Views from the Hill | Summer 2021

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craziness—feels good to see some light at the end of the tunnel.” She is excited to report that their oldest daughter, Eloise, will be an 8th grader at Hopkins in the fall. “I am very excited to rejoin the Hopkins community (even though I am a bit terrified of the commute from Darien to New Haven!).” David Ponet reports that his “twin girls, 6 years old, are suffering through hybrid 1st grade with too many interruptions and too little time in actual school. All things being equal, we’re well. Living in Brooklyn, New York, imagining a postpandemic world.” David is working at UNICEF and is appreciating life without constant international work travel.

1994 Christian J. Sauska cjs.nola@me.com Adrienne Betz Oliver adriennebetz@gmail.com

From left, Owen Littman, Tara Cook-Littman ’93, Spencer Littman ’21, Ava Pfannenbecker ’21, Brie Pfannenbecker ’94, and Jason Pfannenbecker ’93 world. Cori asks if anyone is coming to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to let her know, because she would love to meet up! Nim Tottenham moved a little uptown, and while everyone in the family has a longer commute (when not working or going to school from home), they are all happier in their new abode. Congratulations to Shay Dvoretzky, who has moved to a different large law firm and is now head of Skadden’s Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation group. Greg Tanner welcomed his (gulp) late 40s by celebrating another fantastic birthday soon after starting his new job at iCapital Network. Monica Brenner wrote to say that she, her husband, Tom, and their three children were all surviving pandemic times, and although (as for everyone) many plans were upended, after spending much time together, they created lots of new memories. Most of our class had Mrs. Donna Fasano ’68 DPH for English in 7th grade, for freshman English, or in senior school, and we all offer our condolences on the untimely passing of her husband, Roland. We hope to see her in person and the rest of our former teachers and ’92 classmates at the 30th reunion on June 3 and 4, 2022!

1993 Tara Cook-Littman taracook.littman@gmail.com Hello, Class of 1993. As always, I, Tara Cook-Littman, love hearing from everyone. Next quarter I hope to hear from more of you. In the past I’ve mentioned that my son, Spencer ’21, and Jason and Brie Pfannenbecker ’94’s daughter Ava ’21, have been friends since Junior School. So, I thought you’d all appreciate that they just went to prom together, as friends of course! It was really special to see the seniors getting to enjoy the last weeks of their senior year after a year of separation because of COVID. And to celebrate the world beginning to open up, I’m going to plan a class gathering in the New Haven area before 2021 ends. Stay tuned for details. Eliza Woolston Sheffield says that she hopes “everyone is continuing to manage through all this

Dora Chen is the associate general counsel for public affairs for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a position she described as her “dream job” in a recent article in Washington Jewish Week. To read it, go to washingtonjewishweek.com/pursuing-justicewith-dora-chen/

1995 Michaelangelo Palmieri michaelangelo_44@yahoo.com Luretha McClendon Tolson Lmctolson@gmail.com Hello Classmates! Luretha and I (Michaelangelo) were happy to hear from several of our Class of ’95ers. Neil Batiancila checked in and reported that his family is doing well—three kids and two dogs (including a new pandemic puppy). Neil has been focused on helping Philadelphia Zoo withstand the challenges of the pandemic by overhauling their fundraising operation. This has been a stressful time for many of us and Neil has found some joy watching his boys on the baseball field and also being the ultimate girl-dad to his daughter, dancing with her and making videos whenever they have a moment together. I’m in the same boat as Neil and my family also added a new addition with a pandemic goldendoodle puppy. Koko Bear Palmieri has been a great companion and offered my family lots of love and laughs since he joined the household. My kids have been quite resilient throughout the pandemic and all of the curve balls thrown at their daily routine. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with some of our classmates from the Class of 1994. I had a mini-reunion with Julian Paris ’94, Steve Testa ’94, and Sean Clarke ’94 in New Haven. We did the full New Haven pizza tour and caught up with each other after almost a decade. It was a really nice treat to see all of them and reminisce on our days at the Hop and beyond. Rabbi Ahud Sela checked in with our Class of ’95 Football group and reported that he too is doing well. He is still enjoying being a rabbi in sunny Los Angeles, California. Ahud’s oldest two kids will be high school seniors and will begin college hunting this summer. He is also looking forward to celebrating 20 years of marriage and celebrating his younger son’s bar mitzvah in the fall. Ahud’s son aspires to follow in father’s footsteps and play football. Congrats on the 20 years of marriage, Ahud! Pete Scalletar dropped us a line and he continues to be doing big things in the filmmaking industry. Pete is currently VIEWS FROM THE HILL

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