VOLUME 13: 3
SPRING 2020 TOUCH
Denita
RESILIENCE
KIT
In a recent New York Times opinion piece, Dr . Mona Hanna-Attisha shared an observation that is actually more of a parent’s cry for help She asked us directly and bluntly why it was that we continually ask our children to be the people in our population who are always called upon to be resilient?
Dr Hanna-Attisha has been on the front line of the Flint water crisis and has seen first-hand the harm to our youngest citizens that comes from poisoned drinking water, the effects of lead contamination on the brain development of young children, and the unending lack of response to bring a stop to this criminal act of harm to a Michigan community . She is clear in sharing her outrage that we have placed the burden of an American public health crisis on the shoulders of our children . This issue of environmental safety and access to health care are pressingly critical to the well-being of our youngest citizens, and yet we continue to ask them to be resilient
We have a history of asking children to be resilient when our nation confronts crisis Like Flint, we asked our children to be resilient after Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland when it came to gun violence in our schools Our national response was safety drills that prepared our youngest citizens for the threats of active shooters and a call for them to be resilient as they weathered the systemic challenge of gun violence in this country As leaders in our country shifted the topic when the news cycle changed, the burden to support the anxiety, stress, and mental health needs of school children fell to teachers, counselors, and parents Again, the opportunity to address systemic change was ignored because our children could be resilient
As we closed schools and began our national stay at home orders as a response to Covid-19, we again called on our children to be resilient . Schools moved to online and home learning models in order to stay connected to teaching and learning Never mind that access to technology, internet connection, and teacher readiness to deliver such programming was vastly different across the country Never mind that the mental and physical health stresses that came with the pandemic disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities Still we asked our children to be resilient, to stay strong, to work through the anxiety and stress that comes everyday with being isolated from friends, classmates, and family A pandemic that has challenged each of us, that calls out for leadership in mental health and physical health weighs on our children in ways that we will discover all too clearly as time passes Our lack of investment in health care, technology infrastructure, and education are laid bare for us to see, and again we ask our children to be resilient
As children stuck at home spend more time on screens watching more television and spending more time on the internet, they see in uncensored ways the graphic and brutal killings of George Floyd, Ahmed Aubrey, and Breonna Taylor How can these curious young minds not be filled with questions about personal safety, justice, and the systems many believed were supposed to be in place to offer protection . The systemic racism that exists within our country is exposed in detail, the pain is raw, the fear is elevated — and still we are asking through all of this struggle for our youngest people to take in all of this information and to simply be resilient
By definition resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties; it is a kind of toughness that lets us move forward and progress How can we keep expecting our children to be resilient, time and again without acknowledging the hurt we are causing to their mental health and physical well-being? Children are strong; they are, in general resilient, but we continue to place adult-sized problems on the shoulders of our young people expecting that they will move on without any lasting impact
The burden to support the anxiety, stress, and mental health needs of school children fell to teachers, counselors, and parents
David Feldman Head of School
Stage III student Ella Bolton and two home-learning assignments — one math, one science.
Stage I teacher Amber Webb teaches her class from home.
We have a responsibility to be active, engaged, and the change agents our children need
Annemarie Roeper wrote,
“Humanity has made two promises to its children. The first is to prepare a world which accepts them and provides them with opportunities to grow and create in safety. The other is to help them develop their whole being to the fullest in every respect.”
As we watch our young people taking to the street to seek change, to seek accountability, we know they are also telling us that they are tired of waiting and being resilient They are telling us that systems and structures that have long existed have placed a burden on the disenfranchised in our country and systemic change must happen now The health of our country, the health of our youngest people is at risk
We have an obligation to keep the promises that Annemarie described We have an obligation to care for the physical and mental health of all people in our country We have a responsibility to demand from our leaders that they stop asking our children to wait and simply be resilient . We have a responsibility to be active and engaged, and to be the change agents our children need so that we can keep the promise Annemarie called on us to keep F
Above: Stage II student Evan Clark at his home workspace; and right: junior Griffin Galligan at his.
KIT
BEGIN AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON
One of the many reasons I admire George and Annemarie Roeper was their resilience in the face of life-altering circumstances Both grew up happily in Germany in the idyllic community of Marienau School, founded by Annemarie’s parents, Max and Gertrud Bondy They fully expected to spend their lives in their own country, living their values either by founding their own school (George’s dream) or by becoming a child psychoanalyst (Annemarie’s dream), or some combination of both
When the Nazi storm cloud arose, both had to flee Annemarie was in Vienna in the spring of 1938, ready to start a child psychoanalysis course with Sigmund and Anna Freud, and George was just preparing to defend his doctoral dissertation at the University of Greifswald in Germany . After a brief stay in Switzerland with the Bondys, George came to America in November 1938, speaking no English, his job to find a property where the Bondys could start a new school Annemarie and her family arrived in March 1939, next to penniless, and they all started over again, in a new country, a new language, a new culture
For the next few years, the Bondys and the Roepers moved almost every year, building their schools, finding a new home . Finally in 1944, the Bondys settled in Lenox, Massachusetts, and in 1946, the Roepers settled in Bloomfield Hills Both had made their way during wartime, when they encountered distrust as “enemy alien” Germans and had to report regularly to government offices, an unsettling requirement after their experience in Germany They had to navigate the challenges of rationing . The Bondys collected their students’ ration cards in order to buy food for the students’ meals at the boarding school, and George had to work around the limitations on gasoline and tires at a time when one of his selling points for the school was an offer to drive around Detroit picking up the students George had hoped to finish his PhD at Wayne State, but couldn’t make the time while building a school and starting a family .
And yet all through their lives, they kept moving ahead despite uncertainty, and kept their faith in humanism, which for them meant believing in the human capacity to use reason to do good “Humanism is a philosophy which believes in Man’s capacity to improve human relations; to have life regulated by justice instead of power,”
George told his students at the 1981 Junior-Senior Dinner How he kept his faith in humanity despite watching his countrymen pivot to unfathomable inhumanity under Hitler, despite watching his newly adopted countrymen tolerate racism and nuclear weapons (both issues that absorbed him all his life), is something I’ve never quite understood .
