Highlights A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNAE, PARENTS AND FRIENDS OF LAUREL SCHOOL
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FALL 2 019 | Physics First • Alumnae Profile: Kristen Nemeth '12 • Sarah Lyman Day of Service 2019 • Annual Report
Dream. Dare. Do.
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LAUREL SCHOOL
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IN THIS ISSUE
The private school
STEM at LS4G, A Message from Ann V. Klotz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
that knows girls best.
Beyond These Dear Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Physics First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Highlights | FALL 2019
Alumnae Profile: Kristen Nemeth '12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 International Day of the Girl Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Sarah Lyman Day of Service 2019 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Trends in Women and Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 2018-2019 LAUREL SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . 19
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MISSION STATEMENT
To inspire each girl to fulfill her promise and to better the world. Highlights | FALL 2019 HEAD OF SCHOOL Ann V. Klotz DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Venta Cantwell EDITOR Sarah Hibshman Miller ’98 ALUMNAE EDITOR Julie Donahue ’79 DESIGN AND LAYOUT Laurel School PHOTOGRAPHY Kimberly Dailey, Julie Donahue ’79, Downie Photography, Inc., Binnie Kurtzner Pappas ’87, Neal McDaniel, Renee Psiakis PRESIDENT, ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION Kristi Anderson Horner ’80 CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES Lynnette Jackson Crenshaw ’93 Highlights is published by Laurel School for alumnae, parents and friends. Submit address changes to the Development Office at 216.455.3096 or bGreen@LaurelSchool.org Laurel School is an independent day school for girls, Kindergarten through Grade 12, with coeducational programs for 18 months - four-yearolds. We are proud to be an inclusive and equitable school community, and we actively seek a diverse student body and faculty without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, handicap or disability, or sexual orientation. LAUREL VALUES STATEMENT: Committed to building a just and inclusive world, Laurel girls are courageous, creative, ethical and compassionate. LAURELSCHOOL.ORG
Dream. Dare. Do.
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A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL, ANN V. KLOTZ
STEM at LS4G
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s we approach our school’s 125th anniversary next year, I have been considering the power of all-girls education. We, as a school, remain as relevant as we have ever been; girls in all-girls’ schools regularly test better than girls in coed schools and many CEOs and women leaders cite time in an allgirls’ setting—school, college or athletic team—as essential in helping them develop confidence and leadership skills. The women who established and led our school in its first iterations, Jennie Prentiss and Sarah Lyman, were ahead of their time; they were entrepreneurial educators, women who found a path forward in a male-dominated world. They set the vision for Laurel, engaged community members to help them, built budgets, considered all the business aspects of a school. The opportunities they put before the girls included rigorous coursework in science and mathematics in an era when education for girls did not ask girls to do much with numbers, analysis or data and problem solving. Today, our course catalogue includes many courses in math, science, engineering and computer science. Our robotics teams in Middle and Upper School are building robots and programming them, competing successfully at competitions. Our collaboration with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) will soon put Microsoft HoloLens into classes, giving girls an augmented reality experience with science and math. Earlier this fall, I walked past
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our Alumnae in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) display—photographs and biographies of Laurel alumnae who have chosen STEM careers; their faces shine out at our current girls. We have girls doing research at area hospitals in a wide variety of labs. Our Collaboratory inspires girls to tinker, solve problems, build and attempt and re-attempt various engineering challenges. The Woodshop and immersive learning experiences give girls many chances to
work with a wide variety of tools. Jennie Prentiss and Sarah Lyman might be startled by this generous array of STEM offerings, but I think they would also be proud. Why are we intentional about the importance of STEM at Laurel? We have always soared in the Humanities—isn’t that enough? No. Too often, women who enter STEM careers leave, dismayed by sexism, by a lack of support or collegiality. To thrive in STEM, as our early work with Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls (LCRG) demonstrated, girls need female role models, collaborative work experiences, opportunities to tinker with STEM materials and meaningful objectives that are clearly tied to everyday life. Our new Alumnae in STEM display and examples of Capstone and Protégé Internship posters in STEM areas emphasize to girls that “if you can see it, you can be it.” Our mentors build relationships—a girl comes to know someone who is invested in her, who will hold her to high standards but also be her champion. Girls tinker in the collaboratory, build in classrooms—with blocks and with many other materials. Work in engineering and in design thinking, K-12, challenge girls to apply what they know and to seek solutions for real problems. Power tools and hand tools reinforce an understanding of construction and spatial relations.
