DCD Bulletin May 2021

Bulletin • May 202 1

Inside:

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Beliefs that Shape DCD’s DEI Work Lower School Head Carla Haith Provides a Mirror for Black Students Making Real-World Connections to Social Justice Themes

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Head of School Allison D. Webster Director of Admissions and Assistant Head of School Emilie Liebhoff Director of Advancement Charles S. Rudnick Director of Communications Leslie Bowen Contributing Writers Abby Ackerman Autumn Andrade-de León Leslie Bowen Lynne Mayard Nicole Mayard Allen ’00 Hilary Rochelle Charles Rudnick Wendy Soutsos Allison Webster Design Jason Fairchild, Truesdale Group Photography Abby Ackerman Leslie Bowen Ben Bocko Kristie Gillooly Dean ’02 Hilary Rochelle Printing Recycled Paper Printing, Inc.

Front cover: The DCD Fun Run sponsored by fourth-graders raised money for the Animal Rescue League of Boston. Photo by Hilary Rochelle

In This Issue Head’s Report

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Beliefs that Shape DCD’s DEI Work An Interview with Head of School Allison Webster addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Community DCD’s DEI Journey Expanding Horizons DCD Joins Lower School Diversity Consortium Faculty Lower School Head Carla Haith Provides a Mirror for Black Students A Conversation with Ivy Alphonse-Crean, DCD’s New Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion An Interview with New DCD Librarian Camille Baker Harrison What We’re Reading Curriculum Museo del arte DCD Incorporates Art, Nature, and Authentic Self-Expression Making Real-World Connections to Social Justice Themes Families The Canty Family: A Generational Commitment to DCD Affinity Groups at DCD: Reminiscing on a Ten-Year Journey from One to Many Professional Development DCD Engages in DEI Work with National Expert Dr. Liza Talusan

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Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic

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Community News

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Graduation: A Look Back

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Teaching in a Pandemic: Helping Students Thrive Through Community In-Person Learning Keeps Kids on Track COVID-19 Expert Gives Guidance to DCD on Reopening School Mother and Daughter Honor the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Fourth-Grader Discovers a Passion for Creative Writing US Congressman Meets with DCD’s 8th-Grade History Class DCD Recognizes Third-Graders Teddy and Kenny Knight for Bravery Morgen Peck Joins Board of Trustees DCD Recognized as All-Star in Education by The Fenway Bowl Karen Eutemey Receives Funding for Public Art Project Dedham Country Day School Celebrates the Conclusion of the School Year and Graduation of the Class of 2020—Virtually and In-Person Address to the Class of 2020: Abby Rochelle ’20 Award Winners Families Recognized

On Campus

Marjorie Farquharson—Librarian, Teacher, Storyteller, Friend— Retires After 33 Years at DCD

Mrs. Maloney’s kindergarten students learn how to socially distance themselves during their hunt for Chester from the book The Kissing Hand.

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Alumni Association

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Class Notes

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2021 Alumni Award: Tommy Vietor ’92 Crash Course in American Politics for Alfie Rudnick ’16

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Head’s Report Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Beliefs that Shape DCD’s DEI Work

by Allison D. Webster, Head of School

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hanks for opening the Bulletin and for your curiosity about the people and programs thriving at DCD. You’ll read in the pages ahead about our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work (for a definition of DEI at DCD, see the interview with Allison Webster on facing page) and the way it is preparing our students and shaping our school.

While the programs and activities described in the pages ahead demonstrate the “what” of our DEI work (i.e., the concrete actions we are taking), I wanted to start by considering some of the “why” behind these programs. Exploring the “why” is especially important because DEI work is based on our core beliefs as a school, many held since its founding.

What are some of these beliefs that guide our DEI work?

• Every person in our community — regardless of role or identity — deserves to be equally valued, respected, and seen.

We believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person in our community.

• Our classrooms are better able to provide a strong foundation when there is a wide diversity of voices and perspectives.

Diversity drives educational excellence since one goal of a DCD education is to develop the skills to listen to, synthesize and integrate divergent views into one’s thinking. Differences in race, gender, age, socio-economic status, physical ability, learning style, sexual orientation, and religion are just some of the types of diversity that enrich our classrooms.

• We fuel accomplishment when we meet our students’ safety needs, and they know they hold an equal place of value in the organization to others. To do their best work, children and adults need to feel that the people around them have a deep faith in their ability and are ready to take action to support their success.

• Racism (and other “isms”) are present in our society today and have shaped our present. We must teach students about this reality. Otherwise, they will internalize unhelpful messages that exist about aspects of their racial identity, regardless of their race, or fail to understand the root causes of some of the events and behaviors they witness or experience.

• We believe the research that demonstrates that children see differences at an early age. While they may not ascribe meaning or use adult frameworks to understand skin color 2

variations, house size, or physical ability, they are curious about dissimilarities in our world. As students seek to understand the variations in our world, there are always developmentally appropriate ways to guide them as they explore the world around them and seek to understand the meaning and implications of what they see.

• A robust toolkit for connecting across differences is essential for all of our students. They will need it for school, the workplace, and enriching their own lives with connections to others. Cultural competence is a required capacity to thrive now and in the future.

• A DCD education seeks to provide children with a sense of wonder about the world and an insatiable curiosity about our world’s awe-inspiring complexity. Finding developmentally appropriate ways for children to see the full range of human experience, and not just the triumphant and wondrous parts, will best prepare students for school and work and fuel their appreciation of the beautiful aspects of our world.

• Ultimately, DEI work connects people far more than it divides. When we can talk openly and with honesty about our experiences, acknowledge that we see the world differently based on our individual perspectives, and affirm that we are strong enough to experience conflict together, we develop the humility, openness, and care to forge our DCD community together.

Although other beliefs shape our thinking, the ones I mention here are foundational and guide our work together as a community.

Head’s Report

AN INTERVIEW WITH HEAD OF SCHOOL ALLISON WEBSTER ADDRESSING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION (DEI) What does DEI mean?

DEI is an acronym for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Is DCD’s DEI work only about race?

Diversity refers to our metrics about who is present at school. The percentage of children and families who identify as people of color, for example, would be part of our diversity metrics.

We recognize that multiple identities are essential to each person in our community. Gender identity, learning style, religion, sexual identity, physical ability, birth order, socioeconomic status, and family structure are just a few of the identities that are critical to students’ development.

While each aspect of a child’s identity plays a part in their individual development, we also know that race has a unique place in our society. Hence, an understanding of race is critical. In addition, we are aware that prominent identities, like race or gender, impact students differently than those that they can choose to reveal or not, such as sexual identity or religion.

Equity refers to our goal of building systems and structures at school that are fair to all people. For example, when looking at hiring with an equity lens, we may ask, “What conditions are present that maintain certain groups as the majority in this environment?”

Inclusion refers to the sense of place and belonging that students, families, faculty, and staff feel in our community. An inclusion lens does not just ask who is present but questions how much people feel they are co-creating the environment with others and sharing an equal sense of place.

Why has DCD’s Board of Trustees made DEI work a strategic priority?

DCD’s board is forward-looking, focused not just on the school of today, but the school we will be in 20 years or 50 years (and beyond!). When we consider the health of DCD as an institution, our first vantage point is always meeting our students’ needs – both in the process of educating them and in the educational outcomes we foster.

An excellent education requires a strong sense of how our identity shapes our experience, an ability to understand multiple perspectives, and an awareness of how our country continues to be shaped today by its history of slavery and racism. Also, each student and family deserves the experience of deep belonging in our classrooms and school. We believe that helping our students develop the ability to see and root out racism and its impact will make them better classmates, leaders, workers, community members, and parents in the future. Our board believes that schools that are not strong in developing these skills and sensibilities in students will lack relevance in the future and will not meet the needs of their students. Aside from the moral and educational foundations of our DEI work, we also have an economic imperative for our program to meet children’s needs, or the value of our school will erode.

Finally, we know we make the best decisions when various vantage points are present, so growth in our community’s diversity will strengthen our future decisions.

Many of DCD’s students are young. Is DEI content appropriate for this age group?

All of DCD’s students — from pre-K through eighth grade — are engaged in the process of trying to understand and make sense of our complex and beautiful world.

We employ developmentally appropriate teaching that engages children and lays a foundation for their mature understanding of a topic. Research demonstrates that children notice differences in race, gender, socioeconomic status, and other differences from a young age as they work to understand themselves and others. If we remain silent on DEI-related topics, we leave children to navigate the complexities of identity and power on their own.

Children can understand these topics much better in partnership with teachers and other trusted adults.

How can the faculty, the majority of whom identify as white, facilitate conversations and develop a curriculum in this area?

DCD faculty and staff engage in regular professional development, including programming related to DEI. Our faculty and staff are passionate about building a community where all children and adults are seen, valued, and able to “bring their whole self” to school and committed to ensuring our curriculum provides both windows and mirrors for children as they develop. Our curriculum also helps children see themselves as changemakers who can speak out against racism and prejudice.

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Head’s Report

What is the role of DCD’s new Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

Ivy Alphonse-Crean’s appointment to this position allows for designated leadership in advancing DCD culture and practice of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for our students, faculty, staff, and families. Ivy joins us from the Collegiate School, a K-12 boys’ school in Manhattan, where she previously served as Grade 6 Dean and English faculty member. Ivy’s longstanding commitment and passion for DEI work are evident in much of the work she completed at Collegiate, including instituting and facilitating a Faculty and Staff of Color Affinity Group, co-facilitating the school’s affinity space for students of color, serving on Collegiate’s Affinity Council, enhancing hiring and recruitment practices, and leading professional development groups. A contributing author to Teaching Brilliant and Beautiful Black Girls, Ivy has presented at several conferences, including the People of Color Conference and NYSAIS Diversity Conference. She’s been awarded grants for curriculum development, research, and creating a comprehensive anti-basis curriculum for fifth- and sixth-grade students. We look forward to all she will bring professionally and personally to the DCD community.

Parents may not have as many opportunities to engage in critical race conversations.

How will DCD’s parents learn alongside their students?

Our parent community offers robust options for engaging in parent-to-parent conversations about race and identity. From our SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) programming to movie nights to our annual CommUNITY event, and most recently the AntiRacist Learning Space, parents have the opportunity to consistently put into practice our motto, “Learning Is a Way of Life.”

Is prioritizing DEI work a new direction for DCD, or is it a continuation of our mission and a natural evolution as part of our 118-year history?

Since its founding, DCD has focused on both the process of education and the “product” or outcome of a DCD education. From a process point of view, a strong DEI curriculum helps children answer the questions, “Who am I?” and “How do I connect with others?” in developmentally appropriate ways as they grow. This helps them form strong relationships, learn how to be a good friend, and understand the way their identity influences their engagement with the world. From a

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“product” or outcome point of view, DCD has always worked to ensure our graduates are ready to live in and shape our world. A robust toolkit related to DEI is required in any field, so providing vital DEI content for students strengthens their readiness.

I always hear that DEI work is uncomfortable and difficult. Is this the whole story?

While DEI work may bring feelings of discomfort, anger, shame, guilt, and confusion, it also brings with it the opportunity for authentic connection, the gift of learning from a wide range of experiences and perspectives, and the chance to make better decisions based on a diversity of views. When we have the opportunity to celebrate cultures, build a more equitable school, and help children understand themselves and others, we thrive as both an institution and as individuals.

I would love to learn more, but I don’t even know where to start. What would you suggest?

While DCD regularly promotes DEI-related events and community engagements in our Weekly eNews, there are also numerous resources available to explore on your own time. The following books are powerful, and the first two titles are works by DCD CommUNITY event speakers: • Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji • Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (Issues of our Time) by Claude Steele • How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi • New Kid by Jerry Craft • So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oiuo Additionally, Dr. Eddie Moore’s 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge provides an incredible array of learning options, including podcasts, articles, activities, and movies to broaden your understanding of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

What are some of your thoughts about the needs of children and adults in our community?

In what way would you shape DEI work at DCD to bring these to life?

Click on the QR code to share your thoughts.

F E AT U RE

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

A pre-kindergarten student works on her multicultural puppet.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

COMMUNITY

DCD’s DEI Journey

By Autumn Andrade-de León This academic year has been equal parts challenge and excitement at DCD. In addition to full-time on-campus learning throughout the pandemic, we have also embarked on a journey together to deepen our commitment to community through diversity, equity, and inclusion work. This is the sixth year for our annual CommUNITY Evening, and while the event itself is important and impactful, it also gives us the perfect opportunity to reflect together on how far we have come as a community. We’ll look back at its precursor, a community diversity event held in 2014, and then come forward to this past February when DCD came together on a whole new level to address racial issues in our community.

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n April 3rd, 2014, the high temperature for the day kissed 60 degrees. It was breezy and inching toward spring in slow, steady increments. As evening fell, under the leadership of the then Diversity Committee Co-Chairs, Sheila Hiatt and David Coleman, 40 people gathered in the Lawrence Room for DCD’s first “Discussing Cultural Diversity” meeting. The evening had among its chief goals to provide a forum to discuss the state of diversity at DCD and parse the preconceived notion that black and brown students at DCD were synonymous with financial aid. A Venn diagram projected at the front of the room laid out the data for those in attendance. It showed that, in fact, a more significant portion of financial aid overall went to white families.

Attendees then shared their perspectives and personal experiences, and group members supported one another in developing action steps for addressing issues of diversity while they shared a meal.

Like forsythia just before it unfurls in yellow blossoms, DCD’s efforts toward inclusivity have been slowly germinating ever since. David Coleman frames the discussion on that April day as an act of social justice. In his view, it was not “just” talking.

“I would always remind the Diversity Committee not to feel discouraged by slow progress or not enough action. Talking IS action,” said Coleman, “and some institutions did little if any.

Through talking, we determine what actions to take and keep stoking the fires of action in our personal lives, our homes, our classrooms, and our world. I hope that DCD never ends this conversation as it strives to be a community that both reflects the world and prepares its students to be global citizens.”

Yet, despite the openness of some to having such conversations, Sheila Hiatt, a trustee and former board president, recalled with 6

Diversity Committee Co-Chair Steve Perry ’85 talks with Claude Steele, the featured speaker at the 2019 CommUNITY Evening.

a sense of poignancy a comment from a friend in the carpool line as she was in the midst of preparations for that groundbreaking diversity event seven years ago. “Have fun at your event tonight. I can’t make it, but it’s okay… it’s not for me!” her friend said.

Sheila remembers a sinking feeling in her gut. Equity, she knew then, is the work of each and every one of us, no matter how we identify. Looking over the top of her glasses on our Zoom call, Sheila shared that back in 2014, the Diversity Committee’s short-term goals centered around increasing awareness about non-traditional family structures and understanding admissions numbers as they related to diverse candidates.

Since that first Diversity event, the goals of the Diversity Committee and the scope of their influence have changed and grown from addressing admissions and financial aid data to seeking equity and inclusion on a far deeper level. In 2015, the Discussing Cultural Diversity event was aptly renamed The CommUNITY Evening. The new name reflected a collective desire for a community enriched by diversity and buoyed by inclusion.

The CommUNITY Evening event is no longer just a night for those most affected by racial and other biases to find fellowship — it is embraced as a cornerstone annual event that welcomes

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

renowned authors, psychologists, and professors as speakers and engages us all. Once fashioned as a time for solidarity among people of color, the event now serves to punctuate the hundreds upon hundreds of conversations about diversity that happen at school both inside and outside the classroom.

There is a palpable sense that we are at a major flexion point in addressing inclusivity at DCD. It’s not just this year’s CommUNITY event, though it was certainly a moment in which we could collectively recognize some of the impactful work that is underway. It is also the cumulative effect of many things: the multitude of conversations, the years of strategic planning, robust board training, SEED groups, the parent-led anti-racist group, The Lower School affinity group dubbed Culture Club by its students, and the multiple Middle School affinity groups. Most recently, DCD enthusiastically hired its first Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Ivy Alphonse-Crean. (See interview with Ivy on page 14). These elements are born from our community’s desire to reflect the larger world — and understand it.

This year’s event, held on a freezing February night, welcomed more than two hundred people dialing in from home — each little Zoom box marking another family’s engagement. Led by Dr. Howard Stevenson, a nationally renowned expert on the effects of racial trauma, DCD parents, administrators, faculty, and staff were no longer parsing Venn diagrams. We plunged into a community conversation that challenged us all to speak openly about race and how we each experience it.

After Dr. Stevenson shared his own racial story, small groups shared memories of first messages and encounters about race.

While some had visceral memories of being shamed, scared, or angry, others remembered being taught that “colorblindness” was

Diversity Committee Co-Chairs David Coleman and Curt Burmeister with Head of School Allison Webster and Mahzarin R. Banaji, the featured speaker at the 2017 CommUNITY Evening.

the best way to address race and FACULTY racial tensions. Later, as each AND STAFF small cluster of boxes trickled • 31% of faculty and back into the vast Zoom grid staff hired in the last of faces and names, we listened four years have been to uncomfortable and painful people of color stories, stories of beauty and • 100% of faculty and reckoning, as well as ones that staff participate in DEI professional oozed out a palpable sadness development through the ether. Collective • 73% of full-time courage and personal awareness teaching faculty helped us process how connected have participated we all are — a beautiful blend of in a SEED (Seeking Educational Equity equity and mindfulness. and Diversity) group Dr. Stevenson then guided in the last two years us through our “meta stories” with a technique he developed.

