Singapore American School Journeys Fall 2012, Volume 12

JOURNEYS MICA (P) 046/04/2012

SAS

Volume 12 Fall 2012

Singapore American School Alumni Magazine

A Family Business SAS alumni have always shared amazing stories about SAS and its sense of family and community, about lifelong friendships made, and the special and unique connection to Singapore.

In this issue we feature four SAS families who take the concept of community and the sense of family to the next level. These are families who have been students, teachers, and also parents at SAS. As we start the 2012-13 school year, we welcome our new superintendent Dr. Chip Kimball. We have a fabulous interview with him to share with you. You’ll find out a little about who he is, why he wanted to come to SAS, and what he hopes to accomplish for the school and our students over the coming years.

In this issue of Journeys we also celebrate the graduation of the Class of 2012 and welcome them to the alumni community, sharing with you the highlights of the graduation ceremony held on June 4, 2012.

As always, we have a wonderful selection of alumni profiles from all over the world. The stories run the gamut from Scott Greene’s motor rickshaw adventure across India to Shannon Scott’s inspiring work training teachers with the Teach for Malaysia program.

We’ve also included all the traditional favorites including a Mr. Ho recipe, updates about alumni gatherings, faculty farewells, and what folks have been up to in the Notes and Quotes section.

We hope to see you at the upcoming alumni gatherings and events next spring and sumBuilding new family traditions at SAS with mer.

If you’re looking to host daughter Sophia (16). Sophia is a 2nd generation third-culture kid in Asia. something and need our help, please get in touch. And if you are planning a trip to Singapore, make sure to include a visit to campus.

You’re always welcome.

We want to hear from you. We invite you to share your stories, photos, and updates for future issues of Journeys. And as always, we invite you to stay connected. You can reach us and one another through visits to the school, the alumni website, email, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Lauri Coulter Associate Director of Alumni Relations

JOURNEYS SAS

SUPERINTENDENT DR. chip Kimball CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER MICHAEL K. KINGAN ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS LAURI COULTER ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS TAMara BLACK GRAPHIC DESIGNER JAMI HAVENS Cover photo of Kathy Saludo Tan and other members of the class of 1967 as seen in Singapore’s Eagles: Singapore American School 1956-2006. See the related story on page 13.

SAS Journeys is published twice a year by the advancement office of Singapore American School. It is distributed free of charge to alumni, parents, faculty and organizations served by the school. We welcome input from the community associated with Singapore American School.

Contacts General inquiries, comments, and submissions to SAS Journeys: alumni@sas.edu.sg.

Singapore American School CPE Registration Number: 196400340R Registration Period: 22 June 2011 to 21 June 2017 Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)

CONTENTS

page 4

Features 2 Celebrating the Class of 2012 4

A 21st Century Superintendent

Interview with Dr. Chip Kimball

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SAS: A Family Business

A Village of Memories Jim Baker (66, faculty 71-present)

An Amazing Transformation Kathy Saludo Tan (67, faculty 73-present)

The Eagle Connection Vicki Rameker Rogers (95, faculty 01-present)

SAS: Our Family Crew Carroll (faculty 05-present)

20 Local Color

Paul Griffin (faculty 2000-present), Dave Hogan (73), and current students

24 Henan: A Dream Come True

Ellen White, Director of Admissions (alumnus parent and former faculty)

26 Alumni Profiles

page 13 page 10

Tuk Tuk Goose Scott Greene (04)

A Loyalty Program to Rule Them All Niket Desai (05)

Facing the Social Media Frontier Richard Liu (98)

Recruiting the Brightest and Best Shannon Scott (04)

My Nasi Goreng Life Jennifer Nockels (07)

An Insatiable Appetite for International Affairs Michael Murphree (00)

I’ll Be Happy With An Asterisk Stuart Lippe (59)

46 Development at SAS

Michael Kingan, Chief Advancement Officer

Columns

Lauri’s Letter

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Notes & Quotes

42

Mr. Ho’s Recipe

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Fond Farewell

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Alumni Reunions & Gatherings

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The Last Word: Letters from Alumni

page 36 page 6

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Celebrating the Class of 2012 On Friday, June 2, Singapore American School recognized and celebrated the achievements of the Class of 2012 at the National University of Singapore auditorium. More than 2,000 community members—including administrators, faculty, and graduates’ families and friends—attended the event.

Dr. Tim Stuart, high school principal, introduced the Class of 2012 as one of the most distinguished classes that he has ever had the privilege to know. “Their school spirit, the bonds with one another, their intelligence, athletic ability, charm, playfulness, talent, and commitment to making their school and the world a better place are extraordinary and worthy of note.” He challenged them to take those traits and skills out into the world and apply them to moral dilemmas, create knowledge, and make a difference.

He also thanked outgoing superintendent Dr. Brent Mutsch for the years he led SAS. “He has led with integrity, compassion, and fairness. Every single student at SAS has been blessed by his learning-focused vision and undying commitment to the students under his care. Dr. Mutsch, we will miss you dearly and wish you well.”

Selected by his classmates to speak on behalf of the class, Vincent Wu reflected on what SAS had given them.

He said that, along with their diplomas, they would have “the wealth of our mistakes to guide us, bittersweet memories with our friends to reassure us, advice from our knowledgeable teachers to direct us, and most importantly, our family to stand by us.

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Photos by Bryan Quah (13)

This year’s featured speaker, high school teacher Kent Knipmeyer, spoke to the graduates with humor about “how to spend quality time on this planet” by experiencing the good, bad, and ugly in life, staying fit, not taking themselves too seriously, remembering friends and family, and being cautious with the Internet.

Before the highlight of the afternoon—the presentation of diplomas—class presidents Ruby Hohense and Max West shared with their graduating peers and the audience how SAS had become a significant part of their lives. “Graduation is the honoring of an end, but it also celebrates a beginning. Class of 2012, we’ve done it. Once we walk out of that door, we will be able to call ourselves alumni of SAS.”

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Graduation is the honoring of an end, but it also celebrates a beginning.

– Ruby Hohense and Max West

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Superintendent On July 1, 2012, Dr. Chip Kimball began his tenure as the twelfth superintendent of Singapore American School. Dr. Kimball is a dedicated educator and strategic thought leader with a national reputation for innovation, leadership, resultsbased strategies, and student achievement. Prior to his appointment at SAS, Dr. Kimball served as the superintendent of Lake Washington School District, a nationally acclaimed school system in the United States that is recognized for its student performance, innovative programs, and as one of the top ten technology districts in the country.

Dr. Kimball’s leadership and passion for education have resulted in his service on a number of state and national projects on education and how to best serve students in the 21st century. He has served as an education strategist to the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and currently serves as cochair for the 21st Century Superintendent Initiative sponsored by the Consortium of School Networking. Dr. Kimball resides in Singapore with his wife Cheryl, and has two adult children who reside in Washington state.

Lauri Coulter, associate director of alumni relations, and Tamara Black, associate director of communications, sat down with Dr. Kimball to learn more about him. What follows is their interview.

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Who is Chip Kimball? The man? The educator? The 21st I do with my vacations and spare time. I don’t ski particularly well, but I absolutely love it. century superintendent?

I have a passion for movies and date nights with my I am a product of investment by people who, through the different seasons of my life, have shaped and influenced daughters. Movie dates with dad are a deep part of our who I am today. I can point to periods in my life where family culture and I will always drop what I’m doing for had those people not influenced me, my life would be a movie date with Emilie or Alexis.

I’m passionate about family and friends and having a profoundly different. I could have ended up in a very different place—a dropout, destitute, or worse. I think that “heart to heart” conversation with someone I know and every student, regardless of nationality, religion, or eco- care about. I want to know them and be known by them.

I am passionate about the life I have with my wife nomic background, is at risk if he or she does not have positive influences along the way. Each season of my life Cheryl. She makes me laugh and keeps me honest.

As a family we have a passion for having a casual has been characterized by heart wrenching challenges, open home and for hospitality. We love having people loving friends, soul searching, and victories.

Each season of my life has been characterized by heart wrenching challenges, loving friends, soul searching, and victories.

I remember when I was on the edge of becoming a high school dropout and what saved me. I remember when I first learned about the power of community. I remember deep loss when we lost our first adopted child.

I remember having to overcome the emotional trauma of a difficult adolescence. I remember success academically and athletically after having dismal failures in both.

I remember discovering how powerful technology can be. And I remember many lessons in leadership—situations that required me to examine my core beliefs and stick with my convictions even though it was sometimes difficult and ugly.

Each of these experiences helped shape my philosophy of teaching and learning, the development of children, and how we can face life and all of its challenges. This is a all part of who I am and how I lead.

How do you keep balance in your life?

People talk a lot about balance. My philosophy is that balance isn’t the objective. The objective is to find passion in your life and pursue it vigorously. Balanced individuals are passionate about many things.

I am passionate about working in education, and that is why I work hard. I am passionate about innovating and trying new ideas that are relevant for getting kids to discover who they are are, and what they can become. I am passionate about new technologies and how things work.

I love to learn new things.

I have a crazy passion for waterskiing. It has caused me to change where I live, who I hang out with, and what 6

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over and are known for a tradition we call FNK (Friday Night at the Kimballs). This is an open house of sorts where friends and colleagues gather, bring something to share, and we talk, laugh, and enjoy one another. We hope to have a similar tradition in Singapore.

And finally, I’m passionate about my own personal faith.

That’s how you find balance. Find a passion and go for it.

What brought you to SAS? Why this school, and why now?

It was a difficult decision to leave Lake Washington. I loved the community, the work, my team, and all that was available in the Pacific NW. I was not looking for another opportunity. But after conversations with recruiters, the search team, and friends in international schools, SAS sounded like an amazing place and a perfect match for me. A colleague at a school in China said that I was an “idiot” if I didn’t seriously consider SAS. It is the gold standard of international schools.

But there are some deeper reasons as to why SAS and why now. Fundamental shifts are underway in how our kids will successfully compete in the new global marketplace. Those shifts will continue and will have an impact on today’s students. I want to be a part of a school that not only understands those challenges and opportunities, but is capitalizing upon them. I am interested in fully exploring what is possible in a school system. SAS has the support, leadership, and vision to be a model for all schools worldwide. I want to help make that happen.

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SAS has the support, leadership, and vision to be a model for all schools world-wide.

I want to help make that happen.

My reputation in the United States has been around a future orientation and emphasis on 21st century skills, global skills, and technology. I have become convinced that for many American educators, this is rhetorical, and they don’t really “get it.” How can we prepare students for the new global economy without context or experience? I want to “get it” as well. This is an opportunity for me to learn from SAS about the international context, and for SAS to take advantage of my experience in highly effective schools, educational leadership, technology, and change.

I also was attracted to a new challenge and doing something hard. This is part of my belief system. As an example, I have struggled with weight management all of my life and lost 200 pounds (90 kg) over ten years.

Then I learned to waterski and started cycling. I rode a bicycle across the state of Washington. Who in the world

would have thought…a big guy on a bicycle? Do you know how little those seats are? But I took it on as a new challenge, and it was hard. For me, moving overseas when I was comfortable was hard…and right.

Coming to SAS is a good fit for where we are in our life journey. Cheryl and I are empty nesters as of June 2012. Cheryl is deeply passionate about using her nursing skills in the third world, and I am passionate about making SAS the best possible place for education on the planet. It is a great match for us to learn, lead, and experience the richness of life in Asia, and we are thrilled about being here.

What is your vision for SAS? Where are we going? What does our future look like?

SAS can be unequivocally the finest international school in the world. Period. Explanation Point. This means that

Dr. Kimball with wife Cheryl, daughters Alexis and Emilee, and dog Bella.

