Overlaker Winter 2023

THE OVERLAKER

EDITOR: Susan Messier, Director of Communications & Marketing smessier@overlake.org

ASST. EDITOR: Tara Mounsey, Communications Associate tmounsey@overlake.org

ALUMNI NEWS: Christian Fulghum (’77), Director of Alumni Engagement cfulghum@overlake.org

The All-School Musical Returns!

This spring the Overlake Arts Department will present Matilda the Musical, the first all-school musical since March of 2020.

Matilda the Musical is based on the beloved novel by Roald Dahl. It is the story of a girl born into a family that doesn’t value education and her pursuit of acceptance. The journey of Matilda through this musical is one of an upstander. Major themes include bullying, literacy, and the magic of imagination!

“This show is going to be FUN! One of the best things about this musical is the emphasis on creativity and imagination, so prepare to be wowed! We will be incorporating a lot of different elements in the show to help tell our story. This is going to be a great family friendly time,” says Kera Wright, Arts Faculty and Director.

There was a general excitement going into the musical auditions. Wright commented on how much joy she saw surrounding the selection of the musical, illustrated by the fact that more than 50 students auditioned.

“I’ve been genuinely impressed by the level of talent and dedication from our students. We’ve seen a lot of growth in individual performers. We’ve also had quite a few newcomers to the stage, including a few seniors who have either never performed before, or hadn’t been involved in theatre since Middle School,” says Wright.

Students involved in this musical will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with students from all grade levels. They will learn choreography from a professional choreographer and performer, and they will have the opportunity to do some accent work, and gain a variety of puppeteering skills.

Tickets will go on sale soon. Be sure to come out and see the show on Friday, March 3 and Saturday, March 4.

2023

ARTS CALENDAR

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28

Benefit Concert • 7pm

MARCH 3 & 4

Matilda (All-School Musical)

Friday, March 3 • 7:30pm / Saturday, March 4 • 2:30 & 7:30pm

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19

Orchestra/Strings Spring Concert • 7:30pm

THURSDAY, APRIL 20

Upper School Bands Spring Concert • 7:30pm

FRIDAY, APRIL 21

Upper School Choirs Spring Concert • 7:30pm

FRIDAY, MAY 5

ArtsFest 2023 • 5:30pm

FRIDAY, MAY 19 & 20

7th–8th Grade Play Friday, May 19 • 7:30pm / Saturday, May 20 • 2:30pm

THURSDAY, JUNE 1

Middle School Strings Spring Concert • 7:30pm

FRIDAY, JUNE 2

Middle School Bands Spring Concert • 7:30pm

Living the Rainbow

Students have now been living into the new student class schedule, which follows the colors of a rainbow, for nearly half the school year. This schedule was originally designed to help meet the growing needs of the school. After spending the better part of a year talking to stakeholders and brainstorming ideas, a new schedule was implemented.

The schedule standardizes the block lengths and schedule between divisions while also allowing time for the needs of wellness, diversity and inclusion programming, and special events like drama previews or guest speakers during the new ‘flex time.’

one class that meets on back to back days, which lessens the amount of homework a student needs to focus on each night. Another benefit of the schedule rotation is that it spreads out the major assignments making it a rare occasion that a student sees more than one a day.

“A later morning start and a more consistent and predictable daily class load were identified as ways to prioritize student wellness when this schedule was constructed, and so far, both have delivered real benefits for students,” says Davidson.

MIKE DAVIDSON, MIDDLE SCHOOL HEAD

“There’s been overwhelmingly positive response to the collaboration with students on the types of justice-oriented themes we’ve covered this year (during flex time),” says Krishna Davda, Assistant Upper School Head.

The schedule also includes a mid-week late start on Wednesdays which allows dedicated time for adult collaboration and gives students time to prioritize their wellness mid-week.

“Students have been very appreciative of the later start to classes on Wednesdays. They are able to use that time in whatever way most benefits them and their wellness. Most choose to sleep a little later and enjoy a more leisurely process of getting ready for school, while others use it as an extended time to get school work done and maybe go to bed earlier the night before knowing they have that extra time in the morning,” says Mike Davidson, Middle School Head.

Davda reports that Upper School students appreciate the extra time to rest or get work done but have also used the Wednesday late start to work on group projects outside of class time.

So far, the schedule has been fairly well received. Students are learning to manage their workload through the seven-day rotation. With only four class blocks per day there is only ever

A first quarter review of the new student schedule

Students have been very appreciative of the later start to classes on Wednesdays. They are able to use that time in whatever way most benefits them and their wellness.”

Meet Our New Overlakers

Judith Baquero-Garcia DISHWASHER/PREP COOK

Her last name may sound familiar, Judith is none other than the sister of Sara BG, Social Studies faculty. She joined the Overlake food service team and has been a delightful, smiling addition to the food service team this year.

Laura Brown ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF EXPERIENTIAL

EDUCATION

Laura joined the Overlake community with a wide variety of experience. Most recently she has worked as a Professional Development Coordinator at Islandwood Urban School where she developed curriculum that integrated Next Generation Science Standards with climate justice and community-based pedagogy. The outdoor ed program benefits from her experience as a Wilderness First Responder and Challenge Course Facilitator. This fall she planned great on-campus service days for Middle and Upper School.

