Winter 2015 PALLIUM

PALLIUM THE MAGAZINE OF

CANTERBURY SCHOOL VOL. 31, NO. 2

PALLIUM Vol. 31, No. 2

2015

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Headmaster’s Letter: On Leadership

By Thomas J. Sheehy III

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Attitude of Gratitude Canterbury thanks it Leadership Donors with a dinner in Manhattan Photo essay

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Creating Leaders This year, Canterbury partnered with SportsChallenge Leadership Academy to train it student leaders. Lindsay Mulhern, Director of Residential Life, coordinated the program and interviewed four Sixth Formers to gauge the effects of this and other leadership programs on their lives.

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Recipe for Success

By Marc Vanasse ’73 Juan Camilo ’03 is the founder of Dyckman Beer Co., NYC’s only Latino-owned brewery. The self-taught brewmaster has big plans for the company.

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Staying Lean

By Marc Vanasse ’73 Since purchasing a diet food store in 2006, Andrew Eckhardt ’01 has impressively expanded his enterprise. Through trial and error, he has learned how to keep his customers loyal to his brands and run his business as lean as those who buy his products.

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Campus Life News of the School and photos

Mark Your Calendar Honor Society Dinner May 11 Athletic Dinner May 20 Academic Awards Assembly May 21 Graduation Day May 22 (Friday) Centennial Reunion 2015 June 12-14

Canterbury School, founded in 1915 by Roman Catholic laymen, is a coeducational, boarding and day school of approximately 355 students, grades 9-12. The Roman Catholic commitment of the School remains central.

Canterbury School is a non-profit institution that seeks and admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, and does not discriminate in the administration of its programs and policies.

The Canterbury Observer is a regular feature of the Pallium. It is a forum for any and all alumni, faculty, and friends of Canterbury to share their thoughts and interests. Views do not necessarily express the philosophy of Canterbury School.

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To Know the Road Ahead

By Wright Danenbarger, English Department Co-Chair Reid Wyatt, Canterbury’s Mandarin teacher, took many steps to find his way to the school on the hill.

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The Canterbury Observer

By Aleka Woods ’08 Likening life to Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Aleka talks to Fifth Formers about her journey from shy Fourth Former to school leader to international service volunteer.

Editor, Photographer, Designer: Marc Vanasse ’73

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James P. Shea, a Good School Man, Dies In Senior Master JP Mandler’s eulogy of Jim Shea, he recalls Jim the history teacher, story teller, family man, and Red Sox fan. Additional tributes honor Jim.

How to Reach Us

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Centennial Reunion Weekend The schedule of events

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Class Notes News, photos, and more

On the cover: Sixth Formers and Sheehan House residents Will Meyer, Tyler Donaghy, and Alec Astorga in the dorm’s newly renovated common room.

Cover photo: Tim Lee Photography

The Pallium encourages its readers to communicate with the School.

Mail: Pallium Editor, Canterbury School, 101 Aspetuck Avenue, New Milford, CT 06776 E-Mail: pallium@cbury.org Fax: (available 24 hours a day): 860-350-4425 Call: 860-210-3800 (Switchboard), 1-800-526-1710 www.cbury.org

MARC VANASSE ’73

LETTER FROM THE HEADMASTER

Dear Members of the Canterbury Family,

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anterbury “sees all students as individuals, encourages them as necessary, challenges them as appropriate, and inspires them to become moral leaders in a complex, secular world.”

This sentence from Canterbury’s mission statement reveals the importance of leadership in our community. Leadership is a theme that runs through this issue of the PALLIUM. Canterbury’s founders established a boarding school run by Roman Catholic laymen to ground boys in their faith while educating them for admission to the nation’s top colleges and universities. While a revolutionary venture in 1915, Canterbury’s early mission has endured for 100 years and launched the leadership careers of many graduates. From its earliest days to the present, Canterbury’s graduates have led the way in literature, business, law, public and military service, and more.

Leadership’s companion is courage. Our student leaders at Canterbury – Sacristans, proctors, team captains, club presidents, and more – step up despite their anxieties. Thus strengthened, they moved on to leadership positions beyond Canterbury, whether building a business from scratch, pursuing physical challenges, or serving their country.

Canterbury’s pioneering female students of the early 1970s were daring leaders. They bravely joined a male-dominated community and helped create today’s strong coeducational school and the many key leadership opportunities for our girls.

Canterbury continues to thrive because a growing number of graduates, parents, and friends lead by putting their treasure where their hearts are. In January, we honored and thanked our leadership donors with a dinner in Manhattan. (See page 2.) Their generosity has enabled us to accomplish so much in the recent past and gives us confidence in a vibrant future.

Successful entrepreneurs Juan Camilo ‘03 (see page 12) and Andrew Eckhardt ‘01 (see page 16), embody the courage and hard work that drive business success. Our dedicated leaders on the Board of Trustees have provided the resources to beautify our campus.

An example of these projects is the newly renovated Sheehan House Common Room, featured on this issue’s cover.

Leadership is an integral part of a Canterbury education. In the fall, we hired SportsChallenge Leadership Academy to train our student leaders to be more effective in their roles.

Interviews by Lindsay Mulhern, Director of Residential Life, with four of our student leaders focus on how that and other programs have affected their lives. (See page 8.)

Recently, Ray Hadden, a member of our kitchen staff and a Special Olympics Ambassador and athlete, received The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Award for Outstanding Athlete. (See page 21.) A great role model and leader, Ray also serves as a Sargent Shriver Global Messenger.

In 1994, the School inaugurated the Canterbury Medal to honor our trustees, graduates, and faculty who were leaders on the Board, generous benefactors, and long-term faculty members who served the School with distinction. We selected these leaders because of their steadfast and loyal commitment to the School.

Canterbury’s history is rich with leaders who have accomplished much in many different areas. As we embark on our centennial year, we will have ample opportunities to honor and acknowledge the importance that leadership has played in our wonderful community.

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ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE Canterbury thanks its Leadership Donors with a dinner in Manhattan

Seated, l-r: Lauren Steers, Kevin Cox, Elaine Cox, Carol Morgan. Standing, l-r: Andre Sieh ’85, Board President Bob Steers ’71, Mike Steele ’75, Ron Morgan ’83.

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“Canterbury’s mission is to make its young people stronger students, more ethical individuals, better athletes, and great leaders.

The School is important, and it deserves to thrive.

Based on your support, Canterbury’s future is brighter than ever.”

–Bob Steers ’71 Board President Trustee Emeritus Donn Dolce ’63, Meghan Egan, Tom Egan ’99.

Ken Mard ’99, Allyson Mard, Michelle Bambino (Director of Marketing and Communications), Trustee Nick Ragland ’88.

Bob Steers ’71, Board President.

Patricia Sordoni Rasmussen ’92 and Lou Mandler (Academic Dean).

Fr. Sebastian Leonard, O.S.B. and former Trustee Cashie Egan.

Lawrence and Marcia Biondi, parents of Aaliyah ’18.

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“Canterbury is so strong because of the generosity and commitment of our Trustees, graduates, and current and past parents who believe in our mission and our vision. I thank you.”

–Tom Sheehy Headmaster Lisa Moisan, Christine Steiner, and Sue Sheehy.

Headmaster Tom Sheehy.

Seated, l-r: Patricia Sordoni Rasmussen ’92, Kevin Duffy ’91. Standing, l-r: Meg Maloney Williams ’93, Rob Maloney ’95, Trustee Nicole D’Amour Schneider ’93.

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Lauren Steers and Henry Garcia ’15.

“We honor tonight the supporters of Canterbury’s mission. We ask God to bless them and their families, now and in the future.

Generations of our students will continue to praise them and be grateful, as we are tonight.”

–Fr. Sebastian Leonard, O.S.B. Chaplain Trustee Dan Kaiser, Kathleen Kaiser, parents of Christian ’18, Bob Steers ’71.

Donn Dolce ’63, Betsy Sheehy, Judy Higgins, widow of William Higgins ’53.

Dick Hanley ’64, Tom Sheehy, former Trustee Gerry Smith ’64.

Fr. Sebastian Leonard, O.S.B.

John Reilly ’96, Molly Sheehy Reilly ’98, Laura Mitchell, Kevin Mitchell.

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Bill Steers ’75, Betsy Sheehy, Charlie Steers ’69.

Carol Morgan and son Ron Morgan ’83.

Seated, Trustee Mike Carretta ’71, Sandy Behan (faculty member), former Trustee Brock Saxe ’58. Standing, l-r: Trustee John Donovan ’59, Barbara Saxe, Anne Carretta, Dana Donovan.

Jessica Wait Jennings, Joan Wait, widow of Kevin Wait ’47.

Canterbury Medal recipients, l-r: Brock Saxe ’58, Jim Briggs ’56, John Duffy ’59, John Donovan ’59, John O’Neill ’57, Donn Dolce ’63.

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–Henry Garcia ’15

ALL PHOTO BY NYC EVENTS, LTD.

Trustee Tom Morris ’85, Trustee Dorothy Alpert ’78, Trustee Nell Lennon Williams ’81, Mary Ellen Brademas.

“Without Canterbury, I don’t know where I would be today, certainly not the Student Body President of a great community.

The School will always be with me, as will the encouragement of all of you here tonight, who have helped support so many Canterbury students.”

Steve Finley ’64, Trustee Jim Briggs ’56, Carlton Tucker ’73.

Henry Garcia ’15.

“Canterbury adds values to the students entrusted to us. Our goal is for each graduate to be an educated individual of character and ethics, ready to take on the challenges of the future. I can’t think of a better way to spend one’s treasure than on such a worthy goal.” –Tom Sheehy 7

Creating Leaders This year, Canterbury partnered with SportsChallenge Leadership Academy to train our student leaders. Lindsay Mulhern, Director of Residential Life, coordinated the program and interviewed four Sixth Formers to gauge the effects of this and other leadership programs on their lives.

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ncouraged by Headmaster Tom Sheehy in September 2014, the faculty embarked on a journey to provide dorm proctors, Sacristans, student government officers, team captains, and day student proctors with the knowledge and skills to lead their peers in effective and meaningful ways.

Dorm proctors returned early from summer vacation to receive training organized by Lindsay Mulhern, Director of Residential Life. To establish a cohesive dorm culture, she and dorm parents engaged students in social, ethical, and medical training. Other student 8

leaders, including Sacristans, student government officers, and day student proctors were involved in other leadership programs.

To supplement the School’s efforts to train its student leaders, Canterbury partnered with SportsChallenge Leadership Academy (SCLA), a Washington, D.C. nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower the next generation of leaders through yearlong programs and workshops.

SCLA visited campus in September 2014 and in January 2015. A final session will take place in May 2015. Pam Herath, SCLA Director

of Programming & Workshop/ NCLI Facilitator, worked with our student leaders on their leadership styles and on how to implement what they had learned into their daily lives.

In an additional innitiative, Paddy McCarthy ’94, Associate Director of Athletics, formed the Captains Club.

This group offers team captains a voice in the leadership culture of the School.

For several years, Science Chair Sandy Behan has inculcated these skills in the peer counseling program and the Women of Canterbury organization.

What did you take away from the SportsChallenge workshops?

“I liked the workshops. I loved Pam’s explanation of the “tankfiller” image, in which she explained the different ways that a person’s tank can be empty. It definitely made me more aware of my responsibilities as a captain. At squash practice this year, instead of just critiquing my teammates, I would also offer words of encouragement. In addition, I liked learning what kind of leader I am and understanding that leaders are not born, they are made. It was also helpful to think about the levels of communication skills that we need as captains. I learned to think about what our coaches and teammates need from us.”

Alanis Perez ’15 Carter House Proctor, Sacristan, Lead Admission Ambassador, Women of Canterbury officer, Varsity Cross Country, Squash, and Track and Field captain.

Define your leadership style.

“I’m a vocal leader. I use my words to lead by example. For instance, as a captain, I will first demonstrate a technique and then explain it. I definitely lead by demonstrating and vocalizing my thoughts.”

What did you learn during your proctor training?

“I learned how to deal with many hypothetical situations in the dorm.

For example, I learned how to help students who have broken a rule or are struggling with fitting in or feeling homesick.”

What leadership skills did you practice during your Sacristan training this year?

“Being a Sacristan is about being a spiritual leader for the School.

Our job is a big responsibility. We assist with organizing and running retreats and help students become comfortable with their views on religion and their opinions in general.”

How has Canterbury helped you become a more effective leader?

“Canterbury has given me the opportunity to work with so many different groups of people. For example, Women of Canterbury, peer counseling, and my sports teams. It is much easier to be a leader when you have the skills necessary to lead effectively. I know myself better now, and I am more comfortable with helping others become what they aspire to be because of my increasing self-knowledge.”

“SportsChallenge was one of the best workshops in which I have participated.

SportsChallenge helped me become a better leader by helping me find my leadership style and helped me reveal to others what kind of leader I am.”

–Shane Sellar ’15

Has your experience as a leader at Canterbury prompted you to consider any particular paths in college or perhaps a future career?

“I want to continue to play sports in college, and I think my experiences at Canterbury will allow me to contribute to a team in a positive way. I know I’m not going to be a captain in my freshman year, but I think I will feel comfortable bringing my ideas to the captain to help build teamwork. Through this program, I have addressed the social, spiritual, athletic aspects of my life. I’m prepared, and I am ready to go.”

Shane Seller ’15 Sacristan, Havemeyer House Proctor, Lead Admission Ambassador, Varsity Ice Hockey captain Define your leadership style?

“Leadership styles are different for each person. For me, I lead by example. I am not the leader who always yells and is assertive.

I tend to go with the flow and do everything to the best of my ability to encourage my schoolmates and teammates to follow my lead.”

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What did you learn during your proctor training?

“My proctor training taught me that as a teen it is hard to be a leader, especially when you are charged with leading your peers. The most important concept the training taught me is that you should always listen to a student’s story and then help them resolve their problem.”

What did you learn about leadership in your Captains Council training?