BOARD OF Those who shared their personal TRUSTEES • 100% of Board narratives with the whole group members have accessed what they felt or told participated in themselves while they shared DEI professional identity-driven stories. It was an development over the last two years evening filled with vulnerability, with honesty and curiosity, with • Over the last five years (’16-’17 intense emotion, and also relief. to ’20-’21), the As the discussion wound to percentage of a close, I recalled a quote from people of color serving on the Board Audre Lorde, the West Indianhas increased from American writer, who, while 10% to 27% speaking at a 1983 celebration of Malcolm X at Harvard SOCIOECONOMIC University, encapsulated the DIVERSITY core of what is underfoot at • To increase the socioeconomic DCD. “What we must do,” said diversity of the DCD Lorde, “is commit ourselves to community, 17% of some future that can include the school’s budget is allocated to each other and to work toward financial assistance that future with the particular strengths of our individual identities.”

While the weight of what lay ahead spread throughout those more than two hundred Zoom boxes, community members connected to their questions about how we get to that eventual future and how we will know when we’ve arrived. Buoyed by the evening of fellowship, we know we can get there together — each one of us in slow and steady increments inching us toward an inclusive and equitable spring.

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

COMMUNITY

Expanding Horizons

By Leslie Bowen

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here are a lot of changes happening at Horizons, which is expanding its reach to help more kids. After a decade of serving students at its DCD location, Horizons piloted a new site in summer 2019 at the Mattahunt School in Mattapan. Meredith Laban and other Horizons at DCD staff helped run the site for its first summer, including securing funding for its operation.

The Mattahunt program was such a success that the Horizons at DCD board decided to fund a separate regional entity, Horizons Greater Boston, to support the expanding network of sites, including a third Horizons program at Lexington Montessori School.

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Horizons Greater Boston has its own 501c3 and a separate board of directors, with some overlap of members serving on both boards. The organization’s goal is to support the existing sites and grow new sites, both within the Boston Public School system and among local independent schools, continually expanding to serve more students. Theirs is the first regional Horizons entity in Massachusetts. Its goal is to create the capacity to serve more than a thousand students in the greater Boston area by 2025.

Each member site follows the Horizons model, which combines project-based learning, field trips, and swimming instruction. For six weeks each summer, students explore science, music, theater, and art in addition to reading and math lessons to prevent what’s known as the “summer slide.” The program consistently shows eight weeks of gain in math and reading, summer after summer, in addition to students feeling more confident in school and many other benefits.

Although the pandemic created a challenging environment in which to launch a new non-profit, it makes a program like Horizons even more critical in light of the potential learning loss among students unable to attend school in person. Horizons Greater Boston served students remotely last summer at all three sites with emergency funding secured through the Wellington Foundation. The grant supplied students with Horizons at Home kits, including books, art supplies, STEAM activities, snacks, and whiteboards to make learning at home more accessible.

For five weeks, Horizons at Home provided virtual instruction, combining synchronous and asynchronous learning. Students received more than 1.5 hours of academic programming each day, divided evenly between math and literacy. Afternoons featured enrichment opportunities that included STEAM projects, music, art, yoga, and physical exercise. They also held virtual field trips to the New England Aquarium, the MET, and the world’s largest cave.

Meredith said having the regional program provides a welcome opportunity for the directors of the three programs to get together in a smaller setting to problem-solve, share best practices, and receive coaching. Students also have the opportunity to interact across sites through the after-school program, and Meredith says she hopes to bring teachers together for teacher training when it’s more feasible to meet in person.

“None of this would have happened without the support of Horizons at DCD and the support of the board,” she said.

“Horizons at DCD is the incubator of all this growth.”

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

IMPROVEMENT IN SCHOOL ATTENDENCE

CHANGES IN MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH ACHIEVEMENT

CHANGES IN PERCEPTION OF ACADEMIC SELF-COMPETENCE

95%

580

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94%

560

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93%

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520

91%

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460

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88%

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YEAR 2

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SUMMER START

CONTROL GROUP

Meredith is transitioning out of her former role as executive director of Horizons at DCD to lead the new organization. As of January 1, Haris Kuljancic has been heading up the DCD site, moving on from his previous role as program director. Meredith said that for now, she is using about 20 percent of her time to coach and mentor him as he takes over as executive director, while the rest of her time is focused on Horizons Greater Boston.

“Haris is very passionate and committed to the students and families of Horizons and brings great energy to the program,” said Meredith. “He makes sure we serve our high-school students as well as we serve those in our pre-K through 8 program, and he’s very organized, professional, and easy to work with.”

“Our ten-year commitment to students shows itself in our high school program in the strong bond they build with each other,” Haris said. “Our sophomore class, in particular, is a very tight group that texts each other and has a weekly video call. They’re advocates for each other and have maintained their relationships after all these years together.”

“The high-school program is now fully enrolled with about 30 students, freshman through senior,” Haris said. “We help them with college-readiness and skill-building workshops and pair them with programs geared toward high-school success.”

The program is year-round, offering after-school enrichment and holiday events during the academic year. Some students volunteer in the summer program at DCD.

SUMMER END

SUMMER START

SUMMER END

HORIZONS STUDENTS

This year, as the program heads into its 13th summer, it’s reaching a new milestone as its first class of kindergartners graduates from high school. Haris has been helping the seniors submit their college applications, including several students who have been with the program since 2009.

Horizons Greater Boston shares office space with the DCD program so that Meredith will be staying on campus even as she begins her new role. As of July 1, she will be an employee of Horizons Greater Boston, but part of her role will be supporting the DCD site.

Liam McCarthy has recently joined the Horizons at DCD team as assistant program director to fill Haris’s previous role. In addition to Haris and Liam, the group includes parttime development associate Alison Badhwar and Americorps Vista volunteer Martha Lahti.

This growth has led to a change in board leadership, with Max Bardeen coming on as board president last September to replace Gita Iyer. “Max has great energy, excitement, and enthusiasm that is contagious among the other board members,” said Meredith.

Gita, who is one of the founding members of the Horizons at DCD Board of Directors and its president since 2009, will move on to the Horizons Greater Boston Board of Directors as President.

Taken together, these changes mean they can serve more students, which Meredith says is the whole point, to keep growing and expanding to help kids who need it.

“None of this would have happened without the support of Horizons at DCD and the support of the board.”—Meredith Laban

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

HORIZONS AT DCD

Horizons at DCD Board of Directors

Horizons at DCD Welcomes New Board President Max Bardeen

Max Bardeen, President

Many know Max Bardeen from his podium banter while leading auction bidding at the annual fundraisers for Horizons at DCD. Max has been a member of the Horizons Board of Directors since 2014. He and his wife Beth were active parents at DCD, volunteering in various capacities, including serving as Annual Fund chairs in 1998.

Curt Burmeister, Treasurer Astrid Burns Ben Cavallo, Vice President John Connors

Max works at UBS Private Wealth Management in Boston as Market Head for the New England Region and is responsible for facilitating and maintaining relationships with ultra-high net worth families and family offices within the area.

Melissa Crowe

Max sits on the Board of Directors of the Big Sister Association of Boston, Horizons for Kids, and the Francis Ward Paine Foundation. He is also a Member of the Corporation at the Perkins School for the Blind.

Jennifer Krebs

Max is a graduate of the General Electric Experienced Management Development Course and completed the Darden School for Executive Education Leadership and Management Program in 1998. He has been a member of the UBS Director’s Council and was a 2002 recipient of the UBS Ed Connolly Leadership Award. Max is a graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Skip McKee

Gita Iyer, Clerk Alyson Kelley-Hedgepeth Keith McCown Lisa Mims George Nichols Kathy Parent Michael Sweeny

New Staff Appointments

Stephen Tshuka

Executive Director Haris Kuljancic

Lindsay Wands

Haris graduated from Connecticut College in 2016 with a double major in Sociology and History. Following graduation, he spent time working at the Portland Children’s Museum in Portland, Oregon, and later served as Support Services Advisor at the Steppingstone Foundation working with Boston youth as they navigate their individual journeys towards higher education.

As Program Director, Haris served as point person for the day-to-day operations of the Summer and High School Program. In his new role as executive director, he will use his extensive experience with youth and education to continue building strong relationships with Horizons students, families, staff, and volunteers, as well as board members and partners in the Boston and Dedham Public Schools.

Assistant Program Director Liam McCarthy

Assistant Program Director Liam McCarthy begins his new position this spring. He was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He graduated from Boston College in 2018 with a degree in English and Secondary Education. In his time as an undergraduate, Liam developed a passion for issues of equity in education. Since graduating, he has held a number of positions in nonprofits focused on out-of-school-time opportunities for youth. Most recently, Liam worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA and Program Coordinator for Horizons at the San Francisco Friends School, where he was introduced to the impact of summer learning. Outside of work, he enjoys running, reading a good book, and playing guitar. He is looking forward to the opportunity to continue creating opportunities for youth and building bonds with the Horizons at DCD community.

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Allison Webster, DCD Head of School Michael Welch, Superintendent, Dedham Public Schools

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

HORIZONS GREATER BOSTON Gita Iyer Takes on New Role as President of the Board of Regional Entity After 12 years serving as President of Board of Horizons at DCD, Gita Iyer is moving on to take the same role at Horizons Greater Boston, the first regional entity of its kind in Massachusetts. Gita is a Leadership and Executive coach with a focus on individuals in the nonprofit sector. Prior to this, she was in Information Technology Consulting with Accenture, for over 25 years. Gita received a Master’s in Information Systems from Boston University and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

She was co-chair of the Diversity Committee while on the Board of Trustees at Dedham Country Day School from 2005-2011 and is one of the founding members of the Horizons at DCD Board of Directors.

Horizons Greater Boston Board of Directors Gita Iyer, President Curt Burmeister, Treasurer Kathy Parent, Secretary Elizabeth Freeman Joelle Gamere Aline Gery Rachel Gwaltney Ali Nuger

New Staff Appointment Meredith Laban Appointed Regional Executive Director

Meredith served as Executive Director of Horizons at DCD for most of its 12 years, leaving for a few years to work at Horizons National. She is working to expand the Horizons network of learning programs in the greater Boston area. She is transitioning from the role of Executive Director of Horizons Dedham Country Day School to Regional Executive Director. Her strong leadership skills, extensive experience, tremendous effort, and guiding hand resulted in Horizons at DCD being considered one of the exemplary affiliates within the Horizons network.

For two and a half years, Meredith worked with Horizons National as the Senior Director of Affiliate relations.

Prior to working with Horizons, Meredith worked in educational program management for ten years. Meredith has a B.A. from Colgate University and an M.A. in education from the University of Michigan.

DCD JOINS LOWER SCHOOL DIVERSITY CONSORTIUM We are excited to share that during the summer, DCD joined the Lower School Diversity Consortium (LSDC), which is a group of schools in Greater Boston whose mission is to address systemic racism by increasing and strengthening the population of Black and Brown families in our schools.

The goals of the LSDC are to discuss the unique opportunities independent schools can provide for students, to explore why these schools are worth the investment, and to explain how a family would go about exploring schools to find the best match. This consortium is not about promoting individual schools but about sharing the value proposition of independent schools in general to two historically underrepresented groups in independent schools - African American and Latinx/Hispanic families - and about recognizing how these underrepresented groups equally benefit our independent school communities.

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Lower School Head Carla Haith Provides a Mirror for Black Students

By Leslie Bowen

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he concept of Windows and Mirrors, taught as part of the SEED curriculum (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) offered at DCD for faculty and staff as well as parents, explains how children of color need to see themselves in others.

Lower School Head Carla Haith, who grew up in a diverse neighborhood and went to schools with diverse student populations, says at some point in her educational journey, she realized her mission was to become just that— a mirror for children of color, but in mostly white independent schools.

At the same time, she realized she could also be a window for white students to understand people’s reality from different backgrounds. “There’s a real need. Being the face and the voice, I’m educating not just that child but the other children and their families,” she says.

“It’s so important for children to know there are others like them in their community,” she said. DCD students who live in the Dorchester area are excited when they learn she grew up there, often inviting her to come to their neighborhood activities.

They can even be surprised at times to find her at their door with forgotten homework or other items left at school. “It’s a special experience for them to know there is a teacher who knows and understands where they come from,” she said.

Growing up and attending public school in Boston, she found many children who looked like her but only three or four teachers who did. “I found I wanted to be with people who looked like me,” she says.

After she left Boston to attend Clark Atlanta University, a historically black university, she had a very different experience.

There, all the professors were people of color.

Once back in Boston studying for a master’s with the Shady Hill School Collaborative, she re-entered the mostly all-white world she had left behind. These experiences made her realize the importance for children of color to see their reality reflected in those around them.

Now at mid-career, she has returned to school, this time as 12

Head of Lower School Carla Haith presents the Alice Dietsch Award at Closing Exercises.

a student in a three-year doctoral program in education for working professionals at the University of Pennsylvania, which she expects to finish in 2022.

Her cohort consists mostly of people running schools and dealing with all the difficulties of the pandemic. While traditionally the second year is one in which they begin to work on their dissertations, she and her cohort mates decided to focus instead on their teachers’ and families’ needs amid the pandemic and put their individual plans on hold.

Following up on lots of conversations they were having about what they could do to help the current situation, they decided to publish an article that addresses those needs, and in the process, get some data collection going. Their article, “Systems of Emotional Support for Educators in Crisis,” appeared in the section Flux Leadership Insights from the (Virtual) Field in the Fall 2020 issue of Perspectives on Urban Education, Volume 18 Issue 1, New Tools for a New House: Transformations for Justice and Peace in and beyond COVID-19.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Eventually, Carla plans to focus her dissertation on the topic of black males in independent schools, specifically, the impact that being “counseled out” has on them, their families, and the school community.

“It’s been done for middle school and high school but not elementary school,” she explained. Undaunted by the prospect of interviewing and gaining information from very young children, she said, “They can tell you a lot about how they are feeling.”

As for her immediate goals after completing the program, she said she plans to continue her work at DCD, being on the Diversity Committee of the Board and participating in the annual CommUNITY Evening events, for example.

It was Carla who connected with Howard Stevenson, the speaker at this year’s CommUNITY event on February 11, who is at the forefront of this work.

“I hope to continue to diversify DCD, open up the conversation in DEI, to make sure everyone feels they have a place here. I love Carla Haith brings many sides of herself to the role of Lower School Head, engaging with students, faculty, and parents DCD. I want to help this community thrive.” on multiple levels. what you want, but instead getting what you need.

She’s excited about the recent decision to “Engaging kids in those conversations is why I’ve stayed in hire a full-time DEI practitioner and feels like it will make a big independent schools,” she says. difference.

It was destined for me to be an educator,” she says. “Both my For now, Carla has become a de facto sounding board for grandmothers and my mother were educators from the South— issues concerning diversity, the go-to person for advice on North Carolina—which was not so formalized, but more like a handling difficult conversations for faculty who are worried one-room schoolhouse.” about saying the wrong thing.

“As the youngest of four girls,” she recalls, “everybody was in “There is so much fear around it, people not wanting to lean charge of me. I would line up my stuffed animals and read them into discomfort. Some faculty tell me, ’I just didn’t know what a book, mimicking my sisters telling me what to do, because I to say.’ They need reassurance that we can practice this together needed to be in charge of someone.” as a group. They need to know it’s okay to have those difficult As for working in independent schools, she says, “It took me a conversations. I’m there to support them, but they already have while to bring my entire self to work. I was afraid it would be too the tools.” much for people.”

“Silence is worse,” she says. “If you say the wrong thing, you She says people always ask her why she doesn’t teach in an can always circle back to make sure there’s no misunderstanding.” urban school setting like Boston. “I started off in the Boston No matter what the future brings career-wise, she says Public Schools, teaching 25 kids by myself at the Mattahunt whatever path she takes will be in the capacity of working with School, and buying books out of my own funds. Teaching in such students. a large district felt isolating as a young teacher early on in my Remembering the time when a student complained about her career. Making the switch to independent schools allowed me to giving crackers to a classmate but not to them, calling it “unfair,” have a more direct impact on students and teachers in a smaller she used it as a teaching moment. She told the child that she was environment. Working at independent schools is where I feel I simply meeting the need of the student who didn’t get breakfast can give the most service.” that morning, explaining that fairness is not a matter of having 13

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

faculty

A Conversation with Ivy Alphonse-Crean, DCD’s New Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

By Hilary Rochelle Earlier this year, DCD’s Board of Trustees announced the creation of a new Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) position to support the critical work that forms one of the central pillars of our current strategic plan. After defining the role and executing an extensive search, we are excited to welcome Ivy Alphonse-Crean to DCD in this pivotal and vital role. Ivy is joining us from the Collegiate School, a K-12 school in Manhattan where she served as a Grade 6 Dean and English faculty member. Ivy brings a longstanding commitment and passion for DEI work. During her time at Collegiate, she instituted, led, and managed many students and faculty endeavors. Ivy will be moving to Boston this summer with her husband, Jared, and one-year-old son, Wesley, to begin her role at DCD on July 1. I recently connected with Ivy over Zoom to talk to her about her decision to join the DCD community and her vision for her role here.

What is it about DCD that makes you excited about taking on this new role?

