The Meeting House, Spring 2010

The Friends Academy Magazine for Alumni, Parents & Friends

The Meeting House Spring 2010

The Class of 2010 celebrates the 124th Friends Academy Commencement.

Inside: a profile of 2010 Distinguished Alumna Susan Stein Danoff '60.

Friends Academy Board of Trustees, 2009-2010 Co-Presidents Thomas Hawkins ‘78 Scott Rechler Vice President Doris Pailet

Founded 1876

The Friends Academy Mission Founded in 1876 by Gideon Frost for “the children of Friends and those similarly sentimented,” Friends Academy is a Quaker, coeducational, independent, college preparatory school serving 750 students from age three through twelfth grade.

The school’s philosophy is based on the Quaker principles of integrity, simplicity, patience, moderation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and a

Treasurer Francis Ingrassia Secretary Nancy Tilton Board Members Carl Ashkin Cynthia Boults Debra Del Vecchio John R. Gambling ‘69 Albert Granger Elizabeth McCaul Ingrassia Susan Karches Victoria Quesada Moore Brian Mullaney

belief that the silence and simple ministry of the “gathered meeting” brings the presence of God into the midst of busy lives. Friends Academy is committed to developing a diverse community whose members value excellence in learning and growth in

Honorary Trustee John W. Oelsner Head of School William G. Morris Jr.

knowledge and skill, a genuine commitment to service and ethical action, and a realization that every life is to be explored, celebrated, and enjoyed in the spirit of the Religious Society of Friends.

The Meeting House Editorial Board, 2009-2010 Alex Edwards-Bourdrez Amanda Fisk '99 Hayley Kucich ‘03 Penelope Wylie Mayer ‘75 Andrea Miller Carl Pozzi Jennifer Ryan Woods '99

Friends Academy Alumni Association, 2009-2010 President Peter Stein ’79 Vice President Penelope Wylie Mayer ‘75 Secretary Pamela Foschi Danbusky ‘97 Alumni Board Members Park Benjamin III ‘61 Barbara Shoen Brundige ‘63 Thomas Hawkins ‘78 Elisabeth Dillof Dreizen ‘78 Lydia Fichera ‘84 Kathryn Hawkins Schneider ‘86 Salwa Touma ‘01 President Emeritus James R. Greene ‘74

The Meeting House | Fall 2009

Alumni Office Assistant Development Director for Alumni Relations & Giving Alex Edwards-Bourdrez

From the Head of School William G. Morris Jr. Friends, t is with profound gratitude and admiration we report that in January 2010 Kathryn "Fuffy" Abbe stepped down from the editorial board of The Meeting House magazine. Her fine eye, careful attention, graceful presence and wise insight has helped shape and reflect the vision of Friends Academy since 1971.

Kathryn's camera captured many interesting angles of school life, which enhanced the magazine's pages. Her deep understanding of the culture of Friends – both the school and the Quaker tradition – contributed to the content in so many ways.

Kathryn also served on the Friends Academy Board of Trustees for more than 20 years until 1993. She was intimately involved in the school as a parent: Her three children, Tom '67, Lucinda '68 and Eli Kathryn "Fuffy" Abbe '70 are graduates. She joined the Society of Friends in Jericho in 1957, and is still an active member.

Lee Peters, editor of The Meeting House for almost 25 years, until her retirement in 2008, fondly

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recalled her experience working with Kathryn: "Fuffy's dedication to Friends has always been unwavering. She has an innate understanding of what it means to be a Quaker school, and of Friends Academy's mission. Her stunning photographs will forever detail a portion of Friends' history. She knew the alumni and how best to capture their interest. To me and many others, she was a friend and teacher, and Friends Academy was extremely lucky to have such an extraordinary woman vested in its best interests."

Kathryn Abbe believes she can make a difference in the life of Friends Academy and the surrounding community, and she has.

The other stories in this issue underscore how students, faculty and alumni/ae strengthen their communities through service and recognizing the Light in all people. Their individual moral agency, acting while knowing right from wrong, lifts the human spirit and produces positive change in the world. Let us all resist the deterministic view that our lives are shaped by historical and cultural forces beyond our control and embrace the belief that individually and together we can shape the future in the service of all people.

From The Archives: 1881 – 1st Graduating Class

courtesy of friends academy archives

Friends Academy opened its doors in 1877 with an enrollment of 28 day and boarding students. The weekly fee was 50 cents or $5 per 10-week term.

Here is a photograph of several members of that first class with Friends' first headmaster Edwin Hallock and some faculty, shortly before graduation day in 1881.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

By Iyatunde Majekodunmi '10 Self-portrait from the 2009-10 issue of Gnosis

"...intuitive knowledge of spiritual truths" – Gnosis

inside Vol. 46, No. 3

Around the Quad. 4 Lower School grand opening celebration MS Walk-a-thon raises funds for local cause First nationally ranked FA Chess Festival Lower School class projects link academics, theater 2009-10 Fahey Award Recipient: Herb Lape All-division Community Service days Fourth Day Honors and 124th Commencement Lower School Enrichment Program blooms

Friends Academy Auction. 11 The Arts. 12 MS Arts Week: An exploration of hands-on experiences MS Play: Students, teachers swept up in emotional, personal performance FA community exhibition captures history, artifacts, personal stories

Feature Story. 14 2010 Distinguished Alumna Susan Stein Danoff '60 An Inner-City Family Court Judge with a Heart and Mind Continually Open to Service

Sports: Go FA! 18 From Long Island championships to first-ever national titles to sportsmanship awards, personal records and honors, the spring season was marked by determination and Friends Academy teamwork.

Faculty Milestones. 27 Alumni Profiles. 30 Heather Vuillet Lende '77: A Life of Community Engagement Michael Grunwald '88: Digging Deeper to Change the National Conversation

Class Notes. 34 We Remember... 52

The Meeting House Staff Editor Andrea Miller, Director of Communications and Marketing 516.393.4295 | andrea_miller@fa.org Writers Alex Edwards-Bourdrez, Andrea Miller, Jennifer Ryan Woods '99 Photographers Michael Damm, Polly Duke, Alex Edwards-Bourdrez, Amanda Fisk, Daniel Goodrich, Kathy Kmonicek

on the cover

A SEA OF RED AND BLACK. Eighty-nine seniors from the Class of 2010 wait to receive their diplomas on Saturday, June 12 at the Friends Academy 124th Commencement.

Amanda Fisk/Friends Academy

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Around the Quad Re-Opening of the Lower School

Grand Opening More than 100 parents, grandparents, alumni and former faculty join Lower School students to celebrate after 6-month renovation MIKE DAMM/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Middle Schoolers Tolulope Ojo, Simisola Akinola, Dana Kaplan and Iman Fisher put in the laps during the annual MS Walk-a-thon.

MS Walk-a-thon raises funds for local cause

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ith roughly a month to go before the end of school, Middle School students embarked upon their annual walk-a-thon.

This year, students raised nearly $20,000 for the Starlight Children's Foundation. "We also collected toiletries for the Glen Cove Men's Shelter, along with purchasing and donating 40 new sleeping mats," said Middle School science teacher Melissa Scott.

FA Chess Festival draws nearly 100 competitors

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his past March, Friends Academy hosted its first-ever nationally rated chess tournament on campus.

Nearly 100 students and their parents from all over Long Island and from out-of-state participated in the K-12 tournament.

Between the four nationally ranked rounds of chess, kids also played with the life-sized chess set outside on the lawn and played Frisbee and soccer. Parents enjoyed the free espresso and mingled inside the field house and outside in the sun.

The festival was a precursor to the Interschool Exchange chess tournament that Friends hosted on April 9.

AMANDA FISK/friends academy

Lower School music teacher Sara Alt leads the entire Lower School student body in song.

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n Monday, May 17th, under clear blue skies, Friends Academy celebrated the grand opening of its newly renovated Lower School. Enthusiastic students dressed in red and black from grades Play Group (age 3) to fifth grade gathered in front of the bright white archway of the Lower School entrance with their parents and grandparents encircling them. The students started the ceremony with an all-school chorus of “Simple Gifts.”

Alumni, former faculty and more, joined parents to listen to Head of School Bill Morris’ remarks. “We now have one of the finest Lower School teaching spaces in the region, to complement our exceptional faculty and program.” Completed in a little over six months, Friends Academy upgraded every classroom and area of the Lower School building, created a cutting edge science lab and placed state-of-the-art interactive SmartBoards in each classroom. “While this building has served us well, our new facility is designed for

today’s students, educational philosophies and technologies,” said Morris.

In addition to Morris, Lower School Principal Deborah McCrimmon, former Lower School teacher Doris Pailet and Debra Del Vecchio, current Board of Trustees member and Lower School parent (who was also Lower School Parent Council Vice President), thanked all of the members of the community who had made the renovation possible.

Following a rousing ribbon cutting, guests were treated to a final musical selection from the students, as they sang “Day of Peace.” Student violinists, cellists, trumpeters and percussionists accompanied the soulful voices.

Inside the lobby guests enjoyed cake and coffee as imagery of the Lower School surrounded them, from a digital slideshow of current students to archival photos to original artwork and sculptures.

The completed front entrance of the Lower School.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Around the Quad

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Class Projects Link Theater, Academics

AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Eighth grader Harrison Mullen competes in the long jump event at Middle School Field Day.

1, 2, 3 ... JUMP! Get ready for MS Field Day!

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here else can you find everything from the three-legged race to 75-yard dash to the Water Balloon Toss to ... solving logic problems?

Yes, you heard that right. During the annual Middle School Field Day on June 9, sixth, seventh and eighth graders competed in a plethora of fun-inducing activities guaranteed to work out the body and the brain.

Classics such as the Potato Sack Relay, Frisbee Golf and the 600m Relay coupled with events that tested students' mental and artistic capacities as well, like "Acting out a given line" and a scavenger hunt.

"MS Field Day is a special event that involves cooperation and teamwork across all three grades and helps foster a sense of camaraderie," said Assistant Director of Athletics Al Quackenbush.

MIKE DAMM, AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEM

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Top: Fourth graders perform in the 4th Grade Immigration Project, a theater and social studies combined unit. Students researched and wrote their family stories and met with the advanced acting class nearly a dozen times to learn gestures, blocking and how to give vocal inflection. During their performance, students introduced ancestors from Ireland, Italy, Romania, Scotland, Soviet Union, China, Israel, Ethiopia and more. Middle: Third grader Jaedon Rooney portrays Daniel Boone during the People of Accomplishment presentation. Third graders researched a historical celebrity, and literally became that person, able to answer almost any question about their life.

Bottom: Second graders perform Reader's Theater as they put their literacy skills on stage for parents and family.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

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Around the Quad 2009-10 Fahey Award for Master Teaching: Herb Lape

AMANDA FISK photos/friends academy

History teacher Herb Lape is known for his lively ability to peel fascinating slivers of stories from big-picture history lessons.

Teacher, storyteller...and more From an internal Quaker audit to teaching faculty how to clerk, Herb Lape works to strengthen Quaker underpinnings of Friends

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By Jennifer Ryan Woods '99

ach year, the Fahey Award for Master Teaching is bestowed upon a Friends Academy faculty member who has distinguished him/herself through his/her contributions both in the classroom and beyond.

To be eligible, this faculty member must have served the FA community for a minimum of seven years, having inspired students through passion for and effectiveness in teaching, as well as demonstrated a depth of character that reflects the school’s values and serves as a model for the community.

The recipient of the award, which is accompanied by a stipend, agrees to design and implement a program, academic or otherwise, that enhances the life of the school.

During the 2009-2010 school year, Herb Lape, a long-standing pillar of the FA community, was the recipient of this prestigious honor.

This past school year, as the Fahey Award

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

winner, he applied his wisdom and talents toward working with faculty to conduct meetings according to Quaker practices. He led a program to train interested faculty in clerking (leading consensus-building discussions), and he facilitated discussions among the teachers about Quaker processes. He also worked with administrators to set appropriate agendas for divisional faculty meetings, in light of the clerking role assumed by teachers.

According to Dean of Faculty Mary Alice Kolodner, Herb is always looking to push students into crucial areas of critical thinking.

“Herb does a great job with his history students, challenging them to think, analyze, develop and support their opinions based on factual information. As part of the department initiative, he has continued to help his students develop persuasive writing skills and incorporates current events into his lessons,” said Kolodner.

Herb’s impact in and out of the classroom was felt from his first day on the Friends faculty in

Around the Quad 1983. His passion for innovating and enhancing programs that get students to roll their sleeves up, and that create meaningful leadership opportunities, led to the establishment of such staples of school life as W.A.T.C.H. (We Are The Community Helpers), the studentrun community service leadership group, as well as the required tenth-grade YSOP (Youth Service Opportunity Project) overnight trip to service the homeless in New York City. (Friends was the first school that the Quaker-related YSOP partnered with to create educational programs, and the organization’s leaders credit Herb as the innovator of the concept.)

In addition, he expanded the fledgling Community Service Program by adding enough weekly off-campus service opportunities for every Upper School student.

Under Herb’s leadership, the Community Service Program has been recognized by Newsday, the Council of Spiritual and Ethical Education (formerly called the Council on Religion in Independent Schools), and the New York State Association of Independent Schools. When he started at Friends, Herb went to work to build the just-established TASQUE committee (Teachers And Students for Quaker Education) into an influential group of students and faculty in all three divisions who innovate ways of deepening consciousness about Quaker tenets. Herb has also been engaged in school-wide committees that focus on the quality of spiritual and ethical life at Friends, such as PASAP (Peace and Social Action Plan), the Quaker Life Committee, and the Faculty Voice Committee.

In the classroom, Herb has been a mainstay in the history department during his entire tenure on the faculty. He has taught AP European History and AP Government, in addition to every Upper School level of American and world history. He started the required 10th grade Community Service course, now called Poverty and Homelessness, that culminates with the YSOP

History teacher Herb Lape aboard his favorite mode of transport.

trip. He has also chaired the Religion department, teaching ninth-grade Quakerism and twelfth-grade Judeo-Christian Tradition.

Herb says much of his success as a classroom has been due to his penchant for storytelling, which allows him to expose history in a simple and understandable way. “What students enjoy about my classes is that I’m able to explain the big picture of history…the big movements that shape peoples lives and relate it to the present,” Herb says.

Herb adds that loving what he does also adds to the enthusiasm – both his own and his students’. “I love teaching. I love history. I think it really helps students get a sense about human nature. I think it helps them understand the conflicts that we have,” he says, adding that whether it’s an economic conflict or a political one,

Third grade teacher Lillian Shulman plans to use her opportunity to support the children in the Friends comunity who have learning and academic needs.

2010-11 Fahey Award Recipient: Lillian Shulman

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illian is a master teacher who brings many gifts to our school, " said Lower School principal Deborah McCrimmon in describing third grade teacher Lillian Shulman, who is the next Fahey Award recipient. "I feel very honored to receive it," said Lillian. "At this stage in my life, to be honored for something that I love ... it's a gift."

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he strives to help students understand the spectrum of opinions.

Herb has also been known to lead some tricky discussions in the classroom – just one more aspect that keeps student interest piqued. “I’m known for the slippery slope,” he says, adding that conversation about human nature being good but weak, anger turning into wrath or the desire for comfort becoming greed, are all concepts that students can relate to.

Herb’s involvement in the relatively new Quaker Life Committee is yet another way he has been able to give back by helping reinforce the strong Quaker values upon which the school was founded.

“I see the Quaker part of the school very much tied in with character,” Herb says.

He adds that while the school definitely wants to promote academic excellence, it can sometimes create a tension when parents and students tend to see the school only in terms of college prep and career achievement. Instead, he adds, “We are also trying to say, through Quaker values and other aspects of the school, that we are also about service.”

The Quaker Life Committee, which was created in June 2008, is made up of students, faculty, administrators and parents and was formed to create and implement Quaker initiatives. “The Quaker Life Committee is a real compass of the school and is there to provide an underpinning for the school,” he says, adding that this includes academic training, athletic achievements, arts, theater and more. “It’s all got to have a foundation to it, and that’s our effort.”

Another task Herb assisted with this year to help enhance the school’s Quaker experience was a Quaker audit, which was done for the Friends Council on Education in Philadelphia in order to show how successful the school has been in fostering Quaker values.

Herb’s contributions to Friends Academy have extended far and wide. Whether it’s his lessons in the classroom or his examples outside, he continues to be an inspiration to students, faculty and the rest of the FA community.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Around the Quad

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LS/MS/US Community Service Day

Broad impact, lasting lessons

By Alex Edwards-Bourdrez Assistant Development Director/Alumni Relations & Giving

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he Lower, Middle and Upper Schools each dedicated a day this spring to caring service to others.

Lower School students worked in advance of their May 19 Community Service Day to make crafts to sell at a fair they organized in the Quad on that day, to pay for a camper to attend the Family and Children’s Association (FCA) summer camp in Mineola this year. The students raised almost $1,000.

Personalizing the project helped students appreciate its significance. Their support stabilized the boy's family, which was homeless at the time. FCA’s case management services were able to connect the family with the agencies that helped them get back on their feet.

Middle School Community Service Day began with a breakfast fund-raiser hosted by the sixth grade for Help for Haiti, which plants fruit trees in the island nation. Sixth graders also sponsored a car wash for Heifer International, which purchases livestock that helps lift families out of poverty.

Many in the grade decluttered closets on campus, cleaned musical instruments, and assisted in Lower School classrooms. Others made goodies for a bake sale to support the Games for the Physically Challenged.

Seventh and eighth graders spruced up local nature preserves, and readied facilities at Holiday House and the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery. Many helped with events at the Nassau campus of the Association for the Help of Retarded Children and St. Christopher Ottilie Family Services in Sea Cliff. Middle schoolers also solicited sponsorships for a walk-a-thon, and made four hundred sandwiches for the Interfaith Nutrition Network in Hempstead.

On May 18, grades nine through eleven (seniors had finished classes and final exams and were engaged in their year-end

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

ALEX EDWARDS-BOURDREZ/friends academy

Seniors Johanna Silbersack (left) and Courtney Lenoir announcing the Upper School Community Service Day groups at the morning assembly in the gym.

AMANDA FISK/friends academy

AMANDA FISK/friends academy

Middle schoolers soap up at the annual 6th grade car wash for MS Community Service Day.

Third graders Morgan Pascucci, Matthew Storch and Ethan Shalam sell handmade crafts to schoolmates.

Independent Service Projects), worked on off-campus projects coordinated by seniors Courtney Lenoir (daughter of Susan Haack Lenoir ’81), and Johanna Silbersack (daughter of John Silbersack ’73).

In her introduction before announcing the assignments in the morning, Courtney pointed to an important aspect of Community Service Day: "Remember, you are representing our Mission as a Quaker school. Do your service with pride."

Several children-centered organizations benefited, including the School for Language and Communication Development in Glen Cove, the Locust Valley Boys and Girls Club and Westbury Friends School.

Residents at Woodbury Center nursing

home enjoyed students' company for the day, and the Glen Cove Animal Shelter also got the attention of one of the groups.

Scores of students worked at various openair Nassau County venues, such as the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary in Oyster Bay, to ready them for increased spring and summer activity.

Community Service Day was the brainchild of Dara Broxmeyer ’99, whose initiative as Student-Faculty Board President created the model that has been followed over the past decade.

The impact of the hard work of the entire student body and faculty reflects the value of one of the school’s most comprehensive Quaker-education projects.

Around the Quad

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Friends Academy Fourth Day Honors and 124th Commencement

Pomp, Circumstance and Honors ANDREA MILLER/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Hand letterer Pete Manzolillo carefully inscribes the Cum Laude recipients during the Fourth Day Honors ceremony.

A Fourth Day Honors tradition lives on

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way from the distinguished speeches, the reflection and the multiple honors being bestowed upon Upper School students during Fourth Day Honors on Wednesday, June 9, worked a lone man in the hallway of Frost Hall.

Dipping his squirrel-hair brush into a container of white enamel paint, Pete Manzolillo of Jet Signs worked quietly and quickly.

