Portsmouth Abbey Bulletin - Summer/Fall 2025

PORTSMOUTH ABBEY

SUMMER / FALL BULLETIN

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Portsmouth Abbey School @abbeyravens

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Portsmouth Abbey’s Alumni Bulletin is published bi-annually for alumni, parents, and friends by Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic Benedictine preparatory school for young men and women in Forms III-VI (grades 9–12) in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

If you have opinions or comments on the articles in the Bulletin, please email: communications@portsmouthabbey.org or write to the Office of Marketing and Communications, Portsmouth Abbey School, 285 Cory’s Lane, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 02871. Please include your name and phone number. The editors reserve the right to edit articles for content, length, grammar, magazine style and suitability to the mission of Portsmouth Abbey School.

Head of School: Matthew Walter P’18 ’20

Assistant Head of School for Development and Alumni Affairs: Stephanie Dwyer

Director of Marketing and Communications/Editor: Kristine Hendrickson

Editorial Staff and Contributing Writers: Darryl De Marzio, Ph.D. P ’26, Carla Kenahan P’12 ’12 ’12 ’23, Jamie MacGuire ’70, Nora O’Hara P’21 ’22 ’24’ 26 Brittany Semco, and Gary Sheppard, Ph.D.

Photography: Andrea Hansen, David Hansen, Kristine Hendrickson, Tom Kates, Marc Lavallee, Mary Catherine Pietropaoli, Brittany Semco, VMDO Architects and Louis Walker III. Some individual photos in alumni profiles have been supplied courtesy of the respective alumni.

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If the addressee of this publication has moved or if you are the parent of the addressee and they have a new address, please call the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs at 401-643-1269 or email alumni@portsmouthabbey.org so our records may be updated.

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Portsmouth Abbey School continues to make strides in implementing sustainable practices across its campus. If you prefer to receive a digital version of The Bulletin instead of print, please let us know by emailing alumni@portsmouthabbey.org.

about the cover: Class of 2025 graduates Allison Miller, Alana Collins, Odunayo Adelaiye and John Paul Devaney take a moment to absorb the vastness and beauty around them during the first-ever service immersion trip to the Navajo Nation in Arizona, which included a stop at the Grand Canyon. Read more on page 45.

correction: Stephen McKenna ’79 was inadvertently omitted from the Necrology section announcing the passing of his mother, Nancy, who passed away on September 27, 2024. Nancy C. McKenna was the mother of Paul J. McKenna III ’71, Timothy McKenna ’76, Stephen McKenna ’79 and Robert McKenna ’82. She was also the grandmother of Paul J. McKenna IV ’01.

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dear Portsmouth Abbey Community,

This issue of the “Bulletin” is built around the theme of “Faith and Formation,” apropos for a School whose mission it is to help young men and women grow in knowledge and grace. While our community experienced great sadness last year with the unexpected passing of beloved teacher and monk Fr. Paschal, we also experienced great joy with the solemn profession of Br. Basil and the ordination to the priesthood of Fr. Benedict. This issue examines the importance and impact of their faith and formation on our students, faculty, staff and families.

We also celebrate the wonderful career of Mr. Roberto Guerenabarrena, whose 26 years at the School were devoted to the faith and formation of his students and colleagues. As chair of the Modern Languages department, Señor, as he is affectionately known, worked to implement engaging, cutting-edge pedagogy, ensuring that his students had the most rewarding experience in the classroom. He also provided an exceptional experiential learning opportunity outside the classroom for many years through the summer study abroad program in Salamanca. He mentored countless young teachers – patiently working with them on teaching and curriculum skills. His door was always open and welcoming.

We celebrate the Class of 2025, the first for whom I have had the pleasure as serving as Head of School during all four of their years on campus. You will learn about their many academic, artistic and athletic accomplishments, and of course, their impressive college matriculation. But along with all of these accomplishments, the class also embodied the Benedictine values of humility, hospitality, friendship and joy, especially in the care and concern it displayed for each other and for this community. The Class enjoyed unforgettable Commencement addresses from Jennifer Shon ’25 and John Paul (JP) Devaney ’25. During his remarks, JP reiterated from an earlier Church Assembly talk his intention to join the Monastery upon graduation from Villanova University. You will read about the first full year of the new Student Center. Not only is it a great place to hang out and grab a smoothie, it is also receiving architectural awards.

The word “philanthropy” is derived from the Greek words “philos” , meaning “love,” and “anthropos” , meaning “your fellow man.” Thanks to your love of your fellow man at Portsmouth Abbey, we exceeded our Annual Fund goal for the 12th year in a row. We express special gratitude to all of the volunteers and donors who helped make this possible. Gifts to the School this year have allowed us to enhance our beautiful campus, including breaking ground on a complete renovation of the tennis courts, retain our superb faculty and recruit the next generation of talented educators devoted to faith and formation, and to provide more than $7 million in need-based financial aid to deserving students who would not otherwise be able to benefit from a Portsmouth Abbey education.

As we look forward to celebrating our Centennial during the 2026-27 school year, we remain focused on the 2025-26 school year as a year of “faith and formation” for the 350 students and their families entrusted to our care. Please keep them and all our faculty and staff in your prayers as we continue our journey of growing in knowledge and grace.

In Christ and in St. Benedict,

Matthew P. Walter P’18 ’20 Head of School

As I finish my second year as Board Chair, I am pleased to report that the mission of Portsmouth Abbey School, “to help young men and women grow in knowledge and grace,” is being vigorously executed with excellent results. Student experiences continue to improve, highlighted by increased electives and service learning opportunities as well as taking advantage of our new Student Center at the heart of campus.

Meanwhile, and not coincidentally, our students continue to excel, achieving regional, national and international recognition in academics and capturing eight titles in either league or tournament play. The girls squash team received the NEPSAC Sportsmanship Award, and we continue to see Raven athletes achieve their dream of playing at the collegiate level at a rate that exceeds the national average. Our student outcomes are increasingly impressive with the Class of 2025 also being our most noteworthy college matriculation result in recent memory.

Portsmouth’s Mission is unique amongst college preparatory and boarding schools. Growing in knowledge at the Abbey is characterized by much more than just memorizing facts and figures. It is a place where students learn how to learn –where they are taught not what to think, but how to think. And they come to realize that obtaining knowledge is not simply a means to an end, but is in fact an end all to its own. Further, the knowledge gained by students at Portsmouth goes beyond what they learn in the classroom. Our commitment to holistic formation has students balancing academic, athletic, spiritual and social growth in a way that matures them beyond their years and prepares them for a productive life of leadership and service.

Unlike most schools, we also focus on growing in grace. Grace has many different meanings, but the most relevant for our students is when it describes the “undeserved favor of God.” While it is hard to put into words what growing in grace means, based on my conversation with the Class of 2025, their experiences speak for themselves.

In describing their time at Portsmouth, our students talk about the incredibly hospitable community characterized by a culture of kindness and a commitment to taking care of each other; where conversation and listening to one another is the norm – not an exception; where humility and empathy are not flaws to be covered up – but rather serve as an inspiration to others. Our students view Portsmouth as their “safe space” where they always feel at home – but also as their stable base from which they can launch into the world as a means to spread God’s grace to others.

Execution of our mission doesn’t exist in a vacuum and doesn’t happen by accident. A love of learning, holistic formation, community, conversation and stability are all core tenets of the Rule of St. Benedict and are lived and breathed by our monastic community on daily basis. The recent ordination of Fr. Benedict Maria is testament to the strength of the community at Portsmouth, and was surely one of the highlights of this past academic year.

As we approach our 100th anniversary as a School, we’ve been interacting with alumni dating back generations, from the 1950s through today, asking them about their experience at Portsmouth Abbey. With over 450 data points in hand, it was remarkable to see that over 90 percent of the responses referred to their experience at Portsmouth as having been “transformative” – or some synonym thereof. While this transformative experience is undoubtedly the result of growth in both knowledge and grace, it wouldn’t be possible without the inspiration and example provided by our monastic community. It also wouldn’t be possible without the tremendous philanthropic support of our community.

Throughout the years, countless alumni, parents, grandparents and friends have contributed to our Annual Fund and our capital campaigns to put Portsmouth on extremely strong footing. However if we are to continue to execute on our Mission, providing these transformative experiences to the students of the future, we will continue to rely on our community to give back, and pay their own transformative experiences forward.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, the monastic community, and the faculty, staff and students of Portsmouth Abbey, thank you for your continued support.

In Christ and in St. Benedict,

Christopher Abbate ’88 P’20 ’23 Chair, Board of Directors

MISSION STATEMENT

Portsmouth Abbey School helps young men and women grow in knowledge and grace. As a Benedictine boarding and day school committed to excellence, we embrace the Catholic faith while nurturing reverence for God and the human person, love of learning, and commitment to community life.

Abbot Michael G. Brunner O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI

Mr. Christopher A. Abbate ’88 P’20 ’23 board chair Newport, RI

Mr. W. Christopher Behnke ’81 P’12 ’15 ’19 Chicago, IL

Mr. Bernardo Bichara Assad ’92 Monterrey, Mexico

Dom Joseph Byron, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI

Mr. Ronald W. Del Sesto, Jr. ’86 Washington, D.C.

Dr. Debra F. Falvey P’18 ’20 Plaistow, NH

Dr. Timothy P. Flanigan ’75 P’06 ’09 ’11 ’19 Tiverton, RI

Mr. T. Jeremiah Healey ’91 P’21 ’24 ’29 Brooklyn, NY

Mr. Denis H. Hector ’70 Miami, FL

Mr. Thomas A. Hopkins ’85 Brooklyn, NY

Mrs. Cara Gontarz Hume ’99 Hingham, MA

Mr. William M. Keogh ’78 P’13 Jamestown, RI

Mr. James E. Knight ’87 Greenwich, CT

Mrs. Rhonda Landers P’20 ’24 Portsmouth, RI

Ms. Linda Li P’25 Cleveland, OH

Father Benedict Maria, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI

Father Edward Mazuski, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI

Dr. Naseemah Mohamed ’08 Charlottesville, VA

Abbot Gregory Mohrman, O.S.B. St. Louis, MO

Mr. Ward K. Mooney ’67 Westport Point, MA

Mr. Philip V. Moyles, Jr. ’82 P’22 Rye, NY

Mrs. Mary Beth O’Connor-Lohuis P’10 ’10 ’21 Quogue, NY

Mrs. Daphne E. Robbins ’04 New York, NY

Dom Sixtus Roslevich, O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI

Mr. Michael R. Scanlan ’82 South Orange, NJ

Mr. John D. Servidea P’27 ’27 New Canaan, CT

Mr. Felipe A. Vicini ’79 P’09 ’12 ’19 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Mr. William G. Winterer ’87 Boston, MA

EMERITUS

Portsmouth Abbey School Board of Directors 2025-2026 g Deceased

Mr. Peter M. Flanigan’41 g P’75 ’83 GP’06 ’09 ’09 ’11 ’11 ’19 ’19

Mr. Thomas J. Healey ’60 P’91 GP’19 ’21 ’24 ’29 New Vernon, NJ

Mr. William K. Howenstein ’52 g P’87 GP’10 ’17 ’21 ’22 ’24

Mr. Peter M. Kennedy III ’64 P’07 ’08 ’15 Big Horn, WY

Mr. Barnet Phillips IV ’66 Greenwich, CT

EX-OFFICIO

Adam ’94 and Beth Conway P’24 ’26 Parents’ Association Chairs

& Dollars

Sense

New Financial Leaders

Strengthen

Abbey’s Future

When Michael Mullaney and Stephanie Dwyer arrived at Portsmouth Abbey School in the summer of 2024, they joined the institution at a pivotal moment of reflection and renewal and preparation for the Abbey’s next century.

Mullaney, of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, became the School’s Chief Financial Officer, while Dwyer stepped into the newly created role of Assistant Head of School for Development and Alumni Affairs. Together they are building a strong bridge between two disciplines essential to the long-term health and mission of Portsmouth: financial management and philanthropy.

Though finance is built on numbers and development on relationships, both roles require a clear sense of purpose. Dwyer and Mullaney understand that sustainability depends on coordinated communication and trust. “Understanding how the School

manages its endowment, sets budget priorities and establishes strategies for sustainability is essential in shaping how the development team communicates with donors,” Dwyer says. “It means we can clearly articulate where gifts will have the greatest impact.”

Mullaney echoes that sentiment. “The Abbey community’s generosity is inspiring,” he says. “Our teams work closely to ensure that gifts are recorded and reported with the accuracy and accountability that our donors deserve. The coordination between the Business Office and the Development Office has been exceptional.”

The partnership has already begun to yield results. Dwyer and Mullaney have spent the past year aligning financial and fundraising priorities, while clarifying how donor support can best serve both immediate needs and long-term goals. Their combined efforts have increased financial visibility for the Head of School, the Board of Directors and the Monastery, while enhancing the transparency of the School’s budgeting and endowment processes.

Mullaney explains that the Abbey’s financial foundation is strong, built on prudent management and notable community generosity through its first hundred years. As the School approaches its centennial, the goal is to ensure that its systems, processes and planning strategies position it for another century of growth and stewardship. The alignment of data management tools for reporting, gift tracking and forecasting to create better transparency helps both teams become more thoughtful stewards of relationships and resources.

For Dwyer, philanthropy is both a science and an art. With extensive experience at Harvard Business School, Wesleyan University, Trinity College and Kingswood Oxford School, she has led capital campaigns, major gift initiatives and volunteer networks across higher and independent education. Her work has always centered on connecting generosity to purpose and ensuring that gifts support institutional priorities while deepening relationships between donors and the mission they care about.

Mullaney’s career reflects a complementary dedication to clarity and collaboration. Before joining Portsmouth Abbey, he served as Vice President of Finance and Administration at Emmanuel College in Boston and Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, where he revitalized operations, modernized financial systems and guided strategic growth. A Providence College graduate with an MBA from Northeastern University, Mullaney also brings experience from corporate finance and audit, as well as volunteer leadership in his community.

Stephanie Dwyer Assistant Head of School for Development and Alumni Affairs

After earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary School Education from Assumption College, Dwyer entered the world of development and alumni affairs at Trinity College. She started as an annual giving officer there while earning a Master of Arts in English Literature. In addition to chairing reunion classes, managing more than 100 volunteers and overseeing the senior gift fundraising effort, she also implemented a leadership gift program, significantly expanding the donor base in just six months. Later, as assistant director of major reunion programs at Wesleyan University, she supervised fundraising committees and managed a portfolio covering Boston, New York and California.

At Kingswood Oxford School, she served as both a major gifts officer and philanthropic advisor, where she was the only frontline fundraiser. She also managed the office of planned giving, building and maintaining relationships with alumni to raise leadership, major, capital and planned gifts aligned with institutional priorities to support the school’s $30 million campaign.

She later assumed the role of director of development for the nonprofit American Secondary Schools for International Students and Teachers (ASSIST), where she oversaw the organization’s annual fund, restricted and scholarship fundraising and spearheaded a comprehensive capital campaign and a year-long 50th anniversary celebration.

Most recently, Dwyer served as associate director of principal gifts at Harvard Business School, where she was responsible for raising endowment and current use gifts to support the school’s priorities through visitation and meetings, written proposals, events, and leadership engagement with alumni and their parents, foundations and friends in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Toronto and Montreal.

Michael Mullaney, CPA Chief Financial Officer

Mullaney joined Portsmouth from Emmanuel College in Boston, where he served as vice president of finance and administra tion. In this capacity, he directed financial and budget matters, collaborating with executive leadership, trustees and college managers. His leadership in financial forecasting, internal controls, and operational efficiency significantly contributed to the college’s financial stability and strategic initiatives.

Before his tenure at Emmanuel College, Mullaney was the vice president of finance and administration at Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. He played a crucial role in the school’s financial operations and professionalizing its nonacademic segments. His initiatives in establishing comprehensive financial reporting systems, managing endowments, and overseeing major facility renovation projects were pivotal to the school’s growth and development.

His extensive career includes roles as an audit supervisor at Kennedy and Lehan, PC/RSM McGladrey, auditor for banking clientele at Shatswell, McLeod and Company, and auditor for master trust/public funds at State Street Bank. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Providence College.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Mullaney is an active volunteer. He serves on the Board of Directors as treasurer for the Charitable Irish Society of Boston. He has also coached lacrosse for both boys and girls at Catholic Memorial and Parkway Lacrosse.

Both leaders describe their partnership as grounded in mutual respect. Finance brings analytical rigor and long-term planning, while Development cultivates vision and connection. When those strengths converge, the result is a more highly responsive institution with the ability to match donor aspirations with real institutional needs.

“As we approach the Abbey’s centennial, our shared goal is to ensure that every dollar and every act of generosity supports the School’s mission for

Though finance is built on numbers and development on relationships, both roles require a clear sense of purpose. Dwyer and Mullaney understand that sustainability depends on coordinated communication and trust.

generations to come,” Mullaney says. Dwyer adds that the work ultimately serves a single purpose: “to sustain the transformative experience that defines Portsmouth Abbey, that blends faith, learning and community into a lifetime of meaning.”

Together Dwyer and Mullaney work to actualize the spirit of modern Benedictine stewardship: thoughtful, collaborative and intentional. Their partnership reminds the community that at Portsmouth Abbey, financial sense is not always about numbers. It’s about people finding joy in a common purpose and the enduring strength of shared vision.

Reunion Weekend once again brought tremendous energy and joy back to campus as we welcomed nearly 300 alumni and guests to celebrate, reconnect and experience the exciting enhancements since graduation.

Classes ending in 0’s and 5’s gathered together, with special recognition for the Class of 1975 and 2000 on their milestone 50th and 25th anniversaries.

Highlights included the Welcome Back Party with food trucks, a traditional New England Lobster and Clambake, a Student Panel, a Conversation with the Head of School and Board Chair, Requiem Mass and Vespers, along with a festive Dinner Dance, all culminating in Mass in the Church of St. Gregory the Great and a lively Jazz Brunch.

Please keep an eye out for details on next year’s All-School Reunion, which will kick off our Centennial celebration and take place on September 25-27, 2026.

Abbey pride runs in the family – the Class of 2005 on the sidelines cheering.

Relive the memories by viewing photos at www.abbeycommunications.smugmug.com or scan the QR code below:

The Welcome Back Party on Friday evening kicks off Reunion Weekend.

A golden sunset marks 25 unforgettable years for the Class of 2000.

Our Student Panel charmed and educated our alumni on life today at Portsmouth Abbey.

Reunion Weekend began on the green for Ross Murray and John Bird from the Class of 1990.

Nothing says Reunion Weekend like the traditional New England Lobster and Clambake.

The Class of 1975 gathers at The Aquidneck Club to celebrate half a century of friendship.

Abbot

guides the Reunion community in remembering classmates who have passed during the Requiem Mass.

Cheers to the Class of 1965 celebrating memories six decades strong.

Our most senior alumni share a conversation across generations with our youngest monk, Father Benedict.

