Moravian Academy Journal - Fall 2020 - Curiosity Issue

CU•RI•OS•I•TY

ISSUE

JOURNAL

FALL 2020

CONTENTS

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Features:

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Cultivating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion MA takes the steps to ensure that equity and justice prevail for all of us.

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Answering the Call Curiosity about flying leads Marek Plater ‘63 to life of falconry and bird banding.

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Alumnus Racing to Develop COVID-19 Vaccine Army Lieutenant Ethan Green ‘15 tapped for coronavirus vaccine efforts.

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Chasing Adventure on the EuroVelo Katie Burd ‘96 traverses Europe by bike during sabbatical.

In this issue: 01 | Letter From The Editors 02 | Around Our Campus 12 | Feature: Curiosity 20 | Strategic Vision Update 32 | Our Community 38 | Institutional Advancement 45 | Class Notes

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Dear Moravian Academy Community, When we think of curiosity, the theme of this issue, as a catalyst for life-changing learning, we realize that it made our remarkable work possible over these past several months. Not only were we able to welcome our learners back to campus for safe in-person instruction, but we also entered into a partnership with The Swain School, enabling us to expand our community reach and begin a new phase of institutional growth. Both of these momentous tasks were accomplished thanks to the relentless (ongoing!) efforts of our faculty and staff, but they began with a simple question: What if? We asked this big question as a school, but the endlessly curious individual members of our community also ask themselves What if? Students, who often turn their curiosities into fully-fledged Comenius projects, ask: What if I can use artificial intelligence to aid in the fight against COVID-19? (pg. 18) What if I could make the world a better place through public service? What if teenagers could help combat the opioid crisis? (pg. 3-4). The curiosity instilled in our students stays with them long after they have left our school. Alumnus Marek Plater ’63 wonders, “What if I could become a master falconer?” (pg. 14), while History Teacher and alumna Katie Burd ’96 asks, “What if I could traverse the European countryside by bike?” (pg. 32) Ethan Green ’15 asks, “What if I could develop a vaccine against COVID-19?” (pg. 19) Karen Washington, Director for Community and Inclusion, asks a question that is central to our mission: “What if we could define our unconscious biases as a first step toward creating a more inclusive and equitable community?” (pg. 12) As you read through these pages, you will see that curiosity is what turns our wheels. It moves us forward. During this time of uncertainty and struggle, we never shy away from opportunities to learn, even when the challenges that accompany them may seem at first insurmountable. It’s the Moravian Academy way. We hope the stories in this issue of the Journal inspire you to follow your own curiosities on whatever adventure awaits. Happy reading,

Stephanie Vasta Director of Communications and Marketing

Julia Fox Associate Director of Communications

ABOUT THE MORAVIAN ACADEMY JOURNAL

The Moravian Academy Journal is published three times per year. Unless otherwise noted, articles may be reprinted with credit to Moravian Academy.

EDITORS

Julia Fox Stephanie Vasta

DESIGN

Imagevolution

HEAD OF SCHOOL Jeffrey Zemsky

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS George Andriko Katie Burd ‘96 Brian Crowe Erica D’Agostino ‘91 JoAnne Daniels Brian Elstein Julia Fox Ingrid Gerber Veronica Guevera Matt McKay Jessica McPherson Susan Parent Brad Pomeroy Stephanie Vasta Karen Washington Kathleen Weems Jeff Zemsky

PHOTOGRAPHY Tom Amico Gaby Dee Julia Fox Susan Parent TEDxLehighRiver Military.com

ADDRESS CHANGE

Office of Institutional Advancement 7 East Market Street Bethlehem, PA 18018

CORRESPONDENCE

Office of Communications 7 East Market Street Bethlehem, PA 18018 Moravian Academy is a church-related school whose Moravian tradition affirms that young people best realize their potential in an atmosphere of love and understanding. We seek to promote the child’s full development in mind, body, and spirit. Since 1742 the school has encouraged sound innovations to meet contemporary challenges while recognizing the permanence of basic human values.

JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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Six Students Named Commended Students

IN 2020 NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM By Kathleen Weems Six Upper School students have been named Commended Students in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from Moravian Academy and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which conducts the program, will be presented to the following scholastically talented seniors: Alex Adams ’20 Evan Edelman ’20 Benjamin Kraft ’20 Rhea Malhotra ’20 Gianna Maniscalco ’20 Alex Teleo ’20 About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Although they will not continue in the 2020 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2020 competition by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

“These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation.” 2

MORAVIAN ACADEMY

“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”

AROUND OUR CAMPUS

Olivia Wee ’21 Makes Great Progress Toward Career in Public Service Olivia Wee ’21 aspires to a future government career in the U.S. government after studying international relations at college. Over the last year, she has been in passionate pursuit of her goal, engaging in experiential learning opportunities whenever possible. From being recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of State for her leadership role in Moravian Academy’s successful voter registration drive to completing a semester at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership (SEGL) to learning about national security as a Girl Security Scholar or about Russian language and culture as a 2020 Virtual National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship recipient, Olivia is well on her way to a government career in public service.

Moravian Academy is proud of Olivia’s leadership and commitment to serving her country in government, and we are excited to see how her future unfolds. TO READ MORE ABOUT OLIVIA’S JOURNEY TO HER DREAM CAREER, VISIT blog.moravianacademy.org/blog/oliviawee21

JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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The Power of the Public: Neha Skandan ’21 Brings Awareness to the Opioid Crisis By Julia Fox Last spring Neha Skandan ’21 presented her Comenius Project on the opioid crisis with a focus on how teenagers can help mitigate the opioid crisis by recognizing and responding to warning signs of addiction in family members and friends. A significant part of her project entailed meeting with different experts in the community, including physicians at LVHN and leaders of outreach programs, who are at the forefront of addressing this crisis. In March, she presented her findings at the TEDxLehighRiver event “Always/Never; Sometimes/Maybe.”

Photo courtesy of TEDxLehighRiver

TO VIEW SKANDAN’S TOOLKIT, VISIT www.moravianacademy.org/toolkit.

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AROUND OUR CAMPUS

Deshmukh ’20, Malhotra ’20 NAMED 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS By Stephanie Vasta U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has announced the 56th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars and two Moravian Academy seniors made the prestigious list: Neil Deshmukh ’20 and Rhea Malhotra ’20.

College Board SAT or ACT exams or through nominations made by Chief State School Officers, other partner recognition organizations and the National YoungArts Foundation’s nationwide YoungArts™ competition.

Deshmukh and Malhotra were among 161 high school seniors recognized for their accomplishments in academics, the arts, and career and technical education fields. “It is my privilege to congratulate the Presidential Scholars Class of 2020 on their outstanding academic achievement, community service, and leadership,” said Secretary DeVos. “These exemplary young people have excelled inside the classroom and out. And, while they are facing unprecedented challenges as they graduate from high school into a world that looks much different than it did just a few months ago, their determination, resilience, and commitment to excellence will serve them well as they pursue their next steps.”

As directed by executive order of the President, the 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholars are comprised of one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and U.S. families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large, 20 scholars in the arts and 20 scholars in career and technical education. Created in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program has honored over 7,600 of the nation’s top-performing students. The program was expanded in 1979 to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, literary and performing arts. In 2015, the program was again extended to recognize students who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects scholars annually based on their academic success, artistic and technical excellence, essays, school evaluations, and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to high ideals. Of the 3.6 million students expected to graduate from high school this year, more than 5,300 candidates qualified for the 2020 awards determined by outstanding performance on the

The Presidential Scholars Class of 2020 will be recognized for their outstanding achievement this summer as public health circumstances permit. A COMPLETE LIST OF 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS FOLLOWS AND IS ALSO AVAILABLE AT http://www.ed.gov/psp

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AROUND OUR CAMPUS

Faculty and Staff Celebrate Milestones 6

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Our faculty and staff encourage curiosity, inspire creativity, and act with empathy even in the face of challenging situations, which has never been more true than it was this year. While we could not gather in person this past spring, we recognize and honor the following employees who celebrated milestone anniversaries during the 2019-2020 school year. Collectively, they have given 225 years of service to Moravian Academy. 35 years of service Susan Maurer 30 years of service Paul Messman 25 years of service David Sommers, Susan Williams (not pictured) 20 years of service Kimberly Sanborn, Barbara Sudol 15 years of service Christine Condon (not pictured), Jessica McPherson 10 years of service P eter Kish, Mark Schiavone (not pictured), Marla Strohl, Lindsay Woodruff

Please Welcome

THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE MORAVIAN ACADEMY FACULTY from L to R Domenic DeMenichi Fifth Grade Teacher Adrianna DiMarco Social Studies Teacher Lindsay Lee Upper School Counselor Katie MacMillan Kindergarten Teacher, Spanish Immersion Program Valarie Marks Third Grade Teacher Josafina Moneny Middle School Spanish Teacher George Ongwae Middle School Science Teacher Sarah Pulcini Third Grade Assistant Teacher Ivy Zhao Middle School Chinese Teacher

JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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A Look Back AT VIRTUAL SUMMER SCIENCE CAMP

By JoAnne Daniels and Julia Fox Undeterred by the challenges imposed by COVID-19, Moravian Academy held its usual summer camps and enrichment programs virtually. The new format offered teachers the opportunity to be creative and innovative, and they delivered with more than 30 unique programs for students. From live beekeeping sessions in “A Visit to the Apiary” to cooking and culture in “En Busqueda de Tortillas” (Search for Tortillas) to paper crafting in “Three Dimensional Art,” students were engaged in a variety of immersive learning experiences.

Below, science teacher JoAnne Daniels reflects on the virtual summer science programs that she led: It was a great month! Each of my science summer programs met two hours a week for four weeks in July.

SCRATCH PROGRAMMING ADVENTURE

We had children who were ’brand new’ to Scratch as well as those who had programmed in the language before. Together we learned and practiced how to move sprites, sense input, add special effects, control events, make sounds, animate, create dialogue, and use operators. Students shared projects and learned how to ‘remix’ shared programs.

