SCHool Magazine Spring 2024

school

magazine of springside chestnut hill academy

an adventure in ballooning science | PAGE 2

demystifying ai in the classroom | PAGE 10

young alumni on the rise | PAGE 14

Delvin M. Dinkins, Ed.D.

Head of School

Board of Trustees

2023–2024

Rashad I. Campbell ’08

Annabelle B. Canning

Brooke DiMarco

Delvin Dinkins, Head of School

William C. Donato Jr.

William M. Doran, Honorary

William F. Dunbar

William H. Freeman ’91

Sarah E. Fuld

Alexander C. Goldsmith

Anuj Goswami

Thomas Shaw Greenwood III ’01

David Hayne

Richard A. Hayne, Honorary

Maria Sordoni Hudacek ’02

Thomas G. Kessler '88

Youngmoo Kim

Patrick S. G. Lindsay, Chair

Peter S. Longstreth ’62, Honorary

Deborah E. Maine H’16

Edward J. McDevitt III '93

Ludlow Miller, Honorary

Janie B. Parker, Honorary

Edward C. Rorer '61, Honorary

Elizabeth M. Salata ’02

Mary Shaifer '87

Marjorie Kershbaum Shiekman ’67

Nadine Badger Stevenson ’90

Andrew C. Topping

Thomas Watkins Jr. '78

Camilla (Kim) Whetzel H’17

Mims Maynard Zabriskie

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Sometimes when students work collaboratively I cannot help but check things out. Maybe it’s their chins up, their pitched voices, and their sharp questions that issue the invite. On one such occasion, I stepped midway into a conversation about slope. “Dr. Dinkins, I know it’s been a while,” he said. “But do you remember, umm, slope?” Clarifying, I asked, “y=mx+b?” “Yes, that’s it,” he said.

I then proceeded to chat with the class about the equation, slope-intercept form of a straight line. We talked about x and y as coordinates, m as the slope of the line, and b as the intercept. Together we graphed lines in slope-intercept form, plotting points and grappling with axes. I would later join a group of physics students unselfconsciously talking about velocity. We were alive.

Now in my 30th year as an educator, I insist on finding inspiration or delight in the everyday, no matter what. Call me a joy finder if you want! Any given week, I try to touch every classroom to listen to the sounds of great teaching and learning. Often, I’ll wave to the teacher, nod to a student, linger at the doorway, or wait to witness a little magic. Sometimes, though, I find that even in pauses, silence, and stillness live a little wonder and awe. Walking the ship teaches me a lot—about our teachers, our students, our school, myself. Boots on the ground is elemental to knowing our community.

This year has been particularly important in this regard. This school year we have been taking a disciplined and sustained approach to considering the school’s future. We have been undergoing a strategy development process to help our school envision its aspirations and press its advantages. The process has included constituent surveys, a town hall/world cafe experience for employees, market research, meetings with individuals, and a series of SCHarrettes. SCHarrette, our SCH spin on “charrette,” is “a collaborative planning process that harnesses the talents and energies of all interested parties to create and support a master plan that represents transformative community change.” This multi-pronged approach has energized the school community and produced important insights to establish a surer path for our school’s future direction. The strategic development process has deepened our understanding of our school’s core strengths and distinctive assets. To better position our school for sustainable growth and success, we will need to promote our strengths, maintain differentiating capabilities, and address areas that require attention.

We anticipate the strategy development work concluding later in the spring, with a set of strategic priorities to be launched next academic year. It is not lost on me that the process we will have gone through to complete this work, along with what was unearthed, tells its own story.

In this edition of SCHool, we focus on stories of trajectory: the NASA ballooning project and 20 years of robotics program, Peter Randall at the helm; the positioning of artificial intelligence (AI) at SCH; and the “rising stars” among our young alums. The meteoric rise of these stars— launch, flight, and impact—is born out of a deep-seated imperative: do the most good and effect change for a prosperous world. They are living at the intersection of passion and purpose. Like the concepts of slope and velocity, these stars will graph a directional vector with each plot point heralding the beginning of the rest of their life. And while their paths may not follow a straight line, they’ll inevitably be positive, telescoping, and rarefied. Echoing American poet and novelist Robert Penn Warren, their stories will be ones of deep delight, ones of great distances and starlight.

Warmly,

annular eclipse in October through the NASA-sponsored Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project. More on page 2.

Delvin M. Dinkins, Ed.D.

Head of School

Cover Photo: SCH team launches their balloon with experiments into the atmosphere during the

Delvin M. Dinkins, Ed.D. Head of School Marketing Communications O ce

Karen Tracy HA, P’10, P’14, P’23 Director of Marketing and Communications

Laura Breen Cortes ’06, P'34, P’35 Visual Identity and Creative Services Associate

Julia MacMullan Director of Marketing

Laura Richards Communications Associate for Writing and Editing Editor, SCHool Magazine

O ce of Advancement

Kristin Norton P’20, P’22 Director of Development

Melissa Blue Brown ‘87, P’16, P’20, P’21 Director of Alumni Relations

Maggie Boozer Assistant Director of The SCH Fund

Andrea Eckert P’23, P’25, P’29 Director of Parent and Community Engagement

Carolyn Greenleaf Development Coordinator

Paul Hines H’03, P’06 Special Projects

Jenny James McHugh ’84, P’15, P’19

Brooke Mattingly P’36

Bethany Meyer P'20, P'22, P'25, P'26

James Talbot II H’81, P’86, P’90, GP’26, GP’28, GP’30

contents SPRING 2024

AN ADVENTURE IN BALLOONING

Through the NASA-sponsored Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP), four SCH Academy students have been dabbling in adventure science. This past year, Devil Dragon Ballooning—Cameron Lyon ’24, Devin Gibson ’24, Karina Chan-van der Helm ’24, and Shaun Gupte ’24, and a group of Drexel students led by

FALL 2023

2. first october launch, annular eclipse, rocksprings, tx

On the day of the eclipse, October 14, the launch and recovery teams work together to prepare the balloon (the size of a small car!), filling it with helium, attaching two digitally stabilized 3D cameras, and outfitting it with a 45-foot tail carrying nine payload boxes of experiments. As it ascends, the string detaches from the balloon, and the launch fails. “I just watched it disappear. It was shocking,” says Chan-van der Helm. “But since our test launch had also failed, we knew what to do. We were prepared.”

FALL 2023

3. second october launch, annular eclipse, rocksprings, tx

Within minutes, the team readies and launches a replacement balloon. Time is of the essence, as the project’s experiments are designed to collect data specifically during the eclipse that will last just about four-and-a-half minutes. “We had literally minutes to say, ‘Get on with it,’ get the next balloon out, do new calculations, and get it up,” says Randall.

SPRING 2024

What’s Next?

The SCH team will be launching from upstate NY again on April 8, 2024, during the total eclipse, which SCH students will also be watching from campus!

6. conference, new orleans, la

Nearly 3,500 astronomers, educators, students, and journalists gathered in New Orleans in January for the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Among them were the SCHers of Devil Dragon Ballooning, led by teachers Peter Randall and Alissa Sperling, to present their original research.

SUMMER 2023

1. devil dragon ballooning prepares

During the annular eclipse on October 14, the moon only obscures part of the sun, producing a dramatic “ring of fire” in the sky, but SCH’s involvement in the NEBP begins with an application process long before and planning in the summer of 2023. Experiments from UCLA, Drexel, NASA, and SCH are dependent on a successful and timely launch in October and April. They test on campus in August and September.

FALL 2023

4. ground station, rocksprings, tx

The second launch is a success! Their kit, found on a ranch nearly 78 miles away, is almost entirely intact. Chan-van der Helm examines camera footage alongside her SCH teammates. “The first moment we saw the picture of space, that was insane. We pulled the car over, and everyone was screaming and tearing up. It was crazy to see all of our hard work pay o .”

Devil Dragon Ballooning ultimately returns home with multiple payloads of data and stunning videos of space (and Earth!) at just over 100,000 feet.

