The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin - Fall 2023

THE BULLETIN OF THE FREDeRICK GUNN SCHOOL

Emily Raudenbush Gum, 12th Head of School

FALL 2023

BULLETIN i

Fall 2023

The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

2

From the Head of School

12

End-of-Year Events

17

Trustee News

18

Campus Life

32

Gunn Arts

36

Gunn Athletics

40

From the Archives

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DEPARTMENTS

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Members of the Varsity Field Hockey team showed their school spirit on Canterbury Day 2022, as their teammates took on the Saints at home, winning 1-0 in OT. The Highlanders beat the Saints again this year, 2-1 on Canterbury Day, and went on to beat the Saints 1-0 in the quarterfinal of the NEPSAC Championship.

FEATURES

44

Supporting The Frederick Gunn School

46

Alumni Events

4 What Inspires Emily Gum?

55

From the Alumni Association

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Common Ground Comes to Gunn

60

Alumni Small Businesses

10

Celebrating our Alumni Veterans

62

Highlander Journey

66

Class Notes

78

Remembering David P. Miller, II ’54

80

Faculty Profile

On the cover: Our 12th Head of School, Emily Raudenbush Gum Cover photo by Kristin Moore

Fall 2023

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FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dear Frederick Gunn School Community,

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A L L F A M I L Y W E E K E N D has just passed, students a continued emphasis on building a broadly representative are getting a bit of a break, and I have a moment student body, we are also proud that our community is 20% to reflect. I have spent a good deal of time on international students. Notably, we also have the largest the road already this fall, meeting with alumni, freshman class on record. When we look to the philanthropic prospective parents, and K-8 schools in the Northeast. As I have engagement of our community, we are proud to note another been on this broader listening tour, I am becoming even more year of record Annual Fund giving. The Gunn community is convinced than I already was (if that is possible!) that something strong and growing stronger. very special is happening at The Frederick Gunn School right now, and that there is so much to be proud of. A current parent O F C O U R S E , O U R faculty remain at the heart of everything we captured this concisely and well, saying that from every angle do. Please take the time to read about the new members of our our lofty ideals and strategic goals are believable; they are community driving our Center for Entrepreneurship and Center tangible. To have our sights firmly fixed on being an excellent for Academic Excellence on pages 22 and 26, respectively. For school where our students holistically thrive is not to say that the first time, we have leadership independently driving each of there isn’t work to be done; it’s to say that we are earnestly our four educational pillars: learning yourself and how to learn; attentive to the tasks at hand, and the tasks ahead, at one and a sense of rootedness and place; risk-taking and innovation; the same time. and public character and active citizenship. We cannot wait to The feedback that I am getting from other heads of school, see the impact they will have on the student experience. We educational consultants, and prospective families is twofold: also welcomed new faculty from universities such as UCLA our intentionality is noticed and deeply appreciated; and our and Boston College, and schools such as Horace Mann and Ethel culture and community are our strength and they amplify our Walker. Faculty are choosing Gunn for mission alignment and as educational philosophy. This feedback is important, because it speaks to the impact of the trajectory set “ For the first time, we have leadership independently in place by the Board of Trustees in January 2020, driving each of our four educational pillars: learning when they approved a Strategic Plan stating that, by yourself and how to learn; a sense of rootedness and 2025, The Frederick Gunn School will be “a uniquely place; risk-taking and innovation; and public character attractive place for students and faculty to learn, live, and active citizenship.” and thrive” by “establishing the School as a nationally recognized leader in the theory and practice of boarding education,” modeled by — and in the vision of — a place that is intentionally focused on the future of education Frederick Gunn. Halfway into this Strategic Plan, its relevance while supported by an enviable history and legacy of supporting is as clear as ever, and the Senior Team and I are committed to kids to become active citizens. With The Lizzie and Jonathan staying true to this plan, which we helped to write, as we drive Tisch Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship opening towards our 175th year in 2025. in January (see page 20), we can boast academic facilities as Our statistics all reinforce this sense of momentum. When excellent and inspiring as the teachers they house. we look to admissions, we can note that we opened for a second straight year at a record 323 students. Inquiries in last T H O S E W H O H A V E been paying close attention will know that year’s admissions cycle increased 26% over the previous year, in recent years we have been focused on enhancing the student interviews were up 34% and applications increased 38%. This experience on the west side of Route 47, or west campus. While led to a 10-point drop in our acceptance rate. Our students TPACC and “The Lizzie” are the jewels of that focus, they are come from 24 states and 18 countries, with 77% boarding. With certainly not the extent of the impact, and in the coming years

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

Gunn won at home on Fall Family Weekend, beating Forman School 36-20.

school, from recent graduates to those who studied at Gunn decades ago. We look forward to stewarding connections with all of you and welcome engagement; see page 66 for information on past graduates and reach out if you’d like to share. We are so very proud of Gunn students — past, present, and future.

I F Y O U A R E looking for an excuse to return to campus, look no further than “Common Ground, with Jane Whitney,” a nationally syndicated PBS public affairs program (page 6).

What’s coolest about this is that we have students interning with the program, and we have students showing up to listen to these incredible, nationally renowned speakers on the most important topics of our day. It brings together a lot of different threads of connecting to the community, championing a civic imagination, and showcasing our campus nationally, in the beautiful Tisch Family Auditorium in the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center.

On a recent Zoom “town hall” with class agents I was reminded of how strong the bonds are for alumni with this

KRISTIN MOORE

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we will be ensuring that the heart of our campus breathes with our mission. Even still, we are beginning to think about the east side of Route 47 and our athletic facilities. (Take note of the history of Gunn’s athletic fields on page 40.)

Always learning,

Emily Raudenbush Gum Head of School

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A Conversation with Emily Raudenbush Gum Often, you close your letters with the phrase, Always

Learning, which comes from our school motto. Did you set an intention when you began doing that? Always Learning

is something that I was committed to as an individual, actually before I came to Gunn. It is a core value that I had thought about and adopted when thinking about my life and my work when I was in my 20s. Actually, one of the things that drew me here was the sense of alignment with the deep history of the school and an approach to the world. There is an old Latin word called docilitas.

It has to do with a posture of openness and connection to the world, and a willingness, a humility, to change your mind, and to be proven wrong. It is my personal core value, and it aligns very beautifully with our school’s culture and vision of itself, and of the impact it needs to have on students.

Why is Gunn the place to be? Our students are really

awesome. They’re really, authentically, trying to figure 4

The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

themselves out, and figure out the world, and figure out what kind of impact for good they want to have in the world in the future, and there’s an excitement around that. Our faculty are aligned to the values that drive the school: our Core Values, the Pillars that drive the educational philosophy, the competency work that we’ve done to outline what it means to be an excellent faculty member here. Faculty are talking in really powerful ways about what it means to be a great educator at The Frederick Gunn School. All of this means that as a school, we have a sense of purpose, a sense of future, a sense of hopefulness, a sense of joy, a sense of fun — those things can’t be taken for granted, and it makes this place pretty cool.

You have said that Highlanders “work hard, compete

fiercely, and have a lot of fun.” How do you see yourself

living out those values? These are things that were core to my family growing up. I have three sisters, and in the home of

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Prior to the start of the Fall Term, we sat down with 12th Head of School Emily Raudenbush Gum to ask what inspires her, what it means to be a Highlander, what keeps us rooted and connected, and what makes Gunn such a special place.

the Raudenbush girls, our mom was sort of an artist but was always playing competitive sports, and our dad always had us competing in different sports. I was competing from the age of five in sports, and we laughed a lot. That shaped me and how I think about the world, and I think it really aligns with how we do things here. My competitiveness takes a different shape now.

Hezze certainly can tell you more about my competitive nature.

Hard work is something that runs deep in my Pennsylvania Dutch roots. I can’t help but work hard. And I believe that the world is actually full of fun and lots of magic. I like to see the humorous side of things.

You recently shared a story about Mr. Gunn and a tree, and encouraged alumni to come back to campus to “touch the soil and the bark, get grounded again and recenter

yourself.” Why is that important? There is a simple answer to this, which is that our campus is gorgeous. Washington is an incredible place to come and spend time, and just being able to reconnect to a place with trees that were literally there when you were 15 or 16 years old is sort of magical. Maybe a tree represents the place you went when you got in trouble, or a place where you weren’t supposed to be at some hour of the day or night, or somewhere you would sneak off to have a cry or blow off steam. Buildings can stand for these things, but I think that there is a different way this idea manifests in the kind of living, growing nature of a landscape and of the trees that are on this campus. The deeper answer is that Frederick and Abigail really wanted this to be a home for people, and maybe for students who otherwise felt that home wasn’t the best version of itself always, or at least that this was a special place. They talk about a “heart-home.” For me, the trees symbolize that there are deep roots that hold this home in place and allow others to come back and reconnect to what a home is supposed to stand for, which is a place of security, a place of belonging, and a place of growth and development. Even for alumni where that might not be the story of their time here, I hope that they will give this campus another chance at being deeply grounded and deeply intentional, and come back to walk these pathways again, and let the original intentions of this place live out, like we’re trying to allow them to do in the current iteration of the school.

You are traveling this fall to speak in person with alumni

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and families. What is it you hope to share with them? I’m

just really excited to meet everyone. A place is the sum of its stories and I need to hear more stories if I am going to be able to be a good steward of this place. I hope that our alumni will share their stories with me, tell me about their time here, tell me about what matters to them about The Frederick Gunn School.

I also hear that there are deep networks of Gunn friendships out there, and I want to hear about those. It seems to me that every time I meet an alum, they are connected to other alums,

and their friendships have lasted. That’s a pretty incredible legacy and I want to hear more about that. I want to hear about how friendships have stood the test of time. And then, as far as what I want to take to our alumni, I want to take a sense of the enthusiasm of our current students. It’s a great time to be a Highlander and every single alum deserves to be proud of this school, and of our students, and I want to tell them about that.

What are some of the cool things happening on our

campus now? “Common Ground with Jane Whitney,” a nationally syndicated PBS program, began filming on our campus in August. This program exemplifies our community members living up to Frederick Gunn’s vision of communities driving open conversations about inquiry and citizenship.

We have some competitive teams this year. That’s something we always look forward to, year over year. We have a Rooted Research Conference where our students not only present primary research projects but also our Civic Changemakers capstone showcase. We have a great prefect class, and a new Honors Leadership Seminar for those prefects and their leadership of the school. In October, we held School Walk, and we put out an open invitation for alumni and current families to join us from wherever they are in the world. The Lizzie will open in January, and at that point we will have incredible mission-driven programs nestled together in a state-of-the-art building that has truly transformed campus.

This building is going to allow more public space for students to hang out together, work on their collaborative projects, and think interdisciplinarily, linking our incredible Center for Entrepreneurship, our Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy, and our IDEAS Lab. It will be a real intersection, right at the heart of campus, of so much that we stand for.

We’ve noticed that you and your family enjoy cheering on our Highlanders. What makes you want to share

that experience with them?

Emily and her husband, Wheeler, at home with their sons, Hezze and George

We show up at a lot of games as a whole family. It’s a great spot for the kids to be part of the community. They love it and have since we first arrived on campus. It’s a time when Wheeler gets to connect with parents and students, and it allows us just to be out and about on campus, which we love. This is an incredible place to raise a family and we have every intention of having Hezze and George grow up as Highlanders.

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PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

Hosting PBS Series Helps Gunn Students Find Common Ground

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PHOTO BY MARK LIFLANDER

H I S S U M M E R , T H E PBS-syndicated public affairs show,

“We’re going into it seeing what the “Common Ground with Jane Whitney” filmed its season possibilities are. The first year, everyone is going premiere in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. to be listening and learning and supporting each Perakos Arts and Community Center. The event marked the other,” said Bart McMann, Director of the Center beginning of an exciting new partnership that is bringing for Citizenship and Just Democracy, who, like Day, nationally recognized panelists representing a variety of viewpoints to Gunn to sees a connection between “Common Ground” respectfully discuss pressing issues, while creating new opportunities for students to and Mr. Gunn’s commitment to welcoming learn to be active, engaged citizens in the spirit of Frederick Gunn. speakers and facilitating intellectual and political Established a decade ago, “Common Ground” began as a local speaker series at discussions on campus in the 1850s, not just for St. John’s Parish Hall, just down the street from the school, and was geared toward the benefit of his students, but for the town of connecting the community to the larger world. Today, the volunteer-run program Washington. is still based in Washington, but is distributed to about 70% of PBS stations in Ehrick Rossiter, Class of 1870, noted in a the United States, allowing it to reach viewers from South Bend, Indiana, to San chapter of The Master of The Gunnery that as Francisco, and from Colombia, South Carolina, to Chicago and, as of last year, the a citizen of the town, Mr. Gunn, “introduced U.S. Virgin Islands. Moreover, what makes “Common Ground” stand out in a crowded questions of political and social import as subjects (and noisy) field is that it features civilized conversations on hot button topics that of debate, and especially encouraged discussion of reflect multiple viewpoints and humanize perspectives in an effort to help heal and current topics of the day … Under his direction the unite. It’s what program host Jane Whitney refers to as “stoking light, not heat.” society became, far more than the average of its If this sounds familiar, that’s because the program’s premise aligns closely with kind, a useful factor in developing the minds of its what The Frederick Gunn School teaches through its Center for Citizenship and members, some of whom became distinguished.”

Just Democracy. Gunn’s citizenship courses and the Civic Changemakers Project, Among them was Orville H. Platt, one of Mr. completed in the senior year, put the focus on reasoned dialogue and rational debate Gunn’s students at Washington Academy, who and learning through robust discussion and viewpoint diversity. The curriculum went on to win election to the U.S. Senate. offers students practice in what it means to be a good citizen, what it takes to Even before the production crew arrived in persuade others, and to lead, and what it takes to be an engaged group member. The August, McMann envisioned a role for students hope is that someday, students will have these skills honed to be good citizens in in the Gray Party, the bipartisan student-led their communities, their colleges, workplaces, and hometowns. organization established by Anthony Cochrane ’18, “At its core, ‘Common Ground’ is taking topics of the day a Republican, and Mark that are often hard topics to discuss in at least a civilized fashion, Choi ’18, a Democrat, There’s no other and they bring four voices — four panelists — to the stage that who sought to increase represent all sides of the conversation. I think that’s special,” civic engagement and high school in the said Doug Day, Chief Strategy Officer, who was instrumental in help students navigate country that has this kind bringing the program to Gunn. “Most news is biased to the left or the middle ground. of elective sitting right in to the right. This show wants to be different. It’s a balanced show.

Each year, new student They have these debates in a respectful manner. They let the voices leaders have emerged its backyard.” — JANE WHITNEY be heard. They’re not screaming and shouting. I think it really to carry on that work, models how we want our students to talk about hard topics.” which could involve Integrating “Common Ground” into the student experience student-led focus will help foster active, engaged citizenship and encourage group discussions in students to find ways to use their voice, listen to others, and advance an argument connection with “Common Ground.” of their own respectfully. This could be facilitated by having a group of Gunn “They’d be able to talk about and synthesize students attend a live taping, and then inviting them to join the panelists on stage their own arguments in an effort to depolarize afterward to ask questions, bringing the student perspective to the conversation. conversations, so as they move into politics in Those interactions could also be recorded for use by the school, or there could be their own towns, they are always seeking the an opportunity for a panelist to stay on to present the next day to a class or even at most common sense, common ground solutions School Meeting. to help humans in their communities thrive,” said “Just bringing these panelists into interactions with our students is a unique McMann, who encouraged students and faculty to opportunity,” Day said. “We want to find ways to have the show mean something to participate throughout the Fall Term, by joining the the student experience. Done properly, it would be a great extension of our current live studio audience or watching episodes virtually, Speaker Series.” which they are invited to do, free of charge.

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

PHOTO BY MIA FERRARA PELOSI

company that films it. “It’s a really amazing experience for me and the other interns to have,” Bolger said. “I’ve been able to see every aspect of what goes into making the show a reality.”

The season premiere, “SCOTUS: Flash Point,” showcased viewpoint diversity at its best, with a panel that included Judge J. Michael Luttig, who clerked for Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Warren E. Burger and served on the U.S. Court of Appeals; Cristina Rodríguez, a tenured professor at Yale University who clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and is Co-chair of President Biden’s Commission on the Supreme Court; Andrew Weissman, former Chief of the Fraud Section in the Department of Justice, and a legal affairs analyst for MSNBC; and Sarah Isgur, former At the October 29 taping of “Common “The hope is that it just raises the bar at school in terms of spokesperson for the Trump Justice Department Ground with Jane what students’ intellectual pursuits are. There is a desire for and a commentator for CNN and ABC. Whitney,” (left to excellence and this is one of the ways Head of School Emily In what Whitney would later call one of the right): Ryan Ryu ’25, intern Paige Jackson Gum and the senior leadership team are trying to do that,” most memorable moments of the current season, ’24, intern Bridie McMann said. “We’re introducing these students to these Luttig shared the story of how, on January 5, Bolger ’24, host difficult questions but we’re creating a learning ecosystem where 2022, he asked his son for instructions on how Jane Whitney, intern Marley Kennedy ’25, they want to engage as active citizens. Faculty are hopeful that to use Twitter. His aim? To publicly advise Vice U.S. Rep. Jahana students will not shy away from President Mike Pence that he had no Hayes, who was a panelist for “American difficult things and want to be constitutional or legal authority to Dream: Wake Up Call,” innovative and creative, helping block the certification of Joe Biden The whole Drew Delouchry ’25 our communities thrive.” as President. Luttig’s series of Tweets, and Bart McMann, component of the Director of the Center With McMann’s which almost never happened, for Citizenship and younger demographic encouragement, three Highlanders “offered Pence both legal and Just Democracy.

— Bridie Bolger ’24, Marley political cover,” as The Washington being involved in this is Kennedy ’25, and Paige Jackson ’24 — began working Post said later, and helped “to really critical, and we’re behind the scenes of the show as interns this fall. bring a nation to its senses.” And looking for ways to try Kennedy, who is co-leader of the Gray Party Luttig’s story, which hinged on a this year, said the internship has helped to further highly relatable moment between a and expand that. There’s her understanding of the issues, for example, when father and his son around the use of this symbiosis between Stanford University’s Dr. Britt Wray talked about the technology, serves as a prime example the community that effect of climate change on mental health. “It makes of how the show helps people to find connections I wouldn’t have made. It allows me to get common ground. includes Gunn and the a better understanding of the subject. It allows me to “I have to be able to orchestrate show, but it’s made be a more conscious citizen.” she said. “I look forward a conversation that appeals to incredibly stronger by to it every week.” everybody, so it can’t be too inside “Their mission is very aligned to my own values as baseball. It can’t be too intellectual. having young people a person,” said Bolger, who is also editor-in-chief of Ultimately, it all comes down to involved.” — JANE WHITNEY The Highlander News this year. “What’s important resonating on a human level. If you for people of my generation to learn is how to have a help people to see the person behind productive conversation.” the persona they don’t necessarily The students meet weekly with a production agree with — I’m not saying you’re team that includes the show’s executive producer, former New York Times reporter going to change their minds,” Whitney said, “but it Lindsey Gruson, who is Whitney’s husband; volunteers for the nonprofit organization takes the toxicity out of it.”