SCIENCE FAIR BOOTCAMP

Students in Grades 5-8 participated in this camp. We investigated the components of STEM Fair projects. Students brainstormed how to create a STEM project based on a paper ‘whirlybird’ toy. Many of the students shared their projects from the previous school year; we also explored the many STEM fair opportunities available in the coming school year.

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KITCHEN SCIENCE

What fun we had during this camp! It was very hands-on even though we were virtual! In the final days, we made Oobleck, ‘magically’ poked pencils in a water-filled plastic bag that stayed sealed, watched dancing fruit in soda, and on our last day, we made and ate ice cream/juice slushies in a bag. Yum!

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE … INNOVATE

We explored the importance of recycling and how recycling happens to start the camp. We did some ‘spur of the moment’ builds with recycled, reused materials — we built towers and robots. Our ‘major’ project was to design and build a game from recycled, reused, repurposed materials (while keeping in mind good game design elements such as having a winner, being fun and interesting, and having a theme). Some students worked with a partner (virtually) to create their games; other students worked individually. Games were presented in “Shark Tank” format as students gave their pitches to convince us to buy their games. These programs were offered at no cost to Moravian Academy families.

AROUND OUR CAMPUS

Virtual Honey Harvest Celebration By Brian Elstein & Veronica Guevara

Our busy winged friends were hard at work creating our favorite golden treat at the Upper School Apiary this summer. To date, we’ve harvested 300 lbs of honey, and we are expecting even more this fall. On Saturday, September 19, we held this year’s Honey Harvest Celebration virtually through Zoom so anyone in our community could join us. We learned about how honey gets from the hive to our breakfast table and answered questions along the way. We encouraged viewers to bring their curiosity as well as their favorite honey snack for a virtual taste test of the sweet stuff. Artists shared drawings, collages, sculptures, or costumes that celebrated bees and their sweet treats.

JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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AROUND OUR CAMPUS

Award-winning Soccer Coach, Bob Hartman, Retires By Jeff Zemsky, Head of School

On Friday, September 25, 2020, Moravian Academy soccer coach Bob Hartman began his retirement after 31 years in schools and the last 18 here at Moravian Academy. Bob is known across our community for the discipline with which he has approached each of his days at our school. His students have long known that Mr. Hartman is not only passionate about the curriculum, but brings it to life through his own model of health, fitness, and nutrition. Eighteen years of MA graduates will never look at a restaurant menu the same again! Bob is also known far and wide as the architect of Moravian Academy’s championship boys soccer program. With eighteen years of coaching the boys and 10 years of coaching the girls, Bob and his teams have built a tradition of excellence that has taught hundreds of students how to be highly dedicated student-athletes. The work ethic and honorable play of Coach Hartman’s teams have produced results that are remarkable for any school, let alone one of our stature: 5 Colonial League titles, 10 District XI titles, and 2 PIAA State championships. Bob has long been a leader of his peers, and was named Coach of the Year twice by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association and was also selected as National Coach of the Year in 2014 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Bob would be the first one to tell you, however, that it is the players who deserve the credit. And as any Moravian Academy student who joined one of Coach Hartman’s teams would tell you, success starts in practice - and often on Saturday mornings! We will miss Bob this year but we can be happy knowing that he launches into this next chapter with an eye on personal and family health, intent on spending more time with his grandchildren when he is not cheering on the Moravian Academy Lions from the sidelines.

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Student Advancement Cohort (SAC) Leads Philanthropy Efforts By Susan Parent

Leadership opportunities for Upper School students have shifted and expanded with the changing times. In the spring of 2020, a Student Advancement Cohort (SAC) was re-established to assist Moravian’s annual Day of Giving by calling alumni to encourage giving. Eighteen students volunteered and that is just the start! This year, SAC is expanding to take a close-up look at the work of nonprofits and fundraising operations at Moravian Academy. Our mission is to engage student volunteers in grades 9-12 by working alongside the Director of Annual Giving to support Moravian’s philanthropic needs and traditions. Students will learn marketing skills, campaign development, philanthropy awareness, and alumni relations. They will experience first-hand how gifts impact today’s student life to the broader ideals of legacy gifts to secure Moravian’s future. The Student Advancement Cohort invites all constituents to participate in Moravian’s philanthropy efforts together. When you hear from our young leaders, say, “Yes!”

JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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Community & Inclusion at MA FEATURE: CURIOSITY

Cultivating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Moravian Academy By Karen Washington, Director for Community & Inclusion At Moravian Academy, we strive to cultivate a healthy community in all aspects, including diversity, equity, and inclusion. These have become huge buzzwords over the past several years, and particularly in recent months. From curating picture books that represent a wide range of identities in the Lower School to engaging Upper School students in conversations about their personal identity journeys, teachers at Moravian are finding ways to share a global perspective with our students. Last year, we spent a great deal of time on defining bias, becoming actively aware of blindspots, and anti-bias training with faculty and staff, in an effort to work towards creating a safe environment for all. On each campus, we want to create an atmosphere where every person, no matter their identity, feels recognized as valuable, and welcomed. Lower School students are learning about themselves and the vast world around them; they are just finding out who they are. Perhaps for the first time, they are meeting and learning about others who may not look like them. Middle School students continue with that growth and push to be confident in who they are. By the time they reach Upper School, students are even more open to the diversity in people and in their perspectives. In an effort to better get to know the Middle School students, I engaged them in a series of workshops focusing on identity. Working with each grade level as a group, students discussed aspects of their identity and also shared personal accounts of struggle, based on identity. For many, these personal vignettes served as a window into experiences perhaps never thought of. Students were able to take away from these sessions a greater appreciation of someone else’s journey. Importantly, we also discussed how to respond to challenging situations in appropriate ways as a target, bystander, or ally.

Leading up to spring break, and following a number of racially charged incidents within the student body, Upper School students began to find the courage to speak up publicly, leading to a number of student meetings where everyone present was encouraged to speak out against what they saw as incidents that were clearly eroding any sense of strength in community that they desired to have. We left school in March with students asking for more time to have such discussions. There existed an overwhelming desire to build a community where racial, homophobic, and religious slurs do not exist. Fast forward to September 2020 and you will find a newly organized Student Diversity Committee, whose main objectives are to break down barriers of ignorance, share life stories, and find ways to combat hate speech. Faculty and staff opened this school year with an anti-racist workshop. Finding time to examine our own biases, and share with one another is always a challenge, but most received this as time well spent, and have asked to continue the conversation. That will be accomplished this year through small focus groups, where adults will meet periodically to discuss how these topics impact our lives, both personally and professionally. We want to be the best that we can be in order to serve our students and support them in becoming global citizens with a sincere appreciation for everyone in the room. Finding diversity is not difficult. It is how we approach it that matters most. We have to go beyond diversity, and assure that equity and justice prevail for all of us. To peruse some of the tools that I have shared with faculty and staff as we carry on this important conversation, please visit: moravianacademy.org/inclusion.

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT: moravianacademy.org/inclusion

JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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FEATURE: CURIOSITY

Answering the Call:

CURIOSITY ABOUT FLYING LEADS MAREK PLATER ’63 TO A LIFE OF FALCONRY AND BIRD BANDING By Julia Fox

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Throughout his life, you might have found Marek Plater ’63 scouting for hawks atop the Kittatinny Ridge in Pennsylvania or overlooking the Arizona desert with a hawk or falcon perched on his gloved, outstretched arm. These days, you can find Plater -- a federally licensed master falconer and avid bird-bander -- at his island home in Maine, where he monitors the local kestrel population. Born and raised on a farm in Kintnersville, PA, Plater stumbled upon a career in pool construction and architecture after realizing wall street wasn’t the right fit for a country boy. He began by building pools for Sylvan Pools, moved into construction management, and eventually ventured into selling and designing pools for 40+ years. In fact, anyone who has ever enjoyed a dip in the Moravian Academy pool on the Merle-Smith Campus can thank Plater, as he designed it in the mid 1980s. One of the best parts of the pool industry is that it allowed Plater to indulge his true curiosity: falconry and bird banding. A falconer introduced Plater to the world of hawks at around the same time he began his pool career. In the summer months, he worked non-stop for seven days a week. And then, come October, his time belonged to bird banding and falconry. Raptor banding refers to trapping, tagging, and releasing birds to track their migration patterns and life span. Plater estimates that he has banded thousands of birds throughout his lifetime. “I think the biggest day we had was with Sharp-shinned Hawks one October, and we banded 136 in one day. That was memorable,” he says. For decades, Plater was also heavily involved in falconry -trapping juvenile hawks and training them to hunt wild game. “These are birds that were young, wild birds when I first got them,” he explains. He recounts the bond he had with a hawk he had flown for 18 years. “I would be the highest thing in the desert, and he’d come just out of nowhere and land on my head because that’s where he could see things better.” Falconers may train the birds, but Plater knows that the learning process works both ways. “Every bird is different,” he says. “Not only every Red Tailed, Harris’ or Goshawk, but every species is different as to how you train them and how they respond to that. That was the learning process even to this day.”

One of the most memorable events of his falconry years was his invitation and attendance to an international falconer’s gathering in Austria, which was headquartered in an eleventhcentury castle. Before indulging his curiosity and finding his life-long passion for birds of prey, Plater was a student at Moravian Preparatory School. “I will say,” begins Plater, “that Moravian was probably the best thing that happened to me at the time to get me to study and get through college.” He recounts fond memories of his friends with whom he remains in touch to this day. One memory, in particular, stands out to Plater: the time he and his friends started a junior/senior football game to boost morale. “I just remember that morale was down, and we got together and asked ourselves: What can we do? I can visualize a picture still in my mind of the football game, which really turned out to be something. It was good. It was good for the time.” Now residing in Maine with his wife Julie, Plater’s falconry days are behind him but he remains an active raptor-bander, building kestrel nesting boxes in Maine and tagging the young kestrels who are raised in them. “I started doing this kestrel project because the kestrels are really declining throughout the country. They’re in a lot of trouble and a lot of it is because of habitat loss.” This year, Plater has already banded 68 young kestrels and close to 400 in the past five years. What began as a general curiosity about flying turned into a lifelong adventure of learning and discovery for Plater. “I like to think that it was done for a good purpose,” he says. If you would like to reconnect with Marek Plater ’63, email him at mplater@erols.com.