WINTER 2024

several teachers including our own Alissa Sperling and Peter Randall— sent large balloons with scientific experiments into the Earth’s atmosphere to study eclipses. They launched balloons; tracked data; watched an eclipse together; trekked miles through the Texas brush to search for fallen equipment; and presented their findings at a prestigious national conference in New Orleans. And the adventure is not over yet. conference (continued)

Devin Gibson was also invited to present his observations and data collection on insect behavior through the Eclipse Soundscapes Project, a NASA Citizen Science project, which seeks to understand the impact of eclipses on wildlife. In addition, Cameron Lyon was featured on a student panel answering questions about the NEBP.

5. test launch, upstate ny

In December, months before their total eclipse launch, the team does a test launch in snowy upstate NY, and, tragically, their payload boxes end up in a tree.

new center for social emotional learning announced

SCH announced the launch of its new McCausland Center for Student Social Emotional Learning. As part of SCH’s strong commitment to mental health and wellness, the new Lower School SEL Center will offer students individual, group, and classroom counselor support, along with ongoing programmatic support for teachers and parents. “We are extraordinarily grateful to the McCausland Foundation for the gift to establish this important new center that aligns with our mission to provide a unique educational

environment for every one of our students,” said Head of School Delvin Dinkins. “Our goal is to build a transformative student-centered program where children are taught the skills they need to understand and manage their emotions, build positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”

The McCausland Foundation’s gift will provide the school with the resources necessary to help students navigate the challenges of childhood and develop the skills needed for emotional health and success.

This past year, SCH Lower School integrated a new language arts program into its curriculum. Wit & Wisdom is a rigorous and engaging text-based program designed to encourage critical thinking and organized around an essential question, from “Why do we explore the sea?” to “What does it mean to have a great heart, literally and figuratively?” The program aims to help students build the knowledge and skills they need to be successful readers, writers, and communicators.

“We know when students know a lot about one subject, the more they read about that topic, the more it’ll stick,” says Lower School reading specialist Christy Yaffe. “We’ve created that mental velcro. The more they read, the more they remember. That’s the core of this program.”

This cross-disciplinary approach provides a solid foundation for students as they learn to read and read to learn, preparing them for life beyond Lower School. As part of the new curriculum, kindergarten girls built a bat house to keep pests away and gifted it to Erdenheim Farm. And our 4th-grade boys got a hands-on lesson from cardiologists on the function and anatomy of the heart. At just 10 years old, not only can these students describe what it means to have a “great heart,” full of generosity and courage, but they’re also able to discuss how the left and right atrium work together.

“SCH wholeheartedly embraces a program that fosters boundless curiosity by teaching children the value and power of analyzing texts, forming opinions, and approaching profound questions that have no definitive answer,” says Head of Lower School Douglas Wainwright.

Fourth-grade boys get a lesson on the heart.

Kindergarten girls read, build, and serve the community as part of the Wit & Wisdom program.

sch launches premier language arts program

the campus lantern, revived

The Campus Lantern, SCH’s revived student newspaper, debuted its first issue this fall to much excitement and praise. Contributing writers penned dozens of articles, including one before the Philadelphia mayoral race highlighting SCH parent Cherelle Parker who subsequently won the bid for mayor. There are profiles of students and faculty members, arts coverage, book reviews, opinion pieces, comics, a sports section, and news items. Anderson Swanger ’25 won the competition for the paper’s new logo which pays homage to the 1927 logo.

fruition. Working closely under the direction of advisor and English teacher Jenny Gellhorn, he led student staff in the production of the new Campus Lantern website, which is updated consistently as content rolls in, and the first print edition arrived in December.

“We are the voice of Upper School students. We are writers, reporters, designers, artists, athletes, actors, thinkers, innovators, creators, chance-takers, and change-makers,” wrote Whitman in the Letter from the Editor in its first digital edition. “Dr. Dinkins told me last fall that our strong student body needed to be heard. Now, for the first time since 2016, The Campus Lantern student newspaper returns to do exactly that.”

Editor-in-Chief Griffy Whitman ’25 began to build the newspaper through his Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Capstone course and, this academic year, his idea came to Read

two student projects help reduce food waste at school

Two students are working toward reducing food waste at SCH. When sophomore Judah Meyer saw food insecurity firsthand at his previous school and learned that 16 out of every 100 households in Philadelphia experience it—all while 206 million pounds of perfectly edible food ends up in Philadelphia landfills each year—he was inspired to do something to help through his Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) project. With the help of SCH’s director of Food Services Chef Budd Cohen and a partnership with an organization called Sharing Excess, SCH’s leftovers were soon on their way to those in need living less than four miles from school. Through his organization, Community Plate, Meyer has donated more than 330 pounds of food.

Likewise, Mackenzie Hines, one of just 33 students in Pennsylvania chosen as a “Young Ambassador” by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, researched food waste reduction in her CEL Capstone project and is now working with Lower and Middle School students to reinstitute the school’s composting program in the Lower School cafeteria.

“In an ideal world, we wouldn't produce any cafeteria waste,” says CEL faculty member Julie Knutson. “These efforts are part of a larger initiative to make our faculty, staff, and students more conscious and responsible consumers.”

Student Judah Meyer packs up excess food at SCH Academy to donate to Whosoever Gospel Mission through his CEL project.

cel faculty members selected to represent organizations

Two Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) faculty members were recently selected to represent important educational organizations.

Having established CEL as a cutting-edge program, director Ed Glassman '03, who was also named to the Philadelphia Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list, was selected to work with the College Board on establishing a new AP Business Principles course.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, business majors are among the most popular undergraduate degrees in the U.S. and can lead to highdemand careers, and an AP course in business ranks at the top of requested programs by AP teachers and high school administrators. While still in the early stages of a multi-year effort to design, validate, and pilot the course, it is slated to roll out in 2027.

Glassman’s colleague, CEL teacher Julie Knutson, author of the young adult book Global Citizenship: Engage In the Politics of a Changing World, was one of just 300 educators chosen from 80 countries and 3,500 applicants to be a 2023-2024 Advocate of the Global Schools Program, an initiative led by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Knutson joined SCH in 2022 and teaches Middle Schoolers about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future,” according to the UN. She has framed activities using the goals, which have included writing letters to students in Ukraine; learning about the impacts of fast fashion at the Clothes Closet; and creating websites, children's books, and print/digital games to educate others about the core rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Knutson says that, through this training, she will be able to connect with others to bring the power of the SDGs to educators in and beyond her own community, much like she’s teaching her students to do.

robotics community celebrates together at 20th anniversary event

This fall, SCH celebrated 20 years of robotics—building better students one robot at a time—through Upper School STEM panels, Robotics Open House, and a presentation of alumni and faculty awards. At the evening celebration, our community honored the incredible co-founders and leaders of the program, Peter Randall ‘69, P’16, P’18, cofounder and chair of the department, and Rob Ervin H’08, P’10, P’13, co-founder and teacher, who not only grew the Robotics and Engineering Department to involve more than 150 students a year, they also taught and mentored thousands of students who went on to top-notch college engineering programs and careers.

“In sociology, there is a term called ‘the third place,’” said Abi Li ’20 at the robotics anniversary celebration. “It is the place that is not the home or the workplace; it’s a third place that you can automatically go where you can wind down, make friends, do interesting stuff, and just be yourself. Throughout high school, 1218 became my ‘third place.’ Looking back, I was extremely lucky to have found such a space, such a group of people, and such an activity.” Like Li, many robotics program alumni are grateful for both the STEM and life lessons they learned during their time at SCH, and dozens returned to this corner of Philadelphia to celebrate current students, their former faculty, mentors, parents, and fellow alumni at the 20th-anniversary celebration.

