Connections June 2012

Issue One | summer 2012

EDITOR

Dulcey Antonucci Director of Communications ART DIRECTION, DESIGN & LAYOUT

Nicole Nagine

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Peter Anderson Leigh Block Michel Deibert ’92 Shelby LaMar Steve Lisk Renée Morth Todd Trout

PHOTOGRAPHY

Michel Deibert ’92 Alan Gilliland Rebecca Gosselin Photography Nick Gould Photography Jeremy Hess Photography Lian Najarian ’15 Christina Simonds Donna Wilcox LCDS CONTACTS

Peter Anderson Director of Admissions ext. 227 andersonp@lancastercountryday.org Dulcey Antonucci Director of Communications ext. 232 antonuccid@lancastercountryday.org Shelby LaMar Chief Advancement Officer ext. 231 lamars@lancastercountryday.org SPECIAL THANKS TO

Caroline Henderson & Linda Campbell

…

Lancaster Country Day School 725 Hamilton Road Lancaster, PA 17603 717-392-2916 www.lancastercountryday.org CONNECTIONS is published twice a year. ©2012 Lancaster Country Day School

Dedicated to Katherine Hinchliffe Gschwend Miller, valedictorian of the Class of 1990. Kate was known throughout our community as a dedicated alumna, a devoted mother, a gifted teacher, a highly regarded scholar and a persistent child advocate.

In addition to her role as teacher and mentor, Kate played a significant role in the life of Country Day; her tenure as director of alumni/ae affairs saw the deepening of relationships throughout our community and as school archivist she collected and cataloged historical artifacts. Her expertise in adolescent fiction was the impetus for a revised, online Guide to Good Reading. Along with these accomplishments, Kate also served as the Upper School yearbook advisor and the faculty sponsor for Amnesty International. She is greatly missed.

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22 Issue One | summer 2012

features 10 – 15 China Exchange 16 – 21

Notes from Africa

22 – 23 Gourmands & Grapevines 24 – 25 Reflections of Scotland 28 – 29 Class of 2012

news 05 – 09 In the News

26 – 27 Student Travel

30 – 33 Class Notes

34 Jarvis Merit Scholarship Winners

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35 Fundfest Highlights

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A Global Education T

A message from Steve Lisk, Head of School

he adage about our world growing smaller certainly rings true today. More precisely, our planet is ever more interconnected and interdependent, and we know our students

will experience a world that expects them to maneuver within different cultures.

Our Board of Trustees ensured that our current strategic plan (2010–2015) implements “a program of global awareness across the curriculum.” This requires us to nurture established

“

programs and step forward with new initiatives. The school has built an impressive array of

our work to

trips abroad that engage students. Turn to Pages 24–27 for a closer look at these travel courses.

strengthen existing

In the academic curriculum, the Upper School has created a two-year humanities foundation

global programming

about different cultures is regularly interwoven into the lesson plans and foreign language

helps ensure the relevancy of the LCDS education.

”

sequence that is international in its sweep. In the Lower and Middle schools, instruction instruction begins in kindergarten with Spanish.

We also have on campus international students, who enrich classroom discussions with

their particular cultures and worldviews. For more than 20 years, LCDS has hosted two

junior-year exchange students who compete in their home countries for the opportunity. In the last decade, the school hosted students from the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania

and Moldova. Currently, we also have students from South Korea, a one-year student from Sweden and six students from China. On Page 15 you’ll read about our new initiative to recruit students from China.

Taken together, our work to strengthen existing global programming helps ensure the

relevancy of the LCDS education in the 21st century. Even as we strive to provide “the spark that kindles the mind and heart” in ways long established, we keep looking forward to prepare our students for their futures.

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In the NEWS Appointees Map Out Plans for Women’s Issues

www.oldschoollanehills.nextdoor.com

Pinterest LancasterCountryDay Twitter

Chicago Tribune | May 7, 2012

@LCDSchool

Erica Clayton Wright ’90 was appointed by Pa. Governor Tom Corbett to serve as a commissioner for the Pennsylvania Commission for Women.

Vimeo

Is Technology Replacing the Teacher?

Patriot-News | April 28, 2012 Mike Schmelder, director of information services, offers five ways schools can help faculty members be comfortable with new classroom technology.

PMEA Jazz Festival: Students Getting Ready Fox43 | March 16, 2012 Conor Flood ’12 says of the District 7 Jazz Festival, “Everyone here is so talented, and everyone knows the music really well. … It’s an awesome feeling.”

From the Classroom to the Road Huffington Post | March 13, 2012

Lancaster Country Day School

farewell Our love and thanks go out to the following faculty and staff members who have decided to retire at the end of the 2011–2012 school year: Barbara Adams Upper School Administrative Assistant 28 Years of Service Cindy Herr Third Grade 13 Years of Service

Caitlin Bailey ’12 writes about the experience of going “On the Road” with the Introduction to the Beats class.

Nan Killough School Store 15 Years of Service

LCDS Presents “Alice in Wonderland”

Beth Townsend Assistant Director of Admission 21 Years of Service

Intelligencer Journal | February 15, 2012 A cast of 40 students performed Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

The link includes video of the play, pictured above.

LCDS’ First John Cooper Hubbard Scholar

Louise Ulrich Second Grade 19 Years of Service

La Voz Latina Central | February 1, 2012 A generous gift from John Cooper Hubbard ’58 has established a new scholarship for an incoming fifth- or sixth-grade student who adds diversity to the school.

Visit www.lancastercountryday.org/about/newsroom/inthenews to see these and other recent news articles about LCDS.

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LCDS Athletic Department Mission Statement

Athletic Director Leigh Block unveiled a new athletic department mission statement which will inform all decisions and the direction in the department.

The LCDS athletic department supports the overarching mission of the school: to promote students’ intellectual, creative, physical, and emotional development. A rigorous athletic program refines the skills cultivated within the classroom, inspires a sense of community and school pride, and challenges students to explore hidden talents.

