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Winter 2009–2010 • Noble and Greenough School The

Noble and Greenough School

10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA 02026-4099 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

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NoN-profIT u.S. poSTAGE PAID BoSToN MA pErMIT No. 53825

T H TE H NE O NB OL B EL S E BS U BL U LL EL TE I N T I N

Nobles bulletin

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Households that receive more than one Nobles Bulletin are encouraged to contact Kathy Johnson at 781.320.7001 to discontinue copies.

Washington, D.C. Graduates’ Reception in December N O NB OL B E L AE N AD N GD R GE R EE N EO NU OG UH G SH C H NT ET R E 2R 0 20 05 0– 92 –0 20 06 1 0 S CO HO OL O •L W • IW I N

An enthusiastic group of Nobles graduates from the Classes of 1956 through 2008 gathered with Head of School Bob Henderson ’76 at the Fairfax Hotel at Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. on December 3. Former Headmaster Ted Gleason and his wife Anne were also in attendance. Henderson updated the graduates on Nobles today and provided a brief overview of the strategic planning process. In 2009, Nobles also hosted regional receptions in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

Green Fire Kiln S E E PA G E 4 0

The 114th Boston Marathon is Monday, April 19th, 2010

The

Nobles Bulletin

Join the Nobles team!

Noble and Greenough School Winter 2009–2010

Twenty-four years ago, Bill Bliss ’48, P’79 ’80, GP ’10 ’14 and Elise “Butch” Wallace P’77 ’78 ran the Boston Marathon to raise money for scholarships at Nobles. Over the years, hundreds of students, graduates and faculty have joined in to “run with the Bulldogs,” making the Marathon Endowment Fund one of the school’s largest scholarship sources. Today, six students are able to attend Nobles each year because of the Marathon Fund.

Last spring, more than 120 members of the Nobles community participated on Marathon Monday and raised thousands of dollars to support the fund. We invite you to join the 2010 Marathon Team; runners, bikers and rowers are all welcome.

Editor Joyce Leffler Eldridge Director of Communications

Assistant Editors Julie Guptill Assistant Director of Communications

Lauren Bergeron Communications specialist

Design David Gerratt/DG Communications www.NonprofitDesign.com

Photography Brooke Asnis ’90 Lauren Bergeron Joyce L. Eldridge Amanda Fiedler Julie Guptill John Hirsch Leah Larricia Bob Moore Kim Neal Joe Swayze

The Editorial Committee Brooke Asnis ’90 Kate Coon John Gifford ’86 Tilesy Harrington Bill Kehlenbeck Sarah Snyder

The Noble and Greenough Bulletin is published three times a year for graduates, past and current parents and grandparents, students and supporters of the Noble and Greenough School. Nobles is a co-educational, nonsectarian day and partial boarding school for students in grades seven (Class VI) through 12 (Class I). Noble and Greenough is a rigorous academic community that strives for excellence in its classroom teaching, intellectual growth in its students and commitment to the arts, athletics and service to others.

A N E W T R A D I T I O N : Looking to the future with a keen appreciation for the richness of the past, the school has established the Noble and Greenough Archives. Under newly named archivist Isa Schaff, the Archives will collect and display pictorial and written documentation of the institution from its 1866 founding to the present.

We will henceforth be reprinting pictures that lack identification. The group above is presumably one of the first, if not the first, groups of female boarders in the early 1980s. Can anyone help with names? Please write joyce_eldridge@nobles.edu.

“The Marathon Fund is one of many great events at Nobles. It’s hard to describe the rush you get while running with thousands of people, with thousands more cheering you on. It’s especially amazing because it gives you a chance to give the gift of a Nobles education through your fundraising effort. Although you don’t always realize it, this gift has a very profound impact on others’ lives.”

—Zach Ellison, Class II, Marathon Fund Student Chair To learn more about the 2010 Marathon Fund or to make a gift, please visit www.nobles.edu/marathon or contact the Graduate Affairs Office at graduateaffairs@nobles.edu.

Quartermarathon runners prepare to enter the course in Framingham Center last spring.

We mistakenly misidentified Holly Casner ’79 as Holly Goldsmith Starr ’79 in the Summer issue of the Bulletin. We regret the error and have reprinted the Class of 1979’s 30th Reunion photo below:

For further information and up-to-theminute graduate news, visit our website at www.nobles.edu.

Letters and comments may be e-mailed to Joyce_Eldridge@nobles.edu, Julie_Guptill@ nobles.edu or Lauren_Bergeron@nobles.edu.

We also welcome old-fashioned mail sent c/o Noble and Greenough School, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham, MA 02026.

The office may be reached directly by dialing 781-320-7014, 7264, or 7267. © Noble & Greenough School 2009

Back Row (L to R): David Vogel, Tom O’Brien, Tim Mansfield, Fiona Jarrett Roman, Nancy Pratt Hurley, Holly Charlesworth Casner, Jim Morse, Dan Corcoran. Middle Row (L to R): Bruce Weber, Patsy McCormick DiGiovanna, Donna Giandomenico Murphy, Alex Childs Smith, Vicki Palmer Chase, Phil Rueppel, Joe Selle, Virginia Aldous Emerson, Ellen Hatfield Towne, Tom Elcock, Phil Eure, Dan Rodgers. Front Row (L to R): Scott Leland, Bill Bliss, John Stimpson, Charlie Dow, John Almy, Harrison Miller.

Full- and halfmarathon runners after enjoying breakfast on race day at the home of Marathon Fund co-founder Elise “Butch” Wallace P’77 ’78

From left, Sophie Atwood and Tory MacDonald, both ‘11

Today, six students are able to attend Nobles each year because of the Marathon Fund.

The 2010 Marathon Fund Committee Brooke Asnis ‘90 Zach Ellison ’11 Alex Gallagher ‘90 Lora Khederian P’05 ‘08 Bob Kretschmar ‘63, P’93 Mariah Pongor ‘11 Faith Pongor P’07 ‘11 Kerrin Smith ’10 Ted Stimpson ‘85

CONTENTS WINTER 2009–2010

2

10 FEATURES

26 DEPARTMENTS

2 THE REVISED MISSION STATEMENT BUILDS ON NOBLES’ HISTORY AND ARTICULATES ITS ASPIRATIONS. Grads and current students reflect values and exceed goals.

31

Theatre Review

35

Keeping You Up-to-Date

40

Window on Nobles

10 THE BULLETIN EXAMINES THE HUMANITIES FOLLOWING EARLIER EXPLORATIONS OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND SCIENCES. From archeological digs to exchange trips to Japan, students probe cultural, literal and literary sources.

42

On the Playing Fields

26 OUR EXPATRIATE GRADUATES TAKE THE NOBLES COLORS TO GREAT BRITAIN WITH A CERTAIN PANACHE. Some went for study or business and stayed; some met and married; all feel at home.

48

Graduate Affairs Update

50

Class Notes

29 EVEN BEFORE JULIE AND JULIA (CHILD), MARY BETH ROCCO ’86 STARTED A CELEBRITY RECIPE BLOG. Antique cookbook provides fodder for how theatrical stars of past century dined.

33 A FUSION MUSICIAN WITH GLOBAL ANTECEDENTS COMPOSES IN REMOTE SECTION OF CALIFORNIA. Kit Walker ’69 brings jazz, Indian culture and sounds of nature to his work.

In Memoriam 44 G.K. Bird Jr. ’39 47 Bryan Moses Baker

Mission [Statement] Accomplished

“The notion of a life of service… means an unselfish commitment to support, learn from, care about, and commit to the betterment of all those with whom we work, live and interact, in a both local and global sense…”

2 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

Head of School Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76 P’13

ON A MISSION

Although the school’s Mission statement continues to evolve, it remains the unmistakable, readily identifiable DNA of Nobles, which graduates of all classes should recognize.

Head Traces Origins of Revised Mission

BY JOYCE LEFFLER ELDRIDGE

I

N HIS OPENING ADDRESS TO THE FACULTY, Head Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76 P’13, himself an historian, traced the antecedents of Nobles’ revised Mission statement during the past 40 years, beginning with Head Eliot Putnam in 1969 when Nobles was all-male.

In his insightful analysis of the past four missions, Henderson said: “The historian in me loves to theorize as to why the wording in each era was chosen, and what it says about the general and local school culture at each juncture.

I’m also aware that each of these statements represents a negotiation and a compromise among interests and perspectives in the school community at the time, with various groups and individuals seeking to leave an imprint.”

The Mission under Putnam called for “imparting knowledge, stimulating intellectual curiosity and presenting [the] opportunity to serve…” During Ted Gleason’s headship, the 1979 Mission compared Nobles to a “family where one may develop the mind, the body and the spirit for a life of service.” In 1999, a year before Henderson’s arrival, the Mission stressed academic rigor and diversity, along with “caring relationships between faculty and students” under Head Dick Baker.

In Nobles’ revised Mission statement, Henderson said, “we sought to create something that spoke about the unique heart of Noble and Greenough School…Another essential challenge was to create a statement that would be readily identifiable to graduates...The three notions that seemed to resonate most powerfully…are a commitment to a life of service, a dedication to academic rigor, and an emphasis on …the idea of relationships as fundamental to all good teaching and coaching, greater than all other pedagogical styles and innovations.”

Nobles students consistently identify three things that are really important at Nobles, Henderson said. “The first is that they deeply value their relationships with the faculty.

The second is that Nobles has very high expectations for them in terms of both intellect and character, and they appreciate this. And the third is that the sense of community here is quite real and powerful, and an important part of their lives. The Mission seeks to include all of these sentiments.

[Another] key goal was to reduce the Mission to a format and expression that was much more memorable …[so that] most people will recall the key phrases, particularly “academic rigor,” “leadership for the public good” and “mentoring relationships.” CO N T I N U E D O N N E X T PA G E

Revised Nobles Mission Statement 2009 Noble and Greenough School is a rigorous academic community dedicated to inspiring leadership for the public good. Through mentoring relationships, we motivate students to achieve their highest potential and to lead lives characterized by service to others.

The Nobles community: • Generates critical, creative, socially conscious thinkers; • Upholds a commitment to diversity; • Develops character and intellect in deliberate conjunction; • Cultivates purposeful citizenship on local, national and global levels; • Builds independence and self-respect through challenge and achievement; • Espouses humility, humor, collaboration, honesty and respect for others as the foundations of a vibrant intellectual community.

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 3

Two influences on his own thinking, that Henderson shared with the Mission committee, helped him conceptualize and articulate the ideal Mission for Nobles: “…the first is the notion of the ‘life well led’ previously articulated by former Dartmouth College president Jim Wright. It is my hope that a Nobles education prepares and steers students toward that life well led. In my view, that means that intellect and character need to be inextricably conjoined in everything we do.

My second concern is that the Mission

statement not be so narrow or specific that it excludes students or faculty from feeling as though they belong here.

Rather, the challenge for all of us should be to find a place for ourselves within the Mission...We should never stop asking what it means to pursue leadership for the public good.”

Above all, as Henderson noted, the current Mission statement, like those that preceded it, is, as intended, a blend of inspiration and aspiration.

“While I believe every clause and phrase in the Mission is important,”

Henderson said, “it is ‘leadership for the public good’ that is critical…as it captures succinctly and inspirationally both our institutional history and our aspiration for the future, for our school and our students.” [See profiles on Ned Lawson ’64, below; Charles Glew ’85, page 5, Dave Aznavorian ’88, page 6; Zach Ellison ’11, page 7; and the organizers of the Calling All Crows concert, page 8, all of whose efforts support the Mission.]

Ned Lawson ’64 Named 2009 Distinguished Graduate

E

F. (Ned) Lawson ‘64 P’95 ’99 ’00 ’08 was honored Nov. 20 as Nobles’ 2009 Distinguished Graduate at the annual dinner meeting of the Members of the Corporation, which includes all past and current trustees of the school.

Board President Jeff Grogan ’74 P’13 described Lawson’s longstanding love and respect for Nobles and for the sea. “Sailor, soldier, educator, entrepreneur…Ned is honored… for his tireless service to Nobles and…for his lifelong commitment to preserving the environment and helping others enjoy the benefits of learning to love the sea.”

The son of Nobles graduate and former Business Manager Ben Lawson ’32, also a Distinguished Graduate (1979), Ned Lawson was a founder and former Executive Director of the Duxbury Bay Maritime School (DBMS). Among its many offerings, DBMS is committed to providing physically- and cognitivelydward

Board President Jeff Grogan ’74, left, with Distinguished Grad Ned Lawson ’64

challenged individuals with opportunities to sail.

Lawson was also singled out for his enduring love of Nobles. As the Distinguished Graduate citation reads, “His commitment to serving

4 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

Nobles has never wavered…An advocate for the public good in every sense, Ned personifies the Mission of the Noble and Greenough School.”

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

ON A MISSION

Values in 2009 Mission

Reflected in Professional/Family Life of Grad About to Celebrate His 25th Reunion

C

HICAGO—Charles [Chuck] Glew ’85 describes Nobles and the two schools he subsequently graduated from (Harvard College cum laude and Stanford Business School where he received the Henry Ford II Award for graduating first in his class) as filled with “smart, inquisitive and motivated people with a diversity of interests.” Having flourished at all three, he has tried to position himself, his wife and their three young children in comparable environments.

“I believe that bringing together a community of bright and talented young people naturally sets a tone and raises the bar on expectations,” he observed. “This is not to say that the culture becomes overtly intellectual—it’s more that intellectual engagement becomes part of the fabric of daily life.”

“Nobles emphasized good citizenship, which guides me to this day…. We were encouraged to pursue individual excellence, remain firmly grounded, cherish classical values and be aware of the communities around us."

Glew was one of several hockey players in his hometown of Medfield who left public school before eighth grade to play for Independent School League teams. The memories that remain from his Nobles years, interestingly enough, are less about his time on the ice and more of his time in the

classroom. Dick Baker (English), Fred Sculco (science) and Joe Swayze (The Nobleman) were his touchstones, and to this day he can hear the stentorian voice of Headmaster Ted Gleason reading Dr. Seuss books in Assembly.

The ability to think and to express ideas clearly was the facility for which he is most grateful. “I learned to think in a much more structured way.” With Baker, he recalls, he learned the art of “struggle” and the “hard work of thinking…to push for a further level of insight. That effort did not come naturally to me.”

Glew is a founder and Senior Principal of Flexpoint Partners LLC, a private equity investment firm with more than $1.5 billion of equity capital under management that specializes in healthcare and financial services.

Before founding Flexpoint, Glew served as a principal of GTCR Golder Rauner and spent four years at Summit Partners, a private equity firm with offices in Boston and Palo Alto, Calif.

Glew finds that his personal and public lives are very much in sync thanks to Nobles and his subsequent education. “Nobles emphasized good citizenship, which guides me to this day…. We were encouraged to pursue individual excellence, remain firmly grounded, cherish classical values and be aware of the communities around us.”

Glew and his wife, Linda, pursue a variety of philanthropic activities, often combining financial support with “on-the-ground” involvement. The Glews sponsor tuition for a high school girl whose recently immigrated parents could no longer afford to keep her in the Catholic school where she had

Chuck Glew ’85

flourished. And each December, they organize a Christmas party (with food, entertainment, Santa and presents) for kids participating in a program serving at-risk families in nearby Evanston.

“Linda is consistently attuned to the community around us,” said Glew. “I am amazed and grateful for the interesting ways she keeps finding for our family to make a bit of a positive, direct impact.”

Incorporating an on-the-ground involvement allows the Glews’ three children (in the fifth, second and Kindergarten grades) to participate.

Glew described the opportunity that his family had to help a friend make Christmas special for some shelter residents. Glew’s friend grew up in Gary, Ind., and spent much of his high school years homeless. Now a

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 5

successful local businessman in Glew’s town of Wilmette, the friend brings carloads of toys and games each Christmas to a small shelter in the city where he grew up.

