The GAzette - Fall 2019

THE

PLACEBASED SCIENCE FOR THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT AT GOULD,THE LAB IS AS LARGE AS THE GREAT OUTDOORS page 10

Also Inside: Meet Meet Mr. Smith Page 18

Q&A with Tracey Wilkerson Page 20

Alumni Weekend Memories Page 22

GAZETTE Fall 2019

features 10

18 20

Place-Based Science

Meet Mr. Smith

Q&A with Tracey Wilkerson

page 10

page 18

page 20

For the Science Department at Gould, the lab is as large as the great outdoors.

Tao Smith ’90 becomes Gould’s next head of school on July 1, 2020.

Wilkerson talks about travel, community, and the importance of kindness.

departments around campus . . . . . . . . 2-6 husky tales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 annual report . . . . . . . . . . . 19 alumni weekend . . . . . . 22-23 class notes . . . . . . . . . 24-28

aroundcampus Head of School Chris Gorycki Assistant Head of School for Institutional Advancement Chris Sparks Editor Julie Reiff Design Greg Gilman Photography M. Dirk MacKnight, Cait Bourgault, & Greg Gilman Class Notes Editor Amy Connell Board of Trustees Phyllis Gardiner, P ’09 President Sarah S. Taymore P ’09, ’11 Vice President Chris L. Brooks, Esq. ’99, Secretary Stuart Abelson Samuel W. Adams, Esq. ’77, P ’18 Dr. Donald M. Christie, Jr. ’60 Henry Fasoldt ’98 Richard Foyston ’75, P ’14 Leo P. Menard III ’03 Laura H. Ordway ’89 P ’20 Richard H. Packard ’66 GP ’10, ’11, ’13 Wendy E. Penley Kenneth A. Remsen ’67 Pamela Senese ’82 Jan L. Skelton ’84 Christine S. Teague ’66 Gregory S. Young P ’19 ON THE COVER: Jake Tamalunas ’21 stands waistdeep in waders, casting a fly on the Androscoggin River.

Cover photo: Cait Bourgault © 2019 Gould Academy gouldacademy.org The GAzette is published twice a year by the Communications Office at Gould Academy. We welcome your letters, story ideas, and photos.

Contact the Editor:

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Julie Reiff 39 Church Street, P.O. Box 860 Bethel, ME 04217 2 reiffj@gouldacademy.org 207-824-7781

Dali Gao ’22 at USASA National Championship in Copper, Colorado, in April.

World Cup Bound Tenth grader Dali Gao ’22 is currently the second-highest ranked Chinese male SBX athlete in the world. He will compete at the first SBX World Cup of the season in Montafon, Austria, in December and will be one of the first two male Chinese athletes to compete in a World Cup SBX race.

“Dali comes from a predominantly freeride and GS/SL racing background,” says coach KC Gandee, “but has picked up SBX very quickly. He works diligently and applies feedback quickly to gain new skills. In just over a season he has gone from rookie to World Cup racer, and I’m pumped to see him work towards his goals.”

Dali raced in the South American Cup series in August and September, in two events with three total starts. In his first SAC race at Pucón, Chile, Dali finished fourth. He then placed fifth and 10th in his two starts at Corralco. Two more races were canceled due to weather.

Based on his best two finishes, his fourth and fifth qualified him for World Cup, Gandee explains.

“I’m really excited to represent my country in the upcoming World Cup race,” says Dali, whose ultimate goal is to qualify for the 2022 Bejing Winter Olympics. “I hope that by racing on the world stage I can help bring snowboardcross to a larger audience in China.”

Sophie Laurence ’20 took a very personal look at history for her independent French project, creating a 10-minute documentary film about her great-grandmother’s newspaper column during Occupied France.

Tribune Féminine Having completed French 6, Sophie Laurence ’20 needed a project for her independent study last year.

She grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but had visited family in France every year since she was four.

“My grandfather and grandmother would tell me about the dignity and the great family legacy,” she says, “and how I should be proud to be a Laurence, and all that.”

Already fluent in English, French, and Korean, Sophie likes to seek other ways to communicate and express herself. “I also communicate in computer science, in art, in poetry,” she says. “They’re all just different means of communication. Another even more visual way of communication is film, which is a really easy way to get people to learn a lot in a very short amount of time.”

So instead of writing an essay “that people definitely wouldn’t read,” she decided to create a documentary about

her great-grandmother’s work in the French Resistance, translating more than 100 articles Jeanne Laurence wrote in the 1940s for her column, Tribune Féminine.

A schoolteacher in Vernon, France, Laurence voiced concerns of everyday women during the Occupation and shared her views on the war, women’s rights, and feminism in France.

The 10-minute film is entirely in French with English subtitles, and has garnered numerous awards: a 2019 official selection at the All American High school Film Festival in New York, and a finalist in the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film festival and the Duemila30 High School Film Festival in Milan, Italy.

For the final part of the project, Sophie wrote a research essay to contextualize Tribune Féminine in the tumult of World War II and French feminism.

Pilot Project

Kaitlyn Saidy ’21, Auburn Putz-Burton ’21, and Phil Kaftan ’21 getting ready to pilot their underwater rover in Sebago Lake.

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Gould students visited Sebago Lake this fall to pilot their underwater rover. A Portland Water District scientist assisted students on their mission to explore the lake’s depths. Students gained hands-on environmental monitoring experience and provided PWD with rare footage of the bottom of Sebago Lake! PWD later confirmed that an old rusty pipe they located was, in fact, the original 1868 intake, which was abandoned in place in 1952.

aroundcampus New Faculty, New Roles New to Gould this fall: from left, IDEAS Center director Paul Haberstroh, controller Lynn Wilson, admissions associate Tim Mannix, college counselor Shannon Robitaille, school nurse Linda Raymond, college counselor Maggie Davis, school nurse Anne McCandless, assistant to the head of school Lindsay Legare, admissions associate Beth Garfield. Not pictured, admissions associate Casey Morey and director of health services Olivia Hendry.