Regardless of the sport or level, coaches, parents and program administrators partner to provide a quality experience, focused on three key areas: accountability, sportsmanship, and the pursuit of excellence.

Accountability Representing LCDS through athletics is an honor and a privilege. Parents, players, coaches, and administrators must hold each other accountable to the highest standards.

Sportsmanship We will handle success with humility and failure with grace. Ours will be a culture that promotes respect for teammates, opponents, officials and fans and for the games themselves.

Middle School students who want to learn Claymation techniques can now study them during the school day.

Last year Country Day piloted a course schedule that increased the number of arts electives available to students.

In addition to art, band, chorus, orchestra and theatre, students may now also opt to take photography, dance, animation art or technology media. Division Head Rudy Sharpe explained that the goal is to interest more Middle School students in the arts by investing in a stronger arts schedule. Already, five Upper School teachers with

professional backgrounds in the areas offered devote some of their teaching schedule to Middle School students. Friends and loved ones who attend school performances can now see the school’s first Middle School dance troupe performing an exuberant tap routine, or a theatre production entirely created, directed and written by seventh and eighth graders. Sharpe predicts that these students will have a deeper love for the arts and work at a more advanced creative level in Upper School, thanks to the mentoring they received in Middle School.

Middle School Adds Arts Electives

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Pursuit of excellence We pursue excellence in athletics, just as we pursue excellence in academics and the arts. While subvarsity programs are developmental by nature, our goal for varsity athletics is to compete at the highest level possible.

AP Chemistry, Flipped No one approach to teaching will work best to keep both teachers and students engaged. To mix it up, Assistant Head of Upper School Todd Trout, Ph.D., uses the “flipped classroom” method of teaching in his Advanced Placement Chemistry class. In this approach students make their initial connections with new material by watching podcast (online video) lessons as homework. Classroom time with the teacher then focuses more on applications of the material, discussion, advanced concepts and helping students through difficulties.

Trout says the podcasts have had some unexpected benefits for his students: They are exposed to the methodologies and practices of another chemistry teacher and joined to a larger community of students. In the future Trout wants to explore ways for students to post comments and questions before class so that he can customize his lessons to their needs. In time he would like to add the podcasts to first-year chemistry courses as well.

Personal computers changed forever the way students learn. New technology will constantly shape the landscape of education. With this in mind, the Lower School has integrated iPads into the classroom. The goal is to enhance and improve student understanding of the course curr iculum and fur ther de velop technolog y and information literacy skills. With more options for communication, collaboration and creativity, the curriculum will really come alive.

An important aspect of this program is the investment in professional development for teachers, led by Division Head Christina

Simonds and Assistant Head of Lower School and Lower School Technology and Science Chair Caroline Badri.

In addition to specific iPad training, faculty will learn to integrate iPad and SmartBoard resources into preschool through fifth grade curricula, use technology for class collaboration, and develop specific software lessons for reading, science, social studies and writing classes. Lower School students will have confidence in their abilities to use new technology for problem solving and critical thinking as our faculty guides them to become thoughtful and articulate individuals.

iPads in the Lower School

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Campus Master Plan Looking over plans for a new wing Early in 2012, LCDS received official neighbors, staff and students met to discuss in 1984 are, from left, Justine Fluck, notification from the Pennsylvania the needs for the school facility, using as a president of Black Friars; Alan Gibby, Association of Independent Schools framework the strategic plan endorsed by the assistant headmaster; John Jarvis, (PAIS) that the school is formally Board of Trustees in 2010. The school also headmaster; Lark Eshelman, head accredited for the next decade. conducted a comprehensive opinion survey of lower school; Daniele Campbell, to find out current parent priorities. Head of With this endorsement secured, president of senior class.

School Steve Lisk then presented the results the school began work on the Photo credit: Sunday News , Lancaster PA of the survey, as well as some broad design creation of a new campus master ideas, to parents and to neighbors during two plan. After hearing proposals informal sessions after school. These initiatives are the first from three firms, Country Day selected Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, one of Architectural Record’s steps in a multiyear process. Having a careful and thoughtful Top 250 Firms, to oversee the process. For the first several master plan ensures that wise decisions now prepare us well months of 2012, focus groups comprising alumni, faculty, for the future.

For Earth Day, Suzanne Bricker, daughter of Owen Bricker ’54 spoke to students about her work at the National Center for Coastal Science. She is developing innovative tools for managing nutrient run-off and its effects on bodies of water. She explained how we can all help to reduce the negative impact on waterways. The school also welcomed Anne Bricker, who accepted the Lancaster Country Day School Professional Achievement Award on behalf of late husband Owen Bricker. At the U.S. Geological Survey where he worked, Bricker revolutionized the study of acid rain, watershed weathering, and sediment and contaminants delivery. He also helped establish The Chesapeake Bay Program and national standards for emissions controls.

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Daniel Cohen, Upper School teacher and tenth grade advisor, earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Miami. Before joining LCDS last fall, he taught courses that focused on philosophy and contemporary moral issues at the University of Miami.

Faculty Achievement

Tony Hernandez, Lower School junior-kindergarten teacher, earned a Master of Arts in Education and Human Development at George Washington University. His internship project helped set up the John Cooper Hubbard Scholarship at LCDS. Named after a generous benefactor and alumnus, the scholarship is awarded to a student who is academically strong and represents diversity.

Laura Trout, chemistry teacher and science department chair, won the 2012 Allen Floyd Whalen Memorial Award for excellence in teaching high school chemistry from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Section of the American Chemical Society. She developed several open-ended lab activities that prepare her students for college-level work by focusing on problem-solving and thinking skills.

Ice Festival

This year’s festival raised $2,456, the most in the history of the Chili Cook-Off. All proceeds are donated to the Lancaster Area Habitat for Humanity.

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The more we

know about how the Chinese people think and how they work, the better prepared our children will be in the global economy.

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Chinese international students want to come to an American independent school for the critical and creative thinking in the classroom. In China, teachers lecture and provide only one point of view.