Jessica Butler MS/US COORDINATOR

Jessica Butler jumped into learning the ins and outs of the Middle and Upper School Coordinator role. She is an eastside local having worked at St. Thomas School in Medina as an administrative assistant and sub coordinator. In her spare time, she leads classes at Rowhouse in Redmond and holds a certification in Pilates instruction.

Cameron ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Katrina has joined Overlake’s Development team bringing experience as an Admissions Office Administrator at the International Friends School where she worked to develop the admission process, conducted weekly covid testing for their students, and was the key administrator in collaborating with their fundraising and development team. She has also worked as an in-home care specialist, helping guide families through the journey of finding appropriate care for their loved ones.

Castle 6TH GRADE SCIENCE TEACHER

Stephanie joined Overlake after spending the last four years as the Head of Science at the Shanghai American School where she was responsible for curriculum development, technology integration, and professional development of the science team. Her skills and flexibility were put to the test during the pandemic when she delivered both asynchronous and synchronous online instruction to support a community of students spanning 21 different time zones! In addition to teaching science in New York and the UK, she is an RRCA Certified Running Coach. In her spare time, she keeps busy with fun interests like trapeze and aerial arts, snowboarding, and scuba diving.

Torina

Gent

BUS DRIVER

Torina is new to the Overlake transportation team this year. She loves basketball, volleyball, and even holds a state record in discus and shot put.

Katrina

Stephanie

Ying He

ACCOUNTING CLERK

Before joining Overlake, Ying worked for a small tech company for four years. What she loves about Overlake is the people and the welcoming and supportive community. In her free time, she enjoys trying new restaurants, cooking, and making art crafts, from DIY home decor to painting. As a swim mom, you might see her busy volunteering at swim meets over the weekends.

Haruka Kuga SCHOOL COUNSELOR

Welcome Haruka Kuga to the amazing Student Support team! She joined Susan Essex’s team as a school counselor just days after moving across the country. Kuga had been serving as a school counselor at Hunter High School in New York where she counseled over 215 middle school students and families. She led individual, group, and classroom sessions geared towards academic and socio-emotional areas of development. Kuga also has experience working in the college counseling department where she scheduled college visits, facilitated counseling workshops and helped launch a wellness initiative.

Delano Lopez

US SOCIAL STUDIES AND ENGLISH TEACHER

Please welcome Delano Lopez to the Overlake community. He has taught many subjects including Social Studies, English, and Language Arts and recently received his PhD in American History including work in Latin American and Native American history. He has taught at the high school and college levels but is excited to return to high school where his passion truly lies. One of Lopez’s favorite parts of teaching high schoolers is their sense of curiosity, empathy, and joy in learning.

Drew McGilvray TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SPECIALIST

Drew McGilvray moved north up the coast to join Overlake from most recently Southern California, where he studied computer science at California State University Northridge. A native of California, McGilvray has run the L.A. marathon six times. When not helping with everyone’s technology needs on campus, he is learning the Norwegian language.

Jerone Mitchell COMPUTER SCIENCE FACULTY

Jerone Mitchell comes to Overlake from the great state of Texas where he has spent the last decade teaching computer science and working to develop the AP Computer Science testing material. He also brings an interest in bringing diversity and inclusion work into the classroom. When he was teaching at the Episcopal School of Dallas he also served as the Diversity Coordinator and a mentor of the Black Student Union.

Mike Mullen BUS DRIVER

Mike is a new bus driver on the Transportation team and has been in and around independent schools for many years. He drives mostly sports routes and in his spare time, works for a solar company.

Tracy Prellwitz BUS DRIVER

Welcome to the Transportation team Tracy! She has been driving for Monroe schools and in her spare time loves tennis, pickleball, and camping.

McKenna Quick DEVELOPMENT AND SPECIAL EVENTS COORDINATOR

McKenna joined Overlake in October of 2021 jumping right into the school year already in motion. That hasn’t stopped her from being an integral member of the Development team this year. Her favorite memory from her first few months at Overlake was transforming the Dean Palmer Fieldhouse into the 2022 Owls Night Out venue – time to get excited about Owls Night Out 2023! She is originally from Montana and is a proud WSU grad (Go Cougs!). Next time you see her, congratulate her on a great first year at Overlake!

Ben Ramage

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES

Ben Ramage joined Overlake’s Facilities team after most recently working as a facilities manager in Seattle for Grand Central Bakery. Ramage brings his decades worth of experience working in warehouse and food manufacturing environments to the team at Overlake.

Elena Sellers

FRONT OFFICE MANAGER

Elena Sellers joined Overlake in October of 2021, jumping into a school year already underway. As a neighbor to the school, her commute rivals only that of Head Owl Matt Horvat with a 6-minute walking commute. Sellers brings an enthusiasm and warm joy to the front office and a desire to help everyone find what they are looking for. If you’ve been in the front office this past year you know what a pleasure it is to talk to her.

Strickland BUS DRIVER

Samantha is joining the Transportation team. She previously had been driving for Federal Way and Auburn schools.

Rachel Vale US MATH TEACHER/MATH DEPARTMENT CHAIR

Kristina Rey

ARTS FACULTY

A round of applause for Kristina Rey, Overlake’s newest Arts faculty. Holding her MA in Music Education from NYU, she has led musicals, taught music theory, and conducted choirs of all ages. She even spent a few years as a Performing Arts Director at The Disneyland Resort. Recently, she was a presenter at the Creative Arts Conference where she spoke on Music Education in an Innovating World: Tech Strategies for Young Learners.

