PDS Spring Journal 2021

JOURNAL PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL S P R I N G 2 0 2 1

PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL

P.O. Box 75 . Princeton, NJ 08542 shipping 650 Great Road . Princeton, NJ 08540 609.924.6700 . www.pds.org

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JOURNAL PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL S P R I N G 2 0 2 1

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Pandemic perspectives: resilience, accomplishment, connection through school about the cover, p.2

TOGETHER WE Transform. Enrich. Leave a legacy.

Why I am giving a planned gift The teachers and coaches at PDS had a very significant, lifelong impact on me as a young student and I want to keep that legacy going for the next generation of students. My bequest will establish a fund for Faculty and Staff Advancement and Development which will provide financial assistance and professional development opportunity to PDS faculty and staff, with a view to helping them become even more effective and inspirational teachers, counselors, coaches, role models and mentors to PDS students. The Fund recognizes the inspiration and support of, and honors, extraordinary Princeton Day School and Miss Fine’s School teachers, including Elizabeth A. Fine, Anne B. Shepherd, Moyne Smith and Gary Lott.

Laura Peterson ’67 Member Since 2019

What does it mean to thrive? Sometimes, it means transforming challenges into opportunities for growth. While this has been a year like no other, it has also been a year in which our community has continued to thrive. We are connecting and learning in new ways, thanks to countless hours of preparation and innovative thinking by our teachers, the dedication of our students and strong partnerships with our families.

The generosity of parents, alumni and friends is the foundation that enables us to thrive in adversity. Your commitment to the Annual Fund means that Princeton Day School has the flexible resources to meet challenges like the ones we met this year and to provide students with the best possible experience every day.

When you make a planned gift – of any size –you help strengthen the Princeton Day School experience for the next generation.

Your gift can enhance campus priorities that have personal meaning to you, such as faculty support, financial aid, athletics, and art programming. Or you can make an unrestricted gift that enables PDS to best address its future needs.

Whatever your commitment, you’ll join a special tradition of giving and be welcomed into the May Margaret Fine Society, Princeton Day School’s planned giving society.

We are happy to help you make a meaningful gift to both you and the School. Please contact: Courtney Hodock in the Advancement Office at chodock@pds.org or (609) 924-6700 ext. 1251.

Together, let’s help our School continue to thrive —

MAKE YOUR ANNUAL FUND GIFT TODAY! Gifts must be received by June 30, 2021 to be counted in the 2020–2021 Annual Fund. pds.org/support-pds

The May Margaret Fine Society: Established in 1998, the May Margaret Fine Society recognizes those loyal alumnae/i, parents and friends who have informed the school that they have made provisions for Princeton Day School in their estate plans.

Including the school in their will, establishing a charitable trust while maintaining life income, or naming the school as a life insurance beneficiary are some of the ways these individuals have helped secure the long-term strength of Princeton Day School.

Paul J. Stellato

HEAD OF SCHOOL

To Our Courageous Community, The bookcase in my office is lined with editions of the Link going back almost thirty years. Every so often, I will close the door to my office, take down a yearbook from 10, 20, or 30 years ago, and be transported to another age, another school, another set of interesting choices of wardrobe and music. The parade of names and faces is as restorative and reassuring as is reopening a beloved book or watching a favorite film. McClure, Reimers, Fox, Lohr, Ailing, Bing, and the many others who gave of their time and talents to our school.

These moments are pleasant diversions all, as it is fairly easy to draw a straight line from the school communities—and their denizens—that rise from those sepia-tinged pages to the school we inhabit today.

Still, with all the travails our predecessors endured and resolved, the school year that ends in June will stand alone and apart from those that have come before and, I hope, any that await. Years from now, what will those who come after us make of the experience of the 2020-2021 school year? Will they recognize our school, all masked and surrounded by plexiglass, and its many other trappings: COVID tests, Magnus apps, pods, one-way hallways, virtual everything, and our vivid new school motto: Please Keep a Panther’s Length Apart? Less the brave new world of which Shakespeare wrote, it has been, nonetheless, a world that has demanded that we be very, very brave.

From March a year ago to the time it has taken me to write this brief essay, our beloved school has been battered, bruised, and tempest-tossed. The easy, well-worn assumptions about being and belonging in our school community have been challenged, changed, and renewed. In a school in which social distancing means no more than eight faculty members at a lunch table, the distance we have been forced to keep has been, at times, almost unbearable. And yet we persist and persevere.

It is that courage—to keep moving forward in the midst of a national awakening on race and bias, a global pandemic, economic crisis, and political intrigue and turmoil—that has ensured the success and prosperity of our school. It is that courage that has reminded us who we are and linked us to those who have come before us. It has been, in so many ways, our finest hour, and we have emerged triumphant through every test that has confronted us. Determined to look unflinchingly at the challenges that confronted our society and our school; to muster our personal and institutional resources in endeavoring to do the right thing, the good thing. Our doors remained open, our classrooms buzzed with activity, even as we beat back our own doubts and misgivings to create a school year as memorable as any since our school’s founding.

Twenty years from now, when those who follow us open the pages of the Link, they will find a school that at once looks nothing like the school they know and yet, at the same time, is completely and utterly familiar, one distinguished by the strength, confidence, commitment, and courage of its students, faculty, staff, and parents. Indeed, it has been our finest hour!

With deep respect,

Paul J. Stellato

SPRING 2021

PERSPECTIVES on the Princeton Day School Experience in the COVID-19 Era About the featured story:

My photograph of Jadyn

This past year has been anything but typical, yet through it all the Princeton Day School community committed itself to growing wiser and kinder while persevering through challenges to deliver the best possible learning experience for students. In this issue of the Journal, we wanted to answer the question many have asked us—what is school really like this year?—by sharing the perspectives of nine students and faculty across the Lower, Middle and Upper School. As Head of School Paul Stellato stated, “I think the immediacy of their stories—both joyful and weary—will provide insights that we could not capture otherwise.”

Read their day-in-the-life journals starting on page 14.

Huff ’23 and Gabriella Elizabeth Thomas ’22 was inspired by the realities of living and learning amidst the global pandemic. I chose Jadyn and Gabriella because they represent the genuine friendships and amazing devotion to Princeton Day School and academics that have kept our school community strong.

— Ella Jackson ’21 Cover photographer

US students, left to right: Gabriella Thomas, Ella Jackson and Jadyn Huff, photographed by Thatcher Cook

About the cover: In keeping with the goal of this issue’s featured story, the Journal cover seeks to invoke contemplation about the shared experience this year of the students and adults in the Princeton Day School community. After viewing student art portfolios with Director of Performing and Fine Arts/Design Stan Cahill and photography teacher Thatcher Cook, we asked student photographer Ella Jackson ’21 to take on the challenge of shooting the cover. Ella’s charge was to capture the resilience our community showed as we engaged in learning together during the pandemic. The result is a beautiful and powerful visual corollary to the written perspectives of the nine diarists.

JOURNAL

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2020–2021 ALUMNI

AWARDS & HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Julie K. Taitsman ’90

Lisa A. Warren ’71

Christopher L. Jones ’91

Shira Concool ’06

Patrick L. Courtney ’85

Catherine A. Chomiak ’05

Paris L. McLean ’00

FEATURES

IN THIS ISSUE

4 PHOTO GALLERIES

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1 Letter from the Head of School

Campus and classrooms, visitors, arts and athletics highlights; Class of 2021 March 31 breakfast

44 Board of Trustees News

PERSPECTIVES on the Princeton Day School Experience in the COVID-19 Era

53 Class Notes & Alumni Spotlights

ALUMNI AWARDS 2020 and 2021 Lisa A. Warren ’71 Christopher L. Jones ’91 Shira Concool ’06 Tania Schoennagel ’86

Julie K. Taitsman ’90 Patrick L. Courtney ’85 Catherine A. Chomiak ’05 Paris L. McLean ’00

46 THRIVE! CAMPAIGN UPDATE Moving into final phase of a historic,

Tania Schoennagel ’86

52 Alumni Council News

92 Former Faculty Notes 95 In Memoriam 96 Get All the Latest PDS News Spring 2021 Journal Volume 59/Number 1

transformative campaign

Editor-in-Chief: Designer: Contributing Designer: Senior Writer: Contributing Reporter: Thrive! Content: Class Notes and In Memoriam Editor: Proofreader: Photography:

Melanie Shaw, Director of Communications Christine Cantera, Art Director Maria Kauzmann Melanie Shaw Linda Maxwell-Stefanelli ’62 SteegeThomson

Stay up-to-date about PDS! See page 96 to sign for for pds.org news alerts and follow our PDS social media platforms.

Ann Wiley ’70 Terri Epstein P ’05 ’08 Michael Branscom, Christine Cantera, Thatcher Cook, Nancy Erickson P ’15, Corbin Gurkin, Ella Jackson ’21, Andrew Lee, Monica McInnes P ’23 ’24, Matt Pilsner, Eric Rempe, Melanie Shaw, Jamie Will SPRING 2021

photo galleries

winter

Lower schoolers play king of the mountain.

5th Grade in Gaga pit

Lower School on the playground

Jack Madani enjoys the PA-sponsored coffee truck.

Check the pds.org newsfeed and Flickr albums for ongoing stories about life at PDS! 4th Grade JOURNAL

Valentine Spirit Week, US student and Amy Matlack

spring Badminton on the lawn

The tents return.

Flik offered special BHM menus and chef profiles.

3rd Grade enjoys time in the Dina Bray Reading Garden.

Peer Group on-campus retreat led by Dr. Shah and Peer faculty advisors

The Chinese Club and CMDT shared cultural identity stories and Lunar New Year traditions.

LS students in the garden tasting spinach and preparing leaf bed

LS science teacher Aaron Schomburg’s infamous egg drop in action!

SPRING 2021

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some visitor highlights

Michael D. Reed ’03, Black History Month keynote speaker Madeline Miller discusses her book Circe.

Dr. Leon Rosenberg discusses personal memoir.

Marissa Applegate ’12 shares chickadee research with 4th Grade science.

Prof. Edward Foley ’79 visits US students.

Rabbi David Levy shares about Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Constitutional Law expert Kermit Roosevelt III visits AP Gov students.

Fifth graders explore animal cognition with expert Dr. Steve Ross.

Katie Gibson ’11 and therapy dog join 3rd graders.

Middle and Upper School ceramics classes learn from artist Sunshine Cobb.

101-year-old Louise “Gram” Guhl talks with LS students on the 100th day of school.

Historians Beverly Mills and Elaine Buck share about local Black history.

Max Stossel discusses the role of technology with Middle School.

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Above and right: Juan Felipe Herrera inspires Lower School students to create art from recycled materials.

Juan Felipe Herrera in poetry workshop with Paul Epply-Schmidt’s MS class

Kenard Pak discusses his work with Jerry Hirniak and US class in the art studio.

Kenard Pak demonstrates illustration style while 3rd graders practice the technique.

LS assembly enjoys a story with author Mitali Perkins.

Mitali Perkins meets with MS Book Club.

SPRING 2021

active classrooms

Second Grade class with Susan Ferguson

US architecture studio with David Burkett

Photography studio with Thatcher Cook US students in Shepherd Commons

US design studio

LS teacher Christina Lee with third graders

Garden partnership creates hands-on math.

STEAM robotics

Ninth Grade STEAMinar

Fourth Grade Hopscotch code class is taught by 11th grader Aaliyah Sayed. Inset is the sample project.

Chinese class with Wenting Chen

Acting US Head Chris Rhodes and 9th Grade Dean Stefanie Santangelo

LS music class under the tent

Left and right: US students use theater lobby during free periods.

SPRING 2021

JOURNAL

Please check the pds.org newsfeed for posts on each sports team, seasonal awards and senior day celebrations, and our many Flickr albums of all winter and spring sports!

athletics

performing and fine arts/design

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Remote “Sarabande” participants

US Orchestra: Grieg’s “Sarabande” performance

US student short plays earned nominations for the Montclair State University Theatre Awards.

MS Musical Winnie the Pooh

LS Winter Arts Celebration featured their accomplishments in LS music and art classes.

MS Band performs in McAneny Theater MS Band practices al fresco with Band Director Channing McCullough.

MS art studio US ceramics

Above and left: US painting, design studios Check the pds.org newsfeed for full arts coverage.

2021 senior breakfast

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Edem Afemeku, Class of 2021 Dean Sam Hunt, Amy Gallo ’03, Chip Cash and Acting Head of US Chris Rhodes Below: Head of School Paul Stellato

Last year, the March 3 Senior Lunch was the final on-campus event for Grade 12 before all schools went remote for the rest of the school year. This year, on March 31, the Class of 2021 celebrated it’s first event of the year held together on campus: Senior Breakfast!

Pe r s p e c t i v e s

“What is school really like this year?” Time and again, Princeton Day School faculty, staff and students have been asked this question by friends and relations. As Head of School Paul Stellato explains, “Whatever successes we have enjoyed this year as a school are made possible through the commitment and sacrifice of the faculty and staff; and whatever lessons we will glean through this trying endeavor will be those the faculty and staff have identified through their work with their students. The promise of teachers to best serve their students is dependable, durable, and transformative, never more so than in this year of pandemic. As we have considered how best to capture our unique, unparalleled school experience, we decided to ask the teachers and students who are living it to chronicle a ‘typical’ school day. I think the immediacy of their stories — both joyful and weary — will provide insights that we could not capture otherwise.” Here are nine of these stories.

Safia

GRAHAM ’30

8:00am When I got to school I had to wait in a line. Today is Spirit Day and we all wore blue or white. I found Banana Boy the monkey in the math box. I was excited to find Banana Boy. When I found him I felt good because I was looking for a long time.

8:15–10:00am When we did the multiplication sheet I was happy because I almost got all 100 answers. At FPOW (Family Problem of the Week) we solved the problem together then shared strategies. In music we got our recorders! And music books.

10:00am At book clubs we had a discussion about the book.

11:00am At lunch we ate outside. And played ‘all tag’ with different powers for recess. I really like that we get to eat outside but this year I would be eating in the cafeteria. [Before COVID, Grades 3 and 4 ate lunch in the Campus Center, while the younger grades ate in the Gymeteria.]

12:00pm At social studies we made videos about masks.

1:30pm At library we were in the classroom reading Tiger Boy. It’s different being in the classroom for library because usually we’re in the library [before COVID].

2:15pm At school recess is different because I can’t play with other classes I can only play with my class. I play with my friends by being a little apart and not touching each other.

2:45pm time for dismissal 4:00pm At home I read for 30 minutes and logged on my padlet.

Reading time

Pages from Safia’s hand-written journal JOURNAL

5:00–8:00pm The end of the day includes dinner, free time and getting ready for bed.

Safia gets her recorder and music book

Safia with classmates during snack time/recess

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on the Princeton Day School experience in the COVID-19 era Mattias

LEON ’29 6:00–7:00am I wake up and watch ‘Dream’ playing Minecraft on YouTube on my TV. He is the best Minecraft player.

7:00am My dad asks what I want to eat for breakfast and I tell him I want a parfait. He also tells me school has a delayed start at 8:30 today because of the snow and that everyone is remote today. I have breakfast.

8:30–10:00am School starts.

I’m at my desk in my bedroom.

There is a lot that is different.

I have not met my teacher in person. I like that we get more time to do other things than if I were going to school on campus every day. And I like that I get to spend more time with my family and my dog. In school we are doing “passions” (exploring things we are really interested in learning more about). My two passions are Minecraft and ice hockey. We also have library.

We are reading Tiger Boy.

8:00am Dressed, teeth brushed. Me and my dad talk about a Rover that is being sent to Mars. It is landing today.

1:00pm We are still in the Black History Month research.

I’m getting a lot of facts in my research.

2:00pm We finish our research for the day and we are starting languages. I take French. I like that I’m on a big screen and my friends can see me from class. I also like that the teacher pays attention to me and checks on me if I want to say something. I like that I can pin the screen and clearly see the whiteboard and what the teacher is writing there.

3:00pm I usually play with my friends a little online after school. Today I play Minecraft with my friend.

Mattias with Dino

10:00am We have our book groups. Our book group had a big, long discussion. I raise my “zoom hand” or my actual hand and the teacher calls on me so I unmute the audio and I can ask my question. I mute the audio again until I have another question or a comment. After book groups, we have music class. In music, we are working on the Operetta. It will be performed as a video of separate parts this year and not on stage together.

11:00am During breaks we don’t stay on the main Zoom meeting so usually I get to play with other online friends during that time. One of us invites the others to another Zoom meeting and we play games together. Also, during PE/ skating, the online kids get a break while the other kids go to PE/skating. Today, I play Minecraft with my friends Asher and Alex, who are also doing school online. After the break, I usually go downstairs to eat lunch with my dad and I get to play with my dog, Dino, for a little bit of time. I miss being able to talk to all my friends in person. And I miss going to recess with all my friends and going to skating and PE. 12:00pm In social studies we are focusing on Black History Month. We are researching five African Americans and then we make a Kahoot. Kahoot! is an app where you can do quizzes like true or false to test what we learn.

4:00pm I keep on playing with my friend. We PVP each other. PVP means person v. person in the game. I usually have exercise training with a trainer online that I do with my dad, but he canceled today because of the snow.

Reading for book group

5:00pm I do homework in my room. I do “book groups” first, which is reading my book, A Handful of Stars. Plus five minutes of math multiplication. And writing this journal!

7:00pm I eat dinner with mom and dad and then we watch a movie. It’s a Star Wars movie, Solo. Well, we watch the second half of the movie because we had started it the other day.

8:00pm Every night my mom, dad and I talk about our “favorite part of the day” and “least favorite part of the day.” I go upstairs, take a shower and get ready for bed. And that’s my day today!

Pe r sinpthe e cLife tives A Day Aiden

WANG ’25

To say that the world has been turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic is an understatement.

Remote learning has been challenging for many people and I am no exception. My schedule was off and I hated remote classes.

I came across a quote

by Charmian Hussey, “Just take things as they come. And, as you go through life, find as much good as you possibly can,” from her book The Valley of Secrets, and it helped me accept that there would always be challenges and changes in our lives. Ever since I decided to make the best out of my challenges, I started to see the many positive sides of remote learning.

At 7:30am on school days, my alarm clock goes off. The extra 30 minutes of sleep is such a treat for me since there is no traveling to school needed every morning. I then tune into the 102.7 radio station and enjoy listening to my favorite songs while getting ready for school and chatting with my parents at breakfast. Mornings without the feel of “rushing” are such a great way to start my day.

8:05am After breakfast, I go upstairs to my study room and log into Zoom to join my homeroom. If you walk into any homeroom at PDS before the pandemic, all you could hear was casual chatting and giggling. This year, my homeroom teachers, Mr. Madani and Ms. Barlet, made “themed” mornings for our class. We have different online activities on different days and I enjoy some of the TED Talks and Kahoot! games. It’s a fun and relaxing way to start the morning, meeting with classmates and my advisor.

8:15–9:15am On Day 7 of our seven-day schedule rotation, science is my first-period class. I have always loved science and the highlight of science classes is always doing labs. I thought we wouldn’t be able to do a lot of labs this year since many of us are remote with no access to science labs, but I was wrong.

We just finished our kitchen chemistry unit a week ago, and

JOURNAL

I never knew there was so much science we could do in our home kitchens! My grandma, who is a great cook, gave me the full credit for the sourdough bread that I made during the kitchen chemistry unit when we learned about the science behind bread.

9:20–10:00am Morning recess and snack time is when I miss my on-campus days. I wish I could be at school chatting and playing with my friends outdoors. I am hopeful we will all be back on campus soon. For now, I often go to the deck in the back of my house during recess time to get some fresh air and relax my eyes.

10:05–11:05am Our English class is working on a social justice project and we just finished outlining the project last week. I’ve read articles about social justice in the past, but it was not until I heard and saw the social events during the pandemic that I realized that social justice is still a big topic that needs broader social awareness and public support.

Thanks to Mr. Trowbridge, my English teacher, who used LibGuides for our research, I was able to find lots of great information about areas of social injustice and stories that go along with them.

11:10am–12:10pm In history class with Mr. Cirilo we are divided into groups to discuss whether it was ethical to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Compared to in-person classroom group discussions, I feel that discussions via Zoom breakout rooms are more involving. Besides the face-to-face discussion, we can also text our thoughts back and forth and share documents using Zoom.

12:10–12:45pm Before my afternoon classes, I take my lunch break. Since not all students are on campus and people have to keep a distance at school, our school principals, grade deans and teachers worked together and came up with the idea of lunchtime movies to keep us entertained during lunch. For those on-campus students, they can watch the movie from the DTEN screen, and for remote students like myself, we can join a Zoom call to watch the movie.

12:45–2:05pm If you asked me to pick my favorite class in 8th Grade, I would say it is the musical theater class with Mr. Martin. When the musical theater class starts in the afternoon on day 7, I am always excited, especially after I got my role as Tigger for the 8th Grade Winnie the Pooh musical.

I felt a little bit disappointed at the beginning because I knew we could not perform the musical on stage this year. But as I got into the details of this year’s edition of the 8th Grade musical, I realized it was very special and interesting. Instead of meeting with everybody in-person to rehearse and perform,

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we record ourselves doing the acts at home, and the individual video clips will be compiled and edited. This is a mini-version of filmmaking! We are not only learning about singing and acting, but we also get to learn how to set up the green screen, the ring light and combine videos. This is such a unique experience, as we are actors and actresses, but also we are our own backstage crew members for the show!

encourage us to keep a workout routine. My daily workout routine is to jog in my neighborhood for 30–45 minutes.

There were days when I felt lazy and skipped jogging. When I talked with some of my remote-school classmates last week, I realized that this happened to many of them as well. We then discussed setting up a support group so that we can remind each other about our daily workout routines. Keeping up a workout routine is especially important in winter. When spring and summer come, I would love to go out with my friends and their families for hiking and crabbing trips again, just like what we did last summer.

3:20–3:50pm After school, I took a 30-minute break just to relax and do something other than schoolwork.

Musical theater class with Mr. Martin

2:10–2:30pm As always, I use the resource period to review my notes from early classes and reach out to my teachers for questions. All of my teachers provide Zoom links for the resource period. This works so well for me (and I am sure for other students as well ) that I no longer need to run around the hallways to find teachers. All my teachers are just one click away. With this new arrangement, I get more done than before.

4:00–5:30pm Depending on the day of the cycle, it usually takes me about as little as a half hour or as much as two hours to do my homework. I also have some extracurricular activities during the week after school. I have a remote animation class on Tuesdays. I am learning how to 3D-model something and to create small animations using a 3D rendering app called Maya. Many of my school friends are also in this animation class, and it’s a great time for us to talk, hang out and animate. I also have remote drum lessons on Mondays and remote piano lessons on Fridays.

6:00–7:00pm When I am done with my homework and my extracurricular activities, it is time for dinner on most days.

We have a bigger family now because my cousin moved in with us since the pandemic. She is an international student and her parents (my aunt and uncle) are in China. I am happy that my cousin came to stay with us and also that my dad does not need to travel for business since the pandemic. Dinner time is always full of fun topics and great food.

7:00pm I practice piano and drums after dinner every day.

This is a great time for me to jam out to some music after a long day. Playing either instrument brings me joy and gives me a fresh mind.

Aiden attending class remotely

2:30–3:15pm PE is my final period of the day and even though remote students aren’t able to meet with coaches in person, our coaches post useful workout links for us and

8:00–9:00pm The rest of my night is quite chill. I take a shower and read a book. I socialize a little on my phone and it’s about time for bed. This year, remote learning has been a unique experience for me, adapting to changes and focusing on staying positive. The thing that I am most appreciative and thankful for is that, even though I have not been on campus this year, I’ve never felt left out from the PDS community thanks to the hard work, creativity and caring of my teachers and all school staff. Whether it is the lunch movie time, or Friday Fun Night, or the Chinese New Year celebration, I know that I am part of the PDS family.

SPRING 2021

Pe r s p e c t i v e s

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Addison

6:00am I wake up at 6:00am, and I get ready for school.

After I finish getting ready, I check my school emails and Schoology, which is our school communication platform. On Schoology, I check my notifications, my weekly overview for class, and I make sure that my homework is submitted. This morning, I also work on my Latin project. A safety procedure that was put into place this year, that I do every morning, is taking my temperature and then filling out a health form. There is an app that we use called Magnus. You answer six, quick, simple questions. You have to attest that you have taken your temperature that morning and that your temperature is under 100.4.

FIGEL ’25

7:45am Upon completing this step, I leave for school. This year, the commute to school is a bit different than the morning commute to school in the past. The Eighth Grade now has a separate entry point from the rest of the school. Prior to the pandemic, you could get dropped off at school anytime, ranging from 7:20–8:00am, the moment homeroom begins. This year, the school opens its doors at 7:45am.

There is now a line of cars at our designated drop-off location, and you pull up close enough to the front of the line before you can get out of Morning drop-off your car. There is a member from the school’s security department directing you. When you near the front of the line, a teacher will check that you filled out your Magnus health form on your phone JOURNAL

or your school iPad, and then you are allowed entry into the building. If you haven’t filled out your health form online, there are printed health forms and pencils at the entrance. Although there are many new safety measures that have been put in place this year, PDS has done an impeccable job with keeping school as normal as possible during these challenging times.

8:05am Once you enter the building, you are required to sanitize your hands at the hand sanitizer stations. I then proceed to my homeroom. Throughout the day, in every class, you sit at the same seat and desk every day to make it easier to do contact tracing if needed. Today, we have an Eighth Grade morning meeting where every online student and every in-person student joins one Zoom call. The in-person students join in our homeroom classrooms and the at-home students participate via the DTENs, the very large video conferencing screens in every classroom.

8:15–9:15am My first period class is Honors Algebra IB with Mrs. Bhalla in the MS Library. Today we started our new unit: simplifying algebraic fractions. We use the DTEN, which looks like a very large TV screen. It is very helpful because all of the online students are able to join the class Zoom, and all of the in-person students are able to see them, larger than life, from the classroom. On every DTEN, you can have an interactive whiteboard where teachers, in-person students, and online students can all collaborate together at once. We do this often in math class. At the beginning of the school year, in-person students were supplied with a supply pouch, including a stylus. Every student uses their stylus or their finger and can come up to the DTEN one at a time and write on the whiteboard for everyone to see. Another feature of the DTEN is that teachers, online students and in-person students can share their screens for everyone to see. This is helpful when online students have a question because they can share their screen and work on a math problem with the teacher. An advantage of being in-person is that you can quickly discuss math problems with your peers and ask the teacher questions directly.

9:20–9:40am I head outside for morning recess. Every day I look forward to recess because it is a time where I can see everyone from my grade, including those who I might not have class with. I have been fortunate enough to have been able to attend in-person school almost every day since September 17, 2020, the first day that I came back to campus since before the pandemic closed all schools last March. The main motivator for me choosing in-person school is that I get to see my friends.

9:40–11:05am My next period class is DJ/Film Scoring with Mr. Buckelew in the Drama Studio. When we arrive at 9:40am we have snack time at our assigned seats. The class starts at

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In the classroom

10:05am. DJ/Film Scoring is the elective class that I chose to take because I love music. This morning, we listen to “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King. We then do an exercise where we have to recreate the baseline on a software app on our school iPads, called FL Studio, just by listening to the song. As a class, we discussed melody, rhythm, baseline, notes, dotted quarter notes, quarter notes and eighth notes. Next, we do the same exercise for the song “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri.

11:10am–12:10pm In English class with Mrs. Radice we are doing a social justice project where I am creating a podcast about wheelchair access. I finish writing my script for the podcast, and I start creating my podcast on the GarageBand app on my school iPad. 12:10–12:25pm Lunch recess is a great break, and once again, another opportunity to see everyone from your grade.

Today, because the weather is nice, we are able to go outside and meet up with friends on the blacktop for 15 minutes.

teachers for a segment for the PDS News Show. I am on the news team for this DaVinci.

Afterwards, I have a Zoom call with my DaVinci class. I also check Schoology updates, notifications and grades. And I email my teachers since I have a few questions, and request to meet with some of them during a resource study hall period.

Lastly, I work on some math homework.

Checking emails

1:50–2:25pm I head back to my homeroom for resource period. Resource is a study hall period where you can also schedule meetings via Zoom to ask any questions that you might have. I keep working on math homework, then history, and check Schoology notifications again.

2:30–3:10pm Sports is my last period of the day, and basketball has been my winter sport. I feel so lucky that I have been able to continue with basketball. I practice in the newly constructed Athletic Center. Although this year Middle School doesn’t have any games, we are still able to practice. Another significant difference is that sports are co-ed this year.

12:25pm We head back to our homerooms for lunch at our desks. For lunch, all of the in-person students join to watch a movie while we eat lunch. You are not allowed to talk during lunch. You have to focus on eating, considering that you have to take your mask off. There is plexiglass between every desk in every classroom. There is also hand sanitizer in every classroom and at various locations all around the school.

12:45–1:45pm I have flex period in the theater, a larger space for us to gather safely at a distance. First, I interview two teachers for my DaVinci class. DaVinci is a Middle School elective program designed to explore different interests. I am currently enrolled in two DaVinci classes: Panther Media Entertainment Committee and Genius Hour. Panther Media Entertainment Committee is my live, in-person DaVinci, which I have every Day 1 from 8:45–9:15am. Genius Hour is my asynchronous DaVinci, which lets you explore something that you really want to do and complete it on your own. You choose a topic of your choice to work on. I picked a song that I like and am teaching it to myself on my flute, which I have to do at home because we are not allowed to play wind instruments at school. This afternoon, a fellow member of the Panther Media Entertainment Committee and I interview two Middle School

At the Athletic Center for basketball and dismissal

3:10pm All of the 8th graders get dismissed and picked up at the Athletic Center.

4:00–8:00pm Once I get home I check emails, Schoology updates and notifications. I eat dinner and spend approximately three hours on my homework.

8:45pm I end my day and go to bed.

SPRING 2021

Pe r s p e c t i v e s

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Jayden

SMITH ’23

5:30am My alarm goes off at 5:30am, reminding me to start my day, but I normally pass out within two seconds of trying to get ready, and today was no exception. I live about an hour and a half away from campus, so I need to be out of the house by 6:30am to make it to school on time. So that extra nap is often the reason I’m scrambling to do my hair, pack my bag, or get dressed. Today was one of those days, as it was my first few days back on campus after a long online week.

Going back in person was strange; my ‘normal’ online routine last week had resulted in my mother yelling at me for wearing a robe in an online class and entering class two seconds before the Zoom began.

9:15am This is when I normally meet up with friends or get a bite to eat. I try to believe that my break will be used to catch up with assignments, but I know that it will almost never be used productively. Finding my friends brought back just a few memories from the days before COVID. Being loud, being stupid, getting yelled at for being loud and stupid.

Nowadays, the only thing you can do is speak for two seconds in the hall before being ordered to move farther apart.

Despite this, I spent my break socializing at the circle table with friends who gave me a friendly and welcoming ‘welcome back’ from online school.

9:55am So far, the class has been quieter than normal, which seems to be the case lately. English class has always been a favorite of mine because of the lively discussions we have in class, but English class with COVID does not provide the same stimulating discussions. Many students online appear to disengage from the class and become distant from their classmates, making many students uncomfortable as their vacant faces look at each other through the screen.

The class always defies the silences and fosters excellent discussions in the classroom, with students from across the screen included and excited to learn.

6:31am Time is running out to get to school on time. The adrenaline surge kicked in and I found myself pacing around my home. The adrenaline doesn’t fully compensate for the lack of sleep. It also doesn’t help because I’m writing my journal as I go, so if I’m late for chemistry, please accept my apologies, Dr. Distefano.

7:04am Remember how I said we wanted to leave about 6:30am? We’re running late. It’s 7:04am, and we’re about to leave the house, so either my father will have to hit the gas, or I’ll be late, which I normally am after a hectic morning.

As my dad took me to school, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Frankie Valli was playing in the background, sunshine gleaming through our windows, and my mom was wide awake, staring out her window. I hadn’t been to school in a while, and I was curious if it would be different this time.

8:05am I made it to chem on time, which was cool, but something felt peculiar now that I was back at campus. Mr. Rhodes takes my temperature with a grin that shines through the thick mask shielding his face. Despite the fact that students were passing through the entrance and halls, the campus felt deserted. When I passed through the halls, I saw classes of just one or two students. I knew this would all take some getting used to.

JOURNAL

Classes of one or two students took some getting used to.

11:20am During my lunch break, I catch up with friends and tell them about our stressful classes. It’s not as easy as it seems to be staring at my peers through plexiglass while we speak. Since it’s practically impossible to hear through the dense sheets of plexiglass shielding the sound, I spend half of my lunchtime talking to myself.

2:15pm My day usually ends at 2:15pm. Everyone always hangs out and talks, which hasn’t changed since COVID,

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but more than half of the students in our class are remote right now. As a result, I find myself pacing around the school looking for some of my friends who could be passing by. I noticed that more than half of my friends are online after looking around the campus. I still see them in class, but we only communicate through a Zoom lens. It was strange at first to adapt to this, but I got used to it.

3:20pm The last bell goes off, and everyone is out the door before it can finish ringing. Since COVID, we’ve had to clear the building right after classes, because the majority of students are either gone or waiting to be picked up at the Campus Center. Last year, the Campus Center was packed with people sharing a pre-practice lunch or just having a good time with friends. Now walking into Campus Center, kids are scattered within corners of the room engrossed in their screens or having conversations through the plexiglass. My day ended with me being one of only about 15 students remaining in the entire school. Before my parents picked me up to drop me off at our final JV Boys Basketball game, I chose a quiet place to work in.

I try to be responsible by doing my homework, before I realize my computer has died. Since everything is so technologically dependent, I find that my computer battery is continually depleted. Instead, I focus on my phone until I’m picked up and ready for my final game.

5:30pm I hardly had time to warm up due to rushing to get a meal before the game and the hour-long commute. When I arrive at the game, I see everyone masked up, shooting about, and ready to play, while I just had a few seconds to shoot around. You would know if you watched the game, but if you didn’t, to make a long story short, we took over and blew the team out by 30 points. Sadly, our MVP, Harry Bernardi, did not make the cut, but his presence on the court is one like no other. With this game concludes the JV Boys Basketball saga, one that will never be forgotten #benchmob #JV2ForeverAndAlways.

What used to be a hallway full of students running to get to their sports practices or have a nice workout with friends after school is now empty and with few people walking in and out, due to COVID regulations.

Two students are social distance-learning, but still finding ways to enjoy class with their fellow classmates.

7:30pm When I finally get home, I take a solid 30 minutes to unwind before getting started on my homework for the next day. Due to most classes finishing shortly with the forthcoming spring break, today’s homework load is low. I spent most of the night studying for our upcoming math exam and working on a new game for my Object-Oriented Programming class.

Because of the light load, this is an unusual night.

12:00am I treat myself to some late-night television and fall asleep about midnight, only to remember the next morning that I failed to do the reading for English class... and that is a typical day in the life of a PDS student.

Jayden (22) during JV basketball game

SPRING 2021

Pe r s p e c t i v e s

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Tori

SULLIVAN ’21

7:45am Time to wake up. Today’s breakfast is a cinnamon roll and some coffee. I take the next 15 minutes getting ready for the day. Finishing my food, setting up my desk, refilling my coffee.

8:05am Today is Day 5, one of the more busy days in my schedule, filled with classes and extracurriculars. First class is Calculus AB and we are tackling slope fields. It’s a lot to take in. I think I’m getting better at integrals, though.

9:15am A quick meeting for Model UN. Our spring simulation is this afternoon, so during community block we go over the logistics. I’m helping to run the crisis portion of the sim, which will definitely be a fun, new experience.

9:55am Today during English class, we are working on an in-class essay assignment. I put on some nice study music, do a lot of rereading and begin creating an outline. I start drafting my first paragraph when class is dismissed.

11:10am Next is AP U.S. Government. Today we are going through a lecture on civil rights, but not until we have a heated discussion about the most recent laws passed protecting LGBT+ rights. The class conversations in U.S. Government and Politics are always the highlight of my day, as everyone takes the time to present and defend their own perspective on current events.

11:55am Because of the staggered lunch schedule, my third period class is split into two “chunks,” with a time to eat lunch in the middle. Sometimes I use my lunch break to catch up on work, but today I decide to relax a bit and enjoy some chicken soup.

12:35 After a nice lunch break, we continue on with our lecture in U.S. Government.

1:05pm Chinese is the final class of the day. We play some review games on Quizlet—not only is it a fun way to practice our vocabulary, but it’s nice to have an outlet for our class competitiveness. Once my team has won (and lost) a few games, we begin reading the introductory passage of our chapter. The characters are all a bit unfamiliar, but the catharsis of finally understanding a difficult phrase makes it all worth it.

Chinese class with Wenting Chen JOURNAL

2:15pm Class dismissed! I set out to take a short break to cuddle with my cats and enjoy a snack. After a busy Day 5, I’m excited for the weekend ahead. I’ll probably sit down this afternoon to work on my homework, but my day isn’t over yet.

6:00pm The Model UN simulation is starting now. My task is to read and respond to notes sent by the crisis delegates to help them achieve their “behind the scenes” goals. I’m new to crisis myself, so I rely on [MUN team members] Eli and Vinay to help me make calls. The hours pass by quickly, with one delegate going into self-imposed exile in Antarctica and a few others releasing powerful propaganda campaigns. Before I know it, the world government has fallen and the simulation is over.

10:00pm After a long day of school and Model UN, I fall asleep as soon as I finish packing up.

View from the studio: Advanced Dance

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5:30am Don’t SNOOZE! I leave before my husband and kids so I like to make sure that breakfast is plated, lunch boxes are out of the refrigerator, masks are in Ziploc bags, etc. so that everyone’s day starts smoothly.

isn’t me, I have since gotten really creative. I’ve collaborated with other disciplines and been able to go back to having hands-on and interactive lessons and groups that work for both in-school and at-home students. For example, I worked with our math chair to do a math escape room, which the students really loved. I have been working with Carol Olson (LS tech coordinator) to use technology such as breakout.edu to play games and also address various SEL skills.

YOUNG

9:00am Meet with Sandy or Student Support Services.

Unlike in a public school, I am not on a Child Study Team, so I have grown in terms of becoming more autonomous and confident in my decision-making, working independently while also bringing the skills I have developed in interdisciplinary planning and collaboration to this setting. Throughout the day I am constantly doing informal needs assessments regarding how I can help support students and teachers (PD, meetings, informal discussion, collaboration, push-in support).

What motivates me every day is my belief that learning should be fun. I want to have a hand in helping children love learning and love school. This year has been challenging because students and teachers are unable to do many of the things they find fun, so I love getting creative and bringing fun into the classroom. I look forward to days where I am in the classroom running groups and playing games with the children. We have a lot of fun, we dance and laugh, and through it the students are working on soft skills (problem-solving, communication, teamwork, resilience, etc.).

Ashleigh and LS teacher Christina Lee consult on student progress.

Dr. Ashleigh

7:15am Arrive at PDS. Check to see what is Lower School Psychologist on my calendar, organize materials for groups, prepare professional development (PD) for the teachers, research and read articles, print anything that I need for the day.

7:30am Most mornings I have students that I see before the day starts. I meet with them before school 1:1 so that they don’t miss instructional time during the day. I don’t treat mental health issues but provide support, address the impact of mental health challenges in school and, if needed, coordinate with community-based treatment providers.

8:15am Whole class social emotional learning (SEL) lesson.

I have been working with the students on resilience and growth mindset. I have had to reflect on many of my lessons and teachings and implement them in a more intentional way in my own practice because of the hurdles and bumps of the school experience during COVID. I started the year doing a lot of didactic groups rather than activities, which is atypical for me. I did this because I wasn’t sure how to make some of my traditional activities COVID-safe or accessible to students at home. Given that a teacher-directed instructional approach just

10:00am Check emails, return phone calls, follow up on any issues or challenges. As a school psychologist, building relationships and having relationships are a large part of being able to do my job well. Being new, and the required distancing due to the pandemic, has made it difficult to develop relationships and at times feels like a barrier to doing my job well. Remote presentations are also a challenge. It’s difficult to read the room, level of engagement, etc. when the presentation is virtual. I internalize this as meaning I am not doing a good job. My colleagues have been very supportive and offer feedback and comments via email after the presentations, which has been really nice because you don’t know how what you’re saying is being perceived.

10:30–11:30am Visit classroom, conduct student observations. My day is full of short blocks of time where I

Pe r s p e c t i v e s

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see several students. In a typical year I would be able to run a variety of small groups so I can meet the needs of several students in one block of time. In trying to preserve the bubble I am unable to mix classes. Another difficulty with this is that students that are experiencing difficulties are feeling isolated, where in a typical year where we could mix students, they would be able to interact and learn from one another and recognize that they aren’t alone in their struggles.

Matthew

TROWBRIDGE

Middle School faculty/coach

11:30am LS lunch duty.

12:00–1:00pm Eat lunch, check and respond to email, prep for afternoon groups, consult with teachers. I am looking forward to a more typical year where there are opportunities to talk and socialize at various points throughout the day so that I can get to know my colleagues (off Zoom).

1:00–1:30pm Whole class SEL lessons, various afternoon items.

1:30–2:00pm Whole class SEL lesson.

2:00–3:30pm Paperwork, student check-ins, consultations, phone calls, follow up with division head about any issues that came up during the day, prepare professional development. The most rewarding thing I do is building relationships with the students. We have so many amazing students with various gifts, and the moments I spend in the classroom working directly with students are always the most rewarding parts of my day.

In between consultation and direct student services I am often found observing students, preparing to provide PD and returning parent calls.

5:45am Wake up with Webster, hang in his room ’til Calvin comes in at 6. Change/dress Web and Calvin and go downstairs for breakfast. Coffee. Take out the dog. Curious George is on TV for Calvin and Web while Suzanne and I get ready for work.

6:30am Calvin is teaching Web how to play ping pong. (We don’t have a table.)

7:00am Suzanne has taken boys’ temps and gathers/assembles all the boys’ stuff to put in my car before she leaves for school. I do a quick round of dishes.

7:20am To the car. First stop is Webster to Cubs School (opens at 7:30).

7:45am Arrive at PDS. Calvin goes to PreK.

Ping pong ball, please?

7:50am In Room 123, ready for homeroom with 8th Grade students.

Returning phone calls

3:30pm Leave PDS. 4:15–6:30pm Arrive home (weekly committee meeting at

4:15–5:30). Pack lunches for the following day, lay out clothes for kids, cook dinner.

7:30–8:30pm Prepare for any upcoming PD or meetings.

9:00pm Bedtime.

JOURNAL

8:15am Head down the hall to Room 121 for 7th Grade history class. Quick proofreading and peer discussion of reflections written over the weekend after a Congress roleplay activity last week. Then we move into a discussion of the Antebellum period. We watch a few short PBS videos and discuss each, taking notes along the way. The remote kids chime in, and I give them a breakout room at one point, too. We take a mask break halfway through the extended 80-minute period.

We end with a head start on the homework: a timeline of key events during the Antebellum period.

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9:40am Quick coffee break, get some yogurt from snack bar, see two former advisees, check in with MS English teacher Katy Radice about a student.

10:05am History 7 team meeting with fellow MS history teachers Beth Yakoby and Victor Cirilo, planning an Inquiry Project for the Abolitionist Movement unit.

10:40am English 7/8 team impromptu meeting, debriefing on a recent Diversity, Equity and Inclusion virtual meeting with Dr. Artis that I had missed because of a conflict with the squash team.

11:10am My 8th Grade English class section 4 is entering the final stage of our Social Justice project. Review recent interviews students conducted and follow up individually. Introduce the podcast option with an overview and highlight Radiolab, Floodlines, the 1619 Project and others.

