The Pingry Record - June 2017

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VOLUME CXLI, NUMBER 6

JUNE 11, 2017

The Pingry School, Basking Ridge, New Jersey

COMMENCEMENT 2017

Traveling Abroad And Exploring At Home:

Seniors Embrace ISPs

By ALYSSA CHEN (V), RACHEL CHEN (V), ALEXIS ELLIOT (V), MEGAN PAN (V), SHRUTI SAGAR (V), MARIAM TRICHAS (V), ALLIE VERDESCA (V), MIRO BERGAM (IV), AND KETAKI TAVAN (IV)

After completing their classes in early May, seniors pursured Independent Senior Projects (ISPs). These projects ranged from selling beef jerky to translating for Syrian refugees, and allowed seniors to explore their interets in the final onths of their high school careers.

Music Working with Dr. Moore and Chris Messineo, the owner and director of the NJ Film School, James Robertson produced several raw scores for student fil s ade at the NJ Film School in New Providence, NJ. Working in the recording rooms at Pingry, James drew upon previous experience in music theory, vocal performance, piano,

percussion, arrangement, and music softwares to present his scores to the student producers.

Hoping to gain insight on music careers and building upon her experiences playing violin and attending Pingry’s AP Music Theory course, Tracy Cooper aided the music teachers at the Short Hills campus by teaching strings, voice, recorder, music theory, and music history. Along with learning how to play the recorder, she worked closely with music teachers Mrs. Finn, Mr. Berdos, and Mrs. Whelan to prepare classes.

Working under Pingry jazz director Mr. McAnally and hoping to build upon his passion for music, Sandeep Biswas spent his time recording drum covers at Pingry.

Along with practicing and recording drum covers, he studied jazz history, attended live concerts, and learned about Audio/Visu-

al equipment by studying the A/V systems in both Macrae Theater and Hauser Auditorium.

For his ISP, Neel Sambamurthy wrote and recorded music for SAMBA, a new album containing a mix of rock, pop and a in uences and for which he played the electric guitar, bass, and keyboard. Along with working with Dr. Moore who guided his songwriting and practice at Pingry, he collaborated with fellow senior and singer James Robertson and his own guitar teacher to produce the music.

Continuing their successful collaboration in music production, Miles LeAndre and Christopher Varvaro wrote, recorded, edited, and produced several tracks at the recording rooms in Pingry. Both hoping to expand their experience in Hip Hop music, Miles focused on writing rap lyrics and rhythms while

SENIOR REFLECTIONS COLLEGE PLACEMENT P. 2—5

P. 11

Chris focused on creating instrumental tracks and producing.

Brendan Raimann and Ethan Blum worked together to compose and produce an EP focusing on experimental instrumental rock. Aiming to create usic that is in uenced by favorite artists but is also unique, much of their project included brainstorming and experimenting with different sounds and melodies to push their limits of musical creativity.

Jack Schiffman learned how to play the trumpet and studied jazz music and its history. He spent the majority of his time at Pingry learning and practicing the trumpet, while the rest of his time was devoted to studying jazz by visiting museums and attending live performances in New York City. For the ISP showcase, he recorded several jazz classics on the trumpet, supplemented with tenor saxophone.

Drama

SENIOR AWARDS P. 8-10

Inspired by her love of drama and American history, Maddy Shilts created a documentary about the Marquis de Lafayette and the battles in which he fought during the American Revolution. Visiting different places in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Shilts gained experience in scripting, directing, and fil ing in the process of making her documentary.

Katharine Matthias worked on a multifaceted project that encompassed many different areas and areas of collaboration in the theatrical artistic process. Additionally, she acted in and helped build the set for the play Ballyturk that fellow senior Jessie McLaughlin directed.

Finally, she expanded her knowledge of postmodern themes by reviewing postmodern art and shows in New York City.

Propelled by the inspiration she gained from viewing allytur for the first time on a family trip in

DEPARTING FACULTY P. 12-15

ISP

Ireland, Jessie McLaughlin directed, designed, and produced an all-female production of Ballyturk, a play written by Enda Walsh. She drew upon her experiences acting in two previous ISP drama productions and four years of Pingry productions to learn how to stage a play for the first ti e Cinematography Michael Gu developed his skills in animation and video development by creating several short animations in various genres.

Working under the mentorship of Mr. Boyd, Michael stayed at Pingry and learned new techniques in animation as well as in video editing that expanded his previous self-taught skills in animation.

Matt San Miguel and Eddie Dugan created a documentary on the psychological effects of concussions on athletes.

To research the subject,

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Continued on Page 16

SPORTS P. 20

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THE PINGRY RECORD

EDITORIAL

What Pingry Taught Me About Designing My Life

Having been at Pingry since fourth grade, making it a total of nine years being a part of the Pingry community, it feels strange writing this editorial knowing that it will be my last one in The Record. Next fall, I will no longer be at the Basking Ridge campus Mondays to Fridays from 8:05am to 3:30pm, watching the leaves on the trees slowly change from a leafy green to crispy brown and red color.

During these nine years, I have learned a lot more about who I am and what I want to do with my life. Pingry has taught me the amazing benefits of using an agenda, as well as the importance of the Honor Code. Most importantly, it has helped me grow. I feel like freshman year Katie was quite different from present-day senior year Katie.

Where I used to view the world in black and white, right or wrong, I’ve come to realize that it is so important to take the time to understand other people and listen to their diverse perspectives and experiences, that there are varieties of ways to approach problems rather than there being only one “right” way, and that there are endless possibilities in this world – you are in charge of your own future, so make it as colorful as you would like it to be! Also, I cannot stress enough how important it is to take time for yourself every day, even when it seems like you are juggling one hundred different responsibilities.

I have learned two lessons at Pingry that I will always carry with me wherever I go. The first lesson is to not be afraid to reach out to teachers. A quote I love is, “A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” For me, interacting with teachers used to be a formidable task; I remember being a shy middle school student who wasn’t always comfortable using my Conference Periods to ask my teachers questions. However, when I look back, I know that many of my teachers were there to help me learn and grow as a student and a person. In fourth grade (my first year at Pingry), Mr. Buckley welcomed me with open arms and helped me transition into my new home. In fifth grade, Dr. Pearlman made me think of school differently; it wasn’t a place to take tests and recite facts, but a place to learn, grow, and believe in myself – and have fun all at the same time! In sixth grade, as Mr. Pearlstein talked about the novels and plays that my class read, I remember sitting in his classroom, looking at the world with curious eyes and hoping to one day travel to each of the destinations that we read about.

In high school, Mrs. O’Mara became the teacher, mentor, and best friend I will cherish for the rest of my life. Although biology was probably one of the hardest classes that I took, she was there with me every step of the way and never gave up on me even when I was struggling and felt confused. Mr. Thomson always brightened up my day and taught me not to care too much about the little things because everything is going to be okay in the end. Ms. Yu, my Chinese teacher, wholeheartedly cared about every single one of her students with her kind, thoughtful personality. Dr. Dickerson always created the best space where I felt comfortable speaking up and discussing my ideas about the books we read. Dr. Artis not only opened my mind about diversity and acceptance, but has constantly been there for me if I ever needed support or advice. And, of course, Dr. Dineen (without whom the Commencement issue would not be in your hands right now) taught me the importance of creating uality work and writing pieces that are meaningful.

There are so many teachers that I haven’t mentioned who have guided and helped shape me into the person that I am today, and I am eternally grateful for all of them.

The second lesson I have learned is to do what I am wholeheartedly passionate about. Last summer, my mom introduced a book to me called Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. It got me thinking about how I can create a life where I feel fulfilled, and I started following some of this advice this past year. here I used to go with the flow and take classes even if they did not interest me in the slightest, being exposed to many different subjects has helped me realize what I love. I now know I am a humanities student more than a STEM student, so know that during my college years (and after), I will choose courses accordingly.

My advice to underclassmen is to navigate high school giving your best effort both academically and socially without forgetting what makes you “tick.”

I will always be grateful for my years at Pingry, and I will miss my teachers and friends very much. Thank you to everyone at school, and of course, my parents, grandparents, and family for being there for me and teaching me so much. I am going to miss Pingry so much!

—Katie

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SENIOR REFLECTIONS June 11, 2017

Bidding Goodbye to My Memories of “Home”

By JULIA DANNENBAUM (VI)

It’s no secret that I am very emotional about our coming graduation, as I spent my last day of classes walking through the halls with a red face and puffy eyes. In fact, the idea of graduating from Pingry has been making me cry since before senior year even started. I even put off writing this reflection because I knew I would start crying the minute I started thinking about it (and I did).

Our graduation marks the end of my thirteen years at Pingry, and, clearly, I am heartbroken over it.

Although I am definitely ready for high school to be over, I can’t help but feel the loss of everything that I’m leaving behind.

What I’m leaving behind is my home. Since I was four years old, I have spent the majority of my days at Pingry with the Class of 2017, truly feeling a part of the community. Pingry was where I grew up, where I learned and had fun, had good days and bad days. It’s hard to believe that I have to say goodbye to such a huge part of my life.

It’s not just the school and the memories that I will be leaving behind, but more importantly the people and beliefs that made me who I am today. My growth over

the last thirteen years was greatly influenced by my Pingry experience. I started out as a little troublemaker who was disruptive in class and mean to other kids. I couldn’t tell you why this was the case, other than the fact that I seemed to be an angry child, but I genuinely believe that my teachers and the Honor Code helped steer me away from being a

I needed to start becoming my own, happy person. I will forever be grateful and appreciative of them, and to all of my teachers, who have taught me, guided me and supported me over the years.

For thirteen years, I have spent every day in a community built on the foundation of the Honor Code.

The Honor Code fosters a community of respectful,

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troublemaker to growing in the right direction.

My second and third grade teachers gave me constant and unconditional support whenever I was having a hard time (which was most of the time) or whenever I was doing something well. Their support gave me the confidence

kind, and honorable people. After spending all of my time talking to them, learning from them and being with them, I have become one of them. I am so fortunate to have had the Honor Code as a foundation of my values and beliefs that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Over the years, however, I have been most influenced by the people at Pingry.

Every day I am inspired by completely different people because the student body is so diverse and is made up of extraordinary people, thus making me a very ambitious person. That being said, it is very important in such a community to find your ‘people,’ the people who get you, love you and support you. My first two years of high school were rough, to say the least, and I have realized that it’s because I mostly went through them alone.

Though junior and senior year were a lot more stressful, they were so much more enjoyable because I had my ‘people’ by my side the whole time. The idea of leaving my ‘people’ is the most difficult thing for me to grasp because I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without them.

I have genuinely enjoyed every single day I spent at Pingry and would not change the past thirteen years in any way. I am so thankful for every moment I spent, every person I met and everything that I learned along the way because each memory played a role in my growth. I could not be more happy to be who I am today, and I owe it all to Pingry.

No Ordinary High School With No Ordinary People

By WILL DIGRANDE (VI)

et me preface my reflection with my first memories of Pingry. iving about five minutes away, my family and I would often drive by and my dad would energetically say, “It’s the Pingry School!” Little did I know how the school would impact me just a few years down the road.

Going to public school all my life before coming to Pingry meant my transition was doubly challenging: first, I had to adjust to high school (which is already a daunting task) and second, I had to adjust to a private school where two-thirds of the grade had known each other for at least middle school and maybe even longer. However, since my first day I knew Pingry was different from any ordinary high school.

Academically, it was refreshing to have a schedule in which free time was built into every day and to have teachers who encour-

aged students to see them outside of class. But what really stood out to me was the students. On my first day, I didn’t know anybody at lunch, so I sat down by myself at a vacant table. To my surprise, another freshman and her friends not only sat down beside me but also actually started talking to me. I had entered a world where people weren’t afraid to go out of their comfort zone regardless of what others thought, and I loved it.

Something I have always appreciated has been the varied pedagogy of my teachers. English assignments have included both traditional papers and the notorious yet iconic bboards.

A favorite game of mine was in Spanish class when Señora Godfrey played a slideshow of verbs with subjects and you had to stand and shout the correct conjugation before the next slide appeared. Mr. Leone’s math lessons included shout-outs to Quiz Bowl and the ever-present banana with a monocle. A class I

took almost by accident, Dr. Murray’s Postwar American Culture, in which we studied post-WWII society through literature, history, and media, turned out to be one of my favorites because of how unique the curriculum was. These different approaches to learning changed my perspectives on school, and for the first time, they made me feel like what I learned in class was both substantial and meaningful.

Some advice I would give to underclassmen would be to explore everything because you never know what clubs, activities, or sports you may have a passion for if you shy away from new experiences. Like the stereotypical freshman, I at my first club fair signed up for more clubs than I would ever have time for, but I found a few I could really contribute to and stick with for all four years. This can apply to you even as you get older.

When a friend mentioned that the wrestling team was in need of a manager my sophomore

year, I was hesitant to commit to such a big responsibility.

Three successful seasons later, being on the sidelines of every match remains one of the fondest memories I will take from high school. Likewise, I considered writing for the Pingry Record as a freshman, but only acted on my ideas as a junior, and while I wish I got started earlier, it was still an activity in which I had a genuine role to play.

As I move on from Pingry, I want to focus on all the kind and supportive people I met here, from the teachers and fellow students I see every day to the unsung heroes around campus like the school counselors and the SAGE dining staff. Whether I was cheering for my peers or being cheered for, cramming with friends for a test or simply eating lunch, I never felt alone but rather part of a larger community and even a family. I will cherish all of the relationships I made in these four years, and don’t worry, I’ll definitely be back to visit!

VOLUME CXLII

NUMBER

Copy Editors Alyssa Chen Will DiGrande Alexis Elliot Mackinley Taylor Mariam Trichas Yelena Salvador Ketaki Tevan Miroslav Bergam Felicia Ho

Editor-in-Chief Katie Ho Rising Editors-in-Chief Rachel Chen Megan Pan Photo Editors Brooke Murphy Tyler Williams

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Layout Editors

Mary Nussbaumer (Director) Ryan Fuentes

Faculty Advisor Dr. Dineen Layout Advisor Mr. Varnes

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THE PINGRY RECORD

SENIOR REFLECTIONS June 11, 2017

3

Comfort is Overrated: Don’t Be Afraid to Take Risks

By GABE GEVER (VI)

Over the past few years, I’ve become accustomed to hearing the words “I can’t wait to get the hell out of this place” on a daily basis. Sometimes I’ll respond with something along the lines of “it’s not that bad” or “it could be worse.”

Other times, I’ll laugh and express a similar sentiment. As someone who hates conflict, the latter scenario feels much more comfortable. However, if Pingry has taught me one thing, it’s that comfort is overrated.

More on that later.

Before I start my spiel, I’m just going to come right out and say it: I love Pingry.

I genuinely believe that I am one of the luckiest people in the world to have had the opportunity to learn from such brilliant faculty and engage with equally brilliant

students every day for the past thirteen years. Also, I’m just going to throw this out here, I promise Pingry is not paying me to write an article about what a gift a Pingry education is. Pingry, like every academic institution, isn’t perfect. But, if you ask me, it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.

I probably won’t understand the extent to which Pingry has shaped me until years from now. That being said, I have learned some lessons that I am aware of and grateful for. Pingry taught me to speak out. Whether in the classroom, in Pingry Politics meetings, or from the bench of the boys’ soccer team, your voice matters.

Even though speaking out is weird and scary, it’s the times when we challenge

conventional beliefs, support our friends in need, or even ask simple questions that we learn and grow.

I will never forget the first day of AP Spanish with Señor Nazario. He told us that the most important thing we could possibly do all year in his class was raising our hands. “When you raise your hand,” he shouted at the fifteen trembling juniors who all felt in over their heads, “you take an academic risk. And that’s where the magic happens.” Sitting down, paying attention, and taking notes is great, but the real learning comes when you summon up the courage to speak out in front of your teacher and peers.

On a similar note, don’t be afraid of doing something different. I’m talking about

something bigger than not wearing Vineyard Vines or trying out for the musical on a whim, although all that stuff is great. Before I spent the first semester of my sophomore year in the Swiss Alps, I was terrified. I was missing the soccer season, the Buttondowns assembly, and all of

that juicy sophomore gossip. Pingry could not have been more encouraging. It’s easier to continue on the conveyer belt of education (elementary school, middle school, high school, college) than to step off it and try something new.

Nothing life-changing ever came easy.

Finally, don’t take yourself too seriously and have fun. Pingry is a serious place full of serious people. Every once and a while, it’s important to take a step back and remember that we’re all teenagers. We might as well enjoy ourselves now before it’s too late.

