The Pingry Review - Winter 2020-21

THE

JULIE JOHNSON ROBERTS ’05 MAKES SPACES SAFER + ON THE FARM + REIMAGINING OKLAHOMA!

REVIEW

Reexamining Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Urgency & Action at Pingry WINTER 2020-21

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Reexamining Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion: Urgency & Action at Pingry

Last summer’s protests across the country and an outcry within the Pingry community have led to a renewed commitment to DEI work. Read candid interviews with students and alumni about their experiences, and learn what steps the community is taking to do—and be—better.

pingry.org/review

WINTER 2020-21 | VOL. 77 | NO. 2

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Safer Spaces

Armored Things, co-founded by Julie Johnson Roberts ’05, helps large venues maintain their physical security.

But during the pandemic, when social distancing and crowd sizes need to be monitored, the company has modified its operations to enable venues to reopen. Find out how Mrs. Roberts arrived at her technological specialty and how she has been working with clients during COVID-19.

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On the Farm

Situated on more than 250 acres of verdant farmland, the Basking Ridge Campus has long been primed to capitalize on its open space. Now, thanks to the convergence of inspired, innovative faculty as well as a strategic emphasis on hands-on learning opportunities, student wellness, and outdoor education, the School can— and is. Introducing Pingry’s first farm and garden program.

Departments 2 From the Head of School 3 One Pingry 6 Pingry Favorites 8 View from SH/BR 38 Athletics 44 On the Arts 49 True Blue Spotlight

50 Planned Giving 52 Pingry Creates 53 Pingry in Your Neighborhood 54 Class Notes 55 In Memoriam 58 A Visit to the Archives 62 A Final Look

The Pingry Review is The Pingry School’s official magazine.

Contact the editor with comments and story ideas: gwaxberg@pingry.org 908-647-5555, ext. 1296 The Pingry School 131 Martinsville Road Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 EDITOR Greg Waxberg ’96 Communications Writer EDITORIAL STAFF Peter Blasevick Archivist

Allison C. Brunhouse ’00, P ’31 Director of Institutional Advancement Andrea Dawson Senior Writer Jane Hoffman ’94, P ’26, ’27, ’28 Director of Annual Giving and Community Relations Edward Lisovicz Advancement Writer James Pardes Director of Marketing and Communications Holland Sunyak ’02 Director of Development DESIGN AND LAYOUT Aldrich Design aldrichdesign.biz PHOTOGRAPHY Camille Bonds Bruce Morrison ’64 John O’Boyle Maggie Yurachek COVER ILLUSTRATION cienpies/istockphoto ON THE BACK COVER The first snowfall of winter, as seen on the Basking Ridge Campus.

From the Head of School Dear Pingry Community, As I write this letter, at the midpoint of the year, I reflect with marvel and wonder that we are still able to provide in-person learning through Pingry Anywhere. It truly is a testament to the collective spirit that infuses the Pingry community, where we hold our commitment to act responsibly in service of the common good, as our Honor Code states.

One of the nice traditions that I have encountered so far at Pingry is the way in which we start all of our Board meetings, which occur four times per year. At the start of each meeting, we hear directly from the Student Body President, Nolan Baynes II ’21, and most recently we also heard from the head of the Honor Board, Meghan Durkin ’21. In their presentation at the January meeting, both students spoke about the importance of community and the eagerness with which their peers want to engage in discussions about community at Pingry.

The commitment to the common good has surfaced in the form of community conversations in the aftermath of the riots at the Capitol building, as well as following the inspiring presentation by Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. Dr. Glaude challenged us to think about the common good in the context of our responsibilities to each other in community, as he spoke at our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assembly on Zoom.

As we engage in these community discussions, I am reminded of some advice that I received when I was a young educator in my first few years of teaching. I had a wise division director who let me know that one of the primary responsibilities of an educator is to complicate the thinking of students.

I have always taken this to heart to be able to add layers of complexity to discussions, so that we do not fall easily into complacent viewpoints or habits of mind. In these pages, you will read about the courageous dialogue our community has embarked on, as well as actions to hold our commitment to the common good at the forefront of our community.

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This is not easy work to do, but in its 160-year history, Pingry has never shied away from difficult challenges. I have full confidence that our community is up to the challenge to continue to evolve our School to fulfill our promise to our students to, as our mission states, “strive for academic and personal excellence within an ethical framework that places the highest value on honor and respect for others.”

Sincerely, Matt Levinson

One Pingry Tribute to Mr. Hanly

Former Drama Department Chair and Magistri Faculty Member Al Romano paid tribute to former Headmaster John Hanly at the first John Hanly Lecture on Ethics and Morality since Mr. Hanly passed away last August. He described a humble leader who forged personal connections with students, believed in acts of kindness (which often took the form of personal notes sent to members of the community), delivered inspiring speeches, and even took the step of admitting a personal failure in front of the whole school. “To him, character education was as important as academic education,” Mr. Romano said. Read more at pingry.org/extras.

Pingry’s work to ensure a safe environment for inperson learning was highlighted by NBC Nightly News on January 24. The School is proud of its collective efforts, knowing that partnership and vigilance are essential to the continued well-being of the community. See the video at pingry.org/extras.

As part of his Eagle Scout Project, Diego Pasini ’23 launched the Pingry Footpath Project, an effort to enhance the half-mile trail in the woods behind the Basking Ridge Campus and inspire in fellow students an appreciation for nature. Among several objectives, he created interpretive signs that dot the trails, explaining how Pingry’s four pillars* extend to the outdoors. Here, a trail map he created. Note the orienteering course he also designed for students to test their navigation skills! * Honor and Character; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Stewardship and Sustainability; Intellectual Engagement

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One Pingry

O N E M I N UT E WI T H

Shamir Bearfield, Lower School Associate Teacher

The Pingry Review continues its profiles of faculty and staff members by highlighting the Lower School’s twoyear Associate Teacher program, which supports individuals with a Bachelor’s degree who are considering a career in education. Working with Grade 2 this year, Mr. Bearfield joined Pingry for the 2019-20 school year after working as a paraprofessional with students at Rahway High School and Newark Collegiate Academy.

What appealed to you about the program? I’ve read

zone by teaching subjects I wouldn’t consider my strong suit. I’m gaining a substantial amount of knowledge and teaching strategies from my colleagues.

What does a typical day look like, in terms of responsibilities? I assist the head teachers with morning meetings

that help the children get ready for the day. Throughout the day, I either lead or assist teaching lessons on a plethora of subjects. Within these lessons, the head teacher and I typically divide the class into small groups to provide individual attention to each student.

many great things about Pingry and all the wonderful opportunities the School offers. When the Associate Teacher program became available, I instantly knew Have you made any adjustments from your first year, and that it was a great opportunity to gain experience workare you giving this year’s new Associate Teachers any ing with some of the best faculty and students in New advice? After having a year under my belt, I’ve learned Jersey. The program has given me a deeper to come in each day with specific goals I above: Lower School insight into my career goals and aspirations. want to accomplish. Last year, I entered the Associate Teacher Shamir building everyday like a sponge with no speBearfield working with How is the program benefiting you? I am cific goals in mind—I was open and eager to students in February 2020. being challenged to step out of my comfort absorb new information as I gained expe-

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Veterans Day In honor of Veterans Day, four members of the community spoke about serving the country.

rience in multiple classrooms/subjects.

This year, having something to look forward to allows me to apply specific strategies that will help me achieve my objective for the day. My advice for the new Associate Teachers is to be flexible and become a sponge. I told them it’s important to learn and take in as much information as possible. This will help them settle in next year more comfortably.

Could you share a memorable experience or two from the Lower School? I enjoy

the connection I have with my students. I know that I’m making a huge impact when I receive emails and holiday cards from parents expressing their appreciation.

Those small acts/words of kindness serve as reassurance. In addition, one memorable experience is from the beginning of the pandemic. When things began to get very chaotic in the world, between the virus and the racial tensions that began to rise in America, my colleagues often reached out to me. Them simply checking in on me to see how I was doing allowed me to understand that I was working in a place that is full of love, support, and inclusion.

That’s something I would never forget.

Special Assistant to the Head of School Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24 proudly served in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s, between Korea and Vietnam. He spoke about “giving back to your country and helping the world.” Mr. Bugliari later served in the Reserves; during the Bay of Pigs in 1961, he experienced the uncertainty of “teaching and not knowing what your next day is going to be like.”

Basking Ridge Campus Permanent Substitute Teacher John Magadini described the “privilege” of serving in the U.S. Marines.

“This is the finest country in the world. The Constitution is the finest document written anyRead about the where.” His lessons: serve with honor, integrity, Veterans Affairs Club, commitment, dependability, determination, and co-founded by two respect for others.

Pingry students and advised by Dr. Ward,

Upper School English Teacher Dr. Barrett at pingry.org/extras.

Ward was an Active Duty U.S. Army Officer for over 13 years, including serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has been an Air Force Reserve Officer since 2018 and felt an immediate sense of kinship with Mr. Bugliari and Mr. Magadini. “I am happy that I got to go through this and serve my country,” he said, “and be with people who wanted to serve the greater good.”

Cadet Cathleen Parker ’19 spoke by video from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where she is proudly starting her journey to become an Army Officer. Inspired to attend West Point by her father and grandfathers, who served as Officers in the Air Force and Navy, she grew up seeing service as a tradition. West Point has given her “a new perspective on service and the military, as our current military is solving new problems, fighting new enemies, and constantly redefining its role. I’m incredibly proud to be part of a long tradition of service members, and part of an incredible organization.”

Isabel Zarbin ’24

Francesca Rainuzzo ’21

THE PINGRY HUMAN CHAIN >> French and visual arts students undertook an assignment inspired by French artist Saype’s “Beyond Walls

Project.” Considered a pioneer of the “land art” movement, he creates gigantic, biodegradable paintings on grass. Upper School Visual Arts Teacher Melody Boone’s Art Fundamentals and Upper School French Teacher Anne Changeux’s Advanced Topics I classes each worked toward a common objective: create a Pingry human chain that is representational of the community’s diversity. The images will be displayed in school as a unified chain. View the collection at pingry.org/extras.

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Pingry Favorites { HEARD ON CAMPUS }

Two Alumni Help with Pingry’s COVID-19 Safety Efforts

This process has been incredible!

We’ve been involved with everything from the beginning to the end, which isn’t typical.” —JEFF XIAO ’19, ON CONTRIBUTING TO PINGRY’S COVID-19 DASHBOARD

It’s really unique for people our age to get to work on a project like this. This project is live, and it’s critical that it works correctly.”

—DREW BECKMEN ’19, ON CONTRIBUTING TO PINGRY’S COVID-19 DASHBOARD

Inspired by several highereducation institutions that developed COVID-19 tracking “dashboards”—web pages that display real-time updates of COVID19 cases in a school, and other information—Pingry decided to create its own dashboard, which launched last fall. Read the story of Drew’s and Jeff’s contributions at pingry.org/extras.

Commemorating MLK Day Acclaimed scholar and author Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, delivered impassioned remarks for Pingry’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Assembly for the Middle and Upper Schools, held virtually this year. Students shared their reflections:

Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.

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“As a Black girl who has attended predominantly White institutions my entire life, I’ve always felt like I don’t belong . . . It was really refreshing to hear Dr. Glaude tell Black students that their race is never something to be afraid of, [that] these spaces should be glad to have your perspective in their classrooms. I’d always thought that I was ‘lucky’ to go to these schools, never that these schools were lucky to have me. So, it kind of changed my perspective.”

—Sydney Stovall ’21

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“The most impactful thing for me about Dr. Glaude’s presentation was when he quoted Dr. King saying ‘White supremacy is the greatest threat to America’s democracy.’ That quote was from the 1960s, right after segregation was made illegal, and in the Capitol, it was shown that White supremacy is still the greatest threat to American democracy.”

—Adam Elayan ’24

Read more about his remarks, and see other student reactions, at pingry.org/extras.

New Year’s Greetings

History-in-theMaking Q&A

A record 35 submissions—featuring an array of creative student artwork—were received for Pingry’s sixth annual New Year’s greeting card design contest. Sheryl Chen ’26 was selected as the winner for her signature whimsical touch: A jolly Big Blue carrying mask-wearing students into 2021. As the seventh-grade student explains, her approach “represents how the community is all staying strong and getting through it together.” She used primarily watercolors, with markers and pens for the lettering and details, and she couldn’t resist including Finn—the School dog.

Honorable Mention went to Grade 2 student Yunqi Zhang, a budding artist whose family has a tradition of artists. Yunqi used watercolors for his wintery design.

Each month, Pingry’s Instructional Design Team shares stories and tips to help faculty and staff navigate this challenging Pingry Anywhere year—such as advice for engaging remote learners, tools to support global education and experiential learning, and Middle and Upper School Music Teacher Jay Winston’s guidance on how to be clearly heard while wearing a mask (“being crisp with my consonants

Do you believe Big Tech has a responsibility to promote free speech? How can it balance enforcing its “terms and conditions” (or privacy policies) with promoting First Amendment rights?

The Balkans— Virtually Is it possible to simulate the eyeopening, transformative experience of international travel in a virtual format? Upper School History Teacher and Director of Global Education and Engagement Julia Dunbar and History Department Chair Dr. Megan Jones gave it a go, piloting a successful threeday virtual Global Program to the Balkans over Winter Break. Nine Pingry Upper Schoolers tuned in via Zoom, parsing the complexities of nationalism, religion, and identity in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina with four native citizens. See pingry.org/extras for more about this program.

Besides removal from office, what are the consequences Donald Trump would face if the 25th Amendment is invoked or he is impeached a second time? Are there different consequences of each?

RZDEB/ISTOCK IMAGES

Aha! Moments

After the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Upper School History Teacher Matt Honohan was well positioned to provide historical context for students and faculty alike. Following a Zoom presentation seeking to explore “How did we get here?”, he held another Zoom call, answering students’ pre-submitted questions.

Here are two examples of what Pingry students were wondering:

“I feel like this was some of the most rewarding work I’ve done as a teacher,” Mr. Honohan says, “and now I’m hoping for less interesting times in the months ahead!”

and diction”).

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View from

Members of the Varsity Ski Racing Team arrive at school one morning after a snowfall, ready and eager to hit the slopes in the afternoon.

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REEXAMINING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION: URGENCY & ACTION AT PINGRY

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T

he cry against racial injustice that reached a peak last summer served as a call-to-action not only for the country, but also for Pingry. Even though the School has been increasing its efforts to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for the past 15 years, the murder of George Floyd that prompted national protests also ignited an outcry within the Pingry community, particularly from Pingry’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students, families, and alumni. More recently, in the wake of violence at the U.S. Capitol, ardent debate surrounding the response by law enforcement officials has stirred up emotions anew, both nationally and on Pingry’s campuses. So, what have members of the community experienced, and what action is Pingry taking?

Revelations in @BlackatPingry Lead to a New Commitment On Instagram, the @BlackatPingry account—similar to school-specific accounts made across the country—contains memories from dozens of current students and alumni who, over the decades, have felt marginalized by classmates, faculty and staff, and administrators. Their posts cover a range of incidents: events and comments that seem to justify slavery; antisemitic treatment of Jewish students; anti-Arab sentiments; references to “terrorist” Palestinian students and “genetically inferior” Asian students; uninformed classroom comments and social media postings about religions (in some cases, those who made the comments attempted to jus-

tify them); teachers mistaking students for one another based on articles of clothing and skin color; comments about students’ religious garments; comments and criticisms about hairstyles; use of the “n” word; comments about students’ neighborhoods; and administrators not taking complaints seriously.

Based on last summer’s events and these postings, Pingry has accelerated its efforts to not only improve its DEI work, but also increase accountability, create a safe space for all students, foster an atmosphere in which students feel comfortable talking to an adult who will take them seriously, and overall, strive to be more than a “non-racist” school—to be an antiracist school.

“We must do more than create a ‘more inclusive’ school,” Head of School Matt Levinson said in a video emailed to the community in June. “We must demonstrate, with our actions, that we stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown students, alumni, faculty, and staff. We must reflect on our inherent and unspoken biases. And we must demonstrate that we’re working to help give voice to the disenfranchised, underserved, and undervalued populations across our communities. We must adopt an ‘all in,’ not an ‘opt in,’ approach to this work.” The process is underway.