12:15pm Grab lunch from Campus Center, eat quickly in MS English office and head to homeroom while 8s eat theirs.

Talk quickly with Katy Radice about our podcast recs, edit the Schoology folder a bit.

12:45pm In 8th Grade English class section 6 we begin an extended period with a punctuating dialogue handout, which the other two sections have already done. While they work on it, I review the interview notes for our Social Justice project. In general, the interviews are exceptionally detailed and thoughtful with lots of follow-up questions and great notes. I’m concerned about the students that haven’t done their interview yet, but this phase of the assignment is definitely bringing the two weeks of research into new focus and adding a human aspect to the injustices they’ve read about. Punctuation of dialogue is definitely improving, but so many fall into the autocorrect trap, especially with questions and exclamations.

2:10pm Resource period with homeroom. Help two students upload interview notes, help another check out a book from the

Matt Trowbridge with fellow squash coach Asad Khan

7th Grade history class planning Abolitionist Movement Inquiry Project

library. Kids are bouncing off the walls during this 15-minute resource time.

2:30pm Head to squash courts to check in with fellow Coach Asad Khan and assist with 7th Grade squash PE activity.

3:30pm Pick up Calvin from PDS Stay and Play, get him a snack and get home to meet Suzanne and Web before heading back to school for varsity squash practices.

4:30pm Back to the squash courts for the end of girls practice and the start of boys practice. Hit some balls with Asad between practices and discuss plans for our spring clinics.

5:00pm We receive word that school will be remote only tomorrow due to expected snow. Email Delbarton coaches to reschedule tomorrow’s Boys JV squash match.

6:00pm Grab Ricky’s Thai food for Suzanne and me on the way home. Conference with Katy Radice by phone about English 8 plans and the need to adjust planned Schoology posts for the students (once Calvin’s in bed).

6:30pm Quick dinner while Suzanne puts Webby to bed.

7:00pm Calvin’s bath and bedtime routine is extra cute tonight because Indy wanted to join Calvin for his books.

8:00pm Make Schoology updates for remote-only day, have a quick talk with Suzanne about tomorrow’s schedule.

She’s also teaching remotely tomorrow. This makes 3/4 of the family in remote learning tomorrow… fingers crossed Cubs School stays open for the morning at least. Not sure what we’ll do if Webster is home with us, too.

Indy joins in for bedtime books.

A Day Pe r sinpthe e cLife tives

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Seraphine HAMILTON

Upper School faculty/coach

9:15–9:45am Help advisees with next

course selections and draft parent emails to begin dialogue about their choices.

9:45am Jog down to the cafe for some hot water and steps!

9:55–11:00am This is my only prep

time for tomorrow. My goal is to complete a recommendation letter for a student’s summer program application, prep for tomorrow’s class (reading 20 pages in Atonement and creating a lesson plan) and grade two essays.

4:30am wake up: make lunches for my

What I accomplished: I completed the letter of recommendation and read the 20 pages in Atonement. I will make the lesson plan and grade two essays before bed tonight.

son and myself; make coffee for my dad, who will be here shortly. my mischievous dog for a run BUUUUT … we go outside and it’s too icy. Quick walk instead.

5:20am Oops, my son woke up early. He and I do a HIIT cardio workout together in the living room. Block wild dog off in the kitchen for everyone’s safety.

6:30am Get ready to get out the door.

7:00am Wrestle wild dog to keep her in the house while I go outside to warm up the car.

7:15am Mama has lost her patience

and is now marginally shouting “Let’s go, pleeeassse!” Keith squeezes out the front door while I wrestle our grand escape artist (the wild dog … btw, we have another dog that’s been sleeping through all of this on the couch).

7:45am We made it to school without the dog escaping and without forgetting anything... I think. Phew!

8:05–9:15am Teaching 10th Grade first period. Work on close reading & discuss symbolism and the impact memory has on the protagonist.

JOURNAL

3:30pm Hustle out to the Athletic Center for our Girls Varsity Basketball game against Pennington. [Seraphine is the head coach.] This is the third time we’ll play Pennington this season.

We’ve set small, measurable goals for each quarter to help us mark our achievement.

7:00pm Rewatch our game. We met our goals in the first and second quarters.

Played excellent defense—now I will make clips to show the team things we did well and what we want to improve on offensively for the next game.

5:00am My dad has arrived so I can take

6:00am Breakfast together

1:05–2:10pm Being observed by a colleague while I teach the Senior Reading Intensive course. We are teaching Circe this year. We all go into teaching a text with various teaching styles and our own lived experiences; therefore, it is helpful to see how other teachers work with the same texts—which themes we are highlighting and passages we find significant. This was a day when students led discussion—I had to help them out more than usual because they seemed a bit sleepy.

Writing a letter of recommendation

11:00am Read through my next

two lesson plans for upcoming classes to reorient myself. I’m teaching three different lessons today. Typically I teach two different lessons in a day. I feel more confident if I read the plan before class.

11:15am Head down to the cafeteria

with Ms. Manners to grab lunch and meet with the 10s English teaching team to debrief the new books we’re starting.

11:50–1:00pm Teach my other section

of 10th Grade. Worked on close reading and discussed the impact that mothers have on their daughters in the text. This was one of the better discussions this class has had in a while. There were more students in person, which often yields more voices. We ended class talking about ways to continue to make our classroom a safe space.

Coaching Girls Varsity Basketball

8:00pm Bedtime for my son. After he’s asleep, I’ll finish up my lesson plan and some grading before I’m back at it tomorrow morning—hopefully for a run this time!

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Honoring PDS Alumni 2021 and 2020

BY LINDA MAXWELL STEFANELLI ’62

2021 Lisa A. Warren ’71 John D. Wallace ’48 Alumni Service Award 2021

Julie K. Taitsman ’90 John D. Wallace ’48 Alumni Service Award 2020

Honoring Alumni Award winners and Athletic Hall of Fame recipients is a traditional rite of spring at Princeton Day School. The Journal typically includes features on these alumni who are also honored during the spring alumni reunion events. Last year, during an exceptional time of international stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 spring issue of the Journal was published only online, including the features on the 2020 Alumni Award winners and Athletic Hall of Fame recipients. With the resumption of the printed Journal once School reopened this year, we include in this spring 2021 print issue the 2020 Alumni Award winners and Athletic Hall of Fame recipient features, as well as features on the 2021 alumni honorees.

Christopher L. Jones ’91 Alumni Achievement Award 2021

Patrick L. Courtney ’85 Alumni Achievement Award 2020

Shira Concool ’06 Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2021

Tania Schoennagel ’86 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee 2021

Catherine A. Chomiak ’05 Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2020

Paris L. McLean ’00 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee 2020

2020 SPRING 2021

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LISA A. WARREN ’71 John D. Wallace ’48 Alumni Service Award 2021

Setting the Stage for Others’ Success

In 1985, shortly after accepting a challenging position in Johnson & Johnson’s legal department, Lisa Warren elected to take on even more responsibility. In spite of the demands of a full-time job, she was eager to renew her involvement in community service and called to volunteer at Somerset Home, an area youth shelter. That phone call led to a 36-year association with the organization now known as Visions and Pathways.

“I was looking for something to do in and around my community,” she says. “When I started, they had a wretched five-bedroom house in downtown Somerville, NJ. It was a little tiny organization back then.” She was immediately appointed to the shelter’s Board of Trustees where she served for 30 years before assuming her current position on its Advisory Council.

Her leadership and expertise have contributed to the growth of the organization that today consists of nine residences and several outreach and prevention programs in five counties.

It serves abused, neglected, homeless, missing and at-risk youth and employs more than 50 people. Teens are offered counseling, educational and recreational programs, career and financial advice, and medical attention.

“Quite honestly, it’s hard to imagine a better volunteer and fellow Board member than Lisa,” says fellow Visions and Pathways board member Clare Calandra. “She always assisted in whatever work needed to be done.

She brought intelligence and insight to the issues under discussion, she listened attentively to others’ ideas and suggestions, and she functioned with integrity and a strong code of ethics.”

To mark a milestone birthday, Ms. Warren’s family established a scholarship in her name for Visions and Pathways students that provides two recipients up to $2,000 annually for college or vocational school. The criteria she designed requires not only good grades, but volunteer service.

As invested as she is in Visions and Pathways, it is only one of many places Ms. Warren volunteers. She is a member of the Princeton Day School Alumni Board and a coach for the school’s Mock Trial Team. She also volunteers with NJ LEEP (Law and Education Empowerment Project) where she coaches debate and mock trial, helps students with résumé writing and interview skills, and mentors a tenth grader. She is on the board of Princeton’s SAVE animal shelter and has volunteered for national and state organizations but says she likes “the personal touch” that community projects provide.

Ms. Warren’s dedication to serving others can be traced back to her grandmother, who was a founding member of Greenwood House nursing home in Trenton. “My parents were also very active in Trenton area community affairs,” she says. “They did a lot and it was very visible to me. It was just what you did.”

Ms. Warren entered PDS as a seventh grader on the school’s opening day. “I loved PDS,” she says. “It was very transformative for me. I had been in the Trenton public schools and I didn’t distinguish myself in any way.

I was in the middle of a large group of kids. When I got to PDS, everybody knew my name and you had a relationship with your teachers. You couldn’t hide and that was really good for me. I didn’t know how to study until I got there.”

During her junior year at PDS, Ms. Warren spent four months in Ireland with The Experiment in International Living. “It was fabulous,” she says. “I went to a Catholic convent school in a rickety old building.

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We wore uniforms, got rapped on the knuckles and said ‘Hail Marys’ 20 times a day—quite an experience for a Jewish girl! It was a culture shock but it was a tremendous learning experience and a lot of fun. I lived with a family and had two ‘sisters’, which was nice because I had two brothers at home.”

Ms. Warren had embraced her family’s tradition of service but she describes herself as “a rebellious, independent kid” who had no desire to follow her father and brothers into the legal profession. Instead, she majored in sociology at Washington University with the intention of becoming a social worker, but a study project in the St. Louis County juvenile court system changed her mind. “I was working as a social worker’s assistant and I was barely older than the kids I was counseling,” she says. “Seeing their struggles made an impression on me and as much as I wanted to help, I found the work emotionally draining. It caused me to realize I did not want to be a social worker.” Because of her counseling work she was familiar with the legal issues young people encountered and felt the law might be a better fit. She took a class in civil liberties and one in constitutional law and found she really enjoyed them. After graduating magna cum laude a semester early, she took a paying job in the juvenile court system and applied to law school.

Ms. Warren enrolled at New York University School of Law where, as a third-year student, she participated in a clinic providing legal assistance to adolescents, helping them navigate the legal system. “My sweet spot has always been that age group, the at-risk teens,” she says. She received the university’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia Memorial Award for distinction in urban law and graduated in 1978.

She clerked in the Superior Court of New Jersey and then became a litigation associate in a prestigious New Jersey law firm where she handled medical malpractice and product liability cases. “The Johnson & Johnson opportunity presented itself almost out of the blue and I took it and never looked back,” she says. She served as Staff Counsel for 10 years during which time she was assigned to several management board positions where she gained valuable insight into how Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary companies operated. She then was promoted to Assistant General Counsel, a position she held for 23 years until her retirement in 2018. “When I started, I was doing personal injury cases which, as time went on, morphed into mass torts.

By the time I left, I was also handling employment law matters and managing what was then, and may still be, one of the largest mass torts in the United States with tens of thousands of cases.”

“Lisa Warren is an outstanding lawyer with whom I had the pleasure of working for 25 years,” says Christy Jones, Ms. Warren’s former colleague at J & J. “She handled high profile, intense litigation for Johnson & Johnson all over the world, including Australia, England, Israel, Scotland and Europe.

Though very difficult and emotionally taxing, Lisa met all challenges with aplomb, treated colleagues and foes alike with courtesy, and was always the consummate professional. Her wisdom and judgment set her apart and are without equal.

But the traits that define Lisa are her compassion, kindness and loyalty. Even in the worst of circumstances and faced with

defeat, she always said, ‘We will make it through this’ and never blamed the lawyers she supervised. Those traits have dominated her personal life as well as her professional.”

“...Lisa met all challenges with aplomb, treated colleagues and foes alike with courtesy, and was always the consummate professional.

Her wisdom and judgment set her apart and are without equal...”

—Christy Jones, Former Colleague

PDS Alumni Board President Mike Bracken ’98 agrees and says, “Lisa is an extraordinarily caring and generous person whose dedication to our School spans all constituencies (including ‘past parent’ as the mother of alumna Rachel Cantlay ’13). From her valued contributions to the Alumni Board to rallying her classmates and fellow alumni to coaching current students on the Mock Trial Team, our School can always count on Lisa.

The breadth of her involvement furthers our School’s sense of community and serves to remind us of our shared values, traditions and experiences, thereby bringing us together and lighting the way for future generations.”

Lisa Warren is the quintessential volunteer: one who does not wait to be asked but actively seeks ways to improve the lives of others. Even as she celebrates her 50th PDS reunion this spring and shares memories of the School’s early years with her classmates, she will be making new memories with current PDS students, sharing her experience, expertise and energy in familiar classrooms. Her connection to the School, its alumni and its students has never been stronger.

Lisa Warren ’71 with her daughter, Rachel Cantlay ’13, and husband, Robert Cantlay, in Cuba in 2018

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JULIE K. TAITSMAN ’90 John D. Wallace ’48 Alumni Service Award 2020

Stretching a Safety Net Under the Nation’s Health Care System

Originally published in the digital-only Journal Spring 2020 issue.

The speed and severity of the global COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 illustrates the critical importance of implementing a rapid and comprehensive game plan for the millions of people affected by the medical and associated legal issues that arise in such emergencies. This is the type of urgent crisis that finds its way to Julie Taitsman’s desk. As Chief Medical Officer for the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency that ensures the health and safety of beneficiaries of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) programs, Dr. Taitsman is responsible for supervising the response to everything from pandemics to opioid addiction, the care of migrant children and much more.

“We have a huge portfolio,” she says. “We cover over 100 different grants and programs representing almost $2 trillion of taxpayers’ money. With 1,600 people, we could spend all our time just fighting fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, but we have to cover the whole portfolio.”

With degrees in both medicine and law, Dr. Taitsman is eminently qualified for the broad spectrum of work she does. She is the OIG’s primary resource on clinical and scientific issues and lends medical expertise to audits, evaluations, inspections and enforcement actions. Her focus is on protecting and overseeing services for vulnerable populations, including the safety of children in Head Start facilities and medical care for elderly people in nursing homes. She founded OIG’s Quality of Care Workgroup to foster collaboration across the agency.

“My job is sort of a weird little nexus of law and medicine,” she says. “Some days I feel like I need the law degree, some days I feel like I need the medical degree, some days I feel I just need common sense, and some days I feel completely unprepared.”

The nature of OIG’s work requires it to respond quickly to emergency situations. For example, the OIG has increased its focus in the last few years on the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s Unaccompanied Alien Children Program. “It had been part of our portfolio for many years but not a part that required much attention. But then, as the number of migrant children increased and the demographic changed, HHS was faced with caring for more children, and also for younger children and children with greater physical and mental health needs. We have to be agile to keep up,” Dr. Taitsman says.

Another area of focus, the Indian Health Service, is of special interest to Dr. Taitsman, who spent her first summer after graduating medical school volunteering as a primary care physician on the Southern Ute Reservation. “We have an obligation to provide health care for members of recognized Native American tribes that goes back to treaties signed over 100 years ago. There have been issues with quality of care in the Indian Health Service, so while the population served might not be huge, we pay a lot of attention because it’s a vulnerable population with striking health disparities,” she explains.

The agency’s oversight mandate covers HHS institutions, including the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The coronavirus is not the first pandemic with which Dr. Taitsman has been involved: she worked on the international front to combat the AIDS epidemic. The President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) is credited with JOURNAL

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saving over 18 million lives since it was established in 2003. It has invested over $85 billion, much of it through specific grants in Africa and Asia, and OIG is charged with ensuring the grants are properly awarded and executed and that the money is properly dispersed.

“In 2014, the Ebola outbreak landed on my desk,” she says. “We worked with government partners such as the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Defense.”

While OIG provides a necessary deterrent for unethical doctors and pharmaceutical outlets (it is currently seeking more than 170 fugitives on charges related to health care fraud and abuse), Dr. Taitsman believes it provides welcome support for honest practitioners. It works with Congress, the states, health and human services professionals, and consumers to identify their needs and challenges, and often acts as a consultant to help experts identify and find solutions to their problems.

“We have an opportunity to do a lot of teaching where you get tangible results right away,” she says. “We have a fantastic mission in OIG. There are wonderful people here and they’re here because they’re mission-driven. We’re a great agency. We’re not political, we’re all career civil servants.”

“Dr. Taitsman is the model public servant,” says Principal Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm. “She is committed to the mission of protecting Health and Human Services programs and the beneficiaries they serve. During her tenure as OIG’s Chief Medical Officer, she has published numerous articles on health care quality and safety, guarding against medical identity theft, and best practices for physicians and other practitioners to comply with often complicated federal health care laws. She is extremely calm under pressure, setting a professional standard for all to follow. Perhaps most valuable of all is Julie’s commitment to grow others; she fosters the strongest working teams in OIG by building up the confidence and skill set of each team member. Julie really is the terrific “All Star” she appears to be.”

Dr. Taitsman was four when she started at Princeton Day School and she thrived there. “One of the greatest strengths at PDS is the focus on writing,” she says. “You need small classes and committed teachers. Learning to write effectively is time consuming, it’s not something for which you can follow an algorithm. I’ve found it’s a skill I draw on all the time. I have to analyze things rationally and then express myself in writing. It doesn’t matter what program we’re looking at, writing is the skill that cuts across all disciplines.”

She says she always expected to graduate as a PDS “lifer” but when Lawrenceville began accepting girls, her sense of adventure was piqued and she transferred there as a junior. In 1992, she graduated from Brown University phi beta kappa with a B.A. in International Relations and then moved over to Brown’s medical school, receiving her M.D. in 1996. During her last year, she was also enrolled at Harvard Law School from which she graduated cum laude in 1998.

She completed the Preliminary Residency Program in Internal Medicine at Carney Hospital in Boston before moving to New York City to clerk for Judge Constance Baker Motley, a formidable former civil rights lawyer, in the U.S. Southern District of New York.

“That was an incredible experience,” she says of her work writing judicial opinions. “It’s almost like an upside-down pyramid where you have the most responsibility early in your career rather than later on.”

In an equally weighty early career opportunity, Dr. Taitsman found herself just a year out of law school making real healthcare policy decisions that affected tens of millions of people. “I was crafting National Coverage Decisions for the Medicare Program, basically deciding whether or not 60 million seniors and people with disabilities should be able to get a drug, medical device or other technology. Responsibility like that would probably scare me now, but when you’re young, you’re not afraid.”

Dr. Taitsman has the distinction of having served in all three branches of the federal government. Her first federal job was in the executive branch’s Office for Civil Rights, ensuring access for people with disabilities. She served a year with the judicial branch in New York and completed the trifecta when she was named Special Counsel for Health and Science for the Senate Finance Committee. In that role, she investigated influence peddling by the pharmaceutical industry, worked to promote integrity in medical decision making and also authored the staff report on industry funding of continuing medical education.

For the last 16 years, Dr. Taitsman has been at OIG, which operates under HHS, a cabinet-level department that employs 80,000 people. She lives in Bethesda, MD with her husband, Matthew Tureck, an editor for CBS Evening News, and their 11-year-old son, Nathan.

“ One of the greatest strengths at PDS

is the focus on writing. You need small classes and committed teachers. Learning to write effectively is time consuming, it’s not something for which you can follow an algorithm. I’ve found it’s a skill I draw on all the time.”

“It is so reassuring to me that the medical director role at OIG/ HHS is held by my sister,” says Lisa Taitsman ’86 who, as an orthopaedic trauma surgeon, can appreciate her sister’s challenges and responsibilities. “Julie is smart, honest and ethical. She knows how important it is to promote patient safety and the health of the public. At the same time, she understands the role of the physician as well as the increasing administrative and regulatory demands and tries to mitigate unnecessary burdens.

Julie has a great ability to keep things in perspective and even manages to have a sense of humor about it all. I could not be more proud of my sister and all that she has done to promote the ethical practice of health care in the U.S.” “We’re trying to improve the quality of care and safeguard federal money. That’s our mission,” Dr. Taitsman says in her softspoken but confident way. “We’re trying to make things better.”

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CHRISTOPHER L. JONES ’91 Alumni Achievement Award 2021

Adding New Skills to a Winning Game Plan The goals Chris Jones seeks in his professional career are different than those he pursued on the Princeton Day School soccer fields but his confidence, drive and strategic thinking are still an important part of his skill set. His accomplishments have been recognized with numerous awards and this spring he will receive yet another: the PDS Alumni Achievement Award. Since he is also a 2004 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee, he now holds the unique distinction of being the only alumnus the School has honored for both professional and athletic excellence.* Mr. Jones’ love of soccer and his commitment to improving his community have been hallmarks throughout his career and led to his first experience building a company. After completing a degree in marketing and management at Georgetown University in 1996, he played on two semiprofessional soccer teams before working with the founders of a fledgling nonprofit called DC Scores.

“To this day, that is one of the seminal experiences of my life,” he says. “We had this dream of building a model nonprofit that could expand all over the country and work with thousands of kids after school to help them build confidence, learn to play soccer and build literacy. We were at the very early stage of programs combining sports and academics.”

Now 25 years old and renamed America SCORES, the organization has grown into a national nonprofit that combines team-based soccer leagues, poetry appreciation and writing curricula, and youth-led service projects.

It offers after-school programs and summer camps to over 13,500 students in 311 public and charter schools in 12 major cities. Mr. Jones served on its Board of Directors and is proud that the organization continues to adhere to its original mission. “It’s been unbelievable,” he says. “I think about the three of us, a year or two out of college, having this dream and not knowing if the rent was going to be paid that week because the foundation money hadn’t come through yet! But we had ambition, a lot of drive and a lot of energy, and we cut through all the hurdles that came along.”

Mr. Jones later accepted a position with Adidas in the DC area and succeeded in convincing the company to sponsor the Scores organization, which had expanded to two additional cities at that point. In 2002, he completed an MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and took a position with Mattel Toys. He had no technology background but recognized the beginning of the global shift to digital and was so eager to participate that he returned Mattel’s retention bonus and took a position at Boost Mobile, a wireless telecommunications brand. In 2008, he switched to Virgin Mobile Australia and relocated to Sydney to be closer to his wife’s family. “I developed this love affair with technology,” he says. “I was super curious. I wanted to understand it and I learned a ton about developing different technologies.”

He has since helped launch several startups including his own self-publishing platform called CodeNgo. He served as president of Dragonscale, which supports innovative blockchain projects, and explains what drew him there: “Blockchain technology was a space that was really hot when I moved back to the US in 2016.

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I wanted to see how that technology would shape and impact products and services we would use in the future.”

paying careers that can help lift up both their families and communities,” he says.

PDS science teacher Carlos Cara recalls what stood out about Mr. Jones when he coached him in varsity soccer. “I remember this skinny kid, fast as lightening, very strong, with a huge smile on his face, who was just fascinated by life. Clearly, Jonesy has taken the drive, passion and resiliency he displayed in athletics to become a top performer in business.”

In addition to a fast-paced career, Mr. Jones volunteers as a soccer coach wherever he lives. “Several years ago, when Chris came to our home for dinner,” Dr. Cohen says, “my son was heading over to his elementary school for soccer practice, so Chris decided to come along. Well, in true Jonesy fashion, he ended up jumping in and running the practice, to everyone’s delight! We watched Chris interact with kids and parents, give support and instruction, and make everyone excited to participate.”

“Chris has always been a force to reckon with whether it’s on the soccer field, basketball court or in the classroom,” adds classmate and friend Dr. Aly Cohen ’91. “He’s diligent, focused, hardworking, funny, filled with integrity and kindness to others. Chris can get along with everyone and actually makes a point to do so. He can fill a room with his smile and his personality exudes warmth and a genuine interest in others, their lives, goals and achievements. He has a huge, kind heart.”

As a teenager, Mr. Jones spent time after school, on weekends, and in the summer working with his father. “He was the first African American to own a water bottling plant in the country and he probably had the first water vending machine in New Jersey. He was a bit before his time in terms of innovation,” he chuckles.

“We had this dream of building a model nonprofit that could expand all over the country and work with thousands of kids after school to help them build confidence, learn to play soccer and build literacy. We were at the very early stage of programs combining sports and academics.”

It is not so surprising then that Mr. Jones was attracted to another cutting-edge water company, Aquagenuity. He became co-founder and COO of the startup, one of the first companies to create data to monitor water quality for consumers, corporations and smart cities. “Aquagenuity can tell you what’s in your water right down to the zip code level but we want to do it down to the individual faucet. When your water leaves the treatment facility, it still has to travel to your tap and that water is exposed to risk, from lead-contaminated pipes to water main breaks to sewage overflows and more. That’s why we want to put our test kits into the hands of every consumer in every city,” he says. He continues to serve on Aquagenuity’s board.

This winter, Mr. Jones became an early investor in Console USA, a technology outsourcing company. Its stated mission is to leverage the untapped energy and talent in traditionally overlooked communities, to address diversity and talent shortages in the technology space while providing robust and sustainable career opportunities for people of color.

“Console offers a real path to make a difference in the lives of our workforce by enabling them to build sustainable, high-

“PDS was important for building my confidence,” Mr. Jones says. “I arrived in seventh grade. That was 1985 when PDS was just starting to make a real effort to diversify. There were some difficult times in those early years but one of the things PDS did that was so valuable for me was help me learn how to interact and communicate with all different types of people. It took a little while for me to figure out how to find a commonality and build relationships but I came to realize people are people, regardless of where they’re coming from or what accents they have. Being involved with athletics helped. And then there were teachers and people along the way who helped smooth the path for me and I really can’t thank them enough. Often it was little things they didn’t even recognize. I remember the first day I got on the bus to go to PDS. I was 12 and didn’t know a soul. Dave Hank, a boy in my class that I didn’t know, looked at me as I was walking in looking lost and said, ‘Chris Jones! We played soccer in the recreational summer league. You want to have a seat?’ And I sat with him that entire first year on the bus. It was a small thing for him but it was such a huge thing for me at that time.

I’ll never forget that.”

“People gravitate to Chris,” says classmate Anca Novacovici ’91.

“He makes them feel they are valued and valuable, regardless of who they are, because he genuinely cares. Chris takes the time to listen, be present and to connect with people. Business-wise, he is curious and sees opportunity in places that others might miss. He is not afraid of trying new things whether that is relocating to another continent or learning about a new industry. He is always learning and growing as a person.”

“I think the most important thing PDS did for me was to help me set a level of expectation within myself in terms of what I could do and what I could expect of myself,” Mr. Jones says.

Reflecting on his approach to business he concludes, “It’s the combination of a ton of curiosity and heart that I bring to any new business—I really dive in. I try to understand the business from the technology out. Second, I always look for opportunities, particularly through work, to break a new path and try to make the world a better place.” * In 1989, Randy Melville ’77 received the Alumni Award, which at that time was given to recognize service to others. He was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

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PATRICK L. COURTNEY ’85 Alumni Achievement Award 2020

MLB’s Year-Round Utility Player Originally published in the digital-only Journal Spring 2020 issue.

The texts and emails start pinging at dawn and continue into the evening on Pat Courtney’s cell phone. As the Chief Communications Officer for Major League Baseball (MLB) and the principal spokesman for Commissioner Rob Manfred, he responds to a daily barrage of time-sensitive questions from media and the baseball community while supervising all aspects of the organization’s communications and media relations. He also directs media operations for the league’s premier events, including the World Series and the All-Star Game, and oversees its charitable giving programs and community relations initiatives.

“I always start with a list for the day but it quickly changes.

You have to be nimble,” he says. That flexibility has been especially evident since March 12 when MLB announced the suspension of spring training games and delayed the start of the baseball season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Pat is responsible for structuring all of my communications; internal to employees, to owners and clubs, to fans and to the press,” explains Commissioner Manfred. “More important, Pat is one of my closest advisors on policy and important decisions that affect the game. He has been a crucial part of the MLB leadership team for more than two decades and has contributed to the growth of the game with outstanding ideas. He is always a voice of calm and perspective in difficult situations.”

Baseball’s celebrated players, team rivalries and controversies are reported, examined and debated in a yearround news cycle. “The internet changed the coverage of our industry,” Mr. Courtney says. “There used to be a 10:00 nightly deadline for newspapers but now, there’s no such thing.” He meets daily with a small group of MLB communications staff to go over the day’s headlines, decide how to respond and assign someone to cover each situation. In touch with reporters “non-stop,” he says, “There’s a mutual respect with media I’ve worked with over the years, there’s a really good give and take.”

“Pat...has been a crucial part of the MLB leadership team for more than two decades and has contributed to the growth of the game with outstanding ideas. He is always a voice of calm and perspective in difficult situations.”

—MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred

“Over Pat’s long career in baseball he has developed relationships around the game and in the press that are invaluable,” the Commissioner says. “Those relationships are a tribute to his honesty, credibility and shining personality. In addition, Pat has great intuition as to how the press and our fans are going to react in a given situation. He is effective with the media because of his credibility and his ability to break down complicated issues in a way the media can understand.” In a rare honor for a member of MLB, the Major League Clubs honored Mr. Courtney with the 2009 Robert O. Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence.

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Mr. Courtney is a Princeton Day School “lifer” who started in Madeline Weigel’s Kindergarten class. “She was a great person and had a huge influence on me,” he says. He grew up in Hopewell playing a variety of sports and learning all he could about them. “I had an uncle who umpired at a high level and he had a lot of stories. We always talked sports.”

Classmate Sal Fier remembers, “We used to count the minutes to recess so we could get the first available ball on the playground! Pat has always been easygoing and has a laugh that’s contagious. I truly believe his ability to relate to others in a genuine way, combined with his passion for sports, especially baseball, gave him the drive and determination that propelled him up the ladder at MLB.” “At PDS, it was clear Pat had an undeniable interest in sports, with baseball being his real passion,” Rob Chibbaro ’86 agrees.

“His strong work ethic, knowledge and ability to adapt led to a successful career at MLB. Pat is an expert in his field, very well-respected by his peers and colleagues, and continues to grow the game of baseball—it’s a dream job that he loves!”

It is also a job Mr. Courtney had not even considered until a chance conversation during college changed everything. He was studying economics and sociology at the University of Richmond when, just prior to his senior year, a friend asked what he wanted to do after college. Hearing he planned to work on Wall Street or go into finance, his friend asked, “Why? Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve had this focus on sports. Why don’t you try to do something in that area?”

“It was the best advice I ever got,” he says. “It really set off a light bulb in my head.” He took the university’s first sports management class and interned with a professional sports agent. After graduation, he interned with the Philadelphia 76ers in ticket sales and then, in 1991, landed an internship with the New York Yankees.

“That was my break,” he says. He was one of three young interns in the organization’s communications department during the suspension of owner George Steinbrenner. The department head was overloaded with work and gave the $100-a-week interns all the responsibility they could manage.

Mr. Courtney found himself handling game day operations, public relations and communications, working closely with the media and players.

“I loved it,” he says. “I couldn’t believe I was at Yankee Stadium every day. I was raw but that internship allowed me to develop skills.” One of his duties was to make up packets of daily news clippings and deliver them to the entire front office.

“What I didn’t realize was it was an opportunity to get to know everybody just by doing that. And of course, it was the Yankees who probably had the largest number of daily reporters of any team in professional sports, so I worked with media from all over the country.” He also got to know the players and recalls, “I was invited to work at spring training and on my first road trip I grabbed a seat on the bus. Don Mattingly came and sat

down next to me and welcomed me to the team. I knew I had made the right career choice!”

His next big break came just a year later when he joined MLB as a public relations assistant. “It’s different than working for a team because you’re involved in working with all 30 clubs and on every national situation,” he says. He was promoted through the organization and became involved with business aspects such as labor, broadcasting, sponsorships and sales. He was appointed Chief Communications Officer in December 2014.

The work is demanding but can be glamorous, too. Prior to the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he was delegated to be on the staff of the young USA baseball team. He was joined by Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, who came out of retirement to manage the team, and the two became close during the six weeks in Australia. By the end of competition, the team won the Gold Medal. “It was unbelievable, a once in a lifetime experience,” Mr. Courtney says.

“ Pat is an expert in his field, very well-

respected by his peers and colleagues, and continues to grow the game of baseball—it’s a dream job that he loves!”

—Rob Chibbaro ’86

Mr. Courtney also oversees MLB’s wide-ranging charitable giving programs and community outreach. “The work with our charitable partners is extremely rewarding,” he says. His organization has relationships with Stand Up to Cancer, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Jackie Robinson Foundation to name a few, and recently announced a joint initiative with the Major League Baseball Players Association to fund services for vulnerable populations affected by domestic violence.

MLB seeks to grow the sport through community-based initiatives. “Our research shows what makes someone a baseball fan is either playing or going to a game at a young age,” he says. “When we engage with youth, we see the positive impact it has in the communities. We’ve built fields and run programs all over the world. A couple of years ago we helped refurbish a Little League field across from Ewing High School [NJ].

Over the last four years, baseball and softball combined have had the highest participation among team sports in the United States. It’s a challenge today to keep kids active, especially in underserved areas, and to make sure we have the facilities and the equipment to reach everybody.”

Mr. Courtney has been with MLB for 28 years and still feels lucky to be there. He grew up loving baseball and is dedicated to giving others the opportunity to enjoy the game as he did.

He says, “The number one goal now is to spread the love of the game to the next generation the way it was passed on to us.”

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SHIRA CONCOOL ’06 Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2021

Repairing Her World It takes a special blend of courage, conviction and compassion to battle injustice on multiple fronts. Shira Concool has been doing just that for years, both as an activist for racial equity and as a psychotherapist counseling marginalized individuals. She gained a wide range of experience working in college and community counseling centers and in February she opened her own practice where she offers career and mental health counseling, advises multi-faith and interracial couples, and helps clients navigate sexuality and gender issues.

“I’m passionate about social change and I credit that to my faith,” she says. “I’m Jewish and we have a saying, tikkun olan, that means ‘repair the world’. It’s our responsibility to repair the world wherever we see that it’s broken, so justice in all its forms was always a big part of my life.”

That was apparent early on when her love of animals prompted her to become a vegetarian at the age of seven. From there, her interest in marine biology led to a volunteer job at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden. “There was a time when I thought I was going to go into dolphin research but when I worked at the aquarium, I saw the racial inequities very starkly between Princeton and Camden and how race and class interact in our country. I wanted to understand racism and my role in it so I pursued that in college,” she says.

“As early as Middle School, Shira’s commitment to bettering her community was already evident, and it is a commitment that she has pursued throughout her life,” says her classmate, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub ’06. “For years, Shira has been a vocal and passionate advocate for social justice, equity and racial justice in every community to which she has belonged.”

At PDS, Ms. Concool was an Admission Office Tour Guide and was involved with the Performing Arts Program, the Gay Straight Alliance, the Teaching Assistant Program and the EnAct Club. In her senior year, she interned at Planned Parenthood in Trenton where she counseled patients on sexual health and reproductive options, conducted research on local resources and worked with a young women’s empowerment group. She went on to Yale University where she majored in African American Studies and participated in a study abroad program at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. It included language classes in Fante Twi, the local dialect, a field study seminar on health care, and Diaspora Studies.

Unsure of a career path after graduation, Ms. Concool took a job teaching eighth grade English at a Philadelphia public school before returning to PDS for a part-time position in the Admission Office. “It was nice to be back at PDS and see things from a different perspective and also to just get my footing,” she says. “It was during that time that I kind of put all the pieces together and realized that one thing I loved to do when I was teaching was to talk to the students outside of JOURNAL

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class. Rather than teaching from a scripted curriculum, I preferred talking to them about their lives, understanding their identities and how what was going on outside of school impacted them. It also helped me remember how much I care about identity development and helping folks feel strong in who they are. That was part of what led me into counseling.”

She enrolled at New York University where she participated in a workshop with The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond that helped elucidate the importance of undoing racism through organizing. She received her master’s in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness in 2013. For the next four years, she lived in Baltimore while her spouse completed medical residency there. It was a time of racial unrest and protest in the city and Ms. Concool joined neighborhood activists and gained practical experience in community organizing. In addition, she worked at Stevenson University as a career counselor and at Goucher College as a mental health counselor. She was a member of Goucher’s Bias Education Response Team and created and co-facilitated a Trans Therapy Group for students. In her rare spare time, she also pursued her love of theater and performed with the Memorial Players.

In spite of the serious nature of her work, Ms. Concool tries to bring a bit of humor into her sessions and urges patients to show themselves the same compassion and understanding they extend to others. In addition to a sharp mind and a gentle charisma, she has a secret weapon in her counseling arsenal she attributes to PDS. “I still use a lot of poetry and like to play with metaphors, especially in my therapy sessions. They help me organize my world.”

Summing up her professional journey, she adds, “I’ve had the opportunity to explore a lot of different streams that end in the same river.”

“Shira connects effortlessly with people and is able to transform that natural sense of connection into leadership,” Dr. Kassler-Taub says. “I have seen Shira use her belief in the power of individual voices to effect change in her work as a mental health advocate and professional, both on college campuses and in her current role in private practice.

Shira has the unique ability to encourage people to reflect more deeply on their identities and their place in the world.

She represents the best of the PDS philosophy and spirit.”

“As early as Middle School, Shira’s commitment to bettering her community was already evident, and it is a commitment that she has pursued throughout her life. For years, Shira has been a vocal and passionate advocate for social justice, equity and racial justice in every community to which she has belonged.”

—Dr. Elizabeth Kassler-Taub ’06, Classmate Since moving to Georgia a few years ago, Ms. Concool has continued her work with racial justice activists throughout the state. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor as well as a National Certified Counselor and worked at a large community practice before opening her solo practice called Community Healing, L.L.C. As the parent of a young daughter, she recognizes new opportunities for her work. “Now that I’m a parent, I’m excited to put more focus on parenting queer children. I don’t work with kids currently but I want to support them by helping their parents with what they’re going through so they can best support their child. There’s often a lot of shame and anxiety that comes with parenting queer and transgender children, so it’s important to talk about it,” she says.”

Shira Concool with her spouse, Derrick Ashong, and their now one-year-old daughter.

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CATHERINE A. CHOMIAK ’05 Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2020

Hooked on News Originally published in the digital-only Journal Spring 2020 issue.

For Katie Chomiak, a suitcase and valid passport are essential tools of her trade. Barely 15 years out of high school, she has already acquired the expertise, experience and travel miles to excel at one of the most stressful, complex and fast-paced jobs around. She is a television producer with credentials that would make a veteran proud—and she is just getting started.

Ms. Chomiak, as she is known, began her network career at NBC News in Washington, D.C. and when she left in 2014 to accept a foreign posting, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell took time at the end of her broadcast to say, “As we cover the news of the world, we all here at NBC and MSNBC rely heavily on the reporting of one person, Catherine Chomiak, my State Department Diplomatic Producer. She has been my traveling companion around the globe for years, covering trips with Hillary Clinton and then John Kerry, from Bali to Bagdad to Berlin and back. So this is a heartfelt and loving thank you until we meet again.” They resumed their partnership in March 2020, when Ms. Chomiak rejoined MSNBC and the show, this time as senior producer. As TV news outlets pivoted in the spring to comply with social distancing, business and travel restrictions, she and her colleagues found themselves continually recalibrating news productions and reinventing the audience experience at a time when the news became a more important lifeline than ever for millions quarantining at home to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before her return to the U.S. she spent five years in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as senior producer for CNN International’s flagship Middle East prime time show, Connect the World with Becky Anderson.

She was responsible for all aspects of the two-hour telecast, from pitching ideas and deciding which stories to cover to managing a team of producers, writers and copy editors to taking the show to air in the control room. In 2018, the show received three Emmy nominations for its coverage of the war in Yemen and the Genoa Bridge collapse.

“I realized early on that I’m a news junkie,” Ms. Chomiak says. “If I can do something I love, that I’d be doing anyway, and make a career out of it, then sign me up!”

“Katie gives everything she does her all,” says classmate Anu Shah. “Part of that driving force is her motivation to do things the right way while still being willing to take risks. The other part comes from being a lifelong student. Katie has an inquisitive mind unlike any other person I’ve met. She delves deep into complex issues by capturing the full picture or asking the tough questions to tell a story that is both compelling and authentic.”

Ms. Chomiak admits that the complexity and unpredictability of her work require a bit of juggling. “I’ve had instances where things have changed during a show with breaking news. You plan what we call a ‘strong show;’ you have a good editorial ‘lede’ that’s newsworthy, you have a news-making guest that’s relative to the story, you have a panel of experts, and then your visual graphics and video. You can have this really strong show in the gate and then something happens and you have to turn on a dime. So I think there is a bit of agility and thinking on your feet that’s required but also a lot of teamwork, because it takes a multitude of people to do one hour of television. It can be exciting, but it’s certainly nerve-wracking.”

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As much as she is drawn to hard news, one of her favorite interviews was with Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli during his visit to Jordan in 2018. It was highlighted by a concert he gave in Jerash among the Greco-Roman ruins. “He’s very devout and we were at various holy sites so that came across in the visuals and then he just has the most amazing voice,” she says.

“It was a beautiful, historic night in every sense of the word.

It was very special to capture and to know we could share an experience that was very special for our team but also was impactful for the viewers, showing a different part of the world and a different side of a very famous man.”

Ms. Chomiak’s adaptability was honed as a teenager when she left the Branchburg public school system and enrolled at PDS as a freshman. She participated in the Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki during the second half of her junior year and then that summer, her father was transferred to Shanghai and the family moved halfway across the world. She completed her senior year in China.

“I think my experiences in high school broadened my horizons.

Coming to PDS and then Maine Coast Semester and moving to Shanghai, you couldn’t pick three more different but enriching places,” she says. “I think I got interested in international journalism because the only English-language TV station we got in Shanghai was CNN.” After a year, she was back in the U.S. as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated in 2009 with a double major in Political Science and Communications and Public Service. She minored in East Asian Languages and Civilization with a concentration in Chinese. “I wish I had a better ear for languages,” she laments. “I tried with French and Chinese and Arabic. I have the basics with all three but no fluency.”

“You can have this really strong show in the

gate and then something happens and you have to turn on a dime. So I think there is a bit of agility and thinking on your feet that’s required, but also a lot of teamwork because it takes a multitude of people to do one hour of television. It can be exciting, but it’s certainly nerve-wracking.”

in terms of class participation and the way the teachers really invited questioning, puzzling things out and discussing topics in a bigger context. To be a good journalist, the writing is just so fundamental. Being taught to write properly and then building on that foundation is really important. You get to a certain point and that has to be rock solid.

“Then I took Mrs. H.’s photography courses [legendary PDS photography teacher Eileen Hohmuth-Lemonick who retired in 2020] so I also got the visual. At one point in my career I was what I call a one-man band; you’re there with a camera and you have to be a reporter and a camera person. I went from a still camera to a video camera but I think the focus of the aperture, the framing, are very relevant.”

In her next position as State Department Producer, she covered and reported on the daily briefings and traveled to 31 countries, producing live, hour-long remote broadcasts of Andrea Mitchell Reports. She covered the Arab Spring, Syria’s civil war, Iran’s nuclear negotiations, the rise of ISIS, and Osama bin Laden’s death. She interviewed Secretary Hillary Clinton on-camera for her first sit-down after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi and interviewed Secretary John Kerry after Edward Snowden leaked classified documents.