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Celebrating “Pingry People” and an Exceptional Community

By ZACH KELLER (VI)

As I think back on my thirteen years at Pingry, I realize there is a lot that makes us unique. Forget one squash court- we have eight! Our new block schedule is pretty cool, even if I did occasionally go to the wrong lunch as a senior. We even have a clock tower with a library inside. As a proud ‘lifer,’ I can also speak to the uniqueness of the Short Hills campus, even if a lot has changed since my time there. We had cake walks, fun fairs, and field days that would make any other elementary school jealous. But what really distinguishes Pingry, the one thing that separates it from all the others, is the people—the students, the faculty, the administrators, the coaches,

and the facilities crew.

They are the reason I came to Pingry in the first place, loved it during my thirteen years as a student, and will miss it once I officially become an alumnus in a few short weeks.

awesome teachers. I still miss circle-time, naptime, lunchtime, and generally all activities that end with the word “time.” I recently visited the Short Hills campus to help out with (OK, participate in) field day. Talking

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What better place to start than my kind e rg a r t e n t e a c h e r s ?

Ms. Previti and Ms. Steinman were and are

with Ms. Previti and Ms. Steinman about the good old days and reminiscing about recess, I was struck by

both their professionalism and their passion for teaching. I found myself enjoying our conversation as much as I enjoyed kindergarten thirteen years earlier. I shouldn’t have been surprised—Pingry people are exceptional.

The same has been true of teachers at all levels of my Pingry education. Whether I was in the Lower, Middle, or Upper School, it always felt like I connected with my teachers in a way that made class time interesting and enjoyable. From kindergarten with Ms. Previti and Ms. Steinman to Math 6 with Trem, class has never featured a dull moment. I see the same professionalism and care in the coaches, administrators, counselors, faculty, and staff who helped bring the

Pingry experience to life for me.

Pingry adults are great, but Pingry students are the best.

All of my favorite memories at Pingry are connected to my classmates and friends: Julia Dannenbaum destroying the pull up bar during the third grade fitness tests, Miles LeAndre killing his middle school 70’s slang presentation, and Ollie Martin giving color commentary to a rowdy crowd at the student-faculty basketball game are just a few of the many great moments I will cherish from my time here.

Pingry students possess a truly rich and wonderful combination of talents, personalities, and traits that would be cut short if I tried to describe them in just a couple words.

Even with all the shiny,

new athletic centers and collaboration spaces, I believe Pingry still stands out the most because of its students.

One of the songs we would sing in Mrs. Finn’s lower school music class had a chorus line that went: “Pingry School’s the place to be, come be a Pingry kid.” To me, “Pingry kid” is one of the highest honors you can bestow upon someone. It means you have all the qualities that come with being an active member of this great community. I hope that years from now, people will remember me as a real Pingry kid.

So for all of you that have yet to graduate, remember to enjoy your time surrounded by some world-class Pingry people.

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THE PINGRY RECORD

SENIOR REFLECTIONS June 11, 2017

The Story of “Adfreisory”: the Superb Six

By NANCY LU (VI)

When I reminisce upon my several years at Pingry, academics is the last thing that pops into my mind; rather, I envision glimpses of smiles, scintillating peals of laughter echoing through the narrow Upper School corridors, and blurry samples of conversations - both charming and painfully awkward - that have transformed me and will continue to change who I am for the rest of my life.

I have an amazing advisory. With Mr. Freiwald as our spearhead, those six kids - Jake Moss, Clay Galiardo, Jack Smith, Gabe Gever, Sonia Wong, and Gabby Obregon - have become a second family to me, and they have loved and looked after me when not even my closest friends were there. It hasn’t always been that way, though; I didn’t enter our advisory in freshman year with very optimistic feelings. Jake, Clay, Jack, Gabe, and Sonia

all seemed so close with each other already that I felt out of place. Me, the weird artsy kid, getting along with such charming and talented classmates? Nope.

Even as school dragged onwards, our arguments over advisory snack made me feel even worse. I didn’t want to isolate myself even further by being such a snarky, sarcastic and unpleasant person. I prepared myself for 2 years of utterly failed attempts at conversation, hoping that my next advisory could be a place where I’d be more comfortable in my own skin. As a senior, I laugh at old myself - each of those kids was a precious human being with hopes, dreams, fears, and flaws just like me. Slowly, I began feeling so much more comfortable making jokes, listening to

random rap and electronic music, sharing snippets of my life and testing my baking skills on them. At the end of sophomore year, I loved my group so much that

superb squad - Gabby!

She was also quite close with the other members, so I was afraid of being marginalized again. Now, I’m ecstatic that whoever decided

when we brought up the idea of staying with our Adfreisory for another 2 years, I hopped on the bandwagon without a second thought.

In junior year, we gained another lovely face in our already

to put her in our advisory made that decision, because she only added to the joy and satisfaction I’d felt from the first two years of being with my advisory. We became even closer, closer than I could ever

imagine would happen with such different kids being put into a group at random.

I got into college at 3:00 PM on December 15th, 2016. At 3:03, I hopped into my car and drove to Pingry to break the good news - when I pulled into the senior lot and bolted out of my car, I saw a group of six kids preparing to enter one of their cars, presumably to go some where N. u ( I) those were MY six kids, I realized after seeing Jake’s and Clay’s tall builds. After screaming at them from across the parking lot that I was accepted, all six of them piled on top of me in a big bear hug.

They’d actually been

preparing to drive to my house and see how I was after my decision, since I had told them the exact date and time of the news a bit earlier. You’ll only find an amazing group of people like that once in a blue moon, but as long as you strive to open up your heart and mind to new experiences, you’ll encounter them for sure.

To whoever is reading this right now: I don’t know if I have ever spoken to you in person before, during my eight years total at the Pingry school, but I want to thank you for being a part of my life here, in these walls - I love you for you, and never stop being a gem sparkling in the darkness of uncertainty.

If you ever see me at college, at Pingry, or even in a supermarket, please come and talk to me about anything. It’s never too late to start a little bit of forever, and watch it blossom into a beautiful tree of lifelong love, understanding, and companionship.

Lost in Transition: Four Years of Finding My Genuine Self

By KATHARINE MATTHIAS (VI)

Pingry has been a potpourri of spontaneous, poignant moments within a rigorous, structured routine. Looking back at these four short years, I have had the chance to open up, discover, and deepen my understanding of the world around me.

At the beginning of my Pingry experience, I was lost. Readjusting to America after spending four years at an international school was extremely difficult. I felt like I had found who I was in 8th grade (ha!), and, just at this moment, I had to leave my comfort zone yet again.

The transition was extremely difficult.

From my perspective, it seemed like everyone had figured out how to follow the same set of rules from a rulebook I did not own. In my state of discomfort at the beginning of freshman year, I buried myself into books and waited for high school to pass. I don’t look back and discredit my feelings from that time, but, if possible, I would go back to tell myself, “Hey, Katharine, I know you

are not feeling great right now, but just remember transition is hard. Little do you know: lots and lots of people are going through the same thing you are feeling right now.”

Even though I look back and laugh at my past (especially when I travel through the archives of my Facebook photos and find the one of my sister Allie and I standing, half-smiling and angst-ridden, holding up our “Night in Our Stars” posters for the movie premiere of The Fault in Our Stars), there is still validity to the emotions I felt then. Truly, experiencing those emotions is what has gotten me to where I am today.

Pingry Drama was a turning point in my freshman year and continues to influence my outlook on the world. It

forced me to come out of my shell and evolve my past self. In both the drama department and summer drama programs, I was pushed into situations that made me uncomfortable. I was encouraged to push past the discomfort and look for the light at the end of the tunnel of anxiety.

Whether it was playing an introverted (semi-murderous !)

hairdresser in Midsummer Jersey, a prostitute in Cabaret, an old woman in ‘Night, Mother, or a naive ingénue in Curtains, having the opportunity to be both vulnerable and confident while playing these many different characters has been absolutely invaluable. I am so grateful for the entire faculty of the drama department—Mr. Romano,

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Mrs. Romankow, Mrs. Asch, Mr. Ballintyn, and Mrs. Wheeler—for giving me the opportunity to express myself and grow throughout these years at Pingry.

Friendships (with both teachers and peers) have been integral as well.

I learned not to take myself too seriously while bouncing around the hallways, talking to

Jessie McLaughlin and Connor Beard about the latest SNL skit. I learned to push myself to work harder and think creatively thanks to all of my teachers. Thank you so much to my family for supporting me through my time here.

Thank you to all of my friends for encouraging me to find my vulnerable, goofy, genuine self throughout high school.

Earlier this year, after getting into college, Mr. Romano sent me an email that quoted a line from the senior play, Smokefall: “This is your life, notice it, hold it and be grateful.”

No words can truly express how thankful I am for all of my high, low, and in-between Pingry moments. To the Class of 2017, congratulations and Godspeed! Take a moment and notice where your life is now.

Appreciate the good and the bad, and, as you move forward, look for experiences that will allow you to grow, evolve, and leave your comfort zone.

To everyone that has made these whirlwind four years possible, I am so profoundly grateful.

THE PINGRY RECORD

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SCHOOL NEWS June 11, 2017

Developing a Stronger Voice Geared Toward Advocacy

By GABBY OBREGON (VI)

Ever since I was little, I have been taught to put others’ needs and opinions before my own.

Since my dad was in the military and my mom worked at a church, serving others and putting others before oneself has always been emphasized in my household.

This way, I could be selfless, respectful, and helpful. I went through life with the sole purpose of pleasing others because I thought it was for the best, and this ended up overshadowing my opinions and suppressing my voice. I did not notice that I was on a road to sabotaging myself until I got to high school.

A few major family events, including the fostering of my sister, forced me to alter my perspective on life, and ultimately mature. As I entered high school, I came with a more

open mind, a kinder and gentler attitude, as well as a stronger voice—one that was geared toward advocacy. The environment that Pingry fosters helped me maintain these qualities throughout high school, helping me to mature even more, develop my unique voice, and assert my opinions in a respectful manner.

Pingry taught me to be independent and strong, which are the qualities I needed in a time of transition. To keep up with the academic rigor of the curriculum, I forced myself to become comfortable with asking an abundance of questions (particularly in math) to ensure that I understood the material, and frequently shared my opinion in English classes.

The nature of the Upper School taught me that I needed to advocate not only for myself, but for others as well. Pingry is not immune

to negative opinions about people who may dress or act differently, and I have made it a point to defend those people and create a more welcoming environment. My entire mentality changed as my four years in the Upper School went on, with the values that my parents instilled in me as well as the values that Pingry instilled in me resulting in an open, empathetic mind and an assertive yet respectful voice. I was no longer suppressing my voice and constantly putting others’ needs and opinions before my own. I finally found a balance in which I could define myself and express my opinions as well as help and respect others when they were in need.

That meant that in classes and within discussions with peers, I became less afraid of arguments and confrontations, and leaned into un-

comfortable and sensitive topics in order to state my opinion, all the while eagerly listening to others.

After the election, specifically, I became more interested in voicing my m o r e liberal opinions in my AP Government class, where most of my peers had more conservative views.

By challenging and questioning others within conversations, I was also challenging myself and re-evaluating my own beliefs, which ultimately helped me grow into the person I am today.

The most important thing I will take away from my time

at Pingry, particular- open-mindedness, ly my Upper School and strength. years, will be the Pingry has taught ability to listen to me that every per-

others and respect their views while stating mine as well.

The power of effective communication, the give and the take of conversing with someone, has given me so many skills that will serve me well later in life, including patience, empathy,

N. u ( I)

son you talk to has a story, and every conversation you walk away from carries a lesson with it. Branching out and talking to different people has made me kinder and more open to new ideas and voices, a lesson I expect to live by for the rest of my life.

A Year in Review: Being at the Helm of the “USS Honor”

By SEAN WANG (VI)

I was the quiet freshman and soupy dumpling connoisseur in an easygoing Honor Board, the sophomore who made the Facebook page (which you should check out) and the one who cried that one time in a meeting, the junior secretary who sometimes got a little too carried away with note taking, and now the senior in charge – the captain of the USS Honor Board.

Every now and then, I’m asked about what it’s like to be on Honor Board. Usually, the questions are about hearings. But, on the off shot that it’s actually more than about hearings, I respond with, “It’s made my Pingry career.” I could say that about all the other things I do, but the Honor Board is especially unique and has made me a leader of not just a small group, but of the entire school.

In the beginning of the school year, I had a sit-down conversation with Mr. Ross about plans and goals for the Honor Board this year. One of those goals was for me to take greater control of running meetings and sending out emails about meeting details the night before. It’s not a particularly major responsibility, but I appreciated the task. I loved planning out my emails and talking with Mr. Ross about advice and plans for the next meeting. I remember one October night that I spent planning out my email for the next morning’s meeting while slogging miles on the treadmill; I remember thinking to myself how incredible it was that I was given the chance to

and January, we returned to to have confidence and take practice cases and had some of pride in my work: the tough the year’s hardest discussions. conversations, student-led In February, one of our soph- projects, group discussions, omores, Drew, spearheaded and of course – the bagels the official Honor Board page eaten. Whether it was speakfor the Pingry website, and ing to the sea of students and I spoke with Student Body faculty at morning meeting or President Zach Keller at the telling the Board of Trustees Board of Trustees meeting. As more about the Honor Board crazy as it sounds, we started of today’s Pingry, it was reasplanning for the next school suring to know that I believe year in March and April. in my abilities and that I had For all the progress we peers, friends, faculty, and my made, I still have my regrets: 7:30AM crew – the Honor the Middle/Lower School Board - believing in me too. activity I didn’t get around to To my fellow Honor Board doing, the people I didn’t get members of the present and to interview for my Honor past, thank you for helping Code Podcast ISP, and the me become the person I am missed faculty-student speak- today. And to my Pingry Class ers. Sometimes, I still wonder of 2017 classmates, thank you N. u ( I) if I was the right person for the for being the best class a guy Lecture Series Speaker, Dr. political atmosphere at Pingry job and if I made the impact I could ever ask for and for lead the Honor Board.

There’s no real training John Root Wolpe. In No- and later planned to address really wanted. What this year being a part of my life, big or to becoming a chairperson, vember, we talked about the the student body. In December taught me as chairperson was small. See you star side. so I presume that experience is unique. Personally, what I didn’t expect was the doubt.

I frequently found myself having second thoughts about Form VI Form V Form IV my abilities. I asked myself: What’s the real conversation Class President: Burke Pagano surrounding the Honor Code? Student Body President: Michael Class President: Andrew Cowen Weber Am I a good leader to my fellow Honor Board mem- Class President: Josie Cummings Vice President: Brian Li Vice President: Matt Keller bers? Does what I do actually Vice-President: Jackie Chang matter? These questions kept me up at night. I worried that Stuart Clark Miro Bergam Rachel Chen our work was all for naught, and that our meetings were Eve Gilbert just venues for fourteen kids Felicia Ho Malcolm Fields and Mr. Ross to eat bagels and shoot the breeze at 7:30 in the Roger Matthews morning.

Ethan Malzberg Maddie Parrish As the months rolled by, I got to watch some members James Wang help lead group activities in Allie Matthias Channing Russell September. In October we developed a lesson plan for a Alexandra (Ola) Weber Leo Zhu freshman peer group activity Max Sanchez as a follow up to the Hanly

Congratulations, New Stud Gov Members!

Tyler Williams

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THE PINGRY RECORD

SENIOR PAGES

JUNE 11, 2017

“Earnest, Motivated, and Talented” Seniors to Attend 67 Schools

By ALLIE VERDESCA (V)

The senior class of 2017 made formidable college admission records this year, applying to a total of 182 colleges and universities and attending 67 different schools in the fall. Out of the class of 138 students, 95% applied early decision in some form with 81% of these applicants being accepted to their early application school.

Each student applied to roughly 11 schools on average.

17% of Pingry se-

niors were recruited for athletics. There were 12 waitlist acceptances from schools including Bucknell, Cornell, ehigh ( ), University of Michigan, Northwestern, Notre Dame ( ), University of Richmond, Vanderbilt, Washington University, and Wesleyan.

Fifty-five colleges and universities offered three or more acceptances to Pingry students, including all eight Ivy League universities. Pingry students were ac-

cepted to 17 schools which are “new” to the Class of 2017: Albany College of Pharmacy, Allegheny College, Butler University, UC Santa Cruz, Caltech, Carleton College, Centenary, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, MIT, Pomona, Purd u e U n i v e r s i t y, Rhodes College, University of the Sciences (Philadelphia), Seton Hall, and Southern Methodist University.

Acceptances hit

new five-year highs at schools such as Brown ( ), Bucknell ( ), Cornell ( 4), Michigan ( ), Rice (3), U A (8), assar (4), ake Forest ( ), and illiam & Mary ( 0).

