PROFILE

SKATING TOWARD BEIJING

“SPS ethos” guides Charlie McKee ’83 in creating community for ice-dancing elite.

MICHAEL MATROS

COURTESY CHARLIE MCKEE ’83

Charlie McKee ‘83 (far right) with (l. to r.) Scott Moir (head coach and managing director of the Ice Academy of Montreal, London Campus) and Ice Academy co-founders and head coaches Romain Haguenauer, Patrice Lauzon, and Marie-France Dubreuil.

Ranging in age from 16 to 32, they arrive at the school in Quebec from 11 countries. Together, on their skates, they represent almost one-third of the international icedancing elite.

The Ice Academy of Montreal hosts “the world’s largest concentration of figure skaters training at one school,” says Charlie McKee ’83, who joined the Academy’s leadership three years ago.

McKee’s other professional life includes importing, breeding, and raising horses and “working with a very, very large Dallas-based technology company.” He’s not much of a skater himself (McKee once fell through the ice on Turkey Pond and was saved by his SPS roommate, Jonathan Tracy ’83), but he says his partnership in the Ice Academy is “the most inspirational activity” in which he is involved.

Grand Prix events and world championships loom on the near horizon for the Academy’s students, but perhaps most daunting are the 2022 Winter Olympics, scheduled for February in Beijing.

McKee’s Academy partner, Jamal Othman, a former Swiss national figure skating champion, explains that the ice-dancing couples will compete in six events in the Grand Prix series between October and December, as they accumulate points for international ranking and, thus, placement at the world championships next March in Montpellier, France. In the interim, of course, comes Beijing.

Among the Academy’s headliners at the Olympics are expected to be four-time world champion ice dancers Gabriella PapadakisandGuillaume Cizeronof France. That duo should be joined by a host of other Academy students, say McKee and Othman, who expect no fewer than nine of the school’s dance couples to represent their countries at the Olympics, and possibly as many as 12 — “more than 50% of the competition.”

“They will be going into the Olympic rink in Beijing,” McKee says, “as they do when they go to the Grand Prix, or whatever else, and they compete vigorously against one another. But they’re also extremely supportive, and there’s a really great sense of camaraderie.”

The community nature of the enterprise, McKee explains, is due in great part to the school’s 11 coaches, headed by legendary choreography teacher Romain Haguenauer, along with the two-time world silver medalist Canadian ice-dancing team of Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.

“It’s unique, I think, in any sport where you’d have fierce competitors,” McKee says, “who are actually training in the same center and competing against one another in the big competitions, but who also are friends.”

The Academy’s ethos, McKee explains, “is the notion of holistic development of the individual, helping students, helping the skaters, helping the students wherever they are in their careers.

“With what we’re doing in Montreal, my mind keeps coming back to what St. Paul’s is doing in Concord,” McKee adds. “Obviously, the scale and the nature of the mission are very different, but there are so many elements that we are trying to replicate in terms of what St. Paul’s has really demonstrated in the development of young adults. And it really does start with the mindset, the commitment, the ability to work collaboratively.”

McKee has sent two children to St. Paul’s, Nina ’12 and Aidan ’14, the School’s “fifth generation of McKees.”

“Whatever St. Paul’s has done for me,” he says, “it’s shaped the way I view the world, and view the work we’re doing in Montreal.”

Ed Peña ’98 and Sadie Peña ’00 recently reconnected with Ms. Sanchez while on vacation in New Hampshire.

1996

Caitlin Riley criley2k@gmail.com

Lloyd Walmsley writes, “Earlier this year, I had three months off before switching jobs and got to go to Tanzania with my wife. Then I spent a month in Maine, where I saw a lot of Jamie Funk ’97 and his wife, Christina, as well as Lisa ’95 and Graham Day ’95. I caught Josiah Hornblower ’94 and his wife briefly, and I saw many other Paulies across generations. Driving home to Atlanta, I visited with Chris ’94 and Allyson Pachios ’95 at a stop on Martha’s Vineyard.”

Fresh news from Jess Hayne: “Amanda Filoso and I had our yearly visit while she was close by visiting Stan’s family at the Jersey Shore. Always fun to see her.”

Isaac Ro says, “I’ve been busy during the pandemic working at two biotech companies, the first of which was acquired in January, with the second going public in July. Fortunately, my wife, Megan, has done the real work raising our two girls, Sloane, 9, and Ashley, 20 months. A few of us Zoomed this spring in lieu of our 25th reunion. Adam Culbert is still the prince of Scituate, Massachusetts; Matthew Cohen and Caitlin Durham are raising two beautiful and sweet kids; Dave Mathews is pursuing an amazing new career; and Geoff Smith’s handsome son, Luke, is just as chatty as his dad.”

Earlier this year, interior designer Frances Merrill of Reath Design was named to Architectural Digest’ s “2021 AD100,” which recognizes the top talent in the industries of architecture and interior design. According to AI, Fran’s work is “characterized by audacious yet controlled layering of pattern and color. Rather than artificial bombast, she strives for warmth, elegance and personality.” In short, if you want Fran to add some audacious layering to your living room, get in line.

Finally, an update from Ken Kim: “I’m working on novel robotic surgery simulation training methods so that we can train our future surgeons more like how athletes train for the NFL, MLB, etc., with swing mechanics and motion and quantitative metrics. I moved out of a rental and into an actual house in L.A. (it definitely ain’t cheap here compared to Alabama). Otherwise, I’m staying busy with twins and their school and with all the cancer patients who keep coming in, pandemic or not.”

Melody Lam ’03 married Jonathan Leong on July 31 at the New York City church where they met. Emily Chang Brands ’96 received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Sibley COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic.

