The Meeting House Magazine Fall 2023

The Friends Academy Magazine for Alumni, Parents, and Friends

The Meeting House FRIENDS ACADEMY WELCOMES OUR 25TH HEAD OF SCHOOL PAUL J. STELLATO

FALL 2023

ON THE COVER Head of School Paul J. Stellato is greeted with exuberance from Play Group students before his Halloween read-aloud.

Read more about Paul, his career in independent schools, and what drew him to Friends Academy on pages 8-11.

The Meeting House Editorial Board Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Kevin Barry P ’36, ’38 Jodie Sperico

The Meeting House Staff Our Mission Guided by Quaker principles, Friends Academy educates our students to discover and develop the best of who they are and who they can become.

Our Belief At Friends Academy, we achieve educational excellence by committing to the highest standards of learning and living.

Our diverse and welcoming community is strengthened by our Quaker values, which empower our students to inquire, reflect, and engage in their classrooms, in their neighborhoods, and in the world.

Because when we inspire students to learn and live with purpose, they can achieve greatness without sacrificing goodness.

Editor Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications 516-393-4295 andrea_miller@fa.org Class Notes & Alumni News Jodie Sperico Director of Alumni Relations 516-465-1796 jodie_sperico@fa.org Writers Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Margaret Pegno Photographers Alvin Caal Amanda Fisk ’99 Margaret Pegno

The Meeting House Founding Editor Ward Burian ’54 Founder, 1966

Welcome, From the Head of School

M

y early experience of Friends Academy, now just a few months in the making, has been filled with conversations about the history and fortunes of the school; the great promise of the years ahead; and the ways in which Quaker practice should inform the lives we lead on this beautiful campus. At the center of it all is a sense of stillness, awe, and awareness, cultivated and deepened through Meeting for Worship. While the literature of Quaker thought offers countless examples of the power of the Meeting House and our spiritual lives within its walls, it also brings to my mind lines I discovered some years ago in The Celtic Twilight (1893), by the poet William Butler Yeats:

renews, and gives confidence; it does not fear the inconsistency that may arise from even the simplest question but, instead, offers countless paths to understanding, resolution, and redemption; and it finds at its core a common understanding: that to know and trust those around us, we must first know and trust ourselves. Hard as it is, at times, to trust ourselves, in doing so, we make the whole world possible.

With all of these things in mind and heart, I have happily joined our community: I have been welcomed into it, and I have been encouraged to dream of what is possible. Who could imagine a better start?

We can make our own minds So like still water That those around us May come to see themselves More clearly than they ever have Because of our stillness As I begin my role at Friends Academy at a time when all the world seems to be shaking its fist, our community must remind itself of the deep Quaker belief in the beauty of our humanity; and of its singular promise: that in joining together, even and especially in silence, we will come to know the divinity within us.

Our experience of this school – and of Quaker practice – does not deny the strife or conflict we may feel in ourselves or in the world; instead, it makes room for every challenge and doubt that we may face; it encourages a thoughtful, thorough sharing of ideas and beliefs, even and especially when they clash with one another and seem to contradict and confuse; it offers comfort, solace, and direction; it inspire,

Paul and his wife, Maureen, with their two daughters, Kate and Lauren, and son-in-law, Parker.

Sincerely,

Paul J. Stellato

SPOT AND SCAN TO VIEW FA VIDEO STORIES! We have 8 videos and 3 photo extras in this issue! If you spot an icon, scan the accompanying QR code with your smartphone camera or head to our YouTube page at www.youtube.com/friendsacademyli to watch even more.

Head of School Paul J. Stellato addresses the Upper School faculty and student body in the Helen A. Dolan Center on the first day of the 2023-24 school year.

VOL. 58, NO. 1

inside 6 | FROM THE ARCHIVES

COV ER S TOR Y 8 | IN PURSUIT OF “OUR TRUE SELF,” AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL J. STELLATO

A R OU N D TH E QUAD FEA TU R E S TOR Y 24 | INNOVATE FA

TH E A R TS 32 | SPONGEBOB: THE MUSICAL! 34 | THE MS PLAY: SHATTERED ALICE 36 | THE SPRING CONCERT SERIES 38 | WAKE: AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

S POR TS 42 | THE SPRING 2023 SEASON 46 | THE FALL 2023 SEASON 50 | 2023 COLLEGE SIGNINGS

A LU MN I PR OFILES 58 |

DAVID SEELER '59

62 |

CARLOS VANEGAS '98

66 |

MARIANNA CUOMO MAIER '15

IN EV ER Y ISSU E 40 |

ALUMNI ON CAMPUS

52 |

FACULTY MILESTONES

54 |

FROM THE PRESIDENT

56 |

REUNIONS

68 |

CLASS NOTES

90 |

IN MEMORIAM

Corrections: In the Winter 2023 issue, William Green’s name was incorrectly published. The Field Hockey roster contained several omissions.

From the Archives

A HISTORY F OF FRIENDS LEADERSHIP

riends Academy’s leadership spans nearly 150 years, beginning 10 years after the end of the Civil War. Each head left their mark on the school, shaping it around its Quaker Testimonies and diversifying the student and faculty body while also expanding the facilities, transitioning FA from a boarding college to a tri-divisional day school. Together, this group of people has stewarded FA into the school it is today.

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1

Edwin S. Hallock 1877-1882

5

Oren B. Wilbur 1887-1888

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2

William H. Slotter 1882-1883

6

Franklin P. Wilson 1888-1896

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3

Walter J. Baldwin 1883-1884

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J. Chauncey Shortlidge 1896-1897

4

Arthur H. Thomlinson 1884-1887

8

R. Grant Bennett 1897-1899

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Harold A. Nomer 1938-1946

Nelson A. Jackson 1908-1918

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Merrill L. Hiatt 1946-1955

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S. Archibald Smith 1918-1933

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Victor M. Haughton 1955-1959

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Alexander Blackburn 1933-1938

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W. Byron Forbush 1959-1960

A. Davis Jackson 1899-1908

FROM THE MEETING HOUSE FOUNDING EDITOR

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Alexander T. McNutt 1960-1965

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Richard Eldridge 2002-2003

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Rodman G. Pellett 1965-1966

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William G. Morris 2003-2016

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Frederic “Ted” B. Withington 1966-1988

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Andrea Kelly 2016-2023

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David Drinkwater 1988-1993

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Paul J. Stellato 2023-

21

Marcus Hurlbut 1993-2002

Director of Library Karl Hoenzsch, Librarian Nikole Magee, and Communications Specialist Margaret Pegno contributed to the research and collation of photographs.

In this issue, we fondly recognize and honor the founder of this magazine, Ward Burian ’54, and the contributions he offered that helped shape our Alumni Association, yearbook, the school’s formal Annual Giving, and more.

“A

fter 74 years since entering FA in 1949, I have enjoyed my close affiliation with “dear old FA” and have tried to repay my gratitude for my education and development there. As a sophomore, I collaborated with my brother, Bob ’52, to give a name to the annual yearbook of The Lamp, which was prompted by the FA seal with its oil lamp of learning atop the school books. In 1954 as president of the Student Council, I designed an FA flag, with small revisions in 2020. We also adopted a standard school ring in order to avoid the annual tiresome selection process. When asked Ward Burian in 2021 by the Trustees in 1963 to assist with their future plans, I started the FA Alumni Association together with the Annual Giving program because the school had no endowment, which caused the elimination of the costly boarding facilities. In 1966, I founded The Meeting House because I believed it would bring all alumni closer to their alma mater. Also, I selected the name because I always believed the core principles of the Quaker faith permeated the spirit of the school. In 2021, I donated a bench in an effort to leave some small mark of my years at my beloved school and close association over these years.”

– Ward Burian ‘54 Above, a copy of Ward’s book, which resides in the Friends Academy Kumar Wang Library.

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Cover Story

At the famed Walled Garden in Old Westbury Gardens, a symbol of Paul’s educational vision

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALVIN CAAL/FRIENDS ACADEMY

AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL J. STELLATO, FRIENDS ACADEMY’S 25TH HEAD OF SCHOOL

IN PURSUIT OF OUR ‘TRUE SELF’

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications

Scan here to listen to Paul J. Stellato’s remarks at the 2023-24 Convocation.

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“I

nfluence,” shared Friends Academy’s Head of School Paul J. Stellato, “is a weighty force. Just as easily as one can observe it in the hand of a gardener, so too can it be seen in the hand of a teacher... raising up or down the student experience and the philosophy of the school.”

For Paul, the garden metaphor is one that has come to shape his educational core – one that blossomed after reading The Walled Garden: The Story of a School by

Charles Merrill in 1982. Merrill chronicles his initial foray into noveling in France within the inspiring diameter of a walled garden, and the impact that experience had on his life’s purpose – to open a school in Boston.

“He saw the purpose of a walled garden to be one where every flower, shrub, insect, and animal was equal and protected by this wall,” reflected Paul.

“And how a school can be like a walled garden – designed to both nurture and protect.”

On July 1, 2023, Friends Academy welcomed Paul into its “walled garden” as their 25th Head of School, completing the transition with a special Convocation Induction ceremony for all families, trustees, and local dignitaries.

Twelve days into his tenure, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Paul to ask about his life’s journey so far and what he had come to find at Friends Academy.

Good morning to you, Paul. As we get to know you – and you FA – what are you most passionate about, professionally and personally?

My life has been spent in the company of gifted, caring, committed independent school teachers. Our schools have never relied more heavily on finding great teachers who want to give of themselves to their colleagues and their students and parents. I have come to understand and appreciate those qualities in this faculty, and I have joined a school that believes deeply in values and practices that I have tried to pursue throughout my career: generosity, confidence, kindness, and a striving after the best in us all.

Has your vision for education changed throughout the years, and what has it evolved to now?

As is true for almost everyone who has joined a new profession, I began mine a little starry-eyed, as I taught, coached, and ran a dormitory at Blair Academy.

I think of Wordsworth’s lines in Intimations of Immortality, when he writes that the way of the world seeks to separate us from our truest selves and keenest desire. And so, in the middle path of my career, as I strove for things outside myself, I moved away from myself. In the last decade or so, and in coming to Friends Academy, I believe that my vision is closer to what it was when I began that journey. I’ve been a full-time teacher, run a dorm, coached, run a college office, been an assistant school head. I’ve spent half of my time in boarding schools. And what mattered to me then matters to me in a richer, deeper way now.

That’s very interesting. Would you mind elaborating further?

Well, at some point, I began to think of my school more as a business than as a place of wonder, discovery, and revelation. My career roughly parallels the growth of the school-service industry, filled with consultants dressed up as visionaries, each of whom has contributed to an enormous industry built to service schools – programs and theories and systems that you can buy off the shelf and implement. But in pursuit of a better thing, the business of

Paul addresses students, faculty, families, trustees, and local dignitaries at Friends Academy’s Convocation Induction on Friday, Sept. 8.

To be in Quaker meeting is to be in the most intimate communion with others and, at the same time, to be completely alone.

Continued on page 10 In Upper School teacher Leanne Loizides’ English class, students tour Head of School Paul J. Stellato through the art history of Milton’s Paradise Lost.

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Cover Story summon, but I carry with me the faces and voices of great teachers I have known. They are mostly patient, curious, and focused entirely on their students.

They rarely give up or grow exasperated.

They will have nothing to do with cynicism or sarcasm, for they know how quickly either can banish students and make it almost impossible to bring them back. Their belief in their students – their capacity for growth and their goodness – is infinite. And they have the courage to ask and answer as many questions of themselves as they do of their students, and to look unflinchingly at the answers.

Paul greets Lower schoolers on the first day of school.

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school has gotten between teachers and their students, students and their parents, heads of school and the faculty, students, parents, and alumni they should and must serve. With the financial crash of 2008, much of this was laid bare, and what followed was an awful time for the independent school world. And so we find ourselves having to earn the trust of our families that we never should have squandered.

A school leader I love and respect very much told me early in my career that every school idea, recommendation, and initiative begins by answering this question – how will it enhance the experience of the student? Schools that have flourished have embedded that question in their DNA; schools that have floundered have either stopped asking it or turned it on its head. The answer is varied, and you have to know what experience you want to create.

What is like for you to lead and be a part of a Quaker school?

To be in Quaker meeting is to be in the most intimate communion with others and, at the same time, to be completely alone. When I am in the world, I can hide from myself and deny my own flaws.

But sitting on that bench is to be fully present and to have the opportunity to be fully realized. In coming to Friends, I did not know if I was ready for what I would experience. Just months into this new experience, there are few things in my life for which I have been more ready.

What was it that drew you to Friends Academy?

I’ve known of Friends Academy for many years. In the community of independent schools, it has a wonderful reputation, so I paid attention when it crossed my desk. After I announced that I was leaving PDS (Princeton Day School) on December 1, 2021, I expressed interest in one school: Friends Academy. I had a very strong emotional response when I walked the campus and met scores of community members. I knew, and know, myself well enough to have paid attention to that response.

In your experience, what does a great teacher look like?

And, what was at the core of that emotional response?

There is not one definition I can

I actually had that experience before I

The Meeting House

Paul meets with faculty and students shortly after his confirmation is announced in January 2023.

spoke to anyone... just stepping onto campus. And then listening to the Search Committee speak of their desire for a school that values and aspires to do a better job around the things that are important to me. We didn’t have conversations about curriculum, building buildings, raising money – I can get a memo on that.

The tone and tenor of our conversation was really about the soul of the school, things that no one will measure but that everyone knows are present or absent. That’s what they wanted to talk about. It drew me to them and to Friends.

So, for those in our community who don’t know you yet, how would you describe your style of leadership?

My role is to help people think through their ideas and to bring and find the resources of the institution to make them real. A dear former colleague of

mine told me that the school in which we worked shared too many good ideas to advance them all. My sense is that what looks like a good idea on its face may not be so after it is tested and questioned by not only the head of school but also by as many members of a community who wish to weigh in. And independent school communities love to have a say… in everything. I like to think that at the center of my leadership is that question: How will what I am doing, thinking, or considering enhance the quality of student experience?

Thank you, Paul. I think we have time for one final question, and I wonder if I might ask you to tell me something that the Friends Academy community does not know about you?

I love to fly-fish for trout and striped bass on the waters of Cape Cod, where Maureen and I have had a home for more than 20 years. I dream about those waters every day, as I cast a fly line in the spacious backyard at Jackson House. It is restorative.

As I am accustomed to catching very little on the Cape, so have I made peace with casting in the backyard, with no hope of landing anything.

Join FA on the Road!

Throughout the year, the Office of Advancement and the Alumni Association will host gatherings across the country to bring our alumni, parents, and supporters together.

We kicked off our welcome of Friends Academy’s 25th Head of School Paul J. Stellato to our community at the Cornell Club on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023.

The gatherings will provide an opportunity to reconnect with Friends Academy, network with each other, and hear firsthand Paul’s vision for the future.

Visit fa.org/alumni for all event information.

Want to host a gathering in your city?

Have an event idea?

Contact the Advancement team at alumni@fa.org.

Paul tours the gardens of Old Westbury Gardens in October 2023 as he explores Friends Academy’s Long Island and neighborhood connections.

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LensWorthy

LENSWORTHY PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALVIN CAAL

Friends Academy Photographer and Videographer Alvin Caal selects his favorite images from the school year so far and tells us why.

Follow Alvin and see FA through his lens on our new Instagram page at www.instagram.com/lensworthyatFA

Facing History In Steve Brennan’s Upper School History class, I caught a glimpse of two different triangles – the student presenter framed within another student’s arm and the trio of the three figures, which just managed to fit in the frame.

Last day The emotional connection between Senior Class Dean Ruth Lloves and her students is powerfully evident. The students have no reservation about hugging their teacher, while covered in colored powders; and Mrs. Lloves returns that depth of feeling.

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Language of Love There’s nothing more expressive than one’s hands and those of our colleagues’ play a huge role in making this image at a spring professional development event held in our Theater.

During the meeting, we practiced learning from each other, while having fun. In one exercise, we were challenged to choose and quickly learn a song with the word “love” in it – and then sing it together in front of all colleagues. Hilarity, of course, ensued... and connections to each other were deepened.

Joy of collaboration I love seeing how our students collaborate.

When I saw this scene and realized these Lower School students were bathed in an illuminating light, I knew I had to take this photo. Shooting from a lower angle helped to reveal more of their faces and tell more of the story.

Frozen in time The leading lines in this image help the viewer to navigate the image from left to right and top to bottom. The dancer seems frozen in time, as her left leg adds balance to the image by intersecting the gold-colored silk in a rehearsal for the Upper School’s OriginalWorks.

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Around the Quad

STORIED COLLEGE PROGRAM CELEBRATES 20 YEARS AT FA UNIQUE OFFERING UNITES ADMISSIONS REPS AND FA FAMILIES IN THOUGHT-PROVOKING PANELS Scan to hear what colleges think about FA graduates.

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Co-chair of the English Department Brad Wetherell discusses the implications of ChatGPT.

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications

E

very spring, the Friends Academy College Office hosts its annual Inside College Admissions, which unites representatives from colleges and universities across the world with juniors and their parents and caregivers for a very unusual and always enlightening workshop.

This past year, Friends Academy celebrated the 20th anniversary of this event. Along with FA College Counseling Associate Director Cullen Player and Grades 9 and 10 Academic Advisor Alana Mercante, FA welcomed representatives from Bucknell University, Fairfield University, Rice University, St. Andrews – Scotland, University of Southern California, Villanova University, Washington University in St. Louis, Webb Institute, and Wyoming Seminary. Together, the group pondered both the theme and query “Happily Ever After?” against the academic stress, financial burdens, and competitive nature of today’s college admissions process.

Director of College Counseling Edward Dugger opened the event by guarding against the notion that the college process is like a fairy tale. “Just like in A Little Mermaid, do students have to give up their voice to get into college?” asked Mr. Dugger.

Villanova University Senior Associate Director for Undergraduate Admissions Erica Woods urged students to never give up the

Following panels for students and parents, the College Office hosts a special lunch for visiting college admissions representatives in the Matinecock Hospitality Room.

central part of themselves. “Match is important,” she stressed. “When you are considering a college, ask yourself how well do you fit in; how well do you match their values?”

“How can you build on what you really love?” asked Jenn Dice, coDirector of College Counseling at Wyoming Seminary and a former member of the Friends Academy College Office. “Let’s say you enjoy bike riding; perhaps that evolves into a bike tour through multiple states.

Perhaps you learn CPR so that you can volunteer at bike races; perhaps it teaches you better life balance and coping skills. OPr it leads to a job in a bike shop or teaching kids how to ride their own bicycles.”

Mr. Dugger reminded families that one of the most important pieces of the process is the process. “The term ‘College Application Process’ can be fixated on almost a destructive

Left, Director of College Counseling Edward Dugger moderates the panel. Right, current and former members of the FA College Office reunite at a special lunch for all admissions representatives.

path,” mused Mr. Dugger. “The term itself misses the fact that going through this process helps our seniors develop the skills they need at college to be both happy and successful.”

So, what makes a successful college applicant? The group of college admissions representatives weighed in: * A student who understands the institution well and how well they might fit in * Not necessarily achieving “the most” * A rigorous level of classes, which might include 3-6 AP classes * Community engagement * A well-written essay that is not “perfect” but tells a good story * Recommendations from adults who understand a student’s intellectual vitality, are informed about the area of study and the student’s community impact, and can make a case for the college As Mr. Dugger closed out the event, he expressed his gratitude for the past two decades of Inside College Admissions. “This is more like a family reunion,” he smiled. “After 20 years, there are people with whom I’m working for the very first time as well as those from over many years.

Thank you to all.”

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Around the Quad

OVERLOOKED DISCOVERY

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications

W

hen senior Will Green set out to trace the emergence of Quakers in early America and on Long Island and compare them to present-day Quakers, he had no idea of the path that he would head down.

“I’ve always been interested in why historical events occur and what forces contributed to them,” shared Will. “And I developed a love of history from my teachers Mr. Louissaint and Ms. Delaney,” he added.

After learning about the role Quakers may have played in early anti-slavery work, Will decided to begin research. A summer internship at the Eastville Historical Society connected him with Dr. Georgette GrierKey, curator and history professor.

Senior Will Green in front of original manumission documents that prove individual Quakers freed their enslaved people. Will’s research was exhibited at the Eastville Historical Society and explored the relationship between Long Island Quakers and the early abolition movement.

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“I visited different historical sites, trying to locate primary documents that would prove my hypothesis,” recalled Will. Sifting through historical papers at the Westbury Historical Society led Will to his pot of gold, when he discovered manumission documents proving that individual Quakers, including figures like John Woolman, Lucretia Mott, and Benjamin Lay, were working to free those people that Quakers had enslaved.

“Finding the archives was eye opening,” said Will. “They gave Scan true context and here to detail to my research. watch I was holding original News12’s records documenting video. enslavers freeing their enslaved people,” he added. “Slavery was the norm, even in Quaker communities.

Slowly more and more people joined the movement, which was pioneered

by Quakers.”

With Dr. Grier-Key’s support, Will began to piece together an exhibit that debuted in the summer of 2023 at the Eastville Historical Society and is currently being shown at the Westbury Historical Society.

The exhibit features five sections, beginning with the history of Quakerism and how they used their moral values to inspire a revolutionary mindset in abolishing slavery. “It didn’t just happen

A visitor to the Eastville Historical Society explores Will’s Quaker exhibit.

overnight,” revealed Will, pointing to a book with manumission papers ranging from the 1770s to the 1850s. “But Quakers were the driving force behind the movement.”

A part of the exhibit explores the history of past and current African American Quakers, including Paul Cuffy, who was a Quaker abolitionist.

Visitors can learn about the current meeting houses on Long Island, from Westbury to Sag Harbor. The exhibit culminates on an inspiring note. “Once enslaved people were free, they still faced insurmountable challenges of economy,” said Will.

“However, Quakers spearheaded the establishment of communities across the Northeast for newly freed

enslaved people.”

Looking back on his research, Will was determined to teach people about this historical event, how it was important to him and how it demonstrated the Quaker religion as a whole. “I don’t think I would have done this if I hadn’t gone to a Quaker school,” said Will, whose love for history began with understanding the underlying causes behind the Protestant Reformation and exploring each side’s perspective.

“Perspective is a vital component in the study of history,” pointed out Will. “It is imperative to explore every angle. Such exploration ensures the most holistic understanding.”

Far left, a book of original manumission documents sheds light on hisorical Quaker families like the Motts, the Hicks, and the Valentines.

Left, Will answers questions from Friends Academy history teacher Amy Delaney.

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Around the Quad

MIDDLE SCHOOL

WHEN NATURE HOLDS THE KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING

THE SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL BIODIVERSITY OPEN THE DOOR TO IMPROVING HUMAN DIVERSITY

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications PHOTOS & VIDEO BY ALVIN CAAL/FRIENDS ACADEMY

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D

uring the spring of 2020, sixth grade science teacher Dan Kriesberg was searching for ways to teach outside and get involved in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging (DEIB) efforts, when he realized the connection between biodiversity and human diversity.

“Mutualism is a system that exists in nature; so, how can we use nature as a model for our own lives?” asked Mr. Kriesberg. With Friends Academy’s Director of Diversity, Equity, + Inclusion

Scan here to watch our video.

Camille S. Edwards’ help, the two took a walk together to map out a possible curriculum for sixth graders.

“It was a wonderful invitation to start building this universe,” recalled Ms. Edwards. “On my end, I was thinking about our country and school and imparting to our colleagues to find their own way and voice. At our Quaker school, we have this amazing vehicle to create together.”

The pair focused on three ecological concepts: biodiversity (the number of different species in a given area), mutualism (an ecological relationship where two different species cooperate for the benefit of both), and ecological interrelationships.

“We wanted to ask our sixth graders how these same systems could apply in their lives and how they could live in their friend groups more consciously,” shared Mr. Kriesberg.

