The Blue & The Gray - Fall 2023

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THE WRITERS ISSUE

FALL 2023


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14 B OA R D O F T R U S T EES 2 0 2 3 – 2 4

TRU STE E S

B OA RD ME MB E R , NO N-T R UST E E

OFF IC E RS

Indhira Arrington P’29, ’31 Michael A. Correra ’87 John Foley P’26 Hans Humes P’12, ’15, ’21, ’35 Thomas Iannelli ’82, P’18, ’19, ’24 Taek-Geun Kwon P’32 Michael Liburd P’21 John D. McPheters P’33 Elizabeth R. Schlesinger P’28, ’30, ’32 Irwin Simon P’18, ’22 Daniela Vitale-Howell P’20, ’23, ’25 Maxwell T. Wiley P’18, ’21

Jared Hedglin ’09 (Pres. Alumni Board of Governors)

Andrew Foote P’27, ’29 Chair Laurie T. Rosenblatt P’23, ’26 Vice Chair Kareem Raymond P’31, ’33 Treasurer LOWER SCHOOL

50 Prospect Park West Brooklyn, NY 11215 MIDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOLS

1 Poly Prep Drive Brooklyn, NY 11228

Jennifer Powers P’26, ’28 Secretary

TRU STE E S E ME R I T I

Dr. Karen Burke Goulandris P’15 Harry J. Petchesky, Esq. ’55


POLY PREP MAGAZINE

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FALL 2023

FEATURES

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Head over Heels: This Romance Bookstore Is Making People Fall in Love with Reading Sisters Leah and Bea Koch bring the second location of the first romance bookstore in the United States to our Brooklyn backyard. Poly reporters get a sneak peek in advance of the grand opening.

10 Humor that Hits Home: The Polygoon Makes Us LOL News from the Polygoon, the anonymous satire publication that appeared on the Dyker Heights campus in the fall of 2022.

12 Pencils over Pens IZ Nissen ’24 ponders her writing instrument of choice.

13 Message to You Poetry by Bryce Trent ’24.

14 Shutter Stories Poly photographers and writers transport readers to imaginary worlds with lines from stories that have never been told.

20 Beyond the Headlines: The Future of Journalism at Poly A new Lower School newspaper club meets with the Upper School Polygon editors for a primer on journalism basics and what makes a story newsworthy.

36 Donor Roll 2022–2023 We recognize the contributions of the Poly community members who help to make sure students have an extraordinary education.

DEPARTMENTS

PHOTO: Lucy Lavagnino-Sisk ’25

24 Culture Pages

32 Obituaries

26 Commencement

76 The Last Word

29 Class Notes

THE BLUE & THE GRAY is

E D I TO R - I N - C H I E F

DESIGN

published by Poly’s Engagement & Communications Office. It features news from the Poly community of alumni, faculty, and students. Inquiries and submissions are welcome. Contact communications@polyprep.org.

Jennifer Slomack

Joseph Inglis

M A N A G I N G E D I TO R

DESIGN (DONOR ROLL)

Seanna Sankar ’24

Erbach Communications

C O P Y E D I TO R

P H OTO G R A P H Y

Linda Busetti

Linda Busetti

For more information about Poly Prep, visit polyprep.org.

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Robert Tringali

FALL 2023

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MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

DEAR POLY COMMUNITY, As a longtime Poly English teacher, I can tell you that one of the most significant skills we can nurture in our students is to be clear, compelling, and interesting writers. The ability to communicate in writing is vital in reporting the news, essential in creating the magic of a novel, critical in academic study, and fundamentally necessary for any career path. So, I am thrilled to share with you this issue of The Blue & The Gray, a writers issue. Not only do the feature pieces focus on writing and authors, but they were also written by Poly students: poetry, essays, interviews, and humor. Today, Poly students have multiple avenues to express themselves in writing beyond the classroom. There is our longstanding school newspaper, The Polygon, and our yearbook, the Polyglot. Last year, a new literary journal, the Poly Record, joined the ranks of the Poly Arts Journal, the Middle School Literary Magazine, and the History Journal. In these pages, you will learn of the latest publications, the satirical Polygoon, which has been delighting many on our Dyker Heights campus, along with a fledgling Lower School newspaper. In fact, some of the pieces in this issue were selected from those publications, while others are commissioned originals. It is not unusual for Poly writers to be published while they are still students. “Good prose is like a window-pane,” said George Orwell—an apt description of recent graduate Katie Lopez’s satirical take on college marketers in a piece that was published in McSweeney’s. In a new section called The Last Word, you can read an interview with the multi-talented Lopez on how the piece came to be. As the novelist William Faulkner said: read, read, read. Read everything—good and bad—and see how they do it. Just like an apprentice who studies the master, learn how writers work. While Manhattan might be the center of the publishing world, Brooklyn is for readers. Our borough boasts 60 library branches, dozens of wonderful bookstores, and is home to the Brooklyn Book Festival. This August, our borough welcomed another new space for booklovers to find haven. Excited to welcome them to Brooklyn, Jordan Millar ’24 and Seanna Sankar ’24 got the inside scoop from co-owner Leah Koch in advance of their grand opening. Writing is unique, confounding, and baffling. Some days it’s effortless. Other days it is challenging. Ideas prove elusive and resistant to articulation; other times they seem to flow like water. The act of putting pen to paper and emotions into words is a powerful form of self expression. And when we share our writing, we connect. I invite you to read the articles in this The Blue & The Gray and connect with our Poly students. May this issue inspire you to create, to dream, and to share your own unique voice with the world. Sincerely,

John Rankin Interim Head of School

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Jordan Millar ’24

IZ Nissen ’24

Sophia Chamorro ’24

P. 4

P. 12

P. 12

Jordan Millar is the co-editor-in-chief of the Polygon. She recently won a National Scholastic Award and a Regional Gold Key Award for her profile piece “Found Sound” on composer Angélica Negrón, which was featured in the fall 2022 issue of The Blue & The Gray. She has worked as a reporter for Time for Kids magazine and as a film critic for Kids First! media. Outside of writing, Millar is a professional award-winning composer. Her work has been performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

IZ Nissen’s love of English led her to enrolling in Poly electives such as Memoir & Auto-fiction and The Writer’s Craft. Her piece “Pencils over Pens” was originally published in the online magazine Addanomad founded by World Languages faculty member Maité Iracheta. Nissen is a member of the Excellence in the Arts program with a focus on visual arts, specifically, drawing and painting. Currently, she works as a photography editor for the Polygon. Nissen is co-captain of the Poly eSport Halo Infinite team, leading them to number 10 in the nation.

Sophia Chamorro has been a dancer since she was five. Focusing on ballet, Chamorro has taken Advanced Dance classes at Poly as well as lessons at Cobble Hill Ballet in Brooklyn, NY. Chamorro served as the Assistant Artistic Director in this year’s annual Afternoon of Student Choreography (ASC) performance, celebrating an array of dance genres and original student choreography. Chamorro is also a new member of the Student Service Board.

Bryce Trent ’24

William LingRegan ’24

Seanna Sankar ’24

P. 13

P. 20

PP. 20 & 36

Bryce Trent began writing in the first grade with his first poem “Rain,” and his love of poetry deepened throughout the years. Many of his works have been published in the Poly Record. Trent continues to express through language within his academic career excelling in Advanced Mandarin and Advanced Spanish. He is co-leader of Umoja, co-captain of the Speech team, co-founder of the Astronomy Club, a member of the Poly African Drum and Dance Club, as well as a member of the football and track teams.

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

William Ling-Regan loves to write—from creating research projects for the National History Day contest as President of the History Club and working on stories for the Polygon as Opinions Editor to collaborating on resolutions as Vice President of Model UN. Ling-Regan’s History Club projects have placed second in the country and second in New York State. Deeply involved in the Poly community, LingRegan also co-leads Student Service Board, Asia Society, the crew team, Blue Key, and is a member of the Excellence in the Arts program. Last year, Ling-Regan received Poly’s Junior History Award and the Dartmouth Book Award for intellectual leadership and contributions to the school.

Seanna Sankar is the news editor for the Polygon. She worked her way up from staff writer in Grade 9 to become features editor in Grade 10 and online managing editor in Grade 11. She is the co-founder and co-editor-inchief of the Poly Record, a literary journal; the deputy copy editor for the Polyglot, the school yearbook; a peer tutor; a member of Poly’s Female Entrepreneur Club; and plays softball. A member of Gray Key since 2020, Sankar is setting the bar high in the inaugural role of managing editor for The Blue & The Gray.

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Head over Heels: This Romance Bookstore Is Making People Fall in Love with Reading BY JORDAN MILLAR

The Ripped Bodice, the first romance bookstore in the United States, which was founded in 2016 by Leah and Bea Koch, is bringing its diverse book community to Brooklyn.

Dozens of ripped book pages cover nearly every inch of the walls—and even ceilings —from top to bottom at The Ripped Bodice, a new romance bookstore in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. “They’re all damaged and misprinted. We’ll get a box of like 50 of the same book and they’re all missing page 27 or something, and then they become art,” said co-founder Leah Koch who carefully placed them each by hand. Pastel pink and yellow faux flowers and green vines are interspersed between the pages along with vintage decor pieces— from chandeliers to a pink rotary phone—to add to the store’s whimsical character. “This used to be a pet store, so we pretty much gutted the whole thing and turned it into a bookstore,” she said. “Because we’re trying to get people to come in person, I want it to be something that’s worth coming to see,” Koch said, as she proudly

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showed off the store’s exterior, painted a vibrant shade of pink with an intricate matching pink bodice decal on the righthand window. Koch first opened the bookstore with her sister, Bea, on March 4, 2016 in Culver City, California, solidifying it as the first romance-only bookstore in the United States and the Northern Hemisphere. “The interesting thing is that [romance] has always been the dominant genre,” Koch said. According to the Financial Times, “Industry research group NPD Books noted in 2016 that romance accounted for 23 percent of the overall U.S. fiction market.” Now, romance sale numbers are rapidly increasing and showing no signs of slowing down. Attributing the genre’s growth to both the pandemic and TikTok, Koch explained, “The confluence of those two

things—people having a lot more time to read, young people being stuck in their houses and spending a lot of time on social media, especially TikTok—brought in a whole new generation of readers earlier than it would have had the pandemic not happened.” As social media continues to provide a platform for romance writers such as Colleen Hoover — who gained massive popularity through TikTok readers and has sold over 20 million books—The Ripped Bodice continues to foster a sense of community through providing a comforting space for dedicated romance readers (including Stacy Abrams). The bookstore’s new Brooklyn location in Park Slope, on 5th Avenue and President Street, set to open on August 5, will offer customers dozens of sub-genres within romance from paranormal to LGBTQ,

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PHOTO: Megan Kantor

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Sisters and co-owners Leah (left) and Bea Koch (right) pose in front of their hand-decorated bookshelves.

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The quiet before the storm. On opening day, (and many days since), hundreds of romance-lovers queued down the block to shop in The Ripped Bodice.

while also amplifying the voices and perspectives of diverse romance authors. “I really love the brick-and-mortar experience for the community, for the chance to browse in a physical space and to talk to experts. That community that we have in L.A., we hope to build here,” Koch said. Koch, who grew up in a reading-oriented household, recalled that her parents, especially her mother, would often read books out loud to her and her siblings. “My first real memories of reading to myself were the American Girl doll books. My mom had a deal with me and my sister: when we could read an entire chapter book out loud to her, she would buy us one of the dolls,” she said. Her favorite childhood books were series such as The Boxcar Children and The Babysitters Club, as she loved to continue following the lives of the characters. 6

PHOTO: Megan Kantor

However, it wasn’t until the age of 12 that Koch and her sister began reading romance novels. At the time, she recalled that fantasy was a dominant genre, focusing primarily on plot – bad guys and dragons. “My family would go to a lot of book sales and rummage sales. They always had 25cent romance paperbacks, and that’s kind of how I got hooked,” she explained. Unlike fantasy and other genres, when Koch stumbled upon romance and its ability to devote care and attention to the emotions and experiences of the characters, she became invested. It was Koch and her sister’s shared love for romance that would ultimately lead them to create The Ripped Bodice years later. When the two first discussed the possibility of a romance bookstore and learned that only a few existed in Australia, they became determined to bring their vision to life.

“We wanted this place to exist for ourselves, and we felt like there were plenty of people who loved romance to sustain this bookstore, which turned out to be true,” Koch said. Finding resources for funding proved to be the biggest obstacle in establishing the bookstore. “There was no other romance bookstore, so we couldn’t do market research [to see] what other people [were] doing and how you might compare,” Koch said. Instead, she and her sister chose to use Kickstarter, a popular crowdfunding platform, to test the entrepreneurial waters and gauge public support. After successfully raising over $90,000, the two were then tasked with managing the logistics of the project. “It became about finding the right space and learning every single thing there was about owning a bookstore, because we didn’t know any of THE BLUE & THE GRAY


Ask the Bookseller Q & A W ITH LE A H KO C H

PHOTOS: Madison Van Zile (Jodie Slaughter) and Stephen Pass (Sangu Mandanna)

Newer authors to read? Jodie Slaughter and Sangu Mandanna. I could name 100, but I’ll go with those.

Jodie Slaughter

it and [had] never done it before,” Koch explained. Through trial and error, Koch and her sister were able to learn the ropes of the bookstore business, and The Ripped Bodice quickly took off. After opening the bookstore’s first location in L.A., Koch and her sister agreed that there would be no conversations surrounding the idea of expansion for three years. Knowing their tendency to get overly ambitious and ahead of themselves, the two wanted to ensure that their original location was firmly established. In January of 2020, after four years of being in business, Koch and her sister had been

starting to talk about expanding. Then, the pandemic hit. “We put it on the back burner [...] which is a good thing. Then, in late summer last year, almost a year ago, I started to feel like we might be ready to think about it again,” Koch explained. Right away, both sisters knew that they didn’t want to open a second location in L.A. The decision to add a location in New York, according to Koch, was half businessrelated and half personal. “New York is our second most-shipped-to state after California, and we know that we thrive in a very diverse, urban, big city environment,” she said. Most importantly, as Koch has

Sangu Mandanna

Books that deserve more attention? Cara Bastone wrote a fantastic series of New York-set romances and they’re really fun. The book that is the entry point of romance? I hesitate to say just one. We pride ourselves on finding the right thing for the right person. If someone is interested in history: Beverly Jenkins or Tessa Dare are my favorite historicals to start people with; contemporary: Talia Hibbert—almost everyone likes her books. Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is a really great starting point for people.

The book you are most anticipating this year? A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. coming in october.

PHOTO: Megan Kantor

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Freshly unboxed, these novels line the walls ready for new readers.

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Ask the Bookseller Q & A W ITH LE A H KO C H

Favorite book to screen adaptation? I loved Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy on Netflix. They crushed it!

The romance you hope to see on a screen? If I had to pick just one, Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper.

The book you always re-read? Vision in White by Nora Roberts. Nora Roberts is like the great grandmother of romance. She’s been writing forever. I read her series all the time when I was young, and I still do. She has this series about four best friends who run a wedding planning business together and I read it probably every two years or something, because it makes me feel good.

PHOTO: Courtesy Leah Koch

two nephews in Brooklyn, she was excited to see them more frequently. “If I’m going to move somewhere and spend six months to a year or so setting up a new spot, why not go there and get to hang out with them?” Koch added. As Koch continues to expand The Ripped Bodice’s reach and audience to a new state, she notes that the power of books in creating a sense of community and belonging is something that extends far beyond her. “That is work that many many people have done for many years before to foster this notion that bookstores are

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Customers peruse the accessory section for bookmarks to accompany their new novels.

safe community places — I can’t claim any credit for that,” Koch said. “The notion that a bookstore can be the center of a community – I think that’s due to shared interest, belief in the power of literature, and respecting learning and intelligence as things that should be valued and sought out,” she added. Koch acknowledges that not everyone understands the allure of romance novels or the strong sense of community that they foster. When The Ripped Bodice first opened, according to Koch, while romance readers were incredibly excited, those who

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were unfamiliar with the genre, particularly men, had their own criticisms. “There are people who are like ‘wait, that’s so specific. How can they possibly make a living doing that?,’” she said regarding those who believe that a romance-focused bookstore hinders possible profits through limited selections. “A random general-purpose bookstore in L.A. could not raise $90,000—nobody gives a crap. There’s lots of great bookstores [and] the fact that we are specific and niche is literally the reason we can exist, which is very hard for people to understand,” Koch added. Now, given that the store has lasted for seven years and has a second location, Koch and her sister enjoy proving skeptics wrong, while also encouraging them to put their biases aside and give the genre a fair chance. According to Koch, romance novels typically tend to be falsely stereotyped as unrealistic, cheesy, silly, and poorly written. “You can take silly to mean a lot of different things. But that is where it’s an inherently misogynistic argument, to just write off a whole genre that is primarily written and read by one specific gender of people because you haven’t taken the time to engage with it or understand anything about it,” Koch said.

“The fact that we are specific and niche is the reason we exist” Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing Report, out of all the romance books published that year, only 12 percent were by people of color.

published, But the amount of romances by non-white authors has not really improved all that much, so there’s still lots of work to do,” she added.

[“The romance novel world has had] a long and bad history of being extremely racist and extremely homophobic. It doesn’t do anybody any good to pretend like everything is fantastic all the time. I say that out of love for the genre and wanting it to be better,” Koch said. Understanding that these issues have driven people out of both liking and even writing romance, Koch notes that “Honestly, it’s changed a lot, even since we’ve been open, with the amount of pure romances that are being

Koch remains optimistic that the future of romance novels will be one that is much more inclusive for all. “There’s real value in having all kinds of people represented and making the argument that that kind of person is deserving of romantic love, whether that’s someone who uses a wheelchair or somebody who has a specific religion, sexuality, or race. There’s a lot of value in putting that person on a book cover and saying, ‘This person deserves to be in a love story.’”

“We’re talking about tens of thousands of books a year. Are there bad romance novels? Absolutely. I read them all the time. Every single genre has good and bad things,” she added. “But you can’t judge the whole genre based on one or even 10 books – you would never do that for another genre.” Koch hopes that her bookstore can actively change these societal perceptions and attitudes. “I see it happen every day, where people are unsure, whether that’s in a nice way or not a nice way. But they are willing to give it a try and then they come back in however long to get more books because they like it,” she explained. However, Koch acknowledges that despite the genre’s popularity and validity, there are still flaws which need to be resolved —particularly surrounding diversity. According to The Ripped Bodice’s 2020

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

PHOTO: Megan Kantor

Old and damaged books are repurposed as store decor; these books are suspended in the air for a whimsical effect.

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HUMOR THAT HITS HOME:

The Polygoon

MAKES US LOL In the cold, short days of winter 2023, it was not uncommon to spy members of the Poly community hastily snatch a sheet of paper from stacks that mysteriously appeared, and just as rapidly, disappeared, across the Dyker campus. What could students, teachers, and administrators be so eager to read? The much-sought-after material turned out to be the Polygoon. Published anonymously, the satirical publication (Poly’s first ever?) riveted the campus. It broke the news of English teacher Carmelo LaRose’s secret twin, Cramelo, answering an oft-asked question. How is he in so many places at once? The brainchild of the humor publication, whose stories are also online via their website and Instagram account, was revealed in a Polygon interview to be Emily Mansfield ’23. She didn’t go it alone for long. Mansfield quickly acquired a staff of eight writers and before departing for Brown University this fall, handed the reins of the fledgling magazine to Lulu McDonald ’24. We at The Blue & The Gray wish the Polygoon continued success.

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Nasty Food Fight Erupts Over Top Layer of Commons Yogurt REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE POLYGOON Picture this: you’re sitting down to eat lunch in Commons. As you enjoy your delicious meal, you start talking with your friends about the latest news from the Polygoon. As exciting as the Polygoon is, no one is able to fully listen to each other. Instead, each of you has one eye locked on the food bar in the middle of the room, watching a particular container of yogurt like hawks. When a Commons staff member comes to replace that container with a heaping new one, you and your friends spring up, lunch and conversations forgotten, racing to be the first in line for the new yogurt and the delicious layer of berries and granola that lies on top. All around Commons, others are doing the same, each desperate for a taste of that heavenly top layer. This familiar scene took a turn for the violent last week, when, as the Polygoon can exclusively report, a vicious food fight broke out over the yogurt. While sources conflict over what exactly started the fight, one thing is clear: the Poly community has not seen a culinary controversy of this scope since the mysterious disappearance of the Italian bread. According to one source, the fight began after a student attempted to take multiple cups of the fresh yogurt, ostensibly for their “friends.” As even the most casual enjoyer of the tasty dairy snack knows, there is a strict “every man for himself” policy when it comes to yogurt, and hoarding is a big no-no. The source says attempts to redistribute this yogurt bourgeois’ stockpile to the masses are what led to the altercation.

Other sources claim that the fight was in response to skimming, another yogurt no-no, where one uses the serving spoon to skim the top layer of the yogurt, taking all the toppings for themselves and leaving only the goopy, bland base for everyone else. Obviously, this blatant act of granola greed did not fly, and the people in line took matters into their own hands to reclaim the toppings. Regardless of what started the fight, the consequences were devastating. Several combatants were injured, though thankfully, all have recovered due to the miraculous healing power of the ice-cold Commons Water™. The Commons space was also affected negatively, as yogurt splattered as high as the floating candles, and cantaloupe from the nearby fruit salad hit an unsuspecting diner in the head. Luckily, however, the priceless tapestry that hangs above the entrance to Commons remained unharmed, and its subjects live on to side-eye the war criminals (bombastically). The administration is currently conducting a school-wide investigation to track down the delinquents involved in this fight, who, when caught, will be sentenced to a month of hard labor reminding people not to throw away their ReDish containers. As the community recovers from this shocking incident, the Polygoon urges its readers to stay safe at lunch, and to take a break from the all-powerful yogurt as a precaution.

Disclaimer: None of this is real or true. It’s satire. Don’t believe just anything you read online, silly goose. POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

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PENCILS OVER PENS

As humans, we are in a constant flow. A wise woman once told it this way, “We are locked into a rhythm we did not ask to be put in, the rhythm of life.” We navigate through the daily hustle and bustle, most of the time only focusing on the bigger issues at hand. But, what gets us through the grind? For me, it is as simple as a mechanical pencil: 6.10 inches of plastic and 0.7 mm of graphite come together to form one of the most innocent yet adaptable tools on earth. And, then there are pens: in my opinion, they’re much more formidable than a pencil as pens suggest an ending. No tool to go back and change what has been written, only the opportunity to scribble out and leave remaining damage to whatever it is one chooses to work on. For me, pencils will always be superior to the pen. The feeling of getting the graphite in just the right position will always outweigh the feeling of a smooth pen. There’s something so organic about the way a pencil writes. Something so human. The flow of an etching pencil mimics that of the life we are living, and, for that, I am grateful. Plus, pencils are easy to find. Doesn’t matter what company made it, how much graphite is still in it, or how worn the eraser is, a pencil never loses its momentum as we are the ones who give it pulse. We are the ones who turn a stick of graphite into great stories that live on for generations, lasting art on a blank canvas, transcending notes of sheet music. The pencil is versatile, for one moment it could be the center of my world as I scribble down something crucial, and the next moment I’m forgetting it on the subway or in the car. Alas, pencils forgive and won’t leave you lost because they resurface when you need them. The life of a pencil is never linear, yet somehow humans find that spot within their life cycle. Wherever we locate a pencil, it’s guaranteed we will lose it again; resurrection is the beauty of the pencil, and I’m grateful to revamp the world with this magical tool. —IZ Nissen ’24

LÁPICES EN VEZ DE PLUMAS

Los seres humanos vivimos en un flujo constante. Una sabia mujer lo dijo alguna vez de esta manera: “Estamos atrapados en un ritmo al que no pedimos pertenecer, el ritmo de la vida”. Navegamos a través del ajetreo y el bullicio diario, la mayoría de las veces sólo nos centramos en los problemas más importantes. Pero, ¿qué nos ayuda a sobrevivir? Para mí, la respuesta es tan simple como un lápiz mecánico: 6,10 pulgadas de plástico y 0,7 mm de grafito se unen para formar una de las herramientas más inocentes y adaptables de la tierra. Luego, están los bolígrafos: en mi opinión, son mucho más formidables que un lápiz, ya que los bolígrafos sugieren puntos finales. No es una herramienta para volver y cambiar lo que se ha escrito, sólo otorga la oportunidad de garabatear y dejar más dañado aquello en lo que uno eligió trabajar. Para mí, los lápices siempre serán superiores a la pluma. La sensación de colocar el grafito en la posición adecuada es preferible a la sensación de suavidad de una pluma. Hay algo tan orgánico en la forma en que escribe un lápiz. Algo tan humano. El fluir de un lápiz de grafito imita el de la vida que estamos viviendo, y lo agradezco. El lápiz es una cosa ubicua y ordinaria en la vida cotidiana. No importa quién lo haya hecho, cuánto grafito aún tenga o cuán desgastada esté la goma, un lápiz nunca pierde su impulso ya que somos nosotros quienes le damos vida. Somos nosotros quienes convertimos un palo de grafito en grandes historias que perdurarán por varias generaciones, en arte inmemorial sobre un lienzo en blanco, en notas trascendentales de un pentagrama. El lápiz es versátil; por un momento, se vuelve el centro de mi existencia mientras garabateo algo crucial y, al siguiente, lo olvido en el metro o en el coche. Ay, los lápices son indulgentes y no te dejarán perdido en este mundo porque reaparecen cuando los necesitas. La vida de un lápiz no es lineal; sin embargo, los seres humanos lo encontramos en algún punto dentro de su ciclo de vida. Dondequiera que hallemos un lápiz, está garantizado que lo perderemos otra vez; la resurrección estampa belleza en el lápiz y agradezco poder remodelar el mundo con tan mágico instrumento. —IZ Nissen ’24 Traducción de IZ Nissen, Sophia Chamorro y M. Iracheta

Originally published in a d d a n o m a d d

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MESSAGE TO BY BRYCE TRENT

YOU

look at the world around you you have no excuses you got it good everything the cherry blossom tree that would make you sneeze your soul out if you ever opened up the window because you were cooking or something but that doesn’t matter to you or the two bookshelves one that has things you already read and the other with books you say you are going to read but you and me know for damn sure you aren’t going to but that doesn’t matter to you no it doesn’t

or the random things around your house you couldn’t describe if you tried but you still cherish it you don’t take things for granted though it looks that way to everyone else you take everything you are willing to offer yourself the good and the bad for the better or worse because it doesn’t matter to you not one bit because you have yourself and you don’t need other people’s approval you want everything you have and you don’t you’ll take anything you can get your hands on but that’s not greed that’s ambition and we all want some of that matter of fact I’ll take it all but it doesn’t matter to me because I have something better and that something is You

Originally published in The Poly Record

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SHUTTER PHOTOGRAPHY IGNITES THE WRITER’S IMAGINATION. Work from Poly’s digital photography classes are used in this popular writing prompt exercise. THE ASSIGNMENT: Pick an image and start a story. Be concise. Have fun.

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ST RIES

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Longstop by Archie Neibart ’24

With no worries or troubles, we breathed in the new city we didn’t know we could live in; there was no stop sign in our life, and during that moment, we were purely infinite. —TO LU M A J E KO D U N M I ’ 24

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Night Sky by Lena Shamos ’25

“No, no, I think you’re right. Those all can’t possibly be helicopters.” — M I C H A E L G A B R I E L ’ 24

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Left Lane by Archie Neibart ’24

Elijah zoomed down the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the GPS from his iPhone 8 echoing throughout the van and cardboard boxes rattling in the back; he had to make it to the synagogue before sundown, before the Rabbi realized that he had made the worst mistake possible—he had forgotten the matzot. — E L E A N O R B R O W N ’ 24

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Lucy in Glasses by Gaby Flinn-Beane ’25

Her surroundings burst into a kaleidoscope of vivid colors, breathing life into the once dull universe. — B RYC E T R E N T ’ 24

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Untitled by Rafael Lobo-Berg ’25

Some things are made to be broken. —SHA Z A MOUSA ’23

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BEYO N D

TH E

H EADLI N E S

THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM AT POLY The Lower School newspaper club meets with the editors of the Polygon to create newsworthy story ideas and connections between campus reporters.

