The Magazine of The Thacher School * Spring 2011
THACHER
Time on Task vs. Time Out High performance means knowing when and how to take a break.
CONTENTS 12 • Armchair Wandering
Minding the Gap: Recent graduates fill us in on their gap years.
14 • Time on Task vs. Time Out
High performance means knowing when and how to take a break.
4 on & off campus
alumni & community news
01 • View From Olympus
28 • Class Notes, etc.
Out of our comfort zones, into nature.
03 • Up Front The editor’s preview of this issue.
03 • Readers Respond We share your letters and e-mails.
04 • The Pergola
14 FRONT COVER When you are trying to create open space—whether on the athletic field, in your calendar, or in an image—there is nothing necessarily negative about negative space. Taking a time out for a deep breath or looking up at the sky may ultimately bring you closer to your goal. Or, it may give the other guy the edge. You have to figure that one out yourself. Photo: Peden + Munk.
An assemblage of noteworthy School and community intelligence.
Alumni news, milestones, and news from faculty, staff, and friends.
43 • In Memoriam 45 • The Best We Can Do A Thacher faculty member and a recently graduated fac-brat share a connection off the beaten path.
G
VIeW FROM OlyMPUs…
G PhOTO: JOY SAWYer MulligAn
Plan for the Worst, Hope for the Best: Time Out in Nature
Global warminG, El Niño, La Niña, the apocalypse, dire predictions of the ancient mayans. Tornadoes rage across the midwest; fires scorch Texas; floodwaters surge on the mississippi Delta. new England, once again, drenched in rain. The world heats up? not ojai: Chilly and wet. The valley is green; grass grows tall in the los Padres; and this winter, the swimming holes in the Sespe, scoured free of sand sloughed off the mountain sides from the fires, run deep and clear. as George livermore CdeP 1932, always said, “never complain about rain in California.” indeed, we give thanks for this blessing of rain…except when we actually have to camp in it. i should have known that something was up. before we departed on this spring’s Extra-Day Trips, our west Point-army ranger-Thacher Faculty-EDT veteran, Fred Coleman, arrived in my office concerned: “They are predicting rain and snow next week. let’s delay the trips.” Fred and i jumped on the various internet weather sites to see what the latest and exact forecasts were: “30 percent chance of precipitation, Tuesday.” Forward we plunged with our preparations. So it was on Sunday, may 22, The Thacher School Toads and their faculty leaders finished their preparations and sallied forth into the backcountry. Six gung-ho horse-campers joined me on my expedition: seniors marco Hernandez, Grace lowe, and mackenzie boss; sophomores Shelby luce, Hutton becker, and J.J. ntshaykolo—an unflappable crew if there ever was one. rather than take heavily loaded packhorses up and over The ridge, we trucked in to lion’s Camp in the Sespe wilderness. in a chilly breeze and slightly overcast skies, we readied our veteran packhorses: Pablo, Traveler, and Timber. These big, solid, calm missouri Fox Trotters are Thacher veterans and my favorite horses to pack or ride. our first destination was a few miles past Piedra blanca along the joyously burbling Twin Forks. The skies were streaked and we dutifully set up tents. The next morning we climbed that steep, long trail up to Pine mountain lodge. Hutton becker warned, “mr. mulligan, i think we’re looking at snow.” indeed, as we ascended into that 6,000-foot elevation, the trees were frosted and a somber sky emitted no sunlight to warm our bones and spirit. we found our horse feed dropped by packer rené Duykaerts and took refuge in the hidden Pine mountain lodge
Horse Camp, some 200 to 300 yards from the former lodge. (note: no kids brought their tennis racquets on this expedition; they were all too wise for that.) The kids teamed up to feed the horses, to collect firewood, and to chop and stir-fry a Chinese wok dinner. again, we set up our black Diamond pyramid tents as the wind rifled through the camp and the skies darkened. Shortly after dinner, the rain plinked down and we tucked away for the evening with high hopes that we’d awaken to that deep blue California sky. Cozily ensconced in my tent, i awoke to deep silence. “oh, thank goodness. The rain has stopped.” not so fast: my tent was encased in a soundproof blanket of snow. i knocked it off and unzipped the fly to gaze about. The horses, tied in the pine trees, shivered as the snow piled up on and around them. we had to get out, and the getting out would be dang cold. as sleet pelted us, we stuffed wet tents and damp gear, saddled our horses, loaded our camp, and packed the pack animals. morning horse packing, especially at the outset of a trip, is never easy work. Throw in an icy wind, rain, and snow, and you have a truly challenging, bonechilling situation. Still, our Thacher campers went about their work cheerfully (and silently) with hands that are probably still recovering. Following a quick team meeting, we decided to drop down rather than head out on an untested trail that climbs and stays high over into the Cedar Creek and the mutau. Heavy winter winds and snows had brought down many trees along and across the trails. it is one thing to take them on with axes and saws in normal may California warmth. it is a bigger challenge when the paths are steep and snowbound. indeed, where did that trail go? are we on it? Plus, how long would this intemperate weather last? in the meantime, mr. Scott leFevre CdeP 1975 confronted that very same high-terrain challenge my team and i decided to forgo. Scott— a Thacher parent and expert outdoorsman, river rafter, and horse camper—led a trip with his son Charlie ’12 and daughter annie ’14 and their friends. Their trials would have been ours. Coming up out of Cedar Creek from lockwood Valley, they encountered a huge ancient cedar slashed across the trail, cutting off all passage. Son Charlie, charged The Thacher School 1
with the task of finding a way through, recommended a route straight up and around the downed monster; other trees had to be taken down to even make this a possibility. much sweat and physical prostration ensued. would the horses balk? apparently not. These rugged Thacher Quarter Horses saw the challenge and clambered straight up, over, and down the steep hillside. only a confident rider and a brave horse can make this climb and descent. There is a rush of wellbeing and fulfillment when one reaches the other side of this kind of challenge. (Challenge, failure, achievement, fulfillment—you have heard this before from me.) These are exhilarating moments. The path and the outcome are uncertain. meanwhile, my group and i dropped down from the freezing rains and snows to the Sespe and the promise of Patton’s Cabin. we pulled into the camp and found a host of Thacher campers who, quite reasonably, had also beelined for the 19th-Century homestead. as you might imagine, this was not a local storm. much of California was hit and all of our trips were affected. Fred Coleman, camping at Jerky meadows in the Sierra, changed his route, as did most other trips. He took on the Chuck warren adages: “Drop low” and “when in doubt, sit it out.” The backpackers found big rocks to weigh down their tents during the gales. They played cards. They took some short day hikes when the weather allowed. and, they learned patience. Gallia Vickery and her students were drenched by a wall of continuous rain. Karleanne rogers and Jake Jacobsen re-routed their trip and holed up in a glen full of poison oak. Jason Carney’s group, tracking the usually gentle Sisquoc river, doubled back and retraced their steps when fording the “wide, high, and fast-moving stream” proved dangerous. Pete Fagan’s group, by stringing tarps over tents, managed a relatively comfortable camp as they waited for the weather to turn; they never finished their planned trip. These uneventful stories are evidence of the sound decision making of the Thacher Faculty: Choose the best sites out of harm’s way, put up your best gear, and wait it out. warm, (relatively) dry, and fed may not be exciting, but it works. but not all was tedium: bill mcmahon and Chris land, leading their kayaking trip around Catalina island, faced off with 5- to 10-foot rollers and crashing surf, high winds, and icy waters. The group exercised care and waited for those best moments to navigate the ocean before the afternoon gale winds kicked in. This did not save Dr. land and campers ashley wachtell ’13 and Jack weil ’13 from capsizing in those rollers and enduring adrenaline surges as they righted their vessels, climbed back in, and paddled on through the whitecaps. mike mcGowan, camping near the Sespe Gorge, turned back after 2 Spring 2011
heavy rains sent rockslides (some the “size of a refrigerator,” claimed senior Carson land) cascading off the cliffs in the middle of the night a mere 40 yards from where they slept. Fortunately, when my trip dropped down into the Sespe and left Patton’s Cabin, the sky opened and that good old California sun returned. along with the challenges of weather and wilderness, there came blessings and delights. Finding the familiar horse campsites to be occupied, we bushwhacked our way to a serendipitous discovery: a perfect, secret Sespe campsite (the location of which shall remain secret) where we spent the afternoon swimming our horses. The next evening brought us to Piedra blanca, where the campers built a small fire and watched their shadows dance against the ancient white rocks. i am told that later, the girls, led by seniors lowe and boss, conducted their own spritely dance in the misted meadows and sage, celebrating the freedom that the wilderness brings as its gift to us. Jess Kahle said it best: “when you go out into the mountains, you don’t have to go looking for adventure; it’ll find you.” So it does. So it always has. we embarked on an adventure, pulled together, had fun, found challenge, overcame hardship, and celebrated in rugged mountains, tall pines, clear air, rushing streams, hard work, friendship, and laughter. There is a reason we take on these EDTs. it has nothing to do with ease of planning, budget, or comfort. it takes hard work to head into the mountains or off to the blue yonder of the ocean. There are real and serious risks—and cold and wet are just a few i have mentioned. but what happens on these trips is that we are all pushed out of our circles of comfort. we have to work to sleep, to eat, to move, to stay clean, to do anything, really. we see firsthand the special calculus between the decisions we make and how well we then thrive. nature forces upon us an intense and clear relationship between cause and effect, a relationship that is otherwise obscured and delayed by our civilized comforts. So at least twice a year at Thacher, we take to wilderness and leave our daily routines behind. we test our judgment and our stamina. we learn about traveling lightly in our natural world—and that world, in turn, helps us learn about ourselves. and always, we plan for the worst and hope for the best.
michael K. mulligan, Head of school
PhOTO: rAquel reiSinger ‘11
Mr. Mully’s trip (previous page) moves out of Lion’s Camp. Lose the trail, find yourself... with barked shins (left). Brian Pidduck’s Spring EDT team takes time out for a photo below the East Face of Mount Whitney.
UP FRONT…
THACHeR
The Magazine of The Thacher School Volume 5, issue 1 Spring 2011
Investigating the spaces Between THiS iSSUE of Thacher Magazine is dedicated to the somewhat counterintuitive notion that it is important, from time to time, for us to take a break from what we are doing if we are to do it as well as we can. This idea seems at odds with the more obvious logic that more time on task equates to better results. The point, however, is not that we don’t get better at things when we apply oursleves to them, but that we can gain perspective, learn new things, solidify existing knowledge, and simply reinvigorate ourselves by knowing when and how to give ourselves a break. So, this issue explores the ways we break from routine, take time off task in order to investigate the places in between, thereby, we hope, enriching the overall balance and productivity of our lives. our investigation will include images from throughout the School day and the School calendar. we’ll also check in with alumni who have found interesting and productive ways to break their routines and who are willing to share with us some of the fruits of those breaks. To help us develop and produce this issue, eRICA ReyNOlDs CdeP 2001 took time out of her own schedule to research the subject of time out and to help us gather and organize alumni reflections on the topic. You can find her overview, “The Case for ‘Time out’ in Emerging adulthood,” on page 16. and don’t miss armchair wanderings (page 12), where we hear from a handful of recent Thacher graduates who help us understand the relatively new phenomenon of the “gap year.” To help us document the yin and the yang of application and reflection as it is worked out at Thacher, we invited to campus Peden + monk—a talented duo of los angeles photographers. Their photos illustrate much of this issue. with that said, i invite you to take some time out of your day to find out what we found out. — Christopher J. Land, Editor
ReADeRs ResPOND… READiNg LiBERALLy not many days go by that i do not relish the memories of my too-short time at Thacher as it was the turning point of my teenage existence. So i look forward to receiving Thacher Magazine. on page 21 of the Fall 2010 issue and as part of an article on “writing” that speaks to “an honestly informed citizenry” is a picture and a caption of the “weathered box…where students can find their copy of The New York Times.” i am a midwesterner with a career in manufacturing and writing about productivity and financial incentives. This type of exposure to liberal and offtime either dishonest or nonreporting truly needs to be balanced. Surely, an educated Thacher student should have the opportunity to read and broaden his knowledge and be guided by his teachers and mentors that there are many differing outlooks. i ask you, and trust you, to make The Wall Street Journal and other papers available to your students and give them the opportunity to be truly rounded and well educated. Richard E. Forman CdeP 1944
Editor’s response: The focus on The new York Times is due primarily to the fact that some of Mr. Shagam’s classes use that paper as a text. As Marvin explains: “I do agree with Mr. Forman that we should have a variety of news sources. I have subscribed to The new York Times for my students because of its low student rates. For my economics class I would gladly subscribe to The wall Street Journal, but the cost, I felt, was too steep for most students.” The Thacher Library does, however, subscribe to The wall Street Journal, along with several other print newspapers, including The Christian Science monitor and various regional and local papers. The reality these days is that Thacher students are more likely to get their news via the Internet and broadcast media. Thus, Thacher’s network grants easy access to many divergent political perspectives, including those presented by Fox, CNN, Al Jezeera, etc. In the end, of course, the hope is that how Thacher students read is every bit as important as what they read.
EDiTOR Christopher J. land ALuMNi guEST EDiTOR erica reynolds CdeP 2001 ASSOCiATE EDiTORS Amy elmore Jane D. McCarthy ALuMNi EDiTOR Suzie nixon Bohnett CLASS NOTES EDiTOR Diane Murphy ARChiViST Bonnie laForge DESigN Charles hess, design director Debbie Kim, designer PhOTOgRAPhy AND iLLuSTRATiON Michal Czerwonka, Peden + Monk, Amy elmore, Jane McCarthy, Christopher land, Caitlin Jean Peterson, Brian Pidduck CdeP 1992, raquel reisinger ‘11, Joy Sawyer-Mulligan hEAD OF SChOOL Michael K. Mulligan DiRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Brandon Doyle DiRECTOR OF ADMiSSiON William P. McMahon Thacher is published twice a year by The Thacher School, and is sent free of charge to alumni, parents, and friends of the School. every effort is made to ensure that contents are accurate and complete. if there is an omission or an error, please accept our apologies and notify us at the address below. Copyright © 2011 The Thacher School Third class postage is paid at the Oxnard Post Office. POSTMASTer: Please send form 3579 to the following address. editor, Thacher Magazine 5025 Thacher road Ojai, CA 93032 www.thacher.org thachermagazine@thacher.org 805-640-3201 x264 Send Class notes to: alumni@thacher.org 805-646-1956 (fax) Thacher is printed by Ventura Printing using an environmentally friendly waterless printing process, soy-based inks, and recycled paper.
The Thacher School 3
photos: caitlin jean peterson
The Pergola…
Inaugural Toad MusIc FesT a BIg success
W
ho Would have imagined that a new showcase for Thacher’s musicians would bring out so many talented musicians? granted, more students participate in private lessons, structured ensembles, or pick-up groups currently than in the last several decades, but the inaugural Toad music Fest also brought parents, alumni, and other community members into the spotlight. From folk and rock to lullabies, foot-stomping and finger-snapping songs wafted over the Centennial amphitheatre, in the form of soloists, duos, trios, quartets, a choir, a couple of full-on bands, along with mother-child and father-child reunions. When the last of the applause echoed itself out of the amphitheatre, it was apparent that at least at Thacher, all it takes to bridge the generation gap is a little harmonic convergence.
4 spring 2011
Making music with family and friends (clockwise from top left): Anouk Ackerman ‘12 backed by James Newton Howard CdeP 1969; Aidan Waugh ‘14 and mother Muriel, with Mr. Haggard at the piano; sophomores Nu Xiong, Jacqueline King, and Gracie Farese; Molly ‘12 and Will Wyman CdeP 1978.
MulTI-day celeBraTIon For MarTIn luTHer KIng Jr.
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his year’s CelebraTion of martin luther King Jr. day began at assembly with a reading of Coretta scott King’s langston hughes Project The Meaning of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Four members of the united Cultures of Thacher then offered passages or poems germane to the day. after Formal dinner, the community packed the milligan Center for the Performing arts to revel in the return of dr. ron mcCurdy, chair of the Jazz studies department and professor of music at university of southern California, and his brainchild: The langston hughes Project— Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz. This
Dr. Ron McCurdy performs Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz
multimedia presentation featured hughes’s 800-line suite of poems, a live quartet playing a blend of jazz, mambo, blues, gospel, chacha, West indian calypso, african drumming, be-bop, and other genres, with larger-thanlife visual illustrations of the world hughes lived in during the harlem renaissance. later that week, nicole haggard CdeP 2000, a Phd candidate at Washington university, offered the fourth element of the week, leading a post-dinner discussion on cultural identity and the intersection of race and art launched from langston hughes’ 1926 landmark essay, The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.
Making the rent: The Thacher Masquers fist pump it out.
renT converTs casT’s HearTs
a
CCording To senior Will ruTTer, who starred as roger davis in the Thacher masquers’ production of RENT, “the show started with a cast and ended with a family.” and what a talented family they were. The three months of nightly practices culminated with three nights of standing ovations during the final performances. For more pictures and videos of the performance, visit the Thacher website.
The Thacher school 5
The Pergola…
sTudenTs and ParenTs gIve THacHer ToP MarKs, and suggesT ways To IMProve
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he resulTs of Thacher’s biennial student and parent surveys are in, and once again the results show very high overall approval scores, while also identifying areas for improvement. The surveys ask students and their parents to rate more than 150 aspects of school life using a seven-point scale, where one equals “very poor” and seven equals “excellent.” The combined overall satisfaction ratings were well over six for both students and parents. With the help of Pacific Consulting group, Thacher has been conducting these surveys in alternate years since 1998.
STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS OF NOTE Questionnaires were completed by 242 of Thacher’s 251 students in december 2010. student perceptions of The Thacher school were very favorable. The current overall satisfaction rating of 6.2 out of 7 continues the trend of rising slightly each year. students expressed most satisfaction with their teachers, who as a faculty earned a 6.4 rating. The greatest opportunities for improving student satisfaction are in the areas of 1) activities, Clubs, and Community life; 2) grading and homework; 3) school Culture and discipline; and 4) Quality of dining hall Food.
ACTION ITEMS The school began responding to these findings almost as soon as they were tabulated. To address concerns about weekend activities, the indoor Committee (the student committee that plans the weekend events) offers a variety of on-campus and off-campus activities with an increased focus on the former in order to create connections between the classes and to increase the sense of community. better coordination between faculty members when big assignments are assigned and due should help relieve stress felt by students during busy academic weeks. The school Chair is setting up mock Judicial Council cases to further inform students on the disciplinary process. in response to the criticism of the dining hall, a comprehensive dining hall study was completed and bon appétit responded immediately to student food preferences by improving the variety of menu offerings and serving practices.
PARENT SURVEY RESULTS OF NOTE Questionnaires were completed by 174 parents in January 2011. Parents gave Thacher an overall satisfaction rating of 6.6 on a 7-point scale, continuing the trend of rising slightly each year. Parents are most pleased with teachers, who received an average rating of 6.68. The greatest opportunities for improving parent satisfaction are 1) activities, Clubs, and Community life, and 2) Community Composition. in previous years, Personal development and health, along with advising and Counseling have been significant areas for improvement; however, they don’t appear as high priority issues in this year’s surveys, which indicates the progress the school has made in these areas.