Marcus Ricci

VISUAL CONTENT CREATOR

Marcus Ricci joined Overlake in December 2021 and has been helping capture the excitement on campus since then. He spends most of his time working with our co-curricular programs after school. You might find him at a baseball game or robotics competition on any given day. Ricci is a content creator who has done work for Zillow, Business Insider, and Obama for America, just to name a few places. Say hi next time you see him at an event!

Rachel stepped into the Overlake community not only as an US Math Teacher but is also filling the role of Math Department Chair, all while learning a brand-new community. With a PhD in Mathematics from Dartmouth and 15 years in the high school classroom, she has even taught at the collegiate level at Portland State University for the last few years. She is excited to return to the independent high school environment where she loves the engagement and deep connections formed in that context.

Flavia Vidal DIRECTOR OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Journeying all the way from the East Coast is Flavia Vidal. She has spent 20 years at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, most recently serving as the Director for the Brace Center for Gender Studies. In the year before joining Overlake, Vidal was a visiting scholar at the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, digging deeper into research on how schools around the country and world teach gender studies in and outside the classroom. She is excited to bring her research knowledge to Overlake’s programs.

Samantha

Chrissy Wakeling (’02)

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

A familiar face has joined the Experiential Education team. Our very own Chrissy Wakeling makes her debut as the Assistant Director of Experiential Education. Over the last year and a half Wakeling had been serving as the Middle and Upper School Coordinator expertly and calmly planning events and juggling a seemingly endless number of tasks, all with her signature smile and cool demeanor.

Djimon Wulah SUPPORT LEAD

Djimon Wulah is returning to his eastside roots, after recently graduating with a business degree from the University of Redlands. Wulah, a native of Bellevue, graduated from Bellevue High School and played football for the Wolverines. When not leading the technology support team, Wulah is studying at UW earning an MBA in Information Systems.

Milestones

Fond Farewell

Sandra Mocanita – 10 years

Chris Border – 8 years

Lou Sabino – 8 years

Andy Jackson – 8 years

Jen Pan – 9 years

Joey Pauley – 7 years

Megan Rodrigues – 4 years

Pauline Salgado – 4 years

Vrinda Tewari – 2 years

Patricia Cushing – 2 years

Jim Hamill – 1 year

Sarah Fitzpatrick, Lisa Orenstein

Margaret Lynch

Steve Mraz, Gerald Buhaly YEARS

Matt Horvat, Sandra Mocanita, Sara Baquero-Garcia Not pictured: Lance Delay, Mark Lotz, Limei Xu

Nancy Iff, Dana Len, Kevin McKenna, Jose Simonet

pictured: Leslie Conn, James Charleston

“Education is not simply a practical road to a job. Education is developing people to become more human and I think that whether it’s in the arts or in history or in science, it’s meant to provide kids the avenue to find their passions.”

GERALD BUHALY, UPPER SCHOOL HEAD

“

Exploring Educations

Liberal Arts has been used to describe the type of educational foundation upon which Overlake’s academic program is built. In this special section of The Overlaker, we uncover the many ways in which Overlake exemplifies a liberal arts education as well as veers outside that world too. We talk to folks in our community who work in our academic program each day who share their perspectives on what it means to be a liberal arts school in 2022. We also talk to an alum who has worked in two vastly different industries and yet pulls on the same skills derived from their time here.

LIBERAL ARTS AS A CONCEPT has been around since the ancient Greeks,” states Gerald Buhaly, Head of the Upper School. “The foundation of liberal arts is that you provide equal weight to all of the different academic subjects that you have in your program, whether it’s math, science, history, English, languages, arts, physical education, they have an equal emphasis in your program.”

Educating the whole student has been around since the time of the philosopher Plato, when exploration for the sake of learning and understanding was something to strive for in society in order to become a well-educated citizen. And since that time, countless evolutions in education have occurred with a host of different names including Liberal Arts, as well as International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, and more recently STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) and even STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, Math). Each of these approaches has benefits and also perhaps some misconceptions.

“I think in today’s world, the term ‘liberal’ has people think of it in a particular way, whether good or bad,” explains Buhaly. “But I also think that there’s a more profound thinking behind liberal arts, which is that people in today’s world are often very career-focused. They think of liberal arts as being a sort of program where because you are emphasizing all of the different subjects, you don’t spend enough time in maybe STEM fields where they think that their child needs to go to have a career.”

But one could argue what career doesn’t involve solving problems. Big or small, problems exist, and adults spend many hours working on solutions to these problems. That work involves communication and collaboration with your colleagues.

“None of the world’s problems are going to get resolved by simply a STEM education. You need to be able to communicate. You need to be able to know your sort of historical connections to the problems that you’re facing,” explains Buhaly.

Perhaps to no surprise is the agreement of that statement by a social studies teacher at Overlake. “I think liberal arts help students have an understanding of how society functions,” says Dave Parsons, Social Studies faculty. “They understand how we’ve got to where we are currently, with appreciation for human success and opportunities, as well as appreciation of all the challenges that have been faced and the injustices that have been in the world.”

What may be more surprising is that a long-time science teacher at Overlake also agrees. “It’s understanding the impact that whatever you’re doing has on the broader universe, whether it’s humans, animals, the environment, it all matters, and I think a liberal arts education roots any single discipline in that broader scheme,” says Lisa Orenstein, Upper School Science faculty.

