F O U N T A I N VA L L E Y S C H O O L
INSIDE: FOUNTAIN VALLEY FILMMAKERS
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Commencement Reunion 2015
Where They’re Headed! American University Boston College Boston University Bryn Mawr College Carnegie Mellon University Chapman University Clarkson University Colby College Colorado College Colorado State University Dartmouth College DePaul University Franklin and Marshall College Gonzaga University
Harvey Mudd College Junior Hockey Knox College Lafayette College Manhattan College Maryland Institute College of Art Miami University, Oxford Middlebury College Mount Holyoke College New York University Pomona College Pratt Institute Queen’s University Robert Morris University
Sewanee: The University of the South Springfield College St. Lawrence University Texas A&M University The Evergreen State College The George Washington University Trinity University Tufts University University of Adelaide University of British Columbia University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles University of California, San Diego
University of Colorado, Boulder University of Colorado, Colorado Springs University of Colorado, Denver University of Denver University of Oregon University of Puget Sound University of San Francisco University of Utah University of Wisconsin University of Wyoming Western Washington University
Table of Contents Departments
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From the Head of School FVS Bulletin Board Dane Sports Wrap Class Notes
Fountain Valley School of Colorado Board of Trustees 2015–16 PRESIDENT Henry P. Morse Jr. ’69 VICE PRESIDENT Katrina Presti P ’13, ’15 TREASURER Janet Refior SECRETARY Jolene Lane ’79 LEGAL COUNSEL Scott M. Browning
In Memoriam Why I Give
EX OFFICIO William V. Webb Benjamin R. Howe ’89
Features
LIFE TRUSTEES W. Jerome Frautschi ’49 Robert E. Henderson ’44, P ’72 James M. Scott ’68, P ’95, ’99, ’05
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Commencement 2015
20 Party on the Prairie 2015 Reunion
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Fly Like an Eagle (or Seagull)
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Fountain Valley Filmmakers
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Profile: Land Manager Tyson Phillips
HEAD OF SCHOOL William V. Webb
Contributors
Email: bulletin@fvs.edu Phone: 719-390-7035 Mail: 6155 Fountain Valley School Road Colorado Springs, CO 80911
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BULLETIN Jeanne Olive, Editor DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT Kate Faricy Maiurro ’00 ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Eric Kronebusch ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT Benjamin R. Howe ’89
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Class Notes, address changes and other alumni communications should be directed to the FVS Alumni Office at alumni@fvs.edu.
ON LINKEDIN!
CO-DIRECTORS OF COMMUNICATIONS Jeanne Olive and Laura Fawcett
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The Bulletin is published two times a year. Letters, comments and article submissions are welcome. Contact the FVS Communications Office:
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DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT Julia Babson Alling B u l l e t i n
Jeanne Olive Laura Fawcett Kate Faricy Maiurro ’00
CURRENT TRUSTEES William M. Andres ’61 Lenee Bennett P ’16 Ward Berlin P ’15 Bonnie Bertram ’82 Grace Blea-Nuñez P ’09, ’11, ’15, ’17 Barry Brown ’69 Dean Dowson ’91, P ’17 Kelly Eustace P ’14, ’17 Kenneth Gamblin M.D.’62, P ’91, ’93 Juniper Hunter ’93, P ’15, ’16 Hope Kapsner P ’17 Anita Lane M.D. P ’14, ’16 Link Nicoll ’79 Peter D. Packard ’66 Josephine T. Parr ’84 Kevin Rask Ph.D. P ’16, ’19 Gregg Thatcher ’84, P ’17 Melinda Twomey P ’14, ’15 James Webster P ’14 Joseph A. Wheeling P ’10, ’13
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
DEAR FRIENDS, What a busy and full few months it has been since our last Bulletin! The Class of 2015 finished their final year on a high note, leaving behind a legacy and momentum that has carried into the start of the 2015-16 school year. Commencement speakers Rowen Felt ’15 and Shale Hunter ’15 shared poignant, thoughtful, and heartfelt remarks that left all in attendance clutching their stomachs in fits of laughter and then wiping away happy tears of joy minutes later. Alumna Laura Williams ’87 shared the lessons learned through her extraordinary life experiences, imparting on our graduates four guiding tenets that have served her well—GIFT: Give, Intuition, Follow your Dreams, and Trust. Not even a fierce afternoon thunderstorm could dampen the spirits!
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A week later, we kicked off Alumni Weekend and welcomed nearly 350 alumni and families back to campus for a weekend of reconnecting with old friends, discovering new interests, and celebrating 85 years of transformative education in the heart of the American West. Whether taking advantage of a blacksmithing class down at the ranch, or the Painting and Pinot class in the Art Barn, or a morning mountain bike ride on the prairie, alumni and families were treated to a wonderful weekend in celebration of Fountain Valley School’s 85 years. After receiving his long overdue diploma and being inducted into the Arts Guild, Bobby Weir ’65 made it extra special for all in attendance with an acoustic performance with classmate Hal Clifford in the Hacienda Living Room, and he then moved to the main stage under the tent for a couple more songs. The Fountain Valley community is one that is extremely close-knit and supportive of one another, and this was never more true as we came together in support of
Will, Maggie and Sarah Webb
each other and the family after an auto accident took the life of rising senior Tyler Allee Jumbo and left his twin brother, Casey, very badly injured. Our community came out in force at a service for Tyler, traveling 15 hours by bus roundtrip to show our love and support, and to honor a young man whose absence is felt here on campus. Many others spent time with Casey during his recovery, and I am pleased to report that he is a man on the mend and will return to campus to finish his senior year and graduate with his class. We very much look forward to welcoming Casey back to the embrace of the Fountain Valley community.
lead. Francis Froelicher could not have been more prescient when he charged his students to “write their own histories,” and I could not be more proud to have the honor of guiding our community, near and far, through the celebrations and growth moments with which we are all faced while writing our own histories.
Life is a collection of many chapters, some filled with joy and others with sorrow. At the end of the day, I am reminded that it is the people with whom we spend our time that have the greatest impact on our lives, help shape us into the people we become, and influence the lives we
WILLIAM V. WEBB Head of School
Happy reading! Best,
Bulletin Board Dominique Dunne Film Competition FVS junior John Everitt finished second in the dramatic category at this year’s Dominique Dunne Film Competition. Everitt collected one of six cash prizes for the competition, which culminated in a red carpet awards gala and film screening May 2 on campus. First place in the dramatic category went to Peter France of Agoura High School for “Due or Die.” France’s effects-laden short film juxtaposed an alien invasion with a student’s desperate need to turn in a term paper. Duncan Gowdy, an Eagle Scout from Ballard High School in Seattle, won the top award in the documentary category for “Clipped Wings,” an examination of the ban on gay leaders in the Boy Scouts of America. Dramatic Category Winners: FIRST PLACE: “Due or Die” by Peter France of Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, Calif. SECOND PLACE: “Everything Can Dream” by John Everitt ’16 of Fountain Valley School HONORABLE MENTION: “Stolen” by Coleman Anders of Ballard High School in Seattle, Wash.
This year’s judges were Linda Broker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival; Kathleen Broyles, program director at Milagro at Los Luceros with a longtime association with Sundance; Warren Epstein, former entertainment editor for the Colorado Springs Gazette; and John Simons, film professor at Colorado College. The award-winning films were sent to members of the competition’s Advisory Board, consisting of internationally known alumni film and television veterans: Griffin Dunne ’74, John Goldwyn ’76, Tony Goldwyn ’78 and Ed Sherin ’48.
Fountain Valley School of Colorado students Morgan Berlin and Dominic Carrese were two of 20 high school seniors from the Pikes Peak region named The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2015. Students nominated for the honor are judged on their academic achievements and contributions to their communities and schools, along with their answers to three questions. Best and Brightest is in its 24th year.
Graduates Shale Hunter and Joe Nuñez both moved into finalist status as National Merit Scholars, and both received scholarships from their respective schools, Tufts University and Harvey Mudd College.
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National Merit Finalists Scholarships
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Best and Brightest
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Documentary Category Winners: FIRST PLACE: “Clipped Wings” by Duncan Gowdy of Ballard High School in Seattle, Wash. SECOND PLACE: “Raven Rock” by Meagen Tajalle of Ballard High School in Seattle, Wash. HONORABLE MENTION: “St. Francis” by Adam Karp of Agoura High School in Agoura, Calif.
Bryce Kapsner ’17 is interviewed on the red carpet by Ashia Lee ’15.
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Interim Snapshots It was another phenomenal year for Interim experiences, where students learn by doing through exciting adventures that broaden intellectual, cultural and social horizons. Students and faculty alike come away with rich, lifelong memories and friendships.
Baja Kayaking in the Sea of Cortez
French Culture and Cycling in Côte d’Azur
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Red Rock Climbing
International Field Studies—Andros Island, Bahamas
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Freshman Interim: Ranching
Rockin’ Round the South
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Hook and Wire
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Kayaking Florida’s Greatest Rivers, Swamps and Springs
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Almost, Maine, and Other Stories Characters in the spring play, “Almost, Maine, and Other Stories” fell in and out of love in a production of nine vignettes set in a remote, mythical town. The play may have set a Fountain Valley record for the most kissing in a single production!
Shale Hunter ’15 and Laura Twomey ’15 in This Hurts
Preston Nash ’18 and Aspen Blair ’18 in Bar Mitzvah Boy
Matthew Presti ’15 and Addi Loveless ’16 in Getting It Back
Fermin Serrano ’15 and Morgan Berlin ’15 in Funeral Parlor
Azaria Segall ’16, left, and Lily Lungren ’16 in They Fell
Honoka Furuya ’16 and Max Corral ’17 in Epilogue
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David Cendon-Garcia ’16 and Morgan Berlin ’15 in Lingerie
Jesse Selvig ’17 and Addi Loveless ’16 in Sad and Glad
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Round Square Indian Delegation Spends a Week at FVS A delegation of 10 students and two teachers from Mayo College for Boys, a Round Square school in Ajmer, India, was hosted by FVS from May 9-15. The boys, ages 14-16, began their visit with an overnight at the Mountain Campus where trustee Peter Packard ’66 regaled them with cowboy stories by the fire as six inches of snow fell. On the suggestion of top Mayo athlete Ishaan Mantry, the boys called the property “FVS Base Camp.” In keeping with this name, Dr. Paul Carrese P ’13, ’15, husband of director of global education Dr. Susan Carrese, led a trek on Cottonwood Pass where the boys got a sense of the alpine ecosystem and the thin air of Colorado.
Land Manager Tyson Phillips heads out to the prairie with visiting Indian students to give them a perspective on ranching life.
When they arrived on campus, the delegation was welcomed by Head of School William Webb, Director of Admission Kila McCann P ’15 and several volunteer host students. Faculty members Rob Gilbert P ’11, ’13, Lisa Smith P ’18, Tyson Phillips,
Addie Green ’06 and Doug Badger P ’16 volunteered to teach class sessions geared to the boys’ interests. Global Affairs Forum co-presidents Cassidy Snyder ’15 and Joe Nuñez ’15 presided over a lively Q and A session on Indian politics and culture, which included an original patriotic rap by Mayo College junior Prakhar Sachdev. The students gave a formal presentation on their school and presented Indian gifts at All-School. Visits to the United States Air Force Academy, Venetucci Farm, the Olympic Training Center and the Big R Western store rounded out the itinerary to give the visitors a taste of the region before they ventured to Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York City. Fun intercultural moments took place over pick-up soccer, meals and table tennis competitions. Many Fountain Valley students appreciated this Round Square crosscultural opportunity. The delegation’s visit was a continuation of the relationship started when English faculty and director of global education Dr. Susan Carrese P ’13, ’15 visited Mayo College to learn about Round Square while she was on leave in 2007-08 to join her husband in Delhi while he took up a Fulbright Fellowship. Since then, there have been several collaborations with Mayo College: the “Indian Odyssey” Interim visited the school for lunch and a tour in 2013, and Nora Blood-Cheney ’14 completed a Challenge 20/20 project (sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools), which involved a year-long collaboration with the Environmental Club at Mayo. This became Blood-Cheney’s global scholar capstone project, “Global Water Issues Through Local Lenses in Rajasthan, India, and Colorado Springs.” FVS received an official thank you video from principal Lt. General Surenda Kulkarni and an invitation to send an FVS group to Mayo sometime soon.
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Left to right, Morgan Berlin ’15, Ben Strine ’15, Sydney Lane ’16, Caleb Hurwitz ’16 and Dr. Susan Carrese P ’13, ’15 represented Fountain Valley at the Round Square Regional Conference hosted by Anglo-Colombiano School in Bogota, Colombia, April 3-10. FVS students enjoyed week-long home stays with Colombian families and activities centered on the Round Square IDEALS (Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Leadership and Service). The day spent building a house (foundation to roof in one day!) and the hike to the famed El Dorado were favorites. While in Colombia, the students spent a day with Chris Peel ’14 who had been on a gap-year teaching exchange at Anglo-Colombiano this past year. Benny Cole ’15 has been chosen for the same exchange in 2015-16.
