshilling97@gmail.com

Fenn was well represented at the St. Mark’s School new student orientation day this past fall. Pictured (l to r) are Matt Hart ’15, Boyd Hall ’15, Reid Monahan ’15, Ben Winters ’16, Nolan Moore ’16, and Jack Eames ’15.

2014 Alumni Class Senators Chad Arle

chad.w.arle@gmail.com

Andrew Brown

abrown.17@pomfretschool.org

Ryan Ewing

ryanewing99@gmail.com

P.J. Lucchese

pjlucchese@gmail.com

Christopher Ruediger Cormac Zachar

chris.ruediger3@gmail.com

cormacz98@gmail.com

Matt Killian earned honorable mention from the ISL for his play on last spring’s baseball team. Justin Robb plays first

Charlie Hibben ’15 Sails to a Gold Medal W he n five member s of Milton Academy’s sailing team, including Fenn alumnus Charlie Hibben ’15, third from left in photo, competed in the International Sailing Federation’s 2015 Team Racing World Championship last summer in Rutland, England, they won the gold medal in their division and took the final gold honors in youth racing. The event is considered to be the pinnacle of international dingy team racing. Charlie calls the experience “a racing education,” and says he had “quite an adventure” that week.

The group practiced for several days at M.I.T.’s sailing center; M.I.T. is the only school in the U.S. that uses these two-sail boats in competition. During the week-long event, the Milton sailors competed in fifty races of about eleven minutes each and even beat some of the adult teams.

Besides sailing in the world team race championships, Charlie, who began sailing when he was eight years old, competed in two other national title events: the 29er Championship and the Quadruplehanded Junior Championship, doing well in each. “The friendships I made with people from

other countries will be everlasting,” he declares. His dream is to compete in the Olympics and the America’s Cup and to be named a sailing All-American in college.

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Reunion 2015

Fenn welcomed back alumni whose class years end in 0 or 5 to celebrate their reunions on September 25. Attendees enjoyed a lively reception in the Jafari Library lobby and dinner in the Connolly Dining Hall, catching up with former faculty and staff, and with each other. Guests of honor were Jeff Cook ’62, and his wife, Brooke. Jeff received the Distinguished Alumnus Award the next day at Homecoming.

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string on the Blazers club soccer team which won the regional tournament for 16-year-olds and went on to West Virginia for sectional championships.

2015 Alumni Class Senators Paul Michaud paul.michaud13@gmail.com Sid Modur sidharth.modur@gmail.com Nick Schoeller nschoeller2@gmail.com Max Solomon max.solomon@comcast.net Dylan Volman dhvman@gmail.com Ben Zide benjaminzide@gmail.com (l to r) Herrick Stevenson ’21, Joe Shapiro ’05, and Elliot Stevenson ’15 in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park

See sidebar on page 55 for news of Charlie Hibben. Paul Michaud received the Fels Science Prize at the 2015 Groton School Prize Day. The prize is awarded to a member of the Lower School who has demonstrated exceptional enthusiasm for and proficiency in the experimental aspects of scientific inquiry. From the “small world” department: Elliot Stevenson was in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania last August with his family, including his brother, Herrick, a Fenn fourth grader. On the Stevensons’ second day at the camp, another group showed up. Elliot was surprised to discover that one of them had attended Fenn—Joe Shapiro ’05. The trio preserved the encounter in a photo (at left).

Elliot said that among the other highlights of the safari were spying a black rhino and a few lion cubs. A sophomore at Kimball Union Academy, Elliot played junior varsity soccer in the fall and loves the campus. He especially enjoyed the beautiful autumn weather in New Hampshire. Elliot sees fellow Fenn alumni Joey Crowley ’12, who is a post graduate, and Gavin Black ’13.

2016 Alumni Class Senators Owen Elton owen.elton@me.com Kevin Gao 666666kevingao@gmail.com William Locke wlocke2000@comcast.net

Members of the Class of 2015 posed with their Class Gift, a campus map, during the Thanksgiving Reunion in November.

Another robust crowd of young alumni gathered at the annual Thanksgiving Reunion on November 25.