In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Awards that were presented to Randall and Ervin, Alumni Achievement Awards were presented at the ceremony to celebrate “those who have soared in their careers in the fields of STEM and robotics education, leaving a positive impact on the industry and society as a whole.” These awards were presented to Chelsey Roebuck ’06, founder and executive director of Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering, Inc. (ELiTE), and Charlie Frank ’09, a clinical surgeon who moonlights as a medical advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response - BARDA DRIVe program. In addition, Scott Rankin P’11, P’14 who, according to Randall was “one of the first members of the SCH family to completely ‘get it,’” was honored with the Service to Robotics Award.

So many robotics alumni and families have helped to shape the program into what it is today: a spectacular “third place" with far-reaching impact well beyond SCH.

Lifetime Achievement Awards

Peter Randall '69 P'16 P'18

Rob Ervin H'08 P'10 P'13

Alumni Achievement Awards

Chelsey Roebuck '06

Charlie Frank '09 Service to Robotics Award

Scott Rankin P'11, P'14

robotics awardees Co-founders of the Robotics program Peter Randall and Rob Ervin.

Special Contribution Awards

Jono Frank '69 P'95, P'98, P'00, P'09

Lisa Gemmill H'07, P'99

Dick Hayne P'08, P'11, GP'26, GP'28, GP'29, GP'31, GP'33

Jim Huffaker

Charles B. Landreth '66 P'95, P'96, GP'36

James Martin '99

Gordon McLennen

Ben Ng P'12

Karen Pedano

Donna Schapiro P'22

David Sheffield '74, P'02, P'06

artist in residence inspires sch community through workshops, talks, and collaborative artwork

"My artwork is about my hopes for my children, the kind of world I wish for them to grow up in, and the world I want all children to grow up in. So, the symbols I have used in my artwork represent hope, harmony, ancestry, life, positivity, and love,” says Artist-in-Residence Tawny Chatmon who spent two action-packed days on the SCH campus in February. As part of her residency supported by the Springside Class of 1957 Artist-in-Residence Fund, she spoke at Lower and Middle School assemblies, gave gallery talks to Upper School art students, enjoyed lunch with the Black Student Union, and led workshops for all 2nd-grade students.

A piece of Chatmon’s artwork was also included in the winter Barbara Crawford Art Gallery exhibition, Perspective on the Past, which brought together more than 20 paintings, prints, photographs, mixed media works, and sculptures by 14 internationally recognized artists of African descent including Jacob Lawrence, Allan Edmunds, Sonya Clark, June Edmonds, Kara Walker, Calvin Burnett, Walter Edmonds, Syd Carpenter, Debra Priestly, Richard J. Watson, Delita Martin, Martina Johnson Allen, and Faith Ringgold. The exhibition addressed defining moments and concepts in American history.

The photography-based artist spoke to students about finding her vocation. After documenting her father’s battle with cancer, Chatmon said that she was motivated to create imagery that celebrates and honors the beauty of Black childhood. Her work often combines overlappings of digital collage and illustration.

Members from the Springside Class of 1957 sat in on a workshop as the artist collaborated with 2nd graders on a piece of artwork that originated with Chatmon’s photograph of a girl in a plain white dress. Each student designed unique symbols to illustrate the messages they wanted to put out into the world which included, among others, “more love,” “more friendship,” and “more peace and care for nature and animals,” and placed them on the dress. The piece was unveiled at the closing of Perspective On The Past on March 10 and will remain on display at SCH in the months and years to come as part of SCH’s Permanent Art Collection.

The Springside Class of 1957 Artist-in-Residence program supports a performing or visual artist who works with students in a public capacity.

About Perspective on the Past

Reflecting on a painting, “A Prophet Comes,” of Frederick Douglass by Walter Edmonds, one 4th-grade student remarked, “It's like it's he's saying, ‘Come with me to freedom.’”

Focusing on historical figures and events as well as cultural memories from familial and ancestral pasts, the work in this exhibition, curated by Susanna Gold, expands the limits of what has conventionally been labeled as “American history” by re-considering familiar moments in the nation’s past and introducing lesser-known narratives. All selections were drawn from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, whose mission is to “bring focus to the full range of African American visual creativity and its essential place in the history and discourse of American art.”

Lessons from the exhibition were woven into student learning in every division including connections to the arts, history, language, AEIOU (Awareness, Empathy, Inclusivity, Difference, & Understanding), and Pollyanna curricula.

Members of the larger community attended tours and talks, including during our MLK, Jr. Morning of Service.

Enjoy our gallery guide!

The Blue Devils ended the fall season with 33 athletes named to All-League and All-State teams. Twenty-two seniors signed their National Letters of Intent to play at Division I and II institutions this fall and winter. All of our student-athletes showcased their passion for their respective sports and celebrated many moments of victory this fall. Here are some highlights:

Varsity football finished the season with an 8-2 overall record (3-2 league) and made a run at the Inter-Ac title. The Devils were 2nd in the league, turning around a 0-5 season last year.

Boys varsity soccer tied for 3rd in the league with a 9-10-3 overall and 4-5-1 league record. They lost in the PAISAA quarterfinals to the eventual champions, Kiski.

Girls varsity soccer tied for 2nd in the league with a record of 12-4-2 overall and 8-3-1 in the Inter-Ac. They lost in the semifinals of PAISAA to the eventual champions, Episcopal.

Varsity field hockey finished 4th in the league with a 9-8-1 overall and 4-5-1 Inter-Ac record. They lost in the quarterfinals of PAISAA to the eventual champions, Notre Dame. Junior field hockey goalkeeper Colleen Conlan tallied her 600th career save!

Claire Lynch came in 9th at the PAISAA Cross Country race to earn 2nd team All-State.

Scott Kirker is a coding and computer science CEL teacher who was instrumental in choosing the AI program Flint for SCH.

Demystifying AI in the

Fueling their unwavering curiosity, a cornerstone of SCH Academy's mission, this community is actively embracing innovation and exploring how AI can revolutionize the classroom experience.

Artificial intelligence has been in the country’s classrooms for several decades, from the PLATO program in the 1960s to writing-to-read programs in the 1980s, and parents have been familiar with newer AI technology for years with apps such as Seesaw, Google Classroom, Khan Academy, and Duolingo, which are ever evolving. While initial responses to ChatGPT and the rapid rise of AI as we know it were somewhat terrifying—Elon Musk warned it could cause “civilization destruction”—subsequent responses have been more positive, at least at SCH Academy. Having formed an AI committee in early 2023, members of this community have had an open mind to the possibilities of AI in Upper and Middle School classrooms and are committed to continuing to learn with it.

Diving in

“We have a profound responsibility to prepare our students for a future where AI is not just a tool, but a fundamental reality,” says Head of School Delvin Dinkins. “To examine it thoughtfully is to unlock extraordinary possibilities.

Personalized learning, adaptive feedback, even AI-powered tutors—these are not distractions, but potential allies in our mission to cultivate critical thinkers, innovative problem solvers, and empathetic communicators. Our AI committee, faculty, and other school leaders will continually assess our students’, teachers’, and non-teaching staff’s relationship to AI to seek the best path forward."

The SCH AI committee decided that they could only come up with answers by using the technology themselves. Ignorance, it was immediately clear, was not the answer. “We need to think about the meta-questions,” said Sarah McDowell, History Department chair, parent of three SCH graduates, and an original member of the committee. “You can’t think about the big questions if you don’t use AI yourself. Nobody has the answers, but here at SCH we’re thinking about the possibilities.”

The AI committee’s first set of recommendations came quickly. In short, they asked the community to embrace innovation. Teachers should be curiously exploring the new technology; they should learn as much as possible as early as possible to position students in the best way possible. The goal was that SCH educators be able to detect plagiarism and teach students to use their critical thinking skills to use AI for good. In addition, the academic honesty codes in Middle and Upper School were updated and detection software was installed by SCH’s tech team.

Tool for School

Another outgrowth of the committee was a partnership with Flint, an AI platform built for schools, which takes advantage of AI for the good of students and can “take the content of classes to the next level,” according to Ed Glassman, director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) and a member of the AI committee. “The committee spent months reviewing the landscape and making recommendations. Now teachers are trained on a platform that gives them the power to use the incredible technology for good. We’re not going to say, ‘Go use Open AI and have fun,’ we’re talking about tailoring and using AI to meet our goals. We’re providing secure, private access to the latest, greatest AI tools.”

