Cyrus Spring 2019 (Issue 9)

Cyrus a magazine for alumni and friends of The Blake School

Spring 2019

First Voices

Wendy Helgemo ’87 leaves mark on Indigenous policy

Howl Play

Running with the pack in North Country

Dream Boat

Oliver Utne ’04 and the ship saving Earth

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Cyrus a magazine for alumni and friends of The Blake School Editor Kristin Stouffer Managing Editor Tracy Grimm Graphic Designer Cate Hubbard Thanks to the many Blake community members who have contributed to this publication.

Our Mission The Blake School provides students with an excellent,

Connection to Place

academically challenging education in a diverse and supportive community committed to a common set of values. Students are expected to participate in an integrated program of academic, artistic and athletic activities in preparation for college, lifelong learning, community service and lives as responsible world citizens.

Our Core Values Respect Love of Learning Integrity Courage Commitment to Pluralism The Blake School Administrative Offices 110 Blake Road South Hopkins, MN 55343 952-988-3430

Why Cyrus?

Cyrus Northrop played a formative role in one of Blake’s founding institutions. In 1915, Northrop Collegiate School was named in his honor to recognize Dr. Northrop’s achievements as

While we don’t deliberately set out to create themes for each issue of Cyrus, I often find the stories in these pages connected by a common thread. This issue highlights the importance of place in our lives.

In our cover story (page 6), Wendy Helgemo ’87 talks about place-based education — recognizing literally where we are and the history of that place — as a way to deepen our understanding of Indigenous people. She does this while being among the first to introduce Indigenous policy in locations where it has been historically absent: congress and college campuses.

Oliver Utne’s ’04 role in developing a transit system in Ecuador (page 18) has been uniquely shaped by the vastness of the Amazon, collaboration with the Achuar community and a shared desire to steward the environment. It’s a story that wouldn’t be the same anywhere else.

Our In Photos feature looks at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota (page 12), and may bring some of you back to eighth grade. For years, Blake students have forged intimate connections to local wetlands and woodlands and learned about the fragile interconnections among life on earth.

Closer to home, our Blake campus in Hopkins continues to be a place of great change, as we anticipate the opening of a new dining commons and launch construction of an entry hall. These projects have been made possible by Blake’s successful fundraising campaign. To celebrate the campaign’s completion, we have unveiled a new school seal (page 4). It honors a place that matters to so many of us.

a nationally regarded educator and as president of the University of Minnesota. His legacy of educational excellence continues at Blake today. cyrus@blakeschool.org

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Anne E. Stavney, Ph.D. Head of School The Blake School

CONTENTS Spring 2019

COVER STORY

ON SOVEREIGN GROUND Wendy Helgemo ’87 shapes policy to address Indian Country’s most pressing issues.

PAGE 6

IN PHOTOS

DEPARTMENTS

Weekend In Wolf Country

In Brief 2

Running with the pack at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota.

Cover Story 6

PAGE 12

Q&A 18

Q&A

Driven By Earth, Fueled By Sun Oliver Utne ’04 builds the Amazon’s first solar-powered public transportation system.

PAGE 18

In Photos 12 In Print & Production 20 Class Notes 21 Voices 29

IN BRIEF ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT

ARCHIVES

ARTS HIGHLIGHT

AWARDS

COMMUNITY

FACES ON CAMPUS

SERVICE

COMMUNITY

EXPLORING FAITH TRADITIONS Inspired by a campus visit from Interfaith Youth Core founder Eboo Patel, Blake’s Professional Learning Community (PLC) for faculty and staff focused this year’s conversation on perspectives within the six religious traditions that represent most of the Blake community’s religious diversity. Delving into questions that emerged during Patel’s visit, PLC members talked to faith practitioners and built a resource list of videos, podcasts and readings to explore. Opportunities for the wider school community to visit local worship sites included the largest Hindu Temple in North America and three Jewish synagogues.

envisioned hosting a panel discussion of Blake alumni artists to talk with current students about their work — their process, their career path, their inspiration, their advice. This year, Colburn and the student-led Bennett Gallery curatorial team seized the opportunity to organize just such an event featuring several artists who participated in the latest Blake Alumni Art Biennial. The show included a variety of art forms created by alumni representing classes from 1955 through 2018.

COMMUNITY

ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT

FACES ON CAMPUS

BEAMING WITH BEAR PRIDE

TEENAGE MUTANT GENETICISTS

VISIT WITH FORMER U.S. DIPLOMAT DEEPENS UNDERSTANDING OF PEACE AND CONFLICT

A steel construction beam signed by Middle School students and teachers supports the walls of Blake’s soon-toopen north/south corridor.

After delivering the beam to campus at the beginning of the school year, Mortenson Construction invited community members to stop by, grab a colorful marker and add their autograph. Now installed, the beam’s messages and names are a sort of time capsule, sealed away for future discovery.

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After running gels and studying cancer mutations in class, Upper School genetics students embarked on a field trip to the University of Minnesota where they attend­ed a seminar on mutations and predicting cancer drug responses. In the university’s labs, students learned about research of tobacco use and associated cancer risks, as well as HIV and its possible cures.

ARTS HIGHLIGHT

ALUMNI ARTISTS DISCUSS INSPIRATION, SHARE ADVICE For years, Upper School arts teacher Bill Colburn ’88

When one of the leading authorities on international arms control and non-proliferation visited with sixth graders as part of their studies of peace and conflict, the students wanted to know, “What’s your greatest worry?” Ambassador Thomas Graham, who served as a senior U.S. diplomat and was involved in every major U.S. international arms control

IN BRIEF

and non-prolif­eration negotiation from 1970 to 1997, spoke on a wide array of issues including North Korea, climate change and what it was like to hold a nuclear weapon in his hands.

He also talked about leading the negotiation for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

ARTS HIGHLIGHT

IMAGINATIVE ENTOMOLOGY The Electronic Blue Bug is nocturnal and eats shattered computers. The Flower Back Shiny Head Beetle can fly without wings and drinks nectar. And the Laser Bug comes from the depths of Amazon Prime. These are just a few of the not-socreepy creatures second graders conjured up in art

class. Following a col­­laborative art-science project in which students drew actual insect specimens, the class used collage materials to create threedimensional imaginary insects for their specimen box. Find photos of these small but complex sculptures at blake.mn/blakebugs.

ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT

SEEING THEMSELVES AND OTHERS In kindergarten, self-portraits provide an entry point for young students to explore identity — both their own and others’. Before drawing, students look through photographs and images in the books The Skin You Live In, We Are All Alike...We Are All Different and Shades of People. Closely studying their own faces in a mirror, they identify their own unique characteristics while also recognizing their friends’ individual traits. Teacher Christy Spencer explains that the process supports children in developing a positive sense of curiosity about identity

and teaches them to engage respectfully across differences.

Throughout the year, the class shifts focus from facial features to skin tone, using crayons to find colors that resemble each student’s particular shade of skin and color pencils for eye, lip and hair. Later they revisit their self-portraits for a more extensive process of mixing paints to represent skin tones and using textured materials to represent hair.

FACES ON CAMPUS

A PRINCESS FOUND AUTHOR INSPIRES STUDENT ACTION

In her autobiography, A Princess Found, Sarah Culberson tells the story of the search to find her biological father and the discovery that she is related to African royalty, a ruling Mende family in Sierra Leone. Traveling to meet her family and witnessing the aftermath of an 11-year civil war led Culberson to co-found a nonprofit to support those in Sierra Leone. The author visited campus as the 2018–19 Steiner Family Lecture Speaker. Her schedule included speaking at an Upper School assembly and leading an extended Q&A with students and faculty. She met with students on the Community Service Board and those who spent three weeks in Sierra Leone last summer for a Blake global immersion course. Reflecting on Culberson’s visit, one student says, “I realized it doesn’t take an extremely established person to do service. [Culberson’s visit] inspired me to, in my own way, help out my community by starting small — because you can’t solve big problems overnight.”

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IN BRIEF

COMMUNITY

YOUNG MEN OF COLOR SYMPOSIUM Eight Middle and Upper School students and two Blake staff members attended this year’s Young Men of Color Symposium. The event, hosted

by Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, provides opportunities for young self-identified men of color to explore their multiple identities and learn

COMMUNITY

SEAL, SIGNED AND DELIVERED

self-advocacy and community-building skills with the goal of empowering students to affect positive change.

