IN STEPHANIE AND ELODIE’S ART CLASS
OWLS BY SARAH AND AISSA’S THIRD GRADE STUDENTS
WINTER 2024–25
Editorial Staff
Robin Becker, Director of Communications
Hannah Swacker Kurnit ’97, Director of Advancement
Elena Sheppard ’05, Communications Manager
Jacob Goodhart, Alumni Relations Manager
Anna Verdi, Special Events Coordinator
Julia Itzler, Events Associate
Heather Francovitch, Design and Website Manager
Pause and Reflect
Winter 2024–25
As you read this note, we find ourselves more than halfway through the school year; it’s always a milestone that feels hard to believe. Where did the time go? How is it moving so quickly? I’m sure each of us has asked those very same questions over the last few months.
To me, the Saint Ann’s Times is a beautiful way to pause and reflect on that time, and to take stock of the incredible work done at our school over the previous semester. Beyond a showcase of what’s happening at Saint Ann’s, the goal of the Saint Ann’s Times is to honor our wider community: the passion and dedication of our teachers, the adventures of our alumni, and the creativity of our students. I hope that when reading through this magazine, you feel inspired in the same way that I am moved by the imagination and curiosity of our children every day. May these pages provide a window into daily life at our school—made extraordinary by the lives and work of those people, both past and present, who make this the place we love.
Yours,
Kenyatte Reid Head of School
Artwork by Grace A., 10th Grade
Rising Poem
Take yourself as high as you can Dabble your hand in the clouds Find your words and hold on to them
Put your words where they can be seen Show it as a rising poem
Getting more and more calm
The more you write the more you see
The more you write the more you feel
The more you write the more you understand
Go home as you rise higher and higher And watch as your pencil writes Rising poems
By Sky L., 4th Grade
Artwork by Theodore D., 12th Grade
A Note from the Editors
Dear Saint Ann’s Community,
Each year, we publish two editions of the Saint Ann’s Times magazine—one in the winter and again in the summer. Beginning this year, the Saint Ann’s Times will continue to publish twice a year, however the summer edition will be digital-only.
Much consideration went into this decision. As the included poem says, “paper is great.” We understand that a screen can never replace the act of holding this magazine in your hands, feeling the physical weight of the words, and turning each page. However, printing the magazine twice a year has significant environmental and economical impacts, and we felt it prudent to do our small part to lessen those footprints. As the summer is also a time when many of us are enjoying adventures far away from our mailboxes, we hope that the digital version of the summer Saint Ann’s Times will more easily find you wherever in the world you may be. Rest assured, we will continue to print the winter edition so that in the cozier winter months, these words and images can be held and cherished.
We hope you enjoy the Winter 2024–25 Saint Ann’s Times. Happy reading!
Sincerely,
Your Saint Ann’s Communications Team
Robin Becker
Elena Sheppard ’05
Heather Francovitch
Ode to Paper
This paper originated as a tree, very important but was downgraded to something unnoticed, paper. But I would think paper is great due to the fact that this ode would not exist if paper did not exist. And many pieces of writing wouldn’t exist either. And it is amazing how many places you go from the dark forest, (as a tree) to the paper mill and then to the school where you get used.
By Mickey G., 3rd Grade
Get Uncomfortable, Start Talking
by Nuala M. and Charlie L. (12th Grade GUST Leaders)
On November 14, High School students poured into the Bosworth Building for the eleventh year of GUST (Get Uncomfortable, Start Talking) at Saint Ann’s. GUST, now a cherished Saint Ann’s tradition, is a bi-annual, day-long event in which High School students can facilitate discussion rooms on any topic they can think of (with approval of the High School Office). The discussions explore topics that aren’t always easy to bring up and otherwise might go undiscussed. The event is entirely student organized, allowing us to brainstorm and frame the topics. A discussion room might dissect socio-economic status, intellectualism at Saint Ann’s, coastal elitism, party culture, or art vs. artist. This year, as students lined up for free donuts and later for a BBQ, they conversed about the rooms they’d attended in the morning. GUST’s importance was evident: open and respectful discourse continued over lunch and beyond. GUST strengthens our community and pushes Saint Ann’s toward a future of change-making through dialogue. Student voices are prioritized and amplified.
A Reading by Jhumpa Lahiri
On November 4, Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri joined our community in the Parish Hall where she gave a reading to our entire High School. Lahiri, whose work includes Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake, read her short story “The Boundary.” Lahiri originally wrote the story in Italian, then translated it into English.