During club time, in a corner of the Communications space on the Dyker Heights campus, a large blue and gray stadium-style sofa is full of Polygon reporters and editors pitching stories, working on drafts, or perfecting the paper’s layout. But on Thursday, May 11, the sofa was packed with the third and fourth grade journalists from the Lower School newspaper, who were there for their firstever visit with editors of the Polygon. The visit was initiated in the fall, when advisor Lower School librarian Kristen Robb and human resources administrator Tamara Ling reached out to Polygon advisor and journalism teacher Rachael Allen about a potential collaboration between the Lower and Upper School journalists. They had previously organized a trip for a group of Upper School journalists from the Morning Devil, Poly’s broadcast news channel, to visit the Park Slope campus and produce an episode about the new Lower School newspaper club. “Th[is initial] visit was so fun that we talked about how we could make it happen again,” said Allen. This time, she said, POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

“the Lower School students would get the opportunity to see what the Polygon space was like.” Ling hoped that a second visit would inspire the Lower School students to think about what journalism looks like at the Upper School level and show them “that we are one school,” so that moving into Middle School and continuing with journalism “would be a natural progression for them.” To start the visit, the Lower Schoolers and Polygon editors gathered in the Communications space for snacks and introductions. The younger students began to loosen up as they were greeted with smiles from Allen and the Polygon editors: Jordan Millar ’24, Seanna Sankar ’24, William Ling-Regan ’24, and Charlotte Roberts ’24. Before long, they were chatting excitedly and handing out copies of their recently published newspaper to Allen and the editors. “You could tell how excited and passionate they were about their publication and their writing,” said Roberts of the newspaper, which includes games, colorful illustrations, and short fiction stories that appeal to a Lower Schooler’s

WILLIAM LING-REGAN & SEANNA SANKAR

sense of fun, as well as articles that provide an interesting and well-rounded portrait of the Lower School. In the past year, the newspaper has covered the lion dance assembly for Lunar New Year and Dress Like a Book Character Day, and featured the after-school ballet class and Grade 4’s Great African History Museum. The Lower School journalists then explained how they created their stories, giving their Upper School counterparts a look into their process before learning about the Polygon’s process in reporting. At the Polygon’s monthly pitch meetings, and in professional newspapers, reporters and editors meet to share their story ideas and create a plan to write them. During the visit, the Lower and Upper Schoolers worked together to identify what makes a story newsworthy: timeliness, interest, and impact on the community. Then, the Lower Schoolers prepared for a pitch meeting of their own. They broke up into four smaller groups, each headed by a Polygon editor, to learn about newsworthy events on the Dyker Heights campus. FALL 2023 21


Eager Lower School journalists listen to the Polygon editors’ introductions to kickoff the visit.

The Lower Schoolers interviewed their editor to find stories around campus that interested them, ask questions to figure out the “who, what, where, when, why, and how” of each story, and then craft a pitch to the larger group. Their ideas ranged from lunch menu changes and Senior Assassin pranks to the Middle School musical. Finally, they shared these pitches with the other reporters, along with a headline they had written, and received enthusiastic comments from one another. “When everyone came back together and the Lower School students reported on what they had done with the editors, I saw some

Seanna Sankar ’24 (left) and William Ling-Regan ’24 (right) peruse the Lower School’s impressive paper.

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students really come out of their shells and take initiative to speak up in an unfamiliar setting and present some really clever and interesting ideas,” explained Ling. Third grader Charlie S. said that his favorite part of the visit was writing and sharing these pitches with the Upper Schoolers. “It was fun just writing and hearing the good ideas,” he said. Pitching was also fourth grader Sloane M.’s favorite part: “We worked as a team,” she said. “And I got to learn how to improve my stories.” Through their pitches, the Lower Schoolers discovered more about life at the Dyker campus and practiced their reporting skills on a different part of the Poly community. “I learned that a good newspaper [story] has a bunch more steps than I thought,” said Sloane M. More importantly, though, the group work allowed the Lower Schoolers to connect with their Upper School counterparts. Allen said, “I wanted to create a way to help the Lower School students feel excited and welcomed about continuing journalism, especially as they graduate to the Dyker Heights campus.

During the actual visit, we talked a lot about what makes something newsworthy, but [the] connection [between the Lower School and Polygon students] was the biggest goal.” To Ling, seeing these small groups work together was one of the best parts of the visit. She said, “I loved Ms. Allen’s idea of breaking up into small groups and having the small groups engage with one of the editors. It gave the Lower School students a more personal connection.” In these connections, the Lower Schoolers found older students to serve as role models as they continue to pursue journalism and eventually transition to the Middle School. Allen said, “Especially when starting a new school, everything can feel unknown — journalism is a great model for learning about a space and getting to connect with new people.” Sloane M. said, “I was pretty excited because the older kids know a lot more than me, so I thought that it was a great opportunity to learn more about

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newspapers.” Allen expressed that she would have loved to have role models like these at an earlier age, and especially in college when she started to pursue journalism more seriously. She said, “Given the way that Poly is set up, I think the Polygon students can help make the transition to the Dyker Heights campus feel a little bit more familiar.” Her goal of providing role models to the Lower Schoolers seems to have been achieved: Charlie S. said that after visiting the Dyker Heights campus and getting to know some Upper School students, he feels “a little happier” about moving into Middle School in two years. He said, “I just want to explore things. I want to see Upper Poly more and I really want to make new friends.” “I believe journalism can help kids feel empowered to ask questions,” said Allen. “The more that we can be encouraged to ask questions, learn about others’ experiences, and, with that, feel a part of the world, the stronger and smarter people we’ll become — both on the page and in person. The fact that these LS students are brainstorming story ideas and doing interviews is amazing.”

While not every school has programs for learning and teaching journalism, opportunities like this one encourage aspiring journalists and teach skills that are valuable to everyone. “I think reading the Polygon and engaging with people who are doing the same kind of work that they do is the best way for [the Lower Schoolers] to gain an understanding of what journalism is and how they might

“It was fun just writing and hearing the good ideas,” further explore that interest,” said Ling. “It gives them an outlet to use all of those skills in a way that’s not attached to the day to day things that they are doing in class.” Robb agreed, saying that the newspaper allows students to “see there’s actually a point” to what they learn in school. “And then for them to see their work handed

Lower School reporters browse through a collection of the Polygon’s latest issues— something they can be involved in as Middle School students on the Dyker Heights campus.

out, and other people enjoying it, is really meaningful for them. It provides purpose to everything they do,” she said. These two visits this year are just the beginning. Ling explained, “We are hoping to continue having the Polygon and Morning Devil visit the Lower School and having the Lower School visit the Dyker Heights campus.” With more visits to come, the collaboration between the two newspapers will inspire more stories, an Upper School to Lower School mentorship, and perhaps even the future editors of the Polygon.

Seanna Sankar ’24 guides a group of six LS reporters through creating a newsworthy story.

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C U LT U R E R E V I E W

WHAT WE'RE Book Lovers by Emily Henry Eleanor Brown ’24

READING,

Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg Jennifer Lavagnino-Sisk ’23

seamlessly; showing us what it means to love and be loved. The stories evoke laughter, tears, and moments of profound introspection. Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory is a testament to the power of embracing our imperfections and finding love amid the chaos. It’s a literary gem that reminds us of the beauty in our shared humanity. Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea Charles Polizano P’18, Head of Technology

We’re all familiar with the typical “enemies to lovers” trope. We see it in classics like Pride and Prejudice, You’ve Got Mail, and Beauty and the Beast. Emily Henry’s Book Lovers is the perfect modern-day rendition. Esteemed literary agent Nora Stephens takes a summer trip with her sister Libby to Sunshine Falls, a deserted town in rural North Carolina. They go to get away from the chaos of New York City for their three-week trip; the last person Nora expects to see is Charlie Lastra, her stiff editing nemesis from back home, but lo and behold, it’s a romance novel. The book is no groundbreaking take on a classic fictional romance, but it’s certainly a fun pageturner. Henry knows how to keep readers doubting each prediction, even though you’re sure to be pretty certain of how the story will wrap up. 24

Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory (SWWLYAYDG) is an extraordinary collection of short stories that navigate the messy, imperfect nature of human connection. If the author’s name sounds familiar, that’s because Bob-Waksberg is also the creator of two-time Emmynominated show Bojack Horseman. The same empathy and wit found in Bojack Horseman is pervasive throughout his writing in SWWLYAYDG. Bob-Waksberg short stories surprise you, as he creates bizarre characters like bandmates turned superheroes and uses unconventional approaches to formatting like writing one story as a list, also arriving at a refreshingly honest depiction of vulnerability

Twenty years after the tragedy of 9/11 a bone fragment identifies a female victim from the attack, despite years of such efforts proving fruitless. An aspiring reporter, Avery Mason, takes on the story to highlight the accomplishment of identifying a victim so many years later. As she dives deeper into this woman’s history, she discovers that Victoria was the subject THE BLUE & THE GRAY


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LISTENING TO, of a murder investigation right up until the day she perished in the towers. Digging deeper into this case reveals a secret love affair between the woman and the author she allegedly murdered. Avery begins to doubt the accused’s involvement in the crime, and launches her own investigation into this long-cold case. All the while, Avery’s own motivations for taking on this story suddenly come to light, and we discover the real reason why she took the trip to NY to begin with. There are many twists and turns throughout this story that may cause one to get worried as they approach the end how well it will all come together, but Charlie Donlea does not disappoint, and suddenly every path the reader takes to the ending becomes clear. The misdirection used by the author keeps you enthralled in the story, and constantly second guessing. As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to put the book down, as you need to know what happens next, and which character is going to break. I found myself frequently changing my mind about who I was rooting for, and what I wanted the outcome to be. As if the story wasn’t engaging enough by itself, this is one book where the epilogue throws the greatest literary curveball of perhaps all time.

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good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar Dr. Alex Carter, P’36, ’38, Upper School Dean

The 2012 Kendrick Lamar studio album masterfully blended voice, beats, lyrics, and storytelling to explore the world of a kid growing up in Compton. Storytelling is essential to me as a hip-hop listener. I appreciate how he explored his day-to-day existence and made me think about my connections growing up in Washington, DC; some vastly different and some vastly the same as a “five mics” album! “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo Lucy Goldberg ’26

Olivia Rodrigo, released the song “Vampire” on June 30, 2023. This single is a preview of her sophomore album GUTS (to be released September 8). The theme of fame is constant throughout the lyrics as she declares the person she sings of is a “bloodsucker…bleeding [her] dry like a damn vampire,” describing the person’s crave for fame. I recommend this song to anyone looking for an upbeat yet deep song. Personally, screaming along to it is one of the most relieving experiences.

AND WATCHING Daisy Jones & the Six on Amazon Prime Amy Schlansky ’87, P’22, Events Manager

If you like the movie Almost Famous, tune into Amazon Prime’s limited series, Daisy Jones & the Six, which was adapted from Tara Jenkins Reid’s best-selling 2019 book of the same name. It’s an entertaining story of love, music, and very messy people. Loosely based on the tumultuous drama within a real band, Fleetwood Mac, the show reveals the rise and fall of the fictional Daisy Jones & the Six from various insiders’ perspectives. We, as viewers, watch the action in a series of flashbacks—told via the conceit of interviews for a documentary film— and must determine which narratives feel the most reliable. Seventies music is my jam and I appreciated that the soundtrack, which included original songs, hit the right nostalgic notes, but also felt current.

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COMMENCEMENT

CELEBRATING

THE CLASS OF 2023 POLY’S 166TH COMMENCEMENT

The Class of 2023 celebrates by tossing their caps in the air at the end of the ceremony.

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COMMENCEMENT

Student speaker Shaza Mousa ’23 and Joseph Dana Allen Award speaker Rory Schoenberger ’23 lead the class to the ceremony.

We spy Ratatouille posing for a photo with new graduates Brianna Kwan ’23 and Leo Yihan Wang ’23.

Happy graduates Lola Pitman ’23 and Olivia Umeh ’23 smile for a photo.

Graduates Myka Modeste ’23, Mia Edwards ’23, Jordan Campbell ’23, Josiah Bartholomew ’23, and Sundiata Gittens ’23 proudly show their diplomas with Dr. Angela Gittens P’23, ’26.

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d n a 3 2 ’ n a m t iP a l oL s e t a u d a r g yp p a H FALL 2023 27 .o t o h p a r o f e l i m s 3 2 ’ h e m U a i v i l O


COMMENCEMENT

The Class of 2023

Ollie Schiff-Stein ’23 and graduates say a final goodbye.

Zoe Wells ’23 shows off her Spider-Man themed graduation cap.

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Adrianna Neal ’23 and Katie Lopez ’23 perform during the ceremony.

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CLASS NOTES

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2023 Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award!

Dr. Arthur J. Bellinzoni, Jr. ’53

Marcus Whitney ’93

Angela Yee ’93

Michael Cacace ’98

Arthur entered Poly in the fall of 1949 and received the Joseph Dana Allen Award at graduation in 1953. He graduated from Princeton in 1957 as a religion major and went to Harvard to earn a PhD in History and Philosophy of Religion with a concentration in early Christianity.

Marcus is a self-taught software developer, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. Prior to co-founding Jumpstart Health Investors, he was the Director of Technology and Partner at Emma Email Marketing, acquired by Campaign Monitor, and Co-Founder at Clariture Health, a HIPAA compliant digital ad management platform, acquired by Trilliant Health.

Award-winning media personality Angela Yee currently hosts her own nationally syndicated iHeartMedia radio show, “Way Up with Angela Yee,” as well as her highly rated relationship “Lip Service.” “Way Up with Angela Yee,” arrives on the heels of Yee’s 12-year run as co-host on Power 105.1’s wildly popular morning show, “The Breakfast Club,” for which the three co-hosts were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2020.

Michael Cacace graduated with a BA from NYU Stern School of Business in 2002. While studying at NYU, Michael also served as the head coach of Poly’s Boys’ Junior Varsity Basketball team and an assistant to coach Bill McNally on the Boys’ Varsity Basketball coaching staff.

Arthur taught religion at Wells College in Aurora, NY for 38 years and also served concurrently as Director of Planned and Leadership Giving for the last 17 of those years. After retirement, Arthur continued to serve as Special Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives on the Wells Board of Trustees, and as Chair of the Planned Giving Advisory Committee. He now serves as an Honorary Trustee. Arthur’s 60+ years of volunteer service in Aurora included three years as a Boy Scouts scoutmaster; the Board of Directors of the United Way of Cayuga County; Charter Member and Chair of the Board of Cayuga Community College Foundation, where he initiated an annual giving program; Chair of the Planned and Leadership Giving Committee of the Cayuga Community Hospital; 12 years on the Board of Directors of the Rothko Chapel in Houston; and, since 1996, on the Board of People For the American Way in Washington DC. Arthur has written, edited, or translated 10 books and multiple articles in religion, including four books written since retirement. Arthur’s greatest hobby has been to travel, visiting 48 states and 108 countries. Perhaps most happily, for the last 23+ years Arthur has shared almost everything with his partner Dimitrios Dimopoulos.

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Marcus is the founder and General Partner of Jumpstart Nova, the first Black healthcare venture fund in America, launched in 2020 to make seed and Series A investments in promising Black-led healthcare companies. Marcus was the founder and CEO of the Health:Further conference, which added thousands of leaders in health innovation from around the country to Jumpstart Health Investors’ network. As Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, Marcus was the initial architect of the algorithm used to score over one thousand earlystage healthcare companies for consideration by Jumpstart Foundry, the firm’s pre-seed index fund. Marcus brought professional soccer to Nashville as co-founder and minority owner of Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club. Marcus is also a board member of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, and Launch Tennessee. Marcus wrote a best-selling book, Create and Orchestrate, about entrepreneurship. He has been featured by Entrepreneur, CNBC, Inc., NPR, Fast Company, and The Atlantic.

Outside of media, Angela is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for building businesses that give back to the community. She owns the Juices For Life juice bar in Brooklyn, created Drink Fresh Juice which are distributed across the country, and co-founded Coffee Uplifts People (CUP), a majority Black-owned coffee company with a brick-and-mortar location in Brooklyn. In 2018, the New York City mayor designated August 28 as Angela Yee Day, now an annual community event in Brooklyn spotlighting local Black-owned businesses and Black and Caribbean music artists. Additionally, Yee is on a mission to improve financial literacy through her Wealth Wednesdays platform and her partnership with StellarFi, a public benefit corporation that provides underrepresented communities with access to credit. With her finger on the pulse of hip-hop, culture, business, and community, Angela Yee is a multihyphenate in every sense.

After graduating from NYU, Michael became an assistant coach under Basketball Hall of Famer Jay Wright at Villanova University. However, one season was all it took for Cacace to realize that his heart and mind would always be on the corner of Avenue R and Nostrand Avenue at his family’s restaurant. Michael’s of Brooklyn restaurant, family-owned and operated, has been a staple on the Brooklyn restaurant scene for almost 60 years and has been featured on Food Networks’ Top 5 Italian Restaurants in America, Eater NY, New York magazine, Travel channel, and more. Michael resumed his responsibilities as the “front of the house” host. He used his education and real world experience to expand the reach of Michael’s of Brooklyn by jarring his family’s pasta sauce and selling it across the country. Today, Michael’s of Brooklyn Pasta Sauce is sold in over 20,000 supermarkets across the United States, as well as Central and South America. Despite its rapid growth in production and sales, Michael has insisted that all the pasta sauce sold under the Michael’s of Brooklyn label is both cooked and packed on the corner of Avenue R and Nostrand Avenue.

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CLASS NOTES

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George Marks ’56 Happy to say all is well for us here in San Diego. Still playing tennis and pickleball with Bette as we celebrate our 58th anniversary in August. Our oldest grandson, Taylor Davila, is playing professional soccer now with the Toros—Rio Grande Valley FC. His brother, Evan, is playing his last year of soccer on a scholarship with Cal Berkeley and their cousin Noa has been accepted by Cal Berkeley and will attend in the fall. Best regards to all ’56ers. Marvin Lerman ’58 received the NYU Law Alumni Association (LAA) Meritorious Service Award at the NYU Law Reunion in April.

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Dr. Richard Spiegel ’62 was awarded the Gold Medal for Meritorious Service to Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at their annual Alumni Gala in New York City in April. Dr. Spiegel, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, recently retired from his practice of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Scottsdale, AZ.

Scott M. Smith ’75 has written a new book titled The Spy and the Seamstress, available on Kindle and paperback at Amazon. Scott shares: “After writing two contemporary thrillers, I yearned to go back in time. Hamilton, the musical, first hooked me on the Revolution and inadvertently led

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me to Nathan Hale. Hale and Hamilton were both captains in the Continental Army serving in New York City in 1776. They were both the same age, both Ivy League graduates, both handsome, popular men. Yet, at the most dire moment in the war, when the Continental Army was surrounded by the full might of the British Empire, and commander-in-chief George Washington put out the call for an officer to go behind enemy lines, Nathan Hale was the only one to raise his hand. The rest is history —Hamilton went on to greatness and Broadway; Hale went to an unmarked grave and a book by me, an unknown author.” Scott will be presenting the book in person at The Greenwich Historical Society on October 24 and at the DC Ranch Country Club on November 29.

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Andrew Port ’85 I have a new book coming out this spring. Never Again: Germans and Genocide After the Holocaust looks at how the Nazi past shaped German responses to the genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda—and further, how these foreign atrocities recast Germans’ understanding of their own horrific history. It was published on May 2, 2023 with Harvard University Press.

Stellene Volandes ’89, editor in chief of Town and Country magazine, was honored on June 17 by the PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation with the Paradigm Award, celebrating the achievements of a distinguished Greek American.

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Matt Roventini ’92, P’21, ’25, the Poly Blue Devils Head Baseball Coach, was named to the 2023 National Coaches of the Year list by the American Baseball Coaches Association and ATEC.

PHOTO: Courtesy Heather Shapiro

Laura Terruso ’99 directed a major motion picture release this past spring with About My Father, a charming, familyfriendly comedy starring legendary actor Robert De Niro. Fun fact: Terruso is one of only four women to direct De Niro, as well as the youngest! THE BLUE & THE GRAY


CLASS NOTES

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Anastasia Cembrovska ’07 and husband Victor Mancini welcomed their son Vincent Alexander Eugene Mancini on November 2, 2022.

Qadir Forbes ’11 and Imani Forbes welcomed daughter Iva Natalie Forbes on March 16, 2023.

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Tara (Muoio) Holzer ’13 graduated summa cum laude from New York Law School in May 2023, receiving the Alfred L. Rose Award for Excellence, given to graduating students who exemplify outstanding legal ability, character, and potential for leadership in the profession. She begins her career in law at Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP this fall. Alexandra Capellini ’13 I recently graduated from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with my MD and a Master’s of Science in Clinical Research. It was such a nostalgic graduation for me—I was set on pursuing a career in medicine even as a freshman at Poly. I have fond memories of taking Poly’s Science Research course and pondering whether I had a future in clinical research. Poly prepared me to pursue a Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University, and from there, I moved on to medical school at Mount Sinai. Along the way, I managed to continue playing clarinet at Johns Hopkins and then in the Weill Cornell Music & Medicine Orchestra, after many years enjoying my rehearsals with Poly’s concert band. I am now living in Ann Arbor, Michigan as I begin my residency in MedicinePediatrics. It’s an exciting new chapter in my journey, and I’m grateful for all that has led me here.

PHOTO: Courtesy Staten Island FerryHawks

Angelo D’Acunto ’18 made his professional debut in June catching for the minor league Staten Island FerryHawks.

Jane Malafronte ’18 graduated from the US Naval Academy this May. She’s going to be a Second Lieutenant in the Marines. She was an English major and German minor and captain of the Navy softball team. FALL 2023 31


OBITUARIES

1940S Wilbur (Will) Davis ’46 passed away on May 10, 2023 at the age of 95. After Poly, Will went on to Harvard University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. At Harvard, he was a threesport varsity athlete (football, wrestling, and lacrosse). He was also a member of the Hasty Pudding Club, the oldest social club in the United States. As a football player, Will was the inaugural winner of the Frederick Greeley Crocker Award. His exemplary play on the football field caught the attention of then NFL Baltimore Colts’ President and General Manager Walter Driskill who offered him the opportunity to play for the Colts. Instead of pursuing a career in professional football, Will joined the United States Army in December of 1950 after the outbreak of the Korean War. He completed boot camp and his initial training as a radar systems operator at Fort Lewis in Washington before deploying to Korea in 1951. He served an entire year on the front lines, during which he was quickly promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant before his discharge in September 1952. After Korea, and while living in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, Will started his own company inventing, manufacturing, and marketing toys and advertising specialties. Several of his inventions were sold by national retailers such as FAO Schwarz and were featured in national publications such as Time magazine. A self-taught engineer, Will then spent 30 years with IBM in Rochester, MN, Austin, TX, Paris, France, and the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina holding executive positions in such diverse areas as engineering, product and market planning, advanced technology, product testing, competitive analysis, and ergonomics. He earned two invention achievement awards at IBM, holds 13 U.S. Patents and has nine additional inventions published. After retiring from IBM, Will authored and published a book on entrepreneurship, which was marketed and sold nationally and internationally after being translated into a multitude of foreign languages.

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He also conducted seminars and was a consultant for small businesses as part of several microenterprises. A lifelong learner with a remarkably keen intellect, Will’s interests were wide-ranging and included astronomy, quantum mechanics, world history, and art. Throughout his life, he continued to design and develop products in his home-based workshop, and was a music buff who could identify innumerable pieces of classical music by ear. In his 70s, he took up oil and watercolor painting and sculpting, and although he had no formal training, he created stunningly accurate busts of each of his four grandchildren. Will’s talents and gifts were simply boundless, yet his devotion to family remains his greatest legacy. He built a beautiful life with Marilyn, his wife of 55 years, who was the love of his life, his best friend, and constant supporter. Together they shared endless laughs, a love for travel, and lifelong memories with family and friends. He also adored spending time with his children and four grandchildren who will always be inspired by his life lessons, stories, wisdom, and incredibly quick wit. Will lived his life with a wonderfully positive attitude and was known to extend

as much kindness to those he had just met as he did to his closest friends. His integrity, sense of humor and empathy earned him respect and admiration from all who knew him. Will is survived by his wife, Marilyn; two children, Mark (Kathleen) of Chagrin Falls, OH and Stacy (Robert) of Yardley, PA; four grandchildren, Madeline and Anderson (daughter and son of Mark and Kathleen) and Jack and Olivia (son and daughter of Stacy and Robert), and a niece and two nephews. He is preceded in death by his siblings: Edmund R. Davis, Kathryn Davis Zabe, and Nancy Jean Davis Daniel A. Dorff ’48 passed away January 9, 2023. Dr. Alan Roland ’48 passed away on July 22, 2023 at his home in Monterey, MA at age 93. Alan brought new insights to psychoanalysis by calling out a Western bias in much of the field and factoring in differences in culture and upbringing among patients. He was best known for In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-Cultural Psychology, an influential 1988 book in which he laid out his ideas. After graduating from Poly, Alan earned a

Art by Rory Schoenberger ’23

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OBITUARIES

bachelor’s degree in sociology at Antioch College in Ohio in 1955 and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Adelphi University on Long Island in 1960. He married Joan Gardner in 1962. In 1964, they made their first trip to India, a six-week visit, vowing to return. Thirteen years later they did, by which time Dr. Roland was pursuing the research that became his 1988 book. His later books included Cultural Pluralism and Psychoanalysis: The Asian and North American Experience (1996) and Journeys to Foreign Selves: Asians and Asian Americans in a Global Era (2011). He also maintained a clinical practice. Alan is survived by his wife, Joan; son, Ariel; and daughter, Tika Snyder, and three grandchildren.

1950S Herbert Zohn ’50 passed away on July 16, 2023 at age 90. Herbert was on the staff of AARP for years, then opened the ZOMA art gallery. With the help of Franklin D. Roosevelt III, Herbert worked for 10 years to have the statue of Eleanor Roosevelt, whom he greatly admired, erected at 72nd St. and Riverside Dr. This monument transformed a dilapidated entrance to Riverside Park and reinvigorated that entire area of the park. Herbert established a scholarship at the Yale School of Art, supported the Metropolitan Museum, New York City Ballet, Yale University (he graduated in the class of 1954), and other institutions. He is survived by his companion, Hely Lima; his sister-in-law, Rochelle Zohn; a niece, Sheryl Kutner; and a nephew, Mark Zohn. Richard Marlin ’51, of Manhattan, passed away on February 27, 2023 at age 89. A graduate of Yale College (1955) and Yale Law School (1958), Richard enjoyed a career as a corporate lawyer working for Marshall Bratter, Kramer Levin, and McLaughlin Stern. Richard is survived by his wife of over 40 years, Caroline (Hirsch Magnus), his son, John, his daughter, Elizabeth Morrill, his stepsons, Arthur and Steven Magnus, and six adoring grandchildren.