“What began as a general curiosity about flying turned into a lifelong adventure of learning and discovery.”

JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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Lions Earn Gold at K’nex Challenge! By Brad Pomeroy, George Andriko, and Matt McKay

Prior to spring break, fifteen of our Lower School students and three of our Middle School students participated in the 2020 K’Nex Challenge at Northampton Community College, Monroe Campus in Tannersville, PA. Divided into teams, the students were challenged to create a way of conserving energy in the future and then design a model of their energy conservation idea out of K’Nex pieces. Through teamwork and collaboration, students turned their ideas into masterpieces!

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Congratulations to “Team Terry,” comprised of students Olivia Olesen ’28, Olivia Seymour ’27, Maddie Yang ’27, and Lily Razavi ’27 for earning first place at the competition! The students created “Terry the Trash Collector,” which aims to decrease the amount of litter on the Earth.

A round of applause goes out to “Team Terry” and all of our other student participants, including Zander Ritchey ’24, Shiv Patel ’26, Nicholas Rodney ’26, Elijah Eckman ’27, Aaron Gordon ’27, Aidan Johnson ’27, Michael Johnson ’27, Makayl Manja ’27, Eric Weems ’27, Evan Bonyun ’28, Oliver Lauden ’28, Ian Nikolov ’28, Isaac Sharma ’28, and Shafiq Sharif ’28!

AROUND OUR CAMPUS

Okezue Bell ’23 Creates Medical Master App for FIRE Project, Selected IRIC Finalist By Brian Crowe

For his final spring-semester FIRE project, Okezue Bell ’23 created an application entitled “MedicalMaster - An Application Tailored by and for Medical Students.” Okezue, whose project involved surveying hundreds of 4th-year medical students, writes that “future physicians should be afforded a comfortable and enriching application process as they embark on the early next steps of their fulfilling careers.” Using Python in Coderunner “allowed for seamless neural net and AI integration” in Okezue’s project, including “the testing of thousands of iterative predictions of the neural networks to ensure efficiency and allow for X and Y data set outputs in exact decimals to quantify accuracy.” In layperson’s terms, Okezue’s project makes it much easier for medical students to find the right match for their residency programs by taking into account the various stressors that exacerbate an already difficult process. The app’s features include “stress tracking, intelligent and integrated calendars, travel and lodging booking, patient load support systems, and other helpful resources.”

INSPO RESEARCH & INNOVATION COMPETITION (IRIC) 2020 FINALIST Okezue also submitted a project to the IRIC in the technology category. His research, AIXIV: A Blockchain-Compatible Machine Learning Model Capable of Autonomous Data Manipulation and Modification, was an exploration of artificial intelligence (AI). About his project, he said, “My goal for AIXIV was to create a machine learning AI (a depth of AI allowing for the system to autonomously receive data and learn from it) that could be integrated into multifarious applications.” For his efforts, Okezue finished among the top 200 participants and was awarded a $10,000 entrance scholarship to the Rochester Institute of Technology.

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AROUND OUR CAMPUS

Mikail Jaffer ’22 HELPS DEVELOP ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO DIAGNOSE COVID-19 By Julia Fox In the race to detect and contain COVID-19, Mikail Jaffer ’22 is “harnessing the power of artificial intelligence” to diagnose the illness. According to Kurt Bresswein of Lehigh Valley Live, Jaffer has been working with CovidScan. ai, a company based in Plano, TX, on a form of artificial intelligence that analyzes chest X-ray images to detect COVID-19 or other lung disorders. The company’s co-founder, Moksh Nirvaan, explains that, “The program’s overall accuracy rate is running around 96%, which breaks down to near 99% for COVID-19 cases, 95% for non-coronavirus ailments and 92% for normal diagnoses.” Jaffer’s contribution to the promising technology has been helpful “from a business standpoint for scalability,” says Nirvaan. The Moravian Academy rising junior wanted to “advance the technology while also bringing it to market.” It was another Moravian Academy classmate who introduced Jaffer to CovidScan.ai, and with parents who work in the biopharmaceutical industry (They own Yourway, “an integrated biopharmaceutical supply chain solutions provider” based in Upper Macungie Township) the opportunity was a perfect fit. “Basically,” said Jaffer, “I came in and helped come up with different ideas to help develop the program and make it more friendly to the user and give more data or insight to doctors or radiologists.” While Jaffer is still undecided about his future career plans, he is already making an important difference through his contributions to CovidScan.ai. READ MORE ONLINE AT www.moravianacademy.org/jaffer

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Alumnus Racing to Develop Covid-19 Vaccine By Julia Fox

Army Lieutenant Ethan Green ’15 was featured on Military. com in March 2020 for his efforts to help the U.S. government develop a vaccine to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. For the only active-duty military member on the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research team and a doctoral candidate at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the job fulfills a dream he’s had since he was 14: to be an Army microbiologist. Upon graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Green received a commission from the U.S. Army. Now, about a year later, Green is a second lieutenant and doctoral candidate at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He conducts research at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, “harvesting proteins found in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus so they could be used for developing a vaccine against the disease it causes, COVID-19,” according to Military.com.

Green is optimistic about the prospects of a vaccine. He says, “We’ll be able to get one before the year is out, at least the clinical trials, and that’s if everything goes wrong, like fires, earthquakes and Godzilla attacks. We’ll get something out.” Before being tapped for coronavirus vaccine efforts, Green was working on a universal influenza vaccine. About his dream-fulfilling experience, Green said: ”The nature of what I’m doing, it’s an amazing opportunity, and I thank God every day that I’m doing it. It makes me really sad that I have to — I’d much rather be bored out of my mind in the lab — but it has filled me with this immense purpose.”

READ THE FULL MILITARY.COM ARTICLE AT www.moravianacademy.org/ethangreen

FEATURE: CURIOSITY

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STRATEGIC VISION

A CULTURE of CURIOSITY

2020 ANNUAL UPDATE 20

MORAVIAN ACADEMY

STRATEGIC VISION UPDATE

Dear Moravian Academy Community, No one anticipated a year like we are experiencing in 2020. Amid all the change and disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Moravian Academy remains now and always a place of learning. As such, our school is committed to thoughtful improvement from year to year. This allows us to navigate the defining question of this moment: How do we preserve the essence of who we are while confidently adapting to meet the most pressing challenges of today? Moravian Academy answered this question in 2018 with our strategic vision: to shape the student experience around curiosity and the deeply intellectual, personal, and lifelong growth it inspires. Two years later and amid complex forces of changes in our society, I’m pleased to send you this update and recommit to our strategic vision. Our learning and efforts to improve will not stop as we confidently assess and thoughtfully respond to the changing environment for students, for families, and for schools. Institutional developments will continue, but we will assess them through the lens of the pandemic as we maintain our commitment to continuous improvement. Like the journey of a learner, our path is not linear - but one that winds as we discover and grow. By regularly assessing our progress, we’re asking ourselves: “What’s working? How do we want to improve as a school? What do we refine next?” As you read through this report, we invite you to ask yourselves these same questions and reflect with us in Parents’ Association meetings throughout the year. Your feedback, as a member of our strong and vibrant community, is integral to realizing our school’s vision in full. On behalf of our dedicated and future-oriented Board of Trustees, I am excited for us to be on this journey together as we shape the Moravian Academy student experience around curiosity and the lifelong growth it inspires. Sincerely,

Jeff Zemsky Head of School JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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Seeing Mission Skills Anew Mission Skills, a hallmark of our vision, are habits of mind, body, and spirit that we use to prepare for and respond to change and uncertainty. They were chosen by our faculty and staff as essential traits of successful, lifelong learners. This year, we’ve seen in a new light how curiosity, creativity, perseverance, and empathy help prepare our students for the world of the unknown.

CURIOSITY allows students to become agents of their own learning by finding

passions, developing internal motivations, and learning how to learn. During virtual school, our curiosity meant we set preconceptions aside and instead asked new questions. What do students need in order to learn right now? Not able to come to school, how can students become more independent when they need to? Students realized that being curious was not as simple as it sounded at first, But over time they demonstrated how they can develop their own studies through passion projects and experiments in learning.

PERSEVERANCE is knowing how to change and respond to challenges in order

to meet ambitious goals. It was clear in the spring of 2020 that students needed to push through new challenges and work longer even when they had excuses to stop. Success in virtual school, for many if not all students, stemmed directly from their willingness and ability to work despite distraction at home and other obstacles. They had to find ways to go above and beyond basic requirements.

CREATIVITY is thinking beyond current boundaries; it is synthesizing concepts to

make new discoveries. In order to operate in our ever-changing, global environment, creativity will be crucial. It fuels big ideas, challenges new ways of thinking, and opens the door to new opportunities. The forced limitations of virtual school raised expectations for creativity, and Moravian Academy students responded in inspiring ways, from the curioSity days in the Lower School to the Comenius Projects in Upper School.

EMPATHY is the practice of understanding a point of view that is different from

your own. It creates the vibrant exchange of ideas that pushes each student’s thinking to new depths of understanding. While the other mission skills are internally focused skills, empathy focuses outwardly on the needs and perspectives of other people. The extraordinary events of 2020, and the country’s confrontation of systemic oppression, raised the priority and necessity of being able to see and understand the experiences of others.

