Kimball Union Spring/Summer 2026

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KIMBALL UNION MAGAZINE | SPRING/SUMMER ���6

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Last Word

Monday: 1 sgt and 1 private on Gard today... we had no bread and very hungary...it is reported that Boston is took today

A Revolutionary Diary As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation, a young soldier’s frontline reflections allow us to trace the deep, foundational lines connecting our small New England community to the grand narrative of America’s independence.

Long before he became benefactor and namesake of Kimball Union Academy, Daniel Kimball enlisted in the Continental Army in February 1776. He immediately marched to Quebec to join the Continental troops attempting to capture heavily fortified Quebec City. He began a journal—Journal of March to Quebec: February 8, 1776-

May 27, 1776—that recounts the hardship, humor, exhaustion, and uncertainty faced by ordinary soldiers of the Revolution. Ultimately, British reinforcements forced the Continental Army into a hasty retreat.

Beyond a military record, the journal reflects Kimball’s fierce commitment to self-education, with entries that visibly demonstrate his rapid progress in writing and literacy while serving on the frontlines. Illiterate at the age of 16, he developed into a wartime chronicler at age 22. K

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Contents S P R I N G / S UM M E R � � � 6

Features

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Don’t Knock Self-Delusion

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The Past Is Always Present

The gap between ambition and reality is where confidence, adaptability, and adventure are forged.

Veronica Jackson ’81 sheds light on the plight of Black womanhood in America.

A Last Class Together Tom and Lyn Lord P’09 retire after decades dedicated to enhancing campus life.

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20 Departments 9 HEAD OF SCHOOL 10 VOICES: HEARD FROM ALUMNI

Hilltop

12 NEWS FROM CAMPUS 20 COMMENCEMENT 22 SPORTS OVERVIEW 24 ARTS OVERVIEW

Connect

40 REUNIONS 42 CLASS NOTES 49 LAST WORD

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS JENNIFER BORISLOW ’78 P’07 ’10

Chair

Methuen, MA RYAN MCPADDEN ’92

Vice Chair

Wellesley Hills, MA GLENN POGUST P’13, J.D.

Secretary

New London, NH KEITH MILNE ’05

Treasurer

Hanover, NH

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP DAVID ALLYN ’86 P’17 ’25

Skaneateles, NY

WILLIAM BARKER ’90

Acton, MA

DAVID BARRETTE ’05

Hanover, NH

BRIAN BODELL P’25

Bronxville, NY

JUSTINE FAHEY P’19 ’28

Norwich, VT

NEERAJ GARG P’25

Westport, CT

JENNA GODFREY ’02

Washington, DC

DOUGLAS GRADY ’89

Seattle, WA

ROBIN GRONLUND ’81 P’11

Shelburne, VT

SCOTT HAMNER P’25 ’27 ’29

Norwich, VT

VIVA HARDIGG P’21 ’23

Hanover, NH JOSHUA MANDEL P’25

New York, NY

ANDREA MURRAY ’87

Middlebury, VT

NELS OJARD P’27

Portsmouth, NH

JADI TAVERAS ’03

Haverhill, MA

KARLA RADKE P’21

New Ringgold, PA

KIMBALL UNION MAGAZINE

CHANDLER SONG ’14

West Hollywood, CA

EDITOR

PHOTOGRAPHY

TRICIA MCKEON

Eli Burakian, Patrick Hyjek ’20 Roy Knight P’10, Meli Neubek Michael Pezone, Rob Strong

Director of Marketing and Communications Kimball Union

EDITORIAL DESIGN WENDY MCMILLAN ’78 P’09 ’11

McMillan Design

COPY EDITOR THERESA D’ORSI

CONTRIBUTORS Megan Dodge P’28, Theresa D’Orsi, Patrick Hyjek ’20, Bill Kerig ’80 Tricia McKeon, Meli Neubek, Anna Olson, Michael Pezone, Stacey Summerfield

SHELDON STANSFIELD ’11

Lyme, NH

STEPHEN SURGENOR P’16 ’17 ’20 ’25

Meriden, NH

TRUSTEES EMERITUS SARAH GILES P’84

Booth Bay, ME

DON LOWERY ’73

New York, NY

JACK H. NELSON ’63

Hanover, NH

DAVID POND ’64

Bronxville, NY 8

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Head of School

“I hope the images and profiles on these pages bring to life the full health and balance of all that is growing at KUA these days.”

Dear KUA Community,

I

took a quiet opportunity to walk down to the KUA Farm early this morning accompanied by my dog, Porter, my laptop, and a hot cup of coffee. Writing this letter and capturing some of my thoughts was the agenda.

From a distance, I could see the garden alive with neat rows of varied, robust shades of green; as I grew closer, an abundance of unripe peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and flowering blossoms filled the field—a landscape of promises and affirmation of the many hours poured in by so many in our community.

It wasn’t until I rounded the corner at the back of the greenhouse that the 12 escaped sheep playfully teased me, almost chirping as one might do after scoring a goal or acing a test, “Hey, look at us—look what we did!” A short while later, despite Porter’s instincts to turn the whole thing into a campus-wide game of chase, the rattling of the food bin had them all back in place with the gate secured—for now. Making a connection with the sheep, seeing them enjoy time and space to explore their freedom while appreciating the structure we’ve created so they feel safe and thrive, put me in a perfect head space for reflecting on the year.

I hope the images and profiles on these pages bring to life the full health and balance of all that is growing at KUA these days. If we extend the metaphor, the rows you will see in full bloom as you explore these articles include achievement, inspiration, innovation, and deeply meaningful human connections.

The latest class of graduates are off to some of the top schools in the world, equipped to lead and to inspire others with their preparedness and, more importantly, their character and ethic.

We marveled at them and celebrated their milestone with parting words from beloved retiring faculty members Lyn and Tom Lord P’09 during graduation weekend. We published a first-in-kind book about learning, well-being, and personal growth that’s already been lauded and utilized by schools and educators around the world. A faculty and student collaboration of writing and illustrating deepens our commitment to and clarity in living out our mission and promise to students and families.

In the pages ahead, I think you will be inspired by the choices and lives of our profiled alumni and ponder the limitless potential of one graduating senior who turned a passion for sport into efforts to elevate the life and dreams of kids halfway around the world. I hope you are struck with an appreciation of the impact experiences here have on the full arc of the lives of our community.

I watched and listened to what the recalibration of excellence and the awakening of awe feels like as our alumni joined with our baseball team and coaches this spring to enjoy a Red Sox spring training game. Together, we toured the facility, met players and personnel, and then watched as our student-athletes took a crack at knocking one off the Green Monster.

Our planning for next year is in full swing and new faculty are moving onto campus. Before we dive too far down that path, I hope you’ll enjoy a few highlights and profiles of the current year.

Enjoy,

TYLER LEWIS P'28, P’30

Head of School SPRING/SUMMER ���6

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Voices

H E A R D F ROM A LUM N I

Lessons Learned As the Class of 2025 completes its first year of college, we ask these undergraduates to share the advice they’d give to their high-school selves.

TEDDY LYKOURETZOS ’25 YALE UNIVERSITY

“Don’t be impatient about finishing high school and starting college; your life is never going to be this simple again.”

BRYNN GARG ’25

IZZY BENT ’25

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

“Don’t worry about fitting everything into the four years. You have the rest of your life ahead of you, so just do what you enjoy and what makes you happy—but don’t forget to study.”

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

“Don’t worry as much.

When I started high school, I was so worried about who I was friends with, what extracurriculars I took, and if I was doing the right thing.

Just go along for the ride and you will get there.”

ALEX HOYT ’25

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

SYLVIE MCCLURE ’25

LEO BARTA ’25

“Academically, how you manage time matters way more than being ‘naturally smart.’ In college, nobody is constantly checking on you, and things pile up fast if you fall behind. Stress less about perfection and focus more on staying proactive and consistent with schoolwork. Also, be more present. Senior year especially goes by ridiculously fast. The stuff that seemed huge at KUA becomes smaller with time, but the memories and people you cared about stay with you.”

“Put yourself out there as much as you can, whether in new social interactions or the classroom. This will only benefit you going forward and get you ready for college life and job interviews. Take the time to try new things and don’t get too stuck in a perfectly routine schedule.

It’s becoming clear that things get more scheduled with higher pressure and expectations after high school, so enjoy and take advantage of life when things are more low key while figuring out what your interests are.”

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

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HADLEY BETHKE ’25 UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

“Put yourself out there and embrace every opportunity. It’s easy to become focused on one goal or one path, but some of the best experiences come from being willing to step outside your comfort zone. Be vulnerable and say ‘yes’ to new opportunities. Keep your doors open, build relationships, and take advantage of everything the KUA community has to offer. Most importantly, be present in the moment because the experience goes by much faster than you’d think.”

“Be even weirder, be so unapologetically yourself from the very first day to the last steps off the quad. Through this action, true friends will emerge who value you for the traits you possess and not the facade you may display. Through the vulnerable act of allowing others to see the real you, you give them the opportunity to love you.

The friends who love you through growth and triumph, through thick and thin, will find you, I promise.”

ELENA WANG ’25

RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN

“Trust the process a little more and worry a little less. Not everything has to be figured out right now. Be kind to yourself, say ‘yes’ to the scary opportunities, and don’t forget to be more present and actually enjoy the journey.”

CHRISTIAN “MOUSE” WILLIAMS ’25 CAL STATE FULLERTON

“Be proactive about your needs, decisions, and all that you do.

Be willing and humble enough to ask for help rather than suffer on your own when there are resources and people here to help you. Be strong and remember to smile brightly.”

STELLA KOZAK ’25

CHARLES TONG ’25

“Don’t wait so long to open up to everyone around you, especially the staff and the people you don’t immediately think to talk to. Don’t hesitate or overthink it; just start those conversations earlier, even if they feel small or random, because those connections are some of the best you will ever make.”

“College has taught me that growth comes from trying new things, meeting different people, and being open to unexpected opportunities. Also, appreciate your time at KUA more, because the friendships, experiences, and lessons you gain there continue to help long after you walk off the quad grad stage.”

WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT NEUBECKER

Hilltop N EWS F ROM C A M P U S

INSIDE 12-25: HILLTOP NEWS ➤ STUDENT SPOTLIGHT ➤ CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS ➤ COMMENCEMENT ➤ SPORTS S P R I NOVERVIEW G � � � 8 11 ➤ ARTS OVERVIEW

Hilltop N EWS F ROM C A M P US

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Tomoki Hirayama ’26 After a heartbreaking end to the Kimball Union soccer season, striker Tomoki Hirayama ’26 retreated to the music studio in Flickinger Arts Center and found solace in his cello. Playing the instrument has been a cure for the teenager’s stresses around juggling academics, college applications, and NCAA recruiting while far from his home in Lusaka, Zambia.

“I started playing the cello after I moved to Zambia, and it allows me to pause and take a deep breath,” says Hirayama, who relocated from his native Japan to Zambia at age 8. “I play the cello to calm myself. It’s meaningful.”