Computer science and robotics give girls powerful opportunities to learn and to compete. Starting in Primary, the girls are working through logic puzzles that lead to robot construction and the design of simple circuits that lead to computer science fluency and capabilities. All we do at Laurel in STEM is purposeful, designed to help girls understand that they have a seat at the STEM table, should they want one. They have the skills and competencies, the abilities they will need to be astronauts and doctors and programmers and marine biologists and animators and actuaries. One of Laurel’s first LCRG-sponsored studies found that math, in particular, is tied to girls’ scholastic self-esteem. Girls feel especially good about their academic abilities when they are strong mathematics students. What we teach matters and how we teach matters even more. In mathematics and science, a number of Upper School teachers use Standards-Based Grading, a philosophy that encourages mastery and deep learning; if a girl fails to demonstrate mastery on an assessment, she can review the material, look closely at her errors and re-evaluate until she has achieved real understanding she can apply to learned content. This approach is consistent with LCRG’s thinking
around the value of growth mindset for girls; too often, our highly motivated, occasionally perfectionistic girls want to get it “right” immediately; when a discipline is hard, some cower and back away. Our goal in STEM is to affirm the process of hard work and learning from one’s mistakes, to inspire girls to relish the challenge and feel smart about themselves along the way. And, it’s important to note that our STEM students are also able to express themselves as writers and as confident public speakers; we know it doesn’t help a professional to be talented and competent if she cannot explain her work articulately. Disciplinary literacy remains a focus, too. We want girls to read and comprehend across all disciplines; standardized test questions are more often focused on non-fiction and on scientific articles, so our girls must be able to comprehend and digest what they read in science. Two interesting projects this fall include Senior Caroline Downey’s work with CWRU Materials Engineering lab (MORE Center) to figure out a non-invasive way to identify paintings, artists, and check authenticity; and Sophomore Ella Espiritu helped code a program meant to show how chemotherapeutics might target cancer cells at CWRU.
What is next for STEM at Laurel? There are always more opportunities to pursue, more partnerships and possibilities for our girls to explore, more careers to be created to keep pace with the everchanging landscape of STEM fields. The fact is that we have not yet reached a level playing field for women in STEM, so we want to work hard to give our girls the strong foundation they need to pursue STEM careers with vigor and tenacity. The statistics are sobering: more than 50% of undergraduate degrees are awarded to women, but only ⅓ of STEM degrees are earned by women. The debut of Physics First this year has re-ordered the science sequence at Laurel, allowing us to re-work Chemistry and Biology to reinforce structures and practices that will empower our girls to achieve success in STEM futures. Discussions about erecting a small observatory at Butler augment what we already do in astronomy. We hope, soon, to have new facilities dedicated to science and engineering. Miss Prentiss and Mrs. Lyman might be astonished at how fast the STEM landscape changes. They would not, however, be anything other than proud of their brave and ambitious girls who are inspired daily to use their talents to better the world. L
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Beyond these dear walls... 6
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LAUREL ON THE ROAD! Laurel School is at a pivotal moment: with the midpoint of the Strategic Roadmap behind us and the 125th year of our School ahead, we have so much to discuss and celebrate together. Head of School Ann V. Klotz and members of the Board of Trustees and Development Office look forward to engaging with alumnae and parents across the decades and across the country. SPREAD THE WORD AND MARK YOU CALENDARS! January 13, 2020
Atlanta, GA
January 21-24, 2020
Florida, City TBD
February 21, 2020
Washington, DC (Cavs vs. Wizards • Four-School event)
Sunday, January 26, 2020 Dallas, TX Mid-March, 2020
New York, NY (with Laurel School Capstone Students)
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Washington, DC
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Charleston, SC
Thursday, June 18, 2020
New Orleans, LA
July 2020
Chautauqua, NY
If you would like to offer suggestions for venues or host an event in these cities or any other, please contact Venta Cantwell, Director of Development, at vCantwell@LaurelSchool.org or 216-455-3033.
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PHYSICS FIRST:
Changing Student Perception of What is Possible By Stephanie Kahn ’10
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IN THE CLASSROOM
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he start of the 2019-2020 school year marked a major shift in the Upper School Science curriculum at Laurel School: Grade Nine is learning physics instead of biology. Science Department Chair Taylor Kaar and physics teacher Brian Carpenter spent the last few years rewriting the curriculum to better prepare Laurel students for the rigors of scientific coursework in a sequence that builds on concepts from year-to-year. I sat down with Taylor and Brian to learn more about how this change came to be and what is next for Laurel student scientists. So far, students are seeing the breadth of what a STEM education can be. The most important thing is that students are learning how to think and solve problems so that no matter what situation they find themselves in, they are able to assess it, develop a plan and execute. Laurel Ninth Graders are building those skills and that is changing their perception of what is possible.
What is Physics First? Taylor Kaar: Physics First is the reshaping of the Laurel Middle and Upper School Science curriculum to focus on Ninth Grade students taking physics first, as opposed to biology, which is the “traditional� route. It has been a project almost three years in the making, and we have another three to four years until the final components of the plan are implemented. This resequencing has had great results in other schools, and we are proud to bring it to fruition at Laurel.
Why did you decide to make this change? Brian Carpenter: When I was taking a biology class for my teaching license, I realized that understanding physics and chemistry allows biology to make more sense. Much of modern biology is molecular biology. It's how cells work, how the little molecular machines inside cells accomplish what they do.
