Community News - Spring 2010

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Community News

S C H O O L Spring 2010

Ken Smith’s Legacies: 14 Years of Leadership at SSFS

Thank You, Ken Smith For serving devotedly as our head of school for 14 years, and always working to find the path forward with great affection for and commitment to our cherished community of faculty, staff, parents, students, and alumni; For working tirelessly and patiently to develop a vision for growth that was in keeping with our founding Quaker principles of respect for each other and for the earth; For reaching out openly and honestly to all constituencies, and in doing so, building a community effort that has lifted up Sandy Spring Friends School and brought it to a higher level of excellence; For expanding our facilities for learning and athletics, for building on funds to support the needs of our school and its families, for preserving our beautiful 140-acre campus, and, most importantly — For mentoring a generation of children, and through personal example, showing them the importance of community-building, service to others, and “walking cheerfully over this world.”

Our school community is profoundly grateful for your leadership and friendship over the past 14 years, and we wish you and Jan a wondrous retirement in Durango, Colorado. That is, come July 1st, and not a day before!

The SSFS Board of Trustees

Table of Contents

Community News is a publication for the alumni, faculty, parents, students, and other friends past and present who make up the many communities of Sandy Spring Friends School.

Published twice a year by the Advancement Office: Karl Gedge Assistant Head for External Relations

The Ken Years: Campus Changes, 1996-2010

1

The Ken Years: Sports and Arts, by Steve Powers and Bruce Evans

2

The Ken Years: Evolving Communications, by Margaret Rosser

3

The Ken Years: An Historical Perspective, by Bob Hoch

4

Sustainability Education, by Jan Smith

6

Smith on Smith, by Reid Smith ‘03

8

An Interview with Ken Smith, by Anne Ball

9

Honoring Ari and Nancy Preuss, by Bim Schauffler ‘74

12

Dana Harrison to Become Head of School at Newton Friends

14

News Around Campus

African Heritage Celebration; Empty Bowl Night; Aerial Park

15

Community Play - “The Man of La Mancha”

16

Annual Fund - Every Gift Has an Impact

17

A Celebration of the Life of Lexi Speight, by Jill Smalley

18

Alumni Spotlight: Rob Jones ‘00

19

Parents of SSFS Graduates Reception

19

Alumni Notes

20

Judy Averbach Director of the Annual Fund Anne Ball Marketing Consultant Dave Burgevin Archivist Sarah Margolis Marketing Consultant Mary Mazzuca Director of Alumni Relations Margaret Rosser Director of External Communications © 2010 Sandy Spring Friends School 16923 Norwood Road Sandy Spring, Maryland 20860 301.774.7455 www.ssfs.org Cover: Ken and Jan in front of the cherry trees by the Lower School.

(Photo by Margaret Rosser)

After a long winter with historic snowfalls, the cherry blossoms in bloom are a welcome sight on campus!

Call to the SSFS Community: We are pleased to offer articles from SSFS alumni, faculty, and staff in this issue of the Community News. We welcome articles, comments, suggestions, and letters for future issues. Please note that we reserve editorial judgment on all content and material. Should you be interested in submitting a piece for publication, please contact Karl Gedge, Assistant Head for External Relations at karl.gedge@ssfs.org.

Please note that the views expressed by individual authors do not necessarily reflect the views of Sandy Spring Friends School.

The Ken Years: Campus Changes, 1996-2010 While the community-building and program legacies of Kenneth W. Smith as Head of School from 1996 to 2010 are remembered and described throughout this issue of Community News, a visit to the school’s archives reminds the community how much the physical expansion of the school – the bricks and mortar of today’s campus – came about during his tenure.

The photo on the cover of the 20032004 Annual Report (right) shows students gathered behind Yarnall Hall wearing hard hats. Ceremonial shovels jut out from the ground. It is the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Athletic Complex.

Ken Smith is at the podium. He is pointing to the area across the field that will become the new peripheral road encircling the school and leading to several new parking lots.

The report that year was titled “The Groundbreaking Year.” The introduction to the report summed up the almost giddy feeling on campus: “The countless planning and meetings – the faculty fireside chats to discuss school size and philosophy; the student assemblies to determine what students wanted to keep and what they wanted to change; the faculty conferences with architects; the parent get-togethers that were followed by more planning and more meetings over the past several years; the Kindle the Spirit development campaign – in one year coalesced into an awed realization that the new additions to campus were moving toward actuality.

They were really going to happen!”

Architects’ drawings had been displayed at School events; comments from students, faculty and parents had been solicited and weighed. And finally, on two days of Alumni Weekend in May, the community gathered Spring 2010

Aerial views of the campus before and after the construction of the Athletic Center, new Middle School, Performing Arts Center, and the peripheral road, which freed up the middle of the campus for pedestrian-only traffic.

to break ground for all three buildings.

There was the Athletic Complex next door to Yarnall Hall housing a 9,000 square feet gymnasium to accommodate additional Middle and Upper School teams, new staff offices, and a fully-equipped fitness center.

Next to it would be a new two-story Middle School with a dedicated wing for each grade level, a central atrium, and state-of-the-art language, science and technology labs.

On the former tennis courts site, the Performing Arts Center would include

a fully-equipped 384 seat theater, lobby art gallery, studios, classrooms and full-size scenery and costume production shops.

Additional plans included renovations to Westview Dining Hall to accomodate a larger student population, and to Tanglewood, which now houses the 4th and 5th grades in the Lower School.

Adding to the historical significance of the events, School Founder S. Brook Moore joined Ken on the shovel line at all three groundbreakings, and later attended the building dedications as well.

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The Ken Years: Arts & Sports

By Steve Powers, Athletic Director Let me first say this: as a competitive athlete himself, Ken understands the value of a positive athletic experience in which students learn lessons of hard work, self-sacrifice, discipline, teamwork and great sportsmanship.

These are all significant qualities. Ken has challenged me as Athletic Director to make the positive athletic experience my primary goal, while staying within the mission of the school to emphasize strong academics and arts as well.

Ken has fully supported the Athletic Program here in regard to facilities, of course. We have the new Athletic Center and training/weight room, and we have upgraded the old athletic fields.

Under his leadership, the school has added varsity softball and baseball and built the fields to support these programs.

And since Ken came on board here in

1996, our varsity teams have won a total of 32 championships!

to our school’s “no cut” policy: if you want to be on a team here, you’re on.

Ken and I have met regularly every month since I took over from Aaron Wright in 2001. We talk about our school teams – often falling back on our own experiences to address a concern – and about global issues in athletics as well.

We see this as a way to insure that our students are multi-dimensional; we give them every opportunity to be on a team or participate in dance or athletic training. So whether it’s a question on a college application or during a job interview, being on a team indicates our graduates have experience working together, taking on a leadership role, getting along in a group dynamic, and putting others first.

We’ve reinstated the Morley games in all three divisions – Lower, Middle and Upper School – and I’m really thrilled that I receive requests every year from Athletic Directors and Physical Education teachers at other schools who want our book on Morley Games (written by Nancy Preuss several years ago) to incorporate into their programs.

We have worked together to maintain teams, hire quality coaches, and provide a higher athletic experience for our athletes, all the while adhering

This is really brought home to me when the other teams’ coaches and AD’s compliment us on how well our student athletes represent themselves, their families and Sandy Spring Friends School on the field of competition. Great sportsmanship is a quality that we hold very high here at SSFS. And Ken certainly personifies that.

Interview with Bruce Evans, Upper School Arts Department Head Bruce Evans, Head of the Arts Department and Upper School Theatre Arts teacher, selected “Man of La Mancha” as this year’s Community Play in honor of Ken and Jan Smith.

“I saw this as an appreciation to Ken and Jan for seeing the good in everyone, just as Don Quixote searched in his quest,” Bruce told audiences before each performance.

Taking that further, Bruce remembers 2

that early in his tenure Ken called on faculty to suggest ideas for the school’s strategic plan for the future.

“I brought up the idea of enlarging our performing arts space by constructing a new facility – we were limited by the old Clifton space and our programs were growing. Ken heard, and I appreciated his willingness to stand up for the arts. The Performing Arts Center is part of his legacy.

“The focus of our arts programs hasn’t changed, but our work had been limited because we lacked space to reach our potential – our classes were on top of each other in Clifton. The PAC opened the door and allowed us to breathe and to enhance the quality of experience for our students,” Bruce

continues.

“We’re not trying to train professionals,” he notes, “although we do have a number of alumni who are pursuing careers in the arts, some in dance, some recently on Broadway.

“But we recognize the arts at SSFS as an important part of everyone’s education. We see them as meshing with our academic programs and supporting the learning process – another way to express ourselves and to explore ideas.

“This building has become a major symbol of this community’s commitment to the arts.