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ChinaExchange

by Peter Anderson, Director of Admission

A

s the world’s second largest economy, China is booming. The children of newly successful families want to be well prepared to enter China’s competitive university system and the global marketplace. At LCDS the effort to offer a global perspective within school walls includes recruiting students from China who want to spend their high school years at Country Day.

“

We have a genuine

interest in bringing the right students

genuine interest in bringing the right students to Country Day,” Najarian said. The school’s current crop of international students includes an opera singer, a soccer player, a violinist and a basketball player.

Chinese students want to come to an American independent school for the critical and creative thinking to Country Day. in the classroom and a broader understanding of subjects. In China, teachers lecture and provide only one point of view.

In March, Life Trustee Shelly Landau and parent Helen Najarian volunteered their time and resources to travel to China is a country of contrasts, as well as phenomenal China on the school’s behalf. The trip was the second for the history and beauty. The customs, perspectives and priorities school through a partnership with the Cambridge Institute, of Chinese international students help us to develop a fuller which is a U.S. and China-based recruitment agency that worldview. Landau explains, “The more we know about how helps match Chinese students with American private schools. the Chinese people think and how they work, the better While in China, Landau and Najarian presented the attributes prepared our children will be in the global economy.” of LCDS to prospective students and their families at recruitment fairs across the country. Of 100 students that Lian Najarian ’15, daughter of Helen, took these they interviewed during the 10-day trip, four were invited photographs during their trip to China in March. to apply to the school.

”

An accomplished photographer, Lian plans to

Country Day was highly selective in choosing candidates. Academics and fluency in English were important, but the admission committee also looked at what students could bring to the school as whole individuals. Did they play a sport? Did they have an artistic gift? “We have a

include photojournalism in her professional plans.

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“

The Congolese are some of

the most resilient souls that 16

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I have ever come across.

Notes from

AFRICA

photos & text by Michael Deibert ’92

I

first visited Africa in 2007 when I traveled from Paris,

As fate would have it, five short

years later as I write these lines

where I was living, to Côte d’Ivoire.

Gbagbo is a defendant at the

At the time, Côte d’Ivoire was

International Criminal Court in

section controlled by the government

against humanity, and Ouattara

The Hague, charged with crimes

cleaved in half with a southern of Ivorian president Laurent

is Côte d’Ivoire’s democratically

Gbagbo and a northern section

elected president.

controlled by a rebel army, the

This was something of a dress

Forces Nouvelles.

rehearsal for my next foray

Stepping out of the plane in the

capital Abidjan in the middle of the night to begin a long drive

through government-controlled

roadblocks to the suburb of Anyama (where I was staying at

into Africa, which began a above: Michael Deibert, author of “Democratic Republic of Congo:

Between Hope and Despair” (Zed Books, 2012), at a base for Indian peacekeepers with the United Nations Mission in Congo, February 2008.

Opposite Page: Residents’ council, Kalinga Camp, Masisi Territory, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 2012.

the continent.

I traveled to the middle of the country to research an article

Kinshasa, the capital of the

Democratic Republic of Congo, the country with which I have had the longest relationship of

the home of a local human rights

activist) certainly made for an interesting introduction to

few months later. I moved to

any I have visited on the continent.

While I was reading such depictions of the Afri-

can experience (and the European perception of

about corruption in the cocoa industry and to the northern

Africa) as Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”

after driving out government forces. I extensively

early 1990s, even in that pre-Internet age Congo always

capital that had grown edgy, patrolled by glassy-eyed soldiers

were most profoundly lived out, a perception that has been

to interview opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.

and working in the place.

city of Bouaké, where the rebels had headquartered themselves

and Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” at LCDS in the

explored Abidjan — Côte d’Ivoire’s once cosmopolitan

seemed to be the place where all of Africa’s hopes and tragedies

(Gbagbo loyalists) and prone to bouts of political unrest —

reaffirmed time and again now after four years of visiting

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“

tremendous

Africa is not

There is also the Congo — a nation as vast as Western Europe and dotted with rich reserves of cobalt, coltan, copper, diamonds and gold — has long been a case study not only in human avarice, vanity and misrule but also in resilience, ingenuity and the fact that “hope dies last,” as former Czechoslovakian statesman Alexander Dubček once said.

Its territory encompassed various, fairly refined African empires for centuries (including the Luba, Bakongo and Lunda kingdoms, to name just three), but by 1877, Congo was occupied by the forces of Belgium’s King Leopold II. As brutal a tyrant as Africa has ever seen, Leopold, though cloaking his presence in the guise of a civilizing mission, instituted mutilation and massacre as the rules of the day while extracting huge quantities of rubber. The modern-day shape of Congo was largely brought into existence with typical lack of forethought by the European powers at the 1884 Berlin Conference. After Leopold reluctantly relinquished his personal administration of the territory to his nation’s civilian bureaucrats in 1908, the Congolese were governed by colonial functionaries until gaining independence in 1960.

One of the heroes of that independence, Prime Minister Patrice Émery Lumumba, was killed the following year, and General Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seized power in a military coup in 1965, ruling the nation until his ouster in 1997.

Mobutu subsequently renamed Congo “Zaire” and dubbed himself Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (“the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake”). His three decades of kleptocratic rule saw the country beset by high rates of inflation, unemployment, illiteracy, and infant mortality, while the dictator and his cronies enriched themselves.

Mobutu’s reign came to an end following the mass slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in neighboring Rwanda by Hutu extremists there in 1994. With the subsequent success of the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in wresting power from the perpetrators of the genocide, an estimated 2 million refugees flooded into eastern Congo. Mixed in among them were many high-ranking figures in the brutal interahamwe Hutu militias that had taken the lead in organizing the genocide in Rwanda.

beauty of the place.

just about war. physical

The interahamwe, direct precursors of today’s Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group, created spheres of influence in the squalid refugee camps of the provinces of North and South Kivu, from which they launched cross-border attacks against Rwanda’s new government.