Conversations on the Green, which produces the show; its executive director, Laura A lot of this is driven by Whitney’s approach.

Neminski P’25; and Point Studio, the Emmy Award-winning television production “It starts with how you cast a show. We don’t

invite flamethrowers. In that respect, some people would say it’s to our detriment, because what gets attention? Mud wrestling. A car crash. But we’ve made a decision that there’s an audience for a show that features smart, committed people who actually do want to listen to each other, even if they don’t agree,” Whitney said.

“People come on to our show, and they know what they’re getting. They’re not going to be surprised. Bret Stephens, who’s passionately conservative, knows he’s not going to get sandbagged. My role is to be a facilitator. I’ve done other shows where you knew where I stood on an issue. But in this case, because we have such strong voices, it’s not about me.”

In her 25-plus years in television, Whitney has worked as a correspondent for NBC News based in Central America, as a reporter for “Entertainment Tonight,” and as host of the nationally syndicated “Jane Whitney Show” for Warner Bros. She famously does her homework on each and every guest, developing a format for each interview, which she calls “the blueprint.” But unlike other interviewers, who stick closely to the script, Whitney listens hard to the person she is interviewing, and is willing to toss aside everything she has so carefully blocked out to be able to actually have a conversation.

P A R T O F T H E A L L U R E of moving “Common Ground” to Gunn from a regional public high school nearby was having students directly involved. “Young people are challenging and they are curious and they hold you to account. They don’t edit. If they want to ask you something, they just ask it. And in some ways, that’s a more honest way of having a conversation,” said Whitney, who still remembers

what happened when a group of Gunn students attended a live taping of the show in October 2022, before the move to Gunn.

“Even from being up on stage, I could feel that energy. You can really feel that. You can feel when the audience is disinterested. You can feel when the audience is impatient. The Gunn kids came in and there was this whole different electricity that kind of crackled throughout the auditorium.

The facility (TPACC) is gorgeous, but to me the facility is nothing without being where we are with those kids,” she said.

The move was also a homecoming of sorts, allowing “Common Ground” to return to the town where it started, and the community Whitney calls “the heartbeat of the show.” At the end of each episode, Gunn gains national exposure, as she signs off: “Until we see you back here next time, from The Frederick Gunn School in ‘the other Washington’ – Washington, Connecticut – for ‘Common Ground,’ I’m Jane Whitney. Take care.”

To view episodes of “Common Ground with Jane Whitney,” visit cgjw.org.

PHOTO BY MARK LIFLANDER

“ Common Ground” panelists have included a “who’s who” of headliners and opinion molders, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Former Secretary of State John Kerry, Former CIA Director John Brennan, General Michael Hayden, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman and Maria Ressa, David Axelrod, Steve Kornacki, Joy Reid, Maya Wiley, Danny Meyer, Frank Luntz, U.S. Senator Todd Young, David Brooks, Seth Meyers, and Michael Mann (below).

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Celebrating Our The Frederick Gunn School has a long tradition of military service, dating to the Civil War. Charles Goodyear, Class of 1856, and brothers Leonard Van Cott, Class of 1858, and William Van Cott, Class of 1863, whose family brought the New York game of baseball to The Gunnery, were among those who enlisted in the Union Army. Benjamin Foulois, Class of 1893, fought in three wars, flew with Orville Wright, and became the first aviator to head the Army Air Corps, which would eventually become the U.S. Air Force.

Q:

We believe that understanding one’s core values

is essential in shaping a meaningful life. Could you

please share one of your core values and explain how it has influenced your life and career?

KAT: Community — building relationships and fostering a

sense of belonging. We can accomplish a lot as individuals, but we can accomplish so much more together. This core value is important in both our personal and professional lives, which often intertwine. What we do is less important than who we do it with. Never underestimate the power of a good team to thrive in the face of adversity.

ALEX: Honor. As cheesy as it might be for a Marine to say (our

core values are Honor, Courage and Commitment), I believe Honor to be a tangible quality, one that must be earned, guarded, and protected. I had a great career prior to joining the Marine Corps, but I knew that my own personal sense of Honor

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required that I needed to take a more active role in serving my country. My father is an immigrant, and he worked tirelessly to give my family a better life. I knew that it was my turn to make sure that people like my father still have that opportunity in future generations. More to the point — our country was at war.

Q:

Mentorship plays a crucial role in the development of our students. Was there a teacher, coach,

advisor, or house parent at Gunn who had a significant impact on your journey towards active citizenship?

JESS: One person stands out in my mind and that person was

my advisor, Chip Miller P’12 ’20. During my time in his advisor group, he played a pivotal role in shaping my understanding of the importance of loyalty. His unwavering commitment to his students, coupled with his genuine care for our well-being, left an indelible mark on me. Through his mentorship, Mr. Miller instilled in me the profound importance of loyalty, not only to your friends and peers, but also to one’s own principles and values. He exemplified this virtue in his daily interactions, fostering an environment where trust and support were paramount. Mr. Miller’s guidance and wisdom continue to serve as a constant reminder that loyalty is a cornerstone of integrity and is essential in building strong, meaningful relationships. I attribute a great amount of my success in the military to my understanding of this and my efforts to advocate for the Marines, soldiers, sailors, or airmen that might fall under my charge.

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

In honor of Veterans Day (November 11), The Frederick Gunn School would like to recognize and thank three current alumni veterans, who have chosen to serve and are living examples of active citizenship. As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering active citizenship and nurturing the values that drive it, we asked U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kat (Danziger) Lazenby ’05, U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Alex Anbarcioglu ’09, and U.S. Marine Corps Cpt. Jess Cofrancesco ’07 to share their insights and experiences.

Alumni Veterans Q:

What message would you convey to today’s

students about the meaning and importance

of being an active citizen?

ALEX: I would remind students that active citizenship doesn’t

need to wait for graduation. You’re already a member of society. Don’t wait for the changes you want in the world to magically appear. Go out and make them! At the end of the day, it’s far more rewarding than living out the scripted life that’s expected of you. Go out and be the person you want to be. At the end of your life, your regrets will weigh upon you far more than your failures.

JESS: Being an active citizen means actively participating in the democratic process, engaging with your community, and advocating for the changes you believe in. It’s about understanding that your voice and actions have the power to influence policy, drive positive social change, and ensure the

Cmdr. Kat (Danziger) Lazenby ’05

Q:

Reflecting on your own experiences, what has been the most rewarding aspect of being an

active citizen?

KAT: I get incredible self-satisfaction when my team solves a

hard problem. I love problem-solving and that is what service is about. When that solved problem benefits your community or your country, the feeling is amplified. At the end of my most recent tour at Pacific Fleet, I left thinking, “Wow, I really just made our country a bit more prepared for what may come.” And that’s pretty darn cool.

1st Lt. Alex Anbarcioglu ’09

Cpt. Jess Cofrancesco ’07

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well-being of society as a whole. By being informed, voting, volunteering, and speaking out on issues that matter to you, you not only contribute to the strength and vibrancy of your democracy, but also help address challenges like climate change, social inequality, and more. Your engagement matters, and your voice can be a catalyst for positive change.

U.S. Marine Corps

Capital Valuation Analyst, Earth Economics

Corps

security affairs, Middle East

> P latoon Commander > S ignals Intelligence/Ground Electronic Warfare Officer

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END-OF-YEAR EVENTS

COMMENCEMENT 2023 raduates Celebrated for Their School Spirit, G Kindness, and Close Friendships

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PHOTOS BY HIGHPOINT PICTURES

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H E F R E D E R I C K G U N N S C H O O L graduated 85 students, representing 18 states and 11 countries, in the Class of 2023 at its 173rd Commencement Exercises, held May 28, 2023. Friends and family traveled from across the country and around the world to celebrate the graduates, who were commended for their citizenship and the positive difference they made to our school.

Head Prefect-Elect Bea Flynn ’24 paid tribute to the graduates for their energy and school spirit, and celebrating traditions, old and new, such as bringing the Gunn flag to every Canterbury game, engaging in springtime “water wars,” and, as rising seniors, running to touch Senior Rock following Investiture in May. “I wish you all great success outside of Gunn. I know you are equipped with the tools needed to succeed, so go out there and do it with your head held high. And, most importantly, don’t become strangers to us underclassmen,” Flynn said. “Come back for games, concerts, and performances. Your spirit will always be welcomed. I’m not sure if I’m qualified to give advice, but if I did, it would be to continue to showcase what Gunn stands for: being a force for good anywhere you go.”

The Class of 2023 James Milbank Ashforth

Holli Angelina Hay

Stefano Charles Marfoglia

Audrey Elizabeth Richards

Hugo Vilbois

Sean Michael Berg

Maeren Callie Hay

William Wilde Marich

Michael Ryan

Duanduan Wang

Patrick Boucher

Quinn McBath Hedden

Michael Markowski

Maisie L. Samuels

Lemiao Wang

Vivian Margaret Boucher

Theodora Howe

Luke Christopher Martin

Lucy Amelia Sanchez

William Welburn

Alexandra Burkhart

Annabelle Lynn Hunt

Grace Catherine McManus

Maya Sellinger

Christian Leroy Wood

Georgie Eliza Charette

Graham Austin Ince

Devon Morgan

Zhaoqing “Jenny” Shen

Fritz Wülfing

Emily Rae Chiappa

Ignacio Irastorza Plantalamor Adrien Charles Morlet Sidney Ndanu Mutau Marcus Norman Jacob

Kyle “Smytty” Smyth

Lucas (Qixiang) Yin

Jaiden Hope Spence

Natalia Aerin Zappone

Seamus P. Story

Xirui Zhang

Caden Roland Coulombe

Alexander Christoffer Johnson

Nguyễn Bá Khoa Luke David Orr

Owen Daniel Sullivan

Ryan Kennedy Crowshaw

Gregory C. Kenney

Yang Pei

Siena Anastasia Taylor

Nicholas C. Danforth

Bennett Harold Lax

Zachary Yongren Peng

Dylan Thorn

Tristan Cedric Davis

Victoria Catherine Ledoux

Margaret Perrella

Paul Tollet

Erin Nicole Duffy

Aria Trotta

Taji Duncan

Anna Lauren Elizabeth Lerner Michael J. Pizzo Zejun “Tommy” Li Iñigo Pons Mateo

Juliette Malin Dutton

Joshua Yung Wah Ly

Noah Ram

Cole Edward Vantine

William Gregory Dyer

Jennifer Hannah Macler

Madeline Wakefield Reed

Cosme Vega Gonzalez-Ruiz

Lívia Embiruçu Correia Sierra Mayme Cortes

Peter James Unger

Luke Eberhart Thomas Joseph Fahey II Wenzan Fan Hunter Paulo Fonseca Jason Matthew Fritz, Jr. Michael Glaser Anna Grace Gleason Javier Gómez Lois Stefanie Grol

“ Most importantly we always — and I mean always — have each other’s backs. The people here never leave your side and support you in your good and bad times.

Our class from freshman year to now has been a collection of the kindest people you will ever meet; so please, please keep being those people, because that will bring you so far in life.” — Head Prefect , Ashleen Hay ’23

Ashleen Molly Hay

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END-OF-YEAR-EVENTS

for academic excellence and other honors were presented PRIZE Awards to students at the annual Prize Night ceremony, held on May 27, NIGHT 2023. Only a few of this year’s honorees appear on these pages.

2023 Congratulations to all of this year’s graduates and award recipients.

The Excellence in Dramatics

The Jerome F. MacCarthy

Audrey Richards ’23.

Award was presented to:

The Stray Shot Award for

Arts Award was presented to:

Joshua Ly ’23.

Excellence in Prose was presented to: Erin Whitney ’24.

The W. Russ Elgin Award for

The Anthony Golembeske

The Russell Sturgis Bartlett

presented to: Sidney Mutau ’23.

Mathematics was presented

Science was awarded to: Sarah Zhang ’24.

The Vreeland-Rogers

Athletic Awards, established in 1998 by Gerrit Vreeland ’61 and Andrew Y. Rogers, Jr. ’61, were presented to: Viv Boucher ’23 and Ryan Crowshaw ’23.

The Patrick M. Dorton ’86

Prize for Quiet Leadership,

established by Patrick M. Dorton ‘86, was awarded to: Gigi Boucher ’25.

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

Award for Excellence in

to: Hugo Vilbois ’23.

The Teddy Award, given in loving memory of Edward "Teddy" Bright Ebersol, beloved member of the Class of 2008, who died tragically on November 28, 2004, was presented to: Martha Ewing ’26 and Ewomazino Owherou ’26.

Memorial Prize for Excellence in

The John Warner Moore

Award was presented to: Will

Marich ’24.

PHOTOS BY UNIQUELY YOURS PHOTOGRAPHY

Excellence in Spanish was

THE THREE HIGHEST AWARDS AND TOP SCHOLAR

The Brinsmade Prize is

At Commencement, the school’s three highest awards were presented to students who were chosen by the entire faculty. In keeping with tradition, the final diploma of the day was awarded to the Top Scholar for the Class of 2023.

The Head of School’s Prize

awarded to that student who best combines unselfish and sympathetic interest in people with a purpose for citizenship and social responsibility. This year it was presented to Sidney Mutau ’23.

is awarded to a member of the graduating class who, by constant excellence and dependability in studies and in extracurricular activities, has contributed outstandingly to the success of the school year. The prize was awarded to Audrey Richards ’23.

The Bourne Advisory Council

The Dean’s Prize was awarded

Leadership Award was

presented to: Alex Johnson ’23 and Emily Chiappa ’23.

to: Holli Hay ’23.

The Gunn Cup is awarded to that student who, through character and achievement, shall have contributed most largely to the success of the school year.

The cup was awarded to Ashleen Hay ’23.

Emily Rae Chiappa ’23 cum laude was named Top Scholar of the Class of 2023.

The McClellan Citizenship

Prize was awarded to: Maeren Hay ’23.

The Michael Neal Eanes

PHOTOS (TOP) BY HIGHPOINT PICTURES

Award for Greatest Scholastic

Improvement, established in 1991 to honor Michael Eanes H'91 P'90 GP’20 ’23 ’25 for his 26 years at The Gunnery, was presented to: Natalia Zappone ’23.

Inducted into the Cum Laude Society, one of the highest academic honors at the

school, were Layla Copen ’24, Anna Dámosy ’24, Emma Eschweiler ’24, TJ Fahey ’23, Joshua Ly ’23, Sidney Mutau ’23, Audrey Richards ’23, and Fritz Wülfing ’23.

To view more Prize Night photos, visit our website or scan this QR code with your mobile device:

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END-OF-YEAR-EVENTS

Prize Night, Avery Clement ’25 and Amelia Martin ’25 STRAY At provided an update on the Stray Shot, recounting their SHOT yearlong search to find and protect the school’s storied Civil UPDATE War cannonball.

F

O L L O W I N G C L U E S L E F T by a group of seniors from

Gunn house, including Sean Hall ’22, Eddie Rayhill ’22, Serdar A. Kaltalioglu ’22, Hudson Brown ’22, Theo Weidinger ’22, and Paul Clement ’22, the rising juniors said they had determined the relative location of the Stray Shot by the fall of 2022. They were waiting for the right moment to claim it when they learned that students from Canterbury School might be trying to steal it.

On November 10, 2022, the eve of Canterbury Day, a band of Saints was discovered on campus after planting their school flag in Solley Dining Hall. That same day, a photo of a bowling ball in a milk crate in a dumpster surfaced on social media, celebrating what Canterbury claimed was the Stray Shot’s demise. In addition to this, Clement said, “We received an alarming message from a poorly informed and gullible Canterbury student who stated ‘We have your orb.’ First of all, I didn’t know we had an orb, and second of all, I don’t think they knew what they were referring to. Regardless of this nonsense, we took it upon ourselves to go and find said ‘orb,’ to secure its safety.”

Armed with flashlights, a headlamp, three shovels, and a milk crate, Clement and Martin, along with Savanna Cicarelli ’25, Erin Duffy ’24, Ashleen Hay ’23, Layla Copen ’24, Emily Fonte ’24, and Gordon Bennett ’24, gathered near the maintenance barn on a rainy, November night. They were aided by Sloane Walsh ’25 and Sandra Sacristán ’24, who had helped to find and decipher the clues. After Duffy had dug several large holes yielding nothing, the students enlisted help from Kaltalioglu via FaceTime. “With the help of Serdar, we were finally able to claim the Stray Shot and protect it from the poorly planned attempt of the Saints to foil our school tradition,” Clement said.

The students loaded the heavy, freshly dug cannonball into the milk crate and transported it in a minivan driven by Laura Eanes Martin ’90 P’20 ’23 ’25 to Benham House. There, they hosed it off and lugged it upstairs, into Isabel Martin’s ’20 closet, where it remained until a more secure location was found with the aid of Dean of Studies Amy Paulekas. It has since been hidden somewhere on campus and is waiting for a new group of students to claim it. But the story does not end there.

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▲ Left to right: Emily Fonte ’24, Avery Clement ’25, Savanna Cicarelli ’25, Layla Copen ’24, Gordon Bennett ’24, Amelia Martin ’25, and Erin Duffy ’24 with the cannonball they dug up November 12, 2022.

After Winter Break last year, Clement and Martin learned that a neighbor of the school had approached then-Head of School Peter Becker, claiming she, too, was in possession of a cannonball. Visiting her home, the students decided to claim the cannonball on behalf of Gunn. “Technically, we consider this to be the strayest of the Shots, the treasured Shot #4” Martin said. Although it has no known connection to the school, they have incorporated it into the history, which includes the original Stray Shot from 1959, a second cannonball introduced around 1977, and a third, 30-pound cannonball from 2002, which they believe is still at large. At Prize Night and again on the eve of Canterbury Day this November, Martin and Clement shared new clues and encouraged students to carry on the search, and a beloved tradition.