After the reading, High School Literary Magazine Editors— Gracie M. (11th grade), Margot S. (12th grade), and Laiali T. (12th grade)—led a thought-provoking Q&A with the author. It was a beautifully literary afternoon for all.
Paintbrush so divine like an eel swimming through ink. Used for all eternity.
By James B.-W., 3rd Grade
Artwork by Alani G., 11th Grade
Ode to Paintbrush
A Visit to the Museum of Chinese in America
On October 3, former faculty, alumni, and current students visited the Museum of Chinese in America, guided by Executive Director and Saint Ann’s class of 1998 alum, Michael Lee. In light of the intensified rhetoric surrounding immigration during the 2024 presidential election, the visit highlighted the historical parallels in the treatment of Chinese immigrants. The group explored both the permanent exhibit and the recent exhibit Magazine Fever, which examines how Asian American magazines shaped the 1990s, a period when mainstream media often reduced Asian Americans to the model minority trope.
Hudson F.
Emmet G.
Dan Tak
Morgan G.
Rachael Peters ’98, Sophie Ferrer, Yuming Guo (Former Faculty), Zachary T. (4th Grade), Michael Lee ’98, Nao Terai ’98, Liz Nie ’98, Hannah R. (10th Grade), Rebekah Coleman ’98, Reina W. (2nd Grade), Eri W. (Kindergarten), Miku Terai-Griffen ’00, Luna Terai-Griffen and Kaia Terai-Griffen
Pictured:
(7th Grade),
(7th Grade),
’98,
(4th Grade),
Faculty and Staff Gather to Learn and Play
Our second annual Professional and Community Development Day offered faculty and staff the opportunity to learn new skills, deepen their knowledge to better inform their work, and spend time together outside of the School’s classrooms and offices. The day began with an address from Priya Parker, Saint Ann’s parent and author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters, about the key to creating meaningful gatherings. From there, everyone attended their choice from over forty different workshops, each facilitated by a Saint Ann’s staff member. Workshops included Creating a Psychologically Safe Environment, The Art of Weaving, Puppets and Playfulness within the Classroom, and How to Give Feedback that Leads to Action —amongst many more.
Garden gnome complaints
I was bought by grandma 20 years ago
I wish I could smell the wood chips and paint smell of the hardware store again
But now I am stuck to listen to the chatty tulips
Any longer and I will go mad
Like the porcelain toad
A delinquent, as granny calls them
Kicked my friend, the toad
Ever since then he has been a beat behind
The tulips gossip about the hyacinths and the hyacinths gossip about the roses
Once I was in love with a rose
But she was too far away in the yard
I couldn’t reach her
She just gossiped about me
I don’t like my clothes
My red hat and green tunic
They are glossy and stuck to me
My life is far from perfect
By Holly R., 6th Grade
Artwork by Gretta A., 9th Grade
Scenes from Student Retreats
In the fall, our 8th, 9th, and 12th grade classes each spent time together away from school—and their phones!—to bond, explore, and enjoy the beautiful backdrop of the Hudson Valley or Delaware Water Gap. During the various retreats, students ziplined, hiked, canoed, played games, and devoured many s’mores.
8th Grade Retreat
9th Grade Retreat
A Visit from the Big Building
In early December, Susie Sokol’s 2nd grade class hosted very special guests from the Big Building. Arjun G. (8th grade) and Avi M. (9th Grade) visited the class to perform the sitar and tabla. Arjun also taught the class the teental, one of the most popular rhythm cycles of North Indian classical music.
The Making Poem
I embroider my words Into a shirt
Like a seamstress
Fixing each loose thread
Cutting each blemish off
By Danny W., 6th Grade
Varsity Volleyball Champions!
By Coach Shannon Carr
The Girls Varsity Volleyball Team had a spectacular season. Going 23 - 0, the team won the regular season championships of both leagues, the AAIS (Athletic Association of Independent Schools) and the ACIS (Athletic Conference of Independent Schools). The team entered the AAIS tournament as the top seed and won the tournament defeating #8 Spence in the quarterfinals, #4 Brearley in the semifinals, and #2 Chapin in the finals. Next the team entered the New York State Association of Independent Schools Tournament and received the #1 seed and a first round bye. In the quarterfinals, the team faced #8 Brearley (for a third time) and won. In the semifinals, the team defeated #4 Poly Prep. And in the final, the team swept #6 Marymount. In fact, the team swept all of their opponents in the State Tournament and became the Champions without losing a set. Congratulations!