“In my Captains Council training, I learned about the ‘gas tank’ concept. When you come to the rink everyday, as a captain, you need to read your teammates and gauge where they are in terms of their energy level. Did they have a rough day? Did they fail a test?

I learned that at a practice I need to quickly ascertain whether to approach a teammate or leave them alone. Also, a captain needs to relay this information to his or her coach so the coach can plan practice accordingly.”

How did SportsChallenge help you to become a better leader?

“SportsChallenge was one of the best workshops I have attended.

SportsChallenge made me a better leader by helping me find my leadership style. It taught me to consider a wide variety of possible difficult scenarios before they happen and determine how I should react.”

How has Canterbury helped you to become a more effective leader?

“I believe Canterbury has helped me become a better leader.

Before completing the training,

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I would have never ventured out of my comfort zone to lead my peers. Now, I jump at every chance to take charge. Canterbury has opened many doors to leadership for me because of all the opportunities that the School offers. Also, faculty members talk to us about leading our peers, and they are always willing to help us improve our skills.”

Has your experience as a leader at Canterbury prompted you to consider any particular paths in college or perhaps a future career?

“I am very well prepared for the future. Being a leader doesn’t always mean that you have to have a title. Thanks to Canterbury, I know that under any circumstance I can lead a group.”

Delores Nwokeafor-Laz ’15 South House Proctor, Lead Admission Ambassador, Women of Canterbury officer, Varsity Basketball and Varisty Tennis captain.

Define your leadership style.

“I am an encouraging leader.

I’m not a tough love leader.

Encouragement is more my style.”

What did you learn during your proctor training?

“I learned that I am not alone. In the winter, when we worked with

the other dorms, it was eye opening to hear other students’ experiences.

Whatever the issue, talking through problems with other proctors was empowering.”

Explain what skills you have learned in Peer Counseling and Women of Canterbury.

“I learned how to be comfortable talking in front of my peers about a variety of issues. We discussed topics that arise at Canterbury and will arise in college.”

What did you learn from the SportsChallenge workshops?

“One of the major things I learned is that there are many leadership styles. We took a leadership test to determine what kind of a leader we are. I think it was important to realize that simply because we lead one way doesn’t mean that is the only way. I also learned that we need a little of each style to be an effective leader. I loved the listening exercises. I realized how often we interrupt without realizing it. I learned I need to listen to what people are saying and acknowledge them before I offer my input.”

How has Canterbury helped you become a more effective leader?

“I think that working with Pam, the SportsChallenge facilitator, was very helpful. She taught us that there are many different ways to deal with difficult situations.”

Has your experience as a leader at Canterbury prompted you to consider any particular paths in college or perhaps your future career?

“This year, I have done a lot of speaking at school meetings and with peer counselors. In the real world, I will have to be assertive when I speak. I have learned not to look down when I speak. I now feel comfortable expressing my opinions.”

“It is much easier to be a leader when you have the skills necessary to lead effectively. I know myself now, and I am more comfortable with helping others become what they aspire to be because I know who I am.”

–Alanis Perez ’15

“I feel that I am very well prepared for the future.

Canterbury has shaped the person I am today by teaching me to be an effective leader and how to be independent.

I feel more prepared and confident for future challenges as I continue my academic career.”

–Delores Nwokeafor-Laz ’15

Being a proctor has forced me to speak in front of people, and I have decided to take a motivational speaking course in college. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed public speaking until I came to Canterbury.

Harry Staley’15

–Harry Staley ’15

Sheehan House Proctor, winter pep rally emcee, lead in spring musical.

How would you describe your leadership style?

“I’m a very blunt leader.”

What did you learn during your proctor training?

“I learned how to react in difficult situations, such as if you come across one of your peers breaking dorm rules. I have not encountered that this year, but I think I am well prepared to handle such a situation were it to happen.”

What did you take away from the SportsChallenge workshops?

“I loved SportsChallenge. Pam’s passion for the workshops made me want to step up on my sports teams and in my other leadership roles and take the initiative to get things going. The energy she brought made us want to have her high energy level in everything we do.”

How has Canterbury helped you to become a more effective leader?

“Canterbury gives its students many different opportunities to be a leader. For example, I had a leading role in last year’s spring musical.”

Have you applied your leadership skills outside of Canterbury?

“Definitely. During school vacations, I work at the Mystic Aquarium, and I have used my leadership skills when interacting with visitors and in other areas of my job. I honestly feel I will use the leadership skills I have learned at Canterbury for the rest of my life.”

Has your experience as a leader at Canterbury prompted you to consider any particular paths in college or perhaps a future career?

“For sure. Being a proctor has forced me to speak in front of people, and I have decided to take a motivational speaking course in college. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed public speaking until I came to Canterbury. I auditioned for and landed a major role in the spring musical and started putting myself in situations outside my comfort zone.”

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RECIPE FOR SUCCESS Juan Camilo ’03 is the founder of Dyckman Beer Co., NYC’s only Latino-owned brewery. The self-taught brewmaster has big plans for the company.

By Marc Vanasse ’73

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COURTESY JUAN CAMILO

“My mom knew what was best for me, and she wanted me to go to an independent school. I remember sleeping over in one of the dorms and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world. My Canterbury experience was a time for me to grow and get to know myself.”

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COURTESY JUAN CAMILO

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n a cold, windy day in early March, Juan Camilo ’03 picked me up in his white Dyckman Beer Co. van at Grand Central Terminal.

Numerous full kegs of beer and an assortment of supplies ready for delivery later in the day filled the back of the vehicle. He was running a bit late because of Saturday morning traffic, but his spirits were high. He greeted me warmly, and I settled into the front seat for the short trip to Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where the two of us would share a great meal at Jeepney, one of the only restaurants in the city serving Filipino food.

It’s no accident Juan chose this establishment; it serves his beer on tap. A quick glance at the bar reveals that Jeepney’s patrons are drinking a Dyckman Beer pilsner.

Savoring my spicy hamburger, a specialty of the house, I pepper Juan with questions about his journey from Canterbury to Bryant College to the investment banking world to beer enthusiast-turnedentrepreneur.

Juan tells me that in 2010 he started creating his own beer recipes with a home brewing kit while employed as an associate with RBC Capital Markets, a Canadian investment bank and part of the Royal Bank of Canada.

“I took a hobby, brewing beer for fun, and made a business out of it,” says Juan. Thus, Dyckman Beer Co. was born in December 2012, using his own money and later a $50,000 operating capital loan from the federal government. In June 2013, Juan released his first beer, a

A product shot of Dyckman Beer Co.’s pilsner.

pilsner, available on tap and in bottles. The quick success of Dyckman Beer Co. forced him to quit his job at RBC sixth months after the debut of his first product to devote his full time and energy on growing his business. “I wasn’t scared of failing because there were reorders coming in,” says Juan.

Today, Dyckman Beer Co. is New York City’s only Latino-owned beer brewing company.

The conversation drifted to his years at Canterbury and the influence the School had on

his path to success. “I came to Canterbury through the ABC (A Better Chance) program,” recounts Juan. “My mom knew what was best for me, and she wanted me to go to an independent school.

I remember sleeping over in one of the dorms and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world.

My Canterbury experience was a time for me to grow and get to know myself.”

Perhaps the first glimmer of his leadership skills came when his Third Form peers voted him their

“Right now I’m nowhere,” says Juan of his business.

“There’s so much room for the business to grow.”

So what’s his plan?

Form president. During his four years at the School, he volunteered as a tour guide and was a member of Men of Canterbury. He played football, basketball, and baseball.

For his first two years, he lived in Carmody House with dorm parents Chris and Cara Hyson and Rob and Cammy Roffe. He spent his Fifth and Sixth Form years in Havemeyer with dorm parents Corey and Jen Chandler ’84, and Diane ’91 and Neil Haggard. “The Roffes were great and I really enjoyed Mrs. Roffe as a teacher,” says Juan. “For me, it was all about my growth.

Canterbury made me more mature.

I learned time management and how to be independent.”

After graduating from Canterbury, Juan matriculated at Bryant College, earning a degree in Finance and Legal Studies. Five weeks after completing his degree, he landed a job as an analyst with Credit Suisse, where he stayed for three years. He then joined RBC, where he worked for another three years. Working full time for RBC and spending his limited spare time attending alone to the responsibilities of a growing business ultimately forced him to resign from RBC. It’s a decision he’s never regretted.

According to a write up in Bryant College’s alumni magazine, Juan’s goal was to create premium beers that are a source of great pride for Uptown and its surrounding communities, and are a nod to his Latino heritage. “I want to incorporate my culture into my beers,” says Juan. “That’s my niche.

No one is doing anything like this.”

for six additional beers to the government for approval. (The process takes six months.)

Currently, Dyckman Beer Co. employs two drivers and two fulltime salesmen. Juan hopes to add two additional salesmen this year.

The company has 140 domestic accounts, 22 in the Dominican Republic, and sells its beer in all five boroughs, including in nearly 100 bodegas, bars, lounges, and grocery stores. Juan tells me that the business has a huge social media following on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

“Right now I’m nowhere,” says Juan of his business. “There’s so much room for the business to grow.” So what’s his plan? “Right now it’s all about the four seasonals we’re rolling out soon, working on securing a location for a brewing facility, and expanding our distribution footprint,” says Juan.

On a side note, Juan’s bottle labels are printed by DWS Printing Associates of Deer Park, NY, where Andy Staib ’86 is vice president.

DWS has been in the Staib family for four generations.

At the close of our lunch, I asked Juan what advice he would give to other young entrepreneurs?

Without hesitation, he said, “Have a plan and trust your gut.” He adds, “All of this has been very stressful, but when I see people drinking my beer and when I receive e-mails from people telling me how much they enjoy the brews and ask when new ones are coming out, that makes all the hard work rewarding.”

MARC VANASSE ’73

“I want to incorporate my culture into my beers,” says Juan. “That’s my niche. No one is doing anything like this.”

A Dyckman Brew tap handle at Jeepney Restaurant on Manhattan’s lower east side.

He was born in the Dominican Republic, moved to New York City at age 5, and was raised by his single mother in the Bronx and Washington Heights.

What distinguishes Juan’s beers from his competitors’ brews is that his original recipes are infused with flavors of his heritage and neighborhood. At the moment, Juan’s three beers in distribution include a pilsner; E’poca, a saison (pale ale); and a Belgian-style Triple. They are brewed at a facility in Bloomfield, CT. The pilsner is cool fermented and aged for six weeks to create a balanced flavor that is smooth, rich, and citrusy.

The E’poca combines rustic flavor with refreshing tartness of chinola.

The Belgian-style Highbridge Summer Ale is infused with ripened cerezas (cherries) and a hint of mint. The ale is fermented in wine barrels to add a subtle complexity.

His beers are brewed in 40-barrel systems, relatively small quantities and not enough to fulfill orders he’s received after impressive media attention from the likes of Fox Business News, Fox News, Fox Latino, CNN, and CNN Española.

He has recently submitted recipes

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STAYING LEAN Since purchasing a diet food store in 2006, Andrew Eckhardt ’01 has impressively expanded his enterprise. Through trial and error, he has learned how to keep his customers loyal to his brands and run his business as lean as those who buy his products.

By Marc Vanasse ’73

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ou could say that Andrew Eckhardt ’01 was born with business in his blood. While attending Babson College to earn a degree in Business Management with a concentration in Finance and Investments, Andrew was already trading stocks. His interest in the world of business was also influenced by his father, who supported his family by working as a discretionary treasury bond and foreign exchange trader. However, upon graduating from Babson, Andrew had not landed a job in his field, so he spent the next nine months “looking for something to get involved in.” His focus was not on finding a finance job but rather on acquiring his own business. After nearly a year of unsuccessfully searching for the right opportunity, he realized he needed to take action and instead find employment for which his college diploma had prepared him.

Andrew found an operations job (cash reconciliation) at Bridgewater Associates, a large, highly successful hedge fund, located in Westport, CT, that manages approximately $169 billion in global investments for a wide array of institutional clients, including foreign governments, central banks, corporate and public pension funds, university endowments, and charitable foundations.

“Working for Bridgewater Associates was instrumental for me because it taught me to work efficiently and to work well with people,” says Andrew. “They had a great culture of open and direct relationships and feedback.”

It was while working for Bridgewater Associates that Andrew bought his first business, Linda’s Diet Delites, a bricks and mortar store that specialized in selling diet foods. Located in Clark, NJ, the business had downsized from having multiple franchise stores to only one. “There was almost nothing on the shelves, but there was a lot of good will in the name,” says Andrew.

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MARC VANASSE ’73

“I paid about ten times too much for it as it wasn’t doing as well as I was told. It was a great lesson to learn while I was still young.”

While working for three years for Bridgewater Associates, Andrew returned to New Jersey on the weekends to attend to Linda’s Diet Delites. Linda, the wife of the previous owner, had stayed on to run the day-to-day operations and do a bit of product purchasing, but it was necessary for Andrew to check in and handle all additional responsibilities on weekends.

One of Andrew’s first priorities was to develop a website for the business. Initially, between the store and the website Andrew admits that the business was doing poorly. “The Atkins craze was fading, and so early on the business experienced a dark period, and I was really scrambling to keep things afloat.”

After his time at Bridgewater Associates, Andrew went to work for PartnerRe, a multi-national reinsurance company with an office in Greenwich, CT. While working as a project manager, he continued to split his time between his full time job and his “weekend business.” Once the website for Linda’s Diet Delites was optimized and the marketing strategy started to kick in, business took off. “Although website orders were coming in, the site still wasn’t enough to keep the business going. It was just enough to make the website annoying, because I had to ship orders, answer customer e-mails, and fulfill orders on the weekends. I was a oneman show at the time who did on-line marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and product tweaking to keep our offerings appealing to customers.”

Fortunately, with continued marketing and product changes, the website continued to grow. As an on-line business, Linda’s Diet Delites became the go-to East Coast perishable food outlet for low-carb items and some diet food on both Linda’s Diet Delites and Amazon.

“We succeeded on-line because we sold items you couldn’t buy 18

Products featured on Lindadietdelites.com

anywhere else,” says Andrew. The business began to grow rapidly because Andrew was also selling his products through Amazon and shipping the orders himself.