“Katie has excelled at her work through a combination of great proficiency and a positive attitude that brings out the best in her colleagues,” says her brother Chris Chomiak ’07. “Her ability to coordinate production processes, talent and content has made her a valuable asset to multiple worldwide news organizations.”

“You can always count on Katie’s smile to brighten up a room,” Anu says. “Even in the most stressful moments, she never loses her affable personality. Katie’s kindness knows no bounds. She will drop everything to be with you and she’s the first to wish you happy birthday or host you if you’re in her neighborhood, be it Abu Dhabi or Washington, D.C. It’s no surprise that she’s made friends all across the world.”

During her junior year at Penn, she spent a semester in Washington interning at MSNBC. By the fall of her senior year, the 2008 presidential race was in full swing, so on weekends she commuted from Philadelphia to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York to act as a freelance researcher. After graduation, she returned to Washington as an NBC production assistant for the Nightly News and did research for the Today show. Next, she was made a political unit researcher, preparing information on 2012 candidates and gaining experience as a digital journalist.

“I learned on the job,” Ms. Chomiak says, “but I also think if you Katie Chomiak and her husband, Ben Klein, a real estate investor, are a good writer and a good critical thinker, those are two very live in the Capitol. Here they enjoy a light moment with a droll important skill sets. I think that began during my time at PDS dromedary in the “Empty Quarter” of the Liwa Desert, U.A.E. SPRING 2021

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TANIA SCHOENNAGEL ’86 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee 2021

Knowing When to Pivot Great coordination and boundless energy are two prerequisites for a Hall of Fame athlete. It also helps to have an older sibling.

Tania Schoennagel spent her childhood emulating a brother four years her senior, never considering her younger age and gender difference a disadvantage. “I grew up always trying to keep up with him: skateboarding, riding bikes, getting dirty,” she laughs.

She has always viewed sports not as a separate activity, but as an integral part of her life. That has not changed.

Ms. Schoennagel came to PDS in sixth grade and was a standout on Middle School field hockey and lacrosse teams. But the winter sport she most wanted to play was ice hockey, offered only in Upper School. She set her sights on joining the girls varsity team—even though she could barely skate. Undaunted, she spent the summer before her freshman year at an ice hockey camp in Ontario, Canada.

“I hadn’t really skated before,” she says. “My dorm was on the fifth floor and I was so sore, I could barely walk up the stairs after practice. But I really enjoyed it a lot.” She made the team that winter and by the time she was a senior, she was tri-captain and helped lead the team to a 10–1 record.

“PDS had an incredibly strong girls athletic program in the ’80s under Athletic Director Jan Baker, for which I am deeply grateful,” she says. “It offered girls ice hockey long before most other schools did.”

Former coach Margot Huber Heckler agrees: “PDS was an athletic powerhouse in those days. No one could touch us. Tania was incredibly talented and she had a good, honest, authentic energy. She was so versatile and so agreeable, always willing to adjust and help out when we were short-handed. She always had a smile, a real genuine smile that came from the heart.”

In addition to the ice hockey team, Ms. Schoennagel served as a captain on the varsity field hockey and lacrosse teams. During her participation, the teams captured a total of seven Prep A State Championships in a highly competitive league. At graduation, she was honored with the Gold P, the School’s highest athletic award.

Legendary field hockey coach Cheryl Silva, who recently retired as “the all-time winningest coach” in the history of M.I.T. field hockey, coached at PDS in the 1980s and was instrumental in Tania’s pursuit of collegiate-level field hockey. “When I think of Tania, I think first of her smile, her sense of humor, how we connected,” she says. “She really made a lasting impression on me.”

“Tania was an impressive presence on the field, both physically and mentally,” recalls classmate Kelly Noonan O’Shea ’86, who captained the field hockey and ice hockey teams with her. “She was tall, strong, athletic and focused. Tania was the athlete who ‘got the job done.’ She was not flashy or looking for accolades, she quietly worked hard and excelled. She was a rare athlete, a great friend, teammate and leader.”

Another teammate, 2012 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee Becca Royal ’87, says, “My memories of Tania bring to mind her competitive and winning spirit. She always believed in our team and would rally us when our spirits were down and help us come back. She was an incredible and supportive teammate.”

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Ms. Schoennagel enthusiastically embraced all PDS had to offer. She was a Peer Group Leader and chose to work on a large landscape painting for her Senior Project. “It was just such an amazing experience for me to be able to do something so different from my athletic career,” she says of her art. “Who knows when I would have had another chance to do something like that?”

Today, when the ponds freeze near their Boulder, CO home, her husband rides off on his bike with a snow shovel to clear the ice while Ms. Schoennagel rallies their kids and calls friends to join them. “I’d love to see kids able to enjoy more casual pick-up games,” she says. “Just show up and play with whomever is there. It makes for great competition, social and athletic skills, and builds amazing community!”

“As her friend, classmate, and teammate,” says Jenny Hawkes Spaeth ’86, “I never recall Tania seeming stressed out or overwhelmed by her packed, demanding schedule of advanced classes, sports and arts. She was funny, artistic, very social and a natural leader. Tania seemed to shine in all areas effortlessly but was so humble about everything she achieved.”

As a research ecologist studying wildfires at the University of Colorado, she has conducted fieldwork in remote areas of the Cascade and Rocky mountain ranges which calls on her hiking and orienteering skills. “It’s a perfect combination of physical and mental challenge,” she says. In her time off, she plays on a women’s ice hockey team and takes advantage of her dramatic surroundings to enjoy trail running, crosscountry and telemark skiing, and biking.

At Dartmouth College, she played field hockey and lacrosse but found the time commitment prevented her from performing at the level she expected of herself athletically and academically. “I had sort of a reckoning,” she says. “I decided after my sophomore year that I wasn’t going to play organized sports. Giving that up was hard as I had always identified as a student-athlete, but it opened up this whole new world for me. It sparked an interest in the Outing Club and that played a huge role in my becoming an ecologist. It wasn’t expected, it was not part of my plan, but I just went with it and it turned out to be a really good trajectory for me.”

Ms. Schoennagel went on to ecology-focused graduate and post-graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, where she earned a master’s in Geography and another in Conservation Biology, and a Ph.D. in Ecology. Another unexpected, yet successful, trajectory was launched when she was introduced to pond hockey while in Madison, WI. At one of her first outings, she caught the eye of the man who would later become her husband. As she recalls it, he was initially dazzled by her stick handling skills. “I definitely caught his attention on the ice as one of the few women in the early ’90s with excellent hockey and skating skills! We still love to play together and have taught our kids to play.”

Ms. Schoennagel is often described as confident, calm, focused and resilient. “Those are qualities I value so highly and much of that comes from PDS,” she says. “I felt very supported and encouraged to try things. If I had a tough day or something wasn’t working well, the coaches got me to reassess things and just go back at it. They were all incredibly supportive and inspiring. They fostered a love of athletic competition and an inner confidence that I literally tap into every time I step out on the ice, field or trail. PDS does an amazing job of nurturing students’ whole selves. For me, PDS really was home. It was a great place to grow up.”

TANIA SCHOENNAGEL ’86 PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL

Varsity Field Hockey –3 years, Co-Captain 1985 1983 Prep “A” State Championship 1984 Prep “A” State Championship 1985 Prep “A” State Championship

Varsity Ice Hockey –4 years, Tri-Captain 1985–1986 Varsity Lacrosse – 4 years, Co-Captain 1986 1983 1984 1985

1986

Gold “P”

Prep “A” State Championship Prep “A” State Championship Prep “A” State Championship Mercer County Championship Prep “A” State Championship

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE Tania Schoennagel and her family prepare for some friendly competition at a neighbor’s homemade rink.

1987 Varsity Field Hockey 1988 Varsity Lacrosse

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PARIS L. McLEAN ’00 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee 2020

Shooting for the Stars Originally published in the digital-only Journal Spring 2020 issue.

Paris McLean arrived at Princeton Day School in 1998 as a junior intent on making his mark in basketball. More than two decades later, he is still on The Great Road as Assistant Head of School at Princeton Academy of The Sacred Heart*, guiding the education of over 80 boys ages five to ten. It is a role he would never have imagined for himself before PDS but then, there have been a lot of surprises for Mr. McLean since then.

“Before I came to PDS, I viewed myself as an athlete who went to school to play more sports,” he admits. “At PDS, I began to understand what it meant to be a student-athlete and to put that first and foremost, but it wasn’t without growing pains. I tried my best, I was really invested in the community, but academics were just really hard for me.”

Fueled by an abundance of natural ability, Mr. McLean found he had a passion for sports. He credits his mother with getting him into athletics, mostly, he suspects, so he could burn off excess energy outside the house.

He played soccer at four, T-ball at five and basketball at eight.

“I’m forever grateful to my mom for shuttling me around to those sports,” he says. “She was a single mom. My father was absent from my life, so athletics was a way for me to be around positive, strong, healthy male figures and for me to connect with my peers. I didn’t have a sibling, so athletics was this community I could go to, this network of people to bring me along.”

By the time he was a freshman at Bordentown High School, Mr. McLean was playing on a very strong varsity basketball team. To broaden his experience, he joined a competitive summer league at Trenton’s Cadwalader Park where he met Justin Leith ’99 from PDS. Their team won the championship that summer and Justin encouraged him to apply to PDS. “I didn’t even know what PDS was,” he says, but he visited the school that fall, applied and was accepted. “I realized PDS offered something special but, at 16, my focus didn’t go much beyond better athletic facilities, better teams and showcases.

Now, at 38, I know what that special something is: it’s the PDS family, it’s collegiality and the sense of community, the idea that we’re part of something larger than ourselves. So I’m ever grateful I made that move to be part of something special. Without the School’s unwavering commitment to equity and opportunity and financial access, I wouldn’t have been able to attend PDS. I can’t even put into words the generosity they showed me and my family.”

Mr. McLean is open about his struggles to catch up academically and adapt to new expectations. He is grateful for the teachers who saw his potential and went out of their way to help him, especially the late Jim Walker, Chair of the Math Department. “He was selfless,” he says. “I was placed in Algebra II and I just didn’t have the foundational skills for it so four days a week for an hour, my entire junior year, he would hand-write math problems, equations and algebra problems for me and we’d just work. He didn’t have to do that.”

His social and athletic adjustment was much easier. He has a warmth and charisma that attracts people of all ages and by the end of his first year at PDS, he was elected a Peer Group Leader. He joined the Teacher’s Assistant Program (TAP) primarily to fulfill his Community Service obligation but discovered he really enjoyed working with young children. “I could see myself doing that. You can really make an impact and a personal connection,” he says.

Whippet thin and 6’ 3”, Mr. McLean had always regarded basketball as his strongest sport, but after a breakout junior year as a wide receiver on the PDS football team in which he was named All-State and All-Prep First Team, he was generating interest from college recruiters and realized he might be better suited to that sport.

“There hasn’t been a finer student athlete to come through the doors here at PDS,” said Coach Pete Higgins during a phone call in February 2020. [Sadly, Coach Higgins passed away in June 2020. See In Memoriam tribute in the Journal Fall 2020 issue.] “I remember first meeting Paris on the football field during the hot summer. I was very impressed with how hard he worked through the drills. He came to the field every day with determination and tenacity, striving always to be a better player.”

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He helped the basketball team close its 1998–1999 season as Prep A State Champions and the next year he was named co-captain and received All-Prep Honorable Mention. “He’s a great guy,” says Leith, who played with him at PDS and now, as Director of Athletics at Stuart Country Day School, still teams with him in the Frank Konstantynowicz ’76 Alumni Basketball Game. “Paris was a real hard worker. He kind of set the tone for everyone else, so to have him added to our team, that was wonderful. He really helped us.” Mr. McLean also had an impact and received recognition as pitcher for the varsity baseball team.

“He was so keen on soaking in experience and ideas and opinions,” Mr. Stellato says. “He’s always looking out at the horizon and anticipating what’s next, a very impressive quality.”

By mid-point of his senior year, he was being courted by Division I colleges and universities but his GPA hovered dangerously close to the NCAA Clearinghouse cut-off for eligibility. He decided to take a post-graduate year but then, at the last minute, changed his mind and reopened his recruitment process. He enrolled at La Salle University sight unseen and starred for four years as a defensive back, racking up national honors every year and being named a Scholar-Athlete by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

*At the time this feature was first published in the spring of 2020, Mr. McLean was Head of Lower School at Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart. He became Assistant Head of School at the start of the 2020– 2021 school year.

He can pinpoint the moment early in freshman year when he focused his competitive drive on his marks and made Dean’s List a goal. “I did it by appling the skills I learned at PDS but had not had time to fully absorb while I was there,” he says. “Everything just shifted and the same kid who barely made Clearinghouse graduated from La Salle with honors four years later.”

“I know what that special something is [at

Princeton Day School]: it’s the PDS family, it’s collegiality and the sense of community, the idea that we’re part of something larger than ourselves.”

In 2004, Mr. McLean returned to PDS to teach in the Lower School and coach football and basketball. He was just 26 when he became head coach of the varsity basketball team, which had seen four coaches in four years. “I thought I could stabilize the team,” he says. “I was looking for players who complemented each other. We were building teams that had trust and strong chemistry.” The year before he took over, the team won three games. The next year, under his leadership, it won 14 games and Coach McLean was named Coach of the Year by the regional newspapers, an achievement he repeated in 2011 and 2012. During his tenure, he coached two 1,000-point scorers and a 2,000-point scorer, PDS Hall of Famer Davon Reed ’13, who went on to play in the NBA. Although he coached some outstanding players, his priority was to ensure every player had a role on the team and felt part of its success.

Head of School Paul Stellato served with Mr. McLean on the PDS Community Multicultural Development Team (CMDT) and says, “I was so impressed listening to him. He thought of everything and yet remained open to the inevitable surprises.

I also saw that his students adored him, the faculty were very fond of him and respected him, and parents loved him.” Paul urged him to apply to Columbia University’s Teachers College Klingenstein Center.

“He saw things for me that I didn’t even imagine,” Mr. McLean says. “I never would have thought Columbia was even within reach, but he encouraged me to be unapologetic and shoot for the stars.”

It is a trait that translates to his athletic philosophy. “If we learn responsibility, integrity and hard work and the by-product is we win some games, that’s great,” Mr. McLean says. “It goes back to being part of something special, recognizing that we’re part of this network; it’s how we represent our school, our family and ourselves. If we walk away from our experience as good people, then I’m happy.”

PARIS McLEAN ’00 PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL (attended junior and senior years)

Varsity Football 1998 All-State, All-Prep First Team selected by the The Times of Trenton & The Trentonian 1999 Co-Captain

All-State, All-Prep First Team selected by The Times of Trenton & The Trentonian Varsity Basketball 1999 Prep A State Champions 2000 Captain All-Prep Honorable Mention

Mercer County Finalists Varsity Baseball 2000 All-Prep Honorable Mention

LA SALLE UNIVERSITY Varsity Football 2001 CoSIDA Academic All-America All-District Football Team 2002 NCAA Leadership Conference Selection (1 of 200 players in all sports across the country) 2003 CoSIDA Academic All-America All-District Football Team

All-State Good Works Team (1 of 22 players selected in the country) 2004 Scholar-Athlete selected by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Philadelphia Chapter

Co-Head La Salle Athletic Relations Council

PDS COACHING CAREER

2004–2009 Varsity Football Coach 2004–2007 Boys Varsity Basketball Assistant Coach 2007–2015 Boys Varsity Basketball Head Coach 2008, 2011, 2012 Basketball Coach of the Year, selected by The Times of Trenton & The Trentonian 2012, 2013 Prep B Basketball State Finalists 2012–2013 Team won ESCIT Tournament Prime Time Shootout SPRING 2021

Dr. Rebecca W. Bushnell ’70

CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

As I write this letter in early March of 2021, the entire world is reflecting on the past year when our lives were shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of us has experienced this crisis differently, and many have endured incalculable losses, but we have all suffered the disruption of the communities that sustain our lives. We see now that we took so much for granted when connecting with each other in person. At PDS, parents miss the casual chats exchanged when waiting for children at the school day’s end or on the sidelines at games, and the students have sacrificed so much of their normal social lives. Even the members of the Board of Trustees long for the chance to catch up over a meal or snack before we gather for our deliberations. These kinds of encounters help to weave that fabric that unites us.

Given the profound disruption of our lives together, it is remarkable that Princeton Day School has not just survived but also thrived. This issue of the Journal, along with the many news stories posted each week on pds.org, illustrates how the students, faculty and staff have adapted and innovated when facing considerable obstacles. Last summer the School’s indefatigable staff prepared the campus and installed the state-of-the art technology needed to create a safe teaching environment that meets the needs of all our students and families, whether in school or remote. While none of this new way of learning was easy, our dedicated faculty and our responsive and eager students made it work.

With the stress of adapting to this new environment, it is even more impressive that PDS has advanced its efforts to increase diversity, equity and inclusion with our “Facing Forward” initiative. Under the wise guidance of DEI Director Anthony McKinley and the rest of the Community and Multicultural Development Team, all members of the school are having important conversations about racism and bias, building a strong foundation for a future in which everyone feels truly a part of a supportive community. The Board of Trustees has also moved forward its work to contribute to this effort. Chaired by trustee and parent Christopher Bobbitt, our Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has already transformed how we approach identifying and recruiting new trustees, and will lead the Board to examine its own role in combating racism and discrimination.

I have been so impressed by the entire school community’s resilience and dedication as we have weathered these changes. In the midst of all this upheaval, we have raced forward to reach the finish line of our Thrive! Campaign in June. I have been moved by the willingness of our parents, alumni and trustees to support the School financially in this challenging time. When we return to campus to full in-person teaching and learning, and we resume all of those casual encounters that have turned out to mean so much to us, we will find a school transformed by the innovative spaces, programs and opportunities that this generosity has made possible. I certainly look forward to seeing many of you there, enjoying the bright and airy spaces of the new Athletic Center, celebrating the renovated libraries and the brand-new STEAM facilities in the Lower and Middle School, or simply immersing ourselves in the welcome bustle of halls full of students and faculty happy to be with each other again.

Rebecca W. Bushnell ’70

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Board of Trustees

Ashley Aitken-Davies

Sanford Bing h’87

Christopher Bobbitt

Michael Bracken ’98

Marc C. Brahaney

Rebecca W. Bushnell ’70

Carol Chiang-Li

Kun Deng

Sejal Doshi

Beth Geter-Douglas

Georgia (Robin) B. Gosnell

Thomas B. Harvey

Anna Horner

Lorraine Sciarra

Cynthia O. Linville

David R. Scott

Joanne Liu

Jacob L. Silverman ’89

Amanda Maher

Paul J. Stellato

Rebecca W. Bushnell ’70, Chair Thomas B. Harvey, Vice Chair Jacob L. Silverman ’89, Treasurer Cynthia O. Linville, Secretary/Parliamentarian Ashley Aitken-Davies Sanford Bing h’87 Christopher Bobbitt Michael Bracken ’98, ex officio Marc C. Brahaney Carol Chiang-Li Kun Deng Sejal Doshi, ex officio Beth Geter-Douglas Georgia (Robin) B. Gosnell Anna Horner Joanne Liu, ex officio Amanda Maher Lee Maschler David L. Richter Lorraine Sciarra David R. Scott Paul J. Stellato Amrit Walla Zaidi John C. Wellemeyer ’52 Robert C. Whitlock ’78 William P. Burks, Trustee Emeritus Barbara Griffin Cole ’78, Trustee Emerita Marilyn W. Grounds, Trustee Emerita John P. Hall, Jr., Trustee Emeritus Herb Kendall, Trustee Emeritus Samuel W. Lambert III, Trustee Emeritus Edward E. Matthews, Trustee Emeritus C. Treby McLaughlin Williams ’80, Trustee Emerita Andrew M. Okun, Trustee Emeritus John D. Wallace ’48 PCD, Trustee Emeritus

Lee Maschler

Amrit Walla Zaidi

David L. Richter

John C. Wellemeyer ’52

Robert C. Whitlock ’78

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THRIVE! The Campaign for Student Experience at Princeton Day School is the largest comprehensive campaign we have ever undertaken. As we move into the final phase of the $55 million THRIVE!, we are beginning to celebrate the ways in which this remarkable effort is transforming our School.

From the advances in teaching and learning that make our program unforgettable, to the new spaces that give us room to collaborate, to bond, and to break records, we emerge from this campaign stronger than when we started.

THRIVE! enables us to support what each of us needs to express our full potential.

Your commitment to investing in our vision of an active, vital, forward-looking Princeton Day School attuned to the full spectrum of the student experience not only helps us meet the challenges of today, it will help us meet the challenges of tomorrow, whatever they might be.

Please join us as we mark this extraordinary moment, and learn more about our priorities and the campaign’s impact in the pages that follow.

Sincerely,

Paul J. Stellato Head of School

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Katherine A. Schulte P’17, ’20 Assistant Head of School for Advancement and Strategic Priorities

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THRIVE! CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES

Endowment for opportunity and access for talented students

FINANCIAL AID

$11.5M ACADEMIC PROGRAMS & FACILITIES & FACULTY SUPPORT

$11.15

Wellemeyer Upper School STEAM Center Shepherd Commons 20 Upper School classrooms for math, world language, and humanities Isaac's Greenhouse

Athletic Center Endowment for operations

ATHLETIC FACILITIES

$18M

Middle School STEAM Center Lower School STEAM facilities Endowment for faculty professional development Endowment for campus infrastructure and physical plant

Support for operating budget

ANNUAL FUND

$14.35M

TOTAL

$55M

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HOW THE THRIVE! CAMPAIGN IS TRANSFORMING FINANCIAL AID

FACULTY SUPPORT

A school full of talented, committed, engaged learners improves the experience of every student and every teacher. Financial aid is the tool that makes this possible. THRIVE! has enabled us to continue to welcome the most talented and deserving students to our School, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances. A strong financial aid endowment means that admission decisions are based strictly on a student’s individual strengths, talents and unique qualities. All families contribute some portion of tuition.

Without this commitment to a generous financial aid program, the student experience at all grade levels would be completely different, because nearly one quarter of our current students would not have been able to enroll.

When you hear about an exciting new course that taps more than one subject area, and includes experiential learning and real-world problem solving, chances are its origins are in support from the Miss Fine’s Center.

Established in 2014 by a generous endowment from Kenneth L. Wallach and Susan Schildkraut Wallach ’64, the Center advances the School’s mission to deliver excellence in teaching in an ever-changing world and has become a nexus for collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching.

Miss Fine’s Center not only shows our faculty that we celebrate their creativity and their drive, it provides the structure and resources necessary for both up-to-the-moment training and original projects that result in our unmatched academic offerings.

ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY FOR TALENTED STUDENTS THAT ENRICH OUR COMMUNITY AT ALL GRADE LEVELS

“A thriving school is a place where students are joyfully engaged in learning, teachers are joyfully engaged in teaching and the spirits of innovation and purposeful tradition are alive. Each day unfolds in ways that prepare students for their futures.”

RENÉE C. PRICE, ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL FOR ACADEMIC LIFE

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“We all thrive when we are able to enroll the most compelling students regardless of financial need.”

JULIE CUCCHI, DIRECTOR OF ADMISSION AND FINANCIAL AID

INSPIRING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAT ATTRACTS AND RETAINS AMAZING TEACHERS

“Student agency has been elevated across the School. There are now so many ways that students are constructing understanding more authentically because faculty have the time, space and support to innovate.”

TARA QUIGLEY, DIRECTOR OF THE MISS FINE’S CENTER

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THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE PROGRAM SUPPORT

STUDENT WELLNESS

ATHLETIC FACILITIES

THRIVE! has made it possible for us to

Health and wellness education is a necessity; in times of crisis, it becomes crucial. We could not have known the difference it would make in the 2020-2021 academic year when, with support from a challenge grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation, we dedicated resources to developing and implementing a school-wide Health and Wellness Program under the leadership of a dedicated director. Ours is a curriculum that prepares students for life. From building social-emotional intelligence in the Lower School to digital citizenship in the Middle School and the peer leadership programs in the Upper School, investments in this curriculum empower students to help themselves and others and connect across grades.

During COVID, these signature programs have proven to be invaluable touchpoints.

We are only starting to realize the endless opportunities our spacious, state-of-the-art new Athletic Center creates for our community. It’s been used by students of all ages, from the Lower and Middle School students who use it every day for physical education to the varsity athletes. All students in Grades 3–8 may now opt to learn and play squash. We have fielded our first-ever Upper School girls varsity squash team and hosted on-campus home meets for the first time. Perhaps most importantly, the Athletic Center will be the first place in which our entire community can gather to share key moments, offering an unparalleled sense of community.

lead in STEAM programming with an extensive interdisciplinary curriculum (with courses in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics) and develop facilities in each division that make this kind of exploration and achievement possible: our best-in-class Wellemeyer STEAM Center and, to be completed this summer, exciting new purpose-built STEAM spaces in the Lower and Middle Schools. Every student is introduced to computer science and coding by Fifth Grade, and every Ninth Grade student participates in an inclusive STEAMINAR focused on interdisciplinary problem-solving. The presence of STEAM facilities, resources and dedicated STEAM coordinators means that faculty in every division have become involved, preparing students for lives in which all disciplines are applied collaboratively to create solutions.

INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATION AND REALWORLD PROBLEM-SOLVING THAT REACHES ALL STUDENTS

“Not only does a STEAM framework teach students how to think critically, problem solve and use creativity, it prepares students for college and careers in fields that are poised for growth.”

A CULTURE OF WELLNESS THAT CREATES HAPPIER, HEALTHIER CHILDREN AND ADULTS

“The growth of programming for Health and Wellness has shown everyone in our community how important it is to prioritize one’s own health.”

SPACES THAT SUPPORT GATHERING, FRIENDSHIP AND EVER-HIGHER LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE

“The Athletic Center has come to fruition as a welcoming space for all students and a game-changer for our program.”

KATIE FAY, DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

MARITONI CALON SHAH, M.D., DIRECTOR OF WELLNESS

JASON PARK, SCIENCE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

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THRIVE! PROGRESS PHASE 1

PHASE 2

2017

2018

10 math and world language classrooms

10 humanities classrooms

AND

Shepherd Commons

Wellemeyer US STEAM Center

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AND

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PHASE 3

PHASE 4

PHASE 5

2019

2020

SEPTEMBER 2021

Isaac’s Greenhouse

Princeton Day School Athletic Center

MS STEAM Center

AND

AND

High ropes course

LS STEAM Center

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GREETINGS FROM THE 2020-21 Alumni Council

Alumni Council

Fellow Alumni, Spring has come to The Great Road and for the 122nd time our School will send forth a new cohort of students destined to make their mark on our world. Well prepared by the richness of the Princeton Day School experience, they will apply the skills and ethos that they’ve acquired to rigorously explore and vigorously debate issues, confront and overcome challenges and ultimately arrive at their own truths and beliefs.

Michael T. Bracken ’98 Alumni Council President

Their achievements will contribute to the tremendous value of our 6,000+ alumni network and we look forward to watching them freely pursue their dreams and maximize their endowed gifts, skills and attributes.

To better unlock the value of our considerable alumni network, your Alumni Representatives and Princeton Day School have made a series of changes that make it easier than ever for alumni to get involved. Our new Alumni Council (formerly the Alumni Board) is open to all alumni who wish to join and serve on one of its committees. We’ve streamlined the onboarding process and provided greater flexibility in terms of the requisite scope and scale of one’s commitment. Whether you can contribute an hour a month or ten, we welcome all alumni who want to be involved. You will receive an invitation each fall and I hope that you will consider joining us.

As mentioned in my last letter, though I look forward to a time when we can convene in person, this year’s Alumni Weekend will once again be virtual, taking place from May 11 to May 15. For more about this year’s Alumni Weekend events, go to https://www.pds.org/alumni/alumni-weekend.

Sincerely, Mike

John L. Griffith III ’99 Vice President

Taylor Hwong ’88

Secretary

Christopher Bonnaig ’11 Joanna Bowen ’03 Zaneta Shannon Chambers ’95 Marc A. Collins ’88 Brian Crowell ’11 Paris McLean ’00 Lisa Warren ’71 Kaylie Keesling Director of Alumni Programs & Giving

We love hearing from you.

Please send your news to your class correspondent, or, if no correspondent, please send your news to classnotes@pds.org or you may submit them via pds.searchwavelength.com.

If your class is without a correspondent, and you would like to volunteer, please contact Ann Wiley ’70, editor of Class Notes at classnotes@pds.org .

Please know that the Journal, including Class Notes, also appears online in the digital archives of the Journal at pds.org.

MISS FINE’S SCHOOL 1940

Phyllis Vandewater Clement 2375 Range Avenue, #157 Santa Rosa, CA 95403 (707) 823-0925 (home) pvanclement@gmail.com

Ann Tomlinson Reed died in December, having outlived most of her class. In the middle of 1929 when I was put in the Miss Fine’s School first grade class with her, I knew from the start that she was the alpha member of the class; pretty, accomplished and very popular. Everybody liked her, and even when she left for boarding school, we still considered her one of ours. As I read her obituary, published in Town Topics the last week of December 2020, I saw that she continued to be successfully involved in all sorts of things that interested her. It was a pleasure to catch up with her at one of our infrequent class reunions. I shall miss chatting with her when preparing this column.

Peggy Munro Griffin is still living in her house on Cape Cod, and keeps up with family more than most people do, as three of her four children are temporarily living in her home with her, the fourth lives fairly near and she sees her grandchildren often.

2020 hasn’t been my best year; my husband of more than 73 years died in July and shortly thereafter I had mandibular surgery for squamous cell cancer. The children and their spouses have been wonderfully helpful, and I am now back in fighting trim!

1949

Lucy Law Webster 19 Church Street Cooperstown, NY 13326 (607) 437-0887 (home) lucylawwebster@gmail.com

pds.org

1950

Donata Coletti Mechem 49 Marcela Avenue San Francisco, CA 94116-1471 (510) 851-1123 (cell) doe@mechem.org

I only have contact with two other classmates beside myself although I know others exist, who for their own reasons, don’t want to participate. Wendy McAneny Bradburn is recovering from a knee replacement surgery. She and her husband, Norman, are hunkered down in their retirement community in Arlington, VA as am I, in our house in San Francisco with my husband, Kirke, and Jean Milholland Shriver, in Palos Verdes Estates, CA without husband, whom she lost a couple of years ago. Wendy is in touch with Gordon McAllen Baker ’51, who moved from New Hampshire to Virginia a couple of years ago.

1952

Marcia Goetze Nappi 251 Gardenside Lane Shelburne, VT 05482-6541 (802) 985-3070 (home) marciagn@aol.com

1954

Joan E. Kennan 3143 O Street, NW Washington, DC 20007-3117 (202) 342-2118 (home) joankennan@gmail.com

To start first with sad news: Louise Mason’s husband, Joseph Bachelder, died of prostate cancer just before Christmas of last year. They had been married for an impressive 65 years!

Joe still had been practicing law at age 88.

Louise continues to live in their Princeton home of 47 years. One of her granddaughters, namesake Louise, worked for CBS in DC but has moved to California where her husband will be going to law school.

Kathie Webster wrote about an incident that happened to her daughter Katie last August, escaping wildfires on three sides of her Sonoma, CA property. Katie and her partner have a small animal sanctuary farm; they were ordered to evacuate. They were not about to abandon their animals (cows, pigs, goats, two visiting sheep, chickens, pet dog and cats), and so with the help of friends who had vans, they sped in the middle of the night to a safe farm where they stayed for about a month. This all occurred in 100-degree temperatures and Katie said that it was the most terrifying experience of her life. She said that if cows and pigs don’t want to get into a van, it’s hard to persuade them to do so, resulting in several of them being tackled by Katie, who fortunately is athletic. In the end, they were all saved for which, in large measure, Katie credits the firefighters.

Kathie also informed me that she had heard from Anna Rosenblad recently, and that

Anna had bemoaned the fact that her “siblings and three sons were not able to visit this year because of COVID-19.”

As for your correspondent, I have gotten through this past pandemic year as well as one could hope for. No traveling, no indoor dining or social gatherings, but no illness either, and plenty of walks in neighboring parks with my dog, Maeve. As more and more people are getting vaccinated, we are looking forward to a brighter 2021!

1955

L. Chloe King 865 Central Avenue, Unit I-209 Needham, MA 02492 (781) 898-8312 (cell) lchloek@comcast.net

Merriol Baring-Gould Almond reported: “We have four kids and nine grandkids, and most of what’s interesting in our lives relates to their doings. Fortunately, they stay in reasonably close touch. Two are on the East Coast and two are in California. We started isolating in mid-March when we’d actually planned to visit friends and family in England, but canceled just in time to avoid real difficulties and risks in getting back. This would have been a great time to do significant sorting and downsizing, but actually I’ve loafed and read and accomplished very little. I had my hip replaced a year ago last December, and that has worked out well, although it took a little over a year to feel completely normal hip-wise again. Isn’t it seriously weird to be in our 80s????”

Jo Cornforth Coke wrote: “Like many others, I elect to spend the cold months in Florida. I am fortunate that my sister Julia ’61 has a condo on the 14th floor overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway in West Palm Beach. Big news is that she is producing a play in London(!), and has invited me to go with her for a year. I am to be an unpaid P.A., and we are really excited.

Puts the lie to my wanting to avoid bad weather, however. At 83, life does seem to be getting better......”

Jeanie Crawford wrote: “I have been doing a lot of Zoom (about too much) with virtual church, virtual book group and virtual ‘listening sessions,’ but have been discussing neat books on racial justice, such as we didn’t study in school. One of the authors is Eddie Glaude from Princeton.”

Mary “Ty” Tyson Goodridge Lund reported: “No COVID-19 in my family. One grandchild moved to Europe, another mountain climbing in Mexico, and I am in California directing traffic. Am working with a hypnosis MD. Working out four times a week and am on carnivore diet—beef, fat, salt and water. Being watched by two doctors from Hungary. So, I am active. Think about all of you.”

Lucy Busselle Myers wrote: “It’s hard to have news in the pandemic! Life seems to roll by,

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and my most important activity has been to stay healthy. Lots of walks and swimming, many Zooms. I’ve facilitated several writing groups and my class at the pre-release facility north of us. When my house on the Vineyard hasn’t been rented, I’ve spent time there visiting in a socially distant fashion with my sons and grandchildren. I feel blessed to live in two beautiful places.”

Alice Marie Nelson reported: “No real news as the virus has circumscribed our lives here in Manhattan to an extraordinary degree. We are no longer able to enjoy any of the theatrical or musical events to which we so looked forward. Our forays outside the apartment are pretty much limited to food shopping and an occasional outside dining. Books, films and TV watching take up most of our time. We’ve also enjoyed the series of virtual concerts the Metropolitan Opera has created.”

Laura Travers Pardee wrote: “No news is good news. Right now we are thrilled that we have had both Pfizer shots! We are looking forward to the day we can travel again and see family and friends. Meanwhile, we are able to ‘attend’ the Sarasota ballet, lots of lectures, book club meetings and film discussion and review meetings. Here’s to everyone’s good health!”

Barbara Kohlsaat von Oehsen reported that she just had her first COVID-19 vaccine shot.

To get it, she had to drive miles to a very large, boarded-up Lord and Taylor in South Jersey. The experience was very pleasant, dealing with lovely people, quick and easy. She had just talked with her primary care doc via phone (no more office visits) to get sinus medicine. She also Zoomed with her book group today. Then she was off to PT, which she does three times a week. Her church, book group and even visits with her boys have been virtual. No complaints! She loves her home and being with her dogs. Life is good! She has a great family!

Chloe King: my focus here has been on preparing to move at the end of March! We are missing our Florida stay this winter, but the snowfalls here have been beautiful! It will be strange to meet new people all wearing masks at North Hill. Wonder if we will recognize anyone when we are all unmasked? I miss live Boston Symphony Orchestra performances in Symphony Hall but have enjoyed their special programs on the ’net. Saturday afternoon Met rebroadcasts have been superb! We are looking forward to the time when life is somewhat normal again. Love to everyone!

1956

Charlotte Harding Cook, Ph.D. 1133 55th Street Sacramento, CA 95819-3911 (916) 739-8918 (home) ccook@csus.edu

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1957

Rosalind Webster Perry 1009 N. Ontare Road Santa Barbara, CA 93105 (805) 682-3664 (home) rosperry@impulse.net

With great sadness, I learned from Alissa Kramer Sutphin that our dear classmate, Mary Strunsky Wisnovsky, died from lung cancer on November 8, 2020. Alissa especially remembers Mary’s tremendous personal charisma and her delight in seeing her friends. Alissa praised Mary’s intelligence, her extraordinary ability to enlist support for a variety of important local charities and her flexibility to see different sides of an issue. My memory of Mary is of someone who was an exceptionally friendly, generous and outgoing person, always with a big smile and ready to offer a helping hand whenever needed. I remember that she loved to sing in Madrigals and our musical shows; she had such a beautiful singing voice. Her death is a terrible loss for her family, whom she Mary Strunsky adored, and for her Wisnovsky ’57 smiling her warm, many friends and the enthusiastic smile, Princeton community October 15, 2020 she loved so much. On

behalf of our class, we send heartfelt condolences to her husband, Joe, to her sons, Robert Strunsky ’82 and Peter Strunsky ’85, their families and her sisters, Martha Strunsky Ilic ’59 and Jane Strunsky Wiseman ’65.

Susie Smith Baldwin sent me several photos of Mary, as well as this tribute from the Princeton Public Library: “The Mary Wisnovsky Fund for Acquisitions at Princeton Public Library has been established in memory of long-time library supporter Mary S. Wisnovsky. Mary and the library were inseparable. Her enthusiasm, expertise, exquisite taste and sheer love of the Library were essential to making it into the beloved and viable institution it is today.

No matter the season, she was in and out of its doors several times a week stopping to pick up the mountains of books she’d read voraciously or heading upstairs to the Friends office to help organize its many fundraisers. The Fund will be used for the purchase of additions to the Library’s print and digital book collections to benefit its ever growing diverse and often underserved audience.”

Susie commented: “What a magnificent and fitting tribute to Mary from the Princeton Public Library, her favorite nonprofit. Some of Mary’s closest friends were those sharing the same passion for nonprofits that Mary loved so fully. She was loved and appreciated for her warmth and enthusiasm, her people skills and her natural ability to connect with others.

When I arrived as a new student in seventh grade, Mary’s welcoming nature meant so much to me. What a warm and exuberant friend, so gregarious and so comfortable with people. No surprise that Mary loved her work with nonprofits and served the Library with boundless time, energy and passion.

Back in seventh grade our MFS ’57 classmates at an impromptu gathering in Princeton, passions overlapped enjoyably. We loved to chase when Bonnie Campbell Perkins was visiting from Colorado, PCD boys. I could always c. 1990: (left to right) Alissa Kramer Sutphin, Susie Smith count on Mary’s networkBaldwin, Tina Burbidge Hummerstone, Sue Barclay Walcott, ing skills to help me feel Helen Wilmerding, Bonnie Campbell Perkins and Mary more comfortable with Strunsky Wisnovsky the boys. In fact, she made me feel so comfortable that I would even share ‘secret feelings’ I hadn’t shared with anyone else.

One of her sacred rituals was talking with her sister, Martha, in Paris every Sunday morning. Mary is cherished and missed by so many. My heart goes out Mary Strunsky Wisnovsky ’57 (left) to her dear husband, Joe, their sons and their whole enjoying her favorite fundraising Arthur Wisnovsky, the event, the Princeton Public Library family. Joe said he and Mary welcomed their first great-grandson of Mary Friends annual benefit, with her great-grandchild, Arthur Strunsky Wisnovsky ’57 good friend, Jill Guthrie, in 2018.

Wisnovsky, on Facetime. Joe has been eager to get his COVID-19 vaccination so he can hop on a plane to California to great-grandfather in person.”

Molly Menand Jacobs wrote: “Mary was one of a kind. She was someone many went to for advice, going back to when she was still in school. It’s hard to believe that Mary is no longer among us. I think she stood out in our class and was someone with a lot of enthusiasm.”

Molly said she is weathering the long months of being stuck at home by editing several books she wrote, and by reading a lot of books and streaming films. Her four granddaughters now range in age from 10 to 21. The oldest, Megan, is a junior at Boston University and hopes to work with special needs children in the public school system. The twins are 17 and juniors in high school, while the youngest, Parker, is at home fulltime, being virtually educated.

Nancy Miller sent an update on her move to Pennswood Village: “I am well settled in and I don’t think that there is any place that could have friendlier people. I think that it’s the Quaker influence. We are still a closed campus for visitors although we in independent living are able to come and go. I don’t know when that will change but, luckily when I moved in, we were able to have visitors. That enabled my niece Ann Miller Paiva ’86 to come out for the week after Labor Day so we could clean out Cricket Cottage.”

Bonnie Campbell Perkins emailed that due to the pandemic she wasn’t able to go downhill skiing or even cross-country skiing or snowshoeing with her sister, Sally Campbell Haas ’63, during the winter. “This year it is just too complicated,” she said. However, they were able to spend six weeks on the Cape in the fall.

“It was a nice change of pace and full of lots of yard work,” she added. Bonnie is still busy volunteering during tax preparation season through an AARP program.

Now that our lives are starting to return to normal after more than a year of pandemic restrictions, please phone or drop me a postcard or email telling of your renewed activities, trips and family events. Personally, I’m really looking forward to a lot of great hugs from my daughters and grandkids!

1958

Nancy Hudler Keuffel 1329 West Indian Mound Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301 (248) 540-8024 (home) (586) 481-7043 (cell) acornnhk@aol.com

As I write this, we all are wearing masks, social distancing and hoping to get a vaccine. Sue Frank Hilton emailed that she was fortunate to complete an Israel Holy Land Pilgrimage and Tour right before COVID-19 shut down travel.

When back in Naples (FL) she has been playing golf in a Ladies League three of four times

Sue Frank Hilton ’58 at The Wailing Wall (or The Western Wall) on Friday evening February 14, 2020 (Sabbath) in Jerusalem, Israel a week—great exercise, fresh air and wonderful women camaraderie. In July, she was elected to a three-year term to the Friends of Arts-Naples Board of Directors, but committee work is on hold due to COVID-19. She continues her 15-year run as a docent at the Baker Museum of Art, which is still able to offer tours.

Emily Vanderstucken Spencer is nestled in at her Maine home. She would love to chat with classmates and other MFSer’s, so email me and I will give you her phone number. Her daughter has developed a raging internet business selling house plants in darling decorated pots. It keeps her busy 24/7.

were “hosted” by Susie Stevenson Badder.

Much fun to reconnect and to actually SEE and HEAR each other for the first time in ages. The most interesting topic was Tinka Grondahl’s Scandinavian Trilogy—three books of fiction; she has written (and is now rewriting) the first two. The following classmates joined our Zoom call: Dana Conroy Amand, Marion Dean Hall, Tinka Grondahl, Lucy James, Ann Kinczel Clapp, Nan Nicholes Goodrich, Abby Pollak, Sasha Robbins, Jean Schettino Conlon, Susie Stevenson Badder, Cecilia Aall Mathews.

We also have had a few chain emails with several of the class participating. Jennifer Dunning, Abby Pollak and Tinka Grondahl have shared some snippets of their writing with each other. No traveling to report, just the usual reading, streaming and closet cleaning!

I have two heaters on my screened in porch, so I am able to entertain one or two friends OUTSIDE safely. We even play bridge in 42-degree weather!

Anne Prather Tirana is looking forward to exhibiting some of her paintings at the Rockefeller Foundation Center in Pleasantville, NY. By the time this column goes Ann Kinczel Clapp ’59, Peggy Wilber ’61, and Susan to press the show will have closed, Stevenson Badder ’59 enjoying lunch together outdoors last fall in Baltimore but you can see her work on her website: annebellpaintings.com.