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PHYSICS FIRST
To understand that, you have to understand chemistry. What usually happens in Ninth Grade biology classes is that the teaching of biology stops for three weeks as students get a mini chemistry class, and for most, that chemistry course requires pure memorization and no true understanding. You need to know about everything from acid and base reactions to intermolecular forces, and ionic and covalent bonding. It’s just a laundry list of chemical topics. With our new Physics First format, biology students will have a true understanding of chemistry when they go into biology. Additionally, including some basic laws of physics at the onset, (think Coulomb’s law of attraction between charged particles and endo and exothermic reactions), will lead to an overall better understanding of chemistry. In essence, Physics First flips the former sequence of learning to better prepare students for chemistry, which will in turn better prepare them for biology. Along with that, there are a number of studies that suggest a Physics First approach leads to gains on standardized test scores because students learn to interpret graphical information and their critical thinking skills are enhanced. There also are studies that suggest a greater self-efficacy among girls and underrepresented minorities in their approach to science. All of these factors drove us toward the idea that Physics First is the right approach for science at Laurel.
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Can you talk me through this the process from three years ago to now? Taylor Kaar: Brian raised the topic with me while we were sitting in our office, and I initially responded that it would be too hard to teach physics to Ninth Graders, but he kept making good points, and then he got the whole Upper School Science department on board. From there, we slowly expanded the groups we spoke with until the entire community was involved. It took resequencing some math and science courses, and we also worked with communications, admissions and college guidance, all of which are affected now that the Grade Nine experience and transcripts will look different. Having the support of the school in saying, "yes, go do this,� and also the support to take our time and get it right has really allowed this program to be successful.
How will students benefit from this new sequence? Taylor Kaar: We will have a good body of data in fiveseven years of the results of the new curriculum, but anecdotally, there is so much more energy and buy-in with what we're doing. We have continued with the modeling approach that we used in upper class physics with the Ninth Graders, which means it is a discussionbased class. They are doing hands-on learning through labs consistently.
IN THE CLASSROOM
We wanted the girls to see science as a participatory activity. It is not something to simply sit there while the teacher opens up your brain and just pours science in. It is “you are doing science.” The other major element of this restructuring is to include something that would get the girls excited in every unit that was still grounded in physics. So, in our first unit, which was the unit of building scientific models in order to really understand how we are going to learn science, we did a lab where they built the relationship between diameter and circumference. After learning in the classroom with a variety of round objects and tape measures, we asked students how confident they felt about the relationship. They said, "very,” so we said, "great: here's a big tape measure. Let's measure the diameter of Lyman Circle and then you can tell us what the circumference is.” They did, and the girls were excited. The amazing thing is that up front they know they're not being graded on these experiences, but they're still so invested in what they're doing. Brian Carpenter: This type of experience immediately tells you if you understood the material because either your prediction worked or it did not, eliminating the need for grading.
So, how are students responding in year one? Brian Carpenter: Very positively. They are engaged in virtually every aspect of the class whether it's gathering data in a lab, testing one of those predictive type of experiences, or just a classroom discussion. I literally had hands flying up today as we were just introducing the new unit on momentum. They want to learn; they want to know things.
What comes next? Taylor Kaar: Each year will bring an update to the prior year’s course, so year two would have a “version 1.1” of physics that incorporates any adjustments we might need to make based on how this year goes. Year two will be the first rollout of the new chemistry course, which Dr. Jessie Sun, Director of STEAM Engagement, and I currently are writing. Year three will launch the new biology course, which students can take as either a Junior or a Senior. Year four will include everything: all the core sciences and electives. We will continue to have our AP classes, but we want also to offer strong electives that are not AP based for girls who are interested in science, but the AP track just isn't where they want to put their focus. L
"We wanted the girls to see science as a participatory activity. It is not something to simply sit there while the teacher opens up your brain and just pours science in. It is 'you are doing science.' " BRIAN CARPENTER received the Hostetler Chair Award in the Spring of 2019 for his tireless work and advocacy for Physics First. This award recognizes master teachers who have demonstrated excellence in teaching as well as an unusual ability to communicate with students. Highlights
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ALUMNAE PROFILE
ALUMNAE IN STEM 12 LaurelSchool.org
Kristen Nemeth ’12 MECHANICAL ENGINEER, UNIVERSAL CREATIVE
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risten Nemeth ’12 is a mechanical engineer for Universal Creative, where she currently is designing themed entertainment for a new resort in Beijing, China. She graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2016—during her time at OSU, she was part of a theme-park engineering group. Through this student group, she made connections in the industry and found her path to a job where she could be excited about her role and going to work each day. Kristen’s first exposure to engineering was at Laurel School, when she took Brian Carpenter’s engineering elective as one of her science courses. She always was interested in math and science, but engineering brought everything together for her in a tangible way for her college major and then into her career. Kristen wants Laurel students to know that it is okay to have questions and periods of “figuring it out” because the more you talk to people, the more you realize everybody has to figure it out. While she started college with some certainty about her desired major, Kristen found that Laurel prepared her to work through challenging coursework. She said, “There
is a point in a lot of the engineering classes for freshmen where the professor walks in and says, ‘Okay class, look to your left; look to your right: only one of you is actually going to be graduating.’ When you hear that as a freshman, that's extremely intimidating, especially if you're having challenges in classes. So you need to focus and work through it and know that as long as you keep pushing and following your passion, whatever that may be, you'll get through it and you'll find the career path or the job that you want.” Kristen works on interdisciplinary teams with people in engineering, finance, creative and legal, and all of these different thinkers need to be able to communicate their ideas in ways that others can understand and act upon. She credits her AP English at Laurel with teaching her many, if not all of the communications skills she practices in her daily career. Kristen is thrilled to be part of the Alumnae in STEM display in Laurel’s Upper School science hallway. You can read all of the Alumnae in STEM profiles at www.LaurelSchool.org/ AlumnaeInSTEM. L
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LAUREL IN THE NEWS
Laurel girls explore the challenges of working world By Samantha Cottrill, The Chagrin Valley Times This article was originally published October 17, 2019, in the "The Times" and is republished here with permission.
