The Pingry Review: Winter 2021-22

THE

REVIEW

THE LOWER SCHOOL’S

Forward Momentum

Recent Initiatives, Special Programming, Academic Progress

VETERAN VOLUNTEER FRANK ALI ’62

TIM LEAR ’ 92 , NEXT HEAD OF SCHOOL

W WIINNTTEERR 22002211--2222

STANDING OUT: BUZZY COHEN ’03

Contents

WINTER 2021-22 | VOL. 78 | NO. 2

pingry.org/review

of the 8 Highlights Lower School’s

Veteran 18 AVolunteering for the

History 24 Pingry Hits the Walls

The Lower School takes the spotlight, with examples of recent initiatives, special programming, and academic progress—led by Dr. Thu-Nga Morris, in her second year with Pingry. Plus, Lower School Librarian Ann D’Innocenzo is returning to the past (sort of).

Ten years ago, Frank Ali ’62 moved to Delaware and—continuing a decades-long tradition of volunteering—became involved with the preservation of history. How was he hooked on his current venture, and what keeps him motivated?

Pingry’s hallways (and other spaces) are getting a new look as various aspects of the School’s history are brought to life through images, stories, and modernized presentations.

What has prompted these new displays?

Forward Momentum

Cause of History

Departments 2

From the Head of School

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Pingry in Your Neighborhood

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Pingry Creates

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One Pingry

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Homecoming

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Class Notes

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View from SH/BR/PV

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Career Day

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In Memoriam

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Athletics

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Reunion Schedule

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A Visit to the Archives

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On the Arts

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A Final Look

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True Blue Spotlight

Announcing the Next Head of School

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 P ’24 Archivist Emily Cooke Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing Jane Hoffman ’94, P ’26, ’27, ’28 Director of Annual Giving and Community Relations Edward Lisovicz Advancement Writer Maureen Maher Assistant Director of Communications, Writer Alex Nanfara P ’33 Assistant Director of Communications, Athletics and Summer Holland Sunyak ’02 Director of Development DESIGN AND LAYOUT Josephine Bergin bergincreative.com PHOTOGRAPHY Circlescapes Peter Chollick Russ DeSantis Bruce Morrison ’64 Alex Nanfara P ’33 David Salomone Reena Rose Sibayan Maggie Yurachek PICTURED The Dragon Dance from the 2022 Lunar New Year Assembly on the Basking Ridge Campus.

ON THE COVER Tools used for promoting literacy at the Lower School. Photo: Literacy Specialist Jamie Nanfara P ‘33.

ON THE BACK COVER The 2021-22 Girls’ Varsity Swim Team.

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From the Head of School Dear Pingry Community,

Sincerely, Matt Levinson Head of School

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In each nook of the building, different grade levels occupy homes that spill in and out of the classroom to allow for multiple learning configurations in the hands of dedicated, talented teachers who do everything in their power to create a stimulating, engaging learning environment.

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The feature article for this edition of The Pingry Review focuses on the Lower School at our Short Hills Campus.

The minute you step foot on the Short Hills Campus, a friendly, welcoming community greets you. This starts at the front door and extends all the way through the hallways and classrooms to outside with the vast grounds that adorn the campus. As many of you will recall, the campus went through a significant modernization process in 2014 and most recently, we installed a state-of-theart turf field to enable year-round use for athletics and physical education. In each nook of the building, different grade levels occupy homes that spill in and out of the classroom to allow for multiple learning configurations in the hands of dedicated, talented teachers who do everything in their power to create a stimulating, engaging learning environment. At the start of the 2020-2021 school year, we inaugurated an Associate Teacher program to help further personalize and differentiate learning for our students, as 13 Associate Teachers partner with and support classroom teachers and Lower School students.

The strong sense of community that permeates Short Hills starts at the top, under the positive, unwavering, and enthusiastic leadership of Dr. Thu-Nga Morris, who assumed the leadership of the Short Hills Campus in the summer of 2020. She started in the midst of the pandemic and quickly built trusting relationships with students, faculty, staff, and families. In the feature story, you will hear anecdotes from different community members about the strong sense of teamwork, collaboration, and communication that enables the Short Hills community to function at such a high level. Most recently, upon the return from Winter Break, different faculty and staff members stood outside on a freezing cold day on January 4, 2022 to hand out school supplies and receive COVID-19 test kits from Lower School students and families, all in an effort to ensure a smooth start to 2022, amidst the Omicron variant surge. There is a wonderful, uplifting can-do mindset, and the feature story captures the indomitable spirit of community that exists at Short Hills.

I hope you will enjoy reading about our inspiring Lower School community in the pages ahead, and reach out and congratulate our faculty and staff on their heroic efforts to educate Pingry’s youngest students.

One Pingry

The Middle School Rocket Club constructs model rockets from kits or with custom designs. If any problems happen during a launch, students problem solve and rebuild, as needed.

The 2021-22 Buttondowns performing the ensemble’s annual concert prior to Thanksgiving.

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One Pingry

 Members of the Honor Board pose questions to Maud Peper Dahme (“DAH-mee”) during this fall’s John Hanly Lecture on Ethics and Morality. A survivor of the Holocaust and author of Chocolate: The Taste of Freedom: The Holocaust Memoir of a Hidden Dutch Child, Ms. Dahme shared the story of how strangers saved her family from extermination. Her overall message is, “Respect each other . . . We’re all human beings.”

Middle School’s PAAC (Pingry Athletics & Activities Council)

(left) A screenshot from one of PAAC’s broadcasts.  (right) The PAAC decorating the atrium board with scores, illustrations, and a “Quote of the Week” to generate school spirit. The quote here is from late track and field coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman: “Victory is in having done your best. If you have done your best, you’ve won.”



The PAAC recording one of its broadcasts with

headlines and highlights from Middle School athletics.

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Budding Scientist and Regeneron Scholar Katherine Xie ’22 is one of 300 high school seniors— out of more than 1,800 applicants internationally— to be named a Scholar in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2022. The country’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors, it provides students with a national stage to present original research. Scholars are chosen based on their research skills, commitment to academics, innovative thinking, and promise as scientists.

Katherine spent last summer interning at Boston University, where she worked on an original research project in computational neuroscience. She built a computational model of an olfactory neural circuit to study how structural changes within the circuit impact its learning capacity. “My research findings further our understanding of olfactory learning, providing important clues to understanding the mechanisms underlying learning and memory. This can help us develop olfaction-inspired AI and better treatments of neurodegenerative disorders,” she says.

Pingry’s computer science classes (in the Middle and Upper Schools); math classes, including statistics; science classes ranging from biology to physics; and English classes all played a part in Katherine’s preparation. She is also a member of an Independent Research Team at Pingry that gave her knowledge of and hands-on experiences studying artificial neural networks.

“Studying neuroscience through a computational lens is a crucial component of the broader effort to decipher how different parts of the brain learn and process information, which, in turn, could also propel artificial intelligence to the next level of intelligence. I look forward to further exploring this fascinating field in the future.”

The Lower School Library participating in the National African American Read-In, with guest readers joining in person and virtually. Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, the goals of the event are to make literature a significant part of Black History Month and celebrate the works of African American authors.

Pingry statistics: 32 classes participated; 30 readers; 40 books read to the students.

Lower School Librarian Ann D’Innocenzo submitted to the council a list of the titles and authors, as well as these statistics, so that the Lower School can be included in the national tally.

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View from SH

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BR PV

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Peer Leaders taking a break on the Pottersville Campus in October, during an event for peer leadership and freshmen.

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F O S ’ S L T O H O G I H L C H HIG E LOWER S TH

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When people think about “happenings” at the Lower School, the first image that comes to mind might be a musical or other seasonal event. But over the last couple of years, a lot more has been “happening” than might be immediately noticeable. >>>

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or starters, the Lower School welcomed a new director in July 2020, Dr. Thu-Nga Morris, who has already made her mark on the K–5 culture.

Then, there are some additions and refinements to the School’s commitment to academic excellence, such as the new role of Assistant Lower School Director for Inclusive Teaching & Learning, the Associate Teacher program, and the supportive work of specialists. And of course, the Lower School’s activities take place within the Code of Conduct, the Lower School’s version of the Honor Code.

Dr. Morris was attracted to Pingry’s emphasis on excellence, honor, high standards, and strengthening its community. She came to the School with a track record of academic leadership, community building— with a deep commitment to diversity and inclusion, a topic she has written about and presented at conferences—and dedication to faculty development. Vietnamese American with parents who were Vietnamese refugees, she also came to Pingry with a personal history of attending public schools and being a first-generation college graduate (B.A. in Neuroscience at Bowdoin College in Maine, where she was born and raised). She later completed a master’s degree in Adolescent Education at Pace University; a Master of Education in Private School Leadership at the Klingenstein Program at Teachers College, Columbia University; and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.

And . . . Dr. Morris joined Pingry with a different title, Lower School Director, than she has now. After just a year in her position, she was named Assistant Head of School for the Short Hills Campus as of July 2021. “The promotion honors my responsibilities in managing the Short Hills Campus and the Lower School program,” she says. “This year, my involvement has increased in supporting Lower School strategic initiatives and their connection with K–12 initiatives, which includes having greater visibility into Pingry’s Strategic Plan.”

Assistant Head of School for the Short Hills Campus Dr. Thu-Nga Morris at Back-to-School Night.

“ Dr. Morris has made such a difference. She has brought energy, enthusiasm, and her ‘surprises’ to the Lower School. She is always so happy to see parents and wants everything to be in-person that can be in-person, like when she pushed forward to have Back-to-School Night in person. She is willing to go the extra mile and wants parents to be happy and feel connected, and parents are grateful to the faculty and staff.” - KATHY IACUZZO SARTORIUS ’92, P ’22, ’25, ’29

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New Director Creates a New Position that Supervises Rising Teachers Simultaneous with Dr. Morris assuming a new title, the Lower School welcomed Regina Hardatt in a position that Dr. Morris created: Assistant Lower School Director for Inclusive Teaching and Learning. “It stemmed from the Lower School’s desire to explicitly bridge two of the School’s pillars—intellectual engagement and DEIB [diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging]. The role was created to support the Lower School in articulating its curriculum, to advance inclusive academic excellence in the program, and to expand professional learning opportunities for faculty,” Dr. Morris says.

Ms. Hardatt is responsible for innovation and collaborative change across all grades and disciplines. “For education to work and be inclusive, it needs to be rooted in inclusion,” she explains. “I look at the curriculum through a lens of cultural responsiveness and equity, which includes the curriculum and teaching and learning practices, to make sure all of that works together for a strong, responsive academic program.” As just

Students working in a group to practice their speeches about independence for Social Studies.

“ In Grade 4, the Commons is used as an extended classroom. Students often work in small groups, spread out to be more comfortable, and get additional support from teachers. I love working with students one-on-one or in small groups in this space as they find it exciting to be outside of their traditional classrooms.”

- MARIA GARAVENTE, ASSOCIATE TEACHER

Associate Teachers Jessica Gonzalez and Jocelyn (Shengjie) Chen working with first-grade students in a collaboration space.

three examples of Ms. Hardatt’s impact so far, she is defining the Lower School’s core competencies, collaborating with teachers to highlight interdisciplinary programming in each grade, and creating opportunities for Lower School students to visit the Pottersville Campus (Grades 4 and 5 have already done so, for their Revolutionary War unit and for a drama workshop on inclusion and belonging, respectively).

She also supervises the Associate Teachers and seeks “to develop young professionals into culturally responsive teachers.” The relatively new two-year Associate Teacher program uses immersive training and coaching, as well as faculty mentoring, to support individuals (13 this school year) with a bachelor’s degree who are pursuing a career in education—and they come to Pingry with a range of experience.

Sometimes working with several grade levels, they co-teach lessons, facilitate small-group learning, and support classroom teachers, among other responsibilities. Ms. Hardatt also leads monthly professional development meetings with the entire group. Notably, when the Associate Teacher program was

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Returning to In-Person Activities Many people at the Lower School, including parents, experienced the refreshing, invigorating feeling of returning to several in-person traditions this fall: Back-to-School Night, with parents of all grades rotating inside to visit classrooms and outside for presentations (the first time in two years that parents were allowed inside); Music Demonstration with Upper School ensembles; Halloween Parade; Book Fair; and the Fall Musical Alice in Wonderland. The Lower School also participated in Rufus Gunther Day (Community and Civic Engagement Day) for the first time.

“ “I would never have had that vision for the rotation of parents on Back-toSchool Night, and it was a lot of work for Facilities to make that happen. They had to move tables, bring chairs and podiums outside, and fulfill various requests in the classrooms. And a shout-out to our Tech Team because audio/visual equipment had to be set up in multiple areas.”

- MARY SARTORIO, GRADE 5 MATH TEACHER

Kindergarten Teachers and parents outside for Back-to-School Night.

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implemented, The Pingry Fund made it possible for Pingry to easily and quickly hire teachers because the School has the financial means; the fund directly supports operational costs and allows the School to invest in programs and people.

One area in which Ms. Hardatt says the Associate Teachers’ support has been “absolutely essential” is with the pivot between hybrid and in-person learning. “They have helped prevent so many balls from falling by making sure things run smoothly, like transitions for arrival and dismissal, reliably filling in for teachers, and proactively taking part in student life. They are also tech-savvy and know the students—that community relationship fosters an inclusive and welcoming learning environment.”

The small-group learning sessions with Associate Teachers often take place in collaboration spaces outside classrooms, spaces that were created during the Lower School’s modernization in the mid-2010s thanks to the Blueprint for the Future Campaign. These collaboration spaces were added to make it easier for students to work together on projects and interact with teachers, and they have proven immensely helpful for Associate Teachers to work with students on SEL (social and emotional learning) activities, problem solving, organization and time management, and other student-specific needs. Even though the Associate Teacher program didn’t exist when the building was modernized, the spaces can now support it because community members understood the importance of supporting best practices in teaching and learning.

Because of Ms. Hardatt’s proactiveness, the Lower School was selected to be a partner school with the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College, Columbia University—their graduate school students are assessing the impact of the Associate Teacher program. “We wanted to do this because the Associate Teacher Program is in its infancy and we want a sense of how it is working from an objective perspective,” she says. “The question is, ‘How can we advance culturally responsive professional development and teaching practices in the Associate Teacher program?’” As part of the evaluation, the graduate students are interviewing Associate Teachers and reviewing the structure of Pingry’s program.

SEL, and “Decisions” Expands Ms. Hardatt has also been partnering with Dr. Alyssa Johns to augment the Decisions program (more on that in a moment).

Only eight years ago, Dr. Johns came to Pingry as an intern through Rutgers University’s doctoral program in Psychology, then advanced to become a full-time counselor in the Middle and Upper Schools and then the Lower School. In 2020, she joined the Lower School’s leadership team as Assistant Lower School Director of Social and Emotional Wellness, to support students and families with SEL education, and in early 2022, Dr. Johns assumed the new role of Co-Director of CAST (Counseling and Academic Support Team), K-12 Coordinator, involved in planning wellness efforts throughout the school.

Fifth-grade students interacting with Drama Department Chair Stephanie Romankow and Upper School drama students in the Pottersville Campus theater. According to Grade 5 Teacher Mary Sartorio, “The Pottersville Campus offered an intimate setting for the drama students to show off their acting skills to our fifth graders and get them excited about going to the Middle School.”

“ What our Lower School teachers did for our students through the pandemic was nothing short of heroic. They overcame hurdle after hurdle and were undaunted in their commitment to care for and teach every child in their charge. They also supported each other, time and again, through one hardship after another and demonstrated what true professionalism looks like.” - HEAD OF SCHOOL MATT LEVINSON

Vaccine Clinics in a Familiar Environment “The key was to keep it strictly for children.”

Lower School Nurse Paula Edell P ’95, ’99 felt strongly about this stipulation for the Lower School’s vaccine clinics, and that’s the way it unfolded. Pingry brought in wristbands, stickers, cardboard cutouts for photos—even Dr. Morris and the Big Blue Bear as greeters—to make the environment comfortable and welcoming for students to receive their COVID-19 vaccines.