DEI Department Expands “This work is critical for our students, and for serving our students. They gave us a mandate, and we must feel a sense of urgency,” says Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Gilberto Olvera P ’29, who was hired in February 2020 and joined

“Healing needs to happen. We need to be better as a community so that we don’t have to help students heal, and we need to face what has happened and be better for it, or else we’re part of that problem and perpetuating that pain.”

—BRIA BARNES, MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER AND MIDDLE SCHOOL ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

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Pingry last summer as a member of the School’s Administrative Team to ensure that DEI is prioritized in all aspects of School life to create “real and long-lasting change.” This is a significant “first” for Pingry, to have the DEI Director on the Administrative Team, reporting to the Head of School, though Mr. Olvera hastens to point out that this group of administrators already has a high DEI fluency.

“My presence ‘at the table’ is an extra step to make sure we are bringing a DEI lens to everything we do,” he says. “Will our decisions affect students in an inequitable manner? If the answer is possibly ‘no,’ do we have, or can we put, systems in place to make sure the impact is equitable?” For example, during this school year of Pingry Anywhere, when students are at school and learning from home, online streaming of events has made it possible for students to participate, regardless of their location.

Including Mr. Olvera, who succeeds the School’s previous D&I Director, the DEI Department has expanded from three employees to five, with Assistant Directors appointed in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools as well as a coordinator for Athletics.

Employees in these positions are Lower School Science Teacher Heather Smith P ’16, Middle School English Teacher Bria Barnes, Upper School Spanish Teacher Alexa López, and Associate Athletics Director Taunita Stephenson, respectively. Ms. Barnes and Ms. López were involved in these efforts prior to this school year, but in a less-formalized manner.

“A team of five is notable, representing a huge institutional investment in and prioritization of making this department work, especially because athletics are often ignored in the DEI world,” Mr. Olvera says.

These five members represent a broad scope of school operations—Mr. Olvera works with the administration and Board of Trustees on K-12 initiatives and ideas; Ms. Smith, Ms. Barnes, and Ms. López address DEI issues and are resources for students in their divisions, including the coordination

“From the work I’ve been able to do thus far, I have learned that our student-athletes are longing for DEI conversations with their teammates.”

—TAUNITA STEPHENSON, ASSOCIATE ATHLETICS DIRECTOR; DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION COORDINATOR FOR ATHLETICS

of groups and meetings; and Ms. Stephenson focuses on what she calls a “unique space for DEI.” “The nature of sports unites people,” Ms. Stephenson says. “We may not come from the same backgrounds or speak the same language, but often, we can find a sport to play together. From the work I’ve been able to do thus far, I have learned that our student-athletes are longing for DEI conversations with their teammates, although many of them are having DEI conversations and training in class. I think that alone speaks to the uniqueness that one feels with their teammates as opposed to, maybe, their classmates.” As of early February, she and Mr. Olvera have already had meaningful conversations with the Field Hockey, Girls’ Varsity Soccer, and Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity Ski Teams, all of whom are invested in making important changes to their team cultures.

Ms. Stephenson is working with athletes and coaches to ensure a sense of belonging for everyone, with offensive behavior and languages eliminated.

“There are studies that indicate young people are less likely to participate if their backgrounds aren’t well represented on a team. We have to think about continued on page 16

“Teachers don’t look like the student body. Students need to be able to see themselves reflected.”

—GILBERTO OLVERA P ’29, DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

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DIVE RSIT Y EQ U IT Y INCLUSIO N

Mark Fury ’75

ATTORNEY, THE LAW OFFICE OF MARK A . FURY, P.C.

You were the first student of color to enter the Lower School, in Grade 5, and graduate in Grade 12. What was your experience at Pingry like for you? I have spent the ensuing 50 years thinking about that answer. I was maybe the ninth or tenth student of color overall. There were two boys of color in each grade when I was at Pingry. No more, no less. It struck me as very much an experiment.

As social experiments go, it wasn’t the worst. I was lab rat #9, as I like to say. But I knew I was a lab rat, and I acted accordingly. I had a very rewarding experience for the most part, but figured out a few survival strategies that worked to my benefit.

By the time I was a sophomore, the School had more Black students in the classes above me.

They all got together and wanted to start a Black Student Union. New clubs and club meetings were always announced at lunch time. They nominated me to make the announcement because I had the longest tenure at the School. And I remember all my White friends I’d had since fifth grade asking me why a Black Student Union was necessary. In that moment, I realized the experiment I was a part of—we were meant to be translators between the two worlds.

It was all so new. I entered Pingry just after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Nobody knew, not a single administrator, teacher, coach, or janitor knew how this was going to go. Pingry’s integration work was a righteous and right-minded effort to prepare for the future. It was not a failed experiment at all. It was absolutely necessary to build the foundation of a Black intellectual class.

I went to Rutgers and earned a law degree from Georgetown. I went on to become mayor of my hometown of Plainfield [1994-1997]. In hindsight, clearly the experiment

was, ‘What would happen if we actually give these kids the same chances we give the other kids?’ That’s laudable and brave.

As Pingry undertakes renewed efforts to prioritize its diversity, equity, and inclusion work, what feedback would you share? Here we are, more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Act, and the strictures are the same. What is it that we’re going to teach students about diversity and inclusion? That’s the hard question. You’re going to teach them that equality is a real thing.

When I went to Pingry, the Honor Code was on the wall. I was the first Black kid to be captain of Blue Key. I took all that stuff and the School’s philosophy really seriously. But then you get out in the world and you realize it might not actually be that way; people don’t play by the same rules.

This isn’t a parlor game. Some of us, as early as elementary school, have given our lives to the responsibility of being translators, advocates.

I would hope that Pingry develops its policies.

We’re the soldiers of change.

“In hindsight, clearly the experiment was, ‘What would happen if we actually give these kids the same chances we give the other kids?’”

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Kat Andersen ’21

STUDENT MEMBER OF THE ANTIRACISM TASK FORCE

Nolan Baynes II ’21 STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT

Ore Shote ’21

STUDENT MEMBER OF THE ANTIRACISM TASK FORCE

In what ways have you experienced or observed issues of race and/or racism or other identity-based biases manifesting at Pingry?

NB: I’ve been at Pingry since Grade 6. Over time, issues of race and identity-based biases have become something that’s more or less indoctrinated into your experience—the microaggressions of people asking to touch my hair, people talking about affirmative action in class, or students singing rap music and a word may come up that you think is offensive. That happened early in my Middle School career, and after a while it just became normal. It got to the point, specifically this past summer, where a lot of minorities and people of color realized, hey, this is not normal. For me, seeing that and seeing the lack of response from our community and things not being addressed, that’s why you saw a huge increase of students standing up and advocating for a better community, specifically a better Pingry.

OS: I’ve been at Pingry since Kindergarten. Elementary and Middle School were not inclusive spaces for me as a Black man growing up. I would get made fun of for my name, which kids said was similar to Oreo. There were a lot of different microaggressions, which you don’t realize are microaggressions until you learn what they are, and then you realize, “Oh, this is daily.” It’s really eye-opening when you get to the Upper School and you see it take place on a bigger and bolder scale. There are plenty of times when things should have been done about blatant acts of racism or macro- to microaggressions, and I felt personally excluded from, you know, anything could happen to me and I knew that others wouldn’t get in trouble. It was a feeling of being left out on a limb, not being able to find the voice I needed to speak out and have the administration back what I was trying to bring forward. It’s been a tough struggle, but we’re getting there.

*All three students are also members of the newly created Pingry Allyship Collective, a student-founded and -led group to improve the School’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts through collaborative education—read more at pingry.org/extras

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KA: As someone who identifies as White, I’ve never obviously been targeted by racism, but throughout high school I did notice things. I could see how it affected students of color.

I never really found my voice in speaking out against it and I never really examined my own privilege until much later in the Upper School. Speaking up for me is a big part of becoming more conscious of the racism and inequity at school.

Finding my voice and ways to work alongside students of color and engage my White peers in this work is my biggest role.

What changes or improvements would you most like to see in terms of Pingry’s overall DEI awareness and efforts?

OS: What would make me most happy is people educating themselves, people having the mindset of, “I want to learn about this” or “I want to make this better, and how do I do that?” Not just complacency. I have to work on this, too. We all need to become better at wanting to take the leap and learn about other peoples’ cultures and what affects them.

You can talk about your own experiences, and you can want to have a candid conversation, but a conversation is two ways. I know what I’m talking about, and I have stuff to say.

But if you have nothing to say in reply, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, how can you contribute? It really does fall on White people to want to learn.

NB: I would agree with Ore. It’s very tense, especially because of everything going on along with the School’s DEI efforts. You can see the focus shifting to different things when we’re all wearing masks and face shields. It’s also annoying when the people who are supposed to be leading these conversations aren’t as involved as they should be. For example, we have a processing or debrief session regarding a national event and there are only six teachers there from the whole

DIVE RSIT Y EQ U IT Y INCLUSIO N

campus. That won’t help anyone. That’s disheartening.

There’s a drive from students and it’s something to be proud of, but it needs to be anchored by the administration and teachers.

KA: There is a select portion of the student body who has a drive and is committed to DEI work. The students who really care show up, but ones that don’t, don’t have to. Out of sight, out of mind is prevalent. This summer, especially over social media platforms, you could see certain people showing up once or twice, but since then, they haven’t said or done anything. It’s on the School for not getting everybody to show up, but also on the students. We need to take accountability as well.

What has Pingry done right to prepare you cross-culturally for your next steps in life?

NB: If I didn’t go to Pingry and didn’t have the experiences and teaching I’ve had, I wouldn’t be able to talk about different cultural backgrounds the way I do. My experience at Pingry overall has opened my eyes to a lot of things, for better or for worse. I’m so fortunate to even be in a space like this where I’m able to learn about different people and different cultures and communities that I probably never would have encountered at my local public school. My ability to just articulate the shortcomings of the School and our community—it didn’t come from nowhere, this definitely came from inside Pingry, and that’s something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.

OS: You can’t go somewhere that’s not Pingry and just be able to talk about difficult topics like race, politics, minority issues, and a lot more. Sitting in a classroom every day and listening to how certain teachers navigate discussions of this nature and just having adult conversations really help me develop the way I talk and communicate on difficult topics.

Pingry put me in a space where I could learn who I am. I learn because I am surrounded by friends in high school who really help me to build my identity and be resilient. If I weren’t at Pingry, surrounded by these friends, I don’t think I would be here talking about this, finding my voice, and becoming a big part of the community.

KA: I’ve been at Pingry for three years and I’ve been able to surround myself with community members, whether students, faculty, or staff, who have broadened my perspectives and allowed me to gain a better awareness of identities and backgrounds I had not been previously exposed to. I owe so much to these people, not just because they help to shape my experiences in high school, but because they highlight things I’m not taught in the classroom. I don’t think I appreciate anything more than the strong relationships I have built over the past three years. To have friends and mentors willing

to open themselves up to me, to share who they are, what they believe in, and what their ambitions are has allowed me to become more open-minded and in search of diversifying my own views and interests.

Is there a version of Pingry that you dream of?

What does it look like?

KA: I don’t think I can imagine an ideal Pingry just because the way I experience it is so much better than others. There are things that I don’t even understand that I benefit from that others don’t. I do wish for a version of Pingry where everybody is invested in everybody else’s good and wellbeing, where things aren’t just surface level, and true conversations are able to be had without people getting defensive, shutting down, or not even showing up. I feel there should be a version of Pingry in the future where everybody can feel comfortable coming to school every day and they don’t have

“We all need to become better at wanting to take the leap and learn about others peoples’ cultures and what affects them.”

—ORE SHOTE '21

to put up a front, and pretend to be someone they’re not.

OS: My ideal Pingry would be one I’d feel comfortable sending my kids to. Knowing what I went through, I wouldn’t willingly put my children through it. I’ve seen my best friend in elementary school—he was Black—his older sister was bullied out of school, and he had to leave. I’m grateful that I had things that impacted me negatively, but I was able to turn it around to better myself. But I couldn’t send my kids to Pingry right now knowing all that I know.

NB: For me, it’s minimizing the stress and the fear of coming to school every day—having to deal with the same conversations or awkward pauses after someone says something you didn’t want to hear at 9:00 a.m. You’re dealing with that habitually as a student, on and on and on, Monday through Friday. If I were to send my kids to Pingry, I would want to know that their only stresses would be whether or not someone was going to ask them to the Homecoming dance, or if they’re going to make the winning goal on the soccer field, whatever it may be. We, as a school, have to make sure that the diversity we have doesn’t lead to the problems that we also have. We tout a diverse student body, but are the students of color really happy? Are they having an enjoyable high school experience? If I were to send my kids to Pingry, I would really just want them to be happy in the space that they’re in despite what they may look like.

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“We need to normalize conversations about being antiracist and make students feel comfortable showing up as their authentic selves. They need a sense of belonging.”

—ALEXA LÓPEZ, UPPER SCHOOL SPANISH TEACHER AND UPPER SCHOOL ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

experiences with transportation, locker room behavior, makeup of coaching staff, sizing of uniforms, and more.” Strategic training for coaches is also key because many of them are not full-time Pingry employees. “If they’re working somewhere else where DEI isn’t valued, that’s a missed opportunity and we’re trying to close that gap.”

Ms. Smith says the Lower School needs to have DEI issues considered “from a developmentally appropriate lens.” Speaking to her role in the department, she adds, “We have not had a representative in this division in the past. While we had and still have a multicultural team, their primary focus was curricular work with the students. As a faculty member of color and the parent of a former student of color in this community, I have always done the unspoken work of DEI at the Lower School level . . . It’s a necessary role that has to be filled by someone. I did it naturally because it needed to be done. This year, it has been formalized.” Similar to Mr. Olvera’s role with the administration, Ms. Smith is making sure that DEI is applied to all aspects of Lower School life, including lesson development.

Antiracism Task Force (ARTF) As Mr. Levinson and Mr. Olvera wrote in an email to the community, the ARTF grew out of conversations resulting from a yearlong audit of DEI at Pingry, and the “urgent need to address issues of systemic racism” was made clear by the Instagram page and community conversations. “The Pingry Allyship Collective (PAC), a student-led organization composed of the leadership of various student groups, voiced a call to action, as did a large group of Pingry alumni, who issued several areas of focus for the Task Force,” they wrote further.

This 14-member task force, co-chaired by Mr. Olvera and Julia Dunbar, Director of Global Education and Engagement, Form VI Dean, and Upper School History Teacher, has been charged with identifying and eradicating all forms of racism and dismantling racial hierarchies at Pingry. Meeting 16

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twice per month, the group currently includes two students, six teachers representing all three divisions, one staff member (who is also an alumna), one alumnus, one trustee, and a parent (several other members are also parents in addition to their Pingry roles). Areas of focus include student life, school culture, alumni, hiring and retention practices, school admissions, faculty and staff growth, parent outreach, and curriculum; as part of its process, the ARTF is consulting with various groups in the School community.

“It has been quite illuminating to be in constant frank and difficult conversations,” says Trustee and ARTF member Maggie O’Toole ’05. “My time at Pingry taught me that all students don’t have the experiences that adults think they do. Students don’t see the challenges of different identifiers in a vacuum—they face it every day in every interaction.

If we choose not to acknowledge or talk about these differences and don’t teach our students how to be aware of actions, thoughts, and words surrounding these different identifiers, we’re choosing not to acknowledge what makes us both different from one another and also recognize how very similar we all are.”

Ms. O’Toole, passionate about equity and belonging at Pingry, points out that “equality” and “equity” are not the same. “Equity involves so much more than access—it involves the resources, support, and environment for success. Part of the educational experience that Pingry can offer to all of its students and staff is for each person to come to school feeling as if the success they strive for is reachable, in an equitable environment. If you’re constantly feeling that you don’t belong, or that you can’t be your true self at school, how can you work to your best ability?”

Attorney Frank Morano ’97 is the only alumnus on the ARTF without an additional connection to Pingry, which he believes is important. “I don’t see the day-to-day of Pingry like a parent or teacher does. I see how the School is represented and perceived in the world.” Counsel to an LGBTQ–owned continued on page 19

DIVE RSIT Y EQ U IT Y INCLUSIO N

Kooheli Chatterji ’93 DIRECTOR OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL , KENT PLACE SCHOOL

Thinking back to your time as a student, how would you characterize Pingry as an environment for people of color? I have a unique lens on Pingry because I experienced the School as a student, then as an English teacher and coach when I returned in 1997, as well as an administrator [Ms. Chatterji served as Middle School Dean of Students from 2003-2014].