Team members include seniors Sophia A., Amelia A., Beau J., and Margot S.; 11th graders Sam B., Naomi B., Aurelia M., Luna S.-B., Clementine T., and Brianna W.; 9th graders Gretta A., Phoebe G., Ryden K., and Cassie R. The managers were Namiya B. (12th grade) and Angie H. (11th grade).
Celebrate Saint Ann's features notable and innovative voices and talent from across our parent and alumni community. These events bring our community together to celebrate the centrality of the arts at Saint Ann's.
Celebrate Saint Ann’s: Jamal Jackson Dance Company Presents TEETH
On a warm fall evening in October, the Saint Ann’s community was treated to a special private performance of TEETH with the Jamal Jackson Dance Company at Long Island University’s Kumble Theater. TEETH takes a classroom of young students on a journey to explore their identities, experiences, and roles in shaping the United States of America during its quest for independence at the end of the 18th century. Through movement and text, this work creates an avenue for young people to explore history from different perspectives. This performance featured work by many artists from the Saint Ann’s community including Co-Chair of the Theater Department Birgitta Victorson, theater teacher Brion Vann, music teacher Christiana Haakansson, theater teacher Gena Oppenheim ’97, Anne Later ’24, and current students. Following the performance, there was a talkback with Artistic Director Jamal Jackson ’96 and dramaturg Birgitta Victorson.
Birgitta Victorson (Faculty) and Jamal Jackson ’96 (Faculty)
Celebrate Saint Ann’s: Inventing the Modern
Our first Celebrate Saint Ann’s event of the year on October 16 was a discussion of Inventing the Modern: Untold Stories of the Women Who Shaped The Museum of Modern Art featuring co-editors Romy Silver-Kohn (a Saint Ann’s parent) and Ann Temkin. Inventing the Modern, published in September, is a revelatory account of MoMA’s earliest years told through newly commissioned profiles of fourteen women who, as founders, curators, patrons, and directors of various departments, made enduring contributions to the Museum during its early decades. The trailblazing women, from co-founder Abby Aldrich Rockefeller to longtime registrar Dorothy Dudley, created new models for how to envision, establish, and operate a museum in an era when the field of modern art was uncharted territory. Romy Silver-Kohn worked as a researcher in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA and Ann Temkin is the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA.
Ann Temkin (left) and Romy Silver-Kohn (right)
Picnic with a View
Despite overcast skies, over 800 people attended our annual community Picnic with a View on September 27 at the Bridge View Lawn on Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Parents and guardians socialized and chatted while children cavorted on the lawn playing tag, soccer, frisbee, and games. With construction on the Pier 1 entrance pavilion happening nearby, the refreshment tables needed to be relocated to allow for better traffic flow in the park. Everyone enjoyed the delectable spread of apples, apple cider, and—most importantly—apple cider donuts. Next autumn, the picnic will benefit from the reimagined and improved pavilion which promises to offer plentiful permanent public restrooms.
Nature
Why is nature not yours?
Nature sings its own song
Why are roses swaying in the breeze? Why do cats run up trees? Why do dogs chase birds? Why do daisies bloom?
By Alina R., Kindergarten
Grandparents Brunch
On January 11, Saint Ann’s grandparents gathered in the Bosworth Building to enjoy brunch as a community. They heard remarks from Kenyatte Reid and Board President Mary Watson Students Arjun G. (8th grade), Avi M. (9th grade), Thomas E. (10th grade), Azalea W. (11th grade), and Ella R. (12th grade) shared musical performances. Grandparents also toured the Farber building and the Computer Science Center, where they saw demonstrations of the robotics equipment. We hope to make the Grandparents Brunch a new Saint Ann’s tradition!
Pictured from top left: Kenyatte Reid speaks at Grandparents Brunch; Student Musician Ella R. (12th Grade); Student Musicians Arjun G. (8th Grade) and Avi M. (9th Grade); Grandparents in attendance
Rainbow
I wished on a cloud I wished about a rainbow flying over me it’s red, orange green, blue, yellow colors shining sparkly glittering on its own just so pretty I went back home
By Frankie T., 1st Grade
Artwork
by Petra J., 11th Grade
Since our founding in 1965, Saint Ann’s has been bolstered by the generous support of parents, guardians, alumni, faculty, staff, grandparents, parents of alumni, trustees, and friends of our School.
We hope you will uphold this tradition of support by making a contribution to the Saint Ann’s 2024–25 Annual Fund. Gifts of every size will be put to use this school year and will help sustain the quality and the richness of the instruction and discovery that takes place throughout the year.