Because Flint is built specifically for education, its goal is to help students learn the outlined material (and the outlined material only if the teacher so chooses). This means the AI doesn’t give away the answer (unless instructed to), gives personalized feedback, and pushes students to explain their answers and demonstrate their learning. It can also adapt to fit each student’s knowledge level and pace. It doesn’t prevent students from using Open AI outside of the program, but it teaches them how it can be used most effectively. For example, Glassman has a dozen CEL students who are starting their own businesses in class. With Flint, he can prompt them to answer the most important questions (and follow-ups) about their ventures before his individual meetings with each student, enabling them to come to him fully prepared. And, going forward, the program allows them to “employ” a copyeditor, SEO content writer, and strategy consultant for their sole-run businesses, all tasks that would have been impossible to do simultaneously. And, if AI is the future of work then what better way to train these young entrepreneurs?

“Flint unlocks the power of virtually limitless personalized learning in an affirming, conversational medium, while still maintaining necessary transparency from the teacher/ administrators to make sure that the technology is not being abused,” says Scott Kirker, a coding and computer science

Unleashing Curiosity Through Flint

Flint, an innovative AI tool developed for schools, is a dynamic learning companion for educators across disciplines.

Students can:

• Debate the morality of choices in English class. Students can debate with characters from books they are reading in class for a whole new level of understanding.

CEL teacher at SCH who was instrumental in the partnership with Flint. “Teaching your kids about Stoicism? You can now create an assignment where you interview Marcus Aurelius. Running a lesson in persuasive speaking? See what an AI representation of Robert Cialdini thinks of your script. If there's a large body of content about a subject on the web— you can now engage with it conversationally.”

After several training sessions, teachers at SCH are using Flint more effectively and creatively. Teachers can set parameters or create bots so that students practice their French speaking skills at home on their level, debate with a character in history, or tailor quizzes based on a video. Part of educator training and student learning is recognizing how to spot misinformation.

Physics teacher Alissa Sperling wrote about the possibilities and limits of AI in physics education in an article that will be published in the April issue of The Physics Teacher. She writes: “Like most of the tools that we use in teaching, the AI is only as good as the person using it. We have found that many of these services (which are currently running off of GPT 4 or similar models) will unknowingly over-constrain a problem, making it either unsolvable or giving it multiple correct solutions. Buyer beware. Without a human proofreader who has a strong conceptual knowledge of what makes a physics problem legitimate, these services can create problems that look realistic but are actually not solvable.”

Demystifying AI

To further demystify AI, SCH invited speakers to an SCH Connex virtual talk and CEL invited several guest speakers to campus who are experts on the topic. Amit Gandhi, vice president and technical fellow at AirBnB, a professor of economics at Penn’s Wharton School of Business, and an SCH parent of two spoke to students about the history of AI and the fear that arose with the current revolution.

“One thing about this AI revolution is that it’s automating an activity that we humans hold near and dear to our hearts, which is the ability to create, the ability to write, to express, to visualize,” said Gandhi. “And it’s happening at an astonishingly fast rate.”

“Tech has the ability to make people more creative, more precise, and more efficient. If it’s making you lazier, sloppier, and slower, you’re not using it the right way.”

Juliet Fajardo, CEL teacher of Architecture, 3D Modeling and Animation, Graphic Design, and Digital Fabrication

The threat to human creativity is real, but Juliet Fajardo, who teaches Architecture, 3D Modeling and Animation, Graphic Design, and Digital Fabrication courses at SCH, has a general rule to remind teachers and students to keep their use of technology in check: “Tech has the ability to make people more creative, more precise, and more efficient. If it’s making you lazier, sloppier, and slower, you’re not using it the right way.”

The Office of Educational Technology of the Department of Education released insights and recommendations on AI and the future of teaching and learning in May 2023. They note limits and also see the benefits of AI, from supporting educators through assistance to addressing variability in student learning. In the report, the department writes, “We envision a technology-enhanced future more like an electric bike and less like robot vacuums. On an electric bike, the human is fully aware and fully in control, but their burden is less, and their effort is multiplied by a complementary technological enhancement. Robot vacuums do their job, freeing the human from involvement or oversight.”

“Oversight is critical in this time of misinformation,” says McDowell, who notes that AI has limits and can inherit human bias. “We have to teach our students to continue to question and think critically. I’ve spent a lot of time learning about AI. It’s capable, it’s the future, it’s not a flash in the pan. It’s something that’ll be a part of these kids’ worlds forever, and we have to help guide them through that.”

• Immerse themselves in history through interactive conversations. Flint enables lively "discussions" with historical figures about famous controversies, sparking critical thinking and bringing the past to life. At SCH, students have engaged in the decisions behind the Cuban Missile Crisis directly with JFK.

• Delve deeper into their lab results in science. Teachers can upload data and students can collaborate with Flint to analyze findings, drawing insightful conclusions.

• Break down language barriers. Educators can use Flint's

text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities in over 50 languages, making learning a truly global experience. At SCH, students sit down in a virtual French bistro and get feedback on their conversational French directly from a custom AI Parisian waiter.

• Chat about marketing. In CEL, students have gotten real-time feedback on the marketing plan for their entrepreneurial venture directly from Steve Jobs.

This is just the beginning—Flint's potential is as limitless as students’ curiosity.

YOUNG ALUMNI ON THE

Recent graduates, nominated by members of the SCH community, open up about their found success, gratitude, and desire to do good.

Amidst the bustling world of aspiring professionals, a select group of recent SCH alumni are steadily carving their paths to success. Each of these individuals, no more than 16 years out of SCH, was nominated as someone who, according to our mission, “leads a life characterized by thoughtfulness, integrity, and a quest to effect positive change” by a member of the SCH community. Their stories, though marked by what some may call setbacks, have been fueled by a found interest, a passion to make a difference, and a healthy dose of resilience.

These are their stories at a moment in time when they have found success through their professional endeavors, in part thanks to SCH. Where they will go next is undetermined, but after reading these profiles we think you’ll agree: These alumni will be aiming high.

“There is no journey, story, or growth without the ups and downs, and to be where I have ended up, I wouldn’t trade a thing.”

Juan Castellanos '19

JUAN CASTELLANOS ’19

Professional Dancer, The Alabama Ballet

SCH lifer Juan Castellanos juggled the demands of dance and his studies from an early age. His experience at SCH, where he says he felt supported and surrounded by the “right” community, proved to be invaluable as he forged a career in the demanding world of ballet. As a professional dancer with The Alabama Ballet, he starts his days with an early morning visit to the gym (“As a smaller guy, it’s extremely important that I have the strength and endurance to succeed on a daily basis,” he says), a day of “work” aka “dance,” and the obligatory post-workday teaching gig.

“Throughout most of my time at SCH I would finish up a day of school and then go dance and train at night time,” he says. “In the world of a dancer, nothing

There is no journey, story, or growth without the ups and downs, and to be where I have ended up, I wouldn’t trade a thing.”

Castellanos can also be found working in the team store at the Birmingham Barons baseball stadium, but he is more often teaching dance at an inner-city Birmingham school. He is opening doors to the world

of ballet, as an athletic and creative endeavor, to a population that may have otherwise never been able to experience it. While he’s proud of his work outside of the company, he doesn’t have time to dwell on it.

“Once I’m done teaching,” he says, “I book it home, have my dinner, and do it all over again.”

MO’NE DAVIS ’19 and SCOTT BANDURA ’20

Baseball Standouts

is ever guaranteed. We have year-to-year contracts, so we always have to be at our best to ensure that we remain employed.”

