Experience Magazine 2021

20 2 1

2021

1

OUR MISSION

20 2 1

To spark in students of diverse backgrounds and talents a passion for learning, accomplishment, and contribution to their communities.

EDITOR

Polly Oppmann Fredlund Director of Enrollment Management and Communications

Jonathan Shipley DESIGN

Char Davidson mall and

ighty reative

Bush Class of 2021 Parent

Libby Singer Assistant Director of Development

I L LU S T R AT I O N

Kyler Martz CONTRIBUTORS

Percy L. Abram, Ph.D. Head of School

Christina Buonomo Communications Manager

Colleen Carroll Admissions and Communications Coordinator

Katie David ’14 emporary ommunications ssociate

Sharon Hurt Director of Development

Jo Ito

PHOTOGRAPHY

Sheila Addleman Christina Buonomo Louisa Fredlund ’25 Polly Oppmann Fredlund Jeff Halstead Hilary Kaltenbach Libby Lewis Emma Maisterra Stephen Mitchell THE BUSH SCHOOL

3400 East Harrison Street Seattle, Washington 98112 (206) 322-7978 alumni@bush.edu communications@bush.edu

Athletics Director E D U C AT I O N A L F O U N DAT I O N S

Molly Judge Leadership Giving Manager

Hilary Kaltenbach

Ethical judgment and action ntercultural uency

Methow Campus Program Manager

Local and global citizenship

Amelia Kramer

VA LU E S

vents and ommunity ngagement Manager 2

Critical, independent, and creative thinking

E x p e rie n ce

rust olla oration nclusivity hallenge

uriosity

ON THE COVER

Kyler Martz is a Seattle-based illustrator, tattoo artist, and mural designer whose work is informed by vintage tattoo flash art, nautical surrealism, and American folklore. Martz is inspired by the natural beauty of the region he calls home and mixes the old with the new to come up with a style all his own. If you take a walk around Seattle’s neighborhoods, it’s a good bet you’ll spot some of Martz’s work The cover artwork is the graphic vision of the school year theme water. Artist Kyler Martz describes the illustration as lighthearted, including “three animals riding a giant fish, weathering the stormy seas together.”

Please contact communications@bush.edu with any corrections, errors, or updates.

Corrections will appear in the next issue.

The theme for the school year and this issue of Experience is water. Head of School Percy L. Abram shares, “In a year of unprecedented tension, uncertainty, and ambiguity, the theme of water taught us to be resourceful, powerful, adaptable, and fluid.” Bush Middle School students pictured above found connection and renewal at the end of a long school year in the waterways of the Salish Sea on the San Juans Sea Kayaking E-week, an epic two-week journey through the remote archipelago of sixteen different islands in the Northern San Juan Islands.

2021

3

“For all that said, I could not see the waterfall until I came and saw the water falling…”

- Mary Oliver

4

E x p e rie n ce

FROM THE

HE AD OF SCHOOL The 2020-2021 school year brought with it surprises, disappointments, ref lections, and discoveries. Bush students, faculty, staff, and families learned lessons from circumstances beyond our control and comprehension, gained strength, and persisted.

It was fitting that we chose water as the theme for this school year. In a year of unprecedented tension, uncertainty, and ambiguity, the theme taught us to be resourceful, powerful, adaptable, and fluid. We recognized that water can also blur our image of an imperfect world that is filled with bias, prejudice, and privilege. What may look on the surface a placid river hides powerful currents underneath that assist each creature’s journey or impedes their progress forward, often unbeknownst to them.

This year, we decided to step out onto the riverbank to witness the effects of these currents.

We adapted to our new environment by taking on its form and shape. We became caregivers, teachers, and counselors. We gained new skills as bakers, puzzle solvers, runners, campers, and knitters. Our students decorated their rooms (their new classrooms) and adapted to remote learning. They discovered novel ways to connect, and rather than focusing on what they had lost, they sought to help others by tutoring, assisting neighbors, volunteering their time, and building community with

strangers. Our faculty continued to teach and to learn.

In this new medium, they excelled by finding new ways to collaborate with colleagues, to engage students through innovative practices, and to bring deep levels of empathy and compassion to their work. And throughout, the Board led with a clear vision and sense of purpose.

In the pages that follow, you will learn more about our extraordinary alumni and how they persevered during this incredible year, meet the newest members of Bush’s Senior Leadership Team who will lead the school into its next century in Seattle, read about how water impacts the community surrounding our Methow Campus, explore how Bush educators are addressing the students’ most pressing needs, and discover the powerful impact that centering student voices—and BIPOC student voices, specifically—has on making Bush a more inclusive school. These are the names, faces, and stories of the individuals who are helping Bush to build what Martin Luther King Jr. called a “beloved community.”

I am hopeful that this look into the life of Bush today encourages you to take a closer look for yourself. I know that you will be impressed with and surprised by how much has changed and, despite the decades that separate us, how much endures.

PERCY L. ABRAM, PH.D. HEAD OF SCHOOL

2021

5

6

E x p e rie n ce

FROM THE

BOARD PRESIDENT When I graduated from Bush in 1984, I could have never predicted that thirty-seven years later I would find myself serving in my ninth year on the Board of Trustees, with one daughter graduating and another following in her footsteps in the next few years. Back then I never contemplated the future of the school. I did what any high school senior is supposed to do. I simply bid it farewell, thanked it for the good times and the teachers who cared about us, and felt grateful for the friends who helped shape me (so many whom I still consider some of my closest).

Today, when it comes to Bush, its future is just about all I think about. Together, over the last two years, our community had every ounce of our collective expertise, grit, and care kickstart into the highest gear in order to figure out how Bush could remain Bush in the face of a global pandemic, social unrest, and all of the fears that come with uncertainty. Witnessing our teachers’ and administrators’ unwavering commitment to fulfilling the school’s mission, be it through Zoom, a kind speed note or email, and ultimately back to a socially distanced classroom, reminded me that what our school accomplished was exactly what it has asked of our students since its founding: step toward the unknown.

If there has ever been a moment in time for us to frame how we build toward the future, it is now. By next year our Upper School Campus will have a new net-zero energy, Passive House, Salmon Safe certified building ready to usher in a new era of experiential learning in spaces that will allow us to extend a Bush education to

more students than ever before, without sacrificing what we hold sacred: small class sizes.

Additionally, our community will see the result of the Board of Trustees’ yearlong work on the school’s strategic framework that will set our priorities over the next three years. We are charting a course that will honor our identity as a K-12 school and prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability. On behalf of the members of the Board of Trustees, I cannot thank our teachers, administrators, staff, and students enough for their valuable insights on what will propel Bush into the future when it comes to the places we teach, the people we hire, and the programming we bring to our students and the broader community.

Someday we will look back on this unprecedented time and reflect on all the ways we saw our way through it. For now, I can say that a feeling of pride washes over me in knowing that we persevered in a way that would surely make Helen Bush proud of all that she put into motion almost one hundred years ago: We worked and learned together.

We listened to each other.

We saw each other.

We led with empathy.

K-12.

STEVE ROSEN ’84 PRESIDENT, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

2021

7

The Bush School Senior Leadership Team 2020–2021 Percy L. Abram, Ph.D.

Polly Oppmann Fredlund

Aliya Virani

Head of School

Director of Enrollment Management and Communications

Lower School Director

Assistant Head for Finance and Operations

Sharon Hurt

Director of Intercultural Affairs

Leslie David ’85

Jo Ito

Executive Assistant to the Head of School

Athletics Director

Ethan Delavan

Sally Maxwell, Ph.D.

Robin Bentley

irector of echnology

Director of Development

Kimberlee Williams

Ray Wilson Upper School Director

Acting Middle School Director and Academic Dean

The Bush School Board of Trustees 2020–2021 Steve Rosen ’84 President Lisa Carroll Vice President

Emily Alhadeff ’94

Ian Sands

Kevin Baker

Jennifer Schorsch

Atul Bali

Judi Yates

Steve Banks ’94 Craige Blackmore

Irene Fisher Treasurer

Stephen Caplow Sergio Chin-Ley

Chris Chickadel ’93 ecretary

Amy Fernandes Maggie Finch Alden Garrett ’73 Salone Habibuddin

Ex-Officio Mary ‘Sis’ Pease ’41 Trustee Emerita* Percy L. Abram, Ph.D. Head of School Christina Brinker Families Association President

Allison Harr Patti Hearn Kathy O’Kelley Daniel Pak

8

E x p e rie n ce

*deceased

EDITOR’S

NOTE Willingness to be Courageous

Earlier this spring, I tuned into the final Parent University.

Like many of us, I have developed new multi-tasking skills during the pandemic. This particular evening, I called into the Zoom event on my cell phone while waiting in my car for my

We led with courage as we began the school year by offering in-person schooling to our youngest learners, collecting critical data that allowed other schools in our region to follow suit. Together we headed out into the streets fueled by courage

daughter’s varsity game to get started.

and demanding justice as our nation faced a racial reckoning.

Our courage became a force in the current of our daily lives, allowing us to adapt and change course as we encountered some of our most difficult days.

Parent University was featuring The Bush School’s Health Panel, composed of six medical professionals, School Wellness Coordinator Happy Salinas-Santos, and Head of School Percy L. Abram. This team of local Dr. Faucis and educators provided invaluable advice and counsel, setting policies and guidelines for in-person schooling at Bush centered on data, science, and student wellness.

Throughout the talk, the panelists answered questions like: What do you envision during the next twelve months for our region, schools, and our children? Do you expect the epidemic around adolescent anxiety and depression to continue? The school’s focus on wellness and the incredible work of the Bush Heath Panel is featured in this issue of Experience Magazine on page 18.

And somewhere between their answers about the vaccine and variants, I heard something simple but profound that has shaped my understanding of this school year. A panelist asserted her gratitude for the school’s willingness to be courageous. Among the familiar questions of worry, fear, and stress – this declaration of courage illuminated a new truth.

As a Bush parent, health panelist, and Director of Programs for Challenge Seattle, Mamie Marcus uncovered what it took for us all to move through this year. Courage.

Our community’s willingness to be courageous has made all the difference. We found courage inside ourselves that we did not know existed. We learned to live, teach, and learn in new ways.

Together we stepped into the unknown, and our willingness to be courageous guided us through a thousand moments.

We showed up when it was messy and hard. We reached out to a friend or classmate when we saw they were struggling.

In this issue of Experience, you will read our stories from a school year in which Head of School Percy L. Abram called on us to be like water. You will hear the stories in which our courage propelled us forward including the experiences of our teachers on the frontlines and alumni like Chris Chickadel ’93, Alessandra Gordon ’05, and Grant Friedman ’15. You will read how we kept our hopes and dreams alive for a better future for our planet, elevating sustainability on both the Seattle and Methow campuses. You will experience the amazing ways students harnessed the arts to express their courage, creativity, and humanity.

I hope these stories provide you with a reflection point on the myriad of ways that you too have been courageous this year. We look forward to hearing your stories in the weeks and months ahead.

POLLY OPPMANN FREDLUND DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

2021

9

September 1, 2020 - The first day of school for the 2020-2021 school year looked like nothing we have ever experienced in the school’s ninety-six year history. Kindergarten and First Grade arrived on campus for in-person schooling and the newest members of the Class of 2033 used hula hoops as a tool to practice six feet of social distancing. Second through Twelfth Grade students started the school year in remote schooling, logging into their first class from home.

10

E x p e rie n ce

CONTENTS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL F R O M T H E B OA R D P R E S I D E N T EDITOR’S NOTE

4 6

9

ALUMNI PROFILES IN MEMORIAM

96

CLASS NOTES

98

26

ALUMNI PROFILES CHRIS CHICKADEL ’93 Principal Oceanographer and Affiliate Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory 26

ALESSANDRA GORDON ’05 Owner, Ayako & Family

28

GRANT FRIEDMAN ’15 State Staff Assistant, Office of U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell

32

F E AT U R E S Teaching through the Pandemic United by Water

34

E-Weeks and Cascades Drops of Water Class of 2021

48

Piecing Me Together

Athletics

40

44

Protecting the Watershed

Retirements

14

52

56

64

68

BushTALKS: Race and Belonging Remembering Sis Pease

78

94

2021

11

SENIOR

LE ADERSHIP TE AM

by Polly Oppmann Fredlund, Director of Enrollment Management and Communications

Welcome to the newest members of the school’s Senior Leadership Team. Middle School Director José Leonor, Upper School Director Matt Lai, and Assistant Head of School for Academic Programs Sarah Smith will join our school this summer, poised to impact the future of The Bush School with their passion for learning and commitment to equity and inclusion.

JOSÉ LEONOR Middle School Director José Leonor joins the Senior Leadership Team as the new Middle School Director after many years of teaching and leading in middle schools throughout the country. His warmth, intellectual curiosity, and authentic leadership position him to build our Middle School community for the future. José joins Bush from Thaden School in Bentonville, Arkansas, where he served as the Founding Director of Middle School and Associate Head of School. In these roles, he played an integral role in developing the school’s mission and programmatic vision.

José’s hiring comes at an exciting time in the life of the school. He will build upon the rich traditions of progressive and experiential learning in the Middle School while setting a future course that fosters a culture of kindness, empathy, and inclusion and invites innovative practices in teaching and learning.

José believes in the promise and potential of Middle School students. He understands that “students are at the heart of our work” and has a deep commitment to providing transformative educational opportunities by working in partnership with faculty, staff, and families. He notes, “students are primed in their Middle School years to meld curiosity, play, and depth of thought, to make a habit of reflection and to practice the resilience necessary to learn from their mistakes.” José, his wife, Hannah, and their two dogs, Nora and Carlton, arrived in Seattle this summer and he started in his new role on July 1, 2021.

12

E x p e rie n ce

MAT T LAI Upper School Director Matt Lai joins the Senior Leadership Team as our new Upper School Director. Matt is a school leader with many years of experience in independent schools working with and leading students, faculty, and administrative teams. Most recently, Matt served as Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management at Avenues: The World School, a toddler through Twelfth Grade school with campuses in New York, New York; São Paulo, Brazil; and Shenzhen, China. He also held a variety of teaching and administrative positions during his fourteen-year tenure at Woodside Priory (California), including Dean of Students, Dean of Residential Life, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, teacher, advisor, and coach.

Matt will lead the Upper School during a critical time in the school’s history as we open a new Upper School building, expand enrollment and student diversity, assist our Upper School team in extending our Cascades programming, and broaden our students’ experiences on Bush’s Methow Campus, among other exciting initiatives.

Matt was drawn to The Bush School because of its mission and shares, “my family and I are so thrilled to be joining the Bush community! Every person—from students to parents to staff and faculty—whom I’ve met at Bush has been so warm and welcoming. The commitment to learning, equity, and community shines brightly, and everyone’s love for the school has been palpable. I cannot wait to get to know you all this fall.” Matt, along with his wife, Kawai, and son, Myles ’32, moved to Seattle this summer with him starting in his new role on July 1, 2021.

SARAH S M I T H Assistant Head of School for Academic Programs Sarah Smith will serve as the school’s first Assistant Head of School for Academic Programs.

Following early career years in public school classroom teaching in both Seattle and California, Sarah spent the past two decades as a founding team member and leader at Rainier Scholars.

She served as the academic director, associate executive director, and most recently over the past ten years, executive director of the organization. In this work, she focused relentlessly on issues of educational access, as well as college pathway and leadership development opportunities for diverse student populations.

