Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Winter 2018 VOLUME 80 |

NO. 1

loomischaffee.org

1

Hockey Pond

A rainbow of fall colors reflects in the Hockey Pond, photographed from the Batchelder Road causeway, October 2017. Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

2

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

loomischaffee.org

1

8 AM

9 AM

WORK JOB

WORK JOB

7:45–8:15

7:45–8:15

B5

B5

8:30–9:15

8:30–9:45

10 AM

B2

9:25–10:45

11 AM

FREE

40 34 COMMUNITY TIME

9:45–10:45

B6

10:55–11:40 12 PM

B6 11:50– 12:35

1 PM

2 PM

28 2

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

3 PM

B3

B6 12:10– 12:55

B7 12:10– 1:25

B7

B7 12:40– 1:55

1:05–2:25

2:35–3:20

4 PM

10:45–12:00

B1

2:05–3:20

ATHLETICS

ATHLETICS

3:45

3:45

26

Contents Wi n t e r 2 0 17

|

Volum e 80

|

No. 1

F E AT U R E S

26 28

EDITORIAL & DESIGN TEAM

Dogged Reporting

Lynn A. Petrillo ’86

Award-winning journalist Andrea Korzenik McCarren ’81 now pursues her career with a service dog-in-training by her side.

Becky Purdy Managing Editor

Jessica Hutchinson Graphic Designer

Full Circle

Christine Coyle

Author, art historian, and humanitarian Nick Fox Weber ’65 found his penchant and passion for art at Loomis and has woven them into everything he does.

34

A New Schedule in Town

40

Norton Fellowships

Obituaries Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Christine Coyle Freshman Stephanie Zhang John Cunningham Lisa Salinetti Ross Paige Abrams Heidi E.V. McCann ’93 Timothy Struthers ’85 Cara Woods

Changes to the daily class schedule on the Island have deepened learning and alleviated a frenzied pace, among other benefits touted by students and teachers alike.

SUBMISSIONS/STORIES & NEWS

This year’s Norton Fellows connected with their hometown communities through self-directed service projects involving disabled senior citizens, families in crisis, individuals with memory loss, young girls seeking self-confidence, and victims of human trafficking.

Alumni may contribute items to interest to: Loomis Chaffee Editors The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, CT 06095 860.687.6811 magazine@loomis.org

facebook-square twitter-square snapchat-square instagram

D E PA R T M E N T S

4 From the Head 5 Island News 20 Faculty & Staff News 21 Pelican Sports 47 Object Lesson 48 Class Notes 56 Obituaries 64 Reflections

Director of Strategic Communications & Marketing

On the cover: Former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz ’38.

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

facebook.com/loomischaffee twitter.com/loomischaffee user name: loomischaffee instagram.com/loomischaffee

Visit Loomis Chaffee online at www.loomischaffee.org for the latest school news, sports scores, and galleries of recent photos.

You also will find direct links to all of our social networking communities. For an online version of the magazine, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Printed at Lane Press, Burlington, VT Printed on 70# Sterling Matte, an SFI Sheet, Sustainable Forestry Initiative

loomischaffee.org

3

Fr om t he Head

M Planning Ahead

By Sheila Culbert

Above: Head of School Sheila Culbert signs the last steel beam to be added to the Campus Center. Photo: Mary Coleman Forrester. Below: The Campus Center is starting to take shape. Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

4

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

ounds of dirt, puddles, mud, steel girders, a crane, bulldozers, trucks, and the beginnings of a new building—such is the current state of the Rockefeller Quadrangle. With that quadrangle now surrounded by fencing, students and faculty must navigate around the perimeter as we construct the new Campus Center. Disruptive though it may be, we are thrilled with the construction because, once completed, not only will we enjoy a spanking new Campus Center, but we will also have successfully completed the current Loomis strategic plan.

The strategic plan affected every aspect of campus life from the boarding-day ratio to financial aid to athletics, and it allowed us to significantly expand our academic and student programs. Over the past 10 years we have seen the growth and development of several centers, including the Henry R. Kravis ’63 Center for Excellence in Teaching, the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, and the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies. We have introduced four-year Arabic instruction, bolstered our offerings in global studies and economics, emphasized writing across the curriculum, expanded our digital arts offerings, and introduced a guided research program for our top science students. The Pearse Hub for Innovation (the Phi), which will open next

fall as part of the Campus Center, will provide another wonderful facility for students to experiment and innovate in both formal and informal settings. The Phi will offer formal interdisciplinary courses in design thinking, problem-based learning, entrepreneurship, innovation, the design-build process, and digital design while also simply providing all students with access to the equipment (3-D printers and laser cutters, for example) and faculty expertise.

Even as we implement the final parts of the last strategic plan, we are thinking about the next 10 years. And so the process begins anew. Planning is, of course, an ongoing activity. Good schools, like good institutions anywhere, constantly assess what they are doing and how to get better. In addition we are fortunate to have the sort of faculty who are constantly suggesting new courses or approaches to learning. The completion of the Continued on page 20

Isl and Ne w s

George Shultz Reflects

Former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz ’38 paid a return visit to the Island for a question-and-answer session with Head of School Sheila Culbert in front of an all-school audience on October 27. During the 45-minute conversation, he shared stories and insights from his work with five U.S. presidents, his knowledge and opinions about issues at the forefront of current public discourse, and reflections on his time as a Loomis student 80 years ago.

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

loomischaffee.org

5

Isl and Ne w s

Insight

from George Shultz ’38

In the following excerpt from the conversation, George Shultz discusses Russia’s role in the world today with an illuminating story from his experiences as secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan.

George Shultz: The Russians are playing a very disruptive role on the world stage right now. We are letting them get away with it, and I think we need a big stop sign because their country is playing a weak hand very powerfully, and we’ve got to call that hand.

Sheila Culbert: How do we do that?

George Shultz: I’ll tell you a story from the Cold War period. … I had come back from a trip to China that ended at Andrews Air Force Base. It was snowing. I was lucky to land. It snowed all day Friday, snowed Friday night, snowed Saturday. The Reagans were stuck in the White House. So our phone rings and Nancy says, “Would you come over and have supper with us?” So my wife and I go over to the White House, and the four of us sit around having supper, and before long the two of them, the president but Nancy also, started asking me about the Chinese leaders: “What kind of people are they?” “Do they have a sense of humor?” “Can you find their bottom line?” and so on. Then they knew I’d dealt

6

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

with the Soviets earlier, so they started asking me about them. And I’m saying to myself, “This man has never had a real conversation with a big-time communist leader, and he’s dying to have one.” I had gotten permission to [meet with] Ambassador [Anatoly] Dobrynin — he was the Soviet ambassador, very accomplished guy — once a week, and the object of our meetings was to get rid of weeds — if there’s a little weed, let’s get rid of it before it becomes a problem. So I said, “Mr. President, Dobrynin is coming over next Tuesday at five o’clock. What if I bring him over here and you can talk to him?” And he said, “That’s a good idea but it’ll only take about 10 minutes. … If he’s interested in a constructive conversation, I’m ready.” … So I bring Dobrynin over, and we must have been there for at least an hour and a half. We talked about a lot of arms control things, but mostly we talked about human rights, and the president came down very hard on how the Soviet Jews were treated, and there had been some Pentecostals who had rushed into our embassy during the Carter administration. They were still there. … And [Reagan] kept saying to him, “Well, I just want something to happen.” Going back in the car to the State Department, Dobrynin and I say to ourselves, “Why don’t we make that our special project and see if we can do something about it?” So we exchanged pieces of paper back and forth, and finally I get one that I think is pretty good, and I take it over to the president. I said, “Mr. President, your lawyer would tell you [that] you could drive a truck through the holes in this memo. But I have to believe after all of our exchanges in the background of this, if we get them to leave the embassy, they’ll be allowed to go home and eventually emigrate.” So we worked on it.

They did leave. They were allowed to go home. … Not only were they allowed to emigrate, all

their families of 50 or 60 people [were allowed to emigrate]. It was giant. And I always felt that little incident had more meaning than people [realized]. … On the one hand [Reagan] saw he could make a deal with these people and they’d carry it out, and they saw the same thing. … So both sides learned a little trust. And I think in these kinds of dealings and any human dealings that you have, a big lesson is [that] trust is the coin of the realm. If you trust somebody, you can deal with them.

If you don’t trust them, it’s hard.

Isl and Ne w s

To read the full text of the question-and-answer session and to see video of the event, go to www.loomischaffee.org/ magazine.

After the convocation, George Shultz and his wife, Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, met with members of the Shultz Fellowship, a bi-partisan, student-led club inspired by the former secretary of state's legacy of statesmanship and diplomacy.

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

loomischaffee.org

7

Isl and Ne w s

Photos: John Groo

New Course Explores Forensic Science Students sleuthed their way through a new science course this fall.

Forensic science, a new course taught by Neil Chaudhary ’05, puts students in the investigator’s role as they gain understanding of both the power and the limitations of this field of science and learn to examine expert forensic analyses with a critical eye.

Students in the inaugural course this fall used fundamentals learned in the prerequisite disciplines of biology and chemistry and applied them to techniques learned in this class.

A broader objective, Neil says, was to spark students’ curiosity and develop an interest in learning about science beyond the classroom.

Labs and other assignments sometimes held the intrigue of murder mysteries. For one lab, the students examined a room Neil had set up to resemble a crime scene with “blood splatters,” and they experimented with splashing red paint on surfaces to discover how liquids form splatter patterns based on the direction and force of the expulsion. For another assignment, the class analyzed the results of drug tests and other forensic evidence from

8

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

several cases of untimely deaths. Based on the analysis, Neil asked the students to determine the possible cause and manner of death and to speculate about the events leading to the death.

In addition to learning methods of documenting blood splatter, analyzing fingerprints, collecting DNA evidence, and gathering and interpreting other forensic evidence for an investigation, students also were called upon to question the science behind the techniques.

“Is it fundamentally valid? Is it valid as practiced?” Those were the questions Neil says he wanted his students to ask throughout their study.

Many popular television series depict crime scene investigations and the forensics expert’s role in the criminal justice system, but Neil points out that the television writers manipulate the science for theatrical effect and, quite often, the stories are purely fiction.

In preparing to teach the co urse, Neil also discovered that real-world forensic evidence — even some well-known, often-repeated methods of collecting crime scene data — is flawed

or misinterpreted in many instances. While some methods, such as DNA analysis and regular fingerprinting, provide a reasonably high degree of accuracy, Neil says, many, including bite-wound analysis and hair/fiber analysis, are complicated and have a much lower degree of accuracy. The discrepancies, according to Neil, can result from errors made in the method of collection, in the interpretation, or even in the actual validity of the science.

The danger is that people in the criminal justice system assign a high degree of credibility to the “scientific” evidence put forward by forensic experts, Neil says, when the validity of the science varies widely and can never be 100 percent accurate. Erroneous analyses of crime scene data interpreted to “beyond a reasonable doubt,” or even “beyond a shadow of a doubt,” can and have resulted in miscarriages of justice, Neil notes.

Neil hopes that should any student in the course be called to serve on a criminal trial jury, he or she will be able to make an informed assessment of the forensic testimony.

“This is life or death stuff,” he says.

Isl and Ne w s

Art of a Homeland 2017–18 SCHOOL THEME:

Globalization “You will change the face of this world. You will decide how we move on from here,” Syrian artist and architect Mohamad Hafez told students at a convocation in September, kicking off a year-long artistic collaboration with the Loomis community and touching on many of the global issues that are the focus of school programming this year.

Originally from Damascus and widely traveled throughout his youth and young adulthood, Mr. Hafez was the first convocation speaker on this year’s school theme, Globalization.

His artwork, inspired by his middle class family’s personal experiences, reflects the impact of Syria’s civil war on his people and homeland, from the destruction of ancient heritage sites to humanitarian disasters, including the refugee crisis.

Concerned that Syrian refugees fleeing violence and oppression have become unwelcome worldwide, Mr. Hafez has reached out to a wide audience, including many young people, to counter the fear perpetuated by media information and images of Syrians. Now a resident of New Haven, Connecticut, Mr. Hafez shares his homeland’s history, cityscapes, and diverse cultural influences with audiences to demonstrate that Syria is comprised of individuals with families, daily lives, and hopes for the future that mirror much of the rest of the world. Syrian people should not be discriminated against simply for the passport they carry, he said.

Mr. Hafez introduced his Loomis audience to Syria and its people with photographic images. Beginning with recognizable images that stereotype the Syrians, Mr. Hafez displayed pictures of bomb blasts and some of Syria’s architectural heritage sites in ruins,

Artist Mohamed Hafez discusses one of his miniature streetscapes with art teacher Mark Zunino and his class. Photo: Mary Coleman Forrester

comparing them before-and-after-style with intact structures. He showed pictures of the wounded and the dead, their grieving families, and vulnerable refugees, including children.

He juxtaposed these images with pictures of his own family, their home, and their previous everyday lifestyle — on family vacations, gathered for meals, and sitting in their living room — when they lived in Damascus.

His family is now spread around the world, seeking secure employment and safety, he said. He told of some members of his family who settled in a tiny village in Norway in much-reduced circumstances. Mr. Hafez was struck, he said, by the realization that his young niece and nephew, depicted as smiling toddlers in his presentation, are Syrian refugees like the children seen in the news, risking, and sometimes losing, their lives trying to escape.

While on campus, Mr. Hafez also engaged with students in the Global Human Rights and Arabic language courses and with art students. His visit was made possible through the Hubbard Speakers Series, a gift from Robert P. Hubbard ’47.

His acclaimed artwork includes sculpture and large, three-dimensional installations comprised of found objects, paint, and scrap metal, many with expressions of hope written in Arabic calligraphy and some that include audio.

He uses his architectural and artist skills to create “surrealistic Middle Eastern streetscapes that are architectural in their appearance yet politically charged in their content,” according to a description on his website.

Mr. Hafez’s story and work were apt introductions to school-themed programming this year because they present the dichotomy of East and West and examine globalization in human terms, said Alexander McCandless, the Christopher H. Lutz director of the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies.

To find out more about Mr. Hafez and his ongoing work with Loomis students, go to www.loomischaffee.org/ magazine.

Mr. Hafez will return to the Island on a number of occasions this year as a Visiting Artist to collaborate with students on a found-object installation in the Richmond Art Center.

loomischaffee.org

9

Isl and Ne w s

Howe Hall Dedicated

Jane MacKay Howe ’49, all four of her children, several of her grandchildren, and other Howe family members gathered with Loomis Chaffee community members in Grubbs Quadrangle for the dedication of Howe Hall on October 20.

Formerly Mason Hall, the dormitory, one of the school’s oldest buildings, was renamed in honor of Jane and her husband, the late Glover E. Howe Jr. ’48, who were longtime, revered faculty members and dorm heads of the building that now bears their name.

building and strive to create a warm and nurturing space for all the residents, much as a family cares for and passes down an historic home through generations. Lori held up a T-shirt bearing the dorm slogan, “This is HOWE we do it!”

During the outdoor dedication ceremony, several Loomis community members spoke about the mark Jane and Glover made on the school and shared fond memories of living, learning, working, and teaching alongside the couple.

Senior Juliet Rhodes, a current Howe Hall resident, spoke on behalf of her classmates, peers, and fellow Howe Hall girls, many of whom observed the ceremony from the dorm’s balcony.

Juliet’s aunts, Judith Rhodes Langford ’87 and Jennifer Rhodes ’88, preceded her as Loomis students, and Juliet shared the family’s story of Jane soothing her grandmother’s concerns about sending her daughters away to school and taking Judith under her wing as Judith’s dorm head and advisor.

Choosing to name the dorm in honor of Glover and Jane “makes everyone happy,” said Chair of the Board of Trustees Christopher K. Norton ’76. The decision to change the name of the building was controversial, he acknowledged, but once the Howe name was determined, students, alumni, and faculty quickly and unanimously hailed the decision.

Head of School Sheila Culbert gave a brief accounting of the many roles Jane and Glover assumed on the Island from 1956 until they retired in 1989. “They are the only faculty couple in the history of the school who have each served as dormitory heads in the same dormitory — Mason Hall,” Sheila remarked.

Glover served as dorm head when it was a boys residence hall, and Jane was dorm head when the school welcomed its first boarding girls and housed them in Mason.

Jane and Glover are inspirations to today’s dorm heads and others in the residential community, said Howe Hall dorm head Lori Caligiuri, who spoke at the ceremony. She noted that Loomis dorm heads assume the role of stewards of the

Juliet said the solid brick structure and the family of faculty and students that reside within are a dependable source of warmth, comfort, and safety. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that if one were to turn the ‘w’ in Howe upside down, it would make the word ‘home,’” she concluded.

Invited to speak to the gathering, Jane said she was “humbled and a bit overwhelmed with the significance” of the occasion. She thanked the school community on behalf of the Howe family for the tribute and the celebration. She and Glover felt fortunate to play an important role in the lives of young people at Loomis, and their own lives were “enriched by the opportunity to serve others,” she said. The school will “remain part of our lives now more permanently than we ever imagined.”