How have women made strides in the working world created by men for men? That was the topic explored at Laurel School last Friday during International Day of the Girl Child. To mark the day, the private girls school in Shaker Heights hosted co-authors of the book “Yes She Can: 10 Stories of Hope & Change from Young Female Staffers of the Obama White House,” including Elle Celeste, a 2006 Laurel graduate, Jenna Brayton, Molly Dillon and Nita Contreras, as well as Sara Bencic, a 2007 Laurel graduate and current member of the Office of Management and Budget’s health insurance and data analysis branch. “There are struggles that you’ll face just for being a woman that others don’t have to deal with,” Ms. Celeste told the students gathered in the school chapel. Led by questions from co-leaders of the school’s Young Democrats and Young Republicans clubs, the five women discussed their paths that led them to working in the White House under both the administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump as women in a world created by men for men. Grades seven through 12 attended the panel discussion, but the day also involved a variety of discussions and activities involving civic engagement for all grade levels. Grades kindergarten through first met with authors Timy Sullivan, a Laurel alumna, and Mary L. Motley of the book “Deafinitely Awesome: The Story of Acorn” a deaf dog. Second- and sixth-graders met with representatives of Providence House at Laurel and worked in pairs to help make fleece blankets for the babies. Third-, fifth- and seventh-graders headed to local parks and centers for service projects, including Judson Park, Rid-All
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Farm and Shaker Lakes Nature Center. Fourth- and eighth-graders attended an afternoon panel discussion on public service and participated in a letter-writing campaign in the name of Florence Allen, the first female judge and a former teacher at Laurel. Bella Patel, director of Laurel’s Strategic Programming and associate director of Laurel’s Primary School, said the school holds these events to align with International Day of the Girl Child and the four foundational areas of study for the students. This year, the foundation was civic engagement. “That’s one of the four strands of our curricular braid,” Ms. Patel said. “We did STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), we did entrepreneurship, this year [is] civic engagement and next year should be global studies.” Ms. Patel said the panel discussions are great opportunities for the students to see role models in their potential career paths. “Knowing that girls need to see role models to be able to visualize the possibilities ahead of them, when they see females engaged in these different fields, that gives them the possibility of picturing it for themselves,” she said. “We know through our curricular braid that these are four areas where women are underrepresented, which is why we want to make a good case for [the students] to consider these options as they move forward in their career paths.” Before the morning panel, senior Dorothy Bogen, 17, said she hoped to learn
what it is like to work in public service as well as what it is like specifically to work in public service as a woman. “I’m interested to hear what the Laurel alumnae say about what they took away from Laurel as they headed into their careers in public service,” she said. Dorothy, 17, co-leader of the Young Democrats, opened up the panel discussion with the first question, asking how activities and clubs in which the five women were involved in school prepared them for their path to politics. “I’m pretty interested in this field,” Dorothy said of civic engagement before the start of the panel. “I don’t know exactly what I want to do, but I know one thought is going to law school and being a civil rights lawyer. So, kind of adjacent to government, but it’s still part of the larger umbrella of public service.” Joining Dorothy to ask the panel questions were junior Nadia Ibrahim, the other co-leader of the Young Democrats, and seniors Giuliana Marinozzi, Sophie Popovich and Bess Sullivan, co-leaders of the Young Republicans. Questions and discussions ranged from topics on how the panel members’ schools prepared them for their careers to more hard-hitting topics such as the hardships women face working in government or any other career. Ms. Celeste, who worked as assistant director for biomedical and forensic sciences in the Office of Science and Technology Policy under the Obama administration, noted that the first page of “Yes She Can” centers on picking an outfit
Laurel School marked International Day of the Girl Child with, from left, current White House Staffers and federal government staffers Molly Dillon, Nita Contreras, Sara Bencic '07, Elle Celeste '06 and Jenna Brayton. Ms. Dillon, Ms. Contreras, Ms. Celeste and Ms. Brayton are co-authors of the book “Yes She Can: 10 Stories of Hope & Change from Young Female Staffers of the Obama White House.”