Matthew

CLASS OF 1960

Peter Dean

CLASS OF 1950

Henry Robinson

CLASS OF 1965

Back Row, L to R: Peter von Meister, Gregory Dray, Charles Casgrain, Jim Sturdevant, Oren Root

Front Row, L to R: Matthew Flynn, Joseph Wagner, William Chase

DIMAN CLUB

Back Row, L to R: Oren Root ’65, Donald Macdonald ’73, John Poreba ’64, Jan Schwarzenberg ’74, Charles L. Touhey ‘64, Joseph Spears ’69, Gregory Dray, Charles Casgrain

First Row, L to R: William Chase ’65, Joseph Wagner ’65, Matthew Flynn ’65, Henry Robinson ’50, Peter Dean ’60, Jim Sturdevant ’65, John Melia ’70, Peter von Meister ’65

CLASS OF 1985

Back Row, L to R: Juan Jose Rocha, Florian Lissmann, George Carter, John McCormick, Robert Fitzgerald, Edward Lyons

Front Row, L to R: John Stankard, Michael Nannini, Thomas Ferrer, Edward English, Matthew Cunningham

CLASS OF 1975

Back Row, L to R: Mark Anderson, Charles De Leo, Timothy Flanigan, Gregory Crane, John Connolly, Michael Alexander, Charles Macdonald, Michael Lynch, Edmund Murray, Peter Ferry, Frederick Childs, Henry Hamrock

Front Row, L to R: Frank DiMenno, Peter Daly, Stephen Krauss, John Romano, Jim Kenney, Edward Congdon

CLASS OF 1980

Rainerio Reyes, Brian Scanlan

CLASS

1990

Front

CLASS OF 1995

CLASS OF 2000

CLASS OF 2005

Back Row, L to R: Myles Somerville, Jessica Gabeler, Elizabeth Michalek, Jennifer Beaulieu, Katharine Lavallee, Rose Shute, John Rok

Front Row, L to R:

Garrett Thompsen, Charles Hayes, Alassandra Micheletti, Emma Greenman Culver, Bridget Royer, Joshua Parks, Craig Bazarsky

L to R: Andie Shartenberg, Ann Spears, Aidan Melia

L to R: Thomas Paull, Christian Baird

OF

Back Row, L to R: Justin Hauser, Nick Thornton, John Hinrichsen, John Bird, John Marshall, Peter Healey

Row, L to R: Christopher Galloway, Jose Juan Cebrian, Rob Poirier, Ross Murray, Charles Baisley

CLASS OF 2010

Back Row, L to R: Jay Wagner, Sebastian Clarkin, Daniel Caplin, Robert Savoie

Front Row, L to R: Henry Harries, Laura Medeiros, Grace Hobbes, Catherine Caplin, Cameron Hadfield

CLASS OF 2020

Back Row, L to R:

Nathaniel Bredin, Mathilde Wadson, Shane Hoey, Theodore Falvey, Gavin Gibbons, Nathaniel Landers, John Perik, John Boudreau, Joshua Plumb, Mauricio Garcia Gojon, Christina Miller, Caitlyn Foley, Katherine Driscoll, Madelynn Knudson, Alexis Handy, Ashley Breyer, Mackenzie Macomber, Meagan Dennis Middle Row, L to R: Simona Christian, Elizabeth McBreen, Tessa Dennis, Nicole Huyer, Isabella Zangari, Sarabeth Surber, Teresa Billings, Emma Kerr, Eloise Abbate, Cecilia Bohan, Crystal Chojnowski

Front Row, L to R: Dean Simeone, Steven Crabtree, Ken Zheng, Harrison Connelly, Rafael Borromeo, Matthew Walter, Danny De Oleo Peguero, Alberto Boggio, Patrick Conlan

CLASS OF 2015

Back Row, L to R:

Tim Tsung, Max Marsden, Alberto Castellanos, Winslow Wawro, Brendan Carlin, Nick Bauer, Mary Cate Whelan, Margaret Stark, Harrison Wall, Gerrard Hanly, Ander Guerenabarrena, Ryan Conroy, Josh Okoro

Front Row, L to R:

Frank Loughran, Benedict Vergara, Wade Bredin, Taylor Lough, Grace Jannotta, Ryan Gallagher, Fiona Conway, Schuyler Jordan, Andrew Sheerin

conversation with Head of School Matthew Walter

and Board Chair Christopher Abbate

The Raven pumps up the spirit getting the team and crowd ready to play.

Members of the Class of 1990 proudly posing and representing their year.

Joyful to be together again, the Class of 2015 ladies are all smiles.

Abbot Michael Brunner, O.S.B. joins the

P’18 ’20

’88 P’20 ’23.

We extend our deepest gratitude for your participation in Portsmouth Abbey School’s seventh annual Giving Day.

We are pleased to report that Giving Day 2025 achieved remarkable success, with contributions from 646 donors, the dedicated efforts of our volunteers, and your invaluable support. The collective generosity totaling $490,732.00 will profoundly enhance every facet of the student experience. This accomplishment would not have been possible without your involvement.

490,732 $ RAISED IN 24 HOURS

Donors: 646

FIRST-TIME DONORS: 92 ALUMNI: 412

CURRENT PARENTS: 54

PARENTS OF ALUMNI: 56

FACULTY AND STAFF: 19

STUDENTS: 79

FRIENDS: 19

Alumni classes

WITH THE MOST DONORS

Journeying from the Philippines to celebrate Reunion, Jon Rocha ’85 is honored for traveling the farthest.

Father-daughter alumni duo, Joe ’69 and Ann ’00 Spears, dancing the night away.

COMMUNITY IN ACTION: Spotlight on Abbey Parents

PORTSMOUTH ABBEY SCHOOL

It’s All About the Parents

When a family chooses to entrust their student(s) to Portsmouth Abbey School, a lifelong partnership begins. From Parent Association activities to School events and performances, parent and family participation is integral to the success of the student experience. Two of our favorite events are Spring Family Day, which includes a Grandparents Day program during which we get to see Ravens of all ages learn, play, laugh and share their love for our community.

The Hong family enjoyed cheering for Dylan

and Daniel

during Spring Family Day 2024.

Jack Hamilton ’26 and his grandparents, Captain Ronald C. Bogle USN (Retired) and Mrs. Jane Bogle.

(Form V)

(Form IV)

Lexi Taylor ’27 and her grandparents were all smiles despite the weather.

Spotlight on Abbey Parents

Connor Nolan ’27 poses for family photos.

Dr. John Hayes GP’27, Abbot Michael Brunner O.S.B., Marcel DaQuay and Janessa H. LeComteDaQuay ’97 P’28 enjoy the Parent Reception during Parents Weekend 2024.

Operations Administrative Assistant & Function Coordinator Jennifer Dring P’21 ’26 gives her mother, Rosemary Maloney a ride to the athletic fields.

Parents MJ Torello P’24 ’26 ’28, Beth Heelan P’24 ’26 and Courtney Bianchi P’25 ’26 volunteer during Spring Family Day.

Scenes from the Opening of School 2025-26

Dean of Faculty Aileen Baker, her husband, Brian, and faculty member Kale Zelden enjoy dinner with (l-r) Jennifer and Michael Horne, parents of Kaylin, Form III, along with Kathleen and John Walsh, parents of Brady, Form III.

family.

A moment with the House Prefects before school begins.

Abbot Michael Brunner, O.S.B. joins Cecilia Wei, Form III and

(L-R): Candace Gittens, Form III, with her mother, Charlotte, father, Francis and sister, Kaiah.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE:

Adam ’94 and Beth Conway’s P’24 ’26 Commitment to the Abbey

For Adam Conway ’94 P ’24 ’26 Portsmouth Abbey School has always been more than a place of learning it’s a place that shaped his values, forged lifelong friendships and instilled a sense of responsibility to give back. Today, alongside his wife, Beth Conway, he is inspiring fellow parents to engage with the Abbey community, both through service and philanthropy.

Adam’s journey at the Abbey began in the Third Form when his parents sought a more supportive and structured environment. “I felt very comfortable there,” Conway recalls. “My parents really liked it. It worked out, and I ended up repeating my freshman year, which was pretty common at the time.”

During his time at the Abbey, he earned an impressive 12 varsity letters, serving as captain in multiple sports, was Head Prefect (now known as Head Boy) and participated in the School’s theatrical productions.

Decades later his family’s connection to the Abbey came full circle when his children, Jack ’24 and Kate Conway ’26, chose to attend the School. “We weren’t originally planning to send them to boarding school,” Beth Conway explained. “We moved to Wellesley for its great public schools, but later we decided to explore other options that would offer challenging academics, more athletics options and a structured environment with like-

The Conway family (l-r) Kate ’26, Beth, Adam ’94 and Jack ’24.

minded students and parents. We wanted both Jack and Kate to challenge themselves and grow” she said. After exploring multiple options, both Jack and Kate independently chose Portsmouth Abbey School.

The Conways have seen profound growth in their children during their time at the School. “Spiritually, both have taken their own paths,” Adam says. “Jack has become more engaged in his faith with each passing year, finding new ways to further his own personal journey such as prioritizing attending church on his own at Southern Methodist University (SMU).’’

“Both kids were confirmed at the Abbey, which we’re very proud of.” Beth adds, “The key was letting them choose when and how to engage with their faith. It’s been different for each, but equally meaningful.”

Academically, both parents feel that the results speak for themselves. “At SMU, Jack is thriving,” Adam says. “The Abbey taught him how to push himself, build good habits, and raise his own standards.” Kate is a Prefect in St. Benet’s this year and always has been self-driven. She has found challenging coursework, especially in math, and mentors amongst the faculty. “It’s so exciting to see the people our kids are becoming as young adults,” Beth added.

Beyond their own family, the Conways have immersed themselves in the wider Abbey community. Starting as Third Form parent chairs for Kate’s class, they moved into Fourth Form leadership roles, and now serve as chairs of the Parent Association. “The parent community here is exceptional,” Adam says. “You meet people from around the world, all united by shared values.” Beth agrees: “Our kids have made lifelong friends, and we’ve built friendships with parents from across the globe. It’s a community in the truest sense.”

The duo also extend their leadership beyond Portsmouth Abbey School. Adam serves on the board of Babson College, while Beth sits on the College Advisory Board of The Immigrant Learning Center in

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION CHAIRS AND FORM CHAIRS

Parents’ Association Chairs

Adam ’94 and Beth Conway

Parents of Jack ’24 and Katie ’26

Form VI

Gil and Courtney Bianchi

Parents of Gil ’25 and Ava ’26

Form V

Scott and Delicia Ormiston

Parents of Dakota ’24 and Blaze ’27

Form IV

Curtis and Carrie Parker

Parents of Elizabeth ’28

Form III

Kenneth ’97 and Carissa Tambaschi

Parents of Taylor ’29

INTERNATIONAL LIAISONS

China

Laiming Luo and Chang Liu

Parents of Adam ’26

Beijing Region

Guangchao Liu and Qiurong Zhang,

Parents of Emily ’27

Shanghai Region

Xiaohui Wang and Lei Xu

Parents of Alex ’26

Shenzhen Region

Qiubo Luo and Tingting Ke

Parents of Kevin ’26

Yangbin Wang and Jing-Jing Guo

Parents of Jonathan ’27

Korea Liaisons

JungKyun Kim and Jae Young Yoo

Parents of Daniel ’27

Latin America Liaisons

Miguel ’94 and Susana Bichara, Parents of Susana ’25 and Daniel ’28 2025–26

Malden, Massachusetts, which provides free English classes to non-English speakers and helps them integrate into American life. She also remains active with her alma mater, Siena College, supporting its Annual Fund and speaking to students in the business school.

For these parents, philanthropy is not just about writing a check it’s about showing up, making connections, and helping others navigate the School. “We believe it’s important to give back to the communities that reflect our values,” Adam says. “We support the Abbey financially, but we also make ourselves available to new parents, answer questions, and help them feel at home.”

Their giving philosophy is rooted in impact and aligned values. “We want to donate where our support truly makes a difference,” Beth explains.

“At the Abbey, every gift matters you see the results, whether it’s in programs, facilities, or opportunities for students.” Her husband adds, “Transparency is key. Parents want to know where their money goes, and at the Abbey, we can point to specific improvements funded by the Annual Fund. Even if it’s something as unglamorous as an air conditioning system it’s all essential.”

When asked what they would tell families considering Portsmouth Abbey School, Adam doesn’t hesitate: “Send them. It’s the right size for kids to explore

who they are whether that’s through sports, arts, or academics. You don’t need to be a superstar to participate; you just need the willingness to try.” Beth adds, “It’s about finding a welcoming environment grounded in shared values, where your child is surrounded by peers and adults who want them to succeed.”

The Conways’ hope for the future is for the Abbey to continue to grow, evolve, and inspire the same pride they feel today. “We want our kids to come back in 20 years and say, ‘Look how far the School has come,’” Beth says. Adam agrees: “We’re trying to build a culture of philanthropy among parents. If we all contribute financially and with our time we ensure the Abbey remains a place where future generations can thrive.”

At its heart, the Conways feel their story is about belonging. “The Abbey is a warm, welcoming place where every student is encouraged to be their best self academically, athletically, spiritually,” Adam says. “It’s about producing happy, confident successful young people. And as parents, we have a role to play in making that possible.”

Through their leadership, generosity and unwavering commitment, Adam and Beth Conway are ensuring that Portsmouth Abbey School continues to be a place where students and their families find not just an education, but a home.

Prize Day2025

The weather patterns were as diverse as the prizes awarded during Portsmouth Abbey School’s annual Prize Day ceremony Saturday, May 24. As family and friends celebrated the welldeserved accolades bestowed upon Ravens in each Form, it was clear that nothing could dampen their smiles under the tent.

Adelino Vellis ’28 holds up his award for excellence in English, Form III.

Prize Day

Cheers and applause rang out as two beloved faculty members were announced as this year’s recipients of the Dom Peter Sidler Awards for Excellence in Teaching as nominated by their peers. Department of Humanities Chair Dr. Katie Zins ’04 and Dom Ambrose Wolverton Chair in Performing Arts Jay Bragan P’22 ’25 who also teaches English, were recognized for excellence as teachers and for exceptional contributions across multiple areas of school life.

A first-time presenter at the podium this year was Colin McKay, English teacher and new boys varsity hockey coach, who referenced an advertisement that caught his attention during the NHL playoffs with the tagline, “All it takes is everything.” McKay noted that players are fully aware they must sacrifice themselves in service of the greater good should they expect to achieve their ultimate goal similar to what Portsmouth Abbey strives to instill in all students.

Prize Day honors the many achievements of the students and recognizes the values of integrity, leadership and service that define the School community.

Class of 2025 recipients share the Head of School Award, which was also received by Commencement Speaker Jim Farley ’81. Pictured with Head of School Matt Walter are Sauroo Park, Alana Collins, Steven Li, Luca Mestrandrea, Max Varteresian and Aidan Sainte.

3 Victoria Ciampi ’27 received the University of Rochester Humanities prize for excellence in Humanities.

1 Nathan Heller ’25 was presented his appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point by United States Air Force Academy Cadet Merritt Coward ’23.

The Bragan family celebrates two awards received during Prize Day 2025. Pictured (l-r) are Kate, Lila ’25, Jay and Gwen ’22.

Dr. Katie Zins ’04, one of two recipients of the Dom Peter Sidler Awards for Excellence in Teaching.

Friends and prize winners Alaina Zhang and Jennifer Rui, both members of the Class of 2025, share a joyous moment during Prize Day.

Zara Okoye ’25 is all smiles as she holds her prize for Excellence in Studio Art, along with her father and brother.

English faculty member and coach Colin McKay presents Dylan Galbreth ’25 with one of several awards she received on Prize Day.

Malcolm Rainchild Maboula ’26 was the recipient of the Boys Basketball Trophy and The Rhode Island High School Civic Leadership award. Read more about Malcolm on page 62.

Merritt Coward ’23 returned to the Abbey to present this year’s Naval ROTC and Marine ROTC scholarship awards to (l-r) Dylan Galbreth, Kate Verderber, Lilly Coward (sister) and Gabriel Devaney.

Graduating withGrace

Class of attuned2025 to “All that Happens”

The Portsmouth Abbey School Class of 2025 descended from the steps of the Church of St. Gregory the Great to begin their journey toward the Holy Lawn at the onset of the School’s 95th Commencement Sunday, May 25.

The Right Reverend Michael G. Brunner, O.S.B., offered the Invocation before Head of School Matt Walter P’18 ’20 delivered the welcome address, recognizing retiring faculty member Roberto Guerenabarrena P’06 ’15, chair of Modern Languages. Walter also mentioned the bond he felt with this class, given that they began their first year at Portsmouth just as he was entering his first year as Head of School. “The Class of 2025 will forever be the first class that I had the privilege of accompanying during all four years of your time on Cory’s Lane. I have been blessed to have a front row seat to your growth in knowledge and grace, and I am in awe of who you have become,” he addressed the students.

Alumnus and Board Chair Christopher Abbate ’88 P’20 ’23 noted that the School’s Mission, “to help young men and women grow in knowledge and grace,” is alive and well. He suggested that while many schools have identified knowledge as a key aspect of their mission, “precious few refer to grace or any similar concept.” He identified a poem by the sixteenth-century Catholic priest

“ ”

‘What is grace?’ I asked God. And He said, ‘All that happens.’ — st. john of the cross

Graduates process to the Holy Lawn from the Kennedy Classroom Building.

St. John of the Cross who offered a reasonable description: “When God responds to ‘What is grace?’, the answer is, “All that happens.”

After conversing with graduating students earlier in the week, Abbate summarized how they have experienced grace on campus. They spoke of the hospitality and kindness they they’ve experienced, the culture of conversation and listening to one another that had developed in the classroom and beyond, and the sense of stability where they felt comfortable being self-reflective, improving without judgment and having a stable base from which to launch into the world post-graduation.

Alumnus and Board Chair Christoper Abbate ’88 P’20 ’23 reflects on the School’s mission and what it means to grow in grace.

That stable base was also referenced by the Sixth Form Dinner Alumni Speaker, Keri T. Heuer ’15, who described several experiences that taught her about grace and having faith in herself. “Community was woven into every aspect of life at the Abbey, and it taught me that people remember how you make them feel, and that you don’t grow alone,” she said.

The dinner was held at Newport Beach House, offering a wonderful start to the celebratory weekend.

Heuer traveled from Pennsylvania, where she is a Physics graduate student at Drexel University studying chaos and complexity in black holes, to share her inspiring story of transformation and to help welcome the Class of 2025 into the alumni community.

In her words, beginning as a shy, quiet student, Heuer blossomed into a standout scholar-athlete and leader. She captained the track team, played field hockey and basketball, and earned the Scholar-Athlete Award her senior year. A prefect in St. Mary’s House, she also performed as a pianist in the school orchestra, which included a performance at Carnegie Hall and was active in Model UN, The Beacon, and the Red Key Society.

Still, she struggled. Heuer spoke of how, when faltering under the weight of anxiety

Keri T. Heuer ’15 shares words of wisdom with the Class of 2025.

Sixth Form Dinner at Newport Beach Club.

during a final exam, her teacher, Mr. Zelden, put a sticky note on her desk to give her a boost, telling her he was proud of her accomplishments and reminding her to breathe. “That small gesture, along with many other small moments at the Abbey has always stuck with me. They’ve helped build the faith in myself that I needed to make my own path,” she stated.

That same faith was needed during her senior year of college, when, as if in a scene from a movie, both her “plugged-in-yet-dead phone and back-up alarm clock” failed to awaken her in time to take the Physics GRE. This meant that her dream of attending graduate school to become an astrophysicist would be put on hold. She advocated for herself, and through connections and circumstance, eventually became the first post-bacc Smithsonian Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “I learned that mistakes aren’t failures but invitations to let yourself be changed by experiences, people and challenges,” she said. At Drexel, she is also a NASA Future Investigators Fellow.