To accommodate the growth of the company, Andrew leased a 3,000-sq.ft. retail building next to Linda’s Diet Delites’ bricks and mortar location. Once that space became too small, he added a large warehouse to store the huge inventory he needed to fulfill the high number of items he was offering on Linda’s Diet Delites and Amazon.

Then Andrew had an ah-ha moment: “If I was going to have long-term success, I needed to sell my own brand of products.

My revenue was increasing very quickly, but my profit was not. I realized I was selling other people’s stuff and that I was competing with people who were selling the same products from the same manufacturers.” To make matters worse, once Amazon realized Andrew’s products were selling so well, they purchased items from the same manufacturer and sold the items for much less, essentially boxing out Andrew.

Out of his need to create his own products was born Andrew’s next business, ThinSlim Foods.

Soon, Andrew started working with one of his bakers to manufacture diet food items that contained all of the ingredients and nutritionals he wished his products to have. That meant higher quality ingredients, more accurate nutritional labeling, and better nutritionals than his competitors or competing products.

His next marketing push was to continue to serve his Linda’s Diet Delites customers while educating them and new customers about

the benefits of the new brand, ThinSlim Foods.

Who is Andrew’s typical buyer?

“My core customer base is a mix of fitness fanatics such as bodybuilders and fitness competitors on the one hand and on the other, people who live a healthy lifestyle year round,” says Andrew.

One driver of growth for ThinSlim Foods resulted in Andrew’s shift from the original Weight Watchers-style customer base of Linda’s Diet Delites to a more focused and dedicated customer. “Those are the people who read labels and recognize the nutritionals and the healthier ingredients and are willing to pay the significantly higher premium to receive the product benefits,” says Andrew.

In order to focus more on ThinSlim Foods and remove himself from the time consumption of operating a warehouse for Linda’s Diet Delites and ThinSlim Foods, Andrew closed the warehouse that housed his product fulfillment at the end of 2012 and hired a company to handle all the warehousing.

That decision freed Andrew to focus his attention on marketing.

However, the company he hired to handle the orders proved to be too slow to shift gears when Andrew introduced new products and ultimately, too expensive. “I took back the fulfillment side at the beginning of 2014,” says Andrew.

Another lesson learned. “That decision was another major turning point. The success of taking back order fulfillment, which allowed me to stay lean and stay focused led to eventually closing the bricks and mortar location in May 2014, when I realized it was still languishing.

Then Andrew had an ah-ha moment: “If I was going to have long-term success, I needed to sell my own products. My revenue was increasing very quickly, but my profit was not. I realized…”

As a result of these changes and the growth of ThinSlim Foods, the company’s profit margins have gone through the roof.”

What is Andrew’s current strategy to grow his business and stay profitable? In his own words, “We’ve pulled back on Amazon, reduced the number of product choices on Linda’s Diet Delites, focused more on pushing ThinSlim Foods, and now use a smaller warehouse that also contains a commercial kitchen. My motto is ‘let’s stay lean.’”

The strategy is paying off.

Through the use of paid marketing and social media, Linda’s Diet Delites continues to grow and Andrew has expanded distribution of ThinSlim Foods to several additional large on-line retailers, stores in multiple states, and Canada. He is also negotiating to gain distribution in the U.A.E., and is receiving more interest from big supermarkets.

One dilemma he now faces is that his products have short shelf lives because they don’t contain preservatives. That, combined with higher price points makes it difficult for retailers and distributors. In order to counteract that problem, ThinSlim Foods has introduced its first “shelf stable” product, a lowcarb and low-calorie pasta called Impastable. “We’ve seen huge demand for this product in the last several months,” says Andrew.

“We’re now seeing strong demand from other outlets that we couldn’t approach previously and who have the same core customers as we do.”

The future of ThinSlim Foods and Andrew’s other businesses is bright. “I plan to take the success of the past eight years to outside

companies,” says Andrew. Andrew plans to expand the product line and introduce some new vacuum packaging. “I always need to diversify and prepare for the day when one or more of my businesses isn’t working well anymore,” says Andrew. Recently, he acquired Donna Toscana and Fundamental, a high-end chocolate company. “We make our own chocolate in our commercial kitchen. It is carried by retailers such as Whole Foods and have projects in the works to partner with the Ritz Carlton in Battery Park and the Four Seasons in New York City,” says Andrew.

Today, Andrew employs eight full- and part-time people, who take care of packing and shipping.

Says Andrew, “One major aspect of staying lean is that due to our on-line and wholesale business model, we generate a lot of sales per employee.”

F

or the interview for this story, Andrew traveled from New Jersey to New Milford to discuss his journey since he graduated.

On the topic of his time at Canterbury, he recounted how during Christmas vacation of his junior year, he received his PSAT scores and mid-year grades. It was clear to Andrew’s parents that there was a disconnect between his high standardized scores and his mediocre grades. His parents theorized that a boarding school rather than the public school he was attending would better draw out his academic potential. “We looked at Canterbury because my

Chocolate products sold on shopdonna.com

parents knew a girl in my town [Summit, NJ] who was attending,” says Andrew. “Within a week of having the conversation about changing schools,” says Andrew, “I came to interview, liked it, and enrolled. I envisioned Canterbury as a school where I could make an impact.” Make an impact, indeed.

Starting Canterbury as a secondsemester Fourth Former, Andrew acclimated quickly to his new environs. He lived in Havemeyer House for the duration of his time at the School and recalled how Jen ’84 and Corey Chandler and Diane ’91 and Neil Haggard, his dorm parents, made him feel comfortable. “They were instrumental to my time at Canterbury because they provided constant supervision without being domineering,” says Andrew.

“I quickly came to realize that there was a decided advantage to having the adults in my dorm not only serving as surrogate parents but also being my teachers and coaches. The home-like atmosphere they provided was important to me. Both Chandlers lived a healthy lifestyle, which appealed to me. That’s around the time I started to explore that side of my interests, which later led to the first business I owned.”

When not in the classroom or the athletic fields, Andrew acted in the annual fall Shakespeare play and spring musical. He won a speech competition, sang in the Chorale, volunteered for Special Olympics Skiing, and in his Sixth Form year was elected Student Body President. “The extra level of Canterbury’s structured program, combined with the very focused attention of the faculty were certainly instrumental in bringing out my potential,” says Andrew.

When Andrew looks back on his Canterbury experience, he says, “The School gave me a great foundation and the courage to follow my own path.”

In school as well as in business Andrew found success by taking the path less traveled, and that has made all the difference.

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CAMPUSLIFE

Black History Month Features Kotchegna Dancers

Founded in 1989, Kotchegna Dance Company, a multi-ethnic dance corps based in New York City, specializing in the dance and drum traditions of the Ivory Coast, performed on Maguire Auditorium’s stage on February 20. Meaning “Messenger” in Mahou, a dialect of the Ivory Coast and the native language of the Company’s director, Kotchegna seeks to transmit the village traditions of more than 60 different ethnic groups compromising the country. The Company turned their performance into an interactive event by asking students to learn some basic steps. Front row, l-r: Jenna Joyal ’16, Caroline Horne ’16, Cirena Carrillo ’17, Matilda Rooney ’17, Fakrat Alapa ’15. Back row, l-r: Robert Mouradian ’16, Royale Jamison ’15, Julia DellaRusso ’17.

MARC VANASSE ’73 (2)

Students Present Vocal Recital

Bridget Murphy ’17, Xi Meng “Simon” Zhu ’17, Jonah LaVigne ’17, Lily Johns ’17, Khalid Glover ’17, Claire Cardillo ’16, Loren Winters ’15, Brian Lopez ’15.

20 20

Canterbury’s Music Department offers students private instrument and vocal lessons. These talented musicians perform in the L. Michael Sheehy ’56 Choral Classroom during the school year. On the evening of February 19, eight voice students performed a program that included a wide variety of material, including musical theater, classical, and pop pieces.

Taught by Canterbury’s vocal director John Shackelford and accompanied by piano teacher Amy Vinisko, the students impressively performed some difficult material. The singers are members of Schola Cantorum and most perform in the annual spring musical, which this year is Once Upon a Mattress.

CHAD LYONS

Ray Hadden Receives Shriver Award

L-r: Ted Kennedy Jr.; Janet Froetscher, CEO of Special Olympics International; Ray; Catherine Kortlandt, Chair of the Special Olympics Connecticut Board of Directors; Sean Delgreco, Special Olympics Connecticut Athlete and Beau Doherty; President of Special Olympics Connecticut. In 2012, Ray was invited to Washington, D.C. for Capitol Hill Day to speak with Connecticut state reps about the importance of Special Olympics and to help promote making law The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Act. As an athlete, Ray has earned many medals, and in 1993 received The Spirit of Life Award.

Ray Hadden, who has worked for 11 years for Canterbury’s dining services, received The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Award for Outstanding Athlete on March 25. The Award is presented to the Special Olympics athlete who best exemplifies the spirit of Special Olympics. The event took place at the Aqua Turf Country Club, Plantsville, CT. Ray is an athlete who has been involved for 31 years with the New Milford program. He has participated in alpine skiing, bowling, unified floor hockey, basketball, track and field, and, most recently, snowshoeing. In addition, he serves as assistant coach for bowling and head coach for traditional basketball as well as serving as a Sargent Shriver Global Messenger and fundraiser. Shriver is a 1934 Canterbury graduate. Ray is a role model for his fellow athletes and takes on new challenges, always trying to make a difference in the world of Special Olympics and the world around him.

AMY MCKENNA OMANA ’86

Volunteers in Nicaragua This year marked the 10th anniverary of Canterbury’s annual March service trip to support the Fabretto Children’s Foundation in Cusmapa, Nicaragua. In those ten years, more than 150 Canterbury graduates and faculty have served the kids of Fabretto with both sweat and muscle. They’ve dug trenches, moved boulders, made adobe bricks, demolished crumbling classrooms, and rebuilt new ones. In addition, they have replanted 10,000 saplings on a deforested mountainside and installed irrigation systems for community gardens. The most recent volunteers are l-r: Brian Lopez ’15, Matt Legler ’15, Loren Winters ’15, Tyler Donaghy ’15, Ashley Berry ’16, Krisz Gabor ’15, Mary LaVigne ’16, and Juan Caldes ’15.

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CAMPUSLIFE

Marc Vanasse ’73 Exhibits in Duffy Gallery

Detail from “The Naughty Altar Boy.”

The winter art show featured photographs by Marc Vanasse ’73, Director of Communications and PALLIUM editor. The exhibit included early work to his most recent efforts. Above, Marc discusses one of his works with Betsy Sheehy and Robin Yoo ’15.

MARC VANASSE ’73 (5)

Juried Art Show Frames Students’ Talent

By Amelia Haynes ’16.

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By Derek Ng ’15.

Student work in the Edward J. Duffy Family Gallery.

Rock Band and Jazz Bands Perform

Conor Cassidy ’18 plays sax in the Jazz Band. The group performed music by Steely Dan and Weather Report.

Camden Napier ’17 plays bass guitar in the Rock Band. The group performed on March 1.

MARC VANASSE ’73 (4)

Jiahua “Katie” Wu ’17, foreground, and Yiwei “Kelly” Hu ’17 perform a number of selections for the rock concert held in the L. Michael Sheehy ’56 Choral Classroom. They, along with additional members, call themselves “Medium Rare.”

Mike Carioscia ’17 keeps the beat for the Jazz Band.

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CAMPUSLIFE

Fifth Form Retreat Focuses on Leadership Canterbury held its annual Fifth Form retreat Thursday night, January 20. Fifth Formers gathered to dine with faculty members in Steele Hall. Following dinner, Aleka Woods ’08 described her service journey.

After the speech, students broke into small groups for intense discussions about their spirituality and how they can take on more responsibilities by being leaders now and after Canterbury.

Aleka told the students, “Now is the time to reflect on how you can contribute to society.”

Each year, Canterbury’s Theology Department organizes a retreat for each Form and an Emmaus Retreat for upperformers.

Sacristan Ted Sheehy leads a small-group discussion on servant leadership at this year’s Fifth Form retreat. Robert Mouradian ’16 at left.

MARC VANASSE ’73 (2)

Sixth Form Retreat is All About Transition

For an exercise during the Sixth Form Retreat, Delores Nwokeafor-Laz writes a letter to one of her teachers.

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In multiple small-group discussions and exercises, members of the Class of 2015 contemplated the transition from Canterbury to college.

Students spent three 45-minute sessions in group discussions in Steele Hall Lecture Room, the Brodie Room, and the Chapel of Our Lady, where Fr. Sebastian, O.S.B. was available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Theology teacher Frank Bice ’77 spoke to each group about his injury and his journey since. To conclude the retreat, Fr. Sebastian celebrated Mass.

COURTESY KEIKO MATHEWSON

Penguin Plungers Brave Elements Mr. Canterbury

Eight students and four faculty members participated in this year’s Penguin Plunge. These brave souls with warm hearts jumped into the chilly water at Winding Trails in Farmington, CT, to raise funds for Special Olympics Connecticut’s year-round sports training and athletic competition programs for more than 6,500 children and adults with intellectual disabilities throughout the state of Connecticut. Canterbury’s participants raised $3,600 for the cause, which took place on January 25. Water temperature was 32 degrees, and the air temperature was 24 degrees. L-r: faculty members Ben Brauer, EJ Soifersmith, and Keiko Mathewson (Director of Community Service), Guangzhao “Denny” Chen ’16, John Haines ’15, Plunge mascot, Hannah Krin ’16, Mary LaVigne ’16, Madeline Finnen ’16, Allyson Eggleton ’17, Allison Montague ’16, Gillian Schullery ’18, faculty member Molly Murphy.

MARC VANASSE ’73 (2)

Blood Drive Saves Lives

Royale Jamison ’15 donates blood for the first time at Canterbury’s annual blood drive. The drive collected 40 pints of blood from students, faculty, and residents of New Milford.