After graduating from SCH in 2019, Castellanos spent four years with Charlotte Ballet, one of the nation’s top ballet companies, before the organization “decided to move on,” he says. “I was devastated, my first home away from home, and I would have to audition to find myself a new one,” he says. “Sometimes even at our best with so many factors in play, certain situations are not meant to be.”

Ultimately he found his “place” in his current—and equally prestigious—ballet company. “The dance world has a funny way of raising you up and tearing you back down just as quickly.

Mo'ne Davis ’19 rocketed to fame when she was still a student at SCH and the pitcher of the Taney Dragons team that went all the way to the Little League World Series and became the first girl to win and pitch a shutout. She is now pursuing a sports management degree at Columbia University.

Scott Bandura '20, Davis' former Taney teammate who she says she "loves like a brother," has been quoted in the press singing her praises.

Bandura, who hit .363 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs in his final season at Princeton, was recently drafted by the San Francisco Giants. But his first two years in college were tough, with a canceled season due to COVID and a hamstring injury.

"There's been some bumps in the road but that's been the dream since I could walk," Bandura said. "It has been a long time coming,” said Bandura in a recent Philadelphia Inquirer profile. “To just see everything come together like that and have everyone around was really awesome."

This fall, Davis began her pursuit of a master’s degree in the Ivy League’s only graduate sports management program, where, according to a recent New York Times profile, she is "undoubtedly the only student who has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, won an ESPY, written a book, starred in a commercial directed by Spike Lee and met Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House."

Davis returned to campus this fall to speak about her experience at Hampton University as part of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) panel at SCH. More recently, she spoke at the White House about health and nutrition as part of the White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities.

MOLLY STEIN ’12

Head of Strategic Health Plan Partnerships, Headway

From her early days at Springside, Molly Stein, Class of 2012, followed her interests with gusto. She could often be found pursuing independent research projects in an attempt to tackle a topic from all sides. In her career, she’s done the same, following the mantra: “Find a niche that you’re passionate enough about to invest the time and energy required to make change.”

The massive change she’s pursuing now? To remove systemic barriers in the health-care system, an idea she became obsessed with while working at a health tech startup after studying neuroscience and nutrition in college.

Now she’s pursuing that goal as head of Strategic Health Plan Partnerships at Headway, a company that is making mental health care more accessible for the masses by building the “first asset-free national network of therapists and psychiatrists who actively accept insurance to deliver quality, affordable care.”

“Everyone experiences the U.S. health-care system, but it works effectively for so few,” says Stein.

She is well aware of the issues of access from both professional and personal experience, having experienced a time in her life when she was held back by the health-care system, unable to access a specialty diagnosis, leading to almost a decade without effective treatment.

“I was unable to get the right care due to the barriers that have historically existed in the health-care system,” she says. “I’m far from alone—over 50 percent of those with a diagnosable mental illness are not able to receive care.” Stein joined Headway at the start of the pandemic when it was a small, seed-stage startup and the mental health crisis was looming. She helped grow the company to nearly 500 people (as of December 2023) with over 26,000 clinicians delivering care to hundreds of thousands of Americans each month. In her role, she works closely with large insurance companies to ensure their members can receive access to care, from developing new contracting strategies to negotiating partnership terms.

“Our long-term goal is to ensure that no one forgoes care because they cannot afford or find the right match provider,” she says. “That is an ambitious challenge and can only happen with these types of institutional partnerships, working within the existing system, to support these organizations in driving systemic change.”

MATTHEW ’11 AND BENJAMIN ’14 RUBIN Founders, SnoFox

“It’s impossible to think about entrepreneurship without thinking of the jersey stripes,” says Benjamin Rubin ’14, who, alongside his brother, Matthew Rubin ’11, founded SnoFox in 2020 to “safeguard and optimize the global cold chain to ensure reliable distribution of foodstuffs and vaccines to people all around the world.”

The brothers say they started their company to solve a “dire problem”: They wanted to improve the global cold supply chain— or the transportation and management of perishable items—by increasing reliability and reducing energy

inefficiency and waste. “Most people take for granted the food in their refrigerators and the vaccines at their hospitals and pharmacies,” they say. “The unfortunate truth is that 50 percent of the world’s vaccines and 14 percent of the world’s food goes to waste yearly due to breakdowns and interruptions in the cold supply chain.”

SnoFox, which tested its limits with a small-scale pilot on a vaccine refrigerator in Southeast Asia early on in the pandemic, provides operators of cold warehouses with data-driven insights to reduce their energy spend and prevent mechanical failures.

The Rubins say that while they are leading their company of 15, they

‘Oh geez, don’t look down’ feeling. Anyone who has started something or gone off on their path in any way can tell you how scary it can be and the amount of courage it takes to even get off the starting block. The other four stripes show up every single day you step into work and lead a team.”

As co-founders and family members, they also rely on the collaboration (and competitive spirit) they learned from attending CHA and playing sports side-by-side.

“The emotional and psychological burdens of entrepreneurship are incredibly taxing so having someone you’ve known since birth (literally) is completely invaluable,” they say. “We’re constantly trying to make ourselves better, improve the company, and make an impact in the world but what ultimately keeps us going is our love for each other and our love for our work.”

“It’s impossible to think about entrepreneurship without thinking of the jersey stripes."

Benjamin Rubin '14

continuously draw inspiration from the values they learned as students at CHA. “First and foremost,” they say, “the courage needed to make the leap to doing something like this full-time is perhaps only fully realized after you’ve made the jump and get that

Next up? The brothers plan to continue to expand.

“We’re extremely excited to continue to expand into more facilities around the country and the globe,” they say, “as well as have a continuing positive impact on as many people as possible.”

From left: Matthew and Benjamin Rubin

NATALIE BROWNE HOLMES ’08

Director of Community and Social Impact, Topicals

Harnessing the strength of community is Natalie Browne Holmes’ superpower. Drawing on her experience as a community manager at Google where she oversaw a pilot program between Google Code Next and three Harlem partner organizations, she has grown what she calls a “vibrant community” of brand ambassadors, creators, and loyalists as the director of Community and Social Impact at Topicals, “the fastest growing skincare company at Sephora.”

The mission-driven brand’s goal, says Browne Holmes, is “to transform how people feel about their skin by offering science-backed products for chronic skin conditions and advocating for mental health.” She has not only grown the community by 80 percent, but also built a social impact strategy which included launching the inaugural Mental Health Fund that has donated $50,000 to five Black and femalefounded mental health organizations. She and her colleagues collaborate with ambassadors to create content that generates engagement and ultimately connects consumers with the company.

“It's been truly rewarding to connect my background in local community development from my

previous roles at Google and at nonprofits to this work aimed at achieving our business goals,” she says.

Browne Holmes, Class of 2008, also sees the value in working with and empowering a diverse audience, which she’s able to do in her current position.

“Working in the beauty industry has been a whole new adventure for me, and I'm absolutely loving it,”

she says. “What makes it even more incredible is the unique opportunity to work with a wonderfully diverse audience, primarily of young women who look like me, and it's been amazing to connect and create inperson and virtual spaces for them. Furthermore, my role involves working with our community to remind them that perfect skin doesn’t exist and give people the freedom to

confidently wear their skin in all stages, it's amazing!”

This form of empowerment was fostered, she says, as a girl at Springside.

“The lessons I learned about the power of sisterhood have stayed with me,” says Browne Holmes. “These close bonds serve as a constant reminder of the value of friendship and have led me to be very passionate about building and nurturing communities.”

ELLIE WEINSTEIN ’15

Founder, CEO, Cocoa Press

“The spark for Cocoa Press happened in a senior year Intro to Engineering class at SCH,” says Ellie Weinstein, Class of 2015, who credits Peter Randall, chair of Robotics and Engineering, and then-teacher James Martin for paving the way for her success as founder of Cocoa Press, which produces chocolate printers. “This winter I was excited to give SCH a chocolate printer kit so that current students can cook up some new ideas with it!”