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A S O F J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 3

Bruce Dayton ’52 passed away on June 11, 2023. Bruce graduated from Williams College in 1956 where he was Captain of the Cross-Country team, editor of the yearbook, Vice-President of the Chi Psi Fraternity, and a member of the Winter Relay and Spring Track teams. He attended San Francisco State College as a graduate student for a Master of Science degree in Business while serving in the Navy. He co-founded Multi-Financial Services, Inc. in 1970, one of the first independent personal financial planning firms in New England and the nation. In 1989, MultiFinancial Services merged with Wingate Capital of Lexington, MA. Beginning in June of 2006, Bruce was affiliated with securities offered through LPL Financial. Bruce was an instructor of Advanced Financial Planning and for the original courses leading to a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation for the Insurance and Financial Services Institute at Northeastern University. He lectured on personal financial planning for a number of educational programs and served on numerous educational and financial boards. Bruce served as President and a Director of the Massachusetts Congregational fund 1991–2003; as a two-time Moderator of the Pilgrim Congregational Church of Lexington ’74 –’75 and ’94 – ’96; Trustee of Lexington’s Isaac Harris Cary Education Fund 1994–2000; the Advisory Board of the Andover Newton Theological School; and as a Director and Advisory Board member of the Boston Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors 1996– 2002. Bruce and his wife Gracia were active “Fellows” of the Williams College Museum of Art and Skidmore College’s Tang Museum of Art. Bruce was a sponsoring donor for the Williams College Museum of Art’s 75th Anniversary installation of the Louise Bourgeois, Eyes. He was elected Chairman of the WCMA Fellows Program of the Williams College Museum of Art and a member of the Visiting Committee of the museum from 2002–2006. The Daytons were sponsors of the U.S. Biathlon team for the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City and the Pentathlon team for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. In 1992 and 1996, Bruce served as a People to

People delegate for the Financial Services Industry on missions to Russia, Belarus, New Zealand, and Australia. He was awarded many honors for his service to the community. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1957–1960 as a Public Information Officer in San Francisco for the U.S. Navy Recruiting Service for Northern California, Nevada, and Utah. In addition, he served as a special liaison for exhibitions to Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and the 12th Naval District for the National Navy League Convention in 1959. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Gracia Parkhill Dayton, a nationally known watercolor artist, and his three children: his daughter Heather Dayton Wilson of Acton, MA, her husband Dave and their three children, Tyler, Grace, and Tommy; his son Jon Dayton of San Francisco, CA, and his wife Hendy and their three boys Tucker, Skyler, and Jackson; and his son Greg Dayton of Sausalito, CA and his daughter Noa. Dr. Robert Kirschner ’53 passed away on April 1, 2023. At Poly, he was an exceptional athlete, and track was his sport. Bob was fast—really fast—earning him his nickname, “The Greyhound.” He ran three seasons: cross country in the fall, board track in the winter, and 440m and 880m relays in the spring. When he and his classmates turned 60, they decided to get together once a year for dinner. At a reunion in 2008, he said, “Too long! Too many years! Too much! What I can say is that whenever we get together, it is remarkable. The years disappear, and we enjoy being a class again.” After Poly he attended Yale University, continued running with the track team, joined the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, and graduated in 1957. Subsequently he received a Doctor of Medicine degree from New York Medical College, completed a residency in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, and earned a fellowship in nephrology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. From 1965 to 1968 he served as a Captain for the United States Air Force at Travis Air Force Base. Following his service, he moved his family to the East Coast, where he practiced internal medicine and nephrology. In the

FALL 2023 33


OBITUARIES

mid–1970s, he was the Department Chief of Medicine at Horton Hospital in New York. Bob loved learning and doing. He learned to sail, but then (with his children handing tools back and forth from the cockpit) figured out how to tear down and rebuild an engine. He learned how to fly and convinced his very patient wife to let him fly his children to school in Connecticut. His wife ended that adventure after one trip when he found himself over Bradley Airport rather than Simsbury Airport. He loved skiing and took his family to Vermont every winter weekend. After a full day on the slopes or on the water, he could be found, Scotch in hand, reading The New York Times, and conquering the crossword puzzle. Bob, Bobby, Doc, Dr. Bob, Robert, The Greyhound, Twinkle Toes, and Poppy (as his seven grandchildren knew him) kept his sense of humor until the end, telling jokes to his family and caregivers. A connoisseur of puns, he would have smiled at April Fools’ Day being his last. He is survived by the love of his life, Sylvia Kirschner; four children, Natalie Tallis of Darien, CT, Leslie Kirschner of Miami, FL, Kimberly Felty of Duxbury, MA, and Marc Kirschner of New York, NY; sons-in-law Hans Tallis and Bryan Felty; daughterin-law Susanna Kirschner; grandchildren Annika, Nicholas, and Charlotte Tallis, Storme and Calder Felty, and Aria and Zev Kirschner. Norman Silberdick, Jr. ’59, a longtime resident of Hampton and the Seacoast, NH, passed away on January 7, 2023. After Poly, Norman went on to attend University of Pennsylvania before transferring to New York University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1964 and soon after enrolled at City University of New York, where he received his MBA in 1968. Norman began his career at Silberdick & Peritz while in college as an apprentice and left as an accountant. He then joined The Singer Company where he was a Manager of Financial Analysis European Consumer Products Division and a Manager of Operations Analysis European Industrial Products Division. He held various positions in finance before creating Silberdick &

34

A S O F J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 3

Company, a management consulting practice specializing in capital formation, corporate development, turnarounds, crisis management, and start-ups. He continued his career as principal/partner of several consulting companies prior to his retirement. While managing his consulting businesses, he was an Assistant Professor of Management at Keene State College and later was an Adjunct Professor at University of New Hampshire System and New Hampshire Technical College. Norman was a sport enthusiast throughout his life. In his younger years he enjoyed tennis, basketball, softball, squash, and racquetball. Later in life, Norm continued his passion for tennis and played golf. He was a member of the Seacoast Tennis Club and Abenaqui Country Club. Norman held several board positions in the Town of Hampton. He was the Chairman of the Trustees of the Town of Hampton Trust Funds, a member of the Recycling Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Hampton School Board. Norman was a 19-year volunteer for Seacoast Hospice. Norman enjoyed traveling and had many great adventures with his life partner, Deborah. Together they enjoyed musical and theatrical performances. He enjoyed working in the garden. Norman had a love for animals. He had many dogs and several cats in his life, including his most recent dog, Lucy, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge last year. Norm was a very affectionate man who loved his family and friends dearly. He will always be remembered for his kind soul and big heart. His positive impact on those he loved was undeniable and will never be forgotten. His great smile will be missed by all who knew him. Survivors include his life partner, Deborah J. Bryan of Kittery, ME, daughter Tami Moore and her husband Russell of Dover, son Aaron Silberdick and his wife Heather of Alton Bay, grandchildren, Sam, Brayden, Gaige, Jackson, and Jocelyn, and Deborah’s children, Russell, Amanda, and Nathaniel. Norman was predeceased by his son Andrew Silberdick, his sister Barbara Feinberg, and former wife Kathleen A. Hudson.

1960S Dr. Richard Legouri ’61 passed away on March 26, 2023 at age 79. He was an orthopedic surgeon. In a tribute, Paul Feinstein wrote, “Richie’s classmates from Poly Prep all loved him and will sadly continue on without him, but with fond memories.”

1970S Ronald Jacob Couri ’70, president and CEO of Couristan, Inc., whose vision helped preserve the 97-year-old rug company’s legacy, died on February 28, 2023 at the age of 70. Ronald was born on Oct. 8, 1952, in Brooklyn and grew up in Dyker Heights with three brothers. He attended Poly and then continued his education at Villanova and Temple Universities. He served at the family company for more than 50 years and was recognized by his peers and employees as a creative leader. Ronald enforced strict No Child Labor policies within Couristan by implementing internal and third-party inspections of each facility where handmade area rugs were made, the company said. He also explored new business opportunities and ventured into initiatives that would forever change the landscape of how area rugs were manufactured, marketed, designed, and colored. Through his knowledge of the floor-covering industry, he was able to structure licensing agreements with several brands under the Couristan umbrella, including Vanderbilt, Forbes, Disney, CARE, and Marvel. With a vision of manufacturing and marketing indoor/ outdoor area rugs, under his guidance in 2001, Couristan launched its first outdoor area rug collection, a segment that continues to grow exponentially, Couristan said. He is survived by his sons Evan Brett Couri and Ronald George Couri, his daughter Cristina Couri Salit, her husband Eric Stephen Salit, and his grandchildren Elle Harper Salit and Star Grey Salit.

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OBITUARIES

John W. Misciagna ’72 of Frisco, TX passed away on June 30, 2023 at age 68. He was born December 11, 1954 to Jennie (Giunta) and John Misciagna in Brooklyn, NY. John was a football coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1992 to 2003, finishing his career as the offensive assistant coach/quality control coach of the New Orleans Saints. Over his 11 years of coaching, his teams compiled a cumulative win/loss record of 88-88-0. In tribute, fellow Poly alum Philip J. Iracane ’73 recalled, “John’s passing hits us hard. “64” was the gold standard in our world of high school football in the 1970s. I would say I owe my excitement toward football to John. He was a coach long before he was one. We would often meet for lunch at Mitchell’s and he’d speak of tenacity, hard work, and dedication as requirements to play your best. He tapped into something in me — he made others better. Each time we’d meet, he’d insist on showing me the facilities and introduce me to all his colleagues. He’d always mention PP days and how we were the “Guard Tandem” that along with center Joe B. were the

A S O F J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 3

Peter Tuckerman Esty, Jr. ’85 of Seattle and Port Townsend, WA, formerly of Deerfield and Wareham, MA, passed away on April 8, 2023. Born August 24, 1966, “Tuck” grew up primarily in Deerfield, MA, and attended Eaglebrook School and Deerfield Academy before moving to Brooklyn, NY, and graduating from Poly Prep Country Day School in 1985. He graduated from Middlebury College as a fine arts major. After a youth during which Tuck thrived most outdoors and unfettered from indoor trappings, he channeled his creativity and need for fresh and especially

ocean air into a long career as a master woodworker on boats, which evolved into his all-inclusive boat improvement and maintenance venture, Yachtopia, based in Seattle. Over decades, Tuck became a venerable member of the live-aboard community, calling first his 35’ Alberg yawl Annie, then his Cheoy Lee Offshore 50, Orient Star home. His was truly a life of messing about in boats. Indeed, his only foray into terrestrial domesticity came in a cabin he bought three years ago 200’ atop a sea cliff in Port Townsend overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where he and untold numbers of home improvement recruits communed with orcas and bald eagles. He is survived by his life partner, Anne Krier. Predeceased by his father, Peter T. Esty, he additionally leaves his mother, Athalia (Happy) Barker Esty, of Andover, MA, his brother Jay and his wife Susan, also of Andover, and his sister Leila and her husband Peter Poutiatine, of Tetonia, ID. He was “Uncle Duck” to Charlotte and Athalia Esty, of Boston and Andover, Cameron Poutiatine of Kelly, WY and Isabella and Natasha Poutiatine of Tetonia, ID.

to Poly. He made it his mission to see that Poly went coed and recalled to The New York Times in 1995, “I said the world had changed. How can you exclude half the human race and say you’re preparing the other half in the proper way?” Under his leadership, Poly went coed in 1977. Also during Bill’s tenure, the Woodward Park School in Park Slope was acquired in 1995 and the Lower School campus was born. A longtime administrator, Registrar Lori Redell P’10, ’11, who was hired by Bill, said she was forever grateful for the opportunities that he gave her and the time he spent ensuring that she would be successful in new and challenging roles at Poly. Redell recalled, “Bill loved classics and wrestling. He was at every sports competition with his dog, Beau. I learned so much from Bill, about Poly, and life. I am most grateful to Bill for the impact he had on my family when he convinced us to stay

in Brooklyn after my husband had been transferred to Chicago. That was in 1995, the year that Poly purchased the Lower School. His persuasive invitation to stay in Brooklyn, and have my children educated at Poly, changed our lives. Harry J. Petchesky, Esq. ’55, a longtime member of Poly’s Board of Trustees, said of Williams, “During his tenure, he modernized the Poly by instituting coeducation, diversifying the makeup of the student body, adding a Pre K - Grade 4 Lower School and tripling its size, and improving both the curriculum, and the quality of the student body. In short, the groundwork for the Poly of today was created by Bill’s efforts and dedication during his 31 years as Poly’s Head. The quality of Poly today reflects Bill’s vision and his persistence to translate his plans to reality.” Bill is survived by his wife Linda, and children, Diana, “Mac,” and Sarah ’89, and grandchildren.

O-Line anchors. He’d always whisper to me how, in actuality, it was Bernieri, Napoli, and Brennan that made us successful— always humble. The thing that keeps him closest is the legacy he leaves as a loyal teammate, mentor, and friend. We offer our condolences to Jeanie and the entire Misciagna family.”

1980S

IN MEMORIAM

William “Bill” M. Williams P’89, Poly’s former Head of School (then known as Headmaster) from 1970 to 2000, passed away on April 13, 2023 at his home in Vermont. Bill, a graduate of Williams College, had been headmaster of Doane Academy in New Jersey before coming

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

FALL 2023 35


REACHING FOR MORE 36

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


YEAR OF ACHIEVEMENTS 2022-23 IN REVIEW

Poly kicks off the academic year with the Grand Opening of a new Writing Center in the former Reading Room of the Joseph Dana Allen Library. Available to Middle and Upper Schoolers, the goal is to support and enrich all student writing and celebrate writers.

September ’22

October ’22

Poly community breaks ground on the forthcoming Arts Center that will add 10,000 square feet of rehearsal, exhibition, and teaching space to the Dyker Heights campus. It is slated to open in Winter/Spring 2024. FALL 2023 37


Celebrating 45 Years of Women in Sports Poly celebrates 45 Years of Women in Sports and dedicates a newly renovated softball field worthy of the championship program.

October ’22

November ’22 Inaugural Poly Writers @ Poly brought acclaimed novelist Joseph McElroy ’47 to campus. Throughout the year, Lower, Middle, and Upper School students regularly interacted with authors, journalists, actors, and filmmakers on timely topics of importance.

New York Times journalist Emily Bazelon

Author Camryn Garrett

Author John Patrick Green

Joseph McElroy ’47

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THE BLUE & THE GRAY


Conservation Biology students tackled climate change issues when they participated in the Mock Global Climate Change Conference. The conference tasked students with negotiating policy decisions that would reduce global warming by two degrees Celsius.

Poly Upper School students participated in the Eighth International Day of Women and Science at the United Nations, a day dedicated to gender equity in STEM.

Climate Change December ’22 Upper School students in the Art & Social Change class initiated and led a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Community Mosaic Workshop for Middle School students.

January ’23

February ’23 Advanced Concert Choir shines in New Orleans in a four-day tour that included multiple performances.

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$722,000 Raised in One Spectacular Night! More than 325 parents, alumni, alumni parents, and friends turn out for the Art for Arts Celebration, a celebration of Poly Arts that grosses more than $722,000 for the forthcoming Arts Center.

March ’23

April ’23 At the New York State Championships for Speech and Debate, Poly qualified the most students ever. Poly debaters also participated for and competed in national tournaments.

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Two Spring Championships! The Softball team ended an undefeated season by winning the 2023 Ivy Prep League Championship and the NYSAIS Championship titles. Poly Baseball claimed the 2023 Ivy Prep League Championship and the NYSAIS Championship titles, the program’s eleventh state title in 15 years. Poly fourth graders helped restore the Northern Bobwhite Quail population by incubating and hatching eggs as part of science study involving sustainability.

May ’23

June ’23

Commencement Celebration Poly celebrated 140 graduates at the 166th Commencement ceremony in June and it’s no surprise that the college destinations reflect the diversity of the Class of 2023. From New York to California, the Ivy League, liberal arts colleges and universities, MIT, and the U.S. Naval Academy, Poly Prep graduates will continue to pursue excellence and make their mark on the world. FALL 2023 41


MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

A COMMUNITY WE CAN BE PROUD OF As I delight in my fourth decade as a proud member of the Poly family, I am struck by what an exciting time it is to be the Interim Head of School of this vibrant institution. Moving forward into the 2023-2024 school year, I want to reflect on how much we have accomplished. Not only did we see a new record for Annual Giving this past year, but in recent years we have been hard at work renewing our campus with refreshed classrooms, exciting new facilities, and world-class programs. Our graduates attend the nation’s finest colleges and universities, and our alumni lead lives of positive consequences. Each of these accomplishments is a testament to the incredible commitment of the Poly community, and for that…we give you our thanks! Being part of the Poly family means having high aspirations and setting ambitious goals. Our inclusive community is the foundation on which we create a supportive learning environment empowering students to mature in intellect, character, and integrity. Our teaching faculty are engaged citizens, forward looking, continually learning, and always open to innovation. John Dewey said that “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” This is something we know to be true because we see it everyday. Our proudest hope is that students discover not only what they can achieve, but what they actually become.

Our inclusive community is the foundation upon which we create the supportive learning environment that empowers students to grow in intellect, character, and integrity.”

42

In my many years at Poly, I have seen time and time again how the generosity of our parents, alumni, faculty, and friends supports what is at the heart of all that we do. I am excited to share the journey with you as we embark on another wonderful school year.

John Rankin Interim Head of School

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MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD CHAIR

LOOKING FORWARD Thanks to you and all of our generous donors, Poly achieved a new record in Annual Giving last year, raising over $3.1 million and laying the groundwork for continued growth in this crucial source of support. While a proud achievement, there’s much more to be done. With your feedback in mind, the Board is finalizing a new strategic plan for this academic year. This plan charts a clear path for our future, emphasizing excellence, strengthening community bonds, and advancing Poly’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As our community unites for a nationwide search for our new Head of School, the Board wholeheartedly commits to reinforcing relationships within the Poly community. We’ll foster transparency, provide unwavering support, accountability, and equity for our valued faculty and staff, and build meaningful partnerships with like-minded advocates of scholarship and achievement. Above all, we dedicate ourselves to our exceptional Poly students and the school’s mission to shape them into scholars of the highest character, ready to lead with integrity, curiosity, and excellence. Exciting times lie ahead at Poly, with numerous ongoing initiatives showcasing our continued momentum and upward trajectory. Our school thrives on creating a unique sense of community, setting us apart from others in our peer group, while embracing diversity in all its forms. Coupled with our dedication to excellence and character building across all aspects of the Poly experience, we aim to empower our students to learn, grow, and embrace endless possibilities. I am filled with excitement as we embark on the next chapter of Poly’s journey. Your unwavering support means the world to us, and we express our heartfelt gratitude. Thank you for believing in Poly and our students; together, the best is yet to come!

Andrew Foote P’27, ’29 Chair of the Board of Trustees

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Above all, we dedicate ourselves to our exceptional Poly students and the school’s mission to shape them into scholars of the highest character, ready to lead with integrity, curiosity, and excellence.”

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POLY PREP REPORTS

The Poly Impact Report for 2022-23 recognizes immense progress as well as the 1,285 donors who made that progress possible. This report also details data and statistics on the past year’s finances, admissions, and fundraising, providing our Poly community a transparent view of strengths, opportunities, and where we can do better. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

2.8 %

89.7 %

TRANSFER FROM ENDOWMENT

TUITION AND FEES

INCOME 2022-23

1.4 %

1.4

OTHER INCOME

%

4.6 %

ANNUAL GIVING & OTHER GIFTS

AUXILIARY SERVICES

15.6 % 8.3 %

FINANCIAL AID

51.0 %

SALARIES AND BENEFITS

EXPENDITURES

G&A

10.0 % AUXILIARY SERVICES

2022-23

6.9 %

DEPRECIATION + INTEREST EXP.

44

4.3

% 3.6 %

PROGRAM & INSTRUCTIONAL

PLANT OPERATIONS

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


$3.1 MILLION

raised from the Poly Prep community for Annual Giving, an all-time school record. Thank you!

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

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POLY PREP REPORTS 2022–2023

ADMISSIONS & FINANCIAL AID Poly Prep remains one of the finest educational institutions in NYC thanks to its excellent academic programming, strong athletics, flourishing arts, and diverse community. The 2022-23 admissions year was a record-setting year for Poly, with an abundance of highly qualified applicants. The School continues to attract and select exceptionally strong candidates through its competitive admissions process.

ADMISSION YIELDS 2022-2023 Yield %

1,200

70%

Lower, Middle, and Upper School

While 235 students throughout two campuses receive some form of financial aid, a more vigorous financial aid program is necessary to enroll a strong and increasingly diverse group of students. Financial aid is a key mechanism for cultivating a rich multi-perspective community that mirrors Brooklyn and NYC. The Office of Admissions continues to achieve great success in selecting outstanding candidates. This, along with the value of a Poly education, is reflected in the 70% yield of students who enrolled at Poly.

Total Number of Applications

FINANCIAL AID 2022-2023 Number of Students Awarded Financial Aid

Total Financial Aid Awarded

235

$11.4M

Lower, Middle, and Upper School

BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND ADVANCEMENT STAFF 2022–2023 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Officers Andrew Foote P’27, ’29 Chair Michael A. Correra ’87 Vice Chair Kareem Raymond P’31, ’33 Treasurer Jennifer Powers P’26, ’28 Secretary

Trustees Indhira Arrington P’29, ’31 John P. Foley P’26 Nicholas Gravante, Esq. ’78, P’20, ’23 Hans Humes P’12, 15, ’21, ’35 Thomas Iannelli ’82, P’18, ’19, ’24 Taek-Geun Kwon P’32 Sang Lee P’22, ’23 Michael Liburd P’21 John D. McPheters P’33 Cassandra Metz Laurie T. Rosenblatt P’23, ’26 Elizabeth R. Schlesinger P’28, ’30, ’32 Irwin Simon P’18, ’22 Daniela Vitale-Howell P’20, ’23, ’25 Elizabeth R. Wiatt Maxwell T. Wiley P’18, ’21

BOARD MEMBER, NON-TRUSTEE

Qadir Forbes ’11 (President Alumni Association Board of Governors) Trustees Emeriti Dr. Karen Burke Goulandris P’15 Harry J. Petchesky, Esq. ’55

ADVANCEMENT STAFF Peggy P. Cook Chief Advancement Officer

Lauren Bonaventura Sorrento Director of Advancement Services Erin Hughes Campaign Manager Opeyemi Laniyonu Director of Annual Giving Vincent Margiotta Advancement Services Manager Donna Muoio Director of Alumni Relations Keith Wiggs Director of Major Gifts Aferdita Hakaj Consultant

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COLLEGE MATRICULATION The 140 members of our Class of 2023 will head off to 80 educational institutions across the country and around the world. Congratulations to them! Amherst College Bates College Binghamton University Boston College (2) Brooklyn College Brown University (3) Bucknell University (3) Carnegie Mellon University (2) Claremont McKenna College Colby College (2) Colgate University (4) College of the Holy Cross Columbia University (5) Cornell University (6) Dartmouth College (2) Deerfield Academy Dominican University New York Eckerd College Elon University Emory University (2) Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts George Washington University Georgetown University Gettysburg College Hamilton College (3) Haverford College Howard University (2)

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Indiana University Bloomington Kenyon College The Lawrenceville School Lehigh University (6) Loyola Marymount University Marist College Marymount Manhattan College Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGill University New York University (5) Northeastern University (2) Oberlin College Occidental College Penn State University Pepperdine University Pomona College Rice University Rutgers University San Diego State University Sarah Lawrence College Scripps College (2) Skidmore College Smith College Southern Methodist University Stanford University Stony Brook University Swarthmore College (2)

Syracuse University (3) The American University of Paris (2) Trinity College (2) Trinity College Dublin Tufts University (2) Tulane University of Louisiana (4) Union College United States Naval Academy University of California-Los Angeles (2) University of Chicago University of Colorado-Boulder (2) University of Miami (5) University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania (2) University of Richmond University of St. Andrews University of Texas at Austin University of Wisconsin-Madison (2) Vanderbilt University Villanova University (3) Wagner College Wake Forest University (2) Washington University in St. Louis (3) Wesleyan University (2) Williams College (3) Yale University

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POLY PREP REPORTS 2022–2023

ANNUAL GIVING ANNUAL GIVING PARTICIPATION Although the total raised for Annual Giving increased 69% over the past six years, our participation has not kept pace. Greater participation from every sector in our community is a core priority for Annual Giving 2023-24.