“Thank you, Ken.” SSFS Community News

The Ken Years: Evolving Communications

by Margaret Rosser, Director of External Communication When the Spring 1996 issue of the Community News proudly announced, “Kenneth Smith Selected New Head,” the news was met with enthusiasm, but no one reading the article then rushed to “google” Ken Smith, as Google was at that time merely a research project, and not yet an incorporated company. Likewise, the announcement wasn’t posted on the school’s Web site (no Web site yet), and no one changed their Facebook status to acknowledge the event, or blogged about the news (no Facebook or blogging yet).

Mainstream use of the internet was just starting to catch on – it’s possible that you knew someone who subscribed to AOL’s “Prodigy” for $19.99 a month – but it certainly was not a primary vehicle for disseminating information.

What a difference 14 years makes!

SSFS’s online presence has been steadily growing and evolving, from

the launch of its first official redesigned website in 2002, to recent ventures into social networking and online media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

In 2010, there are more ways than ever to find out what’s going on at SSFS. You may be keeping up with Sandy Spring Friends School through the Web site (www.ssfs.org), or by becoming a Facebook fan of the school; maybe you are chatting with classmates on the Facebook alumni group page, or have found a business opportunity through the alumni LinkedIn group. Or maybe you’re old school, so to speak, and look forward to receiving the Community News in your mailbox and reading through it curled up in your favorite comfy chair – although of course you can now view it online, as well!

Whichever way to choose to stay in touch, we hope that you will continue to stay connected. In that Spring 1996 article announcing Ken Smith’s

Likewise, beyond the gadgetry and technological wizardry of all the increasing ways that we now have to reach out to the SSFS community, the ultimate purpose of the communication is to foster and enhance the real, solid connections between all the people – past, present, and future – who are a vital part of keeping the spirit of the school alive and making SSFS the unique and wonderful place that it is.

Become a fan of the SSFS Facebook fan page to see photos and events and to get updates on what’s happening around campus. Type “Sandy Spring Friends School” into the search box on facebook.com, and click the “Pages” option in the left “Results” column; you will see our logo. Or, you can click on the facebook link from the SSFS home page, www.ssfs.org.

We have two new blogs this year, hosted on WordPress. The Upper School Journalism class is posting articles online at http://gnusblog.wordpress.com/. Upper School English teacher David Kahn posts his thoughts on the “Beestblog” - http:// beestblog.wordpress.com/.

There is also an Alumni Facebook Group. Go to facebook.com and type in “Sandy Spring Friends School Alumni” - but this time click the “Groups” option under Results. You will see the SSFS logo.

SSFS has a group on LinkedIn, the professional networking site. To find the group, go to www.linkedin.com and type “SSFS Alumni” in the search box on the top right. Highlight “Search Groups,” and click on the SSFS Alumni Group to join.

Our Facebook updates are automatically posted to our Twitter account; our handle is “ssfs_springers.”

We recently created a Sandy Spring Friends School channel on YouTube; the Web address is www.youtube.com/sandyspringfriends.

Spring 2010

selection as Head of School, Ken recognized the expanding role of technology in our lives, and noted that “the explosion of technology and all the resulting ethical and financial issues that must be prioritized makes this an important time in the life of any institution.”

He continued, “But more than technology… the individual student/teacher relationship is still the most important single ingredient in any school. All other staff and programs serve to support that most significant relationship.”

Read this issue of Community News (as well as past publications) online through issuu.com at http://issuu.com/ ssfs_comm_news.

3

The Ken Years: An Historical Perspective

By Bob Hoch, Upper School History Teacher The year 2000 broke on to the scene with the fear that Y2K would paralyze all computer transactions and shut down the known world. In an attempt to prepare for this event, Linda Brock showed Ken how to turn on his computer.

Tragedy struck as the 2001 school began. The September 11th attacks brought the school together for comfort and support. The school community, led by Ken, rallied around one another to get through this difficult time.

A lot can happen in the span of a fourteen-year career. For all of the students and for the majority of faculty and staff, Ken Smith has been the only Head of School they have known. Ken’s leaving can be compared to the end of the Franklin Roosevelt era. For many Americans FDR was the only president they had ever voted for (or against), or the only administration they had experienced.

Ken took up the reins at Sandy Spring Friends School on July 1st, 1996. Bill Clinton was President of the United States and Theodore Kaczyniski was arrested as the Unabomber. Both were unrelated to the decision of the Board of Trustees to hire Ken.

year the film Titanic broke box office records and won the Oscar for best picture. Dolly the sheep became a household name when it was revealed that she was the clone of another living mammal.

Gwen Handler was ecstatic and Tom Harrison began experiments in the science center in an attempt to clone soccer players for Eduardo PolÓn.

In 1998 the world became aware of someone named Monica Lewinsky, and the country watched in fascination as the events leading up to the impeachment proceedings unfolded.

SSFS, toying with the idea of using interns to support faculty and staff, quickly did an about face.

The twenty year old Tiger Woods made his decision to turn pro, and Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced. In the following

The following year saw the retirement of Michael Jordan and the fall of the home run record held

by Roger Marris.

4

The following year, school opened with a great deal of optimism, only to be confronted with random sniper attacks which limited the community’s outdoor activities and cancelled much of the fall sports seasons. The school marshaled on with indoor recess and soccer teams running stairwells and hallways in an attempt to stay in shape.

Later that same year, the Mars Odyssey probe discovered ice on the planet, causing Ari Preuss to plan an intersession to Mars that spring; in preparation he begins teaching Martian folk dances to his Western Civilization classes.

In March of 2003 the United States launched an invasion of Iraq to look for weapons of mass destruction. In April, President Bush declared victory. Taking his cue from the president, baseball coach Ben McClellan declared the baseball team PVAC champions

SSFS Community News

despite losing its opening tournament game.

New York Times reporter Jason Blair was busted for fabricating entire stories during his time at the paper. English teacher David Kahn was quoted as saying, “If he had just taken my Ethics class instead of some silly poetry class this would have never happened.”

Later that year country singer Johnny Cash died, temporarily sending Ken into a deep funk.

The year 2004 saw the Boston Red Sox win a World Series for the first time since before the birth of Christ, thus sending Ben McClellan into a deep funk.

The year 2005 began with news that a 640 pound catfish had been caught off the coast of Thailand, causing noted SSFS fisherman and camp director Francis Zell to organize a summer camp to travel to Southeast Asia.

Also that year, former assistant director of the FBI Mark Felt revealed that he in fact was “Deep Throat,” the key figure in the Watergate Scandal. (Good taste and a rare attack of good sense prevent me from commenting on this development, but it’s not easy!)

Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans. SSFS took in a displaced student on dorm, and students rallied around with several fundraisers. Iconic civil rights leader Rosa Parks died.

Spring 2010

The Enron scandal, followed by the revelation of steroid use in sports, shook America’s faith in two of our most powerful institutions as 2006 began. On a lighter note, Pluto was demoted from a planet to an assistant PE teacher.

In the world of music, aging rockers the Rolling Stones completed the highest earning tour in music history. Coming in a close second was the SSFS Handbell Choir led by Bryan Seith. James Brown died.

In 2007 Bob Barker, at age 73, stepped down as host of the “Price is Right.” He was replaced

by Karl Gedge.

Apple began sales of its iPhone, causing the formation of no less than seven SSFS committees on the impact this would have on education and discipline.

Former Vice-President Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ken announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2009-2010 school year.

The year 2008 brought in a flurry of activity surrounding the selection of a new Head of School.

Several thousand more committees were formed populated by faculty, administrators, alumni, students, parents, four of the seven dwarves and several people not yet conceived but needed to

be represented, just in case.

There also seemed to be a presidential election going on.

November saw the election of Barack Obama, the nation’s first African American president.

Republican Senator John McCain conceded the election but announced that he would be a candidate for Head of School along with the 50,000 others who applied. Fidel Castro, following Ken’s example, announced his retirement and his intention to move to Colorado.

Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at the summer Olympics.

The fall of 2009 brought the announcement that Tom Giban, a long-time community member and former Head of the Board of Trustees, would become the new Head of School.

Along with the departure of Ken, longtime coach and history teacher Ari Preuss decided to retire after 261 years of teaching at SSFS to become the new head of Cuba.

The year 2010 will have to be evaluated at a later date because the entire year up to this point has been buried under eight feet of snow.

5

Sustainability Education:

By Jan Smith Query 19: Are you concerned that man’s increasing power over nature should not be used irresponsibly but with reverence for life and with a sense of the splendor of continuing creation? We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. We are called to live in right relation to all creation.

While the word “sustainable” may have achieved popular success in recent years, the moral imperative to live sustainably has always been a part of Quaker tradition.

Sandy Spring Friends School was established in 1960 with a gift from Esther Scott of 140 beautiful acres of land. “I knew something special should be done with this land,” she told Brook Moore. This treasured piece of property encompasses cleared farm land; a stream that is part of the Chesapeake watershed; Eastern woodlands with natural habitats for birds, wildlife and wildflowers; wetlands; and a spring which was used to create a pond. Located in northern Montgomery County away from the development of Washington, D.C., Rockville, and Columbia, SSFS was just one of many forested areas.