Weinstein, who has served as a mentor to the Upper School robotics team, built a business around her initial idea as a high school student, refining and developing various iterations of the chocolate

printers over the past nine years. What began as a hobby turned into her capstone project at The University of Pennsylvania where she was an undergraduate and, finally, her business. As a transgender woman, having come out after graduating from SCH, she was also finding a way to fight for trans rights.

“I love the freedom that comes with running my own business,” she says, “because it allows me to speak out about causes I am passionate about, like trans rights in the U.S. I can even use the platform that Cocoa Press provides to raise money for trans people or start discussions around current issues that would not

be possible if I was working at another company.”

There have been highs and lows over the years, she says, but she’s glad to have gotten to a place where she’s working full-time as the CEO of Cocoa Press and

were previously impossible. But even those who aren’t artists can design intricate chocolates with the machine, which uses food-grade stainless steel and includes chocolate cartridges.

“I just strive to find joy, use my privilege to help others, and enjoy what I do.”

Ellie Weinstein '15

has sold over 100 printers that can create personalized chocolate creations without a mold. Her creation enables creativity in others, allowing food artists to make intricate designs that

“It's been a rollercoaster,” she says. “My long-term goals are still up in the air, but I just strive to find joy, use my privilege to help others, and enjoy what I do.”

Photo credit: Leslie Barbaro

PAYDEN HOWARD ’15

Engineer Officer, U.S. Army, Fort Riley, KS

In his senior speech, Payden Howard, inspired by several of his CHA coaches, championed the dogged pursuit of chasing a specific goal. For him, that turned out to be the Army where he now is an engineer officer, recently promoted to captain, providing tactical and construction-based leadership to effectively accomplish missions across the globe. He and his team of engineers build structures, pave roads, construct airfields, bridge gaps, as well as demolish/ breach obstacles to support friendly forces.

“My coaches at CHA always emphasized having a passion and the confidence to strive for your goals, learn from your mistakes, and give everything you had to grow not only as an athlete but also as a young man,” said Howard who has continued to have this mindset at every turn in his career, from applying for an ROTC scholarship to building relationships with allied partners through 164 construction missions. He even led operations for an entire country for several months, taking on all the planning and coordination

not just with U.S. units but nearly a dozen other countries.

“I plan and lead soldiers across highly complex

“One of the things that drives me to be good at what I do is selfless service.”

Payden Howard '15

situations in an everchanging world,” said Howard. “There may be a situation where I may

have to strictly perform as a construction project manager, another where I have to be a tactical leader guiding my team through enemy-held territory, or even a combination of both.”

This past fall, Howard earned the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge, the German military's expert soldier badge, which is also open to U.S. soldiers.

“One of the things that drives me to be good at what I do is selfless service,”

says Howard, who was recently reassigned to the 916th Forward Engineer Support Team-Advance, a nine-person unit that specializes in planning as well as survey and design.

“From planning a mission to even working out at the gym, I try to perform to a higher standard because I know people depend on me to make decisions and be physically fit to lead by example.”

ANNABEL GROVE ’17

Associate Brand Manager of Innovation, Harry’s

Annabel Grove learned the power of social impact and innovation both in and out of the office early on in her career. “I have always wanted to work for a company that stands for something important and stands by it,” she says.

Harry’s was the answer for Grove, Class of 2017, whose passion for doing good for others began in the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) where she founded Philly Phit, a nutrition and physical education program for children. Through the organization, she and other volunteers worked with hundreds of students throughout Philadelphia to foster healthy lifestyles and help curb the obesity epidemic.

“CEL is where I first discovered my love for innovation and I've been able to carry that through my career,” she says. “For me, innovation is the perfect intersection of

the creative and the quantitative, a unique combination of analysis and a leap of faith. It's the key to growth, for companies, society, and as people.”

In her current role at Harry’s where she is working on new product launches for the women’s brand, Flamingo, she uses both the creative and quantitative, at once brainstorming new products, including naming and design, among other tasks, while also analyzing volume forecasting, pricing

scenario planning, and market trend analysis.

As an undergraduate at Wharton, Grove continued to admire and more thoroughly understand the inner workings of young startups with a strong mission and at Harry’s, she’s found, there is a strong focus on effecting positive change through volunteer work and charitable contributions. “I have gained exposure to a wide range of organizations, from food banks to mental health

organizations, and how they work to improve their community,” she says.

That commitment has also led her to volunteer and foster for the homeless animal population, first at Penn and now near her home in New York where animal shelters are at critical capacity.

“To me, our purpose on this earth is to make it better,” says Grove, “That's why we're all here, so that's what I try to do however I can.”

“CEL is where I first discovered my love for innovation and I've been able to carry that through my career."

Annabel Grove '17

COLE BROWN ’14

Author, Producer, Political Commentator

A wooden sculpture he spent most of his senior year at SCH making sits on the windowsill in his mother’s house. It is a reminder of the patience it takes to create and “the reward of seeing projects through to completion,” says author, producer, and political commentator Cole Brown.

Having written and published Greyboy: Finding Blackness in a White World in 2020, which was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award, he is now working on his second novel. He recently co-directed a docuseries alongside Drake and Jermaine Dupri. His multifaceted creative endeavors demand his constant attention, leading him to a life of perpetual motion.

“Many days have been spent running around Atlanta chasing after rappers and dancers with a camera,” he says. “More recently, I’ve been traveling to various cities for the book tour. Still other days, though too rarely recently, I am writing my next book. Usually, it is some combination of all three.”

His most recent project, alongside collaborator Natalie Johnson who conceived of it in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, is Black Love Letters , an anthology of original love letters authored by “leading up-and-coming writers, activists, and creatives addressed to the people, places, and things that are dearest to them.” Published this past fall, Oprah magazine calls the anthology “achingly beautiful,” and singer

John Legend, wrote in his introduction, "There are many books about love but precious few that are love. That's a more difficult challenge concentrating love to words on a page, capturing love as it is, delivering it still intact. (The authors) have done just that distilled love to soothe your soul." Brown’s fall book tour included several of

Greyboy , detailing the search for his identity at a predominately white institution.

“Interesting, well-told stories inspire and shape our view of the world. I want there to be more stories from and about folks who look like me, so I’m doing my best to create some,” says Brown who

“Interesting, well-told stories inspire and shape our view of the world. I want there to be more stories from and about folks who look like me, so I’m doing my best to create some.”

Cole Brown '14

the contributors, including Legend.

Brown, who recently enrolled in the MBA program at Columbia University, believes deeply in telling stories by and about those who are underrepresented, which is laid out in his memoir,

credits two SCH teachers with changing his life, Lower School teacher Gerri Allen for “shaping the way I thought about the study of my own culture from an early age” and English teacher Anthea Waleson for “fostering my love of writing and critical analysis.”

Brown, left, at a book event with co-editor, Natalie Johnson, and John Legend, who wrote the book's forward.

PORTRAIT OF A GRADUATE

We tracked down some recent SCH graduates who are now shining brightly on college campuses across the country. In high school, they were athletes, editors, Players, diversity or student body leaders, and entrepreneurs. We wanted the inside scoop: How did life at SCH prepare them to thrive in higher education?

We asked them:

How did SCH equip them with the skills to conquer college?

Who were their biggest champions at SCH?

What are the most valuable lessons they learned at SCH that they now use daily?

“I think I learned at SCH that in a small class setting, you need to speak up and share your opinion,” says Caroline Foley, a first-year student at Washington and Lee. Watch our video to hear the recent graduates'

insights on everything from the power of asking for help to the importance of knowing how to multitask— you will no doubt be reminded of the secret sauce that makes SCH graduates unstoppable.

“At SCH, we're committed to graduating not just well-rounded students, but compassionate, driven individuals—we are the school the world needs, graduating humans the world deserves,” says Head of School Delvin Dinkins.

Scan to watch episode one of our “Portrait of a Graduate” series!

Jack Gaghan ’23, University of Richmond, poses for the “Portrait of a Graduate” video.