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Seniors Pursue Interests Outside of the Classroom Several Fountain Valley School of Colorado seniors explored personal academic and artistic interests by participating in the School’s Independent Study Program during the spring quarter. The ISP allows seniors, with the assistance of a faculty sponsor, to design their own projects which culminate with community presentations. Arts department chair Mark Dillon P ’08, ’10, ’11 chairs the Independent Study Projects program. Cassidy Snyder ’15 interned with local artists to develop her skills as a printmaker and learn about running a small business. While working with Sarah Dorn at the Business of Art Center in Manitou Springs, her first lesson was creating an abstract image from a series of realistically drawn objects (Snyder used pomegranates and reptiles). The piece is an intaglio etching on copper zinc plates. She worked on another abstract piece in pastel and India ink. “I’ve been exploring the elements of shape, line and texture, and the principles of rhythm, movement and unity,” Snyder said. “I have completed one intaglio etching of a cow and printed it six times.”
During the first half of her ISP, she worked with artist Holly Garlow in her studio with linocut printing and screen printing. She witnessed the process of creating and then selling art in the same space, and the difficulties and rewards of supporting oneself as an artist. Michael Fortenberry ’15 also pursued art opportunities outside of the traditional FVS studio program, concentrating his efforts in woodworking, welding and stone carving. His goal was to learn new techniques and styles that could enhance his Global Scholar and Advanced Placement art portfolios. Holly Owen ’15 explored her interest in the medical field through a work study with a local doctor specializing in pain management. She worked with Dr. Kenneth Finn, splitting her time among Springs Rehabilitation, Audobon Surgery Center and Kissing Camels Surgery Center. During the quarter, Owen attended consultations and witnessed dozens of procedures to help patients with back pain. Sarah Peel ’15 volunteered at a local afterschool program to pursue her interest in
elementary education. She worked with the program teachers to provide enrichment opportunities, academic support and guidance. An avid reader, Rachel Ryan ’15 supported English Faculty Dr. Susan Carrese in the development of a world literature syllabus for a future FVS elective. “I wanted to explore a personal passion,” Ryan said during her presentation. “I like books; I know it’s nerdy, but I like it. I also didn’t want to leave FVS without leaving a legacy of some sort. I wanted to fulfill the FVS motto of ‘writing your own history.’” Ryan didn’t just read; she also added poetry and movies to her syllabus to create a wide range of interesting learning experiences. She focused on global and local literary themes. Zack Salama ’15 concentrated on animation and video game development by creating a game called Color Coded (available in the Chrome App Store). He studied all aspects of game design from coding to 3D modeling to music development. During his presentation,
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Two of Cassidy Snyder ’15’s works created through her ISP.
One of the outdoor classrooms constructed on Earth Day, an outcome of Rowen Felt ’15’s ISP.
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Salama walked through the successes and frustrations he experienced during the project, saying it was “more work than he had imagined as a beginner.” He also worked with Arts Faculty Addie Green ’06 to develop more curricular opportunities in computer-based art and design. Joss Sitter explored his passion for flying and a career in aviation by continuing his flight training through Peak Aviation in Colorado Springs. He learned through both simulator training and actual flight training, including a solo flight. Sitter would like to get his private pilot’s license soon, but there is more training ahead of him. He said flying is a new level of freedom for him.
FVS College Tour Rising juniors and seniors wasted no time after the end of the 2014-15 school year, immediately embarking on a whirlwind visit to a dozen New England colleges. Spearheaded by Director of College Counseling Doug Badger, the tour was designed to give the students an inside look at potential colleges. In all, 14 students, along with Assistant Director of College Counseling Avery McGlenn and Assistant Director of Admission O’Neal Turner, visited schools including Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth, University of Vermont, Middlebury, Bennington, Mt. Holyoke, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Hampshire, Holy Cross, Tufts and Boston College.
“It gives you an opportunity to reflect and see everything from a new perspective,” he said. Rowen Felt was instrumental in the building of two new outdoor classrooms for FVS. He organized the process of choosing the spaces and led the creation of the areas during Earth Day. Finally, Clare Hamilton worked with Tim Boddington ’68 on a woodworking ISP in his workshop. Boddington guided her as she built a detailed wooden bench and started on a dovetailed jewelry box. Boddington charted Hamilton’s progress on his Facebook page, allowing many alumni to get an inside view of the creative process.
Science faculty Rob Gustke P ’16, ’18 and his daughter Julia ’18 swam from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park in San Francisco, a 1.5 mile challenging swim in 54 degree water. She trained for the swim as part of an independent sport elective.
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“I really enjoyed sharing my love of hand tool woodworking,” Boddington shared on his Facebook page. “Clare was a delight and an exceptional student. I’ll miss her presence in the shop.”
On the FVS College Tour, left to right: Associate Director of College Counseling Avery McGlenn, Chloe Zhang ’16, Destiny Morgan ’17, Yanno Fernandez ’16, John Everitt ’16, Jack Creel ’17, Isabella Montoya ’17, LaeOne Jung ’17, Mattie Gallagher ’17, Davis Badger ’17, Collin White ’17, Caleb Hurwitz ’16, Jack McCurdy ’16, Seohyun Jung ’16, Associate Director of Admission O’Neal Turner, Max Corral ’17
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F OUNTAIN VALLEY S CHOOL
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SPORTSWRAP Girls Soccer The Danes secured their first playoff win in nine years with a 4-1 victory over DSST in the first round. Although they lost to No. 2 seeded The Academy in the second round, FVS had one of its most successful seasons ever. Overall, the Danes were 11-4-1 and finished second in the region; they In her first year with the Danes, outscored opponents Carter Gwinn ’16 was fifth in 91-20 behind the one-two the state in points. punch of second team All-State selection McKenna Monk ’17 and Carter Gwinn ’16. Monk and Gwinn finished fourth and sixth, respectively, for points scored in the state (all divisions).
Boys Volleyball Track and Field
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Senior Dominic Carrese capped off an amazing career as a Dane with state titles in the 800m and 1600m, earning recognition as the CHSAA Co-Track and Field Athlete of the Year in the process. His times of 4:14.50 in the 1600m and 1:53.82 in the 800m are both school records. Three more Danes qualified for the state championships: Joe Nuñez ’15 in the discus, Roope Lakaniemi ’16 in the high jump and Donari Yahzid ’15 in the triple jump. Lakaniemi jumped 5-10 to tie for 10th, and Yahzid finished seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 33-09.50.
Dominic Carrese ’15 won state titles in the 800m and 1600m.
Two Danes were named all-state as FVS finished 18-3 overall and won the regional title before falling in the first round of states. Behind setter Chris Cha ’15 and middle blocker Ani Yahzid ’16, the Danes dominated opponents throughout the year, at one point winning 10 straight matches. FVS All-state second team Chris Cha ’15 earned the No. 1 seed in the state tournament but fell in three games to No. 8 Vanguard, who had also handed the Danes one of their other two losses during the season.
SPORTSWRAP
Climbing It was another successful year for one of Fountain Valley School’s most dominant teams. Once again, both varsity teams finished in the top three at the state championships, with the boys finishing second and the girls third. Freshman Marguerite Pankey was an individual standout, finishing third in the state in her rookie year. Sophomore McKenna Monk was 16th and junior Azaria Segall was 17th. For the boys, senior Shale Hunter stepped up to finish seventh after an injury to classmate Dominic Carrese ’15 (fourth in the state in 2014) in the midst of the meet. Hunter’s performance, along with top 15 showings from Ben Strine ’15, Taran Hunter ’16 and Casey Allee Jumbo ’16, Marguerite Pankey ’18 finished on the state gave the Danes the boost to second place. podium in third place.
Shale Hunter ’15 led the Danes with a seventh-place finish at states.
The 2014-15 team had 21 swimmers and one diver with a blend of experience, youth and depth. Senior team captains Morgan Berlin, Sophie Deignan and Satoka Sotome were the heart and soul of the team. Senior diver Alice Street gained valuable points for the Danes all year, winning the league title and qualifying for the state championships. The Danes finished with a 4-5 dual meet record and were fifth in the newly formed TriPeaks Swimming League. Alice Street ’15 capped off her career by qualifying for the state championships Sophomore India Lovaas in diving. had a great start to her FVS career, winning the consolation championship in the 200 IM at leagues and also climbing onto the podium for a third-place finish in the 500 free.
Boys Basketball The Danes returned to the highly competitive Tri-Peaks League under third-year head coach Dominic Aragon. An early injury to top scorer Joey Morris ’15 hurt the Danes’ chances to win more games. When Morris returned, he averaged 11.3 points per game and earned all-conference honors. Junior Ani Yahzid was also a strong presence on the court, averaging 5.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
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After playing the 2014 season as a JV squad, the revitalized Danes returned to varsity action and the strong Pikes Peak League. Although they struggled against the top teams in the league, FVS saw success against opponents in nonconference play. The Danes defeated both Jefferson High and Lutheran Parker at the Swashbuckler Tournament, then lost a close battle to Englewood to round out the tournament. Benny Cole ’15 was the lacrosse MVP. Senior Benny Cole, the Danes’ faceoff man, was the team’s MVP, while freshman Zane Reynolds showed promise in his first year on the team.
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Swimming and Diving
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Lacrosse
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Western Riding
Hockey
With the wacky winter and spring weather in Colorado, the FVS Western riding team faced challenging conditions. Regardless, at press time, four girls had already qualified for this summer’s National Little Britches Rodeo Finals in Pueblo: Faith Chambers ’16 in barrels, poles, trail, goat-tying and daily ribbon roping; Maddie Kahl ’18 in barrels and trail; Karen Lawrence ’16 in goat-tying; and Maddi Wesselink ’17 in barrels, poles, trail and goat-tying.
The Danes played a full prep schedule for the second straight year and participated in the newly formed Western Prep Hockey League for the first time. Sponsored by the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, the WPHL featured FVS and California teams including JSerra Catholic School, Santa Margarita Prep and Bellarmine College Prep. FVS dominated the league in two early showcases but fell to JSerra in the championship game to end the season. Overall, the team finished 30-9-2 and won both the Kingdom Kup Tournament in Breckenridge and the Phoenix Presidents’ Day Invitational.
Girls Tennis The end of the 2015 girls tennis season also marked the end of Randy Jones’ long tenure as head coach of the varsity boys and girls tennis teams. Jones, who has taught math at FVS since 2004, retired at the end of the school year with his wife, Marsha. They plan to spend time touring the country in an RV. Jones became head coach of both varsity programs in the 2009-10 school year. In six years, he compiled a 38-29 dual meet record with the girls. In both 2011 and 2013, the girls team finished second in the region while the 2014 team was third. He helped guide five players to the state championships, including two in 2014 when the Danes finished tied for 14th at states. This year, the team finished 4-6 overall.
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Jones said he always worked to teach kids more than just how to swing a tennis racket.
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
“I had two goals: I wanted them to learn about tennis, and I wanted them to have fun,” he said. “I tried to get players to learn to work together and also to learn movements on the tennis court. I also worked on building confidence; teaching them that they could do it if they thought about it. We have smart kids, and I wanted them to use that intelligence in their favor.”
Randy Jones
His players agreed that Jones was a true motivator. “Mr. Jones is the kind of guy who believed that the key to success is our mentality, with which I could not agree more,” said Sashini Weerasundara ’15, who played No. 3 singles this year. “He spent a lot of time encouraging and motivating us. Even when we failed over and over again, he still believed we could do it. Our team would not have improved throughout the season without his help.” Jones’ varsity boys squad collected a 43-19 record over the last six years, with at least one player competing in the state championships in all but two seasons. In 2009, nine players qualified for states as the Danes finished tied for
12th place. Under his leadership, FVS boys have placed second in the region twice, with 22 players competing in the state tournament. “When I took over the program, I wanted us to play tougher competition so we would be stronger when we reached the regional playoffs,” Jones said. “So, I’m proud of the fact that the boys continued to have a good record.” Of course, it’s not the wins that Jones will most remember; it’s the kids and their desire to improve. “I’ll miss these kids because they wanted to work hard and wanted to learn,” he said. “I had to realize that not everyone here played tennis because they loved it. But once I got them to buy in, then they were willing to work.”
SPORTSWRAP
English Riding by Ryan Kaufman
Q
ualifying for the Interscholastic Equestrian Association Huntseat National Finals is not a foreign concept for Riding Director Ann Hanna P ’07, ’09’s program. FVS has been represented on the biggest stage of the sport at the high school level nearly every year. Early in the season, however, it appeared that 2015 would be the exception, not the rule. Through the first four shows of the year, Fountain Valley did not finish above third place as a team. They had less than a handful of first-place finishes in their events. After a fourth-place finish on Jan. 11, Hanna had seen enough. She called her team in for a meeting and gave it to them straight. “Listen, I don’t know about you, but we are tired of being third and fourth,” Hanna told her team. “There isn’t any reason that we shouldn’t be at the top.” She asked her team what they thought she and assistant coach Ally Doyon should do, and the answer was simple. “They said be tougher,” Hanna recalls. “I was thrilled because that was obviously the answer.” The extra time and effort that went into being tougher paid off. After that fateful day in late January, the team went on a run that included two reserve champion finishes and one champion finish in their three shows prior to the Zone 8 Finals. Then, they earned the reserve title at zones to once again qualify as a team for nationals. Two riders who were key to the team’s qualifying for nationals either as a team or individually were Adde Sharp ’16 and Anna Brett Hyde ’17. Both young women are equally talented but had very different roles. Sharp was one of the team’s captains (along with Lily Harris ’15), and Hyde was the sophomore newcomer. Sharp had already been to nationals, and Hyde had never ridden competitively before this season.