Mobutu allowed these génocidaires to go about their murderous business largely unmolested, much to the chagrin of the ruling government in Rwanda. In late 1996, using an umbrella group of Congolese rebel factions calling themselves the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL) as cover, Rwanda launched an insurgency to oust Mobutu with extensive Ugandan backing.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni were both eager to see the duplicitous Mobutu fall so that they might pursue their own interests in Congo — a country of vast mineral wealth.

With longtime rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila at the helm, the AFDL and their foreign patrons made quick progress across Congo’s vast interior, marching westward to the capital, Kinshasa, with the tacit approval of the Clinton administration, still stung by its failure to do anything to halt the Rwandan genocide two years earlier.

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Tens of thousands (and possibly hundreds of thousands) of Hutu refugees were slain in eastern and central Congo as the AFDL and Rwandan security forces pursued the interahamwe and their civilian human shields through the forests and jungles of the region. Largely painted in the West in simplistic terms of good vs. evil, the rebellion against Mobutu was anything but a simple homegrown revolution and, in fact, represented the extension and continuation of a brutal policy of ethnic warfare.

Once Kabila ascended to power, relations with his Rwandan and Ugandan backers cooled rapidly. Feeling that he had solidified his political base within Congo enough to jettison his foreign supporters — a conviction that would prove a bad miscalculation — Kabila ordered all Rwandan and Ugandan military units to depart Congo in August 1998.

Following their departure, a rebel group calling itself the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD), made up of Banyamulenge, other ethnic groups, and Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers, took up arms in eastern Congo. The RCD was soon joined by other exponentially replicating militias, as well as the national armies of Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

On this spread: Masisi Territory, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, February 2012.

In August 1999, following a faltering series of peace talks, a split between the Rwandan and Ugandan factions within the RCD resulted in the two sides turning their weapons on one another in the central town of Kisangani, which lies astride the Congo River and is bitterly immortalized by V. S. Naipaul in his 1979 novel, “A Bend in the River.”

Years of more war followed, war that included the assassination of Laurent Kabila under murky circumstances in Kinshasa and the assumption of the presidency of Congo by his son, Joseph Kabila, who remains president to this day.

Though active conflict has since ceased in much of the country, the situation remains volatile in Congo’s east.

When I returned to North Kivu earlier this year, the province — which as recently as 2008 had lived under the threat of full-scale attack from the Rwanda-backed Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP) rebel group — seemed, at first glance, much calmer than in years past.

The young Kabila has effectively ceded influence and control of much of the eastern part of Congo to Rwanda and its proxies, with the Rwandan army now allowed to enter Congolese territory in hot pursuit of the FDLR, and the CNDP now a registered political party, having seen its forces integrated with the official armed forces. Its chieftain, Bosco Ntaganda, has become an important powerbroker in Goma, North Kivu’s administrative and economic centre.

Complicating the picture, among other factors, is the fact that in January 2006, Ntaganda was indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on three counts of war crimes that occurred while he was helping to command a militia in Congo’s Ituri region during the early part of the last decade, a time during which he earned the sobriquet “the Terminator.”

Other armed groups operating in the Kivus, such as the Kabila government’s erstwhile allies in the Patriotes Resistants Congolais — a loose umbrella of paramilitary organizations — have also been gradually entering the official security forces, but a significant breakaway movement led by “General” Janvier Buingo Karairi and mostly consisting of members of the Hunde ethnic group has thus far refused integration.

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The Congo is always on a

between hope

So Congo, and Africa, remain complex, convoluted and challenging, with the former balanced as always on a knife’s edge between hope and despair.

But, though it may seem like it sometimes, Africa is not just about war. There is also the tremendous physical beauty of the place, the incredible warmth and immediacy of contact with the people there, the varied and seductive music, and the writers — like Sony Labou Tansi, Wole Soyinka, Alain Mabanckou and Chinua Achebe — that the continent has produced.

Some of my most vivid memories of Africa are of the many pleasures that await travelers there, whether eating cosa-cosa (large river shrimp) and drinking dark Tembo beer beside the rapids of the Congo River, hiking up to see the extraordinary churches carved into solid rock along the mountainsides in Lalibela in Ethiopia or marveling at the beauty of the fortified caravan city of Aït Benhaddou in Morocco.

Indeed, for sheer physical beauty, few places can match eastern Congo. In all my travels, I have only seen such a ravishing landscape equaled in Kashmir, on the India-Pakistan border. Towering active and dormant volcanoes, vaulting green fecund hills wreathed in mist, mountain lakes colored in greens and blues. In my 15 years as a journalist, I have seen against this beautiful background human suffering on the greatest scale.

But the Congolese, like those in the rest of Africa, are not simply victims. They are indeed some of the most resilient souls that I have ever come across, and they are, however imperfectly, in the process of rebuilding their country.

Hopefully this article will spur some of those connected with my old alma mater to learn a bit more about it.

balanced as

knife’s

and

despair.

edge

”

In the words of a popular song by Congoelse singer Koffi Olomide, lokuta eyaka na ascenseur, kasi vérité eyei na escalier mpe ekomi. Lies come up in the elevator; the truth takes the stairs but gets here eventually.

Boy and bullet hole, Matadi, Bas-Congo Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, March 2008.

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Gourmands & Grapevines L

B y S h e l b y L a M a r , C h i e f A d va n c e m e n t O f f i c e r

CDS Bay Area alumni gathered in late February under perfect blue skies at the Napa Valley home of Tony Spleen ’82 and Thom Thompson. Most of those attending made the trip across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco deep into wine country. To this group, the distance was a nonfactor when considering the opportunity to gather with friends new and old, to chat with Head of School Steve Lisk, and to socialize in an olive grove overlooking the famed vines of Chateau Montelena. The anecdotes and memories were as broad as a guest list spanning fifty years (with no fewer than four members of the class of 1987) — but the commonality of a shared Country Day experience gave everyone more than enough to talk about.

"We were all impressed with Steve's remarks and his commitment to keeping Country Day in the forefront of independent schools throughout the United States," said Spleen.

Our first venture outside of the the Bay Area was prompted

by Spleen’s interest in a West Coast alumni gathering. He said, "I feel strongly about giving back to Country Day. The school did so much for me, helping set a course for my future and shaping the person I am today. It was gratifying to assemble other area alumni who share a similar level of commitment to LCDS."