Commencement Speaker Jim Farley ’81, CEO of Ford Motor Company, suggested in his remarks that the Class of 2025 launch themselves into the world in his company’s latest remake of the cultural icon embodying adventure and freedom–while wearing a Bronco cap given along with their diplomas. “If there were ever a moment to ask your parents for something special, it’s today. A Bronco–a Ford Bronco, that’s exactly what you should ask them for,” he exclaimed.

I learned that mistakes aren’t failures but invitations to let yourself be changed by experiences, people and challenges.

— keri t. heuer ’15

On a more serious note, Farley, the father of three, including a high school Class of 2025 graduate, acknowledged that the Class of 2025 had “grown up in a time when many choose to focus on the face they present to others. Curated selfies, distorted through filters, seeking validation with ‘likes’ and ‘loves.’ It will turn out to be a waste of time,” he said. At Portsmouth Abbey, Farley stated, “You’ve learned there are bigger ideas, greater truths in life, especially about yourselves.”

He spoke of the school’s classical curriculum and recalled the ancient Greeks’ advice to “know thyself.” Then, he suggested that before one could “know thyself,” they would have to “face thyself.”

“Who am I?’ The answer to most questions in life lies in that simple question. Not to answer it. But to begin to answer it. Acknowledge the gaps that exist between the person you see in that mirror and the face you show the world.”

Jim Farley ’81, CEO, Ford Motor Company, smiles with pure joy as he looks around the Commencement, welcomes families, and absorbs the fact that he has returned home to speak to a new generation of Ravens.

At Portsmouth Abbey you’ve learned there are bigger ideas, greater truths in life, especially about yourselves.

— jim farley ’81

Knowing oneself is sometimes made clear by choosing the path that calls to you, even if it may be the harder one to follow. The student speakers, selected by their peers, reflected the sentiments expressed by fellow graduates Abbate, Heuer and Farley.

A boarding student, Jimin “Jennifer” Shon ’25, is the daughter of Doctors Won Jun Shon and Hae Won Choi of Seoul, Korea. John Paul Devaney ’25 is the son of faculty members Stephen and Stephanie Devaney, all of whom live on campus.

Shon and Devaney are academically gifted, but their peers also recognized their kindness, leadership, ability to encourage others, and genuine friendships among classmates as reasons for choosing them to speak.

Shon has been recognized at the state and national levels for Poetry Out Loud (winning the 2024 prize for the Poetry Ourselves, best original poem), the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, and several grants and awards for her research on honeybees. She took part in squash and was captain of the girls varsity golf team. Her classmates know her to be kind and dedicated, always with a sense of humor. She is engaging when she speaks from the stage or presents from the podium. She also served as a prefect and was active in all aspects of campus life. She is now enrolled at Columbia University.

Shon noted that she first became acquainted with Portsmouth Abbey School by eavesdropping on her brother David’s advisory sessions and classes during the pandemic. David graduated in 2022.

Jennifer Shon ’25 first learned about the Abbey while watching her brother David ’22 as he was learning remotely during the pandemic. Pictured with her on Prize Day is David and her parents, Doctors Won Jun Shon and Hae Won Choi.

— jennifer shon ’25 “ ”

Every day, we’re tempted by quick fixes and easy paths, but shortterm comfort rarely leads to lasting fulfillment. What truly shapes our character and prepares us for life is choosing the difficult path.

“Even then, I was able to sense the warmth of a community genuinely invested in helping each other grow and succeed. It came to me as such a different world; one I never imagined myself becoming a part of, let alone standing up here speaking to you today,” she said.

Shon decided to come to the Abbey without hesitation after her father asked if she was interested in studying abroad. She still isn’t sure what prompted her split-second response, but she is confident it was the bravest and most life-changing decision she has made. She credits faculty members Daniel Caplin ’10 and Dr. Stephen Zins for helping her become who she is today.

“I vividly recall my little shivers from being up on stage, reading my oneminute speech for Model U.N. All I could tell was that the paper

was white and the letters were black. Mr. Caplin knew this. He was eager to push me out of my comfort zone, or at least that’s what I assumed, although it felt pretty monstrous. He had me remain on stage in front of fifty upperclassmen to repeat my first line again and again, until my voice grew louder and more confident. I remember my brother, who led one of the committees, coming up to Mr. Caplin and asking, “Why did you do that to my sister?” My brother seemed heroic at the time, but if Mr. Caplin had listened when David asked him to maybe ease up on me a bit, or if I had made the choice to quit the club out of sheer embarrassment, there is no way I would have ended up becoming a successful delegate four years later. Because four years later, the irony hits me pretty hard: now I’m the one doing the same to our underclassmen, pushing them to step out of their comfort zones.”

While watching her brother annotate AP biology papers late at night, Shon also recalled thinking she would never take that class. Three years later, that changed.

“There I was, taking Dr. Zins’s classes three years in a row and constantly battling through his infamous feedback: ‘Jennifer needs to simplify her approach,’ ‘She needs to push herself harder,’ or my personal favorite, ‘My goal is to break her sort of.’” At times, reading those comments felt incredibly frustrating enough to make me wonder if I’d ever get it right. Slowly, I realized something important: Dr. Zins wasn’t trying to break me down; he was trying to build me up. Those blunt, relentless comments were his way of reminding me that growth comes from challenging ourselves instead of settling comfortably within our limits,” she said.

In closing, Shon reminded her classmates of the beautiful opportunities in pushing through challenges rather than avoiding them. “Every day, we’re tempted by quick fixes and easy paths, but short-term comfort rarely leads to lasting fulfillment. What truly shapes our character and prepares us for life is choosing the difficult path. Choosing the Abbey was never meant to be easy, but all of you chose it anyway. Each of us, at some point, decided the challenging route was worth it.

And that’s why we’re all here today. Here, we found pride, tears of joy, and genuine growth all together. And that’s the essence of this tight-knit Portsmouth Abbey community: embracing tough choices while relying on a community that always leaves space for each other, always ready to support us and remind us to balance hard work with snippets of joyful memories.”

John Paul (JP) Devaney and his twin brother, Gabriel (Gabe), made an immediate impact upon their arrival in the fall of 2023. In addition to his skills on the soccer pitch (Team Captain, All EIL and All NEPSAC) and track, JP is well-known amongst his peers for his ability to captivate an audience with his public speaking. His talk during a Church Assembly received a standing ovation, and his School Assembly presentations were known to be creative, interactive

and informative. A prefect in St. Hugh’s responsible for leading the School’s Third Form boys, he is a young leader whose faith is central to his being, and his peers respect and admire him for that, as well as his keen sense of humor. He now attends Villanova University.

In his address, JP spoke about his endeavor to “Pack the Church” every Tuesday morning, to bring the entire community together at morning Mass once a week.

John Paul Devaney ’25 offers his perspective on the experiences shared with others during his two years at Portsmouth Abbey.

The 7:20 a.m. Mass fluctuated from about 12 attendees until the last week of school, Devaney was initially dissapointed on Tuesday when, at 7:16 a.m., the crowd was far less than he hoped for. Then all at once, the the church doors opened, and hundreds of students and faculty poured in.

“Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized that it was only a matter of time before the School came together in this new dimension, and I realized there is something about this School worth fighting for. I am eternally grateful for this display of kindness and faith. I always knew I had an army of 36 freshmen boys if I ever wanted to invade another house like Aelred’s or Leo’s, but now I know God has an army of hundreds of Ravens, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against them,” he said.

“ ”

In 10, 20, or 70 years you will not know me as John Paul or JP, for I will have my name changed within the confines of this Monastery. But you will still know me as your friend, and I hope you will still know Portsmouth Abbey as your home.

— john paul devaney ’25

Devaney’s “army of Ravens” had made him comfortable enough to share that he had a vocation to the Catholic priesthood, which he hopes to pursue by joining the Portsmouth Abbey Monastery following graduation from Villanova.” He cited fellow student’s

paraphrasing of William Blake, “I sought a soul, but my soul I could not see, I sought my God, but my God eluded me. I sought my brothers, and I found all three,” and reflected on all the class had experienced together, including athletic victories, performances and simple conversations in the cafeteria about daily life. He didn’t forget to mention that his “freshmen army from St. Hugh’s” won the Raven Cup after a year-long competition between the student houses.

The Class of 2025 poses for a class photo.

The laughter derived from Devaney’s humorous descriptions of his two-year-long Abbey experience turned to feelings of pride and respect as he closed his address to his classmates with the words, “In 10, 20, or 70 years you will not know me as John Paul or JP for I will have my name changed within the confines of this Monastery. But you will still know me as your friend, and I hope you will still know Portsmouth Abbey as your home.”

The Portsmouth Abbey School Class of 2025 included 83 graduates from eight countries, including the United States (16 states including the U.S. Virgin Islands), Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Indonesia, Korea, and Mexico. Twenty-one students hail from Rhode Island. College acceptances include Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, and California Institute of Technology. Five students were awarded full ROTC scholarships – Two Marine ROTC, two Naval, and one to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Four students committed to playing junior hockey and 10 are committed to participating at the collegiate level in athletics.

Max Varteresian ’25 proudly wears his Bronco hat and class tie after celebrating his graduation and status as a class agent by doing a post-ceremony backflip off the stage. He took gymnastics lessons to accomplish the challenge.

Patrick “PJ” Forbes ’25 is the first dual-legacy student to graduate from Portsmouth Abbey School. He is the son of Ann Marie ’96 and Matthew Forbes ’97 of Westport, Massachusetts.

Ella Liuzza ’25.

Ronald Nixon ’25 gets a corsage and a hug from nurse Susan Swain.

Changes in College Matriculation

From its earliest years, graduates of Portsmouth Abbey School have continued their journeys into adulthood by matriculating into some of the nation’s top colleges and universities, serving in the military or pursuing athleticor career-related opportunities. While the road may seem familiar, the landscape has changed significantly in terms of college admissions. Students and families have many factors to consider when deciding what may be the best fit post high school. Name recognition and program of study still rank high when determining where to apply, but matriculation is now more complex, with students evaluating their options by cost, size, lifestyle and location in addition to academic and career outcome statistics.

Conversely, colleges and universities have become more selective in both admissions and financial aid, emphasizing factors that are more holistic when considering each applicant.

The ups and downs of the college admissions world have been well-documented. Scandals and system breakdowns aside, there have been significant shifts post-COVID-19 in relation to the role of standardized tests, increased competition and what resonates most with students and families.

During the pandemic, many colleges adopted testoptional applications allowing students to apply without submitting SAT or ACT scores. The average number of applications per student has thus increased significantly in recent years, creating increased competition for admission at all levels. Colleges and universities are looking beyond the GPA and strength of curriculum to include multiple essays, extracurricular activities and recommendations in their decision process, weighing them more heavily before admittance.

The Abbey’s strong matriculation rate is linked to a robust college counseling program that begins shortly

ABOVE: Director of College Counseling Diane Soboski (middle) meets with Class of 2025 members Nate Heller, Gabe Devaney, Zara Okoye and Dylan Galbreth.

after a student’s arrival. The team welcomed Diane Soboski, a well-known leader in the college admissions world, who has been monitoring the trends and guiding Raven families through, at times, what feels like uncharted waters.

“At the Abbey, we’re fortunate to have a deeply committed and experienced college counseling team, dedicated to helping students discover the college or university that’s truly the best fit for them,” says Soboski. “Many students arrive with a set list or a clear vision of where they think they’ll end up— and sometimes that vision holds true. But more often, we have the privilege of guiding them through a journey of selfdiscovery. Along the way, they begin to ask themselves big, meaningful questions: What do I value most? Who do I want to become? What skills and experiences will prepare me to make my mark on the world?”

After years of experience, Soboski and her team know each student has their own journey ahead. “There’s no single blueprint for this process—every student’s path is unique. That’s what makes our work so exciting and rewarding,” she said. “We witness students uncover their strengths, clarify their values, and ultimately find the place where they’ll not only learn, but truly thrive. Seeing them step confidently into the next stage of their lives as engaged, thoughtful global citizens is nothing short of extraordinary.”

Despite the ever-changing landscape, the Class of 2025 navigated their Sixth Form year and college matriculation process well, with impressive outcomes. In his Commencement remarks to the graduates, Head of School Matt Walter listed the graduates’ academic accomplishments as well as athletic and artistic achievements that took place over the course of their Sixth Form year. “While it would be impossible to capture or convey how grateful I am for all that you

have brought to our community, perhaps I can come close by simply celebrating proudly some of your remarkable accomplishments,” Walter said. These accomplishments included three graduates being named National Merit Commended Students, bringing the total over the last three years to 15. Many are recipients of AP Scholar awards and one student earned a gold medal on the National Latin Exam. Two students were finalists for the Presidential

— Aidan Sainte ’25 “ ”

I don’t want to just utilize my education as a means of following a career pipeline where I can make the most money, but also to help me find fulfillment and purpose in whatever I choose to pursue.

Scholars program, four students were among the top 10 in the Rhode Island Science and Engineering fair with two advancing to the International Science and Engineering Fair, and one student was the National winner in the original poem category in 2024 as part of the Poetry Out Loud competition. Artistically, the talents of the Class of 2025 were on full display through exhibition in the McEvoy Art Gallery, theatrical performances including “Mary Poppins” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and musical performances including 10 students participating in concerts as Rhode Island All-State Musicians. Additionally, 15 percent of the class has committed to playing a sport in college, a percentage that ranks well above the national average.

Educating the whole student and producing wellrounded graduates has long been a hallmark of an Abbey education. For many Ravens, this experience and the landscape described above has led them to think deeply about what they are seeking post high school from an academic, financial and lifestyle perspective.

The colleges and universities chosen by the Class of 2025 are varied and reflect a diversity of student interests. The Ivy League is represented with Columbia University and Cornell University, and the School’s tradition of graduates pursuing military service has been upheld with an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, as well as Naval and Marine ROTC Scholarships.

Some students opted not to accept invitations from the Ivy League and chose programs offered at other institutions that more specifically aligned with their interests. Highly selective schools such as Stanford University and California Institute of Technology are on this year’s matriculation list along with several other schools well known for research and selectivity such as Emory University, New York University, Rice University and Vanderbilt University.

Many students wanted to remain connected to their faith by attending a Catholic institution. The University of Notre Dame, Boston College, The College of the Holy Cross, Catholic University of America, Villanova University, Sacred Heart University, St. John Fisher University, Merrimack College, Assumption University and Providence College are the new homes for some of our newest alumni.

Aidan Sainte ’25 speaks with faculty member and Assistant Director of College Counseling Kate Smith during class.

Diane Soboski meets with Zara Okoye ’25 to review her college application checklists.

When asked what helped determine his decision about where to matriculate Aidan Sainte ’25 replied, “I ended up choosing Notre Dame for a variety of reasons, but one of the most important factors was the school’s commitment to integrating moral ethics into its curriculum. Notre Dame’s main mission is helping students develop purpose and meaning throughout their studies from a Catholic perspective, and that’s incredibly important to me. I don’t want to just utilize my education as a means of following a career pipeline where I can make the most money, but also to help me find fulfillment and purpose in whatever I choose to pursue. Notre Dame doesn’t just make students; they make ambitious scholars who dare to make meaningful change in the world.”

Seven members of this year’s graduating class will attend Northeastern University. What made Northeastern the choice for so many in 2025? Odunayo Adelaiye ’25 said, “I chose Northeastern because it reminded me of all the opportunities the Abbey gave me to thrive. Having friends from the Abbey also attending Northeastern makes the transition to college a lot less nerve-wracking! I love how even though we are all going to the same school, we are all involved in different programs and opportunities that Northeastern has to offer,” said Odunayo Adelaiye ’25. Another factor was the opportunity to begin Northeastern programs in unique locations. While a few Ravens will begin their studies at the main Boston campus, others will start with programs in New York City, London, Rome and Prague.

The Class of 2026 has been preparing their applications, and the Class of 2027 has been exploring the options in front of them. No matter the landscape or circumstance, the team in College Counseling is ready to ensure that Portsmouth Abbey graduates are wellequipped to thrive in their transition to higher education.

“The Hechinger Report”, “Forbes Magazine” and “The New York Times” were sources for this article.

Where is the Class of 2025 now?

American University (2)

Assumption University

Babson College (2)

Bentley University

Bishop’s University (2)

Boston College

California Institute of Technology

Carleton College

Clemson University

College of the Holy Cross (2)

Columbia University

Concordia University (2)

Connecticut College

Cornell University

Elon University

Emory University

Endicott College

Flagler College

Florida Atlantic University

Franklin Pierce University

George Washington University (4)

Loyola University New Orleans

Massachusetts

Maritime Academy

Merrimack College (2)

Miami University-Oxford

New York University

Northeastern University (6)

Providence College (2)

Purdue University

Rice University

Roger Williams University (3)

Rutgers University

Sacred Heart University (2)

Saint John Fisher College

Southern Methodist University (2)

St. Francis Xavier University

Stanford University

Syracuse University (2)

Tecnológico de Monterrey

The Catholic University of America

The Pennsylvania State University

The University of Tampa (2)

Trinity College

United States

Military Academy

University of Chicago

University of Dallas

University of Massachusetts-Amherst

University of Massachusetts-Boston

University of Miami (2)

University of New Hampshire

University of Notre Dame

University of Richmond

University of Utah

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Vanderbilt University

Villanova University

Washington University

COMMUNITY IN ACTION:

Spotlight on Faculty & Students

PORTSMOUTH ABBEY SCHOOL

ADIÓS POR AHORA – GOODBYE FOR NOW

Roberto Guerenabarrena, affectionately known as “Señor,” made a profound mark on the Portsmouth Abbey School community over the last 26 years. Aside from taking on roles as a Spanish teacher and squash coach, he is a trusted confidant and friend. Roberto spent his years at the Abbey looking out for everyone he crossed paths with, recognizing fellow faculty, students, and staff. For all, he led and met with care and kindness. It’s hard to fathom Abbey life without spotting him teaching or riding his bike on campus on a regular basis.

As a student, you may become consumed with what Abbey life has to offer...classes, practice, games twice a week or perhaps reading lines and running rehearsals in preparation for the next stage play. We know our teachers’ names and possibly members of their family, but we rarely know their stories and where they came from. We may overlook the reasons why they became a teacher and what motivates them to keep going. Everyone has a story, and if you take the time to listen, you may learn a lesson or two.

In high school, Guerenabarrena had ambitions of playing Jai alai in the United States. He already knew he was going to have a contract to play in the big leagues. Although he was ready to move, he faced a major barrier. To obtain a visa, Guerenabarrena had to serve in the military. After high school, he joined the military for a year and a half, working artillery. After serving in the

TOP: Roberto formally recognized upon his retirement at the Class of 2025 Commencement.

RIGHT: Guerenabarrena’s first yearbook photo as a faculty member in 2000.

military, Guerenabarrena left the Basque Country to play jai alai in Barcelona. After one season, he returned to play in the Basque Country for one season. He then accepted a contract to play in West Palm Beach, Florida in August, 1987. Six months later, he moved to Newport, Rhode Island.

Three months into the season, Guerenabarrena was met with another major challenge: All the jai alai teams, fourteen to be exact, went on strike due to unfair labor practices. The strike lasted three years, and is known as the longest strike in the history of professional sports in the United States. During the strike, Guerenabarrena was forced to pick up odd jobs to make ends meet. Throughout this time, he found himself washing dishes, cleaning homes, painting and landscaping.