In her new role at The Bush School, Sarah will work collaboratively with the division directors to lead all K-12 academic initiatives, including curricular scope and sequence, experiential programs, interdisciplinary teaching and learning, and health and wellness. She will also be instrumental in overseeing the school’s efforts to create Bush’s semester Methow Program, scheduled to begin in 2025.

Head of School Percy L. Abram shared, “Sarah’s visionary leadership over two decades at Rainier Scholars, her steadfast commitment to DEIA, her familiarity with the local independent school landscape, and her unabating faith in the school’s mission and future make her an exceptional choice to assume this vital position. The hiring committee was impressed with her formidable accomplishments in the educational community in Seattle and with her warmth, candor, assiduity, and passion for experiential learning. Over the two days that Sarah spent with our community, she emerged as the ideal person to assume this new role.” Sarah and her wife, Katie Hester, treasure their experiences as members of The Bush School community as the parents of Benjamin ’25 and Lucy ’28. Sarah steps into her leadership role at The Bush School on July 1, 2021.

2021

13

by Christina Buonomo, Communications Manager

TE

14

C A

E x p e rie n ce

I H

G N

H T

R

O

U

G

H

H T

E

A P

C E T

H

D N

L O N

O

C I EM

E W , GY

N LL

E

, SS

AN

TI-R

M, AC I S

A N D C R E AT I V I T

Y

Four remarkable Bush teachers and school leaders share how technology, wellness, anti-racism, and creativity served as beacons for teachers and students as we navigated the challenges and triumphs of this past year. The community remained connected through technology, elevated its physical and emotional wellness, leaned into anti-racism work, and found freedom and release in creativity.

2021

15

16

E x p e rie n ce

T

O G L Y O N H C E

PROFILE Sean Carroll, Kindergarten Teacher and Lower School Department Chair

Sean Carroll is a Kindergarten teacher who, like many Bush teachers, leveraged technology in creative and inventive ways to be able to teach students in two places at once, both in-person on campus and at home via telepresence. Technology played a critical role in teaching and learning this year as we discovered new ways to connect via Zoom classrooms and breakout rooms, iPad partners, telepresence, and more.

How has technology helped to support teaching and learning in the pandemic? Technology has been an integral part of this school year as we worked to bridge connections between students learning at home and at school. Using telepresence, while challenging, was essential to help students feel connected to their classroom community and continue socializing with peers.

What are some of the creative ways you have applied technology this year? One of the most successful ways I have been able to integrate technology this year is through what we are calling “iPad partners.” During playtime or free choice, we have students partner through iPads. While they may not

be playing together, they have the opportunity to visit, chat, and talk about what they are playing whether at school or at home. Each week three students in class are partnered with a peer from home for a few minutes each day to “virtually play” together.

What are you most proud of this year? I am most proud of my students (and their parents/guardians) who have been learning from home all year. Through partnerships with caregivers, we have worked to problem-solve tech challenges and find ways to keep students engaged. We have endured some tough days, but through it all I am in awe to see how learning has continued to happen.

2021

17

18

E x p e rie n ce

S S E N L L E W P R O FI L E Happy Salinas-Santos, ARNP, School Wellness Coordinator

School Wellness Coordinator Happy Salinas-Santos, ARNP, has been on the frontlines this year, ensuring Bush students, faculty, and staff had an expert navigating the complexities of COVID-19 pandemic on their behalf.

How has Bush approached wellness during the pandemic?

Bush is dedicated to supporting wellness, both physically and mentally, of everyone in its community. There has been an intentional effort to reach out to staff, faculty, and students during this unprecedented time to discuss and offer support in the face of uncertainty. In an effort to keep the community safe, Bush has been able to update its policies when significant scientific research has suggested it is safe to loosen restrictions, knowing the importance of human connection.

The school’s holistic view of wellness is helping keep the community connected, strong, and healthy.

How have you helped to support wellness through the pandemic? When I signed on to work for Bush, so much great work and planning had already been done to institute new policies and mitigation strategies on campus, such as new campus signage, designated one-way foot traffic across campus, hybrid schedules paired with classrooms set up for physical distancing, upgraded ventilation systems, new daily health screenings, and a designated space for isolation in the event of a positive-symptoms case on campus. When I stepped

into this role, I helped to add to this already-successful campus plan by providing necessary resources and expertise in contact tracing and on-site COVID-19 testing, as well as supporting the staff and faculty in pandemic-related questions and emotional support, including providing technical assistance for COVID-19 testing and vaccination appointments.

Do you have any tips for the Bush community about wellness? This has been an incredibly difficult and stressful year. I encourage everyone to continue to wear masks and get vaccinated, if appropriate for you and your family. Hopefully, the past year has emphasized the importance of human connection. Reach out to those you love and people with whom you haven’t spoken in a while, smile and wave to those you pass, and spread happiness when you can.

Who or what inspires you? The youth and their innovative, open-minded approach to solving problems continually inspire me. Their insight on societal and global issues and challenges is far more developed than previous generations, and this is what keeps me hopeful for the future.

2021

19

BUSH

HE ALTH PANEL VACCI NE CL I NI C AT BU S H ( M AY 1 6 A N D J U N E 6 ) School Wellness Coordinator Happy Salinas-Santos and Head of School Percy L. Abram hosted two pop-up vaccine clinics at The Bush School in partnership with Albertsons Pharmacies as part of a voluntary mass vaccination effort.

These clinics were set-up on May 16 and June 6 when everyone twelve years of age and older became eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccination. Over 550 vaccines were administered to students, families, faculty, and staff from Bush, Rainier Scholars, and our peer schools in Seattle. The top photo on the right shows the vaccine clinic in The Bush School’s garage with Nurse Happy and Dr. Abram who were handing out “I got the shot” stickers.

The Bush School has convened a health panel composed of local physicians, researchers, and private-sector leaders who meet twice monthly to consult with and advise the school on health-related issues around COVID-19.

T H E B U S H S CH O O L H E A LTH PA N E L M E M BE R S Percy L. Abram, Ph.D., Head of School at The Bush School Derel Finch, MD ’87, Pulmonary and Critical Care Physician and Healthcare Executive (Chief Medical Officer—Swedish 2015-2020) Mamie Marcuss, Director of Programs for Challenge Seattle Paul Pottinger, MD, DTMH, FACP, FIDSA, Director of Infectious Diseases & Tropical Medicine Clinic at University of Washington Medical Center Happy Salinas-Santos, ARNP, School Wellness Coordinator at The Bush School

20

E x p e rie n ce

Cassie Sauer, President and Chief Executive Officer for Washington State Hospital Association Becky Sherman, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist David Townes, MD, MPH, DTM&H, Professor in Department of Emergency Medicine, Adjunct Professor in Department of Global Health, and Associate Director of Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program at University of Washington Veronika Zantop, MD, Psychiatrist

2021

21

22

E x p e rie n ce

A

I S C M A R I T N

P R O FI L E Kimberlee Williams, Director of Intercultural Affairs

Director of Intercultural Affairs Kimberlee Williams has played an integral role in leading diversity, equity, and inclusion work at Bush this year, partnering with teachers, students, families, staff, school leadership, and the Board of Trustees to center anti-racism at Bush.

How has Bush centered anti-racism through the pandemic?

While the pandemic has raged on, Bush has centered its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) framework of the year around anti-racism, recognizing that a second pandemic has ravaged communities throughout this country. Bush has brought every corner of the community together to talk about ways that we, as individuals and as a collective, can not only not be racist, but also move toward an anti-racist philosophy and framework. We have done this work by building out the family affinity group program; sponsoring admissions events for the greater BIPOC community; hosting community discussions about violence against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community; centering the needs of Muslim students, staff, and faculty who need a space to pray; partnering with Black-owned businesses in the Seattle area; holding antiracism training for the Board of Trustees; prioritizing antiracist professional development for the staff and faculty; partnering with NWAIS schools to host an anti-racism speaker series; hosting staff and faculty affinity groups; creating racebased affinity groups in the Middle School; holding open conversations about race in the Upper School; and so much more. This spirit of intentionality and community building through all of these dialogues and changes have moved the needle where anti-racism is concerned this year. It’s a palpable progress that I feel every day.

What ways are students stepping into anti-racism work?

Students are getting involved through our partnership with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and in the hard work that they are doing in affinity groups to create supportive spaces and ask challenging questions. They are also doing incredible work through clubs and different electives in which they are involved. Students are also coming in and speaking directly to faculty and staff about their concerns in order to create a more inclusive community.

What are you most proud of this year? The open conversations we have had where vulnerability and empathy have been at the center with our students, staff, faculty, school’s leadership, Board of Trustees, and families.

Who or what inspires you? Anything that has never been done. I want to see it done, and I want to see it done at The Bush School. I remember thinking I would never walk or dance again when I spent two years of my life living on one leg. That struggle taught me that nothing is impossible just because it is rare or it has never been done before. I mean, look, we now have a Muslim prayer room at The Bush School!

Anything else you’d like to share about anti-racism work at Bush? The best is yet to come!

2021

23

24

E x p e rie n ce

C

I T V Y I T A RE

P R O FI L E Rebecca Pleasure, Middle School Art Teacher Bush faculty across the fine and performing arts, including Middle School Art Teacher Rebecca Pleasure, harnessed the power of creativity and self-expression this year, positively impacting the experience of K-12 students during a pandemic.

Students found critical outlets for creation, inspiration, and expression of their humanity through painting, poetry, drama, music, photography, and more. The arts have always played an important role in a Bush education, and that was true this year more than ever.

How has creativity helped to support teaching and learning in the pandemic? As an art teacher, stretching myself creatively has kept me motivated and centered during this stressful year. I have had the opportunity to try new media, revisit old projects, and develop a lot of brand-new curriculum designed for a virtual classroom.

Ever since seeing ceramic artist Jon Almeda’s work a decade ago at the Seattle Art Museum, I have been interested in miniature pottery. This year, with the help of a neighbor who is an engineer and teacher, I built high-quality, affordable miniature pottery wheels that can fit in one hand. Thanks to Bush’s encouragement of innovation and experimentation, over forty students have had the opportunity to work on these wheels while at home this year. This project was all about having the drive to stay active and be creative, the time to experiment and problem-solve, and the space in the E-lective and E-week programs to pursue and teach a passion.

How has the pandemic shaped students’ creativity? My goal is to provide students inspiring examples by established artists, high-quality materials, and the inspiration to create images.

I have also tried to get students away from the screens as much as possible once class is over. Our projects—sculpting, painting, cutting, and pasting—require getting hands dirty. I am encouraging students to use the art supplies and techniques we are studying outside of class—for their own release, relaxation, and self-expression.

What inspires your creativity? I’m particularly drawn to guerilla art—unsanctioned art that surprises, changes the way I see my everyday surroundings, and helps to create community.

It’s inspiring to see people processing and communicating their views about the turmoil of this year by creating powerful and thought-provoking protest art, public art, and activist art.

Anything else you’d like to share about creativity and Bush? I love that the Bush community embraces art and wants it to be a part of our everyday lives.

2021

25

by Jonathan Shipley, Bush Class of 2021 Parent

F For a man who studies the sea, getting seasick must be hard. “I really do get seasick, but mostly on small boats,” says Bush graduate and oceanographer Chris Chickadel ’93.

“Lucky for me, I study the part of the ocean you can see from the shore, so I’m not usually on a boat very frequently.” Chris is Senior Principal Oceanographer at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory and an affiliate associate professor in civil and environmental engineering.

Receiving both his Master’s and Ph.D. in oceanography at Oregon State University, the man knows a thing or two about water. He says, as a science professor might, “I think

26

E x p e rie n ce

PROFI LE

C. Chris Chickadel ’93

one of the implicit properties of water is that its effect is often proportional to how much there is. I think of the relief of a long drought from the accumulation of rain from a storm or the action of waves over weeks, months, and years at a cliff to wear it into the sea.” He continues, “I think we’ve seen that our action as a community of people, to fight for social justice or overcome a pandemic, is critically magnified when we’re all moving together.”

The positive actions of people, community, and togetherness rose in Chris like a tide during his time at The Bush School.

Starting as a freshman, having come from a small school in Montana, he quickly realized how much the school would impact him. “Bush changed my life,” he says matter-of-factly. “I think one of the running themes from my time at Bush was being able to take risks.” Chris took drama classes and was nervous in doing so. He co-produced an al bum with fellow alum Ben Lukoff ’93. He went rock climbing outside Leavenworth.

And he did much more.

While taking risks was something he learned at Bush, he learned much more from Bush’s e d u c a t o r s . Te a c h e r s w h o

inf luenced him at Bush include Laurie Hall, instilling in him a dedication to craft; Janice Osaka, seeing in him the mathematician he didn’t yet see in himself; and Pegg y Skinner. Chris shared, “Peggy was my first science role model. Her blend of expertise, creativity, humor, and curiosity is something I continually aspire to.”

Many of Chris’ own students at the University of Washington might say the same of him. He studies such things as intertidal sediments, methodolog ies to measure wind-generated ocean waves from cameras, drones, and satellites, and the thermal signature of the residual foam in breaking waves. “I think what draws me to my research is that all the turbulent chaos of waves breaking in the surf...there are amazing patterns in the motion of the f luid.”

The last year has been turbulent for us all. “My work has slowed considerably, but it’s opened space to learn and take action... with my group of fellow researchers and students, and more broadly.” There are silver linings amid the waves. Chris has learned that a rising tide raises all boats. For that journey, Chris won’t mind the seasickness.

2021

27

The Lotus and the Rose

by Alessandra Gordon ’05

M

PROFI LE

Alessandra Gordon ’05

My parents met at the Okura Hotel in Tokyo, at opposite ends of its beloved 1960s lobby bar. By the end of the evening, they would share a single bar stool; four days later, she called him at midnight to wish him a happy birthday from the disco. I like to imagine my mother’s Old Fashioned and its orange peel glimmering like a disco ball across their faces the night they met. My mother, Japanese and native to the city, was living with her sister at the time; my father, blue-eyed and the second of four children from Atascadero, California, had yet to root in any one place and found home in his transience.

She had ink black hair that perched woven at her shoulders and eyes that held onto everything. He, on the other hand, showed her how to let go.

It was three years of letter writing across oceans, cultivating love and shared imag inations, and a few visits to Anchorage, Alaska, where my father was finding a career in

28

E x p e rie n ce

Left side photo by Aran Goyoaga / Photos in right side column by Ben Lindbloom

the deepest waters of the Pacific, in steel containers filled with pollock and salmon that, if far enough away, looked like boro patchwork buttoning up the horizon. On one of their final stays together, he cooked her dinner and made a bright red rose from a tomato he peeled in one piece over the kitchen sink. It was two years before my grandfather gave the required blessing, and with it, my mother left Japan for Seattle in 1985.

A year later, I was born.

When I was a child, I was so visibly theirs, with my father’s wispy cow-licked hair except the coarsest, deepest black of my mother’s. Just days after my birth, I would spend many hours moving my fingers and hands slowly in front of my own eyes, as if learning my own physical language.

“Let me show you how to peel an orange in one piece like a lotus,” my mother would say to me, the corners of her lips turned up and tucked into her cheeks. Her smiles would always have a familiar constriction about them, as if any softness of spirit could not be so freely given away — even up until the weeks before her passing in 2019, when her hands could no longer grip, could no longer hold steady, she was still able to peel an orange with tender intention. It feels fated that she and I went into the business of preserving fruit with our hands.