TRUSTEE NEWS

WARM WELCOME The Frederick Gunn School is pleased to announce the appointmentof a new Board member.

T I M O T H Y J A C K S O N P ’ 2 4 is the co-founder and Managing Partner

of Stormfield Capital, a privately held, SEC-registered alternative investment advisory firm. Stormfield focuses primarily on making private credit and special opportunity investments. Prior to founding Stormfield Capital, Tim was a Senior Investment Strategist with Gapstow Capital Partners, a $1 billion hedge fund-of-funds. Tim was co-portfolio manager to Gapstow’s multi-strategy credit portfolios. Prior to joining Gapstow, Tim was a Principal at Barclays Global Investors, where he was responsible for the management of a $400 million hedge fund-offunds portfolio. Previously, he had been a Partner at Rocaton Investment Advisors, where he co-led the firm’s alternative research department, which designed and advised on over $15 billion of institutional alternative asset portfolios. He began his finance career at the Northern Trust Company after serving as a Merchant Marine Officer and Lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve.

Tim holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, a bachelor’s degree in nautical science from the Maine Maritime Academy, and an MBA in finance from the University of Connecticut. He and his wife, Kerri P’24, live in Newtown with their daughter, Paige ’24.

FOND FAREWELL The Board of Trustees has expressed its admiration and gratitude on behalf of the entire Frederick Gunn School community to this Trustee for his service on the Board.

N E I L T O W N S E N D P ’ 1 8 ’ 2 0 served two terms on

the Board of Trustees. Neil was Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Alumni & Development Committee, and Co-Chair of the Head of School Search Committee. He is a Partner in the Corporate & Financial Services Department at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York, and Co-Chair of the firm’s Private Equity Practice Group. Neil has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America for his work in the area of Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law. Additionally, he is recognized by Legal 500 US (2023) as a “Leading Lawyer” for Private Equity Buyouts. He received his bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and his J.D. from Villanova University. Neil resides in Rye, New York with his wife, Elizabeth P’18 ‘20 and his three children, Will ’18, Hadley ’20, and Bobby.

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CAMPUS LIFE

CELEBRATING ANOTHER YEAR OF RECORD ENROLLMENT GENTL & HYERS

A conversation with Suzanne Day, Chief Enrollment Officer Tell us about the enrollment

results for the 2023-24 academic year. We opened the school year

with 323 students, once again setting records on many important metrics we monitor annually. Two metrics that stand out to me are that we opened the year with 46% female enrollment — our highest female enrollment in years, and a sign of great progress towards our goal of gender parity. We are seeing girls drawn to our community across the board — to sports such as ice hockey, lacrosse, and field hockey, to vocal ensemble and theater, and to our IDEAS Lab program. The second metric that stands out to me is that our acceptance rate dropped by 10 points yearover-year, continuing our trend of increasing selectivity, and signaling that our application pool was more competitive than at any time in recent memory. Beyond these metrics, we were excited to welcome a record number of new students from New York City along with many new students from Japan and Mexico, where we are investing a great deal of time in attracting new families.

At a School Meeting in March, you told students that

Gunn is a “hot school” according to prospective families and educational consultants. What prompted this

characterization? Building on my first answer, it is notable

that over the last four years, admissions interviews have grown by 50%, applications have increased by 50%, opening day enrollment has set multiple records, and all of these factors are what have allowed our acceptance rate to decline by more than 10 points in the most recent cycle. More families are looking at Gunn than at any point in the history of the school, and that is allowing us to be increasingly more selective about the students we enroll. These are all remarkable trends that my peers at other

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

schools envy, and our community of students, parents, and faculty deserve to know these trends, given that they are at the core of why so many families are interested in our school. It is truly an exciting time at Gunn.

What is behind these impressive trends? As a school, we have invested in modernizing our campus facilities, introduced new programs that align with our mission and resonate with the marketplace, and at the same time, have reimagined our enrollment and marketing efforts. The commitment to new buildings such as the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center and The Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship is showing the marketplace that our facilities are second to none — and in reality, even surpass the infrastructure of many colleges. Importantly though, we have had the foresight to understand that shiny buildings are not enough. What I mean by this is that our school had the vision to hire amazing talent to lead key programs in these new buildings. That has happened with our arts offerings in TPACC and is well underway for all of the programs that will be offered in “The Lizzie” when it opens in January.

What are the changes you are most excited to talk with

prospective families about in the coming year? The easy

answers are the opening of The Lizzie and watching prospective families get to know Emily Raudenbush Gum as our new Head of School. Emily has long connected with families in our admissions process, and now families get to hear her vision for where our school is headed. Emily is an authentic storyteller, one who naturally connects with prospective families — and most importantly, communicates a vision on the leading edge of 21st century educational pillars for high school students. Beyond these examples, I am excited to talk about the launch of our Entrepreneurship Program, the expansion of Gunn Outdoors, and our new daily schedule. Arne Rees

Cassy Cotton ’27, Maria Gilshannon ’27, and Ella Jumps ’27 on move-in day

PHOTO BY KRISTIN MOORE

We opened the year with 46% female enrollment — our highest female enrollment in years, and a sign of great progress towards our goal of gender parity.” joined the Gunn community this summer as the Director of Entrepreneurship. His background is simply incredible — he took a company public on the Nasdaq a couple of years ago, he led business development for the Bundesliga in the Americas, he taught at Columbia Business School, and he spent nearly a decade at ESPN. His vision for our program is incredibly compelling, as he will not only focus on teaching students about cash flow statements, he will also allocate time to bringing his own business partners into the classroom to interact with our students. He is committed to making our students makers, and to finding ways to amplify this mindset across our campus. Gunn Outdoors offers equally compelling updates to its program under the leadership of Dan Fladager, Director of Outdoor Programs. The introduction of our Honors in Outdoor Leadership Program offers next-level experiences in outdoor skills and leadership, while the launch of our 42|TEN

Program offers students the opportunity to develop skills and experiences they need to be independent, to thrive outdoors, and really anywhere that life takes them.

Give us your elevator pitch to describe a student after

they spend time in our community. Gunn students become

principled, active citizens and lifelong learners who will be entrepreneurial forces for good in the world. Through the integration of our classrooms, athletic fields, performances, and residential life experiences, our students are equipped to be curious, listen, take risks, show compassion, think independently, and self-advocate. Gunn students learn what it means to be a good citizen, what it takes to persuade others, and to lead. We push our students to engage with our school community so that they are equipped to do the same in college, their workplaces, and hometowns.

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FIRST LOOK

CAMPUS LIFE

The Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship Set to Open in January

A view of the atrium from the Quad.

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

opening of The Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship in January, but Gunn families had a sneak preview when they were on campus for Fall Family Weekend in October. By then, cabinetry had already been installed in the spacious, state-of-the-art chemistry, biology, and physics labs, and the finishing touches were being added to the new classrooms where students will take pre-med, environmental science, and mathematics courses.

“We are excited for our students and faculty to begin learning and collaborating in The Lizzie this winter, and we are looking forward to welcoming alumni, families, friends, and supporters to campus for the opening celebration on April 27, 2024, when we will recognize the generosity of those who made the building possible,” said Chief Development Officer Sean Brown P’22 ’27. “The Lizzie will transform the center of campus in much the same way the Thomas S. Perakos Arts & Community Center and the KovenJones Glade transformed the west side of campus. These projects, both completed since 2020, are also examples of how thoughtful investments from alumni, parents, and friends can make a significant impact in a relatively short period of time.”

The Lizzie affords stunning views of the campus in every direction, particularly from the glass-walled atrium, which overlooks the Quad. When the building is completed, the main corridor on the first floor, leading to the atrium, IDEAS Lab, and the new Center for Entrepreneurship, will feature a mural by the artist known as Vizie, whose innovative and inspired art and graffiti has taken him from Houston to Kansas City, San Francisco, Oakland, and Chicago, as well as New York. The work Vizie is creating for The Lizzie will incorporate questions focused on citizenship and innovation into his signature mural art.

PHOTO (AT LEFT) BY JIMMY GIROLAMO

F A C U L T Y A N D S T U D E N T S will celebrate the

PHOTO (ABOVE) BY JIMMY GIROLAMO

Benches in the hallways and stadium seating in the atrium were crafted using wood reclaimed from the campus when TPACC was built. Students may use the four 70-inch television screens in the atrium to enjoy movie nights, watch the live stream of an away game, or even host a Super Bowl party. Dedicated study areas on both levels are equipped with glass boards, where students can practice math or physics problems, or collaborate on projects for Entrepreneurship, IDEAS, or the Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy. A new patio, funded by The Peng Family in honor of Zachary Peng ’23, features a propanepowered fire pit overlooking the Quad. It is sure to become a prominent gathering place for students to enjoy s’mores and karaoke on Fire Pit Fridays.

“The Lizzie is the most recent example of how we’re leveraging the natural landscape of campus to create interior/exterior student and adult spaces that reflect Mr. Gunn’s founding principles and the core philosophies of our residential educational model,” Brown said. “We’re not just transforming our campus, we’re making strategic and intentional design decisions to reflect the incredible work of our faculty and students.”

▲ Above This drone photo provides a bird’s-eye view of The Lizzie, the newest building to grace the Quad since 1928, and the beautiful fall foliage surrounding campus in late October.

Left Head of School Emily Raudenbush Gum took the Prefects on a tour of the new building in November.

Fall 2023

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

When Rees introduced students in Honors Entrepreneurship Seminar to famous entrepreneurs such as Michael Jordan and Martha Stewart, he focused on what them successful, which he called their “secret sauce.”

CAMPUS LIFE

THE SELF Director of Entrepreneurship STARTER Forges a New Path

I

PHOTO (FACING PAGE) BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

f you ask Arne Rees, the school’s new Director of Entrepreneurship, about his vision for the newest keystone program at Gunn, he will tell you it comes down to one word: “self-starterism.” It’s not a term you’ll find in the dictionary (yet),

business plans to students in IDEAS Lab courses such as Advanced but one that is apropos of both the course he teaches, and his Engineering. Those students, in turn, can collaborate and help to plans to develop the school’s new Center for Entrepreneurship, an develop a product. Another collab he envisions would help Gunn integrated, interdisciplinary hub that will be housed in The Lizzie student-athletes to market their name, image, and likeness under new and Jonathan Tisch Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship.

NIL rules, in partnership with Athletic Director Mike Marich P’23 ’24.

“The way I look at it, a big part of entrepreneurship is selfstarterism, and self-starterism is not just something that benefits you in building a business,” said Rees, who brings to his role many “ I ’ M T R Y I N G T O put something together that the students really love, years of experience in venture capital and business startups. “It that they feel is interesting, that gives them a lot of information and benefits you in many, many different places in your life and, frankly, some insight about what the world really looks like,” said Rees, who it appears also in a lot of situations when you’re an employee. It’s also drew on his business experience when he taught a class in media extremely powerful as a concept. It doesn’t mean you have to create strategy and innovation as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business your own company to be a self-starter.”

School. “My career has been practical, so I’m going to try to use a lot Prior to his arrival at Gunn, Rees was a founding partner of of that knowledge and experience to make the class approachable.

Velocity Capital, a venture and growth stage investment fund, and There are some core things that they need to learn. I want them to CEO of Sportradar US, a sports technology understand what a cash flow statement is like, how company he led through an IPO on the Nasdaq. financing for a start-up works, how numbers work, From 2016-2022, he was a partner at investment because you need those. But a lot of what I want firm MSP Sports, leading investments into them to understand is about starting a business, McLaren Racing Formula One and Global the dynamics, the people.”

Football Holdings, and International Chairman of One of his next steps will be to introduce guest Bundesliga. Prior to this, he was a senior executive speakers, including Gunn alumni, and some of at ESPN, where he held various positions over his friends and business contacts, who are current a seven-year period, including Chief of Staff to or former entrepreneurs. Not only will they be ESPN President George Bodenheimer, GM of able to share their experiences, but they can offer International Digital Media, and Vice President of critiques and guidance to students as they set up International Development. Rees spent six years early-stage ventures. Through practice, students as the Head of Strategic Business Development at will learn what Mr. Gunn already knew: that I want them UEFA, helping grow the EURO and Champions entrepreneurship can be an approach to all of life. to understand League brands’ global image. All of these “I hope to be able to use examples, real-life what a cash flow experiences will help him teach Gunn students things for them to try to understand some of statement is like, how what drives effective entrepreneurship, and what these things. I’m not going to try to kill them financing for a start-up real-life challenges entrepreneurs need to overcome. with theory,” Rees said. “I want the class to be works, how numbers In addition to teaching full sections of Gunn’s interesting, hopefully a little inspiring, but work, because you need popular Honors Entrepreneurship Seminar, also realistic. There’s a lot of glorification of those. But a lot of what I Rees has ideas about how to carry the concept of entrepreneurship that doesn’t always quite live up want them to self-starterism into other academic disciplines to the reality of what a commercial venture is, and understand is about at the school. He imagines having students in I want them to understand that it’s hard, but also starting a business, the his entrepreneurship classes develop and pitch rewarding.” dynamics, the people.”

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In addition to a Director of Entrepreneurship (see page 22), and a Strength and Conditioning Coach (page 39), the community was pleased to welcome the following new faculty and staff to our campus this fall.

Aidan Braithwaite has joined the History Department faculty and is an Assistant Coach for Boys Varsity Crew. Braithwaite holds bachelor’s degrees in history and economics from Bates College, where he earned AllNESCAC Second Team honors in 2022 as the senior coxswain for the Bobcats. His boat, the first varsity eight, won a bronze medal and the Bates men’s rowing team took third place overall in the D3 points standings at the IRA National Championship Regatta in 2022.

Nick DePreter is the Associate Director

of Outdoor Programs. He is also teaching English and Pathways and coaching Ultimate Frisbee and Highlander X, a new cocurricular that combines outdoor leadership, fitness, and community service. DePreter earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in education from Truman State University. Prior to joining Gunn this fall, he taught at the The Horace Mann School in Washington, Connecticut, where his focus was outdoor education, environmental education, teambuilding and high ropes courses, and nature immersion.

Shane Gorman ’10 is the Assistant Dean

of Students for Residential Life, and is continuing in his roles as Assistant Coach for Boys Varsity Ice Hockey and Varsity Baseball.

An alumnus and former prefect, Gorman graduated from Norwich University with a bachelor’s degree in communications. Most recently, he was an insurance agent at Trager Reznitsky Insurance and prior to that, Assistant Athletic Director at Gunn.

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

Ruthie Napoleone P’27 is the new College Counseling Office Administrative Assistant and Testing Coordinator. Napoleone holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Marist College and a master’s in school counseling from Central Connecticut State University. Prior to joining Gunn, she was the Development Manager for the American Mural Project in Winsted, Connecticut.

Natalie Dest is the new Assistant Librarian in the Tisch Family Library. Dest holds a journalism degree from Central Connecticut State University, where she minored in music, and a master’s in library information science and school media from Southern Connecticut State University.

Most recently, she was the Social Media Manager and Program Assistant at The Brookfield Library in Brookfield, Connecticut.

Patrick Durning, Ph.D., has joined the History

Department faculty and is the Assistant Coach for Boys Varsity Crew and Boys JV Ice Hockey. An educator with more than 30 years of experience, he most recently taught and coached at The Ethel Walker School. He holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and physics from Duke University, and a master’s and doctorate in philosophy from Brown University.

Yin “Leo” Jiang has joined the Mathematics

Department faculty and is assisting with the fall play and winter musical. Raised in Qingdao and Shanghai, China, Jiang most recently lived in Lexington, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the Trinity-Pawling School and UCLA, where he majored in psychology with a minor in statistics.

Sara Parish has joined the Science

Department faculty and is coaching Highlander X. Parish graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Most recently, Parish lived in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and worked in healthcare.

Timothy Schatz has joined the Mathematics Department faculty and will be an advisor for Model United Nations and Assistant Coach for Girls JV Tennis. Schatz holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and philosophy from the University of Oregon and a master’s in philosophy from Boston College.

PHOTO (FACING PAGE) BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

NEW FACES ON CAMPUS

CAMPUS LIFE

NEW Director of the Center for ROLE Academic Excellence

S

A R A H H U N T P ’ 2 3 ’ 2 4 , who joined the faculty

in 2022, has taken on a new role as Director

of the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE).

In this new role, Hunt is empowering students to

acquire the skills that will allow them to be more

successful learners across all subjects. In practical terms, this includes managing a new Highlanders Advocate block in the daily schedule that gives students opportunities to ask questions about

lessons or assignments and seek 1:1 support from

teachers. Hunt also is charged with leading Winterim, the short-term, mid-year academic program that allows students to break from traditional classes

to explore the arts, history, literature, math, science and engineering as well as questions focused on citizenship, sustainability, the environment,

globalization, race, gender, and identity. Under her leadership, this year’s Winterim offerings

have been expanded to include experiential learning opportunities in Costa Rica, the Leeward Islands, the White Mountains,

and Florida. Additionally, Hunt is helping CAE to be a resource for professional

growth for faculty, helping them to stay abreast of current research, methods, and practices in their subjects, and giving them the tools to create an environment that will excite and engage every student.

CAMPUS LIFE

BE A FORCE 2023-24 GUNN SCHOLARS The Gunn Scholar Program is an endowed program that offers selected students opportunities to pursue research topics of their own choosing in the Paula and George Krimsky Archives and Special Collections. Students apply to the program at the end of junior year and complete a yearlong research project in senior year. A generous gift from the Class of 1957 has assured the annual publication of Gunn Scholar research.

Moira Conlan P’26, Director of Library and Archives (second from right), introduced this year’s Gunn Scholars at Prize Night (left to right): Emma Eschweiler ’24, Erin Whitney ’24, Anna Dámosy ’24, Sonia Romanenko ’24, Bridie Bolger ’24, and T.J. Addonizio ’24.

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

2023-24 Prefects Prefects hold the highest-elected student leadership positions at Gunn.

They pledge to uphold the four cornerstones of Mr. Gunn’s school: scholarship, integrity, respect, and responsibility.

▲ Left to right (back row): Prefects Anna Dámosy ’24, Alejandro Zafra Gutiérrez ’24, Bea Flynn ’24 (Head Prefect), Taylor Brown ’24, and Erin Whitney ’24; front row, Ty Novenstein ’24, Layla Copen ’24 and Jay Lee ’24 PHOTO (TOP) BY KRISTIN MOORE; PHOTO (LEFT) BY UNIQUELY YOURS PHOTOGRAPHY

At Investiture in May, our newly elected and appointed student leaders for the 202324 school year were introduced. In our community, we celebrate everyone who finds a way to become involved and to lead.

Gunn Society Leadership Team The Gunn Society members work to connect alumni with current students and the larger Gunn community, while also raising awareness about the importance of The 1850 Fund.

This year’s Gunn Society Leaders, left to right (back row): Sophomore Rep. Blake Baumgartner ’26, Freshman Liaison Zane Leonard ’25, Secretary Stella Zhu ’24, Communications and Social Media Marley Kennedy ’25, Junior Rep. Ryan Ryu ’25, Junior Rep. Grace Harlow ’25, New Student Liaison Carter Barry ’25, and Sophomore Rep. Ezekiel Hatcher ’26; front row, Senior Rep. Joe Shaker ’24, Co-Vice President Avery Clement ’25, Co-President Yoyo Zhang ’24, Co-President Caroline Marich ’24, Co-Vice President Poppy Kellogg ’25, and Senior Rep. Keegan Groom ’24.

You have extraordinary potential, more than you realize right now. And you have everything you need right here to be successful in the 2023-2024 school year …

I know that might be hard to believe, but there is an impact that you are going to have in the world that you can’t even imagine yet.”— HEAD OF SCHOOL EMILY RAUDENBUSH GUM, MAY 29, 2023

PHOTO (TOP) BY KRISTIN MOORE; PHOTO (RIGHT) BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

Head Tour Guides Head Tour Guides support the work of the Admissions Office, serve as ambassadors for the school, and set an example for all tour guides to follow. Our Tour Guides are often among the first people prospective students and parents meet when they visit our campus, and are the heartbeat of the Admissions Office.

Left to right: Mia Merrell ’25, Emma Eschweiler ’24, Andrew Rainville ’24, Bella Schifano ’24, Milo Corner ’24, T.J. Addonizio ’24, Bunny Borzilleri ’24, and Andrew Sawyer ’24

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CAMPUS LIFE

CITIZENSHIP IN ACTION FIVE WAYS GUNN STUDENTS ARE CHANGING THE WORLD Active civic engagement and in-depth historical research took center stage at the 2023 Rooted Research & Civic Changemakers Conference, held April 21-22 in the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. The dynamic, two-day, academic conference featured presentations by nearly 40 students, including 11 seniors, who presented their Civic Changemakers Projects.

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Hugo Vilbois ’23 Engineering Solutions to Waste Management in the Dominican Republic

Marine plastic pollution is a global problem. Of the 300 million tons of plastic produced annually, 14 million tons end up in the ocean, accounting for 80 percent of marine debris, said Vilbois, who volunteered in July 2022 with Fundación Oceano Limpio (FOL), in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

Vilbois helped FOL to clean waterways and collect ocean debris, and learned about mangroves and their role in filtering the water that flows into the ocean.

Hugo Vilbois ’23 and FOL Founder Johann Beird Vasquez cleaning up the beach in Puerto Plata

▲

The Civic Changemakers Project is a diploma requirement for all seniors that emphasizes civic action and acting on convictions.

The project represents the culmination of the school’s four-year curriculum under the Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy and may involve a range of activities, including civic mediamaking, alliance building, applied civic projects, or a meaningful and intentional service project. Here are some examples of how Gunn students are demonstrating citizenship in action, and changing the world.

▲ These six seniors were among the presenters at the 2023 Rooted Research & Civic Changemakers Conference in May.

Viv Boucher ’23 Internship at Saint Mary’s Hospital

▲ Audrey Richards ’23 performing at Prize Night.

Audrey RIchards ’23

PHOTO (TOP LEFT) BY UNIQUELY YOURS PHOTOGRAPHY; PHOTO (TOP RIGHT) PHOTO COURTESY OF SAINT MARY’S HOSPITAL

Musical Therapy at Noble Horizons

Once a week during the school year, Richards visited the Noble Horizons senior living community in Salisbury, Connecticut, where she shared her love of music with residents, including her grandmother. The response to her vocal performances was exceedingly positive. “My grandma has late Alzheimer’s, yet she still remembers songs whenever we sing them with her. I feel as though giving them the opportunity to remember something like music could be monumental towards their happiness,” she said. “Music gives people the opportunity to be entertained and step away from whatever is happening in their lives.”

Over the course of two summers and on breaks from school, Boucher assisted patients and staff as a volunteer at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut. She worked on a surgical floor, in the MS infusion center, and in the emergency room. “I believe that working in medicine is my vocation in life,” said Boucher, who also participated in a medical immersion trip to Belize during Winterim in 2022. “Caring and providing for others is a rewarding feeling. I am simply happy to help the medical staff and patients in any way that I can.”

Sonia Romanenko ’24 Educating Ukrainian Youth

In 2021, Romanenko started the first book club for teens in her hometown in Ukraine. Other projects followed, including an international project about Ukrainian literature and culture. This summer, she started a speaking club for Ukrainian students, enlisting friends from Gunn to help. “Our team holds meetings every Sunday to discuss various topics from dreams and Barbie vs.

Oppenheimer to the Black Lives Matter movement and education abroad,” said Romanenko, who had involved about 100 Ukrainian teens by mid-August.

“My goal is to create an opportunity for cultural exchange for everyone who is open to new experiences.”

Livia Correia ’23

English Tutoring for Young Brazilians

Only five percent of the population in Brazil speaks English, yet 75 percent believe that speaking English is important to their professional development, said Correia. She also noted that 71 percent of the job postings that require a foreign language skill are looking for English proficiency. Correia tutored an elementary school student from Brazil in English via Zoom, teaching him vocabulary words and verb tenses, often incorporating his love of soccer!

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CAMPUS LIFE

A PLACE OF LIGHT AND LOVE DEBORAH DOODY RETIRES AFTER 22 YEARS AT GUNN

A beloved member of the Gunn community, Doody touched the lives of generations of students, faculty and staff. Her door was always open, and she made her little corner of our campus a place of light and love.

Doody first came to Gunn in the spring of 2001, after answering a blind ad in the newspaper. “I saw this ad for a store manager, so I applied. It was through an agency. They brought me in for an interview here at the school,” she said, recalling that she met with Bob Ullram P’96 ’99, who was the Business Manager at the time, and Robyn Giordano, Associate Business Manager. “On the drive back from the school, my phone rang. It was the agency saying they wanted to hire me.”

D U R I N G H E R T E N U R E , Doody worked for two Heads of School and

three Business Managers/CFOs, and managed the School Store’s move from the basement of Brinsmade to its current location on the lower level of Solley Dining Hall, as part of a major renovation begun in 2000. One of her most vivid memories from her time in Brinsmade was from her first fall at Gunn. The date was September 11, 2001.

“There was a pay phone across from the window in the School Store. We didn’t have cell phones. And when the towers got hit, there was a line of hysterical kids at that pay phone, trying to call home. A lot of them had relatives or parents who worked in the World Trade Center, or worked in the area. I’ll never forget that.

They couldn’t get through, because the lines were dead. So I tried to comfort them,” she said, reflecting: “It was a bad day. But the miracle of that day was, for the kids who were part of the school that year, nobody lost anybody. Parents got stuck in traffic. Somebody was sick. They had a meeting somewhere else, or they just didn’t go to work that day. There were so many stories of that happening, which was really crazy. That was my first year.”

From the beginning, Doody sought to make a difference through her daily interactions with students and faculty, whether they had just arrived on campus or were stopping by to pick up their mail, retrieve a package, or make a purchase at the School Store. “When I

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first came, I had just become new to my faith. I did a lot of praying.

I really felt that God was bringing me here for a purpose, and that purpose was to love people, and to pray for people, and nurture people. You want to make a difference. You want to leave a good legacy, and you want to know that your life was purposeful,” she said.

She has been described as a consistent presence, someone students and adults could count on to listen, offer advice, and brighten their day. “A lot of them would come stressing about their grades and their tests that were coming up. I would tell them, ‘You don’t have to be like anybody else. You just have to be you, and as long as you do your best, that’s what counts.’”

Her impact was reflected in the cards she received from students upon their graduation from Gunn, and in the faces of alumni, who returned to the School Store on Alumni Weekend to say hello, and look at the collages she created using photos she clipped from the pages of the Bulletin. “I’ve been doing that for a very long time, at least 15 years. All these people were coming back. They would look at the collages, to see if they could find themselves.”

Outside of the School Store, Doody could often be seen on the sidelines, cheering for Gunn. In June, she donated to the Paula and George Krimsky Archives and Special Collections a basketball from the 2009-2010 team and a soccer ball that was a gift from the 2001 boys varsity team. “They all signed it and presented it to me, because I had gone to all of their games. And then for baseball, every time they won the championship, they gave me one of the championship shirts, because I was always there.”

T H I S S U M M E R , she and her husband, Brian, who still coaches Thirds

Boys Soccer, JV Girls Basketball, and JV Boys Tennis at Gunn, celebrated the weddings of both of their sons, Mark and Ryan. In her retirement, Doody plans to spend more time with her family, including a sister who lives in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, and another in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and will dedicate more time to her church. She takes with her many fond memories of her years at Gunn, which were reflected in the cards and emails she received, and the pages of a retirement book, which was a gift from the school.

When she reads the messages from current and former students, parents, and faculty, she said: “I realize that I did make an impact, a good, positive, impact. That was always what I wanted. It was always about being a positive influence. That was my purpose here.”

PHOTO (FACING PAGE) BY PHIL DUTTON '81, P'23

On July 1, 2023, Deborah Doody retired from The Frederick Gunn School, after managing the School Store for more than two decades.

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

Deborah Doody in the School Store on Alumni Weekend in June

You are such a light. Thank you for your service to the school and this community!" — DANA ROSS ’17

GUNN ARTS

SPRING CONCERT 2023

Lovely Day

from that decade by Bill Withers, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond, and Kansas. Some pre-70s hits by Henry Mancini, The Beatles, George and Ira Gershwin, and J.S. Bach were sprinkled in as well.

One of the concert highlights was a performance of “Sunrise,” an original composition for string orchestra and piano, written and arranged by Ron Castonguay P’27, Director of the Arts and Music Director, in memory of Noah Ram ’23. Ram died tragically in a car accident in August 2022, just before he was to begin his senior year at Gunn. A gifted musician, he played piano and eight other instruments: electric, acoustic, and bass guitars, upright bass, trumpet, French horn, melodica, and saxophone. A beloved member of the Gunn community, Ram was remembered by students and faculty throughout the school year through art and music. The 2023 Red and Gray was also dedicated to Ram, 32

The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

and at Commencement, then-Incoming Head of School Emily Raudenbush Gum read his name alongside that of his classmates, and he received a standing ovation.

This summer, “Sunrise” was recorded at a private music studio in Roxbury, Connecticut. Produced by Mark Wager and conducted by Castonguay, the recording featured another talented Gunn musician, Juliet Denman ’24, LISTEN TO playing second violin alongside Krystyana “SUNRISE:” Czeiner, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and composer, on viola, and two members of the Gunn adjunct music faculty, Sarah Fay, on piano, and James Czeiner, who is also a Grammy Awardwinning musician, on first violin.

PHOTOS BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

In April, the Gunn Music Program presented its annual spring concert, featuring String Ensemble, Vocal Ensemble, and Jazz Band with special guests. Titled “Lovely Day,” the concert’s theme was inspired by music of the 1970s with a repertoire that featured songs

A

A TRIBUTE TO NOAH RAM ’23 t the concert, Castonguay presented four music program awards, including a new award in memory of Ram, who

touched the hearts of many through his extraordinary musical abilities. This award will be presented annually to a student who demonstrates exceptional musicianship, abilities on multiple instruments, and passion in the field of music, qualities which Ram exemplified. The inaugural Noah Ram ‘23 Award for Excellence in Instrumental Music was presented to Liv Correia ’23. Correia plays both guitar and violin. “She began playing violin at the beginning of her junior year. She practiced diligently, took lessons with adjunct music faculty member James Czeiner, and has come farther on this difficult instrument than most students I have heard in my 30 years as a music educator,” Castonguay said, noting that for her debut chamber concert performance on violin in 2022, Correia was

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

accompanied on piano by Ram.

Ron Castonguay P’27, Director of the Arts and Music Director, with the recipients of the 2023 Music Program Awards (left to right): Sierra Cortes ’23, National School Choral Award, Liv Correia ’23, the Noah Ram ’23 Award for Excellence in Instrumental Music, Aria Trotta ’23, National School Orchestra Award, and Joshua Ly ’23, the Louis Armstrong Jazz Band Award.

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GUNN ARTS

T

H E F R E D E R I C K G U N N S C H O O L Theatre Program

brought home two Halo Awards — including Best Contemporary Play — for its production of Jaclyn Backhaus’ wildly funny and rollicking play, Men On Boats. The award for Best Special Effects went to Highlanders Joshua Ly ’23 and Katherine Aguirre-Felipe ’26 for Men On Boats.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Halo Awards, which are presented by Seven Angels Theatre and celebrate the best in Connecticut high school theatre. The awards were presented May 30 at Connecticut’s historic Palace Theatre in Waterbury.

Gunn Theatre received a combined 15 Halo Award nominations this year, including Best Performance by a Cast in an Ensemble Production, Best Contemporary Musical, and The Fearless Award, for two productions: Men On Boats, presented in November 2022, and the winter musical, Head Over Heels, which combined a 16th century romance with music and lyrics by The GoGos.

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

In preparation for their roles, the cast of Men on Boats worked with Tracy Liz Miller, a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, as a Movement Consultant, and practiced their rowing skills on the Shepaug River in Washington. They also participated in a workshop led by artist-in-residence Lisa Wolpe, an expert on gender-flipping Shakespeare as well as an actress, director, teacher, writer, traveler, and distinguished scholar.

“This story of exploration down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869, taken from John Wesley Powell’s journals, allows us to lean into and question history and ask: Who gets to share that history? Whose stories were untold or erased? Why does that serve us as a society?” Kent Burnham, Director of Theatre Arts, wrote in his director’s note for Men On Boats. “If we are more curious, inquisitive, and questioning, we could create room for new history, new stories, and new heroes.”

PHOTO BY REBECCA CREDIT TOTOCCI GO HERE

IN Halo Award for Best THEATRE Contemporary Play

IN THE A Day In GALLERY The Life

PHOTO BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

S

C H O O L O P E N E D I N September with a new exhibit of student work in the Perakos Family Cares Art Gallery.

“A Day in the Life of The Frederick Gunn School” featured photos of school life taken last spring by students in Lincoln Turner’s Digital Photography class. The exhibit was the first of five shows Turner is planning this academic year in his new role as the school’s Gallerist.

“Certainly the passion behind it comes from just loving art, but also wanting to have visiting artists come to campus so students will be exposed to work that is local, national, and potentially international,” said Turner, a member of the Visual Arts faculty and an accomplished photographer specializing in 19th century printing processes.

A second exhibit, “Waterfronts and Woodcuts,” opened October 2, featuring work by Don Gorvett, a Boston-born artist acclaimed for his hand-pulled color reduction woodcuts recording maritime subjects. Gorvett’s studio overlooks historic Gloucester Harbor in Massachusetts, and his eponymous gallery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is now in its 17th year. His woodcuts are in the permanent collections at public and private institutions such as the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, the Currier Museum of Art, the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and the Museum of Fine Art, Boston.

The Perakos Family Cares Art Gallery was established by Thomas Perakos ’69 and his family, and the Class of 1969, in celebration of their 50th reunion, to honor their beloved teacher and coach, Wallace H. Rowe III H’57 P’77 ’79.

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GUNN ATHLETICS

G

I R L S V A R S I T Y L A C R O S S E Head Coach Rachel Hedden wasn’t born with a stick in her hand, but she may as well have been. A three-sport athlete, she considered herself a soccer player first, and a lacrosse player second in high school. All of that changed in her sophomore year, when Hedden’s lacrosse coach encouraged her to believe in herself as an athlete. At Gunn, she is paying that forward by creating a winning culture for girls lacrosse.

“I had a mentor when I was in high school, local lacrosse legend Dee Stephan, who changed the trajectory of my life. I attribute a lot of my personal character growth to her, and I try to replicate that experience with the girls who are on my team at Gunn. Toward the end of my second lacrosse season, Dee handed me a letter. All it said was, ‘You are not just a soccer player playing lacrosse. You are now a lacrosse player.’ That’s something I reiterate with my players who may not identify as ‘lacrosse first’ athletes. It helps them to see themselves on the lacrosse field in a way that allows them to command the game,” Hedden said.

Since joining Gunn in 2021 as Assistant Director of Admissions and Head Coach for Girls Lacrosse, the former

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

U.S. Lacrosse All-American and Division I women’s lacrosse player has simultaneously elevated the girls lacrosse program and helped to attract more female students to the school overall.

She is accumulating more wins for the Girls Varsity Lacrosse Team, and helping to create more opportunities for girls to play lacrosse. Her first spring at Gunn, more than 40 student-athletes turned out for girls lacrosse, which led to the establishment of the first Girls JV Lacrosse Team in recent school history.

“My first year we had above a 50-percent winning average.

Last year, we just came shy of that, but we also added tougher competition,” Hedden said, pointing to the team’s 12-2 win over Pomfret as a highlight of the 2023 spring season. “We came in as the underdog, which is a position I like to be in. It gives you a chance to make stuff happen.”

As a coach, she works with student-athletes who have a good blend of experiences. The vast majority are dual- if not triplesport athletes, who contribute to the community in every season, and with whom Hedden can relate based on her experience.

“At this age, the team culture is so critical. I have been on teams where the culture has been healthy, and I’ve been

PHOTOS BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

FROM THE Creating a Winning Culture SIDELINES for Girls Lacrosse

THREE HIGHLANDERS PLAY IN ALL-AMERICA LACROSSE TOURNAMENT Three members of the Boys Varsity Lacrosse team were selected to play in the 2023 New

Balance All-America Underclass Tournament, held July 27-30 in Maryland. Now in its 18th

year, the All-America Underclass Tournament is the most prestigious high school tournament of the summer.

This year’s event featured teams for each

gender in 12 different regions and expanded competition across three divisions — the

Command Division, the Highlight Division and

the newly minted Burn Division. The Command Division showcased student-athletes

graduating high school in 2026 and 2027, the Burn Division featured players graduating in

2025, and the Highlight Division featured this

on teams where the culture has been toxic, so I know the difference. The real work happens off the field where we work towards our goal of creating a culture where everyone plays hard for the teammate next to them, for me, and for themselves,” she said, attributing some of her success as a coach to being present in the lives of her team members as a house parent and advisor. “I know the girls as “ At this age, the athletes, as students, as people. I know their team culture is so parents, their siblings, what their values are, critical ... The real and ultimately, that helps me to be the coach work happens off that they need me to be, and to help get the field where we them to the next level, if they so choose.” work towards our It takes speed, dedication, hustle, a desire goal of creating a to learn, and a desire to improve to become culture where a good lacrosse player, and as with so many everyone plays sports, it’s also a mental game. “It is a highly hard for the strategic game. It is a game of finesse and teammate next to power, and ultimately, teamwork. There are them, for me, and actually more parallels between women’s for themselves.” lacrosse and basketball than there are between women’s and men’s lacrosse,” Hedden said.

“It requires a high game IQ to play at the highest level. So you really are a student of the game, which aligns well with our school motto, ‘A good person is always learning.’ I’m constantly learning about the game,” she said. “I am a total lacrosse geek, and I want my kids to do the same.”

year’s graduates, in the Class of 2024.

Gunn was represented by Dom Nicholas ’24

and Andrew Rainville ’24, who were named to

the CONNY Highlight Team, and Owen Laatch ’25, who was named to the Southwest Burn Team. The Highlanders were among more

than 5,500 players who tried out nationwide for this year’s tournament, according to Corrigan Sports Lacrosse.

Andrew Rainville ’24 playing for Gunn in a game against Williston Northampton in April

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GUNN ATHLETICS

SPRING Highlanders Earn 2023 All-League Honors Sixteen Highlanders earned all-league and individual league honors for their performance in varsity baseball, lacrosse, and tennis during the Spring Term. Congratulations to the following student-athletes, who were recognized by the New England Preparatory School Athletic League (NEPSAC), Western New England Secondary School Lacrosse Association (WNESSLA), U.S.A. Lacrosse, and the Western New England Prep School Baseball League (WNEPSBL).

ALL-NEPSAC

WNESSLA First Team All-League

Maya Sellinger ’23, Midfield, Class C Girls Lacrosse

Will Marich ’23, Defense Dom Nicholas ’24, Defense, Long Stick Midfield Owen Laatsch ’25, Midfield

Viv Boucher ’23, Attack, Midfield, Class C Girls Lacrosse Layla Copen ’24, Class C/D Girls Tennis Michael Copen ’26, Class B Boys Tennis Andrew Rainville ’24, Attack, Class C Boys Lacrosse Leo Vitarelli ’25, RHP, Class B Baseball

All-WNEPBL First Team Selections T.J. Addonizio ’24, Third Baseman Will Bartoli ’25, Catcher Leo Vitarelli ’25, RHP

Luke Calabria ’25

Layla Copen ’24

Michael Copen ’26

Leo Vitarelli ’25

Owen Laatsch ’25

Miles Perez ’25

Mike Pizzo ’23

WNESSLA Honorable Mention All League Seamus Story ’23, Long Stick Midfield, Defense Christian Wood ’23, Defensive Midfielder Mike Pizzo ’23, Attackman Luke Calabria ’25, Midfield

U.S. Lacrosse Academic All-American Will Marich ’23, Defense

All-WNEPBL Second Team Selections Trey LaMay ’25, RHP, Infield Miles Perez ’25, Middle Infield

Maya Sellinger ’23 38

The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

PHOTOS BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

ALL-NEPSAC Honorable Mention

Will Bartoli ’25

T.J. Addonizio ’24

Dom Nicholas ’24

Andrew Rainville ’24

Seamus Story ’23

MEET OUR STRENGTH & CONDITION COACH Josh Bannon

is working with

student-athletes and teams as Gunn’s new

Christian Wood ’23

Viv Boucher ’23

Trey LaMay ’25

Strength & Conditioning Coach.

Specifically, he provides training in plyometrics, agility, and building strength while helping students to improve performance, use

proper form, and reduce the risk

of injury. This winter, he will assist

the X-Term co-curricular program.

Bannon holds a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Westfield State University and a master’s in exercise and nutrition from

Sacred Heart University. Prior to PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

joining Gunn, he held similar roles

at Trinity College, Avon Old Farms,

and Williston Northampton School, and he was a a fitness instructor and athletic trainer through Canyon

Will Marich ’23

Ranch in Lenox,

Massachusetts.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

The History of

The Athletics ACCORDING TO MARK RHOADS ̕04, the school had a second baseball field “in front of the Mayflower.”

This 1892 photograph from a Stray Shot Supplement, published in 1902 by The Gunnery Association, shows that field with farmland and rolling hills behind it.

As the school begins to reimagine the east side of campus, where Gunn students have played baseball, football, tennis, basketball, hockey, and other sports for more than a century, Head of School Emily Raudenbush Gum asked us to look into the Paula and George Krimsky Archives and Special Collections to learn more about the history of our athletic fields.

Highlanders know well Seth C. Landon’s 1869 photograph of a baseball game in progress on Washington Green. Gunn was among the first schools to play baseball against local teams (as early as 1859, according to Gunn Scholar Mark Rhoads ’04), and Frederick Gunn was not only an enthusiastic promoter but a participant. However, in 1881 the First Ecclesiastical Society of Washington passed a resolution that essentially banned baseball on the Green, deeming it “destructive” to the grounds, and a “danger to the traveling public.”

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

For the next few years, Gunn baseball was played on a building lot one quarter mile from the Green, owned by Edwin H. and Katherine Mairs of New York. “Mr. Gunn remarked that the ball-ground might not be of the best, but that at any rate the spectators would have a beautiful view,” Adam Korpalski wrote in The Gunnery 1850-1975: A Documentary History of Private Education in America.

Land records indicate that Mr. Gunn purchased eight acres on the east side of Route 47 in May 1848, when he was still living in Towanda, Pennsylvania. This was just a month after he married Abigail Brinsmade, and less than two years before they opened the school, which would indicate they were already planning for his return to Washington.

Fields THE SCHOOL’S FIRST gymnasium was built in the summer of 1881 on the east side of campus, possibly while Mr. Gunn was still alive. After he became the second Head of School, John C. Brinsmade purchased another 12 acres on the east side of the highway, beginning in 1884. This “meadow, situated directly across the street from the Gunnery … has since been the play-ground of the school,” Korpalski wrote. More than a century later, in 1989, the field was rebuilt and dedicated in memory of Samuel Jackson Underhill ’35 by his family, friends of the school, and alumni from the classes of 1934, 1935, and 1936.

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“THE GUNNERY GAME of Foot-Ball,” published in the Stray Shot in 1888, recalled that football had been played at the school as early as 1858, and games were held on the Green. Football was also played informally on the east side of campus, succeeding baseball “as the weather compels,” the Stray Shot said in 1884.

Gunn students played “the town fellows” and the season sometimes ran through Christmas. The first intramural team (above) was organized in 1892.

IN JUNE 1884, members of The Athletic Association organized “Field Sports,” which included the hundred yard dash, pole vaulting, the “hitch-and-kick” or standing high jump, the shot, for which an eight-pound dumb bell was used that year, and the “hundred yard hurdle race,” according to the Stray Shot.

BARNES FIELD WAS dedicated in 1928 in honor of Richard Storrs Barnes, who was a student of Mr. Gunn in 1867 and 1868. The field was built through a generous gift from Barnes’ father-in-law, Alfred S. Bourne, along with four tennis courts, the bleachers, and Barnes Field House. A bronze plaque in honor of Barnes stands at the base of the bleachers. Wersebe Memorial Field was acquired by the school in 1969 from neighbors Helen Wersebe and Irma Wersebe Buxton Field, who lived in Wersebe House, now a faculty home (in the background at right). The field was dedicated in honor of their brother, Edward Ireland Wersebe, Class of 1932.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

From The Biography of Frederick Gunn I N 2 0 2 2 , T H E school reprinted The Master of The Gunnery

in a new paperback edition under the title, The Biography of Frederick Gunn. What follows is an excerpt from the chapter, “Gunnery Sports,” written by Clarence Deming, Class of 1866, who went on to play football and baseball at Yale, and became a journalist for the New York Evening Post.

Deming recalled what it was like to play baseball on Washington Green. The Gunnery nine truly had the home team advantage on this unique ballfield. The store referenced below was built in 1773 and is today a faculty home located at 10 Kirby Road. Mr. Beecher is Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman, activist, past parent, and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe.

THE TENNIS ASSOCIATION was organized In April 1887. There were four tennis courts on the west side of campus at this time, including one between the Schoolhouse and Mr. Van Ingen’s (now Bourne Hall), according to the Stray Shot. This photo is of the tennis team in 1932.

STUDENT INTEREST IN ice hockey was expressed as early as 1900. In 1904, the Stray Shot reported: “a place for a hockey rink has been chosen, at the eastern end of the ball field, which is being made ready for flooding at the approach of cold weather.” The school was not able to formally organize a hockey team until 1905 (above), when the first game was played against Taft. A hockey rink was built at Mayflower pond in 1923, aided by the construction of a dam that students helped to build. In subsequent years, the school flooded the tennis courts for hockey, and the sport was played on local ponds prior to 1965, when an open-air rink was built at the far end of Barnes Field (where Linen Rink is today).

“Many were the curious incidents, most of them forgotten, that from time to time gave spice to the game during its long popularity at the Gunnery, where it is still played as a systematic sport. Once in a match game, when the bases were full, a fair right-field ball was hit through the store window, and after making a lively circuit through the Yankee notions on the shelves, ended its erratic trip under a large iron safe, whence it was not dislodged for half an hour. Occasionally the ball caught in the forks of the lofty maples, and once it lodged in the church belfry. Several times in the writer’s memory it entered the church windows, compelling a long and sacrilegious hunt under the pew seats. A very funny episode once took place at a game organized among the young ladies of the village, who in those days wore hoop skirts of ample circumference, which acted as a sort of drag-net, entangling anything caught in their intricate meshes. A fair player struck a ball at the home-plate which, as she started to run, bounded into her skirts, all unobserved by her, and caught there. ‘Run, run!’ cried the spectators, and she flew around the bases, making a clean home-run before the ball dropped and rolled on the ground, to the uproarious delight of the lookers-on, including Mr. Beecher, whose keen enjoyment of the episode is recalled by many of us, and who promptly christened the little maid the ‘Belle of the Ball-ground.’”

Order your copy of The Biography of Frederick Gunn online at frederickgunnbookstore.com.

Fall 2023

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SUPPORTING THE FREDERICK GUNN SCHOOL

Continuing our Momentum

A

KRISTIN MOORE

L E A D E R S H I P T R A N S I T I O N is a funny Event attendance is up across the board, including a record thing. Of course, an organization’s leader number of revelers for last year’s Alumni Weekend, which will inevitably have a last day on the job. highlighted classes with graduating years ending in 3 and 8 but In most cases, there is time to plan for that was attended in droves by classes (like the Class of 2016!), who transition, and when that’s the case, there are essentially only were not celebrating a milestone reunion. two ways the leader can leave: too soon or not soon enough.

And of course, I’d be remiss if not to highlight a fifth Then there’s the back half of the transition, when a new leader consecutive record-breaking year for The 1850 Fund. With the emerges who has to integrate with the community and its exception of 2017, we’ve never had more donors in a single year culture, decide whether to change direction or stay the course, than the 1,352 people who supported the fund last year. Whether and get the team(s) to buy in. you were one of the 362 people who gave for the first time, the We can all agree that Peter Becker’s departure came sooner 565 people who gave for at least the third consecutive year, or than we’d hoped. But frankly, that is far better than the anywhere in between, we are grateful for your generosity and alternative. Over the last several years, the school has seen commitment to the school’s strategic goals and objectives! unprecedented success in various categories.

And while Peter has moved on, the team that “ Communications traffic between the Alumni & Development built the foundation for that success remains Office and our alumni is at an all-time high; people are in place and focused on continuing our proactively reaching out to find ways to engage with the momentum. school and each other in record numbers (particularly among As a bonus, a global search for his successor a very active young alumni group).” yielded a leader already on campus. As Emily Raudenbush Gum begins her tenure as the 12th Head of School, she does so after working in tandem with Peter In summary, your school is in good hands. Only with and the leadership team for five years. And she is committed to continued investment and engagement from our alumni, pushing forward the strategic priorities we established as part of parents, and friends will we ensure continued growth and the school’s 2020 relaunch. momentum. If you’ve been connected and involved, keep doing While the Board of Trustees, the Head of School Search what you are doing; if you’ve been watching from the outside Committee, and the transition team orchestrated an incredibly and looking for an opportunity to engage, reach out to someone successful leadership transition, and, on a day-to-day basis very in the Alumni & Development Office; and if you’ve been little should change for our external constituencies, a transition disconnected, now is a great time to visit campus, attend an is a great time to take stock of your relationship with any event, and step up for your school. organization. To the extent that alumni, parents, friends, and prospective families have been evaluating their connection to The Frederick Gunn School, early trends are all positive.

Onward, Anecdotally, communications traffic between the Alumni & Development Office and our alumni is at an all-time high; people are proactively reaching out to find ways to engage with the school and each other in record numbers (particularly among a very active young alumni group). And we’ve never seen more active engagement among our current Sean Brown P’22 ’27 parent volunteers.

Chief Development Officer

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

The 1850 Fund By The Numbers July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023

$1,802,902 70% GIVEN

47 STATES, DC, US VIRGIN ISLANDS & 18 COUNTRIES

362 First-Time Donors

1963

2014

Highest Class Participation

Highest Class Participation (Young Alumni)

1968

2013

Largest Class 2012Gift

Largest Class Gift 2012 (Young Alumni)

ONLINE & VENMO

1,352 565

DONORS

7%

167

18%

88%

9%

FOUNDERS SOCIETY DONORS GAVE

OF TOTAL DOLLARS RAISED

Donors

have given 3+ consecutive years

65% % OF DOLLARS RAISED ALUMNI PARENTS OF ALUMNI CURRENT PARENTS FACULTY & STUDENTS FRIENDS

Fall 2023

45

ALUMNI EVENTS

The Founders Society Annual Dinner

A

leadership support ensures that we have the unrestricted resources available to address the school’s most pressing needs,” Dorton said, adding: “This is a celebration of you, your generosity, and the impact you make on our community.”

Gunn Society Co-President Grace McManus ’23 echoed those sentiments in her remarks: “Everyone here has contributed to my Gunn experience, whether directly or indirectly. It means so much that your care and compassion for this school have touched so many lives. The past four years I have had here have been truly memorable. They have been filled with love and joy, and for those moments I cannot thank you enough. I have learned so much, as this place shapes you into the best version of yourself, but the one thing that has been most meaningful to me is the importance of finding a community,” she said. “Gunn has given me the people that I call home.”

Gunn Society Co-President Aria Trotta ’23 also spoke about the impact of her four years as a student, and her journey as coxswain for the Boys Varsity Crew Team. “I found myself leading the boy’s Everyone here has contributed first boat to the Head of The Charles Regatta to my Gunn experience, in Boston, which is one of the biggest crew whether directly or indirectly. races that is hosted in the world — and I had It means so much that your care and a blast. After experiencing a full four years compassion for this school have of this sport, I realized that being a coxswain touched so many lives. The past four has helped me develop responsibility, years I have had here have been truly confidence, patience, and a powerful skill memorable.” — Gunn Society Co-President in communication, while also being able to Grace McManus ’23 build friendships with my time spent out on the water,” she said. “I believe that taking a risk to try something new is extremely important in getting to years qualify for membership in The Founders Society with know yourself and growing your character. I hope to continue a minimum annual gift of $925. Donors to The Founders this mindset even after graduating from Gunn, so that I can Society ensure that The Frederick Gunn School has the critical become a force for good in the world.” resources to boldly fulfill its mission.

Board Chair Patrick Dorton ’86 thanked Peter and Amy Julia Becker for their steadfast leadership over the past decade.

If you are interested in becoming a Founders “Of course, in that time we’ve also seen — thanks to all of Society member, please visit our website or scan this QR code with your mobile device: you — incredible growth in our annual fund. Your annual L U M N I , P A R E N T S , A N D F R I E N D S who

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

PHOTOS BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

contributed leadership gifts to The 1850 Fund were invited to attend the celebratory Founders Society Annual Dinner on April 21, 2023. The festive event took place beneath a tent on the grounds of Conroy House. Guests were welcomed by then-Head of School Peter Becker and had an opportunity to hear from then-Incoming Head of School Emily Raudenbush Gum, who expressed her gratitude for the school’s most loyal and generous annual fund donors, and her interest in establishing relationships with all members of our community as our 12th Head of School. Each member of the Founders Society also received a custom Gunn Pine candle, hand poured by English teacher Kori Rimany ’14, owner of The English Teacher Candle Co., as a special gift.

The Founders Society recognizes all alumni and parent leadership donors who give $1,850 or above to The 1850 Fund annually. Young alumni who graduated in the last 15

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

Alumni from classes ending in 3 and 8 celebrated milestone reunions, and the Class of 1973 led the way in attendance, with 19 alumni returning to celebrate their 50th reunion. The great Class of 1968 celebrated its 55th reunion with 11 alumni in attendance.

Additionally, 14 alumni returned from one class not even celebrating a major milestone this year — the Class of 2016. Bruce Bradshaw ’51 was celebrated as the oldest alumnus in attendance, and Wasan Kiangsiri ’83 as the alumnus who traveled the farthest, over 8,500 miles from Bangkok.

Transformational Change in Progress While enjoying their time together, alumni were able to view transformational changes taking place on campus, including the addition of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center (TPACC), and the new Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship. While still under construction in June, “The Lizzie,” as it is affectionately known, was established through a $25 million gift from Lizzie

and Jonathan Tisch ’72, the largest philanthropic commitment in the history of the school. The 24,000-square-foot academic building will house the school’s science, math, engineering, technology, entrepreneurship, and citizenship programs beginning in January 2024.

Friday’s festivities included the annual Alumni Golf Outing at Washington Golf Course and the Red and Gray Soiree in the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center, which featured a cocktail reception, live music by The Dilemma Band, and dinner from

PHOTOS BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

More than 200 alumni and friends made the trip “home” June 9-11, 2023 to celebrate Alumni Weekend.

Alumni traveled from as far as Thailand, Hawaii, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Florida, Canada, and some from just down the street in Washington.

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

A Time to Celebrate Connections With the School and Each Other

ALUMNI WEEKEND 2023

ALUMNI EVENTS

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the Big Green Pizza Truck and Smokin’ Lane’s BBQ. The Lights of Gunn honored Gunn classmates, friends, family members, teachers and coaches with the lighting luminarias at sunset.

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

Annual Alumni Association Meeting On Saturday, the annual Parade of Alumni stepped off from the Quad and concluded at TPACC, where the Annual Alumni Association Meeting was held. Awards were presented to the Alumna of the Year (see page 44) and Hall of Fame inductees (page 46) and Chief Development Officer Sean Brown P’22 ’27 invited any alumnus or alumna who had not received their alumni pin to do so at the pinning ceremony. (Learn more about this relatively new tradition on page 53.)

The annual meeting is also a service of remembrance, and Class Representatives stood to read the names of alumni from classes ending in 3 and 8 who had passed away since the last reunion of their class.

Time to reminisce and enjoy being back “home” Later in the day, alumni had an opportunity to hear from Incoming Head of School Emily Raudenbush Gum, who joined Head of School Peter Becker for a moderated discussion about leadership and Gunn’s past, present, and future. Alumni in the Class of 1968 and the Class of 1973 toured “The Lizzie,” and all alumni were invited to do some Gunn Detective sleuthing, by helping to identify classmates and friends in photographs from the Paula and George Krimsky ’60 Archives and Special Collections.

The weekend also provided opportunities for alumni to join student-led tours of campus and the annual Alumni Row at Beebe Boathouse, listen to 2023 Gunn Scholar Holli Hay ’23 present her independent research project on “Abigail Gunn: The Mother of The Gunnery,” and hike at Steep Rock with Dan Fladager, Director of Outdoor Programs. Saturday evening, alumni gathered under the tent on Edward Wersebe Memorial Field for dinner and dancing at the annual Gunn Gala, a fun and festive event enjoyed by all.

Katie Lyons ‘83 received the David Hoadley ‘51 Alumna of the Year Award.

Fall 2023

49

ALUMNI EVENTS

T

A SPECIAL PRESENTATION TO HONOR PETER BECKER he Annual Alumni Association Meeting included a special presentation to thenHead of School Peter Becker, in recognition of his 11 years of service and all that he has done for the Gunn community. On behalf of the Board of Trustees,

the faculty and staff, and the Alumni Association of The Frederick Gunn School, Chief

Development Officer Sean Brown P’22 ’27 presented a bust of Frederick Gunn to serve as a permanent reminder to always keep Frederick Gunn as our North Star.

“Our founder was an incredible human being: an innovator, a man of principle. He understood what it meant to be a leader and a good citizen, and he knew what was required to get the most out of every member of his community. Frederick Gunn was ahead of his time, so much so that 173 years later, his ideal of a school is as relevant as ever,” Brown said, continuing, “Whether he wants to admit it, or take credit for it, the

Meeting, Hannah Alley-Keller, Director

of Development Operations, announced the

classes leading the board for the annual

1850 Fund Awards. “Gifts to the 1850 Fund are an investment in the people and the

programs at the heart of this community, enhancing every aspect of the Gunn

experience. We would not be able to reach our goals without the help of our Class

Agents and Reunion Committee members,” Alley-Keller said, inviting them to stand for a round of applause and thanking all who have contributed gifts this year.

Annual fund awards are finalized after the

fiscal year concludes on June 30. The final results are as follows:

• The Kenneth J. Browne Class of 1911

Award for the Largest Class Gift: Class of 1968

• The Margaret P. Addicks H’02 Award for the Highest Class Participation, with a

minimum of 20 members of the class: Class of 1963

• The Susan G. Graham H’12 Award for

“This statue will be erected in a prominent location on campus, with a plaque recognizing you for your years of service and your aspiration for those you leave behind, and those who follow, that we should always strive to ‘Live Like Fred,’” Brown said to Becker, noting that since the bust is staying, the school had sculptor Shannon Varner make a miniature version he could take with him. “Hopefully, you can keep this small one on your desk at Taft, a memento of your friends here in Washington, a representation of all you’ve done for the school, and a constant reminder of what it takes to be a strong leader and a good citizen.”

As Becker stepped forward to accept the gift in his name, he received a hearty round of applause. “This is truly the school with the best founding story and the best DNA of any boarding school in America. I am tremendously proud, and my family is tremendously grateful for even being given the shot to come here in the first place. I will display this bust of Frederick Gunn very proudly,” he said.

“This school is in incredible hands going forward,” he said, acknowledging new Head of School Emily Raudenbush Gum. “I’m going to be thrilled to watch its continued growth and flourishing under her leadership.”

On behalf of the Alumni Association, Laura Eanes Martin ’90 P’20 ’23 ’25, President of the Alumni Association Executive Committee, presented another gift to the Becker family: a photo album of pictures of the Becker children growing up on campus. “We hope that Peter, Amy Julia, Penny, William, and Marilee will enjoy these pictures of their family across the last 11 years,” Martin said. “It is a small gift, but represents

the Young Alumni Class, up to 10 years

the enormous gratitude

Class of 2014

for Peter, and for all he

out, with the Highest Class Participation: • The W. Russ Elgin Award for the Young

Alumni Class, up to 10 years out, with the Largest Class Gift: The Class of 2013

50

all-in on Frederick and Abigail Gunn, was our 11th Head of School, Peter Becker.”

The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

PHOTOS BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

A

t the Alumni Association Annual

person who most aggressively encouraged us to embrace and lift up our founder, to go

that the alumni body has has done for our school.”

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

THE 1850 FUND AWARDS

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

Alumni enjoyed cocktails and toured the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center during the Red and Gray Soirée.

Fall-Winter 2023

51

2023 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES The Frederick Gunn School is pleased to recognize the

following alumni who were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

This year’s honorees were selected from a long list of

highly accomplished Gunn alumni in the arts, athletics, entertainment, literature, and the academic world. We

are proud to call them alumni and even more thrilled to recognize them as members of our Hall of Fame!

Shane O’Mara ’02 was inducted into the Athletic Hall

of Fame. Arriving at Gunn in 2000 as a junior, Shane

immediately became a presence in the community.

ALUMNA OF THE YEAR

He was elected prefect and was the 2002 recipient of

The David Hoadley ’51 Award for the Alumnus or Alumna of

awareness, a sensitivity to the affairs of his community,

renamed in 2021 to honor Trustee Emeritus David Hoadley ’51, who was the first recipient of the award in 1989, before he passed away in 2022. The award is given annually to the person who, in the opinion of the Alumni and Development Office, has contributed most significantly to the school through his or her volunteer efforts, and who, in those efforts, has represented The Frederick Gunn School to the highest standards. Past recipients include: Tim Gaillard ’61, Trustee Sherm Hotchkiss ’63, Former Trustee Jack Reynolds ’68, David Coburn ’68, Trustee Steve Baird ’68, Former Trustee John Greenwood ’71, Nick Molar ’72, Former Trustee Frank Macary ’77 P’03 ’05 ’07 ’15, Trustee Sarah Scheel Cook ’82, Peter Bergen ’84, and Laura Eanes Martin ’90 P’20 ’23 ’25.

In presenting the award, Alley-Keller noted that Lyons “has steadily worked behind the scenes to help keep her class connected to the school and with one another. She has served as a Class Agent for years, and has often led the charge when it comes to all things related to reunion. She has also loyally attended regional events and has served as a speaker for several Alumni Career Days. Earlier this year, she nominated one of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees, sending two emails to the alumni office to ensure that we had enough information on the individual. She wanted us to know how much he deserved Hall of Fame recognition. Once again, she was working hard behind the scenes to help someone else shine.”

Following in the footsteps of Frederick and Abigail Gunn, Lyons has pursued a 30-year career in education, “ensuring her students in Baltimore not only have access to a quality education but also the support they need outside of the classroom to excel,” Alley-Keller said, noting that Lyons previously credited part of her lifelong career path to her experience at Gunn.

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

and a sense of service to his fellow men and women.”

Prior to joining Gunn, Shane was regarded as an elite

junior sculler, having won the Club Men Singles at the

2000 Head of the Charles Regatta, representing the United States on the Junior National Team at the 2000 World

Rowing Championships in Croatia, and placing 11th. As a

Highlander, he received The Alumni Crew Award for M.V.P. his junior and senior years. He continued to row for the

Junior National Team at the school and, at one point, held all U.S. junior records in the single.

After graduating from Gunn, Shane

majored in finance and insurance

at Northeastern University and

became a senior U.S. Rowing National Team member, representing the

U.S. at three World

Championships in

2005, 2006, and 2007.

After graduating

from Northeastern, Shane earned

his master’s in

applied economics

and finance at

the University of

Cambridge. He was

selected to row for the

Cambridge University Boat

Club as the stroke of the

Cambridge University Blue Boat

(the highest level) in the prestigious

University Boat Race.

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

the Year was presented to Katie Lyons ’83. This award was

the Harold A. Anson Memorial Award “for acute ethical

ALUMNI EVENTS

Ken Glantz ’68 was inducted into the Arts & Letters Hall of

program at the American Indian Archeological Institute.

Steve Baird ’68, accepted the award on his behalf. Arriving

an Independent Study Project. As a result of his dedication

Fame. As he was unable to attend, his classmate, Trustee

at Gunn in 1964 as a freshman, Ken was an honors student and a member of the Gunn Association, Art Club, Foreign Affairs Club, and the Current Events Club. He served as the Day Scholar Representative on the School Council,

was Editor-in-Chief of the Gunnery News, and Associate Editor of the Stray Shot. Ken completed an Independent

Study Project, writing his own novel and receiving honors.

He graduated Cum Laude in 1968,

receiving the Franklin & Marshall Alumni Award, Rensselaer Alumni Medal, the

Award for Excellence in Elementary & Intermediate Science, the

to music since the age of nine, writing compositions, playing guitar, bass, and piano, and serving as the lead singer in multiple bands, he received the Malcolm Willis Prize for Excellence in Music his senior year.

From Gunn, Rees attended Vassar College, and

transferred to Skidmore College his sophomore year to

focus on English literature and history while beginning his exploration of electronic music and audio engineering.

By the time he graduated, he and his wife, Pamela Kleber

’81, had built a recording studio on a farm in the Southern Adirondacks, where Rees ran his business, Sweetfish

Recording Studio, for 13 years. During that time, his studio expanded into music publishing, record distribution, and multimedia production.

Shifting away from the music industry, Rees rearned

Gunnery News

three master’s degrees: in Technical Communication

Shot Prize for Best

School of Design, and in Education Policy, Research &

Award, the Stray

Prose, and the

Award for Excellence

in Composition.

After graduating

from Gunn, Ken

attended Reed College

in Portland, Oregon. At 29,

his novel, Blackbird Days, won

the Harper-Saxton Prize. He has made

a living as a writer ever since, under the pen name Ken

from Rensselaer, in Design & Technology from Parsons Administration from UMass Amherst. He was a Parsons professor for nine years, teaching digital design and

usability studies. He established The City University of

New York’s first program in Game Design, authored the game design textbook, Einstein & the Honeybee, and

co-designed several educational board games. He developed and ran digital programs for Hostos Community College (CUNY) in the South Bronx for 10 years and developed over 50 courses in Animation, Digital

Chowder. He published two novels, Delicate Geometry and

Design, Entrepreneurship,

and Washington Post. His documentary film, The Niagara

Music Production, Writing

Jadis, named an Editors’ Choice by The New York Times

Movement, was slated to debut on PBS on October 24, 2023.

Ken has twice received the National Endowment for the

Arts Fellowship and Ingram Merrill Foundation Fellowship along with the Shifting Foundation Fellowship, Artists

Foundation Fellowship, and the Oregon Arts Commission Grant, among other awards. Additionally, he has

completed 11 artist residencies at six programs nationwide PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

Additionally, he pursued his passion for music, completing

and has successfully written 27 NEH grant proposals.

Rees Shad ’83 was inducted into the Arts & Letters Hall of Fame. Arriving at Gunn as a freshman in 1979, Rees

became a member of the Community Council, Red & Gray, Jazz Ensemble, and Rock Group. He was the Yearbook Advertising Editor and participated in an archeology

Game Design, Media History, & Communication. He

continues to write and record music while

performing with his

band, Rees Shad & The Conversations, and

released his 13th solo

album in October 2022.

He is an author and an installation artist and

dabbles in carpentry, film

production, furniture making,

luthiery, and electronics in his semi-retirement.

Fall 2023

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Inspiring Scientific Thinking

A

t Alumni Weekend, Dr. George Capone ’73, who is a research scientist and director of the

Down Syndrome Clinic and Research Center

(DSCRC) at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, returned to Gunn to donate 15 boxes of rare and historical scientific books and journals from his personal collection to the Paula and George

Krimsky Archives and Special Collections. These materials were added to the antiquarian books and scientific journals Dr. Capone donated to

the school earlier this year. It is his hope that they will inspire Gunn students to learn more about the history of science, and the individuals who

contributed to important changes in scientific

thinking from the mid-19th century up to the early 20th century.

“The essence of the collection has to do with the

status of natural history, zoology, and earth science in

the 1800s up to the early 1900s. The collection captures the state of science in America at a time when cell biology,

experimental embryology, and genetics quickly became

the dominant paradigms,” said Dr. Capone, who became fascinated with science after visiting the Yale Peabody

Museum in New Haven as a young boy. “I used to go there giant turtles, meteorites, and glowing crystals. If that doesn’t spark your wonder and imagination, I don’t know what will.”

After graduating from Gunn, Dr. Capone attended

Wesleyan University and worked as a research assistant at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston before obtaining his medical degree from the University of Connecticut in 1983. He completed a residency and

fellowship in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati and a fellowship in neurobiology research at Johns Hopkins, where he is an associate

professor of pediatrics. He began his clinical research at Kennedy Krieger Institute in 1990.

Dr. Capone spent almost four decades building his

collection and made the decision to donate much of it

to Gunn after learning that the time period and subject

matter overlapped with Frederick Gunn’s life and studies at Yale University. “I am extremely happy to be able to find a new home for the collection at Gunn,” he said.

“The fascinating thing about the reports and academic

journals is that they had such wide-ranging topics,” said

Director of Library and Archives Moira Conlan P’26. “There weren’t specialized journals by subject area yet (biology, chemistry, etc.) and the field was changing so rapidly 54

The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

“ The essence of the collection has to do with the development of natural history and science in the 1800s up to the turn of the century, and the evolution of science in America” that news of discoveries was being published from all

types of research. Scientists were learning from each

other all the time, which of course only spurred on further advancements as they gained new insights.”

“The texts and writings from pre-1900 are what Mr. Gunn

himself would have been reading to either teach science

or continue his own learning. The biographies and other

materials will provide much needed context to the rest of the collection,” Conlan added.

“I think we should teach science through the lives of

the people who did it, talk about their lives, talk about the environment and the culture in which they were raised and operated. What were the barriers that they had to

overcome? What kinds of supports were they able to get for themselves? Of course, a lot of these stories are of personal sacrifice, people who worked under substantially less

than ideal conditions but were passionate about pursuing excellence in their chosen field,” Dr. Capone said, adding thoughtfully, “That sounds like Frederick Gunn’s school.”

PHOTO BY PHIL CREDIT DUTTON TO GO ‘81 HERE P’23

a lot as a kid and just be amazed by the Triceratops skull,

ALUMNI EVENTS

From the Alumni Association Executive Committee

M

Y D A U G H T E R , A M E L I A ʼ 2 5 , and her friends

This is what I mean by culture keeping. Each year, a new cohort of students keep Mr. Gunn’s vision and our traditions alive. I share all of this to remind you of what we all have in common; whether you graduated in 2018 or 1943, you have deep connections to our school and its people.

It is a goal of mine, the Alumni & Development Office, and our new Head of School to get more alumni back on campus throughout the year. It’s important that current students meet alumni and see your involvement in our school. Whether it’s speaking to students like Amelia about their interest in the Stray Shot (she even called my dad to get more information), connecting with seniors about your own college experience, or sharing your expertise with a class or club — current students care about your stories and the connection we all have to the school’s history.

There is so much to be proud of at The Frederick Gunn School right now. I feel immense pride when I see students making meaningful friendships with one another and connections with teachers. I encourage you to get involved and witness this for yourself. Contact the Alumni Office — they want to hear from you!

My son, Luke ʼ23, liked to end football practices by saying, “It’s a great day to be alive and an even better day to be a Highlander!” That feeling is something I hope all alumni carry with them upon graduation from the school. Whether or not you’ve been back to campus in recent years, the culture and traditions you helped create at Gunn are very much alive today.

I hope my letter inspires you to stay connected to the school, come back when students are on campus, encourage your friends to do the same, and think that every day is a great day to be a Highlander.

have the Stray Shot. Honestly, as an alumna and parent, there is not much else that could make me more proud. Awards, good grades, and other accolades are great, but the fact that she cared about finding and hiding the Stray Shot gives me great joy. Amelia is fascinated by its history and its stories, and how she’s now tied to those who had the Stray Shot before her, and those who will have it after. The Stray Shot is one of the many special Gunn traditions that connect us all.

“Culture keeping” is something I often think about in my own work, as it relates to schools. What I mean by “culture keeping” is this: People come and go, and schools need to evolve, but despite important changes, the culture of a good school is handed down to each new generation, and thus remains.

The most recent graduating class, the Class of 2023, spent three of their four years here impacted by Covid, and in the middle of all that, the school’s name changed. Yet, the seniors showed tremendous resilience and made re-energizing traditions, spirit, and culture a priority. They showed up — and in doing so, ensured the pride they had in their school

was passed down to the underclassmen before graduation. In her Commencement Address, Head Prefect Ashleen Hay ’23 enumerated three things she felt made her class, and our school, special: 1. “We love to spend time together” — she talked about arriving in busloads at Canterbury to cheer on the hockey team, and pulling up two or three more chairs at an already crowded lunch table to include everyone.

2. “The faculty care” — Ashleen spoke about the first time she “got in trouble” and how kind the teacher was despite being firm.

3. And, finally, Ashleen said, “We always have each others’ backs.”

PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

“ People come and go, and schools need to evolve, but despite important changes, the culture of a good school is handed down to each new generation and thus remains.”

Go Gunn,

Laura Eanes Martin ’90 P’20 ’23 ’25 President, Alumni Association Executive Committee Fall 2023

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ALUMNI EVENTS

Kate McMann ‘05 with current and former advisees Ryan Crowshaw ‘23,. Anna Gleason ‘23, and Kori Rimany ‘14, who delivered the readings at Baccalaureate in May.

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A C C A L A U R E A T E M A R K S the beginning of a weeklong celebration of the graduating class, and this year’s speaker, Kate McMann ’05, Director of College Counseling, shared with the Class of 2023 some of the lessons she learned on her trajectory from being a new student at Gunn in 2002 to today.

A three-sport varsity athlete, McMann served as captain of the field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse teams her senior year at Gunn, and went on to Hamilton College, where she was a member of both the hockey and lacrosse programs, and led the women’s lacrosse team to a national championship in 2008.

In her Baccalaureate Address, she recalled the many teachers and coaches who inspired her and helped to make her a better student and athlete, including Girls Varsity Hockey Coach Hugh Caldara, Varsity Field Hockey Coach Julia Alling ’81 P’19, former Dean of Students Chris Baudo, and Mathematics Department Chair Alisa Croft.

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“It was my teachers who played a significant role in my growth and intellectual development. It was because of teachers like Alisa Croft, who was also my advisor, that I grew more confident in subjects like math by teaching me that sometimes you just need to change your approach to how you think about a problem,” said McMann, who returned to Gunn as a faculty member in 2009.

“We talk a lot as a school about One Trusted Adult, and I was fortunate to have more than one during my high school years,” she reflected. “My lacrosse coach, Shannon Baudo, was another mentor who had a significant impact on my life. I struggled with the pressure I put on myself and was sometimes my own worst enemy, often dwelling on mistakes I’d made long after they’d occurred. Coach Baudo taught me that hard work isn’t always going to be rewarded, and that how I react to a setback says far more about my character than winning or coming up with the big play. Like Alisa Croft, she was able to help me see things from a different perspective.”

PHOTO BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

Seeing Things From a Different Perspective

The Tradition of the Gunn Alumni Pin

PHOTOS (TOP) BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23; (MIDDLE) BY MELISSA WILSON; (BOTTOM) BY UNIQUELY YOURS PHOTOGRAPHY

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N M A Y 2 4 , members of the Class of 2023 were

officially welcomed into the Gunn Alumni Association at the Senior Alumni Induction Dinner held in the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center.

In keeping with tradition, each member of the graduating class received their class mug and yearbook, along with personal letters written to them by family and faculty.

As the final, formal step to induction into the Alumni Association, all members of the class were invited to receive their alumni pin from a current alumnus or alumna. The tradition of the pinning ceremony is relatively new, having originated in 2016, the same year that the evening’s featured speaker, Lena Mak ’16, graduated from Gunn.

“The pin itself is small and simple. What it represents is quite the opposite,” Chief Development Officer Sean Brown P’22 ’27 told the graduates. “Only an alum can wear this pin. If you didn’t go here, you can’t get one. Like the numbers after your name, it is earned. And the first time you wear the pin, it should be pinned on you by another alum.”

“ Your world is waiting, full of endless possibilities, and I can’t wait to see all the incredible things you all accomplish.” – Lena Mak ’16, Senior Alumni Induction Dinner Speaker

“All of the alums here tonight have been pinned and are wearing them, and in every case it was first pinned on them by a fellow Highlander,” Brown said, continuing: “The ceremony of being pinned alum-to-alum links you not only to the pinner, but to the person who pinned them, and so on. It’s the continuation of a chain that stretches back as far as our oldest living alumnus, and every time you put it on from this point forward, it should serve as a reminder of the bond you all share as Highlander Faithful.”

“You are immediately added to the association ranks when you leave here today. Your school is special because of the generations who have built our shared community. We are guided by Mr. and Mrs. Gunn’s founding principles and 173

▲ Above: The tradition of the alumni pin is continued on Alumni Weekend. Jim Kenefick ’53 P’79 received his pin from his son, Tom Kenefick ’79 in May. At right: Board Chair Patrick Dorton ’86 was pinned by Marlon Fisher ’01 at Alumni Weekend in 2022.

Head Prefect Ashleen Hay ’23 was pinned by Lena Mak ’16 at the Senior Alumni Induction Dinner in May.

years of tradition. It exists today because of the folks who came before us, and will exist for the next century because of the people in this room. Alumni directors, heads of school, faculty and coaches will change. You may change — your name, the way you look, what you do — but what will never change is that this is your school for the rest of your life. Wear your numbers and these pins with pride.”

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ALUMNI EVENTS

Five young alumni returned to campus May 5 for Alumni Career Night.

Panelists Connor Dahlman ’16, Morgan Dow ’16, Virginia Dodenhoff ’15, and Dana Ross ’17 joined moderator Otoja Abit ’04 to share advice with current students, and some of their experiences beyond Gunn. They spoke about the power of networking, the importance of work-life balance, and the challenges of finding new jobs and moving to a new city. What follows is an excerpt of their conversation.

A lot of things can come from the people sitting next to you.

“If you’re able to master it, or learn the tricks of it, networking can really benefit you in your life. A lot of things can come from the people sitting next to you. I started off as an actor, which I still do now. From there, I was able to write and develop different stories. I currently have a feature film on Netflix called A New York Christmas Wedding that I wrote, directed, and produced — my first feature — and before that I had a short film called Jitters on Amazon Prime. I’m still growing in my career, and I’m very happy to be here, because, I believe it was seven years ago, I was part of a young alumni panel. I sat next to someone who was in the entertainment business, who graduated about 15 years before I did, and we still talk now. He’s been able to help me out a lot in my career. I was so fortunate to be able to have The Gunnery pair me up early in my career with other people in the business.” — Otoja 58

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There’s a really great network.

“Gunn provides a lot of opportunities for alumni to stay connected. One of those events happens around Christmastime. I connected with a lot of people at that event and didn’t realize some people had actually moved to New York City. When I was studying and living in Boston, I had a group that I was close with, but in New York, not as many people from Babson gravitate toward that city, so I was a little bit alone. From a job perspective, there’s a really great network within New York, Boston, and the D.C. area, that you can reach out to if you’re thinking about a job change. I’ve done that myself. People are very open to talking with you just because you graduated from the same school. It’s a very tight network, not only when you’re here, but when you leave this school as well.” — Connor Not everything has to go as planned.

“I moved to New York City in January and then was laid off at the end of March. It was very stressful, and still remains very stressful, but what I started really tapping into was my network at Gunnery. I had posted on social media that I was exploring new employment opportunities and I had numerous people — friends and just acquaintances from Gunn — reach out to me saying, ‘Hey, I have a friend in this field. Why don’t you talk to them?’ Or, ‘There’s a job opportunity at my company. Send me your resume. I’ll put it on HR’s desk.’

So I think something that’s really important is overcoming adversity. Life happens, and that’s OK. Not everything has to go as planned, and not everything works out the way you originally envisioned. But I think that was something that I learned here: overcoming adversity and challenges and reaching out to people when you need the help.” — Morgan (who has since started a new job!)

Learn these really good and healthy habits of work-life balance.

“I think Gunn teaches you work-life balance pretty well. It is not OK to study 24/7. You shouldn’t do that. It’s unhealthy.

But if you balance that with rowing, or any sport you like, or reading a book, or walking your dog, whatever it is, I think sticking to that within your college career is really useful. It’s something that’s really hard to do in college because it always feels like you need to take all of the classes now, and you’re always overdoing it. I think it’s really important for all of you, now that you’re in this position, to learn these really good and healthy habits of work-life balance while in high school, while you are in this very safe and accepting place; and once you

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Young Alumni Share Advice and Life Lessons

ABO UT OUR PANEL Otoja Abit ’04 graduated from St. John’s University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and played DI basketball.

He is an actor, director, writer, and producer and lives in New York City.

Morgan Dow ’16 graduated from Fairfield University with a bachelor’s degree in public health. An EMT, she lives in New York City, where (at the time of this event) she was exploring new employment opportunities.

Dana Ross ’17 majored in biochemistry and minored in psychology at Barnard College at Columbia University.

She currently lives in New York City, where she is working as an EMT while applying to medical school.

PHOTO BY MARLON CREDIT TO FISHER GO HERE ‘01

move into college, or whatever your path might be, to retain that balance between what you need and what you have to do.

Because at the end of the day you also want to be happy.”

— Dana Make a real, authentic connection.

“I work in public relations and part of my job is that I cold email hundreds of writers from different publications all the time. I saw on Instagram that this writer at one publication was at The Gunnery for reunion weekend. I was like, ‘I’m going to have to slide into her LinkedIn and try to get her to write something for me,’ which I know is kind of selfish. But being

Connor Dahlman ‘16, graduated from Babson College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and played DIII hockey. He currently lives in New York City and works in finance in the banking sector.

Virginia Dodenhof ’15 earned a bachelor’s in public relations and French from the University of Alabama, where she was a DI rower, and a master’s in sports management from Columbia. She currently lives in New York City and works in sports marketing.

able to connect the dots and make a personal connection … was really valuable. She didn’t end up writing anything for me, but we got to talk about the landscape of public relations and media because of that connection. It’s definitely a good way to make a real, authentic connection, which I think is important especially if you are networking with people in different fields. Authenticity is really important, not just trying to get something. Finding common denominators — if it’s The Frederick Gunn School, if it’s your college, if it’s just that you like the same sports teams — those things are really important and create real bonds that last more than just a few emails or LinkedIn DMs.” — Virginia Fall 2023

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ALUMNI SMALL BUSINESS

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Honeyleads Founder Kyley Cheever’s ’0

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PHOTO BY ANDREANNA SEYMORE

I F E H A S B E E N a whirlwind for Kyley Cheever ’06, a selfdescribed “sales nerd,” who this fall launched a B2B lead generation agency she named Honeyleads. The company is a spinoff of the sales consulting firm she established three years ago, Kyley Cheever, Inc., which specializes in converting cold email campaigns into fresh leads for clients across the country.

“My clients now hire me to get them more clients, and get them more leads, and then I help them and coach them along the way. After I’ve given them the leads, I do some sales consulting on follow-ups, negotiating, and nurturing your leads,” Cheever said in an interview in mid-September from Brooklyn, New York, which has been home since she graduated from New York University, with a degree in creative marketing and business.

Although protective of her current client list, she acknowledged her largest and most well known client is Levain Bakery, one of the biggest cookie companies in New York City. The company is famous for their “big, crispy-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside cookies,” and ships gourmet cookie boxes nationwide. “I do all of their corporate gifting sales,” Cheever said.

Her work focuses exclusively on the B2B market, and companies that are ready for large-scale, national sales campaigns. “I don’t really work with people who sell direct-to-consumer. I work primarily with people who are selling from their business to another business,” said Cheever.

As for her other clients? “It really runs the full gamut,” she said.

“I have event service companies, someone who does photo booths and tech activations. I have a financial service client, I have clients who do influencer marketing, who do email marketing, e-commerce marketing. I have a company that sells phone and internet service out in California.”

comedians, and an introduction by Mel Brooks. “We shot everyone from Robin Williams to Tina Fey, Steve Martin, Conan O’Brien, Cloris Leachman. It was my responsibility to get in touch with everybody, and I had no connections, so I did the same thing I did with the studios: I kept reaching out. The publicists hated me. That was where I learned persistence pays off.”

A T A G E 2 5 , she pivoted, embracing her passion for making food,

which was inspired by weekly trips to her local farmers market in New York City. She partnered with executive chef Winston Chiu to co-found a boutique lunch box delivery service they called BonBite.

“We would deliver our lunchboxes to all the tech companies who bought all their employees lunch, and then that grew to some pretty large-scale events as well,” she said.

Running a food company with a commitment to sustainability was not without its challenges. “We worked out of my apartment first, then we rented a table in this little West Village kitchen until we moved into our own spot in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I had to quickly learn how cash was king in this entrepreneurial space, if you’re not going the start-up route. I could sell 50 lunchboxes, and then we’d have the deliveries, or I could drop 100 lunch boxes at SeatGeek, and make one delivery stop.”

After Cheever became a mom, she realized the demands of working nights, weekends, and early mornings were not conducive to raising a child. She had always wanted to have her own business, and that led to Kyley Cheever, Inc. “I really knew how to help grow a sales pipeline. I just saw this opportunity from all these other business owners I knew. They had a product. They weren’t start-ups.

They definitely had a proof of concept, but they didn’t know how to scale their business, or their sales.”

Cheever has marketed her company’s services using the same skills that brought her clients success: “I run cold email campaigns,” she said, laughing. “Clients would definitely refer me. But I know how to get business, because that’s literally what my clients hire me to do. And I can do it for myself, too.”

While Bonbite at one time had 15 employees and 80 subcontractors, today Cheever is part of an intentionally small, three-person team. “I can work from anywhere. I was lucky enough

H E R C A R E E R P A T H has also been a bit eclectic, although the through-line has been her entrepreneurial spirit and drive — which she recognized early, even as a Gunn Scholar. “It just gave me that taste of, ‘No one is going to tell you what to do. You can have an idea, and you’ll get some resources, but ultimately, it’s up to you to make it happen,’ she said. “Even me figuring out how to get people involved — it was like my producer side of convincing people to do stuff, and meeting people, and getting them to see No one is going to tell you what to do. You can your vision and want to be part of it.” have an idea, and you’ll get some resources, As a senior at NYU, Cheever began working with photographer Matt Hoyle through an internship, and but ultimately, it’s up to you to make it happen” after his agent was let go, took on the challenge of finding him new work. “He really wanted to shoot movie this summer to work from my parents’ house in Nantucket while my and TV posters. I left three years later and we had been shooting for son got to play on the beach with his cousins,” she said. “I just have Warner Brothers, Disney, CBS, NBC, Hallmark. He called me his pit no desire to build a big business. My situation now allows me to bull. That’s how I learned to hustle.” both be a mom and an entrepreneur and a business owner, and I feel Cheever was also the producer for Hoyle’s book, Comic Genius: I’m doing the best I’ve ever done. I can’t ask for more.”

Portraits of Funny People, which features 130 of the industry’s top

Fall 2023

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HIGHLANDER JOURNEY

WHAT INSPIRED FREDERICK GUNN’S LOVE OF NATURE AND CAMPING?

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Specifically, Baum was seeking evidence of a connection between Mr. Gunn, the Transcendentalists, and a Connecticut-born clergyman, author, and outdoorsman, the Rev. William H.H. Murray, who popularized camping in the Adirondacks around the same time that Mr. Gunn led his students on a camping trip to Milford. He is also exploring how Mr. Gunn’s ideas about nature and being in it developed from Transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau.

The inspiration for Baum’s current research project began with a folk song, which is another of his passions. Lisa Null, a folk singer and songwriter who was his partner of 30 years, recorded a song in 2015 about a camping trip at Lake Chemo, near Bangor, Maine. “The song dates to 1871, just as camping for fun first became a popular pursuit,” said Baum, noting that just two years earlier, in 1869, Murray, wrote a book, Adventures in the Wilderness; or, Camp-Life in the Adirondacks, which popularized camping in the Adirondacks.

While some credit “Adirondack Murray” as the first to promote camping as a form of leisure “as opposed to because you are a fur trapper, on a military bivouac, or emigrating on the Oregon Trail,” as Baum said, his “how-to” camp

book was published eight years after Mr. Gunn led his students on a 42-mile hike to Milford, Connecticut, where they camped for 10 days and practiced military drills in appreciation of or preparation for service in the Union Army. The Gunns reprised that camping trip in 1863 and 1865, and the success of these Civil War-era camps gave way by the 1870s to school-sponsored summer camps at Lake Waramaug. It is for these activities that Mr. Gunn is recognized by the American Camp Association as the founder of recreational camping.

Certainly, Thoreau and Mr. Gunn were likeminded contemporaries. They were born a year apart and both were abolitionists and naturalists.

Thoreau lived at Walden Pond for a little more than two years, leaving in 1847, three years before Mr. Gunn started his school, and Walden was published in 1854. A decade later, in 1864, Murray ventured on his first camping trip in the Adirondacks.

“I want to see how Mr. Gunn gets into Transcendentalism, and therefore gets into nature, and the whole idea of going out into the woods as a moral good,” Baum said, after he had begun looking at Mr. Gunn’s correspondence in the Paula and George Krimsky Archives and

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

PHOTO BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

n June, Charlie Baum ’71 returned to Gunn to celebrate Alumni Weekend, but also to look for answers to some long-held questions about why Frederick Gunn became interested in nature and camping as a leisure activity.

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

Dan Fladager, who teaches the Nature Writers course and is Director of Outdoor Programs, talked with Charlie Baum ’71 on the Thoreau Bridge at Steep Rock’s Hidden Valley Preserve in June.

Murray’s letter to “Friend Gunn” What fascinated Baum, as well, was Mr. Gunn’s connection with Murray, who came to Judea Parish, in Washington, Connecticut, in 1863 to serve as the pastor of the First Congregational Church on the Green. “I have found that there is direct correspondence between Reverend Murray and Mr. Gunn when they were neighbors,” Baum said, referencing a letter in the Gunn Historical Museum’s collection, written from Murray to “Friend Gunn.” In the letter, Murray thanked Mr. Gunn for siding with him on an issue, but the nature of the dispute was not disclosed. One possible scenario involved Murray showing up late for the prayer meeting, dressed in his woods garb after being out hunting and fishing. It would have been a scandal at the time.

In September 1864, Murray realized his contract with the church in Washington was not going to be renewed and he was called to a church in Greenwich. “Mr. Gunn and Reverend Murray clearly knew each other because after Murray’s final sermon, Mr. Gunn got together with a couple of others and published it in a book. I’ve got a copy of that,” said Baum, who found further evidence that the pair remained on good terms. A letter revealed that when Fred and Abigail’s son, Dannie, passed away in April 1865, Murray returned to Washington from Greenwich and presided over the funeral. “He’s clearly a good friend of the Gunns.”

A Mutual Friend Another connection between Mr. Gunn and Murray was U.S. Senator Orville H. Platt, who was a student of Mr. Gunn’s at Washington Academy, and later was his teaching assistant in Towanda, Pennsylvania. Platt opened a law practice in Meriden, Connecticut, and was influential at the First Congregational Church. In 1866, Murray began serving there as a “surplus” minister, and Platt started to join him on camping trips in the Adirondacks. They stayed at Martin’s Hotel in Saranac Lake, where they would have been able to hire a guide, and canoes. “By 1871, Platt established a camp, later a summer home, on Long Lake in the Adirondacks. So Platt falls in love with the Adirondacks also,” Baum said.

In the meantime, Murray had written articles for the Meriden Record about being in the woods and was encouraged to write a book about camping in the Adirondacks, which became Adventures in the Wilderness; or, Camp-Life in the Adirondacks, Baum said. An article published in Smithsonian magazine in 2017 under the title, “The Minister Who Invented Camping in America,” called it “the watershed book in the history of American camping: the first comprehensive ‘how-to-camp’ guidebook.”

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“Promoting a powerful combination of nature as spiritual and physical cure, and camping as an open and equal activity, Murray’s book took a previously quiet region and transformed it into a nationwide destination, and gave Americans a new, reassuring form of leisure,” Smithsonian magazine said, noting: “Within months of the book’s release, the sleepy Adirondack region was transformed, as an unprecedented horde of 2,000 to 3,000 recreational campers, hunters, and anglers arrived from New York, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, and other cities.”

In addition to providing practical advice about how to go out in the woods and camp, Murray’s ground-breaking book was dedicated to Platt: “To my friend and companion, O. H. Platt, of Meriden, Conn., with whom I have passed many happy hours by mountain and stream and shared the sportsman’s triumph and midnight bivouac, and as a token of my very sincere regard and friendship, this book is affectionately dedicated.”

“Stillman’s Philosophers’ Camp,” by William James Stillman depicts a Transcendentalist camping trip in the Adirondacks in 1858.

Transcendentalism and the Hudson River School Baum was planning to visit Blue Mountain Lake, New York, and a museum called the Adirondack Experience this summer, to learn more about an earlier camping trip, organized in August 1858 by Hudson River painter William James Stillman, who graduated from Union College and studied with Frederic Church, a student of Thomas Cole. Stillman went on to establish The Crayon, a journal of art and essays, and hosted a salon in the Adirondacks that was attended by 10 “Boston worthies,” including Emerson, poet James Russell Lowell and Louis Agassiz, a professor of biology at Harvard.

Their adventure was memorialized in Stillman’s painting, “Stillman’s Philosophers’ Camp,” which today is displayed in the Concord Free Public Library in Massachusetts.

“While in the New Britain Museum of American Art the week before Labor Day last year, I suddenly realized that the new attitudes toward camping must have influenced the subject matter of the artists of the time, especially the Hudson River School painters,” Baum said. “That’s another probable spur of my research.”

PHOTO BY JIM COUTRE COURTESY OF CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Special Collections. “I found a lot of letters, especially when Abbie’s here and Fred is in Towanda, recommending writers like [Thomas] Carlyle and Theodore Parker, and occasionally references to Emerson. He’s very clearly interested in the Transcendentalists, and he wants to convince Abbie of it.”

He is similarly interested in researching Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a Unitarian minister from Massachusetts, who went camping with his wife, Mary Channing, at Mount Katahdin in Maine, in 1855, according to one published account. “A woman camping in 1855 is pretty unusual. His wife is the sister of Ellery Channing, who is Thoreau’s camping buddy. So there’s something going on in the Channing family about camping.”

Both of these camping trips took place before Mr. Gunn led his students to Milford, though they were on a much smaller scale, and serve as examples of how Mr. Gunn may have been similarly influenced in his thinking at the time. “These are all Transcendentalists, and the Transcendentalists are the folks who are going to inspire Fred. Leisure camping trips in the 1850s are few and far between.”

The First Alumnus Gunn Scholar Baum credits his experiences at Gunn with influencing his lifelong interest in nature and camping. Arriving as a freshman from Trumbull, Connecticut, he participated in archaeological digs under the direction of Ned Swigart P’82, who was his biology teacher and Director of the Outdoor Program. A member of the Outdoor Club, Baum remembered vividly the route he followed for School Walk, hiking eight miles from campus to Mount Tom and back. Students would check in “at the top of the tower there,” before heading down to Mount Tom Pond for lunch. “The first person to the top got a copy of The Master of The Gunnery.”

In senior year, Baum was a member of the Gunn Association, Debate Club, and the Cum Laude Society. He was a contributor to both the Gunnery News and the Stray Shot literary magazine, and as part of an Independent Study Project, completed a series of complex mathematical calculations by hand, comparing the size and age of the projectile points from the school’s archaeological digs. “I had a chance to present the results to the Archaeological Society of Connecticut,” he said.

A graduate of Yale University, where he majored in psycholinguistics, Baum has worked in publishing for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, D.C., since 1999. He said his research into the history of camping may result in an academic paper, a presentation, book, or thesis for an advanced degree. “Who knows?” he quipped. “I’m going to turn myself into the first alumnus Gunn Scholar!”

Baum is dedicating his research to Null, whom he met at a Connecticut folk festival in the late 1980s. She passed away in the summer of 2022. “Lisa was not only a singer, researcher, and organizer of musical events, but also an academic,” he said, Listen to noting that she had earned a master’s degree in Lake Chemo: folklore from UPenn, and was pursuing a master’s of philosophy at Yale. “Her unfinished dissertation was going to look at the use of folkloric and other materials as historical evidence, so her spirit really is behind this research project,” he said.

From experiential learning opportunities and faculty development, to student life activities, athletics, and financial aid, your gifts enhance the experience of every student at

Make Your Gift Today: Venmo: @GoGunn1850 Online: GoGunn.org/MakeAGift By phone: 860-350-0103 By mail: using the enclosed envelope Fall 2023

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REMEMBERING

David helped to protect thousands of acres in Maryland over a period of thirty years.

David P. Miller, II ’54

Born on July 9, 1936 in New Haven, Connecticut, to Anne Sheafe Miller and Ogden D. Miller H’69 P’50 ’54 ’55 GP’84, David and his brothers, Ogden D. Miller, Jr. ’50 P’84 and Former Trustee Dwight D. Miller ’55, moved from Hamden to Washington, Connecticut, in December 1945, when their father, who was then-Director of Athletics at Yale, was appointed Gunn’s sixth Head of School. As faculty children, the Millers lived in Whittlesey House and the historic 1773 house on Washington Green, next to the Cottage. From an early age, their lives were intertwined with the life of the school. The school’s longtime nurse, Julia Turner, “used to patch up Dave and me when we had bruises and banged heads from playing around campus,” Dwight recalled in an interview in 2019.

Class Agent John Fisher ’54 remembered meeting David for the first time when they were both new students in the fourth grade at Washington Consolidated School. John had enrolled a few months earlier, having moved with his parents from White Plains, New York, to West Morris, Connecticut, where they ran an inn. “Then one day, another city slicker showed up in my class.

David and I became the closest of friends,” he said, recalling that their after-school activities often involved Dwight, who was one grade behind them. “We started an annual overnight camping trip in different wooded areas, including along the Shepaug. One winter, when we were maybe 12 or 13, we had gotten all the way to December and hadn’t gotten our annual camping trip in, and we decided to go, David’s mother, Anne, tried to talk us out of it.

There was like a foot and a half of snow on the ground. We hiked to a wooden lean-to, built a campfire, and took our sleeping bags. Sure enough, we survived it.”

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All three matriculated to Gunn, where David was elected Senior Prefect, named captain of the varsity baseball team, and played varsity football and ice hockey. As teammates, he and Dwight played hockey at Fanning’s Pond. Photos in the yearbook show the students shoveling snow off the ice before they could practice. “We had good teams but it was a short season and a great deal of work that the coaches had to put in to get the best ice possible when it was cold enough,” Dwight recalled. “At one point, they flooded the tennis courts at the school, not the concrete courts, because those didn’t exist, but the clay courts, and and one or two seasons they built a rink on the football field and flooded it and put boards up. Playing hockey in that era was not an easy thing.”

He also recounted one particularly memorable win: “Taft has a beautiful hockey program and they were the first team in our area that had artificial ice on campus. The first time Gunnery played them on that ice, we beat them.”

D A V I D W A S O N the board of The Gunnery News, serving as

Associate Editor with John, who was Editor-in-Chief, and their friends, Mickey Alderman ’54, who was Sports Editor, and Richard Gutwillig ’54, Typing Manager. David also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Red and Gray, and was President of the Gunn Association, a student organization devoted to promoting the religious and ethical life of the school. Active in Dramatics, he joined the cast of Mister Roberts alongside his father, in 1952.

Dwight said he never found out whose idea it was to cast their father in the role of Lieutenant Roberts, played by Henry Fonda in the original Broadway production.

PHOTO THIS PAGE: PERMISSION FROM BALTIMORE SUN MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

passed away on September 1, 2023, at age 87 after a brief illness. A faculty child, alumnus, and long-standing supporter of The Frederick Gunn School, David dedicated his life to education and conservation, and nurtured lifelong friendships with his classmates.

At left: a photo from the 1954 Red and Gray.

David was captain of the varsity baseball team his senior year.

▲ Above: David in front of Gunn House, in the spring of 1947.

At left: another yearbook photo showing David all dressed for hockey, but no ice!

In​1959,​David​graduated​from​Yale​University​with​a​degree​ in​history​and​joined​the​U.S.​Army​in​October​of​that​year,​ completing​basic​training​at​Fort​Benning,​Georgia.​At​23,​he​ graduated​from​the​82nd​Airborne​Division​Jump​School​at​ Fort​Bragg,​North​Carolina,​and​served​as​a​Lieutenant​with​the​ 18th​Airborne​Corps​in​military​intelligence​from​1959-1961.

In​1962,​David​received​a​master’s​degree​in​history​from​ Columbia​University,​and​began​his​career​as​a​teacher.​ He​taught​Latin​and​history​at​the​Taft​School​from​19631965.​In​June​1963,​he​married​Trudy​Beebe,​the​daughter​of​ Jeannette​and​Roderick​Beebe,​who​was​head​of​the​math​and​ science​departments​and​Director​of​Athletics​at​Gunn,​and​ established​the​school’s​rowing​program​in​1948​as​well​as​the​ Founders​Day​Regatta​in​1959.​Their​wedding​took​place​in​ the​First​Congregational​Church​on​the​Green,​with​Gunnery​ School​Chaplain​John​Warner​“Chappie”​Moore​officiating.​ A​reception​followed​on​campus,​in​the​Gilbert​G.​Browne​ Memorial​Hall.​Members​of​the​wedding​party​included​ Dwight,​who​was​the​best​man,​John,​Mickey,​and​Fred Sessa ’54, along​with the​bride’s​sisters,​Katharine,​Jean,​and​Stephanie​ (Beebe)​Bradshaw,​the​wife​of​Bruce Bradshaw ’51.

In​1965,​David​and​Trudy​moved​to​Sedona,​Arizona,​to​ teach​at​the​​​Verde​Valley​School,​a​coeducational​boarding​ school,​for​five​years​before​returning​to​the​East​Coast.​ David​graduated​from​the​Yale​School​of​Forestry​with​his​ second​master’s​degree,​in​Forest​Science,​in​1972,​and​he​ and​Trudy​moved​to​Maryland.​He​spent​four​years​with​the​ Chesapeake​Bay​Center​for​Environmental​Studies,​now​the​ Smithsonian​Environmental​Research​Center​(SERC),​south​ of​Annapolis.​It​was​the​beginning​of​his​second​career​as​an​ environmentalist.

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

I N 1 9 7 6 , D A V I D was named Executive Director of the Maryland

“​​The faculty member in charge of the theater program was Oliver​Raymond,​a​wonderful​teacher.​It​was​an​interesting​ selection​to​have​the​headmaster​play​that​role.​It​was​a​very​ unappealing​character​and​the​cast​members,​the​crew​in​the​ play,​were​always​trying​to​find​ways​to​get​the​old​man,​the​ captain,​to​blow​his​lid​off​and​there​was​sometimes​colorful​ language​used,​but​nothing​you​would​even​flinch​at​in​today’s​ world.​It​was​a​huge​success.​The​kids​loved​it.​Dave​was​one​of​ the​crew​members.”

David​graduated​cum​laude​and​was​awarded​the​ Headmaster’s​Prize,​the​Excellence​in​English​Award,​and​ named​the​top​scholar​of​his​class.​Following​his​graduation​ from​Gunn,​he​attended​the​Sherborne​School​in​Dorset,​ England,​through​the​English-Speaking​Union.​He​received​an​ English​Exchange​Scholarship,​and​that​same​year,​Alan Bain ’55 came​to​Gunn​from​England.

Environmental​Trust,​now​part​of​the​Maryland​Department​ of​Natural​Resources.​One​of​the​oldest​and​most​successful​ land​trusts​in​the​country,​MET​holds​over​1,100​conservation​ easements​preserving​over​140,000​acres​statewide,​according​ to​its​website.​From​1983​to​1989,​David​worked​for​the​Natural​ Lands​Trust,​Inc.,​whose​holdings​currently​include​more​than​ 40​nature​preserves​across​two​states​and​13​counties,​totaling​ nearly​23,300​acres.​David​went​on​to​work​as​a​consultant​ and​in​1991,​helped​found​the​Harford​Land​Trust,​serving​as​ secretary​of​the​Board​of​Directors​and​Executive​Director.​ David​Miller​is​survived​by​his​beloved​wife​of​60​years,​ Gertrude​(Trudy)​Beebe​Miller;​their​three​daughters,​Jeanette​ (married​to​Douglas)​of​Baltimore,​Sarah​(married​to​Sam)​ of​Brighton,​Massachusetts,​and​Laura,​of​West​Palm​Beach,​ Florida;​five​grandchildren,​Lila,​Annika,​Grace,​Yehuda,​and​ Emmanuel;​and​one​great-grandchild,​Aviva​(daughter​of​ Annika​and​Aryeh).

Fall 2023

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FACULTY PROFILE

Ten Minutes With Chris Visentin during a panel discussion at Fall Family Weekend that even his law professors at Boston University knew that being an English teacher was his true calling. Although he graduated with his law degree, and dabbled briefly in the realm of intellectual property law, he eventually turned his attention to writing and teaching, joining the English Department at Gunn in 2018.

Since then, Visentin has taught required and elective courses to upperclassmen, including Honors English: Literary Criticism and Craft, and Looking for America, a course about the Immigrant experience and the sometimes illusory American dream. He is also an advisor, Head Coach for Boys Rowing, and Interim Director of Rowing. He and his wife, Holly, and their daughter, Imogen, live off campus with their rescue dog, Beatrice.

What is your favorite lesson to teach? It’s a

way to think about originality and creativity.

Students have to transcribe the British shipping forecast. Once they start comparing to their peers, they realize their transcriptions are unique based on what they hear, and what associations they might bring to what they hear. I borrowed and adapted that lesson from an avant garde professor and poet, Kenneth Goldsmith, who I wrote about in grad school.

Who has been your greatest influence? My

professor, Steven Yao, at Hamilton, warned me when I signed up for his class that he was the hardest grader in the school. I promptly got a C minus on my first paper. But he let students rewrite papers as many times as they had the stomach for it, and approach their studies not as

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The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin

What is your favorite Gunn

tradition? I like Prize Night. It’s

one of the few times we get to focus on the students exclusively in their capacity for academic learning and success. Students get grades and are congratulated by the teacher or the advisor, but there are not many opportunities to recognize them school-wide for academic achievement.

What is your favorite saying,

Education

> BA in English,

Hamilton College

> MA in English,

Boston University

> JD, Boston University School

of Law (with concentration in intellectual property law)

Honors and Accolades > The Class of 1955

Distinguished Teaching Award, 2022

Current Responsibilities

> English Teacher > Interim Director of Rowing > Head Coach, Boys Rowing > Faculty Advisor, The Stray Shot literary magazine

> Advisor

quote, or expression? “I would prefer not to.” I think a lot of people see that on my coffee mug and think I’m being intransigent. “I would prefer not to” is Bartleby’s small way of resisting. It’s from “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street.” It’s Bartleby, in a very kind of passive way, rejecting the cold reality of working at a legal office, working on Wall Street, living in a society that values production first and foremost over individuality.

Who is your favorite author? My favorite author is James Joyce. My favorite book is Ulysses. It’s got so much going on and it’s kind of fascinating how much James Joyce thinks he can tackle and incorporate into his story, and how much the novel ends up meaning to so many people, despite being dense and seemingly unapproachable.

What have you been reading recently? I’ve

picked up again War and Peace. I like the idea of slowly making my way through a big novel, especially during the winter. My goal when school is in session is reading a chapter a day.

PHOTO BY PHIL DUTTON ‘81 P’23

C

a means to get the good grade and move on, but to work through their ideas. It was more of a process than a results-based assignment.

HRIS VISENTIN REMARKED

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS 2023-24 Patrick M. Dorton ’86

Emily Raudenbush Gum

Wanji Walcott P’19

Sherm Hotchkiss ’63

Vice Chair

Thomas R. King ’60

Beth W. Glynn

Timothy Jackson P’24

Secretary

Jonathan S. Linen ’62

Ashleigh Fernandez

Damien Marshall P’24

Board Chair

Treasurer

Stephen W. Baird ’68 William G. Bardel Robert Bellinger ’73 Kevin Bogardus ’89 Sarah Scheel Cook ’82 Jon C. Deveaux Natalie H. Elsberg P’25 Adam C. Gerry P’21

Paul M. McManus, Jr. ’87 P’21 ’23 Bonnie A. Pennell ’86 Missy Cuello Remley ’87 Krystalynn Schlegel ’96 Omar Slowe ’97 Richard N. Tager ’56 Robert M. Tirschwell ’86 Dan Troiano ’77 Rebecca Weisberg ’90

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Steven P. Bent ’59

Laura Eanes Martin

Jonathan Estreich P’06 Edsel B. Ford II ’68

Fall 2023

The Frederick Gunn School Bulletin is produced biannually (spring and fall) by the Marketing

& Communications Department. Send alumni news to: classnotes@frederickgunn.org.

Editor

Jennifer Clement P’22 ’25 Associate Director,

Strategic Communication & Marketing clementj@frederickgunn.org Chief Strategy Officer Doug Day

dayd@frederickgunn.org Chief Development Officer Alumni & Development Sean Brown P’22 ’27

browns@frederickgunn.org Chief Enrollment Officer Suzanne Day

TRUSTEES EMERITI Leo D. Bretter ’52 P’88

PHOTO BY CREDIT TO GO HERE

Head of School

BULLETIN

’90 P’20 ’23 ’25 President

Omar Slowe ’97

Joan Noto P’97

Vice President

Jonathan Tisch ’72

Scott A. Schwind ’89

Gerrit Vreeland ’61

Krystalynn M. Schlegel ’96

days@frederickgunn.org Design

Alison Wilkes / alisonwilkes.com Printing

David Emery ’73, GHP / ghpmedia.com West Haven, Connecticut

Send address corrections to: alumni@frederickgunn.org or visit gogunn.org/alumni

or write Alumni & Development The Frederick Gunn School 99 Green Hill Road,

Washington, CT 06793

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