Now with encroaching housing and commercial development, the expansion of Route 198 and the construction of the Inner County Connector, much of the Eastern Woodlands of Montgomery County has been destroyed.

Sandy Spring Friends School is no longer a rural, isolated campus, which makes our natural Eastern Woodlands even more rare and valuable. As Brook Moore, our Founder, so often said, “If you don’t feel something special when you walk on this campus, you probably don’t belong here.” Over the past several years, Ken and I have become determined to take care of this incredible resource.

6

PK students show the sweet potatoes harvested from the garden outside their classroom.

During our 14 years here, the world has become increasingly aware of the immediate necessity of altering our carbon imprint to save our environment for future generations. It was not difficult with the support of faculty, maintenance staff and students, to begin a comprehensive composting program, to commit to a chemical-free policy for our mowed areas, to consider carefully the removal of any trees, and to plant new trees where old ones would soon die out. We established a school-wide sustainability committee to head up these concerns as well as the use of energy in our buildings and our carbon imprint on campus. We have made great strides in lowering our energy consumption, helping the environment, and saving thousands in energy costs for our school.

tion of the three new buildings. Such a major project involved the addition of storm water management to control the pollution of water entering our stream. It involved looking at the construction of the new buildings to see what we could afford to have green.

The center Middle School roof, for example, is built to be converted to a living green roof. Many of the materials used in the buildings are “green.”

The electrical systems have been recalibrated to use heat and air conditioning only when occupied. Over 100 trees have been planted (mostly by students) to replace those that were taken down during construction. The road was removed from the center of campus to provide cleaner air and eliminate car pollution and danger where students walk.

Quakers have believed for many decades that ecology and true health are inseparably linked. There were efforts on this campus before we arrived to have an organic garden, to declare the school a “nuclear free” zone, and to restrict development to a small portion of the 140 acres. The most difficult time to make “green” decisions for our campus was during the construc-

In recent years, the school has responded to the world-wide commitment to eat locally and sustainably.

The reactivation of the community garden last year netted over 1,000 pounds of food used by our cafeteria and families. We realized for the first time that we could go a long way toward reaching a goal of “feeding ourselves,” thus reducing significantly SSFS Community News

Clean Air, Good Soil, Healthy Food for Our Kids our carbon footprint from highlyprocessed and transported food while at the same time offering our students fresh food. Farmers around the area connected with us to help grow healthier food in a movement called “crop mobbing.” Teachers, Dad’s Diner, Summer Camp, and families all joined in. Alum Connor Steadman, who is majoring in Sustainability, toured the campus with our Sustainability Committee to look at ways for our campus to control invasive species and landscape with edible vegetation.

Finally, and most importantly, our Board of Trustees has recognized the importance of educating our community to live more sustainably.

They are in the process of establishing a permanent Board level Sustainability Committee to oversee every decision of the school to make sure that sustainable “green” concerns have been addressed. Bill Gates recently committed himself and billions of dollars to develop sustainable energy resources with a goal of zero carbon emissions. As he conveyed in his speech, no other cause takes precedence because without healthy air, soil, and water, nothing else matters.

develop policies to ensure that all equipment that is replaced and new construction projects use “green” concepts. We need to hire a Sustainability Director to help us envision what a future zero carbon imprint community would require and steps for how to get there.

We could construct a Sustainability Center that models the use of green materials, alternative energy sources and is a space for educational classes and seminars for our students and our community. Most importantly, the Sustainability Director needs to work with our teachers to create an educational

curriculum that teaches environmental concepts so that our students will go out into the world convinced that they can promote healthy living for themselves and our earth.

SSFS students planting trees on Earth Stewardship Day last spring (above), and harvesting vegetables from the Community garden on Community Day last fall (below).

Ken and I hope we are leaving this community increasingly more aware of the moral imperative to educate our students, families, and community about sustainability issues.

There is much work to be done to ensure the health of our natural environment, the trees, stream, wetlands, wildlife habitats, our soil and our air and to educate our students to respond to this ultimate challenge.

We need to strengthen our commitment to use local, sustainable food in our dining room. We need to Spring 2010

7

Smith on Smith

By Reid Smith ‘03 community strength and social support. In my graduate classes at Portland State University for Sustainability, we discuss how undervalued social capital is in the world, and therefore gets neglected from decision-making. I believe – because of my time in the Sandy Spring community Ken and Reid when they first – that social capital arrived on the SSFS campus. is the strongest and My father does most critical form of capital to not gain respect get anything accomplished. My A recent photo of Ken and Reid Smith - and their ukulele! through intimifamily felt it when we moved 14 dation or arroyears ago, and it has enhanced our gance; he gains it because people When I graduated from Sandy relationships, our family, and our can tell that he is looking out for Spring in 2003, I was not just leavinteraction with the natural world. ing a close-knit school community, the world beyond himself. It is rare to find a man at the climax of his I was literally leaving my family.

The true value of my father cannot career so modest, so caring, and so In 6th grade I moved into Scott be measured in economic figures, House with my family because my open. He is genuinely interested in enrollment rates, or building dad had become the new Head. We doing a good job by making things expansions. He was able to harwork out for people. were all astounded and overjoyed ness the strong social capital that by how wonderful everyone in the existed at Sandy Spring and use it A second reason is that Sandy community was to us and what a to make the school an even better Spring itself is such a strong comgreat place we had been chosen to place for more kids to learn. I do munity, and I was not treated like serve. believe that students from SSFS the Head’s son. I knew almost still graduate with an attitude of everyone’s parents in my class as People often ask me if it was hard sustainability – in one’s personal having the Head of School – the ul- well. Although everyone knew life and for larger communities – timate rule-maker on campus – for mine a little better, I think we all because of their time in the Sandy knew a lot about each other, for a father. The answer: not at all!

Spring community. good or bad. In the end, the community that Sandy Spring providI identify two main reasons for the As my family moves away from ed was priceless. ease with which I handled a situaSandy Spring, we will surely notice tion most teens would have hated what a large role the community The value of the Sandy Spring and rebelled against. One is that played in our lives. My hope is my father is such a wonderful man. community is its strong social that we continue to do what we Everyone loves him. Even if people capital, or connections within the learned at SSFS: to let our lives disagree with some of his decisions community. We may not have had speak. Thanks Dad, and thanks the best facilities – at least in my – which I have certainly done on Sandy Spring, for enriching my life occasion – they always respect him. time – but we beat any school in forever.

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SSFS Community News

Ken Smith: Community Builder An interview with Ken Smith by Anne Ball, Marketing Consultant When he welcomes new Head of School Tom Gibian in July and moves on to Colorado to enjoy the next chapter of his life, Ken Smith will be remembered at SSFS in a number of ways.

Morning greeter and car door opener at the Lower School.

Reid’s dad. Jan’s husband.

Confidant of founder Brook Moore.

Storyteller.

Tough competitor on the tennis courts.

Occasional ukulele player.

Enthusiastic supporter of all student athletic teams and student artists, visual and performing. Performer in Community Plays and auction entertainments.

A lively presence at as many games as his schedule permitted, a participant in divisional Meetings for Worship, a listener at Parent Association meetings and a source of information, clarification and rumor control at his own Head’s Forum several times a year.

Firm believer and practitioner of the Quaker challenge to find “That of God in everyone.”

The first Head of School to oversee dramatic facilities changes on campus, construction of three major buildings, and the rerouting of the main road to create a pedestrianonly center of campus.

Spring 2010

Ken blushingly acknowledges all of these.

But how does he want to be remembered?

Community builder.

“Getting to be part of people’s lives, that’s what brings the most meaning to my life. I always want to know everybody in my Ken with the 7th Grade in the Middle School collection space. community wherever I am – I really enjoy Indeed, many in the community getting to know the kids and their have particularly expressed their families here.” gratitude for Ken’s steady leadership and ability to pull the community He recalls a conversation with together during times of crisis, such his father, Ralph W. Smith, an as 9/11 and the sniper shootings. ordained minister, when Ken was still in high school. They were caThat openness also proved to be key noeing one summer at Lake Tahoe during his school years - political when Ken said, “Dad, I think I science major at Trinity University might want to become a minister in San Antonio where he received like you.” Then, Ken remembers, his bachelor’s degree, five years as his dad cautioned: “Don’t do it a student and assistant to the Dean unless you find that you wouldn’t at Princeton Theological Seminary, be happy doing anything else.” graduating with two theological master degrees and then on to a “Well, as I told him then, and I’ve doctorate from Southern Methodist held true to it all these years: I University. He was hired as head of didn’t expect a calling from on Buckingham Academy, a boarding high – I just wanted to be with high school in Steamboat Springs, people at critical times in their Colorado. lives,” Ken continues.