Cello and soccer have been two constants in Hirayama’s life since early childhood, and both have served him in profound ways during his time on The Hilltop. Hirayama was introduced to KUA after meeting Varsity Boys’ Soccer Head Coach Charles Muhlauri at a camp. In Muhlauri, a native of Zimbabwe, Hiramaya found familiarity.

“In Zambia, everyone is like him—not too serious and with a very happy outlook,” says Hirayama. “Charles is just having the time of his life. In Japan, it’s completely different.”

Although the African nation now feels like home, adjusting to life in Zambia brought initial shock for the young Hirayama. Eager to continue his soccer skills, his mother took him to the local pitch. What he discovered was barefoot children kicking a ball made of plastic bags and rubber bands on a sandy field of sharp stones. It was unlike any experience he had in Japan, but it became part of his day-to-day life until he landed a spot in a nearby international soccer academy. The disparity of equipment and access was palpable.

“I began by giving away my old football boots and equipment,” he says. “They were things I no longer needed, but they made a world of difference to these players. They had never worn football boots before. Their 12

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gratitude sparked something in me.”

With the help of a contact in Japan, Hirayama set up a foundation called Second Life Zambia that provides used equipment to Zambian “football” players. With the assistance of Japanese clubs and supporters, Zambian children have received more than �,��� pairs of cleats, �,��� jerseys, and ��� balls.

“As Second Life grew, so did my understanding of how small initiatives can have large impacts on so many people and their lives and careers,” he says, noting that some players he supported are now playing professionally in Spain, Russia, and Italy.

In 2024, Hirayama moved to Meriden with his cleats and cello in tow, ready to immerse himself in American culture. As a “third-culture kid,” Hirayama has navigated his developmental years in a country outside of his homeland. Coming to the United States would add a new dimension to his experience.

“When I was just in Zambia, I couldn’t see the similarities to Japan as much,” he says, “but now being in the United States introduces a new perspective. It’s like I was seeing in only two dimensions before and now I can see things in 3D.” In the off-season, Hirayama focuses on his music, playing in the Chamber Ensemble and the Winter Musical. He jumped at the chance to see world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College. While the sold-out audience enjoyed Ma’s charismatic performance, Hirayama found something deeper: “It was like his cello was speaking to me.” He has since adapted his bowing style.

Next year, Hirayama will attend the University of Rochester, where he’ll play soccer. Academically, he’d like to leverage his strength in math and science to study economics or statistics. However he continues to develop both body and mind, music will remain a profound part of his life. K

“It’s like I was seeing in only two dimensions before and now I can see things in 3D.” —TOMOKI HIRAYAMA ’26

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Elevating the Whole Student

600 Dumplings were consumed during the Lunar New Year celebration.

81 people attended the KUA Hockey Alumni Reunion

75,000 Bees moved into three beehives on the KUA Farm

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Varieties of seedlings planted in the greenhouse this spring

Tomoki Hirayama ’26 navigates his third culture.

What does it mean to educate the whole student? A compelling answer arrived this year in Elevate: 16 Boarding Schools and the Practice of Holistic Education, a new volume that gathers reflective essays from heads of school and senior leaders across 16 premier boarding institutions—including a chapter by Kimball Union Academy’s own Head of School Tyler Lewis P’28, P’30.

Rather than relying on glossy viewbooks or static mission statements, Elevate pulls back the curtain of boarding-school life. The book explores how academic rigor, residential life, mentorship, and daily institutional norms converge to shape adolescent development. For families navigating the boarding school search, it offers a rare window into how modern schools such as KUA deliberately cultivate character, responsibility, intellectual growth, and belonging beyond the classroom.

“A foundational commitment to knowing and to understanding every individual on our campus is not only central to our mission but also evident in the culture that develops each year on our campus,” Lewis explains in the book, outlining the Academy’s guiding principles. The chapter dives into how a rich history of belonging, a research-backed pedagogical approach to education, a global community, and distinctive programming help educate KUA students holistically.

The book can be purchased through Amazon. K SPRING/SUMMER ���6

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N EWS F ROM C A M P US

16 First timers learning to ski at the ninth-grade ski day

40 Blazes marked on a trail on KUA's Snow Mountain by the ninthgrade class

10 Ninth-grade advisories

2 Residence halls dedicated to ninth-grade boarders

Michele Winham P’25 in her role as the ninth-grade dean helps students “grow into what they can be.”

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“We give students space to fall and get up—and when the program is working right, they don’t even know we were part of it.” —MICHELE WINHAM P’25, NINTH-GRADE DEAN FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Michele Winham P’25 Nobody ever says, “I wish I could be a freshman in high school again.” However, that sentiment drives Michele Winham P’25 in her role as the ninth-grade dean overseeing the Academy’s program, Nine by Design. Charged with shepherding KUA’s youngest community members, she ensures these students don’t just survive this transitional year, they also find a welcoming and affirming environment that sets the foundation for high school and beyond. As the first cohort of seniors who began their journey in the ninth-grade program graduate, we talked with Winham about the initiative.

Why is ninth grade different from other school years?

This year isn’t only a big transition, it’s also a pivotal developmental time. Research tells us that success in ninth grade is a primary indicator of high school graduation and college success. It’s a foundational year that, when done right, can make all the difference.

We have kids in ninth grade ranging in age from 13 to 16. They’re all new, so the thing that binds them is empathy. They onboard together, they let go of what they thought high school would be and learn to grow into what they can be. They’re all trying to find their place and they do that together.

How would you describe your role at KUA?

I probably use some terms the kids don’t understand, like concierge or mother goose. I’m their person, the one who is assembling the team for them and their families so they can make the most of the KUA experience. This time is a precursor to their success.

We give students space to fall and get up—and when the program is working right, they don’t even know we were part of it. I’m kind of like the tooth fairy who just appears at the right moment, and that moment varies from kid to kid.

This sounds as though you have a very full house!

We focus our program in three key areas—academics, residential life, and advisory. That comes with a very large support system. Every student is assigned an advisor, who is a critical link between students and their families. I work in tandem with the advisors to make sure that each kid is a fully fleshed-out human being.

That means we—coaches, advisors, teachers, the health center staff—meet weekly to see where kids shine, then help them replicate their strengths in an area where they might be struggling. I believe wholeheartedly in teamwork. When you bring together different people who share the same purpose, it’s like magic.

What is the curriculum for the ninth grade?

All ninth graders, with some exceptions, begin their high school career with three core courses: conceptual physics, English, and geopolitics since the Renaissance.

This allows them to see how multifaceted they are in those classrooms and gives us three teachers who truly know every student in the grade. I also meet with the students for “Choices,” which is a panacea for everything they need to thrive in that first year and offers lessons that serve them well down the road. We have a team of experts at our disposal who tackle important topics at this stage of life—healthy relationships, conflict resolution, self-advocacy, living with others, nutrition. It offers a chance for me to see every kid once a week and understand how they’re doing and if anyone needs extra support.

Some of these students are leaving home for the first time. How do you navigate that leap?

Ninth-grade boarding students will live in a ninth-grade residence hall that first year. They will live with dorm parents and upper-class proctors who understand that the initial transition to high school and boarding school can be fraught. Dorm parents work on building healthy habits and skills that will set up students for success as they figure out how to live away from home. This can include anything from sleep hygiene to focused study time to healthy technology usage, such as through our “digital sunset” for the ninth grade, which gives students a break from tech in the evenings.

What happens when this year ends?

As sophomores, they make more decisions but will be equipped with the tools to help make better decisions.

They now transition into an intentional 10th-grade program that hits the right spots in their developmental journey. I want them to know that our work goes from the ninth grade until they move to 10th, but I’m always here for them and see them through their journey. I still celebrate their birthdays and keep in touch with many of the families well beyond that ninth-grade year.

How has the program been received?

This is my fourth year in this role, and I really feel one of the reasons this is the largest four-year senior class is because of this program. It will be challenging watching them walk across the stage at graduation and saying goodbye, but I’m proud of this moment. These students are now able to articulate their full high-school journey and know that they built a strong foundation from the moment they arrived here. K SPRING/SUMMER ���6

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Hilltop The Class of 2026

1,035

Applications sent to colleges & universities

219

Institutions admitted KUA students

103

Students enrolled at 74 different colleges and universities

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U.S. states represented

N EWS F ROM C A M P US COLLEGE ADVISING

College Destinations

Trailblazers

The Class of 2026 is going places.

Some may even call them trailblazers. The term, utilized frequently on The Hilltop by those in College Advising, refers to graduating seniors who are the first KUA students in the last five years to enroll at a particular institution.

Of the 115 graduates of the Class of 2026, 28 will set a course uniquely their own—the largest number of trailblazers since officials began tracking the data and an increase of more than 3 percent from last year’s graduating class. From the University of Pittsburgh to the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, these institutions will welcome KUA’s recent graduates who will lean on the tools and values they gained on The Hilltop.

“I believe this increase in trailblazers is a testament to the thoughtful and thorough approach many of our students take to the college-search process,” says Director of College Advising Gunnar Olson.

This class also saw a 35-percent uptick from last year in total applications submitted, with the class completing 1,035 applications to 271 different colleges and universities. Students also enrolled in colleges across four countries for their undergraduate experience.

“Rather than limiting themselves to familiar names or institutions that are well known within our immediate community, these students took the time to explore a wide range of opportunities, ask important questions, and identify the environments where they would thrive academically, socially, and personally,” says Olson. K

American University Amherst College

Southern New Hampshire University (2)

Bard College

St. Lawrence University

Bates College

Stony Brook University (2)

Boston College

Syracuse University (3)

Boston University (4)

Trent University

Brown University

Trinity College (2)

Bryant University (2)

Tulane University

Carleton College

University of Arizona

Claremont McKenna College

University of California (Berkeley)

Colby College (2) Colgate University (3) College of the Holy Cross Columbia University

University of California (Santa Barbara) University of Denver(2)

Connecticut College

University of Detroit Mercy (2)

Dartmouth College

University of Florida

Eckerd College (2)

University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)

Elon University Endicott College Florida Atlantic University

University of Massachusetts (Amherst)

Florida State University

University of Miami

George Washington Universi

University of New Hampshire

Grinnell College Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology

University of Pittsburgh

4 countries where graduates chose to study

Lipscomb University

University of Rochester

Lynn University

University of Saint Joseph

Marist University

University of San Diego

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McGill University

University of San Francisco

Miami University

University of South Carolina (3)

Middlebury College (2)

Graduates will enroll at New York University

New York University (5)

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Northeastern University

Students will enroll at a college in New York

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Graduates are “trailblazers,” the first from the past five KUA classes to enroll at a particular school 16

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Nichols College Northwestern University Pitzer College Queens University of Charlotte Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Saint Mary’s College of California Saint Michael’s College Santa Clara University Skidmore College (2) Southern Methodist University

University of Rhode Island

University of Southern California (2) University of St. Andrews (2) University of Tampa University of Vermont University of Virginia Valparaiso University Vassar College Wake Forest University Washington University in St. Louis (2) William & Mary Wright State University

“We believe that when students understand the why behind effective learning, they are better prepared to take ownership of their education” —ANNE PETERSON EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Powering the Teenage Brain

A new book authored by Anne Peterson, director of strategic initiatives, is empowering teenagers to better understand themselves as learners and make informed choices about how to approach their academic and personal growth.