There are many things! I was so impressed with DCD’s curriculum because I noticed these little seeds planted in pre-K around who you are as an individual. I loved being able to trace how those seeds developed into ideas up through the middle school years. Even as sixth-graders discuss empires, you can see their ideas had a trajectory and developed intentionally. And as a teacher, I live for that stuff because it’s beautiful and intentional work. It’s what makes teaching so gratifying, especially when you can see these seeds starting at such a young age and then watch them take hold as they grow in the more senior students.

I fell in love with DCD during my interview process. I had some really beautiful conversations with faculty, parents, and students. The most significant impact came from talking with the students. I was struck by how they spoke about the school, 14

even from their bedrooms or couches, since it was a remotelearning day. They talked about teachers, events, things they were working on, and even buildings. Although at times they could be critical, it was with such love and kindness. I could tell how much they enjoyed school and loved DCD. I was so inspired and could see how connected they were to DCD and the community even though they weren’t even on campus that day.

I love pre-K to 8 schools, being a product of one myself coming from the Park School. You have so much flexibility in what you can do. The college beast isn’t looking over your shoulder at everything you are engaged in, and kids can be kids and do things in “kid-like,” fun, and colorful ways.

Stepping into this role, I can tell the community is fired up and honest with each other, too. You don’t always get that radical honesty at schools. If I could see that in the interview process, I’m confident it will be authentic and palpable when I am there on the ground. I am so excited to be joining this community.

Where do you see your opportunity to have the most significant impact?

There is already a lot of good work happening at DCD. You have SEED groups, affinity spaces for students and families, clubs and events, and the Horizons Program. I don’t see the need to come in and invent something new right away. I think my impact will be subtle at first. I see my role initially as someone who can connect the dots. Institutions like DCD are doing amazing things, but people from different parts of the organization don’t always know what’s outside their scope. In this first year, I see my role as the person connecting all these great initiatives in the classrooms and around the school and making sure they are all under one unified purpose and working in concert.

I am also excited to do an “equity audit’ for DCD. I know it’s a

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

primed and open community, but to have the most impact, I think it’s important to talk with people and do an accurate assessment of where we are in this space. Understanding who is here, how they are feeling, and what they are experiencing currently and have experienced in the past will enable me to gather the data to assess how we move forward in building new initiatives, curriculum, and events.

And finally, I’m looking forward to just getting in there to work with the students. The faculty is amazing, and I could talk about them for hours, but the students at DCD….oh my goodness! They are so special. I can’t wait to sit in on classes, work with the affinity groups, and be a general resource for students when they have questions and issues they’d like to discuss. I can’t wait for those little informal moments with them.

That’s a great segue to my next question! You’ve spent so much time in the classroom as a teacher. How will you feel playing more of an administrative role in a school?

To be honest, I’m a little sad and will have to grieve the loss of a typical teaching day! There are so many charming things that happen throughout the day as a teacher, and so much of your energy comes from the students. But at Collegiate, with the many roles I have played and the side-projects I’ve been involved in, I have already begun drawing energy and excitement from those endeavors. These will become the main projects at DCD, and I am very excited about that! My goal is to be one of those faces that the kids and my colleagues see all the time. It will be, “oh, there’s Ms. Crean again.” I am a hallway walker and a shared space squatter. I love working in common areas, so I can just be a part of what is going on. And I love popping into classes as long as teachers are comfortable with this. Of course, I don’t want to invade anyone’s space!

With a concentration in Africana Studies at Brown, what drew you to work in education and back to the independent school world?

It’s been an interesting road! I thought I wanted to be a professional opera singer for a long time and was prepared to do it. I was committed to moving every three months and having a transient but fulfilling life singing. I was very serious about this, and in fact, so many of the people I used to sing with went on to conservatories and are doing amazing things in the Opera world. And then I had second thoughts. I started to think about the long term and asking myself, do I want to be traveling every couple of weeks to festivals in different countries and not having the holidays at home and having time with family and friends?

So, I did a “career rethink” and took an entry-level marketing job in the Boston area, working for a wonderful organization called The Initiative for Competitive Inner City (ICIC), which helps minority-owned businesses acquire capital. To be honest, I felt restless and asked my boss if I could take a day a week and spend it teaching at Apple Orchard, my old pre-school, on a volunteer basis. He said, OK, as long as I got my work done. And so that is what I did. I wanted to explore teaching, and they were happy to have me.

I left my marketing job eventually and joined the apprenticeship teaching program at the Park School full time. It’s funny, but I’ve repeated my early childhood education with my time at Apple Orchard and Park but as a teacher. At Park, I taught in the fifth grade and then went on to teach seventh-grade English. I love that middle school-age student. And that’s how I found my way to Collegiate, and I am fully loving returning to my roots in the independent school world.

I still love to sing and am excited to return to Boston and rejoin the Marsh Chapel Choir with Boston University, where I sang before moving to New York City. That’s the biggest icing on the cake ever!

Meet Ivy Alphonse-Crean: DCD’s New Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Ivy joins us this summer from the Collegiate School, a K-12 boys’ school in Manhattan, where she served as Grade 6 Dean and English faculty member. Ivy brings a longstanding commitment and passion for DEI work, and during her time at Collegiate she instituted and managed a multitude of endeavors. She founded and facilitated the Faculty and Staff of Color Affinity Group, co-facilitated the school’s affinity space for students of color, and served on Collegiate’s Affinity Council. As a leader in these groups, Ivy worked to enhance the hiring and recruitment practices at Collegiate, led professional development groups for her white colleagues, and used survey feedback to engage senior administrators in discussions around retention, accountability measures, and organizational structures.

A contributing author to Teaching Brilliant and Beautiful Black Girls (released in March 2021), Ivy has presented at several conferences, including the People of Color Conference and NYSAIS Diversity Conference. She’s been awarded grants for curriculum development, research, and the creation of a comprehensive anti-bias curriculum for fifthand sixth-grade students. Ivy also served as communications co-chair with the People of Color in Independent Schools of New York.

Ivy earned her undergraduate degree in Africana Studies from Brown University and a master’s degree in teaching English at Teachers College. No stranger to the Boston area (or to the independent-school network), she began her schooling at Apple Orchard before attending Park School, where she later completed her teaching internship.

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faculty

An Interview with New DCD Librarian Camille Baker Harrison

By Abby Ackerman In the fall of 2020, DCD welcomed Camille and Brian Harrison and their daughter Eliot to the community. In addition to being a new parent to a pre-K student, Camille is DCD’s new Director of Libraries and Research. I enjoyed sitting down with Camille to learn a little more about her background and professional journey.

What was it like growing up in New Mexico?

I grew up in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a suburb of Albuquerque.

Rio Rancho was a great place to grow up, mainly because my cousins lived next door or a few streets over. My mother was one of nine children, and my sister and I are the eldest among our 28 cousins. We always had something going on between activities, sports, babysitting, and family gatherings. My father’s side of the family was from the Washington, DC area. He was a big fan of the family road trip. We spent a lot of time in the summer in the car together on cross-country road trips.

In eighth grade, I went on a school trip to New York City, which opened my eyes to an entirely different world outside of New Mexico. That trip made me determined to find a path to New York and realize my dream of becoming a photojournalist.

I attended the public high school in Rio Rancho, where I was one of nearly a thousand students in my graduating class. I was involved in all aspects of the school, including student body president, the varsity swim team, editor of the school newspaper, homecoming princess, and even the school mascot at the football games. I was such an enthusiastic athlete and fan that I won the school’s Sportsmanship Award and, ultimately, a college scholarship from the New Mexico Athletic Association. I’m still a big sports fan (but warning, the only local Boston-area team I root for is the Red Sox). I went on to attend the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University and to my delight, Syracuse Men’s Basketball won the NCAA Tournament that year!

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What was your career path to DCD? With my degrees in graphic design and sociology, I explored various professional opportunities back in New Mexico, working on design projects and racial equality for nonprofit organizations, including The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Big Brother Big Sisters. But the pull of New York City was still gnawing at me, so I accepted a job in marketing and communications as a Teaching Fellow with Citizens Schools in Boston and then relocated with the nonprofit to New York. In New York, I started volunteering in a reading program through New York Cares, which inspired me to pursue a graduate degree in Library and Information Science.

What exactly is Library and Information Science?

Library and Information Science encompasses the traditional aspects of librarianship, including archives, research, and cataloging collections. But what folks don’t often know is that it also includes information services and technology to explore how we visualize, access, use, represent, and share data. I was attracted to the role at DCD because it afforded the opportunity to lean into my interests in thinking about books and literacy, exploring how we use information, teaching research skills, and, of course, how we use technology as educators and students.

In my time working in independent schools, I’ve seen how technology use in schools has progressed from the standard 1:1 program (one device per student) to further educate students on the various methods of using technology to communicate a topic. The shift has gone from just using technology, because it is convenient or cool, to thinking about why and how students are using it. In the projects where I use technology with students, my goal is to have students evaluate each medium and select tools or applications to communicate information about a topic with intent.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

What are your impressions of DCD? As a parent, it is a joy to have our daughter, Eliot, start in pre-K. It was a welcome change after a year of learning online. My husband and I have seen Eliot’s progress and her creative side come out during independent play. She has become a more confident student.

We look forward to being more involved in the community in person. But for now, we’ve appreciated all the pre-K Class Parents and Parent Association have done to make us feel at home at DCD. As a DCD employee, I love how everyone has an “all-hands-on-deck” attitude. Everyone is invested in creating a collaborative and vibrant community—especially this school year when we all have the same goal of making in-person learning happen. I also appreciate the richness of traditions where every student has a voice, from pre-K assemblies to eighth-grade speeches.

I’m excited to experience these as both an employee and a parent watching my daughter participate in them.

I am very excited to collaborate with Ivy Alphonse-Crean, DCD’s new Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Growing up in a mixed-race family, I began developing my understanding of race and my own racial identity at a young age. My dad identifies as Black, and my mom immigrated from Mexico when she was eight. My sister and I didn’t quite look like either of them, so building that understanding was a cornerstone in my childhood. My husband identifies as white, and I’m seeing this conversation continue with our five-year-old daughter. By sharing my stories with students and parents, I hope to give some context and perspective to racial inequities and how early children begin to notice and try to make sense of race and differences.

I look forward to building upon the work folks are already doing to create an anti-bias curriculum starting with our youngest students.

What are some titles or genres you enjoy reading?

I enjoy reading young-adult science fiction and fantasy. It’s such an escape from the world and an easy genre to get into. My favorite series right now is the trilogy Legacy of Orïsha by Tomi Adeyemi. This fantasy series is set in West Africa and pulls in elements of magic, traditions from different tribes in the area, and current events. The first book, Children of Blood and Bone, is powerful, especially when you read the Author’s Note. I won’t ruin it for you. But trust me, read this book.

For children’s books, I tend to lean towards realistic fiction. I grew up on Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series. I have several tattered copies of my favorites that I still reread. I tended to be a pest to my older sister like Ramona was to Beezus. Even though Ramona didn’t look like me, I was able to identify with her and often found myself going back to those books as a child. I’m envious of children nowadays because there are so many great authors and books published.

It can be hard to pick just one book. Some of my favorite realistic fiction authors are Rebecca Stead, whose stories have these little surprises, Jason Reynolds because his characters always feel real to me and Carl Hiaasen’s books for children are downright hilarious.

It can be hard to find time to read adult books. I recently loved Normal People by Sally Rooney, a novel about the power of friendships and relationships, and Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, a book that surprised and delighted me. Reid tackles race and class issues in a subtle but direct way that I feel folks need to read to understand better why anti-racist work is never finished but a continuous journey. I read both of these books in one sitting, which is nearly impossible, but when a book is that good, I tend to be absorbed by it.

Introducing Camille Baker Harrison Camille Baker Harrison joined us in fall 2020. Previously, she served as STEAM integrator and materials librarian at the Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, New York, where she designed and taught lower school classes, curated a materials library, and collaborated with classroom teachers and specialists on developing hands-on learning projects. Prior to this, she was an elementary librarian and library assistant.

In addition, she participated in the Justice, Equity, and Diversity Institute through the New York State Association of Independent Schools and was one of 16 people selected statewide to be trained in curriculum design, pedagogy, and faculty training to tackle justice, equity and diversity work in independent schools.

She earned her undergraduate degree in graphic design and sociology from Syracuse and a master’s degree in library and information science with library media specialist certification from the Pratt Institute.

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

What We’re Reading DCD faculty share some of their favorite books for leisure and learning.

Homeland Elegies: A Novel

by Ayad Akhtar Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar tells the story of a Muslim-Pakistani family trying to make sense of its place in American culture during a tumultuous time in history. Spanning the years from the Iran hostage crisis to the Trump presidency and including the impact of 9/11, the author creates a unique narrative form—part novel, part memoir, part social essay—to tell an immigrant’s tale like no other. In the end, despite having gained the outward markings of success, he lays waste to the idea of the American dream. The novel reads like an adventure story, as the main character moves from one phase of his life, and his family’s, to the next. I found it hard to put down.

—Leslie Bowen, Director of Communications

Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents

by Isabel Wilkerson

Jews.

Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson, is a sobering survey of world-wide systems of oppression that continue to keep the human race stuck in rigid and tense systems. Both thoughtful and compelling, Wilkerson’s arguments draw upon not only the contemporary African American experience but also lay out heartwrenching comparisons between India’s treatment of its untouchables and Nazi Germany’s treatment of

— Autumn Andrade-de León, Spanish Teacher

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The Vanishing Half

by Brit Bennett This multi-generational family saga is set between the 1940s to the 1990s and follows the lives of twin sisters who run away from a Southern Black community at age 16.

Their lives diverge as one returns and the other takes on a different racial identity but their fates intertwine.

— Kathy Felcon, Library Assistant

Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race

by Debby Irving Waking Up White is the book Irving wishes someone had handed her decades ago. By sharing her sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, she offers a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance. As Irving unpacks her own long-held beliefs about colorblindness, being a good person, and wanting to help people of color, she reveals how each of these well-intentioned mindsets actually perpetuated her ill-conceived ideas about race. She also explains why and how she’s changed the way she talks about racism, works in racially mixed groups, and understands the antiracism movement as a whole. Exercises at the end of each chapter prompt readers to explore their own racialized ideas.

— Abby Ackerman, Advancement Associate

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Young Readers I am Enough

by Grace Byers Written by actor Grace Byers (Empire) and illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo, this lyrical book celebrates loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another.

Dork Diaries Books 1 - 12 Collection by Rachel Renee Russell

Children of Blood and Bone

by Tomi Adeyemi A fantasy series Legacy of Orïsha by Tomi Adeyemi is set in West Africa and pulls in elements of magic, traditions from different tribes in the area, and current events. The first book Children of Blood and Bone is so powerful, especially when you read the Author’s Note.

— Camille Baker Harrison, Director of Libraries and Research

(reading age 9-13)

Recommended by fourth grader, Jenna Mashali, this series follows 14-year old Nikki Maxwell through the ups and downs of starting the eighth grade in a new school. Jenna admits it was her favorite pleasure read this year and read all twelve books in a row! The Dork Diaries series has received two Children’s Choice Awards For Book of the Year (5th/6th Grade Division) and a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Award nomination for Best Book.

Almost American Girl

by Robin Ha (reading age 13+)

This graphic novel illustrates the challenges of being an immigrant in America.

“A powerful memoir that not only shows what it’s like to be in a new town or a new school, but what it’s like to move to an entirely new country! It’s an amazing journey that is sure to promote empathy with readers.”

What We’re Listening To Between the World and Me

by Ta-Nehisi Coates As I do with every audiobook purchase, I start with the summary, read the reviews, and then listen to the audio sample of the narrator. I think I listened to about 30 seconds before I purchased and finished the book on the same day. Narrated by the author, Ta-Nehisi Coates shares a series of letters he has written to his adolescent son describing his own life from a tough neighborhood in Baltimore to his experience at Howard University and beyond. He offers his son (and listeners) his observations of race in America, the history of its evolution, and advice on how best to navigate it as a black man while remaining hopeful for change. The author’s emotional story is powerful and moving to hear firsthand and will challenge listeners to reflect on privileges we may have taken for granted. I agree with Toni Morrison, Between the World and Me “should be required reading for everyone.”

—Abby Ackerman, Advancement Associate

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

Curriculum

Museo del arte DCD Incorporates Art, Nature and Authentic Self-Expression

By Leslie Bowen

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sing nature and art as a pathway to talking about social justice and cultural issues, middle school Spanish teacher Autumn Andrade-de León, created a new instructional unit based on a MOMA professional development program, “Art and Inquiry,” which she attended virtually in summer 2020. Run by MOMA teaching staff, the program explored ways of leveraging art in other disciplines.

“I always thought art was an amazing open-ended vehicle for so many things. I went to an arts high school, which is perhaps why I’ve always seen art as fertile ground for expression, vocabulary development, critical thinking, and understanding how interconnected the world is,” she said.

Knowing students would be studying much of the time outside due to the pandemic, Autumn began the multi-modal unit by having students forage on campus for materials to turn into art. The project urged them to define for themselves “What is art,?” as they manipulated what they’d found into original pieces.

The foraging and creation stage ended up going for six days instead of two days as planned to accommodate the students’ need for more time. “They wanted to see it through, and I didn’t want to cut it short,” said Autumn. “The impulse to do a thorough job in class is not one that should ever be curtailed!”

Among the foraged supplies students collected were twigs, leaves, rocks and berries as well as some surprises, including rusty nails, and soda and White Claw hard cider cans. Supplies in hand, students began diligently working on the art itself.