Also serving in new roles this year are Brad Clarke as assistant head of school for teaching & learning, former trustee Bill White ’80 as interim CFO, Katie Stack as director of advising and wellness, Sara Shifrin ’88 as head of Seminar, teaching librarian, and humanities teacher, Tim Whiton ’05 as associate registrar, Laurin Parker ’94 as ASP director, and Courtney Cook as academic dean of Winter Term.

Student Leadership

Student prefects Jake Tamalunas ’21, Drew Curtis ’20, Lexi Ordway ’21, Cassie Pyle ’21, and Laura Wilson ’20

The Gould student leadership program has been redesigned this year. Colin Penley, Adam Leff, and Rob Manning led the process last year, seeking input from students and faculty and researching how other schools were structured. The new student leadership program includes three branches: prefects, judiciary committee, and a campus activity board. The CAB group in particular has been very active in planning student activities this fall.

E D keep up with @gouldacademy on social media Q M

Arsenic & Old Lace Steffi Ordway, Caroline Newell, Auburn PutzBurton, Sahla Miller, Maxim Epstein, Kyra Shankar, Alice Yue, Casper Xu, and Rin Xu, with guest appearances by Chelsea Duclos and Silas Summers. Wyatt Thielbar and James Wu also had cameos. Caroline Newell also directed a one-act called Bad Auditions by Bad Actors with much of the same cast.

Photo by Alexia Zhou ’20

Taylor Mull ’20, Maddy Lieblein ’20, Kalena Medeiros ’21, Cassie Pyle ’21, and Lexi Ordway ’21 at the World Cup Opening in Sölden, Austria.

On Glacier

Visiting Poet

Forty-two Gould students traveled to Austria for most of October Poet Martín Espada was this fall’s visiting writer in the to train on the Stubai Glacier with their coaches. “Conditions Richard Blanco Series. He visited classes in the afternoon were outstanding this year,” says On Snow Director Kurt and gave a reading and book signing in the evening.

Simard. “The goal is to get them an early start on the season, and then Sunday River is open not long after we return.”

REMUS @MIT

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Kaitlyn Saidy ’21, Phil Kaftan ’21, and alumnus Josh Galluzzo ’19 spent a day at the MIT Museum for their semiannual Girls Day that celebrates women who are exploring, researching, and innovating in fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

The theme, Exploring Our Watery World, was a perfect opportunity for the student UAV club to show off the REMUS100 and Trident they’ve been using to explore local waterways to more than 700 museum visitors.

Mook a-saurus

Meet Mookie, Gould’s new campus therapy dog.

REX

It’s a drizzly, cold day, and students are hanging out in the cafe space downstairs in Hanscom Hall. Snuggled into one of the booths with the kids is a large, extremely fluffy golden retriever with a goofy look on his face. His name is Mookie, or @the_mookasaurusrex on Instagram.

Thanks to Denise and Rob Manning, Mookie is now the campus therapy dog.

“We knew he had really good connections with kids,” says Rob, who is dean of student life. “Livy Clarke and Lily Weafer, both class of 2019, did an experiment where they would have someone come in and they’d take their blood pressure, and then Mookie would go in and they’d take the blood pressure and pulse again and it went down every time. He just leans into you, and it’s very calming. So we thought that maybe he would be a good therapy dog.”

When they first visited the breeder, she let the three puppies loose. “The two girls went ripping by our son, Alec ’14, who was sitting on the ground, and Mookie went right over and sat in his lap and wanted his throat scratched. Just like that, we knew that’s the dog. That’s why I’m convinced he connects so well to our students, because he was more interested in connecting with people than he was with his littermates.”

So last spring, he and Denise took Mookie, now three, to Canine Good Citizenship class on Sundays. Once he passed that, he began therapy dog training. (He trained with Jill Simmons ’86, owner of PoeticGold Farm, who told the Mannings about Gould back when they lived in Indiana.)

The dogs have to get used to crutches and wheelchairs so they can go into hospitals, Rob explains. “So we had Sofia Machado ’22 in a wheelchair, pushing around and giving him treats. The kids really bought into helping him do this.

Kids on crutches would call Mookie over so Mookie could get used to the crutches. This wasn’t just me or Denise; it was the students.”

Mookie is very trainable, says Rob. The Therapy Dog International test has many parts and is very demanding.

One of the final challenges is to walk by a sandwich while on a loose leash. “I mean, it’s this beautiful peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” Rob adds, “and I said ‘Mookie, leave it,’ and he just went right around it.”

“Denise worked with him early,” says Rob. “That early training really got things started. Now he spends a lot of time with me. I bring him to my office every day. He doesn’t go to class because it’s too distracting for the students—even though he does lie down—but he’s very connected to humans.”

“When Mookie comes into the IDEAS Center, you see people’s faces just light up,” says Auburn Putz-Burton ’21.

“And he loves the attention; he’ll go around the room so that everyone has a chance to pet him. In a challenging academic environment, I think it can be easy to get overwhelmed once in a while. Mookie can provide relief. It’s almost impossible not to smile around him. It’s awesome to have a dog like him on campus.”

When he passed his test, everybody cheered. Zach Schmolka ’22 posted it on his @DogsofGould Instagram account.

Mookie has a special relationship with some students, Rob explains. He sees them and seeks them out. Others make a point of stopping by Rob’s office.

“They will come into my office and sit and talk with him. He’s very good with students who struggle a little bit. Somehow, he senses it. He’ll also go up to the cafe space and just hang out. He’s just ... he’s a mellow dog.”

huskytales

Molly Siegel ’12, left, swimming to save the Isle au Haut Lighthouse

Around the Lighthouse Molly Siegel ’12 and her friend Alison Richardson launched a fundraiser to save the iconic Isle au Haut Lighthouse, a treasured landmark for the island that has been in operation since 1907. The tower is community-owned, they explain on their GoFundMe page, and is in dire need of a major restoration.

News Center Maine did a story on her fundraiser called, “Here’s one way to raise money for a Maine lighthouse—swim all the way around it.”

Starting from the granite base of the lighthouse tower, Siegel and Richardson swam roughly 18 miles clockwise around Isle au Haut in the frigid Maine waters.

“Seeing the whole island from the water at human speed (for me, not very fast) was life-changing,” she said.

“Living on the island, you get to see the ocean in every possible mood, but being right down there in the water is a completely different experience.”