“Children are used to going to their doctors for inoculations, so this was already different,” Ms. Edell says. “We created an environment that was kid friendly, and parents needed a comfort level, too—a clinic that was created, supervised, and supported by their Pingry family. It was a little bit of a festive environment in spite of the gravitas of the moment, and parents were so grateful for the convenience.”

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SEL encompasses development of healthy identities, managing of emotions, achieving goals, feeling and showing empathy, maintaining supportive relationships, and making responsible decisions. One of Pingry’s resources for SEL is CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), which coined the term “social and emotional learning” in the 1990s and promotes SEL in elementary, middle, and high schools.

How did Dr. Johns help students with SEL growth during remote learning? “They were able to develop their relationship skills by actively supporting one another and collaboratively finding solutions to obstacles created by the pandemic. Students worked together in small break-out groups to engage in meaningful conversations and were assigned projects to strengthen their

“ The dedication of our Pingry teachers is awe inspiring. Throughout the pandemic, they have arrived at school every single day and given their best to our children, despite all the challenges and potential fears. We are so lucky that our children are guided by dedicated and passionate teachers who are willing to be in school, no matter what. Pingry teachers understand that their work to educate and inspire the next generation of children is the essential foundation of our society’s future. Pingry teachers selflessly give of themselves for the benefit of others, and I believe that this is the highest embodiment of The Pingry Honor Code.”

– LAURA YORKE KULKARNI ’98, P ’33

coping skills, such as creating survival guides for remote learning, quarantine, and self-isolation.”

Dr. Johns is also one of three co-teachers of the Decisions course that integrates lessons on the Code of Conduct/Honor Code, relationships and community, and DEIB; the course is now required for all Lower School students, to promote social and emotional learning and healthy decision making. She, Ms. Hardatt, and Assistant Lower School Director of Student Life Julie Perlow P ’20 focus on building emotional intelligence (Dr. Johns), cultural literacy/DEIB (Ms. Hardatt), and character development (Mrs. Perlow) skills in their classes. These skills are connected to CASEL’s five competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decisionmaking. Along with Decisions now being K–5, the course includes a new Identity unit for cultural competency—training students to avoid biases and stereotypes, and asking them for self-reflection.

Support from Literacy and Math Specialists Just like Ms. Hardatt’s role impacts all six grades and Decisions has been made universal for the Lower School, two specialists have also been lending their expertise and support to all six grades—Literacy Specialist Jamie Nanfara P ’33, who supports reading, writing, and phonics, and Math Specialist Verna Lange P ’23, ’24, ’26, ’28.

A member of the Pingry community for nearly five years, Mrs. Nanfara loves the fact that her position lets her provide individualized attention and help children develop a love for reading. “I want students to be the kinds of readers who get lost in books and the kinds of writers who use the nuances of language to communicate clearly. In Cultivating Genius, author Gholdy Muhammad reminds us that reading and writing are transformative acts, and my hope is to empower all Lower School students to use their passions to make a positive impact in the world.”

Time for a Time Capsule Lower School Librarian Ann D’Innocenzo is repeating a project from 22 years ago, but under vastly different circumstances. In 2000, she created a time capsule to capture the change in millennium, to be unearthed in 2025. Now, she is leading the effort to create a second, separate time capsule to “capture this period in the School’s life so that people in the future see how we adapted during the pandemic.”

Mrs. D’Innocenzo is collecting Lower School materials (and happy to have more contributions), including photos, videos, goggles, face shields, and masks, and she asked each grade to write reflections on the pandemic and letters to their future selves. She also collected student-made signs related to current world events.

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Some of the tools that Literacy Specialist Jamie Nanfara P ’33 uses with Kindergarten and first-grade students to teach reading/spelling with a multisensory approach: colorful Pop-its (left, for segmenting words into sounds or syllables), sand tray (right, for practicing letter formation), letter/sound cards (top, to teach phoneme/grapheme correspondence), and a car-themed spelling/blending board (middle).

One of Mrs. Nanfara’s more recent undertakings has been to implement benchmarking and early intervention in literacy.

For example, the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessments gauge fluency and comprehension, when a student reads out loud and then engages in a one-on-one conversation about the book. The results inform instruction so that it may be personalized to target a specific reading skill, such as decoding, summarizing, or drawing conclusions. She has also made multisensory learning central to her work, with activities that activate various regions of the brain and help reach students with different learning styles. “In regards to literacy,” she says, “this might look like using listening, speaking, and manipulatives [visual and tactile devices] to isolate sounds, syllables, or word parts; using gestures and auditory cues to remember a particular phonics rule; or tracing letters in sand to reinforce letter/sound correspondence. This approach to teaching literacy is supported by recent research in cognitive science.”

Part of her work also involves helping teachers identify recently published books to add to their classrooms. “When I read a children’s book for the first time, I am thinking about quality, readability, representation, and how the book might fit with our current units of study. Historically, marginalized groups have been underrepresented in children’s literature,

but recent initiatives, such as ‘We Need Diverse Books,’ have made strides in diversifying authors and characters so that our bookshelves can more accurately reflect the rich diversity of students. I want all Lower School students to have books that they see themselves in and books that are a window into another’s perspective. It has been my mission to bring more of these books into our classrooms. I also recommend books to students individually—there is no greater joy than matching a reader with a book I know they will love.”

What is Mrs. Nanfara’s advice to parents to help foster literacy in children? “Read with children as much as possible, and make reading fun. Let your child choose the books, create spaces for reading, and if, at any point, reading at home feels like a struggle, ask me or a teacher for support. The important thing is to help students develop a love of reading.” She also recommends that parents model good reading habits, like talking about books with children and making sure that children see them reading books.

For her part, lifelong math lover Mrs. Lange has made it her mission since 2014 to augment and tweak the Lower School math curriculum—especially when it comes to material that textbooks might be lacking—and to make students think about math. “I want to ensure that our math curriculum is robust for every grade level and makes sense from one grade to the next,

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Pingry thanks the donors to the Short Hills Safety and Wellness Project, who include: E. J. Grassmann Trust The Kevin D. Eng and Un Hae Song Foundation Grunstra/Almeida Family

The Hyde and Watson Foundation Nortillo Family Union Foundation

Cori and Jason Wilf Wen Family Zhang/Liao Family

The Lower School’s new turf field, made possible by the generosity of donors.

and that the activities are differentiated and sophisticated,” she says. “Math shouldn’t be easy because students don’t learn from doing easy things. They learn from doing hard things. It should become more challenging as kids progress, so they figure out how to think.”

What does she mean that she wants students to think about math? “The most important thing is teaching kids how to think mathematically. Logical thinking always trumps content mastery because students who know how to think about math will master content automatically.” Mrs. Lange also encourages children to identify and understand the constraints of a problem and to explain “why” when they get the answer, so they can apply what they are learning. Second only to logical thinking in Mrs. Lange’s heart is perseverance. “Getting the correct answer to a tricky problem on the first try is outstanding, but learning from two ineffective strategies and getting it on the third try is equally impressive!”

On a weekly basis, Mrs. Lange teaches at every grade level and, as needed, provides enrichment and support to students.

Her passion is the Math Team, which has been participating successfully in the Mathematics Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS) and Math League contest series since 2015. The MOEMS team has won dozens of individual awards and the Highest Team Achievement award for five consecutive years (top 10 percent of participating schools), and Pingry students and teams have won numerous regional and state Math League titles since 2015. To what does she attribute the enthusiasm among students who choose to work on math enrichment before and after school? “Math Team members are extremely curious and determined, and they truly enjoy working together to solve challenging, interesting problems.”

Mrs. Lange and Mrs. Nanfara have impressed Laura Yorke Kulkarni ’98 and Sean Kulkarni ’98, P ’33. “The depth of their knowledge is mind-blowing,” Mr. Kulkarni says. “They know how to really intensify and build those skills, and they even provide resources to help kids grow academically over the summer— reading lists from all genres, downloadable math workbooks, and math-related games.” Mrs. Kulkarni likewise praises Mrs. Nanfara and Mrs. Lange for “taking their time to curate resources for continued learning at home.”

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Teams and Games Get More Playing Time Outside This past summer, thanks to the philanthropy of a small group of families, the Lower School’s front athletics field was converted to an all-season turf field, enhancing athletics and physical education by allowing for more playing time. The turf field was part of the Short Hills Safety and Wellness Project (incorporating student well-being and physical upgrades focused on health, safety, and wellness) that included an expansion of the parking lot and enhancements to lighting and walkways. Because of this recent generosity, Pingry was able to continue the modernization efforts that had started with the Blueprint for the Future Campaign.

Lower School Physical Education Coordinator Leslie Miller P ’29, ’31 is ecstatic that her department has “more access to a field that’s always in great shape.” With the previous field, Facilities had to do occasional maintenance, which meant shutting it down, and then the field was covered with tarps during the winter months, which meant shutting it down again—and rain meant it might not be available for several days. None of that is necessary anymore.

“It’s like improving someone’s classroom,” Ms. Miller says. “It’s ours. We don’t have to worry about time lost for maintaining the field. It’s always ready to go, and we don’t have to modify our units or delay upcoming units because of the weather.”

What this means, in practical terms, is that fall units (including field hockey and football) can end later, spring units (including lacrosse and softball) can start earlier, and there’s no longer any challenge with trying to fit units into a certain amount of time. So now, the Lower School has three full-time athletics facilities to support three athletics units at a time: the front turf field, the grass field behind the building, and the gym (for leisure, students also have a turf field near the playground).

Thinking about the recent transformations at the Lower School, and enhancements on the horizon, what excites Dr. Morris? “In no particular order, our commitment to ensuring each child is known and valued; our commitment to safety, health, and wellness; our commitment to academic excellence, including advancements in educational technology; and our commitment to sustainability, which includes composting. There’s so much happening here, within this close-knit community, and we are always looking for ways to improve the students’ experiences and continue to build community.”

2:1 Device Program—iPads and Chromebooks for All Contributed by Lower School Technology and Innovation Coordinator Alana Zussman and Lower School Systems Administrator Vinod Sahani

The shift to hybrid learning prompted a more significant 2:1 model for Lower School students, increasing their previous use of two devices in the classroom. They have powerful creation tools at their fingertips, and having access to both an iPad and a Chromebook provides a richer learning experience—and multiple modes of technology allowed the pivot to be easier and accessible.

Our youngest students may have been Zooming in from home, and at the same time, participating with their classmates in the creation of a multimedia project on their iPad. Kindergarten students didn’t need to get lost with a bunch of tabs to manage or push aside in order to be fully present in class discussions and activities. This 2:1 model allows students to participate in a more engaged and developmentally appropriate way.

Also, our older students have been having much success with editing and creation tools on their iPads. For example, they are designing their own audio/visual documentaries for Social Studies. For younger students, the iPad’s intuitive interface is helpful when a student only needs to learn how to select what they need on the screen—the multi-touch screen and graphic interface make for easy interaction with the apps.

The additional benefit of Chromebooks is that they provide support for G Suite educational applications, especially for collaborative, cloud-based applications like Google Classroom.

“ We are huge advocates of in-person learning. It’s a huge benefit, and we appreciate that Pingry recognizes that benefit and has struck the right attitude and balance—carefully looking at what they’re required to do and making a way for in-person learning within those confines . . . and [when they are in-person] there is something so special about Dr. Morris personally opening the car door for our child who is so excited to tell us about the events of the school day.” – SEAN KULKARNI ’98, P ’33

Looking Back Over 80 Years . . . the Lower School’s Grades 1–5, circa 1940

– SEAN KULKARNI ’98, P ’33

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A Veteran Volunteering for the Cause of History

Fire control towers at Fort Miles. Photo courtesy of Delaware State Parks.

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What does a football have to do with the function of military towers?

A veteran of the U.S. Army, Frank Ali ’62 was intrigued and was about to begin one of the most enriching volunteer experiences of his life.

He and his wife Catherine had moved to Long Neck on the east coast of Delaware in 2012 and were looking for ways to get involved in the community. They heard from local residents about Cape Henlopen State Park and the Fort Miles Historical Area within it—a U.S. Army World War II installation—situated on the southeast corner of the Delaware Bay, southwest of Cape May, NJ. They visited within a month of their move and encountered a tour.

“We walked around the cantonment area where the barracks and other World War II training buildings were being restored by the volunteer group called the Bunker Busters. A docent named Bob Fellows was giving an introductory talk outside the orientation building where a tour was about to start,” Mr. Ali recalls. “Bob had a football in his hand and was explaining the function of the 11 concrete fire control towers located in Delaware and New Jersey, towers which were the eyes and ears of the munitions and firing teams located at Fort Miles. He said, ‘Think of the spotters in the towers as the quarterbacks who gave the location of an enemy ship 12–16 miles at sea by azimuth coordinates.’ The 12- and 16-inch guns were located miles away, hidden outside the concrete bunkers, so the spotters in the towers were the eyes of Fort Miles. The spotters would use phone lines to tell the gun teams in the underground bunkers where an enemy ship was headed.

This was all done with telescopes, paper and pencil, and slide rules on a plotting table.”

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Frank Ali ’62 and his wife Catherine at the entrance of Battery 519.

by this presentation and the volunteer activity and joined the Bunker Busters the same day; this group of docents and craftsmen is part of the Fort Miles Historical Association (FMHA), which supports the Fort Miles Historical Area and Fort Miles Museum. “The volunteers seemed to have a strong feeling of camaraderie and purpose,” he says. After a year of active volunteering, in 2013 he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the FMHA Board of Directors. “They saw me as having value that I could add to the mix.” (He stepped down in 2019 to make space for a young woman who was interested in serving.)

The value that Mr. Ali brought to the board—and to volunteering, in general—included his military service and a career in retail and food safety (the latter two would come in handy for the FMHA). He was in ROTC at Lafayette College and spent two years as a First Lieutenant in the Army. In the first year, he was Company Commander of Company W, a group of student engineers at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

MR. ALI WAS IMPRESSED

The inset shows Cape Henlopen State Park’s location in relation to the Delaware coast

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These college-aged students, who were enlisted in the Army, took nighttime engineering classes for about six months, and then most of them served in Vietnam; Mr. Ali supervised the daily operations and reported on the students’ progress and morale. For the second year, he was stationed at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, where he was part of a five-member team of commissioned Army officers who helped develop, test, and evaluate night vision devices (initially, a heavy tube about 20 inches long) for exclusive use in Vietnam. Specifically, his team developed the Starlight Scope that mounted to an AR-16 rifle; they also produced devices that detected troop movements and the size of military units.

Career-wise, Mr. Ali entered the retail business. He had the chance to buy “an old, failing hardware store” in Belmar, NJ, so he did—he owned and modernized Davenport Paint and Hardware from 1970–1980 and added Frank’s True Value (1980–1987).

“I took the store from low volume and poor lighting to a modern hardware store with a garden center. I added two paint lines and built a unique, wood-shingled cottage inside the store called ‘The Decorator Hutch’ with a relaxed atmosphere, selling wallpaper and window treatments,” he recalls. Being at the Jersey shore with a Marina two blocks away, he added a marine supplies department. Mr. Ali reports that sales increased substantially and he added the True Value franchise “to gain national recognition with stronger buying power.” An unexpected venture into restaurant ownership came up when friends suggested he enter the business “because I was a foodie with culinary talent,” but he eventually realized that wasn’t a good reason and the experiences proved difficult.

However, his years with the hardware store had an unexpected—but exciting—benefit. On a lark, Mr. Ali entered ACE Hardware’s 2007 “Dream Ace” contest that tested people’s hands-on experience with and knowledge of the hardware business (the grand prize was ownership of an ACE store). Out of more than 5,400 people who entered this national contest, he placed second.

For over two decades, Mr. Ali, a certified instructor through the National Restaurant Association, has been teaching classes about food safety. Specifically, he teaches eight-hour Serv Safe classes through Delmarva Serv Safe, for which he teaches students the updated FDA food code and information about food safety, and screens a series of food safety videos.

The 90-question exam requires at least 75 correct answers for participants to earn their certificate. “In all states,” he says, “you must have a certified person on duty when the restaurant is open. Otherwise, you’re not in compliance with the Health Department.”