Using Friends Academy’s 65-acre campus as their laboratory, Mr. Kriesberg and Ms. Edwards facilitated six to seven sessions throughout the school year. “What started localized, as a strand within Dan’s

Science teacher Dan Kriesberg explains systems of mutualism to sixth graders during one of their biodiversity walks.

Middle School curriculum for a single grade has now branched out to four different versions of this program, including students, educators, classroom teachers, school leaders, organizations, and diversity practitioners,” said Ms. Edwards.

In sixth grade, the classroom curriculum sends students into nature to think about how two different species might need each other to survive. An exercise asks students to use only tweezers to build a successful bird’s nest and in doing so, opens their eyes to the unique skills a bird must employ to create safety and structure.

“What students are learning about biodiversity and relationships leads directly to lessons in resiliency and empathy,” said Mr. Kriesberg.

Presenting at the 2023 People of Color Conference, participating in podcasts, and creating adult sessions has brought their work to a new level. “I have learned so much about the DEI world, including how to ask questions, sit back and listen, and perceive more about the comfort levels in having conversations,” he said.

“Using nature awareness skills can make you a more effective practitioner – using all senses, looking for patterns, asking questions, and realizing there’s a lot of wonderful out there,” he added.

For Ms. Edwards, these opportunities open the door to a new world. “It’s about being courageous, taking risks, valuing curiosity over certainty, and fighting any urges that I can have as a practitioner around perfections. We are building a universe that doesn’t exist yet, and we won’t have all the answers,” she said.

Director of Diversity, Equity, + Inclusion Camille S. Edwards and Mr. Kriesberg explore the group’s discoveries.

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Around the Quad

31ST ANNUAL DINNER & AUCTION

A NIGHT OUT WITH FRIENDS

Scan here to view more photos.

F

riends Academy celebrated its 31st Annual Dinner and Auction on May 5, 2023, at the Garden City Hotel. This year, A Night Out with Friends was chaired by three Friends Academy alumni and current parents Liz Ong Witthuhn ’01, P ’31, ’35, Jennifer Tytel ’05, P ’34, ’38, and Ariel Fish ’00, P ’32, ’34. The event was overflowing with good cheer and celebrated the many ways in which our lives are enriched because of our Friends Academy relationships. We offer our deepest appreciation to Liz, Jennifer, and Ariel for their outstanding commitment and to the dedicated Auction Committee (pictured below) for their extraordinary service to Friends Academy. A heartfelt thank you to our community for helping us raise $790,000.

Clockwise, Auctioneer Pat Tully works the FA crowd; Auction chairs and alumni Jennifer Tytel ’05, Liz Ong Witthuhn ’01, and Ariel Fish ’00; members of the tireless Auction Committee!

PHOTOS BY ALVIN CAAL/FRIENDS ACADEMY

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LOWER SCHOOL

SIGNATURE LEARNING

T

his spring, the Friends Academy Lower School launched a series of new Signature Experiences for students in K-4.

Woven into the curriculum of the grade level, each culminating area of study and event draws upon effective research (both in and outside of school), reading for information, writing and publishing to communicate clearly, collaborating with their classmates and the local community, public speaking, and a formal presentation to an audience.

In kindergarten, teachers craft mathematical and literacy studies around the eagerly Scan here anticipated 100 Days to watch of School. A special videos of celebration combined Kindergarten music and math, as kindergartners performed an original song by FA music and 4th. teacher James Liverani as they serenaded and honored the attending Senior Class of 2023, who were marking their “last” first 100 days.

Social Studies curricula formed the foundation for both first and second grades’ study of community. First graders ventured out in local shops and businesses to understand the dynamic between wants and needs and what makes a neighborhood.

Second graders cast a wider net and canvased Long Island as they learned about what makes Long Island unique.

In third grade, students embarked upon a journey of community through faith as they visited various houses of worship, culminating with Quaker Meeting for Worship at the

PHOTOS BY ALVIN CAAL/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Clockwise from top: Third grade Meeting for Learning; fourth grade Entre studies, Second grade’s study of Long Island; first graders interview local business owners; Kindergartners count their way to the 100 Days of School.

Matinecock Meeting House, where they led their parents through a Quaker Meeting for Learning.

“What’s exciting is that these experiences are interdisciplinary and ask students to draw on all skill sets to tie what they’re learning to a real-world experience,” commented Lower School Principal Dot Woo. Real-world learning in Lower School reaches a pinnacle in fourth grade’s entrepreneurship program,

where students are presented with a challenge from an organization that requires problem-solving by stepping through the design thinking process.

Last year, students worked with nationally known FLIK Dining Services and used field research to study traffic flow, menu options, and group dynamics to help improve FA’s dining experience. This year, students will be partnering with Cornell University.

– Andrea Miller

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Fall Fair!

FALL FAIR & HOMECOMING!

T

he Quaker Testimony and Friends Academy value of Community shone brightly through darkened and soggy skies on Saturday, Sept. 30, during Friends Academy’s all-community Fall Fair and Homecoming. Record rainfall caused cancellations around Long Island and NYC and even invoked a state of emergency declaration from NY’s Gov. Hochul, but steadfast and undaunted, Friends Academy parent volunteers led by Fall Fair co-clerks Claudia Paris and Emily Silverstein ‘05, colleagues, student-athletes, and fair-goers, and alumni persisted.

Scan here to view more photos on our Flickr page.

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Clockwise, FA parents volunteer at one of the many international food court booths; Friends Academy families cheer on the Quakers. Director of Advancement Kevin Barry welcomes back visiting alumni; former Boys Varsity Soccer Coach and Friends Academy history teacher Marshall Lindner is celebrated on the field for the 10th anniversary of the Boys Soccer team State Championship win in 2013; Fall Fair co-clerks Emily Silverstein ‘05 and Claudia Paris with their children at the fair.

“In every venue, Friends Academy displayed its finest,” shared Head of School Paul J. Stellato with the community, who also praised the engaging crafts and activities for kids of all ages that were cozily located in the fieldhouse, and an array of international foods that “was a triumph of not only culinary skills but also of the many traditions and cultures that call our campus home.”

Friends Academy Athletics ruled the fields as all three teams on Saturday brought home spectacular and riveting wins – from the Varsity Boys Soccer Team’s 3-1 win over Island Trees High School; the Varsity Girls Soccer Team’s 3-0 win against Levittown High School and the Boys Varsity Football Team’s thrilling 22-20 double overtime win over Jericho High School.

A special halftime ceremony during the Boys Soccer match celebrated the many achievements of former Varsity Soccer coach and FA history teacher Marshall Lindner, who led the Boys Soccer team to a State Championship win in 2013.

With skies clearing halfway through the fair, Friends Academy also welcomed home alumni from a span of decades at a special gathering in the Kumar Wang Library. The Class of 1973, celebrating their 50th reunion, gathered in the Matinecock Meeting House for a very special Meeting for Worship. “As its members spoke, I could have closed my eyes and imagined the same sentiments rising from our current students. Such is the power and reach of our Quaker practice,” described Mr. Stellato, who attended the Meeting and hosted the class at a luncheon in the Marion Jackson House.

– Andrea Miller PHOTOS BY ALVIN CAAL/FRIENDS ACADEMY

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Feature Story

INN V A F E T A o

t, Empower

nnec Question, Co

By Andrea Mill er P ’22, ’27 Director of Str ategic Comm unications

Clockwise: Gl en Cove May or Pam Panz a challenge fa enbeck presen cing the city of ts Glen Cove to gradestudent eighth s. Upper Scho ol students pr entrepreneur esent their ial ideas to th eir clients. Fo students colla urth grade borate with th eir teacher Je and Dean of ssie DellaFera Innovation Da niel Mendel.

“How do we push into a space where we say, ‘I didn’t know a middle schooler or high schooler could do that?’” – Dean of Innovation Daniel Mendel 24

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“T

here aren’t right or wrong answers in these courses,” began Friends Academy’s Dean of Innovation Daniel Mendel. “Instead, there are endless ways to tackle problems, and the process resembles more closely the professional opportunities in today’s world – navigating ambiguities, communicating with one another, advocating for others and yourself, and communicating and presenting in a professional manner.”

This collection of courses, which spans all three divisions and began in 2020 with the piloted Upper School Entreprenurial Studies class, is Friends Academy’s Innovation Strand programs which comprises three central areas – Financial Literacy, Medicine, and Entrepreneurship.

The central premise behind each of these scaffolded courses resides in the practice of partnership and problemsolving. “Students are presented with problems that are not made up; they are challenges that adults, businesses, and communities are going through. Through their research and design thinking process, our students will be able to move the needle on solving these challenges,” added Mr. Mendel.

Mendel, whose role it is to teach and support Friends Academy teachers within the innovative course strands, also helps to develop curriculum and forge partnerships with outside organizations. FA’s foray into this particular framework of teamteaching, which is facilitated and spotlights collaboration in small groups, was introduced by Assistant Head of School Jen Halliday in 2020.

Currently, there are 10 innovation

courses that start in third grade and carry through until twelfth grade. All of the Upper School courses are co-taught by professionals, including physician and president of the Cleveland Clinic Dr. Neil Smith and Wall Street professional Patricia Catalano. Adult mentors from the Friends Academy alumni and parent community help form the final tier of professional partners.

“Our teachers adopt an approach that focuses on developing 21st-century skills like innovation, research, and collaboration,” explained Mr. Mendel.

“Teachers in our innovative courses mentor and coach students, motivating them to think big, take risks, and follow through on their ideas with deep research and engaging field work.”

As Dean of Innovation, Mendel has put in place reflective checkpoints for teachers, which help them and their students get into the habit of seeking and applying feedback.

“What is different about this approach is that we ask teachers to answer questions with questions. Teachers are natural helpers and part of this work is about resisting the pull to do the work for their students. As a teacher, that approach is an engaging and exciting pedagogical practice – how to help kids help themselves.”

Seventh graders explore financial models in their class, Financial Literacy.

Continued on page 26

Upper School students present their patient diagnoses to visiting parents and physicians in Solutions in Medicine.

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Feature Story

Upper School students and parents listen in as their peers present solutions for their client.

26

Mendel stresses that an important byproduct of this process is that this style of teaching and learning challenges students to think about what it means to pursue something they are passionate about, gather the necessary resources, and to stay with it. “Great research is about staying with the work and channeling the excitement into it.”

The connections to Quakerism and Quaker practice are important to point out for Mr. Mendel. “Think about the Testimony of Simplicity – we live in a really complex world. How do we get to a place where we can offer clean, clear, and coherent ideas and solutions? How do you organize and prioritize, especially when there is too much that is possible and too much to do.

When we think about the Quaker Testimonies of Peace and Equality, we think about what it means for teams to function successfully. When I grew up, there were content check-ins; it was never about process or how the team is functioning – how you are doing interpersonally. If a team is functioning well, you show up to that space with a peaceful feeling, and if there is equality in that group, everyone is finding space for themselves.

Integrity also comes to mind. When I was in high school, integrity was all about

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Eighth graders conduct field research into solving a problem for the City of Glen Cove.

academic honesty and not cheating.

Integrity means something different in these courses. Though you can’t really cheat, you can cheat yourself – that means being accountable to yourself, to each other, and to your outside business partners,” he reflected.

As the Innovation Strand reaches years two and three, Mendel is inspired to see an arc of student growth over the coming years. “As our sixth graders work on a problem in the community, they are not solving finance problems for a bank.

Their world is the campus, and they’ll be on campus for a long time. We are going to get students who are expecting and have already experienced what it means to work as a team. We will be able to get to substance much more quickly. For

example, this year’s sixth graders will have taken fourth grade entre course, and it will be really fascinating to see what is possible as they continue to build these skills.”

Mendel fervently believes in students having a voice and creating curriculum that supports them in that arena. “How do we push into a space where we say, ‘I didn’t know a middle schooler or high schooler could do that?’”

As Mendel looks back on the courses that have been built and run, he is particularly drawn to the fourth grade entre program that paired students in a unique partnership with the school’s national dining company, FLIK. “When we first started working with our fourth graders, they couldn’t define entrepreneurship, and all of the steps involved were pretty novel to them – ideas like teamwork. They were presented with the challenge of how to improve the K-4 dining experience,” explained Mendel. “As the design thinking process evolved for them, I was really impressed with their ability to see beyond themselves and then collectively organize and research,” he added.

“They conducted a lot of interviews and didn’t rush to judgment. They iterated along the way by taking feedback and applying it – which is hard for a fourth grader,” said Mendel.

Ultimately, students proposed a wide variety of thoughtful solutions to improve the Lower School dining experience. Ideas ranged from improved logistics around food service to more environmentally friendly practices.

Using state-of-the-art design software, students created 3-D renderings with the goal of lightening noise, increasing comfort, and improving community.

“What surprised me was that the more space you give them, the more they can do,” said Mendel. “We want students to be better teammates, find their voice, and get better about being more productive in a community over time.”

INNoVATION CoURSES 3rd Grade M

Financial Lite

oney Matters

racy Strand

– Beginning te am-building sk ncial Literacy ills – Solving an in Upper School ternal challeng Investing for e Impact – Crea te plans for re Upper School al clients Financial Lite racy 101 – Le arning core sk ills 6th Grade Fina

7th Grade Des

Medicine Stra

nd

igns in Medic

ine – Systems thinking; i.e., of care and ho systems spital systems Upper School Solutions in M edicine – Dia gnosing real pa medical issues tient in real time

Entrepreneu

4th Grade En

rship Strand

trepreneursh ip – Solving a challenge for an internal sc ho ol partner 8th Grade En trepreneursh ip – Solving a challenge for an external community or ganization Upper School Global Entre 1 – Nonprofit and for-profit business chal lenges Upper School Global Entre 2 – Small grou business by de ps create thei r own fining a comm unity/societal problem

In response to a challenge pr esented by th organization, e national FLIK, students collaborate on to improving the K-4 dining innovating so lutions experience.

2023-24

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Around the Quad

Using micropipettes, students prepare to isolate and amplify the DNA of samples they have collected.

ON THE CUTTING BARCODING EDGE S ADVANCED PARTNERSHIP WITH COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORIES PUTS FA STUDENTS AT FOREFRONT

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications

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craping, tapping, netting, and filtering, Friends Academy students in the new Upper School barcoding class fanned out across Long Island as they collected specimens from marshes, ponds, and woodland areas as part of a regional biodiversity research project last spring and this fall.

Working in conjunction with Barcode Long Island, which works to assess biodiversity on Long Island, students in both the primary and advanced classes of Science Research: DNA Barcoding have been learning how to collect, extract, and sequence the DNA of lichen and aquatic invertebrate organisms with the help of instructors from the DNA

Learning Center (DNALC), which is associated with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories (CSHL).

“Our basic barcoding course is available to tenth through twelfth graders and is a prerequisite to the advanced course,” explained Science Department Head Jen Newittt, who co-teaches both courses with Vijay Suthar.

Beginning last year, instructors and scientists from the CSHL DNA Learning Center worked with faculty and students to teach the skills of field collection, wet lab DNA techniques, and DNA sequence analysis using online databases.

“What Vijay and I love about teaching this course is that every science skill gets hit,” said Mrs. Newitt. “We spent the entire month of October collecting specimens at Bailey’s Arboretum, Shu Swamp, and within our Forest Program,” she added.

Friends Academy third and seventh graders also partner with DNALC for various lab exercises.

Last spring, third graders learned how to observe and compare wild-type and mutant strains of Drsophila (fruit flies) in order to identify variations in traits. Seventh grade classes visit the lab to perform DNA experiments using their cutting-edge equipment.

Last year’s Upper School barcoding course focused on teaching students the techniques they needed to extract and analyze the DNA of their specimens to be able to identify the species collected and answer their research questions. By the end of the school year, students had

created poster summaries of their research findings, which they presented at the 2022-23 Barcode Long Island Symposium. Now, five students from that course have graduated into the advanced course and are working with the Riverhead and Mystic Aquariums on two separate projects with a type of DNA identification process called metabarcoding. DNALC’s Dr. Jeffry Petracha works with this technique and has been leading workshops with educators and students on how to use this cutting-edge technique; this fall he created an individual workshop for Friends Academy students.

First widely used in 2019, DNA metabarcoding allows for the simultaneous identification of many different species in one environmental sample.

Environmental DNA can be collected from soil, water, saliva, feces, and other excretions.

“Metabarcoding can be used to not only assess biodiversity,” said Mrs. Newitt, “but also ecological interactions such as food chains and identifying the presence of invasive species. It is the cutting edge and, with it, the possibilities are limitless in terms of the types of research projects that students can develop.”

For the advanced course, students must complete a more rigorous, structured approval process before their projects are approved by Barcode Long Island and the Riverhead and Mystic Aquariums. For example, they may be asked to assess which bacteria are present in the fungal colonies grown by different species of leafcutter ants, or to compare Continued on page 30 Dr. Cristina FernandezMarco from the DNA Learning Center demonstrates how to extract DNA from plant, fungal, and animal samples.

SAMPLE

COLLECT

EXTRACT

ANALYZE

SEQUENCE! The Upper School classes in Science Research: DNA Barcoding teach students the skills of field collection, “wet lab” DNA techniques, and analyzing DNA sequences using online databases.

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Around the Quad

the gut bacteria of diseased seals found out east.

“Students will need to use advanced science writing skills to make the case,” said Mrs. Newitt.

“Once approved, they will collect their samples, extract the DNA using more complicated protocols than last year, analyze, and then perhaps enter their findings into competitions and possibly publications.”

In addition to the skills of field collection and science writing,

Above and below, Friends Academy students present their original research at the 2022-23 Barcode Long Island Symposium to local scientists.

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Mrs. Newitt named key competencies that students are developing with this sort of student-centered hands-on research.

“Students are using bioinformatics, which uses computer databases to analyze DNA sequencing; they are learning the vocabulary of phylogeny to identify their specimens, as well as critical presentation skills of visual design and public speaking.”

In tandem with the Quaker Testimony of Stewardship, Mrs. Newitt points out the vital importance of her students’ research. “These proposals are looking at the impacts of human interference in different ecosystems. The health of an area

is stronger when there is more biodiversity; it’s healthier for all organisms – from our food sources, to where we are able to cull antibiotics. When one part starts to break down, it can bring down the other levels,” she stated.

“The more that we can assess the vast biodiversity of the bacterial world and the role they play in organisms and other habitats, then the more aware we are of the changes in biodiversity. And that means we can recognize when an ecosystem is crying out for help.”

UPPER SCHOOL

CLASS OF 2023 GRADUATION

By Margaret Pegno Visuals, Social Media, Communications Specialist

Scan here to view more photos.

Scan here to view the 2023 Commencement video.

O

n Saturday, June 10, 2023, students, families, alumni, and colleagues gathered under the tent on the Friends Academy football field for the 137th Commencement exercises. Eighty-two students walked through the Quad and onto the field as students for the last time, and left as alumni.

“We hope in your travels you will recall the many lessons you have learned at Friends Academy,” said Faculty Commencement Speaker Tammy Clark. “We hope you will recall the love we have for each of you.”

Isabella Sha and Mark Jennings were the student speakers selected by their peers to represent the Class of 2023. Isabella reflected on the connections of the students and how the Friends Academy community embraced each of them to be the very best they can be. “Each student has their own talents, their own passions, their own hopes and dreams,” reflected Isabella. “Each and every one of us has their own personality, our own perspective, and our own story.” Mark Jennings remarked upon Friends Academy’s unique culture that enables students to create a family-like connection with their peers, and he expressed the deep appreciation he has for his classmates. “Thank you so much for everything,” he addressed his peers. “For making me who I am and making me want to come to school every day.”

The Class Gift was presented by Serena Saad, three apple trees to be planted on campus and enjoyed by the community for years to come.

Above, the Class of 2023 lined up on the Kumar Wang Library steps for the traditional pre-ceremony class photo. Below, graduates with parents who are also alumni of Friends Academy.

PHOTOS BY ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY FOR FRIENDS ACADEMY

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The Arts

SPONGEBOB: THE MUSICAL

I

n February, the Friends Academy Arts Department performed their annual full-length winter musical production – SpongeBob: The Musical!

With tap dancing, high-kicking choreography, vibrant costumes, and a set that featured porthole projections, live sound effects, and special effects of fog, bubbles, and confetti streamers, the Upper School cast and crew sung their way into our hearts. From Patchy the Pirate’s interaction with the audience, including giving out “souvenir programs,” to the catchy all-ensemble numbers, this play was one not to miss. Congratulations to all who were involved in this fun, lovable, and uplifting production – especially the Class of 2023!

– Margaret Pegno

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Scan here to view more photos on our Flickr page.

PHOTOS BY AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEMY

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The Arts

MS PLAY: SHATTERED ALICE

“I

know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.”

So says Alice to the Caterpillar in Chapter Five of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. After so many strange and challenging adventures in Wonderland, she’s not quite certain who she is any longer. What a perfect jumping-off point for Friends Academy’s 2023 Middle School play, Shattered Alice.

“Middle School is all about change, growth, and figuring out who you are,” Friends Academy director and playwright Andrew Geha said. “Alice grows metaphorically and literally throughout Lewis Carroll’s books, figuring out how to walk through a world that doesn’t make much sense. I think all of us can relate on one level or another, so it was a journey we were very excited to explore on stage.”

In Geha’s adaptation, Alice is played by a different student for each of her

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famous encounters, something the White Rabbit points out midway through the show. Alice knows she’s changing but isn’t quite sure why or into what. Using and expanding upon Lewis Carroll’s witty dialogue, Alice is faced with a series of confusing riddles she tries to solve, eventually realizing she herself is a bit of a riddle. Ultimately, all of the Alices come face to face with the many versions of herself, questioning her identity, her significance, and her agency in her own story.

“There have been so many versions of Alice in Wonderland, between the numerous movies and stage plays. We considered using a pre-existing script, but couldn’t find one that would accommodate 40+ middle school actors.”

Creating a new version not only meant that each student in the cast would have a viable contribution to the production, it also meant the story could focus on questions particularly resonant to growing up in today’s world. The script explored what it means to try and live up to expectations when no one is clearly laying them out (at the Mad Tea Party), the many rules you must follow even when you haven’t had a chance to learn them (in the Queen’s court), and both the consequences and rewards for asking too many questions (while chasing the White Rabbit). Alice eventually realizes the best choice she can make is to keep going on adventures, keep facing challenges, and keep exploring.

“The more experiences we have,” said Geha, “the more we choose to broaden out from our everyday lives and take chances, the more we get to grow and learn. And, hopefully, become better versions of ourselves.”

In a particularly profound moment, the cast members spoke in some of the 140 languages the original book has been translated into. The opening lines of Alice in Wonderland were read in English, Farsi, French, German, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. ”Representing some of the many cultures and backgrounds we have at FA was central to the show’s overall message of identity and how our experiences define us. I was grateful to each of the students who stepped up for that moment, and how the cast and crew as a whole committed their time, energy, love, and joy to telling this fun and fantastical story.”

PHOTOS BY AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEMY

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The Arts

SPRING CONCERT SERIES

S

pring 2023 brought energy and joy into the Helen A. Dolan Center Theater with full concerts in all divisions. In Lower School, fourth grade received a standing ovation for their handbell rendition of “Africa” by Toto accompanied by students on drums and a surprise performance from their teacher Katie Chuchul with her flute solo. We also saw two alumni return to the FA stage as Sam Towse ‘16 and Jack Towse ‘21 played alongside their brother, Spencer ‘23, for a special program during the Jazz Band concert. The grand finale of the 2023 Celebration of Art & Music brought the entire Middle School to the stage for a spectacular performance.

– Margaret Pegno

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View the Towse brothers’ performance on YouTube.

Brothers Sam Towse ‘16 and Jack Towse ‘21 (above) made a surprise performance at the final Jazz Band concert with their younger brother, Spencer Towse ‘23 (below).