Written by Peterson and illustrated by Ella Cheong ’26, Brainpower: A User’s Manual for Teens, is an accessible, engaging, and practical exploration of how the brain learns.

Designed for a high school audience, the book serves as the core text for Peterson’s new course elective ”Maximize Your Brainpower: The Science of Learning.” It provides students with a foundational understanding of the research that informs effective learning, memory, attention, and well-being.

“We believe that when students understand the why and the how behind effective learning, they are better prepared to take ownership of their education,” says Peterson.

This text builds on the Academy’s educational philosophy, KUA Design, which roots programming, pedagogy, and policy decisions in credible neuroscience and evidence-based, research-informed practice. While much of the past work in KUA Design has focused on faculty professional development and institutional design, Brainpower marks an important shift by placing the science in the hands of students and inviting them into the conversation. K

OBJECT LESSON

catching up with the varsity baseball team and, like any good historian, sharing the story behind his passion for baseball and this prized photo.

The KUA Stephen “Bish” Bishop Award—beFor decades, former Kimball Union Baseball stowed upon a ballplayer known to always be Coach Stephen “Bish” Bishop H’00 kept an autographed portrait of Boston Red Sox legend there for his teammates and willing to do the little things for the betterment of the team— Bobby Doerr by his bedside. would also inherit Bish’s photo of Doerr.

Doerr, a Hall of Famer whose jersey was Now, 2026 award winner Corbin Crowell ceremoniously retired by the Red Sox in 1988, ’28 has a bit of Red Sox and KUA history to never played ball on The Hilltop, but the determination and fortitude the second baseman inspire his play. He was recognized as a catcher displayed during his 14 seasons in Boston were who made the most of limited playing time this season by recording a perfect 1.000 batting traits Bishop always set out to instill in his average during three plate appearances as well as young ballplayers. significant contributions away from the action.

This past spring, 26 years after retiring “He’s the first guy out of the dugout to greet from his post as KUA coach and teacher, his teammates between innings and the first Bishop decided it was time for the portrait to one out sprinting for a foul ball in full catcher’s inspire a younger player. Toward that end, he sought out a student-athlete who displays many gear,” says Varsity Head Baseball Coach Chad Sturgeon. “He has both a drive and a smile that of the traits that propelled Doerr to such an are contagious and he’s been a bright light on illustrious career.

Bishop spent an afternoon this spring season this team for the past two seasons.” K

Beyond the Dugout

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N EWS F ROM C A M P US CAMPUS LIFE

Earth Day KUA’s Earth Day celebrations in April touched every passion. Faculty and students led workshops and activities in which everyone could grow their knowledge of sustainability, climate change, and the food systems that nourish us all.

1. Sharing Knowledge Jack Byrne, who led sustainability efforts at Middlebury College, served as keynote speaker and answered some of our most pressing questions about our planet.

2. Watercolors by Water Visiting artist Loida Alvarez joined students to explore watercolor techniques and creative expression using Chellis Pond as a backdrop.

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3. Slow Fashion Learning to knit by working with exclusive and sustainable yarn sourced directly from KUA’s sheep is the fastest way to reduce our reliance on fast fashion.

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4. Raised Right A pig roast demonstrated how KUA’s pigs help to deliciously and magically resolve one of our persistent sustainability challenges: disposing of kitchen scraps and plate scrapings.

5. Bake It, Don’t Waste It With 30 to 40 percent of the U.S. food supply wasted annually, bakers reversed that trend by using rescued bananas and chocolate along with KUA honey and local ingredients to make tasty treats.

6. Painting with the Sun Natural textures such as leaves, grasses, and petals make for the perfect materials for cyanotype, a photographic printing process that produces cyan-blue prints using sunlight and iron-based chemicals.

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“Paying attention to those things that are making the world a better place is important.” —JACK BYRNE

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N EWS F ROM C A M P US

COMMENCEMENT

Steeped in Kindness Kimball Union Academy celebrated its 210th Commencement ceremony on the Bicentennial Quad on May 23. Under a brilliant New Hampshire sky, 115 graduates from 15 states and and 11 countries gathered one last time as KUA students. Beyond diplomas and ceremonial pomp and circumstance, the Class of 2026 illustrated what it means to think deeply, adapt quickly, and move through the world with empathy and a sense of purpose.

Longtime history teacher Lyn Lord P’09, who was closing a chapter of more than 30 years of combined service alongside her husband, Tom Lord P’09, served as Commencement speaker.

With her remarks, she delivered a final seminar crafted from years of research, observation, and lived experience. “Every lab, every project, every moment was never just about the activity, it was also about learning in play,” Lord told the sea of graduates. “You learned how to question and how to connect ideas—from anthropology to world history to climate science—to your own lives.”

The true metric of a KUA education for Lord was never a flawless report card. “The most important thing was never about getting it right,” she noted. “It was about learning that right and wrong are simply a small part of a larger idea of how to think, I would argue, the real purpose of an education.”

That capacity for deep thought was personified in Valedictorian James Lee ’26. A Giles Family STEM Scholar, Cullman Scholar, and member of the boys’ varsity soccer team, Lee represented the pinnacle of the Academy’s academic rigor. Looking out at his peers, the South Korea native—who is bound for the prestigious Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology this fall— encouraged his peers not to look in the rearview mirror but to see opportunity in the road ahead.

“What you do right now and from now on matters more than the past,” Lee explained, urging his classmates to embrace the unknown. “No one can know the future …. Even if things are looking uncertain or impossible, keep pushing through, be yourself, believe in yourself, and do what you think is right.”

Class Speaker Noa Barrett ’26—a three-sport varsity athlete from Stowe, Vermont, heading to Bates College—echoed the sentiment of resilience. Chosen by his peers to speak, Barrett didn’t gloss over the hardships of the high-school journey.

“We didn’t just survive, we adapted,” Barrett said bluntly. “We learned that growth does not come from comfort, it comes from adversity. It comes from falling down and choosing when to stand back up again. As we leave this hilltop … I hope we carry the core values that this community instilled in us.”

Head of School Tyler Lewis P’28, P’30 synthesized those core values. “A part of you was developed here,” said Lewis presiding over his seventh Commencement on The Hilltop. “You were influenced by the time you spent journeying through these paths, through these friendships, and even up on the stage. The gift we offer collectively in that space—it’s simple—it’s just kindness.

Here, both willingly and subconsciously, you’ve steeped in kindness.” K 20

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“You learned how to question and how to connect ideas—from anthropology to world history to climate science—to your own lives.” —LYN LORD P’09, COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER

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Graduates in the Class of 2026

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Students were inducted into the Cum Laude society

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Graduates completing Arts, Global, and STEM Scholar programs

“Even if things are looking uncertain or impossible, keep pushing through, be yourself, believe in yourself, and do what you think is right.”

—JAMES LEE ’26, VALEDICTORIAN SPRING/SUMMER ���6

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S P O RT S N EWS F ROM C A M P US

SPORTS

Field of Dreams The Wildcats experienced life inside a major league organization.

LEADERSHIP The Boston Bruins nominated Jordan Harris ’18 for the NHL’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which recognizes leadership qualities on and off the ice and contributions to the community.

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Adds Tommy Doherty ’27, a lifelong Sox fan who grew up 20 minutes outside Boston: “When I first stepped on that field it didn’t feel real. The craziest part was taking ground balls with no bad hops.”

The current roster was joined by a multigenerational crowd of alumni, parents, and friends who shared stories and caught up over classic ballpark hot dogs and peanuts.

For Head Coach Chad Sturgeon, the annual trip south serves a purpose beyond the box score: It’s a deliberate strategy to forge team chemistry, build culture, and offer experiences that stay with the student-athletes forever.

“We were able to provide a oncein-a-lifetime experience,” Sturgeon says. “We get to play in warm, sunny weather when there’s two feet of snow at home. I strive to have fun and really work hard at the same time. My players learn discipline and develop the life skills that carry much further than baseball.”

As for the ultimate test of team unity? When asked if the experience turned any die-hard Yankees fans on the roster, Sturgeon laughed: “There were quite a few players—coach included—who do not like the Red Sox, but they did for the day.” K

COURTESY OF THE BOSTON BRUINS

For baseball fans, Trevor Story, Connor Wong, and Payton Tolle are marquee names. For the KUA boys’ varsity baseball team, running into these stars inside their clubhouse took fandom to a whole new level.

There is perhaps no faster way to quiet a group of high school ballplayers than to walk them through the Boston Red Sox clubhouse after a game. Craning their necks to peer into the locker room, absorbing the history-filled memorabilia lining the walls, and seeing their favorite players as fellow humans, the Wildcats soaked in every single moment at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida.

The team took a breather from a rigorous spring training schedule to catch a Red Sox game. Then, thanks to an assist from Red Sox Vice Chairman Phil Morse ’60, the players walked the field and toured the clubhouse before entering the Sox’s pristine training facility for an afternoon practice under the Florida sun.

Stepping onto the MLB surface was surreal.

“The field was perfect,” says Otis Hamner ’28. “Down to every last detail it was awesome. The grass was like a green on a golf course and the dirt felt like it had never been used before.”

HOOPS HIRE The University of Kentucky named Taylor Soule ’18 program assistant of its women’s basketball team.

CHAMPIONS Boys’ JV hockey defeated Tilton, 4-3, in overtime, claiming the 2026 Boys’ JV Hockey Lakes Region Championship.

“When I first stepped on that field it didn’t feel real. The craziest part was taking ground balls with no bad hops.” —TOMMY DOHERTY ’27

BIG LEAGUE LESSONS A spring training trip to Fort Myers gave KUA baseball players an unforgettable look inside the Boston Red Sox organization.

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Elementary and middle-school girls from Plainfield School participated in KUA’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day event.

HOCKEY HONORS Amherst College Women's Hockey Team's Gretchen Dann ’22 was named NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year and garnered a First Team nod for the second straight season.

ALL-AMERICAN Reid Gueldenzoph ’26 was named a USA Lacrosse Academic All-American.

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A RT S N EWS F ROM C A M P US

THE ARTS

Rock The Hilltop Newberries trio take stage to celebrate life through music.

On a December evening before winter break, the staff at Poor Thom’s Tavern just down the road from KUA’s campus was turning people away at the door. Two days prior, a new student band announced a gig at the tavern hoping that the applause they received at AllSchool Meeting might translate into a small audience for an evening performance.

The Newberries—made up of Finnegan Kelley ’28, Griffin Lee ’28, and Aidan Whitfield ’26—underestimated their peers.

“It’s just been really cool, like we’re mini-celebrities,” says Kelley. “When people you don’t normally interact with that often say, ‘Hey, when’s your next gig?’—that’s magical.”