So, not long after joining the FMHA Board of Directors, Mr. Ali put his retail and food safety experiences to further use by conceptualizing and developing the Fort Miles gift shop (located inside Battery 519, a fortified underground concrete

Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey, Class of 1900, on the USS Missouri as the Japanese formally surrendered to end World War II.

“ History is meant to remind you about what went on in the past.”

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“ If you don’t know and honor history, you’re going to make the same mistakes going forward.”

The 16-inch gun barrel from the USS Missouri at Fort Miles, with Frank Ali ’62 on the far right.

World War II bunker) and organizing their food service mess hall for visitors and volunteers. Notably, the gift shop doesn’t have any expenses because Delaware State Parks pays the overhead.

Battery 519 is where many of Fort Miles’ exhibits are housed, and Mr. Ali is proud of the Fort Miles Museum’s offerings over the years (it is one of the only World War II museums located in a World War II artifact bunker). The current exhibit pays homage to Delawareans who lost their lives in the attack on Pearl Harbor—timely, with the recent commemorations of the 80th anniversary of that terrible day— and the exhibit includes a 650-pound piece of steel from the USS Arizona, given to the FMHA by the U.S. Navy and shipped from Hawaii at no charge by FedEx. The Arizona sank with over 1,100 people inside when a Japanese aircraft dropped an 1,800-pound bomb on it.

The FMHA also has a relic from the end of World War II, because about a decade ago, the organization received the 16-inch gun barrel from Turret No. 1 of the battleship USS Missouri; Fleet Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey, Jr., Class of 1900, served on the Missouri surrender team and stood behind the surrender table when the Japanese formally surrendered.

(Delaware is one of three states to have World War II relics from the beginning and end of the war in a museum; Arizona and Hawaii are the others.)

On a larger scale, beyond specific volunteer duties, Mr. Ali has also been involved with the restoration of Fort Miles, which has largely relied on fundraising and advertisements with the messages of preserving local World War II history

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and creating a world-class, $9 million World War II Museum in Battery 519. This new museum will be a much larger version of the existing one, including a larger gift shop, an observation tower similar to the fire control towers, a theater, and electronic, self-guided tours.

Asked for his perspective on the United States’ recognition and preservation of military history, Mr. Ali praises the recent phenomenon of citizens who say, “Thank you for your service.”

He also highlights people who go a step further by, for example, giving their first-class airline seats to members of the armed forces or paying veterans’ checks in restaurants. However, he is adamant about a trend that has been in the news in recent months.

“Cities are taking down memorials and statues that might offend certain groups, but you’re revamping history. You’re changing history, and you can’t do that. History is meant to remind you about what went on in the past. If you change it, what are you doing? You’re changing the whole focus of what went on in the past. If you don’t know and honor history, you’re going to make the same mistakes going forward.”

Mr. Ali is grateful to his Pingry teachers for sparking his interest in history, particularly Dr. Herbert Hahn, in whose classroom “it was like you were living the history, and you could have a conversation with him about history.” But he laments another trend in the country, that of U.S. history disappearing from the curricula of many public schools.

“They’ve forgotten our past and are revamping and reissuing history with the wrong context,” he says. “How many students are taught about World War II in the schools? Nobody is taught

LEFT: Frank Ali ’62 with Delaware Governor John Carney in

October 2018.

TOP: A birthday cake float created for Belmar’s

Bicentennial, whose yearlong celebration was chaired

by Frank Ali ’62.

about Pearl Harbor. Some schools teach revisionist World History on a limited basis. Civics classes are also gone from curriculums. Most students don’t know what ‘Civics’ means.”

Thus, Mr. Ali continues his volunteering for the FMHA, doing his part to make sure the public remembers history— and from what he has observed, visitors are intrigued by the history at Fort Miles. “We’re honoring the Delawareans who may have died, who volunteered, who served in World War II and all our other wars, and we’re remembering their sacrifice.

As an Army veteran, I appreciate what people do when they join the service.” He was honored in 2015 with an FMHA Service Award, and he and his fellow volunteers were honored in October 2018 as the “Outstanding Volunteer Group with Delaware State Parks” for having the most active volunteers with the most volunteer hours (the equivalent of 18 full-time employees).

And not only is he continuing his volunteering in Delaware, but Mr. Ali is, more generally, continuing his decadeslong tradition of volunteering that started in New Jersey.

Notably, he chaired Belmar’s Bicentennial Celebration in 1976, a yearlong period of historical and cultural events that culminated with a grand parade over the July 4th weekend.

“ Volunteer work is important.

You have to give back to the community.”

His volunteers coordinated a year of monthly and, sometimes, weekly events—lectures, performances by local artists, and reminiscences by older members of the community who grew up in Belmar at the turn of the century. As an interesting aside, Mr. Ali’s volunteer career has a new development: because he has been active in the county and state Republican party since he moved to Delaware, the Sussex County Republican Chair asked him to become a candidate as a Legislative Representative in the newly created 4th Legislative District for the State of Delaware—he says he would be honored to serve if elected.

“Volunteer work is important,” Mr. Ali states. “You have to give back to the community.”

Editor’s Note: Pingry is offering an interdisciplinary course about World War II this spring, going beyond the School’s standard history curriculum, to examine the war through feature and documentary films as well as literature. Also, last school year, Jack Martin ’22 co-founded Pingry’s Veterans Affairs Club, a group of students interested in honoring and acknowledging members of the Pingry community who have served. Read about the club at pingry.org/extras.

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Pingry History Hits the WALLS

Pingry People Through the Years is located in the Upper Commons of the Basking Ridge Campus.

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Little by little, thanks to the convergence of archiving, modernizing, standardizing, and spotlighting, Pingry’s walls are getting a makeover. And, oh, the stories they tell while bringing the past to life.

“We were looking to catalog and inventory all of Pingry’s assets, including documentation,” explains Trustee Maggie O’Toole ’05, Vice Chair of the Board’s Buildings and Grounds Committee. “This included award scrolls, art, a mix of plaques, and other items on display in the hallways. Then, we focused on updating the hallways and other presentation spaces to be able to tell Pingry’s stories.”

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The most visible outlet for stories is the new Pingry People Through the Years wall in the Upper Commons, outside Hauser Auditorium. Adorned with multiple photos of 10 people (alumni and former employees) per school year and highlighting the story of one of those people each month, the wall pays tribute to Pingry individuals from a variety of backgrounds and careers. It also features a list of the Heads of School. “This is not a static display,” says Archivist Peter Blasevick P ’24, who helped coordinate the wall’s photos and text, and is updating the wall throughout the year with revised displays, new names, new photos, and more. “It is dynamic and interactive, with QR codes that link to more information so we can celebrate people.”

For example, during the wall’s inaugural year, it includes Judge André Birotte, Jr. ’83, artist and former Visual Arts Teacher Laurinda Stockwell, late Hall of Fame coach Ed Scott, Jr., Elana Drell-Szyfer ’87 of the cosmetics industry, and Frederick Trapnell, Class of 1917, a pioneer of Naval aviation.

“There’s a history of success, leadership, and contributions among our alumni, and it’s always worth noting the successes we’ve helped our alumni to achieve,” says David Fahey ’99, P ’33, ’34, Interim Director of Institutional Advancement. “As this history of success and leadership continues to grow alongside pillars like DEIB [diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging], where

“ My hope is that we will inspire current students and help them envision future successes by connecting them with not just the names, but also faces and stories of alumni.”

–D AVID FAHEY ’99, P ’33, ’34, INTERIM DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Details from the Hillside Campus wall.

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Pingry is actively creating a legacy, my hope is that we will inspire current students and help them envision future successes by connecting them with not just the names, but also faces and stories of alumni. We want our students to see themselves, people who look like them, people from their communities, and people with whom they can relate so that they know success at that level is within reach.”

Creating Pingry People Through the Years comes at a time when the School is augmenting its efforts in DEIB. Looking at the wall through a DEIB lens, something else becomes apparent.

“We are spotlighting people who are not traditionally highlighted, as well as career paths that students might not have thought of,” says Gilberto Olvera P ’29, ’33, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. “And it is a delicate balance of properly acknowledging Pingry’s past while also telling the story we want for the future. Pingry used to be an all-boys school, which should be honored, and it is a good shift for all students to feel seen. When students can’t find themselves reflected anywhere, they might feel less valued than those on the wall. We have to tell an honest story of what the School has been, as well as how it’s evolved into such a richly diverse place.”

Inside the doors of Hauser Auditorium is another revamped wall, this one about the Hillside Campus, detailing five significant events that happened there and displaying plaques that adorned named spaces in that building—another reminder of Pingry’s history and the contributions of key people. Also containing a

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Please visit pingry.org/PPTTY if you would like to suggest an individual to be featured in Pingry People Through the Years.

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timeline of the School’s campuses, it is the first of what will be several displays about the School’s history. “We want to create an environment to understand these stories and make them more eye-catching,” Ms. O’Toole says. “The School will eventually have a museum-type feeling so everyone can understand its history and the people who have been part of it.”

Two other historical walls have appeared this school year, one for student awards (outside the Upper School office) that had not been on display in the past, and one for faculty awards (outside the Head of School’s office) that previously appeared on scrolls updated with calligraphy. “There is a delicate balance to modernizing and preserving Pingry’s history. It was our committee’s goal to preserve these artifacts while also updating, standardizing, and creating room to grow. We were running out of space, and we’re excited to bring out the historical artifacts like the scrolls for special events and Reunions,” Ms. O’Toole says.

These new displays standardized the award lists with colors and fonts similar to the award walls in the Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Athletics Center; other lists of awards will receive similar treatment in the future. “These awards needed permanent displays of their own,” Mr. Blasevick says. “They deserve to have dedicated spaces that are comprehensive and modern.”

“Modern” is an apt word, considering the modernization that has been taking place on Pingry’s campuses for many years, including new buildings; new turf fields; the revamped Clock Tower; the addition of the C.B. Newton Library’s Reading Room; redesigned classrooms; and new collaboration spaces.

The updating is a reminder that, between the curriculum and facilities, Pingry is always looking to improve.

The Hillside Campus wall inside Hauser Auditorium on the Basking Ridge Campus.

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“We have to tell an honest story of what the School has been, as well as how it’s evolved into such a richly diverse place.”

– GILBERTO OLVERA P ’29, ’33, DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING

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Athletics

big blue highlights

left:

Opening the season with four straight wins for the first time in over two decades and outscoring

opponents 136–20 in the process, Pingry Football had a season to remember, including six First Team All-Conference selections en route to an impressive 6–3 record. right : Coed Water Polo enjoyed a winning season under new husband-and-wife coaching duo Granger Abuhoff (Head Coach) and Nicolle Jasbon (Assistant Coach), who guided the team to its first victory over Lawrenceville in five years in the Round Robin stage of the Garden State Tournament. Peter Youssef ’22 and John Grissinger ’23 each scored twice in the memorable 8–6 win. Girls’ Cross Country enjoyed a successful season that included a first-place team finish in the small-school division of the 2021 Stewart Memorial Invitational, where all seven Pingry student-athletes placed in the top 20. Olivia Murray ’24 competed in the Tournament of Champions after her top 10 finish at the NJSIAA group championships. Alexandra Ouzounian ’23 and Morgan Dwyer ’25 each scored 17 goals in a memorable Field Hockey season that included a stunning overtime upset of conference champions North Hunterdon in October.

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Andrew Vilarin ’24 of the Boys’ Cross Country Team finished in the top 20 of nearly 100 runners at the 2021 Somerset Country Championships, with four of his teammates also finishing in the top 50.

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Athletics

big blue highlights

Boys’ Soccer remained unbeaten through 19 games of their outstanding 2021 campaign, capturing their first outright Somerset County Tournament Championship in five years and picking up a milestone 900th victory under Head Coach Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24. Seen here, the team celebrates with each other and with fans after the County victory. In one of the most dominant seasons in the history of Pingry Girls’ Tennis, the 2021 squad was crowned NJSIAA Non-Public North A Champions, Prep A Champions, and Somerset County Tournament Champions, finishing 7–0 in their conference and 16–1 overall. Leila Souayah ’25 and Isabelle Chen ’25 won the state doubles championship—Pingry’s first since 2006.

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Girls’ Soccer defeated Paramus Catholic 2–0 to advance to the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA tournament. Both goals were scored by Nubia Gooding ’23, who was assisted each time by Greta Pew ’24.

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Athletics

q & a w i t h m i c h a e l c a r r ’16

Former Standout Football Player Finds His Stride in Coaching championship team in 2019. It was Middlebury’s first undefeated season (9-0) since 1972. It’s not surprising that, immediately after he graduated from Middlebury, the college offered Mr. Carr a position with the football team as a Wide Receivers coach. And much like his seventh-grade self, he is finding a new passion for football, this time on the coaching side, and he looks forward to sharing his invaluable knowledge and experience with future generations of student-athletes.

What did you learn from being a Pingry student-athlete?

Being a Pingry student-athlete taught me a lot of things, mostly how to manage my time and balance being a threesport athlete (football, spring track, winter track) with the academic rigor of Pingry, putting me in a position to succeed in college. You have a lot of free time in college, and Pingry taught me how to make the most of that time.

What advice do you have for young student-athletes looking to play football? Take advantage of the resources avail-

Michael Carr ‘16 coaching at Middlebury College this past fall.

When Michael Carr ’16 joined Pingry’s Middle School Football team as a basketball-loving seventh-grade student, he didn’t realize that his new sport would end up being the focal point of his athletics career and would also afford him his first professional opportunity out of college. Mr. Carr quickly became a standout student-athlete at Pingry—a four-year letter winner in football and track & field, team captain, All-Conference selection, and Skyland Conference Scholar-Athlete. But perhaps most indicative of Mr. Carr’s attributes on and off the field is being the recipient of the 2016 Tom Boyer Football Award, which recognizes the “Pingry football player who best embodies the values of and commitment to the sport of football, and demonstrates strength of character, courage on the field, and devotion to his teammates.”

After graduating from Pingry, Mr. Carr took his talents to Vermont to play for Division III football powerhouse Middlebury College and became an All-Conference selection on their NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference)

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able at Pingry. Specifically, with football, take advantage of the strength and conditioning program that we have. Coach Doug Scott was so instrumental. To be honest, I don’t think I took as much advantage as I should have, but once I got to college, I ramped it up. It’s difficult when you’re 13 or 14 to realize how much spending an hour or two in the weight room will boost your game, especially when you just want to hang with your friends, sit on the couches, go to the vending machines. You eventually realize the long-term effects it has on your career. If I had to do it all over, that’s something that I’d do—spend a lot more time getting faster, getting stronger, realizing sacrifices are made and it’ll pay off.

What attributes do you emphasize as important to your student-athletes?

One of the biggest things I emphasize is “competing.” At Pingry, we didn’t always have a great win/loss record, but I always took pride in showing up for every game 100 percent expecting a good outcome, giving it everything I had, and being a true competitor and giving max effort no matter what the score was. That’s the main message to the guys I coach. The other message is about being a great teammate.

Coach Shilts talked about it a lot. His adage is, “The most important guy on the field is the guy next to you.” That’s something I definitely took away from my time at Pingry.

Football is the ultimate team sport, and it’s not always about who’s the biggest, fastest, or strongest. It’s, “which group of players can really play as a team?”

What kind of coach are you? Do you have a coaching philosophy?

Being such a young coach, other than teaching the importance of always competing and being a great teammate, I’m still developing my coaching style and still learning a lot each day. Because I’m so close to the age of a lot of the guys who are playing, and I played in the same program, I’m really empathetic to what they’re going through. Last season, about half the guys on the team had played with me, and they had seen the successes I had on the individual level, so I had their respect established. Less than half of coaching is about the Xs and Os—it’s mainly about getting the most out of each guy and knowing their personality. Listening is one of the most important things in coaching. Each player isn’t going to learn the same way, each player isn’t going to be receptive to the same thing. So, if I can’t listen, I can’t coach each guy the way they need to be coached. One advantage of being a Wide Receivers coach [as a former player whose position was to defend wide receivers] is that I’m able to speak from experience and tell them, “This is how I’d defend and cover you.” Any player will try to absorb that direct experiential knowledge.