“Eric fills an entire room with the toys and games and invites each mother with her kids in separately. It’s amazing to watch the initial mistrust

Glew admittedly loved the rigor of Nobles and the desire to give back to others—the school’s two most powerful legacies, he believes. fade as he tells his own story and explains why he gives back to the Gary community,” remembered Glew. “Our kids really got a kick out of helping the other kids find gifts that got them most excited. Our children also got to help bring the collected toys back to individual apartments. I like to think experiences like that plant some of the right seeds for our kids. They see that they can make a difference. And while they got to see firsthand that some other people live in more difficult circumstances, the personal interaction helped them understand that very different circumstances did not make them very different people.”

While Glew admittedly loved the rigor of Nobles and the desire to give back to others—the school’s two most powerful legacies, he believes—he also cited a fascination with the aura of tradition that surrounded the school.

“The Castle is imbued with tradition,” he said. “And walking through the gym corridors following the rows of team photographs back more than 50 years—even wearing neckties to class—all those things reminded me that I had become part of a venerable institution.”

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

Leadership and the Mission Statement

D

ave Aznavorian ’88, a trustee

of Nobles and Vice President at Earth, Inc., told Class III students at the opening of school to look beyond Nobles, then “connect the dots” back to their present experience.

Speaking on the theme of leadership, Aznavorian emphasized three principles: • Building up the “hard“ skills and preparing oneself across multiple disciplines while resisting the urge to be known solely as a “math“-person or an “English“-person • Taking action even in the absence of direction—not waiting to be told what to do and, when a “still wind is blowing in their lives, then that is the time to row!”

• Be a person who is happy and nice; even better, strive to make it become part of the class’s overall culture Aznavorian told students that the Mission statement will serve as a guiding hand during their Upper School years, and within that Mission is the opportunity to think beyond their own circumscribed universe.

Drawing on his experience while working at Timberland, leading international development consulting projects, and working in the golf industry with Titleist, Aznavorian emphasized that Nobles’ insistence on serving others and thinking beyond the obvious is what has encouraged him to apply that filter as a leader, and believe that it’s possible for businesses to have a meaningful social and communal purpose.

Connecting the dots back to Nobles, Aznavorian advised students to keep in mind that the Nobles years support the idea of becoming great generalists, and that many future careers will result from assimilating information from various sources to make non-obvious connections.

Aznavorian commented, “In the short-term, becoming a generalist will allow you to find out where your true passions lie, and support your classmates as everyone figures it out. Over the long-term, it will actually help you to see how you can ‘lead for the public good’ by better understanding where others are coming from, and connecting with them on some basic level—even during those times when you realize their passions may be different from your own.”

6 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

ON A MISSION

An Emerging Eagle Scout and Leader in the Making

BY LAUREN BERGERON

E

ARNING THE RANK OF Eagle is a dream for many young Boy Scouts. For some, it’s a culmination of more than 10 years of outdoor survival skills, service and work. This year, Class II student Zach Ellison is working toward earning his Eagle Scout badge, an achievement accomplished by only 10 percent of all Boy Scouts. What was once an obligatory activity within his church, “Scouts,” as he calls it, has become a meaningful part of Zach’s young-adult life. “I chose to pursue Scouting because it was something I really cared about. I love being in the outdoors and my dad is an Eagle Scout,” he said. It is Zach’s hope that by the end of the year he, too, will join his father, David, in holding the most coveted ranking of all scouts.

One of the components of earning the Scouts’ highest ranking includes an intensive, community-involved service project, the point of which is to act as a leader in project planning and management. What began in its initial planning stages last June turned into an amazingly successful group-effort to build 220 feet of boardwalk at the Sedge Meadow conservation site in Wayland on Columbus Day. Zach was pleased with the results, saying, “In the springtime, parts of Sedge Meadow experience flooding. With the addition of the boardwalk, which runs over the swampy areas, people can enjoy walking the trails year-round.”

Joining him in the effort were dozens of Nobles students and teachers, who took Zach’s direction well.

“What’s interesting about the Eagle Scout project is that I was not allowed to do any of the physical labor myself,”

Last year, Zach Ellison ’11 was recognized as the student who raised the most money during the Nobles Marathon Fund, collecting more than $600 for Nobles scholarships.

Zach's completed Eagle Scout service project at Sedge Meadow in Wayland.

Zach Ellison ’11, center (red hat), received the help of several Nobles students and faculty.

he said. “So I really appreciated that so many people came out to help me complete the project.” When asked how he felt about not being allowed to lay down boards and hammer nails, he

admitted, “For me, not being allowed to do any labor on Columbus Day was the hardest part of the entire project.

While I learned a lot about leadership during the planning process, I am a

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 7

perfectionist at heart and I really wanted to contribute in that way.”

Zach’s project planning was put on hold for four weeks last summer when he was accepted to participate in an outdoor adventure program called the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in Alaska, through which he spent equal time sea kayaking and backpacking. He was the youngest student on his expedition. During the

“For me, not being allowed to do any labor on Columbus Day was the hardest part of the entire project. While I learned a lot about leadership during the planning process, I am a perfectionist at heart and I really wanted to contribute in that way.”

— Zach Ellison ’11

physically-taxing four weeks, Zach and his peers took turns leading the group and, ultimately, understanding how one’s decisions as a leader directly affect others. Of the trip, Zach said, “This trip was the best thing I’ve ever done.

It was ‘the next step’ for me. I chose to attend NOLS because I love backpacking, hiking and fishing, but I left having a greater understanding of how to define a leader. I also learned a lot about my own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to leadership.”

He mentioned that at the end of each day the NOLS group would discuss the leader’s strengths and weaknesses, which Zach remembers being a difficult exercise. “You have to learn to be sensitive when giving constructive criticism,” he said, “but you also have to learn that good leaders are those who can take criticism however it comes to them.” He ended by saying that he and classmate Ben Kirshner ’11 plan to apply for the NOLS expedition to climb Alaska’s Denali (also known as Mount McKinley), the tallest peak in North America.

Calling All Crows

State Radio “Frontman,” Chad Stokes Plays Benefit Concert Organized by Students

W

HAT STARTED AS A KEEN interest in both humanitarian involvement in Darfur and the indie jam band Dispatch has recently emerged into one serendipitous venture for Class I student Kerrin Smith.

Last spring Ben Snyder invited Alex Gallagher’s ’90 brother-inlaw, musician Chad Stokes, to play a benefit concert. Stokes agreed, on the condition that Nobles would start the first high school chapter of his humanitarian effort, Calling All Crows. Stokes, who began his musical career with the band Dispatch, has since formed State Radio, a band with a mission that

extends beyond the music. “[The band members] and I stand in solidarity against things like the death penalty and war. We told ourselves, ‘If we’re going to be on stage, we should do it wisely.’” Before every concert, they engage fans in service projects and volunteerism.

Together with co-presidents Ben Kirshner and Ava Geyer, both Class II, Kerrin set out to make a name for “Crows” at Nobles. First on the agenda was to invite Chad back for another concert this fall, the proceeds of which would benefit the Stoves Project, an initiative which helps women in Sudan.

For every two $10 concert tickets sold,

From left: Calling All Crows co-presidents Kerrin Smith ’10, Ava Geyer ’11, Ben Kirshner ’11 backstage with Sybil Gallagher and Chad Stokes

8 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

ON A MISSION

Stokes brought a sample stove on stage for students to see the value of $20.

Oxfam America, which has teamed up with Chad and Calling All Crows, will provide a woman in Sudan with a fuel-efficient stove. The goal is to protect women who are subjected to violence every time they leave their camp to collect more firewood. The concert, held in Vinik Theatre, sold out, with Calling All Crows raising enough money to purchase 120 lifesaving stoves.

One of the major components of the organization is for students to understand that they’re making a tangible

“Ava, Ben and I feel so lucky to be a part of this, to learn how to lead and to work for a great cause. Calling All Crows has grown into an experience richer than we could have ever imagined.”

— Kerrin Smith ’10

difference. Gallagher’s sister (and Stokes’s wife) Sybil said, “We chose to team up with Stoves because we spend so much time around young people and this is a tangible project where youngsters can see the value of $20 in the stoves.”

Kerrin added, “This is a great project for Nobles in particular. Students can get their hands dirty and make meaningful change.”

Hosting such a successful schoolwide event was no easy task. Kerrin, Ben and Ava spent their summer and fall months organizing, planning and sacrificing sleep to make it all happen.

They strategized how to get their peers to show interest in their organization, knowing that everyone at Nobles already has a busy schedule. In reflecting on the exercise of managing the event, Kerrin said, “Ava, Ben and I feel so lucky to be a part of this, to learn how to lead and to work for a great cause.

Calling All Crows has grown into an experience richer than we could have ever imagined.”

“These kids are the future.

So many people say that apathy starts with teenagers, but that’s not the case. Sybil and I meet some amazing kids. [Kerrin, Ben, and Ava] are mature way beyond their years.”

—Chad Stokes of State Radio

Of course, meeting and working with Chad Stokes has had its benefits as well. When asked backstage what it meant to him to have students supporting his cause, Stokes replied, excitedly, “It means everything. These kids are the future. So many people say that apathy starts with teenagers, but that’s not the case. Sybil and I meet some amazing kids. [Kerrin, Ben, and Ava] are mature way beyond their years.”

—Lauren Bergeron

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 9

Humanities This is the third and final installment—starting with History and the Social Sciences in the Winter 2008–’09 Bulletin, then moving to the Sciences in the Spring of 2009—on the vibrant academic life in the Nobles classrooms. The Visual and Performing Arts will be profiled in 2010 to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Nobles’ Arts Center. To read additional stories only available online, please visit www.nobles.edu/bulletin.

Alive and Well in the Nobles Classrooms Latin is a language with the perseverance, resilience and tenacity (all Latin derivatives) to resurrect itself when needed. To do so, it sometimes reinvents itself (cf. the Middle School English-via-Latin course). It also prompts fierce and contagious loyalty from numerous acolytes who go on to earn Ph.D.s in classics or archaeology.

In the last academic year, 42 students elected Latin/Classics courses above the Latin III level. Department Chair Dan Matlack acknowledged that “Although Latin is sometimes perceived as a dinosaur…it is connected directly to every other language and every other discipline…”

Latin teacher Mark Harrington, a member of the department for 34 years, has been rewarded by seeing many of his students advance to Latin posts of their own. Derek Boonisar ’89, assistant head at the Fenn School, Michael O’Donnell ’98, associate dean of students and Latin teacher at St. Mark’s, and sisters Chrissie Walsh Dwyer ‘98 and Catherine E. Walsh ’96, both of whom became Latin teachers, remain in touch with Harrington and are grateful for his example.

Harrington credits his thespian delivery and the introduction of computer technology into his classroom as two key elements in his popularity as a Latin teacher. He is excited about the impact of the voice thread, which allows him to pose a question online and the students to respond in like mode. He has also begun to rely more on podcasts, which deal with subjects as varied as “The Fall of the Roman Empire” to the analysis of a particular Roman poet.

As for his inimitable baronial voice, Harrington credits the Latin texts, which lend themselves to strong amateur acting, more than his skills in rendering the material. “You develop certain shtick over the years. I’m remembered, for example, for shouting ‘Creusa’ up and down the halls.” He also acknowledges that many students recall his hiding under his desk as Thisbe, reenacting Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

To keep their own sight-reading skills honed, Harrington and other members of the department have been meeting regularly, for the past three years, at the Dedham home of Latin teacher George Blake to tackle texts that keep them primed for the sharpest of students. —Joyce Leffler Eldridge 10 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

Leona Cottrell: Lighting the Classics Flame One Student at a Time

J

Urbanus ’96 recently earned his Ph.D. in classical archaeology at Brown University’s Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World.

His research on the Roman town of Tongobriga in Portugal led to the discovery that this agricultural area, long considered Roman, was originally founded in the Iron Age. Prior to his fieldwork at Tongobriga, Urbanus was an excavation supervisor at the AngloAmerican Project at Pompeii.

Jackson Shulman ’03 majored in classics at Georgetown and Brown before returning to Nobles this year as a Teaching Fellow in Spanish and Classics. As part of his classical education, he joined one of the Portuguese digs led by Urbanus. He also studied archaeology, classics and the culture and history of Rome while taking a semester abroad at the University of Bologna.

Mike O’Donnell ’98 has taught Latin for seven years, having majored in Greek and Latin at Dartmouth. He began his teaching career at RansomEverglades School in Miami and spent the past four years as a Latin teacher, director of residential life and associate dean of students at St. Mark’s in Southboro. This fall he began his studies for an advanced degree in Greek and Latin at Boston College.

Ben Pierce ’94 taught middle school Latin for two years at the Hill School in Middleburg, Va., before deciding he wanted to work with students in the lower grades (first and second). He has been teaching at St. Paul Academy and Summit School in St. Paul, Minn., for nine years.

Mercedes Barletta ’97, a member of the Latin Department at Buckingham Browne & Nichols, began ason

Jackson Shulman ’03 in the House of the Menander

studying Latin in seventh grade at Nobles and continued through her senior year. This included AP Vergil and AP Literature with Mark Harrington, Latin III (advanced prose

pleted a dual major in archaeology and classical civilization, followed by a one-year post-baccalaureate in classics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“Leona was very instrumental in the direction of both our lives. Her courses open you up. She opened our eyes to a whole world,” he said, “making it exciting.... Leona is very enthralled by her subjecct and that makes her classes spellbinding.” — JACKSON SHULMAN ’03

and Ovid’s poetry) and Greek and Roman Civilization, all with Leona Cottrell, whom she describes as “THE REASON (caps hers) why I decided to study Classics and the individual who inspired me to pursue archaeology.” At Wesleyan she com-

Cottrell, who has taught Latin, and Greek and Roman Civilization at Nobles for some 20 years, is the connective tissue among all these students.

She and her husband Brian, an architect, even spent time in Pompeii, under the tutelage of Urbanus and

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 11

Humanities

It gives Jason Urbanus untold pleasure to be writing Leona Cottrell’s letters of reference for foundation grants for research work abroad. “She’s the one who wrote my college recommendations,” he remembered. “Now we do research together and I get to write on her behalf.”

Jason Urbanus ’96 in Pompeii

his international team of archaeologists, to study Roman domestic architecture and amass visual evidence for her classes.

Thanks to Cottrell, Urbanus said, and her continual push for him to earn a Ph.D. in Roman archaeolology, he will begin imminently a universitylevel teaching career in the classics.

“Leona was very instrumental in the direction of both our lives,” Shulman said of Urbanus and himself. “Leona’s courses open you up.” She encouraged him to go on a dig, even recommending him highly to Urbanus. “She opened our eyes to a whole other world,” he said, “making it exciting…. She is very enthralled by her subject and that makes her classes spellbinding.”

Shulman, along with others, believes that Leona’s Greek and Roman Civilization classes are unique among high schools nationwide. “The ancient civilization classes were the single greatest influence on Jason and me

to make the study of classics a lifelong pursuit…. They are the platform from which Leona demonstrates her passion for and knowledge of the classical world…. They were the two most influential classes I have ever taken.”

O’Donnell was always struck by how Cottrell “made the ancient applicable to the modern.” He tries to model his courses in similar fashion.

“I want to give my students the best foundation possible, opening up [for them] the widest possible perspective.”

At St. Mark’s, 55 to 60 students are presently studying Latin and Greek.

Every other year, during spring break, the classics students spend 10 days either exclusively in Italy or in a combination of Greece and Italy. O’Donnell and two colleagues in the department oversee the expedition.

Even O’Donnell’s trips bear the stamp of Cottrell. “She always told us Pompeii is huge (in size) and Herculaneum is where one should go, particularly if on a tight schedule,” he remembered. Another thing he remembers clearly about her classes: “She never allowed just a translation; she wanted a full understanding of the works being translated.”

Pierce adds: “I forget very little of what Ms. Cottrell taught me.” Her linear teaching approach and emphasis on step-by-step review worked, he

12 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

said, “and I became a better learner and teacher.” He also uses many of her teaching tools intact in the classroom.