Sierra Leone founded by one of Blake’s service partners, the Sierra Leone Foundation for New Democracy (SLFND).

The banners, which each bear the name of a Dovalema student, now hang in the center’s new school building, a reminder of the relationship they share with students half a world away. To learn more about Blake’s partnership with SLFND, visit blake.mn/ slfndpartners.

ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT

MODEL SCHOOL

SERVICE

BANNER LEGACY DAY The Blake community flexed its collective artistic muscle on Legacy Day to create colorful banners and illustrated books for Dovalema, an early childhood center in

Industrious pre-kindergartners constructed a replica of the Northrop campus with classroom blocks. Studying photos of the Upper School, students took note of details like the front entrance towers and flagpole. Using Google Earth,

and teachers. Pre-kindergarten teacher Joanne Esser explains, “Building is an important expressive ‘language’ for young children, a way to represent ideas, develop spatial skills and create their own spaces in which to play, invent stories and interact with friends.”

Honors Blake's three predecessor schools

School seals have been a part of college and independent school culture for hundreds of years.

Blake has been without an official seal since the merger of its three predecessor schools — Blake, Northrop Collegiate and Highcroft Architectural Country Day — in the early 1970s. Throughout details combine the 2017–18 school year, a committee of Blake classic and alumni, parents, grandparents, trustees, faculty contemporary Blake building and staff partnered in a creative process to design design a new school seal. The group considered the historic use of seals at other independent schools and colleges, the unique history of Blake and its predecessor schools and the values that define Blake today. The seal honors this diversiCaptures the ty of experiences while providing a unified illusiconic Blake trated vision for Blake's future. Blake's class of campus 2019 will be the first to receive a Blake diploma driveway stamped with the seal.

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they studied the building from various perspectives and used rectangular and square blocks to make the basic structure.

The builders revelled in details such as filling the parking lot with toy cars and adding small bears to represent students

Represents the nonlinear, forward-looking nature of teaching and learning

The orientation is upward, outward and hopeful

IN BRIEF

ARCHIVES

The Pioneers of Blake Girls’ Hockey

In October 1993, Blake joined six schools to petition the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) to formally add girls’ high school hockey to its list of sanctioned sports. Weeks later, 26 girls — none of whom had ever played hockey and a few who had never even skated — tried out for the inaugural 1993–94 Blake girls’ hockey team.

Coach Betsy Aldrich ’85 signed on to develop the nascent program, which consisted solely of Bears (most schools co-oped with one another to form teams). Many of Aldrich’s pioneers gave up other sports to participate in something new and challenging. Practices took place at 8 p.m. The one-hour games included only one referee and didn’t allow for ice resurfacing between periods. Players remember “haphazard gear cobbled together,” how “gross and stinky the old boys’ locker rooms were” and a pre-season camp on the ice where “someone started wobbling, arms started flailing, one player went down, and then it was dominoes.”

But with challenge came reward. As one player recalls, “Most of the memories I have are just being together as teammates and friends, whether it was locker room shenanigans or stick handling in the dark under the loggia because we didn’t have ice time that day. We all wanted to get better, and it was always fun.”

The 1994 yearbook reported, “The girls hockey team played 16 regular season games and compiled a 2-13-1 record.

Their record may not be great, but their effort was. ... As long as the interest and great effort of this new girls’ hockey team continues, it promises to become a fine addition to Blake’s sports legacy.”

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Having spent nearly 30 years working on behalf of Native peoples, Wendy Helgemo ’87 has helped create policy to address some of the most pressing issues in Indian Country.

Today, she runs a burgeoning research and advocacy center at the George Washington University where she continues taking on the challenges she sees and pioneering the solutions she hopes to effect.

COVER STORY

WENDY HELGEMO ’87

ON SOVEREIGN GROUND Written by Rory Taylor '14 Illustrated by Kiki Ljung — Folio Art

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W

hile visiting her parents in Minnesota, Wendy Helgemo is tucked away from the rapid, staccato pace of Washington, D.C. — though she confides she’s itching to get back sooner than later.

Her confession belies the more endearing qualities of her personality: Patience. Humility.

A sense of duty. Discussing the more high-profile issues in U.S. Indigenous policy (the Dakota Access Pipeline, for example) Helgemo’s work isn’t always front and center, but make no mistake, her stamp is there.

Throughout her career, from working for tribal nations and a national tribal organi­ zation to serving as senior advisor for former United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the aforementioned values are the hallmarks of her track record. All of these exper­ienc­­es have led Helgemo to her current role as the inaugural director for the AT&T Center for Indigenous

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Politics and Policy at the George Washington University.

There, she oversees various educational programs and research projects, all devoted, as throughout her career, to the advancement of Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and American Indians.

While she approaches this new role with her usual tenacity, it is clear Helgemo is already thinking about how to leave her mark in shaping the nascent center. So watch carefully. If you look closely enough, you can always notice Helgemo’s work, even if you can’t always notice her.

GROUNDING IDENTITY Born and raised in Minnesota, Helgemo came to Blake in middle school and immediately noticed a difference in the educational experience. “The small classes and the attention you got from the teachers, and the discussions and all of the reading — that was quite an eye opener,” she says. While Blake set the “academic foundation” for her career, Helgemo

also participated in activities outside of the classroom that helped her grow, including playing soccer and softball, coordinating letter-writing campaigns for Amnesty International and trying out for a musical. (Helgemo, in her own words, “totally bomb­ ed” the audition before being encouraged to join the set design crew.)

The connective thread, though, was her identity and experience as a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and the larger urban Indian community in the Twin Cities: “[Entering Blake] I was grounded in my identity, as a person in the Indian community and also in my tribe.”

No small feat, considering Helgemo was one of a few Native students, if not the only Native student across several grades at Blake. Connecting with her family and tribe in Wisconsin helped Helgemo develop her Ho-Chunk identity. Time spent volunteering at the Division of Indian Work in the Phillips neighborhood, the historical heart of the Minneapolis Indian

community, gave her a sense of purpose about what she would ultimately make her career.

“In looking at what I wanted to do with my life, I did want to work in some shape or form for Native Americans [and] on Native American issues.”

At Blake, Helgemo began

to shape and craft a persona centered not just around the issues she wanted to work on, but also how to go about it. “I think [working on the set crew] is very fitting to where I am now, where I’ve been, where I’ve come from because I’d rather be behind the scenes, helping everybody else and building something.”

While both her academic and personal foundations were cast at Blake, a short trek down I-35 would help Helgemo flourish as a leader, finding her voice at St. Olaf College. “[St. Olaf] was where I was able to take that confidence and leadership skills to a whole different level.” Working in the Office of Minority Student Services, she was able to do intersectional work around

“I DID WANT TO WORK IN SOME SHAPE OR FORM FOR NATIVE AMERICANS [AND] ON NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES.”

organ­ization’s Anchorage, Alaska, and Boulder offices.

A D.C. STORY Helgemo’s work over the past years in Washington, D.C. might give the impression she’s

en­compassed issues from gaming to housing to criminal prosecution. But she says she always knew she wanted to work in Washington, D.C. That desire led her to

a position with the National

Photo credit: St. Olaf College

Indigenous cultures and other heritages and communities.

Classes focused on American literature by people of color and American Indian history ignited her passion for working with communities of color and on Native American issues. “It was a way to learn about other communities — and their struggles, their successes and their stories — outside of my Native American background.”

Between St. Olaf and law school, Helgemo worked for a Milwaukee-based nonprofit advocacy organization, Honor Our Neighbors Origins and Rights, focusing on Indian treaty rights, Indian logos and mascots and tribal sovereignty.