And I am now an alumna and an aunt to an eighthgrade student. I would say that Pingry did a tremendous job in the early ’90s of broadening its Asian American student population. In my class of approximately 120, there was a sizable East and South Asian population. At the same time, we graduated with only one Black student in my grade, and zero Latinx students. The school culture overwhelmingly didn’t feel welcoming to students of color, but once I found my way into a smaller posse of Asian American students, it became very welcoming. Students were less tolerant of different backgrounds than individual teachers and administrators, some of whom were instrumental in finding platforms for students of color to celebrate their differences.

What was it like for you returning to the School as a teacher? I wanted to be a visible reminder to students that people of color can be in every position. That was really important to me upon returning. I had to make an emotional shift from seeing fellow faculty as infallible scholars to fallible colleagues. What I began to recognize is that we all have implicit biases, my former teachers included. At the time, it did mean losing the “teacher-on-a-pedestal” view. Wesleyan [where Ms. Chatterji attended college] was super left wing. I was inpatient for rapid change. I became aware that institutional change in a school with such a long history doesn’t happen overnight. But I took advantage of teaching Upper School World Lit to throw out every book and start afresh. And I had the support of the English Department Chair as well as colleagues.

I left Pingry in 2000 to serve as the Director of Alumni Relations for NJ SEEDS, and was able to view independent schools from the perspective of SEEDS students. I returned to Pingry in 2003, and over the course of the following years, I saw, under then-Headmaster Nat Conard, a school grow from donning the occasional DEI lens to making DEI the lens through which we saw everything. I felt tremendous pride in the intentional commitment the School made internally and externally. In 2010, I started a required, seven-week Cultural Competency course for all sixth graders. I didn’t know a single NAIS school doing this at the time.

Given your multiple vantage points on the School, what would you like to share with fellow alumni who might not have stayed as connected? It’s interesting to talk to alumni from the early ’90s at Pingry. I totally understand where so many close friends were coming from. My senior year,

“Your voice as an alumni of color is an incredibly powerful tool.” there was a big to-do over a faculty member who played “minority darts” using a picture of the senior class. You got extra points if your dart hit a student of color. That’s what it was like in 1990, and I can understand the anger and sadness of alumni whose understanding of the School didn’t grow past that time. But today, I would say to them, re-engage in whatever way you can. No institution should stand still, and Pingry has not stood still in the decades since our graduation.

Your voice as an alumni of color is an incredibly powerful tool for self-reflection for all students of color. Find a path back in to learn where the School is today.

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Dexter Jones ’95 and Stacey Jones ’99 Brother and sister Dexter and Stacey, who spent eight and 10 years at Pingry, respectively, are grateful for their Pingry education, and Dexter is a proud inductee of the Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1994 Baseball Team. But they endured harsh words and behavior from classmates, their classmates’ families, and teachers. They both posted to the @BlackatPingry Instagram account.

Please describe your experiences.

DJ: We lived in Hillside, NJ and for 1st to 4th grade, I went to public school, walking distance from my house.

Roughly 25 of the 30 students in my grade were Black, and we all lived in the neighborhood. I started Pingry in 5th grade, now taking the bus to Short Hills. For my 10th birthday, we threw a party at my house and invited the boys from my new homeroom. Everything seemed fine that day, but it turned out to be the last time people came to my house. I later learned that Pingry parents decided we lived in a bad neighborhood and didn’t want their kids coming over, something about “not wanting them getting shot.” This was the first time that I ever thought of our family as being poor. The issues of race and class were very closely linked. Even five years later, in 10th grade, at which point I had clearly established that I was a very capable student, an older class-

binder from the teacher but my project didn’t fit, so I brought a bigger binder from home. When we got to the exhibit, my binder wasn’t displayed with the others, so my mom asked the teacher where it was. It was on the top shelf in the classroom—the teacher had left it out of the group because it looked different. Another example: one day in science class, I raised my hand to ask a question and the teacher said, “We just went over that the other day—were you absent or just not paying attention?” The teacher didn’t speak to other students like that. I was also called the “n” word by a student in math class when the teacher had left the room. There was an audible gasp in the room and I was mortified—I never had been called that. When the teacher found out, he took me aside and apologized on behalf of the student, but the student never apologized and was never punished.

DJ: I always felt the teachers had my back. That’s the experience I want everyone to have. But why for me and not for Stacey?

“If an African American family approached me and asked if I recommend Pingry, I want to be able to say ‘it’s better than ever.’”

—DEXTER JONES '95

mate told me, “You don’t belong at our school.” Was that because I was Black or because I wasn’t wealthy, or both? The overall feeling from a certain segment of the student body was that some were more deserving of Pingry than others, and they went out of their way to let it be known.

SJ: Hillside was diverse, predominantly Black, and I had the U.N. of friends. I started Pingry in third grade, and it was the culture shock of all culture shocks—I was the only Black girl until seventh grade, which was awkward.

I only knew diversity while growing up. I thought, ‘this is different,’ and I definitely stood out. One day at school, a student asked her friend if it was true that our house had only one level. The Lower School teachers were, for the most part, quite conservative. They treated me differently—and not in a good way. In some cases, they were mean. I felt like I didn’t belong there.

One example: we had a huge project in fifth grade and had to display autobiographies in binders. I got a

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Did you tell anyone how you were treated?

DJ: I didn’t report it. If I had said anything, it wouldn’t have helped. I didn’t want to be made an example of. I thought it was better just to get through it.

SJ: I didn’t speak up. I felt like, “don’t rock the boat.”

What changes do you want to see at Pingry?

SJ: Diversify the student body and faculty, and stay on top of your staff. Hold the teachers and students accountable. School is supposed to be a safe place.

Everyone should feel welcome.

DJ: It would be great to have an annual parent orientation to explain the current climate at the School and where students come from. Hopefully, all of our parents want to see every student thrive and be successful, and learning about each other’s experiences might help to enable that success. I’m not trying to fix grievances—I’m more concerned about today’s environment. If an African American family approached me and asked if I recommend Pingry, I want to be able to say “it’s better than ever” and “we’ve come a long way since then.”

Right now, I don’t know how to answer that question, but I do know that I want to help Pingry.

DIVE RSIT Y EQ U IT Y INCLUSIO N

“Families of color who visit Pingry need to see themselves represented in this community.

In order to feel welcomed, it is important for people to see that representation.”

—HEATHER SMITH P ’16, LOWER SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER AND LOWER SCHOOL ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

and operated law firm that focuses on civil rights and LGBTQ issues, Mr. Morano describes the ARTF as “a very collaborative group with individual perspectives— people’s roles in their daily lives define those perspectives. We are getting a lot of different perspectives from a lot of people—race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, experience—and those perspectives lead to an open forum with honesty and confidentiality. Having the forum and an open pipeline to Matt Levinson is super-important.”

Reevaluating Processes: Professional Growth, Curriculum, Hiring As mentioned, the curriculum, hiring and retention processes, and professional growth for faculty and staff are being reevaluated, in phases. In the late summer and fall, professional growth focused on Pingry’s priority of becoming an antiracist school, beginning with the Administrative Team’s selection of How to Be an Antiracist, by National Book Award–winning author Ibram X. Kendi, as the Faculty and Staff Autumn Book Read. DEI consultant Alison Park facilitated several hours of virtual training, and terms such as “privilege,” “microaggressions,” and “antiracism” were examined during an In-Service Day in November, when faculty and staff also discussed Mr. Kendi’s book. “If you don’t have to think about it, you’re probably benefiting from it,” Mr. Olvera told faculty and staff when talking about privilege, providing examples such as “able bodied” privilege, “male” privilege, and “White” privilege.

Reviewing the curriculum through a DEI lens will take time. “This is not about the DEI team rewriting anything,” Mr. Olvera says. “We will help each department uncover ways to be antiracist—whose voices are being heard, who’s narrating, whose perspective is presented, whose is not and why?” These types of questions probably refer most easily to English, history, and drama courses, but DEI is all-encompassing, even for math, science, and world languages.

“It’s a misconception that a DEI lens can’t be applied

to math and science classrooms. As teachers, all of us should question how inclusive our classrooms are,” Mr. Olvera says. He offers examples. Learning how to pronounce students’ names, while a seemingly simple gesture, is a powerful recognition of identity. Being aware of students’ identities is a critical component of DEI work because if students can bring their authentic selves to class every day and not worry about pretending to be something they’re not, their mental bandwidth is freer and they will learn more effectively. Teachers can also explore environmental justice issues in science—real-world applications of the concepts students are learning, such as acknowledging how certain populations were affected by the response to Hurricane Katrina and the lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, MI and Newark, NJ. In math class, be aware of the language used in word problems that students use to create equations (does the wording refer to one culture more than another?). For world languages, does the French curriculum focus only on France, or does it include other French-speaking countries and cultures? Spanish, too, is spoken in many countries that have different dialects, accents, food, and cultures.

“The diversity of the Spanish-speaking world should be highlighted,” Mr. Olvera says.

In Human Resources, Director of People Operations and Talent Development, and ARTF member, Lindsay Holmes-Glogower ’99, P ’33 is immersed in a new approach to hiring faculty and staff. For starters, beginning this past spring, Ms. Holmes-Glogower has been using gender decoder software on job descriptions before publishing them. “The decoder highlights specific words that are biased toward ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine.’ Some words tend to deter women from applying for a job, so we consider changes in order for the whole description to be more inclusive for potential applicants,” she says.

Since last spring, she has also been conducting a standalone DEI interview with every prospective THE PINGRY REVIEW | WINTER 2020-21

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INTRODUCING ALUMNI AFFINITY GROUPS Multiple affinity groups have been available to students for several years, and now the Pingry Alumni Association (PAA) is pleased to share that, following discussions that began about a year ago, alumni affinity groups are a new part of the School’s outreach and will enhance the School’s comprehensive DEI efforts. “We want to engage alumni who may not have felt as included or attached to the School in the past, and provide a space where they can share thoughts and experiences with those who share in their identifier,” says Trustee and PAA President Kevin Schmidt ’98.

The first two groups are Alumni of Color, chaired by Lindsay Holmes-Glogower ’99, and LGBTQ+, chaired by Adam Plotkin ’94, and both groups would like to hear from alumni who are interested in joining.

“It’s important to provide resources and support alumni of underrepresented groups,” Ms. Holmes-Glogower says. “The question was, ‘What are we not doing at the alumni level?’

We’ve had the Alumnae Committee [read more later in this sidebar], but no other representation for any other group. It’s good for older and younger alumni to have that network of shared experience, and it’s an opportunity to leverage groups with the School and with current students—it would be a missed opportunity if we didn’t try to get more involved with the current student population.”

Mr. Plotkin is also excited about alumni having the ability to interface with students, much like they do during Career Day. “For LGBT people and for people of color, having role

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models and mentors is important from a mental health standpoint, to seek advice, career guidance . . . just knowing people are out there. It’s easy to feel like you might be alone, but you’re not alone.” Overall, he is eager to help create “continuity and community . . . a network across years, across decades, across places,” a big leap from the days when he was a Pingry student. “Completely absent from our experience in the 1990s was even a discussion of these issues, much less role models and mentors. Mentorship and role models are really, really important.”

Alumnae Committee Separate from the affinity groups is the longstanding Alumnae Committee, co-chaired since 2019 by Kate (Martuscello) Smith ’00 and Maya Artis ’09.

When they assumed leadership, Mrs. Smith and Ms. Artis were excited about the opportunity to bring more Pingry women together, and they shared their thoughts with The Pingry Review.

Why is the Alumnae Committee important for Pingry?

KMS: It serves as a way to foster relationships among Pingry women from all walks of life and talk about issues pertaining to women. It’s a comfort to connect with others who are experiencing similar issues and keep them connected to Pingry.

MA: We are all Pingry graduates, so we have that shared experience, but we have other experiences as women. The committee gives that shared space.

We enjoyed being students at a school where women weren’t admitted until the 1970s—this group helps to shore

up our identity as “Pingry women.”

When I was a student, it felt like Pingry students were boys, and girls were added. We are a viable, important part of the community.

KMS: I’ve enjoyed getting to know Maya and connect with others in different class years. I don’t think we would have met any other way.

Although it has existed longer than the new affinity groups, how do you see this committee as part of Pingry’s DEI initiatives?

MA: Gender is a cultural identifier.

Before the affinity groups came into being, we had spoken about expanding the [committee’s role]— there’s a possibility for pretty incredible collaborations. For me, I identify as Black and a woman, so there’s intersectionality.

KMS: I wouldn’t want to choose [between groups]—I love the ideas of collaboration and intersectionality.

It’s important to represent all of the ways someone may identify.

What programming do you have planned?

KMS: Elevating the awareness of our amazing alumnae by hosting events featuring alumnae who are doing great things or sharing expertise in their areas. We also want to connect alumnae with current female students by finding out what the students want and need.

MA: More community and civic engagement. We want to connect with current students and alumnae in a different way by giving back.

The PAA also offers the Pingry Women’s Network on LinkedIn. It launched in July 2016 and now has over 400 members.

DIVE RSIT Y EQ U IT Y INCLUSIO N

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion is invaluable— if you believe that every student or staff member should be able to bring their full selves to school each day, it’s not a choice.”

—TRUSTEE MAGGIE O’TOOLE ’05; MEMBER , ANTIRACISM TASK FORCE

employee. “If someone isn’t interested in DEI or learning about it, they don’t move forward. It isn’t about a ‘level of expertise’ with DEI, but more about ‘are you thinking about this?’ and ‘is this important to you?’

Wherever the person is with experience is fine, but if ‘where you are’ could be damaging to our students, that’s not acceptable and we couldn’t move forward,” she explains. “We want to hire people who think about and value DEI and want to develop their skills. As the work is largely self-reflective, one’s openness and willingness to do the work is essential.”

Human Resources has also adjusted which employees participate in the interview process, as well as the structure of the questions, to make the wording more objective. Debrief meetings are guided by Human Resources “to make sure we’re staying on that objective path,” Ms. Holmes-Glogower says. Additionally, the department will soon be adding unconscious bias training for interviewers.

Building on Successes As mentioned, DEI is not new to Pingry, but the School has a new urgency to move beyond cultural competency to helping students, faculty, and staff cultivate a greater self-awareness of bias, given the events of last summer and reactions from students and alumni. Pingry has already had a number of successes in this area, which

are the foundation as the School moves forward with its new priority (and, of course, The Pingry Review will continue to cover DEI progress and initiatives).

From the perspective of the DEI Department, Ms. López is grateful for resources to help faculty and staff, including the book reading and time and space for DEI discussions; Ms. Barnes highlights “the fact that we’re having these conversations and questioning things, because antiracism work is personal”; Ms. Stephenson is delighted that other faculty and staff are joining the DEI efforts, such as facilitators for book discussions; and Mr. Olvera points to the hours being devoted to DEI work.

Along with the time devoted to in-service work, he gives as examples Ms. Barnes’ efforts to help launch Middle School Affinity Groups to complement Upper School Affinity Groups (read more at pingry.org/extras), and Ms. Stephenson facilitating discussions with athletics teams. ARTF member Mr. Morano praises the complete administrative support and “Matt Levinson green-lighting the Task Force and giving us carte blanche to access the resources we need. Recognizing the problem is enormous. We are not just doing this work for the sake of saying we did it—we’re doing it because it’s necessary and the right thing to do.”

“There were not many students of color at Pingry when I was a student, but I think the School has done a great job diversifying its student population since then . . . I believe we can actually shift our culture and authentically create a community of inclusion, equity, and belonging.” —LINDSAY HOLMES-GLOGOWER ’99, DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE OPERATIONS AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT; MEMBER OF ANTIRACISM TASK FORCE

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Safer Spaces A company run by Julie Johnson Roberts ’05 is using software to help large venues reopen during the pandemic

S

ince many people rely on Google Maps for directions as well as notifications of traffic tie-ups and alternate routes, imagine if technology enabled the same understanding of flows of people, not cars.

It’s a real scenario. Julie Johnson Roberts ’05 uses the analogy of “Google Maps, for people” when describing Armored Things, the crowd intelligence company of which she is Co-Founder and CEO. Similar to Google Maps showing traffic on the road, Armored Things’ software reveals how many people occupy a particular space. In this way, the company facilitates the safety, security, and operations of large venues—such as stadiums, convention centers, and corporate and university campuses—by anonymously monitoring people’s movement.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Armored Things was tracking foot traffic through a packed ballpark or convention center; now, Armored Things helps companies keep an eye on maximum occupancies that are much lower, but,

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nevertheless, are allowing venues to reopen.