Annemarie, too, had an unstoppable forward momentum in her life She had been more deeply hurt by their expulsion from Germany, which created a numbness she buried most of her life until it became a demon she wrestled with in her last years Nonetheless, throughout her life, she too was confident . Her bottom-line faith in the school’s philosophy was the belief that if the school could help children love themselves, they would be able to love the world . As she told the Class of 2007 at Commencement, “If you really love yourself, then you will love life itself, and you won’t want to harm or hurt others If your Roeper education has led you to love yourself, and with that to love your community and your world, then you will be fulfilling the task that we’ve been hoping for ”
Their ideas about how to raise children who love themselves, and therefore others, came from the Bondys . Gertrud was a psychoanalyst who believed each person’s fundamental task in life was to come to know themselves and find their place in the world Max believed that the pursuit of selfknowledge was enhanced by being connected to others, to be “a person who can think for himself but feels with the community ” To achieve those goals, they gave their students respect, affection, freedom and responsibility, trusting that young people who are both admired and held accountable come to trust themselves and others .
The Bondys’ beliefs were hard-won through their own life experiences Max and Gertrud grew up as prosperous, sophisticated, well-loved and comfortably assimilated Jews in Hamburg and Prague The wealth and rapid social changes in Europe at the turn of the 20th century gave them every expectation that they would have modern, exciting adult lives Those expectations were upended first by World War I, then the economic chaos after the war, and then, most frighteningly,
One of the many reasons I admire George and Annemarie Roeper was their resilience in the face of life-altering circumstances
Marcia Ruff School Historian
Gertrud and Max Bondy.
The most important thing to understand about the school was that it was a school founded on the emotions: both their emotional need to build a school that would help to interrupt the social dynamics that produce the cruelties they witnessed both in Germany and in segregated America, and their conviction that the emotional well-being of each person is the most important piece to get right, in a school, in a family, in a society
by the rise of the Nazi Party . By the time they arrived in the U S in 1939, they had lost their money, their school, and their expectations of certainty .
Given that, it isn’t surprising to read in the first catalogue for their new American school that they hoped “to develop in their students an inner security and capacity for adjustment so that they may retain their courage and individuality regardless of changes in their material and social positions .” After all, if Germany, the world’s pinnacle of education and industrial might, could shift as much as it had between 1914 and 1936, then America was not immune either and its young people should prepare to cope with shocking change as well (This was a truth that seemed abstract to me for a long time but is no longer .)
The attributes needed to develop this inner security and capacity to adapt were rooted in their own experiences and beliefs, combining respect for the individual and for the community: “A positive attitude toward life; recognition of the dignity, rights and needs of one’s fellow men; patience born of an understanding of the complexity of modern problems; knowledge and emotional acceptance of one’s own potentialities and limitations, are among the character ideals of the Windsor Mountain School,” Max wrote
In that list, you can see the strengths that kept George and Annemarie moving forward Tremendous listeners, they gave deep respect and attention to every person they met, enhancing the richness of their own lives at the same time They weren’t thrown by challenges, understanding that life was complicated, successes don’t always come easily, and patience is a boon They understood themselves and each other in a partnership and relationship that lasted 72 years, through thick and thin, from the time George arrived at the Bondys’ school as a student in 1924 until he passed away in 1992
Annemarie always said the most important thing to understand about the school was that it was a school founded on the emotions: both their emotional need to build a school that would help to interrupt the social dynamics that produce the cruelties they witnessed both in Germany and in segregated America, and their conviction that the emotional well-being of each person is the most important piece to get right, in a school, in a family, in a society
They knew that wasn’t something they could achieve completely, and in every case, and certainly not necessarily by the time a student graduated from high school . Generational pain creates deep-rooted challenges in many families The social dynamics that surround us create thick barriers we have to both learn to see and learn to navigate Annemarie wanted a day school because that allowed them to include the entire family . Marienau and Windsor Mountain were boarding schools for older students Gertrud liked to focus on the adolescent, believing that in many cases the parents’ issues were a hindrance to the adolescent’s ability to grow Annemarie, on the other hand, wanted to start with young children and include the whole family She and George started a parent organization soon after opening the school in 1941, to educate parents about the new and better-adjusted parenting styles that were emerging from psychoanalytic theory
As for the school environment itself, they believed in treating the students (and by extension, the adults) in the way they wanted them to grow “In order to believe in justice, the child must be raised with justice . In order to trust others, he must be trusted He must be expected to understand, not only to obey As he develops controls from within, outer controls must recede . In order to shape his own destiny, the child must learn the process of interaction with other people — a process based on justice, not power, and he must learn the process of decision-making along with all academic skills and concepts,” they wrote in a 1970 description of the school’s philosophy
They wanted to provide the model of a just environment, with an atmosphere of affection and admiration for each person’s unique self “The variety of individuals makes life enchanting, radiant and adventurous,” said George in 1964 at the 8th grade graduation, as he urged everyone to delight in that variety, not just tolerate it . By doing so, they believed they would set their students, their families, and their faculty — everyone in the community — on a path that would make them happier people and kinder people, people better able to trust that challenges were surmountable and better able to extend that happiness, kindness and justice to the rest of the world F
KIT HOW WE MANAGED ONLINE LEARNING
ERNESTO …
Nobody could have prepared themselves completely for a global pandemic or prepared for staying at home under quarantine conditions while having to teach students remotely However, in my past, after immigrating to the USA from Peru, without knowing any English, I spent a lot of time alone and used my time wisely — learning, reading, creating, and understanding myself While the circumstances were different, I had difficulty navigating a new territory, culture, and language, but it was also a great opportunity I believe that students can benefit from this experience by learning to work more independently, spending more time with their families, learning new languages, exploring their interests, and building stronger empathy for humankind .