Ken enjoys reminiscing about Buck“That’s my motivation.” ingham Academy (“at 27, I was the 9

Ken Smith: Community Builder humanities department chair, tennis coach, director of the summer camp in North Carolina, Head of the Middle School, and Assistant Head of School.

Ken addresses the Class of 2009 at their graduation ceremony - the first held on the SSFS campus.

He and his staff introduced into the curriculum a five-day camping experience for all students based on the “Wakan” (vision) ceremony conducted by the local Native Americans for their young people reaching age 16.

During the summer, Ken worked with his Ken tries to make it to the Lower School drop-off most college roommate mornings to greet students as they come to school.

Cliff Buchholz to turn youngest Head of School in the the campus into a tennis camp – the country and the oldest person on first one in Colorado and the secthe faculty,”) and its spirited proond one in the country. They built grams during the 1970s. It was a one 10 courts and used their 600-acre stoplight town (“a lot like Sandy facility, surrounded by a national Spring”), and it was there that he forest, to augment the tennis with an hired Jan Therrell, a history teacher outdoor program for young tennis just back from the Peace Corps. They enthusiasts as well as adults. married two years later.

His next career stop was Pine Crest Steamboat offered not only unSchool in Fort Lauderdale where, surpassed scenery, but a culture for 10 years, Ken served in an asthat was easy for Ken to embrace. sortment of positions – chaplain, 10

It was at Pine Crest that his interest in Middle School began to take hold, building on his graduate school work in developmental psychology. He moved on to Head of Middle School at Friends School of Baltimore for 10 years before succeeding Stephen Gessner as Head of SSFS in 1996.

Then began a whirlwind introduction to the Sandy Spring greater community and its history as well as the traditions and academic structures of the school.

“When I was first interviewed by the Search Committee,” Ken recalls, “they asked me for my vision for the school. I had no idea, but I told them, ‘Give me a year,’ and during that year I went to every function the school offered and got to know the people and their concerns.

“The next year the board was asking for long-range planning, and we organized Fireside Chats with faculty, staff and parents at Scott House (the Head’s residence), and came up with the 10 signature elements we used as our focus in all of our planning, both for our buildings (Middle School, Performing Arts Center, Athletic Complex) and for our programs (enlarging community service opportunities, more diversity in our students, additional faculty and staff, learning specialists and counselors for each division).”

SSFS Community News

A Letter of Appreciation for Linda Brock

By Ken Smith, Head of School So as Ken sees it, the new buildings are strong visual reminders of that commitment and the means for making the programs happen.

But the spiritual is right there, too.

He likes to recall and share his reaction when he drove into the campus for the first time – his awe at the spiritual feel of the setting; his sharing that feeling with founder S. Brook Moore sealed their mutually admiring relationship for all time.

Behind Ken’s desk is a mementofilled bulletin board with photos both recent and dating back to his Florida days and earlier. There is one favorite quote he never takes down. It is by William James.

“The best use of life is to invest it in something which will outlast life.”

One of my favorite stories I like to tell to demonstrate how much I value Linda Brock is something that happened several years ago at a staff retreat at the Genessee Valley Outdoor Learning Center. We were all playing an intense, physical simulation game and, somehow, I ended up discombobulated and headed in the wrong direction.

Jamie Zavitz, who was a faculty member at the time, watched my disorientation and confusion on the field, turned to everyone and said, “There goes Ken Smith without Linda Brock!”

The past few months, I have had to experience life as Head of School without Linda Brock, as she has been away recovering from an illness. I am very appreciative of the staff who have graciously stepped in to help in her absence, but I know that I speak for all of us when I say that I look forward to her return to campus.

Linda and I worked together for my last two years when I was Head of the Middle School at Friends School of Baltimore and, now, during my fourteen years, here. Throughout the years she has been an invaluable Executive Assistant. Working behind the scenes, she has taken care of a million details that make my life - and the lives of everyone at the school - run smoothly. I have total confidence and trust in her. Her word is her bond.

Students always look forward to Ken’s stories at all-school assemblies.

Spring 2010

Any accomplishments that I have had as Head of School can be attributed to Linda as well. Traveling over an hour from Baltimore each day, she has worked tirelessly not only to support me, but she also understands our mission and lets her life speak in all that she does. We are so grateful that she will be back on campus for the last few months before her wellearned retirement, as well. Linda Brock will have my eternal gratitude and best wishes, always.

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Honoring Ari & Nancy Preuss

By Bim Schauffler ‘74

This year is the final year in the careers of Nancy and Ari Preuss at Sandy Spring Friends School. Their work at SSFS represents a combined 78 years of service, and to many of us, it is difficult to imagine Sandy Spring Friends School without them. For me,

this is a time for us to celebrate the monumental contributions that the two of them have made to our school community, especially to those of us who have been privileged to be their students, colleagues, and friends over the years that they have been here.

It has been my fortune to get to know Ari and Nancy in a variety of capacities: as their student, as my mentors and colleagues, as friends, and lastly as a parent of Moyra who is one of Ari’s students in this year’s Morocco class. In the time I have known Ari and Nancy, I have had many different experiences with them and could, perhaps, write a book of anecdotes about their hair-raising adventures both here and afar.

But that would not capture the true essence of Ari and Nancy’s life here and their contribution to Sandy Spring Friends School. Their legacy is one of constantly seeking more

captivating, effective, and fun ways in which students can learn. It is a legacy of passion for education that has spawned such institutions and traditions as Intersession, the Myth, the Sophomore Olympics, a dance called “Pata Pata,” and a class that took a succession of students to Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Brazil, Costa Rica, Italy, and Morocco.

Theirs is a legacy of guiding the school through changing times and helping it to grow into the uniquely nurturing, respectful, vigorous and rigorous Friends School community that it is today.

Though they leave us this year, their legacy is forever present in this place.

I will always cherish the wild, exotic, and profound experiences that I have had with Ari and Nancy, but most of all I cherish and will forever hold dear the dance that has illuminated their lives and this place called Sandy Spring Friends School.

Memories and Stories about Ari and Nancy...

We received an overwhelming response to our calls for all the memories and stories about Ari and Nancy from alumni and past faculty. Thanks to all who wrote in, and apologies that we were unable to include all of your submissions. Feel free to continue to post your thoughts and memories on the Alumni Facebook Group page!

“I was only at SSFS for two years, but I remember Ari and Nancy well. Nancy and I would often pass one another quickly, as we moved throughout the school – both of us working hard and moving fast. On a number of occasions, we realized that neither of slowed down long enough to stop and use the bathroom. We got to the point that when we saw one another we’d say ‘Stop.

Right now - and GO!’” ~ Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, former faculty “I was captain of the lacrosse team for the 1994 and 1995 seasons and remember so many things about Ari it is hard to begin.

But most interesting are memories from the intersession trip to Turkey in 1994. Nancy and Ari were leading the trip and they were so fearless! We danced Turkish dances on ancient ruins of Ephesus and near the playground of Alexander the Great near the calcium hot spring-covered hills of Pamukkale.” ~ Adam Lane-Basler ‘95 “My funniest Ari memory: Every morning Ari would check the boys dorm for guys trying to skip out of morning Meeting.

He always found some slacker. One morning he came into Meeting with a squirming laundry bag over his shoulder, just like a Prussian Santa, and deposited it in the middle of the Meeting floor. Out popped my roommate’s head (Jim Russell) who had decided to crawl into his laundry bag in the closet of our dorm room rather than get up and over to Meeting. It didn’t work!” ~ Dennis Mohatt ‘73 12

SSFS Community News

“My favorite Ari Preuss story happened during my 8th grade year. He was head coach of the Middle School lacrosse team that year, and we were on our way to a game at Barnesville. He turns around and asks the team if they would like to take a shortcut.

Being typical middle schoolers, we agree. All of a sudden we find ourselves driving fairly fast down some country road, not quite paved. Ari then yells out “PUT ON YOUR SNORKEL GEAR,” and proceeds to drive straight through a stream. Water shoots up on either side of the bus, getting some of our pads wet. It was that plus making us practice jumping in and out of a moving bus (relax parents he was driving like 5 mph), that made a bus ride with Ari always memorable. I wish good luck to the teacher who was always present: my Middle School lacrosse coach, JV soccer coach, intersession leader, Western Civilization teacher, and most importantly advisor.” ~Matt Ripley ‘07 “One of my favorite memories of Ari – and there are so many – was during his class when we were learning about the Sistine chapel and Michelangelo. Of course, being the amazing teacher that he is, Ari did not just have us read about the art work done or the difficulty of the painting. Instead, he set up large pieces of canvas balanced on top of wooden frames so that the entire class could go outside and experience what it would be like to paint upside down. Now, fifteen years later, this continues to be one of the amazing moments in his instruction that I still have not forgotten. Michelangelo’s talent is forever ingrained in my mind – as is Ari’s fantastic teaching. Can I share another? How about Ari dancing it up with our class in preparation for our trip to Costa Rica. We learned dances that we then performed when staying at small hotels around the country. And another? How about smashing grapes that we picked from the vines in his backyard with our feet.... And one more? How about the amazing rhyming jingles he used to write into our report cards... Do you even hand-write report cards anymore? Memories of Ari are forever in my mind and heart.” ~Eliza Zamor (formerly, Eliza Haber) ‘97 “All of the students loved Ari during my years at SSFS, 1969-1972. He was funny, social, involved, athletic and a gifted teacher – I wish my son could have been in his classroom. Many of the students also thought of him as a friend; I did. Oh, and let’s not forget, he was very handsome, kind of crazy and had tons of charisma. 38 years later in 2010, I bet he is the same great teacher, good friend and passionate guy we knew then. Most memorable was our mini-school trip to Central America in February of ‘72.