This concentration on security (and the analyzing of data that makes it happen) means that Mrs. Roberts is a technology guru who is applying years of training to oversee the operations of a four-yearold, Boston-based company, right? Well, sort of.

She leads a 26-member team of product managers, data scientists, software developers, and market specialists, but she came to technology via a route that began with math and the arts, her passions at Pingry (including encouragement from Visual Arts Department Chair Miles Boyd for photography, then-Math Teacher and advisor Katie Cassidy, and then-Music Teacher and Balladeers director Jennifer Hand Runge.).

“Math and the arts represent analytical skills, meticulous attention to detail, and creativity,” she says. “When you’re running a company, especially a company that you start from nothing, it’s so critical to be creative. The more creative you are, the more opportunities you sometimes unearth.”

With a degree in Economics from the University of

ARMORED THINGS

Armored Things reveals anonymous data points in images, representing people in flow.

Pennsylvania, Wharton, under her belt, Mrs. Roberts began her career on the trading floor, where she was captivated by the energy of Wall Street.

Seeking to do her part to help drive the economy (and future businesses), she pursued an M.B.A. at Harvard Business School to learn about investing in technology because of its potentially global impact, especially the power of software. “The beautiful aspect of software is that you create one solution that can potentially service billions of people, like Facebook. It’s never finished and can be adapted to different needs. Fundamentally, one

solution is available an infinite number of times.”

At business school, Mrs. Roberts decided that she wanted to focus on venture capital to be closer to companies that were creating technology-based solutions. This decision motivated her to pitch ideas about the market to numerous venture capital firms (she calls it “pitching your own job description”), ultimately leading her to the wireless technology innovator Qualcomm.

There, she focused on two areas she had become passionate about: cybersecurity (protecting

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computer systems from digital attacks) and the “Internet of Things” (IoT, physical objects that share data with each other over the Internet, ranging from mobile phones to sensors to heart implant monitors—read more in the sidebar).

“During that time period,” she recalls, “I got to talk to people with operational experience at companies and people who were starting companies, and I became pretty passionate about tech because they made me realize the impact I could have on an early-stage company, and the impact these companies can have on how we live our lives. In fact, at one point, I was plowing my way through stacks of books on cybersecurity, even though I had no technology background, and my family asked me, ‘How do you even understand these things?’ I told them, ‘It’s not about the technology. It’s about the concepts and principles of cybersecurity, and using data to understand the world in a new and unique way, and to spot threats before they become problems.’”

And that thinking is partially why Armored Things came into being at the end of 2016. Mrs. Roberts and her co-founders realized that the cybersecurity market needed to evolve because millions of new IoT devices were being used on college campuses and in other large venues, posing a security threat to these venues’ networks. Building a “secure platform” (a connection point for the devices) would harness the devices’ data and protect the venue by adding a layer of security—a wall—between the venue and the devices.

They made another discovery during their market research with universities and other large venues. Up to that time, Armored Things mainly had cybersecurity in mind, with some consideration about physical security. But after the October 1, 2017 shooting in Las Vegas, “People told us, ‘We care a lot about cybersecurity, but we also really care about physical security, and we’re not seeing innovations in physical

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Julie Johnson Roberts ’05

security, which are critically important because we want to keep our students and employees safe.’

Physical security was still based on walkie-talkies and people standing at gates and entrances, so we realized that we could build a secure connection that harnesses the data from an array of different devices and use the data to keep people safe.”

As Mrs. Roberts points out, sensor-based hardware solutions can be costly (around $1 million up front), so depending on the technology that companies already have in place, such as security cameras, Armored Things uses its builtfrom-scratch, proprietary software in conjunction with that technology to look for patterns of movement within spaces, look for bottlenecks, and find underutilized space; clients are given maps of where people are gathering in density. All of the information is pulled anonymously from devices and databases, including security cam-

“Our data is valuable because it shows not only if you have good policies, but whether or not people are actually following your policies.” eras (for real-time accuracy), WiFi, Bluetooth, scheduling systems, and ticketing systems.

“I don’t care who the person is [whom we see in these spaces],” she explains. But during COVID-19, with social distancing and restrictions on crowd sizes, “I care if there are 30 people in a room and we said we never wanted more than 20. I care that there’s high activity in an after-hours area where there’s rarely any activity—is that normal? Is that expected? Can we confirm quickly with afterhours security staff?” By focusing on occupancy limits and density alerts, Armored Things can notify security personnel in advance if they are reaching their maximum number, avoiding the need to remove people arbitrarily.

As one example of the plan in action: prior to the pandemic, Armored Things was covering 10 buildings on a university campus. The university then wanted to cover 50 buildings as soon as possible, so Armored Things gave them a detailed understanding of the number of people in each building. “They’ve been very effective in controlling any spread of COVID on their campus,” Mrs. Roberts says.

Another advantage of Armored Things is the perspective it provides on a client’s policies. “Our data is valuable because it shows not only if you have good policies, but whether or not people are actually following your policies. There’s a huge difference between having a good policy and having people follow your policy,” she says. They have worked with a sports organization that operates within city and state governments that have a “one size fits all” rule about capacity; Armored Things was able to provide audit data about how effectively the organization enforced its social distancing policies so that it could demonstrate its successes to the local government.

Also, part of the equation between venues and the public is the “trust” factor, which Mrs. Roberts said (in an interview for Built in Boston)

TERMINOLOGY “Internet of Things” Physical objects that are embedded with technology so they can connect and share data with other devices over the Internet The phrase was coined by Kevin Ashton of Procter & Gamble as the title of a presentation he made in 1999. Ten years later, in RFID Journal, he wrote about his intended meaning: “Computers— and, therefore, the Internet—are almost wholly dependent on human beings for information . . .

The problem is, people have limited time, attention, and accuracy—all of which means they are not very good at capturing data about things in the real world . . . If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything . . .

We need to empower computers with their own means of gathering information . . .”

“Crowd Intelligence” Using data to predict patterns of human behavior, as well as potential threats

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“We worked to structure deals in the spirit of partnership with the community.” customers who want Armored Things’ service when they reopen, but don’t yet have the budget for it. “We worked with them to structure deals in the spirit of partnership with the community, such as free software for a period of time and then a longer contract later on. They understand that our priority was getting them up and running, not maximizing near-term cash in the bank.”

Looking within her own company during the crisis, Mrs. Roberts learned about the power of decisiveness when she decided that all of her employees would work from home (“there was a collective sigh of relief . . . one less thing for everyone to worry about”). She also understood the importance of transparency when communicating to her employees anything they might need to know about how Armored Things was functioning (or going to function) during the pandemic.

ARMORED THINGS

is the key to safe venues. When asked what she meant, for this story, she explained, “It’s bidirectional. A person needs to know what a venue is doing to keep its customers safe and then decides [whether or not to enter that venue] based on the potential risk to themselves and their family.

A venue needs to trust that people are going to behave in a way that ‘helps me keep them safe’ and not blatantly disregard those policies.”

Because of the uncertainty during COVID-19, Mrs. Roberts is careful not to make any assumptions about how people are operating their businesses in the middle of the pandemic. “We pulled back on sales and focused on being good partners and listeners to our customers while, in the meantime, building and improving our business so we can provide our product when they’re ready.” She also found creative workarounds for

Mobile display of Armored Things software. "Actual" refers to real-time counts of people in a space, while "Trends" refers to the average observation over similar time periods. Colors shift from green to red based on the density of people in a space. App users can select any of the zones to get specific counts.

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achieve your goal.” (She has shared her wisdom with Pingry students at Career Day, speaking as a member of the Entrepreneurship panel in 2019.)

And as the saying goes, leaders should expect the “unexpected” as part of the routine. “Don’t let it undermine your optimism and confidence, and that applies to your business and self. If you are behaving with integrity, putting your best foot forward, and making the best decisions with the information you have, you can navigate the unexpected every time.”

After all, it was an unexpected global pandemic that helped Mrs. Roberts to see Armored Things’ mission as more meaningful than ever.

“The idea of keeping people safe is important— we are not just building software, but building software that could save a life.”

ARMORED THINGS

“Even in a crisis, give people more information.

Don’t give them too rosy of a picture in the spirit of thinking you’re trying to protect people.”

Asking what advice she has for those who seek to become leaders—especially when confronted with something unexpected—elicits a lengthy, thoughtful pause.

“Get used to being told ‘no’ and learn how to sell.”

She explains: “In a leadership position, you are constantly selling, whether that means ideas to your team, a company to recruits, value to investors, or a product to customers. With that [selling], there’s a lot of ‘no.’ Some ideas simply don’t resonate with people. You have to be okay with that, and you have to be willing to hear those ‘no’s because there’s always a ‘yes’ somewhere. Pingry taught me to never give up—anything is possible if you work hard and propose creative solutions to

Desktop view of campus areas protected by Armored Things, with data based on days of the week, locations, and times of day.

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On the

Farm Transforming an idle hayfield on the Basking Ridge Campus into an experiential, multidisciplinary, cross-campus outdoor learning program

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Aerial view of the farm, with the chicken coop (left) and utility shed (right) in the foreground. The fire pit (far left) and raised beds (right) can be seen in the background, as can the white-sided yurt, a structure intended to provide shelter and additional learning space. Not visible is the Carriage House, located behind the farm to the right.

STEVE FRANTZ

azing out at the quiet hayfields that surround the Carriage House, a renovated guest cottage on the north end of Pingry’s Basking Ridge Campus, Olivia Tandon was curious. She was fresh out of a master’s program in School Leadership, and looking to land her dream job as a sustainability director. While she found herself at Pingry that day interviewing for an Upper School biology position, she was hopeful that other opportunities at the School would arise.

As it often does for prospective employees—and so she didn’t have to journey back home to Brooklyn that night—the School hosted her in its guest cottage, the view from which got her wondering.

“Does all this property belong to Pingry?” she asked then-Assistant Headmaster Jon Leef P ’15, ’18.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Why is the school paying someone to hay it when it could be used as an educational farm space for students?” she boldly countered.

Bemused, Mr. Leef looked at her and asked, “Do you want to come do that?” >>

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From Brooklyn to Basking Ridge When Pingry hired Ms. Tandon in the fall of 2017, it was a package deal, of sorts. In addition to working at Poly Prep Country Day School as a science teacher, she volunteered at a community garden in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and had become its unofficial chicken “keeper,” tending to 30 chickens. Just as she learned she would be relocating to New Jersey for a new job, the landlord announced he was downsizing the garden and many of the chickens had to go.

A clandestine rooster—prohibited by New York City law— was out, too.

And so, in the predawn hours—when chickens are most tranquil—on a Saturday morning in early July, Director of Facilities Mike Waelz and Building Trades Supervisor Bobby Wulff drove out to Brooklyn in a pick-up truck to fetch the fowl. “Here I was, in the dark of night in the garden, boxing up six sleeping hens and a rooster with two people I hadn’t even met before,” recalls Ms. Tandon. In fact, Mr. Waelz and Mr. Wulff’s early-morning efforts were just a taste of the collaborative spirit of so many Ms. Tandon would come to meet at Pingry, from Facilities Team members, to fellow faculty, to enthusiastic students.

The chickens were installed in a small coop behind Mr. Waelz’s house on campus, and it didn’t take long before Ms. Tandon was inviting her environmental science students to meet them. She even purchased a few chicks for students to raise in her classroom; when they were old enough, they joined the others in the coop. Upper School Visual Arts Teacher and Director of Experiential Education Rebecca Sullivan also introduced her students to the chickens, using them as prompts for several lessons on drawing skills. Energized by the School’s animal acquisition, members of the Green Group—Pingry’s student-run sustainability club— developed a rotating schedule to care for them, changing their feed and water, cleaning and maintaining their coop, and collecting eggs. Even the Lower Schoolers joined the action: One day in the fall of 2019 they arrived on the Basking Ridge Campus for a hands-on lesson involving art and science.

“Pingry already had a garden, but this was the blossoming of an actual farm on campus,” says Ms. Tandon. “People were excited.” (See history sidebar.)

Paige Maultsby ’19, a Green Group member, was an early acolyte, and among the first to take care of the hens when they arrived her junior year. She remembers sneaking them snacks leftover from the Engel Dining Room. “I found it very therapeutic to devote an hour or two of my free time every week to walk to the chickens because it gave me a chance to get some needed fresh air and take in the beautiful natural space around Pingry, which a lot of people don’t fully appreciate,” she shares. “It was a very rewarding experience.”

In short order, it became clear that a larger coop—indeed, a larger space—was needed. Ms. Tandon returned to her 30

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original observation that day at the Carriage House: Because the Basking Ridge Campus has the good fortune of possessing three beautiful fields, why not relocate the chickens to one, and make it the start of a farm? She sat down and, fleshing out an idea that first appeared in the campus master plan a year earlier, created a comprehensive, three-phase, long-term farm plan, detailing early goals and possibilities for future growth. In October 2019, she pitched the idea to Head of School Matt Levinson and Chief Financial and Operating Officer Olaf Weckesser P ’25. They approved. Not long thereafter, as the campus foliage was reaching its peak, she was out on the 15 acres of field between Beinecke House and Martinsville Road, working alongside students and members of the Facilities Team to stake out the borders of Pingry’s very first farm.

Learning En Plein Air As Ms. Tandon made clear in her proposal, the farm is far from simply an active outdoor learning space. It merges sustainability, immersive learning experiences, and a deep connection to place—body, mind, and soul—the trifecta of meaningful experiential learning, according to Ms. Sullivan. Enacting these three priorities, which conveniently highlight many of Pingry’s strategic goals, are precisely what Ms. Sullivan, Ms. Tandon—who assumed the mantle of Farm and Sustainability Coordinator in 2019—and Julia Dunbar, History Teacher and Director of Global Education and Engagement, seek to achieve in their work, all under the auspices of the Department of Experiential Education.

“Not every school has a farm. We have this incredible, unique space that allows for a kind of learning that might not happen in a student’s regular, everyday experience,” says Ms. Sullivan. “Developing the farm is part of our larger goal to intentionally weave hands-on learning into the curriculum, using the resources available on our campuses.”

By all accounts, students—and faculty—are buying in.

For example, last fall, members of the Outing Club and Green Team (the result of a 2018 merger between the Green Group and the Farm Team, a separate group of devoted caretakers) began to erect a 120 x 300-foot fence to enclose the farm. They were about a quarter of the way through when COVID-19 closed campus last March. The moment Governor Murphy reopened parks, Ms. Tandon gathered a group of nine student volunteers who worked throughout the summer to complete the work. (Significant elbow grease came from members of the Facilities Team who helped drive in the fence posts.) Students also cared for the chickens, built four raised vegetable beds (the School’s original kitchen garden, located outside of the Engel Dining Room, was relocated to the farm), and

“Working on the farm was one thing that I was able to look forward to this past summer.

With the COVID restrictions in place, it was nice to have some time every day allotted to being outside and helping a club at Pingry that I’m passionate about.”—CHRIS TICAS ’21

Lettuce, along with many herbs, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and more are planted by students, including those shown here in Mme. Changeux’s Advanced Topics French class.

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“From the start, connecting outdoor and environmental programs to teaching and learning—and specifically the formal curriculum—was the prime directive. All of the outdoor facilities were envisioned with educational programs in mind.”

—PETER DELMAN P ’97, ’98, FORMER UPPER SCHOOL VISUAL ARTS TEACHER AND SUSTAINABILITY COORDINATOR

spread mulch for paths within the farm space.

Of special note were the “hurricane kids,” as Ms. Tandon refers to them. It was mid-July, and a tropical storm was fast approaching campus as she and four students worked to construct a fire pit and seating area in the farm space. “The morning wasn’t too bad, just drizzly. But by mid-morning it was a torrential downpour. I was wet down to my skin,” she recalls. The students weren’t deterred. “We were totally drenched but they insisted on staying to finish the job.”

She marvels at what they were able to accomplish over the summer. “To think that it was just an open field this time last year . . . the work they did is really incredible.” She suspects that the arrival of COVID-19 had an unusually unifying effect. “I think a lot of the students were just excited to have a place to go and be in each other’s company.”

The pandemic, and resulting focus on teaching faculty new classroom technologies for remote learners, also slowed their ability to get acquainted with the farm. But Ms. Tandon and Ms. Sullivan say awareness and interest are growing. Several faculty members have already taken advantage of the space.