PARENT PARTICIPATION BY GRADE NURSERY PRE-K KINDERGARTEN GRADE 01 GRADE 02 GRADE 03 GRADE 04 GRADE 05 GRADE 06 GRADE 07 GRADE 08 GRADE 09 GRADE 10 GRADE 11 GRADE 12

61% 70% 79% 67% 63% 74% 62% 67% 72% 65% 56% 56% 48% 56% 42%

DOLLARS RAISED: 2017-2023

3.1

3 Million

2.9 2.6 2.3

2 Million

2.2

1.8

1 Million

BOARD PARTICIPATION 85%

FACULTY AND STAFF PARTICIPATION 61% OVERALL PARENT PARTICIPATION 57%

2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23

ALUMNI PARTICIPATION 8%

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ANNUAL GIVING SNAPSHOT

142 223

FIRST-TIME DONORS

DONORS INCREASED THEIR GIFT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR

$25,000 CHALLENGE GIFT UNLOCKED BY THE POLY COMMUNITY

$106,440 RAISED IN MATCHING GIFTS

ANNUAL GIVING: TOP 10 ALUMNI CLASSES TOP 10 CLASSES BY PARTICIPATION 1956 1962 1953 1949 1955 1963 1954 1950 1948 1951

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

TOP 10 CLASSES BY NUMBER OF DONORS 1956 1962 1955 1963 1953 1972 1975 1954 1961 1986

TOP 10 CLASSES BY DOLLARS RAISED 1973 1987 1955 1995 1951 2005 1972 1982 1963 1989

FALL 2023 49


ANNUAL GIVING DONORS 2022–2023

A

nnual Giving is Poly’s most essential fundraising effort and involves the entire Poly community—parents, alumni, faculty and staff, and friends. We are grateful for the contributions of our donors for making Poly a philanthropic priority. A special thank you to the members of Poly’s Tower Society who donate at the Tower Level and above. VISIONARY LEADERS

$100,000 TO $499,999

John Foley and Jill Foley David Heller and Hermine Heller David Rosenblatt and Laurie Rosenblatt Adam Schlesinger and Elizabeth Schlesinger Rui Song and Hongyu Zhang Yong Xie and Yi Gong

THE 1854 SOCIETY $50,000 TO $99,999

Mark Dehnert and Mindy Dehnert Andrew Foote and Blake Foote Qiang Fu and Xun Yao Scott Rofey and Olivia Song Gabriel Schwartz and Jolie Schwartz The Ziff Family

BLUE & GRAY

$25,000 TO $49,999

Anonymous Gilbert Baird and Jaimie Baird Michael Clarfeld and Tamar Huberman Donald Demay, Jr. and Miyoko Demay Joshua Dubin and Gillian Dubin Jonathan Goldman and Sandra Goldman '05 John McPheters and Minya Oh Richard Pepperman II and Elizabeth Pepperman James Sinclair and Larkyn Sinclair Christopher Taendler and Stephanie Taendler

BLUE DEVILS

$10,000 TO $24,999

Anonymous (5) Paata Abjandadze and Maka Gogilashvili Amir Akhavan and Karin Akhavan Adam Ames and Elissa Levy Cameron Arrington and Indhira Arrington Craig Anderson and Eliza Anderson Charles Barbiere and Rosalie Castano-Barbiere Jason Barro and Melissa Parsoff Audrius Barzdukas Jason Caloras and Chloe Frank Peter Cohen and Ellen Cohen Michael Correra ’87 Enrico Corsalini and Flavia Corsalini John Cuti and Sarah Netburn Olivier D’Meza and Bethany D’Meza Sean Desmond and Susan Cordaro J Chad Dickerson and Nancy Dickerson Stuart Downing and Melissa Downing 50

George Evans Jennifer Fell Joseph Finnerty III Eric Frank and Lisa Frank Anthony Frempong-Boadu and Gwendolyn Frempong-Boadu Matthew Galle and Heather Galle Peter Genatt and Tasha Genatt Gideon Gil and Debra Perelman Bethany Gilmore Tim Hill and Jenny Hill Josh Ho-Walker and Lillian Goldenthal Timothy Howell and Elizabeth Howell Jason Howell and Daniela Vitale-Howell Peter Hungerford and Danielle Hungerford Thomas Iannelli ’82 and Barbara Iannelli ’85 Marc James and Melissa James Charles Jigarjian and Michi Jigarjian Stephen Kempf and Mary Dixie Carter Daniel Kim and Shihan Liu John Kolz and Amy Kolz Daniel Korich and Vivian Korich Andre Kursancew and Dalit Paradis Paul Lanks ’98 Morgan Lawrence III and Nicole Lawrence Steve Levitan ’78 Michael Lippert and Sarah Pearsall John Madden, Jr. ’72 and Liz Cooke Meredith Marshall and Yolonda Marshall Matthew Nemeth and Tricia Kissinger Paul Netter and Lauren Silverstein John Niccolai and Maria Gea Arredondo Constantine Nikitiades and Sophia Nikitiades ’95 Brian Nowakowski and Natalia Artemyeva The Pankov Family Tony Pasquariello and Amy Pasquariello David Pauls and Jane Pauls The Petridis-Gerling Family Jackson Phillips, Jr. and Cristine Phillips Lawrence Playford, Jr. and Ellen Playford Michael Price ’70 Stewart Rahr ’63 Julian Rampelmann and Lorena Ramirez Zapata Ken Rapp and Michelle Rapp Kareem Raymond and Tene Raymond JP Rorech and Lucy Rorech Craig Sabal and Jennifer Sabal Roger Shum and Florence Shum David Smetana and Lauren Smetana Colin Speaker and Katharine Speaker James Thompson and Stephanie Unwin Marc Triola and Dushana Triola Mark Van Zandt and Lindsay Van Zandt Henry Warshaw ’72 and Susan Warshaw Bradd Williamson and Amerika Williamson Jacek Wojtowicz and Jennifer Powers Peiying Xiao and Yanqiong Liu James Zang and Jie Fu John Zaremba ’95 and Nancy Zaremba

POLY PARTNERS $5,500 to $9,999

Anonymous Allyn Arden and Alison Besunder

Daniel Baranovsky and Yelena Baranovsky Ira Bogner and Jennifer Bogner Anthony Contessa and Molly Choi Daniel Crowley and Heather Crowley Stefano Filippazzo and Camille Fortunato Kyle Graham and Daryl Getman Alex Greenbaum and Rose Greenbaum John Hill and Shanna Hill Arun Jayaram and Shashi Kumara Kevin King and Lindsey King Kristan Louis Morris Macleod and Susan Macleod John Mann and Elizabeth Tuttle Joshua Margolin and Raji Margolin Ricardo McKenzie and Catherine McKenzie Ackneil Muldrow III and Dana Muldrow Steffen Reichold and Riham Shendy Daniel Rice and Christina Rice Richard Saltzman ’73 and Bette Saltzman Anand Sankaranarayanan and Nithya Venkatachalam Jay Saunders, Jr. and Elizabeth Nevins Sunil Savkar and Stefanie Birkmann Jim Schoenburg and Laurie Schoenburg Vishal Sheth and Monica Sheth Edward Smith and Alison Smith Howard Smith, Jr. ’76 and Pamela Smith David Spring and Julie Rendelman Jonathan ten Oever and Nathalie ten Oever Anthony Tortora ’95 Xiao Zhang and Jun Kang

TOWER LEVEL

$3,500 TO $5,499

Anonymous (4) Harsh Agarwal and Kathryn Jaxheimer William Barrett and Sarah Barrett Marco Caffuzzi and Nicole Gagnon JinE Chen Steve Cheng and Margaret Vaden Jay Clayton and Gretchen Clayton John Cochran IV and Danielle Cochran John Cochran III and Patricia Cochran Daniel Colarusso and Katherine Hobson Robert Cort ’64 Wassim Diab and Sara Ahmed Nicholas Doering-Dorival and Bianca DoeringDorival Stephen Durso and Barrie Ringelheim Cameron Fairall and Jeehyun Yeo Fredrica Ford Eric Freedgood ’99 and Rachael Freedgood Erik Geisler and Rachel Geisler James Glancy and Chantal Glancy Brad Goldberg and Nicole Goldberg Robin Gray and Nancy Labiner Candice Hacker James Harris and Rachel Fishman Donald Heiliger and Shannon Heiliger David Hicks and Kim Hicks Earl Hunt II and Kristina Hunt Daniel Hunter and Dana Rathkopf Chiwoniso Kaitano Howard Kaye and Wilma Kaye THE BLUE & THE GRAY


Himansh Khanna and Malti Raisinghani Jonathan Krasner ’95 and Dana Pagar Joseph Lattinelli and Lauren Lattinelli ’97 James Louis ’56 Joshua Mangerson and Sarah Mangerson Arnold Mascali ’84 and Elizabeth Mascali Jean-Philippe Masson and Nikki Masson Kristerfor Mastronardi ’95 and Darya Mastronardi Tom McAdam and Jill Schwartz Michael Miarmi and Tatiana Rodriguez Johnny Miller and Marisa Sellitti Loren Munk and Kate Munk Guy Nesdale and Melissa Bullen Joseph Palladino and Kerry Blum Gregory Pessin and Jaime Pessin Yvonne Pollack Afshin Rafaat and Yasamin Shahamiri Michael Reddy and Jennifer May-Reddy James Regan ’91 and Tamara Ling Leland Richards, Jr. and LaTasha Richards James Roberts and Lisa Starr Dan Rootenberg and Shelby Rootenberg Todd Rose and Jill Rose Lucas Rosen and Jennifer Kutsher Rosen Todd Rubin and Nicole Rubin Robert Sabbagh ’87 and Dorotea Sabbagh Darren Schluter and Rachel Schluter Richard Schneider and Amy Tully Jeremy Selman and Katerina Bernstein ’95 Jeremy Shamos and Nina Hellman Seong Pan Si Russell Smith and Maria Guedes Smith Susan Solomon Winston Song and Amy Hsieh Daniel Spillane and Margaret Spillane Derek Stoldt and Amy Stoldt Ben Sykes and Christine Han Michael Terrin ’66 Dina Thakarar Douglas Tiesi and Elissa Tiesi Matthew Tilove and Leslie Dubeck Christopher Totaro and Telma Garcia Tatyana Tsinberg Joseph Verdirame ’91 Andrew Waldman and Kathleen Madden Thomas Walker III and Danielle Walker Gregg Walker David Wise and Vanessa Wise Anthony Xu and Serena Crivellaro Feng Yao and Xiaopin Chen Xianjin Zhou and Juan Hu

OASIS CIRCLE

$1,000 TO $3,499

Anonymous (8) Hans Aaltonen and Elizabeth Aaltonen Noah Aberlin ’00 Jonathan Aibel Donatus Anusionwu, Jr. and Arpita Mazumdar Vincent Arzouian and Florence Liu Christopher Auger-Dominguez and Daisy AugerDominguez Vadim Avdeychik and Marina Treybick Mark Baillie POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Arvydas Barzdukas and Daiva Barzdukas Hormuz Batliboi and Madhavi Batliboi Elizabeth Becker Schires ’03 Mitchell Bernstein ’66 Raoul and Savitha Bhavnani Warren Bieler and Ilene Fiszel Bieler Brandon Birdwell and Emma Vadehra Peter Bogaty and Erin Bogaty Stanley Bogen ’54 and Roberta Bogen Robert Bollman and Meredith Bollman Claudia Borg Diana Breen and Michael Ritter Christine Buckley Sylvia Buono Ana Calle ’01 Richard Campbell and Alix Campbell David Cann and Neelima Pania Russell Capone and Courtney Dankworth Michele Caro Arthur Carter and Linda Carter Lea Carty and Jody Orshal Carty Lynda Casarella Tommaso Cascella and Kathryn Matt Francisco Javier Caselles and Silvia Fernandez Sean Casey and Emelie Kihlstrom Walter Chamorro and Alice Neumann de Chamorro Alice Cheng Robert China and Tia Breakley-China Matthew Chyra and Hedy Peng Howard Cohen ’53 Joshua Coleman and Carey Macaleer Charles Cook and Peggy P. Cook Stephen Coope Leigh Cooper Richard Corso and Catherine Corso Paul Crath and Sarah Robertson Joe Daniels and Naomi Daniels Rafael de Luque and Claudia Arango Olivier De Moor and Evelyn Balassiano Richard Debs ’48 and Barbara Debs Howard Dicker ’80 Gaetano DiNatale and Tatyana Nazarova Matthew Dresher ’03 Robert Dyk and Sahr MuhammedAlly Henry Fayne ’63 Ed Feldman ’83 Fernando Ferre and Dana Ferre Steven Feuerman and Bonnie Feuerman Jeffrey Fleishhacker and Jennifer Fleishhacker Frank Fusaro and Dori Raskin Bradley George and Louise George Michael Giles and Nanette Giles Neil Glaser and Richie Lin Thomas Goddard ’59 and Laura Goddard Tal Golomb and Ariella Golomb Eric Gural ’86 and Nancy Gural Jeffrey Gural and Paula Gural Bryan Harris and Desiree Harris Steven Herman ’78 Benjamin Herzog and Emily Gardiner Herzog Andrew Hughes ’94 and Sarah Hughes Ben Igoe and Heidi Igoe Rei Inamoto and Amy Inamoto Marcus Jones and Francis Yasharian Alexander Kagen and Susan Hashemi

Ravi Kamble, MD and Prabha Bhandari Robert Karp and Stacey Karp Kenneth Kasses ’62 Brendan Kehoe and Helen Chen William Kelly and Nicole Kelly Bruce Kimmelman and Amy Kimmelman Matt King and Lindsay King William Klein and Michele Klein Milan Krainchich and Gina Krainchich Paul Krieger and Christine Magdo John Kupiec and Julia Pinover Kupiec Taek-Geun Kwon Greg Labuda and Sarah Labuda Sumit Laddha and Hansika Malkani Pierre Lampert and Frederique Lampert Nicholas Law and Odette Williams Eric Leong and Shirley Leong Ross Levin and Aimee Levin Warner Lewis and Christina Porter Richard Lewis, Jr. and Diane Lifton Michael Liburd and Jeanine Liburd ’88 Ji Cheng Lu and Xiao Yu Lin-Lu Stuart Mackler ’55 and Judy Mackler Jonathan Mackler and Tina Mackler Peter Madden ’74 George Malin ’57 Jeffrey Markowicz and Janee Markowicz Max Mauro and Allison Katz Joseph McCusker and Frances McCusker Richard Merhige ’53 and Jacqueline Merhige Lloyd Metz and Cassandra Metz Scott Milstein and Rakhel Milstein Damian Minervini and Joanna Dubin Venice Mondesir Andrew Morse and Ana Morse Fraser and Allison Musmand Aaron Neuman and Bonnie Neuman Francesco Noero and Juliana Obregon Courtney Nolan ’08 Matthew Novogratz and Nadean Novogratz Stephen Paluszek and Violeta Paluszek Samir Patel and Cristina Patel Joseph Penachio and Robyn Mazur Craig Perkins and Sharon Perkins Brooks Perlin and Marion Leydier Harry Petchesky ’55 and Jill Petchesky Ambiorix Pimentel and Yahaira Rodriguez Bruce Pindyck ’63 and Mary Ellen Pindyck Matthew Plosser and Elizabeth Plosser James Plum ’82 Christopher Poindexter and Carletta Higginson Robert Potter, Jr. and Lauren Leyden Seth Pouwels and Dana Pouwels Vinay Prabhakar and Alison Kelly Alan Reed, Jr. and Nyla Reed Jennifer Rice ’92 William Rodino and Jeanette Rodino Steven Rodriguez and Natasha Rodriguez Joshua Rosenberg and Karine Rosenberg James Rossman and Eliza Rossman Gregg Rothkin and Jennifer Rothkin Aaron Rubin and Jenny Chan Michael Saivetz and Amy Saivetz David Scenna and Krista Scenna Andrew Schilling and Margaret Schilling FALL 2023 51


ANNUAL GIVING DONORS 2022–2023

Robert Schlossberg ’75 David Schoenberger and Stacy Fischer Andrew Scholz and Lisa Wall ’88 Michael Segal Michael Seligman ’69 Amit Sethi and Judith Sethi Alan Silver and Charlotte Jett Aaron Silverstein and Kiera Gans Reid Skibell and Tugba Colpan Scott Smith ’75 and Heidi Smith Peter Smith ’76 Mark Smith, Jr. and Valerie Smith George Smyth, Jr. ’48 Joseph Sollitto and Rebekah Sollitto Robert Spatt ’73 and Lisa Spatt Matthew Stanfield and Elina Kolmanovskaya Joe Steele and Niloo Steele The Stegich Family David Stein and Jill Stein Michael Sussman ’55 Matthew Tartaglia and April Tartaglia David Taub and Leigh Taub Peter Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor Nirav Thakker and Sonal Thakker Bill Thanopoulos and Anastasia Thanopoulos Bijan Treister and Negar Treister Geoffrey Troy and Jane Troy Marc Turkewitz and Melissa Danenberg Dino Veronese Vincent Vigorita ’68 and Patricia Vigorita James Wallick and Catherine Wallick Cormac Walsh and Janine Walsh Tonghe Wang and Xiaoxiao Dong Joseph Ward and Mireia Perez Paul Weinstein and Michal Hershkovitz Warren Weitman, Jr. ’63 John Wells and Joo-Yung Lee Jytte Winslow-Mandle Bryan Wisk and Mariana Wisk Yan Feng Wu and Jinhuan Yu Kenneth Yaffe and Susan Hitzig Nick Yarmac and JP McCary Andrew Yeung and Ann Yeung Lorenz Zimmerman, Jr. and Anne Zimmerman Philippe Zrihen and Melanie Zrihen

COMMUNITY CIRCLE Up to $999

Anonymous (44) Eman Abbas Hekmat Abdelrahim Victoria Abdulahad Marc Aberle and Theresa Aberle Karim Abouelnaga and Kadaicia-Loi Abouelnaga ’11 Mark Abramowitz ’53 and Joan Abramowitz Michelle Adams and Laura Nelsen Michael Adesman ’75 Eileen Ahasic ’01 Nadia Ahmed ’07 Richard Alberino Luke Albert ’09 Heath Aldridge Lilly Alexander James Allen ’72 52

Lauren Allen John Lowe and Marissa Alperin Alana Althans ’10 Angel Alvarado Mark Ames and Joanne Clark Ira Ames ’54 Gaudencio Andrade and Laura Andrade Christopher Andrade ’12 Warren Appleman ’63 Robert Arcaro ’70 Courtney Archer-Buckmire ’98 Luigi Arlia and Cynthia Arlia Maxine Armstrong Nicholas Arons and Vivien Labaton Zoe Atlas ’08 Jason Augustine and Shakellia Augustine Konstantin Avdeev and Maria Avdeev Jonathan Axelrod ’64 Brian Azara ’99 and Alexandra Azara ’00 Jennifer Baker ’86 Irina Bakulev Serdjan Balach and Laura Balach Sefer Balikci and Kesha Crichlow Balikci Jeffrey Baloutine ’67 Jennifer Bartels Lorie Bartley Seth Basham Stefano Basilico and Janet Kraynak Sarah Bates James Bates The Rev. William Baum and The Rev. Brooke Swertfager Douglas Beane and Lewis Flinn III Renae Beauchman Marissa Beck ’01 Matthew Belford and Jean Belford Jasen Bell ’05 Lisa Beltramello Andrew Benjamin ’66 Elizabeth Bennett and Chaelon Costello Fern Berenberg Loren Berger and Shira Berger Roger Bermas ’57 Frank Bernieri ’74 Harry Bernieri ’85 and Jean Bernieri ’84 Daniel Bernstein and Yana Bernstein Diane Bernstein-Neman ’02 Anthony Besthoff ’52 Burkhard Bilger and Jennifer Nelson Adam Bisceglia and Juliet Moretti John Bissell ’52 George Bittar ’75 Caitlin Bliss Amelia Blissett Peter Bloom ’83 Peter Blum ’75 James Blumstein ’62 James Blundell, Jr. ’47 Russell Boardman and Lynn Boardman Matthew Bogdanos and Claudia Bogdanos Jim Boland and Fran Boland Salvatore Bonaventura Sarah Bond Carol Bongiorni Irene Bosker and Susan Weigl

Monique Boston Lauren Boulbol ’10 Charles Boyce and Marya Dalrymple Lawrence Brandman ’78 and Deborah Brandman Alleen Bratton Keith Brenner and Jennifer Brenner Robert Briskman ’50 Welbourne Bronaugh ’61 and Lynda Bronaugh Peter Brown and Monica McKain-Brown Faith Brown Margaret Brown Alyssa Brown ’15 Lorne Bullen and Phyllis Bullen Patrick Burger ’65 Donald Burke and Heidi Burke Linda Busetti Rollin Bush ’72 Kevin Byrne and Heidi Byrne Cameron Caldwell Laura Caldwell Karim Camara and Orelia Camara Rosalind Campbell Dexter Campbell and Anyely Campbell Renee Cantave and Herve Cantave Arthur Cantor and Linda Cantor Brian Cantor ’00 Howard Caretto ’72 Dustin Carr Kym Carter Alex Carter and Dayna Carter John Carty and Jane Carty Anastasia Cembrovska ’07 Shakaa Chaiban ’18 Eric Chaikin ’85 Keath Chan and Cathy Wong Hin Chan and Wing Chan Tock Chan Sheila Charles Thana-Ashley Charles ’07 Lola Charles ’18 Ira Checkla ’76 Brian Chiang ’18 Michael Chirdo and Catherine Chirdo Robert Chiteman ’61 Alexander Chudner and Ilona Chudner Thomas Clark ’14 Lola Clarke Marvin Cochrane and Jeanette Cochrane Jon Cole and Mary Cole Julio Colon John Commaratto and Louise Commaratto Andrew Cooper-Leary Mario Coppola and Laura Coppola ’95 Marie Corkhill Mike Corona and Rosa Fernandez Cristina Cote ’05 Douglas Crawford ’63 Christine Croasdaile ’13 Timothy Crumpton David Cruz Zoi Cuko and Lindita Cuko John Culmine ’85 and Louise Fasano-Culmine Salvatore Cumella ’69 Thomas Curley and Rosemarie Curley Elisabeth Curtis ’13 THE BLUE & THE GRAY


Thomas Cutler Yatish Dangayach and Sweta Dangayach Michael David ’66 Alan Davidson ’54 Andrew Davis ’50 André Del Valle and Andrea Del Valle Helen Delamarter George Delmhorst ’59 and Barbara Delmhorst Arthur Delmhorst ’56 Kristen Denaver Jenna Denaver ’20 Jordan Denaver ’20 Larry Denmark ’63 Deborah Deshong Lawrence Dessi Guy Devyatkin and Natalia Devyatkin Steven DiBlasio and Donna DiBlasio Maria DiCarlo Alfred DiGrazia and Alison Morea Virginia Dillon Michelle Dixon David Dixon ’16 Justus Doenecke ’56 Peggy Doherty Julius Donald and Yvette Donald Kaitlin Donohue ’06 Laurence Doty IV and Constance Doty Daniel Doughty and Ryan Rumage Abbygale Dove Carrie Dowell Charlotte Downing and Dover Downing John Dubeck and Susan Hotine Bruce Ducker ’56 Steven Ducker ’54 Matthew Durando ’96 and Tina Durando Paul Durando and Marie Durando Homer Eckerson ’49 David Edwards Daniel Ehrenhaft and Jessica Wollman Dave Elligers ’58 Stephanie Ellman ’09 John Elwood Sarah Ely Pearce Erensel ’09 Alireza Esmaeilzadeh and Claudia Held Frank Exline, Jr. ’52 Thomas Fanta ’63 Michael Farkas and Laura Farkas Ira Feldman and Marianne Feldman Barry Feldman ’58 Barbara B. Feldman Richard Felner ’54 Daniel Fernandez and Gina Mavuro-Fernandez Leona Fields Maximilian Figura ’18 Jean Paul Fils-Aime and Jacqueline Celestin FilsAime Nathan Finkel ’96 John Finley and Jamie Nestor Jean Fischer Keith Fisher ’71 Alexandra Fisher Brian Fitzgerald and Erin Patton Edward Fitzgerald Robert Flahive and Kate Flahive POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Eugene Flamm ’54 Stewart Fleisig ’69 Charles Fleming Allen Flores ’75 David Flumenbaum and Anna Dubenko Jennifer Foley Shields Phil Foote and Mary Foote Qadir Forbes ’11 and Imani Forbes Thaddeus Forman and Shannon Forman Lecia Foster Daisy Foureau Denise Fraifeld Robert Fraiman ’47 Haden Francis Jase Franklyn Edward Freedgood and Electra Freedgood Lynda Freeman Khari Freeman, Sr. and Erika Freeman Michael Freund ’56 Alan Friedman Steven Froot ’75 Jacob Furst and Kate Furst Matthew Futterman Demetrios Gabriel II ’85 and Kalitsa Gabriel Frank Galtieri ’78 Bernard Gancarz ’85 Raymundo Garcia and Rosa Garcia Leopold Garcia, Jr. and Nilmeyda Fulgencio Henry Gardstein, Jr. ’62 Rajeev Garg and Maria Garg ’97 Janet Garnjost Adam Garson ’05 Jennifer Geismar Michael Gentile David Giancola ’99 Joseph Giardina ’58 Keane Gibson Jesse Gill and Marisa Yeres Paul Gilson ’72 Dennis Glass and Shani Fielder-Glass Kayla Glemaud ’17 Joseph Glickman and Jessica Kwon Mervyn Goddard and Natasha Goddard Andrew Goldfarb ’07 David Goldman ’56 John Grayzel ’61 Eustace Greaves, Jr. Alexander Greeley ’04 Todd Green and Amie Green Kenneth Green and Shamier Green Richard Greenberg ’49 Katherine Greig ’94 Katherine Greissman ’10 Jason Griffiths ’10 Laura Grimm Mark Groothuis ’58 Michael Groothuis ’60 Ralph Groskoph ’54 M. Robert Gumer ’72 Janine Guzzone Ashley Hacker Aferdita Hakaj Kenneth Hamilton, Jr. Joseph Hanson ’68 Nicholas Harris ’74

Robert Harwood ’53 and Gwendolyn Harwood Zia Hassan and Jurate Hassan Jamal Hayden ’87 Milton Hedglin and Denise Hedglin Jared Hedglin ’09 James Hennessy, Jr. ’67 Miguel Hernandez and Melinda Hernandez Roger Heymann ’65 Judy Hicks David Higham and Toni-Leslie James Mayin Hinduja ’18 Owen Hoberman ’54 Herbert Hochman ’62 Alan Hoffman ’62 Matthew Hoffman and Claudia Hoffman Julian Holder ’01 Tara Muoio Holzer ’13 Kenenth Horowitz and Theresa McManus-Horowitz Jerome Howie ’56 Erin Hughes Betsy Humes Griffin Humphreys ’05 and Yin He ’06 John Hunter and Jayne Hunter Thomas Hunter ’57 Stacy Hunter Elicia Hunter Kameron Hutchinson ’13 Peter Hyman Jack Hyman George Incata and Elizabeth Incata Maite Iracheta Delmont Irving ’62 Kazuomi Iwai and Natsue Iwai Steven Izzo and Rosemarie Izzo Frederick Jabara ’68 Robert Jacob ’68 Scott Jacobi ’93 Richard James and Nakia Serrant-James German Jaramillo and Paola Mejia Richelet Jean and Nathalie Jean Richard Jensen ’62 and Louise Jensen Suli Jiang and Jenna Anilee Debra John Timothy Johnson ’70 David Johnson III ’66 Mckenzie Jones Robert Josell ’49 Paul Joseph and Brandi Shipp Michael Jung and Suzanne Siano Michael Junsch ’71 and Adrienne Junsch Charles Kalison ’55 David Karlin ’04 William Karp ’69 Angelica Kashman Reed Katz ’06 Edward Katz ’77 Seth Kaufman ’60 Nels Kauppila and Pamela Kauppila Michael Kay ’58 John Kefer ’05 Paul Kefer and Patricia Sullivan Nadine Kennedy ’82 Majid Khan Stuart Kilstein ’73 Brian Kinnane and Ellen Kinnane FALL 2023 53


ANNUAL GIVING DONORS 2022–2023

Patrick Klauss and Anna Klauss Dimitrios Klonis and Mary Klonis Michelle Knight Stephen Kochman ’79 Robert Koster ’52 and Ann Koster Mark Kozinn ’62 Karina Krainchich ’10 David Kramer ’49 William Kramer ’46 Ladislav Kravar and Viera Kravar Charles Kreines ’76 and Rosanne DiFazio Michael Krinsky ’63 Lester Kritzer ’69 Christine Kromer-Bennett Jason Kubica and Rosamund Green-Kubica Kwok Hung Kwan and Jiwen Chen Marrisa Lall Michael Lamm ’51 Kevin Langlais and Kerri Langlais Adebayo Laniyonu and Abosede Laniyonu Opeyemi Laniyonu Yinka Laniyonu Abiola Laniyonu John Larkin II and Rebecca Larkin Carmelo Larose Ward Lassoe ’78 Henry Lau ’96 Ramesh Laungani Alex LeDuc and Caroline Dorsen Stephen Lee ’95 Sherman Lee and Julia Kao Lawrence Lefkowitz ’55 Steven Lefkowitz and Jacqueline Bausch Robert Lehrman ’51 Kenneth Lessall ’55 Stephen Levine ’55 Mark Levine ’79 Howard Levine ’69 Deirdre Lewis Diane Leyden and Brian Leyden Scott Leyton and Erin Leyton David Lichtman ’59 Sonja Lindberg ’16 Christopher Lindquist and Proshat Mahjoubie David Lindsay-Abaire and Christine Lindsay-Abaire Brian Ling and Annisea Wong Mark Liss ’69 Matthew Lissak and Zanthe Taylor Leo Liu and Helen Gu Wayne Lizzi and Kristen Lizzi Dionicio Llano and Mayreni Acosta Daniel Lobo-Berg Caitlin Loi Bob Lonshein ’50 Frank Lopez Nicolas Lopez-Muniz and Jeane Lopez-Muniz Anthony Lorenzo and Karen Lorenzo Francis Love ’61 Peter Love ’63 Scott Luksh and Sofia Haberman Alexander Lyubarov and Susanna Chan Richard Maathey and Nsenga Bansfield-Maathey Robert Magnus, Jr. ’49 William Mahoney and Adrienne Saldana Philip Maldari, Jr. ’13 54

James Malley and Laura Torrado-Malley ’86 Gregory Maltzman and Sandra Maltzman Joel Mandelbaum ’67 Ken Mandelbaum and Susie Mandelbaum William Manny and Jill Manny David Mansfield and Elisabeth Mansfield Lee Marcus Vincent Margiotta Wayne Margolies and Ann Palmer Maria Marinakis Deligiannis ’03 Andrew Marinos Florentina Mark Erica Marker George Marks ’56 Shevorne Martin ’04 Daniel Martin and Valerie Martin Hamede Martin and Petrice Leben-Martin Terry Martinson ’65 Ronald Mason ’65 Steven Mastro and Patricia Tycenski Andrew McDonald and Sarah Zuercher John McGee Michael McGovern and Joyce McGovern James McGovern and Susan Shamoto Depelsha McGruder Donald McHugh and Jean McHugh William McNally Rebecca McPheters Perri Meeks James Megahan Mark Melamed and Helen Melamed Marc Mendelson and Tara Mendelson Roland Merchant, Jr. and Jennifer Merchant Bruce Merhige ’64 John Merhige ’90 Robert Meringolo ’61 Ira Merritt ’55 Frances Messano ’98 Robert Messina ’74 Daniel Messing ’02 Jerry Miko, Jr. and Anindya Basu Douglas Miller ’72 Alfred Miller ’07 Jennifer Minskoff Manny Miravete and Amy Givens Chris Mischler and Juliane Kim Richard Mizrack ’60 Corey Modeste ’92 Andrew Mogelof ’65 Fausto Monacelli and Sarah Grayson Claire Moore Christian Morehouse Cassie Moriarty ’15 Bart Moroney and Sabina Laricchia Nicholas Morris and Alexandra Krupp John Morris, Jr. ’74 Cliff Morrison Sean Mullin Paul Muoio and Donna Muoio Eric Muoio ’17 Patrick Murray and Sanaa Rahman Kaaryn Nailor James Naughton and Susan Naughton James Nelkin ’66 Landy Nelson ’56