Make a Gift
Scan QR code at right to make your gift or visit www.saintannsny.org/annual-fund
For questions about giving to Saint Ann’s or getting involved as a volunteer, contact:
Hannah Swacker Kurnit ’97 Director of Advancement
718.522.1660 Ext.345
hkurnit@saintannsny.org
Regan Murphy Director of Annual Giving
718.522.1660 Ext.317
rmurphy@saintannsny.org
Faculty & Staff News
Jay Batlle
Art Teacher Jay Batlle displayed a new lithography edition at Jungle Press in Brooklyn. This work will also be featured at the IFPDA Print Fair next spring. The exhibition is titled In Bloom: Fleur De Sel Variations in Fifteen Courses Batlle uses decalcomania to create visual pieces on paper and canvas. Additionally, Harper’s Books in Chelsea, NY, will showcase early works from Batlle’s Restaurant-Restaurant Series through 2025.
Emily Eagen
Music Teacher Emily Eagen wrote and recorded original music for the large-scale installation We Will Sing by visual artist Ann Hamilton in The Salts Mill in Bradford, England, The UK’s 2025 City of Culture. In this former textile mill, echoes of the past reverberate into the imagined future. If you are in England between May and November 2025, it’s worth a visit!
Asha Futterman
Asha Futterman, an Associate Teacher in the Lower School, published her chapbook empathy with The Song Cave.
G. Giraldo
This spring, Photography Teacher G. Giraldo will be teaching a course on long-form capture at The Strother School of Radical Attention.
Nicholas Harbison
Science Teacher Nicholas Harbison was an assistant director for a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. His float was the Wintertime in Central Park float featuring Sebastian Yatra, and a choir of people representing Macy’s and Big Brother/ Big Sister of America.
Evan Liu
A new painting by Evan Liu, High School Office Manager, was featured at the Astoria Art Center Gallery. And his latest album, Here Comes Everybody, was released on Spotify in November.
Yael Magnes
Yael Magnes, Teacher in the Recreational Arts department, recently showcased her art jewelry project as part of a LABA NY fellowship at an exhibit at the 14th Street Y.
Artwork by Henrietta P., 3rd Grade
Alisha Mascarenhas
Poetry Teacher Alisha Mascarenhas’ debut book of poems, A Catalogue of Risk, recipient of the 2022 Carolyn Bush Award, was published by Wendy’s Subway in January 2025.
Sarah Moon
Family Week, a new middle grade novel by Sarah Moon, Associate Director of College Counseling, will be available starting April 15th.
Ebony Murphy
English Teacher Ebony Murphy has an essay about radical feminist, civil rights advocate, lawyer, lecturer, and activist Flo Kennedy in Fast Famous Women, a flash nonfiction anthology edited by humorist Gina Barreca. The collection will be out in March 2025 in celebration of Women’s History Month.
Ragan O’Malley
Ragan O’Malley, Head Librarian, was selected to serve as a member of the American Library Association’s 2025 Schneider Family Book Award Committee. The committee members read hundreds of books in order to select the titles that best represent the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
Emma Rippee
Emma joined Saint Ann’s in February 2025 as the Director of Donor Partnerships on the Advancement Team. She was most recently the Director of Philanthropic Strategy & Engagement at Youth INC, a capacitybuilding organization that strengthens youth development nonprofits dedicated to helping young people, especially those from historically marginalized backgrounds, thrive. As Director of Donor Partnerships, Emma will engage with donors to secure capital, endowed, and planned gifts that meet the ongoing needs of our School.
Marty Skoble
Poet-in-Residence Marty Skoble has a poem in the forthcoming issue of Hanging Loose Magazine
Stephanie Sassoon
Art Teacher Stephanie Sassoon’s painting, Torso 27, was the cover of the UK version of What the Earth Seemed to Say, a collection of new and selected poems by Marie Howe published by Bloodaxe Press.
Susie Sokol
Susie Sokol, Second Grade Teacher, appeared as Jordan Baker in Elevator Repair Service’s production of Gatz at The Public Theater.
More Than Music
By Kristian de Leon, Educational Technology Coordinator
In school, we were taught that within music there is a functioning “Capital-C Common Practice” with proper methods, forms, rules, and regulations. These notes are to follow that chord. This rhythm fits best in that pattern. Those sounds are best for this kind of music. Further, we learned that there is a standard kind of music and way to play; and much further, a standard way to see and be with the music. The deeper we dove, the more difficult and restricting it felt to be confined to such a set of rules. After all, music is just “wiggly air” that can sometimes spark joy!