Most days it’s easy to find the bandmates in Flickinger Arts Center, where they’ve found a grounding in the performing arts through jazz and rock band, vocal ensemble, and theater. Yet they have found some kind of magic in creating music entirely their own.

The Newberries strive for authenticity, veering away from setlists stacked with trendy covers in favor of a growing catalogue of original tunes. The trio’s music relies on trombone rather than a drum set, graced by dual harmonies and a punchy guitar—or bass, sometimes.

“This is our first original thing, with our own music,” Kelley explains. “We may play a couple covers here and there, but the majority of the music we perform is stuff we’ve written ourselves. We wanted the band to be different in that way.”

While Kelley handles most songwriting

EXHIBITED Ceramic pieces created by Lucy Tillinghast ’28 and Tougy Morrison ’26 were accepted into the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts K-12 Exhibition in Detroit, Mich.

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responsibilities, each band member offers feedback, suggests changes, and offers up a lyric or two when the mood strikes. Instrumentally, it’s all sort of a hodgepodge.

Kelley typically has a guitar in his hands— acoustic or electric, depending on the vibes— while Lee mans the drum set, a bass guitar, or trombone. Talented lead vocalist Whitfield occasionally holds down the rhythm as the band’s tambourine man but can typically be seen clutching a mic stand while harmonizing with Kelley. “ ‘Life through music’ is a saying I often use, and the Newberries are a great example of this truth,” says Instrumental Music Teacher Mark Lighthiser P’29 and Arts Department Chair, whom the students credit with helping turn their vision into reality.

“The lessons learned through dealing with conflict and resolution in a creative space will carry over to all the things that these students do. I’m extremely proud of their commitment and drive. They will remember these times for the rest of their lives.”

The band has played a handful of shows since forming, including KUApalooza at the campus amphitheater. Although Whitfield heads to college in the fall, the trio plan to fit in what they can during the summer and regroup afterwards.

“I’ll come back for these guys’ gigs as much as I can,” Whitfield says. “I’ll be cheering as loud as I can from the audience, singing along to every word. If I’m being honest, I going to miss this feeling, though.

I’m going to miss the support.” K

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Students traveled to New York City for an Arts Scholar trip during Spring Break.

“The majority of the music we perform is stuff we’ve written ourselves. We wanted the band to be different in that way.” —FINNEGAN KELLEY ’28

FINDING THEIR SOUND With original music, fearless creativity, and plenty of school spirit, The Newberries have become one of KUA's breakout acts.

SCULPTURE Wood carver Noah Hoffman visited campus to demonstrate his craft and work with students to create a new wood sculpture for the Meriden Deli Mart.

ON STAGE World-renowned theater company Bread & Puppet was in residence in April and performed Woyzeck, a play written by Georg Büchner in 1836.

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students were recognized in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in the Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention categories.

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DON’T KNOCK SELF-DELUSION THE GAP BETWEEN AMBITION AND REALITY IS WHERE CONFIDENCE, ADAPTABILITY, AND ADVENTURE ARE FORGED. | BY BILL KERIG ’80 |

Bill Kerig reflects on hockey, filmmaking, writing, and why believing too much in yourself isn't always a bad thing.

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Certain that I was destined for “The Show” or at least a four-year Division I run at an Ivy League college, I became a postgrad hockey player at KUA in 1979. I figured I’d light up the N.H. Lakes Region, grace Dartmouth’s Thompson Arena with my on-ice brilliance, and then glide into Boston Garden with a Bruins sweater stretched across my chest.

I was delusional, of course, and not just when it came to hockey.

While taking a KUA filmmaking class—with puny, 8-mm cameras and editing with a sort of mini-guillotine and a roll of Scotch tape—I began to harbor notions of making the next Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In computer programming class—with if-then loop structures in BASIC on Apple IIs—I figured I’d learned a secret language that would surely change the world and result in untold riches for me: yachts, private jets, maybe an island. And then there was AP English class, where I derived amusement so great from reading Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt that I added “writer” to my imagined future resume.

Never underestimate the hubris of the PG hockey player.

Looking back, it’s easy to mock that guy, the naivete, the rampant self-delusion. Feel free to smirk. I certainly do. But here’s the thing: The delusion that got me out of a Bryant Hall pre-dawn bed for extra early-morning skates in the frigid Quonset Hut rink would not only persist throughout my life, it would also take me places I never imagined (if not exactly the ones I’d envisioned while in the locker room of Duncan Arena).

Our new, first-year KUA hockey coach, Woodie Haskins—who seemed also quite delusional about creating the best boys’ hockey team in New England—attempted to disabuse me of the Dartmouth DI notions.

“You’re short, weak, of lackluster skill, and have sub-Ivy grades. Have

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“I learned to accept new information, recalculate, renavigate, and stay in motion.

That trick turns self-delusion into selfconfidence— the key ingredient in a life of exploration and creativity.”

—BILL KERIG

you considered a career in Zamboni operations?”

Okay, he never said that. The truth is I spent my exit interview wondering how he got his polo shirt collar to stand so obediently at attention. Yet while the specifics of his look-in-the-mirror soliloquy failed to lodge in my memory, the spirit of the moment remained. It was one of many.

Woodie was right, of course, on both fronts: It would take him only one year to accomplish his goal and win KUA’s first New England Division I championship, and I wouldn’t go on to play D1 hockey. The only way I ever got into Boston Garden

was by buying a ticket.

Still, I kept looking forward and when new doors opened, I didn’t hesitate. I found myself at Saint Michael’s College when the hockey team moved from club to varsity and became the team’s captain. Did it matter that my parents couldn’t put a Dartmouth sticker on their Chevy? Not to me. I was playing a game I loved and part of the first of many sports startups. It also didn’t matter that it was NCAA Division II school; even if I had somehow gotten on a DI squad, I never would have seen the ice. I also wouldn’t go on to play pro hockey.

When I found myself out West as a new pro ski tour got off the ground, I slid through that door and spent an amazing decade making a living on skis instead of skates. Plan A had been long since abandoned for a Plan S I could never have seen coming.

In truth, I didn’t have the right stuff to achieve any of my grand PGyear visions, but as that awareness unfolded, I developed a key skill in dealing with life’s inevitable disillusionments: I learned to accept new information, recalculate, renavigate, and stay in motion. That trick turns self-delusion into self-confidence—the key ingredient in a life of exploration and creativity.

Here’s why: At the beginning of anything meaningful, there is never enough proof you will be able to accomplish the goal. A lack of clear evidence that you will succeed introduces fear, which is a good sign. If there is already proof, without a shadow of a doubt, you can nail it, you haven’t set your sights high enough.

If, instead, you’re trembling just a bit at the yawning chasm of uncertainty, you’re likely to be embarking on an enriching journey. Self-confidence allows you to take a leap of faith and commit to the dream. Ideas are easy; committed action is not.

The conundrum of this moment is that you must believe in something before you attempt to leap the void.

So, early-stage confidence tends to look a whole lot like self-delusion.

The difference emerges in how you update your beliefs and targets and

how quickly you can get unstuck. I tended to update my goals on the fly, usually without any grand plan in mind.

The award-winning, Bill Kerig-directed best film since Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid never saw the silver screen, but I did make a handful of movies that are not the worst films you’ve ever seen. Some even won prizes at cool film festivals.

For “Best Feature-Length Mountain Film” at the 2012 Banff Mountain Film and Book, I was awarded a pricey bottle of Canadian whiskey, which security gleefully seized from my carry-on the following day at Calgary International. Win some, lose some.

On the computer front, the basic understanding of that magic language helped me create or fix startup tech companies to empower athletes in areas I cared about. No one made Bill Gates kind of money, but what would I do with a yacht anyway? Along the way I also managed to write a few books—somehow missing out on Sinclair Lewis success à la the Nobel Prize for Literature—and hundreds of newspaper and magazine stories as well. Which brings us, in roundabout fashion, to this modest piece. My original charter was to write about resilience, and I suppose that is what I’ve done. For what is resilience if not the ability to rekindle your self-delusion long enough to believe in the next thing?

Even now, 40 years after leaving the crucible on the hill in Meriden and fully baked in a western life, I stoke the fires of self-delusion.

Today I’m working on a book and a YouTube series called Older & Bolder that tells the stories of aging adventurers who’ve figured out how to send it well into their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond. And just as we’ve had our laugh at the KUA PG with all his mighty delusions, I can’t help but grin at the burgeoning 64-year-old YouTuber (www.youtube.com/@BillKerig).

That’s not, as the kids like to say, a thing. Of course, like Woodie, they may be right—but who knows where this new self-delusion may lead? K SPRING/SUMMER ���6

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 Veronica Jackson in the

print studio at the Women's Studio Workshop.

Photo: Women’s Studio Workshop

THE PAST IS ALWAYS PRESENT

VERONICA JACKSON ’81 ILLUMINATES THE STORIES OF BLACK WOMEN PAST AND PRESENT WHILE CHALLENGING THE SYSTEMS THAT SHAPE HOW WE SEE—AND ARE SEEN. | BY TRICIA MCKEON |

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W

When Veronica Jackson ’81 arrived at KUA, she was introduced to a short film about a solo mountain hiker. At the time, the metaphor felt literal. A fourth-generation Washingtonian from the heart of D.C., Jackson suddenly found herself hours from home, navigating the woods of New Hampshire as one of only a handful of Black students on campus.

“I remember thinking, ‘Where the hell am I? My mother is an eighthour drive away,’ ” Jackson says. “But there was this profound element of independence that I gained from being at KUA—understanding how to be an independent thinker and how to live independently.”

Decades later, that foundational self-reliance has fueled an extraordinary, multi-decade career in art that “lives at the intersection of visual art, architecture, and interpretive design,” she says, “and combines past professional disciplines, present lived experiences, and contemporary and historic research.”

Before she discovered the Academy, Jackson’s artistic sensibilities were being shaped by the environments of her youth. Though her family didn’t frequent traditional museums, they were quintessential makers.

As a child, Jackson visited her grandmother, often wandering down into her grandfather’s overfull but meticulously organized basement tool room.

“I always loved tools—drills, metal tools,” Jackson remembers. “It was an early understanding of the power of tools. A tool is something that helps you make something better or helps you improve your life, but there are also the tools of your thoughts, your situation.

It’s about understanding what a tool is and how to use it.”

Her affinity for the built environment grew during afternoon drives with her mother, admiring the grand houses along the “Gold Coast,” an affluent and historically relevant enclave of neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. Jackson’s trajectory took an unexpected turn in junior high when a guidance counselor introduced her to A Better Chance, a national program placing talented students of color into top preparatory schools. Jackson packed her bags for KUA only to find a stark demographic and geographic shift as well

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as a place that nurtured her. At the time, the population of Black students maxed out at seven; by graduation, she was one of only a few Black females in her class.

So, Jackson opened doors for others, convincing hometown friend Enid Stebbins ’81 to join her on The Hilltop.