She began to fuse the intersection of service with Native law and policy, which took her to the University of Colorado at Boulder for law school. During law school, her aspirations became further actualized when she served as a law clerk for the Native American Rights Fund, the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm protecting Native Americans, in the

Wendy Helgemo, ’87

a Beltway lifer, but she’s far from it. After Boulder, Helgemo spent nearly a decade working as a lawyer for tribes, spending time at the Prairie Island Indian Community, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and for the Ho-Chunk Nation. Her experiences

Indian Gaming Commission, the independent regulatory body for Indian gaming in the U.S. With her foot in the door, she moved over to the National American Indian Housing Council where she served as the director of

gov­ernmental affairs for three years, allowing her to focus on both policy and legislative work for the first time. Working for an all-membership organization, Helgemo says, put her “coalition-building skills to the test” to move their agenda forward. Working on national Indian legislation piece by piece energized her. “I’m helping the chairman testify in front of Congress,” Helgemo says.

“I myself don’t want to testify, but you’re helping somebody carry the message.”

Helgemo took her expertise inside the halls of Congress where she served as an advisor for Indian Affairs to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). “[Working on Capitol Hill] appealed to me because it’s this combination of strategy, education, communication and intuition to promote policy priorities for, in my case, the tribes in Nevada and nationwide.”

While Helgemo worked directly for the senior senator of Nevada, working within the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs offered her a different

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“NATIVE AMERICANS HAVE HAD TO COME TO WASHINGTON, D.C. FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO PROMOTE THE SAME MESSAGE: ‘HONOR OUR TREATY RIGHTS, HONOR OUR TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY.’”

view of Congress than the typical narrative. “The Indian Affairs Committee is one of the more collegial environments in the Senate,” she says. “Many of the issues are non-partisan and a lot of them are non-controversial.”

During her time with Reid, Helgemo experienced a number of high notes for Native people.

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Her favorites? The Senate confirmations of Diane Humetewa, the first federal Native American woman judge, and Keith Harper, the first Native American U.S. ambassador. And she savored a personal victory of hard-fought legislative and legal battles with the passage of the Violence Against Women

Act in 2013, which included critical tribal criminal provisions, and the Cobell Settlement, a decades-long class-action suit around mismanagement of Indian trust assets. In 2016, Helgemo helped prepare Reid for two Senate floor speeches opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would have

endangered the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota.

These achievements are not just a function of Helgemo’s work ethic and skill as a coalition-builder, they also speak to her patience to see efforts through. “Some tribes have been working on getting

“[WORKING ON CAPITOL HILL] APPEALED TO ME BECAUSE IT’S THIS COMBINATION OF STRATEGY, EDUCATION, COMMUNICATION AND INTUITION TO PROMOTE POLICY PRIORITIES.”

a piece of legislation passed for decades,” she says. “There has to be a con­­­cert­ed effort to keep working on something.” What has kept her going through it all is the recognition that “Native Americans have had to come to Washington, D.C. for hundreds of years to promote the same message: ‘Honor our treaty rights, honor our tribal sovereignty.’”

NEW BEGINNINGS With Reid’s retirement in 2017, Helgemo began searching for her next opportunity with a particular passion in mind: helping more Native Americans work as Congressional staff.

This desire coincided with the creation of the AT&T Center for Indigenous Politics and Policy (AT&T CIPP) at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. where Helgemo was named the inaugural director in 2017.

As director, Helgemo

oversees the first national, university-based research center on Indigenous politics in Washington, D.C., which

builds on the university’s commitment toward Native American education. Helgemo oversees the Native American Political Leadership Program (NAPLP) and the INSPIRE Native Teens Initiative, serves as a resource on Indigenous issues for Indian Country and the university at-large, and coordinates with tribal nations and other partners to pursue research projects to strengthen Indigenous policy.

Just over a year old, the center is the driving force behind Native initiatives at George Washington. Helgemo has embraced the opportunity to advance the visibility and study of Indigenous peoples.

“One way we’re doing this is through place-based education and the recognition of whose land we are on, which is becom­­ing a more important conversation across the country,” she explains. As part of this, Helgemo notes the importance of knowing who were and still are here, such as the Piscataway people and the newly federally

recognized tribes in Virginia.

“These are Indigenous people whose land and history are linked to Washington, D.C., and we want to find ways to tell those stories.”

Helgemo works to stay connected with alumni of NAPLP and INSPIRE to build a strong network of Native policy­makers. “We want alumni to continue sharing their view of Native American policy and to talk about the work they’re doing in this area.”

Two INSPIRE students have come back as NAPLP students to deepen their skills and relationships. Helgemo hopes to continue providing opportunities for Native American education in policy to grow and expand. She does not take her job lightly, noting that “Native Americans who work in Washington, D.C. carry a unique responsibility to ensure this country’s promises to Indigenous people are kept.”

As Helgemo discusses her work and responsibilities to Native communities and students, she takes a moment

of self-reflection: “In some way, shape or form, education has always been a part of what I do, whether educating a policymaker on Native American issues, educating allies to build a coalition, or helping to educate the next generation.”

Rory Taylor ’14 (Ckíri/Chatha) is a freelance writer who has contributed to Al-Jazeera America, TalkPoverty and Teen Vogue. He is currently based in Auckland, New Zealand, where he is pursuing a graduate degree in Indigenous studies at the University of Auckland.

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WEEKEND IN WOLF COUNTRY IN PHOTOS

BLAKE’S ANNUAL TRIP TO THE INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTER IN ELY, MINNESOTA, OFFERS EIGHTH GRADERS A FIRSTHAND LESSON ON THE VALUE OF PREDATORY ANIMALS AND HOW TO PROTECT THEM IN THE WILD.

Photos by Murphy Byrne

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Before reaching the International Wolf Center, the group stops at the sledding outfitter Chilly Dogs. (Photos 1, 10, 15 and 17) Students get to know the friendly Alaskan huskies that pull the sleds. A Chilly Dogs guide says, "The dogs love people, and they love to run and pull — it's what they were born to do." (Photos 4, 5 and 13) Guides drive eager teams over scenic wilderness trails while students enjoy the ride from padded sleds.

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(Photos 2, 7, 8 and 11) The International Wolf Center’s “ambassador wolves” represent their wild counterparts and allow visitors to closely observe the animals’ behavior.

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(Photos 6, 12 and 16) Interactive exhibits and classroom time with naturalists from the International Wolf Center provide insight into wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the impact of humans on their health.

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17 (Photos 3, 9 and 14) The adventure continues as students snowshoe through the Northwoods.

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Q&A

DRIVEN BY EARTH, FUELED BY SUN WHEN IT COMES TO BUILDING THE AMAZON’S FIRST SOLAR-POWERED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, OLIVER UTNE ’04 BELIEVES IN STARTING SMALL AND THINKING BIG.

Since 2011, Utne has been working alongside members of the Indigenous Achuar community in Ecuador to develop a boat fueled by the sun. With two boats and a community center up and running, Utne is optimistic this model will expand along the river and around the world.

Question: Why is solarpowered transportation important and why are you starting with the Amazon?

Answer: There’s no viable, climate change mitigation plan that doesn’t include conservation of the Amazon.

Its survival is key to any realistic possibility of keeping this planet inhabitable because it produces so much oxygen, rain and climate stability.

When you look seriously at how to conserve the Amazon, you come to the conclusion that road building must stop.

It’s inevitable. But the people who live there have every right to opportunities and basic services, so using the existing river networks becomes very attractive. Distribution of gasoline in those vast river networks is challenging, if not impossible, so locally produced power sources, like solar, are the answer.

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“I REALIZED WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THIS VAST, UNTOUCHED PARADISE IS REALLY THIS LITTLE BUBBLE AND EXCEPTION TO THE RULE.”

Q: This project, Kara Solar, currently serves nine communities along the Amazon. How did these relationships start?

A: Kara Solar really grew organ­ ically out of the relationship I had with Achuar leaders and communities, which began when I was working for the local airline and ecolodge.

We sel­ect­­ed communities based on two things: a navi­ gability study, which looked at what parts of the river were most suited to this new experimental technology; and a socio-economic study, where we looked at the need for this to become a viable, financially sustain­­able system.

Q: What are Kara Solar’s hopes for the future?

A: We just implemented our second boat and built our first community solar center.

Initially the center was going to be the first of a series of recharge stations that would line the river and recharge electric boats, just like gas stations fill the tanks of cars in the rest of the world. Then we realized the centers can

do much more. They can be community-scale microgrids to power schools, local businesses, communication services, health services and all kinds of things.