It is a tradition at Friends that as the juniors and seniors are being inducted in the Cum Laude society, their names are being etched simultaneously onto the wall outside of the Head of School's office. "I have about an hour," said Manzolillo, who started lettering for Friends in the spring of 1991 and has been in the business since 1979. "Friends is the only one I know that has a board like this," he said as he formed the intricate letters.

Manzolillo has even been able to correct mistakes from the past.

"I remember a former student from the 40s or 50s noticed his name was misspelled and I was able to fix his name."

AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEMY

The Class of 2010 celebrates their graduation under the tent at Commencement on Saturday, June 12.

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n Saturday, June 12, 89 members of the Class of 2010 turned their tassels, received their diplomas and took their first steps as Friends Academy alumni.

Anastasia Williams and Keith Durante delivered the student speeches to their classmates and Upper School mathematics teacher Tammy Clark delivered the faculty address. All three spoke of the journey they had travelled in their time with the Class of 2010 – for some, these memories started as early as Play Group.

"Remember the reading loft in fifth grade? Everyone wanted to read in the loft," asked Clark as she guided seniors through the moments of their lives at Friends.

This year, the Class of 2010 continued to garner noteworthy acceptances and opportunities, according to Director of College Counseling Ed Dugger.

One senior received the Hodson’s Scholarship at Johns Hopkins University. This Fifth grader Will Podbela plays in the alldivision orchestra during Commencement.

scholarship, only offered to 20 exceptional first-year students, awards him $25,500 per year of his college education. Another student accepted the University of Maryland's most prestigious scholarship, the Banneker/Key, which covers full tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and a book allowance for each of her four years.

Friends can also claim its first Gates Millennium Scholar. This particular scholarship, endowed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, provides substantial assistance to outstanding high school seniors to study at the college of their choice.

Two students have accepted offers in specialized programs: Lehigh University's Seven-Year BA/ MD Accelerated Medical Program and The Cooper Union Architecture Program, which has less than a five-percent admit rate.

The senior class was also distinguished by four students recruited to be Division I athletes: one to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, two to Harvard, and one to Brown.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

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Around the Quad Lower School Enrichment Program

A Success Story In two years, the program goes from after-school chess and Chinese to a host of layered options for Lower schoolers

By Andrea Miller Director of Communications

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all it the Little Program That Could.

In the fall of 2008, a few parents, World Languages and Culture department head Polly Duke and Lower School Principal Deborah McCrimmon pooled their time, energy and ideas to create a six-session after-school chess program. Directed by award-winning chess masters, the class launched with 32 K-5 students.

As Suzanne McCooey, then VP of Lower Mike Damm/friends academy School Parent Council recalls, the goal Photography students experiement with their cameras and with the light during an Enrichment program. of the program was to deepen a student's speaks for itself. The biggest problem is that pale to ours. I recognize what the parents understanding of certain subjects and/ we can’t fit all the requests into certain pro- have done is a gift to our students and our or develop a specific skill. "The pilot was grams," remarked school," added McCrimmon. a wonderful Fall 2010 Enrichment McCrimmon.

Starting this fall, Enrichment will pair introduction to Just Desserts Art & the I Spy Science The success of up with a new Monday-Friday, 3:30 to the game and an Grades K-2/3-5 Environment Grades 1-3/4-5 the program has 6 p.m. After-School program that will offer important way to Chinese Grades K-2 Debate Grades K-2/3-4 Suzuki Strings Grades 4-5 been due to both homework time and a host of other social develop strategic Grades K-1 Beginners Chess Yoga its flexibility – activities, including outdoor play, arts and thinking and Grades K-2 and 3-5 All Roads Lead to Grades 3-5 Rome there are changes crafts and board games. With an appeal to creative planning Chess Mathletes Grades 3-5 Grades K-2/3-5 Grades 3-4 every semester – working families, McCrimmon also hopes skills," explained Lego Robotics Design Dreams Brazilian Capoiera and the depth of it will broaden the FA student body.

McCooey.

Grades 3-4 Grades 1-3 Grades 4-5 LegoLand parent volunteer"Our children come from so many The program The Peacemakers Grades K-2 Grades 4-5 ism that helped get zipcodes and areas and they are so busy at catapulted in school. This is a time for them to learn and popularity and was soon paired up with an it off the ground.

"Parent volunteers were critical in the grow in a social environment. Plus it will existing Mandarin Chinese program and a offer multi-grade exposure," new Cultural Arts offering. The number of success and growth of the program," said McCooey. "Each said McCrimmon. students ballooned to nearly 100 and the week they escorted the stuThe After-School will Friends Academy Lower School Enrichdents to and from the classes, also include a sports pilot ment program was born. program for K-6th grades, This past year, the program took another helped orchestrate snack and restroom breaks, assisted in which, according to Mcstep forward with new offerings such as class set-up, clean-up and Crimmon, will complement debate, yoga, mathletes, performing arts, chess-guided gameplay." the current PE program. photography, cooking and architecture.

“I’ve seen many other en"The program has become so deep and Ian Kim (1st), and Brandon Shore (K) richment programs and they rich. And the growth of the numbers get direction from Art Studio Enrichment teacher Amanda Fisk '99.

MIKE DAMM/friends academy

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

2010 Auction

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{Scenes from the Friends Academy Dinner & Auction}

By Jennifer Ryan Woods '99

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KATHY KMONICEK FOR FRIENDS ACADEMY

riend’s Academy’s 18th annual Dinner and Auction was a rousing success as parents, alumni, faculty and friends flocked to the Old Westbury Country Club to show their support for the school’s biggest annual fundraiser of the year.

This year’s Auction was co-chaired by Tricia O'Kane and Shailja Koufakis, along with the President of Parent Council Marie Batista, and Silent Auction chairs Lynne Koufakis and Cheryl Esiason.

The dinner Chairs were Grace and Gregg Haggerty.

The theme of this year's Auction was a celebration of the past, present and future, and all 30 past Chairs were invited and honored during the evening. "The auction was unique this year because of our special theme. The excitement that was generated by our Chairs and their incredible committee definitely carried over to the day," said 2009-10 Parent Council president Marie Batista.

This year’s event brought in a whopping number of attendees, over 350 people, and netted approximately $350,000 to benefit the school. The rousing success was thanks in large part to the new location, an improving economy and a new day of the week – held for the first time on a Thursday evening.

The evening began with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres as guests mingled and browsed the vast selection of silent auction items, which ranged from tickets to sporting events and private lessons, to electronics and home appliances. This was followed by a sit-down dinner and live auction, which proved to be a lively event, conducted by veteran auctioneer and trustee John Gambling '69.

Some of the live auction’s biggest-ticket items included one-of-a-kind dinners hosted by Friends Academy families in their homes, various vacation packages, the opportunity to be president for a day at Nickelodeon, a recording studio

AUCTION PAST AND PRESENT CHAIRS: (Standing), Elizabeth Holmes, Trish O'Kane, Jodi Rosenthal, Robin Wilpon Wachtler '83, Stacy Koppelman Fritz '86, Shailja Koufakis, Katie Hawkins Schneider '86, Marie Batista and Sandy Tytel. (Sitting), Marilyn Witthuhn, Ilene Sands, Tracy Landow, Debbie Del Vecchio, Robin Ross and Joan Konvalinka Hawkins '55 were honored at this year's Auction.

Clockwise: John Gambling '69 takes bids.

Cindy Boults, Susan Karches, Ilene Sands, Liz and John Sherlock. Frank Dellafera holds up a winning number. Checking out silent auction items. Jay and Susan Goffman, Margaret and Tom Hutzel. Ken and Sima Carnevale, Jed '90 and Eden Morey and Liza and William Donnelly.

package, a golf cart and, always a crowd pleaser, the chance for a lucky student to take over as Friends Academy’s Head of School for the day.

The success of the auction, which is run by the school’s Parent Council, was a collective effort by a dedicated group of more than 100 volunteers who worked tirelessly for months to prepare for the event and spent the evening working

behind the scenes to ensure everything went off without a hitch.

"I think the sprit of the Auction, the generosity demonstrated, a new venue and day and the hard work of the Chairs and their committee generated an excitement that spread throughout the whole school, and everyone wanted to be a part of it. That's why we had so many people attend," added Batista.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

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The Arts "We Didn't Have Time to Be Scared"

Students learn the art of printmaking during MS Arts Week, an annual FA workshop.

MS Arts Week: An exploration of hands-on experiences

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ach year, the extensive arts curriculum that Friends Academy offers to its students culminates in a break from the traditional routine as the Middle School comes together as a whole community to celebrate the arts.

Students have the opportunity to choose between participating in the Middle School play or engaging in a series of Art Workshops presented by guest artists and Friends Academy faculty and staff.

While the students in the play attend final rehearsals to prepare for their performance, the focus for students not involved with the production is three days of hands-on workshops. This year, students were able to choose from a variety of workshops, including printmaking, film-making, African dance and drumming, stage combat, photography, hip hop dance, improv and more.

During the day, both groups of students meet to share their experiences. Arts Week ends as the entire community gathers to watch the Middle School play and celebrate the role of Arts in the Middle School curriculum.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

AMANDA FISK/friends academy

The full-length musical, "We Didn't Have Time to Be Scared," tells the true story of Inge and Lucy Fischer, the mother and aunt of Friends Upper School Art teacher Lisa Waldstein, and their escape from Nazi-overrun Vienna.

Powerful connections Teachers and students captivated by an emotional and personal performance

By Andrea Miller Director of Communications

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he Middle School Play is awesome and unforgettable! It is about family, community, life and joy in the midst of travail and tragedy. It is so personal and inspiring. The play and music are truly impressive."

So writes an FA faculty member the day after seeing this year's Middle School Play, "We Didn't Have Time to Be Scared," written and composed by Middle and Upper School theater teacher Andrew Geha.

Over 50 students performed in this full-length musical drama, including three seventh graders who played with Geha in the pit band.

The project, born from the pages of an 11-year-old's diary during pre-WWII is written in the routine vernacular of a pre-teen girl, Inge Fischer.

Within moments of starting the diary, a very powerful Katrina Garry, 8th (older Inge) and Marianna Cuomo Maier, 7th (older Lucy) find Inge's diary at the start of the play.

story emerges. It is 1938 and Inge and her younger sister Lucy (the mother of FA Upper School Art teacher Lisa Waldstein) are about to have the familiarity and safety of their world turned upside down as their hometown of Vienna yields to Nazi Germany.

"Several years ago, one of my cousins found my aunt's diary. I brought a copy to school to show Andrew and Tracey," recalled Waldstein. Originally written in German, Geha and Director of Arts Tracey Foster asked FA parent Carole Freysz to translate the diary.

"We read the translation and started brainstorming the possibilities," said Geha.

"The diary entries ranged from amazing descriptions of very intense moments to entries about the normal day-to-day of an 11-year-old." added Geha. As Geha pored through the diary, gradually the backbone of the story emerged.

Unlike a myth or a fairy tale, this is not an adaptation or

The Arts performance reinterthink we’ve gone with pretation. While some MS students before," events and dialogue recalled Geha. are fictionalized, all are The play follows based on true stories the lives of the Fisor descriptions of the cher family, who unlike people in Inge and other Viennese Jewish Lucy's lives. "Almost families, have the reevery scene is based off sources to leave Vienna an entry or moment for Trinidad and finally referenced in the diary," America. Inge (played said Geha. "I also drew

by Katrina Garry, 8th, a lot of inspiration and and Julia Newitt, 7th) ideas from my interand Lucy (played by view with Inge and Marianna Cuomo Lucy – both from what Maier, 7th, and Gloria they said and from Fortuna, 7th) are sepatheir dynamic with rated from their parents each other." for a year and also suffer To fill in the characthe unexpected death of ter gaps, Geha said he their father. looked to the Middle "It was so much more School students he's than a Middle School AMANDA FISK/friends academy worked with. play," emphasized Above: Taylor Quinn, Tolu Ojo and Julia Newitt.

"I thought about what Middle: Katrina Garry (older Inge), Julia Newitt Waldstein. "The kids (younger Inge), Olivia Meszaros (mother Liesl I've seen our students thanked us for sharing Fischer), Hudson Themelis (father Ernst Fischer), go through on a regular Gloria Fortuna (younger Lucy) and Marianna our story with them. basis – the different Cuomo Maier (older Lucy). Bottom: Ryan Dobrin And I feel a special bond challenges and successes and Katrina Garry honor Inge Fischer Engel after with the two Lucys who the finale performance. they face are similar to portrayed my mother. what Inge went through. The times and Having never met my grandparents, seeing technologies have obviously changed, but them brought to life (by Hudson Themelis, certain elements of growing up are univer8th, and Olivia Meszaros, 8th), was a unique sally shared. While the scenes in the school and wonderful experience," said Waldstein. were written about in the diary, they are "One of the most powerful aspects of also played out in our modern classrooms," this experience for all of us is that it was an said Geha. everyday story which many of our families While Geha admits this is one of the could connect to in one way or another. It hardest shows he's ever done, he said reminded us of how extraordinary all of what the students created was even more our journeys are," said Geha. masterful. "I fully believe in the abilities Throughout the final rehearsal week, of students this age. I am extraordinarily the entire Middle School was able to meet proud of them and saw them step up time the real Inge and Lucy Fischer and talk to and again.” them. "It made the story and it made the era Everyone involved seemed to feel an come to life," said Waldstein. "I know that urgent need to respect the era, the story when these students are 50, 60, or 70, they and the people. "The students took their are still going to remember this," finished characters to emotional places that I don’t Geha.

Andrew Geha: "Throughout everything that happened were you ever scared?"

Lucy: "No…" Inge: "Well, we didn't have time to be scared."

– From an interview with Inge Fischer Engel and Lucy Fischer Waldstein, conducted in August of 2009

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AMANDA FISK/friends academy

Friends Academy families contributed pieces of their family history to this living Museum.

FA community exhibition captures history, artifacts, personal stories

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gainst the backdrop of the Middle School Play, the 4th Grade Immigration project and the 7th grade family history studies, a community collective blossomed in the wings of the theater.

Curated by Arts administrative assistant Alexandra Panzer, "The Museum of Us" wove stories of FA families through photos, ancestral artifacts and more.

"Members of the community were invited to bring in anything that represents their connection to their ancestry," said Director of Arts Tracey Foster.

Sixty-six families contributed pieces of their family history during the museum's six-week showing. "The final exhibit illustrated a diverse array of culture, experience and incredible journeys woven together to create a tapestry of this time and place," added Foster.

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Feature Story An Inner-City Family Court Judge with a Heart and Mind Continually Open to Service {2010 Distinguished Alumna: Susan Stein Danoff ‘60}

AMANDA FISK/friends academy

Judge Susan Stein Danoff '60 delivers the Distinguished Alumna address at Fourth Day Honors on Wednesday, June 9.

A VOICE FOR OTHERS

By Alex Edwards-Bourdrez Assistant Development Director/Alumni Relations & Giving

The 2010 Friends Academy Distinguished Alumna, Susan Stein Danoff '60, is one of New York State’s 47 family court judges. She was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg in 2004 to preside over child-abuse and neglect cases for the City of New York. She also presides over Family Treatment Court on a weekly basis in Kings County Family Court in Brooklyn, where she counsels drug- and alcohol-abusing parents while tracking their progress through treatment programs. Prior to her tenure on the bench, Susan served as a court attorney referee, charged with setting goals for children in foster care and evaluating their progress. Earlier, she worked as a legal assistant for Family Court Judge Paula J. Hepner. A life-long passionate volunteer, Susan is on the Board of Trustees at

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, where she has also served as president of its Parents' Organization and a member of the Women's Auxiliary Board. For the past three decades she has fed the hungry through the temple's Sunday Lunch Program, and she has been a runner's guide for athletes with disabilities participating in the New York Marathon. A member of several professional legal associations, Susan is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Fordham University and a Samuel Belkin Scholar graduate of Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, which recently honored her with its Inspire Award, for exceptional generosity of spirit, outstanding commitment to public service, and inspiring contribution to Cardozo's tradition of social justice and ethical advocacy.

Feature Story

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Susan Stein Danoff '60

he occasional article in the press foster-care student at the University of about the inner-city family court Pennsylvania who was approaching her system usually paints a grim twenty-first birthday and was about to "age picture, leading most lay people out" of the system. The young woman was to view the system with dismay – and they on the brink of losing her tuition assistance, wouldn't blame professionals working in the monthly stipend, and book and clothing system if they shared that perspective. allowance – which would effectively have Family court judge Susan Stein Danoff '60 forced her to drop out. takes a different view. Realistic, creative, and It's not hard to imagine how persuasive and irrepressibly optimistic, she is ever motivated persistent Susan had to be. After three weeks to forge solutions to the daunting problems she prevailed, and the Deputy Commissioner that face her on the bench every day. of Independent Living (the official who "My colleagues and I oversees cases of children in Kings County Family unable to return home or ...When I can keep Court have about 1,000 who did not wish to be a child in the only cases on our dockets, adopted) arranged to have home she has which translates to each the agency in charge of us seeing a minimum of of the student continue known or return a 40 families a day," Susan to assist her. child to the home pointed out. "All is not lost, The story does not end and ensure the famhowever, because when I there: Not only did the ily is given needed can keep a child in the only student complete her services ... I am home she has known, or undergraduate degree with happy. return a child to the home honors – and then go on and ensure the family is to earn a Harvard MBA, given needed services, or work for Goldman Sachs, when I am able to ensure and join the Board of the child now has a permanent, loving home Trustees of the very same agency who cared in which he can flourish, I am happy." for her – but the case also led to a permanent In all cases over which Susan presides, she rule change in the Administration for Chilmust decide what is in the best interest of dren’s Services, which now allows continued the child while balancing a parent’s right financial support for foster children attending to raise his or her child. Each day presents college. decisions about whether to remove a child "I like to tell this story as an inspiration to from a parent in order to keep a child safe. young people to keep their hearts and minds Family Court litigants are generally poor and open to the possibility of service," Susan said, under-educated, and live in extremely violent "and to NOT be afraid to be creative, to take neighborhoods. Many are homeless or suffer on a cause when they see change is needed from mental illness. Drug or alcohol addicand justice must be done, or to go out on a tion exacerbates the crises. limb to make that change happen."

By focusing on the individual and seeking Susan started on the road to her judgeship the best solution, Susan avoids being over"late in life." She married early (her husband, whelmed. "The work we do is important," she Marty, is an attorney) and waited until their said. "The day is never boring and is always two children, Douglas and Jennifer, were 13 challenging and rewarding. We have the opand six, respectively, before enrolling as an portunity every day to give back to the comundergrad at Fordham. She took to her studmunity and to make a difference in people’s ies with a voracious appetite, earning Dean's lives. And we never know when the opportu- List honors each of her four years – as well nity to make a difference will come along." as the Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Sometimes that difference is huge, such as Society recognition for the outstanding the case in which Susan persuaded authoriContinued on Page 16 ties to make an exception for a self-motivated

photo courtesy of the lamp

Susan Stein in 1960.

Excerpts from Fourth Day Honors Address On the state of Family Court:

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resently, I preside over child abuse and neglect cases. In addition, I, along with two other judges, preside over Family Treatment Court, an innovative, intensive, service-driven Court which provides assistance to drug and alcohol abusing parents. In all cases over which I preside, I must decide what is in the best interest of the child while balancing a parent’s right to raise his or her child.

Each day in my work I must decide whether to remove a child from a parent in order to keep a child safe. The litigants in Family Court generally are poor, under-educated, live in extremely violent neighborhoods, are often homeless, or suffer from mental illness. When one throws into the mix, drug and/or alcohol addiction, the result is dysfunctional families in crisis.