Bryce Gioia ’15 emerged the winner of this year’s Mr. Canterbury pageant, a fundraiser organized by Women of Canterbury (WOC). Students paid a small entry fee, and faculty members donated goods and services, which were raffled during the pageant.

Six faculty judges evaluated the contestants’ formal wear, talent, and public speaking skills. Bryce impressed the judges with his dance moves and won them over with his answers. The event, full of good-natured humor, was held in Maguire Auditorium on January 23. WOC advisors Sandy Behan and Cammy Roffe organized the event. Student volunteers conducted the raffle.

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CAMPUSLIFE

Boys’ Varsity Basketball Wins Championship

KEIKO MATHEWSON

Students Honored at Winter Awards

The Boys’ Varsity Basketball team celebrates after defeating Brooks School for the championship. The squad finished the season with 22 wins, the most in program history.

Boys’ Varsity Basketball finished a terrific season by defeating Brooks School 54-48 to win the Class B New England Championship. After being named the #2 seed with a 19-6 regular season record and a Tri-State Championship, the Saints defeated Millbrook and Beaver Country Day in the first two rounds to set up the contest with #1 Brooks. The College of the Holy Cross hosted the Championship game.

Canterbury jumped on Brooks from the opening tip and at one point had a 10-point lead, but Brooks battled back and the Saints took a 2824 lead into the locker room at halftime after Shawn Montague ’16 hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded. The second half was back and forth with great basketball on both sides. With 4:50 left, the score was tied at 41-41.

Brooks went up by three, leading 44-41 with 3:35 left and looked to have the momentum. Brooks still had a three-point lead at 48-45 with 1:27 left when the Saints scored, and in the blink of an eye Keith Rado Jr. ’17 stole the ball and fed Shawn for a lay-up to put Canterbury within one point at 48-47. The Saints had a huge defensive stop and then scored to lead 49-48 with :21 left, stopped Brooks again, and scored twice more to win 54-48.

Shane Pearley ’15 received the Outstanding Player of the game.

Koree Hargraves ’15, Temar Robinson-Hermelijn ’15, Branden Aughburns ’15, Shawn Montague ’16, Keith Rado Jr. ’17, and Ryan Johannes ’16 all played well.

Many students and faculty made the trip to Holy Cross to cheer on the Saints. Congratulations to all of the players and coaches Rado and Danenbarger for bringing home Canterbury’s first-ever boys’ basketball New England Championship. The Saints also finished the season with 22 wins, the most in program history.

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BOYS’ VARSITY BASKETBALL Coach’s Award: Cody Bernard ’17 M.V.P.: Branden Aughburns ’15, Temar Robinson-Hermelijn ’15 BOYS’ J.V. BASKETBALL Coach’s Award: Joseph Jendras ’17 GIRLS’ VARSITY BASKETBALL Coach’s Awards: Rachel Gaglio ’15, Dolores Nwokeafor-Laz ’15 M.V.P.: Yun Jai “Amy” Kim ’15, Anna Oeser ’18 GIRLS’ J.V. BASKETBALL Coach’s Award: Debra Cox ’16 GIRLS’ VARSITY HOCKEY Coach’s Award: Carly Andersen ’15 M.V.P.: Alexis Rullo ’15, Sara McNamara ’15 GIRLS’ J.V. HOCKEY Coach’s Award: Laura Florez Raigosa ’15 BOYS’ VARSITY HOCKEY Coach’s Awards: Christopher Krotz ’15, Patrick Corcoran ’15, Shane Sellar ’15 BOYS’ J.V. HOCKEY Coach’s Award: John-Paul Shimko ’16 VARSITY WRESTLING Coach’s Award: Skylar LaManna ’15 M.V.P.: Kenny Jordan ’15, Tristan Kane ’15 J.V. WRESTLING Coach’s Award: Armand Huribal ’18 GIRLS’ VARSITY SWIMMING Coach’s Award: Isabella Papov ’18 M.V.P.: Annabell McCullough ’18 BOYS’ VARSITY SWIMMING Coach’s Award: Nikhil Trivedi ’17 M.V.P.: Aaron Gattinoni ’15 J.V. SWIMMING Coach’s Award: Isabella Capanna ’17 DIVING Coach’s Award: Bryce Gioia ’15 M.V.P.: Jenna Joyal ’16 GIRLS’ VARSITY SQUASH Coach’s Award: Alanis Perez ’15 M.V.P.: Alexandra Limas ’17 GIRLS’ J.V. SQUASH Coach’s Award: Xi Meng “Simon” Zhu ’17 BOYS’ VARSITY SQUASH Coach’s Award: Luis Jimenez ’17 M.V.P.: Derek Ng ’15 BOYS’ J.V. SQUASH Coach’s Award: Jonah LaVigne ’17

NEPSAC basketball coaches recently recognized Keith Rado, Canterbury’s head coach, as the Class B “Coach of the Year.” Rado led the Saints to the School’s first New England Boys’ Basketball Championship this season when they took the #2 seed into the tournament and defeated Millbrook, Beaver Country Day and Brooks to win the championship hosted by Holy Cross on March 8. Rado also led the team to the Tri-State League Championship (TrinityPawling, Taft, Avon Old Farms, Berkshire, Hotchkiss), the School’s third alltime title. The Saints also set a school record with the most wins in a season, finishing with a 22-6 record and winning the Frosty Francis Kingswood-Oxford Holiday Tournament.

Rado took over the Saints helm after the tragic death of coach Don Gowan in the spring of 2012. A humble Rado is quick to recognize his trusted assistant Wright Danenbarger who, he says, contributed greatly to the team’s success.

MARC VANASSE ’73

Keith Rado Named Class B Basketball Coach of the Year

Head boys’ basketball coach Keith Rado and his assistant, Wright Danenbarger, during a time out.

Athletes/Teams Receive Honors BOYS’ VARSITY BASKETBALL First Team All NEPSAC-Class B honors went to Temar RobinsonHermelijn ’15. Temar led the Saints on offense with a 15 points per game average, five rebounds and three steals per game. He also finished his Canterbury career with more than 1,000 points, was named to the All TriState League First Team and co-player of the year. Fellow Sixth Former Branden Aughburns was named to the NEPSAC-Class B third team.

Branden finished his season with a 14 points per game average and led the team with nine rebounds per game.

He also had a 56% field goal average.

Branden was also named All Tri-State First Team. Koree Hargraves ’15, Shane Pearley ’15, and Shawn Montague ’16 were selected as honorable mention All-New England.

Hargraves finished his season with eight ppg, six assists, six rebounds and three steals per game. He was named to the All Tri-Sate League Second Team. Pearley scored ten ppg, four rebounds and three assists while Montague had 12 ppg, six rebounds, and three assists per game.

GIRLS’ VARSITY SQUASH Alanis Perez ’15 and Alexandra Limas ’17 placed second at New Englands. Ashley Berry ’16 placed third. Marlene Berke ’15,

Maddie Finnen ’16, Xin “Jillian” Wang ’15, and Sophie Menges ’17 placed fourth.

VARSITY WRESTLING Tri-captain Kenny Jordan ’15 placed first at the Western New England championship. He also took first place at Canterbury’s annual “Rumble on the Hill.” At that event, Patrick Norris ’15 and Mike Carioscia ’17 placed second in their weight classes.

GIRLS’ VARSITY BASKETBALL Anna Oeser ’18 was named All-New England.

BOYS’ VARSITY SQUASH Sixth Formers Derek Ng and Andrew Bortey each placed second at the New Englands. Juan Caldes ’15 placed third.

BOYS’ VARSITY SWIMMING Canterbury hosted the Class C New England Championship. Aaron Gattinoni ’15 placed first in the 50 Free. In all, the Saints broke seven school records. Both boys’ and girls’ teams placed third out of the 17 schools that participated.

GIRLS’ VARSITY SWIMMING Annabelle McCullough ’18 won the 100 back and placed third in the 500 Free. Allyson Eggleton ’17 took third in 100 Free, 200 Breast, and 200 Free

Relay. Five girls’ school records were broken this season.

DIVING Jenna Joyal ’16 took first place at the New England Championship and set a new school record.

NEW SWIM & DIVING RECORDS Boys 200 Medley Relay 1:46.37 (Shea Mahan ’16 , Jack Bednar ’17 , Matt Howard ’17, Aaron Gattinoni ’15) Girls’ 11 Dive Record Jenna Joyal ’16 359.1 Girls’ 100 Free Allyson Eggleton ’17 :57.15 Girls 200 Free Relay 1:46.51 (Courtney Dunham, ’17, Caroline Stolfi ’15, Allyson Eggleton ’17, Annabelle McCullough ’18) Girls’ 100 Back Annabelle McCullough ’18 1:01.01 Girls’ 400 Free Relay 3:58.36 (Courtney Dunham ’17, Lydia Mahan ’18, Allyson Eggleton ’17, Annabelle McCullough ’18) Boys 400 Free Relay 3:28.24 (Aaron Gattinoni ’15, Shea Mahan ’16 , Jack Bednar ’17, Matt Howard ’17) 27 27

MARC VANASSE ’73

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TO KNOW THE ROAD AHEAD Reid Wyatt, Canterbury’s Mandarin teacher, took many steps to find his way to the school on the hill.

By Wright Danenbarger, English Department Co-Chair

千里之行﹐始于足下 [千里之行﹐始 於足下] The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

Qiānlǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià

I

first met Canterbury’s new Mandarin Chinese instructor, Reid Wyatt, and his wife, Tianqing, on New Milford’s Main Street in front of La Piccolina, where we had agreed to share dinner that night.

We shook hands and exchanged introductions and then were lucky to secure a table out in front of the restaurant on the kind of latesummer night when the weather is so perfect that one is unaware of it. Lou Mandler, Canterbury’s Academic Dean, had suggested to me that I act as the School’s emissary to Reid on his first night in town as a member of our faculty.

I was glad she thought of me, as I could tell early on in the evening that not only had we made a good hire, I was also excited to work

with someone who had travelled and experienced so much of the world.

The first step of Reid’s long journey to Canterbury began not far from the School, in South Hadley, MA, where he was born to parents who, unsurprisingly, shared a deep interest in education and foreign languages. His father worked for Mount Holyoke College as an administrator, and this career took the family to Wisconsin when he landed a job at Beloit College. Reid was nine years old at the time, and he spent his formative adolescent years bonding with the Badger State. (Note to local readers: Invite him over for a Green Bay Packers game, and you might induce him to bring over a crock pot of his absolutely scrumptious spinach dip.) It was in high school that Reid took to foreign languages, studying Latin, Spanish, and German, taking after his father, who was a French major in college. While his family lived in Glasgow, Scotland, where Reid’s father ran a study abroad program for Beloit College, Reid studied in Mexico City. Needless

to say, it was in these foreign countries that Reid developed not only his love of world cultures, but also his ease with foreign travel and extended stays in distant lands. 经验是为秃头准备的梳子 Experience is a comb that we receive just when we are going bald.

Jīngyàn shì wǒmen shōu dào de zhǐshì wǒmen hé shí tūtóu shūzi Reid attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA, where he earned a BA in History. The combination led him to continue his odyssey by taking a semester in Athens, Greece. Allusions to Homer aside, the semester was a memorable one for the young college student. Now on his own abroad, he marveled at the historical treasure chest that is Greece: “I was fascinated by the history and religions of ancient Greece. The ancient sites are all accessible. You can travel to the ruins of a famous ancient battle and no one is there to take tickets.

It’s just you and a shepherd. In 29

MARC VANASSE ’73

As I listened to Reid tell me this story, it struck me that this is perhaps the central lesson that Reid would have any of us, his students especially, know: the beauty of being able to communicate in languages other than the ones we are taught natively is the way in which they open us up to experiences that shape the self purely for the better.

Reid Wyatt listens attentively to one of his Chinese I students.

Greece, you can develop a higher level of intimacy with history.”

Reid also spoke very highly of the people and the food: “The food was fantastic. When I would go out with my college friends, I was the one who ordered with beginnerto-intermediate Greek. The people were so thrilled to have me make the effort to use their language that we were always treated very well and with warmth.” As I listened to Reid tell me this story, it struck me that this is perhaps the central lesson that Reid would have any of us, his students especially, know: the beauty of being able to communicate in languages other than the ones we are taught natively is the way in which they open us up to experiences that shape the self purely for the better.

By the dint of his own recognition of this fact in his youth, Reid was 30

able to get the proverbial comb of experience while he still had a full head of hair. 人生有四件事情不会收回：书出去 的话，放出去的箭，过去的生活错 失的机会。 Four things come not back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity.

Sì jiàn shìqíng ba, bùyào bèi: Kǒuyǔ, yòngguò de jiàntóu, zài guòqù de shēnghuó, hé bèi hūshì de jīhuì.

After Reid finished college, he took his comb and his hair to Austin, TX. Austin is a fairly worldly city, (and Texans sometimes claim they belong to a separate, sovereign nation), but Reid soon felt he was stagnating. He was having fun sampling the diverse

Austin music and cultural scene, but his jobs doing tech support for Internet service providers were, as he describes them, “pay-yourdues” kinds of positions. I think many readers will recognize, as I did, Reid’s articulation of the post-college anti-climax that comes with living in the real world on your own for the first time: “I realized that I was not as special as I was led to believe.” It goes without saying, moreover, that his new bible, the phone book-sized Cisco Introduction to Networks Lab Manual, is not the The Illiad, and Reid looked around at his coworkers and simply realized that he did not see himself ten years down the road as they were at that time.

After two years in Austin, Reid was 25. He had a college friend who had been extolling the virtues of his life teaching English in China,

要知道前面的路怎么走，最好问从 这条路回来的人 To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

Yào zhīdào qiánmiàn de lù, wèn nàxiē huílái.

MARC VANASSE ’73

Reid prepared for his latest journey by researching China. He read many books on the topic of living and teaching there, and he e-mailed everyone he knew

who had been there, asking such questions as “Where did you go?” and “What cities did you stay in?” He found some expats living there and through his extensive queries, he narrowed his choice to Chengdu, a city of 10 million inhabitants that is the provincial capital of the Sichuan province. He located a friend of a friend who lived there but who was back in the United States to receive medical care. He met him in Los Angeles and finalized a plan to live with his new liaison at the outset of his time in Asia. He then boarded a plane in July 2008 to traverse the wide expanse of the Pacific.