Hyde, on the other hand, had almost no expectations. She began the season on her own horse, but even that familiarity did not yield results. In order to remedy the situation, Hyde was taken off her own horse and put on a more well-behaved school horse which allowed her to focus more on putting into practice what she was being taught rather than worrying about keeping her horse in control. Once that happened, Hyde improved leaps and bounds. “Out of all the kids, that one is the most improved,” Hanna said. “That kid just did nothing but get better and better.” Hyde placed in the top-two six times this season in the junior varsity novice division, including at the Zone 8 Finals, which made her the only FVS rider to qualify for nationals as an individual. Hyde and Sharp were just two of eight talented and hard working riders who traveled to Florida for FVS. Horseman Cleo Mueller ’15, Harris, Alida Patterson ’16, Koyo Song ’17, Sierra Caldwell ’16 and Johanna Järvi ’16, also rode in the team competition.
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Although the team did not place at nationals, the girls were stronger physically and mentally than they had ever been. That heated closed-door meeting back in January made this team as prepared as they could possibly be. Hyde finished second in her individual competition to pick up a ribbon. For the team, Mueller finished eighth in the varsity on the flat division, and Caldwell was sixth in JV novice over fences.
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“It’s not necessarily the places but how I rode the horse and whether I was the rider she’s (Hanna) been grooming me to be,” Sharp said. “I think if you truly are living up to the athlete that Miss Hanna is coaching you to be, then you are placing consistently.”
Hanna said that Sharp’s determination led to her strong 201415 campaign.
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Sharp had the burden of high expectations but she lived up to them, picking up valuable points on a consistent basis. During the regular season, she collected 29 total points and never failed to place in an event.
Johanna Järvi ’16 and Adde Sharp ’16 were part of the IEA team that qualified for nationals.
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WATCH IT!
www. tinyurl.com/pmlymmg
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At Fountain Valley School of Colorado’s 85th Commencement Saturday morning, alumna Laura Williams ’87 used the acronym GIFT as a word of advice to graduates as they embarked on their new lives. 14
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Give, Intuition, Follow Your Dreams, and Trust (GIFT) are four tenets Williams believes have helped guide her life. She earned her degree in international environmental policy from Cornell University and her master’s degree in conservation biology at Yale University, and she has been working in the field of international environmental conservation for more than 20 years, primarily in Russia. Williams shared thoughts about her life in Russia and the events that made her who she is today.
GIVE INTUITION FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS TRUST
COMMENCEMENT 2015 Class Speakers
Shale Hunter and Rowen Felt were voted to be this year’s senior speakers, and they did not disappoint. The duo “rickrolled” the audience into peals of laughter using lyrics from Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
Head of School Will Webb lends a hand to Zack Salama at Commencement breakfast held at Howe Residence.
Board President Henry Morse ’69, left, and Head of School Will Webb led the ceremonies.
Awards
Tyler Martin
Commencement Day Awards
Henry L. Newman Award (Athletics):
Kitson Music Award:
Langdon Mathematics Award:
Rowen Felt
Phil Fan
Commencement Dinner Awards
F. Martin Brown Science Award: Joe Nuñez Dominic Carrese
Languages Award: Lily Harris
Robinson Art Award: Jamie Park Morgan Berlin
Shale Hunter
Photography Award:
Cleo Mueller
Fisher Howe Exceptional Leadership Awards: Ashia Lee and Holly Owen
Varsity Awards for Athletics: Dominic Carrese and Clare Hamilton
Don Kardok Coach’s Award:
Makena Mueller
David Racine (mountain biking)
Musical Award:
Highest Scholastic Honors:
Fermin Serrano
Breene Baggett Memorial Acting Award: Laura Twomey
Rumbough Award (Performing Arts): Joe Nuñez
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Joe Nuñez
Honorable Mention Highest Scholastic Honors: Dominic Carrese and Joss Sitter (tie)
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Hunter Frost Theatre Arts Award:
Creative Writing Award:
Top Horseman:
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Penrose History Prize: Cleo Mueller
Paiute Morrison
Tyler Martin
B u l l e t i n
Campbell English Award:
John W. Emery Music Award:
Anderson Award (Outdoor Education):
COMMENCEMENT 2015
Major Awards Francis M. Froelicher Award
Eleanor W. Emery Award
DOMINIC CARRESE
SOPHIE DEIGNAN
The Froelicher Award, in memory of founding headmaster Francis M. Froelicher, is presented each year to the senior who, in the opinion of the faculty, best represents those qualities for which we would like Fountain Valley School to be known. When the faculty meets to nominate seniors for this award, it is an exercise in celebrating remarkable talent, a diligent work ethic and humble character. The Froelicher Award recipient should model the values espoused by the School and exhibit the foundational skills for the writing of an extraordinary life story.
In 1935, when Eleanor Emery completed the admission application for her son, Chuck Emery ’38, she began her family’s distinguished relationship with Fountain Valley School. The Emery award is given to the student whose contributions to the Fountain Valley School community reflect the qualities Mrs. Emery admired most: educational commitment, integrity, sensitivity to the needs of others, warmth, good humor and enthusiasm.
What faculty say about Carrese: “He takes his education and shares it outside the classroom. He’s a true intellectual.” 16
“He set a goal to be a top runner in the state, to break school records and run Division I, which he accomplished.”
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
“Dominic is incredibly humble.”
Dean’s List Froelicher Society Cum Laude Society
Global Scholar Campbell English Award Varsity Award
What faculty say about Deignan: “Eleanor Emery would have been very much like Sophie Deignan.” “Sophie creates joy every time she enters a room. She is quick to laugh and is so feisty.” “Her moral compass has always been well-calibrated. She speaks with conviction, she detects and understands nuance, and she is not afraid to oppose a prevailing viewpoint.” “As a day student, she attended every 6 a.m. swim practice and is often the only athlete who can smile and be cheerful at this hour of the day.” Dean’s List Honor Roll Froelicher Society
Varsity Girls Soccer Captain Varsity Girls Swim Captain
COMMENCEMENT 2015
The Sidney S. Bunting Award MORGAN BERLIN
The original citation of the Sidney S. Bunting Award reads: “In memory of Sidney S. Bunting, faculty member of Fountain Valley School, in recognition of those attainments and qualities he most admired—scholarship, intellect and culture.” What faculty say about Berlin:
Head of School Will Webb presented Guy McElvain ’84, P ’14 with the Lewis Perry Jr. Alumni Award, given to the alumnus or alumna who has provided conspicuous leadership in supporting Fountain Valley School in the previous year. McElvain was instrumental in establishing the School’s Learning Center, which has enriched the learning experience for scores of students. And, he has supported Fountain Valley’s focus on Western and outdoor activities by providing materials to build new horse paddocks, and donating rod and oil field pipe that has been repurposed into gates throughout the prairie.
“She is a top-notch and first-class student, friend, daughter, role model, athlete, mentor and all-around nice person…” “She is that rare individual whose wisdom and maturity belie her age, whose character and integrity are rock solid, and whose enthusiasm is contagious, making all around her better.” “When on stage, this actress completely surrenders herself to her role in order to present the highest quality gift she can give the audience.” Varsity Girls Swim Captain Hunter Frost Theatre Arts Award
B u l l e t i n
Community Council President Dean’s List Froelicher Society
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The J. Philo Nelson Award for teaching excellence was presented to retiring ranch manager Dave Overlin, who has been a champion of Fountain Valley’s 1,100 acres. Overlin has imparted his deep knowledge and love of the land to our students, curriculum and community.
COMMENCEMENT 2015
Global Scholars and Their Capstone Projects Hollyn Owen Unveiling Women’s Issues in the Middle East: A Personal and Scholarly Analysis Tyler Martin The Functional Role and Ethics of American Cyber Warfare Dominic Carrese Herodotus: An Ancient Guide to Contemporary Global Issues Ashia Lee Perceptions of Beauty in Asia and America Morgan Berlin A Fine Line: A Cross-Cultural Look at Human Rights vs. Cultural Rights Matt Presti Project vs. Process: Globalization Through the Lens of the Coca-Cola Company
Rachel Ryan A Comparison of the Legal and Cultural Aspects of Rape in Rural India and American College Campuses Donari Yahzid A Regional and Global Imperative: Educating Women in Ghana Siu Zen Cheng A Clue to the Future: Teen Culture in the United States and China Katarina Dames The Power of Place: A Travel Writing Portfolio from Six Countries Makena Mueller Supersize Us: The Global Obesity Epidemic
Joe Nuñez Frankenfood or Superfood: The Future of GMOs Around the World Quinny Shen Gay Youth Culture in China and the United States Samantha Smith Palestinian Refugees: Homeless in the Middle East Cassidy Snyder Petroleum and Politics: A Way Forward? Alice Street Coping with the Challenges of Modernization in Nepal Amber Wang The Next Generation: Comparison of Secondary Education in China and the U.S.A.
Matt Presti celebrated by his sister, Maia ’13
The Harris legacy family, left to right, Howard ’76, graduate Lily and Helen
Left to right, trustee Melinda Twomey, graduate Laura and father Barry Twomey
The Grazier Berlin family, left to right, Karla Grazier, Morgan Berlin and trustee Ward Berlin
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Joy!
COMMENCEMENT 2015
Jacob Simonich
Donari Yahzid
Jamie Park and Fermin Serrano
Tyler Martin 19
B u l l e t i n S u m m e r 2 0 1 5
Gracie Phillips and her mother Janet P ’04, ’06, ’10, ’15, who along with former trustee Duke Phillips graduated their fourth—and final—child from FVS.
Celebrating Fountain Valley School’s 85th Anniversary Bob Weir ’65 joined the house band, The Fever, for covers of “Shakedown Street” and “Me and My Uncle.” Earlier in the evening, Will Webb inducted Weir into the Arts Guild and surprised him with an honorary diploma.
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Class of 1955 left to right: Former trustee Darryl Thatcher ’55, P ’84, ’84, GP ’17, Ellis Adams, Whitney Galbraith
Class of 1960 left to right: Tad Pound, Stephen Cochran, Bill Regnery, former trustee and former faculty Jon Patten P ’85, ’87, ’89
REUNION 2015
The morning trail ride was chilly, but just as popular as ever!
Class of 1964: Robert Anderson
Class of 1965: Front row, Sandy Duffy, George Evans. Second row, left to right, Michael McPhee, Don Sheridan, David Low, Rudy Davison.Third row, Newell “Flip” Weed, David Butler, Rachel Clark, Skip Lindemann, Phil Icke. Fourth row, Jon Meek, Dick Losh, Torney Smith, John Cox. Top row, Hal Clifford, John Ruder, Bob Weir, Keith Balinger, Peter Slothower 21
B u l l e t i n S u m m e r
Julian Dillon ’08 congratulates Mark Wong ’86 on a goal during the alumni soccer game.
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Class of 1969 left to right: Phelps Anderson, board president Henry Morse, former trustee Hoyt Bacon
REUNION 2015
Class of 1975: Back row left to right, John Rowsey P ’00, ’02, former trustee Vincent Orange, former trustee Jamie Bachant, Chris Bacon, former trustee Mike Patterson P ’07, former faculty Elfego Gomez. Front row, John Sheridan ’74, Bruce Gomez
Class of 1979: Front row, left to right, trustee Link Nicoll, Pete Blatchford, Tracy Smith. Back row, Sam Marquis, trustee Jolene Lane, Rick Gydesen, Barbara Trask
Class of 1980: Left to right, Tony Sanchez, Mark Schneider
Class of 1985: Left to right, Stephanie Carter P ’13, ’16, Brandy McLaughlin, David Cunningham, Joelle Patten, Megan Hauser
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Early 90s Classes: Left to right, Nat Matthews ’92, Chris Sanchez ’90, Julia Dobbins ’90, Taran Reese ’90, trustee Juniper Hunter ’93, P ’15, ’16
Class of 2005: Back row left to right, Parker Paulin, Rafferty Sweeney, Trevor Coutts, Brennan Jones. Middle row, Bill Chen, Ramona Richards, Laura Evans. Front row, Hans Schweitzer, Cadee Oakleaf, Dana Scott, Charlene Lee
AWARDS
The Distinguished Casa Serena Society Member Award honored the dynamic duo of Mary Lou and Bill Mullin ’57. They have served Fountain Valley School for decades. Both have been trustees, and together, they have supported a number of initiatives and causes. The Mullins have been members of the Casa Serena Society for 32 years, and they belong to the Elizabeth Sage Hare Society for planned giving. They support scholarships and endowments, including the Elizabeth Sage Hare Trustee Scholarship and the Henry Poor Endowment. Other projects they’ve contributed to include new lighting for the Lewis Perry Jr. Chapel, and portraits of Henry Poor, Deck Cheney and F. Martin Brown. Preserving the beauty of the campus has always been important to Mary Lou. She helped found the Preservation and Restoration Committee that safeguards the beauty and authenticity of the buildings and grounds. She led the charge to create a reference guide of paint colors and finishes on campus buildings, and she was integral in developing a similar guide for all campus plantings. She also initiated the planting of daffodils by students on the Hacienda hill— now more than 1,000 flowers strong—and led the efforts to revitalize the gardens in the Hacienda Courtyard.