ACTION ITEMS overall, parents are highly satisfied with their experience of Thacher, but they are looking for more community service opportunities and participation by students so that students gain access into and understanding of the larger community beyond Thacher. Parents are also interested in opportunities for their children to gain more awareness and sensitivity to cultural and religious differences in our community. The administration continues to address these concerns. 6 spring 2011
a slow sTarT For gyMKHana season
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his year, blue Team, captained by seniors Chris Colson, marco hernandez, and Jack sligh, charged into big gymkhana Weekend with a substantial lead, but since every point scored during big gymkhana is tripled, the winning spot was still up for grabs. however, a strong team performance allowed blue to hold on, taking first with 14,351 points to green’s 10,536 and orange’s 9,950. blue Team Captain Chris Colson (pictured left) was the high-point individual winner.
scoreBoards fall SportS
varsITy FooTBall record: 5-4 (2-1 league) Captains: Jake Gannon ’11, Chris Colson ‘11 Highlights: over the course of the season, this team saw much improvement, as it began with only two returning players with substantial varsity experience. the toads beat a strong lancaster Baptist team 50-13 on family Weekend and won on the road at West Shores (by the Salton Sea) in the first round of playoffs, 66-20. Gritty leadership by captains Colson and Gannon helped shape the team’s identity.
Jv FooTBall record: 4-2 (2-1 league) Highlights: With lots of new players, many of whom had never played football before, this group put together a good season with their hard work and fortitude. the toads’ very first game of the season came in the rain at Santa Clarita Christian. With many players missing and the freshmen playing after just a few practices under their belts, the team still ably moved the ball down the field and played well. a win on family Weekend “for the parents” capped the season.
varsITy gIrls TennIs record: 8-7 (3-3 league) Captains: Mouna lawrence ’11, Jo Min ‘11 Highlights: In 2010, the varsity girls tennis team capped a successful campaign with their first post-season bit since 2008. With an overall record of 8-7, the team finished tied for second in the Condor league, but, thanks to the luck of a coin, they qualified for the CIf playoffs. Buoyed by their first ever pre-season camp, the team got off to a great start with a win over Hueneme High School and gritted out victories over laguna Blanca and Cate.
Jv gIrls TennIs record: 1-1 Captains: Cynthia Santos ’11, rae Murphy ‘11
Highlights: With themed practices every friday and many new players, this lively group practiced diligently for their matches and had a lot of laughs, no matter the score.
Boys cross-counTry league record: 3-0, Brentwood Invitational—second place, sixth place, California State Championships, Division V Captain: Will Callan ‘11 Highlights: Despite losing six of eight runners from last year’s successful team, this group was fleet of foot from the start, earning a second-place finish at the Brentwood Invitational. the team dominated Condor league meets and earned its fourth consecutive Condor league Championship before placing third in the Southern Section prelims. from there, the team placed sixth in the Section finals and earned an invitation to the State Championships for the fourth consecutive year. at the state meet, Will Callan finished fourth overall while the team placed sixth overall. as the team had been ranked eighth going into the meet, this finish was truly superb.
public high schools. the team went undefeated throughout its non-league schedule and also earned a fantastic, gym rattling come-from-behind five game victory at home to earn a berth in the CIf playoffs. the team beat St. Monica’s 3-0 in front of a roaring crowd in Voit Gymnasium before falling to Viewpoint in the second round.
Jv gIrls volleyBall record: 11-3 (9-2, league) Captains: Maggie Miller ’11, alice Hyde ‘12 Highlights: anchored by five able and enthusiastic veterans, this team earned overall and league records that are the best results over the last 10 years. the toads went four for four in deciding third games and swept Cate for
gIrls cross-counTry league record: 3-0, Brentwood Invitational—first place, ninth place California State Championships, Division V Captains: Hannah Norman ’11, lili pike ‘11 Highlights: this team’s first significant test came at the Brentwood Invitational, where the girls dominated a field of 18 teams, winning both team and individual honors (Melanie reimer ‘13 won the race). the team went on to earn a Condor league Championship before heading into the postseason. at the Southern Section prelims the team qualified for the Section finals, where they placed fifth, earning a berth in the State Championships. there, the squad finished ninth while Melanie reimer ’13 placed 13th overall.
gIrls varsITy volleyBall record: 17-4 (6-3, league) Captains: Mackenzie Boss ’11, Sarah Hancock ‘12 Highlights: With the core group of starters returning from the ’09 campaign, this group had its sights on success from the get-go. the squad announced its presence early in the season when it won the Santa paula Varsity Volleyball tournament, which features 10 teams, including some very large The Thacher school 7
The Pergola… Jv gIrls BasKeTBall record: 5-4 (4-0 league) Captains: Christina Eilar ’12, Bridget park ‘12 Highlights: practicing outside every day was a highlight for this squad, as was its undefeated record in Condor league play. Coach Mazzola adds, “We shared lots of laughs and kept things fun, but we also worked hard, learned the fundamentals of the game, and improved a great deal. the keys to our winning ways were good oldfashioned hustle and great defense.”
Boys varsITy soccer record: 14-2 (10-2, league) Captains: Will Callan ’11, patrick Coughran ‘12 Highlights: though this team was young, it turned out to be anything but a rebuilding year; the toads were ranked in the top five of the Southern Section throughout the season. after securing a spot in the post season, the team lost a magnificent but heartbreaking game in overtime to Kilpatrick (3-4) in the rain.
Jv Boys soccer
the second consecutive year. the team’s best game of the season came in a narrow loss to perennial powerhouse laguna Blanca.
dance Seniors: ahKeyah allahjah, Valorie Denton-Moore, francesca fataar, Grace lowe, Stephanie Star, leeah Stickelmaier, Katie taylor Highlights: one of the program’s largest groups ever, these 20 young women ranged from seasoned Dance Ensemble members to first time in the dance studio participants. over the course of the fall, they gained strength and flexibility while learning proper alignment and techniques for numerous jumps and turns in ballet and modern dance. the group ended the term with a special guest teacher for a hip-hop class enjoyed by all.
rocK clIMBIng Seniors: robbie Yeagle, Ben Eastburn, patrick teague Highlights: Climbers started the term bouldering out at the Gymkhana field and learning the critical knots along with belay technique on the lawn in front of Camp Supply. once they had solidified these abilities they moved on to using the ropes on Y-Crack and Banjo Cave in our backyard. on Wednesday afternoons climbers ventured to the nearby foothill Crag. the group also took three weekend camping trips: two to the east side of the Sierra Nevada, near Mammoth lakes, and one to Joshua tree National park. Close to home, they bouldered prolifically at the Gymkhana field. the stand-out climb of the season was liam Driscoll’s ‘13 ascent of the Jameson plaque route, which has been a test piece for thacher climbers for many years.
yoga Instructor: Cathy Bautista the fall senior yoga class comprises a vigorous yoga practice on Monday, tuesday, and thursday, and a restful practice on fridays. Wednesdays are for “specials”—a variety of practices linked to self-care and/or related to yoga. the group went to an organic farm for a tour, learned about ayurveda, did silent walking (up Horn Canyon), sitting meditations, and partner and office-chair 8 spring 2011
yoga. Students also held a “sun salutation marathon” that left most participants sore the next day. the purpose was to have students challenge themselves, sweat, and also to practice listening to their bodies.
record: 9-2 Captains: Chris Dienst ’11, Carson land ’11, richy Yun ‘11 Highlights: Strong play throughout the season characterized this team, though the final game of the season, which saw the squad avenge an earlier season loss, served as the quintessential way to finish the season.
gIrls varsITy soccer WINtEr SportS
varsITy Boys BasKeTBall record: 12-7 (10-2 league) Captains: Dan Hu ’11, lucas Currie ‘12 Highlights: Comeback was the word for this group, whose Condor league play was marked by three memorable wins at laguna, Cate, and Midland. In all three games the toads trailed for most of the time, and in the Midland game the squad came back from a 20-point deficit. the team earned a bid for the CIf playoffs for the fifth straight year before bowing to ribet academy, whose mascot was, incredibly, the frog.
Jv Boys BasKeTBall record: 5-8 (4-5, league) Captains: Jackson Howard ’12, James paxton ’12, Jack Weil ‘13 Highlights: this group was fun to coach, as they loved the game of basketball and were willing to work hard to improve. from seasoned players to novices, each boy improved tremendously. the team’s best game of the season came in a very tough loss to ojai Valley School’s varsity.
varsITy gIrls BasKeTBall record: 12-5 (6-0 league) Captains: Mackenzie Boss ’11, Noelani Nasser ’11, Ebony Davis ‘11 Highlights: an undefeated league season highlighted the team’s fifth league championship in seven years. While the team demonstrated grit and determination in practices and games, they never lost sight of fun, as practices featured music, dances for good plays, and even an occasional “dress like Mr. perry” day. the team’s comeback last-second victory over providence was exciting, as was the team’s thrilling first-round playoff win.
record: 3-8-1 (1-4-1 league) Captains: Hannah Norman ’11, lili pike ‘11 Highlights: this young team made big strides from last season, notching two victories over orcutt academy and beating and tying Dunn in league play.
gIrls Jv soccer record: 4-3-3 (4-2-3, league) Captains: ahKeyah allahjah ’11, Cassie Disner ’12, Bryanna lloyd ’11, Katie taylor ‘11 Highlights: With a focus on soccer fundamentals and positive reinforcement, the team worked together and saw success with victories and ties against well-matched opponents. a much improved performance against oVS (after losing 5-0 in our first match, the team tied 3-3 later in the season) and a hard-fought game against Midland (for a 1-0 win) highlighted the season. the girls were quick to cheer each other on for the progress made, and the toads were never short on inspiring play from positions all over the field.
FroM THe arcHIves 100... 50... 25.... YEARS AGO AT THACHER
TWIN PEEKS
A Backward Glance Through the Pages of CdeP Publications
100 1910-1911: In El Archivero, the editors recount the camping trips that went out over the course of the year and note a few special locations: “at Herb lathrop’s, there is good fishing and a little quail shooting...a packhorse may be taken to piedra Blanca where there is a good camping place at patton’s cabin.” In summation they comment, “the best trips are the ride over Sulphur Mountain and down Canada larga, and the one up topa topa and Hine’s peak. the view from the trail between topa topa and Hine’s peak reminds one somewhat of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado and is only equaled hereabouts by the view from pine Mountain.” all of these locales remain standard destinations for thacher students today.
50 May 1961: a group of students and faculty head for Santa Cruz Island. Highlights of the trip include “superb fishing, with many more fish being caught than could be eaten. Many of the boys, led by Brooks Crawford, took long hikes, some even going to the ranch, which was a good twelve miles away. as usual, some goats were sighted, but none were killed, even though Walter and several others chased them for quite a distance and rolled boulders at them.” (from El Archivero)
25 Summer 1986: thacher student Jay Cowles spends two months of his summer in Japan, where he goes to school for a month and sees “tokyo, museums, and shrines, while practicing his Japanese and picking up bits and pieces of Japan’s history and culture along the way.” (from The Thacher Notes)
15 fall 1995: Science teacher Marsha Edwards reports on her previous year, spent on sabbatical. over the course of the year she works “as a Senior fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences at UCla to participate in a research project, to audit courses, and to attend the weekly evolution symposium at the Center for the Study of Evolution and the origin of life.” Despite her packed schedule at UCla, she manages to find time to travel, making a trip to russia to present a paper at the russian-american Symposium on the Integration of Educational programs; joining her husband on one of his Hospital association meetings in Washington, DC; and hunting for fossils in Illinois, texas, and arizona.
10 fall 2000: over the summer, more than a quarter of the faculty pursues some sort of professional development. Greg Haggard attends Westminster Choir College in princeton, NJ; Gallia Vickery studies at the Bill Evans Dance teacher Intensive at Butler University, where she learns more about Batenieff and laban movement theories; Chuck Warren attends Jazz Camp at Idyllwild School of Music and arts to hone his trombone skills; and horse faculty Katherine Halsey, Susan Hardenbergh, Wendi parker-Dial, and Holly Mitchem pack up their tack, load four horses, and head to the pat parelli Natural Horsemanship Clinic in pagosa Springs, Colorado, to pick up “new tools, skills and vocabulary for their work with freshman riders.” (from Parents’ Post)
Can you identify this trio (top) catching up on some reading atop the Rough House in this undated photo from the Thacher Archives? These days, the Thacher Commons (below) offers a more comfortable and convenient place to seek a quiet moment in the midst of a busy academic day.
5 2005-2006: over the course of several weekends, thacher students leave campus and make “trip after trip along Sespe Creek, carrying lumber, concrete and other building materials, with patton’s Cabin as their destination” in an effort to renovate this welcome shelter in the Sespe backcountry. Innovations to the encampment include a raised roof, new metal sheathing, improved windows, a system of gas lamps and a wood burning stove, new bunk beds, kitchen upgrades, a solar-powered system to pump creek water inside, and a new outhouse. once all of this work is completed, reports Parents’ Post, “thacher has the makings of a comfortable retreat less than an hour from campus, but seemingly worlds away.”
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The Pergola… BlurB & squIB wIne The 2011 san Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the largest competition of american wines in the world, gave its highly coveted red sweepstakes award to Thacher Winery’s 2008 Triumvirate Zinfandel, proclaiming it the best red wine of the event. additionally, Thacher’s 2008 gsm earned best of Class honors, and their 2008 Zinfandel took home a bronze medal. over 5,000 wines from 23 states were entered in the prestigious competition. The Thacher Winery is run by Sherman and Michelle Thacher. They have been making rhone and Zinfandel varietals in Paso robles, California, since 2004. Winemaker sherman is the great grandson of sherman day Thacher.
Blog Thacher board member Sarah lavender Smith CdeP 1986 launched a new blog called The Runner’s Trip: Run Long, Travel Far, Discover More at www.TherunnersTrip.com. The blog combines sarah’s passions for running and travel.
PHoTograPHy The photography of eliza gregory CdeP 1999 has been the focus to two recent exhibitions. “The Californian” opened april 8 in melbourne, australia, and was on display until april 30. This collection of photos continues eliza’s project of exploring cultural identity by inviting the viewer into her own milieu, specifically, a set of whimsical and vibrant family traditions taking place in the redwood forests of northern California. see more at www.elizagregory.com. another recent exhibition, “The local” ran at the yarrow sculpture space in abotsford, australia, from march 11 to 27. That show gathered photos and interviews that answered the questions: “What have you given up in order to merge with mainstream culture? and what have you held onto, in order to feel like yourself?”
BooKs Bible Trip by Marian huntington Schinske CdeP 1982 unfolds marian’s journey through the entire Christian bible, and shares the lessons she learned about herself along the way. The Wisdom of the Radish: And Other Lessons Learned on a Small Farm by linda hopkins tells the entertaining, enlightening (and often humorous) tale of the hopkins’ first year of farming vegetables in sonoma County. lynda and emmett CdeP 2001 also have a blog at http://wisdomoftheradish.com/.
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Top: The Thacher Winery label and sign make use of the grasshopper from the family crest. Middle: “Anna and Serena” from Eliza Gregory’s exhibiton. Bottom: Lynda Hopkins contemplates the roots of her labor on the cover of her book.
senIor exHIBITIons During Senior Exhibitions, Thacher’s oldest students become our youngest teachers, enlightening, pontificating, and educating our community on topics as varied as Buddhism and the Beats to Medieval Castles and Siege Warfare to The Pursuit of Happiness.
college desTInaTIons gap years notwithstanding, here’s where CdeP 2011 is headed: California College of the Arts—1 Carleton College—1 Colgate University—2 Colorado College—3 Colorado State University—1 Columbia University—1 Dartmouth College—2 Duke University—2 Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts—1 Georgetown University—3 Harvard University—2 Johns Hopkins University—1 Kenyon College—1 King’s College London—1 Marymount College—1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology—2 McGill University—1 New York University—2 Northeastern University—1 Occidental College—1 Oxford College of Emory University—2 Pepperdine University—1 Reed College—1 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute—1 Seattle University—1 Sewanee: The University of the South—1 St. Olaf College—1 Swarthmore College—1 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—1 Tufts University—3 United States Naval Academy—1 University of California at Berkeley—1 University of California at Los Angeles—1 University of Chicago—1 University of Colorado at Boulder—1 University of Michigan—1 University of Richmond—1 University of San Diego—1 University of Southern California—2 University of Vermont—1 University of Washington—1 Washington University in St. Louis—1 Wesleyan University—3 Williams College—1 Yale University—1
nuMeracy HaIKu
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hile KurT meyer is on sabbatical, gallia vickery offered the following problem adapted from her book entitled 100 Numerical Games by Pierre berloquin. Timothy owns a good balance, but no weights. He decides to make his own weights by sawing a 121-gram bar of metal into a number of pieces. He wishes to create a system enabling him to weigh all whole numbers of grams from 1 through 121; the divisions of the bar do not consume any of the weight. How does Timothy divide the bar? What is the least number of pieces necessary?
Send your answers to Jane McCarthy via e-mail (jmccarthy@ thacher.org) or via U.S. mail at the School address. although very few entries were submitted for the mathematical haiku contest in the last issue of Thacher’s magazine, but we did have a three-way tie (as voted by members of the english and mathematics departments): Two from Eric Gross CdeP 1985: Fibonacci’s order one head broccoli, one pineapple, to go, and three sunflower seeds Chambered Naughty list seven-to-seven one acceptance to safety, Cate one, Thacher none. And one from Paul Bressie CdeP 1986: Time bending in space. Thacher students bending rules Forces of nature. our thanks to eric and Paul for your submissions.
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armchair wandering…
Mined the Gap
Some recent Thacher grads talk about where their gap years took them and what they took away.
Conor J. Farese CdeP 2006 After he was accepted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Conor started thinking about taking a year off between high school and college. He used the opportunity of a gap year to “test out every possible personal interest while building up momentum for college.” I deferred my enrollment at UNC for one year, and couldn’t have asked for a more transformative, impactful experience. During my year, I did everything from working in a wire-manufacturing factory to spending three months with the Maasai tribe in Tanzania. I also did a National Outdoor Leadership School course in Baja California, and worked as a ceramicist for a month! Between all those experiences, I learned Swahili, Maasai, improved my Spanish, got held up at gunpoint (a particularly interesting—albeit long—story), sailed through hurricanes, got my SCUBA license, among hundreds of other things. When I came to UNC I hit the ground running. I was refreshed, ready to learn, more mature, and significantly more independent than I would have otherwise been. As the years have passed at UNC, I’ve realized the true impact of the year—it built the foundation of my college years. More than almost any other time in my life, my year off influenced the classes I took, the extracurricular activities I got involved in, and my social network. I have since committed to working for a gap-year program for high school graduates called Global Citizen Year, and could not be more thrilled. I’m excited and ready to help others make the commitment to a gap year that I made, with the knowledge that regardless of what they do, their experiences will be incredible.