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in memoriam

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

Elizabeth M. Carlhian

Rose P. Lynch

Fenn Trustee 1961-1967 November 1, 2015 Mother of Jerome Carlhian ’64

July 11, 2015 Mother of Vinnie Lynch ’64 and Alex Lynch ’66

Hunt C. Davis ’67

Sunil K. Rao ’93

January 8, 2015

October 1, 2012

Susan Dean

James V. Robinson

October 8, 2015 Mother of Chip Dean ’83

November 11, 2013 Father of John W. Robinson ’69

Eliot “Peter” Warden Denault, Jr.

Wanda W. Robinson

July 30, 2015 Father of Peter Denault ’69 and Charlie Denault ’70 Grandfather of Michael Denault ’96 and David Denault ’04

July 19, 2013 Mother of John W. Robinson ’69

Richard H. Edwards III ’46

Charles E. Terry ’53

David W. Taber ’51

February 25, 2015

June 10, 2015

June 9, 2015

Chandler Gifford, Jr.

Johannes van Houte

June 21, 2015 Father of Peter Gifford ’67 and Ben Gifford ’73 Grandfather of Sam Gifford ’07 Brooks Hoar ’36

March 14, 2015

June 12, 2015 Father of Johannes van Houte, Jr. ’81 Kevin P. White ’93

December 14, 2015 Gordon R. Williams III ’91

August 15, 2015

Thomas H. Lowell ’61

November 15, 2015

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R E FL E C TI O N S

Seniors Share Their Stories Se nior Ref le ction s ,

a ninth grade class tradition, are an opportunity for boys to build confidence in public

speaking by sharing thoughts about what is important to them in front of their assembled classmates, teachers, and Fenn staff members during All School Meeting. The boys, guided by Lorraine Ward, reflect on a significant person in their lives or talk about a passion, a journey—whether literal or figurative—they have taken, or an experience that has taught them a valuable lesson. Here are some excerpts from reflections given last fall.

“One day I watched a Concord Youth Theatre performance and I began to feel differently about drama. I realized it was cooler than I had thought. I went on to act in Summer Fenn and CYT productions, and last year I played the title character in The Elephant Man at Fenn, which was challenging and rewarding.

I learned that you might not be so good at or passionate about something the first time you try it, but if you revisit it, you may end up loving it.” Tyler Arle

“I began collecting license plates when I was seven and now I have about a thousand. I have made friends all over the country and write a column for the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association magazine.

I’m one of the organization’s youngest members. Plates have stories to tell and they are all unique. I think it’s good to do something that you think is cool, even if other people don’t. You never know where that passion will take you.” Sam Farley

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“Fears. We all have them and we all hate them. They might be spiders, clowns, or running low on battery power. For me it’s heights. When I went to Camp Caribou with my class, I saw the high ropes course and my heart sank. I put on a harness but sat on a bench, hoping no one would notice me. My classmate Sam Farley came over to ask what was wrong and I admitted I was afraid. He encouraged me to try and the next thing I knew I was at the top of the ladder. I looked down to see Sam and a few other boys cheering me on. I still have fears, but being willing to confront them with the support of others makes all the difference.” Matt Sanders Tyler Arle

“Our identities aren’t decided by our passports or birthplaces, but by the people, places, and experiences in our lives. My six years at Fenn have shaped me into being who I am. Last year I left Fenn to go to Mt. Mansfield Winter Academy for three months to train as a ski racer while keeping up my Fenn work. Even though it was hard at first to adjust, I made good friends, improved my work habits, and learned there was somewhere else besides Fenn that I could call home. I wondered, though, if I would be welcomed back and feel as if I belonged here again. But the day I came back, Mr. Boonisar greeted me warmly and made me realize that your home never forgets you and you never forget your home.” Ethan Bondick

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I love Fenn because…

“…fifty years after I went to Fenn, the school still stands for the same core values.” – alumnus “…it supports my son academically, socially, and emotionally. He has never been happier.” – current parent “…it shapes boys into men who make you proud!” – parent of alumnus

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We know you love Fenn, too!

Annual Fund support strengthens Fenn’s academic programs and enables the teaching of its core values. Make your gift or pledge today by visiting www.fenn.org/annualfund or by using the envelope attached to the facing page. We are grateful for your support.

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

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

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!

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