A double whammy surprise, riding director Ann Hanna was awarded the Elizabeth Froelicher Smith Distinguished Service Award and daughters Maggie ’07 and Emy ’09 were there, Emy being the second unexpected surprise having traveled from Texas to join in on the celebration. The award is presented for exceptionally meritorious service to Fountain Valley School. Hanna has built a strong, nationally recognized English riding program from the ground up. Her team’s two wins at IEA national competition put Fountain Valley on the English riding map and have contributed significantly to the School’s enrollment. Thanks to Ann’s leadership, the family of one of her riders built Fountain Valley’s indoor arena—The Hanna Family Equestrian Center.
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Myra Platt ’80 (second from left) listens to Arts Department Chair Mark Dillon P ’08, ’10, ’11 discuss her career in theater as he inducted her into the Arts Guild. Platt co-founded Book-It theater in Seattle in 1990 where she has staged more than 100-world premiere adaptations of literature. With Platt are her husband, David Ellis ’76, mom, Patty Wilson, and son, Wilson. Myra’s father, former arts faculty Walter Wilson P ’74, ’78, ’80, ’82, GP ’05, ’08 was inducted into the Arts Guild in 2011.
It was a moving Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony as alumni from several decades joined to honor a cherished faculty member and legendary “great” Dane. Former faculty John Fuller (left) inducted former faculty Andy Handford P ’00 as a Dane Super-Fan. Handford taught math at FVS from 1997-2010, and his signature “Valley” cheer is still missed today. Former Colorado Avalanche broadcaster Norm Jones ’62, P ’89, GP ’18 (far right) inducted his cousin, Torney Smith ’65. A twotime Varsity Award winner, Smith lettered in baseball, football, hockey and track. His top sport was hockey, and he was a Prep All-American and continued his career as a goalie at the University of Pennsylvania.
Chris Bellios, trustee Ben Howe, Bobbi Sanchez and former trustee Shane Johnson of the Class of 1989
The Scott Family, left to right, Courtney ’99, former board president Jim ’68, Dana ’05 and Christine
Friends forever!
The Class of 2010 had a great turnout!
Chris Sanchez ’90 watches his daughter Mia create with clay during Mark Wong ’86’s popular mini-class.
Former headmaster Eric Waples P ’91, ’93 takes a turn on the pickleball court.
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
REUNION 2015
While warming up for his surprise performance on the Reunion stage, Bob Weir ’65 (center) jammed with classmate Hal Clifford and Head of School Will Webb on “Me and My Uncle.”
Lucas and Landon Wingate, sons of Steve Wingate ’81, meet Nugget the baby bunny during a visit from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Zoomobile. Alumni and children also had the chance to meet a porcupine, snake and hissing cockroaches.
ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME
Call for Nominations!
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f a ss o an n cla ate io t n i c m indu No 2016 e Fame. h t for Hall of ic t le h t SA the FV nd form criteria a Find the section at the Alumni
of the FVS web site.
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NOMINATE AN ARTIST DESERVING OF RECOGNITION IN THE FVS ARTS GUILD 4FVS.EDU/ARTSGUILD
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Class of 2010: Back row, left to right, Nellie Anderson, Clara Sweeney, Olivia Wheeling, Jill Sanning, Mike Maloof, Henry Merriam, Scott Tredennick. Second row, Teresa Caprioglio, Cyan Grandison, Chris Kozlik, Julie Phillips, Cassie Eppler, Will Sippl. Front row, Andy Chou, Gregor Wangerin, Andrew No
Fly LIKE AN
Eagle
(OR SEAGULL) Both a scientist and an award-winning photographer, Max Seigal ’06 leads photo expeditions around the world with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. On these adventures, he teaches natural history and photography. Seigal has become well known for his expertise in cutting-edge aerial drone photography and filming, which he describes as a passion project.
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
He graduated summa cum laude from Ohio Wesleyan University with degrees in environmental science, zoology and economics. After college, Seigal spent a year in southern Africa working on various conservation ecology projects, which included tracking rhino, lions and wild dogs, and studying mussel larvae off the coast of South Africa. He went on to receive a Fulbright Grant to study sustainable lobster aquaculture in Vietnam, and he worked with a number of conservation organizations in Southeast Asia to improve the future growth of the fishfarming industries.
To view more of his award-winning work, go to: www.maxwilderness.com www.seagullaerial.com Meteora, a Greek Orthodox monastery built in the mid-14th century on natural sandstone pillars
“
If there’s one thing I’ve taken away as a photographer, it’s that the magic of the natural world is all around us. The reward, however, comes to
”
those who are patient.
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Harvesting rice outside of Hoi An, Vietnam
A second ascent in the Utah desert
Sea Cloud, the legendary square rigger constructed in 1931, one of the last hand-sailed square riggers in the world. Seigal spent a month on Sea Cloud along the Greek and Albanian coasts.
Fountain Valley
FILMMAKERS 30
Is there something about Fountain Valley School that attracts creatives and helps these students
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
develop the confidence to pursue their calling in the arts? It seems so. There are many alumni with successful careers in the arts, with a particularly strong showing in the film industry. Here, we highlight some of these talented creatives, and the feature articles are written by alumni in the business about alumni in the business.
Ed Sherin ’48
Lessons from a Television Icon
by Brian Leavell ’98
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So there I was, waiting for this Hollywood heavyweight to emerge from this war-ofwords which sounded like someone on either end of the line might be ordering an execution. Ed hangs up the phone with authority and bursts out into the waiting area with a wide smile on his face. “You must be Brian! You made it!”
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Weeks earlier, my adviser [former faculty] Jeff Brown had informed me that Ed Sherin was an FVS alumnus and the creative force behind so many iconic
“Do not pass something like this up,” he said. “This sort of opportunity is rare and terrifying for all the right reasons.” He was right, and I made the leap.
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I’m sitting on a couch in the waiting room outside the executive office at the sound stages for the TV series Law & Order in New York City. The door is cracked open, and I can hear Executive Producer Ed Sherin ’48 in a, let’s just say, “very heated” telephone conversation. It’s April 1998, I’m 18 years old and armed with an abundance of big plans and bigger naiveté. It’s the first hour of the first day of my internship on this wildly successful show, and after taking my first 90-minute New York City commute, my emotions are shifting between total panic that I am completely out of my depth (I was), and star struck bewilderment at being inside the inner workings of an Emmy awardwinning television juggernaut.
television shows such as Law & Order, Homicide, LA Law and Hill Street Blues. He suggested I reach out to him for my independent study project, but when Ed accepted my request, I had (in a moment of weakness) hesitated before committing, thinking I might somehow miss out on my precious final month of high school. Luckily, Jeff steered me onto the right course.
“Do not pass something like this up,” he said. “This sort of opportunity is rare and terrifying for all the right reasons.” This is high on the list of my all-time favorite moments during my long (and ever-evolving) education in the entertainment business. The verbal altercation will be just one of hundreds of these calls that I will encounter in this crazy career I’ve chosen, and for Ed it is forgotten the instant he emerges to meet me. His attention immediately shifts to throwing me into the deep end of the pool and putting me to work. Over the next month, I am given a filmmaking education on par with the four years I will later spend at USC. I sit in on writers meetings and casting sessions, and understand why people are proud to work for Ed Sherin. The lack of ego in the building is personified by Ed’s Best Drama Emmy statue in his office that he literally uses as a hat rack every day. I help organize props with the art department for the upcoming shoot day on Monday, then by Wednesday I make runs for the
locations department, weaving through Manhattan traffic in a company car with permits that need to be dropped off ASAP. “Have you ever driven a car in New York City?” Ed asks me. “No. Just in Boulder, Colorado.” “OK, well you’re in for a surprise…when in doubt, accelerate.” Ed is direct with me. He lets me know when I’ve screwed up. I arrive late with his lunch on a stressful day, and I know not to do it again. While shooting on location in Harlem, he needs some space to focus so he sends me out into the middle of the hood to see if I can find him a cappuccino. I didn’t find a cappuccino in Harlem. During lunch another day, I ask him the classic question that every doe-eyed young wannabe filmmaker asks someone who’s made it: “What advice would you give someone trying to get into show business?” “Stay out of it,” he answers with a chuckle.
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Brian Leavell ’98
But Ed teaches me too much to turn back and he knows it. He sends me to the set whenever possible. I’m a fly on the wall as Sam Waterston dials in his impassioned monologue for a closing courtroom scene in the season finale. I watch Carey Lowell deliver her final tearful lines as a cast member on the show. I’m by Ed’s side in video village while he directs, trying to soak up all the qualities that have made him a master behind the camera. It’s here where I find the lessons that textbooks cannot teach. I learn that you should never settle.
If the scene isn’t working, get in there and make it work. Look at your monitor and see everything in the frame, not just your main characters. Assistant D.A. Jack McCoy (Waterston) is delivering his closing argument in the courtroom, but in the background Juror #6 of 12 stares straight ahead toward the wall like a robot. Ed is the only one who sees it and corrects him to look more natural. That intense attention to detail pays off, and the episode is the best one made that season. When my short time in those offices comes to a close, I have to hold back tears when I say goodbye. I will later realize that this is a life-altering experience for me, and Ed will be the best boss I’ll have ever had (in my first television job, go figure). Seventeen years later, Ed and I still keep in touch, and his lessons continue to drive me. In 2005, I send him my first short film out of college, and he writes me to say that he is thrilled to see that I have developed real talent. He tells me to stay focused on directing. “Beg, borrow and steal to make your films if you have to.” He gives me a sense of validity I need to stay the course. A few years later, when I’m feeling stuck after a few missteps and failures along my way, I meet up with him for lunch while he is in L.A. to accept a lifetime achievement award from the Director’s Guild. I don’t have an agent yet, and I can’t land a good job let alone get a film made. He tells me I have a small window of time to make it happen, and
Sean Cabiling ’01 graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and has been working in Hollywood since then. He is currently associate editor for the Disney ABC Television Group and producer at Five Fingers Media, a production company and artist collaborative. I need to get aggressive right now. He tells me “don’t give up on any project you believe is worthy. No project is ever dead.” Shortly thereafter, I leave the job I’m unhappily working at and make another film. That film lands me both an agent and a manager, and for the first time I am getting paid to do what I love.
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There’s a new entry on my list of favorite moments.
Justin Magruder ’80 owns several production companies. Notable projects include Horlas, a featurette that was a winner in the 2005 Scarefest, and Laurence, a featurelength drama set in the World War II years, which will be released in late 2015.
B u l l e t i n
Today, as I’m asked to write this piece for the FVS Bulletin, I reach out to Ed again as it had been a couple years since we last spoke. He is as warm as ever on the phone, and I am proud to inform him about how things have finally turned around for me. That since the last time we saw one another, I have worked as the head writer on a few TV shows including the smash hit Duck Dynasty. That my movie has won awards and has led to jobs writing scripts for two feature films, and that I am begging, borrowing and stealing to direct another. Ed responds that he genuinely loves hearing this news. He says, “I like knowing winners, Brian.”
Steve Wingate ’81 had an interactive film premier in Norway this summer. The film, Talk With Your Hands Like an Ellis Island Mutt, is about being a secondgeneration American.
Female? Funny? Of Course!
by Isa Alcantara ’08
It’s an outrageous understatement to say that Lang Fisher ’98’s life keeps her busy, but—with the help of what can only be described as an epic email chain—we finally managed to find a time for our transcontinental interview. I was on location and she had to be in the writer’s room at 10, so even though our chat was short and sweet, it was an honor to pick the brain of a full-fledged comedy writer. Avid comedy nerds all over the Internet will eagerly tell you that we are in the throes of a massive comedy renaissance. As a self-declared comedy nerd, I will also tell you the same thing, but will amend that the reason for this rebirth of funny is specifically because of the women in comedy. I will tell you this loudly and with emphatic pointing. For now, let’s point at Fisher, who after six years at The Onion, found herself in the writer’s room of the universally adored 30 Rock.
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“I came into 30 Rock on its last season, so it was basically like starting off in a group of all-stars. Obviously, it was intimidating joining in.”