My mother’s hands were her greatest tool; they delivered a reimagining of her immigrant identity through food in a way that simultaneously kept her expressions palpably tied to Japan and to her community in Seattle. Her hands created a space of existence that belonged nowhere and to no one and transferred her sense of belonging into her people, her culture, and her spirit. In 2009 the two of us met for dinner around a seven-foot farm table that inherently and poetically became the central f ixture of her 350-square-foot Capitol Hill studio apartment, and it was then that she declared her business. The two of us arrived at Ayako & Family over spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and toasted barley tea.

Ayako & Family was, and is still, more than just a jam company. We encompass much more than the tens of thousands of plums picked, pitted, and preserved by hand, a journey that started with six glass hexagonal jars of cooked Yakima Valley apricots.

My mother’s operation was cyclical, like the harvesting seasons that guided her. On Mondays, my mother would show up at the butcher shop with one hundred gyo a, fried and golden. Wednesdays, she was making single stem arrangements of selfharvested cherry blossoms for the best restaurants. By Friday, she was cooking plums over a hot stove. In some ways, we still know little about how she manifested herself in so

2021

29

many mediums and if there was more that could not be actualized due to her illness years later. The business was and is in the work of community growth and food sovereignty. It is in the real simple and honest work of feeding. It is in the work of cultural longevity, memory, and storytelling.

And I was committed to the retelling of this story when I took over the company in 2017. We just celebrated our decade of business in 2020; ten years later, we are feeling this need to return to the beginning. A rebirth. Where people are wondering how to survive, how to let go of their businesses, the sacredness of imagining an orange pith into a lotus or the tomato peel into a rose. It’s calling forth a generation experiencing fear and resilience, of compassion for strangers, of love for family, a learned response to hardship to return to the root of things and to come home. If there is anything that I do know now is that my home is not a place, it’s whatever I’ve imagined it to be; that we can twist, fold, or peel anything from the ground, branch, or vine with our bare hands and turn it into a thing of absolute beauty.

30

E x p e rie n ce

Left side photo by Aran Goyoaga / Photos in middle column by Ben Lindbloom / Right side photo by Emma Maisterra

2021

31

by Jonathan Shipley, Bush Class of 2021 Parent

M

Mvengue is about a three-hour drive from Kribi. Kribi faces the Atlantic Ocean. Driving this route through Cameroon, one might see rain falling from the skies into a network of rivers.

There is still water, even through the challenges of drought and climate change.

It is a Sunday morning in the fall of 2019, and Grant Friedman ’15 is leaving his home in Mvengue to walk to the village spring to collect water and to wash his clothes by hand. He is the only American within a thirty-five-mile radius. He is a Peace Corps Volunteer working at the health clinic, educating community members about HIV and AIDS prevention, malaria prevention, and maternal and child health. In Cameroon, Grant often hears the phrase, On est ensemble. It is repeated during his training and becomes a mantra driving his daily work. He says it to himself as he settles into his work with the community. It means, “we are together.” In just a short time Mvenge feels like home, and those he is working with feel like more than neighbors.

They are a community. On est ensemble.

32

E x p e rie n ce

PROFI LE

Grant Friedman ’15

Grant has felt this sense of camaraderie and family for a long time, starting when he first joined the The Bush School as a Third Grade student.

During his ten years at Bush, he developed a keen interest in learning both inside and outside the classroom.

“Bush taught me that education, in a broader sense of knowledge acquisition and sharing, is something that we should strive for every day, in every aspect of our lives,” Grant says.

A lifelong Seattleite, Grant headed to Vermont to attend Middlebury College after his graduation from Bush. He then served in Cameroon as a Peace Corps Volunteer until March of last year. Abruptly, Grant was evacuated from Africa due to the looming COVID19 pandemic, and the Peace Corps suspended all volunteer operations, evacuating all posts.

One can plan for life, but one cannot predict it. COVID-19 abruptly ended his Peace Corps service. Despondent, Grant did not know what to do next, but he knew he wanted to do something to help others. “The Bush community, the country, and the world have really shown me firsthand the values of perseverance, optimism, and community.” His next opportunity appeared in the fall of 2020, when he stepped into the role of state staff assistant at the office of U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell.

Grant’s passion for learning about the world was cultivated on the second f loor of Gracemont with history teacher Gardiner Vinnedge. “He

taught me to be a better thinker and writer. He inspired in me a passion for history; a learning about the world we live in.” During these classes, Grant learned to hold multiple perspectives and lean into the contradictions, knowing his generation was inheriting a world awash with both disparities and commonalities. It was his time at Bush that taught him how to suss it all out in order find his path. For Grant, his path leads to places and people where he can help others.

“From a young age you’re taught the value of hard work, while at the same time taught to realize that there are other valuable things in life as well. In a year when all of our spaces have been merged into one (our home, our office, and our space to relax), the ways in which Bush taught me to value all of the different aspects of life have felt incredibly important.”

Exactly a year after being evacuated from Cameroon, Grant ref lected on his Peace Corps experience in an opinion column for the Seattle Times (March 5, 2021), sharing, “Certainly, there will be much work to do to recover from the medical, social and economic turmoil that we are currently experiencing in America. As we work to rebuild and improve America, however, we must remember that ‘we’ means more than just America.”

Grant’s focus on community action has led him to know that we are all stronger when we stand together.

2021

33

UNITED

BY WATER LEARNING FROM THE METHOW RIVER

34

E x p e rie n ce

by Hilary Kaltenbach, Methow Campus Program Manager

hen you stand on The Bush School Methow Campus, it takes a moment for your ears to name the sound you hear, constant and low, beyond the forest. You may have to unplug your city filters to realize it’s not the stream of traffic on I-5, but a literal stream, the steady movement of the Methow River. Water is at the center of Methow Valley life, geographically, culturally, and practically. We seek a swimming hole in the heat of the summer, ski through snowpack in the winter, and reset our irrigation in the spring. Yet the Methow community does not take water for granted; it is clear that our actions impact the water as much as the water impacts us.

P R OTE C T W H AT YO U LOV E In 2014, a Canadian mining company filed an exploratory drilling permit for a copper mine near the headwaters of the Methow River and Flagg Mountain, directly above Mazama. Concerned about the long-reaching impacts of open-pit mining, Methow Valley Citizens’ Council (MVCC), led by Maggie Coon, organized a community response called the Headwaters Campaign. Maggie explained to a group of Bush Upper School students, part of the AMP Geology Rocks, that she knew in order to unify the community around the cause, the message had to be positive. The goal was to unite, not to divide.

Rather than focusing on the negative impacts of the mine, MVCC called on the community to protect what they loved, declaring the Methow “too special to mine.”

Partnering with local filmmakers Benjamin Drummond and Sara Steele, they created a quilt of testimonials that stitched together what makes the Methow vital and unique: resilience, agriculture, heritage, public land, fish and wildlife, hunting areas, treaty rights, jobs, and water.

2021

35

36

E x p e rie n ce

Public support was immediate and immense, inspiring local officials to take the cause up the legislative ladder. On March 19, 2019, former President Trump signed the bipartisan-supported Natural Resources Management Act, which included permanent protection of 340,000 acres in the Methow watershed. This protected land comprises not only the Methow headwaters and Flagg Mountain, but also the surrounding hillsides and tributaries, as well as the avalanche chutes and waterfalls. Our water comes not only from the river, but also from the mountains that surround us. The watershed is the community of the river, and the health of one aspect impacts the health of the whole.

In Drummond and Steele’s short celebratory film, Permanently Protected, Maggie explains the extraordinary success of the MVCC campaign is noteworthy “because of the unanimity of support.”

With this shared success comes responsibility.

Maggie challenges that it is our job to “tell the stories of these successes, so that as more and more people come here, whether to live or to visit, they understand that the Methow isn’t this way by accident. It has required a whole community acting on behalf of this incredible place.” Just like the community relies on the watershed, so too does the watershed rely on the community. Or perhaps they are simply two words for the same thing. Everyone who comes to the Methow, whether on a Bush alumni weekend or a senior class retreat, is united. A love of place brings us together toward collective action.

C O N F LU E N C E Local biologist and educator Amy Fitkin leads a group of Bush Eighth Grade hikers down Lost River Road, past their classmates belaying each other on Fun Rocks, and up the steep path of the Spokane Gulch Trail. From the ledge high above the valley floor, students catch their breath and their efforts are rewarded with a grand view. Below them, the valley expands and flattens, the path of the river reflecting the afternoon sun. Amy introduces key landmarks on the jagged horizon by name: Liberty Bell Spire, Kangaroo Ridge, Driveway Butte. She leads their eyes down the canyons to ribbons of smaller streams, intermittently visible between layers of green branches. Lost River, Early Winters, Robinson, Cedar—each winds their way down to join forces with the Methow River. Each of these confluences is a union of distinct waters from separate landscapes, a merging of paths now united in a common journey.

The town of Winthrop is situated at such a confluence, where the Chewuch River meets the Methow. Kevin van Bueren, owner of North Cascades Fly Fishing, views this spot through the eyes of both a fisherman and a fish. Because the Chewuch is deeply seated in the Cascades, it melts earlier and runs higher first. Kevin explains that “salmon or steelhead will stage in the Columbia until their watershed is just the right temperature.” As these big fish make their way upstream, “they may duck into the mouth of a smaller river to enjoy cooler waters as they wait to

2021

37

move to their home water.” Fish also benefit from the introduction of a different perspective, a different water narrative.

The Eighth Grade hikers are about to encounter a confluence of their own. The Bush School is made up of several of these key points where rivers of students combine and braid together: Kindergarten, Sixth Grade, and Ninth Grade. At each of these entry points, students from distinct backgrounds and experiences come together, contributing their own narrative and uniting on their common Bush journey.

38

E x p e rie n ce

R IV E R AS TE AC H E R Six hands dunk into the water and work together to flip a large, flat stone. A quick dip of a net brings up small bits of debris and several naiad stoneflies, wriggling in the sunlight. Stonefly are an indicator species, their presence a sign of good water quality.

They are also a choice snack for trout and salmon.

Learning the habits of the stonefly is key in learning to fly fish.

Jonathan Stratman has been teaching students to fly fish in the Methow for over ten years. His popular after-school club and summer camp sessions fill

quickly with students eager to try their hands at creating their own flies and learning to think like a fish. But there’s more to becoming a fly fisher than casting. Students begin to learn a perspective beyond themselves, a connection between self and river. When Jonathan considers the mindset of fly fishing, he shares that when he’s “focused on a specific run or a section of water, I can almost feel the connection. I’m a part of everything that’s happening around me.” Jonathan hopes that his students take much more than science from his fishing clubs: “Being on the river allows me to be completely who I am, free from distraction and worry. This is what I hope students take away from the experience.” Teaching this awareness at a young age grows not only a healthy community, but also a community attuned to the health and importance of the river.

When Phil and Cathy Davis purchased a corner of vacant riverfront along Highway 20 in Winthrop, they had a vision for a community space that honored the people, the river, and the fish who have called this place home. Phil describes both the goal and the process of creating the park as a “shared stewardship of land, water, and each other.” Dynamic metal sculptures by Virgil “Smoker” Marchand titled “Water is Life” and “Coming Home” bring to life the Methow people who fished and lived along these banks for thousands of years. Now the river’s edges rely on newcomers for restoration and protection.

The September heat was no ally to the group of Bush students wielding shovels and wheelbarrows at Homestream Park, helping create the trail that mirrors the homeward path of the Methow salmon. Punctuated by nine boulders that represent the dams a salmon must overcome to return to its home river, the path invites participation and speculation.

Speculation is more challenging in the heat of

the afternoon, and when Cathy Davis arrived with boxes of ice cream bars, rakes were quickly dropped in exchange for a treat and shared laughter. Behind them, the river echoed in its own language, and the cottonwoods’ shadows beckoned with reprieve. Collective work deserves collective rest, the group stronger because of their efforts.

Just a month later, Homestream Park held its grand opening celebration, a confluence in its own right of cultures and contributors, united by a shared support of the park’s purpose. Mark Miller, whose family has lived in the Methow for 500 generations, spoke on local radio station KTRT with host Don Ashford about his perspective of Homestream Park and why he chose to be involved. The goals of park, Mark explains, exemplify “the concept of a whole valley ecosystem and spiritual system.”

Homestream Park “represents salmon, it represents water, but it also represents dirt, the soil, that environmental wholeness that people come to the Methow for.” By contributing their hands and hours, Bush students become part of that wholeness, carrying the awareness of purpose on their journeys, carrying the story of the salmon and the river.

Back on campus, trails diverge into the dappled light of the cedar forest. Whether you travel the beaver pond trail or the ski trail or the snowshoe trail, you will find the path you chose brings you eventually to the Methow River. Here, the sound of water fills your ears and details assert themselves on your senses. You are here and nowhere else. When we are in the presence of water, whether casting a line or dipping a paddle, we enter a shared narrative of time and place. This water circling our feet reminds us to be mindful of the present, grateful for our surrounding watershed, and thoughtful of what we bring to the next confluence.

2021

39

METHOW CAMPUS

E-WEEKS AND CASCADES

40

E x p e rie n ce

by Polly Oppmann Fredlund, Director of Enrollment Management and Communications

T

he Bush Methow Campus was established in 2016, and serves as a home base for Middle and Upper School students to explore experiential, interdisciplinary programming, including E-weeks and Cascades. Students and teachers come together to consider place-based, real-world challenges in this unique setting, engaging in community-based projects and exploring the landscape together. The Bush School Methow Campus reopened in May 2021 to Bush students, following a yearlong hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021

41

M E T H OW CA M PU S E -W E E K A N D CAS CA D E S The following is a sample of E-week and Cascades that have taken place at The Bush School Methow Campus since 2016.

E -W E E K S Methow River Leadership Mountain Biking Fly fishing and Watershed Ecology Climbing and USFS Stewardship Partnership Project Winter Skills and Community Service Snow Fun Winter Sport Sampler 2021 E-week: Methow River Leadership Leaders: Brian Rafferty, Eighth Grade Math Teacher; Mark Leporati, Middle School Human Relations Teacher; Sophie Daudon, E-week Trip Leader Dates: May 2021; Twelve days including ten days at Methow Campus Grade Levels: Seventh and Eighth Grade Bush Middle School students joined Bush teachers Mark Leporati and Brian Rafferty, as well as classmates, to learn all about being a river guide. The training course was led by Methow Rafting whitewater guides. The skills learned in this program include reading the river, knowledge of personal and river equipment, paddle boating, oar boating, scouting rapids, river rescue, and river ethics. The training took place on a variety of rivers, including the Methow. Days were spent on the river followed by evenings spent at the Bush Methow Campus in Mazama. The trip was intensive at times, but it was also be an incredibly exciting adventure and worthwhile in terms of learning valuable skills that can be used in the future. This program was led in partnership with MethowRafting.