When we switched to home learning, my first goal was to make students comfortable in this new platform I transferred many of our in-person classroom routines into my online Zoom meetings and weekly online activities by designing content that kept the student engaged, interested, and motivated . This helped me to provide a safe and fun learning environment, allowing them to strive and gain confidence in their ability to learn through TPR (Total Physical Response), stories and activities to practice useful language structures Some students began to dig deeper into their language skills, exploring new content, along with discovering projects that enhanced their skills and interest in the subject, all while learning remotely .
When using technology to deliver my classes, there are many resources available to teachers to enhance teaching and learning By using different techniques, I have been able to create interactive digital material for students, along with basic green screen and animation I have reviewed and evaluated teaching strategies and have advanced my skills to improve my teaching online Feedback from parents and students, and guidance from teachers, have helped and supported my journey during this time
The biggest challenge we currently face is the unknown Will life return to normal, if it does indeed return to normal? As a result, it is vital that, as role models to our students, we guide them and support them through this difficult time, overcoming adversity and preparing them
for any changes that do come our way . One key aspect of learning during this year has been interdependence, which is important for youth to comprehend and embrace . Working together with others will help us overcome any issues that are presented to us While this pandemic is temporary, the lessons we can learn from it should encourage new ways of learning, along with new teaching methods that can be used in future classrooms
— ERNESTO CHAVEZ Lower School World Languages
LISA & LORI …
Resiliency This is something individuals need in times of stress and adverse events . Being resilient can be described as the ability to look at the positive, control what you can control, and adapt Resiliency is a skill Resiliency can be taught and modelled As teachers, we must model what this looks like for our students . We have to come together as a community in times like this and be resilient together, because not everyone can be resilient alone .
When faced with the stay-at-home order, we initially thought, “Ok, just a few weeks … we can do this!” Our focus was on connecting with our students and maintaining some sense of normalcy in a very abnormal time We held virtual meetings, read stories, let everyone share what they were doing at home to keep busy, and did our best to create fun educational activities Our students thought it was cool to have school in a virtual setting and use new technology tools to communicate with teachers, classmates, and friends The fun quickly faded as we settled into this new “normal” . The truth is that nothing about this is normal This is not the way we wish to be teaching, our students wish to be learning, nor our families want to be engaging in our community This is hard At first, students were confused with the expectations and the schedule, so we changed things often those first couple weeks We saw that our students, families, and teachers were quickly feeling overwhelmed . We were working 14 – 16 hours a day trying to figure out how to virtually create what we do in the classroom every day We knew this was not sustainable .
We knew we needed to focus on the positive; being able to use technology to stay connected was huge Creating a routine and schedule to ease the stress was a must . We knew we needed to focus on just being together and checking in with one another as a classroom
That is exactly what we did We decided to hold our regular morning meeting every day We carried on some of our traditions like having a daily leader, celebrating birthdays, conducting a morning greeting, playing games, and sharing our life moments Some of these routines looked a bit different, but there was now a sense of calm in following our daily routine . We connected individually on a regular basis with each child and their family Sometimes they needed to ask a question about an assignment, but mostly it was to check in emotionally, just share a personal moment or a virtual hug We needed our community even if our community was being fostered virtually We all needed it: the kids and the teachers
We had real conversations about feelings, stressors, and the sadness that we simply cannot be together right now . It is important to validate these feelings and share with our students that we all are feeling it Sure, there was traditional learning happening in all of this too . We held math and reading groups, we worked on research for passion projects, writing and sharing stories It was also important for our students to see us learn in this process There were times students helped us with technology! We all learned valuable skills in communication, prioritization, collaboration, creativity, and flexibility We believe that we were able to get through this strange time together because of the connections and relationships we had built with our students and families before the closing . This is just who we are and what we do . Our Roeper values of teaching the whole child, mindfulness, creating life-long relationships, and community is what brought us together to be a resilient community of learners We cannot wait for the moment we can see our current students in person We miss them terribly We will continue to do whatever it takes for our families and for each other to get through this .
— LISA MOMBLANCO & LORI TALBOTT Stage III Faculty
KELLY …
AT FIRST … After a strange and stressful week of pandemic-teaching planning (a phrase I never imagined uttering), which consisted of learning entirely new digital platforms, adapting course material to a new medium, and redesigning classes that had finally begun to feel “seasoned,” I logged into my first virtual class meeting I clicked my calendar link and waited Soon, one-by-one, the communication bubbles of my students began to populate my screen . I exhaled … feeling a sense of relief just to know that they were there, that they had shown up, that we had managed to find each other within this strange new landscape . In this moment, I thought to myself: “Ok, we can do this We’ve got this ”
THE HUMANITY… The weeks that followed were certainly not without their challenges, and I found myself having to regroup and alter course on a number of occasions However, with all of its bumps and bruises, humanity persisted … stubborn thing that it is!
I have always believed equally in the intellectual and emotional value of art and literature I have always found comfort and solace in the great works . And I have always believed that education is nothing if it is not relevant and relatable to the lives of our students So … I decided to focus on this during our home learning program We had spent many months learning how to interrogate a narrative, how to argue a point, how to compile our thoughts into cogent essays This academic upheaval, this cultural tectonic shift brought with it new demands … different needs . The times called for ingenuity, flexibility, and empathy — in even greater amounts So this is the place we started from . We slowed down, and we breathed . Academic essays became creative reflections, formal presentations were replaced by informal sharing sessions, tests and quizzes gave way to more human conversations We read aloud together, watched films, looked at art, listened to music, talked about themes and meaning, and made connections For example, during our Harlem Renaissance unit in AP English, I asked each student to find a piece of art of the movement (poem, song, photograph, painting) to share with the class . Changing what, in our traditional environment, had been an academic essay into a creative reflection turned out to be inspirational
and cathartic as it allowed us to relax and explore the material in a more free-form, experimental way, which seemed to be what we all needed during an anxious time .