We’re going to take awhile before building new infrastructure to really get this working as well as it needs to. We’ve had a lot of challenges. Motors breaking down has been the main one. A lot of these tech­ nologies are not built with the Amazon in mind so a huge part of our job is to adapt them.

There’s a wonderful coalition forming that’s all about improving what exists and making it solid so that we have something to take down the river and to other areas.

Q: How do you describe your role in this project?

A: At this point I describe myself as a social entrepreneur.

I say that because I want to find models that work financially. Solutions can’t be just technological or social. They need to also scale up. There’s a market for this technology and real potential for it to be a viable business.

Q: You stress the importance of finding solutions at a local level. How have you built relationships and gained trust within the Achuar community to accomplish this?

A: The only conclusion I can draw from my experience is that it’s about showing up over and over again. The Achuar have seen a lot of different people come through and heard a lot of promises made. More often than not, because of the complexities of working there and the difficulties you encounter, projects fizzle out and relationships fade. So I think they’ve been struck by my relentless, repetitive presence. I don’t think there’s more to it than that. It’s been key to become a familiar face.

And it’s such a privilege for me to be able to do that.

Q: What do you want people to know about the Amazon?

A: In the Amazon, there’s a scale that’s just unbelievable.

You would think we could never damage something so large.

But when we brought our first boat to Achuar territory,

we did a 25-day trip down the Amazon River in Peru and back up to Achuar territory, and I was blown away to see that Achuar territory is in every sense the exception.

The Amazon in so many places has been devastated by all these different extractivist industries. I realized what I thought was the beginning of this vast, untouched paradise is really this little bubble and exception to the rule. That motivated me to work harder to protect places like Achuar territory. There’s nothing like it. It’s probably among the last tracts of nature that size that are intact, and it’s just really wonderful and powerful to be here.

To learn more about Kara Solar, visit karasolar.com.

Do you know Blake alumni who are doing interesting work? Let us know at cyrus@blakeschool.org.

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IN PRINT

& PRODUCTION

SCOTT DONALDSON ’46

The Paris Husband: How It Really Was Between Ernest and Hadley Hemingway (Simply Charly)

Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage to Hadley Richardson — with whom he lived in Paris in the early 1920s — has long fascinated readers. Their passionate, complicated, and ultimately doomed, relationship coincided with Hemingway’s formative years as a member of the so-called Lost Generation, and the failed marriage had a lifelong impact on him and his writing. Author and Hemingway scholar Scott Donaldson deftly separates fact from fiction to present a spellbinding and clear-eyed account of this seminal period in Hemingway’s life, breathing new life into this ageless story, providing revelatory insights into Hemingway’s character and exploring the nuances of a magical, yet troubled, love affair.

ANNIE SUNDBERG ’86

Reversing Roe (Netflix)

Forty-five years after it revolutionized abortion law in America, the land­mark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade is once again at a crossroads. In Reversing Roe, film­makers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg present a deeply illuminating look at the state of abortion and women’s rights in America, offering candid and riveting interviews with key figures from both sides of the divide. Drawing from a wealth of historical footage, the film charts the period leading up to the Roe decision — and documents the opposition that has followed ever since.

ANNE URSU ’91

The Lost Girl (Walden Pond Press)

When you’re an identical twin, your story always starts with someone else. For Iris, that means her story starts with Lark. Iris has always been the grounded, capable and rational one. Lark has always been inventive, dreamy and brilliant. From their first moments in the world together, they’ve never left each other’s side. But when fifth grade arrives, Iris and Lark are split into different classrooms, and something breaks in them both. Iris is no longer so confident. Lark retreats into herself as she deals with challenges at school. And something strange is happening in the city around them, things both great and small going missing with­ out a trace. As Iris begins to understand that anything can be lost in the blink of an eye, she decides it’s up to her to find a way to keep her sister safe.

DAN SLATER ’96

The Officer and the Entrepreneur: A True Story (Amazon Original Stories)

Ex-college football star turned soldier Kevin Corley assumed loyalty and sacrifice would advance his place in the world, but between deployments his oncepromising future disappeared. His life in wreckage, Corley answered a new call of duty, unaware that he was walking into a ruse orchestrated by one of the government’s most enterprising agents, John Leonard.

By posing online as an underworld figure, Leonard set elaborate traps for those predisposed to crime.

But the line between justice and deviance was narrower than he thought.

Alumni are encouraged to inform Blake of their publications, recordings, films, etc., and, when possible, to send copies of books and articles. Contact us at cyrus@blakeschool.org.

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Thomas Kempf ’58 The Amazing Grace Devotional: Shoes, Belly Fat, Linen Underwear And Other Interesting Stuff (self-published) Integrating scripture and a humorous, relatable tone, Kempf’s devotional book reads less like a pastor in the pulpit and more like a Bible discussion among friends.

Brian A. Pavlac and Elizabeth S. Lott ’71 The Holy Roman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, LLC) This two-volume work covers the history of German-speaking lands from A.D. 800 to A.D. 1806.

Janet Weiner Rowles ’77 The Tell Me More Gesture: How and Why to Welcome Conflict (Out-And-Out Press) Tapping into her experiences as a conflict mediator, Rowles helps others self-manage, and even welcome, conflict in their lives.

Melissa Rappaport Schifman ’85 Building a Sustainable Home: Practical Green Design Choices for Your Health, Wealth and Soul (Skyhorse) Schifman shares her knowledge and experience for others to use in their journey toward a greener way of living.

James Tucker ’88 The Holdouts (Buddy Lock Thrillers Book 2) (Thomas & Mercer) Power, corruption and murder are coming for Buddy Lock and his family in this thriller.

CLASS NOTES Class notes and photos received after December 2018 will appear in the next issue of Cyrus. Notes are provided by alumni or their friends and family, and some have been edited for length and style.

46 52

Scott Donaldson (See In Print & Production)

Tom Cagley writes daily and features his work bimonthly on Tales by Tom, a podcast of stories “that make readers cry and laugh, that amaze, teach and demonstrate, that leave readers wealthier in some way and that speak to universal traits, like the joy we experience seeing people reunited after decades of separation.” Tom shares, “I am a stage 3 stomach cancer survivor and have been in remission for two years.

Whoever said, ‘Gettin’ old ain’t for sissies,’ had it right.”

REUNION

54

Anice Wishart Flesh reports that many 1954 classmates have moved to senior communities.

“Let us know where you are and how you like it,” she says. “Anne Gillette Briggin and I joined Maggie McCarthy Seely at her 50th anniversary celebration last year.”

Peter Heegaard was named to Pollen’s 2018 50 Over 50 list of the most inspiring and accomplished leaders in Minnesota. He was recognized in the business category

for his post-retirement work as founder of Urban Adventure, a Twin Cities educational program that exposes young business leaders to challenging urban issues, and as chair of the board for the Phillips Eye Institute Foundation.

for Special Achievement in Medical Science for her four decades of leadership in biomedical science.

Her work includes pioneering discoveries in RNA biology, mentoring young scientists and supporting women in the field.

by a committee of senior executives and owners of Minnesota-based real estate companies. Jim is president of Eberhardt Advisory LLC, which provides strategic planning and implementation services to commercial real estate clients.

In December, Mary Bull Madsen and her husband, George, moved to Seabury Senior Housing, near their children in Connecticut.

60

61

Jim Rogers writes, “Sadly, my best friend and wife of almost 61 years, Barbara Cashin Rogers, passed away on October 27 after a two-and-a-half-year battle with esophageal cancer. She did her best to beat it, with a smile on her face and a sense of humor. She loved her years at Northrop, and especially her many Northrop classmates and Blake friends. Barb will be sorely missed by her family and friends who loved her.”

56 58

Bill Smith Jr. writes, “I am grateful to be 80 and vertical.”

Tom Kempf (See In Print & Production)

Joan Argetsinger Steitz received the 2018 Lasker-Koshland Award

Regina Sigal Anavy and her husband toured the Atacama Desert in South America and traveled to Mexico City to volunteer with Earthwatch biologists on a water-quality project. She writes, “Our family nonprofit, the Anavy Education Fund, was able to provide a scholarship for a dental student at the University of California, San Francisco. I continue to translate for dissident Cuban journalists, and my translation of The Crocodylia of Cuba is under consideration for publication by the University Presses of Florida. My husband and I are going on a nature trip to Guatemala. We are trying to get as much traveling in as possible.”