42

E x p e rie n ce

CASCAD ES Skiing through History: A Methow Tale Backcountry Skiing: Avalanche Safety and the Psychology of Group Decision Making Writing the Future: Climate Change and Solarpunk Internships Methow Filmmaking 2021 Cascade: Writing the Future: Climate Change and Solarpunk Leaders: Dan Osar, Upper School English; Laura LeBlanc, Upper School Science Dates: May 2021; Three weeks including five nights at the Methow Campus Grade Levels: Ninth through Twelfth Grade Bush Upper School students spent three weeks creatively and optimistically imagining a more equitable and sustainable future. With an eye on climate justice and using the budding literary genre of Solarpunk as a framework, students read and wrote solution-oriented speculative fiction that counteracts the popular, pessimistic narratives of dystopian and apocalyptic fiction. In order to effectively write these stories, students learned climate change science and explored sustainable solutions in energy usage, food systems, and building and urban development in both the Methow Valley and Seattle. That hard science was then incorporated into original short stories that envision a future society and environment that is rising, not collapsing. Activities included discussions, writing workshops, hikes and walks, virtual and in-person field trips, and hands-on explorations.

2021

43

DROP S OF WAT E R

REFLECTIONS FROM THE CL ASSES OF 1971 AND 2021

by Libby Singer, Assistant Director of Development Alumni from the Classes of 1971 and 2021 met this spring to reflect on their experiences at The Bush School and beyond. The selfproclaimed “outspoken and unafraid” Class of ’71 shared memories with our newest alumni from the Class of ’21, many of which had parallels. In sharing their stories, themes surrounding the power of student voice, experiential education, and the critical importance of Bush faculty emerged.

1971

“

Here were all these little rebellions that we undertook, and everything from what kinds of socks we got to wear with our uniforms to getting rid of uniforms altogether—it seemed like a lot of little steps toward these really ig goals. nd so these little acts of re ellion might seem e tremely trivial now, but it’s like the water image: the dropping water coming through a am oo pole onto a ig at rock at a apanese temple, where after hundreds of years, it forms a depression. hat’s kind of who we were. hese cold drops of water, may e part of a much bigger impact over time.”

- Catherine (Pease) Barnhart ’71

INTERVIEWEES FROM CLASS OF 1971 Anne Alet, Catherine (Pease) Barnhart, Mary Van Arsdel, Mary “Cissy” Van den Berg-Wolf, Phoebe (Caner) Warren

LOCAL AND GLOBAL SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES Civil Rights, Vietnam War, Student Movements, Cuban Missile Crisis and Sheltering-In-Place, Women’s Movement, Climate Change, Population Growth, and the Assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, and Fred Hampton.

AROUND CAMPUS • The final class to wear school uniforms, and the class welcomed in the era of co-education as the first boy joined the Bush Upper School during their senior year.

44

E x p e rie n ce

• Rob Corkran came to Bush in the early 1970s and launched the school’s wilderness program.

• A d d e d t h e p l ay - yo u r - ow n - s o n g tradition to Commencement which still takes place today, selecting a song by Jethro Tull.

• Twenty-five graduates from the Class of 1971.

2021 INTERVIEWEES FROM CLASS OF 2021 Luke Diefendorf, Casey Fleming, Tula Rosen, Donaji Torres-Marquez

LOCAL AND GLOBAL SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES COVID-19 Global Pandemic, Black Lives Matter, Worldwide Social Justice Movement following the murder of George Floyd, School Shootings, Mental Health, Loneliness and Isolation, and Climate Change.

“

oing to a private school, especially a predominantly white one as a student of color, can be a little tough. [Next year in college think wanted to e perience a slightly more diverse environment ut still get... honestly, just an ama ing education that couldn’t have gotten, pro a ly wouldn’t have gotten, if hadn’t come to ush. ust having that feeling, and getting ready to e more involved in the issues around the world.”

PHOTOS PAGE 44 - 1970s Student Life Students hanging out in Middle School Room Students in front of Gracemont Student Government PAGE 45 - 2020s Student Life Teen Feed Student Wellness Center in the Methow Students in Gracemont

- Donaji Torres-Marquez ’21

AROUND CAMPUS • Since 2010, Bush students have supported the monthly Bush-Teen Feed Meal Team, preparing meals for homeless teens in Seattle the first Tuesday of each month.

• Upper School formed the first Student Wellness Center in November 2019, providing another layer of support and resources for Upper School Students.

• Sixty-five graduates from the Class of 2021.

2021

45

1 “ 9 “ 7 1 “

STUDENT VOICE

Being able to talk to any professor, in any lecture hall, to go up to him afterward and talk to him. That, to me, is really normal and not scary. And I do think that probably came from Bush, where we were forced to speak and forced to formulate questions.”

- Mary “Cissy” Van den Berg-Wolf ’71

I mean, we dealt with the threat of nuclear annihilation, which is still out there, but it was a very real threat when we were growing up, yet it was kind of abstract and distant. For you [COVID] is a personal, immediate, daily thing to deal with all the time and it’s affected your school life and everything else. I just, I’m amazed at how you’ve handled it and the grace and level-headedness I already hear in your tone.”

- Catherine (Pease) Barnhart ’71

E X P E R I E N T I A L E D U C AT I O N

I was essentially a shy person, and I had been raised in a very old-fashioned philosophy of children should e seen and not heard. o having a voice was e tremely difficult for me in a classroom situation because I was scared to death of being wrong… So that could be why I went on stage, because I had a freedom there. I had freedom to do, and be, and say, and sing whatever I wanted that I did not have in real life. It’s a very interesting dichotomy.

That theater brought out a lot for me, [whereas] a traditional classroom kept me scared of making a mistake and feeling like I always had to be a good student.”

“

- Mary Van Arsdel ’71

I realized it’s what you do with what you have in life.

It’s not what school you go to or who your parents are or what your social station is. You have to prove it to people, you show it to people.”

“ “

- Mary “Cissy” Van den Berg-Wolf ’71

F A C U LT Y S U P P O R T

Teachers talked to us as real persons and not just as brains. And we could talk with them! This was a highly positive shock. It was a very powerful experience, and it completely changed my relationship with adults in the beginning and with everyone as I became an adult myself.”

- Anne (Benoit-Cattin) Alet ’71

Sis Pease was amazingly authentic. She was able, I felt, to present her adult self to us as a peer and see us as adults when we weren’t. I mean, we were changelings; there were parts of us that were ahead because we weren’t hampered by reality and parts of us that were behind because we didn’t have experience. She could just meet us where we were, on a level playing field, and just speak to us as though we were peers.

How often can you find that authenticity of egalitarianism in a high school, especially with a class that’s being somewhat troublesome? But we weren’t always troublesome. I mean, we were trying; we were idealists to some extent.”

- Phoebe (Caner) Warren ’71

46

E x p e rie n ce

“

STUDENT VOICE

ur tudent ellness enter is home to a group of students that focuses on mental health in the pper chool. few of the people from my group went into the pper chool faculty meeting this morning and discussed mental health and ways that they could support the students. fter we had done a school wide survey to ask how everyone was, we got a lot of responses a lot of stuff we wanted to share with faculty that they may not have known a out... ental health is a hard thing to talk a out, ut it’s really important.

“

- Donaji Torres-Marquez ’21

eeting with the alums ...they reminded me of ush students. thought, t makes sense that you guys went to ush, you’re super cool.’ nd they just gave us great advice and felt that sense of curiosity.

- Tula Rosen ’21

E X P E R I E N T I A L E D U C AT I O N

“ “

s leaders, we’re trying to leave the school etter than we found it. nd that’s a goal that can be carried forward. And I hope that I bring it to wherever I’m going in the future, that you’re always trying to leave places etter than you found them. nd think that’s an amazing aspect of volunteer work in this time of leadership.”

- Casey Fleming ’21

2 0 2 1

think what ’ve learned most from ush is how to really think and how to apply that to the world. ’ve actually already started looking at stuff at that’s similar to een eed that can continue doing. nd think it’s just such an ama ing organi ation. t’s made me think more a out food insecurity in general, and ’ve learned that actually have a passion for that and really enjoy helping with that. nd think that it’s a really important connection at ush.

“

- Luke Diefendorf ’21

F A C U LT Y S U P P O R T

ush has allowed a lot of us to feel heard and less lonely during this super-hard time.”

“

- Tula Rosen ’21

feel like all the teachers are so supportive whenever we want to make any decision as students. remem er when was in inth rade, had told aleigh er erger , ’m interested in learning a out e ican history and may e doing my own research.’ nd his response was, o for it, do it, go ahead.’

- Donaji Torres-Marquez ’21

2021

47

CLASS OF 2021

COMMENCEMENT Sunday, June 13 | T-Mobile Park

A fitting end to a remarkable year, the Class of 2021 came together on Sunday, June 13 at T-Mobile Park to celebrate this brilliant, resilient class. The Bush School 2021 Commencement was a day filled with joy, love, and reflections on the exceptional leadership of a class that together faced the challenges of the pandemic. The scale of the setting seemed fitting for the scale of the moment as together we watched graduates walk across the stage. T-Mobile Park partnered with schools across our region to allow graduates, families, faculty, and school administrators to come together in a safe outdoor setting to celebrate 2021 graduates. Congratulations to the Class of 2021!

truly elieve in the idea of leaving any place you enter etter than you found it, and also elieve in the a ility of you all to affect change wherever you go.

- Filmon Dawit ’21

48

E x p e rie n ce

he lass of

is a class that, through tragedy

and pain, has uilt a system of support, connection, friendship, and love that is remarkable.”

- Percy L. Abram, Head of School

2021

49

“Bush has taught me to look inward, and what I have learned is that what brings me more joy than anything else is being with and caring for the people I love.”

- Claudia Abram ’21

50

E x p e rie n ce

CLASS OF 2021 WELCOME THE NEWEST

BUSH ALUMNI Congratulations to our newest alumni! Together we celebrate the sixty-five seniors in the Class of 2021 who are heading to outstanding colleges and universities and gap-year adventures. Collectively, they are poised to continue their studies and become the next generation of researchers, writers, engineers, activists, artists, coders, and leaders, contributing to their communities and rising up to change and improve the world.

Claudia Abram Kenyon College Peter Antezana Chapman University Cruz Barajas Chapman University Emma Bazeley University of Washington William Bell Colorado College Alessandra Bennion University of Pennsylvania Gabriel Bloom-O’Sullivan Bowdoin College Kathleen Brawley Vassar College Chloe Bright Carnegie Mellon University Will Bronson Gap Year Tamarin Camp Smith College Avie Carroll New York University Ryan Cohen Tufts University Bella Cooperman Smith College Gus Crowley University of Glasgow Filly Dawit University of Washington Julia/Arden DeForest Pomona College

Luke Diefendorf University of Southern California

Brennan Kim University of California (Irvine)

Grafton Downs Berklee College of Music

Dominic Lizardi University of California (Berkeley)

Taylor Eskridge Colorado College Tasha Faber Barnard College Izzy Ferguson Gap Year (Villanova University) Addy Ferris University of Illinois at Chicago Anne Fitzgerald Scripps College

Isaac Lyss-Loren Purdue University Philipp Mergener Gap Year (NYU Shanghai) Liya Miksovsky Yale University Griffin Murch Vanderbilt University Max Muse Occidental College

Catherine Fitzgerald New York University

Yaniv Naggar Gap Year (University of Redlands)

Claire Fitzgerald Mount Holyoke College

Mira Nickels Scripps College

Casey Fleming University of Southern California

Riley Nyhan Occidental College

Mari Forehand Boston University

Mark Parrish George Washington University

Lucian Fox Tufts University

Sara Pollack-Toro Rice University

Charlie Gaffney University of Pennsylvania

Owen Prendergast Tufts University

Anya Hasija Duke University

Louis Robertson St. Olaf College

Hannah Jiang University of Washington

Phoebe Robinson Wesleyan University

Skylar Kil Tulane University

Tula Rosen Northeastern University

Sophie Rotival Swarthmore College Wesley Salimian Santa Clara University Samuel Schorsch Davidson College Celia Sherman Tufts University Grace Shipley Sarah Lawrence College Katie Stanos Columbia University Julian Stoller New York University Ella Strayer Boston University Klara Tarczy-Hornoch Gap Year (University of California San Diego) Donaji Torres-Marquez University of Chicago Lee Truman Rhode Island School of Design Philine Weisbeek Northeastern University Eli Weise Vassar College Avery Westhagen School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University Sally Wolff Gap Year Pablo Zilly Gap Year (Colorado College)

2021

51

long with our faculty, the classroom is a teacher. Our students will learn how to preserve, maintain, and steward our environment through the lessons taught through this project.”

- Percy L. Abram, Head of School

52

E x p e rie n ce

PROTECTING T H E W AT E R S H E D NEW UPPER SCHOOL BUILDING

by Molly Judge, Leadership Giving Manager

O peni ng Ja nua r y 2022 Construction preparation for The Bush School’s New Upper School Building began in November 2020, and the project has progressed at an impressive pace in spite of the challenges presented by the pandemic and a few days of snow this winter. Situated adjacent to the historic Gracemont, the new building will add 20,000 square feet of learning space to Bush’s campus. New educational spaces include ten state-of-the-art classrooms, a student life center, and a 400-person gathering space for the community. We are excited to share that this new building will be open for use in January 2022.

The New Upper School Building will also expand environmental sustainability on The Bush School’s campus. It will be certified as the first Salmon Safe school, the first Passive House school in the west, and one of the first net-zero energy schools in the nation. You can learn more about these certifications on the following pages that spotlight how students, teachers, construction project partners, and environmental experts engaged with an Upper School science class during the 2020-2021 school year.

2021

53

Salmon artwork by Bush Class of 2033

B ui l d i n g the F utur e To ge th e r

watersheds, but unfortunately there is a lot of invisibility

Upper School students enrolled in L aura LeBlanc’s environmental science class during the 2020-2021 school year had an opportunity to learn directly from building and environmental experts about the innovative and sustainable features of The Bush School’s New Upper School Building.

The design, construction, and use of the building is focused on the protection and preservation of water, energy, and the ecosystem surrounding

around the water systems. The exciting part about The Bush School’s new building site is that it is on the peak of a ridge that looks over different parts of this watershed. There is visibility of the lake, and we thought it is a really meaningful place to make this lesson and the story visible. As the project came together, the idea of water became a really big part of our focus.”

Brendan went on to explain, “As we continued to research the campus, the history,

Bush’s campus.

the relationship to water, the views of

E a rl i e r t h i s s p r i n g

water, the watershed,

Bush Upper School Environmental Science s t u d e nt s m et w it h Brendan Connolly, of Mithun architectural f irm, to learn more about how the design and materials used in the construction of the building will enable it to meet a number of environmental sustainability certif ications and

“The Salmon Safe accreditation

Brendan has been

being the first school

buildings and landscapes and

Safe and all the

operations of the building to

synced up to the Bush

do less harm and to enhance

out on a path to think

ha itat uality for salmon and salmon watersheds.”

to really tackle Salmon sustainability benefits mission.” The school set about its classrooms and buildings not just for their immediate impact of teaching and learning, but also

- Brendan Connolly Partner, Mithun architectural firm

for the impact on the larger environment of

the architect on this

the campus, city, and

project from the start,

region well into the

and he has a deep

future.

appreciation for the ways in which The Bush School has intersected with this opportunity to elevate sustainability in a forward-focused,

Steven Mashuda, a lawyer with EarthJustice, also joined a class to help students

energy-efficient building.

understand the connection between endangered salmon

Students leaned into the conversation with Brendan, bringing

was then tasked with determining how to share information

a host of questions to spark the conversation, including: What

about the building’s Salmon Safe, Passive House and net-zero

are some common roadblocks and difficulties that you run

energy certifications more broadly with the Bush community

into when trying to make buildings Salmon Safe certified?

and residents in the surrounding neighborhood. These

Is it possible for existing buildings to become Salmon Safe?

certifications are not only about how to construct the New

How does geography and climate impact the requirements for

Upper School Building, but also hold the school accountable

energy efficient certifications? How is the New Upper School

for how it maintains and cares for them for generations to

Building minimizing water use in general? What standards

come. Cohorts of students in the class focused on each of the

does Bush have to keep up in order to keep their Salmon Safe

certifications, and developed interpretative signage for campus

certification?

and digital content that will appear on the project’s website—

Brendan was energized by the students’ enthusiasm and shared, “Seattle is this amazing city that is really tied to its

54

I think the idea of it

is a metric that really allows

mitigate negative ecosystem impacts.

and the steep slopes,

E x p e rie n ce

and endangered orca whales in the Puget Sound. The class

connectingtoplace.org.