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Feature Story Distinguished Alumnus: Susan Stein Danoff '60

AMANDA FISK/friends academy

SUSAN STEIN DANOFF AND HER FAMILY: From left, brother-in-law Irwin Wolf, sister Nina Stein Wolf '64, sister Juliet Stein '56, Susan Stein Danoff '60, mother Helen Stein, husband Marty Danoff, daughter Jennifer and son Douglas stand with Friends Academy Head of School Bill Morris.

she said, "when I attempt to settle the matters before me." scholarship of adult students – and graduated The ensuing decade as the right-hand atSumma Cum Laude with a degree in history. torney assistant to Judge Paula J. Hepner in She entered law school right away and Kings County Court ended in a promotion, eventually graduated as a Dr. Samuel Belkin in 2001, to the position of court attorney Scholar. "When I took family law my second referee. The quasi-judicial position had her year," Susan recalled, "I presiding over hearings for knew I had found my children in foster care. In passion. I felt drawn to 2004 Susan applied for her When I took circumstances affecting current position as a family family law my families – I hoped to make court judge in New York second year, I knew a difference in people's City, and she was appointed I had found my lives." The mentoring she

by Mayor Bloomberg. passion. I felt drawn received from her eventual The choice of this career life-long friend, former to the circumstances path at a time when Susan's family court judge Geradult life seemed comaffecting families – trud Mainzer, helped her fortably settled reflects a I hoped to make a develop the tools and skills restlessness that had led difference in she would need. her to her many volunteer people's lives.

Another formative activities following her experience for Susan at years at Friends. Even with Cardozo Law School was ribbons of scholastic and the Alternate Dispute/Mediation Clinic, a professional accolades – and opportunities to three-year program that taught her about neearn a lucrative salary – she has stayed in her gotiating and "Getting to Yes," as the course's very demanding position without a pay raise goal stated. "The themes ring true today," since her appointment. Investing her talent,

Continued from Page 15

Excerpts from Fourth Day Honors Address

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On the importance and fulfillment of public service:

he work we do is important, no matter what court to which we, judges, are assigned. All of us could have worked elsewhere – making a lot more money then we do – but the work is not a job, but a calling. I always tell people, I don’t like my job – I LOVE IT!!

How lucky for us who work in public service that we can awaken each morning excited to go to work! The day is never boring and is always challenging, interesting and rewarding. Through our commitment to the court system, we have the opportunity every day to give back to the community and to make a difference in people’s lives. And it doesn’t get better than that!!!

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Feature Story

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Distinguished Alumnus: Susan Stein Danoff '60 drive and experience into public service has paid her the kind of dividends she seeks in life. She is quick to point out that many of her fellow judges in the family court system and other judicial areas have made the same choice for the same reasons. She worries, though, that if the New York State legislature does not rectify the salaries and working conditions for judges, the profession will suffer from lack of diversity, as only financially well-off people will aspire to the position.

Clearly the judiciary is not a field for the faint-hearted. Susan credits her Friends Academy teachers and coaches with pushing her to grow from the timid girl she was upon enrolling in fifth grade, into a selfconfident teenager.

She cites Mrs. Mohaupt’s instruction about hitting “a killer forehand” in tennis (“It still stands me in good stead”), and Mrs. Gordon, in French class, exhorting students to “reach for the stars – you might land on a planet.” About the legendary English teacher Mrs. Stubbs, she said, “I learned to speak with confidence – and I knew I’d better never use ‘um’ or ‘you know’! Her lessons went beyond grammar and punctuation, skills that have been invaluable to me. She prepared me for life: Overcome your fears, prepare and jump in.”

Susan's dedication and gratitude with respect to her own family mirror her professional passion. As Friends Academy's Distinguished Alumna, Susan addressed the Upper School this June at Fourth Day Honors, the year-end awards ceremony, and seven of her family members were there to celebrate with her.

Asking each to rise, she introduced them to the audience with great pride: her mother, Helen; her two sisters, fellow Friends alums Juliet Stein '56 and Nina Stein Wolf '64; Nina's husband, Irwin; her adult children, Doug and Jen; and her husband, Marty, of whom she said, "He has been the wind under my wings. Throughout our 46 years of marriage, he has been the person who said, Yes you can!, whenever I doubted myself."

(SUSAN STEIN) COURTESY THE LAMP

A CLASS PORTRAIT: Susan Stein in 1960 served as Treasurer of her class. Here she is with her classmates, front row, fourth from right.

Excerpts from Fourth Day Honors Address

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tell you this story, not to talk about myself, but to inspire each of you to keep your hearts and minds open to the possibility of service. And to remind you NOT to be afraid to be creative, to take on a cause when you see change is needed and justice must be done, or to go out on a limb to make that change happen.

– Susan Stein Danoff '60

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

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Sports: Go FA! {Spring 2010}

MIKE DAMM/friends academy

From Long Island championships to first-ever national titles to sportsmanship awards, personal records and honors, the spring season was marked by determination and Friends Academy teamwork.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Sports: Go FA! Boys Varsity Baseball

Boys JV Baseball

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Alec Kucich, TJ Hefele, Kyle Grady, Sam Harringon, Sam Hawkins, Pat Pozzi, Matt Broxmeyer and Coach Lindner. Bottom: Chris Campbell, Leo Gussack, Shon Butani, Peter Kaplan, Chris Crowley, Sam Gussack and Eddie McNelis. Not pictured: Jack Bauer, Nick Croce, Devin Gerzof, Hunter Robinson and Ben Wachtler.

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Jay Schneider, Joe Macey, Devon Gerzof, Nick Croce, Matt Ioannou, Jon Ramsay, Jack Bauer, Jake Silverman and Jake Hawkins. Bottom: Ben Wachtler, Spencer Sklar, Hunter Robinson, Brian Lightcap and Ethan Nyein. Not pictured: Andrew Feinstein, Jahan Khan and Cole Valentino.

Boys capture Long Island Championship title

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he Varsity Baseball team had a very exciting season.

Although our regular season record was only 6 and 9, we upset East Rockaway in a best-of-three series to win the county championship. We won game 1 of the series scoring seven runs in the last inning for a thrilling comefrom-behind victory. East Rockaway won game 2 to force a deciding game 3. In game 3 Peter Kaplan led the attack with three hits and Ed Mcnelis pitched a complete game victory. This gave Friends the championship and the right to move on to the Long Island Championship game against Mercy High School, which we won by a score of 7-2. The key hit in the game was a grandslam homerun by Chris Crowley in the fourth inning. Sam Harrington pitched a complete game victory. On June 8th we were defeated 6-5

by Valhala from Westchester in the regional championship game. The team played with great enthusiasm and heart throughout the playoffs.

The team wishes to thank the community for the support we have had all season.

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Season marked by individual progress and achievement

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t was a pleasure working with this year’s JV team. Our squad was filled with talented players who always worked hard, never gave up, and truly enjoyed playing the game. Although our ending record does not equate to statistical success, our team should be proud of their collective effort and individual progress and achievement throughout the season. I am particularly proud of the sophomores who have played for me over the past two years. It wasn’t an easy road for them, but they approached each day with grace and optimism. I have been very fortunate to have worked with such a great group of individuals.

– Coach Mike Damm

– Coach Marshall Lindner

individual awards ALL-DIVISION – LEO GUSSACK ALL-CONFERENCE – SAM HARRINGTON, CHRIS CROWLEY

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Sports: Go FA!

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Girls Varsity Golf

Boys Varsity Golf

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Coach Gail Baker, Augusta Mayer, Brooke Bliven, Antonia O'Hara, Emily LeoGrande and Jalisa Clark. Bottom: Gabrielle Aaron, Nicole Soviero, Nicole Katz and Sydney Menzin. Not pictured: Paige Arfman, Caroline Dixon and Haley Gahan.

Team wins sportsmanship award for second year; take 2nd place

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his season was a great one for the FA Girls Varsity Golf team. We completed the year with a record of eight wins and two losses. We received second place in our division, which was quite an accomplishment due to the youthful new members. All of the players on the team showed a great deal of positive participation and improvement. It is evident that although many of the team members will not be returning, but instead heading off to college in the fall, the team will be just as strong with the improvement of the younger players. Overall, this season there was a great deal of hard work and determination in the program, which will continue in the seasons to come.

And finally, I am very proud of the girls for winning the sportsmanship award for the second year in a row.

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Jordan Woldenberg, Connor Dooley, Christian Curran and Christian FitzGerald. Bottom: Peter Scialabba, Tommy Kaminsky, Rob Berke and Stefan Sayre.

Strong showing in competitive conference

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he Boys Varsity Golf team had a successful year. We had a record of 5-5 in Conference 2, which is the most competitive conference in Nassau County. We beat both Manhasset and Great Neck South twice and split with North Shore.

Three of our team made All-County. Christian FitzGerald made All-Conference as a Freshman. Junior Jordan Woldenberg made All-County Honorable Mention and Junior Peter Scialabba made All-County, finishing the spring season with the second best stroke average in the County. Peter went on to the County tournament and finished two strokes short of making the All-State team.

Behind these three players is a strong core of young and able players, which make our prospects for the future look good.

– Coach Gail Baker

individual awards

– Coach Rick Sullivan

individual awards

ALL-DIVISION

ALL-CONFERENCE – CHRISTIAN FITZGERALD

Antonia O'Hara Haley Gahan Nicole Katz Augusta Mayer

ALL-COUNTY – PETER SCIALABBA, JORDAN WOLDENBERG (HONORABLE MENTION)

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Sports: Go FA! Girls Varsity Track & Field

Boys Varsity Track

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Coach Kupka, Heather Feshbach, Josie Bechand, Zoie Williams, Amanda Lamothe, Catherine O'Connell-Stingi, Kirsten Grady, Ariana Farahani, Nicole Keegan, Erica Vidal and Coach Garry. Middle: Taylor Wilkins, Chichi Anyoku, Anastasia Williams, Molly Sullivan, Lynda Negron, Sunny Lostritto, Jenny Mayrock, Eliza Budd and Kira Garry. Bottom: Savannah Febesh, Alix Liss, Sarah Chartash, Iyatunde Majekodunmi, Liz Vitiello, Sophie Fritz and Lizzie Birnbaum.

Strong finishes in Division, County Championship meets

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he 2010 Girls Varsity Track team had many individual and team successes. They were ably led by 14 seniors with eight four-year letter winners. It is unprecedented to have so many seniors participate at such a high level in a spring sport, and their absence will be felt next year. The team finished fourth in the Division Championships and fifth in the Class A County Championships.

The relay teams did particularly well, finishing second in the Division in the 4 X 100m relay (by 1/10th of a second), and second in the county in the 4 X 800m relay. Nine girls qualified for the county championships and were competitive against the twenty teams in Class A. Molly Sullivan, Sunny Lostritto, Amanda Lamothe, and Kira Garry successfully competed in the New York State meet in Binghamton on June 11th and 12th. The track team continued its tradition of community service with the seventh annual marathon relay fundraiser. The girls collectively ran 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 3 minutes and raised almost $3,000 for Haiti Restoration fund for UNICEF. I am very proud of the efforts of this group on and off the track. This is a diverse group of competitive athletes with a wide range of talents. We have set personal records in hurdling, jumping, sprinting, and throwing events on a regular basis, and with seven rookies and 21 athletes returning next year I expect a lot from this group in 2011.

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mike damm/friends academy

From top (clockwise): Trevor Sequino, Brian Hom, Matt Lieber Chris Mairle, Will Duke and Ryan Rosmarin.

Amazing collection of athletes work together to set new personal records

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he Boys Varsity Track team in 2010 included a wide range of sprinters and distance runners, injured and recovering athletes, brothers and classmates, rookies and seasoned veterans. They pulled together to race well under a variety of challenging conditions and ran a number of inspiring relays demonstrating their fortitude, teamwork, and endurance at the end of a long day. One runner, Ryan Rosmarin, competed in the County Championships, placing in both the 3200m and 1600m. A new record was set in the 3200m run with a performance of 9:55.2 (that’s two sub 5-minute miles) and a time equaling the 100m dash record of 11.1 was achieved by a junior, Brian Hom. With five freshman and two sophomores improving their times by 20 to 30 seconds over the course of the season, each meet brought exciting news of personal records and new goals to be set. Two seniors graduate this year, leaving behind a young group with lots of untapped potential.

– Coach Louisa Garry and Coach Thompson

individual awards ALL-DIVISION – Ryan Rosmarin (1600m. and 3200m.)

– Coach Louisa Garry and Coach Ingrid Kupka

individual awards ALL-DIVISION – JAMARA CLARK (DISCUS), IYATUNDE MAJEKODUNMI (100M. AND 200M.), ALLY TOLES (TRIPLE JUMP), MOLLY SULLIVAN (800M. CHAMPION), KIRA GARRY (1500M. AND 3,000M. CHAMPION) ALL-COUNTY – KIRA GARRY (3,000M. AND 2000M. STEEPLECHASE) ALL-STATE – KIRA GARRY (2000m. steeplechase) ALL-AMERICAN – KIRA GARRY

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Sports: Go FA!

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Girls Varsity Softball

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Johanna Silbersack, Kasey Leeds, Abby Gluck, Marielle Goebelbecker, Sara Naghavi, Alana Stein, Chelsea Rubin and Stephanie Aaron.

Bottom: Jessie Batalitsky, Claudia Ratner, Paige Elgarten, Gabby Moretto, Erin Gluck, Holly Constants and Correy Denihan.

Teammates constantly supported, challenged each other

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he 2010 Varsity Softball team finished the season with a record of 13-2 during the regular season and finished second in the conference. During the season the girls showed tremendous dedication and commitment to the team, which was a significant factor in the overall success of the season. The focus of the season was to improve on our fundamental skills so that we could build off these as the season progressed. Every member of the team showed a significant improvement of the basic skills, as well as a better understanding for the game of softball. What I am most proud of about this team is the way each girl worked hard day-to-day and remained focus and confident. As a team, they were able to support each other and push each other to become better players.

– Coach Christine Botti

individual awards ALL-CONFERENCE – Correy Dennihan, Paige Elgarten ALL-DIVISION – Sasha Zezulin SCHOLAR-ATHLETE – Stephanie Aaron

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Varsity Crew

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Cecelia Judge, Ada Bielawski, Justin Brown, Christopher Sawicki, Aaron Moslow, Matt Kuczmarski, Miles Schuss and Dan DeCamello. Middle: Emily Hawkins, Nina Vascotto, Jessica Sawicki, Sarah Gross, Catryn Silbersack, Mike Gambardella and Emily Browning. Bottom: Coach Carolyn Skudder, Sigal Markowitz, Alison Kennedy, Spencer Moslow, Coach Allison Doherty and Head Coach Jason Moskowitz. Not pictured: Gabrielle McPhaul-Guerrier and Coach Caitlin Chamberlin.

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Girls Quad crowned 2010 National Champions

ur rowing team set the bar high with 8 races on the calendar. All team members can boast having won an award in at least one event. The depth of commitment and talent in this group is something our team has never seen before.

At the New York State Championships we won: l

Bronze: Girls double – Sarah Gross, Jess Sawicki

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Bronze: Boys double – Matt Kuczmarski, Daniel Decamello

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Silver: Lwt Girls Double – Emily Hawkins, Ada Bielawski

Gold: Girls Junior Quad – Emily Browning, Nina Vascotto, Alison Kennedy, Sigal Markowitz l

At the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, our Girls Double placed an impressive 5th, while the Boys Double took the bronze, and the Girls Quad won Silver. Two crews of six rowers qualified to attend this year's Scholastic Rowing National Championship in Saratoga Springs, NY. While facing the top competition from across the country, both boats raced their way to the Grand Finals. The Boys Double Sculls, Matthew Kuczmarski and Daniel DeCamello, raced with an exciting sprint placing just six and six one-hundredths of a second above the Conestoga crew that had previously beaten them. This earned them 5th place. The Girls Quadruple Scull, Emily Browning, Nina Vascotto, Alison Kennedy, and Sigal Markowitz, took control of the competition early on by qualifying with a time more than 10 seconds faster than the next crew. In the Grand Finals, Friends was able to maintain a commanding 6.5-second lead to earn their title as 2010 National Champions! This is FA's 6th National Championship in its 21 years of rowing and marks the first time FA girls have won a national championship in a team boat, and the first time winning a quad event of any type since 1991.

As we graduate only two seniors, this young team looks forward to an even more successful season next year!

– Coach Jason Moskowitz

Sports: Go FA! Girls Varsity Lacrosse

Girls JV Lacrosse

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Mindy Weiss, Caroline Johansen, Meredith Mangiarotti, Augusta Gahan, Brooke Henn, Megan Lightcap and Sydney Esiason. Middle: Krystina Iordanou, Alix Heffron, Brigid Gahan, Nancy Karches and Grace Dixon. Bottom: Kelsey Denihan, Diana Gerhlone, Morgan Landow, Erica Sklar, Taylor Ross and Jen Massa.

Girls place second in Conference with 7-2 record

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he 2010 Girls Varsity Lacrosse team had another successful season. Led by a strong senior class of Sydney Esiason, Caroline Johansen, Megan Lightcap, Meredith Mangiarotti and Mindy Weiss, the team finished the season placing second in Conference II with a record of 7-2. Both defeats were decided by only one goal. Due to their hustle, unselfish play, and determination, the team proved to be an able foe for any team against which it competed.

– Coach Jaime Conzelman

individual awards All-County - Sydney Esiason, Meredith Mangiarotti All-County Honorable Mention - Kelsey Denihan All-Conference - Nancy Karches, Taylor Ross, Erica Sklar

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mike damm/friends academy

Zorina Akhund, Rania Aniftos, Jeanne Budd, Amanda Edwards, Lauren Egodigwe, Melissa Greenblatt, Emily Heid, Frances Hilbert, Kristina Kim, Alex Landow, Margot Mangiarotti, Rose Mangiarotti, Rose Morabito, Courtney Naughton, Lauriane Pinto, Casey Quinn, Marissa Reyes, Katy Saltz, Samantha Statfeld, Sophia Toles. Managers: Lucy Petropoulos and Noelle Yatauro.

Strong defense and teamwork marks season

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his year’s Girls JV Lacrosse team had a very successful season. We were extremely competitive with our opponents throughout the year, ending the season with a record of 6-5-1. The girls showed great improvement, but our greatest asset was our ability to play as a team. Of the 123 goals they scored, 42 were assisted. Also, 14 of the 20 girls on the team scored, with 11 girls involved with assisting those goals. Our defense was very strong, forcing many turnovers and frustrating the other teams. I am very proud of the Girls JV lacrosse team for what we have accomplished this season. There was a lot of talent on this team, and without a question, these girls will help contribute to the future success of our Varsity program. I hope the girls enjoyed the season as I did.

– Coach Pat Erhardt

Unsung Hero - Caroline Johansen Scholar Athlete - Mindy Weiss

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Sports: Go FA!

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Boys Varsity Lacrosse

Boys JV Lacrosse

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Coach Quackenbush, Kellan Sehring, Bryan Judge, Jonathan Wagner, Tommy Gambino, Derek Maruca, Nick Gavin, Sean Collins, Dave Zambratto, Zack Westermann, Liam Kearney, Ryan Marsh, Jimmy D'Elia, Alex Ryan and Coach Crocco. Middle: Siobhan Miller, Grace Quick, Quentin DellaFera, Patrick Burke, Theodore Burke, Weston Morabito, James McRoberts, Josh Goldsmith and Jackie Bialer. Bottom: Jasper Themelis, Will Sands, Harry DellaFera and Ryan Sherlock.

Boys team enjoys first-ever FA Lacrosse championship

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ur Friends Boys Varsity Lacrosse team had one of their most successful seasons in 20 years. We finished with a 13-4 overall record: 5-1 for out-of-conference, and a 7-2 in-conference records.

Highlights include the first championship for Friends ever in Bethpage's Fran McCall tournament, an overtime victory against Class A Port Washington, and an impressive eight-game winning streak after a tough loss to 2009 state finalist Sayville.

We were ranked as high as fourth in the Class C state rankings, and made it to the county semifinal game.

While we were led wonderfully by two senior and two junior captains, the team as a whole deserves much credit for their collective work ethic, both in in-season practices, and in out-of-season strength and conditioning. The young men enjoyed the competition and camaraderie that those workouts bring, and should be commended for setting a terrific example for the rest of our Friends Academy athletes.

At the high school level, teams are not always gifted with managers who take what they do seriously. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our managers, Siobhan Miller, Grace Quick, and Jackie Bialer, who are committed to what they do, and work hard on a daily basis to give our team their very best effort.