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When Tony and Thom found their home, Dry Creek Ranch, the initial plan was to rehabilitate the somewhat tired farmhouse and to use it as a rental property. But the more time they spent in Napa, the less they missed their home in San Francisco’s Mission District and the more they envisioned a life in a picturesque Northern California setting. Although meticulously renovated, Dry Creek Ranch remains a working farm that sees the production of wine country’s other precious commodity: olive oil. The ranch produces oil that may be found in boutiques in the Bay Area and beyond.

Spleen said, "Thom and I were so happy to host this event and share our little slice of paradise in the Napa Valley with so many interesting alumni who live throughout the San Francisco Bay Area."

LCDS alumni may be found across the country, but remaining connected is of vital importance. Having recently held receptions in Napa, New York, and Baltimore, we are currently planning our next visits. If you live in an area where we should have a reception, please let us know!

“

we were all impressed with Steve’s remarks and his commitment to keeping Country Day in the forefront of independent schools throughout

”

the United States.

Who was there?

Napa Guest list:

Betsy Wademan Ahlstrand ’95 | Alissa Blackman ’87 | Durga Bobba ’87 | Adrian Colley ’57 | Jim Elsasser ’87 | Tom Hodapp ’77 Tony Spleen ’82 | Mark Strode ’87 | Julie Wheeler ’95 | Head of School Steve Lisk and Chief Advancement Officer Shelby LaMar. We also saw Mark Peake ’89 and Jim Elsasser at Pauline’s Pizza the night before!

Reflections of

Scotland

By RenĂŠe Morth, theatre facult y

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T

alternating basis, it quickly became obvious that we shared aking a moment to collect my thoughts about the recent journey the Playing Shakespeare class embarked on to a similar theatrical language but that we also expressed and implemented it in a slightly different fashion. These differences Scotland, I find a series of snapshots flood my mind. A proud complemented each other and offered a fuller, broader smile seen on the face of an LCDS student as he was dancing at experience to the students. Watching the students from the ceilidh that Kelvinside Academy organized to celebrate our both schools grow in confidence and freedom as the workarrival. A group of Kelvinside and LCDS students laughing shop progressed was fulfilling beyond together as they played cards on words for me as a teacher. Similarithe train ride from Edinburgh I regard the theatre ties were present in the students’ reto Glasgow. A girl from Kelvinside sponses, but differences were also courageously engaging in an improvised as the greatest of all apparent, due once again to their diverse scene based upon Shakespearean insults backgrounds. Experiencing these cultural with a boy from LCDS. The Macbeth art forms, the most differences gave our students a unique cast climbing the ruins of Spynie Palace, immediate way in which opportunity to develop new perspectives performing impromptu scenes from the and build connections. play. a human being can share Scotland is a country full of stories, These are not just memories that will with another the and it seemed as we traveled north to last a lifetime but are rather moments Inverness and toured sites associated that transform ruminations into concrete sense of what it is to with both Shakespeare’s Macbeth experiences that instill a respect for be a human being. and the real Macbeth that the line and true understanding of how much between fact and fiction at times was the practice of interacting with the a blurry one. Theater artists, actors in In March, the Playing Shakespeare course traveled to world has to teach us about others and particular, are constantly asked to blur Scotland's Kelvinside Academy, the alma mater of John ourselves.The theater art form is the perfect Jarvis (LCDS Headmaster 1965–1990). this line as well between themselves catalyst for encouraging this type of and their characters. Oscar Wilde said, pursuit, one that directly enhances the “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the value of humility within an individual. most immediate way in which a human being can share A highlight of the trip was the combined theater workshop with another the sense of what it is to be a human led by Angela Schneeberger, Kelvinside’s drama instructor, being.” Our time in Scotland was rich in collaboration, and me. Sixteen Kelvinside students participated in the brought to fruition by those intimate exchanges between 90-minute workshop with the students from LCDS. As participants, students and adults, Scottish and American, in Angela and I presented a series of related activities on an the illustrious context of theater.

“

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ome es s d i v s pro ent d d u n t os t l Fu cen ce t ave r n a T per t e s 0 i h s 5 T as is to cial , up hat n d t i a a p fin tri cial one t. nan f i f o men e st on r o i c equ he se r of t r u a co

LCDS faculty have developed engaging travel courses that combine focused academic work with related travel.

Pictured here from Spring 2012: Model United Nations in The Netherlands; the ecology and marine science of Hawaii; and the literature, music and art of the Beat poets on a road trip to San Francisco.

26 | connections |

| Issue One Summer 2012 |

27

Furman University

Cornell University

Boston College

American University Claremont McKenna College Bloomsburg University of PA Columbia University

Champlain College Lehigh University Penn State Eckerd College College of William and Mary

Franklin & Marshall College

Gettysburg College Pace University Emerson College Landmark College Kansas State University Tufts University

Hamilton College Hood College

University of Delaware

LCDS

Wesleyan University Penn State Berks Campus

University of Rochester University of St. Andrews

Graduates

christopher thomas andrews | caitlin marie bailey | andrew paul blickle | jordan david brooks | james anthony brown

julia marie casselbury | christopher anthony cavallo | austin remmers cook | samuel deans crystle | jaxenne leigh daniels | ivie ann edebiri

sarah elizabeth flaherty | conor crosier flood | afton garrett-edwards | kyle edgar geib | kelsey marie gohn | samuel james guenin

imane guisse | tyler scott holdren | dylan stewart holland | keri marie kohlmaier | brittany bowes lyons

hannah evans marks | john hubert michel, iv | andrew allen miller | sarah marsh murdoch | yani rae najarian | sarah hain oxholm alexanda elizabeth preston | ryan michael quan | michael-daniel richards | ella rick rothermel | jessica loretta sacks

mary jordana saunders | paul sutherland sherban | ciarรกn broderick spence | zachary william spencer | elizabeth ruthann stone

laura barret stonerook | eleanor chapman thompson | forrest randall thomson | bradley jay thornton | benjamin matthew walton

emily joyce weinstock-collins | george theodore wolf, iii | hae soung yang

University of Vermont Ursinus College Syracuse University University of Pittsburgh Tulane University Washington and Jefferson College University of Pennsylvania

Rochester Institute of Technology

| emily joyce weinstock-collins |

| kelsey marie gohn |

| paul sutherland sherban |

Lancaster Country Day School 2012 Student Award Recipients The Trustee Prize

Emily Joyce Weinstock-Collins Awarded to the senior with the highest grade point average.