With Ari as our fearless leader (he puts Indiana Jones to shame) we folk-danced our way from Mexico to Guatemala and made the most of every moment – from washing our clothes in jungle streams, bargaining in the Chichicastenango market to dining out in five-star restaurants. Ari knew the terrain and gave us the trip of a lifetime.” ~ Mary Herndon Junda ‘72 “I look back on my years at SSFS and have great memories of Ari Preuss. He was a motivating teacher of German and of course a great soccer coach. He served as a great model for all the students and his enthusiastic participation in all aspects of school including spring break special programs. Everyone should remember the red Rambler he wildly drove during his first years at SSFS. Clearly he has continued to serve the students and staff well through the many years of his career. I know he left an important positive mark on students from my time and clearly has maintained that standard throughout his valued years at SSFS. Best wishes for Ari and Nancy Preuss.” ~Lent Johnson ‘74.

“My favorite memory of Ari was when I was a sophomore – it was after soccer practice had ended and most students had been picked up or driven home. I was camped out beside the soccer field, near the road, hunched over my French textbook. I was completely engrossed in verb conjugation when suddenly Ari leapt out from behind a bush, brandishing a tree branch like a weapon.

He leapt around me in a circle, thrashing about with the tree branch in a mock attack, exclaiming, “You must do MY homework!

My homework is the most important homework!” He pummelled the ground around me as if he were giving me a proper beating, his eyes twinkling mischievously the whole time. This onslaught only lasted a few moments before Ari spun and cavorted away as quickly as he had appeared- waving the tree branch over his head as he sought out his next victim. I actually tell this story fairly often when I want to explain to people the type of environment that was prevalent at SSFS. That playful exchange between professors and students was a cornerstone of the learning environment when I was a student. I have the feeling Ari was instrumental in modeling the teacher-student relationship that makes the SSFS learning experience so unique.“ April Hall-Hough ‘88 “I have many fond memories of Ari, especially in the class “Man the Mythmaker” that I took from him in 10th grade. I remember liking the class very much and learning a great deal. Ari once took me to Montgomery Airpark to go for an airplane ride – my first ride in an airplane! He flew in some circles and dove. I almost got sick! Ari also coached me in soccer. He was a demanding coach but a good coach. Remembering him still inspires me today to be a better person.” Scott Frock ‘76 “I remember dancing in his classes on Fridays. He also spoke at least 5 different languages per sentence. That is probably why when I took Western Civ we had to memorize words in Latin, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and learn the Greek alphabet. It might have had something to do with Western Civ, but more likely it was so we could understand him as he lectured a mile a minute.” ~Gabrielle Quintana Greenfield ‘06

Spring 2010

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Dana Harrison to Become Head at Newtown Friends

By Sarah Margolis, Marketing Consultant and parent of Sam ‘16, Allie ‘17, and Ben ‘21 finding and promoting programs that extend the classroom and encourage students to have fun while learning.

When Middle School Head Dana Harrison arrived at SSFS on July 1, 2000, four grades (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th) and 140 students were crammed into Tanglewood, a space that now comfortably holds about 60 to 70 students.

After nearly ten years, Dana sits in his corner office of a beautiful new Middle School building, which is home to SSFS’s 6th, 7th and 8th grades, approximately 45 students in each. Over his tenure, the building is not the only thing that has changed. Dana has helped to shape a new Middle School program uniquely suited to the needs and developmental stages of Middle School age students.

In keeping with his philosophy that it is essential for students of all ages to learn by doing, Dana has focused on 14

Some of the many changes initiated during his tenure include the new Middle School schedule, an enhanced Advisory program, a signature overnight field trip for each grade, and the summer international and service trips. Dana oversaw the Middle School portion of the AIMS 10-year accreditation early in his tenure and helped create a new Middle School mission statement.

Dana enhanced the home/school communication structure by allowing faculty and staff to recognize immediately students who need help or deserve recognition with Notices of Concern and Applauses. The effort grade has also been an important addition that Dana brought to the Middle School report card.

Ken Smith hired Dana, who came from Landon School. Having grown up on a Quaker school campus and having attended Westtown School and Haverford College, he was happy to be back at a Friends school.

Dana is a lifelong Quaker. He smiles happily as he talks about the “George Fox” Committee, the newest of the eight Middle School committees, that was formed this year to help fully

embrace SSFS’s Quaker roots. The committee has allowed students to create meaningful activities to help educate their peers about Quakerism.

Lauren Keller, the Middle School counselor, shared, “One thing that exemplifies Dana as Middle School Head is the morning greeting he provides for each student as they leave carpool and enter the building.

In that moment, he takes the time to assess each student’s demeanor. If he thinks a student may be having a tough time, he lets me or the Advisor know, so that we, in addition to him, can help support that student.

Perhaps what makes him so empathetic to the needs of the kids is that he truly remembers what it means to be a kid and how, at times, it can be really difficult. And for those times that it is difficult, he’s always there to help in any way he can, so that the next day at carpool is a little brighter for that child.”

As one of their last official activities at SSFS, Dana and his wife Stephanie Thliveris, who has been teaching Middle School Science since 2006, will lead the Middle School Summer Service trip to Acadia National Park in the end of June. On August 1, Dana will become Head of School at Newtown Friends School outside of Philadelphia, not far from where he grew up. “It is a healthy, robust, PK to 8th grade Quaker school.” Dana says. “Everything I was looking for.”

Newtown Friends will be very fortunate over the next decade or so to be led by Dana, and the SSFS Community wishes Dana, Stephanie, Niko and Abby well on their new adventure. We will miss them.

SSFS Community News

Around Campus Black History Month and the 1st African Heritage Family Celebration For the second consecutive year, the Middle School celebrated Black History Month with an enhanced program complete with speakers, movies, literature and activities.

This year, wanting to highlight the fact that black history does not just include the Civil Rights Movement era, but many different time periods and areas of study, the Black History Month planning committee chose a wide variety of weekly topics.

Topics included music, art, science, music, sports, politics, and many more.

In addition to the program during the school day, the committee added the 1st African Heritage Family Celebration on the evening on March 6th. The evening began with a traditional Southern African American “Soul Food” dinner in Westview Dining Hall. Entertainment included the distinctive styles of Jazz music played by Sandy Spring Friends School’s Jazz Ensemble. The evening continued in the Performing Arts Center with a performance of beauty and talent from the Sandy Spring Friends School Upper School dancers and LESOLE’s Dance Company from across the African Diaspora.

The evening ended with the presentation to honoree Ken Smith, who was pleasantly surprised and speechless to receive a plaque for his “Outstanding Leadership and Appreciation of Diversity.” Jan Smith was also surprised when presented with a bouquet of flowers for her support of school events.

Spring 2010

Empty Bowl Dinner SSFS’s Empty Bowl Dinner, held on February 21st, was a great success!

With the community preparing for the past two years for this event, neither giant snow drifts nor school closings could stop the process of giving to others.

800 bowls and 650 guests later, our celebration took in close to $8,000. All proceeds will go to hunger-fighting organizations: Feeding America, helping food-insecure households throughout our country, and Hope for Haiti, directly providing food and water to earthquake victims. Our community can feel proud that the three SSFS Empty Bowl events held over the years have netted a total of $18,000 for hunger-fighting causes.

The night was memorable, with parents, faculty, and students from every division delighting in the hunt for the perfect handmade bowl. Music, provided by the Lower School ensemble and the Upper School Faculty Band, added to the festive mood. Friends House residents and guests of SSFS families helped to fill the crowded dining hall with laughter and lively conversation, and all ages were represented on the dance floor.

There are so many to thank, including Outback Steak House, donating all of the potato soup and bread for the event, and local grocery stores helping with food supplies. Many, many tireless volunteers put their time and love into the effort, assisting with the endless details of this major event. But, most of all, a huge thank you goes to all of you who supported Empty Bowls by attending! Once again, we, as a caring and active community of friends, found a meaningful way to let our lives speak.

Celebration of Science Revived in 2010 After a year without the Celebration of Science, the Sandy Spring Friends School community enthusiastically welcomed this event back to campus on March 4th and 5th. 229 students participated, and there were over 60 individual projects from all three divisions. Thank you to the PA and to this year’s coordinators Donna Zankowski and Susan Courtney Faruqee for organizing a fabulous event.