PHOTOS BY ALVIN CAAL/FRIENDS ACADEMY

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The Arts

AWAKEN YOURSELF WITH “WAKE” UPPER SCHOOL PLAY BREAKS CONVENTION TO TELL A TIMELESS TALE

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications

W

ithin a dimly lit theater, three to four rows of audience members sit quietly and expectantly. Ahead of them and on stage, a 20-foot black wood wall encircles the space, accessible by a single door. Entering in small groups of three to four, the scene

opens up to a large vaudevillian-style minitheater, and all are transported back to the 1920s in the Upper School production of WAKE: An Immersive Experience.

“We set out to create a promenade-style piece – essentially open-world theater – where the audience could wander wherever they wanted to go, picking up story pieces from each character,” said Director of Arts Andrew Geha.

Over the next 45 minutes, the plot slowly unravels – in back rooms, on card tables, behind the set, and under the stairs.

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Leslie (Kody Mitchell), Betsy (Minnie Yu), and Simon (Cassian Gerasimenko) invite audience members to celebrate and dance during the wake of Josephine LaRoux.

Stella (Christina Grasso) shares her decision about the future of the theater; Wilahemina (Eleanor Lawton-Flatters) consoles Madeleine (Mackenzie Breg). Below, Marlene offers dried flowers to audience members as she shares about Josephine’s favorite.

Left, theater company dancers Marlene (Jamie Yeung), Soleil (Charli Zhatila), and Madeleine (Mackenzie Breg); Taylor Fernandez is Frederick, struggling with wartime memories.

PHOTOS BY AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEMY

At times, characters gently lead viewers into a space; at others, the choice is that of the audience. Josephine LaRoux, the matriarch owner of a small theater company, has passed, and this is her wake and reading of her will and last wishes.

Along the way, we meet the members of her company, from accompanist Simon (Cassian Gerasimenko) to Soleil (Charli Zahtila), her lead dancer and choreographer. The mood is somber, pensive, but it’s a grief colored with love and gratitude. Through assorted monologues, we come to understand the impact of Josephine on each of the characters. Early in the proceedings, a deafening silence rips through the cast, as Josephine’s somewhat estranged daughter, Stella (Christina Grasso), makes her entrance. The reunion with Stella is bittersweet and builds to a crescendo when Josephine’s will is read and Stella discovers the theater is hers. A choice must now be made.

“This was a piece of devised theater – a completely original story in a world crafted by the cast,” shared Mr. Geha. “Each character had their own unique arc in the story, and all were slightly (or significantly) changed people by the end. We had a tremendous amount of fun crafting the solo stories and all the many wonderful moments of intersection between characters and between characters and the audience.”

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Alumni on Campus

ALUMNI ON CAMPUS Alumni continue to play a vital role in the day-to-day life of Friends Academy students. Here are just a few ways in which alumni have shared their expertise, experience, and sound advice with our students.

David Seeler, Class of 1959

Owner, The Bayberry Landscaping Company Friends Academy welcomed back Distinguished Alumnus David Seeler ’59 who spoke to Upper School students and faculty at the 2023 Fourth Day Honors. Read more in his magazine profile on pages 58-61.

Welcome address from Head of School Andrea Kelly: We present a special award to an alum nominated by their peers each year. This year, I am honored to introduce our Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, Mr. David Seeler, class of ‘59. One nominee said of David, “He has lived a life in which he has enriched his friends, his community, and Friends Academy.” All true!

I was lucky enough to be in the class of ‘59’s reunion Zoom meeting during COVID. Person by person, each described David as the class’s most respected and most popular student. If I recall correctly, he was also described as having a lot of fun in high school!

His classmate’s views of him would only deepen over time.

David and his wife, Ngaere (pronounced Nyree), operate a very successful business in Amagansett, The Bayberry, a prized nursery and garden for residents in the region. So much more than growing, tending, and selling plants, David has demonstrated in both word and deed his abiding commitment to sustainability, the environment, local ecosystems, and the area’s history. He is an expert in his field and an environmental educator to all. He lives and breathes our Stewardship Testimony.

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2023 Distinguished Alumnus David Seeler ’59 addresses the Upper School student and faculty body at the 2023 Fourth Day Honors.

David’s civic engagements include 10 years as president of the Amagansett Historical Society; he was the founding officer of the Amagansett Business Alliance, serving as president for seven years; he was a major contributor to the restoration of the Amagansett Life Saving and Coast Guard Station; and served as a board member of Guild Hall, a community cultural center in Amagansett.

And though he graduated from Friends Academy more than six decades ago, he remains among our most stalwart supporters. David is the class agent for the class of ‘59, which, year over year, leads in alumni giving to the school’s annual fund. David served on the Board of Trustees from 20192021. One classmate who nominated David for this award said, “Few alumni have done as much as David over the years; he has done this quietly and with dedication. I believe it is long since time that his work, leadership, and many contributions are recognized.”

Morgan Taylor ’08 Vice President, Head of Business Operations for the WNBA New York Liberty Alumna Morgan Taylor ‘08 returned to campus for the Spring Sports Assembly in April to speak to our Upper School athletes.

Morgan shared how her time at FA prepared her for a career in collegiate sports as well as Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Now as the Head of Business Operations for the NY Liberty, she also works with the organization’s NBA G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.

Caroline Carrello ‘20, Nate Chen ‘22, Billy Daal ‘21, Billy Duke ‘20, Elissa Fielding ‘18, Angelina Fodera ‘20, Blake Nagel ‘20, Taylor Overstrom ‘22, and Hannah Popper ‘20 In-college panel with the Class of 2023 On January 6, 2023, alumni Caroline Carrello ‘20, Nate Chen ‘22, Billy Daal ‘21, Billy Duke ‘20, Elissa Fielding ‘18, Angelina Fodera ‘20, Blake Nagel ‘20, Taylor Overstrom ‘22, and Hannah Popper ‘20 returned to Friends to speak to the class of 2023. Moderated by thenseniors, Nikki Mazur and Will Bystrom, this interactive conversation covered a range of topics, including navigating the college application process, transitioning and making the most of your college experience.

Alumni return for the annual college panel. Nine FA alumni talked to current seniors (the Class of 2023) about how to navigate college and life.

Harry DellaFera ’12, Sam Mufson ’18, Michael Rudolph ’09, P ’19, and Ally Zucker ’18 Invited guests to the Upper School class Entrepreneurship II Harry DellaFera ’12, Director, PJT Park Hill; Sam Mufson ’18, Senior Associate, SS&C GlobeOp; Michael Rudolph ’09, P ’19 President, Piping Rock Health Products; and Ally Zucker ’18, Institutional

Securities Group Rotational Analyst, Morgan Stanley were among the many in attendance on May 26, 2023, to evaluate two student teams from FA’s Entrepreneurship II Innovation and Invention course as they presented their “case for innovation’’ to business experts, investors, entrepreneurs, and mentors.

Over 30 alumni, faculty, and friends provided feedback to real business plans developed by 10 students in this Grade 12 class.

Dwayne Taylor ’13 Director of Brand Relations at IN-HOUSE Upper School faculty Louisa Garry, clerk of Business Club, and Sara Pozzi invited Dwayne Taylor ’13, Director of Brand Relations at IN-HOUSE, the world’s first tastemaker fashion marketplace where athletes, musicians, and entertainers sell their products directly to consumers, to speak to students on April 24. Dwayne, a graduate of the George Washington University’s School of Business, shared his experience as a brand and marketing operations manager, focused on efficiency and revenue generation in an entrepreneurial environment.

Above, Harry DellaFera ‘12 and Ally Zucker ‘18 at the Upper School Entre II presentations

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Spring Athletics

2022-23

SPRING ATHLETICS

T

he spring season was an outstanding triumph, marked by remarkable achievements across multiple teams. Three of our teams emerged victorious in their respective conferences, culminating in a Long Island Championship. In addition, over 45 student-athletes garnered individual accolades from Newsday and Section VIII. The exceptional performances of our teams were duly recognized, with two coaches being awarded Coach of the Year. The postseason was filled with exhilarating moments as numerous teams advanced, creating an atmosphere of excitement. A heartfelt appreciation goes out to the entire community, whose turnout at our Spring Sports BBQ truly exemplified their unwavering support. It was a delight to see our Lower and Middle School students cheering on their Upper School peers during their matches. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone for their invaluable support throughout this remarkable season.

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HIGHLIGHTS Boys Tennis concluded

their season with an impressive achievement as runners-up in the highly competitive New York State Small School Tennis Championship.

Girls Lacrosse had an

exceptionally dominant season, showcasing an undefeated record in conference play and emerging victorious in Conference III.

Boys Lacrosse experienced a remarkable season, finishing with a commendable 10-6 record and securing a spot in the prestigious Nassau County Class D Championship Game.

Softball enjoyed an

exceptional season, embarking on a thrilling journey to the NY State Softball Class D Regional Finals, traveling two hours north, where they showcased their determination and had an unforgettable experience.

Boys Baseball played a

thrilling game at the Spring Sports BBQ, as the team initially fell behind by multiple runs, only to stage a spectacular comeback in the final two innings, triumphing over Carle Place.

Crew represented Friends

Academy in three events at the NY State High School Championship Regatta. The Varsity Girls’ Four came in 8th out of 27 crews. Both our Novice Girls’ Four and Novice Boys’ Four made it to their Grand Finals as well, with the girls ultimately coming in 2nd and the boys coming in 4th.

Track and Field secured

2nd place at the 4B Divisional Championships. The Girls Team secured a commendable 4th place in the county, with the boys closely following in 6th place.

Boys Golf team’s exceptional

performance propelled them to finish 2nd in the County Championship. Furthermore, two of their players qualified for the state tournament.

Girls Golf team secured

a coveted spot in the Nassau County Team Golf Championship.

Their performance in the championship, placed them among the top four teams, granting them the opportunity to compete the following day of the tournament.

Ultimately, they clinched an impressive 4th place finish.

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Spring Athletics

HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS QUAKER PRIDE RUNS DEEP INTO THE SPRING SEASON WITH 47 INDIVIDUAL AWARDS RECEIVED ALL-STATE Ava Estrella ’26, Girls Golf Jack Estrella ’24, Boys Golf Russell Notaris ’24, Boys Tennis Sean Shallat ’24, Boys Golf Alistair Wright ’23, Boys Tennis

ALL-COUNTY Logan Alvarez ’24, Boys Track & Field Joy Biondi ’25, Girls Golf Jackson Brielmann ’23, Boys Track & Field Olivia Carden ’23, Girls Track & Field Dijaye Carpenter ’23, Girls Track & Field Skylar Cohen ’24, Girls Lacrosse Clementine Constantino ’24, Girls Track & Field Will Davis ’25, Boys Track & Field Jack Estrella ’24, Boys Golf Cynthia Eustache ’26, Girls Track & Field M. William Green ’24, Boys Golf Ava Jaklitsch ’26, Girls Track & Field Ben Martin ’23, Boys Track & Field Josh McKenzie ’24, Boys Track & Field Russell Notaris ’24, Boys Tennis Paris Panagopoulos ’23, Girls Lacrosse Sean Shallat ’24, Boys Golf Everett Williams ’24, Boys Golf Alistair Wright ’23, Boys Tennis HONORABLE MENTION Campbell Florence ’24, Boys Lacrosse Gabbie Hudak ’27, Girls Lacrosse Sofia Schwarz ’26, Girls Lacrosse

ALL-CONFERENCE Bryan Bin ’26, Boys Tennis Will Bystrom ’23, Boys Lacrosse Zack Cohen ’24, Boys Tennis Danny Duke ’24, Boys Tennis Cooper Schultz ’24, Boys Lacrosse Melanie Schwab ’24, Girls Lacrosse Eleni Vrahatis ’25, Softball

8 Competitors qualified for the NY State Track & Field Championship 44

2 20

nd

Medals from the NY State Crew Regatta

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In Boys Tennis NY State Championship

1 58 Undefeated Boys Golf are back-to-back Conference Champions

Baseball runs scored

ALL-DIVISION Logan Alvarez ’24, Boys Track & Field Will Bohner ’26, Boys Tennis Jackson Brielmann ’23, Boys Track & Field Dijaye Carpenter ’23, Girls Track & Field Ryan Chang ’26, Boys Tennis Clementine Constantino ’24, Girls Track & Field Will Davis ’25, Boys Track & Field Cynthia Eustache ’26, Girls Track & Field Abby Frazer ’26, Girls Track & Field Ryder Kazerman ’24, Boys Tennis Henry Koelmel ’25, Boys Tennis Ben Martin ’23, Boys Track & Field Josh McKenzie ’24, Boys Track & Field Ali Sayan ’24, Boys Tennis Vir Vinnay Singh ’26, Boys Tennis Alec Wachsman ’24, Boys Tennis Daren Zhong ’26, Boys Track & Field Ryan Zouak ’23, Boys Tennis

ALL-LEAGUE Cole Beyer ’23, Baseball Blake Knopf ’23, Baseball

NEWSDAY TOP ATHLETE Ava Estrella ’26, Girls Golf (Top 10) Jack Estrella ’24, Boys Golf (Top 10) Aislinn Frazer ’25, Girls Track & Field (Top 25) Russell Notaris ’24, Boys Tennis (Top 30) Paris Panagopoulos ’23, Girls Lacrosse (Top 100) Dylan Rorech ’23, Baseball (Top 100) Sean Shallat ’24, Boys Golf (Top 10) Alistair Wright ’23, Boys Tennis (Top 30)

SPORTSMANSHIP Vedant Rawat ’25, Boys Tennis

SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE Natalia Tauter ’23, Softball

UNSUNG HERO Dylan Wolf ’26, Girls Lacrosse

4

th

In Nassau County Girls Golf Championship

1

st

In Conference III Girls Lacrosse

x2 Softball win percentage increase

2

nd

In Nassau County Class D Boys Lacrosse Fall 2023

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Fall Athletics

2022-23

FALL ATHLETICS

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he Fall of 2023 was filled with excitement! From bleachers filled with fans, you could feel the spirit of competition and camaraderie at each matchup. Our soccer teams displayed unmatched skill and determination, while field hockey players demonstrated their unwavering commitment. The tennis courts witnessed fierce battles, and our crew members rowed their way to victory. Cross-country runners blazed new trails, and our cheerleaders provided the enthusiastic heartbeat of it all. Seven of our fall athletes earned “Newsday Top 100” titles, a testament to their exceptional abilities and dedication. From Senior Nights to Fall Fair, there were numerous memories made this season. As we cherish these accomplishments, moments of unity, and celebrations, let us be inspired to reach for our own goals and continue to make our school community proud.

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HIGHLIGHTS Under the Lights games hyped up Friends Academy’s Quaker pride this fall, as students, fellow athletes, and families came out to cheer on our teams.

Crew showcased remarkable

dedication and skill. We made a significant impact by competing in prestigious events such as the Head of the Charles and having six of our rowers participating in the Head of the Schuylkill, reaffirming our commitment to excellence in rowing.

Football traveled daily,

exemplifying dedication and teamwork. Beyond the camaraderie, our students played a pivotal role in history, helping their partner team, Roslyn, secure their first win in over eight years, a testament to the strength of our combined efforts and the bond formed between our teams.

Cheer season was marked

by a resurgence in enthusiasm as we saw our largest team in years. They led school spirit at football, soccer, and field hockey games, adding an electrifying dimension to the events and uniting our school in celebration.

Field Hockey enjoyed a

thrilling journey filled with determination and growth. With a final record of 5-6, our team displayed unwavering resilience throughout the season. Our impressive performance led us to the County Semi-Finals, a remarkable achievement that showcased our commitment to excellence in the sport.

Boys Soccer was a

memorable journey, defined by the impressive performances of our seniors, who brought a wealth of experience and leadership to the team. The team delivered breathtaking and skillful goals. It was a season filled with camaraderie, talent, and a shared passion for the game that made it truly unforgettable.

Girls Soccer was defined

by remarkable leadership, with our seven exceptional seniors setting the tone as invaluable role models for the entire team. Despite the formidable competition in the toughest conference of our classification, the unwavering determination and inspiration from our seniors propelled the entire team to give their all in every game. The collective dedication and teamwork from all the girls made this season an unforgettable journey for our squad.

Girls Tennis had an

outstanding performance as they secured a remarkable second-place finish in the highly competitive Nassau County Small School division.

Throughout the season, our team demonstrated exceptional skill, determination, and sportsmanship on the court, making us proud. Their dedication and hard work showcased the true spirit of tennis and left a lasting impression on our tennis community.

Cross Country was nothing

short of phenomenal this season, with the girls’ team achieving the title of Division Champions, showcasing their remarkable talent and teamwork. In addition to this impressive accomplishment, our team garnered five Section VIII awards, highlighting the exceptional dedication and performance of our athletes.

Among these accolades, our individual County Champion stood out, showcasing the outstanding determination and skill that defined our successful season.

Fall 2023

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Fall Athletics

HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGH THE WILD WEATHER, OUR ATHLETES MADE INCREDIBLE FEATS THIS SEASON AND PUSHED ON UNTIL THE VERY END. ALL-COUNTY Aislinn Frazer ’25, Girls Cross Country (County Champion) Dylan Leon ’26, Boys Soccer Teah Login ’25, Girls Tennis Maya Morey ’24, Girls Soccer Arianna Quan-Soon-Victor ’24, Girls Soccer Eva Sun ’24, Girls Tennis HONORABLE MENTION Fiona Dougherty ’25, Girls Soccer Kat Goldstein ’26, Girls Soccer Dafna Jakubiak ’24, Girls Soccer John O’Sullivan ’24, Boys Soccer Gabi Sandoval ’24, Girls Soccer Edwin Saravia ’24, Boys Soccer Laila Walker ’24, Field Hockey

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11

Touchdowns scored by the FR Football team

Seniors played on the Boys Soccer team

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500,000+

7

Kilometers rowed by the Crew team

Shutouts for Girls Soccer

ALL-CONFERENCE Jordi Campoverde ’24, Boys Soccer Abby Frazer ’26, Girls Cross Country Owen Gordon ’27, Boys Soccer Ava Jaklitsch ’26, Girls Cross Country Charlotte Knight ’24, Girls Cross Country Daphne Lizza, ’25, Field Hockey Julia Lubliner ’24, Girls Soccer Mircea Manu ’26, Boys Soccer Charlotte Yanke ’26, Girls Cross Country Daren Zhong ’26, Boys Cross Country

ALL-LEAGUE Lindsay Vuono ’24, Field Hockey

NEWSDAY TOP ATHLETE Jake Bock ’24, Boys Soccer (Top 100) Skylar Cohen ’24, Girls Tennis (Top 30) Dylan Leon ’26, Boys Soccer (Top 100) Adriana Lloves ’24, Field Hockey (Top 50) Maya Morey ’24, Girls Soccer (Top 100) Arianna Quan-Soon-Victor ’24 Girls Soccer (Top 100)

SPORTSMANSHIP Kate Juhel ’24, Girls Tennis Aislinn Frazer ’25, Girls Cross Country

SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE Jordi Campoverde ’24, Boys Soccer

UNSUNG HERO Cc Saad ’25, Field Hockey

21 Field Hockey goals scored

19 Cheerleaders hyping up the fans in the bleachers

576

20-6

Tennis balls used in practices and matches

Combined Cross Country win/loss record Fall 2023

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Athletics

CLASS OF 2023 COLLEGE SIGNINGS A

fter years of hard work and storied high school careers, 12 members of the Class of 2023 signed to continue their athletic journeys at the next level. Friends Academy commends our college signees, as well as all graduating members of our athletics program, particularly after the challenges they’ve endured over the past two years.

Cate Barry, Princeton University Crew; Jackson Brielmann, Colby College Men’s Track & Field; Olivia Carden, Middlebury College Women’s Track & Field; Dijaye Carpenter, Emory University Women’s Track & Field; Danielle Davis, Clemson University Women’s Soccer; Meg Gillies, Hamilton College Crew; Ben Martin, Colby College Men’s Track & Field; Logan Mott, The College of Holy Cross Track & Field; Paris Panagopoulos, Yale University Women’s Lacrosse; Malachi Polson, Hartwick College Men’s Basketball; Dylan Rorech, Villanova University Men’s Baseball; Ines Roti, Davidson College Women’s Tennis

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THE ANNUAL FUND Support Friends Academy with a gift.

Now more than ever, we need your support.

It is imperative that we increase the participation amongst all our constituencies in supporting Friends Academy to advance our Quaker mission in providing the best possible educational experience for our students.

Please consider joining our list of supporters today!

For more information, please contact Kevin Barry, Director of Advancement, at 516-393-4269 or kevin_barry@fa.org.

Colleague Milestones

COLLEAGUE MILESTONES Lower School Librarian Kristyn Dorfman recently interviewed Newbery winner Amina LuqmanDawson for School Library Journal.

Luqman-Dawson won the 2023 Newbery Medal for her novel, Freewater, the middle grade title (based on historical communities) about two children escaping enslavement and joining a community of other formerly enslaved people.

RETIREMENTS & FAREWELLS

French and Senior Reflections teacher Dr. Polly Duke and President of the NY-Metropolitan Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French, emceed the chapter’s annual AATF conference with Columbia University professors. As Clerk of Ministry and Counsel at Westbury Monthly Meeting, Polly has created workshops on vocal ministry, anti-racism, as well as presentations on Quakerism at FA. Polly was invited to Renaissance Weekend in Charleston, SC, where she presented on two panels: “Talking About Religion” and “Class Struggles – Learning in Lockdown.”

In the spring of 2023, we said our farewells to four longtime Friends Academy faculty. After 36 years, Grade 8 science teacher Selina Collier retired from teaching.

Recognized in 2007 with the Fahey Master Teacher Award, Selina is truly a master teacher who uses creative methods to help students understand challenging concepts.

She did not go far, however, as you can still find her behind stage, volunteering in the Costume Department of the Friends Academy Theater Department.

Arts Associate Pia Fleischmann completed her Certificate of School Management and Leadership from the Harvard Business School and Graduate School of Education.

Executive Assistant to the Head of School Kathy Dineen, who joined the FA community in 2000, supported four different heads of school. Kathy moved to Maryland and is working at the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD.

Director of Arts Andrew Geha published an article in Medium about his journey into immersive and devised theater, which led first to Who Are We Now, which explored how the pandemic changed us as individuals and a community, and then to The Haunted, an immersive ghost story.

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With 35 years, Upper School English and history teacher and former head of both departments Louisa Garry departed FA for a new position at the Ross School in East Hampton, NY. Louisa also led the Friends Academy track program, including all three seasons.

With 17 years, 5th Grade social studies teacher Kim Soscie started in Lower School. A master teacher, Kim was presented with the Fahey Master Teacher Award in 2020. Kim is currently at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, VA.

This summer, Dance teacher Yoaldri Messina brought the house down with her performance as a dancer in LinManuel Miranda’s In the Heights. Yoaldri garnered rave reviews in the media for her inspiring movement and dance.

Congratulations to Director of Athletics Dr. Diana Parente, who earned her EdD from University of Southern California in K-12 Urban Education Leadership.

Dr. Parente’s thesis explored the intersection of athletics and bias with “A Phenomenological Study of Secondary Women Athletic Directors: An Exploration of Systemic Bias.”

TAMMY’S CORNER

A

As Dean of Faculty Mentoring, I have the unique opportunity to work with ,all of our new colleagues, as well as our veteran colleagues, in a position in which I can support, guide, and honor them. It is quite rewarding as I realize that amidst every new group of colleagues, it is quite possible that some of these colleagues may decide to make Friends Academy their permanent home and become long-standing members who will help to create an even better community and richer culture. Please enjoy getting to know a little bit about our newest colleagues: Adriana Bocchino Grade 8 English Professional Accomplishments: I am a proud graduate of one of the earliest cohorts, the New York City Teaching Fellow Program.

Something I am proud of: At 29 years old, I made the decision to leave everything I knew behind and pursue my lifelong dream of living and working in Shanghai, China. My three years there turned out to be the best thing I have ever done professionally and personally.