“I don’t know any scientist worth their weight in gold that isn’t an effective communicator,” says Orenstein. “I mean, how else do you make your way up the ladder? You have to write in peerreviewed journals. Communication is the currency of any discipline. If you can’t communicate clearly and within a manner that’s supported by evidence, then what are you doing? You’re just working for yourself.”

I think, this is an idea lab space and not a makerspace, because we are rooted in a broader spectrum of exploration.”

LISA ORENSTEIN, UPPER SCHOOL SCIENCE

How Overlake embraces the liberal arts

“The term liberal arts doesn’t fully encapsulate what we’re doing at Overlake, because if you considered a traditional liberal arts education, it’s very likely that it does not include an experiential education component, or the sheer number and depth of our clubs program, or our wellness lessons, or DEJI (Diversity, Equity, Justice, & Inclusion) work,” says Buhaly. “There’s so much more that is a part of what we do here beyond what would be considered a traditional liberal arts school.”

“What we’ve tried to do in our Social Studies department is the combination of gaining knowledge and developing skills, like research, writing, communicating, speaking, along with an understanding of society past and present,” explains Parsons. “Then additionally, with AP economics, understanding how businesses function and with AP government, how government functions.”

Overlake offers more than a dozen Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which isn’t traditionally part of a liberal arts education and has been criticized by some in academia that AP courses promote rote memorization rather than deep understanding in a subject. “I think we’re really careful about the APs that we offer, so for instance, we do not offer, AP US history or AP Euro because they are memorization and regurgitation. They don’t have sufficient critical thinking and analysis,” explains Buhaly. “The AP courses we have aren’t necessarily the most dominant ones at our school. In other words, we have the ability to build courses that are unique and interesting now and kids have a passion for learning about. So, this year, we have the ethnic studies course. That was based upon kids really wanting to have an ethnic studies course.”

For science teacher Orenstein, her collaboration with an English teacher provides a rich, broad learning experience, emblematic of a liberal arts education.

“Nate Edmunds teaches this radical empathy class and I teach global health,” explains Orenstein. “They’re both very human focused endeavors. We have the students read a novel, that is about a pandemic and then we evaluate, talking about key principles regarding radical empathy as well as the global health elements. Then we look at all these same ideas with a real-case scenario, like the 2014 Ebola outbreak. That’s a perfect example of integrating STEM into humanities, which to me is quintessential liberal arts.”

“Liberal arts is about providing choices but also there are some fences around those choices,” explains Buhaly. “You still have to take four years of English, three years of math, three years of science, and two years of art and so on. There’s choice but there’s also some limits to that choice. I had an Upper School student yesterday that came up to me and said ‘I really love jazz band and I want to do all years of my arts in jazz band. Do I have

DAVE PARSONS, SOCIAL STUDIES

to take any other arts?’ And the answer is yes, you do. In order to graduate, you’re going to have to take at least one class in one of the other areas such as visual arts or theater because we want you to have that broad experience.”

The experiences are vast for students who spend any time in the new Idea Lab inside the Whitten Math & Sciences Center. There the sky’s the limit to what solutions can be conjured. And the room is purposely not called a makerspace, as there is more happening there than just making devices.

“I think, this is an idea lab space and not a makerspace, because we are rooted in a broader spectrum of exploration,” explains Orenstein. “We want to provide rich experiences for students to explore their passions, and to innovate whatever the case may be, whether they’re interested in economics, robotics, or engineering.”

Orenstein’s Design Thinking class, which uses the Idea Lab, is a great example of the varied types of problems these Upper Schoolers are trying to solve. “I’ve got somebody who’s doing a project on effective medical communication, in order to reach out to marginalized communities. And then someone is working on labor practices with respect to cinematographers and directors in Hollywood. So, there’s a wide spectrum. If this was a makerspace none of those projects would be going on.”

I think liberal arts help students have an understanding of how society functions.”

Exploring the IB Program

“The International Baccalaureate program was developed in order to provide children of expats with a program of study that they could continue to have and receive independent of where they were located,” explains Buhaly who has served as both a principal and teacher at several IB schools. “The diploma program has a requirement of six different subjects that every student has to take that are in five different subject areas.”

Those subject areas include stem-based disciplines, like science and math as well as humanities-based classes, such as social studies and languages. “It does follow many of the sort of concepts of liberal arts because of the breadth of what you’re required to do. You couldn’t get out of English. You couldn’t get out of social studies. You couldn’t get out of languages. You had to do that package of six courses and five subjects,” explains Buhaly.

Another veteran of IB education is social studies teacher Dave Parsons who taught history and was the IB coordinator at two schools. “IB was set up to try and provide students with a global perspective. So, every course within the IB program has to include insights into different parts of the world. For instance, in a subject like history, there are themes and you take case studies from different parts of the world.”

That global view, no matter in what style of educational program it is under, serves to enlighten a student’s perspective and understanding of the world they live in. “We want them to know about different cultures in the world. We want them to know, art, and art history,” says Parsons. “And by looking at different history in different parts of the world, you get more interest in those countries, and you have more respect for the people of those countries.”

At Overlake, diversity in the courses offered and the topics covered, like diversity in thought, provides opportunities for students to learn about subjects and ideas they may not even know they have an interest in. “We want to provide rich experiences for students to explore their passions and innovate, whether they’re interested in economics or whether they’re interested in robotics or engineering,” says Orenstein.