Of his stint as a Latin teacher, he wrote: “I can’t say I was the best Latin teacher…but I did my best and it certainly gave me a lot of respect for the three master teachers [Ms. Cottrell, Mr. G.K. Bird Jr. ’39, Mr. Mark Harrington] who had instructed me.” (Editor’s note: For an obituary of G.K. Bird Jr., turn to page 44.)

Pierce remembers back to his time in Cottrell’s classroom: “Even as a Sixie in first-year Latin, what stood out about her was her ability to talk to us like we were colleagues, rather than students.

Her manner helped her passion to come through. Class with Ms. Cottrell felt less like a lesson and more like an invitation.”

Barletta too sees Cottrell as “an amazing mentor and a truly exceptional woman. She has always encouraged my archaeological work and she had me guest lecture in her two Roman Civilization sections three years ago to share my experiences digging in Morgantina, Sicily. It was a privilege.”

For Cottrell herself, every aspect of her career at Nobles has allowed her to blossom in ways she never deemed possible. Her summer research in Pompeii under the direction of one of her former students (Urbanus) not only

Michael O’Donnell ’98 on the Pallatine Hill in Rome

has allowed her to take photographs and videos to enliven and enlighten her classes back at Nobles…it also allowed her to use her interior-design experience from an earlier career and her in-depth knowledge of classical iconography and allegory to decipher decorative and even structural elements of Roman housing. She also draws upon her husband’s architectural and construction experience (Brian was a building contractor before becoming an architect) as well as his photographic expertise to help her, for the years to come at Nobles, in creating narrated walk-through DVDs of Roman houses, places of business and public buildings.

Cottrell’s photo shoots present the life of civilization in Roman antiquity: How did people live? What and where did they eat? What types of small industries thrived?

“The Nobles students are fascinated to learn how advanced the Romans were in their technology and their thinking.

The Romans’ views on sexuality, religious freedom, multi-culturalism and the like were very revealing.”

In a true case of “what goes around comes around,” Urbanus said it gives him untold pleasure to be writing

Leona Cottrell in Pompeii

Cottrell’s letters of reference for foundation grants for research work abroad.

“She’s the one who wrote my college recommendations,” he remembered.

“Now we do research together and I get to write on her behalf.” Barletta enjoyed a similar case of bringing Cottrell into her world at BB&N. In her first year as a teacher at one of Nobles’ traditional ISL rivals, Barletta invited Cottrell to be “a guest speaker for my department’s annual National Latin Exam Awards event. She graciously accepted and it was a great evening. I feel very lucky to still have such a wonderful connection with her.”

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge Leona Cottrell at the Roman Forum

“Even as a Sixie in first-year Latin, what stood out about her was her ability to talk to us like we were colleagues, rather than students. Her manner helped her passion to come through. Class with Ms. Cottrell felt less like a lesson and more like an invitation.” — BEN PIERCE ’94

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Humanities

English: Each Experience Is Unique Embracing 19 unique personalities, a wide range of ages and pedagogic styles, and subject matter that lends itself to significant creative adaptation, the English Department, not surprisingly, enjoys reinventing itself periodically.

English teacher Dick Baker, who instituted the elective system when he served as department chair decades ago (see story on Electives, page 17), gave up teaching electives entirely this year and instead teaches two sections of English II. Not too long ago, the elective option was downsized from two years (Classes I and II) to the senior year alone. The department decided that juniors needed one additional year with a core teacher to ensure that their reading and writing skills were in excellent shape before senior year.

Class II year is now devoted to reading American literature and writing in a variety of genres—from a “Song of Myself” motif in the manner of Walt Whitman to short stories to personal narratives and literary analysis. The year concludes with juniors assembling final writing portfolios, which consist of their three best revised pieces from the year.

Julia Russell, English chair for the past three years, commented that the writing portfolio project presupposes that writing is a process. “We try to treat the students like real writers, giving them a chance to revise a single piece multiple times. I think they end up very proud of the body of work that they produce and feel more confident as writers.”

The Class III year in English focuses, in large part, on the novel, under the guidance of Vicky Seelen, who preceded Russell as department chair for nine years. The English III curriculum is a genre-based class which examines the short story, poetry, the novel and drama in order to enhance analytical and writing skills as well as one’s literary vocabulary. At the heart of this curriculum is the Novel Project, a month-long independent study in which students select a novel of literary merit and become experts on: a) the work, b) the author, and c) a body of literary criticism. The final products include a quotations notebook, a 10-minute oral presentation, a five-to-seven-page analytical paper and an annotated bibliography.

In the future, Russell plans to coordinate a comprehensive curriculum review. “Taking into consideration the revised Mission statement and new brain research, we want to look at a variety of things. These include: making sure the reading, writing and grammar skills spiral effectively from grades 7–12, ensuring the diversity of the works we read, exploring the importance and role of public speaking in our classrooms, and discussing the possibility of moving American literature to the sophomore year.” — Joyce Leffler Eldridge 14 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

Admiration, Respect, Appreciation: They’re Entirely Mutual

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ike Horatio and Hamlet, longtime English teachers Dick Baker and Tim Carey not only revere each other… they “get” each other profoundly.

Every Wednesday morning they meet at a downtown Dedham coffee shop to catch up on each other’s lives, compare pedagogy and reflect on their students. Carey refers to Baker as his “mentor” who taught him if not “everything he knows,” then quite a bit. Baker places Carey at the top of his list of great teachers and is thrilled that Carey occupies the Baker Chair in English.

Baker was in fact instrumental in keeping Carey in the teaching profession. “After two years at Roxbury Latin, I had lost confidence; I intended to leave teaching,” Carey said. When he left RL for Nobles, he felt that the coed setting and the feminine perspective here actually worked to make the boys more serious. Carey also appreciated the large number of older, seasoned teachers. “Twenty minutes after Assembly on the day I came for an interview, I felt ‘This is the place I belong.’”

Fittingly, Carey succeeded Baker as department chair when Baker became Director of Studies. Baker became Head of School in 1987 while Carey was named head of the Middle School from 1989-1999. Together the two men have taught at Nobles 70 (!) years.

Baker came here with his wife Bryan (see obituary, page 47), two children and a C. Phil. from Berkeley, a degree originated by Berkeley to create college-level teachers versus research scholars. He had applied to Exeter where The Reverend Ted Gleason was finishing up his term as

Archival photo of Dick Baker with students

Tim Carey

chaplain before moving on to Nobles as Headmaster. Knowing he needed to fill the spot of English Department head at Nobles, Gleason called Baker in California and essentially hired him over the phone.

Baker knew he had considerable work ahead of him. The Nobles curriculum was strongly traditional at the time, ranging from Pilgrim’s Progress to

Thomas Hardy books, in comparison with Berkeley’s “more radical tack,” he realized. Baker inaugurated a whole series of electives, one of his hallmarks, and also implemented a goal-based curriculum modeled after Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Education. Teachers were asked to question, “What intellectual skills are we trying to inculcate?” before deciding on their lesson plans.

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Humanities

English teacher Dick Baker

In Bloom’s Taxonomy, knowledge is the lowest skill to inculcate; the higher levels embrace intellect, analysis, sympathy and judgment.

Baker’s “electives” reflected his own proclivities and thus worked to his advantage throughout his teaching career. Given his voracious reading habit and keen intellect, he has offered electives in virtually every area that interested him, from “On the Road,” to “Everything” (cf. the bagel of the same name) to “Russian Literature” to “The American South” and “Nature.” Carey similarly has opted to take on electives over his career: “The Novel,” “Film,” “Expository Writing.” He believes that potentially outstanding writers can be identified as early as seventh grade by their use of language, sentence construction, precision and clarity.

Before Nobles and Roxbury Latin, Carey worked as an Admission officer and Assistant Dean of Students at Middlebury College and as an English teacher and Director of Admission at the Thacher School in California. Extraordinarily self-effacing, Carey relates well to a wide gamut of students, perhaps because he sees himself as neither particularly academic nor intellectual.

Baker’s modus operandi was and remains “letting the students run the class when possible…. I try to get students to articulate more complex thoughts.” Another of his mantras is that “teachers teach themselves, not [the subject matter] English.” He works to model hard work, preparedness, humor and curiosity. Yet another of his pedagogical skills is to “establish personal relationships.” Even grading papers becomes part of that rubric: “My comments are meant to show I care. I try to write quarterly comments that will impact the life of a student.”

The establishment of synergistic relationships, of course, works both ways: “I’m more likely to do my best when the mix is right,” Baker acknowledged.

Carey said essentially the same thing but with a slightly different emphasis: “It’s a two-way deal; you [i.e. the school, the students] give, so I want to give back…Content is of minimal value next to learning intellectual skills.”

Baker once held a short-term view of his career at Nobles. “I planned to stay only a couple of years,” he conceded. “Each summer I intended to redo my thesis. I finally realized I wasn’t about to get a job at any college anyone had ever heard of. I also realized that Nobles kids were stronger than those attending any of the colleges at which I might teach.”

What kind of students does Baker find in his Class I Philosophy elective?

“These kids are driven; they don’t want to miss anything that can give them a boost intellectually.” Even though, as seniors, they could opt for no papers

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in the second quarter of the course, and for reducing the number of classes per week to two (from four), they turn down all such options.

Because he is so naturally an authoritarian figure, more a college than a high school prototype in some ways, Baker works deliberately to make him-

Baker’s modus operandi was and remains “letting the students run the class when possible…. I try to get students to articulate more complex thoughts.”

self less intimidating. “I use humor and I try deliberately to defuse my reputation,” he said. Carey is quite the opposite, as both men acknowledge.

“My dad was head of personnel for Bank of New York,” Carey explained.

“He got along famously with people.

He put everyone at ease. I try to take after him.”

In Carey’s Class I Creative Writing class, the quality and depth of writing he elicits from his students are inspiring. Upon the conclusion of the outloud reading of a very polished piece of writing by Sarah Dec ’09, Carey saved his praise for the end: “What fascinated me is what pops into this writer’s head,” he said with all the relish and incredulity of a young Boston fan at a Red Sox game. “I am totally blown away. In 100 years I could not come up with this!”

For more on Dick Baker’s teaching style, log into www.nobles.edu/bulletin.

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

Electives Provide Endless Experiences for Class I Students

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f one junior is reading Macbeth, most likely all are. The English curriculum is designed so that every Class II student is required to take the same English course. The same goes for the Class III and Class IV students’ schedules (English III and English IV, respectively). The intention is to allow each student in those grades to reach the same benchmarks around the same time as his or her peers. By senior year, regardless of the series of teachers they have had in their English classes, the presumption is that students have had equal opportunity to learn the most essential elements of the discipline.

But for seniors, the schedule for one student might vary significantly from the next. Class I students are required to choose one English elective each semester, allowing them to choose a course that most interests them.

English faculty members who teach electives have the ability to provide unique experiences for their students and often spend years shaping and re-shaping the content of their classes.

Longtime English teacher Kate Coon has had the opportunity to teach many electives over the years, including “South African-American Literature” and “African-American Literature and History.” She chooses course content carefully, keeping elements that work well and switching other elements in order to keep students engaged. Two of Coon’s current electives, “Poetry” and “Children’s Literature,” have been around for years, but continue to evolve as she finds new and innovative ways to adapt them for her students.

Coon started teaching Poetry in 1996, drawing from a personal connection to the genre which began in her early childhood. The daughter of an

Kate Coon’s Poetry class discusses the latest Ning posting.

Students in Kate Coon’s Poetry class peer edit each other’s papers.

English professor (Philip Driscoll) and an Art History teacher (former Nobles faculty member Eileen Driscoll), Coon remembers hearing and reciting poetry at home with her family. “I’ve always loved poetry and in one way or another it’s been interwoven through-

out my life. We read poetry at home…

I’ve written some of my own and I’ve gotten to know some great modern poets,” she says. This passion has spilled over into her classroom, where she tries to engage every student who enrolls in the course. “In recent

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 17

Humanities years, especially, we’ve learned so much about different learning styles and right-brain versus left-brain approaches,” she explains. “The great thing about poetry is that it has the ability to engage any type of student.

I try to be non-judgmental about the process—some kids evolve as talented rappers and others write beautiful critical analyses.”

While fluid about the poetic work that students produce (which accounts

Smith), visited the class to discuss her late husband Rad Smith’s book, Distant Early Warning, which was published posthumously. Her visit was also podcast on the Poetry class website (http://kdcpoetry.edublogs.org).

“Children’s Literature,” a course originally designed by English teacher and Dean of Faculty Sandi MacQuinn many years ago, has also evolved over time. When introduced, the course was so popular that after one year of

There’s no way to know how the classes will continue to adapt to students’ different learning styles, abilities and interests, but Coon says that staying on top of those trends helps make teaching a new and challenging experience from year to year.

for perhaps 25 percent of the curriculum), Coon has very specific ideas not only about which poets they study, but about how they study them. “I think students should read poetry the way it was written, so we read books of poetry in their entirety, rather than anthologies,” she explains. Coon strongly believes in listening to poets read their work aloud and asking them directly about references, allusions and symbolism. For this reason, her course covers more contemporary poetry than classical, and Coon also uses Nobles’ proximity to Boston to her advantage, studying local poets like Thomas Sleigh, Wendy Mnookin and Aidan Rooney, and then inviting them to class to speak. Recently, Coon introduced Web 2.0 technology into the course, podcasting these visits, having students respond to poems via blog posts on the class’s Ning page and also asking them to create their own personal poetry blog pages, connected to the class Ning by a “blogroll.” Rena Koopman P’02 (mother of Jordan

teaching, MacQuinn had more students interested than she could accommodate. Coon offered to teach an additional section, and followed MacQuinn’s lead on everything from course themes to discussion topics.

A unique aspect of MacQuinn’s class model was the incorporation of community service. Children’s Lit students travel one day a week to the Riverdale Elementary School in Dedham to read to first graders and to do literary-related activities with them.

Eventually, scheduling conflicts led MacQuinn to hand the course over completely to Coon. As in Poetry, Coon has kept elements that still prove relevant, while she has tweaked the course over the years to work best for her teaching style as well as for the students.

She continues to travel weekly to Riverdale, giving students the opportunity to experience children’s literature directly.

Recently, Coon has introduced technology into the classroom in ways that continue to transform the course.

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She has personalized a web page on an academic social networking site called Ning, for the class. “The Ning taps into the social networking application with which students are so comfortable, because of sites like Facebook,” Coon says. “The Ning is an informal way for students to extend class discussions with one another and pull in other people who are involved [in the class] or interested in the subject matter.”

Coon controls who has access to the Ning, inviting students and others to join. “The Ning has given us better connectivity to Riverdale, for example,” she says. “Carol Connors, the first-grade teacher, is on the Ning, and she uses it to read what the seniors have been posting in discussion forums or to share photos that we take in the classroom of the Nobles kids and their reading buddies. This has been a very popular feature.

“When we started reading The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, I posted questions about the text on the Ning and asked students to respond, both to me and to each other,” Coon said.

When her class covers the book next year, research and other related information, which her students have posted to the Ning, will be shared with the Class V students, who will also read Alexie’s novel.

It’s clear that Coon’s goal isn’t to use technology just for the sake of using it; she uses it in ways that “extend the walls of her classroom” to include a broader community, giving her students a wider range of influences, and a wider audience as well. There’s no way to know how the classes will continue to adapt to students’ different learning styles, abilities and interests, but Coon says that staying on top of those trends helps make teaching a new and challenging experience from year to year. She is helping to make the elective program one of many hallmarks of the Nobles experience.

—Julie Guptill

Class V English Students Empowered

by Grasping Challenging Novels

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n preparing fifthies for the rigorous requirements of the Upper School, the Class V English curriculum seeks to examine the ups and downs of growing up through the eyes of compelling fictional characters who stand up to the adult world. Class V English teachers of recent years Tim Carey, Thomas Forteith and Sandi

seemingly constant struggle with the adult world. Students enjoy discussing A Separate Peace, dissecting themes of jealousy, childhood tragedy and responsibility. In the Graphic Novel unit, students read an Iranian work, Persepolis, which tackles teenage struggle amidst the fall of the Shah, the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq War.