Anne is on the Exhibition Committee at the 1960 Century Club in New York and was delighted Penelope Hart Bragonier, Ph.D. to be one of the members to do a hanging of the 68 Beacon Street current exhibit. Genealogy has also captured her Boston, MA 02108 interest and she has traced some of her relatives (617) 742-0093 (home) to England and Wales in the 900s as well as (617) 823-1150 (cell) found Viking connections! Amazingly, she and Pbragon@gmail.com her husband both have relatives who were in the Indiana State Legislature at the same time back 1961 in “olden days.”

Mahala Busselle Bishop 145 Goody Hallett Drive Gerd’s and my year started off with structural Eastham, MA 02642 problems. He had a heart valve repaired and (207) 266-9066 (home) then we moved on to having the foundation mahalabishop@gmail.com of our house repaired. Fortunately, both procedures went well.

Julia Cornforth Holofcener Classmates, please call, write, phone and send Placido Mar #1406 news! Thank you!

5200 North Flagler Drive West Palm Beach, FL 33407-2768 1959 (908) 217-0327 (cell) Ann Kinczel Clapp holofcenerltd@comcast.net 5 Farview Road Fiona Morgan Fein: “Harvey and I have been Baltimore, MD 21212 spending most of our time in NW NJ where (410) 464-9471 (home) human contact is easy to manage. He has his AnnClapp@hotmail.com wood turning shop and I hang out in ‘my Class of ’59 is beginning to celebrate our 80s room’ where I’m still practicing guitar daily and but we were still able to hold a Zoom call tending to my responsibilities as a member of on December 2. We had 11 participants and Wells College’s Board. We had a successful SPRING 2021

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first semester on the banks of Lake Cayuga.

Students are returning for the second semester right now and classes began February 8. Small colleges have been disadvantaged in some respects over the years, but right now our size is a distinct advantage.

“As for most people I know, evening streaming of entertainment has become a ritual. But I long for the return of live musical performances which were so much a part of my life in the City. We will get our second vaccine doses mid-February, which eases some of our most pervasive anxieties. I look forward to seeing classmates on Zoom in the coming months.”

Sheila Long: “COVID-19 has not changed my life much, except that I have more social contact with friends and family via Zoom and phone.

After our chaplain’s death in October, I gradually began working on transforming his hermitage into a third guest space. A Paolo from New Jersey was the first guest to stay there, over Christmas, and it has been inhabited ever since.

Eight quilted bedspreads in a variety of bright colors arrived recently from a friend in Atlanta who is downsizing, so the guest bedrooms are all looking cheery and spruced up.

“I recently listened to audio versions of two very good books: Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and White Trash by Nancy Isenberg. I have now moved on to another ‘take’ on life in the U.S.: American Note by Charles Dickens.”

Polly Busselle Bishop: “I’m happily ensconced in Maine with Don. Our lovely home sits high on a hill replete with blueberries. My little pottery studio is closed ’til summer and I’m taking on several volunteer opportunities and studying Buddhism. It’s peaceful and fun here despite the COVID-19 restrictions. My goal this winter is to re-write my play of last year— a big job, since no one at MFS taught us how to do it!”

Tibby Chase Dennis: “Like many of us, I’m sure, a lot of my time recently has been occupied with trying to schedule an appointment to get my first COVID-19 vaccine shot, and I’m happy to report that on the evening of February 8, I finally was able to get it at a nearby clinic. Long lines, but not as long, I’m sure, as at the ‘mass sites’ in malls! To distract me from the anxiety surrounding this whole process, I’ve been listening to Marilynne Robinson’s novel, Home. Her moving and beautiful imaginative world makes quite a contrast with the horrors detailed in Trump’s impeachment trial, which I’ve also often had on in the background these last few days while doing my ten thousand steps up and down the hall, and in and out of rooms, in my little ranch house!”

Cynthia Weinrich: “There really hasn’t been much change since my last submission. I occasionally play church services, but thank God for Federal Pandemic Assistance, a godsend for us gig workers and those in the entertainment industry. And it’s great to feel we’re finally coming out of the nightmare. I think the thing JOURNAL

my body has missed the most is senior exercise classes two or three times a week, and access to my gym. I believe the gyms are open here, but it still seems too risky to me. I try to exercise on my own, and periodically dance around to Sousa marches and 1920s jazz, but it’s not enough. I do my writing group and family check-ins on Zoom (where would we be without Zoom!), and I am continuing to write, which is great.”

Nancy Smoyer: “I describe my COVID-19 year as busy but boring as all the fun events in Fairbanks were canceled, as were many trips. I’ve had three major projects for the busy part. 1. During the summer I cleaned up the woods around my house—good exercise; 2. I’ve been going through 50 years of saved correspondence, which is daunting but fun to revisit my life through those letters and; 3. In October, out of desperation, I started going to the gym—four to five times a week! I’ve never had any desire to do that before, and I can’t say I love it, but I don’t hate it either. I got my second vaccine on Feb. 12, and then a few days later went to Key West for a short winter break…. finally.”

Julia Fulper Hardt: “We’re still ‘sequestering’ at 22 Alta Vista Drive and dealing (reasonably well) with some significant health concerns that make the illusive inoculations all the more imperative. On the positive side, the protocols for dealing with the pandemic took away any remaining excuses I had for not completing a Christmas memoir, which I’ve been anxious to put together for my grandchildren. Needless to say, wreath making, Candlelight Service and subsequent holiday parties (and, of course, what I borrowed from sisters to wear) were featured, and all classmates remained at the very front of my mind throughout the process. It translated into a nice little book of memories, menus and recipes, which afforded me an escape into those sweet and, occasionally, emotionally fraught days. A heartfelt note of gratitude to all of you for making those particular ‘moments in time’ so precious and vivid.”

Kasa Lowndes Cotugno: “I’m living the COVID-19 ground hog’s day existence, reading, cooking and looking out the window. I think it will resonate with everyone who reads this.”

Alice Artzt: “We are dealing with a multitude of issues, and I am still teaching as much as I can on Skype—going nuts. So far not sick— and also so far, no vaccines for either of us.”

Lucia Norton Woodruff: “48 hours no power, as of now (2/17), many still have no power in Austin and all Texas except smart El Paso, on the national grid unlike the rest of Texas. The challenge of the camping and camaraderie of neighbors has been fun as well as the beauty!

But so many are suffering. We are fine with gas stove and wood heating stove, but many are not. Today icy, sleet, gray, but it was delightful outside Monday and Tuesday watching dogs, children, adults walk or sled by in wonder at the bright world. Should be warmer by Sunday.”

Joan Yeaton Seamon: “We’ve gotten our two vaccine shots, an advantage of living in a retirement community. Have read so many books during this pandemic, the latest Destiny and Power, a George H. W. Bush bio by Jon Meacham. I worked for that president and Barbara and love how Meacham writes. A wonderful experience with exceptional people.

Just ordered tickets for Athens, Greece for our Irish nephew Stuart’s and Greek fiancée Nikolina’s wedding there in June. They are both doctors in London. So, hopefully, Greece will open up by then! Family well, but those in Austin having a hard time right now.

VERY MUCH looking forward to seeing and hugging four grandsons and two greatgrandsons in 2021.”

Julia Cornforth Holofcener: In spite of the pandemic and the political turmoil of the past year, my life has been fairly normal here in West Palm. The play I’m co-producing in England has progressed to the point where I’ve decided to move to London for a year, accompanied by my sister Jo ’55. We have a new website, www.alliance-the play.com, and Simon Callow has indicated great interest in playing Churchill. It’s all very exciting! Larry and I spent over 12 years in England and I really miss it, and my friends. My company, Island Partners, created in 1995 the first website for the Isle of Wight, where we lived, and I produced a number of events for Island charities over the years. In addition, I’m working with an English organization to create a Terra Carta. There was a Magna Carta in 1215, and I feel strongly that the Earth needs its own ‘carta’. I know I’m 78 in May, but I still feel that I have a lot more to contribute.”

1962

Susan Shea McPherson P.O. Box 506 41 Hawthorne Avenue Hyannis Port, MA 02647 (508) 775-1368 (home) suebear3@gmail.com

Gail Cotton wrote that she “was deeply saddened to hear Missy (Tomlinson) had died. I was in touch with her until a few years ago. I can’t recall why we sort of drifted apart. Thanks for getting us the information, Kathy.

“Thanks to Paige, Wendy, Kathy and Kate for writing. I also liked Pat’s suggestion that we share what we’d do once COVID-19 was less of a threat. The first thing I would do would be to organize a family gathering. We have not seen several members of our family for over a year.

Traditionally, we bring our calendars for the coming year to our Christmas celebration and plan our gatherings for the coming year. Needless to say, those plans never came to fruition.

“Dennis and I received our second vaccination day before yesterday. Thankfully, we did not have any after-effects. I will continue to comply with the public health recommendations and hope that the development of the vaccines was

not too rushed. I view it as kind of a damned if you do and damned if you don’t!

“I wish you good health.”

Pat Holcombe sent: “Hugs to all!” The first thing she will do once the restrictions are safely lifted “will be hugs for family and friends. And also have the freedom and confidence to roam anywhere without fear.”

by her former squash players led by Chris Sheldon ’92. What a proud moment for her.

As Gail and Katherine mention, Missy Tomlinson died recently in Vero Beach; I wasn’t able to find any additional information.

Life on Cape Cod remains quiet, but more people escaped here during COVID-19. I did have a knee replacement in October; it was easy and very successful. I still haven’t crossed the bridge but, referring to Pat’s request, my hope is that our family can go to a dude ranch in Colorado this June for a week. Wishing you all good health and hope that our country will return to a new normal soon.

1963

Susan Mathews Heard ’62 and her husband, Bill, the night they moved into their senior residence in January 2017 Susan Mathews Heard wrote: “Happy February! Bruce and I moved into our senior residence at Villa Gardens at the end of January four years ago. We’d moved from the condo we owned since 1992. We’ve made many wonderful friends and appreciate the caring and helpful executives and staff.

“On the night of my birthday last March, COVID-19 hit us, forcing the closure of our dining rooms. They likely will remain closed for the foreseeable future. COVID-19 has been extreme here in Pasadena, the rest of Los Angeles County and much of California.

Fortunately, we will have our second vaccination on Tuesday, which gives us hope that we may soon be able to gather in small groups, leave the building and feel almost normal again. It’s been a long haul.

“Even when things open up, we won’t be doing any travel, as much as we’d like to. Bruce’s degenerative muscle disease now keeps us close to home. Fortunately, we traveled extensively while we could, and visited all seven continents.

“I have undertaken several ‘jobs’ here to help the staff and keep myself busy. I work with our Executive Director on her COVID-19 update letters three times a week. Bruce and I continue to co-chair the Dining Services Committee, which has a more challenging responsibility since all meals are served in our apartments.

And I also co-chair the Fitness Committee.

“What are the first things I’d like to do when this is all behind us? Read more. Relax. Spend more time with our friends. . . . More than one thing, so take your pick!

“I send my warmest wishes to you all!”

I, Susie Shea McPherson, had a wonderful conversation with Dede Shipway, who has been coaching squash at PDS for quite a while.

There are now four new courts; one of them was named for Dede as a special honor, given

Virginia Elmer Stafford 9836 Steamboat Island Road NW Olympia, WA 98502 (505) 307-8837 (cell) vesalb@aol.com

Andy Updike Burt reported from the Maine woods that she continues to be inspired by her work with young climate activists through her Down to Earth Storytelling organization.

She is also co-leading an initiative to pass an environmental rights amendment to the Maine constitution—currently only PA and Montana have one. To cope with the pandemic restrictions she has enrolled in an online art class about painting with pastels and says her first assignment, a self-portrait, is a work in progress. She invites anyone to visit.

Ellen Levy invited anyone interested to check out her artwork at missellenruthlevy.nyc. I can attest that her “Jump for Joy” card is much more beautiful than the website shows.

Kathryn Kilgore lives between Monterey, CA and Key West, FL, and is writing a long story in a series of poems—“and I really like them”— so hopefully we can all read them soon. She is, unfortunately, battling breast cancer for the second time.

Polly Miller just made a big decision to donate her wonderful pony to a non-profit organization off island. This, she says, is a firsthand example of “where getting older is NOT for sissies.” She hopes to host a retired horse, so Nick gets his garden manure, and they both have someone else to care for and worry over.

Turid Helland reported she is still living in her red wooden house with husband, Kaare, by the sea in Bergen. She tries to keep up with her year-round ocean bathing, but admits it is increasingly cold. She reported that Norway is doing rather well during the pandemic and enjoys her “four wonderful grandchildren” and having her daughter next to them, with son, in Oslo.

Pamela Sidford Schaeffer feels like every day in the pandemic is “Slursday” as everything blurs together. They continue to “camp” out in the new home they are building and had a COVID-19 scare when their daughter and

family got mild cases, but they have been symptom-free and by now should have gotten two doses of the vaccine. She is a proud mother watching Marvel’s WandaVision, written by their daughter, Jan Schaeffer.

Laura Rodgers feels very fortunate to have gotten the vaccine but regrets that the pandemic has caused them to postpone some international travel “just when retirement years afford the time to get out and go.” She tries to keep fit and is thinking about buying her first horse since MFS years. She remarked that Moyne and Mrs. Shepherd would be glad to know that she is rereading some of the classics, though she admits some age better than others!

Kleia Raubitschek Luckner shared that although she misses her Toledo friends and activities with the BAR there, she is glad to have moved to McLean to be near her children and three grandkids. She reflects on the challenge of going to law school in her mid 50s but was always interested in the intersection of law and medicine. She misses the plans she and late husband, Kurt, had for retirement, and is recovering from a total hip replacement, which further confines her from exploring DC.

Kathy Sittig Dunlop sent along her COVID-19 thoughts: Care for others—wear a mask, stay safe.

Open your eyes to your many blessings.

Vary your daily activities.

Imagine new possibilities for your life.

Decide to make a difference in your life and the lives of others.

19 — list 19 other things you are going to do—and then do them!

She reflected on how a stroke at the end of 2019 has changed her life as she lost her left, peripheral vision and regrets that the pandemic has limited her travel, but enjoys local adventures and picture taking. She has since dedicated herself to making others aware of the first signs of a stroke as she wonders if a quicker response to her stroke may have made a difference. She encourages everyone to explore these signs. She is also enjoying a weekly Zoom meeting with old Hollins College friends, and wonders if any of us would like to start this.

Sally Campbell Haas wrote that her biggest news is getting her second vaccine. She also has been dealing with the very cold weather sent to so many of us by the polar vortex.

Sharon Stevenson Griffin reported that her most exciting news is getting the second vaccine, which allows Sharon and Chuck to head to their home in Florida. Several of her friends have had COVID-19, but, gratefully, they are all doing well. She is relieved to see “some light at the end of the tunnel.”

I, Virginia Elmer Stafford, have just moved into a lovely little house in Olympia, WA where I am enjoying spectacular views of the Puget Sound. I have decided to continue to work with counseling clients via telehealth at

SPRING 2021

58

least through the pandemic as there is such a high demand for mental health support, but it is all made easier doing it from my living room watching the ever changing moods of the Sound. I am also enjoying Sunday hikes with my grandson, and with his inspiration I am becoming a pretty good vegan cook.

Hoping you all stay safe and well so that we can meet again at our next big reunion.

1964

Barbara Rose 33 Calhoun Street, Suite 218 Charleston, SC 29401 (609) 937-1700 (cell) barbarabrose@me.com

1965

Margaret Woodbridge Dennis 11115 Fawsett Road Potomac, MD 20854-1723 (301) 983-9738 (home) hotyakker@gmail.com

2020 was too awful for words, and COVID-19 has life shut down. We spend our days gardening, cooking, searching on the internet for COVID vaccination openings, and trying to Marie Kondo-ize our overstuffed shelves and closets. It’s a great excuse, however, to call old friends and catch up.

Ellen Aronis Heard said: “I refuse to allow the previous administration to take up one single moment in my mind. I learned how to turn off the news and I must say, I am healthier for it.

“This pandemic has brought many challenges to all of us, and I have decided, due to a lot of changes in my field, that I am going to make this year my last as a therapeutic/educational consultant. It has been a wonderful experience and I have enjoyed many fulfilling years, but the acuity of the clientele is going up and unfortunately, the placement options available are not adapting to their needs.

“Of late, I have been very involved in practicing Qigong, which is a bit like Tai Chi but more directed towards health issues. The idea is to move the qi, or life force, through your body to unleash blockages and stay healthy. I am starting to realize why the Dalai Lama always has a smile on his face. I read that he meditates many hours a day, which brings him into a state of grace and calm. It is that smile that I am striving to develop. At this stage in my life, finding balance and joy has become a goal; the health benefit is simply a bi-product.

“I am looking forward to getting the pandemic in the rear-view mirror and traveling to visit my family in California. Somehow Zoom art lessons with my grandson do not allow me to hug him and that I sorely miss. I hope all are rounding the corner and getting vaccinated and we can look forward to a healthier and happier 2021.”

Phoebe Russell MacAdams Ozuna wrote: “Things here in Pasadena are pretty quiet. My

JOURNAL

husband, Ron Ozuna, and I are healthy, thank heavens, and are still mostly staying at home except for walks and trips to the grocery store, which we now do double masked. Ron is continuing to go on his bird photography expeditions. I am on Zoom a lot going to poetry readings and doing workshops. We are reading a lot—I have managed to be part of three reading groups!

“Both Ron and I are continuing our parttime retirement jobs mentoring teachers for the Loyola Marymount University education program. I am very glad not to be teaching at this point and I have a lot of respect for our teachers who are learning a whole new way of instructing and mastering a huge variety of online platforms. I can barely remember all of their names, much less how to use them!

“The big news for us is that we finally got appointments for our COVID-19 vaccinations.

It took a lot of patience to negotiate the LA County website and to finally find open slots.

We had our first shots a few weeks ago and are scheduled for our second ones on Saturday—a big step forward!! We will probably continue our lives the way they are until more people get vaccinated, but it is a great relief to be somewhat protected!

“Stay SAFE, one and all.”

PRINCETON COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 1943

Peter E. B. Erdman 700 Hollinshead Spring Road, Apt. D100 Skillman, NJ 08558-2038 PErdman700@comcast.net

1944 Markley Roberts graduated from PCD in 1944, Exeter in 1947 and Princeton in 1951.

After one year with the CIA, he spent five years with the Washington (DC) Star newspaper, four years with Senator Hubert Humphrey, and finally, 34 years with AFL-CIO labor union federation, retiring in 1995. He is the son of Frances Markley Roberts, who was a teacher at Miss Fine’s School and PDS. He is now age 90, and is a writer for the Chevy Chase, MD retirement building newsletter, member of the board of Friends of the Chevy Chase Library and member of the Committee on the Future of the Chevy Chase Library.

1947

David C.D. Rogers 1602 Tuckers Lane Hingham, MA 02043 (781) 749-9229 (home) (413) 575-8575 (cell) drassoc53@comcast.net

1948

John D. Wallace 90 Audubon Lane Princeton, NJ 08540 (609) 921-2257 (home) njnb1@aol.com

James Donnelly submitted: “My wife, Sarah, and I are in a retirement community after years in education. I think back to my PCD years in Princeton fondly. Congratulations for all that the School has done to grow and broaden its educational opportunities.”

1949

Bevis Longstreth submitted: “I have completed a historical novel, Chains Across the River, available for pre-orders where books are sold, prior to release date of 4/2/21. See my website, bevislongstreth.com, for information about this novel of the American Revolution.”

1950

Michael P. Erdman 20 Pond Lane Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 (610) 528-5148 (home) (610) 608-8665 (cell) mperdman57@gmail.com

1951

Edwin H. Metcalf 900 Hollinshead Spring Road, Apt. J100 Montgomery, NJ 08858 (609) 921-2386 (home) ehmet@comcast.net

Douglas Levick submitted: “It’s been many years since I have written a note, perhaps, I regret, because I was lazy. We spent the first half of our life in the East between NYC, Greenwich, CT, Paris, France and Boston. We have been in California for 40 years, first in Atherton, and most recently in Palo Alto in a fabulous senior living place on the edge of the Stanford campus. Through these years I was with several information technology companies, followed the last 20 years by major roles in several non-profit organizations. During these years we were well—occupied by three children and five grandchildren. Age has taken a few tolls, but, in general, all is well. We continue to be active and stimulated by the endless educational and cultural opportunities at Stanford and in the San Francisco Bay Area. I regret that I have not been back to PDS, except for the time I was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame about 20 years ago. From all that I read, it has become a fabulous school.”

1952

Philip Kopper 4610 DeRussey Parkway Chevy Chase, MD 20815-5332 (301) 652-2383 (home) PosPress@AOL.com

Heaven forfend that we should still be in “Total Lockdown” by the time this note is

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT being a singer/songwriter, even though I had absolutely no experience,” Doria shared. “The road just opened up before me and I couldn’t help but to follow it. I was curious and I figured I’d learn the business for a few years and then hope to get signed to a major label,” she continued.

Doria Roberts ’89

After releasing her first CD in 1995, she moved to Atlanta in 1996, “which helped exponentially,” she said. “The scene was vibrant and young and I was suddenly part of the new crop of up and coming artists.

I was doing shows with John Mayer, India Arie and members of what would become Sugarland when no one outside of Georgia knew who we were,” Doria recounted.

Visionary Restaurateur and Artist

A Crossroads

Doria Roberts ’89 is on a road less traveled, and it has made all the difference.

Born and raised in Trenton, she moved to Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania after graduating from Princeton Day School and remained there until 1996. At Penn, she focused on East Asian Studies with a concentration in Japanese, which covered language, literature, culture and business. “My goal was to be the first black woman to run a Japanese kaisha (corporation), but classes in my senior year that were meant to be dual credits for my master’s degree forced me to see the world in a different light,” Doria recalls. The classes introduced Doria to classical eastern philosophies like Taoism and Buddhism; she also studied themes ranging from death in Japanese poetry to feminism in Japanese literature.

In 1999, Doria self-released her third project and performed at Lilith Fair’s stop in Atlanta sharing the stage with Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Sinead O’Connor, and some of the biggest names in music at the time. Record labels came calling, but two big factors kept her from pursuing that route.

With graduation looming, and “a radically changing world view,” Doria didn’t know what she wanted, but she knew she wanted something impactful. “Playing guitar happened to be a Taoist meditation that I picked up as a distraction while I sorted things out,” Doria shared, but it led to a whole new direction. The organizer of the UPENN annual “Spring Fling” event overhead her playing in her dorm room and booked her for a 20 minute spot, she recalled, “despite having a setlist consisting of only one original song and the rest Indigo Girls covers!” A DJ from WXPN heard Doria and asked her to come on their “local’s only” show, which led to the booking agent from the Last Drop Coffee House in Center City offering her the feature spot for their open mic nights.

“I truly believe in a type of beginner’s luck, and I had plenty of it to push me towards

“One was the ‘work for hire’ copyright law that was passed by Congress and made it so artist copyrights would be held by a record label in perpetuity instead of reverting back to the artist, even if the works were created before being signed to the label,” Doria said. “This was so devastating that Sheryl Crow and Don Henley of the Eagles went to Capitol Hill to advocate for its removal. I was concerned because I already had over 100 songs and felt I wouldn’t have the leverage to negotiate with labels as a new artist and would lose ownership of my intellectual property,” she continued.

“The second issue is that I was repeatedly asked to ‘stay in the closet’ and not reveal my LGBTQ status as a condition of being signed, and it was something I could not do. So, I opted to stay independent, hoping the industry, and the world, would catch up. But, I never pursued a relationship with a major label after that,” Doria shared.

In 2008, when the country was heading into what is now known as the Great Recession and independent musicians were facing multiple challenges, Doria decided to take a hiatus and help her wife, Chef Calavino Donati, run her restaurants.

“I figured I would get back to full-time music when the economy recovered. It did finally recover, but our restaurant at the time, Urban Cannibals Bodega + Bites,

had been featured on the Food Network, we were asked to cater and speak at a TedX event, and we were finalists in a “Start Small, Go Big” contest sponsored

by CitiBank, all within two years of opening. Things were a little too hectic to leave for the road so I officially semi-retired from music,” Doria said.

In 2015, they opened three more restaurants and went on to cater for Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic, were chosen by VISA to represent their “She’s Next” global initiative, and their tea shop was ranked third in the country for afternoon tea service by Travel + Leisure.

Another Turn Along the Way Last year, Doria’s mother suffered a stroke and the couple decided to move back to New Jersey to help with her care. “The original plan was to bring the tea shop to a Nassau Street location where we had signed a letter of intent, but COVID shutdowns started right when we were planning to start building out in Princeton,” Doria said. “Luckily, we hadn’t signed a lease, but we also found ourselves without a restaurant and source of income. It became clear that restaurants were going to be huge casualties, so when we got the opportunity to open something, we knew we had to completely reimagine what it meant to have a restaurant,” she continued.

In July, Doria and Calavino opened their “omnivore-through-vegan BBQ and southern fare pop-up,” The Pig + The Pit, in a former bakery in Pennington. “Our current business model is a 100% online contactless ‘ghost kitchen’ that is designed to survive future shutdowns. We converted the entire space into cold storage and work prep space so food is picked up by customers outside at the front door. We’re looking into doing more spaces like this as the country recovers. There is a lot of research and analysis involved as we work toward positioning ourselves as a model for the future survival of our industry,” Doria explains.

In addition to learning how to bake (her chocolate chip cookies have become a popular menu item), Doria also loves the creative process of building menus with Calavino, who has been in the restaurant industry for over 25 years.

Though she focuses primarily on work in the restaurant, Doria exercises her seemingly boundless creativity on the side

continued on next page SPRING 2021

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Doria Roberts Spotlight continued as well. “Listening to dialogue all day at the restaurants, I have pivoted from writing songs, which I have definitely missed, to playwriting. I started turning incidents into little stories that I posted on my Facebook page for fun. Then I got a few ideas about plays, and realized my brain was looking for a more visceral creative outlet for my writing, so I started taking it seriously and dove in,” she said.

PDS: A Place Where You Don’t Have to Be Like Anyone Else In recounting her journey for this Alumni Spotlight, Doria reflected on her time as a student at Princeton Day School where she learned many of the foundational skills that have guided her since. As a product of the Trenton public and Catholic school systems, Doria was used to a more restrictive academic setting. Princeton Day School’s academic structure, which included established free periods and blocks for extracurricular activities, was a revelation to Doria.

“That free time also helped me bond with my classmates. At my other schools, I would only see my friends at lunch and recess. I’m still good friends with several members of my graduating class as well as the classes above and below mine, and I credit those free periods with that. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it really prepared me for college and life. There are lessons you learn in class, but I really learned the most being able to casually interact with teachers and students. It felt like a real community,” she said.

Managing the rigors of Princeton Day School academics, after-school extracurricular activities and an hour commute each

published, but at its writing we are quarantining and have become unspeakably tired of our own company. So with one classmate’s help, I’ll reprise my last contribution to the Journal and offer diversions for solitary confinement: What’s worth reading and watching! See below.

In mid-February, my faithful correspondent John Wellemeyer reported an impressive reading list for the preceding months. Consuming books had become his and wife Louise’s vocation-in-limbo, and more power to them. Here are some of the titles he recommends: The Pioneers by David McCullough. The master historical narrator explores the “Old JOURNAL

night helped teach Doria the important skills of time management and effective multitasking, she explained. “Those skills have proven particularly important in managing the variety of culinary projects we’ve run over the years and as we plan for the future,” she added.

Doria recalled a favorite memory with former Upper School English teacher Judy Michaels, who taught Doria during her freshman and senior years and whom Doria credits for instilling in her a lifelong love of literature and poetry. “I cringe when I think about it, but the first book report I handed in from the summer before I started 9th Grade was on V.C Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic! She didn’t shame me about my book choice. She saw that I was already an avid reader, took what she saw as an interest, and gently guided me to the classics without judgement. She never required that I abandon those books and simply encouraged me to read everything I could get my hands on. We laughed about it my senior year and I thanked her for her guidance all those years,” Doria remarked.

Doria credited Mrs. Michaels’ approach with making her a more well-rounded person because it helped her realize that all life experiences had value. “To be honest, I felt a little out of place at PDS at first. I felt like I never had the ‘right’ shoes or clothes, didn’t come from the ‘right’ family, but I slowly learned that I didn’t have to be like anyone else. I just needed to find people who were willing to share their perspectives with me and vice versa. I now have lifelong friends, and some of the best memories from my childhood are attached to PDS. It set me up to be flexible, curious and open to life experiences and I use those skills often.”

Northwest,” the first major territory to be occupied by white settlers in the decades after the Revolution. John’s cloak-and-dagger spree embraced The Spymasters by Chris Whipple, The Moscow Rules by Antonio and Jonna Mendez and The President’s Dossier by James A. Scott —all examine spookery through fictional and historical lenses. He entertained an equestrian phase with The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told (Mark Paul) and Blood Lines (Melissa Del Bosque) to learn about horse racing, betting, skullduggery and Mexican drug cartels. He ventured into the world(s) of politics via John Bolton’s The Room Where It Happened, Bob Woodward’s The Rage, Michael

She recalled that perhaps the most meaningful experience from her time at PDS was her Senior Project—and still relevant today in her present pursuits: she produced and acted in a play and presented it to the school. “My goal was to learn every aspect of something simply because I wanted to do it, not because of a desire to go into theater as a profession. I was responsible for the play’s casting, directing, light and stage design, the program design, ticketing, marketing,” she explained.

“It was incredibly difficult, but I remember my thesis was about leadership and, specifically, what is now known as ‘leading from behind.’ In order to do that, I felt I had to understand every level of your organization and the work and workers that made your organization possible. No job or person was too small or insignificant,” Doria reflected.

Doria concluded with this advice to seniors: “Whatever your project is next spring, make it something that you want to do and that you will enjoy—even if it’s something completely out of your wheelhouse. It’s like asking yourself a really tough question that you get to answer creatively. Use it as an opportunity to learn about yourself and the people around you that you may not have had much interaction with in your four years. It’s a rare opportunity to start shaping the world you want to live in,” she observed.

Note: The Alumni Spotlights in this issue of the Journal were first published on the pds.org news feed during the 2020-2021 school year.

Cohen’s Disloyal, and Madeleine Albright’s Hell and Other Destinations. Read on!

For myself, after days of reading critically as an editor or critic, I found diversion on the small screen with a variety of entertaining thrillers in serial form that took me to places I’d love to visit unvirtually again. (May mini-series go on for as long as the pandemic itself.) A French Village brings WWII to a provincial town.

Heist sees a bizarre genius masterminding a cabal of misfits to storm and seize the Spanish mint, gin up the presses and escape with a fortune in new Euros. Ozark finds an apple-pie American family waging felonious mayhem in Missouri. Lupin celebrates revenge and

counter-sleuthing in Paris. Wanted finds two innocent (sort of ) Australian women caught Down Under between savvy crooks and cloddish cops—and outwitting both...

The rest of our dwindling class stayed undercover, despite my pleas for news... So it goes, during the pandemic...

Be well, wear masks, shun conspiracies.

1953

Kenneth C. Scasserra The Court at Palm Aire 2701 N. Course Drive, Apt. #509 Pompano Beach, FL 33069 (609) 598-1776 (home) kscas@hotmail.com

1954

Fred M. Blaicher, Jr. 710 Manatee Cove Vero Beach, FL 32963-3728 (772) 231-0046 (home) fritzblaicher@yahoo.com

1955

Needs Correspondent

1956

Robert E. Dorf 1063 Vail View Drive, Unit 26 Vail, CO 81657 (970) 471-1067 (home) (cell) dorf b@outlook.com

1957

James Carey, Jr. 245 A Chestnut Avenue, Unit 2 Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 (781) 801-2490 (cell) tim_carey@nobles.edu

I am not sure if the contributions I get from my classmates are a result of my incessant dunning, but what I receive is heartening to say the least. We old guys, as a group, are more than alive and kicking, the only way to go in these pandemic times. Walking, getting vaccines, playing tennis, paddle and golf, reading, volunteering and generally being active are the keys at this stage of our lives. So, I guess we deserve a pat on the back, and you can bet that this class correspondent is a happy and grateful man.

I begin with a note about Morgan Shipway from whom I received a card just yesterday.

He wrote that his sister Dede ’62 had dropped off a box full of ‘stuff ’ that Morgan was told he could go through if he wished. One of the items he found was a letter that my father had written on January 19, 1982 to his stepmother after the death of his father, Charlie. I immediately had an image of Mr. Shipway in his tennis whites, craftily moving about the court, smiling slyly, complimenting opponents on a good shot and inevitably winning his match. But it also jolted me in such a lovely

way, seeing my father’s handwriting as if he had written the note last week. And now here we are, the same age as our fathers and dealing more often with sad moments, but also moments of joy. Thanks, Morgan, for a wonderful gift. Morgan also reminded me of the times we would watch Dick Clark’s Philadelphia Bandstand at my house and swoon over Justine Corelli!

Pony Fraker wrote: “Got my second vaccine last Tuesday, February 16 and feel relieved and eager to go see friends and family as soon as Molly gets hers. In the meantime, I built four raised garden beds for herbs and veggies, the fruits of which Molly and I enjoy almost every day. I am still playing tennis and working on my golf with the ‘winning spirit of the boys at Princeton Country Day.’ Also, I have hooked up with a close friend who has me skippering his sailboat in a racing series at the Sausalito Yacht Club; Stafford K may be interested.

If we win on Sunday, March 7, we will win the winter series. I never thought my Flying Dutchman racing experience in Nantucket in the late ’50s would lead to anything in my late seventies. But as Billy Morse has said, we were and always will be the ‘boys of Princeton Country Day.’ And we remain as privileged as ever!”

Staff Keegin: “Back from getting #2 and all is well! Thinking back over the year, I recall it was a year ago when I was at a CCA meeting in NYC and had just become a little more aware of the virus. So, home I went, and I’ve been pretty much quarantined ever since. Sounds bad, but really it has not been. The replacement house in Sonoma, replacing the one that burned down in the 2017 fires, was just finished, so moving in up there was actually quite nice. It’s complicated but our youngest daughter, who used to be in the intelligence community at the Obama WH, is now working in SF for Blaine Consulting and considering the hours she puts in, it was easier for her to quarantine in Sausalito than her home in Alameda. So out we moved and in she moved, pregnant with number one! Our middle daughter is living in Berkeley with her daughter and musician husband and could settle in (quarantine-wise) with no problem. Our oldest daughter, husband and two sons live in France, so they have a whole different regime to follow.

Of course, summer came and went: no Maine, no sailing and no fog to play in. I’m actually increasingly concerned about next summer. I like to go off sailing by myself. At 77, I could still do the necessary to get under way, and, importantly, get back. At 79, I’m not so sure. I think I would find the anchor a challenge.

“I’m still lawyering, but from home, which I quite like. I was initially worried about not working in the office, but on closer analysis, I couldn’t really recall meeting any clients in my office for many years, so it appears everything will be OK if I just continue at home. Susan’s had a good year painting. It seems that people

quarantined at home and staring at the wall go shopping for new art. That keeps her busy.”

Joe Wright: “We came to Nantucket from Toronto by car on December 10, the easiest place to get our family together after nine negative COVID-19 tests. Our daughter lives and works here for a mental health and addiction counseling organization. Our actor son, his wife and our grandchild drove up for two weeks over Christmas and New Year’s. On the day of this writing, February 4, we are still here and plan to stay until March 20. We got our first shot Wednesday and are scheduled for the second on February 24. It is a safe and easy place for us to hide out for a while. Our vaccines here were administered by a joint effort of the Nantucket Town and our local hospital, affiliated with Mass General. It was a wonderfully organized effort, but it took computer skills and access, which might be difficult for the groups most affected by this awful disease.

The only other classmates with whom I am in touch are Staffy (now that he has grown up, he goes by Stafford) Keegan and Pony (when he grew up, he became Harrison) Fraker. To the best of my knowledge, they are both alive and well in California, dodging the virus and wildfires! Please stay safe and well and keep the snow and foul weather west of the Cape for those of us in Nantucket!”

Adam Hochschild: “I have nothing terribly newsy to report, except that a) I’m breathing easier since January 20, and b) my wife and I have gotten our first vaccine shots. I’ve never been happier to have a slightly sore arm!”

Rob Kuser: “All is well with the Kuser clan.

Mary Kay and I got our first vaccination and will get the second shortly. We have been isolated due to COVID-19, but now I am taking the risk of a distant vacation in late July, a trip to Olympic National Park with our daughter and her family for a week. We had plans to do this in 2020 but got foiled by the pandemic.

Fortunately, I was able to roll all the reservations forward one year, and we are ready to go.”

Hugh Wise: “Nothing new to report. We can’t get south to the Carib because of the bug, which I now understand is scientifically not really a bug. I have a recommendation for reading: Adam Hochschild’s latest, Rebel Cinderella; it is a work of art. His power of description is phenomenal. He transports one to turn-of-thecentury (not the latest turn, but the one before) New York. My parents saved all the Junior Journals from our days at PCD, and I found Adam’s first published piece in the March 1952 edition, entitled ‘The Greatest Scare I Ever Had.’ William Smith also had a piece of that same title in the same edition and Morgan Shipway had one entitled ‘The Pirate.’

Bill Morse: “Some folks consider us geezers, but the truth is, we PCD boys are just boys who deny our age and resist growing up. Boys will be boys. I’m playing paddle tennis almost daily, in several Fairfield County leagues.

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Opponents are usually 20 to 30 years younger.

But I do my best to team up with a ringer who runs down the drop shots, while I send up lobs. It’s a great sport that I got into 10 years ago. Of course, we play outside, in the cold. No socializing after the matches. So far, it’s been safe. I got my second Pfizer shot this week, and Cece, her first. We can’t wait to travel once the world opens up. Visiting a granddaughter in Florida is first on our list, then Easter Island, Budapest, Ireland (I play Irish trad, daily... wooden flute). My local group of volunteer musicians is suspended during the pandemic.

Alas, this virus closed us down last year, just before St. Patrick’s month (March). A dozen gigs canceled (nursing homes, assisted living, schools, private parties, etc.). We raise funds to support the real Irish musicians. They are hurting these days. Cece, an archaeologist, and I, an educational consultant, are not quite retired, though I’ve scaled way down. We’re on Zoom and Skype all the time. I enjoy hearing news of PCD classmates. For the most part we had an idyllic, fairytale childhood in Princeton. But of course, eventually, we had to grow up.”

Bob Smythe wrote: “I continue to miss the elementary school sub teaching I was doing in Princeton, as well as my GrandPal and Memoir writing programs. I also had to give up having breakfast at a local diner with my good friend, a 95-year-old WWII vet who was a B-17 navigator in the Pacific Theater. He was a driving force in the GrandPals program (it was he who recruited me) and was instrumental in setting up Zoom sessions. So now I have three Zooms, plus a recent Pen Pals program with a couple of kindergartners. The coordinator asked if I would be interested in doing a mini-Zoom with my two pen pals, to which I said, ‘Bring it on!’ So, Zoom has somewhat come to my rescue by giving me a chance to reconnect with the people and kids I worked with in those programs. As far as COVID-19 goes, in spite of my Herculean and time-consuming efforts, I have yet to get my first vaccination. Ah, well, as a backup, I have an appointment on May 16.

I look forward (even more so) to my annual trek up north to the Adirondack Mountains on Lake Champlain this summer.”

1958

2020. Kathryn and I feel fortunate we live in Vermont where the effects of the pandemic have been less than in many states across the country. We had a wonderful family Christmas with our son, Andrew, and his family from Los Angeles, who were able to spend a month in Vermont, and our daughter Amanda’s family just down the road. We are looking forward to spring, golf and the freedom to be with friends.

All good wishes to classmates.

Stephen S. Cook 928 Mill Creek Drive Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 (561) 660-7890 (home) (908) 227-4391 (cell) stevecook566@gmail.com

1960

Karl D. Pettit, III 6079 Pidcock Creek Road New Hope, PA 18938 karl.pettit@comcast.net 267-566-1499

How nuts has this past year been?!

Nevertheless, in spite of the pandemic, I was able to visit with two dear friends this past September. The first being Davy Davis, and the second being Bloxy Baker’s sister Trudy Baker ‘65 who is the wife of my prep school and Princeton U. roommate Jim Millar.

Davy and wife Tink celebrated Thanksgiving this year with two of their son’s families.

Davy was careful to explain that strict social distancing was followed by setting

1960 classmates Karl ‘Pepper’ Pettit and Davy Davis (left) on Singing Beach

In mid-February, Sandy Kirkpatrick reported from Florida that he had both vaccine shots (Moderna). Jeanie is in a queue and should get her first in about seven days. They are hoping to resume travel with trips to Asheville, NC in the spring and Steamboat Springs in the fall.

They’re grateful for their good health.

JOURNAL

I visited Trudy and Jim Millar at their vacation cottage on Nantucket. Our conversations were rich with news, and the weather beautiful.

1959

Toby Knox 122 Fairway Drive South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 985-3191 (home) toby@tobyknox.com

I, Toby Knox, am equally thankful for my, and all my family members’, good health.

2021, in so many ways, will be better than

up their dining tables in their spacious tractor barn and deep-frying their turkey immediately outside. Davy and Tink are blessed to have nine grandchildren—three granddaughters and six grandsons. My visit with Davy was at their farm in Essex, MA.

Percy Hoxie Wood ’60 in his Olive Branch, MS garden Davy and I have had frequent conversations with Percy Hoxie Wood who has retired from his position at FedEx, and is living the bachelor’s life in Olive Branch, MS. Pete is an accomplished gardener; he takes great pride in cultivating his collection of perennial hybrid lilies. Pete’s son, Kyle, has been teaching English in South Korea and Thailand for six years, and he is looking forward to Kyle and his wife, Bim, coming stateside in a year to visit with him. Pete’s Venezuelan daughter, Marlene, and her boyfriend are still living in Caracas, which must be difficult given the political unrest and rampant pandemic there.

Jonathan Howland wrote to say that all is well on his end. After almost 40 years of teaching and research at Boston University, Harvard University and Linnaeus University in Sweden, he is aiming to finally retire this summer. He and his wife, Liz, live by the sea in Marion, MA. They are blessed to have their grown twins, Jonathan and Rachael, and granddaughters, Coco and Tavie, living nearby. They have also been fortunate to have beaches and forests nearby for between-Zoom walks and fresh air during the pandemic (an appreciation sharpened by Jonny’s daily interactions with clinical colleagues and others on the frontline at the medical school). His years in Scandinavia definitely taught him a lot about how to cope with New England winters with the deployment of candles, evening fires in their wood stove, and, weather permitting, alfresco dinners on their deck in winter.

Alex Patton wrote that he and his wife, Pog, have been hiding out in Vermont since last March. They have recently suffered the loss of two very good friends, which, they write, certainly puts their own situation into perspective.

Karl ‘Pepper’ Pettit ’60 and Trudy Baker ’65 on Nantucket

Murad Sayen wrote to say that he and his wife are dealing with COVID-19 as best as possible in South Paris, ME. They are very fortunate

that their son, Sam, and his wife, Jenn, live just two hours away and are in contact daily. Sam and Jenn had a baby girl named Blair in late October and Murad is quick to say that Blair “is just full of light and love.”

An incredibly accomplished artist, Murad has not been able to teach art or painting during the pandemic. His art students are all at least 60 years old, and have assorted medical conditions that render them high-risk, so classes just aren’t possible until everybody is vaccinated.