to focus on the overlooked struggles in their careers when Nadia asked what hardships the panel has faced. “I wanted to focus on the things that you don’t learn when you’re learning these big concepts,” she said on woman facing career choices. She explained that on top of the stress of every day work, women also spend emotional energy on clothing, hair and makeup to meet societal expectations, unlike most of their male counterparts. Ms. Dillon, who served in the White House during the last four years of the Obama Administration as a policy adviser for urban affairs, justice and opportunity in the Domestic Policy Council, pointed out, “The world is largely designed by and for men.” She expanded on this, noting that even something as simple the temperature of some office spaces is set for the male metabolic rate, often leaving women cold in the office, or how services such as dry-cleaning charge more for women than men because women’s clothing deviates from the “standard” male design of clothing. Ms. Bencic touched on the lack of female role models in many workspaces,
adding that she felt she is lucky to have female role models in a male-dominated career path. “I think a lot of times the issue is that you have to look to men to be your mentor,” she said, adding that this could be an issue for women because men are not as likely to fight for opportunities for their female counterparts. “It feels like women work so much harder than men to get the same opportunities that men offer their male counterparts or coworkers or subordinates,” she said. Other topics included the panel’s thoughts on what they believe are the most pressing civil rights issues today, how to encourage more women to be involved in government, their thoughts on recent activism by teens and children across the world, such as 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, and what surprised them as they entered their careers. Junior Jane Jusko, 16, of Lakewood said after the panel discussion that she found it to be inspiring. “I really thought it was incredibly inspiring, and I loved all the advice they had for us about, kind of, their
experiences and I guess what to expect in a professional setting because we don’t really have a lot of experience with that as high schoolers,” she said. She referenced Ms. Bencic’s comments on how she was surprised by how much luck plays into finding one’s career path and Ms. Contreras’ experience, who served as Assistant Staff Secretary in the Office of the Staff Secretary, with finding the opportunity to work in the White House despite having a multi-year plan set to work for the United Nations. “It felt like kind of a burden being lifted off a little bit to hear that there will be some things that you just kind of stumble into, and not everything is going to need to be five-year planned out before it happens,” Jane said. “I also loved hearing about their experiences as women in the workplace and the unique challenges they faced because of that. “They really had the opportunity to study what they were interested in and then work in those fields and really give back to the communities they were a part of and work with helping people,” she said of the panel. “So, I think that my biggest takeaway was just to kind of go for it. L
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As Laurel girls, we are all called to service.
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SARAH LYMAN DAY OF COMMUNITY SERVICE SEPTEMBER 28, 2019
An essential tenant of being a Laurel girl is taking an active role in serving the community. Upper School students are required to complete a minimum of 50 hours of service prior to graduation. Alumnae also honor these values, implicit in Laurel’s mission statement “to better the world,” through their personal lives and together as an alumnae community during Sarah Lyman Day of Community Service. Named in honor of Laurel’s headmistress from 1904-1931, Sarah Lyman Day projects allow alumnae across the country to give back to their communities while meeting and connecting with other Laurel women of all ages. Participants from the Class of 1948 to our newest alumnae, the Class of 2019, experienced the power of the Alumnae Association and joy of service to others at 12 projects across 13 cities—including two new cities (Los Angeles and Portland, ME)! This year, alumnae volunteered with the following community partners: BOSTON | COMMUNITY SERVINGS CHICAGO | CRADLES TO CRAYONS CLEVELAND | BUCKEYE LEARNING FARM CLEVELAND YOUNG ALUMNAE | CLEVELAND KIDS’ BOOK BANK COLUMBUS | MEALS ON WHEELS AT LIFECARE ALLIANCE DENVER | FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES DURHAM | KEEP DURHAM BEAUTIFUL NEW YORK CITY | NYC PARKS PORTLAND, ME | MAINE AUDUBON’S THE NATURE OF CRAFT LOS ANGELES | GIRLS ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP ACADEMY SEATTLE | FOOD LIFELINE HUNGER SOLUTION CENTER TWIN CITIES | FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN WASHINGTON, DC | DC CENTRAL KITCHEN
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS AND TO OUR 2019 SARAH LYMAN DAY COORDINATORS Amy Goodman Weller ‘78, Anita Lee ’88, Cindy Mast Finigan ’89, Heather Cargile Lakefish ’91, Laura Holmes ’03, Jaclyn Janis ’03, Rose Babington ‘04, Nicole Brown ’04, Hannah Sobel ’06, Jenna Bailey ’12, Sara Hollabaugh ‘13 Next year, we hope you will consider volunteering for our 10th Annual Sarah Lyman Day, during Laurel’s 125th Anniversary! If you are interested in coordinating a Sarah Lyman Day project for fall 2020, contact Megan Findling, Alumnae Engagement Associate, at mFindling@LaurelSchool.org. L