Harrison C. Hoffman and Griffin E. Triplett CdeP 2009 “The gap year helped me garner a better understanding of how to balance my life,” says Harry Hoffman CdeP 2009. Eschewing the off-the-shelf gap-year program, Harry and classmate Griffin Triplett forged their own experience. “We had a general map and followed it as best we could,” explains Harry. “We saved up enough money in the six months before departing and completely funded the trip out of our own pockets.” January 2009 found the pair in Chile, exploring Patagonia. Here’s an excerpt from their blog: 12 spring 2011
After we left Coyhaique we hopped on our semi-off-road bus, which brought us to our final destination of Cochrane, in southern Chile. The landscape changed rapidly from open pampa (grassland) to thick canopy forests surrounded by high rocky ledges. We traversed down a mountainside into a Patagonian valley with a stunning view of a massive turquoise lake, catching a view of the mountain range featured in the Patagonia logo. The next few days were quite simple as we worked ourselves into a routine. We would wake up at 8:30, eat, start taking down old sheep herding fences, eat lunch, have a siesta in the forest, and continue working until around 5 p.m. After that we would return to camp and prepare dinner on our old wood-burning stove inside an old Gaucho shack. The second night Griffin realized that his tent sucked when it rained all night and he woke up with a large puddle next to his face. Harry’s tent was great and he stayed dry the whole time. Our last day of work concluded nicely with a trip to the local lagoon. The water was frigid but refreshing. We almost worked up enough courage to jump off the big waterfall, which ended with what looked like a deep pool. We both decided it was a risk not worth taking.
Alexandra L. Simon CdeP 2009 Before heading off to Stanford University last fall, Alex divided her gap year between Barcelona, Spain, and her hometown of Laguna Niguel, California, where she worked in a vegetarian café. Here’s how she spent her time: I wrote; took time to keep in touch with friends; read books not assigned for school; took photographs; existed without invented pressures; thought about why I wanted to go to college; changed what I thought I wanted to study in college; became completely fluent in a language; learned how to make lattes; learned how to make leaves in the foam of lattes; realized completely how special Thacher, my parents, and my friends are; sat without doing anything at all; enjoyed doing nothing at all; earned paychecks; made decisions completely for myself; learned what I enjoyed; and how to best enjoy it. I was excited to head to college in the fall, excited to put into action what I had been ruminating on for a year.
Tim Reed (opposite page) used his wide-open year to explore some of South Africa’s wide-open spaces. Michael Stenovec’s wandered into yak country (top), while Sarae Snyder (bottom right) snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef.
Nicholas R. Orr CdeP 2010 For a gap year, Nick decided to go to the Far East, and felt well prepared to face the challenges of traveling in a developing country. “Taking a gap has not only reinforced my Thacher education, but also supplemented it,” he shares. Spending a year abroad gave him the opportunity to hone his interest in East Asia. I spent the first semester gallivanting across China, staying with families and studying Chinese. Some highlights included hiking across the Tibetan Plateau and staying with nomads, helping them tend to their herds. Taking a two-day train ride from Northern China to the Southwest, and living in a village a stone throw’s distance from the Burmese border. For five weeks I lived with a family in the burgeoning city of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, where I studied the language and practiced Qi Gong. Though I was supposed to enter college in the spring, I felt like I needed more time to explore this country and continue studying Chinese. Currently, I am in the middle of a 10-week internship at a satellite office for the World Agroforestry Centre. I help a South African scientist as he researches, in most cases, the effects of fungi on plants. Last week we traveled to a rural area to plan study sites to test the relationship between intercropping Himalayan Alder in a tea plantation.
Timothy H. Reed CdeP 2010 Tim spent his gap year at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. You know those clichéd narratives you always hear about? The ones in which someone travels to a foreign country for a gap year or longer and comes back with all sorts of fantastical stories? I’m lucky enough to be living one of those stories right now, except, instead of epic adventures, I’m meeting epic people. I’ve spent part of my gap year here at the African Leadership Academy in South Africa, and I’ve met people from every part of Africa, be it Mali or Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire or Morocco, Ghana or Kenya. Despite the fact that most come from a background with no significant financial means, students here are like none other; I’ve never been surrounded by such hopeful people. Through a curriculum of leadership and entrepreneurship, ALA is looking to change Africa from the “dark” continent to the “bright” continent—time will tell whether that happens or not. I won’t say my gap year has been smooth sailing, but, as one of my friends here puts it: “Everyone comes to Africa for the lions or elephants, but they always fail to notice what Africa really is: the people.” Therein lies the beauty of life abroad at ALA: The people are the ones who make my fantastical story, my life-changing experience. Just as the people at a certain school in the Ojai Valley created their own clichéd narrative involving you and me, so also is the African Leadership Academy writing a fantastical story for the continent of Africa. I can’t wait to witness the happy ending.
Sarae T. Snyder CdeP 2010 What Sarae discovered during her gap years was that little free time leads to time well-spent. I can finally say that I know how to make “time out” an enriching and fulfilling part of my life. Instead of sitting at my desk looking at Facebook photos to procrastinate, now I practice guitar in front of YouTube tutorial videos, read The New York Times, flip through a world atlas, or write a journal entry. Something I didn’t consider before is just how much it has taught me about how to spend that time when your to-do list is blank and your own inclinations are single-handedly dictating the pen strokes. For part of the year, I’ve kept busy with the next to-do clearly written in front of me. I’ve even worked on a schedule, teaching at my elementary school. When you sit down to practice reading or addition with a first-grader, it’s hard to ignore how far you’ve come in your own education. It’s truly awe-inspiring how much we are capable of coming to understand, how much each student can be expected to grow mentally and socially. Working at a school gave me a chance to reflect and appreciate, to gain perspective. Travel similarly shifted my perspective. I considered my own path— school and life in the U.S.—in a surprisingly new way. I had the opportunity to experience different lifestyles and open my eyes to the many options available to me. My most recent travels, with Thacher classmate and fellow gap-year-goer LaUren BOSche CdeP 2010, included a stay with former Thacher parents Helen Weld and Robert Strachan in Australia, as well as “WWOOFing,” or working on organic farms, in New Zealand. Throughout that time, I had a chance to simultaneously keep busy, keep learning, and to step back and relax away the stress of academic pursuits. In Australia, astonished by the diverse wildlife at our fingertips, we couldn’t resist a snorkel trip on the Great Barrier Reef. And in New Zealand, working for five straight hours each morning weeding, harvesting vegetables, raking hay and feeding “chooks” (we call them chickens here), we discovered the gift of eating food to which you are truly connected.
Michael J. Stenovec CdeP 2010 After the many adventures he had during his gap year, Michael is ready for his next big adventure: Ohio. “Bring it on,” he says. I wouldn’t call my gap year a “year off,” by any means. I have spent a month total backpacking in the Himalayas; six weeks in a homestay in Kathmandu, where I took sitar lessons; three months of intensive, fourhours-a-day Spanish lessons; and two months in a soup kitchen in a fringe neighborhood in Costa Rica, where I taught English. I also earned my driver’s license and read around 30 books. I think I need a vacation from my gap year. I’m excited to reenter the academic world, though. Sunny Ohio will be quite different from Kathmandu, but I’m ready to work hard and reap the benefits. The Thacher school 13
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Taking Time Out Why Routines are Made to Be Broken (and How to Break Them)
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rom coffee break to gap year, from shavasana to sabbatical, from team huddle to extra-Day trip: time outs take many forms. and, whether we are a boarding school student or someone just trying to balance the demands of life, we all seem to need them, though not all of us manage to take them. granted, all time outs cannot be reduced to a single form, or rationale, or outcome; but they do, taken together, seem to provoke some of the same reflections on perspective and ultimate purpose. can I do this better? What have I learned? What am I missing? Is this even what I’m supposed to be doing? What is this, anyway? This issue of Thacher Magazine explores those moments when we stop what we are doing, take a step back (or up, or out), or simply take a moment to do something else for a change in the hope that it will help us be, or know, or do better. to that end, erica reynolds cdep 2001 starts us off by examining the importance of meaningful breaks for emerging adults, and we finish with an exhortation by christine carter cdep 1990 that we build mini-sabbaticals into our own routines. In between, you’ll find some firsthand accounts by Thacher alumni of meaningful time outs taken—some large, some small. Throughout, we’ve illustrated these pages with images from Thacher taken by peden + munk—of students on task and off—as they move through their daily routines of gaining perspective on this world and their places in it.
A quiet moment backstage (facing page) as Dance Ensemble prepares for its Grandparents Days performance. Above, few things say ‘time out’ like some of Thacher’s soft-serve in a “take-out” cone.
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Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse Coach Cam Spauding CdeP 1992 takes advantage of a time out to refocus his team; Jasmynn Roman ‘13 takes a moment between classes to recharge.
The Case for “Time Out” in Emerging Adulthood by erica reynolds cdep 2001
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he concept of “tIme out” and its benefits for individual success have been debated from childhood through adulthood. As children, we are taught that time out from the classroom is bad—a punishment for misbehaving, or a figurative slap on the hand. In the days of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, it was thought that a year off indicated emotional immaturity or achievement paralysis; conservative parents feared that a break from school would mean never going back. By 1967, films such as The Graduate captured the angst of a 22-year-old, post-college young adult drifting toward immorality because he had no well-defined aim in life. Young people of the day “can’t seem to ‘settle down,’ ” wrote the Yale psychologist Kenneth Keniston in the late ’60s. This has all changed in the 21st century. Gone are the days of time out meaning you are lost. Time out is now an opportunity for connection and recalibration, distilling thoughts and forming crystallized intelligence, which is measured by a person’s depth, breadth of knowledge, and the product of educational and cultural experience. University “gap years” are planned so that students enter university with a higher level of maturity, worldly knowledge, and street smarts. They are therefore better prepared to focus on
EXPERT OPINIONS: THE EXTRACURRICUL AR ROOTS OF ACHIEVEMENT In his latest book, author and New York Times columnist David Brooks, author of Bobos in Paradise (2004) and The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement (2011) writes in favor of “street smarts.” His book focuses on the type of success that emphasizes “the role of the inner mind—the unconscious realm of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, character traits, and social norms. This is the realm where character is formed and street smarts grow.”
their studies and to gain more from the overall experience. Princeton University has a program called the “Bridge Year” that allows newly admitted students to spend a year performing public service abroad before beginning their freshman year. School Year Abroad—whose participants are immersed in a foreign country as early as 16 or 17—helps students earn spots in top-ranked universities now more than ever because applicants are thought to have obtained maturity and a unique education. In the last decade, the concept of a “gap year” has extended beyond higher education and into early adulthood. Time out from achievement-oriented routine connotes soul-searching, opportunity for romance and the marinating of ideas. For “emerging adults” (a term coined by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, who wrote the book Emerging Adults in America: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties for to-
EXPERT OPINIONS: MORE TIME ON TASk, NOT LESS Not everyone endorses time off. In her parenting memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (2011) Amy Chua, a Yale Law School professor, describes a typical “Chinese mother” who believes that: 1) schoolwork always comes first; 2) an A-minus is a bad grade; 3) children must be two years ahead of their classmates in math 4) the only activities children should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually win a medal; and 5) that medal must be gold. Chua does not let her children attend sleepovers. She advocates for routine achievement-oriented behavior and argues that when a difficult task becomes easy, this boosts self-confidence.
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day’s young people), the road to adulthood is a long one. Most do not become parents and find a long-term career until their late 20s. Gaps in the résumé still must be explained; but according to columnist and author David Brooks, members of Generation Y look at their 20s as a time for exploration and experimentation—a time to try out multiple jobs, learn as much as possible, live in new locations for a while— laying the groundwork for making some more focused choices in their 30s. According to The New York Times Magazine article “What is it about 20-Somethings?” (August 2010), one-third of those in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch. Certainly, this art of adaptation from one new environment to another—with likely gaps in between—constitutes a high interaction between fluid intelligence (the ability to reason in novel situations) and crystallized intelligence (knowledge acquired over time). Therefore, we might assume that gap years and exposure to many environments lead to higher overall intelligence on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), which measures the combined IQ from these two areas. Although we may have book smarts and a high IQ, many emerging adults relate well to
Bradley Callander ‘13 (top) focuses intently on his work, though something tells us lacrosse may be on his mind later in the day. Miles Fossett ‘12 balances his day with the help of a four-legged teacher.
EXPERT OPINIONS: A RESTLESS gENERATION The New York Times Magazine article “What is it about 20-Somethings?” (August 2010) by Robin Marantz Henig reports that one-third of people in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch.
the overarching question of Po Bronson’s book What Should I Do with My Life? (2002), which captures the emotional imperative to find a career path about which we are passionate. But are we also being slackers when we push aside our long-term goals for longer periods of time to focus on happiness and fulfillment? Thought leaders such as parenting memoirist and Yale Law School Professor Amy Chua, who recently wrote her memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (2011) would say yes. Chua, who follows the traditional linear, achievementoriented mindset, believes in success at all costs, no mistakes, and writes that self-esteem is obtained through mastery, which is acquired from “tenacious practice, practice, practice.” We may be familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers and “the 10,000 rule”, which states that in order to “shine” at any task, it requires at least 10,000 hours of practice. But Chua doesn’t even allow her children to attend sleepovers or participate in school plays. They were not allowed to play any instrument other than piano or violin. Chua offers the counterpoint to the Western concept of self-exploration that many find interesting to debate. Blogger, happiness expert, and author of the book Raising Happiness (2010) Christine Carter, PhD, CdeP 1990 believes that practice
EXPERT OPINIONS: HOw TO BECOME YOURSELF Po Bronson’s book What Should I Do with My Life? (2002) contains 50 profiles of people searching for “their soft spot—their true calling” and explores the premise that “nothing is braver than people facing up to their own identity.” Bronson’s stories include a Los Angeles lawyer who became a priest, a Harvard MBA catfish farmer turned biotech executive, and a Silicon Valley real estate agent who opened a leather crafts factory in Costa Rica.
does fuel success—but Chua is wrong to say that forced mastery leads to happiness. In a response to Chua’s book on The Huffington Post, Carter writes: “Should we start bullying our children into becoming math whizzes or music prodigies?” Carter, who believes social connections are the foundations for happiness, also asserts that raising well-adjusted offspring rather than anxious perfectionists is the key to success: “Perfectionism and achievement-oriented happiness can create a life of anxiety, conflict, and risk avoidance. Narrowly focusing on success can lead to cheaters who lack integrity and scam the system.” (How un-Thacher!) Carter refers to research by Carol Dweck, Stanford University psychologist, arguing that “those who are not allowed to make mistakes don’t develop the resilience or grit they need later in life to overcome challenges
EXPERT OPINIONS: A NEw DEVELOPMENTAL STAgE According to Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, author of Emerging Adults in America: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties (2010), a new developmental stage has been created between adolescence and young adulthood. Scholarly attention devoted to this period has boomed in recent years and it is now widely referred to among scholars as “emerging adulthood.” Arnett’s college textbook, Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach, has been in print since 2000 and is now in its fourth edition.
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or pick themselves up when they do fail. Perfectionists are far more likely to be depressed and anxious, and in college they are more likely to commit suicide.” This need for balance expresses itself differently at different stages of life. In the 40s and 50s, time out takes the form of rest, meditation and stillness more than a quest for identity. But laying a strong emotional foundation in one’s 20s is an important asset to carry forward to handle the stresses and responsibilities of later adulthood such as child rearing and providing for one’s family. That foundation might consist of keeping a balance between practicing skills with great tenacity and taking time to reflect and recharge. Whatever the stage of life, there are strong arguments to be made in favor of breaking routine by taking time out. Pursued properly, time outs foster focus, direction, and the agility to achieve more of what we want in life. The challenge of this yin and yang balancing act is to know when and how to pause. But the pauses do matter, which gives the composition of the adult self a hint of a Wordsworthian poetic process: “It takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”
7.3.10 Longyearbyen
7.5.10 Arctic Terns
7.28.10 Between Brugge and Damme
8.17.10 Pilanesburg game Park
A PICTURE A DAY: THE MEYERS’ SABBATICAL PHOTO BLOg “Time out” is not the first phrase that comes to mind when describing the sabbatical that faculty members Alice and Kurt Meyer took during the 2010—2011 school year. Rather than take a break from teaching, the indefatigable Meyers spent August through December working at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. In their travels, they ranged from the Arctic tundra to Patagonia, and from Vietnam to the Amazon, all along keeping a “one-a-day” photo blog as they went. Here are a few of their images. See them all at: www.thacher.org/magazine/spring2011.
11.30.10 At School in Soweto
1.3.11 Singapore Harbor
1.30.11 Rice Paddies in Bali
2.4.11 Balinese School
TIME AwAY MULTIPLIES gROwTH Woody Halsey CdeP 1965 and the aims of School Year Abroad
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very thacher stuDent knows that “There’s something about the outside of a horse ....” One former Thacher “fac brat”/alum/teacher could substitute “spending a year in a foreign country” for “the outside of a horse” as an equally lifechanging proposition. Beyond mastering a new language, adjusting to a new culture, and becoming more self-sufficient, the traveler gains self-knowledge and a greater global perspective. As the president and former executive director of School Year Abroad (SYA), Woody Halsey II CdeP 1965 has witnessed tremendous growth and maturation in the SYA’s 6,000 students during their years abroad. “They return with a humble appreciation of the complex challenges that face the world today,” Woody explains, “Along with an awareness that cultural values and political traditions lead countries to approach those problems differently, they become broad-minded, well-trained citizens of the world, often with a deep desire to make their own contribution to benefit the world.” Originally founded to allow students to live for one school year with a foreign family while 20 spring 2011
earning U.S. graduation credits and preparing for selective U.S. colleges and universities, SYA now offers six programs in Spain, France, China, Italy, India, and Vietnam, with an average of 60 students at each campus. Beyond learning English and math in English, students spend 10 hours weekly studying their new language, as well as local history and culture from native-tongued teachers. The programs are rounded out by opportunities for athletic, artistic, musical, community service, and educational travel. The Vietnam curriculum varies from others in that it focuses on sustainable development, offering AP Science, AP Economics, history, and culture combined with service learning, thereby enabling students
to learn about issues such as micro-lending, water supply/treatment, conservation, public health, the role of NGOs, and international trade. Woody is retiring this summer with plans of returning to France, brushing up on his French, and spending more time with his family. He expects SYA will continue to expand its curriculum and pedagogy to incorporate 21st Century issues. SYA’s board may add a Latin American program, as well as a gap-year option or summer programs. The organization is innovative and nimble enough to entertain these options while still providing a transformative experiences for high school students. —Jane D. McCarthy
At Thacher, it’s not always easy to distinguish time out from time on task. Non-academic pursuits have their own intensity, as evidenced here by Shravan Rajasekaran ‘13. Quite often (below), finding a healthy mix involves balancing shades of gray.