Fueled by a necessity to tinker and a late-blooming rebellious streak in the second year of graduate study, I searched more and more for ways to escape the strict boundaries of the concert hall and pushed more into the experimental. At this time, another colleague in my cohort, Adam Lutz, had similar senses and rejections to “Capital-C Classical Music.” Together, we found the joy (and terror!) of exploring a new interdisciplinary performance medium, continuing now a few years after school as a collaborative artist group, Blank Aberration.
In our practice, we combine elements of traditional composition with experimental electronic media through a technology-forward creative practice. Adam sets the soundstage with synthesizers, speakers, and music makers paired with my settings in staging, lighting, and computer-based projections. While our work is electronic in nature, we blend live acoustic performance elements into the mesh of electric ambiance, inviting listeners to meditate on the connections between the physical and digital.
In addition to this tinkering in a new medium, we also work to share what we’ve learned with the next generation of artists and innovators. This past summer, we led a two-week intensive workshop on creating and performing new works for interdisciplinary media in Yerevan, Armenia, in collaboration with the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies. Since then, we have been searching for more opportunities to bring a similar experience to our local young artists.
Recently, we debuted our largest project to date, “WINNOWS,” inspired by the textural transformations in brutalist architecture. This project featured immersive audio and lighting, and a quartet of live percussionists, along with real-time generative audio synthesis and visual projections. In the future, we look forward to experimenting further with sounds, images, and technology, and sharing it with our communities.
TUMO Workshop, featuring Adam Luts (blue striped shirt), TUMO Students, and Kristian de Leon (orange). Credit: TUMO
Still from WINNOWS. Credit: Linus K Schmidt
TUMO Workshop, featuring TUMO student and Kristian de Leon (orange). Credit: TUMO
Free Verse of Gratitude
On cloudy mornings and fiery ones alike
My eyelids rise and my feet touch the floor
As rain hits the pavement and snow dusts the rooftops I inhale, And so sweet air sends me forward into the day I tell my legs to bend and so they nod and crease I tell my feet to spin, and so in moments I turn over them I hurt and so the tears arrive at my command I love and hate and so my heart beats on My eyes reach out and touch the world, and still they return to describe all they have held My mind wraps itself around the logic of this life and tightens its grip
The heat of the sky is split by the cool shadow of stability I want, and trees burst from the earth and liquid spills from the rivers and the birds say “have” I need, and people grow and wrap around me and say “be” music breaks beneath my feet and spills out into a thousand shrieking cicadas, and I am filled with their song.
But without the rivers and the birds and the people and the shadows and the rising and the breathing, I still am.
The voraciousness of life warms my spine.
By Nuala M., 12th Grade
Staying in Touch with Saint Ann’s School
Dear Alumni,
My fall semester was a bit truncated, as I began parental leave in late October after the birth of my second daughter. Taking care of a newborn is such a beautifully grounding experience. I often wake up exhausted, near the tipping point of insanity, but overjoyed with excitement to see what my daughters will learn and create each day. Now that I’m back at my desk, I’m sifting through the incredible body of work that you, our Saint Ann’s alumni, created in my short time away––books of poetry, films, articles, and news updates in every conceivable industry. I am in awe, and deeply grateful for the world you are helping to build.
Before I went on leave, I was honored to help Jamal Jackson ’96 produce a private showing of his piece TEETH for Saint Ann’s. I saw students, alumni, and faculty partner for a night of dance, history, and music. It was a showcase of this community and a beautiful example of the work you are putting into our world and a way we can share that world here at Saint Ann’s. Time and again I am touched by how generous this community is with their incredible talents, and how those contributions help to sustain our community.
If you are interested in becoming more engaged at Saint Ann’s, there are many ways to stay involved:
• Make plans to attend Alumni Day next May 17, 2025.
› Guests of honor will be the classes ending in 5s and 0s—if you would like to volunteer as a class representative, email me.
› All are welcome to attend the cocktail party!
• Donate an item, experience, or service to the Saint Ann’s Alumni Auction (upcoming this spring) by emailing me at jgoodhart@saintannsny.org. Please email before Friday, March 28.
• Keep your contact information up to date (email us at alumni@saintannsny.org to make any changes).
• Give a reading, speak to a class, share your professional expertise and experience. We love visitors!