Also over the summer, Ms. Tandon and Upper School French Teacher Anne Changeux taught a twoweek hybrid (part in-person, part virtual) course called Bon Appétit, which introduced Middle Schoolers to French language and culture through food. On the farm, students weeded and prepared the beds, and then planted staples of French cuisine, like zucchini, eggplants, 32

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tomatoes, rutabaga, herbs, and lettuce. At home, they cooked, choosing among several recipes, such as ratatouille and beef stew, using vegetables they had already harvested from the farm. Cooking also occurred on the farm itself, with students making use of the fit pit.

A native of France, Mme. Changeux continues to take advantage of the space. This past fall, she brought her Advanced Topics II students out on several occasions, planting garlic and brussels sprouts, checking on the chickens, and cleaning up a mess a curious deer had made in the raised beds.

"As an educator who cares deeply about the environment, having access to a farm and garden as well as the composter [more on that below] allows me to put into practice what I'm teaching students in the classroom."

In addition to Mme. Changeux’s students, as well as those in Ms. Tandon’s Environmental Science class (the farm is ideal for teaching students soil testing methods, among other lessons), Ms. Sullivan continues to bring her art and film students out to the farm to inspire their creations. Middle School Visual Arts Teacher Melody Boone, who leads an Art and Nature elective, had her students paint murals on the chicken coop and build sculptural elements to decorate the farm, using only natural materials. Middle School Science Teacher Jeff Feinberg and Middle School Librarian Felicia Ballard, who advise an Outdoor Research class, take their students out weekly to care for the chickens. In the future, the Green Team, Ms. Tandon, and Ms. Sullivan look forward to hosting Grade 5 students for a spring farm visit, a hike along the trails, and maybe even a camp-out, a compelling way to acquaint them with the Basking Ridge Campus before they transition to the Middle School.

A Quick History

of Outdoor Education Programming on the Basking Ridge Campus

Currently, three raised vegetable beds occupy the farm; Pingry’s Farm and Sustainability Coordinator Olivia Tandon is working toward a total of 10–15.

K E Y P EO P LE

Peter Delman P ‘97, ‘98 Former Upper School Visual Arts Teacher Green Group Founder Former Sustainability Coordinator (Pingry’s first, named in 2017) John Crowley-Delman ‘97 Former Upper School History Teacher Former Director of Experiential Education (Pingry’s first, named in 2018) Shelley Hartz Director of Community and Civic Engagement Joe Forte Former P.E. Teacher and Coach (founders of the original kitchen garden, in 2011) K E Y INITIATIVE S

2009–2012 Curriculum Review 2018 Strategic Plan (Experiential Education and Student Health & Wellness were identified as priorities) K E Y CO U RS E S

K E Y FE ATU RE S

below: A map of Pingry's outdoor learning features, including its halfmile hiking trail and campsite.

Kitchen garden (2011) Outdoor classroom (2014) Campsite on campus (2015) Wooded trail system (2015) Deer enclosure (2017) Composter (2019)

FARM

HAY FIELD CO

OLIVIA TANDON

POND

MP

OS

MA TE

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OUTDOOR CLASSROOM 1

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CAMP

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM 2 HI

Farm to Fork If the farm provides visible proof of the School’s commitment to sustainability, its 40-foot, industrial strength composter—unveiled in the fall of 2019, thanks to a generous grant from the Union Foundation—allows students to actively participate in it, thereby “closing the loop,” as Ms. Tandon refers to it. Thanks to the farm and garden, Pingry is now able to grow fruits and vegetables for students to consume in the Engel Dining Room; the School’s food waste goes into the composter; and the rich compost then travels back out to the farm to fertilize the growth of more fruits and vegetables.

And the cycle continues. What’s more, by reducing the need to truck in fertilizer and truck out food waste, the School’s carbon footprint is also reduced.

“My aspirational goal is for every student who graduates from Pingry to understand how that loop works,” Ms. Tandon says. It’s a lesson that resonated with Paige, who, nearly two years out of Pingry, still fondly recalls spending time in the School’s first garden. “I felt like I was engaging with my environment in a really unique way. It felt meaningful to take part in the farm-to-table process and know where the produce came from.”

Thus far, the garden provides eggs—the primary contributor, at about two dozen each week—as well as the occasional harvest of eggplant and zucchini. But Ms. Tandon dreams of a time when a meaningful supply of the offerings from Pingry’s kitchen come from the farm.

Engaging students not simply in the work of farming, but in understanding its larger ecosystem—a farm-to-table, or “farm to fork” educational model—is central to Ms. Tan-

Environmental Art (Upper and Middle Schools) Environmental History Environmental Science > “The jewels in the curricular crown,” according to Mr. Delman, were all launched over the last 10 years, paving the way for Pingry’s deliberate linking of pedagogy, hands-on learning experiences, and its unique outdoor campus.

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RS

H

“[The farm] is like a science fair in layout, with cool things in different places for you to find . . . [it] makes me feel engaged and helps me appreciate all the comforts we have today.”

—SEBASTIAN JIN ’26, STUDENT IN OUTDOOR RESEARCH CLASS Many of Pingry’s programs and facilities are made possible thanks to the generosity of donors. If you are interested in supporting Pingry’s farm and garden, please reach out to Holland Sunyak ‘02, Director of Development, at hsunyak@pingry.org.

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above:

Students in the Middle School’s Outdoor Education class this past fall, shoveling out old sawdust shavings from the chicken coop.

don’s efforts. It’s why she appreciates teachers, like Mme. Changeux, who, before allowing their students to take from the garden, ask them first to give—that is, tend to it.

She wants students to understand where food comes from and where it goes after it’s been eaten.

“I see humans doing things all the time that are ultimately detrimental to our planet, and therefore ourselves, and education is a space where we can stop that from happening,” says Ms. Tandon. “The joy of seeing kids when they make that connection—when they begin to understand the larger cycle of sustainability—and how meaningful that is for them . . . it’s a very simple idea, but one that most people never understand in a deep way.”

Stewardship and sustainability have been pillars of a Pingry education for the last 13 years, when the 2007 Strategic Plan was announced. With the growth of an actual farm and garden program, it’s now codified and actualized in a way that was never possible before. What’s more, Ms. Tandon incorporates another key component of sustainability, social justice—understanding who has access to a healthy environment and nourishing food. The two, she says, are inextricably linked, and align with yet another priority of a Pingry education: a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The farm provides an immediate, high-impact space for students to unpack many of these essential lessons.

appears much happier, despite the occasional bird of prey that sneaks in. (She helped Ms. Tandon string fishing line across the chickens’ field to shrink the openings, deterring circling hawks from menacing visits.) “I’ve grown more attached to the chickens as the years have passed,” she adds. “They are my stress relief.”

The attachment, empathy, compassion, responsibility, and even stress relief that students experience when involved in farm work are less tangible but equally important benefits. In the body, mind, and soul equation that Ms. Sullivan cites as critical for meaningful experiential learning, these emotions check the final box.

In addition to the satisfaction and fulfillment of caring for the chickens, Paige—who worked closely with Massa, her protégé—recalls that they were just plain fun to be around. “One time we built a jungle gym for them out of wood planks, and it was hilarious to watch them realize a new object had entered their space, and they eventually jumped all over it.” She loved letting them out of their coop and watching them roam, and then rounding them up and guiding them back into their home with big branches. “One chicken, which we named Houdini, would always start digging holes in the ground as if she were trying to escape,” she says. Houdini, Ms. Tandon adds, is the sole surviving member of the original flock of seven, having endured two fox attacks and multiple hawk drop-ins.

The experience of being on the farm, surrounded by chickens, vegetables, open fields, and trees, has a palliative effect, and a way of sticking with you. As Ms. Sullivan puts it, “There’s a specialness to it.”

The Compassion of Chicken Keepers Her freshman year, Massa Godbold ’21 joined the Green Team, and by her junior year, was one of its co-leaders. It was her dedication, and the dedication of others on the Team, she will argue, that allowed Pingry to enlarge its The Future Farm chicken “program.” Ms. Tandon calls her the chicken lady.

Right now, the farm—which includes the chicken coop, “Without Massa, we would not have progressed beyond three raised vegetable beds, two small the seven chickens we initially had,” she Special Thanks supply sheds, a fire pit with surrounding says. Now, the farm is home to close to 30. wooden benches, two beehives, seven When Ms. Tandon brought chicks into Several devoted members of apple trees, and an accessible water source, her AP Biology class for students to raise, Pingry’s Facilities Team spent countless hours helping to thanks to the Facilities Team—is in the first Massa—who was not in her class—came in erect the fence around the of three planned phases. With the support during flex and conference periods (CP) farm and ensure a reliable of a generous grant from the Union Founto help care for them anyway. When they water source within its dation, Ms. Tandon is working to build were old enough to move to the outdoor confines, among other tasks: out Phase A further: an additional 10-15 coop with the others, she continued to tend Mike Waelz raised vegetable beds; more beehive boxes to them. “Taking care of the chickens is Neil Spagnuolo to increase their population; an even larger honestly one of my favorite ways to spend Jeff Tamn coop with perches, waterers, and feeders to my CP time. There’s a special kind of joy Jeff Tamn and former Facilities accommodate more chickens; a composting that comes from telling coaches that I Team member Robert Burke toilet to provide restroom facilities on the was late for practice because I was trying built the composter based on farm; and outdoor oven. to herd the chickens into their coop,” she detailed designs shared with A summer intern program is in the shares. According to her observations, Pingry by John Culpepper and works for students, ensuring that they can with a larger coop to strut around, the flock North Country School.

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help care for the farm and fowl throughout the summer (currently, Ms. Tandon is the primary summer caretaker). She also plans to initiate a design competition among students for a solar-powered door that will automatically close chickens in the coop at night. Recently, an Experiential Education Stipend Program was launched, empowering all faculty, K-12, to take advantage of not just the farm, but any aspect of experiential learning on campus to design hands-on learning programs of their own creation.

Ms. Tandon wants faculty to be actively engaged in using the farm as an educational space before moving on to Phases B and C. But as expressed in her comprehensive Farm and Garden Plan, she’s excited about those future phases, and their possibilities: The addition of more chickens for a holistic “chicken program,” in which both meat and egg birds are raised; additional animals, like goats and pigs, which would require a barn; and expanded fruit and vegetable production, which would include a kitchen building for students to clean and store the harvest before it travels to the kitchen. Of course, a robust farm curriculum, in which programming is developed and woven across disciplines, divisions, and campuses, is an ongoing goal. Currently, Ms. Tandon is the facilitator of a nation-wide ISEEN (Independent Schools Experiential Education Network) professional affinity group on sustainability and environmental justice, and she attends meetings with other local schools that have similar outdoor education programs.

But longer-term, she hopes to use the farm to launch social and environmental justice initiatives on campus, and continue to connect with other schools so students can create a network of support and ideas.

“The prospects are exciting,” says Ms. Sullivan. “It’s all part of this larger goal to integrate Pingry’s indoor and outdoor campuses as places for every student to embark on experiential learning. It builds a better sense of place for them so they have a deeper emotional connection to campus. It also grounds them—it’s like planting a seed in their minds.”

Big Blue Garden Outdoor initiatives are by no means limited to the Basking Ridge Campus. The Lower School has its own garden, the Big Blue Garden (pictured at right), which is host to an array of collaborative, cross-curricular programming overseen by Science Teacher Heather Smith P ‘16. Much of what she and others on the Short Hills Campus engage students in lays the foundation for what they will experience in the Middle and Upper Schools.

Created in 2010 and refurbished in the spring of 2019, the garden is home to several raised vegetable and flower beds, a rock stream, a fish fountain, a “quiet classroom” space with benches and Adirondack chairs for reading and meditation, a “tree-stump table” classroom, and a five-senses herb garden, among many other decorative flourishes.

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“Having a farm and garden on campus provides more than just a chance to enhance your curriculum. It allows you to put it into practice.”

—ANNE CHANGEUX, UPPER SCHOOL FRENCH TEACHER

Read more at pingry.org/extras.

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Athletics BIG BLUE HIGHLIGHTS

Despite a delayed start to the season, and many adjustments related to COVID-19 (for example, the Varsity Water Polo Team was not able to compete, due to health concerns), Big Blue Athletics forged ahead with a successful—if somewhat different—fall season.

On Pingry’s home course, Big Blue swept the Skyland Conference Valley B Division Championships on October 22. Alina Irvine ‘21 (20:04) and Molly Parker ‘22 (20:58) took second and fourth, respectively, for the girls, with freshman Olivia Murray finishing in fifth. Henry Wood ‘21 (16:47) and Sahdev Patel ‘21 (17:18) took first and second for the boys. Henry (16:01) and Sahdev (16:41) went on to earn PRs at the Oak Ridge Invitational on November 14.

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Read more at pingry.org/extras.

Undefeated and ranked #3 in the NJ.com Top 20, the Girls’ Varsity Tennis Team (10-0) won the state sectional crown for the fifth straight year.

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Athletics BIG BLUE HIGHLIGHTS

< In front of mask-wearing fans gathered on the Bugliari World Cup Soccer Field on Sunday, November 22, the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team—9-3-1, seeded #1—earned a 5-2 victory over Oak Knoll in the NJSIAA Central West D Non-Public Tournament finals, notching their third straight state title. left : The Varsity Water Polo Team practiced hard and improved their skills, but, following guidelines from the NJSIAA banning indoor fall sports, was not able to compete. right : Captains Kaitlyn DeVito ’22 and Carolyn Coyne ’21 at the start of the field hockey season (2-10-1).

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#2-ranked Big Blue (11-2) advanced to the finals of the NJSIAA Central West C NonPublic Tournament, falling to #1 Gill St. Bernard’s, 3-2.

The team won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division and ranked #3 on nj.com.

Big Blue (2-5) celebrated wins over Newark Academy and Dunellen this season.

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Athletics

Q&A WITH CECE LESNICK ’17

academy. I went back but realized that I was missing It’s a strange, unsettling year for tennis star Cece the education part. I’ve always liked school and enjoyed Lesnick ’17, as it is for college athletes across the studying, and I missed that as much as I loved tennis. I country. COVID-19 upended play last spring, and had heard great things about Pingry—its athletics and her senior season remains in flux. But the former Big academics—so I decided to go for it. The school year Blue #1 singles player—who, for the last four years, had already begun, but I called Mrs. Brunhouse has been unflappable in the same position at Lafayin Admission at Pingry and asked if there was any ette, not to mention #1 first doubles—tenacity and possible way I could interview. I ended up getting on a teamwork come naturally, and keep her grounded. plane the next week and flying home to Cases in point: En route to pursuing New Jersey. I started Pingry the her tennis dreams, she attended two FU N FAC T S following week. middle schools and three different >> After committing ♥x 3 high schools (Pingry has the disto Lafayette in the You came in with a bang your sophtinction of having seen her through summer of 2016, Cece omore year at Pingry, and had a very to graduation). And, factoring in an could have breezed successful high school career at #1 through her senior array of career achievements, she tennis season. Instead, singles, earning Skyland Conference says winning the National High she became a threeand Somerset County “Player of the School Sportsmanship Award at sport Pingry athlete, Year” honors, and helping the team to the 2015 New Balance High School trying squash and softa state championship title in 2016. Any Nationals remains her proudest ball on for size as well! regrets about not pursuing the tennis moment. Read on to learn more >> Cece and her mom still academy? In eighth grade, you don’t about the risks she’s taken in sport play together and have been think about academics very much. competing in mother-daughter and life, and what’s on the horizon. summer tennis tournaments But when I got that injury and took a for the last seven years. Three year off, I found so many more things I Tennis has been a passion of yours years ago, at the National was passionate about that I didn’t give from a very young age. You even Mother-Daughter Grass Court myself the chance to explore. And I moved to Florida to attend a yearChampionships in Boston, they missed being with friends, being on a took second. round tennis academy. Can you high school team. Wesley Streicher ‘17, share a bit about that decision, and who was playing in #1 singles before what ultimately led you to play for I arrived, ended up being one of my best friends at Pingry? I fell in love with tennis early, around age 4.