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Fisher notes that it’s a whole different story coming into a show that’s already been established. The characters have been personified, and their voices have become their own. She also says that’s not really an excuse. “I told myself ‘they hired you, this is a job, you can’t not participate.’ It’s the same as any other job, really. If you’re a waitress and just starting off, you don’t get to not
serve tables just because you’re new. I would make myself pitch them jokes and ideas, and talk even though I was nervous and scared.” Trying to imagine first-day jitters combined with the realization that Fisher’s job is to make an invisible audience laugh, I was struck by how intimately collaborative the writer’s room is. “Well, you are sitting in a room with a bunch of writers and you sit there and you try to be funny on the fly,” she says. “It’s almost like improv: a lot of the times you say something and—zero—nothing. Other times, it makes it into the script.” This summer, Fisher has been hard at work for the upcoming fourth season of The Mindy Project, set to air on Hulu instead of its original slot on FOX. Mindy is not the first show to dodge cancellation by moving into online media (NBC’s Community has been killed and resurrected more times than the McRib), and as the era of streaming and bingewatching continues, there is no doubt that more shows will follow. The Mindy Project is an important show to save. While a show about an OB/GYN can easily be labeled as a show about women, Mindy is one of the few shows on air led—not to mention created—by an actress of color. Even though in this past season, Mindy found herself in good company (with shows like Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, Fresh Off the Boat, Jane the Virgin and Empire), it is undeniable that network television is losing a bright light of intersectional feminism in an otherwise bleak world of tired humor (Big Bang Theory, I’m looking at you). As the star and showrunner, Mindy Kaling has always been very vocal about how
Lang Fisher ’08 and Mindy Kaling
valuable her room of eight female writers is to the show, and to television in general. These female voices and perspectives have created a show that frequently pushes the boundaries of network television while keeping itself relevant and hilarious. One of the worst mistakes society has made is underestimating the power of television and its effects on our behavior. Representation and availability of diverse characters should be the priority of any broadcast organization, and yet shows like The Mindy Project are given shorter lifespans than their less diverse counterparts. It seems that audiences and media are evolving at such a rapid rate that shows like Mindy might be better off online than in the advertising wasteland that legacy media has become. Fisher assures me that the change in venue doesn’t mean the show will change
These female voices and perspectives have created a show that frequently pushes the boundaries of network television while keeping itself relevant and hilarious. all that much anyway, but a few more liberties are given to the writers.
she could pinpoint the moment she knew she was a writer by trade.
“In the writer’s room, Hulu is a little more hands off, and there’s a little less pressure, obviously, since Hulu knows it bought a show with legs,” Fisher notes confidently, knowing that the legion of faithful fans of the show will migrate to the online streaming network.
“You never know for sure until you get hired on something,” she said. “It wasn’t until I was hired at The Onion that I started thinking of it as a profession.”
“You don’t want to change the show, but you do have more freedom,” she notes. “We can do little things to break the format. We can use slightly edgier material. Something like that is always exciting for the writers.” She also notes that the advertising structure is very different on an online platform.
“I’d say to anyone the same thing I tell myself: Try to enjoy the process. Don’t agonize about the ‘shoulds,’” she asserted. “Instead, try to be grateful and have faith. If you’re a hard worker and you are talented, it will really work out.” She pauses for a moment. “Mainly, the only thing I can say is, get out of your own way.” Isa Alcantara ’08 is Ponderosa Production’s co-founder, producer, photographer and writer. See p. 39.
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With the show renewed for another season, it looks like Fisher’s wit and comedy chops will be put to the test once more. And with the prospect of adding yet another year of experience developing storylines and characters, I was curious if
“What I do is check in every New Year. It’s a simple way to see if you’re moving forward—if it’s a no, then—I don’t know,
Right at this point in our conversation, I make the mistake of glancing at the clock. It’s 9:52 and our time is almost up. In a split second, my interview mindset is overtaken and replaced by my comedyand-television-obsessed alter-ego. She’s far less poised and not at all cool, but she does know that the elusive Lang Fisher is one of those women who are playing a key role in our aforementioned comedy renaissance. I would be remiss if I didn’t ask her for her advice about going into such an abstract profession like writing.
B u l l e t i n
“It’s nice when you think about it,” she says. “We don’t have to use generic phrasing anymore, no more of that whole ‘pass me that facial tissue’ thing,” she laughs.
I counter that she’s a seasoned pro by now, so continued success and projects could be never-ending on the horizon. She laughs at my optimism and graciously indulged my queries on how to tell if you’re a professional writer.
go to law school,” she says jokingly (I hope).
The Amazing Journey by Sarah Downey ’08 “Stand firm in the face of fear, and think it through. Never bolt from anything. Fear is, for the most part, useless except as fuel.” - Allison Coleman ’86 Exploring a new cave is a perpetual shot in the dark. Where is the bottom? Where does the river that is winding its way inside the cave ultimately come out? Is there enough light? Enough rope? Enough hand holds and places to grab onto to venture further? Emmy Award-winning documentarian, television producer and director Allison Coleman has taken explorers to the furthest reaches of the world on caving expeditions. In 1996, Coleman found herself sitting by a river in the Sarawak Jungle on the island of Borneo as she awaited the go-ahead from her team, already inside an unexplored cave. This trip was part of a documenting expedition led by modern-day explorer John Lane. Weeks of preparation followed by days of hiking, climbing and kayaking led up to this post, so she welcomed a quiet moment on solid ground.
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She sat alone watching the river. Without cell phones or any sort of radio contact that could penetrate the thick limestone walls, the only way to see if this river was connected to the waterway inside the cave was by sending dye into the water. She sat next to the river waiting for her counterparts to release the dye from deep inside the cave. “If I saw the florescent dye come out, then I knew that the waterways were connected, and we could continue to map the cave correctly,” Coleman said. “I had no radio communication, and I was to just sit there waiting and watching until someone came to get me. That’s when a local tribesman, indigenous to Borneo and part of the Orang Ulu, or upriver people, approached me with a large heavy sack over his shoulder.” He was not like the other locals she had met who lived in the long houses around their camp.
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
“This was a tribal hunter-gatherer with animal skin for a skirt and otherwise no clothes. I did not know what to think,” Coleman said. “I did not wish to abandon the post, and since he appeared to have little interest in me, I just watched his sweaty small body squat down 10 feet from me, and he opened his bag.” She was shocked to see him drag a limp black panther-like cat out of his sack and drag the body to the river to wash it off.
Retrieving salt from Rose Lake (Senegal) with the local Senegalese, 2003
Emmy Award win, 2006
“I got his attention and pointed at my camera with raised eyebrow in an effort to obtain permission to film him. A nod of his head and shoulder shrug was all I needed. With one eye on the waterway for dye trace, I filmed and watched as he proceeded to skin the entire cat right in front of me. Starting with the mouth, he literally peeled his face off.” After this was done, he took the pile of cleaned and cut meat and split it in half. He then extended half of his meat toward her. “Now this was tough. I didn’t want to offend him. However, I had canned beans and ample food supplies at camp. He would surely have to scour the jungle for another beautiful cat like this, and I didn’t want that to happen either, as I love wild cats.” Coleman declined his earnest offer numerous times until he finally went on his way. While the footage from this experience was too graphic to include in the documentary’s final cut, it helped her get formally hired for her camera skills on
her next expedition. This ultimately led to Coleman becoming a producer on the reality show The Amazing Race, which won 15 primetime Emmys. Coleman won three Emmys for her work as producer on the series. For those who have not seen it, The Amazing Race pits teams of two against each other on a trek around the world, competing in a series of challenges at each destination. The first team to arrive at the final destination wins $1 million. Growing up in California, Coleman thought she would be on a much different career path. “My mom was an accomplished doctor, coming from four previous generations of doctors, and I had aspired to follow in her footsteps.” But due to her profession, Coleman’s mother was seldom home or present. As a result, Coleman learned to be independent and a free thinker from a very early age. “My mom believed deeply in independence and free thinking, so maybe this was her master plan,” she says. Upon arriving at Fountain Valley, Coleman quickly learned that the School had the guidance, education and support she craved.
“I’ve been very blessed to meet, collaborate and break bread with some of the most marvelous human beings around the world. Through the process, you become very close to those people and you never forget them as long as you live.” In 2002, Coleman joined the crew of The Amazing Race and worked as a producer for 10 seasons. “It was a tough, long road navigated mostly by luck, instinct and following my heart.” Today, Coleman’s journey continues a bit closer to home where she has been working on the reality show America’s Next Top Model since 2009. “I have my husband and two kids now, and I don’t need to ever step foot on another airplane. They are the best adventure ever.”
Alden Wood ’96 owns Tower 3 Productions, a full-service video production company based in Jackson Hole, Wyo., specializing in short videos and commercials, with an emphasis on web video. Earlier in her career, she worked in production on a number of projects that include The Rebel Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best.
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Sarah Downey ’08 graduated from Colorado State University in 2013 with a degree in technical journalism and an emphasis in video editing. She left Colorado for a job at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles where she worked as a talent agent’s assistant in the unscripted TV division. In 2014, Downey joined Turner Broadcasting where she currently assists the senior vice president of unscripted development, late night and specials at TBS/TNT.
In addition to being a development consultant for BayWa r.e., a renewable energy company, Nuin Tara-Key ’99 is also executive director and producer for PrettyGoodProductions, which partners with communities and organizations around the world to tell meaningful stories through documentary and narrative films. The company works on projects in the social justice, global health, science and environmental education fields.
B u l l e t i n
“Being at a school small enough to feel like I was in a large family—I loved that so much. Great men like Mark Dillon P ’08, ’10, ’11 and John Platt, and also the Boyden and Jirka families, took me under their wings and showed me some core values that enabled me to shape myself for the future. Being at Fountain Valley allowed me to experience the outdoors in a way I couldn’t at another place. It gave me extreme independence. And it gave me the feeling that I could do anything. Mark Dillon always saw the best in me, even if I didn’t see it in myself.”
She says that this guidance helped lead her to her career. Coleman formed the production company Ventana Pictures in 1994 with her partner, Gordon Brown (brother of Nicolas Brown ’86. See p. 41). It was during her time with Ventana that Coleman perfected pitching, writing, producing and directing adventure documentaries. These projects took her around the globe.
“
Young Alumni Making Their Mark
Emma Needell ’08
I first fell in love with film and film production while attending Fountain Valley, in [former faculty] Mr. Parra’s Intro to Digital Studio class. My passion for film expanded in college at Johns Hopkins University, where I majored in film, and at FAMU, the esteemed film school in Prague, Czech Republic.
The Water Man attracted the attention of management/production company
Anonymous Content, the team behind True Detective. I signed with Anonymous as my management company and with talent agency William Morris Endeavor. Harpo Films, Oprah Winfrey’s production company, is now attached to produce The Water Man with David Oyelowo (Selma)
attached to star in the film. I am currently developing a feature film adapted from a graphic novel with production company Dark Horse Entertainment (Hellboy) and writing another feature-length script I intend to direct in a couple of years.
“
I moved to Los Angeles in 2012 and began working for producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds). I eventually transitioned to a job at Comedy Central. One year later, I began working for the screenwriters/directors Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett (Wimbledon, Journey to the Center of the Earth) and simultaneously took screenwriting classes with Steve Mazur (Liar Liar, Little Rascals). During this time, I developed a featurelength script titled The Water Man.
Super Troopers 2 is a sequel to the first movie released in 2001, a crime-comedy film that takes place in a fictional town in Vermont. Lemme is a member of Broken Lizard, the comedy troupe that collaborates on the screenwriting, acting and production of their movies. Other films include Beerfest and Club Dread.
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Steve Lemme ’87 Raises $4.5 Million for Super Troopers 2 Within a day of the Super Troopers 2 campaign launch on the Indiegogo crowdfunding site, $2 million was raised. Dollars raised now stand at around $4.5 million with more than 50,000 donations, ranking as the second-largest crowdfunding for a film.
The crowdfunding campaign offered fun incentives. For $20,000, all five members would be the donors’ groomsmen or bridesmaids at their weddings. Someone paid $35,000, and the Super Trooper patrol car is theirs after the movie shoots. When asked for a quote, Lemme said, “It’s been a long, difficult road getting the sequel made but I persevered, thanks to the quality work ethic instilled in me by FVS,” adding, “I think I like that.”
Alfie ’06 and Isa ’08 Alcantara
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After a few years of hard work and planning, we finally were able to officially launch Ponderosa Productions, a documentary production company. It’s been a dream of ours for a long time, and we are so fired up to finally be up and running. We’ve established our goal to pursue engaging and thought-provoking stories detailing current events, dying traditions and inescapable issues of our generation. We have a few projects that we’ve been working on:
Because of the success of Duke and the Buffalo, we were able to pitch to History Channel an episodic account of the efforts of conservation ranching at the MedanoZapata Ranch. They picked it up and ordered six episodes. El Porvenir, a short documentary, explores the life of Abelardo Olguín Cuevas, a thirdgeneration Mexican cockfighter struggling to hold on to his family’s traditions in the face of a growing movement to ban the sport across the country. El Porvenir had its world premiere at SXSW Film Festival (2015) and was an official selection at Northside Film Festival (2015), in Brooklyn, N.Y.
fvs.edu/video
For more information about Ponderosa Productions and our projects, check out thinkponderosa.com, as well as our Facebook (facebook.com/thinkponderosa), Twitter (@thinkponderosa) and Instagram (@think_ponderosa) pages.
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See the admission video Alfie and Isa created for Fountain Valley!
Currently, we are in the midst of production for a feature documentary about the environmental effects of wastewater use in Mexico. Also in the research and development stage is a documentary addressing the lack of access to fresh produce and healthy food options in the underserved communities of Los Angeles. We are writing grant proposals almost weekly to finance the telling of these important stories.
“
Duke and the Buffalo, a short documentary, takes place on the Medano-Zapata Ranch, a 100,000-acre tract of land in Colorado owned by The Nature Conservancy. The film follows the story of [former trustee] Duke Phillips [P ’04, ’06, ’10, ’15] who manages the ranch, as he presides over the landscape’s most distinctive feature— one of the largest conservation herds of bison in the United States. In 2014, Duke and the Buffalo screened in the official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival and Mountainfilm in Telluride. It has been screening with Mountainfilm’s national tour for the past year.