– Coach Brian Crocco

individual awards ALL-CONFERENCE – JON WAGNER, DEREK MARUCA ALL-COUNTY– BRYAN JUDGE, ALEX RYAN, QUENTIN DELLAFERA, TEDDY BURKE (HONORABLE MENTION), PATRICK BURKE (HONORABLE MENTION)

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Coach Brant Kasschau, Bennett Felder, Kellan Sehring, Peter Piccoli, Mike Isernio, Kyle Dineen and Coach David Barth. Middle: Gavin Lyon, Teddy Haggerty, John Blum, John O'Brien and Grant Baskind. Bottom: Will O'Kane, Matt Collins, Nick Moretto, Evan Sayre and Zach Kriesberg. Not pictured: Cole Chartash and Dwayne Taylor.

Boys show great improvement throughout season

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he Boys JV Lacrosse team had a slow start to the season, but ended the year by going 6-3 in our last nine games. The boys showed great improvements both as individuals and as a team through their hard work and commitment to make each other better athletes. Their overall success was not just marked by their record, but by their growth and development throughout the season.

– Coach David Barth

Sports: Go FA! Boys Varsity Tennis

Boys JV Tennis

mike damm/friends academy

Top: Raghav Kedia, Jack Vissicchio, Sameer Massand, Ryan Yaraghi and Raj Sharma. Bottom: Greg Rosenthal, Keith Durante, Brandon Leeds, Mike Dematties and Anthony Russo.

Team takes on tougher rivals; doubles compete in state finals

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he 2010 Boys Varsity Tennis team took a step up in competition this year competing in Conference 1 (generally considered the state's top section). We have a lot to be proud of – narrowly missing the playoffs by one match. This is significant because playoffs are based on win-loss records, with only six of twelve teams eligible to compete for the Nassau Championship. The team showed a lot of heart, finishing the year on a high note by defeating playoff-bound Long Beach, 4-3 in our last match. This year's schedule had us traveling to some historic tennis venues like the Westside Tennis Club in Forest Hills, NY (where the US Open was originally played), and competing against the top players in the East. Six of our players qualified for the Nassau County Individual Tennis Championships at Oceanside HS. This was a historic feat because Friends was the only school with three teams entered by the Nassau Coaches Selection Committee. Jack Vissicchio/Brandon Leeds reached the second round, Keith Durante/Sameer Massand reached the third round, and Jon DeFrancesch/Andrew Yaraghi finished in second place. This was Friends' highest finish ever at the County Tournament. Jon Defrancesch/Andrew Yaraghi also competed in the NY State HS Tennis Championships at the National Tennis Center. They won their first round over the city champs from Cardozo HS 4-6 6-2-6-1, then lost in the second round against the eventual State champs from Byram Hills 6-4 7-5. This is the second year that Jon and Andrew have made All-State honors in tennis.

– Coach Brian Baxter

individual awards ALL-STATE – JON DEFRANCESCH, ANDREW YARAGHI

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mike damm/friends academy

Top: Marc Godlis, Tyler Newitt, Alex Muran, Eli Rousso, Drew Chartash, David Hanna, Ian Rudolph, Nick Pascucci and Coach Geoff Nelson. Middle: Paulina Gordon (mgr), Sam Friedman, Zach Podbela, Andrew Eng, Joshua Feshbach and Akhil Massand. Bottom: Justin Ashkin, David Sher and Matthew Gutierrez. Not pictured: Jacqueline Leon (mgr) and Carly Hitzig (mgr).

Boys take tremendous leaps with .500 record

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he 2010 Boys JV Tennis team was very nearly crippled with pressure from the outset. Having won just two matches in each of the last two seasons, this year's squad was again up against the same big schools with deep, talented rosters. But as scientists will tell you, pressure can generate fissures, cracking objects on their most fundamental levels, or it can elementally alter someone, a group in this case, into something harder, brighter and more brilliant than ever. In the world of science, coal can become diamonds. In 2010, the JV tennis squad had a .500 record.

The 2010 season boasted many moments of individual and collective brilliance. Who will forget the shock-theworld victory over Plainview JFK, a team Friends JV tennis had not beaten since at least 2007? This group of athletes boasted clean-sweep, home-and-away victories over Manhasset and Wheatley, two of those bigger schools, with bigger programs. Most memorable was the must-win match at fourth doubles that secured a 4-3 road victory against Manhasset, ensuring at least a .500 record for the season.

It was a fantastic season from a group of fantastic athletes. Special recognition to Josh Feshbach, allegedly retiring from the sport with his MVP this season, and Matt Gutierrez whose consistent good attitude and willingness to learn earned him the Coach's Award. Each player on this team managed to embrace a pressured sport, in the midst of a pressured, watershed season. They ran hard, came to the net; they let themselves have fun. It was truly an honor to be on the court with this group. Congratulations on a great season.

– Coach Geoff Nelson

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Congratulations Class of 2010!

Stephanie Aaron Shervin Afshari Lindsay Albala John Alexander Chiamaka Anyoku Christina Araskog Paige Arfman Spencer Ashkin Jessica Batalitzky Josephine Bechand Jaclyn Bialer Brandon Blau Brooke Bliven Eliza Budd Patrick Burke Theodore Burke Cirsten Burton Shon Butani Zachary Cantor

Jamara Clark Katherine Croce Christopher Crowley James D’elia Sharon D’silva Dylan Diliberto Sahiba Dulai Keith Durante Brandon Elias Sydney Esiason Heather Feshbach Haley Gahan Robert Gelfand Abby Gluck Joshua Goldsmith AlExa Gordon Gabriella Graves Katherine Guevara

Myles Guiler Leo Gussack Sam Gussack Emily Hawkins Christina Idol Caroline Johansen Peter Kaplan Nicole Keegan Devon Kenger John Koufakis Dustin Lee Brandon Leeds Courtney Lenoir Molly Leon Megan Lightcap Duncan Lindsay Christopher Maierle Iyatunde Majekodunmi

Meredith Mangiarotti Sameer Massand James Mcroberts Siobhan Miller Weston Morabito Gabrielle Moretto Samantha Nesfield Catherine O’connell-Stingi Antonia O’hara Olivia Pascucci Renee Pindus Grace Quick Carolyn Ratner Kathryn Reggio Alexis Robinson Ryan Rosmarin William Sawicki

u

u

of

Friends Academy Class 2010 College Acceptances

Amherst College l Barnard College l Bentley University l Boston College l Boston University l Brown University l Colgate University l Colorado College l Columbia University l Cornell University 2 l Davidson College l Duke University l Emory University l Fairfield University l George Washington University l Georgetown University l Harvard University l Johns Hopkins University l Lehigh University l McGill University l New York University l Northeastern University l Northwestern University l Oxford College of Emory University l Pitzer College l Princeton University l Roanoke College l Skidmore College l St. John’s University

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Morgan Schapiro Zachary Schoenhut Miles Schuss Laura Schwarz Julia Sharpe-Levine Johanna Silbersack Bradley Silverstein Nicole Soviero Allyn Toles Elliot Turkiew Ariel Walzer Jasmine Wang Deborah Wecksell Mindy Weiss Taylor Wilkins Anastasia Williams Zoie Williams

St. Lawrence University l Stanford University l SUNY - Cortland l Syracuse University l The Cooper Union l Trinity College l Tufts University l Union College l University of Connecticut – Storrs l University of Delaware l University of Maryland – College Park l University of Massachusetts – Lowell l University of Miami l University of Richmond l University of Virginia l Vanderbilt University l Vassar College l Villanova University l Virginia Institute of Technology l Wake Forest University l Washington University – St. Louis l Wellesley College l Wesleyan University

l

Strong Minds.

Kind Hearts.

Faculty Milestones Former Faculty Notes Former librarian Alfredo Vergel loves his new position as Associate University Librarian at Southwestern Adventist University, Keene, TX. The school is in a rural setting but only forty minutes from Fort Worth and one hour from Dallas. He's responsible for the university archives and for the library website. He also provides Former librarian Alfredo reference Vegel with his wife, Sonia, services and and children, Lukas and helps manage student workers.

Gian, in Cleburne, TX He misses FA, but not the weather! He and his family live in Cleburne.

Former Athletic Director Marty Jacobson was a featured speaker at a ceremony on March 13th honoring Peter Darbee ’71, who received the American Jewish Committee’s National Human Relations Award. "Marty was a tremendous hit and competed with the family video for high point of the night," Peter reported. Peter is CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation. At Friends, Peter was a standout on Marty’s wrestling team, and recently he honored his former coach by establishing the Martin Jacobson Scholarship at Friends Academy. Claudia (former Lower School teacher) and Marty Jacobson were back on campus in June for Fourth Day Honors, when the Martin Jacobson Scholarship recipient, Reoni Mapp '11, was announced.

Jo Ann Withington, wife of the late former headmaster Ted Withington, reports that she is doing well and still lives in her home in Broody, ME. Former Director of Admissions Mary Craig, and her husband, Alan Craig (former LowerMiddle School Principal, Development Director and Associate Head), were featured in the Real Estate section of The Philadelphia Inquirer this spring, which profiled their twentiethfloor condo overlooking the city. Shortly after the article appeared, the Craigs hosted eleven students from Westbury Friends School, giving the kids a bird's-eye history lesson.

Former Spanish and history teachers, Pam and Mike Spatola, respectively, celebrated the wedding of their daughter, Heather, the twin sister of Greg Spatola '05.

Former FA history teacher Liz Roosevelt was a guest of honor and delivered a tribute at the wedding of Sameer Sayeed '96.

Correction regarding Former Faculty Notes in the previous issue:

The note about the retirement of former Lower School teacher James Betts erroneously said he was Head of the Brooklyn Montessori School. He was Head of the Elementary and Middle School at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School. The Head of Brooklyn Heights Montessori School is Dane Peters, father of Aaron Peters '91.

Gregory Reid

Longtime FA employee retires

By Margaret Lindner Lower School Art teacher

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remember feeling that I knew Greg Reid long before I actually met him. New to Friends, I was intrigued by the bold and vibrant artwork that was displayed in some of the offices around campus. One piece particularly caught my eye, since it had a small scrap of fabric glued onto the surface, and it was clearly the same scrap of fabric that I had discarded just days earlier. Just who was the mystery artist, who turned so much of our throwaway materials into such marvelous creations, full of color and interesting iconography? It was Greg, and it was the beginning of a long and wonderful friendship.

Greg Reid retires this summer, after serving Friends Academy well for 36 years, working tirelessly in so many ways on the Building and Grounds crew. Much of his time has been spent as the lone painter, with roller and drop cloth, keeping all our rooms and hallways freshly painted, but it has been Greg’s work with a smaller brush and a palette knife that has really made our walls sing. Greg’s richly colored and gloriously embellished paintings and found-object sculptures can now be seen in many places around campus. Several times over the years, Greg has shared his passion for telling his story through his artwork with our students, serving as our artist-in-residence. He has an amazing way with students of all ages. Greg is a quiet, unassuming and humble man, and young children instinctively know that he has tremendous respect for what they have to say. Recently, Greg volunteered to conduct an art workshop with me at the Mentoring Matters Conference at CW Post University, and he wove the same magical spell when working with young teens there.

Occasionally, Greg would surprise us by coming in over the weekend to mount a new display of

AMANDA FISK/friends academy

Greg Reid, a painter and maintenance worker for Friends for 36 years retired this June. Greg is also an acclaimed artist and many of his pieces hang at FA and in local art galleries.

his work in the Lower School art room. Sometimes, the work would have a clear intention that the students might plainly discern, but other pieces might take more exploration and Greg would be the first to tell the students that sometimes he himself is not always sure where new work might lead him. My favorite piece of advice that Greg gives young artists is not to be so quick to view something as a mistake, but to see the lines (or shape, or color choice, etc.) as a message from deep within that you are just not ready to hear. He suggests stepping away from the work, taking a break, then going back to see if you are ready to hear what the message is.

A life-long resident of Oyster Bay, Greg hopes to spend some of his well-earned retirement traveling.

He especially enjoys spending time in St. Thomas and whenever he returns, the sun-kissed colors of St. Thomas will appear in his work! Keep being an inspiration to all around you. And please bring back your work anytime – our walls are waiting, always!

Greg Reid mentors two budding young artists in Art Studio.

Faculty Professional Development Last year Conor Buechler, US Physics teacher, coach and Assistant Head Advisor, earned his PhD in Physics from the University of Washington. Conor has been updating the physics lab equipment and developing both curriculum maps and lab activities.

Christine Botti*, earned

her Master's degree in Health Education from Hofstra University. She is using this background and some new resources to develop the Lower School Health curriculum, which has had weekly health classes for all LS grades for two years.

* Friends Academy helped support their academic studies.

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Amy Mulcahy*,

Middle School Spanish teacher and coach, just completed her Master's degree in Spanish Education from Middlebury College this summer. As the lead Spanish teacher in the Middle School, Amy is updating the Spanish curriculum maps for her division.

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Alumni News

from president the Peter Stein ‘79

Dear Fellow Alumni, At Fourth Day Honors, the year-end awards ceremony happy to be re-engaged. I spoke with one person who for the Upper School, I had the privilege of inducting had never been to the event, but who decided to attend the class of 2010 into the Friends Academy Alumni after having had such a great time at the 30th reunion Association. What an impressive group of young at FA in the fall. It was also terrific to see faculty there people! The ceremony really brings to – even some retired teachers who shaped so light the character, accomplishments and many lives over the years, including Roger potential of our graduates. Some seniors Erickson and Pat Parmelee. performed musical selections – including Classes ending in 0 and 5 will celebrate opera – and the descriptions of the young special-year reunions over Fall Fair and Homeman and woman who were recognized with coming Weekend, October 22-24. All alumni the Headmaster's Commendation were inare invited to the Homecoming Reception at spiring (maybe a little humbling!). We are the home of Bill Morris following the Fair on proud to welcome them among our ranks.

Saturday. Volunteers in special-year classes are Another source of pride at the ceremony coordinating with the Alumni Board and the was the address by this year's Distinguished Peter Stein ’79, alumni office to plan class dinners after the Alumna, Susan Stein Danoff '60. Her Reception. Stay tuned for details – and make Friends Academy profile in this issue details her tireless com- Alumni plans to attend! mitment to the public good through her The more we meet our fellow alums, and the Association career in law, culminating with her current President more we reconnect with the school, the more position as a New York State family court we encounter the significance of a Friends judge, as well as her lifelong engagement Academy education, for us as individuals and in community service. Meeting her and her family was for those whose lives are touched by the Friends alums a true pleasure. Their warmth and their love and apwho "let their life speak," as the Quaker commitment is preciation for Friends Academy (her sisters, Juliet Stein sometimes expressed.

'56 and Nina Stein Wolf '64, were there with Susan) were uplifting.

I hope your summer is enjoyable, and see you in the Those 200 of you who attended the New York City fall!

Reunion at the Yale Club with me this past June will agree that it was a resounding success once again. Attendees spanned a half century of alums, from 1959 to 2009. Every year there are first-time attendees who are

Help us help you and your fellow alums stay connected

1

Send us your news and address and e-mail updates: Alumni Office Friends Academy 270 Duck Pond Road Locust Valley, NY 11560 alumni@fa.org; 516-465-1796

2

Connect by website: FA's password-protected Alumni Community: www.fa.org/alumni Click on log into My Backpack"* on the left-hand side. Search by last name, maiden name, class year and profession.

*If you do not know your username and password, e-mail the Alumni Office at alumni@fa.org.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

3

Are you on Facebook?

Become a member of the Friends Academy group. Type "Friends Academy Alumni Association" in the search bar.

Friends Academy Alumni Association Alumni are the living legacy of Friends Academy.

50th Reunion!

Reconnect at FA's Largest Community Event !

nion u e R h t 25

Special Reunion Celebrations for Classes Ending in 0 and 5

Fall Fair & Homecoming October 22-24 Friday:

50th Reunion Luncheon for the Class of 1960

Friday night:

Potential class gatherings

Saturday:

Fall Fair followed by the Homecoming Reception on campus for all alumni. Ward Burian '54, the Alumni Association's first president, will be honored at the Reception.

Saturday night: Reunion Dinners off campus for classes ending in 0 and 5,

as well as the Class of 1954 Sunday:

Meeting for Worship in Matinecock Meeting House

Volunteers in classes planning special reunions will reach out to classmates soon. More information is on the alumni pages of the FA website: www.fa.org/alumni. Contact Alex Edwards-Bourdrez in the Alumni Office with questions: alumni@fa.org or 516-465-1796

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

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Alumni Profiles Heather Vuillet Lende ’77

A Life of Community Engagement

By Alex Edwards-Bourdrez Assistant Development Director/Alumni Relations & Giving

Heather Vuillet Lende '77 has built her life through engagement with the individuals and organizations that make up the community of Haines, Alaska, population 2,400. She is one of three daughters (all Friends Academy alums) of the late Sally Vuillet (known to thousands of alums as one or more of the following: Spanish teacher, Foreign Language Department Convener, Upper School Assistant Principal, College Guidance Counselor and Associate Head). Heather and her husband of 28 years, Chip, have raised five children in Haines. In addition to her deep involvement as a volunteer, Heather writes a weekly column – as well as the obituary of every deceased Haines resident – for the town's paper, the Chilkat Valley News. She has been a columnist for The Alaska Dispatch, and has written commentary for National Public Radio and The Christian Science Monitor. She is the author of two recent books, If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska (2006) and Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friendships, and Faith in SmallTown Alaska (2010). The symbiotic relationship between Heather and her community is a reflection of the ethos instilled in her at Friends Academy.

"F

riends Academy is not all that different from where I am now."

That observation by Heather Vuillet Lende '77 is intriguing in light of the circumstances: She offered it a couple of months ago during a phone interview while standing on the porch of her quiet home in tiny Haines, Alaska, where there are no traffic lights, and where nobody drives over 25 miles per hour.

The title of each of Heather's books includes the phrase "Small-Town Alaska," but she insists that one does not have to live in an isolated, sea-side town near the

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Heather Vuillet from the 1977 Lamp yearbook.

Heather Vuillet Lende '77 with Forte, her flat-coated retriever, in Haines, Alaska.

border of The Yukon, Canada's northwestern-most territory, to experience and contribute to the intimacy of community life she describes in her writing.

"We make small towns where we are," Heather said. "Through one-on-one involvement with people, you make connections." Those connections form a web of individuals who not only work together toward a common purpose, but also open up a trusting place where each can explore and appreciate the complexity and richness of their lives.

Heather's life is marked by a mixture of serendipity and intention. When asked

when she and Chip moved to Alaska, she responded, "We didn't really 'move' here.

We just went and ended up staying."

That was in 1982, following their wedding just one year after being students together at Middlebury College. They drove the 4,000-plus miles to Anchorage, where Chip found work in a saw mill. Heather landed a job hosting the morning show, "Rhythm and News," at the local National Public Radio affiliate. The show mixed music, sections of NPR's "Morning Edition" and interviews Heather conducted with a colorful variety of locals.

"One day I'd have a conversation with

Alumni Profiles

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Heather Vuillet Lende ’77: A Life of Community Engagement the president of the Elks Club, and the next day might bring a teacher on the air to explain the pre-school registration process," Heather recalled. The experience was an introduction to ground-level local culture that has become an inspiration for Heather ever since.

After two years in Anchorage, Chip's entrepreneurial spirit brought them to Haines, 770 miles southeast, where he founded a lumber yard. The couple rolled up their sleeves to become mainstays in the community.

"Most people who live here are from somewhere else originally," Heather remarked. "It's very accepting of new people, and you can get involved immediately if you want to."

Heather's activities have kept her close to the rhythms of the lives of just about every Haines resident for 25 years.

She is currently president of the board of Haines Borough Public Library, and has been a board member on and off since 1985.

In 2005 the library received the first annual "Best Small Library in America" award, cosponsored by the Library Journal and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Community involvement, drawing on a broad cross-section of volunteers, is the engine that drives the library's programs.

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or more than a decade Heather has coached the co-ed high school crosscountry team, with several of her five children participating along the way. The commitment involves shepherding runners on water ferries and small planes for every away meet, and organizing overnights in homes of runners from opposing teams. Her teams, comprising between five and 20 students out of a school population of only 100, have produced several regional champion runners, and many have finished in the top ten in the state.