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Around Campus: The Community Play “Man of La Mancha” Honors Ken Smith “Man of La Mancha” is a soaring, agedefying paean to the potential of the human spirit. It is a story of optimism.

It deals unabashedly with qualities we too easily underestimate – honor, nobility of spirit, chivalry, grace and idealism – but which, buried within us, we recognize as the best part of ourselves. Even faced with unthinkable consequences, Quixote and Cervantes, ever the idealists, labor on toward the impossible dream. It is about the responsibility each of us has to make the world a better place than we found it.

Ted McAdams played the role of Cervantes (above); Vickie Garner (US guidance counselor) falls to her knees saluting Ken’s performance in the community play (below).

Over the years, the intention of the community play has been to entertain the audience as well as to leave them with thoughts to ponder. This year was no different.

Since this was Ken Smith’s last community play as Head of School, Bruce chose a theme that reflected not only Quaker values, but values that Ken and Jan have worked tirelessly to uphold.

Every year for the past 14 years, Bruce Evans, head of the Arts Department and Theatre Arts teacher, has directed the community play at Sandy Spring Friends School, each time choosing a theme that is relevant to what the community is experiencing. For 2010, Bruce chose “Man of La Mancha,” a musical inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’s seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote, with text by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh.

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“‘Man of La Mancha’ has wonderful messages,” says Bruce. “It asks us to strive to live our lives to the fullest and to look for the good. This is what I believe Ken and Jan have encouraged the SSFS community to do: to bring some grace into the world. It is also what Ken has encouraged his faculty and the students to do.”

“Man of La Mancha” tells the story of Cervantes, the legendary Spanish author, and of the most famous character he created. Imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition, Cervantes is forced to plead his case to his fellow prisoners and regales them with the story of Don Quixote.

This year’s community play had a wonderful cast which included many families and all constituents of the SSFS community. There were five couples: Ted and Susan McAdams, Ken and Jan Smith, Tom and Cathy Harrison, Lee and Paul Selby, and David and Rachel Hickson.

Led by Ted McAdams and Max Talisman, the cast and the ensemble kept the audience entertained throughout the two-hour show. Ted McAdams was superb in his performance, and Susan McAdams performed with versatility as the cynical prostitute Aldonza turned inspired idealist Dulcinea, whom Quixote loves “pure and chaste from afar.”

“The community play is for everyone,” Bruce says. “It is wonderful to include people with all different backgrounds and experiences. Every year it brings together a diverse group of students, faculty, parents, board members, and neighbors. This year’s play did that and more.”

“Man of La Mancha” was both entertaining and thought-provoking, and it brought the community together with one of the greatest stories of all time in honor of the school’s own great story teller, Head of School, Ken Smith.

SSFS Community News

Annual Fund - Every Gift Has an Impact “As I watch my sons continue to mature into careers in education, I remain grateful for the sound ethics and caring spirit for the world around them that both Jamie (‘00) and Josh (‘02) attribute to their time at Sandy Spring. My late wife, Greta, and I always appreciated the generosity of the dedicated families that went before us to create a unique school. It is now time for our family to continue to give back in gratitude, to do what we can to ensure that this oasis continues to develop and execute its mission. We are thankful to be in a position to support the important continuing work of SSFS. We hope that other families of former students will be inspired to do the same.” ~ Curt Moffatt, Parent of Former Students Jamie and Josh Moffatt, Assistant Clerk of the Board of Trustees

Thank you!

Thank you to all who have already made your donation or pledge to the 2009-10 Annual Fund. Each gift brings us closer to our goal of $550,000, yet we still have a long way to go. To date we have raised just over $300,000 from over 550 donors including parents, trustees, alumni, parents of alumni, faculty and staff, friends, foundations, businesses, Meetings, and others connected to the SSFS community.

The theme of this year’s annual fund is participation. High levels of participation demonstrate community wide commitment to SSFS and ensure that the school has the funds it needs each year to maintain the excellent academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular program. This year, your participation is also a great way to say “thank you” to Ken Smith for his 14 years of leadership at SSFS and “welcome” to our new Head, Tom Gibian.

“It’s a Match” - 2010 Alumni Challenge Every gift has an impact on the experience of our students. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous trustee, gifts from alumni will have double the impact. For all new gifts made by alumni donors through the June 30th close of the Annual Fund, gifts will be matched dollar for dollar until we reach the maximum match of $15,000. In one recent evening, current SSFS students phoned alumni and raised, with the Challenge, over $6,000 for the school. Please help us complete the alumni challenge by encouraging all SSFS alumni to participate.

Why Participate?

Sandy Spring Friends School is more than a school; it is a way of life. Whether you spent one year, 5 or 14 on the beautiful 140-acre campus, whether you are a parent of current students or former students, a grandparent of current or former students, or even a friend of the school, we hope you will make a donation to the Annual Fund, because your participation is important and valued.

“I attended Sandy Spring for thirteen years. It was such a wonderful place for me to learn and grow as a person, and I attribute my time there to many of the great things in my life today. I want today’s students to have the memorable experiences at Sandy Spring that I did. Sandy Spring meant so much to me and was such a big part of my life; making a gift each year is my way of showing my continued support of the school. Giving to the school each year is my way to say thank you and to contribute to the future of SSFS!” ~ Jill Hayes ’05 If you have any questions about the Annual Fund, please feel free to email (judy.averbach@ssfs.org), call (301-774-7455 x164), or visit our office in Hartshorne. Each and every gift has an impact!

Spring 2010

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A Celebration of the Life of Lexi Speight SSFS third grader Lexi Speight was diagnosed in late fall with Stage 3 Hepatoblastoma, a fetal embryonic subtype of liver cancer that rarely occurs in children over the age of 3. She passed away peacefully on February 28, 2010, surrounded by her family. Below is a modified excerpt from the eulogy given by Lexi’s Second Grade teacher, Jill Smalley. radiating an outer light around her.

Light is a brightness that lets us see things, and Lexi made us see things in a different light.

Although her life was short, she brought a love of life to everything she did. Lexi loved to laugh – her giggles were contagious. She was a very loyal, caring, and thoughtful friend. I often saw her quietly there beside her friends, supporting them. She enjoyed being outside running around with her friends, playing imaginary games, swinging on the swings, and playing in the sandbox.

Violet is light Light, light purple It smells like a flower blooming Violet tastes like a mint melting in my mouth, All minty and sweet It feels relaxing and day dreamy Violet is a beautiful color It reminds me of a butterfly Gliding through the air.

This poem was written by Lexi in my classroom, about her favorite color.

Although purple was her light, she was my light.

I am Jill Smalley; I had the great joy and privilege of being Lexi’s second grade teacher at Sandy Spring Friends School.

While we are deeply mourning the loss of Lexi, I also want to take this opportunity to celebrate her, and all the light that she brought to us in her life.

Lexi glowed. Anyone who saw her couldn’t help but adore her. She always had a twinkle in her eye and a warm, welcoming smile, but even beyond that she had an inward beauty, 18

She loved her family. Her sister Sammy was her best friend, and I was always struck by how connected the whole family was. Coming into the classroom in the mornings, the family never seemed stressed or harried; they came in laughing and having fun, and they brought that light and energy into the classroom.

Lexi also enjoyed the quiet, simple moments in life. Last spring our class went on a silent walk through the woods at SSFS. When we returned to the classroom, the children wrote reflections of the walk. Lexi wrote, “Today we went on a silent walk. I felt like Mother Nature. I saw a big bird’s nest. It was high in a tree. There was a big wind so I put my hat on. I was walking with my friends Mia and Nicole.”

bears were alive. I didn’t know much more so I did a little research this week and googled Carebears. What I found was that these bears are bears with feelings, and that they share emotions. Can a child’s toy really do that?

If we even have to ask that questions then I guess we have never owned a Care Bear. The Care Bears message is one of caring, sharing and feeling.

Funshine Bear was Lexi’s favorite.

Funshine Bear loves to play and tell jokes. She is yellow and almost always smiling. Funshine Bear has a smiling sun on her tummy and is always ready for some fun. This was the Lexi that we saw in the classroom.

Always There Bear touched me the most. Always There Bear reminds us that everyone that we care about very deeply will always be with us in our hearts, even if they are not physically present.

Another bear that made me think of Lexi was the Friend Bear. Friend Bear is everyone’s friend. She drives a cloud car and her best friend is Secret Bear. She is Secret Bear’s interpreter and the greatest friend a bear can be.

I know that Lexi will always be there in our hearts, driving the cloud car in heaven and shining a special light down on all of us.

Once I asked the class to make a list of things that they loved. Lexi said she loved chocolate, dogs, school, her teachers, her family, Hershey Park, the beach, and hearts. But what made number one on her list was Carebears.