One of his best students (Merle) is a renowned sailor in offshore racing circles on the East Coast and the Bahamas. He will be 93 in April and Murad would be devastated if anything happened to him.

Regardless of the politics of the day, Murad said that he never would have imagined a mob rampaging through the halls of Congress, which is a distant perversion of the great country that he was willing to die for. He can only imagine what our fathers would have thought of it all.

Davy, Alex, Jonny, Murad and I all decided via emails that it was a must for us to make a plan to get together this year—somehow, somewhere. I’ll report on that aspiration in the fall Class Notes.

Finally, as for what I’ve been doing this past year, I’m still the Director, Capital Planning, Design & Construction at William Paterson University, which I enjoy very much. I am also the Co-Chair of Princeton University Cap & Gown Club House Committee with Michael P. Erdman ’50; and, as such, was the Project Manager for the Club’s recent $2.6 million Cox Wing addition. And finally, I’m on the Board of Princeton University’s Princeton Prospect Foundation, in which capacity I’m leading a petition to save the historic Court Club on Prospect Avenue from planned demolition as part of the University’s proposed 650,000 gsf SEAS/Environmental development that will run from Washington Road to Fitzrandolph Road. What was once the humble surrounds of our beloved PCD is being consumed by a city of new construction.

1961

Peter H. Raymond 547 East Street Dedham, MA 02026-3060 (617) 365-0236 (cell) peterh.raymond@protonmail.com

This edition of PCD 1961, presented in order of response to my panic-struck plea for news, features expositions on Joe CowCow but begins with Father John Sheehan (who answers so quickly, I think he waits for the Journal). He says Fort Wayne, IN is sensible—vote for being sensible!—with vaccination making headway, restaurants and schools opening and no one making masks an issue.

As the University of St. Francis chaplain, John also ministers to the football team, even dur-

Father John Sheehan ’61 ing the polar vortex aberration when “practice on snowy ground in 18° is a kick.” The team’s coach, Kevin Donley, the sixth-winningest college coach in history, has the best record of any current college coach. Of his PCD years, Father John is grateful for schooling that does not much exist today; “PCD,” he wrote, “was a school of another age—I still use today things I learned then.” In closing, he offers an invitation “to all who find themselves around Fort Wayne. We have a beautiful campus, nice people and a chaplain who would love to welcome you.”

Richard Longstreth is a “retired” professor of American civilization at George Washington University, seems as busy as Father John, sitting on four non-profit boards and three advisory committees, and is reviewing manuscripts for various publishers while trying “to make headway on what will probably be my last book (No. 13).”

He also continues to mentor his last Ph.D. student. Such Richard Longstreth ’61 activity is the benefit, apparently, of expertise in American architecture and historic preservation. Expecting to be fully vaccinated soon, Richard and his wife look forward to visiting friends in person and returning to their Adirondacks summer house.

Of the larger world, he wrote: “I hope the political chasm will begin to heal as steps are taken to bring the plague under control, restore jobs, return to schools and undertake constructive projects such as public works. So, I am staying optimistic.”

John Becker emailed: “Boi-yoing… plunking my magic twanger here. Glad you got me to drop everything I wasn’t doing!” He states that he is “staying healthy and dodging this weird pandemic. Just had vaccine shot #1, still working a bit and liking it, also spending a lot of fair-weather time sailing around in my little Beetle Cat.” He closed by asking: “I halfremember a student named Robby Mueller.

Was he Robert Mueller of FBI fame, etc.?”

Indeed, he was and is, as reported in earlier editions of this column.

Randy Hobler, who served in the Peace Corps in Libya 1968-1969 after attending Princeton University, announced that he released a much-acclaimed book in November, 101 Arabian Tales: How We All Persevered in Peace Corps Libya (Amazon).

The book is unique in that, unlike the 1,000+ individual Peace Corps memoirs out there, his is a collective memoir, in which he interviewed 101 of his fellow volunteers, embroidering their wonderful stories into the tapestry of the larger Libyan narrative. His website: www.101arabiantales.com.

The book has received 95% five-star ratings from Amazon and Goodreads.

Asked to reflect on our school years, de facto 1961 historian Hobler wrote that “[ John] Becker decided he and I (perhaps others) would be part of ‘The Mess-Up Gang’ and went to the trouble of creating membership cards—I still have one.

The gang’s sole activity was to race down the front steps The membership card of the of Broadmoor PCD 1961 Mess-Up Gang at recess time, shouting, ‘We’re the Mess-up Gang!’ (We never actually messed anything up.)”

With his memory machine cranked up, Randy continued, “Becker had an elaborate chemistry set that I coveted, so I nagged my parents to get me one.” He bought ingredients to create gunpowder , which he would “ignite on the basement floor—it would go off like a long fuse” or he’d put the gunpowder into his own version of caps to “smack with a hammer. Such a satisfying bang!”

Wait! There’s more! “Two other highlights,” he remembered, “of my career with Becker: one day he experimented on his hair with his chemistry set’s hydrogen peroxide and showed up at school a redhead, and on a sleepover, we were both so enamored of the Elvis song ‘Hound Dog’ that we played it on his 45-rpm record player over and over all night long.”

And yet still more: Randy also discovered that our ‘missing’ classmate Tom Regan is son of Donald Regan, Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch and then Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan as well as President Reagan’s Chief of Staff ! Little did we know!”

Randy also reported research regarding Roddy Pratt who was with us for the 1957-1958 year, after which he moved to Illinois. “Turns out his father worked at the Institute for Advanced SPRING 2021

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Study.” From Roddy: “I truly enjoyed [PCD].

I well remember the warm welcome from Mr. Griggs, the rest of the faculty and all the guys, and I remember the boomerang and yo-yo fads that kept us out on the fields before school.”

Geologist Richard Reynolds refused to send news because he “has already taken up too much space and would rather hear from others.” (I thought taking up space is what guys are supposed to do). Anyway, he veered offcourse to offer advice on iRoq, a boulder excavated from my street and planted in my yard.

Because it was called an “erratic” by the U.S. Geological Survey, my wife, Laurie, and I erected a fence to prevent wandering. “Your rock,” Richard estimated, “is probably iRoq, the boulder Dedham Granite, having as its cousin the slightly better-known Plymouth Rock. Don’t tell anyone lest tourists flock to your front yard.” For those also excited by stone, Richard offers this URL: https:// blogs.scientificamerican.com/rosetta-stones/ the-real-story-of-plymouth-rock/ The qualifications for class correspondent position are stricter than I imagined: Regan Kerney fizzed, “If you learn to spell my name right, I might come up with something; meanwhile, I am waiting on Pfizer shot number two.”

And now to Joe Cow-Cow, a cartoonish fellow of interest from our years.

With this drawing:

Peter Raymond ’61’s drawing of Joe Cow-Cow I asked classmates about JC-C; Hank Tomlinson responded with, “Talk about delving into the past! The resurrection of an important historical figure! I think he was the creation of Rob Carrick ’59, then adopted by John Becker and our class. [ JC-C’s] legs appeared to be on backwards, and you couldn’t tell if the third circle was his nose or a backpack. He was clever because he didn’t make sense—a ‘camp’ creation for us. By the way, I don’t remember how his arms were.”

Hank Tomlinson ’61’s drawing of Joe Cow-Cow “from memory” Randy Hobler pitched in: “Thanks for bringing a flood of remembrances about John Becker, who in fifth grade came up with Joe Cow-Cow. Your rendering is in the right general area, but that character didn’t have a nose or eyes, just JOURNAL

two blobs with a larger blob on its back. He would multiply—I thought it was hilarious when John drew a line of Joe Cow-Cows running off a cliff like lemmings.”

JC-C made such an impression on me that he evolved into a Rockman, then served as a handy blackboard figure that students thought was a duck. A duck?!

I swear, students today...

PCD 1961 “Rockman” Despite the credits above, John Becker wrote, “Kudos to you for remembering the name Joe C-C! I do remember the drawing, but I don’t know where he came from. Maybe Mad magazine or out of my head. Love your drawing, though it’s more sophisticated than the one I still scribble on the margins of my granddaughter’s artwork.”

Wonderful that a silly thing arising in the 1950s lingers in varied ways.

Peter Kirkpatrick reported in from Ashland, OR where he has joined the ranks of the retired. He stays in touch with former business friends by seeking corporate sponsorship for the International Skiing History Association (skiinghistory.org). And he’s on schedule to be fully vaccinated by the end of March when he hopes to be “Olly, olly oxen free from this blasted COVID-19.”

Peter remembers our PCD years as “a brief period between WWII and the Vietnam War when the whole US was pulling together, and we PCDers had it really good. I remember playing soccer for Mr. Mac on a halfback line with Billy Smoyer ’60 and Johnny Odden ’60.

Jobe Stevens ’58 taught me how to kick a soccer ball. And I remember that Regan Kerney would sneak the rest of us dummies into the Princeton University’s 25th reunion tent—at 13 years old you’d be trading beers and naughty jokes with a table of 40-year-old Princeton grads! And I remember riding my bike over to Princeton soccer practice with Hank Tomlinson, and that we had Wednesday afternoons off—that is, you guys had those afternoons off, but I always wound up with three pinks slips. And the Blue/White games, and the skating races—Tom Chubet (a Blue) won all those. And I remember learning to skate on neighbor Biddum Leizner’s pond—he counted my falls: 60! And Dave Petito and I caddied at Springdale for Princeton grown-ups who taught us some new words. And then, suddenly, I was off to South Kent.

“I do remember pitching for South Kent against Salisbury when Pepper Pettit ’60 came up to bat. We ‘game-faced’ each other until I couldn’t hold back a smile—then Pepper smiled and we laughed. We just couldn’t help ourselves. So, my catcher, our captain, came

up to the mound and told me to get my act together. It ended badly when Pepper tripled off me—and then smiled at me again, this time from third base. Those were great years! So, hello to anyone who might remember me.”

On hearing Peter K’s comments, Pepper replied: “I definitely remember playing against Peter when Salisbury played South Kent… and laughing at each other when I came up to bat! We must have played against each other four times in two seasons. However, I am flattered that he recalls that I hit a triple because I recall Peter had a killer curve ball, and striking out more times than getting a hit. During our prep school summers while we were hanging out in Princeton, Peter and I would often meet at Marquand Park to punt the football—we loved to punt the ball and send it off with a perfect spiral with its nose turning down at the top of its trajectory for maximum distance. I must say that Peter was a better punter than I and became the varsity punter on the Middlebury varsity football team. He may have even punted in the pros, but Peter will have to confirm that fact!”

Well, time to end. 2020 has thrown enormous challenges for 2021, not the least of which is staying healthy. May chance, wise practices and U.S. medical technology usher us all safely to the fall 2021 Journal. Speaking of which, get a leg up now and start writing. And Miss Fine’s—why not send messages to PCD 1961?

Surely, the favor will be returned.

1962

John F. McCarthy III 25 Brearly Road Princeton, NJ 08540 (609) 924-3926 (home) (609) 731-1287 (cell) jack@mccarthyllc.com

John Gaston was kind enough to write these Class Notes after a recent Zoom among the following five PCD ’62ers. John wrote as follows: Rod Myers is doing well despite the travel restrictions that have limited the world adventures Pat and he have achieved since Rod’s retirement. The commercial lending industry is still reeling from Rod’s departure. Pat and he take long walks every day, while having literally everything—including wine—delivered to their Dupont Circle townhouse. Rod remains the only PCD alum to maintain his stubbornly brunette hair while the rest of us are losing what gray is left.

Rick Delano is finally retired from the Ford Motor Company Fund and deeply into the real estate industry in the Hamptons. He walks at least 10,000 steps a day, often double that, and can be found on the golf course whenever weather permits. One of PCD’s great hockey goalies, Rick played at Millbrook (we actually played against each other in those days), then went on to play in college and only put up the pads a year ago.

Jack McCarthy, one of the few who stayed in Princeton, is being observed by many law students who are trying to figure out how not to get caught in the big law firm thing and to live a successful, no-commute hometown life. He has provided legal services to the community and is now a New Jersey State judge. Jack was an academic leader in our class so it’s no surprise that he continues to lead in Princeton.

Rick Eckels spent most of his working life in Memphis and is retired from a successful career in the brokerage business. Rick was always a dedicated tennis player and after an incredibly active life, he and Laila spend their time between Memphis and Ponta Vedra, FL. Paul Vogel spent most of his working life in New Jersey and is retired from Merck & Co. He decided, with his very talented wife, that their home was really too small, so rather than move, they bought the house next door and joined the two. Voila. Paul always sought the most practical solutions.

I have spent my career in project management and am still working as a project management consultant on jobs in Manhattan and Boston. I now live in Portland, ME with my wife, Linda.

We are avid ocean sailors but now do mostly coastal sailing.

Classmates are welcome to join our Zoom calls. Rick Delano is our Zoom master. You can reach him at rdelano@fordngl.com. Just hearing Paul Vogel describe his (short) time at Andover, Lawrenceville and Dartmouth is worth joining the call.

1963

John A. Ritchie 6776 Southern Oak Court Naples, FL 34109 (301) 564-1227 (cell) jhnritchie@yahoo.com

1964

William E. Ring 149A Avenida Majorca Laguna Woods, CA 92637 (310) 600-2015 (home) mwmaverick@gmail.com Donald E. Woodbridge 64 Depot Hill Road Amenia, NY 12501-5817 (845) 373-7035 (home) maderacito@yahoo.com

Steve Lane submitted: “It has been a crazy time during the pandemic! I am working long hours with Masy BioServices and we have hundreds of pharmaceutical and biotech companies as customers. One of our five services is storing products at all temperatures, including -75C. COVID-19 made all pharma companies aware that their supply chains were not robust enough and their storage needs have exploded.

Otherwise, we are not seeing enough of our three granddaughters, ages six, nine and 13, due to the crisis.”

1965 Nathaniel Hutner submitted: “After PCD, I attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard where I majored in Classics (Latin).

I then did graduate work at the University of Goettingen, Germany and Oxford University.

I completed my studies and went to work for my father on Wall Street as an investment manager where I spent the next twenty years.

I spent the following twenty years writing poetry in Brooklyn. I have since retired to Middlebury, VT where I am working on the publication of all my work. My book is called The Complete Poems of Nathaniel Hutner and can be ordered on amazon.com. I have also written seven plays, which will become available from Onion River Press in the next few months. I invite my classmates to get in touch with me or to visit me in Middlebury. I can be reached by phone at 802-989-7395. My email address is nathaniel.hutner@verizon.net.”

PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL 1966

Deborah V. Hobler 1342 Rialto Lane Santa Barbara, CA 93105 (805) 682-4896 (home) (805) 314-8490 (cell) dvhobler@cox.net

Socially distancing, masking, Zooming, vaccinating, FaceTiming, binge watching, hibernating, walking, baking, writing, tossing, consuming… these are some of the more common activities of my 2020. So far this year, 2021, nothing much has changed. One of the stranger side effects of the pandemic lockdowns for me is that the less social activity I have had, the less likely it seems that I reach out to contact others. It feels like even talking to someone on the phone isn’t safe.

It will be interesting to see what happens when my social life can be revived. In the meantime, I’ve continued working through 90 years of family scrapbooks (I started last March) then tossing or scanning, and continuing to research and write for my book on the illustrated letters of artist Frederick Stuart Church. It’s labor-intensive work either way, and boredom is not my companion.

Although sadly, I did lose my beloved 16-year-old Maine coon cat, Baxter, in September, and miss his companionship dearly. I’m now in line to adopt two Maine coon kittens in the summer. I’ve been lucky to find continued good company with my siblings with our weekly Zoom meetings.

And if I am lucky, I will get my first vaccine shot tomorrow, which is a step towards finally being able to see my family—it’s been 14 months! We were all very proud of my brother Randy Hobler ’61’s newly published and well-reviewed book on the experience of

Peace Corps volunteers in Libya, including his own, in the late 1960s. It’s entitled 101 Arabic Tales: How We Persevered in Peace Corps Libya.

You can buy it on Amazon; tell them his sister highly recommends it!

Sally Harries Gauldie ’66 and family in Mexico in December 2019 Sally Harries Gauldie reported that she and Jack had planned a wonderful travel schedule for 2020. The end of December 2019, the whole Gauldie family shared a wonderful Christmas holiday in Mexico.

Then in mid-February 2020, they happily flew off to the United Kingdom for family gatherings and business meetings for Jack. Arriving home in Canada on February 23, they had no idea that within a few weeks the pandemic and lockdown would limit other planned trips for the year. Jack spent most of his time in his attic office on Zoom and WebEx calls, and was so busy he postponed his retirement from June to December. Golfing was the savior activity for both Sally and Jack until the fall, and then walking became the preferred way to keep sane. A week was spent in a cottage on Georgia Bay during the summer, and then the Gauldies, celebrating their 50th anniversary (Congratulations!), spent a few nights in a small hotel in Prince Edward County on Lake Ontario. Sally reported that it had been a year since the Mexico trip that she had seen son Steve, Sam and the grandkids in person, but they were grateful for Zoom and FaceTime meetings. During the “in between” lockdown times they were able to visit with Dave, Sandra and their kids. Like many classmates who wrote to me, 2020 proved to be a true roller coaster ride for everyone.

Andrea Hicks wrote that her son Zack is continuing to do interesting photography work and getting involved with local politics. And her much beloved 93-year-old mom, Joanie Hicks, is thriving at Stonebridge and was much relieved that her vote in her 19th presidential election both counted AND was successful. I think many of us felt that way.

Susan Bonthron wrote of her joy of spending Christmas with her grandkids in Vermont, and then she and Gilbert packed up for two months in Fernandina Beach in Florida in a condo with “no shared space or access.”

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Hoping for a better 2021, Susan reported that at least the planet benefited from less commuter traffic greenhouse gas during the pandemic.

Kirsty Pollard Lieberman has been working from home since March 2020. Her only trips have been to the grocery store and the vet. Her beloved basset hound Deuce passed at age 13 in November, and the loss has been very hard to weather. Kirsty had a beautiful memorial urn made for Deuce; written on it a touching poem, “Those we love don’t go away. They walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear.” It’s so hard to lose our devoted family companions.

Barbara Sullivan participated in the Moderna trial in Wilmington and had a strong reaction after the second shot. I have heard that is a common side effect. I’m glad she was vaccinated so early! This month, she and Michael are in San Diego visiting with their grandson, Henry.

Snow Friends, the newest book by Margery Cuyler ’66 Margery Cuyler happily announced the publication of her latest book, Snow Friends, in October. Margery said the pandemic had been good for something: writing a four-book series for Simon and Schuster about a first grade math whiz Addy McBean, for the Aladdin QUIX program. She wrote about the difficulty of losing her brother Gren ’53 a year ago, and said the family still had yet to have a memorial service for him. The pandemic has locked down so many meaningful rituals for all of us. Our class sends you and your family our deep condolences. Husband Jan also has a new book being published. It’s a psychological examination of the medieval myth of Tristan and Isolde, and provides life lessons for our contemporary era. Her sons, both living in Brooklyn, are working remotely from their homes, but no visits for the family until everyone is vaccinated. Again, weekly Zoom meetings have saved the day to see our loved ones. In late December, Margery had a letter published in the New York Times in response to a David Brooks op-ed piece about the evangelical church and political opinions. She wrote about her concerns about what happened to “love your neighbors as yourself.”

Katherine Becker, thankfully having recovered from COVID-19 last spring, reported that she was taking a Zoom Italian 102 class—five days a week—with HOMEWORK every night.

“However, my French Miss Fine’s School studies from grades 4-12 keep rising to the top and getting in the way and blocks my processing this new language.” She is also taking JOURNAL

Landmark Seminars at night and enrolled in “Breakthroughs in Effectiveness” and is creating a project around wellness. As if that wasn’t enough to distract her from the pandemic, she is also in the middle of a complete kitchen renovation, acting as her own contractor. I hate to tell her that that is “homework,” too! I will report back on her energy levels in the fall of 2021.

I am sad to report that Lesley Loser Johnston passed away at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center on December 22, 2020.

She grew up in Yardley, PA and after PDS graduation attended Wheaton College (MA), graduating in 1970. After working Lesley Loser as a social worker at Johnston ’66 Massachusetts General Hospital and the Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, and marrying Todd Johnston, she turned to full-time parenting with sons Tim and Chris.

Lesley also was active with PDS Alumni Council, including I think, being president.

The Johnston family spent many summers on Nantucket, visited Italy often, but New York City captured Lesley’s heart the most. Lesley is survived by Todd, her husband of 50 years; sons Tim and Chris; and three grandchildren. We offer our deepest sympathies to the Johnston family. We all have wonderful memories of our time with Leslie at Miss Fine’s and PDS. I am sad to report that Sally Lane’s brother, Henry W. Lane ’74, who attended PDS and Princeton, died from pancreatic cancer on December 12, 2020 in Bay Head, NJ at the family home. Henry was an incredibly talented athlete, a dedicated son, father, brother, active community volunteer, and a well-respected business colleague. After working a few years on the East Coast, he took a position as CEO of Dioptics Medical Products in San Luis Obispo, where he and his family lived for 19 years, until he returned to the East Coast in 2015. We extend our sincere condolences to Sally, Henry’s sons, his six brothers and sisters, and his large extended family. It has been a difficult year of loss for the Lane family, as Sally’s mother, Sally Kuser Lane ’42, died just last June.

Ellie and Cameron Collier, grandchildren of Susan Fritsch Hunter ’67, relax at home.

Bill and I hunkered down once more this fall and winter, but we’re very lucky to be just 20 minutes away from Lauren, Ryan and our grandkids. We pick little Ellie up a few days a week from her daycare (all in masks) and see Cam as often as possible. I got my first vaccine this past week, and Bill gets his shot today, so things are looking up. Disappointments include a canceled in-person college 50th reunion.

Silver linings: walking in pine forests, seeing some really good TV series, enjoying and taking nature photographs.

Francoise Fussier wrote: “We continue to have this curfew at 6 pm, and it will become more and more unbearable with the days getting longer and the weather getting better. What was acceptable when it was dark and it rained all the time, will be tough in better conditions. We’re all waiting for restaurants, bars, museums and cinemas to reopen—let alone travel plans to make! We can travel within France though and I’m going to Brittany on Monday to spend a week at my daughter Peggy’s house. No one around me, or my friends, has been affected by this COVID-19.

We seem safe from it in the west of France.

I’ve continued my activities on Zoom and, of course, walking around. We have plenty of nice walks around the pine forests and beaches.”

1967

Susan Fritsch Hunter 49 Boatwrights Loop Plymouth, MA 02360 (774) 773-9627 (home) (203) 206-6402 (cell) ares543@comcast.net

I hope the pandemic has eased up by the time the Journal reaches your mailboxes.

This column includes our pandemic experiences and a few silver linings, as well as the joys and sorrows that have gone on despite the everpresent virus.

Bright yellow blooms of a mimosa tree “in high season” taken by Francoise Foassier ’67 Julia Lockwood wrote: “Rachel has settled into her new job at the College of Idaho as assistant professor of American history, teaching online and in person this term. She likes her department and her students and is getting used to life in the West. She’s been too busy recently to do much outdoor activity, but hopes to do some hiking as the weather gets warmer.

Hopefully, she’ll return to Maine for the sum-

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Sapna Thottathil ’00 Focused on Sustainability

Sapna E. Thottathil, Ph.D., is a first generation Indian American whose education and career since PDS has been dedicated to seeking solutions to global health and environmental problems. “I feel passionately about protecting the environment for our health, for future generations and for the planet. Through my work, I’ve toured industrialized farm agricultural operations here—in the U.S., small scale rice paddy fields in India, and factories that package food for export and for public schools,” she notes.

Dr. Thottathil earned her B.A. from the University of Chicago, where she was awarded the Udall Scholarship for environmental leadership. From there, she went on to receive a M.Sc. from Oxford University and a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California at Berkeley where she was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship.

Through the Fulbright Fellowship, she notes, she was able to “spend a year in India with farmers and government leaders to understand Indian agricultural policies and environmental politics, which has been a highlight of my career thus far.” Her published book about organic farming in India, India’s Organic Farming Revolution: What it Means for Our Global Food System, reflects this experience.

She has worked to help develop environmental policy and sustainable food supply chains with organizations including the Environmental Protection Agency and Health Care Without Harm. Her reports on sustainable procurement have been featured in publications including Civil Eats and the American Journal of Public

Health. She currently sits on the boards of Pesticide Action Network and My Green Lab, and serves as a Sustainability Advisor to the Plant Based Foods Association. She is also editor of Institutions as Conscious Food Consumers: Leveraging Purchasing Power to Drive Systems Change.

Of Liz Cutler, the School’s longtime Sustainability Coordinator and US English teacher (on sabbatical this year), Dr. Thottathil recalls, “She was a mentor to me and supported my interest in environmental issues. We continued to stay in touch after I left PDS—that’s how supportive she was!”

Currently an Associate Director of Sustainability for the University of California’s Office of the President, Dr. Thottathil is responsible for managing large-scale sustainability projects across their 10 campuses and five health systems. “We have very ambitious environmental goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2025. My work touches upon multiple subjects, from water conservation to sustainable food procurement to promoting equitable and healthy working environments,” she explains.

A Life-Changing Senior Project

Critical Thinking Skills Honed at PDS When asked about her time at Princeton Day School, she recalled the School’s focus on enhancing students’ critical thinking: “There are several classes that stand out in my mind that I took at PDS that helped me hone my critical thinking—an essential skill in these times. One of them includes a class on the Bible with Mr. Stoltzfus. We read that book from front to back, which most people never do, and studied the context in which parts of it were written, and by whom. I approach all of my reading with such a lens these days—from newspapers to blog posts, I always ask myself: Who wrote this? What was the author’s background and intention for writing this?

Dr. Thottathil believes that her Senior Project, a signature PDS independent study experience for 12th graders, was instrumental in setting her on her current path by allowing her to immerse herself in her passions and discover what motivated her. “I feel so privileged to have been given several months to dive deeply into a senior project during senior year. For my senior project, I volunteered for the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association in Pennington, which gave birth to my love for bird-watching and identifying wildflowers, a side hobby of mine here in California. But this appreciation for nature also led me to pursue a career in environmental sustainability, beginning with an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Chicago, which led to my first job out of college with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC. My peregrination through the environmental world finally brought me to California, where I studied food and environmental politics in a Ph.D. program at UC-Berkeley, and here I’ve stayed for the past 14 years.”

“Another class that instilled similar critical thinking skills was Government with Mr. Sanderson. Our field trip to Washington, D.C. was so influential in directing me to work on policy and in public service. The trip instilled in me the value of protecting our public institutions,” Dr. Thottathil continued.

She particularly valued extracurricular activities that helped develop skills that would become essential later in her career.

“The Spokesman was my life (and that’s no hyperbole!), especially during my senior year, when I was the Co-Editor-in-Chief. In retrospect, spending the wee hours of the morning editing articles in the computer lab once a month was a good premonition of things to come in my life—I have spent a lot of time writing and editing after PDS, which has led to several published books and reports,” she notes.

Note: The Alumni Spotlights in this issue of the Journal were first published on the pds.org news feed during the 2020-2021 school year.

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mer. Priyanka is finishing out the last semester of college with all online classes and just learned that her graduation, unfortunately, will be online. She’s looking into teaching or counseling positions for next year. Shradha continues as quality manager at Pineland Farms Meats. I have her dog Valli every day, and we enjoy wintry woods walks, which is good for both of us! Marc and I continue to read, attend Zoom classes and meetings, watch movies and endless news on TV. I go for my second COVID-19 shot this Thursday and feel very lucky to have that opportunity. Maine is finally getting organized around the vaccine rollout under the direction of Maine Health. We feel for those children still out of school, people out of work and all the people adversely affected by this pandemic.”

Pam Erickson MacConnell wrote: “We’re all familiar with the difficulties, especially the limited contact with family and friends. Eleven months of being housebound with my husband has certainly pushed some buttons on our 43 years of marriage! He’s a very social animal so this has been very difficult for him. Thank goodness our son lives in town, has built an English pub in his car barn and is an excellent brewer of beer. That has given John a safe place to be, and he has finally unpacked and displayed his 900+ beer can collection! I’m happy that he is keeping somewhat busy!”

Pam said she’s found a number of silver linings during the pandemic, including reading more than 225 books in 2020, binge watching all seasons of the Great British Bake Off, organizing the china cabinet, buffet and linen drawers, polishing all the silver and discovering her mother’s crystal pattern. “Now I need some dinner guests!” Pam said.

“I had become the repository for all of my parents’ photos, albums and slides, and I’ve digitized over 2,000 slides and have been working to scan thousands of photos. I’ve made some quilts but not as many as I planned. Now that so many things are cleaned out, I can play in my quilting studio without guilt!

“I realize that my greatest silver lining is contentment with my life, my family, our home and being able to do the things that bring me joy. I wish everyone a similar feeling.”

Marta Nussbaum Steele wrote that her second granddaughter was born on February 12, weighing in at eight pounds four ounces. Marta describes her as “a brown-eyed beauty.”

Mary Woodbridge Lott wrote: “The best news for me is that my daughter Sara ’96, gave birth to my second granddaughter Harriet during a February 1 blizzard.

“I’m staying safe so far. I hope to sign up for the vaccine after my upcoming visit to see the baby and her three-year-old sister Comley.”

Mary has some sad news to report. Her late husband Gary Lott’s son Carl passed away JOURNAL

unexpectedly last spring and “is missed by his son Corey, his sister Sara and friends.”

The class extends its sympathy to Mary, Sara and family.

1968

Sophia Godfrey Bauer 50 Hopedale Drive North Kingston, RI 02852 (860) 707-5649 (cell) sbauer2086@gmail.com

Maybe we’ll be able to have a PDS reunion in 2021. Punky, our thoughts and prayers go to you during this difficult time.

Faron Daub Fahy reached out to me on the phone, and we gabbed for an hour! Easy to do. We miss our mini-reunions in Maine, but hopefully, by 2022, we’ll have the all clear for COVID-19. She continues to ski (she lives in Carrabassett), sell real estate, and watch various members of the family build a house from a kit so they will soon be neighbors.

Mary Hobler Hyson 1067 Wolf Hill Road Cheshire, CT 06410-1732 (203) 272-1294 (home) (475) 434-7773 (cell) bassett7750@cox.net

First of all, I would be remiss if I did not comment on our stellar classmate, Andy Fishmann. He was featured in an Alumni Spotlight in the last Journal with accolades galore for his myriad contributions made to the field of medicine. How proud we are for his dedication on the front medical lines and beyond. We knew Andy would turn out just fine!

And then there is one of our class authors who continues to write short stories and has a blog, Anne Fulper. Several of her pieces have been published in The Journal of the American Art Association since 2016. It’s a delightful collection called “SHARDS.” Want more info?

I guarantee that you will be entertained and enlightened with Anne’s adventures. Try the link: https//AnneFulper.com/

Another classmate, Susan Koch LaTulippe, when she is not tending to her flock of grandchildren (11!), is a voracious reader. I gave her a copy of my brother’s book 101 Arabian Tales: How We All Persevered in Peace Corps Libya (Randy ’61). She called me to say how impressed she was with his masterfully written non-fiction tome laced with so many funny stories. “I love it! I love it!! I love it!!! I love it!!!!...” and you will love it, too!!!!

Faron Daub Fahy ’68 went flying with her son in his yellow Supercub. One granddaughter is named for Avery Peak, the mountain in the photo News from your scribe, Mary Hobler Hyson: June 5, 2021 marks 50... yes, I said 50 years of wedded bliss! (I think I was the first classmate to get married?) For any of you who know my husband, Eric, you know he is a gem. We met on a blind date (September 6, 1969) that Susan Koch arranged! And she married Eric’s roommate a week later! I am grateful for having such a gentle soul at my side.

May you all be healthy and safe.

I got a Christmas card from Connie Sayen Ban saying, “We wish you all joy (big and little). All is well here, and I am most grateful to say I hope the same is true for you!”

A Christmas card arrived with a mixed bag of news. Punky Brewster Rutledge’s mother passed away this past summer (2020). “It’s been a tough year in so many ways. Mom was ready, but it was difficult. Thankfully, I could be with her just about every day for her last four months and that was a blessing. Another blessing is that Kerry and I and our kids and grandson have all been healthy. We are able to see them about once a week and have been able to safely maintain our ‘pod.’ So, my heart is full of gratitude. And I’m hoping you and your family are safe and well. And that you have a happy Christmas and a healthier and saner New Year!

Who knows?”

(above) Mary Hobler Hyson and newlywed husband Eric Hyson, June 1971. (right) and Mary and Eric in June 2021.

then there’s WaZoom . . . I just won the vaccine lottery and will be getting my first dose in a few days. Woo Hoo! Things were moving glacially but now they’re sending in the National Guard. Hope to see some light in the tunnel soon, and not from an oncoming train.”

1969

Susan Denise Harris 801 Ocean Boulevard Isle of Palms, SC 29451 (203) 517-7656 (cell) susandeniseharris@gmail.com

Doug Rieck wrote: “I write a column and articles for a magazine. The mail took forever getting it delivered this winter. Crazy times. Even crazier when I think back to English class at PDS and never imagined then I would be writing articles for a publication. I got a vaccine appointment in three weeks and consider myself lucky. Magical Long Beach Island has really shut down this COVID-19 winter, tightest winter shutdown ever, but it makes sense.

In my business, car washing, it’s very slow.

Consumers are poor and nervous; they were more optimistic last March/April. My family is staying safe and my kids still complain about hybrid learning. My daughter’s school has started back with seniors five days a week. The plan is to keep adding classes if it goes well.

My daughter was admitted to Penn State, but is waiting on her first choice. Life is good.”

The rollout of vaccines in South Carolina has been moving along quite well. The good news of being in the elderly category is we are all eligible. Bob Rathauser and his wife Debra came to visit in October following their son, Daniel ’06’s, wedding to Erin. Bob has now returned to Israel and hopes travel will open up soon so he can welcome us on a tour. Bob is a wonderful house guest. He always cleans before he leaves. My best to everyone.

Lew Bowers has been “enjoying the Road Scholar virtual courses as an alternative to physical travel. I have done the history of London, Croatia and am signed up for a comparative religion course in March.”

Bill ’69 and Karen Chalverus with their new granddaughter, Lola Simone Bill “Chevy” Chalverus submitted online: “Greetings to tribe of ’69 from New Mexico.

I’m at the mercy of the vaccine rollout, which hopefully will have been completed by summer.

This experience, combined with retirement and turning 70, along with other vagaries, has made life more interesting than anticipated. A good time for self-examination!

“Introducing Lola Simone, our third grandchild, born to Emma and Brendan Naper of Phoenix. Another happy event; looking forward to the June wedding of our daughter, Claire, to Matt Shmigelsky in Carbondale, CO. Perhaps it’s time to get an RV and figure out how to work around the edges of COVID-19.

“Karen (recently retired) and I send best wishes and prayers for health and good fortune to all of my classmates. Would be happy to hear from any and all.”

1970

Ann M. Wiley 124 Traditions Way Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 (609) 902-8132 (cell) awileyemail@gmail.com

Jon Paynter wrote: “…retired from 39 years with the National Park Service, the last 20 at Denali NP in interior Alaska, five years ago.

We then moved to the San Juan Islands in Sue Denise Harris ’69 the far northwest corner of Washington State, Bob Rathauser and Bob Rathauser ’69 which turns out to be a pretty good place to ’69 is a great had a great visit this past ride out a pandemic. Surrounded by a moat called the Salish Sea, I’ve been off the island houseguest! fall three times in the last year, once to take the dog to the vet and twice for doctor appointments. The yard has never looked better and the domestic to do list never shorter. We try to support the island farmers and bakers as much as possible and do take-out often to help keep the restaurants going.

Daily walks to the water for duck and seal watching Chia Ballantine ’69 (left) Alexander, (right) Francis, grandkeep the legs in shape. And children of Chia Ballantine ’69

Judi Migliori Ward wrote: “I was skiing last March in Sun Valley and McCall, ID with family when the news unfolded about COVID-19. My last plane flight was that one to Idaho where I got on the plane early and sanitized the whole row like a madwoman. It turned out Sun Valley was one of the hardest hit towns in the US due to all the tourists bringing it there. Imagine a gondola with sweaty skiers breathing hard. UGH. Luckily, none of us ever got COVID-19. I am writing this on February 13, post my second shot yesterday. Sore arm and some chills, not so bad. Worth the immunity for sure. My trip to Spain, Portugal and Morocco was canceled this year as well as one to Russia and the Baltics. If you have ever applied for a Russian visa, you know my lament at that waste of time and money. But this is a first-world problem. Hope most of us have escaped the pandemic successfully to date. Life is pretty normal in Florida. I can play tennis with a mask on.”

Cintra Huber McGauley wrote: “Well, the moment I moved to Charleston SC to be with my daughter and son-in-law, COVID-19 hit... so I have redecorated my house at least three times in the last year. Now I am buying a townhouse because there is no other way to redecorate my current surroundings. If the vaccine doesn’t work, I am going to go broke...

Love to you all! P.S. Pray for the Spoleto Festival in May. We need some opera and ballet to soothe the soul.”

Fred Erdman wrote: “Not much to report from Vermont. Loving retirement despite not doing much. Enjoying multiple weekly Zoom fitness workouts. My brother, Carl, and his wife have joined our local crew for those workouts.

It has been great to stay so connected with them, since they live outside of Philly. Hoping Vermont will allow old men’s hockey to resume soon. My three kids and families are all out West, so the weekly Zoom calls have been a nice way to see them. I am doing lots of quilting, puzzling and almost daily long walks with our dogs. Yes, we are also dying for our favorite restaurant to reopen indoor dining so we can resume our weekly dining out with our best friends. My wife got her second shot due to her job and I am hopeful that Vermont will start vaccinating the under-70 crowd in a week or two.”

Joan Williams reported: “It’s been a busy year, given my focus on mothers in the workforce.

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We are facing a generational wipeout of mothers’ careers, and how we have been working hard to try to make sure others are not pushed out of the workforce by remote schooling and closed childcare.”

Bob Peck reported that he got COVID-19 in January, and for three to four weeks it was awful; a month later he was much better but still inflamed. He thinks he got it at work from a county facility, but is unsure. “Don’t get it!”

Marjorie Shaw wrote: “We are hunkered down at home, but still busy. I teach a gross anatomy course for the Uniformed Services School of Graduate Nursing, a basic anatomy course for seniors through OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), write questions for the national medical boards, participate in five book clubs and knit obsessively. I work out a little each day but have still gained the dreaded COVID-19 pounds. No vaccine as of yet, but no disease either, so we’re good. Can’t wait to travel again!”

Tom Berger reported: “The COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK and Europe are pretty tough.

A window opened up in December to travel from our home in London, so my wife and I spent a week in Switzerland skiing and walking in the snow. And, just before Xmas, we flew to our house in the south of France for the holidays—and have been there ever since. There are no flights available, travel restrictions of all sorts and curfews in France every night starting at 6pm —we will be here for a while.

The good news is the very sunny and warm French winter weather that allows daily walks in the Tom Berger ’70 “stuck” nearby vineyards in the south of France and mountains.”

Louise Hutner reported: “I’m still living in Princeton and find so much to appreciate here.

At the same time, I often think of moving to Vermont (family had a second home since my childhood) or Montana (my daughter has called it home for close to 20 years). My three sons are scattered, from Princeton to Brooklyn to Oakland, and none seem wedded to their location. None are married... My two stepdaughters are also thriving, one in Massachusetts with her husband and three young children, and the other in the Chicago area.

“After some decades working as an editor/ copyeditor, I switched gears several years ago and trained for three years to be an Eden Energy Medicine practitioner. It’s an amazing healing system and I absolutely love it. A few years later, I added EFT tapping to my repertoire, and now I’m training in Reiki (just JOURNAL

finished level 1). I have my own practice and, until COVID-19 shut things down last March, I worked with clients in a beautiful little building shared with a few other practitioners, in Kingston. In the almost-one-year since, I’ve been doing remote sessions with clients; and for those who can get their head around that, it works!

“Husband Bill Flemer ’71 continues to work with the D&R Greenway Land Trust (since 2010) as manager of their over-400-acre preserved property in Hopewell, NJ called St. Michaels Farm Preserve. There is a network of trails that are well-used daily by walkers, skiers, and, I think, horseback riders, and of course, dogs. Bill is a wonderful ambassador who makes all welcome, and he’ll happily teach those interested a thing or two about trees and invasive plants.

“Times are challenging these days with various family health issues, but with alternative modalities along with traditional medicine we’re hopeful! I did get my first COVID-19 vaccine by sheer luck and persistence, and will have gotten the second one at the end of February. I don’t know what ‘normal’ means anymore, but it will be good to spend more time with friends and family outside of my (much-loved) cocoon.”

I (Ann Wiley) am thankful for those who responsed to my begging for news. This is probably one of the best columns we’ve ever had but where are the rest of you???? We want to hear from you. By the end of February, I had received my second vaccine shot; it sure was a full-time job to secure appointments. Looking forward to a healthier country/world!

1971

Blythe Anne Kropf 4343 East Soliere Avenue, Apt. 2097 Flagstaff, AZ 86004 (917) 763-4923 (cell) blythekropf5@gmail.com Thomas C. Worthington 4355 Brook Avenue South Saint Louis Park, MN 55424-1011 (952) 927-9828 (home) worthington_tom@yahoo.com From Tom:

Sasha Silverstein has “been living in Brooklyn now over 30 years. Married a wonderful man with a fantastic daughter 12 years ago. Retired from teaching over two years ago for fulltime art making. Travel whenever possible to Mexico and Brazil to study their languages.

Hope you are all very well and safe in these ever so strange times. www.sashasilverstein.com.”

Kip Herrick O’Brien ’75 enjoyed some Christmas spirit with Dede Pickering with her “amazing Christmas tree... every single ornament features an English Spring Spaniel!! She’s been collecting them for years...even the ‘angel’ on the top is a dog!!!”

Dede Pickering ’71 with her English Springer Spaniel Christmas tree Lisa Warren wrote: “I am trying to spend my retirement time productively despite the COVID-19 challenges. This year, pretty much everything has been virtual. I co-coached the PDS mock trial team, which zoomed to victory in the counties, only to be defeated by a worthy adversary in the semifinal regional competition.

In addition to being on our class 50th reunion committee, I am co-chair (along with Brian Crowell ’11) of the PDS 2021 reunion committee. We are teaching ourselves how to throw a virtual reunion party.

“I continue to do volunteer work for SAVE, our local animal shelter; Visions and Pathways, providing shelter and services to at-risk youth in several NJ counties; and NJLEEP, providing college access and success for disadvantaged youth in Newark. I am hoping to get back to some travel when the veil lifts!

“Looking forward to connecting with everyone at this year’s virtual reunion and sincerely hoping we can all be together for a belated 50th celebration in 2022.”

Bill Flemer reported: “I’ve been working these last ten years for the D&R Greenway Land Trust, managing their St. Michaels Farm Preserve in Hopewell. In response to the COVID-19 restrictions, we created a large community garden on the property last spring, which attracted an enthusiastic coterie of Hopewell residents. In addition to their individual plots, the gardeners grew vegetables for a local nonprofit that distributes food to needy families in and around Hopewell.

“For spring 2021, we are expanding the charity-donation portion of the garden. I was about to clear and till that area when the snow put it all on hold. So, for now, I putter around in my (primitive) wood shop making things for the Greenway’s various preserved properties.

“My daughter, Emma, and her husband, Jake, are happily settled on the campus of the Northfield Mount Hermon prep school in north central Massachusetts. Emma works on the grounds crew (she runs the Zamboni on

their rink!) and Jake is the school farmer. He works with teams of oxen and horses, growing food for the school, and making maple syrup and cider in season. Their three kids play on the farm and attend a good, small local school: an ideal mix.