“We tried to get jobs and nobody wanted us,” Guerenabarrena said. “I didn’t have any additional skills because I dedicated my life to playing jai alai.”

When the strike ended, Guerenabarrena enrolled in school. He wanted to be prepared just in case another strike occurred in the future. He received a degree in Radio and TV Production from New England Institute of Technology before attending Rhode Island College to study secondary education.

“I thought I’d love to be a teacher some day after my career (playing jai alai) was over,” Guerenabarrena said.

After Guerenabarrena finished his student teaching, he decided to pursue a full-time job as a teacher, because saw the decline in jai alai.

In 1999, Guerenabarrena accepted an invitation from Nancy Brzys, former head of the Modern Language department, to visit the Portsmouth Abbey campus. From that moment, he knew it was where he wanted to be.

“It was the best decision that I ever made,” Guerenabarrena said. “For me, this place is home. This is where I grew up. This is where I have become who I am now.”

The Abbey provided the opportunity to meet others from different countries, who had different experiences and opinions. Teaching at the Abbey helped Guerenabarrena learn to accept those differences, while offering kindness and help, especially to those who needed it the most.

“The most important thing for me being here is how much I have learned and grown as a person,” Guerenabarrena said. “I taught here, but the students have taught me so much, too.”

Anyone who has been a part of, or has walked past a class being taught by Guerenabarrena has encountered an engaging environment that is as much progressive pedagogy as it is performance art. Music, laughter and dancing were required elements in his syllabus.

Señor Guerenabarrena kept up with the latest pedagogical techniques which included new technologies as well as the classic standards of singing in the classroom. He often invited the School’s Manquehue participants to share their talents with Abbey students.

Spotlight on Faculty & Students

Guerenabarrena said his goal for every student entering his classroom was to enjoy learning something new. He believed that the most important thing he could do as a teacher was to inspire students to want to learn more.

“Un buen maestro es aquel que, enseñando poco, hace nacer en el estudiante un gran deseo de aprender,” Guerenabarrena said. (A great teacher is one who, through minimal instruction, cultivates a lasting desire to learn within their students.)

If you grew up in a small city like Newport, you dream of all the places you could go. If you’re fortunate enough, you meet teachers and mentors along the way who encourage you to dream big. They motivate you to look beyond what you already know and introduce you to a world you’ve only discovered through textbooks. They open doors to new possibilities. Guerenabarrena did that for this author and many others.

An important aspect of Señor’s teaching was centered on experiential learning. For many years he led a program in the historic city of Salamanca, Spain. Several Haney Fellowships were also implemented during these trips, including my own. Memories of the experience are still vivid in my mind and the long-lasting relationships that developed are some of my most treasured. The experience gave me the confidence to accept that I could travel to my heart’s desire and choose paths most would be hesitant to pursue. Studying in Salamanca is certainly an opportunity impossible to forget.

For many, he was the consummate mentor, patiently working with younger or new faculty on teaching and curriculum skills. His door was always open and welcoming. In the eyes of others, Guerenabarrena has retired, but the only thing that has changed for him is his permanent residence. He sees himself still being involved in the Abbey community. He is not sure in what way just yet, but he knows that he will always return.

While he is away from campus, Guerenabarrena will be spending his time with his parents in the Basque Country. He feels like the Abbey afforded him the time to travel and experience all the things he wanted to do over the years, so this new chapter will be dedicated to spending more time with his family and friends. He’ll also have more time for some of his favorite things like drawing and painting.

“I am very social,” Guerenabarrena said. Back home in Spain, he says, “I like to go out a lot for coffee with my friends. My town is very small. Everybody knows everybody. People don’t move out, so when I go home, I see all my childhood friends, family, and neighbors. Every day is social all the time. That’s what I missed the most.”

When asked what words of advice he’d leave for everyone at the Abbey, Guerenabarrena said, “Meet everybody in your community. Learn who they are and be kind to everyone.”

With that, he rode off on his bike, ready for his next adventure.

Brianna Carter ’03 is a former student of Señor Guerenabarrena. She completed her Haney Fellowship in Salamanca, Spain.

The Salamanca program in Spain was a favorite among students.

Riding off to retirement.

THERE’S STILL SO MUCH TO DISCOVER

She didn’t know it was a body at first.

Dr. Kristin Harper ’09 was in a trench one summer afternoon in the Italian countryside, crouched under the Orvieto sun with a trowel in hand, carefully brushing away centuries of earth. She had just uncovered the edge of something that didn’t quite look like pottery. It wasn’t her first excavation, but this time the soil gave differently. What emerged was a human skeleton, her first. In the frenzied excitement that accompanies an archaeological find, she leaned in too quickly, catching the fragile skull with her hand and crushing it. It was, as she now says with a grin, “exactly how I got the nickname.”

Years later they still call her “Skullcrusher.”

Today, Harper is back at Portsmouth Abbey School, no longer a student poring over Latin vocabulary, but a teacher in the Classics, History and Humanities departments, drawing upon two decades of archaeological fieldwork and academic scholarship. Her return to the School where it all began feels both personal and providential. The young woman who once wrote Latin memory songs with her classmate is now the teacher nudging students toward “eureka” moments, sometimes by expounding the finer points of Roman construction technology, sometimes by evoking the frisson of discovery that appears when uncovering the thumbprint of a potter who lived 3,000 years ago.

“I always talk about my Humanities class at Portsmouth Abbey,” Harper says. “That’s when I realized I loved big ideas and books and asking questions like, ‘How should we act as human beings?’ I think where I am now started there.”

A self-professed “armchair archaeologist” as a teenager, Harper found the spark for her career in unexpected places: the dusty corners of ancient ruins, yes, but also the Portsmouth Abbey classroom. Her time at the Abbey, she says, taught her to ask questions and stay with them until she found a satisfactory answer. It gave her the confidence to approach highly accomplished teachers and ask questions or start up meaningful conversations. That early habit of inquiry, equal parts spiritual, intellectual, and practical, took her from Portsmouth to Saint Anselm College, where a Great Books program and a fateful dig in Italy changed her life.

The dig was at Coriglia, an Etrusco-Roman settlement near Orvieto. Harper had also won an internship at a publishing house in Boston but opted instead for the less glamorous and what would eventually become the more meaningful path.

“It was a field school,” she recalls, “and I ended up working there for several years.” She advanced from student to site assistant and eventually opened a satellite site at Saint Ansano, where her ill-fated encounter with the skeleton earned her that unforgettable nickname.

“That’s archaeology,” she says. “You only get to conduct the experiment once. You hit it once, you’ve found it. You hit it twice, you’ve broken it.”

For Harper, archaeology isn’t about finding treasure or earning celebrity. It’s about memory, context and the quiet dignity of ordinary lives. One of her most prized finds wasn’t a gold coin or a figurine, though she’s found those too, but a single thumbprint preserved in clay. “You realize you’re the first person to touch this in thousands of years,” she says. “It’s the closest thing we have to time travel.”

Harper’s doctoral research focused on inscriptions, ancient writing scratched into stone or clay, often ephemeral and easily lost. She explains that less than one percent of inscriptions from the classical world have been found. And yet, over 1,000 new ones are discovered every year. “It’s a reminder,” she says, “that we’re still learning. There’s still so much more to discover.”

Dr. Kristin Harper ’09 with her first unearthed skeleton.

In one field season, her team found what some might dismiss as trivial: a ladle.

“Not the kind of thing people get excited about,” she admits, smiling. But this ritualistic, stone ladle was found high in the Cretan mountains at a peak sanctuary site. And it confirmed something quite significant: ritual practices extended to places scholars had previously overlooked. In Harper’s world, context is everything.

“Everything you find gives you a little bit more of a piece of the story,” she explains. “It’s not like Indiana Jones, where you know exactly what you’re looking for. Sometimes you’re just uncovering a wall, and you don’t even realize it’s a wall yet.” She points out the analogue between this idea and the young student’s search for knowledge.

Before returning to Portsmouth Abbey as a teacher, Harper spent a decade teaching in higher education, juggling large general education classes where passion was often drowned in student obligation.

“ That’s archaeology. You only get to conduct the experiment once. You hit it once, you’ve found it. You hit it twice, you’ve broken it.”

“I started noticing how little interest there was in some of these massive courses on the part of the students, even though I was putting so much energy into them,” she says. What she missed was the joy of shared curiosity, working with a group of students who wanted to be there, who were passionate.

She found that joy once again at the Abbey.

“There’s something about this place,” she says. “I knew I would find students here who were passionate, because that’s what I had experienced as a student.”

In her Latin and Humanities classes, Harper recasts the ancient as the immediate. She brings students pot sherds, fragments of pottery, to handle. She tells them about Roman self-healing concrete. She describes the Pantheon as both an architectural marvel and a spiritual mystery, hypothesizes how it must have looked to Michelangelo, who walked beneath its dome before painting the famous vaulted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

And when she talks about the thumbprint, or about kneeling on a skeleton’s chest unknowingly for an hour, staring into the remnants of its eye sockets, students listen. Because what she’s really talking about is something they’re beginning to

recognize all on their own: the mysterious, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes funny but the human connection between past and present.

As a Benedictine school, Portsmouth Abbey fosters a special kind of intellectual life rooted in tradition and open inquiry, grounded in the deep daily rhythms of “ora et labora,” a Latin phrase meaning to pray and work. Harper’s experience, both as student and teacher, fits naturally within that landscape. Her academic work on early Christianity intersects with the Abbey’s monastic library holdings. Her fascination with how language shapes culture dovetails with the School’s classical focus. And her field notebooks—full of weather data, trench partner names, and the emotional archaeology of discovery— echo the Benedictine commitment to daily discipline and still, quiet presence.

“Whether it’s through archaeology or religious practice or literature,” she says, “we want to feel connected to capital-H Humanity, all of everything that’s ever existed.”

When asked what future archaeologists will find and learn about our time after they’ve sifted through all of the digital artifacts we’ll leave behind, all the text messages, the music files, the gaming consoles, Harper points out that some of those artifacts might not be playable. That much of our contemporary world, for all its immediacy, seems to be built on disappearing platforms.

So what will remain?

“We have Cicero’s speeches,” she says, “because someone wrote them down, translated them, passed them on. But we also have someone’s shopping list from the ancient world. We have a bad review someone left of a gold ingot seller in Hittite cuneiform. People never change.”

She pauses. “We still worry about who’s going to like us, who we’ll go to the dance with, what we’ll do after graduation, and whether we’ll ever get home to see our dog again.”

When she’s not teaching, during the summers mostly, she still digs. Her most recent project, on the Grecian island of Naxos, focuses on prehistory. The project centers on Neanderthals,

Digging on the Isle of Naxos in Greece.

early modern humans, and the possibility that pygmy elephants once passed through the area. The site includes cave shelters made of chert, a quartzy rock perfect for tool-making. Harper is excited to speak about her group’s findings once they are published. She lights ups up talking about the means of going about this work: GIS mapping, early hunting strategies, paleolithic water levels. New technologies are changing what’s possible.

Dig life, she notes when asked to paint a realistic picture of the day-to-day life of an archaeologist in the field, isn’t glamorous. “It’s murder on your knees. I always bring kneepads. And goggles. I once caught conjunctivitis from sand in the eyes. And a massage when I get home, if I can.”

With Portsmouth Abbey entering its centennial year, Harper’s presence on campus feels like both a return and a looking forward. She’s already floated the idea of a National Archaeology Day-style dig with students. “I’ve been trying to get Brother Joseph to let me dig,” she laughs. She sees the School’s archives

as a potential gold mine of student life, filled with the kinds of records that will one day matter as much as those ancient inscriptions.

“If I ever find something with an inscription,” she says, “I think I could die happy.”

For now, she’s content working with students and helping them shape their minds for the world to come, not just excavating ruins. She reminds her students and colleagues alike that education, at its best, is not about certainty but about broadening possibility, about the slow process of uncovering what we didn’t know was there, about preserving context, about honoring those who have come before us.

Or, as Harper puts it, “being part of the story of the people you’re studying.”

Even if, sometimes, it means crushing a skull or two along the way.

— Gary Sheppard, Ph.D.

SERVICE, CULTURE AND CONNECTION IN ARIZONA’S NAVAJO NATION

This past March, six Portsmouth Abbey students, Allison Miller ’25, Odunayo Adelaiye ’25, John Paul Devaney ’25, Alana Collins ’25, Sophia Wehrs ’27 and Cece Raposa ’28 traveled west for the School’s first-ever service immersion trip to the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

(L-R) Odunayo Adelaiye ’25, Allison Miller ’25, Cece Raposa ’28, John Paul Devaney ’25, Sophia Wehrs ’27 and Alana Collins ’25 were the first to participate in an immersion trip to the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

Led by Theology Department Chair Marc Lavallee, who is also the director of community service, and faculty member Mary Catherine Pietropaoli, who teaches English and Humanities, the group spent the week living and working alongside the Brothers of the Sacred Heart at St. Anne’s Mission in Klagetoh, an hour from the Arizona-New Mexico border.

St. Anne’s Mission, home to Brothers Victor, Martin and Charles and Sister Monica, serves as a church and community hub for nearby Navajo communities. Its ministry is simple: to

One of many encounters with friendly, four-legged friends.

respond to whatever the people need, whether that’s repairing a roof, offering free household items or running the monthly food distribution. During their stay, the six students re-roofed a barn, reinforced the foundation of a home, cleaned the church, cleared brush for a garden and packaged food for many families. They adapted easily to a schedule that changed by the hour, a departure from the highly structured rhythm of life at Portsmouth Abbey. “The kids rolled with everything, even cold showers and a van that was falling apart, and they brought the Abbey’s sense of community to the Mission,” Lavallee noted.

The trip provided opportunities to experience the beauty and traditions of Navajo life. The group explored Window Rock and the stunning red cliffs of Canyon de Chelly National Monument. They attended Sunday Mass with the parish community, followed by a potluck meal for anyone who came through the doors. The students also witnessed a traditional smudging ceremony, which includes the burning of cedar incense and blessing with a feather. They prayed the Stations of the Cross enculturated with Native saints and themes, which acknowledged historical injustices while affirming the dignity and faith of the people.

“Evenings were a time for reflection, sharing observations about the day’s work, the stories they had heard, and the resilience they witnessed,” Pietropaoli explained. The trip offered moments of joy and connection: generous conversations with residents at their homes, playful encounters with the many

friendly stray dogs (“Red” quickly became a favorite), and the quiet beauty of the desert landscape.

For the students, the trip was a lesson in presence; in listening before speaking, and in seeing service as a shared life rather than a one-way act of charity. “The hospitality given to us was incredible,” Pietropaoli said. “The people we met were so open, even in the midst of hardship.” Lavallee reflected, “Two things should happen on a service trip: you do meaningful work and you learn. Our students did both.”

For John Paul Devaney ’25, “gaining the knowledge that not all states in the Union have long straight highways and tall dark trees, that not every American is like me, and that poverty doesn’t look the same across state lines,” was perhaps the most significant impact of the trip. He was quick to add however, that his favorite moment of the trip was the fivehour ride from the airport to the Mission because, “you haven’t had fun until you’ve been in a big van, being driven in the dead of night, around windy, mountainous roads, by none other than Dr. Lavallee!”

The week ended with gratitude for the work accomplished, the relationships formed, and the deeper understanding of what it means to live out service, prayer and community in a place where resilience and joy endure.

Allison Miller ’25 fixes a window.

SERYN “ADEL” LEE ’25 WINS CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE

A presenter during this year’s Art and Science Expo, Portsmouth Abbey School Class of 2025 graduate, Seryn “Adel” Lee, was also the winner of the Congressional App Challenge sponsored by Representative Gabe Amo for the 1st Congressional District.

The App Challenge is an annual competition to encourage participation in STEM fields in the United States. Open to middle and high school students, the Challenge involves the creation and submission of an original app. Participants may compete individually or in teams with up to four members. Winners are invited to Washington, D.C. where their apps are displayed in the United States Capitol during the annual #HouseOFCode festival in the spring.

Lee entered the competition with her app, JENA, an engagement platform for senior citizens to share their time and talent with others, particularly those of a younger generation.

Seniors rich in experience, with talents accumulated over their lives are considered social assets in Korean society. Most of the retired seniors that Lee knew or met loved to spend time with children, although a decline in large families seemed to make that difficult. At the same time, Lee suggested, there was also a growing population of underprivileged children who lack education and guidance. She wondered if connecting the two groups would offer a solution for seniors seeking volunteer work and young people seeking education and advice.

With both parents working during her childhood in Seoul, Korea, Lee’s grandparents played a large role in caring for her. She said, “It takes a village to raise a child,” fits her experience. “They always had many friends around, and all of them treated me like their own granddaughter, sharing their wisdom and knowledge with me,” she told Representative Amo’s office after being notified as the winner.

Lee wanted to develop an app that would be easy to use for seniors. JENA is a social venture more than two years in the making. Lee says she is committed to running Jena for many years because she believes it is the “best way to make the community around me a better place.”

Adel Lee ’25 discusses her app with Congressman Gabe Amo, representative in the 1st Congressional District of R.I.

Spotlight on Faculty & Students

ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) SCHOLAR AWARDS

Fifty-six students at Portsmouth Abbey School earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams in 2025.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement program (AP) provides willing and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 18 percent of the 1.8 million high school students worldwide who took AP Exams in 2025 performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

AP SCHOLAR AWARD

Twenty-six students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams, with scores of 3 or higher:

John Blake ’25

Haydn Bordelon ’26

Lila Bragan ’25

Matthew Burgner ’25

Margot Campau ’25

Xiaoran Chen ’27

Sienna Chin Gerding ’25

Brody Cimaglia ’26

Charlotte Colby ’25

Mateo Cristiani ’25

John Paul Devaney ’25

Brigid Dowd ’26

Michael Foley ’26

Jackson Forbes ’26

Drew Hayden ’26

Sebastian Kamdani ’26

Conoray Lawantara ’25

Yingxuan Li ’26

Levi Maguire ’25

Chizaram Okoye ’25

Xueting Qin ’25

John Smith ’26

William Sutherland ’25

Miles Ventura ’26

Zihan Zeng ’27

Pinyan Zhu ’27

AP SCHOLAR WITH HONOR

Eleven students qualified for the AP National Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higheron four or more of these exams:

Odunayo Adelaiye ’25

Aralyn Bradshaw ’25

Alana Collins ’25

Zhengtang Dai ’26

Abigail Harrison ’25

Seryn Lee ’25

Ruitong Liu ’27

Allison Miller ’25

Alex Wang ’26

Qianrui Zhao ’26

Ximing Zhou ’26

AP SCHOLAR WITH DISTINCTION AWARD

Nineteen students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams:

Dylan Galbreth ’25

Nathan Heller ’25

Ming Jin ’26

Donghyun Kang ’26

Mateo Ley ’25

Bohan Li ’25

Isabella Li ’25

Ganxi Luo ’26

Ryan Ma ’25

Jinsung Park ’26

Sauroo Park ’25

Ziyu Rui ’25

Aidan Sainte ’25

Jennifer Shon ’25

Lucy Wang ’26

Jasmine Wu ’25

Hanze Yuan ’25

Enyu Zhang ’25

Ruize Zhen ’26

In addition to being AP Scholars, Portsmouth Abbey School students Alaina Zhang and Jennifer Shon represented Rhode Island at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair held at The Ohio State University in May. Nearly 1,700 students from 62 countries participated in the science research competition.