Jim Nelson was inducted into the Minnesota Real Estate Hall of Fame by the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business. Honorees are selected for outstanding business performance, high standards of ethics and community activities

Teri McCannel Motley lives in the seaside town of Nahant, Massachusetts, with her husband, Herb. She writes, “I have three children: my son, Hudson, who is severely disabled but has as good a life as can be expected, in Vermont; my daughter Julia, who lives with her husband in Tampa and has a swim coaching business there; and my daughter Catherine, who lives in Philadelphia, where she works for the city’s finance department. She has my only grandchild, who is 2 years old. I am a very late bloomer, having been ordained and called to my first church when I was 65. I served one church in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, for five years, until I had to have a heart valve replaced.

After I recovered, I was called as an intentional interim pastor in Northwood, New Hampshire, where I served for a year until I was diagnosed with lymphoma, which ended that pastorate. I was treated successfully and have been called to an interim pastorate in West Spring 2019 21

CLASS NOTES

BFFS (BLAKE FRIENDS FOREVER) BILL BERGHUIS ’50 AND JOE NEUMEIER ’50 PICKED RIGHT UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF WHEN BILL (L) VISITED THE TWIN CITIES FROM HIS CURRENT HOME NEAR TORONTO.

SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE BLAKE CLASS OF 1958 GATHERED TO CELEBRATE THEIR 60TH REUNION. PICTURED (FRONT ROW, L TO R) BOB HOFFMAN, NED DAYTON, DAVID PLIMPTON, HARVEY HANSEN, THOMAS GREEN, ED HAUGLAND, MARSHALL CARGILL, (BACK ROW, L TO R) JOHN LEWMAN, TIM ADAMS, CHUCK GEER, CLARK WINSLOW AND DAVID CROSBY.

Gloucester, Massachusetts.

In between, I have continued to serve on the board of Lincoln Street Inc., an agency that I and some other parents of children with disabilities founded some 30 years ago, which cares for Hudson and 52 other people. I have been serving on the Nahant Green Communities Committee, where I am known as the Electric Car Lady because I advocate for use of electric cars like my beloved Bolt. I joined two marches and went to the Massachusetts Democratic Convention as an alternate. Since my husband is retired and has given up his racing boat, we have traveled to Vancouver, from which we took the Canadian Pacific to Winnipeg, and to Manchester, Vermont, where I satisfied a lifelong fascination with falcons and falconry. I am still trying to find homes for my mother’s collection of papers, photos and artifacts. For that reason, and because my sister and my cousin Katherine Walker Griffith ’63 still live in the Twin Cities, I try to visit there at least once a year.”

REUNION

64

Jane Dow is involved in Mankato Zero Waste, the Mankato Area Fair Trade Town Initiative

22 Cyrus

and S.S. Boutique, a nonprofit shop that collects necessities for those in need. All three organizations had a productive year. Jane writes, “On a personal level, my husband, Mark, and I attended the graduation ceremony for our son Aaron. He received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley. We also visited our daughter and son in Los Angeles, as well as our other son and his wife in New York.

I am traveling to the Arizona border with my church to learn more about the challenges of immigrants fleeing their countries because of poverty and violence.

We will participate in workshops led by the School of Americas Watch organization.”

65

After a 40-year career in public service, including his most recent role as two-term governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton has retired. Minnesota Public Radio offered a two-part look back at his life and political career. Part one explored his time as governor of Minnesota; part two looked at his early years.

66

Marlow Brooks has been a professor for 21 years in the

LONGTIME NORTHROP FRIENDS (PICTURED, L TO R) KATHY DOERR, SUSAN WRIGHT KORNHABER ’59, SUSAN DALRYMPLE WILSON ’59 AND JULIA MEECH ’59 MET UP IN WAYZATA.

psychology department at Naropa University, where she teaches the class Psychology of the Five Elements. She has also taught Chinese calligraphy and contemplative art. She writes, “I love it and love the students. I highly recommend this small university to creative, self-aware types who aren’t interested in big universities.

I also work as a Chinese medicine practitioner and teach workshops in healing. I have continued my love of art and show it in exhibitions all over the world, often in Asia.

You can take a peek at my website www.Marlowbrooks.com. Lately I have enjoyed writing books and have published three, also on my website. On the domestic side, I raised five child­ren, gave birth to three, and have five grandsons. A joy! If you come through Boulder, Colorado, and want to connect or check out Naropa, feel free to contact me at Marlow.brooks@gmail.com.”

Ames Sheldon is happy to report that her daughter, Anna Sheldon Phelps, married Ross Lee Ketchum at Bear Basin in the mountains outside Dubois, Wyoming, on August 11. The small wedding included Marylee Hardenberg. In other news, Ames’s second novel, Don’t Put the Boats Away, the sequel

TERI MCCANNEL MOTLEY ’61 SATISFIED A LIFELONG FASCINATION WITH FALCONS AND FALCONRY ON A VISIT TO MANCHESTER, VERMONT.

to Eleanor’s Wars, will be published in August.

REUNION

69

Sallie Sheldon, a professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, returned to Minnesota last summer to pilot a program to breed and train weevils to eat Eurasian watermilfoil, an invasive species taking over hundreds of Minnesota lakes.

68

Jane Geltman Gordon writes, “I had to miss our 50th Northrop reunion because our first grandchild, Olivia, had her Bat Mitzvah in Chicago. It was a glorious celebration. While I missed the reunion, I heard that it was fabulous, and I look forward to the 60th!”

70

Peter Riley continues his work at the law firm Schwebel, Goetz and Sieben. His wife, Patsy, has retired from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Peter writes, “I was just elected vice president of the foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates and will serve as president in 2020. I also serve on their national board and as a foundation trustee. Sarah ʼ02 continues

CLASS NOTES

JILL MCCARTHY ’76 AND MARTHA CLARK KRIKAVA ’76 VISITED CLASSMATE ELIZABETH HERSEY GARDNER IN HER HOMETOWN OF DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS. WITH TATLER IN HAND, NINA KNOBLAUCH COMISKEY ’61 VISITED CLASSMATE TERI MCCANNEL MOTLEY.

JANE DOW ’64, WITH HER HUSBAND, MARK, SON AARON, DAUGHTER, AMY, AND HER PARTNER, ERIC, CELEBRATED AARON’S GRADUATION FROM BERKELEY.

AMES SHELDON’S ’66 DAUGHTER, ANNA SHELDON PHELPS, MARRIED ROSS LEE KETCHUM AT BEAR BASIN IN THE MOUNTAINS OUTSIDE DUBOIS, WYOMING.

at Boston Scientific and very much enjoys it there — lots of travel!”

on the wonderful enduring friendships from school days.”

tice architecture and plans to visit Spain and Morocco in the spring.”

Daria Stec writes, “After 44 years on the East Coast — 40 of them in Washington, D.C. — I moved back to Minneapolis in 2014.

I am retired and enjoy reacquainting myself with the city where I grew up, reestablishing old friendships and making new, and spending a lot of time with my parents and other family members. I was honored to be invited to serve on the Blake Alumni Board this year. I would love to hear from classmates.

My email is dariastec@aol.com.”

Andrea Carla Eisenberg Michaels has lived in San Francisco for nearly 35 years. She continues her work naming companies and products, constructing crossword puzzles and feeding her neighbors on the street in her new calling as “Pizza Lady.”

REUNION

71 76

Liz Lott (See In Print & Production)

Jill McCarthy shares, “Martha Clark Krikava of Stillwater, Minnesota, and Jill McCarthy of Golden, Colorado, blew into Duxbury, Massachusetts, for a visit with classmate Elizabeth Hersey Gardner, just ahead of a Nor’easter, celebrated with lobster rolls, chowder and plenty of chatter. The storm lifted for a perfect autumn beach walk, celebrated with Island Creek Oysters and more catch up

77 78

Janet Weiner Rowles (See In Print & Production)

J Jolton writes, “It has been an eventful year.