Jane MacKay Howe ’49.

Photo: John Groo

10

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Isl and Ne w s

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that if one were to turn the ‘w’ in Howe upside down, it would make the word ‘ home.’”

—Senior Juliet Rhodes

loomischaffee.org

11

Isl and Ne w s

The ensemble production, with senior Macon Jeffries as Pericles (at right), included a combination of cast members in the speaking and movement roles of King Antiochus (inset photo), a life-sized puppet, whose booming voice, menacing mask, and levered arms deepened the threatening presence of the monstrous sovereign.

Photos: Anna Vdovenko

PERICLES:

Prince of Tyre

12

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Isl and Ne w s

A

udiences delighted in the student production of Pericles: Prince of Tyre, William Shakespeare’s tale of love and virtue overcoming treachery and deceit, in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater during the play’s fiveperformance run October 25–28.

Set in medieval localities across the ancient Mediterranean, Pericles is a magical adventure story and romantic comedy of epic proportions.

The production brought the Jacobean melodrama to life on the NEO stage with dynamic action, larger-than-life and other-worldly characters, and a solid mastery of the text and language.

Pericles has traveled in and out of favor with literary and theater scholars since its inception.

Missing the typical structure and poetry of Shakespeare’s comedies, modern editors now agree Pericles was likely written by the Bard in collaboration with the writer George Wilkins.

Directed by theater teacher David McCamish, with assistance from English teacher and Shakespeare scholar Will Eggers, and produced by theater teacher Candice Chirgotis, the epic play was a challenge to mount on the NEO stage, David acknowledges. But audiences enjoyed a full measure of theatrical display.

To view a gallery of photos from Pericles, read the Playbill, and see a full listing of cast and crew and their bios, go to www. loomischaffee.org/magazine.

King Antiochus, a life-sized puppet, whose booming voice, menacing mask, and levered arms deepened the threatening presence of the monstrous sovereign.

Top: Antiochus' henchmen (freshmen Evan Petkis and Aidan Gillies) plot to kill Pericles. Above: Helicanus (senior Abigail Forrester) rallies the citizens of Tyre.

Comedy mixed with romance, sorrow, and nearly non-stop stage action, including sea storms, shipwrecks, and sword fights, as well as music and dance sequences. Period costumes and set decoration helped carry the mystical themes of the play. Here, Simonides, King of Pentapolis (senior Logan Katz) and his daughter, Thaisa (freshman Lana Breheney) watch a sword fighter (senior Cameron Purdy) prepare to face Pericles.

loomischaffee.org

13

Isl and Ne w s

Island Visitors

GUEST MUSICIAN

Loomis students worked with several visiting artists and musicians during the fall term.

14

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Geoff Muldaur ’61 A folk and blues musician heralded as one of the great voices of American music, Geoff taught a masterclass with Loomis voice and guitar students and performed an evening concert for the community during a two-day visit in November.

During the masterclass, Geoff led an exercise in folk music singing and guitar playing with students in the Concert Choir and the Guitar Ensemble. He commented to the students on the vast changes at the school, both physically and in the diversity of the student body, since he graduated in 1961, and he answered students’ questions about his days on the Island and his music career. The concert on November 2 in the Hubbard Performance Hall drew an appreciative audience of students, faculty, alumni, and community members. Geoff performed several songs on guitar and banjo, interspersed with commentary about his experiences in the folk music scene after his time at Loomis.

Geoff has enjoyed a long and successful career as a music recording artist, composer, producer, and performer. Geoff's visit was made possible with support from the Joseph Stookins Lecture/Visiting Musicians Fund.

To find out more details about Geoff’s career and his visit to campus, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Isl and Ne w s

Photo: Christine Coyle

GUEST MUSICIAN

Glen Adsit Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

VISITING ARTIST

Sarah Bird ’83 During her October 2–6 residency at Loomis, Sarah undertook a project creating a portrait of a pecan tree that grows on campus. A contemporary artist and film-maker, Sarah went on a “tree-walk” around campus courtesy of Steve Morse, Loomis’ grounds crew tree specialist, and met with school archivist and history teacher Karen Parsons before selecting the tall pecan tree positioned near the road between Longman Hall and the Head’s House for her project. Sarah photographed and measured the tree and explained that she planned to create a full-sized portrait of the tree using drawing techniques and photographs in a three-panel format. During her stay on campus, Sarah worked with and among art students, shared her project ideas, and gave a slide presentation. Sarah says studying art history at Loomis planted a seed of interest for her to pursue art as a vocation. Sarah earned a bachelor’s degree at Amherst College and a master’s degree in fine arts from California College of the Arts.

Among her many exhibits, her solo show “the fullest measure of you, Is you” was recently exhibited at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, a curatorial project space in Oakland, California.

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

For more information about Sarah’s art and film work, go to www.loomischaffee.org/ magazine.

Mr. Adsit, director of the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music Wind Ensemble, conducted a masterclass with Loomis Chaffee’s Wind Ensemble in October. He led the ensemble students through sections of a piece they have been working on, “Yellow Mountains” by Jacob de Haan, and he demonstrated and shared techniques that wind instrumentalists can use to put polish on their individual and ensemble performances. The masterclass was a follow-up to a performance of the Hartt Wind Ensemble, conducted by Mr. Adsit, in the Hubbard Performance Hall in September. His visit and the performance were made possible with support from the Joseph Stookins Lecture/Visiting Musicians Fund.

To learn more about Mr. Adsit’s visit and the September concert, go to www. loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Photo: Christine Coyle

VISITING ARTIST

Katy Schneider Coinciding with an exhibition of her paintings in the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery, artist Katy Schneider was a Visiting Artist in the Richmond Art Center in December. Ms. Schneider grew up in New York City in a family of nine, and her work focuses on themes related to her upbringing — making the most of a small space, organizing chaos, and uncovering family dynamics. She uses the power of light to tell a story in her compositions. Ms. Schneider, who teaches drawing and painting at Smith College, exhibits nationally, and her work is featured in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the New Britain Museum, the Smith College Museum of Art, and other collections. She has received accolades for her picture book illustrations, including the Bank Street College of Education’s Book Award. She is a recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and she has earned awards from the National Academy of Design and the Academy of Arts and Letters.

For more information about Ms. Schneider’s work, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

loomischaffee.org

15

Isl and Ne w s SPOTTED ON SOCIAL

Campus Center Construction

Sunset in the South Dining Room #construction #architecture #steel #loomischaffee @aos_architects Photo by @hisnameisfill

PELICAN SCOOP PODCAST

Campus Center Architect Sam Olshin

Secrets of the Brain

Neuroscientist Carl Schoonover, a researcher at Columbia University and author of Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century, gave an evening presentation about brain research and met with students interested in science and writing during his visit to campus November 6–7.

Mr. Schoonover’s research at Columbia focuses on how the brain interprets and remembers smell, and his book examines ways people have studied the brain through many centuries. In Portraits of the Mind, Mr. Schoonover presents a visual and descriptive history of brain images, from rudimentary medieval drawings to highly-magnified, detailed images using modern neuroscience tools and techniques.

During his evening presentation in Gilchrist Auditorium, Mr. Schoonover said that although scientists have been trying to map brain pathways for more than 1,000 years, there is still much we don’t know about how information is processed in the brains of humans and even in other, less complex animals.

“The brain doesn’t reveal a lot of its secrets,” he said.

In an episode of the Pelican Scoop podcast, Campus Center architect Sam Olshin answers questions about the new Campus Center’s role on campus, the design inspiration for the building, and how that design reflects Loomis Chaffee’s values.

LISTEN IN AT:

www.loomischaffee.com/podcast 16

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Presenting images from his historical research, Mr. Schoonover discussed the centuries-old combination of art and science in the study of the brain, beginning in the 15th century with Leonardo DaVinci and continuing with collaborations between Andreas Vesalius and Titian in the 16th century and Christopher Wren and Thomas Willis in the 17th century.

The slideshow concluded with photos from 2007 showing in great detail the beauty and complexity of brain cells as seen through an electron microscope, and photos from a “brainbow,” a mapping of hundreds of mouse brain pathways individually “stained” with a distinct color using fluorescent proteins.

Carl Schoonover. Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

Mr. Schoonover also discussed contributions to the field by Italian physician and scientist Camillo Golgi and Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who presented a detailed neural circuitry in the brain using Golgi’s method of staining cells to view under a microscope.

The following day, Mr. Schoonover met with students and faculty involved with writing initiatives at Loomis. He spoke about the importance of collaboration between science and the humanities to help a broad audience understand what scientists are learning in their research. Mr. Schoonover is the co-founder of NeuWrite, an alliance of scientists, writers, and producers of film and broadcast media whose mission is to develop strategies to communicate about science to a general audience.

At both sessions, Mr. Schoonover answered questions about neuroscience and the brain, his particular field of study at Columbia University, the ethics involved in studying the brains of humans and other species, techniques and best practices in writing about science, and other topics.

Mr. Schooner earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Harvard College and a doctorate from Columbia University, where he is a post-doctoral fellow. In addition to Portraits of the Mind, Mr. Schoonover’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Le Figaro, and Scientific American.

His visit was made possible with support from the Hubbard Speakers Series, a gift of Robert P. Hubbard ’47.

Isl and Ne w s

Eric LaForest, the Kelly Family Director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good; Heidi Fishman ’80; and her mother, Ruth "Tutti" Lichtenstern Fishman Photo: Jessica Hutchinson.

“It was always, ‘Schnell! Schnell!’” which meant “Hurry up!” in German, Tutti explained, and there were continual threats of being “sent east,” which was code for being sent to an extermination camp.

Tutti Shares Her Story

For a standing-room-only audience of freshmen and other community members in September, K. Heidi Fishman ’80 and her mother, Holocaust survivor Ruth “Tutti” Lichtenstern Fishman, shared the harrowing story of Tutti’s childhood escape from Nazi extermination during World War II. The story is central to Heidi’s recently published novel, Tutti’s Promise, which is based on her family’s story of endurance, and Tutti and Heidi were invited to campus to share the account for a special session of the Freshman Seminar in the Common Good. Heidi accompanied her mother on the Hubbard Performance Hall stage to help explain images and statistics projected on the screen behind them and to give historical context to her mother’s personal narrative. Much of the projected information was from extensive research that Heidi conducted into her family’s past when she was writing Tutti’s Promise.

The Nazis killed six million Jewish people during the Holocaust. “To give you some perspective, six million people is roughly twice the population of the state of Connecticut,” Tutti told the crowd gathered for her talk.

“But my story has a happy ending.” Tutti was one of only 100 child survivors among the 15,000 children sent through the Theresien-

stadt ghetto-camp located in what is now the Czech Republic.

Born in Germany in 1935, Tutti moved with her family to the Netherlands in 1936 before the war broke out. Life for herself, her family, and other Jewish people in Holland became severely restricted, she recounted, showing a photo of the identification card that Jews were forced to carry and a 1942 picture of herself and her classmates at a Jewish-only school.

Young Tutti could travel only on designated Jewish public transport, and she and her family, like all Jewish families, eventually were forced to leave their home and valuables and sent to live in a Jewish-only ghetto.

She shared details she remembers about daily life and work in the camps. Showing a picture of a well-worn doll that her father had given her early in their odyssey, she explained that her father had filled the doll’s hollow head with money and instructed her never to let the doll out of her sight because the family might need the money one day. As promised, Tutti kept the doll with her at all times.

Her father’s work as an international metal trader and his forethought to obtain a Paraguayan passport proved to be instrumental in the family’s survival, Tutti said. He was moments away from being forced aboard a train at Theresienstadt destined for a death camp when his passport stayed his departure.

The camp was liberated by the Russians, and the captives were further aided by the U.S. Army in the spring of 1945. Shortly afterwards, Tutti and her family moved back to Amsterdam. Tutti eventually moved to the United States and made her home in West Hartford in 1958. Her children, Peter L. Fishman ’78 and Heidi, attended Loomis Chaffee.

Sponsored by the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, Tutti and Heidi’s visit to Loomis was made possible by the Carolyn Belfer ’86 Fund for Jewish Life.

Tutti said she and her brother “did as we were told” in the interminable registration and transferring processes imposed upon them by the Nazi regime, en route first to a transit camp in Westerbork and then to Theresienstadt.

loomischaffee.org

17

Isl and Ne w s

The Norton Family Center for the Common Good

Student & Faculty Dialogues Leaning in to sometimes difficult conversations and striving for frank but civil dialogue, students and faculty gathered on several occasions this fall to discuss complicated, disturbing, and politically-charged current events and issues affecting the country and the world.

SEPTEMBER:

DECEMBER:

Charlottesville

Harassment

A Dialogue in the Common Good in September focused on the issues raised by protests and counter-protests in August in Charlottesville, Virginia, related to a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. A panel of faculty members shared their perspectives on the events and resulting violence in Charlottesville, and then the floor was opened up for other school community members to share their opinions.

In a respectful discussion, several individuals in the audience of nearly 40 students and faculty took turns speaking about issues related to the conflict. Topics included consideration of free speech, preservation of history, issues of race and ethnicity, moral civility, and standards of acceptable behavior in a community.

Sexual harassment and sexual assault were the subjects of a Dialogue in the Common Good in December as a wave of sexual harassment and assault claims swept through the country, bringing down some of the nation’s leading businessmen, journalists, entertainers, and government officials and emboldening many women and men who had been subjected to sexual harassment to end their silence. Fifty to 60 students and faculty attended the forum.

OCTOBER:

Puerto Rico In October, in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, a Dialogue in the Common Good shared information about Puerto Rico, which was hard hit by the hurricanes, and shed light on common misconceptions about the unincorporated territory and its history, culture, and relationship with the United States. The conversation among students and faculty clarified facts about Puerto Ricans’ rights as U.S. citizens, which are slightly different from those of people living in U.S. states; considered the advantages of the territorial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico; and discussed the United States’ responsibilities to the island.

18

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

The student and faculty dialogues are part of a series of forums started at Loomis in 2014 to encourage civil discussion of topics of interest or concern to students. The Norton Family Center for the Common Good, along with other offices and student organizations, sponsors and organizes the conversations.

Isl and Ne w s

THAT'S ABSOLUTELY

BRILLIANT! AG PROGRAM A good growing season and the work of many student hands produced a surplus of fruits and vegetables in the Sustainable Agriculture Program gardens on campus, enabling the program to donate produce to the Windsor Food Bank in late summer and operate a student-run farmer’s market on campus during Opening Days in September. The majority of the harvest goes each year to school community members who pay to join the Community-Supported Agriculture program.

FRESHMAN SERVICE DAY The Class of 2021 fanned out into the local community on a Wednesday in October for Freshman Service Day while sophomores and juniors took PSATs and seniors worked on their college applications. The 140-member class, led by faculty advisors and student leaders of the Pelican Service Organization, spent the morning working on projects on and off campus, including clearing trails near the Loomis cabin in Barkhamsted, raking leaves at Northwest Park in Windsor, helping senior citizens at The Caring Connection in Windsor, packaging food for distribution at a local food bank, sorting books at the Windsor Library, and working with young students at Windsor elementary schools.

COMMUNITY MUSIC RECITAL Student musicians in the LC Instrumental Music Club presented an afternoon recital for an appreciative audience at The Caring Connection, Windsor’s senior citizen day program, in November.

THE LOG The Columbia Scholastic Press Association this fall honored The Log as a Gold Medalist based on a critique of issues from the 2016–17 school year. The association acknowledged Loomis’ student newspaper for its broad coverage of

topics relevant to the entire school community and noted that The Log’s student leadership remains committed to operating the newspaper as a forum for student voices. The association also commended student contributors for their writing talent and for their “ability to tackle sensitive issues with maturity.”

LOOMIS MATH TEAM The Loomis math team placed second overall in the 30th Annual Worcester Polytechnic Institute Invitational competition this fall. Senior Louisa Gao, juniors Ryan Chan and Nicole Dai, and sophomore Roy Lam competed for the team in the competition. Louisa, Nicole, and Roy received perfect scores in the individual competition, which tied them for first place. The team is coached by math teacher Hudson Harper.

HURRICANE RELIEF When Hurricanes Harvey and Irma slammed into Texas and Florida in September, several organizations on the Island jumped into action to raise money for storm relief. The Pelican Service Organization fired up the grill during an evening home football game against Kinkaid School of Houston, Texas. The effort raised $730, which was donated to support Habitat for Humanity’s rebuilding efforts in Houston. The boys water polo team washed more than 25 vehicles — and one baby carriage — in a car wash fundraiser in the parking lot of the Savage/Johnson Rink, collecting more than $700, which was sent to AmeriCares in Stamford, Connecticut, to be funneled to relief efforts in Texas and Florida. The girls volleyball team organized a bake sale and concession stand that raised more than $250 for the Hand in Hand Hurricane Relief Fund.

MOVIE SCREENING

Corals on campus this fall to help spread awareness of environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef.