They surpassed their initial goal of $18,000, or $1,000 per mile. Their efforts helped support the Friends of the Isle au Haut Lighthouse, which is overseeing the restoration efforts.

Coach Courtney Will Courtney ’07 is now coaching the U.S. Men’s Alpine World Cup team. He started coaching the National Team this year and traveled over the summer working with the nation’s best alpine athletes.

“I was never the top athlete at Gould,” Courtney admits, “but I worked hard and was supported by a great group of teammates. I was able to attend a training camp in Austria, that really opened my eyes to the European culture of alpine ski racing. At that point, I knew I had to take every opportunity to feed my passion for skiing.”

Will started his coaching career at Quechee Mountain, Vermont, and has filled other roles in the ski industry. He was a Fischer ski rep and coached for the Park City ski team. He also coached for the Global Race Team, an elite private team based out of Europe.

Courtney joins USSA as an assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach for the Men’s World Cup Technical team.

In addition to Courtney, Sasha Rearick ’95 and Gray both coached the U.S. Team to achieve great results.

Courtney says he’ll work hard to make sure that success continues.

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Will Courtney ’07 on the job at Men’s World Cup Sölden, with Parker Gray ’97. The U.S. Men had three racers in the top 11, one of the best team results in years!

“I coached Will for a couple of years when he was at Gould,” says Gould coach Parker Gray ’97. “His hard work and dedication have enabled him to become a top-level coach. It’s pretty awesome that Gould has had three grads coaching at the World Cup/Olympic level.”

Gouldmoment

Classic Mountain Day moment at the top of Rumford Cap. Hanscom Hall captured on a beautiful winter morningWhite

by Cait Bourgault Photo by M. Dirk MacKnight

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PLACE-BASED

SCIENCE

FOR THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT AT GOULD, THE LAB IS AS LARGE AS THE GREAT OUTDOORS JULIE REIFF

M

ist rises from the river as sunrise seeps into Evans Notch, the air fractionally warmer than the snowmelt coursing by. Four anglers stand in waders, not much taller than the glacial boulders that dot the Wild River, enjoying a rare wilderness experience.

Laurin Parker ’94, their teacher who is also a Registered Maine Guide, observes them from the bank.

He eases his way toward one of them, out of their back cast, to check in. He mimes an action with his wrist and points at the drift of the student’s line, his explanations inaudible over the moving water.

tunity to dive into the ecosystem. They learn about entomology and food webs, about hydrodynamics of water columns and the physics of flexible levers, all while learning how to cast and present.

It’s an ecology course, Parker explains. It’s about understanding a watershed, how species fit inside the food cycle. Stoneflies, mayflies, and caddisflies are all indicators of the health of a stream. Flyfishing is secondary to their understanding of the ecosystem.

Water quality monitoring is what drives the whole process. The bugs, the fish, they are both indicators.”

Teens are known for sleeping in, but this crew rose willingly in the dark, donned their layers, grabbed their gear and met at the belltower all before sunup. They will fish, collect water samples, identify a few aquatic insects, and be back on campus just as their roommates shuffle toward Ordway for breakfast.

The class, Ecology of the Androscoggin, is a pilot program that pairs a trimester science elective with an afternoon co-curricular. Combining the sport of fly-fishing with a science class not only gives the students an extended period of time to do fieldwork, but it also gives them an unparalleled oppor-

“If that stream is supporting heavy insect growth, then we know we have a high level of water quality.

Water quality monitoring is what drives the whole process,” says Parker. “The bugs, the fish, they are both indicators. Trout require the highest-quality water to survive, and warmer water species can actually tolerate lower oxygen levels.”

Time is that rarest of commodities in boarding school, but the fluidity of this course opens up new opportunities to explore Gould’s unique location.

Back in the McLaughlin Science Center, students at one lab table analyze water samples they took at the river. At another, a student is learning to tie a wooly bugger, a popular fly designed to imitate a Megaloptera or dobsonfly.

JAYDA TAMALUNAS ’20 CASTS AN EARLY MORNING LINE INTO THE ANDROSCOGGIN RIVER.

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A Gem of a Town The novel partnership doesn’t just happen at the river.

Tenth-grade chemistry classes make the most of Bethel’s newest cultural attraction, the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum. The Mahoosuc region is renowned for gems (tourmaline was first discovered here), and the museum houses one of the world’s foremost collections of extraterrestrial rocks as well— meteorites from Mars, the Moon and the asteroid belt—that can teach us about the origins of our solar system. The museum has also brought university-level research capability only a block from campus.

“They sort of have everything down there,” says Science Department head Peter Southam. In fact, there is an electron microprobe, a scanning electron microscope, an X-ray diffractometer, a direct coupled plasma spectrometer, polarized light microscopes, and other research instruments as well.

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“We decided to look at it as geochemistry,” explains Todd Siekman, who leads the chemistry course. “The focus of the fall term has always been atoms—what makes up the atom, different types of bonding, different types of matter, homogeneous, heterogeneous, elemental compounds, all of those basic ideas. Now we’re doing that from the lens of geology. They see the bond angles, and it helps them understand how the bonding happens. They learn more geology than you would in a standard chemistry class.”

It’s real world. They say, ‘Oh, that’s what my skis are doing. That’s how it works.’ That’s why we do this.”

Al Falster is part of the research group that relocated its entire research facility from the University of New Orleans. This fall, he helped students study the chemistry of geology. They pulled sediment from four different local streams (Sunday River, Pleasant River, Wild River, and Peabody River), analyzed it, and pulled out garnets and used an electron microscope to see their chemical composition.

TENTH-GRADE CHEMISTRY STUDENTS LOOK AT RIVER SEDIMENT UNDER MMGM’S MICROSCOPES

“It’s still chemistry,” says Southam, “but it’s chemistry that’s right here and unique to this area. And this area is pretty unique to the country.”

Winter Wonderland In the winter, those same students will explore the chemistry of snowmaking.

“We focus on gases, liquid, solids, changes of states, and the bonding that happens,” says Siekman. As part of that, students fabricate their own snowmaking guns and test different nozzles at different temperatures and at different pressures.”

Then they tour Sunday River’s Snowflake Factory, just six miles from campus, to help understand how the process works on a large scale.