This experiential learning opportunity that connected students with experts and real-time transformation on campus actively supports The Bush School’s educational values and Commitment to Sustainability that was adopted in October 2018. The work of these students will ensure that the entire community can learn how the new addition to campus can help people and the natural world thrive.

PLANT OPHIOPOGON JAPONICUS BETWEEN EXISTING FLAGSTONES NIC PER GRACEMONT SCOPE SHOWN FOR REFERENCE ONLY 0 SF

PLANTING AREA SHOWN IN HALFTONE IS GRACEMONT SCOPE SHOWN FOR REFERENCE ONLY

12

12

SHRUBS SHOWN IN HALFTONE ARE GRACEMONT SCOPE SHOWN FOR REFERENCE ONLY

7

THE BUSH SCHO OL’ S COMMI TME NT TO SUSTAI NABI LI TY (October 2018) PLANT IRIS IN CLUMPS OF OR 5

As a school community, we believe we have a moral and ethical obligation for the preservation and care of the natural, non-human world. We will use a lensVEGETATED ROOF PLAN NOT USED of environmental sustainability as new buildings are designed and constructed, 6 new programs are conceived, and as the school culture evolves.

MATCHLINE SEE L 0

1

We recognize that this is a process and that resources may limit our ability to fully implement every idea and MULCH AREA best practice in this moment, but we will continue to strive for making our campus and planet a safer place for our students and the natural world.

One of our four educational foundations is “ethical judgement and action.” As a guide for the future, our work is based in three primary areas: People, Program and Place as defined in our strategic plan. The Bush School has fostered a strong sense of Place through its deep 12 roots in the Seattle community, its commitment to place-based learning, and its outdoor education program. As we continue to grow our program, our campus, and our school, it is the right time to exercise “ethical judgement and action” regarding our relationship to the environment.

BLVD E

2021

55

“On the page when I’m making art, I have full control.

I can break the line of a stanza. I can paint the way want to paint. I can create art, and that is how found my voice as a young person.”

–Renée Watson, author of Piecing Me Together

56

E x p e rie n ce

PIECING ME TOGETHER INTERSECTIONS, CONNECTIONS, AND IDENTITY THE ART OF COLLAGE AND STORIES IN EIGHTH GR ADE ENGLISH

by Colleen Carroll, Admissions and Communications Coordinator

The most important task of adolescence is the search for identity, and along with this comes the struggle for independence. This past year’s national and global reckoning with racism and white supremacy has sparked a more urgent need for all of us to consider identity and the intersections between race, class, gender, and power.

Eighth Grade students at The Bush School stepped into this academic year eager for conversations about how they relate to the world around them. The grade level theme for Eighth Grade was activism, and students explored their own identities and considered how they could make a difference in the world.

In English class, students read the award-winning book Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson. Like the main character, Jade, students sought to understand the intersecting pieces of their identities. Eighth Grade English teacher Sarah Cohen shared, “Starting the year with this book helped to normalize conversations about identity.

Students were already hungry to talk about themselves and their world, and this was a great tool to help frame those discussions.” The class focused on themes of self-reflection, empathy, and intersectionality to create art collages as Jade does in the novel, and write literary nonfiction essays.

Student essays explored how an artifact such as an object, a story, an event, or a person reveals something about their identity and their relationship to the world.

To complement their exploration of the book in class, author Renée Watson also visited the Bush Middle School for a virtual author visit in February. Head of School Percy L. Abram was on hand to welcome Ms. Watson and shared with students, “Ms. Watson’s stories give us another idea, another conception of what it means to be human. Her work not only helps to expand the canon, it expands our notion of what stories can be told and what stories should be read.

It expands our viewpoints and perceptions of personhood, genderhood, and Blackness, and it expands our minds to

think beyond what we view as the traditional narrative.”

Our collective understanding of humanity is enriched and deepened in powerfully important ways when the narratives centered in literature reflect the full range of voices that make up the human experience.

Ms. Watson reflected on key lessons from her work as a writer and shared, “I think that it’s important to tell your story and talk about where you are from because so many times people are telling your story for you. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, and in the Northeast Portland community, which was a predominantly Black community, I always knew that there were stereotypes about my people, my neighborhood, my block. And there were all these assumptions, and I was like, ‘well, some of it might be true but there is also so much of the story that is being left out.’

And so it is important for me to write my story so that I am filling in those gaps.”

Ms. Watson found her voice as a writer and an artist as a young girl, when her Second Grade teacher encouraged her to be a writer after she wrote a twenty-one-page story.

It was a critical moment from which she has never looked back. She shared, “I literally have been writing ever since, taking myself pretty seriously as a writer all through my childhood.” For Ms. Watson, art and writing formed a key part of her identity, as she recognized early on that making and sharing art was a way to have a voice in a world that quiets the voices of youth, particularly Black girls. “Art is a way to help people see other people. It is a way, especially when I was younger, for me to express myself and speak up for myself. When I was young, like most of us when we were young, we did not have a lot of power. We cannot vote, we have to follow the rules at home and the rules at school, but on the page when I am making art, I have full control. I can break the line of a stanza. I can paint the way I want to paint. I can create art, and that is how I found my voice as a young person.”

2021

57

Bush Eighth Grade students also shared their own work and reflections with Ms. Watson. Earlier in the term, each Eighth Grade student had identified two or more layers of their identities and explored the intersections through collage and writing. Sarah noted, “Our students created work about aspects of their identities— race, gender, class, heritage—that can be difficult to talk about. They did this honestly and beautifully.” By reflecting on their own identities and grappling with the intersectionality of their lives and experiences, the students offered visions of their full selves. The resulting pieces of work spoke to students’ histories and lived experiences.

Ms. Watson, too, was impressed with the students’ work and their willingness to share their work publicly. After the students finished presenting their collages and essays, she thanked them and said, “I am so moved by all of these. They are beautiful and brilliant and vulnerable, and thank you so much for going there, first of all. And then for sharing them with me, I really appreciate having this moment with you all. And artistically, they were all just so unique and different and beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing and for being brave today.”

The deep connection between Bush students and Ms. Watson was not surprising, as she masterfully centers youth experiences and voices in her writing. She recognizes the power of thought coming from teenagers as they take in the world around them and critique it with clear eyes and radical imagination. She noted that for adults the challenge is “that we assume we already know.

And young people are trying to tell us something, and I do not think we are always listening.”

through song, writing, poetry, or

In looking back at the experience of teaching Piecing Me Together and the culminating experience of students hearing directly from Ms. Watson, Sarah recalled when she first came across the book. She was in her local bookstore and was nearly forty pages in before she looked up from the book. She said, “I knew then that I wanted to teach it.

It is so beautifully and poetically written that I could use it to teach motif, allusion, symbolism, and theme. It is also so relatable to our students. Jade is a Pacific Northwest teenager at an independent school trying to balance it all.”

actually telling a

Sarah sees literature as an opening to discussions not only of the characters’ layers of identity but, by extension, the identities of everyone in the classroom. “Every one of us possesses identity and culture. By reading moving works that examine and celebrate the identities of characters, we all can better understand our own identities and culture, and we become more understanding of those around us.”

people. t is a way,

In reflecting on this experience, Sarah shared, “The youth are, I think, really ready to lead us older folks in matters of identity.” Books like Piecing Me Together offer powerful narratives that open conversations around identity, community, and race. In addition, teachers and adults across our school community are partnering with students to build spaces for these real conversations, centering identity, and allowing students to process what they are experiencing at school and in this nation. It is here where they will find their voices as young people and lead us forward.

58

“So whether it is

E x p e rie n ce

story, think art is a way to help people see other especially when was younger, for me to express myself and speak up for myself.

–Renée Watson, author of Piecing Me Together

“Ms. Watson’s stories give us another idea, another conception of what it means to e human. Her work not only helps to expand the canon, it expands our notion of what stories can be told and what stories should be read. It expands our viewpoints and perceptions of personhood, genderhood, and Blackness, and it expands our minds to think eyond what we view as the traditional narrative.”

–Percy L. Abram, Head of School

2021

59

EIGHTH GR ADE ART COLL AGES The Eighth Grade class focused on themes of self-reflection, empathy, and intersectionality to create art collages as the character Jade does in the novel Piecing Me Together. Students also wrote essays that explored how an artifact such as an object, a story, an event, or a person reveals something about their identity and their relationship to the world. The following are examples of students’ art collages and excerpts of their writing.

in

achu icchu

by GianLucca W. ’25 In Peru eating guinea pigs is a big part of their culture, which many other people find gross and or unethical. My mom grew up eating cuy—unlike my dad, who ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Both these foods are part of my identity intersection and show a part of who I am. Although these are just foods, they have history and meaning behind them.

60

E x p e rie n ce

Art Intertwining with Activism

by Eva G. ’25 Protest and activism is human nature; it’s something we have always done when we see injustice. And art is the same way—it’s fundamentally part of human existence.

So when they are combined it’s such a naturally beautiful thing that is relatable and understandable to all.

2021

61

itamoto

Frank K

apanese merican tory

by Kenzo Y. ’25 Approximately twenty of my Tamura and Fujimura family members—including my grandmother, great aunts, and great uncle—were all sent to the camps. It is an important lesson in American history. It teaches us to uphold the rights of Americans even during times of crisis. There’s a Japanese phrase that describes why this is relevant for me. It is, “Okage sama de,” which means, “I am what I am because of you.” I honor my ancestors’ struggles; it is because of them that I can live the life I have today.

62

E x p e rie n ce

ordan s

by Abdullah K. ’25 To most people, this story may seem insignificant; buying a new pair of shoes is not that important. But to me this story signifies me being able to choose how I express myself and therefore choose a part of my identity. I find it interesting that clothing has a huge part in your identity. At its base form, clothing is just a piece of cloth that we use to cover ourselves, yet it is still so significant to us. It makes us who we are.

think that it is important to tell your story and talk a out where you are from, ecause so many times people are telling your story for you.

–Renée Watson, author of Piecing Me Together

2021

63

RETIREMENTS

Bob Huffman

will retire at the end of the school year. Bob began teaching Upper School science at The Bush School during the 20082009 school year. He has taught a host of science courses and served as a dedicated advisor, as well. Some of Bob’s science courses have included: physics, physics with calculus, astronomy, and physics of the body. He also brought his love of science fiction into the classroom, frequently contributing to the speculative fiction course in the English department.

In addition to teaching science, Bob has led AMPs (aviation, courtroom, venture capitalism) and Cascades, finishing his teaching career with the Spring 2021 Cascade resonance, reverb, and outdoor performance. Bob also served as the science department chair and chair of the Grants and George Taylor Sabbatical Committee. During the springs of 2009, 2010, and 2011, Bob was on the coaching staff of Bush’s baseball team as the head baseball coach and assistant varsity baseball coach. Bob’s leadership of the Upper School Student-Faculty Senate, his playful sense of humor, and his support of both students and colleagues across departments will be greatly missed.

We wish him all the very best in retirement.

64

E x p e rie n ce

Tam ara Mo a ts will retire at the end of the school year. She began teaching Upper School history at Bush during the 2003-2004 school year. Tamara’s courses incorporated her love of art history, and she took her students metaphorically all over the world as part of her curriculum. She is particularly proud of the two trips to France that she designed and led for the international travel program. In addition to teaching history, Tamara led AMPs on contemporary art, sewing, book binding, and papermaking, among others, and was instrumental in the Bush Upper School involvement in Teen Feed and Teen Homeless Advocacy. She helped to launch the Internship program for Eleventh Grade students as part of Cascades. Tamara served as an advisor for many students and held the roles of Eleventh Grade dean and history department chair. She has been a fierce advocate for removing plastic bottles from campus, and she has been and continues to be an integral member of our community. Tamara’s insightfulness, sense of humor, and passion will be greatly missed. We wish her all the very best in retirement.

2021

65

Michael Nipert is retiring from Bush at the end of the year to work on his poetry and private tutoring. Michael began his employment with The Bush School in 1992 as a Middle School English teacher, where he also served as a grade level coordinator. After spending two years teaching English in the Middle School, Michael moved to the Upper School, where he has taught ever since. Michael’s courses allowed him to share his appreciation of poetry and philosophy. In addition to teaching English, Michael led the coffeehouse AMP, popular for its laid-back vibe and daily coffee-shop field trips, and he ran coffeehouse evening poetry readings for twenty-five years. While working in the Upper School, Michael served in various roles, including Ninth Grade dean, Twelfth Grade dean, and Upper School coordinator of deans. During the summers, Michael taught the“pre-season writing” summer program for multiple years. Outside the classroom, Michael spent many years with Bush student athletes, starting the Bush baseball program. In addition to his role as Upper School baseball coach and hitting coach, he also served as a strength and conditioning coach and a fitness center manager.

Michael’s passion for his subject matter, engagement with students, and support of his colleagues will be greatly missed. We wish him all the best.

66

E x p e rie n ce

B e a t r i z Tr o n c o s o

is retiring from Bush at the end of the year. She began teaching Middle School Spanish at Bush in July 2002. Beatriz taught Middle School Spanish courses to Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grade students and led a number of Middle School E-lectives and E-weeks, including painting, calligraphy, and international trips to Spain. She also served as the world language department chair.

Beyond the classroom, Beatriz was an assistant coach for the Middle School girls volleyball team. Beatriz is a student-centered, creative educator and helps students discover strengths that they didn’t know they had. Beatriz’s passion, humor, and wisdom will be greatly missed. Beatriz is moving to Spain at the end of the school year to be closer to her family and to embark upon new adventures.

2021

67

A REMARKABLE YEAR

by Jo Ito, Athletics Director

68

E x p e rie n ce

Photos courtesy of Jeff Halstead

2021

69

I

t has been a remarkable year in Blazer athletics as the pandemic sidelined our coaches and athletes starting in March 2020. This interruption to our routines, practices, and competitions changed us, and helped us to better understand the true purpose and meaning of sport.

At The Bush School, athletics is about community, team, and the daily connections of working toward a shared goal. It is about perseverance and experiencing victory and defeat alongside your teammates and coaches. It is about making mistakes, getting back up to try again, and working hard to achieve personal and collective goals. It is about the big moments, but even more so, it is about the small moments, connecting with teammates, coaches, and fans. It is about being a part of something bigger than yourself.

“I like being an athlete because of the constant push to be better and improving your game.