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I’m fascinated by how the intersection of opportunity, hard work, and talent come together and create amazing results. we need to prepare students for university as well as for the challenges of living is this dynamic global market. We have all of the ingredients to make this happen. I want our excellence to be so pervasive that somebody who is in a corporation in Los Angeles or London says, “Please transfer me to Singapore because I want my kids to be a part of SAS.” It takes a lot to get there. We need to be more than a really good American school that happens to be located in Singapore. We need to be a part of what’s actually happening in Asia and what is happening in Singapore specifically. And we need to take advantage of our location, the resources and talents of our people, our size, and of our international perspective.

At SAS, we are only limited by our imagination. I’m interested in what’s possible when you don’t have the limitations of the the US public education system. We can become a model for public and private education worldwide.

By taking advantage of our Singapore location we can make sure that our students have experiences in Asia and beyond that are truly integrated into their profile of learning. We’re doing some of that now. Programs such as Interim Semester and Classroom Without Walls are wonderful entrees into those kinds of experiences. But is there more that is possible? Can we more deeply embed the international context and experience into what students are doing on a daily basis. And how will these experiences prepare them for the future?

At SAS we need to build a pathway for our students that differentiates what we do as compared to other schools. We need to help students tap into their interests and passions early, develop expertise, and use that expertise to solve problems building a base of skills that are compelling and interesting. We get great results. We have students with high AP scores and good recommendations. But so do a lot of other schools. We want a university of choice to say, “Wow. I want those students.

Not because of their GPA, but because in addition to a rigorous course of study they have experiences and talents that they bring to the table and to our school.“ That kind of talent doesn’t happen by accident. It is 8

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cultivated through a system over a period of years. This is a K-12 problem and it includes all the things we know are important for the 21st century student. This includes communication, collaboration, problem-solving, technology, project planning and getting along with others.

It is all of these things wrapped into a package with an academic base that is powerful so that our students can apply their skills to any hard problem. It is my hope that the future SAS will provide this kind of experience for all students.

What else would you like to share with the SAS community?

If you look at what is happening in the global economy with respect to job creation, 80% of the jobs our students will be applying for as adults don’t exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented. The current system of education was built for the industrial age. I am interested in building a system that is increasingly relevant to what our students will be faced with now and into the future.

SAS students can be highly leveraged for great work.

Many of our students will be asked to run companies and countries. We need to ensure that these students not only develop effective skills in business, science, engineering, and the humanities, but will also develop skills so that they are ethical leaders, global citizens, and are humane in how they deal with others.

It is not lost on us that we not only have to prepare students academically and in their ability to think, but also with those characteristics that we believe are important.

There are common characteristics that we find among all people groups, no matter their ethnic, religious, or economic background. Do we want our students to be fair? Do we want them to be honest? Do we want them to have resiliency and know how to work hard? We have to create a system that not only makes room for those characteristics but helps us develop them as well.

I’m fascinated by how the intersection of opportunity, hard work, and talent come together and create amazing results. Our job is to create the opportunities for students to work hard and develop the talent that will serve them well and serve the world around them. Our job is to prepare the leaders of tomorrow.

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Jim Baker

SAS: A Family Business

Since its founding in 1956, SAS has been known for its sense of community. Some even say that SAS is a family. The following four stories about alumni take the concept one step further.

These alums grew up in Singapore. They attended SAS. And they returned because of their connection to community and their desire to teach.

Jim Baker (66) and Kathy Tan (67) attended SAS from 1956 when it opened until they graduated. Both re-

turned to teach in the early 1970s and are still on the faculty.

One of Kathy’s daughters, Anne-Marie (96), is also a teacher at SAS. Anne Dodge Caroll, daughter of Jane (faculty) and Bob Dodge (former faculty) attended SAS from preschool until 2003. Anne returned to SAS to teach in 2009. Vicki Rameker Rogers spent 12 years as a student at SAS, graduating in 1995,

ms (05)

seen here wit h Stacy Abra

have in common the sense of commitment and connection with SAS. Anne summed it up best with the thought, “I guess I always knew I would go into the family business.”

V icki Rameker R ogers and Matt

Jane Dodge

Each alum has been on their own unique journey, but they all

Rogers (95)

Kat hy Saludo Tan

and has been a teacher at SAS since 2001.

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A Village of

Memories Jim Baker (66, faculty 71-present)

The King’s Road campus held so many mem- The Americans—there were fewer than 1,000 of us—huntories for me that it is still painful to reflect on its passing. ed Easter eggs at the Consul’s residence and celebrated I’m like the guy in the TV ad who visits his childhood Thanksgiving and Christmas at the American Club, but home and finds a ragged shuttlecock that brings back we also learned to speak some Malay and lived and thoughts of his youth. For me, every hallway and every worked in a very Asian environment. We were different, but we belonged. We were not as closed in on our own corner of that campus echoed with memories.

My brothers—David (61) and Robert (65)—and I at- culture as we are today.

The move to King’s Road in 1962 was a big deal for the tended SAS from its inception in a house on Rochalie Drive in 1956 when Singapore was still a British colony. American community. We had purchased Emily Newell’s Singapore was by then no longer a colony and in the (63) house from Citibank. Emily was a classmate, and we’d process of joining the Federation of Malaysia. The US all been to her home for parties. The property was huge, Consulate on Hill Street was only one year old. The only at least to us—7.2 acres for 300 kids! Everyone pitched grocery stores were single outlets of Cold Storage and in—moving equipment and even planting grass. We were Fitzpatricks, both on Orchard Road, a quiet road of two- so proud of our new school and called it “our little island,” story shop houses except for the Lido theater and three- three buildings on a hill surrounded by kampungs.

The mid 60s were a troubled time in Singapore. There story CK Tang’s emporium.

I can’t remember anyone living in an apartment then. were strikes and race riots because the Chinese felt We all lived in houses with big lawns. We were vastly they would face discrimination in the newly formed different from Singaporeans, who lived in kampungs or Federation of Malaysia. Other countries were not happy substandard housing, and yet in a sense we were much that Malaysia wanted to be an independent nation and more a part of the Asian community than we are today. wanted her to join an existing nation, such as Indonesia.

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We were so proud of our new school and called it ‘our little island,’ three buildings on a hill surrounded by kampungs.

SAS: A Family Business

Opposite: David (61), Jim (66), and Robert (65) Baker with their parents; Above: The King’s Road campus in 1962.

Baker family with son’s David, Jim, Robert.

SAS: A Family Business

Jim speaking at his son’s graduation in 1992. Randy is on the far right.

Most of this did not affect us at SAS. We had to get my mentor, and I would not be a teacher today without home before curfew—I missed it once and had to spend his inspiration and guidance.

I was away from Singapore from 1974-82, but my school the night at the American Club—and sometimes we had to make up classes on Saturdays. We participated in local did not change much in those years. Superintendent sports events but stayed away from politics. The student Kuhbander also joined SAS in 1982. He and the school council ran the snack bar, often to its personal profit, until board initiated many expansion projects that enhanced the campus but did not take away its community feeling.

Mr. Ho’s father came in 1965.

In 1965, my junior year, Singapore became an inde- He also hired a number of good teachers who stayed on pendent nation. Creating a nation from scratch seemed an for many years and formed a solid team in the high school. awesome task, but Lee Kuan Yew was dynamite. He literOver the years, there have been many special moments ally rammed through objections and obstacles and would in the classroom and with my debate and track teams, but not consider the possibility of failure. His single-minded two events stand out: speaking at my son’s graduation in determination to become a self-sufficient, prosperous na- 1992 and publishing my book, Crossroads, which is used to teach the Malaysia/Singapore course. tion obviously worked—just look around today.

I believe that SAS is a monument to the shared efforts I returned to Singapore in 1971 with my wife, and our son was born in 1974. We named him Edmund Randolph but of parents, teachers, and administrators. I also believe called him Randy after one of the athletes on SAS’s outstand- that it carried the collective memories of King’s Road, Ulu Pandan, and even Rochalie Drive to the Woodlands caming basketball team. Randy graduated from SAS in 1992.

I taught with some outstanding colleagues. Coach Kasi pus when it moved there in 1996. Remember the African virtually created and ran the sports programs. He made proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child?” SAS is a vilsure there was lots of competition, both intramural and lage of our memories that has moved from place to place nation-wide. He loved each and every student, greeting but is still our village.

I’ve taught and coached hundreds of fine young people them with a grin and “how are you little one?” And Abe Abraham, my not-so-favorite high school math teacher, and continue to enjoy doing so. I hope their memories of quickly earned my admiration and respect. He became their years at SAS are as rich and rewarding as mine.

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An Amazing Transformation Kathy Saludo Tan (67, faculty 73-present)

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It’s hard to imagine, but I am in my 39th year of teaching at SAS, and I was also

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one of the first 101 students that started at SAS in 1956. I have been a student, a teacher, an SAS parent, and now the proud parent of an SAS teacher.

SAS: A Family Business

Bob (69) and Kathy (67) Saludo with their mother, Kitty.

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I feel so fortunate to have been a part of SAS over all these years.

My father served with the US Airforce in England just delightful and taught me to read. She was also my during World War II and became an American citizen. third grade teacher and a most inspiring one. My second He moved to Singapore in 1947, where he met and mar- grade teacher was a single British lady who had come to ried my mother. He was a well-known figure in the small Singapore as an au pair.

American community who owned a popular service staEvery morning we sang God Save the Queen. Our unition on Holland Road and was a founding member of the forms were blue and white dresses, and I was so proud of American Club. the big blue bow in back. We used to line up to wait for our My parents wanted me to attend the Convent of the names to be called when our cars arrived to take us home, Holy Infant Jesus (now Chijmes, a popular shopping as there were no school buses. and dining mall). The school wanted me to repeat a year Home life for most of us was also different from today. because I had not attended kindergarten, so my parents Many of us lived in bungalows. We spent long hours out decided to send me to SAS instead. I started first grade in in the beautiful gardens playing games like five stones (a 1956, and my brother Bob (69) joined the kindergarten the game similar to jacks). In addition to the drivers that picked following year. We both attended SAS until we graduated. us up from school, we had cooks, gardeners, and amahs The Rochalie Drive campus consisted of a big bungalow (or nannies). Our family’s amah was from southern China. on a huge piece of land. The ground floor was on cement Chinese amahs were often referred to as black and white pillars several feet off the ground. The above ground eleva- nannies because of their traditional black pants and white tion allowed for improved air circulation, and safeguarded tops. They were typically single women who dedicated against flooding. The science class was in the garage, the their lives to caring for families overseas. I was very close kindergarten in the servants’ quarters, the library in the to my amah as she took care of me through primary school. living room, and classrooms in the bedrooms. And there Food shopping took place almost exclusively in wet were chickens everywhere. The campus was really lovely markets, including meat and poultry. We boiled our and had a small, intimate feel. drinking water, and soaked all our veggies and fruit in The primary school teachers were the wives of British potassium. There were few HDBs in those days, with most army officers and American businessmen. Mrs. White, of the population living in kampungs. an Army officer’s wife, was my first teacher. She was After I graduated from Kings Road in 1967, I went to 14

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Opposite: The class of 1967; Left: Kathy Saludo Tan with her husband, George, and daughters Claire (98) and Ann-Marie (95); Anne-Marie in her classroom this fall.

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the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where I of my interest in teaching reading, I taught grades 1-2 for majored in science and biology. I fell into teaching natu- five years and finally settled in grade 1 when the school rally. I was a student teacher in life science at a junior high went to single-grade classes. It’s a lovely age because the school on Long Island. I hoped to get a teaching position children learn so much in one year.