Considered the “most dependable snow in New England,” the resort claims “the most powerful and technically advanced snowmaking system on the planet” complete with 2,000 snowguns, 80 miles of on-mountain pipe, and 2,200 hydrant stations.

“We have the largest snowmaking system in the world in our backyard,” adds Southam. “They learn the same stuff they would have learned in chemistry anyway—gas laws, a little bit of thermodynamics, phases of matter, crystal structure—all of those things. And they study it through the lens of snowmaking.”

NINTH GRADERS IN CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS GET IN ON THE SKI-RELATED ACTION, TESTING “WAX TORPEDOES” IN DIFFERENT CONDITIONS.

Ninth graders in Conceptual Physics get in on the ski-related action testing blocks of ski wax in different conditions, a project the department has done for several years now. Southam calls them “wax torpedoes.”

Every year students test torpedoes made of high-density polyethylene, coated with paraffin, soy wax, and beeswax, and record data over time. At the end of the term, they race the torpedoes down a course outside McLaughlin Science Center. They need to have collected enough data so they know what to wax with on any given day.

“They study friction, acceleration due to gravity—all the things they’d study in physics anyway,” says Southam. “But now, they get to apply that knowledge. It’s real world. They say, ‘Oh, that’s what my skis are doing. That’s how it works.’ That’s why we do this.”

Gulf of Maine Siekman also teaches Marine Biology, which might seem an odd fit for Bethel, Maine, but the seacoast is only 90 minutes away and the class spends four days each fall on the island of Islesboro in Penobscot Bay. First, they focus on the physical characteristics of the ocean, of the Gulf of Maine, and then learn why it’s such a plankton-rich area, looking at bloom times and measuring temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and salinity. They go out on a local schooner called the Bonnie Lynn to do water sampling and take plankton tows from multiple sites, identifying as many as 50 different types.

“We’ll look at those to see if the fall blooms have come, what the predominant animals are, how that relates to what we know about the Gulf of Maine in general. It’s the culmination of what they learn in the first month. Then we spend time looking at the intertidal zone.”

Students run transects along the rocky shoreline in half-meter squares, identifying the barnacles and other organisms that they find, and estimating the percent coverage of the various algae. They compile all of their data and use that to identify where organisms live and try to understand why.

“That’s really what the second month is about,” says Siekman, “identifying how animals live and why they live where they do. We focus on the coast as an example, and we expand it from there.”

For the last two weeks, they research some aspect of human interaction on the Gulf, whether it’s climate change, fishing, ocean farming, or tourism, and how that affects the Gulf in both positive and negative ways.

ISAIAH OSBORN ’20 HELPS LAY A TRANSECT ALONG THE SHORELINE FOR MARINE BIOLOGY DURING THEIR FOURDAY INTENSIVE ON THE COAST. PHOTO BY PAUL HABERSTROH

Econ Meets Enviro

Down on the Farm

Meghan Young’s Environmental Science class looks at similar issues.

Young also oversees the farm this year as an afternoon extracurricular.

In addition to the two-story, student-built barn, there is a new 10-by 12-foot chicken coop, a small hoop house in progress, fenced compost, and a revitalized garden. Her goal is to provide the dining hall with eggs and garlic, and eventually more.

“Much of the fall is a deep dive into where we live, what exists here, and what agencies are responsible for managing what our landscape looks like,” says Young, “and also the economic flow that’s based on the resources in place.”

Each week the group takes a field trip with a local expert. They look at the economics of western Maine, says Young, and what brings in revenue for the region. “We look at how that impacts the greater world,” she says, “how that impacts us here, and how people are doing things, sustainably and unsustainably.”

This winter, she’s planning a multi-day trip to the Avalanche Center at Mount Washington to do a snow science study. And then the spring will be about rebirth, studying cycles of matter, cycles of energy, and food webs as things reemerge.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE TEACHER MEGHAN YOUNG OVERSEES THE FARM THIS YEAR, BUILDING A NEW CHICKEN COOP, EXPANDING THE GARDENS, AND ADDING A SMALL HOOP HOUSE.

“The kids love interacting with the bigger animals,” says Young, who would like to bring back pigs and cows, but for now the sheep and chickens are still a draw. But it’s real life, too.

“The farm is such a phenomenal resource, such a perfect tie-in for science,” says Young. “We’re not buying this from a Carolina Science kit. Farming, working with the earth and the animals, helps develop a real sense of compassion in them. There’s a sense of responsibility, too.”

And the Research Shows...

Southam agrees. Especially for his research science class.

“Some of the best biology research that I’d ever seen have come out of the farm,” he says. “There was a maze project where they put piglets or chickens through this maze, which was pretty hysterical because the two girls who did that project, it turns out, couldn’t actually pick up a piglet. It scared them too much.

“There have been quite a few projects that are interesting,” he adds, “because the kids can actually put their hands on live animals, and that’s pretty rare, for good reason. With farm animals, you have a little bit more leeway. We have someone overseeing them who can say, ‘no, you can’t do that’ or ‘yeah, it’s fine.’ That’s the fun science, where the student actually has to think about how they are going to do something. ‘Am I measuring what I think I’m measuring? How is my understanding of these animals and their behavior vastly different from what I thought at the beginning? And how did I have to adjust my approach?’”

Farming, working with the earth and the animals, helps develop a real sense of compassion in them, too. There’s a sense of responsibility.” the GAzette

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MAXX PARYS ’20 TESTS THE TRIDENT ON NEARBY SONGO POND. THE CAMERA ON THE TRIDENT HAS BEEN USEFUL ON THE MARINE BIOLOGY TRIP AND IN HELPING THE PORTLAND WATER DISTRICT INSPECT WATER PIPES IN SEBAGO LAKE.

But Wait, There’s More Dark sky is another local resource the department would like to take greater advantage of. Nancy Eaton’s Astronomy class also taps into the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum and their collection of meteorites, but she’d love to get a permanent mount for the telescope down on the lower fields, further from campus lighting.