-Nancy F. ’24, Athletic Student Council (basketball, skiing, tennis)

70

E x p e rie n ce

In the early months of the pandemic, the athletics staff created online fitness classes and new ways for coaches and athletes to set up virtual team meetings and remote workouts. They focused on creating opportunities for human connection, and embraced the school’s holistic view of wellness, striving to keep the community connected, strong, and healthy.

They worked hard to carry forward the rites and rituals so important to our athletes, celebrating our at the end of the 2019-2020 school year with a recognition event for the Middle School teams and the annual Upper School Athletics Awards program.

The junior athletes honored the seniors; however, this time it was on Instagram rather than on the sidelines of the last home game of the season.

The summer was spent developing a virtual Middle School sports program, while also joining in on conversations with the Washington Interscholastic

2021

71

72

E x p e rie n ce

“I like being an athlete and the grind toward ecoming a etter player. missed playing soccer five days per week with my friends. t felt ama ing to get back out there after missing last season.”

-Brennan K. ’21, Athletic Student Council (soccer)

Activities Association (WIAA) and other athletic directors in the newly formed Emerald Sound Conference. This was the inaugural season of the league, and the member schools were forced to confront challenges and uncertainty that had never been faced before to create a shared road map for a return to play. The league focused on a variety of questions, such as: When will it be safe to resume athletics? How do we prevent the spread of COVID19? Can athletes share equipment in practice? Will we require athletes to wear masks? What are the protocols for outdoor sports versus indoor sports?

Can we provide transportation? We were in uncharted territory.

At Bush, we consulted with School Wellness Coordinator Happy Salinas-Santos and the school’s health panel, made up of medical experts from across the region, and adjusted to shifting COVID19 guidelines from the governor’s office and the Department of Health. After endless planning, the school created a calculated and clear plan that prioritized the health and safety of athletes and coaches.

The Middle School athletics program took place virtually during school year as part of the E-lectives program. The coaches were inventive, finding creative

ways to develop meaningful online sessions, and students jumped into fitness sessions and practiced skill work at home. There were opportunities for athletes to learn about different aspects of their sports, including rules, strategies, and the history of the game. Middle School students had fun, and the virtual program kept athletes engaged, preparing them for future participation.

In late September, the Upper School athletics program got the green light to offer in-person practices as part of the newly established out-ofseason coaching period. This was the first big step toward returning to play. Athletes learned new COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and practices resumed with small pods. Wearing masks, coaches and teammates reconnected on the court, fields, and running trails. The momentum of coming together again—even without competitions against other schools—was monumental, and the positive impact was felt universally.

Unfortunately, the Upper School athletics program was forced to pause after fall break, as COVID-19 cases increased in King County and the school accounted for potential holiday travel. During this time, the athletics community came together to host one of the school’s favorite annual events: the

2021

73

74

E x p e rie n ce

2021

75

Blazer Bash. The Athletics Booster Club joined forces with the athletics staff to reimagine this signature event. It was focused on community impact, and included weeklong, school-wide fitness activities and competitions, as well as a food and clothing drive for Teen Feed. Each Bush student received in the mail fun Blazer Bash stickers and microwave popcorn to pop before the main event—Blazer eopardy! The game show was live streamed from Schuchart Gymnasium, and featured loyal Blazer fans and school leaders Head of School Percy L. Abram, Acting Director of Middle School and Academic Dean Sally Maxwell, and Lower School Director Aliya Virani.

The Upper School athletics program relaunched in mid-February, running a nine-month, three season athletics program in a shortened five-month period.

Practice schedules were mapped out, and coaches, athletes, and families were prepared as the school resumed competitions with the fourteen other schools in the Emerald Sound Conference. It was an epic undertaking, but was worth the effort to see the Blazer athletes return to play. No one will forget those first days out on the field, playing with teammates and friends again, taking the ball to goal, blocking a spike,catching a high flying Frisbee, and rounding

2021 Boys Varsity Soccer Emerald Sound Conference Champions

76

E x p e rie n ce

the corner on the last 1,000 yards of the first cross country meet. It was pure joy.

The Blazers coaching staff played a vital role in this complicated time, and it is because of the coaches that the school was able to provide meaningful and positive sports experiences for Bush’s many student athletes. They brought teams together, juggling new health and safety protocols with skill development and the well-being of our athletes in mind. The school is immensely grateful for the contributions and commitment that Blazer coaches made to the players

and program at The Bush School. Coaching can be challenging under normal circumstances; running teams during a pandemic is extraordinary.

In reflecting back, by centering the same core values that guide our athletes, Bush was able to navigate the twists and turns of the last fifteen months. Teamwork.

Perseverance. Sportsmanship. Ethical judgement.

Time management. It has been a remarkable year. The Blazers look forward to returning to something a little more ordinary in the year ahead.

2021

77

Clockwise from the top left

78

E x p e rie n ce

Michelle Purnell-Hepburn ’75, Skylar Kil ’21, Aaron Mitchell ’22, Steve Banks ’94

BUSHTA LK S:

R ACE AND BELONGING

by Sharon Hurt, Director of Development

BushTALKS: Race and Belonging provided an opportunity for the school community to hear from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) students and alumni about their experiences at The Bush School and beyond. We invited two Bush alumni and two current students to share their stories and discuss how race, in particular, intersected with their experience and sense of belonging at Bush. Spanning several generations, Steve Banks ’94, Michelle Purnell-Hepburn ’75, Skylar Kil ’21, and Aaron Mitchell ’22 spoke authentically about the challenges and the beauty of being a Blazer. Head of School Percy L. Abram and Director of Intercultural Affairs Kimberlee Williams moderated.

Our goal was to listen and to sit with the stories that will help not only inform Bush’s Centennial story, but also focus on community building and belonging.

Each panelist was asked to share a story using one or more of the following prompts: Did a sense of belonging exist for you when you entered Bush as a student? Did it change over time, if at all? How did you find connection in the Bush community?

What is your sense of belonging today? What is important for the Bush community to know and understand about your experience that may help inform and shape the work now and into the future?

The experiences shared were stories of resilience, pain, frustration, perseverance, joy, and gratitude, and they also had haunting similarities. Upon reflection, Dr. Abram shared, “What stood out to me was how remarkably similar their experiences were.” He noted that the four stories had similar elements that included racial epithets, distinct home and school cultures, questions of how/why they were at the school, ideas of exceptionalism (“oh, but you’re different”), exceeding pride in their families and community, a notion that they had to work twice as hard to be recognized, and high academic standards by teachers.

Michelle was one of five girls of color who entered her class at the same time. She explained that “Bush wasn’t ready, did not know how to be ready, for five young girls of color. Where we found community was with each other. The system did not know how to welcome us like the current system can and does.”

Michelle referenced her parents' regular reminders to keep her head down and focus on academics. “We had to overcome quite a bit and to assimilate to succeed at Bush.”

Dr. Abram was proud of Skylar and Aaron for sharing very personal stories so confidently and poignantly. He was also impressed that they viewed personal slights not as their fault, but the fault of the individuals who made the comments. The students were still willing to teach and learn, not afraid to speak out, and saw Bush as a place where they belonged.

Reflecting on the event, Aaron shared that he thinks that his sense of belonging comes from starting at Bush in Kindergarten.

He found out on the evening of the panel discussion that he will be the first Black male student to spend all thirteen years of his education at Bush and it “blew my mind.” He is proud to carry that title, but he was also surprised by it and points out that it is an example of why there are still improvements that need to be made. He has always had a sense of belonging, but Aaron notes that there have been many times that he just felt different. He felt less alone after hearing the stories of the other panelists and shared that the stories “are going to stick with me for a long time, [as will] the event itself, because I feel like Bush is at a turning point for the better.”

Steve Banks ’94 came to the panel to share his story, listen to others, and raise awareness about how people of color experienced Bush over the years. “I’m a huge fan of transparency,” he explained, “and it’s okay to be uncut and not always so polished, your story is your story, it is what has made me Steve Banks. I believe open dialogue can often have a great effect on a community.”

Kimberlee experienced the stories deeply, noting that “at times I had to hide my tears and untie the knots in my stomach. At other times I laughed so loud and so hard. I loved, loved, loved it!” Many walked away with a renewed commitment to learning and undoing the places and parts of our community and culture that act as barriers to belonging. As Kimberlee says, “Let’s make space to hear more of these stories so that we can make Bush a better place for all students past, present, and future.”

After the event, Michelle called two classmates and lifelong friends and shared with them that she was able to say, “Wow, how much Bush has changed. Wow… a lot has changed.” She went on to say, “I signed on to help people in this life. I am so glad my alma mater has and will continue to rise to the occasion… it will take all of us to get to the equitable world we want to live in.”

2021

79

SCHOL ASTIC ART AND WRITING AWARDS

by Christina Buonomo, Communications Manager

Creativity in the arts and writing has been a positive outlet for students and teachers during a challenging year. In January 2021, The Bush School students were recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers’ Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Award jurors look for work that exemplifies the awards’ core values: originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal voice or vision.

Bush competes in the western region, which includes the entire West Coast to Colorado. Regional Gold Key winners go on to the national rounds. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding and creative Blazers, listed below with descriptions of their work.

Alden S. ’22 received a Gold Key, three Silver Keys, and three honorable mentions in photography. Alden is a student in Upper School art teacher Marilyn Smith’s class.

C aro l i n e S . ’ 25

won a Gold Key for Science Fiction & Fantasy category for her story “Practiced Innocence.” Caroline was sponsored for this award by Middle School Teacher Mike Jackson.

C as ey F. ’21

received a Silver Key in Science Fiction & Fantasy and an honorable mention for Flash Fiction. Casey is a

80

E x p e rie n ce

student in Upper School English teacher Chelsea Jennings’ class.

Read “Genesis,” Casey’s Silver Key-winning story on page 81.

Katie S. ’21 won a Gold Key for

y shadow and a Silver Key for poetry and an honorable mention in Personal Essay & Memoir. Katie is a student in Upper School English teacher Chelsea Jennings’ class.

M a t t h e w P. ’ 2 2

won a Silver Key in Science Fiction & Fantasy for his story “Black Water.” Matthew is a student in Upper School English teacher Chelsea Jennings’ class.

GENESIS

by Casey F. ’21

Before the beginning of time, there was only water. It bent inwards on itself and cascaded down to the depths of eternity, carrying little more than darkness in its limitless bounds. From this impossible deep came Yakuze, a four-headed serpent with ninety-nine massive eyes and spite for teeth. Like the water, Yakuze was created before life itself began and was thus something beyond life. He was the memory and knowledge of death, form woven out of shadow and inky blue water. Yakuze existed for a thousand years alone, wandering between nowhere and somewhere, and with his solitude came the first minute of time. It passed by slower then—there was nothing to speed it up.

The remnants of shadow that brought Yakuze into being were slowly stitched together, by none other than time itself, into the form of a small child—dark hair and eyes which could hardly fathom light. Her blood was the water of the abyss, graceful and limitless, and from this blood of water and body of shadow came Hesi, child of the ocean. Though she could not see it, Hesi remembered light as if it were a distant memory. She spun the first star out of fragments of shadow, rubbing them against each other until they were warm. She imagined they glowed. Years and years passed, as Yakuze prowled the deep and Hesi sat solitary, spinning stars out of tendrils of shade. The water began to shine and shimmer around her. Yakuze, who had never once seen light, grew furious at the sight of it. His dark abyss would not be illuminated, for once all can be seen secrets are no longer safe. Unwilling to share his secret, his understanding of the life after death and the memory of what came before the shadow girl, Yakuze spent his days traveling down with the water toward the deepest depths of a realm with no edges.

Hesi learned how to wield the light. Its magic danced in the water, playing and refracting around her. Though Yakuze swam quickly, Hesi was clever. She knew there was no ending to the realm and thus, no beginning. A chase would be fruitless. Hesi instead sat in wait. One hundred years later, Yakuze had crossed eternity and returned to the place where Hesi dwelled, finally daring to confront the light he so desperately wished to extinguish. Hesi knew that she, child of the abyss as he was, could not destroy the great serpent. Only he could destroy himself.

The day of their great battle marked the end of the beginning. Hesi wielded her light as Yakuze danced in shadow, a parlay that may have lasted years or mere seconds. The spun stars of the ocean’s child were no match for Yakuze’s wrath. They battled fiercely, lights around them flickering out one by one as Yakuze tore the woven shadow apart with his terrible teeth. Finally, when all but one star was destroyed, the great form of the serpent dwarfed the tiny shadow girl. Yakuze laughed, rearing back his four heads while the last little light rested in the palm of Hesi’s hand.

“Foolish child,” said the serpent. “We are born of the same sea.

But I am stronger and quicker. Beyond this day, none shall remember your name.”

The girl smiled back at him. “You are right, great Yakuze. But your name? Yours will be forever written in stone as a fate sealed by a single spark of light.”

Holding up her hand, Hesi released the last little star. It glowed and it sparked, floating higher and higher until at last it reached the top of Yakuze’s third head. The other heads lashed out at it, seeking to destroy the orb, but struck one another instead. The great serpent tore himself down, each missed strike angering him more and more until nothing remained but a single spark of light above his fallen body. The water that had existed before the beginning of time had burned away in the fury of Yakuze’s wrath.

There only remained the child of shadow, the light she wielded, and a serpent fallen prey to his own vengeance and ire.

From Yakuze’s body, Hesi sculpted the world. Out of the shadow of Yakuze’s veins she again spun the stars, decorating the empty world with dots of light. The remaining water of his blood formed the seas and the oceans, and his bones the world. Out of his scales she created mountains, and ninety-eight of his eyes became seeds of the very first trees. Hesi did away with the teeth of Yakuze, for the world did not want of spite. She destroyed all but one; the last had been broken off and swallowed by the great serpent when his four heads turned against one another. A shard of the final, forgotten tooth rests in the heart of every person that gives into spite as the serpent did.

Hesi then took strands of her own hair, weaving them into animals to travel the land. They were beasts of the wind, earth, and sky—some large, some small. Out of a drop of her blood she sculpted the first two humans and gave them a sliver of the first light that slayed Yakuze. This was memory and knowledge—of death, of light, and of the great serpent from whose fallen form the world was shaped. Then, Hesi created the moon and the sun to remind the humans of hope. The moon she made from the ninety-ninth eye of Yakuze, to push and pull the tides and shape the water as the serpent once did. The sun she made from the first light of the universe, and it rose every morning though it was sometimes hidden by the clouds and disappeared behind the horizon. The sun and the moon existed in harmony, for there is rarely ever shadow without light or light and an absence of shadow.

And so, she who brought light and was a creature of shadow gazed upon her creation and the birth of a world from a death.

She who had sealed the serpent’s fate in stone and who knew it best to fulfill her own traveled back into the empty expanse beyond. From there, she watches as those of the world discover secrets and marvel at every little wonder, as if spinning their own stars out of joy and memory. It is in this empty beyond that Hesi, child of the boundless ocean and mother of the world, shall stay, and at the end of time will be remembered only by the sun.

2021

81

SCHOL ASTIC ART AWARDS PHOTOGR APHY

by Alden S. ’22

Gateway Honorable Mention

Inside or Out Honorable Mention

82

E x p e rie n ce

Flowing Silver Key

Solitude Gold Key

2021

83

A SIGN AT THE DOORSTEP

by Sharon Hurt, Director of Development

The fundraising world has gone through cycles of growth and evolution. Twenty years ago, author and researcher Penelope Burk’s groundbreaking book Donor-Centered Fundraising sparked change. Nonprofit organizations across the country incorporated Burk’s research into their practices, shifting from a traditional focus on organizational needs to an updated approach of elevating donors as thought partners. This change sparked deeper personal engagement in nonprofit missions leading to new innovations and larger philanthropic investments. At the same time, this emphasis on donors had the unintended consequence of excluding community members who are outside donor circles. This practice became particularly problematic for nonprofit organizations whose values were grounded in building community.