For the past several years Heather has been involved with Haines Hospice, an all-volunteer program that operates in the homes of its approximately 40 clients. The commitment is an offshoot of her role as the town's sole obituary writer, and her dedica-

tion to it was galvanized by her experience recovering from a near-fatal accident in 2006.

A service-oriented outdoor program called Action Socialization, a precursor to today's Community Service, put Heather and her schoolmates in a situation iding down a that "opened [their] minds gentle slope The companionship to a different way of life." on her bicycle, The multi-faceted relationshe provides Heather suddenly had to ships she developed with hospice patients avoid a pick-up truck that teachers also opened her had entered the intersecmeans sitting in mind to the complexity tion ahead – the driver silence for long and potential in individudid not see her. She lost stretches of time – als, including herself. "My control and fell off, and "just being there," teachers at Friends were so slid across the pavement interesting and lively," she as she put it. on her back. The truck's said. "They had a greater rear tire rolled over her influence on me than the "It's beneficial for pelvis, crushing bones professors at Middlebury." the volunteer and and causing other interHeather's open-mindednal injuries. The arduous the person cared for. ness, her individuality and months-long recovery It's a lot like Quaker community focus, and her in a Seattle hospital and Meeting," she said. keen interest in the lives then in her home is "The sheer presence and well-being of others described in her just-pubprimed her for her rewardof people with each lished memoir, Take Good ing life in Haines.

The other is important."

Care of the Garden and the area's population is ethniDogs: Family, Friendships, cally diverse, about twenty and Faith in Small-Town percent Tlingit Indian, and Alaska. the range of occupations and lifestyles is reBy necessity, Heather's life slowed down. markable.

Interdependency defines people's Being immobilized and utterly dependent lives, and virtually the entire town attends brought the value of companionship into graduation.

The varied post-high school sharp focus. Often now, the companionship paths of recent classes (numbering around she provides hospice patients means sitting 17 seniors each) underscores the commuin silence for long stretches of time – "just nity's diversity: A few went on to colleges as being there," as she put it. "It's beneficial for selective as Bowdoin and Harvard; a couple the volunteer and the person cared for. It's enlisted and were deployed to Iraq; some a lot like Quaker Meeting," she said. "The found themselves in jail. sheer presence of people with each other is

R

important."

Friends Academy readily comes to mind for Heather when she reflects on her current life. Caring service to others, the sacredness of each individual and embracing diversity took root for her during her seven years at Friends.

"I went from the public elementary school, which was uniformly suburban elite, to Friends, where I found myself in class with kids from different religious, ethnic and economic backgrounds," she remarked. "It was socially enlightening."

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he poignancy of life runs through Take Care of the Garden and the Dogs.

The title is a quote from Heather's mother, Sally Vuillet, who passed away shortly before Heather began the book, and whose practical nature, common sense and uncomplicated way of communicating were influential to so many Friends alums. Sally's dedication to her students, friends and family underpinned her life, just as Heather's engagement with her adoptive community in Haines shapes the purpose and value of her life.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

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Alumni Profiles Michael Grunwald ’88

Digging Deeper to Change the National Conversation

By Alex Edwards-Bourdrez Assistant Development Director/ Alumni Relations & Giving

Michael Grunwald ’88 has been a senior national correspondent for Time Magazine since July 2007. His 20-year career in journalism began during the summers of his undergraduate years at Harvard, when he worked as a sports writer for The Boston Globe, which hired him as a full-time staff writer in 1992.

After six years at the Globe, first on the local beat and then as a national reporter, he went on to The Washington Post, where he was a national staff writer, and where his investigative reporting earned him the George Polk Award for national reporting, the Worth Bingham Prize for investigative reporting, and the Society of Environmental Journalists award for indepth reporting on the Everglades, among other honors. He expanded his research on the Everglades and published his first book, The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise, in March 2006. He has authored numerous cover stories for Time, including the 2009 “Person of the Year” article on the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. An August 2007 cover story, “Why New Orleans Still Isn’t Safe,” won him the Understanding Journalism Foundation’s Award for Preventive Journalism, that came with a $50,000 cash prize that Michael donated to a Lower Ninth Ward relief organization. He and his wife, Cristina Dominguez, live in South Beach, FL, with their son, Max (2), and new-born daughter, Lina.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Michael Grunwald '88 (left) interviewing Vice President Joe Biden in preparation for a Time Magazine article on the stimulus bill.

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eachers and former Friends Acad- one of his fellow students made about a play emy schoolmates remember MiMichael wrote in Creative Writing: “I think chael Grunwald ’88 as confident, we’re fortunate to have writing of this quality upbeat, smart, witty and talented, in our class.” as well as an independent thinker, a “doer” “I have always hoped that Mike would find and a first-rate writer. He caught the writing a career in which his writing was available to bug early in his teenage years, and he knew a large public,” Roger said recently. “His Time that was going to be his professional essays have found that audience.” pursuit.

Michael sees his position at Time Michael’s involvement in school as senior national correspondent life led to several leadership experias an opportunity to “change the ences in a variety of activities. They conversation” nationally, as he had in common a combination of put it. He has always exercised a substantive analysis and sharp verpassion for discovering the back bal expression. With his classmate, story and wider context of curthe actress Melissa Errico, he corent events – his reporting for The Michael Grunwald directed the class’s Junior Musical, Washington Post included a series on from the 1988 Lamp The Boyfriend, and played several what he called “the dysfunction” yearbook. roles in other theater productions. of the Army Corps of Engineers, He was a four-year staff member of the for example – but ingrained conceptions, student newspaper, The Inkwell, and served as widespread misinformation (or lack of inforeditor his senior year. With Michael as a lead mation), and the nature of the government’s lawyer, the FA Mock Trial team won the Nasdecision-making apparatus make it difficult sau County championship – in its first year. even for reporters at major outlets like the Through it all he was a top student whose Post to bring pressure to bear on key politienthusiasm for learning and sharing ideas cians in a timely way. was infectious.

The cover of a widely read national news Former English teacher Roger Erickson weekly is a very different stage, and Michael had Michael in class for three out of four has taken advantage of it.

Upper School years, and calls him “a master “For years I had been banging my spoon with the pen.” He remembers a comment on my high chair about the Army Corps of

Alumni Profiles

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Michael Grunwald ’88: Digging Deeper to Change the National conversation Engineers,” he said, using a favorite metaphor of his, “trying to get people alarmed about the kinds of things that eventually led to Katrina.” Then his August 2007 cover story two years after the disaster, "Why New Orleans Still Isn't Safe," awakened the general public not only to the continuing systemic problems that were leaving the city vulnerable, but to the way those systemic problems had drowned the city in the first place.

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ther cover stories Michael has penned have drawn attention to previously underexposed context surrounding issues in the national spotlight – changing the conversation, and potentially shaking things up in a major way.

His April 2008 cover story, "The Clean Energy Scam," shattered public misconceptions about biofuels, and helped reshape the congressional debate. A follow-up cover story, “Why We Need to See the Light About Energy Efficiency” (January 12, 2009), gave readers the tools to think through the issue in a practical way and to hold their elected representatives to a higher standard of analysis when it comes to policy-making.

Some story titles have a more playful, edgy feel and point to important alternative ways of thinking. “Who Needs Washington: How a Billionaire Mayor and a Celebrity Governor are Showing What it Takes to Get Things Done” (June 25, 2007) explored the governance of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Two years later, in November 2009, Michael’s cover story, “Why California is Still America’s Future (and That’s a Good Thing, Too),” challenged the widespread view that the nation's most populous state is doomed.

In early 2006, the cover of Michael’s first book, The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise, caught the attention of casual bookstore browsers as well as environmental scientists and policy-makers.

The book, an outgrowth of his investigative reporting on the Everglades for The Washington Post, earned the praise of critics across the country and received the gold medal for non-fiction at the Florida Book Awards. It

also brought Michael back to Friends, along with several alumni authors, in a salon-type program in the Kumar Wang Library, organized by Friends librarian Judy James.

He is currently working on a life-andtimes biography of President James K. Polk.

Recent Time pieces explore the stimulus bill (“It’s really not the boondoggle many would have us think,” Michael said) and the political folly – but also the legality – of the White House’s strategy to lure Joe Sestak from the senatorial primary race with Arlen Specter.

writer on my hands,” Roger recalls.

Michael credits Roger with cultivating his talent and enthusiasm. “I can still hear his voice in my head when I write,” he said. "He taught me to trim the fat, and showed me that writing doesn't have to be fancy to be good. And he was so incredibly exuberant about literature and writing and teaching; he inspired every day through his example.

I can't say enough about him; he's the best teacher I've ever seen, way better than anyone I had at Harvard."

M

ichael’s fondichael is quick est memories to acknowlof Friends edge that he Academy – and the ones “We need does not have all the he deems among the most more in-depth answers, but he insists on influential – involve the reporting that thoroughness and clardeep friendships he develcan reach a wide ity. He mixes healthy oped with classmates and skepticism with his public and make the eventual fellow Harvard reportorial experience students Ron Mitchell and complex clear and to keep his stories fresh Mark Wiedman. He has understandable. and relevant. He began been close with each of Information at as a generalist, reporting them all these years, with people’s fingertips on such diverse topics Ron since fourth grade and is so fragmented – as low-income housing, with Mark since sixth. The sewer main breaks and trio shared a breadth of and it’s often activist marches. The intellectual interests and misinformation." street-level view of issues a passion for participation he developed has given in challenging school achim an advantage as tivities. Their friendships he has sought to delve deeper, sparked by a molded them as independent, strong-minded thought that begs the need for follow-up. individuals.

“I hope that my longer, investigative pieces In 2007 Ron returned to Friends to adshow that conventional wisdom is not unasdress the Upper School at the Winter Sports sailable,” Michael said. “We need more inAssembly. (Ron was Harvard’s basketball depth reporting that can reach a wide public captain and an Ivy League MVP, and is curand make the complex clear and understand- rently president and co-founder of Careerable. Information at people’s fingertips is so Core, LLC, a networking and mentoring fragmented – and it’s often misinformation. service for young business professionals.) In I aim to get to the bottom of issues that his talk, Ron invoked Michael as an example people are talking about.” of someone who illustrated his message to That approach, combining clear writing, the students: “Instead of 'practicing until important substance and original thought, you get it right', practice until you can’t get was apparent in Roger Erickson’s 1984 ninth it wrong.” grade class when Michael wrote an imMichael does set very high standard for promptu essay on a required summer reading himself and others, and each of his projects book, The Once and Future King. “I knew showcases the value of Ron's advice. from the first paragraph that I had a strong

M

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Class Notes

34

author’s corner T

ake a look at some of the most recent books and writings by Friends Academy alumni: Jennifer Briggs Stanley ‘88: The Path

of the Wicked, published

by Minotaur Books; A Killer Plot (written under the name of Ellery Adams), published

by Berkley.

Gina Maisano ‘80: Intimacy After Breast Cancer: Dealing with Your Body, Relationships and Sex, published by Square One Publishers.

Heather Vuillet Lende ‘77: Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friends and Faith in Small-Town Alaska, published by Algonquin Books.

Robert Stearns ‘54:

The Homeowner’s Hurricane Handbook, published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc, NYC.

Matthew Stevenson ‘72 (editor): Rules

of the Game: The Best Sports Writing from Harper’s Magazine, published by Franklin Square Press

Terence Finn ‘60:

When Europe Went Mad: A Brief History of the First World War, published by Pentland Press.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

1934 Walter J. Wilson 548 N. Main St. Apt. 314 Ashland, OR 97520 (541) 488-2389 wils2@mind.net Crystal and Donald Pollitt enjoyed a monthlong cruise this past spring that took them to Portugal and Spain, then around Italy’s boot to Venice, and ending with a sojourn in the waters among the Greek Islands. It rained only one day, and any chill in the air was compensated for by the 100-degree pool on board!

1935 We were saddened to hear of the passing of Isaac Kenton Blanchard on April 16, 2010.

Shortly after graduating from Wentworth Institute with a mechanical engineering degree, Isaac joined the Army Air Corps where he served with the 1955th Ordnance Corp in the South Pacific during WWII. Upon his return, he married and settled in Wilton, CT, where he was the owner of Blanchard Auto Salvage for many years.

1942 Helen Craft Price 173 Ocean Pines Terrace Jupiter, FL 33477 friscomaru1@aol.com

1945 Joy Mayes Brown 2110 West Center Road P.O. Box 239 Otis, MA 01253 (413) 269-6398 hopbrook1@verizon.net Sheila Morrisey Potter 37 Lawnwood Avenue Longmeadow, MA 01106 (413) 567-0988 sheila77long@aol.com Bob Albertson says all is well with him and his family this year. He and Betty very much enjoy living in their Kendall Community on the Hudson in Sleepy Hollow. He still commutes to his Jericho, Long Island office, where he works part time for the Bank of Canada. With his wife’s physical health declining, Lew Zimmerman is supportively

helping out with the domestic chores. Last Christmas he and Elinor had a festive family gathering with their son and family from the U.K., their daughter from Philadelphia, as well as their son and family from Jacksonville. Another son with family from the Poconos had made a visit previously.

They wish they could travel to London to see their grandsons Cole and Zach who are growing up rapidly in the U.K. and who now have British accents! Sheila Morrisey Potter had two recent graduations in her family, a six-year-old great granddaughter from Kindergarten, and another granddaughter, age 22, from Brown University, where she rode on the women’s Crew for 4 years.

She and her six crewmates raced in the Internationals in Sacramento, CA and reached the semi-finals. She and her older sister will be in France and Majorca this summer, working on food producing farms.

Sarah’s sister has been living in Spain for a year teaching English to young students and will be taking her Master’s degree next year in Barcelona on the History and Culture of Food, taught in French, Spanish and Italian, the latter language needing to be learned ASAP. I have a feeling she may never return permanently to the U.S.!! From Joy Mayes Brown: It was an extraordinarily busy year for me with a bevy of usual community-oriented jobs and working with the Committee for the Bicentennial Birthday celebrations for the Town of Otis in the western part of Massachusetts. It was well worth the effort that highlighted today with historic lifestyles going back to the aftermath of the Revolution. I had a great chat recently with Henry Schless and his wife, Marilyn, a nurse, to reminisce about our great school days in the Forties. More about the wartime impact of WWII in a subsequent edition of Class Notes. Henry, now 83, is still living in London, Canada, having retired professionally from a traveling career that utilized his dual citizenship. A native of France, he joined Friends during the War, and like so many others upon graduation in 1945, joined the US Military Service.

It would be most welcome if more of our remaining fellow classmates would stay in touch once in a while. Sheila and I, who talk often, would appreciate the input. Best Regards, Joy.

1946 Evelyn Broglio Diefendorf 355 Lake Forest Drive, SW Pinehurst, NC 28374 (910) 295-3680 pinedief@embarqmail.com

y

Bequest a Academ

aking M Friends to

"I want my positive experience at Friends Academy to be shared by others." – Eric Koster '65

E

ric Koster '65 recently sat down to draft his will. Once his loved-ones were taken care of, he wanted to recognize what helped make him the person he is today and to give back.

"My years at Friends were instrumental in making me the person I am today," Eric said.

At Friends he was "motivated by gifted and caring teachers who lit a spark." He is leaving a bequest to Friends in recognition of the lasting impact they made on him. He has also made this gift to honor his parents, who strongly believed in the value of Friends Academy's Mission and who sacrificed so that he could obtain its benefits.

Eric wanted to help others get the kind of character-building education he was fortunate to get at Friends. He decided to make a bequest toward need-based financial aid – to benefit

Eric Koster '65 is a husband, father of three and a partner in a successful law firm. He enjoys sailing and has recently taken up motorcycle riding.

future generations of students. "I have confidence that Friends is true to its Mission, and I want my positive experience there to be shared by others," he said.

Please join Eric and the many others, who have included Friends in their estate plans:

You can make a gift that has a substantial, long-lasting impact.

You can leave a legacy and recognize the value Friends holds in your heart.

You can make a difference in more students' lives with a bequest than with a gift that comes from today's income or savings.

A bequest is a simple way to make the maximum positive impact without compromising your lifestyle or budget.

For information on how to include Friends Academy in your estate plans, how to establish an endowment, or to discuss ways to match your interests with school needs, contact Director of Development Carl Pozzi at carl_pozzi@fa.org or 516-393-4269.

Strong Minds.

Kind Hearts.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

36

Class Notes

1947 Margery Peterson Lee is doing well, spending colder months in Florida and warmer months at her home near Philadelphia. She made contact this summer with Samantha Sharf ‘08, a student at the University of Pennsylvania who interned at the Institute of Contemporary Art at UPenn. Margery has a long-standing connection with the Institute, having served on the Board until 1997, with some of her tenure as Board chair.

1948 Marian Schwartz Feniger 16 West 77th St., Apt. 9E New York, NY 10024 (212) 362-8968 srajerry@aol.com

1950 Suzanne Didier De Vito 59 West 12th Street, 16A New York, NY 10011 (212) 627-7103 suzannedv@sprintmail.com We hope for a good turnout at the 60th Reunion celebration, Oct. 22-23. We’re planning a class dinner on Saturday, Oct. 23.

Stay tuned for details, coming soon!

1951 George H. Gifford, Jr. 12 Oak Ridge Road Stony Brook, NY 11790-2011 (631) 751.7489

1952 Margaret Whitney Shiels 5427 FM 2515 Kaufman, TX 75142 (972) 962-8124 mspaumanok@aol.com First, we are saddened by the passing of Joan Krier Heagney. The next issue will include a short obituary. Bob Wilkinson and his wife, Connie, wrote, “We just got back from six weeks in Arizona, including a week in Sedona. What a fantastic place; beautiful red rock canyons to hike in. While there, we bought a small home outside Phoenix in a Robson community...not to move to, but a place to go occasionally during the winter months. And yes, we have a guest

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Adell and John Hewlett '56 at their December 2009 wedding in Setauket, NY.

bedroom. Come October, we are planning to spend one or two months in Berkina Faso, Africa, where son Bruce and family are now stationed. Mostly sand, but some game parks, some interesting places to visit, like Timbuktu. Not the world’s biggest tourist attraction, but we’ll enjoy being there with the family.” Betsey Luther writes: “My daughter, Elizabeth Weaver, lives in Florida.

My two grandsons are in college. I am busy with two volunteer projects: I am a board member of The Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women’s Association (the 6th accredited to the UN) and president of the Shanghai Tiffin Club, a professional organization for Chinese and non-Chinese members which started in 1842 in Shanghai. We are the only remaining chapter and our membership is roughly half Chinese and half non-Chinese.

We meet approximately three times in the fall and three times in the spring for luncheon and have interesting speakers on a range of topics each time. Fluff Macy Thayer and her husband, Alec, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 31st. That being Halloween, a great group of goblins, witches, ghosts and what-have-you partook of brew and barbecue at their home in Florida. It was a howl!

1953 Timmie Buck Wiant 6369 Pershing Avenue St. Louis, MO 63130 (314) 726-2564 Timbuck2@wiant.net

1954 Donn Andre 5608 Granby Road Derwood, MD 20855 (301) 840-1060 donnandre@comcast.net Make plans to attend the special reunion this

October 23, to celebrate the class’s fiftyfive years since graduation (the celebration didn’t gel last year!). Festivities include Fall Fair on Saturday, October 23rd, followed by the all-alumni Homecoming Reception at 4:30pm. Ward Burian, whose initiative launched the Alumni Association in 1964, will be honored at the Reception. The class will have dinner at the home of Barbara Booth Wylie, whose children and grandchildren have all shared the great experience of being a student at FA. Bob Stearns wrote a book that came out in the summer of 2009: The Homeowner’s Hurricane Handbook, published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc. The book is available through major book sellers.

1955 Doris Atwater Bouwensch 209 Green Way Wayland, MA 01778-2622 (508) 358-3454 Arthur M. Geoffrion 322 24th St. Santa Monica, CA 90402 (310) 394-0185 arthur.geoffrion@anderson.ucla.edu Doris Atwater Bouwensch writes, “I help older people, and am involved with natural science, camps, a preservation project, schools, colleges and some charities.” She has been downsizing her house since her husband passed, giving his engineering books to libraries and some of her own books to a bookstore that promotes teaching business skills to teens. George Cadwell writes that “… grandson Danny Price passed all four parts of Florida CPA on the first try with points to spare and is now a CPA. I have sired a league of accountants.