Zhang received a special award from the Bruno Kessler Foundation, a leading center for interdisciplinary scientific research in Trento, Italy, and from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which sponsors an award recognizing outstanding projects in ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather and climate sciences.

Shon also received a fourth place Grand Prize in the animal sciences category. The students found their names on the Wall of Finalists, and as delegates of Rhode Island, were sought out by University President Walter “Ted” Carter Jr., a native of the Ocean State who is also a past president of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport.

PURPOSEFUL VISION IN ACTION: THE 2025 HANEY FELLOWS

Earlier this year, we introduced the newest recipients of the Haney Fellowship, seven Fifth-Form students whose projects reflect the spirit of exploration, service and creativity at the heart of Portsmouth Abbey School’s Mission. Established in 1998 by William “Bill” Haney III ’80 in honor of his father, William Haney, Jr., the Fellowship empowers students to dedicate their summers to ambitious, self-directed work that seeks to make a meaningful impact on their communities and beyond.

The projects faithfully represent the fellows’ desire to embody the qualities of curiosity, stewardship and purposeful action that characterize Portsmouth Abbey’s Benedictine heritage.

Zhengtang “Charlie” Dai launched his cross-cultural literature program in Shenzhen, China, which translated literature classics into comic books to entice young readers. The summer was a time of careful groundwork: finalizing outlines, refining instructional plans, and assembling the creative resources to help bridge language, culture and imagination.

The Fourth of July parade was a highlight during Jack Forbes’ Haney Fellowship experience.

Dino De Marzio brought his vision for a free wrestling camp to life from June 30 to July 3 at Iron Faith Wrestling Club in Bristol, Rhode Island. For three hours each day, campers trained, played, and built confidence, encouraged by De Marzio’s focus on resilience, teamwork and self-respect. With water, snacks, prizes, and encouragement on offer, the camp left a positive impression. De Marzio followed up with families to track how many participants continued wrestling, with the goal of turning this short camp into a seed for longterm growth.

Jack Forbes traveled to Los Angeles to volunteer at PALS, a unique summer camp pairing young adults with Down Syndrome with peers for a week of shared experiences and friendship. Partnered with Tanner, Forbes served as both roommate and daily companion, joining Tanner on adventures that ranged from the structured to the spontaneous. Over the week, he saw Tanner’s confidence blossom, a transformation he appreciates when recalling the young man’s

“smile getting brighter every day” and his ability to “branch out and start talking to people outside the group.” The experience reinforced Forbes’s focus on in the power of inclusion and the beauty of communities built on understanding.

Donghyun “Ethan” Kang immersed himself in the shelter and rescue community in Seoul, South Korea, where he is producing a documentary to raise awareness about dog adoption rescuing from the meat trade. From feeding and cleaning shelters to partnering with organizations such as Korean Paws Rescue, Free Korean Dogs, and Jindo Love Rescue, Kang has reached for a balance of hands-on service and creative promotion. His summer included virtual adoption events, interviews with shelter staff, classroom outreach, and social media advocacy, all leading toward screenings and interactive workshops designed to inspire compassion and action.

Megan O’Connor has been gathering her community, both literally and figuratively, around knitting needles and crochet hooks. Her workshops in her local library are producing handmade hats and comfort items for cancer patients, with participants meeting weekly to work together. By distributing kits to anyone who wants to join, O’Connor

Spotlight on Faculty & Students

has extended the circle of her project well beyond the library walls, transforming yarn into warmth and solidarity.

Jinsung Park returned to South Korea to lead environmental workshops for marginalized communities, encouraging sustainable practices through education, clean-ups and collaborative events.

Ximing “Cici” Zhou spent the month of June on location in rural Zhejiang, China, documenting the traditional rice–fish symbiosis agricultural system. Interviewing farmers, scientists, and policy makers, she has captured both the technical and human dimensions of this sustainable practice. Zhou’s final short film will share not just a farming method, but a living heritage.

The Haney Fellowship affirms what Portsmouth Abbey School has long believed: that education does not end when you leave Cory’s Lane. This summer’s Fellows are charting their courses grounded in curiosity, values and service. Wherever they end

up carrying on their work, they carry with them the legacy of Mr. Haney, a teacher who believed that life’s most important lessons are learned through engagement with the world.

OUTSIDE AND IN, REVIEWS ARE POSITIVE FOR NEW STUDENT CENTER

From its copper screen panels to its smoothies, Portsmouth Abbey School’s new Student Center is receiving rave reviews.

The new construction has received multiple awards including the Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture from the New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architecture, and was one of 10 winning projects in the Copper Development Association’s 18th annual North American Copper in Architecture Awards (NACIA).

According to the NACIA, the tradition of celebrating copper design and craftsmanship was upheld with entries featuring architectural copper and copper alloys in roof and wall systems, facades and custom-fabricated elements. The winners were selected by an experienced panel of judges

Cici Zhou (Form VI) documented the traditional rice-fish symbiosis agricultural system.

based on their evaluations of system design, the integration of copper alloys with the overall building design, craftsmanship, construction and sustainability.

Submitted to the NACIA by Crocker Architectural Sheet Metal of North Oxford, Massachusetts, the organization’s review described the 48-ounce thick, custom perforated and pre-patinated copper screen panels on the new Student Center as functional and symbolic. The panels serve to moderate heat and solar gain, but share a design that nods to historic buildings on the Portsmouth Abbey campus.

DLSS Manufacturing of Burlington, North Carolina executed the copper panel patination process. ikon.5 architects of New York, New York designed the building.

Whether it’s smores at the fire pit, spike ball on the front lawn, or singing and dancing on the steps with the School’s Modern Band, the Student Center has fulfilled the vision of becoming a gathering place for students. The fully-equipped grill, fondly named Tuck Shop, is often filled with students enjoying pub-style snacks such as chicken tenders and fries, pizza, smoothies and more.

Situated at the north end of the building, the 24-foot-tall fireplace is a focal point with warm conversations in mind.

The terrace or “porch” at sunset.

WHO THEY ARE

STUDENTS

STATES AND COUNTRIES REPRESENTED

Faith, Formation, and The Rule

St. Benedict, as St. John Henry Newman noted, “found the world, physical and social, in ruins.”

He was born only four years after the 476 AD fall of the Roman Empire. Society had just seen its foundations, from law to learning to morality, dramatically upended. Though St. Benedict himself was of noble birth, and presumably insulated from some of these effects, his time visiting Rome left him disturbed, as Father Alban Butler wrote, “by the licentiousness of the Roman youth.” Convinced there had to be a better way, St. Benedict retreated to the mountains, where he lived first as a hermit, and then, when his holiness attracted other monks to him, as an abbot. After founding a dozen monasteries, St. Benedict wrote down his official Rule: 73 chapters of instructions for monks.

The Rule of St. Benedict describes both halves of the unofficial Benedictine motto “Ora et Labora.” In addition to the granular what psalms should be chanted at what times on what days it can be thought of more broadly as an instruction manual for human beings living in a broken world, advising on obedience, leadership, communal living, study, and hospitality.

While there is no evidence St. Benedict intended to found a specific religious order, the Rule soon endured and flourished

throughout Europe. Monks identifying themselves as “Benedictines” set to praying, converting, restoring, teaching, and building, preserving faith and wisdom for generations to come.

One doesn’t need to squint too hard to see parallels from St. Benedict’s time to the modern day. Technological, social, and existential upheavals have left many adrift as we face a crisis of meaning. For numerous individuals, our current age presents temptations of isolation, purposelessness, and impermanence. Inducements to vice and addiction abound.

Indeed, philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre closed his 1981 work: “After Virtue” by noting that the West awaits “a new —doubtless very different St. Benedict.”

This past spring, two very different young men of quite diverse backgrounds made striking commitments of faith at Portsmouth Abbey. As they progress into new roles within the Abbey community, they have been called to show us, in quite different ways, the value of the Rule of St. Benedict, as relevant now as it was a millennium and a half ago.

FATHER BENEDICT MARIA, O.S.B.

Originally from India’s Andaman Islands, Father Benedict Maria was working as a software engineer in Philadelphia when he felt the call to the priesthood. Though he initially considered becoming a Jesuit or a missionary, the Lord’s pointing to the balance of monastic life, as well as his own desire for communal living, led him to Portsmouth. After his monastic formation in Portsmouth and St. Louis and his 2021 sacred vows, he attended St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Florida, near an arm of the Jesus Youth move-

BROTHER BASIL PIETTE, O.S.B.

Brother Basil Piette grew up in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, just 30 miles from Portsmouth Abbey. He cites the example of his parents and grandfather, as well as fellow parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo, as important witnesses in the development of his own faith even amid widespread apostasy in his generation. He was also positively influenced by St. Charles Borromeo’s Jesuit pastors and the Holy Cross Fathers who taught him at Stonehill College. Religious life, therefore, had early appeal, but

ment that was pivotal in his own faith foundation. He was ordained a priest on May 2 of this year, kicking off a weekend of celebratory Masses, blessings, and parties attended by dozens of family members and friends from India, Pennsylvania, Florida, and beyond.

“One of my favorite things about his class now, is our discussions,” one student said. “He is open to every question someone asks, answers honestly and goes in depth into his answer, making sure we understand and making us think. I have learned to think deeper into questions and to ask ‘why’ more.”

he acknowledges he was not ready to make that step directly out of school.

Thoughtful and ever-humble, Brother Basil smiled during the interview thinking about his postcollegiate experiences, explaining that “God writes straight with crooked lines.” He spent three years volunteering and traveling with the Franciscan Friars of the Sacred Heart. He also connected with St. Benedict’s Abbey in Benet Lake, Wisconsin and Glastonbury Abbey in Cohasset, Massachusetts, before landing at Portsmouth Abbey. “I had to go halfway across the country,” he concludes, “to find I belonged a half hour from home.”

Father Benedict Maria, O.S.B.

Br. Basil receives his cowl. photo courtesy of portsmouth abbey monastery

Following a four-year discernment and formation process here in Portsmouth, Brother Basil made his solemn monastic vows on May 18. While stability was one of those vows, he’ll actually spend his next four years at Christ the King at Westminster Abbey in British Columbia, a Benedictine-run seminary that prepares men for both the diocesan and monastic priesthoods.

Brother Basil recognizes there are many tasks that can support the school’s students, faculty and staff and he would be happy to take on what he calls “behind the scenes work.”

THE RULE

The opening line of the Rule — “Listen, my child, with the ear of your heart” — may be its most famous, as well as its most impactful for Father Benedict, Brother Basil, and the Abbey community.

Father Benedict notes “listen” is translated from the Latin “obsculta,” which is also the root of our word “obedience.” By truly and humbly listening to others—that is, to what is meant rather than what might be directly spoken—we live more peacefully with one another.

Brother Basil particularly praises the humility that “imbues the text from beginning to end.” “Our culture,” he continues, “could use a lot more humility, before God and each other.”

One of the work’s longest sections, Chapter VII, gives 12 concrete steps that allow the follower to, as St. Benedict

writes, “arrive at that fear of God which, being perfect, puts fear right outside.” In addition to enjoining humility in its followers, the Rule itself shows the humble spirit of its holy author. After all its instruction, the conclusion in Chapter LXXIII acknowledges that this is “a little rule” that was “written for beginners.” Fuller holiness must come from reading the Scriptures and studying the example of those who have come before us— learning will remain lifelong.

Both young monks cite Chapter IV, “Instruments of Good Works,” as an important, practical list of things to do and not to do. While some are obvious, many are interwoven with more complex spiritual matters and explored throughout the rest of the text. Tucked into the list alongside items pulled straight from the commandments and corporal works of mercy is the timeless advice to “keep death ever before your eyes.” Many moderns might recoil at the idea of “memento mori,” but Father Benedict

believes this advice is crucial for living a good life, because it leads to “living more lovingly.”

Though the Rule was written specifically for monks, Father Benedict and Brother Basil feel strongly that it has lessons for the laity as well. The Rule’s structure, Father Benedict says, “gives a structure with the purpose of fostering love, to help us fulfill the two greatest commandments”— that is, to love God and our neighbor. Brother Basil notes the Rule historically has also served as an inspiration for business practices and family life, for holiness is “not exclusive to a certain caste of people.”

Flexibility is also key when working with young people. While Portsmouth Abbey asks a lot of our students, the School stays a place of balance, achieved not only by its Benedictine foundation, but also by the presence of the monastic community, something that remains unique among most independent schools. To interact daily with Abbot Michael Brunner, Father Edward Mazuski, Father Benedict, Brother Basil and other monks is a gift for students to treasure not only for the exposure to their spirit and character, but also for the ways they demonstrate that balance is achieved by becoming and remaining open to the flow of God’s plan for us.

Students are encouraged to excel in many fields, from academics to athletics to the arts to spiritual life. Thus, the multi-sport athlete — who also makes the dean’s list, takes part in fine or performing arts, serves at Mass or as a school leader — is still the Abbey’s model. As we look to the future, we also rely on

the Rule’s application to everyday life to help connect the monastic and School communities even more strongly by encouraging familiarity not only with the School’s vision statement that calls for us to be a “community characterized by friendship and joy,” but also to the key Benedictine values of Hospitality, Conversatio and Stability.

Head of School Matt Walter opened his remarks to students this year with, “The Rule of St. Benedict instructs monks of a monastery to welcome all guests as if they are Christ himself.” The School community thus encounters “classmates, teammates, housemates, colleagues, faculty, staff and guests with a warm welcome that fosters spiritual growth for both us and the other, cultivating humility and the spirit of charity and peace. We both seek and find hospitality when we value and show politeness and kindness,” he said.

He went on to add that Stability is “a rootedness to this place, where you will have encountered God in the daily rhythm of life and to which you will return for years to come as it becomes a touchstone by which you mark your continued intellectual and spiritual growth.”

The stability Walter defined was evident during the School’s Reunion Weekend. In his homily on September 21, Abbot Michael Brunner, O.S.B., spoke about this and the value of Conversatio, or what is often referred to as “conversion,” a lifelong effort to change and better ourselves. “It is not a one-time event,” he preached. “It is a process all through life of becoming more and more like the person God intended us to be.”

We both seek and find hospitality when we value and show politeness and kindness. “ ”

HEAD OF SCHOOL MATT WALTER P’18 ’20

The lived witness of Father Benedict and Brother Basil reminds us that the Rule’s central insights are not relics of a vanished past but rather they are living commitments.

Hospitality, Conversatio, and Stability together form a pattern of life that shapes our current School community as surely as it has shaped monasteries for centuries. Hospitality reminds us that to receive the other is to receive Christ himself. Conversatio teaches that life is never finished but always turning again toward God. Stability roots us in a place and people, training us to grow by staying faithful in the long rhythm of daily prayer, work, and friendship.

At Portsmouth, these values are not abstractions. They are embodied in the monks and in the life of the school, in classrooms and chapels, in the houses and on the fields, in the conversations between faculty and students. The Rule shows that balance is not passivity but attentive openness to what God is doing. It teaches us that faith, formation and community are inseparable pieces. Abbot Michael also recently spoke directly to students about living in a time when all are exposed to a barrage of misinformation coming from both sides of the social and political

spectrum, and how Portsmouth Abbey strives to be a place of truth. He also noted the three key Benedictine values, mentioning that the most basic, hospitality, translates at the Abbey into “being polite, courteous, and respectful of others and ourselves, and knowing and acting on the truth.”

“We look to the wisdom and guidance of the Church and to our own conscience formed in the light of that truth. We should all pray that the Holy Spirit breaks through the fog of disinformation and guides us with wisdom. We are truly blessed to have such freedom as we do, but it is a great responsibility,” he said.

To live by the Rule is to learn how to stand firm in it, to cultivate lives that are generous, steady, and capable of joy. As students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, friends, and monks together, we inherit this gift. If we listen with the ear of our hearts, as St. Benedict asked, we will discover in our own day what his first followers discovered in theirs: a way of life rooted deeply enough in faith to endure, and supple enough to meet the unique needs of each new generation.

Humanitas Summer Symposium Highlights

and renowned author

The 16th annual “Humanitas Summer Symposium,” in collaboration with the Providence College Humanities Program, was held June 13-14 at Portsmouth. The theme, “Before and Above All Things: Christian Perspectives on Healthcare,” was inspired directly from “The Rule of Saint Benedict, “which instructs: “Care of the sick must rank above and before all else, so that they may truly be served as Christ.” It addressed the challenges of contemporary healthcare and called upon leading scholars, public intellectuals, ecclesial leaders, missionaries, and healthcare professionals to recommit to serving Christ by heeding the Benedictine call to care for the sick.

The symposium kicked off with an opening reception and dinner, followed by a keynote lecture from Dr. Susan Holman, senior research professor at Valparaiso University, titled, “The Sacred Science of Medical Arts: Lessons from Early Christian Hospitals.”

Keynote speaker

R.J. Snell.

Several panel presentations from leading scholars and healthcare professionals were featured on the symposium’s second day including: “Christ-centered Health”, with Leah Libresco-Sargent, author of “The Dignity of Dependence” and Dr. Tommy Heyne of Massachusetts General Hospital, moderated by Dr. Stephen Zins, chair of the Science Department at Portsmouth Abbey School. “Healthcare and Christian Anthropology” with Dr. Christina Valenzuela, founder of Pearl & Thistle, and Dr. Nancy Hernandez Heyne of Massachusetts General Hospital, moderated by Dr. Tim Flanigan ’75 P’06 ’09 ’11 ’19 who is also a board member for both the School and the Portsmouth Institute. And “Biomedical Ethics and Catholic Higher Education” with Dr. Gina Noia of Providence College, Dr. Patrick Clark from the University of Scranton, and Dr. John Meinert of Benedictine College, which was moderated by Dr. Jim Keating from Providence College.

Portsmouth Institute Executive Director Dr. Darryl De Marzio and Anne De Marzio.

Keynote speaker Dr. Nancy Heyne, Harvard Medical School.

Keynote speaker Dr. Susan Holman and Rhonda and Frank Landers P’20 ’24.

Daniel Caplin ’10, Elizabeth Benestad and Dr. Stephen Zins.

Questions such as, ‘How ought we as Catholics understand the meaning of health and illness, healing and suffering?’, ‘What is the relationship between human suffering and our relationship to God?’ ‘What does it mean to care and what is our responsibility to each other?’, and ‘What role do the humanities play in deepening our understanding of disease and the human experience?’ were explored. The group also examined

what it means to be a Catholic healthcare professional and how Catholic education might better serve the healthcare profession.

All attendees received a symposium reader, published by the Portsmouth Institute through Cluny Media, that included classic and contemporary readings in the medical humanities, ranging from selections from The Gospel of Matthew, Hippocrates and Galen, and short stories from Tolstoy and William Carlos Williams. Portsmouth Abbey faculty Daniel Caplin ’10, Dr. Stephen Zins, Anne De Marzio, and Colin McKay, along with Dr. Raymond Hain of Providence College, led participants in seminar discussions around each of the selections from the reader.

Abbot Michael Brunner, O.S.B. celebrated a Vigil Mass with attendees and the monastic community, followed by dinner and a keynote lecture by R.J. Snell (editor-in-chief of “Public Discourse”) titled, “Remembering Health.” The symposium concluded with a reception and concert performance by the bluegrass-folk band, The Hillbilly Thomists.

Fr. Andrew and Br. Sixtus.