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MORAVIAN ACADEMY

Historic Campus, New Name As we pursued improvements, its became clear that the Lower and Middle School campuses really function best as one. We have a new name to reflect this, the Downtown Campus. With this name change, we will also be streamlining our leadership on this campus to allow us to be more agile as we to transition from strategy to implementation in a shorter period of time. The Downtown Campus, home to students in Primer to Grade-8, will continue to be defined by small class sizes, collaborative learning, and maintaining our traditional ties to the Moravian Church. The Lower and Middle School will continue to operate as you know them. Ann Mindler will serve as the Director of the Downtown Campus, and she will be joined by Benita Griffin, new to our community and a new role, as the Associate Director of the Downtown Campus. We’re also pleased to announce that John Donecker will step into the role of Admissions Director for Grades 1-8, a central role at the Downtown campus. He will also help with strategic projects.

Benita Griffin, Associate Director for the Downtown Campus Benita comes to Moravian Academy from her previous position as Head of Lower School at St. Christopher’s School, a boys’ day school in Richmond, Virginia. Benita is a seasoned and decisive leader who brings with her a deeply student-centered approach to all facets of professional development.

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New Roles & New Faces The Merle-Smith Campus, home to students in Grades 9-12, will continue to be led by Dylan Deal. and the Upper School will continue to be known for its college preparatory academics, diverse experiences, rich personalities, encouragement of pluralism, and emphasis on individual research. We want to introduce students and parents to the role of grade-level deans. These roles, which will span both campuses, will provide an improved level of coordination and leadership to support student at the grade level (see below for more information). This is a transition away from academic deans. On the Merle-Smith Campus, we are also adding a dedicated counselor.

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MORAVIAN ACADEMY

Meet Dianne Hurley, the new Chief Financial and Operations Officer. Dianne, who will run the business office, joins us from A&E Real Estate, where she served as chief administrative officer. She earned a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from Yale School of Management.

Reimagining the Schoolhouse Over this past school year we embarked on creative exploration with our community. We asked groups of parents, teachers, and students questions like: If you could recreate your classroom to look like any room in space or time, what you choose? What environment inspires you as a learner? If you were learning about the roaring twenties, how might you explore the content differently through reading, music, and art? As parents imagined this space we heard ideas like: • Build a stage to act out book scenes or ideas • Have space for an observation bee hive • Make a slide that runs out the second story window! It was clear our community was ready to think outside the box for this project. Then we asked our groups: What do you want your child to say when they leave this space next year? And we heard: • That was awesome • I can’t wait to go back • So much fun We passed these ideas on to our architect and design group, and they were excited to bring this vision into reality. Construction is beginning and we anticipate opening fall 2020. There will be a delay due to the pandemic and construction closures, but we expect to open before Halloween.

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Reimagining the Schoolhouse To help us create this type of space, we launched the Reimagining the Schoolhouse campaign, the primary objectives of which are to: • Renovate the second floor of the CE Building to provide a new space for the Lower School art, music, and library programs. • Provide a signature, recognizable example of how the school’s current strategic vision, A Culture of Curiosity, shapes the day-to-day student experience. • Enhance the student experience through improved integration of art, music, and library into the learning process in homerooms. We are pleased to announce that the Reimagining the Schoolhouse campaign has raised more than $510,000 in cash and pledges so far. We are committed to continuing our fundraising efforts in the next months with our goal to raise additional funding for the project. For those members of the community who are interested in assisting in the funding of this project, you can also make a campaign pledge at our online giving page and using the “restricted box” for your gift and writing “Reimagining the Schoolhouse” in the “restricted gift details” box. There is more exciting news to come, so stay tuned.

The Ann Mindler Library We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Ann Mindler Library. Ann has been many things to the school: student, alumna, teacher, and administrator. It is wonderful to know her name will forever be a part of Moravian Academy. She is our link to the past, but she has always had her eye on the future. Her focus is always on children, perhaps because she is a child at heart herself. Moravian Academy is grateful for the visionary gift from a leading donor and the tribute gifts that make the Ann Mindler library a reality. 26

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Lessons Learned From Virtual School It will be no surprise to you that our greatest focus for strategic improvement for next year is one that we didn’t see coming: how students can continue their Moravian educations from their homes. To help us determine areas of success and improvement, we met with students in focus groups that involved deep conversations about motivation, learning what teachers do that is and is not helpful, and what their biggest barriers were. In addition to what we received from parent surveys and faculty brainstorming sessions, we will use this learning to guide us when remote learning is needed. Some of the broad lessons learned are: • Asynchronous learning experiences, those that do not involve a live lesson with the faculty member presenting to a student watching a screen, are the most pedagogically sound forms of remote instruction. • Sitting in front of a screen for long periods of time isn’t good for anyone, particularly our younger learners. • Pairing asynchronous learning with synchronous/live sessions that include discussion, Q&A, content review, and real-time problem solving provide for optional instruction delivery. • Ensuring that students are deeply engaged in the community; facilitating effective, open two-way communication; and providing easy access to faculty and staff through office hours, support sessions, and individual consultations are critical. To read more, please visit: Lessons Learned from Virtual School

Our students reminded us of a key truth regarding learning: high-quality learning involves relationships, not simply the delivery of academic content.

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Reopen, Stay Open As we move forward into a new school year we know we want students to construct their own learning, not in a passive way, but in an active manner that combines instructional delivery and opportunities for collaboration with peers, mentorship from faculty, and presentation of what they learned to the broader school community. We will work to encourage all of our students, even our younger learners, to engage in individual, self-directed learning as a complement to their routine curriculum. We will also strive to ensure faculty and staff are readily available to students through study sessions, office hours, support meetings, advisory, and individual consultations. There is much work ahead of us as we plan to open 5-days a week for all students on Tuesday, August 25th. It will look different. Our school, our physical campus, our daily schedules and programming, and our social habits will require modifications based on guidance from national, state, and local health officials.

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Classrooms will be redesigned to manage physical distancing, which may result in smaller class sizes, if needed

Screenings and some absences for students and employees are expected

Movement on campus and inside buildings will be limited

Dual Instruction will allow the learning to continue at school and at home

The use of masks may be required during classes and in public gathering spaces

Large in-person gatherings (Chapel and assemblies) will need to be modified but will continue

Frequent sanitizing and cleaning will be part of the daily routine

Overnight trips will cease until they are brought within risk management threshold

MORAVIAN ACADEMY

Preparing for Contingencies Following the recommendations from local public health officials and our Reopening Task Force, we are preparing for possible interruptions to on-campus learning. In the event Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley, or our school community experiences a spike in COVID-19 cases, we are preparing a number of plans to ensure learning continues.

Campus Is Open

We are preparing for on-campus school operations to resume in the fall of 2020. Additional details can be found on page 3 of this plan.

Options for Staying Open Campus Remains Open With Modifications

Additional social distancing is needed, requiring more classrooms, staggered start times, or relocated classrooms. Dual instruction continues to support options for families.

IF‌

health guidelines change to limit the spread of the virus.

Campus Remains Open With Hybrid Schedule

and...

The maximum number of people allowed on campus is lowered requiring some students to learn virtually while others are on campus. These groups would rotate on and off campus.

are severe

Brief Pauses and Year Is Extended

and... IF‌

Pennsylvania State Government issues a mandatory closure of schools to fight a new outbreak,

Pennsylvania mandates school closure and reopening. MA provides limited, remote instruction, and additional days are added to the school year.

outbreak is short

and...

outbreak is long

Virtual School

Pennsylvania mandates school closures, and MA enters into virtual school 5.0 with modified programming, and tuition credits. JOURNAL | FALL 2020 29

LEARN MORE AT www.moravianacademy.org/strongertogether

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Moravian Academy Partners with The Swain School To Our School Communities, We are pleased to announce that, on Thursday, August 6, 2020, the Moravian Academy and Swain School Boards of Trustees each unanimously voted to move forward with our partnership, solidifying a strong foundation for the future of independent schools in the Lehigh Valley. Having completed a comprehensive due diligence process, the two schools will execute a binding memorandum of understanding to formally join our institutions. Today’s announcement is the beginning of a new chapter that will allow our schools to expand on our current programming and fuel our collective vision. In partnership, our schools will become stronger and the experiences for our students will become more meaningful. Importantly, Moravian and Swain will continue to operate independently and provide the small-school experiences our families cherish. Our schools share similar missions and values, and we affirm the rich histories, traditions and vibrant communities that make each school unique. This is a joyous occasion and a monumental moment in our schools’ histories, and when the time is right we will come together to celebrate this incredible milestone. Right now, however, our teams are focused on fall reopening plans to ensure the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff as we prepare for the upcoming school year. During times like these, we are reminded of how important and special it is to be a part of such a close-knit school community. We deeply value the trust you’ve placed in us to create a rewarding experience for your child and prepare them for a lifetime of success. We look forward to all we will accomplish together. Sincerely, Jeff Zemsky Head of School Moravian Academy Dr. Armistead Webster Head of School The Swain School

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OUR COMMUNITY

Chasing Adventure on the EuroVelo: STORIES FROM MY SABBATICAL BIKING ACROSS EUROPE By Katie Burd ’96, Upper School History Teacher

“Katie, grab the trailer, grab the trailer!” We had almost summited the 2,000-foot climb when my daughter Maude’s bicycle trailer completely broke. A few hours earlier we had started pedaling from the northernmost ferry dock on the island of Cres, a gorgeous hunk of rock and scrub brush in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. We passed shimmering aquamarine water, wild fig trees, and goats and cows in pasture, relishing in the happiness of our exercise-induced endorphins, thinking this was the best day ever... when the rear axle that supported the weight of our five-year-old daughter suddenly SNAPPED! All 100 pounds of the trailer were grinding hard against my husband’s left leg, and he was struggling to keep Maude from falling onto the pavement. Hours later, when the dust had settled, we reflected on how incredibly lucky we had been at that moment. We had been riding on a small country road, with no cars in sight, going very slowly due to the steep uphill grade, and not one of us had as much as a scratch. A few miles from where the trailer broke began the descent, and at 25 miles per hour, both Maude and Joe would have crashed hard. Yikes! From the moment we stepped out of the Amsterdam airport last August, my husband, daughter and I challenged ourselves to travel in a way we had never traveled before. Our goal: traverse the continent of Europe by bicycle in three months! Our adventure was self-supported, which meant that we had to physically carry with us everything we needed. In the trailer attached to my bicycle was our tent, sleeping mats and bags, cooking gear, and some of the clothing - totaling about 60 pounds. Joe pulled Maude, a lot of water, our solar charger, and rain gear. We were in shape and ready for anything!