Helping students make the transition to college and beyond

“Overlake’s education is not accidental. If you create a schedule that makes room for all these priorities, those life experiences can happen,” says Kate Asgari, Director of College Counseling. Asgari is referring to the variety of learning objectives available to students that are beyond the core subjects, such as experiential education, wellbeing, digital citizenship, Diversity, Equity, Justice, Inclusion work (DEJI), clubs and other co-curricular endeavors. All of these topics are intentionally woven into the curriculum and serve the larger goal of preparing students to become great global citizens beyond Overlake.

“I think liberal arts in general is misunderstood. It is less about categorization and bifurcation and much more about how all these programs are coming together or jointly taught,” Asgari says. “Where an education like Overlake excels is someone seeing fewer boundaries. The ability to blend together and not see things so departmentalized, but a holistic whole.”

When students start to make these connections across department lines, they are encouraged to pursue those possibilities and explore new experiences. They can take different classes, start new clubs, try different sports, even advocate for curriculum change, all under the guidance of campus adults always advocating to build students’ agency.

As graduates return and speak about their Overlake experience, they often recall the relationships they had with campus adults that gave them the confidence to explore new things and push the bounds of their comfort zone beyond the walls of Overlake. In college, when they encounter new challenges, they also don’t shy away from asking for help and utilizing their university’s resources because that framework was laid in high school. “There’s an ease we see in graduates who go into college and know how to ask for help and seek out resources that best cultivate their own talents and interests,” says Chris Kuipers, Associate Director of College Counseling.

The Overlake experience is a special blend of choices, relationships, and opportunities that help students leave Overlake as well-rounded young adults ready to contribute to whatever community they end up joining in college and beyond.

What colleges think

When a college looks at an Overlake student, they see the culmination of a well-rounded high school experience. Our students are great writers, critical thinkers, and have explored a

KATE ASGARI, DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE COUNSELING

great deal of interests over their time at Overlake and have a sense of who they want to become.

Colleges are trying to look beyond the test scores to find out who applicants are as a person, what their values are, and how they will contribute to the college campus community. “Colleges want to know who you are and what you are bringing to their community. They want to know when this student comes here, what will their mark be?” says Asgari.

The approach to helping the student become the best version of themselves does not happen by accident. At Overlake, it comes from walking the walk of mutual respect between students and adults. Students’ voices matter and affect change. Increased emphasis on topics like well-being and Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) in the schedule, all help students expand their learning beyond parroting facts and instead are woven into the fabric of the curriculum allowing for a rich experience. Emphasis on these skills help empower students to advocate and call for changes where they see gaps.

Students have been integral in curriculum changes at Overlake for years. Just last year, several students attended a conference and saw the need for a student DEJI Associated Student Body (ASB) rep after seeing the impact it had at other schools. This

past fall that became an elected ASB position that works closely with the staff members to plan curriculum and student events. Colleges see that Overlake students are leaders and independent thinkers and know that they will bring that same spirit to their curriculum. “When they (students) go to college it never occurs to them not to behave that way. They’re practicing speaking up. Not everyone steps into college feeling agency and empowerment,” Asgari says.

Overlake is preparing students for their journey beyond Overlake. That may look like a whole host of options: four-year college, community college, gap year experiences, or internships. The College Counseling team guide students through the process of discerning their next steps beyond Overlake. Fit is the most important factor the team considers when guiding a student. They consider the student’s interests and individuality and help them find a place where they can grow and be a contributing community member.

“There are a lot of good schools where students can go to become an engineer, lawyer, doctor, teacher or whatever it may be. It’s much more for us about where you are going to be able to grow as a person, which I think it as the heart of that liberal arts value,” Kuipers says.

Where an education like Overlake excels is someone seeing fewer boundaries.”

Trying and learning

The best path forward often involves some stumbling along the way. Overlake encourages students to try all manner of activities. Some endeavors lead to a newly found passion, but some lead to discovering the activity was not something they enjoyed. However, a setback can be just as illuminating as a success. Students may try a sport or a club and realize that it’s not for them, but they were given the freedom to explore options and even to fail.

“That trial and error, bumping up against things we don’t want to do, is part of Overlake’s mission and goal,” Asgari says. She pointed out that students will be faced with lots of opportunities

to try new things and change course during college and into adulthood and Overlake helps them recognize that that’s a normal part of the human experience. “Overlake gives them the confidence to change paths. They were encouraged here to do that,” she says.

Whatever a student decides to pursue after leaving Overlake, or however many times they change course, we can be sure that students will lean on their foundation forged at Overlake.

“Our department is part of a much bigger mission of cultivating thoughtful, engaged, moral young people who are going to go off and hopefully make this world a better place,” says Kuipers.

Switching Career Paths

Scott Heiner (’10) spent most of his time at Overlake in what he calls a “laser-focused” approach in obtaining skills that would translate into a career in music. “I made an intentional choice to focus my efforts on arts and humanities (or perhaps this was simply an elaborate excuse to avoid the gauntlet of Lisa Orenstein’s science classes!),” laughs Heiner.

That focus paid off. Heiner spent the early part of his career creating music with bands like MUNA while also serving as tour manager for other bands. This life took him around the world.

Now Heiner works at a tech startup called Surge AI, which helps companies create artificial intelligence models of their data in an effort to have better data accuracy. He leads the company’s product operations team. “It’s a significant shift! There are almost no day-to-day parallels between my work as touring drummer (and tour manager) in the music industry and my work at an artificial intelligence startup. But from a broader perspective, both require an entrepreneurial mindset and a desire to build something impactful from the ground up.”