FALL DANCE SHOWCASE More than 40 students performed in the Fall Dance Showcase in November in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater. The dancers and choreographers shared the compositions they had worked on during the fall term in a variety of styles, including ballet, jazz, contemporary dance, and hip-hop.

EMPTY BOWLS PROJECT For the past several years art students have participated in the Empty Bowls Project, an international grassroots awareness and fundraising effort to fight hunger, and this year Loomis students more than doubled the school’s contribution to 80 handmade ceramic bowls for the annual event. Ceramics II students, members of the student-run Clay Club, and several freshman volunteers “threw,” decorated, and then donated their bowls for the fundraising event in support of Foodshare, a regional community food bank.

EMERGING WRITERS & ARTISTS Student writers and artists displayed the fruits of their summer work in a joint reception in the Richmond Art Center in September. Working independently, students selected for the Emerging Writers program composed poetry, personal narratives, short stories, chapters of novels-inthe-works, and other original pieces. Examples of their summer portfolios were displayed at the RAC. Another group of students chosen for the Emerging Artists program spent time over the summer creating photography, paintings, sculpture, and other artwork, which was exhibited in the Barnes & Wilde Gallery of the RAC.

Inspired by a summer environmental course, junior Kiki Szemraj organized a special screening and discussion of the documentary Chasing

loomischaffee.org

19

Facult y & S taf f Ne w s

Associate Head of School for External Relations Nathan Follansbee will receive the prestigious Robert Bell Crow Memorial Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in January.

The award recognizes independent school advancement professionals for distinguished service to the profession, their school, and CASE. Nat has worked at Loomis for 34 years, including 11 years as an English teacher, 11 years as director of development, and 12 years as associate head.

Alexander McCandless, the Christopher H. Lutz Director of Loomis’ Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies, spoke at a symposium about “Inspiring Teachers: A Celebration of Excellence in Education” at St. Andrew’s School in Delaware in November.

Associate Director of Development Meret Nahas was elected to the Board of Trustees at her alma mater, The College of Wooster, in October. Meret graduated from Wooster in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and launched her development career as a development assistant at Wooster.

Longtime members of the Physical Plant staff Frank Pereira and Steve Morse shared their expertise with students in Gratia Lee’s ecology class and in the after-school Sustainable Agriculture Program. Frank showed the Ag students how to preserve seeds through the winter for replanting in the spring using his family’s heirloom tomatoes as an example. Gratia says the students will attempt to grow the heirloom variety in the gardens next spring. Steve, a member of the grounds crew, led a group of students on a tree walk around the Loomis campus.

Former Loomis Chaffee Athletic Director Robert Southall received the Distinguished Service Award at the annual meeting of athletic directors of the New England Preparatory School Athletics Council in November.

Bob received the honor in recognition of the vision, enthusiasm, and commitment to independent school athletics and physical education that he shared with the Loomis community and wider New England prep school world during his 34-year tenure on the Island.

The Modern & Classical Languages facul-

20

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

ty simultaneously shared their summer professional development experiences with each other and modeled a creative teaching technique during a special department meeting this fall.

For the “gallery walk,” one of innovative ways that the department enhances language and culture learning in the classroom, the faculty members displayed posters on classroom walls that highlighted their summer endeavors.

While their colleagues browsed the displays, the presenting faculty spoke about their professional development experiences and how they planned to incorporate what they learned into their teaching. Their summer endeavors included travel to historical and cultural destinations and participation in educational workshops and seminars. While learning about each other’s professional development, the teachers also experienced the gallery walk technique from a student perspective. Spanish teacher Marc Cardwell explains that the gallery walks energize students, encourage them to engage and interact with each other, and offer each student a chance to take a leadership role in class.

The community welcomed 11 new faculty members this fall, including two alumni.

Timothy Jeon ’06 returned to the Island as an associate director of admissions after 10 years in other educational settings and in finance.

Laura Richards Milligan ’99, who previously taught English at Loomis, reprised that role this fall after teaching for several years closer to Madison, Connecticut, where she and her young family live. Other new faculty include history teacher Reem Aweida-Parsons, Spanish and French teacher and Penn Fellow Maribel Blas-Rangel, history teacher Sebastiaan Blickman, Sports Information Director John Cunningham, computer science and math teacher Alexander Ozdemir, Associate Director of College Guidance Ethan Percy, art teacher Christian Ryan, science teacher and Associate Director of Innovation Jennine Solomon, and science teacher David Samuels.

Faculty member Eric LaForest and his wife, Charlotte Henning LaForest, welcomed twins Rowan Douglass LaForest and Evelyn Turner LaForest on August 25, 2017. They joined big brother August. Eric teaches history and is Kelly Family Director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good.

Planning Ahead | Continued from page 4 last strategic plan, however, provides us with a more formal opportunity to tackle these questions through multiple conversations with multiple constituents. We start with a close look at our mission statement and by asking questions: Where do we think education is going over the next 20 to 50 years, and what role should Loomis play

LOOMIS AS A SCHOOL HAS ALWAYS PUSHED ITSELF TO BE INNOVATIVE AND CREATIVE. in that evolution? How do we best serve our students in this ever-changing world?

How do we stay relevant? In which areas do we excel? Upon which strengths should we build? What are our weaknesses, and how might we improve upon them? Our conversations so far have included Trustees, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents, and there is no shortage of good ideas.

As we look at the opportunities before us, we need to remember that we are a college preparatory school; hence, the education we provide needs to prepare our students for college and life. We also need to be mindful that the best schools innovate and stay ahead of the curve. Loomis as a school has always pushed itself to be innovative and creative. From our original mission to educate both boys and girls and to draw students from all social backgrounds and from across the world, to our language, global history, advanced science, and writing programs, we have set ourselves apart. As we look to the future, we need to be willing to think about partnerships with local industry, further networking with alumni and parents, calendar and schedule issues, diploma requirements, evolving curriculum, and how to leverage rapidly developing technology. Fortunately, we have the right people in our Trustees, alumni, and faculty to help us to undertake this new planning venture. Stay tuned!

Photo: Tom Honan

P el ic a n Sports

Senior Lia LaPrise and junior Taylor Douglas celebrate a goal in the Pelicans' 3-2 win in the September 30 game versus Taft.

loomischaffee.org

21

Photo: Jim Stankie

22

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

x2

New England Champions

The boys and girls varsity soccer teams won Class A New England Prep School Athletic Conference titles in November. For the boys, who beat Berkshire 1-0 in "sudden death" overtime in the finals, it was the first New England championship since 2002. The girls won their second consecutive New England title with a 3-2 win over Buckingham, Browne & Nichols in the finals, played in the Meadows.

loomischaffee.org

23

Facult y & S taf f Ne w s

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY 6-0 Founders League Team Champion Pictured: senior Ryan Heskin and sophomore Matthew Farrell Photo: Tom Honan

VOLLEYBALL 14-6 Class A New England Semifinalist Pictured: junior Maya Guyton

FIELD HOCKEY 4-13 Pictured: senior captain Mairin Moylan, senior goalkeeper Sarah Olender, junior Georgia Kraus, senior captain Cali Stevens Photo: Tom Honan

GIRLS SOCCER 16-3-1 Class A New England Champion Pictured: Senior Lauren Hinton and junior Lauren Smida Photo: Tom Honan

Photo: Tom Honan

Fac ult y & S taf f N e w s

Photo: Tom Honan

FOOTBALL 2-7 Pictured: senior Philip Martini Photo: Tom Honan

BOYS SOCCER 19-3 Class A New England Champion Pictured: senior Jack Rosenberg, senior captain Tomas Munoz Reyes, and junior Michael Suski

BOYS WATER POLO 15-6 New England Semifinalist Pictured: senior Jordan Chen

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY 2-4 Pictured: sophomore Neala Sweeney Photo: Tom Honan

Photo: Tom Honan

The girls soccer team and coaches rejoice in their second consecutive New England title.

EQUESTRIAN First-place team in three shows Pictured: freshman Isabelle Moore Photo: John Groo

Photo: Patricia Sasser

loomischaffee.org

25

"These dogs are a window into what life is like for everyone with a disability."

Nigel with Andrea near her home in the Washington, D.C., metro area

26

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Dogged Reporting Story by ELLEN RYAN

Portrait by SKIP BROWN

Nigel, service dog in training, nudges ahead of his “I felt like I needed a new challenge,” she says. Trainminder, Andrea Korzenik McCarren ’81, multimedia ing a service dog had always been on her bucket reporter for the CBS-TV affiliate in Washington, D.C. list, and the bosses said yes. So in 2015, she took Better behaved every month, the growing puppy on a yellow Lab puppy named Bunce for Warrior nonetheless keeps a nose alerted to passersby.

Canine Connection, a nonprofit that would eventually connect the dog to an injured service member.

Nigel is part of Andrea’s career these days. Until a Her job was to socialize the animal to a variety of few years ago, the dogged reporter had followed a situations with an emphasis on ramps, elevators, and standard if distinguished broadcasting path: After disability doors. graduating from Loomis Chaffee and earning a degree in anthropology from Vassar, she reported Andrea brought Bunce all over Washington — to or anchored for local and national television news; Capitol hearings, the Pentagon, even the Emmys. He her work led to changes in state laws and the capture learned to cope with restaurants, the subway, and of of a federal fugitive. course the news studio. He became a star, with his own (ghostwritten) blog on the station’s website.

Series and exposés on the MS-13 gang, underage “When I write about the president, I get 6,000 hits. drinking, and more have also led to a lengthy list of When I write about Bunce, I get more than 500,000,” honors, including three Edward R. Murrow Awards, Andrea said.

21 regional Emmys, and a Kiplinger Fellowship in Public Affairs Journalism.

Last spring, the McCarrens parted with Bunce and soon took in Nigel, this time for Canine CompanIn 2006, the longtime ABC-affiliated newswoman ions for Independence. Nigel was another instant hit used a Nieman Fellowship to develop Harvard with viewers.

University’s first multimedia-broadcast journalism courses. Laid off in 2009, she used her own lessons The dogs not only presented new story ideas, such for a 21-state video/social media exploration of as disabled access (or not) around town, but also economic pain and resilience. “The whole family led Andrea to investigative reporting on fake service hit the road,” Andrea says. (She and her husband, animals and their harm to users of real ones; care for Bill, met on a cross-country flight in 1991 and have post-traumatic stress; and sexual trauma in service three children.) members. A series called “No Barriers” was nominated for a regional Emmy.

That recession project won Andrea a multimedia job across town at the local CBS affiliate, where she “These dogs are a window into what life is like for shoots photo galleries and video and reports both everyone with a disability,” says Andrea — always online and on the air. But even with new methods, the perky, now notably more so. “I see the world through “Hartford proud” journalist readily admits that cover- a new set of eyes.”  ing the news had lost its luster after a few decades of repetition.

loomischaffee.org

27

F ULL CIRCLE:

from the Island to the World … and Back

Author, art historian, and humanitarian Nick Fox Weber ’65 found his penchant and passion for art at Loomis and has never let go.

BY CHR ISTINE COY LE When he was a senior at Loomis in 1965, Nicholas Fox Weber was granted the privilege of attending coffee with Headmaster Francis Grubbs, served in the Palmer social room after lunch. Then as now, Nick enjoyed a caffeine pick-me-up, but he remembers that while sipping his coffee, he noticed there was no decoration or art of any kind on the social room walls. Seeing an opportunity, Nick, a Cum Laude student and emerging art enthusiast at the time, imagined those walls as a blank canvas on which he could display objects of fine art and thus share his new-found passion with the perhaps under-exposed among his peers and the school community.

Thus began Nick’s lifelong vocation in art with a fervent mission to expand Loomis’ cultural footprint by securing notable works from the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum and displaying them, as a gallery, on Palmer’s previously unadorned walls. Today, Nick still tells the story with wideeyed surprise of how he, a naïve and unabashed teenager, telephoned the venerable Hartford museum and asked to speak to the director to make what he now describes as an outlandish appeal. The director graciously granted his request, and Nick says the exchange left a positive impression on him.

Nick remains connected personally and professionally with the Wadsworth and acknowledges that the art, artists, and

28

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

administrators of the cultural organization greatly influenced his passion and pursuit of art education ever since his teenage years.

Also in his senior year, in addition to spearheading the exhibition of work from the Wadsworth on campus, Nick led a student Art Committee in establishing a memorial fund to purchase for the school a painting by former art teacher Sanford B.D. Low ’25, a respected artist and illustrator who served as director of the New Britain Museum of American Art and taught at Loomis for 25 years. Mr. Low had passed away in October 1964. The committee raised six of the needed 100 dollars by December 1965, but the full amount was raised and the painting purchased the year after Nick graduated.

“Time and Termites” is displayed on a second floor wall in the Katharine Brush Library next to a window overlooking the Meadows. The nameplate reads, “A gift of the friends and alumni of the Loomis School in memory of Sanford B.D. Low,” and a neatly typed note on the reverse acknowledges those who contributed, including history teacher Allen R. Beebe, English teacher Allan Wise, Dean Glover E. Howe Jr. ’48, French teacher Joseph S. Stookins, the Ski Club, the Darwin Club, and the Lost & Found organization. The name of Headmaster Grubbs, appears as a contributor as well.

Albers Foundation in Bethany, Connecticut.

Photo: John Groo

loomischaffee.org

29

Nick Fox Weber's senior portrait circa 1964. Photo: Deford Dechert

Nick keenly recalls the validation he felt when Headmaster Grubbs acknowledged his contribution to the school’s cultural environment at Class Night by saying in his austere way, “Nick brought art to Loomis.”

By his own admission, Nick is driven by a desire to bring the pleasure and enjoyment of art to people around the world — a focus on which he continues to dedicate his seemingly boundless energy, even as he approaches his 70th birthday.

With a terrific memory for detail, Nick becomes animated speaking of the many formative experiences and people he encountered as a student at Loomis. Much of what he learned, both in and outside of class and under the tutelage of inspiring faculty, including Mr. Grubbs, Mr. Stookins, and Mr. Wise, is still relevant in Nick’s career, values, and lifestyle today.

After Loomis, Nick earned a bachelor’s degree at Columbia College and became a graduate art student at Yale’s Art School, where he met Josef and Anni Albers and developed a deep appreciation for their art and teachings.

The Alberses were students and teachers at Germany’s influential Bauhaus School during the 1920s and came to America in 1933 to avoid the severe artistic restrictions of the Third Reich in Germany. They settled in Connecticut in 1950 when Josef Albers joined the faculty of Yale University’s School of Art Department of Design and served as department chair. As forerunners of 20th-century modernism, the Alberses are widely recognized for their contributions to the aesthetic, methodology, and principles of art during their lifetimes.

“Loomis was, for me, a launching point for all sorts of wonderful experiences,” Nick reflects.

Photo: John Groo

"Nick brought art to Loomis."

30

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Nick developed a friendship and affinity with the Alberses, who were his teachers and mentors at Yale. He came to share their ideas about the valuable role art plays in helping people understand the world, and their belief that all people should be afforded freedom to experience joy in their daily lives. After Josef ’s death in 1976, Nick was asked to assist Anni with the not-for-profit Albers Foundation, set up by Josef in 1971 to advance “the revelation and evocation of vision through art.” In 1978, trustees of the foundation appointed Nick executive director and gave him the authority to make decisions on its behalf. In this capacity, Nick continues to serve as a steward for the Alberses’ art and seeks opportunities to share their legacies through education and other philanthropic activities in support of the foundation’s mission. The Albers Foundation headquarters are located on beautifully wooded acreage in Bethany, Connecticut. The campus includes a central research and archival storage center that house the Alberses’ art collections, library, archives, and other resources for research and education.

Left: Residents of a village outside of Tambacounda, Senegal, convince Nick (in cap) to join them in celebrating the construction of a water well in the village in 2014.

The project was sponsored by American Friends of Le Korsa. Below: Nick talks with a Senegalese woman involved in an entrepreneurial project to grow extra food, beyond what the local families need, so the villagers can sell the surplus and use the money to buy supplies for their school and other community needs.

Photos: Scott Purdy

thus struggled to concentrate on their schoolwork.

A self-proclaimed cultural historian, Nick has published several books, articles, and essays, and he is a lecturer and sought-after commentator on the subjects of art, architecture, and modern design. Much of his writing and lecturing focuses on the life-work and legacy of Josef and Anni Albers and other eminent artists, designers, and architects.

Today, Nick’s outreach extends beyond the art world to help enhance the well-being of people living in challenging conditions in rural areas of Senegal in western Africa.

With the same zeal of the Loomis senior seizing an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of classmates, Nick says he was moved to take action after traveling to rural Senegal in the early 2000s with a Parisian doctor on a humanitarian mission to deliver medical care and other muchneeded supplies for a French organization.

with local authorities and other community partners in supporting medical, educational, agricultural, and cultural programs. During his visits, Nick says he is inspired by his interactions with the men, women, and children living and working in the communities Le Korsa aims to serve.