Addie with co-workers at Samata Health Project; the Taj Majal; a decorated elephant in Northern India.
wHAT wAS I DOINg IN INDIA? By Addie Hearst CdeP 2001
“H
e says ‘you are a foreIgner.’ He wants to know what are you doing here.” Jayanthi translated for me as we climbed in a rickshaw to head home after my first day of work at Samata Health Project in Bangalore, India. It was a good question. What was I doing here? How did I end up flying to the other side of the world to a country I had never been to, to live in a city where I knew no one, where I didn’t speak a word of the language, to start a job I knew pretty much nothing about when I boarded the plane. By the time I graduated college in Vermont, I was starting to feel a little trapped in the “bubble.” I wanted to see and experience a world without that soapy sheen surrounding me. I was interested in health and happened to ask just the right person—one willing to have a recent college graduate do her literature reviews and help around the office. The work I did at Samata Health Project could have been done from my home of San Francisco, but I would have missed so much meaning sitting in a cozy kitchen booth sipping a perfectly heated soy latte. Instead I drank sweet, milky tea every morning, took a bus to work where little children stared at me and clung to their mother’s chest when I walked by, and spent a 22 spring 2011
solid month trying to remember to look left when I crossed the street. While I learned an incredible amount from reading and summarizing articles, or creating policy briefs, my real learning was not at my desk. My steepest learning curve was in the day to day. Activities like lunch with our outreach workers, who were from the communities where our study took place, were far more informative. I discovered they woke up at 5 a.m. every morning to make breakfast and lunch for their husbands and children, come to work for eight hours, go home to make dinner, and then go to bed themselves. It was considered a privilege to work and have their own money, and they were expected to pull their weight at home or they would have to quit the job. At times, I felt frustrated trying to abide by rules I didn’t agree with: hearing, for example, about how our adult-female study participants needed the consent of their husbands or mothers-in-law to participate in our study. There were also random events—caught by chance—that made me throw my head back in laughter, like the time I was walking to work and saw a little girl run out of her home to use the bathroom in the field across the way. Other times, my idyllic world was shattered by the harshness of the reality of most women, like
the time I was trying to negotiate the cost of my ride home after dark, only to be told by the rickshaw driver “as a woman you shouldn’t talk so much.” About halfway through the trip, I read a book about families living in Mott Haven, a neighborhood in New York City. I realized that while it’s appealing to live abroad, India is certainly not the only place in the world that deserves attention for issues like poverty, health disparities, or inequalities in education and quality of life. I never needed to leave home to address any of these issues. And so I discovered the real answer to the question of why I was in India. I had come for myself. I left the US boasting that I was going to investigate social determinants of health, help find interventions to prevent HIV infection, and discover the world. I came back knowing that it was all for me: My learning. My discovery. And, dare I admit it, my medical school application. Today my “me time” is fewer and far between, and certainly is not found in sevenmonth time chunks, but I never would have survived medical school without it. Whatever form my “time out” takes, it’s still used to disconnect and re-center, and it’s still for my own reflection, my own learning, and my own vacation from the bubble.
“ESCAPE FROM THE TIgER BUT THEN MEET THE CROCODILE” By Deloria Many Grey Horses Lane CdeP 2001
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t Is 4:58 a.m., as the brightly colored double-decker bus descends into the Mae Sot Valley. We pass rice paddies, factory workers, water buffalo, and Buddhist monks who stand out in their orange robes as they embark on their spiritual journey through the streets at dawn. The locals and the monks make their daily exchange of food and prayers. Mae Sot, also known as the “City of Exiles,” is a small town in western Thailand that is separated from Burma by a small river. Each day hundreds of illegal migrant workers cross this river, in innertubes, with hopes of finding work. Its population is made up of 70 percent Burmese refugees, political prisoners, activists, and mi-
grant workers simply trying to survive in their daily lives as they support their families. Since 1962, hundreds of thousands of Burmese have been forced to flee to Thailand to escape the brutal treatment of the Burmese military junta and oppressive government. Burma’s 59-year civil war is the longest and most ignored in the world’s history. Once in Thailand the illegal refugees are constantly in fear of human rights abuses including murder, torture in detention, extortion, sexual abuse, forced labor, and countless other abuses. One of our students shared with us a story of a group of Burmese migrant workers who spent weeks building a house only to have their employer turn them in to the Thai
police for deportation back to Burma instead of payment for their work. Time is a different beast in this place. As the refugees often say, “escape from the Tiger but meet the Crocodile”. My boyfriend, Francisco Violich, and I have left our house in Berkeley for the year and started work traveling throughout Southeast Asia on the ground with indigenous youth community organizations. The Southeast Asia Regional Cooperation in Human Development (SEARCH) project we work for is dedicated to human rights, child protection, and ethnic minorities issues. Our efforts in Deep Social Networking (DSN) specifically teach young indigenous people in Southeast Asia how to use social media for
SOULTALk By KC Hayes CdeP 1957 These are composites of my photography and verse that represent expressions of love, truth, and beauty around Agape, the Greek term for sharing and caring. Each week when I compose them, both through the camera lens and in verse, I pause for a moment, think of the soulful experiences that have transpired during the week, and try to incorporate them into a visual interpretation. Perhaps you will find a piece of your soul tucked into one. “Beauty is truth, truth beauty;—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” —Keats
“in the beginning, the morning light dispelled the darkness of the first day. And it was good. So it is that the Spirit brightens, when we feel understood.” —Lake Ashuelot at Dawn, Washington, New Hampshire
PHoto: Addie HeArSt (fACing PAge); KC HAYeS (tHiS PAge).
“i find my mind is captured by the way the bluebird sings; But my Soul is more enraptured by the beauty of its wings.” —Mountain Bluebird, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
“May the light of the new Year shine brightly on your path, to lead you where there is no fear, and love is meant to last.” —Curtis Island Lighthouse, Camden, Maine
The Thacher school 23
greater good in connecting with other activists around the world, expressing themselves online, raising human rights awareness, and giving a voice to their community. Once we arrive at the bus station we make our way on bicycles to meet our Burmese students in a hidden office safe from the Thai police and safe to share what’s on their minds. The organization we work with here is called, the Kayan New Generation Youth (KNGY). Every six months this youth organization brings Burmese youth between the ages of 15 and 30 across the border to Mae Sot, where they are immersed in education classes and training. Then they spend the next six months hiking across restricted black areas in Burma, crossing mountains, leech-infested jungles, swamps, and rivers to secretly teach classes about democracy, self-health, and basic education to their fellow indigenous people throughout the Karen Region of Burma. When we first begin training with KNGY youth, it is so strange that they never ask us questions. In fact, in order for us to have them ask questions we have to make it mandatory. Later, as our students begin to open up to us, we discover that in Burma you are beaten if you ask your teacher a question. My heart sinks when I hear this as it reminds me of how different my educational experience was at Thacher, where we were constantly encouraged to not only ask questions but also to voice our opinions. It is a pleasure and an honor to bring these forms of teaching to students who probably never even
ously brutal Burmese prison. It is a dreamed of learning like this. really powerful experience for both our After developing a website for KNGY, we students and the people we interviewed. decide to put our focus on creating a human Over the next year, Franco and I had the rights documentary. The youth are a little hesiopportunity to do this type of training with tant about picking a topic for the documentary so we decided to find communities and individ- six other indigenous youth organizations both in rural and urban areas in other countries in uals in the Mae Sot community willing to tell Southeast Asia including Cambodia, northern us their stories, their hopes, and their dreams. Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. We have to be careful about going around Mae One teaching from the Buddha that sumSot as our students do not have their proper marizes what I gained from this experience is, documents, but the people in these communi“Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, ties are also living in fear and want to talk to us. Over the next four days we conduct over 15 kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.” interviews with members of the Mae Sot comfor more information please visit our munity. They range from two young migrant website at www.deepsocialnetworking.org. working children to a political prisoner exiled to Mae Sot after serving 18 years in a notori-
MALAMA By Stephen Huyler CdeP 1969
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n June 2010 I was invited to take time out from my own writing schedule and participate in the Beyond Sustainability Initiative, a “think tank” composed of 64 leaders of primary organizations attempting to implement sustainable practices globally. All of us were aware that with the best of intentions, sustainable practices are not taking root rapidly enough to have the profound effects necessary to change the negative course of our world. We were cautioned that contemporary language and ways of thinking directly ob-
24 spring 2011
struct positive outcomes. It had been suggested that we might be able to learn from the wisdom of indigenous peoples whose societies had successfully practiced sustainability throughout history. We were hosted for five days by a group of native Hawai’ian elders, teachers, and practitioners on the Big Island of Hawai’i on the edge of Kiluaea Volcano. On our first day, one of the teachers told us: “In order to truly absorb what we Hawai’ians are offering you, while you are here you must let go of time
and constraints…Allow yourself to just be present and absorb what you experience.” The insights given by and through our Hawai’ian hosts during my relatively short time here were profound and deeply shifted the ways in which the sustainability leaders viewed the implementation of global policies. It turned out that my own 40 years conducting field research into the cultures and belief systems of India helped me to mediate between these two very different groups of people. I was asked by them to write the article in terms of
PHotoS: deloriA MAnY greY HorSeS lAne (fACing PAge); StePHen HuYler (tHiS PAge)
Deloria’s photo (facing page) of a Burmese refugee community in Thailand. This page: On the last day of Malama meetings, Steve Huyler caught a rainbow arcing out from the volcano; discussions were captured in detailed concept drawings.
continue to exist, we must accept at the deepmy personal sensory experience as a handout est level the perfect symbiosis of everything for the UN preparatory meetings for the 2012 within it. Nothing is without its purpose or Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero. A small exvalue. Every aspect of our globe/island must be cerpt follows: honored and cared for. Just as a small island Hawai’i is a unique model for sustainabilmust carefully monitor its resources if it is goity. As a group of islands right in the center of ing to continue to exist, our entire Earth must our globe’s largest ocean, it was for centuries similarly recognize that all are fully dependent isolated from other civilizations. All of its reupon the health and welfare of even the smallsources were held within its boundaries and its est of our constituents. peoples were conscious of the need to protect It was not an easy process. We had been told and share them appropriately. The concept of before we arrived that we were there to help Malama—by caring for you, I care for me—was “create a community of leadership on a platform the foundation of their culture. One’s mana, of reverence.” But what did this mean? personal power, was derived solely from one’s One of the preparatory statements said: relationship with others. In a society based “All of those participating in the Beyond Susupon this primary care, the key question in tainability Initiative are deeply embedded in every situation is: “Has everyone been fed? Did powerful systems, and many have channels you have enough?” Not excess, but enough. If and connections to the underlying architecture we as a planet could learn to always ask those questions and be truly sensitive to the answers, of power in its many forms. Now is the time to put those resources to work, to help hospice many of our problems would be solved. the old systems so that they may die gracefully, Similar to the way in which the volcano Pele midwife the new and steward the nascent so created the islands by bursting Her flaming that we can accelerate the emergence of a set power up from the ocean’s floor, so we were of values that restores right relationship to the being impelled into a new understanding. Not Earth and each other.” All profound concepts, one of many isolated elements, each governing but how could we, in a few days, make the its own direction, but rather the recognition changes to ourselves necessary to engender that our entire Earth is an island. In order to
this revolution in thought and action? Each of us began our meetings with a profound sense of urgency held within the recognition of our very human limitations. In malama, the Hawai’ian concept of interdependence, every aspect of existence, matter and spirit, thought, action, and reaction, is directly connected to one another. Nothing is isolated. We are each integral and responsible members of the whole family of creation. We were encouraged to contemplate just how we might be able to spread this awareness. One of our leaders commented: “Studies show that one does not need to convince a majority of people before a shift happens in a society. If a powerful idea becomes imbedded into 5 percent of the population, early adopters, and is then accepted by 20 percent of the population, that idea will spread throughout the entire society.” During five days of intense, often rigorous experiences, we were shown that Malama, as practiced by the ancient Hawai’ians, could well be the key. for the complete article, please visit Thacher’s online magazine website: www.thacher.org/magazine/spring2011.
The Thacher school 25
In pursuit of balance (clockwise beginning top left), Ebony Davis ‘11 draws on a higher power as part of a prayer wheel project for Stephen Carter’s art class; Kaleb Kelbisow ‘12 takes a time out from lacrosse; Andrew Kim stretches toward shavasana during his afternoon yoga practice; and Jackson Baldwin ‘14 takes five à la Brubeck.
WOuLDN’T YOu LOVE A SABBATICAL? Guess what? You can have one. By Christine Carter, PhD, CdeP 1990
J
ust as lettIng agricultural fields rest ensures their greater productivity, letting ourselves have a significant break from our regular routine also makes us more productive—and happier. The academic sabbatical, a tradition that allows teachers to take a year off for every seven years teaching, comes from the cycle in which farmers used to let their fields lie fallow every seven years. But in today’s hyper-busy world, most people don’t take these sorts of breaks. “We are poisoned by the hypnotic belief,” writes Wayne Muller in his inspirational book Sabbath, “that good things come only through unceasing determination and tireless effort—and so we can never truly rest.” But it is a myth that we’ll only succeed through unceasing determination and tireless effort, of course. Yes, research does find that consistent and deliberate practice leads to elite performance in many fields. But focused work and consistent practice are not the same thing as unending work. Olympic athletes must rest or they get hurt. Fruit trees forced to produce for more than one season lose their ability to bear fruit. And we working stiffs can slowly develop sleep debt so deep and burnout so profound that we are left too exhausted to function. When health problems forced me to dramatically change my work schedule—cutting back 10 hours a week or more—something amazing happened: My productivity actually increased. 26 spring 2011
As a sociologist, I know that research shows that rest often does improve productivity. But somehow, I found it very difficult to actually internalize this in my own life; I was poisoned by that hypnotic belief, as Muller writes, that if I didn’t continually push through, my work would tank and my children and I would be left penniless. The concept of the sabbatical saved me. I couldn’t afford to take a full year off; frankly, I couldn’t afford to take even a week off (or so I thought). As I recovered from a nasty kidney infection and was treated for other chronic (stress-related) infections, I developed my own sabbatical plan. The idea is to take time regularly to rest, read—just goof around. Here’s how it works: Three or four times a year, I take a weeklong vacation. A real vacation—not the kind where your in-laws come for the holidays and the kids are home from school. I try to go somewhere where I can be totally unplugged (like Golden Trout in August!). once a month, I take a three-day weekend away from home. This might be an inexpensive camping trip, a meditation retreat, or a ski trip with the kids. No work and no email allowed. once a week, I take a full day off from all work and all chores. No computers get turned on. If I need to cook or shop for the upcoming week (or run errands or pay bills:
you get the idea) I do it on my non-sabbatical weekend day. Giving myself a full day of recovery to read and play every week is the most important thing that I do. once a day, I stop to rest. Usually, after lunch, I step outside and lie down in the sun on the lawn behind my office. My assistant has gotten used to my daily afternoon doze, and has even stopped eating lunch in front of her computer too! If it seems like I take a lot of time off, what I want you to know is that my career has taken off since I started taking these mini-sabbaticals. I’ve started a business, am writing a new book, and am on a speaking-and-media tour— all while maintaining my halftime job at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Did I mention I’m also a single mother? One of my readers wrote on my blog this morning: “When you hear someone say that they feel like they’ve lost themselves, maybe what they mean (at least some of the time) is that they’ve lost their sense of play. We become too serious as we grow older, grabbing onto life like a little child squeezing a baby bird. As if holding it tightly and seriously enough means it will always be safe and forever be ours.” Take your daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly sabbaticals, and watch the baby bird in you fly!
class notes…
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INDICATES REUNION YEAR
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CORRESPONDING PHOTO ABOVE
CHARLES TUTTLE shares, “I traveled to Romania and Bulgaria in November with Jane Carter, mother and grandmother of Thacher students. We had a great time. As an old man, I now have seven great-grandchildren. I still manage family ranches.” CHARLTON LEWIS and BUD LESTER met in March for a lovely evening of dinner and the theater in New York City. Bud came from California with his wife, Pat, and Charlton, who lives in the city, brought his companion, Roxane Witke. Charlton and Bud were roommates and best friends at Thacher, so they are especially gratified that their friendship continues. BEN HAMMETT writes, “I am dismayed with the congressional attacks on climate change science, after my seven years of church activity in support of legislation to help native populations adapt to climate change. In 2006, I visited the Barrier Island of Shishmaref, in the Chuchi Sea of the Second Peninsula Coast of Alaska, to study the effects of climate change on the Inupiats and the ecosystems on which they depend. Global warming has melted the permafrost and shore ice to the point that the island is washing away and the natives will lose their home and must move to the mainland. Their caribou and walrus supplies are part of their subsistence life style. Both are dwindling due to freezing rain covering the lichen on which the caribou depend and the lack of shore ice from which walrus fish.”
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BROOKS CRAWFORD shares, “I am still working full time, splitting work between my private practice and Director of Eye Pathology and Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical School. I received Alumnus of the Year for the UCSF Medical School last June. Unfortunately I will miss our big Thacher Reunion this year because I long ago committed to giving a talk at an international medical meeting in Helsinki. I was hit by a car while bicycling to work in February which resulted in a broken fibula and clavicle but fortunately no head injury (saved by my helmet).”
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DAVID LAYLIN spent six weeks in Iran last winter. He spent most of the time inspecting 20 different wildlife parks and other protected areas north and south of the Northern Desert (Dasht-e-Kavir). TOM BELL and his wife, Charlotte, had many amazing adventures helping build a school in Nepal, which involved four-day treks to transport building materials uphill to the school location. Through the financial efforts of the Bell Family Foundation, the Ghilung School was completed in September 2008 in one of the most remote and inaccessible regions in Nepal. CHRISTOPHER HENZE writes, “The Thacher Library has accepted for the archives my edited letters home from Peace Corps service in the Ivory Coast from1964 to 1966: ‘How It Was: Up Country in West Africa in the 60s.’ If any classmate or other member of the Thacher community is interested, I would be happy to e-mail the document.”
My Duck Marsh church ANTHONY ARNOLD CdeP 1946 If you had to choose a natural environment that was closest to a place of worship, the suisun Marsh would not necessarily top your list. you might find its esthetic attributes wanting. In terms of sounds, its most obvious noises don’t measure up to a church organ or Buddhist pagoda chimes. They neither inspire nor soothe but merely reflect this century’s preoccupation with urgent travel, from the interstate and railroad rumbles to the overhead jet engine screams of aircraft from nearby travis airbase. only rarely are there blessed silences when just the right wind direction and pauses in traffic combine to screen out civilization. Its smells are not those of flowers or incense or human perfumes but of long-dead organisms that probably did not smell too good when still alive and whose death did not increase their social acceptability. The landscape on a dull overcast day might strike you as merely a boring monotony of scrubby vegetation and dirty water. and to the skin, the temperatures of a winter morning would far exceed the degree of discomfort that the christian religion demands of the truly pious. The frigid stone floors of a properly austere cathedral are positively toasty by comparison. But if these are your reactions, your ears hear not, your nose senses not, your eyes see not, and your skin just needs a bit of weathering. It is all quite different for me.... There’s more to Anthony’s story. You can read it entirely at www.thacher.org/magazine/spring2011. 28 spring 2011
The congregation of two prepares for a service
David Laylin ’55 in the desert in Iran with a colleague
How to Submit Digital PHotoS: • Shoot using your camera’s best photo setting. • Files should be 200k or larger. • Save photos as JPEG files. • Identify every person in the photo, state time and place, and suggest a caption. We can accept good, old-fashioned prints as well. Unfortunately, we cannot accept photocopies or images from magazines or newspapers.