Ruth S. Hostetter Award

Kelsey Marie Gohn Honoring the memory of a Shippen School graduate from the class of 1931, this award recognizes a senior who has worked selflessly and enthusiastically to enhance the school community.

Faculty Award

Paul Sutherland Sherban Given to recognize a senior who demonstrates a true love of learning, contributes to the academic life of the school and acts as a model citizen.

| elizabeth ruthanne stone |

Ann Musselman Award

Elizabeth Ruthann Stone In honor of Ann Musselman, a former LCDS English and history teacher, this award is given to the student who best exemplifies personal qualities of enthusiastic curiosity, the courage to take intellectual risks and joy in a lifetime of learning.

Head of School Award

Christopher Thomas Andrews Ella Rick Rothermel Presented by the Head of School, this award recognizes the senior who most characterizes strong qualities of character, leadership, school spirit and civic virtue.

| christoper thomas andrews |

| ella rick rothermel |

Class NOTEs Submit a class note to the school attention

Debby Stahl , developement office or email stahld@lancastercountryday.org

1941

Emily Detwiler Uhl (attended Shippen

School and graduated from Westover School in ’41) “Dick and I are still alive and kicking, but not high kicks. Have had a poor year of awful health. Hoping for a good 2012. Love to all Shippen Classmates.”

1944

ary Louise Rohrer Webster “Always M enjoy the news in Connections and especially look forward to the Alumna Luncheon picture.”

1956

arbara Barlow, M.D., received the 2011 B CDC Foundation Hero Award at a special event at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC Foundation honored Barlow for her leadership and innovation in working with communities to implement science-based approaches to reducing injuries to children.

1958

arbara Jaeger Gillis B Class Correspondent: 717-299-3374 wicklawn1770@comcast.net

1960

Anne Campbell Slater Class Correspondent: 610-896-6468 Slater.Anne@gmail.com

1961

elen May Page “I am still working full-time at H the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts.

John and I have six wonderful grandchildren.”

’61

Margaret Slosser Hall Class Correspondent: 717-625-6188 margaret157@juno.com

1972

egan Hess “I continue to teach a combination M 2nd/3rd grade at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, Pa., where Anne Jarvis Gerbner ’72 is a colleague, Liz Farmer Jarvis ’72 is a former parent, and a cousin of Rachel Hazeltine Gawn ’72 is in my class. One of the doctors in the medical practice where I go is Erica Wolf ’72. NW Philly is LCDS East!”

Paul H. Duval “After the last 5 years running garden sales for Central Garden and Pet (NASDAQ:CENT), I have shifted to running global sales for our Pet Division. I am now living in the East Bay in northern Calif.”

for their 50th reunion in May (l to r): Alix Shuman Judy Farmer Fulton, Helen Hamaker Shepherd, Helen

1977

Members of the class of 1961 returned to Lancaster

Class Correspondent: 717-299-3798 phannum3@verizon.net

Roth, Rufus A. Fulton, Jr. ’58, Anne Downey Gardner,

1954

May Page, Julie Charlton, Mary Frances Dunlap

1955

1964

Lindstrom, John Lindstrom.

hyllis M. Morgan-Rupert P Class Correspondent: 717-768-3322

1965

30 | connections |

Melissa Byers Class Correspondent: 818-719-6550 melissabyers@earthlink.net

argaret Hall Norton M Class Correspondent: 503-638-6127 Margie.Norton@cenveo.com

1951

2012 "Lifers" and their parents.

1971

1976

1946

Lancaster Country Day Class of

Deborah Murray Martin Class Correspondent: 717-290-2082 debbie.martin@fandm.edu

Class Correspondent: 410-919-7219 ddjordjevic@nahb.com

to Waverly Heights, a continuing care retirement community in Gladwyne, Pa., in July. We love our villa and new lifestyle. There is so much to do, and we are making many new friends.”

Eunice Fulton Blocker Class Correspondent: 502-895-2691

1968

Diane Eshleman Djordjevic

Molly Storb Hartzell “Frank and I moved

ally Rich Rohrer S Class Correspondent: 717-394-0847

J oseph A. Myers, Jr. Class Correspondent: 717-394-9854 joemyers1@comcast.net

1975

1945

Margaret Haller Hannum

1966

Carolyn Whallon Leach continues to teach and coach at Chadwick School.

Eileen Eckenrode Vroom Class Correspondent: 540-338-3630

1979

Sarah Miller Dorgan Class Correspondent: 717-687-6466

1983

J ohn F. Hinkle, III Class Correspondent: 717-898-5728 jfh3rph@comcast.net

1984

athleen Murphy Jasaitis K Class Correspondent: 781-631-7899 kmjasaitis@comcast.net

1985

Mark C. Bernhard, Ph.D., has been named

associate provost for outreach and engagement at the University of Southern Indiana. Formerly, he was director of continuing and professional education at Virginia Tech Deborah Dodds Class Correspondent: 310-415-7796 Debby@DebbyDodds.com

1986

Joanna Underhill Class Correspondent: 717-468-3788

1987

risten K. Gedeon K Class Correspondent: 703-283-6187 kristengedeon@hotmail.com

1988

Heather Huffnagle Hubbard’s new baby girl Elizabeth Marie (Lizzie) was born on March 23, 2012. Heather also showed her two-year-old Samoa at The Kennel Club, where she advanced to Westminster and received a Grand Champion designation.

