St. Thomas’s Day School Events/Alumni

The St. Thomas’s Day School alumni, as well as former and current families and faculty, came together on Friday, October 18 for wine, cheese, and a good look at the School’s updated spaces. The night began with a tour of the first floor and music room. Past parents and alumni could be heard remarking over the great progress, and current parents showed excitement over their children getting to experience it for the years to come. After the tour, guests moved upstairs for a fun night of socializing. Head of School Gina Panza led it off with brief remarks speaking to the great strength and progress of the school, and that despite the changes the school’s mission and values remain intact.

It is with great sadness that all in-person events will be cancelled indefinitely. However, we hope to be up and running with some great programming and online events this fall. We will be in touch and

WHEN YOU ASK ANDREW ERDOS ’97, an accomplished artist and glassblower who has had his work shown all over the world, about success and goals, he answers in a way you might not expect. Success, he suggests, is most often measured by financial stability, however as an artist success is in having the ability to do what you love every day. And though he feels far from the pinnacle of his success, he finds joy in the climb up the mountain. As for goals, he says, “To just keep making art.” Perhaps a coincidence, but more so maybe not, Andrew’s attitude toward success closely mirrors what the students of St. Thomas’s leave the school with – a lifelong joy of learning, a continual need to grow, and a goal to make this world a better place. Andrew also left with lifelong friendships. Despite having moved to Pennsylvania after third grade, he remains close with many of his classmates and believes that is a testament to the culture of the School. After St. Thomas’s, Andrew continued his education in the Council Rocks school system in Pennsylvania. It was during high school that he began taking glass blowing classes at the local community college and became hooked. Andrew attended college at Alfred University, selecting the college for its notable sculpture and glass engineering program. In 2007, he started his career as an artist in NYC, showing up at the beginning of the economic recession – an experience he calls “formative” while smiling dryly. Since then Andrew has worked hard and has been relentless in his pursuit of success, but still humbly calls himself fortunate to be able to travel the world and show his artwork. He has shown his artwork on every continent (with the exception of Antarctica) and when looking at Andrew’s resume you will see a long list of impressive residencies, public collections, and exhibitions. However, what Andrew seems to be most enthusiastic about is the experiences that accompany specific exhibitions. Andrew spoke in detail about the creation of a sculpture permanently installed in Egypt near the Red Sea. The Monument, now in its second year of production is entitled the “Reviving Humanity Memorial” and currently features a sculpture from over 120 artists each representing a different country. Eventually all 195 countries will be included. Andrew is smart and creative, but more importantly is relentlessly pursuing his passions and making the world a better place while doing so. Another exemplary alumnus of St. Thomas’s, Andrew leaves our current students with these words by Joseph Campbell, “If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”n

DAN TURNER-EVANS has some advice for the students of St. Thomas’s Day School: “Don’t be afraid to explore and try new things. If you like learning, follow your heart wherever it goes.” These are wise words from a former St. Thomas’s student who envisioned a life working in engineering and applied physics but has found himself instead in the field of neuroscience.

A graduate of St. Thomas’s, Hopkins, Yale (B.S.), and Caltech (Ph.D.), Daniel has carved his own path, with twists and turns reflecting his love of learning and myriad interests. While at Caltech, Dan’s area of study was solar cell technologies. Solar cell research combined his intellectual interest in applied physics with his moral and ethical interest in climate change. However, as he learned more about solar cell technologies, he came to believe that the most important advances in the field weren’t happening in university labs. The biggest changes were taking place in industry and in policy. He therefore split his intellectual and ethical interests. He decided to study brain cells instead of solar cell and to engage in green energy policy outside of work.

Dan is currently a research scientist at Janelia Research Campus in Virginia, which is part of the nonprofit Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dan studies the brains of fruit flies in an effort to hopefully better understand the human brain someday. Dan writes, “One in six adults suffers from mental illness. While treatments continue to improve, our understanding of the brain is still woefully inadequate. We have hundreds of billions of neurons and can’t just go around inserting electrodes into people’s skulls to measure what those cells are doing. As a physicist, when I 40 try to solve a problem, I start by tackling simpler problems first and then build up complexity. Thus, in trying to understand the brain, I’ve started with the humble, though surprisingly complicated, fruit fly. I explore how flies’ brains are wired with the hope that we will reveal principles of cognition that can be applied to all animals.”