MacQuinn have not been afraid to tackle tough topics with their students. “From within the comforts of a nurturing classroom lies the perfect place to chip away at the unsheltered side of life,” said MacQuinn.

Aside from reading eight novels and plays, students are asked to reflect upon the books’ themes when introduced in other academic areas. During the annual eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., students visit the Holocaust Museum which follows their completion of Forgotten Fire and Night, two books that depict the horrors of Nazi Germany. Similarly, the issue of housing discrimination, as dramatized in A Raisin in the Sun, becomes a popular topic for further research in the Civics Supreme Court paper.

The book list centers largely on adolescent protagonists who endure a

In addition to diversifying the Middle School curriculum by introducing a non-western work, Class V teachers puposefully choose books that contain difficult subject matter. Forteith commented, “A teacher should always have faith not only in his or her students’ capacity for learning, but also in their ability to empathize and understand people and events that are seemingly outside of their frame of reference.”

MacQuinn added, “We don’t want to underestimate our students. With books like these, they begin to look at the world differently, bringing history and art to bear.”

Toward the end of the year, students complete their final interdisciplinary projects, collaborating with Visual Arts teacher Lisa Jacobson. The autobiographical collage is a self-evaluative project through which students tell

English teacher Sandi MacQuinn looks on as Taylor Smith ’13 draws the outline of her glasses onto her autobiographical collage last spring.

their own story. It is MacQuinn’s hope that by reading about other people’s endeavors, students spend time reflecting on their own. When asked where the art portion comes in, MacQuinn said, “This gives students the opportunity to express themselves in a different, artistic way.” On a small canvas, students decorated different areas to represent meaningful stages of their lives, special interests, quirks and passions.

—Lauren Bergeron

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Humanities

Modern Language: Classes, Immersion Programs, Travel The Modern Language Department operates a multi-faceted program to ensure that all foreign-language students achieve a high level of mastery. To this end, three vibrant exchange programs allow Nobles students to visit their compatriots, on homestays, in France (the oldest of the three programs, at 20 years), Japan (a four-week exchange with the Sapporo Intercultural and Technological High School [SIT}) and Spain (during March break). Reciprocally, the exchange allows students from these programs to attend classes at Nobles and live with Nobles families.

The second tier is the variety and strength of courses given in the three languages cited above, as well as in Chinese, currently offered as an elective, and Italian, which can be taken as an independent study. Tier three is the increasingly popular language-based travel opportunities, such as School-Year-Abroad or Nobles-led trips to Beijing, Chile, France, Senegal and Spain.

All these efforts are enhanced by Nobles’ increasingly heavy investment in the Digital Learning Center (software and hardware) and in Academic Technology Advocates (humanware), which not only facilitate learning but expedite the oral proficiency of modern-language students. “They can not only practice their own speaking as frequently as they want, but they can do so without distraction,” department Chair Margaret Robertson noted.

Former Modern Language Chair Mark Sheeran said that one of the biggest hurdles the department now faces emanates from one of the school’s greatest strengths, i.e. its growing commitment to diversity.

“We have numerous heritage (i.e. native) speakers now…who can speak fluently but may have difficulty in reading or writing…. Then we have the more traditional students who can read a given language rather proficiently, but they are not strong in oral expression.” This obviously presents numerous challenges.

The paradox, Sheeran points out, is that if the Modern Language depart ment

encourages heritage speakers to pursue a different language altogether,

“they themselves lose the cultural piece.”

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

20 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

The Digital Learning Center: Advanced Technology Leads Languages in New Directions

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he scene may set up like a high-tech computer class, but if you walked into Nobles’ Digital Learning Center (DLC) on any given afternoon, you’d find students cropping frames, editing sound bytes and gliding the mouse over what’s known as the scrubber bar in iMovie—all in the name of Modern Language. Technology is integrated into as many classes as possible at Nobles (See “Authentic Learning in Technology-Integrated Classrooms,” Spring 2009 Bulletin, page 10), and has changed the ways in which course content is presented, taught and learned.

According to several members of the department, the transformation for Modern Language, in particular, has had remarkable benefits because it encompasses both written and oral components, which are equally relevant to language courses.

When Spanish teacher Anderson Julio-Auza came to Nobles in 2003, he started to use technology actively as a classroom tool. One of many reasons he found himself drawn to Nobles was the school’s use of emerging technology. “I attended several conferences in Colombia about using technology in the classroom and knew that’s how I wanted to teach,” says Julio-Auza. He says that over the past five years he has learned so much from his colleagues and the Information Systems and Support (ISS) department. “If there is a new piece of technology to be used in the classroom setting, it seems like we have it at Nobles already,” says Julio-Auza. “More than just having it, we’re really using it well.”

Julio-Auza uses technology in all of his classes, almost every day. In the past, he has had students use iPods to listen to Spanish podcasts, voice

Spanish teacher Anderson Julio-Auza utilizing technology in the classroom

recorders to record conversations and presentations, and also iMovie (builtin software for Apple computers) to produce mock interviews and to recreate movie scenes with new scripts. Two years ago, he developed a Wiki for his Upper School classes. The Wiki allows him and the students to post written items, audio and video clips, and links, while also allowing anyone in the class to add to or edit the content. Julio- Auza also uses the Wiki to assign homework, requiring students to engage in conversation outside the classroom.

This is one of many reasons, JulioAuza says, why technology uniquely benefits Modern Language. “There are so many disciplines ingrained in the study of languages. Language teaching is not only teaching vocabulary and grammar. Language teaching is also about learning a new mindset through a certain culture—the history, science, politics, economics, etc. It’s so all- encompassing and difficult to teach.

Technology helps me develop more material with the students outside the classroom,” he says.

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Humanities The DLC also allows teachers the benefit of providing one-on-one attention to each student, while the entire class is practicing. Each student has his or her own computer, with downloadable assignments or pre-recorded questions to answer.

Japanese teachers Tomoko Graham and Ayako Anderson actively rely on ISS and the Modern Language Department’s Academic Technology Advisor Marlon Henry ’00 when using the DLC as well. Both teachers agree that another reason for which technology is particularly useful in Modern Language is the department’s emphasis on oral proficiency. “Nobles stresses the importance of oral communication for our language students,” says Graham. “We feel like the DLC provides more realistic applications for speaking a language well.” Both teachers heavily use technology for digital voice recordings. “It used to be that a student would speak in class, but never really hear himself to know what to work on,” says Anderson. “By having them record their voices, they can play it back, retrace their steps and revise.

It helps them develop and really feeds to different learning styles.”

The DLC also allows teachers the benefit of providing one-on-one attention to each student, while the entire class is practicing. Each student has his or her own computer, with downloadable assignments or pre-recorded questions to answer. While each student, wearing ear phones hooked up to the computer, answers each question or reads aloud, the teacher, sitting at the front of the class and hooked up to the DLC control unit, can access each student’s space—as if tuning into a specific student’s channel. “The system in the DLC gives teachers the flexibility to monitor, facilitate and provide feedback

to individual recordings and group discussion with uninterrupted real-time communication,” explains Henry.

While relying heavily on technology for lessons in oral communication, Graham and Anderson also utilize other programs to help students read and write Japanese better as well. “We’ve used blogs before and have had students respond for homework. Also, students always use technology for research projects,” says Graham.

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When Graham started utilizing technology in the classroom, she spent a lot of time with the ATAs to help teach the students how to use the program. She says that, each year, she finds herself spending less time teaching the applications because students are already equipped with the knowledge. “It seems like most students already know how to use the programs we use in class, which means more time can be spent on content.” Technology is forever emerging, which means teachers are forever adapting. Even the new Advanced Placement language tests are now 100 percent computerbased. With the guidance of ISS, all teachers will continue to utilize tools and programs in the classroom in order to make the most of the time they have with students.

—Julie Guptill

Tomoko Graham delivers a lesson, while students follow along using computers.

Cultural Exchange Opportunities Highlight Nobles’ Global Mission

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sk Ian Graves ’09 and he will tell you that no school can have a great language program without offering travel exchanges. In line with this declaration, the Modern Language Department works tirelessly to provide up to three exchanges per year. Nobles has established relationships with schools across the globe, offering students the chance to broaden their studies with experiences in both visiting and hosting peers from other countries. French teacher and travel program co-coordinator Henry Kinard agrees with the school’s dedication to global citizenship. “For schools that value the study of foreign languages, there has to be a strong connection to the world,” he said.

In order to create such connections, Nobles has spent the last five years developing relationships with the Colegio Peleteiro School in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and Nobles’ sister school, Sapporo Intercultural and Technological High School (SIT), in Hokkaido, Japan.

Thanks to Mark Sheeran, the exchange with the Jeu de Mail School in Montpellier, France, has been going strong for two decades. The Nobles exchange program is the centerpiece of the modern language curriculum, as Kinard explains.

“Exchanges deliver those spontaneous moments of spoken language and cultural communication that the classroom cannot always replicate.” Lasting anywhere from 10 days to six weeks, the trips allow students to take turns participating in cultural immersion by attending classes and visiting tourist attractions while the other acts as a host. Students typically leave these experiences, whether they have hosted or visited, with a positive sense of accomplishment. Graves, now at Yale, said of the program, “You learn to be

Tomoko Graham, left, shares the Assembly stage with Haruka and Yuki, last year’s Japanese exchange students.

David DiNicola ’11, third from right, and family enjoy a meal out with their French exchange visitor.

independent and you develop a greater appreciation for all the hours you spent learning vocabulary, grammar and studying for exams.”

The school’s revised Mission statement upholds the values of cultural exchange and global awareness, for which every trip leader is greatly appreciative. A student’s cognizance of global issues, according to Japanese teacher Tomoko Graham, “begins

with the human-to-human connections while on exchange. They are the most valuable and unforgettable parts of learning about another culture.” This past spring two Japanese students, Yuki and Haruka, visited Nobles for six weeks, during which time they became completely immersed in the Nobles community and culture. Graham said that in addition to being “a great influence for the students in my Japanese

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 23

Humanities classes,” the two became involved in everything from community service to tennis. Yuki gave a presentation on Japan’s economic climate in Scott Wilson’s Microeconomics class while Haruka participated in Kelly Jean Lynch’s Intro to Dance class. Haruka said of the experience, “Dancing hiphop was hard because I don’t dance like that in Japan, only ballet. But I enjoyed the challenge of learning something new.”

Nobles seeks to broaden the exchange experience by providing students with an opportunity to share their encounters with the community.

With the help of ISS, several of the trips update blogs which feature daily journal entries and photo galleries, helping family and friends stay connected. Spain trip leader Anderson Julio-Auza said, “Nobles’ commitment to diversity and culture has increased tremendously over the past few years. Between Assembly and blogging, students are given space to showcase their experiences, and the community is more aware than ever.

I was even checking the India trip blog from Spain!”

While participating in an exchange, students learn more than just how to apply language skills in the “real world.”

Kinard alluded to the challenges of hosting: “The home is a very private place. It’s not easy to offer that up for people you don’t know.” Graves, who hosted and visited with the France exchange while he was a student at Nobles, said of hosting, “I went out of my way to make sure that Thimothée got a good taste of my daily life. He left fascinated by my family’s obsession with the Red Sox.” Metaphorical as it may be, the exchange also serves as a personal, reflective journey, said JulioAuza, “Students begin to evaluate themselves and their own culture.”

—Lauren Bergeron

A “Propelling” Knack for Languages, Birthed at Airports

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hether it’s to communicate with the in-laws or to fulfill the dream of reading Don Quijote in its original form, there are many reasons why people choose to learn a foreign language. For both Spanish teacher Dave Ulrich and Class I student Cam Dupré, their fascinations with languages originated in an airport.

Their pursuits, however, stem from different interests: for one, a desire to make personal connections abroad; for the other, a curiosity about flying.

Upon embarking on a family vacation to Italy, a then 12-year-old Ulrich bought an Italian phrasebook in New York’s JFK airport. By the time he arrived at the hotel, Ulrich was speaking Italian phrases and was able to check his family into their room. “That sense of accomplishment was a big confidence booster,” he said.

He now owns the entire 28-book Berlitz series and 40 Lonely Planet phrasebooks, and is confident that no matter where he travels, “a phrasebook and the desire to connect with people will keep me from feeling like an isolated traveler.”

After winning the Spanish and French awards at his high school and graduating from Harvard with a degree in Romance Languages and Literatures, specializing in Catalan, French and Spanish, Ulrich has enjoyed a career comprised of his two passions: teaching languages and traveling. With Nobles, Ulrich has chaperoned trips to Senegal, Spain and Eastern Europe, and has traveled with faculty grants to do research in Germany, Italy, Poland, and Serbia. During the 2007–’08 school year, Ulrich was away from Nobles, living in Madrid while earning his Master’s in Spanish Literature from “Middlebury

24 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

Dave Ulrich and his phrasebook collection

in Madrid.” Of his travels, he said, “I get two things from traveling: the first involves tangible things like cultural information, books, and linguistic proficiency; the second is the experience of putting myself in my students’ shoes, feeling the same sense of alienation that they sometimes experience in the classroom. This is crucial because it helps me to empathize with their hesitations and difficulties with expression.”

Like Ulrich, Cam also developed his fascination with language study in an airport. But instead of a phrasebook, Cam found his inspiration in a Swiss Air model plane he acquired in the Zurich airport. This defining moment, coupled with his family’s affinity for traveling, “propelled” Cam towards his eventual dreams of becoming a pilot and employing his language skills across the globe.

“I get two things from traveling: the first involves tangible things like cultural information, books, and linguistic proficiency; the second is the experience of putting myself in my students’ shoes, feeling the same sense of alienation that they sometimes experience in the classroom.” — DAVE ULRICH

“I recently earned my pilot’s license and one day I would really love to fly around the world in a single-engine plane.” Cam’s studies in Chinese, French and Spanish will assuredly come in handy when his globetrotting aspirations come to fruition. His hunger for mastering foreign languages stems from both his flying goals and pragmatics, as well as his love for different cultures.

“Chinese is good to know on a global economic level, but French and Spanish are also great because it’s so interesting to see how the same words mean completely different things depending on the culture,” Cam said.

For minds like Ulrich’s and Cam’s, learning languages is not only a conquerable challenge, but often a bit of a collector’s game. “I want to get a lot of languages under my belt,” said Cam. Ulrich added, “Learning a language is like solving a puzzle. You have the

pieces; you just have to figure out how to put them together.” Right now the toughest language for Cam to master is Chinese which, unlike the Romance languages, with their numerous English cognates, creates a fair share of headaches for an aspiring linguist.

“In Chinese, you don’t have those advantages, so you have to have more discipline and focus. Writing characters is hard at first, but then you start to learn the different patterns and you can put the elements together.

I actually enjoy the challenge.”

Ulrich and Cam may be years apart in age, but their parallels in learning foreign languages and traveling are stunningly similar. It’s tough to imagine that these two will ever find themselves settled when it comes to learning languages. The old adage— “the sky’s the limit”—has never been more applicable. —Lauren Bergeron

Sasha Kukunova ’04 in Paris with Modern Language teacher Mark Sheeran

From Motivation to Inspiration

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asha Kukunova ’04 has come a long way

since immigrating to the U.S. from Moscow in 1997. Currently working for Google, this Harvard graduate and quadrilinguist may seem to have it all. However, her road to success was not always easy. She admits, “When my family moved to America my English wasn’t very good and this created some negative experiences for me.” Her motivation to fit in was what started Kukunova’s affair with languages, but it wasn’t until meeting faculty member Mark Sheeran that her passion for language really took off.

“Mr. Sheeran was the type of teacher who was as encouraging as he was challenging. That combination really made me enjoy and appreciate studying languages,” she said.