John F. Fulton Class Correspondent: 717-394-2255 jfulton@teleflexmedical.com

1989

eather Mikes Miller H Class Correspondent: 610-273-0151 heather@secondwindonline.com

1990

Erica Clayton Wright, a public affairs manager at Kennametal, was appointed by Pa. Governor Tom Corbett to serve as a Commissioner for the Pennsylvania Commission for Women on May 2.

Mary Fulton Gingrich Class Correspondent: 717-560-4908 maryfgingrich@comcast.net

1991

usan Hull Ballantyne S Class Correspondent: 717-464-3537

celebrating kate

L

ong before there was Mrs. Miller, there was Kate Gschwend. She came for good in the middle of our eighth grade year — very tall, with a soft voice and a loud giggle, and a habit of chewing on her pencils.

As anyone who’s read the plaques in the Country Day hallways knows, Kate was an outstanding student, excelling at all manner of arts and scholarship.

Kate’s achievements were not just a measure of talent or brains but also of generosity of spirit — to be good at that many things, you have to be able to love them all. There was nothing so ordinary or so difficult that it could not be beautiful to Kate.

Kate Gschwend Miller ’90 with Mary Fulton Gingrich ’90 on graduation day.

And there was no one so awkward that he or she wouldn’t feel calmer with Kate in the room. We were a class of forty, and Kate could have had lunch with any of us (and probably did). Not for her the small cruelties of teenage life. But there was more to her than simple kindness; there was wicked good humor, too. Kate had a painter’s eye for detail — she could spot the edges and angles on people and love them a little better for their imperfections.

We miss our old friend. We are still grateful for her arrival on that eighth-grade day.

And we hope there’s a Kate in every class.

— Members of the Class of 1990 In honor of Kate, the class of 1990 has established at the school The Kate Gschwend Miller Collection of Young

Adult Literature.

31

Friends gathered for a Christmas break party during the first year of college.| Back row: Jeff Bartos,Summer Ted Zobian, Pete Snyder Issue One 2012 | and Jon Nicozisis.

Front row: Cynamon (Gentzler) Chawla, Kate, Lauren (Kozloff) Sinrod. Pete was a classmate at LCDS, but he transferred before 9th grade.

’07

Stacey Gregg Class Correspondent: 919-622-4284 sgregg13@yahoo.com

1995

Elizabeth Wademan Ahlstrand Class Correspondent: 415-845-7654, betsyahlstrand@gmail.com

1935

…

1942

arriet Shand Flotte, a resident of H Towson, Md., passed away on December 28, 2011. …

1944

Jean M. (Westerman) (Davis) Vass of Plaistow, New Hampshire, passed away June 22, 2011, at Hannah Duston Healthcare Center in Haverhill.

Vass was the wife of the late Allan Van Voorhees Davis and Julian Vass. …

1961

David Stanley Watt of Geneva, Switzerland, passed away on May 5, 2012. He was the brother of James E. Watt ’63, Donald S. Watt ’65, Kathy Watt Bisonic ’71 and uncle of Tim Watt ’89 and Lauren Bisonic ’06. …

1990

Katherine Gschwend Miller passed away on November 24, 2011. At LCDS, she was a teacher and director of alumni/ae relations. Miller was the daughter of Dorothy Moore Gschwend, honorary alumnae recipient ’96 and Dr. Paul Gschwend III ’62.

32 | connections |

J ennifer Gschwend McGough, V.M.D. Class Correspondent: 610-430-7671 drgschwend@yahoo.com

1994

In Memoriam J osephine Eshelman McAllister passed away August 11, 2011, in Washington, D.C. She was a graduate of the Madeira School and the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. Having studied violin since second grade, she later volunteered in several city orchestras. She held champion titles in golf at clubs in Lancaster and the Washington, D.C., area and was a member of the Junior League of Atlanta, Lancaster and Washington, D.C.

1993

Matthew Melchiorre graduated magna cum

laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dickinson College with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2011. He

J ennifer Mikes Mullen Class Correspondent: 781-558-5293 jcmikes@gmail.com

1996

is pursuing a Master of Arts in International

Dennis M. Baldwin Class Correspondent: 484-269-4309 fcsp3@yahoo.com

Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced

erry Diamond Rinato, Pharm.D. K Class Correspondent: krinato@gmail.com

Economics and International Relations at The Johns International Studies (SAIS).

1992

Philip DeGreen and his wife, Jane, live in Boulder Creek, Calif.

Michael Deibert will have his second book, “Democratic Republic of Congo: Between Hope and Despair,” published in 2012 by Zed Books in cooperation with the Royal African Society, the International African Institute, the Social Science Research Council and Justice Africa.

Look to Page 16 of this issue for more information.

Melissa Bloom DePietro has legally changed her married name from Eby to DePietro, after her husband reunited with his biological father. DePietro is his father’s surname.

David Parrish and his wife is Ariel gave birth to a son Elliott Reid Parrish on November 18, 2011.

Marcie Wademan Kunkelman Class Correspondent: 610-396-9873 marciewademan@yahoo.com

1997

Nicole Menges Koonce has an equestrian business in Reinholds, Pa. and invites members of the LCDS community to come out to learn about horses and ponies. For more information, please email umafarm@gmail.com Mark Ewing Class Correspondent: 303-859-4994 stuff@foresightphoto.com Alison Woolworth Class Correspondent: 646-239-9090

1998

lexandra Minehart Goodman A Class Correspondent: am@stevenslee.com auren Bergen Pryor L Class Correspondent: 703-254-7632 lauren.pryor@klgates.com

Todd Bartos ’92 with his family: wife Becky and children Max and Ava. Bartos is Alumni Chair for The Excellence Fund 2011–2012.

2003

Lauren Allwein-Andrews Class Correspondent: laurens99@hotmail.com

2004

Sarah C. Ginolfi “I am in the process of becoming a priest in the Episcopal Church and will start seminary studies in the fall at Yale Divinity School.”