I asked Reid what his first few days in China were like, what aspects of this new home stuck out to him, and he responded in a way I did not expect: “The truth is that Chengdu is not unlike urban places in the U.S. and the world. It is densely packed, but, in the end, people are people – if you know how to interact with people, it does not matter where you are.” Looking back, of course, this is exactly what I should have expected Reid to say, and I think it is exactly what makes him a great teacher. Essential to the art of teaching is knowing how to interact with people in a way that treats them less as an assemblage of cultural markers and more as a fellow humans who have far more in common with you than otherwise. Reid was clearly steeped in this wisdom from an early age, and although I have no intention of wading in to an argument about

whether great teachers are born or made, I will assert this: Canterbury now has one more. 十年育树，百年育人 If you are planning for a decade, plant trees, if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people. ~Kuan Chung Rúguǒ nín jìhuàle yī nián, bōzhòng shuǐdào; rúguǒ nín dǎsuàn shí nián, zhǒng shù; rúguǒ nǐ dǎsuàn yībèizi, jiàoyù rén Reid spent his first year and a half enrolled in a class that taught Chinese to foreigners which met five days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. From there he would do homework all afternoon and then ride his bike to a skyscraper in the middle of the city where he taught English on the 25th floor to students of all ages. After that he worked at the Southwest University for Nationalities, and from there, as his Chinese improved, moved on to an international education consulting company, which helped Chinese students apply to graduate school in England. He translated transcripts into English but told me, “the place was a cash machine for its owners, but it was very corporate and I hated it. I was getting paid worse than my previous job, and I had a rough commute. They were trying to keep their bottom line very low.” Reid knew he had to return to education, and he became

MARC VANASSE ’73

Essential to the art of teaching is knowing how to interact with people in a way that treats them less as an assemblage of cultural markers and more as fellow humans who have far more in common with you than otherwise.

Reid was clearly steeped in this wisdom from an early age…

and he wanted Reid to join him. It was right at this point that he also attended a family wedding, and his family members, perhaps sensing that Reid needed to escape the easy embrace of Austin, asked him, proddingly, what he planned to do when his lease ended. Their gambit worked, as Reid, almost impulsively but also in a manner that suggested he was trying the idea on for size, blurted out, “I’m going to move to China to teach English!” He told me that he was also very motivated by his interest in history and travel and his sense that China was on the rise. There would be no neglecting the opportunity of a return to his long journey.

Vinny Buonaiuto ’17 in Chinese II.

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爱是最强的力量，因为它影响你的 判断，情感和感官 Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses. ~Laozi Ài shì zuì qiáng de suǒyǒu jīqíng, yīnwèi tā tóngshí gōngjí tóu bù, xīnzàng hé gǎnguān Of course, life was not all work for Reid; that would seem to run against the value of immersing oneself in a foreign culture. He spoke to me animatedly – that is, animated relative to his Midwestern reserve – about the food in Chengdu: “Everyday that was not chock full of work, I would search out the great food of the city. It was fantastic. The Sichuan spicing is perfect – just the right amount of heat and fabulous flavor. The really noticeable aspect of it is that cooks care so much even about the simplest and cheapest of dishes.

The competition between many closely grouped restaurants meant that they always had to make sure every little thing was done to the highest standard at the right price.”

I’m sure readers are also wondering how he met Tianqing, and so did I. Reid told me he was sitting at a Starbucks between shifts, doing what many single young men could not be faulted for: “I saw two very pretty young women sitting outside at one table, and I went out to them carrying a slip of paper with my phone number on it. I placed the number on the table and said, in Chinese, “If you want to have fun, call me.” That very night, one of the two women, Tianqing, called him. Naturally, I immediately assumed this was a clever ploy by a savvy student of languages to test and improve his speaking skills, but as it turned out, they hit 32

it off romantically and were wed in a civil ceremony in December of 2011 and then held a full ceremonial wedding in Chengdu in May of 2013 with his full family in attendance. At least I got the savvy part right. 师领进门，修行靠个人 Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

Lǎoshī kāimén. Nǐ shūrù zìjǐ.

Reid landed in the Chinese language program at Brandeis University, and he and Tianqing returned to the U.S. after their wedding. It was good fortune that Reid’s aunt and uncle lived in Waltham, MA, so they could live there inexpensively while Reid completed his Master’s degree.

As he neared completion of the program, he contacted the teacher placement agency Carney, Sandoe Associates, and told them he wanted to find a position as quickly as possible. Canterbury’s timing was just perfect, as they snapped him up to replace departing Mandarin teacher Sylvia Wang.

How has he transitioned to Canterbury? His Department Chair, Corey Chandler, has been impressed: “Reid has stepped

into the role of Mandarin teacher seamlessly. He is a valuable member of the department that has elevated our Mandarin program and helped it develop. He has instantly fit into the culture of our department and the School.

He is eager to grow and quick to share ideas. These qualities make him a Saint and exactly the type of teacher we want here at Canterbury.” Unsurprisingly, I found similar types of praise from his students. Sixth Former, Mandarin IV student Gabriella Carioscia ’15 conveyed to me her own experience as one of Reid’s pupils: “When I was struggling to comprehend the material we were learning, Mr. Wyatt took time each week to ensure that I understood every aspect of the lesson. He cares so much for the individual’s growth as a student. Additionally, Mr. Wyatt’s enthusiasm is evident in his dedication to our learning.”

For his part, Reid has really enjoyed his new life as part of the Canterbury community. Tianqing and he were specifically looking for a small, family-friendly school environment in which to start raising their family, and I suppose there is no truer testament to the success of their choice than

COURTESY REID WYATT

interested in attending a graduate program in the U.S. to receive certification in teaching Chinese. To be accepted however, he needed to complete more courses in Chinese, so he enrolled at Sichuan University and also got back into teaching at a private middle school for one more year while applying to grad schools in the United States.

Reid and Tianqing with their parents at their wedding in May 2013 in Chengdu, China.

“Reid has stepped into the role of Mandarin teacher seamlessly. He is a valuable member of the department that has elevated our Mandarin program and helped it develop. He has instantly fit into the culture of our department. He is eager to grow and quick to share ideas. These qualities make him a Saint and exactly the type of teacher we want here at Canterbury.”

–Corey Chandler, Language Chair

Eun Bin “Lindsay” Kim ’18 in Chinese II.

MARC VANASSE ’73 (2)

Tianqing’s announcement of her pregnancy this past February. Reid also has enjoyed working with Canterbury students. He teaches Mandarin levels 1 through 4 and has found his students possess “a level of dedication that has been consistently positive.” He adds he is pleased with their respect towards him and each other. In addition to his teaching duties, Reid has been tapped as the J.V. Boys’ Soccer coach and a swimming coach and is a dorm parent in Hickory Hearth.

He has also proven quite useful to the Office of the Dean of Students translating the wishes and questions of our Chinese parents.

As the proverb rightly says, “teachers open the door”; Canterbury School can be rightly glad that they opened the door to Reid Wyatt because he has already returned that favor many times over since he arrived in New Milford from his transcontinental journeys.

Reid gives Gabby Carioscia ’15, a Chinese IV student, extra help.

33

The Canterbury Observer

Connecting the Dots Likening life to Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” Aleka Woods ’08 talks to Fifth Formers about her journey from shy Fourth Former to school leader to international service volunteer.

3434

COURTESY ALEKA WOODS ’08

O

ur life is like a canvas, with our experiences, friends, skills, and family painted upon its taut surface, an impressionist work full of vibrant colors elegantly and masterfully scattered across its canvas. Impressionism turns an ordinary scene into a magical one, like our lives, inserting a bit of color here and light there, transforming the mundane into the extraordinary.

Consider “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat. You could travel to any park and see a similar scene.

Look closely at this image. Select a person or a group. What do their interactions say about them? Can you imagine their conversations?

They are sharing the same space and time in the way we, tonight, are sharing this space [Steele Hall Dining Room] and time [January 10, 7:00 p.m.] Your time at Canterbury is no different: it is unique to the people you share this space with, like in Seurat’s painting.

When you first experience this well-known work from a distance, it is difficult to discern that it is a collection of dots rather than broad strokes on a canvas. It is remarkable to me that each small dot contributes to making this painting the masterpiece that it is.

Each dot, no matter how large or small, is necessary to make this picture complete.

Our life canvas or our life’s

Aleka Woods ’08, Assistant Director of Admission, at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

work is a collection of dots working together to form a larger picture. Canterbury, too, is a canvas comprised of dots, each representing one of you. Each Fifth Former here tonight contributes to the School immeasurably, more than you realize. You complete the canvas when you make the School

and your experience here unique to you and better for the people around you. When I reflect on my years at Canterbury, I realize I contributed to more canvases than I knew at the time.

I came to Canterbury as a Fourth Former from Colorado, and I tried to fly under the radar and did so successfully for only a few months until Mr. Sheehy ran into one of my family members, who passed along the message that Mr. Sheehy thought I should become more involved in school life. “More involved,” I thought, “but I’m new, adjusting to a new school, making new friends, playing new sports, and trying to keep my head above water, and you want me to get more involved? No!” That advice, however, stuck with me, until I realized that if that’s what the Headmaster thought, then it must be true. Years later, I can say that his advice was correct. I was not contributing to any canvases, and I had been cheating myself and those with whom I could share my gifts.

I, like all of you, have many gifts, and I was hiding them because it was easier, less embarrassing, and I didn’t have to put myself out there and risk getting shot down. We are given unique gifts to share, to bring a bit of light to our world, our communities, and our lives.

One day I decided to start contributing, to start making a difference, but the prospect of doing so still scared me. I started by slowly taking on leadership roles, my natural inclination. By the time my Sixth Form year started, I had gone on the Montana trip, was a Sacristan, a proctor in the new South House, a Lead Ambassador (no surprise there, given what I do now), co-editor-in-chief of The Tabard, and an editor of the Cantuarian. I was sharing my gifts with our community.

However, the role for which I am most remembered and the role from which I received the most satisfaction was that of Student Body President. At first, I wanted to run as a VP on a shared President/VP ticket, but that plan

Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”

was thwarted when Mr. LaVigne, Dean of Students, announced two days before the election that pairs were no longer allowed. The competition as it stood included five very popular boys, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to run in this very competitive pool. The day before elections I received some wise words from a mentor, and I decided, a little reluctantly, to throw my hat into the ring. My peers elected me Student Body President, making me the second woman in the history of the School to earn the honor. There have only been three female presidents, and I was the first in 20 years.

My first “act,” if you will, was to change the class schedule. Believe it or not, classes once started at

Each Fifth Former here tonight contributes to the School immeasurably, more than you realize. You complete the canvas when you make the School and your experience here unique to you and better for the people around you.

7:45 a.m. six days a week. One day, I had the idea of changing Saturday’s schedule to allow for a 15-minute sleep-in. We, as a student government, negotiated this change into the schedule and to our amazement the administrators approved our proposal. We had done it! We were changing our school with a change conceived and pushed forward by students.

The next year, the administration changed the start of each day to 8:15 a.m., largely inspired by our “act.”

While I contributed my leadership skills and positive attitude to Canterbury, Canterbury, in turn, boosted my confidence and enhanced my desire to make a difference in the lives of others.

This notion of contributing my values, experience, ideas, and work ethic to making the lives of those around me better takes the form of dots that scatter chaotically across my canvas. Canterbury inspired my life compass of making the world a better place and still operates within me on a deeper level. If I hadn’t been given the opportunity to lay this foundation of confidence and caring during my time at Canterbury, my dots would look much different.

I came to Canterbury as a Fourth Former from Colorado, and I tried to fly under the radar and did so successfully for only a few months until Mr. Sheehy ran into one of my family members, who passed along the message that Mr. Sheehy thought I should become more involved in school life. “More involved,” I thought, but I’m new! That advice, however, stuck with me, until I realized that if that’s what the Headmaster thought, then it must be true.

My dots, built on the foundation given to me by Canterbury, took me through college and into the world.

My most colorful dot was a trip around the world, something that requires a great deal of confidence, faith, trust, and leadership. A college friend and I packed our backpacks and started with the Olympics in London, making our way through 25 countries, finishing by hiking the Inca Trail in Peru to Machu Picchu. Our journey took four-and-a-half months, and I learned a great deal about myself, my place in the world, and the global canvas to which we each contribute.

My favorite place during our trip was Cambodia. I was overcome with the beauty of the scenery juxtaposed by the overwhelming poverty of some of the friendliest, most sincere people I have ever met. I immediately wanted to return to this incredible place with instruments of change for a people and a country so deserving.

During spring break 2014, I did return to Cambodia for two weeks to volunteer with a project that reintroduces domesticated elephants to the wild. Once you domesticate an elephant, it 35

While I contributed my leadership skills and positive attitude to Canterbury, Canterbury, in turn, boosted my confidence and enhanced my desire to make a difference in the lives of others.

Aleka interacts with Fifth Formers at their retreat. The event’s theme was servant leadership.

cannot be reintroduced to the wild because it has lost its survival skills. Our work was difficult, often involving cutting down banana trees with machetes and then bringing the banana trees, stems and all, to the elephants. I had journeyed to Cambodia for three reasons: to return to a place I loved, to work with elephants, and the third and, most important, to gain insight into the everyday lives 36

of the local citizens.

How many of you want go into business? How many of you want to help people, regardless of pay, in one form or another? I felt the same way. I wanted to go into business, and I wanted to help people. My first trip to Cambodia taught me that it was possible, and my second trip to Cambodia taught me that I have much to learn, so I started looking for tools to bring

me to my goal.

After I returned from Cambodia, I explored ways to study social business, a concept that combines social impact with business principles, allowing for more sustainable development in countries like Cambodia. I would not have had the courage to pursue nor the knowledge of social business had I not developed a love of servant leadership at Canterbury.