“Daughter Nell is waiting out the winter in Illinois, looking forward to next summer’s skydiving season. That has been her passion for a number of years; whenever she can tear herself away from that activity, she will attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison (my alma mater) to study biochemistry. She wants to develop a non-petroleum replacement for Jet-A, so the skydiving can continue in a cleaner world!

“Son Will is in Brooklyn, working at a custom picture frame shop. He continues to develop his skills and ambition to be a professional woodworker.”

“My wife, Louise Hutner ’70, has continued to provide Energy Medicine therapy to her clients despite the COVID-19 restrictions—it turns out that healing modality works, even remotely, with Skype sessions.”

Natalie Huston Wiles wrote: “What a year 2020 was. Ellis and I are doing well here in Virginia where we are both retired. The year started off for us with a plumbing disaster, which required us to move out while restoration and, heck, why not do some renovations, also. As luck would have it, we moved to a hotel at the end of February just before the lockdown took hold. We got back to the house in mid-March as everything was shutting down. Both our sons were living and working in the area at the time, and we had been contributing limited childcare to both. It was heartbreaking to us to cease that help. Geoffrey and wife Kathryn live in Fairfax and were expecting their second child in May. Kathryn is an RN and had just changed jobs out of the hospital. Nathaniel, with Maureen and son Thomas, was finishing language school in preparation for his assignment to Africa with the State Department and getting ready to leave in April. We all spent anxious months waiting for the baby to be born and Nathaniel to be allowed to go. In May, William Aubrey

Wiles made his uneventful and joyful appearance. In June, Nathaniel headed out to Mauritania. In July, Maureen and Thomas followed. The rest of the year was pretty quiet after that. We saw the grandchildren now and then, staying socially distant. Mary will soon turn three and William one. Thomas will turn two over in Africa. We are mastering the Zoom and GoogleMeet technologies!

wrong end of the telescope, things shrink away from us. Which end of the telescope are you looking through? I enjoy this job because I get to connect with all of you and share your news, so please email me any time with anything you might like to share!

“Hope to see many of our classmates online for our reunion in May! Best to all!”

My wife and I had been thinking about bringing a dog into our lives for the past decade and, ironically, decided to proceed right in the middle of the pandemic. Whilst technically not a pandemic puppy, we did acquire John Moore ’72 with his a puppy during new puppy, Hope the pandemic. A week before we were to pick up our puppy in upstate New York, the breeders called to report a potential physical issue discovered in our seven-week-old Goldendoodle. I immediately thought of, and reached out to, the most qualified and trusted veterinarian I know, Andy Scassera. Andy was generous and wonderful in her assessment and helped me/us understand the issue and ultimately move forward with the adoption. Thank goodness we did, as our puppy, Hope, is one of the best things that has happened in our lives. Andy’s advice was spot on, as Hope grew out of her issue and is a thriving, healthy five-month-old.

“Ellis and I try to keep active with walking for me and running for him. Next chore is cleaning out closets. I am going to take a remote drawing class soon. I stay in touch with Jean Schluter Yoder and saw Diane Jass Ketelhut this year—also right before lockdown. I miss seeing my siblings, Aubrey ’64 and Marion ’73, and their families. We are hoping to get up to Lake Champlain this year together. We look forward to spring!

Laurie Bryant Young wrote: “Update from Arlington, VA. COVID-19 has certainly affected us this past year, but in some unexpected ways. In addition to winter outdoor dining (which is easier in Virginia than in Maine, but is still cold), COVID-19 gave us a very special opportunity. My son lives in California, and he and his wife work long lawyer hours.

When daycare centers and schools closed, they needed more backup than they could find at home. So, they packed up and came (very carefully) to Virginia and rented a house for three months. My husband and I provided full-time granny care for his three children, ages one, four and six, while they worked remotely. I oversaw the oldest as she did her remote kindergarten lessons, and we entertained and were entertained by them all. They’ve returned to California now, but fortunately I have some other grandchildren nearby.

“Looking forward to seeing ’71 classmates whenever this stupid epidemic makes it possible. Stay safe.”

Lastly, from your Class Correspondent, Tom Worthington: Melissa and I remain healthy and hunkered down in Minnesota. We are lucky to have a granddaughter here in town and are looking forward to when we can get back to Washington, DC to visit our other two granddaughters.

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John L. Moore III 6 Ridge Farms Road Norwalk, CT 06850 (310) 357-9158 (cell) johnlmoore3@gmail.com

Natalie Huston Wiles ’71’s grandchildren, (left) Mary and William and (right) Thomas.

As I get “older” and as this pandemic affects and changes people’s priorities, I’ve been thinking a lot about perspective. When we look through the eyepiece of a telescope, what is distant suddenly zooms closer. But if we look through the

Just as I completed my column today, I received a thoughtful and jarring email from one of my favorite classmates. It made me pause and consider my news as quite trivial by comparison.

Then I got to thinking about perspective again, and I’m keeping my news in here. Because my news is joyful, and it’s grateful. And our puppy brings us simple pleasure and unconditional love. Something that we all need more of these days. Despite my classmate sharing some really crappy news, his perspective also celebrates some silver linings in his life.

The bonus to connecting with Andy was all her good news, which I will summarize here since her email was to me, not Class Notes.

Andy also adopted a new puppy (in August), in Kenosha, WI. As she said, “Yup, I flew to Chicago, rented a car and drove to Kenosha in COVID-19 season, just before the s**t hit the fan in Kenosha. I picked up Mik, short for Mikhail Baryshnikov, and we drove back to Maine. The name was inspired by watching his aerial maneuvers out in the yard, and he is Russian, so it seemed to fit. He is a Borzoi, or Russian Wolfhound as they are also known, and he is, I think, the best and easiest puppy I have ever had.” Sadly, Andy recently lost one dog but also has an older Newfoundland as part of her pup family. Andy keeps up with her best friends Cici Morgan Pastuhov and

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Ginny Myer Kester. Cici and husband Stefan had a great weekend with Andy at her family camp on Kezar Lake. Andy continues to work at the Animal Welfare Society where she provides the much-needed service of spay/neutering. We were talking about human health related to the COVID-19 challenge and I’m happy to share that Andy is very healthy and is much fitter than women half her age, which she attributes to many years as a vet “schlepping around 60-to-70-pound dogs.”

Today I heard from Tom Reynolds: “SO… my 2020 started out like the rest—day work, night gigs, tending to various real estate interests. Then COVID-19. I played my last gig March 9. Since I put together my first little garage band when I was 13, I have NEVER gone anywhere near this long without a gig!

With everything shut down and the rhythm of my life upended (I had two resident gigs per week, plus the others that came in), I changed the way I looked at things and, taking a chapter from Princeton days, I went on a sort of sabbatical.

Lots of reading that had been building up for too long. Great!

My playing has suffered a bit, but good for the head.

“I broke my leg at the ranch in late May—lucky in that it was above the ankle and clean. No heavy metal required! Late September, I went back to the Mayo Clinic for a scan and to stay with my daughter, Dr. Grace, who is a fourthyear resident in orthopedic surgery. The scan showed my prostate cancer had advanced some in my spine and left hip, so I requested chemo right then. Four days later, I began receiving an especially rear-end kicking cocktail, consisting of two chemo drugs. It was a wipeout for me, but I could still read. The local scan shows good results. I will follow up at Mayo later. I feel like I have bought a few more years. At the end of all that, maybe because my immune system was shot, I got COVID-19, thankfully a mild case.

The good part about that was that Dr. Grace was home for a week at Christmas and it turned into three weeks! We had a great time and I got to spend more time with her than ever in her adult life!

“Our recent weather has been all over the news. I have heard from friends in England! It has passed now, and we did fine with plenty of firewood, groceries, wine and gas heat.”

“I contacted Sally Rogers Smith, who moved to Dallas two years ago this spring to be with her youngest, Trenny, and her family. We have had lunch just once but have communicated JOURNAL

along the way. She loves Dallas! Who would have thunk? She looks great and is the same, upbeat gal we all remember. I look forward to seeing her when we can. She just loves being with her daughter and grands.

“Andy Scassera and Cici Morgan Pastuhov have checked in at times and they all seem in really good shape. I need to go to Maine! That’s enough for now.”

(From John: My wife and I are hopefully retiring to coastal Maine in the next couple of years. Tom, if you visit Andy and Cici, please know that our new home will also be open to you when you decide to get up there!)

Let me finish by wishing each classmate good health, completion of the COVID-19 vaccination series and perhaps a new perspective in the days and years ahead.”

Hank Bristol submitted to PDS online: “I

Paintings by Hank Bristol ’72 retired from PDS (Middle School history) just in time to have two grandchildren. Ordained in 2012 as Deacon, I continue to serve at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Cranbury, NJ. I am an avid sailor and oil and watercolor painter.”

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Cassandra (Sandy) L. Oxley 171 Pine Hill Road Boxborough, MA 01719-1915 (978) 264-4938 (home) (978) 270-1057 (cell) cassandra.oxley@gmail.com Hello to you all from Sandy!

Anne Macleod Weeks wrote: “Much has stayed the same here in Nova Scotia. Minimal COVID-19 cases, though we are all still cautious. We continue to stay within our small social bubbles, even while things begin to open up more. I have gone back to Pilates class because there is so much room in the facility to steer clear of each other, and though pickle ball is back at it, I have not returned to that—

too much sweat and close contact.

I continue to hike every day, keep up with my writing group and book club and am taking a beginner abstract painting class. My Murphie and Anne Macleod art shows were all canceled, but I am Weeks ’73 on the beach in sure they will be up Nova Scotia and running again by the end of 2021. My husband, Jim, is completing a screenplay. Our son, Jed, got married in November in Baltimore, where he works for the nonprofit he founded called Bikemore; his wife is a pediatric nurse practitioner. They chose to marry at the courthouse and plan to have Anne Macleod Weeks a party when everyone ’73’s son, Jed Weeks, and is able to travel safely again. We haven’t seen his bride, Wynn Englehim in a year and a half, Pratt, after their courtbut we also are underhouse wedding ceremony standing of the border (to which they biked) in being closed. I continue Baltimore to do part-time consulting with an education company in China, and I am the admin for a growing FB group (three thousand+ members) that focuses on non-monetary exchanges and borrowing. Life is certainly full.”

We are a little short on the news this time around; here is my (Sandy Oxley) news:

Life continues here just west of Boston, MA. In addition to my usual workweek, which has fortunately continued, I have been reading several pandemic-themed novels, with more lined up. Not sure that’s the best way to go but... And I am in a local birdwatching group. We have been doing a lot of meeting and planning on Zoom, we even started playing a bird-related Trivial Pursuit-type game. We also did the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, though this year we did it by masking up, social distancing and not carpooling. Our best bird would be perhaps the common redpoll… We’ve been keeping up a lively texting relationship with my sister Alyssa ’76 (who lives in Vermont) and her daughters, Maddie and Eliza (who are in Brooklyn and San Diego, respectively), which has been lovely. Haven’t seen them in over a year now but... hopefully, we will as we get further into 2021. Looking forward to getting vaxxed… as I imagine we all are… that can’t happen soon enough!

Hope you all are doing well. Hang in there.

We are getting through this. Take good care.

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Polly Hunter White 2224 Carlow Drive Darien, IL 60561-8458 (630) 234-1691 (cell) pwhite2224@gmail.com

child-care, as so many others are. Big PHEW. There is something to be said for living on an island in Maine, where we have had only one asymptomatic case, and being at our age and stage in life.”

Trina Waters wrote: “I retired early from teaching last fall and have been clicking my heels ever since. Our 45th reunion was both meaningful and fun, so putting in a plug now for our 50th. Consider that we will be almost 70, what?”

First, please note that Cole Harrop and his wife will be moving permanently to France this summer. With the wonders of technology, we can all stay in touch and visits will be a longer trip.

Cole Harrop reported: “This past year has been trying, indeed. While my wife, Jenna, and I feel fortunate to be healthy, have jobs, and to be able to look forward to better times, we can’t pretend that the past year with COVID-19, and with our country’s horrific politics, has not taken a toll on our emotional health. There are bright spots in the offing.

I will be retiring from Riverdale Country School this June after 21 years of teaching French, Latin and Integrated Liberal Studies, and Jenna and I will be moving permanently to our home in the bucolic countryside of Normandy, France. I maintain my deep and fraternal friendship with Ted Dowey and Sab Russo. We’ve all three just returned from our third trip together in the past nine months, this time to Ted’s wonderful farmhouse in the Berkshires where we spent a day snowshoeing in two feet of fresh snow and freezing temperatures. Two weeks ago, I joined Ted, in celebration of his 65th birthday, on a 28-mile bicycle ride from the Columbia neighborhood of Manhattan to Queens, Brooklyn and back up the Hudson River Park to our old apartment. Again, the temps were frigid, but the thrill of riding together after 50 years kept us warm. Life is good, and my friendships from PDS remain my most enduring. From time to time, I am in touch with Amy Stanley, Camilla Carpenter, Trip Jennings. Trina Waters and her husband, Mike, and John Boyd. I am friends on Facebook with many other friends from PDS, and I really enjoy seeing pictures of John Gordon’s life in the country and Francesca Ferrante’s nurturing care of rescue dogs and pups.

Diana Roberts reported: “I am now the grandmother of seven grandchildren, one of the benefits of having a blended family. They range in age from 12 to a few weeks, and all are boys except for lovely Scarlett, age 10. Two of the grandchildren are my son Ben’s kids, who live near us, so I get to see them more often than the others, who are off-base due to COVID19. Big sigh! But we are healthy and counting our blessings, comfortably retired and not worried about jobs, income, home schooling,

1975

Yuki Moore Laurenti 464 Hamilton Avenue Trenton, NJ 08609 (609) 394-1065 (home) ymlaurenti@gmail.com Mary Sword McDonough 111 North Main Street Pennington, NJ 08534-2206 (609) 737-8435 (home) (609) 468-5437 (cell) mollyswordmcdonough@yahoo.com From Yuki:

Walter Poole ’74 and his family Walter Poole submitted: “After PDS, I graduated from Bucknell with a degree in geography.

Soon after, my intended career took a shift in a different direction—preparing to be a pastor. I received training and practical experience in an Asian community, in the Uptown section of Chicago over a period of 15 years.

In 2003, my family and I moved to Phnom Penh, Cambodia where we are to this day. Our church members are mainly Cambodian, with a healthy sprinkling of other nationalities. My wife is from Andhra Pradesh, India. Due to this, we have traveled there on numerous occasions, where my children have a very close relationship with their cousins, aunts and uncles.”

Polly Hunter White: I follow some of you on Facebook and I am grateful to have that connection and the opportunity to be current about your lives. Since only three classmates responded with updates for this year’s spring Journal, I can only guess that the year 2020 and now 2021 have been trying times. I attribute our low response rate for Class Notes to be a reflection of COVID-19 and all else in the news and elsewhere that can make communication a challenge.

My family has been healthy, employed and our sons are engaged in on-line college learning, which they both hate, but, oh well. We miss seeing our friends and seeing people in person and, like all of you, are praying for brighter future. We miss our vacations and trips to see family and friends but know that, in the future, we can once again do so.

For an entire year, we have had plenty of time to talk—to ourselves, maybe to our family or, if we’re lucky, to a small circle of friends. So many plans have been rescheduled or canceled, including our 45th reunion. In lieu of seeing each other up close and personal, a few of our classmates have caught us up on what they have been doing or thinking.

Bill McClellan shared the sad news that his mother, Mary Elizabeth McClellan, passed away at the age of 97 in February. “She was in control right up until the end! For those of you who knew her, I know you have stories. She was a formidable, amazing woman.” Our condolences to Bill, and to all our classmates who have lost parents, family and friends during the past year.

Delighted to receive a note from Amy Ahrens, her first submission ever to our Class Notes. “I feel a large sense of gratitude for the education I received at PDS. I like to think I did succeed in teaching my daughter, who has a M.A. in Education, the joys of learning. I have two young granddaughters, too. I am still an artist and have focused on Scandinavian folk art, and botanical illustrations and landscapes in oil. I am in Wisconsin and have been here for about 37 years. My partner, Todd, was a second and third grade teacher for many years, teaching at an alternative K-8 school. Todd and I love to watch the History Channel where we have seen Jim Meigs through the years. So cool.”

Some of our classmates have had a difficult time this past year and I hope that you will think about them, reach out and hope that their future will be brighter.

pds.org

Amy Ahrens ’75 with her Amy Ahrens ’95’s granddaughter and granddaughter daughters SPRING 2021

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT performing arts at PDS gave me the opportunity to feel seen and make other people feel seen. Through acting you give people the permission to feel things authentically,” she reflected.

Sarah Elmaleh ’02

Video Game Voiceover Artist and Ambassador Sarah Elmaleh ’02 is best known for her voiceover roles in video games, such as the critically acclaimed indie games Gone Home and Pyre, and high-profile AAA titles like Gears 5, For Honor and Anthem. She has been an organizing force in games spaces and institutions for many years, often driven by her desire to foster stronger collaboration within games and across creative communities. After serving as Director of Game Maker Relations for IndieCade, she now serves as director and co-host of the IndieCade Awards. To tackle the cultural, financial and language barriers in the industry, she co-founded gamedev.world, a free, online games conference featuring talks by developers from around the world, offered and translated in eight languages.

As a speaker at events such as the Game Developers Conference and the Tribeca Film Festival, Sarah has addressed topics ranging from game narrative and characterization, community diversity and inclusivity, and voice performance as craft, contract and career. Sarah has also co-taught game voice direction at USC. “I have taken all of these things with me: the community feeling, the high standards and the emotional risk are all things that I learned at PDS.” Elmaleh’s appreciation of the arts developed at Princeton Day School, where she was actively involved in the Performing Arts Program and served as its co-chair during her senior year. “The Theater program at PDS was life-changing for me. As a very sensitive kid who didn’t know what to do with my emotions, the performing arts at PDS helped me understand that there was no reward without real emotional risk, not just in acting, but in all aspects of life. The JOURNAL

In addition to providing Elmaleh with a safe environment to explore emotion and relationships, the high-caliber arts program instilled high standards that she continues to rely on today. “Thanks to the quality directing of Ross Hindley and Jim T. Ruttman, PDS built perfectionism into my professional standards.

I developed a deep appreciation at PDS that it takes a community of people doing their best to pull off a production and that you have to put yourself out there to produce anything of worth,” she declared.

She believes the success of the performing arts program at PDS is due in part to the culture of inclusivity it created. “At PDS, it didn’t matter what else you did or how you identified, as long as you showed up to rehearsals and were ready to give it everything. I think the reason it worked is because it felt like another team sport. The feeling that they were able to inspire in the kids is that of people pulling together,” she explained. Throughout her career in acting, consulting and union work, Elmaleh has never forgotten the lessons that she learned in McAneny Theater. “I have taken all of these things with me: the community feeling, the high standards and the emotional risk are all things that I learned at PDS.” A Diverse Route After graduating from PDS in 2002, Elmaleh took a year off before attending Wesleyan University to explore some of her passions, including sailing on tall ships, which are large, traditionally-rigged sailing vessels, and traveling throughout southeast Asia.

Her time at Wesleyan was self-directed and multidisciplinary. While she was involved with theater programs, as well as radio dramas on the college radio station, she chose to major in East-Asian Studies because it allowed her to study all kinds of subjects under one umbrella. According to Elmaleh, she became interested in this region during an East-Asian history course at PDS.“I have always craved a mixture of things. I am enriched emotionally, intellectually, creatively and personally, by seeking out more—more cultures, more disciplines, more aesthetics, more kinds of media,” she observed Throughout all of her career moves, she has never stopped seeking out diverse disciplines and mindsets. After graduating

from Wesleyan, Elmaleh moved to New York for about seven years. During this time she first began exploring voiceover, working mostly in independent games and commercials. When she decided to focus on video games, she had to make the move to Los Angeles, the hub of the game voiceover industry. “Games themselves are made of so many disciplines. You have architecture, writing, music, sound design, experience design, and more to come together to make a game. You need so many different skills and so many different people. I find this never-ending learning experience really enriching,” she explains.

The Appeal of Voiceover Elmaleh has always loved video games and played them throughout her life. However, there were two key moments that awakened her to voiceover and the potential career path that awaited her. The first was hearing Mark Hamill, who is best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, in a LucasArts adventure game called Full Throttle. In the game he plays a villain; Elmaleh was blown away by the voice he created. “His voice was so rich and silky and mean and I couldn’t believe this was Luke Skywalker.” She was particularly attracted to “the fact that he had this other calling, this other side of his expressive kit that would never really be showcased in on-camera work because he doesn’t look like that character at all. He would never be cast as this villain in the movie version.

I was suddenly aware of the possibility in voiceover for doing things that you don’t look anything like.” In her work, Elmaleh often gets cast for tough soldier types and aggressive women, like Vikings, which is a sharp contrast to her slender frame and pixie hair cut. For her, this is the draw of voiceover, “I get cast for things I don’t look like all the time and it is so fun.”

The second epiphany came when she was playing a BioWare game called Knights of the Old Republic and heard a particular performance from Jennifer Hale. She began thinking about what the job would entail and “daydreaming about what it would be like to go into a booth, make silly noises, talk for a while and then be part of a game.” Elmaleh was drawn to the lifestyle and culture that accompanied voice acting. “Most of the voice actors I know are not competitive, they are very down to earth and friendly. As a lifestyle it’s pretty easy going. I found it appealing that it is just about the work and it doesn’t matter what you look like.” While

Sarah Elmaleh continued she loves theater and on-camera acting, she started to make decisions about her career based on what her day was going to look like. “Auditioning is my job, so I had to decide what auditions, in what volume, felt good. Voiceover was pretty appealing for that.” It was a series of decisions, but in the end “it all circled back to the fact that I loved games, and I wanted to be a part of them.”

For Elmaleh, “the value in doing voiceover is that, whatever I can emotionally and vocally express, I can do. I am free of my image.”

However, she particularly likes the emotional reward of acting in video games. “I still feel my own connection to games. Games have taken care of me in times of crisis and I feel very close to the characters that I have interacted with.” While she is now on the other side of the screen, she still values that relationship. “I think the fact that games include interaction creates a deeper connection from a player than one would normally get from a viewer. I always feel blessed and excited to be a part of that experience for somebody.

It feels like a very direct and intimate way to connect with people.”

Career Leads to Activism “I’m finally working on properties that I have loved my whole life and for companies that I have loved my whole life, like Star Wars and Naughty Dog,” Elmaleh explains.

For example, she recently had the opportunity to work on the new Star Wars flight simulation game, Squadrons. She was cast to do a voice similar to bounty hunter Jango Fett, which she described as a “tough

Davis Sherman wrote: “I have no specific news to report—just a little surprised by how many big changes seem to come together at this point in our lives. We are losing our parents fast. Some of us are gaining grandchildren.

Many of us are ending our careers. My twoyear-old grandson, Theodore, gives me great joy. His younger brother is due in April. What will these new persons be like? What kind of a relationship will they have with each other, with their parents and with their grandparents?

My 88-year-old mother is leaving Princeton for a retirement community in Maryland nearer to me and my brother. How can we help her now with the burdens of her age? My work is tapering off, which gives me time to be a little more helpful to the rest of the family. Anita is still teaching full-time (virtually this past year).

We look forward to being able to travel freely and see people again.”

cowboy in space.” She had the opportunity to work with the director who directed Temuera Morrison (the actor who played Jango Fett), who has been directing for LucasArts and the Star Wars franchise for decades. Elmaleh notes, “That was a big ‘bucket list’ moment for me.”

Another career highlight for Elmaleh was being cast as the female player character in BioWare’s game Anthem. For this role, Elmaleh did performance capture, which is when the actor’s gestures and voice are recorded at the same time, which are translated into the movement and voice for the character in-game. “I loved BioWare games growing up and played them in high school at PDS. It was a dream come true really getting to know my cast mates and spending many, many hours developing my character and working with the great writers and directors,” she said.

In 2020, Elmaleh worked on The Last of Us Part II, which is Naughty Dog’s zombie apocalypse game. When she first discovered Naughty Dog years ago, “I found that the work they were doing in their games was some of the most subtle, exhilarating, nuanced work for performers that I had seen in any medium,” she recalled. Elmaleh found playing a zombie, “surprisingly emotionally rich. It was very cinematic and intense but provided really wonderful opportunities for performers. It’s a big, beautiful, ambitious game,” she reflected.

While Elmaleh has enjoyed working with these major franchises she has admired for years, she maintains a strong connection to independent games. “I still love doing indies.

Carl Briscoe is seizing the moment, now that he has retired from Novartis Finance Corporation after 18 years. “During the pandemic, my wife, Lisa, and I have been traveling in our 25-foot motor home and playing golf at our club when staying local. We stay active hiking and biking; ‘offset’ by my cooking. We’ll be hanging out at various campgrounds on the East Coast of Florida until spring. We keep in close touch with Jack Bonini, and occasionally I have seen Shawn Ellsworth. Enjoy following everyone else on Facebook!”

Picking up on Carl’s wanderlust, Susi Vaughn Meade hopes to travel again when things settle. “We are thinking of doing what Carl Briscoe has done and get a camping trailer and head out to tour the National Parks.” Her lament that “not too much has been happening in my house during the past year” seems

I believe in indies. There is a rich ecosystem of developers who are working outside of the major companies with beautiful, creative visions,” she noted. In order to stay on top of this vast video game industry and the creations that emerge, Elmaleh co-hosts and directs the IndieCade Awards every year.

Her extensive experience in the gaming industry inspired Elmaleh to focus on helping cultivate meaningful exchange between game developers and the actor’s union SAG-AFTRA resulting in the union’s first contract for indie games. “I think it does come back to my time at PDS, working in the Performing Arts Program. There was initially a culture divide between the tech crew and the actors in PAP, which is not uncommon and is similar to community isolation between actors and game developers. During my time there, we learned that if we are divided we are weaker, both in product and in standards of treatment, and we worked to create a more unified community. That kind of community-minded spirit has translated into my labor work,” she explained. For Elmaleh, there is always a way to come to a just agreement. “The way I personally approach labor work is not enemies fighting over things. I believe a win-win solution can be found if you both express interest and respect for the other side of things,” she concluded.

Note: The Alumni Spotlights in this issue of the Journal were first published on the pds.org news feed during the 2020-2021 school year.

at odds with the rest of Susi’s report: Her oldest daughter, Gillian, has just blessed the family with a grandson, Eloren James Kelly, born on 2/16/21. Her middle daughter, Cassie, got engaged last March and bought a house in Stevensville, MD (on an island in the Chesapeake); an October wedding is planned, assuming COVID-19 is under control. The youngest daughter, Kallie, has been living with Susi and her husband, Jim, since last April, after her graduate school suspended clinicals.

Kallie was able to do a short clinical over the summer, then returned to study for her boards in physical therapy, which she passed in January, and now is seeking employment.

Jim retired in August, and Susi has been busy creating “Honey Do” lists for him. By the time this entry is read, Jim will probably be out on the golf course. Susi is still working as office manager of a small church and its preschool in SPRING 2021

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Newtown. “Other than those big milestones, we are just home-bodies because we can’t do much traveling. We do like to try to explore the surrounding Bucks County countryside (covered bridge tours in convertibles are a fun day), hiking in the state parks, and we even got a few days of skiing in.”

To our classmates, Susi wrote: “Hope all is well with the rest of the class. I was looking forward to seeing everyone at our 45th reunion, but I guess we will have to wait until our 50th! Yikes.

How can that be, we haven’t gotten any older!!”

From the West Coast, Eric Dunn reported that “in addition to COVID-19, we were plagued with wildfires in California in 2020.”

Eric Dunn ’75 took this photo not far from his house. “The orange line was the boundary of a neighbor’s property. The fire remained a few miles away from us ... but close enough for us to be quite anxious.”

As for me, I still marvel at the abruptness with which the rhythms of life changed in an instant—at precisely the close of business on March 13, 2020. From a busy floor in the advancement office at Princeton University I have been relocated to home seemingly 24/7, with endless Zoom calls my main contact with the outside world. Not all those calls are for work (and a shout-out here to Kathy Burks Hackett, whose environmental institute donors I steward). I juggle trustee meetings of the Open Space Institute, which is now midwifing an exciting new rail trail from Montclair to Jersey City; commissioner meetings of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, where we’re adding a bicycle lane to the new Scudder Falls I-295 bridge and debating toll ‘adjustments;’ and officer meetings of the Friends of the Institute for Advanced Study.

I did a wee bit on the ground to help ‘turn Pennsylvania blue’ in the fall, re-living (but to better effect) my canvassing as a high schooler in 1972. My husband and I are itching to travel again, even as we wait stoically for our turn at the vaccine.

Here’s hoping we can soon settle into our “new normal.”

Kip Herrick O’Brien sent a note to the Alumni Office that she enjoyed some Christmas spirit with Dede Pickering ’71.

See Class of 1971 notes to see Dede and her “amazing Christmas tree.”

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1976

Katharine G. Kehoe 2060 Cumberland Trail Plano, TX 75023-3225 (972) 398-850 (home) (972) 897-6609 (cell) kgkath@verizon.net

Hello fellow survivors! My fervent wish is that this edition finds you and yours having navigated the pandemic unscathed. I am happy to report that, aside from a little weather-related infrastructure debacle here in Texas that you might have heard about, all is good on my end.

My business has thrived despite the pandemic, which is such a blessing, and I have been quite busy throughout because of it. To date, none of my family has contracted the virus, and we live a fairly quiet life as we continue the long wait for vaccine eligibility. I wonder if I am alone in feeling as I mark time that at 63-ish, our age is frustratingly in between? We’re old but not quite old enough—kind of like being 17 again, lol. Anyhoo, I’ve enjoyed seeing FB posts from some of you and have really appreciated social media during these interesting times for what it does best: helping us stay connected, which is a clumsy segue to my regular pitch to join us on our private FB group “PDS ’76 Classmates.”

Jonathan Stein, I think, summed up nicely how most of us are feeling as the pandemic winds on when he offered: “I don’t really have much to tell you. I’ve not been in touch with Tim or Carl, and I’ve had no travel.

ing all that Oregon offers—mountains, coast, high desert plateau bounded by fish-filled rivers, ancient volcanoes and lava fields. Visitors welcome!

“Posts about teachers on the active Facebook group—I Grew Up in Princeton—remind me of how thankful I am for PDS. Architecture, photography, art, Spanish, we were so lucky to have talented teachers that inspired us to be creative and learn. I’ve applied this experience in my career at creative companies in a business role.

Currently, I’m a digital marketing and software advisor to a real estate technology startup (transactions using blockchain!).

“Daughter Chase is a high school senior and most likely will finish up at the U of O (Ducks) or OSU (Beavers —rival state universities). Son Colton is in Napa working for his dad while crafting the launch of his drone viticulture inspection business.”

I was pleased to receive an image of Carol Bundy’s holiday card as I think we all enjoy seeing one another and our kiddos. And although she didn’t have any updates per se, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? “As for my news, I don’t have a lot to say, but here is my Christmas card from this past year. We are all surviving this crazy time and hoping for better things to come.”

“We’re eager to be able to travel again, but until we have vaccinations, that’s unlikely. I’m hoping to judge at the Amelia Island Concours in May and to attend the Goodwood Revival in the UK if the Smithsonian Journeys trip, for which I’m supposed to be the study leader, actually happens.

“Beki and I also want to look around the Southeast and see if we find a place where we’d like to move once we slow down in three years.”

Bill von Oehsen shared: “We spent most of last year living in our vacation home in the Green Mountains of Vermont. The house is off-grid, and our closest neighbors are black bear, deer and moose—a perfect place to be during a pandemic. We returned there earlier this year, but the generator malfunctioned, the hot water heater froze, and our car spun out on the icy road. We’re back in Chevy Chase where we’ll likely stay until warmer weather.“ He was also eager to let us all know that Steve Baiker has accomplished something remarkable: “I just had a Zoom call with Steve Baicker-McKee and learned that he is the U.S. national squash champion for the over-60 age bracket. Pretty cool.” Wow and congrats, Steve!

“A rainy hello from Oregon!” wrote Gwyneth Hamel Iredale. “We’re lucky to have a lower pandemic impact than many other states, perhaps because we fill our craving for community with outdoor club activities. I’ve been explor-

Carol Bundy ’76’s 2020 Christmas card Proud grandpa Phil Thompson gushed: “New grandchild (fourth) arrived this week. Can’t believe I am old enough to have grandchildren!

Entire family lives nearby (NJ shore area) so it’s fun to get together often. My software business, family and role as an EMS captain keeps me busy: still looking for vacation soon!”

He also shared that his company is the largest online adult education provider in the U.S., which is pretty cool!

“This has been a year of changes for many people, thanks to COVID-19,” wrote Sally Lincoln Jeffery. “It caused my son and his pregnant wife to move back to Georgia, which I was thrilled about, despite their difficulties. I now have a new two-month-old granddaughter, Eleanor, that I can see often! I survived COVID-19 with 20 days in isolation and a trip to the ER. Very grateful to be okay now. My younger daughter has recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which has been devastating. My brother Allen Lincoln ’87 recently moved to Maryland where he is the Chaplain at Buckingham’s Choice-Acts Retirement Community. He often sends me a link to his Sunday homilies, which I love. I am in touch with Emily Rothrock-Kastler, who lives in Maryland. She has been teaching English as a second language to immigrants.”

So, what’s up with YOU? If you’ve been a lurker, your time has come. Shoot me an email so that I can add your news to the next Journal. Folks, at some point we will be having our big class reunion and I want to see all of you there. How better to share our stories of resilience than in person? Heaven knows we will all have some pent-up wanderlust to spend, so make a plan to show up where we grew up!

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Sandra Benson Cress 3215 Southeast Salmon Street Portland, OR 97214 (503) 388-2686 sbcress@aol.com

Barbara Russell Flight ’77 with Curt Flight visiting Babette Mills Henagan ’77 Claire Treves Brezel ’77 at Brays Island, SC on their harvesting olives at her way to Florida olive farm in Italy

Hello, one and all, in the strangest of years.

Sally Lincoln Jeffery ’76 with her two-yearold giant schnauzer pup From E.J. Barnes: “What’s up? Uh, not much... A political cartoon of mine that was published last summer in Funny Times was also featured in a group art show of political art in Boston. A science-fiction convention I usually am on the program for every January had to be held on Zoom, with predictable technical glitches. No Harvard ’80 reunion, no New York Comic Con. I was really looking forward to our PDS reunion this year, but I don’t expect that will be in person, either. My partner, Brian Bixby (Harvard ’80) and I have managed to stay safe, so far, as we wait our turn for the COVID-19 vaccine. We’ve acquired a cat again after a nine-year gap without one. Still working on the graphic novel about Cagliostro. When I’m not worried about the Republic, that is.

“Wish I had more to say. I really do. 2020 was supposed to be a year in which, after many years’ hiatus, I had plans to attend concerts...

Dead Can Dance and Einstürzende Neubauten were both scheduled to tour the U.S., and, of course, didn’t. Brian got his passport as an Irish citizen (by dint of descent), so we were going to travel to Ireland, and, of course, didn’t. I could go on, but I won’t.”

Harold Tanner wrote that he continues to be absurdly busy constructing distance learning courses so that he doesn’t have to risk his life going into an actual classroom.

Happily, his daughter is working as an economist for Harold Tanner ’77 USDA and his son as a programmer for covers up for COVID-19 Amazon; Harold enjoys the reduction in his responsibilities. He thinks he looks cooler now than he did back in high school, but admits that in this regard, he’s all style, no substance!

Anne Denison Fleming shared that all is good in Duxbury, MA. She and husband Steve are experimenting with some time in Florida to be able to do more fun things in the winter. They still ski but like the warm! They are both mostly retired, keeping their hands in a few things they like to do—Steve in wine and Anne in the nutrition world. COVID-19 has been a challenge, but the silver lining is they got to see more of their kids and extended family.

Class of 1977 Fourth Grade Christmas play —thanks, Babette! Angels: Ann Walcott and Babette Mills Henagan. Ted Stabler and Barbara Russell Flight are the beatific Mary and Joseph; directed by the incomparable Mrs. Gilbert.

Jenn Weiss wrote: “It’s been a challenging year for everyone, and we feel grateful to be safe and secure. We lost my mom last March and that was very difficult. Our son graduated from law school and is practicing in DC, following a stint doing voter protection in western North Carolina. Our daughter is pursuing a Ph.D. in

Christy Black has continued to catch up periodically with Fifi Laughlin and Julia Penick Garry.

1977 Classmates Christy Black, Julia Penick Garry, and Fifi Laughlin met up at the Jersey Shore.

Jenn Weiss ’77 and family on the day her daughter became engaged SPRING 2021

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counseling psychology in Boston. We had the good fortune to be able to gather with them over the summer and at Thanksgiving. Both are engaged to lovely people and we are looking forward to their weddings in safer times. Bruce and I are sheltering at home in Cary, NC. We were both very active doing voter protection leading up to the 2020 election. Bruce is practicing law virtually and I am volunteering at a local public school and serving on the Board of Directors of Cary Academy, where I serve on the Equity and Inclusion subcommittee. We love walking/hiking the trails nearby. Wishing everyone good health and peace.

Celia Schultz is living with her brother on the Cape.

Clooie Sherman shared: “I just spent the month of January quarantining in DC for a week, then driving up to Princeton with my brothers to help pack up my mum’s house in anticipation of her move to a CCRC in Rockville, MD. This will put all my family in Maryland, making visits much easier and giving Deborah and me more of an opportunity to explore DC when we are able to travel freely again.

“Speaking of traveling freely, while Deborah and I are fine and happy in Seattle, the travel itch is strong, and we are champing at the bit to get away and explore new and old haunts.

Biden, get that vaccine out there!!! All the best to everyone. Stay safe!”

Quinn McCord added: “My wonderful wife, Mary Eileen, and I have just begun grandparenthood as Patrick and Autumn Renshaw brought home Keaton James McCord on February 7. Seven pounds three ounces and 20 inches of absolute joy! We will really enjoy mentoring him through life with his parents!

“Been in touch with Michael Patterson a few times! He enjoys Martha’s Vineyard as always and is enduring a tough year, but we hope we can get together up there this year! COVID-19 sucks and really takes a lot out of us just listening to endless news reports and phone blurbs.

What a lovely surprise to have Tim Brush resurface! Here’s his latest: “We moved into a new house near Gunnison, CO in December 2019 after selling our house of seven years in nearby Crested Butte. Just recently, we sold our house of 28 years in increasingly overcrowded Breckenridge. I work part-time seasonally at Flatiron Sports at the base of Crested Butte ski area, tuning and repairing skis and snowboards, and installing, adjusting and testing ski bindings. It’s hectic at times, but the location is hard to top, as I get two to three hours of ski time on workdays, then all I want on days off. This ski season had a slow start due to a thin snowpack, but lately it’s fattening up nicely with lots of new snow. Rafting season begins in earnest for us in May with a five-day trip on a stretch of the Green River called the Gates of Lodore, through Dinosaur National

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Monument. And, with the Gunnison River about a hundred feet from our back door, we’ll do lots of day floats in the raft and inflatable kayaks.

We also applied for permits on the Yampa River (which joins the Green in DNM) and the San Juan River in southeastern Utah. Fingers are crossed for these hard-to-get permits. Wish us luck!”

George Zoukee shared that he sold his house in Las Vegas with the idea of moving back to Fort Lauderdale, but instead ended up moving to Farragut, TN, a suburb of Knoxville. East Tennessee is beautiful with mountains, lakes and rivers and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is very close, he says. Eventually he would like to return to northern New England, he adds, but this will be home for a while.

Anthony Knott is working with New York City Health and Hospitals as a family doc.

As for me, as I write, I am driving cross-country through COVID-19 and the heartland, back to Portland (OR)… packing and unpacking… I keep swearing this will be the LAST time… or I just keep on swearing. I enjoy writing emails to my PDS classmates, so that they can laugh at the very last person in the U.S. with an AOL email address… Luddite that I am. A strange year to have been in DC—we missed not being able to indulge in the rich culture and restaurant scene, although we managed to visit the amazing National Museum of African American History and Culture. Then again, we were able to join the BLM protests, and pay our respects to Ruth Bader Ginsberg in person at the Supreme Court. I got to use my Spanish, working as an enumerator for the census, and daughter Lauren and I volunteered at the DC polls in November.

Keep those notes coming, and we hope to see you all “In Real Life” for our 45th reunion next year!

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Nora Cuesta Wimberg 5240 Oakwood Court Egg Harbor City, NJ 08215 (609) 418-0190 (cell) nlazz@mac.com

Nora Cuesta Wimberg wrote: “We had a wonderful trip in September to Myrtle Beach, SC and were able to spend some time with Lucy Englander Bristol and her husband, Peter.

We met for breakfast at a quaint bistro and then were invited to their lovely home. So wonderful seeing them and spending quality time catching up on ‘life,’ especially as it is today with COVID-19.

“I still volunteer for the Red Cross and the Food Pantry. It is very gratifying and I look forward to it each month. My husband Charlie still works from home. The ‘return to the office’ date keeps getting pushed back and now it is not until September! We were fortunate to visit

Charlie and Nora Cuesta Wimberg ’78 visited with Peter and Lucy Englander Bristol ’78 this past fall. his three sisters in Florida. We drove down and spent a few days at each of their homes.

We cooked, played games and watched movies, which got us out of our home’s four walls.

“I had a wonderful conversation with Sanford Bing! We speak once a year, at Christmastime, and it warms my heart to know that he is out there and still remembers me and my wonderful parents. (I cannot call him ‘Sandy’—he will always be ‘Mr. Bing’ to me!)”

Rob Whitlock wrote: “Since March 15, Roby and I have been working from what we previously thought of as our ‘weekend house’ two hours north of NYC, rather than from our small apartment in Manhattan. Work has been robust and working remotely is now a fact of life and I’m pleased that it is more seamless than I had imagined. It has been wonderful for Roby and me to spend more time together, and I’m pleased for the respite from flying around the globe to attend to projects. Our grandsons and their parents visited over the 4th of July holiday and I built a ‘Ninja’ obstacle course in the backyard for them, generating long-lost memories of junior year when I helped Rob McClellan ’77 build a ropes course out in the woods behind the playing fields. Roby and I made our first excursion out of Columbia County last weekend to sneak into New Jersey for a surprise visit to Bob Cottone and his wife, Lauren, on Long Beach Island. Other than the houses seemingly having taken steroids, the rhythm of life there still feels as I remember it from 1977. And the ocean, sublime. For the rest, I rely on Facebook posts—Jay Itzkowitz’s photos of the new Islanders arena going up at Belmont, Wells Coalfleet and his wife Julie’s intrepid adventures on wheels, and most recently Liz Westergaard’s beautiful photos benefitting the North Country Camps, Lucky Pine’s adventures and photos of Tom Gates and wife Tracey’s grandson. I do look forward to a time when we can all reassemble.”

Melanie Thompson Fauchet wrote: “I have four kids at home. Eden is 15, Elizabeth is 13, Abiy is 10 and Xavier is eight. Life is busy homeschooling.” Melanie is now doing social work with refugees, which she finds very rewarding.

Sue Fineman Keitelman wrote: “Not much news to report. My grandson Ezra turned one.

I haven’t been ‘allowed’ to hold him since he was two months old because of COVID-19.

Ezra, grandson of Sue Fineman Keitelman ’78, on his first birthday in December When we visit, it is always outdoors, and he is in an ‘enclosed’ space (a play-gate surrounds him and one or both parents) and we have to wear masks and sit six feet away. It sucks. I’ve nicknamed him “my little bubbalah” (a good Yiddish word)!