Michael Carr ‘16 in action for Middlebury College in 2019.

What’s next?

I’m not looking too far ahead because I want to enjoy what I’m doing right now. It’s not for the money. So far, I found a lot of happiness in coaching. I didn’t know at all that coaching was where I’d end up out of college. I told people that maybe I’d like to end up in sports psychology because I thought that’s something they’d want to hear based on the education I had received (Psychology major). The future for me is to continue to do what I love. At this level, there’s so much to be involved in: I’m coaching positional groups, I’m recruiting in a lot of states, helping call plays during the game—just so involved in everything from building the team and who we bring in to how they develop over the years.

Being so young and being able to be involved in so much is really fun to me. So, as long as I enjoy coaching, I’ll continue to do it. Down the road, I’d like to get closer to home in New Jersey. [The five-hour drive to Middlebury] isn’t that bad, but I’m used to being 15-30 minutes away from family.

Having said that, I’m in no rush to leave Middlebury. This place is a second home to me. As long as I’m growing and enjoying what I’m doing, I’ll be here.

ALL PHOTOS: WILL COSTELLO

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On the Arts drama

From Page to Stage

How Pingry’s Theater Tech Students Create the World of the Play

By Joseph Napolitano, Head of Technical Theater and Design

It starts with a script. From there, Pingry’s theater tech students develop solutions to an array of creative problems presented by the story. The essential questions on any given day range from “How do we produce a larger-thanlife version of Amycus, Poseidon’s son of Greek mythology, onstage?” to “How do we fit a 16-foot-wide, 24-foot-tall ship into the theatre?” These, of course, are unique to the 2021 Fall Play Argonautika, a modern adaptation of Jason and the Argonauts’ mythical quest for the golden fleece. This highly anticipated return to indoor theater marked the first mainstage production with a live audience of Pingry parents, guardians, alumni, and family in the Macrae Theatre since 2019. With a specific set of challenges unlike anything the drama students have encountered in the past three years, Argonautika was a voyage for the ages and leveraged into one fantastic production all of the special skills the theater tech students have learned.

This mix of soft and hard skills that theater tech students (or “Techies” as they are affectionately called) have honed covers carpentry, scenic painting, and design theory, but also includes leadership, communication, collaboration, and problem solving. These skills, coupled with their understanding of contemporary stage craft’s tools, mechanics, and conventions, allow them to conceptualize anything indicated in the script.

For Argonautika, puppetry and upcycled material served as a solution to some of the script’s fantasy requirements.

Theater tech students designed the puppets out of foam, cardboard, and recycled fabric. The method of upcycling—or

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creative reuse—is integrated into the theater tech crew’s process and is their first step in prototyping and modeling.

These ideas are scaled into the set construction. While 60 percent of the scenic elements for Argonautika were fabricated from recycled lumber, students custom built the whole set for the production. Working drawings, elevations, and cut lists (lists of the parts needed to construct a set piece) were created while the crew began construction.

Memories are embedded into some of the materials they used—luan hardwood recycled from a 2019 musical, pine from a 2020 play. There’s a sense of palimpsest and lessonslearned from past theater-making experiences.

For Evan Berger ’22, the 2022 Winter Musical Urinetown is the 10th production he’s helped stage at Pingry. When he’s not leading his peers backstage in construction and rigging, he’s operating an intricate lighting system from the booth.

When a challenge strikes during a performance, such as a broken set piece or missed cue, Evan knows how to solve problems creatively. “During the run of a show, it’s the crew’s job to perform their technical roles like lighting and sound, but also to ensure the actors have what they need to put on the best performance possible,” he says.

During the first weeks of production for Urinetown, Evan and his team traded their drills and hammers for title blocks and T-squares. Students drafted elevations from technical drawings and assembled scale architectural models of the set. These models help the crew work through the construction and installation of the set, and serve as a tool for communication to the rest of the company. “The most

Puppetry and upcycled material represented some of the Argonautika script’s fantasy requirements.

LEFT: The tech crew’s

mood board for Argonautika.

TOP: Morgan McDonald ’23, Olivia

obvious skills I’ve learned in theater tech have been of the physical variety— building flats and platforms, using power tools, scenic painting, designing props—but additionally, I’ve also learned to effectively communicate and collaborate,” Evan says. “More than anything, I’ve gained confidence from tech that has been widely applicable to other areas of my life. Tech has enabled me not only to develop as an artist, but also as a problem solver and leader.”

This is how success is measured behind the scenes. The moments of ingenuity and applied thinking in the wings are how the techies create the world of the play—and learn along the way.

Hung ’22, Chelsea Urgilez ’22, and Sia Ghatak ’25 sculpt relief details onto the Amycus puppet’s face for Argonautika.

MIDDLE: Olivia Hung ’22, Chelsea

Urgilez ’22, and Evan Berger ’22 construct a Hollywood-style flat.

BOTTOM: Cast member Lila Weckesser

’25 collaborates with tech crew members Sia Ghatak ’25 and Evan Berger ’22 on the design for the set of Urinetown: The Musical.

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On the Arts visual arts

Nature Becomes Art

One of the more recent additions to Pingry’s visual arts program, a Middle School elective called “Art and Nature” (added several years ago through the efforts of former Visual Arts Teacher Peter Delman P ’97, ’98), offers eighth-grade students the chance to use the outdoors as a resource to create art. They peruse the property to collect natural materials and bring them back to the classroom for use in sculptures, drawings, and other projects. Earlier this school year, Middle and Upper School Visual Arts Teacher Melody Boone’s students made inks, paintings, mandalas, and rock sculptures.

Students used their inks to create landscape-inspired paintings and drawings (inspired by the students’ photographs taken around campus). “Students referenced their photos when making their paintings—not duplicates of the exact scenes, but inspired by the photos,” Ms. Boone says.

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Leaves, sticks, rocks, flowers, and other objects lent themselves to the students’ mandalas (man-DAH-lahs).

These symbolic geometric designs are “supposed to speak to the impermanence of life,” Ms. Boone says.

“Rock balancing” (or “stone balancing”) sculptures are another type of art with which students experimented.

“It takes a lot of focus to balance rocks. The students found larger rocks around campus and played around with them until they stayed put,” Ms. Boone says. The key to rock balancing is that nothing is used to help the sculpture stay in place.

Natural inks were made from pokeberries, blueberries, and walnuts. Using mortars and pestles borrowed from science classes, students mashed the berries, creating a jelly. They strained the juice, added water, and used clove oil to preserve the ink.

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On the Arts music

All three divisions returned to live music this fall: the Lower School Holiday Concert; Middle School ensembles shared their trimester repertoire in a performance for Middle School students; and the Winter Festival Concert with Upper School ensembles.

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“Rock balancing” (or “stone balancing”) sculptures are another type of art with which students experimented.

“It takes a lot of focus to balance rocks. The students found larger rocks around campus and played around with them until they stayed put,” Ms. Boone says. The key to rock balancing is that nothing is used to help the sculpture stay in place.

“ Mr. Winston auditions the senior Balladeers for a chance to conduct a piece in the Winter Concert . . . As a conductor, you have to know each voice part and every entrance. I learned so much about how an ensemble comes together. It truly takes each person to create the beautiful music we performed! I was so grateful for the opportunity that Pingry provided, and I loved my first experience of conducting!”

- A LIVIA CL A RK ‘ 22 , WH O CONDU CT E D “ L AU DATE NOME N DOMINI”

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Reaching New Heights Together Gifts to The Pingry Fund support every aspect of Pingry, providing students with experiences that enrich their education, develop their character, and explore their passions.

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

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True Blue Spotlight

q&a with members of pingry’s true blue s ociety

Brian Crosby ’89, P ’23, ’25 What inspires you about Pingry today?

As an alum returning to Pingry now as a parent, I have been truly inspired by Pingry today. While the Pingry campus, the new facilities like the Bugliari Athletics Center and the turf fields, and the classroom and lab technology and infrastructure are all amazingly impressive, the people continue to be the most inspirational part of Pingry today. The breadth and depth of interesting, engaged, and talented people—both students and faculty—is remarkable. The students are doing incredibly interesting things, supported and empowered by great teachers.

While we were engaged as students in a variety of academic interests, extracurricular activities, and clubs and sports, today, students are participating at such higher levels of involvement.

As a volunteer college interviewer, I am continually amazed at the students’ interesting activities and accomplishments—from nationally ranked athletes to research-publishing students to local EMT volunteers. Much of their engagement is a result of the support and dedication of Pingry’s faculty, coaches and staff, including numerous of my former teachers as well as nearly 20 Magistri teachers (25+ years!). It is great to see the inspiration of Pingry’s people continuing today.

What has been your proudest moment as a Pingry parent? Last

September, after a challenging year-and-a-half of the pandemic, Pingry returned to hosting its Friday Night Lights student rally and football game tradition. As I drove onto campus, I was amazed at the overwhelming turnout and activity. I parked in overflow parking in the outfield of the softball field, since there were cars parked everywhere all over campus from Pingry students, parents, fans, and alums. After having limited school events, games, and activities due to COVID-19 restrictions, there was an outpouring of students and people for Friday Night Lights, who were really excited to be out together once again at Pingry. As a new Pingry parent during the pandemic, I was very proud to see and experience the return of Pingry school spirit, community, and camaraderie, which had understandably been diminished during the restrictions and separation caused by the pandemic. I was grateful to Pingry for successfully organizing and supporting the event, and excited that my kids were able to experience the Pingry spirit and community that had been such a big part of my Pingry memories. It was great to see them together with classmates cheering on Big Blue!

Did Pingry ever encourage or challenge you to try something outside of your comfort zone? What was that experience like?

I have always believed that Pingry challenges and teaches its students both within the classroom as wells as outside of academics. As a new student to Pingry in seventh grade, I was initially overwhelmingly challenged by Pingry’s high-caliber

Brian Crosby ’89, P ’23, ’25 with his wife Tiffany and their sons Brice ’25, Bowen, and John ’23.

academics. I vividly remember failing my first math test.

Afterwards, Mr. Thomson’s compassion calmed a flustered new student as he took extra time to help me through the materials.

More importantly, Mr. Thomson reassured me that I could overcome this initial stumble by redoubling my efforts in his math class. His help and encouragement gave me the support and confidence to finish my first year with much better grades!

Outside of the classroom, I enjoyed playing soccer, but was challenged since I was never the fastest (like Will Pappas) or most skilled (like captain Scott Aimetti) player. However, Coach Bugliari not only pushed me to put in the extra time training, but also encouraged me to believe in myself. When Coach started me at fullback for our senior season, I realized that hard work, self-belief, and perseverance are essential in earning and achieving goals. Our team (’88 Boys’ Varsity Soccer) went undefeated in the regular season, was county cochampions, went to a shootout with St. Benedict’s in the state finals, and was inducted into Pingry’s [Athletics] Hall of Fame.

Most importantly, this Pingry experience became a valuable lesson for me throughout my life.

T RU E B LU E S OC IETY

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Pingry in Your Neighborhood Upcoming April 7

Washington, D.C. Reception 6:00–8:00 p.m.

Old Ebbitt Grill, 675 15th Street NW, Washington, D.C. April 26

Boston Reception 6:00–8:00 p.m.

Hosted by Julie and Doug Macrae ’77 May 12-14

Reunion Weekend

May 15

John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Walk With Heart 10:00 a.m. Basking Ridge Campus July 9

Jersey Shore Reception 5:30–7:30 p.m.

Hosted by Dave and Catherine Outcalt ’87 July 28

Nantucket Reception 5:30–7:30 p.m.

Whaling Museum

Alumni Lacrosse Dinner with Coach Webster

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Reunion Weekend May 12-14 Classes Ending in 2s and 7s Visit pingry.org/reunion for the latest information or contact Taylor Pennell, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, at 908-647-5555, ext.

1223 or tpennell@pingry.org.

Alumni Hockey Game

Back-from-College Luncheon

left and right: Young alumni enjoying Oktoberfest celebrations in New York City.

Alumni Squash Event

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Homecoming This fun, all-school event for the entire Pingry community returned to the Basking Ridge Campus on October 23. The day included the Alumni Soccer Game, Big Blue tailgate lunch, and an afternoon of Pingry sports.

Lauren Salz ’06 with her husband Omer Rosenhand and their son.

Alumni Soccer Game, with a congratulations to Boys’ Varsity Soccer Head Coach Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24 on his 900th career win two weeks earlier.

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THE PINGRY REVIEW | WINTER 2021-22

Maureen (Kelly) McLaughlin ‘80, Dr. Mark McLaughlin ‘83, Dr. Connor McLaughlin ‘12, and Michael McLaughlin ‘80.

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Career Day

What Do Potential Employers Need?

Stand Out and Try to Solve Their Problems, Advises Buzzy Cohen ’03 “So much of my career has been . . . ‘what do I want to do next?’”

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THE PINGRY REVIEW | WINTER 2021-22

Entrepreneur. Musical mastermind. Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner and guest host. As a career role model, Buzzy Cohen ’03 certainly stands out.

Each year, juniors and seniors, many with career designs and aspirations of their own, take advantage of Career Day to peer into the future, imagine their own potential, and seek advice from their alumni counterparts as they begin charting their own career paths—perhaps hoping that, with a sly wink, some beneficent graduate will slip them a secret manual containing the optimal plan for success, with each step carefully plotted.

To enjoy a career as interesting and varied as Mr. Cohen’s, one would think, must require a great deal of planning—and a number of Pingry students were eager to find out how he did it.

They were to learn that it requires a great deal of preparation—which, according to Mr. Cohen, is something completely different.

“I’m figuring this ‘career’ thing out as I go—a lot of people are,” Mr. Cohen said. “There isn’t really a road map anymore for what a career is.”

Of course, many Pingry alumni have found great success by coming up with a solid plan for their future and sticking to it.

But in the modern world, preparation—getting ready, gaining skills, solving problems, taking advantage of unexpected opportunities, and evolving as a professional—can often make a bigger difference than charting a rigid course to follow step by step. How can Pingry students, with such varied ambitions, make use of the same skills?

“I’d like to begin with a controversial statement,” Mr. Cohen said. “Everybody is a salesperson.”

Many in the audience, he conceded, would choose to become doctors, lawyers, CEOs . . . any number of careers that have little or nothing to do with selling a product. But, he explained, “Everybody has to convince somebody to believe in them, to have confidence in them. That’s [all] sales really is.”

Cultivating this skill helps doctors instill confidence in their patients, attorneys in their clients, CEOs in their stock holders . . . even job seekers in their interviewers.

“ The opportunity to meet Mr. Cohen was surreal and amazing at the same time. It’s really cool to interact with alumni who’ve been in the same classrooms, had some of the same teachers, or played the same sport, and then seeing that person who you can really relate to on a lot of levels go out and do amazing things in the real world.” - QUIZ BOWL MEMBER VINAV SHAH ’25

Buzzy Cohen ’03 speaking with Music Department Chair Dr. Andrew Moore, Middle and Upper School Music Teacher Sean McAnally, and students during Career Day.

But how can a doctor, lawyer, or job seeker think like a salesperson? “First, have a unique offering”—a skillset, perspective, or idea that nobody else has. “Second, [try to] position yourself and your offering as a solution to your ‘customer’s’ problem.”

Mr. Cohen found that these skills helped him from the very beginning. Interested in music from a young age—he played in ensembles at Pingry and won the Madeleine Wild Bristol Music Prize his senior year—Mr. Cohen knew he wanted to break into the music industry, but not as an artist. After some research, he learned about music publishing—a part of the industry typically unknown to the public. He decided that this was where he would start, but what was his unique offering?

“Everybody who wanted to work in the music business who was young and coming up wanted to work at record labels, or booking bands, or [as] managers . . . nobody was even aware that there was this whole music publishing thing going on behind the scenes,” Mr. Cohen said. When he applied to be an intern at the Harry Fox Agency—“at the center of music publishing”—he discovered that they had never had an intern, and had no formal internship program at all. Mr. Cohen applied anyway, and soon enough, he had taken the first step in what would become a successful and unexpected journey. “What was really interesting was that all of these very experienced music publishing people were so excited that there was this 17-year-old kid in the office.”