“We do have a huge advantage at night here, especially on property that Gould owns,” says Southam. “It’s really dark. Again, that’s another thing we can do that you can’t do in Boston or New York or L.A.” The AUV club, working with a Trident and a decommissioned Navy REMUS 100, is helping the Portland Water District look at tributaries to Sebago Lake. On campus, students have studied tree growth on multiple plots over on Pine Hill for more than five years now.

Gould’s location provides endless possibilities for rich, hands-on experiments. But that flexibility to take students out in the field and do real-world science is made possible by the same academic systems in place that allow on-snow athletes to travel to competitions and training venues around the world.

Applied Science “A lot of kids remember things more if it’s hands-on right off the bat,” says Siekman. “They also get more interested if they are studying things they can actually relate to. That’s very important. I think it’s better for students to have a stronger understanding of fewer ideas and the ability to think their way through a solution. That is more important in life than remembering specific chemical formulas. It whets their appetite for science, gets them thinking scientifically, relates science to everyday phenomena that they see, and helps them to be more interested in learning.”

“Laurin’s ecology students are going out and collecting data and providing it to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to help them figure out what kind of trout to stock, and where to stock, and when to stock based on water temperature and other factors,” says Southam. “It’s real world. Getting kids to wrestle with real problems,

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Southam enjoys teaching the research course in part because the topics they choose vary so much, but he finds all of his classes interesting “because the kids are different every year. They vary, and every once in awhile you get a kid who comes up with an answer to a question that you’ve been doing for a while and you’re like, ‘Huh, that’s different. Isn’t that clever?’ Teenagers never cease to amaze me.”

▲

Field Study

In addition to working with the Ecology of the Androscoggin class, Master Maine Guide and former faculty member John Wight does a river study with the Environmental Science class, looking at entomology and fish and game.

Each week, Meghan Young’s Environmental Science group takes a field trip with a local expert, tapping into the numerous natural resources at Gould’s doorstep.

• Buck’s Ledges with Wagner Forestry Management, and a tour of their site to learn where the lumber is exported • Crocker Pond to do a plant identification and see revitalization efforts with a district forester • Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge with deputy refuge manager (and faculty spouse) Ian Drew P’20 to look at forestry management practices on a national level • Mount Washington Avalanche Center to study snow science A few of the local resources other science classes tap into: • Maine Mineral & Gem Museum • Sunday River Resort’s Snowflake Factory • White Mountain National Forest, Evans Notch and Grafton Notch state parks • The Androscoggin River and a number of other local streams • Gould’s own Pine Hill and yurt classroom • And the wonderful night sky of western Maine

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It’s all part of the package, and it’s pretty neat.

We have some of the best natural 16 resources in the country right here.”

not just doing a lab for 45 minutes and then writing it off. They put all those systems together in a way that I think few other courses do out there in high school.

“It also draws kids in based on their interest in fishing,” he adds. “Kids who wouldn’t necessarily be super excited about spending three hours a day doing lab work, they can’t help themselves. It’s all part of the package, and it’s pretty neat. And, again, we have some of the best natural resources in the country right here.”

Nurturing Lifelong Learners Back at the river, Parker’s students are testing what they’ve learned. They look at how the rocks break the water flow, the depth of the water column, the structure of the bottom and how those influence the speed of the current. They use their understanding of hydraulics to calculate where the fast water meets the slow and a fish can sit and watch food go by without exerting too much energy.

They’re building a skill set, Parker explains, and then testing those skills. Flyfishing is a way to validate their knowledge. It’s about mastery. The process is driven by their ability to understand nature enough to create their own artificial representation. The strike on the line is an affirmation of the work they’ve put into exploring the craft.

“You’re always getting that continual formative assessment,” says Parker, who also directs the Academic Skills Program. The learning students do in his course happens naturally, but it’s also intentional.

“It’s another kind of learning,” he says, “where there is always more to know. They’re driven to explore something more deeply, something more substantial. They gain an expansive set of skills, but also an awareness and an appreciation,” he says. “It’s the kind of experience that turns students into lifelong learners.”

The wilderness that surrounds Gould is one big playground and classroom for our students.

They regularly get to have transformative outdoor experiences in Western Maine. Here are ten of our favorites. Read more on the Gould blog.

gouldacademy.org/blog/downeast

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As seen in

Meet

Mr. Smith Tao Smith ’90 becomes Gould’s next head of school on July 1, 2020.

Growing up, Tao Smith never thought he would have a large family, but today he and wife Dawn have six children—five girls and a boy. Two are high school seniors, two freshmen, and the twins are in fifth grade. Dawn is from Kentucky, but they met when she was pursuing an MBA at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

“We created this amazing conglomerate of a family,” says Smith, “and then were welcomed by the twins. We love having a big team, so to speak. It’s challenging but it’s also fun and rewarding and everyone’s got such a unique personality. It doesn’t feel big. It feels just right.”

Tao and Dawn met while she was taking a break from her residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock to get an MBA. She earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, trained as a general surgeon at Dartmouth, and went on to receive her fellowship in critical care at Dartmouth, post residency. She is now medical director of the ICU at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

“She does some trauma surgery, but her primary job is to run the ICU. We’re excited because Bethel is actually 30 minutes closer to Portsmouth than Killington,” says Smith.

“Everyone’s really excited,” he adds, “and the kids are proud and happy. Given that all that they have ever known about me professionally is my connection to KMS, I have to say that I’m really proud of how they’ve wrapped their minds around this next adventure. Killington has been at the center of their lives for so long that it’s both exciting, and I think nerve-wracking, for them to consider change. After bringing the family to visit Gould and Bethel in October, though, the twins are ready to start tomorrow; I have to say everyone is.”

Smith says one of his strongest memories of Gould is doing Junior Four Point.

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“I missed a couple of Four Points because of my ski racing, but I made sure that I was out in the woods when I became a junior. I would say that experience in the woods was life changing for me, not because of the winter camping experience. I had done a lot of

that already. But it was the first time that I assumed, I think, a true leadership role and realized that not only was I good at it, but that I liked it too. That was a revelatory experience for me.”

Bonnie Pooley and Mac Davis were his faculty trip leaders.

“I remember them coming to me afterward in the field house, while we were putting gear away. They both just said, ‘Hey, you did a really nice job.’ It made me feel good, that I had done something I didn’t know I could do and that it was recognized and appreciated by people that I respected. So that changed my trajectory, I think, and is in part responsible for what I’m doing today.”