Some students even created personas as artists as the project took on a life of its own. They wrote museum labels in Spanish that included QR codes for English-only speakers to access the information. Once their artworks were completed, students

created a gallery installation on the third floor of the middle school in their self-named “Museo del arte DCD.” Though including hard cider cans in the display merited an explanation to faculty viewing the exhibit, Autumn commented, “this is our modern world; this is part of what you find when you’re walking through the pine grove. Furthermore, it is a statement to upcycle trash to elevate both the positive and negative aspects of man’s encroachment on nature.”

After the museum installation, a guest speaker from the MOMA Teaching Program Zoomed in to talk about the artist Ruth Asawa, a JapaneseAmerican who was imprisoned with her family in an internment camp after Pearl Harbor. While living with her family in a converted horse stall in the camp for months on end, art became a kind of survival instinct, Autumn explained. Asawa was forced to make camouflage nets in the camps. Later, Asawa went on to reuse that skill to make masterful three-dimensional woven sculptures. Autumn notes “This had strong echoes in the work the students did. They used what they had at their disposal to create something beautiful and I believe they were able to, if only briefly, walk in the experience of someone with whom their connection may not have been so obvious.”

Bringing a powerful professional development opportunity to the classroom was “so impactful” she said. “I have pages of ideas I created over the four days, and have only used a few of them,” explaining that bringing some of these ideas to life doesn’t always go well. “Not all people are enthusiastic about this kind of freedom of domain, that there is no right answer, that one’s personal perspective is the right answer, but it’s important for young people to have a chance to feel validated and to make their perspectives and voices heard.”

“It’s important for young people to have a chance to feel validated and to make their perspectives and voices heard.”—Autumn Andrade-de León

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1. MOMA guest speaker talks to the class about the artist Ruth Asawa Samples of artwork created by students from raw materials gathered in the Pine Grove (In-person viewers were able to scan the QR codes for English translations of the artwork descriptions): 2. Artwork by Parker Holden 3. Artwork by Willy Connors 4. Artwork titled “Painted Bloody Rock and Child” 5. Artwork by Owen O’Neill 6. Raw materials gathered for making art objects 21

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

Curriculum

Making Real-World Connections to Social Justice Themes

By Hilary Rochelle

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hroughout DCD’s middle-school curriculum, students have the opportunity to dive into issues and topics relating to social justice and equality.

Before winter break, DCD sixth-graders read I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousasafzai.

After several class discussions and writing assignments, students had an opportunity to speak with John Keating, a former Army Infantry Officer and Army Reserve Intelligence Officer, about his first-hand experience in Afghanistan where he encountered the Taliban.

Connecting over Zoom, John touched on the many topics raised by the students’ questions after reading Malala’s story. He spoke about being in Afghanistan during the time the events of the book took place, covering several topics: • the cultural differences that exist in parts of the country, particularly with the treatment of girls and women • the importance of understanding and respecting cultural differences in establishing relationships and supporting the country’s citizens

Sixth-graders participate in a Zoom conversation with former Army Infantry Officer John Keating.

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A middle-school student reads in preparation for a class discussion.

• the humanitarian projects in which he participated • U.S. political and military objectives for being in Afghanistan • the rules of engagement when serving in the military and • navigating challenging terrain in their confrontations with the Taliban.

John talked about how his experience in the Army enabled him to learn about other parts of the world, cultures, and people and opened his eyes to opportunities for activism and ways to help others, which added much to the conversation in class.

Malala’s story, both tragic and inspirational, shows the power of activism and the progress that even a young person can make in fighting for equality and fundamental rights.

The discussion continued as sixth-graders watched recent interviews with Malala, allowing them to reflect on how they could be good community members, the roles they could play, and the causes they might champion as young activists.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion families

The Canty Family: A Generational Commitment to DCD

By Leslie Bowen

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he Canty family represents three generations and 40 years of engagement with DCD, beginning in the 1980s when John and Beatrice (Bea) Canty sent three of their children— Kenneth (Kenny) ’88, David ’89, and Carolynn ’90—to DCD. Eventually, eight Canty children would attend DCD after first learning about the school years ago from John and Bea. Bea’s daughter Sharon Canty sent three children to DCD: Kay (Natasha Moore) Morris ’98, Danielle (Dani) Canty ’02, and Natayah Bugg ’18. Kevin Canty, who is Bea’s grandson and Sharon’s nephew, and his wife Tamara Blake-Canty are the parents of third-grader Blake Canty ’26. This fall, when Dani sends her daughter Sadie to DCD, Sharon will have a granddaughter and, Bea will have two great-granddaughters at the school.

Much has changed over four decades, both in the country and at DCD. Bea, whose roles have included parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, corporation member, and trustee from 1986 to 1992, commented that being one of two African-American families at the school didn’t pose much of a problem, at least among the children.

“At the lower level, it didn’t matter,” she recalled. “They made friends and were invited to each other’s homes, and they came to my house for birthday parties. The children were no problem.

Sometimes with the adults, there were one or two you knew you weren’t going to get along with, but that was okay.”

They found out about DCD through a listing of private schools in Boston Magazine. DCD was the closest to their home in Sharon, so they applied, were interviewed, and accepted, the boys starting in second and third grade and Carolynn coming the following year to begin in second grade.

They carpooled with the only other African-American family enrolled at the school, Ray and Paula Hamilton’s children Kadar ’90 and Damon ’93, who were also from Sharon. “Ray was playing for the Patriots at the time,” she remembered, “and when it was his turn to do pick up, he’d take them to the stadium, which was great for the kids.”

All three of Bea’s children went through eighth grade at DCD. Kenny and David went to Thayer and Carolynn to Nobles, where

Sharon Canty and daughter Natayah Bugg ‘18 (center, next to each other) celebrate with family members after Natayah’s graduation. she excelled playing basketball all four years and later in college.

“DCD taught them how to study, to do their work,” said Bea. “Their first year in college was easy for them because they knew how to manage their schedules, so they got their work done.”

Kenny is now CEO of a civil engineering company; David is a research scientist living in California; and Carolynn is Director of Operations for a clothing company in Georgia.

“We enjoyed our life at DCD,” Bea said. Her years as a trustee were “interesting,” she remembers. She was hesitant to accept when invited to join the Board, but eventually, she joined after other parents encouraged her. “I had belonged to a charitable organization but was never in that position,” she said. “Instead of being in the background, being shy, it helped me to come out a bit and not to be afraid to speak up and get involved.”

Bea visited the school after Blake enrolled and was struck by how much it had grown. During the ’80s, the school extended the upper school and built the Rand Gym, she remembered, but these changes seemed small compared to how the school looks now. It’s changed a lot in other ways, she’s noticed from reading the publications, noting that “it’s a good change.”

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

Natayah Bugg ‘18 as an eighth-grader visits with her kindergarten “buddies.”

Sharon remembers Bea suggesting she send her eldest child Kay to DCD when she became bored in kindergarten after a year of many gains in a private pre-K program. Bea’s three children were at DCD, and she was happy with the school, so Sharon looked into it.

“Kay learned so much about how to study. She had her challenges, but the school worked with her,” Sharon said. “Every subject learned in eighth grade is actually taught in kindergarten but at their level.”

An involved parent, Sharon remembers learning along with her daughters during that time, especially when they spent some time in class learning about another country. “We cooked and shared the food, learning about all the facets of life in China,” she remembered. “My daughters never forgot that. We were learning what they were learning.”

“They help a child see what they want to be by exposing them to so much,” Sharon said, remembering the time Kay came home so excited after dissecting a lamb heart in science class with Mrs. Gow, who was then Miss Boyden, describing the blood flow through the heart and announcing “I’m going to be a doctor!”

Kay now works as a physician’s assistant on the surgical team at Lakeville Hospital. Sharon said that her daughter Dani learned through theatrical play in kindergarten that she wanted to run a store, which is what she does now as a manager of a jewelry store.

Her brothers Kenny and David also took inspiration from their time at DCD in pursuing their interests as engineer and research scientist.

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Despite the excellent education, Sharon remembers her kids having a hard time because of their race, recounting how her daughter Kay endured a situation at work and how the degree of rejection she received at DCD prepared her for it in the real world. “As a mother, I was saddened,” she said. “You can’t change how people think or behave, but you can enlighten them and hope they learn to do better.”

Remembering a conversation she overheard between parents at DCD, she said, “no one can stop that parent from trying to keep the rich and elite together; the only thing that can happen is people become aware and do better. Racism is real, and it’s still prevalent, but for DCD to want to be a part of making it all better is awesome.”

“I could never blame DCD for anything negative that we endured,” she said. “Because I realize it’s the people, not the establishment. If DCD were racist, they wouldn’t have allowed me and my children to come. DCD provided the education, and we were grateful—all three of us are grateful. Because of its reputation, the school attracts the elite and the upper class, even the rich and famous. I’m thankful that it opens up and wants to be inclusive.”

She remembers Susie Jackson, wife of Tim ’58, DCD’s former business manager who passed away in 2019, telling her that he would always make sure her girls were in and got their financial aid. “That is the DCD that I loved,” she said, “that I was always important to someone, and my children were important, and it was important to help them, and I appreciate that.”

In addition to the education they received, she said, “My children also learned a better way of life. They learned to let light into their lives from the people they were around at DCD,” comparing that experience to the inner-city custom she had observed of keeping the shades down during the day.

When Sharon’s nephew Kevin and his wife Tamara had Blake, Sharon advocated for DCD even though Tamara was a Boston public-school principal at the time (Dr. Tamara BlakeCanty is now Chelsea Public Schools Literacy and Humanities Coordinator for grades 5 through 12). “They will start her from the beginning, exposing her to areas where she could find herself later on in life, whether music, art, science, or history,” Sharon told her.

Tamara recalls how she visited several prominent area schools, searching for the right fit for her daughter Blake, who was four years old at the time. When asked which school she preferred, Blake answered, “DCD, because I feel comfortable there.”

“Blake has always been aware that she is the only AfricanAmerican student in her class,” Tamara said. Asked how she feels about it, Blake responded, “I wish there were other children who looked like me, but I feel safe; I know my teachers love me.”

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

With her daughter now in third grade, Tamara said, “Seeing how everyone interacts with her daughter, I know my baby has been well taken care of.”

“The teachers did an amazing job exposing her to a positive image of herself, especially through literature,” said Tamara.

“They chose books with characters who looked like her and were attracted to different fields like science and engineering. She was able to see herself as part of a legacy of individuals who have contributed to society, which affirmed her own identity.” This happened not just in pockets, Tamara said, but throughout all the grades, from pre-K through her current grade.

“Like everyone else,” she said, “I was concerned about recent racial unrest and the implications for Blake. When I saw the Black Lives Matter movement sign on the DCD campus, I knew we made the right decision and that our baby is in the right place.

It says a lot about the culture of DCD.” “It takes courage on DCD’s part to make such a statement, which may have political and financial implications,” she said.

“Some people may not agree and pull their children out of school.

That’s what it means to be an ally. Doing what’s right comes with risks and consequences. I don’t take that for granted.”

The texts that come home, the discussions held, including SEED, which she has attended, and the concerted effort to purchase books from the black bookstore in Roxbury are just a few of the actions she noted the school is taking to address diversity. But while all the different parent workshops designed to address diversity have been “affirming,” she said, it’s the informal conversations with the families of Blake’s DCD friends

that have had the most significant impact. Blake has been going on play dates with two families since pre-K, the Hermans and the Sawyers. They have been sharing dinners and hanging out together so often over the past few years that they consider each other family.

Using the analogy of a child with a nut allergy who visits your home, she said, “You don’t have to think about it until she’s in your house. It’s the same with race. You don’t have to think about it until you’re confronted with it, until you see it happening.

Once you’re aware, the question is, what are you going to do about it? Now that you have this information, how does it change how you go out into the world? You need to know how to be a true ally, not a savior, because there’s a vast difference.”

Blake’s friends have expressed interest in attending Culture Club, the lower school affinity group for students of color run by third-grade teacher Lynne Mayard, to be allies. “For the little ones, there’s nothing wrong with starting them early,” said Tamara.

While she says DCD is on the right track with its diversity efforts, there’s more we could do, including hiring more faculty of color. “Students shouldn’t have to wait until third grade to have a teacher that looks like them,” she said. “We need it at the middle-school level as well when students are going through so many changes physically and mentally, becoming more influenced by their peers than by family members.”

“It’s wonderful and affirming to have Carla Haith in charge of grades 1 through 5,” she said, “because people of color are often put in symbolic positions, where they do not have a say in the organization. Having Ms. Martinez at the front desk as the face of the organization is also so important.”

While noting the positive relationships Blake has had with teachers of color like Ms. Mayard and Ms. Haith, Tamara says it the sense of belonging within the whole community that is so striking at DCD, saying that even the teachers in the higher grades know Blake well and recognize her as part of the extended family who have attended the school. “They don’t just know her name, they are also invested in who she is,” she said.

“We see with Blake that the school is embracing who she is, preparing her for the real world, teaching her to become strong and independent, a woman to be reckoned with and one that will have a positive impact on society. DCD has helped so many of our family members to become their best selves and to achieve success in fields that have not been open traditionally to people of color, which is why we continue to send our children to DCD. That’s why it’s such a special place. The work that DCD is doing is not superficial; it’s impacted generations,” she said.

Blake Canty delivers her lines from during the Class Play rehearsal in February 2020.

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

families

Affinity Groups at DCD: Reminiscing on a Ten-Year Journey from One to Many

By Lynne Mayard

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his year marks the tenth anniversary of Culture Club, the Lower School affinity group for children in the first through fifth grade. Since its inception, Culture Club has been predicated on being a safe, affirming place for children of color.

National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) defines children of color as belonging to one of the following racial/ ethnic groups: African American, Latino/Hispanic American, Asian American/South Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern American, and multiracial American.

It’s hard for me to believe that more than eleven years have passed since I became actively engaged in learning more about initiating an affinity group for lower school children of color.

As a parent of a DCD graduate, Nicole, class of 2000, I knew firsthand what it was like to have a child who was “one of the only” in her class and “one of the few” at her school. Even though she had some good friends and did well academically at DCD, my observations of her experience at Noble and Greenough School showed me how much more she needed to be her full, authentic self.

At Nobles, she had an affinity space for African American girls (Sister to Sister). Additionally, groups such as the LGBQ Alliance, MSA (Multicultural Student Association), and Asian American Culture Club met during scheduled school blocks. These groups welcomed allies. Nicole became adept at having conversations on equity and justice. She attended several diversity conferences, including the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC), which is part of the People of Color Conference. There she saw over a thousand students, many of whom were kids of color—the most people of color she had seen together in her life. These experiences proved to be as essential as her academics in her educational journey.

As a teacher at DCD, my experience paralleled my daughter’s.

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When DCD hired me in 1996, I was Third-grade teacher Lynne Mayard, left, with daughter the only full-time Nicole Mayard Allen ‘00 and grandson Michael. teacher of color and was in that position for many years. Yet, I could see how I had a special connection with many of the children of color. By 2010, DCD’s percentage of children from diverse backgrounds increased, and there was finally enough of a cohort to put together a group. Thanks to funding from DCD, I traveled to the 2010 People of Color Conference in San Diego.

There I attended several workshops given by presenters from schools that had active affinity groups for younger children. I networked with colleagues from those schools, and from their experiences, crafted the proposal for our group. After getting our then Head of School Nick Thacher’s approval, I met and talked with faculty, select parents, and middle schoolers—all of whom were supportive. Our first session in October 2011 included a small number of children, who later became a strong alliance, and we credit them with coming up with the name “Culture Club.”

Starting and maintaining an affinity group is not always the easiest thing. Initially, I had to prove that our group had worth.

Behind the scenes, there was definitely controversy. The term “affinity group” was not in the lexicon of the students and adults at DCD, who needed to learn that groups such as our sports teams, and even music groups such as the chamber ensemble, were all examples of affinity groups. Some parents vocalized that their children didn’t know they were “children of color,” and others were concerned that every child at DCD couldn’t attend our sessions. It took plenty of legwork to provide evidence substantiating the need for this racially-based group and

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

educating others that children as young as three years old do see and are aware of color. It was finally time for us to acknowledge that the group’s existence would enhance its members’ experience and strengthen the larger community at DCD. Although I was the founder and the force behind starting the group, it exists now because of so many allies who came forward during that initial year.

A parent Board member spoke on our behalf and wrote letters confirming the group’s importance even as she acknowledged that her children hadn’t known they were children of color. Other families sent their children because of her recommendations, and other white Board members rallied for the group.

Sue Shirley, then the Lower School head, Colleen Hultgren, Marge Farquharson, and Kathy Felcon voluntarily joined me and helped run and lead the group. Ali Fernandes was a male role model for the boys and created many videos and slideshows of photos on the website for the parents to see. Over the years, faculty including Carla Haith, Pamela Senese, Dr. Beth Conners, Michelle Tarkulich, Camille Harrison, and Becca Levi, have lent support.

The years have passed, and Culture Club is very much a fixture at DCD. Our initial group of fewer than ten students has grown to be closer to thirty.

Most of the children of color in the Lower School come to our sessions at least once, if not regularly.

Our younger students now are much more aware and proud of their diverse backgrounds, and by extension, open to sharing that part of who they are.