And although Heiner may have thought he was going to spend his entire career in a humanities-based profession when he was at Overlake, he learned later that the skills learned here apply anywhere. “At its core, a great English class helps students think critically about a given subject, and then articulate those thoughts for others to understand. I’ve found those skills to be invaluable in my careers in music and tech — arguably more so than any particular domain-specific knowledge.”

Regardless of either career path chosen, when asked what value a liberal arts education holds in this current world, Heiner was quick to point to the versatility of such an education. “I think it’s more important than ever, given the many global challenges we face today. We need grounded, well-intentioned, cross-disciplinary thinkers who are motivated to make a positive impact. A liberal arts education (particularly an Overlake one) gives students all the tools they need to do just that.”

CLASS NOTES

1970s

Preparations are underway for the Class of 1973’s 50th Reunion! Reach out to David Vineberg (’73) if you are interested in helping to organize.

Great to see Lizzie Peters (’75) at the celebration of the Army & Anna Fund in July.

Barbara Stanton (’76) graciously hosted a dinner celebrating the Army & Anna Fund. Among those in attendance were Bill & Anna Armstrong, Trevor Culley, Jeff Silverman (’76), Spafford Robbins (’77), Kim Robertson (’77), Christian Fulghum (’77), and Tom McNutt (’77)

Cebert Noonan (’79) is a long-time resident of New York City. We caught up over a meal at Arturo’s Italian in the West Village, and shared stories about Overlake, art, and literature.

1980s

Susan Roberts McMaster (’81) joined Alex Smith (’81) in organizing a joint reunion for the classes of 1981 and 1982 on Seafair Saturday in August. Among those in attendance were Andy Baker (’81), Doyle Douglas (’81), and Gavin Morrison (’82). Thanks to Alex and Ange Smith for hosting!

Leigh Ann Hines (’85) hosted the Class of 1985’s pandemic-delayed 35th Reunion at her beautiful home near Overlake in July. Among those attending were Gretchen Carlson Kimbell (’85), Mark Hedges (’85), Cyrina Thurman Keller (’85), Sam Keller (’84), Julie King Hately (’85), Chris Peterson (’85), and Jim Suor (’85), along with former faculty Janet Rothfels and Roger Murray.

1990s

Greg Bamford (’92) hosted his classmates Laura Graham (’92), Jennifer Mathews (’92), Shannon Ginn Robinson (’92),

Nel Sesnon (’92), plus Jason Jennings (’91) at Pomegranate in Redmond for their 30th reunion.

Congratulations to Allison Elliott Barto (’94), selected as the Distinguished Alumni Award honoree for 2022! Allison is an engineer at Ball Aerospace, where she spent 17 years working on the James Webb Space Telescope. She addressed the entire student body, faculty, and staff on November 4th.

Jessica Klein DiStefano (’95) collaborated with Barb Stanton (’76) to celebrate the success of the Army & Anna Fund with a garden party at Barbara’s home in late July. Jessica operates Hobart Family Farms Nursery in Maple Valley with her husband Ricco.

Jessica Gigot (’97) recently wrote an editorial for The Seattle Times urging policy changes designed to support more firstgeneration farmers. She also recently published her new book of prose entitled A Little Bit of Land, from Oregon State University Press.

2000s

Adam Nordin (’02) reports that his family recently moved to Los Angeles after five years in London.

Divvy founder Blake Murray (’02) announced that he is stepping down from day-to-day operations at Divvy and Bill.com to spend more time with family. He plans to get in some trout fishing and then return to an advisory role helping build great companies on the Silicon Slope in Salt Lake City.

Hilary Pentz (’02) hosted the 20th reunion of her class in her home in north Seattle in July.

Congratulations to Beckley Mason (’04) on his recent marriage. He and his wife are dividing their time between New York City and Sag Harbor. He will be co-hosting the NYC area Owl Reunion on February 1, 2023. Beckley has recently moved from sports television production to a nutritional supplements company from New Zealand called Athletic Greens.

Calla di Pietro (’08) will co-host the NYC Owl Reunion on February 1, 2023. Thank you Calla!

Alumni Board members Kate Berry (’08) and Chris Faulkner (’10) both joined in a spirited game of GOLA as part of the celebrations at our All-Alumni Reunion in July.

Special thanks to Isabel Runge (’12) for hosting the 10th Reunion of the Class of 2012 at Citizen Café in Uptown. Dean Poplawski (’12) was among those in attendance.

Congratulations to

CLASS NOTES (continued)

2010s & 2020s

Dylan Reynolds (’14) and Meike Buhaly (’15) both ended up presenting at the International Mountain Conference in Innsbruck, Austria in September.

#OverlakeOwlsareEverywhere

Congratulations to Usman Moazzam (’18), who recently completed his internship at Microsoft. He will return to Microsoft as a Software Engineer next summer.

Congratulations to both Felix Huang (’19) and Kara Cho (’20) on being among just four winners of the Charles J. Dirksen Prize awarded by the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business. The award is for highest cumulative GPA among juniors at the business school. Felix is an economics major and business analytics minor. Kara is an accounting information systems major. Go Owls!

Faculty & Staff

to celebrate and visit with former students and colleagues.