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Shining Stars: You Know These Actors!
And they all took a turn on the Fountain Valley stage. Marshall Bell ’61
the Cuckoo’s Nest, which earned him a Golden Globe award and Academy Award nomination.
Tony Goldwyn ’78
Griffin Dunne ’74
With 30 years and 128 credits as an actor, Marshall Bell has appeared in movies and TV series, starring with well-known actors such as Christian Bale (Rescue Dawn), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Total Recall). TV appearances included regular roles on Deadwood and Good vs. Evil, with guest spots on CSI, House and The Shield. He is perhaps most recognized as George/ Kuato in Total Recall and has played in other popular movies including Starship Troopers, Stand by Me and Natural Born Killers.
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Brad Dourif ’69 He is Grima Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the voice of Chucky the Doll, and the villain Mentat Piter DeVries in David Lynch’s Dune. Brad Dourif is a go-to for eccentric and disturbed characters, and this prolific actor has 158 acting credits. He gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew over
Griffin Dunne is an accomplished actor, producer and director. He made a big acting splash in the 1981 thriller An American Werewolf in London directed by John Landis, as well as in After Hours directed by Martin Scorsese, which Dunne also produced. He made his foray into directing with the short film Duke of Groove for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Dunne’s feature
film director credits include Addicted to Love, Practical Magic, Fierce People and The Accidental Husband. He is also a frequent director for The Good Wife. Recently, he appeared on the Showtime series House of Lies, played Dr. Vass in the movie Dallas Buyers Club starring Matthew McConaughey, and he had a starring role in the indie comedy-drama The Discoverers. He is currently producing a feature-length documentary on his aunt, the author Joan Didion. Dunne is on the advisory board of the Dominque Dunne Film Competition, which showcases and awards young filmmakers in an invitational sponsored by Fountain Valley School.
Tony Goldwyn qualifies as Hollywood royalty—his grandfather was Samuel Goldwyn and his father was Samuel Goldwyn Jr. ’43—but he worked his way up through the ranks like any struggling actor. Today, Goldwyn is both in front of the camera as President Fitzgerald Grant in the TV hit Scandal, as well as behind the camera, having directed four episodes of the show which is now in its fourth season. While on hiatus from Scandal, Goldwyn played the father of the protagonist in the Divergent and Insurgent movie series. Goldwyn first caught audiences’ attention with his portrayal of the villain in the box office smash Ghost. He went on to appear in numerous other films including The Pelican Brief with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, and in the remake of Wes Craven’s classic The Last House on the Left. He is also familiar to children as the title voice in Disney’s animated feature Tarzan. Goldwyn made his feature film directorial debut with A Walk on the Moon, starring Diane Lane, which received universal praise from critics. Goldwyn is on the advisory board of the Dominque Dunne Film Competition, which showcases and awards young filmmakers in an invitational sponsored by Fountain Valley School.
The Producers
These successful and accomplished alumni producers are in high demand. Nicolas Brown ’86 Nicolas Brown is a multiple Emmy awardwinning producer/director with 20 years of experience in American and British film and television. His love of adventure in extreme conditions and his concern for the planet are apparent in many of his projects. Brown won an Emmy for outstanding continuing coverage of a news story in 2006 for Global Warming: What You Need to Know, and he received Emmy nominations for reality programs Colonial House and Frontier House. He is director and producer for the 2015 PBS series EARTH A New Wild, which takes a look at humankind’s relationship to the planet’s wildest places. Other projects include the TV mini-series documentary Human Planet, and the movie documentaries, Expedition Alaska, and Can We Save Planet Earth?
John Goldwyn ’76
Jay Peterson ’91 Jay Peterson is the co-founder and CEO of Matador, a fullservice content production company with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Since its founding in 2013, Matador has produced a wide range of programming from Pythonathon for the National Geographic Channel and Lip Sync Battle on Spike, to the HBO documentary Banksy Does New York and Oxygen’s Nail’d It. Recently, Peterson produced the documentary, By Sidney Lumet, a portrait of one of the most influential directors in film history. Prior to Matador, he served as chief operating officer and executive vice president at Original Media where he developed and produced several hit television series, including Swamp People for the History Channel, Inkmaster for Spike, and Dual Survival for the Discovery Channel.
Jason Halprin ’96 is a media artist and teacher working in film, video, sound and installations, currently based in Chicago, Ill., where he also teaches at the school of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College and Loyola University. His work explores how geography, both observed and constucted, manifests in the moving image. Venues that have screened his work include the Austrian Film Museum (Vienna), L’Etna (Paris), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Anthology Film Archives (New York), San Francisco Cinemateque, the Media City International Film and Video Festival (Windsor, Canada), The Images Festival (Toronto), PDX Festival and Experimental Film Fest Portland (Portland, Ore.), the Chicago Underground Film Festival, The 8 Fest (Toronto) and an alleyway in Bueños Aires.
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Like his brother Tony ’78, John Goldwyn hails from Hollywood royalty yet has blazed his own trail as a motion picture and television producer. His film projects include The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Baby Mama and the upcoming Masterminds, a comedy to be released in October 2015 starring Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. For his work as producer of the hit TV series Dexter, Goldwyn has been nominated for four primetime Emmy awards. Other television projects include Gracepoint and an upcoming and untitled Dexter spinoff. Goldwyn is on the advisory board of the Dominque Dunne
Film Competition, which showcases and awards young filmmakers in an invitational sponsored by Fountain Valley School.
PROFILE:
Land Manager Tyson Phillips
L Land manager Tyson Phillips and his dog, Bee
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and Manager Tyson Phillips is headed into his second year at Fountain Valley School, and Head of School Will Webb counts him as a great addition to the community.
Phillips has plans on making Fountain Valley’s people and place even more connected. He is channeling his enthusiasm, enterprise and energy toward several projects.
“Tyson brings a relevant combination of experience, passion for what he does and a love for working with students. He understands the strong connection between what happens in the classroom and how it can play out on our 1,100 acres.”
“I’m excited to hear that there’s a good size garden in the planning stages,” he says. “I’d like to add livestock, as well.”
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Phillips grew up close to the land. His father was a career park ranger at Yellowstone, and the family lived in and around the park. There was also a family ranch in Wyoming, and Phillips led pack trips on horseback for 25 years. “He really gets it, he understands how it all connects—the ranch, the prairie, the school, the programs,” says Karen Lawrence ’16. Lawrence is a Western rider who spends a good deal of time down at the barns, and she rode on a Fountain Valley pack trip with Phillips.
Also in the works is a space in the Silver Barn that will be a hobby shop where students can learn woodworking and blacksmithing, which begins this fall as a weekend activity. Phillips is also forming a Fountain Valley ranching club where kids contribute to ongoing projects such as pasture and prairie restoration, tree-stand improvement and fencing. This direction harkens back to World War II days and the 1950s, when “work crew” was integral to the Fountain Valley curriculum. Rowen Felt ’15 worked with Phillips in the spring on his Independent Study Project, and one of the completed projects was the construction of two new outdoor
“ This year, Tyson Phillips has been a huge supporter of the English riding team, trailering us to and from horse shows. My favorite thing about him is that he’s always good for a funny story or joke. If you’re having a bad day, he’ll find some way to put a smile on your face.” Greer Hill ’16 Well deserved R&R after a day on the trail
classrooms. With Phillips’s guidance, Felt organized the process, chose the sites and led the creation of the areas during Earth Day. Another student who has learned a good deal from Phillips is Owen Bedford ’16, a Western rider who also rode on the pack trips. He says, “He is a man filled with knowledge about almost everything. I have learned to work faster and easier, and that work can be fun.”
Pack Trips Live On
Everyone likes working with him. He’s really approachable. “
As for the health of the land, Phillips’ goal is to keep the momentum going. He is working on increasing forage for the horses and managing the prairie so it will not become overgrazed. “There are opportunities for increasing irrigation and the amount of water we have rights to,” he says. “For the most part, the land is looking really good.”
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Phillips names the pack trips as his favorite events of his first year at Fountain Valley. “Kids become introspective on a pack trip,” Phillips says. “They very much grow into a team, helping each other along…there’s a real connection. The students focus on who they are as a group, not who they are as individuals.”
1,100 Reasons
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Reflecting on her pack trip with Phillips, Lawrence says, “He makes the trip smooth even when something goes wrong. Nothing fazes him. He’s especially good with those who haven’t done it before. There were a lot of international kids new to riding.
Pack-trippers Owen Bedford ’16 and Karen Lawrence ’16
B u l l e t i n
Imagine planning a pack trip for a group of students, some with no riding experience whatsoever. While the logistics of a pack trip are second nature for Phillips, he has a way of uniting people.
We want
YOUR BRAND
on
OUR BOARD! Alumni, families and friends, if you have a brand, please contact Riding Director Ann Hanna at ahanna@fvs.edu to make arrangements to get your brand on the board. You can bring your brand to campus or ship it to Fountain Valley School (we’ll ship it back).
got app? Check out the FREE FVS alumni app for iPhones and Androids!
HOW TO: Visit the app store on your phone and search for “Fountain Valley School.”
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
You can sign up and login with an email and password, or authenticate through LinkedIn. If using email and password, you will need to verify the email chosen. Head on over to your inbox to find a confirmation email waiting for you. Click on the confirmation link and return to the app to proceed.
NOMINATE YOUNG ALUMNI! Do you know a young alumna or alumnus who is modeling the School’s core values of courage, self-reliance, openmindedness, curiosity and compassion? And who have made remarkable achievements in their profession, career or vocation? We want to honor our outstanding young alums who are leading the way! The award will be presented annually at Alumni Weekend. Eligible alumni will have graduated from Fountain Valley 5-20 years ago. This year, we will select awardees from the classes of 1996-2001.
COOL FEATURES:
Please submit your nomination at fvs.edu/youngalumniaward.
Alumni directory • Nearby mapping of alumni • Class notes • FVS news • Reunion updates • Calendar of alumni events • Athletics news
For more information, contact Kate Faricy Maiurro ’00 at kmaiurro@fvs.edu or 719.391.5315.
Class Notes
Don Rydstrom ’56 at his hangar in Rapid City, S.D. He provides refueling services for all commercial airlines at the Rapid City airport.
TRUSTEE PETER PACKARD ’66 and former board president GREG OSBORNE ’81 set out on the Pikes Peak Range Ride. Now in its 67th year, the ride kicks off in downtown Colorado Springs at the Street Breakfast and then heads out on a five-day trip based at a ranch in Victor, Colo. Pikes Peak Range Riders originated to promote the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo held each summer in Colorado Springs. Packard’s father was a charter member of the Pikes Peak Range Ride, and Packard has been a Range Rider for 45 years. Osborne is a guest rider. Photo by MAGGIE HANNA ’07
50s
Class Agent BILL GRIFFITHS ’61 and his wife, Shari, attended a Seattle fundraising dinner with HANNAH DUFF ’06. The Fall Harvest Celebration of local food was organized by CLARA DUFF P ’06, ’08, former FVS director of the annual fund and alumni relations. She is currently a development associate with the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network. Griffiths has also been busy as class agent, gathering an impressive amount of news from the Class of 1961. See below. Way to go, Bill!
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From MIKE MOORE ’61: “After graduating from FVS, I attended Michigan State for a year then transferred to the University of Colorado. Classmate TOM PRICE was a roommate for one of my two years at CU. Neither the prospects of being a veterinarian or a medical doctor were
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Kenneth Fung ’55 wrote to his Class Agent Darryl Thatcher P ’84, ’84, GP ’17: “Please send my greetings to those who are able to make it back for the 60th Reunion. Nelly and I are in Manila to celebrate Mother’s Day with Nelly’s mom, Jessie, who at 103 is the oldest American residing in the Philippines. We are going back to Hong Kong today and then off to Italy at the end of May.”
60s
B u l l e t i n
STEVE ANDERSON ’51 says he still has fond memories of fellow students, faculty and experiences at FVS, although he only attended for one year in 194748. He returned to Riverside, Ill., and graduated high school in 1951, then earned his journalism degree from the University of Illinois. After a long and rewarding career as an Illinois newspaper executive, he retired in 2009 at age 75 but has continued to write extensively. He lives in a condo overlooking Chicago’s Belmont Harbor with his wife, Sally, a retired educator. They are active volunteers for nonprofit organizations and attend countless musical, dance and stage
performances each year. He would enjoy hearing from any members of the classes of 1950-52 who may remember him.
The Texas Senate passed a resolution recognizing CLINTON CROSS ’57 for his nearly 50 years of outstanding legal service to the citizens of Texas and his “many contributions to the consumers and the indigent of the state.”
CLASS NOTES
panning out, but I got my pilots license. I stayed out of college a year (to get head screwed on straight) and returned to school at Parsons College in Iowa in 1965. I did not know VAN HACKETT was there at the same time. I graduated in ’67 with a business administration degree and a minor in skydiving. Hackett’s future wife was in our college skydiving club. I went to Navy pilot training and was in the Navy for about five years stationed stateside as an instructor. In early ’73, I managed to get a job as a pilot with a startup fly-bynight airline called Federal Express. I was with them for 29 years flying five different airplanes, the last three being wide bodies on mostly international routes. I retired at age 60 due to federal air regulations for airline pilots. Now, I keep myself occupied flying my aerobatic airplane and flying cross country in my glider.”
