So, to the students of Poly, may I continue to be worthy of the lessons you have taught me.
It is a source of pride … that so many of our children continue their education [on Poly’s Dyker Heights campus] and that so many of them distinguish themselves there.
It is remarkable that Poly students are willing and able to share deep feelings and that they are able to express themselves so well.
JAMES KEMP Librarian (Joseph Dana Allen Library) [ 16 years ]
ANNE EPSTEIN Head Teacher Pre-K B (Lower School) [ 27 years ]
DR. ELLEN BRIEFEL Science (Upper School) [ 6 years ]
“When I started to work at Poly in 1999, Bill Williams was Headmaster, boys had to wear ties every day, and the library relied on its microfilm collection of periodicals as a mainstay of research,” explained Kemp, who joined Poly at a transformative moment. Just three years later, the library received its first complete renovation in 30 years, including an “overall updating of the physical library that coincided with the [Internet] revolution.” A highlight of Kemp’s Poly career was his leadership in ensuring Poly become one of the nation’s first high schools to adopt the JSTOR database to support student research. While Kemp worked in publishing at Random House before coming to Poly, his 16-year run at the school was the “profoundest learning experience” of his life. “And, by and large,” he said, “the students have been my teachers, leading me to understand and embrace those two basic tenets of Tibetan Buddhism—wisdom and compassion—as the truest goals of life. So, to the students of Poly, may I continue to be worthy of the lessons you have taught me.”
For 27 years, Anne Epstein taught four-andfive-year-olds at Poly’s Lower School. With a B.S. in Journalism from Fordham and an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from the Dillon Child Study Center, Epstein was also a member of the faculty at Woodward Park School whose Park Slope campus Poly acquired in 1995. Born in Manhattan, Epstein moved to Alabama as a child during the Depression. Her journalism career was short-lived because she decided to marry and have children. But, upon receiving her graduate degree, Epstein began a happy career in teaching. About Pre-K, Epstein says, “It is a great age… four-and-five-year-olds are coming into their own world and are excited at discovering all the things they can do… That level of enthusiasm is very satisfying for a teacher.” Reflecting on her teaching career, Epstein remarked: “It is a source of pride among Lower School faculty that so many of our children continue their education [on Poly’s Dyker Heights campus] and that so many of them distinguish themselves there.”
Dr. Briefel described her short tenure at Poly as a “journey of growth and enrichment” at a school that offered “community, support, and warmth.” Dr. Briefel arrived at Poly in 2009, after more than 20 years teaching at colleges, universities, and public and independent schools. While Dr. Briefel initially hoped to be a math teacher, she eventually chose to study science and earned her B.A. at the University of Rochester, then an M.A. at Yale, and finally a doctorate in nuclear physics at Brandeis. About Poly students and Upper School Chapels, Dr. Briefel noted: “It is remarkable that Poly students are willing and able to share deep feelings and that they are able to express themselves so well.” One of the most rewarding moments of her Poly teaching career, Dr. Briefel said, involved a recent senior plan advisee: “[His] creative project was to design a spacecraft for interstellar travel. [It] was brilliant, and it was a privilege for me to end my teaching career hearing a student share his ideas and excitement about applied physics.”
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