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“I was able to take away a lot of valuable insight . . . [Mr. Cohen] emphasized the importance of taking initiative and creating ‘your own opportunities.’ He mentioned that he started a Quiz Bowl ‘B-Team’ during his sophomore year, which actually outperformed the entire team of seniors. After those seniors graduated, [Mr. Cohen] stepped up to ‘carry on the legacy’ and become captain of the team. This really resonated with me, and I know that this is something I will continue to reflect on and try to implement in my own life.” - QUIZ BOWL MEMBER MIRIKA JAMBUDI ’23 These career mentors made a big difference in Mr. Cohen’s life; after graduating from college, he was an attractive applicant for music publishing jobs, this time as a young man who already had firsthand knowledge of the industry.

Mr. Cohen drew a thread throughout his career of solving problems through a unique offering, beginning with his time at Pingry: on becoming the de facto captain of Pingry’s Quiz Bowl Team (“a great way to stand out is to be the only one doing something”), on solving clients’ problems with his own unique offering while working on Apple ads (“I made myself invaluable because in addition to understanding music supervision [finding existing tracks] and licensing, I also had a musician/ composer background that helped when talking to composers”), and on potentially succeeding the late Alex Trebek as the permanent host of Jeopardy!—after telling the Jeopardy! legend he wanted his job. “[Jeopardy!’s producers] had a problem: they needed someone to guest host the [2021] Tournament of Champions who had some credibility,” Mr. Cohen said. “And I also had this unique offering of being a former contestant who had won a Tournament of Champions, [and] who was comfortable on stage. And also . . . I said I wanted to do it!”

Mr. Cohen described being on Jeopardy! as the “highlight of [his] life.” What unique offerings set him apart on stage?

Personality, humor, and, unsurprisingly, a lifelong connection to Pingry.

“Remembering trivia isn’t an issue of memory, it’s an issue of interest,” Mr. Cohen said. The topics on Jeopardy! are accessible, not esoteric; much of what he knew he simply remembered

from high school. Teachers at Pingry, he said, made learning interesting—especially Dean Sluyter P ’90, ’98, a former English Teacher whom Mr. Cohen has remained close with.

Mr. Sluyter was present for every taping of Mr. Cohen’s 2016 Jeopardy! run as a contestant, and Mr. Cohen credits his victory in the 2017 Tournament of Champions to Mr. Sluyter’s sophomore English class. The “Final Jeopardy” question in his semifinal game, which only Mr. Cohen had gotten correct, was about Waiting for Godot—a play Mr. Sluyter had taught Mr. Cohen at Pingry.

“If you’re ever wondering why you have to pay attention in sophomore English class [. . . this is why],” Mr. Cohen said.

Whether any other Pingry students will win big on a game show thanks to their education remains to be seen. Following Mr. Cohen’s example, however—forming relationships with peers and faculty, committing themselves to intellectual exploration, problem solving, and a little bit of salesmanship— students can begin preparing for their futures today. pingry.org/extras: Watch Mr. Cohen’s keynote address.

Buzzy Cohen ’03 guest hosting the 2021 Jeopardy!

Tournament of Champions.

Career at a Glance FIELD: Entrepreneur EDUCATION: Columbia University PREVIOUS: EMI Music Publishing Domino Records and Publishing MOG, acquired by Apple to become Beats Music Senior Music Supervisor, TBWA\Media Arts Lab Managing Director, Squeak E. Clean CURRENT: Owner/Director, The Teenage Diplomat BUSINESS: Client-curated music supervision and original composition SELECTED CLIENTS: Adidas, Apple, Honda, Facebook, Nike, Airbnb MUSICAL COLLABORATORS: John Legend, Benj Pasek, Randy Newman, Cat Power, Karen O FILM CREDITS: When the Garden Was Eden, Tribeca 2014 Neymar: The Perfect Chaos, Netflix 2022

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PHOTO COURTESY OF JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS, INC. THE PINGRY REVIEW | WINTER 2021-22

Thank you, alumni panelists!

Pingry was thrilled to welcome you back to school, whether in person or virtually. Your enthusiastic participation prompted rich discussions in the panels, and we know the wisdom you shared will be remembered long after our students graduate.

ARCHITECTURE:

LAW:

MEDICINE:

Scott M. Loikits ’90 AIA Managing Director of Design, GreenbergFarrow

Tanya Fickenscher Leonard ’89 Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Major League Baseball

Dr. Patrick Reid ’97 Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery, Columbia University

Andrew Werner ’04 Senior Associate Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC

Rob Kao ’99 Partner, Sidley Austin LLP

Dr. Matthew S.T. Chow ’81, P ’13, ’16 MD, Anesthesia Associates of Morristown

Ryan Sellinger ’07 Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia

Dr. Alison (DeGennaro) Gattuso ’98 Attending Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children

Chandra (Cain) Davis ’89 Partner, The Employment Law Solution: McFadden Davis, LLC

Dr. Kathryn Coyle ’03 Dentist, Coyle Dentistry

Melinda Zoephel ’08 Exhibition Designer, Evidence Design

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Evan Shore ’02 Director of Product, Health & Wellness, Walmart Lauren Salz ’06 Co-Founder and CEO, Sealed

Frank J. Morano ’97 Counsel, Argentino Fiore Law & Advocacy, LLC

Sumeet Shah ’04 Venture Partnerships, Clearco

Kristin Sostowski ’93 Management-Side Employment Attorney | Director, Gibbons P.C.

Buzzy Cohen ’03 Founder/Director, The Teenage Diplomat

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING:

FINANCE:

Alison Little ’82, P ’22, ’25 Principal, KPMG

Kate (Martuscello) Smith ’00 VP of People, Harry’s Inc.

Christian Hoffman ’94, P ’26, ’27, ’28 Global Cyber Leader, Aon plc

Ama Burnham ’99 Director of Equity Derivatives Sales, Bank of America

Katherine Curran ’14 Consultant, Deloitte

Ben Lehrhoff ’99 Principal, AllianceBernstein

MARKETING/ADVERTISING:

Lori Siegel Rabinowitz ’97 Senior Vice President, Morgan Stanley Justin Chae ’16 Private Wealth Associate, AllianceBernstein Kevin Schmidt ’98 Consultant, RVK, Inc. Uma Seshamani ’98 Managing Director, MNAHVI Group

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS: David Martin ’10 Government Affairs Manager, HarleyDavidson Motor Company

Lauren (Anderson) Holland ’01 Chief Omni Sales & Strategy Officer, Neptune Retail Solutions Doug Clarke ’02 Senior Vice President, Wheels Up Katie (Corrigan) Griff ’03 Founder & CEO, Griff Consulting LLC

MEDIA/COMMUNICATIONS: Corey DeLaney ’12 Consultant, Two Circles Chloe Sorvino ’11 Staff Writer, Forbes Diamond McClintock ’10 Talent Brand Lead, Squarespace

Keith Castaldo ’00 Government Relations, Subject Matter Christopher Shahidi ’94 Foreign Services Officer, U.S. Department of State

Read about many of these alumni in Class Notes. If you are interested in speaking at Career Day, or would like to suggest someone, please contact Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Taylor Pennell at tpennell@pingry.org or 908-647-5555, ext. 1223.

Dr. Ari Marciscano ’03 Radiation Oncologist/Physician-Scientist, Weill Cornell Medical College Dr. Brittney S. Jordan ’05 Licensed Clinical Psychologist, VA New York Harbor-Manhattan Campus

PERFORMING ARTS: Jazmin Palmer ’16 Cofounder/performer, Soft Brain Theatre Company Dana Zolli ’03 Unit Production Manager, ABC Signature Studios

SCIENCE: Meredith Skiba ’08 Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School Dr. Brooke Conti Trousdale ’09 Postdoctoral Fellow, Pfizer Alexandra Logerfo ’11 Ph.D. Student, Rutgers University Jesse McLaughlin (He/Him) ’17 Civic Scientist, New York University

TECHNOLOGY: Zack Cordero ’06 Boeing Assistant Professor, MIT Alyssa Baum ’14 Senior Software Engineer, Google Jennifer Nahvi-Sickles ’95, P ’28 Director, Johnson & Johnson Technology

VISUAL ARTS: Christine Aschwald Class ’02 Senior Director Head of Advisory, Artsy Reba Kittredge Tyson ’12 Artist Sarah Kurz ’99 Artist

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Reunion Weekend 2022 Schedule Highlights Thursday, May 12

Saturday, May 14

Pottersville Campus 6:00 p.m.

P ingry Alumni Association Annual Meeting of Alumni & Student Leadership Panel

Pottersville Campus 10:00 a.m.

C ountry Breakfast Spend the morning on our new campus in Pottersville! Transportation will be provided to and from the Pottersville Campus, or you may drive and park on the Pottersville Campus.

10:30 a.m.

Yoga in the Dance Studio

Friday, May 13

10:30 a.m.

1-mile Guided Walking Tour of the Campus

Basking Ridge Campus 11:00 a.m.

Classroom Visits

Basking Ridge Campus

7:00 p.m.

C elebrate Pingry! All Pingry alumni and their families are invited to kick off Reunion Weekend with an evening of fireworks, food trucks, and fun memories!

10:00 a.m.

A lumni Lacrosse Game hosted by Boys’ Varsity Head Coach Mike Webster John Taylor Babbitt ’07 Memorial Field

12:00 p.m.

T our of the Former Pingry Campus — Hillside Campus Led by Miller Bugliari ’52, Special Assistant to the Head of School

B ig Blue Luncheon Connect with friends and classmates over a farm-to-table BBQ lunch with plenty of children’s activities!

1:30 p.m.

C lass of 1992 Campus Tour led by Tim Lear ’92, Head of School Appointee

3:00 p.m.

Alumni of Color Affinity Group Reception

6:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.

LGBTQ+ Alumni Affinity Group Reception

R etired Faculty and Staff Cocktail Reception

4:00 p.m.

F irst Women of Pingry Garden Party All alumnae are invited for conversation and refreshments. This event is hosted by Susan Yeomans Breen ’76, Karen Eschenlauer Macrae ’77, Jean Amabile Telljohann ’77, Vanessa Procopio ’78, Anne DeLaney ’79, Genesia Perlmutter Kamen ’79, and Lindsay Liotta Forness ’80.

7:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m.

A lumni Cocktail Reception & Alumni Awards Ceremony hosted by The Pingry Alumni Association in the Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Athletics Center Celebrate this year’s Athletics Hall of Fame Class and the recipients of the Nelson L. Carr ’24 Service Award and the Achievement in the Arts Award.

R eunion Class Party All alumni are welcome! Members of benchmark Reunion classes ending in “2” or “7” will enjoy an evening of cocktails, a variety of small plates, and entertainment in the Miller A. Bugliari ’52 Athletics Center. Celebrate with classmates at your class table, or mingle with faculty and fellow alumni. Free bus transportation will be provided to and from Manhattan.

12:30 p.m.

2:45 p.m.

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5 0-Year Club Luncheon: Induction of the Classes of 1970, 1971, and 1972 into the 50-Year Club Alumni from the Class of 1972 and all prior classes are invited to attend with a guest.

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Register by May 2 Online at pingry.org/reunion or call the Office of Institutional Advancement at 908-647-7058 Guests are welcome at all events. If you have any questions or special requests, please contact Associate Director of Alumni Relations & Special Events Cait Finneran at cfinneran@pingry.org or 908-647-5555, ext. 1285.

Pingry Names Timothy P. Lear ’92 Next Head of School The Board of Trustees has announced that Timothy P. Lear ’92, P ’25, ’27, ’30, a member of the Senior Administrative Team, teacher, and coach at Pingry since 2007, will be Pingry’s 17th Head of School, effective July 1, 2022.

He is only the fourth Pingry graduate to become Head of School and succeeds Matt Levinson, who has served Pingry since 2019 and is becoming Head of School at San Francisco University High School.

An announcement from the Board of Trustees says of Mr. Lear, “[He] knows and loves Pingry. His long history with our school, starting with his days as a student over 30 years ago and in his current role as Assistant Head of School for Guidance and Student Life, demonstrates an unwavering commitment to Pingry. We are thrilled to have chosen an exceptional leader who is deeply aligned with Pingry’s core values and ready to move forward with the School’s strategic priorities in a way that unites the Pingry community around its mission to foster in students a lifelong commitment to intellectual exploration, individual growth, and social responsibility.”

A long-time New Jersey resident, Mr. Lear received both an A.B. in English from Princeton University and an M.A. in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. After 10 years at Oak Knoll School as an English Teacher, academic advisor, and ultimately the Director of College Counseling, he returned to the Pingry family in 2007. For nearly 15 years, Mr. Lear has led Pingry’s College Counseling Department, taught English, served as academic advisor, coached Varsity Cross Country, assumed leadership of Student Support Services, and in July 2021, was named Assistant Head of School for Guidance and Student Life.

His wife Eleanor Lear is a lifelong English Teacher who taught at Kent Place School, Summit High School, Hood River Valley High School in Oregon, and the Fundación Neotrópica in Costa Rica before coming to Pingry in 2015 to teach Middle and Upper School English. The Lears have three children, all of whom attend Pingry: Hyla ’25, James ’27, and Tighe ’30.

Read Mr. Lear’s message to the community:

‘‘

It is truly the honor of a lifetime to have been chosen to serve as Pingry’s next Head of School. The depth of my gratitude for this opportunity is matched only by my excitement regarding the work that lies ahead and all that we will accomplish—together.

Pingry is a special place because of the people, because of the relationships and the mentorships that we get to build with students and with one another. As a student, I experienced the many ways that Pingry encourages us to foster these bonds.

And the inspiration and guidance that I received from teachers and coaches changed the way I see myself and the world and confirmed for me the crucial role that educators play in society.

I came home to Pingry nearly 15 years ago because I felt cared for during my days as a student. I believed that people were invested in my success and my well-being. Today’s Pingry is no different, and it will be a privilege to lead a school committed to supporting our students as they build relationships, grow in confidence, and realize their potential to meaningfully impact the world.

As our next Head of School, I will be honored to continue telling Pingry’s unique and evolving story; to build on its promise to emphasize character and inspire joy; to continue prioritizing and ensuring student and adult happiness and health; to hold in esteem Pingry’s Honor Code and mission; and to further define what success and community mean at Pingry. I am energized by the School’s commitment to diversity,

equity, inclusion, and belonging, and by the fact that everyone at Pingry plays a vital role in this vision and work. I believe that actively listening to others and inviting them to share their stories is a powerful way of building trust and community. I am eager to learn from your stories and partner with you to define our future.

It will be a privilege to lead a school committed to supporting our students as they build relationships, grow in confidence, and realize their potential to meaningfully impact the world.

I extend my sincere thanks to the Head of School Search Committee for their tireless efforts and their unfailing dedication to Pingry, and for now entrusting me with the responsibility of leading this exceptional school. I also owe my family an equal measure of gratitude for their unwavering support and their willingness to embark on this important and life-changing journey.

The Pingry School is also a family; a place where everybody wants everybody else to succeed. And that feeling of belonging is evident not just in our classrooms, but in our hallways and in our offices, during games, on stages, alumni events, and afterschool activities.

Community is what unites us, and brings us back. I cannot wait for you to join me as we write Pingry’s next chapter together.