My favorite community initiative is: The Games for the Physically Challenged. It is truly rewarding and inspiring to see our eighth graders hosting games for kids of various ages and disabilities. This project was initiated by a predecessor and carried on by Selina Collier, and it has become a labor of love for so many. The Grade 8 team is wholeheartedly committed to its continued growth. We are already brainstorming new ideas to make it even more memorable for participants next year. Additionally, I find great joy in supporting Dave Frazer’s coaching work with the MS cross country and track program. Witnessing our students put themselves out there and demonstrate tenacity is a powerful reminder that the limits we often perceive are the ones we impose upon ourselves.

FUN FACT! I didn’t learn to drive until I moved to Long Island; at 37 years old and 7 months pregnant I passed my road test.

Nailah Moonsammy Upper School English, Grade 9 Dean Professional Accomplishments: I was recently awarded a fellowship and completed my first year in my doctoral program.

Something I am proud of: I took a risk and left behind an amazing school and work environment for Friends Academy. I have met wonderful colleagues and students at Friends, and I am grateful for this new chapter.

My favorite community initiative is: My most memorable FA moment this year was attending the Black Summit.

I loved learning from the FA educators and was inspired by the discourse that it generated between FA students and community members.

FUN FACT! I love surfing with my son, and every year we plan a surf trip.

COMPILED AND WRITTEN

BY TAMMY CLARK

Tammy Clark Dean of Faculty Mentoring

Daniel Mendel Dean of Innovation Professional Accomplishments: My proudest professional accomplishments are what I have built in collaboration with colleagues and students from the ground up. From clubs, programs, and fellowships to global travel programs, many of the projects I’ve worked on are interdisciplinary, student-led, and entrepreneurial in spirit.

Something I am proud of: I am very proud to be a part of the Friends Academy community and to teach at the same school that both of my daughters attend. Growing up, my father traveled a lot for business and I think it was challenging for us when he’d miss opportunities to see me and my sister off to school or attend our parentteacher conferences, events and sports games.

My favorite community initiative is: It has been a privilege cultivating student-leaders of all ages through our Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, and Medicine courses. In each class, students develop solutions to realworld problems, and it is always a huge milestone when they present their work to our community and the professionals (doctors, business leaders, financial experts, etc.) who support them.

FUN FACT! Our house is basically a home within a library. Different sections of our home feature different genres: poetry and fiction in the basement, art books, biographies, and nonfiction in our family room; and children’s literature upstairs.

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Alumni News

FROM THE PRESIDENT PETER STEIN ’79, P ’17, ’20, ’23 Dear Fellow Alumni,

T

his time of year happens to be my favorite as we settle into new routines with the start of another school year. This year is particularly exciting for our community with Paul J. Stellato’s arrival in July as Friends Academy’s 25th Head of School. Paul has shared his passion for engagement and conversation – both of which I believe will continue to bring our alumni, parents, and friends closer to FA than ever before. I hope that you will take the opportunity to meet him when he travels to a city near you in the coming months to introduce himself and his vision for our beloved Peter Stein ’79 Alumni Board President Friends Academy.

Speaking of coming together, I would like to congratulate those who graduated in years ending in 3 and 8 who celebrate milestone reunions this year, especially the class of 1973.

Their 50th during the Fall Fair brought so many “home” to Locust Valley for days of joyful gatherings planned by Jan Klocke O’Sullivan. I look forward to sharing the pictures and memories made with you with the hope that you and your classmates have started to think about your own FA anniversaries!

Sadly, I can’t help but think about the passing of Barbara Shoen Brundige ’63, who would have celebrated her own 60th reunion this year. BJ was a loyal alumna and devoted volunteer who served on the Alumni Association as a board member since 2006. BJ and her family knew well the impact a BJ (right) with private, early childhood education classmates at her could have on a student’s growth in 55th reunion in 2018. classrooms and ultimately, out in the world. We are so thankful for her leadership and impact at FA (Page 93).

Finally, my youngest, Alison, joins her sister Liz ’17, and brother, Will ’20, as graduates of Friends Academy!

As a family with a long, wonderful history at FA, there was no greater joy than being on campus in May for Commencement with my wife, Susan Witkoff Stein ’84, to welcome Ali and her 81 classmates into the Alumni Association.

Left, with our graduate on June 10. Right, with Ali and I at the podium during the Commencement ceremony.

POA A

PARENTS OF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

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POAA Co-clerks Maggie Johansen P ’08, ’10, ’13; Lauren Menzin P ’13, ’16; and Donna Gerzof P ’09, ’12

A Message from the Director of Alumni Relations...

Dear Alumni, Since joining the Friends Academy community in May, I have been consistently inspired by our students’ curiosity, our faculty’s love of teaching, and the staff’s commitment to making FA such a remarkable place. Having spent 20 years in higher education in similar engagement and fundraising roles, I am truly overwhelmed by the support I have seen from the FA alumni in such a short period.

As the Director of Alumni Relations, I find great joy in learning about our graduates’ experiences on campus and beyond. I hope you enjoy reading about your fellow Quakers – David Seeler ‘59, Carlos Vanegas ‘98, and Marianna Cuomo Maier ‘15 – who are setting an example for us all in the way they incorporate their Friends Academy education into their lives. I am particularly proud to have worked with over 100 Class Representatives to curate the Class Notes section of this magazine.

What an incredible opportunity to celebrate the personal and professional achievements of our 4,300 alumni! If you have not done so already, I encourage you to submit your updates and allow us the honor of sharing your story too.

Whether you attend an event, serve in a volunteer leadership role, plan your reunions, or donate to the Annual Fund, your loyalty is greatly appreciated – thank you! If you would like to talk about your involvement in the life of Friends Academy now and in the years to come, please reach out! Nothing would make me happier than welcoming you “home.”

Jodie Sperico

Director of Alumni Relations

Warmly,

Jodie Sperico Director of Alumni Relations jodie_sperico@fa.org 516-465-1796

Stay connected as Friends Academy alumni parents!

The POAA was established to foster ongoing connections with the Friends Academy community beyond graduation in a variety of ways – sharing news about your children, serving as mentors for other families, fostering fellowship and camaraderie, and returning to campus for noteworthy occasions.

We hope that you will always join us as forever friends of Friends!

Fall 2023

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Fall Reunions

FALL REUNIONS -50th Reunion-

1973

From Quaker meeting messages to campus tours and restaurant gatherings, we welcomed home alumni from special reunion classes ending in 3 and 8 this fall! Thank you to all who joined. To those who were unable, we missed you but remember you fondly!

Left to right: Van Stogner, Barbara Boyle Weaner, Bruce Nauman (in back), Henry Picoli, Melinda Abood, Hank Reusch, Mark Howard, Jan Klocke O’Sullivan, Dave Rosenberg, Laura Wicker Hackett, Tony Marvullo, Cliff Gardner, Kate Hogerton, Scott Boege, Kris Horvath, Bill Dudjoc, Scott Burkhardt, Clay Trauernicht, Vince Mazzeo, Bob Copp, Jeff Hull. Not pictured: Cyndy Beach Koch, Frank Erickson, Susan Nappa Cocke, Brooks Rennert Wright, Chris Rising Turner, John Silbersack, and Linda Stuurman.

-30th Reunion-

1993

Front row: Aditya Mattoo, Todd Jacobson, Shalene Patel, Amanda Valente, Angie (Angeliqua) Mitra, Natalia Porcelli Good, Danielle Valenti Smith, and Brie Shapiro Kraska.

Middle row: Josh Sussman, Jesse Shafer, Anthony Gismondi, Sandy Lyon Mare, and Ron Baskind (our dean).

Back row: Todd Kraska ‘92, Tim Kane, Adam Good, Barb Baskind, and Arthur Wojnarowski.

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-45th Reunion-

1978 From left: Jenna Hendricks, Jessica Foschi, Danny Lax, Colleen Mitgang, and Jennifer Goldstein.

From left: Ken Mills, Mark Janoska, Tom Hawkins, Jeff Schneider, Chris Price, Sara Klocke Scarfone, Tim Scheiwe, Jim Allen, and Greg Gavin.

-40th Reunion-

1983

Left to right front row: Andy Sklover, Regina Meade LaFaire, Elisabeth Salzhauer Axel, Carrie Kaplan, Julie Gordon Tillotson, Laura Dilimetin, Robin Wilpon Wachtler, Dina Spiropoulos, Jim Cerny, Lisa Fickenscher Cerny, Linda Mykoff, Tricia Flynn McCardle. Left to right back row: KJ Istok, Dave Bushnell, Theresa Morris Bowling, Nancy Saltzman Papandreadis, Frank Caponegro, Will Cheshire, Andre Blake, Christian Dunlay, Carol Thurer Wolk, Eric Slayton, Ulana Lysniak.

-20th Reunion-

2003

-25th Reunion-

1998

From left, Nish Doshi, Colleen Mitgang, Colleen Hughes Wong, Jared Wong, and Jennifer Goldstein.

Top row: Timothy Fountain, William Gambling, Aaron Knapp, and Tara Hanna.

Middle row: Michael Greenberg, Farah Vislailli, David Hsu, Kayon Afshari, Jessica Jakobson, Chris Hagedorn, Jim White, and Whitney Wortman.

Bottom row: Rajiv Yadlapali

Fall 2023

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Alumni Profiles

DAVID SEELER ’59

"MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH THE THINGS THAT NEED FIXING"

Above, David Seeler ‘59 at the 2023 Fourth Day Honors at Friends Academy. David was selected as the Distinguished Alumni speaker. Below, with his wife, Ngaere (pronounced “Ny-ree”), following the ceremony.

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications

T

he arc of David Seeler’s life undulates like the sprays of a simple lawn sprinkler, overlapping and uplifting with each rotation, revealing alternate turns of joy and challenge.

His time at Friends Academy would provide him with lifelong friendships that would see him through some of his most challenging moments, including daily frustrations because of undiagnosed dyslexia, a learning disorder categorized by difficulty reading. Through those same challenges, David grew the roots of perservance and acumen, traits that

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PHOTOS AND VIDEO BY ALVIN CAAL/FRIENDS ACADEMY

would serve him well in his life’s purpose of creating a signature landscape architecture business.

“I entered Friends in 1956, my freshman year,” began David, who joined his older brother, and credits his entry to his family’s neighbor Phoebe Smith. “Phoebe was related to the Underhill family. She had graduated from FA and become a trustee and was an influential figure at the school,” he remarked.

At Friends, no one knew that David was dyslexic, not even David. “I was really stressed by it. I didn’t think I was dumb, but I always got the lowest grades throughout,” he shared.

Above, David Seeler on the beach out east on Long Island.

Below, David with his classmate, the late David Warden.

His academic challenges didn’t dampen the relationships he began to build with his classmates though. “There was David Seeler in a closeness that 1959 existed in our class that carried on all the way until now,” David recalled. “Over the years, I would speak to my buddies every two weeks, wherever they were. We would call it a check-in – Jimmy Sykes ’59, John Froehlich ’59, and Bruce Burrows ’59.”

Two educational scrapes nearly spelled the end of David’s academic career at Friends. “I was called up to Headmaster Haughton’s office, who told me, ‘David, you’re done. You’ve failed this course, and you are out of school.’ I was a wreck because this was my life.” David drove home and confessed the situation to his mother; luckily, his expulsion was short-lived after his mother placed a call to Phoebe Smith. A second failing grade nearly cost David his FA diploma.

“Two months before graduation, I had received a bad grade in German, and they threw me out a second time. I was probably the only person in the history of this school who was thrown out twice and came back. And I was the only person who graduated without a diploma – being one credit

short, I received an FA certificate. It’s nice to be the first at something,” David wryly noted.

Harboring a lifelong passion for gardening, David chose University of Georgia because of their landscape architecture program. “My mom encouraged my interest in the garden,” he shared. “We planted vegetable gardens together and all sorts of things. She had a sense that I was doing something good in that direction,” said David. “I started out with summer jobs in landscaping, just to get some basic training and decided to go to the School of Landscape Architecture at University of Georgia.”

David’s dyslexia continued to create Continued on page 60

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Alumni Profiles

business called Bayberry Landscaping, which operates out of Amagansett and has witnessed decades of change.

“You go through stages that you think are interesting, which you will indulge in and then later think, ‘That’s not so great.’ There was a time when nurseries would graft five different plants together. I look at that now and think it was disgusting. Today, people tend to be more interested in native plants.”

“Today, people are more interested in things that are going to blend in, rather than show off,” said David of current landscape architectural trends.

obstacles in required college math classes; it wasn’t until he was 30 when he discovered the reasons why. “I took a scuba course in the Great Barrier Reef,” explained David. “The teacher gave me a test, and I got almost all the answers wrong. I remembered him telling me that he knew I knew the answers. That was when he asked me the questions orally and I got them all right. That’s how I found out.”

I think nature wants to crawl its way back.

It wants to be weeds and native plants.

The strategies that David employed to work around his dyslexia would later serve him well. “It makes you careful about what you do in business,” he said. “I never had a problem with business.” Today, David’s wife, Ngaere (pronounced “Ny-ree”), boasts that he is a “formidable reader.” “I could never read books, because I couldn’t remember the plot,” David explained. “When Ngaere met me, I had subscriptions to 10–15 magazines, and I would get something small from each one,” said David, who was attracted to nonfiction. “I got a little smarter because I was reading something meaningful.”

In business now for 54 years, David owns his own landscape contracting

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At the same time, his clients’ relationship with his work has also shifted. “In the 1970s, homeowners were more interested in seeing the plants and trees that we were going to plant. I had a client, artist Alfonso Ossorio, who fled the Philippines and created an estate in East Hampton.

I had a crew that would only go to his house for six years. He looked at landscape as a collage. Now people just want to know how much the project is and can we have the job done by the time they get back from Below, samples of David’s landscaping designs for clients. “I’ve never planted a tree, but I am determined to plant some trees by myself.”

Europe.” Over the years, David’s clients have included Ralph Lauren, Helmut Lang, Christie Brinkley, Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, Billy Joel, Alan Alda, Lauren Bacall, Cliff Robertson, and Kathleen Turner to name a few.

David’s ideal landscape house? “A beautifully designed house with great rooflines, some form of water, and native plants,” he opined.

Looking back at a lifetime of experiences, David is cognizant of the many lessons he has learned over his years, from Friends, from his career, and from his wife, Ngaere.

“My time here at Friends was really critical for me to develop my life and give me focus,” said David, who urges those around him to “keep digging.”

“As you age, some of your perceptions change – some through experience, some anger, and that develops the core of where you will end up at the end of your life. You’re going to sit back and ask, ‘What did I do that made a difference?’”

David is still revered by not only his classmates but also other grades, who refer to him as “The Seal.”

“We had a very unusual class – it was very diversified with different religions, but we were together. And we helped each when we needed it out of school.” For David, this help reached a pinnacle in his senior year, when, in a freak accident, he put his

David Seeler, with former Head of School Andrea Kelly, before his remarks at Fourth Day Honors as 2023 Distinguished Alumni.

hand through a pane of glass in a door at a friend’s house. “I cut my hand halfway through, cutting all of my tendons and muscles. I ended up with blood poisoning. It was my classmates who took notes for me and came to see me in the hospital in Brooklyn,” he remembered.

Today, David reflects upon the lessons of hardships. “It helps you structure your life in trying to make a difference with the things that need fixing. If you can do that, you are on the right road.”

Watch David’s Fourth Day Honors address to Upper School students and faculty in June of 2023 and read former Head of School Andrea Kelly’s welcome remarks about David on page 40.

Scan here.

I have a great deal of respect for people, and I detest unfairness. If I can help, I do.

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Alumni Profiles

CARLOS VANEGAS ’98

A TIME FOR CONNECTION Carlos receives a surprise visit from his seventh grade math teacher Bill Garry.

PHOTOS BY MARGARET PEGNO/FRIENDS ACADEMY

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications

S During a recent visit to Friends, Carlos caught up with former teachers and toured campus.

62

The Meeting House

urrounded by his wife, daughters, sister, and father, Carlos Vanegas ‘98 is traveling back years as he recounts his formative time spent at Friends Academy and how that time has impacted not only him but, as he realizes now, also his family.

“I grew up in Hempstead, which was a community that was not as well off,” began Carlos. “A couple of my teachers from elementary school thought I had excelled in school and helped identify FA as a place that

Carlos Vanegas in 1998

Carlos with his former math teachers Tammy Clark and Bill Garry, as they look for his name on the Friends Academy cum laude boards.

had scholarships for students who placed well in entrance exams,” shared Carlos.

Arriving in seventh grade, he remembers the socioeconomic shock from trying to blend in and credits his teachers and time spent on the sports field as instrumental in bridging that gap.

“Mr. Garry was both my math and homeroom teacher; he had a great deal of impact on me,” remembered Carlos. “He was quite a character and did a good job of asking me questions and getting me to open up. Back then I was an introvert and pretty shy, but he knew when to call on me when I had something to say,” said Carlos.

Competing in wrestling and soccer also gave Carlos the opportunity to learn how to be an individual contributor as well as function successfully within a team. “Back then, if you wanted to be on a team, you were on the team and took part in all of the practices. That’s something I remember because the year I went to public school, I had to try out; if I didn’t make it, I didn’t have that opportunity.”

to the University of Houston, where he earned a Master’s in Computer Science.

Today, Carlos works as a developer and engineer at TGS in Texas, one of the world’s largest geoscience data companies.

“In high school, I did find a group of students that I connected with, and a lot of them were from my honors classes, especially my math classes.”

Make sure you treasure the moment with the group of friends you are exploring life with and try to stay in touch with them.

Over the years, Carlos said, he lamented the fact that he lost touch with most of his teammates and friends from FA. “One of the things I think about now is that time goes by very quickly. Making, and most imporantly, maintaining those connections is very important to me now.

I didn’t do a very good job of it back then, Continued on page 64

Naturally drawn to math, Carlos continued his passion throughout Upper School, graduating cum laude at Friends and matriculating to Rice University, where he pursued software development and engineering, and later

Carlos with his wife, Paula; his daughters, Audrey and Sophie; his sister; and his father.

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Alumni Profiles

Carlos Vanegas ’98, flanked by his former teachers from Middle and Upper School – math teachers Bill Garry and Tammy Clark, and Spanish teacher Edgar Posada.

and that would be some of my advice now,” he urged, looking at his daughters, Audrey and Sophie.

“Make sure you treasure the moment with the group of friends you are exploring life with and try to stay in touch with them. They will define who you are and help mold you.”

After graduating from Rice, Carlos knew that he wanted to volunteer, so he joined the University of Houston’s alumni association. “They did a lot of community service, like mentoring undergrads,“ said Carlos. “As alumni, you want to build community and set up events that are going to bring people back and help them feel like they belong.

There were a lot of events here at Friends that I didn’t know how to access, and I wish I’d had more courage.”

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Carlos’ wife, Paula, sees his passion for volunteering as a direct outgrowth from his time at Friends Academy. “It’s a time that set a course for the rest of his life,” she said. “He’s always been very reflective at the end of the day and week; that practice stayed with him during his adult life,” she added.

For Carlos, his Upper School class in Quakerism and Quaker Meeting for Worship gave him direction and focus. “In class I learned about Quaker values, and while I knew I was never going to convert, I really appreciated values such as Simplicity. Sitting in reflection and meditation at Meeting for Worship was very important. Having retrospective on the things in life... you can’t do that if you don’t stop,” he recognized.

Looking back, Carlos muses to

his family about the pivotal points of his life – from his elementary teacher who pushed him to take the FA entrance exam to the high level of academics that put him on a track to continue his current trajectory. “The curriculum that Friends had set me on that path,” he said. “That high expectation to push yourself and ask, ‘What’s the hardest thing I can do?’”

Listening throughout, Carlos’ daughters, Audrey and Sophie, are struck by their father’s revelations and the origins of his advice to value connections, maintain balance between work and life, and always show up.

“His habits rubbed off on us as kids,” said Audrey. “Now I’m realizing that a lot of the habits that we have and that he has are actually from Friends Academy.”

270 Duck Pond Road, Locust Valley, NY 11560 516-676-0393 | friendsacademy.org

Alumni Profiles

MARIANNA CUOMO MAIER ’15

GRATEFUL FOR LESSONS FROM FA

By Andrea Miller P ’22, ’27 Director of Strategic Communications

O Marianna Cuomo Maier from 2015

66

n her Grata Wellness Instagram page, Marianna Cuomo Maier ’15 invites us to reflect that “It’s okay to not be okay,” and urges her viewers “to support yourself and find solace during turbulent times.”

These, and other guidances, are the recommendations from Marianna, who as a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, now owns Grata Wellness, a holistic coaching practice, wellness platform, and blog that provides a gratitude-centered approach to health and wellness.

We caught up with Marianna to find out why she created Grata Wellness and how Friends Academy has helped to shape her path.

The Meeting House

Marianna, what kinds of work and life experiences have helped to shape your career path?

I’ve always had an interest in health and wellness, driven by my love for food and a curiosity about various wellness practices.

After graduating from Friends, I attended Yale University where I studied sociology and developed an interest in education and policy. After graduation, I became a Teach for America pre-K teacher in Englewood, Chicago, and while teaching, I earned a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. As a teacher, I experienced lifetransforming work by interacting with my young students, their families, and other teachers who challenged my understanding of the world. I wanted to provide highquality teaching for my students but became aware that external determinants, such as food, housing, and employment insecurity impacted my students’ ability to learn and succeed. In witnessing these challenges, I was extremely limited in what I could do to support my students and their families. I later transitioned to the role of chief of staff at a health tech startup where I gained closer access to the health and wellness world. While I

gained many valuable business skills, I also experienced burnout as a young professional prioritizing work over my well-being. These experiences profoundly shaped my perspective and ignited a passion for helping others thrive.

Recognizing that I needed a change, I embarked on a personal health and wellness journey. I met with a functional medicine practitioner, who assessed my health status and encouraged me to take an active part in improving my health and well-being. This journey led me to discover a newfound interest in running, even though I’d never considered myself a runner. While training for my first half-marathon, I also embraced practices like yoga, meditation, and a focus on nutritious eating. It still surprises me to say that I’ve completed both the Chicago Marathon in 2021, and the New York City Marathon in 2022. This year, I was delighted to cheer for my friends and clients in the 2023 New York City Marathon.

Empowered with the knowledge that I could thrive rather than survive, I decided to create a platform to support others on their wellness journeys.

I sought advice from experienced coaches, embarked on my training, and became a nationally board coach. Today, I help individuals take charge of their health, maintain balance, and find more joy in their lives through one-on-one coaching and group sessions. I also lead meditation and journaling groups at wellness events.

What kinds of future projects are you thinking about?

I am working on ways to make what I have learned and implemented in my life more accessible and available on a larger scale. Beyond one-on-one coaching, which I offer now, I am working to have group coaching as well as online programs to guide individuals to be empowered in their journey to their best selves. I am also working to expand the Grata Wellness community, which seeks to provide ways to inspire and educate individuals about the benefits of gratitude and the idea of thriving rather than surviving. I look forward to continuing to coach as well as lead groups in meditation and journaling at wellness events in NYC and beyond.

Finally, is there anything about your experience at Friends Academy that influenced your career choice or life choices in general?

I know that my passion for wellness and dedication to helping others have been motivated by my time at FA. I cherish the Quaker values I learned at Friends. My practice is focused on “gratitude-centered wellness,” and I feel that I carry the value of gratitude from my time at FA. My experience during Meeting for Worship, sitting in silence, has also been impactful as I seek out opportunities for silence, listening, and reflection.

There is no doubt that my FA education helped impact my passion to guide individuals to be more empowered to live a more joyful life.

Follow Marianna (marianna@ gratawellness.com) on Instagram @gratawellness, visit her website/join her newsletter at gratawellness.com.

What do you enjoy most about being a life coach?