Alan Newman ’58 Jerrold Newman ’72 Kate Newman ’08 Wing Ng and Siu Fun Chu - Ng James Nicolaidis, Jr. Dinah Nissen and Elizabeth Apelles Albert Nocella III and Tina Georgoulakos Richard Nolan and Eileen Nolan David Nuzum and Olivia Herman Rachel Olinyk Jose Oliveras Clarence Olmstead and Kathleen Heenan Refael Olya and Teresa Olya Ozodiukwe Onunaku and Chinyere Onunaku Pearl Orakwue Michael Osso ’84 Courtney Ozer Justin Pagan ’98 Manos Paidarakis and Julie Paidarakis Charuhas Pandit and Farah Arabe Russell Panetta ’68 Juliette Pannone ’05 Kelly Papa ’86 Donna Paparella Jason Parrish Scott Parson and Lisa Parson Christopher Patacsil ’12 Jodie Patterson James Pattison and Katherine Pattison Stephen Pearlman ’61 Otis Pearsall ’49 Jenna Peet Marissa Pennington Richard Perlman ’55 David Petrou and Gemma Devesa Gasco Winett Phillips and Candace Grant Robert Pickens ’57 Rosemarie Pico Lawrence Pincus ’67 Daniel Pipitone and Melissa Pipitone Bernardo Piquet and Paula Abreu Steven Pisano and Lisa Meyer Joel Pokorny ’58 Samuel Polifka ’06 Charles Polizano and Dianna Polizano David Pollack ’71 Jeffrey Poor and Tatiana Choulika Oleg Povetko and Deborah Cavalcante Iman Powe-Maynard Richard Press ’56 Emily Prior Mark Prutsalis and Maria D’Albert Peter Puleo and Lisa Puleo Tom Quigley and Carolyn Quigley Lee Quinones and Tamara Warren Michael Rabbino ’52 Atique Rahman and Sharmin Rahman Yusimir Ramirez John Rankin Michele Rannie Ganesh Rao and Patrick Campbell Paul Raso Richard Ratzan ’63 John Razzano and Catherine Razzano Carolyn Razzano ’99 THE BLUE & THE GRAY


John Rearick, Jr. and Elizabeth Schnee Michael Rebell ’61 and Sharon Rebell Elliott Rebhun ’75 Peter Redell and Lori Redell Edward Reilly ’61 Andrew Rendeiro and Marty Lentz Daniel Ricciardi and Peggy Ricciardi John Rice and Mary Rice David Rich Victor Rich ’57 Karen Richardson Peter Richtmyer ’61 Roy Rifkin ’70 Jeffrey Rifkin ’73 Briana Riley ’16 Jasmin Rivera ’00 Kevin Power and Margo Rivera Power ’01 Gianluca Rivizzigno and Kimberly Davis Rivizzigno Andrew Robb and Kristen Robb Michael Robinson Catherine Rocco Johanna Rodriguez ’00 Micaela Rodriguez ’16 Frank Rogers Michael Rogers ’69 Alan Roland ’48 William Rosario and Amy Wong Richard Rosario and Haley Meade-Rosario Hal Rose ’74 and Lisa Rose Amanda Rose Michael Rosen ’56 Jeremy Rosenberg and Cristina Rosenberg Amerigo and Monica Rossi Matthew Roventini ’92 and Kathy Roventini Gabriel Rubinson Eric Ruby ’64 Edward Ruck and Diane Ruck Joseph Ruggie and Elizabeth Ruggie John Ruocco and Eileen Reilly Christian Rutherford ’93 Vincent Rutuelo and Adrienne Rutuelo Molly Ryan Matthew Sagotsky Lee Saltzman ’66 Orlando Sanchez and Mehjabeen Sanchez John Sands ’58 Epiphania Santana Carlos Santiago and Imelda Santiago Lauren Sapega Akinmusuru ’99 Susan Sapega Randall ’03 John Sarubbi and Catherine Sharkey Jason Savarese Marc Savino ’92 and Hillary Savino Philip Sawyer ’82 Leonard Sayles ’59 Gabrielle Scarpaci ’86 Alan Schechter ’53 Rob Schenck ’64 David Schlecker ’75 Robert Schoenemann ’56 Robert Schoepflin ’49 Daniel Schwartz ’56 Ivan Schwarz and Katia Schwarz Joseph Seggio ’00 Clare Seidel POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Jane Selzer Peter Sessa ’68 Anthony Sgarlato ’74 Robert Shack ’62 Josslyn Shapiro Timothy Shea and Marcela Guerrero Robert Shelala ’68 David Sherman ’57 Donald Shields and Raluca Shields James Signorelli and Patricia Smith Norman Silberdick, Jr. ’59 Demond Simmons Greg Simpson and Elaine Simpson Frank Sinatra ’76 Carla Sinatra ’86 Robert Slack ’70 Chad Slawner and Hyo Yeon Jack Slawner ’21 Rachel Sloane ’09 Jennifer Slomack Alexander Slotwiner and Rachel Stevens Lourdes Smith Margaret Smith Nikole Smith Adam Smith Mark Smoller ’49 Pamela Smyth Yaroslav Sochynsky ’63 Anthony Sollitto and Dolores Sollitto Peter Soto ’01 and Elizabeth Soto Richard Spiegel ’62 Brent Starks and Yvette Valdez Alexander Stein and Helayne Schiff Matthew Stelluto Michael Stelzer and Natalie Stelzer Richard Stern ’62 Robert Stern ’51 James Stirn ’70 Goodrich Stokes and Joyce Stokes Peter G. Stone ’55 Nicholas Stratigakis ’18 Derrick Studwood Wenxuan Sun and Xia Hong Wen Wen Sun Keyonte Sutherland ’03 Stephen Swanson and Carina Hueber Gerald Taylor and Melanie Wilson-Taylor Orlando Taylor and Ashley Taylor Alexander Tejani ’99 and Jillianne Tejani Bruce Terrin ’70 Alfred Terry III and Leslie Goldfarb Terry Stephanie Tooman-Dieme Page Travelstead ’96 Michael Troncale and Harriet Troncale David Troyansky ’72 Ira Turret ’68 Douglas Unis and Julia Jordan Richard Usher, Jr. and Raymi Ramseur-Usher Edward Van Buren IV ’89 Stefanus Van De Gevel and Daniella Olibrice Debbie Van Ryn Wendye VanBrakle Christina VanBrakle and Bryant VanBrakle Jose Velazquez, Sr. and Ivelisse Velazquez Helena Vislocka

Todd Vitolo ’92 and Diana Gutierrez Vitolo Xerxes Vizcaino and Joyce Vizcaino Minoo Wade ’04 Thomas Walker IV ’13 Francesca Walker Dawn-Marie Walker Edward Wallach ’50 Nathaniel Walsh ’94 Jack Wasserman ’54 Margaret Watson ’80 Kenneth Webb ’79 Harold Weiss ’59 James Weiss and Ashley Cotton Shirley Welsh and Garth Elliott Carol Weymuller Tenny Wheatley, Jr. ’57 Margaret White ’18 Keith Wiggs Edwin Wigutoff ’62 Maxwell Wiley and Ellen Rosenthal Walter Williamson ’56 Vonda Willoughby Zene Willoughby ’19 Asha Wills ’13 Ron Wilson, Jr. ’59 Monique Wilson ’05 Terra Windham Devon Winfield Jared Winston Madeleine Winter ’18 Andrew Wittenstein ’70 David Wohst and Joan Fonacier-Wohst Jillian Wojcik Douglas Wong Harry Yang and Jeeeun Chae Eliot Yaxley and Magdaline Adefris Shao Wah Yiu and Yi Yun Yiu Craig Yoskowitz and Michelle Yoskowitz Malcolm Young ’50 Christian Zaino ’02 Christopher Zam and Gabrielle Roventini ’87 Heidi Zarou ’86 Matthew Zimmer and Natalia Zimmer Brian Zipp and Martha Zipp

FALL 2023 55


DONORS TO ENDOWED FINANCIAL AID, CAPITAL & PROGRAMS 2022–2023

P

oly Prep is grateful to the following donors who initiated or made payments toward their pledges in support of capital and endowment projects during the last fiscal year.

Michael Schlegel and Cynthia Schlegel Karen Streisfeld-Leitner

LEGACY CIRCLE

Michael Glassman and Jennifer Glassman Meredith Marshall and Yolonda Marshall AG Stephen Paluszek and Violeta Paluszek AG John Zaremba ’95 and Nancy Zaremba AG

ENDOWED FINANCIAL AID

Anonymous

BLUE & GRAY

VISIONARY LEADERS

VISIONARY LEADERS

John Plym, Jr. and Kristin Plym

Anonymous

Jonathan Aibel AG Qiang Fu and Xun Yao AG Jennifer Grubman Allen Grubman and Deborah Grubman

TOWER LEVEL

$100,000 to $499,999

THE 1854 SOCIETY $50,000 to $99,999

Anonymous David Youngblade ’55

BLUE & GRAY

$25,000 to $49,999

Peter Malkin ’51 Reardon Family Foundation

BLUE DEVILS

$10,000 to $24,999

ARTS CENTER $500,000 to $1,999,999

$100,000 to $499,999

THE 1854 SOCIETY $50,000 to $99,999

THE 1854 SOCIETY $50,000 to $99,999

$25,000 to $49,999

$3,500 to $5,499

John Madden, Jr. ’72 and Liz Cooke

COMMUNITY CIRCLE up to $999

Michael Farkas and Laura Farkas

Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez Jacek Wojtowicz and Jennifer Powers AG Scott Sergeant and Cristina Soto

OTHER FUNDS

BLUE & GRAY

$500,000 to $1,999,999

$25,000 to $49,999

LEGACY CIRCLE

Robert Sabbagh ’87 and Dorotea Sabbagh AG

JP Rorech and Lucy Rorech AG

Michael Gold ’55 Andrew Waldman and Kathleen Madden AG

VISIONARY LEADERS

TOWER LEVEL

BLUE DEVILS

Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez Stephen Maharam and Camila Pastor

Charles Birenbaum ’75 and Janet Birenbaum Willis DeLaCour, Jr. and Sally Williams-Allen Dirk DeLaCour ’88 Russell DeLaCour ’90 Sophie DeLaCour ’97

Anonymous Ira Bogner and Jennifer Bogner AG The Petridis-Gerling Family David Rosenblatt and Laurie Rosenblatt AG

$3,500 to $5,499

OASIS CIRCLE

$1,000 to $3,499

Bruce Bernstein ’53 and Lita Moses Bernstein Hollis Russell

COMMUNITY CIRCLE up to $999

Mark Abramowitz ’53 and Joan Abramowitz AG David Bell ’51 Arthur Bellinzoni, Jr. ’53 Harrison Bush ’65 Jerry Capeci and Barbara Capeci Richard Fearon ’53 Michael Glick ’53 Stephen Green ’62 Geoffry Handler Daniella Jacob Peter Liebert ’53 and Mary Ann Liebert Pamela Marcus Andrew McGee Shelley Mendell Chester Ostrowski Harry Petchesky ’55 and Jill Petchesky AG Richard Rodgers and Kathleen Rodgers Amy Rosen

56

$10,000 to $24,999

OASIS CIRCLE

$1,000 to $3,499

Brian Azara ’99 and Alexandra Azara ’00 AG Mary Bozza Wise ’86

COMMUNITY CIRCLE up to $999

Thomas Jones and Sonya Baehr

ATHLETIC FIELDS PINNACLE SOCIETY $2,000,000+

Sandi Feinberg Tara Lipton

VISIONARY LEADERS $100,000 to $499,999

Robert Goergen, Jr. and Stacey Goergen Jayaveera Kodali and Lara Marcon Richard Pepperman II and Elizabeth Pepperman AG Yong Xie and Yi Gong AG

$100,000 to $499,999

THE 1854 SOCIETY $50,000 to $99,999

Anonymous Howard Kaye and Wilma Kaye Kareem Raymond and Tene Raymond AG

BLUE & GRAY

$25,000 to $49,999 Peter Malkin ’51

BLUE DEVILS

$10,000 to $24,999

Niles Stewart and Robin Bramwell-Stewart ’86

TOWER LEVEL

$3,500 to $5,499

Charles Birenbaum ’75 and Janet Birenbaum James Ryan III and Lauren Sands

OASIS CIRCLE

$1,000 to $3,499

Harsh Agarwal and Kathryn Jaxheimer AG Brooks Perlin and Marion Leydier AG Ben Sykes and Christine Han AG Vajira Wickramaratne Keith Wiggs AG

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


COMMUNITY CIRCLE up to $999

Courtney Archer-Buckmire ’98 AG Robert Bollman and Meredith Bollman AG Carolyn Bost Diana Breen and Michael Ritter AG Allison Card Alex Carter and Dayna Carter AG Lauren Dong David Flumenbaum and Anna Dubenko AG Josh Ho-Walker and Lillian Goldenthal AG Erin Hughes AG Ruby Hopkins Eric Jaxheimer and Marty Jaxheimer Paul Joseph and Brandi Shipp AG Jenny Kim John Kupiec and Julia Pinover Kupiec AG Max Mauro and Allison Katz AG Edward Miller and Mary Miller Darren Moore and Uma Mantravadi John Musco George Nashak Christina Oliver Joseph Pabon ’94 Conor Sheridan and Cristin Frodella Peter Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor AG Paul Weinstein and Michal Hershkovitz AG Bryan Wisk and Mariana Wisk AG Christina Yan

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, BELONGING Poly’s long-term commitment to racial equity and social justice has been led by a full-time director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) for at least a decade. The current facultyled program emphasizes authentic connections among social justice work and the everyday lives of our students and faculty. The chair of Poly Prep’s DEIB Department is Erika Freeman P’24, ’26, ’28, ’32, who assumed the role fulltime in March 2023, having served as Interim Chair since August 2022. A member of the Poly community since 1995, Erika has been a muchloved and respected science teacher, Upper School Dean, advisor to Peer Leaders and Oasis Society, Dean of Faculty, softball and basketball coach, and an Interim Science Department Chair. Erika’s understanding of the Poly community and the importance of our DEIB work cannot be overstated; she is uniquely qualified for this role. Erika is a national SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) trained leader.

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

FALL 2023 2023 57 FALL


CURRENT FAMILIES 2022–2023

W

e appreciate the enthusiastic support of current Poly families in helping us provide the best educational experience possible for their children. CLASS OF 2037 NURSERY 61% Participation

Anonymous (2) Brian Azara ’99 and Alexandra Azara ’00 AG Jason Caloras and Chloe Frank AG Olivier De Moor and Evelyn Balassiano AG Nicholas Doering-Dorival and Bianca DoeringDorival AG Jonathan Goldman and Sandra Goldman ’05 AG Kyle Graham and Daryl Getman AG Alex Greenbaum and Rose Greenbaum AG Earl Hunt II and Kristina Hunt AG Greg Labuda and Sarah Labuda AG Nicholas Morris and Alexandra Krupp AG Vinay Prabhakar and Alison Kelly AG Todd Rubin and Nicole Rubin AG Darren Schluter and Rachel Schluter AG Jonathan Vigdorchik and Katie Vigdorchik AG James Weiss and Ashley Cotton AG Anthony Williams and Chrystal Williams Anthony Xu and Serena Crivellaro AG

CLASS OF 2036

PRE-KINDERGARTEN 70% Participation Harsh Agarwal and Kathryn Jaxheimer AG Serdjan Balach and Laura Balach AG Robert Bollman and Meredith Bollman AG Diana Breen and Michael Ritter AG Alex Carter and Dayna Carter AG Wassim Diab and Sara Ahmed AG David Flumenbaum and Anna Dubenko AG Josh Ho-Walker and Lillian Goldenthal AG Peter Hungerford and Danielle Hungerford AG Marcus Jones and Francis Yasharian AG Paul Joseph and Brandi Shipp AG John Kupiec and Julia Pinover Kupiec AG John Mann and Elizabeth Tuttle AG Max Mauro and Allison Katz AG Damian Minervini and Joanna Dubin AG Darren Moore and Uma Mantravadi Joseph Palladino and Kerry Blum AG Brooks Perlin and Marion Leydier AG

58

Daniel Pine and Lindsey Acree Robert Potter, Jr. and Lauren Leyden AG James Ryan III and Lauren Sands Ryan Schafer and Hadley Schafer Conor Sheridan and Cristin Frodella Ben Sykes and Christine Han AG Peter Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor AG Wesley White and Sheena White Bryan Wisk and Mariana Wisk AG

CLASS OF 2035 KINDERGARTEN 79% Participation

Anonymous (3) Donatus Anusionwu, Jr. and Arpita Mazumdar AG Alexander Benjamin and Sheila Peluso Benjamin Brandon Birdwell and Emma Vadehra AG Jason Caloras and Chloe Frank AG Matthew Chyra and Hedy Peng AG Mario Coppola and Laura Coppola ’95 AG J. Stratford Dennis and Ashley Alston Stuart Downing and Melissa Downing AG Cameron Fairall and Jeehyun Yeo AG Mervyn Goddard and Natasha Goddard AG Jonathan Goldman and Sandra Goldman ’05 AG Alex Greenbaum and Rose Greenbaum AG Eric Leong and Shirley Leong AG Joshua Margolin and Raji Margolin AG Jeffrey Markowicz and Janee Markowicz AG Patrick Murray and Sanaa Rahman AG Matthew Novogratz and Nadean Novogratz AG Joseph Palladino and Kerry Blum AG The Pankov Family AG Charuhas Pandit and Farah Arabe AG Seth Pouwels and Dana Pouwels AG Gianluca Rivizzigno and Kimberly Davis Rivizzigno AG Scott Rofey and Olivia Song AG William Rosario and Amy Wong AG Anand Sankaranarayanan and Nithya Venkatachalam AG

David Scenna and Krista Scenna AG Timothy Shea and Marcela Guerrero AG Winston Song and Amy Hsieh AG Peter Soto ’01 and Elizabeth Soto AG Brent Starks and Yvette Valdez AG William Williams and Mollie Williams The Ziff Family AG

CLASS OF 2034 GRADE 1 67% Participation

Anonymous Amir Akhavan and Karin Akhavan AG Russell Capone and Courtney Dankworth AG John Cochran IV and Danielle Cochran AG Olivier D’Meza and Bethany D’Meza AG Nicholas Doering-Dorival and Bianca Doering-Dorival AG Stuart Downing and Melissa Downing AG Joshua Dubin and Gillian Dubin AG David Flumenbaum and Anna Dubenko AG Eric Freedgood ’99 and Rachael Freedgood AG Rajeev Garg and Maria Garg ’97 AG Donald Heiliger and Shannon Heiliger AG

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


Peter Hungerford and Danielle Hungerford AG Earl Hunt II and Kristina Hunt AG Daniel Korich and Vivian Korich AG Andre Kursancew and Dalit Paradis AG Greg Labuda and Sarah Labuda AG Jerry Miko, Jr. and Anindya Basu AG Francesco Noero and Juliana Obregon AG David Petrou and Gemma Devesa Gasco AG Todd Rubin and Nicole Rubin AG Craig Sabal and Jennifer Sabal AG Alan Silver and Charlotte Jett AG Mark Van Zandt and Lindsay Van Zandt AG Wesley White and Sheena White William Williams and Mollie Williams

CLASS OF 2033 GRADE 2 63% Participation

Brian Azara ’99 and Alexandra Azara ’00 AG Elizabeth Bennett and Chaelon Costello AG Monique Boston AG Matthew Chyra and Hedy Peng AG André Del Valle and Andrea Del Valle AG J. Stratford Dennis and Ashley Alston Wassim Diab and Sara Ahmed AG Olivier D’Meza and Bethany D’Meza AG Jacob Furst and Kate Furst AG Bethany Gilmore AG Mervyn Goddard and Natasha Goddard AG Andrew Hughes ’94 and Sarah Hughes AG Kevin King and Lindsey King AG Christine Kromer-Bennett AG John McPheters and Minya Oh AG Darren Moore and Uma Mantravadi Francesco Noero and Juliana Obregon AG Craig Perkins and Sharon Perkins AG Jackson Phillips, Jr. and Cristine Phillips AG Kareem Raymond and Tene Raymond AG Leland Richards, Jr. and LaTasha Richards AG Steven Rodriguez and Natasha Rodriguez AG Scott Rofey and Olivia Song AG Ryan Schafer and Hadley Schafer Aaron Silverstein and Kiera Gans AG James Sinclair and Larkyn Sinclair AG Winston Song and Amy Hsieh AG Bijan Treister and Negar Treister AG Nick Yarmac and JP McCary AG

CLASS OF 2032 GRADE 3 74% Participation

Anonymous Daniel Baranovsky and Yelena Baranovsky AG Amelia Blissett AG Michael Clarfeld and Tamar Huberman AG Stuart Downing and Melissa Downing AG Cameron Fairall and Jeehyun Yeo AG Eric Freedgood ’99 and Rachael Freedgood AG Khari Freeman, Sr. and Erika Freeman AG Jesse Gill and Marisa Yeres AG Peter Hungerford and Danielle Hungerford AG Earl Hunt II and Kristina Hunt AG POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Taek-Geun Kwon AG Leo Liu and Helen Gu AG Boris Lvovsky and Melinda Lvovsky Joshua Margolin and Raji Margolin AG Erica Marker AG Matthew Novogratz and Nadean Novogratz AG Gregory Pessin and Jaime Pessin AG Robert Potter, Jr. and Lauren Leyden AG Julian Rampelmann and Lorena Ramirez Zapata AG Steffen Reichold and Riham Shendy AG Scott Rofey and Olivia Song AG Anand Sankaranarayanan and Nithya Venkatachalam AG Adam Schlesinger and Elizabeth Schlesinger AG Vishal Sheth and Monica Sheth AG Joseph Sollitto and Rebekah Sollitto AG Winston Song and Amy Hsieh AG Joe Steele and Niloo Steele AG Nirav Thakker and Sonal Thakker AG Matthew Tilove and Leslie Dubeck AG Anthony Williams and Chrystal Williams

CLASS OF 2031 GRADE 4 62% Participation

Lauren Allen AG Cameron Arrington and Indhira Arrington AG Jennifer Bartels AG Monique Boston AG Andrew Burne and Julia Murphy Kevin Byrne and Heidi Byrne AG Russell Capone and Courtney Dankworth AG Michele Caro AG Robert China and Tia Breakley-China AG Paul Crath and Sarah Robertson AG Anthony Frempong-Boadu and Gwendolyn Frempong-Boadu AG

Charles Jigarjian and Michi Jigarjian AG Stephen Kempf and Mary Dixie Carter AG Kevin Langlais and Kerri Langlais AG Ackneil Muldrow III and Dana Muldrow AG Afshin Rafaat and Yasamin Shahamiri AG Kareem Raymond and Tene Raymond AG Leland Richards, Jr. and LaTasha Richards AG William Rosario and Amy Wong AG Lucas Rosen and Jennifer Kutsher Rosen AG Aaron Rubin and Jenny Chan AG Reid Skibell and Tugba Colpan AG Adam Smith AG Alexander Tejani ’99 and Jillianne Tejani AG James Thompson and Stephanie Unwin AG

CLASS OF 2030 GRADE 5 67% Participation

Anonymous (4) Craig Anderson and Eliza Anderson AG Loren Berger and Shira Berger AG Lea Carty and Jody Orshal Carty AG Daniel Colarusso and Katherine Hobson AG Joshua Dubin and Gillian Dubin AG Matthew Durando ’96 and Tina Durando AG Jennifer Fell AG Jacob Furst and Kate Furst AG Keane Gibson AG Jesse Gill and Marisa Yeres AG Jonathan Krasner ’95 and Dana Pagar AG Eric Leong and Shirley Leong AG Warner Lewis and Christina Porter AG Dionicio Llano and Mayreni Acosta AG Boris Lvovsky and Melinda Lvovsky Depelsha McGruder AG Ricardo McKenzie and Catherine McKenzie AG Constantine Nikitiades and Sophia Nikitiades ’95 AG Tony Pasquariello and Amy Pasquariello AG Craig Perkins and Sharon Perkins AG Jackson Phillips, Jr. and Cristine Phillips AG Daniel Pipitone and Melissa Pipitone AG Julian Rampelmann and Lorena Ramirez Zapata AG Andrew Rendeiro and Marty Lentz AG Scott Rofey and Olivia Song AG Craig Sabal and Jennifer Sabal AG Robert Sabbagh ’87 and Dorotea Sabbagh AG Adam Schlesinger and Elizabeth Schlesinger AG Gillian Sheeran Vishal Sheth and Monica Sheth AG Timothy Shey and Rachel Garcia Roger Shum and Florence Shum AG Winston Song and Amy Hsieh AG Matthew Tartaglia and April Tartaglia AG Nirav Thakker and Sonal Thakker AG Bill Thanopoulos and Anastasia Thanopoulos AG Matthew Tilove and Leslie Dubeck AG Bijan Treister and Negar Treister AG

FALL 2023 59


CURRENT FAMILIES 2022–2023

CLASS OF 2029 GRADE 6 72% Participation

Anonymous (6) Konstantinos Arniotis and Catherine Arrieta Nicholas Arons and Vivien Labaton AG Cameron Arrington and Indhira Arrington AG Gilbert Baird and Jaimie Baird AG Sefer Balikci and Kesha Crichlow Balikci AG Jennifer Bartels AG Hormuz Batliboi and Madhavi Batliboi AG Keith Brenner and Jennifer Brenner AG Kevin Byrne and Heidi Byrne AG Cameron Caldwell AG Orelia Camara and Karim Camara AG David Cann and Neelima Pania AG Tommaso Cascella and Kathryn Matt AG Steve Cheng and Margaret Vaden AG John Cochran IV and Danielle Cochran AG Mario Coppola and Laura Coppola ’95 AG André Del Valle and Andrea Del Valle AG J Chad Dickerson and Nancy Dickerson AG Jennifer Foley Shields AG Andrew Foote and Blake Foote AG Bradley George and Louise George AG Bethany Gilmore AG Neil Glaser and Richie Lin AG Joseph Glickman and Jessica Kwon AG Tal Golomb and Ariella Golomb AG Robin Gray and Nancy Labiner AG Bryan Harris and Desiree Harris AG Tim Hill and Jenny Hill AG John Hill and Shanna Hill AG Rei Inamoto and Amy Inamoto AG Matt King and Lindsay King AG Kevin Langlais and Kerri Langlais AG Sherman Lee and Julia Kao AG Brian Ling and Annisea Wong AG Daniel Lisk and Francesca Lisk ’95 Alexander Lyubarov and Susanna Chan AG Jean-Philippe Masson and Nikki Masson AG Roland Merchant, Jr. and Jennifer Merchant AG Scott Milstein and Rakhel Milstein AG Guy Nesdale and Melissa Bullen AG Aaron Neuman and Bonnie Neuman AG The Pankov Family AG Matthew Plosser and Elizabeth Plosser AG Christopher Poindexter and Carletta Higginson AG Daniel Rice and Christina Rice AG Leland Richards, Jr. and LaTasha Richards AG Lucas Rosen and Jennifer Kutsher Rosen AG Jim Schoenburg and Laurie Schoenburg AG Gabriel Schwartz and Jolie Schwartz AG Josslyn Shapiro AG Aaron Silverstein and Kiera Gans AG Joseph Sollitto and Rebekah Sollitto AG Colin Speaker and Katharine Speaker AG Matthew Stanfield and Elina Kolmanovskaya AG David Stein and Jill Stein AG Dina Thakarar AG Christopher Totaro and Telma Garcia AG Douglas Unis and Julia Jordan AG Todd Vitolo ’92 and Diana Gutierrez Vitolo AG Joseph Ward and Mireia Perez AG 60