Not yet certified but studying for exams are grandsons Phillip Price and Chuck Cadwell (sons John and Charles are also accountants ... well, someone has to count the beans).

Grandson Sam Wills starts University of Louisville Speed School of Engineering this fall. Granddaughter Marlee Cadwell starts UNC Wilmington this fall and is a polevaulter. Recent embassy travels have taken me to Sanaa, Yemen (scary and dangerous), and Muscat, Oman (beautiful, peaceful, and so clean that one is fined for having a dirty car). Myrna and I and 6 close relatives went to Nassau in May on Monarch of the Seas, a lovely cruise. We have the Captain’s Lady rented in August for our annual family reunion by the sea.” George expects to attend the reunion at Friends this year. Art

Class Notes Geoffrion enjoyed an excellent 50th Cornell reunion in last summer, as did Naomi Johnson Dempsey. Then he and his wife spent July in the Colorado mountains as usual, went to Australia’s Gold Coast in September for the ITU Triathlon World Championships (she medaled), and had an enjoyable family reunion in Disney World over Thanksgiving with both daughters’ families. Staying at Disney’s Kidani Village near Animal Kingdom, they had the unusual thrill of waking up every morning to see giraffes and other large animals a stone’s throw from their balcony. The class website is alive and well at Google Sites; let Art know if you have any trouble getting in. Tip: there is not yet such a thing as a digital time capsule, much as you’d like to archive digital copies of your photos, email, address book, family history, and other precious files, and then expect them to be viewable after a couple of decades. Until trustworthy perpetualpreservation digital vaults become available, you’d better either write an apology into your will or organize and print on acid-free paper everything of interest to your posterity.

Jim Graham’s trick for recalling what happened during the year is to go back over his credit card statements. [Ed. Another way is to review your digital photos.] He was reminded of a grandson’s graduation in June from George Mason University (then via ROTC into the U.S. Army), a visit to Maine in July to overdose on lobster, and a visit to Hobart-William Smith in upstate New York to attend a granddaughter’s choir concert.

“Pop Warner” football was on his calendar lately, and he supplied the pictures for a book his daily walking partner (they do 3-4 miles a day in rustic North Hunterdon County, NJ) just published about the trails they covered.

Jim has produced a 3-minute video on one of these walks that he’ll be happy to send you via email, and it includes music from his granddaughter’s concert. Naomi Johnson Dempsey is planning on attending reunion this year with friend, Clark. Sally (Sarah) Leonori Pusey reports that she has “moved to Calistoga at the north end of the gorgeous Napa Valley. The year started on an up-note at my sister’s house in Italy. Throughout the year I have been improving my basketmaking skills as well as writing numerous letters to California’s representatives in Washington.” Allan Munro is now living in New London, NH, as reported in a previous column. His brother, Blake ’61, and his wife, Denise, visited last fall to view the foliage.

His daughter, Amy, is a junior and his son, Jonathan, is a freshman at Kimball Union Academy, where Al finished high school after attending FA from 3rd grade through

37

Class of 1964 members (left to right) Indira Licht Garner, Cathie Bush Wardell, Nina Stein Wolf, Patty Burrows and Lesley Birkett Jacobs enjoy the October 24 Alumni Reception in the Jackson House before their class dinner.

10th. Al retired fully as of March 2009, and is now focusing on chairing a $38 million capital campaign for KUA. The current Chairman of the Board of KUA, who took over after Al’s 7-year tenure in that position, taught at FA for a few years in the late 70s.

Small world! Al was pleased to see Connie Eadie Hellman and Mike Hellman at their 50th Dartmouth Reunion, and had hoped to see Pete Klinge there as well, but had to be satisfied with a phone call. Al rightly wonders whether we’re going to celebrate our 55th reunion in 2010.

1956 Anne Wauchope Smith 297 London Drive Beaconsfield Quebec H9W 5Z1 Canada (514) 695-1951 awsmith@total.net

John Hewlett wrote with some terrific news, in the format of a short story: “On the day before Thanksgiving, November 26, 2008, John was having his car serviced at Smithtown Toyota (Long Island). After two hours, he ran out of reading material.

Across from him sat Adell, recently from Houston, TX, also tired of waiting. They began to talk and discovered that each was widowed and a retired teacher. When their cars were ready, they decided to have lunch together. Since John was in Florida much of the time from December 2008 to June 2009, they talked on the phone every night. In July they were engaged. On a warm, sunny

day in December 2009, with his son and her daughter as witnesses, they were married at St. James Catholic Church in Setauket (NY).” Congratulations to John and Adell!

1957 Roger O. Sanders 324 Fishing Ln. Deland, FL 32720 (386) 736-0815 ramblinrog38@cfl.rr.com

1959 Abbie G. Freedman 1312 Mark West Spring Rd. Santa Rosa, CA 95404 (707) 579-1312 abgfree@comcast.net Anne Schwiebert 1075 Mill Creek Drive Southold, NY 11971 (631) 765-1202 vzes47mg@verizon.net Carol Klarberg Tabb and her husband, Arthur, took a trip to Tuscany in May. With the increased number of issues of the magazine each year, we’ll have a chance soon to update each other. Plan to send your news in for the next issue when we send you the request!

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

38

Class Notes We hope for a good turnout at the 45th Reunion celebration, Oct. 22-23. We’re planning a class dinner on Saturday, Oct. 23.

Stay tuned for details, coming soon!

1966 Helen Lotowycz Rising 98 South Bay Avenue Brightwaters, NY 11718 (631) 666-0135 HRising@aol.com

1967 Matt Stevenson ‘72 (right) at a book signing in New York City for Rules of the Game: The Best Sports Writing from Harper’s Magazine, which he co-edited. Pictured with Matt are former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton (third from right), the author of the controversial book, Ball Four; Chip Elitzer (left of Jim Bouton), who figures prominently in Ball Four; legendary sportswriter Roy Blount Jr. (second from right), who wrote the forward for Rules of the Game; and Matt’s father, Nikolai Stevenson, who also sent his daughters, Nanette ‘71 and Julie ‘79 to Friends.

1960

1962

Dona Fagan Arnow 14901 Talking Rock Court North Potomac, MD 20878 (301) 294-0823 arnowtrans@aol.com

Randi Reeve Filoon P.O. Box 5495 Ketchum, ID 83340 (208) 788-1734 filoons@yahoo.com

Susan Stein Danoff is this year’s Friends Academy Distinguished Alumna!

Congratulations! She gave an address to the Upper School at the Fourth Day Honors awards ceremony on June 9. The text of her speech is posted on the Friends website, www/fa.org/alumni. A profile of Susan appears in this issue. Susan will be at the class’s 50th Reunion celebration, starting with the Luncheon hosted by Friends of Friday, Oct. 23, and continuing with Fall Fair on Saturday. After the Fair there is the Homecoming Reception on campus for all alumni, and the class will have a dinner following the Reception. More information and invitations will be mailed out soon.

Thanks to Andy Dott and Bob Powell for spearheading the plans.

1963

1961 Park Benjamin, III P. O. Box 368 Oyster Bay, NY 11771 (516) 922-9537 pbenjamin3@optimum.net

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Barbara Shoen Brundige 367 Split Rock Rd. Syosset, NY 11791 (516) 922-3944 bjbrundige@aol.com

Diana Dickson-Witmer 24 Brendle Lane Greenville, DE 19807 (302) 656-1190 ddickson-witmer@christianacare.org Scott W. Tilden 506 Hogan Court Doylestown, PA 18901-5900 (215) 491-9319 swtilden@earthlink.net

1968 Lesley L. Graham 615 NW Murphy Blvd Joplin, MI 64801 (417) 781-1858 llgraham@cableone.net We were saddened to hear that Marian Baker passed away in 2009.

Paula E. Howe 4914 Eigel Street Houston, TX 77007-3326 (713) 863-7541 phowe0612@comcast.net

1964 Suzanne Notides Melzig 104 E. Hillcrest Ave. Richmond, VA 23226 (804) 358-7626 nmelzig@comcast.net

1965 Robert D. Tilden 3640 County Road 16 Montour Falls, NY 14865 (607) 535-2217 rdtilden@yahoo.com

Jeff Leach ‘73 (right) with his 6’6’’ 14-year-old son, James, who is looking forward to playing high school basketball in the Chicago suburb where they live.

Class Notes

39

1969 Jane Forelle Casey 1190 Pequot Ave., P.O. Box 469 Southport, CT 06890 (203) 292.3644 forlkc@optimum.net For the past two years, Judith Fox Javelly has been managing an exciting new project for the University of Miami: the Launch Pad Web site and career-services program.

Check it out at www.TheLaunchPad.org.

1970 Eli Abbe 299 Ely Place Palo Alto, CA 94306 (415) 856-3498 eliabbe@mail.com We hope for a good turnout at the 40th Reunion celebration, Oct. 22-23. We’re planning a class dinner on Saturday, Oct. 23.

Stay tuned for details, coming soon!

1971 Robin D. Campbell 66 Vista Dr. Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 (518) 886-8874 robin.campbell@oprhp.state.ny.us Craig Kronman 37 Meadow View Rd. Orinda, CA 94563 (925) 258-9442 kronlaw@sbcglobal.net Three of Angela Manno’s mixed-media works were selected for an ongoing Smithsonian Institution exhibit titled “Out of This World: Art of the Space Age.” Angela donated an original, signed print of one of the works, “I stood on the Lunar Surface,” to the FA auction this spring. The exhibit is posted online. There is a link to it, with separate links to Angela’s works, on the alumni pages of the FA website, www.fa.org/alumni.

1972 Sarah Hollett Hossfeld 125 Kellog Street Oyster Bay, NY 11771 (516) 922-0955 sphh54@gmail.com

The class of 1975 – pictured here 15 years ago at their 20th Reunion – is looking forward to its 35th this coming October 22-24.

Sarah Hollett Hossfeld has joined Facebook.

Her bio reads, “In a nutshell: One great husband, two grown children, two crazy dogs and I spend my time with six- and sevenyear-olds teaching 1st grade. I am still living in Oyster Bay.”

1973 Laura Wicker Hackett 2420 Chatham Court State College, PA 16803 (814) 238-7661 lwh5@comcast.net

Jeff Leach reports that his fourteen yearold son, James, has surpassed his Dad in height and now stands 6 feet 6 inches – helping to make him a certain mainstay on the John Hersey High School basketball team in Arlington Heights, IL, as he enters ninth grade this coming year. James had a standout season last year in middle school.

1974 Evette Beckett-Tuggle 2 Dana’s Island Way Glen Cove, NY 11542 (516) 671-6377 eob2@aol.com

1975 Tilde Mariani Giacche’ Salita Falconara, 11 19032 San Terenzo di Lerici

La Spezia Italy (339) 260-1874 tildemgiacche@yahoo.com Daphne Riker Hagan writes, “All is well here.

Both kids are working in NYC. Jenny is living in Chelsea and Kyle has just moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Our puppy, Oliver, turned one in June. Kevin ‘73 and I will be celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary in June. Life is still busy, even though the kids have moved out. I am retired but involved in garden club, golf, tennis, etc. Just wanted to share a little story of how small the FA world is. My daughter, Jennifer, was out in the city with friends and friends of friends and one of them was meeting her dad for a drink.... the dad was none other than Peter Flint! So, Jenny met his daughter and Peter.” Penelope Wylie Mayer writes, “Christopher (Mayer) and I made it through our first year as FA Upper School parents unscathed. Augusta really had a great year, culminating with playing in the number three position on the girls golf team as a freshman and making the All Nassau County team for her division! She will be playing on the Metropolitan PGA Junior Tour this summer, so we’ll be seeing a lot of Long Island this summer via golf courses! Didn’t Jay Buckley do something like that for ISP? The NYC June reunion at the Yale club was a fun event highlighted by running into Tina Martin. (She came with Mike Gordon ‘74). Tina left FA after 10th grade to study abroad and never returned to FA. She’s got an interesting business

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

40

Class Notes

alums in the arts Stephen Kunken ‘89’: His performance in Enron on Broadway this spring earned him a nomination for a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. Stephen portrayed Andrew Fastow, the beleaguered company’s chief financial officer. The New York Times review highlighted Stephen: “As the ever more obsessive Fastow, Mr. Kunken charts a slide into near dementia with wit and clarity.”

Angela Manno ‘71: The Smithsonian Institution honored Angela by selecting three of her mixedmedia works for an online exhibit titled “Out of This World: Art of the Space Age.” Each of her works is Batik and photo heat-transfer on cotton: “Home,” “Spaceship Earth,” and “I Stood on the Lunar Surface.”

Angela donated a signed print of “I Stood on the Lunar Surface” to the Friends Academy Auction in April – and it was snapped up by Alumni Association President Peter Stein ‘79. The works, as well as the entire Smithsonian exhibit, can be accessed through the alumni pages of the Friends Academy website, www.fa.org/alumni.

called Tina Martin Personal Histories. She chronicles a family’s history through photos, stories etc., and makes books as keepsakes for future generations. Her website is www.

TMPERSONALHISTORIES.COM. It’s an interesting website, and I suggest you take a look! Robin Beckhard James and Kimi Puntillo were also at the Yale Club event and are looking forward to seeing everyone at Homecoming. Speaking of Homecoming (October 22-23), I have begun to post some photos on our class facebook page, Class of 1975 Friends Academy at Locust Valley.

Dang Mahaguna started it and is interested in seeing family photos from all of us (her family is posted) and I think getting to see each other’s families is a great idea. It’s fun to see each other at these reunions, however, we all know our kids are better versions of ourselves (at least in Christopher’s and my case). Several classmates who have not been back for reunions yet are threatening to return this year. Area hotel info is posted on the FA website, www.fa.org, if you’ll be coming from out of town, just to help make it easier for everyone to know where to stay. I’m also including a photo of our 20th reunion in this issue (see previous page). I’m sorry to say I do not recognize the classmate who is standing next to Laurie Block and Barbara Gallagher Erickson on one side and Robert Levy on the other. Can anyone shed some light here? Please get in touch, everyone (PWM25@AOL.COM), and I hope to see you all in October.”

1976 Nancy Toher Hawkins 123 Duck Pond Road Glen Cove, NY 11542 (516) 671-8977 Nthawkins123@aol.com

1977 Chuck Cooperstein 1332 Coral Drive Coppell, TX 75019 coopgator@aol.com OK, so what are you up to 77ers? I have tried to reach out to a number of you, and while several of you have responded (I am grateful for that), so many of you haven’t and I know you want to know what your fellow classmates are up to. You can reach me at CoopGator@aol.com or on Facebook, if that’s easier. Had a great dinner with Michael Greene and David Cohen and their wives, Alison and Debbie, back in

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

January when the Mavericks came through NYC. David is back in town working for Mitsubishi after his stint in London, and Michael continues to expertly ride the waves of Wall Street. Michael’s son, Jordan, graduated Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL in June, and another son, Andrew will be starting at Vanderbilt in the fall. Peter Rubin has joined Jordan Grabel as a resident of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, and is enjoying the change from Boston having opened up a private practice at the beginning of the year. Good call. Sure you enjoyed the winter a tad bit more than fighting the cold and snow. Meanwhile, Patrick Diaz has elected to continue the good fight against winter in Boston where he is an attorney with Ropes and Gray and has been for the last 17 years. Pat has three kids (19, 16 and 13) and the noted soccer player and wrestler has now been bitten by the golf bug, saying, “I don’t know how long it will last, but for now I find it extremely addicting.” Join the club. As for me, lots of news on my end, the least of which is that I am getting married in Dallas on August 13 to Karen Berlin. Karen grew up in New Jersey and Connecticut before heading to Dartmouth. She lived in Seattle and Portland before moving here seven years ago. She is currently a vice president for Cooksey Communications, a crisis management PR firm. Suffice to say, I am marrying WAY up here and couldn’t be happier. Meanwhile, my son, Jeffrey, starts high school in the fall with eyes on the University of Texas. I can’t believe I lost the recruiting battle before it even started. I just finished my fifth season with the Mavericks, and it’s amazing how fast the time has gone. I’m doing some local sports talk again, and gearing up for another college football season. So it’s been hectic, but it’s all worth it. All the best to you and yours, and now that we’re doing these updates three times a year, you don’t have to produce news every time out, but now the news can be even more timely. If you’re ever in Dallas, I’d love to hear from you, and with the Mavericks schedule, I’m sure I’ll be in your town sometime soon. Let me know where you are! Heather Vuillet Lende, who is profiled in this issue, completed a successful west-coast book tour in connection with her memoir, Take Good Care of the Flowers and the Dogs: Family, Friendship and Faith in Small-Town Alaska. She has been contracted to write a column for Women’s Day magazine, which has a circulation of 3.9 million. Roxanna Holmes writes: I am nearing retirement as a NYS Correction Officer at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

Class Notes I know, and yes it is an interesting career choice, however, I really like what I do. I will be sending my son Christopher off to college in August. He is a great kid. Soccer, lacrosse and basketball are his passion, in that order.

1978 Thomas Hawkins 123 Duck Pond Road Glen Cove, NY 11542 (516) 671-8977 thawkins@barclayscapital.com

1979 Pamela Picoli 9 Johnston Street Locust Valley, NY 11560 (516) 676-0214 pmpicoli@optonline.net

1980 Michael Salzhauer 860 Park Avenue New York, NY 10075 (212) 744-7974 michael@benjaminpartners.com We hope for a good turnout at the 60th Reunion celebration, Oct. 22-23. We’re planning a class dinner on Saturday, Oct. 23. Stay tuned for details, coming soon!

Gina Maisano has published her first book, Intimacy After Breast Cancer: Dealing with Your Body, Relationships and Sex. She also appeared as a guest on “The Doctor Show” on Serius XM radio this spring.

1983 Caroline Kaplan 21 Drake Lane White Plains, NY 10607 (914) 347-1562 carrie@carriekap.com

1984 Beth Anne Melkmann 162 East 80th Street, Apt. 3B New York, NY 10075 (212) 988-1753 lebonchien@aol.com

Jennifer Briggs Stanley ‘88, author of the recently published The Path of the Wicked and A Killer Plot.

1985 Laura Match Schaffer 16 Miles Avenue Providence, RI 02906 lematch7@gmail.com We’ll have a great opportunity to share news in person at our 25th Reunion celebration, Oct. 22-24. Check the FA website (www. fa.org/alumni) for information – and stay tuned! We’ll have details and invitations in the mail, on Facebook, and by e-mail soon.

Meanwhile, there’s this to report: Rob Lawrence, his wife Amy, and 3 kids, Eric (13), John (11) and Billy (7), moved to Tokyo last year for Rob’s work. In June, his eldest, Eric, became a Bar Mitzvah, in Tokyo! Rob says Japan is great!

1986 Stacy Koppelman Fritz 26 Glenwood Road Roslyn Harbor, NY 11576 (516) 625-2936 momshr@aol.com Kathryn Hawkins Schneider 76 Highland Road Glen Cove, NY 11542 (516) 759-5504 schneider.kate@gmail.com

1987 Barry D. Joseph 67-66 108th street, D66 Forest Hills, NY 10010 (718) 222-3563 barry@globalkids.org Emily Beiles Kaufman 7 Beechwood Drive Saddle River, NJ 07458 (201) 785-0907 emkaufman@optonline.net

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John Scola wrote in: “All is well for the Scolas. We’re preparing our first family trip to Europe. It will be a two-week trip: Poland for a wedding, Germany to see old friends, and Venice for some sightseeing. With our three boys, I have classified this trip as an adventure/experiment, not a vacation...

Wish us luck!” Douglas Craig has embarked on a walk across America, from Florida to California, to raise money for cancer research. The project is in memory of his late sister, Palmer Stamell. There is a link to Douglas’s website on the alumni pages of FA’s website, www.alumni/org, where there are a host of other stories about alumni.

Rashid Walker is a vice president for J.P. Morgan Asset Management in NYC.