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Each day presented us with a sundry of questions: Which path or road should we take? Where can we source water? How do we navigate around this construction? Will I be able to communicate with locals? Where do we buy food? How do I ride on cobblestone? Do we have enough fuel to cook dinner? Where should we set up our tent? When should we stop to get some gelato? This last question was, of course, Maude’s favorite, and she fully participated in making that daily decision. In fact, by the second month of our travels, Maude became an indispensable voice in our problemsolving conversations. By the time her trailer broke in Croatia in the third month, she had learned how to offer her ideas during our group brainstorming sessions in a way that made her parents’ hearts swell. We were deepening our trust and respect for each other with every discussion. Europe has invested heavily in cycling infrastructure, including bicycle-specific ferries, great signage and even bicycle-only roads, and each day we marveled at how easy and fun it was to move between the villages, towns and cities. My favorite section of the route was the Alpe Adri cycle path in northern Italy, which was created by the local government from an old railroad gauge to promote cycle tourism in the region. The approximately 100-mile-long, mostly downhill cycle path took us through long dark tunnels, over roaring turquoise rivers, through tiny mountain towns and delighted us for four days until finally, we reached our goal - the Adriatic! The feeling of joy and accomplishment we felt upon our arrival at the sea carried us the extra miles to a beautiful campground on the island of Grado. It was time to relax for a few days and soak in the fact that we had just ridden our bikes over 2,500 miles, across Europe! Our days were rich with movement, learning, beauty, and human kindness, and we fell asleep each night with smiles on our faces.

L to R: Maude, Katie Burd ‘96, and Griffin Smith-Nichols ‘15

“Life is risk,” my Dad often says. “Assess the risk, then live fully.” I love this piece of advice and thought of it many times throughout our threemonth bicycle journey through Europe. What is important to add, however, is that our ability to take the risks necessary for this great adventure hinged on the support of our families, friends, and, of course, Moravian Academy. Without the incredible opportunity to take a sabbatical for personal development afforded to me and my family by Moravian Academy, our dreams of cycling across Europe could not have become a reality. For that support and for all the love and encouragement we received along the way, I am incredibly grateful.

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Professional Development Update By Dr. Erica D’Agostino ’91, Assistant Head of School

Our school reopening marked the culmination of a great deal of work and preparation. Throughout the summer months, our administrative team was hard at work making facilities adaptations, procuring supplies, and creating new protocols for students and employees. At the same time, our faculty was busy enhancing their knowledge in the areas of teaching and learning. A common theme for much of the professional development that took place this summer was that of blended learning, which is a combination of electronic/online learning and face-to-face instruction. Some of our faculty looked specifically at blended learning as it pertains to their particular discipline, while others engaged in general inquiry around how to create engaging learning environments, providing assessment in a virtual environment, and creating class cohesion when learners are in different spaces (in person and virtual).

MORAVIAN ACADEMY

Several members of the faculty and staff, from all divisions, participated in various workshops centered around unpacking bias and white privilege, and discovered how to infuse one’s work with anti-racist practices. As we continue to strive towards creating inclusive, welcoming environments free from incidents motivated by explicit or implicit bias, it is crucial that we continue to heighten our awareness of our own personal biases.

We have been eagerly anticipating the return of our students. The joy on their faces as they joined us on ca mpus on August 26 made all of those hours of planning worthwhile.

We also had a group of faculty and administrators engage in an online course centered around executive function, with the goal of creating a core group of educators who will be skilled academic coaches. Quality study habits, and the ability to manage one’s time and tasks, are key qualities of success, both academically and professionally. Our goal is to work with students, particularly at the Middle and Upper School levels, as we assist them in honing their academic practices. At the Upper School, we are in the process of launching an after-school Homework Lab, where students can receive academic coaching Monday through Thursday 3:15 - 5:00 p.m. Academic coaching will

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include assistance with time and task management, note-taking pointers, proper preparation for assessments, and general study skills enhancement.

Finally, our summer was marked by hours of webinars, workshops, and research related to health and safety practices. As an administration, our goal was to open school and welcome our students and employees in the safest manner possible. Our professional learning guided our facilities enhancements, technology upgrades, classroom design, campus flow, and cleaning protocols.

We have been eagerly anticipating the return of our students. The joy on their faces as they joined us on campus on August 26 made all of those hours of planning worthwhile. Moving forward, our work related to the reopening does not end. We will be in a continuous state of evaluation and enhancement as we continue to refine our practices. We are committed to providing a safe, healthy environment for our students and employees, one that fosters relationships, learning, and growth.

Moravian Partners with Early Childhood Learning Centers

OUR COMMUNITY

By Ingrid Gerber

In an effort to partner with childcare providers and early childhood centers in the Lehigh Valley, this past spring the admissions team at Moravian Academy established critical connections with two distinct early childhood learning centers (ECLs). The goals of establishing these partnerships were numerous and included: • To increase potential inquiry and applicants from area early childhood learning centers • To build a collaborative relationship with area ECLs to increase awareness of Moravian Academy within potential feeder schools • To provide benefits to area ECLs while receiving benefits (word-of-mouth promotion from the directors of these schools; provided literature to their families; incentives to apply to Moravian Academy; personalized touches with reciprocal referrals between ELCs and Moravian Academy) Continuous work with area ECLs proves to be beneficial to both parties. We partner with schools that are consistent with Moravian Academy’s values and academics. The idea is to streamline the admissions process for students applying from these partner schools and work with their directors to offer guidance and an expedited application process. Likewise, our promotion of partner ECLs on our website and in our literature lends credibility to these programs and serves as name recognition for them. Events hosted at the partner school sites (Bonaventure and St. Nicholas Academy) include an invitation for Moravian Academy to be present to give information and meet and greet families in person. These touchpoints are proven to help families make better informed decisions about the educational path they will choose for their children. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with these two local schools and look forward to a continued partnership benefitting all.

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Meet the Khuongs Anne Chudolij Khuong ’98 and Chau (pronounced ’Cho’) Khuong met in New York City over a decade ago. As the COVID-19 virus ravaged Italy in February and threatened to approach the Eastern USA, Anne and Chau decided to cancel Spring Break plans and leave the city with their two sons CJ ’33 and Nicholas ’35. They are both scientists by academic training: Anne is a PhD chemist and Chau was a molecular biologist before taking a detour into the finance world as a venture capitalist specializing in startup biotech companies developing innovative new medicines. Faced with the existential questions of “what to do” and “where to go,” naturally they turned to family. Anne, a Moravian Academy alumna, was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley. Chau and Anne decided to make a “temporary” move to be close to Anne’s brother Nick Chudolij and his family (Anna ’30 and Nicholas III ‘34, and Maggie, age 1 - hopeful future Lion!) while the virus passed. What was supposed to be a “just in case” move to Easton turned out to be a “just in time” move and the rest you could say is history. Being back in Pennsylvania has been like a homecoming for Anne; with the school year approaching and continued uncertainty around re-opening of NYC, Chau and Anne decided to plant roots in Easton enrolling CJ and Nicholas at Moravian. Needless to say, the kids couldn’t be happier!

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As parents, what are you most looking forward to in the coming school year for your children? As much as we love NYC, living in PA has been a breath of fresh air for us as a family. The children are thriving here where the pace of life is decidedly slower than in New York and where they have open space to explore nature. We were touched by the words of Head of School Jeff Zemsky referencing the Moravian community – one that Anne remembers fondly. We hope our children develop a true passion for learning, in a safe environment, where their boundless and natural curiosity can be nurtured to its fullest potential. Tell me about CJ and Nicholas. (How are they feeling about the upcoming school year? What activities do they love to do? How would you like to introduce them to our community?) We were probably more nervous about the return to in-person school than the kids were, and we were so relieved that both boys absolutely loved their first week and came home each day as happy as can be. The boys love to be outside and active, exploring nature, riding bikes, digging holes in the dirt and collecting worms or ants. They have a pretty impressive specimen collection of insects from their adventures this summer. When it comes to more cerebral pursuits, the boys love to have books read to them. CJ in particular likes the Hardy Boys mystery stories and Nicholas is partial to anything that involves robots. What drew you to Moravian? Why did you choose Moravian Academy for your children? This is an easy one. Anne has such fond memories of the school from her childhood. The tight community is the number one reason we gravitated towards it. The empathy and compassion with which the teachers and administration approach the teaching vocation is evident in all aspects of Moravian life. It is a privilege to be here, and indeed it is great to be back. Anne, as an alumna, what is it like seeing your children follow in your footsteps by attending the same school? How would you describe your own MA experience? Moravian prepared me for the world and life outside its walls. Aside from the obvious things like academic rigor which served me well at Vassar and then NYU where I completed my Ph.D. in Chemistry, Moravian taught me about compassion and humanity. When my father passed away my

junior year of high school, we were touched by an outpouring of support. Moravian was there for us in a way I could not have imagined and, in retrospect, can now appreciate as being truly above and beyond the call. This really includes everyone from teachers to administrators to even the head of school at the time, Dr. Sipple. To say that I would not be where I am today without Moravian is an understatement. Chau and I were very settled into our comfortable life in NYC on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The COVID-19 virus uprooted us abruptly, but honestly I could not be happier to see the kids here on the Downtown Campus where I had so many joyous times as a child. I see that CJ will be entering the Spanish Immersion Program. Can you talk a little about why you chose this program? Si! We spent a lot of time thinking about this decision. Chau is a first-generation American, born in Oklahoma to immigrants from Vietnam and Anne’s father came from Ukraine. We both appreciate the power of language to be a gateway to cultural exploration. In a world where we increasingly are called upon to understand others and be empathetic to the differences of race, economic status, and cultural upbringing, we thought it would be a gift to CJ to be able to know a second language as intimately as through immersion. If you ask CJ and Nicholas what they want to be when they grow up right now (I know they are quite young!), what do they say? This is a moving target. As of this morning, CJ would like to become a scientist to help “end the coronavirus era.” Seriously, those were his words. Other times CJ wants to become a paleontologist. Nicholas is a bit more uncertain. He wants to be like his big brother in all pursuits and indicated that he too would like to be a scientist, but one who builds robots. What is your greatest hope for the future for your children? How do you see Moravian making that vision a reality? We hope that CJ and Nicholas grow up to be loving and empathetic adults with compassion for all those around them. There is much that can still be done to help the world become more humane. This is no more true than right here in America where we are seeing each day, anger and sadness in the news. We hope Moravian can prepare our young boys to go forth unafraid to tackle injustice in its many forms, to be courageous, and to have dignity. In short, we hope Moravian will equip CJ and Nicholas with the tools academically and morally to be contributors and perhaps even leaders in their chosen vocation and community. JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Why Do You Give?