Seeking this knowledge, I traveled to South Africa in the summer of 2014 to enroll in a course through the London School of Economics entitled “Business Model Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid.” The theory states that the developed world makes up a third of the world’s population and that there is a fortune to be made if the bottom two-thirds or, the base of the pyramid, were to be engaged and brought to a status of relative wealth and development.

This theory is based on the parable that if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

We were divided into geographically diverse groups and dropped off in a township or slum to talk to the residents and develop a solution to their problems. We arrived on a Tuesday morning, and the only residents available to talk to were drug dealers, high-school drop-outs, pregnant teenagers, and the unemployed. Although asking them why they were poor was difficult, we found that their problems stem from inadequate education and healthcare systems, racist hiring tendencies,

During spring break 2014, I did return to Cambodia for two weeks to volunteer with a project that reintroduces domesticated elephants to the wild. Once you domesticate an elephant it cannot be reintroduced to the wild because they have lost their survival skills. Our work was difficult, often involving cutting down banana trees with machetes and then bringing the banana trees, stems and all, to the elephants.

After her first trip to Cambodia, Aleka knew she wanted to return with ”instruments of change for a people and a country so deserving.” In 2014, she returned for two weeks to volunteer with a project that reintroduces domesticated elephants to the wild.

Aleka Woods ’08 and friend Shannon Littlefield in Machu Picchu.

Aleka Woods ’08 with a Vietnamese street vendor.

proliferation of drugs, and absence of father figures. How does one even begin to alleviate these problems? This course taught me that it possible to alleviate poverty through business principles and by engaging local governments and businesses.

None of my experiences, large or small, would have been possible without my Canterbury experience. Had I chosen to be invisible for my three years, I would have done fine academically, socially, and athletically, but I would not have shared my gifts of servant leadership. I would not have applied for every leadership position I felt I could contribute to because it is one thing to hold a leadership position, it is quite another to embrace and embody a servant leader, someone who works for the betterment of the community.

I charge each of you here to examine your own canvas. Now is the time to reflect on how you can contribute to society because once you do, you will bring more color and light to your canvas and to those around you than you could have imagined. In a year, you will be graduating, and it is my hope that you to get the most out of your experience here because it will contribute immensely to your life and to the lives of others.

37

A Remembrance

James P. Shea, a Good School Man, Dies

GARY GUNDERSON

In Senior Master JP Mandler’s eulogy of Jim Sheas, he recalls Jim the history teacher, story teller, family man, and Red Sox fan.

Jim Shea, circa 1988, died on January 6, 2015.

By JP Mandler, Senior Master

W

Jim was the best kind of leader in that he wore his authority lightly, counseled quietly, and lived his life as a teacher, coach, and dorm supervisor honestly and diligently.

38

hen I arrived at Canterbury in the fall of 1970, Jim Shea had already been here for 15 years.

He was one of the stalwarts of the faculty, along with other veterans who formed the mainstay of the faculty. Since faculty numbered 30, including the three administrators, that group formed the soul of the institution. Jim was a key member of that group.

Consider that he was then head of the History Department and taught four courses, Head of Carmody House and mentor to the other faculty in the house, Varsity Baseball coach, and coach of third football and thirds basketball, father of five children, all of whom would later graduate from Canterbury, husband to Pat, and if all that was not enough, he was the school librarian in his spare time. Walter

Sheehan referred to him more than once as “a good school man,” which in the day was the highest compliment a head could pay.

Jim was the best kind of leader in that he wore his authority lightly, counseled quietly, and lived his life as a teacher, coach, and dorm supervisor honestly and diligently.

You knew that Jim would be at his post every day, and though he may have missed a day here and there to attend a funeral, I don’t remember his ever taking a sick day. He cared about doing his job well. As a department head, he led by taking his teaching seriously.

He worked diligently on his preps, graded tests and essays and got them back to the kids quickly. We noticed because if he could hold himself to such a high standard, so should we. Jim helped us set our

teaching compass. He did that by modeling good teaching first.

His careful preparation of his classes made a difference for the students he taught. “His was the best history course I ever took,” wrote one. “He was very well read in his subject and could provide interesting details about the person or period he was illustrating; he loved teaching, and that came across in his classes.” Another former student wrote, “He taught history as if it were an interesting, well-written story.” And a third, “He was quiet and kind and had a gentle smile that made him unintimidating. He always seemed genuinely happy to see me, and I think teachers underestimate how much kids need that. At the same time, everyone knew he was really knowledgeable and deserved their respect.”

On Friday evenings Jim and Pat regularly hosted gatherings of history faculty and some other hangers-on, to work on department matters but also just to sit and talk and laugh. In those years, long before collaboration became an educational buzzword, the department put together a course on conspiracies. Each department member prepared a lecture on one of the conspiracies (such as Mary Queen of Scots and the Black Sox Scandal) and spoke to the class in an evening meeting. It was a wonderful exercise that the kids who took the course really appreciated, and one that Jim’s easy leadership and friendly fosterage

allowed to happen. He set the stage that allowed such collaboration to occur.

Jim was ahead of his time in sharing parenting duties with Pat. He supported her in her life outside the school, serving on New Milford’s Board of Education, as Tax Collector, and in her candidacy for First Selectman. They also made a wonderful tag team for dorm coverage. Jim would go to bed after study hall and lights out, and Pat, a night owl, would be up until the early hours of the morning.

Jim was a long-suffering fan of the Boston Red Sox. I remember him telling me of his father, a cigar smoker, driving him to Boston for a game on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and then back home to Holyoke. Jim didn’t care for the cigar smoke, but he loved watching the Sox play. He became a font of knowledge about the Red Sox and about baseball in general. He had an amazing ability of recall; he could easily recall batting averages, ERA numbers, interesting stories about ballplayers in the Red Sox organization, and about major leaguers in the history of baseball.

Jim had a great sense of humor and loved telling stories. A favorite topic was what Canterbury was like in the days before we arrived.

One I remember well concerns a school meeting in the ’50s in which students asked Mr. Sheehan if he

Jim was a gentleman and a scholar, an almost courtly figure, whose commitment to the school in good times and tough times was absolute. Having him as a pillar and model was greatly important to those of us who knew him as a quiet but staunch mentor.

CANTERBURY ARCHIVES

Jim worked diligently on his preps, graded tests and essays and got them back to the kids quickly.

We noticed because if he could hold himself to such a high standard, so should we. Jim helped us set our teaching compass.

Coach Shea.

would ease the dress code for chapel dress and allow the boys to wear brown—rather than black— shoes to chapel before dinner. Mr. Sheehan turned to Mr. Brodie, and asked “Well, what do you think of the boys wearing brown shoes, Mr. Brodie?” Mr. Brodie had a oneword answer: “Black!” Jim even managed to mimic Mr. Brodie’s Arkansas accent and his piping tenor voice. I remember, too, sitting with him at lunch one day; one of the young teachers asked him what he thought had been the greatest improvement at Canterbury during his years as a teacher, and without hesitation, he said, “the salad bar.”

Jim loved verbal word play, too.

After I told him I would be teaching Virgil the following year, Jim gave me a twisted version of the opening line of the Aeneid, which begins “Arma virumque cano.” Jim’s version was “Arma one-arm que Pete Gray.” Pete Gray was a onearmed ballplayer who had played for the St. Louis Browns during the war.

Jim was a superb proofreader, and was the go-to person for many years proofing hundreds of alumni bulletins, invitations, and the like in addition to reading and marking thousands of his own students’ essays. I remember seeing Jim, his glasses off, pen in hand, marking copy. After he retired, he even 39

MARC VANASSE ’73

Jim Shea told me that a fateful encounter with then Headmaster Walter Sheehan at a wake in Holyoke, MA, brought him to Canterbury. The rest, as they say, is history. After graduating from Williams College in 1950 with a Bachelor’s Degree in History, Jim took a job at Portsmouth Priory, now Portsmouth Abbey. There, Jim taught three sections of English for four months before the escalating Korean War tightened up deferments, and he decided to enlist in the Navy. From January 1951 to January 1955, Jim served as a military journalist, writing press releases on the exploits of his fellow enlistees.

His service over, he needed a job. The funeral encounter with Mr. Sheehan solved that problem. Jim’s first package of responsibilities at Canterbury consisted of teaching two sections of English, running the dining room, doing dorm duty in North (Duffy) House, and coaching.

Over the years, his duties outside the classroom included coaching “midget” football, thirds basketball, and all levels of baseball. He advised The Tabard and wrote and edited Canterbury Today, an alumni newsletter. He and wife Pat and their five children moved into the newly constructed Carmody House in 1968.

Jim in his Hume Hall classroom in 1995.

volunteered to review college essays and application forms for the College office. He loved the School, and he cared about representing it correctly.

Jim was a gentleman and a scholar, an almost courtly figure, whose commitment to the School in good times and tough times was absolute. Having him as a pillar and model was greatly important to those of us who knew him as a quiet but staunch mentor.

In preparing my comments, I looked at Chaucer’s description of the Oxford Clerk in the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales.

That scholar “had turned to getting knowledge long ago, did not care about worldly office, spent what little money he earned on books, and prayed right busily for the souls of those who gave him wherewithal for schools. He took utmost care and heed of study, didn’t speak more than was his need. Pregnant of moral value was his speech, and gladly would he learn and gladly teach.”

We will miss Jim Shea, the gentleman-scholar.

40

Jim taught me Third Form History and American History. I can still see his fingers form quotation marks around his spoken words. He wrote key words and phrases on the board in a handwriting so unmistakably his that I can still see it scribbled in pencil, always pencil, on my quizzes and tests. His reserved manner was punctuated with wickedly subtle political humor, an apt flourish of word play, and germane historical references. During class, one of his dustyblue three-ring binders containing his notes remained opened on his desk.

As a Third Former sitting in Jim’s classroom, Room 201 of Hume Hall, in 1969, I never imagined that many years later we would become teaching colleagues and friends. Jim’s thorough knowledge of the English language and the Canterbury constituency made him an indispensable proofreader of the PALLIUM, a role he enjoyed. An avid fan of The New York Times, Jim relished combing though the paper’s death notices for obituaries of those in the greater Canterbury family. He would cut the item from the paper, tape it to a piece of white paper, and deliver it to me in my office. In the upper right hand corner, he always wrote: NYT and the date of the item’s publication. When I was homebound following my cancer surgery in 2002, Jim did my grocery shopping, and he and Pat once drove me to a doctor’s appointment and patiently waited for more than an hour for the doctor to remove my staples. In the same year, I came to know the Sheas better after the late Jim Breene, a longtime faculty member, invited me to join a few retired faculty members at Rod Clarke’s house to share a monthly lunch. Those were fun times, sprinkled with political banter and the retelling of humorous Canterbury stories. I felt as if I had finally arrived.

Why did Jim’s students often say he was the best teacher they ever had? He told me in a 1995 PALLIUM interview. “I think I know my stuff, and I prepare assiduously. I do not ever enter a classroom without having prepared, even though I’ve taught the material before.”

Why did he stay at Canterbury for 42 years? “I think my family liked their experience as ‘faculty brats’ and the students so much,” he said.

“They enjoyed being part of an extended family, and they liked all the sports action on campus.”

–Marc Vanasse ’73

CANTERBURY ARCHIVES (3)

Class of 1964 Pays Tribute to Jim Shea

T

he Class of 1964 mourns the passing of James P. Shea, from 1955 through 1997 Canterbury’s peerless history teacher. We stopped, when we read the news, a cold tap on the shoulder causing us to reflect on that good man and his abiding influence on our lives over the 50 years since our graduation.

Jim Shea was an exemplary teacher, both gifted pedagogue and diligent scholar. From Ancient History in 1960-61 (C.E. Robinson, Hellas) through European History in 1962-63 (R.R. Palmer, A History of the Modern World) to American History in 196364 (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr, The Age of Jackson), Jim guided us through the development of Western civilization. Yes, we learned facts. Some of us still can recite the first dozen or so Roman emperors by heart.

Others, the American Presidents. History, however, is more than facts. Jim Shea inspired us to follow the threads, the fundamental questions of narrative, that knit together facts and eras and people great and small in ways that to this day have shaped our understanding of life and living. He taught us too well for us just to skim the surface.

Jim Shea was a benign presence throughout our days, weeks, and years in the cold, cloistered world of a 1960s all-boys New England boarding school.

A baseball coach who loved the game and loved to reveal its beauty even to churlish Cubs and Yankees fans. A gentle wielder of the required imprimatur as the staff of The Tabard struggled with deadlines.

A dorm parent with a sympathetic ear and a light disciplinary touch in Shea House at the edge of the Pine Woods. Jim Shea and his brilliant wife Pat were engaging and congenial hosts at dinners in the School’s dining room. Jim Shea strove earnestly, before our eyes every day, to practice his faith and to lead a life worth living.

The Class of 1964 loved Jim Shea.

We respected the teacher, the daily presence, and he deserved our respect. But we loved him because he was, simply and positively, a good man. He led the life of a good man. A good husband. A good father.

Disciplined, dedicated, accomplished at a difficult task.

A humble man. A man of Socratic self-control and wisdom. And, although humble, a man of unbounded ambition: to teach growing boys by practice and example how in turn they could become good men.

To give them a foundation in knowledge that would position them to understand themselves and the world around them.

Jim Shea loved the Class of 1964. There were many great classes during his 42 years at the School, but he often confessed that 1964 was his favorite. We will miss him.

John Answorth Arturo Brillembourg Tony Dillon Tony Eben Fran Foley Charles Glennon Richard Hanley Peter Howley Jim McCusker Tom Monagan Chis Ordway Ted Rabidoux Steve Simmons Harold Smith Roberto Suarez Dave Wade

Robert Boos Ken Corcoran Griff Doyle Steve Finley Tom Gerety Bill Goepfert Peter Holland Mike McCormick George McMahon Conn Nugent Peter Pustorino Rick Reed Gerard Smith Joe Smith Peter Taylor Pete Ward 41

Centennial Reunion Weekend Centennial Reunion Weekend will not resemble any reunion you have ever attended, and it is certainly not the one to miss! We have pulled out all the stops and planned a memorable weekend that will celebrate lasting Canterbury friendships, the remarkable ways in which our graduates are making a difference in the world today, and the power of 100 years of Canterbury pride! We hope all Alumni will join us on the hill in June for a truly extraordinary Party of the Century! (The schedule is subject to change.)

