Oak Leaves Summer 2023

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NEWSLETTER FROM OAKWOOD FRIENDS SCHOOL • CELEBRATING OVER 220 YEARS OF FRIENDS EDUCATION IN THE HUDSON VALLEY

Oakwood Hosts New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM) Summer Sessions

2022-2023 Fall/Winter School Calendar September 11

First Day of School

September 23

Sean Thompson Memorial Tree Dedication

October 17

Workshare Day

November 3

Parents’ Day

November 16

Fall Theatre Night

December 12

Parent Dinner & Holiday Concert

January 5

Winter Reunion

Summer 2023 Winter 2016-17

College Bound

Oakwood’s commencement in June celebrated the twenty-five members of the Class of 2023 under the Copper Beech tree. Student performers Evie Tourtelot ’26 and Camila Lizardo-Kramb ’24 provided beautiful prelude and postlude selections as the seniors processed in and out of the ceremony. This year’s graduating seniors are heading to a wide array of colleges and universities ranging from East Coast liberal arts schools to California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) to Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Spain. Oakwood strives to help each senior make the right decision for their own unique post-secondary school plan.

Members of NYYM at Summer Sessions at Oakwood

Visit us at www.oakwoodfriends.org

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Oak Leaves

Summer 2023

NEWSLETTER FOR ALUMNI AND MEMBERS OF THE OAKWOOD FRIENDS COMMUNITY

Class of 2023

Our campus was bustling this summer with the arrival nearly 200 Quakers who attended New York Yearly Meeting’s (NYYM) Summer Sessions, including three in-person guests from the Shinnecock Nation and an additional 100 registrants who joined online. Founded in 1694, New York Yearly Meeting is the gathering of Quaker meetings in New York State, northern New Jersey, and southwestern Connecticut. It was incredible to have such a presence on our campus and afforded us a wonderful opportunity to make connections and open our doors to the greater Quaker community!

ate a truly connected Quaker experience. Attendees filled all four of our dormitories, held meetings in our state-of-the-art Spencer Family Theater which was able to accommodate highly interactive dialogue with Zoom attendees, set up information stations and games in Collins Library, danced in the Lane Gymnasium, sang on our porches, roasted marshmallows around the bonfire, and even set up a giant water slide to beat the heat on the hillside! Most importantly, participants came together in our Meeting Room for silent worship.

We wish the Class of 2023 all the best at:

This summer’s theme ‘Rebuilding Faith in Changing Times’ asked attendees to reflect on the evolution of faith, activism and community building in today’s world. This was the first time Oakwood hosted NYYM Summer Sessions which previously met for decades at Silver Bay in Lake George. At Oakwood, long time members and their families were able to immerse themselves in and cre-

Many members remarked on the considerable strength of connectedness and faith they felt with each other while they were here. The newly appointed Clerk of NYYM, Gloria Thompson, shared, “My joy working with the Quaker community is the belief that the human condition is serviceable: Alternatives to Violence (AVP), Prison Ministry, Earthcare, education, and advocacy. I believe it a gift to ‘give back’.” Member Peter Beck, from NJ, said, “NYYM is my wider Quaker Recharge. I attended my first Yearly Meeting in 1961 at Silver Bay. I was in 8th grade. I attended through high school and then returned in 1970, each year meeting and knowing more and more.” This was Peter’s first time at Oakwood and he is appreciative of the school and its role with NYYM. We look forward to all the possibilities moving forward in strengthening our ties with NYYM through our shared Quaker values.

Adelphi University Amherst College Bennington College Binghamton University California State Polytechnic University Connecticut College Cornell University Fordham University Hofstra University Lehigh University University of New Haven Pennsylvania State University University of Rhode Island Rutgers University-New Brunswick Skidmore College SUNY New Paltz Stony Brook University Temple University Universidad Pontificia Comillas Vassar College Virginia State University Wesleyan University

Bottom row (l-r): Kishi Oyagi, Nguyen Le, Lia Quinones, Dallas Tulloch and Ally Ramos 2nd row (l-r): Theo Hirmes, Zara Rizvi-Riemer, Mercedez Walters, Gio Santoro and Jenine Tobias 3rd row (l-r): Brooklyn Dottin, Sadhika Raj, Willa Sio-Cody, Milla Berg, Jack Iovanella, Khoa (Peter) Tran, Jimmy Lin and Celina Yu. Back row (l-r): Jaime Pardo, Elijah Koola Rashid, Tristan Jean-Baptiste, Arjun Yang, Ada Loeding-Matthews, Trevor Brooks and Dylan Diallo. Peg Keiser and granddaughter, Linnea Keiser-Clark

Graduates (l-r) Arjun Yang, Ada Loeding-Matthews, Dallas Tulloch, Milla Berg and Dylan Diallo who have been at Oakwood together since Middle School


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