Under the leadership of then-Dean and Headmaster Thomas Mikula, who she says had a great impact, Jackson leaned into the academic rigor. She used her experience as a window into an entirely different educational landscape, one that forged autonomy and helped define her identity.

Jackson then headed to the University of Virginia—a stark contrast to KUA’s warmth—where she was greeted at the school of architecture by a “good-old boys’ network” unwilling to make space for a Black woman. Yet the experience cemented architecture as the underpinning for her future work.

She then explored lighting and museum exhibit design, where her architectural training merged with a passion for narrative, eventually evolving into her contemporary visual art practice.

Jackson began questioning how spaces treat the people who interact with them, noting that traditional museums often function like exclusive citadels, designed to keep people out rather than welcome them in.

“Architecture is the foundation of my exhibit design career and my visual art practice,” Jackson explains. “Even if it’s organic, it is built. As human beings, we occupy architecture everywhere that we exist, even in nature. So how that form informs us of our accessibility or acceptability is also very important.”

To fully articulate these complex intersections of space, race, and gender, Jackson disrupted her career to attend the California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, earning a graduate degree in visual and critical studies.

“You carry all of this with you as a child to a teenager to a young adult,” she says. “And sometimes you don’t know how to articulate it or understand how it has affected your thinking or your being or your creating.”

Graduate school provided the intellectual toolbox she needed to step back and analyze her life—experiences in her family and those in civil life as a Black

woman—through an astute, critical lens.

“It is part of the process, and it is a way for me to exercise those demons that I have within,” Jackson reflects, “to understand how to be retrospective and what that means, to critically examine what has happened and then put it out there, literally and figuratively, to others who may have also had these experiences.”

This reckoning gave way to making art that sheds light on the plight of Black womanhood in America. Her work deftly balances the deeply personal with the cultural realities of Black women navigating the dual burdens of invisibility and hypervisibility. Jackson points to a ubiquitous trope experienced by many Black women with dreadlocks: being compared to Whoopi Goldberg.

“Hypervisibility is ‘You look like Whoopi Goldberg.’ It’s like, really?”

Jackson says. “So that’s one of my big pieces—Fuck No. I Do Not Look Like Whoopi Goldberg!—that declarative statement, the audacity to make that statement as a Black woman. No, you cannot put that label upon me.”

Jackson creates these declarations using broadsides—historical, large-format sheets of paper used for public announcements and protests. Influenced by iconic historical acts of resistance, such as W.E.B. Du Bois hanging a banner outside the NAACP’s Fifth Avenue office announcing a lynching, Jackson views the broadside as an essential tool to loudly protest contemporary injustices.

“It’s a project that I’m still working on, because other Black women with dreadlocks have had the same thing,” says Jackson. “They’ve been called Whoopi Goldberg, and we look nothing alike, so I want to do a lineup of all these women. It’s a way of looking at life somewhat comically—definitely, critically—but also with empathy. I am

 TOP: A Constellation of Blackness: Rendering

Invisibility, Hypervisibility, Devaluation, and Triumph; (FOOLISH), 2025. Felt-lined bulletin board panels, with black plastic letters represent related ideas and examples of Jackson’s various accounts of invisibility, hypervisibility, devaluation, and triumph experienced as a Black woman in America. Daura Museum of Art, University of Lynchberg. Photo: Veronica Jackson

MIDDLE AND BOTTOM: Blacktivists, Hand-printed

silkscreen portraits of 13 relatively unknown and overlooked Black women activists. University of Virginia School of Architecture, Campbell East Wing Gallery, Charlottesville, VA. November, 2024. Photo: Tom Daly

“ONCE YOU COME THROUGH ALL OF THESE THINGS, THERE’S A TRIUMPH IN UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU CAN IDENTIFY WHAT THESE THINGS ARE, DECIDE NOT TO SELFINTERNALIZE THEM ANYMORE, AND THEN MAKE WORK ABOUT IT.” —VERONICA JACKSON

saying to you, ‘This has happened to me, I know it’s happened to you, and you’re okay. It’s not your fault.’ ” Unlearning blame is a personal victory for Jackson, who notes she was blamed for everything during her childhood. By processing this through her art, she offers a form of “preventive maintenance” for others. “It’s about the autobiographical element, but then it’s also about educating.”

Beyond autobiography, Jackson’s art acts as an educational conduit for historical reclamation. Her Blacktivist series—a term she coined for Black activists—visually resurrects and interprets the stories of understudied Black women from the 19th century, women born or operating in the shadow of American enslavement who became architects, educators, and soprano singers. Despite their disparate professions, they were all

activists fighting for civil, women’s, and children’s rights. They include figures such as author and educator Anna Julia Cooper—the only woman quoted in the official U.S. passport yet widely unknown for her contributions. There’s Ada Overton Walker, a turn-of-the-century vaudeville star who used her platform and the “Cake Walk” dance to command respect and restructure how Black women were perceived.

To give these historical figures voice without their blessing, Jackson leans on exhaustive research, merging historical findings with her museum design background.

“Becoming immersed in their stories is the only way that I know how to make the work. The story tells me what the visual element wants to be,” she explains, adding this is where her architectural training comes into play. “The brick will tell you what it wants to be. If you understand what this element is, what this tool is, and how this thing gets built, it’s all part of the authenticity that comes from the work.”

For Jackson, digging into the 1800s is not an exercise in nostalgia; it is an urgent mirror held up to the political climate of 2026. She notes that the women in her Blacktivist series built legacies of change without the legal right to vote.

“I’m looking at that now and looking at the decimation of the Voting Rights Act in 2026 and, really, how far have we come?” Jackson asks. “We see how far we’ve come, but we also see how far we’ve gone backwards. The past is always present. We need to understand history so we don’t repeat the elements that aren’t beneficial for us as human beings. This democracy thing right now is definitely in peril.”

She places her hope in the younger generations—the students sitting in classrooms at KUA and universities—to keep democracy from dying. Her artistic practice and authentic voice offer inspiration. This fall she begins teaching foundational art at Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg.

“Once you come through all of these things, there’s a triumph in understanding that you can identify what these things are, decide not to self-internalize them anymore, and then make work about it. That is my journey.” K SPRING/SUMMER ���6

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 TOM AND LYN LORD P’09

RETIRE AFTER DECADES DEDICATED TO ENHANCING CAMPUS LIFE.

A LAST CLASS

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TOGETHER

om and Lyn Lord P’09 have spent a lifetime mastering the unique, exhaustive, and deeply rewarding environment that boarding school life offers.

Between them, the couple shares more than three decades of late-night dorm duty, rain-soaked athletic fields, advisory meetings, and vibrant Harkness table discussions. Their names have been synonymous with the very heart of Kimball Union Academy for the last 20 years.

Yet, even after all this time, some things remain hard to translate. “Our children still don’t understand,” Lyn laughs, reflecting on the total immersion that defines their life on The Hilltop.

To understand the Lords is to realize that a boarding school was not merely a place to work, it was the focus of a life they coauthored. As they retire from KUA, the pair leave an indelible imprint on the culture of the school, generations of alumni who call them family, and a final, surprising chapter.

Though they have spent 17 years working in education—navigating time when Tom commuted to his position as assistant head at Vermont Academy or Lyn served as History Department chair and head of Chellis Dorm—the Lords had never shared a classroom.

Until this year.

Bringing their careers full circle, the Lords decided to co-teach “Decarbonize Your Life.” The experiment tied together professions and passions, teaming Lyn’s deep anthropological perspective with Tom’s environmental science background.

Going into the semester, the pair knew it was also going to be a lesson on the strength of relationships—or terrific fodder for any marriage counselor.

“I was very worried about this,” Lyn admits. Tom, an eternal optimist, says he was never concerned.

The result has been meaningful and uplifting for both the Lords and their students. “Without this class, I wouldn’t have changed my approach,” Tom says. “This is by far my best year of teaching.”

Daily lesson plans didn’t originate in department meetings, but rather over early morning coffee. “A lot of ideas came from SPRING/SUMMER ���6

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sitting at the breakfast table,” Lyn says.

In the classroom, their contrasting styles demonstrated dynamic pedagogy. “I am very much myself; the classroom is my stage,” she adds. “Tom needs the stage, too. He will go on his digression rants and hyperboles, which the kids love, and I will reign him back in. The kids like to see us resolve issues right in front of them.”

For Lyn, this final stretch brought a deliberate shift in focus. After years of teaching high-stakes AP courses, she requested to teach the ninth-grade class.

“Everyone thought I was nuts when I said I wanted to teach all the ninth graders,” she smiles. “But after teaching AP, I felt the kids could be flatlined at learning. I wanted to teach ninth grade to show them how to enjoy learning again.”

She describes those young students as “deer in the headlights,” and enjoyed watching them grow through a single year into confident, independent thinkers who teach one another. “The difference between a ninth and tenth grader is more than a year,” she observes. To see them now—with “one foot in sophomore year”—is her ultimate reward.

Tom’s pedagogical philosophy is equally grounded in humility: “I don’t teach because I know; I teach because I learn. I never want to stop learning.” It’s a mindset that has kept him young, even as he recently crossed his 70th birthday.

That passion for student-centered learning is woven into the physical campus. Years ago, after Lyn helped a postgraduate student, the grateful parents gifted Lyn her first Harkness table. “No one is head of the table, and no one can hide,” she says. When Miller Bicentennial Hall was designed, she helped ensure those collaborative tables were placed in every humanities room.

She advocated for “cell hotels” to remove phones from the hands of students and preserve the classroom as a social center.

Classroom furniture and technology aside, it was the students who captured the couple’s focus. “Nobody has the best kids like we do,” said Tom. “The reason you do this is because you must love young people’s potential. You’re exposed to new kids, and you think, ‘Oh wow, these kids are great.’ ” Although Tom has worn countless 36

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hats—coaching boys’ lacrosse and JV girls’ basketball, acting in school plays, leading cross-country skiing, and running Model UN—when asked what he will miss most, the answer isn’t the field or the stage.

“Advising,” he says without hesitation.

“One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about my time at KUA is the advising system. We sit together every week, and I become really close to my advisees.”

Tom famously guided three separate groups of advisees throughout all four years of their KUA journey. The six boys in his Class of 2014 advisory remains so close that Tom still shares a photo of their KUA trip to Boston’s Fenway Park on every one of their birthdays. Upon graduation, the cohort presented him with a custom jacket embroidered with the words: Four Year Family.

“By the time they graduate, it’s rough,” Tom says. “You feel you’re

“WE’RE IN TOUCH WITH 20 YEARS OF KUA KIDS. WHEN THEY REACH OUT, OUT OF THE BLUE, I THINK ABOUT HOW INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT THEY WERE TO ME.” —LYN LORD

graduating your own children.”

Lyn’s office has operated under a similar philosophy of open-door warmth.

“I have candy in my drawer,” she says, “and kids will come talk to me who I haven’t taught in years. We’re in touch with 20 years of KUA kids. When they reach out, out of the blue, I think about how incredibly important they were to me. The fact that they’re reaching out says we had an impact—but they had more of an impact on us.”