Brad Clippinger ’78’s son and daughter, Jack and McKenzie, taken this past Christmas.

They are 28 and 24 and live and work in Stamford, CT. McKenzie is on her way to live and work in Chicago this spring. Brad is still in Houston, TX. Jeff Swisher sent the following update In February on COVID-19: “The two vaccines that have been approved for use are the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccine. They are a new type of vaccine that use a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA), which is a coded instruction to make your own body produce the antigen. Essentially, you are being injected with cellular blueprints, or you can think of it as a ‘recipe,’ that your cells use to make the spike protein of the virus, to which you develop an immune response. Does that make sense?

It is an ingenious way to design a vaccine and has other potential uses, such as anti-cancer therapy, as well.”

“This week I return to the classroom to work in a hybrid model of instruction—all set with my masks, microphone, two screens and an iPad! This is our school’s third attempt to get the students back and it looks like it will finally happen.”

Greg Morea wrote: “Our year started off relatively normal. We had a lovely New Year’s Eve with our friends. Greg celebrated a milestone birthday about a month later, the big 60, and Barbara took him to New Hampshire so that he could have his fill of snow since we weren’t getting much in Connecticut. We went to see Ice Castles, an award-winning frozen attraction built using hundreds of thousands of icicles hand-placed by professional ice artists. The castles include breathtaking LED-lit sculptures, frozen thrones, ice-carved tunnels, slides, fountains and much more. We had an amazing time; a great way to celebrate a special birthday.

This was to be the highlight of our year.

“This year was one of losses for both of us.

In February, Barbara’s father, Manny, passed away, and just a couple of weeks ago, Greg’s father, William, also passed on. Both will be missed. Our family dog whisperer, Rebecca, however, figured out an amazing antidote for Barbara. She went on a massive search on the internet to find a companion for her mom.

When Barbara took one look at the picture of the little girl with beautiful brown eyes and enormous ‘bat’ ears, she fell madly in love. We had to race against time to get approval and paperwork completed so that we could get this adorable sweetheart brought up to Connecticut from Louisiana. We were lucky; they were able to get her out on the last transport truck before the company had to shut down. And so, Karana joined us!

“As to the rest of the year, we have been doing our best to keep our spirits up. Greg

and Barbara are both working from home and haven’t killed one another yet. Greg has found that he quite likes relaxing around the house, but he was terribly disappointed when he had to cancel the Lenten Fish Fry after only two weeks.”

Barbara Vaughn wrote: “This has been a challenging time with unexpected highs (family time, brisk artwork sales), and difficult lows (losing my mom, condition of our country), but slowing down and sheltering in place was a positive change that filled me with newfound gratitude for so many simple things. I unearthed some old photos, including our eighth grade play, ninth grade hijinks in the Upper School library, and spring break with Barbie Griffin Cole in 1977. More recently, Barbie and I enjoyed a Barbie Griffin Cole ’78 fun afternoon on and Barbara Vaughn ’78 her family’s frozen pond just before it was blanketed by the early February snowstorm. I hope everyone has found some silver linings in the clouds of the past year, and that you all stay safe and healthy!”

Allison Iams wrote: “Thanks so much for keeping us connected! I am sure you hear from everyone ‘there’s not much news,’ but when I pause and think about it, there has been so much news: a pandemic, a coming vaccine, a new administration. I have never felt more at the mercy of global forces. This year has had its share of blessings, many weeks spent with

Patricia Metzger wrote: “All is the same here!

Groundhog Day is an appropriate description of my life. My gang was home for Thanksgiving, and we had a family COVID-19 turkey trot. A fun way to be together and still stay apart and outside. Usually, we all run in a local event, but because of COVID-19 we did not want to participate in an organized run— so we ordered our own t-shirts, put on masks and all the kids—Jeff ’s and mine—joined us for a 3.1-mile race in our community.

(left) Tracey and Tom Gates ’78, Will Kain ’78 and Kathy Kain spent some time together in early October on Long Lake, ME. (left) Jeff Ritter ’78 found this photo from his first year of college. He wonders, “Where are Barry Smith, David Hamel, Lee Lichtenstein and Jon Fabian?”

Patricia Metzger ’78’s family ready to run their own Turkey Trot

(right) Chip Bristol ’78 published a book, Spiritual Java. It is a 365day meditation book based on ordinary moments in life.

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grown children, lots of time outside, a dog well walked, etc. I feel so much gratitude that I am not juggling young children and WFH. We were able to ride out the quarantine quietly. We are looking very much forward to meeting our first grandchild in April. A boy. Oh boy. Love to all ’78ers!”

Claire (Hughie) Jacobus Hildick-Smith wrote: “In December 2019, my brother Bill Jacobus ’79 died and then in January 2021 my brother John Jacobus ’82 died, so my parents and sisters and family have had a hard time recently.

But on a happier note, my husband, Andrew Hildick-Smith ’77, and I are fortunate to have become grandparents this past September, with the birth of Sophie, who is the daughter of our eldest son, Gordon, and his wife, Alice. Gordon finished his residency in internal medicine as the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting Boston and is now a hospitalist part time and also is doing research. Actually, Sophie Hildick-Smith, he is currently on paternity leave, being at five months, full-time dad and the granddaughter living only twenty of Claire (Hughie) minutes from us! Our Jacobus Hildick-Smith son, Seth, is working ’78 and Andrew remotely at Apple in Hildick-Smith ’77 artificial intelligence, currently living in La Jolla, CA. Our son, Neil, is living in NYC and working as an electrical engineer at Crestron Electronics in NJ. “Andrew retired from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority in September after 30 years and now is consulting on cyber security.

Although I still have an active medical license, I’m not working in the field at present but remain interested in public health and marginalized communities.”

alternating between the middle school (where I do writing intervention) and home-based writing work. The good news is that—sans a social life or music gigs—I’ve had ample time to complete my book on Ozark song catcher Max Hunter, which is slated for publication at a university press later this year (details to come later on). I’ve also been producing Crankie (folk art) stories—it is my dream gig to do this back at PDS one of these days!

“My daughter, Emma, is in grad school in Hawaii (ouch) and intent upon saving endangered languages, and my son, Samuel, is suddenly back home and looking for his next journalism job. We are all well, if psychologically weary. It was nice to hear from Jeff Ritter a few months back, and Sue Fineman—if you still have that green dress, I’ll happily take it!”

Alice Lee Groton submitted online: “I felt grateful a lot this year for the simple things; for walks, the sunsets, the ocean nearby, but especially for the fact that my younger daughter, Sophie, and her fiancé moved from Brooklyn in March to live just a mile away from us in Stonington, CT. Though their wedding had been canceled, they moved forward anyway and, in August, Sophie and Thomas were married with family, a handful of friends, my husband officiating, all of us barefoot on a sandy beach. My older daughter, Sara, and her fiancé were able to be here from San Francisco with enough time to quarantine before the wedding. It was incredible! We now have our fingers crossed that Sara and Ben will be able to have their wedding this coming August. For the last three years I’ve been working toward a certificate in graphic design from RISD and have continued with online classes, though find this very challenging! Turning 60 (as I guess the rest of you now have!) and John and I celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary were other milestones of the year. Today we took my

Sarah Jane Nelson sent greetings: “My husband and I have been hunkered down in Waltham, MA. Andre, a scientist, has been able to work from home and I have been

Sarah Jane Nelson ’78 with a “glimpse of my life as a folkie; singing my way through an Ozark version of ‘The Nightingale’” Alice Lee Groton ’78 with her two daughters, Sophie and Sara, at Sophie’s wedding in August.

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98-year-old aunt, who has been living with us since early December, to get her second vaccination. Definitely cause for celebration.”

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Catherine White Mertz 67 Rybury Hillway Needham, MA 02492 (781) 449-4993 (home) (339) 225-0835 (cell) cathywhitemertz@gmail.com Evan R. Press 2707 Lakefield Way Sugar Land, TX 77479 (479) 283-8246 (cell) EvanRPress@gmail.com

From Cathy: As we emerge from a very long 2020 and a long winter, it’s nice to see so much good news from our classmates!

Martha Hicks reported that she is “alive and well in beautiful Bucks County, PA enjoying another day of snowfall from the little stone house on Chapel Road. As I suspect with many of you, I’ve spent much of 2020 and 2021 in anxious isolation, trying to stay out of the way of those on the front lines who have had to sacrifice and deal with trouble on a daily basis. While it has been very difficult to be apart from my loved ones, it has taught me much about my ability to adapt and amuse myself. Fortunately, there were some bright spots through the year. The low numbers in the summer afforded some visits and adventures, among them a nice Cape Cod visit with our editor-in-chief, Cathy White Mertz. I also managed to sanitize my kids and a couple of their friends enough to pull off a really fun Thanksgiving/60th birthday weekend.

Somewhere in here, I got roped into an endless chat with some other classmates—Evan R. Press, Joe Lapsley, Laura Farina, Cathy White Mertz, and Evan’s friend (now our friend), Bobby. This proved to be a crucial support system for navigating the series of disasters, natural and unnatural, as well as the upsets and anxieties that came with the less-than-smooth political transition. It has been really interesting getting to know them all again. Though it’s been a trying year, I’ve been very grateful for the many connections forged early in my life on The Great Road—PDS has turned out to be the unexpected gift that keeps giving. My deepest condolences go out to all of you who have lost loved ones this year. You are in my thoughts always.”

Evan R. “Full Court” Press “has yet to fully recover from our 40th Reunion. He did, however, rebound well from the hideous February power outages in Texas, thanks to great concern and humanitarian efforts from fellow classmates across the country (namely, Martha Hicks, Joe Lapsley, Laura Farina and Cathy White Mertz).”

This fall and winter, those paying attention to the news may have seen Ned Foley on TV in his role as an NBC Election Law Analyst, read him quoted in the national press, heard his voice on the radio, or read his columns in the Washington Post. Ned, in his 30th year on the law faculty at Ohio State, is, as his wife Miranda Cox reported: a “prominent election law scholar.” Miranda wrote that “this year was when many Americans became students of election law, and the national media reached out to Ned to explain it all to us. Even though his living room is no longer doubling as a TV studio, Ned is still focused on ways to improve our election system and will be adding a chapter on 2020 to Ballot Battles, his history of disputed elections in the United States. You say you want to change the way the electoral college works? He’s got a book on that, too: Presidential Elections and Majority Rule.”

Harriette Brainard has “relocated from NYC/ Princeton and Denver back to Burlington, VT to be close to family. Thankfully, I have been living with some of my children over the last year. I am thankful to still be working in climate risk education/literacy with C-Change

Conversations (Princeton-based) and the GCA national conservation team, working toward better environmental outcomes around the risks of a warming climate. The leadership these women consistently exhibit continually impresses me. I am humbled to have been asked to join two different global teams working on identifying larger tipping points for global/local outcomes; it is inspiring to work with such incredible people, and it motivates me every day, as do my children and now three grandchildren. I am also working with a global grassroots foundation supporting and accelerating localized efforts around Regen Ag, ocean regeneration and food security. This summer my eldest, Samantha, was married with just close family on my brother’s farm in Vermont, and I juggled making a wedding cake, flowers, setting up and performing the ceremony. So happy that my 96-year-old mother could be there! This has been a horrific time for so many people; I am saddened by the loss of so many friends, relatives and everyone else, along with the insecurity of large populations both here and abroad. The challenges for leadership now and for the next generations are vast, and I hope we all continue to do our part in working for a better world for them.”

Christopher “Woods Hole” Price shared: “Wife Mibs and I moved to Pennington in October and are loving it. We are five houses in from the center of town.”

Chris “Alvin” Horan said: “News? I got nothing.”

We have learned that Nicolas “I Eat My Young” Donath still enjoys living in Las Vegas, going on almost 27 years, despite the City Council asking him, on a yearly basis, to leave.

Esquire Nick anticipates becoming the Mayor of Las Vegas in the next 40 or 50 years.

Harriette Brainard ’79 with her two daughters and youngest son, and her mother, Harriette

Two of Harriette Brainard ’79’s grandchildren, Myuna and Enoah

From Laura Farina: “I’m grateful that my family and friends have made it through the past year, and also saddened by the number of people lost to this virus, including a few parents of friends. I don’t think I would have made it through the year without Zoom and text threads. I am pleased to be in touch with so many friends, including many classmates from PDS. They have all kept my spirits up, and we’ve had some belly laughs and have shared a lot of music and jokes. A special thanks to the CathyMartha-Evan-Joe thread. I thank my nieces and nephews for participating in the Pandemic Boom—I now have seven great-nieces and great-nephews. Looking forward to future travel and reunions!!”

From Joe Lapsley: “PortmanteauZone’s album, Part of the New Sensitivity, came out on all platforms January 1, 2021.

Chicago Power Trio is my second real band after Neighborhood Texture Jam. I sing, play guitar, write the tunes.” Check out Joe’s

The cover of Joe Lapsley ’79’s new album, Part of the New Sensitivity new album on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music or SoundCloud.

As for me, Cathy, I’ve been enjoying having the three of us home this past year, missing friends, and developing COVID-19 skills: hairstyling (FYI, there is a learning curve); purging and organizing; rediscovering our vinyl collection; Zooming; enjoying connecting with old friends in new ways; embracing the adventure of mid-winter outdoor fire pit entertaining; finding creative ways of spending time with our families. In October, my family gathered on the Cape for a celebration, complete with a tent, multiple fire pits and a couple of beachside hotel rooms. On Christmas Eve, we Zoomcaroled with Oscar’s extended family from New England to the West Coast—I played, they sang and it all sounded joyfully awful.

We extend our deepest condolences to Doug Fein and his family on the death of Doug’s father, Art Fein, on January 17 at age 89.

Our heartfelt condolences also go out to the family of Bill Jacobus on the death of Bill’s brother, John Jacobus ’82 this past December.

To echo Martha’s sentiment: To those of you who have been deeply affected by the pandemic, our hearts go out to you. Here’s to a happier and healthier year for all.

Cathy White Mertz ’79 with her husband, Oscar, and son, Noah (26), on the Cape this past October SPRING 2021

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

We were also very sorry to learn of the death of Jim Laughlin’s father, James B. Laughlin ’43 in late February and extend our sympathy to Jim and his family, many of whom attended PCD, MFS and PDS.

Anu Shah ’05

Cybersecurity Expert As headlines continue to buzz about nation state-backed hacks and misinformation campaigns, Anand (Anu) Shah ’05, a PDS ‘Lifer’, has focused his legal career on cybersecurity and privacy. Shah has worked in both government and the private-sector to help organizations respond to security incidents, navigate digital risks, and advise on data protection practices. He currently serves as Assistant General Counsel at KPMG LLP in Washington, DC. After majoring in International Affairs and Economics at George Washington University, Shah pursued his legal studies at Emory University as part of a joint-program with Georgia Tech, interested in the intersection of international law and technology. While in law school, he had the opportunity to assist a NATO group in Estonia in establishing cyber warfare rules—codified in the Tallinn Manual. “After having the chance to deepdive into this unfamiliar realm with leading legal minds and tech experts, ‘cyber’ soon morphed from a research interest to the focus of my career,” Shah noted.

“In 2009, cybersecurity was hardly considered newsworthy and most incidents were either highly classified or reserved for IT teams to deal with.” Shah recalls his career counselor “thinking I was crazy for pursuing this path because it really didn’t exist beyond a hobby.”

After law school, he persisted with his interest and went on to prosecute cyber crimes at the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office before going into private practice.

Reflecting on how his studies sharpened his perspective, he explains, “PDS allowed me to immerse myself in new subject areas with curiosity and focus. For instance, my 10th grade research project on the famines in Ethiopia opened my eyes to globalization trends.” This exploration, in turn, encouraged Shah to participate in Model UN and later study abroad in China while in college. “So many of my Middle School and Upper School teachers, especially in the English and History Departments, helped me develop a voice and analytical mindset. My experiences at PDS were formative, because practicing in an emerging area you need to be able to connect the dots.”

Shah’s advice to current PDS students and recent graduates: “Sometimes it is good to be a little stubborn when mapping out your career. Start with something that you are passionate about. While you can adapt and find different ways to approach that passion, you shouldn’t lose sight of it. My time at PDS showed me how to take risks in my academic pursuits even when I wasn’t sure where they would take me.”

Note: The Alumni Spotlights in this issue of the Journal were first published on the pds.org news feed during the 2020-2021 school year.

1980

Suzanne Albahary DAmato 16 Maiden Lane Bedford, NH 03110 suzannemndamato@yahoo.com Karen Kelly 43 White Pine Lane Princeton, NJ 08540 k2pk@comcast.net

Hope everyone is managing as well as possible through this difficult pandemic. I (Suzanne) am focusing on a bright light of hope at the end of this long, dark tunnel. Keep your news and updates rolling in to us. It’s always great to hear what our classmates have been up to JOURNAL

throughout the years. Besides using e-mail, you also can submit news and photos to us through the Princeton Day School Class of 1980 Facebook page.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to our classmate, Karen Kelly, her husband Paul, and their children Skylar, Jillian and Colton on the death of Karen’s beloved father, Art Fein, on January 17 at age 89. We also extend our sympathies to Karen’s mother, Harriet Fein, and Karen’s brothers, Rick Fein ’74 and Doug Fein ’79, and their families. Dr. Fein was a vibrant member of the Princeton community, having lived and worked in the area for most of his adult life. He will be dearly missed by those who knew and loved him.

Tim Murdoch sent the following news to the Alumni Office in December: “I am sad to report that my father, Bill Murdoch, died at 87 in 2018, and my mother, Mary Murdoch, died in 2019 at 86, after losing battles with dementia. After losing both parents, I decided to take a one-year break to spend extra time with my family and to travel with my wife, Pascale. In 2020, our son, Maxime, graduated from McGill University and our daughter, Liliane, enrolled at McGill as a freshman.

Between January to March 2020, Pascale and I spent over two months touring New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. All that matters to me these days is that my family and I stay healthy, happy and safe. I am sad that I was unable to join my 1980 classmates to celebrate our 40th PDS Reunion in May 2020.”

Tim Murdoch ’80

1981

Camie Carrington Levy 2212 Weymouth Street Moscow, ID 83843-9618 (208) 301-0203 (cell) camie@palousetravel.com Kirsten Elmore Meister 312 Ootsima Lane Loudon TN 37774 443-716-8477 (cell) kmeister5@yahoo.com

1982

Lorraine M. Herr 9S021 Skylane Drive Naperville, IL 60564 (847) 525-3576 (cell) LHerr@herr-design.com

Lindsay Suter wrote with an update on the fish ladder at his mill. “It is complete and functional but closed for the winter.” He promises to send a photo for the next Journal publication.

Laura Stifel Murphy and Leslie Pell helped secure emails for classmates whose contact info I lacked. I appreciate the support.

based firm open Albuquerque and Santa Fe offices. We have grown really quickly, so seldom a dull moment for me. I have come across both Bill Brennan and the late John Jacobus in practice, but Bill is the only classmate I have seen since 1981. Julia and I love to travel, and I hope we can sneak to campus for a reunion sometime. I certainly think of my PDS days with fondness and frequency. Best to you all and please look me up if you are ever in New Mexico!”

Lorraine Herr ’82 and her father taking in the afternoon sun on the front deck of his New Jersey home, wrapped in wool blankets and pretending to be at Chamonix What’s new with Lorraine Herr? I spent some time away from work in April and dove into polishing up the piano version of “Rhapsody in Blue.” The piece remains a challenge! My beehives are well insulated for the winter, so I am hopeful for a successful 2021 season. I’m looking forward to a honey harvest, surrounded by family and friends (assuming the COVID-19 vaccines are widely distributed by the fall).

Sadly, I am reporting John Jacobus passed away last month. I remember John as a leader on the student judiciary body, working alongside my good friend Anne Metcalf. I regret not knowing him better. After reading John’s obituary, I recall Winston Churchill’s words, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” John gave a lot.

Leslie Pell submitted online: “Hard to believe that our son, Gibson, is graduating from PDS this year! Next year he is heading to Providence College to play lacrosse for the Friars—exciting times for all. Signing day at PDS definitely pulled at my heart strings.”

Leslie Pell ’82 with her son, Gibson ’21, signing his intent to enroll and play lacrosse at Providence College in the fall Donald DeCandia also submitted online: “Greetings classmates! I sure enjoy seeing your updates, and realized I never write. I have a very charmed life in Santa Fe, NM where I live with my wife, Julia, also a lawyer, and two amazing stepkids. In July of 2019, I left my former firm after 30 years to help a Texas-

1983

Noelle Damico 325 Main Street, Apt. 3B White Plains, NY 10601 revdamico@gmail.com Rena A. Whitehouse 5217 Idylwild Trail Boulder, CO 80301 (770) 845-1577 (cell) renawhitehouse@hotmail.com

From Rena: My husband and I just recently moved to Boulder, CO. And, while Omaha was a nice place to live for five years, Boulder is certainly a lot more scenic and we are enjoying the mild(er) winter and getting out on the trails as much as possible. For work, I’m currently doing some executive coaching, which has been rewarding.

Andy Hawkes and his wife, Janet, live here and have been a great resource to us! Ditto for Amy Brewer, who lives just south of here in Golden, CO. I also was happy to meet up with David Haynes ’85 for a business networking hike at Chautauqua Park at the base of the beautiful Flatirons. PDS is well represented here in Colorado! Please be sure to reach out if you’re in the area. I would love to connect with you.

Thanks to those of you who submitted some news—some of whom have not shared in a long time—it’s great to hear from you! Hope you are all staying safe as we manage through these difficult and challenging times.

Craig Phares shared that his family, wife Katharine and three kids, Didier, Charlie and Keene, escaped New York City in March 2020 to the Adirondacks, and ended up staying there full-time until September. While there they lived through cold weather, mud season and summer and this winter they skied, snowshoed, mountain biked and hiked their way through the thick of COVID-19. While they did not see many people during their selfisolation, they did see Geordie McLaughlin and his family briefly in Princeton (socially distanced of course). Geordie has relocated to the Dominican Republic during this time.

Craig also caught up with Joe Pagano, who left South Africa prematurely and has since taken up residence in Newfoundland. Oh Canada!

“Looking forward to a return to normalcy in The Big Apple,” Craig says.

I had asked our classmates to share whether

they had picked up a new hobby during COVID-19, and Sandy Danielson Quirinale responded that she had! Thanks to her son, Branden, who is graduating high school this year, Sandy became interested in her local fire station and is now a New Jersey State Certified Fire Fighter. It is an extremely rewarding volunteer job—although not easy!

Branden is an EMT with plans to get his nursing degree. Her son, Eric Quirinale ’19, is still in touch with his PDS friends and is so fortunate that he was able to have a great experience at PDS before COVID. The family had hoped to go to Myanmar this summer but that’s not looking too promising, unfortunately, with the military coup.

From Jon Firester: “My wife, Ruth, and I live in NYC. I work for Ernst & Young doing management consulting for banks. My sons, Ari and Benjy, are 18 and 21, respectively, and my daughter, Kalia, is 23. Ari is a rising college freshman, and Benjy is a junior majoring in mathematics. Both are taking a gap year during the pandemic. Kalia is doing a master’s program in animation in Ireland. In my spare time, I still enjoy math puzzles and a bit of woodworking. Best wishes to all of our classmates!”

Phil Berger wrote: “My noteworthy news is that I had a case that went to the United States Supreme Court that required me to become admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. I filed a brief objecting to further review or hearings by the United States Supreme Court, as I had won the case at the Pennsylvania Superior Court (who overturned the trial court), and then had the Superior Court’s opinion affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The Justices of the United States Supreme Court agreed with our position, and the opinions of the Pennsylvania Superior Court and Pennsylvania Supreme Court and declined to take the case. Thus, I am one for one at the United States Supreme Court!”

Stewart Von Oehsen hosted a PDS guys weekend at his farm in Vermont this past fall attended by Steve Schluter, Erik Ott, Ebe Metcalf, Jon Erdman and Mac McDougald.

Sounds like it was a fun gathering!

Kelly Lambert Walker shared the following note for all: “Things I miss are being able to visit my family and friends in person, whether that means on a train or plane. I miss my athletes having the chance to have a competitive sports season. I am incredibly thankful for having my job and the opportunity to have worked from home last spring, and to not have to risk the health of others or myself is privilege, in a nutshell. For these things, I am focusing on gratitude in 2021! I have a son in NorCal who is coaching boys’ high school rowing, a daughter about to become a resident anesthesiologist somewhere (TBA in March), and a daughter who is about to begin a year with AmeriCorps.

Thankful, grateful, however you slice it. Lastly, I SPRING 2021

84

Sandy Danielson Quirinale 83’s sons, Erik ’19 and Branden

Rena Whitehouse ’83 and her husband, Ted Baskin, enjoying the Flatirons in Boulder, CO

Jasper, a new puppy for Lynch Hunt ’85 and his wife, Sharon

1985

Lynch W. Hunt, Jr. 771 Mayflower Avenue Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 (609) 851-5521 (cell) lynchhunt@alumni.upenn.edu Marisa Petrella 40 Oval Turn Lane Levittown, PA 19055 (609) 462-3101 (home) (609) 462-3101 (cell) sales4metoo@msn.com

1983 Classmates (left to right): Ebe Metcalf, Stewart von Oehsen, Erik Ott, Mac McDougald, Jon Erdman and Steve Schluter enjoyed a weekend together. hope that I am able to head to Princeton in the next few months and see my dad and stepmom in person and not via Zoom/FaceTime. It’s been a long year and that has been the hardest of all. I send my well wishes to all and hope that everyone is safe and healthy.”

1984

Edward J. Willard 214 Lynchburg Road Pilot Mountain, NC 27041 (336) 401-6360 (cell) tcwillard@mac.com

Dan Zuckerman stated, during a game of Words with Friends, that he’s been “hunkered down avoiding COVID-19 in Teaneck NJ… two daughters at Penn State, one graduating this May, the other one in the Class of ’23.

Amazing stepkids in college, college-bound and middle school… also recently celebrated my 28th anniversary of working at ETS!”

I have truly enjoyed serving as Class Secretary since we graduated in ’84, although I’ve realized that because of the internet we can submit our updates directly to the Alumni Office, or through me. In the 37 years since graduation, I believe we’ve never JOURNAL

heard from the following classmates, or it’s been many years. Could the following people write in for our next issue? Ivette Abud Desai, Maria Amgasu, Hilly Beaver, Sarah Benioff, Greg Bevensee, Lynne Bowers, David Carpenter, Debbie Edelman, Mike Giuli, Hilary Grant, Kambiz Hadavi, Jean Hagerhorst, Karen Hamel Simas, Stephen Kreisler, Lisa Lariche, Frank Little, Naomi May, John Nicolai, Pete Ross, Paul Schmidt, Jason Shaplen, David Supple, Rudolph Van Houten, Liza Wakefield Peck and Julie Yoo. I also ask, if you haven’t already and you are on FB, could you sign up for our Princeton Day School Class of 1984 Homepage? Currently, we have 44 members. I’d love to see more, so we can communicate more. Stay safe!

I wanted to let everyone know if you weren’t aware, the only online directory for our class is through the following site: https://pds. searchwavelength.com. Currently, we have 82 of 99 graduates? Please check out your listing and update, if possible. If you are not already included in the database and would like to be, please let Kaylie Keesling know at kkeesling@ pds.org. Thanks!

In February, Lynch Hunt welcomed a new member to his family. “We are overjoyed to welcome home Jasper! Thank you, Trenton Animals Rock, for a seamless process for this little boy’s transition to our home! Jasper, a Shih-Tzu, replaced our previous dog, Molly, a Cockapoo, who passed away in July 2020.”

Melissa Kohn Rosen wrote: “My husband, John, and I are empty nesters with our son having recently graduated college and living and working in NYC. Our younger daughter lives in Tel Aviv and works as an educator and social worker. Our oldest lives in Maryland with her family. As of this month, we now have two beautiful grandsons!”

Marisa Petrella wrote: “The Class of ’85 had a Zoom reunion over Thanksgiving break and about seven of us had a chance to reconnect virtually. It was great checking in with everyone.”

Marisa Petrella ’85 and her family welcomed Massimo, a 12-week-old tuxedo kitten, to their home this past January.

“He has filled our home with joy.”

1986

Mollie D. Roth 1666 East Cindy Street Chandler, AZ 85225 (202) 280-5887 (cell) mollie.roth@pgxconsulting.com

1987

Sofia D. Xethalis 1953 Shore Oak Drive Decatur, IL 62521 (217) 422-5648 (home) (217) 454-3345 (cell) sxethalis@yahoo.com.au

1988

Mike Lingle 498 NE 55th Terrace Miami, FL 33137 (917) 882-8397 (cell) mlingletonic@yahoo.com

Julia Herr Smith sent: “Greetings classmates!

Hoping everyone has remained healthy. We’ve been riding out the pandemic mostly in NYC where I am general counsel at a large singlefamily office and Scott continues to helm Biscuits & Bath, including helping new clients with their pandemic puppies. We miss entertaining, but have enjoyed socially distanced gatherings in Central Park, including with Andrea Hall Elish. Hoping to see more people in person in the coming months!”

Collins Roth said: “Cold enough in Germany that the big Alster Lake froze in the middle of town and people were out wandering on it with baby carriages, bikes and dogs or, in my son, Liam’s, case, eating cookie dough (the mind of a 14-year-old boy!). The Roth family is locked in and hunkered down in Hamburg, which is getting old. No more than one guest allowed in the house at any time, school remote, etc. My eldest, Bella, is a freshman at Vanderbilt, where Nashville seems to be taking COVID-19 a lot less seriously. My second, Charlotte, will head to University of Chicago in the fall. With them out of the house, Jess and I are going to move with my two boys to Singapore this summer, because, why not?”

Janie Hwang wrote: “It’s been great to connect with so many of you on FB. I’ve been in NYC ever since graduating from Barnard College.

I spent donkey years working at investment banks in fixed income trading, structured finance and investment banking. Along the way I met my husband, who is from Dublin, Ireland. We have three kids (boy/girl twins who are in fifth grade and an older son in seventh grade). We live in Greenwich Village.

For any of you who took Mrs. Skvir’s Russian class—it has continuously come in handy in NYC. If you are ever in the neighborhood, look me up on FB, PM me.”

Dawn Feldman Fukuda reported: “Well, if nothing else it has been an extraordinary year in public health. In addition to our continued

HIV and viral hepatitis efforts at DPH, I joined our Massachusetts COVID-19 response and Vaccine Equity teams, alongside an amazing group of colleagues from state and local government. Grateful for the reinvigorated attention to emergency preparedness and infectious disease prevention but wish it didn’t take a global pandemic to get us there. In other news, after having our kids mostly home completing their studies remotely, our oldest returned to finish her junior year at Haverford, and our youngest heads to American University in the fall. I cannot believe that in a few short months we will officially be empty nesters.

Didn’t we all just graduate from high school?

Sigh. Take care, everyone, and hopefully we can have our 35th reunion in person.”

Holly Greenberg LeCrann wrote: “Hello! All’s well in pre-fire-season California. I completed my Ph.D. in Depth Psychology in December and feel a weight has been lifted. After many years, I am leaving the Red Cross Mental Health disaster team and moving toward volunteering for big-animal rescue during the fires. Disaster work is the most fulfilling work I know, and I love it. Other than that, workwise I am seeing patients in private practice and working part-time for a large consulting firm as their on-site shrink—interesting and challenging work for sure. Growing food and paddling several times a week on the bay with my dog keeps me sane. Cheers!”

Paul Robertson said: “I turned 50 and we’re suddenly empty nesters, with one daughter at Western Washington University in Bellingham and her sister at the Outdoor Academy in North Carolina. After opening Sage Lodge in Pray, MT, I hung up my GM hat to be the President of Romeo Bravo Software. Been quite the year! Cheers to all!”

Mike Lingle: “We all managed to turn 50! I guess that means we have a lot of accumulated wisdom now.”

1989

Doria Roberts P.O. Box 1396 Princeton, NJ 08542 (404) 874-3779 (home) doriaroberts@yahoo.com

1990

Deborah Bushell Gans 103 Bilboa Drive Jupiter, FL 33458 (561) 799-2463 (home) (561) 252-4501 (cell) gansdebby@gmail.com

Erik Oliver wrote: “During shelter in place, I found myself still practicing law, but also with lots of time, previously spent with friends, on my hands. By late March, I found myself making masks for local charities (1,100+).

When that need passed locally, I moved on to quilting in September—10 quilts in 2020!

Finally, in December, I moved on to bag

Erik Oliver ’90’s sewing creations making. I’m excited to realize I’ve got a retirement hobby, but I am hoping late 2021 means more time to hang with friends in person and less time sewing.”

1991

Aly Cohen 1 Big Barn Road Cranbury, NJ 08512 (917) 273-4573 (home) (917) 273-4573 (cell) alycohen@yahoo.com

Michael Yacht reported: “2021 is off to a breakneck start for us. After nearly 17 years with Benefit Vision as their technology leader, I’ve changed jobs in the middle of January to be the Vice President of Software Development for Mosaic Learning, an eLearning technology company based in Columbia, MD. I am bringing my nearly three decades of software engineering experience, combined with 20 years of managerial experience to the company as they mature their Combobulate eLearning and Virtual Conference platform.

“In addition, we are moving to a new home in Ellicott City, MD at the end of February.

We hope that this will be our ‘forever home.’

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It took five months of house hunting in an incredibly challenging real estate market, but the stars aligned, and a perfect house was found. The house backs up to woods, complete with a branch of the Little Patuxent River and our twin four-year-old boys (Noah and Ethan) could not be more excited for the new home and all the wildlife they’ll be able to see right outside of their bedroom windows. Shana and I hope everyone is staying healthy during the pandemic and are looking forward to more and more social media pictures of people with their vaccine cards.”

Aly Cohen: After a busy fall launching my consumer book, Non-Toxic Guide to Living Healthy in a Chemical World, published by Oxford University Press, I continue to teach environmental health education to medical colleagues, high school and college students.

Recently, I launched The Smart Human podcast, an environmental health and wellness podcast. It’s been great fun to interview some of the sharpest and most interesting physicians, researchers, lawyers and health advocates in the environmental health and disease prevention arena!

over. Ed Cho ‘96 has found Lyly Chang, an incredible woman that we are privileged to have in our family. We love her and better yet, my boys adore her, too. We cannot wait to put this pandemic behind us.”

1993

Darcey Carlson Leonard 5405 Windy Ridge Drive Midlothian, VA 23112 (757) 634-4432 (home) darceyva@gmail.com

1994

Cynthia Shafto 9948 Robbins Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90212 (310) 498-1064 (home) Cynthia.678@icloud.com

On another note, I’ve recently reconnected with classmate Erika Vereen on Facebook!

Beckett and Charlie, the sons of Cynthia “Cy” Shafto ‘94, ready for the Panther Prowl this past fall

1995

Melissa Woodruff Mccormick 257 South State Street Newtown, PA 18940 (215) 550-6596 (home) mwoodruf99@yahoo.com

1996

Erika Vereen ’91 with her daughter, Alima

1992

Judson R. Henderson 5073 Province Line Road Princeton, NJ 08540 (609) 924-6446 (home) (609) 651-2226 (cell) jhenderson@callawayhenderson.com

Alison Cho wrote: “I have started my new role as an HR manager at Sun Pharmaceuticals a few months ago and enjoy it. It’s nice to get back into the pharma field, having started my career in that space a long time ago. What’s nice about this role is that it takes me back into the Princeton area, which I love. In addition, I’m looking forward to my younger brother’s wedding after the pandemic is JOURNAL

Stephen J. Nanfara 1023 Clinton Street, 5A Hoboken, NJ 07030 (908) 310-9724 (home) (908) 310-9724 (cell) nanfara@yahoo.com

Dana DeCore Falconi submitted: “My husband, Kyle, and I will celebrate our 15th anniversary this year. We have three beautiful daughters ages 14, 12 and 10. My oldest, Ryan, also became a Panther, joining the Class of 2025. As I watch her meeting new friends and building relationships with faculty, I am reminded on a daily basis of how special PDS has always been. For me, those lifelong friendships are found in classmates like Jess D’Altrui Davidson, Jen Walsh Thurlow and Rachel Glat Friedman. We missed our annual dinner with our husbands this year because of COVID-19, but plan to regroup in the spring.

“I’ve enjoyed listening to Danielle Warren Silverstein’s hilarious podcast Marriage and

Martinis. If you haven’t yet, tune-in. Danny, can you do a high school rehash episode and if you do, can you please include the time that you ran through my parent’s pond?

“I saw Mark Chatham and one of his adorable sons while on a run in Stone Harbor this summer. So great to catch up! As an aside, I am nominating him for ‘Best Hair’ this reunion.

He hasn’t shed a single strand.

“And yes, I unapologetically chose this photo from the summer of Jen and me because we’re tan and our sunglasses cover the crow’s feet.

“Look forward to ‘seeing’ everyone this spring!”

1996 Classmates Dana DeCore Falconi and Jen Walsh Thurlow enjoyed some warm weather this past summer Justin Krebs wrote that he “is running for New York City Council in the June election to represent the 39th District in Brooklyn.” He’s blending his years of experience running MoveOn’s national campaigns team, his work on culture, parks and progressive advocacy in the City, and his recent role as a parent leader and food pantry organizer into an energized local campaign.

Learn more at justin2021.org and tell folks in Brooklyn to check it out!

1997

Ellyn Rajfer Herkins 6 Anvil Court Marlboro, NJ 07746 (732) 970-8122 (home) ellynrajfer@gmail.com Mandy Rabinowitz Plonsky 9 Kittansett Court Skillman, NJ 08558 (609) 937-6348 (cell) mandyplonsky@gmail.com

1998

Giovanna Gray Lockhart 15 Willow Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 (917) 545-2575 (cell) gray.giovanna@gmail.com

Liz Gordon Hall “is currently Chief People Officer at Splash (https://splashthat.com/) and leads their recruiting, L&D, employee engagement, ‘Total Rewards’, DEI, performance man-

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Ben Cohen ’11

Harnessing Technology to Aid Vaccine Scheduling

Liz Gordon Hall ’98 with husband, Chris and sons, Charlie (12) and James (7) agement, culture, and HR functions. Splash is always looking for great talent so check out the careers page! Lives in Astoria, NY during ‘normal’ times and in North Cape May, NJ during global pandemics.”

1999

Joanna Woodruff Rominger 836 South Broad Street Lansdale, PA 19446 jbw1980@gmail.com

2000

Natasha Jacques Nolan 35 Pine Street Roswell, GA 30075-4819 (609) 647-6982 (cell) nnolan@gigisplayhouse.org Sapna E. G. Thottathil 4127 Bayo Street Oakland, CA 94619 (510) 604-2357 (cell) sapna.thottathil@gmail.com

Katie Babick ’02 and Ben Brickner “were delighted to celebrate our daughter, Abigail’s, first birthday in January. We have missed sharing this special time with friends and family in person but are thankful to be in Vermont where we can be outside every day. Abby spent much of her first year keeping us company in

As millions throughout the country are having difficulty securing appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, Princeton Day School alumnus Ben Cohen ’11 took matters into his own hands to find a solution.

Cohen created a website, covidvaccinetexts.com, that tracks available vaccine appointments at CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens pharmacies across the U.S. His efforts were recently covered by CBS News in Austin, TX and word is spreading to other news outlets.

Cohen, who works as a software programmer in Massachusetts, initially created the site after struggling to find an appointment for his mother, who is in a high-risk group.

He decided to make his work available to the public in hopes of helping others. “I realized if I could keep track where people were looking, and keep track of where the spots were opening up, I could play matchmaker and send them a notification,” Cohen shared in the CBS News report.

By simply signing up with a name, phone number and choosing a proximity to a zip code, the site sends text message alerts when appointments become available at pharmacy locations within the established parameters. “My hope for the site was to reduce stress for anyone searching for appointments, either for themselves or for a loved one,” Ben noted. “I chose to use text messages for the site because texting has become normalized across generations and I wanted it to be as easy as possible for anyone to use,” he added.

Cohen credited his PDS experience for teaching him to view the ways in which he can apply what he does to the broader community. “I enjoy the interdisciplinary aspect of thinking how different subjects connect to each other as opposed to living in isolation.

Steve Bailey helped me to understand that during my time at PDS,” he said. (Steve is a former Upper School math teacher and Technology Coordinator.)

“My day job is writing software for advanced software people, so it can be easy to stay in that proverbial box. It is helpful for me to have the perspective of how what I do ties into adjacent subjects in the community around me,” Cohen continued.

According to the CBS News report, more than 8,000 people have secured appointments with help from Ben’s website since it went live last Tuesday. Just Ben and two close friends manage the site at the moment, though he is considering enlisting more help as the site continues to grow and demand continues to soar.

Note: The Alumni Spotlights in this issue of the Journal were first published on the pds.org news feed during the 2020-2021 school year.

the garden, hiking on the Appalachian Trail and endearing herself to our dog by dropping Cheerios under the table. We can’t wait for you all to meet her at the next in-person reunion!”

2001

Carolyn Yarian Morgan 430 E. 57th Street, Apt. 4C New York, NY 10022 (609) 638-7249 (cell) carolyn.morgan2012@gmail.com

Katie Babick ’02 and Ben Brickner ’00 with their daughter, Abigail

Wilson H. Weed 707 10th Avenue, Unit 817 San Diego, CA 92101-6586 (808) 859-1629 (cell) wweed1@gmail.com

2002

Aviva Perlman Fintz 275 W. 96th Street, Apt. 5D New York, NY 10025 (609) 617-3754 (cell) aperlman26@gmail.com

Katie Babick and Ben Brickner ’00 live in Vermont and celebrated their daughter’s first birthday in January. (See the note they submitted under Ben Brickner ’00.)

Ari Paul wrote: “I continue building a cryptocurrency-focused asset management firm, BlockTower Capital. In 2020, we launched a second investment vehicle and reached $300M in managed capital. I spent much of

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the pandemic as a rural nomad living in New Hampshire, Vermont, rural Pennsylvania, and Costa Rica. I’m currently exploring a move to Miami or Puerto Rico.”

Landon and Jonathan Urey, twin sons of Alexandra Warren Urey ’02 Alexandra Warren Urey wrote: “On December 9, my husband and I welcomed our twin boys into the world. Landon and Jonathan have been an incredible addition to our family, a bright light during a challenging year. Despite the pandemic, they have already been able to meet their uncle Andrew Warren ’99. Thanks to Zoom, they have also been able to meet their great-aunt Lisa Warren ’71 and cousin Rachel Cantlay ’13. We are looking forward to watching them grow and, once the pandemic is over, meet all of our family and friends.”

Brian Smith wrote: “Longtime listener, firsttime caller. Hope everyone is hanging in there during this long pandemic year. In the past 12 months, I finished law school at UCLA, took (and passed!) the California bar exam and started a new job as a lawyer with Paul Hastings in Los Angeles, working with a stellar group of entertainment and media attorneys— from the comfort and endless monotony of my own home. My first movie as writer and producer, Perception, came out in 2019 and is available through Amazon Prime. Very happy to be out of school again and back to work... but I do miss running into [UCLA professor] Graeme Blair ’02 on the quad.”

Christopher Campbell submitted: “The Campbell family is moving again! The Air Force is sending us back to Edwards Air Force Base in California this summer. I will take command of the 461st Flight Test Squadron, which performs test and evaluation on all variants of the F-35 for the United States and our allies. Our stay in DC felt too short. We spent far more time stuck inside our little townhome than we initially expected but, thankfully, the whole family has stayed healthy. There’s so much we missed... I suppose our best option is to try and move back sometime in the future.

Fingers crossed that the Air Force concurs.”