After a sabbatical year, during which I spent five months living in London researching video game development methods, I returned to my classroom full of new ideas and opportunities. In October, I was contracted as an art director and game designer by my U.K. mentor. The game, to be released in May, presents a unique opportunity to show my class how a professional game is developed in real time. In the meantime, my older son graduates from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in May with a robotics major, and my younger son is preparing to go to college. My wife continues to prac-

79

Susan Heegaard began her role as president of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), which advances cooperation and resource sharing in higher education. As a senior consultant for HCM Strategists and the Lumina Foundation Strategy Labs, she engages with many of MHEC’s member states.

She represented Minnesota as a commissioner alternate from 2004 to 2009 for MHEC during her time as commissioner/ director of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.

Hugh Maginnis recently retired from the U.S. Foreign Service with the rank of minister-counselor, after a 28-year career as a U.S. diplomat and trade negotiator specializing in agriculture. He played a leadership role in several trade agreements for the United States, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, and in the World Trade Organization. His foreign postings include Madrid, Lisbon, Ottawa, Canberra and Wellington. He resides in Northern Virginia, where he volun-

Family Additions Melissa Diracles ʼ01 a son, Silas Alexander August 8, 2018 Nedda Noori Salehi ʼ02 a daughter, Roya June 28, 2018 Drew Percival ʼ06 a son, Boden August 10, 2018

Marriages Cindy Sher ʼ96 and Kurt Anderson July 28, 2018 Abigail Smith ʼ04 and Ryan Yelle June 24, 2017 Noel Bennett ʼ06 and Cole Patterson September 22, 2018 Natalie Owens-Pike ʼ07 and Alex Burchfield August 4, 2018 Lauren Gellman ʼ08 and Wesley Keyser October 13, 2018

teers at homeless shelters and food pantries, while touring the country on his Indian Tourmaster Motorcycle.

82

Scott Forbes recently hopped a plane to Barcelona, Spain, Spring 2019 23

CLASS NOTES

SCOTT FORBES ’82 EXPLORED THE SITES OF BARCELONA, SPAIN.

STEVE SLOVICK ’84 AND HIS FAMILY MADE A STOP TO SEE THE TERRA COTTA WARRIORS IN CHINA DURING THEIR YEARLONG WORLD TRAVELS.

where, he writes, “I purchased a much-needed umbrella, luxuriated in restaurants that specialize in all things Iberico ham, brandished flintlock pistols with a conquistador at El Carmel, and got a bird’s-eye view of the city from the battle stations of Montjuic.”

83

Libby Forbes Utter was named to Pollen’s 2018 50 Over 50 list of the most inspiring and accomplished leaders in Minnesota. She was recognized in the nonprofit category for her work as executive director of Gilda’s Club Twin Cities and for previous roles with Gillette Children’s Foundation and Ronald McDonald House Charities.

REUNION

84

Tom Quaintance began his third year as producing artistic director of Virginia Stage Company, the leading professional theater in Southeastern Virginia.

He writes, “The East Coast Quaintances — me, my wife, Wallis, and two girls, Miri (7) and Annika (3) — are loving Norfolk and the whole of coastal Virginia. Chasing some of my Blake Bears past, I thought it would be a great idea to join an over-50 indoor soccer league

24 Cyrus

BETSY ALDRICH ’85 WON THE 2018 MINNESOTA GOLF ASSOCIATION WOMEN’S SENIOR AMATEUR MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP AT FARIBAULT GOLF CLUB.

— and promptly ruptured my Achilles. Looking at six months of rehab, followed by a more cautious dive back into sports. Maybe some doubles tennis …”

Steve Slovick shares, “I’m currently traveling around the world with my wife and two boys.

It’s an educational adventure and a great learning experience for everyone. Not only do we learn about the countries and the people, we’ve been able to teach the kids about philanthropy by getting involved in a program to dig water wells in rural Cambodia, where children are in dire need of clean water. We’re traveling to 35 countries over nine months and have completed 10 so far.”

85

Laura Gabbert’s 2015 documentary City of Gold, about Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold, was named one of the 66 best documentaries of all time by Vogue.

Lissie Rappaport Schifman is an editor and sustainability thought leader at Rise, an online platform that helps make home improvement projects sustainable. (Also see In Print & Production)

BLAKE 1985 CLASSMATES WERE AMONG THE FANS AT US BANK STADIUM WHEN THE BEARS WON THE 2018 BOYS’ SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. PICTURED (FRONT ROW) DAVID CROSBY, (MIDDLE ROW, L TO R) MIKE SHOGREN, MARK MORTENSON, ANNE LINVILL SEIDEL, LISSIE RAPPAPORT SCHIFMAN, (BACK ROW, L TO R) MATT RUBENSTEIN AND DAVID GRAHAM.

86

Lynette Brooks Homer lives in London, where she works at the Barbican Centre, the largest performing arts center of its kind in Europe. Barbican hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theater performances, film screenings and art exhibitions.

Brian Lucas launched a new business, True Voice Communications, which provides consulting, storytelling and coaching services to organizations and individuals.

Annie Sundberg (See In Print & Production)

87

Kelly Morrison was elected to the Minnesota House in District 33B after defeating three-term Rep. Cindy Pugh.

Dean Phillips won his bid to the U.S. Congress in Minnesota’s Third District, defeating five-term incumbent Rep. Erik Paulsen.

88

Sanders Marvin lives in Ojai, California, with his three sons, Earl, Hayes and Quinn. Together, they started an artisan gelato company (www.sandersandsonsgelato.com

— “yes, we ship,” Sanders notes).

Earl and Sanders will mountain bike the Camino de Compostela in France and Spain this spring.

James Tucker (See In Print & Production)

90

Danielle Fagre Arlowe and Amy Schachtman Zaroff co-host the podcast Hyperbole: The Best Podcast Ever in which they provide a humorous look at the best and worst of everything each week including pop culture, news, hashtags and interviews with people you need to know.

They have over 8,000 worldwide downloads. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

John Lundquist has completed work on two ”mind-blowing, hilarious, touching, nail-biting” feature screenplays with another half dozen in various stages of development. Please send your Hollywood connections his way. He is ready to not be a starving writer.

Andrij Parekh has been invited to join the American Society of Cinematographers. Throughout his 20-year career, Andrij has shot more than 20 feature films and served as director and cine-

CLASS NOTES

CHRIS GEER DEAN ’89 COMPETED IN THE MGA WOMEN’S MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP AT LEGENDS CLUB IN PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA.

CINDY SHER ’96 AND HUSBAND KURT ANDERSON STROLLED THROUGH CHICAGO'S MILLENNIUM PARK — WHERE KURT PROPOSED A YEAR EARLIER — ON THEIR WEDDING DAY.

matographer on the HBO series Succession and the pilot for the HBO graphic novel adaptation Watchmen, slated to premiere this year.

91 94

Anne Ursu (See In Print & Production)

REUNION

T.J. Gordon shares, “I am proud to announce that on October 6, 2018, my daughter, Olivia Sara Gordon, became a Bat Mitzvah at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, Illinois. It was a wonderful achievement and celebration for my daughter and our entire family. My mother, Jane Geltman Gordon ʼ68, gladly missed her 50th Northrop reunion to attend the ceremony and festivities. (But can’t wait to see everyone for 55!) Other Blake alumni in attendance were Kate Gordon Liegel ʼ97, Elizabeth Gordon ʼ00, Rob Shiller ʼ89, Elizabeth Shiller Hara ʼ92 and Dr. Andrew Engel ʼ94.”

Scott Nelson is leading the 100 percent clean food movement at Panera, where he is vice president of marketing and innovation.

His recent work around food trans-

ALEX STRAUSS ’97 IS LOVING LIFE WITH HIS INCREDIBLE FAMILY INCLUDING WIFE, MICHELE, AND THEIR SONS, MATTHEW (9) AND BRADLEY (3).

parency, including the video series Food Interrupted, received much acclaim, and the 2017 Marketer of the Year brand continues to thrive under his leadership. Scott resides in Boston’s Back Bay with his three boys — Foster, Hollis and Ford — and partner, Melissa.