• Follow our Facebook page (Saint Ann’s School Alumni News), as well as following us on LinkedIn, and Instagram (@saintannsschool).
• Give a gift! Alumni donations to the Annual Fund are a chance to make contributions in honor or memory of a classmate, a teacher, or anyone who impacted your education.
• Suggest another idea! We’re all ears.
Thank you for keeping Saint Ann’s School’s rich history alive through your influence and input and for carrying on our legacy through all that you do. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you!
With love,
With love,
Jacob Goodhart Alumni Relations Manager
718.522.1660 ext. 323 | jgoodhart@saintannsny.org
Make a Gift Scan QR code or visit
Marj Kleinman ’88
This fall my organization, Stoop Stories, won two Anthem Awards for our intergenerational Stoop Chat series that bridges older and younger neighbors to reduce loneliness, increase social connection, and celebrate community. Stoop Stories produces documentary storytelling and community programs that are grounded in Brooklyn neighborhoods.
Alejandro Guerra ’96 & Winter Guerra ’13
We disliked not having access to all sorts of simple products in our local pharmacy because they were all seemingly locked behind plexiglass. Waiting to have each item unlocked by an employee felt very inefficient and unnecessary. We wanted to solve this issue of retail friction by providing customers with access to products, and retailers with security, without using facial recognition or any other technology that perpetuates physical bias, or forces customers to download any sort of app. Our solution became the basis for VendAI, a company providing AI-powered access to secured inventory for retail customers via personal device identification. Currently in prototype, we expect to deploy VendAI systems in stores this coming year.
Justin Pierce Baldwin Gerald ’03
After high school and college, I knew vaguely that I wanted to be a ‘writer,’ but as my dad told me, you need more than an idea to have a career. I taught English in South Korea for two years, then returned to get a Master’s in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) to learn more pedagogy. After teaching adults English for five years, I shifted to curriculum development and now work as the National Training Manager for a large non-profit.
I also simultaneously earned a doctorate in Education from Hunter College and published two books. The first addresses oppression and racism in English Language Teaching. My second book, Embracing the Exceptions: Meeting the Needs of Neurodivergent Students of Color, released in August 2024, explores the experiences of neurodivergent students of color, including my own, after being diagnosed with ADHD at 35 years old. I found a lack of resources for students like us, so I wrote the book myself, featuring interviews with others and sharing my own stories. The book is critical of systems and teacher training that allow for said students to be overlooked and slighted. While I discuss my time at Saint Ann’s, the school isn’t named.
In the book, I highlight supportive teachers like Jane Avrich and Alex Darrow ’87, whose influence was crucial to my success as a writer.
Ciara McNamara ’20
I was proud to be awarded the prestigious Oakes and Louise Ames Prize for Best Honors Study as well as the Jane Bill Award for maintaining the highest standard of art throughout my four years at Connecticut College, for my art thesis, The Spectacle of Consumption: I’m Lovin’ It. The multidimensional thesis features three collections of paintings, a series of pen-and-ink drawings, a found-object sculpture, an immersive installation, and a 70-page written and illustrated component grappling with greed, corruption, and crisis on a global scale. My thesis advisor, Chris Barnard, described my work as a “combination of legible imagery and material experimentation that packs a visceral punch and engages all viewers. The work is accessible, yet challenging without any contextual knowledge, and this is what I find to be its greatest strength. It does not tell viewers what to think, but engages–and at times, provokes—viewers, encouraging them to look more closely and reflect on what arises for them.”
A recent college graduate, I am currently an art teacher for the non-profit Scribble, substituting art classes at Saint Ann’s, and pursuing my career as an artist.
Artwork (mural) by Sully M. (8th Grade), Mel S. (8th Grade), Greta L. (9th Grade), Miles F. (8th Grade), Sol B. C. (8th Grade), Whit R. (8th Grade), Pond R. (8th Grade)
On Writing and Not Writing
By Jacob Eigen ’04
There is a terrible thing that happens when, growing older, you suddenly realize you have not yet published the many books you expected yourself to publish in your twenties, or even your thirties: you panic, and you begin searching for someone to blame.
You blame yourself, of course, and your sins. They once seemed so insignificant, so venial, but now you wonder if they’re mortal after all. Sloth? Yes. Gluttony? Sure. And worst of all, you can’t bear to be without them. As Saul Bellow says: “When a man’s breast feels like a cage from which all the dark birds have flown—he is free, he is light. And he longs to have his vultures back again.”