New five-year highs were also set for the number of Pingry students applying to Fordham ( 0), eorgetown ( ), eorgia Tech ( ), Indiana University at Bloomington (4), University of Maryland ( 0), Tufts ( ), and illanova ( ).

Director of Col-

lege Counseling, Mr. Lear, described this year’s seniors as “earnest, motivated, and talented.”

Mrs. Cooperman acknowledged how the seniors’ “passions are evident in their college choices, whether that might mean pursuing a specialized equine therapy program at one school, attending renowned theatre and art schools, going to a university for engineering or business, or finding that liberal arts school that can allow for

exploration of many different subjects and prepare one for a career in, well, anything!”

With such a diverse and talented class, it is no wonder that the Class of 2017 is one of the most successful classes in recent Pingry history in terms of college placement.

This year’s seniors have been set up for greatness in the next step of their educations, and the school offers its congratulations to the class of 2017.

Highlights:

Brown: Highest number ( ) accepted in five years Bucknell: Highest number ( ) accepted in five years Cornell: Highest number ( 4) accepted in five years Michigan: Highest number ( ) accepted in five years Rice: Highest number (3) accepted in five years U A: Highest number (8) accepted in five years assar: Highest number (4) accepted in five years ake Forest: Highest number ( ) accepted in five years illiam & Mary: Highest number ( 0) accepted in five years

THE PINGRY RECORD

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JUNE 11, 2017

7

College Placement

REID ALLINSON DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

PATRICK GILFILLAN BROWN UNIVERSITY

CAROLINE MARONE VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

NEEL SAMBAMURTHY TUFTS UNIVERSITY

JOSHUA BAUM BROWN UNIVE RSITY

WILLIAM GRAFF BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY

DIEGO MARROQUIN LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

MATTHEW SAN MIGUEL NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

CONNOR BEARD UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

JOHN GRAVES UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

OLIVER MARTIN KENYON COLLEGE

SAMUEL SCHERL HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ELLEN BEATTY LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

JOSHUA GREER CORNELL UNIVERSITY

EMMA CLAIRE MARVIN FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

JAMES SCHIFFMAN DUKE UNIVERSITY

ROSE BEATTY WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

MICHAEL GU SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

JULIA MASCH COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

ANISH SETH RUTGERS UNIVERSITY˜NEW BRUNSWICK

ADAM BERNSTEIN MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE

AKSHINA GUPTA CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

KATHARINE MATTHIAS PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

KARTIKEYA SHARMA BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY

HENRY BIEDRON KENYON COLLEGE

KATIE HO COLBY COLLEGE

JAKE MAYER PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

MADELEINE SHILTS RHODES COLLEGE

JAHNAI BINNS GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

KAI HOLSTON XAVIER UNIVERSITY

JESSIE MCLAUGHLIN RUTGERS UNIVERSITY˜NEW BRUNSWICK

JAKE SIMON CONNECTICUT COLLEGE

ALLYSON BISGAY WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

STEPHEN HRICKO NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

DAVID METZGER VASSAR COLLEGE

JOHN SMITH VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

SANDEEP BISWAS VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

DANIEL HUTT TUFTS UNIVERSITY

JOSHUA METZGER GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

KIARA SMITH DICKINSON COLLEGE

ETHAN BLUM CORNELL UNIVERSITY

OBIAJURU IKORO GETTYSBURG COLLEGE

LUCAS MONSERRAT BOWDOIN COLLEGE

SPENCER SPELLMAN PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

WILLIAM BOONE GETTYSBURG COLLEGE

EDWARD JOHNSON DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

JAMES MOORE˜GILLON CORNELL UNIVERSITY

CAROLINE STILLITANO UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

RIKKI BORKOWSKI COLGATE UNIVERSITY

AMY KAPLAN TUFTS UNIVERSITY

SOPHIE MORRIS COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

WESLEY STREICHER UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

RYAN BOYLAN UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

WILLIAM KAZEL LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

SARAH MOSESON MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

HEBA SYED UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

SOFIA BRIONES PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

ZACHARY KELLER HARVARD UNIVERSITY

JAKE MOSS UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

THOMAS TARANTINO MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE

ANDREW BROSIE BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY

ELIZA KIELTY UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

GREGORY NARATIL YALE UNIVERSITY

MACKINLEY TAYLOR JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

ALAINA BROTMAN LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

SHANNON KIRDZIK SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

CLAIRE O’MARA YALE UNIVERSITY

KAYLA THAU CENTENARY UNIVERSITY

CAMERON CAMPBELL COLGATE UNIVERSITY

JENNIFER KORN UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

MEGAN O’REILLY ELON UNIVERSITY

JAMES TOPOR UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

SIYU CAO UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

HENRY KRAHAM CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE

GABRIELLE OBREGON BARNARD COLLEGE

KATHERINE TREJO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

AMANDA CELLI THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

AKASH KUMAR CORNELL UNIVERSITY

MARY PAGANO GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

EMILY TUNG CORNELL UNIVERSITY

TRACY COOPER WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

CHRISTOPHER LACHENAUER UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

ELEANOR PALMER THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

AMANDA VAN ORDEN GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

CHARLOTTE CURNIN WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

JOHN LAURENT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

CHARLES PAPANDREOU DUKE UNIVERSITY

CHRISTOPHER VARVARO COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

STEPHEN DAIGLE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

MILES LEANDRE BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY

JAMES PARKER UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS

SEAN WANG COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

JULIA DANNENBAUM WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

RAENA LEBOURNE COLGATE UNIVERSITY

PARTH PATEL UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

VICTORIA WATSON CORNELL UNIVERSITY

LLOYD˜JAMES DAVIDSON SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

RICHARD LEGRAND WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY

MATTHEW PEACOCK WILLIAMS COLLEGE

JACOB WEISS HARVARD UNIVERSITY

WILLIAM DIGRANDE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

CECELIA LESNICK LAFAYETTE COLLEGE

JOSEPH POSSUMATO COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY

JACK WOLFSON TUFTS UNIVERSITY

FRANCIS DILLON SWARTHMORE COLLEGE

BRANDON LI BROWN UNIVERSITY

ADAM PRESENT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

SONIA WONG NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

EDWARD DUGAN TULANE UNIVERSITY

ELLEN LI PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

NICOLE PREZIOSI TULANE UNIVERSITY

SYDNEY WOODE OXFORD COLLEGE OF EMORY UNIVERSITY

TAYLOR DUPREE RUTGERS UNIVERSITY˜NEW BRUNSWICK

NATALIE LIFSON SKIDMORE COLLEGE

BRENDAN RAIMANN UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

WARREN YERMACK SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

SPENCER DURYEE VASSAR COLLEGE

WILLIAM LONG CORNELL UNIVERSITY

JASON RESNICK SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

E. BRETT ZANELLI UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

ANDREW EPIFANO NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

NANCY LU PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

SOPHIE RICCIARDI GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

JENNIFER ZHANG RUTGERS UNIVERSITY˜NEW BRUNSWICK

CLAYTON GALIARDO VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

LINDSEY LUBOWITZ NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

JAMES ROBERTSON CORNELL UNIVERSITY

BENJAMIN ZHOU YALE UNIVERSITY

OWEN GAYNOR ELON UNIVERSITY

JOHN LUCCIOLA UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

JULIA ROBINSON RICE UNIVERSITY

JEFFREY ZUCKER UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

GABRIEL GEVER DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

NATALIE LUCCIOLA VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

LAURYN RODNEY NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

PETER GILBERT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

MATTHEW LUDWIG UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

YELENA SALVADOR BROWN UNIVERSITY

as of June 5, 2017

THE PINGRY RECORD

8

SENIOR PAGES

JUNE 11, 2017

Senior Awards Academic Awards John R. Whittemore ‘47 Biology Award Benjamin Zhou Ernest C. Shawcross Chemistry Award Ellen Li Physics Award Ellen Li Science Book Award Joshua Metzger Science Research Award Claire O’Mara Science In Society Award Julia Dannenbaum, Sarah Moseson Whitlock Prize for Math Akash Kumar, Samuel Scherl Advanced Math Prize Claire O’Mara Computer Science Prize Brendan Raimann Economics Prize John Laurent, Jake Mayer Robotics Prize Anish Seth Union College Casmir A. France Award for Excellence in English Ellen Li, Samuel Scherl Paul H. and Sarah Rouslin Excellence in English Award Nancy Lu, Katharine Matthias Martin B. O’Connor ‘26 Journalism Award Katie Ho Yearbook Award Taylor Dupree, Lindsey Lubowitz, Nicole Preziosi Justin Society Award Competition Prize for a Body of Work: Oliver Martin Prize for Memoir: Cecelia Lesnick Prize for Ficton: Heba Syed Jean S. MacDonald History Prize Joshua Baum, Benjamin Zhou Psychology Prize Sophie Ricciardi Language Prize Chinese: Joshua Metzger French: Tracy Cooper German: Julia Robinson Latin: John Smith Spanish: Soÿa Briones, William DiGrande Chinese: John Laurent Advanced Language Prize French: Ellen Li, Neel Sambamurthy German: Edward Johnson Latin: Akash Kumar Spanish: Amy Kaplan, Katharine Matthias The DeGryse Prize in Modern European Languages Siyu Cao

Cum Laude Society John Laurent Ellen Li Nancy Lu Caroline Marone Katharine Matthias Jake Mayer Sarah Moseson Gregory Naratil Claire O’Mara

Joshua Baum Henry Biedron Siyu Cao Tracy Cooper Julia Dannenbaum William DiGrande Akshina Gupta Zachary Keller Akash Kumar

Parth Patel Matthew Peacock Sophie Ricciardi Yelena Salvador Wesley Streicher Sean Wang Victoria Watson Benjamin Zhou

National Merit Scholarship Program Commended Students Reid Allinson Joshua Baum Adam Bernstein Sandeep Biswas Ethan Blum Siyu Cao Tracy Cooper William DiGrande

Francis Dillon Joshua Greer Jennifer Korn Henry Kraham John Laurent Natalie Lifson William Long Nancy Lu

Julia Masch Jake Mayer Sarah Moseson Gregory Naratil Claire O’Mara Charles Papandreou Parth Patel Adam Present

Brendan Raimann Julia Robinson Samuel Scherl James Schi˜man Anish Seth Katherine Trejo Sean Wang Jacob Weiss Jennifer Zhang

National Merit Semiÿnalist Zachary Keller

National Merit Scholarship Finalists Akshina Gupta Daniel Hutt

Akash Kumar Brandon Li

Ellen Li Benjamin Zhou

National Merit Scholars Arts & Drama Director’s Award for Achievement in Dramatic Arts Katharine Matthias, Madeleine Shilts Drama Department Award for Musical Theatre Jessie McLaughlin Drama Department Award for Technical Theatre Katherine Trejo Michael E. Popp Photography Prize Amy Kaplan, Sophie Morris, Caroline Stillitano Brendan J. Donahue ’79 Memorial Prize for Fine Arts Nancy Lu Brendan J. Donahue ’79 Memorial Prize for Pottery and Sculpture Soÿa Briones, Edward Johnson Barbara Berlin Prize in Art History Emma Claire Marvin, James Parker, Adam Present

School Service and Leadership

Akash Kumar

Ellen Li

National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars Soÿa Briones Ethan Blum Gabrielle Obregon

Brendan Raimann Joshua Greer Joseph Possumato

Matthew San Miguel Katherine Trejo

Presidential Scholar Candidates

Joshua Baum Zachary Keller Benjamin Zhou Patrick Gilÿllan Akshina Gupta Ellen Li Christopher Lachenauer, Gabrielle Obregon Gabriel Gever, Megan O’Reilly Charlotte Curnin, Miles LeAndre Scholar-Athlete Awards Zachary Keller Cipriano Family Scholar-Athlete Award Sophie Morris, Jake Moss Somerset County Scholar-Athletes Jake Mayer, Mary Pagano Skyland Conference Julia Dannenbaum, Zachary Keller NJSIAA (State) Thomas Tarantino Special Awards NJISAA (Independent Schools) Sarah Moseson, Samuel Scherl The Pingry School Gift To Our AFS Student Luis Mora Ortiz Pingry School Parents’ Association Women’s Sports Award Mary Pagano Centennial Cup — Gift of the Class of ’61 Oliver Martin Sandy Apruzzese Big Blue Award Natalie Lucciola Athletics Awards Class of ’26 Reese Williams Award Francis Dillon Ellen Li C. B. Newton Pingry-Princeton Scholarship Prize Nancy Lu Girls’ Cross-Country Award Boys’ Cross-Country Award Thomas Tarantino The Elizabeth Allan Smith ‘83 Memorial Pingry-Duke Scholarship Prize James Schi˜man Lindsey Lubowitz Faculty Prize Kiara Smith, Kayla Thau Andrea Montague Field Hockey Award Ryan Boylan, Spencer Spellman Charles B. Atwater Valedictory Award Ellen Li Tom Boyer Football Award Michael Jupka, Jr., ’76 Football Award Clayton Galiardo Timothy C. Cornwall ’64 Boys’ Soccer Sportsmanship Award Joshua Greer, Obiajuru Ikoro, Henry Kraham Dick Gradwohl Boys’ Soccer Cup for Most Team Spirit Owen Gaynor, Oliver Martin, John Smith Advanced Placement Scholars Elizabeth Allan Smith ’83 Girls’ Soccer Award Rose Beatty, Natalie Lucciola John R. Du˜ ord, Jr. Tennis Trophy Wesley Streicher Ethan Blum Eliza Kielty Heba Syed Water Polo Award Henry Biedron Gabriel Gever Jennifer Korn Emily Tung Frank L. Romano Boys’ Basketball Award Lloyd-James Davidson John Graves Jake Mayer Victoria Watson Joe LaValley Boys’ Basketball Award Zachary Keller Akshina Gupta Charles Papandreou Brett Zanelli David M. Allan Memorial Girls’ Basketball Award Sarah Moseson Amy Kaplan James Robertson Virginia Nazario Fencing Award Parth Patel, Madeleine Shilts Varsity Boys’ Ice Hockey Award Gregory Naratil Girls’ Ice Hockey Award Sophie Morris Advanced Placement Scholars with Honor Girls’ Ski Team Award Amy Kaplan Boys’ Ski Team Award James Schi˜man Adam Bernstein John Laurent Gregory Naratil Girls’ Squash Team Award Julia Masch Sandeep Biswas William Long Julia Robinson Boys’ Squash Team Award Samuel Scherl Soÿa Briones Nancy Lu Mackinley Taylor Boys’ Swimming Award Patrick Gilÿllan Katie Ho Caroline Marone Benjamin Zhou Ashley G. Marsh and Family Swimming Award Julia Robinson Daniel Hutt Katharine Matthias Michael Jupka, Jr., ’76 Wrestling Award William DiGrande, Thomas Tarantino Girls’ Winter Track Award Allyson Bisgay Boys’ Winter Track Award Sean Wang Advanced Placement Scholars with Distinction Class of 1935 Graham Churchill Baseball Award John Laurent, Joseph Possumato Joshua Baum Brandon Li Anish Seth Girls’ Golf Award Kiara Smith Siyu Cao Matthew Ludwig Kartikeya Sharma Boys’ Golf Award Jake Mayer Zachary Keller Julia Masch Sean Wang Richard C. Weiler Boys’ Lacrosse Award Oliver Martin Akash Kumar Parth Patel Jacob Weiss Girls’ Lacrosse Sportsmanship Award Natalie Lucciola Ellen Li Yelena Salvador Pingry Girls’ Lacrosse Cup Mary Pagano Pingry Softball Award Madeleine Shilts Boys’ Tennis Award Joshua Metzger, Neel Sambamurthy National Advanced Placement Scholar Boys’ Track Award Thomas Tarantino, Sean Wang Richard G. Gradwohl Girls’ Track Award Allyson Bisgay, Julia Dannenbaum Akash Kumar Twelve Letter Award Henry Biedron, Mary Pagano, Thomas Tarantino

Michael Jupka, Jr. ‘76 Blue Key Award Community Service Award Paul R. Leary ‘90 Award John Taylor Babbitt ‘07 Award Student Government Achievement Award

Advanced Placement Scholar Designation based on 2016 testing

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JUNE 11, 2017

The 1902 Emblem

9

The Class of 1902 Emblem is awarded to Zachary Keller of the Class of 2017, who, while at The Pingry School, by the efficiency and the amount of service and loyalty of attitude has done the most for the school, and who has been judged therefore by schoolfellows and faculty to have shown of them all the greatest amount of school spirit.