Despite the restrictions created by COVID-19, the children were still excited to get together virtually, reaffirming how much they value their affinity space.

More and more of the “alumni” of Culture Club are going to the Middle School with five years’ experience of an affinity space, fully ready to bring that knowledge to the more recently developed affinity spaces and social justice groups that DCD offers middle schoolers. As one of the SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) leaders, I am so encouraged by the large numbers of the faculty and parents who have joined SEED. We now have affinity spaces for LGBTQ+ and Parents of Color and Anti-Racist learning space. DCD’s motto, “Learning is a Way of Life,” couldn’t be more evident as I reminisce and see how Culture Club has gone from being “the only” to being one of many.

Nicole Mayard Allen ’00: Being Different and Fitting In I distinctly recall when I realized I was different, even though my memory of the context for the situation and the exact words said have faded over time. I remember a girl in my beloved Montessori school third-grade class casually teasing me in a way that bordered on bullying. There was not any real threat for me—after all, we were only about nine years old in a familyfriendly school that boasted a one-to-four student-teacher ratio—but I remember one scary moment when she had me pinned to the ground in the woods by our school and was attempting to stuff pinecones into my mouth. At that moment, something she said made me feel that the cause of her aggression was because I looked different from her.

After that experience, race became something that I had to consider.

I am grateful to have had many white friends and “allies” growing up before knowing what that term meant. But there was something special about spending time with others who, like me, were different, too.

Unfortunately, my small town, and later my small private school, offered little racial and ethnic (or any other) diversity.

Growing up in Franklin, Massachusetts, I was accustomed to being the only person of color in any setting. Some say that experience must have made me resilient, confident, and prepared to thrive in a majority white culture. In some ways, that is true. I have learned to be a chameleon, blending in when necessary. But in other ways, experiencing my formative years without a strong sense of belonging to any group was a severe handicap for me.

Dedham Country Day School afforded me an excellent education, a warm environment to explore and grow, and teachers who were sincerely invested in my success. While I thrived academically in that environment, I did not have an opportunity to mature in my selfunderstanding.

I was a shy and immature kid lacking in self-confidence. Despite my parents’ sincere attempts to help me understand my racial identity, without peers or others outside of the home to share in that experience, I just felt like an outsider. I didn’t have the words or emotional security to rationalize my various identities. I tried, unsuccessfully, to blend in.

When I started at Noble and Greenough School, I had the opportunity to join a number of different clubs and affinity groups. I chose to participate in Sister Sister and The Asian Culture Club, groups where I felt a strong sense of belonging, despite not being Asian and not having the same experiences that some of the other black students had. I started to learn to embrace my identities, which included my blackness.

I am proud that my mom, third-grade teacher and DEI expert, Lynne Mayard, is addressing these same kinds of experiences through Culture Club and her other educational efforts. I believe that her work, and the actions of the many colleagues and parents who have supported her along the way, will make DCD a more inclusive environment for children of all ages. They will have the chance to develop the confidence and emotional maturity that I did not at their age. Undoubtedly, that will make them better equipped to take on a world that is rapidly changing in its racial 27 and cultural identity. I look forward to following their success.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. and

professional development

DCD Engages in DEI Work with National Expert Dr. Liza Talusan

By Charles Rudnick

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uring the late summer and early fall of 2020, DCD’s faculty, staff, and Board of Trustees benefitted from a series of workshops on diversity, inclusion, identity, and action, facilitated by acclaimed expert Liza Talusan, Ph.D. Dr. Talusan is a facilitator in conversations about diversity, anti-racism, bias, privilege, and power, with more than 20 years of experience in education.

Dr. Talusan led professional development discussions with the faculty and staff, the Board, and the Advancement and Business Offices in separate sessions. The primary topics were “Engaging in Difficult Conversations about Identity and Action” and “Engaging in Diversity, Inclusion, and Action.”

Dr. Talusan provided a framework for grappling with these difficult issues. She encouraged all participants to be aware of when a Diversity/Equity/Inclusion/Justice (DEIJ) issue is impacting a situation (“name it”), to acknowledge how each of

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our behaviors or beliefs has been impacted (“own it”), and to take steps to stop or alter our biases (“interrupt it”).

Dr. Talusan also provided helpful language and a framework to help communicate more effectively about DEIJ issues, exploring the use and meaning of terminology such as “diversity & inclusion” versus “justice and equity.” She defined each DEIJ component, including the fourth “justice” element, which focuses on the willingness of those in power to turn it over to those most impacted.

One of the key elements of Dr. Talusan’s approach is asking participants to tap into their personal experiences and perspectives, and DCD’s sessions were no exception. Our sessions used journaling and breakout rooms to think about our goals in taking part in the training, how our personal socialization and learning impact our approach to DEI work, and how we can play a role in promoting change.

Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic Teaching in a Pandemic: Helping Students Thrive Through Community

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By Wendy Soutsos

he beginning of a new year is often filled with hope, optimism, and lofty resolutions. Given the challenges of 2020, many of us were more eager than ever to look ahead to a new year.

As a teacher, I will remember 2020 as the year I taught in a pandemic. When COVID-19 shut schools down last March, we had no idea what to expect, and this included how we would continue to teach. We adjusted on the fly to remote learning for the spring term and then regrouped as a faculty over the summer to plan for possible scenarios of hybrid learning in newly formed cohorts, or “pods,” for the fall. We wanted to feel prepared for any combination of remote and in-person learning we could encounter throughout the school year, which remained largely unknown until the very end of summer.

The end of summer was a time of heightened anxiety for many as the prospect of reconvening in-person for school approached.

After a summer away, many worried about the impact of increased social interactions on our community and, by extension, our families. We at DCD committed to a Community Pledge, essentially agreeing to take care of one another on this shared journey. We approached the prospect of caring for our

students as we would care for our own children, and we did.

We spent most of the early days of in-person school in the fall modeling how far six-feet apart is, reminding students to stay at their socially-distanced desks in the classroom, and ensuring everyone’s mask completely covered their nose and mouth. Our new social-distancing norms needed constant reminders, not because students were unwilling to cooperate, but because they would forget and revert to their old patterns. The first days were incredibly exhausting for this reason. There was no “down” time, not even at lunch or recess. Our pod was all together, all the time, and required constant supervision.

I remember wondering if this was sustainable. I wanted it to be, but I could not ignore my concerns. Nevertheless, I looked around me and saw a genuine joy from the kids , which gave me a much-needed boost. Sixth-graders were jubilant to be together with their classmates back at school, playing outside in a way that felt so pure and innocent, it made them seem younger than the middle schoolers they were. Our pod (re)discovered the pine grove, a favorite destination of our youngest students in pre-K, and spent many advisory periods exploring it, teaching one another how to scale up rocks, and playing different variations of hide-and-seek in its peaceful tranquility. This is what they needed and what they had missed while away from school in

Students coordinated a socially distanced sledding run after returning to school.

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Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic the spring and summer. They wanted to be back in school. They craved time together, time to be outside and explore, time to be kids reminiscent of simpler days.

For one of our early professional development days in October, the faculty read an article about “surge capacity,” which described the feelings and questions many of us were experiencing. According to psychologist Ann Masten, surge capacity is “a combination of physical and mental adaptive practices for short-term survival in a crisis.” The problem with a pandemic is that it is not short-lived but instead a prolonged period of stress. Such long-term stress gives way to what another psychologist, Pauline Boss, terms “ambiguous loss,” where grief is undefined and without a sense of closure, which is the case with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We have lost so many intangible aspects of life over the past year, and with infected patients and deaths still occurring in the U.S., we are unsure when it will end. How do we cope, and how do we help our children cope? I believe the answer lies somewhere with happy children playing in the pine grove.

When we think about protecting our children, keeping them physically safe and healthy is paramount, but we must not forget about their emotional well-being. Their light and energy are what have sustained me through an otherwise incredibly challenging time. It is not the reality I would have chosen for any of us right now, particularly children growing up in this strange time, but we can decide how to react to the situation. I believe we have done that intentionally at DCD so far. Through Ms. Webster’s leadership, courage, and positive vision, we have found a way to remember what is truly important in the education of children, and that includes taking our cues from the students themselves. They have reminded us that they thrive with social interaction and community support while learning and developing.

That is not to say that realizing the power of community has made this year an easy endeavor. There have been and will continue to be more challenges. My pod and I experienced first-hand what it feels like to quarantine for 14 days. It was over Thanksgiving break, and I must admit it was a frustrating experience. It required discipline, patience, and creativity to stay home and stay sane for that long.

By the time the break was over and our pod could resume Zoom classes, I was so excited to “see” my students on the screen.

We caught glimpses of each other’s home lives. We met each other’s dogs, shared what flavor smoothie we had made, and even celebrated a few birthdays. I resurrected my technological discoveries from teaching remotely last spring, such as using a 30

digital whiteboard to teach math and Zoom breakout rooms to facilitate English-class discussions.

Suddenly, I was reminded how much slower learning happens virtually. Students are distracted by screens or are late to class because they are on their own. And that’s just it. It is isolating. As much as we were “all in this together,” we had to do the work on our own, and that is difficult. It can lead to unforeseen creativity and exploration, but it can also lead to boredom and detachment.

What I remember most post-quarantine is the time all 12 of my students coordinated a group sledding run down the hill to the back fields on cardboard boxes during one of the first snowfalls.

Like their time in the pine grove, this experience was so simple and pure and just what they needed, not to mention the fuel required to sustain my efforts.

As we transitioned to colder winter days, we met another challenge, and our “surge capacity” was again tested. In the fall, we had structured as much of our day as we could outside, using green space, tents, and the pavilion last year’s eighth-grade parents donated as a space for classes, lunch, and sports. With the colder weather, we had to pivot and adapt yet again. We met that challenge with increased filtration and ventilation in the building, heat lamps on the patio, implementation of periodic school-wide COVID-19 testing days, additional remote days while awaiting test results, strict quarantine protocols, more professional development days for faculty, teachers and students Zooming into classrooms from various locations, and dressing in layers to stay warm, all of which have been crucial to staying open. None of this has been seamless, as life rarely is, but it has helped balance our students’ physical and emotional needs and continue bringing them, and us, together as a community.

When I asked my sixth-graders about quarantine highlights, they cited sleeping late, connecting with friends via FaceTime, playing video games, and having time to play sports outside.

Unanimously, the aspect they missed the most was seeing their friends in person, followed closely by school recess, and even a few admitted to missing their teachers and such classroom fixtures as desks.

As I reflect on these experiences, I am reminded of a piece of writing a friend of mine had posted early on in the pandemic, “What if the virus is here to help us? To reset. To remember what is truly important.” How might we reset the educational landscape in this country? What have we discovered is truly important in education? Some of our experience and findings at DCD about the importance of connection in small groups, outdoor space, interactive technology, and a sense of belonging to a greater community would be an excellent place to start.

Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic

In-Person Learning Keeps Kids on Track

By Hilary Rochelle

First-Graders Create Model Communities in Social Studies First-graders discovered first-hand what goes into building a community in their social studies unit this year, learning about the people and places that make up a community.

What jobs do people do? What resources do communities need to thrive? What kind of outdoor spaces are needed? What do the buildings look like? How do people connect?

After brainstorming all the elements, students set out to design and build their contributions to the overall community — a library, a fire station, a grocery store, some roads, and perhaps a park.

Once the model community took shape, they worked on computational thinking and coding skills. Using Bee-Bots, a robotics learning tool, they learned to program tiny robots to move about their community’s streets, stopping at different buildings and points of interest along the way.

Students engage in many cross-curricular activities as part of the social studies unit. They love the project because it is both an individual and collaborative endeavor.

In pre-pandemic times, first-graders would also make onsite visits to interview people and observe them in their jobs as part of this unit. This year they were fortunate to have a socially distanced visit from the Dedham Police Department.

Finding Meaning in Social Justice The middle school Social Justice Club has been meeting Wednesday mornings before school since November. Ms. Levi, DCD’s woodshop teacher and the club advisor, is pleased with the initiative this student-run group has been taking in exploring and understanding what social justice means.

The club gives students the time and space to vent, discuss, plan, and act.

Students bring different perspectives to defining social justice on both a broad level and in bettering our community here at DCD. Given all that is going on in our world, the club has provided an excellent opportunity for students to process with their peers all the current events that they see in the news and get exposed to at home and via social media.

Currently, students have three different art projects going that illustrate their voice and dedication to a cause. Some students are designing stickers, creating posters, and making buttons to disseminate throughout our community to help educate, support, and develop added visibility for equity and inclusion at DCD. 31

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Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic In-Person Learning Keeps Kids on Track Bringing Physics to Life In the few weeks between Thanksgiving and winter break, the DCD eighthgrade science curriculum encompasses designing, building, and testing a complex machine.

After studying physics in the fall, completing labs and lessons on potential and kinetic energy, force, work, momentum, gravity, and the mathematical benefits and drawbacks of each type of simple machine, students are ready to put all these concepts together in a final hands-on project: creating a complex machine from a series of simple machines (ramps, pulleys, levers, wheels, or axels, etc.) capable of consistently executing a specific task.

The Complex Machine project is a multi-step undertaking requiring the physical working machine and a “patent application” and an “Inventor’s Notebook” with explanations, schematics, and reflections of their progress each day.

In the first step, students identify the task they want their machine to complete. Perhaps the machine rolls a set of dice, waters a plant, or places a lid on a cup— it’s up to the student to decide!

The final step is to calculate the mechanical advantage of their machines, draw a diagram incorporating all of the adjustments made during the construction and testing process, and run a final test proving that the device runs reliably three times to earn the coveted “works always” designation.

A casual observer entering the classroom during these few weeks will see glue guns, duct tape, and various tools and materials strewn about the room, as well as hear lots of banging and chatter. While students are responsible for their own individual work, the collaboration, creativity, and camaraderie among classmates are part of the project’s appeal.

Scan the QR code to view a few of these complex machines at work.

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Pre-K’s Multicultural PeoplePuppets Teach Many Lessons Each December, pre-K students take turns spinning a globe and placing their finger on a country from which their puppet friends will emigrate. They learn about this new country and where it is in the world. As they create these puppets from various recycled materials, students think about the question of identity in determining what color skin the puppet might have, what kinds of clothes they might wear, what types of jobs they might do, or what interests they might have. The children love giving their new friends a unique name, talking with them, and interacting daily.

Once completed, pre-K students typically take to the DCD stage to introduce their new friends to the entire school during an all-school assembly.

This year, given the limitations of the pandemic, they introduced their puppets over Zoom! A DCD favorite, this crosscurricular project spans a couple of months. It engages students on so many levels, connecting language arts, reading readiness, math, art, social studies, and of course, public speaking!

Teaching and Learning in the Pandemic

Creating a Foundation for Writing Learning to write is not just about mastering letters and sounds. Kindergartners have many opportunities throughout the year to put what they are learning into practice by writing for a purpose through Writing Workshop.

For example, in the young authors unit, students write “How To” books. They learn to sequence, draw illustrations, and write step-by-step instructions to explain how to do something.

Students also explore persuasive writing, where they begin with an argument and convince their readers why they think their stance is correct. “Rufus Goes to School” by Tim Griswell is used as a jumping-off point for this exercise. Rufus, the pig, wants to go to school to learn, but he first must convince the principal to change the “no-pigs-in-school” policy!

The Pen Pals unit offers further opportunities to practice purposeful writing.

DCD students pair up with a kindergarten student from Brookline. Throughout the year, the children take turns writing to each other. In their letters, they ask questions and share stories to learn about the other person and their interests.

These beginning writing activities lay the foundation for the more complex writing work students will do in first grade.

What’s in a Face?

DCD pre-Kindergarten students know there is so much to learn about themselves and others from looking at portraits. After all, they spend the year focusing on faces in the work they do with their Portrait Portfolios. This year-long initiative encompasses so many lessons and palpably illustrates the growth each child has experienced by year’s end.

There are many aspects of learning wrapped up in the project, including art and creativity, fine-motor skill development, identity exploration and observation, understanding symmetry, and appreciating the fun of creating chronologies.

Before winter break, students learned about Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso, inspiring the creation of some beautiful portraits in the styles of these famous artists.

Scan the QR code to take a peek at their work.

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Community News Mother and Daughter Honor the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

D Ashish K. Jha, a frequent commenter on CNN and other major news outlets, spoke to DCD faculty before the opening of school in September.

COVID-19 Expert Gives Guidance to DCD on Reopening School

CD first-grader Sanjana Hwang and her mother Supriya Rao were featured in a segment that was aired on ABC News Live about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her legacy for future generations. Sanjana comes on around two minutes and 10 seconds in the segment, which can be viewed by scanning the QR code below.

Head of School Allison Webster said, “It makes me proud to see one of our students talking about the difference she hopes to make in the world. Thanks to all of [our faculty] for making our classrooms places where students can learn about our world, think about the role they can play in it, and begin taking action now that is appropriate their age. Ruth Bader Ginsburg provided such a beautiful example of a life committed to righting injustice, building relationships, taking steady deliberate action, and caring about the lives of others. She is certainly good inspiration for these times.”

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ast summer, as DCD was preparing its return to in-person learning, our staff and faculty had an opportunity to hear from Ashish K. Jha, M.D., M.P.H., who is dean of the school of Brown University School of Public Health and Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice.

Before joining Brown, he was the K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI).