I feel grateful that my work supports others to become their best selves. I love guiding clients as they learn about themselves, grow, and commit to themselves and their wellness journeys.

And, what are your long-term goals?

I strive to bridge the gap between the healthcare and wellness industries and provide attainable holistic health for all so that individuals can feel empowered to navigate their health and wellness with ease.

Words of inspiration and support from Marianna’s Instagram account.

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Class Notes

1940-1952...

1940

JOAN MUNHOFEN ’40, FLORENCE MILYKO SKINNER ’40, AND CAROL CROY EBERT ‘40

Florence Milyko Skinner nightingalelady@att.net

1950

Suzanne Didier DeVito suzannedv10@gmail.com

1952

Margaret Whitney Shiels mspaumanok@aol.com Terry Larson Scheetz is active and playing less golf but busy with yoga classes and pilates. Ted still works out and walks. He takes care of his citrus trees. She shared: “Our nature island has good bird watching, and I have become a nature nerd. It is a real ‘Beaverland,’ and how important those animals are to our health of rivers and bays.”

Wendy Murphy writes from South Kent, CT, that she is busy in the world of conservation. She shares: “I retired as a journalist, more or less officially last September when I finished my last ‘ghosted’ family biography for a client. That followed 67 years of staff assignments and freelance writing for House & Garden, Time-Life Books, Reader’s Digest, and a bunch of corporate histories and newsletters in the medical field. This retirement thing is a difficult transition, but I think I will survive! Harder in some ways than widowhood. But in all, life is very good.”

Ann Galbraith Hayward is in Petaluma, CA, near her daughter and is in good health.

Connie Miller is still in Glen Head, NY, and is doing well.

Bob Wilkinson lives in Williamsburg, VA, as well as Fred Schreiber ’52 and his wife, Annemarie.

Margaret Whitney Shiels and Robert are at their ranch in Kaufman, TX. She shares: “Our son David and Carol live nearby and are an enormous help as we age. Son Frank and Marie come often to help us, and our daughter, Heather, took me to a spa in Austin

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Celebrating FA Legacies of Longevity

BY WARD BURIAN ’54

R

ecently I was meeting with our small Breakfast Group, and in chatting with one of our members Ed Rappe, I learned that his mother-in-law graduated from FA in 1940. Naturally, I was not only surprised but was also pleased to learn that Joan was alive and well and living here in Williamsburg, VA. Ed reported our conversation to Joan, and we immediately arranged to meet.

On February 2, 2023, Joan Tuthill Munhofen ’40 and her daughter, Judy Rappe, and I met in the library of her assisted living residence and began a lengthy conversation about our respective days as boarding students at dear old FA so many years ago. Both of us enjoyed many happy days there, and we recalled some of our fondest memories. The only person we both knew from there was William Seaman who was the former president of the Board of Trustees. I’m happy to report that Joan is remarkedly sharp and well-spoken with an amazing memory.

She is active daily on her computer, and for all these years, she has kept in touch with her classmates, Florence Milyko Skinner and Carol Croy Ebert.

Sadly, Carol passed away at age 99 last year, but Florence is well and living in Trumbull, CT (see her news below).

While at Friends, Joan apparently was an excellent lacrosse player. Both of us share a love of sports a bit more

than academics. After Friends, Joan went on to Greenbriar College in West Virginia.

During the war, she lived in Greenwich Village with her two sisters who also went to FA, and she worked in the Empire State Building for the War Production Board. By the way, the Empire State Building had been completed in 1931, so to be working in such an iconic building must have been exciting. After the war, Joan returned to the Patchogue area where she had grown up and eventually settled in Brookhaven, Long Island, where she lived for 65 years. She and her husband had two children, Nick and Judy. For many year, she did part-time work for the family newspaper, The Long Island Advance.

In 1990, Joan attended her 50th class reunion at Friends and recalls her astonishment at all the new buildings and the fabulous campus. We compared our experiences, and I told her of the transformation that took place starting in the 1960s. It was then that Jack Oelsner took the helm of the Trustees and asked me if I would like to get involved. I immediately accepted the challenge because I always felt a strong obligation to repay Friends in some way for my education and the many opportunities I had engaged in.

Some serious changes were necessary, so we organized an alumni association, an annual giving Pprogram, an alumni magazine I named The Meeting House,

and several other improvements. Few people today are aware of what difficult financial strains imperiled the school.

In 1965, the endowment was zero, and today it stands at $57 million, not to mention all the new buildings, athletic facilities, and land acquisitions.

Florence Milyko Skinner ’40 began her musical career at the tender age of five. After FA, she gave graduation recitals in piano and voice at Hollins College in Virginia where she earned her BA degree. This was followed by graduate study at the famed Juilliard School. She gave her debut recital at the Academy of Arts in Honolulu followed by a Florence Milyko’s smile prized invitation to says it all at 100! sing at the White House. Florence went on to give many highly acclaimed solo performances in the United States and Europe. In one of her reviews in Frankfurt, Germany, the author described her as “a musically confident singer who performed with a harmonious and cultivated coloratura soprano voice, which has a light and beautiful sounding high tone.” She gave recitals in both violin and voice and later became a professional singer for most of her life. Florence was an experienced teacher of vocal production and interpretation and was much beloved by her many students.

This story would not be complete without that of Carol Croy Ebert ’40.

Until April of last year, Joan and Florence were joined in friendship by another classmate, Carol Croy Ebert.

The three classmates stayed in close touch over the years, and Carol was Joan’s best friend. Although she is gone, I thought it only proper to include her in this article, as she represented such beautiful qualities to which we all should aspire. When speaking with her daughter Dee Bauserman shortly before her

passing, Carol recalled her long, adventuresome life and said, “I attended a Quaker boarding school in New York State, Friends Academy, which I loved.

We were not Quakers, but my mother thought they provided the best education possible. My roommate there and best friend now (Joan Tuthill Munhofen) lives in a retirement home in Williamsburg, VA, near her daughter, (Judy Rappe), and a few years ago our daughters drove us to Charlottesville where we met for lunch. It was a wonderful day.” In her touching and beautiful tribute to her mother, Dee said, “The thing I will probably remember the most about my mother is her sense of humor. She was determined to make people laugh and she did. My mother was a writer – plays, stories, newspaper articles, and lists. She had a very inquiring mind and had such a need for knowledge. Her father taught her at a young age that ‘you can always use your mind for thought, and you will never be bored.’” Dee’s tribute provides a wonderful insight into Carol’s life. As she said, “This was a long and happy life. Not many people get to enter their 100th year on this earth. She had no desire to live to 100, saying, ”I don’t want to be that old and decrepit.”

Carol defined her life: “I have the GO’s – GO anywhere, GO any place, GO any time. I’m a gypsy at heart and an adventurer in action.”

Above, Joan Tuthill Munhofen, left, and Carol Croy Ebert. Sadly, Carol passed away last year at the age of 99.

Carol’s other daughter Beth and son, Hank, also recalled heart-warming memories about their extraordinary mother.

Beth cited a poem – “Afterglow” – by Helen Lowrie Marshall that captures the spirit of this remarkable woman: “I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one// I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done// I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways// Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days// I’d like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun// Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.”

It is extremely gratifying to see our FA of today compared to its rather limited facilities of the pre-1960s. To its great credit, Friends has produced well-prepared students for all of the top colleges throughout its nearly 150-year history.

We honor all those who enabled our beloved school to survive summa cum laude to its current grandeur. I wish we all could meet Joan Tuthill Munhofen and Florence Milyko Skinner who are an inspiration. We honor them for their loyalty, endurance, and long and successful lives. Congratulations to you both!

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Class Notes

1952-1963... that was so relaxing and great fun. I am thankful to be driving and comfortable going anywhere locally. I find myself repeating how thankful I am for the life we have and for all our friends and family.”

TJ Jackson is happy as ever and still enjoys stock trading. His wife, Angie, continues her gardening magic.

Naomi Johnson Dempsey Denslow had a wonderful visit with her Arizona family in May; those grandchildren are all taller than she is. Her Maryland family came for a visit in June. The weather wasn’t cooperative, but they had a lot to catch up on during both visits. She continues to enjoy her knitting and crocheting group, which has received lots of yarn donations.

They make simple sweaters for children, and hats, scarves, and even blankets for World Vision and some local charities.

1953

Stephen Fisher SGF0077@aol.com

1955

Naomi Johnson Dempsey naomi.dempsey100@gmail.com Arthur Geoffrion ageoffri@ucla.edu Peggy Egan Alley reminisces about her post-graduation trip to France on an AFSC ship (a World War II German troop ship) as an “ambassador from the USA.” She stayed with the family of 1956-1957 exchange student Collette Izard. Thus began a beautiful friendship destined to last a lifetime.

Peggy took Collette to her house in Grafton, NY (up north on the Vermont border), for Christmas vacation, visited her as a newlywed, and has exchanged cards and letters ever since, losing touch only – she hopes, temporarily – when Collette’s husband died early last winter. Peggy sends her best to all.

Doris Atwater Bowensch continues to enjoy gardening at The Residence at Paine Estate in Wayland, MA. Herb Cares wonders if he is the only member of the Class of 1955 still working? He no longer operates but sees neurosurgical patients at Massachusetts General Hospital four days a week and does forensic work on the fifth. He’s not on Facebook but keeps his website (www.hlcares. com) current. Herb says that of all the contributions he made to his specialty, he never got the recognition he deserved for his best work – Gonzo Neurosurgery!

Mary Foster Anderson, who is still in West Hartford, CT, is setting a good example for the rest of us by her habit of Zooming on Sundays with friends who don’t live nearby.

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The Meeting House

Herb and his wife, Karen, at the Breakers Flagler Club for her 70th birthday.

Art Geoffrion had the great pleasure of a visit from his godson, Peter Louis Klinge Jr, and his wife, Amy, from Salt Lake City. They are always delightful to be with and eager to hear Art’s many stories about Pete and FA. Late spring brought two more graduations: his youngest grandson from high school and his granddaughter from Stanford with a B.S. in computer science.

That’s where Art did his final graduate studies, and the changes since then are impressive. Her graduation present was a trip to Iceland with her parents but, sadly, not with her grandfather. Art continues to enjoy excellent health, run a weekly senior men’s discussion group, participate in a nonfiction book club, package many years of genealogical research for easy consumption by his children and grandchildren, and a good deal more.

Stephanie Giardino Dobrinin writes: “I’m happy and well down here in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. I live in Devonshire’s independent living with wonderful people, five restaurants, great food, and lots to do in PGA National. Come down and join me!

My three great-grandchildren live in Connecticut now that they are back from France. My other grandson and his wife, Lexie, live in Manhattan and are expecting a baby boy in November.

I’ll be going up for my birthday at the end of July and can’t wait, as I miss them very much! Except for needing a new knee, life is good!”

Joan Konvalinka Hawkins and George ’54 continue to enjoy frequent local family visits and are looking forward to a visit from their Texas son, Jack.

Michael Volow has recovered from his reconstructive surgery but unfortunately has learned that he has Parkinson’s disease.

Diane Wilkinson Browne is dealing with some health problems, as nearly all of us are, but is still doing OK in Cottonwood, AZ.

1956

Peter Galbraith carloway78@gmail.com

1957

John Hewlett Keyes Belt passed away on August 1, 2023, in Glen Cove, NY, at the age of 85. He attended Friends Academy, Greenvale School (Old Brookville, NY), Portsmouth Priory boarding school (Portsmouth, RI), and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) where he graduated with a John Hewlett Keyes Belt degree in business administration and as a commissioned officer of the Army with the rank of Second Lieutenant. John went on to serve in the Army Reserves Medical Service Corps and received the Reserve

Officers Association Award Ribbon.

Promoted to the rank of Captain, John transitioned into the newly created Medical Administration Operations and Logistics out of Fort Dix, NJ, where he oversaw over 170 personnel. He completed his Army service in 1963.

John was a well-known member of The Creek in Locust Valley, NY, and met his future wife, Mary Jane McCabe, on a blind tennis date at the Westhampton Country Club. The two were married for 44 years and had five children – Elizabeth Belt McGregor, John H.K. Belt Jr., Timothy W. Belt, Amanda Belt Alsheimer, and Laura Belt Ponomarev ’00.

1959

David Seeler dseeler@thebayberry.com Wendy Stone won the 80-yearold state championship in golf. Her granddaughter got a full college scholarship for volleyball and her grandson a full scholarship for his brains. She says: “I’m getting a new knee to go with my two reverse shoulders – pretty bionic.” Wendy and Ron are celebrating their 32 years together.

Kelly Kammerer joined the Peace Corps after college, then onto UVA Law School, where, by total coincidence, he was assigned a room with Bob Seaman ’59, a third-year law student.

Kelly had not known him well during the years at FA, but it was nice to see a familiar face. (Bob did well at UVA. He had a long successful career practicing law in NYC. We will miss him.)

Tom Carter and his wife, Ramola, enjoyed a holiday with their entire family at a beach resort in India. Both got Covid when they returned to the U.S. The Carters are now living in California.

David Seeler reports: “I am still working full time at The Bayberry. This year will be my 54th in business. It’s still fun. Ngaere and I will travel to England for opera during the summer season at Garsington and then a few days at Gravetye Manor in Sussex, England, one of our favorite hotels. I received

the FA annual Distinguished Alumni Award this year joining Tom Carter, who received the award in 2008. I see Dan Voorhees ’59 periodically in East Hampton where he is still practicing law.”

Gerry Bocian resides in California and is in the process of selling his business.

He sends his best to the “Master Class.”

1960

Bob Powell vigihawk@gmail.com

1962

Randi Reeve Filoon filoons@yahoo.com Randi Reeve Filoon writes: “Besides moving back to the Northeast late last spring, which was a big move after living in Idaho for 22 years, we have settled into our new digs at Fox Hill Village in Westwood, MA. It is a retirement community, which made good sense to us, as we will not be moving again except to travel and visit with our family and friends. We feel very lucky to still have our summer home on Cape Cod, which is so familiar to our whole family. We continue to travel. In May we went to Turkey, Greece, and Croatia on a Viking small ship, which was so interesting! As long as we can, we will continue to hit the road, but I have to admit I don’t mind the idea of slowing down! Best to my fellow classmates! Share your news and whereabouts!”

Andrew Merton reports: “My wife, Gail, and I continue to enjoy life in the college town of Durham, NH, where I taught nonfiction and poetry writing at the University of New Andrew Merton Hampshire for 43 years before retiring in 2015. My fourth book of poetry, Killer Poems, was released by Accents Publishing in June 2023.”

Andrew Merton’s “Killer Poems” cover

1963

Paula Howe phowe0612@comcast.net Julie Lowell shared the news of Jane Johnston McCabe’s passing (see In Memoriam on page 93). She writes: “My husband, Jay, and I visited her several times in Ludlow. I will deeply miss Jane and our frequent, lively phone conversations. Jane and Bernard were great friends with the late poet Seamus Heaney. One of his poems ‘The Birch Grove’ is set in their garden. It features Jane dressed in white satin and serving tea. One of Heaney’s volumes of poetry, The Haw Lantern, is dedicated to Bernard and Jane. The dedication reads: ‘The riverbed, dried-up, half-full of leaves. Us, listening to a river in the trees.’”

Earl Kabnick shares: “I retired from radiology two years ago. That lasted for two weeks and then I signed up for another three years. The beauty of my practice is that, armed with a computer, I can read anywhere. For the past few years, Paris in September and then Aruba for the winter. And the rest of the time in New Rochelle. I have two daughters who are both physicians.

And there are two grandsons; the eldest is 14 and is 6 feet, 3 inches tall. He is a terrific hockey player and received letters of interest from several major college programs. The youngest is 12 and is a good lacrosse player. I am disappointed there will not be a reunion this year.”

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Class Notes

1963-1966...

1965

Robert Tilden rdtilden@yahoo.com Robert Tilden reports: “Brandt Rising and Sandy ’66 moved into the Field House almost five years ago but are still battling to make it comfortable.

Brandt regards it as an ongoing process and promises to send pictures – but not soon.

Mike Bruce had a “wrek” at a recent horse riding competition. In that he was treating the pain with Vicodin and tequila suggests that there is no lasting damage. Being born in 1948, he is one of our young’uns and can take it in stride.

Larry Piro left Cambridge, MA, for the New Hampshire countryside and is quite happy there.

Angela Van Rynbach, voted our most influential classmate at our 50th reunion, alternates between Shelter Island and Puerto Rico.

Lee playing the piano with friends in Indonesia.

Lee Cronbach reports from Indonesia, where he has lived for many years: “Around 2018, I came down with Parkinson syndrome. Luckily, my doctor/spouse was able to find the right medicine so that I can talk, read, type, and even play a little piano.

Driving is out and so is hiking, but I can still swim in our local river swimming resort, Alta Rios, which is right in the middle of the jungle. I have gotten busy on two projects: a YouTube site where I posted all my favorite music clips (plus a few from music friends) and a musical blogography.”

Annamarie Van Tuyl Mazieka is in Mount Dora, FL, near one of her daughters.

Peggy Attridge Young has moved from the Carolina coast to Washington state near her daughter.

Susy Deane recently traveled to New Zealand on a long visit with her daughter.

Jay Tucker is still in North Carolina, having moved from Detroit upon retirement. One of his daughters is in Detroit working in the auto industry, just like Jay told her not to. His other daughter is on the west coast.

Bruce Birkett reports: “No real news.

I’m still spending my time between the U.S. and mostly Europe. I was inspired to paint my own version of Kneeling Nude with Raised Hands (1910) by Egon Schiel. Otherwise, a bit of business consulting and support for venture startups. Glad we can all travel again without Covid fears.”

1964

Lesley Birkett Jacobs LesleyJ3@aol.com

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The Meeting House

Holly Russell is in Colorado and reminds us that our 60th reunion is coming up!

Barbara Kemp is sitting tight in San Francisco, hoping for the best.

Bruce painted his version of Kneeling Nude with Raised Hands.

Carol Curran Lyall and Bill Benjamin are both Cape Codders. Carol is all seasons but Benj retreats inland for the winter. Carol is deep into solar – her house, her car, and her lawn mower.

Bob Tilden ’65 had a wonderful visit with her in 2021.

Mike Brown and Bill Benjamin catch up.

Mike Brown spent many of his working years on the Boston Bay cleanup. He and his partner, Anne, visited Brandt and Sandy in the Keys last winter.

Steve Beslity after several attempts, has finally retired. He was in marine insurance and spent more than a decade in England.

Joe Williams summers in Spring Valley, ID, and winters in Delray Beach, FL. Wendy Miller Coslett is still in Bettertown, MD, a peaceful place on the Delmarva.

Robin Neuschel Reeves is in Richmond, VA. Most of us are 76 this year and fall under the classification of “worn, but serviceable” – and grateful for each day.

Jack Beuttell is in Midlothian, VA, and sent me a picture of him with his new motorcycle.

Eric Koster, who retired from one job only to take another is re-retiring soon, has bought the older Corvette of his dreams.

of a ’65 Chevy, a rust-free body, and was not priced like a Classic. “I found my dream car right here in town as a 1983 4-cylinder 2WD Ford Ranger. No structural rust, no nagging ding-dongs, no computer, plenty of room under the hood, manual transmission, and no ignition key needed. The inoperative AM radio is tuned to 77, WABC – just like the good ‘ol days.”

1966

Helen Lotowycz Rising HRising@aol.com Nancy Rauch Douzinas writes: “I retired last year as president of the Rauch Foundation. We are selling our Lloyd Harbor home, keeping a NYC apartment, and spending time with family in Vermont and Greece. Turning 75 is, as you say, inconceivable and a real game changer. Right now, we go on lots of walks and to the Met museum and Met opera when in season. I am also writing a book about the Rauch Foundation’s work trying to address Long Island’s challenges.”

Eric and his new trophy

Robert Tilden, on the other hand, was looking far and wide for a vehicle that had the mechanical simplicity

Nancy with Dave Kapell, former mayor of Greenport, NY, at an event on Long Island.

Todd Smith writes: “In late June, my wife, Cathy; my service dog, Hershey; and I traded in the 105-degrees-plus extreme heat of Arizona for the New England rain on Candlewood Lake.

Here, we frequently see our four children and six grandchildren. Never know who shows up for dinner and play time on the lake in the boat.

Everyone is healthy, growing up, and active. We older folks sometimes feel the aches of age but persevere.

In September 2022, Cathy and I traveled to Greece and to the Amalfi coast for an extended holiday. Then, back to Arizona in October for some motorcycle riding and sunny warm weather.”

Claude Theisen claims: “There is not much news to report. It is amazing how fast the time has gone. I still feel young inside, but as you said, the physical ailments cannot be denied. Hopefully we will still be sending these emails to each other when we are 80 and 85.”

Pam Piffath Still and her family are doing well in Bedford, NH.

Sally Hubbard Cronk wrote a touching book called Just a Shelter Dog: Miracles happen when a mind reading dog meets an autistic boy.

Brec Woodbridge shares: “I have become immersed into the game of golf in retirement. Annie and I live in a golf course community here in Angels Camp, CA, in the Sierra Mountains foothills, and love it. While I do play quite a bit of golf, I also do a lot of volunteer work in the game. I volunteer for the Northern California Golf Association as a tournament/ rules official and occasionally directly

Fall 2023

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Class Notes

1966-1972... for the U.S. Golf Association. I officiate mostly amateur tournaments that involve junior players up to senior players, but I have even been given the honor of working a few PGA and LPGA tournaments. I’m in my 14th year of officiating and really enjoying it. The other volunteer work that Annie and I both do is that we are coaches for the First Tee program, where we teach kids ages 7-18 core values in life such as respect, courtesy, and honesty. I’m having a blast in retirement.”

Margie Chapin writes: “I’m still living and working in the Bay Area. I have three granddaughters, 18, 15, and 13 years old. The two oldest live in Siena, Italy, and the youngest lives just a few minutes away from me in El Cerrito.

Everyone will be together in California in August 2023. Covid has prevented me from seeing the Italian side of the family for four years, so I’m very excited. Yes, it is inconceivable that we’ve reached 75! The twins are 47!

How could that be?”

Tina Hokanson shares: “I am still having fun as a part-time staff member of the Schack Art Center in Everett, WA. It’s such a creative, dynamic, and welcoming environment. I love the variety and seeing people I know from all parts of the community. It’s a great anchor for each week. This past year, I also got to work with elementary school children through the Schack’s Art & Friendship Club program serving children who need more individual attention and a relaxing environment creating art. I love living in the Northwest and try to get in a camping trip or two with friends each summer.

Politics and the environment are also on my mind, along with David Byrne of The Talking Heads singing ‘How did I get here!? This is not my beautiful house …’ After catching up on the news each day, I’ve typed ‘good news’ to balance out the bad and discovered that David Byrne is the creator of the website Reasons to be Cheerful – good news.

There’s a nice 60 Minutes interview of him by Anderson Cooper. As for the environment, I’m making small changes – I’ve switched from my gas furnace to an electric heat pump, had a Toto water-saving toilet installed, switched tissue paper to help save the Boreal

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Forest, and am moving investments.

‘People say I’m a Dreamer…’ I also just finished taking my first online poetry class.”

Carol Edgerton Downey writes: “We live a pretty quiet life here in Vermont, with our son and his family 30 minutes away and our daughter and her husband only three hours away back in New York. We found a beautiful piece of land to build on when we retired here in 2012, with amazing neighbors, all also retiring here from several different states. We don’t travel much anymore, really a huge hassle as the nearest airport is 90 miles away, and the next one is two hours – one thing we never did think about when we settled here! But we are only 40 minutes north of Dartmouth, and there are so many activities connected to that college that we can pursue.”

Scott Powell reminisced about clamming for soft shell clams on the North Shore waters and Oyster Bay when much, much younger.