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Pingry Creates Dr. Nate Zinsser ’73, Director of the Performance Psychology Program

Class Notes share 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

at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY since 1992, has published The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance (Custom House, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers). Over the course of his career, training cadets for leadership in the U.S. Army and coaching worldclass athletes such as a Super Bowl MVP, Olympic medalists, and college

Making Things Happen: Recollections of a Former Head of School

All-Americans, Dr. Zinsser has come

GORDON LENCI ’52 shared memo-

to understand that confidence makes peak performance possible—

ries of his two major tenures as a Head

when a person has minimal fear, doubts, and confusion. In his new

of School, which can be traced to his

book, Dr. Zinsser combines his research and years of experience to

leadership positions while a student

provide a guide for understanding, building, protecting, and relying

at Pingry and Dartmouth College,

on confidence.

experiences that made him realize that he liked having responsibilities and making things happen. After working at

Dr. Igor Jasinski, Upper School

Pingry as an English and Math Teacher

German Teacher, is co-author with Tyson E. Lewis of Rethinking Philosophy for Children (Bloomsbury

Gordon Lenci ‘52 in 1980

and then Director of Admissions, while also coaching JV soccer and JV lacrosse

Publishing PLC), about the nature

(1961–1968), he sought a higher level of leadership. “I wanted to go up the

and unique value of doing philosophy

ladder, take on more responsibility, and make things happen. I wanted to

with children and adolescents.

run a school and I felt mentally ready,” he recalls.

“More specifically,” he says, “it is a

His first endeavor, from 1968–1975, was at The Barstow School,

reflection on ‘Philosophy for Children,’

an independent K-12 all-girls institution in Kansas City, MO, and

a pedagogical practice that was

Barstow’s Board of Trustees gave him the chance to hire some of his

conceived in the 1970s by Matthew Lipman. The key idea behind the original approach is to allow students to do philosophy rather than learn about philosophy as a way to develop critical thinking and reasoning skills. In this book, we propose a reconceptualization of philosophy for children as a practice that is not about developing specific knowledge or skills.”

A key inspiration was Dr. Jasinski’s experience of teaching Pingry’s former sixth-grade extracurricular Philosophy course. “I increasingly found myself following the twists and turns of the conversation among the students . . . it seemed that interrupting the students would have taken away from the deeply philosophical nature of the experience. This, however, raised the question: What is the educational value of a practice that is not aimed or geared toward specific learning outcomes? This book is the culmination of a

own administrators. “I needed strong and experienced administrators. My weakness was that I didn’t know much about Lower School education.” Mr. Lenci’s selections: for the Upper School, Elliot Knoke P ’52, ’56, ’60 (his former Pingry Middle School teacher who had also been Director of Admissions at Pingry and then become Head of School at Gill School, forerunner of Gill St. Bernard’s) and, for the Lower and Middle Schools, Joe LeBlanc (Head of School at Short Hills Country Day School). An amusing footnote: When Mr. Lenci asked Mr. Knoke to join his administration, the response was, “Yes, if you call me ‘Elliot,’ because I sure am not going to call you ‘Mr. Lenci.’”

“They couldn’t have been better choices. I worked well with them. We worked well as a trio. I got valued and treasured guidance, and they were patient with me,” Mr. Lenci says. Alan Gibby ’66 also taught Middle School and coached soccer at Barstow for a short

process to find an answer to that question.”

time. To navigate his learning curve, Mr. Lenci relied on training

(Editor’s Note: Dr. Jasinski is teaching an Upper School elective, Key

“Elliot and Joe were helpful with advice on big questions I had no

Questions in Philosophy, in which he uses an approach similar to the one he used in the sixth-grade course.)

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from NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools), and experience with, and on how to handle nuances.”

At Barstow, his most significant charge from the Board was to make the school co-ed. How did he accomplish this? “My experience as a man and soccer coach attracted boys, and I visited with most applicants and sold [them on] the school.” Boys started in Grade 9; the enrollment was about 350 when he started and increased to about 450.

Come 1975, he and his wife decided to move back east, so Mr. Lenci assumed his second Head of School position at Roland Park Country School (RPCS) in Baltimore, where he was charged with upgrading the facilities and increasing the enrollment.

But he would soon have a far larger crisis on his hands. During Thanksgiving Break of his second year, he received a phone call about a six-alarm fire at the school; the entire Upper School was ablaze. “Roland Park’s Annual Fund consisted of a meager $5,000 or so, mostly from trustees—now, we needed millions,” he recalls. Mr. Lenci looked for matching grants, and fundraising began to snowball. In the meantime, over that weekend, he and his colleagues configured spaces where Upper School classes could meet, and he even called the local television station—which kept replaying images of the fire—to have them announce that “school will open on Monday morning.” Prior to the fire, enrollment was around 350 students.

Afterward, he says, “school spirit increased and enrollment went up 25 percent.” Having also addressed his original mandates, he left RPCS in 1983, and their library is named for him.

Of these two positions, Mr. Lenci says, “I loved being part of a successful team. I could have stayed longer at Barstow, and I left Roland Park in good shape. I loved building RPCS into a new concept with new facilities. I loved building a team, watching students grow up, and watching teachers grow professionally.”

His advice for those considering a Head of School position: “Know how you deal with crises and whether you deal calmly and thoughtfully, or whether you jump on them, because you’re going to have them. Leaders face a wide range of decisions, some of which could be life-changing, ranging from how to handle student behavior to the question of a snow day when working parents might be inconvenienced, but it’s safer for treasured employees and parents who could be driving on dangerous roads. Overall, you have to balance what trustees want, what faculty want, what parents want, what students want, and what alumni want. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make visions happen in harmony with a Board of Trustees.

It’s a gift to the community and a gift to students.”

Tom Cochran ’54 with a Pingry mug to celebrate his 85th birthday on December 15. Of these two photos, Tom writes, “Winter and summer—perhaps some of my classmates will remember when I drove to school in a Model T Ford!” Pingry is gifting alumni who are celebrating milestone birthdays (80, 85, 90, and more) with a signed letter from Head of School Matt Levinson and a Pingry mug, asking them to share photos of themselves with their mug for publication.

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Class Notes

Honorary Trustee Helmut Weymar ’54 with a Pingry mug to celebrate his 85th birthday on November 24. Pingry is gifting alumni who are celebrating milestone birthdays (80, 85, 90, and more) with a signed letter from Head of School Matt Levinson and a Pingry mug, asking them to share photos of

Lynne West, Don West ’60, and Boys’ Varsity Soccer Head Coach Miller Bugliari ’52,

themselves with their mug for publication.

P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24 after Miller’s 900th win.

1951 DR. JOE HANAWAY writes, “Just completed the first of two articles on John Shakespeare (William’s father) and his being granted a coatof-arms in 1596, and am working on the second one about a challenge to his coat-of-arms in 1602. Elizabethan heraldry has been an interest of mine since college at McGill University in the 1950s.”

1960 DON WEST, who played in the first Pingry soccer game that Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24 won as an assistant coach in 1959, was present for Miller’s 900th win on October 9. He writes, “Over 60 years as coach, he averaged 15 wins per year! Amazing!”

1962 HARRY MOSER,

PHOTO: AME

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President of the Reshoring Initiative, was inducted into the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Hall of Fame during the 2021

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AME International Conference. According to a news release, the AME Hall of Fame “recognizes industry thought leaders and influencers who support the values, principles, and practices found within leading enterprise excellence organizations.” Harry founded the Reshoring Initiative to bring five million manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., and his previous honors include FAB Shop Magazine’s “Manufacturing Industry Person of the Year” (2019); the Made in America 2019 Reshoring Award; Manufacturing Leadership Council’s Industry Advocacy Award (2014); Quality Magazine’s “2012 Quality Professional of the Year”; and The IndustryWeek Manufacturing Hall of Fame (2010).

1966 ALAN GIBBY writes, “My wife, Barrie, and I have moved to the Atlanta, GA area to be close to our son and his family. The motivation: a new granddaughter born in December 2020.”

1969 THE REV. BRUCE SMITH is enjoying life as a semi-retired Episcopal priest in Columbus, OH. Bruce

serves as a supply priest in the Columbus area and coordinates a weekly clergy Bible Study. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Procter Camp & Conference Center of the Diocese of Southern Ohio and on the Board of Directors of Bexley-Seabury Episcopal Seminary based in Chicago. Bruce is also one of two coordinators of the chaplaincy to retired clergy and spouses in the diocese. Outside of church stuff, Bruce is a Lifetime Member of the Columbus Metropolitan Club and has been a member of the Columbus Torch Club since 2002. Bruce earned an M.Div. at The Theological School at Drew University, Madison, NJ in 1996 and an M.T.S. in Biblical Studies at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio in 1999. In recent years, Bruce has enjoyed reconnecting with old college friends Marty Nott ’74 and his freshman roommate in Landon Hall, Don Cass. Bruce and his wife, the Rev. Dr. Susan Warrener Smith, a retired Presbyterian pastor, live in the Clintonville section of Columbus, OH. In July 2021, Bruce enjoyed a wonderful reunion with Rob Gibby ’60 and Alan Gibby ’66 at their summer home in Pocono Lake Preserve. Bruce’s godfather was Bob Gibby ’31. There were other Pingry folks present that day, including a certain soccer coach and former camp director (’52) and his wife Elizabeth.

1970 RICK ENGEL, a Deputy Attorney General

Dr. Art Vedder ’66 with a Sherpa on top of

Dr. Art Vedder ’66 with Jamling

Kala Patthar peak. Mount Everest is behind

Norgay in front of a Buddhist stupa.

them, on the left.

Journey to Everest DR. ART VEDDER writes, “The Pingry Class of ’66 has been scheduling monthly Zoom presentations. Each time, a classmate shares a career interest or unique experience. The Class has heard presentations from DR. ART WEISSMAN, on his environmentally sensitive Green Seal company, DR. BILL LACORTE on the coronavirus pandemic, GIL ROESSNER on the Road Runners (a musical group he started when at Pingry . . . and they still record together!), and FRANCOIS des NOYERS, their senior-year French exchange student, on French wines. These talks have been engaging and popular, and maintain the class camaraderie 55 years after Pingry graduation. The ’66ers march on. Education never ceases.”

Dr. Vedder was the featured speaker for the October presentation, sharing photos and videos from his 2013 trek to Mount Everest Base Camp. Having already climbed Kilimanjaro and mountains in Ethiopia, along with other international hikes and climbs, he was intrigued by an offer he received from an adventure travel company in early 2013: a trek to Mount Everest Base Camp that April, led by Jamling Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay, who made the first ascent of Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953. “This was so alluring that I had to sign up right away,” Art says, reflecting on his reaction to the email. His preparation: 40 years of running, mostly on trails over hilly terrain, since graduating from Pingry.

He flew to Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu (Everest is on the Tibet/Nepal border). After some local sightseeing, Art and his group flew in a small plane to tiny Lukla air strip, southwest of Mount Everest. From there, they gradually ascended through small Sherpa communities, including a side trip to Tenzing Norgay’s native village, and a meeting with the rinpoche (head lama) of the remote Tengboche Monastery, who had also blessed Hillary and Tenzing before their Everest ascent. “A snowstorm accompanied us to Base Camp, at 17,600 feet elevation,” Art relates. (This elevation was 3,000 feet higher than the highest point in the continental U.S., Mount Whitney, in the Sierra Nevada; Everest’s peak is over 29,000 feet). Did he wish the group could have gone higher? He chuckles. “Only major expeditions have permits to go higher on Everest, and I had no desire to cross the Khumbu Icefall, the notorious start of the Everest climb. We did climb Kala Phattar, at 18,400 feet, for an unobstructed view of Everest.

Higher altitudes require technical climbing and supplemental oxygen.”

The adventure was physically demanding due to the mountainous terrain and elevation, with altitude sickness initially affecting the entire group. “Despite that, it was so exhilarating, just seeing this spectacular part of the Himalayas. Transcendent moments arise when you think you’re dreaming, experiencing landscapes and locations that you had only imagined . . . a vertical world, with constant ups and downs. But the experience and memories are incomparable,” he says.

Art has treasured these international trekking experiences—traveling to remote locations, visiting different continents, seeing beautiful locales, and experiencing different cultures. In this case, “Going with Norgay’s son was unique because he—Tenzing—was an icon of the Himalayas.” Would Art make this trip again? “Yes, if I’m upright and able to!” He encourages the Pingry community to “walk on the wild side and explore these sublime outposts of the world!”

for New Jersey for over 40 years, with a decades-long interest in the environment, was the subject of an article by Lafayette College in October. The school profiled him for his career spent protecting the state’s environment—specifically, enforcing environmental laws by approaching cases in what the article describes as “holistically, compassionately, and practically.” Since 1981, Rick has worked for the state’s Division of Law Environmental Enforcement/Environmental Justice section, and his colleagues nominated him for the 2021 New Jersey Law Journal Lifetime Achievement Award. “Never take positions that are dishonest,” he says in the article. “An honest, ethical approach is always the best way.”

He plans to continue working as long as he can.

1971 Artist DR. JON SARKIN has signed an exclusive representation agreement with the Henry Boxer Gallery, based in Richmond, UK. According to a press release, the gallery will manage the sales of Jon’s original fine art and advocate for the inclusion of his artwork in gallery exhibitions and museum collections. Jon’s studio in Gloucester, MA will remain open to the public.

1973 DR. NATE ZINSSER has published a new book about building confidence. Read more on page 56.

1983 LANCE GOULD was a juror for the first NGO International Film Festival in October (held virtually). The festival featured human-centered stories tied to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. He writes, “I have worked for five years with an organization called UNLEASH [described on its website as ‘A Global Innovation Program for the SDGs’], which annually convenes 1,000 next-generation thought leaders and changemakers from 150 countries.

I’ve become friends with many of those young people, and one of them, from Nigeria, started this festival. Now I’m an advisor to the festival!”

In his role as a juror, Lance judged about 10 films, most of which dealt with domestic violence, gender inequality, and abject poverty.

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Class Notes 1994 RABBI DARA FRIMMER, Senior Rabbi at Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, gave a sermon for Yom Kippur about the misappropriation of “Zero-Sum Thinking.” Instead of focusing on the competitive aspect of individual gain and loss, she believes people should shift the emphasis to community and look out for the next generation.

Watch a video of her sermon at pingry.org/extras.

Amy Morris Stone ’94 and Frank Chang ’94 in

Rabbi Dara Frimmer ’94 delivering a sermon

Chicago.

for Yom Kippur.

AMY MORRIS STONE writes, “I bumped into Frank Chang ’94 at a Chicago investment conference. Frank was there for his artificial intelligence and machine learning venture capital fund, Flying Fish Partners, and it was great to see him!”

1997 LORI SIEGEL RABINOWITZ, Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley, was named a 2021 “Top Wealth Advisor Mom” by Working Mother magazine and SHOOK Research. She writes, “It’s an honor to be a recognized among this group of outstanding women in the financial industry.

Congratulations to my fellow Morgan Stanley Advisors who were also recognized.”

Jonathan Jacobs ’01 and his wife Lauren with alumni, celebrating their wedding.

2001 JONATHAN (JJ) JACOBS writes, “On November 14, 2021, my wife Lauren and I were finally able to have our twice-postponed wedding reception! In attendance were Brenna Martin and her husband Jon Martin ’01, Kimberly Glassman, Traci Peterson, Kevin Locke ’01 and his wife Sarah Locke, Micah Lewis-Kraus ’01, Dan Peterson ’01, John Corcoran ’01, my wife Lauren Jacobs, Daniel Vesey, Jonathan (JJ) Jacobs ’01, Christina Burgess ’01, Tessa Hite ’01, Tessa’s husband Chris Daly, and Christina’s husband Mark Olsen.”

2009

Katie Parsels ’09 with Pingry alumni on her wedding day.

KATIE PARSELS married Jonathan Mattern on August 21 at Natirar in Peapack, NJ. Pictured are Tyler Parsels ’08, Robert Wojtowicz ’05, Elise Lang ’12, Darragh Smith (front), Jennifer Lang Sullivan ’09 (back), Hillary Densen ’09, Katie Parsels ’09, Special Assistant to the Head of 60

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School Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24, Pamela Lang Golding ’05, Maddie Boone ’14, Bryan Parsels ’04, and Katie Salvaggio ’09.

© BERIT BIZJAK PHOTOGRAPHY

From Her Parents’ Kitchen to Food Network’s Kitchen ALI CLARKE ’04, culinary producer, food stylist, and recipe developer with Food Network, was the guest presenter for the Pingry Alumnae Committee’s virtual event in November. She treated the audience to an evening of holiday cooking with her recipes for chorizo and manchego bites; pickled shrimp with mustard aioli; and individual triple chocolate puddings, along with a choice of a cocktail, rosemary bourbon sour, or mocktail, rosemary cranberry spritz. She has done so many live cooking classes from her home during the pandemic that “it was a natural fit to connect back with the Pingry community in that way.”