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
TRENDS IN WOMEN'S PHILANTHROPY As the end of the calendar year approaches, we can expect to see several reports and benchmarks measuring philanthropy trends in our country. A relatively recent trend has been to report on women in philanthropy. This is because the number of women taking on roles as major donors is on the rise. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2013 report “Wealth and Asset Ownership,” this is due to a rise in earnings by women and a massive transfer of wealth to women due to inheritance (there are more women than men in the US and women tend to live longer than men). In addition, although women have dominated staffing numbers at schools and nonprofits for decades, more women are taking on leadership roles at these organizations, thus having more influence on funding priorities. There is a lot of interest in the increase of wealth in the hands of women among nonprofits, especially because, overall, women are more charitable than men. I would argue that this is common knowledge, but it has been proven with data from the University of Michigan’s massive Philanthropy Panel Study, which has tracked over 8,000 households since 1968. I’m sure it is no surprise to the Laurel Community that there is a fierce power that emerges when a group of women work together. There are examples of this in philanthropy as well. A group of 40 alumnae raised over $21 million in three months when their alma mater, Sweet Briar College, was in distress (the college had previously never raised more than $2 million in a year). By 2018, they had raised over $44 million. The Women’s Foundation of California recently announced that in celebration of their 40th year, they planned to raise $40 million for gender justice. They are more than halfway to their goal less than a month later. The collective impact of philanthropic women is true of Laurel alumnae, as well. While 9.5% of alumni at all National Association of Independent Schools support their annual fund, and 18% of alumnae among National Coalition of Girls Schools, 25% of our alumnae support the Laurel Fund. Laurel girls are not only loyal to their friends, they are loyal to their school, as well: 8% of our alumnae have supported the Laurel Fund for ten or more consecutive years (some going as high as 37 years, or as long as we have had electronic records!). We are so proud of and grateful for the generous support of our alumnae--thank you! Laurel School is preparing the next generation of leaders who will be the change makers for the issues facing our world today. Each of our students benefits from the generosity of our donors who give because of their deep care and a desire to make a difference, or dare I say it: “to better the world.” There are so many aspects to a Laurel education that have great impact and meaning beyond these dear walls. As I learn more and more about our faculty, students, parents, grandparents and alumnae, there is an incredible amount of joy and fulfillment. That emotion comes from understanding how Laurel School, set on a rock-solid history of generous benefactors, continues to steward gifts that truly serve to fulfill our shared mission. If you are still reading, I encourage you to reach out to me and continue to discuss these ideas in person. I am always happy to hop in a car or on a plane to visit with people who care about Laurel School as deeply as I do. I am content to hear both the good and the bad because it all comes from a place of care. I hope that I have the opportunity to identify the common threads that tie us to Laurel School with many more of you this year. Sincerely,
Venta Cantwell Director of Development parent: Krista ‘23 and Maija ‘26
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Laurel will be celebrating our 125th anniversary, We Our Voices Raise, throughout the 2020-21 school year... •
125 years
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Be sure to SAVE THESE DATES and make plans to come back to Lyman Circle!
OCTOBER 15-18, 2020
FOUNDERS’ WEEKEND | celebrating the birthdays of Jennie Prentiss, Sarah Lyman and Edna Lake
OCTOBER 17, 2020 FOREVER GREEN AND WHITE | a fun and elegant, once-in-every-125-years party and fundraiser at Lyman Circle celebrating Jennie Prentiss’ 150th birthday. MAY 21-23, 2021 PLUS...
ALUMNAE WEEKEND | All-Classes Reunion and Four-School Fling at Laurel
SEPTEMBER 12, 2020
Tenth Annual Sarah Lyman Day of Community Service
REGIONAL GATHERINGS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR!
WANTED! Laurel School is grateful for alumnae who send us their Laurel treasures to be cherished by future generations. We especially are looking for old uniforms (pre-1970), course description books, memorabilia and photos of plays, May Days, gym meets and athletics. And in honor of our 125th, we would love to grow our collection of Laurel rings. If you no longer wear your Laurel ring, consider donating it to Laurel so that a current Laurel girl might wear and love it for years to come. For more information on Laurel’s 125th or donating your treasure to Laurel’s archives, contact Julie Donahue ’79, Director of Alumnae and Communications, at jDonahue@LaurelSchool.org or 216-455-3028.