Bill Young writes: “2023 finds us well ensconced in our apartment at Shenandoah Valley WestminsterCanterbury, a continuing care retirement community in Winchester, VA. We downsized and moved in late August 2018. I have gotten involved with the community’s residents association, having served as a member-at-large and a term as secretary and presently serving as treasurer. I have also been taking a lot of photographs for the monthly newsletter and the annual history, serving as secretary for the Resident Technology Advisory Group, and providing audio-visual services for various programs. My wife, Mary Anne, has had to deal with some coronary health issues but is more or less on an even keel, getting some exercise and taking her meds. A totally unexpected treat when I moved here was meeting Carol Croy Ebert ’40. When she saw my bio, she immediately gave me a call. We had a great time talking about our days at FA, which was all boarding when she was there. Sadly, Carol left us in April 2022.”

Priscilla Newell Terry shares: “I can hardly believe I’ll be 75 in November! I am very grateful to be healthy and able

Bill and Carol meeting in Winchester, VA.

to practice yoga two or three times a week and go for walks in the forest with our Chihuahua puppy, Savanna. I stay busy caring for my retired cowboy, Jim, and fill my days with activities at our church. I keep ideas in the back of my head for writing inspirations because there is always going to be a story! One day, I hope to publish my wilderness photography in our New Mexico True magazine. In December, we will take a long-awaited trip with our children and their spouses to visit old friends who still live in Texas since we moved to Ruidoso, NM, almost eight years ago! Life in southeast New Mexico is definitely 20 degrees cooler than Central Texas, but we still miss our friends.”

Nancy Gad-Harf writes: “I’m reminded of a line from a Simon and Garfunkel song ‘Old Friends.’ Aging has been an awesome experience for me – a time for adaptability, patience, silliness, and good humor. I am very fortunate that the process is accompanied by the love of family and amazing friends.

This is also a time for reflection. I have had some extraordinary experiences in the last 75 years, but the most rewarding have been to nurture a great 45-year marriage and to parent and grandparent three amazing people.

On a lighter note, David and I have

taken up kayaking in the Detroit River and eating at new Detroit restaurants.

Believe it or not, according to The New York Times, Detroit is heaven for foodies!”

Libby Keefer shares: “Just returning to Santa Fe after a family reunion at Judy Keefer Burtis’ ’70 country house in Livingston, NY. Everyone was there – Ted Keefer ’63 and all his kids and grandchildren; Judy and her son Theo; and my son, Drew, and stepdaughter, Alexis. And of course, their spouses and grandchildren – all nine years old. It was great fun. I am enjoying retirement in Santa Fe. I am happy not to be working, but I am on the boards of the botanical garden, the Assistance Dogs of the West, and the Santa Fe Community College Foundation, so I stay pretty busy.”

Helen Lotowycz Rising shares: “Brandt and I are grateful to be able to spend the winter in Islamorada, FL. This past winter was a bit unusual because Brandt’s mother, Niel Rising, was on hospice in Brightwaters and passed away at age 97. She and her husband, Al Rising, sent all four of their children through 12 years each at Friends Academy. Niel was a very active mother at FA, attending many football games and track meets almost always with oranges for the participants. She also ran the Fall Fair for many years.

Some of you may remember the greased pole. Niel was also a member of the Board of Trustees for many years. Having spent her early years at Brooklyn Friends, she was very committed to a Friends education for her family.”

1967

Sherry Lyon Emmanuel slemmanuel49@gmail.com

1968

Anne Maher amaher@kkblaw.com

1969

Jane Forelle Casey rjntkc@gmail.com

1970

Deborah Gianelli deborahgianelli@gmail.com

1971

David Cressey ddcressey23@gmail.com Richard Nunez wrote on the FA Class of 1971 Facebook page: “A kaleidoscopic my-life-in-a-nutshell account. To wit: Four tedious years at Kenyon, grad work in international relations at UVA, horse and hounds, commodities brokering, law school and subsequent family law practice, laterin-life fatherhood to a great kid (son).

Now, a retirement perch in Millerton where NY, MA, and CT collide and the bird watching and views are top notch.”

Richard taking in the scene.

David Cressey shared: “Craig Kronman died abruptly in his home near San Francisco on October 20, 2022. I was fortunate to have had an extended conversation with Craig in September 2020, the first time we had talked since high school. He exuded a quiet pride as he told of his doings across the decades. He had found a good place, fulfilled his promise.

The house we Cresseys occupied on

campus from 1967 to 1978 was leveled in the spring of 2023 to make way for an Innovation Center. Oh well. One of the thrills of visiting Friends in 2015 for the first time in twenty-some years was to see that “Our House” stood so prominently amidst the change.

Coincidentally or not, this feels like the right time to end my stint as class rep for Meeting House. Kudos to the peripatetic Angela Manno for reviving these Notes in 2015 and to Craig Kronman and Robin Campbell for their many years as coaxers and compilers.”

1972

Karen Spero Albers klalbers@charter.net Matthew Stevenson shares: “I wish I could set the clock back, if not to spring 1972, then at least to fall 2022, when we were checking in to the Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Discount Marriage Center and Inn Without a Bar—or gathering at Masha’s and Alex’s house with all that good cheer. Since then, I have toiled at my desk, searched (successfully after nine days) for our lost kitten, taken trains and buses across Saudi Arabia to Medina (don’t try this at home), given more books (in bulk) to small Bosnian libraries, and dragged my little folding bicycle on trains from Geneva to Yerevan in Armenia (with stops in Cluj, Bucharest, Ankara, Erzurum, Batumi, and Tbilisi), which was almost as much fun as my drive across Ireland a few years ago with Kevin Glynn ’72. (I had the map; he had the wheel. He talked; I nodded.)

New book out about Iran, designed by my sister Nanette ’71. Am open to suggestions for another jamboree, on a rain-free weekend. Love to all.”

Sarah Hollett Hossfeld writes: “I retired from teaching three years ago in spring 2020. Teaching 1st grade online at the beginning of the pandemic was not for me and no one knew what that fall would bring, so I retired. However, I keep my teaching skills going, as I tutor several elementary-aged children.

John, who just celebrated his 70th

Fall 2023

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Class Notes

1972-1977...

1973

Laura Hackett lwh5@comcast.net Jan Klocke O’Sullivan danjan85@aol.com

Jim Kane, Larry & Jane Dillof Mincer, Gene Hamilton, Kevin Glynn, Katie Hamilton, and Jonathan Rapp.

birthday, has not retired but also never went back to the office in NYC, so he works from home full time. Our son and daughter-in-law live close by in Huntington, so we see them frequently.

Our daughter and grandson live in West Palm Beach, FL, and these last three years, we have spent part of the winter staying near her. We knew it was time to leave Long Island, so we are building a house about 45 minutes from her in Port St. Lucie and will be moving spring of 2024. It’s smaller, easier to keep up than our house here in Oyster Bay, and I am ready to give up winter. Otherwise, reading, gardening, needlework, tutoring, and de-accessing is what keeps me busy these days/ weeks/months.”

Workshop in Seattle, which culminated in a special concert at the University of Washington. Jamie Bergford and her husband, Geoff, hosted a delicious luncheon at their home, with an opportunity for us to chat and relax on a perfect, sunny Seattle day. So, classmates, let’s have another reunion sometime in the not-too-distant future.

When and where it’s held is to be determined – perhaps out west like Las Vegas, Seattle, or LA. We certainly aren’t getting any younger; in fact ‘Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again.’

With that said, stay well – stay safe – stay connected on the FA Class of ’72 Facebook page.”

Jim Kane writes: Our classmates had such a terrific time at the 50th reunion last fall that a group of us got together on Long Island at John McGrane’s Huntington home in June. We had a lovely dinner, some libations, and many fun stories from long ago and some very recent. We are so blessed to have such good friends throughout the years! Who would like to host our next get-together?

Karen Spero Albers shares: “Meantime, in the Pacific Northwest, I had our own little FA class of 1972 reunion. In June, Karen Hohner attended the Berkshire Choral

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Jan Klocke O’Sullivan shares: “I was very excited to see everyone in September for our 50th! We had a wonderful turnout, and it’s been a lot of fun to reconnect with some classmates who haven’t been in touch in a while. Dan and I were recently honored to be named Co-Citizens of the Year by the Killingworth Lions Club in recognition for the volunteering we have done in our town and elsewhere; I was delighted that we received this award together. Living in a small town provides many opportunities to jump in and do something! See you all soon – together again on campus!”

She adds: “Steve Benjamin and Neal Fowler must be the most decorated sailboat racers in our class. After competing against each other in college (Benj at Yale and Neal at Tufts), they teamed up for the 1980 Olympics.

Had the U.S. not boycotted in 1980, they might have more stories to share, but they both earned Congressional Gold Medals (rare for athletes) for winning the Trials. At the 1984 games in Los Angeles, Benj went on to win a silver medal in the 470 Class, and he is still racing today. Neal is also still actively racing. He lives on Cape Cod with his wife, Kathleen, who is still practicing law. Their two grown sons and daughter-in-law live in neighboring towns.”

Janet Post Isern writes: “I am still living in Central Florida with my husband, Rollie (44 years). He retired from commercial banking several years ago, and I am just about retired but still logging in some hours (mostly from home) doing tax returns for the same CPA firm I have worked for since 1980.

We have a second home on the Gulf Coast for boating and fishing.”

Peter Zullo shares: “I plan on retiring

Karen Hohner, Karen Spero Albers, and Jamie Bergford in Seattle.

at the end of 2024 after 40 years of practicing internal medicine, which I have enjoyed immensely.

Have a true life partner in Kate, my wife; three amazing children; and six grandchildren. We have lived in Gloucester, VA, since 1987, having left New York after attending medical school. If any classmates are ever in the area, I would love for you to drop by and say hello.”

Jeff Hull shares: “I retired on June 6 after teaching sculpture, pottery, and Art 1 for the last 23 years at Longview High School, Longview, TX. First thing was an RV road trip to attend the wedding of my brother Sandy Hull ’74, the youngest in Philly.

(My sister Meredyth Hull Smith ’75 also attended). Then through Virginia Beach; Outer Banks; Mount Pleasant, SC; Roosevelt State Park, MS; and back home. Great start to the next chapter!”

Cliff Gardner wrote from Slovenia where he and Julie are on a bicycle trip to Slovenia and Croatia: “The countryside is fantastically beautiful.

No immediate plans to retire.”

Nick Seamon says: “I am still running the Black Sheep Deli and Bakery in Amherst, MA, after 37 years. Our fourth kid graduated from college last year and is in NYC working for the mayor. We are now empty nesters. Am gardening and trying to catch up on ‘deferred maintenance’ on the farm after all these years. Still raising golden retrievers for 45 years. Not sure what is next for us. Denial is a great thing. It’s not just a river in Egypt.”

Barbara Boyle Weaner shares: “We are enjoying summer on our farm.

The weather has been erratic in the last few years, and this season has proved to be the same. Some things are doing well despite the crazy swings in precipitation and temperatures.

Two of our four grandsons arrived last night to spend two weeks with us – an excuse to pause from work and go play. I am still seeing patients two days a week for consultations and have been doing volunteer work at the local community corrections program and a residential recovery program giving ear acupuncture for addiction recovery.

When needed, I am also teaching childbirth classes for the local family resource network. This year, I have been engaged in an apprenticeship

in weaving and spinning and natural dyeing through the West Virginia Department of Culture and History Folklife Program. It is a year-long, oneon-one apprenticeship with a master craftswoman. Sharing the care of our 90-year-old father with my sister and brother rounds things out to a very fulfilling life indeed!”

Jeff Leach wrote: “I was recently recognized in a national publication Marquis Who’s Who for my accomplishments during my career in technology and for my volunteer work.

God bless Friends Academy, my class, the teachers, and staff because Jeff retired in all of you made a 2015 and is now a difference in my life.” consultant.

1974

Evette Beckett-Tuggle evettebt@gmail.com

1975

Tilde Mariani Giacché tildemgiacche@gmail.com

1976

Nancy Toher Hawkins nthawkins123@aol.com

1977

Chuck Cooperstein coopgator@aol.com Jane Waldman was named senior growth director at Interdependence Public Relations, a rapidly growing PR agency that provides services to clients in the B2B tech, consumer, travel and tourism, entertainment, healthcare, and professional services industries.

Heather Vuilet shares: “I’m still in Alaska, and I have 12 grandchildren

now and our four adult daughters.

Their families live nearby in Haines and Juneau (three are teachers like their grandmother Sally Vuillet), our son is in Western Australia, but all the family celebrated Christmas in Alaska. The Aussies loved the snow. My father, Bob Vuillet, came to Haines during Covid and was cared for by me and my sister Suzanne Vuillet-Smith, who also lives in Haines, for about a year and half until he passed away peacefully. I’m still riding my bike a lot in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter and am in my second term as the Alaska Writer Laureate. We recently completed a nice little guest cottage – any FA classmates are welcome. My life is an open book, basically, and you can find all kinds of stuff about our life in Alaska and read my blog at heatherlende.com.”

Jane Colombo McGuire reports: “My daughter just got married and, for their honeymoon, went to East Africa.

I am still in the real estate business with Coldwell Banker, selling in Bergen County and referring out to other counties. In the summer, we always have a family reunion at our lake house in Aurora, NY. We often rent it out, especially for their graduations.”

Ed Silver shares: “All is well in New York City. I had hip replacement surgery a year and a half ago (all those booming soccer goal kicks must’ve taken their toll). I also had hand surgery for something called Dupuytren’s contracture. It’s the last thing a guitarist/pianist needs, but my surgeon managed to straighten things out, and I can still play my instruments for the most part. As for my family, my wife is getting busier with her dental practice as people have been moving back to the city post-Covid. My daughter is a rising junior at Ithaca College, majoring in television and new media production. She is also an actress and has been invited to audition for roles in several independent films. My son just finished 7th grade, and he is also following in my performing arts footsteps having had the lead role in his middle school play, Moana Jr. He is currently singing professionally with the Broadway Youth Ensemble, essentially a choir made up of kids who perform on Broadway or aspire

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Class Notes

1977-1981... to. The most fun I had this year was composing, performing, and releasing a campy little hip-hop song. It was just a little project I did with my daughter, who put a lyric video to it, and ended up on my YouTube channel.”

Dawn Barclay reports: “I’ve just completed my ninth book – it’s a dark, domestic thriller, and it’s out with an agent now. My eighth book, Traveling Different: Vacation Strategies for Parents of the Anxious, the Inflexible, and the Neurodiverse (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022) received Honorable Mention from the American Society of Journalists and Authors in their Arlene Awards (Books that Make a Difference) and First Prize in the Maxy Awards (Inspirational/SelfHelp category). It was written up in USA Today and Costco Connection and has been the subject of over 90 podcast interviews. When I’m not writing books, I’m travel writing (columnist for Insider Travel Report), editing for Champagne Book Group, and selling real estate up in Rockland County. I’m also on the boards of Sisters in Crime NY/TriState and Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter.”

Joanna Evans shares: “I have been the ‘first lady and associate president’ of Peru State College in Nebraska for two years now. I have to put that mouthful of a title in quotes because it is a ridiculous title, although it

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does represent a significant role. My husband, Michael, is the president of the college. In addition to my role there, I am a freelance editor. I spend the academic year in Nebraska, and I retreat to our house in Maine for the summer where I work from a home office, do renovations on the house (in anticipation of our retirement), and enjoy spending time outdoors.

Nebraska summers are brutally hot and dusty, so I am fortunate to be able to avoid them. Last year, Michael and I celebrated 40 years of marriage by going to Tanzania, including photo safaris in the Serengeti plains, a hot air balloon safari, and a sailing trip on a traditional dhow in the Indian Ocean off Zanzibar. This year’s main adventure involved taking our 30-year-old twin sons and their significant others on a canal narrow boat in England and Wales. We enjoyed working the locks and drawbridges by hand; walking and bicycling; taking turns captaining a boat; and visiting local pubs, villages, and historic sites. It was a wonderful family vacation.”

Chuck Cooperstein reports: “Things are still great in Texas. This fall, I will be in my 19th season as the radio voice of the Dallas Mavericks. In June, I accepted the honor of Texas Sportscaster of the Year of 2022 by the National Sports Media Association. It was a fantastic weekend to catch up with many old friends, meet people I’ve admired from afar. I lost my mom, Judy, in May 2022.

Mom had moved to Texas from Florida to be closer to me in 2005, and I was fortunate enough to be able to help her as things started slipping over the last few years. Our last time together was watching the PGA Championship together, holding on until I could get back from the road during the Western Conference Finals. Given her golf success, it was a perfect last memory.

My wife, Karen, has created her own incredibly successful marketing, PR, and grant writing firm, Crater Lake Consulting, and has fallen in love with alpacas of which she (we?) now owns two. My son, Jeffrey, is working for a digital sports group called ChatSports. com in which they create YouTube videos for various sports teams and leagues. Yes, he is as sports crazy as his dad. More importantly (to me), he

actually likes his dad and wants to talk every day. To say it’s the highlight of my day is an understatement of the highest order.”

Chuck Cooperstein at the Texas Sportscaster of the Year event in WinstonSalem, NC.

1978

Lis Dillof Dreizen artland95@aol.com Thomas Hawkins thawkins@barcap.com

1979

Susan Thomas Cosmopulous susancosmopulos@gmail.com Carol Lind Stone has been a pilot for American Airlines since 1988 and flies the Boeing 787 aircraft, from my base at the Philadelphia International Airport, to various European destinations. She has been married since 1992 and has lived on the Chesapeake Bay since 1998.

Maggie Keats reports that all is well and somehow miraculously managed to avoid getting Covid despite a very active and public-interfacing work schedule! She has various connections to Friends and has been on the Alumni Board for several years. She has been amazed and awed at how the campus and curriculum have expanded since we were students – has been truly impressed. After a stint in the

city where she worked for years in advertising, she happily settled back on the North Shore, now selling real estate for Douglas Elliman. It is very rewarding and VERY BUSY, particularly during and immediately post-pandemic!

Jackie Mykoff Anscher shares: “My hubby of 40 years and I are back in Port Washington! With assistance from Maggie Keats, we have happily relocated to a bigger house in Sands Point after thinking it was okay to downsize. With our four children and their children (we have three grandchildren and another due in April), we realized we needed more space for hosting our growing family.

Being back in Port also allows me to be closer to my elderly parents who insist that they don’t need my help but really do. When I last wrote, I was teaching spin classes and loving it, until Covid changed that. I’m not ready to hang up my shoes and retire, so I recently picked up one class here in Port at the local gym and am starting again, hoping to rebuild their group fitness program.”

Amanda Walpin Leath reports: “I live in Brooklyn and am leading the HR Shared Services team at Healthfirst, a managed healthcare provider in New York. I have two sons, both of whom moved home during Covid. My oldest moved out mid-year 2022 and has a very serious girlfriend. We will see where it goes, but I think this may be the one. My younger son thinks paying no rent and saving money is wonderful.

I’m not so sure it’s as wonderful as he thinks, nor do I think his girlfriend agrees with him, but whenever they look at apartments, the rents cause them despair and he reiterates how nice it is at home! Otherwise, I’m having lots of fun. I was in Mexico, attending Playing in the Sand (Dead & Company played for three nights). It was a blast and made me very happy!

Have planned a series of vacations throughout the rest of the year – so it will be a busy, enjoyable year.”

John DiMatteo shares: “My wife, Angela, and I delivered a sailboat from South Africa to Grenada. Sounds exciting, but it involved a degree of work and many days at sea and a

stop on the island of St. Helena for provisions. I hope all is well, and it would be great if we can coordinate an alumni gathering sometime this year.”

Joe Borini writes: “My wife and I are celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary this year. We are also looking forward to finally becoming empty nesters. Our younger son is a high school senior and is hoping to attend West Point or Annapolis. He is a wrestler and at the recent Mayor’s Cup placed 6th in New York City in his weight class. Our older son graduated with high honors from NYU in May and is working for a private equity data consulting firm. My wife is an attorney and is planning to retire in a couple of years, and I am writing, just having finished three plays and two short stories over the past year and a half.

We’re looking forward to traveling and having fun.”

Susan Thomas Cosmopulos shares: “Time is flying by! My middle son, Ryan, got engaged right before New Year’s.

My oldest son, Billy, and his wife, Dani, are expecting my first grandchild. Now I am feeling old! My youngest, Eric, and his girlfriend live in Newport. I am still actively vice president and treasurer of our local Little League. I promised the current president I would last through his tenure, and then I’m done. So, 2024 should wrap up 21 years on the board for me. My husband and I seem to be busier now than ever. I thought as you got older life was supposed to slow down! Working for the family business and still overseeing renovations in Maine keeps us crazy busy. We are super excited about a trip to Africa.”

Anne R. Hutchins-Orsi

a member of the 1980 Ivy League championship team. She worked in San Francisco in landscape design before continuing at the University of Virginia.

After UVA, Anne worked as a designer with the Central Park Conservancy, honoring the memory of her greatgreat-grandfather Waldo Hutchins, who was a member of the first Central Park Board of Commissioners. Anne is survived by her husband of 23 years, James Monell Orsi, and three siblings who also attended FA – John Hutchins, Fred Hutchins, and Elizabeth Hutchins.

1981

Betsy Jordan Gahagan bjgahagan@me.com

1980

Michael Salzhauer michael@benjaminpartners.com Anne R. Hutchins-Orsi of Washington, CT, died on February 27, 2023, from complications of multiple sclerosis. She was 61 years old. While Anne did not graduate from FA, her family has a long legacy of attending the then-boarding school. A graduate of St. Paul’s School and Yale University, Anne was a star varsity field hockey player and was

Jim Hummerstone ’82, Amy Hummerstone Israelsson ’81, John Israelsson ’81, Denys Coleman ’81, and Jamie Fortunoff ’81.

Fall 2023

79

Class Notes

1981-1989...

Jamie Fortunoff shared that several alumni gathered at the October 2022 wedding of Susanna Israelsson, daughter of John Israelsson ’81 and Amy Hummerstone Israelsson ’81.

Members of the Class of 1981 gathered on April 29 for a 60th birthday party and reunion hosted by Jamie Fortunoff and Amy Hummerstone (right and below).

1982

Ed Dimonda Edward.c.DiMonda@navient.com Ellen Greene ellenjgreene@gmail.com

1983

Laura Dilimetin ldilimetin@gmail.com

1984

Beth Anne Melkmann lebonchien@aol.com

1985

Laura Match Schaffer lematch7@gmail.com

1986

Kara Vassel Lewis kmvlewis@gmail.com

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Present were: Allison Plitt Basile, Marina Beckhard, Rob Blechman, Andrew Bott, Cathy Castagna, Bobbi Cohen, Chris Dean, Carol Shapiro Engel, Paula Mallory Engel, Jamie Fortunoff, Kate Seligson Friedman, Bobby Fromm, Betsy Jordan Gahagan, Arianne Levitt Golub, Ellen Goodwin, Denys Coleman Gross, Mary Hossfeld, Amy Hummerstone , John Israelsson, Neil Kotimsky, Geoff Machover, Andrew Messing, Robbin Mitchell, Debra Match Morse, Ralphine, Newlin O’Rourke, Ingrid Schneider, Bobby Shea, Caroline Simko, Tom VanRiper, Bhamati Viswanathan, George VonZedlitz, John Winner

Charles Ritter chuckr@universalphotonics.com

1987

Barry Joseph barryjosephnyc@gmail.com Emily Beiles Kaufman emkaufman@optonline.net Beth Febre shares: “I am working on 27 years of marriage. My son is an RN working for Baycare, and my two daughters are in school. I am still teaching kindergarten. The past three years, I have been teaching the English side of a dual-language program, which is extremely rewarding!”

Gen Geller reports: “My son, Matthew, just graduated from Blind Brook High School and will attend Haverford College in the fall. I am now the chairwoman of my radiology department. Good stuff. Wishing everyone well.”

Gen is the director of radiology at Westmed in Westchester, NY.