Having worked at a series of schools, the Lords have a unique perspective on what makes The Hilltop distinct. For Tom, it’s the school’s ability to resist pigeonholing students.

“I don’t think of us as one type of school,” he says. “It’s a school for doing things you love to do and maybe you’ll learn something you didn’t know you’d love. It encourages people to take risks,

to do things they’ve never done before. It enlarges you.”

An environmentalist at heart, Tom introduced “Environmental Chemistry” decades ago. “To be blunt, I’m not sure the school was ready to embrace the environment back then,” he reflects. “Now, the plans we have and the people we’ve hired have changed that. Everything we do now takes advantage of where we are.”

As a parting gift, Tom and his students recently planted trees on campus—a living legacy that alumni can return to see in future decades.

True to form, neither Tom nor Lyn plans on slowing down. Retirement will not find Tom on a golf course. “I could never go play golf. I want to be really busy,” he insists. “My happiest thing outside of teaching is fixing things. My dream job now is working in buildings and grounds!”

He is also fiercely focused on finishing a book he has been researching for seven years—a project he describes as “the Harry Potter of disease detectives,” rooted in his past legal fascination with the history of occupational diseases. “I live with 1788 and these characters,” he says.

Lyn is diving headfirst into the modern world. She plans to consult on AI with school districts, launch a Substack, and explore the mechanics of content creation. As the academic year winds to a close, Lyn looks at their final days on The Hilltop with the poetic grace of a veteran performer. “I feel I’m having my senior solo,” she says.

The duo is making a last curtain call, co-teaching their class this summer to high school students through the Dartmouth Pre-College Program and then again for one final performance at KUA. K SPRING/SUMMER ���6

37

Alumni reconnected on The Hilltop at the end of May during 2026 Reunion, with special celebrations for classes ending in 6 and 1.

Connect N EWS F ROM A LUM N I

INSIDE 42 CLASS NOTES

FA L L 2018

49 LAST WORD

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Connect N EWS F ROM A LUM N I

Top: First row: Jolie Hinnendael ’86, Diane Chadwick ’86, Libby Merrill Jelliffe ’86, and Darrell Beaupre ’86 P’16 ’20; second row: Ryan Reid ’86, Kate Griffiths Harrison ’86 P’17, Dan Hillard ’86, and Bill Demers ’86; third row: John Oeltman ’86, Josh Oldfield ’86, and Andrea Bueno Keen ’89 P’24 ’25; and fourth row: Steve Gentle ’86 and Matt DiSilva ’86

Top Right: Robert Fuller ’56 Middle Left: From left: Summer

Griffiths '02, Associate Director of Advancement Ethan Frechette, Jeremiah Shipman '04, Kristen Richardson '20, Cat Sensenig '17, Alex Parsons '20, Leadership and Planned Giving Officer Tamara Waraschinski, Carly Milliken '20, and Jonathan Romero ’96 at a networking event at the Penn Club in New York City.

Bottom Left: From left: Esmé

Juros '17, Abby Prewitt '18, Riley Dole '18, Sebastian Keen '25, Alyssa Morris '20, and Associate Director of Advancement Ethan Frechette enjoy an evening at the Hampshire House in Boston.

Bottom Right: The Boys' Varsity

Baseball Team were joined by alumni and families at a Boston Red Sox spring training game in Florida.

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KIMBALL UNION MAGAZINE

“One of the great moments during reunion was watching Doug Dorain and Jay Leech flinging a lacrosse ball back and forth in front of Akerstrom Arena.”

Top: Jarron Flynn ’20, Mila

Janicik ’21, Lucy Tretter ’21, Andrew Alexandrescu ’22, and guest

Bottom Left: Jay Leech ’76,

Ames Russell ’76, Arthur Cornell ’76, and Donner Carr ’77

Bottom Right: Kate Fowler ’16 and Kayleigh Coombs ’16

SPRING/SUMMER ����

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Class Notes DI S PAT C H E S N EWS F ROM A LUM N I

1953 Warren Huse

warrenhuse1@gmail.com Can you believe it’s been 71 years since we graduated from KUA? According to my records, 25 of us may still be extant. The California contingent includes Bill Agee and perhaps Rick Temple—“perhaps” because Google sometimes puts him in California and other times back in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Massachusetts group includes Joe Dickinson, Howie Goldberg, Ron Harrison, Byron Koh, and George Place. New Hampshire claims me, Peter Smith, and Bruce Whitney. Charlie Darling is in Delaware; Tom Eggert and Richard Ralph in New York, Mike Hoitt in Maine, Carl Houghton in Vermont, Paul Metcalf in Tennessee, Walt Phelps and Ron Wolfe in Pennsylvania. Phil Ramsey and Steve Smith in Florida.

We seem to have lost track of Dik Barsamian (New Jersey), Ted Hinds (Washington), Curt Stevens, Wayne Garrow, and Bruce Granlund.

I am sorry to report that Scott C. Blakey died November 29, 2025. He was 89. Scott joined the class for senior year and participated in Glee Club, choir, the Outing Club, skiing, and The Kimball Union. (For the latter, he wrote a column under the pen name “Meriden Hilltop,” a precursor to a long career in media.) Scott was a 1960 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, where he was active in student journalism, went on to work for The Nashua (N.H.) Telegraph and became managing editor of The Concord (N.H.) Monitor from 1964 to 1968. He then worked for The San Francisco Chronicle for years, KQED and KRON television in San Francisco, and finally served as senior news representative for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in San Francisco in the 1990s.

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During his career, Scott received a number of awards. In 1978, he published Prisoner at War: The Survival of Commander Richard A. Stratton, a about at POW in North Vietnam for six years, 1967-73. Scott’s son Nicholas graduated from KUA in 1992. We send condolences to him and Scott’s daughters Alexandra and Susannah.

I am also sorry to report that Bill Flickinger, 89, died in Amherst, New York, in early March 2026. Bill joined the class as a junior and played soccer, baseball, and varsity hockey, of which he was captain senior year. He was also in The Players, Concordia (where he handled bookkeeping), and The Kimball Union, where he was circulation manager. After a stint in the Army, Bill returned to Buffalo, New York, to join S.M. Flickinger, the family food wholesaling and distribution company. Bill was an active donor to Nichols School, KUA, SPCA, Gates Vascular Institute, and Amherst Police Department. He “loved all things Irish and even received an award from the Amherst Gaelic League. Happiest at his home in East Amherst, Bill loved his many dogs, his gardens, and his expansive model train set.”

The class sends condolences to Bill’s nieces Wendy and Holly and nephews Geoffrey ’77 and Thomas. It should be noted that the Flickinger Family were the donors of the Flickinger Arts Center, which was dedicated in 1992. Bill’s brother, Thomas ’50, served as a KUA trustee for 21 years and chairman for two years.

I am sorry to report Jonathan C. Webster ’56 died March 17, 2026. He was 88. Jon was a year behind us at KUA but was well known to our class.

He was a member of the Camera Club, choir, Glee Club, fencing team, and Outing Club. Jon had spent the last two years at a nursing home in Canaan, Connecticut. Stepdaughter

Nancy wrote me that she “read him your class notes in the KUA Magazine. He remembered you and some of his classmates and teachers fondly.”

Charlie Darling writes, “Not much is happening here on the banks of Delaware Bay. I had a manmade heart valve (aortic) installed, while the heart was running, in one evening (takes about one to one-and-a-half hours). The team makes an incision in the groin and runs the new valve in various blood vessels, pressing it in place of the old valve. I went home the following morning, with basically no restrictions. Amazing! I’m doing a little woodwork and repairing a few things but mostly keeping my chair at the sit-down bench warm. I will be making a few crafty kinds of things.

We are doing some cleanout activities as, at 88, I do not need keep all my treasured things or raw materials.”

Bruce Whitney writes, “Glad to hear about the rest of the class. I am still taking care of my greenhouse. It’s getting harder with AMD; no fix for it. Driving is coming to an end. Ruth is still on the PAP machine 11 hours a day and on oxygen the rest of the day. The only traveling we do is to the doctor’s office and grocery store. We get a carriage there and take the oxygen along. We still have three cats to take care of as well as feeding squirrels and birds. Ruth is using the Rollator, walking around in the house—not too bad for 90 and 91. Hope the rest of the class is doing well.”

George Place talked in early May to Walt Phelps, who reports dealing with significant pain from jaw cancer. His medical team is working to develop an effective pain reducer. He continues to day trade in the securities markets while sitting in front of two computer screens, which must be a great diversion from his medical issues. I hope all classmates reading

this report will wish Walt the best possible outcome of this journey!

From Walt: “News is that cancer and pain are works in progress. I am working with my medical oncologist on a weekly basis. I have been with my auto insurance company (USAA) for 67 years and never had a claim until two weeks ago, when the car was totaled with no driver involved.

The car was a 2011 Nissan with only 22,000 miles on it, had not driven it in almost two months due to medications. It had a dead battery, so I called AAA, which found three sets of wire cables chewed. It became obvious that repairs would far exceed the car’s value. I guessed $3,000; USAA just paid me $5,000 plus. When people hear 67 years with one company, my reply is, ‘Customer service!’ ” George was also “recently in contact with Ron Harrison after reading in the Globe magazine his letter to the editor. I told Ron that I thought his analysis of a previous story in the magazine was misguided and incorrect. I now owe Ron a lunch because I had no legitimate rebuttal to back up my comments, having not read the story he had critiqued. Having read with interest Warren’s and Charlie Darling’s recent medical procedures, I am compelled to reveal my own March 27 back surgery in which my surgeon cut away some bone in two vertebrae to allow the disks to back off from touching a nerve. During my convalescence, Howard Goldberg paid me a visit and brought a tasty lunch. This was also an opportunity to celebrate his birthday, thus joining the ranks of us 89ers who got there first.”

Steve Smith writes: “I can definitely relate to the normal pains and aberrations that come with this age. Things have slowed down a touch for me, but I’ve been enjoying diving deeper into my hobbies. Lately, I’ve been spending a good amount of time with woodcarv-

“Some of us, I’m afraid, are still kicking and screaming into the modern age.” —WARREN HUSE ’53

ing and acrylic painting. It’s a wonderful way to keep the mind and hands busy, and I find it quite therapeutic.

Yes, golf is still on the agenda! I’m still hitting the links with my regular group of ‘kids.’ They range from 67 to 82, and I’m proudly the elder statesman among them, hence my affectionate nickname ‘Classic Steve.’ Depending on how my back feels and what the weather is doing, I try to get out there once or twice a week. My game might not be spectacular these days, but it’s all about the camaraderie and enjoying the fresh air, isn’t it?”

Howie Goldberg and Sheila are “in the middle of moving to an independent living facility” and Howie did have a phone conversation with Byron Koh before his recent passing. “I do get to see George Place every so often.”