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
From MARSHALL BELL ’61: “I was busy last year, so I have five or six movies actually in the can and hope that some of them will reach the light of day. The latest one that I finished a couple of months ago in Atlanta is about a guy who gets crushed in an auto accident and thinks he goes to heaven. I play his orthopedic surgeon. But really, my biggest thrill was when my dear wife [and costume designer], Milena [Canonero], won her fourth Oscar. She had really stopped doing big studio movies and was just working for Wes Anderson, and lo and behold, they kicked some tail. The movie [The Grand Budapest Hotel] itself won four Oscars. I am just back from Dallas where I autographed pictures for three days and had a great time—so many nice people—and did hang out with a fellow FVS grad, BRAD DOURIF ’69, for Sunday breakfast in the green room. Dourif and I signed someone’s t-shirt, and I wrote FVS on it, too. GO DANES!”
VAN HACKETT ’61 and his wife, Clara, recently returned from a trip to Southeast Asia where he served during the Vietnam War. They spent five weeks in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. From PETER KIRN ’61: “Such a small world. At our 50th reunion, I spoke with MIKE MOORE about the Navy, but he never mentioned going to Parsons. When I graduated from FVS, about the only college to accept me was Parsons. I graduated in 1965 just in time to be vulnerable for the draft and joined the Navy, as its program to fly would take two years and my thoughts were...it will be over. Wrong. After training, I went to Vietnam in 1968, but I don’t think I did a very good job because they sent me back again 1969-1970. I retired from the Navy in 1991 as a captain after flying more than 2,000 hours in the F4, accumulating more than 450 carrier landings and 235 combat missions, and pushing a lot of paper. Today, I have found my second youth as a docent on the aircraft carrier museum USS Midway. We are rated the No. 1 attraction in San Diego, the No. 7 most popular attraction in the U.S. and 23rd in the world. Today, part of my duties are to give talks in the community about the museum and be available to answer all sorts of questions from how to land on a carrier, to how they can serve more than 1,000 dozen fresh eggs every morning. No, we did not have chickens on board. Carol and I will be a part of the 55th reunion. Looking forward to seeing everyone.” From JIM SHERIDAN ’61: “Paula and I spent January and February in Big Sky, March in Florida and April and the first week of May in Europe. We did the Rhine cruise from Basel to Amsterdam with a large group from Chicago (Ravinia), then moved on to France spending most of our
time in Burgundy. We’ll be in Chicago until July 7 when we go to northwest Montana for two months. I retired one year ago from Hamilton Partners, but I am building a few houses on the North Shore and doing a build-to-suit for a small company here in Chicago.” From NICK BRADLEY ’61: “Along with MIKE MOORE, I too attended Michigan State, sure that I was going to be a professional-baseball-playing veterinarian. I was disabused of the first notion by the most inept, foul-mouthed freshman baseball coach you might imagine—I was used to the gentlemanly coaches at FVS— and of the second notion by my grades in chemistry, zoology and math. Fortunately, I was blessed with a grad assistant who asked what I had studied in high school, and when I told him Greek, Latin and French, and that I did well in history and English, he suggested that I hurry to declare some other field as my major before I was asked to depart East Lansing. I did! I retired last year from a successful teaching career and am sharpening my piano skills (which are already good) so I can perform for us on the piano in the Hacienda (like I did at our 50th). I’m also catching up on reading and traveling.” PETER HOLSTEN ’67, one of the bestknown affordable housing builders in Chicago, is renovating the former Lawson YMCA with the goal to keep it accessible to lower income renters. The art deco gem is the largest single-room-occupancy building in Chicago with 583 units. It is adjacent to high-rent properties on the Near North Side. Holsten is quoted in Crain’s Chicago Business saying, “For better or worse, I have a reputation in the city for taking on very difficult developments.”
CLASS NOTES
WILLIAM KELLOUGH ’68 writes that he is no longer a judge, is semi-retired and has many hobbies and interests.
70s Jim Bensberg ’73 is in his first term as commissioner for the Colorado Lottery. He received a full senate confirmation. The Lottery Commission works to ensure that all games marketed by the Colorado Lottery are secure and protect the integrity of the games.
Robby Schwyzer ’71 sends in: “The horse’s name is “Granizo,” which translates as “Little Hail Stone” in Spanish. He is now retired from his race track career as a “pony horse,” those who lead the young and the anxious to the starting gates, and became mine. Gary Lavenson took him riding during a September 2014 visit to New Mexico. It was his first time back in a saddle in 40 some years, and he’s wearing an FVS jacket. There is more to this story, yet like poetry, sometimes fewer words express most.”
Christine and Burton McLucas ’87 were married New Year’s Eve 2014.
80s LAURA LUCKETT ’80 was inducted into Colorado College’s Athletic Hall of Fame. She became CC’s first female to earn All-American honors in diving, gaining that distinction on the 3-meter board in both 1983 and ’84. She qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships three consecutive seasons as a Tiger, placing ninth nationally as a junior and sixth as a senior. Following her graduation in 1984, she returned to her alma mater as diving coach in 1986-87. That year, she was named the NCAA Division III diving coach of the year. From JUSTIN MAGRUDER ’80 to JON PATTEN ’60: “My little database company has been doing well after almost losing my shirt three or four years ago. I now travel to Mexico City weekly and have been across the U.S., EMEA [Europe, the Middle East and Africa] and Australasia in the last year with new clients. And it’s all thanks to the algebra I learned from you!”
90s
Correction: Janice Okoh ’92 and Hannah Wise Schwartz got together for a visit.
STEPHANIE SYLVESTER MALIA HOM ’93 has published “The Beautiful Country: Tourism and the Impossible State of Destination Italy,” which explores the enduring popularity of Italy and its paramount, if uneasy, role in the development of the global mass tourism industry. She was the 2014-2015 Marta Sutton Weeks Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center while on sabbatical from her position as presidential professor of Italian at the University of Oklahoma. She’d be happy to hear from fellow FVS alumni!
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JESSICA PATTERSON ’93 is a yoga educator and opened Root: Center for Yoga & Sacred Studies in Colorado Springs.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney TONY MATTIVI ’82 was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service on March 13. This is the highest award given by the U.S. Secretary of Defense for career civilian employees. Mattivi received the award for his work as a federal prosecutor in the case against Abd al Rahim alNashiri, the man allegedly responsible for planning the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Mattivi currently works out of Topeka, Kans., where he focuses on prosecuting terrorism cases.
Jocelyn (Manzanares) Schuler ’89 visited campus with her son, Dane, and husband, Dennis.
B u l l e t i n
Left to right: Former faculty members Waldo Johnston and Jon Patten ’60, P ’85, ’87, ’89, Knight Bacon ’73 and Michael O’Laughlin ’73
MARK C. CHILDS ’77 is associate dean for research at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning. He recently became the grandfather of Ronan West.
CLASS NOTES
CHARLES DORRANCE ’94 is living in Austin, Texas, and competing in the formula off-road stadium super truck series. He’s looking forward to competing again in the 2015 X Games in Austin. Fellow alumni can follow his “misadventures” on Instagram @ SSTTruck3. SABINA MEHTA SCOTT ’96 and her husband, Joseph, welcomed their second child, Soren Neil Mehta Scott, on May 15, 2014. Scott works as a doctor of audiology for Centura Health in Castle Rock, Colo.
00s Cynthia Walton ’01 sends in: “I have a relatively new job— I’m now the National Historic Landmarks Program Manager for the National Park Service’s Southeast Region. And, on May 16 of this year, I married Jeff Glossop. My classmates Sean Cabiling and Brianne Densford attended the wedding.”
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DAN BARNEY ’02 married Alana Haliko on Dec. 19, 2014, in Beaver Creek, Colo. Classmates in attendance were Kosha Patel, Preston Dickey, Rebecca (Rowsey) Kilibarda, Kate Brooke, Kevin McCaffrey, Andrew Dernovsek, Brandy (Furr) Fugate and Jeff Fugate.
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Brandy (Furr) and Jeff Fugate ’02 have happy news. “Harper Faith joined our family on March 22, 2015. Big sister Addison is so excited to have a little sister, and we are completely in love!”
James des Cognets ’06 writes: “It’s been a very busy few years. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, I worked in oil and gas for the last five years in Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Britain and the U.S. My wedding to Tiffany Dempsey, a fellow Vandy alum, was attended by FVS alumni Claire McGregor and Addie Green in Nashville, May 2014. Most recently, I am living in Denver and was able to attend Alumni Weekend, happy to catch up with members of the Class of 2005 and 2006.” Their next adventure will take them to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, where James will be an MBA candidate for the class of 2017. Happily, there will be significant FVS representation at Tuck, including Parker Paulin ’05 and Head of School Will Webb’s sister, Samantha! While leading the Rockin’ Round the South Interim, Dean of Faculty Jake Emery ’71 met up with four-year advisee Emily Solon ’06, who lives in Nashville.
CHASE DYER ’07 reports: “Wrapping up a fantastic experience and an intense year for my full-time MBA at the Copenhagen Business School. I’m heading back to Telluride to help run the family business in the fall.”
KALEN KEIR ’07 says that he is making art and music for a living, and he is also a kayak guide. Keir is assistant choreographer for The Mississippi River Boat Ballet, a performance on the river this summer in which dozens of vessels will “dance.” He is also songwriter and vocalist for the Minneapolis-based band Love Nocturnal. BREEZIE MITCHELL ’07 is writing her thesis for her master’s degree in public health and developing countries from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. CLARE (ORMESHER) LAMBERT ’07 is living in Germany and working for the Air Force. “Hopefully, I’m graduating with my master’s degree in December. My husband and I are just maximizing our experiences out here and enjoying all Europe has to offer. If anyone comes out this way, you’re welcome to drop by!” KATHERINE ROWE ’07 is stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., and is applying to Army law school to be a JAG officer.
HUNTER DULIN ’07 is living in Denver and working for a firm in Cherry Creek trading eurodollar futures. He looks forward to seeing everyone at the 10-year reunion. MISSY HARTLEY ’07 is in her second year at the University of Utah School of Medicine. “Still in school eight years later...” DACHIN FRANCES ’07 says, “I’m in the middle of another busy field season collecting data for my Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto. Expected graduation date is 2018!”
A little Dane reunion in south Texas. Left to right: Maggie Hanna ’07 earned her master’s degree in ranch management from Texas Christian University. Chloe Nunley ’07 is operating her own business in south Texas. Lukas Langer ’09 is finishing his master’s degree in international economics at Yale University. Sage Hanner ’09 is working for a San Antonio livestock exposition. Emy Hanna ’09 is working in manufacturing supply chain for Alcon Laboratories. Ian Munsick ’11 is a senior at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., and is a songwriting major.
CLASS NOTES
STEVE STOOT ’09 accepted a job as a test engineer for the Dragon capsule with SpaceX in Texas. Dragon is a free-flying commercial spacecraft that delivers cargo and people to orbiting destination. Stoot is a graduate of Purdue University, where he ran cross country and track for the Boilermakers. FRANKLIN CHIU ’09’s news: “As of December 2014, I’m been employed by RK Mechanical, a mechanical contracting company based out of Denver. As a project engineer in the service department, I am responsible for assisting with our sales team in estimation, engineering designs and performance contract drafting.”
Eric Jiang ’13 joined former FVS Arts Faculty Jeff Brown in North Carolina in December 2014. Jiang is at Syracuse University.
Left to right are Kristen Jacobson ’11 (University of Wyoming), Piper Naylon ’12 (Central Wyoming College) and Laura Ames ’12 (Colorado State University). They compete in rodeo for their respective colleges and are in the same Central Rocky Mountain Region. During the Skyline Stampede at CSU in April, they teamed up for an alumni photo.
MAIA PRESTI ’13 dives for Claremont McKenna College and took third at the Division III regional diving meet, and was one of four women from Region 2 (Western/Southern) who moved onto the national championships in March. She finished tied for 13th at nationals in onemeter diving.
How about small-town living? FVS parents Gabriella and Andrew Morrison P ’15, ’17 ran into Morgan Heath ’14 at a supermarket in Ashland, Ore. Heath attends Southern Oregon University.
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JULIE (CALCAGNO) ELLETT ’93 shares news: “We celebrated my brother, JOSÉ GARCIA ’11, this weekend and his graduation from Wesleyan with his B.A. in neuroscience. Hooray!”
Morgan McCurdy ’12 is playing lacrosse for the University of Colorado’s club team. McCurdy is a junior at CU, double majoring in math and Spanish. She is studying abroad for six months in Chile from July-December 2015. Her father, Jay, says, “FVS really prepared her for college as she has balanced academics, employment and year-round athletics.” She is in her third year playing for the Buffs’ club team and was a captain this year, which involves leadership on the field and creating a comprehensive budget for the team: airplane tickets, number of balls to purchase, pricing for uniforms, even interviewing and hiring the new head coach. McCurdy is in the middle of the photo. This was a tournament in Phoenix where CU defeated ASU, BYU and UCSD. The team advanced to the WCLA Tournament and finished sixth nationally.