Kukunova also credits Sheeran with helping her to realize her potential and inspiring her to take risks. Citing her Class III trip to France, she said, “I wasn’t confident in my ability to speak French, but I still went. The trip solidified my skills and I had the best time.” At Harvard, Kukunova continued her language study, concentrating in French, earning a language citation in Spanish and traveling to the National Assembly in Paris to conduct her thesis research. She added that while working on her thesis in Paris, she met up with Sheeran and the Nobles exchange group, “It was like reliving sophomore year!”

—Lauren Bergeron

Cam Dupré holds his pilot’s license.

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 25

Across the Big Pond (and we’re not talking Motley’s):

Nobles Graduates in England B Y T O M B A RT L E T T ’ 7 6

M

OST OF US ENJOY travel of one sort or another.

Some of us have gone a bit farther to settle in one of the places to which we have traveled.

England, for one, has always been a popular destination for Nobles folk, be they students, faculty members or graduates, and it has become home, or home-away-from-home, for more than a few.

Having traveled to these isles a number of times, as the son of a diplomat, my journey to London from Boston in 1991 was not that unusual.

I was planning to stay for a couple of years, teaching at the American School in London.

Well, as one of this island’s famous poets once said, the best-laid plans….

Here I am 17 years later, with a British wife and two kids whose accents are less Little Rascals than Little & Large (obscure reference to a British comedy duo) ensconced in the hills of North Buckinghamshire, a stone’s throw from a 17th-century pub, and a village church of even older vintage. I frequent both, as does the vicar. That’s rural life in this “green and pleasant land.”

Over the years I’ve observed the comings and goings of various Nobles people, some from my own Class of ’76, with most making their way into London. I’m sure others are scattered around the Kingdom, but I’m not personally aware of any who, like me, settled here in the Home Counties, or further afield. It is said that London is like NYC, D.C. and Los Angeles all wrapped into one—hence the attrac-

From left: Tom Bartlett ’76, Vanessa Berberian ’95, Bruce Weber ’79

tion, perhaps to the exclusion of these provincial demesnes.

As a long-term resident, I’ve naturally been drawn to those fellow grads who have decided to stay for longer than just the usual two- or three-year work stint, and I’ve sought out a few to get their views on the expatriate life.

Similar to my experience, Katie Walsh ’96 married into the U.K.… or at least into one fiercely proud U.K. nation: her husband is a Welshman.

Shortly after she and Gareth married on Cape Cod in 2004, they moved to London, where Walsh began a Master’s degree in the War Studies department at King’s College. Gareth had been in the U.S. for the five years prior and was ready to return, according to Walsh.

But was she ready for London?

26 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

“There seems to be more red tape over here,” she says. “Just to get money out of my bank account…. I sometimes had to have Gareth go and do it.” Then there was the storied British reserve; when she joined the School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS), it took Walsh nearly five months to get to know some of her British colleagues; with other nationalities, it was much quicker.

She has not been put off by these challenges, however, and has applied for “indefinite leave to remain” in the U.K. (a legal status granted on the basis of a non-national being married to a Brit). Dual citizenship may follow, although not for Gareth: he would have to give up his British citizenship to become an American.

Red tape? I’ve still got the “in- definite leave…” stamp in my passport (intrigued by the mixed signals of “leave” and “remain”), and manage to get through airports and other bureaucracies fairly quickly. On ethnic monitoring forms for British jobs, I used to be a WOE: “White Other than English.” Now “English” has been dropped from these forms, and I feel much more welcome.”

Bruce Weber ’79 faced other burdens when he moved to London from New York in 2002 with his wife Teri and two young children, but he at least had the head start of having lived here before. After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990, Weber taught for a year at the London Business School. He and Teri had also come over beforehand for a “neighborhood scouting visit.”

“It was a big, exciting step to sell a house, pack our possessions, get UK work permits stamped into our passports, convert money into British pounds and board a plane,” he recalls.

“Nobles did have something to do with my being excited to come here. My first class at Nobles was ‘Chinese History’ with John Paine, so English accents and mannerisms were familiar to me from an early age. Chris Mabley [former math teacher and Graduate Affairs Director] spent a year at Tonbridge School in Tonbridge, Kent, and I remember his impressions and photos of it being very appealing. I often hear from British friends that they find Boston far more ‘European’ than other U.S. cities. I believe Boston and London are more similar than, say, Boston and Dallas.”

I’m sure George Bush and Tony Blair would have some thoughts along those lines…. But back to us transplanted Noblemen and -women. The opportunity for personal and professional growth seems to be a common motivator in the ex-pat experience, and may in some ways compensate for those unsettling cultural differences

which spring up every now and then.

We all seem to have developed cultureshock absorbers.

Vanessa Berberian ’95 is emphatic on how her move to London seven years ago changed her life: “I moved to London initially for an adventure; a new, interesting life experience. As a photographer, I also knew that London would offer great career opportunities. I would have found it difficult to have this exciting and varied a career at my age in the U.S. Perhaps I stand out a bit more in London (as opposed to New York) as an American woman, but, whatever the reason, I am grateful to have had these amazing professional experiences.

“Living here has afforded me the experience of immersing myself in a different culture (yes, England has a different culture), the opportunity to travel to so many different countries so easily and the invaluable opportunity to look at one’s own country from the outside. I miss things about the U.S. such as 8.5x11 paper, Cheerios, smiling helpful salespeople, a mere fivepercent Massachusetts sales tax [now over six percent], but the opportunities and experiences I’ve had living here are things I never would have done/ experienced in the U.S.

“As you might imagine, back at Nobles, printing hour upon hour in the darkroom, I did ‘picture’ myself someday traveling the world, photographing for magazines. Living in London has definitely helped me to achieve this. At Nobles the faculty, Dick Baker specifically, would encourage us continuously to ‘take risks,’ which often meant travel. The message sort of logged itself in the back of my brain. I was never interested in leaving Nobles when I was there. As we all know, Nobles is an all-encompassing world and I hated the idea of being absent for anything, and couldn’t imagine missing a sports season! I am now ‘taking risks’ all the time and wouldn’t live my life any other way.”

Work opportunities and cultural variety also prompted Henry Singer ’76 to make the transatlantic shift.

“I initially moved to London to work on a PBS/BBC co-production, a big eight-hour series that was a critique of modern medicine. And on some very pragmatic level, I’ve remained in England ever since because it is the best country in the English-speaking world to make documentary films. I’m an independent filmmaker and make big, authored 90-minute films for the BBC, along

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 27

with Channel Four here in the U.K. But I think I’ve also stayed here for other, less obvious reasons. Although at Nobles I think I was very much an ‘insider’—I was very active in sports, the Nobleman, school plays, etc.— but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that I’m

University on a fellowship—inspired, partly, by legendary Nobles [former] teacher and trustee Rob Shapiro.

So in many ways it makes sense that I’ve ended up living abroad.”

Trevor Keohane ’85 has a unique perspective on the transatlan-

don was made easier primarily due to my brother John ’81 living here since 1994, and gaining familiarity during my business travel.

“A significant benefit of living in Dublin/London is the proximity east and west of Europe and Boston. Trav-

"London will no doubt always have that appeal for us reverse pilgrims; and although Brits and Yanks will probably always be ‘separated by a common language,’ and although we of the latter may have to put up with a lack of Cheerios and an abundance of rain, there’s enough here to make many of us want to stay." —Tom Bartlett ’76

Henry Singer ’76

more comfortable as an ‘outsider,’ and living in a foreign country somehow seems to suit me.

“Ending up living abroad hasn’t really been an accident. I was lucky enough as a child to live in Argentina for five years and our family traveled to Europe a lot while I was an adolescent.

My father is Austrian and was an international business executive, so our family has always had a pretty international perspective. (My younger sister Nell ’79 is married to a Frenchman and lives in Paris). Straight after Harvard I spent a year at Cambridge

tic shift, as his sojourn involved three countries: “I currently live in London, having moved from Boston to Dublin in 1997, where I lived full-time for three years, and then began commuting between Dublin and London, before moving full-time to London.

“The motivation to move to Dublin, I think, was partially influenced early. As a family we spent the majority of each August during our childhood in County Kerry, and I had been traveling to Dublin on business prior to moving from Boston. Moving to Lon-

28 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

eling back and forth to Boston to visit family and friends becomes rote. Business travel to most of Western Europe is not too dissimilar to taking the shuttle to New York in travel time and wear and tear, with the upside of being in Brussels, Hamburg, Vienna, etc. My brother John and I, along with friends, have traveled for leisure during the past 10 years, which is the personal enrichment piece of living in and near foreign countries. Living abroad also motivates your friends to travel, and we have had quite a few enjoyable trips with friends from Nobles in Dublin, London, Kerry, Amsterdam, Paris and St. Tropez.

“My roots are in Boston, but I have been somewhat transplanted with my marriage and our first child being born in London. I left Boston with the idea I would return in three years; my brother John made a similar commitment. I am away 12 years; he, 16. It is great to live abroad knowing you can always go home.”

London will no doubt always have that appeal for us reverse pilgrims; and although Brits and Yanks will probably always be “separated by a common language,” and although we of the latter may have to put up with a lack of Cheerios and an abundance of rain, there’s enough here to make many of us want to stay.

Mary Beth Rocco ’86 An Uncanny Parallel to Recipe Blogger Julie Powell

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HICAGO—Many know the story (popularized in the movie Julie and Julia) of the young cooking acolyte who vows to prepare recipes published by her heroine, French chef Julia Child, while retelling her successes and failures on a well-read blog.

Nobles’ own version of this relationship is deeper, more historic and at times less digestible. Witness the work of Mary Beth Rocco ’86 and her own food/recipe blog, www.recipeghost.blogspot.com.

While blogger Julie Powell recreated 527 recipes from Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Rocco explores the favorite turn-of-the-century recipes of Charlie Chaplin, Harry Houdini, Al Jolson, Mary Pickford, and John Philip Sousa, among others, which she found

in a 1916 antique cookbook entitled Celebrated Actor-Folks Cookeries.

Rocco’s blog not only explores the celebrities’ favorite recipes to cook and eat but also gives historic context to their claims to fame (including their scandals). Did you know that Ethel Barrymore turned down a marriage proposal from Winston Churchill because “she felt he didn’t have much of a future”? Here’s another: Did you know that Mary Pickford, who co-founded United Artists with Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, set off a riot in London when fans tried to touch her hair and clothes?

Rocco also shares her “first impressions and thoughts about each dish,

A page from Rocco's blog

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how I tackle each one, and what happens along the way.” She has blogged through many of the 200 90-year-old recipes, the first of which was opera legend Enrico Caruso’s preparation of “terrapin (turtle) including entrails.”

That’s just the beginning. The directions advise: “Lift out with skimmer and rub skin, feet, tail and head with a towel …. Remove from water, draw out nails from feet and cut upper shell off… remove all intestines and gall bladder.”

One of Rocco’s more memorable blogging lines: “I don’t know how the human race, or at least the celebrity population, didn’t die out because of starvation due to the lack of ability to make edible food.”

Is there a link between her blogging successes and her Nobles education? “When I wrote my very first blog, I thought ‘Can I even write?’” she admitted. Then she realized: “Nobles prepared me for anything I’d think I could possibly be or do…they readied me not only for what I thought I’d be but also for what I’d eventually be.” She singled out math teacher Tilesy Harrington and Latin teacher Mark Harrington, retired science teacher Fred Sculco, English teachers Tim Carey and Jim Bride, History teacher John Parkinson Keyes and French teacher Dick Flood.

To this day she keeps in her bookcase three of her favorite books from Nobles: The Great Gatsby, Aristophanes’ comedies and Twelfth Night.

Since graduating from Boston College in 1991, Rocco has enjoyed a “taste” of everything, from serving as a line cook at top-20 restaurant Mesa Grill in New York City, under Chef Bobby Flay, to being a freelance cook and food stylist on the Food Network for nine years and on Martha Stewart Omnimedia’s “Everyday Food” for one year, to preparing and cooking recipes on CBS’s “Five-Minute Cooking School.”

At present, in addition to her blog, she is teaching cooking classes— which include “Knife Skills,” “Sushi for 30 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

Beginners” and “A Night in Provence” —at The Chopping Block in Chicago, a “recreational cooking school for the home cook.” She has also studied wines at the Institute of Culinary Education, from which she holds a Career Culinary Arts Blue Ribbon Diploma.

Recently Rocco and her husband, Mike, who is General Manager of Toyota’s Chicago region, relocated from New York/New Jersey to Chicago where they maintain an elegantly appointed eight-room condominium downtown. Not surprisingly, their quarters include a stunning, ultrafunctional kitchen that Julia Child and her acolyte would, no doubt, forego their garlic presses, lemon zesters, and mortars and pestles to acquire.

My good fortune in discovering Rocco in Chicago was exceeded only by her magnanimous invitation to dine at her table. This was no ordinary dinner. Would one expect less from an accomplished, passionate chef with a three-page resumé of cooking credits and a priceless collection of cookbooks signed by the likes of Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, Lidia Bastianich and numerous others?

Among the many offerings were manchego cheese with flatbread, roasted yellow and orange beet salad with goat cheese, mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinaigrette, short ribs of beef on polenta, home-made cavatelli pasta and mushrooms.

Rocco’s well-researched writing shows the thoroughness and erudition that follow a Nobles education. She not only describes the recipes she has replicated but she also provides fascinating historic data on the celebrities whose delicacies she is recreating.

What is next for this consummate food critic? One prediction: watch for her on some well-received cooking program.

She has it all, and it’s just a matter of time before she makes another quantum career leap.

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

Theatre Impresario Robert Brustein Visits Nobles

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ALE REP AND AMERICAN Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) founding director Robert Brustein, who adapted the play Three Farces and a Funeral from the works of Russian theatrical genius Anton Chekhov, came to Nobles in November to work with the Nobles Theatre Collective and to enjoy the opening night performance. He also stayed for a “talk back” with the audience, wherein questions were raised about various directorial and translation decisions. One audience member asked whether the theatre on- and off-Broadway today has been “dumbed down.” His answer: “Don’t count the theatre out. It’s been around for a long time, with many ups and downs.”

Before the performance, Brustein met with the Communication Office to share his views about his unprecedented career in all aspects of theatre: translation, playwriting, criticism, directing, theatrical administration and more.

During his tenure at Yale Rep and A.R.T., he brought to fruition the talents of many of the names that rise to the top of theatre marquees marquisestoday, today, including Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, Sigourney Weaver, James Lapine, Albert Innaurato, Peter Sellars, and Christopher Durang, among numerous others.

Asked to identify the biggest influences that have shaped his own theatrical development, he responded that, intellectually, critic/philosopher Lionel Trilling would be the person; acting-wise it would be Laurence Olivier (whom he saw 35 times in the movie version of Shakespeare’s Henry V); directorially, Andrei Serban and Robert Wilson.

Chris CollinsPisano '12, left, Roz Watson '11, and Kit Loomis '11 (background)

In Three Farces and a Funeral, with which the Nobles Theatre Collective opened its 2009-’10 season, Brustein added two entr’actes and an epilogue to three short Chekhovian farces. All three plays revolved around couples and coupling, while Brustein’s material incorporates the courtship and subsequent marriage of Chekhov to a prominent Russian stage actress.

These two characters, identified as The Actress Olga Knipper (played by Haley DeLuca ’11) and The Writer Anton Chekhov (Phillip Cohen ’10), stood on opposite sides of the stage and exchanged terms of endearment, much like the A.R. Gurney play Love Letters in which a couple reads their bittersweet correspondence from a 50-year relationship.

In the first of the Chekhov farces, The Proposal, Greg B Cullock ’12,

Robert Brustein

Tyler Anderson ’10 and Annie Winneg ’11 treated the audience to a humorous, neighborly quarrel that ends in a marriage proposal. In The Bear, Roz Watson, Kit Loomis,

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 31

Bennett King '11 in a revolving set change

Gene Lane '10, left, and Cat Dickenson '13

both ’11, and Chris Collins-Pisano ’12 disrupt a day of mourning with a duel between a businessman and a young widow. In The Wedding, Director of Technical Theatre Jon Bonner made his first acting appearance as a crass old sea captain and mid-ranking naval officer who is erroneously invited to a wedding in an effort to give it cachet.