So you blame yourself and your vultures, but somehow this isn’t enough. Can you blame your significant other too? Of course! For knocking on the door at the wrong moment, or for failing to knock on the door at the right moment. For not loving you enough, for loving you too much. Or if you don’t have someone, you can always blame their absence instead.
But this too isn’t enough. So you enter the realm of abstractions. Your culture. Your era. Why weren’t you born, for instance, at a time without the internet? (You even call Time Warner and cancel your subscription because, you’re convinced, the internet must be the problem. And still you manage to find a single bar of unprotected service from an unsuspecting neighbor…)
And then, at some point, it’s inevitable. You blame Saint Ann’s. You blame the long list of teachers and administrators who (damn them!) made you believe in yourself. Not just in yourself—in beauty, in (as Stanley said) “the reverential sense that life is wondrous, ephemeral and, for that reason, sacred.”
Artwork by Mac M., 12th Grade
Yes, you decide, on some lonely evening when you’re sighing over your manuscript, that’s the real problem. You made the mistake of believing all that Bosworthian rhetoric. And you believed, also, in Marty’s class, in the poems you read there, in the extraordinary silence that was always waiting for you when you entered the room, while Marty arranged the bread and cheese. You believed in Nancy Fales-Garrett’s class, where she would lean over the desk, wincing and shaking her head and grinning while you read your scenes out loud. And Angelo’s class, and Jon Elliott’s, where improvisation and precision were somehow mutually inclusive modes. Mr. Aronson, asking what it means to know yourself more truly and more strange. Gail, with all the confiscated water guns strung up over her desk like Christmas lights. Ms. Avrich, picking apart your papers with her green pen. Mr. Marchioro, reciting the psalms: my cup runneth over. Mr. Donohue, in pursuit of the crown jewels of Zembla. The whole lot of them. You blame them all for making it seem so fun.
And a strange thing happens as you do this. You begin to remember that it was fun. And you find yourself returning to your manuscript not because you have emails waiting from editors (you don’t), not because publishers are sending you requests (they aren’t), but because those lunatics were right. It is fun.
That’s the way it’s been for this alum, at least. Now I have the privilege of writing a piece as an alum “in the field” because that first manuscript was finished and published. But I still know very little about agents and publishers and readings and Instagram announcements. The only field I can report from is the internal one. The advances and retreats one makes there are only sometimes, and only gradually, recorded. One moves forward with hope and terror. One realizes that what seemed to be forwards was really backwards, or vice versa. Often one can’t even find the entrance.
But this I do know: When your quest in this field begins to lose its knight errant quality, and you are once again some man in some apartment drinking tap water in the night, then it’s time to look over your shoulder and start blaming them, your reinforcements. They are a ragtag bunch. Mr. Marchioro, balanced ridiculously on his horse. Stanley, muttering encouragements. And Sra. Reyes, whose funeral you attended years ago, and who certainly never pictured herself in this fantasy, leading the charge. Jacobín, she is saying once again. Vámanos, vámanos, vámanos!
Hello emptiness.
You’re as empty as a pessimistic cup, or the inside of a bubble, or the crack in someone’s broken heart. You’re as empty as a house stripped of its garments.
You are even as empty as air… I’ve got to admit, I thought you would be more empty. For a pessimist’s cup is still half full, and a bubble is full of suds, and that crack in the heart, no matter how long, will eventually fill up. That house, it’s filled to bursting with the expectancy of a new life. And air, well air is a lifeforce anything but empty.
And you emptiness, you aren’t empty. Because I am in you and that means this emptiness inside isn’t empty either.
By Esmé B., 6th Grade
142 Pierrepont Street: A New Space for Every Saint Ann’s Student
Construction is in full swing at 142 Pierrepont Street! Scan the QR code below to learn more about this once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand our campus.
Renderings Courtesy of ARO
The Capital Campaign is separate from the Annual Fund, which will continue to fund general operating costs at the School including faculty and staff salaries and benefits, financial aid, and other programmatic expenses.
IN MEMORIAM
LeRoy “Sonny” Boone (Former Staff)
It was with a heavy heart that we learned last fall of the passing of Sonny Boone. He passed away at home in South Carolina, at the age of 81. He was surrounded by his loving family.
Sonny came to work at Saint Ann’s as part of Buildings and Grounds staff in 1972 and retired from the School in 2013. Sonny could often be found in the 12th floor gym playing basketball with students and faculty members.
He is survived by his wife Daisy Boone and their children, Shera Boone, Tristan Boone, and Tiffany Britto.