On a 2017 visit to the Tambacounda region bordering Mali, Nick met with groups of high school students who, he says, looked and acted very much like the teenage students he might see at Loomis Chaffee today. They exhibited the “same combination of really good manners and respect” and the slightly hesitant, but curious, behavior that is seemingly universal among teenagers, Nick says. His visit was prompted by an urgent appeal from local authorities indicating that many Senegalese youths went an entire day without food to eat, in the scorching heat, and

Nick set out to secure funding for a program to feed school children in a number of locales in Senegal. “You can’t learn on an empty stomach,” quoted Nick from a letter that arrived along with a donation in support of the program. In May 2017, Le Korsa was cited by government officials in the region for providing nutritious meals for more than 1,400 students daily.

About 80 percent of Nick’s time is committed to his work with Le Korsa, which he acknowledges is not in a position to provide global solutions, but can make a difference through targeted programs that address specific needs. Nick says he is pleased with the strides the organization has taken to improve education; provide access to better medical care; support regional agriculture; and provide aid through partnerships with local organizations in areas of Senegal in urgent need. He hopes that improving living standards for people in these communities will help discourage young people from attempting risky passage to Europe and other migration destinations. By addressing some basic needs, Nick and the other dedicated people involved

“At the end of the trip, I had the idea that I would help try to find some American money for his organization because I was so impressed with its effectiveness and its direct impact with very little financial expenditure,” Nick says.

In 2004, Nick founded the nonprofit American Friends of Le Korsa on behalf of the Albers Foundation and continues to serve as its president. In line with the Alberses’ philosophy, Le Korsa is a grass-roots effort dedicated to serving people living in impoverished areas of Senegal, helping to bring hope and well-being as well as more opportunity to enjoy cultural experiences in their daily lives.

In his role with Le Korsa, Nick travels regularly to Senegalese towns and villages to work directly

loomischaffee.org

31

In his capacity at the Albers Foundation, Nick has directed funds to Loomis in support of Visual Arts Department projects and education, including the installation of a glass kiln in 2016 in the Richmond Art Center. with Le Korsa endeavor to allow people in the Senegalese communities more freedom to enjoy the life-changing benefits of visual art, dance, theater, music, and literature. In the rural village of Sinthian, for instance, a now-thriving cultural center was constructed in 2015 with guidance from Nick and assistance from the Albers Foundation.

Starting with his senior-year project for Palmer’s social room, Nick has furthered Loomis’ visual arts presence through the years. In his capacity at the Albers Foundation, Nick has directed funds to Loomis in support of Visual Arts Department projects and education, including the installation of a glass kiln in 2016 in the Richmond Art Center along with financial support for the training and supplies for the kiln’s operation.

Coming full circle, Nick helped three Loomis seniors last year select pieces from the Albers Foundation art collection to display in a student-curated exhibit, “Harmony,” in the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery in May 2017.

The exhibit featured screen prints, watercolor paintings, lithographs, and other works from the Albers Foundation positioned alongside art, pictures, and objects that represented the student curators’ vision of “universality.” After visiting the exhibit, Nick wrote to the student curators: “I thought the show was fantastic. … You have shown incredible vision and imagination. …

Bravo!”

A prolific and respected biographer, essayist, art critic, and book reviewer, Nick has penned 15 books, which have been published by Alfred A. Knopf, Yale University Press, and Smithsonian Institution Press, among others. His most recent book, Freud’s Trip to Orvieto, published

32

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

by Bellevue Literary Press in May 2017, was reviewed recently in The New Yorker. Nick also has written for the New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times Book Review, and New York Review of Books, and he has been a contributor to The New Yorker, ARTNews, Le Monde, Paris, Vogue, and Architectural Digest, and many other publications. His near-term plans include taking some time away to write about an as-yet-unrevealed topic.

Notwithstanding Nick’s writing, charitable work, and continued commitment to making art accessible for people from all walks of life, he still finds time to pursue experiences purely for the joy they bring him. When not in Connecticut, Nick spends a large part of his time living and working in Paris, where he and his wife, Katharine, have an apartment. He travels extensively, skis in the winter, and enjoys a game of tennis whenever he is able. But Nick says his greatest pleasure at the moment is spending time with family — especially with his 3-year-old grandson.

Looking ahead to his 71st year, Nick references a phrase from “Andrea del Sarto,” a Robert Browning poem that he first read junior year in Allen Wise’s English class. Browning’s words have been a source of inspiration for him ever since, and he read from the poem when he was invited to be Commencement speaker at Loomis in 2000, the year his daughter, Lucy Weber ’00, graduated.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” 

Above: The student-curated exhibit "Harmony" was featured in the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery in May 2017 with works from the Albers Foundation art collection. Left: Glass castings by Head of School Sheila Culbert were exhibited in the Community Art Show last winter. Sheila and many students have learned this art form using a glass kiln funded by the Albers Foundation and installed in the Richmond Art Center in 2016. Photos: John Groo.

loomischaffee.org

33

e l u d e h Sc G w e n a s ' e T her

T

n w o in T

ime. No matter how you slice it, there still are only 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year. The illusion of time’s flexibility abounds in everyday conversations, when we groan or crow about “making time,” “finding time,” “gaining time,” “saving time.” But in reality, the clock ticks at the same speed whether a minute is saved or gained, wasted or lost. It’s the activity we try to fit into that inflexible container called time that can stymie us. Loomis Chaffee faced just such a conundrum with its daily schedule in recent years: How could the ever-expanding opportunities for learning and teaching fit into the never-expanding box of a 24-hour day and still leave time for the crucial elements of a balanced life, like sleep, meals, friends, and family?

Several attempts to adjust the daily schedule couldn’t seem to alleviate the frenzied pace, a feeling among students and teachers that each day was too full, too short, too rushed. But a new schedule, launched in 2016–17, seems finally to have accomplished the impossible: Somehow, there is more time in a day at Loomis than there used to be. Ask anyone on the Island. We did.

34

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

By Becky Purdy

“The most positive change has been time,” says Associate Head of School Webster Trenchard. “The new schedule has allowed more time for teachers to engage in deep, meaningful exercises and more time for students to immerse themselves in their learning.”

“It’s a huge plus, a huge improvement. I don’t feel the crunch of time like we did,” says French teacher Sabine Giannamore. “There’s more air to breathe.”

Students also have endorsed the new schedule, which they say has made their classes more energetic and stimulating, their workloads more manageable, and their daily routines saner. “I definitely like it more than the old schedule,” says senior Jacy Case. “It allows for more relaxation and getting more work done.”

Teachers also have witnessed a calming effect on their students, in the classroom, in the dorms, and around campus.

The new schedule, which began in September 2016, lengthened the regular class period from 45 minutes to 75 minutes (except on Wednesdays, when classes are 50 minutes long), reduced the number of class periods in a day

from as many as six to a consistent four, and rotates class blocks on a seven-day cycle, among other changes. With more than a year in the new routine, students, faculty, administrators, and parents have observed a marked, positive shift in both the quality of learning and the pace of the class day at Loomis. A daily race against time seems to have edged toward days that are more manageable and more productive.

“That 75-minute time block is awesome.

Period,” says English teacher Jeffrey Scanlon ’79. “So much so that when you have a day with 50-minute classes, it goes by in a blink.”

A T YPICAL TUESDAY

8 AM

9 AM

OLD SCHEDULE

NEW SCHEDULE

WORK JOB

WORK JOB

7:45–8:15

7:45–8:15

B5

B5

8:30–9:15

8:30–9:45

Intended Consequences Introducing the new schedule had several aims, all of which have shown promising results.

First, the school wanted its schedule to support and optimize student learning.

Emerging understanding of how the human brain learns points toward the importance of deep, immersive thinking.

Longer classes give students a chance to focus fully on each subject and to explore ideas and information from several different angles in one class period.

Jacy finds the longer class periods help her and her classmates to absorb new material more readily. She says teachers have time to provide complete explanations of complex new concepts, and students have time to process it. In one class period, she says, “you can learn a topic, practice the topic, ask questions about the topic.”

In anticipation of the new schedule, faculty brainstormed in their departments, collaborated in professional development sessions, and redesigned their lesson plans to use the 75-minute periods to full effect. As a result, teachers say, they more often take creative and expansive approaches to lessons,

10 AM

B2

COMMUNITY TIME

9:25–10:45

11 AM

9:45–10:45

B6

FREE

10:55–11:40 12 PM

B6 11:50– 12:35

1 PM

2 PM

3 PM

B3

B6 12:10– 12:55

B7 12:10– 1:25

B7 12:40– 1:55

1:05–2:25

B7

2:35–3:20

4 PM

10:45–12:00

B1

2:05–3:20

ATHLETICS

ATHLETICS

3:45

3:45

loomischaffee.org

35

embracing the idea of “deep learning.”

Consultant Bryan Smith of Independent School Management studied the school inside and out and, in an in-depth meeting with the full faculty, proposed several possible revamps of the daily schedule. Faculty voted on the proposals, and taking this vote and other feedback into consideration, Head of School Sheila Culbert decided on the new daily schedule, launched in the 2016–17 school year.

Saturday classes were eliminated under the new schedule although the school community still gathers for special, required programs on two Saturdays each term. These events are called Pelican Days.

The new schedule built on an important change made a few years ago: a later start to the class day, from 8:10 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. On Thursdays under the new schedule, classes start a half-hour later, at 9 a.m., to allow for faculty professional development time.

Classes are 75 minutes long except on Wednesdays, when they are shortened to 50 minutes, to free the afternoon for sports games.

Previously, class schedules followed a two-week cycle that included 11 days of classes. Any given course met on the same days in the cycle. Class periods were 45 minutes except for the occasional “doubles” lasting 80 minutes.

French 3 Advanced students in Sabine’s class created graphic novels during the fall term. Although she has assigned this project in the past, Sabine says her students enjoyed the projects more and completed them in less time with the new schedule than under the previous structure with its shorter but more frequent class meetings. In the past, she explains, she had to juggle her lesson plans to give students one of the occasional double class periods to go out and take photographs for the novels. Now there is enough time in any class period for the photo session, so the project flows smoothly with the rest of the curriculum for the course. Sabine says students completed their graphic novels in a week this fall because they could immerse themselves in the work each time the class met that week. In the past, the project might stretch across two weeks.

History classes have more freedom to engage in immersive learning exercises such as role-playing simulations, a big hit with students, says history teacher Harrison Shure, who heads the History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Social Science Department this year. His U.S. History classes this fall took on the roles of specific historical figures for a debate about ratifying the U.S. Constitution. The students not only presented the views of their assigned personages, but also interacted with each other in the roles.

Change in Focus The new schedule ushered in a move, already in motion at Loomis, from content-driven to skilled-based pedagogy, says Scott MacClintic ’82, director of Loomis' Henry R. Kravis ’63 Center for Excellence in Teaching. With this change in focus, he says, “the teacher will cover less, but the students will not learn less.

We sacrifice breadth for depth.” And deeper learning is the goal.

Scott also describes “a subtle shift in our conversations from teaching to learning” with the new schedule. When classes were 45 minutes long, faculty conversations about lesson plans centered on content — the material teachers planned to cover, Scott says. With the 75-minute classes, the focus has turned to what the students will do, the skills they will hone.

In addition to accommodating immersive projects, the longer periods also enable teachers to fit multiple learning activities into a single class period. “Many of my teachers will show relevant videos or create competitive … games to review important material, and I believe that this method is significantly more engaging than a full-period lecture,” says senior Samuel Goldfarb.

With the advent of the new schedule, Math Department faculty

36

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

recognized the opportunity to foster more dynamic classes, and they foresaw the advantages, says department head Joseph Cleary. There’s a reason, he notes, that TED talks are 18 minutes long: Research shows that a person’s attention span is limited to about 18 minutes. “Why would we be any different?” he says.

Research also shows that physical activity helps maintain focus. The math faculty set a goal for themselves of including three different activities in each period and getting students out of their seats — at the board or moving into group arrangements — for part of every class. As a result, Joe says, classes are more energetic and students are more engaged than ever.

In a Calculus A/B class taught by Isso Shimamoto this fall, students spent the first 15 minutes at the board writing down all the trigonometry properties and equations they could remember from last year. Next, they returned to their desks, arranged in groups of

In addition to accommodating immersive projects, the longer periods also enable teachers to fit multiple learning activities into a single class period.

four, and worked together on a series of increasingly complex problems using derivatives. Friendly banter rose up from the clusters of desks as the students leaned over their notebooks, scribbled solutions, and shared their strategies with each other. Isso moved among the groups, checking progress and making suggestions. In the final 20 minutes of class, Isso helped the class connect what they had just learned to the trigonometry properties they had reviewed, and she explained that the homework for the next class would capitalize on this connection. In a flash, the period was over, with much accomplished.

Multifaceted lessons characterize many classes across departments. In one of Harrison’s recent history classes, the period started with a “blank-page review” of the previous night’s reading — students worked in pairs to recall everything they could remember from the reading without looking it up. The class as a whole then discussed a larger question for the day: “How and why were the 1790s so politically divisive?” Into this discussion, Harrison injected an excerpt from the Broadway hit Hamilton in which Alexander Hamilton proposes a new national bank and Thomas Jefferson opposes it, illustrating the early emergence of multiple political parties in the United States. For their final activity of the class period, the students analyzed a primary source, George Washington’s farewell address from 1796, which also touched upon the divisive spirit of the era.

Allison Beason joins her students in an activity with geometric solids.

Photo: John Groo.

loomischaffee.org

37

Many students — and teachers — worried that longer class periods would drag. It turns out they needn’t have fretted.

“The school day feels significantly quicker with the new schedule,” Sam says. “The longer periods have made my day-to-day classroom experience more engaging and interactive, meaning that times flies pretty quickly.”

The initial refrain among teachers was “what will I do in 75 minutes?” Harrison notes. “The complaint or concern I hear more often now is ‘What do I do in 50 minutes?’” he says, referring to the shortened periods on Wednesdays, which are still five minutes longer than the regular periods under the old schedule.

With the longer periods, the tradeoff is a reduction in the number of times each class meets in a term and the total amount of time spent in class. That change required adjustments to curricula in some cases.

In his “AP Lit” class, the College-Level Senior Seminar in Literature, Jeff Scanlon dropped Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men from the syllabus. As much as he and most of his students loved this lengthy and complex political novel, Jeff says he couldn’t fit it into the fall-term curriculum along with King Lear and a collection of E.B. White essays that also are important to the course. Instead, he teaches another excellent, but shorter, novel in the fall, Wallace Stegner’s All the Little Live Things.

Joe Cleary’s College-Level Statistics class used to spend six 45-minute periods preparing specifically for the Advanced Placement test. Last year, they spent two 75-minute periods on this preparation. On the other hand, during the 2016 presidential election, the class was able to conduct exit polls on Election Day, a valuable real-life learning experience that 45-minute classes couldn’t accommodate.

Having fewer class meetings also required students to adjust. But four-year seniors, who experienced the old schedule during their freshman and sophomore years at Loomis and now are in their second year with the new schedule, say the advantages of the new schedule far outweigh the adjustments. Sam, for instance, says he and his peers have less overall in-class time during the term to discuss assignments, papers, and assess-

38

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

ments with their teachers, but with longer free periods, they can schedule meetings with teachers outside of class time. Jacy, who as a senior class officer hears feedback from many of her classmates about myriad aspects of Loomis life, says students don’t talk much about the schedule. She takes that as a positive sign.

“I think if it was bad, people would be complaining about it a lot,” she says.

Pace Shift Another aim of the new schedule was to reduce the number of transitions in a student’s day. Neuroscientists have confirmed what students and teachers have long observed: Transitions disrupt concentration.

The first and last five to 10 minutes of a class can be disjointed as students adjust their thinking from the discussion in which they just engaged in English class, for instance, to the formulas they are about to derive in math class. Having no more than four classes on any given day, compared to as many as five or six in a day previously, means fewer transitions.

“Having one fewer class per day to start and stop really has had an impact,” Webb says.

In a further nod to smoothing transitions, a campus-wide break in classes is built into every morning except Wednesdays. Clubs, class cohorts, faculty, advisors and advisees, and other groups meet during this community block. Having the morning community block and lunch as transitional breaks gives student brains sufficient time to switch from one academic subject to another. The two afternoon class periods still follow one another closely, with 10 minutes of transition time, but a student never has more than one of these rapid transitions between classes during a day (except on Wednesdays). More learning takes place, and less distraction intervenes.

Photo: John Groo.

Time Flies

Reducing transitions also worked toward another aim of the new schedule: slowing the previously frenetic pace of class days. Under the previous schedule, students rushed from one class to the next, scrambled to schedule meetings with teachers and advisors, and often had just 10 or 15 minutes for lunch. This pace seemed only to accelerate through the years as students increased their course loads and engaged in more extracurricular opportunities. Nearly all of today's Loomis students take five or five-and-a-half courses per term, the maximum allowed without special permission. Stress levels, not just at Loomis but among teenagers across the country, have skyrocketed in recent years, and a frenzied daily pace does little to ease that trend. The new schedule is designed to set a more measured pace, both during the day and at night when students prepare for the next day’s classes. In most cases, students have three classes (instead of five) on their busiest days — and three classes for which to prepare on their heaviest homework nights.

and that guideline remains under the new schedule.