The Class of 1902 Emblem represents the highest ideals of The Pingry School. The nominees chosen by their classmates and faculty are considered to embody the very principles of integrity and service that lie at the heart of the institution.

Thus, even to be nominated for this award is regarded as a paramount honor.

E, M Years at Pingry: 13 Trademark Characteristics: tall, passionate about cheese and CranGrape Juice Activities: Basketball, Baseball, Student Government, Politics Club, Debate College Plans: Yes Career Possibilities: Open to anything but an MD Favorite Memory at Pingry: Winning field day in fifth grade (it felt like a big deal) What I’ll Take Away: If I surround myself with the right people, the rest will take care of itself.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Don’t be a jerk- the relationships you make will outlast any grade you get or goal you score.

ZACHARY KELLER

The Magistri Laudandi Award

In every class, there is one student who graciously gives of him/herself to help the school and fellow students, who demonstrates a personal integrity and generosity that inspire the best in others. This person’s own achievements are many, yet his/her sense of purpose is to the greater good. While others may be identified as "the student most likely to succeed," this person is prized as "the student who helps all succeed.”

The Magistri Laudandi Award is awarded to Will DiGrande.

E, M

WILL DIGRANDE

Years at Pingry: 4 Trademark Characteristics: Smiley, outgoing, approachable, knowing random geography facts Activities: Quiz Bowl, Student Government, Pingry Record, Wrestling Team Manager, Peer Leadership College Plans: University of Pennsylvania Career Possibilities: My dream job is to be an ambassador or to work in the State Department; just basically to have a job that allows me to travel and make the world a better place.

Favorite Memory at Pingry: Hanging out in the Physics Wing for four years and playing games there like ping pong, four square, Risk, and Monopoly Deal What I’ll Take Away: The knowledge that even though times can be rough, it will get better if you keep going. I learned to not necessarily face my problems alone, but to ask for help if I need it.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Don’t be afraid to try new clubs and activities; find one or two you are passionate about and stick with them. It’s also great to see teachers, but make sure you schedule some free time into your day. Have friends you can cheer for and who can cheer for you.

10

THE PINGRY RECORD

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JUNE 11, 2017

Nominees for 1902 Emblem (E)

CONNOR BEARD E, M

Years at Pingry: 4 Tr a d e m a r k C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s : “YAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS”, regularly checks Disney theme park blogs, obsessed with taking photos of his dogs Activities: Fall play, winter musical, brings puppies to relieve stress during finals, founder of Humans of Pingry, proud peer leader, father of two doggos College Plans: University of Pennsylvania at the College of Arts and Sciences (go uakers)!

Career Possibilities: Disney CEO. Favorite Memory at Pingry: Playing Roberto Sudds aka the balcony in Midsummer/Jersey was the most fun I’ve ever had on stage. Other memorable moments include all of Cabaret, announcing the puppy room for the first time at morning meeting, the controversial junior year drama assembly, dressing up as Shrek and performing “Changes” at the lower school, watching puppy videos with Mr. Paton in advisory, and the peer leadership retreats freshman and senior year!

What I’ll Take Away: learning for the sake of learning What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Find a way to keep yourself from getting too stressed. If you see ways to make Pingry even better, take a chance and try to improve it! Try new things! Overall, I would say just be yourself!

SOFIA BRIONES M

JULIA DANNENBAUM E, M

KATIE HO M

Years at Pingry: 10 Trademark Characteristics: That science kid that laughs at all her own jokes Activities: iRT - Fly Team, Green Group, hanging out in Frei’s office College Plans: Trying to catch up on four years of missed sleep at Princeton (I hope... but not very likely...)

Career Possibilities: Doctors Without Borders Favorite Memory at Pingry: When the Blue Team finally won field day in th grade What I’ll Take Away: I’m a mexiCAN, not a mexiCAN’T What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Don’t spread yourself too thin, but remember to take advantage of all the wonderful things Pingry has to offer

Years at Pingry: 13 Trademark Characteristics: Pole vaulter, driven, genuine Activities: Journal Club, Anatomy Club, Track and Field, Summit First Aid Squad, Peer Leadership College Plans: Washington University in St. Louis Career Possibilities: Some type of surgeon or doctor; I plan to change the face of medicine.

Favorite Memory at Pingry: Walking up to the Lower School and shaking Mr. Corvino’s hand for the last time on my last day of fifth grade.

What I’ll Take Away: My time at Pingry has made me who I am today. Everything that Pingry has taught me over the past thirteen years, not just in the classroom, but about character, leadership and life in general I will have with me for the rest of my life.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: If you have an idea of something that you want to do at Pingry and are willing to put in the work to get it done, do it! Nobody can stop you from achieving your goals if you set your mind to it. Pingry is the best place ever! The support from faculty and peers is endless, so get as much out of your time here as you can.

Years at Pingry: 9 Trademark Characteristics: Positive, supportive, conscientious, loves hugs, naps, and food, lactose intolerant but eats ice cream on a regular basis Activities: Pingry Record, Yearbook, Writing Center, Peer Leadership, Student Diversity Leadership Committee, Blue Key, Lean In Club for Gender Equality College Plans: Colby College – I am so excited to take psychology, art history, political science, and English classes!

Career Possibilities: Working for the government/NGO/ non-profit organization, becoming a psychologist so I can listen to and help others, becoming a writer, and/or working in communications – I’m not sure what I will love to do yet!

Favorite Memory at Pingry: The Senior Retreat.

Talking to Mrs. O’Mara. Mr. Thomson and advisory, and Chinese class! Eating lunch with my best friends in the Pingry cafeteria.

What I’ll Take Away: Pingry has taught me that growth comes with time, and the only way to know how far you’ve come is to look back at where you started.

Courage doesn’t have to roar. Also, that I am the luckiest student in the world to be surrounded by some of the most amazing teachers – I love them so much!

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?:Learn and do what you love, take time for yourself every day, and surround yourself with people who lift you higher. Be grateful for what you have, read as many good books as you can, and try not to stress out too much because everything is going to be okay in the end :)

JESSIE MCLAUGHLIN E

SARAH MOSESON E, M

GABBY OBREGON M

Years at Pingry: 13 Trademark Characteristics: Untimely giggler. Mom jeans enthusiast. Big ‘ole braceface.

Activities: Gay-Straight Alliance, Fall Play, Winter Musical, Balladeers, Women’s Glee Club College Plans: BFA Acting at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts Career Possibilities: I want to do everything and anything. Acting is great! Singing is cool!

Writing gives me the tingles! Directing is hot stuff!

Favorite Memory at Pingry: Picking kale out of my dental hardware after impersonating Ms. Wheeler at the Winter SAC Assembly.

What I’ll Take Away: Hard work and fun times are not mutually exclusive!

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Add some spice to your life! Be brave! Try new things! Wear those overalls you think you can’t pull off! Try adding olives to your usual, everyday, Sage Dining pasta with marinara sauce! Oh, and use your CP’s wisely.

Years at Pingry: 4 Trademark Characteristics: Positiveness, Excitement, and Friendliness Activities: Soccer, Basketball, Track, Project 80 College Plans: Playing D3 soccer at MIT Career Possibilities: :) I am really not sure, something that involves problem solving.

Favorite Memory at Pingry: My favorite Pingry memory was when the Pingry soccer team won counties my sophomore year. It was amazing to see our team reach such amazing results after working so hard in practice. I’ve never been more happy to be part of a team and say I went to Pingry.

What I’ll Take Away: I will take away all the amazing relationships I have formed at Pingry.

I have met incredibly enlightening teachers and students. I will forever treasure the lessons I have learned from my teachers and friends, and know I will keep in touch with them throughout my life.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Take optimal advantage of everything high school has to offer, even if that means going out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to talk to someone new or participate in a new activity.

Years at Pingry: 8 Trademark Characteristics: altruistic, empathetic, compassionate, strong, outgoing, kind, quirky Activities: Varsity Soccer, Student Movement Against Cancer Club, Cashier at Dean’s Natural Food Market, volunteer for Interfaith Hospitality Network and God’s Co-Op Pantry College Plans: Barnard College Career Possibilities: lawyer, neurologist, journalist Favorite Memory at Pingry: I have more than one specific memory but rather a collection of them. Overall, going to practice and laughing with my soccer team took away all of my school stresses, and I have never felt genuine happiness as I did on the orld Cup field with my team.

What I’ll Take Away: The biggest lesson I will take away is the importance of health and happiness. Being happy and stable are more important than straight A’s, because after high school it doesn’t matter.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Staying true to yourself is always easier said than done, but is worth it in the end. You gain more respect and self-confidence by pursuing things that you are passionate about, speaking your honest opinions, and generally being unafraid of what anyone has to say about you. At the end of the day, staying true to yourself will make you a happier person and will ultimately influence others in a positive way.

&

THE PINGRY RECORD

SENIOR PAGES

JUNE 11, 2017

11

& Magistri Laudandi (M) Awards

JACK LAURENT M

ELLEN LI E,M

NANCY LU E, M

Years at Pingry: 3 Trademark Characteristics: Active within the Pingry community, pretty well-rounded, friendly/outgoing Activities: Baseball, Swimming, Cross Country, Honor Board, Chinese Club College Plans: Study International Business and Finance at Georgetown University Career Possibilities: International Business/ Finance Favorite Memory at Pingry: Upsetting Morristown-Beard in the 2016 Headmaster’s Trophy rivalry baseball game What I’ll Take Away: Pingry provided me with a great education and fantastic opportunities to get involved in a wide variety of activities.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Don’t be afraid to take risks and make mistakes.

Years at Pingry: 7 Trademark Characteristics: Not scary.

Sleepy and hungry. Lives in the Chem-Physics Office.

Activities: Cross Country, Fencing, Math and Games Club, Writing Center, drawing, watching (a lot of) movies, reading College Plans: Princeton University Career Possibilities: Mathematician (researcher, guest speaker on Numberphile, person who writes your SAT problems >:D), teacher, writer, goat farmer. I don’t know.

Favorite Memory at Pingry: Jack Laurent dancing on a table during AP Chemistry lab, getting a side hug from Trem, Mr. Grant’s **great** puns, realizing that turkeys can fly What I’ll Take Away: An IOU note from Mr. Bourne that says he’ll buy me a drink (non-alcoholic of course!)

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Take all advice with a grain of salt. Also, don’t be scared of Mr. Jenkins.

Years at Pingry: 8 Trademark Characteristics: Always covered in paint, carries around a canvas, memes, power walking, “What’s shakin, my guy?”, finger guns, very loud Activities: Art (just, art), Calliope co-editor, winter musical techie, Pingry Arts Ambassador College Plans: Princeton University - economics major, visual arts certificate Career Possibilities: Marketing & advertising, art therapist, animator - the world offers endless opportunities Favorite Memory at Pingry: Hearing everybody cheer my name at the boys’ lacrosse TOC finals at the end of my junior year What I’ll Take Away: A lifelong love of learning, and the confidence to pursue my own dreams and help others achieve theirs What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Don’t be afraid to break out of your usual “friend group” and talk to new people - you may find the coolest of dudes in the strangest of places.

JAMES ROBERTSON E

SEAN WANG E, M

BEN ZHOU M

Years at Pingry: 4 Trademark Characteristics: Compassionate, positive, ambitious, musical Activities: Buttondowns, Soccer, Winter Musical, Peer Leader College Plans: Cornell University Career Possibilities: Biologist? Musician/ Composer?

Favorite Memory at Pingry: Closing Night of Curtains/Playing on the World Cup Field What I’ll Take Away: A hardworking attitude, problem solving skills, and friendships What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Work hard, get involved, and keep your friends close!

Years at Pingry: 4 Trademark Characteristics: NPR voice, big calves, fancy dance moves, healthcare pundit, enjoys #frivolouscoffeedrinks Activities: Honor Board, Track & Field, iRT, Jazz Band, Vital Signs Contributor College Plans: Columbia University Career Possibilities: Doctor, research scientist, healthcare economist?

Favorite Memory at Pingry: Winning the Non-Public B Sectionals 4x800 relay as we raced under the lights with the team cheering us on. Mrs. Singer’s Period 6 English 10 class (Sorry, I couldn’t decide!)

What I’ll Take Away: A great community where any and everyone is a friend waiting to be met, and the life long friends I’ve met already. Love for a school whose greatest respect, as our motto goes, is to its students.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Don’t knock it until you try it. There’s so many opportunities available for you at Pingry; you’ll never know where you’ll end up going if you don’t take that first step!

Years at Pingry: 13 Trademark characteristics: Well-informed, Eloquent, Passionate Activities: Speech and Debate, iRT, Credit Union, Cross Country, Track & Field College Plans: Yale University Career Possibilities: Biological researcher, healthcare legislation researcher Favorite Memory at Pingry: My house had a fire when I was in the 3rd grade. The day I came back to school, the 3 classes (Buckley, Euwer, and Schader) all pitched in to give me a poster-sized card expressing condolences and support. I’ll never forget the help they gave my family and me.

What I’ll Take Away: A sense of gratitude and debt to the world.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Do what you love, not what looks best for college. If you find something you’re passionate about and pursue it, colleges will see that passion regardless of what it is.

KATHARINE MATTHIAS E, M

Years at Pingry: 4 Trademark Characteristics: I have a big smile!

Activities: I love theater and science. I have been in the fall plays, winter musicals, and ISP shows, and I also have led an iRT team for the past few years.

College Plans: Princeton University Career Possibilities: Right now, I am thinking either a Professor, Artistic Director, or an Artist!

We will see!

Favorite Memory at Pingry: The final performance of Smokefall, the senior play and Mr. Romano’s last show at Pingry. It was such a beautiful and bittersweet night, and I will be thinking about it for a while.

What I’ll Take Away: Pursue things you are interested in full-heartedly and don’t be afraid of failure. It is really hard to fail, but being able to recover gracefully and learn from hard moments is one of the most valuable lessons I have learned.

What Piece of Advice Would You Give to Underclassmen?: Value the relationships and connections that you build with people, including both teachers and students!

12

THE PINGRY RECORD

DEPARTING FACULTY JUNE 11, 2017

A Tribute to Pingry Drama: Celebrating Mr. Delman Retires from Teaching to Mr. Romano’s 29 Years of Teaching Focus on Sustainability Projects

By MEGAN PAN (V)

Flash back to the beginning: it’s freshman orientation, my first day at a new school.

Over the summer, my mother had read about auditions for the Fall Play, Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and encouraged me to try out.

I had never done drama before, but I figured I needed some way to make friends in a new place, so I prepared my little two-minute monologue and showed up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as the first to audition. That was when I first met Mr. Albert Romano: hair white like Alaskan glaciers, glasses perched upon his nose, wearing his classic vest and button-down combo.

If there is one thing that has had the greatest impact on me since I became a student here at Pingry, it would be Pingry Drama.

Along the same lines, if there is any one person who has had the greatest impact on me, it would be Mr. Romano.

The most important thing I learned during my freshman year, courtesy of Mr. Romano drilling it into our heads every rehearsal for the Fall Play, is to “stay in second circle!”

The “second circle” refers to the state of being present and connected, in which energy is exchanged between people instead of being redirected back toward oneself ( first circle ) or pushed out onto others ( third circle ).

In drama, the key is always to be in “second circle,” to listen and react to other people in order to bring the reality of a scene to life.

I carried this lesson with me throughout my years of drama, whether it was in an improv skit or in a

Shakespeare scene.

However, what I learned in drama is not applicable only in drama. It applies to life outside the theater as well. The idea of “being in second circle” and “listening and reacting” pertains to being a student in the classroom or an athlete on the playing field and even to our relationships with other people. Is it not true that throughout our lives, we must be engaged with the people around us, listen to what others have to say, and

Al Romano

share our own individual truths?

In this way, the best aspect about drama is that it does not stop at the theater doors but exists as a fundamental aspect of our humanity. As I am sure many other drama students would agree, that even if you do not go into theater as a profession, you take the things you learn in drama class with you no matter what you choose to do.

U l t i m a t e l y, t h e Pingry Drama Department owes a lot of itself to Mr. Romano, who pioneered it 29 years ago with the help of former headmaster Mr. John Hanly.

However, while Mr. Romano’s accomplishments are certainly well worth addressing, I would like to take the opportunity here to celebrate the contributions he has made on a smaller scale, particularly to the life of one individual: myself.

When I came to this school in ninth grade, I was starting over. I had come

from a place where people knew me and I knew them to one where nobody knew me, and it was up to me to establish my place in this new environment.

Drama was something that I had latched onto on my first day in the hopes of finding somewhere to belong. I never anticipated that it would become such an intrinsic part of my identity as a student and a person. This development was in no small part thanks to Mr. Romano.

