Sheila Lockshin P ’93 Maria Weiss P ’87
F
or the past 29 years, whenever a Landon student had an ail-
ment — whether it was a stomach ache, a food allergy, a broken
bone, a bee sting or (on one memorable occasion) a pencil in the
eye — they went to see school nurse Maria Weiss, and she gave them
the understanding smile and the tender care to set them on the road to recovery.
Weiss, who is married to retired Landon fifth-grade teacher and Low-
er School Head Jim Weiss, became school nurse in 1984 and, despite a
daunting first year that included seven students with fractures, has been here ever since. She has known all the headmasters from Paul Landon
Banfield through David M. Armstrong, and has delighted in seeing the school and the students change around her.
While the future is likely to include fewer peanut allergies and pencil-
poked eyes, Weiss has plenty planned for her post-Landon years. She and Jim own and will continue to run Camp Wachusett, the summer
camp where they met in 1967. Weiss also intends to take classes, garden and travel, as well as spend time with her children, Bill ’87 and Susan, and six grandchildren.
Weiss’ legacy will endure at Landon in the Maria Weiss Women’s
Health Forum, an annual event named in her honor that will explore a
different women’s health issue each year, and in her impact on the faculty and staff. “Whether providing Band-Aids or life saving treatment,
dispensing medicine or educating us on topics such as juvenile diabetes,
allergies and CPR, Maria has always been there to take care of the boys, parents, faculty and staff,” said Director of Lower School Admissions Carole Kerns. “She is a confidant to many and much beloved by all.”
W
hen she drove her son Ben ’93 to Landon, Sheila Lockshin often
remarked that she wished she could
have been a Bear. Shortly after Ben went to college,
Lockshin got her chance: A veteran of the Ohio and
Illinois school systems, she was asked to fill in for a teacher
on sabbatical, the temporary position became a full-time one, and Lockshin was (as she puts it) a “permanent part of the Landon community.”
The term “integral” would be just as apt. As a third-grade teacher for
19 years and the Lower School learning specialist for a year, Lockshin
schooled the youngest Bears in the basics of math, social studies and language; helped them hone their typing, geography and writing skills; and coached football, basketball, lacrosse, street hockey and softball. Lock-
shin, whose grandsons Mikey Amsellem ’18 and Jeremy Lockshin ’18
are Landon eight graders, also received the Senator Danforth Excellence in Teaching Award and the Banks Family Chair Excellence in Teaching Award from the Landon Fathers Club.
“Sheila’s hard work and dedication to countless boys, their families and
Landon has not gone unnoticed. She has changed lives through her ex-
citement for learning,” said fellow third-grade teacher Vanessa Burchett. “I will surely miss the friendship and guidance she has given me, and I wish her a retirement full of joy and family.”
Jamie Kirkpatrick
J
amie Kirkpatrick has served
also taught a history seminar titled
counseling for 21 years —
for 22 years and served as co-chair
as Landon’s director of college
longer than any current independent-school college counselor in the Washington, D.C., area
“I’m grateful for what Paul has
done over the years. He’s been ex-
tremely supportive of the program, and not just when it comes to
strings but to the performing arts
as a whole,” said Jackson. “I’ve felt
very pleased and fortunate to have
him here as one of our staff. He just brings a little something else that
music. He plans to continue per-
forming with Street Life, his rock
‘n’ roll band of 34 years, and to get back to writing music, something
he did professionally from 1982-85. And, if Jackson has anything to say about it, he and Landon have not seen the last of Dr. S.
“Paul and I gig together all the
you don’t always see in a teacher —
time — probably a dozen times a
about him.”
Jackson said. “And I will be bringing
and he’s got that Italian panache
While more time with family is
on the docket for his retirement,
Scimonelli is far from through with
SPRING 2014 | LANDON SCHOOL
year — and we’ll keep doing that,”
him back to conduct with the Symphonette too. He’s not gone just
because he’s not going to be here.”
— and he felt it was time to step down and give someone else a chance to
“bring new vision
and leadership to the role.”
“Jamie has helped so many boys
and their families find the right
fit following life at Landon,” said
Headmaster David M. Armstrong. “Jamie has served the community brilliantly over the years.”
Kirkpatrick not only guided
hundreds of students through their college selection process, but he
“Critical Issues in the Middle East” of the school’s Gender Equity
Committee. He has coached varsity, junior varsity and Middle
School baseball, served as the official “bagpiper” at school events, an-
nounced football games,
and dressed up as Santa
Claus at the annual chil-
dren’s holiday party. Kirkpat-
rick, who has lived on campus for
15 years, also is well known for his
photography of Landon and school events. That love of photography has led him to create his own
business with a new website for the sale of his Landon landscapes and
candids, as well as other photos he has taken over the years.
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