Pingry. Everyone on the team was more than welcomMy mom played for Cornell, so growing up, when I ing. In the end, I’m glad I had both experiences—I got to didn’t have practice or a lesson, I was playing with her train and travel with people who are now professional in the street next to our house. There were dents in tennis players, but I’m glad I got the regular high school our garage because I used to practice hitting against experience, too. I loved being able to represent Pingry it so much. In eighth grade, I decided that I wanted to and achieve success for the School, not just myself. go further with tennis, so I left school and moved to Florida to attend the Sánchez-Casal Tennis Academy.

By all accounts, your collegiate career at Lafayette Things really took off—I was playing in internationhas been just as successful. Last spring, you began the al tournaments and playing well. Then I got really season with four straight wins at #1 singles (a position injured, and couldn’t play my ninth-grade year, so I you have held for the Leopards since your freshman moved back home. That’s also when I found out we year, in addition to #1 doubles!) before the pandemwere moving from Boston to New Jersey. Right before ic brought collegiate athletics to a halt. How is your my sophomore year of high school, when my family senior season shaping up? Last spring was tough. was moving, I decided I would try to go back to the

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GODFATHER744431/ISTOCK IMAGES

Passion Player

Read more at pingry.org/extras.

We started the season 8-0, ranked #3 in the Patriot League, beating teams that we had never beaten before. We had so much potential. This past fall, Lafayette was fully remote, but five girls on the team were living on campus, including me, so we started practicing. Thankfully, we learned that we have a full schedule for our spring season, with our first match on February 20. We are able to play away matches as long as we don’t stay at hotels. Because we didn’t have a spring season last year, I have a semester of eligibility left to play. So, I plan to extend my time at Lafayette, graduating in 2022. Right now, I’m a parttime student and waitressing as well.

As a co-captain, how are you keeping the team unified and energized when a majority of the players are remote? My co-captain and I created a buddy-

LAFAYETTE COLLEGE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

ing-up partner system, where every week you have a different person on the team who you contact

through Zoom or FaceTime and catch up on school, tennis, or just anything. It is a nice way to make sure everyone stays in touch with each other. I am in a sports leadership academy at school and we talk about how important it is to keep our teammates engaged during the pandemic so that we can come back better as ever.

Any goals on the horizon? I would love to beat Loyola

and Colgate. We last beat Colgate my freshman year, but we haven’t defeated Loyola in many years. Another big goal that my co-captain and I have is that we want to make the most out of this pandemic experience and get our team motivated. I would also like to graduate having made the Patriot League Academic Team each year. I’m a Psychology major and Studio Art minor, and am interested in pursuing the hospitality industry, but I see myself playing tennis for a long time. That’s what’s so great about the sport—you can play it forever.

“Coach Weber [Head Coach of the Girls’ Varsity Tennis Team] . . . has been amazing about following my career at Lafayette.”

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On the Arts VISUAL ARTS

New Online Art Gallery Like so many museums and art galleries around the world that closed due to COVID-19 and instead offered virtual exhibits, Pingry faced a similar situation with its Hostetter Arts Center Gallery. For the 2020-21 school year, the gallery was adapted as the photography lab (the main photo lab is too small to ensure social distancing), rendering it unavailable for exhibits—but that wasn’t going to mark the end of exhibits until the gallery reopened.

The Internet awaited. “We went virtual out of necessity because the program is so important to our curriculum, and we hope to continue to offer the online experience to our program even after we return to live exhibitions,” says Visual Arts Department Chair Miles Boyd.

Upper School Visual Arts Teacher and Director of Experiential Education Rebecca Sullivan researched the virtual options and eventually found kunstmatrix.com, which enables users to create 3D exhibit spaces.* Her colleague Nan Ring, co-director of the gallery exhibits, says, “We wanted to honor the artists [whose work we exhibit] by presenting their work beautifully like it would be

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[shown] in our gallery. We were looking for that high-quality gallery experience.” Visitors to the online gallery—accessible via the Hostetter Arts Center page of Pingry’s website (pingry.org/arts/hostetter-arts-center)—will see that the 3D space looks remarkably similar to the campus gallery, the result of the gallery being photographed in order to recreate it.

Along with the customary work involved in curating a campus exhibit, Ms. Ring and Upper School 3D Art Teacher Seth Goodwin, the other gallery co-director, have to take an extra step: working with a designer to convert JPEG photos of the artwork into PNGs “with transparency” (a clear background for the image, devoid of color or other imagery) that are then given to kunstmatrix for placement.

As Ms. Ring points out, “Nothing replaces being in the physical presence of an artwork. It has texture. It has a size and shape that relate to your size and affect how you interact with it. You can’t replace that in the online experience, but this technology is exciting for artists—a really cool development for artists to showcase their work when museums and galleries aren’t available.”

Creating Molas Middle School Visual Arts Teacher Xiomara Babilonia’s Grade 6 and 7 art classes studied molas, embroidered fabric panels used on traditional blouses worn by the Kuna Indigenous People of Panama and Colombia. The students created their own molas using paper, oil pastels, and Mod Podge.

Atom by Christian Zhou-Zheng ‘26

An example of the Hostetter Arts Center Gallery in its virtual form, with a screenshot from the December/January exhibit “2020 Free Fall” by Jamie Levine.

It featured hybrid creatures that fuse animal and human characteristics.

The online space has other advantages. Pingry’s physical gallery is occupied by one show and scheduling must be coordinated for many class visits; with the virtual gallery, many people can view the exhibit simultaneously. As far as the viewing experience, information about the artwork that might be overlooked in a live gallery is immediately available on screen; the exhibit is easily shared with people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to see it; and viewers have easier and faster access to look at pieces again (turn on the computer instead of driving back to the gallery, for example).

“The virtual experience is what we’re able to provide right now,” Mr. Goodwin says, “but it’s also a valid experience anytime.”

Elephant by Claire Hoffman ‘27

* Pingry’s exhibit is presented as though in a 3D space, with the viewer able to scroll around the room. The artwork itself is one-dimensional; for the artwork to appear in 3D, it would have to be photographed with multiple views, which has not yet been practical.

Dog by David Prahl ‘27

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On the Arts MUSIC/DRAMA

Music in the Great Outdoors COVID-19 conditions have forced Pingry’s Music Department to get creative. All Middle and Upper School vocal and instrumental classes—with the exception of strings—have been rehearsing outside, socially distanced, since the start of the school year.

As Music Teacher Jay Winston explains, Pingry’s musical adaptations, as with all of the School’s changes related to COVID-19, were implemented with the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff in mind. (Singing, playing wind instruments, and acting with projected voices dispel respiratory droplets and are considered unsafe indoors during the pandemic.) The changes also reflect health studies conducted last spring and summer by several music and theater organizations— their research concluded that singing and playing outside, socially distanced, in masks, with everyone facing the same direction is the safest way to make pan-

demic-time music. Even outside, a maximum of 30 minutes of singing or playing is recommended before taking a five-minute break to allow the air to recycle itself.

Despite the challenges from masks and poor acoustics, and the disappointment of not having any live performances this school year, an outdoor venue has afforded some unique lessons. As Mr. Winston explains, “Being in an ensemble means listening and collaborating, but when you can’t hear others as well, you also can’t rely on them if you are unsure of your part.

Students need to be more familiar with their part and confident because they need to trust themselves more.”

There are a lot of moving parts to navigate, for students and faculty alike. But all in all, Mr. Winston says, the students are doing well. “For the most part, they understand that we are doing the best we can in a challenging environment, and getting the chance to sing together at all is something they appreciate.”

Two opposing ideas exist in the professional theater world, as explained by Middle and Upper School Drama Teacher Alan Van Antwerp, director of Pingry’s Winter Musical. “The American perspective is that the author is superior to the director and cast, so we need to honor the author’s wishes by doing the show their way.

The European perspective is the opposite: the creative team is superior to the author because times change, morals change, norms change, and society changes, so the author’s original intentions may not resonate anymore.”

He advocates for the European model. “We should use fresh eyes and get a fresh take on a work to make it as relevant as possible to the audience. I would

always rather try something new and look at a piece as if it’s never been done before.” This thinking provides context for the Drama and Music Departments’ 2021 reimagining of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! that will—notably—feature two casts with gender swaps.

The story, which takes place in Oklahoma as it’s becoming a state, involves two love triangles. “One of my problems with Oklahoma! has always been that it seems to codify gender roles and is dated in terms of sexism and heteronormativity.

But the recent Broadway revival dealt with that and made me realize that these are all really troubled people, but what brings them together is community—who we let into our community, the terms of letting those people into our community, and the pros, cons, and

“One of my problems with Oklahoma! has always been that it seems to codify gender roles.”

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Reimagining Oklahoma!

Camera Acting Lower School students took their Fall Play online, with a work written especially for actors to perform on video chat, Kathryn Funkhouser’s space comedy Do You Read Me? It takes place in the distant future, in both NASA’s Mission Control and the B Colony on Mars.

For this intimate experience, Lower School Drama Teacher Keara Gordon focused on the students’ camera acting (instead of stage acting, where facial expressions, gestures, and voices need to be amplified). “For the camera, I still asked for the emotion, but asked them to act as if it was more of a close conversation rather than a big stage performance,” she says. “We also worked on the framing, to make sure that each character was framed well in the scenes, and that props were easily accessible and gestures were seen clearly.”

consequences of those decisions,” Mr. Van Antwerp says.

“Without making any changes to the lyrics, we decided to double cast the seven principals with opposite genders in the second cast, which provides an interesting case study in how gender changes the tone, intentions, and characterizations.”

So, for example, the lead male role will be played by a student who identifies as male in the first cast and a student who identifies as female in the second cast, prompting the questions: What happens when a female plays a typically egotistical, sexist male role and is in a homosexual relationship? How does the show change when you manipulate genders and relationships?

Because the Winter Musical is being performed during a pandemic, the Drama Department came up with the idea to create two full-length musical movies that will be pre-recorded and shown at school as well as streamed

online (with easy access of remote viewing, Mr. Van Antwerp hopes the community will watch both versions to get the full impact of the gender switch). Scenes will be filmed outside in different areas of the Basking Ridge Campus (by the farm, Carriage House, and Beinecke House, for example), and students will record their vocals, alone, in practice rooms; the vocals will be mixed together.

The score will be played by strings and guitars.

Mr. Van Antwerp is also pleased that this production of Oklahoma! coincides with Pingry’s increased efforts to nurture meaningful work and conversation surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion. “If we can change someone’s mind about characters having to address their sexuality as part of the story, or if we can create empathy by changing genders and normalizing homosexual relationships, that supersedes the author’s intentions and is a better outcome for our students.”

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Pingry’s faculty and staff are on the front lines of the educational response to the global pandemic.

Our teachers are continually innovating, adapting, and inspiring students to make the most of this challenging time. The lessons learned by today’s Pingry students will be ones of resilience, perseverance, and strength of community.

To learn more about The Pingry Fund or to make your gift, visit pingry.org/give.

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True Blue Spotlight

Q&A WITH MEMBERS OF PINGRY’S TRUE BLUE SOCIETY

Twinkle Morgan P ’23, ’26, ’27

Twinkle Morgan P ’23, ’26, ’27 and her husband Robert McDonald with their children Langston McDonald ’27, Jordan McDonald ’26 (top left), and Morgan McDonald ’23 (bottom left).

these areas. We recognize that the School has been willing Pingry teachers put as much commitment and energy to listen to all members of its community, be reflective, into their work with my children as with their own. As and take steps to ensure every child feels like they belong, an example, I remember years ago when we had been at is respected and can thrive there. For example, we love it Pingry for just over a year, and started to wonder, were we when we see stories about the resilience and brilliance in the right place? My oldest daughter, then in first grade, of African Americans in the curriculum. As parents, we was struggling with her confidence. But her teacher was believe Pingry is the kind of place where our children can determined to help her, and was creative and relentless in proudly embrace their unique history of what it means to finding solutions and new strategies. She was just one of have a father from Ferguson, Missouri, and a mother from many amazing teachers on our Pingry journey. the Deep South of Louisiana.

As a family who sets the bar high for values and work ethic, we so value Pingry’s high standards and excellence, What has been your proudest moment as a Pingry demonstrated in the classroom and beyond. Pingry is parent? While rigorous educational standards are criticalalways bringing the best in class practices, research, and ly important to us, this was not the sole reason we chose curriculum to our children. Most recently, we were truly Pingry. We wanted our children’s school to reinforce the inspired by how quickly the School was able to pivot to a behaviors and value systems we teach in our home. Our hybrid learning model and incorporate a range of safety proudest moments come when we see or hear examples procedures. Throughout this pandemic from the School staff of our children conPingry Anywhere has provided our family ducting themselves with self-respect, comwith a daily dose of inspiration in so many passion, and love for themselves and others.

TRUE BLUE SOCIETY ways we are grateful to experience.

We love that the School takes the time Finally, we’re also inspired by Pingry’s to communicate to us about priceless Those who have ongoing critical work toward diversity, moments of character that our children given to The Pingry inclusion, and equity. My husband and I display when they think “no one” is looking.

Fund for 10 or more know what it looks like when an organizaconsecutive years Every once in a while, a teacher or coach tion is serious about growing their edge in will share a glimpse inside of the classroom What inspires you about Pingry today?

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when my son or daughters spoke up for someone on a difficult day. Or they might highlight that our child chose to use play time to improve on something they struggled with, or that they witnessed my child sharing a word of encouragement with someone else after they lost a game. Evidence of our children exercising kindness and good judgment is like hitting the parenthood jackpot, and we are thrilled the School thinks this matters, too!

MORE THAN TENNIS

You’ve volunteered at Pingry for many years. What keeps you so engaged? It

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Mathey Family Expands Pingry Legacy

DUSANPETKOVIC/ISTOCK IMAGES

makes my kids smile to see that we support the School with our time. They know their education is a priority in our lives. In turn, we get to see school trends, peek into the culture, and get to know the teachers, all of which helps us communicate effectively with our kids and understand their school space. Since my husband and I both work full time, a side benefit is that volunteering keeps us fully in the loop! I’ve been fortunate to be able to volunteer across a wide range of roles from class parent to Pingry School Parents’ Association (PSPA) positions. My favorite moments would have to be when my kids were at the Lower School and I would volunteer in the Lower School Library—I loved seeing all of the children each day; they were happy, energetic, and filled with curiosity. When one of my own children would walk in the doors, it was a joy to be able to give them a quick hug in the middle of day!

Because families attend Pingry from varied locations, I rely on volunteer opportunities to build the essential connections that make up our community. Finally, though I believe Pingry is amazing in many ways, Pingry is not perfect (nor is any institution). I want to be a part of the process of continuous improvement. In order to do this meaningfully, and to avoid a one-sided perspective, I need to speak to other members of the community about their views, their lives, and what is important to them.

And a personal bonus is that I get to make new friends—the fact that we chose Pingry creates common ground and is usually just one of many interests we’ll discover that we share!

Tennis has been a cornerstone of Pingry athletics since the 1890s. It was one of the first sports programs established at Pingry, and its first breakout star was Dean Mathey, a member of the Class of 1908. In the summer of his final year at Pingry, Mr. Mathey won the national championship in the Interscholastic Tennis Association. He later competed in several major U.S. tournaments and four times at Wimbledon. Mr. Mathey remained engaged with Pingry for the rest of his life, as a benefactor and Trustee of the School—he was the first recipient of Pingry’s Letterin-Life Award, the highest honor bestowed on a graduate by the School. To honor Pingry, where his tennis career began, Mr. Mathey gifted the School with the trophy from his 1908 championship win. The Dean Mathey Cup, as it came to be called, would be inscribed with the name of Pingry’s tennis champion every year.

A century followed, and many names were engraved on the Dean Mathey Cup. By leaving this tangible piece of his tennis legacy behind, Mr. Mathey cemented not only his place in Pingry history, but also a place for all those who would follow in his footsteps.

Mr. Mathey’s son, Dean W. Mathey, followed in his father’s footsteps as well. Though he was not a Pingry

student himself, the younger Mr. Mathey nevertheless maintained close ties to the School. Like his father, he had a keen interest in tennis and hockey. Mr. Mathey became reconnected to Pingry in the late 1990s, often coming to campus to watch matches and games. Mr. Mathey formed relationships with Heads of School John Hanly, John Neiswender, and Nat Conard P ’09, ’11, becoming an enthusiastic supporter of financial aid initiatives at Pingry, including involvement with the NJ SEEDS program.

Prior to his passing in 2017, the younger Mr. Mathey worked with the Office of Institutional Advancement to honor his father’s legacy at Pingry through a planned gift.