A well-known expert on COVID-19, Dr. Jha leads the national analysis of key issues around the pandemic, advising policymakers and elected officials at the state and federal level and appearing frequently on national television news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, and Fox, and in written coverage from national newspapers including the New York Times and the Washington Post.

He provided an update on the current state of the pandemic and school reopening strategies. Jha also allowed time for questions, speaking to faculty for an hour about the importance of mask-wearing, ventilation, social distancing, and access to the outdoors, providing reassurance that DCD was following best practices in its reopening plans.

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First-grader Sanjana Hwang spoke on ABC News about the impact on her life of deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Scan the code to view the segment.

Community News

Fourth-Grader Discovers a Passion for Creative Writing

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By Hilary Rochelle CD fourthgrader William McLean has been exercising his creative writing muscles. Last summer, as part of his DCD summer project, he decided to write a weekly fun newspaper as a way to stay connected during COVID-19 with friends and family. He called his newspaper, “The Daily Cat” and maintained a loyal subscriber list of 24 people. Finding that his readers loved his paper, William got inspired to write his first book and used his time during July and August to work on this special project.

When he returned to DCD for in-person learning back up in September, William took a little break from writing. Feeling the pull to finish this creative endeavor, he picked it back up in November and finished off “The Nut in the Bunch”, a story about Ace Chippy, a detective chipmunk and all of the crimes he solves. With the humor and deep imagination of a 4th grader, it’s laughing out loud story about Ace Chippy’s encounters, crime scene clues, and resolutions.

William’s uncle Thomas, an artist and who is also familiar with book publishing, helped him bring this project to fruition designing a cover for him and aiding him with the book’s layout. William was so excited when the twenty-four selfpublished copies arrived in the mail. He couldn’t wait to share them with his original “Daily Cat” subscribers. One of these subscribers, Ms. Carla Haith, DCD Lower School Head was honored and touched to receive one of these limited copies!

William is busy working on a sequel. While the pandemic has felt isolating to many kids, it’s wonderful to see examples of children taking advantage of this quiet, less hurried time to get inspired and pursue something creative that clearly feeds their souls.

US Congressman Meets with DCD’s 8th-Grade History Class

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ooming in from Washington, U.S. Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN) joined a special combined meeting of DCD’s two 8th-Grade History classes on February 9th.

During a 45-minute session, Phillips described his first-time run for office in 2018, his role as a leader of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress, and provided the students with an update on current developments in Washington, including the recent elections, the impeachment trial, and the pending COVID-19 relief bill.

Rep. Phillips spent the bulk of his time responding to student questions, covering a wide range of topics from what it’s like to be a Congressman to the attack on the Capitol and issues of racial equity and justice. He strongly encouraged the 8th-graders to get involved in public service and to run for office some day!

U.S. Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN) joined a special combined Facing History class in February.

Phillips is a childhood friend of history teacher and advancement director Charles Rudnick, who invited Phillips to join the class as a complement to the students’ conversations about the Constitution and current events in history, which Rudnick co-teaches with Nate Buffum.

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Community News DCD Recognizes Third-Graders Teddy and Kenny Knight for Bravery

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By Leslie Bowen onday, March 1, started as a typical enough day for the Knight family of West Roxbury. Twin brothers Teddy and Kenny Knight, thirdgraders at DCD, were home doing school work during a remote learning day away from classes.

Nestled in their favorite spot under the bay window at the front of their home on a quiet street, the twins worked on their spelling exercises together. Their mother, Michelle, who is CEO of Ropes Wealth Advisors, was on a Zoom call in her office at the back of the house, and their father, Lyle, was working on a project in the basement.

Kenny looked up from his work to see a woman who was out for a walk collapse in the middle of the street right in front of their house. He turned to his brother and said, “Something’s not right.”

All of a sudden, Michelle said, there was a big commotion. The boys started yelling for their parents, running in different directions to reach each of them, shouting, “Mom, Dad, it’s an emergency!”

My first thought was something was wrong with one of them, Michelle remembers. “A woman is lying in the street,” they shouted.

Sure enough, she could see that the woman was motionless.

Michelle grabbed her mask and ran out the door, shouting to her husband, “call 911!”

“I thought she was dead,” she said. “Her eyes were rolling back in her head.”

The kids stayed back on the steps of the house while Michelle comforted the woman until the EMTs arrived. “It’s okay; it’s okay, help is on the way,” she reassured her as she heard the sirens coming closer.

“She couldn’t speak or move,” Michelle said. “I took her mask off because it seemed she was having trouble breathing.” Michelle said she didn’t recognize the woman and guesses she was just out for a walk from a neighboring area.

Michelle was so worried that she took the name and number of the EMT to find out what happened to the woman. “They couldn’t tell me much, but they let me know she was admitted to the emergency room at the Faulkner hospital.” Apparently, the woman had suffered a stroke.

The kids got to her so quick,” she said. “They saw her collapse right as it happened.”

Their quick action, so critical in stroke cases, they hope may have saved her from more serious injury. If they hadn’t been home from school, she might have remained there for a long time.

“I was surprised that they were so decisive and knew exactly what to do,” she said. Sometimes kids panic or get scared. They didn’t go out and try to deal with it themselves but told mom and dad. They are so proud of themselves for doing the right thing.”

“We saved her, mom,” they said, something they’ll remember their whole lives.

Morgen Peck Joins Board of Trustees

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orgen is a Portfolio Manager at Fidelity Investments. She is the lead Portfolio Manager for the Small Cap Opportunities Fund and the Small Cap Stock Selector Fund and is a co-Manager on Low Priced Stock Fund. She was a finalist for the Bonhill Group’s Women in Asset Management Award in 2019 and has participated in numerous external marketing efforts on behalf of Fidelity Investments for the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and Bloomberg News.

After joining the DCD community in 2018, she began volunteering on the DCD Finance Committee and formally joined the DCD Board in 2020. She previously served on the Finance Committee at The Pike School and as the Treasurer and member of the Board for The Riverbend School. Morgen graduated from Harvard University with a BA in economics and has earned her CFA charter. She and her husband Morgan Lackenbauer live in Dedham with their two sons Lucas (DCD ’26) and Austin (DCD ’29).

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Community News

DCD Recognized as All-Star in Education by The Fenway Bowl

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ead of School Allison Webster and staff received recognition as an All-Star in Education in New England by the Fenway Bowl in partnership with Cross Insurance, Samuel Adams, and the Boston Globe. DCD was one of 27 receiving the honor.

As part of its commitment to equitable and quality education across New England, The Fenway Bowl honors outstanding people in the field of education. By tapping schools and associations across New England, they create a list of honorees based on colleagues, students, and friends’ recommendations.

The list of this year’s honorees represents individuals who are making a difference and inspiring their communities, from college professors and teachers of all grade levels to custodians, school nurses, administrators, and more.

The recommendation of Dedham Country Day for the award notes, “The community came together with an unwavering focus on meeting the needs of kids; we were able to provide in-person classes five days a week to every child since September. Allison, faculty, staff, parents, and students showed what a community can do when it pulls together for the common good.”

In response to receiving the award, Allison Webster said, “Every member of our DCD community shares in this honor.”

To learn more about the Fenway Bowl and its commitment to equitable and quality education across New England visit FenwayBowl.com.

Karen Eutemey Receives Funding for Public Art Project

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iddle School Visual Arts teacher Karen Eutemey is part of a public art project that received funding from the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture to complete the Edward O. Gourdin and African American Veterans Memorial artwork.

Karen created ten bas-relief portraits of African American veterans of wars from the American Revolution to the Iraq War that are part of the community-initiated public art project, which features a bronze memorial portrait of Justice Gourdin by fellow sculptor Fern Cunningham Terry.

Gourdin Memorial Park bas-reliefs of African-American veterans by Karen Eutemey The City of Boston has allocated $150,000 in capital funds to close the funding gap slowing the completion of the project.

The long-deferred installation honors Edward Orval “Ned” Gourdin (1897–1966), jurist, veteran, athlete, and civil rights activist, who was the first African American and the first Native American (Seminole) to be appointed a Superior Court judge in New England.

Gourdin was colonel of the 372nd Infantry Regiment during World War II, and commandant of the 272nd during the Korean War, the last segregated military unit in the United States.

Karen’s sculpture will be part of the installation in Gourdin Park, located in the heart of Roxbury’s Dudley Square, that will become a memorial to the African American veterans of Massachusetts who served in all wars.

Karen, right, and sculptor Fern Cunningham Terry with the statue of Justice Gourdin

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GRADUATION: A LOOK BACK

Dedham Country Day School Celebrates the Conclusion of the School Year and Graduation of the Class of 2020—Virtually and In-Person

By Leslie Bowen

DCD

celebrated the conclusion of its 117th school year in a non-traditional way celebrating each student virtually with two special events: a Closing Assembly on Thursday, June 4, and the graduation of the Class of 2020 on Friday, June 5. These virtual events were followed by an in-person, outdoor, socially distanced celebration held on August 24.

The Closing Assembly, normally held as part of graduation, took on its own identity this year with the theme DCD Rocks!, and featured a surprise: a rock with the DCD logo printed on it, which participants received in the mail and opened together during the assembly, a play on the “DCD Rocks” logo of last year’s DCD Fair. Students and faculty talked about why DCD rocks, what it means to them, and how it helps them stay strong.

During the assembly, Head of Lower School Carla Haith presented the Dietsch Prize, awarded annually to a Lower School student in honor of Alice Dietsch, a DCD faculty member from 1930 to 1976, for Kindness, Curiosity, and Love of Learning, to fifth-grader Jocelyn Riordan.

Head of School Allison Webster recognized faculty members for their years of service: Elaine Gage for 25 years, Sue Shirley for 35 years, and Mary Ellen Maloney for 40 years. She also honored Librarian Marge Farquharson, who is retiring after 33 years, mentioning her contributions over the years, not just as a librarian but also as a teacher in fourth and eighth grades and as one of the founders of the Facing History program at DCD (see article on page 44).

She also acknowledged departing faculty Liza D’Hemecourt, Caiti Pina, and Val Celis.

The next day, twenty-six graduates and their families participated in a remote Zoom webinar that featured many of the same elements of the traditional in-person ceremony, including music, a choral performance, and the presentation of awards and diplomas.

President of the Board of Trustees Mark R. Epker gave the trustees’ greeting, welcoming everyone.

Reflecting on a decade of being a DCD student, Class of 2020 speaker Abby Rochelle commented, “Yes, we lost a lot this year, and the pandemic will certainly be part of our

history. But it doesn’t change who we are, how we’ve connected, and what we’ve learned together.”

Eighth-Grade Advisor Brenda Leith presented the Charlotte Lowell Award to Marin Reeds. The award is given annually to a graduating eighth-grader since 1927 in memory of Charlotte Lowell, 1918–1927, for Friendliness, Kindness, and Unselfishness.

Head of Middle School Nate Buffum presented the Lisa Sutherland Award to Riggs Catlin. The award is given annually to a graduating eighth grader in memory of Lisa Sutherland, 1960–1975, for Excellence in Academics, Athletics, and the Arts. Nate spoke about each graduate’s unique strengths and accomplishments during the presentation of diplomas.

Four eighth-grade members of the Middle School Chorus—Irini Kolovos, Maggie McKee, Summer Perry, and Abby Rochelle,— provided a musical interlude with their song “One Voice” which they performed separately, then combined the videotaped segments into one song that was beautifully melded together.

In her remarks, “The Monk and the Raspberry,” Head of School Allison Webster

Left to right, this page, students accepted diplomas remotely from Head of Middle School Nate Bufffum with their parents in June; students left their mark on the halls of the middle school and signed each others’ yearbooks during the in-person Culiminating Activities and Reunion Event in August.

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“I saw you navigating all sorts of challenges big and small, and you often did so with an eye towards finding what is beautiful and joyful and fun in this life, in spite of it

Faculty Speaker Charles Rudnick

all.”—from “The Monk and the Raspberry,” remarks to the Class of 2020 by Allison Webster shared a story her grandfather told her when she was young about a monk who falls off a cliff and rejoices in finding a raspberry on the outcropping that saves him.

“This story came to mind when I was thinking of your class since you’ve been dealt a level of challenge few DCD classes have had to navigate. And yet I’ve seen you apply the lessons from this story in ways that demonstrate your strength, maturity, thoughtfulness, and focus — and readiness for all that is ahead.

“Your ability to find joy as a group—to enjoy the raspberry—is strong. I saw you navigating all sorts of challenges big and small, and you often did so with an eye towards finding what is beautiful and joyful and fun in this life, in spite of it all. Just like in the story—there is truly always something to bring hope and connection—and you as a group are good at finding it.”

Head of Middle School Nate Buffum talked about each student’s unique character traits as each received a diploma from their parents that had been delivered to them the day before by Head of School Allison Webster.

Each family was able to share the special

moment with the rest of the class remotely.

Despite being apart, the ceremony was a meaningful and moving conclusion to their years at DCD. Later in the summer, after COVID-19 restrictions relaxed somewhat, we brought the graduates back to campus to celebrate outdoors together in-person at the Class of 2020 Culminating Activities and Reunion Event on August 24.

Head of School Allison Webster spoke at the event, which was held outside on the baseball field at the front of the school.

Alumni Association President Erin Keith Epker ’86 welcomed the graduates to the Alumni Association, and Director of Advancement and History teacher Charles Rudnick, the faculty speaker selected by the class, addressed the graduates.

The graduates had a chance to join in traditional end-of-year activities they missed in the spring because of the pandemic. They added their fingerprints to those of earlier graduating classes on the walls of the middleschool hallways, signed each others’ yearbooks, and enjoyed treats from an ice cream truck to cap off the event.

Left to right, this page, a visit to the ice-cream truck capped off the August event; Allison Webster addressed the students during a ceremony on the baseball field in August.

Excerpt from the address to graduates by Faculty Speaker Charles Rudnick at the Culminating Activities and Reunion Event: “Whether you’ve been here for ten years or two, you’ve had experience in public speaking, team work, relationship building, advocacy, community service, and leadership — culminating in your roles as Big Buddies.

“As our experience in class together this year amply demonstrated, you’ve also learned to question assumptions, challenge authority, examine your sources, and yes — ask those tough questions.

“These are all building blocks for engagement with the world to come, and I hope you’ve sensed the extent to which they come from a group effort — the community of adults at DCD who care about each and every one of you.

“So, whether you realize it or not, you are poised to make a difference in this world, and those of us who’ve had the honor to be your teachers, will be watching you, rooting for you, and counting on you. And hopefully, the DCD community will not only be a foundation for your future, but will always be a place you consider home, and where you are always welcome.”

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GRADUATION: A LOOK BACK

Address to the Class of 2020

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ood morning! Thank you so much for joining us, the Class of 2020, as we graduate... virtually. With everything going on right now, it’s hard to stay optimistic, but I hope that our ceremony brings positivity and light into your day. I’m so honored that my class chose me to speak at graduation.

I know this all feels a little weird.

Believe me, I did not expect to give this speech through a screen. But the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way, and we’ve lost a third of our final year physically together. We were always told that our last few months would be so much fun! We’d get to travel together to Washington, D.C. We’d run our last DCD Fun Run holding hands. And yes, we’d pull the teachers past the centerline in tug of war. But, most importantly, we’d get all dressed up, and attend our graduation ceremony.

Yes, we lost a lot this year, and the pandemic will certainly be part of our history. But it doesn’t change who we are, how we’ve connected, and what we’ve learned together. Those are the things that I want to talk to you about today because those are the things we should celebrate.

Let me start with the people. When I think of my classmates, I think of singers, actors, athletes, video game enthusiasts, artists, environmentalists, and all-around great people. Although different in many ways, we are connected by our shared experiences in the DCD community. My favorite example of this was our Halloween costume back in the fall. We all decided to dress up as...

UPS boxes. On the day of the parade, we helped each other into our boxes and made our way to the Rand Gym as a sea of cardboard boxes. It was awesome.

We were all so similar, even down to the matching DCD labels we wore! But, you could still see the differences! Some 40 40

boxes were big, some small, others were decorated, and some were just plain boxes. We had a common goal, but we all achieved it in different ways. Each of us is unique and special in our own way, but at the end of the day, we are all classmates, friends, and peers, and connected through DCD. We’ve changed a lot since we started at DCD and the years we’ve spent here have helped us grow into who we are today.

The Class of 2020 started as a small group of four and five-year-olds. Since then, our class grew and shrank, and grew again, but that group of little kids grew up into some of the nicest and most welcoming people I know. I joined this class in the fourth grade. Coming from a different school, I was worried I’d be an outcast. But, that tight group welcomed me in with their laughter and their genuine kindness. After a couple of weeks, I stopped thinking of the fourth-grade as “their class.” It was “My class” now. I had joined the big wonderful DCD family.

Even before I started at DCD, I felt the pull of the community. My older brothers, Adam and Sam, were students here way before me. Even as a four-year-old, I felt like I belonged at DCD. The teachers all wanted to meet me and ask when I would be going to the school. I knew that DCD would welcome me with open arms, and I felt that welcoming pull every time I stepped onto the campus.

I think the reason we have such an amazing community at DCD is because of the strong connections we make, with each other and with our teachers. Although we haven’t gotten to see each other in person for a while now, I feel that because of this pandemic, the Class of 2020 has actually grown closer.

I believe that because we have less time together, we value the time we do have.