Fewer class meetings per day and per week result in less homework per night. With the old schedule, a student with a full day of classes and no free periods had five sets of homework for that day, or a total of three hours and 45 minutes of homework (or even as much as five hours of homework if the student took all advanced courses). With the new schedule, homework for a full day of classes adds up to three hours (or four hours if he or she takes all advanced courses.)

Students say the change has been significant. Jacy used to finish soccer practice and immediately start her homework without stopping for dinner or conversation with her family. Now, she says, she has time to regroup between sports and homework and still get to bed at a reasonable hour. Sam reports having “a better work-life balance during the school day.” And nightly time pressures have eased as well. “I have loved having fewer classes of homework each night, and I think that it has made my workload more manageable,” he says.

Sam can’t say for sure, however, whether the schedule change has reduced academic stress for himself or his classmates. He was an underclassman when the old schedule was in place, so the shift to the new schedule coincided with the increase in academic rigor that junior and senior years bring. “Although I believe that the workload is more manageable, assessments are still very challenging, and it seems as if they currently carry more weight now that many of us are awaiting college decisions,” he notes.

DID YOU KNOW? Nearly all of today's Loomis students take five or five-and-a-half courses per term, the maximum allowed without special permission.

Teachers welcome the easing of time pressure on their students. “Let these kids slow a little bit. Give them some sanity,” Jeff says.

Free periods also have gained value for students and teachers. In 75 minutes, students say, they have enough time to get ahead on their homework, catch up with friends, or just decompress. Teachers also find free periods to be more productive, whether for grading papers, meeting with students for extra help, or grabbing a cup of coffee and still having time to grade a few quizzes.

As the “new” schedule becomes the norm, teachers and students continue to explore and discover the opportunities it affords. Harrison and his U.S. history students can dive deep into aspects of the Civil War and reconstruction. Jeff and his students in English class can look closely at phrases in great writing and learn how to strengthen their own writing with strong phrasing. Sabine and her students can prepare and enjoy an authentic French meal in the Homestead kitchen — all while discussing the process in French.

Students can take in what they are learning in deep breaths and maybe even get a good night’s sleep. 

A side benefit of the schedule change was a reduced homework load. Loomis teachers assign no more than 45 minutes of homework for each class meeting (up to 60 minutes for advanced- and college-level classes),

loomischaffee.org

39

PROJECT R EPORT: NORTON FELLOWSHIPS

by Christine Coyle 40

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

6

Six students accepted to the Norton Fellowship program took a deep dive last summer into self-directed community outreach projects, providing assistance and sharing joy and meaningful experiences with people in their hometowns and, in the process, learning about their own ability to make a difference.

loomischaffee.org

41

Project Assignment: Design a service-learning project in your hometown that addresses an issue of personal affinity or concern. Develop a plan of action and a budget.

During the summer break, carry out the proposed project.

Check in periodically with the faculty sponsors of the project.

Upon return to campus in the fall, share your methods, outcomes, and challenges with other Norton Fellows. Then adapt the summer project to include the Loomis community.

Norton Fellows are not graded or given course credit for their projects. These learning experiences are their own reward.

PROJECT SPONSORS: Eric LaForest Kelly Family Director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good

Molly Pond Associate Director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good

42

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

“The product of each project is valuable, to be sure, but the process teaches them the skills they will need to pursue any communityminded program in their future,” says Molly Pond, associate director of Loomis’ Norton Family Center for the Common Good, which administers the Norton Fellowships. “I also love watching [students] move beyond their passion for a particular issue, need, or community, and begin to develop their passion for service itself.”

In its second year, the Norton Fellowship program gives students a framework and resources to explore ways to connect to their communities during summer break, when students have more time to invest in detailed projects. Inspired by the success of the Gilchrist Environmental Fellowship program, which empowers students to take on environmentally-focused projects, Eric LaForest, Kelly Family Director of the Norton Family Center, and Molly initiated the Norton Fellowship for students interested in addressing community-focused issues or serving the common good in a significant way. To date 10 Norton Fellows have participated in eight projects representing an array of inspired and creative service-learning projects.

Applicants to the Norton Fellowship, typically juniors or sophomores, propose a project of their own design that addresses an issue of personal concern or affinity. Selected applicants work with Molly, Eric, and other community partners to develop a plan of action and a budget for the project, to be carried out over the summer break. Norton Fellows report to Eric and Molly at intervals throughout their project and then compare their experiences — their methods, challenges, and outcomes — with the other fellows upon their return to campus in September. Additionally, the Norton Fellows are charged with adapting their summer experiences to share with and include the Loomis community in a meaningful way. Norton Fellows are challenged to develop their organization and communication skills and draw upon their drive

and commitment to work collaboratively and effectively with diverse groups of individuals.

The projects are not graded, and success is not measured in “dollars collected or number of good deeds completed,” according to Eric. Rather, the projects have resulted in students’ learning the value and importance of service and gaining experience in taking action as individuals and engaging with the community.

During the summer of 2016, four students participated in three projects, including a writing enrichment program for underserved children in Willimantic, Connecticut; a fun activity day for children in treatment at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Children’s Hospital in New Hampshire; and the natural enhancement of a nature trail on a former disposal site in Teaneck, New Jersey.

SI X NORT ON FELLOWS E NG AGED I N PROJECTS DUR I NG THE SUMMER OF 2017:

1

Senior Louisa Gao PROJECT: CARING CONNECTIONS LOCATION: BEIJING, CHINA Louisa chats with a client of The Caring Connection.

Photo: Christine Coyle

Senior Louisa Gao connected with mentally and physically disabled senior citizens living in a care facility near her home in Beijing, China. A talented photographer, Louisa created decorative photo albums filled with inspired and creative portraits of the residents and care providers with whom she’d developed trust and friendship over the course of the summer. The project helped Louisa to capture the residents’ exuberant spirit and create for each of them a memory book of the enjoyable interactions they shared. Drawing on her experiences in a previous project, Louisa enlisted the help of nearly a dozen teenagers from her former Beijing school, training them in photography and in interacting with senior citizens.

23 +

PROJECT: SHEDDING LIGHT ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING LOCATION: CONNECTICUT

Sarah and Hayleigh at their film premiere on campus. Photo: Eric LaForest

“I think the [senior care facility] residents really appreciated having people to hear their stories,” Louisa says, “and I would definitely try to get to know them on deeper levels when I return to the nursing home in the future.”

Louisa participates in a Loomis community service program that takes a group of students each week to visit The Caring Connection, the town of Windsor’s day program for senior citizens. There, Louisa and her classmate senior Alfred Sze took portrait photos this fall for display in celebration of The Caring Connection’s 25 years of service to the community.

To view a Hartford Courant story on Louisa’s project, go to www. loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Seniors Hayleigh Stewart & Sarah Olender Seniors Hayleigh Stewart and Sarah Olender last summer researched and developed a video project highlighting the prevalence and seriousness of human trafficking in the state of Connecticut, where they both reside. The two were inspired to investigate the issue while on an educational travel experience in South Africa organized by Loomis’ Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies. During their trip, the tour group visited House of Hope, a shelter for trafficked children in a poor, rural area near Johannesburg.

The children were shepherded by a woman everyone called “Mama.” Hayleigh and Sarah later discovered that human trafficking takes place not only in poor areas of the world, but also in places of relative wealth and security like Connecticut.

As part of their Norton Fellowship project, they connected with community activists, journalists, and service agencies and filmed and edited an informative and engaging documentary shedding light on human trafficking — an often hidden, unreported crime closely associated with domestic violence. Hayleigh and Sarah shared their video with the Loomis community in December, and they plan to connect to other area high schools to raise awareness of the issue and further the discussion.

loomischaffee.org

43

4

Senior Sarah Gyurina PROJECT: LET GIRLS LEAD LOCATION: METRO BOSTON, MA Senior Sarah Gyurina created Let Girls Lead for her Norton Fellowship project. The month-long girls day camp included fun and engaging activities that focused on promoting self-confidence and leadership skills and was offered at no charge to residents of Sarah’s hometown in the metro Boston area.

“I wanted to give girls who otherwise couldn’t afford an expensive summer camp the chance to have fun and learn some important life skills,” Sarah says in describing her project objectives.

Putting her idea into action, Sarah decided which topics to cover and planned activities to support the lessons. She enlisted the help of community partners in local schools to spread the word, obtained supplies, communicated with parents, and led all activities with the participants.

At the beginning of each session, the six campers, aged between 8 and 10 years old, joined a short journaling and discussion session, followed by a lesson on a specific leadership quality or skill such as public speaking, communicating effectively,

Sarah with her Let Girls Lead campers.

trustworthiness, and self-confidence. Afterwards, Sarah initiated a game or activity to support what they had learned. Activities included group yoga and meditation, science projects, theater improvisational exercises, and watching what Sarah describes as “girl-power” movies.

The experience from start to finish was challenging and rewarding, Sarah says. She especially enjoyed observing the girls as they hosted a lemonade stand to raise funds for a local animal shelter, and seeing the girls’ enthusiastic response watching U.S. Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts acknowledge the group by name on video.

Sarah hopes to incorporate some aspects of Let Girls Lead into the Longman Leadership program, begun this year at Loomis, by organizing some of the activities for local Windsor residents or Loomis faculty families. She also plans to raise the funds to offer Let Girls Lead again next summer near her home.

Watch Congresswoman Katherine Clark’s video shout-out to Let Girls Lead at www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

5 44

Junior Molly Forrester

Junior Molly Forrester, a Windsor resident, used music to help local seniors with memory loss to re-connect with happy moments from their pasts.

Molly created a playlist of specially selected music for five individuals living at Seabury Meadows Memory Support Center, a residence in Bloomfield, Connecticut, for seniors with memory loss, and she played the music for them through headphones during weekly summer visits. The interaction helped the residents recall happy memories, experience joy in the present moment, and develop a friendship with Molly in the process.

PROJECT: MUSIC THERAPY LOCATION: WINDSOR, CT

“I learned of their wonderful personalities through conversation related to their former experiences with music and love for the art form,” Molly says.

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

A music student and a leader of the student-run Medical Research Club at

6

Senior Julia Rubeck PROJECT: HELP TO HOME LOCATION: SUNDERLAND, MA

Senior Norton Fellow Julia Rubeck spent her summer supporting Help to Home, a grass-roots organization that aids families in the immediate aftermath of a crisis — such as fire, flood, and domestic violence — by providing, at no charge, items necessary to set up a new home and rebuild lives.

Julia connected with Help to Home through the organization’s director, Elizabeth Kolasinski, a member of the church that Julia’s family attends near her hometown of Hatfield, Massachusetts. Ms. Kolasinski distributed a flyer to the church community that fueled Julia’s interest.

Julia stocks shelves at Help to Home.

items. Julia also helped organize a community event that raised $2,000 to support the work of Help to Home.

Throughout the summer Julia worked closely with Ms. Kolasinski to learn how a small organization such as Help to Home goes about addressing a need in the community and connecting with individuals who need support. Julia helped collect donations of household goods, including furniture, bedding, bath items, and kitchenware from individuals and local businesses. The goods were inventoried and put into storage until a “store” was set up in Sunderland, Massachusetts, for families to “shop” for needed

The most rewarding part of the experience for Julia was assisting an individual in setting up a new home after a personal crisis. Julia describes offering this needed assistance as “enriching and humbling.”

Julia plans to work with other Loomis students and community members to reach out to a local charitable organization with a similar mission, and she will continue to volunteer at Help to Home when she is at home in Hatfield.

Loomis, Molly’s project was also inspired by her family’s experience caring for a loved one who suffered from memory loss. Molly became interested in the connection between music and memory at a screening on the Loomis campus of Alive Inside, a documentary about the subject.

As Molly looks on, a Seabury Meadows resident joyfully listens to music that Molly selected for her. Photo: Christine Coyle

Molly’s music and memory project proved enjoyable and rewarding for everyone involved, including Molly; the residents; their families, who suggested music selections; and the caring staff, who welcome positive social interactions for the residents. Molly intends to work with the student-led Pelican Service Organization to connect other students with individuals with memory loss for future music and memory interactions.

loomischaffee.org

45

Project Outcomes •

Photo exhibitions

•

Community activism & outreach

•

Youth day camps

•

Music therapy programs

•

New community service programs

•

Writing programs

•

Community gardens

•

Personal growth

To learn more about the Norton Fellows program and the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, visit www. loomischaffee.org/magazine.

46

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

“After two summers and eight total projects funded,” Eric summarizes, “[Molly Pond and I] are thrilled with the impact these projects have had on the students who pursued them, on the communities that they have served, and on the culture of community engagement at our school … The first 10 Norton Fellows have learned what it takes to make a difference, and the bumps in the road have been better teachers than anything else could have been.”

“Norton Fellows have designed and launched new community service programs, educated the [school] community about the issues they have worked to address, and encouraged more and more applications for the fellowship program as a whole,” Molly Pond says. She credits the Norton Fellows with expanding the opportunities for every student at Loomis to take part in service learning in a way that has meaning for each individual — “from community gardening and writing programs last year, to music therapy and photo exhibitions this year.” The additional focus also helps to keep students connected to the Norton Family Center beyond their Freshman Seminar.

Having previously worked with the Senior Projects program at Loomis, Molly acknowledged the parallel challenges and personal growth that students experience taking on a self-guided project, and she appreciates the added benefit for Norton Fellows to learn about their convictions, about their connection to communities, and about getting things done in those communities.

“My work with the Norton Fellows has reminded me again and again that our future is bright with Loomis Chaffee students leading the way,” Eric says. “No two projects are alike, but each one has showcased students’ optimism, determination, and commitment to something greater than themselves.” 

"No two projects are alike, but each one has showcased students’ optimism, determination, and commitment to something greater than themselves."

O bject Le sson

Katharine Brush, Larger than Life

by Karen Parsons, Loomis Chaffee history teacher & school archivist

The portrait’s gaze looks out over students working in the Katharine Brush Library. The sheer size of the painting — nine feet tall — is a bit arresting. And then there is the figure clad in a dramatic black evening dress, not exactly what you’d expect to find on the quiet floor of a school library. But the subject — a novelist, short story writer, and the library’s namesake — was no ordinary writer.

the apartment] … a cathedral-like, circular, sound-proofed room, two stories high with 18-foot frosted glass windows, a black satin couch and a 15-foot half-moon desk.” Despite the sound-proofing Brush requested, the acoustics of the circular room made it almost impossible for her to write there. A New York Post reporter interviewed the author in the studio, and “as soon as [Brush] spoke … her voice became a sort of thunder and her words leaped off the walls with a muffled roar.

‘It’s sound proof,’ she tried to say, but what she really said was ‘IT’S SOUND-PROOF!’ … . ‘In here … the tapping of a typewriter becomes a crash and the dropping of a pencil sounds like an electrical storm.’”

Katharine Brush’s career, well documented in the popular press of her time, is preserved in an extraordinary collection of her writer’s notebooks, typed drafts with hand-written revisions, scrapbooks, and photographs now held in the Loomis Chaffee Archives. Brush’s mostly autobiographical volume published in 1940, This Is On Me, puts to good use her irreverent wit, shows her zeal for madcap adventures in everyday living, and offers extensive details on her own life story.

Gordon visited the apartment as he and Brush planned the portrait, a surprise birthday gift for Winan.

Katharine Brush stands in front of her portrait in her Manhattan apartment.

Brush recalled in This Is On Me The portrait now hangs on the second floor of the Katharine Brush Library. This photo, held in the Loomis Chaffee Archives, was originally published in the June that she “made the mistake of 1940 issue of Look magazine. To see more photos of the apartment, go to www. showing [Gordon] the wall where loomischaffee.org/magazine. [the portrait] would hang — with Look described Brush’s writing the result that the picture is of a as “sophisticated, tricky, witty, size appropriate to the wall. It is in fact, nine feet high, if it’s an inch; full of Yankee reserve, as American as the Charleston.” She produced and it is modern, to match the room.” Even in this grand apartment, the best-selling novels, including Young Man of Manhattan and Red-headed painting seemed daring.

Woman, both of which were made into Hollywood films in the early 1930s.