Caroline Foley ‘23, Washington and Lee

A SCHOLARSHIP STORY: ELAINE ENDRES KELTON '58 DEVELOPMENT

"Springside taught me how to learn, to question, to seek answers, not always accepting what is or must be. It taught me to be aware of the opportunities, trust my instincts, and listen.”

A scholarship fund student at Springside School for 12 years, Elaine Endres Kelton ’58 is grateful to those who gave her the gift of a transformative education.

“My generation is often called the ‘silent generation,’” she says. “Springside taught women how not to be silent but to assume responsibility.”

Established in honor of the alumna, The Elaine Endres Kelton ’58 Scholarship Fund—a commitment to bold ideas, collaboration, and creativity—reflects her belief in the power of scholarship.

In 1964 Kelton moved to the then-small mountain village of Vail. Drawn by the adventure of learning to ski and becoming involved, she stayed. Vail Associates guaranteed the greatest skiing experiences, and those willing to go into business would provide the hotels, services, and restaurants. Kelton and her then-husband Gerry White ’58 built, owned, and operated Rams-Horn Lodge, which also housed a Montessori school due to the lack of educational facilities in the area. Later, the Vail Symposium provided a think tank for a community wrestling with the idea of “community vs. resort” and they found a forum for addressing local issues by looking at global trends. Kelton was a founding member of Jack’s Place, a cancer caring house in Edwards, served on and chaired the Colorado Mountain College Foundation Board, is director emeritus of the Vail Valley Foundation, and contributed to numerous other initiatives.

In 2013, Kelton co-authored The Women of Vail: Those Who Walked This Bridge 1962-1972 in celebration of Vail’s 50th anniversary, highlighting the remarkable contributions of women who helped shape the town's early years. Her dedication and leadership contributed to the significant growth of the Vail community, embodying the spirit of service and collaboration that defines its legacy.

"Springside taught me how to learn, to question, to seek answers, not always accepting what is or must be. It taught me to be aware of the opportunities, trust my instincts, and listen,” she says.

In establishing this scholarship, Kelton hopes that future generations of deserving students will be able to feel the e ects of a transformative SCH education as she has. The Elaine Endres Kelton Scholarship will provide financial support for a deserving Upper School student at SCH. Head of School Delvin Dinkins shares, “There is simply no greater gift than one that opens the door to an education, which then opens the mind and, as a result, opens up a universe of possibilities.”

TOP 3 GIVING DESIGNATIONS:

• AREA OF GREATEST NEED

• DEIB INITIATIVES

• CLASS OF 2024 SENIOR GIFT

DEVELOPMENTNEWS

RESTORE THE REC

WE ARE SO CLOSE!

With less than $500,000 to go to complete SCH’s Restore The Rec campaign, now is the time to join the more than 450 committed members of our community—alumni as well as former Players—who have already shown their support.

“In 1974, an old stable turned badminton facility was converted to a performing arts center, to be used for Players productions, Boy Choir musicals, graduations, holiday assemblies, and alumni art shows. Today, The Rec continues to be one of our community’s most cherished spaces, providing a transformational home and creative space for our students seeking theatrical and performing arts experiences. But this 135-year-old facility is showing its age and requires substantial renovation and updating to ensure it can continue as a valued part of the school's history.”

"Take a Seat" with us and donate $1,000 to name a seat in honor of your favorite member(s) of Players or a memorable show. Want to make a gift of a di erent size to refresh our performing arts space? Contact Jenny McHugh at jmchugh@sch.org to discuss your gift to The Rec.

Scan to learn more about how you can help

Restore The Rec!

Caroline Estey King P’17, P’19 & Barry Shannon ’70, Restore The Rec Campaign Chairs

Rebecca Morley '00 P'32, P'35 SCH Alumni Association president, takes a seat. Will you?

CAMPAIGN FOR THE COMMONS

One of our top priorities is to complete the school’s Campaign for the Commons in 2024. We are excited to share the next phase and vision for this transformative space with all members of the community. Stay tuned, and please reach out to Jenny McHugh at jmchugh@sch.org to learn how you can help.

“On any given afternoon, the new fitness center is packed with students and energy. Sometimes up to three teams are training at once. The new fitness center is meeting the goal of providing our student-athletes with a competitive advantage in a state-of-the-art facility.”

Rick Knox ’92 P’21, P’23, P’25

“We are excited to support The Campaign for the Commons. We believe that SCH deserves a strong entrance to our campus that provides a fitting welcome to students and visitors and conveys the exceptionality of our school.”

Kate & Bill Donato, Trustee P’22 P’25

This new gathering area was completed as part of phase 1 of the Campaign for the Commons.

The fitness center opened in the fall of 2024 as part of phase 1 of the Campaign for the Commons.

Rendering of the Commons patio, which is in progress.

ALUMNI EVENTS

Alumni gathered on and o campus this past fall and winter.

Top row: Current SCH alumni parents; alumni soccer game; Second row: newly-combined SCH Alumni Association; Annual Alumni Holiday Lunch; Third row: SCH Day; alumni basketball game; alumni hockey game; Fourth row: William Newbold ’17 boat dedication; Annual Alumni Holiday Lunch; Fifth row: Los Angeles regional event with Head of School Delvin Dinkins; NYC happy hour; and Boston regional event with Dr. Dinkins.

CLASS NOTES

1930s

1938

Ginnie Strong Newlin spent a recent afternoon with her cousin Ruthie D. Strong Ferraro '79 and friend Jenny James McHugh '84. (Newlin is 103 and shows no signs of slowing down!)

1950s

1958

Bob Calves lives at Rappahannock WestminsterCanterbury retirement community in VA. “I have Parkinson's disease but life is good at this fantastic life care facility,” he writes.

1960s

1960

In September, Syd Lea published What Shines, his 16th collection of poetry and his 24th book overall, in January 2024, Such Dancing as We Can, a collection of memoiristic personal essays, will be published, followed by Now Look, his second novel, in May 2024.

1961

Together again! Guy Fritts and his classmate Francois Midorge saw each other in Monte Carlo in September during the famous boat

show. Wearing their CHA hats, they had a lovely time together—enjoying good food and wine.

1969

Peggy Klein Mandell's new book, And Always One More Time: A Memoir, is out in March with a reading at Chestnut Hill's "booked." on May 8.

Steve Pearson’s son, Andy, and his wife, Margot, had a baby girl, Lacey Claire Pearson, on November 4.

1970s

1971

Andrew Ross and his wife, Betsy, relocated to Portugal in July 2023. “We are enjoying the culture and lifestyle from our apartment in Lisbon, with access to European travel as well. We traveled last fall to Seville, Bologna, and Venice. Visitors welcome!”

1976

After a career in independent school education, Roger Jones retired and went on a trip on the "Great Loop," circumnavigating the eastern half of the U.S. by water. Roger says, “The trip took us up the Hudson River to the Great Lakes and Chicago. Then we went down to the inland river system that took us to Mobile, AL, then around FL, and back up the east coast to RI. The trip was over 6,000 miles and took an entire year. We visited two countries, 18 states, New York City (twice), Chicago, New Orleans, and Miami. We traveled with lots of fun people and saw lots of our amazing country.”

1980s

1980

This past summer, Sarita Smith Hanley received The Founder's Award from the New Covenant Center of Catholic Charities of Fairfield County, CT. “This award is given for the dozen years of service as a chair of events and as an advisory council member dedicated to helping the less fortunate,” writes Hanley.

1983

Kym Truman Graves, April Claytor, and Michelle Graves ’82 enjoyed spending time together during the holidays.

1984

Tina Seving McDonald welcomed her grandaughter, Vivian McDonald, on November 25, 2023.

1986

Pam Rosser Thistle continues to sell residential real estate in Center City, Philadelphia. Most recently, she earned the Chairman's Circle Platinum status, placing her in the top 1 percent of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach agents nationally. Thistle’s daughters, both lifers at SCH, attend Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh. Thistle’s husband, Michael Gerard Thistle, a dedicated volunteer at SCH when their daughters attended, passed away from non-smoker's lung cancer after three years of wonderful treatment at Fox Chase Cancer Center. “Keystone House in Wyndmoor was a loving resource in his final days,” writes Thistle, who is setting up an endowed scholarship fund at her husband’s alma mater in his honor.