I knew Care Bears were Lexi’s favorite and that she really wished that these SSFS Community News

Alumni Spotlight: Rob Jones ‘00 SSFS alum and former faculty member Rob Jones ‘00 has been in the news lately for his involvement as a leader in a growing movement called “crop mobbing,” in which volunteers work to help out small-scale sustainable farms. Rob helps to organize the events and offer opportunities for people who enjoying working the land to get their hands dirty, while providing an invaluable service to farmers who need all the help that they can get.

Articles about the crop mobbing trend appeared in the February 28th issue of the New York Times Magazine, as well as the March 10th issue of the Los Angeles Times, and the January 25th issue of North Carolina Triangle area’s News and Observer.

Rob is quoted in all of the articles, stressing the importance of community-building in the endeavor. Another great example of the impact that our students have on the world!

2nd Annual Parents of SSFS Graduates Reception More than 50 parents of alumni and friends gathered together for the 2nd Annual Parents of SSFS Graduates Reception on Sunday, February 28th. The reception offered “alumni parents” an opportunity to catch-up with one another and also to say farewell to Ken Smith before he retires in June. Tom Gibian was also in attendance to meet with the group and introduce himself as incoming Head of School.

To learn about future Alumni Parent activities, join the Sandy Spring Friends School Alumni Parents group on Facebook. You can also contact Mary Mazzuca for more information on activities and events at 301-774-7455, ext. 107 or mary.mazzuca@ssfs.org.

Spring 2010

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Alumni Notes

alumni notes...

1963 Jennifer Wolfe lives in northern Alberta, Canada. She distributes a textbook she wrote on early childhood education. Jennifer writes, “Hello - Winter is still here in Alberta. We are out with our team of horses, picking up wood.

The goats have all kidded; here are a few at 1 week old.” (photo, right)

1965

Alumni notes are compiled

by Mary Mazzuca, Director of Alumni Affairs.

Alumni Notes are just a snapshot of what’s happening with your fellow alums!

For more updates from alumni written in their own words, log in to our Web site: http://alumni.ssfs.org.

If you have a milestone in your life, please send in photos! We love to share special moments.

Tom Miller released his new book, Revenge of the Saguro: Offbeat Travels through America’s Southwest, earlier this year. The book teases the myths culture and romance of Arizona, New Mexico, and their surrounding states, and describes the double-homicide of a majestic 125 year-old saguaro cactus, killed by a drunken gunman, as it falls on his assassin and crushes him to death.

1966 Nancy Gelfand Vardi has two children, Matan (“gift” in Hebrew), 24, and Ya’ara (“honeysuckle” in Hebrew), who is 18 and is in the army now. She and her husband, Avri, have been married 30 years. Nancy writes, “Thank you SSFS for memories and a beautiful education.” For more information about Nancy, please visit www.myspace.com/nancykarinvardi.

1968 Philip Park (photo, below) was deployed to Iraq to a detainee camp known as Camp Bucca near the Kuwait border in Southern Iraq. There, he treated detainees as well as military members. He was deployed from September ‘06 to September ‘07 and then returned to his private dental practice in Honolulu, HI. He is presently a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard. He has two granddaughters.

Sandy Spring Friends School reserves the right to edit Alumni Note submissions. Editors strive to ensure that the content of the edited submission retains the key points of the original message. Alumni Notes are submitted to Sandy Spring Friends School from various sources. While Sandy Spring Friends School strives to ensure the accuracy of Alumni Notes, the School is not liable for false or incorrect submissions.

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SSFS Community News

1969 Carl Becker has been practicing criminal defense law in New York, NY. Previously, he taught high school English and elementary school in New York. Carl writes, “I enjoyed meeting Ken (Smith) and others at the New York alumni event on January 27th. I had a great time.”

Jamie Brown (Jim Brown) owns a small used bookshop in the Town of Milton, Delaware. After teaching thirteen years at George Washington University, having earlier done a stint as a Public Relations Account Executive, and a ten-year career at the Better Business Bureau of Washington, DC, he and his wife, Joanie, retired to Milton. Brown taught the first-ever creative writing seminar at the Smithsonian Institution, and, concurrently with his teaching at GWU, taught Contemporary Novels and Creative Writing at Georgetown University.

He has had five plays done at various levels of performance. Several have been reprised at the non-profit theater in Milton, with one of them, “Death Comes Twice,” sweeping all of the festival awards in a one-act play competition. Jamie currently teaches at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware.

Brown’s poems have appeared in literary magazines across the country and in Hungary in translation. His fiction has also been published in numerous literary magazines. He taught playwriting to high school students as a program of the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program in Washington, DC. He has organized public literary events and poetry reading series, most recently the annual John Milton Memorial Celebration of Poets and Poetry in Milton, Delaware, which he founded and ran for the first ten years. A life-size statue of John Milton has been erected in the town park as a result of his initiation of the effort and Spring 2010

the fundraising of the Milton Community Foundation, which his wife, Joanie, created. He is the coordinator of the annual Dogfish Head Poetry Prize. Brown has read from his work in New Mexico, New York, throughout the mid-Atlantic area, and twice at Shakespeare and Company in Paris, France. His book of poetry, Freeholder, is available from Argonne House Press in Washington, DC, and his full-length collection of poetry, Conventional Heresies, is available from Bay Oak Publishers in Dover, Delaware. He is currently publisher of The Broadkill Review and has just begun a publishing venture under the imprints of The Broadkill Press and The Broadkill River Press. His son, Tim Nicholson ’89, is also an alum of SSFS.

1970 Nasira Abdul-Aleem (aka Carole Brooks) would like to announce her marriage to Hussein Alkowni on January 29, 2010, in the city of Vallejo, CA. They will continue to reside in the San Francisco Bay area and her last name will stay the same.

1974 James DeVeer is the executive vice president at Advanced Lighting and Production Services. His son, Jay, just started high school, and his daughter, Dana, started college at DePauw University. His wife, Cathy, is a children’s librarian for the city of Quincy, MA.

From Leah Reynolds’s exhibition “Like a Moth” in Philiadelphia, April 7-May 30. members of the class of 1975, and other 70’s alums, at the reunion this spring. In the meantime, delighted to be keeping up with so many SSFSers on Facebook.”

1976 Leah Reynolds writes, “I am preparing for an exhibition at the Crane Arts Building here in Philadelphia, April 7- May 30. The title of the installation is “Like a Moth to a Flame.” Part of it consists of drawings of moths that were done by my daughter Miranda’s entire 7th grade class. More information can be found at www.inliquid. com.”

1979 David Mapes works in the Information Systems Assurance department for the Department of Homeland Security. He has been with them since 2003.

1975

1980

Louise Tate Hood writes, “Murray and I enjoyed hosting SSFS alums and staff at our home in NYC. Michael Garin providing a few impromptu tunes on the piano added greatly to the festivities! And we managed to show off a few photos of our family, including grandson Oscar, who was born on July 8, 2009. Hope to see many

Kari Engen started the non-profit, Mi Refugio, in 1987. Mi Refugio ministers to the needs of at-risk children living in and around the Guatemala City garbage dump and in the villages surrounding San Pedro, Sacatepequez.

For more information, visit their Web site, www.mirefugio.org.

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Alumni Notes

Larry Clarkberg ‘82 with daughter, son, and electric cargo bike.

Martha Flach Wilkie with husband Austin and new son, Peter.

1982

1988

Larry Clarkberg (aka Larry Kulberg) writes, “I am trying to live a car-free lifestyle. Well, at least only use the car for errands farther than 10 miles away. Or if it’s raining or really cold out. Or if I have to carry more than 400 pounds. Okay let’s just say I am embracing the electric cargo bike as my primary means of transportation.”

You can read more about his adventure at his Web site www.bikeforth. com. (Photo above)

Katy Rugg recently left her job of 3 years and is pursuing adventures in gardening, sustainability, and volunteering abroad. Her hope is to travel to the UK, France and possibly Iceland to visit ecovillages and organic farms.

She intends to write about her experiences, so look for a blog or travelogue from her in the future. Anyone interested in being in touch, or receiving updates, can email her at krugg10@ hotmail.com

1983

1992

Martha Flach Wilkie and her husband, Austin, are proud to announce the arrival of Peter Coolidge Wilkie, born April 12, 2009, and weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds. (Photo above)

Erica Fletcher is the proud mother of Alice True Fletcher, born on May 14, 2009. Erica writes, “Our lively household is happy and busy up here in Boston.” (Photo above)

1985

1996

Severin Olsen was married on May 23, 2009 in Old Town Alexandria. He and his wife and live in Greenbelt.

(Photo below)

Jen Kilpatrick Sincevich married Alex Sincevich on January 1, 2010. They are expecting the birth of their first child in July. (Photo below)

Erica Fletcher ‘92 and Carrie Fletcher ‘94 with Erica’s daughter Alice and Carrie’s son Miles Mefford.

Charlie Pilzer (mastering), Trevor Higgins ‘97 (recording), Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer, and Christylez Bacon at the Grammy museum.