Moravian Is Family

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A COMMON THEME AMONG DONORS TO THE ANNUAL FUND By Susan Parent

Photo: Anne and Dave Fessler

I’ve always felt the need and desire to give back to Moravian because it was always more than just a school when I was a parent, and more than just a job when I was a faculty member. It was really a community first. I felt so privileged to be a part of the community and the family. It’s always felt like family to me. After my husband, Dave’s, accident, the whole community got together and supported me. I’ve also watched over the years many other families be at the receiving end of that support. So more than anything else, I have a desire to continue to give back because I have always gotten so much from the Moravian community. ANNE FESSLER former faculty member, parent of two alumni

MORAVIAN ACADEMY

This school year began like none other. After a spring and summer of postponed events, social distancing, and for many, isolation, Moravian’s faculty, staff and administration put laser-beam focus on preparing for the safe opening of school for both in-person and remote learning. This effort was met by the commitments and conviction of our families who worked with us in every possible way. We’ve cared for one another like we are family, and the truth is, we are family. We rely on each other, and as a result, great things happen. In this same vein, we’ve been able to rely on the generosity of parents, alumni, trustees, faculty, staff and friends who contribute every year to the Annual Fund. Our community knows that the exceptional education offered to its students today, and decades past, is due to commitment and collaboration. We remain strong because we are resilient and empathetic in times of deepest need. This year, there may be fewer opportunities to make connections with one another in person, but knowing this community, that will not interfere with our collective efforts to stay engaged and supportive. Making a gift to the Annual Fund supports every student every day. New families are invited to make contributions to the Annual Fund and they may ask, “What are some of the functions of the Annual Fund?” These funds contribute to salaries and benefits for our exceptional teachers, maintain pristine sports facilities, ensure cutting edge technology, inspire visual and fine arts facilities, and embellish music and theatre spaces. Additionally, today gifts to the Annual Fund also impact multiple areas uniquely important during these unprecedented

Every individual in our community can make a difference by simply participating in the Annual Fund. Any gift in any amount builds community and is foundational to our continued success.

Through the unprecedented, rapidly evolving challenges of this time, your support fortifies the pillars of our institution so that we can aggressively innovate, evolve and thrive as a school that continues delivery on the promise of a stellar education.

Photo: Deirdre Hoffman ‘21, Claire Hoffman ‘17, Parents Marie and Jeffrey Hoffman

Why Do You Give?

times. Necessary equipment such as personal protective equipment, masks, signage, classroom adaptations, and furniture are just some of the new items needed this year. Also, Moravian’s commitment to making our school accessible to a wide range of academically solid students is essential. The Annual Fund supplies aid to families who have financial needs under normal circumstances and in difficult times.

It’s very simple, my children love the school, and we love the school. Many teachers have been rock stars. I have nothing but great things to say. From the time that we started at Moravian, when my oldest daughter was in sixth grade, that was the first time Haiti ever had such a devastating earthquake. Mr. King was Headmaster then. Moravian Academy collected supplies to send out to a school where I had been a student in Haiti. I believe that if you give, you will get something back in return. It doesn’t have to be much, but whatever you give, it is well taken. And I try to do that with everything that I do. If we can help Moravian Academy in some way, even a small amount, or with our time, we try to do that too. I was asked to be on the Annual Fund Cabinet, and I said “Why not!” I figured that’s the little thing I can do, as small as that sounds. We love the school. MARIE HOFFMAN Parent and Annual Fund Cabinet Volunteer

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The Moravian Academy Online Auction By Jessica McPherson

It may have been our 38th Auction, but it was our first ever Moravian Academy Virtual Auction! Thanks to an amazing auction committee, we were able to plan two events this year, the original in-person event we had hoped for and the reimagined virtual event. Just like our students, our parents showed their curiosity by envisioning what an event would look like during the start of a global pandemic – not an easy task! The result was a weekendlong celebration with heartfelt communication, community engagement, and of course, bidding. Thank you to our Chairs Tania Marsh and Christine Mira, Co-chairs Regina Carolan and Beth Brown, and the entire executive committee for leading the way as we navigated through uncharted territory. In addition to the amazing volunteers, we’d also like to thank our incredible sponsors, advertisers, and generous donors. It is at times like this that we truly appreciate the unique community that is Moravian Academy.

“We were incredibly lucky to work with an a mazing tea m who put so much effort into reimagining the auction in these unprecedented times. Thank you to everyone!”

- Tania Marsh, Auction Chair

“We will always be known as the chairs of the 2020 virtual auction, and thankfully we can say it was a success!” - Christine Mira, Auction Chair

Michael and Erica Baittinger

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MORAVIAN ACADEMY

INSTITUTIONAL INSTITUTIONALADVANCEMENT ADVANCEMENT

Golf Outing Recap

E

It was a beautiful day for the 96 golfers that tee’d off at Moravian Academy’s Golf Outing at Lehigh Country Club on September 21. With clear skies and social distancing in mind, we couldn’t have asked for a better day - all in support of the students and staff of the Academy as well as our local outreach program Lehigh Valley Summerbridge. Thank you to Chair Tino Calantoni ‘96 and Co-chair Rob de Beer as well as the entire Golf Outing Committee for helping to make the day a success. We’d especially like to thank our 30 sponsors and over 20 prize donors for their support!

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Neil E. Johnson, CPA ’73 Establishes Endowment: ACTIVE ALUMNUS SHARES HIS JOURNEY By Susan Parent Neil Johnson, CPA, ‘73 stepped into unchartered territory this Spring of 2020 when he recognized a need and acted on his intuition. “Especially now, as the pandemic hit, riding my bicycle through the streets of Hollywood, California, seeing more moving vans and homeless people, I thought that giving back to a great institution seemed like the right thing to do.” Neil started the Neil E. Johnson, CPA 1973 Scholarship Fund for Student Financial Assistance. “I had been toying with the idea of starting an endowment for years and this was the appropriate time.” When Neil was a teenager, his parents wanted the best education for him, an opportunity they never had. Since his family attended the Moravian Church in Emmaus, they knew of a school with a great reputation. One Sunday he toured Moravian Academy. “It was beautiful and full of good energy. I knew that this was an awesome place the moment I arrived on the Merle-Smith Campus. Sign me up! My grades went from just OK to rather good.” What made the difference? “I had an interest in learning, though I never really liked reading, until Moravian. I also made a lot of close friends, many of whom I still talk to today. Oh yes, and the teachers were over the top! Especially Marilyn Albarelli.”

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Neil continued his academic career with the same hard work and passion that he gained from his education at Moravian. Receiving his BS from the University of Pennsylvania, Masters at the University of Wyoming, and getting licensed as a CPA, Neil has taught, and attended, literally thousands of courses in accounting over the last forty years from New York to Hawaii. “I provide a service people need and I find great enjoyment in my work.” Neil’s gratitude for Moravian Academy has moved him to become a very generous alumnus. “Moravian was a launching pad for me, and Moravian Academy is among the best charitable organizations I’ve ever dealt with.” His friends and family concur that you will find Neil involved in more than just accounting. “I’ve always liked and driven convertibles. A daily 5K run or a 10-mile bike ride keeps the mind in shape. And above it all, I consider the three most important things in this world to be your friends, your family, and your health.” The school is most grateful for the impact from our friend in Sunny California.

INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Grow Your Giving to Moravian Without Paying More Money By Bob Zaiser

Do you live in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and want to increase your financial support to Moravian Academy? There is a state program that offers two tax-credit programs that make it possible for businesses and individuals to redirect their tax dollars to Moravian Academy for financial aid. Through this program, you can increase your giving by 10 times what you may be doing now at no extra cost. Bob Zaiser, Director of Institutional Advancement, stated that, “we have seen donors dramatically increase their giving through this process without any additional money coming from donors. This makes such good sense if you pay state taxes in the state of Pennsylvania.” The two tax-credit programs are called the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC). The tax credits can be as much as 90%. Businesses and individuals can participate in this program that greatly benefits Moravian Academy students by applying directly to the state or going through a Special Purpose Entity (SPE)such as BLOCS or the Central Pennsylvania Scholarship Fund. BLOCS, or Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools, and the Central

Pennsylvania Scholarship Fund bridges the business community and schools to expand funds available for financial aid by facilitating EITC and OSTC gifts. Moravian Academy seeks to offer as much financial assistance as possible as 31% of our students receive some form of financial assistance. The EITC and OSTC programs offset financial aid expenses, helping Moravian Academy maintain and increase its economic diversity. In the 2019-20 school year, more than $600,000 was gifted to Moravian through the EITC and OSTC programs, supporting more than 70 Academy students. Bob Zaiser shared that” this is the easiest way in which Moravian Academy can dramatically grow its philanthropic support in these uncertain times.” Individuals wishing to learn more how they can participate in the EITC or OSTC program as a business or as an individual via SPE can contact Bob Zaiser in the Institutional Advancement Office at 610-332-5291 or bzaiser@mamail.net, to determine the best option for directing their gift to Moravian Academy. JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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ALUMNI UPDATE

Julius Ewungkem Jr. ’20 PUBLISHES ESSAY IN THE NEW YORK TIMES A college essay by Julius Ewungkem Jr. ’20 was published as part of “Pictures of Themselves: The 2020 College Essays on Money” in the Your Money feature of The New York Times. Ewungkem, who attends Harvard University this fall, is one of four recently graduated high school seniors from across the country to have his essay featured in this collection. Submissions “touch on money, work or social class.” Read Ewungkem’s piece at right:

EWUNGKEM’S ESSAY ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES ON AUGUST 28, 2020. READ THE FULL FEATURE ONLINE AT moravianacademy.org/nyt

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Some challenges transcend time, constantly popping up in different forms As a society, we strive to quantify success “If you work hard, you’ll see results” This phrase is constantly used to blame others And a specific group of people have felt the brunt of this attack Yes, slavery in the U.S. was abolished over 150 years ago But let me paint a picture Let’s say your great-great-great-grandmother was a newly liberated slave in 1863. How free is she truly? She might be free, but the world still doesn’t have to treat her equally. No one is obligated to give her a job. She is the same person that she was the week before. And her kids They are now growing up with a mother who can’t read or write while at the same time struggling to live in a society evolving to house a new race Are her children supposed to immediately succeed? And what about their children? And their children? We are so quick to look at issues High rates of crime, poverty, and unemployment And begin to point fingers Yes, the civil rights movement won equal rights for African-Americans sixty years ago But segregation is as prevalent as it’s ever been So, who is really to blame? It’s easy for me to look at some of my best friends from my middle school and blame them “They chose to skip class” “They chose to fight in the hallways” But did they choose to grow up in an environment that doesn’t value education? Did they choose to grow up with one parent who is working two jobs? Is something wrong with them, or am I just lucky? Lucky to have two parents who’ve put education before anything Lucky to attend a high school with plentiful resources We no longer have laws in place that are made solely to hold back those of certain groups But that doesn’t mean the effects aren’t the same And as we continue along our journey We must ask ourselves “Whose choices truly created this outcome?” and “How do we fix this mentality and issue?” Many solutions have been proposed But one seems to be truly effective in both the short and long term Education Not just of the perpetrators, the ignorant, but as well as those who suffer from this society We all need to learn more, not just the students but the teachers as well Even as I spread awareness, I know there are so many who know more and there is so much to learn But is he truly racist or did he grow up in a family that perpetrated those views? An attack should not be our first response, rather, we need to teach Show the history, the ups, the downs The accomplishments, the breakthroughs, the struggles Show why we are in the state we are in And for me personally? I’ll try To break into homogenous communities and try to teach To show my dreads, curls, and naps To not wait for that next person to say something, but rather be that next person To always be proud of who I am

INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Coast to Coast 2020

Our “Coast to Coast” Alumni Tour continued in 2020 but with a twist as we went to virtual visits. Some highlights included visits with some of our retired faculty members. Below are scheduled visits that are coming up with particular classes. Zoom links will be sent out to each class one week before each activity. OCTOBER 20 - CLASS OF 1990 OCTOBER 27 - CLASS OF 1985 NOVEMBER 10 - CLASS OF 1980 NOVEMBER 17 - CLASS OF 1975 & CLASS OF 1965 (SEPERATE TIMES)

NEWS ON THE ALUMNI REUNION AND THE COUNTRY FAIR Due to the current pandemic and our commitment to providing a safe and healthy environment here at the Academy, the Alumni Reunion and the Country Fair will also be postponed until the spring 2021. The Alumni Reunion will celebrate all of the classes that end in “5, 6, 0, and 1” so please consider joining us for the biggest reunion event. We will release a date as soon as possible. To volunteer to help organize the Country Fair or the Alumni Reunion, please contact Bob Zaiser, Director of Institutional Advancement at bzaiser@mamail.net.

Please join us and reconnect, at least virtually, with you classmates. In the spring, we will consider visiting alumni in New York City, California, New England, and Florida. Dates and times are to be determined.

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Class Notes

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Little Lions WE WELCOME THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN TO OUR MORAVIAN ACADEMY FAMILY 1. Karen Devey Haas ’75 reports that, “I retired at the end of this past school year - yeah! And I am now a grandmother! My daughter Katie had a son -Tobias Haas-Conrad. 2. Gideon Cohn ’02 and wife Kimi welcomed daughter Elinora Bee in March 2020. She joins big sister Matilda (2.5 years old). The family resides in Santa Barbara, CA. 3. Erin Brady-Wiggins ’06 shared that “I am excited to share for the Journal that my husband, Jonathan and I welcomed the arrival of our daughter, Olivia Colette Wiggins on June 22nd in New Orleans, LA.” 4. Alexadra Raab Stratz ’06 announces the birth of James Brian Stratz, born March 12, 2020 in Fairfax, VA to Capt. Brandon Michael Stratz and Mrs. Alexandra Dickson Stratz (Raab) ’06 of Springfield, VA. James was born at 10:38 p.m., weighing 7 lb. 7 oz.

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SUBMIT YOUR NEWS FOR THE NEXT ISSUE! We love to help you celebrate your milestones. Send us a quick note and a picture if you have one and we’ll include your news in the next issue of the Moravian Academy Journal. Send submissions to: bzaiser@mamil.net

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CLASS NOTES

Alumni/ae Deaths OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHIES TO THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WE HAVE LOST.

Sylvia Wyatt ’47S, May 16, 2020 Alice Mumbauer (MA Teacher) ’55P, January 12, 2020 Anne Alster ’57S, June 17, 2020 Nancy Boos Schell ’85, July 16, 2020 Margaret Baldock (Honorary Trustee), June 18, 2020 Mary Pat Gallagher Beebe (MA Teacher), June 8, 2020 Jane Gerencher (MA Teacher), August 20, 2020 Terry Decker (MA Teacher), September 2020

1960 Joseph Gano ’60P and his wife Jane are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. The couple met while Joe was in Germany serving in the US Air Force and Jane was a teacher in the dependent schools at Ramstein Air Base. After graduation from Moravian, Joe graduated from Susquehanna University, then entered military service as a lieutenant. He also has advanced technical and business degrees from University of Southern California and University of Utah, all while serving in Europe. Jane is from Jackson, MS, and is an education graduate of University of Southern Mississippi. She has had a career in tour and travel sales with Abercrombie & Kent. Joe made his professional career in sales in the graphics industry. On returning to the USA from military service, they took up residence in Atlanta for some time then moved to the Chicago area where they still reside. They have 2 sons and 7 grandchildren, and presently reside in Naperville, IL. Joe’s class will celebrate its 60th anniversary at the spring event next year. See photo #2 on page 50.

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Regina Low ’60P writes, “I am well, keeping my balance with home life USA, children, grandchildren, APECA USA, APECA is Peru and currently repatriation flights from Peru to USA. Didn’t we have a different plan in mind? Thank God we have His GRACE and MERCY with us every step of the way. FYI all those years, 14 straight years, of morning chapel thankfully made that an integral part of me. Can’t imagine how it really is for others who didn’t have the experience.”

1965 Dr. E. Helene Sage ’65P writes, “Things are good on Savenac Farm, very little problem with COVID-19, and Bedford County, Virginia is a safe rural environment. We made lots of hay this year and there are still several cuttings to go, if the rain stops that is. During the pandemic I have been riding and swimming and reading lots of books (things I usually do anyway) and have gone to 1 horse show with Curtain Call, the red fellow in the photo. Looking forward to resolution of this rather distressing year, keep up the good work.” See photo #3 on page 50.

1967 John Guider ’67P writes, “The last few years have been somewhat amazing for a 71-year-old man who is supposed to be long retired. In February I was awarded a regional EMMY for the PBS documentary, The Voyage of Adventure, that chronicled my 1,000-mile river journey retracing John Donelson’s epic and dangerous route to the founding of present day Nashville, TN. I traveled in my handmade 14 1/2’ row/ sail boat, no motor, following his path photographing and camping along the way. The journey took two months and the resulting story and images became the genesis not only for the documentary but for a new book published by the Vanderbilt University Press with the release date being the 15th of September. This is the same vessel in which I completed the 6,500-mile inland river, ocean and Great Lake circumnavigation know as the Great Loop being the only person to ever complete the journey in a non-motorized vessel of his own making. 2019 was quite an experience as well. John Harris of Chesapeake light Craft in Annapolis Maryland designed a new expedition boat that he named in my honor, The Guider, in which I took on it’s inaugural sail to go up the North Pacific from Washington to Alaska. Unfortunately a knockdown necessitated a last minute rescue by the Canadian Coast Guard. I was so hypothermic that the medic attending me said he doubted I would have lasted another 5 minutes in the frigid water. The boat is fully repaired and waiting far the quarantine to end so another adventure can begin. Please let me know if you have any questions? My website is johnguider.com See photos at right.

1969 Dick Nepon ’69P, is isolating well in Portland, Oregon with his wife, 2 dogs, and now 2 daughters and their pooch. We’re doing a great job of keeping safe. One of us is still working short hours from home, but it’s not me.

1970 Rich Burke ’70P retired in June after 45 years of teaching college English, the last 35 of which he spent at Lynchburg College / University of Lynchburg. He has been named an honorary alumnus of the University and made an Emeritus Professor of English. A scholarship in the University’s honors program has been named in his honor. In addition, last September, he received an honorary doctorate from Kazakh-American Free University in Kazakhstan, where he taught three years ago as a Fulbright Scholar.