Your scribe continues with the local historical society and compiling the weekly “History Pages” in The Laconia Daily Sun. I have become dependent of late on a cane for balance and to avert falls. I am also the proud possessor of a pacemaker (no wires, the latest and greatest version, about one inch worth of a No. 2 pencil in size). Weird procedure—local anesthetic, about an hour flat on your back and you don’t feel a thing—two or three hours later, pot roast and mashed potato (not too shabby for hospital food). I got home the next day. No driving for three days, which was an inconvenience, but I survived. I have also just received a CPAP machine, following a sleep study. I suspect other classmates may well be familiar with these medical adventures.

In other matters, I finally canceled my landline telephone of 60-plus years in favor of a flip-phone with a jaunty ringtone. (Some of us, I’m afraid, are still kicking and screaming into the modern age.) As this magazine closed, we received word of Byron H. Koh's death on June 13.

We will provide details in the next issue.

1961 Bill Hagar

(802) 772-7448 • whagar467@comcast.net Because of added focus on promoting our 65th reunion, I have not gathered much for class notes. At this point, Bob Bentley and I will be the only attendees for ’61. We would have been joined by Norm Turcotte and Tony Gilmore were it not for the kind of family events that are so common at this time of year. Norm has a son getting married, and Tony has a granddaughter graduating.

I received a beautiful note from Sue Soule (wife of Fred Soule) in response to my letter promoting reunion attendance. Unfortunately, Sue informed me of Fred’s passing in September 2025.

1962

Peter Booth writes: “At age 83, my time

with the class of ’62 seems ages ago in some ways but not in others. I’m dealing with lung and heart issues. Time in the Butt Room may have contributed to my current health issues. I have 13 fantastic grandchildren, one of whom, J.P. Estrella, is playing Division I basketball for the University of Michigan, having transferred from the University of Tennessee. I enjoy watching the games on TV. Family is close by and, thankfully, an important part of my life. I enjoy keeping up to date on KUA by reading the magazine. Let me hear from you in class notes. Cheers!

1965

Smitty Hughes

1

•

1. Georg Feichtinger H’02 P’89 ’96 and David Cook ’81

at KUA’s Akerstrom Arena 2. Jeff Sherman ’79 enjoys his

favorite pastime.

(802) 578-4165 • smitty70jane@gmail.com Thanks to Pete Clifford for his response to my request for correspondence from our class. Pete writes that although he spent just one year

2 SPRING/SUMMER ����

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Class Notes

DI S PAT C H E S N EWS F ROM A LUM N I

•

1. Caroline Sheehan ’22 and

at KUA, the undefeated football season and especially his friendship with Bucky Doria had a lasting impact, including their later years as UVM roommates and football teammates.

Pete went on to build a long career in the ski and watersports industries, eventually running a successful family sales agency in Florida before retiring in 1974. He and his wife, Marsha, recently moved from their longtime waterfront home in Pompano Beach to John Knox Village, where they remain active as they approach 80.

After receiving Pete’s letter, I called Bucky to share some thoughts and found that he no longer skis due to back problems. Bucky enjoys summer visits with his daughter and sonin-law, who are both bush pilots and outfitters in Alaska.

During my phone conversation with Pete, the suggestion of a class ski trip came up. If any of you, or those from surrounding classes are interested, please contact me with input as plans progress. I’m pretty enthusiastic now because my wife and I just returned from a two-week trip to “Three Valleys” in France. I’d love to go back, but if others wanted to stay in the United States, a trip to the Rockies or New England might be in order. When John Allen was confronted, he said he traded his skis for golf clubs. Maybe a golf weekend would work?

Ellie Copeland-Clarke ’22 grad-

uated from the University of New Hampshire.

2. Jennifer Truman ’85 at the

Geographical South Pole 3. Lucas Constantine ’21

and the 2026 Hamilton College men’s ice hockey team celebrate its firstever Division III national championship after defeating Hobart College, 2-1, in overtime.

4. Alex Hoyt ’25, Ella Wang ’24,

and Dustin Meltzer ’05 during a KUA Art Scholars trip to New York City

1

2

1967

Bob Jamback

(508) 561-1013 • bobjamback@yahoo.com

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KIMBALL UNION MAGAZINE

4

I have learned of Earl Rhue’s death.

He had often responded to my art posts on Facebook, but I hadn’t heard from him for a while. So, I searched and found out he passed in late 2024.

He had gone to a friend’s apartment in Oakland, California, to watch a basketball game. During a break, he went to his car, where he was murdered. The police believe it was a carjacking gone bad, but they have no

“It was great fun to sit down after 50 years and remember details about Biff, Grubby, Doc Carver, etc.” —MALCOLM COOPER ’69

leads. Earl came to our 50th reunion and entertained us with his stories.

He will be missed.

1969

Malcolm Cooper

(802) 867-2528 • tractormalc@gmail.com Not much to report as I’ve been sort of hibernating for the last year here in Vermont and haven’t been in touch with any ’69 classmates recently.

I did, however, reconnect with a friend I made at KUA in the late 60s and with whom I have remained in touch, albeit from distance, for the last 50-plus years.

My wife and I spent a lovely 10 days with Bill Barney ’70, his wife, and other friends cycling through Greece.

He lives in Atlanta and can still remember unnecessary details about me from our time on The Hilltop in 1968. He’s been on numerous bike tours all over the world and has always invited me. This is the first time I’ve found the time and motivation to join him. It was great fun to sit down after 50 years and remember details about Biff, Grubby, Doc Carver, etc.

I saw that John Caldwell died recently. John was a significant figure in the Nordic skiing world when I was a skier at KUA, during which time he coached the Putney School Nordic team, producing U.S. ski team stars such as Bob Gray, Bill Koch, and various Caldwell family super skiers. I remember him as a gracious and thoughtful member of the prep school ski world, always willing to share his best wax tips with all the other teams. He believed that if everyone was equally waxed, the strongest and best skier would win.

I finally managed to find a buyer for my family business, the JK Adams company, this past year. After operating for 80-plus years—51 of those as an employee, owner, and president with, and then, without my father—I was fortunate to find a buyer who will continue to keep the business operat-

ing in Dorset, Vermont, for the foreseeable future.

1970

Jeff Phillips and his wife, Cathy, wel-

comed their first grandson into the family last December. They now have three grandchildren—two in Denver and one in Brooklyn. Jeff and Cathy spend a lot of their time visiting and taking care of the grandkids when their parents go on much-needed vacations. “Each of the girls has a Wildcat stuffy they love,” he writes.

“When our grandson is ready, he’ll have one too!”

Harry Tallichet and wife Janet are living in Houston and dividing time between a home there and one in Camilla, Texas. They have the incredible joy of two daughters, one son, and their respective spouses along with five grandchildren—four girls and one boy. He writes, “Life is good!”

1971

Robert W. Hill is now retired from en-

vironmental consulting. During his career, Robert worked in the uranium, coal, oil, and gas industry before graduating from the University of Colorado-Denver with a master’s degree in environmental science. After graduation, Robert worked for several different environmental consulting and engineering firms in the Denver area conducting groundwater investigations, and then also for an oil and gas exploration company in their environmental compliance group. Robert has been married for the past 45 years to Patricia Hill and plans on spending more time with his three daughters and two grandsons.

1973

For 47 years, Brian McLaughlin has lived and worked in New York City and, along with wife Merily, raised daughter Kristin and son Ian. After 35 years of managing the international sales operations of a New York-based software company, he retired in 2019.

Brian now spends his time traveling, scuba diving, photographing nature, recording music, and enjoying visits with his three granddaughters.

1974

Greetings from Andy Knott, now residing in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

He writes, “Can’t believe it’s been two years since our 50th reunion! If your travels take you to the North Shore, please look me up.”

Coach Cory Tusler just finished his 20th year as head alpine ski coach at Wellesley High School. Coach also works game management for football, hockey, and other sports. His girls’ alpine ski team was a finalist in the MIAA State Ski championships held at Wachusett Mountain. He is also still swinging a racquet, coaching the Brookline High boys’ tennis.

1975

Polly Fuhrmeister is currently enjoying

retirement, volunteering at the Red Cross, driving for Meals on Wheels, managing a community garden, and coaching in central Massachusetts with the premier women’s flat-track roller derby league. She’d love for classmates to come see her team, the Bay State Brawlers, play in Fitchburg!

1976

The Class of 1976 had its best reunion turnout in many years, with 12 classmates returning for the 50th.

Along the way we learned that Arthur Cornell lives in Westbrook, Maine, and is mostly retired but still maintains a few information technology clients. Pat McNamara and his wife, Mary, live along River Road in Plainfield, New Hampshire, where they and their sons and family members have an extraordinarily successful dairy, cattle, and chicken farm and a variety of related enterprises. When Doug Chapman, who lives in Meriden, isn’t busy doing carpentry work for the McNamaras, he and his wife, Deb, enjoy fishing and spending time

with their granddaughter.

One of the great moments during reunion was watching Doug Dorain and Jay Leech flinging a lacrosse ball back and forth in front of Akerstrom Arena. After Doug’s many years of service in the Marines, he and his wife, Ruth, have settled nearby in Wilder, Vermont, where Doug strings lacrosse sticks for local teams and enjoys time with family. Jay lives in Dorset, Vermont, and instead of retiring became a certified life coach, which he describes as the most enjoyable work he’s ever done. Adrienne Stone is looking forward to retiring after a long career at Dartmouth and lives in nearby Springfield, New Hampshire.

Adrienne was helpful in persuading Faye Grearson to come back for reunion. Faye lives in nearby Lebanon, works at the local hospital, and teaches dance. Jude Farese entertained the class with stories of his life and memories of years at KUA. Jude and his wife live in Medway, Massachusetts, where he works in heavy equipment sales and dreams of retirement.

Ames Russell traveled to Meriden from his home in Richmond, Virginia, where he runs his business, AR Hot Honey. Ames came prepared and shared bottles of hot honey with the classmates who attended the Saturday evening reunion festivities. Thank you, Ames! Dan Cassedy hosted the class and our faculty friends (Sheffs, Bishops, Feichtingers) at his home in Plainfield on Saturday afternoon. Dan moved back to Plainfield five years ago and owns The Oaks, the estate of artist Maxfield Parish. Dan retired last year after 40 years as an archaeologist (who knew you could get paid to do that!).

Doug Mattern and Jeff Wahlstrom cochaired the reunion effort. Doug and his wife, Mary, are both retired and live in Sandown, New Hampshire. They spend much of their time attending Bruce Springsteen concerts, weekend Red Sox games, and the cottage on Cape Cod they share with classmate Peter Swallow and family. Jeff and his wife, Lisa, are retired and live in BanSPRING/SUMMER ����

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Class Notes 1. Angela Augusta ’15 and

DI S PAT C H E S N EWS F ROM A LUM N I

•

gor, Maine. When they aren’t traveling, camping, hiking, or canoeing, Jeff enjoys creating and showing his artwork at local galleries.

Jacob Pardonnet stand for a photo at their wedding.

1977

2. Matisse Baumann ’12 enjoys

Super Bowl LX from the sidelines as a member of the New England Patriots’ content department.