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DAVID MARSTEN wrote about a “sensational trip” to New Zealand in March. “We spent a whole month investigating the North and South Islands, where there was magnificent scenery, and great food and wine (Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough; Pinot Noir in Otago). The New Zealanders are the special reward—friendly, helpful and with a terrific sense of humor. Despite the earthquake in Christchurch (which was devastating), the country pulls itself up by its bootstraps (a ‘can do’ attitude). Added to that, the soundest nuclear policy of any nation on Earth. But for grandchildren I would move there in a second. If you have not visited, by all means go.” JAMES McREYNOLDS writes, “I am just finishing my 37th year of teaching psychology and anthropology at the college/university level. While my age is suggesting retirement, I still love my work; but I know I am getting older when the 9 o’clock news comes on too late. I became a grandpa about a month ago and, with the summer just around the corner, I am getting my cameras and fishing poles ready for action.” BRUCE DONNELL looks forward to working at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara again this summer from July 10 to August 7, where he will be directing Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. There will be two resulting performances at the Granada Theater: Friday, August 5, and Sunday, August 7. He would enjoy seeing any Thacher friends while he is in Santa Barbara. STEPHEN GRIGGS shares, “After working at Yale as a coach for 22 years, I have become involved in a service program that brings Yale alumni, family, and friends together to help in neighboring countries. For four years, we have worked in Mexico (Monterrey) and the Dominican Republic. My son Colin has gone with me the past few years. We bring a smorgasbord of talents to bear in the communities where we go. The most recent group of 94 people included doctors, public health specialists, small-business advisors, teachers, coaches, and a construction team that built a house. Any Thacher and/ or Yale alums interested in becoming involved can contact me.” STU ERSKINE is living in Sarasota with his wife of 24 years and is still a senior independent consultant for Microsoft and Cisco, specializing in Internet Security for medical practices, banks, and foundations. Stu writes, “Sarasota gives me the beach lifestyle that permeated Southern California during the early 60s. This was before the California population explosion that ended those halcyon days. Being 64 in Sarasota is like being 40 in California: plenty of work, plenty of cheap golf, and endless beach days. Sarasota is California as it once was with fond memories of the little Thacher house in undiscovered Rincon.” TONY POWER divides his time between his three homes (really surf-safari camps—he is a partner) in the Andaman Islands, Phuket, and Bali. He is still working as an independent guide for several travel agencies doing anthropological and cultural trips in Southeast Asia. For two or three
two ways to submit photos: 1. e-mail digital files as attachments to alumni@thacher.org. 2. Mail prints or digital discs to: The Thacher school alumni office 5025 Thacher Road. Ojai, CA 93023
life changing in inDia JOHN LELAND MOTHERSHEAD CdeP 1956 In 2004, ThERESE And I went to India with Rotary International to immunize children aged 1—5 years against polio. arriving in India a week early, we took a one-week whirlwind trip of the obligatory tourist sights in northern India, and then proceeded to delhi, where we split into groups of four and were picked up by Rotarians from as far away as 150 kilometers. on National Immunization day, we were driven to six different polio-vaccine stations around Muzzafarnagar, a sugar cane “town” of about a million people, where we provided a draw for the children, as many of them had never seen a blonde in their lives. We gave away stickers to every child who came for the drops as well as to the press, who were out in force. The most-often asked question was, “What prompted you to come here, halfway around the world, just to give polio drops?” They found it quite remarkable that we were there at our own expense merely to do something about preventing polio. The next two days were spent going door-to-door in the Muslim neighborhoods, with open sewers down each side of the walkways, trying to persuade the women to bring out their children, with moderate success. (They had been told that the Indian government was sterilizing their children under the guise of giving polio drops.) subsequently, great inroads have been made towards vaccinating all children in Uttar Pradesh State, with fewer than 200 cases reported in 2010. This was a life-changing experience for my wife and me in that it’s humbling to think that just maybe a few of the children we met, some carried by their 6- or 7-yearold siblings, may not get polio due to our efforts. The Thacher school 29 01
class notes…
LINS. Son Xerxes continues to teach physical education at Windsor Middle School. Daughter Dakota, an attorney in San Francisco, is raising two wonderful grandsons, Edison and Malloy Anthony, now 3 and 1. Son James is instrumental in a new restaurant in San Francisco, The Beast and the Hare. And our daughter Angela is starting her master’s program in environmental science at Yale in August.”
months each year, Tony can be found in Kauai, where he often visits with GREG KAMM who owns a construction company in Lihue. Both Tony and Stu are planning to be in Ojai in 2014, “if their souls have not turned off, relaxed, and gone downstream.” DICK LIVERMORE’s 20 years as a Superior Court Judge was celebrated in the Menlo online paper http://inmenlo.com.
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NICHOLAS WHITNEY writes, “My wife Elan and I regularly get together with Ann and DAVID COLEMAN and Susie and KIT COL-
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John Taylor ’65 and his wife, Lynn, driving their horse.
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More stately Mansions JOHN M. TAYLOR CdeP 1965 dARknESS CAmE qUICkly as christmas eve settled into the thin air of the high plains. But here in New Mexico the darkness of christmas eve is softened by thousands of flickering lights as luminarias, small brown bags holding a small amount of sand to stabilize votive candles, line streets, fences, and driveways to light the way for the christ child to visit to each home. A few light flakes of snow wisp past on the evening breeze as I brush Rebel. he flicks his ears and nickers, curious about being cleaned at a time when he would normally stand in the paddock, cock one hind leg, and doze. I pull the harness with its black leather collar and shiny metal hames and bells from the storage container and dust off the wagonette. harnessing in the dark is a bit of a challenge, but I manage to get all of the belts tightened and keepers tucked. lynn, our daughters, and Emma and madison, our granddaughters, come from the house, laughing and chatting and bringing cups of hot chocolate that steam wonderful odors into the cold New Mexico evening. everyone loads up; and with a concession to local traffic rules, I hang lanterns on the wagon and clip on the “slow Moving Vehicle” sign. With a soft cluck, we’re off, singing christmas carols, drinking cocoa, and taking in the dancing luminarias at a pace much different than the folks passing us in their warm, enclosed cars. our pace allows the entire scene—sight, sound, smell, and taste—to envelop us.... There’s much more to John’s story at www.thacher.org/magazine/spring2011. 30 spring 2011
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ROBERT BALDWIN shares, “My book, Making Money in Construction: A Business Guide for Contractors and Subcontractors, will be published by Stormy Night Press and is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. With the book done, I officially retired from construction and am now in the real estate business as an agent in Phoenix, Arizona.” ANDREW KILLE was recently featured as a “Silicon Valley Sparkplug” in a project sponsored by San Jose State University and CreaTV of San Jose. “The overall goal of the project is to start a conversation about how to support change in our organizations, schools, and communities by looking at how some people were already doing it. Over the past year, project members taped interviews with the seven sparkplugs, and filmed their activities and community work. In my case, this included projects with my organization, Interfaith Space (www.interfaithspace.org), and planning team meetings leading up to the creation of the Silicon Valley Interreligious Council in early March. You can find the video interviews, along with much more information about connecting community in Silicon Valley, at www. sparkplugsproject.org.” CAMERON WEAVER writes, “I spent two weeks in January rafting through the Grand Canyon. Included in our group of 12 were my daughter and her new Kiwi husband. It was the trip of a lifetime. Cold at night but sunny and almost warm each day. We were challenged by rapids large and small and were awed by the magnificent and ever-changing canyon. One cannot find words to adequately describe the experience. If you ever get a chance to go, do it!”
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On February 19, 2011, an article appeared in the Washington Post that featured the design insight that DANIEL GREGORY brings to Houseplans.com. The March/April 2011 edition of American Builders Quarterly published an article about THAYER HOPKINS’ work and some of his architectural firm’s designs. TIM HOLLIDAY returned safely from Kabul, Afghanistan, after serving as an attorney with the Army Corps of Engineers. GEORGE ARNOLD writes, “Life is good, if a little hectic. I am currently working two jobs, one at the New Zealand Ministry of Health, and the other at NZ Trade & Enterprise, our economic development and trade promotion agency. I could not think of anything I would rather be doing for a career, but it would be nice if they did not both expect 100 percent of my time. Our
Photos (L to R): Robert Baldwin ‘67; Cameron Weaver ’67 and his daughter, Carrie, on a Colorado River rafting trip; Thomas Morgan ’75 and his youngest son, Tom
son, PETER ARNOLD ’05, is in flight training for the Air Force at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Texas. Our youngest daughter is in high school (where wife Jan is a teacher’s aide), and the older two are in college. We welcome visitors, so please let us know if you’re passing through New Zealand.” BRYAN BECKHAM rooted for the Orange Team at this year’s Big Gymkhana on May 7. His freshman daughter, ANNIE BECKHAM ’14, was on the Orange Team riding a good horse named Toby. RANDOLPH HEAD shares, “Being chair of the University of California Riverside (UCR) History Department has kept me more than busy. The ongoing state budget crisis and the destructive cuts to the state’s universities that are now on the table keep me awake nights. We are extremely proud at UCR about how we educate students from across the state, but, without resources, there is simply no way we can sustain the quality of our work. However, I will have a respite in the coming year, since I have been awarded an NEH fellowship at the Newberry Library in Chicago. I will use the time to finish researching and to write my next book, a history of European archives from 1400–1700. Can the miniseries be far behind?”
1975
HARRY HANSON writes that he is “currently serving as a trustee of the New England Aquarium and as a director of the Trout and Salmon Foundation to conserve and protect the world’s ocean habitat and cold water fisheries nationwide.” THOMAS MORGAN reports that “there is life after divorce.” TJ shares, “Both Jae and Tom, my sons, live with me. Things are going well with us. Tomasito (my youngest son), Fernanda (my fiancée), and I re-
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cently returned from Spain and Morocco. Yes, I did say fiancée (see Engagements). I caught her in a weak moment and I am a very lucky man! Both my boys are doing well with their studies, and the house is in the midst of a massive remodeling project. Amongst her other talents, Fernanda is a contractor, specializing in mesquite floors, granite kitchens, and bathrooms. If we survive, the house is going to be amazing. I am still gigging occasionally, although I do not have as much time as I would like for music. I hope all my friends from Thacher are as happy as I am.” NOAH RIFKIN is now Associate Director, Technology Relations, at Praxair, Inc.
*1976
1978 1979
JOSH ROSENBLATT writes, “I took a new job at IBM last spring as a reference writer and am loving it. Our oldest daughter, Sarah, earned her architecture degree from RPI last year and is now working on her master’s in historic preservation at Columbia. She recently became engaged! Our youngest daughter, Ali, is in her third year at Sarah Lawrence, studying abroad this year. Fall semester was Cuba and spring semester in Ghana. Looking forward to returning to Ojai for Reunion and will have my wife, Kate, with me this time.” KEVIN FLYNN shares, “I am still selling real estate in the Bay Area and fishing the East Cape of Baja. Maybe I owe the last part to Shagam’s Baja camping trips!” PAUL MANNING’s interest, when it comes to time away, is a
tiMe to get Back on the court
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DON OSBOURNE CdeP 1976 I lEARnEd TO PlAy TEnnIS during my last year at Thacher. Thacher’s fencing instructor (fencing was offered at Thacher in the 70s), an architect named Albert Urenda, and his wife, Irene, were beautiful, exemplary, and largely unseen members of the Thacher community. committed, loyal, caring…I couldn’t have asked for better mentors and friends. The rains had stopped; the smell of orange trees bloomed everywhere. spring was so beautiful; Mr. urenda suggested it would be a good idea to play some tennis. Wood racquets, early preparation, flat strokes. keep your wrist straight. It was a wonderful feeling to play on courts overlooking the Valley. like every student, I worked the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament. That year I learned about Connors, Borg, lendl. In June 2010, I decided to pick up the sport again, because I wanted more physical exercise in my life, but not the three-times-a-week dreadmill of 24-hour Fitness. The game has changed—new equipment, new skills. Graphite racquets and compact, whipped strokes. Flick your wrist. federer, Nadal, djokovic. The sport gives endless puzzles to solve—speed, spin, placement. tennis is oxygen; I practice every day. I’m learning how to “play the ball,” to solve the specific problem in front of me. a favorite tennis quote from Nadal compels me. he said, “your opponents may get injured, one month out, three months out, plus the mental fatigue…everybody has their chance.” time to get back on the court.
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class notes…
*1981 1982
After selling her publishing business, HEATHER FINDLAY is studying for her master’s in psychology and training as a psychotherapist at a community health clinic in San Francisco. She and her wife, Alice, restored her family home in Belvedere, California, and live there with their dog, Fred. DREW HORTON writes, “After 15 years in the California wine industry and having held virtually every possible position in sales, marketing, promotion, hospitality, and wine production and bottling, I have accepted the position of head winemaker for a start-up winery operation in Southern Minnesota, near the town of Mankato. We will be utilizing ‘cold hardy’ grapes recently developed by the University of Minnesota, varietals like ‘Marquette’ and ‘La Crescent.’ We will also be purchasing grapes from the best vineyards in California, Oregon, and Washington. The name is ‘Chankaska Creek Ranch and Winery.’ Suffice to say that, having spent the last 38 years living in California, this is going to be quite a big change for me. I am very happy.” MARIAN HUNTINGTON SCHINSKE and her nonprofit, NovatoSpirit, have been nominated recently for two prestigious awards: the Heart of Marin Award for “Achievement in Nonprofit Excellence” amongst all nonprofits in Marin County, and The Bay Citizen’s Citizen of Tomorrow Award, recognizing individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area’s nine counties who solve problems in their communities in creative ways. “I am seen as helping low-income youth overcome financial barriers to physical fitness in Novato, where residents struggle with high rates of obesity and diabetes.” PETER KARLSBERG shares some “Brief news about me: Still love my work, especially the cancer surgery and the facial rejuvenation stuff. (It is like art class on human faces; my heart rate and BP go down when I am doing facial reconstructions and rejuvenation.) I also enjoy helping people with bad rashes and even picking zits, my other secret passion, but it is frustrating when insurances pay less than my overhead for that work. Any solutions, my fellow Thacher alums? I think we should tax unhealthy foods and subsidize healthy food. Then we would be able to pay for basic universal health care and reduce obesity, the number one cause of heart disease, diabetes, disability, and big cancer risk factors! My 18-year-old son Ben and I just returned from visiting Stanford,
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32 spring 2011
Berkeley, UCSC, and UC Davis. He loves Berkeley, as do I. Wish him luck! My 15-year-old son Aaron is a straight ‘A’ honors sophomore at The Cate School and loves it. He has found his passions in aviation engineering and existential angst! Now who do I cheer for in Thacher versus Cate sports, Michael?” KELLY MALONEY writes, “I have been living in Coronado (San Diego) for the past seven years and absolutely love it! I divide my time between my kids, playing polo, and breeding polo horses at my ranch in Oregon. I cannot believe the love for horses that I developed at Thacher has become my life’s work. My 13-year-old daughter, Bryanna, seems to have her heart set on staying at home for high school. We will see if I can convince my son (Zachary, age 10) that Thacher is the place to be. E-mail me or find me on Facebook if you want to connect.” ALISON TERBELL NIKITOPOULOS writes: “My husband, Dimitris, has become permanent chair of mechanical engineering, so I have decided to stay home with kids for a while. With 11- and 15-year-olds (both boys), I feel like our time with them is running out. Any college-search tips?”
1983
EVAN BURNS KHATTAB shares, “My family and I continue to live in Bahrain, watching history in action. It has been quite a lesson listening to the world news while witnessing the protests at the ‘Square’ Pearl Roundabout. Bahrain is off the front pages, but the fallout continues. Normalcy is relative when tanks and black-masked soldiers sit at the intersections. I wondered if some revolutionary fever had traveled with me. I visited Cairo in November, Saudi Arabia in December, and Oman in February before returning to Bahrain and the March protests. If so, I hope I did not carry the fever to Dubai when I attended the International Literary Festival mid-March. Dubai is our Plan B. Perhaps meeting Karen Armstrong, who spoke about her book Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life quarantined the virus. Karen Armstrong gave me hope when she described her recent visits to Pakistan. It is Pakistani businessmen, not the NGOs or government, who are working towards positive change by embracing the principles of ‘The Charter for Compassion.’ They understand it may take a generation or three for the transformational change to take place, but they are willing to try amidst the bombs. I feel moved to do something here but am bound by what I call the ‘economics of silence.’ Instead I can only suggest to anyone interested in helping to heal divisions between our citizens and neighbors to sign on to Karen Armstrong’s charter—www.charterforcompassion.org. Peace and compassion start at home in our hearts. The Golden Rule common among every faith must take root within each of us before we can reach out to our family, friends, enemies and all of humanity. On a lighter note, I found Sunnyside, written by Thacher alum GLEN GOLD ‘81, in the Bahrain Duty-Free Bookshop. Congrats to Glen.” DOUGLAS HOLT married Julie Kae Herbolich in October, 2010 (see Marriages). Doug shares, “It was during a tremendous rainstorm and the night the San Francisco Giants clinched a berth to the World Series. Rain has always been a blessing; it rained when I first visited Thacher and UC
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passion to compete in sailboat racing. “I have owned a boat that I have been racing for 20 years now. It is a 33-foot old wooden sloop that still has an active fleet of 15 boats in the San Francisco Bay and eight fleets worldwide. I have had the chance to compete in the World Championships in Norway, Fishers Island, Rhode Island, and Northeast Harbor, Maine. I won the Nantucket Race Week in 2007 and competed in almost every one of the venues in which our worldwide fleet participates. This past summer, I helped my yacht club participate in a team racing event held in Newport, Rhode Island, hosted by the New York Yacht Club. It has been loads of fun and a great escape for me to find balance in life.”
Photos (L to R): Peter Karlsberg ‘82; Douglas Holt ’83 wedding from top: Randy Renick ‘81, Andrew Wallop ‘83, Rick Saveri ‘83, Dave Herron ‘81, Bruce Phillips ‘83, Wes Richardson ‘80, Launce Gamble ‘84, Bayard Hollins ‘84, Jack Kuechler ‘81, bride Julie Holt, groom Douglas Guthrie Holt Jr. ‘83, and Christian Huebner ‘83; William Gentry and Mark Fickes ’84 with their 6-year-old twins, Galvin and Zachary; John Webb ‘84; Kevin Grant ’84 with his 6-year-old twins, Neil and Anita; Girardoni family: Julia ’15, Johannes ’85, Heidi ’86, and Helena.