ATHLETI CS

above: Gabriel Devaney ’25 (l) and Miles Ventura ’26 (r) leap over hurdles. Ventura was the EIL Champion in the 110 and 300 hurdles. Devaney placed second in the 110 meter hurdles.

right: Miles Ventura ’26 was the EIL champion in the long jump.

Ravens Named to Boston Globe Prep School All-Scholastics

For the second time this year, Portsmouth Abbey School athletes were named to the Boston Globe Prep School All-Scholastics Team.

Mitchell Canuel ’25 and Miles Ventura ’26 were named for their performances in spring sports, joining fellow Raven Gabriel Devaney ’25 of Portsmouth, R.I., who was named for his performance as a defender on the boys varsity soccer team in the fall of 2024.

Canuel, of Westport, Mass., was the EIL Player of the Year and a three-time All-NEPSAC selection for boys varsity baseball. The 2025 graduate hit .444 with 14 steals and a 1.019 OPS, while compiling a 6-1 record with 1.33 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 42 innings. He is continuing his baseball career at Assumption University.

Ventura of Newport, R.I. was the EIL Champion in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles, the long jump and ran a leg on the record-setting 4x400 relay. He also placed first, second and fourth, respectively, in the NEPSTA Division 3 finals. Look for more good things to come from this Raven in the years ahead.

Five Ravens Named to Providence Journal 2025 Independent Schools All-State Team

The Providence Journal has named five Portsmouth Abbey School athletes to its 2025 Independent Schools All- State team. Members were selected by the newspaper’s sports journalists with help from the coaches associations. Several players are multi-sport and multi-year honorees.

Gabriel Devaney ’25 – After winning EIL Boys Soccer Player of the Year and earning an all-conference selection in wrestling, Portsmouth, R.I.’s Gabriel Devaney headed to Catholic University in Washington, D.C. for track and field. This season saw him run 16.09-second 110-meter hurdles and 39.8-second 300-meter hurdles.

Layla Grilli ’25 – Another multi-sport star, Grilli made the All-EIL team in field hockey and girls lacrosse. The defender from Portsmouth, R.I. saw her first career goal come on senior day. Grilli matriculated to Northeastern University in the fall.

Noah Jimbo ’25 – Jimbo, from Torrance, Calif., made the All-EIL ice hockey team and baseball squad this year. After scoring 45 points on the ice, he was drafted by the Worcester Railers Junior Hockey Club, where he is continuing his hockey career as a forward.

Gwen Canuel ’25 swings in one of her last softball games as a Raven. She was selected as a member of the All-EIL team.

Gwen Canuel ’25 – Canuel, from Westport, Mass., continues the list of multi-sport athletes by making the All-EIL team in volleyball during the fall and softball in the spring. She will attend Gordon College in the fall to continue her softball career.

Tomas Aubut-Lavin ’25 – A three-sport athlete in soccer, ice hockey and tennis, Aubut-Lavin from Montreal-Ouest, Quebec, made the All-EIL team in soccer while also making the All-Holt team in hockey. He was drafted by the Boston Junior Terriers Hockey Club, where he’ll be tendered for the NCDC’s Boston Dogs during the 2025-26 season.

ATHLETI CS

Spring Athletic Awards

Sixth-Form basketball forward Malcolm Maboula attended the 2025 Central Elite 75 College Showcase this summer, where he was able to demonstrate his skills for college coaches. The event recap highlighted the 6’7” Maboula’s “knack for knocking down difficult shots in the post and his versatility to switch across the floor defensively.” The write-up also mentioned Maboula’s ability to “rack up offensive rebounds,” which led to his team having extra possessions in their game sets.

Margo Cordahi, (l) a Fifth-Form ice hockey player from Mont-Royal, Quebec, Canada, who is a goalie for both the Ravens and the Rhode Island Sting, spent some time at Paramount Hockey this summer, a comprehensive development program for goaltenders of all ages and skill levels. Also pictured is former Raven teammate Jayden Elias.

Portsmouth Abbey School Director of Athletics Chris Milmoe announced the Spring Sports Award recipients during an assembly in late May. Raven athletes also received named awards during the School’s annual Prize Day on May 24.

Baseball: EIL League Champions

The Baseball Coach’s Trophy: Presented to the player who best combines the highest level of leadership, skill and commitment: Mitchell Canuel ‘25

MIP: Drew Hayden ‘26

Captains Elect: Andrew Foley ’26, Brycen Wagner-Pont ’26, Drew Hayden ’26

Overall Record: 16-2, EIL Record 10-1

EIL All League: Mitchell Canuel ’25, Noah Jimbo ’25, Hank Martin ’25, Andrew Foley ’26

EIL All League HM: Levi Maguire ’25, Gil Bianchi ’25

All NEPSAC: Mitchell Canuel ’25, Noah Jimbo ’25, Hank Martin ’25

ALL NEPSAC HM: Andrew Foley ’26, Levi Maguire ’25, and Brycen Wagner-Pont ’26

Girls Golf

The Dorment Family Golf Trophy: A gift of the Dorment family, the trophy recognizes a member of the golf team who best exhibits the leadership, skill, humility, and passion for golf: Jennifer Shon ’25

MIP: Lucy Wang ’26

Captain Elect: Tilly Holling ’26

Overall Record: 1-1

Boys Varsity Lacrosse

The Frost Family Boys Lacrosse Trophy: Given to Portsmouth Abbey to recognize a member of the boys lacrosse team who has contributed in significant ways to the School’s lacrosse program and whose passion for the game is best exemplified by his leadership, fair play, and gentlemanly conduct: Andrew Thibeault ’25

MIP: Joey Noonan ’27

Captains Elect: Michael Foley ’26, Liam Caldwell ’26, Liam Daly ’26, Jack Hamilton ’26

Overall Record: 11-3, League Record: 3-3

All New England NEPSAC: Liam Daly ’26

All New England NEPSAC HM: Joey Leverault ’26

New England Scholastic Lacrosse League All League

First Team: Liam Daly’26, Michael Foley’26, Jack Hamilton ’26, Andrew Thibeault ’25

New England Scholastic Lacrosse League All League

Second Team: Liam Caldwell ’26, Liam Fitzgerald ’26, Dylan Hong ’27, Jay Keenan ’26, Sawyer Leonard ’25, Joey Levreault ’26

New England Lacrosse League All Tournament Team: Liam Caldwell ’26, Liam Daly ’26, Jack Hamilton ’26, Dylan Hong ’27, Joey Levreault ’26

Eastern New England Prep School All Region Team: Liam Caldwell ’26, Liam FitzGerald ’26, Michael Foley ’26, Daniel Hong ’28, Dylan Hong ’27, Jay Keenan ’26, Sawyer Leonard’25, Jack Hamilton ’26

Girls Varsity Lacrosse

The Girls Lacrosse Trophy: A gift to Portsmouth Abbey by the Hannaford family, the girls lacrosse trophy is presented each year to the player who best exhibits a strong desire to compete, a positive attitude, and humility both on and off the field, thus making her a natural and dependable leader: Lilly Coward ’25

MIP: Abby FitzGerald ’27

Captains Elect: Tessa Reid ’26, Julia Poore ’27, Avery Royal ’27

Overall Record: 9-9, EIL Record: 4-4 Tied third place, qualified for EIL Tournament

EIL All League: Lilly Coward ’25, Julia Poore ’27, Avery Royal ’27

EIL All League HM: Layla Grilli ’25, Tessa Reid ’26

ALL NEPSAC: Lilly Coward ’25, Julia Poore ’27

ALL NEPSAC HM: Layla Grilli ’25, Avery Royal ’27

Varsity Sailing

The Robert Price Sailing Trophy: This trophy has been given by the family of Robert Price, Class of 1971, to the sailor whose skill, leadership and love of sailing have been of the greatest value to the members of the team: Jack Smith ’26

MIP: Charlie Winston ’28

Captain’s Elect: Owen Berry ’26, Maren Townsend ’26, Luca Donadio ’26

Varsity Softball: EIL League Champions

The Softball Coach’s Trophy: Presented to the player who best combines the highest level of leadership, skill and commitment: Gwen Canuel ’25

MIP: Lila Bragan ’25

Captains Elect: Jenny Rivera ’26, Jessy Rivera ’26, Kasey Bernat ’26, Brooklyn Murphy ’27

Overall Record: 12-4, EIL Record: 10-0, first place in EIL

EIL All League: Allison Miller ’25, Kasey Bernat ’26, Gwen Canuel ’25, Ryan Duffy ’27

EIL All League HM: Jessy Rivera ’26, Jenny Rivera ’26

Boys Varsity Tennis

The Boys Tennis Coach’s Trophy: Presented to the player who best combines the highest level of leadership, skill and commitment: Steven Li ’25

MIP: Drew Borggaard ’27

Captains Elect: Drew Borggaard ’27

Overall record: 6-7, EIL Record: 4-2, third place

EIL All League: Eduardo Altamirano ’25, Ryan Ma ’25, Gus Callaghan ’28, Guiliano Al Asmar ’25

EIL All League HM: Steven Li ’25, Andrew Borggard ’27, Tomas Aubut-Lavin ’25

Girls Varsity Tennis

The Girls Tennis Coach’s Trophy: Presented to the player who best combines the highest level of leadership, skill and commitment: Eva Madden ’26

MIP: Megan O’Connor ’26

Captains Elect: Eva Madden ’26, Charlotte Spencer ’26, Megan O’Connor ’26

Overall Record: 1-14, EIL Record: 1-8

EIL All League HM: Megan O’Connor ’26

Team Racing Record: 1-10

The girls varsity tennis team gathers around their coaches during their match on Senior Day. The team defeated Bancroft School.

ATHLETI CS

Spring Sports Awards (continued)

Track and Field: Boys EIL Champions

The Boys Track Coach’s Trophy: Presented to a boy who best combines the highest level of leadership, skill and commitment: Gabriel Devaney ’25

Boys MIP: Matthew Burgner ’25

Boys Captains Elect: Haydn Bordelon ’26, Malcom Maboula ’26, Keynan Musingo ’26, Miles Ventura ’26

EIL Record: First out of six

EIL All League: Gabriel Devaney ’25, John Paul Devaney ’25, Miles Ventura ’26, Malcolm Maboula ’26, Keynan Musingo ’26

EIL All League HM: Haydn Bordelon ’26, Drake Almeida ’26

Girls Track

The Girls Track Coach’s Trophy: Presented to a girl who best combines the highest level of leadership, skill and commitment: Odunayo Adelaiye ’25

Girls MIP: Charlotte Bonny ’26

Girls Captains Elect: Charlotte Bonny ’26, Becca Osei-Assibey ’26

EIL Record: third out of eight

EIL All League: Lindsey Babine ’27

EIL All League HM: Jillian Muglia ’25, Odunayo Adelaiye ’25

JV Awards

Girls JV Lacrosse: Brooke Marston ’27

Boys JV Lacrosse: Thomas Salem ’28

Girls JV Tennis: Ellie Roberts ’28

Boys JV Tennis: Easton Theberge ’27

Girls JV Track: Ruby Swain ’28

Boys JV Track: Anthony Vannatta ’27

JV Sailing: Magnolia Pin ’27

Jacob Ierfino ’22, a junior at Hamilton College, was one of 17 members of the men’s hockey team recognized as a 2024-25 American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA)

Krampade All-American Scholar in July, when the organization released its list of honorees. To qualify for All-American Scholars, a studentathlete must have attained a 3.75 grade point average for each semester of the 2024-25 academic year and had to appear in 40 percent of the team’s games. Exceptions were granted to injured players and back-up goaltenders. Schools had to be members of the AHCA.

Abbot Michael attended pre-season practices to bless each team. Pictured here are his blessings of the field hockey and football teams.

Nine Raven Alumni Currently Sailing at the Collegiate Level

Portsmouth Abbey’s sailing legacy continues with an impressive fleet of nine alumni competing at the collegiate level. These nine are representative of the School’s deep-seated tradition on the water and the character it instills in its sailors.

From the currents of the Narragansett Bay to collegiate regattas up and down the Eastern Seaboard, alumni Ravens are hoisting sails for some of the most competitive programs in the country. The Class of 2024 alone produced six collegiate sailors: Rebecca Healey (Georgetown), Kyle Reinecke (Naval Academy), Jancy Grayson (Roger Williams), Charlotte West (Dartmouth), Ainsley West (Boston College), and Luke Kenahan (Mass Maritime). They join returning collegiate athletes

’21

and

Academy), whose resumes speak to the competitive edge they trained during their Portsmouth years. Few have sailed with more tenacity than Wahba and Smith, both of whom have become fixtures on Navy’s high-performance dinghy and team racing squads. Wahba, now a senior, has competed in nearly 50 collegiate regattas across three seasons and has stood atop the podium at elite events such as the Aaron Szambecki Team Race and the GW Team Race. Smith, equally accomplished, has made significant national appearances, including a third-place finish at the ICSA Match Race National Championship and top-three team race finishes across the MAISA conference.

At Yale, Alex Adams ’22 added depth to one of the country’s powerhouse programs, logging appearances at major events this past academic year after developing his skill set in one of the most competitive sailing squads in the Ivy League.

Among the newest collegiate Ravens, Charlotte West ’24 made an immediate impression at Dartmouth, sailing in 11 regattas and securing multiple third-place finishes—an early sign of promise in the NEISA conference. Meanwhile, her twin sister Ainsley West ’24 contributed to Boston College’s top-tier team, including racing in the A-Division at the Women’s Fleet Race National Championships. Both of these early careers show that the Abbey continues to develop talent that’s tactically sharp and competition-ready.

As Portsmouth’s sailing program continues to earn a growing reputation, this remarkable cohort of alumni affirms the Abbey’s place as a launchpad for the best of the sport’s next generation. Whether trimming sails in Annapolis, Connecticut, or Lake Mascoma, these former Ravens are proudly carrying Portsmouth colors into ever open waters.

Alex Adams ’22 (Yale), Nathan Smith ’22 (Naval Academy),

Ryan Wahba

(Naval

Nathan Smith ’22

Ryan Wahba ’21 and Mary Davidson ’24.

above: Charlotte West ’24

left: Ainsley West ’24

Newest Alumni to Participate in Collegiate Athletics

Gwen Canuel Gordon College Softball

Mitchell Canuel Assumption College Baseball

Sienna Chin Gerding St. John Fisher University Ice Hockey

Gabriel Devaney Catholic University Track and Field

Patrick Forbes Roger Williams University Golf

Sawyer Leonard UMass Boston Lacrosse

Summer Magriby Massachusetts Maritime Academy Volleyball

Jillian Muglia Carleton College Track and Field

Andrew Thibeault Bentley University Lacrosse

Dean of Academics and Head Track and Field Coach Nick Micheletti ’04 gives a thumbs up to congratulate Jillian Muglia ’25 on her commitment to compete in track and field at Carleton College.

Raven Margot Appleton ’21 Returns to her Roots

When new Cross Country Head Coach Michael St. Thomas P ’29 was thinking about how to inspire his team during the warm temperatures of pre-season practices, he knew of one Raven he wanted to call home. Margot Appleton ’21 has made a name for herself in collegiate circles and has competed in one of the toughest races of the Olympic trials. She placed second at the NCAA Championships in the 1500 meters this past summer and was a First-team All American.

The 2025 University of Virginia graduate is a professional runner and recently signed a contract with New Balance Running.

Coach Mike St. Thomas with Raven alumna and professional runner Margot Appleton ’21. Appleton recently returned to campus to speak with members of the 2025 cross country team.

A SteAdying influence:

David

Flanagan ’72

And the

Spirit of Portsmouth Abbey

The first thing you notice about David Flanagan ’72 is not the scope of his success. It is not that he took a modest family business with five employees and grew it into an eleven-location enterprise with annual revenues surpassing $130 million. It is not that he commands a fleet of 160 trucks, a sawmill, a maintenance garage, or that he still works (mostly) twelve-hour days at an age when most of his peers are contemplating retirement. The first thing you notice is his humility.

He does not begin with numbers, or even with accomplishments. Instead, he begins with gratitude.

“I don’t like to talk about myself,” he says. “I try to do the best I can in life. There are always people better. If I agreed to do this, it’s because I believe in the mission of Portsmouth Abbey, and I believe in what you’re doing. If I can help, I’m happy to help.”

That quiet humility, paired with a steady work ethic and a deep sense of community, is the grain that runs the full length of Flanagan’s story. It is what brought him, somewhat by accident, to Portsmouth Abbey. It is what sustained him through years at sea and decades in the lumber business. And it is what animates his philanthropy today, particularly his devotion to the William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund for Arts, Athletics, and Civilization, a financial aid initiative named for his lifelong friend and mentor William “Bill” Crimmins ’48.

Flanagan did not plan to attend Portsmouth Abbey. He had been a vice president of the freshman class at his local public high school in Maine, captain of the basketball team, and, perhaps most importantly, rooted in his community and surrounded by family. Boarding school was not on the horizon.

But life has a way of redirecting even the most fixed and comfortable trajectories. A family friend, Paul Stancioff ’72, was touring prep schools, and Flanagan went along for the ride. Among the stops was Portsmouth Abbey, where Paul’s uncle, Andrew Stancioff ’55, had attended, and where family friend,

David Flanagan ‘72 with his children and four-legged friend

William “Bill” Crimmins ’48, was a rising force. “I was just a passenger,” Flanagan recalls. “No intention of anything beyond the regular public school education.”

Yet conversations between his mother and Crimmins took on a life of their own. One November afternoon, while Flanagan was finishing a history paper at his local library, a family friend interrupted: he was to come home immediately. When he arrived, his bags were already packed. His mother drove him to the airport. By that evening, he was in Portsmouth, where “Uncle Tony,” as Crimmins was known to Flanagan’s family and close friends in Maine, greeted him at the Priory. A student had dropped out, a space had opened, and Crimmins had orchestrated Flanagan’s enrollment.

“It was a difficult first year,” Flanagan admits. “Emotionally, psychologically, not having planned for it, not getting to say goodbye to my father or my siblings, or even my friends. But it became a developmental, positive, formative experience.”

What made the Abbey transformative for Flanagan was not a single class or any one teacher, but the fabric of the community itself. “You felt privileged to be part of something incredible,” he recalls.

The School’s diversity in the early 1970s was eye-opening for a boy from coastal Maine. International students and scholars from across the country, underprivileged students brought in through national programs; it was a broader spectrum of humanity than he had ever encountered.

“In Maine, we didn’t know a Black person,” Flanagan says. “It was very unusual. And then you arrived at the Abbey and realized: Oh, here we are, and we’re all the same.”

The monks, too, left an indelible impression. “They were of another generation, but so accepting of us,” he remembers. “We were all over the place with ideas, developing into who we would finally become. Sometimes faster, sometimes in odd ways. But the monks were calm, steady. They accepted us.”

That patience and steadiness, Flanagan says, set a foundation for life. “If I got anything out of the Abbey, it was: be patient, be understanding, be kind. As my father used to say, if you’re going to err, err on the side of kindness.”

After graduating in 1972, Flanagan attended college for a year. He excelled academically, a fact he attributes wholly to his Portsmouth education, but he eventually left college for a period to return to the family business, where he and his siblings had worked in one way or another since they were kids.

And then he went to sea.

He crewed for a family with an Abeking & Rasmussen sailing yacht, first across the Great Lakes and down the Saint Lawrence, and then across the globe. Over four and a half years, Flanagan sailed to Greenland, Hudson Bay, through the Panama Canal, and across the South Pacific, spending eighteen months among its islands.