WHAT I’VE LEARNED … When this is behind us, I hope that the unavoidable contemplation of the bonds we share in all aspects of our lives between family and friends, students and teachers, colleagues, community members, local and global citizens lives on
As for education, I hope that it causes us to reimagine our priorities and protocols on local, national, and global levels . In a way that none of us could’ve expected, this pandemic has sharply revealed what we, as a society, have gotten wrong about education as well as what we’ve gotten right We see examples all around us When all adornment is stripped away, when we must distill what we do into its most essential parts, it becomes glaringly clear that it’s not about test scores, meeting benchmarks, artificial measurements of intelligence or skill In the end, nobody will remember the score they got on the AP exam (sorry, AP students; I didn’t tell you this while you were studying)
I think we’ve always known this at Roeper; it’s just that it has come undeniably front and center Due to circumstances none of us could have imagined, we have been moved to consider what it is exactly that we do and how it is useful — beyond the walls of our school . We have no building, no physical classes, activities, or events So, then, what do we have? I’ve asked myself this question often over the past weeks, and I keep returning to one word … love I think that’s it, plain and simple At its core and more than anything else, it’s love that motivates and inspires learning . . . learning IS love And even at a time of pandemic shortages, we have no shortage of love at Roeper Love is not toilet paper At Roeper, love abounds, and humanity rules! I knew this before, but I have re-learned it in a particularly visceral way — ironically, through my computer screen
I’m not sure what this will look like eventually . . . how we will remember this time or what its lasting effects will be But I think we already know that this jarring detour and overnight alteration of everything we do … may not have been school, in the traditional sense, but oh was it learning! … of the deep, profound, affecting kind! This doesn’t
mean that everything worked or went smoothly, without a hitch But it does mean that we were so very fortunate to be able to continue our work together and to have what we do become unavoidably relevant, meaningful, and connected to the world in ways that none of us could have imagined and won’t ever forget . We can say that, while it wasn’t perfect, we were here together And it mattered Deeply
— KELLY McDOWELL Upper School English Faculty
When we were first met with the challenge of moving classes online, I was at a loss as to what to do as an art teacher With ceramics projects locked in the buildings, sculpture and printmaking supplies unavailable, and a quick online poll revealing a wide range of access to art supplies (from plenty to virtually none) for my students, I realized that I would need to shift our focus away from materials-based projects, and focus more on projects that used creative thinking as art . I decided that I’d treat all of my classes as “Art” class and let go of their previous distinctions (no more Printmaking, Masks and Headdresses or Ceramics) . In an effort to lessen the load on my students, anyone in more than one of my art classes could just chose one to participate in
As I tried to think of what type of projects to do with my classes, a silly video that I saw online jumped out at me It’s called Sock Puppet Eating Cars (you should totally Google it) and was made by someone stuck in quarantine, who makes a sock puppet look like it’s eating the cars that go by on the street below, set to video game sound effects . I could relate to the urge to create something while confined, to try and control something in your environment during so much uncertainty, and the humor it provided My classes’ first online project was to make their own short video inspired by this goofy little one I nervously recorded a video describing the project, typed up a description, and submitted them into what felt the internet void, unsure of what would happen next
What happened was inspiring . My kids made stopmotion animation, played with perspective to make it look like they were jumping into top hats, coming out of bottles, being crushed by giant shoes, and
SARA …
puppeteering their siblings . I watched every video like I was receiving a small gift And I got an email from a parent who has siblings in my art classes It said, “I just wanted to share my appreciation for the hour of giggles and collaboration you provided in my house today Amidst all of the turmoil of change and the moments of anxiety and sadness, this was an especially refreshing scene I am internally apologizing to ‘the arts’ writ large that I didn’t ever really fully understand how important they were until this crazy pandemic ”
Affirmed of the role that creativity and creating can play in maintaining our mental health during times of crisis, my classes and I fell into a rhythm of meeting weekly to talk about our next small project, something that would ask us to look at our newly limited environment with the eyes of an artist, and to slow down, observe and create We curated museums of tiny things we found around our houses; we lay down outside and made art showing what we saw in the clouds; we stuck figures to our windows that looked like they were interacting with the view outside; we played drawing games together that resulted in surreally absurd scenes . And as students shared their work online, we practiced encouraging each other’s artmaking with comments that gave specific praise, hoping to simulate a little of the interaction that we would have had if we were working together in the art studio
I don’t think we really can replace the experience of being together and creating art inside of the studio with any experience online But I’m hoping that I was able to continue providing a creative refuge for my students during our time learning at home, if only for a little while
Examples of art made at home by M/US students during quarantine can be found here: https://www roepershowcase org/middle-upper-school-artgallery
— SARA MENDEZ ’96 Middle/Upper School Art Faculty
Like many people, my days immediately became overwhelming when our lives changed in March We were going to need to make heavy use of new
technologies in order to continue the school year and much of the responsibility for making it work fell to my department I felt the pressure I needed to be there for the school, for my family and to help my own kids with home learning
But it turned out that even though things were difficult, there were a lot of beautiful things happening at the same time I reminded myself every morning that I had an amazing opportunity in the upcoming day to serve a community I care about . My family seemed more together and connected as we saw each other more often We celebrated my oldest son’s birthday with a home escape room party . I put a little chair in my office so my youngest son could do his reading homework there, and we could have a little more togetherness in the day . We played board games and card games as a family
Another amazing highlight has been seeing the spirit of the Roeper community I think you can tell the true character of people when you see how they react when faced with a difficult challenge In this time I’ve seen my coworkers step up to the challenge of learning new technologies on very short notice in order to keep the school running I saw teachers completely changing the way they teach and even changing their curriculum on the fly to make the new learning format work I saw them working together to figure out how to best use the new technology tools we needed to put in place People worked LONG hours Stage II teachers came by our house in a parade of cars as part of the Moving Up celebration Families found ways to support each other and to show appreciation for their teachers . My coworkers on the IT team went above and beyond with hard work, great ideas, and they kept a good outlook through it all .