We did have more than half the year together and I want to make sure that we don’t let that time get ruined by the

By Abby Rochelle ’20

shadow that this pandemic casts. We’ve realized the importance of connection despite our differences. We need each other. One of the reasons online school has been hard is because we are fueled by the people around us. When I was in class on campus, the high spirits of my peers made me more excited to learn.

Their positive attitudes were contagious.

One of my favorite parts of the day was the time where our grade just existed together. Just us, sitting on that shabby brown couch outside of the Music room in the eighth-grade hallway. It seems that the eighth-graders always gravitated to that spot. Whether it was early in the morning before class, or late afternoon while we were supposed to be packing up for pick-up, we could all just sit there and talk. The teachers would always remind us to only sit ’one layer thick’, as we fought over seats. Sometimes I would go to sit there by myself, but it wouldn’t take long before a classmate wandered over and made my day brighter with a joke, a magic trick, or even a Rubix cube tutorial! That’s how I know that my classmates and I need each other. Even when I thought I wanted time alone, somehow I always ended up, with the rest of my class, on that shabby brown couch.

My classmates are not the only people I want to recognize. Thank you to our teachers for the wonderful education.

Your work ethic always fueled me and

DCD Class of 2020 Left to right, front row: Summer Perry, Marin Reeds, Brynn Bryant, Maggie McKee, Rose Quinn, Abby Rochelle; second row: Ollie Farber, Shalease Allen, Alex Landry, Quinn Kelly, Elena Ferrara; third row; Emma McNealy, Amanda Hiatt, Jason Sima; back row: Cate Creevy, Eleni Kolovos, Jay Caponigro, Charlie Overman, Cameron Yao, John Hoffman, Ben Clay, Vincent Jaeger, Riggs Catlin, Evan Michaeli. Missing from photo: William Curran, Jason Dadasis

Photographs by Kristie Gillooly Dean ’02

my classmates...the way you inspired us to keep going and keep learning, especially when things were tough. We really appreciated that. When I started at DCD, I thought everything at school was mandatory and I had to do things a certain way and learn a certain way. DCD gave me the chance to learn differently and to experience things in a whole new way. You were always available to just chat or to totally “geek out” about chemistry, Latin, or any other range of topics. When you get excited to teach us about something, we get excited to learn. Now I’m eager to learn more, be with more people, and explore more of what I can learn because I want to...not because it’s mandatory.

But I also want to thank you for your wonderful guidance outside of the classroom. You are always making sure that everyone feels welcome and included.

Throughout my years at DCD, I’ve learned how to establish and maintain these connections. Teachers also encourage you to reach out if you need them, a skill which will last us the rest of our lives.

Sometimes it can be hard to ask for help in school, but the DCD faculty makes

sure that if you need help with something, they are there for you. Some of the most memorable moments of my DCD life occurred outside of the classroom, sliding down a snowy hill late at night with Mr. Edie and a few classmates, chatting with the eighth-grade advisors during our overnight trip, or just hanging out with teachers during recess. I know that my classmates have all had similar experiences. So thank you, from all of us!

So what happens when you have a community with amazing people and strong connections? A really incredible learning experience. DCD lets you decide what inspires you and gives you the chance to get involved, and now I have a much different attitude towards learning. At DCD, I learned to think of school as an experience where you can take away what you want and what you need. “Learning Is a Way of Life” is more than fractions, punctuation, names, or dates. It’s digging deep into something you really enjoy.

So, when I think about our DCD experience — the people in the class of 2020, the connections we’ve made and all that we’ve learned...it doesn’t really matter that

we did this last part virtually because we have so much to celebrate...and so much that will keep us together. I can’t wait for us to attend our first alumni events together. I can’t wait to attend the 2021 DCD Fair and to sing ’Cross the Wide Missouri’ at the Thanksgiving Assembly.

I’m so excited to re-connect and see how far we have come. One thing we need to keep in mind through these times and throughout the rest of our lives is the importance of connections. As we move on to high school and beyond, connecting with your peers and the people around you is your greatest tool.

We all went into DCD as kids who came to learn, and now we’re leavingyoung adults- with much more than just an education. We’ve gained friendships with students and faculty. We’ve adopted new ways of learning. And most importantly, we know that we can always visit DCD and come back to that shabby brown couch. I know that it will always be there in one way or another, it will always be comfortable—more or less— and there will always be a DCD student sitting right there next to me.

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GRADUATION: A LOOK BACK Award Winners Left to right, Jocelyn Riordan received the Dietsch Award for Kindness, Curiosity, and Love of Learning awarded annually to a Lower School student in honor of Alice Dietsch, a DCD faculty member from 1930 to 1976. Marin Reeds received the Charlotte Lowell Award for Friendliness, Kindness, and Unselfishness, awarded annually since 1927 in memory of Charlotte Lowell, 1918–1927. Riggs Catlin received the Lisa Sutherland Award for Excellence in Academics, Athletics, and the Arts, given annually in memory of Lisa Sutherland, 1960–1975.

Class of 2020 Secondary Schools

Class of 2016 Colleges

Shalease Allen

Beaver Country Day School

Charlotte Jordan

Trinity College

Brynn Bryant

Dexter Southfield

Charlotte Epker

Colby College

Jay Caponigro

Blue Hills Regional Technical School

Audrey Linell

Bucknell University

Riggs Catlin

Noble and Greenough

Molly King

Trinity College

Ben Clay

Thayer Academy

Kelsey Lynch

Boston Conservatory

Cate Creevy

Brooks School

Rachel Mann

Northeastern University

William Curran

Catholic Memorial School

Melina Kapourelakos Boston University

Jason Dadasis

Dexter Southfield

Charles Volpe

Ollie Farber

Beaver Country Day School

Lauren van Veen

Elena Ferrara

New Hampton School

Sophia Perry

Brandeis University

Amanda Hiatt

The Rivers School

Keara McHaffie

Massachusetts College of Art & Design

John Hoffman

Thayer Academy

Mia Canning

University of Rochester

Vincent Jaeger

Roxbury Latin School

Grace Kosowsky

University of Virginia

Quinn Kelly

Catholic Memorial School

Julia Landry

Ithaca College

Irini Kolovos

Noble and Greenough

Angela Giordano

Syracuse University

Alex Landry

Catholic Memorial School

Alford Rudnick

George Washington

Maggie McKee

Middlesex School

Hannah Curran

University of Wisconsin

Emma McNealy

Noble and Greenough

Anna Glass

John Carroll University

Evan Michaeli

Brimmer and May School

Ryan Bogar

Assumption

Charlie Overman

The Rivers School

Connor Smith

Wheaton College

Summer Perry

Thayer Academy

Christopher Capone

Notre Dame

Notre Dame Academy

Matthew Capone

Dartmouth College

Beaver Country Day School

Kai Dixon

Howard University

Abby Rochelle

Milton Academy

Samuel Strymish

University of Rochester

Jason Sima

Thayer Academy

Rose Quinn Marin Reeds

Cameron Yao

Buckingham Browne and Nichols

Faculty Reach Milestones Head of School Allison Webster recognized faculty members for their years of service: Left to right, Elaine Gage for 25 years, Sue Shirley for 35 years, and Mary Ellen Maloney for 40 years. She also honored Librarian Marge Farquharson, who retired after 33 years, mentioning her contributions over the years, not just as a librarian but also as a teacher in fourth and eighth grades and as one of the founders of the Facing History program at DCD (see article on page 44). She also acknowledged departing faculty Liza D’Hemecourt, Caiti Pina, and Val Celis.

42

Boston College

BRYANT FAMILY

CREEVY FAMILY

FERRARA FAMILY

HIATT FAMILY

ODOMIROK-HOFFMAN FAMILY

KOLOVOS FAMILY

MCKEE FAMILY

REILLY-MCNEALY FAMILY

CAIL-PERRY FAMILY

KELLY FAMILY

ROCHELLE FAMILY

SIMA FAMILY

Families Recognized Each year at Closing Exercises, the Head of School recognizes families who are leaving DCD because their youngest or only child has graduated.

Photographs by Kristie Gillooly Dean ’02

WOO-JAO FAMILY

QUINN FAMILY

43

On Campus

Marjorie Farquharson—Librarian, Teacher, Storyteller, Friend—Retires After 33 Years at DCD

By Beth Conners and friends

A

fter 33 years at the helm of the DCD Library, Marjorie “Marge” Farquharson will be missed by all who enjoyed her book recommendations and her contagious love of reading. Marge had a passion for books, for technology, and for ideas, and by generously sharing those passions, she made a huge difference and indelible impact on the lives of both the children and the adults with whom she worked.

Marge joined the faculty in September 1987 as assistant librarian, and the following year took over the role of head librarian. Before DCD had its present entrance, students, parents, and visitors entered the school through a set of double doors. Immediately to the right was the head of school’s office, and to the left was the library, with the curved librarian’s desk at the front. In the morning, Marge was one of the first people to greet the students, each of whom she knew by name. She also knew most of the parents, and she cheerfully directed visitors to their destinations.

In so many ways, Marge was the hub of the school, even when the entrance was relocated to the ground floor.

Everyone used the library: students asked for help with their research, different grades met daily for reading and animated discussion, parents asked for guidance in choosing books for their kids, and all day, people would stop to chat with the librarian. Marge made time for everyone, and she was unfailingly cheerful.

Marge built a strong collection of literature for DCD’s young readers. Recognizing that technology was the way of the future, Marge worked to create an online borrowing system for DCD, replacing the old “card in the back of the book” method. Her interest in technology led to her own professional development and interest in coding, and for many years she offered free coding classes for students after school.

Marge’s interests and passions shaped much of her work at DCD. She is an ardent reader—a true bibliophile—and was a key person in starting the DCD Faculty Book Club.

44

Marge often enjoyed hosting present and former faculty in her home to discuss their latest read. Marge is also an expert quilter. She was instrumental in getting a school quilt project going. She engaged a friend of hers, Rosemary Bawn—a nationally known quiltmaker—to design a quilt for DCD’s Centennial in 2005. A group of faculty quilters identified the DCD traditions they wanted to be represented on the quilt.

The quilters who completed the project along with Marge were Spanish teacher Susie Jackson, Head of School Sonia Valentine, and second-grade teacher Nancy Zoller. The quilt hangs in the Lowell Center today.

Marge has many other creative outlets as well, including Nantucket basket-weaving and cross stitch and embroidery.

After longtime faculty member Janine Saint-Louis retired, Marge taught embroidery in the Middle School arts program.

Many years into her tenure as librarian, Marge was asked to teach Middle School English along with her library duties.

She enjoyed being in the classroom and sharing her love of literature and writing with the eighth-graders. She worked with them on their Smooth Talk speeches, as well. Marge also co-taught Facing History and Ourselves to the eighth grade.

Even after she no longer taught the course, she never lost her passion for discussing current events with students. Many students remembered Marge in their speeches as someone who had an impact on them.

As time went by, Marge left teaching Middle School English to teach a fourth-grade reading group along with her library duties. Marge enjoyed the literature for this group,

On Campus especially the stories of Medieval times. For many years, she served as Queen of the Medieval Feast to woodworking teacher Gerry Clifford’s King.

Gerry fondly remembers his admiration for Marge’s work in the library. “At the heart of all this orchestrated activity one would find Mrs. Farquharson. Brimming with her own love of books and good literature, Marge possessed the ability to pair the right work with any given student. While checking out books for students at her desk, I would often hear Marge animatedly giving an overview to a student, a sort of figurative push off the dock, sending student, book, and boat off to some new adventure. Here, one would witness true passion. Here, one would notice the patience, care, and attention given to those with a flickering flame of interest until the roar of discovery was firmly set. Here, one would see Learning Is a Way of Life in its full-life form. Here, one would see a brilliant teacher in Marge Farquharson, so totally at home in her work, and her love for it shining through.”

Marge and Gerry shared a love of storytelling and often would do storytelling assemblies for the DCD students.

Marge was known for always ending her assemblies with the line: “And now the story is yours…,” encouraging the children to create and share their own stories.

In 2016, when the new Double English program was created, Marge served as co-teacher with Beth Conners.

Marge spent three years following the first Double English cohort through Middle School, creating and fine-tuning the curriculum with Beth. Marge was fiercely committed to seeing her students succeed and even postponed retirement for a year so that she could see them through eighth grade and celebrate their accomplishments.

“Establishing a new program is never easy, and Marge was instrumental in its success,” shared Beth Conners.

“My favorite memories of those days are of Marge and the students and I laughing together and truly enjoying our time reading together. She is always so passionate about bringing out the best of kids’ abilities. She is tireless.”

Susie Jackson, a longtime colleague and friend, recalled, “For Marge, the needs and concerns of the children always took priority. When meeting with the student groups who came to the library on a daily basis, Marge succeeded in providing them with a space of comfort, welcome, and safety. This nurturing environment allowed children to ask questions without fear of being judged, as well as stimulating them to regard reading for pleasure as a positive activity. She was always willing to spend additional time with any student who needed assistance with research or who might be having trouble finding just the “right” book to take home and read outside of school. Dedham Country Day has a tradition of presenting an annual award for” kindness, curiosity, and love of learning” to a Lower School student. It is my feeling that this award should also be presented to Marjorie Farquharson for her invaluable contributions to our school.”

Longtime colleague, friend, and library assistant Kathy Felcon said, “DCD as a community has benefitted from Marge’s knowledge, kindness, warmth, and humor. She taught thousands of classes, which included library classes, reading classes, Facing History, English and Double English classes, and even art classes. Every single class benefited from her energy and passion. Marge shared countless stories and books over the years. All of her contributions have helped generations of DCD students learn and grow. We will miss all of that.”

Thank you for your 33 years of service to DCD, Marge.

And now the story is yours...

45

Alumni Association

2021 Alumni Award: Tommy Vietor ’94

For Tommy Vietor ’94, Luck and Timing Are Everything

By Leslie Bowen

T

ommy Vietor ’94 says he is incredibly fortunate to be where he is today. At 40, he has a more impressive resume than most men his age, having served in the White House under President Obama, followed by starting a podcast, Pod Save America, and eventually forming a media company, Crooked Media, with his colleagues from that era, Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett.

He attributes his success to luck and timing, beginning with his supportive family. “My parents were incredibly caring and loving and sent me to great schools,” he said. “I recognize there was an enormous amount of privilege going to schools like DCD, Milton Academy, and Kenyon College. Those experiences and that education prepared me to take on difficult jobs.”

“I was lucky to get hired to work on Obama’s campaign in 2004, and that set the course for my life,” he said. “It was pure luck, not part of any plan.”

Tommy’s political career actually started with an internship in Senator Ted Kennedy’s office in 2002, right out of college. His cousin, Wendy Button, a speechwriter for Mayor Tom Menino, served as a role model for Tommy and connected him to someone in Kennedy’s office.

“It was an interesting year to be there,” he said. “I thought the things that Kennedy was fighting for were inspiring and set the course for pursuing politics as a career.”

Later he worked for the John Edwards campaign, and when they lost, he interviewed to work on John Kerry’s campaign. In the meantime, he was learning about a young senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. Tommy read Obama’s book, Dreams from My Father, and describes becoming “obsessed” with him, eventually turning down an offer to work for the Kerry campaign and using his connections to work for Obama instead.

Tommy spent nine years with Obama, working for him in his senate campaign, senate office, presidential campaign, and for four years in the White House, a journey that left him feeling a little burnt out. After leaving the White House, he worked in DC for a couple of years and then headed to San Franciso, moving away from politics to start a speechwriting/communications company in San 46

Francisco, and doing a little screenwriting on the side. After Trump won the election in 2016, Tommy said he felt “enormous guilt” that he hadn’t done more to prevent it.

Now with millions of people listening to his podcast, he’s added a progressive voice to the airwaves to compete with conservative media. Again, he attributes the podcast’s success to luck and timing.

He remembers hearing from people from around the country who were shocked after Trump won the election and felt like the world was going crazy around them, that the country they knew no longer existed. “There was something cathartic about the show for a lot of people,” he said. “You’d realize, I’m not alone; I’m not the only one who feels this way.”

“Watching Cable TV could leave you feeling despondent, unable to make sense of things,” he said. “We decided to create a show

AlumniAssociation STARTED IN 2012 BY DCD’S ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, THE ALUMNI AWARD IS PRESENTED ANNUALLY TO A DEDHAM COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ALUMNUS/A WHOSE SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS OR EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE TO OTHERS IN HIS OR HER CHOSEN FIELD, AS A PROFESSIONAL OR VOLUNTEER, EXEMPLIFY THE SCHOOL’S MISSION.

that was a little more entertaining, more informative, and encouraged listeners to take action—to call your senator, volunteer for a campaign.”

“Citizenship is an everyday thing. It means paying attention and getting involved. If we were just punditry, we’d be lost in the crowd.

By knocking on doors ourselves, we showed listeners we really cared.”

The podcast format offered several advantages to a start-up company. There was no time limit, no advertising, and no barrier to entry, Tommy explained, and it required only a small hand-held device for recording.

“It’s not that hard to figure out how to edit and make it financially viable,” he said.

“We worked out of Jon’s kitchen for the first six months.”

Once the podcast took off, they launched Crooked Media and spun out shows reflecting their individual interests. With his foreign affairs background from his days at the White House, where he served as national security council spokesperson, Tommy started Pod Save the World.

Describing his time in the White House addressing complicated foreign policy issues, he says it was important and fascinating but trying to understand all the strange names and places could be intimidating.