Susie Shuttleworth shares: “All is well with my family. I’m still in TV production, running LAUNDRY, a design animation studio. Our child, Will, who uses the pronoun they, is 17 and first chair French horn in two citywide orchestras. They plan to apply to conservatories in the fall.”

Michael Gallo shares: “I am living in Old Brookville, married with three children – all girls! My middle daughter is attending Friends Academy and just

graduated middle school. I am still very connected with a number of my FA classmates and very grateful for the Friends Academy community. I am still working in the family business and looking forward to some upcoming family trips. It was wonderful to see some classmates at the 35-year reunion and always good to see fellow classmates.”

Andrew Bart shares: “Paul Murphy and I have joined the Schotz’s Brewery team assembly line. After work, we meet Barry Joseph and Sandy Williams for pizza and bowling with Boo Boo Kitty.”

Barry Joseph shared: “I can neither confirm nor deny the above but can certainly assert that I just celebrated my 22nd year of marriage. My youngest is at Hunter High School and oldest at Bronx Science. My third book came out in spring – Making Dinosaurs Dance: A Toolkit for Digital Design in Museums – and I just finished teaching a class on the topic at NYU. I launched the new Brooklyn Seltzer Museum. In development is a video game exhibition in Harlem for Black and Latinx teens and a card game, Uncannny Valley (@UncannnyValley), designed to welcome our future AI overlords.”

Rashid Walker is the CEO and founder of First Street Capital, a real estate firm specializing in the development and acquisition of multifamily property in infill locations.

1988

Veronica Bisek Lurvey vlurvey@hotmail.com Veronica Bisek Lurvey shares: “I live in Great Neck now with my husband and two boys. One is attending a master’s program at the Cooper Union in the fall, and the other just finished his first year at the University of Chicago. We love to read, play with our cats, and keep up with current events. I have been honored to serve the residents and community as councilwoman for the town of North Hempstead for the past four and a half years. It has been incredibly challenging and rewarding. I

am now running for receiver of taxes, which is a town-wide position. I draw upon the Quaker values I learned at Friends, such as integrity, stewardship, equality, community, and peace, on a daily basis.

1989

JoAn Monaco doctor@drjoanmonaco.com

Wendy with daughter, Josi June.

out.”

North Hempstead Councilwoman Veronica Bisek Lurvey.

Wendy Posillico writes: “Over the past decade, my daughter, Josi June, and I have lived in various places, from Sag Harbor, NY, and Truckee Tahoe, CA, to our latest home in Jupiter, FL. Josi June, now 10 years old, is thriving and has developed a genuine passion for music and theater. As an athlete, this is uncharted territory for me. After dedicating 17 years to the golf industry as a touring professional and LPGA instructor, I decided to embark on a solo entrepreneurial journey. Live Your June was born from a desire to encourage individuals to embrace their uniqueness and leave a bold imprint on future generations. In February, I fulfilled a major item on my bucket list by launching my podcast, Journey to June. I have the incredible opportunity to unravel the stories of remarkable human beings who, in their quest to stay true to themselves and their desires, frequently embrace the harder path. It’s been a really cool experience and super empowering. I invite you all to check it out! For those of you on the east coast of Florida, feel free to reach

Greg Sommer shares: “Been pretty busy raising four kids and four dogs with the wife. Life is good in Wilton, CT. I’m a pretty lucky guy. Recently, I had dinner in NYC with Rhett Hancock, Keith Rubinstein, Phil Canelli, Adam Fruitbine, Glenn Judson, and Johnny D’Addario. It was so nice to spend the evening with these guys. I only wish we could have had more FA people involved but scheduling is always tricky. Also, I always love catching up with Marc Stern in NYC or in California when I am traveling. Even though I do not get to see these guys as much as I would like, the FA boys are my closest and most trusted friends in life.”

Tony Bozza has relocated to Santa Barbara, CA, with his partner, Jennifer, and their pooch, Tilly. Jennifer changed careers during the pandemic and is attending graduate school for clinical psychology. Tony is currently co-writing an autobiography with Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, one of the bigger bands of the early 2000s on the pop-punk scene. Towards the end of the year, Tony will be working with Mandy Rose, a top WWE wrestler, on her book.

Tony’s last book with Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan came out last year and is doing well. Tony was also a producer and interviewer on a documentary by award-winning director Don Hardy that will hit the film festival circuit at the end of the year if all goes well. Tony is also planning another season of his

Fall 2023

81

Class Notes

1989-1993...

William played two singles on Varsity Tennis and won MVP with a 15-1 record during the 2023 spring season. The Friends Boys’ Tennis team won the Long Island Championships and lost in the finals of the State. Charlotte is 13, attends Locust Valley Middle School, and loves to skate at Beaver Dam. Peter keeps up with Josh Slater and Zander Byers regularly and saw Park Benjamin not too long ago.

Gail Havekotte Molloy is celebrating her 28th year as a school counselor at Carle Place High School. Gail and her husband traveled to Hawaii with their boys this summer. Their son, Taylor, will be starting his senior year of high school this fall, has a black belt in karate, and is an avid golfer.

Adam, Greg, John, Glenn, Rhett, Keith, and Phil at Sparks Steakhouse.

podcast, Winyl, where he has his guest choose a record that changed their life and Tony pairs it with a wine that reflects the music. He and Jennifer are enjoying a bit of a slower pace and living close to the beach and a ton of hiking trails, and of course, Central Coast wine country, not to mention skiing at Mammoth.

Vikram Iyengar just celebrated 20 years at Villanova as a professor. Vik had a semester of sabbatical this past fall during which he traveled out west and connected with friends.

His research involves the study of behavioral ecology of arthropods. His wife, Erika, who continues to teach and conduct research at Muhlenberg College, had the great luck of bringing the family to Costa Rica for a great trip with students and professors. Their boys, Connor, Tyler, and Jackson, keep them super busy with lots of soccer; basketball; academic achievements; driving lessons; and playing the French horn, oboe, piano, and clarinet.

Stephen Kunken finished his seventh and final season of Billions in June, which will air on Showtime. Earlier this year, he finished (spoiler alert) or

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“was finished” on The Handmaid’s Tale, ending a five-season arc of villainy as Commander Putnam. Stephen also stars as CIA Chief Counterintelligence Officer James Jesus Angelton in A Spy Among Friends, a British espionage thriller television series. It was a 2023 BAFTA-nominated series that was filmed in the United Kingdom. Stephen is also busy getting his daughter to do her summer reading and has a followup feature-film directing project to begin shooting in 2023.

Peter Bohner and his wife, Kimberly, have been super busy keeping up with William and Charlotte. They live in Locust Valley, where William just completed his freshman year at FA.

William Bohner ‘26 competing on May 25, 2023.

Jackie Sokolow Wachsman and Gail Molloy are in touch regularly, as Jackie is teaching reading in HewlettWoodmere. Jackie is lamenting that she will be an empty nester soon, as her youngest, Alec, is a senior at FA this fall. Her son Ethan was on the USA Junior National Karate Team and won a bronze medal in the Maccabi Games in Israel in 2022. He is at the University of Michigan studying biomedical engineering. Jackie’s oldest, Jordan, lives in Washington, D.C., and works for the Department of State.

Josh Slater and his wife, Erika, are enjoying life in Baltimore, MD. Erika is a family law attorney, and Josh is a portfolio manager for T. Rowe Price.

Their older son, Sam, is a rising junior at the University of Richmond, and their younger son, Charlie, is going to be a freshman at Wake Forest University this fall. Empty nesters for the first time, they cannot wait to learn what this newfound time brings.

Nicole Petallides has been enjoying Wall Street for over 20 years, anchoring daily live shows on the New York Stock Exchange. Nicole has interviewed Eli Manning, DK Metcalf, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, among other professional athletes on their investing. With so much fun on the Stock Exchange floor, she doesn’t have much time for travel but managed to fit in trips to LA, Cyprus, Aspen, and Turks and Caicos. Nicole spends her free time with her mom and husband, as both sons are in college.

Marc Stern recently had dinner with Keith Rubenstein in California.

Marc’s son, Maxwell, is about to head to London to study abroad for his junior year at the London School of Economics. It turns out Regan Otto Patry’s son is also studying there, and they are planning on connecting the boys. Marc’s twins are heading off to college soon. Marc’s daughter, Ava, is going to University of California, Berkeley which is just a few minutes from home. Marc’s younger son is heading to University of Oregon, so Marc’s nest is about to empty!

Marc and Keith in the San Francisco Bay area.

Jennifer Pagett Stricklin is a remarkably busy Cookie Guru, and her cookies are out of this world. She and her husband, Dave, just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, and with both of their boys in college, Jen founded Strickly Cookies,a Chicagobased custom cookie business that specializes in hand-decorated cookies for special occasions and events.

Jen’s favorite part of her business is connecting with so many FA friends from years past, as they are some of her biggest clients. Check out her social media to see her sweet talent!

Jennifer Meltzer Geller wrote: “Thanks to social media, texting, and Zoom, I’m in touch with lots of our classmates, which I love! I am still living in NYC with my husband, Rich, and we are getting close to being empty nesters. Our son, Harrison, is a rising senior in high school, and our daughter, Alexis, is a rising junior at Emory University. Her sorority big sister is Joanna Lawrence Schwartz’s daughter, Jessie! Besides selling apartments in NYC, my friend and I have been busy developing

an app that will revolutionize kids carpooling, give parents their sanity back, and offer kids the freedom they crave. HiveDrive will launch this fall. It would mean a lot to me to have my FA friends among our colony. Please check it out and help us spread the word to your carpooling friends and family members. They say it takes a village.

We say it takes a hive.”

definitely a whirlwind. For those of you with older kids, why didn’t anyone warn me that three is tough and might as well go for four? Thank you, everyone, for your updates. I am so happy that everyone is doing so well, and please keep the updates coming!”

Marisa Pick Giesler is doing well, still living in southern California, and loving it. Her daughter, Emily, swims at Georgetown University and will be a senior. Her son, Andrew, will be a freshman this fall at University of Southern California. Andrew has all kinds of plans to play lacrosse and maybe pledge a fraternity. Adam Melinger, who has a son at USC, and Marisa are planning to meet up during parents’ weekend at a football tailgate.

Marisa also saw Regan Otto Patry for a quick visit to the beach and met Cindy Rushmore Kuechle in Boston.

It was great to spend time together; they laughed the whole time as if a day hadn’t gone by. Marisa is not looking forward to an empty nest. She is not sure if she will go back to physical therapy or start something new. Marisa plans to play a lot of golf, travel, and hopefully catch up with old friends.

Michael Fox mfox789@gmail.com

John D’Addario shares: “I took over as the CEO of our family business literally weeks before the onset of the global pandemic – impeccable timing as usual. My wife, Michelle, and I are now empty nesters. Our eldest daughter, Lily, just graduated from Bates College in the spring and is now working in Washington, D.C. Our second daughter, Lucy, is going into her senior year at the Heart School for Performing Arts – very talented young vocalist with Broadway aspirations. Our youngest, our son Johnny, is going into his freshman year at the University of Richmond. Though he looks exactly like me, Johnny is 6 feet, 4 inches tall and 235 lbs. Not sure how that happened.”

JoAn Monaco reports: “I am busy in the world of plastic surgery, seeing many of our FA classmates regularly for their gentle ‘tweaks.’ The balance between working, being married to a surgeon, and juggling the activities of three kids (ages 14, 9, and 7) is

1991

Colleen Doyle Moran colleendmoran@aol.com

1992

Clayton Siegert csiegert@yahoo.com

1993

Natalia Porcelli Good nataliapgood1@gmail.com Danielle Valenti Smith danvalenti@hotmail.com Danielle Valenti Smith writes: “Can you believe it’s been 30 years since we graduated? Natalia Porcelli Good and planned our reunion party the evening of Fall Fair, and it was good to see everyone! I am right back where I left off 30 years ago! We said goodbye to the city and moved back to Long Island. My children, Siena (11th grade) and Marco (7th grade), started at Friends this past September and had a fantastic year! My son, Luca, loved his 9th grade start at Chaminade. I had a great year reconnecting with friends

Danielle Valenti Smith ’93, Brie Shapiro Kraska ’93, Todd Kraska ’92, and Alana Teutonico Brock ’94 at FA.

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83

Class Notes

1993-2009... from Friends. We spent a lot of time together, as our kids are all on the same Friends Academy sports teams.”

Sandra Lyon Mare writes: “Still living in North Carolina, teaching yoga and running our nonprofit foundation, The Mare Foundation. Trying to savor the time as it flies by. Our older two children are away at college, and two are still home for a couple more years.

I can’t believe it will be 30 years since we graduated high school! Hoping to make it back to New York in the fall to celebrate.”

Amanda Levy Laserson is the head of marketing at Plumb where she is responsible for the strategic and tactical marketing and branding efforts for three distinct divisions in the B2B space.

1994

Alana Teutonico Brock teutonico13@hotmail.com Neely Doshi Cather neelycather@gmail.com

Catherine, far right, with her bandmates.

devo426@gmail.com

Derek Pasch is the vice president of talent acquisition at Gersh Autism in NYC.

Brett Jacobson recently joined Morgan Stanley in Melville as a senior vice president. Laurie and Brett have 5th and 6th grade boys in the Syosset School District.

1999

1995

Daryl Holzman is getting married this fall on his Long Island farm, and we are all very excited for him.

2000

Thomas Pascarella tompasc@tompasc.com Kelly Reid Walsh kellyreidwalsh@gmail.com

1996

Luke Cass lukecass@gmail.com Catherine Callahan shared that her family moved out of New York and are living in Connecticut. Her son is six years old and now living his best life.

Catherine is living hers too, playing and singing in an all-female rock band called Pretty Nasty. She invites those in the area to come see a show.

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Idris Aquil is living in Washington, D.C., and has spent the last decade working for record companies in NYC. Luke Cass is working in Washington, D.C., and his practice has been keeping him busy. He caught up with Khary Jones recently in Georgetown. KJ is doing great and is still a scratch golfer.

Jennifer Ryan Woods woodsj@me.com

Meredith MacKinnon mmackinnon35@yahoo.com

2001

Hadley Devon Mongell hmongell@gmail.com

PJ DeCurtis is doing well and keeping busy on Long Island with his law practice. He is a partner at Stewart Greenblatt Manning & Baez.

2002

1997

Michael Jason Weiss michael.jason.weiss@gmail.com

Devon Broderick Carroll devon.broderick@gmail.com Devon George

Lauren Bebry Kenter Lauren.Bebry@gmail.com

at Blue Yonder, the world leader in digital supply chain and omni-channel commerce fulfillment.

2003

Jessica Jakobson jess.jakobson@gmail.com Members of the class gathered at Terroir in New York City for their 20th reunion on June 3, 2023. See a photo in our Alumni Reunions section, pages 56-57.

2004

Angela Batista Forrest batista1023@gmail.com Jonathan Harley Koenig jonathan.h.koenig@gmail.com Lucky Lance Gobindram is the general manager at CXR.Agency, an award-winning full-cycle software development and IT consulting company. As a futurist and lecturer, he speaks on topics related to the change in social capital; practical applications of augmented, virtual, and mixed reality; and the next app gold rush.

2006

Brian T. Alessi brian.t.alessi@gmail.com Emily Lepore Jonap lepore.emily@gmail.com David Broxmeyer joined Cage Point in January 2023 as a senior media analyst.

Prior to that, he was the manager of marketing science at Omnicom Media Group.

2007

Caitlin Koufakis deSvastich katie.desvastich@gmail.com Christine Farrell Farrell.chrissy@gmail.com Rebecca Pacchiano

Cara Wolf Erwin was named senior director of brand strategy (Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure) at Dotdash Meredith, the largest digital and print publisher in America. She has worked with Condé Nast, Time Inc., and Sony Pictures Entertainment after graduating from Muhlenberg College with a degree in business, media, and communications.

Meredith Aaron Gebhardt is the director of executive talent management for Hillel International.

Prior to that, she was with Nielsen for over a decade, holding various positions focused on talent acquisition, human resources, and professional development.

2008

Laura Berke Mottel lnberke@gmail.com Alexandria Phillips afp1013@gmail.com

2009

Nell C. Kucich NellKucich@gmail.com John E. Mascari john.mascari@dartmouth.edu Brett Hochberg was named corporate counsel at Hyatt Hotels Corporation after serving as an associate at Paul Hastings and Kirkland & Ellis. He attended Washington University in St. Louis School of Law where he was a Dean’s Leadership Award recipient and Law Review notes editor.

Lauren Russo is an associate in the Complex Tort Litigation Group at Rivkin Radler LLP.

Benjamin Ryan was named vice president of business development for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX).

2005

Anjali has been with Billboard since 2017, playing a key role in marketing strategy and development.

Garrett Dooley gsdooley@gmail.com Helen Simpson Hatch helen.s.hatch@ gmail.com Meg Paintal is the vice president for global business development Meg Paintal ‘05

rebeccaleigh17@gmail.com Anjali Raja is the SVP, head of business operations and audience growth at Billboard.

Brett was an associate at Paul Hastings LLP previously.

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Class Notes

2010-2018...

VA-based Genworth as an actuarial development program analyst.

2010

Alexa Gordon alexa.gordon@wustl.edu

Casey Quinn is a professional staff member for the U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means in Washington, D.C.

Emily Hawkins ehawkin2@wellesley.edu

Josie Bechand is the customer relations and asset manager at the Naftali Group, a privately held global real estate development and investment firm based in New York City.

Holly Constants holly.constants@gmail.com Gabrielle McPhaul-Guerrier gmcphaul-guerrier@live.com Holly Constants is a law clerk at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. She was the associate managing editor for the St. John’s Law Review and graduated with a psychology degree from Bryn Mawr College.

Brooke Henn is the senior talent lead at Fractal Software. Prior to this role, she held positions with Archer, Hired, Vettery, and Bloomberg LP.

Casey was the health policy advisor to Congressman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio).

and was recently named to the 30 Under Thirty America’s Rising Republican Operatives.

Jalisa Clark serves as a research fellow at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University. She has a master’s in health policy analysis from Emory University.

2013

Sydney Menzin sfmenzin@gmail.com

Simisola Akinola was named marketing specialist at Getty Images.

Patrick Moodhe is an investmentgrade credit portfolio manager within BlackRock’s Global Fixed Income Group.

Lydia Graham is a legal intern at NBCUniversal’s TV & Streaming Content Acquisition group. She graduated from New York University School of Law in 2021.

Cameron Hellerman cameronhellerman@me.com Danielle Kahn danikahn@me.com

Sarah Chartash schartash@gwu.edu Jake Ingrassia jake.ingrassia@gmail.com Gabrielle Rechler grechler93@gmail.com

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Simi Akinola simisolaakinola@yahoo.com

Marianna Cuomo Maier mariannacm430@gmail.com

2012

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2014

2015

Tara Judge graduated from University of Mary Washington with a Bachelor’s of Science in environmental geology.

She was recently named chief construction inspector at Con Edison.

Alan Gabay joined the Richmond,

Brittany Kriegstein is a reporter for Gothamist.com and previously worked for The New York Times and New York Daily News. Brittany studied social anthropology and Spanish at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and earned a master’s from Columbia Journalism School after her time at FA. Stefan Sayre is an MBA candidate at MIT Sloan School of Management and a summer associate consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York.

He holds a B.S. in biochemistry and a B.A. in biology, with a specialization in microbiology, from the University of Chicago. Stefan is a CFA Charterholder, CAIA Charterholder, and FDP Charterholder (all related to the financial industry and investing).

Brandon Elias is a senior associate for development with Flag Luxury Group, a real estate development company. She graduated from Barnard College studying English language and literature.

2011

John O’Brien john.obrien1294@gmail.com

Brittany covers breaking news and enterprise stories across the city.

Javana Clark is a licensed psychotherapist in Washington, D.C., and Louisiana. Her expertise in clinical social work qualifies her to provide mental health diagnoses, evidencebased therapeutic intervention, biopsychosocial assessments, and individual and group therapy sessions.

She attended University of Vermont for a bachelor’s in social work and a master’s from Tulane University School of Social Work.

Marianna Cuomo Maier reports: “I’m a national board-certified health and wellness coach and founder of Grata Wellness, a coaching practice and wellness blog.” (See her profile on page 66.)

Riley Denihan shares: “My husband and I are expecting our first child this November!”

Gloria Fortuna is a graduate student at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursuing her master’s degree in population and family health, with a concentration in sexual and reproductive health.

2016

Joseph Como is a private equity analyst at BlackRock. He graduated from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) with a bachelor’s in engineering and computer science.

Christina Yannello christinayannello@gmail.com

2018

Sydney Banks attended Vanderbilt University as a Chancellor’s Scholar and is now an associate at J.P. Morgan.

Lauren Nagel Lauren_Nagel@aol.com

Maximo Lipman maximo1219@gmail.com

Johndee Baptiste is a senior associate with Ferguson Partners, a global talent management firm. He graduated from

Vivek Lam is a current Ph.D. student at Stanford University in the Materials Science and Engineering Department, studying electric vehicle battery degradation.

Jack Statfeld is an infrastructure finance associate at ING in NYC. After graduating Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business, Jack served as an analyst with Siemens, Wells Fargo, and the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Vivian Zetterstrom is currently getting her J.D. at St. John’s School of Law and is a judicial intern to the Honorable Elizabeth S. Stong from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in media studies and communication and a minor in urban planning.

Ally Zucker allyzucker13@gmail.com Elissa Fielding joined the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Public Participation as a management analysis (Pathways) trainee. Prior to that, she was the digital, multimedia content intern at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Cameron Hellerman is going to Cardozo Law School in the fall.

Danielle Kahn reports: “I am a thirdyear doctoral student (PsyD) at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. My clinical and research efforts are focused on helping individuals who experience difficulty managing and regulating intense emotions, depression, anxiety, OCD, eating and weight disorders, body image disturbances, and disordered eating.”

Raquel Hutt raquelhutt@gmail.com

Amberlin Mott graduated cum laude from Bentley University in May 2022 with a major in management, a concentration in entrepreneurship, and a double minor in law and finance. She is now the core associate with the Massachusetts-based WS Development.

At FA, Johndee was on Varsity Basketball, Football, and Track & Field and was a member of the Diversity Club.

Paige Silverstein is a people and nature intern at the Environmental Defense Fund while completing her studies at Princeton University.

Franklin & Marshall College with a B.A. in economics and French.

Caroline Viener graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a B.S. in human and organizational development and psychology and a minor in business with honors in Peabody College. She is currently at EY in the People Advisory Service practice in the New York City Office.

Adam Spector is an associate with JLL, a real estate company based out of Chicago, IL. Liam Bardong joined Charles Schwab in 2020 and was recently named software developer II. Scott Kriesberg is a software engineer at Two Sigma.

2017

Kaitlyn Hardy hardykaitlyn7@gmail.com Mishie Macy mishie_macy@icloud.com Reed Mullen reedmullen1@gmail.com Elizabeth Panacciulli efp1298@gmail.com

Alex Sutherland is a risk consulting intern at Mazars US. He graduated from Bentley University with a B.S. in accounting and from Bucknell University with a bachelor’s in economics.

Erik Zetterstrom is an investment analyst with Cambridge Associates, a global investment firm serving endowments and foundations, pensions, private clients, and healthcare systems. Erik led the Men’s Varsity Golf team at Amherst College where he graduated with a degree in

Fall 2023

87

Class Notes

2019-2023... economics.

2019

Margaux Blau margauxxblau@gmail.com Olivia Lizza olivializza123@gmail.com

2020

Billy Duke billy_duke@fa.org Brianna Taylor is majoring in political science and minoring in law and society at The George Washington University. At GW, she joined the College Democrats, the Black Student Union, and the March For Our Lives GW chapter. Brianna also interned with New York Assemblywoman Taylor Darling and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer. In August 2022, she completed a nine-month internship with the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama, focusing on civic engagement. In May 2022, she was selected as an Alpha Kappa Alpha Leadership Fellow. She currently serves as the co-director for the March For Our Lives GW chapter and as the president of the Mu Delta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Liam Jachetta is a software engineer intern at Capital One. He is the Varsity Men’s Golf captain at Bowdoin College, where he is completing his double major in computer science and history.