Another key community-building event is Celebrate Bush, the annual fundraiser to support financial aid. Our goals are to raise money in support of financial aid in an atmosphere where community members feel that they belong and are inspired to participate. And, of course, celebrate Bush!

The Bush School’s core value of inclusivity is a critical lens through which we review and build our practices for community engagement. Last July as part of a summer work retreat, the school’s development team partnered with Director of Intercultural Affairs Kimberlee Williams as she arrived on campus to start her new position leading diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the school. Together we discussed building sound practices in philanthropy using a values lens centered on inclusivity.

There was also an incredible sentiment of love and appreciation shared through messages in the live chat. People showed up, sending a powerful message to faculty, staff, and students in a challenging year. The messages were: “we are proud of you, we are grateful to you, and we are here for you.” The entire community—grandparents, alumni, parents/guardians, parents/guardians of alumni, faculty and staff, Trustees, and students—came together to celebrate the school. You can learn more about this year’s Celebrate Bush event on the following pages.

We envisioned creating an experience in which all community members felt as if there was a sign at the “doorstep” that says “all are welcome.” We discussed ways to realize this vision through both interpersonal and systemic changes. We started to employ this mantra as we set priorities, worked on projects, and built relationships. We adjusted how we approached our work and set a course for growth and evolution, consciously elevating our values while contributing to the work of community building at Bush.

In preparation for Bush’s Centennial celebration in 2024, we partnered with the Centennial task force to build programming using a values lens. The task force is composed of alumni spanning forty-four graduation years. Together we created a values statement to guide the work of recounting and celebrating the 100-year history of The Bush School. We had robust and lively conversations in thinking about how we look back and look ahead together. The statement we crafted demonstrates a commitment to listening, valuing, and sharing the full story of The Bush School. You can read more about the Centennial and the values statement on the following pages.

84

E x p e rie n ce

Once we started asking questions and applying the values lens, we recognized that there were new formats and programming models that would foster a more inclusive experience. We moved forward with eliminating the live and silent auction with the exception of classroom art. There was no fee to join the event. And here is what we found: more people attended the event, and almost twice as many people made contributions to “Raise the Paddle.”

Finally, the Annual Fund is a campaign whose efforts have focused heavily on participation. In hopes of inspiring every family, we collaborate with a team of volunteers who serve as a resource and share information about what the Annual Fund supports, how it makes a difference, and answers questions.

They also share that participation in the Annual Fund helps to build and strengthen our community, particularly this year with extra pressure on the budget due to the pandemic. We are in this together and this community showed up in a big way. Thank you!

With the Centennial, Celebrate Bush, and the Annual Fund, we endeavored to inspire belonging, gratitude, and support for one another. It is through partnerships and a shared belief in these values that we are able to travel this path as a school. It is not always easy to change, grow, and evolve, but it is much easier when you are following a path that leads to a sign that says and truly means “all are welcome,” and we hope you will join us.

1930s - Bush students in art class in a studio space called The Shop.

CEL EBR AT ING ONE HUNDR ED Y E A R S

SHARE YOUR STORY

by Libby Singer, Assistant Director of Development

In 2024, The Bush School will celebrate one hundred years in service of students in Seattle. We hold people and their stories at the center of this one-hundred-year story, and we are committed to commemorating the history of Bush through the voices of alumni, students, former and current faculty, staff, leadership, and families.

To ref lect on the history of Bush and its impact on our community, we will be conducting a series of listening sessions leading up to the Centennial. We hope you will join us and share your story. For more information about the Centennial and to register for an upcoming event, please visit bush.edu/alumni/ centennial.

Members of the Centennial Task Force Emily (Warshal) Alhadeff ’94 Monica (Garbutt) Anselmetti ’82 Catherine (Pease) Barnhart ’71 Chris Chickadel ’93 Jackson Lone ’15 Michelle Purnell-Hepburn ’75

2021

85

1940s VALUES FOR THE CENTENNIAL TASK FORCE In celebrating one hundred years of The Bush School in the Seattle community, we are honoring its past while contributing meaningfully to its future.

We hold people and their stories at the center of this 100 year story. We are committed to commemorating the history of The Bush School through the voices of alumni, students, former and current faculty, staff, leadership, and families. We engage and encourage authenticity. We recognize that some of our history may be painful, but we will listen, honor, sit with, and learn from those stories to help shape a better future.

We are curious, intentional, earnest, and forward thinking. We celebrate all that we are and all that has been accomplished. We are inspired by our shared values first articulated by Helen Taylor Bush: emphasis on learning by doing, awareness of and respect for each student’s interests and readiness to learn, and encouragement of creative teaching across the curriculum.

As we move into the next century as a school community, we will have created paths and opened doors through which we connect with one another, across generations, because of our shared history at The Bush School.

1980s 86

E x p e rie n ce

1970s

1990s

2010s 2021

87

Thank You A special thank you to the We Are Bush volunteers.

We Are Bush Co-Chairs Kate Bayley ’96, Toni-Ann Lupinacci

CELEBR ATE BUSH

by Amelia Kramer, Events and Community Engagement Manager

Class Art Volunteers Kindergarten: Maria Chapman First Grade: Courtney McKlveen, Forest Dickey, Kira Streets, Cam Scott Second Grade: Heather Hayes Third Grade: Krista Seery, Amy Pak, Judi Yates Fourth Grade: Suzanna Westhagen, Avery W. ’21 Fifth Grade: Toni-Ann Lupinacci, Kate Bayley ’96 Share the Love Emily Alhadeff ’94 Allie Ruettgers

PHOTOS PAGE 88-89 Top: Judi Yates and Kainoa Y. ’30 Bottom Left: Toni-Ann Lupinacci Bottom Right: Eric Branner and Edie B. ’25 PAGE 90-91 Top Left: Events and Community Engagement Manager Amelia Kramer Top Middle: Kate Bayley ’96 Bottom Middle: (L to R) Kate Bayley ’96, Toni-Ann Lupinacci, Director of Enrollment Management and Communications Polly Fredlund, Eric Branner, Edie B. ’25, Events and Community Engagement Manager Amelia Kramer, Judi Yates, Kainia Y. ’30, Director of Development Sharon Hurt, Board President Steve Rosen ’84, Technology Director Ethan Delevan, Auctioneer Fred Northup, Assistant Director of Development Libby Singer, Database Manager Abigail Pratt, Leadership Giving Manager Molly Judge, Head of School Percy L. Abram Top Right: Head of School Percy L. Abram Bottom Right: Board President Steve Rosen ’84

88

E x p e rie n ce

On March 6, 2021, 414 households tuned into our livestreamed We Are Bush celebration in support of financial aid. Although COVID-19 impeded our ability to gather in person, participating in the event from home was an incredible demonstration of support for Bush faculty, staff, and students.

We Are Bush, led by parent co-chairs Kate Bayley ’96 and Toni-Ann Lupinacci, was a beautiful celebration of a community that cares deeply about one another. Throughout the evening, we heard powerful stories from faculty, staff, and students; enjoyed musical performances by Kainoa Y. ’30 and Edie B. ’25; and witnessed an incredible outpouring of support for the Lower School class art auction and Raise the Paddle. Families, sponsors, grandparents, and alumni watched from home and connected virtually, sending heartfelt messages of appreciation and gratitude using the event’s chat feature.

New this year to the celebration was Share the Love. Students, parents, and colleagues shared incredible stories of the faculty and staff who inspire them, and the K-12 community raised $25,330 for faculty and staff appreciation. These funds were used to support faculty and staff appreciation efforts throughout the spring including pasta dinner kits, a coffee tumbler and coffee beans, cookies and milk, gift cards, and more.

Your generous support through sponsorship and Raise the Paddle culminated in $490,533 raised for financial aid at The Bush School!

Fun Facts about Celebrate Bush: We Are Bush

414 households participated in the virtual event

46 alumni attended

$490,533 total raised for financial aid

309 paddles raised

186 Share the Love notes submitted

15 volunteers

18 generous community sponsors whose contributions totaled $45,500

6 student art projects raised $11,250 for financial aid

315 messages of love and support throughout the evening

2021

89

Sponsor Feature This year eighteen sponsors supported Celebrate Bush. The event’s virtual format provided new recognition opportunities for sponsors, building meaningful community partnerships.

Over the past several years, we have been fortunate to partner with organizations in the Seattle business community. Sponsorship helps to ensure that all funds raised at Celebrate Bush directly support financial aid. Each of the companies that sponsored the event believe strongly in the students, teachers, staff, and families that make Bush so special. The sponsors’ steadfast commitment to The Bush School was evident in their willingness to adapt to a virtual event environment both this year and last year.

We are grateful to our sponsors and invite you to learn more about them.

Sponsor Spotlight

Sponsor Spotlight

Mithun architectural firm (Brendan Connolly)

Garde Capital (Marshal McReal)

How many years has your business been part of the Seattle Community?

Mithun was founded in 1949, so we mark almost seventy-two years as a part of the Seattle business community. Not quite as long as Helen Bush’s founding of The Bush School, but we are proud of this legacy as part of our city and the region’s design community.

How many years has Garde Capital been part of the Seattle community?

Garde Capital has been part of the Seattle business community for twelve years, beginning in 2009.

Why is supporting Bush and financial aid important to your company?

We believe places that promote holistic learning are vital to the health and well-being of communities and often are underrepresented in our urban core. We appreciate Bush’s devotion to amplifying learning and growth across the entire K-12 educational journey. We believe Bush has positive impacts beyond the school property lines, which is very parallel to how we work and think at Mithun. Architecturally we are working together with The Bush School team to create buildings that teach and help contribute to this important educational mission.

What is your favorite feature on the Bush campus?

My favorite features are the trees and the student projects and art on campus. The significant trees have occupied a lot of our planning and design discussion. The trees are an integral part of the ecology and experience of the school and the campus. They add timeless character to the campus. The student project work made visible is what gives soul to Bush in many ways, and we like to think that our buildings are a sort of canvas for this kind of identity and imprint.

90

E x p e rie n ce

Why is supporting Bush and financial aid important to your company?

Being a responsible business means giving back to the clients and communities we serve. Education is a great equalizer. We share Bush’s dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion and are inspired by making a Bush education available to a wider variety of young people.

I have lived in the neighborhood for over twenty years, and I drove through the campus on my way to and from work; however, I did not really know very much about it until Garde Capital was retained to advise on the Bush investment endowment. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know the dedicated team working to provide such an outstanding education for students. We are proud to partner with such an important Seattle institution.

Sponsor Spotlight Massucco Warner (Julie Kleiner) How many years has Massucco Warner been part of the Seattle community?

Massucco Warner has been a part of the Seattle business community for twelve years, ever since we relocated half of our business from San Francisco up to Seattle.

Why is supporting Bush and financial aid important to your company?

So much of our work in the design world involves creating a retreat for everyday life. In a way, Bush provides that for its students in addition to an incredible education.

My son, Benjamin, has been at Bush since Kindergarten, and I am continually inspired by the Bush community’s commitment to supporting each and every student.

If you were to redesign and decorate any location on campus, what would it be and why?

I would definitely update the Commons. It is long overdue for an overhaul. I would love to incorporate color, fun textures, and maybe some of the timeless student art projects. And if not the Commons, I would love to help design a lounge so faculty and staff have their own piece of home on campus.

2021

91

ANNUAL FUND

by Libby Singer, Assistant Director of Development The Annual Fund supports Bush’s operating budget, and this year gifts to the Annual Fund supported many of the costs associated with COVID-19, including financial aid for Bush families, technology to support hybrid and remote learning, health and safety protocols, and professional development for faculty.

Our community responded generously and positively impacted Bush’s ability to serve students, support teachers, and respond to new and unexpected challenges.

With an emphasis on participation, the Annual Fund team of staff and volunteers endeavoured to provide every family with the information they needed to make a meaningful gift, and that each family in turn felt the appreciation and impact of their donation. As part of this effort, participation was tracked with a page of daisies.

The daisy image is inspired by a graduation tradition dating back to the beginnings of The Bush School. Juniors weave daisy stems into a garland that they carry out to the graduation ceremony as a gift to the seniors on their final day at Bush as students. The chain symbolizes a collective gift, links students to the alumni community, and honors a culminating moment of working toward a shared goal. Over the course of the campaign, the image grew from colorless and unfilled to one that was brightly colored and filled in with family names as our parent/guardian community made philanthropic commitments. This visual representation helped demonstrate that every gift builds and strengthens the Bush community.

The support of the Annual Fund from the Bush community included

75

PARENT VOLUNTEERS

726

$1,303,705

DONOR HOUSEHOLDS

RAISED

This year, the Annual Fund supported the following areas:

Fi n a n ci a l Ai d Tuition assistance, including temporary financial relief for families economically impacted by the pandemic, for 161 students across 40 zip codes, meal support for 38 students learning virtually, and 30 students new to the financial aid program in the 20202021 school year.

92

E x p e rie n ce

H e a l th a nd We l l ne ss 15,000 disposable masks, 50,000 pairs of disposable gloves, 75 non-contact thermometers, 24 wall mounted hand sanitizer stations, 90 bipolarity ion air purifier systems, 27 HEPA filters for installation in Bush vehicles for Cascades and E-week travel, and 178 Upper School students (59% of Upper School students) participated in athletics in the 2020-2021 school year.

Technology

New Personnel

53 telepresence kits for classrooms, 290 cloud applications engaged, 336 computers reallocated to students and classrooms, 22 document cameras purchased for faculty use, 13 wireless headsets purchased for faculty use, 191 microprocessor kits delivered to students, and 39,171 Zoom sessions conducted from April 2020 to April 2021.

1 School Wellness Coordinator, 5 additional Lower School Teaching Assistants, and 14 additional Middle School and Upper School Teaching Assistants.

Thank Volunteers are agents of change. At The Bush School, parents/guardians, grandparents,

and alumni dedicate countless hours of their time in support of our community. More than 200 volunteers this year helped with class activities and communication, served on Board committees, led events, clubs and forums, organized affinity groups, raised funds

in support of the school, coached sports teams, showcased the Bush community through admissions events, organized efforts to appreciate faculty and staff, and more. Over the last year, volunteers have connected, collaborated, and created remotely. COVID may have changed the ways we can celebrate, but it has not changed how much we appreciate everything volunteers do. Thank you, volunteers, for all of the ways you make a difference.

you 2021

93

MARY HAIGHT “SIS” PE ASE T RUS T E E E M E R I TA 192 4 -2 02 1

by Sharon Hurt, Director of Development

he ush chool said good ye in pril to an icon in the community with the passing of is ease.

Sis Pease was a Bush teacher, coach, advocate, administrator, Trustee, Trustee Emerita, and the true em odiment of ush’s three pillars ruth, eauty, and urpose. e lost not only one of the direct connections to the school’s founder, Helen aylor ush, ut a tireless educator who elieved in the promise of education to change lives.”