His very first Gould memory, though, is sitting around a table in Gehring, where the dining hall was then, with Lauren Head, one of his orientation leaders, and Matt Karatz, a classmate from Los Angeles whom he’d just met. Lorenzo Baker was telling the group what the trip would be like.

“He said, ‘You might see some moose,’” Smith recalls. “And I remember Matt saying, eyes wide, ‘Mooses? We might see mooses here?’ Matt and I became really close friends. He was on the Board of Trustees for a while, and his involvement has remained strong.

But I think he set the tone for my class and my friends, who have all carried really fond memories of the school and what it’s meant to them. Their desire to remain connected with each other and also connected with the place is really strong.”

“That’s what Gould does, from your first moment. Your first memory, you carry it with you, and you go your whole life searching for that same kind of connection and sense of place and community.

I would say that permeated my three years at Gould as a student.

And it’s what led me to return, first as a faculty member, and now as Head of School.”

4%

Annual Report 2018–19

5%

40%

5%

Gould Giving

470

6%

$331,567

total donors

Gould Fund

2018-19

15%

$647,624 Capital Giving

25%

$979,191

Alumni

Current & Former Trustees

Current & Past Parents

Total Giving

Friends

Employees

Corporations & Foundations

Current & Past Grandparents

$11,786,483

$3,094,705

$20,219,916

Total Budget for 2018-19

Financial Aid awarded in 2018-19

Market value of the Endowment as of June 30, 2019

2%

6% 7% sources of income

86

%

2018-19

11%

annual expenses 2018-19

64%

12% 19 Tuition & Fees

Auxilliary

Summer Programs

Investment Income & Endowment Draw

Annual Giving

Faculty & Staff Compensation Technology, Facilities, and Utilities

Instructional Costs Non-program Costs Food Service

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3% 3%

6%

Q&A

with Tracey Wilkerson A graduate of Middlebury College, Tracey Wilkerson came to Gould in 2002. She teaches Spanish, coaches field hockey, and runs the highly popular Veterinary Science Camp on campus each summer.

For many years, she ran the Farm & Forest program. She likes to say that, “Everything associated with horses keeps me happy.”

What is unique about Gould? What do you like?

TW: One of the things I think is special about Gould is that there are so many different ways for students to be good at something. We have really strong academics, and students can be celebrated for that. Or a student can be an athlete, or a leader, or a musician, or a ski patroller, or any number of things. And they can be celebrated for that. There are lots of different ways for kids to be good at something here.

Is there a quality you see across your students that leads to success?

TW: Gould kids are nice to each other. There seems to be a culture of treating each other well. That’s the norm here, and that’s what students learn when they come to campus. It becomes something that shapes our community. I don’t know, honestly, how exactly it’s cultivated, but there’s a culture of kindness. Another thing, I’ve taught at other schools, and it was clear to me when I started that Gould students are here to learn. They want to get the most out of their time here, and they encourage each other to be good students too. They support each other and hold themselves and each other to a pretty high standard. That’s probably it. We have kind students who want to learn.

Do you think that comes from something you do here?

TW: I hope that comes from what I’m doing, but I know that it also comes from being part of a larger community of learners. The other adults who work here are always asking students to be the best they can be, and students expect that of each other as well. I hope in my teaching that I can spark a little bit of curiosity and launch the students onto their own learning path. I don’t expect that every single one of my students is going to become fluent in Spanish, but I do hope that they gain a better global perspective and a little bit more understanding of our whole world.

How does travel fit into the picture?

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TW: One of the things that I love about working at Gould is the opportunity to travel with our students. I love the ways that Gould supports student travel. The Ninth Grade Four Point program gives students the opportunity to travel in small groups. They might be traveling with their biology teacher or their English teacher or their Chinese teacher or their Spanish teacher.

We go to China, Ecuador, Peru, and Tanzania. The ways the trips tie into the curriculum make it so the kids have a unique and powerful experience traveling.

Tracey Wilkerson with her group in Misahualli, Ecuador, where students do homestays with a group called Sinchi Warmi (Quechua for “strong women”) along with some community work or minga.

That kind of growth is really exciting.

You can spend months with a student, and then in the 10 days or 14 days when we’re traveling, that’s when you really see the most growth. When students come back together after traveling for Four Point, there’s a bond within the class that is unmatched and lasts through the end of their senior year and beyond. We have a lot of graduates come back for Alumni Weekend, and it’s fun to see. Gould is a special place.

look at something familiar as if they’re seeing it for the first time. Sometimes when we’re traveling, we see the world a little bit differently because so many things are new and we’re wide open to new experiences. When we’re in our own home and our own place, sometimes those windows and doors are shut and we don’t even realize it. So I’ll ask students to imagine that they’re travelers, that they’re in another country, and that’s a great springboard for when we do travel. In addition to being able to really get to know their classmates, it’s a great way for them to be part of something larger than themselves, to be out in the world.

“Making meaningful connections with people around the world and overcoming obstacles and perceived limitations, builds character and confidence like nothing else.”

How else do you take advantage of being here?

TW: I always love to find reasons to get outside with my students. There are some times when we’ll, for example, take a culture walk. I ask them to

How much have you traveled with the students?

TW: I feel really fortunate that I’ve been able to travel with students several times. I’ve been to China as part of a teacher exchange with a school that we partner with there, and also with students for the Ninth Grade Four Point. I’ve traveled to Ecuador three times with students. What an amazing country. I also had the opportunity to travel to Panama with just two students last summer. That was amazing. It’s always really fun to travel with students and see their willingness to engage in the language. Noticing how they change. When we get there sometimes they are a bit tentative; they’re not sure if they should use what they know in Spanish. Then they start to send little feelers out, and, next thing you know, they’re moving toward having full-on conversations and it’s really great fun. I love it.

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It’s always great as a Spanish teacher to see my students trying the language that they learned in the classroom. My hope is that when they find themselves in a Spanish-speaking country, the language starts to stick.