FRIDAY, JUNE 12 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Alumni Memorial Mass Honoring our Catholic tradition, we will start Centennial Reunion weekend with Mass celebrated in memory of our deceased graduates.

5:00 - 5:30 p.m.

Athletics Hall of Fame Announcement Be among the first to learn the names of former Saints – outstanding athletes, coaches and teams – who have been selected as the prestigious inaugural class of Hall of Fame inductees!

5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Society of Alumni Annual Meeting Presided over by Peter Tucker ’78, President of the Society of Alumni, the annual meeting will also feature a “State of the School” address by Headmaster Tom Sheehy, as well as celebratory remarks by distinguished members of our 50th and 25th Reunion classes.

CONCURRENT CLASS DINNERS 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Milestone Reunion Dinners Alumni celebrating a milestone anniversary (class years ending on 0 or 5) and members of the Old Guard (classes of 1964 and prior) will be hosted to a “rustic chic” cocktail reception and gourmet buffet dinner.

This is your special time to reunite, reminisce and celebrate together!

6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Welcome Home Dinner All non-milestone classes will be hosted at a casual cocktail reception and buffet dinner. The evening will be the first of many opportunities throughout the weekend to reunite and reminisce with alumni across the decades!

6:30 - 11:30 p.m.

Class of 1965 50th Reunion Dinner Members of the great class of 1965 will be hosted to a 42

private cocktail reception and dinner to celebrate this very special milestone occasion.

8:30 - 11:30 p.m.

Coffee House Dessert Reception All classes will join together under the tent and the memory-making will continue into the evening hours!

The relaxed atmosphere of our Centennial Coffee House will feature live acoustic music by Honey Train and delectable desserts, drinks, coffee and cordials.

SATURDAY, JUNE 13 7:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Breakfast Buffet

10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Parade of Classes Join in the fun as all alumni classes participate in a brief march on campus, then process with pomp and circumstance into Centennial Tent!

11:00 - 12:00 p.m.

Centennial Convocation and Distinguished Alumni Award Board President Bob Steers ’71 and Headmaster Tom Sheehy will offer reflections on Canterbury’s 100 years of progress and promise, and their vision for the School’s extraordinary future. You will also hear perspectives from inspirational alumni and faculty who have left an indelible mark on the heritage of our school. This signature program will exalt all that defines our Saints pride!

12:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Affinity Lunches Pick up a gourmet boxed lunch and wander through a variety of affinity groups and professional networking opportunities. Connect with classmates and faculty as you reminisce about activities and organizations that engaged you while you were a student, and network with fellow graduates with whom you share common professional interests.

Announcing Centennial Website Canterbury’s rich heritage has been assembled into an impressive website that proudly chronicles the School’s 100-year history. We encourage members of the Canterbury family to visit the site to learn about the founding of the School, its headmasters, faculty, and trustees. In addition, the site includes a comprehensive timeline and photo galleries. Visit www.cbury.org/page/Centennial-Home Founding Headmaster Nelson Hume

2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

Centennial Academies Canterbury alumni, trustees, parents and friends, noted as accomplished professionals in their fields, will lead stimulating panel discussions on contemporary topics in finance, technology, art, and public policy.

A panel of students will share insights into life at Canterbury today.

Centennial Academies speakers to date: The Arts Paul Tucker ’68 PhD, Distinguished Professor of Art at the University of Massachusetts Boston and one of America’s foremost authorities on Claude Monet and Impressionism.

Jay Clarke ’84 PhD, the Manton Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA. Finance and Investments Mario Gabelli, founder, chairman and CEO of Gabelli Asset Management Company Investors (GAMCO).

Douglas Haynes, President of Point72 Asset Management and former Managing Director at McKinsey & Co. Robert Steers ’71, Chief Executive Officer of Cohen & Steers, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange-listed company (CNS).

Public Policy Ambassador Cofer Black ’68, Vice President Raytheon Blackbird Technologies and Former Director, CIA Counterterrorists Center and Coordinator for Counterterrorism & Ambassador at Large Technology Greg Coleman ’72, President of BuzzFeed, and former CEO of Criteo.

Current Students Lou Mandler, Academic Dean, Canterbury School

3:30 - 5:00 p.m.

Class of 1965 Campus Odyssey Members of the Class of 1965 will venture on a private journey down memory lane. You will visit treasured locations throughout our hilltop campus, stopping for musings and reflections along the way.

3:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Recreation Facilities Available, Campus Tours, and some R&R… Rest up for the Party of Century!

7:00 - midnight Party of the Century!

This is the pinnacle moment of our entire Centennial Reunion Weekend! This spectacular celebration will be like no other in our 100-year history, complete with strolling gourmet supper, signature cocktails, table and lounge seating, live music by Soul of Boston, dancing, and fireworks!

SUNDAY, JUNE 14 7:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Centennial Mass

11:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Dedication of Centennial Path The path into the Old Schoolhouse is one that Canterbury students have walked for generations. We will dedicate this walkway – newly named “Centennial Path” – which is lined with tribute bricks from more than 300 alumni, parents, grandparents and friends and features messages of acknowledgment and gratitude for the impact that Canterbury has made on their lives.

11:30 am - 1:30 p.m.

Farewell Brunch All good things must come to an end! Bid farewell to your alma mater and your fellow classmates at this informal brunch.

Please register for Centennial Reunion Weekend on-line at www.cbury.org/centennial-reunion.

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44

COURTESY LEN SAVOIE ’70

COURTESY BOB CUSACK ’62

CLASSNOTES

Bob Cusack ’62 submitted this photo of the Nahant & Nahant Dory Club’s adoption of the U.S. Coast Guard Cruiser Flying Fish. Bob is fourth from the left.

Len Savoie ’70 and friend Colette pose with Santa.

1947 Vince Hughes reports that he is still playing golf.

1959 Michael von Mandel tells the PALLIUM that he has retired from the law business.

1965 Lee Beaulac has started Beaulac Associates, a consulting firm that helps nonprofits affiliate and merge. In addition, he has been elected chair of the Yates Country Endowment, a charity serving the needs of low-wealth communities in Yates County, NY. 1968 Tom O’Connor and his wife, Joanmarie, are the proud grandparents of Carter James O’Connor, born on March 16, 2014.

He is the first of Tom’s son, Brian, and wife Beth.

1978 In addition to his work at Chubb Insurance, Peter Tucker now serves as the Northeast Chairman of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, one of the few established industry-wide charitable foundations.

his fifth birthday. To date, the Foundation has raised $3,000,000 that has helped more than 1,500 families in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Says Tralee, “It is amazing to see the organization grow beyond what my parents ever imagined. Ryan is my hero, and I am so lucky to call him my brother.”

Tralee plans to run a half marathon (and raise $1,000) to support the Foundation.

2014 Christina Jenkins made Dean’s List at Parsons School of Design. n

1986 After living in Sydney, Australia, for three years, Kimberly Gallup Bracken and her husband, Daniel, and their three children have moved to Melbourne, the home of the Australian Open, the Grand Prix, and most sporting events in Australia. It is also the cultural and arts mecca of the country. The Brackens have been granted residency in Australia, so they can reside there indefinitely. Says Kimberly, “Our seven-year-old daughter considers herself an Aussie and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.” Their twins recently turned two and were born in country.

1997 Matt Sweeney graduated from Cornell University with a PhD in 2011. He and his wife, Meg, have a daughter, Caroline, age 3. Matt works as a senior researcher at Mathematica, in Cambridge, MA, and lives in Belmont.

1999 Tommy Egan and his wife, Meghan, are expecting their first child in August. They live on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Mike Hume left ESPN earlier this year to accept a position at The Washington Post. He is National Assignment Editor for Sports and is in charge of the paper’s online sports department. He has also been doing some online TV work.

2000 Alice McGrail received a promotion in October 2014 and is now a director of the healthcare practice at Burson-Marsteller in New York City. In addition, she spent time in 2014 working in London; Basel, Switzerland; and Amsterdam.

2010 Many years ago, Tralee McElroy’s family started the Ryan McElroy Children’s Cancer Foundation to help children afflicted with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

Ryan, Tralee’s brother, died of cancer just shy of

Got News?

Send us news/photos about your new job, new baby, grandchild, travels, or wedding to pallium@cbury.org. If submitting digitally, please send a highquality JPEG file (300 dpi, size: min. 3 x 5 inches). If submitting prints through the mail, please send a photo-lab quality print. We’d love to hear from you.

COURTESY TOM SHEEHY

Retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Burke ’79 and his wife, Nicole Vanasse Burke ’75, pose with their son John, who was promoted to Marine First Lieutenant on April 19, 2015.

Tom and Betsy Sheehy pose with members of the Canterbury Korean Alumni Association on the Sheehy’s March trip to Seoul, Korea. L-r: Emma Choi ’97, Clara Kang ’00, SJ Baek ’09, Andrew Kim ’95, Hyung Tae Kim ’97.

Katie Forster ’05 married Griffen Randle last September. L-r: brother Peter Forster ’09, great-uncle Peter Carney ’49, Lexie Routh ’06, Margaret Smith ’06, Katie, uncle Aidan Mullett ’80, Heather Smith ’05, great-uncle Rory Mullett ’56.

COURTESY TOM SHEEHY

COURTESY KATIE FORSTER RANDLE ’05

The children of Kimberly (Gallup) ’86 and husband Daniel. L-r: Isla, 2, Abigail, 7, and Isla’s twin brother William.

COURTESY KEVIN BURKE ’79

COURTESY TIM MCCARTHY ’74 COURTESY KIMBERLY GALLUP BRACKEN ’86

Tim McCarthy ’74 paid a visit to Fr. Clement Greenan, a former Canterbury chaplain, in Dublin, Ireland, shortly before Christmas. Tim showed Fr. Greenan the video he had shot of the dedication of the plaque honoring the 95-year-old priest.

“Totema,” a sculpture by Emma Choi ’97, is on public display in Seoul, Korea.

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OBITUARIES CLASSNOTES In Memoriam

Richard A. Markey Jr. ’37 John K. Culman ’44 David D. Hume ’45 Gerard W. Smith ’51 Matthew C. Maloney ’53

Thomas G. Penn ’55 Erik J. Hendricks ’61 Donald A. Spaeth ’65 Kevin C. Reilly ’68 Patricia T. Shea

Richard C. Markey Jr. ’37 Richard “Dick” Aloysius Markey Jr., pioneer Catholic Liturgical consultant, WWII Navy veteran, husband of Adele Benziger Markey, died at home on Feb. 21, 2015.

Dick graduated from MIT and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In the late 1960s, after the Second Vatican Council, he became one of the pioneer Catholic Liturgical consultants. For more than 50 years he designed and renovated the interiors of many Catholic churches. He and Adele lived in Summit, New Vernon, and Morristown, NJ. Adele, his beloved wife of almost 67 years, their six children, 12 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, survive him.

Two of his late brothers, William J. Markey ’39 and Thomas S. Markey ’42 and cousins R. Mark Egan Jr. ’61 and Edward C. Steele ’41 also graduated from Canterbury.

John K. Culman ’44 John K. Culman ’44 died on December 14, 2014. John was a devoted brother of Kathleen Culman Ridder and Peter William Culman. He is survived by one niece, five nephews, two great-nephews; four great-nieces, a greatstep-niece, two great-great-nephews, and one great-greatniece.

Said faculty member Bryan Kiefer, “In our travels together for Canterbury, Tom Sheehy and I spent many enjoyable evenings with John, usually meetings for drinks at his lovely Georgetown townhouse, then proceeding to La Chaumière restaurant for a delicious dinner. Widely traveled, well read, and a lover of the arts, John was a generous host and charming dinner companion. After Canterbury and a brief stint in the US Navy, John graduated from Yale and worked in banking for many years, in Europe and the U.S. A faithful and generous graduate, John was one of the first Canterbury graduates to establish a Charitable Remainder Trust for Canterbury’s benefit, and he made several additions to it through the years.

David D. Hume ’45 David D. Hume ’45 died in Wilmington, NC, on February 18, 2015. He was born in New Milford, CT, in 1928, and in 1945 enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He received a BA from Yale University in 1949 and an MA from Columbia University in 1950. After several years as a research assistant in The Citizen Education Project at Teachers College, Columbia University, he was appointed headmaster of Saint David’s School in New York City in 1953. He held this position until 1990, by which time he was the longest serving headmaster in the United States.

David served as President of the Guild of Independent Schools of New York City and was a trustee for several independent schools there. He was also President of the 46

Thomas More Chapel at Yale, President of the New York State Association of Independent Schools, President of the Country Day School Headmasters Association, a founder of the Elementary School Heads Association, and first president of the Interschool Orchestras of New York (formerly the Independent School Orchestra of New York City). After retiring from Saint David’s School, Hume designed and built a small cruising sailboat and then wrote a book about it, Blueberry (A Boat of the Connecticut Shoreline). He also published several books about trips to Italy with his wife: Towns of the Renaissance, About Sicily, About Italy (Puglia to the Po), and Travels in Italy (Verona to Roma). He also published a novel, Beyond the Long-Eared Mountains.

David and his wife, Catherine, moved to Wilmington, NC, in 1990, where he served on the boards of the Wilmington Concert Association and the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, and was advisor to several local arts associations. Hume was also a painter and participated in the 2014 Art Show at the Cameron Art Museum. His wife of 61 years, Catherine Lewis Hume; sister, Rozanne Edmondson; six children, including Noah ’79, Christopher ’72, and Adam ’74; and five grandchildren survive him. His brothers, Stephen ’43, a longtime Canterbury trustee and benefactor of the School, and Michael ’41 predeceased him. His father, Nelson Hume, was Canterbury’s founding Headmaster from 1915-1948.