As an actor in his productions and a student in his classes, I appreciated the energy he radiated and the wisdom he shared with everyone he worked with. Every day after school, the Macrae Theater became a safe haven under the watch of our “fearless leader” Mr. Romano, who pushed us to find the truth in each moment. As I struggled to find my place and learn about who I was, Mr. Romano was the one who believed in me and encouraged me to keep going. I owe so much of who I am now to him.

This year marks Mr. Romano’s last as a teacher at Pingry.

While I and many others will surely miss him, his legacy will live on in all the students and alumni whose lives he has impacted. As a new era of Pingry Drama begins, I am grateful to be able to experience both what was and what will be. Carrying on everything I’ve learned from Mr. Romano, I look forward to seeing all that we can do and create. In the words of the great actor Sanford Meisner, “With a developed imagination, there’s no place you can’t go.”

By LEXI BRAUER (V)

After 4 years of teaching art classes, designing new programs, leading the Green Group, and promoting sustainability, Mr. Peter Delman has decided to end his teaching career to work solely on sustainability projects next year.

After attending Middlebury College and receiving an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Mr. Delman came to Pingry in 1975.

Upon coming to P i n g r y, h e d e scribed the school as “having a corporate feel and being very traditional. I think it still has an underlay of that, which is terrific, but there is also a lot more diversity in ways of thinking and embracing different approaches.”

He began as a young art teacher in a relatively small department.

Soon, he became one of the main assets in developing the arts and environmental programs to become as successful as they are today. Mr. Delman designed the film class and the environmental art class from scratch. In addition, with the help of Mr. Boyd, Mr. Delman developed the art gallery program, which allows students to see professional work from a wide range of artists.

Reviewing these programs, Mr. Delman said, “I think those are all very important elements in our curriculum, and I’m very happy with them.”

In addition to improving the art program itself,

M r. D e l m a n h a s changed the dynamic in the classroom. “Over time, I’ve developed my own ideas of what I think is important in a class and how to help students tap into their own creativity. It is an organic way of teaching rather than saying, ‘here is the assignment that you have to do.’”

Mr. Delman’s approach has been to allow students to be creative in art and explore a wide variety of options in their own ways.

The freedom and laid-back dynamic in Mr. Delman’s classes are what have driven so many students to continue taking art courses throughout high school and college.

A l t h o u g h M r.

Delman will not formally be teaching classes anymore, he will continue working at Pingry as the Director of Sustainability. Mr. Delman hopes to promote sustainability and incorporate the

environment into daily school life.

Some of his past projects include the garden outside of the cafeteria and the outdoor classrooms that many students and teachers use. He wants to continue to promote using the outdoors in curriculum and work toward building a more environmentally friendly campus. He would like to continue the use of the composting system and expand the garden to possibly include farm animals, starting with chickens and bees.

Although his teaching career is coming to an end, M r. D e l m a n h a s connected with many students during the course of the past four decades.

Commenting on his legacy as a teacher, Mr. Delman said, “Especially in recent years, as I grew as a teacher I feel that I connected with many students as a mentor and a friend.”

Courtesy of Pingry Communications

THE PINGRY RECORD

DEPARTING FACULTY JUNE 11, 2017

13

French Teacher and AFS Club Advisor Mme Jordan Will Be Missed by All

By ALYSSA CHEN (V)

After 29 years of teaching French at Pingry, beloved teacher Mme Kelly Jordan is retiring.

After studying and receiving degrees in English at the University of Aix-Marseille in France, her native country, Mme Jordan received a Master’s degree in French and worked as a teaching assistant at Rutgers. She went on to work for four years as a bilingual recruiter in New York and subsequently came to Pingry in 1988 after hearing that the Language department head at the time (fellow French teacher Mme Lydia eacintov) needed someone to teach the higher levels of Pingry’s French curriculum.

In addition to teaching French, Mme Jordan has also headed Pingry’s American Field Service (AFS) Club for 23 years as the club advisor, serving as a mentor for 23 foreign exchange students and their host families.

Reflecting on her early years at Pingry, Mme Jordan said, “I loved it, except it was

very hard to take care of two small children at the same time—it was extremely hard, but Mrs. Geacintov supported me through everything.”

However, her subsequent decision to stay as a teacher was not difficult. I loved the students, so I said I’m staying here,” Mme Jordan said.

She also credits former headmaster John Hanly in her decision. “He was amazing in his speeches encouraging character-building, and his speeches and anecdotes always emphasized doing the right thing, even when it’s the hard thing to do,” she said.

“And I loved that. I loved everything he talked about, I loved the fact that he encouraged people to follow the right path and not take shortcuts, and I think it helped me realize how important that was for me. That’s why I am still here.”

Mme Jordan knew she wanted to teach since she was five years old. I always wanted to teach,” she said.

“It’s my life’s dream.”

At Pingry, she cites her students as the most rewarding

By MIRO BERGAM (IV)

After 36 years of serving the Pingry community as both a teacher and a coach, Mr. Thomas Boyer is retiring. Mr. Boyer began teaching at Pingry in 1982, when the Middle School was still located at the Hillside Campus. In the classroom, he has taught Algebra 1 (now known as Math ), Algebra , and Pre-Algebra in the Middle School.

In the field, Mr. Boyer spent his first few years at Pingry as an assistant coach to the Upper School Varsity Football Team. He then served as its head coach from 84 to 000.

“Being the head coach of that sport was a great honor,” Mr. Boyer said. He added, “We had a lot of success and I was privileged to be put into the

aspect of teaching. “When I can get the students enthusiastic about something—those are all my favorite memories,” she said. “And outside of class, the kids really want to share with you, share their worries, share their joys. I love it when the kids trust me enough to share things with me and to ask me questions, because they know I always have their best interest in mind.”

Being the AFS club advisor has also changed her experience at Pingry. “AFS really goes in the same direction and has the same values as Pingry,” Mme Jordan explained. “It’s all about tolerance—things are not weird, they’re different. As a foreigner, I have come to really appreciate the US.” She mentioned how working with host families also changed her perspectives: “The other thing that was amazing was for me to work with families who hosted AFS students for the whole year because it taught me just how generous, open-minded, and caring people can be with

perfect strangers. And that encouraged me to go out of my bubble and to reach out further than I would have.”

For all Pingry students, her departing message is to try travelling or studying abroad at least once. “See how it feels to be the outsider trying to learn about another culture,” she said. “It is not al-

ways easy—I’ve done it several times, in England and in other countries. But what you get from it is always valuable, no matter what. It taught me a lot about kindness and generosity, and opening your mind to others, and growing as an individual.”

Mme Jordan has many plans going forward, includ-

Seasoned Teacher and Coach Mr. Boyer Departs

Pingry Athletic Hall of Fame along with a couple of the teams I coached.”

M r. B o y e r h a s also coached Middle School football, wrestling, tennis, swimming, basketball, and lacrosse, filling whatever role was needed of him as a seasoned coach.

One change Mr. Boyer has observed in his time at Pingry is “an overall growth in terms of size and presence. There’s now a greater infrastructure, and a much bigger staff.”

He still finds Pingry to be “a great school that continues to prepare students for challenges they’ll face in and out of the classroom.”

In the Math Department, the biggest

change was “the teaching style. The department does a lot more collaboration, puts a greater emphasis on group-work, and encourages teachers to

facilitate as opposed to lecture.”

Mr. Boyer is happy with the direction the department has taken: “The new teaching style seems to be more

Congratulations, Next Year’s Honor Board Form VI

Form V

Form IV

Ally Pyne, Chairperson

Drew Beckman, Secretary

Natalie Ladino

Alie Berndt

Avery Didden

Leah Mangold

Alexis Elliot

Varun Seetamraju

Roger Matthews

Obi Nnaeto

Ketaki Tavan

effective from my perspective, getting to see the results it has on the students up close.”

When asked what memories he will carry with him beyond Pingry, Mr. Boyer could not narrow it down to just one. “The championship teams I coached in football will always stick with me,” he remarked. “We had three teams that won championships, and that was a great honor in terms of representing the school and seeing their hard work pay off.”

“The association with the people I’ve worked with over the years is something that I’ll cherish,” he continued. “There’s a great many friendships I’ve built here and I’ll certainly work to maintain them as I move on.”

Another great memory Mr. Boyer recalled was a school camping trip he organized with his colleague Mr. Michael Webster. “During the summer of ‘93, we took a group of Pingry kids to climb Mount Rainier,” Mr. Boyer reminisced. “It’s one of the hardest climbs in the lower 48 states,

ing learning Italian, volunteering at organizations like Planned Parenthood, traveling to visit friends, and spending time in France with her family.

She also plans to devote much time to teaching English to immigrants. “A lot of people come here to get a better life, and they have to do menial jobs because they don’t speak English,” she said. “That became obvious to me after I met a woman who was a nurse in South America, and who is working in a nail salon and cleaning houses. I asked her, ‘Why are you doing this?’ She said, ‘Because I don’t speak English.’ And I told her, ‘You have to learn English. I’ll teach you!’ There’s no other way to make it here, and that cause is dear to me.”

Reflecting on her years teaching at Pingry, she said, “My experience at Pingry has been incredible, and I will miss it tremendously. I will miss my colleagues, and I will miss my students. I was lucky to work at Pingry.”

so doing that with students and colleagues is an amazing memory.”

Those are just some highlights to his time at Pingry. “The backbone is the work in the classroom,” Mr. Boyer said, “Working with individual students, whether they be very strong or need a lot of additional support, offers the day-to-day gratification that all Pingry teachers get to enjoy.”

Moving forward, Mr. Boyer will still be coaching football and tutoring math around Pingry. However, he is looking forward to what he will do with his extra time. Mr. Boyer plans to travel with his wife and spend some time with his children and grandchildren.

“Between going to school myself, teaching at Morristown High School, and teaching at Pingry, I’ve spent the last 63 years in the classroom,” Mr. Boyer reflected. He added, “While I’ll remember these times fondly, I’m excited to get out there and experience the next chapter.”

14

THE PINGRY RECORD

DEPARTING FACULTY JUNE 12, 2016

Beloved Assistant Headmaster Mr. Leef Leaves Behind an Unforgettable Legacy

By ALEXIS ELLIOT (V)

“Relationships before tasks” is a quote that Assistant Headmaster, Mr. Jonathan Leef, has written at the top of the whiteboard in his office.

As he finishes his last year as an influential administrator, teacher, and coach, Mr. Leef has definitely fulfilled that standard; his legacy at Pingry has been significant.

Mr. Leef has always been a leader at heart. During his undergraduate years at Bucknell University, he was elected to be the president of his fraternity during the spring of his junior year. Leading over 100 undergraduate students, this leadership role was the first of many. While at Bucknell, Mr. Leef majored in math, and he attributes his love of and appreciation for the subject matter to his college experience.

After graduating Bucknell in 1988, Mr. Leef taught math and coached softball and football at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. He became a teacher because he truly believed that “teachers touch the future” by teaching children not only to be good students, but also good people.

It was at Hackley that Mr. Leef developed his love for teaching secondary school math.

When he arrived on campus, the Math Department Chair handed him a Precalculus

textbook and told him to cover the first 3 chapters. Mr. eef was also handed a Finite Math textbook and told to create a new elective for seniors. That was the extent of the guidance provided! During his first year, he was one section ahead of all of his classes, proving his natural teaching ability while “trying to keep my nose above the water.”

A momentous part of Mr. Leef’s teaching career was his experience at Teachers College at Columbia University.

After his third year at Hackley, Mr. Leef took a leave from the classroom to become a full time grad student, earning a masters degree in Mathematics Education. He then returned to Hackley for three more years and later moved on to a bigger role as Dean of Students and Head Football coach at Rye Country Day School in Rye, New York.

After nine years at Rye Country Day, Mr. Leef started at Pingry in the role of Upper School Director. Starting work at Pingry was no easy task. On his first day at Pingry, the Headmaster told him that he would be leaving at the end of the school year! In addition, Mr. Leef recalls that Pingry’s student population was substantially bigger than Rye’s student population— there were 125 students per grade at Pingry compared to

85 or 90 at Rye—and this dramatically affected the culture of the school.

Despite these challenges, Mr. Leef definitely established himself as a nurturing

story that has brought them to this place. And some of the chapters of the stories are quite familiar, and some chapters are quite foreign.

Bringing that understanding

Courtesy of Pingry Communications

teacher, effective administrator, and incredible coach.

What makes Mr. Leef such a respected coach and teacher is his outlook on teaching. To Mr. Leef, “Every student and colleague has an important

to every interaction is very important.” Mr. Leef brings that spirit to the classroom and field, building lifelong bonds with his colleagues and students in the process.

Mr. Leef feels that one of the

most humbling experiences is seeing the success his former students have later on in their lives and knowing that he had a small role in putting them on this path.

Mr. Leef not only teaches with energy in the classroom, but also on the football field.

Mr. Leef has coached football during 9 of his years at Pingry and throughout his teaching careers at Rye and Hackley.

Mr. Leef’s coaching experience has helped him in the classroom and vice versa. His philosophy is, “Why shouldn’t the math classroom have the same energy as the football practice field Coaching for Mr. Leef helps him establish a relationship with his students while “touching the future from a knowledge, character, and skills perspective.”

Football captain Spencer Spellman ( I) comments, “Coach Leef is an amazing coach and an even better person. He dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and energy to the Pingry football program. Every single day he put a smile on our faces, and I couldn’t imagine Pingry football without him.” One of his most memorable coaching moments was a playoff win at the Holy Cross School in 2011. Pingry wasn’t expected to win, but the team carried out the game plan perfectly and played with incredible

spirit and toughness.

Looking back on his coaching and teaching experience at Pingry, Mr. Leef emphasizes the role that his mentors played in his life. His father always taught him to “look someone in the eye, listen to people to understand, not to respond” and to “treat everyone with respect”. Also, at Rye Country Day, Mr. Leef’s greatest mentor was Scott Nelson, the headmaster.

With many achievements throughout his career, Mr. Leef is most proud of the way his sons, Clyde ( ) and Max (’ ) have handled being the sons of the Assistant Headmaster. Mr. Leef is proud that they have found their own paths, and they have handled the times when it was not so easy with great dignity and class. When he is asked what he will miss most, Mr. Leef comments, “Two things: being on the frontlines with colleagues that I admire and respect and my interactions in the classroom, on the field, or outside of those venues with the students. The student body is so special here. I’ve always been taken by the school culture where kids say thank you when leaving the classroom.

Or on a ninety-three degree day, after a grueling football double-session, they still stop to say thank you. That’s pretty great.”

Throughout her years as a student and faculty member, Ms. Logerfo enjoyed watching the very same science programs she was once a part of grow into their current form. She said, “When I went here, Project 80 didn’t even exist. IRT and Journal Club have both grown not only in size but also in their capability and depth.

The amount of resources and level of information these kids have access to today is phenomenal – real research is coming out of these projects.”

Ms. Logerfo will miss the many times in her classes where she felt that a piece of the advice that she gave to her students truly impacted them. She recalled, “This one time in one of my Bio classes we were discussing stress, and I experienced a moment of genuine connection with the kids – I knew that I understood them, and I knew that they knew I understood.” She went on, “I think the kids in that class felt relieved that someone lived through and overcame their pressures. I’m really glad I got to contribute to an experience like that.”

She hopes that “kids will continue to embrace the things they are most interested in, and acknowledge that it’s ok to not know everything about everything. Taking advantage of your resources and pursuing your passions are really important for what you do in your future.”

Ms. Logerfo’s students will miss her dearly. “Ms. Logerfo was my mentor for Journal Club this year, and she’s really helped me mature and cultivate my leadership abilities as student co-head of Journal Club,” said elli omez ( ). omez continued, “I think of her as not only a formative role model in my academic career, but also a supportive friend.”

Claire O’Mara ( I) also commended Ms. Logerfo’s leadership. “Ms. Logerfo is the mentor for my iRT project,” she said. “Even though we hit a ton of road bumps, Ms. Logerfo was always positive and always made me look forward to the solution and next step.”

Thank you for your devotion to Pingry and good luck with the next stage of your career, Ms. Logerfo!

Dr. Bell Takes the Next Step to Ms. Logerfo ‘11 Pursues Her Full-Time Private Practice Work Science Career in a Biomedical Research Lab in Morristown

By ALLY PYNE (V)

After serving on Pingry’s counseling staff for the past four years, Dr. Perry Bell will be departing from Pingry this June to take the next step in his career.