Cooking has been a constant in Ms. Clarke’s life since a young age—her parents love to cook and host special events—and then Pingry helped influence her career path. “My time with [Visual Arts Department Chair] Mr. [Miles] Boyd in the Photography Department certainly got me interested in pursuing a more creative career path,” she recalls. “I always knew that I was very organized, which lends itself to production, but exploring photography and finding an artistic side of myself really helped me to consider new possibilities.” Her first experience producing a live event also took place at Pingry: an Independent Senior Project with classmates to present a fashion show (Mr. Boyd was the faculty advisor).

“That experience definitely sent me off to college confident that I wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.”

And so, she did. Ms. Clarke majored in Communications and minored in Film and Television Production at New York University, then worked in event production in New York before attending the Institute of Culinary Education. Her next step? An internship at Food Network. “I knew before I started culinary school that my goal was to work at Food Network because I didn’t want to work in restaurants—my family had owned one, and I knew that wasn’t for me,” she explains. “My back-up plan was to get into catering, but the ultimate goal was to combine my NYU degree with a culinary degree and work in food media.” Her internship in the production kitchen involved assisting food stylists (those who make food look its best on camera) and culinary producers (those responsible for the details of producing food television, such as working with talent on recipes, consulting on design for kitchen sets, and sourcing all of the necessary food and equipment).

Along with working as a freelance food stylist and culinary producer for Food Network for a dozen years, Ms. Clarke has enjoyed opportunities with other companies, including Netflix, Hulu, Bravo, and ABC; she recently worked as Supervising Culinary Producer on ABC’s revival of the game show Supermarket Sweep. In late 2019, she helped Food Network launch its app, Food Network Kitchen, which lets users take on-demand

cooking classes, search over 80,000 recipes, and organize their meal preparation. Ms. Clarke also has a personal venture, Happy Host Club, where she shares recipes and tips for meal planning and hosting. Her recipes, including those from the Alumnae Committee’s virtual event, are at happyhostclub.com.

As the saying goes, “tastes change,” so does Ms. Clarke observe trends in the food industry that influence her work? “It is always amusing when the trendy ingredient emerges every year, like kale. Kale was so big for a while. Avocado toast, smoothie bowls, sourdough bread, feta pasta, the list goes on and on. It’s always important to be aware of these trends, and often I do incorporate them into something I’m developing, but my goal isn’t necessarily to make trendy food. What really interests me is the continued movement towards local and sustainable food and meeting the amazing farmers, restaurateurs, chefs, and artisans who are working day in and day out to build a food system that works for everyone as well as the environment.”

PHOTO: ROB PRYCE

‘‘

‘‘

Ali Clarke ’04 on Food Network Kitchen.

My ISP sent me off to college confident that I wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. pingry.org/extras: Read a Q&A with Ms. Clarke about recipe and meal preparation, plus her related Food Network articles.

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Class Notes 2010 MADDIE GARCIA ROBERTS married

on October 10 at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, NY. Pictured are Elana Wilf Tanzman ’04, Jonathan Wilf ’02, P ’33, ’34, Catherine Ding ’13, Lisa Ulker ’13, David Soled ’13, Cara Hayes ’13, Jessica

McGregor ’13, Adam Fraites ’13, Juliette Pigott ’13, Hanna Beattie ’13, Jennifer Shahar ’13, Stephanie Wilf Kahn ’13, Ayesha Saksena ’13, Katherine Thomas ’13, Molly Kandarian ’13, Mark Wilf ’80, and Jeffrey Hiller ’00.

PHOTO: PAUL TOMASELLO

Andrew Roberts on July 24 in Warren, NJ. Attendees included Kristin Scillia ’10, Katie Ogden ’10, Louisa Lee ’10, Carina Chan ’10, Courtney Hulse ’10, Beth Garcia ’10, Cassidy Reich ’10, and Ali Rotatori ’10.

STEPHANIE WILF married Adam Kahn

2011 Olympian NIC FINK is now a World Champion, having won three golds, two silvers, and a bronze at the FINA short course World Championships in Abu Dhabi in December.

He touched the wall first in the 50m and 200m breaststroke and was on the winning 4x50m medley relay. Nic set a new American record in the 50m and owns the short course American records for the 100m and 200m.

ROBBIE HUGIN and MAC HUGIN ’13, Captains in the U.S. Marine Corps, recorded a video for Pingry’s Veterans Day Assembly. They specifically recognized U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Pingry teacher and coach John Magadini for his “profound impact” on them through his leadership and values. One key value is “servant leadership”—to serve, lead, work with, coach, and mentor young men and women who are prepared to answer the nation’s call. They also emphasized the privilege they feel to wear the same uniform as heroes who came before them over the past 250 years, and each day they strive to honor their reputation.

2013 Keyboardist MICHAEL ARROM played “White Christmas” for Disney’s “Magical Christmas Day Parade” (his performance was pre-recorded, so he was able to spend the holiday with his family in Warren, NJ). He accompanied Jimmie Allen, who won the award for “Best New Artist” at the Country Music Awards in November.

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Maddie Garcia Roberts ’10 with Pingry alumnae and friends friends on her wedding day.

Robbie Hugin ’11 and Mac Hugin ’13 speaking to students for Veterans Day. On the stage of Hauser Auditorium, watching the video, are veterans Miller Bugliari ’52, P ’86, ’90, ’97, GP ’20, ’24 and John Magadini.

Stephanie Wilf Kahn ’13 with family and Pingry alumni on her wedding day.

Nic Fink ‘11 won three gold medals at the FINA short course

Sam Scherl ’17 on the shoulders of Zach

Alumni Hat Trick: Emma Barrison ’20,

World Championships.

Keller ’17 at this fall’s edition of The Game:

Clare Hall ’19, and Allie Moss ’20 playing

Harvard vs. Yale. No wonder they were hap-

club hockey for Colgate University this

py: Harvard defeated Yale 34–31.

season.

Pingry Alumni Achievement in the Arts Committee

Pingry swimming was well-represented at a November meet between Brown and Penn: Billy Fallon ’18 (Penn), Jerry O’Mara ’21 (Brown), and Matt Fallon ’21 (Penn) were in the pool, and Claire O’Mara ’17 (Yale) was in the stands, watching the action. Penn edged Brown 152-148, and Matt Fallon set two pool records!

Pingry has several distinguished alumni committees that help recognize alumni for their achievements during their time at Pingry or in their post-Pingry career. The Arts Committee’s primary mission is to bestow an award on alumni who have made a significant impact throughout their career. A ceremony is held annually to celebrate the winners and give them a chance to share their experiences. This year’s ceremony will be held on April 8 at 9:35 a.m. in Hauser Auditorium. Please join us and celebrate this year’s winners.

Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships in February at Colby College. Pictured are

The Arts Committee is also committed to connecting artsrelated alumni to Pingry and its current arts program and students. We are also constantly on the lookout for alumni to join the committee, as well as future nominees for the Achievement in the Arts Award. If you are interested or know of anyone who would like to get involved, please contact Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Associate Stacy Schuessler P ‘18, ‘20 at sschuessler@pingry.org

Leighton Mayers ’19 (Bowdoin), Kevin Ma ’19 (Williams), Sean Tan ’18 (Williams), Victor

or 908-647-5555, ext. 1271.

Pingry swimmers at the 2022 NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference)

Vollbrechthausen ’18 (Tufts), Will Stearns ’20 (Tufts), and Chris Halada ’21 (Amherst).

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Class Notes: Career Day DR. MATTHEW S.T. CHOW ’81, P ’13, ’16 (Medicine) is a fellow of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. His practice is in a community hospital, focused on providing clinical care. He also heads the divisions of regional anesthesia, which targets reduction of acute post-operative pain, and medical informatics in the Department of Anesthesia at Morristown Medical Center.

ALISON LITTLE ’82, P ’22, ’25 (Management Consulting) is a Senior Partner in KPMG’s global Life Sciences Advisory Group, and is the lead relationship partner for two major life sciences companies.

DR. ALISON (DEGENNARO) GATTUSO ’88 (Medicine) works at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, caring for an underserved, under-resourced population.

Her clinical focus is on musculoskeletal trauma, neuromuscular disorders, and scoliosis.

CHANDRA (CAIN) DAVIS ’89 (Law) is a Partner at The Employment Law Solution: McFadden Davis, LLC. She is an effective labor and employment law advisor, litigator, and a sought-after trainer and mediator with over 19 years of employment law experience.

TANYA FICKENSCHER LEONARD ’89 (Law) is Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Major League Baseball.

She manages its Intellectual Property group that is responsible for the maintenance and protection of MLB’s, and its 30 Major League Clubs’ and 120 Minor League Clubs’, global IP portfolios.

SCOTT LOIKITS ’90 (Architecture) is a Principal at GreenbergFarrow and serves as the firm’s Design Director, supervising all architectural design–related tasks; he follows an approach of design through collaboration.

He also leads day-to-day operations for the New York Studio. Mr. Loikits is a licensed architect, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and certified by the National Green Building Council.

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Director of Annual Giving and Community Relations Jane Hoffman ’94, P ’26, ’27, ’28, Christian Hoffman ’94, P ’26, ’27, ’28, Upper School History Teacher Ted Corvino ’94, and Christopher Shahidi ’94.

KRISTIN SOSTOWSKI ’93 (Law) is a Director (Partner) with Gibbons P.C. in Newark, NJ, where she is a member of the Employment & Labor Law Department and leads the firm’s Higher Education Team, a multidisciplinary practice that addresses the unique legal needs of academic institutions.

She serves as NAWL’s (National Association of Women Lawyers) liaison to the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession and as a Trustee of the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association.

CHRISTIAN HOFFMAN ’94, P ’26, ’27, ’28 (Management Consulting) serves as Global Cyber Leader and Chief Executive Officer of Aon Cyber Solutions in North America. He leads Aon’s Cyber capabilities under one organizational structure, delivering a truly holistic Cyber approach to clients

around assessment, quantification, maturity, risk transfer, and incident response.

CHRISTOPHER SHAHIDI ’94 (Government Relations) is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.

He has nearly 20 years of service as a U.S. diplomat, and his overseas diplomatic assignments have been throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. He has also served rotations in Washington, D.C.

JENNIFER NAHVI-SICKLES ’95, P ’28 (Technology) is a Director of Technology at Johnson & Johnson, where she supervises and delivers strategic technical platforms from concept to solution implementation. She is currently the lead technology partner for the Infectious Diseases & Vaccines business, and serves as the U.S. Business Technology lead for the Johnson & Johnson / Janssen

Sumeet Shah ’04, Buzzy Cohen ’03, Lauren Salz ’06, Dr. Kathryn Coyle ’03, Dana Zolli ’03, and Dr. Ari Marciscano ’03 with Middle and Upper School Music Teacher Sean McAnally.

COVID-19 vaccine. She writes, “It was an honor to come back to Pingry and hear the students’ strong passion for the field of technology and engineering. It was incredibly rewarding to explore the students’ diverse interests across technology disciplines.”

financial planning experience to serve an exclusive clientele of private business owners, corporate executives, and other high-networth individuals, as well as endowments and foundations.

FRANK J. MORANO ’97 (Law) is Counsel

Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at Columbia University. Having completed two prestigious spine fellowships under both neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Reid brings perspectives and skills from experts and leaders of both departmental fields.

Attorney with Argentino Fiore Law & Advocacy, LLC. His practice areas include family law, school law, domestic violence, juvenile law, anti-discrimination, and civil rights law. In addition to his law practice, he fights as an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.

LORI SIEGEL RABINOWITZ ’97 (Finance) is a Senior Vice President at Morgan Stanley. She combines over 19 years of experience in capital markets and

DR. PATRICK REID ’97 (Medicine) is an

KEVIN SCHMIDT ’98 (Finance) is an Institutional Investment Consultant with RVK, Inc., where he works with corporate and public pension plans, endowments, foundations, and insurance plans.

UMA SESHAMANI ’98 (Finance) is an ETF, Equity and ADR specialist on Jane Street’s Institutional Sales & Trading team.

AMA BURNHAM ’99 (Finance) is a Director in Equity Derivatives Sales at Bank of America.

ROBERT KAO ’99 (Law) is a partner in the Global Finance Group of Sidley Austin LLP. His practice focuses on structured finance and securitization, with a particular focus on commercial real estate finance.

SARAH KURZ ’99 (Visual Arts) is a New York–based artist whose representational paintings draw from personal, literary, and cinematic imagery to portray the psychological dimension of images. She has appeared in many solo and group exhibits, and her art has been featured in numerous publications.

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Class Notes: Career Day BEN LEHRHOFF ’99 (Finance) is a Principal in Bernstein’s New York Office, providing investment and wealth planning advice to high-net-worth families and institutions as well as their respective trusts, estates, foundations, endowments, and retirement plans.

KEITH CASTALDO ’00 (Government Relations) works for Subject Matter, a bipartisan government relations and communications firm. He has spent over a decade on Capitol Hill, most recently as General Counsel to Senator Gillibrand (DNY).

KATE (MARTUSCELLO) SMITH ’00 (Finance) is Vice President of People at Harry’s Inc., where she supervises People Business Partners, Recruiting, and Workplace Experience functions. Prior to Harry’s, Kate spent over 15 years in Finance and Tech as a recruiter at Goldman Sachs and an HR Leader at Betterment.

LAUREN (ANDERSON) HOLLAND ’01 (Marketing/Advertising) is Chief Omni

Lori Siegel Rabinowitz ‘97, Frank J. Morano ‘97, and Director of Development Holland Sunyak ‘02.

BUZZY COHEN ’03 (Entrepreneurship),

DANA ZOLLI ’03 (Performing Arts) is a

Founder and Director of The Teenage Diplomat, was the Keynote Speaker. Read more on page 50.

Producer and DGA (Directors Guild of America) Production Manager based in New York. Her most recent projects include Apple TV’s Dickinson and On the Rocks (the latter directed by Sofia Coppola) and a feature film for Universal Studios, Bros, due to be released in the fall of 2022.

DR. KATHRYN COYLE ’03 (Medicine) is

Sales & Strategy Officer at Neptune Retail Solutions, leading product, technology, sales, and operations for Neptune’s omni-channel advertiser and retail division.

a dentist in Madison, NJ. Her father, also a dentist, loves his profession, and inspired Dr. Coyle to follow in his footsteps. The two now practice together at Coyle Dentistry.

DOUG CLARKE ’02 (Marketing/

KATIE (CORRIGAN) GRIFF ’03

Advertising), a seasoned executive in the private aviation space, is a Senior Vice President at Wheels Up, developing and spearheading sales and marketing in the East Coast region.

EVAN SHORE ’02 (Entrepreneurship) is Product Director on Walmart’s Health & Wellness team. He is a mission-driven, entrepreneurial business builder, passionate about helping people live healthier lives through disruptive innovation. He has helped create and scale businesses in startup (Noah’s Ark Foundation, which he started in Middle School at Pingry), growth stage, and large company settings. At Walmart, Evan and his team are building programs that address issues like food insecurity, chronic health conditions, and maternal and infant mortality.

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(Marketing/Advertising) is Founder and CEO of Griff Consulting, a boutique marketing consultancy that develops and implements cross-channel marketing programs for growth-focused retail and e-commerce brands.

Ms. Griff is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of Red Cell Partners, the acting Head of Marketing at Zephyr AI, and the Chief Communications Officer of the Verstandig Family Foundation.

DR. ARI MARCISCANO ’03 (Medicine) is a board-certified radiation oncologist and physician-scientist working in both the clinic and the lab to improve care for people with cancer. He is also a faculty member at Weill Cornell Medical College as Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology.

SUMEET SHAH ’04 (Entrepreneurship) has an over 13-year career spanning the private equity, venture capital, and startup worlds, managing business development and partnerships for various sizes of consumerfacing organizations as well as investing in the next generation of brands. Currently, he is on the Venture Partnerships team at Clearco and is a Venture Principal at Swiftarc Ventures.