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A LETTER FROM THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
2018-19 LAUREL ANNUAL REPORT Greetings Laurel Alumnae, Parents and Friends: It is nearly the year 2020, and I can clearly see our vision coming to fruition! I am excited about the progress that together we have made over the past year. I am so very appreciative of our Board of Trustees, our Head of School, faculty and staff, parents and especially, our donors. In your own unique way, you have each contributed to our sustainability and supported the ambitious plans that have been laid out for the advancement and growth of Laurel School. We have built great momentum. We have secured our school leadership for the near future, have a robust capital campaign underway, created new state-of-theart curriculum and programming and hired the complementary faculty. I am overjoyed and thankful that Ann V. Klotz will continue her role as Head of School for the next five years. During her sixteen-year tenure she has been a national thought leader on the education of girls and built beneficial relationships with our stakeholders and donors. Ann is the right leader to guide us through the capital campaign for our Lyman Campus. She continues to be an integral component of our forward progress. Laurel would not be the preeminent school it is without the financial support of many individuals and organizations. We are so very fortunate to have such thoughtful and dedicated donors who diligently support our efforts. The need for funding is great in all areas of philanthropy. We appreciate that our donors have chosen to allocate their funding dollars towards the education of girls at Laurel. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I humbly and graciously thank our 1532 benefactors for their generous and on-going support. We have seen a major growth in gifts resulting in:
• New Donors numbering 184 — An increase of 39% over the previous year. • Raising an additional $82K — A 7% upsurge. More than double the typical annual fund increase and for the second year in a row. • A tremendous, first-ever Giving Day in honor of Faculty and Staff — Raising over $100K, from 353 donors in less than 24 hours! A wonderful tribute to the lasting impact of our faculty and staff. • A 70% uptick in Reunion Gifts — From new donors and increased giving. We challenge this year’s reunion classes ending in ‘0 and ‘5 to meet or beat those results! • The Laurel Fund — Gifts of less than $100 raised more than $54K. I know that many donors focus their giving in areas that connect to their personal convictions or motivations. It has been said, “Anyone can count the seeds in one apple. But only time will tell how many apples will come from one seed.” By supporting Laurel, your gifts are planting seeds that will grow and multiply into positive changes in many different areas and fields of endeavor as our girls go on to take their knowledge, skills and talents out into the world. I commit to remain diligent and steadfast in my leadership of the Board of Trustees. I especially look forward to the preparation and celebration of We Our Voices Raise, the 125th Anniversary of Laurel School in the 2020-2021 school year and the excitement and opportunity it will bring for even more fund development. And, I will continue to strive to be an example of one fulfilling her promise and bettering the world as a result of my Laurel education. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our success and I wish you much happiness, joy, and prosperity in the coming days. Sincerely,
Lynnette Jackson Crenshaw ‘93 Chair, Board of Trustees
Highlights
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LAUREL BOARD MEMBERS
Laurel Board Members 100% of the Laurel Board of Trustees, the Laurel School Alumnae Association Board and the Laurel School Parents Association Executive Board contributed to the Laurel Fund.
2018-2019 Laurel School Board of Trustees Members
Emeriti
Lynnette Jackson Crenshaw ’93, Chair v Kristine E. Bryan ’80, Vice Chair v Carey Jaros ’96, Treasurer v David Fleshler, Secretary v
John Batt Susan Walter Cargile ’60 Mary French Conway ’46 Christine Cowan-Gascoigne ’70 Louise Pomeroy Dempsey ’62 Sr. Maureen Doyle, O.S.U. Mary deConingh Emerson ’46 Heather Roulston Ettinger ’79 Ann Wible Gillespie Anne Conway Juster ’80 Frank Linsalata Nancy Breckenridge McCormack ’48 Kenneth Moore Douglas Preiser Donna Reid Barbara Peterson Ruhlman ’50 George Sherwin Jeffrey Sinclair
Victoria Anderson ’82 v Michael Bee Diane M. Downing v Daniel DeSantis Marilyn Eisele v Elizabeth Embrescia ’88 Mary Weatherhead Feldman ’84 Hubert Fernandez Michael Anne Johnson ’64 Rachel Kirsh ’86 Jack Koch Terry Horvitz Kovel ’46 Arnelle Martin ’84 Megan Lum Mehalko ’83 v Chaundra King Monday ’95 Jacquelyn Nance Melissa O’Dwyer v John Reed Peter Richer Eliza Hatch Saada ’84 Nancy Phelps Seitz ’68 Laurence Talley Suzanne Schulze Taylor ’81 Sandhia Varyani ’91
Ex-officio Ann V. Klotz, Head of School Kristin Anderson Horner ’80, President, LSAA Holyn Koch, President, LSPA
2018-2019 Alumnae Association Board Kristin Anderson Horner ’80, President Donna Jeffries Cook ’89, Vice President Meredith Stewart Reimer ’95, Secretary Janet Abbey ’83 Susan Opatrny Althans ’80 Rose Babington ’04 Nicole Brown ’04 Gausia Chowdhury ’02 Tabitha Gillombardo ’12 Heather Cargile Lakefish ’91 Rosemary Mudry ’02 Maia Hunt-Ledford Rucker ’97 Nichelle Dickerson Shaw ’86 Ann Schaffer Shirreffs ’76 Kim Simpson ’90 Tyler Thornton ’99 Amy Goodman Weller ’78 Signe Wrolstad-Forbes ’71
2018-2019 Laurel School Parent Association (LSPA) Executive Board Holyn Koch, President Maia Hunt-Ledford Rucker ’97, President Elect Katie Fox, Treasurer Mary Kosir, Gator Lane Treasurer Malissa Bodmann, Communications Sarah Deeks, Recording Secretary Chastity Embrescia, Fundraising Coordinator