Alex Carden accepted an offer to join RXR as a summer analyst with their Fund Portfolio Management team in NYC. He completed the Villanova School of Business Summer Business Institute program in 2021 and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics, real estate, and business.

William Durban is a rising senior at the University of Southern California, working toward his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. Will is a U.S. Navy midshipman and working toward a commission in the Navy as an Officer after graduation.

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Brianna with President Obama and Michelle Obama.

Savannah Mahmud has multiple research projects concerning health inequality on the basis of gender and race in the United States up for publication under the advisory of Dr. Jameta Nicole Barlow.

Emma Goldblatt was a member of the first all-freshman winning team of Olin’s BIG IdeaBounce® competition at Washington University in St. Louis.

The competition is a 2-minute-video elevator pitch contest open to all WashU students.

Will is a current battalion commander.

2021

Jordyn Cagner jdc4266@gmail.com Carleigh Zelman carleighf@gmail.com

2022

Kennedy Daal kennedydaal09@gmail.com Erica Schwartz eschwar@bu.edu Josh Sukoff jsukoff@icloud.com

Ethan Labelson is currently working as an intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Riley Lima was recently awarded the Eco-Equity Challenge Grant from George Washington University. Funds provided by the grant will be used to reduce medical waste by redirecting excess medical supplies from the GW Medical Faculty Associates and GW’s Office of Clinical Research to the GW Healing Clinic and Unity Health Care Clinics to help facilitate their Riley is a Presidential efforts providing Scholar at GWU. free healthcare to

underserved and uninsured patients in D.C. during the 2023-2024 academic year.

Angelina Miller returned to FA to sing “Beautiful” at the induction of Friends Academy’s 25th Head of School, Paul J. Stellato. She is currently studying Theater at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

In August, Angelina performed in a Long Island regional production of Alice By Heart. One of their promotional videos soared past 10 million views and caught the attention of the show’s original Broadway director/creator, Steven Sater, who Zoomed with the cast in anticipation of opening night.

Angelina performing “Beautiful” at FA’s Convocation and induction of its 25th Head of School, Paul J. Stellato.

2023

Emma Daniels emmamd61@gmail.com Logan Mott lpmott27@g.holycross.edu Malachi Polson malachipolson@icloud.com Serena Saad saadserena66@gmail.com View the Alumni Parent/Class of 2023 graduation photo on Page 31.

The Distinguished Alumni Award Each year, Friends Academy presents the Distinguished Alumni Award to an alumnus who exhibits a deep-seated commitment to community outreach, social justice, environmentalism, local and global peace, and/or service to Friends Academy. These distinguished alumni serve as role models for us all! Please consider nominating a fellow alum for this honor by submitting their name to the Alumni Office at alumni@fa.org or by calling 516-465-1796.

Recent Recipients 2023: David Seeler ’59 A former trustee on the Friends Academy Board, David Seeler is the owner of The Bayberry Landscaping. He credits the FA community as one that saw him through some of his most challenging moments, including daily frustrations because of undiagnosed dyslexia.

2022: Aisha Palmer Mix ’91 As Rear Admiral, one of the highest-ranking U.S. Public Health Service officers in the nation, Aisha advises the Surgeon General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

2021: Andy Menzin ’81 A lifelong champion for Friends Academy, Andy serves on the Friends Academy Board of Trustees and has over 32 years of experience in the medical field, currently serving as the Chief of Gynecologic Oncology, Central Region, at Northwell Health.

2020: Peter Stein ’79 A longtime leader of FA alumni as president of the Alumni Board, Peter travels yearly to perform volunteer surgeries in underserved communities.

2019: Michele Pistone ’82 With a life dedicated to service, Michele discovered a new area of law that led to a life of compassion and action for refugee rights.

2018: Bill Wicker ’67 An avid athlete throughout his Friends career, Bill credits the coaching wisdom he received at FA central to changing the course of his life.

Fall 2023

89

In Memoriam

In honor of those we lost this year...

Carl Ullrich ’45

C

arl passed away on May 9, 2023, in Virginia Beach, VA. He was 94. After graduating FA in 1945, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving aboard a landing ship tank (LST) in the Pacific theater. Upon his discharge in 1946, he enrolled at Cornell University, where his father and his brother Robert had attended before him. While there, Ullrich enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, where he received officer training in Quantico, VA, as part of the 5th Special Basic Class and was then commissioned as a second lieutenant and received orders to Korea. Upon return, he took a teaching position at his alma mater, Friends Academy, where he met Rebecca Eves. The two were married on June 12, 1953, and would go on to have five children. Ullrich was a lifelong college coach and administrator who shaped generations of scholar-athletes and future military officers. He was also the first civilian director of athletics at the United States Military Academy and served as president of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

Ullrich is a member of the Army Sports Hall of Fame, the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian College Hall of Fame, and the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) Hall of Fame.

Francoise Rougny Woodard ’46

F

rancoise Woodard of Boston, MA, passed away on June 7, 2023, at the age of 94.

After graduating from Friends Academy, she went on to Hood College in Frederick, MD. She worked for the government before staying home to raise four children primarily in Washington, D.C. Francoise was predeceased by her husband, Selwyn Clark Woodard, of 48 years. She will be lovingly

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law, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, and friends.

remembered by her daughters, Lise Woodard, Kimberley Woodard, Kathryn Woodard, and Chris Wolfman, as well as sons-in-

Juliet Rodd Boobbyer ’48

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uliet died on January 24, 2023, in Kington, Herefordshire, England, at the age of 92. She was the second of four daughters of explorer and banker Francis Rodd, who was from 1941 the Lord Rennell of Rodd and head of the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT). Her family evacuated England in 1940 when the sisters enrolled in Friends Academy.

Juliet went on to Westonbirt School in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and dedicated years to counter the threat of military rearmament posed by Hitler. The work took her to many countries, including back to the U.S., where she married her co-worker, the former England rugby international player Brian Boobbyer, in 1957. The couple spent some years in Asia, particularly in India where they worked closely with Rajmohan Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. In Japan and the Philippines, their major focus was on peacebuilding between the former enemies.

She is survived by her two sons, Philip, a historian at the University of Kent, and Mark, warden of St. Columba’s College, Dublin, and by five grandchildren.

Linda Bowden Laux ’49

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inda passed away on December 13, 2022, in Chevy Chase, MD, at the age of 90. Born in New York City, she attended Friends Academy, earned a B.A. in English from Bryn Mawr College in 1953, and continued her graduate studies in writing and publishing at George Washington University.

Inspired and guided by her Catholic faith and Quaker education, Linda lived the shared values of those teachings: compassion toward others, good works, dedication to scholarship, inquiry, honesty, and spirituality.

Linda served as a social worker before joining Mademoiselle magazine and later Poetry magazine. After marrying David N. Laux Jr., an American diplomat, she studied Chinese and moved to Cambodia, where she taught English and geography and gave birth to her first of three daughters.

The family lived in Paris and ultimately settled in Maryland. Linda was preceded in death by her sisters, including Emily Bowden ‘53, and her daughter Sally Laux Murphy. She is survived by her sister Beth Bowden, her daughters, her sons-inlaw, and her grandchildren, Madeleine, John, Natalie, Alex, Isabella, and Nick.

Peter Van Etten Millham ’50

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eter passed away on July 1, 2023, in Laconia, NH. He was 90 years old.

Peter was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in Locust Valley on Long Island. After FA, he then followed a long family tradition attending St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, where he majored in history, government, and football. At St. Lawrence he established friendships that lasted his lifetime, and most importantly, he met Alida Isham, the love of his life, with whom he enjoyed 66 years of marriage. After serving in the army, Peter attended Columbia University School of Law in New York. In 1959, Peter and Alida moved to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Peter and Alida eventually landed in Gilford where they raised their three children and devoted 64 years to supporting the community as a volunteer and attorney. He served as moderator for the Town of Gilford for 40 years and held numerous leadership positions with the Red Cross, Gunstock Commission, Laconia Rotary Club, Winnipesaukee Yacht Club, and the Lakes Region Charitable Foundation where he was a founding member. Peter is survived by his wife, Alida Isham Millham; his son, Fred; and his two daughters, Sarah Millham and Anne Millham.

In Memoriam, continued on Page 92

The 1876 Society

Support Friends Academy through a Planned Gift

A

well-planned gift sustains your generosity after your lifetime and makes a powerful statement about the legacy you wish to leave. Planned gifts can also be a tax-efficient way to achieve financial and estate planning goals while supporting Friends Academy into the future.

For more information on planned giving, please contact Kevin Barry, Director of Advancement, at 516-393-4269 or kevin_barry@fa.org.

In Memoriam

Donn M. Sullivan ’52

D

onn passed away on March 24, 2023, at the age of 88. He was born in Brooklyn, NY, which developed his love of baseball and the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1954, he joined the U.S. Navy during the Korean conflict and traveled the world on the USNS Geiger.

He was a proud veteran who loved his country.

Upon retirement from the U.S. Post Office, he pursued the arts and exhibited his award-winning watercolor landscapes in many local art shows. He also enjoyed traveling and fishing. Donn was predeceased by his wife, Mary (Kiki), in 2006 and is survived by his two children, Kate and Mike.

Edward K. Dey ’54

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d died on November 2, 2022, in Paris, France, at the age of 85. After FA, Ed attended Princeton University where he sang with the glee club, played tennis and basketball, and was a member of the International Affairs Club.

Ed earned a master’s degree from University of Michigan and entered the foreign service in Washington, West Africa, and Paris, and ultimately became a banker working for the USAID and the World Bank. He met his wife, Odile Alquier, in Paris and married in 1972. Ed had an affinity for golf after both his parents had long, award-winning careers and held several leadership roles within the sport. His mother was the chair of the Women’s Committee of the U.S. Golf Association, and his father was the executive director of the U.S. Golf Association and went on to serve as the first commissioner of the PGA Tour. Ed is survived by his wife, Odile, and their daughter, Alix.

Sheridan G. Snyder ’54

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heridan “Sherry” Snyder passed away on December 12, 2022, in West Palm Beach, FL, at the age of 86. He then attended The University of Virginia after FA and

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graduated in 1958 with a degree in French and Romance languages. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and played on the varsity tennis and soccer teams.

His love of tennis extended well beyond his college years; he served as an ambassador of the sport as cofounder of the National Junior Tennis League (NJTL) in 1969 alongside Arthur Ashe and Charlie Pasarell. Sherry led the Nassau Invitational Tennis Tournament at the Nassau Country Club in Long Island and served as the vice chairman of the US Open Tennis Tournament held at the Westside Tennis Club in NY in 1968 and 1969. In 2016, Sherry received the Samuel Hardy Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame in recognition of long and outstanding service at the national level.

He also received the Serving Up Dreams Award in 2019 for his dedication to advancing the USTA Foundation mission and NJTL network. Professionally, Sherry’s influence in biotechnology spanned over 40 years, starting with the founding of Genzyme Corporation in 1981 in Boston, MA. As chairman and chief executive of Upstate Biotechnology, Sherry established research collaborations and commercial partnerships between the United States and the United Kingdom. He received honors for his leadership and influence within the UK biotechnology space, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Dundee and the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005 by HM Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the British government.

Sherry is survived by three children, five grandchildren, and a great grandson.

Owen T. Smith ’55

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wen died on April 11, 2023, in Roslyn Harbor, NY. He was 85. He was an accomplished attorney, global scholar, and restaurateur who once owned the George Washington Manor in Roslyn and the Milleridge Inn, the largest restaurant in New York State. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and St. John’s University School of Law, Owen spent much of his professional life as an attorney and in electoral politics, working closely with longtime New York Congressman

Leonard Hall. This eventually led to his service as the deputy county executive of Nassau County, NY, and chairman of the New York State Board of Elections and of the Nassau County Planning Board. Owen’s experience in academia included serving as vice chairman of Molloy College and as the chairman of the Finance Department at Long Island University Post. He also led the Center for Family Business as a professor of law, economics, and government.

He was involved with several nonprofit organizations, including Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Reagan Ranch Board of the Young America’s Foundation, Christendom College, his local parish, and the Irish seminary in Maynooth. Owen was chairman of The Institute of World Politics, a graduate school of international affairs and national security, in Washington, DC, and served as emeritus chairman in recent years. He is survived by Bernadette Casey Smith, his wife of 37 years.

Morely Smith ’56 and Elizabeth Anne Wauchope Smith ’56

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orely and Anne married after their time at FA in 1960 and had two girls and two boys. The family lived in Beaconsfield, Montreal, Quebec, for more than 50 years, sharing their love of travel and sailing. When not seeking adventures in Africa, they were active members of the New York Yacht Club and The Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club where together they won the Lord Strathcona Cup in 1972.

Shortly thereafter, they purchased a 128acre farm in the Eastern Townships and became dedicated farmers. Morely passed on March 3, 2022, with his wife of 62 years following four days later on March 7. They are survived by their children, including Mark Smith ’82 and seven grandchildren.

John C. Finn ’57

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ohn passed away on March 26, 2023, in St. Augustine, FL, at the age of 84. Having grown up on Long Island, John attended Friends Academy with his brother Terence Finn ’60, who passed away in 2014. John captained the football team during their undefeated 1956 season and went on to Colgate University. He married his wife, Marianne, in 1962 and had a successful career in the financial services industry, retiring as a regional vice president from Aetna Retirement Services.

After retirement, he found a love of running, which resulted in seven marathons, 25 half-marathons, 25 Peachtree Road Races, and 250 road races. Since 1968, he ran over 60,000 miles. He is survived by Marianne, his cherished wife of 60 years, and his beloved children, Heather, Lauren, and Leo.

Carol Gerdts Ressi di Cervia ’59

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arol passed away on October 22, 2022, in Palo Alto, CA, at the age of 81. After FA, she attended Bennett Junior College where she discovered singing, a lifelong passion of hers that led her to Julliard, where she became a gifted and prominent soprano. After marrying Arturo Ressi di Cervia in 1968 in Italy and raising two sons, Carol went back to school and earned her master’s degree in social work at Marymount Manhattan College.

She went on to work with women as a drug and alcohol counselor, and later went into private practice. Carol is survived by her sons, Adeo and Alex, and their families.

James W. Sykes ’59

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ames died on March 25, 2023. Born on Long Island, Jimmy attended Friends Academy and graduated from Williams College in 1963 where he played football.

For over 40 years, he was an investment portfolio manager, beginning at Shields & Company and retiring from Halcyon Capital Management. He was a lifelong competitive

sailor having won numerous championships on Long Island Sound, including two Shields Nationals, and was featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” at age 17. Jimmy is survived by his three children and several grandchildren.

Park Benjamin III ’61

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ark passed away on September 16, 2023, at the age of 79. After FA, Park attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT, in 1965. After serving in the United States Coast Guard, he embarked on a career in investment banking at Lazard Freres, while simultaneously earning an MBA from New York University. He subsequently moved on to municipal finance banking roles at Manufacturers Hanover, Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank.

Park developed a love for sailing at a young age as his father, Park Jr, cofounded the Oyster Bay Yacht Service and his mother, Beatrix, was an accomplished yachtswoman who encouraged her four sons to sail at an early age. Park was an influential member of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay and rose to the rank of Commodore in 19891991. He was also a member of the New York Yacht Club and served as an officer of the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound, most recently as secretary.

He was the beloved husband of Linda Rae and a loving father of Park and John (Jay).

Frederick P. Schulz ’62

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ete passed away on August 8, 2023, in New Bern, NC. He grew up along the banks of the Great South Bay and developed a love for sailing at a very early age, first on small boats, and later in life, on his beloved sailboat. He met the love of his life, Geranne Euler Schwarzenbach ’62, at Friends Academy in Locust Valley, and they were married for

over 50 years. Pete and Gerry lived their lives on Long Island until retiring to New Bern, NC, in 2001. He loved saltwater, the opera, shows produced by Craven concerts, and playing racquetball with his friends. He was an active member of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church and the New Bern Yacht Club. Pete is survived by his wife, Gerry, and daughter, Nancy Preston.

Barbara Shoen Brundige ’63

B

arbara Jo passed away on February 9, 2023, in Lattingtown, NY, after a long battle with cancer. Known as BJ to her friends, after FA, she attended Skidmore College and earned her master’s degree from Hofstra University. In 1968, she married her college sweetheart, James (Jim) Brundige, and in 1972 purchased North Shore Day School from her mother.

After owning and operating the school until 1988, she embarked on a successful career in real estate on Long Island until her retirement in 2020. BJ served as a loyal and active volunteer at FA as a member of the Alumni Association, class fundraising agent, and class representative organizing reunions and other activities including the Gideon’s Guard Luncheon during Fall Fair.

Barbara is survived by Jim, her husband of 54 years, and her four loving sons, including Jonathan Brundige ’90, and their wives.

Jane Johnston McCabe ’63

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anie passed away in Ludlow, England.

Jane had a full and accomplished life.

She received her B.A. from Middlebury College, her M.A. from Columbia University, and her Ph.D. from Tufts University. She taught English in Hawaii, Cambridge (at Harvard), and London. She was married to her great love, Prof. Bernard McCabe. They initially lived in Cambridge, where she helped raise his many children, and eventually moved to England.

In Memoriam, continued on Page 94

Fall 2023

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In Memoriam

Patricia Burrows ’64

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atty Burrow passed away on August 14, 2023, at her home in Weston, CT, at the age of 76. She attended Bennington College where she graduated in 1968 with degrees in psychology and anthropology.

She went on to New York University to obtain her LCSW in psychiatric social work in 1971. A psychotherapist for more than 50 years, Patty was a pillar of numerous communities through her work to find long-term solutions for the epidemic of bullying, especially in schools, after-school programs and summer camps.

She is survived by her husband of over 50 years, Milt, and children Jordan Matthew Wolfson, Jessica Sara Wolfson, Jody Wolfson Emmet, and Tracy Rose Wolfson.

Linda Kaye Sussman ’66

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inda passed on September 24, 2022. As a child, Linda was an accomplished pianist, athlete (tennis, basketball, softball), and an honor roll student. After FA, Linda attended Duke University on scholarship, where she originally pursued a degree in mathematics but quickly changed her major to sociology. She graduated from Duke in 1972 with her B.A. While in attendance, Linda met her late husband, Robert (Bob) Wald Sussman, and they were married on January 22, 1972.

After graduating from Duke, Linda and Bob moved to New Jersey for two years prior to settling down in St. Louis, MO. Linda pursued her doctorate in sociology from Washington University in St. Louis where she graduated with her Ph.D. in 1983. Her work was published in medical journals, including the Journal of Asthma and The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology; in interdisciplinary journals, including Social Science & Medicine, Medical Anthropology, the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Ethnicity and Disease, and The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease; and in anthropological journals, including Human Ecology and the American Journal of Physical Anthropology when co-authored with her husband. Linda

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served as associate editor of the American Anthropologist journal. Her fieldwork was conducted in Madagascar, Mauritius, and the United States. Linda and Bob were married for 44 years, prior to her husband’s death in 2016. They had two daughters, Katya Jeanne Sussman-Dawson and Diana Wald Sussman.

Craig Kronman ’71

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raig died on October 20, 2022, in Orinda, CA. Craig attended Bowdoin College and Stanford University. He received his law degree from University of California, Davis.

Craig had a robust practice as a noted probate and tax attorney in San Francisco. Craig and his wife, Anna Lisa, recently celebrated 20 joyful years of marriage with a tour of the Pacific Northwest, including favorite spots in Mendocino and Oregon.

Sailing was a lifetime passion for Craig, often taking friends out on the San Francisco Bay, and he was a lifelong Christian Scientist. His legacy continues with full bookshelves, blooming gardens, hearts full of memories, and the example of a life well lived.

Patricia Ann Brink ’72

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rish died at her home in Southbury, CT, on July 7, 2023. After graduating from the University of Utah with degrees in communications and political science, she began her career with a six-year tenure as a reporter and editor for the Salt Lake Tribune.

Her knowledge of the political landscape and vast reporting skills brought her to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C., where she worked with members of Congress from Utah and Texas.

Over the course of 12 years, she worked with some of the most influential politicians before she became the director of media relations at Connecticut College in 1996. The move to Connecticut allowed her to care for her aging parents and to enjoy her passion for sailing, hiking, and travel. Trish generously gave of her time as chairman of the Sasha Bruce Youthwork

Committee for the Junior League of Washington, D.C., which supported runaway and troubled youth. She also volunteered at the Bent of the River Audubon Center in Southbury, CT, where she helped maintain the butterfly and bird garden after earning her Master Gardener certificate from the University of Connecticut. In addition, she worked as a moderator and poll worker at the Southbury Registrar of Voters office.

Trish is predeceased by her parents and is survived by her four siblings, Nancy Ann Taylor, Glenn Hamilton, Christopher Barrett, and Elizabeth Ann McMahon.

David A. Sommer ’85

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avid passed away Friday, November 25, 2022, at his home in Key Biscayne, FL. He was 55 years old. David received a B.A. in history from Colgate University where he played baseball and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University. After a brief stint with the New York Mets, David began his career of 25+ years in financial services. David served as the head of Middle Market Lending at Goldman Sachs, where he was known as a compassionate leader and mentor.

David is survived by his wife, Denise, and two children, Gabriela and Nicolas.

Dorf Kaffl

Former Lower School Teacher

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ormer Friends Academy colleague Dorothy-Ann “Dorf” Kaffl passed away on April 10, 2023, at the age of 75. Dorf taught in the Lower School as an Early Childhood teacher for 14 years before moving on in 2011. She brought unique gifts into the program while being a creative and child-loving teacher. After leaving FA, Dorf continued to serve as a tutor for early childhood education.

Dorf was the beloved wife of the late George J. Loving and the mother of Kevin, Robert, and Scott. She was the cherished grandmother of Caitrin, Peyton, Aidan, Callan, Jack, Tyler, and Madison, and the dear sister of Tim Linehan and the late Patrick Linehan.

ALUMNI, Joan Kennedy Britt

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Former Faculty

ormer Friends Academy colleague Joan Kennedy Britt died peacefully on October 13 in East Greenwich, RI. Born in 1929 and raised in Great Neck, NY, Joan loved all that Long Island and New York City had to offer. She graduated from Great Neck High School and attended Southern Seminary Junior College in Virginia before meeting and marrying Joseph E. Britt of Sea Cliff, NY. Joan and Joe made their home in East Northport, NY, and raised four children together. Joan believed deeply in volunteering and gave her time and talent to the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind of Smithtown, NY for more than 20 years.

Volunteering began on a large Braille machine, translating books for the visually impaired. Joan served on the Board of Directors and she and her family were “puppy walkers,” starting in the early 1970s, raising more than 15 dogs who became guides for the visually impaired.

While often quiet and shy, Joan was a fierce and dedicated advocate for people, animals, and causes she believed in. Joan began her career in the NYC publishing world in the 1950s and rejoined the workforce once her children were grown. Joan’s most satisfying role was with Friends Academy where she worked for nearly 20 years before retiring in 1999. Joan loved the community and spirit of Friends and made lifelong friendships there.

While working at Friends, Joan fulfilled her long-held dream of completing her education and went back to school for her B.A. at CW Post College when she was in her 60s.

Dawn Lewis

Former Faculty Spouse

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ormer Upper School Head, Football and Lacrosse Coach Dexter Lewis (1966-72) shared that he recently lost his wife, Dawn. He writes, “Friends was my start in education, and we have wonderful memories of that time in our lives.”

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During their first Diagnosis Challenge, our student teams used analytical skills and deep research, to correctly diagnose patients at the Cleveland Clinic.

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Brooke Juhel ‘16 and Stephen Popoola ‘18 recently matriculated to Hofstra Zucker School of Medicine