“It’s bad in a democracy when you feel like you don’t need to or aren’t smart enough to be informed about something,” he said.

“When I’d get a question from a reporter, I’d find some smart person to answer their questions, mute myself and listen in.

Working in the White House was grad school

I got paid to do. There was so much learning I did there. I wanted to bring that incredible privilege to others.”

With Pod Save the World, he spends hours reading and engaging on a topic before he does an episode. “The thing I’ve loved over these past very bleak four years and found super interesting,” he said, “is learning about the global network of activists that exists, like Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader jailed in Russia. It gives you context and perspective to better understand our own problems.”

important for people to understand the big issues before Congress and the states and get to know the candidates.”

On the media side of things, they’ll keep doing what they’ve been doing, including some series shows they’ve recently launched.

“We’re very worried about the spread of misinformation on Facebook and YouTube,” he said. “We’re going to be thinking about ways to combat that with better content.”

Los Angeles is a long way from Dedham House of Pizza and steak and cheese subs at D’Angelo’s, and he’s glad to be far away from freezing-cold cars at carpool. Yet, “Citizenship is an he says he remembers DCD as “a kind, welcoming place with smart, thoughtful everyday thing. It means teachers who put a lot of time and effort paying attention and into the students. They’re teaching you math but also coaching you, so it’s a real getting involved.” relationship.”

“DCD did a great job teaching you “There’s a global solidarity movement work ethics, forcing you to buckle down. happening right now, with examples like You don’t realize how lucky you are to have the women marching in Argentina against art and shop and do pottery and take music draconian anti-abortion laws or the protests classes. It’s an incredible privilege.” in Belarus against the presidential elections.

“Who you are in eighth grade is not who The problems are all related to a creeping you are in college. I can’t remember who I nationalism that’s taking ugly racist forms. was then,” Tommy said. “When I talk to kids I’m interested in understanding those now, I tell them there’s lots of time to figure connections, meeting those activists, and out the thing you’re passionate about. It’s bringing those stories forward.” okay to try lots of things. Academics are key, In the post-Trump era, Tommy said he’s and you have to work hard, but you’ll find rethinking what changes the company will real meaning in understanding something make on the political side of things. “We deeply and take pride in it. Even if it’s not want to help the Biden administration something you end up doing for a living, achieve what they set out to do and offer a lot of good things can come from the friendly pressure when they don’t. It’s also process.”

4747

Alumni Association

ClosingExercises

Alumni Profile

Crash Course in American Politics for Alfie Rudnick ’16

by Leslie Bowen

A

fter supporting a roster of losing candidates over the years, Alfie Rudnick ’16 finally had a winner in the BidenHarris team. During the spring and fall of 2020, he had the unusual experience of being a driver for Vice President Kamala Harris, both during the campaign and after she became vice-president-elect, the youngest person at 18 years old to have the job!

Now he’s headed to George Washington University in DC, where he expects to major in political science after taking a gap year due to the pandemic.

“I have no regrets,” he said, reflecting on his decision to take a year off after graduating from BB&N in 2020. “Because of the pandemic, I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Biden campaign at a level I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Despite his youth, Alfie has supported several candidates over the years. In fact, his first memory of being involved in a political campaign was the time his father, Charles Rudnick, a history teacher and Director of Advancement at DCD, ran for state senate and lost.

“I don’t remember much, I was eight or nine years old, but we have pictures of it,” he said.

More recently, he threw his 48

support behind Joe Kennedy for the US Senate and Pete Buttigieg for President.

During spring 2020, he volunteered for Joe Kennedy as part of his senior spring project at BB&N, helping out the campaign a few hours a week in the beginning and eventually ending up working for Kennedy full time after the pandemic derailed any school work planned for the spring semester.

As an official volunteer intern, Alfie became a “political tracker,” which he describes as basically following the activities of the other candidate, calling it one of the “most interesting” things he did for the campaign.

“I got to know a lot of the senior Kennedy staffers and was able to sit in on their meetings,” he said. “I got to see the inner workings of the campaign and learned how decisions are made, which was really cool.”

Starting in May and continuing through the end of the campaign, Alfie attended events where Ed Markey appeared and would send a nightly report to the deputy campaign manager and senior staffers about the candidate’s activities that day.

“I ranked the clips and noted anything inconsistent from his previous speeches, basically analyzing

his remarks for the campaign and flagging anything noteworthy,” he explained.

Following the candidate’s bus tour would mean attending four to five events each day, with the candidate’s speeches varying very little from one other. “Ed Markey is a good public speaker, but it was mentally draining doing it over four months,” he remembered. Laughing, he said, “By Election Day, Markey’s staff was asking me if I was ready to switch sides!”

Working for Joe Kennedy opened up opportunities for him to get involved in the Biden campaign. His boss, who was Kennedy’s Advance Director, asked him to come along to South Carolina to do advance work for the “Lindsay Must Go” PAC (another of Alfie’s “losing causes” as Lindsay Graham managed to hang on to his Senate seat!). While in South Carolina, he and his boss split their time between the PAC and the Biden-Harris campaign based in Charleston, supporting Kamala Harris whenever she was at events in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

“Advance is a whole other side of politics,” he said. “I consider myself pretty well-informed about politics, but I had no idea about what went into advance work. I’d attend an event and think, ’this is very well-

A l u m nC li oAs si nsgoE xc ei rac ti si eos n

organized,’ and didn’t realize what went into it. Advance teams travel to the location of a politician’s scheduled appearance days or sometimes weeks in advance (hence the name), to organize every second of the principal’s trip, which includes anticipating and preventing any political issues,” he explained.

The opportunity to be a driver for the Biden-Harris campaign came along during this time. After passing a Secret Service background check, Alfie became one of the few non-police drivers and one of the youngest to have the job, which required no special training or experience. “Are you even old enough to drive?” he remembers a Secret Service agent asking him.

His first assignment was driving to a Kamala Harris campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia. Next, he went in the motorcade that took Jill Biden to a campaign event in Savannah, Georgia.

His final assignment was to drive in the motorcade that took Vice-PresidentElect Harris to Columbus, Georgia, to support Democratic candidates in that state’s US Senate runoff election. As the lead car behind the SWAT Team, he was given instructions on how to respond to any potential threats.

“It was so amazing,” he said. “Those are experiences you’re never going to forget.”

Now that he’s on the volunteer list, he

may receive a call in the future. “When you drive in the line, you get to know everyone really well, and whenever they have a trip, volunteer drivers are on the list to be contacted,” he explained. “My boss started off as a driver for Hillary in New Hampshire then got on the advance team.”

Until he gets a call to volunteer again,

he’s working at Chipotle Mexican Grill and looking forward to living in DC as a student at George Washington University in the center of American political life.

“I’m excited about what comes next, not necessarily for me, but for the country. We’re moving towards a country where politicians actually care.”

49

Class Notes

ClosingExercises

1950s William Taylor ’53 writes, “As I enter my 80th year, I am curious about where my classmates are, how their lives have been and any other news from that era.” You can contact him at wiliamtaylor2@mac.com.

Maudie (Eleanor Canham) Shanley ’54 writes, “I’m living in New

perform The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins, which was a wonderful experience. This was due to having performed the piece with the Dedham Choral Socitey several years ago.”

1980s Sarah Kurker ’88 has published a book Effective Therapies for Adults Affected by Cancer.

1990s

Jersey. So excited and happy to have the granddaughter of my brother, Colin Canham ’56, going to DCD!: Juliet Hatoun ’28. It’s quite a different school now, of course. My class planted the willows down by the tiny stream. I don’t think they exist anymore.”

Caitlin McElroy ’98 is an assistant professor at Oxford University, UK, where she lives with her husband Jonathan and 18-month-old son Theo.

1970s

Elizabeth (Lizzy) McElroy ’01

Elizabeth Pyle Handler ’79 writes, “In January 2020, I joined a couple hundred other singers in Carnegie Hall to

50

Staying Connected

2000s lives in Boston and is a pre-K special education teacher in the Watertown Public Schools.

Madeline Pongor ’03 is a consultant for Deloitte, working in higher education and living in Boston.

Mariah Pongor ’07, a graduate of Michigan and Georgetown, is working in media/social documentary film. She is now attending Northwestern where she is pursuing her master’s of science degree in Integrated Marketing Communications.

2010s Timothy Mills ’10 graduated from the United States Military Academy West Point in 2018, then completed his aviation training at Fort Rucker in Alabama. He is now First Lieutenant Timothy Mills, serving in Ansbach Germany, as a pilot of a CH47 Chinook helicopter.

DCD alumni presented remotely via Zoom at the secondary school information evening last September. They talked to our current eighth-graders and their parents about the secondary school process, giving tips and advice on interviews and applications. Alumni pictured top row, left to right: Danny Welch, BB&N; Maggie McKee, Middlesex; Ms Sidoli; Summer Perry, Thayer Academy; second from top row: Shalease Allen, Beaver Country Day School; third from top row: Cameron O’Rourke, Milton Academy.

ClassNotes

ClosingExercises

Left: EVE GLEICHMAN’s short stories have appeared in the Kenyon Review, the Harvard Review, BOMB Daily, and elsewhere. Eve is a graduate of Brooklyn College’s Fiction MFA Program and lives in Brooklyn.

Right: LAURA BLACKETT ’05 is a woodworker and writer based in Brooklyn.

The Very Nice Box, A New Book Co-Authored by Laura Blackett ’05 "A quirky, deeply satisfying, whip-smart debut that critiques corporate culture and male entitlement while also offering a heartfelt look at how to work through grief. Meticulously constructed and truly original—I inhaled it."

—Jami Attenberg, author of All This Could Be Yours For fans of Elinor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Severance: an offbeat, wryly funny debut novel that follows an eccentric product engineer who works for a hip furniture company where sweeping corporate change lands her under the purview of a startlingly charismatic boss who seems determined to get close to her at all costs . . .

Ava Simon designs storage boxes for STÄDA, a slick Brooklyn-based furniture company. She’s hard-working, obsessive, and heartbroken from a tragedy that killed her girlfriend and upended her life. It’s been years since she’s let anyone in.

But when Ava’s new boss—the young and magnetic Mat Putnam—offers Ava a ride home one afternoon, an unlikely relationship blossoms.

Ava remembers how rewarding it can be to open up—and, despite her instincts, she becomes enamored. But Mat isn’t who he claims to be, and the romance takes a sharp turn.

The Very Nice Box is a funny, suspenseful debut— with a shocking twist. It’s at once a send-up of male entitlement and a big-hearted account of grief, friendship, and trust.

Click on the QR code below to order from Amazon:

Faculty News Head of Lower School Carla Haith received the NAIS Fellows Fund Award for the 2020–2021 academic year to support her doctoral studies in education at The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. She is in year two of the program. Carla published an article in the Fall 2020 issue of Perspectives on Urban Education, Volume 18 Issue 1, New Tools for a New House: Transformations for Justice and Peace in and beyond COVID-19. Her article, “Systems of Emotional Support for Educators in Crisis,” appeared in the section Flux Leadership Insights from the (Virtual) Field. Carla worked with her UPenn cohort on the article, which she co-authored with Jeannine Minort-Kale of the Waterbury Public Schools.

Director of Learning Resources and Student Support Beth Conners and Assistant Head of School and Director of Admissions Emilie Liebhoff presented at the Enrollment Management Association’s Annual Conference held virtually on September 22–25, with more than three thousand attendees. The topic of their presentation was “Recognizing the Needs of Today’s Learners, with an Eye to Yielding, Retaining, and Placing.”

Former DCD English teacher Bill Youngs writes, “I am now in my 57th year as a teacher, the past 48 as a professor of history at Eastern Washington University, and my first two teaching composition to fifth- and sixth-graders at DCD. Even today I am benefiting (as are my students) from lessons learned at DCD!”

51

Class Notes ClosingExercises

Welcome to the DCD Family!

Controller Maura McCarthy welcomed twins, Kaelyn Genevieve McCarthy (left) and Lily Paula McCarthy, on August 23, 2020.

In Memoriam William “Bill” Amory ’44, brother of James Amory ’45 and predeceased by brothers Frederic Amory ’38 and Hugh Amory ’41, died on December

Patricia Papps, mother of Julia Papps ’91, Nicholas Papps ’95, and Alexander Papps’96, passed away on November 29, 2020.

8, 2020.

Tina Blackett, mother of Anna Blackett ’01, and Laura Blackett ’05 passed away in February 2021.

Alice Perkins, grandmother of Kenzo Perkins-Allen ’25 and Shalease Perkins-Allen ’20, died on February 17, 2021.

John Cushing ’60 died on February

Gerard “Jerry” Sutherland, father of

10, 2021.

Nancy Ware Cutler ’32, sister of Elisabeth (Betty Ware) Bailey ’30, mother of Erica Cutler Labouisse ’53 and Nathan Cutler ’61 (deceased), great-grandmother of Kristina Kostakos ’06 and Peter Kostakos ’08, died on March 26, 2021, at the age of 100.

Stephen Heard ’48 passed away on September 6, 2020.

Russell Porter Holmes, father of Katherine Holmes ’12, passed away on July 25, 2020.

Chief Information Officer Ali Fernandes and partner Faria welcomed a baby girl, Aliyah Marie Fernandes, on February 4, 2021.

Science teacher Sarah Walsh and her husband Frank welcomed their baby, Lila May Walsh, to their family on July 5, 2020.

52

Everett W. Ladd Jr. ’42, or Bill, as he was known, the son of former DCD headmaster Everett W. Ladd Sr. (1928–1963), passed away on March 16, 2021, at the age of 90.

Susan Sutherland Weisman ’68, Eric Sutherland ’70, and Lisa Sutherland ’74, for whom the Lisa Sutherland Award for Excellence in Academics, Arts, and Athletics, given at Closing Exercises, is named, died on March 19, 2021.

Kosta Tsipis, grandfather of Henry Tsipis ’27 and Oliver Tsipis ’29, passed away on November 7, 2020.

Mary (Emlen) Lowell Wheeler ’36, daughter of Ralph and Charlotte Lowell, sister of Ralph Lowell Jr. ’35, Lucy Lowell Grimm ’40, and Susan Lowell Wales Dineen ’43, and mother of Mary (Lyn) Wheeler Anderson ’61, died on February 15, 2021, at the age of 95.

Lara Morris, mother of Jennifer (Jen) Morris ’93 and Debra Morris ’95, died on April 9, 2021.

We extend our deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PLEASE KEEP US INFORMED! YOUR NEWS FOR THE BULLETIN: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ It’s been a very different year indeed.

GIVING SOCIETIES

____________________________________________________________________

Willow Tree Circle ...................... $25,000

learned a lot of new vocabulary words and ways to express ourselves BellWe’ve Tower Society ...................... $15,000 ____________________________________________________________________ during Club this ......................... global pandemic: Centennial $10,000 We’ve

pivoted, masked up, taught “synchronously ____________________________________________________________________ and asynchronously,” “surveillance tested,” done Zoom meetings, thrived in Founder’s Society ......................... $5,000 _____________________________________________________________________ “PODs”, and we................. all know what “6 feet” look like.

President’s Roundtable $2,500 1903 Society ................................. $1,903

_____________________________________________________________________

EW N

But most importantly, our community learned quickly what we needed to do to keep Bellringers’ Association* ................... $25safe, and deeply engaged in the learning and connection that is each other healthy, _____________________________________________________________________ quintessential DCD! Indeed, DCD’s motto “Learning is a Way of Life” feels more *Gifts of $25 or more from alumni Mask who are 25 years old or younger. _____________________________________________________________________ relevant than ever during these “challenging times.”

RY LA BU CA VO

Break

Virtual

Pivot

Air Quality

Our ability to be “nimble” stems not only from our collective “can-do” mindset but also from the strength of our financial resources.

The Annual Fund has played a critical role in our ability to provide in-person learning for our students and families this year.

Distance Learning

Unprecedented Synchronous Social Distance MyMedBot

Your contribution to the Annual Fund will help ensure DCD’s ability to finish this “unprecedented” year and look ahead to another vibrant year of deep learning and connection.

Masking Up

Asynchronous

Nimble

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO DCD OVER THE YEARS!

Community Safety

Air Filtration

Surveillance Testing

In-person Learning

New Normal

Pod Learning

RENEW YOUR SUPPORT

BY JUNE 30, 2021

D E D H A M C O U N T R Y D AY S C H O O L A N N U A L F U N D YES! I WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT THE DEDHAM COUNTRY DAY ANNUAL FUND.

GIVING METHOD:

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Credit Card:  Visa  MasterCard  American Express

 I have included DCD in my will or trust.

____________________________________________________________

 I would like more information about planned giving.  I would like to volunteer and/or become more involved with DCD.

Secure Online Gift: www.dedhamcountryday.org/annualfund

Enclosed Check: Payable to DEDHAM COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

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Our fiscal year end is June 9, 2021.

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Gifts of securities are welcome. To learn more about transfer of stock and planned giving , please contact the Advancement Office, 908.419.1052.

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Dedham Country Day School 90 Sandy Valley Road Dedham, MA 02026-5898 Change Service Requested

Graduates of the Class of 2020 had a chance to take part in traditional end-of-year activities, cancelled in June due to COVID-19, and celebrate in-person at a special Culminating Activities and Reunion Event last August. See article on page 38.