Thank you, Roeper community, for the love you show to our kids, for your dedication, for all of your hard work, and for your resiliency Things have not been easy but despite that, you have shown up and created meaningful and memorable experiences for our kids I appreciate each one of you .
— BRIAN DURST IT Manager & Current Parent
BRIAN …
JONAH …
MY QUARANTINE EXPERIENCE
First off, let me say one thing: Learning at home is HARD Some of it was nice, like sleeping in and having more free time to relax and pursue my hobbies
On the other hand, it was kind of hard to stay on top of work, and sometimes the assignments just didn’t come through . This got me into a fair few “chats” with my parents about staying on top of homework
I was probably just not used to the format of online learning, AND, I guess maybe I was slacking a little bit . Sometimes I wasn’t sure how to get help with stuff, so I was guilty of just skipping something if I didn’t understand it Aside from that, I DID like the independence of being able to decide when to do work, but I also got into the habit of just putting it off (unfortunately) .
It was also difficult to stay connected with friends I really missed hanging out with friends in person, (and I still do), but thank God for FaceTime
That mostly sums up my experience with home school I hope this all ends soon
— JONAH CETNER Stage IV Student
REN …
QUARANTINE AND ONLINE LEARNING
At the beginning of the year, when we were coming back from winter break, some of my classmates were talking about some disease that had no cure and was infecting copious amounts of people But back then, I never ever realized that it would come to quarantine to stop the spread of COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) Now that we are doing online learning, new advantages and disadvantages for online learning have popped up . Here they are
Something I found out about quarantine was that it could trigger deep emotion Emotions that weren’t used frequently like anger and sadness are now
being used often . Sometimes I had to step back from schoolwork and take a few deep breaths or jumping jacks to calm down Another thing about quarantine was that some topics in school were either cut short or missed completely In some of my classes, some of the lessons or units were shorter . It was probably because of the oneweek transition between actual school and online learning Another disadvantage is you can’t see your friends You can only see them over video conference Also, some of the fun events we do at the end of the year had to be altered or cancelled because of quarantine
One advantage of online learning is you can learn in the comfort of your home Everything happens at home You have time in your day to read, draw, or do any other home activity you don’t normally do at school Another advantage is that you can wake up later in the day Normally, you would have to wake up early, eat breakfast, and get ready, not to mention the drive to school Now you can wake up later and still be on time . Another advantage to some people is that the amount of assignments is reduced This gives more time for other home activities . For Middle School online learning was that the assignment load on Wednesday was reduced In addition to that, the last day of school was moved from June 10 th to June 8th Finally, some of the finals for classes aren’t happening due to the online learning system This effects people in different ways because some people might have wanted to do the finals Others might be relieved because there’s less work .
In conclusion, online learning can be a stress for some people, and slightly fun for others . Online learning also has advantages and disadvantages that can affect people in different ways But we can persevere, and I hope to see you some time next school year Stay strong, stay home, and stay safe!
— REN YAMAMOTO Grade 6 Student
One of the main things that helped me get through this time of staying at home was having a good workspace set up . In the first couple of weeks of online learning my desk was downstairs in an open room, which made it hard to focus because
LEIF …
of the noise . At first, we were hesitant to move my workspace to my room because we thought that it could mess with my sleep, but we figured out that we could just hang a curtain from the ceiling which would block my workspace from my sleeping space This was much better, as there was less noise, and my productivity level went up My workspace has an office chair, a desk and bookshelves to the left These bookshelves have all of my books and school supplies I chose to put my desk facing the wall and my window to the side so it would not distract me too much . Having my space set up like this helped me greatly
with my family, playing games, watching movies, playing basketball and soccer with my dad, etc Keeping with my normal life activities helped me stay physically and mentally balanced .
— LEIF AXELARRIS Grade 6 Student
KATELYN …
Another thing that helped me was my organizational system On Sunday or Monday, I would print out all of the assignment sheets for that week and put them up on the wall in front of my desk This was helpful because I could quickly check the homework and not waste any time on finding the sheet on Edmodo On Sunday, my mom would print out my global grid calendar with just my classes, which was good for telling what TEAMS meetings I had that day Each day I would do my first block assignment during first period, second block during second period and so on . This was good because then it felt like there was only one class to focus on at a time rather than getting stressed out by trying to do all of them at once Even if I did fall one or two periods behind, I would just do the next class in line I would also do any leftover assignments that evening and any long-term projects I made sure to get done over the weekend . I also did not let myself get behind in my work, and even if I did get a little behind, I would just do the work during my free block or after school . If I had any questions, I would email the teacher and usually get my answer back quickly This organizational system was very beneficial to productivity and my stress level .
Another thing that helped me feel successful in this time of home learning was the way I spent my life outside of class time I was part of the track team, which was great, because it made me feel motivated to go for runs on most days, and when I didn’t go for a run I would usually bike for a bit and play a bit of basketball . I also stayed connected with my friends by playing Xbox with them For the most part, I kept on my usual sleep schedule, which helped me not get too tired during the day I also continued to eat healthily and had a midafternoon snack so I could run right after track meeting I have also been spending more time
Online school was hard and something that I had never done before I have been going to school at Roeper for almost my entire schooling career, and I have gotten used to a consistent everyday routine For me personally, change is difficult, and it was especially hard because I didn’t foresee this happening . During in-person schooling, keeping up with assignments and other class events was never challenging for me; neither was studying effectively, but I had to adapt to online school and change some of my habits During online school I had to do a lot more self-studying, and I actually kind of like that I know I don’t speak for a lot of people when I say this, but for me personally I like the flexibility of online school . I like how I got to sleep in and get all my assignments done before homeroom at the end of the day This gave me more free time to go outside and do activities with my family In all my classes I felt less engaged in how I was learning, but in some classes, it was easier for me to participate During class time online it was hard to be hands-on and involved —especially in sciences classes while trying to do a lab During classes where there are a lot of students, I often have trouble sharing my thoughts, and online class made this less stressful for me .