Bryan Wisk and Mariana Wisk AG John Zaremba ’95 and Nancy Zaremba AG Xiao Zhang and Jun Kang AG The Ziff Family AG Matthew Zimmer and Natalia Zimmer AG

CLASS OF 2028 GRADE 7 65% Participation

Anonymous (10) Konstantinos Arniotis and Catherine Arrieta Vincent Arzouian and Florence Liu AG Peter Bogaty and Erin Bogaty AG Kurt Carrington and Denee Carrington Walter Chamorro and Alice Neumann de Chamorro AG Keath Chan and Cathy Wong AG Sheila Charles AG Robert China and Tia Breakley-China AG Joshua Coleman and Carey Macaleer AG Mike Corona and Rosa Fernandez AG John Cuti and Sarah Netburn AG Joshua Dubin and Gillian Dubin AG Daniel Ehrenhaft and Jessica Wollman AG Alireza Esmaeilzadeh and Claudia Held AG Daniel Fernandez and Gina Mavuro-Fernandez AG Jeffrey Fleishhacker and Jennifer Fleishhacker AG Khari Freeman, Sr. and Erika Freeman AG Todd Green and Amie Green AG Eric Hecker and Zoe Allen David Hicks and Kim Hicks AG Arun Jayaram and Shashi Kumara AG Charles Jigarjian and Michi Jigarjian AG Chiwoniso Kaitano AG Brendan Kehoe and Helen Chen AG William Kelly and Nicole Kelly AG Stephen Kempf and Mary Dixie Carter AG Kevin King and Lindsey King AG Michael Lippert and Sarah Pearsall AG Anthony Lorenzo and Karen Lorenzo AG William Mahoney and Adrienne Saldana AG James McGovern and Susan Shamoto AG Ricardo McKenzie and Catherine McKenzie AG Michael Miarmi and Tatiana Rodriguez AG Kaaryn Nailor AG Matthew Nemeth and Tricia Kissinger AG Brian Nowakowski and Natalia Artemyeva AG Tony Pasquariello and Amy Pasquariello AG Samir Patel and Cristina Patel AG Daniel Pipitone and Melissa Pipitone AG Atique Rahman and Sharmin Rahman AG Michael Reddy and Jennifer May-Reddy AG James Regan ’91 and Tamara Ling AG Craig Sabal and Jennifer Sabal AG Marc Savino ’92 and Hillary Savino AG Adam Schlesinger and Elizabeth Schlesinger AG Richard Schneider and Amy Tully AG Roger Shum and Florence Shum AG Seong Pan Si AG Demond Simmons AG Daniel Spillane and Margaret Spillane AG Wen Wen Sun AG Christopher Taendler and Stephanie Taendler AG

Bijan Treister and Negar Treister AG Andrew Waldman and Kathleen Madden AG Jacek Wojtowicz and Jennifer Powers AG Harry Yang and Jeeeun Chae AG Andrew Yeung and Ann Yeung AG James Zang and Jie Fu AG

CLASS OF 2027 GRADE 8 56% Participation

Anonymous (5) Marc Aberle and Theresa Aberle AG Vadim Avdeychik and Marina Treybick AG Mark Baillie AG Gilbert Baird and Jaimie Baird AG Hormuz Batliboi and Madhavi Batliboi AG Naval Bhandari and Harpreet Bhandari Raoul and Savitha Bhavnani AG Karim Camara and Orelia Camara AG Tommaso Cascella and Kathryn Matt AG Steve Cheng and Margaret Vaden AG Stefano Filippazzo and Camille Fortunato AG Andrew Foote and Blake Foote AG Eric Frank and Lisa Frank AG Matthew Galle and Heather Galle AG Erik Geisler and Rachel Geisler AG Brad Goldberg and Nicole Goldberg AG Bryan Harris and Desiree Harris AG James Harris and Rachel Fishman AG Benjamin Herzog and Emily Gardiner Herzog AG Richelet Jean and Nathalie Jean AG Brian Kinnane and Ellen Kinnane AG Jayaveera Kodali and Lara Marcon Jason Kubica and Rosamund Green-Kubica AG Joseph Lattinelli and Lauren Lattinelli ’97 AG Christopher Lindquist and Proshat Mahjoubie AG David Lindsay-Abaire and Christine Lindsay-Abaire AG Dionicio Llano and Mayreni Acosta AG Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez Gregory Maltzman and Sandra Maltzman AG Andrew McDonald and Sarah Zuercher AG Roland Merchant, Jr. and Jennifer Merchant AG Johnny Miller and Marisa Sellitti AG Manny Miravete and Amy Givens AG Chris Mischler and Juliane Kim AG Constantine Nikitiades and Sophia Nikitiades ’95 AG Ozodiukwe Onunaku and Chinyere Onunaku AG Manos Paidarakis and Julie Paidarakis AG Jodie Patterson AG David Pauls and Jane Pauls AG Ambiorix Pimentel and Yahaira Rodriguez AG Oleg Povetko and Deborah Cavalcante AG Lee Quinones and Tamara Warren AG Daniel Rice and Christina Rice AG Jeremy Rosenberg and Cristina Rosenberg AG Joseph Ruggie and Elizabeth Ruggie AG John Ruocco and Eileen Reilly AG Robert Sabbagh ’87 and Dorotea Sabbagh AG Jay Saunders, Jr. and Elizabeth Nevins AG Jeremy Shamos and Nina Hellman AG Edward Smith and Alison Smith AG Lourdes Smith AG THE BLUE & THE GRAY


Gerald Taylor and Melanie Wilson-Taylor AG James Thompson and Stephanie Unwin AG Tatyana Tsinberg AG Andrew Udin and Shira Udin Stefanus Van De Gevel and Daniella Olibrice AG Wendye VanBrakle AG Yong Xie and Yi Gong AG

CLASS OF 2026 GRADE 9 56% Participation

Anonymous (4) Paata Abjandadze and Maka Gogilashvili AG Lilly Alexander AG Allyn Arden and Alison Besunder AG Christopher Auger-Dominguez and Daisy AugerDominguez AG Gilbert Baird and Jaimie Baird AG Sefer Balikci and Kesha Crichlow Balikci AG Charles Barbiere and Rosalie Castano-Barbiere AG Jason Barro and Melissa Parsoff AG Seth Basham AG Peter Bogaty and Erin Bogaty AG Claudia Borg AG Arjune Budhram and Rashmi Budhram Lorne Bullen and Phyllis Bullen AG Michele Caro AG Sean Casey and Emelie Kihlstrom AG John Cochran IV and Danielle Cochran AG Marvin Cochrane and Jeanette Cochrane AG Leigh Cooper AG Stephen Coope AG Enrico Corsalini and Flavia Corsalini AG Daniel Crowley and Heather Crowley AG Yatish Dangayach and Sweta Dangayach AG Joe Daniels and Naomi Daniels AG Michelle Dixon AG John Foley and Jill Foley AG Thaddeus Forman and Shannon Forman AG Daisy Foureau AG Khari Freeman, Sr. and Erika Freeman AG Jennifer Geismar AG Robert Goergen, Jr. and Stacey Goergen Tal Golomb and Ariella Golomb AG Candice Hacker AG David Heller and Hermine Heller AG Tim Hill and Jenny Hill AG John Hill and Shanna Hill AG Timothy Howell and Elizabeth Howell AG Peter Hyman AG Rei Inamoto and Amy Inamoto AG Kazuomi Iwai and Natsue Iwai AG Suli Jiang and Jenna Anilee AG Robert Karp and Stacey Karp AG Patrick Klauss and Anna Klauss AG John Kolz and Amy Kolz AG Paul Krieger and Christine Magdo AG Morgan Lawrence III and Nicole Lawrence AG Tara Lipton Daniel Lisk and Francesca Lisk ’95 Ji Cheng Lu and Xiao Yu Lin-Lu AG Richard Maathey and Nsenga Bansfield-Maathey AG Joshua Mangerson and Sarah Mangerson AG POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Wayne Margolies and Ann Palmer AG Meredith Marshall and Yolonda Marshall AG Hamede Martin and Petrice Leben-Martin AG Jenna Menkes Fausto Monacelli and Sarah Grayson AG Claire Moore AG Andrew Morse and Ana Morse AG Ackneil Muldrow III and Dana Muldrow AG Guy Nesdale and Melissa Bullen AG James Nicolaidis, Jr. AG Richard Pepperman II and Elizabeth Pepperman AG Gregory Pessin and Jaime Pessin AG The Petridis-Gerling Family AG Ken Rapp and Michelle Rapp AG Alan Reed, Jr. and Nyla Reed AG Leland Richards, Jr. and LaTasha Richards AG Andrew Robb and Kristen Robb AG JP Rorech and Lucy Rorech AG David Rosenblatt and Laurie Rosenblatt AG Carlos Santiago and Imelda Santiago AG Amit Sethi and Judith Sethi AG Russell Smith and Maria Guedes Smith AG Mark Smith, Jr. and Valerie Smith AG Adam Smith AG Rui Song and Hongyu Zhang AG The Stegich Family AG Wenxuan Sun and Xia Hong AG Keyonte Sutherland ’03 AG Stephen Swanson and Carina Hueber AG Bill Thanopoulos and Anastasia Thanopoulos AG David Wohst and Joan Fonacier-Wohst AG Jacek Wojtowicz and Jennifer Powers AG Eliot Yaxley and Magdaline Adefris AG Philippe Zrihen and Melanie Zrihen AG

CLASS OF 2025 GRADE 10 48% Participation

Anonymous (3) William Barrett and Sarah Barrett AG Douglas Beane and Lewis Flinn III AG Naval Bhandari and Harpreet Bhandari Ira Bogner and Jennifer Bogner AG Christine Buckley AG Karim Camara and Orelia Camara AG Richard Campbell and Alix Campbell AG Francisco Javier Caselles and Silvia Fernandez AG Alice Cheng AG Joshua Coleman and Carey Macaleer AG John Cuti and Sarah Netburn AG Rafael de Luque and Claudia Arango AG Alex LeDuc and Caroline Dorsen AG Abbygale Dove AG Robert Dyk and Sahr MuhammedAlly AG Fernando Ferre and Dana Ferre AG Fredrica Ford AG Frank Fusaro and Dori Raskin AG Demetrios Gabriel II ’85 and Kalitsa Gabriel AG Erik Geisler and Rachel Geisler AG Michael Giles and Nanette Giles AG James Glancy and Chantal Glancy AG Brad Goldberg and Nicole Goldberg AG Eric Hecker and Zoe Allen

Matthew Hoffman and Claudia Hoffman AG Jason Howell and Daniela Vitale-Howell AG Ben Igoe and Heidi Igoe AG George Incata and Elizabeth Incata AG Marc James and Melissa James AG Richard James and Nakia Serrant-James AG Ravi Kamble, MD and Prabha Bhandari AG Robert Karp and Stacey Karp AG Pierre Lampert and Frederique Lampert AG Nicholas Law and Odette Williams AG Scott Leyton and Erin Leyton AG Tara Lipton Daniel Lobo-Berg AG James Malley and Laura Torrado-Malley ’86 AG James McGovern and Susan Shamoto AG Marc Mendelson and Tara Mendelson AG Roland Merchant, Jr. and Jennifer Merchant AG Sean Mullin AG Fraser and Allison Musmand AG Courtney Ozer AG Jodie Patterson AG Joseph Penachio and Robyn Mazur AG The Petridis-Gerling Family AG Michele Rannie AG William Rodino and Jeanette Rodino AG Dan Rootenberg and Shelby Rootenberg AG JP Rorech and Lucy Rorech AG Joshua Rosenberg and Karine Rosenberg AG Amerigo and Monica Rossi AG Matthew Roventini ’92 and Kathy Roventini AG John Sarubbi and Catherine Sharkey AG David Schoenberger and Stacy Fischer AG Jeremy Shamos and Nina Hellman AG Donald Shields and Raluca Shields AG David Smetana and Lauren Smetana AG Edward Smith and Alison Smith AG Martin Smithmyer and Christina Roccos Rui Song and Hongyu Zhang AG Daniel Spillane and Margaret Spillane AG Christopher Taendler and Stephanie Taendler AG Orlando Taylor and Ashley Taylor AG Jonathan ten Oever and Nathalie ten Oever AG Lu-Shawn Thompson Andrew Waldman and Kathleen Madden AG Gregg Walker AG Yan Feng Wu and Jinhuan Yu AG Feng Yao and Xiaopin Chen AG Craig Yoskowitz and Michelle Yoskowitz AG Christopher Zam and Gabrielle Roventini ’87 AG John Zaremba ’95 and Nancy Zaremba AG Xianjin Zhou and Juan Hu AG

CLASS OF 2024 GRADE 11 56% Participation

Anonymous (4) Michelle Adams and Laura Nelsen AG Lauren Allen AG Adam Ames and Elissa Levy AG Irina Bakulev AG Seth Basham AG Matthew Belford and Jean Belford AG Warren Bieler and Ilene Fiszel Bieler AG FALL 2023 61


CURRENT FAMILIES 2022–2023

Irene Bosker and Susan Weigl AG Arjune Budhram and Rashmi Budhram Michele Caro AG Walter Chamorro and Alice Neumann de Chamorro AG JinE Chen AG Alice Cheng AG Peter Cohen and Ellen Cohen AG Sean Desmond and Susan Cordaro AG Gaetano DiNatale and Tatyana Nazarova AG Julius Donald and Yvette Donald AG Joseph Farris II and Julie Farris Khari Freeman, Sr. and Erika Freeman AG Demetrios Gabriel II ’85 and Kalitsa Gabriel AG Peter Genatt and Tasha Genatt AG Gideon Gil and Debra Perelman AG Dennis Glass and Shani Fielder-Glass AG Michael Glassman and Jennifer Glassman Kenneth Green and Shamier Green AG Benjamin Herzog and Emily Gardiner Herzog AG David Hicks and Kim Hicks AG Timothy Howell and Elizabeth Howell AG Thomas Iannelli ’82 and Barbara Iannelli ’85 AG German Jaramillo and Paola Mejia AG Michael Jung and Suzanne Siano AG Alexander Kagen and Susan Hashemi AG Himansh Khanna and Malti Raisinghani AG William Klein and Michele Klein AG John Kolz and Amy Kolz AG Marrisa Lall AG Ross Levin and Aimee Levin AG Jonathan Mackler and Tina Mackler AG Meredith Marshall and Yolonda Marshall AG Tom McAdam and Jill Schwartz AG Andrew McDonald and Sarah Zuercher AG Paul Netter and Lauren Silverstein AG Melissa Neulander Wing Ng and Siu Fun Chu - Ng AG John Niccolai and Maria Gea Arredondo AG Dinah Nissen and Elizabeth Apelles AG Stephen Paluszek and Violeta Paluszek AG David Pauls and Jane Pauls AG Joseph Penachio and Robyn Mazur AG Winett Phillips and Candace Grant AG Bernardo Piquet and Paula Abreu AG Lawrence Playford, Jr. and Ellen Playford AG James Regan ’91 and Tamara Ling AG David Rich AG Andrew Robb and Kristen Robb AG James Roberts and Lisa Starr AG Richard Rosario and Haley Meade-Rosario AG Todd Rose and Jill Rose AG Jeremy Rosenberg and Cristina Rosenberg AG Joseph Ruggie and Elizabeth Ruggie AG Michael Saivetz and Amy Saivetz AG Orlando Sanchez and Mehjabeen Sanchez AG Sunil Savkar and Stefanie Birkmann AG Andrew Schilling and Margaret Schilling AG Andrew Scholz and Lisa Wall ’88 AG Mark Smith, Jr. and Valerie Smith AG Adam Smith AG Derek Stoldt and Amy Stoldt AG David Taub and Leigh Taub AG Stephanie Tooman-Dieme AG Marcus Trent and Cyntra Trani 62

Marc Triola and Dushana Triola AG Marc Turkewitz and Melissa Danenberg AG Andrew Udin and Shira Udin Douglas Unis and Julia Jordan AG Richard Usher, Jr. and Raymi Ramseur-Usher AG David Wise and Vanessa Wise AG Peiying Xiao and Yanqiong Liu AG Kenneth Yaffe and Susan Hitzig AG John Zaremba ’95 and Nancy Zaremba AG

CLASS OF 2023

Scott Sergeant and Cristina Soto Alexander Slotwiner and Rachel Stevens AG Alexander Stein and Helayne Schiff AG Jonathan ten Oever and Nathalie ten Oever AG Bill Thanopoulos and Anastasia Thanopoulos AG Douglas Tiesi and Elissa Tiesi AG Michael Troncale and Harriet Troncale AG Jose Velazquez, Sr. and Ivelisse Velazquez AG Tonghe Wang and Xiaoxiao Dong AG John Wells and Joo-Yung Lee AG Bradd Williamson and Amerika Williamson AG

GRADE 12 42% Participation

Anonymous (3) Stefano Basilico and Janet Kraynak AG Douglas Beane and Lewis Flinn III AG Matthew Bogdanos and Claudia Bogdanos AG Donald Burke and Heidi Burke AG Marco Caffuzzi and Nicole Gagnon AG Dexter Campbell and Anyely Campbell AG Jay Clayton and Gretchen Clayton AG Anthony Contessa and Molly Choi AG Daniel Crowley and Heather Crowley AG John Culmine ’85 and Louise Fasano-Culmine AG Joe Daniels and Naomi Daniels AG Rafael de Luque and Claudia Arango AG Mark Dehnert and Mindy Dehnert AG Donald Demay, Jr. and Miyoko Demay AG Steven DiBlasio and Donna DiBlasio AG Maria DiCarlo AG Stephen Durso and Barrie Ringelheim AG George Evans AG Steven Feuerman and Bonnie Feuerman AG Joseph Finnerty III AG Qiang Fu and Xun Yao AG Leopold Garcia, Jr. and Nilmeyda Fulgencio AG Jason Howell and Daniela Vitale-Howell AG Daniel Hunter and Dana Rathkopf AG Ben Igoe and Heidi Igoe AG Suli Jiang and Jenna Anilee AG Michael Jung and Suzanne Siano AG Bruce Kimmelman and Amy Kimmelman AG Kwok Hung Kwan and Jiwen Chen AG Sumit Laddha and Hansika Malkani AG John Larkin II and Rebecca Larkin AG Morgan Lawrence III and Nicole Lawrence AG Richard Lewis, Jr. and Diane Lifton AG Matthew Lissak and Zanthe Taylor AG Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez Nicolas Lopez-Muniz and Jeane Lopez-Muniz AG Morris Macleod and Susan Macleod AG William Manny and Jill Manny AG Christopher Mansfield and Sang Lee Joseph McCusker and Frances McCusker AG Venice Mondesir AG Donna Paparella AG John Plym, Jr. and Kristin Plym Mark Prutsalis and Maria D’Albert AG JP Rorech and Lucy Rorech AG David Rosenblatt and Laurie Rosenblatt AG Gregg Rothkin and Jennifer Rothkin AG David Schoenberger and Stacy Fischer AG Ivan Schwarz and Katia Schwarz AG THE BLUE & THE GRAY


ALUMNI DONORS 2022–2023

W

Michael Glick Robert Harwood AG Peter Liebert Richard Merhige AG Alan Schechter AG

CLASS OF 1946

Ira Ames AG Stanley Bogen AG Alan Davidson AG Steven Ducker AG Richard Felner AG Eugene Flamm AG Ralph Groskoph AG Owen Hoberman AG Jack Wasserman AG

e are grateful for the generosity of our alumni, which helps to ensure an outstanding educational experience for the Poly students of today.

William Kramer AG

CLASS OF 1947

James Blundell, Jr. AG Robert Fraiman AG

CLASS OF 1948

Richard Debs AG Alan Roland* AG George Smyth, Jr. AG

CLASS OF 1949

Homer Eckerson AG Richard Greenberg AG Robert Josell AG David Kramer AG Robert Magnus, Jr. AG Otis Pearsall AG Robert Schoepflin AG Mark Smoller AG

CLASS OF 1950

Robert Briskman AG Andrew Davis AG Bob Lonshein AG Edward Wallach AG Malcolm Young AG

CLASS OF 1951

David Bell Michael Lamm AG Robert Lehrman AG Peter Malkin Robert Stern AG

CLASS OF 1952

Anthony Besthoff AG John Bissell AG Frank Exline, Jr. AG Robert Koster AG Michael Rabbino AG

CLASS OF 1953

Mark Abramowitz AG Arthur Bellinzoni, Jr. Bruce Bernstein Howard Cohen AG Richard Fearon

CLASS OF 1954

CLASS OF 1955

Michael Gold Charles Kalison AG Lawrence Lefkowitz AG Kenneth Lessall AG Stephen Levine AG Stuart Mackler AG Ira Merritt AG Richard Perlman AG Harry Petchesky AG Peter G. Stone AG Michael Sussman AG David Youngblade

CLASS OF 1956

Arthur Delmhorst AG Justus Doenecke AG Bruce Ducker AG Michael Freund AG David Goldman AG Jerome Howie AG James Louis AG George Marks AG Landy Nelson AG Richard Press AG Michael Rosen AG Robert Schoenemann AG Daniel Schwartz AG Walter Williamson AG

CLASS OF 1957

Roger Bermas AG Thomas Hunter AG George Malin AG Robert Pickens AG Victor Rich AG David Sherman AG Tenny Wheatley, Jr. AG

CLASS OF 1958

Dave Elligers AG Barry Feldman AG Joseph Giardina AG Mark Groothuis AG Michael Kay AG

Alan Newman AG Joel Pokorny AG John Sands AG

Bruce Merhige AG Eric Ruby AG Rob Schenck AG

CLASS OF 1959

CLASS OF 1965

George Delmhorst AG Thomas Goddard AG David Lichtman AG Leonard Sayles AG Norman Silberdick, Jr. AG Harold Weiss AG Ron Wilson, Jr. AG

CLASS OF 1960

Michael Groothuis AG Seth Kaufman AG Richard Mizrack AG

CLASS OF 1961

Welbourne Bronaugh AG Robert Chiteman AG John Grayzel AG Francis Love AG Robert Meringolo AG Stephen Pearlman AG Michael Rebell AG Edward Reilly AG Peter Richtmyer AG

CLASS OF 1962

James Blumstein AG Henry Gardstein, Jr. AG Stephen Green Herbert Hochman AG Alan Hoffman AG Delmont Irving AG Richard Jensen AG Kenneth Kasses AG Mark Kozinn AG Robert Shack AG Richard Spiegel AG Richard Stern AG Edwin Wigutoff AG

CLASS OF 1963

Warren Appleman AG Douglas Crawford AG Larry Denmark AG Thomas Fanta AG Henry Fayne AG Michael Krinsky AG Peter Love AG Bruce Pindyck AG Stewart Rahr AG Richard Ratzan AG Yaroslav Sochynsky AG Warren Weitman, Jr. AG

CLASS OF 1964

Jonathan Axelrod AG Robert Cort AG

CLASS OF 1972

Patrick Burger AG Harrison Bush Roger Heymann AG Terry Martinson AG Ronald Mason AG Andrew Mogelof AG

James Allen AG Rollin Bush AG Howard Caretto AG Paul Gilson AG M. Robert Gumer AG John Madden, Jr. AG Douglas Miller AG Jerrold Newman AG David Troyansky AG Henry Warshaw AG

CLASS OF 1966

CLASS OF 1973

Andrew Benjamin AG Mitchell Bernstein AG Michael David AG David Johnson III AG James Nelkin AG Lee Saltzman AG Michael Terrin AG

Stuart Kilstein AG Jeffrey Rifkin AG Richard Saltzman AG Robert Spatt AG

CLASS OF 1974

Jeffrey Baloutine AG James Hennessy, Jr. AG Joel Mandelbaum AG Lawrence Pincus AG

Frank Bernieri AG Nicholas Harris AG Peter Madden AG Robert Messina AG John Morris, Jr. AG Hal Rose AG Anthony Sgarlato AG

CLASS OF 1968

CLASS OF 1975

CLASS OF 1967

Joseph Hanson AG Frederick Jabara AG Robert Jacob AG Russell Panetta AG Peter Sessa AG Robert Shelala AG Ira Turret AG Vincent Vigorita AG

CLASS OF 1969

Salvatore Cumella AG Stewart Fleisig AG William Karp AG Lester Kritzer AG Howard Levine AG Mark Liss AG Michael Rogers AG Michael Seligman AG

CLASS OF 1970

Robert Arcaro AG Timothy Johnson AG Michael Price AG Roy Rifkin AG Robert Slack AG James Stirn AG Bruce Terrin AG Andrew Wittenstein AG

CLASS OF 1971 Keith Fisher AG Michael Junsch AG David Pollack AG

Michael Adesman AG Charles Birenbaum George Bittar AG Peter Blum AG Allen Flores AG Steven Froot AG Elliott Rebhun AG David Schlecker AG Robert Schlossberg AG Scott Smith AG

CLASS OF 1976

Ira Checkla AG Charles Kreines AG Frank Sinatra AG Howard Smith, Jr. AG Peter Smith AG

CLASS OF 1977 Edward Katz AG

CLASS OF 1978

Lawrence Brandman AG Frank Galtieri AG Steven Herman AG Ward Lassoe AG Steve Levitan AG

CLASS OF 1979

Stephen Kochman AG Mark Levine AG Kenneth Webb AG *Deceased

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

FALL 2023 63


ALUMNI DONORS 2022–2023

CLASS OF 1980

CLASS OF 1991

CLASS OF 1982

CLASS OF 1992

Howard Dicker AG Margaret Watson AG

Thomas Iannelli AG Nadine Kennedy AG James Plum AG Philip Sawyer AG

CLASS OF 1983 Peter Bloom AG Ed Feldman AG

CLASS OF 1984

Jean Sarachman Bernieri AG Arnold Mascali AG Michael Osso AG

CLASS OF 1985

Harry Bernieri AG Eric Chaikin AG John Culmine AG Demetrios Gabriel II AG Bernard Gancarz AG Barbara Ippolito Iannelli AG

CLASS OF 1986

Jennifer McAvey Baker AG Mary Picarello Bozza Wise Robin Bramwell-Stewart Eric Gural AG Kelly Lynch Papa AG Gabrielle Scarpaci AG Carla Sinatra AG Laura Torrado-Malley AG Heidi Zarou AG

CLASS OF 1987

Michael Correra AG Jamal Hayden AG Gabrielle Roventini AG Robert Sabbagh AG

CLASS OF 1988

Stella Angelakos Dirk DeLaCour Jeanine Smartt Liburd AG Lisa Wall AG

CLASS OF 1989

Edward Van Buren IV AG Stellene Volandes

CLASS OF 1990 Russell DeLaCour John Merhige AG

64

James Regan AG Joseph Verdirame AG

Anonymous AG Corey Modeste AG Jennifer Kunz Rice AG Matthew Roventini AG Marc Savino AG Todd Vitolo AG

CLASS OF 1993

Scott Jacobi AG Christian Rutherford AG

CLASS OF 1994

Katherine Greig AG Andrew Hughes AG Joseph Pabon Nathaniel Walsh AG

CLASS OF 1995

Kate Bernstein AG Laura Beiles Coppola AG Jonathan Krasner AG Stephen Lee AG Francesca Garson Lisk Sophia Marinakis Nikitiades AG Kristerfor Mastronardi AG Anthony Tortora AG John Zaremba AG

CLASS OF 1996

Matthew Durando AG Nathan Finkel AG Henry Lau AG Page Travelstead AG Melanie Wilson-Taylor AG