One of the younger Mr. Mathey’s primary philanthropic goals was to increase access to a first-rate education among underrepresented and financially disadvantaged students. So, to recognize his father’s deep love for Pingry and his own close connection with the School, he bequeathed a portion of his estate to Pingry’s endowed financial aid fund, making a Pingry education possible for many deserving students now and in the future.

Pingry is saddened by the loss of such devoted members of our community. To honor them, Pingry’s tennis complex will be dedicated to their memory.

For Mr. Mathey and many others, a planned gift can be a way to make an impact that will be felt for generations. To learn more, please contact Mary Packer at plannedgiving@pingry.org or 908-647-5555, ext. 1264.

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Pingry Creates BOOKS, BUSINESSES, BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK , AND MORE — TAKE A PEEK AT WHAT OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAVE BEEN UP TO

Fred Bartenstein III ’68, a longtime devotee of bluegrass who played guitar in bluegrass bands at Pingry and is Chair/ President of the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Foundation, has co-edited Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy (University of Illinois Press).

He also wrote the book’s Preface and a chapter about religious bluegrass. In a blog post from the publisher, Mr. Bartenstein said the story is of national significance and needed to be compiled while some of the important participants are still alive. Explaining his chapter on religious bluegrass, he said, “I tried and tried to find someone to write a satisfying chapter on the sacred side of bluegrass. When I couldn’t, I researched and wrote it myself, amazed by the extent to which bluegrass music permeated individual and community religious practice in this region.” He hopes readers will learn “that great bluegrass music stands alongside other worthy cultural art forms, and that great bluegrass music developed in a specific region of about 50 by 50 miles.”

Archivist Peter Blasevick wrote an article for the September/October 2020 issue of Archival Outlook (published by the Society of American Archivists), “When to Shift Project Priorities: Taking Digitization Off-Campus.” Of his many projects that had been scheduled before school closed for the final three months of the 2019-20 school year, one was able to move to the front of the line because Mr. Blasevick could work on it from home: transferring two decades’ worth of Pingry’s digital photographs—nearly 500,000 images—from Pingry’s internal servers to a digital asset management tool called Bynder (read more about Bynder in the Summer 2020 issue of The Pingry Review).

With help from Pingry’s Technology Department to access images on the School’s Intranet from home, Mr. Blasevick was able to work as if he were on campus. Net result: this project is completed about two years early.

Dr. John Stibravy ’68 published the book Sudden Cardiac Arrest: Back from the Dead (self-published; edited by Dr. Tony Smith and Dr. Becky Gingras), which tells the true story of his return from the dead after suffering sudden cardiac arrest. He writes in the introduction, “. . . hidden in its pages are the thoughts we push away . . . Thoughts of dying, of insanity, of loss. In the words to be found in this book are thoughts and images that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Only at the end will the reader find explosive truth.” He is also the author of Aortic Heart Valve Replacement: Through the Dark Curtain.

AFS Student Dr. Sämi Ludwig ’78, a professor at the University of Upper Alsace, Mulhouse, published an article about the poetry of former Pingry English Teacher and administrator Dr. James Handlin P ’86, ’90 (he worked at Pingry from 1968-1990). Titled “‘With both hands on the wheel. . . ’: Cybernetic Intersections and Transformations in Jim Handlin’s Poetry,” it appears in RFEA (Revue Française d’Études Américaines), which Dr. Ludwig describes as “the most prestigious Americanist periodical in France.” Although he has written mostly about American literature, he says, “I have taught poetry and I like poetry, and Jim Handlin certainly made his mark on me as simply a very creative and unconventional thinker. He was one of the reasons why I [decided] to study English and became an Americanist.”

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Former Pingry teachers Dr. Diane Grunau Handlin (English and Pottery, 1974-1988) and Dr. James Handlin, P ‘86, ‘90 with their poodle Pepsi.

Maddy Shilts ‘17 wrote the play Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Vanishing Ring, which was accepted by the Miami University Digital Fringe Festival. Maddy also cast it, starred as Sherlock Holmes, and edited the video.

The first seven lines of Dr. James Handlin’s “Weathervane” poem are quoted in marble in the New Jersey Transit section of Penn Station in Manhattan. Dr. Handlin’s poetry is the subject of a new article by Dr. Sämi Ludwig ’78, whose wife Beatrice is seen here with the poem. If any former students would like to contact him, Dr. Handlin’s email is jimhandlin14@gmail.com.

Pingry in Your Neighborhood KEEPING YOU CONNECTED TO PINGRY

Pingry On the Road Join us on a virtual road trip across America. This will be a terrific opportunity for the Pingry community to connect with fellow alumni and learn about Pingry Anywhere and how the School has adapted during these unprecedented times. Pingry administration, faculty, staff, and students will be featured to discuss how Pingry is innovating and meeting the challenge in this new educational environment. Please check pingry.org/alumni for information on upcoming events and to view recordings from our recent virtual events.

SAVE THE DATE! Florida and Southern States, Topic: Preserving Pingry’s History – Wednesday, March 3 New York and New Jersey, Topic: Pingry Arts During a Pandemic – Wednesday, March 31 Mid-Atlantic States, Topic: TBD, Tuesday, April 20 May 13-15, 2021

Reunion Weekend: Save the Dates!

Given that the health and safety of the entire Pingry community remains our top priority, we’ve once again made the difficult decision this year to not hold an on-campus Reunion celebration this spring.

Instead, please save the dates of May 13-15 for our NEW and expanded offering of virtual Reunion events and experiences that will give you a fun chance to connect—or maybe even to reconnect—with what makes the Pingry community so special.

Visit pingry.org/reunion for class-specific details and resources—plus the current schedule of LIVE! events, including: student leadership panel, decades trivia competition, Back-to-the-Classroom session with Upper School English Teacher Vicki Grant P ’03, ’06, wellness seminar, Zoom cocktail parties, and more surprises still to come.

“We continue to support Pingry because we feel the education provided is exceptional. Today’s discussion helped us to understand that it continues to be timely in this changing world.”

—SHARON AND BILL HILLBRANT ’48, REFLECTING ON THE NOVEMBER VIRTUAL WEST COAST/PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGIONAL RECEPTION

For more information, please contact Cait Finneran, Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Special Events, at cfinneran@pingry.org or 908-647-5555, ext. 1285.

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Class Notes S HA RE YOUR NEWS Submit your Class Note at pingry.org/classnotes, or mail it to Greg Waxberg ‘96, Editor of The Pingry Review, The Pingry School, 131 Martinsville Road, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920.

1968

1978

FRED BARTENSTEIN III co-edited a new book about bluegrass. Read more on page 52.

AFS Student DR. SÄMI LUDWIG published an article in Paris about the poetry of former Pingry English Teacher and administrator Dr. James Handlin P ’86, ’90. Read more on page 52.

DR. JOHN STIBRAVY published a new book about his experience with sudden cardiac arrest. Read more on page 52.

1975 DAVE RAPSON writes, “This year, I celebrated the arrival of our second granddaughter, Lilah Rose Mizrahi of San Jose, California, and mourned the loss of Dave Allan and Fred Fayen, two great mentors who are sorely missed. I was sorry that we were unable to celebrate our 45th Reunion this year and I look forward to celebrating our 50th.”

1989 ASHLEY DEEKS, the E. James Kelly, Jr.– Class of 1965 Research Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law and Director of UVA Law’s National Security Law Center, has been named White House Associate Counsel and Deputy Legal Advisor to the National Security Council. According to an announcement on UVA’s website, Ashley is an expert in national security who previously served as a legal advisor to the State Department. She joined the Law School in 2012 as an associate professor and became director of the National Security Law Center last year; she is taking a leave of absence while remaining on the faculty.

1994 DR. MARK FRANKLIN writes, “This is a picture of Katrina Soriano ’08 and myself from this past week [late December]. We are both physicians at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. We took this in the COVID ICU here just before we put on our full PPE to go into patients’ rooms. I practice Critical Care Medicine and Katrina practices Hospital Medicine.”

Dr. Katrina Soriano ‘08 and Dr. Mark Franklin ‘94 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH.

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DANA KREIN lives in Washington, D.C. with her partner of 13 years, Kena Allison.

She is enjoying her return to full-time teaching (humanities), coaching, and advising high school students after more than a decade as an administrator. Dana is deeply saddened to share that her mother, former Upper School Spanish Teacher Malla Godfrey, died in late October and encourages you to read more on page 57.

AMY MORRIS STONE writes, “My husband, Phil, and I are raising our two young sons in St. Louis while running an investment firm together. I never thought I’d settle in the Midwest, but it has become home, especially as we had plenty of time to explore beautiful Ozark rivers with our boys this past summer.

Hugs to all my ‘coast’ classmates!”

1998 MELANIE NAKAGAWA has joined The White House National Security Council (NSC) as Senior Director for Climate and Energy. As the top climate staffer on the NSC, she will work on the issues of climate change and energy security, and their integration into U.S. foreign policy.

2005 BESS ROWEN continues to teach acting, theatre theory, and gender & women’s studies to undergraduate and graduate students as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Villanova University. Her first book, The Lines Between the Lines: How Stage Directions Affect Embodiment, will be published in October 2021 by University of Michigan Press. Her recent articles can be found in journals such as Modern Drama, Theatre Topics, and the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism.

2017 MADDY SHILTS wrote a play at Miami University. Read more on page 52.

2018 AUBREY MOLLOY is a captain of the women’s foil squad of the University of North Carolina’s 2020-21 fencing team.

2019 NAVA LEVENE-HARVELL, a B.S. Candidate in Computer Science at Spelman College (a

In Memoriam

Nava Levene-Harvell ’19 was accepted as an HBCU VC Fellow.

Historically Black College [HBCU] for women in Atlanta, GA), spent the summer of 2020 as a MediaTech Intern at NBCUniversal and took a master class offered by Dorm Room Fund, in which she learned fundamentals and best practices of venture capital (VC).

She was accepted as an HBCU VC Fellow.

Over the course of this one-year program, in addition to cultivating a community of peers interested in VC, Nava will gain knowledge on VC fundamentals such as cap tables and term sheets, technology trends, developing theses, business models, market sizing, deal sourcing, and VC case studies. Nava will also receive mentorship from and have access to seasoned investors and fund managers. Fellows are also given the opportunity to identify startups from their own campus community to fund and support. In addition to being an HBCU VC Fellow, Nava has been selected to participate in Goldman Sachs’ Market Madness HBCU Possibilities program. Over the course of her spring semester, she will learn key financial concepts and participate in a culminating case competition. Nava has also accepted an offer to spend the summer as an Explore Microsoft Intern in their Experiences + Devices Group. She will spend 12 weeks in this rotational internship, specifically designed for first- and second-year college students, gaining experience in Microsoft’s different software engineering roles as well as hands-on experience with various tools and programming languages in the field of software development.

WILLIAM E. “BILL” WILLIAMS, JR. ’54 Age 85, Campton, NH Mr. Williams, a former Pingry trustee, served as PAA President from 1970–1972.

He attended Brown University and spent his career in real estate sales and development in New Jersey and New Hampshire. He served two terms in The General Court of New Hampshire (state legislature), two terms on the Select Board of Sugar Hill, NH, and several years as North Country Representative for Congressman Charles F. Bass in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional district.

Mr. Williams was also an official for ice hockey (and past president of the National Ice Hockey Officials Association for metropolitan New York and New Jersey), soccer, and baseball. He was inducted into Pingry’s Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1954 Baseball Team. His sister predeceased him. Survivors include his wife of 36 glorious years, Lee; children: Dr. W. E. Williams III ’76 (Bobbi), Hays C. Williams (Diane), Dana W. Beebe-Center ’80 (Lowell), and Jean G. Tewksbury (Ian); stepson Christopher Wilkie (Beth); nine grandchildren; one step-grandson; and nine great-grandchildren.

JOHN S. “JACK” WINTER ’47 October 25, 2020, age 90, Baltimore, MD Mr. Winter began his college studies at the University of Alabama, where he played football. After graduating from Alabama, he entered the U.S. Navy and was sent to Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida, where he was trained as a carrier pilot; he spent his 21st birthday taking off and landing solo for the first time on a carrier.

After being discharged, he moved to Baltimore, where he worked for a residential homebuilder. He then worked as a stockbroker for Alex.

Brown & Sons and moved to Houston, where he worked as a stockbroker for A.G. Edwards Inc. He was inducted into Pingry’s Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1947 Track Team.

Mr. Winter was predeceased by his grandson, John III. Survivors include his brother Leslie, son John, Jr., and two granddaughters. A marriage to the former Nell Arnold ended in divorce, as did two other marriages.

FREDERICK D. SCHROEDER ’52 January 16, 2021, age 86, Redding, CT Mr. Schroeder graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School and was a partner in the law firms of Cole & Deitz and Winston & Strawn. He served on the boards of The Connecticut Audubon Society, The Connecticut Ornithological Association,

and The Redding Conservation Commission.

He is survived by his loving family: his wife of 62 years, Jean, his children Frederick C. (Allison) and Lisa (Joe), his grandson Charlie, and his sister Penny.

DR. PAUL “PETER” GEARY, JR. ’53 January 8, 2021, age 85, Jacksonville, FL Dr. Geary graduated from Princeton University and received a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He began his residency in general and thoracic surgery at Johns Hopkins and completed it at Jackson Memorial Hospital. In between, he completed his military service at the Orlando Air Force Base where he was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain. Dr. Geary began his career in private practice as a general, thoracic, and vascular surgeon. He also served as an attending physician at Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC). He especially enjoyed overseeing residents through the Surgical Teaching Service, ORMC, and on Trauma Call. Dr. Geary developed specialties in trauma surgery and was named director of the ORMC Burn Unit.

He also accepted a position as director of the Burn Unit and Cardiovascular Surgery at the Al Hada Hospital in Taif, Saudi Arabia. His son Paul Geary III died unexpectedly at the age of four. Survivors include his first wife, Betsy Geary McClellan; his second wife, Lynn Geary; eight children, Anne Joseph (Charlie), Susan Clark (Kevin), Liza Geary (Jon Lichtmacher), Peter, Robert, Sean (Angela Wei), Daniel, and Caitlin Geary; and 15 grandchildren.

RICHARD BRANT WARD ’58 October 7, 2020, age 80, Mechanicsburg, PA Mr. Ward attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for architecture. He knew he wanted to design buildings from the time he was a small child and loved his career, which spanned decades—the community was touched by his works in industrial design, renovation, and several residential projects. He especially found his professional home with NUTEC Design Associates, Inc. in York, PA. Survivors include his daughter Laura Ward Voigt (Andrew), grandchildren Katie and Sarah, son Scott J. Ward (Nisreen Azar), and granddaughter Salix. He was predeceased by his wife Diane Delle Ward and brother John ’55.

DR. PETER SKINNER STOWE ’59 October 8, 2020, age 79, Richmond, IN Dr. Stowe earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics at Earlham College and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Economics at Purdue University. He taught at Southern Illinois THE PINGRY REVIEW | WINTER 2020-21

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In Memoriam University and worked at the National Center for Education Statistics, helping make Pell Grants more accessible and researching outcomes of college graduates. Dr. Stowe was a former board member of the Richmond Community Food Pantry and the Conflict Resolution Center.

Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Jane; son Timothy (Ingrid); grandchildren Isabel, Annika, and Nicholas; and brother Tom ’61 (Sandi). Dr. Stowe died suddenly from a stroke.

ROBERT HORN POPPER, JR. ’61 January 9, 2021, Mountain Lakes, NJ ​ Mr. Popper ​attended ​Pingry​ from ​Grade 1​through high school graduation​(one of seven from the Grade 1 class)​​ and earned ​a​B.A. in English Literature at Yale University.​ As a college graduate amid the Vietnam War, ​Mr. Popper​ declined any deferments to volunteer for service instead. During his four years in the​U.S.​ Air Force, he was stationed in Vietnam and on Guam as an aircraft maintenance officer before his honorable discharge at the rank of Captain.​​ In New Jersey,​he took over management of J.S. Popper, Inc., a family manufacturing business started by his grandfather. His ingenuity in product design earned him multiple patents as well as a “Top 20 Tool” prize from ​​Motor Magazine for one of his inventions. ​He also modernize​d​his business by teaching himself computer programming, 3D modeling, and website design when each of these technologies was in its infancy.​An active Pingry alumnus, Mr. Popper co-founded ​the alumni newsletter, ​​The Boys of ’61 Bulletin, which he co-edited for the last 30 years; drummed for ​the band, The Five Counts, until he was in his 60s​; planned and attended Pingry Reunions; and helped with Pingry research and contributions to The Pingry Review.