Congratulations to Jenni Baldwin on receiving an Outstanding Educator Award from the University of Chicago, thanks to Diya Mishra (’22)’s nomination.

Jean Orvis made a special trip to Seattle in October from her home in Montana for a reunion of the Overlake Voyageurs Program, which took high school students to Europe in the 1970s and 1980s.

The long and distinguished coaching and teaching career of Bob Bristol was celebrated at the first All-Alumni Reunion since 2018 in July. Many of the players who played on Bob’s championship soccer teams returned to thank him personally, and to laud his coaching. Members of Bob’s family were also in attendance, including Madison Bristol (’08). Retired Middle School Social Studies teacher Dave Bennett was on hand

Keep those stories coming; we love to hear from you!

If you have an update you would like to share, please email alumni@overlake.org.

Summer Reunions

This past summer saw us welcome a resumption of in-person reunions. We began with the All-Alumni Reunion July 23rd, where we gathered on campus to celebrate the coaching and teaching career of Bob Bristol (see details above) In addition, we offered campus tours, games for kids of all ages, a lovely BBQ from our kitchen team, and some serious rounds of a game Bob invented, namely GOLA!

In addition, the classes of 1981, 1982, 1985, 1992, 2002, 2012 gathered for milestones (and delayed milestones) in private homes and publican establishments. Many thanks to all who helped plan and host these enjoyable reunions!

If you would like to help organize your upcoming reunion for classes ending in 3 and 8, please contact alumni@overlake.org.

Fall Sports Wrap-Up

For complete season results, go to overlakeowls.com.

CROSS COUNTRY (Co-ed)

Coach

Colton Umberger (’14)

Cross Country has had a strong season, the most competitive season Coach Colton Umberger has enjoyed. This success is due in a large part to a great group of captains: Sameeksha Dangi (’23), Avena Fan (’23), Jack Kehoe (’24), Olivia Stiles (’23), Aleksy Umbers (’24), Mateo Whatley (’23), and Talia Willson (’24). The captains worked hard and led by example every day.

A special highlight of the season was the invitational in Arlington; over 75% of the team hit a new personal record that day! It was a long and very fun day for the whole team to be together. Another highlight of the season was challenging Overlake school records and seeing some fall.

The team captains are already looking forward to next year being another record-breaking year with a strong group of runners returning. “Running competitively is not an easy thing to do but like anything in life: if you put the work in, results will come,” Coach Colton Umberger said as the season came to a close. “This time of year is especially exciting because our runners get to see the progress they’ve made. It’s the time of year when all the hard work comes to fruition.”

Special congratulations to our Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams! For the first time in Overlake history, both teams qualified to go to State in the same season!

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Coach Sally Goodspeed

Girls’ soccer had a solid season, with Coach Sally Goodspeed sharing “We have persevered through a tough fall with a small but mighty team and gotten a lot of tight wins keeping us at or near the top of the league standings. During this season, the team has learned to stick together and play until the last whistle. With the challenges of the weather and smoke, the team has worked together to have a strong season record and make a playoff run.”

The team boasts five great senior leaders who have done a good job leading the team through their tough schedule and stepped up both on and off the field. The senior players will truly be missed, they are Celina Kwon, Debbie Mahler, Caroline Min, Flora Roberts, and Siena Verprauskus. Looking ahead, there is room for more players, and Goodspeed hopes more players turn out next year and beyond.

Congratulations to the team for earning a spot in the State Tournament!

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

Coach Mindy McGrath

Girls’ Volleyball has had a winning season and has also seen tremendous leadership from their senior captains: Sydney Martin, Sanaya Mundra, Ryma Patil, and Clara Sun. The captains created an inclusive environment and truly united the team. This year the team battled illness more than past seasons and that gave them some challenging adversity to rise above. Through all that, the team supported and cared about each other and it was wonderful to see them dominate when they were all able to play together. Coach Mindy McGrath shared her appreciation of her team, “I’m so proud of all the students in our volleyball program. They show up and give so much time and energy and I hope they get as much joy and fulfillment out of the opportunity as I do.” Through adversity and success, the team always manages to make the most of opportunities and have a good time sharing the sport they love.

BOYS’ GOLF

Coach Justin Prohn

Smoke, smoke, and more smoke! While the smoky skies cancelled so many practices and matches, the Boys’ Golf team made the most of the opportunities they were given. Captains Ethan Haight (’23) and Zubin Sannakkayala (’23) provided team leadership and everyone on the team appreciated being able to play at Bear Creek Country Club.

“Golf is such a mental game and the ability to move past certain things is a great life skill.” observed Coach Justin Prohn, “I also think the leadership that has been demonstrated by our senior captains is something that will be a take-away for our players. Like many of the golfers before them, they have carried on our golf culture in a very respectable and encouraging way.” Highlights from this season include having the four top golfers on the team all qualify in the first two matches of the season as well as seeing growth and improvement from the 5th and 6th golfers. As this season ends, Prohn sees a bright future for the team, “I’m excited to see what we can do in the spring come playoff time. We have a great opportunity to send four golfers to state, so I’m excited to see how they practice and challenge themselves over the winter and early spring in preparing for the playoff opportunities.”