“It was a remarkable education in its own right,” he says. “The world is a classroom if you let it be.”

Eventually, he was offered the captaincy of the vessel. But a letter from his father his only written letter from him — called him home. “Maybe it’s time you came back,” his father wrote. Flanagan returned to Maine in 1977 and rejoined the family business for good.

When Flanagan came back home, Viking Lumber was a modest operation with a small, local footprint. Today, under his leadership, it is one of the most respected lumber and building supply companies in New England and an economic anchor across coastal Maine.

What sets it apart is not only scale, but reputation. Viking is known for the quality of its lumber, the fairness of its pricing, and above all, the reliability and character of its people. Employees are trained not only to sell but to listen, to understand the needs of builders, contractors, and homeowners alike.

Beyond business, Viking serves as a perfect inlay into New England’s communities. Its civic involvement spans health organizations (the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, Hospice of Hancock County), youth programs (Girl Scouts of Maine, Little League, Partners in Island Education), cultural institutions (the Abbe Museum, the American Folk Festival, the Forest Society of Maine), and essential services (food pantries, homeless shelters, Meals on Wheels).

“Community is what makes it all worthwhile,” Flanagan says simply.

Philanthropy has followed naturally from that ethic of gratitude and community. Flanagan has supported countless organizations across Maine, but Portsmouth Abbey holds a special place in his heart.

“I don’t know for a fact, but I would guess my parents never paid a nickel for me to go to Portsmouth,” he says. “They probably couldn’t afford it at the time. And Uncle Tony made sure I got there. He was one of my last living heroes. His passing was huge.”

Crimmins, he recalls, was always a champion of the underdog. “He breathed spirit into those who had none. He encouraged people to be themselves, but also to understand the greener grass. There are people he supported in school who could have gone another path, but today they’re wonderful citizens and human beings.”

Supporting the William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund for Arts, Athletics and Civilization, which provides financial aid for deserving students, is for Flanagan both a tribute to his mentor and a way of extending the gift he once received.

“The community at the Abbey changed me,” he says. “The Fund allows others to have that same chance.” In lending his support to the Crimmins Fund, Flanagan has joined friends like Jamie MacGuire ’70, Peter Tovar ’72, and Bryan McShane ’71, an act that feels less like philanthropy to him than a continuation of the fellowship and loyalty first forged at the Abbey.

Asked what drives his giving, Flanagan pauses. “You have to have the ability to give first,” he says. “But then you have to have the inner feeling of gratefulness, humility. I’m so appreciative of everything in my life, even after the Abbey. You’re humbled by the wonderful spirit in the giving of others. That makes you want to follow suit.”

He hopes that his support will ensure the Abbey remains what it was for him: a community that prepares young men and women not only for the practical challenges of the world, but for the moral and spiritual work of making it better.

“If you asked most graduates of Portsmouth,” he reflects, “they would probably all say to current students: pay attention, take advantage of where this is leading you, don’t

David Flanagan ’72, ice fishing with friends in northern Maine.

David Flanagan ’72 (third from right) with classmates and friends on campus during his 50th Reunion.

miss one bit of it. Let it help you. I wish I’d had a more mature, relaxed mindset while I was there so I could have taken fuller advantage. But that’s the way of life. You learn as you go.”

For all the growth, all the change, Flanagan believes the Abbey’s core remains steady. “The Abbey has already shown us through its existence, through all of the wonderful things it has done, that it’s on the right page,” he says.

He remembers the lay teachers, of course. Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Cadigan, Mr. Marcoux, Mr. Pages. “They found ways with all of us to somehow identify and make the learning more interesting rather than a labor.”

But it’s the monks, in particular, who remain a touchstone in his memory. “There was Father Andrew, a Bowdoin man with a Maine connection and a great friend of Bill Crimmins. Father Damian, who was my housemaster. He was incredible. Father Ambrose, you know, Father Abbott, who just spoke at the service for Bill. That was pretty incredible.”

The Portsmouth influence has traveled with Flanagan, from the sawmill of his youth to the helm of Viking Lumber, from sailing the South Pacific to supporting the next generation of Abbey students. It is, in a sense, the Abbey’s greatest export: not just knowledge, but character.

In the end, David Flanagan’s story is inseparable from Portsmouth Abbey’s. The community that once welcomed a somewhat reluctant fifteen-year-old boy has, in turn, been sustained by his gratitude, his labor, and his generosity. The exchange is ongoing: student becomes alumnus, alumnus becomes benefactor, benefactor ensures that new students will in their time find the same steadying influence.

“It all comes down to kindness,” Flanagan says. “That’s what I learned. That’s what I try to practice. And that’s what I hope others will carry forward.”

William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund for Arts, Athletics, and Civilization

William “Bill” Crimmins ’48 devoted his life to Portsmouth Abbey. He was a student, teacher, coach, parent, benefactor, and, above all, a friend to generations of monks and students. He never took a salary for his teaching and coaching, preferring instead to give freely of his time, energy, and love. Father Hilary once called him “the most personally generous man” he had ever known, a judgment that anyone who has crossed paths with Bill Crimmins would find hard to dispute.

His generosity came in many forms: the cross by Meinrad Burch that hangs in the Church of St. Gregory the Great, his tireless support for students of limited means, his joyful coaching on the fields, his friendship with the monastic community, and his abiding love for the Abbey’s mission. A man of quick intuition and an equally quick wit, Bill had what Shakespeare once called “a foolish extravagant spirit full of forms, figures, shares, objects, ideas…apprehensions, motions, revelations.” It was a spirit rooted in an endless capacity to care.

Five years ago, alumni Jamie MacGuire ’70, Rick Bevington ’71, and Peter Tovar ’72 recognized the need to honor Crimmins’ extraordinary legacy in a lasting way. Through their leadership, and the generosity of many who shared their vision, the William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund for Arts, Athletics, and Civilization was established. The Fund provides deserving students with access to the full breadth of an Abbey education, just as Bill himself championed in his lifetime.

The impact is already visible. Sophia, a Fifth Former from Maryland and Crimmins Scholarship recipient, describes arriving at the Abbey as a hockey player and discovering so much more: the chance to explore theater, Latin, and, above all, her Catholic faith, which blossomed into confirmation and service as an altar server. “My time with the monks has been so incredible and I have gained so much insight from them,” she says. “I am beyond grateful of your generosity and investment into the future of our world, and thanks to you, I might be able to change it for the better.”

In supporting the Crimmins Fund, donors carry forward the spirit of a man who believed that every student, no matter their background, should be given the chance to thrive. For Bill Crimmins, love was the animating principle of life, a love of family, of Portsmouth, of community. In ensuring opportunity for today’s students, the Fund keeps that love alive. Anyone interested in supporting the Crimmins Fund should contact Senior Development Officer John Bohan at jbohan@portsmouthabbey.org.

milestones

births

2001

A girl, Louise Abernathy Murray, to Alexis and Daniel C. Murray

June 19, 2025

2006

A boy, Jacob Issa, to Christina and Luke A. Issa

June 11, 2025

A boy, Shelby David Sheppard, to Gary and Margaret (Mahan) Sheppard

July 31, 2025

2007

A girl, Harper Allison DeForest, to Ben DeForest and Emily A. Kerwin

March 29, 2025

A girl, Isabelle Greene, to Manny Jean-Georges and Caroline M.S. Greene

June 2025

2013

A girl, Kennedy Margaret Clark, to Sydney and Coleman J. Clark

April 18, 2025

Faculty/Staff

Twin boys, William Duke and George Merton Walker to Mary Kate and Ryan Walker

May 29, 2025

Ryan and Mary Kate Walker’s twin boys, George and William.

weddings

1970

James P. MacGuire to Michelle Coppedge

May 8, 2025

2002

Joseph D. McDonough to Piper Higgins

June 28, 2025

2012

Drake W. Kreinz to Maggie Kaulius

June 14, 2025

2016

Eleanor R. Deutermann to Connor Beverly

July 5, 2025

Yifan N. Yu to Grace Todd

April 5, 2025

2017

Kaitlyn P. Doherty to William Ensign

May 23, 2025

Caroline A. Villareal to Nicholas Fiorillo

May 9, 2025

Faculty/Staff

Ryan Dolan to Whitney Jones

June 21, 2025

’70 | Jamie MacGuire’s wedding to Michelle Copedge.

’17 | Kaitlyn Doherty and William Ensign’s wedding party.

Anthony J. Agostinelli

Father of former faculty member

Katherine A. Spinella

May 13, 2025

Erin M. Behnke

Wife of W. Christopher Behnke ’81, mother of M. Greta Larrabee-Behnke ’12, William C. Behnke, Jr. ’15, and Meghan L. Behnke ’19, sister-in-law of John D. Behnke ’76 and Stephen H. Behnke ’78 and aunt of Shiloh V. Barry ’13

July 11, 2025

Earl D. Benzal

Grandfather of Grace T. Benzal ’17

March 11, 2025

W. “Neil” Cannon II ’63

September 12, 2025

C. Thomas Campagna, Jr.

Father of Julia L. Avery ’00 March 18, 2025

Dominic F. Corrigan ’59

Father of Dominic P. Corrigan ’95 and brother of the late John C. Corrigan, Jr. ’55 March 8, 2025

David J. Cunningham

Father of Matthew J. Cunningham ’85 May 16, 2025

Eulalia Curtis

Grandmother of

Daniel C. Murray ’01, Michael J. Behan ’08, Garrett C. Behan ’11, Emma Butler ’16, and Zoe A. Butler ’16 August 19, 2025

necrology

Charles N. Davis ’51

Brother of the late Reverend Dom Christopher Davis, O.S.B. ’48

August 10, 2025

Regis J. Dognin ’57

September 9, 2023

William P. Egan

Grandfather of Mark P. Egan ‘29

September 13, 2025

Thomas H. Ferrer ’60

Father of T. Justus Ferrer ’85, brother of the late James C. Ferrer ’66, and cousin of John M. Sturges ’54

February 17, 2025

Frederick J. Fisher II ’50

Brother of the late Charles T. Fisher ’47, Walter B. Fisher ’53, and John A. Fisher ’65, cousin of the late Walter B. Robinson ’47, William A. Fisher ’53 and the late Louis A. Fisher ’54, and uncle of Ambrose J. Fisher ’86

April 11, 2025

K. Hilary Ford

Mother of Christopher J. W. Ford ’77

February 4, 2025

Richard A. Franco, Jr.

Uncle of Peter R. Franco ’15 and Christopher P. Franco ’19

May 22, 2025

Matthew D. Galvin ’87

January 27, 2025

Sidney S. Gorham III

Father of

Sidney S. Gorham IV ’84

March 14, 2025

Charles F. Herron ’56

November 2023

Maria G. Horvath

Widow of the late John F. Millard ’68, sister-in-law of Charles E. Millard ’63, the late Vincent J. Millard ’64, the late Daniel J. Millard ’69, and James M. Millard ’78, and great aunt of the late Nicholas D. Nadalin ’17

June 24, 2024

Edward D. Johnson ’47

Uncle of M. Bart Johnson III ’64

September 24, 2024

Ellen R. Kerney

Sister of J. Regan Kerney ’64 and T. Lincoln Kerney II ’69

May 30, 2025

John R. Leu

Father of Douglas P. Leu ’83

April 14, 2025

Robert J. MacLean

Grandfather of Carly A. MacLean ’12

December 14, 2024

Shirley A. MacGillivray

Mother of Mark A. MacGillivray ’80 and Stephen J. MacGillivray ’84 and grandmother of Anna M. MacGillivray ’13, William E. Shaw-MacGillivray ’13, and Hugh J. MacGillivray ’14

July 18, 2025

Mary E. Macsherry

Widow of the late Clinton K. Macsherry, Jr. ’41, and sister-in-law of the late Bernard S. Macsherry ’44, the late Edward S. Belt ’51, and the late Charles O. Macsherry ’52

March 8, 2025

Marjorie F. McDonnell-Walsh

Mother of Michael F. McDonnell ’70 and Stephen McDonnell ’73, sister of the late John Flanigan ’40, the late Peter M. Flanigan ’41, and the late Robert M. Flanigan ’48, aunt of Timothy P. Flanigan ’75, Robert W. Flanigan ’83, and former Board of Regents member Megan Flanigan, and great-aunt of Theresa L. Flanigan ’06, Daniel T. Flanigan ’09, Susan S. Skakel ’09, Kate C. Skakel ’11, Michael P. Flanigan ’11, G. Harry Skakel ’19, and Patrick J. Flanigan ’19 August 5, 2025

Michael F. McGinn ’79 August 13, 2025

Justin F. McJones

Father of Jessica A. McJones ’16 June 12, 2025

Nancy C. McKenna (correction) Mother of Paul J. McKenna III ’71, Timothy G. McKenna ’76, Stephen W. McKenna ’79, Robert D. McKenna ’82 and grandmother of Paul J. McKenna IV ’01 September 27, 2024

Judith A. Mestrandrea Grandmother of Leonardo Mestrandrea ’25 January 28, 2025

Robert T. Metz

Father of David P. Metz ’92 August 15, 2025

Daniel J. Millard ’69

Brother of Charles E. Millard ’63, the late Vincent J. Millard ’64, the late John F. Millard ’68, and James M. Millard ’78 and great uncle of the late Nicholas D. Nadalin ’17

April 24, 2023

Nicholas D. Nadalin ’17

Grandson of Charles E. Millard ’63, grand-nephew of the late Vincent J. Millard ’64, the late John F. Millard ’68, the late Daniel J. Millard ’69, and James M. Millard ’78, and the cousin of Anders C. Holmstrom ’04, Charles H. Holmstrom ’06, and Isaac C. Holmstrom ’08

March 16, 2025

John M. Ryan ’53

May 25, 2025

Joseph J. Scanlan ’45

Father of Thomas J. Scanlan ’77, Vincent E. Scanlan ’79, Brian J. Scanlan ’80, Michael R. Scanlan ’82, and Daniel J. Scanlan ’89

July 4, 2025

D. Tracy Schwarz ’57

Brother of the late

Philip J. Schwarz ’58

March 29, 2025

Maureen M. Sisk

Grandmother of Austin P. Sisk ’18 and Julia B. Sisk ’21

July 26, 2024

Sheila O’Meara Thayer

Mother of Christian E. Mack ’99

April 24, 2025

Ross Whistler ’44

April 15, 2025

R R

IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH J. SCANLAN ’46

JULY 16, 1928 – JULY 4, 2025

The Portsmouth Abbey community remembers with gratitude the life of Joseph J. “Joe” Scanlan ’46, who entered eternal rest on July 4, 2025, in Providence, Rhode Island, at the age of 96.

Raised in Danbury, Connecticut, Joe came to Portsmouth Priory in the mid-1940s, where he discovered a love of learning and faith that would guide his choices in later life.

His classmates remember fondly the “sidesplitting bull-session,” where they learned about Danbury and its hats. His St. Benet’s housemates referred to him as “Quaz,” and called him a “fugitive from the Barn of ’45,” where he lived his first year on campus. During his time at Portsmouth, he participated in the Boat Club and Dramatic Club.

After graduation he continued his studies at Georgetown University, earning a degree in history in 1950. Soon after, he entered the United States Navy, joining one of the first Officer Candidate School classes in Newport, Rhode Island. He served as a junior officer in the destroyer fleet during the Korean War, spending considerable time aboard the USS Myles C. Fox. He completed his service with the rank of Lieutenant (j.g.).

When he returned to civilian life, Joe built a career in manufacturing management, combining a sharp mind for detail with the leadership skills he had first tested in the Navy. In 1957 he married Anne “Robin” McMahon, with whom he shared 64 years of marriage until her passing in 2021. Together, they made their home in Bristol, Rhode Island, where they raised seven children and wove themselves into the town’s life.

Bristol became Joe’s anchor. He served on the Planning Board and the local Republican Town Committee, sailed the waters of Narragansett Bay, and joined with his family year after year in celebrating the town’s historic Independence Day festivities. In later years, he and Robin delighted in road trips in his vintage 1941 Packard, which also led him into fellowship with the North Atlantic Packard Club.

Family and friends remember Joe as a gifted raconteur, whose stories – whether of Depression-era New England, his Navy days, or family lore – carried both humor and wisdom. His ability to turn memory into narrative ensured that the past remained vivid for the younger generations of family gathered around his table.

Joe was the father of Thomas J. Scanlan ‘77, Vincent E. Scanlan ‘79, Brian J. Scanlan ‘80, Michael R. Scanlan ‘82, Daniel J. Scanlan ‘89, Margaret, and Kathleen Scanlan. He is also survived by his eight grandchildren and his sister, Margaret Crotty-Platka. He was predeceased by his wife Robin, his parents, and two siblings.

In remembering Joe, we honor a man whose life reflected Portsmouth’s values: a devotion to community, a commitment to service, and a joy in sharing stories that bind generations together.

RPortsmouth Abbey extends its prayers and condolences to the Scanlan family.

IN MEMORY OF FREDERICK JOHN FISHER II ’50

(JULY 26, 1933 – APRIL 11, 2025)

R

The Portsmouth Abbey community mourns the passing of Frederick John Fisher II ’50, who died peacefully on April 11 in Santa Rosa, California, at the age of 91.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Fred grew up in a family whose name was synonymous with American craftsmanship: his grandfather and great-uncles founded the Fisher Body Company, a hallmark of innovation in the early automobile industry. At Portsmouth, Fred embraced community and disciplined study, values that would remain with him throughout his life.

Known among classmates as “Freddum,” the “Gross Pointe sophisticate, he was wellrespected for both his academic and activity-based achievements. He surprised everyone, including himself, when he discovered a natural aptitude for soccer, captaining the School’s first formal team. He also played basketball, served as a Prefect, and was managing editor of the “Raven.”

The Portsmouth tradition instilled in him a lifelong reverence for both hard work and quiet reflection, qualities that shaped his path as a student, soldier, entrepreneur, husband, and father.

After the Abbey, Fred attended Princeton University and Harvard Business School. He served in the United States Army in Germany, where he developed a love of travel and first encountered the mountain vineyards of northern Italy, a formative experience that would inspire his life’s vocation.

In 1973, Fred and his wife, Juelle, whom he had met on a blind date in San Francisco, founded Fisher Vineyards in Sonoma County. With vision and perseverance, they built vineyards on the rugged slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains and along Simmons Creek in Napa Valley. Their pioneering work produced wines of distinction and helped establish the region’s global reputation. Fisher Vineyards became a family enterprise in the truest sense: Fred and Juelle raised their children at the Mountain Estate, where they built their first winery, welcomed guests, and shared the fruits of their labor with warmth and hospitality.

Throughout his career, Fred promoted a personal dedication to stewardship and service. He combined entrepreneurial daring with humility, crediting his successes to the support of family, colleagues, and community. He took particular joy in welcoming friends and visitors to “the mountain,” where conversation, memory, and gratitude flowed freely.

Fred is survived by his wife of fifty years, Juelle; their children, Whitney (Nile) Zacherle, Robert (Heather) Fisher, and Cameron (Darren) Buck; and eight beloved grandchildren. His legacy endures not only through his family and vineyards, but also through the many lives enriched by his generosity, faith, and quiet determination.

As we remember Fred, we give thanks for his life and his witness to the values first nurtured at Portsmouth Abbey: a spirit of community, a love of creation, and a deep sense of gratitude for God’s blessings. May his memory continue to inspire the generations of Ravens who follow.

RPortsmouth Abbey extends its prayers and condolences to the Fisher family.