CLASS OF 1997

Sophie DeLaCour Maria Haymandou Garg AG Lauren Mancuso Lattinelli AG

CLASS OF 2000

Noah Aberlin AG Alexandra Maresca Azara AG Brian Cantor AG Jasmin Rivera AG Johanna Rodriguez AG Joseph Seggio AG

CLASS OF 2001

Eileen Ahasic AG Marissa Beck AG Ana Calle AG Julian Holder AG Margo Rivera Power AG Peter Soto AG

CLASS OF 2002

Anonymous (2) AG Diane Bernstein-Neman AG Daniel Messing AG Christian Zaino AG

CLASS OF 2003

Elizabeth Becker Schires AG Matthew Dresher AG Maria Marinakis Deligiannis AG Susan Sapega Randall AG Keyonte Sutherland AG

CLASS OF 2004

Alexander Greeley AG David Karlin AG Shevorne Martin AG Minoo Fadaifard Wade AG

CLASS OF 2005

Jasen Bell AG Cristina Cote AG Adam Garson AG Sandra Udis Goldman AG Griffin Humphreys AG John Kefer AG Juliette Pannone AG Monique Wilson AG

CLASS OF 2008 Zoe Atlas AG Kate Newman AG Courtney Nolan AG

CLASS OF 2009

Luke Albert AG Stephanie Ellman AG Pearce Erensel AG Jared Hedglin AG Rachel Sloane AG

CLASS OF 2010

Alana Lawson Althans AG Lauren Boulbol AG Katherine Greissman AG Jason Griffiths AG Karina Krainchich AG

CLASS OF 2011

Jenna Denaver AG Jordan Denaver AG

CLASS OF 2021 Jack Slawner AG

CLASS OF 2022 Anonymous AG

CLASS OF 2013

Christine Croasdaile AG Elisabeth Curtis AG Tara Muoio AG Kameron Hutchinson AG Philip Maldari, Jr. AG Thomas Walker IV AG Asha Wills AG

CLASS OF 2014 Thomas Clark AG

CLASS OF 2015 Alyssa Brown AG Cassie Moriarty AG

CLASS OF 1999

CLASS OF 2007

CLASS OF 2017

Brian Azara AG Eric Freedgood AG David Giancola AG Carolyn Razzano AG Lauren Sapega Akinmusuru AG Alexander Tejani AG

CLASS OF 2020

Christopher Andrade AG Christopher Patacsil AG

CLASS OF 2016

Nadia Ahmed AG Anastasia Cembrovska AG Thana-Ashley Charles AG Andrew Goldfarb AG Alfred Miller AG

Anonymous AG Zene Willoughby AG

CLASS OF 2012

CLASS OF 2006

Courtney Archer-Buckmire AG Paul Lanks AG Frances Messano AG Justin Pagan AG

CLASS OF 2019

Anonymous AG Kadaicia-Loi Dunkley Abouelnaga AG Qadir Forbes AG

CLASS OF 1998

Kaitlin Donohue AG Yin He AG Reed Katz AG Samuel Polifka AG

Maximilian Figura AG Mayin Hinduja AG Nicholas Stratigakis AG Margaret White AG Madeleine Winter AG

David Dixon AG Sonja Lindberg AG Briana Riley AG Micaela Rodriguez AG

Kayla Glemaud AG Eric Muoio AG

CLASS OF 2018

Shakaa Chaiban AG Lola Charles AG Brian Chiang AG

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


GRANDPARENT DONORS 2022–2023

M

any thanks to the Poly grandparents who contributed during the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Anonymous AG Maxine Armstrong AG Arvydas Barzdukas and Daiva Barzdukas AG Susan Beiles Fern Berenberg AG Alleen Bratton AG Renee Cantave and Herve Cantave AG Arthur Carter and Linda Carter AG John Carty and Jane Carty AG Hin Chan and Wing Chan AG John Cochran III and Patricia Cochran AG

Willis DeLaCour, Jr. and Sally Williams-Allen Charlotte Downing and Dover Downing AG John Dubeck and Susan Hotine AG Paul Durando and Marie Durando AG Sandi Feinberg Leona Fields AG Phil Foote and Mary Foote AG Edward Freedgood and Electra Freedgood AG Lynda Freeman AG Jeffrey Gural and Paula Gural AG Judy Hicks AG Elicia Hunter AG John Hunter and Jayne Hunter AG Eric Jaxheimer and Marty Jaxheimer Howard Kaye and Wilma Kaye Diane Leyden and Brian Leyden AG

Frank Lopez AG Stuart Mackler ’55 and Judy Mackler AG Ken Mandelbaum and Susie Mandelbaum AG Michael McGovern and Joyce McGovern AG Rebecca McPheters AG Yvonne Pollack AG Michael Rebell ’61 and Sharon Rebell AG Frank Rogers AG Jane Selzer AG Anthony Sollitto and Dolores Sollitto AG Susan Solomon AG Goodrich Stokes and Joyce Stokes AG Christina VanBrakle and Bryant VanBrakle AG Shirley Welsh and Garth Elliott AG Vajira Wickramaratne Jytte Winslow-Mandle AG

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION 2022–2023

CO PRESIDENTS Rashmi Budhram Lucy B. Rorech

LOWER SCHOOL VICE PRESIDENTS Ashley M. Alston Sheila Peluso Benjamin

LOWER SCHOOL MEMBER-AT-LARGE John McCary

LOWER SCHOOL NEW FAMILY LIAISONS Sarah K. Labuda Shirley Leong

LOWER SCHOOL TREASURER Sharon Y. Perkins

LOWER SCHOOL GENERAL SECRETARY

POLYCULTURA CHAIR Kristin A. Smith

Harpreet K. Bhandari

MIDDLE SCHOOL VICE PRESIDENTS Blake W. Foote Annisea Wong

UPPER SCHOOL GENERAL SECRETARY

MIDDLE SCHOOL MEMBER-AT-LARGE

MIDDLE SCHOOL/ UPPER SCHOOL CO-TREASURER

Sabrina L. Bonne-Annee

MIDDLE SCHOOL ADMISSIONS/NEW FAMILY COORDINATOR Jennifer J. Kutsher Rosen

MIDDLE SCHOOL/ UPPER SCHOOL CO-TREASURER Anastacia Prince-Walker

MIDDLE SCHOOL GENERAL SECRETARY Kristin E. Heavey

UPPER SCHOOL VICE PRESIDENTS

Sandra Goldman

PUMPKIN PATCH CO-CHAIRS

UPPER SCHOOL MEMBER-AT-LARGE

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Rachel Geisler

Jennie Kim

Nicole M. Gagnon Leigh B. Taub

Alexandra T. Azara Laura L. Balach

UPPER SCHOOL ADMISSIONS/NEW FAMILY COORDINATOR

MIDDLE SCHOOL/ UPPER SCHOOL PARENT LIAISON Kathleen A. Madden

ALL SCHOOL COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT OFFICER Alyse Dosik

Marion Roaman

FALL 2023 65


PARENTS OF ALUMNI & FRIENDS 2022–2023

T

hank you to the parents of alumni and friends of the school who contributed to Poly Prep this fiscal year.

Anonymous (12) AG Hans Aaltonen and Elizabeth Aaltonen AG Jonathan Aibel AG Heath Aldridge AG Beatriz Alonso Mark Ames and Joanne Clark AG Gaudencio Andrade and Laura Andrade AG Luigi Arlia and Cynthia Arlia AG Lorie Bartley AG Audrius Barzdukas AG James Bates AG The Rev. William Baum and The Rev. Brooke Swertfager AG Anson Beard and Veronica Beard Susan Beiles Mary Berger Harry Bernieri ’85 and Jean Bernieri ’84 AG Bruce Bernstein ’53 and Lita Moses Bernstein Daniel Bernstein and Yana Bernstein AG Burkhard Bilger and Jennifer Nelson AG Russell Boardman and Lynn Boardman AG Jim Boland and Fran Boland AG Carol Bongiorni AG Carolyn Bost Charles Boyce and Marya Dalrymple AG Niles Stewart and Robin Bramwell-Stewart ’86 Lawrence Brandman ’78 and Deborah Brandman AG Welbourne Bronaugh ’61 and Lynda Bronaugh AG Margaret Brown AG Peter Brown and Monica McKain-Brown AG Sylvia Buono AG Rosalind Campbell AG Arthur Cantor and Linda Cantor AG Jerry Capeci and Barbara Capeci Allison Card Tock Chan AG Michael Chirdo and Catherine Chirdo AG Alexander Chudner and Ilona Chudner AG Lola Clarke AG John Commaratto and Louise Commaratto AG Thomas Curley and Rosemarie Curley AG Willis DeLaCour, Jr. and Sally Williams-Allen Kristen Denaver AG Deborah Deshong AG Guy Devyatkin and Natalia Devyatkin AG Alfred DiGrazia and Alison Morea AG Anthony Dimino and Joan Dimino Peggy Doherty AG Lauren Dong Laurence Doty IV and Constance Doty AG Paul Durando and Marie Durando AG John Elwood AG Gary Fall Michael Farkas and Laura Farkas AG Barbara B. Feldman AG Jean Paul Fils-Aime and Jacqueline Celestin Fils-Aime AG John Finley and Jamie Nestor AG Jean Fischer AG 66

Brian Fitzgerald and Erin Patton AG Robert Flahive and Kate Flahive AG Lecia Foster AG Edward Freedgood and Electra Freedgood AG Alan Friedman AG Raymundo Garcia and Rosa Garcia AG Janet Garnjost AG Eustace Greaves, Jr. AG Eric Gural ’86 and Nancy Gural AG Jeffrey Gural and Paula Gural AG Janine Guzzone AG Geoffry Handler Zia Hassan and Jurate Hassan AG Gaye Taylor Hederman Milton Hedglin and Denise Hedglin AG David Heller and Hermine Heller AG Miguel Hernandez and Melinda Hernandez AG David Higham and Toni-Leslie James AG Jennifer Hochglaube Ruby Hopkins Kenenth Horowitz and Theresa McManus-Horowitz AG Betsy Humes AG Stacy Hunter AG Maite Iracheta AG Daniella Jacob Debra John AG Thomas Jones and Sonya Baehr Michael Junsch ’71 and Adrienne Junsch AG Nels Kauppila and Pamela Kauppila AG Paul Kefer and Patricia Sullivan AG Jenny Kim Michelle Knight AG Milan Krainchich and Gina Krainchich AG Charles Kreines ’76 and Rosanne DiFazio AG Abiola Laniyonu AG Adebayo Laniyonu and Abosede Laniyonu AG Yinka Laniyonu AG Steven Lefkowitz and Jacqueline Bausch AG Deirdre Lewis AG Warner Lewis and Christina Porter AG Michael Liburd and Jeanine Liburd ’88 AG Anna Loginova Kristan Louis AG John Lowe and Marissa Alperin AG Scott Luksh and Sofia Haberman AG Stephen Maharam and Camila Pastor Pamela Marcus Florentina Mark AG Daniel Martin and Valerie Martin AG Andrew McGee Donald McHugh and Jean McHugh AG Mark Melamed and Helen Melamed AG Shelley Mendell Richard Merhige ’53 and Jacqueline Merhige AG Lloyd Metz and Cassandra Metz AG Edward Miller and Mary Miller Richard Mizrack ’60 AG Bart Moroney and Sabina Laricchia AG Loren Munk and Kate Munk AG Paul Muoio and Donna Muoio AG John Musco George Nashak James Naughton and Susan Naughton AG Albert Nocella III and Tina Georgoulakos AG

Richard Nolan and Eileen Nolan AG Brian Nowakowski and Natalia Artemyeva AG David Nuzum and Olivia Herman AG Christina Oliver Clarence Olmstead and Kathleen Heenan AG Refael Olya and Teresa Olya AG Pearl Orakwue AG Chester Ostrowski Scott Parson and Lisa Parson AG Allyson Patanella James Pattison and Katherine Pattison AG Todd Phillips Steven Pisano and Lisa Meyer AG Charles Polizano and Dianna Polizano AG Jeffrey Poor and Tatiana Choulika AG Peter Puleo and Lisa Puleo AG Ganesh Rao and Patrick Campbell AG John Razzano and Catherine Razzano AG John Rearick, Jr. and Elizabeth Schnee AG Peter Redell and Lori Redell AG Daniel Ricciardi and Peggy Ricciardi AG Catherine Rocco AG Richard Rodgers and Kathleen Rodgers Hal Rose ’74 and Lisa Rose AG Amy Rosen James Rossman and Eliza Rossman AG Edward Ruck and Diane Ruck AG Hollis Russell Richard Saltzman ’73 and Bette Saltzman AG Michael Schlegel and Cynthia Schlegel Michael Segal AG Robert Shelala ’68 AG James Signorelli and Patricia Smith AG Irwin Simon and Daryl Simon AG Greg Simpson and Elaine Simpson AG Chad Slawner and Hyo Yeon AG Howard Smith, Jr. ’76 and Pamela Smith AG Margaret Smith AG Scott Smith ’75 and Heidi Smith AG Pamela Smyth AG David Spring and Julie Rendelman AG Michael Stelzer and Natalie Stelzer AG Karen Streisfeld-Leitner Alfred Terry III and Leslie Goldfarb Terry AG Geoffrey Troy and Jane Troy AG Dino Veronese AG Vincent Vigorita ’68 and Patricia Vigorita AG Kristen Volkland Dawn-Marie Walker AG Thomas Walker III and Danielle Walker AG James Wallick and Catherine Wallick AG Cormac Walsh and Janine Walsh AG Henriette Warren Paul Weinstein and Michal Hershkovitz AG Carol Weymuller AG Maxwell Wiley and Ellen Rosenthal AG Vonda Willoughby AG Christina Yan Shao Wah Yiu and Yi Yun Yiu AG Heidi Zarou ’86 AG Lorenz Zimmerman, Jr. and Anne Zimmerman AG Brian Zipp and Martha Zipp AG

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


FACULTY & STAFF DONORS 2022–2023

T

hank you to the Poly faculty and staff who contributed financially to support Poly Prep this fiscal year.

Anonymous (7) AG Eman Abbas AG Hekmat Abdelrahim AG Victoria Abdulahad AG Richard Alberino AG Angel Alvarado AG Gaudencio Andrade AG Christopher Andrade ’12 AG Jason Augustine AG Konstantin Avdeev AG Audrius Barzdukas AG Sarah Bates AG Renae Beauchman AG Susan Beiles Jean Belford AG Lisa Beltramello AG Harry Bernieri ’85 AG Adam Bisceglia AG Caitlin Bliss AG Lauren Bonaventura AG Salvatore Bonaventura AG Sarah Bond AG Carol Bongiorni AG Monique Boston AG Faith Brown AG Linda Busetti AG Laura Caldwell AG Dustin Carr AG Alex Carter AG Kym Carter AG Lynda Casarella AG Ilona Chudner AG Julio Colon AG Peggy P. Cook AG Andrew Cooper-Leary AG Laura Coppola ’95 AG Richard Corso AG Timothy Crumpton AG David Cruz AG Zoi Cuko AG Kimberly Davis Rivizzigno AG Andrea Del Valle AG André Del Valle, Jr. AG Helen Delamarter AG Kristen Denaver AG Lawrence Dessi AG Maria DiCarlo AG Virginia Dillon AG Daniel Doughty AG Carrie Dowell AG Matthew Durando ’96 AG David Edwards AG Sarah Ely AG Ira Feldman AG Alexandra Fisher AG Edward Fitzgerald AG

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Charles Fleming AG Denise Fraifeld AG Haden Francis AG Jase Franklyn AG Erika Freeman AG Matthew Futterman AG Rosa Garcia AG Emily Gardiner Herzog AG Michael Gentile AG Kyle Graham AG Laura Grimm AG Ashley Hacker AG Aferdita Hakaj AG Kenneth Hamilton, Jr. AG Michal Hershkovitz AG David Higham AG Erin Hughes AG Stacy Hunter AG Jack Hyman AG Maite Iracheta AG Rosemarie Izzo AG Richard James AG Michael Junsch ’71 AG Angelica Kashman AG Majid Khan AG Ellen Kinnane AG Mary Klonis AG Ladislav Kravar AG Opeyemi Laniyonu AG Sabina Laricchia AG Carmelo Larose AG Ramesh Laungani AG Tamara Ling AG Shihan Liu AG Kristen Lizzi AG Caitlin Loi AG Melinda Lvovsky Elisabeth Mansfield AG Lee Marcus AG Andrew Marinos AG John McGee AG William McNally AG Perri Meeks AG James Megahan AG Jennifer Minskoff AG Christian Morehouse AG Juliet Moretti AG Bart Moroney AG Cliff Morrison AG Sean Mullin AG Donna Muoio AG Jennifer Nelson AG Richard Nolan AG Rachel Olinyk AG Jose Oliveras AG Jason Parrish AG Jenna Peet AG Marissa Pennington AG Rosemarie Pico AG Charles Polizano AG Dianna Polizano AG Iman Powe-Maynard AG Emily Prior AG

Lisa Puleo AG Carolyn Quigley AG Yusimir Ramirez AG John Rankin AG John Rearick, Jr. AG Lori Redell AG Mary Rice AG LaTasha Richards AG Karen Richardson AG Kristen Robb AG Michael Robinson AG William Rosario AG Amanda Rose AG Matthew Roventini ’92 AG Gabriel Rubinson AG Vincent Rutuelo AG Matthew Sagotsky AG Epiphania Santana AG Jason Savarese AG Clare Seidel AG Timothy Shea AG Jennifer Slomack AG Patricia Smith AG Rebekah Sollitto AG Elizabeth Soto AG Peter Soto ’01 AG Matthew Stelluto AG Derrick Studwood AG Jillianne Tejani AG Patricia Tycenski AG Debbie Van Ryn AG Helena Vislocka AG Xerxes Vizcaino AG Francesca Walker AG Keith Wiggs AG Terra Windham AG Devon Winfield AG Jared Winston AG Jillian Wojcik AG Douglas Wong AG Francis Yasharian AG Heidi Zarou ’86 AG

Eileen Reilly AG Margo Rivera Power ’01 AG Johanna Rodriguez ’00 AG Edward Ruck AG Molly Ryan AG Nikole Smith AG Stefanus Van De Gevel AG Sarah Zuercher AG

FORMER FACULTY

Courtney Archer-Buckmire ’98 AG Sonya Baehr Sylvia Buono AG Deborah Cavalcante AG Danielle Cochran AG Mary Cole AG Louise Commaratto AG Marie Corkhill AG Thomas Cutler AG Barbara Delmhorst AG Guy Devyatkin AG Kate Flahive AG Khari Freeman AG Mckenzie Jones AG Thomas Jones Vincent Margiotta AG Jamie Nestor AG Paul Raso AG

FALL 2023 67


IN HONOR OF, IN MEMORY OF 2022–2023

IN HONOR OF In Honor of Fuad Arnouk ’02 Christian Zaino ’02 In Honor of Audrius Barzdukas James Pattison and Katherine Pattison In Honor of Sarah E. Bates James Bates In Honor of Susan D. Beiles Alfred Terry III and Leslie Goldfarb Terry In Honor of Lisa Beltramello Ivan Schwarz and Katia Schwarz In Honor of Lori-Anne S. Brogdon ’95 Courtney Archer-Buckmire ’98 In Honor of Sylvia L. Buono Robert Sabbagh ’87 and Dorotea Sabbagh In Honor of Zoë L. Campbell ’25 Fern Berenberg In Honor of David K. Chan Alexander Lyubarov and Susanna Chan In Honor of Jonathan Chan ’05 Tock Chan In Honor of Frances M. Chudner ’11 Alexander Chudner and Ilona Chudner In Honor of Class of 2003 Catherine Rocco In Honor of Peggy P. Cook James Pattison and Katherine Pattison In Honor of Christine Ayanna Croasdaile ’13 Lola Clarke In Honor of Margaret H. DeLamarter The Pankov Family In Honor of Aminata A. Diagne ’30 Ibrahima Diagne and Anie Camille In Honor of Daniel Doughty Donna Muoio and Paul Muoio In Honor of Rose A. Filippazzo ’27 Stefano Filippazzo and Camille Fortunato In Honor of Erika L. Freeman Courtney Archer-Buckmire ’98 In Honor of William V. Gillen ’55 David Youngblade ’55 In Honor of Hannah S. Gross ’23 Susan Solomon In Honor of Madeline A. Gross ’26 Susan Solomon In Honor of Erin Hughes Carolyn Castellano Janine Guzzone In Honor of Felix J. Hydal ’37 Michelle Knight In Honor of Opeyemi Laniyonu James Pattison and Katherine Pattison

In Honor of Phileep A. Nowakowski ’28 Brian Nowakowski and Natalia Artemyeva

In Memory of Dudley D. Campbell ’42 Rosalind Campbell

In Honor of Harry J. Petchesky ’55 John Sands ’58

In Memory of Barry Chiteman ’56 Robert Chiteman ’61

In Honor of Connor A. Pisano ’14 Steven Pisano and Lisa Meyer

In Memory of Anthony L. Davidson ’62 Stephen Green ’62

In Honor of Jack B. Potter ’32 Diane Leyden and Brian Leyden

In Memory of Kirk K. Deligiannis ’03 Maria Marinakis Deligiannis ’03

In Honor of Max C. Prutsalis ’23 Mark Prutsalis and Maria D’Albert

In Memory of Joseph Della Pietra ’95 James Hennessy, Jr. ’67

In Honor of Julianna E. Puleo ’15 Peter Puleo and Lisa Puleo

In Memory of Vincenzo DiNatale Gaetano DiNatale and Tatyana Nazarova

In Honor of Peter N. Puleo ’13 Peter Puleo and Lisa Puleo

In Memory of Kevin Doherty Peggy Doherty

In Honor of Daniel Ricciardi ’04 Daniel Ricciardi and Peggy Ricciardi

In Memory of Liane Dougherty Michael Chirdo and Catherine Chirdo Naughton Family Monique Wilson ’05

In Honor of Jennifer Rice ’92 William Rice, Jr. In Honor of John J. Rocco Thomas Clark ’14 In Honor of Maureen A. Sapega Courtney Archer-Buckmire ’98 In Honor of Lena H. Shamos ’25 Jytte Winslow-Mandle In Honor of Lester H. Shamos ’27 Jytte Winslow-Mandle In Honor of Irwin D. Simon Peter Genatt and Tasha Genatt P’21, ’24 In Honor of Jack O. Slawner ’21 Chad Slawner and Hyo Yeon In Honor of Patricia E. Smith David Nuzum and Olivia Herman In Honor of Charles C. Sollitto ’32 Anthony Sollitto and Dolores Sollitto In Honor of Rosalie E. Sollitto ’29 Anthony Sollitto and Dolores Sollitto In Honor of Max H. Stein ’29 Jane Selzer In Honor of Veterans from alumni student Deanna Fuentes In Honor of Daniel J. Walker ’25 Gregg Walker In Honor of Sophia J. Wallick ’20 James Wallick and Catherine Wallick In Honor of Chloe R. Yaffe ’24 Kenneth Yaffe and Susan Hitzig In Honor of Noah C. Yaffe ’24 Kenneth Yaffe and Susan Hitzig

IN MEMORY OF In Memory of Howard J. Aibel ’46 Jonathan Aibel

In Honor of Drew A. Lewis ’14 Deirdre Lewis

In Memory of H Haughton Bell David Bell ’51

In Honor of Mr. Morrison Elliott Rebhun ’75

In Memory of Timothy W. Boardman ’04 Russell Boardman and Lynn Boardman

In Honor of Jennifer E. Nelson David Nuzum and Olivia Herman

In Memory of Harry Burstein Carolyn Razzano ’99

68

In Memory of Annette M. Exline Frank Exline, Jr. ’52 In Memory of Annette Exline Peter Love ’63 In Memory of Gilbert H. Feldman ’42 Barbara B. Feldman Barry Feldman ’58 Edward Feldman ’83 Keith Fisher ’71 In Memory of Elijah Feurtado Lourdes Smith In Memory of Dieudonne Fils-Aime Jean Paul Fils-Aime and Jacqueline Celestin Fils-Aime In Memory of Sylvia and Nathan Fleisig Stewart Fleisig ’69 In Memory of Arnold G. Fraiman ’43 Robert Fraiman ’47 In Memory of Melvin L. Fraiman ’42 Robert Fraiman ’47 In Memory of Terence Gazzani ’95 Jerry Capeci and Barbara Capeci Richard Rodgers and Kathleen Rodgers In Memory of Christopher Grady ’80 Milton Hedglin and Denise Hedglin In Memory of Grant H. Greeley Alexander Greeley ’04 In Memory of Ralph J. Herreros Jennifer Baker ’86 In Memory of Jett Higham David Higham and Toni-Leslie James In Memory of Gilbert Katz Seligman In Memory of Andrew Libo ’75 Peter Blum ’75 In Memory of Richard M. Louis ’51 Kristan Louis In Memory of Freeman D. Love 1933 Francis Love ’61 Peter Love ’63 In Memory of Katherine Lowe Lopez Frank Lopez THE BLUE & THE GRAY


IN MEMORY OF 2022–2023

In Memory of Antonio L. Magliocco ’70 Robert Shack ’62 James Stirn ’70 In Memory of Hughia C. Magnus Jason Magnus and Rabiya Akhtar In Memory of Richard Marlin ’51 Alan Friedman Geoffry Handler Daniella Jacob Pamela Marcus Andrew McGee Shelley Mendell Samuel R. Morrill Chester Ostrowski Amy Rosen Hollis Russell Karen Streisfeld-Leitner In Memory of Ann McNeil Donald McHugh and Jean McHugh In Memory of Irving, Nellie, and Barry Chiteman Robert Chiteman ’61 In Memory of Joseph S. Owen ’70 Robert Arcaro ’70 In Memory of Brian J. Pariente ’00 Arthur Cantor and Linda Cantor Joseph Seggio ’00

POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

In Memory of Harlow A. Parker Michael Krinsky ’63 In Memory of Jean Roach Eustace Greaves, Jr. In Memory of Dennis Roventini Christopher Zam and Gabrielle Roventini In Memory of Lionel Saporta William Karp ’69 In Memory of Harvey E. Scheff ’57 George Malin ’57 In Memory of David Smith ’73 Margaret Smith In Memory of Joyce Smith Margaret Smith Peter Smith ’76 In Memory of John T. Vigorita Skip Vigorita ’68 In Memory of Francis E. Walton Peter Love ’63 In Memory of John J. Walton 1858 Peter Love ’63 In Memory of Brennan Wickramaratne Harsh Agarwal and Kathryn Jaxheimer Robert Bollman and Meredith Bollman Carolyn Bost Diana Breen and Michael Ritter

Allison Card Alex Carter and Dayna Carter Lauren Dong David Flumenbaum and Anna Dubenko Ruby Hopkins Josh Ho-Walker and Lillian Goldenthal Erin Hughes Eric Jaxheimer and Marty Jaxheimer Paul Joseph and Brandi Shipp Jenny Kim John Kupiec and Julia Pinover Kupiec Max Mauro and Allison Katz Edward Miller and Mary Miller Darren Moore and Uma Mantravadi Ackneil Muldrow III and Dana Muldrow John Musco George Nashak Christina Oliver Brooks Perlin and Marion Leydier James Ryan III and Lauren Sands Conor Sheridan and Cristin Frodella Ben Sykes and Christine Han Gaye Taylor Hederman Peter Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor Paul Weinstein and Michal Hershkovitz Vajira Wickramaratne Bryan Wisk and Mariana Wisk

FALL 2023 69


DONORS TO ENDOWMENT, SPECIAL FUNDS, AND POLY LEGACY 2022–2023

ENDOWMENT FUNDS

Alumni Scholarship Fund David Bell ’51 Harrison Bush ’65 Geoffry Handler Daniella Jacob Pamela Marcus Andrew McGee Shelley Mendell Chester Ostrowski Amy Rosen Hollis Russell Richard Saltzman ’73 and Bette Saltzman Karen Streisfeld-Leitner Anthony L. Davidson MD ’62 Memorial Fund Stephen Green ’62 Class of ’53 Scholar Fund Mark Abramowitz ’53 and Joan Abramowitz Arthur Bellinzoni, Jr. ’53 Bruce Bernstein ’53 and Lita Moses Bernstein Richard Fearon ’53 Michael Glick ’53 Peter Liebert ’53 and Mary Ann Liebert DeLaCour Family Scholar Willis DeLaCour, Jr. and Sally Williams-Allen Dirk DeLaCour ’88 Russell DeLaCour ’90 Sophie DeLaCour ’97 Endowment General Unrestricted JP Rorech and Lucy Rorech General Faculty Endowment Anonymous George Medley Scholarship Fund Harry Petchesky ’55 and Jill Petchesky David Youngblade ’55 Gillen/Youngblade Distance Running Scholarship David Youngblade ’55 September 11th Scholar Fund Jerry Capeci and Barbara Capeci Richard Rodgers and Kathleen Rodgers Reardon Family Scholar Fund Reardon Family Foundation Financial Aid Anonymous Charles Birenbaum ’75 and Janet Birenbaum

70

DONORS ADVISED FUNDS, MATCHING GIFTS & FOUNDATIONS Anonymous Adams Street Partners AIG Matching Grants Program American Century Investments Foundation American Endowment Foundation American Express Foundation Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Bank of America Charitable Foundation Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund Barclays Educational Bay Ridge Auto Group BlackRock Brooklyn Community Foundation Chubb Charitable Foundation - Bermuda COA Foundation DeLaCour Family Foundation Deloitte Consulting Dorsey & Whitney Foundation Estee Lauder Matching Gift Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund First Eagle Investments Foundation Goldman Sachs Gives Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund Goldman, Sachs & Co. Matching Gift Program Google Inc. Jewish Community Foundation Jewish Communal Fund Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia JP Morgan Charitable Giving Fund Mizuho Moody’s Foundation Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, Inc. National Philanthropic Trust New York Life Foundation Paluszek Family Foundation Paul Weiss Pfizer Inc. Reardon Family Foundation Renaissance Charitable Foundation Robert Wood Johnson Foundation S&P Global Ratings Services Sandi Feinberg and Tara Lipton Family Foundation, Inc Schwab Charitable Segal Family - United World Foundation Simons Foundation State Street Foundation Thalheimer-Eurich Charitable Fund, Inc. The Ames Family Foundation The Benevity Community Impact Fund The Ford Foundation The Giving Block The Glenmede Trust Company The Goergen Foundation, Inc.