Dr. Bell will be moving on to full-time private practice work with the Center for Child and Family Development in Morristown, NJ. In addition to his new job, Dr. Bell plans to “do more writing and speaking about the applications of social and emotional intelligence and character development to parents, organizations, schools and athletic programs.”

He is also hoping to devote more time to several book projects that he has already begun writing.

After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Brandeis University with a minor in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Dr. Bell went on to Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology to earn a Master’s

By KATYA DROVETSKY (V)

Degree and Doctoral Degree in Psychology, with a concentration in Community Psychology, as well as becoming a certified School Psychologist.

It was through Pingry’s partnership with Rutgers’ School Psychology Internship Consortium that Dr. Bell first found work at Pingry. He says he was initially attracted to the Pingry community because of the school’s “commitment to progressive educational initiatives and ‘educating the whole student.’”

Dr. Bell has found his experience at Pingry to be incredibly “engaging, exciting, fulfilling, and is going to miss “being a part of a community of committed educators and scholars.”

Dr. Bell credits the people at Pingry for making it such an incredible place.

Courtesy of Pingry Communications

“I would like to express gratitude to all my colleagues who, without need or desire for recognition, support the well-being of Pingry students every day,” he said.

When asked what he will carry with him in his future endeavors, Dr. Bell answered that he hopes to bring with him the understanding “that the best outcomes happen when you work with motivated, caring and giving people.”

After two years of working in the Upper School, Ms. Allie Logerfo will be departing from Pingry to pursue her science career. She plans to work in a biomedical research lab and, after that, attend graduate school.

Ms. Logerfo graduated from Pingry as a student in 2011. After maintaining a connection to the school throughout college, she was ultimately invited back to interview for a teaching position while Dr. D’Ausillio was on maternity leave. She has since spent her time teaching different biology classes and developing Pingry’s research programs. Ms. Logerfo has taught Biology 1, Honors Biology 2, and Introduction to Research. She has served as an iRT mentor and has led Journal Club as the faculty head.

At first, it was difficult transitioning from the role of a student into the role of a colleague when it came to many of her former teachers, she said. However, the respect she earned from her teachers as a co-worker, coupled with her valuable perspective as a former student, has been incredibly rewarding. “It was a nice feeling to be appreciated for the perspective I brought: having more of a connection with students,” she reflected.

“I knew what existed at Pingry and what didn’t, and was able to then bring the material I had learned in college to supplement the programs and classwork.”

Courtesy of Pingry Communications

THE PINGRY RECORD

By KETAKI TEVAN (IV)

15

DEPARTING FACULTY JUNE 12, 2016

Departing Faculty: Five Leave Middle School

Five faculty members are moving on from the Middle School this year, including Interim Director, Ms. Brenda Hamm, who brought considerable experience and enthusiasm to the position

after the departure of Mr. Phil Cox last year.

Ms. Misa Lawrence, Middle School French and Spanish teacher, Middle School yearbook advisor, and Form I advisor is leaving after five years to explore new opportunities. Working at Pingry enabled her to share her love of languages with both her students and her colleagues.

“I will take some wonderful memories with me,” she said, including her trips with students to Quebec.

Mr. Barrington Fulton, 6th grade English teacher and Middle School Dean of Students is also leaving after five years. He has “always wanted to have a positive impact on other people,” and teaching has given him the opportunity to do just that. When asked what he would miss the most from his time here, Mr. Fulton commented that he “will miss the incredible students and inspiring faculty.” Mr. Fulton will be heading to the North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, IL to serve as their Middle School Head.

Mr. Mark Facciani, Middle School History teacher, wrestling coach, and Director of Summer and Auxilia-

ry Programs has held several roles during his fourteen-year tenure at Pingry. He also pursued an Educational Administration degree at night, during the summer, and on weekends for a portion of his time here.

Mr. Facciani commented, “It was a challenge to do the balancing act of teaching, coaching, and balancing all the extra-curricular activities I was involved in at Pingry, but I felt strongly about keeping my commitment to the school while simultaneously pursuing my

She is excited to have these new options available to her, but hopes that she can return to teaching in the classroom in the future.

Her favorite subjects to teach have been reading and writing, as she most enjoys “taking literacy practices and concepts that are typically considered too advanced for young children” and making them easier to understand for her students.

Her goal is to have even young children be able to learn what it means to be a ‘real’ reader and writer even though they may need to approach concepts at a different l e v e l c o m pared to older students.

M s .

Berg says that she will miss how entertaining her students are as well as how motivated they are to learn. She always looks forward to going to work every day, as there is “never a

dull moment.” Her most cherished memories are her students’ deep discussions on the books they had read, as well as having the students celebrating and sharing their writing with each other in class.

Mrs. Alicia Harabin, a former Pingry student herself, is leaving after her ninth year teaching at the Lower School. She matriculated from the University of Southern California with a BA in Theatre and from New York University with an MA in Educational Theatre. Previously, she was a development intern at Roundabout Theatre Company and “worked in HR at an investment bank,” and she started to teach parttime after leaving her job there so that she could start her Masters program at NYU. At Pingry, she has played many roles as a drama teacher, assistant visual arts teacher, fourth grade writing teacher,

degree.”

When asked how he knew he wanted to be a teacher, Mr. Facciani remembered his experience as a wrestling coach at Delbarton prior to coming to Pingry. He added, “I subsequently got jobs in advertising and financial sales, but neither one really inspired me.” He “kept coming back to that excitement of my time coaching,” so he decided to pursue coaching.

Mr. Facciani said that he would miss the “camaraderie of my individual classes and

the wrestling team” the most. He added, “each class is its own ecosystem, and for that year, you take the journey together, 16 students at a time.”

Next year, Mr. Facciani will begin a new career in business working as an analyst at The Conti Group, and he is “very excited to start this new chapter” in his life. Mr. Facciani’s passion will be missed dearly.

F i n a l l y, M i d d l e School Science teacher, advisor, and seamstress for the Drama Department, Dr. Patricia Lowery, moves on after 17 years.

Dr. Lowery has always had a passion for science, and she worked in research in the pharmaceutical industry for ten years prior to starting her second career as an educator after her two children were born.

Dr. Lowery began her

teaching career in the UK where she taught secondary students (grades - ). Before coming to Pingry, she was also an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware where she taught education majors.

Dr. Lowery will miss “daily interactions with the members of this community” the most.

“I loved hearing my students present their projects and share in the excitement of the things that they have found out,” she said.

She recalls how proud the teachers and students were of the cast, and the “palpable” excitement and joy in the gym.

She is proud of how her fifth-graders take leadership not only backstage but also in the audience, and credits the Short Hills campus for being such a “supportive and collaborative” environment.

Finally, Ms. Cathy Everett is retiring after 4 years of teaching fifth grade social studies.

Much beloved by generations of students and their parents, she was, according to Assistant Headmaster Mr. Ted Corvino, “the heart and soul” of the Lower School’s Community Service program and Student Government.

Students of all ages will miss her spirit and her smile. “Her class was always such a happy, fun place to be,” junior Kayla Stass said. “I always looked forward to having her class in the morning and seeing her with her hot chocolate and everything.” Nick adino ( I) agreed and added, “The one thing I really remember is her classroom. It was like its own museum – always

filled with mummies and statues of the Roman Empire and little knickknacks that brightened my day.”

Other students can testify to Mrs. Everett’s impact on their interest in history. “I don’t usually care about history, but Mrs. Everett made it so engaging for me. I’ve never been more interested in ancient civilizations than when I was in fifth grade,” Miro Bergam (I ) said.

Her fun teaching methods never failed to interest and inspire her students. eremy ister ( ) remembers, “She once

Three Leave Short Hills, Including a Magistri

By MARIAM TRICHAS (V)

Three teachers are moving on from Short Hills.

After four years of teaching reading, writing, math, and social studies as a second grade homeroom teacher, Ms. Berg is leaving for the Literacy Specialist masters program at Teachers College at Columbia University.

Ms. Sara Berg earned her B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and her M.Ed in Early Childhood Education from Lesley University. Before teaching at Pingry, she taught fifth grade math at a charter school in Philadelphia.

Through the Master’s program she plans to pursue at Columbia, she wishes to “be able to become an expert at teaching, reading, and writing, and qualify for literacy-focused roles such as a school’s literacy specialist, literacy, curriculum coordinator, or staff developer.”

and a sub for Mr. Ski’s conference period during football and baseball seasons. She developed the Lower School drama program to include K-5 drama classes and two musicals per year.

As for her favorite part of teaching, she most enjoys seeing students “come out of their shells as they go from kindergarten up through fifth grade, including how they get their “thoughts and not just their voices into the conversation.”

In the future, she plans to spend more time with her children, who are three and four, and to pursue her own artistic interests.

She plans to stay involved in Pingry’s Big Blue Summer Camp.

Her favorite memory from Pingry is the school’s reaction to the play “The Jungle Book ids after the first year she was at the school.

showed us this SNL song about King Tut. 5th grade was a long time ago, but the fact that I can still remember it just goes to show – she made history class the best.”

16 (continued from page 1)

they conducted multiple interviews with different athletes, both within and outside of the Pingry community, and talked with doctors and physical therapy experts to gain understanding of the science behind concussions. They worked with Ms. Allain, a sports psychology major, and Mr. Boyd to create a piece that shines a light on how concussions affect behavior, memory, and overall mood.

Taylor Dupree and Kai Holston collaborated to create a new YouTube channel called TKTakeover, a lifestyle channel that features videos such as storytimes, makeup tutorials, tags, challenges, and vlogs. To gain experience in fil ing and editing high quality videos, Taylor and Kai drew upon their interests in photography and videography and fil ed ostly on ca pus with the help of their mentor, Mrs. Sullivan.

Adam Present completed an internship at Atlantic Pictures, an independent fil television and video content production company in New York City. Commuting to Tribeca daily, Adam gained valuable experience in the industry by aiding the company in a wide variety of jobs, such as assisting production on shoots and sets, shooting footage, and carrying small editing jobs.

Fine Arts Immersing herself in ceramics and claywork, Wesley Streicher worked with Mr. Freiwald on creating a set (cont. from page 1) of pottery with an overarching theme. She also visited various museums and galleries in the tri-state area to seek inspiration for her own work, further indulging the artistic facets of her personality.

Will Kazel worked at an architectural and engineering fir in ew York City. His mentor at GreenbergFarrow, a Pingry alum, guided him through the different types of projects available at the fir or his deliverable Kazel put together a presentation about the design project he worked on.

Will Graff put a charitable spin on his love for pottery by creating a set of pots and sculptures to be donated to Potters for eace a nonprofit ai ed at aiding local potters market their products and raising money for water treatment in third-world countries.

Focusing on improving different glazes, he also helped out in the class-

room, aiding Mr. Freiwald’s students with their own pottery projects.

Both Jake Simon and Stephen Daigle worked on building a surfboards.

Since the two are both passionate about surfing they explored a more creative aspect of the sport and discovered for themselves what it is like to actually construct a surfboard.

Sofia Briones took an international look at metalworking and jewelry-making by combining a partnership with Mr. Friewald working in the Pingry studio with a week-long trip to Mexico shadowing a silversmith. She learned about traditional Mexican jewelry and the mining climate of the country, and

brought these in uences back to Pingry to create jewelry of her own.

After having a great experience working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York the summer before his senior year, Patrick Gilfillan returned to the Met as an intern in the education department. He planned activities for the museum’s teen program and helped with uploading content for the program’s social media pages.

Nancy Lu created a variety of related art projects. Exploring different types of paints and other mediums, the theme of her collection was on “Exploring the Inner World through the Past, Present, and Future.” This theme

THE PINGRY RECORD

ISP JUNE 11, 2017

Eliza Kielty traveled to five a or cities in Italy, including Rome, Florence, Padua, Venice and Milan, to compare works of art she studied in her AP Art History class as a junior.

Taking part in this project helped her realize that she wants to minor in art history in college. She also used the opportunity to learn Italian and get more in touch with the culture of the country outside of the art scene.

She took pictures and recorded daily journals to mark each piece of artwork.

Photography Connor Beard expanded his work on his photography blog “Humans of Pingry” by creating steady updates on the Humans of Pingry Facebook and Instagram pages daily, and ultimately compiling various photos and quotes to create a “Humans of Pingry” book. He hoped to increase school spirit and Pingry Pride through his creative and insightful photos depicting the daily lives of Pingry students.

Sophie Morris and Nell Beatty explored Montreal, taking photos for a photojournalism blog and analyzing the culture of Montreal to figure out what ade the city more tied down to its own French Canadian culture, open to other cultures, and representative of a “mosaic of cultures.” In addition, Morris and Beatty created a political documentary separate from their time in Montreal focusing on a specific reproductive law in New York as well Nancy Lu as broader viewpoints on the issue of reproductive year off from pottery, he rights. used this project to rekindle his love for ceramics, Wanting to create a paying special attention to photo series to display in learning the technicalities the Pingry gallery, Amy of creating an aesthetic Kaplan spent a week in glaze.

Portugal to capture the Emma Claire Marvin people, culture, and landexpanded on her love for scape of the country. She AP Art History by visitselected Portugal as her ing 80 of the 250 works place of study to explore of art studied in the class. the contrast between city After traveling throughout and country life, and visEurope and in the New ited cities such as Lisbon, York City area and visitSintra, Porto, and Obidos. ing each piece of art in its Andrew Epifano current location, she wrote combined his love of a series of essays about photography with his each work of art, describlove for the outdoors by ing their content, context, visiting the Adirondack, function, form, and cultural Rocky, and Appalachian significance he too mountains. He worked on many photos of each work perfecting his technical to re ect on her trips and photography skills, while have a memento of each also introducing new place she visited. perspectives to the typical analyzed the range of human emotion and experiences, highlighting many modern day issues such as LGTB+ rights, the rise of technology, and the party culture of youth.

Katherine Trejo immersed herself in the planning, storyboards, and drawing processes of creating a full-length comic book. Working with her mentor, Mrs. Asch, Katherine experimented with different angles and landscapes for her panels, creating a diverse and detailed book.

Using porcelain as his medium, Josh Metzger created a set of elegant and ornate works of pottery to be displayed in the Pingry art gallery. After taking a

landscape photo.

Writing Building off her experience in playwriting throughout high school, Natalie Lifson spent her ISP learning to transition

person.

Henry Biedron spent his ISP writing a novel entitled As Life Breaks Across the Horizon. This process allowed him to explore his passion for writ-

Amy Kaplan

ing in greater depth and understand the workload and lifestyle of a full-time author.

Communications Jamie Moore-Gillon worked with Crystal Palace FC in England.

He spent the past month shadowing the production and marketing team, writing a series of reports on the things he has learned and worked on with the company.

Sean Wang created a series of podcasts, interviewing different members of the Pingry community about their thoughts and experiences with the honor code. Sean’s collection of interviews capped off his four year work with Pingry’s Honor Board.

Meg O’Reilly went to Big Apple to answer the question, “How has New York City changed and developed over time?” She answered this by studying and visiting famous sites in NYC, compiling her findings in a blog Exploring her passion for photography, Amanda Van Orden spent her ISP interning at Interview Magazine in New York City. She gained professional experience in the fields of art and communications through her internship. She also took to the streets of NYC to photograph the city and produce work for her portfolio website.

Capitalizing on her passions for journalism, Josh Metzger blogging, and photography, Katie Ho traveled Through writing a across Europe to Barcecollection of short stories, lona, Oslo, and Paris. She Ollie Martin spent his ept a blog re ecting on ISP creating his “bildungsher experiences each day. roman.” With Ms. Dunbar Julia Robinson spent as his mentor, he compiled the past month studying an anthology of his expethe history of material riences growing up and culture, a combination of maturing as a student and to screenwriting. She researched the differences between screenwriting and playwriting and began to craft an original TV pilot.

Zach Keller worked as an assistant for James Freeman, the assistant editor of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page and author of the daily Best of the Web column.

Through this internship, he has exercised his passion for journalism and gained professional experience in the field Ellen Li wrote a collection of short story memoirs based off interviews with her siblings, parents, and grandparents. In this compilation, she wanted to depict the evolution of a her family across three generations. She also learned about her history and heritage, growing closer to her past to look ahead to her future.

archeology and anthropology that chronicles human development through mankind’s art, tools, and objects. To do this, she visited a diverse array of museums in Washington, DC and New York City.

By observing the Hispanic culture in Miami and the Italian culture in the Tri-State area, Cameron Campbell and Nicole Preziosi examined and compared two different cultures and their in uence and place in America. They kept a blog and an Instagram account to document their different cultural, culinary historical findings Jason Resnick explored a diverse array of museums in New York City, studying art, culture, and history. He kept a blog detailing his research and reviews of the different exhibits he saw.