Berkeley. I am counting on all CdeP 1983 classmates, spouses, significant others, and children to look forward to our 30-year reunion in 2013.”
1984
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MARK FICKES and his family traveled to India last December for a three-week visit with KEVIN GRANT and his family. The four adults and two sets of twins (all age 6) had a fantastic time traveling to New Delhi, the Rajasthan region, and the Taj Majal. JOHN WEBB shares, “Moved at the beginning of 2011 to Raleigh, N.C., to be closer to PETER THACHER. Selling fancy blue jeans; what else would/should it be? Come and visit.”
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1985
MANISH BHAKTA writes, “I often have to drive up to Pismo Beach near San Luis Obispo for business and I think of Thacher every time I pass Ventura on the 101. I am sorry I missed the last reunion; would have been great to see all those who made it. I have been in the hotel business full-time for the past seven years and the last two have made it feel more like 20. With my partners, we invest in and reposition hotels, all in Califor-
nia, so the economy has really made things tough. I continue to live in Orange County with my wife, Hina, and two boys, Taren (age 12) and Sahil (age 7). I am starting to worry with all the classmates whose children are attending Thacher whether my kids will measure up? My best to all and hope to see anyone who is in the Orange County area.” JOHANNES GIRARDONI shares, “After 22 exciting years in Soho, New York City, Heidi and I are switching coasts and will make Los Angeles our new base this fall. Heidi’s been busy developing her new practice in life coaching and is continuing her work with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. I am preparing for an installation that will be included at the 54th Venice Biennale this summer. Our two daughters, Julia (14) and Helena (11), are thrilled about the move as well. Julia is heading to Thacher in September and Helena will be attending middle school at Crossroads in Santa Monica. We look forward to connecting with Los Angeles CdePs in the near future!” MELISSA JENSEN WILLIAMS is in Philadelphia, teaching at Penn and writing for teens. Her next book, The Fine Art of Truth or Dare, will be out at the end of the year. “Parenting pre-teens (and one is only 5;
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talking to strangers
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LAUREN SCHLESSINGER McMULLEN CdeP 1981 AS A ChIld I was called “shy.” Prior to being Shy, I was a Rapt Observer. I was the designer of a quiet world inhabiting sheets of lined paper on the coffee table of my childhood home. It was only when Mom remarked that I “should be outside playing with the other kids,” that I began to recognize that my peaceful existence was flawed and, perhaps, shameful. The first-grade teacher, Mrs. horsewell, observing the problem of my introspection, moved my desk next to that of our classroom’s other silent child, laurie Throckmorton. A few years later, mom was laughing about the arrival of my new best friend: “laurie would come over and they would both sit in the house all day drawing!” until my mother’s casual admission, I hadn’t realized our friendship was Mrs. horsewell’s tidy solution to two small problems. several decades later finds me sitting in my therapist’s office, searching my mind for a problem other than my slight hangover. suddenly I blurt out: “I know I should be talking to the other parents at Remi’s softball games, but I would really rather be playing Scrabble on my phone.” Good thing my insurance paid for her professional expertise: “Maybe you shouldn’t bring your phone to the softball games.” all grown up, I sit at a computer making digital pictures all day. I meet with my clients and then return to the womb that is my home office. I listen to podcasts while I work. My dog sits on my feet. toward the end of the year, I was listening to nPR’s Science Friday when they interviewed a young scientist who was conducting an experiment called “The happiness survey.” always in favor of happiness and distractions, I clicked right over to the website and signed myself up.... There’s more to Lauren’s story. You can read it entirely at www.thacher.org/magazine/spring2011.
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wonder where that drama comes from...) gives me an entirely new appreciation for the Twichells, Birds, and Robinsons. I have two—they had decades!” JENNIFER NIELSEN DE FOREST writes, “I am still running a progressive high school in NYC, which has provided me a few interesting Thacher encounters this year. MOLLY TWICHELL PERRY was part of a conference we hosted with NYU—she gave a fascinating talk with rave reviews on how unique schools are challenged to stay true to their missions. (Imagine an Extra-Day Trip with cell phones!) Also, I had the truly surprising experience of Johannes showing up with his high-school-aged daughter as a ninth-grade applicant, and then a few weeks later, in walks new kindergarten dad STEVE KONG ‘86. While I am wholly disappointed Johannes’ daughter did not choose my school, how great that she will be at our school!” Also in the field of education, ERIC GROSS shares, “After six years as principal of Soquel Elementary, I have resigned to accept a new position in Santa Cruz as director of equity and categorical programs. My main task will be to design effective programs to assist migrants, English learners, and socio-economically disadvantaged students in closing the achievement gap between them and their more successful peers.” JAMES TAYLOR shares, “After 11 years in the land development business (in Montana, read: pariah), I am still embroiled in lawsuits as I attempt to
get the state government to abide by its own laws. My case was part of a lengthy review of Montana’s water rights problems in a recent University of Denver Law Review so, while I am broke now, at least I am famous. Having stayed in the trenches as long as I could, I accepted a job teaching math (as math department head) at Wasatch Academy, in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. It is a boarding school with 260 students way out in the sticks. (Sound familiar?) I will be starting in August so I have until then to wind down the development company, pack up, and move the family. While the failure of throwing in the towel hurts, it will be a pleasure to get back to what I wanted to do all along anyways and not have to worry about what the government is going to do to me next. (lol—now I will only have to worry about what the teenagers are going to do to me next!) Kids are doing well, though Bea (17) is struggling through her junior year at Thacher. Is it just me, or did anyone else consider their junior year the hardest? I keep telling this to her, and how senior year has so much more potential. The rest of the brood is growing and finding their various talents, which is impressive, considering their genetic stock. None is in jail so far!” TONY THATCHER sends his greetings from Bozeman, Montana: “Life is busy and rich here. Business continues to hang on in an uncertain economy. I guess we are doing something right and our GIS mapping and application devel-
tiMe to love, Work anD Pray (anD eat) JONG LEE, CdeP 1986 SOnIA And I TOOk ThE FAmIly on a “Vacation with a Purpose” (seriously) last year at an island resort in Palawan Province, about 260 miles from manila. The trip was organized by church friends who help run International care Ministries, an nGO focused on empowering the neediest Filipinos who subsist on less than US $0.15 a day. One purpose of the trip was to help fundraising dinner types like us to better appreciate first-hand the challenges and opportunities faced by IcM and the people they serve. In between the teeth-gnashing, rich-man-camel-eye-of-a-needle discussions led by someone from the oxford centre for christian apologetics, and plenty of food, sand, and sunshine, we got our hands dirty helping to dig water and sewer trenches for a housing development and learned how IcM teaches families to use earthworms, seeds, and two-liter cola bottles to grow and sell vegetables. We also visited the sizeable families of a few resort workers in their tiny ramshackle homes in a local slum. It wasn’t missionary work in afghanistan but we experienced enough to be humbled and reminded that we too often throw a few dollars and good wishes as dispensation in lieu of making a more mutually meaningful but inconvenient investment of personal time and thoughtfulness in our communities. despite their bulge-bracket jobs, our IcM friends seem to get it and, seeing so much done with literally every dollar given, we came away chastened that we have been far too lax in holding ourselves accountable for the blessings we receive.
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Jong Lee and his family in Palawan Province, the Philippines, with International Care Ministries.
Photos (L to R): Michele Barnett Berg ‘87 and her sons Oliver and Adam and Eleanor Wheln O’Neill ‘87 enjoyed lunch with Head of School Michael Mulligan while visiting Thacher; Andrew Tidrick ’87 and his son, Cesar, after a mountain biking race; Sadie Harrison-Fincher ‘90 and family
opment services are still being well received. I am currently heavily involved in our local triathlon and masters swimming communities as director of the Tri Club, co-race director for our local triathlons (http://www.bozemantritons.org/tritonstri), and board member of the Masters Swim Team. It is great to be involved in the community and giving back in a way that works for me. Happy and healthy overall, so life is good!” ANNE WALLACE MAULDING wrote in April, “I am staring out the window at the rain coming down in torrents. Yesterday was 65o in Park City, tomorrow it is going to dump a bunch of snow. Ah, the weather in Utah! Teaching is going well. Just finished third quarter. I am looking forward to fourth with a big smile. I hope everyone is well.” KALI WILSON shares, “It has been fun to see updates from my classmates since our last reunion. I am sorry I missed it! I am in Portland, Oregon; well, I have a house in West Linn that my two dogs share with me. We are currently running a few half marathons and hoping for a marathon or two this year. Not sure this 43-year-old body can keep up with them! They go to work with me and supervise the office while I see patients. Veterinary work remains rewarding and I am always learning new things and getting to connect with new and old clients alike. Thacher and my time there continues to shape my thoughts and actions daily. Look me up if you are in town. I would love to see some Toads in person!”
*1986
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1987
CAROLYN CHERRY earned her EdD in education policy and administration from the University of Minnesota in May 2011. She continues to work for Minneapolis Public Schools as a coordinator of district support services. JONG LEE and his family went to the Philippines for a weeklong ministry with International Christian Ministries. (See facing page.) A project I am working on is a TV show called Startup America covering real Americans doing real things (i.e., no iPhone apps). The first season will be a full 13 episodes (including a reunion episode) covering 24 companies. We crowd-sourced these companies from over 500 submitted. We like some of the 24 so much we will likely put money into them before the show airs.
energy stocks at Forbes http://blogs.forbes.com/tomkonrad/ and AltEnergyStocks.com.” TED LABBE shares, “My news is that I recently returned from a big trip to South America with my fiancée. We are getting married in August. And I am launching my biz as a consulting biologist working with nonprofits here in Portland, Oregon. I live in a co-housing community with my bro, JIM LABBE ‘90, and my other bro, CHRIS LABBE ‘97, lives not too far away in Canby. So, for the first time in many years my folks have us both back in our old hometown.” ANDREW TIDRICK writes, “My son and I have been mountain biking a lot together these past three years. For us, this is a great time out from work and school that is creating memories I know we both cherish. The photo is of us in Ruston, Louisiana, after a race we did together. As he passed me along the trail after eating up the three-minute start stagger between our age groups, he said with a taunt, ‘Hey, let’s enjoy this father-son moment!’ That lasted all of about two seconds. He won his first race in Ruston and I finished 11th (out of 14—oh well). He finished the fall season in second place in Cat III in Texas and piqued the interest of a local bike shop owner who offered him a sponsorship. Yes, another reward for following one’s passion! I know for both of us we ride with clear minds and perfect focus… almost. This last weekend, while riding with Cesar, I had the pleasure of cultivating my face in a pile of gravel and dirt while my bike waited for me at the big root behind me. Cesar got a great view of that one! For me, the time out is also when I most appreciate life and living. It’s precious, really. And a little dirt in your face reminds you what a thin line we walk sometimes.”
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1988 1990
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MICHÈLE BARNETT BERG saw Ojai this spring. She wrote, “We are coming to California for Easter and will pass through Ojai. I am very excited to show Thacher to my husband, Ingmar, and our boys, Oliver and Adam, who are very curious to see the horses. We have missed the last couple of Reunions because of living in Europe. We are hoping to have our own little mini-reunion with ELEANOR WHELN O’NEILL and her husband, Brian, and their two girls, and NATALIE STAMIRE DONAHOO too if all works out. We will end our U.S. trip with a visit to DC and spending some time with AMI BECKERARONSON ‘86 and her husband, Lou, and their kids.” TOM KONRAD shares, “I have recently moved to Pawling, New York, and would be interested in getting together with Toads in the Hudson River Valley and NYC. I manage money for environmentally minded clients and blog about investing in clean
After over three years in Singapore, VICTOR WYKOFF and family repatriated and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area as of November 2010 (see Births). LUKE BLACK, his wife, Katia, and daughter, Amina, are in Pretoria, South Africa. Luke works as the UNDP regional technical advisor for climate-change mitigation and carbon finance covering 20 countries in the region. “Please tell all Toads that if they make it to South Africa to look us up and come for a visit.” SADIE HARRISON-FINCHER writes, “Hello all, I have been busy with my law practice and family out in the Lone Star state. In 2010, I was voted as one of the ‘Rising Stars’ in Texas Business and Corporate Law as published in the Texas Monthly’s Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star Edition. Currently, my practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, and general business and corporate matters. On the family front, the kiddos are growing so fast! My son Harrison will be 2 this June and Hollis will be 5 in December. My stepson Paul will be a senior this year. It seems like it was not that long ago I was a senior at Thacher looking forward to the future.”
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*1991
DAN CALLAGHAN shares, “I just received a note from CAM SPAULDING ‘92 at Golden Trout requesting help in repairing The Thacher school 35
class notes…
the cabin roof. I remember seeing it when I was having a wonderful time with my family last summer for a week up there. I recently made a donation to the School to help out Cam and the wonderful things he is doing up at Golden Trout.” NED CLARK writes, “My father and I have been coordinating with DAVID PINKHAM ‘61 to organize a wagon train from the Cuyama through the backcountry and eventually to Thacher for the reunion. From Matilija on, we will be forced to travel on pavement, but the real adventure will be trying to make it through the Buckhorn Road, Camuesa Road, and over the Murrietta Divide. We will be pre-riding beforehand to see if the trip is even possible. We all know how trails can deteriorate!” LAURA PHELPS RANDBY is still teaching in a Mandarin/English dual immersion elementary school program in North Carolina. She is sorry to miss her reunion this summer, as she will be in China. She sends a big “Hello” to all of CdeP 1991.
1992 Painting hoPe JULIA ROMANO CdeP 2000
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1994
1995
The caves at JUSTIN HUNNICUTT STEPHENS’ winery are finished being dug and now the crew is building a large retaining wall that will be nearly 200 feet in length and 15 feet tall. FREDERIKA HOWE TOLL and NATHANIEL TOLL share, “We are excited to be moving to Darwin, Australia, this spring: a huge adventure for all the family. We are making this move for Nate’s work and for the thrill of living abroad. Hope to see some Toads down under.” RAMSEY PALMER forwarded a message from the Alumni Office to JAMES KIRKPATRICK about the magazine theme, seeing its relevance to James who is taking some time out (after earning his law degree from UCLA) to teach in China with a friend of theirs from college. Here is James’ reply: “As far as adventures go, it is funny you should write this to me today. ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ should be ‘Duck, Pray, Run.’ I was just
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A OnE-WAy TICkET took me to India in October 2009. having just completed my master’s degree in international relations from Johns hopkins university school of advanced International studies, the plan was to wander around that great subcontinent as I awaited decisions from Phd programs. Then a dedicated student of yoga—I’m now a full time teacher—I stopped in Mysore, the epicenter of the ashtanga Vinyasa practice, planning to stay only a few weeks. But, as I soon learned, the easiest way to make God laugh (particularly in India where the gods are regular practical jokers) is to make a plan. during my first week in Mysore, I began working with odanadi, an organization that rescues girls from human trafficking, and my planned “few weeks” stay in that dusty southern Indian city turned into seven months. I taught art and English to a group of about 10 of Odanadi’s most troubled girls who couldn’t leave the center for mental or physical health reasons. I bought them watercolor paints and notebooks, and tried to show them how to use the materials, to show them how with a few more drops of water an infinite number of shades can be created. odanadi’s girls are victims of kidnapping, abduction, slavery, and rape, and the emotional and physical trauma that results, including hIV. Their pasts are a nightmare, but one that I could wake from, and one that I have no knowledge of in any visceral way, no matter how much I tried to imagine it. There’s more to Julia’s story at www.thacher.org/ magazine/spring2011.
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GUADALUPE NICKELL has joined Room to Read as senior development director for North America. Room to Read is an organization that promotes literacy and gender equality in education in nine countries throughout Southeast Asia and Africa. CATHERINE PEIRSOL-SCHIPPER writes, “My husband will finally be finished with his training and we look forward to moving to Eureka, California, in June where James will join an interventional cardiology practice and I will take some time away from cardiology practice to be a stay-at-home mom (see Births).” MAGGIE RENIERS shares, “I just had a couple fellow alums come visit me in Ecuador. BRET JOHNSON ‘94 and his brother TYLER JOHNSON ‘98 were both here visiting with their parents and Tyler’s fiancée, Angela Buenaventura, and her parents. Things are going great here at the hotel, which has been ranked #1 by TripAdvisor for hotels in Otavalo. Alice and Kurt Meyer dropped in for a visit on their trip around the world, and it was great to see them. Still waiting for more Toads to make their way down here.”
Photos (L to R): Guadalupe Nickell ’92 at her graduation from the Haas School of Business in UC Berkeley with her MBA in February 2011; Bret Johnson ’94, Ecuadorian master-weaver Miguel Andrango, and Maggie Reniers ‘92
Milestones evacuated from Cairo five days ago. Sherif and I both have these large breaks from work, so we thought, ‘What a great idea to go back to Egypt!’ He had some business to do there and the last time I was there, we were in such a large group we could not do much. We arrived in Cairo on the 19th of January and everything was fine until the 25th when they had some small protests, but then on the night of the 28th (after Friday prayers) everything went crazy. We were staying in Sherif’s relatives’ spare apartment in Heliopolis—so pretty far from the Tahrir Square—but that night the police abandoned the entire city. We had people running down our street being shot at by neighbors and we were truly scared of being hit by stray bullets. That night I slept with a hammer and knife because of all the looters. But it was fine, the neighbors in the area setup roadblocks and were checking all cars for looters, Sherif and his cousin included. After that, Saturday was another scary day, but then things got much calmer, especially when the tanks arrived, and that made everybody feel much safer. From that point on things were tense, but calm. In fact, the calm turned pretty quickly into tedium as there was a curfew everyday, sometimes from 1 p.m. until 8 a.m. The worst part about the curfew was when I tried to go to the airport to get a ticket (which I couldn’t). I ended up having to stay there for the entire day/night. The airport was chaotic and none-too-hygienic (like the Astrodome, after Katrina). The US government was evacuating citizens to Turkey and Rome but I just waited until I got a different ticket and, after 45 hours in-transit, I touched down in beautiful Bangkok. I saw my brother ROGER KIRKPATRICK ‘93 for the first day and am now at a beach town a few hours from Bangkok, which is quite a bit different than Cairo! My mom flies in next week and then I am back to the cold, calm, stable embrace of communist China.” ALBERTO STRUCK shares, “Graduated in December with an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, and now back working in Rio de Janeiro. I have a comfortable couch for anyone who is looking for a place to stay.”