Her prose was compared to that of F. Scott Fitzgerald. One critic noted, Brush and Winans purchased the apartment in the summer of 1929 and “The short stories and novels of Katharine Brush were probably the most hired Urban when the building “was [just] all girders and plaster.” A few eloquent expressions of the boom era — that period of raccoon coats [and] months later, the stock market crashed and the events of the Great Depresnight clubs.” About This Is On Me, the same critic said, “This is as enter- sion unfolded. As financially privileged as the couple were, they too felt the taining a portrait of a woman … as [readers] can find anywhere.” impact of shifting economic forces when they moved into the apartment in 1932. Katharine Brush knew that even with her early successes, she had to Leon Gordon painted Brush’s portrait in 1933 to hang in the Manhattan get down to work writing and selling more manuscripts. And this she did, apartment she shared with her husband Bob Winans. Joseph Urban, the in a cozy niche at the back of the apartment, turning out her best-selling creative mastermind behind Ziegfeld Follies sets, designed the interiors autobiographical collection and countless short stories, working, as her of the two-story, 13-room duplex apartment, drawing heavily on the Art brother said, “harder than anyone, even the President” until her death in Deco style and Brush’s request that he design it in what she called “Late 1952. Brush left her final novel unfinished.

Speakeasy.” The result: a modern aesthetic from the floor plan to the furniture, from the light fixtures to the striking geranium-red, black, and white Throughout the Great Depression, Katharine Brush mused over what color scheme of some rooms. might become of her nine-foot-high portrait and joked that her future grandchildren might someday wonder if she herself was actually that tall.

Brush gave Urban total creative license over one room: her writing studio.

Her son, Thomas S. Brush Jr. ’40, chairman of the Loomis Chaffee Board While his artistry manifested an Art Deco showplace, the room was, as of Trustees from 1980 to 1988, donated the painting to the school in 1968 her brother Travis Ingham described, “not the garret in which art tradialong with the naming gift for the new library.  tionally flourishes.” The Chicago Tribune described it as “the real gem [of

loomischaffee.org

47

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

Class Notes

48

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Cl ass Not e s

1944 “Ninety years old and still playing the clarinet — perhaps not as rapidly as in 1944,” declares John Barbe. John is retired from a career as a composer.

1945 “Still enjoying life in Oregon with more of my family moving West every year,” writes Gordon W. Thomas. “Now have six grandchildren and one great-grandchild out here with two remaining East. One son and wife in Seattle.

Two daughters and spouses remain in Boston area.”

1950 Bert Engelhardt reports that he lives in the Village at Orchard Ridge, a retirement community in Winchester, Va. Bert is in an independent living apartment, and his wife, Claire, is in the community’s skilled nursing facility.

1951 William R. Clark Jr. informs us: “Have just acquired a second aortic valve replacement — 14 years after the first. Am feeling fine.”

John F. Foster’s latest book, A Gesture of Words, has garnered favorable reviews on Amazon and the endorsement of Florida’s poet laureate. Thanks in part to these boosts, sales of the book have surged since the book was published in December 2017, John reports. “The book serves as a guide to more than 30 diverse forms of poetry, from the familiar

sonnet and limerick to the more exotic Ya-du of Burma and the Persian Ghazal,” writes John, who is a celebrated poet himself. “The English departments of Loomis Chaffee, Choate, and Emma Willard School possess copies of the book for reference. One of the book’s very favorable reviews on Amazon comes from former LC teacher Jim Rugen ’70.”

action. I was living in England at the time and did not learn of his death until April 3, 1967, when my first child was born. The daffodils were in full bloom, and to this day I remember Rick on my son William’s birthday, the time of the daffodils.”

1954

Middlebury College inducted Fred Beams into its Athletics Hall of Fame in November. Fred was a lacrosse and football standout at Middlebury. A lacrosse All-American in 1966, Fred

1962

Lew Knickerbocker’s latest novel, Show Me a Hero: Love and War During the ’50s, was published recently. According to the book’s back cover, the novel’s central characters are a young soldier and the woman he loves, and the story is set against the backdrop of hotspots of war around the world in the 1950s.

also earned All-New England honors three times during his Middlebury career. When he graduated, he held Middlebury lacrosse records for most career goals and most career assists. In football, Fred led the Panthers in rushing yards in both his junior and senior seasons and earned All-Vermont honors twice. He was named to the Eastern College Athletic Conference All-East College Division football team as a junior. At Loomis, Fred played football, hockey, and lacrosse, including several seasons under longtime coach James “Grim” Wilson. Joining Fred in Middle-

CHAFFEE BOOK CLUB

1955 Patricia Boudreau Fargnoli has written a fifth book of poetry, Hallowed: New and Selected Poems, published by Tupelo Press. An award-winning poet, Patricia was poet laureate of New Hampshire from 2006 to 2009.

1956

The fall gathering of the Chaffee Book Club featured the memoir The Distance Between Us by award-winning author Reyna Grande. Head of School Sheila Culbert facilitated a robust discussion about Grande’s immigrant story. Attendees included: (front) Jenefer Carey Berall ’59; (seated) Betsy Mallory MacDermid ’66, Mims Brooks Butterworth ’36, Evie Smith ’50, Lynn Hayden Wadhams ’61, and Elaine Title Lowengard ’46; and (standing) Anne Schneider McNulty ’72, Head of School and discussion leader Sheila Culbert, Betty Collins ’72, Sarah Spencer Strickland ’74, Priscilla Ransom Marks ’66, Sally Crowther Pearse ’58, Beverley Earle ’68, Kate Butterworth de Valdez ’67, Jane Torrey ’67, Sue Fisher Shepard ’62, and Katie Cox Reynolds ’45.

“We moved to Sun City in Bluffton, S.C., in September [2017],” pens William C. French.

1961 From Lynn Hayden Wadhams: “The excellent yet painful Ken Burns documentary on Vietnam brought back memories of Rick Barnes ’60, who was killed in

loomischaffee.org

49

Cl ass Not e s

bury’s 2017 Athletics Hall of Fame class was Jennifer Hefner Carbone ’93. (For more on Jennifer’s honor, see the class notes for 1993.)

Bob Kopf writes: “Son Tom had a wonderful surprise boy, Silas, two years ago.”

’71

1964 Ronald Shechtman was named a Distinguished Leader in the legal profession by the New York Law Journal.

1965 Fred Prelle continues to live in Houston, Texas, but spends summers in Weekapaug, R.I. He reports that he “got through [Hurricane] Harvey OK.”

The view from the patient treatment room windows of Hartford Hospital’s Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center has been transformed from a dull cement wall into a whimsical and inspiring garden in full color by artist Sally Mara Sturman ’71. The idea to provide an aesthetically pleasing patient perspective came from Sally’s longtime friend Mary Lowengard ’71. Mary led the fundraising charge for the project, which includes a full-scale wall mural and all-season plantings to enhance the small outdoor space encompassed by the wall. Sally (pictured) worked with her artist colleague Catherine Guillaud to put the finishing touches on the mural during unseasonably warm October weather. To learn more about the project, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine. Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

1966 “Still working as director of Ithaca College’s New York City Program,” writes Hersey “Pete” Egginton. He sees John Bonee in Newport, R.I., where Pete’s daughter and sonin-law live and John has a second home.

1969 John Cowan reports: “I decided to take a little stroll across Spain this past summer — ended up walking 230 miles along the ancient pilgrimage route known as the Camino de Santiago. I’m still not sure if I found enlightenment on the journey but was delighted to discover that the old legs are still semi-functioning. In November I slipped into Cuba for a couple of days, the 55th country I’ve reached since leaving Loomis. Who might have guessed that life existed beyond the borders of Windsor?”

50

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

1980 Beth Garvin Myette continues to enjoy life in Duxbury, Mass., and was recently appointed to the American Nurses Association Credentialing Center Board for Pain Management as a content expert. Beth has worked at Boston Children’s Hospital for the last 24 years and is nurse practitioner for the Regional Anesthesia Program. “With the current opioid crisis and its inundation through the health continuum,” she writes, she hopes that her “knowledge and expertise in pain management can make an impact on today’s youth and [my] patients.”

Beth keeps in touch with Marco D’Antonio ’79, and they still talk about their love for ice hockey. Beth plays goaltender for the Massachusetts Lady Lobsters hockey team and take the team to compete in the adult hockey nationals every year in Florida. “When in Boston, give me a shout out!” she urges.

1986 “We had three generations at Loomis for Founders Day to watch Loomis beat Hotchkiss in boys varsity soccer,” writes Rich First.

Rich’s nephew, junior Harry Raddock, plays on the Loomis team. Rich and his mother (Harry’s grandmother), Debbie Savitt First ’59, as well as Rich’s father, wife, and children cheered on the Pelicans to victory.

Philip Rudnicki had dinner and saw Train with Pete Hsing in San Francisco in July 2017. Philip’s son Caleb ’15 interned at ESPN in Bristol, Conn., this fall and had coffee with Chris Whelan.

Phil Sanderson placed fourth overall in the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning this summer.

The event is a series of four 100-mile, mountainous trail races that take place in a span of 11 weeks. Phil, who has run many ultramarathons and other races, completed his first Grand Slam in the summer of 2016.

Cl ass Not e s

PELICANS: Stay Engaged REUNION 2018

R EU

Save the Date: June 15–17!

NION

Save the date!

June 15-17, 2018 JOIN THE LOOMIS CHAFFEE CAREER NETWORK Get Advice — Give Advice

Connect with younger alumni as a mentor.

Get advice from seasoned alumni through: • Career conversations • Mock interviews • Resume critiques The network is completely private and only accessible to those in the community.

For more information and to join, visit www.loomischaffee.org/careernetwork

Classes ending in 3s and 8s, it’s your year!

Mark your calendar and join us on the Island for the festivities.

Look for your invitation in the spring.

Stay connected by sharing your email address with the school.

Update your information and find out more about the weekend at www.loomischaffee.org/reunion or call 860.678.6815.

VISIT THE NEW ALUMNI FACEBOOK PAGE Join the migration from our old group page to our new alumni Facebook page.

Now it’s easier than ever to find and share alumni news and events with your classmates.

facebook-square

Page name: Loomis Chaffee Alumni

CONNECT ON TWITTER Who knew that Pelicans can tweet? Keep up with alumni news and events, 140 characters at a time.

twitter-square

LINK TO FELLOW PELICANS Connect with other Loomis Chaffee alumni and share your work in our private alumni group on LinkedIn.

linkedin

Go to LinkedIn and search for “Loomis Chaffee alumni.”

FIND CLASSMATES NEARBY When you’re on the go, it always helps to know if there’s a classmate nearby through Evertrue, a handy mobile app. www.loomischaffee.org/alumni/ alumni-mobile-app

Tweet to and follow @LC_AlumniNet

SUBMIT A CLASS NOTE

Send your news to us!

Email the Class Notes Editor at magazine@ loomis.org to share news with classmates and friends. High-resolution photographs are welcome; please clearly identify all people.

loomischaffee.org

51

Antoinette Olivares Mayer ’97 “My experience at Loomis Chaffee shaped and empowered me in many ways. It gave me the courage to aim higher and achieve more and, as the Founders envisioned, it inspired in me a commitment to my best self and the common good. I didn’t see this impact at the time of my graduation in 1997, but I see it very clearly now. I am a daughter of first-generation immigrants from the Philippines and grew up in a modest household in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are of my mother sitting at our kitchen table clipping coupons from the Sunday circular.

While my mother did not anticipate having an estate to pass on to her two daughters, she felt strongly that the greatest inheritance she could bestow was a good education. As such, my parents invested in a Loomis Chaffee education, and eight years later, I graduated from Cornell University debt-free.

This financial independence afforded me the opportunity to align the activities in life and work with who I am. I’ve had the privilege to travel the world, volunteer abroad in Ghana and in the Philippines, and see first-hand how children’s education is a unifying dream for many women in the developing world. Today, I am very fortunate to be in a position that affords me the opportunity to pay it forward, as my mother did, and to help other children gain access to high-quality education. I made the decision to include Loomis Chaffee in my estate plan because of my deeply rooted belief that we must take responsibility and help support the next generation in creating and achieving better and grander lives.”

Antoinette and her husband, Alejandro Mayer

interested in planned giving?

Join The John Metcalf Taylor Society For more information, please contact Chief Philanthropic Officer Timothy Struthers ’85 at 860.687.6221 or tim_struthers@loomis.org, or Associate Director of Development Heidi E.V. McCann ’93 at 860.687.6273 or heidi_mccann@loomis.org. www.loomischaffee.org/plannedgiving 52 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

1987 For the third year in a row, Barnaby W. Horton, a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch in Hartford, Conn., was named

by Financial Times as one of the Top 401 Retirement Advisors in the United States for 2017. Barnaby has worked at Merrill Lynch for 17 years and specializes in corporate and executive retirement benefits, including 401(k) plans, deferred compensation plans, and wealth management. He also is a board member of Hartford’s Camp Courant and sings in the Asylum Hill Congregational Church Sanctuary Choir. He and his family live in West Hartford.

1990 Gretchen Ulion-Silverman is one of five Connecticut sports luminaries who will be awarded a Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance Gold Key in April at the 77th annual Gold Key Dinner. The award, begun in 1940, honors natives of the state who have reached the upper echelons of sports as athletes and/ or coaches. Gretchen was the leading scorer on the 1998 U.S. women’s ice hockey team that won a gold medal at the Nagano Winter Olympics.

1993 Middlebury College inducted Jennifer Hefner Carbone into its Athletics Hall of Fame in November, an honor she shared with another Pelican, Fred Beams ’62. (For more on Fred’s honor, see the class notes for 1962.) Jennifer was a three-sport athlete at Loomis and Middlebury, competing in soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse. She helped the Middlebury ice hockey team earn back-to-back Eastern College Athletic Conference championships and was named ECAC Player of the Year for both of those seasons. When she graduated in 1997, she held Middlebury ice hockey records for career goals (91), assists (125), and points (216). Jennifer also set records on the soccer field with 29 goals, 18 assists, and 76 points for the Panthers and contributed to two ECAC Tournament appearances.

During her two seasons of lacrosse at Middlebury, the team advanced to the NCAA Final Four twice and had an overall record of 26-6. At Loomis, Jennifer was captain of the 1992 soccer team, coached by Chuck “Bruno” Vernon, that went 17-0 and won the Founders League championship and the New England championship. Bruno coached her on eight varsity teams at Loomis.

Cl ass Not e s

’51

’62

’80 John Foster’s ’51 newest book

Fred Beams ’62 speaks at his induction into the Middlebury College Athletics Hall of Fame in November.

’81

’82

Luis Rafael Resto Morales ’81 and Cynthia Anne Rangoon ’82 were married at the Pond House Cafe in West Hartford, Conn., on September 3, 2017. Pelicans attending the festivities included former Loomis librarian Betty Rangoon, Lisa Nussbaum ’82, Richard Rangoon ’80, Jane Del Favero ’81, the groom and bride, Danylle Rudin ’81, and Katherine Rangoon Doyle ’81.

’85

On September 28, 2017, members of the Class of 1985 gathered at The Gramercy Park Hotel to celebrate their “collective” 50th birthdays this year. The evening was co-hosted by Sarah Lutz and Stephen Paul, and they were joined by (all Class of 1985 unless noted): Andy Albert, Susan Horn Angelides, Susan Bain Bellak, Sarah Bird ’83, Marcella Gilbert Boelhouwer, Greg Campbell and his wife Karyn, David Cundey and his wife Maryellen, Suzanne Demisch, Pam Atkins Francisco, Steve Frangione, Fridolf Hanson, Colin Ingersoll, Phil Keating ’86, Nikki LaBranche ’84, Charity Handler Lefferts, Marla Schreiber Mehlman, Claudia Farans Morse, Adam Perl, Jonathan Prince and his wife Jennifer, Tim Reed ’84 and his wife Carole, Julian Riley ’86, Suzanne Ross, Tim Struthers, David Walsh, and Miles Williams ’84.

loomischaffee.org

53

Cl ass Not e s

MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON

Philanthropy Day FEBRUARY 28, 2018

|

STAY TUNED TO LEARN MORE

2003

2004

2012

Catherine Turley Basu recently published her first book, Superwomen Secrets Revealed: Successful Women Talk About Fitting in Fitness and Dare You to Join Them. Catherine, who lives in California, was in Connecticut this fall for a book tour. “I ran into [Dean of Faculty and French teacher] Katherine Ballard at my book-signing event in Mystic,” Catherine wrote in an email in September. An ACE-certified fitness professional, Catherine owns Fit Armadillo, an online personal training service. “After working in gyms for the first six years of my career, I started my own business to serve busy women who did not want to join a gym, but did want to enjoy the many benefits of fitness,” she explains on the Fit Armadillo website. “For the past three years, I’ve been helping busy moms, professionals, and entrepreneurs fit in fitness on their terms with online sessions.” Although she lives on the West Coast, Catherine's parents still live in Connecticut, so she comes East frequently.

Peter Meggers married Lindsay Gengras on October 8, 2016, and the couple welcomed baby daughter Eleanor Elizabeth Meggers on September 13, 2017. Pete notes that he recently was elected to the Manchester Board of Education.

Shelby Pinkerton reports that she is scheduled to receive her master’s degree in European and Russian studies from the Yale Graduate School of Arts & Sciences in May 2018.

54

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

2006 Brian Sheffer works at the Experiment in International Living and is pursuing a master’s degree at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vt.