Gabrielle Obregon travelled to Mexico for her ISP, honing her Spanish speaking skills and exploring the roots of her Mexican heritage. She also exercised her passion for photography by creating an Instagram account to interview Mexican citizens, inspired by the popular “Humans of New York” Instagram account.

Ellen Beatty spent her ISP blogging her trip to Montreal. She also created a video re ecting on the political atmosphere of the U.S., interweaving it with foreign opinions on U.S. politics from the people she spoke with in Montreal.

Environment and the Outdoors Greg Naratil biked abandoned railroad trails throughout New Jersey while visiting interesting historical and natural sites

THE PINGRY RECORD

Borkowski, and Allyson Bisgay explored parks and trails across the state and researched the natural history of each park. Working with Mr. Boyd and Ms. Sullivan, they created a photo book as well as videos documenting their experience.

After studying scholarly articles on the variables that can affect freshwater fishing Spencer Duryee and Brett Zanelli conducted their own research on how water and air temperature can affect fishing by co paring their fishing successes at Round Valley Reservoir and Surprise Lake.

Pursuing her longtime dream of working with horses, Shannon Kirdzik drove to Flemington’s Kierson Farm everyday to help with riding clinics, birthday parties, and youth clubs. While much of what she did was hands-on, she also learned about the management and maintenance side of farming.

Kayla Thau volunteered at Special Equestrians, a barn in Pennsylvania that specializes in therapeutic horsemanship. She was especially involved in shadowing therapists in the “sensory garden,” an area outside the barn meant to stimulate the senses of the patients.

John Lucciola and James Topor researched the Loggerhead turtle, its life cycle and its ecosystem to prepare for their trip to North Captiva, Florida. There, they helped locate Loggerhead nests and protect their eggs from predators. They also worked with the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society

and created a matching set of bowls and plates with r reiwald is fishing experiences will culminate in a guide to New Jersey’s best fishing holes and a detailed summary of the diversity of fish species across the state.

Over the course of his ISP, Charles Papandreou was certified for scuba diving over his ISP. Combining an interest for photography with an interest for marine biology, he focused on taking underwater photography to create a gallery for his deliverable.

Technology Having done robotics for ten years, Anish Seth embarked on the challenge to prototype, design, build, wire, and program a fully-functioning quadruped robot by himself. This project allowed him to become more independent as an engineer to share his love of robotics with others by showing them how to use his finished robot and try it out for themselves.

Every day in the tech lab, Peter Gilbert, William Long, and Matthew Ludwig wrote thousands of lines of code creating their very own video game. Under the guidance of Mr. Leone, the three worked with the game engine Unreal, the programming language C++ and the 3D modeling software Blender to develop their project.

Akshina Gupta put her computer science skills to work by designing an application for the startup company Kinbow.

Her goal was to make an efficient application that

Will DiGrande and Akash Kumar

along the way. He documented his discoveries in a written report, as well as through full sketches of the wildlife and scenic sights he came across.

Rose Beatty, Rikki

to rehabilitate turtles.

Combining his love of fishing and his interest in ceramics, Edward Johnson both fished at various reservoirs and lakes throughout New Jersey

preserved ease for the customer while reducing in-app payment costs.

A self described “car enthusiast,” Ryan Boylan spent his days learning about cars and the

ISP JUNE 11, 2017

car industry shadowing professionals at both Robb Francis Sports Cars in New Jersey and the Monticello Motor Club in New York. Not only did he learn about the market and business of classic and sports cars, but he also developed his own racing skills at a two-day racing school.

Hoping to learn the ins and outs of running a small family business, Reid Allinson worked on Hotel Silver’s new website, and he specifically focused on the new e-commerce branch and the new inventory categorization system. He also established a comprehensive database of alumni- and parent-given feedback for the Arabic Year program at King’s Academy, which he attended himself last year.

Julia Masch split her time between earning her pple ertification at school and coaching squash clinics at the Ricochet and Valkyrie Squash lubs er goal in the first was to gain important troubleshooting and manual skills for the future, while her goal in the second was to improve her own and her students’ squash abilities.

Heba Syed challenged the assumption that technology results in the decline of physical activity by analyzing the impact of TopYa! Active, an application that motivates students to be more physically active by giving them challenges, on Pingry’s 6th grade Physical Education class.

Sports Under his former coach Andres Sanchez, Warren Yermack interned with CenterCourt Sports in Chatham to gain experience in sports management. His time was divided between learning about coaching and learning about managing a sports facility, and he kept a journal to keep track of his progress throughout the internship.

Rose Beatty interned with Sum It Up Lacrosse, a business that runs lacrosse camps and clinics for young players. During the internship, she worked with company director Laura Gump to create a

promotional video for the website and learned about the kind of work that goes into a startup.

With Jay Judge at

17 favorite athlete but also able to learn the skills of running a business through witnessing the growth of a rising company.

Kayla Thau

the irate lue office at Seton Hall University, Lindsey Lubowitz and Natalie Lucciola helped with fundraising to gain experience in the sports co unication field oth Lubowitz and Lucciola wrote a weekly blog detailing their experiences working for Seton Hall.

Motivated by his passion for sports analytics, especially in golf, Josh Baum worked with Columbia Business School professor Mark Broadie on a project focused on aging in golf. Using his skills in computer science and statistics, Baum compiled data of thousands of shots cataloged by the PGA Tour provided by Professor Broadie to complete the project.

To gain insight into the business aspect of golf, Jake Mayer worked in the In-House Tournament Operations section of the United States Golf Association, which helps organize the most prestigious and historic golf tournaments in the nation.

In addition to working on the U.S. Senior Open and the U.S. Women’s Open, Mayer was able to spend time with the seven members of the staff to learn about their specific roles and gain insight into the company as a whole.

Jack Wolfson worked for a startup media company called Religion of Sports that is dedicated to sharing the amazing, untold stories of athletes and coaches at all levels of sports. Wolfson was not only able to create his own written report on his

Ever since he returned from a semester in Switzerland, Gabe Gever has loved to rock climb, and he took his passion to his ISP by helping to build a climbing wall in the Bugliari Athletics Center. With the help of Mrs. McArthur and Mr. Crowley-Delman, Gever went through the steps of researching, designing, and presenting his idea to administrators to begin construction for the climbing wall.

Diego Marroquin shadowed his fencing coach at the Princeton YMCA while training fencers in conditioning, agility training, footwork training e ibility e ercises, and private lessons.

Having fenced for nearly five years arro uin hoped to learn more about the teaching and the training that goes into fencing, and culminated his project by writing a guidebook on tips for a non-fencer or novice fencer explaining the training and rules as well as strategies and tactics.

Community Service Victoria Watson worked with the International Rescue Committee, an organization committed to responding to world humanitarian crises and aiding those affected. Under the mentorship of Fiorella Morales as an intern for the economic empowerment division, Watson wor ed to find e ployent assist in filling out applications, and create résumés for refugees, asylees, and parolees.

Josh Greer and Chris

18 Lachenauer worked with Mrs. Babbitt to organize and run the John Taylor Babbitt Walk. To promote their cause, they sold tickets at school, contacted sponsors for the event, and put up signs to raise awareness for the walk. The JTB Walk and Foundation are both very special to the Pingry community, and Greer and Lachenauer sought to emulate that through their dedication and hard work.

Caroline Stillitano and Sydney Woode traveled to Jamaica to work with children at the Jamaica National Children’s Home, an organization that provides care and support to kids who have gone through abuse, poverty, or neglect. They both stayed with Sydney’s aunt in the town of Kingston, where they immersed themselves in the Jamaican culture.

Caroline explored her passion for photography by documenting their experience in Jamaica, and the two created a photo book upon their return to the United States.

Emily Tung worked alongside the associate director of the Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey to create an application that will aid young adults who are transitioning from seeing a pediatrician to an adult physician. Her work included researching functions that should be put in the app as well as communicating with parents and teens who may be using the app in the future.

Through making and selling jewelry, Cece Lesnick raised money for Tenacity, a charity that aims to close the achievement gap for inner city students in Boston by providing them with academic help, family support, and extracurricular opportunities.

She also volunteered at their program in the later

nications, Yelena Salvador worked at the Lower School Campus as an English teacher. She was able to share her passion with younger, fellow Pingry students and was mentored

by Pingry teacher Mrs. Polera.

Will DiGrande and Akash Kumar pursued their passion for Quiz Bowl by creating and hosting a Quiz Bowl tournament at Pingry.

They planned the questions, organized the team brackets, and wrote a guide to organizing Quiz Bowl tournaments. This ISP let Will and Akash create their own version of a game they love.

Sophie Ricciardi spent her ISP working with her alma mater, Far Brook School, and the Phillips Academy Charter School, analyzing the educational differences. Additionally, Ricciardi worked in the develop ent office at ar roo and ended up fil ing a fundraising video for the Far Brook fund with fellow alumnus Henry Kraham.

Exploring new avenues of the college application process, Sam Scherl researched data on the college process including school rankings, class performance, and the college program Naviance. He also researched at Zekari Ventures, an investing fir to wor in phar acy and learn more about the business.

Owen Gaynor immersed himself in his passion of sports management by volunteering as a Lower School Gym Teacher. Owen ran the gym sessions for the students and taught them new sports skills. Not only did he serve as a gym teacher, he also took photographs of the students to document their progress.

Working alongside gym

THE PINGRY RECORD His experience in soccer gave him the skills to impart his sports knowledge onto Pingry students.

LJ Davidson used his ISP opportunity to practice his sports management skills. LJ was a gym teacher at the Lower School and worked with Pingry students to help them develop their sports abilities. LJ has had prior experience in this area of work, as he was a gym teacher at the YMCA and taught basketball to second graders for more than two years.

For her ISP, Caroline Marone expanded her interest in science by being a teaching assistant at Fusion Academy. She helped design a Marine Conservation summer course and helped her mentor, Laura Snow, teach the middle and high school students. Caroline not only taught, but also fundraised for the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI), a non profit organi ation in the Cayman Islands that promotes marine research, conservation and education.

Returning to his alma mater, Far Brook School, Henry Kraham worked as a gym teacher and baseball coach for his ISP. Working under his lower school mentor, Mr. Bartiromo, he helped teach students how to further their skills in sports.

Medicine Pursuing her interest in medicine and a possible career as a surgeon, Julia Dannenbaum shadowed Dr. Janine Jamieson, an orthopedic surgeon at JFK Medical Center in Edison.

She also worked at the Sharing Network in New Providence, where she learned about the process of organ donation, and created a document to help high school students create a Donate Life Club at their

Gabby Obregon

weeks of her project.

Education Furthering her interest in English and Commu-

teacher and coach Leslie Miller, Obi Ikoro worked as a gym teacher at the Lower School for his ISP.

schools.

Stephen Hricko used his previous experience

ISP JUNE 11, 2017

shadowing a pain specialist doctor to help him shadow a surgeon in Kansas. He wrote a report of the notes and observations he made while shadowing this doctor along with

on a personal blog and submitted their report to a variety of well-known baseball websites.

Jennifer Zhang explored the world of pharmacy by working at Lov-

NYU School of Medicine’s Sackler Institute. He was involved in Mr. Geter’s research concerning breast cancer stem cells and how the concentration of the translation initia-

EmmaClaire Marvin

a short essay about his experience.

Rose Beatty shadowed a surgeon by the name of Dr. Gerald Costa at Overlook Medical Center in Summit. She is interested in becoming a surgeon when she is older and used her past experience shadowing an orthopedic surgeon to help her.

Hoping to become a plastic surgeon in the future, Raena Lebourne shadowed Pingry alum Dr. Sanjay Lalla. She sat in on surgeries and wrote a paper that gave detailed explanations of her observations. As the other part of her ISP, she produced music with Chris Varvaro and Miles LeAndre.

Pursuing her interest in a possible career as a physical therapist, Mary Pagano shadowed a physical therapist at JAG Physical Therapy in Warren.

She wrote weekly blog posts about her experience and what she learned.

Kartikeya Sharma spent his ISP interning at Solaris Pharma under the guidance of Dr. Lakshmi Raghavan in order to deepen his knowledge of how pharmaceutical companies are creating topical treatments as an alternative to oral ones.

Aside from working at Solaris, he spent some time at Pingry researching pharmaceutical production for his ISP night powerpoint presentation.

Joe Possumato, Jack Laurent, and Dan Hutt performed a statistical study on the potential causes of Tommy John, a common injury faced

by MLB pitchers. They composed and published a report of their findings

ing Care Pharmacy and Ref Drug Inc., where she learned about retail pharmacy, behind-the-counter assistance, and a variety of other aspects of pharmacy.

Frankie Dillon asked a variety of students about their mental health and used the data he collected to perform a comprehensive study of mental health at Pingry. He compared the results of his study with national averages for mental health in order to determine where Pingry stands when compared to other schools.

Science Sarah Moseson contacted a variety of schools across the country in order to expand the Pingry-originated club, Project 80.

She created a presentation to show to other schools which explains the main goal of Project 80—to present science in a simple and understandable way.

Amanda Celli and Coby Weiss worked as teaching assistants at the Nueva School in San Francisco, California, where they mentored students in the research program akin to the likes of iRT. They worked under the supervision of former Pingry science teacher, Luke De. Expanding on her interest in chemical engineering, Lauryn Rodney interned at SprinJene, a toothpaste company that emphasizes safe, gentle, and environment friendly dental care. She worked with the head engineer to make the actual toothpaste and used what she learned to experiment with the formula in a variety of ways.

Ben Zhou spent five weeks as a lab assistant for Mr. Phillip Geter at the

tion factor, eIF2B, affects the expression of the cell phenotype.

Jack Smith went to Atlanta to do an unpaid internship at a start-up company called Nanofarm, which produces a food growing appliance that can be stored inside. He developed his engineering and entrepreneurial skills by working weekdays from 10am-9pm and carrying out tasks needed for the manufacturing of the products.

As one part of her project, Claire O’Mara aimed to identify at least 10 microsatellite loci in Gentiana autumnalis in order to analyze the effect anthropogenic habitat odifications have on this species’ genetic diversity both inter and intra different populations. Additionally, because she enjoys baking at home, she interned at a local bakery named Crowley Cupcakes.

Brett Zanelli studied the fish population in New Jersey and the effect of a specific variable on fishing e perfor ed his study at two different locations, Surprise Lake and Round Valley reservoir, and compared his results at the end.

Business and Finance Jake Moss spent his ISP working at Swagelok Metro, exploring what the company sells, who they sell to, and how they communicate with their customers. He used the opportunity to gain a more thorough understanding of how companies function with a focus on business relationships, networking, and marketing.

Will Boone expanded his tech knowledge by

working at Creximco Inc., where he will gain exposure to the company’s proprietary business system, multiple software systems, and network hardware.

He will accomplish this through interaction with engineers, business development managers, customer service representatives, and marketing managers.

Thomas Tarantino derived a better understanding of private equity businesses and the daily

operations of running one’s own business during his ISP at Lexerd Capital, a small private equity company. He will be shadowing Mr. Albert Lord II, the founder and CEO of the company.

David Metzger spent his ISP interning with Marc Marowitz, the owner of the Morristown Deli.

Under the guidance of Mr. Marowitz and his staff, David learned about various aspects of the food industry, including food preparation, proper storage, preparation, management of staff, waiting service, and various other elements of the restaurant world.

Spencer Spellman hopes to enter the field of real estate development and management, so he spent his ISP gaining e perience in this field that he will benefit greatly from during college and the world beyond.

He accomplished this by working with Mr. Matt Jarmel with Jarmel Kizel Architects and Engineers to learn about architectural and engineering side of real estate construction.

Lily Cao spent her ISP interning at Enviro-Clear, a company that patents sedimentation equipment

THE PINGRY RECORD ISP JUNE 11, 2017

For his ISP at Swagelok METRO, Andrew Brosie worked with the sales coordinator to conduct online market research within a specific sales territory to identify potential target accounts based on industry and customer type. He learned about local (NJ and NY) customers in the business-to-business world.

Brandon Li spent his ISP helping out at Homeowner’s Hub in South Orange, New Jersey, a concierge service to help homeowners repair and renovate their home quickly and efficiently e was involved with a variety of jobs including sales, marketing, social media, and technology.