1976 Gary Krasnov ’76 stated, “After 35 years with Delta Air Lines I have chosen to retire. There have been several bumps along the way but it has been an awesome career and I will miss the great people I worked with. Since I don’t sit still very well, I will continue my career at RAA, a financial services company focused on airline employees. I currently serve as the VP of Airline Strategy and Compliance.”

1986 Kimberly Vanderlaan ’86 writes, “I am on sabbatical this fall at California University of PA and am able to focus my time on a number of scholarly projects. I also have more time to spend at our lake house in Friendsville, MD and with my family. We are hiking, cooking and reading a great deal. The first picture is the lake from our house and the second is my family having dinner at a favorite restaurant. Kai is our son, on the left. And Brett is my husband on the right.” See photo #4 on page 50.

1995 Anyone going stir-crazy this summer? Looking to get out of the house and into nature...but safely and without all the C19 worries of international travel, flights, hotels, etc?” Mike Howard ’95 and his wife Anne Howard, wrote Comfortably Wild the first and only book about Glamping in North America. Pick up a copy and drop them a review over on Amazon, and let’s help this MA author shine! More info here: www.HoneyTrek.com/ComfortablyWild.” Mike also wrote that, “Anne and I were in Germany for the world’s largest travel trade show in early March, then rented a campervan for what we thought was going to be a 2 week road trip around Eastern Europe while this whole Covid thing blew over.... then all EU borders abruptly closed on March 17th, and we ended up getting stuck in Poland for 7 weeks (and Europe for 3 months) until we could get a flight back to the USA.” JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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1. Aaron Kravette ’13 married Nikki Roth, September 1, 2020. 2. Joseph Gano ’60P and his wife Jane 3. Dr. E Helene Sage ‘65P and horse Curtain Call at a horse show. 4. Kimberly Vanderlaan ‘86 at her lake house in Friendsville, MD, with son Kai (left) and husband Brett (right).

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1999

new financial products. We are working with a world-class engineering team based in New York City. This summer we received a seven million dollar seed investment round from First Round Capital. You can also find our company featured in Forbes and Tech Crunch magazines.”

Molly Kistler Rinke ’99 wrote, “Our family recently became approved to be a Host Family through the Safe Families for Children organization. Safe Families for Children is a movement fueled by compassion to keep children safe and families intact. Through Host Families, Family Friends, and Family Coaches, the organization temporarily hosts children and provides a network of support to families in crisis while they get back on their feet. Within a week of our approval, we were hosting siblings - a two-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy - whose parents were experiencing homelessness. Between the children we were hosting and our two young children, we had a full house and many loud, hectic days, but we are grateful to be partnered with this organization to serve families in crisis in our community.”

2011 Katherine Swantak ’11 shared “I graduated from Penn State with my M.Ed in higher education!”

2013 Aaron Kravette ’13 married Nikki Roth, September 1, 2020. See photo #1 on page 50. Devon Wasson ’13 shared that he “Just wanted to reach out to let you know that I, Devon Wasson ’13 got married to Lacey Gavala on August 8th of this year. We were married at Bucknell University, which is also where we met and where we got engaged.” See photo below.

2003 Roma Molino-Dunn ’03 shared that he composed the score/soundtrack for a movie that was just acquired by HBO and HBO Max and will be airing on 9/11/20. The film is called Huracán.

2006 Matthew Bross ’06, shared that “My wife and I are still enjoying living in Munich although the last months have certainly been strange with the world-wide pandemic. Every country’s experience with the pandemic situation was/is different, even within Europe, but we were very happy with the response and management in Germany. Both my wife and I were able to work from home and maintain our health. They have also already started schools here which seems to be working and the parents I know are pleased with the school plan and regulations. So I think there is hope for a successful school year at MA and other schools in America.”

2008 Maryam Bami ’08 shared that “Together with fellow Deloitte practitioners, I will be instructing Forensic Accounting at Howard University! I am so excited for this opportunity and cannot wait to (virtually) meet all of the students embarking on this exciting journey.”

2009 Suzie Duffy ’09 married John Romanchak at the Glasbern Inn in 2020. See photos above.

2010 Francis Mascarenas ’10 shared that “I’m in Los Angeles currently studying for the NY bar. I graduated from UCLA this past May but found a job on the East Coast. Dimitri Roscioli ’10 writes, “I joined Pinwheel as a founding engineer in May of 2020. Pinwheel’s mission is to build a fairer financial system by unlocking access to payroll systems. Our vision is to be the infrastructure that will power the financial system of the future, helping consumers access better, cheaper financial products when they need them most while also sparking innovation of JOURNAL | FALL 2020

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2014

2019

2020

Priya Atiyeh ’14 completed the Boston Marathon Virtual Experience on September 13 in Boston, MA. See photo #2.

Dylan Carter ’19 supported local musicians and music through this pandemic by creating and hosting a live streaming venue. With the help of Blue Chip Sound, owned by Moravian parent, Joe Pokojni, and Upper School music teacher Rob Riker, the venue featured a full professional lighting, sound, and live stream set-up. To learn more about Dylan’s venture, please visit thevalleylives.dylanbcarter.com. See photo #3.

Julius Ewungkem ’20 was interviewed during a Philadelphia Phillies game earlier this summer and received the 2020 Jackie Robinson Foundation major league baseball scholar.

Aaron Donahue ’14 is excited to be starting a Perform Arts MFA at Savannah College of Art and Design, GA in September. Sam Roschewsk ’14 shares that she is “super excited to announce that I will be starting an online Master’s degree program in Voice Pedagogy with a concentration in Musical Theatre in January at the Westminster Choir College of Rider University!”

Thank you to Gaby Dee, former faculty member, for her help in compiling some of the alumni class news.

2015 Carly Zaladonis ’15 started at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in July 2020.

2016 Alyssa Ahdieh ’16 is an Inbound Marketing Associate at Smartacre. Adrianna DiMarco ’16 shared that, “this year I graduated from Lafayette College with a double major in Art History and Italian Studies with a Minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. I also got accepted into and started graduate school at DeSales University where I will be going for my masters of education and teaching certification for social studies. Another very exciting accomplishment was that I began teaching at Moravian Academy! I am the 6th grade social studies teacher. I am extremely honored and excited to be teaching at my alma mater.” See photo #1. Myria Zambas ’16 shared, “I joined the NEUO as a Brand Ambassador and one of company’s first employees. This experience of getting in on the ground floor of a promising start-up, while only a few months long, has taught me a lot about tea building and reliance.”

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In Memoriam

MARGARET TOWNSEND BALDOCK • 1925 - 2020 Honorary Trustee, Margaret Townsend Baldock passed away peacefully on June 18, 2020 in her home at Kirkland Village in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She is preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Albert Lawrence Baldock.

started Moravian’s annual Country Fair back in the 1960’s. In 2007 she was the lead donor for the renovations for the Lower School Science lab in the Main Building and her name and the name of her children are prominently displayed in that space.

Margaret was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas on May 1, 1925, the daughter of the late Elleine Cameron Townsend and Reginel Erbin Townsend. She graduated from RandolphMacon Women’s College in 1946 with a Bachelor of Arts in Languages and Journalism. After graduation, she worked in Philadelphia as an assistant editor at Curtis Publishing’s Holiday Magazine and edited James Michener’s “Sayonara” when it was serialized for the magazine. She married Albert “Al” Baldock in 1952 and the couple moved to Schenectady, New York for eight years before settling at Buckwampun Farm in Springtown, Pennsylvania in 1965.

Margaret was known and loved by many in the Moravian community.

Margaret was always very involved in her community. She served as the President of the Junior League of Schenectady, New York. She later served as a director of the Bucks County Heritage Conservancy and a docent for the Michener Museum in Doylestown, PA. At Moravian Academy, Margaret served on the board of Moravian Academy, Bethlehem, PA from 1975-80 and then from 1986 through 2020 both as an at large Trustee and then an Honorary Trustee. She was chairman of Moravian Academy’s Annual Giving from 1976-77 and in the mid 1980’s she was chairman of the Academy’s Merle-Smith Society. Margaret was also a key member of the volunteers who

Barnaby Roberts, Headmaster from 1998-2007, at learning of her passing stated, “Margaret Baldock was truly a devoted member of Moravian Academy’s Board of Trustees. She had a rare understanding of the role of the Headmaster, and gave me both guidance and support. My wife, Betsy Roberts and Margaret enjoyed a shared southern heritage, and Betsy says, ‘As a true Southern Lady, Margaret always had her ducks in a row.’ For me, the way Margaret laughed, and said my name always made me want to reply, ‘Yes. Ma’am.’ She will be missed as a generous and true friend of the school.” George King, Headmaster from 2007-2016, stated, “Margaret loved the Academy, she contributed her time, talent, and treasure to ensuring that our students had the best teachers, materials, and facilities. Her legacy will forever be a wonderful chapter in the Academy’s rich history. Margaret will be missed, especially by those of us who were privileged to work with an extraordinary servant leader.” Survivors include her daughters, Cameron Baldock Adair ’72 of Knoxville, TN and Alison Reams Tucker ’74 of Raleigh, NC; sister-in-law, Eleanor Kay Melton of Hickory, NC. Cameron Baldock Adair ‘72, Margaret Baldock, Ali Baldock Tucker ‘74

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Mark Your Calendar Upcoming Events To view a full list of events, visit www.moravianacademy.org/calendar. November 10

PA Virtual Bow Making and Candle Dressing

November 24

Virtual Grandparents’ Lovefeast

November 25-27

School Closed

December 1

Giving Tuesday

December 21-January 1

School Closed

THEN NOW

Chaplain Dorothy Burcaw, Megan Ward ’92, and Jamie Moran ’93 raise the flag to signify the opening of school in 1987.

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from L to R: Head of School Jeff Zemsky, Sawyer Ritchey ’31, Pepper Ritchey ’21, Oliver Ritchey ’27, and Zander Ritchey ’24 participate in the flag-raising ceremony to open the 278th year of school in 2020.