1997/25th Brad Aston bradfordaston@gmail.com 2002/20th Virginia Russell virginia.w.russell@gmail.com

John Stowe has joined a group of former federal Health and Human Services officials to launch the Institute for Exceptional Care, a nonprofit that is “transforming healthcare for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” Disability policy and fundraising contacts are welcome. John also sings professionally at St. Alban’s Parish and Washington National Cathedral in D.C. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife, Edith, and his sons, Arthur, 8, and Teddy, 3.

2003

Melody Lam melody.lam@gmail.com

Mark Lewis attended the wedding of Eric Keller and coordinated the donation of the wedding flowers to Havenwood, a retirement home in Concord. “They were very appreciative of the gesture,” he says. “As SPS alumni, we were inspired to give back to the community.

Arthur Sheehan ’97 and his wife, Blair, welcomed their third son, Cutler Kinsale Sheehan, on May 4. Catherine Parkhurst Gardiner ’07 and husband Brian welcomed Jack Hollingsworth Gardiner on June 15. Michael Wong ’08, Bea Callahan ’08, and Andrew Stevens ’08 met up for dinner in Boston.

Friends gathered for dinner in NYC included Marcus Caraballo ’11, Kobby Adu-Diawuo ’13, Quinzel Perry ’12, Cleveland Stair ’11, Eric Wilson ’11, CC Obi-Gwacham ’11, and Tarik Smith ’12. Annie Yu ’07 married Eric Lee on Aug. 30 in New Jersey. (L. to r.) Briana Soto ’06, Kyaira Holmes ’07, Steph Quaye ’07, the bride and groom, Erica Deane ’07, and Doreen Lam ’06.

2007/15th Peter Harrison peter.harrison.g@gmail.com

After a year away from NYC, I have returned and am teaching middle school English. Teaching — much like many of your jobs — has been a challenge during this pandemic, and yet, I’m grateful to be in-person this year. Bearing witness to daily teenage self-growth is also a gift, and I remind myself of that when hormones, teenage angst, and social drama all make up a hot mess of a perfect storm. Please let me know if you’re coming through the city — or if you’re already here.

2008 Dorothy MacAusland dmacausland@gmail.com

Justin Higgins created Politics + Media 101, a new project that utilizes social audio technology to connect audiences with prominent figures in government and political media. The program has hosted more than 100 live virtual events and published many of the recordings in podcast format. The goal is to heal the political information ecosystem by bringing together citizens from all ideological backgrounds to listen to experts and directly ask them questions. Recent guests include Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Senator Mark Warner, CBS News’ John Dickerson, CNN’s Clarissa Ward, the New York Times’s Nicholas Kristof, and the Washington Post’s George Will. You can find the show online at www.pm101.live.

2012/10th Browning Platt platt.browning@gmail.com

2013

Beth Anne George elisabeth_george@brown.edu

Lia Keyser is in her second year of study at the University of Utah Medical School. She’s also working part-time as a ski patroller in the Wasatch Mountains and enjoys mountain running and biking in the area. Her next-door neighbor is Emma Marshall ’11, who is doing research in the Geography Department at the University of Utah in the area of glacier dynamics and the impact of climate change. Connor Crutchfield shares that, on the weekend of Sept. 17, 13 members from the Form of 2013 gathered in Eastern Pennsylvania to celebrate with Joey Howard before his October wedding. “Friends flew in from both coasts for a weekend outdoors and created what was undoubtedly one of the larger meetings of our form’s members in recent memory. Per usual, memories from our SPS days were retold and new memories were forged in glorious fashion during nights around the fire. Jokes were told, many laughs were exchanged, and projections of the future were speculated upon as if no time had passed at all. It was an important reconnection for us at this point to reflect on all that has happened in our now separate lives, and we were incredibly fortunate to have so many formmates present. Hopefully there will be plenty more events to come, and best of luck to Joey on his biggest adventure yet.”

Peter Gamber ’08 married Abigail Mitchell on Aug. 1 in Park City, Utah. Pictured (l. to r.) Mark Platzer ’09, Bronwen Callahan ’08, Mary Gamber ’07, the groom and bride, Jessica McKenzie ’07, Brooke Romansky ’08, Rob Deans ’08, and Ethan Davison ’07. 2017/5th Doug Robbins dougrobbins011@gmail.com

At the wedding of Harriet Low ’09 and her husband, Wade: (l. to r.) Lianna Murphy ’09, the bride, Tommy Hopkins ’09, Joshua Lesser ’09, Critter Taylor ’09, Liza Rollins ’09, Kate Aviza ’09, Laura Ott ’09, and Lucy Wallace ’09.

Courtney Bogle ’08 married Reid Longley in Manchester, Vermont, on Sept. 11. They were honored to have their wedding ceremony officiated by former SPS Rector Michael Hirschfeld ’85.

Members of the Form of 2013 gathered in Pennsylvania to celebrate with Joey Howard ’13 before his October wedding. On Sept. 4, Jaclyn Johnston Carter ’13 married Matthew Carter in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, overlooking Mt. Monadnock.

Malcolm Bussey ’21 scores his first college touchdown for St. Francis Xavier University.

Owen Stadheim ’21 (r.) and Owen Sweet ’21 (l.) playing Spikeball on a river trip in Salmon River, Idaho.

Evan Leonard ’11 married Caitlin Kelly on Sept. 4. Paulies in attendance were Joe Noreña ’11, Will Scopa ’11, Sam Schloss ’11, CC Obi-Gwacham ’11, and Josh Herrera ’12. A gathering of SPS alumni at Columbia University included (l. to r.) Kam Oseni ’21, Jessica Lee ’21, Marco Lorenzo-Giguere ’21, Annie Zhou ’21, Stephen Wang ’19, Moeka Xu ’19, Johnny Ettricks ’19, and Tsolaye Ogbemi ’19.