Most of my peers and friends that I have talked to agree that online school is difficult . As high school students during in-person school we received a fair amount of homework to do in each class pretty regularly Each class pretty much has their own system of how things were done during school My friends that I have talked to agree that we had to check several different places to find all our homework All classes had you turn in your work on either Edmodo, Microsoft Teams, email, and OneDrive folder I know that I speak for a lot of students when I say that it’s hard to keep track of where to find and turn in assignments for each class As time went on it got easier, but I think it would be helpful if there was one place or site
During online school students not only missed out on seeing their friends, but also missed out on different spring sports and group competitions It was disappointing to have prepared so long for an event for it then to be understandably cancelled A lot of students missed events like this the most
There are a couple of strategies that helped me become successful as well as on top of online school An example of the first strategy — if I have English homework I do it during my normal class block, even if there isn’t the online class . This was helpful because I wouldn’t forget to do assignments, and I got them in early This in turn decreased worry and stress . The second strategy that was helpful is, when I’m trying to do schoolwork or have a class, to be in a separate room away from all possible distractions . I am someone who gets easily distracted by people and noises, so this was extremely helpful The third strategy I used is messaging my friends or teachers when I needed help or had questions with an assignment A lot of times when my friends and I don’t have a class we would work on homework together, or we would just chill and talk All of my teachers were really helpful and happy to help students with any questions or issues Once I established my own routine, online school became less difficult!
Online school brought different challenges, but had some highlights as well One challenge that immediately comes to mind is the fluctuation of how many classes I have in one day . Some days of the week I could have almost all my classes and others I could have only one or two Mondays and Tuesdays were especially challenging, and I was given the most work as well on those days, but this could have only applied to me Another challenge of online school is remembering to turn in assignments on time When we had inperson school a lot of the teachers would remind the students the day before the due date Online school gives the students more responsibility for their learning and their grades .
A huge highlight of online school for me was sleeping in . I got more sleep than when we had in-person school Another highlight is I could take breaks whenever I didn’t have an online class I really liked having my classes spaced out so that I could chill out and have a brain break I think that I speak for a lot of people when I say that the most challenging part of online school was not seeing my friends in-person every day Socializing in my mind is a very important part of school, and makes it more fun I missed seeing my teachers, friends, and peers every day, and this helped me realize how lucky I am to go to a school like ours .
— KATELYN
TEETSEL
Grade 9 Student F
KIT
CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE TASK FORCES
Resiliency is a foundational characteristic of The Roeper School.
As we consider various scenarios for the 2020/2021 school year, there is a dedicated group of community members who are engaged in significant planning to better understand what is safe … what is practical … and what is aligned with the Roeper mission and philosophy.
This exceptional group, as well as other faculty and staff members who did earlier planning work during the spring, have been working hard to plan and coordinate programming and determine the operational and governance needs necessary to guide our school into the next year and through the COVID-19 pandemic.
We applaud their individual and collective efforts!
TASK FORCE MEMBERS
STEERING
David Feldman
Dave Fluent
Alana Glass ’97
Ashley Lowe
Lori Lutz ’75
Julie Nemchik
Clay Thomas
Emily Wine
COMMUNITY WELLNESS
Francis Allen ’21
Preetha Balakrishnan
Alyse Belkin
Lisa Botessi
Micah Brown
Teena Chopra
Amy Cova
Marie Halprin
Leslie Hosey
Carolyn Lett
Ashley Lowe
Jason McIntosh
Ruby McKeever ’23
Reanne Young
Ron Zill
Lori Zinser
PERSONNEL
Leslie Bailey
Buck Baker
Brian Corley
Lori Lutz ’75
Kenny Miller
Susannah Nichols
Janet Szeto
Scott Vartanian
TEACHING & PROGRAM
Andi Akkashian
Eric Ambrose
Lisa Botessi
Ernesto Chavez
Brian Corley
David Feldman
Cynthia Harris
Ellen Hoppe
Leslie Hosey
Dan Jacobs
Karen Johnson
Kevin Kildea
Susan Knight
Barb Lasecki-Webb
Kelly McDowell
Kendra McKenzie
Lisa Momblanco
Dianne O’Connor
Patrick Ratliff
Emily Roland
Paula Romano
Deb Veillette
Hale Williams ’09
COMMUNICATIONS
Alana Glass ’97
Anessa Kramer ’89
Sarah Miller
Anthony Morrow
Kari Papadopolous
Marcia Ruff
Tom Wilkinson
FINANCIAL & LEGAL
Colleen Allen
Linda Ban
Denita Banks-Sims
Paul Borja
Dave Fluent
Michael Gloster
Steve Milbeck
John Sznewajs
Clay Thomas
Laurie Welsh
CAMPUS OPERATIONS
Vern Arnold
Linda Ban
Andrew Blechman
Ray Boyl
Ryan Boyl
Abha Dearing
Brian Durst
Dave Fluent
Alison Mitchell
Julie Nemchik
Tonia O’Rourke
Eric Peterson ’95
Paula Romano
Ed Sack
Amber Webb
Brian Wilmers
Emily Wine
KIT NEXT CHAPTERS: DEPARTING FACULTY
Michele Buttermore
For Michele Buttermore, the smiling Stage II teacher retiring this year after 28 years, “This is not the way to end a career!” Not because of any problems, but because, as an inveterate hugger, Covid-19 has kept her from hugging every child and family member she could “I’m leaving happily because it’s time to go and because I’m leaving the kids in good hands, but I will take pieces of people’s hearts with me, and leave parts of mine with others, because that’s the kind of place Roeper is . ”
Michele first came to Roeper when her husband was considering a move to Detroit She stopped by the school during camp season with her young son, Ian, and was struck by how happy everyone was When the family moved to Detroit a year later in 1987, she looked at a number of schools but brought Ian to Roeper as a Stage II student . A long-time public school teacher, Michele saw an ad for a homeroom teacher at an unnamed private school . She applied not knowing which school it was, and only found out when she got a call for an interview that it was Roeper . She was hired as a Stage III homeroom teacher
Michele became one of the “Four M’s” in Stage III, along with Mary Windram, Meryl Taback, and Margaret Hirozawa What she remembered most about that year was the extraordinary collegiality of the teachers from Stage III, IV, and the Specials Teachers who were located at the back of the Bloomfield Hills campus, such as Emery Pence (Science) and Jarie Ruddy (Art) The Four M’s had lunch together every day in a teacher’s lounge that occupied the Hill House room that is now David’s office “I learned so much from them as we talked about what worked that day and what didn’t,” said Michele
The next year, Michele and her family moved to Seattle when her husband Curt’s work took him there Sad to leave Roeper, Michele was reassured by Margaret Hirozawa that they were going to the one place with another Roeper — The Little School in Seattle, which was founded by Eleanor Siegl, a Roeper parent and music teacher in the 1950s who became an educator because of her experience at Roeper and her close friendship with Annemarie .