The Howard and Katherine Aibel Foundation, Inc. The New York Community Trust The Options Clearing Corporation The Puder Foundation The U.S. Charitable Gift Trust The Walt Disney Company Foundation UBS Financial Services, Inc. Vanguard Charitable Viacom Media Networks Walter and Clitheroe Engel Charitable Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation YourCause, LLC Zubatkin Owner Representation, LLC

ESTATE GIFTS

Estate of Martin H. Renken, Jr. ’39

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


T

he Joseph Dana Allen Society honors supporters of Poly Prep who have made a provision for the school in their estate or other gift plans.

Courtney Archer-Buckmire ’98 Susan Beiles Arthur Bellinzoni, Jr. ’53 Bruce Bernstein ’53 Anthony Besthoff ’52 Michael David ’66 Richard Debs ’48 William Drucker ’58 Ira Feldman ’75 Dennis Fox ’56 Peter Fyfe ’47 Michael Gold ’55 Richard Greenberg ’49 Joseph Hanson ’68 Hugh Hermann ’46 Donald Higgins ’52 Owen Hoberman ’54 Michael Jacobs ’68 David Kramer ’49 Michael Lamm ’51 Arthur Levitt, Jr. ’48 Peter Liebert ’53 John Madden, Jr. ’72 Peter Malkin ’51 Richard Merhige ’53 Marc Miller ’75 Richard Mizrack ’60 Paul Muoio and Donna Muoio Mallard Owen ’72 Harry Petchesky ’55 Elliott Rebhun ’75 Peter Redell and Lori Redell Aamir Rehman ’95 Eric Ruby ’64 William Schiazza ’82 Marvin Sears ’45 Harlan Stone II ’53 Louis Vigorita ’65 Fred Werner ’54

YOUR LEGACY. YOUR WAY. Planned Giving is simpler than you think, especially at Poly Prep. If your goal is to conserve your estate, create life income, or reduce future tax liabilities for heirs, it’s time to consider the Joseph Dana Allen Society.

Named in honor of Poly’s longest-serving head of school, the JDA Society recognizes donors who have named the school as a beneficiary in their will, insurance policy, or retirement account. Charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and the donation of non-cash assets are also practical options for alumni and friends. Working with your financial planner, we can structure a legacy gift that will memorialize the values most important to you, maximize your philanthropic giving, and make a smart plan for the future. If you’ve already included Poly Prep in a bequest or other planned gift, please let us know so we can express our gratitude and recognize you for your generosity as a member of the JDA Society. We’re happy to help you get started on a legacy gift to Poly Prep. Go to polyprep.mylegacygift.org or contact: Peggy Cook Chief Advancement Officer pcook@polyprep.org (347) 394-1169 Donna Muoio P’13 ’17 Director of Alumni Relations dmuoio@polyprep.org (718) 663-6031 Keith Wiggs Director of Advancement kwiggs@polyprep.org (347) 394-1164

polyprep.mylegacygift.org


ANNUAL GIVING VOLUNTEERS, PARTY BOOK, AND ART FOR ARTS CELEBRATION 2022–2023

P

oly’s Annual Giving Volunteers serve as ambassadors to the greater Poly community and work throughout the school year to help secure vital financial support for our school. The continued success of Annual Giving can be greatly credited to the dedication and determined efforts of our volunteers. The Office of Advancement extends their deepest appreciation to everyone involved in making our work both rewarding for us and a success for the school. Gifty Colasante Michael A. Correra ’87 Lillian Goldenthal Jamie Harris Joshua Ho-Walker Lauren Leyden Dana F. Muldrow Brian C. Nowakowski Antony E. Pfaffle ’81 Christina E. Rice

Year five of Party Book offered exciting opportunities for families to gather with old and new friends alike. Highlights included: A Chinese New Year Dumpling Party; Pickleball at Court 16; An Evening of Acoustic Music and Mezcal; Thierry Mugler Private Tour at the Brooklyn Museum; Brooklyn Nets vs. Orlando Magic Game; A Very Special Night at Lilia; DUMBO Art Walk and Cocktails; A Pottery Class at BKLYN CLAY; Dining and Mezcal Tasting Evening, Catacombs Moonlight Tour, Cocktails, and Magic!; Tennis with Coach Jeff; Cocktails and Fun in Tribeca; Kickball and Cocktails; KC BBQ Extravaganza; Workout with Coach James; and a Hort Family Collection Tour and Dinner Under the Stars. Our success this year proved how happy the community was to participate in Party Book and come together in person while celebrating our diversity and all that Brooklyn and NYC have to offer. Our sincere thanks to the hosts, attendees, faculty, and all the supporters of Party Book for making it happen once again!

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CO-CHAIRS

Lauren K. Smetana Stephanie Taendler

PARTY BOOK HOSTS

Cameron Arrington and Indhira Arrington Burkhard Bilger and Jennifer Nelson David Chitayat and Xhingyu Chen Matthew Cohen and Julie Cohen Peter Cohen and Ellen Cohen Joshua Coleman and Carey Macaleer Alan Dosik and Alyse Dosik Joshua Dubin and Gillian Dubin Roberto Falck Photography Eric Frank and Lisa Frank Libardo Gerardino and Fatima Galarraga Erik Geisler and Rachel Geisler Bryan Harris and Desiree Harris Andy Hort and Penelope Hort Jamie Hort Thomas Iannelli ’82 and Barbara Iannelli ’85 Ben Igoe and Heidi Igoe Richard James and Nakia Serrant-James Daniel Kim and Shihan Liu Sheri Kirshenbaum and Benjamin Pfeifer Daniel Korich and Vivian Korich Andre Kursancew and Dalit Paradis Jeffrey Lewis and Lisa Fields Michael Lippert and Sarah Pearsall Sean Livingston and Elizabeth Livingston James McGovern and Susan Shamoto Ackneil Muldrow III and Dana Muldrow Gregory Pessin and Jaime Pessin Benjamin Pfeifer and Sheri Kirshenbaum Myshkin Retman and Jyothi Rao Leland Richards, Jr. and LaTasha Richards Lucas Rosen and Jennifer Kutsher Rosen Joshua Rosenberg and Karine Rosenberg Michael Saivetz and Amy Saivetz David Scenna and Krista Scenna Ryan Schafer and Hadley Schafer Jeremy Shamos and Nina Hellman Christopher Taendler and Stephanie Taendler David Taub and Leigh Taub Jerome Thomas and Cindy Brea Andrew Waldman and Kathleen Madden Jennifer Waverek James Weiss and Ashley Cotton Bradd Williamson and Amerika Williamson John Zaremba ’95 and Nancy Zaremba

A special thank you to our incredible Art for Arts Benefit committee of volunteers.

LEADERSHIP

Charles Diker ’52 and Valerie Diker, Honorary Chairs Richard Perry ’60, Honorary Chair

BENEFIT COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS Ashley M. Alston Audrius Barzdukas Harpreet K. Bhandari Michael A. Correra ’87 Bethany D’Meza Anita de Castro Foden Andrew Foote and Blake Foote Gwendolyn Frempong-Boadu Rachel Geisler Nicole L. Goldberg Jamie Harris Jamie C. Hort Michael Liburd and Jeanine Liburd ’88 Francesca Garso Lisk ’95 Kathleen A. Madden Janée Markowicz Sarah L. Pearsall Tina S. Petridis-Gerling Lee Quiñones and Tamara Warren Lauren Sands Krista N. Scenna Akili Tommasino ’05 Chistopher Totaro and Telma Garcia Katie Vigdorchik Stellene Volandes ’89 Elizabeth R. Wiatt Nick M. Yarmac

ARTIST COMMITTEE

Elizabeth Bennett and Chaelon Costello Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn Laura Coppola ’95, Charles and Valerie Diker Chair of Visual Arts Daniel Doughty Dan Fogler ’94 Ashley Hacker Daniel Herwitt David Higham Leah Horowitz ’97 Douglas Jabara ’84 Yonghwi Kim David Lindsay-Abaire and Christine Lindsay-Abaire Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez Michael Robinson Paul Rudd and Julie Rudd Adina Scherer Jeremy Shamos and Nina Hellman

SPONSORS

Adam Ames and Elissa Levy Craig Anderson and Eliza Anderson Raoul Bhavnani and Savitha Bhavnani Joshua Dubin and Gillian Dubin John Foley and Jill Foley Andrew Foote and Blake Foote Michael Glassman and Jennifer Glassman Ariella Golomb and Tal Golomb Charles Jigarjian and Michi Jigarjian Pierre Lampert and Frederique Lampert Michael Liburd and Jeanine Liburd ’88 Michael Lippert and Sarah Pearsall Christopher Mansfield and Sang Lee John McPheters and Minya Oh Ackneil Muldrow III and Dana Muldrow Tina Petridis-Gerling

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


ART FOR ARTS CELEBRATION 2022–2023

Kareem Raymond and Tene Raymond David Rosenblatt and Laurie Rosenblatt James Ryan III and Lauren Sands Jeremy Shamos and Nina Hellman James Sinclair and Larkyn Sinclair Lu-Shawn Thompson Stellene Volandes ’89 Andrew Waldman and Kathleen Madden Amerika Williamson and Bradd Williamson Jacek Wojtowicz and Jennifer Powers

PADDLE RAISE & DONATIONS

Adam Ames and Elissa Levy Craig Anderson and Eliza Anderson Charles Barbiere and Rosalie Castano-Barbiere Audrius Barzdukas Susan Beiles Alexander Benjamin and Sheila Peluso Benjamin Kevin Brandmeyer and Susie Brandmeyer Arjune Budhram and Rashmi Budhram Charles Cook and Peggy P. Cook Michael Correra ’87 Joshua Dubin and Gillian Dubin Sandi Feinberg and Tara Lipton Fernando Ferre and Dana Ferre John Foley and Jill Foley Andrew Foote and Blake Foote Demetrios Gabriel II and Kalitsa Gabriel Erik Geisler and Rachel Geisler Michael Glassman and Jennifer Glassman Tal Golomb and Ariella Golomb Bryan Harris and Desiree Harris Tim Hill and Jenny Hill Douglas Jaffe and Kristin Heavey Charles Jigarjian and Michi Jigarjian John Kolz and Amy Kolz Pierre Lampert and Frederique Lampert Michael Liburd and Jeanine Liburd ’88 Brian Ling and Annisea Wong Michael Lippert and Sarah Pearsall Boris Lvovsky and Melinda Lvovsky Joshua Mangerson and Sarah Mangerson Andrew McDonald and Sarah Zuercher Steve Mierisch and Anita Foden Ackneil Muldrow III and Dana Muldrow Melissa Neulander Constantine Nikitiades and Sophia Nikitiades ’95 Allyson Patanella Otis Pearsall ’49 Craig Perkins and Sharon Perkins Gregory Pessin and Jaime Pessin Tina Petridis-Gerling Ambiorix Pimentel and Yahaira Rodriguez Daniel Pine and Lindsey Acree Lawrence Playford, Jr. and Ellen Playford Barrie Ringelheim and Stephen Durso Hadley Schafer and Ryan Schafer Andrew Schilling and Margaret Schilling David Schoenberger and Stacy Fischer Timothy Shey and Rachel Garcia Bill Thanopoulos and Anastasia Thanopoulos Stellene Volandes ’89 Andrew Waldman and Kathleen Madden Amerika Williamson and Bradd Williamson Jacek Wojtowicz and Jennifer Powers POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

IN KIND

Noah Aberlin ’00 Fanny Allie Maxine Armstrong Charles Barbiere and Rosalie Castano-Barbiere Anson Beard and Veronica Beard Alexander Benjamin and Sheila Peluso Benjamin Naval Bhandari and Harpreet Bhandari Runa Bhandari ’27 Sean Casey and Emelie Kihlstrom Johan Chung and Marie Suter Constellation Brands Michael Correra ’87 Olivier D’Meza and Bethany D’Meza Yatish Dangayach and Sweta Dangayach J. Stratford Dennis and Ashley Alston Charles Diker ’52 and Valerie Diker Dimino Bus Service of New York Jonathan Dorman and Merrill Dorman Scott Ellis Fernando Ferre and Dana Ferre Andrew Foote and Blake Foote Gagosian Gallery Paul Gerben Gideon Gil and Debra Perelman Bethany Gilmore Neil Glaser and Richie Lin Glossier Charles Goldschmid and Melissa Goldschmid Tal Golomb and Ariella Golomb Alex Greenbaum and Rose Greenbaum Kenzo Hakuta and Kristen Hakuta Ronald Hall James Harris and Rachel Fishman Aristotle Hatzigeorgiou and Anahid Hatzigeorgiou Josh Ho-Walker and Lillian Goldenthal Douglas Jaffe and Kristin Heavey Tesvara Jiang ’23 Brendan Kehoe and Helen Chen Zoe Kim ’27 Brianna Kwan ’23 Michael Liburd and Jeanine Liburd ’88 Michael Lippert and Sarah Pearsall Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez Lower School HUGS B&L Lower School Visual Arts Faculty Jodie Lyn-Kee-Chow Steve Mierisch and Anita Foden Scott Milstein and Rakhel Milstein Damian Minervini and Joanna Dubin P’26 Mizuho Securities Michael Neamonitakis and Meropi Neamonitakis Allyson Patanella Paul Taylor Dance Company Otis Pearsall Lindsey Peers Craig Perkins and Sharon Perkins Gregory Pessin and Jaime Pessin Tina Petridis-Gerling Daniel Pine and Lindsey Acree Pollack and Ford Family Lee Quiñones and Tamara Warren Rachel Reid Revlon Consumer Products Corporation Paul Rudd and Julie Rudd James Ryan III and Lauren Sands

The Sands Family Foundation, Inc. David Scenna and Krista Scenna Hadley Schafer and Ryan Schafer Andrew Schilling and Margaret Schilling Darren Schluter and Rachel Schluter John Robert Seery Jeremy Selman and Katerina Bernstein ’95 Simone Shubuck and Adam Rapoport Irwin Simon and Daryl Simon Michael Sylvan Robinson Lauren Tafuri ’98 THE WILD HORSES OF SABLE ISLAND® Gallery Roberto Dutesco® James Thompson and Stephanie Unwin Lu-Shawn Thompson Akili Tommasino ’05 Chistopher Totaro and Telma Garcia Stellene Volandes ’89 Matthew Warwick and Lauren Tese Warwick Bradd Williamson and Amerika Williamson

AUCTION WINNERS

Harsh Agarwal and Kathryn Jaxheimer Stella Angelakos ’88 Charles Cook and Peggy P. Cook Olivier De Moor and Evelyn Balassiano J. Stratford Dennis and Ashley Alston Joseph Farris II and Julie Farris Sandi Feinberg Lewis Flinn III and Douglas Beane John Foley and Jill Foley Andrew Foote and Blake Foote Erik Geisler and Rachel Geisler Jennifer Hochglaube Jason Howell and Daniela Vitale-Howell Timothy Howell and Elizabeth Howell Andrew Hughes and Sarah Hughes Earl Hunt II and Kristina Hunt Douglas Jaffe and Kristin Heavey Charles Jigarjian and Michi Jigarjian Andre Kursancew and Dalit Paradis Edmund Lefevre Tara Lipton Ji Cheng Lu and Xiao Yu Lin-Lu John Mann and Elizabeth Tuttle Joseph McCusker and Frances McCusker John McPheters and Minya Oh Scott Milstein and Rakhel Milstein Matthew Nemeth and Tricia Kissinger Craig Perkins and Sharon Perkins Jackson Phillips, Jr. and Cristine Phillips Kareem Raymond and Tene Raymond Jeremy Rosenberg and Cristina Rosenberg Jeremy Shamos and Nina Hellman Russell Smith and Maria Guedes Smith Chistopher Totaro and Telma Garcia Andrew Udin and Shira Udin Mark Van Zandt and Lindsay Van Zandt Jennifer Velazquez Henriette Warren Anthony Williams and Chrystal Williams Jacek Wojtowicz and Jennifer Powers Nick Yarmac and JP McCary

FALL 2023 73


ALUMNI VOLUNTEERS 2022–2023

W

e are truly grateful for our alumni volunteers who engage and connect fellow alumni with Poly. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS Qadir Forbes ’11 President

Jared Hedglin ’09 Vice President Ayisha McHugh Nelson ’12 Secretary Eileen Ahasic ’01 Alexandra Azara ’00 William Basso ’89 Kate Bernstein ’95 Jacqueline Chirdo ’13 Cristina Cote ’05 Matthew Durando ’96 Akil Foster ’20 Adam Garson ’05 Jonathan Krasner ’95 Lauren Lattinelli ’97 Alexandra Nava-Baltimore ’20 Justin Pagan ’98 Christopher Patacsil ’12 Hal Rose ’74 Matthew Roventini ’92 Anthony Sgarlato ’74 Peter Soto ’01 Keyonte Sutherland ’03 Akili Tommasino ’05 Todd Vitolo ’92

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ALUMNI VOLUNTEERS Peter Fyfe ’47 George Smyth, Jr. ’48 Malcolm Bell ’49 Peter Malkin ’51 Bruce Bernstein ’53 Richard Merhige ’53 Harlan Stone II ’53 Harry Petchesky ’55 Peter G. Stone ’55 Edward Fuller II ’56 George Marks ’56 George Malin ’57 Joseph Giardina ’58 Mark Groothuis ’58 Marvin Lerman ’58 Arthur Rebell ’58 Ron Wilson, Jr. ’59 Paul Feinstein ’61 Stephen Pearlman ’61 Robert Aberlin ’62 Robert Shack ’62 Douglas Crawford ’63 Eric Ruby ’64 Andrew Salzman ’64 John Artise ’65 Louis Vigorita ’65 Mitchell Bernstein ’66 Stephen Ellman ’67 Harry Ottaway, Jr. ’68 Peter Sessa ’68 Robert Shelala ’68 Ira Turret ’68 Vincent Vigorita ’68 Salvatore Cumella ’69 Lawrence DiGiovanna ’69 Robert Arcaro ’70 John Ferrari ’70 Michael Junsch ’71 Vincent Pantuso, Jr. ’71 M. Robert Gumer ’72 Douglas Miller ’72 George Brown ’73 Kevin Kelly ’73 James Oussani, Jr. ’73 John Gallo ’74 Hal Rose ’74 Steven Froot ’75 Elliott Rebhun ’75 Kenneth Dashow ’76 Charles Kreines ’76 Frank Sinatra ’76 Henry Camuso ’77 Lawrence Brandman ’78 Nicholas Gravante, Jr. ’78 Peter Latson ’78 Joseph Ferrara, Jr. ’79 Antony Pfaffle ’81 Martin Valk ’81 Michael Solomon ’82 Peter Sperry ’82 Edward Antonio III ’83 Robyn Bayne ’83 Karen Schaepe ’83 Amy Schlansky ’83

Jeanne Cloppse ’84 Gary Hanna ’84 Douglas Jabara ’84 Arnold Mascali ’84 Derrick Ades ’85 Arthur Aidala ’85 Christopher Della Pietra ’85 Eric Gural ’86 Laura Torrado-Malley ’86 Andrew Brandman ’87 Michael Correra ’87 Catherine Curley Lee ’87 Jamal Hayden ’87 Stella Angelakos ’88 Erika Farrell ’88 William Basso ’89 Marco Mancuso ’89 Stella Moniaros ’89 Stellene Volandes ’89 Raquel Manning ’90 Timothy Harkins ’91 Philip Kelly ’91 Corey Modeste ’92 Richard Naddeo ’92 Matthew Roventini ’92 Nicole Bonica ’93 Kris Harner ’93 Lauren Kelly ’93 James Loonam ’93 Christian Rutherford ’93 Christine Szabo ’93 Jaime Blanc ’94 Lori-Anne Brogdon ’95 Kristerfor Mastronardi ’95 Aamir Rehman ’95 Wade Saadi, Jr. ’95 Anitra Haskopoulos ’96 Shruti Ramesh ’97 Adam Dumey ’98 Richard Greene III ’98 Justin Pagan ’98 Shavonne Pegues-Gibson ’98 Marilyn Wilson ’98 Matthew Cronin ’99 Danielle Hatzipetros ’99 Carolyn Razzano ’99 Alexandra Azara ’00 Raymund Lansigan ’00 Johanna Rodriguez ’00 Joseph Tringali ’00 Eileen Ahasic ’01 Margo Rivera Power ’01 Victoria Perrotta Keller ’02 Christian Zaino ’02 Matthew Dresher ’03 Nicholas Elefterakis ’03 Robert Francis ’03 David Herbert ’03 John Polignone ’03 Joann Rizzo ’03 Susan Sapega Randall ’03 Leigh Taublib-Kiriat ’03 Dina Atallah ’04 Dominique Sharpton ’04 Cristina Cote ’05

Francis Florio ’05 Adam Garson ’05 Juliette Pannone ’05 Loretta Cacace ’06 Kaitlin Donohue ’06 Kathleen Boardman ’07 Thana-Ashley Charles ’07 Candice Clark ’07 Alfred Miller ’07 Elijah Frazier ’08 Matthew Harnisch ’08 Courtney Nolan ’08 Daniel Lempert ’09 Anne Levine ’09 Shannon Cohall ’10 Emily Hochman ’10 Terrence Hyland ’10 Olivia Kalban ’10 Qadir Forbes ’11 Morgan Mathiesen ’11 Rolanda Evelyn ’12 Ashley Greaves ’12 Ayisha McHugh Nelson ’12 Christopher Patacsil ’12 Ben Smith ’12 Jacqueline Chirdo ’13 Christine Croasdaile ’13 Kiera French ’13 Kuvonn Richardson ’13 Renangie Alcantara-Polanco ’14 Drew Lewis ’14 Denzel Munroe ’14 Zakiya Baptiste ’15 Alyssa Brown ’15 Jacob Small ’15 Fiona Brandman ’16 Shauna Brandman ’16 Khail Bryant ’17 Adia Gist ’17 Lotoya Francis ’18 Ellen Gaffney ’18 Michael Licata, Jr. ’19 Kayla Nejat ’19 Joseph Palermo ’19 John Walker ’19 Talisha Ward ’19 Akil Foster ’20 Alexandra Nava-Baltimore ’20 Molly O’Connor ’20 Nicholas Perez ’20 Austin Somers ’20 Nyla Welch ’20 Taejun Kim-Grant ’21 Kadyn Liburd ’21 Robert Magnus ’21 Talia Marash ’21 Gauri Purohit ’21 Ryantony Exuma ’22 Zoe Feuer ’22 Mary Kinnane ’22 Emilie Schilling ’22 Jacob Zrihen ’22

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


OUR STUDENTS HAVE HEART — AND THEY’RE AT THE HEART OF ANNUAL GIVING YOUR GIFT TO POLY’S ANNUAL GIVING MAKES A DIFFERENCE. From attracting and retaining top-notch faculty to constructing state-of-the-art facilities, Annual Giving is at the heart of what Poly Prep does: provide world-class, sought-after education that supports students and sets them up for success. Contributions of all sizes help our community move forward together and reach our greatest potential.

polyprep.org/giving


THE LAST WORD

CRACKING THE ADMISSIONS CODE

Seanna Sankar ’24 interviews singer, songwriter, actor, and author Katie Lopez ’23 on the story behind her humorous piece on the college admissions process published in McSweeney’s. The Origin Story I have this notebook where I write all the time. I never really do anything with it, but the interesting thing about the McSweeney’s piece is that I wrote it for my Poly English class. The assignment was to write a short story about anything. For this specific piece, I was frustrated with colleges. I had just been deferred from my early action school and I was kind of pissed. I basically took the messages that I got in my inbox with the subject, “Hey, Katherine!” and I imagined the desperate person behind them. The piece just kind of grew from there. The funny thing is it didn’t come from a place of “Oh, I want to write something funny.” The best satire and humor comes from a more real place. Most of the time I’m writing poetry and music, so it’s definitely different from what I’m used to. On Getting Published I wrote it in 30 minutes and thought “This is kind of funny,” and because I had been a McSweeney’s reader for a while, I wondered, “How do I get published in McSweeny’s?” I looked it up and they had a whole section on the website about it. I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it because I was like, “This is stupid. They’re not going to take my piece.” My parents didn’t even know until the day I got the email back from the editor saying that they’re going to run it.

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It took about a month, from me sending it, for it to get published because they had to put in their own edits. It was a bit long, so they shortened it and cut some of the jokes they didn’t find funny. An Unexpected Reception I got a lot of personalized emails back from colleges saying that they loved it. It’s funny how my anger with the college process is what got me in. I considered not sending it in as part of my portfolio because I didn’t want colleges to take it the wrong way and think I’m making fun of them. But then I did, and they were like, “We love your candor and honesty.” Recommended Reading I always say that “my favorite book is the one I’m reading right now,” so right now that’s a book of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri called Interpreter of Maladies. It’s so good. Every single story is heartbreaking and sad, but it’s amazing. David Sedaris, a satirist and humorist, is so funny. I love reading his books, too. Advice for Younger Writers It was a really small thing that I did on a whim, but it kind of changed my life. If you have a piece you love, send it in. Be bold. Take a chance and if it doesn’t work out, try again. TH IS INTERVIE W WA S EDITED FOR LENGTH AN D CL ARIT Y.

THE BLUE & THE GRAY


Katie Lopez graduated Poly in 2023 and is continuing her education at Brown University.

Scan QR Code to read Katie’s published piece.


DYKER HEIGHTS CAMPUS 1 Poly Prep Drive Brooklyn, NY 11228


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