Elegant costumes designed by Joy Adams successfully transported the audience back to 18th-century Russia and the Chekhovian era, while periodappropriate sets, designed by Bonner, were rotated via a revolving stage between scenes, thus putting a unique “spin” on a more traditional set-change.

What attracted Brustein to the Chekhov opus? First, the fact that Chekhov wrote so little (seven plays) but left such a huge legacy. Secondly, Brustein sees farce as complex, “an explosion of pain in comic form…

People smile or laugh when it is too painful to cry,” he said, citing Pirandello and Anouilh’s Waltz of the Toreadors. “[Christopher] Durang, particularly, draws comedy out of pain… witness The Marriage of Bette and Boo, which is essentially the story of his parents’ marriage.”

Asked what type of play he is particularly drawn to, he cited Polonius’s description of the theatrical range of

the traveling players appearing in Hamlet: “tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comicalhistorical-pastoral…” In other words, there is no form of theatre that does not excite him.

Brustein, a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (which bestowed on him its Distinguished Service to the Arts award) has adapted 11 works of international stature.

Those in Russian (Chekhov) and Norwegian (Ibsen) have been translated for him. Those in Italian (Pirandello), Spanish and French (Becket), he translates himself.

Known for his once-controversial auteur theory insisting that the director is responsible for uncovering the essential meaning of the plays entrusted to him, Brustein spends more of his semi-retirement time today teaching at Suffolk University (where he holds the title Distinguished Scholar in Residence) and writing, most recently More Masterpieces, a response to his earlier No More Masterpieces, and, last year, The English Channel, which dramatizes Shakespeare’s sonnets as purportedly written by the Ghost of Christopher Marlowe. His latest work, Mortal Terror, a sequel to Channel, was performed at

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the Shakespeare Guild in New York in December 2009. Currently on the word processor: an amalgam of the infamous Gunpowder Plot in England and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, both mined to shed light on the 9/11 infamy in America.

In a wide-ranging interview that went back to his boyhood, Brustein recalled the Jewish roots that he is now trying to retrace by working with material from Isaac Bashevis Singer (Shlemiel the First); live performances at the national Yiddish Theatre, and a play, Spring Forward, Fall Back, that acknowledges the ramifications of assimilation and secularization on three generations of American Jews.

While he started writing plays at 18, he truly hit his stride upon receiving his Ph.D. in theatre from Columbia University. Eminent dramatic critic and Columbia professor Eric Bentley refused to sit on Brustein’s dissertation committee because Brustein wrote his thesis on the Jacobean theatre, without Bentley’s sanction. Shortly thereafter, Brustein published a book called Theatre of Revolt, critiquing the works of Ibsen, Strindberg and Genet. Bentley was apparently blown away by its contents and invited Brustein to meet him for coffee. When Brustein arrived, Bentley was floored. “I thought you were a different Robert Brustein,” he said, unable to wrap his mind around the idea that one intellect could write so incisively on the Jacobeans and the pre-Moderns. —Joyce Leffler Eldridge

The Multiple Muses of Kit Walker ’69 Inspired Teachers, Spiritual Communion, Stark Environment

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OINT REYES NATIONAL Seashore, Calif.—Christopher [Kit] Walker ’69, an international jazz composer, keyboardist, and producer, dates the beginning of his passion for music to his six years at Nobles where he studied pipe organ under former music teacher Brian Jones. When his dad, Jim Walker ’38, a Nobles graduate, moved to a 125-acre parcel of land in Amherst, N.H., to become a dairy farmer, Walker’s grandfather offered to send Kit and his brother, James ’67, to Nobles. “I picked it because it had a Castle,” Kit recalled.

Teaching himself drums and blues piano, Walker also formed a band at Nobles, The Inmates, with three of his classmates (Chip Harding, Leigh Seddon and Bill Schwartz). Later in his Nobles days, he realized that “I really learned how to learn at Nobles.”

Besides his many musical opportunities, Walker credits Nobles with “helping me to learn to be my own teacher… which is fortunate because, since Nobles, most of my education has been on my own, and I have no problem whatsoever disciplining myself how to do it.”

“I decided at 14 to be a musician,” he recounted from the living room of

his sprawling book- and music-filled home, furnished with pianos, organs, keyboards and an enviable assortment of sound and mixing equipment. On his Point Reyes property, high atop a hill of scrub brush and populated by numerous quail and a family of foxes, is a currently unused barn which he envisions someday converting to a theatre where musicians and artists from around the world could give workshops.

When Walker left Nobles, he matriculated at Oberlin Conservatory of Music (from which Brian Jones, not coincidentally, graduated) for a brief time, succumbing to some of the

“I really learned how to learn at Nobles.” Nobles “helped me to learn to be my own teacher… which is fortunate because, since Nobles, most of my education has been on my own, and I have no problem whatsoever disciplining myself how to do it.”

—Kit Walker ’69 WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 33

problematic habits for which the ’60s became infamous. After taking a couple of years off from music conservatory to pursue playing more rock and jazz music, he enrolled at the University of Michigan School of Music as a pipe organ and composition major, with “a special passion for ethnic music and music theory.”

“What I came to love at Michigan was ethnomusicology, the fusion of many cultures and music. It’s with an acoustic instrument that I really felt able to create my own sound,” he explained.

As in a Kerouac saga, Walker was soon on the road again, this time to Amherst, Mass., to participate in a jazz workshop at UMass, taught by a master jazz drummer, Max Roach. “I wanted to learn what I wanted to learn, so I decided to find people who could teach me what I needed to know,” he noted.

He also formed his own jazz funk band called Real Tears with some friends.

The group played every weekend at local clubs and at clubs throughout New England and upstate New York.

An openly spiritual man, Walker acknowledged a profound connection with his longtime piano teacher, Mme. Chaloff, even believing they had worked together in previous lives.

“She taught me to use breathing techniques to achieve power in my hands.

She also taught me that proper breathing channels inspiration.” Among her other students were Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock and George Shearing.

Most significantly, perhaps, Mme. Chaloff inspired him to a deeper spiritual direction for his life and his music, which led him eventually to the Indian spiritual master Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who made him realize that “once you have heard the true sound of silence, all music just sounds like noise.” It was Rajneesh who inspired Walker to spend a year in an ashram

“Where I live, there is nature all around, and many birds.

I love the sound of wind in trees and birds and water rushing and the ocean.

I never quite feel at home anywhere and, at the same time, I guess I really feel like a citizen of the world.”

—Kit Walker ’69 during two trips to India. After several years he branched out into many other forms of spiritual study and practice, which he continues to this day.

He soon came to realize that jazz fusion was of particular interest to him: “the power of rock with the interplay of jazz motifs,” as he described it.

He moved to the West Coast in the early 1980s and created two albums for Windham Hill Jazz, Dancing

34 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

on the Edge of the World and Fire in the Lake. At music festivals, he shared billing with Chick Corea, among others. He also regularly plays with the Brazilian jazz legends, percussionist Airto Moreira and his vocalist wife, Flora Purim.

Today Walker creates soundtracks, often contemplative, for movies such as Presque Isle and A World Alive, the latter music written to accompany a nature documentary narrated by James Earl Jones. For a double album with Neal Schon, guitarist from Journey and Santana, Walker co-wrote 14 of the 22 tunes as well as numerous arrangements and synthesizer orchestrations for the rest of the album. He is presently composing a library of two- minute musical selections of different moods and styles, to serve as background pieces, where needed, for television, internet, and movies.

Little in Walker’s life has been linear but there is a certain irony that his earliest years were spent on a New England dairy farm in New Hampshire, whereas Point Reyes, where he and his wife now make their home, was subdivided into dozens of dairy ranches during a controversial lawsuit in the 19th century. Beef and dairy cattle have roamed the grassy hills of Point Reyes ever since. Walker concedes that his distinctive environment has influenced his compositions.

“Where I live, there is nature all around, and many birds. I love the sound of wind in trees and birds and water rushing and the ocean.”

Pondering his setting a bit further, Walker amended his thinking: “I never quite feel at home anywhere and, at the same time, I guess I really feel like a citizen of the world.”

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

Keeping You Up-to-Date On hand for the ceremony, in addition to numerous faculty and friends, were Gov. Sargent’s three children, son Bill ’65 and daughters Fay and Jessie, and the driver, Bill Clark, who accompanied him to Stockbridge and later became Clerk of Courts in the Commonwealth.

Fay Sargent said at the portrait’s unveiling: “Pop would be happy to have this [hanging] here.”

Nobles’ Young Entrepreneur Up for National Recognition

Eminent Governor…

Eminent Portrait Artist The portrait of former Massachusetts Republican Governor and distinguished Nobles graduate Frances W. Sargent ’35 was formally installed at a special ceremony Nov. 5 in the Memorial Room, where other illustrious graduates who have served their country and their school have been similarly honored.

The oil painting was done by famed American portrait artist Norman Rockwell, who maintained his studio in Stockbridge, Mass., where Sargent was driven for his six sittings.

Head Bob Henderson described the portrait and Gov. Sargent’s legacy as an opportunity “to link Sargent to the past and future of the school.” Fittingly enough, the portrait hangs a few feet away from that of former Headmaster Charles Wiggins whose most memorable theme involved encouraging boys to lead “a life of service” and “to help people in the community.” All these ideas leap ahead to the recently revised Mission statement that honors “leadership for the public good.” Henderson also described Sargent’s forward-looking emphasis on environmental pres- ervation and conservation, which has become a key element in Nobles’ sustainability thrust over the past several years.

Seth Priebatsch ’07, who cut his entrepreneurial chops while creating his Nobles Senior Project, PostCard Tech, was in contention for Business Week magazine’s search to find the country’s “most promising young entrepreneurs under 25 years of age.”

Priebatsch was one of 25 nominated for his creation of SCVNGR, a gaming platform that enables institutions and/or individuals to build and manage locationbased games, tours and experiences. These games can be deployed via iPhones, text messages, Android Apps, etc.

Priebatsch, who took a leave from Princeton to refine SCVNGR, now employs 20 full-time workers who are on track to break $1 million in revenue their first year.

As a freshman, Priebatsch won Princeton’s TigerLaunch business plan competition.

Now more than 300 clients use the SCVNGR

platform for location-based games and tours.

It has proved particularly popular with colleges running orientation activities, museums creating custom tours, and cities coordinating large-scale games to promote tourism. Clients pay anywhere from $500 a month for a small museum license to a one-time fee of $25,000 to run an intricate corporate event.

Thanks and ‘Please Return’ The Community Center of St. Bernard Parish, in New Orleans, recently sent a letter of appreciation to the Nobles community for its continued efforts to help in the restoration of that city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “Nobles’ ongoing generosity in coming to the Gulf Coast to help is certainly appreciated, and people here are very touched to know that they haven’t been forgotten.

It means a lot, especially when many of the residents we work with have been fighting so hard just to get back to normal, and are feeling disheartened and frustrated that they haven’t made it yet. Thank you all very much for caring, and for being here, quite literally, to lend a helping hand. You really do make a difference, and I just wanted to be sure that you know that.”

In another, more formal letter,

Seth Priebatsch ’07

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 35

Keeping You Up-to-Date R.M. “Iray” Nabatoff, Executive Director of the Community Center of St Bernard, thanked the school “for your generous donation of $2,000 to the Community Center of St. Bernard. Gifts such as yours help the Community Center continue to offer necessary programs and services to the residents of St. Bernard Parish as they work to rebuild their lives and their communities in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita… Many of these new clients have never needed to ask for help before and are finding their current situation very difficult to deal with.”

Harvard & Nobles Dedicate Green Fire Kiln Sunday, Nov. 1, marked the dedication of the Makoto Yabe Memorial Green Fire Kiln. An innovative smokeless design by Masakazu Kusakabe, the kiln offered an opportunity for Harvard and Nobles to both commemorate Yabe,

a much-beloved colleague at both schools, and collaborate on an exciting arts venture.

The dedication ceremony in Lawrence Auditorium included a Japanese Tea Ceremony with an offering to the spirit of Makoto and musical performances by two renowned koto kaede and shakuhachi musicians, accompanied by Japanese teacher Tomoko Graham.

The evening concluded at the kiln, where attendees joined ceramics teachers John Dorsey and Nora Creahan, kiln builder Kusakabe, Harvard’s Nancy Selvage and the Yabe family in firing the kiln.

Dorsey, who initiated the construction of the facility at Nobles, recalled Makoto as a seminal member of the Visual Arts faculty who shared his love for his art and his heritage with the larger Nobles community.

(For a pictorial revue of the evening’s events, see Window on Nobles by John Hirsch, page 40.)

Credits His Nobles Education with High Achievement Buckingham Browne and Nichols School's English and art history teacher Rob Leith '71 has been awarded the Founding Paideia Master Teacher Chair, the first endowed faculty Chair ever created at BB&N, a result of its current, successful "Opening Minds" campaign.

In accepting congratulations for this singular honor, Leith said: "To the extent that I deserved this honor, Nobles certainly takes much of the credit, especially Brian Jones and Eliot Putnam."

Top-Round Hockey Draft Prospect Gus Young ’10, 6-foot-2, 195-pound hockey defenseman, was drafted in the NHL’s seventh round by the Colorado Avalanche. He was cited for his “good size and strength and his marked improvement in his skating and foot speed...” Young went from being a safe,

Dawg Chow Ready for Consumption

N

obles’ first cookbook in a quarter of a century, Dawg Chow: Family Recipes from the Nobles Community, came on the market just in time for the holidays. The 200 recipes included in the collection, which ranges from appetizers to desserts (and every possible snack or side dish in between), were solicited from the entire Nobles community. This includes parents, grandparents, students, graduates, faculty and administrators; sprinkled in are a few of the most popular recipes published in the first Nobles cookbook, entitled Noble Fare.

Spearheading the project were the nine members of the Cookbook Committee: Jane Cronin Ayoub, Linda Borden, Betsy Frauenthal, Bredt Handy, Lisa Henderson, Maureen O’Hare Mercer, Megan O’Block, Allison Sargent and Valerie Kolligian Thayer. Lizzie

McIntire drew the winsome cover of a Nobles Dawg dressed in a Nobles bib, ready to chow down.

While relatively new in the history of the school, the bulldog mascot or “Dawg” is a constant reminder of school spirit and the importance of traditions in building community at Nobles. The new Nobles cookbook, Dawg Chow, is on sale, for $10 each, at the Nobles Bookstore in Gleason Hall of the Schoolhouse as well as at the Equipment and Apparel Room in the Morrison Athletic Center and at school events such as the Nobles- Milton games and the Parent Dinners.

Persons wishing to order online or by phone should contact Robin Kenny, Head Equipment Manager, at robin_ kenny@nobles.edu or 781-320-7022.

Those ordering by mail will be assessed an additional charge for shipping and handling.

36 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

The original idea for the cookbook came from several parents’ commenting on how wonderful the various ethnic foods were at Nobles’ 2008 Multicultural Fair. Many wanted to acquire the recipes. That led to the suggestion that

Keeping You Up-to-Date stay-at-home defender to a player with the mobility and confidence to carry the play. “Good, hard shot that is low and easily tipped” was the scouting report. According to one of the personnel with the Avalanche, “Two years ago, he looked like a long-shot, but he’s made tremendous strides in terms of improving his skating and becoming more of a threat at both ends of the ice.”

David Roane’s Essay Featured on Good Men Project Website Visual Arts teacher David Roane’s submission “Man’s Work” was the Featured Essay on the Good Men Project website (www.goodmenproject.org) in October.

In his essay, Roane writes about how working as an artist, though it often made him “feel a bit feeble as a protector and provider,” ultimately has insulated him from the identity crisis many men face. This crisis, Roane writes, results from men being forced to rethink who they are because work that

this could be the beginning of a new Nobles cookbook. “We solicited recipes from the entire community,” Ayoub, Parents’ Association co-chair, said.