1997 Trevor Higgins attended this year’s Grammy Awards as a nominee in the Children’s Music category for his collaboration in the recording of the CD “Banjo to Beat Box” by Maryland recording artists Cathy & Marcy with guest Hip-Hop/Beatboxer from DC, Christylez Bacon. (Photo above)

1998 April Hall-Hough married Stephen Davis of Silver Spring, MD, on October 4, 2008 at Rosaryville State Park in Upper Marlboro. Last year, she and her husband bought their first home in Westminster, MD, and live there with their two dogs, Tigger and Paisley.

April works at the Social Security 22

SSFS Community News

April Hall-Hough ‘98 with husband Stephen Davis.

Administration in the Office of Environmental Health and Occupational Safety. She also teaches horseback riding lessons on the weekends and competes her own horse in the sport of Eventing. April writes, “I hope all is well with the community. I think fondly and often about the time I spent there. I hope that some day my path will lead me back to SSFS, so I can give back to the community some of what it gave me.” (Photo above)

Shauna Miller ‘07, Melissa Miller ‘01, Stefanie Croyle Korepin ‘01, and Katie Croyle (attended SSFS from 1998-2001) at Stephanie’s wedding last summer.

2000 Pamela Gutman married Stephen Griffith during a Halloween-themed reception on November 1, 2009 at the Cloisters Castle just outside of Baltimore, MD. Among those attending were Shannon Bergeron ’00, Sarah Green ’00, Matt Parker ’00, and Adam Heffler ’01. Pamela works at Loyola University in Baltimore. The couple resides in Columbia, MD. (Photo right) Rob Jones has been making headlines for his grassroots initiative in helping start a successful crop-mob in Silk Hope, North Carolina. He was featured in a recent New York Times Magazine article on February 24th and in The News and Observer on January 25th.

Rob Mallonee is working at a boarding school in Buckingham, England.

He coaches girls’ lacrosse and teaches physical education while working in one of the school’s 12 boarding housSpring 2010

Rob Mallonee ‘00 is teaching in England.

Pamela Gutman ‘00 with husband Stephen Griffith. es. In his free time, he has travelled to Cambridge, London, and spent a week in Italy. Rob writes, “I’m really loving it a lot, and I love working here.”

(Photo right) Ann Woodruff married Mike Thompson ’99 in 2008. Amy works for the Montgomery County Public School System in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program as a teaching assistant. She is also taking classes. Mike works for DARCARS in Rockville. (Photo right)

Amy Woodruff with husband Mike Thompson ‘99

2001 Stefanie Croyle married Serge Korepin on June 20, 2009, on the island of Nantucket. They reside in Boston, but plan to move to the D.C. area next fall.

(Photo top of page) 23

Alumni Notes and is working as a firefighter and emergency medical technician with the Anne Arundel Fire Department.

He graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 2006.

lives with her boyfriend, Andy, and their dogs, Molly and Ciara. Jill writes, “I am looking forward to seeing my Sandy Spring classmates at our five year reunion in June!”

2003

2007

Catherine Hoyt is engaged to Hernán Álvarez, from Ecuador. They met while she was studying abroad in EcWill Tipton (middle) recently graduated from uador in 2006. Catherine is graduating this year with doctorate in occupationFirefighter Academy. al therapy from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.

Shelley McClean ‘01 and Peter LeFeShe is doing her research project on vre ’00 got engaged in October, and cognition in children with sickle cell the couple will wed this July in Chesdisease, which she will be present in tertown, MD. Peter has just started May at the World Federation of Occua new job at Dulles Airport as an air pational Therapy Congress in Santraffic controller. Shelley is a budget tiago, Chile. She is currently writing analyst for the National Park Service a practice model for this population and will start her master’s in Urban and hopes to work with underserved and Environmental Planning in the populations and with children with fall. The couple wants to thank SSFS sensory processing disorder. for bringing them together and hopes to find someone from the SSFS comRobby Reider continues to make munity to officiate at their wedding. musical waves as the bass player in the pop band, The Friday Night Boys.

With their popular MySpace page 2002 (http://www.myspace.com/thefriGavin Maguire was deployed to Iraq daynightboys) closing in on 12 million in February 2010 and is with the 551st plays, they completed a snowy “Once MP Company. Their mission is to It Hits Your Lips” headline tour of secure the perimeter and entry conthe United States. The CD’s second trol points of the International Zone. single, Stupid Love Letter, appeared in They also provide convoy security and the Disney romantic comedy “When traffic control points for VIP’s convoys In Rome,” starring Kristen Bell and in and out of the International Zone.

Josh Duhamel. Now it’s off to tours in Once he returns from Iraq, Gavin’s Europe and then the U.S. plan is to remain with the 716th battalion staff and then go back to Ft. 2005 Leonard Wood, MO, for MP Captain’s Career Course. To see some of Gavin’s Jill Hayes graduated from Guilford photos from his travels, visit http:// College with a B.S. in Business Mancommunity.webshots.com/user/ agement. Soon after graduation, she gpmaguire. began a job as an Annual Giving Associate at her alma mater, managing the Will Tipton graduated from the college’s Annual Funds Phonathon and Firefighter Academy in May 2009.

Senior Class Gift program. In October, In November 2009, he successfully she bought her first house, located in completed six months of probation Greensboro, North Carolina, where she 24

Diane Feuillet is attending Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. She is majoring in astronomy.

Amelia McLaughlin is a junior at Guilford College, majoring in political science and history. This year she was chosen to be one of 10 students participating in the “Principled Problem Solving Program.” As a PPS scholar, Amelia is studying a specific method for effective problem solving based on Quaker values and Guilford College values. This program will run through her senior year.

SSFS on LinkedIn and Facebook Don’t forget: Sandy Spring Friends School now has a group on LinkedIn (a free professional networking site).

Anybody who attended, even if they graduated from a different school, is welcome to join.

To find us on LinkedIn: Type “SSFS Alumni” in the search box on the top right. Attached to the left side of the search box is a pull down menu; highlight “Search Groups.”

Click on the SSFS Alumni group to join. You will see the familiar green and yellow!

Hope to see you there!

Jessica Balsam ‘89 SSFS also has a presence on Facebook.

To find us on Facebook: Login and type “Sandy Spring Friends School Alumni” into the search box.

Look for the SSFS logo and click the “Request to Join” link.

SSFS Community News

Alumni Receptions - NYC, Boston, California Alumni and friends of the SSFS community from across the country came out to celebrate Ken Smith’s 14 years of service to Sandy Spring Friends School. Celebrations were held in New York (January 27th), Boston (January 28th), Los Angeles (March 17th) and San Francisco (March 18th) to honor Ken and to give alumni the opportunity to reconnect with one another.

A special thanks goes out to all those who hosted and planned the receptions in their respective cities: New York Louise Tate Hood ’ 75 and Murray Hood

Below: Ashton Imlay ‘08, Callie Sigal, Stephanie Croyle Korepin ‘01, and Miles Mattson ‘03 at the Boston reception.

Boston Erica Fletcher ’92 Stefanie Croyle Korepin ’01 Chris Miller ’80 Katy Rugg ’88 Los Angeles Ken Poteat ’87 Katherine Stone ’66 San Francisco Stacey J. Lescht ’88 Right: Ken Smith speaks to alumni in NYC; Far right: Boston reception, Peter Kraft, Miriam Ruttenberg ‘85, and Michele Clark ‘87; Below: the San Francisco intersession meets up with the San Francisco alumni reception; Bottom right: alums Peter Reiss ‘72, Katherine Stone ‘66, Amy Michelson ‘76, and Richard Connemacher ‘94 visit with Ken Smith at the Los Angeles alumni reception.

Spring 2010

25

Alumni Weekend 2010 is around the corner. The classes of 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005 are marking their milestone reunions and we want everyone to come celebrate with them!

Friday, June 4th, come out to the All Alumni Dance to wish Ken Smith well in his retirement. On Saturday, June 5th, run in the 3nd Annual “Wildebeest Stampede� 5K Cross Country Race, catch-up with old friends and enjoy some family fun at Alumni Strawberry Cowbake Picnic, spend time reflecting at Alumni Meeting for Worship, experience the classroom during faculty-led Alumni Classes and engage in discussion with current Springers at the Student Panel.

Reunion year classes will hold individual parties Saturday evening.

A detailed invitation will be mailed to you shortly. To learn more about Alumni Weekend, please contact Mary Mazzuca at 301-7747455, ext. 107 or visit the Web site at http://www.ssfs.org.

26

SSFS Community News

For 14 years, the Smiths have opened their house and hearts to the SSFS community. From faithful attendance at sporting events and evening student performances to community service projects and fundraisers, Ken and Jan have always been a vital part of the on-campus family.

Ken and Jan, you will be missed!

Thank You, Ken and Jan!

Thank you and farewell, Ken Smith!

(Photo by SSFS parent Christy Stebbins)

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