Johnny Graves switched off between working with Signal Hill and working with the Elizabeth Winterbottom Real Estate Team at Keller Williams. Through these two projects, he learned more about investment banking and real estate, as well as what the daily work is like for these fields Jeff Zucker learned about what it takes to manage a business by working in the business department of a tennis club. He got the chance to build on the knowledge he gained Connor Beard through his AP Economics course at Pingry, exploring and further explore her in- how to retain clientele and terest in fashion, spent her working with the owner ISP interning at Decor, a and accounting staff of the Design, Development, and tennis club in an effort to Production company of understand how to finanapparel. She worked with cially manage a business. the vice president of the Charlotte Curnin spent company to learn about her ISP working at Living design, web and marketPlate, a company that uses ing, and merchandising. cutting-edge science and Hoping to deepen his culinary expertise to create nowledge of finance great-tasting and healthy economics, research, meals. She was the only spreadsheets, how meetintern at the company, and ings are run, people skills, was therefore exposed to a and presentation skills, variety of tasks and expeParth Patel spent his riences. She sifted through ISP interning at a hedge healthy recipes to then fund in NYC called Cato test-cook and possibly Partners. modify them before instiHe will build on his tuting them into medical experience gained through meal plans and cooking the Pingry Credit Union lessons/workshops. by attending meetings with James Parker has mid-size companies’ exalways been interested ecutives and working with in both the creative and the company to produce professional aspects of a written analysis of why architecture. or why not to buy stock of During his ISP, James Snapchat, which had its built on this interest with IPO in March.

Mr. Storms, who works on Lucas Monserrat residential, commercial, spent his ISP working and dual-purpose propwith Steve Brotman of erties in Somerville and Alpha Venture Partners Chester. His work gave in New York City. He him a detailed understandexpanded on his knowling of real estate develedge of entrepreneurship, opment and engaged his technology, and science creative interests as well. as well as gained valuable Rich LeGrand and knowledge and experience Clay Galiardo used their regarding how venture ISP as an opportunity to capital works. have a creative, impactas solutions to liquid and solid separation application worldwide. She worked with the president of Enviro-Clear to learn about the business and financial aspects of the company, whether that be through accounting or translating proposals from English to Mandarin Chinese and Spanish and vice versa.

Alaina Brotman, hoping to gain experience in a real work environment

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ful, and unique experience where they could gain knowledge that he wouldn’t have the chance to engage with in a classroom setting. They developed a new and improved beef jerky, and through their ISP, they created a detailed business plan, learned how to market/ advertise their brand, worked to understand the consumer market for snack products, and will eventually make and distribute their product.

Law AJ Bernstein worked at a District ttorney s office in NYC. He was exposed to an overview of the criminal justice system—from arrest to sentencing—with insight into each stage of the process. He also explored street crime versus white collar crime and the growing intersection of the two concepts.

To further enhance her note-taking and analytical skills, Kiara Smith worked with a defense attorney named Kisha M. Hebbon.

Kiara interned at Ms. Hebbon’s office where she emailed clients, scheduled meetings, read through drafts of retainer agreements, and transferred old case files to the new system that the office will be getting in May. Politics Ellie Palmer and Mackinley Taylor worked together to make a documentary based on political issues like healthcare, immigration, and minority rights in the current political climate.

To help accomplish this goal, they went to several organized political protests, such as Trump’s Return to NYC Protest at the Intrepid.Additionally, they went to multiple festivals in New York City including the Women’s Festival, Multicultural Festival, NYC Independent Film Festival, and the Washington Square outdoor art exhibit.

Sonia Wong interned at

the National Organization of Women in New York City, where she focused on topics relating to politics and communications.

She already has a passion for gender equality, and through her ISP Sonia was able to learn effective methods to make others as passionate she is.

To play off of the love of politics he gained

Ally Bisgay

the voting demographics of New Jersey, and gained experience in the public service sector in which he might go one day.

Jahnai Binns is interested in politics, and he felt that despite Pingry’s high standing, he was uneducated on topics such as immigration, healthcare, and race relations—issues

Sofia Briones

through the AP Government class at Pingry, Matthew Peacock worked with Nicholas Platt as he ran for Morris County representative freehold for the New Jersey state legislature.

He learned what real political elections are like, how to sway voters, and

which he felt all American citizens should seek to understand.

Jahnai pursued a political internship for the Jim Johnson Campaign, where he used his current understanding of government to e pand his in uence as a citizen and work to the benefit of the state

20 Page

ATHLETIC RECRUITS The Pingry School, Basking Ridge, New Jersey

VOLUME CXL, NUMBER 6

By FELICIA HO (IV) and MARTHA LEWAND (III)

LACROSSE

Next year, Charlotte Curnin will be playing lacrosse at Wesleyan after playing varsity for all four years of high school and being captain this year.

When Curnin was young, she always loved watching and playing with her brother, who played lacrosse in their backyard, which inspired her to pick up her own lacrosse stick. After trying out for her local club team and making it during the summer, she began playing lacrosse in eighth grade and has played club lacrosse and at school ever since.

When asked about the recruitment process, Curnin replied that applying to a Division III lacrosse school would give her more time to develop her skills and push her to focus on school for all four years of high school.

After playing varsity lacrosse for four years, Frankie Dillon will be continuing his lacrosse career at Swarthmore next year. He became involved in the sport when he was in sixth grade, trying to decide between baseball and lacrosse, and learned that his town lacrosse team needed a goalie.

During his time at Pingry, Dillon has been a part of two state championship teams, which reached the finals and the Tournament of Champions last year.

When asked about the recruit-

ment process for athletes, Dillon explained that “the process was a little stressful; seeing coaches on the sidelines of your games was worrying, and watching many of my teammates commit before me made me worry if I was going to be able to find a college that was right for me.” In the end, after being recruited, Dillon felt great to have a lot of senior year stress alleviated and to soon be a part of an athletic program that was attached to a great school that truly wanted him.

He looks forward to becoming a player on Swarthmore’s Division III lacrosse team.

Spencer Duryee will be playing lacrosse at Vassar in college.

Duryee, who has been playing lacrosse for ten years, first picked up the sport because his dad played lacrosse in college, and Duryee was also especially interested in playing lacrosse after watching the 2007 national lacrosse championship.

Duryee has been a part of a three-time Non-Public B State Champion winning team and a Tournament of Champions runner-up. He was also named as an Honorable Mention at the All-Skyland Conference.

Although Duryee described the recruitment process as very stressful, the results were truly rewarding for him. His talents will be missed on the field next year as he plays lacrosse at the next level!

Jake Moss, the captain of the lacrosse team, will be playing lacrosse for the Fighting Irish next year at Notre Dame.

Introduced to the sport by his

dad, who played lacrosse in high school and college, Moss has been playing lacrosse for nine years.

As a junior, Moss was selected to the All-State team and the All-Conference team. At Pingry, Moss helped lead the lacrosse team to three state championships.

Outside of school, Moss plays for the number one club team in the nation, Leading Edge, and was selected to the New Jersey underclassmen Under Armour All-American Team.

Although Moss was recruited after his freshman year, he believes that the recruiting process began too early. It was hard for him to understand where he wanted to go to college four years later. Recently, the NCAA has changed the rules, and coaches must now hold off on recruitment until junior year.

Moss hopes that this change will help benefit both the recruits and the college coaches because the athletes will have a better idea of where they want to go and will be more developed as players.”

Overall, Moss is looking forward to playing for the Division I lacrosse team at Notre Dame next year.

Oliver Martin will be joining Kenyon’s Division III lacrosse team next year.

Martin has been playing lacrosse for ten years, since second grade. He explained how he picked up the sport. Over 80 kids his age would come out to play lacrosse every year, and Martin said, “That pushed me to become the best

player possible by high school.”

Martin has had a successful high school lacrosse career, having been named an All Skylands Conference Honorable Mention last year and winning the “One of Us” award earlier this year. When asked about his proudest accomplishment, he replied that winning the Pride Award sophomore year was a moment where he felt the proudest because of his attitude on the field and how he never stopped hustling.

“It was pretty cool to be recognized for my effort in front of the older kids on the team who helped form one of the best teams in Pingry lacrosse history,” he said.

For Martin, the recruiting process went very smoothly as Coach Misarti, the head coach at Kenyon, was very honest throughout the entire process. Martin is excited to continue playing lacrosse at the next level, and becoming part of the Kenyon community.

TENNIS

Jeff Zucker will be joining University of Pennsylvania’s men’s tennis team next year.

With thirteen years of experience under his belt, Zucker is a talented player who is very excited to play for the Quakers. A couple of his accomplishments include winning the county tournament three times in a row, and reaching semi-finals twice and uarterfinals once in the state championships.

In terms of the recruiting process, Zucker found it a unique, amazing experience. He said, “I was able to travel and experience

my teenage years differently than everyone else and that made the process really special.”

Cece Lesnick will be playing tennis for Lafayette College next year in the fall.

Lesnick has been playing tennis since she was four years old, and was honored to represent New England four years in a row at nationals. In addition, she has ualified and played in the International Orange Bowl, and has won the sportsmanship award at the high school nationals and the Somerset County tournaments.

She has also placed fifth at the National Mother-Daughter Tennis Tournament.

Lesnick is honored to be a recruited athlete, and has always dreamed of being a Divison I athlete. She is proud that she has achieved her dream now that she has joined Lafayette Tennis.

Lesnick truly enjoys playing tennis, as it has taught her about “sportsmanship, being competitive, hard work, disappointment, family and friends.” She said, “Through tennis I was able to meet my best friend, Julia. Both Julia and my coach Erik are even coming to my graduation, as they are two of the biggest and most important people in my life.”

Lesnick is excited to start playing tennis for Lafayette.

the Total Dutch Field Hockey Club in third grade, and now currently plays for the club team New Heights. Over the past few years, Taylor has been twice named to the NFHCA/Keith Waldman – Optimal Performance Associates High School National Academic Squad for Varsity Field Hockey Players, invited to the USAFH Olympic development program, and has been recently named by NJ.com as a Key player for the Pingry Field Hockey 2016-2017 season.

For Taylor, the recruitment process came with a crazy schedule filled with hours of practice and tournaments. During all four years and especially starting in sophomore year, Taylor had a tournament almost every month with three-hour practices a few times during the school week and allday tournaments on the weekends.

The summer going into her junior year, she was invited to a twelve day training camp in Barcelona, Spain, where she learned from international coaches with some of the best high school field hockey players from around the world.

Taylor looks forward to becoming a part of the Johns Hopkins field hockey team next year. hile she is going to miss Pingry field hockey and her club teams outside of school, especially since she has been playing with some of her teammates for nine to ten years now, she is excited for field hockey FIELD HOCKEY in college. Taylor said, “I can’t Amanda Van Orden, captain wait for all the games and training of the girls’ field hockey team and this fall and to be a Blue Jay!” varsity player for all four years, SQUASH will be playing for the Georgetown Hoyas next fall.

Julia Masch will be joining the Van Orden has been playing Columbia Squash team next year. field hockey since fourth grade.

Having played squash for Some of her achievements in- around 10 years, Masch plays include: 0 4 All-County st team, dividual tournaments all year long NFHCA Scholar Athlete, earning a and plays Pingry squash during the spot in 2015 on The Star-Ledger’s winter season. She has been named Save eaders with 4 saves a US Squash Scholar Athlete for that year, and being ranked in all four years of high school and the Max Top 2017 Players in the has consistently ranked in her Country, as well as many more respective age group since since awards. In addition, she led the she was under (U ).

Pingry girls’ field hockey team Masch’s fondest memories of last year, and the team appeared squash are from the team matches. in the county finals for the first In eighth grade, she was a part of time in ten years. Some of her club the team that won Middle School team accomplishments include Nationals. This year, the Pingry winning gold at 0 4 National s uash team reached the finals of Field Hockey Festival with New the Second Division, and beat a Heights and winning the Barbara team 4-3 after having lost to them Longstreth Sportsmanship Award 5-2 earlier in the season, making at 2015 NFCs. it their best match of the season.

Van Orden feels very grateful Masch was happy with the to be a recruited athlete, and al- recruiting process, as the end though she said that the process accomplishment showed that all was nerve racking, she knew that her commitment and dedication Georgetown, which welcomed to the sport had paid off and she her warmly, would be the school would be able to play squash at for her. Van Orden said, “I am the collegiate level. beyond blessed to be given the Sam Scherl, who has led the opportunity to play field hockey squash team at Pingry both junior in college and extremely excited and senior year, will be playing to call the field hockey girls my squash for the Harvard Crimsons family and Georgetown my home next year. The Crimsons recently away from home.” finished second in the country this Mackinley Taylor will be year in squash. playing for the Johns Hopkins Scherl has been playing squash Blue ays girls’ field hockey team since he was nine years old, and next fall. was first introduced to the sport by Taylor first started playing for his uncle, who inspired his whole

family to start playing squash.

Thus, Scherl has seven cousins and siblings who have played collegiate squash.

Scherl has been ranked #1 in the nation for Boys under 15, Boys under 17, and Boys under 19. Also, Scherl won the Boys under 17 National Championship in 2015, and won the Boys Under 17 US Junior Open, the largest individual squash tournament in the world, in 2015.

During every tournament or match, Scherl is always proud to represent his community through competition by wearing Pingry on his back, or, as he will do next year, to represent Harvard. Scherl said, “Coach Vehslage and the entire Pingry squash program are truly incredible and although I’ll be sad to leave them, I really look forward to continuing to compete at the collegiate level.”

Dan Hutt will be playing squash for Tufts University next year.

Hutt has been a captain for the Pingry squash team this year. In addition, he was selected to represent Team USA to play in the Maccabi Games and he was a fouryear US Squash scholar athlete.

Hutt described the recruiting process as an exciting time period of his career. He said, “I enjoyed meeting with different coaches and visiting schools to get a feel for a team atmosphere.”

Hutt is looking forward to competing at the collegiate level for squash and representing Tufts.

SWIMMING

Claire O’Mara will be swimming for the Yale Bulldogs next year.

O’Mara has been swimming competitively since she was nine years old, and recently also qualified for the Olympic Trials last year in the 200 meters Freestyle event. In addition, she has received the Scholastic All-American Athlete honor for all four years in high school.

For O’Mara, she describes the recruiting process as a humbling experience. During the process, which began during her junior year, O’Mara talked to many different coaches and looked through several different programs, pushing her to think about what she would like to tackle after swimming and college were over.

O’Mara said, “The recruiting process helped me decide what I was looking for in my college experience but also what I was looking for beyond that.”

CROSS COUNTRY/ TRACK

Thomas Tarantino ( I) will be running boys’ cross-country and track for the Middlebury Panthers next year.

Tarantino has been running competitively since the third grade after racing his grade in the mile.

Since then, he has excelled in cross country, winning Rookie of the ear ( 0 3), st Team Skyland Conference All-Valley Division ( 0 4, 0 , 0 ) to name just a few. In addition, Tarantino has also been recognized for his talent in track, qualifying for the NJ Meet of

JUNE 11, 2017

Champions in the 4x800 meters as well as for the 3, 00 meters ( 0 4 and 0 ).

Although many people believe that the college process is much easier for the recruited athlete because they are getting support from the coach, Tarantino explained that this is not usually the case for Division III schools. Just like any other student, he needed to work through multiple drafts of his college essays and maintain his grades while juggling many cross country meets with little time to finish his schoolwork.

Clearly, the work has paid off, and Tarantino said, “I am happy with how everything fell into place, and I enjoyed the experience of going through college process.”

Tarantino will be greatly missed on the boys’ cross-country and track teams next year as he pursues cross country and track on the collegiate level at Middlebury.

Pole vaulter Julia Dannenbaum will be headed off to Washington University in St. Louis next year.

Dannenbaum’s accomplishments include winning six Somerset County Championships (indoor and outdoor), four Skyland Conference Championships (indoor and outdoor), and five Non-Public B state titles, all in the pole vault.

This past winter, she was the first girl at Pingry to ever win a Meet of Champions. Dannenbaum also holds the school record in the pole vault with a jump of 12-6.

Since a young age, Dannenbaum has always wanted to compete at the collegiate level. “When I started thinking about college, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a student athlete,” Dannenbaum said. She described the recruiting process as something she stressed about at times, but is very is thankful for the experience.

Dannenbaum also said she found the perfect balance of academic rigor and athletics at Wash U. “As a recruited student-athlete, I know that all of my hard work in school and pole vaulting really paid off,” she added.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE OTHER GRADUATING ATHLETES:

Other lacrosse recruits are Jake Simon who is headed to Connecticut College; David Metzger, who is going to Vassar College, and Mary Pagano, who will be attending Georgetown.

Soccer recruits include Henry Kraham for Claremont McKenna, Owen Gaynor for Elon, Obi Ikoro for Gettysburg, and Sarah Moseson for MIT. Finally, Jake Mayer will be playing golf next year at Princeton University, and Rich LeGrand will play football for Washington and Lee University.

24 Seniors were recruited athletes this year!

Go Big Blue!

All photos are taken by Bruce Morrison.