Outside of the lab, Dan is active in local politics. He has joined with other scientists and engineers to help inform local legislators about energy issues and to work with them draft legislation that tackles climate change. Additionally, he goes into local elementary schools in lowincome neighborhoods and introduces them to neuroscience, helping to develop lifelong learners just as his teachers did for him at St. Thomas’s. “My relationship with the teachers at St. Thomas’s was really special. I remember their patience, kindness, and enthusiasm, and it helps me to try to become a better teacher,” says Dan. And when asked if he sees a parallel between his time at St. Thomas’s and his life now, he replies, “I was always taught to be good to the people and to the world around me first, and I try to live by those principles.”

At. St. Thomas’s we often declare that our alumni stand up and stand apart, and Dan is no exception as his work and his activism defines an alumnus who cares first and foremost about the world and community for which he lives. n

Dan Turner-Evans volunteers by teaching neuroscience in inner-city schools.

CHRISTEENA AARON Eastern Connecticut State University

Yale University

Bucknell University

Gap year

University of Connecticut

Lehigh University

American University of Paris

Gap year (Yale University)

American University

Undecided

SAMUEL LOVEJOY Connecticut College MCKINLEY PALMIERI Barnard College CHRISTIAN PANAGROSSI Providence College BENJAMIN SCHEVE Yale University CHARLIE SEYMOUR "University of California, Santa Barbara" ANNA SIMON Princeton University JULIA TELLIDES Harvard University ANNA ZIMOLO Wellesley College

Aleks Romano and her partner have recently moved from Greenville NC to Fresno CA! They are excited for a new chapter on the West Coast, and are busy planting citrus trees and hanging outdoor lights until further notice. Aleks is taking a rest during the COVIDinduced performing arts break and enjoying teaching and exploring other projects. Most recently, she was the Associate Producer for San Francisco Conservatory of Music's "Leaders Reframe False Dichotomies" series with the Center for Innovative Leadership.

Emma Banks graduated cum laude from Colby College and is working for Citibank as a first year analyst on a sales and trading desk. Spencer Lovejoy graduated in May from Yale University, with a B.A. in History. While at Yale, Spencer played #1 on the men's squash team and was captain his senior year. He was just named to the AllIvy League's first team in a unanimous vote. This is his third All-Ivy honor. His current PSA World ranking is #129. After graduating, Spencer plans to play squash professionally.

Annie Banks is a junior at Wake Forest University. She was supposed to study abroad in the fall, but that has been postponed. Ellie Latham is a member of Yale’s a capella group, Redhot and Blue. Ellie and her group performed for the students at St. Thomas’s this past January. She spoke of how her passion for jazz began at St. Thomas's and how she fondly remembers her time as a member of the Bluestars. The students were in awe of the outstanding a cappella performance!

After graduating from Hopkins School in 2019, Connor Hartigan took a gap year and lived in Toulouse, France, where he worked as a volunteer English teacher and sang in the choir of the Basilique St-Sernin. After spending the summer working at the Book Barn in Niantic, Connor will be starting his first year at Georgetown University. Henry Ruger, a senior tennis player at Columbia University, was featured in a national news story on tennisrecruiting.net which highlighted the importance of singing as well as his education.

Courtney Banks received the Outstanding Female Athlete Award at Hopkins and is now a freshman at Bucknell University. Alexis Chang took a gap year before high school and is looking forward to being part of the Hopkins graduating class of 2021. She recently spearheaded a lovely video dedication to the graduating sixth grade class at St. Thomas’s which can be viewed on St. Thomas’s Facebook page. Philip DeLise received the Charles Dorrance Award— For Achievement, Leadership, & Character while at Hopkins. He was also awarded the Scholar/Athlete Award from the New Haven County National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. He is now a freshman at Lehigh University. Corinne Evans was accepted to Yale early but decided to take a gap year. For her gap year, she is in Taiwan to connecting with her Taiwanese heritage. She will be attending the Asian Youth Forum, interning at an educational foundation, and auditing some classes at National Taiwan University. Molly Drew is a graduate of Hamden Hall and Wilbur Cross High School. She is currently attending the American University of Paris with in-person classes that will start in late September. Sam Lovejoy is attending Connecticut College where he will be a member of the Men’s Varsity Swim Team. Christian Panagrossi is a freshman at Providence College and hopes to compete in Track and Field for the Friars. Ben Scheve has moved back to CT and is attending Yale. Charlie Seymour is a biopsychology major at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the fall as a biopsychology major. Anna Simon graduated from Hopkins in June and is now attending Princeton University. Julia Tellides is a freshman at Harvard College.

Andrew Crews interned for the winning campaign of Mayor Justin Elicker in the summer of 2019. Andrew is currently a junior at Choate Rosemary Hall.

Sarvin Bhagwagar is a student at Hopkins and enjoys playing ping pong, chess, video games and reading.