95

Alene Grossman Sussman’s first published article, Andrew Zimmern’s Controversy is Our Opportunity, is a response to the celebrity chef’s controversial remarks about Chinese-American cuisine. The piece can be found on the TC Jewfolk website.

Sarah West Wold was appointed district judge in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District in July

by Gov. Mark Dayton ʼ65.

96 97 98

Dan Slater (See In Print & Production)

Alex Strauss was named the consulting sport psychiatrist for Temple University athletics.

Sovady Phe Huston enjoys her summers, and yes, even winters, in Minnesota. She works

SOVADY PHE HUSTON ’98 DESCRIBES DAUGHTER OLIVIA (6) AS AN “OUTGOING INTROVERT WITH A STREAK OF SASS” AND SON NOLAN (3) AS “INNATELY JOYOUS AND SURE TO BE THE CLASS CLOWN.”

at a medical device company and has reduced her schedule to three days a week. She hopes to fill her time with personal wellness, volunteering and playing with her kids, Olivia (6) and Nolan (3). Her husband, Jeff, works and plays as an Android/iOS developer at the Nerdery, a software development company. Olivia loves animals, swimming, skiing, hotels, lists and giving “direction and guidance” to her “baby” brother. She is best described as an outgoing introvert with a streak of sass.

Nolan enjoys music, soccer, wearing underwear, saying “no” to his sister and creating mayhem.

He is best described as innately joyous and is sure to be a class clown. When not on duty, Sovady and Jeff enjoy date nights, camping, snowboarding and traveling with and without kids. Their most recent excursion took them to the top of Mount Fuji (almost).

Liz Olson, an assistant professor of anthropology at Southern Utah University, received the school’s Community Engaged Scholar award for her work connecting the classroom with the community in a collaborative and self-reflecting learning process.

REUNION

99

Eric Choi, a litigation partner with Chicago-based law firm Neal Gerber Eisenberg, was named one of the top 40 Under Forty Attorneys in Illinois to Watch by Law Bulletin Media.

Joshua Isaacs was named a principal of the law firm SmolenPlevy in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

His practice areas include family law, divorce, support and custody issues. He also serves as the president of the Fairfax Law Foundation Board of Directors, which provides law-related education to youth and community, as well as legal assistance to the indigent and those with special needs. The group also promotes access to and improvements in the justice system within Fairfax County, Virginia.

Aaron Rapport is a professor in Cambridge University’s department of politics and international studies and a fellow at the university’s Corpus Christi College.

He recently received the Pilkington Prize honoring excellence in teaching across all colleges at Cambridge. He is a frequent contributor to his department’s podcast, Talking Politics.

Spring 2019 25

CLASS NOTES

AARON RAPPORT ’99

MELISSA DIRACLES ’01 AND HER HUSBAND WELCOMED SON SILAS ALEXANDER ON AUGUST 8, 2018.

00

Mirza Tabakovic lives in London, where he works in finance. He is married and the couple is expecting their first child.

01

Filmmaker Sandra Bertalanffy attended Minnesota WebFest 2018 for a screening of her award-winning documentary series KYNNSTLAH — A series of artist portraits.

In 2017, Soraya Darabi, along with three partners, launched a venture capital fund dedicated to mission-driven investing. Trail Mix Ventures is dedicated to being the first check into a venture backable business. Their “seed financing” and advisory counsel of tech founders has helped propel purpose-driven brands such as the Wing, Misfit Juicery, Henry the Dentist, Parsley Health and Good.

Their website is trailmix.vc.

CNN anchor Poppy Harlow interviewed classmate and Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake on an episode of her podcast, Boss Files.

02 26 Cyrus

Nedda Noori Salehi writes, “Hi friends!

This year marks my

NEDDA NOORI SALEHI ’02 AND FAMILY

11th living in the Bay Area. I’m still practicing corporate law, and my husband is the CEO of a tech startup. We welcomed number three on June 28, a little girl named Roya. If you’re ever out this way, please reach out — I’d love to reconnect.”

05

Rami Zeidan is co-founder of Life House, a hotel chain with a tech-first approach.

The first locations have opened in Miami’s Little Havana and Miami Beach, with plans to open 20 locations in the next year.

06

Filmmaker Max Gold wrote and directed a sci-fi pilot, Surfer’s Paradise, in the Czech Republic.

Drew Percival writes, “My wife, Anne, and I welcomed our first child, a baby boy, on August 10.

His name is Boden Percival, and we are loving every minute of our new lives with him.”

07

Matt Gallivan and his wife, Maeve, recently relocated back to Minnesota from Washington D.C. after eight years working on Capitol Hill. Matt recently started as director of state and federal

regulatory affairs at 3M’s health information systems business unit.

Natalie Owens-Pike married Alex Burchfield in a Wisconsin barn, surrounded by many Blake classmates and friends. Natalie says, “We love living in Minneapolis and are always connecting with friends and classmates in our travels.

I’m grateful to be in my fifth year leading LearningWorks at Blake, and especially love connecting with alumni and classmates to share the amazing work of our LearningWorks students. Come and see the program in action this summer!”

08

Kate Morton has lived in Washington, D.C. for the last six years and currently works in creative strategy at the design collective Streetsense. She also serves as chair of the board of directors of Story District, a local storytelling organization, and consults with a cold brew coffee company.

REUNION

09

Kelsey Atherton Aden graduated in 2018 with an MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School

NICOLE COOPER ’03 AND DAVID ZNAMEROSKI ’03 CELEBRATED THEIR DAUGHTER KATE’S FIRST BIRTHDAY IN FEBRUARY. SHE LOVES TO READ, TOUCH EVERYTHING IN SIGHT, SPLASH IN THE BATHTUB AND BE A MEMBER OF THE CLEAN PLATE CLUB.

of Management. She works for General Mills, and her husband, Alex, works for Prudential.

The couple lives in Wayzata, Minnesota, with their two dogs.

10

Kimi Goldstein and Laura Hellman are co-chairs of the Junior Council of WINGS WorldQuest, an NYC-based nonprofit that supports and recognizes extraordinary women in science and exploration.

Kimi founded the Junior Council in 2017, and Laura joined her as co-chair in 2018.

Javier Reyes and his band, Post Animal, contributed to 27: The Most Perfect Album, a compilation of songs by various artists about each of the 27 amendments to the Constitution. Post Animal sings about the 16th Amendment, which gives Congress the right to tax income, in this project produced by the More Perfect podcast.

After a few years in the corporate retail world, Zeynep Tuzcu decided to pursue her passion for holistic health and wellness by pursuing a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. This decision came after dabbling in the field of wellness coaching and continuing to teach yoga. She began at Northwestern

CLASS NOTES

ABIGAIL SMITH ’04 MARRIED RYAN YELLE ON JUNE 24, 2017, IN ASPEN, COLORADO.

NOEL BENNETT ’06 MARRIED COLE PATTERSON AT ONWENTSIA CLUB IN LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS, ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2018. THE COUPLE WAS GRATEFUL TO HAVE SHARED THE LOVE-FILLED CELEBRATION WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS — AND MANY BLAKE ALUMNI.

Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minnesota, last summer and will graduate in 2020.

When she is not practicing adjustments or studying, you can find Zeynep teaching or practicing yoga at Northern Edge Chiropractic, finding ways to be politically active in Minneapolis and traveling.

She lives in the North Loop of Minneapolis with her partner, Curtis, and cat, T’Challa.

11

Kylie Kaminski was admitted to the Minnesota State Bar after graduating from the University of St. Thomas School of Law. She joined the law firm of Hellmuth and Johnson, PLLC as an associate attorney in the corporate department.

12

Zach Doerring has signed on to play professional hockey with the Swedish Division 2 team Åmåls SK.

13

Laine Higgins is a reporter in New York for Exchange, the Wall Street Journal’s weekend business and finance section. Find her articles on WSJ.com.

LAUREN GELLMAN ’08 MARRIED WESLEY KEYSER ON OCTOBER 13, 2018. SIX BLAKE BRIDESMAIDS (AND FELLOW 2008 CLASSMATES) WERE INCLUDED IN THE WEDDING PARTY. PICTURED, L TO R, PAIGE ESTERKIN, RONNI PETERSON PLIMPTON, JAMIE DONALDSON, BRITTANY RANDOLPH, EMILY MOOS AND JILLIAN AVERY.