Nicholas Perold submitted: “After five years in Detroit, our family recently moved back to the PDS area, buying a home in Hopewell… loving the experience of rediscovering the region and wasted no time in reconnecting with former teachers and mentors such as Bill Stoltzfus, Tom Quigley and Liz Cutler. If you’re local or passing through drop a line; would love to say hello!”

2004

Katherine Chimacoff Dickens PSC 561 Box 3133 FPO, AP 96310 (925) 998-8191 (cell) Mrskatedickens@gmail.com

Parker Curtis ’02 with his bride, Mary Sisson Curtis, former PDS teacher

2003

Allison Marshall 317 NW 89th Seattle, WA 98117 (202) 375-9559 (cell) amarshall220@aol.com

Greetings class of 2003! I hope everyone and their families are doing well; wishing you all health and happiness this year. My husband, John, my 1.5-year-old daughter, Isla, and I are still hunkered down safely in Seattle; looking forward to seeing family and friends in-person again at larger gatherings.

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Scott E. Rosenberg 111 S. 15th Street, Apt. 2204 Philadelphia, PA 19102 (609) 462-2526 (cell) rosenbergse@gmail.com

Mallory Sosinski Bryson submitted online: “We are enjoying life here in Cheyenne so far! It snowed right after Labor Day weekend, which we certainly weren’t ready for, though we’ve been assured that the snow doesn’t usually start quite that early.

We’ve had several big storms since then, and our little Ben has learned to love playing outside in the snow and even went sledding for the first time recently! Bobby is doing well in his new officer career and I am enjoying being back in the classroom and working with kids. We hope everyone is safe and healthy!”

Kate Chimacoff Dickens wrote: “We moved to Iwakuni, Japan last year (March 2020)!

My husband is forward deployed on the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier as a pilot with VFA 195, the world famous Dambusters! It’s a wild two-year tour with the ongoing pandemic.

We will be in Princeton this summer and then back to Japan until May 2022.”

Scott Rosenberg and his wife, Jenn, welcomed Brielle Devon Rosenberg on 2/19/21. “The new family of three is healthy and happy!”

Scott Rosenberg ’04 with his wife and baby Brielle, born February 19, 2021

2005

Hilary Richards Conger 295 Washington Avenue, #5A Brooklyn, NY 11205 (609) 915-6651 (cell) hilary.conger@gmail.com

Harrison Epstein said: “I started a new job virtually during the pandemic helping launch a new venture debt fund for Aon, and in January my girlfriend, Emma, and I moved out of our apartments, put our lives into storage and hit the road. Drove first to Chicago (after hitting a deer two hours into the trip; we’re fine though!) then on to Breckenridge, CO for two weeks, Park City, UT for another couple of weeks, then to Sun Valley, ID and Montana, then seeing where life takes us.

COVID-19 has allowed us to work remotely so we’re taking advantage of it before getting called back to NYC.”

Harrison Epstein ’05 and his girlfriend, Emma, hitting the slopes

Ryelle Aria Wilson was born to Jackie Pisaturo Wilson ’05 and Trevin Wilson on November 18, 2020 Ryelle Aria Wilson was born on November 18, 2020. Weighing seven pounds, six ounces and 20 inches long, she was born in Las Vegas, NV to Jackie Pisaturo Wilson and Trevin Wilson.

Jackie said, “We are so in love already and excited to welcome her to the world!”

Jessica Burns Caravella wrote: “Our silver lining of 2020 was welcoming our baby daughter Rose. We are all grateful for this time together, especially with her big brother, Harrison.”

Ian McCue, a scholar of nanostructured materials, wrote with “some big updates in the McCue household.” Ian elaborated: “My wife, Jessica, and I are expecting our first child (a boy!) March 14. We are also moving out to Chicago over the summer because I accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in the materials science and engineering department at Northwestern.”

2007

Nina Crouse ninacrouse@gmail.com Vishal Gupta 58 East Springfield Street, Unit 3 Boston, MA 02118 (609) 658-4768 (home) vishgupta2@gmail.com Alexandra Hiller Rorick 205 East 85th Street, Apt. 14F New York, NY 10028 (609) 658-2961 (cell) ali.rorick@gmail.com

Jameson Cumsky received his M.D. from Case Western University School of Medicine in 2019 and is in the second year of his radiology residency at the Mayo Clinic. Jameson is married to Dr. Helen Liang Cumsky, who is a second-year dermatology resident at the Mayo Clinic.

Jessica Burns Caravella ’05 with her husband, Chris, and children, Harrison and Rose

2006

Jacob M. Fisch 696 Elm Place, Apt. 308 Highland Park, IL 60035 (609) 731-2540 (cell) mendyman@gmail.com

This Journal entry, I open with the very sad news that Courtney Leopold passed away in December. Courtney is remembered as a cheerful and generous member of our class. An avid dancer in high school, Courtney last wrote to Class Notes in 2013 when she had just completed her master’s in counseling and certification as a yoga therapist. Her goal was to use yoga therapy to “work one-on-one with individuals who are dealing with long-term illness or rehabilitation,” bringing that therapy from Los Angeles back to New Jersey. Courtney accomplished just that, teaching yoga across New Jersey, becoming a licensed counselor and an adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey. Courtney will be missed. An obituary appeared in the Trenton Times on December 13, 2020. If you have memories of Courtney, please write to Class Notes ahead of the next Journal deadline in September.

Nicole Auerbach was named the 2020 National Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association, becoming the organization’s youngest-ever national winner and first female writer to win such an honor.

Nina Crouse wrote: “After almost 14 years in Boston, I moved to Denver, CO and finally live in the same city again as my sister (Allie Crouse)! I am very grateful to have been able to make this move and prioritize hiking almost every weekend. Once it is safe, we will be making frequent trips to Maine to visit our sister (Carly Crouse Nicholas ’05), brother-in-law, niece and nephew. We can’t wait to fulfill our ‘aunt’ duties in person and eventually meet Ali Hiller Rorick’s baby girl!”

their second son, Kai Hussein Perold, on September 1, 2020. Now living in Verona, NJ, Ani is excited to be starting her clinical psychology predoctoral internship at Audrey Hepburn Children’s House in July... “and to finally be done with graduate school in May 2022. Pandemic times have been hard, but a silver lining has been older brother Nick Perold ’03 and his family recently moving back to the Princeton area from Michigan.”

Alexandra Hiller Rorick wrote: “My husband and I welcomed our first baby, Ellery Anne Rorick, on October 28, 2020! The three of us are healthy and happy and enjoying new parenthood. Ellery is also lucky to have Jenna Dodds as her godmother!”

2008

Tessica Glancey Crampton 301 E. 63rd Street, Apt. 6J New York, NY 10065 (202) 603-1979 (cell) tessicaglancey@gmail.com

Kalla Gervasio will finish her last year of ophthalmology residency in June 2021 at Wills Eye Hospital where she served as the Chief Resident. She is staying at Wills Eye for a fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology next year.

Hannah Epstein wrapped up her ninth season at NFL Films by working as Director of Photography for the Super Bowl coin toss video with Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. Introducing the honorary captains of the game, Amanda Gorman’s poem highlighted three amazing essential workers, which Hannah also filmed for the accompanying video. Working through the COVID-19 NFL season meant games without fans, new creative solutions and abiding by rigorous work and travel restrictions to stay healthy while capturing football across the country.

Aniella Perold and her husband welcomed

Hannah Epstein ’08 was Director of Photography for the Super Bowl coin toss video with Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman.

Nina Crouse ’07 and Allie Crouse ’07 hiking in Colorado together

pds.org

SPRING 2021

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Greg Francfort gave up his NYC apartment in 2020 and has turned into a New Jersey nomad, including growing out his hair to look more like Tom Hanks in Castaway. He still works for Bank of America covering the restaurant sector.

Alexa Maher Hove wrote: “Erik and I are excited to welcome our first child in August!

To share this joy with our family and because of the way COVID-19 and the February 1 coup in Myanmar have affected our lives, we are planning on returning to work in the United States for the upcoming academic year.

This past year has found us teaching through the night to reach our students in Myanmar from our families’ homes in the United States.

We were unable to return for the 2020-2021 school year due to a ban on all foreign arrivals to Myanmar during the pandemic.”

Tessica Glancey Crampton and husband Rob are thrilled to share the news that “our family is growing by one! We are expecting our first child in August and couldn’t be happier.”

Nicholas Vik, Emmalee Carr, Sarah Matthes, Franklin Howard and Juan Carlos MelendezTorres.

Alex Feuer Portale ’10’s pup, Clover

2010

Anna D. Otis 84 Dutchtown-Harlingen Road Belle Mead, NJ 08502 (908) 418-6102 (cell) annaotis92@gmail.com Alexandra W. Feuer Portale 21 Sheridan Road Doylestown, PA 18901 (609) 240-1706 (cell) awfeuer@gmail.com

Sheridan Gates wrote: “I recently launched a masterclass for theatre and music students called ‘It’s OK to Be a Renegade’ designed to help students realize the accessibility of pursuing a career in the arts from the ground level. The goal is to foster a discussion that demystifies breaking into the entertainment industry and leave

the students with resources, practical tips and a community where they feel heard and supported. So naturally, I started at PDS and had the best time speaking virtually to the Upper School choir students! Any teachers that could use a break, I’d love to speak to your students!”

Anna Otis has been working remotely since last March and has been spending her free time with her boyfriend and their two dogs. They just returned from a cross-country road trip to Nevada, stopping along the way to visit (safely) with friends in Cincinnati and Denver.

Alex (Raquel) Phillips reported that she was officially hired to be the Vice President of Television for JJ Abrams’s production company, Bad Robot Productions!

Alexandra Feuer Portale: I’m working at The Crefeld School in Philadelphia as an Emotional Support Counselor. Joe and I live in Doylestown, PA with our dog, Clover.

2011

Evan D. Seto 18 Lynn Court North Brunswick, NJ 08902 (732) 710-0020 (cell) eseto17@gmail.com

Schuyler Samse submitted: “I recently moved to Chicago to pursue my MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. If you’re ever in the Windy City, let’s meet for a drink!”

2012 Celebrating the wedding of Brielle Manley Greek ’09 and David Greek ’09 are (left to right): Nicholas Vik ’09, Emmalee Carr ’09, Matthew Greek ’08, Alexa Manley Motter ’11, David, Brielle, Sarah Matthes ’09, Franklin Howard III ’09 and Juan Carlos MelendezTorres ’09.

2009

Annie Nyce 9 Brookside Avenue Pennington, NJ 08534 (609) 558-2453 (cell) annienyce@gmail.com

Ashley Smoots 1339 Westchester Ridge Northeast Atlanta, GA 30329-2483 (267) 987-9448 (cell) asmoots@gmail.com

Peter F. Powers 143 W 69th Street, #2A New York, NY 10023 (609) 658-8799 (cell) peterfpowers@gmail.com

Vinay Trivedi 325 Ridge Avenue Newtown, PA 18940 (267) 229-2425 (cell) vt1090@gmail.com

Brielle Manley Greek and David Greek got married in a small outdoor ceremony on September 19, 2020 (which was also Dave’s 30th birthday!). They were joined by siblings Alexa Manley Motter ’11 and Matthew Greek ’08, as well as classmates and close friends JOURNAL

Rachel Maddox 58 Fieldcrest Avenue Skillman, NJ 08558 (908) 829-4230 (home) (609) 571-7998 (cell) Rachel.Maddox@conncoll.edu

Clio Sage Maudlin ’10’s new dog, Spooks

Elizabeth Yellin ’10’s puppy, Moose

Dallas Derr submitted: “In my second year as assistant coach of Montgomery Bell Academy varsity ice hockey in Nashville. This year, we captured the school’s first ever state title in ice hockey. Hoping this can help build a connection between such a prestigious southern prep school like MBA and PDS.”

Peter W. Klein 1234 North Eddy Street, Apt. 218 South Bend, IN 46117 (609) 218-1350 (cell) pklein@nd.edu

Dallas Derr ’12 holding the ice hockey state championship trophy for Montgomery Bell Academy where he is an assistant varsity ice hockey coach

2013

Leah G. Falcon 10985 Bluffside Drive, Apt. 5218 Studio City, CA 91604 (609) 279-9774 (home) (609) 558-3887 (cell) lgfalcon04917@gmail.com Robert S. Madani 2662 Oregon Avenue St. Louis, MO 63118 (609) 771-0912 (home) (609) 240-9420 (cell) robert.s.madani@gmail.com

2014

Rory E. Finnegan 154 East 29th Street, Apt. #13G New York, NY 10016 (908) 391-9303 (cell) ref8af@virginia.edu Mary G. Travers 433 Whitney Avenue, #B4 New Haven, CT 06511 (609) 216-3244 (cell) mary.travers@yale.edu

2015

Grace Lee 67 Bridle Path Belle Mead, NJ 08502 (908) 280-0006 (home) (847) 387-9129 (cell) gracelee6666@gmail.com Caroline R. Lippman 13 Aqua Terrace Pennington, NJ 08534 (609) 737-3235 (home) (609) 651-0771 (cell) crlippman@gmail.com

2016

Kathryn T. Cammarano 6 Hunters Ridge Drive Pennington, NJ 08534 (609) 610-4340 (cell) camm1217@aol.com Helen Healey 25 Springdale Road Princeton, NJ 08540 (609) 613-3983 (cell) helen.healey97@gmail.com

Sophia Bernardi wrote: “After graduating from Villanova in May 2020, I spent the fall interning in the events department of Autumn Communications, a public relations and marketing firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Because in-person events are currently on hold, I helped plan virtual experiences and mailers for agency clients such as Amazon.

I recently accepted a full-time position as account coordinator in Autumn’s NYC office.”

2017

Abigail Atkeson 17 Hart Avenue Hopewell, NJ 08525 (609) 213-7427 (cell) abigail.atkeson@gmail.com Tyler A. Birch 10 Moselem Springs Court Skillman, NJ 08558 (609) 619-1727 (cell) tbflyers@gmail.com

2018

Hallie B. Hoffman 63 Grist Mill Drive Belle Mead, NJ 08502 (609) 480-4240 (cell) halliebryn@gmail.com

This past year has been a wild ride. While being enrolled in the figurative “Zoom University” while at home with my family, I had the opportunity to start an exciting venture. I recently launched a start-up called BingeRoom, a site that lets you see what movies and shows your friends are watching, share personal recommendations, discuss in public and private groups and more! As a huge binge-watcher, I love connecting with people over our shared love of movies and shows, but I could never find a site dedicated to this. That’s why I created BingeRoom.com. It’s been an amazing adventure so far as I’ve worked to get the site from concept to beta, and I have many more plans for the future. I’ve always loved television—in fact, my very first article published in the Spokesman was a review of superhero television shows! But I could never have imagined then what it would be like to start a business based on this passion.

Devon Wenzel wrote: “After my father chastised me for having a ‘comedic’ entry into this most prestigious PDS Journal, I have decided to submit a very serious and professional entry on what I’ve been up to in the past year. The short answer is ‘not much’ but that is the cor-

rect answer to have because we are in the middle of a panoramic! To all those still doing unnecessary travel during the pandemic, please ask yourselves why you think your livelihood is more important than literally anyone else’s and take a good hard look in the mirror and realize that it isn’t! Silly, silly people spreading a plague, this is not the 1400s anymore. Tsk tsk, check yourself please.

“I’m currently in the process of trying to find a summer internship, which is hard for a humanities person like myself—if you are reading this and are in the television industry, please hire me. I’m extremely funny and will make you really good cups of coffee, which is a big plus for you, in my humble opinion. I’ve been buying the same plant from Trader Joe’s about once a week and I plan to have an entire brigade of Kalanchoe, provided I don’t accidentally kill them due to lack of sunlight.

“I’ve had many kitchen disasters in the past week or so, but I’ve come out on top! Take that, burnt oatmeal and pasta that I set on fire! Until next time: Xoxo, gossip girl”

2019

Amon M. DeVane 287 Bunker Hill Road Princeton, NJ 08540 (908) 202-1402 (cell) amond1234567@gmail.com Raina Kasera 20 Nostrand Road Cranbury, NJ 08512 (609) 716-7551 (cell) raina.kasera@gmail.com

Helen Mehreteab wrote: “As a college sophomore, I currently serve as the Academics Co-Director for Women in Computer Science (WiCS) and also worked as a course assistant for Harvard’s introductory computer science course last fall. I’m looking forward to the next two years and continuing to share my passion for tech!”

(Far right) Helen Mehreteab ’19 and fellow Women in Computer Science members enjoy a meal at Zinneken’s Belgian Waffles.

2020

Needs Correspondent SPRING 2021

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former faculty notes Steve Bailey, former computer teacher, wrote: “This year has been one like no other for all of us. Heather and I are very lucky to be spending the pandemic in Vermont, one of the less densely populated states in the US. We were able to go outdoors most days.

Fortunately, our explorations of the woods and mountains surrounding us has provided Melissa ’00, Heather and Steve Bailey us with locations where we exploring in Vermont find very few people. We have gotten to know our local area far better than we ever did before.

We did lots of hiking and swimming in the summer, and we are doing lots of cross-country skiing and hiking in the winter. Our big news is that our daughter Melissa ’00 has moved to Vermont and lives only an hour away. We are enjoying including her in some of our outings.

“Our volunteering at the local food pantry has been curtailed due to our age. We have been replaced by college and high school-aged workers, though I still am on the board of the food pantry. We are scheduled to get our vaccinations on March 3, and we hope to resume some of our previous activities. In the meantime, we are trying to stay safe and enjoy the outdoors.”

Helen Bodel, former Middle School teacher, wrote: “It seems a complicated—and exciting—start to 2021 for all of us, especially with increased hope that a COVID-19 vaccine will be available within months. I thrill at seeing a compassionate new president in office—one with ideas about re-energizing the affordable health care act; about immigrant families’ road to citizenship; about fair taxes for the middle class; and about all sorts of help and support for those in need of housing, medicine and work. I rejoice, in seeing a remarkable woman in the vice presidency, especially one from the Bay Area, my home for 30 years! In midDecember, I left Vermont and flew to Kona, HI, where I spent my fifth grade year back in 1955... and where you might correctly imagine that the coastal dirt road leading past our home on the lava shore and into the village is now three lanes wide; and that large (gorgeous) condominiums have replaced lava fields and cottages! The massive root-hung banyan trees I remember scattered along the road to town remain so; and the tall plumeria still give off their sweet smell to us passers-by. With the UC Moss Landing Marine Labs shut, Annie B. ’03 is here with me, snorkeling on the reef most days, hanging with old Berkeley friends, and working on her new thesis topic. Me, I eat papaya and pineapple, drink Kona coffee, and gaze at the sea, just as retired as I’ve been since 2011— but with tan lines!”

Peter Buttenheim, former Middle School teacher/coach, wrote: “Hi from Northampton, MA where Frances and I have been living with our older daughter, Jennifer, and her family since last May when we sold our Delaware condo. The countryside in The Pioneer Valley has been the perfect place for us to sequester during the COVID-19 crisis.

“Frances and I had planned to move to Kendal, a CCRC in Kennett Square, PA, but Kendal was closed as of last spring to any new residents because of the pandemic. We expect to move there in March 2021.

“I had to have major surgery for bladder cancer on December 14 at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. John Gordon ’72 knew about the surgery, and he wrote cheerful and uplifting emails to me ahead of time from Vermont.

JOURNAL

“What I did not know was the fact that John reached out to Steve ’72 and Evan ’73 Bash as well as Giaff ’72, Cam ’73 and Grayson ’74 Ferrante, plus Gary Salup ’74—all of whom played on the PDS varsity soccer team when I was the coach.

“Each of them sent a note to me that I got to read during my week in the hospital, and I cannot tell you how meaningful it was to hear from young men I knew way back in their teens in the 1970s who are now mid-life gentlemen! Vibes from old friends are the very best medicine…

“To everyone connected with PDS, please stay safe and healthy!”

Kay Haartz Cortelyou, former math teacher, wrote: “I have tried to think of new news that might be different from last year’s news. But we all know that 2020 was a year most of us did little, except try to avoid others, wear our masks, and stay COVID-19 free. We have been fortunate to be so close to our son, Chris, and granddaughters that they qualify as part of our family unit. The granddaughters were not in school for seven months, so we spent a lot of time with them. Our son had his home office in our home and worked out of that office five days a week. Most horse shows were canceled. Kip was the most productive and least affected because he has two large gardens which he cares for himself—and he continues to do that. We have been in Spring, TX for 15 months; we have eaten something from his gardens every day during that time. Last week during the record cold, he did have a few crops freeze; but today it is 70, and he will replant. We have had our COVID-19 vaccinations. We have hopes for a better 2021, as everyone does. As always, I love to hear from my students and appreciate those who already have reconnected with me because of this column. We live north of Houston. In time, maybe when this issue has been mailed, we would enjoy visits, real, virtual or email. Thank you for continuing to publish this column.”

Laurie Curtis, former Lower School teacher wrote: “All is well in Marion, MA. Hal and I continue to love living near the ocean and not far from Boston. I continue to love my work in admissions and as a reading tutor at Our Sisters School in New Bedford. The highlight of our COVID19 quarantine was being able to have a tiny wedding for our son, Parker Curtis ’02, and his bride, Mary Sisson Curtis. We absolutely adore Mary; she is a former PDS English teacher. They both teach in Boston, though at separate schools.”

Betsy Davis, former Registrar, wrote: “I have been involved with two start-up companies—one selling real estate in the Maldives and Sri Lanka, and the other is selling snowmobile tours in Wyoming— Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. Between the two, it’s kept me quite busy.

“I was also able to go on a 10-day horse packing trip into the Wind River Range in Wyoming last August—the perfect COVID-19 vacation.

“My kids (Megan ’10 and Grahame ’13) are both doing well. Megan lived with me for a bit this year but is back East now—and studying to be a nurse. Grahame is also back East and, unfortunately, due to COVID-19 I’ve only seen him once in the last year. I even sold my NJ house in July and never went back for the closing. What a weird world we live in.”

Steve Hancock, former Head of the Middle School, and Stephanie Hancock, former MS music teacher, wrote: “We relocated to Milwaukee, WI in July of 2020 as Steve became the Head of School at University School of Milwaukee, a thriving independent school of 1,100 students on the north side of Milwaukee. We are truly enjoying our new home, even in the midst of the pandemic, and this also brings us ‘back home’ as Steve grew up in Wisconsin and Stephanie in Illinois. Stephanie is teaching in the USM band program, assisting with the Middle School bands. Emily ’17 will graduate from Oberlin Conservatory in the spring

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of 2021 with a degree in clarinet performance and hopes to begin graduate study in the fall of 2021. Clay ’20 is in his first year at New England Conservatory in Boston majoring in violin performance and pursuing a variety of musical interests. We continue to cherish the memories of our time at Princeton Day School and the many faculty, students and friends we hold dear at PDS!” Eileen Hohmuth-Lemonick, former Upper School photography teacher, reported that she is doing her own work and has a show scheduled at the Arts Council of Princeton for February 2022. Exciting!

Holly Fewkes Kemp, former assistant to the Athletic Director, wrote: “Wow, it’s been 14 years since I left PDS. I am the Associate Athletic Director at Nichols School in Buffalo, NY and have enjoyed moving to/living in western New York! At Nichols, I have coached a variety of sports including varsity softball, JV girls soccer, 7/8 girls soccer and varsity girls golf. I manage our program of 23 varsity sports with 60 total teams from 5th-12th grade. I am currently planning a celebration for National Girls & Women in Sports Day to spread awareness and acknowledgement of our successful girls teams!

“My husband, Gordon, and I enjoy traveling, playing badminton and attending Sabres and Bills games. We purchased a new home (same neighborhood) as COVID-19 began, so our free time was and will continue to be spent on house projects. I’m still an avid Mets fan even from afar! My quest to visit the 30 MLB parks is almost complete with only one (Phoenix) left on the list. A few cities have new stadiums I need to get to as well. At the time of this submission, we are cheering on our Buffalo Bills as they make a run fr the AFC championship then hopefully the Super Bowl! (Editor’s Note: Better luck next year!)

“I enjoy volunteering at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Kenmore United Methodist Church. We return to NJ often to visit my family down the shore and in Union County. I am still in touch with John Levandowski, Ted Harrington and Carol Koiro, our awesome athletic department in the years I was at PDS!”

Lila Lohr h’00, former Head of School, wrote: “I think of you all so often and love hearing the PDS news. I’m doing my 10th interim headship this year at St. Catherine’s (a K-12, all-girls) in Richmond, VA. Bobby and I have loved being in so many schools all across the country, making new friends and learning new ways of doing things. Always love running into or catching up with PDS friends!”

Louise (Topp) McClure, former music teacher, wrote; “I’m still teaching strings and still becoming a better teacher. Like everyone, I had to pivot to teaching both individual and group classes online last spring.

Previously, all I could do with the computer was email and simple Word stuff. Now, I have explored several online platforms built expressly for teaching music, and, of course, Zoom. I’ve made practice videos for each teaching point in each piece of both violin and viola book one. They have made a huge difference in the speed and quality of my students’ learning.

“This year’s beginners worked in the backyard or on the front porch with the heater going, all the way into January. The Pre-Twinklers loved having group class in the backyard—my neighbor filmed them running gleefully all over the yard for one game.

“We took the NJ Suzuki Workshop entirely online last summer (one of very few in the country), ending up with 75 students from all over the country, and 75 teacher trainees from the U.S. and from Singapore, Switzerland and Spain! Our first ever WinterFest one-day workshop on Presidents Day attracted 50 students from around the U.S., and drew faculty from CT, GA, MT and Lima, Peru, as well as the NJ faculty.

There IS something to be said for the versatility of virtual instruction.

But all of us long to be back in three dimensions, with real-time sound.

“In November, we realized my husband’s lifelong dream of owning a summer home in the mountains—the Adirondacks, actually. Since we’ll be up there in the summer, I had to find a replacement to direct the summer Hopewell Orchestra. After a year and a half of searching, the perfect person finally turned up. Now we’ll see if it’s possible to get people together to play this summer—most likely, it’ll be outside.

“I feel for the classroom teachers who now have double or triple their normal workload, as well as for the kids who have been so isolated. We all know that a lot of screen time is dangerous for developing brains, but here we are.”

Judy Michaels, former Upper School English teacher, wrote: “I feel as though life lately has been nothing but snow shoveling and Zoom. I wish one could just Zoom the snow shoveling. But I’ve been grateful to be able to do my socializing, volunteer work, medical check-ups and shopping mostly from my desk, not to mention enjoying poetry workshops and readings, dance programs and concerts from the comfort of my living room. A wonderful PDS connection occurred a few weeks ago when I ‘attended’ a workshop by Susan Stein and Kate Winton on Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem performance. It was part of a series presented by Susan and co-written with Kate that looks at Black history through Black literature with, I think, a focus on the struggle for social justice. Another moment of connection occurred just this morning, when I’d opened a poetry collection in preparation for watching a session on poetry with Rita Dove, via the Library of Congress, and out from between the pages fell a little clipping about Dove’s admiration of the late W. S. Merwin. I recognized it right away as part of a lovely packet of poetry articles sent me maybe a couple years ago by the late Jane Grigger. How many of us must be finding these mementoes of Jane’s caring and curating!

Tom Pears, former math and computer teacher, wrote: “Hope you are surviving the year of COVID-19. I spend my days in a man-cave that is really most like the back room of a historical society. Lots of computer tools. No TV or refrigerator. I ride a road bicycle for exercise. Since we live in NH, I can’t do much riding in the winter, so I have been going in January to Cancun, Mexico, February to LA, CA and March to Lagos, Portugal, each for two weeks. I report on the trips on tompears.com (not this year).

“I especially noted Tom Pears with his family (left to right): grandthe passing of the son, Thomas; son-in-law, Kevin; Tom; daughformer head of the ter, Elizabeth; wife, Kim and daughter, Emily PDS Lower School Steve Gilbert. The summer of 1969, Steve and a friend programmed a computer to do the school schedule. Most nights they just slept in the faculty room to be available to program the next steps. Before he was Head of the Lower School, Steve started the computer program at PDS and hired me. I did not see much of Steve after leaving PDS in 1979, but I hope some of you were able to cross paths with him.

“I do not get back very often but did one morning in 2016. With security and all, I knew I could not just wander around as I would want to do. A young coach (?) in the admission office was giving a prospective

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student a tour and volunteered to take me along. It was wonderful to see the school. A real challenge to try to remember how this or that area had looked 40 years ago. I was fairly well-behaved and did not offer too many comments, but at one point I was prompted to share this: PDS did, and I am sure it does now, have a lot of very smart, driven students.

The same young men and women would turn up as the head of sports, class, academics, etc. We came up with a great way to spread the honors instead of having them concentrated in a small group: we just kept adding activities. One could only do so many things: shop, architecture, computers, astronomy, drama, music, etc. Gave some other students the chance to be really proud of their special accomplishments.”

Kathryn Rosko, former Director of Communications, wrote: “What a year! Fortunately, we are all doing well here in Pennington. My family has stayed healthy through the pandemic, and we have been able to continue with hybrid school and remote work. I am still working with Rutgers Global, heading up their marketing and communications, and really enjoying it, despite the disruptions of the past year. The big news for me is that I’ve just started my coursework to get my master’s degree in digital marketing through the Rutgers Business School. It’s been, ahem, a few years since I’ve been a student, so I am adjusting to the transition, but really enjoying it! My hope is to complete the degree in the next two years. It will be busy with full-time work, family, etc., etc., but I’m really excited about it. I’ve also been playing piano again, as I realize it’s one of the few things I can do that doesn’t involve a screen!”

“Between the pandemic, and teaching next fall maybe back in UC Berkeley proper, I don’t expect to resume my RV rambles till spring 2022.

“My children are pursuing their careers in LA. Lumin does statistical analysis and gaming and is the US national champion in the board game “Agricola.” Mason does online entertainment; his one-take, multi-accent comedy covers of popular songs have earned >100,000,000 clicks.”

Bunny Webb, former librarian, wrote: “I am approaching 90 this summer and living safe, well-fed and cared for and mostly locked down in Canterbury Woods Continuing Care Community in Buffalo, NY. My family, daughter, son-in-law and grandsons, Arthur, a materials engineering grad at the University of Toronto, and Willis, living a gap year, are in Hamilton, Ontario. Canada sees U.S. as a hotbed of virus, so the border has been locked since early spring. We spend time on the internet and phone.

“We have a nice library here and I am still being a librarian. Please tell Elaine Howard ’77 she does not imagine the senior prank web in the upper library. Yarn collected from mothers and grandmothers was woven from balcony to floor. It was lovely and I remember it well. After it was cut and pulled down, at least one mother wanted her yarn back.”

Maria Shepard, former US Spanish teacher and Dave Freedholm, current PDS US history/religion teacher, welcomed their first grandchild, Leo Oliver Rosenbaum, on November 3, 2020. Leo’s parents are Becca Freedholm ’06 and Greg Rosenbaum, who live in Austin, TX.

Jane Spencer, former US English teacher, wrote: “Walking, gardening, reading, making masks, trying new recipes have all been fun during retirement. Keeping active while avoiding COVID-19 has been a difficult challenge, but we also have had a really exciting and rewarding challenge taking care of a litter of Old English sheepdog puppies born to our four-year-old Phillie in our kitchen on December 20th. Happy 2021 to all, and I hope that everyone is well.”

Judy and Charlie Williams kayaking in Maine last summer Judy Williams, former Lower School teacher, reported: “Not much news for 2020! My husband and I stayed in Bridgehampton for most of the year. We took long walks every day and the beaches were open all summer.

We rented a cottage near Camden, ME for the month of August where we enjoyed the beautiful lakes in our new kayaks. We both have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, so we are starting to think about traveling again. We would like to see our daughters and our grandchildren!”

Jane Spencer’s Old English sheepdog with new puppies Norm Sperling, former science teacher, reported that he is “still in good health, mostly sheltering in place. Teaching over Zoom was a hassle but not catastrophic. I continue editing and writing:

* The COVID-19 special issue of The Journal of Irreproducible Results, the science humor magazine, just went to the printer. * Astronomy.com published my opinion column: “The Case for Selling Off Pieces of Arecibo Observatory” https://astronomy.com/ news/2021/02/opinion-the-case-for-selling-off-pieces-of-arecibo JOURNAL

Former Athletic Director Jan Baker celebrated with members of the Class of 1973 at their 25th reunion: (L-R) Beth Sanford, Ellen Fisher, Jan, Glenna Weisberg Anderson and Martha Sullivan Sword

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in memoriam

The School has learned of the passing of the following members of the Princeton Day School community. We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to their families and friends.

Bruce Ackerman

Rose and Daniel Haggerty

Earle Gerald “Jerry” Amaral

Martha Hartmann

Father of John Ackerman ’95 and Robin Ackerman Cameron ’98 Grandfather of Jack Amaral ’17 and Margaret “Maggie” Amaral ’20; and Father-in-Law of Kathy Schulte, Assistant Head of School for Advancement and Strategic Priorities

Janet Elderkin Azzoni ’46 Joseph Bachelder

Grandparents of Joseph Haggerty ’15, Charlotte Haggerty ’20 and Caroline Haggerty ’20 Mother of Elizabeth “Betsy” Hartmann ’69

Mark Heald ’43 Calvin Hodock

Father of Courtney Hodock, PDS Senior Development Officer

Husband of Louise Mason Bachelder ’54; Father of Lisa Bachelder Alcock ’74, Christina “Cary” Bachelder Dufresne ’77 and Hilary Bachelder ’88; and Grandfather of Louise Dufresne Serio ’09 and Mason Dufresne ’13

John Jacobus ’82

James A. Boozan

Rita Kravitz

Father of Hope Boozan ’15

Dr. Stephen Borrus

Father of Daniel Borrus ’97

Brother of Marget Jacobus ’75, Claire Jacobus ’78 (Andrew Hildick-Smith ’77) and Laura Jacobus ’81

Lesley Loser Johnston ’66 Former trustee

Mother of Arthur Kravitz ’75

Henry Lane ’74

Robert Clement

Brother of Stephen Lane ’64, Sally Lane ’66, Mark Lane ’70, Catherine Lane ’71, Mary Lane ’75 and Teresa Lane ’79

Edwin P. Crowell

James Laughlin ’43

Husband of Phyllis Vandewater Clement ’40 Grandfather of Ian Crowell ’10, Brian Crowell ’11 and Kathleen Crowell ’15; and Father-in-Law of Jeanne Crowell, PDS Associate Director of Admission

Jo Brewster Devlin

Mother of Peyton “Punky” Brewster Rutledge ’68, Shelby “Shelly” Brewster McMahan ’70 and Julia Brewster ’73

Arthur L. Fein

Father of Richard Fein ’74, Douglas Fein ’79 and Karen Fein Kelly ’80; and Grandfather of Jillian Kelly ’13

Dail Forsyth

Former PDS receptionist, Mother of former Business Manager Cindy Shapiro Stadulis (Tom Stadulis, former Director of Operations); Grandmother of Leslie Shapiro Davenport ’06 and Megan Shapiro Kapilevich ’08; and StepGrandmother of Philip Stadulis ’08, Ben Stadulis ’09 and Sara Stadulis ’12

Marcia “Mussy” Geer

Former MFS science teacher

Helen Gentile

Grandmother of Andrew Gentile ’03 and Daniel Gentile ’07

Robert Goeke

Grandfather of Patrick McDonald ’06

J. Jeffrey Griggs ’64

Brother of Robert Griggs ’61 (Donna Maxwell Griggs ’65)

Wife of Julia Gallup Laughlin ’55; Brother of Ledlie Laughlin ’45; Father of Ophelia “Fifi” Laughlin ’77, PDS Lower School teacher James Laughlin ’80 (PDS Lower School assistant teacher Margie Laughlin); Grandfather of Katelyn Laughlin ’16 and Margaret Laughlin ’19; Uncle of Leighton “Toby” Laughlin ’64, Christopher Laughlin ’65, Alexander Laughlin ’72 and Carin Laughlin Hoffman ’74; and Great-Uncle to Logan Laughlin ’06

Courtney Leopold ’06 Toby Ludmer

Mother of Caren Ludmer ’76

Elgin Richard Mayer, Jr.

Former PDS industrial arts teacher

Mary Elizabeth McClellan

Mother of Ann McClellan ’68, William McClellan ’75 and Robert McClellan ’77

Bradford Mills, Sr.

Father of Elizabeth “Lizette” Mills Hardie ’71, Bradford A. Mills ’72, former trustee Barbara “Babette” Mills Henagan ’77 and Ross Mills ’85; and Grandfather of Morgan Mills ’17

William Morea

Father of Greg Morea ’78

Chip Orr

Brother of Pam Orr Marck ’70

Frederick S. Osborne ’55

Brother of Lydia Osborne ’65 and Cousin of Arthur Dielhenn ’62 and Jane Dielhenn Otis ’60

Ann Tomlinson Reed ’40

Mother of Samuel C. Finnell ’74 (Molly Murdoch Finnell ’76); Step-Mother of Barbara Rose ’64 and Hope Rose Angier ’66; and Grandmother of Margaret “Maggie” Finnell ’02

John H. Rhodes

Father of Christian Rhodes, Acting Head of the PDS Upper School

Sherwood M. Smith ’52

Brother of Cynthia Smith Walker ’52 and Jane W. Smith ’61

Mary B. Stabler

Mother of Julia Stabler Hull ’76, Edward “Ted” Stabler ’77, Laurence Stabler ’80, Margaret “Peggy” Stabler Fischer ’83 and Peter Stabler ’83

Sydney Sussman

Grandfather of Alexander Sussman ’02, Elyse Kotzker ’03 and Adam Sussman ’06

Stowe H. Tattersall ’65

Brother of Martha Tattersall Giancola ’77 and Step-Brother of Donald Pickering ’65 and Dorothy “DeDe” Pickering ’71

Joseph Ames Thompson

Former Middle School history and English teacher and coach, Uncle of Gough Winn Thompson ’73, Elizabeth Thompson ’74, Lydia Thompson ’78, Daniel Thompson ’81 and Thomas Thompson ’86

Melissa Tomlinson ’62

Sister of Henry “Hank” Tomlinson ’61, Sally Tomlinson Fuller ’65 and Ann “Nancy” Tomlinson ’70

Martha Vaughn

Wife of former trustee George “Arky” Vaughn and Mother of Barbara Vaughn Hoimes ’78, Susan Vaughn-O’Brien ’80 and Phoebe Vaughn Outerbridge ’84 (Ed. Note: reprinted from Fall 2020 with corrected spelling of surname throughout)

Mary Walsh

Mother of Cynthia Walsh ’70, Diana Walsh ’72 and Jennifer Walsh ’76

Mary Strunsky Wisnovsky ’57

Former trustee, Mother of Robert Wisnovsky ’82 and Peter Wisnovsky ’85; and Sister of Martha Strunsky Ilic ’59 and Jane Strunsky Wiseman ’65

Peter B. Yocom ’81 John Young

Father of PDS Athletic Performance Coach Darius Young (Tracy Young, PDS Lower School teacher) and Grandfather of Hailey Young ’19 and Jordan Young ’21

If you know that a School community member has passed away (alumni; former or current PDS parent, grandparent, board member or faculty/staff member; or the spouse, sibling or child of anyone from our community), please send that information to Ann Wiley ’70, editor of the In Memoriam page, at classnotes@pds.org. If possible, please include a copy of the obituary (or information to locate the obituary).

SPRING 2021

PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL makes news every day!

Photo from 2019–2020

14 Computer Science, Engineering Experts with PDS Ties Share Pro Tips with Students

PDS Middle Schoolers Creatively Explore Passions in Da Vinci Electives

Winter Athletics Awards Cap Off Remarkable Season

Senior Reading Intensive Group Meets with Author Madeline Miller

Solar Panel Installation Completes LEED-Qualifying Elements of PDS Athletic Center

Celebrating Black History Month with Truth Telling and Tributes

PDS Mock Trial Team Wins Mercer County Championship

Lower Schoolers Learn to Be Upstanders

10 WAYS TO GET THE LATEST NEWS Online, Panthers everywhere can celebrate the Princeton Day School community and stay up-to-date all year by going to pds.org for news and following our PDS social media platforms.

PDS website pds.org PDS news feed

pds.org/school-news

PDS Facebook

facebook.com/princetondayschool

PDS Instagram

instagram.com/princetondayschool

PDS Twitter

twitter.com/PDSPanthers

PDS Flickr

flickr.com/photos/princetondayschool/albums

PDS YouTube

youtube.com/channel/UCVE-nTva0BlK0rT6vayqpIQ

PDS Athletics Instagram instagram.com/pdsathletics PDS Athletics Twitter twitter.com/PDSAthletics PDS Anne Reid ’72 Art Gallery Instagram instagram.com/annereid72artgallery

Receive email alerts each time a news story is published on pds.org!

• Click on the icon, top right of newsfeed (pds.org/school-news) • Click “News” in menu bar and click checkbox showing your email address Questions? Email communications@pds.org JOURNAL

TOGETHER WE Transform. Enrich. Leave a legacy.

Why I am giving a planned gift The teachers and coaches at PDS had a very significant, lifelong impact on me as a young student and I want to keep that legacy going for the next generation of students. My bequest will establish a fund for Faculty and Staff Advancement and Development which will provide financial assistance and professional development opportunity to PDS faculty and staff, with a view to helping them become even more effective and inspirational teachers, counselors, coaches, role models and mentors to PDS students. The Fund recognizes the inspiration and support of, and honors, extraordinary Princeton Day School and Miss Fine’s School teachers, including Elizabeth A. Fine, Anne B. Shepherd, Moyne Smith and Gary Lott.

Laura Peterson ’67 Member Since 2019

What does it mean to thrive? Sometimes, it means transforming challenges into opportunities for growth. While this has been a year like no other, it has also been a year in which our community has continued to thrive. We are connecting and learning in new ways, thanks to countless hours of preparation and innovative thinking by our teachers, the dedication of our students and strong partnerships with our families.

The generosity of parents, alumni and friends is the foundation that enables us to thrive in adversity. Your commitment to the Annual Fund means that Princeton Day School has the flexible resources to meet challenges like the ones we met this year and to provide students with the best possible experience every day.

When you make a planned gift – of any size –you help strengthen the Princeton Day School experience for the next generation.

Your gift can enhance campus priorities that have personal meaning to you, such as faculty support, financial aid, athletics, and art programming. Or you can make an unrestricted gift that enables PDS to best address its future needs.

Whatever your commitment, you’ll join a special tradition of giving and be welcomed into the May Margaret Fine Society, Princeton Day School’s planned giving society.

We are happy to help you make a meaningful gift to both you and the School. Please contact: Courtney Hodock in the Advancement Office at chodock@pds.org or (609) 924-6700 ext. 1251.

Together, let’s help our School continue to thrive —

MAKE YOUR ANNUAL FUND GIFT TODAY! Gifts must be received by June 30, 2021 to be counted in the 2020–2021 Annual Fund. pds.org/support-pds

The May Margaret Fine Society: Established in 1998, the May Margaret Fine Society recognizes those loyal alumnae/i, parents and friends who have informed the school that they have made provisions for Princeton Day School in their estate plans.

Including the school in their will, establishing a charitable trust while maintaining life income, or naming the school as a life insurance beneficiary are some of the ways these individuals have helped secure the long-term strength of Princeton Day School.

JOURNAL PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL S P R I N G 2 0 2 1

PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL

P.O. Box 75 . Princeton, NJ 08542 shipping 650 Great Road . Princeton, NJ 08540 609.924.6700 . www.pds.org

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Pandemic perspectives: resilience, accomplishment, connection through school about the cover, p.2