When I’m with them, I can see their language skills develop. Something that’s even more exciting, though, is supporting our kids through some pretty significant growth in a relatively short period of time. There are a lot of challenging things when they travel in another country. Sometimes it’s things that they wouldn’t expect would be challenging. They overcome it, though. Making meaningful connections with people around the world and overcoming obstacles and perceived limitations, builds character and confidence like nothing else.

Alumni Weekend 2019 words by Amy Connell, photos by M. Dirk MacKnight & Greg Gilman

Cheers to Alumni Weekend 2019!

Thank you to all who came home to Gould for another outstanding Alumni Weekend. A special shout-out to Allison Stevens ’99 of The Thirsty Pig and Ian Dorsey ’04 of Mast Landing Brewing Company for their collaboration on Gould’s signature sausage and beer. It was the perfect pairing with our spectacular weekend!

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Nico Portuondo ’09 and Derek Nagy ’09 breaking claws This year’s Hall of Fame honorees Doug Little ’77,

Dave Berry ’79, and Lorenda Freeman Dunleavy ’61

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Jenny Mae Wheeler ’99, Allison Stevens ’99, Sara

Shifrin ’88, and Gwynn Zakov ’99

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Bill Peters ’69 and Edward Handy ’69

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Elizabeth McLellan ’69 was named Gould’s

Distinguished Alumna for her work with Partners for World Health

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Brittney Riley ’09 and Isabelle Louis ’09 enjoy

some wonderful stories at the Gould Gathers session

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Sean Xie ’17 and Lan Truong ’14

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Nicole Chaison ’84

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Lauren Head proudly displaying her artwork on Mast Landing’s custom brew, with Anna Sysko ’99, Rebecca Fraser ’98, and Parker Gray ’97

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Alumni Board Secretary Kristen Murphy Caldecutt ’03

See more great photos in our Alumni Weekend SmugMug Album!

gouldacademy1836.smugmug.com

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class notes

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Ronald Willard has donated 30 gallons of blood to the American Red Cross. The Red Cross recently reported that he is still a “CMV negative” donor (a donation that can be used in prenatal operations or procedures; 15% of adults are in this category).

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Susan and David Lombard, along with Charles and Roz Stuzin, sponsored a new play, American Son, at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 2016. It turned out to be a sensational hit and was brought back to the Berkshires for the fall season. “A year ago it opened on Broadway for a 16-week run at the Booth Theater starring Kerry Washington,” Dave writes. “It was picked up by Netflix and began airing on November 1. So, if you have this service try and see it. We think that you will be pleased with what you see.”

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Sandy Lorden lives in Punta Gorda, Florida, enjoying bridge, gardening, and volunteering. She writes,“I lost my beloved John this past winter. I miss him terribly.

My three sons have been wonderful. My faith is my rock, and I have great peace, thank God!”

Class of ’01 in NYC! Sean Duncan ’01 in the foreground with his wife, Katherine, on the left and then Tristan Fischer ’01, Bob Bruce ’01, Daniel (Sven D.) Bodenfors ’01, and his wife, Anette.

to discuss concerns like flood insurance, mortgage programs, tax issues, and other concerns. In Maine, I have testified in front of committees at the State House on disclosures and road issues as well as meeting with the Maine Speaker of the House and Majority Leader of the Maine Senate. I am excited to be a leader of such a wonderful group of professionals helping home buyers and sellers across our state.”

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Jim Konkel is chairing a very successful capital campaign for the Portland Symphony Orchestra as they welcome a new music director, Eckart Preu. He continues to serve on various committees of Ducks Unlimited and serves on the Board of Ducks Unlimited Canada. He is also a trustee of Wetlands America Trust, the largest land trust in the country.

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Starting January 1 Tom Cole will serve as the 2020 President of the Maine Association of Realtors (MAR). MAR includes 6,000 Realtor members and affiliates in the real estate industry. He writes, “I have been an officer with MAR since 2018, when I was the first vice president. My duties include working on issues that affect homeowners and Realtors in our state. I, along with other Realtors, have met with our Senators and Congressional representative in Washington

Shinzo Honde ’94 and Sang-Woo Park ’94

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Shinzo Honde writes, “SangWoo Park and I had a chance to catch up in October. I had a layover in Incheon for work, and he came out to my hotel for dinner. The last time we shook hands was July 2013 (same place).

He is now married and has a 3 ½-year-old son. I’m still enjoying my flying career with Hawaiian Airlines, meeting up with old pals from the past in different cities. Don’t forget to message me if you are coming through Honolulu.”

Kate Warner earned her Ph.D. from the University of Maine in Ecology and Environmental Studies. Her research investigated the ecological and economic implications of extreme precipitation events on drinking water resources.

In May 2017, Caitlin Hathaway opened Tula – a sanctuary for everyday healthy living in South Portland, Maine. The studio offers yoga, spin, and barre classes. This year she completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in Portugal.

Ally Goddard completed the New York City Marathon in November 2018. She raised over $4,000 for the National MS Society, thanks in large part to generous donations from Gould classmates.

Erika Hoddinott and her family bought a home in Norwell, Massachusetts, last summer. This year she earned a Graduate Study Certificate in Studied Learning Design & Technology from Harvard University.

Nicholas Peat proposed to Sarah Felton on August 5. The two are planning a 2020 Jackson Hole, Wyoming, wedding.

Rory Dwyer married Kristin Cibotti on October 20, 2018, in Cataumet, Massachusetts. Rory’s sister Whitney ’99 and friends Matt McCawley, Erika Hoddinott, and Ally Goddard were there to celebrate.

Rory and Kristin work as zookeepers at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Jess Braun writes: “After two years in foster care, we adopted our son Mo last December. Then, my family was completed by marrying my best friend, Norm Pacholski, in Portland, Maine, on September 28!”

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Robin Chace Payson’s family’s sail loft in Rockport, Maine (Bohndell Sails & Rigging) was featured in the May 2019 issue of Maine Magazine. “But that’s not the best part!” she writes, “The best part is that this wonderful opportunity came to us because Sara Shifrin ’88 contacted fellow Gould grad Heidi Kirn-McMahon ’87, editor at Maine Magazine, and recommended that she visit our loft last summer. Heidi stopped by, took a few photos, then pitched us for a feature-length article! I am so grateful for a lifetime of GA connections!”