NATALIE OWENS-PIKE ’07 SURROUNDED HERSELF WITH BLAKE FRIENDS AT HER WISCONSIN WEDDING. PICTURED, L TO R, ANGELINA MOMANYI ’08, ADELE BROBERG ’07, LAURA KOMAREK ’07, ALEX BURCHFIELD (GROOM), NATALIE, BETH DAVIS ’07, LAURA CHRISTIANSON ’07, AVERY BROWN ’07, LIZZIE ABY ’07 AND JULIA HEFFELFINGER ’07.

In Memoriam Helen Beaubaire former faculty March 8, 2019 Alan Brock ’64 February 3, 2018 Lawrence “Monty” Carlson former faculty February 17, 2019

Helen Edie former parent former teacher October 18, 2018

Roger Hollander ’52 former parent former grandparent November 15, 2018

David Fink ’89 November 7, 2017

Elizabeth Barry Houghton ’48 October 10, 2018

Harold Fisher ’47 March 22, 2018

Vincent Carpenter ’38 former parent July 23, 2018

Nicholas Flemming current parent December 2, 2018

Judith Covey Carson ’66 January 6, 2019

Dianne Bartel Gilbody ’59 June 28, 2018

H. Cartan Clarke former parent former trustee August 29, 2018

Edward Greer Jr. ’42 December 10, 2018

Cynthia Coleman ’70 May 5, 2018 James Dayton ’83 former parent February 13, 2019 John De Haven ’64 November 3, 2018

Charles Hanson ’43 August 23, 2018 Henry Hart ’42 December 2, 2018 Lucy Bell Hartwell ’51 former parent former grandparent January 26, 2019

William Dietz II ’53 February 15, 2018

June Hestad former employee January 26, 2019

Sarah Cowles Doering ’44 November 16, 2018

Horace Hill Jr. ’47 November 6, 2017

Thomas Dwight ’50 July 27, 2018

Alexander Hoffman ’44 August 6, 2018

David Hussman current parent August 18, 2018 Ann Kasper ’74 January 11, 2019 Charles Kelly III ’47 former parent November 2, 2018 Abbott King ’44 October 2017 Jerome Manning Jr. ’58 June 8, 2018 Mary McKee ’57 former parent former grandparent December 14, 2018 Charles Marvin Jr. ’73 former parent October 7, 2018

Donald Moyer ’48 September 10, 2018 Robert Ottman former employee September 5, 2018 Raymond Plank ’40 former parent former trustee November 8, 2018 James Ridgway Jr. ’59 September 11, 2018 Elizabeth McMillan Ringer ’42 former parent former grandparent March 2, 2019 Barbara Cashin Rogers ’54 former parent October 27, 2018 William Siegel ’81 December 11, 2018 Richard Tickle ’72 June 24, 2018 Robin Tinker ’58 September 6, 2018

Joan Clifford Miller ’48 December 1, 2017

Mary Howe Vermeers ’38 July 8, 2018

Lynn Miller ’44 July 24, 2018

Amy Camp Walker ’40 former parent former grandparent former trustee July 27, 2018

Robert Mitchell Jr. ’61 former parent July 30, 2018 Please inform the Institutional Advancement office of Blake community member deaths at (952) 988-3430 or cyrus@blakeschool.org.

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CLASS NOTES

LAURA HELLMAN ’10 AND KIMI GOLDSTEIN ’10 (FAR LEFT AND SECOND FROM LEFT, RESPECTIVELY) CO-CHAIR THE JUNIOR COUNCIL OF WINGS WORLDQUEST, AN NYC-BASED NONPROFIT THAT SUPPORTS AND RECOGNIZES EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION.

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Filmmaker Ike Frans is working on his latest documentary, The Pipe Carriers, which tells the story of Little Earth of United Tribes and its residents’ fight to improve their community in the face of drugs and violence.

Karlie Lund was selected by the Minnesota Whitecaps as a 2018 National Women’s Hockey League draft pick.

Simone Maddox is in her senior year at Rice University, majoring in evolutionary biology. For the second consecutive summer, she worked as a research assistant under Mark Bee, Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, studying noise pollution effects on frog populations. She also assisted with curriculum development for summer campers at the Bell Museum. Simone is applying for Ph.D. programs in evolutionary biology.

Solomon Polansky will graduate in May with a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins

ZEYNEP TUZCU ’10

BLAKE HONORED OLYMPIC CHAMPION DANI CAMERANESI ’13 IN A GIRLS’ HOCKEY PRE-GAME CEREMONY IN NOVEMBER. PHOTO BY STEVEN NYE ’18

University and will continue there to pursue a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in fluid and thermodynamics.

college all-freshmen team for the Southeast region. The teams were determined by a peer voting process open to college players on roster for the 2018 college postseason.

Brynne Swearingen was chosen as a YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund 2019 scholar. Winners were selected based on a case analysis in which they designed a collection to be sold in an international market during the initial global expansion of a fashion retailer of their choice. Brynne designed for Maxfield Los Angeles’s global expansion to Milan.

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Nick Washuta, a member of the University of Vermont men’s lacrosse team, was named to Inside Lacrosse’s 2019 Preseason Media All-Americans first team, selected by media members who vote in Inside Lacrosse’s weekly media poll.

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Max Lang, a student at Tulane University in New Orleans, was named to the 2018 USA Ultimate

Aditya Shekhar covers all things Blake in conversations with community members as part of his Bearwaves podcast. Find Aditya’s interviews with Steve Woodrich ’44, David “Knobby” Knoblauch ’64, Kathryn Moos ’03 and Head of School Anne Stavney at blake.mn/bearwaves.

Peggy Neff shares, “In 1960, I was asked to come to Wayzata, Minnesota, to help start a school: Highcroft Country Day School.

We met as kindergarten, first and second grade in a church basement, adding a grade each year. Four years later we moved to Wayzata. I stayed on the Blake campus until 1997 then retired and moved east. I loved my years there teaching and in admissions work.”

1949&1954 1944 1959 1964 Reunion Homecoming 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 Weekend September 1994 1999 200426-29 2009 2014

SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES AND PHOTOS TO CLASSNOTES@BLAKESCHOOL.ORG. 28 Cyrus

Former Faculty

Reunion & Homecoming Weekend September 26-29, 2019 We welcome you back to campus to celebrate your history and make new memories.

For more information visit blakeschool.org/reunion.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

VOICES On Listening In college I took a class on listening. At the time, it seemed like an easy way to fill an empty space in my schedule. I was wrong. Listening, it turns out, is difficult.

Listening has dimensions. First, there is keeping your mouth shut when someone is talking. That is merely hearing words. We do it all the time. It is not actually listening.

Then, there is the art of listening with your body: nodding, maintaining eye contact, mirroring the speaker’s gestures.

This is much more involved than hearing words, but isn’t quite listening. Your speaker might feel acknowledged, but you don’t get that much out of it except a low-key workout.

Then, there’s the final step: the art of silencing the

voice in your mind that goes, “But why? Oh, but really?

How about no?” This takes practice. It’s much easier to listen to your own peanut gallery than someone else’s voice.

I do it daily. However, when you sit down, shut up and truly Shalene Gupta ’06 is writing a book on trust and business at Harvard Business School. Prior to that she covered technology and diversity for Fortune. Her work has appeared in the Jakarta Post, the New Strait Times, Mint, Money and ESPN-W. She's also working on a young adult novel in her spare time.

listen to someone else talk, the world becomes a tunnel where all that exists is the speaker’s voice guiding you through the darkness.

When I started listening the world opened up. A homeless woman asked me for change and then told me her life story. “Bless you,” she said afterward. In the middle of talking about his favorite book, my best friend came out to me. He said he’d never had the courage to do it before.

Over lunch, a coworker who had been cranky for days broke down and said her marriage was falling apart. She cried, and I held her hand. These days we always smile at each other in the hallway.

“Listening is a gift you can give the world,” the in­ structor told us on the first day. If I’d been listening better, I would have understood what she was really saying: it is a gift you give yourself.

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