1988 Eileen McGlinchey Hume 353 Hickory Avenue Garwood, NJ 07027 (908) 789-3396 eileen@kigsindian.com Melissa Errico played the lead in Shaw’s Candida this spring for the Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC. Mark Wiedman leads Corporate Strategy for BlackRock, an asset manager based in NY. He’s been there for six years, over five of which were in an advisory business he helped start. Mike Grunwald, a senior correspondent for Time Magazine, is profiled in this issue of The Meeting House. Jennifer Briggs Stanley keeps on enthralling readers. Her most recent book, The Path of the Wicked is the latest in her Hope Street Church series. Check out the Alumni Authors at the start of the Class Notes for more details.

1989 Adam Fruitbine 375 Faletti Circle River Vale, NJ 07675 (201) 391-3040 AFruitbine@aol.com JoAn Monaco 315 East 72nd St., Apt 18-L New York, NY 10021 (646) 438-9264 joanLmonaco@aol.com Greetings Class of 1989! We’ve had a fun time catching up with everyone and staying in touch after a great 20-year reunion

Continued on Page 44

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Class Notes 2010 NYC Alumni Reunion Held Monday, June 7, 2010 at the Yale Club in NYC

DANIEL GOODRICH FOR FRIENDS ACADEMY

The Grand Ballroom at the Yale Club with nearly 200 alumni attendees at the annual New York City Reunion

Jen Ryan Woods ‘99, Bradley Gambling ‘99, Jackie Ryan ‘97 and Sam Menzin ‘08 Alumni Association President Peter Stein ‘79 addressing the attendees History teacher Herb Lape, Brendan Dooley ‘08

1993 classmates Danielle Valenti Smith and Natalia Porcelli Good

Board of Trustees Co-Chair Tom Hawkins ‘78, former English teacher Roger Erickson, Former Lower School teacher Pat Parmelee, Alumni Board member Barbara Shoen Brundige ‘63

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Class Notes

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Linda and Park Benjamin ‘61, Robert Radsch ‘60 Alumni Association President Peter Stein ‘79, Head of School Bill Morris, Mike Gordon ‘74

Ramy Saad ‘90 and Tim Walters ‘88

Classmates from 2008: Alex Trautwig, Alex Williams, Katherine Scialabba and Casey Gahan

Board of Trustees Co-President Tom Hawkins ‘78 and Alumni Association Vice President Penelope Wylie Mayer ‘75

Former English teacher Carolyn Seaman, Greg Baecher ‘98, Jessica Foschi ‘98, Alumni Board secretary Pam Foschi Danbusky ‘97, Former Trustee Bob Seaman ‘59

Dean of Students Ron Baskind, Gavin Skeen ‘94, Jeremy Jorgensen, ‘98, and Jeremy’s fiancée

Paul Sheldon ‘05, Gia Vigliotti ‘05 and Rob Abney ‘05

Classmates from 1978: Vanessa Fromm Holloschutz, Ellen Westermann and Alumni Board member Lis Dillof Dreizen

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Class Notes

alums in the arts Sebastian Arcelus ‘95: He is currently playing Bob Gaudio in the Broadway production of Jersey Boys.

(This is the show’s second Broadway run. The first one ran from January 2008 to January 2009.)

The current engagement is scheduled to close in October.

Lucy Gould Reitzfeld ‘69 is represented in an exhibit of paintings in Manhattan this summer. The show, titled “New York Moments,” runs through August 14 at the George Billis Gallery, 555 W. 25th Street.

Abby Weir ‘99 mounted an exhibit of her paintings at the Chase Edwards Gallery in Oyster Bay this May and June. Lucas Foglia ‘01 was one of nine photographers whose works made up the 2010 Yale University MFA photography exhibit in Manhattan this spring and summer.

Allison CS Serpe Lewis ‘95: Allison had her first solo art exhibition, “Cut-Throat Escape” (the title canvas is pictured below), this summer at the NoHo Gallery on West 25th Street in NYC. Paintings by Brooke Borg ‘00 (www. brookeborg.com) were featured in a show titled “Contextos Intermedia,” at the Centre d’Art Tecla Sala, in Barcelona, Spain.

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Continued from Page 41 coordinated by Alex Edwards-Bourdrez.

The e-mails and photos have been flowing freely since our reunion and our class has been up to some incredible accomplishments (as usual). I am very happy to report that Stephen Kunken and his wife, Jenn Thompson, adopted a beautiful little girl, Naomi Kunken, from Ethiopia in March. Naomi is now 10 1/2 months and is the greatest thing to ever happen in their lives. She’s gorgeous and hilarious and a dream come true. What incredible news! And professionally, Stephen played Andy Fastow in the Broadway production of “Enron” this spring for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for best featured actor. It’s been quite a spring/ summer. It was amazing to watch the Tonys and see Stephen seated in the audience with stars like Denzel Washington and Scarlett Johansson! Marisa Pick Geisler also sent an e-mail after watching the Superbowl and seeing Stephen in an AT&T commercial.

She felt as if she had Stephen in her living room for the next few months every time the commercial came on! Very funny!

Congratulations, Stephen! Sean Munster wrote in with this exciting news: “On April 11, 2010, my partner, Kate, and I welcomed in a new addition to our family. Avery Thomas Munster was a nine pound baby boy, and will hopefully follow in his big sister’s footsteps and become our second hockey player in the family.” Mariellen Cordaro and her husband, Sam, are in the US this summer for a month’s vacation that she refers to as “the grandson tour.” Their son, Alex, is now two-and-a-half. After spending time in the U.S., Mariellen will start her studies to become a CPA in Australia! Ben Rising sent an e-mail with exciting news. His wife, Debbie, gave birth to their second child, Charles Hurst Rising on May 25, 2010. Very exciting news and congratulations! Nicole Petallides Tsoilias has been keeping very busy this summer. It’s amazing to pick up the NY Times and see a picture of Nicole on the cover during one of her anchor spots for Fox Business and what was even more impressive was watching Nicole co-anchoring the Greek Parade for Channel 9 (WOR) with Ernie Anastos this spring. Nicole did a great job with her knowledge of Greek history and culture and was always ready with a new interesting fact to keep her dialogue with Ernie Anastos fresh and fun. She did an outstanding job! Congrats, Nicole! Also of celebrity fame, Tanya Zuckerbrot Beyer was featured in the NY Post as New York’s go-to authority for how to get skinny! Tanya has a tremendously busy practice with a six-week

Sara Jane Aberman (1 year old), daughter of Kim Colombo Aberman '94.

waiting list and has high-end celebrity clients calling her all the time for dieting tips and menu suggestions from the hottest eateries around the globe. Shortly after the NY Post, Tanya was on The View and her book, The F Factor Diet, hit the best sellers list instantly.

Be sure to pick up her book and check out her article in the Post (nypost.com – search for Tanya Zuckerbrot). Congrats, Tanya!

Michèle Pauporté writes: “I’m living in NYC and my son, Tiger, just turned one! Yes, that’s his name and no, he was not named after Tiger Woods. After Woods’ scandals, Michele’s Tiger has no competition for the #1 Tiger spot anymore!” Erika and Vik Iyengar have added more joy to their happy little family. Their son, Connor, has been an outstanding big brother for twin boys, Tyler Carson and Jackson Carver who were born on December 21, 2009. On a professional level, Erika earned her tenure in January and Vik is eagerly awaiting his tenure decision this spring. Vik is still working on sexual selection of the rattlebox moth. Sounds like a busy summer in the Iyengar household!

Congrats, Vik! Christine Gauld Botvinick sent an email that she is now living in Boulder, Colorado, after living in LA and working in the film industry with her husband. Chris changed careers and now teaches fifth grade.

She keeps in touch with Jen Seaman Richardson, who is still living in the sleepy surf town (according to Chris) of Ventura, California, with her husband and two children. Jen has been busy teaching kindergarten. Josh Slater is doing well. He and his wife, Erika, have a fun summer planned with their boys, Sam, who just turned eight, and Charlie, who turned five. Lawrence Schimel writes that he has four new children’s books that he recently published in Spain. Their titles are: Igual Que Ellos/JUST LIKE THEM, El Árbol Menguante/THE SHRINKING TREE, La Tarta De Cumpleanos/THE BIRTHDAY CAKE, and El NiÑo Y El Espia/THE BOY AND THE SPY. Congratulations, Lawrence!

Class Notes I had the pleasure of seeing Matt Brennan and his wife, Susi, and their adorable little ones, Liam and Audrey, on a recent trip to San Fran in June. They are doing well and have a busy summer planned with vacations in Ireland and the Hamptons with their families and are enjoying life in beautiful Cali. Liam and Audrey are exceptionally bright little ones, but who would expect anything less with Matt and Susi as parents!?

Michèle Pauporté graced the national TV airwaves on ABC’s Good Morning America in May as she discussed skin cancer with meteorologist Sam Champion, and then performed surgery on the cancerous mole on his shoulder – live on the air. Regan Otto Schroeder is back from London. As for myself, my husband, Mike and I have been busy travelling lately with our daughter, Caroline, who is 17-months-old. It’s such a relief to have a toddler who is easygoing about long flights to Argentina, Uruguay and the west coast, with her only concern that there are enough crayons in her suitcase.

When we’re not flying somewhere new for speaking engagements, our practices have kept us very busy as well which is always a great thing! Hoping for some down time this summer! Thanks for the e-mails and hope to see you soon! JoAn

1990 Suzanne D’Addario Brouder 2225 N. Seminary Ave. Chicago, IL 60614 (773) 360-8921 suzanne@daddario.com We hope for a good turnout at the 20th Reunion celebration, Oct. 22-23. We’re planning a class dinner on Saturday, Oct. 23. Stay tuned for details, coming soon!

Thanks to Michael Brielmann and Peter Black for spearheading plans. Congratulations to Suzanne D’Addario Brouder on the birth of Christian Michael Brouder April 18, 2010.

This winter and spring, Ari Fliakos played the lead, Capt. N.I. Roscoe Chizzum, in the Wooster Group’s revival of North Atlantic, a raucous, satirical look at life aboard a World War II aircraft carrier. The show had runs in Los Angeles and New York (at the new Barishnikov Arts Center, where the Wooster Group is Artist in Residence).

(646) 373-7535 mfox789@gmail.com Colleen Doyle Moran 10 Arbor Way Morristown, NJ 07960 (973) 656-1513 colleendmoran@aol.com Congratulations to Caroline Hayday and her husband, Richard Scarpa, on the birth of their daughter, Lillian.

1992 Clayton Siegert 100 I Street S. Boston, MA 02127 (617) 821-2867 csiegert@the80sgame.com Hello classmates. As the only one of us not on Facebook, I appreciate all of your e-mail updates to keep me in the loop on things.

Without further adieu, let’s get to it. Michelle Smith Harlan writes: “I hope all is well with you and the rest of the class. In January my husband and I had a baby boy named Zachary Stephen Harlan. He’s doing well and growing like a weed!” Jeff Orenstein writes that “little has changed since my last update. My wife, Heather, and I continue to produce daughters that look like me with blond hair. We have three of those now. I’m still practicing maritime law in Washington, DC. (If any alumni have pirate problems, call me.) I had a great time at Todd Meringoff’s wedding on Cape Cod where Todd and I commandeered the piano for a late-night jam session. We’re thinking of putting the band back together, but couldn’t find Doug McGee. Doug, if you are out there, it sounds

1991 Michael Fox 1209 N. Citrus Avenue Hollywood, CA 90038

Sameer Sayeed ‘96 (second from right) with his bride, Caroline Anna Margaretha Aberg, of Stockholm, and two of his classmates, James Carey (left) and Daryl Holzman.

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like Jeff and Todd are trying to get the band back together. Todd Meringoff writes: “I got married in September 2009 at the ripe old age of 35 to a wonderful woman from Seattle. I keep saying this is the year for me to reunite with the FA community, but sadly have not received any recent invites to Hutch’s bonfire parties. I will have to wait for the next reunion!” Nyree Thorne writes that she is expecting her first child, a boy, this summer. Victor Arcelus writes: “I will be starting my seventh year working at Gettysburg College and currently serve the College as Assistant Dean of College Life and Director of Residence Life. I live in town across the street from the College and I walk two blocks to work. My wife, Julie, and I have two wonderful children, Matias (six) and Ekaterina (one). I head back to New York often to see my brothers (also Friends Academy alumni) perform, Sebastian, on Broadway in Jersey Boys, and Alessandro, with his band Tauk. Rebecca Mai writes: “All is well here. I finally finished my doctorate (just a few days ago!) after a very long stint in grad school. I have been working for the past two years doing neuropsychological assessments at a clinic in the Bronx for kids with learning disabilities. I love the work. I collected data for my dissertation at Casita Maria, where Sarah Calderon is the director. I couldn’t have finished without her! My kids are great and getting big.

Lucy is seven, Theo is four, and Jessie is two.” Patrick McGillicuddy writes: “My wife, Mink, is about to burst and she looks beautiful! Due to her nesting desire she has decided to hire a contractor to do MAJOR renovations to our apartment (make a second bedroom, open up the kitchen, build walk in closets, etc.). It should be amazing when it’s done, but in the meantime we will move into another apartment in our building and probably bring the baby back home before the work is done. My first year of running my new school in Brooklyn is almost over and I am still standing.....lots of great stories.

I saw Sarah Calderon and her husband, Joe, recently – we went to their house in upstate New York and had a good time.” And as for me, I am still living in Boston with my wife, Deirdre, and my daughter, Ruth, who is now 18 months old. Ruth is walking and talking up a storm, and she thinks every round object is a ‘basketball.’ I love it. I recently finished graduate school at MIT and have co-founded a new company called XL Hybrids. We are developing hybrid vehicle technology for trucks and vans, basically trying to help transform gas-guzzling commercial trucks and vans into more fuel efficient vehicles.

Jay Benjamin has moved back to the USA

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Class Notes

Left to right: Nick Bevad '97, Arthur Wojnarowski '93, Chris Gillick '99, Alumni Director Alex Edwards-Bourdrez, Alumni Board member Salwa Touma '01, Phil Canelli '89 at a spring NYC networking event.

from Down Under. He and his wife, Kirsten Isaksen ‘97, now live on the Upper East Side with their daughter, Sophie. Class of 1992, let’s keep the updates coming in the coming months!

1993 Natalia Porcelli Good 310 East Houston St., Apt. 5E New York, NY 10002 (212) 753-0128. nataliapgood@yahoo.com Danielle Valenti Smith 420 East 72nd Street Apt. 6J New York, NY 10021 (646) 334-3888 danvalenti@hotmail.com Congratulations to Amanda Valente on her engagement to Michael Anzalone. The couple is planning a September 2010 wedding on Long Island. Danielle Valenti Smith’s third child, Marco, was born in April 2010. Sandy Lyon Mare, her husband, Olindo, and their three children welcomed the newest addition to their family, Rylan Stephan, born April 16, 2010. Leslie Lowenthal and Ben Lathrop welcomed a son, Sam, in February.

They live in NYC. The Alumni Office got a report from Kim Colombo Aberman that she and her husband, Steve, have a second child, fourteen-month-old Sara Jane, who delights in her older brother, Jack (four). Natalia Porcelli and Adam Good are moving from NYC to Long Island and have registered their son, Julian, in Kindergaren at FA!

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1994 Heather Upton 269 Ohio St. Pasadena, CA 91106 (626) 507-8524 hupton@mac.com Danielle Lia and Phil Van Riper are moving this summer to Redding, CT. After three years of planning and hard work, Danielle’s earlychildhood school, The Learning Experience Charter School, opened in Newton, CT, this past June with twenty kids pre-enrolled.

1995 Thomas A. Pascarella 156 Lewis Avenue Westbury, NY 11590 tompasc@tompasc.com Kelly Reid Walsh 96 Grove Street Wellesley, MA 02482 (781) 237-2893 reidkel@gmail.com First of all, we hope you are getting excited about our 15th on October 23 – and don’t forget to “Find Us on Facebook.” There are lots of congratulations to go around: Sarah Hendler, on the occasion of her marriage in August of 2009 at her parents’ home in Brookville (she and her husband live in Los Angeles, where he is the chef and co-owner of the popular restaurant, Animal); Francesca Nadel (a sommelier) will have the privilege

of serving the Premier Ministre of France at a dinner (only the best wine, Chateau Haut-Brion of course!); Brandon Sim and his wife, Amy, for their move to Garden City (complete with a yard and a car, instead of a doorman!); and Nadia Pervez, for graduating from Hofstra Law in May. Best of luck to Nadia with the bar exam this summer. Nadia and her husband and their four kids (ages 8,6, 5 and 18 months) live in Dix Hills. Dan Fischer wrote, “Ashley and I continue to enjoy life in Arlington, VA. I am a corporate lawyer at Akin Gump in Washington and Ashley, a recovering lawyer, stays at home with our two sons, Cabot, who just turned two, and our new addition Winston Clark (Wick).” Seb Arcelus is continuing in Jersey Boys on Broadway through the fall.

Congratulations to Allison CS Lewis (Serpe) on her first Solo Exhibition, held at the NoHo gallery in NYC in June 2010!

1996 Dr. Sameer Sayeed married Dr. Caroline Anna Margaretha Aberg of Stockholm, Sweden, on May 23, 2009. The wedding ceremony took place at the Ladies Pavilion on the lake in Central Park in Manhattan. The wedding reception, for close family and friends, was at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.

Alumni invited to attend included Elizabeth McCally Keating ‘97, Daryl Holzman, James Carey, Luke Cass and Adam Tomko. Former FA history teacher Liz Roosevelt was a guest of honor and delivered a tribute at the wedding. A secondary reception for out-of-town relatives and friends was held at The Thatched Cottage in Centerport, Long Island. Caroline is a breast imaging radiologist at NYU Medical Center, and Sameer is a cardiologist at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut. They live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A wedding photo was featured in the NY Times and can be viewed in the newspaper’s archives for May 24, 2009. Luke Cass’s case load in the district attorney’s office in Puerto Rico has expanded to include complicated whitecollar crimes. He recently argued – and won! – a case in front of Justice Souter, who occasionally sits on the Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. (Yes, Luke travels a lot.) Daryl Holzman got a taste of Puerto Rico when he visited Luke a few months back. The alumni office got a report from a source that Catherine Callahan was in a Kraft mayonnaise commercial. We checked with Catherine and got this response: “Yes! I’m an actor these days – past five years now. Been in a few commercials over the last couple of

Class Notes years to avoid bartending!!! I haven’t seen the Kraft commercial yet – I guess I have to watch more TV!” Elise Linchitz and Ned Spang welcomed Lucy Mabel on May 25. Lucy joins big brother Jonah (two).

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Alums and Lower School art students collaborate

1997 Devon Broderick Carroll 28 Bedford St., Apt. 23 New York, NY 10014-4471 (917) 531-7579 devon.broderick@gmail.com Devon A. George 163 West 18th Street, Apt 9b New York, NY 10011 (516) 457-8082 devon@dmvcapital.net Christina Holmes is living in Litchfield, CT, teaching 6th and 7th grade English at Chase Collegiate School in Waterbury, CT and is head coach of high school varsity girl’s lacrosse. Jenn Nelkin is living in Brooklyn, working as a Greenhouse Director at Gotham Greens, which specializes in premium quality, pesticide-free vegetables and herbs that are grown in sterile rooftop greenhouses using clean, renewable energy and captured rainwater. Laura Drumm is still working at Citigroup and continues to travel a ton, most recently to China. She just bought an apartment in Greenwich Village near fellow FA’ers Jamie Jacobs Connors and Devon Broderick Carroll, with plenty of room for her younger sisters Caitlin ‘03 and Lizzy ‘07 to visit. She is looking forward to attending Grace Samala’s wedding this summer in New York City and her annual trip to Martha’s Vineyard with Jamie, Zach Boisi and Andrew Gillick ‘96. Heather Barnard is currently working at a winery called Brooklyn Oenology. She is planning a wedding for Labor Day of this year. Liz Emmanuel Mauro will be one of the readers. Liz got married this past December at the Glen Cove Mansion. Kirsten Isaksen Benjamin has moved back to the US from Down Under. She is living on the Upper East Side with her husband, Jay Benjamin ‘92, and daughter Sophie. Devon Broderick Carroll continues to broker corporate bonds at Chapdelaine & Co. She and her husband look forward to spending the summer out in Cold Spring Harbor! Matthew Bonanno spent the last three years working at Blackstone in their Restructuring and Reorganization Group. In early June Matt decide to leave Blackstone and join York Capital Management’s Credit Opportunities Fund in NYC to concentrate on investing in

amanda fisk/friends academy

Third grade students proudly show the cards they created for the sale to benefit Harboring Hearts.