In 1993, the family came back to Detroit and Ian and Michele returned to Roeper, Ian to Stage IV and Michele to Stage II this time As a teacher, Michele found Roeper to be the place that gave her the autonomy to do whatever she thought her children needed One key thing for Michele was to create a place where the happiness that attracted her to the school for her own child exists for every child She has also appreciated her growth as a person and as a teacher as the result of an atmosphere that encourages children and adults to be open to learning new things, to make mistakes, and to learn from them .
“We were always trying to learn, and open our minds to other people’s ideas,” Michele said “I learn something from my kids all the time ” This year she learned more about Islam from a Muslim student, more about bugs from a student who shared her affection for spiders, and more about ways to cope with being overstimulated from a student who trusted her enough to share the things that helped him “It’s a beautiful thing,” she said .
After retiring, Michele will move full-time to Fripp Island, a barrier island off the South Carolina coast, where she and Curt have had a home for more than 20 years There is a Head Start program she plans to volunteer with, and the history connected to the Gullah Geechee culture to explore Her son, Ian ’00, who is now a high-school History and Humanities teacher at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA, had to delay his June wedding because of the pandemic, so there is still that to enjoy . You can reach her at mmbuttermore@aol.com, or at 248/421-0995 F
Linda Vernon
Linda Vernon, the retiring Yearbook advisor and Student Life Coordinator on the Birmingham campus, describes her path to Roeper as a “wacky” one, but it is a quintessentially Roeper path in one way As a new parent, Linda just kept doing more and more at the school until someone noticed that she had a journalism degree from Michigan State and hired her to teach Yearbook and Journalism .
Marcia Ruff School Historian
In 1983, Linda’s daughter, Sara ‘96, started at Roeper in Stage II Since they were driving in from Farmington Hills, Linda decided volunteering at the school looked like more fun than two roundtrips a day She started leading the first Brownie troop in Stage II and became active with the Parent Council . She helped out in Admissions and put her journalism degree to work in the Development Department as editor, writer and photographer of the school newsletter, then called the Roeper Record In her spare time, she filled in on the switchboard for the School Secretary
In 1993, Linda began her official time at Roeper when then-Head Chuck Webster asked her to become the first yearbook advisor She started with the US, added a MS yearbook class and coordinated on a LS yearbook In 1998, she moved into journalism, teaching and advising for the US newspaper, which had been an ad hoc publication with changing names When Linda became the journalism teacher, the paper finally settled into the regular publication we know as Tuna Talk
The Student Life Coordinator job came when Mariann Hoag retired in 1993 Mariann, who started working at the school in 1948 and had developed almost every administrative procedure at the school, had also developed the end-of-year traditions: Commencement, Junior-Senior Dinner, Founders Day, and Kensington When she retired, she designated Linda as her successor, and the Student Life Coordinator position was born Since Mariann had also been the school’s contact person with alumni, Linda’s work as Alumni Coordinator was another “succession” she inherited from Mariann
Linda’s closeness to the community was cemented when her son, Alex, in Stage III at the time, developed a rare form of cancer During those long months of treatment, when Linda was living in Ronald McDonald House as often as not, and Sara was a senior, the Roeper community came together in support One teacher took Sara in to live with them, and parents filmed Sara’s volleyball games and other activities so Linda could see them Colleagues helped juggle her workload and pick up the slack . “There is nothing I won’t do for this school, because they got us through some really rough times,” said Linda
Alex has recovered, and Sara, now Sara Mendez, is a teacher at Roeper, starting as a Spanish teacher and now teaching Art in the M/US, drawing on her degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Sara’s son, Filo, is in Stage III, so the family connection continues Because of the roles Linda has played and the 27 years she has been here, she has a unique relationship with alumni, and is often the first person they look in on when they visit Indeed, one of the things she’ll miss most is the surprise and delight when alumni drop by unexpectedly .