1990s

1991

Classmates and friends of Mike Masland took part in the 8th annual "Mike Hike" in Harpers Ferry, WV, on November 25. Pictured, from left: Masland’s daughter Mary, his wife Katie, Bill Freeman ‘91, Mike's son Jack, stepson Jonah, Ian Pilling ’91, and Mike's daughter Elizabeth. Not pictured: Garth Harries, who hiked with his family on Block Island (including Will Harries '93), Sam MacBride, who hiked in Thailand, and many from the Class of '91 who say they miss him every day.

In January, landscape designer Hadley Longstreth Peterson came to SCH to lead a discussion about “Passion and Process of Landscape Design.” Her family, several classmates, and members of the Wissahickon Garden Club attended the talk. Peterson’s work has been featured in Better Homes & Gardens and The New York Times. She is pictured here with her mother, Betsy Steel Longstreth '63, before the talk this winter.

1994

The CHA Class of 1994 donated a foosball table to our Junior Commons.

Washingtonian Magazine recently recognized Terrill Julien as a “Top Doctor” in the Washington D.C. area for hand and orthopedic surgery. Friends for over 30 years! CHA classmates Jared Utz, Jon Freeman, Mike Corvasce, Matt Paul, Jim Lee, and Brendan Flatow got together during the holidays.

1996

Nichole Marigna Lowery welcomed her first grandchild Jaiiah Nichole Young in August 2023.

A group from the Class of 1996 wrote in with some

fun, updates: Peter Hill got his daughters to school on time; Nate Massari reached ConciergeKey status on American Airlines; Ryan Murphy is still taller than you, probably; Ted Swain has a pretty good 90s hip-hop playlist on Spotify; all Class of 1996 Light Blues are still cheaters; Scott Hecker has more sweater vests than he probably should; Mike Toll hit 89 mph on the radar gun; and John McDevitt distracted someone from making a free throw at a youth basketball game—he's still got it.

1998

Tia Rideout started as a Workforce Learning Manager for Workshop U in October. Workshop U is an innovative post-secondary program for young adults aged 18-24 in Philadelphia, as Rideout writes, “help students develop a deep sense of who they are and a set of skills that allows them to carry out a plan that is true to themselves. We provide college credits and paid internships for students.”

2000s

2002

Gabrielle Pittman Gary and her husband welcomed a new bundle of joy, Nicolette Laurel Gary, on December 21. The baby joins her big brothers who are ready to lend a helping hand!

2004

Over the summer, Lucy Ross, Zan Morley, Rachel Sta , and Erin Lawson had a mini-reunion in Sag Harbor, NY. “Hope to see everyone in May to celebrate our 20th reunion,” they write.

2005

Maura Cheeks published her first novel, Acts of Forgiveness, in February. The novel is set in a slightly speculative America where the government has just passed the nation’s first federal reparations bill for Black Americans. The novel follows four generations of the Revel family as they try to retrace their lineage to be eligible for the funds.

2009

Matt Munro and his wife welcomed a new baby. James “Jack” Matthew Munro was born on August 23, 2023.

2010s

2010

Members of CHA's Class of 2010 enjoyed an impromptu connection outside McNallys over the winter break. Pictured here are, from left: Dylan Tracy, Peter Adubato, Matt Schre er, Matt Levin, Andrew Greenspon, Dylan Ward, Ryan Stapleton, and Pat Hawkins.

2012

Matthew Primavera has a new role with the Philadelphia Phillies as a manager in partnership sales.

2013

Cristin LaLone Kelley and her husband bought their

first home in Sudlersville, MD. “Our three dogs and two cats are enjoying the new place,” they write.

2014

Jordan Trotter-Lamback ran her first marathon, the Philadelphia Marathon 2023.

2017

Wilson Jones began working as a defense analyst with GlobalData in London this past fall. Wilson’s research work has been published in the August edition of

Parameters, the quarterly publication of the U.S. Army War College Press. After review by the College’s Commandant and the journal’s editor-in-chief, his contribution was awarded a $1,000 honorarium recognizing its quality and research value to American leadership.

2020s

2021

Brooke Prochniak was recently named a U.S. Department of State Gilman International Scholarship recipient and will study in Lisbon, Portugal this spring. A media and society major at Hobart and William Smith, Prochniak says she’s excited for the opportunity to pursue comparative studies while embedded in Lisbon’s “vibrant, friendly, and eclectic city.”

in memoriam

from August 2, 2023 through February 29, 2024.

FORMER TRUSTEE

Paul W. Meyer

ALUMNI

1941

Anne Garnett Boenning

1948

Joly Walton Stewart

1950

Harold P. Starr

1952

Sara Fischer Swanson

1954

Vanessa Lawton Peirce

Juliana Wood Snowden

1959

John L. Rodgers

1960

Edward R. Sargent

1961

Beatrice Finley Weeks

1962

Paul Wagner

1963

Anna Hults Harmar

1975

Carol Slotsky

1990

Michael C. Mellor

FACULTY AND STAFF

Heidi A. Foster

Karen Kolkka HA

Matt

Primavera ’12 married Avery Pietras on September 9 at the Black Point Inn in Prouts Neck, ME. Primavera’s brother, Chris Primavera '02, was the best man, and other classmates attended including several 2012 groomsmen.

Peggy Klein Mandell ’69 married John C. Pollock III on June 4, 2023, at the Washington Crossing Inn.

Matt Rubin ’11 married Dana Centofanti on June 10 in Naples, ME, at Camp Mataponi on Lake Sebago.

Alex Stein ’12 and Mike Fink ’10 were married on August 19 at The Manor House at Prophecy Creek in Ambler. CHA and Springside friends and family gathered for this special occasion. Pictured, front row, from left: Alex Stein ’12, Molly Stein ’12, and Katie Fitzkee Anthony ’10; back row, from left: Andy Mutch ’15, Jack Anthony ‘10, Scott Stein HA, Mike Fink ’10, Matthew Fink ’12, Gordon Anthony ’10, Carson Mutch ’12, Tim Bailey ’10, Linda Dudley Mutch ’78, and Peter Anthony ’14.

Sean Fitzpatrick ’07 married Maggie O’Neil on December 2 at Cescaphe Ballroom in Philadelphia. Celebrating with the couple were Kevin Dougherty '07, Kip Powell '07, Will Rhoda '07, Josh Haber '07, Sam Lichmira '07, James Fitzpatrick '04, Ryan Bateman '04, David Rhoda '74, Joe Trinacria ’08, and Phil Pie ’07.

Jack Maine ’11 married Annie Madeira on September 9 at Asticou Inn in Mt. Desert, Maine. Pictured, from left: Georgia Greenwood ’38, Thomas Greenwood III ’01, Jamie Greenwood ’35, Emery Maine Greenwood '06, Lila Greenwood, Debbie Maine H'16, Jack Maine ’11, Annie Madeira, Libby Maine Delacato '12, and Carl Delacato III ’12.

Kate DeGennaro ’10 married James Connelly on October 17, 2021, at St. Augustine’s Church in Philadelphia and then walked to their reception at La Peg on Race Street. DeGennaro and Connelly own a home and their pilates studio in Old City, so having their wedding in the neighborhood was a no-brainer! Many of DeGennaro’s Springside classmates were there to celebrate. Pictured, from left: Cameron Tucker, Ari Peikin, Courtney Caputo, Lindsay Yang, Kate DeGennaro (bride), Ainsley Healy, Colleen Caldwell Hogh, Chloe Corner, and Rachel Cascio.

Wyn Rall ’13 married Bailee Gunter on October 28 in Lake George, NY.

Upper School students read the first print issue of the revived Campus Lantern

Photo credit: Editor-in-Chief Gri y Whitman