*1996
PHOTO/ILLUSTRATION CREDIT HERE
1997 1998
MARIA BANMAN BARRELL and her husband, Tyler, moved to Minnesota last summer. Maria is completing her residency in Family Medicine and Tyler is working as a green-energy consultant (see Births.) AMANDA JOHNSON loves Jamaica (see Marriages) and says, “We strongly recommend going down there, but if you like SCUBA diving, go to Phuket, Thailand, instead. Jamaica is very over-fished, but the coffee is fantastic!” JENNIFER SILVERMAN ROWLAND received good news at Match Day this year at UPenn: She got her top “match” for medical school residency. Jenny will be at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Radiology. SARAH LOW shared her great news of the birth of her daughter, Elizabeth (see Births) and adds, “We are all moving to Blacksburg, Virginia,
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dOUGlAS hOlT ’83 married Julie kae herbolich on October 23, 2010, in San Francisco. Toads in attendance were: RAndy REnICk ’81, AndREW WAllOP ’83, RICk SAVERI ’83, dAVE hERROn ’81, BRUCE PhIllIPS ’83, WESTOn RIChARdSOn ’80, lAUnCE GAmBlE ’84, BAyARd hOllInS ’84, JACk kUEChlER ’81, and ChRISTIAn hUEBnER ’83. (photo 1) AmAndA JOhnSOn ’97 married Eddie Wolfe on April 1, 2011, in montego Bay, Jamaica. amanda writes, “We were joined by a small group of friends and family. It was a whole lot of fun!” (photo 2) yASmIn ARASTU ’01 married kermit Jones on november 14, 2010, in Southern California. yasmine writes, “We shared a three-day Indian wedding with wonderful family and friends.” Fellow Toads included AlI ARASTU ’04, mARy Ann BROnSOn ’01, ESThER GUZmAn ’01, hAnnAh CARnEy ’01, JEnnIFER CURTIS ’01, mEREdITh WAlkER ’01, lOGAn ClARk ’01, JOnAThAn TUCkER ’01, and SmIThA REddy ’01. (photo 3) mATT BREWER ’01 and ElIZABETh “lIBBy” RAUnER ’02 were married at the Outdoor Chapel on October 23, 2010. Thacher family and Toads in attendance were: Joy and michael mulligan, Chris and Rich mazzola, Brian driscoll, Chris land, Jake Jacobsen and Susan hardenbergh, Bert and ElIZABETh mAhOnEy ‘88, STEPhAnIE RAUnER ‘04, ElIZABETh BREWER ‘03, lEE WITTlInGER ‘01, ChRISTOPhER BROWn ‘01, JOnAThAn TUCkER ’01, BROOkE TOEllER ‘02, JOSE ESTRAdA ‘02, ERIn hAFkEnSChIEl ‘01, mIChAEl BACk ‘01, mATThEW COhEn ‘01, and AndREW dEyOUnG ‘01. (photo 4) BIAnCA kISSEl ’04 and Andrew Russell were married on August 20, 2010. Toads in attendance were: WhITnEy lIVERmORE ‘04, mARGUERITE kISSEll ’05, dAVId COOk ‘07, AlI ARASTU ‘04, JACk PEARCE ‘07, BEnnETT kISSEl ‘07, ChRIS WIllOUGhBy ‘04, STEPhAnIE RAUnER ‘04, kElly PERCIVAl ’04, EmmA WERlIn ‘05, nIkkE AlEX ‘03, CARA BOnEWITZ ‘04, lAUREn FISkE ‘04, PETER OBERndORF ‘04, ChRIS GORdOn ‘07, mAX BARBAkOW ‘07, mATT mAynE ‘04, GRAhAm dOUdS ‘04, and dREW FlECk ‘03. (photo 5)
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Sawyer-Mulligan that “CAT CALDWELL It’s fair to say thatshares few couples in academia have done has settled more to in Teton understand Valley,and Idaho, explain where one sheofowns the world’s a Curves most franchise complex and and tendstroubled a wholeplaces. zoo ofBoth animals. Al and WePolly had dinner grew up together hearingastocouple ries of about times; Africa she talked and they mefirst intomet joining in the Curves; Congoand – Al she was and something Michael took of an a latter-day evening ride Phillip oneMarlow night.” ELIZA and Polly GREGORY a budding researcher. In fact, anyone who despairs the and RYAN MEYER ‘98 have been havingofajump-starting wonderful time continent into the modern economy – a and perenin Melbourne, Australia, forinternational the past year and a half are nial source of to anxiety to theinWorld tohis spend moving back California June. Bank– “Ryan ought finished PhDanin afternoon. science policy from ASU this year and has been working on some short-term consulting projects that deal with science policy in Australia. I have just launched the online version of my latest photographic project based here in Melbourne. It is called “THE LOCAL” and you can see it at www.holdonletgo.com. We also imported MARTHA GREGORY ‘06 in October. She has been living around the corner from us, making short films, and playing ultimate. (Right now, April 1, she is at Australian Nationals!) We cannot wait to see everyone back home in Ojai and San Francisco.” Eliza also shares that PETER GOODRICH ‘69 and his wife, Kirsty Macmillan, have been fabulous hosts and tour guides and friends to her and Ryan there in Melbourne.
this summer because I start veterinary school at Virginia Tech in August.”
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MICHAELA ANDREWS writes, “This has been a big transition year for me. I have known since October that this will be my last year in the U.S. for quite some time so I am currently living between worlds in a sense, already feeling nostalgic for all that I will be leaving behind and excited for the many adventures ahead. Jan got a job doing stem-cell research at the Max Planck Institute in Münster, Germany, and I will be moving to Germany at the end of June to join him. While completing my last year teaching English and history in the middle school at Lincoln, I have been spending most of my spare time learning German, visiting Jan whenever possible, and preparing for the move. During this past spring break, I went to Münster and got a job teaching English as a Second Language at a local German high school with a bilingual program. It is actually the oldest school in all of Germany, founded in 797. Münster is a gorgeous medieval city with cobblestone streets, dozens of old churches, beautiful architecture, and miles of bike paths. In fact, it is the bicycling capital of Germany, so I am hoping we find a good apartment in the city so that I can bike to work and not need to buy a car. I wish you all ‘viel Glück’ and happiness in all that you are doing.” Joy
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ERIN BLANKENSHIP shares, “Realizing that at some point after the World Cup I was going to have to find work, the
tiMe off–a Journey, not a Destination
It Was tIMe to JOIn the zeitgeist—the spirit of the times—and become unemployed. I could have kept my lucrative job teaching at Northwestern university’s branch campus in doha, qatar, but, after four years on a desert island, my patience was gone. The problem, of course, was the recession. finding a job as a humanities professor in the United States had become mostly impossible. “Publish or perish” used to mean writing a book to get tenure. Now, no book means no interview. I had been writing cover letters claiming there were many great books brimming to get out of my busy head. Without the goods, however, it was unconvincing to search committees. The joyful paradox was that I needed to take “time off” to write. so, having saved a sum suitable to the task, I gave notice and merrily planned for my departure from doha. The rub, as it happened, was a horse. I had what everyone desperately needs: a purebred arabian stallion off the racetrack. This wild white wonder had come into my life as he was being rehabilitated from an injury at a local stable in doha where I rode in my spare time. The task of retraining him had fallen to me really only because the barn manager accidentally discovered I was crazy enough to get on him. It was not because my riding skills were exactly honed. I had been riding in my post-Thacher years, but before doha it had been in the genre of occasional long walks on my aging appaloosa. There’s much more to aspen’s story! you can read it entirely at www.thacher. org/magazine/spring2011.
38 spring 2011
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ASPEN BRINTON, CdeP 1995
Photos (L to R): Michaela Andrews ’99 and her husband, Jan, taking a wintry walk near his family’s house over winter break; Cat Caldwell ’99 and Michael Mulligan last summer in Teton Valley, Idaho; Eliza Gregory ’99 and Martha Gregory ’06 on a camping trip at Wilson’s Promontory on the southernmost tip of Australia; Cheryl Lynn Horton, Juliette Bowen, Kristin Berona, Annie Nyborg, and Mia Silverman, all CdeP 2000, at Kristin’s apartment in San Francisco; wedding of Elizabeth Rauner ’02 and Matt Brewer ’01 at the Outdoor Chapel; Mike Disner ’01, Reagan, Nora, and Samuel
Milestones following five months I traveled north and east from South Africa exploring security/conflict options and every country. Just about at the Rwanda border, however, I got an invitation to come to Afghanistan. So here I am doing conflict resolution work and research among armed groups in several provinces, and possibly training with the national football (soccer) team. Life as normal for Erin, it seems.” MEGAN WINECOFF writes, “I am currently working in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, in the Development Office of Shambhala Mountain Center (SMC), which is a Buddhist retreat center founded by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1971. The Shambhala community, which is about 10,000 strong and worldwide, is led by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, who I have been studying with for the last 10 years. His vision for SMC in the upcoming years is to establish the Center for Enlightened Society, which aims to bring the contemplative principles of wisdom and compassion to all facets of life—sustainability, business, leadership, law, politics, etc.—through our programming efforts. Also, his intention is to build a ‘City of Peace’ here, which would be a place for the world’s leaders to meet to discuss how to cultivate peace, courage, and strength in a time of great turmoil and fear. In 2001, the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya (which I worked on from Oct. 2000—Aug. 2001) was consecrated. It is the largest example of this sacred Buddhist architecture in the Western Hemisphere. In 2006, SMC and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche hosted the Dalai Lama to present him with the ‘Living Peace Award.’”
*2001
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EMMETT HOPKINS and his wife, Lynda, have been hard at work farming vegetables, goats, and chickens in Sonoma County. “We have 22 kids...but they are of the goat variety. For several years, we have been working on a book about our first year of farming (with me doing research, Lynda doing writing). We are excited to say that it has finally been released! It is called The Wisdom of the Radish by Lynda Hopkins, and you can find it in bookstores and on Amazon” (see Blurb & Squib, page 10). CLAIRE MILLIGAN writes, “It has been a long time coming, but I have finally graduated from design school and I have started work as a designer and strategist at Manmade, a design consultancy in San Francisco.” (See Engagements.) HANA CHANG shares, “I decided to do a bit of research abroad, so I am currently in Munich, Germany, until the end of September. I am working with Case Western Reserve University in association with the Ludwig Maximilian University Medical School. I get to watch knee and hip implant surgery and try to grow bone tissue with the leftovers. It is pretty cool.” HUGH GORDON writes, “After spending the year applying to medical school, I have been lucky enough to be offered a spot in the Health Technology and Engineering program at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and I will be
ThOmAS mORGAn ’75 is engaged to fiancée, fernanda. (photo 6) TEd lABBE ’87 and his fiancée are getting married in august. ClAIRE mIllIGAn ’02 is engaged to marry her girlfriend, Jessica north. They are planning their wedding in Santa Barbara in may of 2012 “no matter what the courts have to say about it!”
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VICTOR WykOFF ’88 and his wife, Carla, welcomed their second son, Thomas frank Wykoff, on march 18, 2011. Victor shares that Patrick is a proud big brother. (photo 1) Jacob harrison Emme was born on november 7, 2010, to BRIAn EmmE ’92 and his wife, lisa. Iris hollins was born on February 28, 2011, to lAWREnCE hOllInS ’92 and his wife, Ina. lawrence shares that his “crew of four”: lawrence, Ina, son Thomas, and daughter Iris, are all happy at home in Northport, Maine. (photo 2) John Alexander Schipper (aka Jack) was born on January 4, 2011, to CAThERInE PEIRSOl-SChIPPER ’94 and her husband, James. Jack’s grandfather is JOhn mARk PEIRSOl ’62. (photo 3) huxley colburn Barrell was born on december 1, 2010, to mARIA BAnmAn BARREll ’96 and her husband tyler. huxley was born at their home in duluth, and joins 2-year-old big sister Avery. (photo 4) Rowan Stepanian was born on november 18, 2010, to qUInn kAnAly ’96 and her husband, mAX STEPAnIAn ’95. (photo 5) Juliette marie Proto was born on november 11, 2010, to EGlAnTInE hUlOT ’97 and her husband, michael Proto (photo by Anika london media, Inc.) (photo 6) Benjamin Jean-Edmond lanier was born on november 2, 2009, to JEnnA OSBURn lAnIER ’98 and her husband, Patrick. (photo 7) Elizabeth Eisley low was born on January 27, 2011, to SARAh lOW ’98 and her husband, michael cyrulnik. sarah shares, “elizabeth is a joy and a blessing.” (photo 8)
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spending the next four or five years pursuing a MD/MS degree with them. I am very excited to be moving back to California and to start down the road to becoming a physician. I will be driving across the country in the summer as part of my move to Los Angeles. If anyone wants to come along or has suggestions of places to visit along the way, let me know.” KYLIE MANSON is living in Denver, Colorado, and working as a bread baker at the Denver Bread Company. “I also founded and continue to run an underground farmers’ market called the ‘Denver Handmade Homemade Market’ that promotes small, local producers, backyard gardeners, home cooks, and crafters. People from all over Denver come each month to exchange the market’s local currency for goods or to barter and trade. Come check it out some time if you pass through Colorado!” NATHAN PARKER writes, “Just as HUGH GORDON is entering USC Medical School, I will be graduating from the same school with my MD this May. I will be heading up to UC Davis for residency to train in emergency medicine for three years. I am stoked to stay in California and look forward to boarding and climbing in Tahoe whenever I get some free time. If anyone is passing through on their way to the mountains or needs a place to crash, let me know.” SARAH SHAIKH received her MBA from Wharton in 2010 and is working as an investment banker in NYC. Big laughs and big bucks were raised at the Hollywood Improv on February 23 during the stand-up comedy fundraiser Welcome to Hollyweird. This night of laughs was organized by SARAH TAPSCOTT to benefit the Los Angeles-based nonprofit Inner-City Arts. Sarah sends big
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thanks to all Toads who helped support the show and had lots of fun providing giggles for a good cause. MELISSA VICKERY and HUGH GORDON reunited when Melissa and Thacher faculty member Ms. Vickery visited Hugh at Google in New York in August 2010.
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From SARAH CHAMBERLAIN: “After graduating from Berkeley in May 2009, I upped sticks from California and moved 6,000 miles to Scotland. While there, I interned for the U.S. State Department at their Edinburgh consulate and studied for an MSc in history at the University of Edinburgh. After I finished my master’s degree, I moved south to London, where I live with my partner and work for a financial-publishing firm. I’m hoping to break into journalism eventually. If any Toads end up on this side of the water, do give me a shout. I had the great pleasure of seeing HAZEL RUIZ and REBEKAH MCFARLAND in Paris a month ago, and it’d be lovely to see familiar faces.” ALEXANDRIA DOTSON writes, “It is hard to believe that four years ago many of us were starting our college careers, or taking that vital year between high school and undergrad to do something amazing in the world. Who would have thought we Toads would spread so far and wide in this world? This year, I have made my last year the ‘best year yet.’ I just received great news: I won a Bristol Fellowship! It is a fellowship established by William M. Bristol Jr. that financially supports one student’s self-designed project outside of the United States for 12 months. I start August 1, and will be globetrotting for an entire calendar year. I will be traveling
PoWer uP gaMBia EVAN WERLIN, CdeP 2004 ThE lIGhTS BEGAn TO FlICkER and the air stopped circulating in the operating room. The surgeon looked at us and said, “africa will only be free when we can harness the energy of the sun.” The energy reserve at Sulayman Jungkung General hospital (SJGh) in The Gambia had run out. The remaining patients would have to wait until the surgeon returned for his next weekly visit. This past summer I traveled with two fellow medical students to The Gambia, West Africa, on behalf of Power Up Gambia (PUG), an organization working to transform the country’s health care by providing reliable electricity and water to health clinics and hospitals through the use of solar panels. We traveled with a Gambian nurse, hassan, to eight rural health clinics throughout the country. at each location, we met with villagers to assess the barriers they face in accessing health care and how PUG might be able to help. during the remainder of our time we worked at SJGh, the site of PUG’s first solar panel installment, to evaluate how the new source of energy has transformed the clinic. I had taken for granted the basic services such as lights and running water that are vital for providing medical care. to ask a nurse to deliver a baby by candlelight is unthinkable by the standards we know, but it is a reality faced in The Gambia. Six months after my return from The Gambia, I have not forgotten the people I met or the problems I witnessed. I will continue to work to help bring more reliable energy to health clinics in The Gambia from afar and look forward to the time when I can return as a physician.
40 spring 2011
Photos (L to R): Sarah Tapscott ’03 and friends at the stand-up comedy fundraiser in Hollywood; Melissa Vickery ’03 and Hugh Gordon ‘03; Bianca Kissel ‘04 wedding party: Back row left to right: Whitney Livermore ‘04, Marguerite Kissel ‘05, David Cook ‘07, Ali Arastu ‘04, Jack Pearce ‘07, Bennett Kissel ‘07, Andrew Russell (groom), Chris Willoughby ‘04, Stephanie Rauner ‘04. Middle row left to right: Kelly Percival ‘04, Emma Werlin ‘05, Nikke Alex ‘03, Cara Bonewitz ‘04, Bianca Kissel Russell ‘04, Lauren Fiske ‘04, Peter Oberndorf ‘04. Front row left to right: Chris Gordon ‘07, Max Barbakow ‘07, Matt Mayne ‘04, Graham Douds ‘04, Drew Fleck ‘03; Brigid McCarthy ’07 and a Budweiser Clydesdale that visited Stanford’s Red Barn for the weekend; Kathryn Padgett ’07 in action in Ghana, West Africa; Alina Everett ’08 and William Peterson ‘08; Nick Orr ’10, Trent Holden ‘10, Michael Stenovec ’10 and Brianna Bohnett ’10 hiking in the Sespe
to India, South Africa, Ghana, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic studying the transnational hair trade and culture, and the effects of the import and export of Indian hair on hairstyles, cultural identities, and pop culture of black and Latina women in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. I am so excited for this opportunity, and if anyone is going to be in any of these countries for the coming year, let me know. I would love to see you all!” KATHRYN PADGETT is the Ghana country director for a nonprofit called Community Water Solutions (CWS) that works to bring clean drinking water to rural villages in Ghana, West Africa. “Almost 1 billion around the world currently lack access to safe drinking water. In Northern Region Ghana, where half the population is without clean water, the situation is particularly dire. CWS addresses this global crisis by establishing community-run water businesses that use affordable, locally available technology to treat water from village sources. Local women run these businesses, and all of the profits stay in the village, ensuring community involvement and sustainability.” After completing a fellowship program with CWS this January, Kathryn was compelled to stay involved with putting an end to the current global water crisis. “It gave me the opportunity to see all this theory in practice. More than that, my experiences in Ghana invigorated me with a sense of possibility. I was thrilled to be able help the villagers of Kpalbusi create a unique system that will ensure their access to clean, safe drinking water indefinitely.” JOSEPH WYATT graduated May 15 with a bachelor of science in economics, majoring in finance, insurance, and risk management from University of Pennsylvania. He has accepted a full-time position with Morgan Stanley in New York. CC HAYNE was named to the Club Lacrosse All-American Team after Lake Forest just started women’s club lax this year.