He wrote about finding Dr. Pingry’s resting place (“How I Found John F. Pingry,” Summer 2011) and co-wrote an article about The Five Counts (Summer 2012). H ​​ e was inducted into Pingry’s Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the undefeated 1960 Football Team. Mr. Popper was predeceased by his parents and sister: Robert H. Popper, Sr., Phyllis Reiman Popper, and Leslie Popper Hare. ​Survivors include​a brother​;​his wife of 51 years, Linda Popper; their three children​,​Susan Popper, Jennifer Popper Scramuzzo, and Robert R. Popper​;​and two grandchildren, Luke and Jack.

AMBASSADOR SHIGERU “SHIG” NAKAMURA, AFS ’67 December 22, 2020, Tokyo Ambassador Nakamura attended Pingry as an AFS student in the Class of 1967. Subse56

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quently, he graduated from Tokyo University and entered the Japanese Foreign Service, rising to the rank of ambassador and serving as Japan’s emissary to Saudi Arabia and then Malaysia before retiring. He then joined the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo, as Visiting Professor.

Among his many accomplishments, he was particularly proud of his graduate degree from Oxford. Survivors include his wife Anna, their three sons and daughter, and two grandchildren.

MARK W. BIEDRON ’70 November 6, 2020, age 68, Pottersville, NJ Mr. Biedron received a B.A. in Business Administration from The University of Vermont and attended graduate school at the University of Colorado. For 20 years, he worked as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for his family’s manufacturing business, CON-LUX Coatings, Inc., then co-founded Solid Wood Construction, LLC (green construction) and Sustainable Growth Technologies (green building and design consulting). Two decades ago, Mr. Biedron began to make an impact on education in New Jersey by co-founding The Willow School, an independent school for Pre-K–Grade 8 in Gladstone, NJ. Stemming from his passion for the environment, one of the school’s themes is “ethical relationships between people and nature,” and the school has two LEED buildings (one Gold, one Platinum).

Among other positions, he served as President of the New Jersey State Board of Education (2014–2017), having been appointed to the board in 2011 by then-Governor Chris Christie; Co-Chair of the New Jersey Juvenile Justice School/Justice Partnership Task Force; Chair of the Board of Advisors of The University of Vermont’s Rubinstein School of Environment and Natural Resources; and a trustee of the Social Emotional Learning Alliance for New Jersey, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, New York City Outward Bound, and The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education. Earlier in 2020, he received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Arts Education in New Jersey. He once told The Pingry Review that “education is the most important work on the planet and can change everything.”

He was admired by education leaders across the state and was a dedicated volunteer for Junior Achievement of New Jersey. Survivors include his beloved wife Christy; children Laura, Matthew, Loring ’15, Henry ’17, and Rose; and brother Scott ’74 (Tracey).

For more insights from Mr. Biedron when he was elected President of the New Jersey State

Board of Education, see the December 2014 issue of The Pingry Review and pingry.org/extras.

DR. JAMES ALOYSIUS BOOZAN ’77 January 25, 2021, age 61, Pennington, NJ Dr. Boozan received an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and continued his family’s legacy of becoming a physician. He received a medical doctorate degree from The Ohio State University School of Medicine. After a surgical internship at Lenox Hill Hospital and New York University, he completed his residency training in otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at St. Louis University Medical Center.

Thereafter, he completed a one-year fellowship of advanced training in head and neck oncologic surgery at the University of Michigan.

In 1993, Dr. Boozan opened his private practice in Lawrenceville, NJ, where he proudly practiced as a Board-Certified Otolaryngologist until his passing. Dr. Boozan was on staff with Capital Health Systems, and during his career, was Chief of the Otolaryngology Department for many years. He was inducted into Pingry’s Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1977 Boys’ Lacrosse Team. Dr. Boozan was predeceased by his father Dr. Charles Boozan ’36.

Survivors include his wife, Kathleen Dougherty; children, Jay and Hope; brothers, Dr. William C. Boozan ’73, and Dr. John M. Boozan ’75; and several nieces and nephews.

As this issue was going to press, Pingry learned of the death of former trustee Alfred “Tony” Stein III ‘59. An obituary will appear in the next issue.

Faculty and Staff FREDERICK G.H. “FRED” FAYEN II November 11, 2020, age 80, Mountainside, NJ Mr. Fayen worked at Pingry for 45 years, from 1963–2008, serving as a history teacher, college counselor, and coach, known for his standards of excellence, quiet dignity, calm demeanor, patience, encouragement, kindness, and unceasing eagerness to learn from those around him.

He joined Pingry to teach Middle School history and English, and later transitioned to Middle and Upper School history, including an AP course that he developed, Modern Asian and Soviet History, fondly referred to as “MASH.” One philosophy dominated his teaching style: learning is not only about knowledge, but also about making that knowledge serve a higher purpose. In 1968, he became a college counselor and spent 40 years mentoring students during the search process. He also

served as Director of Guidance from 1973–1988 and secretary of the Cum Laude Society from 2001–2008.

“His students got the very best from him every day as he cared so much about that special interaction which occurs between a master teacher and young people. And he was a ‘master teacher.’ He had the ability to break down complex events and topics into manageable issues that could be discussed and developed in the minds of young students. I loved working with Fred,” says Middle School History Teacher and Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse Head Coach Mike Webster P ’24, ’27, ’27.

Many students recall Mr. Fayen diligently helping them become better writers, and he also helped adults. Former Upper School Math Teacher Katie Cassidy recalls his guidance for writing letters of recommendation.

“He was always available to read over my letters and give concrete feedback . . . [to] help me share my thoughts more elegantly and succinctly. I’ve been writing recommendation letters for 30 years now, and the help he gave me is still in my mind each time I write a new one.”

In athletics, Mr. Fayen coached various levels of soccer, swimming, and lacrosse, including his first 10 years as Head Coach of the JV Swimming Team and assistant coach of the Varsity Swimming Team; 10 years with freshman soccer; 15 years with Middle School soccer while he was Director of Guidance; and several years with Girls’ Varsity and JV Soccer.

The year of his retirement at Pingry, Mr. Fayen was honored with the Henry G. Stifel III Award (recognizing his steadfast commitment to producing students’ college profiles and correcting history papers despite the pain from rheumatoid arthritis) and The Cyril and Beatrice Baldwin Pingry Family Citizen of the Year Award. The Frederick G.H. Fayen II Scholarship Fund was established in his honor to ensure that children of faculty and staff could receive a Pingry education.

Mr. Fayen received a B.A. in History from Harvard University and an M.A. in Education from New York University, served in the U.S. Army Reserves, and began his teaching career at the Palm Valley School, founded in 1952 by his mother and stepfather and still in operation today. Survivors include his wife of 39 years, Connie, who worked at the Lower School for 25 years (in the library and Admission), retiring in 2013; daughters Blake ’90 and Julie ’02; grandson Sean; and stepbrother Bonner Field.

Read more about Mr. Fayen’s Pingry career and honors in the Summer/Fall 2008 issue of The Pingry Review.

MALLA GODFREY October 27, 2020, age 72, Concord, NH Señora Godfrey taught Upper School Spanish at Pingry from 1999–2018, advised the championship boys’ and girls’ varsity and JV Quiz Bowl Teams for over five years, and advised all four Ski Teams from 2001–2012. In 2013, she was Quiz Bowl advisor when the team won its first national championship, the National Academic Championship in New Orleans; in 2015, she was named “Quiz Bowl Coach of the Year” for leading Pingry to the National Academic Championship Semifinals for three consecutive years, and for exceptional sportsmanship.

“Spanish classes with Sra. Godfrey were the highlight of my days at Pingry,” says Diana

Jiang ’09. “She brought so much infectious energy, passion, and laughter to her classrooms, and I’ll never forget the impact she made on me to strive to be better and do better.” She instilled in Ollie Martin ’17 a love for Spanish short stories that motivated him to minor in Spanish, and Lauren Salazar ’13 majored in Spanish Language and Literature. “I was one of the few native Spanish-speaking Latina students at Pingry, which often made me feel very different from my peers. It didn’t help that I was naturally shy and quiet . . . The woman I am today, who is a lot more outspoken and gregarious, is in great part because of Señora.”

Read more from her family.

FROM THE FAMILY OF MALLA GODFREY

Señora Malla Godfrey

January 31, 1948 – October 27, 2020 Señora Godfrey adored her students and deeply respected her colleagues. Through structure, support, modeling, and a wry sense of good humor, she encouraged her Spanish language students, advisees, Quiz Bowl kids, and Ski Team members to become their best selves. Like with her own children, Sra. Godfrey provided ardent championing when warranted and offered equally candid criticism when needed.

Infinitely modest about her own accomplishments, Sra. Godfrey rarely spoke of herself, although I’m sure you heard many stories about her children. For us, she was an inspiration, a role model, and a hero. What you may not know about her is that she was a talented artist whose sculptures, tile-work, and architectural designs embodied both her practical nature and creativity. Additionally, she was a successful entrepreneur who founded and ran four thriving companies. For Sra. Godfrey, her greatest accomplishment was raising her three children (as a single parent), constantly reminding us that it is not what you do, but rather how you do it and who you are as a person.

Above all, Señora Godfrey was a fiercely loving mother, aunt, and sister whose family came before anything else—including herself. She died in the arms of her eldest children and surrounded by the voices of her beloved family, including daughter Dana Krein ’94, son Jason Krein, daughter Avery Krein, DVM ’03, nephew Trevor Dardik ’04, niece Whitney Hardin, and sister Alison Godfrey.

Many folks asked what they can do to honor her memory. Sra. Godfrey would likely offer the following suggestions (she always provided choices): • Continue being your best self by embracing life-long learning and compassion for those around you.

• Share your time, talents, and energy with the next generation to help bring about the world that ought to be.

• If you ever find yourself in Marco Island, Florida, stop by the Jewish Memorial section of the cemetery to share stories of your adventures with her (she designed the Godfrey-Krein boulder that you can’t miss).

We are immensely grateful to all of our mom’s students and colleagues who provided her with decades of tremendous joy!

The editorial staff makes every effort to publish an obituary for and pay tribute to the accomplishments of alumni who have passed away, based on information available as of press time. If family members, classmates, or friends would like to submit tributes, please contact Greg Waxberg ‘96 at gwaxberg@pingry.org.

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A Visit to the Archives

A social gathering at Parker Road, circa 1895.

Captured in Glass Pingry was recently contacted by Lucinda Hogarty, a neighbor of Lynne Pauls Baron, author of the book F. Luis Mora: America’s First Hispanic Master.

Why? Mr. Mora’s archives, which his family had given Ms. Baron to help her with writing the book, included two boxes of more than 100 glass plate negatives. While helping Ms. Baron with cleanout work in her home in Connecticut, Ms. Hogarty’s husband discovered the boxes and asked if they were going to be thrown away—yes, Ms. Baron told him, because the Mora family had stipulated that she offer the negatives to the Smithsonian after she was finished using them, but the Smithsonian declined.

However, to avoid their potential fate in the dumpster, Ms. Hogarty and her husband took possession of the neg58

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atives because, she says, “We both have an interest in history and hate to see things like that go to waste when they might be treasures to someone.”

Ms. Hogarty discovered that several of the slides are marked with “Pingry Oval” and/or “Elizabeth, NJ.” She found Pingry online and contacted the School, which now owns the collection.

F. Luis Mora, an acclaimed painter, was the brother of Jo Mora, a Pingry student in the 1890s and a successful artist in his own right. Archivist Peter Blasevick digitized the 100-plus negatives that include photos of Jo Mora, other Pingry students—the only known photos of these students, aside from yearbook pictures—and scenes in and around Elizabeth. These never-before-seen photos date from about 125 years ago.

RL Eaton putting shot.

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A Visit to the Archives Glass Plate Negatives and Jo Mora’s Artistry

BY VISUAL ARTS DEPARTMENT CHAIR AND PHOTOGRAPHY TEACHER MILES BOYD

It’s hard to imagine the effort that went into creating photos during the early years of photography. Before the early 1900s when film became commercially viable, most photographic emulsions were made on heavy glass plate negatives.

Each image was challenging to create; therefore, the resulting images had to be a deliberate act by these early photographers/artists.

The collodion wet plate, which was used from the 1850s–1870s, was actually hand coated by photographers using dangerous, harmful, and even flammable chemicals, and had to be used within minutes of preparation. Although silver gelatin dry plates, in use from the 1870s, did not require on-the-spot chemistry, were prepared in advance, and were easier to transport, they were still heavy and fragile and required careful handling and processing. Glass plate photographic materials largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the 20th century. Because of their fragility, most glass plate negatives from the 1800s haven’t survived, so looking at the images made at and around Parker Road is very special.

These early images provide a window into

To see more items from the Archives, visit Pingry Flashes Back (pingry.org/flashesback).

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PA Moore, Class of 1898, pole vaulting.

another age, and I can’t help but see them as “gifts” of the photographer’s personal choosing, frozen in time, little jewels, most unlike the casual “selfies” of today.

Jo Mora, like his brother, studied art at the esteemed Art Students League of New York, and both studied with one of the most important American artists of their day, William Merritt Chase. During his career, Jo Mora produced a wide variety of artistic output, including painting, illustration, sculpture, and photography. He was also an acclaimed writer and cowboy

who lived briefly with the Hopi and wrote extensively about his experiences in California. Many of his photographs are in the Smithsonian Museum. His massive diorama, Discovery of the San Francisco Bay by Portola, for the California Pavilion at the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939/40, is almost 100 feet in length. His sculptures, illustrations, watercolors, and etchings were frequently exhibited across the United States throughout his lifetime.

Jo Mora was a quintessential “Western Artist” and Renaissance man.

To digitize glass plate negatives without ending up with distortion that would result from glass placed on a glass scanner, Archivist Peter Blasevick inserted each negative into a clear, mylar sleeve before placing the negative on a glass scanner. Here, Mr. Blasevick is wearing a vinyl glove to hold one of the negatives; vinyl gloves are useful for handling objects with sharp edges.

Jo Mora’s portrait, by his brother F. Luis Mora, receives a full-page reproduction in the book F. Luis Mora: America’s First Hispanic Master.

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A Final Look

Centennial Day In honor of Pingry’s 160th year, enjoy these photos from May 6, 1961—Centennial Day, attended by 1,600 people on the Hillside Campus. The festivities included the dedication

above:

Pingry Alumni Association President Clayton Jones, Jr. ’35 and Reese Williams at the new flagpole near the football field.

of the varsity football field as Reese Williams Field to honor Pingry’s longtime Physical Education Director and football/ baseball coach who worked at Pingry from 1920–1965.

PHOTOS BY BOB POPPER ’61 For readers who remember Centennial Day, or recall stories about it, share them with us! Email gwaxberg@pingry.org.

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top to bottom:

On the right is Georges Krivobok, teacher of French, Spanish, and Russian, in his first year on the faculty.

On the right is Bertram Bond, a British math teacher who taught at Pingry on a one-year Fulbright Exchange Scholarship. (Math Teacher Peyton Pitney was given a grant to teach in England; Mr. Bond came to Pingry in exchange.)

Honored guests and speakers in Hyde Gym, including Headmaster Dr. Larry Springer toward the far right of the table. He is about to retire after leading Pingry for 25 years.

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A Final Look Centennial Day

top:

Associate Headmaster Charles Atwater ’31, who was to succeed Dr. Larry Springer as Headmaster in the fall, with Assistant to the Headmaster and English Teacher Casmir France. bottom:

At the bottom, center, is Chemistry Teacher Ernest Shawcross.

“I was a young faculty member, and I remember what a great day it was: hundreds of people were excited about the School reaching 100 years, alumni were happy that the School was thriving, and we had an impressive field dedication. It was a historic day for Pingry and fun to remember as we mark our 160th year.”

—MILLER BUGLIARI ‘52, P ‘86, ‘90, ‘97, GP ‘20, ‘24, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

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facing page, top to bottom:

The crowd gathering for the dedication of Reese Williams Field, the football field behind the baseball field. To the left of center, behind the crowd, is the new flagpole.

Reese Williams speaking at the dedication.

To the left of center is Brett Boocock, English Teacher and composer of three Pingry songs.

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Alumni, we invite you to share your favorite outdoor photos or memories from your time on campus!