2008 Patrick Meggers was promoted to lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard, according to a note from his brother, Pete ’04. Pat teaches at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., where he also coaches football.

2014 Garrett Esper spearheaded a program to share the joy and skills of soccer with people with Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities near Colgate University, where Garrett is a senior. Garrett and his Colgate men’s soccer teammates started a Down Syndrome Awareness game and are holding clinics throughout the year with Pathfinder Village, a community for people with developmental disabilities that helps them discover their own value and talents through unique opportunities. Garrett’s efforts were featured on the Patriot League Network series “Today’s Scholar-Athletes, Tomorrow’s Leaders,” which can be found on YouTube.

Cl ass Not e s

Lily Rosenberg returned to the Island on October 21 with members of the Middlebury College Paradiddles a capella group.

The group performed several popular titles to the delight of the audience of students, faculty, and alumni who gathered in Founders Chapel for the Saturday evening event. Lily received a warm welcome back to campus and had a chance to reconnect with some of her teachers and friends from her years at Loomis.

2017 Shanelle Jones was honored at the fourth annual Hartford Girls Rock! event this fall at the Marriott Hartford Downtown.

Hartford Girls Rock! honors young women in Greater Hartford for academic achievement, leadership, and commitment to service. Shanelle is a first-year student and Day of Pride academic scholarship recipient at the University of Connecticut. According to her profile in the Hartford Girls Rock! program, Shanelle is considering majoring in political science and possibly double-majoring in human rights, and she aspires to be a corporate or immigration attorney. In addition to her academic pursuits, Shanelle sings in the gospel choir Voices of Freedom and is a member of the Black Student Association at UConn. Sponsored by the Foundation for Educational Opportunities and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Epsilon Omicron Omega chapter, Hartford Girls Rock! selects recipients based on nominations of “the best and brightest girls” serving in local community-based nonprofits. Recipients engage in enrichment workshops such as goal-setting, career exploration, and leadership development, and they are honored at a brunch attended by civic leaders, corporate representatives, and family and friends. The keynote speaker at this fall’s event was Olympic gold medal gymnast Gabby Douglas.

’86 ’59

’87

Junior Harry Raddock and his grandmother, Debbie Savitt First ’59, and uncle, Rich First ’86, celebrate the varsity soccer team’s win over Hotchkiss in the Meadows.

’03

Barnaby Horton

’93 ’62

Catherine Turley Basu ’03 ran into Dean of Faculty Katherine Ballard at Catherine’s book signing in Mystic, Conn., in October 2017.

Gathering at the Middlebury College Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony are Brian Hefner ’97, Kelly Hefner ’91, Loomis coach Chuck “Bruno” Vernon, honoree Jennifer Hefner Carbone ’93, honoree Fred Beams ’62, and former Loomis coach Jim “Grim” Wilson.

’04

Nicole Meo ’04 and husband Michael King on their wedding day, July 15, 2017, in Old Lyme, Conn.

loomischaffee.org

55

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

Obit ua r ies

56

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

O bi tuar i e s

1941 Doris Keffer Blair, on June 29, 2014. A four-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Doris was involved in The Chiel and was active in basketball, soccer, and softball. She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Miami University in 1945 and worked for many years at the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, N.Y. In 1951, Doris earned a master’s degree in social work from Haverford College and moved to Chicago to work for American Friends Service Committee, a nonprofit charitable organization.

While in Chicago, Doris met and married Francis Austen Blair in 1953. The couple moved to a small farm outside Lafayette, Ind., where they raised their family of five children — a departure from Doris’s city lifestyle. While her children were young, Doris introduced them to the joys of reading and growing produce on the family’s large garden plot.

Doris returned to the chemistry lab in 1965 as a technician and researcher in Purdue University’s Animal Science Department and enjoyed a 27-year career there studying farm animal endocrinology. In 1988 after the death of her husband Frank, Doris embarked upon a number of adventures with her eldest daughter and caregiver, Joy, which included travel, camping, and visiting her grandchildren throughout the United States. Doris also traveled internationally with her daughter Betsy for family visits in Cameroon, Africa, and Taiwan.

Eventually, Doris followed Joy to live in Glen Arbor in Sleeping Bear Dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan. According to the family obituary, “Doris’ quiet, loving, accepting presence, and deep belief in the goodness of

people, will be missed by family and friends.” Preceded in death by Frank, and her brother William W. Keffer ’39, Doris was survived by her sister Eleanor Keffer Dornon ’47; her five children, Joy Anne Blair, Thomas Austen Blair, Elizabeth Jane Blair, Benjamin Ralph Blair, and Timothy Ward Blair, and their spouses; and her seven grandsons. A celebration of Doris’s life was planned to coincide with the interment of her ashes in the family cemetery in Hiram, Ohio.

the London Hospital in London, England, and at Edinburgh University. There, Pat became a member of the Royal College of Physicians in cardiology. Pat and Joan moved to Calgary in 1956, and Pat established the first medical practice in cardiology in the city. He continued to work as a respected cardiologist in Calgary for 35 years. During his career, Pat established the Intensive Care Unit at Calgary General Hospital and served as its director of cardiology. He was also a founding director of the Alberta Heart Foundation. Pat was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians in Canada, the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the Council on Clinical Cardiology. Pat will be remembered as a generous, hardworking, and witty man who enjoyed photography, traveling with family, and sailing. He also greatly enjoyed the peacefulness of gardening. Predeceased by his brother, Robert F. Logan ’35, Pat was survived by Joan, his wife of 67 years; his three children, Kerrie, Mandie, and Laurie, and their spouses; his four grandchildren; and three nephews, Richard F. Logan ’64, C. John Logan ’78, and Robert P. Logan ’78.

Lawther Logan, peacefully, on September 21, 2017. Originally from the city of Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, Pat, as he was known, came to Loomis in 1940 on a one-year British-American international scholarship.

He was the second of five Logan family members to attend Loomis from the United Kingdom.

An Honor Roll student, Pat was involved in Ludlow Club, Political Club, Radio Club, and Debating Club, and he served on The Log Board. He was active on second team soccer and the track team. Pat entered Yale University on scholarship in 1941, but his studies were interrupted by the start of World War II. He served in the British Royal Navy first as a seaman gunner and then as a gunnery officer on a cruiser in the North Atlantic. After his war service, Pat returned to Yale to complete his degree. In 1946, he attended McGill University to study medicine. There, he met his future wife, Joan Henry, and the two were married in 1950.

In 1953, after three years of training at the Montreal General and Queen Mary hospitals, Pat was awarded a British Council Travelling Fellowship for further post-graduate work. He studied at the National Heart Hospital and

1942 Charles Allan Borchert, on May 5, 2017, at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn.

A three-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Al, as he was known, was involved in Student Council, Rifle Club, Political Club, and Concert Orchestra. He served on the Scholarship Committee, Spring Dance Committee, and Committee of Review,

and he was a Study Club tutor.

Al was active in Wolcott junior and senior football, Wolcott club hockey, club tennis, and winter track. After graduating from Loomis, he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. Al as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy on the U.S.S. Fremont during World War II. Afterwards, he enjoyed a long and successful career in business, which culminated in his role as president of American Powered Metals in North Haven, Conn. Al and his family lived in a number of communities throughout Connecticut, and he eventually retired to Essex Meadows, near the Connecticut shore. An avid sailor, Al enjoyed spending time traversing Long Island Sound in Yankee, his Catalina 22 sailboat. He will be missed by his large family, who fondly referred to him as “Bop.” Predeceased by Pom, his wife of more than 63 years, and his daughter Wendy Hirtle, Al was survived by two children, William P. Borchert and Laura B. Smith, and their spouses; his son-in-law Michael Hirtle; his nine grandchildren; his 12 great-grandchildren; and several extended family members, including his niece Susan B. Sterling ’64. Al was predeceased by his niece Judith Sterling Kiefer ’70. A memorial service was held at Old Lyme Congregational Church in Old Lyme, Conn., on May 13, 2017.

1943 Robert S. Loomis, on his 91st birthday, August 8, 2017. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., Bob was a three-year Honor Roll student and was involved in Rifle Club, Library Committee, and Stamp Club. He loomischaffee.org

57

O bi tuar i e s

was active in Wolcott junior football, Wolcott junior basketball, and Wolcott tennis. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1946 and a master’s degree in 1948 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In 1955, he moved to East Granby, Conn., and founded Loomis and Loomis Inc., a structural engineering firm in Windsor. He served as the firm’s president until his retirement. He was a founding co-chair of the Libertarian Party of Connecticut and past chair of the East Granby Board of Finance. According to family members, Bob was quick-witted, possessed a unique sense of humor, and had an affinity for riddles, which he shared with his grandchildren. Predeceased by his wife, Rilla Louise Lewis Loomis, Bob was survived by his four children, Robert W. Loomis, Richard W. Loomis, Nancy L. Collins, and Ann-Louise Loomis Jones, and their spouses; his six grandchildren; and his nine great-grandchildren. A private burial took place in Palisado Cemetery, in Windsor.

1944 Thomas John O’Malley, on August 25, 2017, surrounded by his family. A five-year student from Windsor, Conn., Tom was involved in Darwin Club and Work Program, and he served on the Senior Grounds Committee.

He was active in Ludlow second hockey, club tennis, club soccer, senior hockey, and senior tennis.

After serving his country in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Tom earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a law degree from Georgetown Law School. He was admitted to prac-

58

tice law in Connecticut in 1954.

Tom was a founding partner in the law firm O’Malley, Deneen, Leary, Messina & Oswecki in Windsor. He served as prosecutor and judge of the Windsor Municipal Court and was commissioner of the Metropolitan District Commission for 15 years. After a successful 50-year career, Tom retired in 2004 and remained active in many civic organizations, including the Connecticut, Hartford, and Windsor bar associations; Windsor Federal Savings and Loan Association; Windsor Economic Development Commission; Windsor Democratic Town Committee; Windsor Charter Revision Commission; St. Gabriel’s Church Council; Connecticut Petroleum Production Control Commission; Connecticut Energy Advisory Board; Greater Hartford Transit District; Suffield Charter Revision Commission; and Suffield Board of Assessment Appeals.

He also served as the Suffield town attorney. Tom married Laverne Twarkins on November 7, 1959, and together they raised their family of five children. He enjoyed gardening, landscaping, hunting, fishing, and spending vacation and holiday time with his family. Tom will be remembered for modeling a strong work ethic and instilling in his family the importance of a good education. Tom was survived by Laverne, his wife of 57 years; his five children, Kim O’Malley, Donna O’Malley ’74, John O’Malley, Paul O’Malley ’81, and Sheila O’Malley Fitzgerald ’84, and their spouses; 13 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on August 30, 2017, at Sacred Heart Church in Suffield, Conn., followed by burial with military honors in St. Mary's Cemetery, Windsor Locks, Conn.

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

John Michael Newell, on June 11, 2017, in Gainesville, Fla. A three-year student from Concord, N.H., John was involved in Radio Club and K.P. Squad, and he worked in the farm program.

He was active in Wolcott junior football, senior soccer, wrestling, and track. John received a bachelor’s degree at Yale University and a doctorate at the University of Texas. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In 1967, John moved to Gainesville, where he was a professor of educational psychology at the University of Florida for more than 30 years. He enjoyed spending time with his family and his butterfly garden. Preceded in death by his wife, Elise, and his son, Mike, John was survived by five children, Christine Wise, Karen Hyman, Frank Newell, Susan Bishop, and Tim Newell; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A private interment was held in New Hampshire.

1946 Allen Milton Potter, on July 29, 2017. A four-year student from Ellenville, N.Y., Allen was involved in the Classical Music Club, the Chess Club, the Darwin Club, the Glee Club, the Concert Orchestra, the Choir, Le Cercle Français, and the Bridge Club, and he served on The Log business staff. He was on the Honor Roll for two years.

Allen was active in Ludlow junior soccer, junior basketball, tennis, senior basketball, and fencing.

While attending Yale University, Allen traveled to Europe with the Yale Glee Club. After Yale, he joined his father, Allen David Potter, in the family business, The Potter Insurance Agency, in

Ellenville, N.Y. He married Marjorie VanKleek, and they moved to Deerfield Beach, Fla. There, Allen and his father opened the Southland Insurance Company.

Preceded in death by his brother Frank J. Potter ’42; his daughter Maria E. Potter; and his wife, Marjorie, Allen was survived by his son Warren V. Potter and his sister Elizabeth Potter Haswell.

A memorial service was held on August 25, 2017, at Tropical Sands Christian Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Margaret Green Torrey, on August, 19, 2017, peacefully in her home in Putney, Vt., following a brief illness. A four-year student from West Hartford, Margot, as she was known, was involved in the Tea Dance Committee and Drama, and she served as president of Student Council and as a reporter for The Chiel. Margot earned a bachelor’s degree from Smith College, and during her junior year abroad studied art history in post-war Paris, which led to her lifelong love of cooking, art, France, and travel. Margot married Frederick G. Torrey in 1951, and they raised four children on the campuses of Mount Hermon School and later at Loomis Chaffee. Margot was active in campus life at Loomis during Fred’s tenure as headmaster, 1967–1976.

She developed programs for arts enrichment, humanities, and foreign study, among other fields, at Loomis and as a member of other school communities. In 1976, Margot and Fred moved to Putney and established the Putney Woodshed which, with Margot’s direction, came to be a premier outlet for fine local crafts. Margot connected with her community through the visual arts, writing, arts programming at the public library, French dinner

O bi tuar i e s

group, and spiritual, environmental, and activist projects. Working with her fellow artisans, Margot founded the Putney Craft Tour, which is now in its 39th year and is the oldest continuous craft tour in the country. The Putney Craft Tour inspired a number of similar tours around the nation. Margot is remembered by family and friends as an active and engaged person who always was learning.

She expressed herself through her artistic and creative talents and nurtured the communities she joined through the years. Margot especially enjoyed time with her friends and her family, and she appreciated the natural world, travel, political discussion, and her beloved home in Sunapee, N.H. Predeceased by her brother David H. Green ’43, and her husband, Fred, Margot was survived by her brother John C. Green ’49; her four children, Katharine Torrey ’71, David Torrey, William Torrey, and Neige Torrey Christenson ’79; 10 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. A service in celebration of Margot’s life was held in the Greenhoe Theater of Landmark College in Putney on September 9, 2017.

Memorial donations may be made to Loomis Chaffee, Northfield Mount Hermon School, or the Putney Public Library in support local arts programming.

1947 James Hall Cunningham, on May 7, 2017, in Greenville, S.C. A three-year student from West Hartford, Conn., James was involved with Work Squad and the Budget Club, and he was secretary/treasurer of the Chess Club. He was active on first team chess. A U.S. Army veteran, James retired after a long career

in chemical engineering. He was a member of the Society of Plastic Engineers and the Piedmont Paddlers Club. James also served as an alumni volunteer for his 50th Reunion at Loomis. He was survived by his wife of 62 years, Theresa Nimitz Cunningham; his three sons, Lee Cunningham, Clay Hall Cunningham, and William Watson, and their spouses; his two siblings, William Cunningham and Ann Macbeth; his six grandchildren; and extended family members.

and following the Boston Red Sox and Green Bay Packers sports teams. According to his son John G. Hagi ’76, George was a proud Loomis alumnus who attended his class reunions and remained in touch with classmates through the years. Predeceased by his first wife, Katherine Castros, and his second wife, Cindy Poulos-Hagi, George was survived by his two children, Darha Nigro and John G. Hagi ’76, and their spouses; his stepchildren, Charles Poulos, John Poulos, Laura Chiulli, and Leslie Poulos-Stover, and their spouses; four grandchildren; five step-grandchildren; and many extended family members and friends. Funeral services were held on June 5, 2017, at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Hartford, followed by burial with military honors in Village Cemetery of Wethersfield, Conn. The family has suggested that donations in George’s memory may be made to Loomis Chaffee.

George J. Hagi, on May 30, 2017, in Hartford, Conn., with his family by his side. A twoyear student from Wethersfield, Conn., George was involved in the Mason Dorm Committee, Turtle Committee, Halloween Night Patrol, Glee Club, and Student Federalists, and he was cast in several theater productions.

He was active in track, Wolcott senior football, Wolcott senior basketball, and Wolcott senior baseball. George earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1951 and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. For more than 40 years, George owned and operated Hockanum Restaurant in East Hartford, which his father opened in 1929.

George was an active member of St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Hartford, where he served as captain of numerous inter-church sports teams and led a number of church organizations. He was also a 62-year member of Masonic Lodge #128.

George served on the board of directors at the Gengras Center of St. Joseph’s University, and he volunteered as a long-term care ombudsman advocate for the state of Connecticut during his retirement. His passions included global travel experiences, cooking,

1948 William Kent Healy, on May 31, 2017, in Essex, Conn. A two-year student from New Haven, Conn., Bill completed high school at Cheshire Academy. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1952 and served in the U.S. Army in Korea during the Korean War. In 1960, Bill married Judith Cooper, and in their nearly six decades of marriage they raised four children. Bill worked in the aircraft industry for 20 years, first at Sikorsky Aircraft and then at Simmonds Precision.