Marc Haefele (Former Faculty)
Marc Haefele passed away in November at the age of 82 and after a long battle with cancer. Marc taught in the History Department at Saint Ann’s from 1975–1979.
An obituary written by Marc’s close friends reads: Marc was a journalist (LA Weekly, LAT, NYT, CNS), historian, writer, editor (Philip K. Dick, Marge Piercy, Kate Millett, Isaac Asimov), bon vivant, radio personality (KNX, KPFK, KPCC), loving husband (Vivian Rothstein), curmudgeon, crusader, cat lover, cellist, singer, witness to history (Woodstock, 1963 March on Washington), car nut, music lover, reader (uncountable), and friend (legions).
William “Billy” Musses ’86
We learned that William “Billy” Musses passed away in July 2024. His wife Tobey shared the following words with Saint Ann’s. Bill was a United States post man, he was a mail carrier for the last 30 years, prior to that he was in the US Navy. He was very proud of his work and his family, he is survived by his two daughters (Morgan and Madison) myself, his sister Louri, and his beautiful granddaughter (Lyris). He spent every second he could with her. Bill was a member of the Elks club, and he loved to ride his bicycle and motorcycle. There isn’t a person that Bill met or talked to who didn’t love him. His personality was something else, his sense of humor, although a bit harsh to some, kept us laughing and always smiling. He always mentioned to people where he went to school he was very proud of that.
J. Todd Weber ’76
J. Todd Weber ’76 died in November due to complications during a routine outpatient surgery to repair a broken clavicle sustained in a bicycle accident. As his sister, Suzanne Weber ’81, wrote, Todd and I developed our lifelong love of reading and writing at Saint Ann’s, and Todd graduated Princeton with a degree in English. He went on to make a lategame decision to follow a growing interest in science and public health.
From 1993 through 1998, Todd served in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention-Surveillance and Epidemiology, where he led the Sentinel Hospital Surveillance System for HIV Infection, collecting information on risks for HIV among hospitalized patients, and was the Project Officer for the nationwide data system of all publicly funded HIV counseling and testing. At the end of Todd’s tenure with the HIV division, CDC assigned him to the White House Office of National AIDS Policy in Washington, DC. He advised the Director and the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/ AIDS on specific issues regarding HIV surveillance and HIV prevention effectiveness.
Before Todd retired from the CDC in 2021, he had been assigned to work on the CDC’s COVID-19 pandemic response. His roles included Associate Director for Science for the Healthcare Systems and Worker Safety Task Force and Associate Director for Science for the Infection Prevention and Control Team. After retirement, he stayed in Atlanta.
Todd is survived by his children Bianca and Carlo, as well as Suzanne, her husband Chris, and their child Julia
“WHAT CAN A GINGKO LEAF BE?”
BY BECCA AND
OWALA’S
FIRST GRADE STUDENTS
Lost minutes
In space in time
Slowly filter
Down the drain
Lost minutes
In space and time
Slowly filter
Down the drain
Lost minutes In spacetime
Slowly filter
Down the drain
Lost moments In spacetime
Filter slowly Down the drain
Lost minutes
In space in time
Slowly drain
Through the filter
Lost minutes
In space and time
Slowly filter
The drain
Losing moments
In space and time
Slowly filters time
Down the drain
Filtered moments
In space and time
Slowly loses
Down the drain
By Raymond G., 8th Grade
Artwork by Charlie S., 7th Grade
Flowers float softly on the evening breeze, leaving the air beautifully fermented with the taste of sweet nectar. An orange sky slowly turns into a painted canvas, with a hundred million tiny white dots, each overflowing with possibility.
The sounds of the night portray a roaring city. Replacing loud horns and screaming neighbors, Instead the owls sing and the river splashes, a wolf howls in the distance.
Creating a beautiful opera of a thousand voices, that will sing until dawn.
By Henry H., 9th Grade
Forest
Artwork by (Clockwise From Top Left): Mirabelle C., 4th Grade; Alex H., 5th Grade; Amelie S., 4th Grade; Elsa P., 4th Grade
OWLS BY SARAH AND AISSA’S THIRD GRADE STUDENTS IN STEPHANIE AND ELODIE’S ART CLASS
The Gentle Wise Tree
Gentle wind blows onto the beautiful tree the gentle leaves fall to the ground making a very graceful sound the sun sets carefully before dawn and all of the chirping birds are gone sunrise is going to come back in a flash–crickets are chirping so fast
By Salma G., Kindergarten