- Percy L. Abram, Head of School

Mary H. “Sis” Pease passed away peacefully in Seattle, Washington, on April 25, 2021, at age 96. Born in Seattle to Ruth and Pierce Haight, she grew up in the Madison Valley neighborhood and on Bainbridge Island with her brothers, Gil and Warren. Ruth and Pierce both worked at The Bush School; Ruth ran the dormitory and dining room, and Pierce was a history teacher. Sis graduated from Bush in 1941 as student body president and captain of the basketball team. She earned her BA from Smith College in Massachusetts in 1945 and returned to Bush in 1946 to begin her teaching career.

In 1949 Sis married Otis Pease; they had four children and lived mostly in the Bay Area until 1966. They then moved to Seattle, where Sis resumed teaching history at Bush. She directed the Upper School from 1967-1976 and later became the college counselor. Following her retirement in 1991, she went into private practice as an independent college counselor, working with public school students in Seattle and beyond until she was in her early 90s. She also served for five years on the board of trustees at Hyla Middle School (Bainbridge Island) and for nine years as a Trustee at Bush. As a Bush Board member, Sis was known for her deep connections; any time a member left the Board, Sis would write and sing a limerick about them and their impact. When her Board services ended in 2007, Sis was named a Life Trustee and continued attending meetings until 2016. To honor her legacy, Sis will continue as the school’s first Trustee Emerita.

Sis was a connector of ideas and of people. Her relationships with students transcended more than their academic pursuits.

Over five decades, five yearbooks were dedicated in her honor. As the years passed and the times changed, student testimonials to Mrs. Pease remained constant.

From 1949: “As our advisor, Miss Haight has won the respect and devotion of every member of the class through her constant interest and loyalty. Without her guidance and dependability, we never would have obtained class unity and spirit.”

From 1968: “She challenges us to think independently, to formulate our own ideas and opinions, and to be ourselves.”

From 1991: “If you want an empathetic, yet balanced, ear to listen to your plight, a perspective that puts humor and clarity into a philosophic puzzle, a person who helps others become their better selves because of the respect accorded to all, Sis is the one! … She can only enrich any community she joins. We will miss her every day.”

After her marriage ended in 1987, Sis continued her life as a strong, self-reliant woman who was passionate about education, the environment, social justice, and the arts. She loved her family deeply and kept in touch with many friends. Always ready to explore new places, Sis traveled to Europe, Asia, Canada, and across the U.S., often joining hiking, kayaking, or cross-country skiing groups. She spent as much time as possible at the family cabin on Guemes Island, her favorite place in the world.

Sis is survived by her brother, Warren (Tina); her sister-in-law, Shirley; her children, Jonathan Pease (Shu-nwan), Catherine Barnhart (Richard), Martha Khosa (Yingwana), and Emily Pease (Josh Daniel); eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Eternally tied to the place she held dear, Sis requested that donations be made in her name to The Bush School.

94

E x p e rie n ce

Mary “Sis” Pease extraordinary life was rooted in the people, place, and history of The Bush School, connecting our founder Helen Taylor Bush through generations to our current Head of School Percy L. Abram. Top L: Helen Taylor Bush (first row, second left) and Mary “Sis” Pease (back row, fifth left) in 1946. Top R: Head of School Percy L. Abram and Mary “Sis” Pease in 2016.

2021

95

IN MEMORIAM

by Libby Singer, Assistant Director of Development

We honor and celebrate the lives of community members whom we lost this past year. his list re ects the alumni and staff who have passed away etween une , , and ay , . lease accept our deepest apologies if someone is inadvertently missing from this list, and contact alumni ush.edu if you would like to share a memory or a treasured story of your friend or classmate.

1940s Mary “Sis” Pease ’41 Elizabeth (Osborne) Pinkerton ’45

1950s Judith (Corbett) Ritter ’54 Margaret Kirk Bentley ’58 Diane Clare Diamond “Dee Dee” Foreman ’58 Carla (Van Gries) Garrison ’58 Susan (Connelly) Collins ’59

1960s Judith (Johnston) Scott ’60

Elizabeth “Liffy” Hatch ’95

Arlene (Katz) Bonita Tenenbaum ’62

1977–2020

1970s Christopher (Arnold) Hartman ’78

1990s Elizabeth “Liffy” Hatch ’95 Candice (Rosenburg) Populus ’95

Elizabeth “Liffy” Hatch ’95 died suddenly on December 10 in Idaho. She was 43. A member of the 1982–1995 lifer class, Liffy was herself in a class of one: effervescent, irrepressibly eccentric, kooky, and a laugh riot. Her infectious laugh was a delightfully naughty cackle that will long ring in the ears of those who loved her dearly. Liffy lent her off beat personality and well of creativity to a series of star turns and scene-stealing tours de force in Benaroya productions, including in “Alice In Wonderland” (1991), “The Real Inspector Hound” (1994), and “Little Shop of Horrors” (1995).

She obtained her BA from New York University and went on to obtain a Ph.D. in psychology. Liffy lived the bulk of her adult life in Los Angeles but never lost her sense of Pacific Northwest kitsch and irony.

2000s Taylor Axworthy ’06

Bush Leaders, Faculty, and Staff Michael Dederer, Board of Trustees Larry Muir, Faculty Marcy Ushimaru, Staff

96

E x p e rie n ce

She spent what would be the final year of her life with her mother, Marsha Ingham, in Sun Valley and Palm Desert. She is also survived by her brother, Michael Hatch ’94 (Lakeside graduate). Liffy is remembered as an insightful sage of the human condition who brought zesty fun and powerful insights to her friendships.

The Bush School held a special place in Liffy’s heart, and she was always invested in keeping track of the colorful cast of characters who made up the world of this small town within a big city where she spent her formative years.

Taylor Axworthy ’06 1988-2020

Larry Muir 1943 - 2021 Larry Muir was a beloved chemistry teacher at Bush who was an artist at heart. He was at heart a native Washingtonian who, having fled North Dakota in the Second Grade, graduated from Foster High School in Tukwila. He attended Harvard and Johns Hopkins before moving back to his beloved Pacific Northwest.

Larry and his wife, Penny Grist, met in 1972 and built a creative and fulfilling life together enriched by art, nature, and a shared love of their community on Vashon Island. Penny and Larry were both jewelers, and Larry worked at Cornish in metalsmithing from 1974 to 1975 after moving back from the East Coast. In 1976 Penny and Larry discovered Vashon Island and were hooked after just one visit.

They simply fell in love with the island.

It was during this time that Larry began his very rewarding thirty-year career teaching at The Bush School. While teaching chemistry, he managed to fit some jewelry classes into the Bush curriculum. When Larry retired in 2008, he set up his studio again, and together he and Penny would spend their days making art.

Larry spent his later days living and working on Vashon Island. Over time the oncedilapidated studio purchased in 1976 became a beloved cottage on a spectacular property filled with indoor and outdoor art, stunning gardens, and studios. Penny said, “first thing in the morning we would bike or kayak or walk, and then he would go to his studio and I would go to mine. We would meet for lunch.” Larry and Penny’s art is everywhere on that land.

Larry and Penny donated work and time to Vashon’s Art Auction, a program that Penny helped to start. For years, the two participated in the studio tour together and had a booth at the annual Strawberry Festival. Many friends bought Larry’s beautiful jewelry over the years, and those treasures are now his legacy. Penny reflected that she “will, of course, continue making art. It’s what I do. But it sure was fun having Larry by my side and working together with him.” We are grateful for Larry’s contributions to The Bush School over his career and his impact on generations of Bush alumni. He will be remembered fondly by all who knew him.

Of course she needed eyelashes on the headlights of her Volkswagon Bug. She and her dad had hunted used car lots together for months, finding just the right balance of “needs work” and “still works.” When they found the baby blue car nestled in the back of a crowded lot, it felt like kismet. Her dad insisted on all the accessories they could find, no matter how gaudy.

Honestly, there really could not have been a more perfect car for her.

The blue Bug became a symbol to her friends. She would jump at the chance to take an hour-long, traffic-ridden trip just to take you out to pancakes. She would show up to every event you invited her to attend. She would pick you up and drive you back to her house to watch uffy the ampire layer and order in Pad Thai.

And she did it in the most ridiculous car imaginable.

Everything she did was so uniquely Taylor. Whether it was a band she loved in high school (Daft Punk) or a tattoo on her forearm she got when she was eighteen (also Daft Punk), she truly did not care what people thought of it. She would bring up her embarrassing stories effortlessly, with the simple goal of cheering up a friend.

This ref lection on Taylor’s life was provided by Allison Carney ’06.

2021

97

CL ASS NOTES

by Libby Singer, Assistant Director of Development

Take a look at these updates shared by members of the Blazer alumni community across the decades. To share your update for future publications, please email the Alumni Office at alumni@bush.edu.

1970s

1990s

Michelle Purnell-Hepburn ’75 was awarded the 2021 Thaddeus Spratlen Legacy Award. The award, presented by the Association of Black Business Students at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, is for Michelle’s work on urban growth and inclusion.

Saunder Jurriaans ’96 was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) for his work as a composer for the hit series Ozark.

Congratulations, Saunder!

1980s

2000s Mandela Gardner ’04 is the volunteer coordinator at El Centro de la Raza.

During the election season, in partnership with King County Elections, he worked to increase voter registration and outreach. His first encounter with El Centro de la Raza was volunteering during his AMP in the Upper School at Bush. Now, years later, he has returned to make a positive impact on the community.

Monica (Garbutt) Anselmetti ’82 and Clara Savage ’96 saw each other at work! Both are MD OB/GYNs at Swedish Hospital in Seattle.

Cindy Peyser Srafronoff ’88 published a book, Dedication: Building the Seattle ranches of ary aker ddy’s hurch, entennial tory art to 1929. For her work, she was awarded gold in the Illumination Book Awards.

Crediting much of what she knows about writing history to Sis Pease, Cindy said the historical research is helping preservationists show why this place (which also happens to be Sis Pease’s church) matters.

98

E x p e rie n ce

Jay Wyatt ’04 and fellow Bush teachers James Batey and Marilina Kim went on the adventure of their lives on Race to the Center of the Earth, which premiered in March 2021 on National Geographic. Filmed in October 2019, these Bush faculty members competed against three other teams all dropped in far-flung locations around the world, racing to be the first to reach a central location.

Emily Henke ’05 is the executive director of the Oregon Public Health Institute (OPHI) and director of Pacific Northwest Projects and was named 40 under 40 by the Portland Business Journal in 2021. During the pandemic, her team has focused on tracking health with contact tracing, working with four different counties and 120-130 staff in the Pacific Northwest, especially focused on supporting the Latinx community. She utilizes her bilingual skills in English in Spanish, which she began practicing at Bush during a study abroad opportunity to the Canary Islands in 2004, to better connect with the communities OPHI serves.

2010s Zarina Agilon ’15 graduated from the University of Washington with a Masters in Education in K-8 education and an English Language Learner certification.

In this work, she completed a graduate thesis and “had the privilege of exploring the area of teacher diversity and the experiences of BIPOC teacher candidates as they enter the profession.

I have been incredibly lucky to have amazing teachers throughout my life and I could not be more excited to begin my career as an educator.”

a elle, y eauty, the debut feature film produced by Kelsey Scult ’10, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2021 on January 30. Sundance calls a elle, y eauty “a breezy and meaningful journey through winedrenched candlelit dinners, firelit vineyard parties, farmers’ markets, and sunny hikes alongside the creek, as Fred, Bertie, and Lane grapple with how to get what they want inside the soup of their desires, passions, and life ambitions.”

Rence (Jackson Hirsh ’16) released a new single at the beginning of 2021, “Endless.” he Hype aga ine says, “with nearly fifty million streams thus far and recent acclaim from Paper magazine, Flaunt and many more, genre-defying singer, songwriter, and producer Rence is back with a new single entitled ‘Endless.’”

David Marten ’10 and Grant Friedman ’15 are working in Senator Cantwell’s office.

Elizabeth Moore Simpson ’10 reconnected with Susanne Eckert and the Bush Teen Feed crew in the kitchen this year. Ten years ago, Elizabeth created a senior project focused on supporting Teen Feed, a local organization that provides meals to homeless and at-risk youth.

Nija Chappel ’12 is attending The George Washington University Law School, where she is getting a dual degree, a JD focused on health law and a Masters in Public Health focused on health policy.

This summer she is working at Epstein Becker Green as one of the Diversity Pipeline Program summer associates.

She serves as the co-president of the Student Health Law Association and is a member of the Black Law Students Association, the Corporate and Business Law Society, the International Law Society, and the Lambda Law Society.

After Dova Zilly ’18’s first year at Colorado College, the pandemic sent her back home where, in addition to online classes, she helped launch Rhamani Sandals. This startup creates eco-friendly sandals made partially out of algae from algae blooms and removable straps for more customizable options. These look perfect for a Cascade or a wilderness trip!

2021

99

WE ARE BUSH KINDERGARTEN SELF PORTR AITS AND A YEARLONG E X PLOR AT ION OF IDEN T I T Y

by Colleen Carroll, Admissions and Communications Coordinator

How do you capture a year of learning and self-discovery in Kindergarten? For Kindergarten Teachers Sean Carroll and Nicole Price, the best way is through the eyes and artistic expressions of the students themselves. Since September, Kindergarten students at The Bush School have created monthly self-portraits, exploring a different aspect of their personal identity through each piece of art and in the process creating a lasting record of their Kindergarten year. Sean notes that through the series of portraits, “you can not only see how much they have grown, but also what they understand about themselves.”

The study of self weaves through the entire Kindergarten year, and the identity work of the portraits connects to other areas of curriculum as well, like reading, writing, and science. Classroom books, such as The Colors of Us by Karen Katz and What Is a Scientist? by Barbara Lehn, tie into the theme of each month’s portrait. The “I Am” portraits connected with the class name study.

This included both an exploration of each student’s own name and what a name means for individual identity as well as a dive into phonics to practice reading skills. Writing projects such as the “Best Self” books created in Sean’s class complement the students’ art, and a scientific study of skin and skin color brought out additional details for students working to mix and identify their own skin color in the “Science of Skin” portrait.

100

E x p e rie n ce

In working through the portrait process, students learn to adapt to things not going as planned. The phrase “practice, not perfection” lets the young artists em race that the work itself is to be celebrated and that mistakes are OK.

Artwork by: page 100 L to R: Sami Yaw A. ’33, Derek R. ’33; page 101 clockwise from top L: Mira A. ’33, Oliver G. ’33, Sami Yaw A. ’33; page 102 clockwise from top L: Reese C. ’33, Reese C. ’33, Norah A. ’33; page 103 clockwise from top L: Mira A ’33, Mira A. ’33, LJ R. ’33

2021

101

hrough the portraits, students study the inside and outside parts of identity what is visi le to others like hair, skin, eyes, and clothing as well as what is hidden inside like interests, emotions, and thoughts. tudents discussed how identity, like a frosted cake or a geode, can look one way from the outside and another way when you reveal what is inside.

102

E x p e rie n ce

Nicole’s favorite part of the portraits is all the details students include. “The extra details show their personality. ach student has a uni ue style, and you do not even need a name to know whose is whose.” Sean shared that he loves seeing all of the portraits together at the end and that with each new group of portraits, there is something that will make him stop and say,

h my goodness, this is

magical.”

2021

103

3400 East Harrison Street Seattle, WA 98112

@thebushschool

104

E x p e rie n ce