He went on to head Parametrics, an industrial electronics systems manufacturer, for which he served as president. In retirement, Bill volunteered at the Mystic Sea

port’s G.W. Blunt White Library for nearly 30 years. There, Bill led several projects, including the computerization of the library’s collection and its annual book sale. He joined the Fellows of Blunt White Library in 1988 and served terms as president and vice-president. In 2007, Mystic Seaport gave Bill the William C. Noyes Volunteer of the Year award, and in 2000, he began a five-year term on Block Island chairing the committee responsible for a major U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wastewater management project. Bill greatly enjoyed his volunteer work as well as travel and discussions about current events with friends and family. Bill was survived by his wife, Judy; his four children, Martha Hamblett, Sam Healy, Benjamin Healy, and Rachel Healy, and their spouses; his eight grandchildren; and many extended family members and friends. A memorial gathering was held on June 30, 2017, at the Lace Factory in Deep River, Conn.

1949 Shirley Mae Snelgrove Currie, peacefully, on September 17, 2017, in Wakefield, R.I. Originally from Hartford, Conn., Shirley lost both her parents in the tragic Hartford Circus Fire of 1944, in which she herself was severely burned. After a lengthy recovery period, Shirley lived with relatives in Windsor, Conn. She attended Chaffee for four years and served as business manager of The Chiel. After Chaffee, Shirley attended Simmons College. In 1950, she married Donald L. Currie and cherished her role as a homemaker to her husband and their twin sons.

After Donald’s death in 1962, loomischaffee.org

59

O bi tuar i e s

Shirley raised her sons as a loving and devoted single mother. She was briefly married to Chester Ashley of Attleboro, Mass., later in her life. A resident of Attleboro, for 40 years, Shirley later lived in the Bonnet Shores section of Narragansett, R.I., for 20 years. Active in her community, Shirley was a longtime member of the Second Congregational Church in Attleboro, where she sang in the church choir. She was a member of the League of Women Voters, the Sturdy Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, and the Attleboro Housing Authority, among other organizations in Attleboro. A true New Englander, Shirley was an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots, and she enjoyed watching the two teams win recent championships. She also enjoyed being by the water, taking ocean cruises with friends, and visiting North Carolina. She took great pride and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Preceded in death by her husband, Donald, Shirley was survived by her sons, Alan S. Currie and Paul M. Currie, and their spouses; three grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and her cousins, Nan Christensen Carmon ’39, Edwin Snelgrove ’42, and Alan Snelgrove ’45. A remembrance and funeral service was held on September 22, 2017, at Second Congregational Church, and Shirley was laid to rest next to her late husband, Donald, at Mt. Hope Cemetery and Arboretum in Attleboro, Mass.

Emily Louise Townsend Reeves, on August 20, 2017.

Originally from West Hartford, Conn., Emmy Lou, as she was known, was involved in the French Club and Glee Club, and

60

she served as chairman of the Dramatic Committee and editor-in-chief of Chaffers. Emmy Lou was active in field hockey and basketball. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1953 and married Emery Reeves in 1954. Emery and Emmy Lou lived at Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, Va., for three years before moving to Southern California in 1958. A talented all-around athlete, Emmy Lou competed in field hockey and basketball while at Chaffee and tennis and skiing at Wellesley. She enjoyed hiking, camping, and coaching soccer when her children were schoolaged, and she later took up bicycle touring. Between 1985 and 2005, Emmy Lou cycled more than 50,000 miles, including two trans-American tours, rides across 49 of the 50 U.S. states, and tours in New Zealand and the Netherlands. Committed to cultural and educational pursuits, Emmy Lou volunteered as a tour guide at Colonial Williamsburg, served as president of the Cabrillo Marine Museum Volunteers, and spent more than 30 years as a docent with Los Serenos Pointe Vincent Interpretive Center, providing educational information to visitors about the history of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Emmy Lou enjoyed volunteering in elementary schools as a guest nature teacher.

She will be remembered for being knowledgeable and patient and for her never-ending smile.

Emmy Lou was survived by her sister, Elizabeth Townsend ’53; Emery, her husband of 63 years; her four sons, John, Jim, Dave, and Bill; and her five grandsons.

1950 John Wesley Lawrence, on July 30, 2017, on Sanibel Island,

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Fla. A two-year student from Summit, N.J., John was involved in the Stagehands Union, Student Endowment Fund, Student Council, and Entertainment Committee, and he was cast in theater productions of Junto and Emperor Jones. He was active in first team football, first team wrestling, and Wolcott senior baseball. Following his Loomis graduation, John earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Cornell University in 1955 and joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He eventually became involved in the finance industry and enjoyed a long professional career with Merrill Lynch, first in Chicago, and then in Burlington, Vt. A lifelong fan of Chicago sports teams, he loved seeing the Chicago Bears football team win Super Bowl XX in 1986 and the Chicago Cubs baseball team win the World Series in 2016. According to the family’s obituary, John’s “profound sense of humor and love of family are his lasting legacy.” He was survived by Karen Lawrence, his wife of 36 years; his five children, John Jr., Kristin, Kenneth, Katie, and Colby, and their spouses; and his four grandchildren. Services were held at Sanibel Community Church on August 4, 2017.

1952 Daniel Norman Chappelear, on May 4, 2017. A four-year student from West Hartford, Dan was involved in the Rifle Club, Nautical Club, Model Club, Ski Club, Barbell Club, Glee Club, and Political Club, and he served on the Dining Hall Committee.

He was active in Allyn junior and intermediate football, Allyn rifle, Allyn junior baseball, Allyn tennis, Allyn winter track, and the

ski team. He served as manager of Ludlow junior football. After Loomis, Dan studied metallurgy at Colorado School of Mines before transferring to University of Michigan, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering.

Dan was a member of Beta Theta Pi, the Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers, and the Society for Advancement of Material & Processing Engineering. His 39-year career included positions with Humble Oil, Miami Shipbuilding, Sparkman & Stephens, Boeing Company, and Rosenblatt & Son before he joined Lockheed Missiles & Space Company – Ocean Systems in 1967. He retired from Lockheed Martin in 1998. Throughout his career, Dan brought his talent and skill to research and design of offshore drilling venues; wood, steel, and aluminum vessels; hydrofoil and deep submergence vehicles; ocean mining machinery; oil recovery systems; and many other military and civilian marine engineering projects. Dan met and married Katherine Bradshaw in San Francisco, Calif., and the two established their 40-year residence in Emerald Hills, Calif.

A lover of the outdoors, Dan enjoyed sailing, snow and water skiing, tennis, and horseback riding as well as reading, lively political discussions, and spending time with family and friends. According to the family’s obituary, Dan was “curious, quiet, caring and generous. He approached life with a sense of humor and a touch of ‘Connecticut etiquette’.

His bright blue eyes and ready smile will be missed by all who knew him.” Predeceased by his brother, David Chappelear ’49, Dan was survived by Katherine Chappelear, his wife of 40 years; his nephews and niece; and many extended family members and

loomischaffee.org

61

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

O bi tuar i e s

friends. A celebration of Dan’s life was to take place during the summer of 2017.

1953 Robert Nutting Andrews, on August 19, 2017, after an extended illness. A three-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Bob was involved in Student Council, the Press Club, the Political Club, the Senior Scholarship Committee, and Le Cercle Français.

He served as chairman of the Senior Day Boy Committee and was cast in a theater production of Our Town. Bob was active in Wolcott senior football, first team basketball, first team football, and first team baseball. While at Loomis, Bob was an Honor Roll student and was named to the Cum Laude Society. He graduated from Dartmouth’s Tuck Business School in 1958, and after serving in the U.S. Army, he enjoyed a long and successful career with the Traveler’s Insurance Company. Bob enjoyed skiing, hiking, and playing golf, and he volunteered with West Hartford’s Youth Football program and the United Way. In recent years, his favorite activities included spending time with family and friends at his cottage on the Otis Reservoir and attending his grandchildren’s sporting events.

Bob remained connected to both his Loomis and Dartmouth classmates and is a member of the Common Good Society. He was survived by his wife, Sue; his two children, Jeffrey Andrews and Amy Brennan, and their spouses; and his six grandchildren.

62

1954

1961

Martha Keefe Damroth, on July 6, 2017, in hospice with her family by her side. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., Martha was active in the French Club, Glee Club, and the Chiel reportorial staff, and she served as secretary/treasurer of her class.

She attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., and completed her bachelor’s degree in education at Willimantic State Teachers College in Connecticut. Martha taught at a number of Greater Hartford schools. Her teaching career was cut short by a traffic accident in which she sustained a severe back injury that took many years of recovery time and left her with limited mobility. After recuperating, Martha re-entered the workforce as a temporary employee at Phoenix Mutual Insurance Company in Hartford and eventually rose to the position of Billings Department manager, which she held through the late 1980s. A lover of sports, Martha was a New York Yankees baseball fan beginning in the Joe DiMaggio/Yogi Berra era, a season ticket holder for the New England/ Hartford Whalers ice hockey team, and a longtime fan of the New England Patriots football team. Martha’s childhood history includes a narrow escape from the tragic Hartford Circus Fire that resulted in 168 deaths and more than 700 injuries on July 6, 1944.

She will be remembered for her intelligence, generosity, pleasant demeanor, and sense of humor.

According to her family, Martha was wonderful mother and a strong woman throughout her life. Predeceased by her husband, George F. Damroth, Martha is survived by her sons, George and Robert; and her daughter-in-law, Patricia.

Charlotte Brown Whitehead Murray, peacefully, on June 20, 2017, in Palm Harbor, Fla. A four-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Charlotte was involved with the Program Committee, served as vice president of the Political Club, and was on the Chiel business staff. After graduation, Charlotte attended Lasell Junior College in Newton, Mass., then spent time living in Glastonbury and Cheshire, Conn., before moving to Rockport, Mass.

There, she met and married Bruce Murray, her second husband. A talented writer, voracious reader, and committed community volunteer, Charlotte designed, wrote, and edited newsletters for a number of civic and charitable organizations. She was employed at various times with Phoenix Mutual Life, Wellspring House shelter in Gloucester, Mass., and a Cheshire school library. In addition, Charlotte was skilled at needlecraft and collected art. Predeceased by her husband Bruce, Charlotte was survived by her two daughters, Jessica Barile and Alyssa Whitehead-Bust ’90; her three step-children, Heather Murray, Dawn Murray Burnett, and Lisa Murray; two grandchildren; and four step-grandchildren. A celebration of Charlotte’s life was planned for the fall of 2017.

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

1964 Joseph Nicholas Russo III, on July 7, 2017, after a long illness. A four-year student from Bloomfield, Conn., Joe served in many leadership roles during his time at Loomis. He was commodore of the Sailing Club, business manager of the Stagehands Union,

advertising manager of Loomiscellany, and chairman of the Senior Room Committee. Joe was active in Allyn senior football, Allyn rifle, and golf. After Loomis, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and an M.B.A. from Babson College, and he married Susan M. Cassidy. From 1974 to 1981, Joe was employed

by Heublein Inc., an American producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages. There, he completed a rotational management training program and later became director of Caribbean Beverage Operations. Later, when Joe was employed by the West Indies Corporation/Riise Liquors Inc., Joe and his family lived on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands for 17 years. In that time, Joe served as director of Export & Duty Free Sales at A.H. Riise International; managing director of A.H. Riise BVI Ltd; president of A.H. Riise Wholesale Liquors; and president of A.H. Riise International.

In 1998, he joined Todhunter Mitchell Wine & Spirits and served as president & managing director of the company, located in the Bahamas, and was instrumental in successfully growing the business during his five-year tenure. Joe had opportunity to travel extensively in the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world throughout his career. Joe’s had a lifelong interest in sailing, golf, and spending time near the water, and he was a member of a number of affinity organizations and clubs, including the Oyster Harbors Club in Osterville, Mass., on Cape Cod, of which he was a member for 48 years. He also belonged the Wianno Club, the Wianno Yacht Club, the Hartford Club, the St. Thomas Yacht Club, and the Hawksbill Yacht Club in Freeport, Grand Bahama, where he

O bi tuar i e s

was a past commodore. Among Joe’s favorite hobbies was tinkering with his boat and his two 1964 Ford Thunderbirds, which he displayed each summer at the Fourth of July antique car parade.

“Joe spoke fondly of his days at Loomis,” wrote Joe’s wife, Susan, to the magazine editors. “I always enjoyed visiting the campus as his wife and as a parent.” Joe was preceded in death by his father, Joseph N. Russo II ’37, and his brother Nicholas J. Russo II. He was survived by Susan, his wife of 45 years; his two children, Joseph N. Russo IV and Charles C. Russo ’98, and their spouses; and his brothers Daniel P. Russo ’69 and Frank T. Russo ’73. A memorial service was held at St. Peter’s Church in Osterville, Mass., on July 11, 2017.

1974 David Bruce Leblang, on May 30, 2017. A four-year student from West Hartford, Conn., David was involved with the Math Team and Tournament Bridge, served as co-president of the Computer Club, and tutored other students. He was active in varsity wrestling. The family’s obituary notes that David’s passion for science began when he was a student at Loomis Chaffee. He earned a computer science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978. David was employed at Digital Equipment Corporation and Apollo Computer before he co-founded Atria Software and was awarded several patents for his work. In his youth, David enjoyed skiing and met his future wife, Nancy Webb, while on a ski trip at age 14. Interested in astronomy, he built an observatory dome in his backyard in Wayland, Mass.

David enjoyed family vacations on Nantucket and Cape Cod, and despite his health challenges, he never lost his “corny” sense of humor, according to family members. David was survived by his father, Paul Leblang; Nancy Leblang, his wife of 37 years; his two daughters, Amy and Erica; his two siblings, Mark Leblang and Ellen Petrocci; and extended family members. Services were held at Congregation Or Atid on June 4, 2017, which were followed by interment at Beit Olam East Cemetery in Wayland, Mass.

his great-granddaughter; and his many extended family members.

A military service honoring Bob was held in the chapel of Carmon Windsor Funeral in Windsor, on August 12, 2017.

More News The Alumni Office has learned of the passing of Robert Francis Leslie Logan ’35 on September 2, 2016; William Keller Cooper ’48 on October 25, 2017; Peter Brinckerhoff Schryver ’49 on January 4, 2017; Douglas S. Reid ’50 on October 2, 2017; Howard Harris ’54 on July 3, 2014; Willis Savage Whittlesey III ’54 on October 2, 2017; Richard Reinhart ’55 on November 13, 2017; Anton Nelson Kimball ’57 on November 3, 2017; former staff member Anna H. King on October 4, 2017; and former Chief Financial Officer Aubrey K. Loomis on November 19, 2017.

More information, as available, will be printed in future editions.

Former Staff Robert Bliss Wheaton Sr., of Windsor, Conn., unexpectedly, at home on August 4, 2017.

Born on September 7, 1941, in Milo, Maine, Bob served in the U.S. Navy and later settled in Connecticut, where he raised his family. Bob enjoyed a 60year career in the painting and industrial coatings industry and was respected for his high-quality work and attention to detail. He was a lead painter in the Physical Plant at Loomis Chaffee from 2000 to 2011. He taught the skills of the trade to many others, including his sons. Bob’s favorite pastimes included gardening, playing pool and cards, hunting, fishing, watching baseball and football, and spending time with family, friends, and his beloved dog, Munda. Bob was survived by his wife, Donna McGeary Wheaton; his sister, Lorraine Wheaton; his four children, Raymond J. Wheaton, Robert B. Wheaton Jr., Carmel T. Wheaton Kerrigan, and David S. Wheaton, and their partners; his four step-children, Richard Welch, Robert Welch, Melissa Kennedy-Collins, and Anne Marie Walts, and their partners; his 15 grandchildren;

loomischaffee.org

63

R ef l ect ions

THEN: Willow Road in 1914. Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

Causeway of Many Names

THEN: Loomis Road in 1913. Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

Photo: Jessica Hutchinson

The causeway that crosses the wetlands between Windsor center and the Loomis Chaffee campus has undergone almost as many name changes as physical transformations through the years. Known as Loomis Road before the family farm became the school campus, a major construction project in 1913 resulted in the white fence-bordered Willow Road when The Loomis Institute opened in 1914.

In the 100-plus ensuing years, the causeway has been paved, crowned, eroded, widened, made safer for pedestrians — and renamed Batchelder Road. What hasn't changed is the welcoming quality of this bucolic passageway from village to campus.

64

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

R ef l ect ions

loomischaffee.org

65

The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, Connecticut 06095 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

A delegation of 12 Loomis Model United Nations students participated in the Yale Model Government Europe Conference in Budapest, Hungary, over Thanksgiving Break and earned “Outstanding Delegation� honors, the equivalent of second place. History teachers Rachel Engelke and Harrison Shure traveled with the group.

66

Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2018

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Loomis Chaffee School