Many of my current close SAS friendships are a rein NYC after I graduated, but schools were closing in the sult of the “Say Goodbye to Kings Road Campus 1996 late 60s and early 70s and jobs were difficult to find.

I came back to Singapore and started subbing at SAS Reunion” for alums put together by Junia and Jim Baker. in 1972. The school was building the Ulu Pandan campus Many Singapore alums from the 60s and 70s attended. We at that time because it had outgrown the King’s Road had all gone to the US for college and then moved back to campus. During construction, SAS was on three separate Singapore, and we reconnected after that reunion. I have campuses—grades K-2 were at Gillman Barracks and especially fond memories of good times with Mr. and Mrs. grades 3-6 were at Alexandra, while grades 7-12 were still Abraham and Andree Huq Rajoo.

Coming full circle, I’m excited that one of my daughon King’s Road. I subbed at all of them.

My first year as a full-time teacher was in 1973-74. I ters, Anne-Marie (95), is now a teacher in the primary was the science teacher for grades 5-8 for the next five school. She and her sister Claire (98) attended SAS from years. The school used a new approach called Individually kindergarten through graduation. Claire is married to Guided Education in which four grade levels of students Leon Liu (96) and lives in the US with her two children. were grouped to learn at their own pace rather than in Anne-Marie initially started out with a career in banking traditional classes. This classroom without walls concept but decided to pursue a career in teaching and started her presented challenges for the school, and so the system formal teaching career at SAS this fall. I am proud that she is here, and I think she is so lucky to be working at SAS. was changed to two grades per class.

I feel so fortunate to have been a part of SAS over all For the next four years, I taught grades 5-6 and loved it.

I liked working with younger kids. By that time I was mar- these years. It has played a huge part in my life. It is an ried and had kids of my own and wanted to teach young amazing organization and it has been remarkable to see people to read. I got a master’s in elementary education its transformation from a little school to what it is today— and spent the next four years in grades 3-4. Then, because one of the largest international schools in the world.

SAS: A Family Business

The

Eagle

Connection Vicki Rameker Rogers (95, faculty 2001-present)

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Singapore American School has been a part of my family for almost 30 years. When my parents moved our family to Singapore in 1983 and enrolled my siblings—Kimberly Rameker Hurst (94) and Victor Rameker (97)—and me in SAS, we did not expect to still be chanting, “Go Eagles!” nearly three decades later. I didn’t expect to marry a fellow SAS classmate, Matt Rogers (95), or that Victor would marry Allyson Tippie (99) as well. I certainly didn’t expect to find myself on the other side of an SAS classroom teaching, sharing stories of overseas teaching with my mother-in-law, Ginny, who taught at SAS for a number of years and was one of those super-dedicated parents who actively contributed to the school.

One of the things that has become apparent to me and Matt over the years is the extent and value of the SAS network. My interview with former superintendent Bob Gross came about as a result of a few SAS teachers who personally passed along my resume. I will always be grateful to them all for giving me the opportunity to “come home” and give back to an institution that had taught and inspired me so much. My husband’s employment history also has SAS fingerprints all over it. In fact, he learned about all three Singapore companies where he has worked through various SAS connections.

A more recent example of the power of our SAS network was evident this spring during an eighth grade social studies trip I organized to Philadelphia, New York, F ALL 2 0 1 2

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SAS: A Family Business

and Washington, DC. Alumna Jessica Blakemore (03), who works in the White House, was able to secure an exclusive tour for us inside the compound.

Matt and I are not only thankful for the professional benefits of our personal SAS connections, but also for the close-knit group of friends we have from our student days. Our SAS friends aren’t just distant “people we used to know” who keep in touch via Facebook updates, but are some of our best lifelong friends to this day. They are friends with whom we can go long periods of time without much contact and still be able to pick up without missing a beat when we meet again. Our time spent together in Singapore as part of the SAS community undoubtedly played a significant role in all of these personal and professional relationships.

As the school and its community continue to grow, it becomes increasingly challenging to keep this personal, family feeling alive, but it also multiplies the power of the SAS network. The truth is that the SAS experience does not stop the day you leave Singapore. Whether you have been a part of the SAS family for a few months, a few years, or a few decades, it’s important to recognize that you are part of something bigger—an international institution with global connections and a powerful alumni network.

We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have been part of this network for so long, and look forward to starting our son, Kasey, in preschool this year at SAS. As we anticipate his first day of school dressed in the same blue and white his parents wore, we are equally excited to be officially inducting him into the SAS family.

Once an Eagle, always an Eagle... Go Eagles!!!

Opposite: Vicki Rogers with son Kasey and husband Matt (95); Above: Vicki and her class of 8th graders on their trip to Washington, D.C.; Below: Vicki and Matt, SAS prom 1995.

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: SAS

Our Family Crew Carroll (faculty 05-present)

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SAS: A Family Business

Above: Anne Dodge Carroll (03 and faculty) and Crew Carroll (faculty) with Mya Jane Amberlynn Carroll, born April 30; Left: Bob (former faculty) and Jane Dodge (faculty) with Anne.

I have repeatedly heard that SAS is more than a school. It is a community or even one large family. If the family known as the SAS community was not a “parent” to Anne and me before 2011-12, any and all doubts are now officially gone! We’ll start at the beginning so we can get to the beginning.

Jane and Bob Dodge, both from North Dakota, started teaching at SAS in 1983 after four years at the American Community School in London. Jane taught grade 3 at the Ulu Pandan campus while Bob taught social studies at King’s Road. Jane is still teaching, while Bob retired in 2006 and began to write. His book on Shelling’s Game Theory is now used in the high school.

A couple of years after they moved to Singapore, they 18

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decided to adopt a Taiwanese baby. Grinning from ear to ear, Momma Jane and Daddy Bob carried little Anne straight from the airport to the school-wide Christmas party at the Shangri-La Hotel in 1985. Superintendent Mel Kuhbander promptly grabbed Anne and began to dance around the room. Jane would later claim from that point on she felt as if Anne had dozens of parents to help raise her.

Anne attended SAS from preschool until she finished high school. She says SAS really prepared her for life.

Teachers Kim Melsom, Mark Clemens, and Paul Terrile especially inspired her to learn. She was also in dance club, president of the senior class, and participated in IASAS Cultural Convention.

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SAS: A Family Business

Photo by Kyra Boyer

returned to Singapore and to her extended SAS family. returned to Singapore and celebrated our marriage with She started substituting and decided she loved teaching a reception at the American Club. and being a part of the SAS community, so she studied for Roughly three years later, on April 30, 2012, Mya Jane a master’s in education, which qualified her to teach. She Amberlynn Carroll became the third generation of our became an SAS teacher in 2009. In her words, “I guess I family to be a part of the SAS community. We have been always knew I’d go into the family business.” astounded by the helpful suggestions, baby showers, and I accepted a position in grade 5 at a job fair in Cambridge overall nurturing of SAS teachers, parents, and students. in 2005, where I again heard about SAS’s family commuI grew up in a small town in South Carolina, and am fanity spirit. miliar with a folksy, friendly community. When I go home Anne and I met when she substituted for me while I over the holidays, it is as if I never left. I pick up friendattended a staff development session. Since Jane taught ships and conversations exactly where they had paused in the same division, I knew that I needed to be very, during my last visit. But SAS has become my home. With very careful. Extremely careful! After corresponding via apologies to my hometown, the folks there could not Facebook for a while, Anne and I had our first date at an dream of a better place than Singapore to begin a family.

Intermediate School Happy Hour, where the extended A couple from North Dakota, a man from South family could keep an eye on us.

Carolina, and a woman who was born in Taiwan and grew Fast forward a year and a half. Anne and I were mar- up in Singapore are proud to welcome a third generation ried in a small beach ceremony in Phuket, which was member of the SAS family. attended by our families and our SAS community. We

Ken Root (72) playing soccer. Goalie Aldo Garrolini (74) is on left.

Colorized by Sami Fuller (13).

LOCAL COLOR Interview with Paul Griffin, high school photography teacher

As part of the spring 2012 high school art show, photography teacher Paul Griffin’s digital photography class presented a series of black and white photos they had colorized that semester. The original photos were taken by alum Dave Hogan (73) while a student at SAS. Dave was an avid photographer for the Islander and the student newspaper, then called the King’s Road Review. Here are excerpts from our conversation with Paul about how he came about working with Dave Hogan’s photographs, and the project the students completed.

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How did you discover the photos taken by alum Dave Hogan?

During a campus visit a few years ago, Dave shared with me that as a student he had done a lot of photography for the yearbook and student newspaper. He was working on digitizing his negatives from that period and offered to share the images with me when the project was completed. The CD he compiled contained an impressive selection of the black and white photos he made at SAS during the 70s, and I decided that it would be a fabulous collection of photos to draw from for the colorizing lessons with my students.

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What was the process for coloring the photos?

It was all done digitally using PhotoshopŽ. It involved creating a layer for each color applied so that density and hue could be adjusted individually. The students used Wacom tablets and pens. It’s like working with a high tech coloring book. Finished images were then printed on high quality photo paper using a professional ink jet printer that we have in the SAS photo lab.

What was the take-away for the students?

For assignments like this, I tell the students they are giving new life to an old photo. Besides learning the technical skills that might be useful in future classes and their careers, there are a lot of lessons learned in creativity, color selection, and application. Many of the photos had dust and scratches, so students also learned how to touch these up before beginning the colorizing process. Classroom skills aside, I think the project gave the students an appreciation for the history of SAS as well as the technical and creative evolution of photography.

Ken Root (72) playing basketball at the 72 Bangkok Games. Dave Steigmeier (73) is in front, and Tom Hancock (73) is at right. Colorized

by William Whalen-Bridge (14).

Dave Hogan and his wife Debbie live in Singapore. Many more of his photos of SAS in the 1970s may be found at alumni.sas.edu.sg under Alumni Publications.

Girls hockey team 1972. Colorized by Shanti Purnamasri (12).

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The project gave the students an appreciation for the history of SAS.

Jay Spencer (72) at a Singapore track meet. Colorized by Tamsin Howard (14).

Jay Spencer (72) playing soccer. Colorized by Ariq Chowdhury (12).

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A visibly upset Denny Freeman (73) with Dave Steigmeier (73) in front on learning that their rugby team would not be allowed to participate in the National Championships unless they cut their hair. They refused to comply. Colorized by Ryka Sehgal (14).

Jim Gribi (73) running in a relay race. Colorized by Alex Koncki (14).

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I got to see firsthand what I’ve studied and taught for so many years.

Henan: A Dream Come True Ellen White, Director of Admissions, Alumnus Parent, and Former Faculty.

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I love my job in the Admissions Office, but I miss being with students every day. Last year, when Linda Sun (15) asked me to sponsor her new club, I jumped at the chance. I’d known her since she was in sixth grade, and we’d been on Aiding China club trips together. I liked her club’s idea of doing more community service in China by targeting juvenile offenders.

Linda’s parents are Chinese and helped the club connect with social service groups in Zheng Zhou, the capital city of Henan province.

As the sponsor, my job was to look out for the club and see what it could and could not do. Over the December 2011 holidays, I went to Henan with the Sun family to explore our options.

As many alumni know, I taught Chinese history and art history in the high school for about ten years. Going to a historical place like Henan was a dream come true. All SAS F ALL 2 0 1 2

graduates surely know that the Yellow River is the cradle Buddha is 44 feet tall and has a moon shaped face with a of Chinese civilization. Henan in Chinese means south of flat nose and a neck with the three folds of flesh that the the river. The river, which has changed its course many Tang Chinese found attractive.

If you’re scratching your heads and trying to rememtimes over the centuries, runs through Henan, about one ber Wu Zetian, then you owe it to me, your teacher and fourth of which is now north of the Yellow River.