Chrissy (Liscombe) Hadler married Bill Hadler on August 19, 2017. Chrissy’s brothers Adam ’96 and Rob ’99, and classmates Caitlin Hathaway, Erika Hoddinott, and Ally Goddard attended the celebration in Columbus, Ohio.

Chrissy and Bill welcomed their daughter, Elizabeth, on April 16.

Rory Dwyer ’02 and his wife Kristin Cibotti

Jess Braun ’02 and husband Norm Pacholski with their son, Mo.

Elizabeth Hadler

Matt McCawley and his wife, Kate, bought a house in Vermont in June, just in time to welcome twins, Cassidy and Micah, on July 8.

Chrissy Liscombe Hadler ’02 and her bridesmaids, including classmates Caitlin Hathaway, Erika Hoddinott, and Ally Goddard.

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class notes

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Amelia Brodka hosted the 8th annual Exposure Skate event on November 2 in Huntington Beach, California with more than 200 girls from 22 countries competing in Park, Street, Vert, Best Tricks, Highest Air, and Longest Grind. Proceeds support survivors of domestic violence. Amelia is ranked 27 in the world for women’s park skating and is now sponsored by Visa.

She is skateboarding for the Polish Skate Federation — her home country, reports teacher Dave Bean, who traveled with her to Nanjing, China, for an Olympic Qualifier event. There are about six more qualifying events before the Olympics.

Gould Alumni at the Hagerty/Stone wedding

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Thacher Stone ’08 and Kiley Hagerty Stone married on June 15, after nearly 13 years of best-friendship that began at Gould! It was a weekend full of GA love — as Thach had Matt Stone, Chris Hagerty, Adrian Bouthot, Marty Donovan, Jimmy Catlin, and Brian Schroy (all ’06-’08) as his groomsmen, and two of Kiley’s bridesmaids have been her best friends since they were roomies in the Gehring Triple: Katherine Raker and Alli Flynn Foote. And countless other Gouldies were also in attendance to dance the night away. Kiley and Thach moved back from Boulder, Colorado, to Portland, Maine, and are psyched to be closer to friends, family, and to not miss any future GA reunions!

Ashley Oliver ’03 & Kevin Broderick ’99 were married in August at Sunday River

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Jackie O’Sullivan is working at Cary Medical Center in Caribou, Maine, as part of the Maine Track MD Program. Tufts offers a Maine Track that exposes medical students to the unique aspects of rural practice as well as training in a medical center.

“Getting accepted to the Maine Track was like a dream come true for me,” she writes.

“I’ve always been drawn to rural areas and have wanted to make Maine my permanent home since I was a child. I look forward to helping give Mainers the care they deserve.”

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Jeb Clarke is an analyst for the Boston Red Sox, embedded with the team. “Clarke, who played at Skidmore College, interned with the Reds last season then was hired by the Red Sox to serve as a bridge between the coaching staff and analytics department,” wrote the Boston Globe.

Ally Goddard ’02 at the NYC Marathon in 2018

Rock the Notes!

Want your class to shine in the GAzette, the way the class of 2002 did?

Jeb Clarke ’12 in the Red Sox Clubhouse

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Kenzie Clark graduated from Dartmouth and is now in a Ph.D. program in chemistry at Princeton. She recently published a paper on “Aliphatic Ether Bond Formation” in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Why not step up to be a class secretary?

Be like Ally Goddard ’02.

Rock the notes.

Contact Amy Connel 207-824-7762, or connella@gouldacademy.org

At the wedding of Brian Schroy ’07 with a room full of Gouldies.

2008 classmates recreate a Gould memory from Alumni Weekend 2018 at Veronica Wolfe’s wedding in Puerto Rico. From left, Shannon Littlefield, Brittany Rogers, Kathleen Lanigan, Veronica Wolfe, Ashley Lewando, and Kelly Kenyon LeValley.

Nick Adams ’18 is in his second year at School of the Art Institute of Chicago

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class notes Light Up Our #GouldLife In October, we were thankful for our connection with master electrician Maxx Finn ’10, who is a lighting designer at the Boston Lyric Opera. The theater lighting in Bingham Auditorium was in need of renovation, and Maxx was more than happy to lend his expertise and connections.

“I came back to give back to Gould,” says Maxx. “I started art here. It’s great to see all the students finding out what they are passionate about. That used to be me.”

Thanks to Maxx for helping us shine a light brightly on everything we do in performing arts!

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Maxx Finn ’10 at work in the rafters above Bingham Auditorium.

From the Archives These gorgeous satin banners are part of a century-old Gould tradition. The custom of making a banner for the class and displaying it on reunion years continues today. What does your class banner look like? Did you notice it hanging at your last reunion?

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in memoriam We are saddened to report the deaths of the following members of the Gould Community since the last publication of the GAzette.

7/17/2019 5/14/2019 10/30/2019 5/8/2019 6/19/2019 8/23/2019 9/22/2019 6/27/2019 7/14/2019 6/9/2019 5/21/2019 Summer 2019

Beatrice Forbes Lowell ’44 Claire Lapham Smith ’45 Stephen L. Smith ’58 Carline J. Waterhouse Torrey ’37 Elizabeth Hackland Walsh ’60 Glendon R. Whitehouse ’61 Eric T. Wight ’59 Mary Gibbs Woodcock ’45

Former Employee John Holliday

7/3/2019 2/12/2019 9/17/2019 5/2/2019 3/11/2019 9/5/2019 5/9/2019 3/14/2019 5/8/2019

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Earl A. Coolidge ’65 Patricia Irving Glover ’56 James W. Gray ’48 Kathleen Brooks Hanscom ’48 Rodney B. Harrington ’50 Suzanne S. Wight Hayner ’55 Laura Yates Hutchins ’51 Timothy J. Hutchins ’66 Donna J. Bartlett Jones ’57 Stuart P. Lane ’33 Gilbert C. LeClair ’44 Cory C. Leonoudakis ’14

39 Church Street | P.O. Box 860 Bethel, ME 04217 communications@gouldacademy.org 207-824-7700

ER PROGRAMS SUMM

What will you do this summer? gouldacademy.org/summer-programs