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ALINA EVERETT was chosen in November as the 2011 publisher of The Dartmouth, the nation’s oldest daily college newspaper. As publisher, she oversees all business operations of the independent, student-run publication. Alina is a psychology major at Dartmouth, and will be completing her thesis in creative writing next year. She was pleasantly surprised by a visit from WILLIAM PETERSON in December, when he flew to Idaho from Washington in his Cessna for lunch and a flight around McCall, Idaho. JACKIE ROBLES went on a 10-day trip to Cuba through Loyola Marymount. “It was absolutely amazing!” TIM REED is currently a full-time student at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Births continueD
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Elizabeth Winter Good was born on January 16, 2011, to CAThERInE JESSOP GOOd ’99 and her husband, Nate. They are calling her Izzy. (photo 9) Eliyah larimar Paulino was born on march 28, 2011, to EVy dISnER PAUlInO ’00 and her husband, erick. eliyah joins big brother evrick. (photo 10) Jabari Frederick Butts is the newest addition to ERIC BUTTS ’01 and nICOlE SIlVERmAn BUTTS’ ’01 Toad family. Jabari was born on October 1, 2010, and nikki shares, “he has been a love and a joy–and Imani is very much enjoying being a big sister!” (photo 11) Samuel James disner was born on march 27, 2011, to mIkE dISnER ’01 and his wife, nora. Samuel joins big brother, Reagan, who is 2 years old. (photo 12) JAy hySOn ’01 and his wife, Julie, welcomed their second son, Jett Stone hyson, on march 11, 2011. Julie shares, “he was born at our homebirth center with a midwife, two labor assistants, and doula. looks just like his daddy! Jack was in the room for the birth and he joyfully welcomed his baby brother to the world with hugs and kisses.” (photo 13)
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what’s not to like? www.facebook.com/ThacherSchool Look us up on Facebook, where you’ll find a steady stream of photos, trivia, alumni news, and campus updates from Casa de Piedra. We hope you like what you see. Stay tuned for more tomorrow.
faculty, staff & frienDs…
that that team has advanced. Toby is also known for ambitious Extra-Day Trips likely to include an adventurous crossing of a Sierra snowfield, or a bushwhack along an otherwise impassable Red Reef Trail. Amy has served in many professional roles in the Alumni and Development Office, including overseeing the Annual Fund, leading alumni and development communications efforts, relentlously improving the Parents Auction, and piloting Thacher’s Facebook presence. Beyond that, in her stealthy fashion she has energetically assumed multiple other roles on campus: advisor, trip leader, and committee member, in addition to gracefully ushering Charlie and Stella into the world. We wish the Elmores much happiness in Massachusetts.
Faculty NEwS Admission Officer CHRIS MAZZOLA was recently named Head of the Upper School at St. Anne’s-Belfield in Charlottesville, Virginia. Christina Kirkmire arrived at Thacher in 1991 to teach French and coach tennis. In the intervening two decades, she married her Dartmouth College sweetheart, Rich Mazzola; served as Chair of the Language Department and Dean of Students; headed hiring searches; oversaw Lectures and Concerts; and, most recently, worked as the Associate Director of Admission and Director of Financial Aid. She was also awarded the Jerome H. Berenson Faculty Incentive Chair that supports opportunities for students to attend cultural events beyond Thacher’s gates. RICH MAZZOLA, her husband, Thacher’s Athletic Director and coach of baseball and basketball, will teach English and serve as the Athletic Director for the Middle School at St. Anne’s-Belfield. After earning a masters degree in English at UCSB, Rich taught English at Thacher, prior to serving as Athletic Director and Dorm Head of Middle School. He also coached Thacher’s JV basketball and baseball teams throughout his tenure here; the baseball team won five straight Condor League Championships (2001-5); a trip to the CIF Southern Section Championship (2002); and a full season at the number-one spot of the CIF-SS Top-Ten Poll (2003). Their children, Madeleine (14) and James Joseph “JJ” (10), will attend St. Anne’s-Bellfield this fall. Director of Stewardship and Communications AMY ELMORE has taken a position as director of development for the Berkshire Country Day School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Her husband, TOBY ELMORE, teacher of history and Dorm Head for The Hill, will be teaching at Hotchkiss School this fall. As a history teacher for the last seven years, Toby focused on making the subject matter relevant to students’ lives, which is especially apparent in the way he taught the Afghanistan and Pakistan course (now known as AfPak) and the Arab-Israeli conflict. He served as dorm head of The Hill dorm, and took the lead on the United Cultures of Thacher and the Environmental Actions Committee. An inspiring and seasoned coach of lacrosse and soccer, in 2006 he coached the girls’ soccer team to the CIF quarterfinals, the farthest 42 spring 2011
In addition to her work in College Counseling and coaching, KARA HOOPER will serve as Dorm Head on The Hill this fall. This summer, science teacher HEATHER GRANT will complete her Master of Science degree in Science Education from Montana State University, Bozeman. And admission officer AARON MIESZCZANSKI will begin working on his Master’s in Education at the University of Pennsylvania this summer. Lacrosse coach and part-time teacher CAM SPAULDING CdeP 1992 along with NICK TRANMER CdeP 1992 run three weeks of alumni encampment at Golden Trout Camp this summer. DERICK PERRY CdeP 1983 is hanging up his English teaching hat and taking on the position of director of annual giving and special gifts in Development. Meanwhile, Spanish teacher and Dean of Faculty MOLLY PERRY CdeP 1985 will be on sabbatical this coming year. BLOSSOM PIDDUCK CdeP 1992 will take over as the new dean of faculty. WENDY SWOBODA (mother of JAYNE HENN CdeP 1984), who has helped in the Health Center for the last six years and drove students to medical appointments before that, is retiring to Pahoa, Hawaii. Lastly, nurse and yoga teacher CATHY BAUTISTA has accepted a postion to work with women seeking medical care after violent assualts. PAST STAFF AnD FACULTy nOTES CRICKET and TERRY TWICHELL visited Marilee and John Lin at their new residence on the Holderness campus in new Hampshire. Former Director of Admission and Trustee MONIqUE DEVANE has been named Head of School at College Preparatory in Oakland, California. Another former admission officer and current Trustee CHRISTINE CARTER CdeP 1990 spoke about her book Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents in Thacher’s Milligan Center for the Performing Arts on May 6. Upper left: Rich and Chris Mazzola. Far left: Toby and Amy Elmore with their children, Stella and Charlie. Left: The Twichells and the Lins catch up in New Hampshire.
in MeMoriaM… Jonathan g. kittle cdeP 1943 Jonathan “Jake” G. kittle passed away on January 19, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona, following a lengthy illness. he was 85 years old. Jake was born in San Francisco and raised in marin County, California. At an early age Jake showed an interest in all animals, domestic and wild, so The Thacher School was a natural choice for him, however, at 6’8” he was a bit too tall for Gymkhana; besides, his horse Rosie showed no interest in that sport. But with his great sense of humor and love of people, he became a very active member of Thacher’s community. Jake was a Prefect, tennis player, member of the Committee of Ten, and manager of the Gymkhana Team. after Thacher, he followed in the family tradition and went east to yale in 1949. The new haven climate did not agree with him, so he transferred to university of arizona, where he majored in animal husbandry. Jake followed his passion for animals and the great outdoors, working on ranches in Arizona, Wyoming, and Colorado. Jake always had a dog by his side and loved to watch his chickens and birds feed. With his broad smile and easygoing manner Jake made friends wherever he lived. his love of people was only equaled by his love for the wide-open spaces and the beauties to be found there. he will be sorely missed. Jonathan is survived by his brother George W. kittle CdeP 1944.
Dean a. eyre Jr. cdeP 1947 dean A. Eyre Jr. passed away on February 13, 2011 in honolulu, hawaii. he was 81 years old. dean, also known as “appy,” was born in san francisco. after early schooling there, appy attended The Thacher school. horses and camping were his chief interests during his four years at Thacher, as demonstrated by being elected president of Pack and Saddle. In addition, he served as editor-in-chief of El Archivero and was known as “the virtuoso of guitar.” his tenor voice was a valuable addition to “los Trobadores” and the Glee Club, of which he was also president. following Thacher, appy attended stanford and majored in anthropology. he also studied the tahitian language at the university of hawaii. In 1956, Appy married louise “Bonnie” Purvis from honolulu. he served in the us army, worked as an officer at the hawaiian trust, was director for the hawaiian Music hall of fame and Museum, and enjoyed being a board member and former president of the stanford club of hawaii. appy was fluent in tahitian and added local songs to his repertoire of hawaiian, Western, and Tin Pan Alley music. Being able to play Tahitian combos was a testament to his scholarship and his wife frequently danced hulas to appy’s accompaniment. Appy is survived by his wife of 54 years, Bonnie; their two children, dean Atherton Eyre III and Thyrza louise “lisa” Eyre; and sister martha Eyre mcdaniel.
shreve M. archer cdeP 1966 Shreve mclaren “mac” Archer passed away on June 18, 2007, in Palo Alto, California. he was 63 years old. mac came to Thacher as a lower Schooler in 1962 from Pebble Beach, California. At the end of his first year, he won the lower School Art Essay Award. mac did not return to Thacher after finishing his second year as a Middle schooler. Mac attended the university of california at santa cruz
and claremont Men’s college and received his medical degree from the university of miami in 1979. Mac’s pediatric practice in carmel focused on children with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, and behavior problems. as a physician, he distinguished himself in the treatment, study, and funding for shaken Baby syndrome and traumatic brain and spinal injury. his medical skills, coupled with a deep understanding of body dynamics, engaged him in advocacy for safer barriers at racetracks and in the design and engineering of improved seating systems for automobiles and back-protection devices for motorcyclists. In addition, Mac helped develop a safer helmet design for military pilots and a redesign of an infant seat to reduce stress-induced trauma and brain injury. Mac’s passion beyond the medical field was for automobile and motorcycle racing. known as the fastest Cobra driver on the circuit for the last 20 years, mac annually raced his bright red 427 Cobra at the monterey historic Races and other courses throughout the year. he was the president and ceo of entropy Racing in monterey and Impact medical Technologies. mac is survived by his wife, kim, and sons Shreve IV and damon.
FRIENDS raJiv Dutta Rajiv dutta—a member of Thacher’s Board of trustees who served on the Program and Finance Committees— died January 31, 2011, of recurrent colon cancer; he was 49. Rajiv and his wife, sumita, made their home in Woodside with their two children: Sarina and Arjun CdeP 2010. he served as eBay’s chief financial officer during its growth period and later ran its PayPal and Skype divisions. Prior to eBay, Rajiv served as Worldwide Sales Controller of klA-Tencor from February 1998 to July 1998, oversaw the sales finance function for its global operations. Prior to klA-Tencor, Rajiv worked at Bio-Rad laboratories Inc., where he held a variety of positions including Group Controller of the life Science Group. he also served as a director of Vudu Inc. and as a director of EA mobile llC. Rajiv earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with honors from st. stephen’s college, delhi university in India, and a Master of Business Administration from the drucker School of management, Claremont Graduate School, California. Rajiv will long be remembered for his intellect, integrity, compassion, energy, and enthusiasm for life. he was generous with his time—whether he was asked to share his experiences with students at his alma mater drucker or his opinions with business colleagues—and he impressed people with his approachability and genuine interest in others. meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO and Republican candidate for governor last year who worked in the cubicle adjacent to dutta for 10 years at eBay, considered Rajiv one of her closest and dearest work colleagues and personal friends. “you won’t find anyone with anything bad to say about Rajiv,” she said. “he was a prince of a guy. I will miss him terribly.”
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in MeMoriaM… ceci rauch Cecilia Bessell Rauch, an active member of both the claremont and upland communities, died on February 21, 2011, at the age of 69. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, dudley, her daughter heather CdeP 1989 and son-inlaw, Wainwright Watkins, of upland, and two grandchildren. at the time of her death, she was serving her ninth year on Thacher’s Board of trustees. according to head of school Michael Mulligan, “We have lost a dedicated and incisive trustee, who was absolutely committed to supporting the faculty and overall academic excellence. she was known as a conciliatory leader, one who listened to all sides before making decisions. she was a true team player.” Ceci graduated from Radcliffe College in 1963 and began her career in lA working for the times Mirror company, focused on corporate planning of its non-newspaper businesses. While this career was cut short by her husband’s job-related moves, she continued as a consultant to the times Mirror company for many years, including a post in huntsville, alabama, where she was the executive director of a federally financed early childhood development program for the five northeastern counties of Alabama. In 1977, she and her family moved back to california and she developed an income tax practice, specializing in personal, estate, and trust returns. for a number of years, she was an associate at teders Bookkeeping and tax service in ontario. she was an active participant in many charitable organizations, including membership in the national Committee of the Performing Arts at the kennedy Center in Washington, d.C., numerous support organizations of the los Angeles Philharmonic including the Foothill Philharmonic Committee, and Recording for the dyslexic and Blind. she used to laugh about how she seemed to become treasurer of everything; it was a job she was pleased to do. ceci suffered from recurring breast cancer for 15 years, until it claimed her life. Throughout her illness, she displayed an inner strength characterized by both bravery and grace.
Michael herMes Michael d. hermes—who grew up on Thacher’s campus in the 40s and early 50s and regarded many of his fellow “faculty brats” as extensions of his family—died of cancer on February 19, 2011. he was 73. mike served in various capacities at the Ojai Valley school, including student, dorm parent, board member, head of school, and finally president. he is survived by his wife of 40 years, Elizabeth, four daughters, and six grandchildren.
Denise close Miller denise close Miller—who served as assistant librarian at Thacher from 1975—77, and then as librarian until her retirement in 1992—died on march 6, 2011, after an extended illness; she was 79. denise was the leading force behind bringing a state-of-the-art library to the Thacher campus and was well–known for her skills as a library researcher and resource facilitator. In fact, she was widely recognized as the “dean of librarians” throughout the independent secondary school world. she worked hard to ensure that Thacher’s library was a place of support and refuge for students wishing to retreat quietly from the sometimes enervating gyrations of campus life. Born in Paris, France, denise and her family traveled to lisbon in 1939, when the German troops marched into France and secured passage on the 44 spring fall 2009 2011
last boat to leave port before the start of World War II. she worked and studied in both the u.s. and france before moving to ojai in 1958 to marry Robert miller, a teacher of spanish at The Thacher school, who later became the school’s college counselor and assistant headmaster. Before joining the Thacher staff, denise taught at monica Ros School, was a founding member of its board, and was board president from 1971—72. The Millers traveled to europe and africa and spent considerable time in Mexico and south america, often with their children. They spent the summer of 1963 in Argentina, and from 1964—65 denise taught English in lima, Peru, where Bob was studying as a fulbright scholar. They were viewed as life-long faculty at Thacher where their three children were raised and educated. firm in her values and generous in her affections, denise was also the dean of decorum. according to Michael Mulligan, “she had a keen eye as to what was good and appropriate and what might be just off kilter or to be avoided altogether.” she kept an eye out for everyone and everything on campus, be it the emotional and health needs of students or new faculty members, guidance and wisdom to benefit administrators, or gracious hospitality for colleagues, students, and their wide circle of friends. denise is survived by her husband, Bob; children Janet Cipriano CdeP 1978 (George), Christopher “kit” miller, dVm CdeP 1980 (Susan), and nicole miller CdeP 1983 (Eric Jensen); and five grandchildren. Twohundred friends and family members attended a memorial service for denise on march 19 in Thacher’s milligan Center for the Performing Arts, followed by a reception on The Pergola.
BarBara hansl griggs Barbara hansl Griggs—widow of Thacher language teacher John van Benschoten Griggs and mother of daughter leigh Curran and son Stephen CdeP 1963—died on may 5, 2011, in Salisbury, Connecticut. Born in 1917, she was educated at Rosemary hall and Sarah lawrenceCollege, where she majored in music and theatre. She met her husband, a yale Glee Club tenor; they sang duets together at their wedding in 1939. She was an outstanding bridge player, made a career of friendship, and lived her life with humor, courage, curiosity, and a genuine interest in human kind. a private graveside celebration of her life will be held September 2 on mt. Riga, the site of the Griggs family summer home since 1902, where Barbara will be buried next to her husband.
the best we can do… time out to make a difference Katherine halsey and Julia robinson CdeP 2004 have both been members of the thacher school community for more than a dozen years, as faculty and fac brat, parent and student, alumna, and parent of alumni. they also share another community, one that took them thousands of miles away and away from their regular life path. this community is made up the clients, employees, and supporters of mothers2mothers, a community health organization based in south africa.
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Katherine halsey Years at thacher: 1995—2011 Years with m2m: June 2006—present current residence: The Carpenter’s Orchard House at Thacher involvement with m2m: I spent my sabbatical year in Cape Town volunteering for them. I worked in multiple capacities: curriculum development; grant writing; travel to Rwanda and Malawi to explore opportunities for expansion; collaboration with South African TV show to create educational content on issues of public health; coordination of intern program. whY mothers2mothers: I saw a feature article in the LA Times about m2m, the founder Mitch Besser, and a group of mentor mothers who were in the States for a conference. I was so moved that I went online to find an e-mail address for Mitch and wrote him out of the blue. I explained my longstanding interest in South Africa and women’s issues, and my related experience, and asked if he could use someone like me as a volunteer. He said “yes,” and I went. Signing on to move halfway around the world alone to work with HIV felt like pushing myself out of my comfort zone in ways that
seemed worthy of the sabbatical’s deep opportunity. reading now: For class: Marcel Pagnol’s Marius, Virginia Woolf, Kate Chopin, Toni Morrison, and Zadie Smith; for myself: The Emperor of All Maladies, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Freedom, The Tiger’s Wife. Julia robinson CdeP 2004 Years at thacher: 1986—2004 Years with m2m: 2009 to the present. I’ll be headed back to the US this July. current locale: Cape Town, South Africa involvement with m2m: I work for the president and cofounder, Gene Falk, as a special assistant. I sit in on meetings, research, and draft speeches and articles for the president, and work closely with the organization’s department heads. whY mothers2mothers: I majored in African History and, while studying
in Sierra Leone for four months in 2007, I fell completely in love with the country, the people, and the culture. When I graduated, I wanted more hands-on experiences with real-world people and issues, outside of the academic bubble. And, I wanted to be a part of something that was making a difference in people’s lives. So, after I graduated, I spent nine months volunteering in Sierra Leone with a small program that offers surgical repairs and support to women suffering from obstetric fistulas. That was a genuinely “on the ground” experience. After that, I moved on to mothers2mothers so I could continue my work on issues of women’s health and human rights. reading now: I’m splitting my time between William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad.
inForMation on Mothers2Mothers The mission of mothers2mothers is to help eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by relying on trained local women to provide education and support for pregnant women and new mothers living with HIV. To achieve this mission, mothers2mothers educates and provides psychosocial support to pregnant and recently delivered mothers infected with HIV. Their program uses community-based approach that employs women living with HIV to work with these new mothers.
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In the end, “time out” is essentially a question of how you make balance in your life... and of how you frame your goals. Here, outside the Milligan Center for the Performing Arts, freshman boys seek a more literal equilibrium before going onstage to sing as part of the Freshmen Chorus during Grandparents Days.
Published on Jul 25, 2011
Time on Task vs. Time Out: