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Faculty Spotlight/Alumni Virtual Gatherings
Three longtime Pennington faculty members retired at the end of the 2019–20 school year: Melissa Kiser (thirty-seven years), Patricia Zema (twenty-three years), and Marc Epstein (ten years). We wish them well!
Lissa Kiser joined the faculty of what is now the Edmund V. Cervone Center for Learning in 1983. A graduate of Princeton University with an A.B. degree in history, she went on to earn a master’s degree in English at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey). Before coming to Pennington, she had worked at Princeton University in communications and alumni relations. In 1997, she began putting her public relations training to work for Pennington, writing press releases and editing other School publications. She switched to teaching freshman honors English in 2001 and more recently has taught Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition. Feven Negussie ’18 writes, “I enjoyed having her as my AP literature teacher. Stellar educator! What a wealth of knowledge she possesses.” Kiser has also been a freshman advisor for a number of years. Co-advisor of the yearbook from 1996 to 2009, Kiser has served on faculty committees including the Honor Code Committee, and was chair of the Faculty Forum in 2002–03. Her work in communications continued throughout. She became director of communications in 2010 and then director of special projects in 2012, when her first major project was compiling a history of the School for its 175th anniversary year. Since then, she has continued to assist with the School Archives and historical research, but her main focus has been in the Communications Department, writing, editing, and proofreading. Kiser has
one son, David Mesrobian ’01.
Patricia Zema began teaching all levels of French, including Advanced Placement French Literature, at Pennington in 1997. An alumna of the University of Denver with a B.A. degree in French education, she also holds an M.A. degree in French language and literature from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She had previously taught French at the secondary level in three states. Zema served as a class dean for twelve years, coordinating fundraisers such as Battle of the Bands and planning the prom. She started Pennington’s chapter of the French National Honor Society and has served as its advisor; she was also advisor of Pennington’s Tri-Steps Chapter of the National Honor Society from 2010 to 2013.
In addition, Zema inaugurated the annual participation of students of French in the National French Contest (Le Grand Concours) and the poetry contest at William Patterson University. She has coordinated Pennington’s biennial student homestay exchange programs with schools in Meaux, Rumilly, and Orange, France. As advisor of the French Club, she has guided the annual poinsettia sales to benefit Harmony Mission in Haiti but also began Club traditions such as making Bûche de Noël at her home in December, baking and serving crepes on campus for Mardi Gras, and holding a fondue soirée. Sloan Seiler ’13 remembers “Madame Zema” with gratitude as “a kind, supportive educator who made learning about another culture and language engaging for her students. I will always remember the amazing trip to France!” Zema has a son, John Richter ’03, and a daughter, Frances Richter.
Marc Epstein joined the faculty of the History and Social Studies Department in 2010 after a number of years at The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, PA. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history and political science and an M.S. degree
in secondary education, both from the University of Pennsylvania. His specialization in nonwestern history and international politics has been valuable at Pennington, where he has taught World History and Advanced Placement U.S. Government and designed new senior electives in Comparative Politics and International Politics.
After receiving an Innovations in Civics Education grant from the Stanton Foundation, he designed a program of lectures and field trips for 2013–14; the grant also funded visits to the U.S. Supreme Court and Q & A sessions with justices Alito, Ginsburg, and Scalia, which Epstein calls a highlight of his thirty-one-year career. In addition, throughout his tenure Epstein has advised the School’s delegation to the Model United Nations, preparing student groups to go to conferences in New Brunswick and Philadelphia. He also was co-founder of the Pennington Jewish Community and has been part of the team organizing the School Archives and moving them into their new space in Meckler Library. Terrence Kane ’16 says, “Mr. Epstein inspired my love of law and government,” describing him as “one of the best teachers I have had in my entire educational career.” He was “also a fantastic advisor and confidant, who made my whole high school experience so much better. Thank you, Mr. Epstein!”
The Second Annual Piano Competition
Pennington's second annual piano competition was a resounding success. Started by one of our own student pianists, junior Cihan Sahin, the competition this year was open to students from The Pennington School as well as area independent schools; The Peddie School and The Lawrenceville School also took part. All performances were presented on our fabulously restored Steinway model C grand piano, donated by a generous parent a couple of years ago.
The Grand Prix winner was Lawrenceville's Siraphob Wanavejkul, who also took the honors for the best performance of a Romantic Period work. The Best Bach Award was given to Lawrenceville's Noah Laubach, while the Best Romantic Era Award was won by Pennington’s Yiwei “Vicky” Zhu ’22. The judges for the competition were a former teacher of Sahin's, Dr. Clipper Erickson, and a distinguished alumnus of The Pennington School, Dr. Wei-Han Wu ’01.
Erickson is a teacher at the Westminster Conservatory of Rider University in Princeton and also serves on the piano faculty of Temple University. He is known in the area as a great concert pianist with frequent appearances on WWFM, The Classical Network hosted by Mercer County Community College. He was a student at The Juilliard School of Music, Yale University, and Indiana University before moving to Morrisville, PA.
Wu specializes in new music, currently serving as the pianist of the Switch Ensemble, which performs primarily electroacoustic music (live music mixed with recorded sound). He also works as a vocal coach and accompanist in the Washington, DC, area. After graduating from Pennington, he went on to study piano performance and chamber music at Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and The Eastman School of Music before settling in Arlington, VA.
Pennington Alumni Host and Attend VIRTUAL GATHERINGS
Pennington alumni haven’t let this pandemic stop them from connecting with one another. Director of Alumni Relations Jane Bott Childrey ’89 quickly replaced some of the typical spring campus gatherings, like Alumni Weekend, with some new virtual events. Alumni were generous with their time and hosted virtual parties, conducted free online classes, and connected with classmates.
Pennington alumni also went virtual to rally around our senior class and held career panels over Zoom in May focused on Finance and Business, Arts, Environmental Science, Sports, and Medicine as part of the revamped Horizon Reach program. Alumni offered exposure to diverse potential career tracks and provided some real-world tools to help seniors prepare for college internships. Our collegeage alumni also stepped up and hosted a virtual “College Freshman Realities” session on lessons learned from their first year.
The best way to stay connected and learn more about these events (and even host your own) is to join us on social media, where we have popular Pennington alumni pages on LinkedIn and Facebook. We are grateful to all of our Pennington alumni who have joined in and supported one another. Our alumni community is strong and thriving—be sure to follow us on Instagram @penningtonalumni!
Yoga and Meditation
Christina McKitish Reinhardt ’02 (below) and Jesal Trivedi ’07 (above) have been offering the Pennington community free weekly online yoga and meditation classes, respectively. These have offered some muchneeded relaxation and deep breathing and have spurred some new friendships and connections.
Swim Team Reunion
Swim Coach George Ward ’88 hosted an alumni swim team online reunion, where 26 attendees from over twenty years of swimming, including swim team alumna Carly Deeter ’12 (pictured below), joined together to share swim stories and hear the latest updates on the pool renovations and swim program.
ASCP Speaker
Ashley Disbrow Hood ’10, who lives in Texas and has her Ph.D. in astrophysics, spoke on May 18 to Pennington’s Applied Science Certificate Program students in the virtual classroom, an opportunity that resulted from her attending the online yoga class and connecting with Pennington staff.
Sean Cavin ’98 (pictured here) has hosted weekly “Only the Excellent” happy hours for the classes of 1998 and 1997. Maurice Hallett ’92 and Kimberly Borden Perri ’92 hosted a Class of 1992 reunion over Zoom and had so much fun they think they will do it again soon.
