FACULTY, STAFF & FRIENDS…
New to the faculty this fall (l to r): Juan Sanchez, Cal Jensen CdeP 2006, Karen Haldeman, Courtney Sullivan, and Donald Okpalugo; (below) Kim Maxwell, and Tim Sullivan. Bottom right, the newest facbrat, Sierra Grossman Sanchez, shows her School spirit.
ALL OF YOUR WELL WISHES FOR MARVIN SHAGAM did the trick! Over the summer, he traveled to Thailand and Brazil. Over Thanksgiving he visited Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls, since he’d only seen them once before. We weclomed some new faces (pictured on this page) to the faculty in the fall. For a complete introduction see the website news story at thacher.org/magazine. JEFF HOOPER, JAKE JACOBSEN, MOLLY TWICHELL PERRY ‘85, JENNIFER FINLEY McGILL, and AARON SNYDER presented the inaugural week of the Capstone Consortium, an outgrowth of the Senior Exhibition program the Edward E. Ford Foundation now supports via a three-year grant. Nearly 30 participants from 18 public and private schools, from as close as Carpinteria and as far away as Rutland, Vt., came together to share best practices for capstone academic projects. NAIS named English teacher JOEL SOHN as Teacher of the Future for Leadership creativity and innovation in the classroom, one of only 25 teachers to receive this honor. Speaking of awards, the Alumni and Development Office received a 2013 CASE Educational Fundraising Award for Overall Performance. Nearing completion of their graduate work are SUSANNAH McGOWAN (doctorate in academic technology) and FRANCOISE KASMIROWSKI (master’s in French language).
Instead of taking a year-long sabbatical, English teacher and Department Chair JAKE JACOBSEN opted for a four-summer sabbatical. His first summer was spent traveling to South Africa, where he worked at the African Leadership Academy and then traveled to various parts of the Eastern and Western Capes, where he studied modern race relations. He then traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, where he witnessed the cultural advancement of girls and young women in society. Next summer, Jake plans to take some students to Cambodia for a service-learning experience and then to serve as a School representative in Korea or China. Over the summer, two faculty members excelled in some grueling competitions. CAM SCHRYVER competed in the Calgary Stampede Cowboy Up Challenge, a multi-day event that puts horse and rider through a series of obstacles testing horsemanship skills at incredible speed. Out of 11 competitors, Cam and Sticks earned Reserve Champion status. ELIZABETH REYNOLDS MAHONEY ‘88 competed in the Ironman World Championship 70.3 on September 8 in Henderson, Nev., an event that drew the fastest competitors from around the world. Later that month, she competed in the LA Triathlon, taking first in her division, a goal she’s been working toward for a few years. Some faculty members took students on trips over the summer and this fall. History teacher SARAH DELVECCHIO and Chinese teacher ERIC SHI took about a dozen students on a cultural immersion trip to China. Math and dance