John Shaw

(978) 761-0313 • johnshaw59@gmail.com Rob Westlake writes: “I am about

3. Mic Pichitkarn ’22 and

to celebrate 30 years living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Amazing how quickly time goes by! My partner, Chris, and I stopped by KUA while leaf peeping in New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire in 2024. I had a nice chat with Susanne Nowlan in the admission building, formerly our library back in 1977. I asked her if the student help program (students tutoring students) I started in 1976 was still active. She said it was, but they call it something different now.

It made me feel good that it was still going strong.

“Anna Wolterbeek and I have kept in touch all of these decades. Next year will be 50 years since graduation.

I laughed whenever Anna said, ‘If you’re ever in New Zealand you must come visit.’ Of course, I never thought that would happen—but next thing I know, my partner is planning a trip to the South Island so we can go hiking, paragliding, jet boating down the Shotover River and spending a night on the Milford Mariner in the unbelievably beautiful Milford Sound. The whole country is incredibly gorgeous.

I insisted that we end our trip with a visit to see Anna on the North Island in Whangarei. She and Breck were wonderful hosts, and it was pretty special to catch up after 49 years! If anyone has the opportunity to visit New Zealand, I highly recommend it. All the best to the Class of 1977!”

Ollie Cozzi ’22 graduated

from George Washington University.

2

4. Cory Tusler ’74 just

finished his 20th year as head alpine ski coach at Wellesley High School.

5. P.J. Tessier ’13 and bride

Kiersta Pino during their wedding ceremony

3

1

4

1978

Deb Sanders-Dame, Ed.D., recently 5 46

KIMBALL UNION MAGAZINE

retired after 41 years as an educator and director of special education. In retirement, she has gone back to her

roots with the sport of luge. She was national champion while a senior at KUA. She, along with her husband, has become an international official for the sport and will be officiating at the World Cup in Lake Placid, New York. She also recently went through some family possessions and brought back to KUA a banner that was 100 years old.

1979

Jeff Sherman will be entering his fi-

nal year of work in the commercial marine business selling diesel engines for tugs, ferries, and off-shore vessels. He has held this job for 27 years and has traveled to all points in the United States as well as all seven continents. Although his anchor will always be in Cape Cod, he has set a foundation in the Florida Keys, where life is laidback and there’s great weather and fishing. Two passions he still chases are lacrosse officiating (after years of coaching) and chasing the Dead (now the cover band shows). He reports was lucky to make the final D&C shows in San Francisco in 2025 (a shock to many he is sure)! Jeff looks forward to making the next big reunion at KUA and seeing old classmates.

1985

All three of Michael Woods’ kids have graduated from college. Michael lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and is still buying properties for investors after 13-plus years along with a couple other side hustles. He is happy, single, and living his best life. He is playing hockey twice a week; traveling; attending many concerts, festivals, comedy shows; and hitting the gym.

Weekends at the beach are his happy time.

Jennifer Truman went to the South Pole as an early 60th birthday trip.

The glamping site was in Queen Maud Land, 62 kilometers from the coast.

On the first day, she flew to see Emperor penguins near Atka Iceport. The

“Recently went through some family possessions and brought back to KUA a banner that was 100 years old.” —DEB SANDERS-DAME ’78

next day began the seven-and-a-halfhour flight to the pole. After two hours of picture taking, she was back in the plane headed to the campsite. The rest of the week was filled with hiking, ice climbing, biking, and ziplining before flying back to Cape Town.

1986

Chuck Hoilman lived on Nantucket Is-

land for 27 years until his divorce after 13 years of marriage. Now he lives in Westwood, Massachusetts, caregiving for his parents, who are 85 years young. He works at General Dynamics at Quonset Point in Rhode Island and just bought a sailboat and will be sailing out of nearby Wickford— mostly back to Nantucket to visit his 18-year-old daughter, who will be attending Providence College this fall.

He plans to earn a degree in engineering in four years and says, “Never too late to go to school.” He wishes his classmates would respond with their life experiences!

1998

Drew Wellin married Chicago, a South

African attorney and international fashion model. Drew continues to practice antitrust law and lives with his wife in Brooklyn.

2012

Matisse Baumann traveled with the

New England Patriots’ content department to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California, where he assisted with game-day coverage of the team’s matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.

2013

P.J. Tessier married Kiersta Pino in

June of 2025 and moved to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. He transitioned from Fidelity Investments to Brewster Academy as a faculty member in the history department and to coach.

2015

Angela Augusta married Jacob Par-

donnet July 25, 2025, in her college town of Newport, Rhode Island— exactly five years from their first date in 2020. Alongside her in her wedding party were classmates and and best friends Maggie Sewall and Abby Kelly. Other Wildcats in attendance were Jamie Johnson ’16, Jojo Schaefer, Annie McKeowon ’17, and Izzy Hill ’17. Mallory (Schell) Lane and her husband, Jason Lane, are thrilled to announce the arrival of their first child, Bennett, who was born in January 2026.

2021

Lucas Constantine and the Hamil-

ton men’s ice hockey team won the NCAA Division III National Championship this past winter. Hamilton defeated Hobarton, 2-1, in overtime to claim the title.

2022

Briana Angelli, a senior at Colby-Saw-

yer College, recently went on a class trip to Belize to explore the culture as well as underwater life. A photograph she took of a turtle was featured in a recent art show at Colby-Sawyer.

2025

Teddy Lykouretzos is happy to an-

nounce that, after three years of antagonizing KUA theater faculty, he will finally have a shot at being technical director for the 2026 Yale Dramatic Association’s commencement musical: Mean Girls! He would like to reiterate how none of this would have been possible without the patience and guidance of Mr. Harrell, Mr. Meltzer, Mr. Rogers (and Mr. Beaupre for Little Shop)!

Obituaries Joel C. Monell

Trustee Joel C. Monell died on April 5, 2026, in Beverly, Massachusetts. He is survived by his wife, Diana. Monell was born on March 4, 1940, in Dover, New Hampshire, and excelled at a career in education. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1962 and, after fulfilling a naval fellowship, completed an M.A. at Harvard and a Ph.D. at Stanford University.

He served as headmaster of the Phoenix (Arizona) Country Day School and dean for administration and academic services at Harvard University. After retirement, Monell served on the KUA Board of Trustees from 1990 to 2000. His tenure on the board encompassed a decade of dramatic growth for the Academy. Monell chaired the 1991 Long-Range Plan Committee and served as board chair from 1994 to 1997. He will be remembered as one of the outstanding and formative members in a long tradition of excellence on the Kimball Union board.

Clyde Neville III P’20 ’22

Trustee Clyde Neville III P’20 ’22 passed away on April 22, 2026, after a courageous two-year battle with glioblastoma.

A native of Haverhill, Mass., Neville earned a degree in computer science from Northeastern University. He then worked as a software manager for Jupiter Networks.

Neville devoted much of his life in service to community, including a four-year tenure on the Kimball Union Board of Trustees. During that time, he provided guidance to the Academy as an inaugural member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee as well as the Governance Committee. Beyond KUA, Neville was a dedicated member of his church leadership and a volunteer with Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts.

Parents to KUA alumni Winsome ’20 and Clyde ’22, Neville and his wife, Jacqueline, were often present on The Hilltop and supporters of their children’s many pursuits. He engaged with life fully and his care and concern for the students of KUA was evident in all his actions.

Deaths Peter A. Bowser ’53 William S. Flickinger ’55 John David Hammond Jr. ’63 Charles P. Harriman ’53 Joseph D. Hayes ’43 William “Jack” Kidd ’56

Byron Koh ’55 Peter Morse ’53 Robert W. Osgood III ’46 Earl R. Rhue ’67 Hugh P. Robinson ’45 Jonathan Clapp Webster ’56

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Celebrating Alumni Achievement

Kimball Union Academy recognizes contributions of its alumni through the Alumni Awards, which are presented each year during Reunion Weekend. In 2026, the Academy recognized four individuals—all nominated by the alumni body—for outstanding efforts to shape their community, craft, and alma mater.

RICHARD ERDMAN ’71

SALLY GRIFFITHS HERBERT ’84 P’09 P’11 P’14

ALUMNI ACHIEVERS AWARD

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD

An internationally acclaimed sculptor in marble and bronze, Erdman reflects the KUA spirit in his curiosity, dedication, and pursuit of excellence on the global stage.

Erdman’s work has been showcased in more than 200 exhibitions across the world, and his sculptures are in collections spanning more than 50 countries. Perhaps his most notable work is a 450-ton block of travertine titled Passage, believed to be the largest sculpture ever constructed from a single block of marble.

The piece was commissioned by PepsiCo. in 1985 and sits at the entrance of the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens in Purchase, New York.

An entrepreneur, philanthropist, and lifelong horsewoman, Herbert reflects a deep commitment to community, education, and the equestrian world.

As director and instructor of horse management for KUA’s Equestrian Program, Herbert creates opportunities for students to grow not only as riders but also as responsible stewards of the sport. She has built a program grounded in discipline, care, and respect through her leadership at Ring Brook Farm. Her broader work as a Pony Club leader, mentor, and advocate demonstrates a lifelong dedication to developing young people through horsemanship.

ROBIN MUNRO GRONLUND ’81 P’11

ELISABETH PARENT

ALLAN MUNRO ’55 ALUMNI VOLUNTEER AWARD

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD

Through her current role as a trustee, Gronlund has been instrumental in guiding and shaping KUA’s strategic vision and future.

Gronlund is also a tireless ambassador of the Academy, having served as a class reporter and member of the Alumni Council, maintaining deep connections with her classmates and ensuring continued engagement across the alumni body. Her decades of service reflect not only her deep personal dedication but also a genuine care for the Academy and the people who make it what it is.

Since studying equine instruction and training at Centenary University, Parent has dedicated her career to teaching and mentoring young riders.

Parent has been a steady and trusted presence to KUA Equestrian since joining the program in 2011, exemplifying patience, consistency, and a deep commitment to individual growth. She is known for bringing out the best her riders, encouraging perseverance, confidence, and respect for the sport. Her influence is apparent in the character of the students she mentors and the discipline with which they ride.

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Last Word

Monday: 1 sgt and 1 private on Gard today... we had no bread and very hungary...it is reported that Boston is took today

A Revolutionary Diary As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation, a young soldier’s frontline reflections allow us to trace the deep, foundational lines connecting our small New England community to the grand narrative of America’s independence.

Long before he became benefactor and namesake of Kimball Union Academy, Daniel Kimball enlisted in the Continental Army in February 1776. He immediately marched to Quebec to join the Continental troops attempting to capture heavily fortified Quebec City. He began a journal—Journal of March to Quebec: February 8, 1776-

May 27, 1776—that recounts the hardship, humor, exhaustion, and uncertainty faced by ordinary soldiers of the Revolution. Ultimately, British reinforcements forced the Continental Army into a hasty retreat.

Beyond a military record, the journal reflects Kimball’s fierce commitment to self-education, with entries that visibly demonstrate his rapid progress in writing and literacy while serving on the frontlines. Illiterate at the age of 16, he developed into a wartime chronicler at age 22. K

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