From the documentaries I’ve seen I know it’s a mighty you, my lifelong students, to go to the Internet and refresh river like the Mississippi, but I was disappointed when I your memories. She’s the only woman in Chinese history first stood on its banks because there wasn’t much water. to be crowned empress in her own right. How she got to My tour guide apologized and explained that there hadn’t power is an interesting story. She went from concubine to been any rain. We drove to another vantage point so that nun to concubine and then empress dowager to empress.

I could see the river in its magnificence. I was intrigued Although she was devout, she was vicious and ruthless with the spot he chose on top of a mountain and the exact with anyone who got in her way including her own son. place where Chairman Mao sat in 1955 to contemplate the Imagine my delight when I had lunch at a nearby resYellow River, which gives China silt for its fertile fields but taurant that specialized in dishes enjoyed by Wu Zetian, also has wrecked much havoc with violent flooding. I was including salted duck tongues. All the waitresses were honored to share the same space as Chairman Mao and dressed like the empress, and a singer of Henan opera (Yu Ju) sang while we ate. dutifully had my picture taken.

Henan was fun for me. I got to see firsthand what I’ve The Luoyang Caves bodhisattvas were completed in 675 CE during the Tang dynasty and commissioned by studied and taught for so many years. It also brought Empress Wu Zetian. My tour guide was very knowledge- back many fond memories of the classroom. I thought of able but then again so was I. Cave art came to China from many of you and wondered how you are. I hope you’re India in the first century along with Buddhism. I walked happy and well and that somehow the time you spent in through the grottoes and could see the changes in the my classroom at SAS benefitted you. Being your teacher figures as they became more Chinese. Empress Wu’s enriched my life in so many ways.

Opposite: Ellen White and Chairman Mao contemplate the Yellow River; This page: Luoyang Caves bodhisattvas.

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TUK TUK GOOSE Waddles across India

Alumni Profile

by Scott Greene (04)

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There I sat on a blistering hot afternoon, on the back of a beat-up motorbike, the flat tire in my lap the only thing separating me from the sweat-soaked back of the stranger giving me a ride on India’s National Highway 5 in search of a mechanic willing to help a bearded foreigner who spoke no Hindi. Nowhere near the day’s target destination, and even further from civilization, I was hanging onto way more than just a tire.

How did I get into this mess? When my friends first proposed the Rickshaw Run, it intrigued me: A twoweek unsupported adventure across 3,500 km of Indian roads on the three unforgiving wheels of a 7 horsepower autorickshaw, or tuk tuk. I verbally committed, then read the disclaimer on the event web site: Your chances of being seriously injured or dying as a result of taking part are high.

Individuals who have taken part in past Adventurists’ adventures have been permanently disfigured, seriously disabled and even lost their lives.

Properly spooked, I spent the next several months hoping that my two teammates would come to their senses.

But they called my bluff. On Easter Sunday 2012, we joined more than 60 other teams of drifters, soul-searchers, and city-dwellers, hailing from all corners of the globe and all hoping to escape from their sanity and the real world.

Our three-man team, called Tuk Tuk Goose, spent the next two weeks driving our pimped-out autorickshaw (aptly named The Goose) from the tropical southwestern coastal province of Kerala to a finish line in the northeastern tribal highlands of India. The glamor of the trip, if there ever was any, wore off after about 10 kilometers when The Goose shed her muffler. We quickly learned how best to locate the closest mechanic, though we found our “Hindi in 60 Minutes” DVD to be woefully inadequate next to the power of pantomime and big smiles.

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AUGUST 2012

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For every cow or truck that we nearly hit, for every chaotic incident that induced expletive-laced tirades from one or all three of us, we found more than enough balancing moments of thrill and amazement.

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A typical day—if there was one—brought a pre-dawn 8 lanes of a West Bengal freeway. There, as with the other wake-up call followed by 12 hours of driving and the in- curveballs thrown at us, we found a way. And for every evitable dusk-hour debate about whether to press on in cow or truck that we nearly hit, for every chaotic incident the dark or drop anchor at hotels that seemed to only get that induced expletive-laced tirades from one or all three seedier as The Goose quacked north. We dined alfresco in of us, we found more than enough balancing moments the morning and for lunch, usually stopping an hour after of thrill and amazement. We rode elephants in India’s daybreak for a roadside pastry with mystery curry and northeastern frontier, caught a sunrise view of Mount again in the early afternoon to dine alongside the truckers. Everest, and sipped tea atop the foggy and surreal hills Food choices at trucker joints were simple—veg or non of Darjeeling, to name just a few of the many highs that veg—but they were always tasty. We only saw menus at always seemed to follow the lows. Most importantly, we dinner, the biggest and best meal of the day, where we in- made it to the finish line on April 21. haled our daily dose of dhal, palak paneer, chicken masala, Much of our journey took us through a part of India and garlic naan. Between meals, we snacked on exhaust. that is no-man’s land for the unseasoned adventurer. It Apart from our runaway muffler and despite the daily wasn’t the India you read about in guidebooks. Most of beating we inflicted on her, The Goose proved surpris- the towns were nowhere to be found in ours. Other than ingly resilient. We had our share of scares and frustrations, a couple of teams we caught on the road, we saw few forincluding two flat tires on the freeway, several low-speed eign tourists. We were thousands of kilometers from the collisions, and too many wrong turns to remember. We Taj Mahal, and it felt like it. But we also saw the real India— braved rush hour in the beachfront slums of Chennai, the farms and factories, towering freight trucks and overnight driving in the Maoist rebel-infested forests of Orissa, crowded public buses, hitchhiking commuters, pilgrims and day after day of oppressive heat. We dodged cows, and cattle drivers, and the bakers and beggars and barbers trucks, and people every minute, forcing our collective of cities and towns well off the radar of most travelers. equilibrium to quickly readjust to a driving culture void In the end, the Rickshaw Run delivered on its promise of traffic lights, speed limits, or any rules at all. as the ultimate adventure. For me, it was a once-in-a-lifeWe were never delayed more than a few hours, even time trip, and I mean it. My next vacation will definitely when faced with a 5-kilometer-long stoppage across all be on a beach.

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A Loyalty Program to Rule Them All

Alumni Profile

Niket Desai (05)

I was originally studying to become a quant (quantitative analyst) and work in the financial industry, but ditched it when the markets crashed in 2008. Instead I interned at and later joined a small startup building games on the web. Then, I woke up one day realizing building games wasn’t how I wanted to change the world and quit. I was brash, but, I had been thinking about how digital products could influence small business and cofounded Punchd, a service that puts those buy-10-get-1-free cards into your smart phone.

Punchd was funded by 500 Startups and was based in Mountain View, California. Starting on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus, Punchd grew quickly both within the US and internationally as merchants were interested in the promise of digital loyalty programs. Soon after, Google approached us for acquisition to strengthen its small business offerings and commerce initiatives. We finalized the acquisition in July 2011, and our six-employee company joined Google’s Local and Commerce division.

The ironic thing about starting a company and selling it to Google is that I wouldn’t have been able to get a job there on my own. The caliber of employees at Google is 30

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impressive, and I admire it greatly for its ability to attract talented individuals; so it’s fitting that I would have to sell myself more literally to get in. Here are some tidbits and anecdotes I picked up along the way.

Beer: Some of my best ideas and relationships happened over drinks. The thing about start-ups is that you are always working, observing, and thinking. Finding a relaxing way for ideas to materialize is important because you can’t force them. A lot of synthesizing happened in a bar called Church Key in the North Beach area of San Francisco.

Humility: It’s easy to get caught up in things. Acknowledging how little we know, luck, and good timing is grounding.

I recently drove across most of the US with my sister, and it was humbling to see how little people were concerned with the latest technical fad.

Double Dates: I met my co-founder, Reed, on an ice-skating double date. We both had played hockey in college so we obviously tried to impress people by flying around the rink and almost immediately got kicked off.

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Buy 10 coffees, get one free with Punchd loyalty program.

Niket studies cofounder Reed Morse’s statistical equations.

Asia: I got to see and meet a number of start-ups in Singapore when I visited earlier this year and was impressed by the talent. The energy is electric and is similar to how I have felt in Silicon Valley these last two years.

Couches: Our office was on the 12th floor, and we had a crummy, but free, couch we wanted to add. When it didn’t fit in the elevator, we decided to carry it up the stairs instead. Now, it’s more or less become a trophy and other start-ups compete to use it. Sometimes tenacity trumps intelligence.

No: One thing you hear a lot is “No.” People think it’s a bad thing, but I actually see it as a sign of progress. If you aren’t hearing no, then you probably aren’t trying enough.

No is pretty harmless. Worst case, you are exactly where you are at anyway.

Friends: Cultivate friendships. It’s the only thing really worth doing in this world. Work is hard, fine, but don’t let that interfere with calling your family and friends. Some people are so poor that all they have is money.

Me: I still live in San Francisco, in the same apartment, so drop me a line if you’re ever interested in meeting up at Church Key or elsewhere. [hi@niket.co]

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Time Zones: At one point Punchd was operating via Skype in three time zones. Xander was in Italy visiting his girlfriend, Reed was in Idaho visiting family, and I was in San Francisco. I think it’s pretty neat we are afforded such luxury as just 15 years ago this would have been nearly impossible.

be part of such a unique community of people, and it has had a tremendous impact on our collective outlook in life.

Alumni Profile

Facing the Social Media Frontier Life is full of unexpected turns, and mine has been no exception.

As I sat on stage in my Jostens blue gown on graduation night, listening to Hubert Pan (98) and Akilesh Sridharan (98) joke in their grad speech about a future in which every man, woman, and child on earth pays taxes to Bill Gates and Microsoft, I could have never imagined that over a decade later, a huge industry called social media would overshadow Microsoft’s dominance and that I would be working at the center of it.

I studied biomedical engineering at Yale, to my parents’ delight. I also met a wonderful girl named Suzanne, whom I married several years later. Preparing for graduation with engineering experiences at school and by working at a biotech company and a national lab, I found the work intellectually stimulating but somehow lacking. I realized I needed more (much more!) human interaction to be fulfilled in my career. My best memories of middle and high school at SAS centered around my friendships, and to this day, many of my closest friendships are the ones formed nearly twenty years ago at Ulu Pandan and later Woodlands.

When college graduation rolled around, I took a leap and worked in sales for a portfolio management company, much to my parents’ chagrin as it didn’t utilize my technical skills or promise even a modicum of job security. However, armed with research that many senior executives come from sales (and watching Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross), I was determined to give it a shot. I could always go back to engineering, or even better, follow in the footsteps of John Matchett (99), who’s living my childhood dream of being a fighter pilot. (Go John!)

It turned out engineering and sales weren’t always like oil and water. I spent the next eight years selling and managing sales teams, learning a lot about capital markets along the way. But with my first child on the way, I still felt something was missing. After deep contemplation and countless discussions with mentors, the answer became clear. As an engineer at heart, I always preferred TechCrunch and Wired over the Wall Street Journal and the Economist. My passion is technology.

Facebook’s mission is to make the world more open and connected. Having grown up in Singapore, China, 32

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Rich Liu (98)

and the US, this mission hit home, as I imagine it does for many SAS alums. Until recently, keeping up with friends and family required flights, snail mail, or long-distance calls, which provided varying degrees of ease and intimacy. Having friends and family far away usually meant (at least for me) that they were not a big part of my day-today life. Facebook was the first technology that actually made me feel as if those I care about, no matter how far away or from how far back in time, could be a meaningful part of my life and I in theirs. How else would I share pictures of my new daughter with all my SAS friends?

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Two industry shifts since graduating SAS, I wonder if I’ve found my calling.

For the past two years, I’ve been fortunate to lead sales and account management teams at Facebook in defining the social media frontier. We help businesses develop social strategies, creating opportunities to meaningfully connect with favorite brands and discover new favorites.

I tremendously enjoy the fast pace and excitement of startup culture, where I’ve developed a deeper appreciation for a philosophy of prioritizing one’s top tasks to make the biggest impact. I’m still not used to the wear-anythingyou-like dress code. On the other hand, getting used to

tasty hot meals in the cafe was a cinch.

Two industry shifts since graduating SAS, I wonder if I’ve found my calling. It’s incredibly fulfilling to help individuals connect with the people and things most important to them, and I feel very fortunate to do this for a living. Yet if the past is any indication, life has plenty more shifts in store. Fortunately, I learned over the past two decades to take comfort in my family and friends—many from SAS whom I consider my family. Keep in mind, it’s the journey, not the destination, that matters most.

Rich in front of one of the many message boards on which Facebook employees scribble.

Alumni Profile

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RECRUITING THE BRIGHTEST AND BEST Shannon Scott (04)

Alumni Profile

Shannon at a Teach For Malaysia staff meeting.

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I find myself sitting around a long conference table with leaders of education reform in countries like Latvia, Brazil, Peru, Israel and Australia discussing how to best measure the success of a teacher, a school, an education organization. I begin to reflect on what brought me here to this table and this opportunity.

I left SAS and Singapore in 2002 and studied political science at Michigan State University. Then, I joined Teach For America in 2008 and taught literature on the north side of St. Louis, Missouri. In 2010, I moved to Washington, DC and soon realized that I was in desperate need of another Southeast Asian adventure. Teach For America is one of 23 country organizations partnered in a unified movement called Teach For All to ensure that every child has the opportunity to receive an excellent education.

Teach For Malaysia is the first Teach For All partner in Southeast Asia. It is committed to closing the academic achievement gap between students from wealthy backgrounds and students from disadvantaged backgrounds by recruiting the nation’s top graduates to teach in the country’s most high-need schools for two years.

I joined Teach For Malaysia last year. I coach and mentor 15 of the first 50 teachers in this program, which is run by two Malaysians in partnership with the Ministry of Education. They recruited Malaysia’s brightest young engineers, lawyers, psychologists, musicians, economists, and even a doctor to teach in high-need communities by appealing to their deep sense of public service—and by offering job opportunities in international firms F ALL 2 0 1 2

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My memories of SAS and Singapore fueled my decision to return to Southeast Asia.

Malaysian volunteer teacher working in a small school on Pulau Ketam, near Port Klang, Malaysia;

provide children from impoverished communities with an inadequate education and a limited path in life. It has been an incredible experience working with transformational classroom leaders who are dedicated to providing an excellent education to all students.

My memories of SAS and Singapore fueled my decision to return to Southeast Asia. Singapore is my home. I missed the food, the people, the cultures, and travel opportunities. I am very grateful for the opportunity to return and even more grateful to be just a forty-five minute plane ride from Singapore!

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Alumni Profile

after they have taught for two years. These new teachers are working relentlessly to make a dramatic impact on the lives of children.

I spend most of my days driving around Selangor, Malaysia observing classes and meeting with teachers and principals. The business of educating children is challenging at best, any teacher will tell you this, but it is even more complicated when working with neglected communities. One of the teachers I work with has entire classes of 13- and 14-year-old students who perform on a pre-primary level. Dwindling resources and expectations

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nasi goreng Life My

Jennifer Nockels (07)

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Born in Singapore to an American father City had shaped me socially, mentally, and culturally.

Four years after moving to Boston, I held a newly and Indonesian mother, I was exposed to different traditions and beliefs. When I was young, I often wished that minted diploma and a job offer in the form of a one-year I lived in the US—just like the Hollywood stars on TV. I internship at L’Oreal in New York City. I had a major decinever considered myself a true Singaporean. I attended sion to make—should I return to Singapore or continue an American school, held an American passport, and my journey in the US? To make matters worse, I only had 24 hours to accept or reject the offer. Frantically seeking naturally gravitated toward the expat community.

In Singapore, the locals would ask me “Where are you advice, I spent the allotted time speaking with friends, from?” I always provided a long drawn out answer, “My family, and professors. I examined every angle of the mom is Indonesian and my dad is American, but I’ve job—salary, expenses, and work/life balance—collated lived in Singapore for most of my life.” This lengthy so- in a detailed excel spreadsheet, and I decided to return to liloquy was eventually shortened to “I’m American.” The Singapore.

When I woke up the next morning, I tore up my spreadtruth was I felt I was somewhat of an outsider... neither sheet. A former professor used to say, “Always go with American nor Singaporean.

Once I graduated from SAS, I eagerly set out on my your gut” and that is exactly what I did by choosing the journey to explore the US. With two overflowing suitcases, L’Oreal position. I knew it wasn’t the comfortable route, I flew to Boston to become a Boston College Eagle. During but I haven’t finished my journey. I guess the thought of orientation, I was envious of my roommates whose par- “what if” was something I couldn’t swallow.

One year into my life in the Big Apple, I now recogents helped move them in and transition to college life.

Many of them had the comfort of easily returning home, nize how similar it is to Singapore. It all makes sense; these similarities drew me to New York in the first place. whereas my family was halfway across the world.

The first year of college was more of an adjustment The melting pot of cultures, the seemingly endless skythan I expected. This was supposed to finally be home, scrapers, the hustle and bustle of driven people, and the but it was surprisingly difficult connecting with the expanding opportunities are some of the many aspects people with whom I thought I identified. Few of my class- these two cities share. While New York will never have the mates had traveled to Southeast Asia or enjoyed authen- oh-so distinct smell of durian or the taste of delicious roti tic Chinese food. I found myself longing for roti prata prata, it’s been a remarkable stop on my journey.

I like to think of life as at the hawkers, Orchard nasi goreng, fried rice, with Road, and the smell of du- Jennifer with her parents and brother David (09). chicken, eggs, vegetables, rians that used to drive my and spices. It is a blend of brother and me screaming ingredients depending from the house. on not just what is availWhile I eventually grew able, but what we prefer to to love Boston College include. This is my idenand life in the US, I made tity; this is my journey—a an effort to visit my famflavorful mix of East and ily regularly in Singapore.

West, an ever-changing Each trip further solidified recipe with a pinch of spice, the realization that after all forging a “dish” that is this time, Singapore was irreplaceably my own. truly my home—the Lion

An Insatiable Appetite for

International Affairs Michael Murphree (00)

Most people assume I learned Mandarin, not French, while living in Singapore. Nonetheless, the experience gained while living and learning in Singapore, and in the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-national world of SAS set the course for the coming years of my life. It was there I first dabbled in Chinese and Asian history and art. It was there I discovered that despite an aptitude and affinity for math and science, my real passions were in history—disparate interests that I would later discover could be fused into a single career.

My years at SAS were, like those for many of my classmates, a blur. APs, sports, plays (theater tech to be specific), and aluminum can recycling filled the days and weekends, leaving just enough time to hang out at the Woodlands hawkers (mmm, Hainanese chicken rice) and Orchard Road and to travel with the family. During this time, I felt like a sponge, soaking in the entire experience, not understanding the long-term consequences of what I was doing but wanting more and more of it.

After I graduated from SAS, I headed back to the United States to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology.

After an initial flirtation with chemical engineering, I completed my degree in international affairs with three years of Japanese and two of Mandarin. Degree in hand,

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I ventured to the city of Zunyi in China’s Guizhou province to teach English. While I understood the concept of culture shock, complete immersion in China was a shock.

I had to adjust and adjust completely in order to live. At the time, Zunyi had fewer than 10 foreigners in a city of several million.

Although I considered myself quasi-functional in Mandarin, I was stunned by the challenge presented by the language barrier. It is one thing to be able to shop, order food, and carry out basic daily affairs. But even this had limits. Try buying shaving cream without knowing the word: “I want to buy the soap that makes bubbles you put on your face when you shave.” It is entirely a different issue talking down irate or confused parents or trying to make meaningful friendships. But, just as I learned to reinvent myself while living in Singapore, I dove in, improved my Chinese, and made a new home.

I returned to the US for graduate school in 2005. My interest in economic development, industry, and technology had been piqued by my time in China. In graduate school, I learned the tools of field research and analysis, which proved most useful when, at the end of 2006, I was offered a chance to return to China and conduct field research on the development and capabilities of China’s high technology industry.

The product of this research is my coauthored book, The Run of the Red Queen: Government, Innovation, Globalization, and Economic Growth in China, which argues that current debates surrounding China’s economic development and innovation capabilities are based on two myths. The first myth holds that innovation, defined solely as the creation of novel technologies and services, is the only sustainable source of economic development. The second myth is that China must develop a novel product innovation system or else it will find itself in the Middle Income Trap—too expensive for labor-intensive, low-technology industries but not sufficiently innovative to compete in more sophisticated sectors.

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Opposite: Murphree running the victory lap with the track team in 2000.

Above: Murphree speaking on second-generation innovation at Xiamen University in Fujian province, China; Left: Murphree’s book, which has won both the Susan Strange Best Book Award for 2012, as given by the British International Studies Association and a Bronze Medal for the 2012 Axiom Business Awards in the International Business/Globalization category.

River Delta. Each has different human, industrial, and policy resources and thus have developed capabilities that complement one another. However, the whole is not producing world-changing product innovation in information technology, but China is highly adept at secondgeneration innovation, improvement, localization, and design , as well as adaptation and reapplication of foreign technologies. This means China has successfully developed a sustainable medium-term competitive advantage that is independent of novel product innovation.

Today, I am completing my PhD dissertation research on the political economy of technology standards in the US, EU, and China. Without a doubt, my experience at SAS was formative, giving me an insatiable appetite for knowledge of what lies over the border and the next horizon.

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Alumni Profile

production—where goods and services are produced by different firms or subsidiaries in distinct stages around the world—means there are many stages at which a country can enter the global economy and thus many specific niches in which to specialize. While some firms will emphasize high-end product definition and research, others will manufacture components, and still others will do the integration. Each of these activities is essential and requires a high degree of sophistication and specialization as well as research and development (and hence innovation) in order to be competitive.

China’s process of political and economic reform and regional differentiation and specialization has produced a highly competitive national innovation system with three major players—Beijing, Shanghai, and the Pearl

I’LL BE HAPPY WITH AN ASTERISK

Alumni Profile

Stuart Lippe (59)

For some years now, SAS and I have engaged in friendly sparring over appropriate recognition of the first person to leave SAS and go out into the world, even if only to tenth grade. That would be me, when SAS ended at the 9th grade in 1956. However, I would not want to take away that “first” designation from Louise Feng, the 12th grader who graduated in 1958, the year SAS expanded to include that grade.

SAS considers the case closed. I don’t and here’s why.

SAS opened its doors on Rochalie Drive in January 1956, and packed a lot of learning and progress into that first school year, during which the 9th grade was as far as it went. There were two 9th graders, along with several 7th and 8th graders studying on the back porch, when Principal Al Fisher and his wife took turns teaching, in the style of an old one-room schoolhouse.

We were there first. I passed final exams and graduated; my friend Elie did not. Is it my fault that the following year SAS did not expand to 10th grade so I could stay? Believe me, Singapore was more interesting than Hudson, Ohio.

So, I count myself among the oldest surviving students from SAS. Jim Baker (66) was there in 1956 and so was Kathy Saludo Tan (67), and they are still there, but they were much younger. I can remember Lee Kuan Yew, who was just beginning his career. David Marshall was Prime Minister and Singapore still a Crown Colony. We lived at 21 Leedon Park. I Googled the house recently and can’t recognize the neighborhood for the number of swimming pools, but the curve in Holland Road, where we took the bus into town is still there.

Lots of other things have changed too. They tell me the river is cleaner. And the buildings are a lot higher than the then-tallest Cathay, Bank of China, and the Asia Insurance buildings. Raffles Place is traffic free, but Change Alley is still there, isn’t it?

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During that first year, SAS’s remarkable history began: The Reporter began and eventually became the Eye, and our sports teams were already powerhouses, at least in the elementary school. SAS was multi-racial at a time when the Singapore Swimming Club didn’t admit Chinese or Malays, Javanese, Tamils, Sikhs, or pretty much anybody else. In fact, non-Europeans were only allowed as “guests”, and this after much debate and a bare 36-35 vote at a special general meeting. The doors didn’t open for Asian members until 1963.

I was elected Student Council President. OK, that wasn’t so remarkable. Elie was 9th grade representative. I think we flipped a coin for the jobs, and it may have been the other way around. There was no yearbook to record events like this.

But, think about what that year did. Already we had the beginnings of an outstanding record: a school newspaper, good sports teams, a multi-racial student body, and student government. Not bad by any score. That first year at SAS began much that has survived and grown.

I respectfully submit that 1956 deserves special recognition. I’ll be happy with an asterisk somewhere noting this, maybe on a plaque with my gift of an early copy of The Reporter to the alumni collection. There is a plaque, isn’t there?

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Former reporter Stuart Lippe with a copy of the June 1956 edition of The Reporter.

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Mimi

Soup

Above: Mimi Molchan and Mr. Ho share a bowl of her namesake soup. Want to see behind the scenes at the photo shoot? Check out the video on the SAS Alumni Facebook page at facebook. com/singaporeamericanschoolalumni, on the Singapore American School Alumni YouTube channel, or by using the QR code.

If you’ve dined in the high school cafeteria within the past few years, you may have noticed an item on the menu called Mimi’s Soup. This delicious and nutritious dish of tasty broth, noodles, and vegetables is popular with faculty and students alike. School legend has it that Nick Haslett (03) and Mr. Ho collaborated to create this soup. So where does the name Mimi come in?

When Nick graduated from SAS, Mimi Molchan (high school director of athletics and activities) had become a fan and she continued to champion the dish, as she does to this day. In fact, she’s such a fan that somewhere along the way the soup became known as Mimi’s Soup. Next time you’re in Singapore, stop by and try a bowl!

Ingredients ½ cabbage, roughly chopped 2 carrots, cut into ¼" rounds 6 snake or string beans ½ turnip, roughly chopped 6 cloves garlic, minced 100g bean sprouts Handful of watercress 2 T canola oil 2 chicken breasts, sautéed and cut into 1" cubes Your favorite noodles cooked al denté and drained 3 cups chicken stock 1 T light soya sauce 1 t dark soya sauce ½ t sugar ¼ t salt

Directions 1. Warm broth and add seasoning (soya sauce, sugar, and salt).

2. Sauté vegetables and garlic in oil until crisp.

3. In individual bowls, divide noodles, chicken, and vegetables, and ladle stock on top.

4. Garnish with cilantro and chili (optional).

Serves 4-6.

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ALUMNI Gatherings SINGAPORE Brewerkz, May 31 A

D

G

B

C

E

F

A Radhika Agarwal (11), Paul Terrile (faculty 97-12), Renuka Agarwal (08) B Nick Chang (09), Gautam Butalia (07), Daniele Selby (09), Julian Goh (09), Ben Charoenwong (07) C Mark Tan (98), Michael Kingan (SAS), Phoebe Choi (98) D John Abueva (10), Kelly Zhang (10), Nihal Krishan (10), Duncan Clydesdale (10) E Henry Tsang (69), Kerwin Tsang (04), Vivian Tsang (68) F Nigel Wylie (05), Kevin Ho (07) G Chris Chanin (11), James Fan (10), Kathy De La Hoz (09), Alex Rossinski (10), Kelsey LaBranche (11)

LONDON Mandarin Bar, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, May 19 A

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Alumni Gatherings

A In attendance at the London Alumni Gathering were Warren Ho (07), Brian Leonard (faculty 70-76), Simi Oberoi (07), Ang Jun Seow (08), Rhoda Severino (07), Shira Stern (94), Nadia Tsao (07), Thang Vo-Ta (94).

HONG KONG Club@28, Crown Plaza, March 14 A

B

A Stephanie Quach (06) and Erik Dierks (89) with Michael Kingan (SAS) at a mini-reunion in Hong Kong.

B The bar at Club@28, Crown Plaza Hong Kong.

HOUSTON (NJoy) Doubletree Hotel, June 14-16

A

Alumni Gatherings

B

C

A Group photo from NJoy weekend B Joel Kjome (80), Lisa Wiggins (80), Susan Masavage-Hurst (80), Steve Provost (80) C Tracy Mackay (83), Sunny Stevens (80)

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LAS VEGAS Tropicana Hotel, July 20, 21 A

C

B

D

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Alumni Gatherings

A Saturday fun at Tropicana pool B Tracy Fotaides (78), Donna Hatley (77) C Paula Silverman (faculty), Andy Fenske and Bob Dodge (former faculty), Rick Silverman (faculty), and Mike Imperi (former faculty). D Saturday dinner party. Among the group are Odin Adolphson (96), Melissa Rocha Aguayo (89), Marleen Ahlqvist (90), Nathalie Vo-Ta Antus (90), Kelly Johns Barrios (88), Julianne Wheeler Berg (88), Christine Botcheller (92), Leo Campbell (90), Natalie Fox, Joy Roces Fried (92), Olga Supardan Hundley (92), Rob Kelley (89), Julie Payne Kemmer (91), Aaron Kruisheer (92), Greg Leviton (91), Mandy Osburg Loughman (92), Karina Martin (92), Jennie Moore (84), Todd Moore (92), Michelle Nomai (90), Jen Reynolds (93), Jessica Rocha Slaughter (92), Richard Stagg (89), Matt Tedesco (92), Tamara Thompson (88), Maribel Tirona (94), Meredith Perkins Trusler (91), Julie Vail-Freedman (87), John Williams (92), Jillian Leviton Wiseman (92), Chang Ching Yeh (89), Amy Zorbas (96).

A Donor Speaks Lyn Reed Pesek, Alumni Parent and Former Board Member (1989-1995)

Alumni parent, board member and donor, Lyn (Reed) Pesek, explains the delight of seeing a vision and a commitment played out, years after leaving Singapore. Her passion for SAS leaves a lasting legacy.

My children were so fortunate to have a first-class elementary and secondary education while living in an environment that made them children of the world. One of the things

I learned from living 25 years overseas is that an expat family is extraordinarily lucky to be living and learning in a foreign culture, but that they must remain connected to their home country in a meaningful way. My kids had friends from countries around the world. They had the best teachers. They had the advantage of amazing facili-

and the children of others. It was, and remains in my mind, the most significant work I have ever done. During the years of decisions made by the Board which would lead to the construction of the Woodlands campus, I remember wondering more than once what all of this would mean to future students. My children would not attend classes at Woodlands, but thousands of others would.

How would our work affect those students?

I was fortunate to be able to return to SAS in December 2011 to see firsthand how things have progressed. I was blown away. I could never have imagined such an amazing campus. I often remember the day in the mid-1990s when I signed that 99-year land lease for Woodlands. As I signed, I wondered at the people who, 99 years hence, would see that signature and imagine our motives and our lives.

SAS has shaped the lives of my children. They are interested in the whole world, not just their local environments. My son returned to Southeast Asia to work for a short time after finishing university. My daughter and her family have traveled overseas. Their outlook on life was shaped by their SAS experience. Their memories are real and profound. Their lives reflect the foundation established at SAS. It is important that those who received immeasurable value from a present or past association with SAS be a part of ensuring the future of the school. If alumni and supporters had not built a solid framework for those of us who helped plan and build the Woodlands campus in the 90s, that campus would not exist today. I know of no more important work than supporting the excellent education offered at SAS. That is why I donate and will continue to donate annually. It is like “paying it forward.� SAS gave me and my family a home while overseas.

Development at SAS

I know of no more important work than supporting the excellent education offered at SAS. ties and equipment. They benefitted from the interested and passionate parents of the students who attended SAS. They lived in a country steeped in ethnic history and culture. But equally important, they maintained ties to America, which would serve them well when they returned home for college. SAS was at the center of all of this for my family.

I became interested in how SAS was governed and ran for a position on the Board of Governors in 1989. I had been involved in many volunteer organizations in Jakarta and later in Singapore, but I had never done any work farther outside my comfort zone than serving on the SAS Board. It took much preparation and a very real dedication of time and effort. It was always uppermost in my mind that my work would directly affect my children 46

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I want that experience for future students and their families.

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Contributions to the SAS Foundation

2011-12

We are pleased to recognize the following contributors who made gifts between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012.

1956 CIRCLE

S$50,000 AND ABOVE

Rachel and Jaideep Khanna Khoo Teck Puat Foundation Stephen Riady and Shincee Leonardi

Richard and Jacqueline Seow Sean and Lisa Wallace

S$10,000-S$19,999

TIGER CIRCLE Anonymous Jonathan and Jessika Auerbach William and Judith Bollinger Yeow Ming Choo and Ling Zheng Billy Siu and Marianne Chua Oral and Vida Dawe Laura and Brooks Entwistle Johnny and Charlene Escaler Forbes Asia Getco Asia Pte Ltd Lauren Khoo Hano Maeloa and Monita Harianto Rudolph and Andrea Muller Brent and Maggie Mutsch

ORCHID CIRCLE

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EAGLE CIRCLE Shirley Fung and Paul Bernard Gerry and Michelle Smith

GECKO CIRCLE Beecher and Robin Abeles Ravi and Sunanda Agarwal Edward and Evangeline Baicy Jeremy and Willow Brest Bart and Valerie Broadman Wing Kwong Chan and Vivian Liu Steven Diamond and Sarah Jeffries Adam and Brittany Levinson

S$20,000-S$49,999 Raymond and Kaori Zage

S$5,000-S$9,999 Lim Meng Keng Departmental Store Rodney and Margaret Marchand Christopher Misner and Crystal Hayling Janie Ooi Helman and Maria Sitohang Zanping Sun and Yuan Yang

S$1,000-S$4,999

TRAVELER’S PALM CIRCLE

UP TO S$999

Sanjay and Anjna Motwani Doug and Maureen Neihart Frank and Karen Olah Adrian and Susan Peh Don and Lyn Reed Pesek Phoenix Advisers Cameron Poetzscher and Varsha Rao Devin and Dianna Pratt Namuh and Younsoo Rhee Samuel and Heejin Rhee William and Martha Scarborough Zainal Siregar and Bonita Irfanty Lawrence and Jane Sperling Josef Stingl Li Lien Sun Christopher Tan and Chantal Wong Michael Langlois and Anita Tan Richard and Michelle Vargo Harrison and Sheila Wang Laurence Wee and Marisa Chan Erman Tjiputra and Jessica Welirang Teddy Wirianata and Judith Carlotta Byron and Kara Wong Emil Yappert Jr. and Lisa Carp Yian Poh and Chai Doan Lim Jun Zhao and Yueyuan Tan Michael and Ann Zink

Anonymous (2) JohnEric and Christina Advento James and Dorothy Aven Timothy and Suzanne Bohling Gladys Chapman Kong Wain Chin and Margaret Wong Brian Combes and Emiko Enomoto Brian Denenberg and Kwai-Chu Lan Kemp Dolliver Thomas and Patricia DuCharme Rick Gadbois Shawn and Marian Graham Daniel and Annette Hagewiesche John Shields and Mami Hirota William and Katherine Johnson Zunaid Kazi and Tamara Black Leslie King John and Jill Koncki Marc and Heidi L’Heureux Anne Lee John and Maria Lee Michael and Karen Lee Takashi and Soko Machida Mark Maran William and April McDaniel

Kenitiro and Satoko Muto Kent Peterson and Susan Sedro Josh Premkumar Christophe Randy Matthew and Cathryn Ray David Rich James Roderick Figueroa Gonzalez and Lucedy Russi Ken Schunk Laura Schuster Robert and Sugako Shiroishi Hui and Yiwen Sun Ann Tan Darryl and Sonali Tang Mark and Jennifer Tucker Mustafa and Berrak Turnaoglu Chaitan Udipi Rao and Mallika Narayan Jeffrey Waite Lawrence Wales Wilbert and Amy Young Jian and Naxin Zhang Susan Zhang Lee Zweifel

S I N G A P O R E AM E R I CA N S CH O O L J O U R N E Y S

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Development at SAS

William and Georgette Adamopoulos Lars and Nene Amstrup Peng Huat and Swat Ang Richard and Ashley Barry III Mark and Marianne Boyer Jenny Chiam Chiu-Man and Maria Warner Wong Jungkiu Choi and Hyesook Cho Kwanghyuk Choi and Yunkyung Park Phillip Chritton and Zhinong Zhang Dickon Corrado and Ito Toshima Kenneth and Lauri Coulter Darin and Sara Fahrney Edward and Rachel Farrell Fuji Xerox Singapore Pte Ltd Fujiwara Advisory Singapore Pte Ltd Kyu Shik and Eui Jeong Hahn Bryan and Christine Henning David Hoss and Michael Fiebrich Geri Johnson Joosang Kim and Jung A Lee Devin Kimble and Amy Sittler Michael and Maribeth Kingan Henry Law and Alice Shyu Chow Kiat Lim and Boon Hock Tay Paul Ling and Dorcas Chua William and Lois Lydens

Y.S. and Suzie Nam Mark Nelson and Margrit Benton Neil and Mika Parekh Edan and Bon Park David Zemans and Catherine Poyen Kim and Birgitte Rosenkilde Tandean Rustandy and Susan Sujanto David and Caroline Ryan Brent and Sandra Smith Steven and Asa Tucker Soejono and Fae Varinata Ee Lim and Sofina Wee Calvin Widjaja Foundation

Your Gifts Make a Difference Here are a few programs that benefit from your contributions.

Leadership Development As members of GIN, students create solutions for the future. This year, students from SAS and United World College will come together to cohost the 2012 Asia Global Issues Network (GIN) conference with more than 750 students from 55 participating schools.

Your gifts allow all interested students to participate, and funds will also be used to help with the costs associated with hosting the conference.

Involvement in GIN empowers our students to build the strong leadership and collaborative skills that are necessary to become positive change-makers in the 21st century.

Martha Began HS Science Teacher and Coleader of Global Issues Network (Singapore: GINSing) at SAS

Arts and Athletics SAS develops the potential in every student. This is done by offering a broad array of performing and visual arts, athletics, and social and service clubs. By recognizing and supporting the unique talents and gifts of each student, SAS teaches them to work both independently and collaboratively.

Playing a sport at SAS, I’ve gained skills that I will use for the rest of my life. Thanks to the athletics program, I’ve learned to manage time efficiently and developed a strong sense of discipline and a tough work ethic. I have also gained a great support system.

Lauren McMullen Grade 12 Student

Development at SAS

Service Learning Service learning begins early at SAS. Second graders work with Food from the Heart, a Singapore non-profit organization, set up to help local families meet their food needs.

Students learn how to identify nutritious choices, budget funds, and select items at the store. The program combines community service with preparation and reflection. The project comes full circle when students are then able to distribute food baskets to families in need at a local primary school in Singapore.

Service learning at SAS is, in a word, contagious!

Sarah Farris Grade 2 Teacher

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Our Students. Our Community. Our Future.

Support the people and programs that make SAS exceptional.

The SAS Annual Fund provides financial support for the people and programs that make SAS exceptional. Funds provide for many of the experiential, academic, arts, athletics, and service programs that connect our students to the community. Our children are our future. Your support helps SAS develop the potential of our students and offers each a rich, diverse perspective of the world.

How SAS put your gifts to work in 2012 Academic Programs

S$115,000

Learning Through Community Service Programs

S$165,000

Excellence and Innovation

S$40,000

Extracurricular Activities and Athletics

S$55,000

Financial Aid

S$380,000

save the date Star Appeal Dinner April 13, 2013 Goodwood Park Hotel

Endowment S$57,000

Please make your gift today.

SAS Foundation c/o Advancement Office Singapore American School 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 www.sas.edu/giving Questions? Call +65 6360 6334

Development at SAS

All donations made to the SAS Foundation Ltd, a Singapore Institution of Public Character (IPC), Registration No. 200813073R, or to the Singapore American School Foundation, a United States 501(c)3 charitable organization, Federal ID No. 13-6266797, qualify for tax benefits in accordance with the applicable laws of the respective country.

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Notes & Quotes 1950s Stuart Lippe (59) had a farewell lunch with former superintendent Bob Gross (99-07), who has ended his stint with the Department of State Overseas Schools Office and begun another adventure as Director of the International School, Abu Dhabi.

1960s Mike O’Higgins (64) has spent the last two years reconnecting with SAS friends.

First he attended the 60s & 70s reunion in SF in July 2011. Then he celebrated his 65th birthday in February with Liew Woodford (63) and Jim Roderick (65) in Miami Beach. In April, he dined with Terry (64) and Russell (67) Ng and their wives in Singapore, as well as visiting with current faculty, Andrew and Pele Hallam, to discuss collaborating on a book project.

1970s Danny Flores (76) was recently awarded a PhD in rural science from the University of New England, Australia.

Guy Rittger (77) recently married Kathy Hanson (78). They live in Southbury, CT with Kathy’s two daughters, a pit bull, and a bichon. Guy works in IT and relaxes by racing yachts, fitness training, bicycling, and playing jazz guitar.

Notes & Quotes

April Stevenson Schatte (79) welcomed the arrival of her first grandchild this year.

Nancy Meisenhelder (75) and her husband Victor stopped by SAS during their 22 day holiday, which included Singapore, Hong Kong and Bali.

1980s Sunny Stevens (80) is in the process of building a house in Liberty Hill, TX. Linda Wise (82) recently joined the CD Group as a marketing manager.

Kevin Piontkowski (82) lives in Woodbury, NJ, and works in critical care transport nursing.

Lisa Cochran Sawyer (83) is a technical information developer and online community manager for MicroFocus in Austin.

Gordon Whiting (75) sent in this 1975 picture of the old colonial house on the King’s Road campus. After the site was sold by Citibank to SAS in 1961, the house was the home residence of SAS principals until 1967, then became at various times classrooms, libraries, and offices before it was demolished in the mid 1980s in one of the school’s many expansions.

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Phillip Wickham (88), Dina Risjad (88), and Greg Waldron (88) met up last March for the first time since graduation at the launch of Bob Dodge’s (faculty 83-06) latest book, Schelling’s Game Theory, at the American Club in Singapore.

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Stacie Sadler-Callaghan (88) and daughter Shelby recently spent a fun day in San Jose, CA with Tina Mercer (86).

Amy Thogmartin Harrison (90) and Steve Harrison (90) have been happily married for over 15 years. They live in NYC with their three children: Libby, Janey, and Ryan.

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Katherine DeFoe (88) visited SAS last May, the first time since 8th grade. She works in television production and was on holiday in Singapore.

Caroline Brady (83) has a plumbing showroom and is studying interior design. She lives in Engelwood, CO. Richard Dix (86) is president of Winchester Carlisle Companies and was in Singapore last February for the Your Presidents’ Organization conference.

Pilar Wolfsteller (87) joined Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut as global corporate social responsibility manager in February. The company has operations in 26 countries, and Pilar is based in Zurich.

Dina Risjad (88) recently moved from Jakarta to Singapore.

Matt Nealon (92), Nicole, and little Livy were recently joined by twins, Ella and Kate.

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Mutsuko Itoigawa (92) lives in Schuamburg, IL, where she recently met up with Thomas White (92). Pictured are Wei Wei White, Mutsuko, Thomas, and Sean Shinsuke.

Notes & Quotes

David Smith (93) stopped by SAS early this year when he was in Singapore on business.

He recently moved to San Diego, CA and works for Qualcomm.

Joanna Lawson-Matthew (00) married Chris Roberts in October 2011. At the wedding in Baltimore, MD were bridesmaids Lucy Lawson-Matthew (98) and Merika Adams McHugh (00). Erin Collins Wheeler (00) and Colin Nederkoorn (00) attended the wedding. The newlyweds live in Tampa, FL. Pictured are Merika, Chris, Joanna, and Lucy.

Barbara Gaca (97) married Tommy Cutrer on April 21 in Katy, TX. Rattana Kittiiornsup Nantz (97) was matron of honor.

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After extensively touring Australia and before heading to London, Lior Aloni (95) visited the SAS campus.

Sophia Grace Brown, daughter of Sara Sinnard Brown (06) and husband Joe, was born last December in Round Rock, TX, where Joe works for Samsung.

Sara says that they’re “absolutely loving life!”

Early this year Jason Aussieker (04), Jeff Aussieker (06), Kristen Aussieker Collins (01), and their parents returned to Singapore and SAS after 10 years. Kristen is married and living in MN, where she works as a pediatric nurse. Jason is living in Bloomington, IL and working at ATT. Jess lives and works in Morton, IL.

1990s Hussain Kamal (90) is an architect specializing in hospitality. He lives in Dallas, TX. Aaron Kruisheer (92) recently celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary with wife Tina and their two children.

Tony Cheng Chun Hsueh (94) runs a construction company in Taiwan.

Aaron Foley (95) heads up the treasury and trust operations at Service Corp. Intl. in Bellaire, TX. He’s married with two children.

Sarabeth Sorensen Peterson (95) is a broker associate at Goldwasser Real Estate.

Vanessa Noon (96) is a production manager for, among other projects, the Academy Awards.

Keena Kang (97) graduated in 2011 from U Pennsylvania with a masters in global studies.

Jeff Sundberg (97) and Laura Geshay Sundberg (98) welcomed baby Harper in

April 2011. The family lives in Pearland, TX, where Jeff is a business consultant and Laura is a postdoctoral fellow at the U Texas Health Science Center.

Stephen Tadlock (97) and wife Miranda welcomed their first child this year. The family lives in Darien, CT, but he travels to Houston and Calgary frequently, where he catches up with other alumni.

Neetu Malhotra (99) is married and has a baby boy. The family lives in Northridge, CA.

Notes & Quotes

David Crespo (99) was recently fined a six-pack of Tiger beer for missing Brian Cook’s (00) birthday. Brian married Priya Varghese (00) in May.

Whitney Taylor (06) married Andrew Lawson on March 31. Megan Avery (06) was a bridesmaid. The couple has moved to Germany with the US Air Force.

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Andy Norman (05) and Cayley Coulbourn (05) with Admissions Director Ellen White when they visited SAS last year.

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2000s

Parents & Faculty

Brian Holsinger (01) is a client specialist for Thomson Reuters in Houston.

Colin White (01) and his mother, Meredith (former HS chemistry faculty), visited SAS in January. Colin runs a school/education company in Taiwan and China.

Audrey Chan Slover (01) is a foreign service officer in Malaysia and recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Yuichi Kuroda (02) left SAS in middle school, graduated from ASIJ, attended college, and now lives in the Bay Area.

Michael Tan (05) is living in Jakarta.

Andy Norman (05) and Caley Coulbourn (05) visited SAS last March.

Andy is looking for a teaching position in China, while Cayley is a dive instructor.

Nigel Wylie (05) has moved to Singapore as the director of Thrive Water Pte, a water management consulting firm.

Theodore Ho (06) recently joined the US Foreign Service as a public diplomacy officer.

Nate Mahoney (07) works at the AutoZone headquarters in Memphis, TN. He married his college sweetheart, Lily Elfrink, in June 2011.

Chua Ee-Chien (07) spent his summer break from BYU on an internship for Bloomberg in Singapore.

Benny Tang (09) is attending Babson College, after a 2-year stint in Singapore National Service.

Yang Tung Han (09) is a student at Penn State and spent the summer in Singapore working as an intern for UBS.

Zubin Chand (09) and Alex Cheung (09) visited SAS early last year. Zubin is a student at Carnegie Mellon, and Alex recently finished his studies in Sydney.

2010s Stanton Yuwono (10) is a student at U Rochester and was a summer intern for Mint Energy LLC as risk analyst.

Eleanor Barz (10) and Kimberly Dunbar (10) visited SAS last January. They are both attending university in Australia.

Eleanor is studying and writing for the yearbook at U of Sydney, and Kimberly is at James Cook U and supporting herself by tutoring.

Soo-Hyun Moon (11) and Jee-Hyun (10) visited SAS in February. They attended SAS middle school and then returned to Korea.

Therese Vainius (11) continues her SAS swimming career on the NYU swim team.

Jane Urheim (13), mother Mary Broach, and Emily Horn (14) visited SAS in February on their way to house building in Cambodia. Jane attended 5th grade at SAS, and Emily left in 7th grade.

Congratulations to Karisa Sukamto (11) who was crowned Miss World Singapore 2012. She went on to compete in the Miss World 2012 finals in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, on August 18.

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Cyndi Sauvage (faculty 94-03), husband Chris Fazekas, and son Tristan are happily living in Melbourne, AU.

John Dankowski (faculty 71-72) is still with NASA and working out of Taipei. He’s shown here at a space presentation in Shanghai.

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Notes & Quotes

While on leave from duties as an intelligence officer for the USMC in Afghanistan, Paul Vandenbos (05) and wife Sara made time for a trip down SAS memory lane.

Marguerite “Margo” Anderson, (former faculty 56-60) passed away on January 7, 2012 in Catonsville, MD. She was instrumental in starting SAS in 1956 and taught grades 5 and 6. Her daughter Narda (62) attended SAS in 56. Photo above shows Margo with her three children in 1955.

FOND FAREWELL

Faculty and staff who departed SAS at the end of 2011-12

Mark Forgeron, MS & Audrey Forgeron, MS, 2003 -12 Karen McDowell, Marijke van der Hiel, and Crystal Madsen, seventh grade teachers

Get ready, South America, here come beloved seventh grade teachers, Mark and Audrey Forgeron. They and their daughter, Daryn (14) are on their way to the Nido de Aguilas International School of Chile in Santiago. Their son, Kyle (12), is off to his first year at Northeastern University in Boston.

It’s hard to decide what we’ll miss most about Mark: his corny jokes, his mismatched socks, his unusual collection of ties, his gravely voice as he shouts out directions to 100+ students, or the way he teaches with a baseball bat in hand.

We will miss Audrey’s sporty waist-pack, her seemingly endless tee-shirt collection (one for every holiday), both her phone and watch alarms, which show how organized she is, and her competitive spirit blended with a supportive heart.

Both Audrey and Mark are deeply respected by parents, students, and colleagues for their professionalism, endless kindness, and willingness to help. In the past nine years, these incredibly dedicated teachers have had an enormous impact on SAS, both in and out of the classroom. Many people on campus will miss the daily glimpses of Forgerons running to seemingly endless strings of after-school activities.

Through his work with MS/HS sports, Mark has coached literally hundreds of students. A few of the sports 54

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include boys volleyball, girls soccer, softball, cross country, and track. He spent his Saturdays training student umpires for SACAC and his Thursdays running a faculty soccer team. In many significant ways, Mark helped to build a stronger community at SAS. A few of the programs he initiated are the Kamal/Hevey Memorial Cup, Pi Day celebration, seventh grade dodgeball tournament, and UN Day. Mark was also the math placement guru for the middle school and was the math department chair for eight years.

Audrey’s involvement was diverse and socially conscious, ranging from sports to service clubs. She coached varsity softball and MS volleyball, founded the Hope for Haiti Club and was a faculty senate representative. She tutored numerous French students, sponsored the MS technology club and student council, volunteered her Sundays to teach computer courses to migrant workers, organized ladies softball, and was health department chair for nine years.

And did you know that both Audrey and Mark represented SAS at JP Morgan Corporate Challenge races in Singapore, NYC, and South Africa? Whew! When do they sleep?

Mark and Audrey look forward to exploring Chile from the snowy mountains to sunny beaches, experiencing four seasons again, enjoying a long winter ski holiday, and perfecting a third language, Spanish. The best part for these long-time coaches—Nido de Aguilas means “Eagles Nest,” so they remain Eagles!

Jessie Su O Brown, PS Chinese, 2000-12 Jessie Brown is traveling between Singapore and Taiwan.

Her family plans to move to Taiwan after their son graduates from SAS in 2013. “I am going to spend more time on painting and taking design courses and plan to open a boutique in the future. Teaching at SAS was a significant journey in my life. It was such a privilege to be involved in the process of reforming the Chinese program and to see the remarkable changes in the past nine years. I am really grateful to have had this extraordinary experience.”

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William Hanagan, IS Psychologist & Gail Hanagan, IS, 2000-12 William and Gail Hanagan are at the International School of Beijing, where Gail is an elementary teacher and he is Director of Student Services/School Psychologist. “Our twelve years at SAS were a wonderful experience. The students and their parents are highly motivated and very responsive. Attending SAS has had a major positive impact on our daughters as well. Many of our colleagues will remain friends for years to come.”

Brian Donalson, HS Math, 1991-2012 Brian Donalson is teaching at the Bilkent Laboratory International School in Ankara, Turkey.

Kirk Palmer, PS Library Media Specialist, 1978-2012 Kirk Palmer has moved to St Louis, MO to be closer to family and “start some new adventures. Being an educator at SAS all these years has been truly exciting both in watching how SAS has grown and developed as an educational institution and witnessing the amazing success of Singapore as a nation. Who would have thought that a small town Iowa boy would meet such a huge range of people and experience so much in one small place.”

Brian White, MS Band, 2003-12 Brian White and family are in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where he is an elementary band and music teacher at Aramco. His wife, Kristine, a former SAS ECC teacher, will join the elementary school in 2013. “The last nine years have been wonderful and I can’t even begin to explain the impact that Singapore and SAS had on my life. I was blessed with so many opportunities both personal and professional and I am amazed when I look back at all that I did there. I appreciate the amazing support I received from administrators and colleagues. It allowed me to focus my energy on the students.”

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The Last Word

Letters & News from Alumni From Lauren Kuhbander Thomas (89): Kudos to Journeys—what a magazine! We are lucky alumni to get that gift.

From Pat Chiota (alumni parent): Just received the latest copy of Journeys magazine.

Your team did such a great job editing our drafts and placing the photos in the “Kendra’s Spirit” story. Thank you so much. The whole magazine has grown and evolved over the years and is so professionally produced and features so many interesting stories. I end up reading it cover to cover!

Thought you might enjoy hearing a recent story of the global SAS alumni family. We were just in Santa Barbara at UCSB for “Kendra’s Race,” a mini-triathlon, which had 450 participants this year. I was surprised by a tap on the shoulder and turned around to see Nicole DeFord (04) and her parents. Kendra Payne (02) was on the SAS swim team with Nicole for several years, and they were good friends.

Since her family was in Santa Barbara for a wedding, Nicole had decided to participate in the race. Such a lovely surprise to see them. The SAS connection continues.

One delightful PS to the BumiSehat intern story is that its director Robin Lim ended up being voted the 2011 Hero of the Year Award. She was honored at an all-star telecast and presented with $250,000, which enables her to build a structurally sound clinic in Bali, which the community needs so badly.

From David Mercer (88): I thoroughly enjoyed the last issue. It is hard for me to imagine SAS without Mel Kuhbander, so his passing is sad, but I am glad for the updates. I especially like the long-form articles written by alumni, like the one by Katerina Taiganides, which talks about both her memories of Singapore (to which we can all relate) and what she’s been doing since. Great publication!

Thanks!

From Carol Sharbanee (faculty 76-79): Today I received my first copy of Journeys. I absolutely loved it, especially as there were lots of people in there from my time. I loved all the photos from reunions. It seems as if the campus is amazing! Next time I’m in Singapore, I will visit.

From David Boyd (faculty 73-75): A HUGE THANK YOU for all you do to keep up the alumni news and the Journeys magazine! It is very, very much appreciated by all us alums/former staff of SAS. From Nathalie Vo-Ta Antus (90): the latest issue of Journeys has got to be the best I’ve seen so far. From cover to cover, I was so moved and loved reading every word and seeing every picture. Thank you so much to you and your staff at SAS!

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SAS Alumni Services Visits and Tours

SAS alumni online community

If you are in Singapore and would like a tour of the campus or to visit with former faculty and staff, be sure to contact us at alumni@sas.edu.sg. We look forward to seeing you.

The SAS alumni website can be found at alumni.sas.edu. sg. The password-protected site has more than 7,600 members made up of former and current students, faculty and parents. Members can maintain their own profiles, search for and contact other registered members, post photos and blogs, and stay informed about news and events.

Reunions and get-togethers SAS hosts reunions in the Unites States and in selected cities around the world. Additionally the alumni office assists those who are interested in planning alumni get-togethers.

SAS Journeys Twice a year, members of the SAS alumni community receive SAS Journeys alumni magazine. Published since 2006, it includes articles about alumni experiences and features on what is currently happening on campus.

Please send contributions, photos, class notes updates and/or suggestions to alumni@sas.edu.sg.

Alumni E-Newsletter The alumni e-newsletter, emailed quarterly, contains news and information about the school, the alumni community, and upcoming events.

Social Networking, Facebook, LinkedIn Connect with other SAS alumni on Facebook at facebook.com/singaporeamericanschoolalumni or at Singapore American School Alumni on LinkedIn, the professional networking site.

Singapore American School Online Community Number of registered members on the SAS alumni website by country ASIA China (43) Hong Kong (48) India (20) Indonesia (44) Israel (30) Japan (94) Korea, South (94) Malaysia (17) Philippines (23) Saudi Arabia (5) Singapore (1,299) Taiwan (22) Thailand (19) United Arab Emirates (14) Vietnam (6)

AUSTRALIA & OCEANA Australia (169) New Zealand (19) EUROPE Belgium (7) Denmark (8) France (15) Germany (32) Greece (7) Italy (11) Netherlands (24) Norway (18) Scotland (7) Spain (5) Sweden (44) Switzerland (16)

Turkey (5) United Kingdom (76) NORTH AMERICA Canada (219) Mexico (9) United States (4,682) SOUTH AMERICA Brazil (6)

Other countries represented with fewer than five registered members: Argentina, Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Grenada, Guam, Hungary, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Qatar, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, U.S. Virgin Islands, Venezuela.

SAS Journeys is published by the Singapore American School Advancement Office 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738457 +65 6360 6329 www.sas.edu.sg alumni.sas.edu.sg alumni@sas.edu.sg