Gerard W. Smith ’51 Gerard W. Smith ’51, died on February 21, 2015, in Scarborough, ME, after a valiant battle with cancer. He was born in New Canaan, CT, on March 31, 1933, the oldest of six sons born to Alice and Gerard Smith.

Gerry married his wife, Patricia Mohun in 1955, and they remained happily married for nearly 60 years. They began their married life in New Canaan, where they had six children.

After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he worked as a Wall Street stockbroker. In 1972, they moved to Goshen, CT, where he opened The Trail, a hunting and fishing store that allowed him to embrace his passion for the outdoors. Following his time as a small business owner, he followed another dream, purchasing land in Cornwall, CT, where he turned to raising sheep.

Gerry and Pat generously opened their home, first to Javier Rivera, a participant in the Fresh Air Fund. Javier spent his first summer with the Smiths in 1971, and has been a son and brother ever since. In 1982, the family was forever changed upon the death of Gerry’s beloved brother Stephen, followed closely by the death of Stephen’s widow, Lorna. Gerry and Pat adopted Steve and Lorna’s three children, and raised them as their own.

He was a proud lifelong member of the Marshapaug Club, serving a term as its President. During his time in Goshen and Cornwall, CT, he was an active member and one-time President of the Litchfield Country Club and served as President of the Connecticut Junior Republic, a residential home for troubled boys.

He and Pat spent a decade in Washington State, before

moving to Scarborough, ME. Always active, Gerry volunteered for the Audubon Society and served as a reading tutor for elementary aged children. He remained a dedicated golfer, and a frequent beachcomber.

Gerry spent his life with a dog by his side, developing a passion for nature, which he shared with his children. He loved hunting, fishing, and especially birding – possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of bird calls, trees, and flowers, and plants.

Gerry’s legacy is a large and loving family who will miss him dearly. He is survived by his wife, Patricia; his brother, Antony ’52; his children: Susan, Gerry ’75, Catherine, Michael, Geoffrey, Christopher, Sarah, Kristen, and Bryan; his 12 grandchildren; five great grandchildren; his nephews Sebastian and Geoffrey Smith ’84; and his honorary son, Javier.

His late brother, Michael ’54, also graduated from Canterbury.

Shaun F. O’Malley ’52, Former Canterbury Trustee Shaun F. O’Malley, former Chairman of Price Waterhouse, died Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, of metastatic melanoma.

The fifth of eight children of Inez Fitzpatrick O’Malley and W. Gresham O’Malley Jr., he earned his accounting degree at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. At Penn, he was a Brother and President of Zeta Psi Fraternity and was active in the Penn Players, where he was a member of the chorus in The King and I and Brigadoon. Shaun served in the U.S. Army Ordinance Corps in Maintz, Germany in 1953 and 1954. Following his service with the 1st Guided Missile Battalion, he returned to Penn under the GI Bill.

Shaun joined the accounting, tax, and consulting firm of Price Waterhouse in 1959 in Philadelphia and worked in the New York and Japan offices prior to being elected U.S. Firm Chairman in 1988. He served as U.S. Chairman from 1988 until 1995 and was also World Firm Co-Chairman in 1994 and 1995.

For 36 years he served clients and the firm selflessly and was known as the quintessential client service partner. A man of great integrity and foresight, he led Price Waterhouse during an era of increasing consolidation and massive technological change, and he fostered greater global integration as the firm moved into new markets in emerging economies. Shaun was also a leader in promoting greater auditor accountability and, at the request of the S.E.C. and Public Oversight Board, served as Chairman of the Committee on Audit Effectiveness. Following publication of that Committee’s findings, he testified before the Senate Finance Committee during deliberations that led to the Sarbanes-Oxley law.

He was a member of many board and audit committees, including The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), Monell Chemical Senses Center, Horace Mann Educators Group, Philadelphia Insurance Company, The Philadelphia Contributionship, and The Finance Company of Pennsylvania. In addition, he served on the boards and audit committees of many organizations, including The Curtis Institute of Music, The University of Pennsylvania, The University of Pennsylvania Health System, The Wharton School, The Chestnut Hill College, The Springside School, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Finance Committee, and The

Committee of Seventy. He served as a Canterbury School trustee from 1994-1999.

A man of many diverse interests and exceptional communication skills, Shaun could converse with anyone, anywhere, on any subject. His hobbies included tennis, reading, and time at the Avalon beach with his family. He greatly enjoyed classical music and was a subscriber to the Philadelphia Orchestra for many years. He was a fearsome competitor in any game or competition, most especially softball, tennis, and in his later years, Boggle, which he played with his children and grandchildren. He was a devout member of the Catholic Church.

He married the late Sibyl Julia O’Malley in 1965. Surviving are his wife, Lyn Buchheit; a son, Brendan H. O’Malley; daughters Sibyl H. O’Malley and Aine O’Malley Pappas; a stepdaughter, Megan K. McNamara; five grandchildren; two brothers, including Gresham O’Malley ’50; and two sisters.

Matthew C. Maloney ’53 Matthew C. Maloney ’53 died on March 31, 2015, in Providence, RI. After Canterbury, he graduated from Brown University and Fordham School of Law. He was a law clerk for Kelly, Drye Newhall, Maginnis, and Warren for four years and then a corporate lawyer with IBM for 43 years, working in the U.S. and Europe. Besides his wife of 54 years, Ellen, two sons, a daughter, and seven grandchildren survive him.

His father, Joseph, was a longtime Canterbury faculty member.

Thomas G. Penn ’55 Thomas “Tom” Gordon Penn ’55, died on December 8, 2014.

Tom was born in Chicago, IL, and had lived in The Villages since 2006. He is survived by his loving wife Mary (Penny) Snee Penn of 45-plus years; sons, Charles A. Penn, Thomas H. (Mindi B.) Penn and Christopher D. Penn. He was the proud grandfather to Ashby, Caleigh, Madeline, and Jackson.

Erik J. Hendricks ’61 Erik Hendricks ’61, a former staff member and longtime executive director of the Pennsylvania SPCA, died on January 30, 2015, of leukemia at Bryn Mawr Hospital. Erik’s tenure with the animal welfare group ran from 1976 to 2007, and he helped create and implement some of the signature programs and services the PSPCA offers. He also advocated at the state level for stricter laws to protect animals from cruelty and abuse.

Born in Rochester NY, Erik was a longtime resident of Haverford, PA. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, he worked on the editorial staff of the Evening Bulletin and later as the manager of the Colony Hotel, with facilities in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Delray Beach, FL. He moved to Philadelphia to work for the PSPCA and spent 27 years as executive director. He was credited with transforming the organization from an animal shelter to a modern animal welfare institution, with programs and departments focused on the animals’ health and well being.

He also went public with the mantra that preventive health measures and spay and neuter programs for each animal were key to the pet overpopulation problem.

47

CLASSNOTES He testified frequently before lawmakers in Harrisburg, advocating for laws that he felt would help animals and fighting those who would undermine their welfare. After retiring, he volunteered for Meals on Wheels and served for two years as president of the board. He also volunteered for Eldernet, transporting senior citizens on errands and to their doctors. Erik was an avid squash and tennis player and a member of the Philadelphia Country Club.

Surviving Erik are his wife of 34 years, Alice Haynsworth Hendricks; his mother, Tina Appleton Bishop; two daughters, Stephanie Haynsworth Hendricks and Katherine Appleton Hendricks; a brother, Peter ’58; and nieces and nephews.

Donald A. Spaeth ’65 Donald A. Spaeth ’65 died Friday, March 13, 2015. He was the loving husband of Pamela (Barry) Spaeth. Born in Jamaica, NY, he was the son of the late Edward Allison

Spaeth and Helen Muriel (Schneider) Spaeth. After graduating from Canterbury, he matriculated at Williams College. He served as a First Lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division in 19711973. He was an English teacher at the Hyde School and Woodstock Academy.

A lifelong musician, Don opened String Tinkers, an artisanal music store in Putnam, CT. In addition to his wife, his son, Thomas Allison Barry Spaeth, his daughter, Catherine Elizabeth Spaeth, his brothers, Peter Edward Spaeth ’70 and Edward Gregory Spaeth ’75, his niece Corinne Helen Spaeth, and cousins Edwin C. Schneider ’68 and Michael G. Schneider ’76 survive him.

behind his steadfast and devoted wife, Nancy Slack Reilly, and two sons Shane, and Kailand.

He is also survived by a large and loving group of siblings, including Ellen ’82 and Eugene ’78; as well as various in-laws, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Kevin was retired from KCRCreative, Inc., a market research consultancy he founded, based in Charlottesville.

After Canterbury, Kevin graduated from Amherst College, Class of ’72, where he was a Chi Psi fraternity brother. Kevin was a funny, loving, witty, intelligent and gentle soul who excelled at telling great stories. He was also athletic, playing baseball and hockey in college and for many years participating in a local men’s softball league. He was a car enthusiast, racing at Lime Rock. One of the highlights of his life was attending the Skip Barber Racing School.

Patricia T. Shea, a longtime resident of New Milford, CT, died on December 10, 2014, at Williamstown Commons Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. She was born on May 15, 1933, in Salem, MA, to the late James and Alice (Coombs) Tobin.

Having earned her Bachelor of Arts at Trinity College (Washington, D.C.), Pat did her graduate work at Boston University where she met her husband, Jim, a Canterbury history teacher from 1955-1997. After raising their five children, she worked as Canterbury’s Director of Development, Tax Collector for the Town of New Milford, and a realtor for Settler & Traders and William Pitt. Pat was active in community service for many Kevin C. Reilly ’68 years, serving on the New Kevin C. Reilly ’68 died at his Milford Board of Education home in Charlottesville, VA, and the New Milford Hospital on December 27, 2014. Kevin board of directors. was born in New York City Pat’s husband, Jim, whom to the late Eugene L. Reilly III she married on June 28, 1958, and the late Isabelle Connelly died on January 6, 2015. Her Reilly, both of Norwalk, Patricia T. Shea, five children, Mary Kate ’77, CT. A longtime resident of Former Canterbury Jim ’78, Megan ’79, Toby Charlottesville, VA, he leaves Director of Development ’81, and Tim ’86; and six grandchildren, Liam, Aidan, Emma, Eben, Riley,and Carter survive her.

Dan Kaiser is a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank serving as the Global Head of the Senior Credit Executives, overseeing the credit risk of the Corporate Banking & Securities and Global Transaction Banking Divisions, which provide banking and capital markets solutions to U.S. and multinational clients. He was a critical hire for Deutsche Bank in 2011, improving their risk leadership with his 20+ years of extensive capital markets and portfolio management experience related to his senior roles at Citibank, Bank of America, Bear Stearns.

Dan lives in Yorktown Heights, NY, with his wife, Kathleen, and their four children, Shane, Kevin, Meaghan and Christian, a current Third Former.

Dan served in the U.S. Army and Army National Guard, achieving the rank of Captain, and graduated from the State University of New York. He currently serves as the President of the Hudson Valley Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse and leads the Boy Scout programs for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. He served on the Advisory Committee of The State University of New York Youth Sports Institute, was a varsity lacrosse coach at both Fordham and Iona Preparatory Schools, and a Sponsor with the Student/Sponsor Partnership of New City.

“I am excited about the opportunity to serve on the Board of Trustees of Canterbury,” says Dan. “I am inspired by the positive energy of the Canterbury staff and leadership and look forward to supporting and guiding Canterbury into its second century of greatness through providing our students with opportunities to achieve their highest potential.”

COURTESY DAN KAISER

Dan Kaiser Joins Board of Trustees

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William Kupersmith ’59 Establishes Scholarship Fund “I want to give a girl or boy the chance to enjoy the same privilege of experiencing the formation that I once enjoyed.”

William “Bill” Kupersmith ’59 has established a scholarship fund to provide financial aid for deserving students.

William Kupersmith ’59.

C

anterbury is quite different from most other schools. All schools try to offer an education that they hope will make their students useful members of society, and Canterbury does too. But most schools cannot provide for their students something that is more than an education, and that is a formation.

This tremendous gift was funded by a generous contribution from Bill’s IRA account. This support will create a lasting legacy and provide an extraordinary education for many future generations.

It is that formation which serves as the basis for our becoming the kind of person we should aspire to be. Formation is made up of three areas. The first spiritual and moral values, which for Canterbury is summed up by the motto supercertari semel traditae sanctis fidei – to contend earnestly for the faith once handed down to the saints – Catholic Christian tradition and teachings. The second part is community, and that is why being a boarding pupil is such a privilege, because we need to be together for 24 hours a day to acquire a strong sense of belonging to each other and to our school. Being close and yet respecting privacy and boundaries while observing a code of conduct upholding personal and academic standards is essential to provide the setting for ethos, or character, the final element of a formation. Our ethos is something that goes with us throughout our lives. Having an ethos does not mean that all alumnae and alumni think alike, but rather that we will assume that certain principles are true and serve as the basis of our behavior in both public and private life. A formation comprises values, community, and ethos.

As I have reflected on what my school contributed to my formation, I am always grateful to my parents for their generosity in providing me the opportunity to have been a student at Canterbury. Now that I have some means, I want to give a girl or boy the chance to enjoy the same privilege of experiencing the formation that I once enjoyed.

To learn how you can benefit from including Canterbury in your estate plans, please contact: Glenn Schwitter Director of Advancement 800-526-1710 • gschwitter@cbury.org

Non-Profit Org.

CANTERBURY SCHOOL

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PARENTS OF GRADUATES: If this publication is addressed to your son or daughter and he or she no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the alumni office of his or her new mailing address (800-526-1710 or bjohnsto@ cbury.org). Thank you.

COURTESY SARAH BEDNAR

www.cbury.org

The Girls’ Varsity Swimming team won the Bud Erich Championship, formerly the Western New England Championship.

Says coach Sarah Bednar, “The win was a team effort.” The girls started behind but with every event kept taking more points to eventually beat Holy Child School and Hamden Hall for the first place position.

Celebrating the win are, l-r: Courtney Dunham ’17, Lydia Mahan ’18, Ally Eggleton ’17, Annabelle McCullough ’18.

This is the girls’ third title win in two years.