“It’s amazing how many members of the Nobles community came to the fore and shared their prized dishes. In the first couple of weeks of their existence, cookbooks have literally been flying off the shelves,” Chair-Elect Fiona Roman ’79 said.

To whet your appetites, we’re reprinting two recipes that will transform many festive gatherings into gastronomic delights: GROUNDNUT STEW 1-1 ½ lbs. stew meat 1 onion chopped 2-3 garlic cloves chopped ½ to 1 ½ tsp red or cayenne pepper 1 jar natural peanut butter 2 lg. tomatoes, sliced 10 oz. tomato paste

Visual Arts teacher David Roane was once done exclusively by males, thanks to technological advances and a cultural shift, can now be performed just as easily by women.

“In a society where the modes of work have become more gender neutral, men must possess a capacity for the widest range of aptitudes possible,

Place stew meat in saucepan, cover with water, boil ‘til brown. Add onion, garlic, red pepper to taste. Stir in peanut butter. Add tomatoes and paste until peanut butter has a reddish color. Simmer for 45 mins. Serve (4-6) over rice.

Note from Timothy Allison-Hatch: “Groundnut stew is served in West Africa from Senegal to Nigeria. In all my years of living there as a student at the Univ. of Ghana and as a Crossroads Africa volunteer, it was one of my favorite dishes.”

RED CABBAGE 1 red cabbage (2 lbs) 2 tart apples, peeled and chopped 1 lg. onion, finely chopped 2 tbsp. butter 2 tbsp oil ¼ c. cider vinegar ¼ c. brown sugar Salt/pepper to taste

including those previously considered the exclusive precinct of women,” Roane writes. “This means we must develop the skills of intuition, empathy and emotion…. In becoming an artist, I had actually become a man for ‘the new millennium.’”

The book comprises 31 essays by a broad range of men whose stories describe the challenges, obstacles, triumphs and failures that collectively help define what it means to be a man in America. The book and DVDs are available at www.goodmenproject.org.

Proceeds will benefit the not- for-profit Good Men Foundation.

Boston Globe Feature on “Why Boston’s Best Top Athletes Opt out of Public School” Notable among the city’s best young hockey players were Jimmy ’08 and Kevin ’11 Hayes of Dorchester, according to the Boston Globe. Their parents sent them to Noble and Greenough.

Trim and discard coarse leaves of cabbage. Cut cabbage into quarters; discard white core. Slice cabbage v. thin.

In large pan, melt butter and oil, sauté onion and apples for 5 mins, til limp.

Add cabbage and sauté ‘til glazed.

Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, stirring. Cover and cook on low heat for 3–4 hrs. Be sure liquid does not boil out.

Note from Modern Language teacher Meg Jacobs: “This tastes even better the day after and freezes well. It comes from the German side of my family; my mother is from Munich. For us it’s a favorite on Thanksgiving.”

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 37

Keeping You Up-to-Date Jimmy, an NHL prospect, played at Boston College last winter as a freshman, while Kevin played as a sophomore at Nobles. Kevin already has committed to BC. “Most of the Boston public schools don’t really have strong athletics or academics,’’ said their mother, Shelagh Hayes. “Nobles enriched my sons’ lives academically, athletically, and socially.…

It would be hard for the Boston public schools to measure up.’’

Steven Tejada

In addition to the scholar-athlete awards, the Globe announced its Male and Female Athletes of the year for MIAA and NEPSAC schools.

The NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year was Casey Griffin ’09 who was also named All-American in lacrosse last spring. She also played hockey and field hockey and is now a student at Dartmouth.

The Last Word from Austin, Texas Retired math teacher and Director of Graduate Affairs Chris Mabley reports that his oldest grandson, Christopher, seems to have inherited his grandfather’s math gene.

When Christopher’s younger brother, Luke, turned two in June, the ages of Chris’s four grandsons were 8, 4, 2, and 1. Eight-yearold Christopher observed that each of them was twice the age of the next one.

Chris Mabley

Brainstorming in Needham, Entertaining in New York Steven Tejada, dean of Diversity Initiatives, was keynote speaker at St. Sebastian’s Unity Day on Nov. 6.

Unity Day reconceives ways to enable the Needham school to become an even closer community. Tejada was also invited to perform at the wellknown Gotham Comedy Club in New York City in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Oliver Scholars Program, which selects highly motivated seventh-grade African-American and Latino students who are given the support and guidance they need to gain admission to some of the Northeast’s top independent schools.

The Boston Globe Honors 2008–’09 Scholar-Athletes Fourteen outstanding students—one boy and one girl from each of seven Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association districts—were honored by the Boston Globe as Richard Phelps Scholar-Athletes. Each of the winners received a $3,000 college scholarship.

Jan Mabley demurred that that observation did not come from her side of the family.

As Mabley so chivalrously put it, “Happily, Christopher inherited my wife’s interest in reading.” While the Mableys were into all-grandson mode until recently, they have since reported the birth of their first granddaughter, Zia Mabley Carson, born Oct. 22 to daughter Tina and her husband Chris Carson.

Deb Harrison For International Climate Day in October, Owen manned a display table to explain ICLEI, the town ecological footprint research data he worked on: http://www.iclei.org/indexphp? id=global-about-iclei.

Emily Scioscia ’09 held Owen’s position last summer. Business Manager Steve Ginsberg, along with Science teacher Deb Harrison and Buildings and Grounds Director Joe Cazeault, have spearheaded Nobles’ “green” initiative.

Harrison, who also serves on the Town of Dedham’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, observed that Nobles’ sustainability efforts “build on the good relationship we have with the town via community service in Dedham.”

The playground Nobles helped build at the Riverdale School and the work that Cazeault is doing with the town in rehabbing a baseball field and helping establish a recycling program at the Riverdale School have been part of Nobles continued efforts. Nobles also serves as the site for the town’s Stamp-Out-Hunger drive.

Also participating in International Climate Day were Nobles students Tori Moore ’11 and Dana Delvecchio ’10 who enjoyed an interactive discussion via Skype on global warming with high school students in the Tuscan town of Montepulciano, Italy and in Cusco, Peru.

The Start of a Nice Partnership

From Nobles Blue to Dartmouth Green

In what looks like the continuation of a beautiful town-gown friendship, Owen Minott ‘10 was a summer intern in the Town of Dedham’s environmental coordinator’s office for the month of July.

The Big Green Bus, run by Dartmouth College students, spent 10 weeks this summer traveling across country carrying 15 students plus a Nintendo Wii console, an LCD flat-screen television,

38 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

Keeping You Up-to-Date From left: Author Stephen Carter, Zita Cousen, and former Nobles artist-in-residence Bob Freeman shown here at the opening and book signing at Cousen Rose Gallery in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard.

hardwood floors and air conditioning.

Leader of this interesting phenomenon is Kate Parizeau ’05, now a senior at Dartmouth and general manager of the bus. The group gave tours of the bus, spreading the word about sustainable living and showing people how easy it is to make anything—even a big bus— environmentally friendly.

“We have our green bus, which is sort of a green home on wheels,” said Parizeau. “Everything inside is powered by four really advanced solar panels.…

They get so much power, they run our air conditioner, our TV, our Wii, our fans, our computers, our lights and

Kate Parizeau ’05

our refrigerator. If we were parked in a cave, we could run for two or three days without a problem.”

Two years ago, Parizeau and the bus made their debut in Wellesley, her hometown. It was the geography major’s first summer on the bus, which back then was just an old school bus running on vegetable oil. Since then, the organization raised $20,000 to buy a 1989 coach bus and give it a makeover, complete with solar panels, bamboo flooring, air conditioning, countertops made of recycled glass and a regular-sized refrigerator that uses as much energy as a laptop computer. Many of the items, like the solar panels, were donated.

The new bus helps attract more people, Parizeau said. During each stop, signs describing each sustainable aspect of the bus are displayed throughout the cabin.

You Can Go Home Again Two Nobles grads—Chris Tierney and Mike Videira, both ’04—returned to campus to help Boys’ Varsity Soccer coach Steve Ginsberg with the team while concurrently playing for the professional New England Revolution. Both completed their college degrees, with Videira leaving Duke as an academic All-American and Tierney graduating from the University of Virginia.

USRowing Recognizes Nobles Grad

tireless work with the National Rowing Foundation, which has been instrumental in the success of hundreds of Olympic, senior national team and junior national team rowers for nearly four decades.” Hart began his association with the sport at Noble and Greenough in 1947. He rowed at Dartmouth College from 1951–’52 before moving into the coaching ranks. As a coach, Hart has worked with Dartmouth College, Iolanni School, Kent School, Clare College, Magdalen College, Litchfield Rowing Association and the United States Coast Guard Academy. He has had a decorated career as an official, working 18 World Rowing Junior Championships, 10 World Rowing Championships and two Olympic Games. In 1974, he became the first non-British Commonwealth citizen to be elected as a steward of the Henley Royal Regatta. Hart became involved with the NRF in 1970 and has held the position of executive director since 1991. In addition, he continues to serve as a steward at the Henley Royal Regatta, adjunct curator for rowing at Mystic Seaport, and chairman emeritus of Friends of Dartmouth Rowing. A past president of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen, the predecessor to USRowing, Hart has received numerous awards and honors over the years including USRowing’s Jack Kelly, John Carlin and Jack Franklin awards. He has been inducted into the National Rowing Hall of Fame, Dartmouth Rowing Hall of Fame, Wearers of the Green (Dartmouth Athletics) and the Kent School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Born and raised in England, his wife, Gillian, was introduced to rowing by her grandmother through listening to radio broadcasts of the Oxford- Cambridge race. Married to Hart in 1987, Gillian began working with the NRF in 1991 to help raise funds to send U.S. athletes to the Olympics and other international rowing events.

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

This year’s recipients of the USRowing Medal are W. Hart Perry ‘51 and his wife, Gillian Perry. They were cited for “their WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 39

WINDOW ON NOBLES: GREEN FIRE KILN

by John Hirsch

40 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

For more pictures and music from the dedication ceremony, visit www.nobles.edu/green firededication.

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 41

ON THE

Playing Fields

Fall Varsity Sports Results and Awards

Girls' Cross Country, NEPSAC Division II Championships

BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY Season Record: 6-9-1 (6-9) ISL Championships: 13th Place New England Division II Championship: 13th Place All-ISL: Wilson Turner ’11 Awards: Coaches Award—Wilson Turner ’11; Team of ’99 Award— Zach Ellison ’11 2010 Captains: Zach Ellison ‘11, Ellis Tonissi ’11, Wilson Turner ’11 GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY Season Record: 13-0 (12-0) (3rd consecutive undefeated regular season) ISL Championships: 1st Place New England Division II Championship: 1st Place (4th consecutive) ISL MVP and Globe All Scholastic: Marissa Shoji ’11 All-ISL: Marissa Shoji ’11,

Caitlin Fai '10

Caitie Meyer ’10, Ava Geyer ’11, Kerrin Smith ’10, Olivia Mussafer ’15 Honorable Mention: Meghan Hickey ’12 All-New England: Marissa Shoji ’11, Caitie Meyer ’10, Ava Geyer ’11, Kerrin Smith ’10, Olivia Mussafer ’15, Meghan Hickey ’12

42 42 l THE THE NOBLES NOBLES BULLETIN BULLETIN l WINTER WINTER 2009–2010 2009–2010

Awards: Coaches Award— Kerrin Smith ’10; Team of ’99 Award—Ava Geyer ’11 2010 Captains: Ava Geyer ’11, Marissa Shoji ’11, Darla Wynn ’11

VARSITY FIELD HOCKEY Season Record: 13-2-1 (11-0-1) ISL Champions New England Class A Quarterfinalists All-ISL: Sarah Duncan ’10, Caitlin Fai ’10, Kaleigh FitzPatrick ’11, Denna Laing ’10 Honorable Mention: Marissa Gedman ’10, Jackie Young ’10 All-NE Tournament Team: Caitlin Fai ’10 Awards: Walker Cup— Denna Laing ’10 2010 Captains: Reilly Foote ’11, Katie Puccio ’11 VARSITY FOOTBALL Season Record: 2-6 All-New England: Jack Allard ’10 All-ISL: Jack Allard ’10 Honorable Mention: Sean Shakespeare ’11, Tommy Kelly ’11 Awards: E.T. Putnam Award— Jack Allard ’10; Coaches Award— Michael D’Angelo ’10; Nicholas F. Marinaro 12th Player Award— Sean Shakespeare­­­’11

Oliver White '12

2010 Captains: Tommy Kelly ’11, Mike Mussafer ’11, Alex Owen ’11, Matt Resor ’11, Sean Shakespeare ’11 BOYS’ VARSITY SOCCER Season Record: 4-6-5 All-ISL: Chris Pratt ’10 Honorable Mention: Dylan Cowley ’10, Colin Coughlin ’10 Awards: Coaches Award— Dylan Cowley ’10, Chris Pratt ’10; Weise Bowl—Colin Coughlin ’10 2010 Captains: Philip Hession ’11

GIRLS’ VARSITY SOCCER Season Record: 12-2-1 (11-1-0) ISL Champions (4th consecutive) New England Class A Quarterfinalists All-League: Emily Wingrove ’10, Kate Makaroff ’11, Corey Moynihan ’11, Alex Johnson ’11 Honorable Mention: Darcy Banco ’10, Mollie Young ’10 Awards: Senior Bowl—Darcy Banco ’10, Mollie Young ’10; Ceci Clark Shield—Emily Wingrove ’10 2010 Captains: Alex Johnson ’11, Kate Makaroff ’11, Molly Parizeau ’11 FIRST TIME VARSITY LETTER WINNERS Cross-Country: Grace Aranow ’12, Greg Corrado ’10, Olivia Mussafer ’15, Football: Bryan Beach ’12, Woody Bryson ’12, Marco Castro ’12, David DiNicola ’11, George Farley ’13, Ryan FitzPatrick ’13, Ben Kent ’12, Dan Leach ’12, Brent Luster ’12, Conor McLaughlin ’12, Curt Petrini ’12, Drew Walker ’13, Jonathan Washburn ’12, Jeff Wong ’12 Soccer: Stephanie Aliquo ’12, Samer Abouhamad ’12, Ellen Bailey ’11, Catherine Beer ’13, Julia Diaz ’12, Hannah Matlack ’12, Phil Stansky ’11, Andreas Streuli ’11, Isabella Tuttle ’13, Hans Vitzthum ’11, Dan Vogel ’12, Jack Vogel ’12, Robyn White ’13, Tyler Zon ’12

Tommy Kelly, left, and Sean Shakespeare, both ’11

WINTER WINTER 2009–2010 2009–2010 l THE THE NOBLES NOBLES BULLETIN BULLETIN l 43 43

I N

M E M O R I A M

G.K. Bird, front row with cane, stands amid the surviving members of the winning football team that he coached.

I

G.K. BIRD ’39 Remembrance: Words From G.K.’s Son

know that my father would have been pleased with his memorial service with so many former students, faculty colleagues and friends from the Nobles community reconnecting once again. There can be no more poignant testimonial to his life’s work than the splendid contributions on the website www.gkbirdmemories.ning.com.

I invite those who may not have had a chance to visit online to enjoy the many stories, anecdotes and emotional remembrances of G.K. in the classroom and on the playing field.

His passion was teaching and he learned early in his career that the key to educating adolescents lay in developing individual relationships. So many of the emails and letters pouring in over the last few months from former students and faculty recall an incident or difficult period in their lives when Dad offered a challenge to do better, or words of encouragement, a “teachable moment.”

He was a humble man, not really interested in material possessions, and a true gentleman. I don’t think he had a mean bone in his body. The few times I ever saw him really mad were when he discovered young people being taken advantage of unfairly, usually by adults. G.K. faced and 44 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

overcame great personal tragedy in his life, and yet his students remember him as always having his “game face” on, using his own experience with adversity to inspire others to carry on, to do the best you can.

In his now famous 2007 speech accepting the Coggeshall Award, he focused on the importance of having the proper balance between discipline and compassion in the classroom, the hallmark of a good teacher. To this he added another tool of the trade, a wonderful sense of humor, which he used skillfully to help in personalizing relationships with students and colleagues.