Andrew England Class Correspondent: aengland1@gmail.com

’08/’09

lizabeth C. Reidenbach E Class Correspondent: 717-560-9470

2007

Taylyn Hulse ’09, Erika Vernet ’08, and

auren J. Auster-Gussman is pursuing a L Master’s Degree in Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University.

reunion in Rome with Susan Gottlieb, Upper School art teacher.

Andrew Blakinger was named to the president’s list for the spring 2011 semester at Clemson University.

1999

Benjamin Goldberg received a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Clark University, Worcester, Mass. in 2011.

Caroline Landau ’09 had a Thanksgiving

Meagan W. Dodge Class Correspondent: 415-846-8715 meagan_dodge@yahoo.com

2000

Nicole Richie Class Correspondent: 404-216-2053 nrichie617@yahoo.com Piera E. Snyder Class Correspondent: 610-376-7546 pieraesmesnyder@gmail.com

2001

Laura Maier is engaged to Nick Hilton.

A September 2012 wedding is planned.

Bianca M. Heslop Class Correspondent: BiancaMHeslop@gmail.com Elizabeth Sudhakar Class Correspondent: elizabethsudhakar@gmail.com

2002

Corie Patterson Burton Class Correspondent: Corie.Burton@gmail.com

Stephen Daniel Lockey IV graduated cum laude from Franklin & Marshall College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry in 2011. He was the recipient of the Alice Distler Award for leadership and was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester.

Asha Marie Mahajan graduated with high honors from Haverford College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a concentration in biochemistry. obert J. Reich earned a Bachelor of Arts in R history from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland in 2011.

Katherine E. Weida graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Washington College in Chestertown, Md., in 2011.

2009

Lisa A. Auster-Gussman is attending the University of Richmond. She was named to the dean’s list for the spring 2011 semester at Juniata College.

Melissa Butt was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2011 semester at Syracuse University.

Grace Chesters is a junior at Dickinson

College, majoring in both International Business & Management and Spanish. Through the Dickinson College Office of Global Education, she studied abroad for the spring semester at the University of Málaga in Spain. After returning home, Chesters will work in Philadelphia as an intern for the Health Care Group of The PNC Financial Services Group.

Attending the Class of 2012 senior luncheon (l to r):

Bernadette Milner Gardner ’87, Paul Gschwend ’62,

Barbara Jaeger Gillis ’58, Mary Sue Nissley Farmer ’38.

Shippen Luncheon (l to r): Margaret J. Neff ’43,

Margaret Hunt Landis ’49 (seated), Mary Suzanne Nissley Farmer ’38, Paul Gschwend III ’62, Joseph T. Breneman II ’49, Bernadette Milner Gardner ’87 (seated), George Myers ’62, Margaret Haller

Hannum ’51, Sally Rich Rohrer ’54 (seated), Joan Stauffer Sowers ’51, Barbara Jaeger Gillis ’58.

2010

Elizabeth “Libby” Casey received the Esther Doyle Theatre Scholarship at Juniata College.

The scholarship is awarded by theatre arts faculty to a student who made the most significant contribution to the theatre program at the college. ali E. Miller “I still love college. Thank you K for getting me here LCDS and Mr. Simpson.”

’10

Molly Umble, a sophomore at Hendrix College in Arkansas, and Linda Campbell, LCDS director of college guidance, connected when Hendrix invited Campbell to the campus for a college tour.

2011

Teddy Guenin will work in the hydrogel research lab of the Polymeric Biomaterials Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania during the summer of 2012. He will work on the purification of hydrogels for protein attachment to increase the hydrogel effectiveness in cardiac experiments.

Connor J. Schaum posted in March his first dubstep EP on iTunes: “Palmada.”

John William Spurlock was named to the dean’s list for the spring 2011 semester at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, N.C. Sally Jarvis and Sarah Jarvis ’77 attended the 2012 Jarvis Scholar luncheon.

| Issue One Summer 2012 |

33

| dundon |

| izzo |

| lee |

| konak |

| perez |

John A. Jarvis Merit Scholarship Winners

F

ormer Head of School John Jarvis sought to make

Lyndsey Dundon, a rising tenth grader from Leola with nine A+ grades in her ninth-grade transcript who is “bright, conscientious and motivated” and holds a varsity letter in cross country, plays the cello and has volunteered at the Lancaster County Cat Rescue.

LCDS accessible to a wide range of deserving students.

His legacy continues with a school financial aid budget of

over $2.5 million and the John A. Jarvis Merit Scholarship, now in its third year. Director of Admission Peter Anderson

David Izzo, a rising eighth grader from Wyomissing with high intellectual aptitude and clear leadership skills who is “responsible, mature and academically strong,” is a member of student council, and plays basketball.

reported a record level of interest in the Jarvis Scholar

program this year, making it a highly competitive process.

Anderson said, “We are excited to introduce the LCDS rigorous and supportive community to such a wonderful variety of

Mason Kekuaokala’aualailaihi Lee, a rising sixth grader from California who “works hard, is self-motivated and an intelligent critical thinker, with high standards” and plays piano, soccer and basketball.

determined and committed students. It’s an honor to

remember John Jarvis by helping to make LCDS affordable

to students with such potential.” Five recipients were chosen for the 2012–2013 school year. They are:

“

Jeren Konak, a bilingual, rising sixth grader from Berks County is “outgoing, intelligent, curious, a leader by example,” and enjoys figure skating, swimming, ballet, piano and community service.

It’s an honor to remember John Jarvis

Jose Perez, a rising sixth grader from Lancaster with excellent grades and test scores who is “respectful, gifted, and well rounded” and plays the drums and football.

by helping to make LCDS affordable

”

to students with such potential.

Submit

a

C l a ss N o t e C o n t e s t

Submit a class note by September 8, 2012, to be entered to win an LCDS hooded sweatshirt!

Name Email Address News

34 | connections |

Class Year

Notes may be submitted by mailing this coupon to: Debby Stahl Development Office 725 Hamilton Road Lancaster, PA 17603 Or by email to stahld@lancastercountryday.org

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2012

Homecoming s av e t h e dat e o c t ob e r 5 – 7 , 2 0 1 2