Division Coordinators Marissa Pelsozy, Pre-Primary Coordinator Janelle Dougherty, Primary Coordinator Andrew Glasier, Middle School Coordinator Betsy O’Neill, Upper School Coordinator
v
Executive Committee Member List of trustees as of 7/1/2018
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CONTRIBUTED INCOME
2018-2019 Contributed Income UNRESTRICTED FOR CURRENT OPERATIONS $1,156,619 RESTRICTED FOR CURRENT OPERATIONS $514,362 CAPITAL GIFTS FOR BUILDINGS & EQUIPMENT $57,475 ENDOWMENT $131,842 SPECIAL PROJECTS $84,295 ____________________________________________________________________________________ TOTAL $1,860,298
2018-2019 Laurel Fund Breakdown CONSTITUENCY AMOUNT ALUMNAE $750,878 PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS $250,828 PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS OF ALUMNAE $122,296 FACULTY & STAFF $14,245 FRIENDS, CORPORATIONS & FOUNDATIONS $18,372 ____________________________________________________________________________________ TOTAL $1,156,619
LAUREL FUND
7%
14% 8%
OTHER
OPERATING
36%
ENDOWMENT INCOME
71%
64% TOTAL EDUCATIONAL
2018-2019 REVENUES
SALARIES & BENEFITS
2018-2019 EXPENSES
Highlights
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WAYS TO GIVE Thank you for exploring the opportunity to support Laurel School. We recognize that contributions come in many shapes and sizes. Your interest in supporting Laurel reflects a deep commitment to the educational excellence provided for more than 100 years. And, we couldn’t have done it without you! Every year the Laurel Fund increases the value added of a Laurel education. Classroom materials, faculty salaries, athletics, the arts, technology and more—all are enhanced through annual giving. Since the beginning, every dollar invested in Laurel’s $50 million endowment was a gift from someone who cared deeply about Laurel School. Thanks to an amazing investment team, the endowment continues to grow and grow! We appreciate the work of our volunteers each year; some serve as class agents and organize reunions; others volunteer through the Alumnae Association and work on committees; we recruit yet another group each year to assist with the work of the Laurel Fund. All are important and welcome; each one of our volunteers is an excellent ambassador for Laurel School. Over the years, gifts have touched every aspect of life at Laurel, and we couldn’t be more grateful. Don’t hesitate to call if you have questions or want to help!
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Venta Cantwell Director of Development vCantwell@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3033 Maegan Ruhlman Cross ’03 Director of the Laurel Fund mRuhlman@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3031 Jessica Watson Development Coordinator jWatson@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3014 Tamar Cloyd Development Associate tCloyd@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3018 Beth Green Development Office Administrative Assistant bGreen@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3096
LEGACY FOR LAUREL
MARGARET ZELLMER ’70 Margaret “Marge” Zellmer was a Laurel VOLUNTEER with a capital V. She got her feet wet on the Distinguished Alumnae Committee and then dove in as a member of the Alumnae Board, serving for five years, the last three as Vice President, heading up the Nominating committee and spearheading a complete bylaws review. Her dedication to Laurel didn’t end there—she co-chaired Alumnae Weekend three times, once while single-handedly planning her own class reunion. Organized, dependable, always looking for new ways to be creative and efficient and delighted that she and Ann V. Klotz shared a birthday—that was Marge. She was full of stories of her Laurel student days, which began in Sixth Grade and included serving as the coordinating editor of Laurel Leaves and being a member of Chapel Theater, Laurel’s drama club. It was theater which she pursued in college, obtaining a degree in drama from Ripon College. For years after college, she worked with her mentor Rosaneil Schenk, longtime drama and speech teacher, doing the lighting for Laurel’s School of the Theater summer program. She also worked with the show choir at Brush High School and was active at the Chagrin Valley Little Theater making and keeping theater friends along the way. Theater and the arts fed her soul and when she switched careers and entered the world of development as a fundraising professional, she discovered a new passion as a board member of the Shaker Arts Council. Three years ago, when making her annual gift to the Laurel Fund, Marge noted that “Laurel taught me how to multitask which is a benefit to my professional and personal life. Being able to juggle work and three volunteer boards . . . would not be possible without the lessons learned at Laurel.” In her gratitude Marge provided for Laurel in her estate plans, making the School a beneficiary of an annuity. Her generosity will ensure the School’s ability to have a lasting impact on Laurel girls of tomorrow. Membership in Legacy for Laurel is extended to all alumnae, parents, parents of alumnae, faculty and friends who make a provision in their estate plans to benefit the School.
For more information about joining Legacy for Laurel contact Julie Donahue, Director of Alumnae and Communications, at jDonahue@LaurelSchool.org or 216-455-3028.
LAUREL SCHOOL | est. 1896 Laurel School One Lyman Circle Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122
LaurelSchool.org /LaurelSchool
@LaurelSchool
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED FOR PARENTS OF ALUMNAE: If this magazine is addressed to a daughter who no longer lives at home, kindly call us with the correct address: 216-464-1420
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