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News on the Maloof siblings from English Faculty Jen Buckley: “I attended Michael Maloof ’10’s MBA hooding at Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. His sister, Emily ’10, was there as well. Michael is headed to work for Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City, Utah. After completing her undergrad at Texas Christian University in 2014, Emily graduated with a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Maryland in May 2015. She has a job with the U.S. Commerce Department starting in August.”
IN MEMORIAM
In Memoriam STEPHEN Y. HORD ’46 died May 9, 2015, in San Francisco. He was 87. Born in Chicago, Hord was at FVS for only the second half of his senior year. He played soccer, threw the shotput on the track team, and skied. He was a chorus member in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. After FVS, he attended Colorado College and later moved to the Telegraph Hill area of San Francisco in the 1960s. He worked in the investment business and was an investment counselor until he retired in 1992. Hord was an avid tennis player, fisherman and skier, and he belonged to the California Tennis Club for more than 50 years. Hord is survived by a son.
WILLIAM H. MACLEISH ’46 died May 13, 2015, in Charlemont, Mass., at the age of 86.
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Fountain Valley School of Colorado
MacLeish spent a year at FVS, following in the footsteps of older brother Kenneth ’34, before returning to Massachusetts and Deerfield Academy. However, his time at FVS helped nourish his love for the outdoors. He played both football and basketball during his time in Colorado Springs, and also cooperated in a Naval Aircraft Model project with fellow students. He later graduated from Yale University and became a first lieutenant in the Army. The son of writer, Harvard professor and librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish, William also became a writer, publishing a memoir, “Uphill with Archie,” and three books on environmental journalism. He spent many years as the editor of Oceanus magazine at
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
personal attention to his clients.
Prior to that time, he tried different jobs, among them working for Cornell University and a foundation run by the Rockefeller family, writing for Fortune magazine, and serving as an assistant to the president of Yale.
An active community leader and fundraiser, he was involved with many organizations, including the Denver/Colorado Symphony, The Children’s Hospital (where he cofounded The Children’s Hospital Foundation), Denver Rotary, the National Association of Securities Dealers, and of course, Fountain Valley School. Through his community and volunteer work, he made a difference in the lives of many.
MacLeish was also an adept singer and multi-instrumentalist, including with the bagpipes. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and three grandchildren.
JAMES. C. COHIG ’47 Former FVS Board of Trustees president, and recipient of both the Elizabeth Froelicher Smith Distinguished Service Award and Lewis Perry Jr. Alumni Award, James C. Cohig ’47, died Feb. 22, 2015, at the age of 85. A native Coloradoan, Cohig entered FVS in the fall of 1942. During his time, he participated in football and track, and in the Gilbert and Sullivan production of “Pinafore.” He was also the photography editor of the FVS News and the yearbook. He moved on to the University of Colorado, where he also participated in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. Through a combination of active and reserve duty, he retired from the Navy as a lieutenant commander. His distinguished career in money management began at Bosworth Sullivan. For more than 50 years, Cohig managed several firms and built others, including Cohig & Associates and Colorado Investment Management. He was most proud of his reputation for integrity and
His passions included travel, skiing, music and art. He is survived by his wife, Toni, nine children and many grandchildren.
CAPT. C. VANCE GORDON, USN (RET.) ’63 died Jan. 10, 2015, at the age of 69. Gordon spent his third and fourth form years at Fountain Valley School. He played soccer and was an honor roll student before transferring to a high school in Boulder, Colo. He was in the Navy Medical Service Corps (with a Ph.D in biology from Washington University) and spent the bulk of his Naval career developing ways to define and meet requirements for theater medical support. He was instrumental in the Navy’s decision to acquire a hospital ship as part of meeting those requirements. He was called up for Operation Desert Storm and supported the surgeon general of the Navy to ensure effective allocation of Navy medical resources to support the theater. After retiring from the Navy, he worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he applied his
IN MEMORIAM
analytic skills to the Planning, Programming and Budgeting System (PPBS), developing approaches to improve resource allocation decisions within the department. He was recognized as an expert in this area and was invited to teach and lecture in many venues. He spent the last five years of his career at the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), where he was again called on to support analysis of resource allocation questions posed by DoD. His favorite pursuits outside of work included cooking gourmet meals, creating his backyard garden, tennis (both playing and watching), and doing almost anything with his grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, two children and many grandchildren.
KEVIN H. BOUTELLE ’70, died Feb. 9, 2015. He was 62. Boutelle entered FVS as a sophomore and sang with the Sly Dogs and the Chapel Choir. He played gambler Scranton Slim in the School’s production of “Guys and Dolls” and was also in the spring play “Celebration.” He ran track, played soccer and also won an 11th grade poetry award. Boutelle received his bachelor’s degree in English from Western Carolina University. He was an esteemed high school teacher at Westside High School in Anderson, S.C., for 22 years and was a talented musician. His three great loves were his family, music and the works of William Shakespeare.
His family moved to Colorado from the East Coast in 1953, and Glasscock made the state his lifelong home. He entered FVS as a fourth former and after graduation, he studied classics at the University of Colorado and graduated from Colorado College in 1975 with a degree in history. After a year of graduate study in classics at CU, he earned a Secondary School Teaching Credential, and as a certified ESL instructor, he worked for many years in the Student Academic Success Center at CU as a writing tutor until ill health forced an early retirement in March of 2014. He was always involved in music-making. As a child, he sang and played guitar, clarinet and piano. When as a teenager his voice developed into a rich and beautiful bassbaritone, he performed in high school and college musical productions and with multiple choral groups. At FVS, he was part of the Sly Dogs, Glee Club and Chapel Choir, and performed in “Guys and Dolls” as Calvin. As an adult, he sang with the St. Cecilia Singers in Boulder, performing often at the Boulder Bach Festival. In the 1980s and 1990s, he hosted the program “Mostly Guitar” on KNGU Radio. At FVS, he was involved in many other activities, including Chess Club, Student Council, the Scholarship Committee, yearbook, soccer and baseball. He was a member of the Cum Laude Society and earned the MacVeagh Award. Glasscock continued his love of baseball throughout his life and was an encyclopedia of knowledge.
He is survived by two daughters.
RORY S. MCFARLAND ’71 died Feb. 19, 2015. He was 62. McFarland’s family moved to Boulder, Colo., in 1953, where he resided for most of his life. He spent three years at FVS, entering as a sophomore. He was solid academically and made contributions to the varsity soccer and lacrosse teams. His adviser also called him a “tower of strength” as proctor in Sage. He was also a member of the Gold Key Club, Flying Club and Library Committee. In his senior year, his adviser wrote of his character, “He is always helpful, articulate, concerned and committed. He reminds me, by example, that the world is not such a bad place after all.” After graduation, McFarland attended Pomona College and later started several businesses. He was president of Advanced Energy Technologies, which was engaged in the development of technical and mechanical products for which he held several patents. He previously owned rental properties in Boulder and several land parcels in Wyoming. McFarland was also involved in international business ventures.
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He had loved the wilderness ever since spending summers as a child at his family’s ranch in the mountains of Wyoming. He liked living in the mountains where he could view wildlife and enjoy the outdoors. He always imagined that if he ever became a multimillionaire, he would share his riches with others and set up a trust for animals. He traveled extensively, and at one time or
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His lifelong passions included a concern for the environment and social justice. He ran for state office as a Citizen’s Party candidate, and continued to support environmental and politically progressive organizations throughout his life. He was passionate about gardening, beekeeping and woodworking, and was a friend to animals of all kinds. He
also loved to rescue and replant sapling trees. The plains and mountains of Colorado were for him a constant source of interest and delight.
B u l l e t i n
He is survived by his wife and daughter.
JAMES S. GLASSCOCK ’70, died Feb. 8, 2015, at his home in Longmont, Colo, at the age of 62.
IN MEMORIAM
another had homes in Colorado, Wyoming and Hawaii. McFarland was a diver, biker, hiker, pilot, cinema enthusiast and voracious reader. He loved animals and often had a big dog as his constant companion, his favorite being a Bernese mountain dog named “Ziggy”. He is survived by two sisters and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Classmate Nick McCumber wrote the following poem upon McFarland’s passing: A fish leaps backward and forever Dreams catch eternity on hold Facing wind without a compass on another plane
Former Math Faculty JAMES A. GARRISON died Jan. 19, 2015, at the age of 92. Garrison taught math at FVS from 1958-59. He earned his degree from Columbia and taught at Choate School for several years before receiving his master’s degree at the University of Colorado. After his year at FVS, he was hired with Vicon Instruments as a design engineer. He eventually settled in Fort Collins where he worked in the Engineering Research Center at Colorado State University until he retired. He is survived by two children and six grandchildren.
Testing mortality or always tricking?
Life Trustee FISHER
Finally at the other world
HOWE died May 10,
You Are My Gone Pal.
TERRY T. PECKHAM ’73 died earlier this year.
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Former Faculty
Fountain Valley School of Colorado
Peckham spent his ninth grade year at FVS and later graduated from Pikes Peak Medical Institute. He was known to all his family and friends as an avid reader of science, philosophy and science fiction. An ardent lover of all music genres, he was an accomplished guitarist and songwriter, and he also achieved the highest American ranking in the game of “GO.” He moved to Tokyo, Japan, in 1990, as assistant to the CEO of the international company Tri-Wall. After 24 years traveling the world, living in Tokyo and Shanghai, Peckham returned home to Colorado, where he passed away in Manitou Springs. He is survived by two children.
2015, at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 100 years old, just a few days shy of his 101st birthday. His 71-year association with Fountain Valley School began in 1944, the year he hitchhiked to campus from the East Coast and was hired as faculty. This was after graduating from Harvard University and serving with the U.S. Navy from 1942-44. Although he taught at FVS for less than one year, he was infamous for being the faculty member who dared to date and marry the headmaster’s daughter, Debby Froelicher ’38. Their wedding was in the Hacienda courtyard. He had a distinguished career serving his country as a Foreign Service officer for the Office of Strategic Services—the precursor of the CIA—where he was appointed to a number of positions, including executive secretary to the department, deputy director of intelligence and research, and deputy chief of mission in Norway. Next, at Johns Hopkins University, he was an assistant dean and executive director of the prestigious School of Advanced International Studies.
After his career in international relations, Howe turned his attention to consulting nonprofit organizations in governance and fundraising. In that role, he advised hundreds of organizations and wrote several critically acclaimed books. In 1980, Howe joined the FVS board of trustees and during the last 35 years, he served as chair of almost every trustee committee. He was a guiding light in board leadership and governance, and a constant and involved friend, adviser and supporter. Howe rarely missed a board meeting, traveling from Washington, D.C. to Colorado, even at 100 years old. He was also a member of both the Elizabeth Sage Hare Society for planned giving and, since 1981, the Casa Serena Society for leadership giving.
Former FVS nurse
IDA LUCILLE SARAH died March 16, 2015, at the age of 97. Sarah grew up on the Eastern plains of Colorado. After marrying her husband, Richard, and raising four children, she followed her dream of becoming a nurse while she was in her early 40s. She worked at both FVS and Penrose Memorial Hospital. Her family obituary said that “many fond memories were made with her grandchildren during her time at FVS, as she was always there to administer a flu shot, give a hug or watch a scary movie while eating Hershey kisses and popcorn.” She was the nurse at FVS from 1960-77 while her husband was the ranch manager. After Richard’s passing in 1979, she retired and eventually moved to Alamosa in 1994. She loved to cook and became a huge fan of the Colorado Rockies. She is survived by her two daughters, son Rick ’64, and 17 grandchildren.
Why I Give Dean Dowson ’91
“ EURIPIDES PANTS, EUMENIDES PANTS!” There are lifelong tools learned at Fountain Valley, and there are lifelong jokes learned at Fountain Valley. This joke was delivered in a faux Italian accent by Shakespeare teacher Lawrence Herrick, and it still elicits chuckles from Dowson. (If you don’t get it, “You rip the pants, you mend the pants!”)
He is witnessing his daughter, McKinna ’17, enjoy a parallel FVS experience. “Like me, she speaks highly of her teachers, and how her experience here flows through her life. The dedication of the faculty is as good. The relationships that both she and I forged with our teachers are pivotal. It’s important to have those strong mentors and strong adult figures in your life when young. McKinna has gained a lot of confidence in the woman she is becoming.”
Why does he give? “I give because of all the places in the world I could spend my philanthropic dollars, I know Fountain Valley will be the most impactful. There are so many ways I’d like to give back.” Dowson begins his first term as a trustee this fall.
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Dowson cites an Interim trip to the Supai reservation in Arizona for gaining first-hand knowledge of a utopian society. He says
that the trip changed his world view in a meaningful and socially conscious way.
B u l l e t i n
The lifelong tools for which he credits Fountain Valley include “alternative ways of thinking and problem solving,” he says. “Fountain Valley helped make me a very adaptive thinker, and it all goes back to the teachers. Not in any other scholastic situation can I say that, even in college. Nothing impacted my life as much as Fountain Valley.”
“ Fountain Valley helped make me a very adaptive thinker, and it all goes back to the teachers. Not in any other scholastic situation can I say that, even in college. Nothing impacted my life as much as Fountain Valley.”
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6155 Fountain Valley School Road Colorado Springs, CO 80911 fvs.edu ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
You did it! $1,196,767 Thank you for helping us surpass our Annual Fund goal!