RIN MEMORY OF VISCOUNT JACQUES ANTOINE DE SPOELBERCH ’54

(JULY 26, 1933 – APRIL 11, 2025)

The Portsmouth Abbey School community respectfully reminisces on the life of Jacques Antoine de Spoelberch ’54, who passed away at his home in Norwalk, Connecticut, on December 26, 2024, at the age of 88.

Born in Brussels to Viscount Eric and Katharine de Spoelberch, Jacques left his birth country in pursuit of his education, first at Brooks School, then to Portsmouth Priory, where he developed a love of learning that would guide his years ahead.

Remembered for his good nature and the way he “attacked everything he did,” Jack, as he was called, became President of the Senior class, was Editor-in-Chief of the “Beaverboard,” and Sports Editor of the “Raven.” During Form IV, he was a starter on the varsity football team despite never having played football before.

With a powerful arm and accurate batting eye behind the plate, he was a valued member of the varsity baseball team.

Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as a catcher at the age of sixteen, his professional athletic career ended due to trouble with his knees.

Jack was also a drummer, playing for the Choral Group orchestra and other productions. His passion for music continued throughout his life.

After his years at Portsmouth, he continued to Princeton University, graduating with the Class of 1958. His Priory classmates insisted he chose Princeton over Harvard to stay close to his beloved Philadelphia Phillies.

Jacques pursued a vocation in letters, beginning at Houghton Mifflin in Boston before moving into literary representation. At IMG he became known for his discerning eye, and in 1975 he established his own agency in Norwalk, where he championed writers across genres. His career spanned half a century, from shepherding James Dickey’s “Deliverance” into print to supporting contemporary authors of wide-ranging subjects, a legacy described by one of his writers as “nothing short of majestic.”

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Jacques was devoted to family life with his wife, Margaret Elaine, their three sons, and his grandchildren. He also found joy in sport, whether on the golf course, paddle court, or tennis court.

Jacques is survived by Margaret Elaine Gaskell de Spoelberch; his sons Christopher, Nicholas (Erin), and Gregory; and three grandchildren.

RPortsmouth Abbey extends its prayers and condolences to the de Spoelberch family.

IN MEMORY OF DANIEL TRACY SCHWARZ ’57

(NOVEMBER 13, 1938 – MARCH 29, 2025)

RWith both sadness and gratitude, the Portsmouth Abbey School community notes the passing of Daniel Tracy Schwarz ’57, who entered the arms of our Lord on March 29, 2025, in Elkins, West Virginia, at the age of 86.

Though raised in New York City as the son of Hamilton and Constance Schwarz, Daniel, who preferred to be known as Tracy, was, as described by his musical colleagues, “downto-earth country.”

His years at Portsmouth Priory gave him a grounding in discipline, curiosity, and reverence for tradition that shaped the musician he became. Of course, his classmates may prefer to reference “Tom ‘The Rod’ peeling into the Red in his hopped –up, lowered, chopped and channeled out-of-tune guitar three years before Elvis swamped the country.”

With Nicknames like “Trace,” “Elvis,” and “Rod,” he was also known for his fondness of Italian swear words, Rock ‘n Roll,” Hillbilly Music, Chuck Berry, hot rods Hillbilly Music, Chuck Berry, hot rods and motorcycles.

After graduating, he studied Russian at Georgetown University before military service in West Germany, where music remained his constant companion.

Tracy’s life found its rhythm in 1962, when he joined the New Lost City Ramblers, a group that became central to the American folk revival. Alongside Mike Seeger and John Cohen, Tracy championed the forgotten songs and string band styles of the early 20th-century South, treating them not as museum pieces but as living traditions. With fiddle, guitar, banjo, and accordion in hand, he carried audiences back to the roots of country and

bluegrass, sharing a body of music that might otherwise have vanished. The Ramblers performed at the first Newport Folk Festival, influenced a young Bob Dylan, and left a lasting imprint on generations of musicians. “Everything about them appealed to me – their style, their singing, their sound,” Dylan wrote about the group in his 2004 memoir “Chronicles: Volume One.”

Beyond the Ramblers, Tracy collaborated widely: with the Strange Creek Singers, Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa, and later with his own family in Tracy’s Family Band. With his wife, singer Ginny Hawker, he recorded two acclaimed albums that blended reverence for tradition with a deep sense of humanity. His own songwriting was not forgotten. Levon Helm’s recording of Tracy’s “Poor Old Dirt Farmer” brought his music to an even broader audience.

Tracy is survived by his wife, Virginia Hawker; his children, Peter, Robert, and Sallyann; three grandchildren; and his sister, Natalie Lowell. He was predeceased by his first wife, Eloise.

For Tracy, the ideals of community and heritage found voice in song. He devoted his life to ensuring that the beauty of America’s past was not lost to time but sung forward into the present. We are thankful for his music, his witness, and his fidelity to tradition. May he rest in peace and may the Portsmouth family remember him with affection and gratitude.

RPortsmouth Abbey extends its prayers and condolences to the Schwarz family.

class

notes

1950

David Kearney, his daughter Jennifer, and her partner Tom met with Br. Joseph this spring where they “enjoyed a wonderful exhibit in the Vero Beach Museum of Art after a picnic lunch in the adjoining park.”

1959

After 26 years with the U.S. State Department Foreign Service and a second career in retail financial services, Lou Warren is now fully retired. “I had a three-year tour in Politico Military Affairs, mostly

nuclear and missile non-proliferation and strategic export controls. Otherwise, I had economic assignments in Oman, Algeria, Indonesia and three tours in India. During my time of government service, I was lucky to travel from Morocco to eastern Indonesia with vacations in southern Europe, Kenya and Senegal. I developed a hobby of bird watching with extensive lists which I later provided to eBird when the Cornell Ornithology Lab opened its website to massive amateur contributions. My wife Christine is a skilled bird photographer (a 400mm lens is required) and we

have travelled to Mexico, Central and South America, and two short guided tours to South Africa. eBird India used my historical lists to help track range and distribution changes of Indian species while Cornell separately used my lists to help track 1200 Western Hemisphere species. An Indian friend asked if I could provide him with a short overview of the U.S. in the 21st century. I am currently plowing through political and cultural trends with twelve first draft chapters. I welcome any thoughts or comments.”

’50 | David Kearney, his daughter Jennifer and her partner Tom together with Br. Joseph at Vero Beach Museum of Art.

1960

Tom Healey has been keeping in touch with his Class of 1960 classmates, “Our class had great success with Zoom calls approximately every 60 to 90 days just to keep in touch with what each of us are doing. About half the class gets on a typical call which is light-hearted and enjoyable. Many thanks to Rick Wilson who is our technology guru. However, Zoom is actually quite easy to use, and I think almost anybody who has a computer can set up a Zoom call, and include all his classmates in it.”

1963

Ande and Peter McCaffrey joined Paula Cummings in New Haven, CT for an enjoyable concert this spring by The Cadleys, featuring Cathy and Moe Cadley. “Although they’d never admit it,” Paula writes, “The Cadleys are gifted singersongwriters whose songs have been performed by such luminaries as Lou Reed and Allison Krause! The audience was treated to a wonderful experience of their music in New Haven on Sunday!”

1963

Sam White’s architectural firm, PBDW, celebrates its 60th Anniversary this year. “The practice has been widely recognized for innovative new designs and our stewardship and preservation of beloved historic structures. The PBDW team continues the values of the firm’s founders and are honored to carry forth their legacy.”

1965

SPEAKING VOLUMES Publishers released prolific author Matt Flynn’s latest novel, “American Dawn”, the second book in the Revenge series. “Dawn, an innocent and gorgeous college student, working in a law firm, becomes involved with a partner who is managing a crooked campaign for an

incompetent Senate candidate. Flynn reveals how ugly political campaigns have become, and how vicious and relentless their powerful players can be as they stop at nothing to destroy their political opponent. But when the partner betrays Dawn, and she discovers his depraved plan for her, he finds out that hell has no fury like a woman scorned. On a snowy November evening, when Dawn is confronted by two dangerous men, the tables are turned, and the hunters become the prey.”

’

’63 | Moe Cadley and Peter McCaffrey in New Haven, CT at a concert performed by The Cadleys.

65 | Matt Flynn’s latest novel is the second book in his “Revenge” series.

Pat Rooney had a busy year at the Abbey watching grandson Jack Sams ’26 and granddaughters Sofia Rooney ’28 and Lucy Sams ’28, in athletic games.

1966 / 67

John Gilloon’s family took a break from the farm to visit Ireland again in May. “It was glorious. The ‘gang of eight’ trooped in two cars for two weeks mostly on the Wild Atlantic Way, and two super events occurred. My youngest daughter, Ann, was proposed to — I believe it was at Kylemore Abbey (Benedictine) and we viewed a 200-year-old house in Roscommon, for possible sale. They called it a Glebe house, which means that it was a parsonage with land, near the Shannon River. I’m doing some laps at the Barber Racetrack near Birmingham in August, when I plan on visiting with young, Greg Tovar ’67, then maybe to Florida to see my brother Peter where I will also meet Juan Kellogg, my Sixth-Form roommate. Isn’t life grand?! Get ready 2026 for a great 100th anniversary of the School and my Class 60th!”

Chris Mullen’s family continues to grow! “Deborah and I began the year with five grandchildren. Then Justin’s wife had their second daughter in February and John’s wife had their third child in March. In June, our daughter had her third child. We now have eight grandchildren near and far — in

Virginia, Oregon and North Carolina from ages 7 down to 4 months. Since my retirement two years ago, Deborah and I have spent our time traveling and enjoying being grandparents. Our travels are split between Europe and National Parks.”

’66 | Chris Mullen and his wife on a hike in Grand Teton National Park, and right with their son Justin’s daughter, Nellie.

’66 | John Gilloon and family in Ireland.

’70 | Childs Burden and Jamie MacGuire met in Childs’ Middleburg, VA office this spring.

1970

Childs Burden and Jamie MacGuire met in Childs’ Middleburg, VA office this spring. Childs continues his longtime work in Piedmont historic preservation and land conservancy. Jamie was visiting Oak Spring Library, the botanical foundation established by Paul and Bunny Mellon in nearby Upperville. Jamie also delivered the eulogy for for former faculty member Bill Crimmins at his memorial service at the Church of St. Gregory the Great at Portsmouth Abbey School. To round out a busy spring, after 20 years together, Jamie and Michelle Coppedge finally married in early May. Father Andrew O’Connor, who blessed the marriage, is the brother of longtime Humanities and Rome Pilgrimage head and former faculty member, Peter O’Connor.

1970

John McGillian shares,“When not frolicking with silverback mountain gorillas, I continue to divide my time between Key Biscayne and Fishers Island, where I head the Planning Commission.”

1975

As of July of 2025, Francis DiMenno has been employed as a Medical Records Librarian by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Boston for over ten and a half years.

’70 | John McGillian sitting with a silverback mountain gorilla.

1976

Tom Keogh provides an update for his class, “As the class of ’76 approaches the start of our 56th Form, Shea Farrell, Chris Tovar, Chris Ferrone, and I got in some exercise on the ski slopes over the winter and spring. When the snow melted, we switched to a hike in The Berkshires and a sumptuous lunch at Chez McTeigue.”

Jeff Calnan wants to shout out a hello to his classmates and let them know he is really looking forward to their 50th Reunion next year! “After finishing my very interesting first year of substitute teaching, I am spending the summer driving The Boston Water Taxi a few days a week. It’s wonderful to be out on the water and meeting new people all day long. It is, unfortunately, the all day long that I find a bit challenging. But it’s wonderful particularly in the early evening as the sun starts to mellow.”

1983 / 85 / 53

George Carter ’85 ran into fellow Ravens at a wedding this summer in Watch Hill. He reintroduced Chris Nolan ’83 to Nick Moore ’83 who had not seen each other since their Abbey graduation, but were seated at the same dinner table at the wedding reception. Also present was Nick’s uncle, George Connell ’53

George Carter ’85, (in back) Nick Moore ’83, Chris Low ’83 and George Connell ’53 attended a wedding this summer.

’76 | Jeff Calnan posing with Boston Water Taxi.

’76 | Tom Keogh, Mike McTeigue, Shea Farrell (hiding in back), Chris Tovar and Chris Ferrone. Missing are McKenna and Rogers. Absent, not excused – Tietje, Slingluff and Sullivan.

1987 / 72

While Derek Minihane was in Dublin for work and wearing his Abbey sweatshirt, Robert Newcombe ’72 from the Priory days came over to say hello. Derek writes, “It is wild to meet alumni around the globe!”

1989

Captain David Doyle, Mark Colbert, and Jim Koelzer caught up in Yosemite National Park to reconnect and celebrate Captain Doyle’s 30 years of service in the US Navy and his imminent retirement.

John Coleman and his daughter Campbell ’27 took a break from visiting west coast college campuses, and John joined Jim Koelzer for a mountain bike ride in Pasadena, CA.

’87 ’72 | Derek Minihane met Robert Newcombe ’72 in Dublin due to Derek wearing his Portsmouth Abbey sweatshirt.

’89 | L-R: David Doyle, Mark Colbert, and Jim Koelzer in Yosemite National Park celebrating Captain Doyles retirement from the United States Navy.

’89 | John Coleman joined James Koelzer for a bike ride in Pasadena CA.

2002

Mary Block’s debut book of poetry, “Love from the Outer Bands,” was published in May 2025 by The Word Works. Ali Macdonald created the cover art for the book.

2002

Joe McDonough married Piper Higgins on June 28, 2025 at Portsmouth Abbey. After nineteen years at Kent School, Joe is following Piper to Deerfield Academy, where she teaches English and he will teach Classics. His textbook, Reading Greek with Jonah, is forthcoming from CUA Press.

’02 | Joe

2005

Keith Hoffmann is running for Attorney General of Rhode Island. Keith had previously served as the Chief of Policy and Senior Counsel for the current Attorney General. While at the Abbey, Keith served as a prefect in St. Aelred’s, class president, and captain of the varsity squash team. He also attended the University of Pennsylvania and Fordham Law school. He credits the Abbey with

’02 | Mary Block ’02 is joined at the launch event for “Love from the Outer Bands” by her sister, Genevieve Block Apaza ’04, and other members of their family.

instilling a commitment to public service and service to our community. The primary election is scheduled for September 8, 2026.

2007

Caroline Greene and her partner, Manny welcomed their second child, Isabelle, in June 2025. Their threeyear-old daughter, Sylvie, is very excited to be a big sister. They reside on the east side of Providence where Caroline is an English teacher at a high school in the city and Manny works for Google Cloud.

2008

Emily Pederson is working as a Photo Editor for “The Wall Street Journal” in San Francisco and enjoying exploring California.

’08 | Emily Pederson is working on location for “The Wall Street Journal” as a photo editor.

McDonough’s wedding to Piper Higgins was held at Portsmouth Abbey School..

MARY BLOCK

2010

Sara Munda’s new book Confessions of a Junior Spy was released on June 10. Her book has particular connection to the Abbey, “I wrote it after work while I worked at the Abbey and a scene takes place in a ’Priory School’ admissions office where the main character interviews in a description of one of the Abbey’s admission offices. A lot of Abbey faculty and faculty kids offered feedback and are mentioned in the acknowledgements. I think this may be the first time the Abbey has been featured in a traditionally published children’s book.”

2014

Emily Parsons received her Master of Education in December and is the lead teacher in a third and fourth grade special education classroom. She will begin her doctorate in special education in August.

2016

Jimmy Murphy writes in from NYC, “I’ve been actively attending the alumni receptions hosted by Frank Loughran ’15 and Bobby Cloughen ’15 it’s always a joy to reconnect with fellow Ravens and hear how the school continues to grow and evolve. On a personal note, I’m excited to share that I’ve recently launched my own agency Neuroverse, an agency dedicated to helping brands engage the next generation of consumers particularly neurodivergent Gen Z through intuitive, universally designed experiences. Additionally, I’ve been admitted to Duke University’s Fuqua

School of Business, Class of 2027, where I’ll be pursuing my MBA. I’m deeply grateful for the formative role Portsmouth Abbey played in my journey.”

’16 | Jimmy Murphy recently launched an agency to help brands engage consumers.

2017

Kaity Doherty and Will Ensign were married on May 23, 2025 at Ocean Cliff in Newport, RI.

“There were many Abbey Ravens in attendance and our wedding party included Bailey Strangis, Dom Cappadona, Maddie Villareal ’16, Dan Locke, and Ryan Andrews ’09.”

2018

Ally Ponte earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School this summer and was awarded the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize for earning High or Highest Honors in each of her three years as a student.

2018 / 2020

MaryBeth Falvey graduated from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America this past May.

’18 | MaryBeth Falvey at her law school graduation with her parents and Ted ‘20.

’17 | Kaity Doherty and Will Ensign were married at Ocean Cliff in Newport, RI.

2020

Nicole Huyer graduated with a Masters in Economics from the Catholic University of America this spring. She recently accepted a job offer with the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation as a Senior Research Associate and will be moving back to Washington, D.C. this fall!

| Nicole Huyer graduated with a Masters in Economics from the Catholic University of America.

2021

Aron Garza served in the Marketing Department in the White House as a summer intern.

Sean O’Hara (Applied Statistics and Data Science) and Mark Schroeder (Nuclear Engineering) graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and will be starting their

careers as Army Officers. Sean will begin training as an Aviation Officer to fly helicopters at Fort Rucker, AL and Mark will begin training as a Field Artillery Officer at Fort Sill, OK and then Fort Hood, TX. Both were part of the Army Men’s Lacrosse team for all 4 years as cadets.

2022

Flynn O’Connell hosted fellow classmates for a dinner at The Aquidneck Club in August. Toby Oliveira, Owen Smith, Mason Holling, Parker Polgar, Flynn O’Connell, Brynna Courneen, Martha Wilson, and Caroline Bohan have been cultivating their Abbey friendship throughout their years in different colleges.

’20

’21 | Sean O’Hara and Mark Schroeder graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

’22 | (front l-r) Brynna Courneen, Martha Wilson and Caroline Bohan. (back l-r) Toby Oliveira, Owen Smith, Mason Holling, Parker Polgar and Flynn O’Connell.

The Power of Planned Giving

A planned gift to Portsmouth Abbey School is more than a gesture—it’s a bold investment in the powerful act of faith in the future. It shapes lives, sparks minds, and sustains the Benedictine values that define our community. Your legacy becomes a living force, echoing through classrooms, chapels, and conversations for generations to come. With thoughtful planning, your gift ensures the Abbey’s mission endures—stronger, deeper, and more transformative than ever.

Bequests

A simple sentence in your will or trust can create a legacy. By designating a specific asset or percentage of your estate to Portsmouth Abbey School, you help shape the future, one student at a time.

Beneficiary Designations

Transform your retirement plan, life insurance policy, or donor-advised fund into a force for good by naming the School as a beneficiary. It’s a powerful way to give without changing your current financial plans.

Gifts of Property

Real estate and personal property can become enduring gifts. By transferring ownership, you support the Abbey’s mission in a tangible, lasting way.

Manor House Society

The Manor House Society honors those whose foresight and generosity help secure the School’s future. It recognizes individuals who have included Portsmouth Abbey in their estate plans, made a planned gift, or established an endowed fund— ensuring their impact lives on.

Join the generations of visionaries who have made a lasting difference. Contact us today to learn how your legacy can live on at Portsmouth Abbey School.

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