ANDREW WERNER ’04 (Architecture) is a Senior Associate Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), an international architecture practice headquartered in New York City. He manages large-scale, mixeduse projects, with a particular focus on New York City, where his project credits include 10 & 30 Hudson Yards and the underconstruction, adaptive-reuse development One Madison Avenue. He is a Licensed Architect in New York State, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and a LEEDaccredited professional.

DR. BRITTNEY JORDAN ’05 (Medicine) is

DIAMOND MCCLINTOCK ’10 (Media/

KATHERINE CURRAN ’14 (Management

a licensed clinical psychologist at the Veteran Affairs (VA) Hospital in Manhattan. Dr. Jordan also provides psychological services for adults in a private practice setting via telehealth.

Communications) began working in the technology sector in May 2021 as the Talent Brand Lead at Squarespace, a website builder and e-commerce company. At Squarespace, she is responsible for developing externalfacing content to showcase the company culture and employee experience in order to grow the Squarespace brand as an employer of choice.

Consulting) is a Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant, with a focus on healthcare, at Deloitte. She specializes in advising health plans and providers on how to create optimal operating models and organizational structures in post-merger environments.

LAUREN SALZ ’06 (Entrepreneurship) is Co-Founder and CEO of Sealed, a climate tech company that provides tech-enabled design, managed installation, and up-front, performance-based financing to upgrade people’s homes. Sealed was named on one of the 10 most innovative energy companies of 2021 by Fast Company.

RYAN SELLINGER ’07 (Law) is an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, where he prosecutes felony domestic violence cases.

MELINDA ZOEPHEL ’08 (Architecture) is an exhibition designer at Evidence Design, a company that primarily creates permanent science and natural history exhibitions. In addition to her day job, she regularly does freelance exhibition design projects for New York City museums, including the Cooper Hewitt Museum, the Rubin Museum, and the New-York Historical Society.

DR. BROOKE CONTI TROUSDALE ’09 (Science) is a postdoctoral fellow at Pfizer’s Center for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI). CTI collaborates with academic institutions and investigators to push forward great science and accelerate concepts into viable therapies with breakthrough potential for patients.

DAVID MARTIN ’10 (Government Relations) is a corporate lobbyist for HarleyDavidson Motor Company, with expertise in transportation, technology, and trade policy.

His work sits at the intersection of politics, communications, and business as he helps organizations achieve their strategic goals.

CHLOE SORVINO ’11 (Media/ Communications) leads coverage of food and agriculture at Forbes. Nearly a decade of reporting at Forbes has brought her to InN-Out Burger’s secret test kitchen, droughtridden farms in California’s Central Valley, burnt-out national forests logged by a timber billionaire, a century-old slaughterhouse in Omaha, and even a chocolate croissant factory designed like a medieval castle in northern France. Her first book, Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat, will be published in September 2022 by Simon & Schuster.

COREY DELANEY ’12 (Media/ Communications) is a media specialist at Two Circles. She joined the data-driven sports marketing agency in 2021 as part of an expansion effort to grow their operations in North America. Her main focus is to help draft and execute marketing strategies to meet clients’ goals and objectives.

JUSTIN CHAE ’16 (Finance) is a Senior Associate in Bernstein Private Wealth Management’s New York office, working with a team of financial advisors to provide investment and wealth planning advice to high-net-worth families, including corporate executives, business owners, health care professionals, and entrepreneurs.

JAZMIN PALMER ’16 (Performing Arts) specializes in musical theater, dialect coaching, film, and physical acting. She thoroughly believes, “If you can’t find the job you want, then make it.”

JESSE MCLAUGHLIN ’17 (Science) is an interdisciplinary tinkerer based in Brooklyn, NY. As a grant-funded civic scientist, Jesse deepens community efforts toward estuarine justice through trans-disciplinary research of the American Eel in the New York Harbor.

Jesse also teaches botany, ethnobotany, conservation, and plant ecology at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

KIT TYSON ’12 (Visual Arts) is an artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She paints out of her studio and works as an Archivist for fashion photographer Pamela Hanson.

ALYSSA BAUM ’14 (Technology) is a Senior Software Engineer at Google in New York City, where she works on the Google Editors (Docs, Sheets, and Slides). Last year, Ms. Baum led the team that built the new Pageless Docs features. She now works on the Offline team that builds functionality so users can use the editors without an Internet connection.

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In Memoriam HAROLD PIM GOODBODY, JR. ’55 December 29, 2021, age 84, Williamstown, MA nMr. Goodbody attended The Kent School, graduated from Williams College, and earned an M.B.A. with distinction at New York University. He spent his career in banking and then consulting focused on business technology in the brokerage industry. He also joined the Securities Industry Association and worked there until his retirement. Survivors include his wife Ann, son Harold, son Angus (Joy), two grandchildren, and brother William.

DR. RICHARD C. WEISS ’55 October 17, 2021, age 84, Stone Harbor, NJ nDr. Weiss attended the University of Pennsylvania and its School of Dental Medicine and completed his residency in Periodontics at Boston University School of Dental Medicine. He practiced Periodontics in Easton, PA until he became Chair of the Department of Periodontics at Temple University School of Dentistry.

He then became Executive Associate Dean of Business and Administration. Upon retiring from Temple, Dr. Weiss immersed himself in many endeavors. He dedicated himself to the New Jersey Coast Guard Auxiliary (the uniformed volunteer component of the Coast Guard), where he educated the public in boating safety and received two honors: “Auxiliarist of the Year Award” for Division 8 of the 5th Northern Coast Guard District, recognizing his leadership, commitment, teamwork, and being a model of performance for new Auxiliarists; and “Auxiliary Commandant Letter of Commendation Award” for superior capability as an educator and instructor. Dr. Weiss served as Chair of the Board of Visitors at Temple’s Kornberg School of Dentistry and a member of the Board of Visitors at Temple’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture. He also served on the Board of Trustees of Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. In addition to his scholarly activities, Dr. Weiss was a professional race car driver and won many races in a variety of classes, culminating in a national championship in the IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) Trans-Am Series.

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Dr. Weiss was a familiar face at Pingry, regularly attending the annual Dr. Robert H. LeBow ’58 Memorial Oratorical Competition (he was Dr. LeBow’s first cousin). Survivors include his wife Dr. Sandra (Sandy) Harmon-Weiss; sons Rick (Lauren) P ’18, Eric (Hyla) P ’17, and Christopher (Deb); grandchildren Jacob ’17, Jason ’18, Emily, Amanda, Emma, Jason, and Kaitlin; and stepdaughter Jennifer Sekerka.

DR. EDWIN T. BOYER ’56 November 4, 2021, age 84, Wilmington, NC nDr. Boyer graduated with a B.S. from Keene State College, an M.S. from Indiana State University, and an Ed.D. from Texas A&M University. His teaching career started when he became a teacher of industrial arts at Kennett High School in Conway, NH—Dr. Boyer initiated both the drafting and graphic arts programs.

He was later a tenured Associate Professor at Northern Illinois University, where he taught engineering graphics and related courses and advised undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students. For a short time, he was also Acting Chair of the Industry and Technology Department (at the time, the largest of its kind in the country). He received awards for excellence in undergraduate teaching and outstanding scholarship and leadership. Dr. Boyer then became a tenured Associate Professor in the College of Engineering at the Ohio State University, where he taught engineering graphics, architecture, air brush, and illustration courses (he retired as an Associate Professor Emeritus). He was lead author for the internationally sold textbook Technical Graphics; was co-author for an Engineering Graphics textbook; published more than 50 professional articles; and presented at local, national, and international conferences. Dr. Boyer also founded and ran a successful small business, Visual Grafix, which produced custom engineering, architectural, and land contour scale models and other graphic displays for industry. In 1965, Dr. Boyer was appointed a charter member of the New Hampshire State Police Auxiliary. He authored a book on basic diagrams for police investigation and taught more than 27 accident

diagramming and investigation courses for police departments and for the New Hampshire Police Academy.

EDWIN MICHAEL KRAUS ’58 December 6, 2021, age 81, Ulster, PA nMr. Kraus received a B.S. from Union College and taught science at Aquinas Prep School, Short Hills Country Day School, Pingry (chemistry from 1967–1969), and Sayre High School.

He also worked as a phlebotomist at Robert Packer Hospital. Mr. Kraus was predeceased by his brother John and his in-laws Nick and Cay Peters. Survivors include his wife Sheila; daughters, Dr. Elizabeth Koval (Mike), Dr. Sue Kraus (Chris), and Kathleen Kraus (partner Benjamin); son Edwin (Michelle); and grandchildren Dillon, David, Isabel, Daniel, Ben, Nick, Charelle, and Mitcher. Mr. Kraus died after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis.

DR. JOHN HALL “JACK” MARTIN, JR. ’61 December 3, 2021, age 78, Georgetown, DE nDr. Martin received a B.S. in Agricultural Sciences and an M.S. in Agricultural Engineering from Rutgers University. He moved to the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Cornell University, working as a Research Associate in waste management and environmental quality, and later as a Senior Extension Associate at the New York State Water Resources Institute and the Center for the Environmental Research, both at Cornell; he received a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from Cornell. From 1993–1998, at the University of Delaware, Dr. Martin served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, and Associate Director of the Delaware Water Resources Center. Throughout his career, he was known for his expertise in agricultural waste

management, wastewater treatment, nonpoint source pollution, and public policy related to environmental quality, especially water quality issues. He was also an environmental/biological engineering consultant, including as Principal of his own firm. Dr. Martin authored 75 professional publications and was awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s STAR Award and the Journal of Environmental Engineering Editor’s Award for Service. Dr. Martin served on the Georgetown Public Library’s Board of Commissioners; established and was Secretary/Treasurer of The Georgetown Public Library Foundation, Inc.; and was Treasurer of the Blue Heron Estates Homeowners Association. He was predeceased by his stepdaughter KellySue (Nicola). Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Colleen; stepdaughter Shelly (Rafael); and cousin Jeffrey (Leigh).

GEORGE PETER SIDERIS ’65 November 14, 2021, age 74, Marlton, NJ nDuring Mr. Sideris’ time at Pingry, his parents built the first Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in Woodbridge, NJ, and he worked in the business and managed the staff (he mentored many newly immigrated Greeks and later helped them start their own restaurants). He attended Cornell University, graduating from the School of Hotel Administration, then returned to work in the family business, managing the Howard Johnson & Hotel in Woodbridge—the first thing Mr. Sideris did as a manager was to give many employees a raise, which, in the beginning, put him at odds with his father. His father, seeing his wisdom, after a couple of years expanded to South Jersey and built the Howard Johnson Hotel in Maple Shade. Mr. Sideris was there for the next 40 years, expanding the business. He was also a founding member of the Delaware Valley Purchasing Group, of which he served as President. He was preceded in passing by his sisters, Carol Bailey and Helene Krikelis. Survivors include his wife of 43 years, Katherine; children Paul and Elise; son-in-law Jonathan; brother Peter; in-laws Chris Kurnellas and Phillip and Georghia Kurnellas, and numerous relatives and friends. Mr. Sideris died from leukemia.

DR. DAVID ROGER “DOC” MUNSICK, JR. ’68 September 22, 2021, age 71, Charlottesville, VA nDr. Munsick graduated with honors in History, magna cum laude, from Washington & Lee University, then received a Master of Arts in English History and a Ph.D. in History at the University of Virginia. Over the course of his academic career, he taught history at Randolph-Macon College, University of Mary Washington, Davidson College, Northern Virginia Community College, and Piedmont Community College. In 1999, he joined the faculty at The Covenant School and taught European History; during his tenure, he also served as Department Chair of History. In the last 24 years, Dr. Munsick became a well-loved figure serving as an interpreter at Ash Lawn-Highland (later James Monroe’s Highland). He died in an automobile accident in Albemarle County.

PETER C. KALLOP ’69 May 26, 2021, age 70, Cambridge, MD nMr. Kallop graduated from Princeton University and received an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia.

He was a consultant for thrift institutions and smaller community banks, and was inducted into Pingry’s Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1968 Soccer Team.

DAVID J. SLOBODIEN ’70 May 12, 2021, Naples, FL nMr. Slobodien graduated from The College of Wooster, earned J.D. and M.B.A. degrees at Washington University in St. Louis, and enjoyed a long career as legal counsel with Dun & Bradstreet. He served on the Board of Directors of First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen, was active on the Windstar

on Naples Bay Country Club Board of Directors for eight years, and served as President of the Windstar Club Charitable Foundation for five years. Mr. Slobodien had recently been elected to the Board of Directors of Opera Naples. Survivors include his life partner, Bonnie MacMillin, whom he married immediately after graduating from The College of Wooster; children Anne, Mark, and Phil and their spouses; five grandchildren; brothers Donald ’71, Daniel, and Douglas; one niece; and five nephews.

GINA STANZIOLA MACKENZIE ’91 January 8, 2022, age 48, Chatham, NJ nMs. Mackenzie received a B.S. in Finance and Communications from Lehigh University and a Master of Finance degree from New York University. She spent her career in financial services, including investment banking and commercial lending, and worked for many years to help small and medium-sized businesses secure the working capital they need to grow. Most recently, she was a Vice President and Business Development Officer at TAB Bank. Survivors include her daughters Madeline and Molly, brother Frank, sister Lisa, and parents Debbie and Frank.

Faculty

DR. RICHARD ALLEN GLOCK November 26, 2021, age 89, Lincolnville, ME nDr. Glock taught Junior School geography and math, and coached varsity football, during the 1963-64 school year.

He attended Ursinus College and received a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in Education from Lehigh University. He died after a brief battle with cancer.

The editorial staff makes every effort to publish an obituary for and pay tribute to trustees, alumni, and employees 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

ABOVE: Minutes from 1940s and 1950s Board of Trustee meetings.

BELOW: Minutes from Short Hills Country Day School meetings, prior to the Pingry years.

Reorganizing Records Yearbooks, newspapers, magazines, photography, videos, and trophies are a few of the obvious, visible aspects of Pingry’s archives . . . but other internal materials are central to Pingry’s history and record-keeping. Recently, the Archives took over the School’s records management. What does this encompass? For starters, minutes from Board of Trustees meetings and Financial Committee meetings. Then, Archivist Peter Blasevick P ’24 has the not-so-small task of reorganizing and cataloging over 10,000 student records and campus documents in the Vault (a secure, climate-controlled room separate from the main Archives room) and preparing long-term storage of financial records.

“The Archives program is growing. Adding records to the collection makes sense so that people have one place to go to find what they need,” Mr. Blasevick says.

“Organizing internal documents is essential to helping Pingry run efficiently.”

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In Pingry History 10 Years Ago Construction of Beinecke House, new home of the Head of School, reaches the halfway point.

60 Years Ago

20 Years Ago

Fiddler on the Roof is the Upper School Winter Musical.

50 Years Ago

Cuban exile Serafin Menocal speaks to the student body about conditions in Cuba.

The Seminars-inLearning Program is finalized, with approximately 30 courses to be offered the week before Spring Break.

70 Years Ago

80 Years Ago

Students watch The Dupont Story, a two-part movie about the development of the Dupont Company.

Pingry institutes a weekly session of military drills led by Reese Williams and Vince Lesneski.

pingry. rg

30 Years Ago Chemistry Teacher Dr. Michele Parvensky introduces the Adopt a Native American Family program and Native American Club.

40 Years Ago Former Headmaster H. Westcott “Scotty” Cunningham ’38 announces he will step down as President of The Pingry Corporation.

90 Years Ago Several teachers lead weekly, voluntary cultural classes during Activities Period— topics include Spanish readings, “current affairs of history,” and musical appreciation.

To see more from the Archives, visit Pingry Flashes Back (pingry.org/flashesback). Recent posts include photos from the 2006 production of Urinetown, clothing accessories worn by Pingry students in past decades, and daguerreotypes of Dr. Pingry and his sons.

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A Final Look

Upper School students painting a mural on the shed door of the Basking Ridge Campus composter during Community and Civic Engagement Day in late October. They were joined by former Visual Arts Teacher and former Sustainability Coordinator Peter Delman P ’97, ’98.

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