Lower School art teacher Margaret Lindner is on the left. The organization's co-founders, Michelle Javian '01 and Yuki Kotani, are standing (third and fourth from the left).

A

rt teacher Margaret Lindner stirred her students' creative juices to make beautiful notecards that were sold at Lower School Community Service Day this spring, as well as at the celebration for the opening of the renovated Lower School in May, to benefit Harboring Hearts (www.harboringhearts.org), a nonprofit co-founded by Michelle Javian '01. The organization provides temporary housing for families whose loved ones are receiving major heart-related surgeries or treatment in New York City hospitals, and who might not otherwise be able to afford to stay nearby. Michelle's classmate, Hadley Mongell, also works with Harboring Hearts.

First grader Samantha Kallman creates her own special notecard for Harboring Hearts, a non-profit created by Michelle Javian '01.

distressed securities. Matt still live in NYC and sees many 1997 alums on a relatively frequent basis. Wynn Payackapan is recently engaged, finishing his MBA from NYU this summer and living in Manhattan. Wynn reconnected with Nick Bevad for the first time since graduation in 1997. Neda Talebian Funk lives in NYC with her husband, Brian, and their 14-month-old, Tyler, who keeps her on her toes at all times! Zach Boisi and his family had a very busy April. On March 31, Zach and his wife, Corinne, welcomed their second son, Declan Thomas, into the family. On

April 14, the family moved from Chicago to Maryland, so that Zach could start work at Network Solutions on April 27. Before work officially started though, Zach took a trip to Las Vegas with many FA alumni, including his brothers, Peter and John ‘07, and Dan Dillon, Devon George, Matt Bonanno and Eric Vidal ‘05. Nothing exciting to report from there, of course. Zach, Corinne, James and Declan are all happy to be back on the East Coast and surrounded by friends and family. Pam Foschi Danbusky and her husband, Dan, will celebrate their sixth wedding

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Class Notes

Congratulations to Michelle Rabinowitz on her engagement to Leon Carney. Justin Meli was featured on ABC-TV nationally as “Person of the Week,” in connection with his classroom work for Teach for America in inner-city Chicago. A link to the broadcast is posted on the alumni pages of the FA website, www. fa.org/alumni.

Mariella has been an elementary school teacher at St. Nicholas of Tolentine School in Jamaica, NY, since 2005. She and her husband, Rob, live in Selden, NY. Amanda Parmer (formerly Poggensee) wrote in: “Over the past year I have been a Curatorial Fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program, organizing the exhibition ‘Undercurrents: Experimental Ecosystems in Recent Art,’ that will open in late May with a series of performances along the west side of Manhattan throughout the course of the show. I have also been working on Christian Marclay’s solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum, which will be opening in July.” Bradley Gambling is moving back to Charlottesville, VA, in the fall to attend Darden Business School.

Rob Morse was married in October 2009 to Lauren Worthington Morse. Rob reports that “she is a pre-k teacher and just amazing! We have given up the bustle of Manhattan and purchased a home in Madison, NJ, which we close on in June. I am still working for UBS in prime brokerage. I’m now an Associate Director, managing hedge fund client relationships.” Congratulations to Meredith Krumenacker on her May 2010 wedding. She married Mark D’Agostino and the couple honeymooned in Jamaica. Geri Lake-Bakaar is leaving for a veterinary cardiology residency at UC Davis, which starts in August. She is also training for the usual triathlons and road races in the meantime! Chris Gillick reports that his new financial PR job in NYC is going well. Paintings by Abby Weir were on exhibit at Chase Edwards Gallery in Oyster Bay this spring and early summer.

1999

2000

John F. Reid 15 Wood Valley Road Chatham, MA 02633 reidjohnny@gmail.com

Paul P. Corrigan 1 The Preserve Woodbury, NY 11797 (516) 448-2228 ppcpaul@aol.com

Former history and Spanish teachers, Mike and Pam Spatola (first two on the left), at the wedding of their daughter, Heather (in white). Heather’s twin, Greg Spatola ‘05, is pictured in the back row, behind the maid of honor.

Others pictured are Heather’s groom, Patrick Cummings, and the Spatolas’ other two sons, Chris and J.P., who did not attend Friends.

anniversary this year and are still living in Roslyn with their two daughters, Riley and Caroline. Pam enjoys managing her Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins franchise and loves being a mom. Elizabeth McCally Keating and her husband, Kevin, are enjoying living in New York City and escaping to Montauk this summer (when they can!) to enjoy their brother-in-law's new restaurant, South Edison. She has continued her career in public relations, and spends her down time with her family and close friends... not to mention their little ones, too! Daisy Cook enjoyed participating in FA’s first Career Day. She gave Middle School students a perspective on her professional pursuits associated with launching Rebelle Friendship Bags. “The kids enjoyed it,” Daisy said, “and I had a wonderful time visiting campus. While spending important time with family, Devon George is enjoying another NY Summer and hearing happy stories from his friends. Happy Summer everybody.

1998 Justin J. Boults 222 Gates Ave., Apt #2 Brooklyn, NY 11238 boultsman@hotmail.com Justin P. Meli 1500 Chicago Ave., Apt. 620 Evanston, IL 60201 (713) 553-4108 justinpmeli@gmail.com

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Jordan S. Tarry 333 E. 5th St., Apt C3 New York, NY 10003 (516) 526-1689 jtarry@isigrp.com

Jennifer Ryan Woods 2 Meadow Spring Lane Glen Cove, NY 11540 (516) 398-0888 JenniferLynnWoods@gmail.com Justin Triolo is working for FINRA as an Examination Manager in the Member Regulation Department. And he’s a newlywed! He and Audra Garuccio had a July 4th wedding, followed by a three-week honeymoon in Thailand. Justin and Audra bought a house in Centerport, NY, and have been living there for the past two years.

Mariella Chua Reiman is a new mom! Lucas Reiman was born on January 7th of this year.

Meredith A. MacKinnon 46 Duck Pond Road Glen Cove, NY 11542 (516) 759-2063 meredith.mackinnon@trincoll.edu

2001 Christopher Scott Harvey 16 Stiles Drive Melville, NY 11747 (516) 425-1096 netadcharvey@gmail.com

Class Notes

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Tara Kristin Hanna 245 Locust Street W. Hempstead, NY 11552 (516) 316-8220 thanna@fordham.edu Andrew Joseph Rivara 249 Cleft Road Mill Neck, NY 11765 (516) 624-8380 andrewrivara@gmail.com

Kristin Morrison ‘06 was named to the Ivy League Women’s Lacrosse All-Tournament team this spring.

Hadley Devon Mongell 245 E. 63rd Street Apt. 517 New York, NY 10065 759-1377 hmongell@yahoo.com Lucas Foglia was among nine photographers whose works were exhibited in the Yale MFA Photography class of 2010 show in NYC this summer. The artists collaborated with Helac and Wirth Art Advisory to install the thesis show in a 5,000 square-foot vacant commercial space in midtown Manhattan.

Michelle Javian was on hand at the May 17th ceremony celebrating the opening of the newly renovated Lower School. Art teacher Margaret Lindner had assigned her classes to make greeting cards to sell for the benefit of the nonprofit Michelle founded, Harboring Hearts, which provides temporary housing for cardiac patients and their caregivers. Hadley Mongell works with Michelle on the project.

2002 Lauren Marie Bebry 2757 Heathfield Road Bloomfield, MI 48301 (631) 875-5725 Lauren.Bebry@gmail.com Michael Jason Weiss 40 Cow Neck Road Sands Point, NY 11050 (516) 883-1572 michael.jason.weiss@gmail.com The Class of 2002 seems to have spread out across most of the world but one thing

many of them have in common is an interest in the law. Justin Weitz, Yan Margolin, Kathy Newman, Jennifer Broxmeyer, and Michael Weiss all finished law school a year ago and are now involved in numerous legal pursuits from judicial clerkships, to working as assistant district attorneys, to working in real estate law. Additionally, Michael Matia, Jonathan Lax, Rob Palumbo, and Aarti Garg are all currently at different stages of completing law school and hope to join their classmates in various legal professions within the next few years. Branching outside of the law, Dave Witthuhn recently returned from Germany where he had been working in banking and real estate investments for the last year, and Eric Goodman earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Stony Brook University. Joe Ramkhelawan decided to make a career change and is now in the financial services consulting business at Accenture. Lauren Bebry completed her first year of architecture school at the University of Michigan and is studying abroad for the summer in Paris. After completing her Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University, focusing in Health Policy and Management, Mariel Lifshitz moved to DC to work for the Government Accountability Office. She is a Health Policy Analyst for their Health Care Team.

Olivia Dreizen and her sister, Jenny Dreizen ‘05, have been running a website called “Lovely At Your Side” for almost a year now. They recently did a post this past spring on the company Falling Whistles, which raises money to rehabilitate and advocate for war affected children in the Congo. The company’s name and the whistles they sell are a reference to the whistles given to young children to literally turn them into instruments of death. Olivia and Jenny were inspired to launch a fundraiser for the organization. Visit their website: www. lovelyatyourside.com.

2004 Angela Teresa Batista 2 Greenway Muttontown, NY 11771 (516) 857-6572 batista1023@gmail.com Jonathan Harley Koenig 31 Yukon Drive Woodbury, NY 11797 jonathan.koenig@aya.yale.edu

2003 Katherine Elizabeth Donoghue 88 Leonard St., Apt. 1511 New York, NY 10013 (516) 238-4550 kate.donoghue@gmail.com

Chrissy Bello ‘08, a member of Wesleyan’s softball team, was named First-Team All NESCAC and Third-Team All-New England.

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

50

Class Notes

alums in the arts Melissa Errico ‘88: She

recently played the lead role in George Bernard Shaw’s Candida at the Irish Repertory Theatre. Her performance earned her a 2010 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Play. She will give her annual summer concert on August 30 at Guild Hall in East Hampton.

Offering the music of Lerner and Loewe, she will sing from shows that have become signature for her, including My Fair Lady, in which she played Eliza on Broadway, Camelot, in which she starred in LA opposite Jeremy Irons, and Brigadoon, which she did on Broadway for one smash concert production this June. In the coming year, Melissa will plan the long-awaited release of “The Summer Knows,” a collaboration with multi-Oscar winning film/jazz/pop composer Michel Legrand, one of Melissa’s musical idols. It was recorded in Brussels with a 100-piece pop symphony and a superlative jazz rhythm section.

Lis Dillof Dreizen ‘78: Lis recently showed her paintings at the b.j. spoke gallery in Huntington this spring. A series of four canvases included in the exhibit, was inspired by a recording that her classmate, the cellist Ellen Westermann, made of Elgar’s cello concerto in E Minor.

Ellen Westermann '78 (left) with Lis Dillof Dreizen '78

Maya Klauber has started a blog about growing up with chronic illness. She invites all to have a look: http:// lovingwithchronicillness.blogspot.com.

2005 Robert Harrison Aaron 27 Shorewood Drive Sands Point, NY 11050 (516) 524-4261 rha209@lehigh.edu Helen Simpson Hatch 137 Linden Farms Road Locust Valley, NY 11560 (516) 609-3239 helen.s.hatch@gmail.com Jenny Dreizen and her sister, Olivia Dreizen ‘03, have been running a website called “Lovely At Your Side” for almost a year now. They recently did a post this past spring on the company Falling Whistles, which raises money to rehabilitate and advocate for war-affected children in the Congo.

The company’s name and the whistles they sell are a reference to the whistles given to young children to literally turn them into instruments of death. Olivia and Jenny were inspired to launch a fundraiser for the organization. Visit their website: www. lovelyatyourside.com. On June 1st, Julia Wagner began her new job at Environmental Systems Design (ESD), a building design firm in Chicago. Lauren Jackson regretted having to miss the five-year reunion in June. She was working on a documentary on Thomas Jefferson and shooting in Colonial Williamsburg at the time. Andrew Giocondi has been working as an engineer at a construction company in Boston since July 2009. Greg Spatola coached JV Baseball at FA this spring, and substituted in the Lower School from time to time. He also coached JV Basketball at St. Dominick’s in Oyster Bay.

2006 Brian T. Alessi 50 Shore Drive Plandome, NY 11030 (516) 365-3983 alessib@bc.edu Jennifer Marie Wagner 124 Feeks Lane Locust Valley, NY 11560 (516) 656-3480 wagnerj8@muohio.edu

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Kaitlin Marie Wagner 124 Feeks Lane Locust Valley, NY 11560 (516) 656-3480 wagnerkm@muohio.edu Kristin Morrison was named to the Ivy League Women’s Lacrosse All-Tournament team this spring. She netted three goals in the Tigers’ league tournament semi-final loss to UPenn.

Sean Byrnes is working with the FA tech department for the summer.

2007 Christine Farrell 1971 Cedar Swamp Road Glen Head, NY 11545 (516) 606-1300 farrelcl@bc.edu Caitlin Koufakis 239 Cleft Road Mill Neck, NY 11765 (516) 627-5222 caitlin.koufakis@trincoll.edu Will Roland has been treading the boards quite a bit at NYU, appearing in two Shakespeare productions this spring, As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Will and Maia Collier are teaching at the Artist's Institute at FA this summer. Katy Dissinger was named to the 2nd team Division III All Region Women’s lacrosse team. She plays for Bowdoin.

2008 Laura Berke 310 3rd Avenue, Apt. 1906A New York, NY 10010 (516) 680-4437 laura.berke@nyu.edu Alexandria Phillips 68 Flower Hill Rd. Huntington, NY 11743 (631) 421-3332 afp1013@gmail.com Sam Sharf is interning this summer at the Institute of Contemporary Art on the UPenn campus in Philadelphia. She made contact with Margery Peterson Lee ‘47, who lives near Philadelphia and served for many years, until 1997, on the Institute’s Board. Chrissy Bello had a terrific softball season at Wesleyan, leading her team with a .394 batting average and being named First-Team All NESCAC and Third-Team All-New England. Hannah Zucker and

Class Notes

51

Class of 2005 5-Year Anniversary Luncheon Held Saturday, June 5, 2010 at the Jackson House

Twenty-seven classmates from 2005 attended their Five-Year Reunion.

Lilly Perez Kahrs (second from left) with her husband, Andrew (left), and her classmates Melanie Tannenbaum and Richie Grasso

Helen Hatch and Rob Abney reconnecting at the class of 2005 Five-Year Reunion.

Spanish teacher Edgar Posada, Justin William

Lynsey Bohner, Thalia Trotta, Audie O’Connor and Laura Goodman

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

52

Class Notes

alums in the arts Adam Akpinar ‘04, Alric Carter ‘06, Charlie Dolan ‘06, Matt Jalbert ‘06, and Alessandro Zanelli ‘03: Tauk, the

all-FA alum rock band comprised of Adam (Drums), Alric (Keyboard/ Organ), Charlie (Bass Guitar), Matt (Guitar), and Alessandro (Vocals), has released a CD, “Brokedown King,” recorded at Ocean Way studios in Los Angeles, SPPP studio in Los Angeles, and One East studio in New York. The group is also launching a new website, www. taukband.com.

Members of Tauk, (standing l. to r.) Charlie Dolan ‘06; Matt Jalbert ‘06; Adam Apkinar ‘04; Alessandro Zanelli ‘03; and (seated) Alric Carter ‘06, who have released a new CD, “Brokedown King”.

Elizabeth Sharpe-Levine are teaching at the John E. Mascari Artist's Institute at FA this summer. Laura Dartmouth College Berke is interning at Sony Music for the 3153 Hinman summer, and fellow class rep Ally Phillips is Hanover, NH 03755 working at FA on alumni relations and other john.mascari@dartmouth.edu projects in the development office. Louis Croce wrote, “I started playing trombone last Jessica M. Rizzi fall in the Jazz Ensemble at Hamilton and 61 Green Meadow Lane was awarded the Jazz Scholarship this past Huntington, NY 11743 semester, which means the music department (631) 367-1045 pays for all my lessons (guitar, trombone, MissRizzi@gmail.com piano). I was in a band last semester, pledged Delta Kappa Epsilon, and did Jazz Anthony F. Tedesco Ensemble.” Elizabeth Pisano sent a dispatch 40 Heights Road from overseas: “I’m in Turkey right now.

Plandome, NY 11030 I’m taking a classics course in Greece and (516) 627-2974 Turkey for the month of May. It’s really guitarguy637@gmail.com great. I declared as an accounting major this year so that is what I will be doing this At the New York State Championships summer.” Catie Grasso spent her first semester this year, the New York State Scholastic of this past year interning on Capitol hill for Rowing Association officially recognized Congressman Peter King (R-Long Island).

Nicole Biewlawski with three honors for her “I did everything accomplishments from answering last year: Sculler phones to giving of the Year; Boat tours around of the Year; and the hill,” Catie First Team-All Isaac Kenton Blanchard ‘35 wrote. “At State. David first, starting Neal E. Heffernan '40 Cook wrote in: the internship, “I’m going to be Joan Krier Heagney ‘52 I didn’t think I the Production Anne Sykes Hoffman '65 would be really Stage Manager interested in for The Mikado Marian Baker ‘68 politics, but after this summer working there at Muhlenberg and witnessing Summer Music Theatre.” Gunnar Esiason is what went on behind the scenes, especially interning this summer at the Boomer Esiason the health care bill, it made me realize how Foundation’s new headquarters in New much I truly enjoyed going to work. To go York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. He and learn something new every day was truly will develop a plan to tie next year’s Boston amazing.”

Marathon to cystic fibrosis awareness. The Boston Globe ran an article on Gunnar, a student at Boston College, this past spring that focused on his transition to college life.

Andrea Pappas tried out for the TV show Ingrid A. Gutierrez Glee!, a singing contest. As of this writing, 151 East Graham Avenue the votes had not yet been counted. Jessica Hempstead, NY 11550 Rizzi wrote in: “I’m staying in Indiana for the (516) 292-2302 summer to take some extra classes, get some freetimenvyz@hotmail.com LSAT studying done, and all that jazz. Can’t get enough of Bloomington!” Ben Aronow Cristen Koufakis thoroughly enjoyed his first year of college, 239 Cleft Road spending lots of time playing in a jazz band.

Mill Neck, NY 11765-1003 He’s working for a small SAT prep-test outfit (516) 627-5222 this summer. cristen.koufakis@trincoll.edu

We Remember...

2009

Nell C. Kucich 316 Manhasset Woods Road Manhasset, NY 11030 (516) 965-0635 NellKucich@gmail.com

The Meeting House | Spring 2010

Friends Academy Alumni Association Alumni are the living legacy of Friends Academy.

Alumni Upcoming Events>>

Plan ahead now for the 2010 Homecoming Weekend Oct. 22 -24. Bring your family and reconnect with friends!

Homecoming Weekend and Fall Fair Friday, October 22 to Sunday, October 24, 2010 50th Reunion Luncheon for the Class of 1960 Friday, October 22

Fall Fair and Homecoming Saturday, October 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. – Homecoming Reception for all alumni at the Jackson House on campus 7 p.m. on – Class dinners off-campus

Meeting for Worship in Matinecock Meeting House Sunday, October 24 at 10 a.m.

Annual Alumni Basketball Game Saturday, November 27, 2010

Alumni Holiday Luncheon Friday, December 17, 2010

More information is on the alumni pages of the Friends Academy website: www.fa.org/alumni



Friends Academy

270 Duck Pond Road, Locust Valley, NY 11560 516.676.0393 | www.fa.org

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Sept. 7

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Oct. 6

Parent Council Breakfast: All Parents Welcome!

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Nov. 4-6

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Upper School Fall Production, 7:30 PM (Theater) 7th grader Cameron Hellerman helps weed at a local sanctuary.

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