Just as he loved his family, he kept in close touch with the school he loved so much. He was always interested in the careers of his students, particularly whomever I met in my travels for Nobles; he would require an update and then usually recall a story, a situation, even an overdue Latin paper.

Visits to the house in Dedham by students and fellow teachers never really stopped until just before he passed away.

There he would be, holding court with Jan, his beloved wife of 66 years, spinning another yarn. By any measure, his was a life well led.

—George K. Bird IV ’62

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M E M O R I A M

“He was a giant in so many ways…”

GEORGE KURTZ BIRD JR. ’39, 1920–2009 B Y B R O O K E E A R L E Y A S N I S ’ 9 0 , D I R E C T O R O F G R A D U AT E A F FA I R S

G

K.Bird ’39, who passed away peacefully at his home in Dedham on July 30, 2009 at the age of 89, arrived at Nobles as a Sixie in the fall of 1933.

After graduation, he attended Amherst College and returned to Nobles to join the faculty in 1943. He spent an astounding 48 years on the faculty, teaching English, history and geography and, most notably, Latin and German.

Along with Grandin Wise, he founded the Nobles Day Camp in 1948 and was its director for 26 consecutive summers. G.K. stayed close to Nobles following his 1991 retirement; most recently, he returned to be honored by the Class of 1982 with the 2007 Coggeshall Award. eorge

Very few, if any, took on more roles at Nobles than did G.K.: student, football captain, class president, then graduate, teacher, coach, mentor, camp founder/director, and parent (of George Bird IV ’62, former President of the Board, and the late Peter Bird ’71).

In each of these roles, he was beloved.

In fact, many believe that G.K. touched more people associated with this school than anyone.

Upon hearing of his passing, Nobles graduates, teachers and friends responded with an outpouring of affection; many of these tributes remain available for reading below and at www.gkbirdmemories.ning.com.

Eat Nails “In Sixie football, we learned to ‘eat nails and spit rust.’ Both on the field and in the classroom, we learned quickly that his input was honest and accurate, even if it wasn’t what we wanted to hear…. He was a tremendous role model and mentor.”

—Marty McDonough ’83 Divide and Conquer “I have not forgotten the speech Jim gave the assembled day camp staff on the Saturday before opening week each summer. His major theme was always the same: ‘Divide and conquer.’ He repeated the phrase so many times during his brief remarks that it became

Seated, from left: George K. Bird IV ’62, Jan Bird, G.K. Bird Jr. ’39; standing, George’s wife, Deb Bird, and daughters Jameson, center, and Ashley.

WINTER 2009–2010 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l 45

comical. But the concept worked! For years counselors began each successful day camp season as if they were very fun-loving Roman centurions!”

—Penny Wise Kerns, widow of Peter Kerns, former Spanish teacher and Director of Nobles Day Camp, and daughter of Grandin Wise, who founded the camp with G.K. Ridin’ the Pine “I had the pleasure of coaching girls’ softball with G.K. at Nobles for a few years back in the ’80s. I will always remember the colorful expressions he used. For example, if a player was struggling at the plate, he might (lightheartedly) tell her that she would be ‘ridin’ the pine’ (benched) soon. He said this in such a way that it always seemed to bring a smile to the struggling player.... I also remember an image of G.K. hitting fungoes (practice fly balls) to the outfielders with his pipe firmly clenched between his teeth....

To me G.K. was bigger than life— a true icon of Nobles and of all the best things which this school has represented over the years.”

—Bob Kern, Science faculty Es Regnet “I have never forgotten the day he was teaching us weather terms: it was pouring outside, and he opened the window, stuck his head outside, came back in with his head soaked, and declared ‘es regnet’ (it’s raining). We of course all howled with delight to see our teacher in such a self-deprecatory state. I have never forgotten this, and 40 years later I still find myself proclaiming ‘es regnet’ when it rains!”

—Jim Goldman ’70

Get Back in the House “What I admired most about G.K. was how he walked the walk—he knew personal tragedy more than many of us could imagine—and one of his favorite sayings was, ‘How does he react to

setbacks?’ That was his measure of a person. Get back on the horse. Do the best you can. G.K., you were the greatest.”

—Nick Hyde ’68 Don't Get in Trouble “‘If you get in trouble, I get in trouble, and if I get in trouble, you get in trouble, so DON’T get in trouble!’ I will never forget Mr. Bird’s parting words as we left each Latin class as Sixies and Fifthies.

He would let us out a few minutes early

“Teaching is a game of balance, a strange brew of knowledge, discipline, humor, and compassion. You don’t learn these things quickly.

It all gradually soaks in if one is humble and open to the students. An arrogant teacher who takes his subject too seriously is, in my opinion, a failure before he starts.”

GEORGE K. BIRD JR. ’39

and forbid us from getting into any mischief in our few minutes of found time.”

—Lisa Zeytoonjian Glenn ’94 Be Quick as Greased Rifles “Jim Bird was simply the most influential person in my life…. Still a dedicated English teacher and wrestling coach at 73, I feel strongly that what good I have done in my life is attributable to Jim Bird’s dedication, strict standards, intense caring for both the subject and the student, his sense of perspective, his integrity, and his sense of humor…. I’ll never forget his large, red face looming over his desk as he used a stopwatch to time our Latin declensions, urging us to be as quick as ‘greased rifles.’ Sixty years later,

46 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

I can still decline ‘Hic, Haec, Hoc’ in eight seconds. (I just timed myself.)

Sixty years later?! Nor will I ever forget his stern (yet twinkling) gaze into each lineman’s eyes…urging us to get into the opponent’s backfield. We would do anything for that man.”

—Ted Reese ’54 An All-Time Classic “At an age when many things were confusing, one shining memory stands out—the leafy fall afternoons being gently taunted by a seemingly crotchety old gentleman in an old school sweatshirt, whose great good humor and care for his charges always shone through. His strong personality even made Latin class somewhat tolerable.

G.K. Bird was an all-time classic who showed humor and affection could blend perfectly with an affected gruff demeanor to create an unforgettable presence.”

—John Young ’82 You Gotta Have Heart “I was barely on the J.V. baseball team and one of the worst hitters….

We were playing a non-league team, and were losing badly—not only that, but the opposing pitcher had a no- hitter going into the ninth inning.

Mr. Bird called me off the bench and said, ‘Taylor, get in there—and remember, you gotta have heart!’ There were two outs and I blooped a ball over the first baseman into right field to break up the no-hitter. It was a defining moment in my relationship with Mr. Bird, and neither one of us has ever forgotten that hit. Over the years, whenever he saw me, he always repeated that phrase, ‘You gotta have heart.’”

—Ben Taylor ’52 A Giant...

“He was a giant in so many ways, a strong component of the fabric that defines how special that place is.”

—Hart Perry ’51

I N

M E M O R I A M

BRYAN MOSES BAKER EULOGIZED as Funny, Passionate, Romantic

E

lizabeth Moses (Bryan) Baker P’85 ’87 ’92, beloved wife of former Headmaster Richard H. (Dick) Baker, died on July 23 after a long illness. Bryan was, in all her roles, superlative and remained deeply invested in the lives of her friends and acquaintances. She was a lover of the arts (especially opera), of gardens, of beauty everywhere, of language and humor. Bryan leaves her husband, Dick Baker; children Richard Jr. ’85, Laurie ’87, and Jeffrey ’92; grandchildren Sebastian and Rei Baker, Adelaide and Olive Gifford; and sisters Nancy Dechert and Debbie Moses.

At her memorial service in the First Church and Parish in Dedham, daughter Laurie eulogized her mother as “curious and smart…fascinated by human drama, the tragic and the transcendent…she loved to know about people…their inner lives, to get beyond the logic of a person’s motivation to the messy stuff underneath…even fictional characters became people she loved and mourned and identified with.”

Laurie’s humorous, heartfelt, insightful, bittersweet eulogy is reprinted in full on the Nobles website, www.nobles.edu/bryanbakereulogy.

We are reprinting two of its nine chapters below: Chapter 7 How to fathom the loss of her?

I think about loss. I think about it in the grand scheme of things, and whether the best way in which to endure it is to recognize my inheritance of a particular identity—her identity, and more specifically, her identity as mother.

My mother was too reserved to be called gregarious or expansive.

Dick and Bryan Baker PHOTO BY JOE SWAYZE

But she had about her an air of giddy excitement, of child-like delight.

Think of the way children are when they have a birthday party or wake up Christmas morning or visit a toy store. That was my mother much of the time, thrilled by the little things.

She practically bounced. The memories of my childhood are extremely vivid, perhaps because my mother’s energy was so totally focused on us, and I’m aware that the best memories are those of my mother happy in play. Skipping down Washington St. and singing at the top of our lungs. Collecting chestnuts in late fall on the road to DCD. Reading the Wizard of Oz series, watching Shirley Temple movies, buying stickers at Faneuil Hall. Surely most people have such memories of their mothers, but I feel that my mother liked being with her children more than most.

I was a romantic, dreamy child because my mother was a romantic,

dreamy woman. And now, the way I raise my own children is based heavily on a romantic, dreamy nostalgia for the details of my childhood. I want my own girls to love these same things— the books and movies and games— which for the most part, they do. They watch Swiss Family Robinson instead of Hannah Montana, and I fear they will grow up completely uncool. But in the end, they will have identities that reach back through me to their Gwammie, and what better legacy is there?

Chapter 8 Who will be my witness?

I talked to my mother almost every day. I told her almost everything and some things in excruciating detail.

Obviously she was some kind of saint.

On the other hand, she’d tell me the latest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in excruciating detail, so I suppose we’re even.

After her death I found myself

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Update from the preoccupied with the fact—my belief, in any case—that she didn’t know she had died. People responded, ‘Well, isn’t that a good thing?’ And of course, it is, and yet here was one of the biggest moments in my life and I couldn’t talk to her about it. I couldn’t pick up the phone and say, ‘Mom, guess what?’

The loss of her is the loss of the central consciousness in my life.

If she doesn’t know, who does?

I have to admit, I didn’t make a whole lot of decisions without consulting her first.

For this service, in fact, I’d have made sure she’d signed off on what I was wearing.

Do these shoes work? Can I borrow her earrings? Is my hair too red? If I look ridiculous, it’s her fault.

ENDOWED FUND An endowed fund has been established in the memory of Bryan Baker, who was a lover of gardens and of the general beauty of the Nobles campus; the fund will help support the upkeep of the gardens and grounds of the school. A tree will be planted and a stone will be placed on campus in Bryan's memory.

Donations to the fund can be sent to:

Noble and Greenough School Office of Development and Graduate Affairs Attn: Bryan Baker Memorial 10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA 02026

T

he Nobles community extends far beyond the campus gates.

Like our students and faculty, graduates are a cornerstone of the school. That’s why the Graduate Affairs Office is working to bring Nobles to you, wherever you are. Here’s a look at just a few of our program offerings this year:

 ON CAMPUS Graduate Games: Players of all class

years and skill levels are invited back for one of our most beloved traditions.

Five graduate games are held each year —men’s soccer and women’s soccer (this is the first year for women and the 28th (!) year for men), held each November during Nobles-Milton Day; co-ed hockey on Jan. 9, 2010; men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse on Reunion Day, May 8, 2010.

Graduate Service: Team up with stu-

dents, faculty, and former classmates to volunteer! Our service activities include National Family Volunteer Day (the Saturday before Thanksgiving) and The Stamp-Out-Hunger Drive (May 8, Reunion Saturday).

Reunion/Graduates Day: Mark your calendar for the 2010 Reunion on May 8th! This year, we’re kicking off the Athletic Hall of Fame to honor outstanding Nobles athletes of the past.

 OFF CAMPUS Regional Receptions: Catch up with

Head of School Bob Henderson Jr. ’76 P ’13, along with grads in your area, at Nobles gatherings across the country. In 2009–’10, Nobles has visited or will visit Chicago (February 2009); Los Angeles (October 2009); Washington D.C. (Dec. 3, 2009); and New York City (Feb. 10, 2010).

48 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010

College Dinner Series: An instant

favorite among hungry students, the College Dinner Series treats grads at some of our best-attended colleges to reunion dinners. Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Williams, Princeton, and UPenn are among the campuses we’ll be visiting this year.

Coffee Talk: New this spring, Coffee

Talk is a networking breakfast series for grads looking to launch their careers, transition, or simply learn about new industries. Date and place: Thursday, May 20, in Boston.

 ONLINE Nobles Career Network: Put the

Nobles network to work for you! With the online graduates directory you can search more than 300 career mentors in 36 different fields, and contact them for career advice.

E-Newsletter: Keep up with Nobles news and events with the Graduates’ Newsletter, a seasonal online publication for the graduate community.

Social Networking: Nobles is now

just a mouse-click away! Check out Noble and Greenough graduates on Facebook and Linkedin, and follow us on Twitter@NoblesGrads.

G rad u ate Af f a i r s O ffice Fred Clifford ’54, left, and Louis Newell ’53 catch up at a graduate reception.

Please visit www.nobles.edu/graduates for more information, or contact us directly.

Caption here

Caption here

Brooke Asnis ’90, Director of Graduate Affairs Brooke_Asnis@nobles.edu • 781-320-7008 Megan Ryan, Associate Director of Graduate Affairs Megan_Ryan@nobles.edu • 781-320-7018

Graduates’ Council 2009–2010 The Graduates’ Council is the backbone of our efforts. This dedicated group serves Nobles in myriad ways, including the Graduates of Color Committee, the Women’s Leadership Committee, and four service initiatives (Service to Community, Service to Faculty, Service to Graduates and Service to Students).

Hilary W. Allinson ’83 P’15 Brooke E. Asnis ’90 Paul J. Ayoub ’74 P’12 David A. Aznavorian ’88 Christy A. Bergstrom ’90 Edward L. Bigelow ’64 P’90 ’92 ’95 William L. Bliss ’48 P’79 ’80 GP’10 ’14 Whitford S. Bond ’59 P’02 ’05 Holly H. Bonomo ’86 Robert G. Capone ’80 Hillary G. Chapman ’98 Yasmin N. Cruz ’02 Elizabeth G. Dawson ’85 Mark L. DeAngelis ’82 P’13, Council President Erin P. Gallo ’92 John T. Gifford ’86 Christopher J. Grogan ’74 P’13, President of the Board of Trustees

Mark E. Haffenreffer ’69 P’08 Yasmin A. Hamed ’00 Stephen R. Haskell ’83 Robert P. Henderson ’76 P’13, Head of School Laura A. Hewitt-Riley ’78 P’08 ’11 ’13, Council Vice-President Peter J. Howe ’82 Samuel B. Jackson ’93 Judith M. Kiplinger ’77 P’09 Robert S. Kretschmar ’63 P’93 Edward F. Lawson ’64 P’95 ’99 ’00 ’08 Morgan B. Ley ’89 Charles W. Long ’58 P’88 Linda H. Lynch ’81 Melissa G. Lyons ’97 Margot H. MacArthur ’83 Samuel S. MacAusland ’82 John J. Manley III ’95 Kevin J. McCarthy ’74 Marzuq U. Muhammad ’01

Percy L. Nelson ’40 P’68 ’72 GP’06 ’06 ’08 J. L. Newell ’53 P’77 ’79 ’80 Pamela B. Notman ’80 P’12 Adamma C. Obele ’96 Christopher H. Reynolds ’78 P’09 ’12 Linda C. Rheingold ’77 P’10 ’13 Fiona J. Roman ’79 P’09 ’11 ’14 Matthew S. Ross ’90 Peter E. Ross ’87 Philip C. Rueppel ’79 Craig W. Sanger ’73 Alexander D. Slawsby ’96 André H. Stark ’76 Monica Stevenson ’90 Christine L. Todd ’84 P’13 Michael A. Vance ’77 William H. Warren ’77 Thomas P. Welch ’82 R. J. Wright ’71 P’02 ’04 Heather M. Zink ’86 P’15

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