BOYS’ ULTIMATE Coach John

Quandt

While the Boys’ Ultimate team struggled to find victory on the field, they found great success in building team spirit and community. Coach John Quandt shared that, “The attitude and chemistry of this team is the best it’s ever been in the years I’ve been a coach here.” Quandt gave special credit to strong team captains John Boland (’24) and Kai Brown (’23). The captains offered the entire team leadership, encouragement and created a positive team culture. Another unique feature of this season was that there were exactly seven senior players. Since there are seven players on the field at any given time, the seniors were able to improve and play their best ultimate together as the season progressed. Looking forward, Quandt plans to build for a strong season next year, focusing on fundamentals and mental toughness.

Special congratulations to our Emerald Sound Conference Tournament qualifiers who will compete in May for District honors and the chance to go on to State: Ethan Haight ’23, Zach Huang ’26, Amir Samji ’26, Zubin Sannakkayala ’23, and Cody Wattendorf ’25.

BOYS’ TENNIS

Coach Jeff Loranger

Boys’ Tennis achieved an undefeated season in what is believed to be the toughest league for Boys 1A tennis and led the league with 46 individual wins. The team of 13 included 6 freshmen who rose up to hold key positions in the lineup. Coach Jeff Loranger appreciated how the team came together, “I hope that the players take away the team involvement we try to teach within our program in an individualized sport. Not only do we want each of them to improve on their own game of tennis, but they can push each other to be better and raise the level of the team.” The leadership of the team captains, Hudson Im (’23) and Luca Mevawalla (’23), was also meaningful as the season progressed. One highlight for the team was when they traveled to and beat Kamiak High School, a 4A team, in a non-league match. It came down to the final match and all the other teammates were sitting on the next court over cheering the final doubles team on to victory. Every player on the team contributed to the overall success

and the future looks bright. While the four graduating seniors will be missed, next year’s returning players will continue to lead the team environment, culture, and add to the success the team has achieved.

EMERALD SOUND CONFERENCE

Fall Sports All-Conference Honors

BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRY

ALL CONFERENCE

Keith Hunter (’24)

John Kehoe (’24)

Aleksy Umbers (’23)

Mateo Whatley (’23)

BOYS’ GOLF

COACH OF THE YEAR

Justin Prohn

BOYS’ TENNIS

COACH OF THE YEAR

Jeff Loranger

DOUBLES

Hudson Im (’23)

Luca Mevawalla (’23)

Alexander Tsilas (’25) Avery Vail (’24)

SINGLES

Rishi Sanyal (’26) Henry Zhu (’26)

BOYS’ ULTIMATE Team Sportsmanship Award

GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY Team Sportsmanship Award

COACH OF THE YEAR

Colton Umberger

ALL-CONFERENCE

Avani Bansal (’25)

Sameeksha Dangi (’23) Sarah Guralnick (’24) Sae Komatsu (’26) Talia Willson (’24)

GIRLS’ SOCCER

COACH OF THE YEAR

Sally Goodspeed

ALL-CONFERENCE MVP

Sienna Verprauskus (’23)

ALL-CONFERENCE

Audrey Gruben (’25), goalkeeper

Celina Kwon (’23), midfielder

Caroline Min (’23), midfielder

Sienna Verprauskus (’23), defender

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

FIRST TEAM

Ryma Patil (’23), libero

SECOND TEAM

Sydney Martin (’23), outside hitter

Clara Sun (’23), setter

HONORABLE MENTION

Carolyn Davis (’24), middle blocker

Winter Season Preview

Girls’ Basketball

Overlake is excited to welcome Coach Rick Nelson to our Girls’ Basketball program. Nelson brings a wealth of experience from his time playing basketball internationally as well as over 20 years coaching in the AAU world. He has enthusiastically taken up his new role, leading unofficial practices over the summer with significant team participation.

Nelson noted that most of the team is returning from last year and are committed to leading this new group this season. Nelson is positive about the upcoming season. “I believe in setting strong and obtainable goals. Our goal is absolutely to compete for the conference championship and build upon the first-round finish from the state tournament last year. We want to establish Overlake as a force to be reckoned with from day one. Our girls are focused, excited, and ready to make this a season to remember.”

With nine Home games on the schedule there is ample opportunity to come to Overlake and cheer on the team and their new coach. “I would simply say it is a true honor to be leading such a strong, focused team”, shared Nelson. “We are super excited to get on the court and we appreciate all the support from our faculty, parents, and student body. We are looking forward to seeing all in the stands.”

Boys’ Basketball

Don’t miss out as Boys’ Basketball looks to have another exciting and entertaining year on the court. “Our goal is to play with great pace on both ends of the floor and get out in transition and run,” shares Coach David Bigelow. “It will be a fun brand of basketball to both play and watch.”

The set schedule has ten Home games, so ample opportunity to cheer on our Owls. The schedule includes some great non-league games this year against the likes of Lakeside, Blanchet, Sammamish, and other larger schools in the area with good basketball programs.

Bigelow has big goals for the team this year. “Our goal is to be playing our best basketball of the year in the Yakima SunDome for the State Tournament. We obviously hope to take home the big gold ball. That’s a realistic goal for the group we have this year.” Bigelow encourages everyone to come be part of the fun and excitement. “We really appreciate the support of the Overlake community and a packed, loud gym would be awesome for our guys to play in front of throughout this season!”

20301 NE 108th Street Redmond, WA 98053-7499

SAVE THE DATE! Saturday, March 11, 2023 6:30pm • Sparkman Cellars Winery, Woodinville

Join us for a festive evening to celebrate our wonderful community. It’s the party of the year and everyone is welcome! (AGES 21+) overlake.org/owlsnight