This year’s unexpected trajectory changed her last year at the school . She was looking forward to being on the same campus as Sara, dropping in during free blocks, and she was looking forward to having her own “senior spring .” On the other hand, she was proud of her yearbook staff, which still had more pages to do when the lockdown came They finished the pages up from home and got them to the publisher in Dallas before that state locked down . Indeed, finishing promptly put them at the head of the line for when the publisher reopened, so this year’s issue will only be a few weeks late . Linda’s notorious insistence on deadlines (“Texas doesn’t care if your dog died”) paid off
The pandemic has altered her retirement plans
A major foodie, Linda was planning to head to New England and gorge on seafood, and then travel around the country and the world (which she hasn’t had time to do), visiting alumni and sampling local food Until the virus allows her to travel again, she’ll happily make do with her other retirement plan — spending more time with her “awesome” grandson, Filo Linda invites anyone who wants to reach her after she leaves Roeper to email her at lizzlevizzle1@gmail.com . F
Sheh Yi Chu
There is perhaps no teacher who walks faster through the Birmingham hallways, but also no teacher who is greeted by more students as she passes than Sheh Yi The MS Math teacher is retiring this year after 22 years at Roeper An indefatigable member of the community, Sheh Yi is always the first to arrive and the last to leave, staying till the last chair at the potluck is folded or
the last plant order is tallied As for teaching math, a subject notorious for triggering phobias, Sheh Yi would meet students before school, after school, at lunch or during free block
As Emery Pence describes it, “Sheh Yi would give you a kidney if it would help you to learn ” All she asks is that you make the effort, a demand she places on herself in equal measure .
In some ways, Sheh Yi doesn’t seem like a natural fit for Roeper — a person committed to the notion that anything can be done with enough effort, in a place where folks sometimes skate by on effortless talent and struggle with persistence In fact, Sheh Yi’s monumental ability to be present, her intense awareness of every detail, her clarity about seeing each person for who they are is the essence of the Roeper ideal
For her part, Sheh Yi often expressed gratitude for finding a place where she could grow, a place she wished she’d found earlier, and especially for her two sons As a member of the 6th Grade Team, the group that meets to manage the students’ social, emotional and academic transition to Middle School, Sheh Yi listened, asked questions, wrestled with explanations, and contributed her close observations of each headache, each upset stomach, each drop in grade, each bit of overheard gossip that might indicate a problem for a student . “She was always looking for ways to better understand,” said Linda Pence Sheh Yi spent her summers preparing, taking courses, and constantly upgrading her skills, as well as making an annual trip to her native Taiwan to see family .
The consummate homeroom teacher, Sheh Yi was a skilled communicator with parents and endlessly supportive of her students Her annual trips to Wolverine allowed Sheh Yi to show a playful side that wasn’t always visible at school . The surprise of watching Sheh Yi delightedly building snowmen, rolling down sand dunes and tubing down hills
endeared her all the more to her students and colleagues She always wanted to go to Ohiopyle, and as a 7th Grade Homeroom Teacher this would have been her year but for Covid-19 .
Sheh Yi’s contributions to the school were constant, unstinting and far-reaching . It’s hard to imagine a day ending without Sheh Yi’s voice on the loudspeaker telling us, “The day is over and it is time to go now ” We’ll just have to remember to do that on our own F
Stacy Holloman
At the faculty end-of-year luncheon, a colleague called Stacy Holloman, the Stage IV Head Teacher retiring after 20 years at Roeper, “the conscience of the school ” No one disagreed Stacy, a member of the original cohort to receive training as a SEED leader, has been a powerful voice for honesty and varied perspectives for her colleagues and her students
“How do you teach kids about the world? How do you teach kids how to think? How do you teach kids how to understand there are multiple vantage points, and multiple versions of the same story, and that until you’ve looked at several of them, you don’t really know what happened,” said Stacy “That been my philosophy of teaching, not to teach a certain fact or anything, but to teach the art of thinking and the art of always questioning ”
Stacy came to Roeper after several other careers With an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, Stacy first worked at Ford as a climate control engineer Being a black female engineer in the 1980s was a hard road, but Stacy found support and challenge . She started working on a law degree at night, and when she finished took a position at a firm She discovered, however, that she loved studying law but wasn’t a fan of life in a highly stressful firm After having her first child, she moved on . “I’m not sad to have done any of that,” said Stacy “It worked to make me who I am ”
When her daughter, Stephanie ‘09, was ready for kindergarten, Stacy brought her to Roeper for
Stage II Her son, Roland ‘12, started the next year in Stage I in the Hill House Since Stacy wasn’t working at the time, she started subbing at Roeper, and in 2000 became a Team Teacher in Stage I with Colleen Shelton, where she stayed for 10 years “That time with Colleen was my time to learn where I wanted to place my interests,” said Stacy “Then when I got into the SEED piece, that really elevated it and that became my interest That’s how I began to teach through that lens . ”
SEED is a ground-breaking national program that trains teachers to then lead their colleagues through a program of self-reflection and dialogue to build more equitable communities . Stacy went as part of the first cohort in the summer of 2007 with Carolyn Lett, who brought the program to Roeper, for training that was consuming, exhilarating and eye-opening She has served as one of the school’s SEED leaders since then
Stacy has served in many other roles at the school She taught in Stage II for five years, taught US Health, served as a Board Member, and taught her last five years in Stage IV It was in Stage IV that she was really able to deepen her particular approach “We did some diversity work in Stage II, but in Stage IV I’m able to whip out the Constitution, and we can go through it and I can ask questions, like, so when they made this amendment, who did it include, who did it exclude and why do you think that was the case,” she said She partnered with US students in American Government classes this year to study the evolution of voting rights After the Stage IV and US students taught each other, she had her students present their findings to their parents, another signature technique in Stacy’s classroom: “When you learn, then you pass it on and teach it to someone else ”
In thinking about her career at Roeper, the impact that will linger for Stacy is the relationships “I would say it would just be in general the relationships, and the impact that those relationships have had on me, and the impact that I’ve been able to have on other people,” she said “It’s been a place that has allowed me to grow and learn and connect . It’s made me a better person, and I hope that along the way I’ve helped to make other people feel the same way, whether it’s a kid in my classroom, or a parent who I’ve helped through a hard time, or a colleague, whether we were supporting each other or just laughing and
having a good time We’ve made connections and established true relationships, meaningful, deep relationships ”
Retirement was supposed to start off with a big trip with her four siblings, followed by celebrations for her 35th anniversary, her husband’s milestone birthday, and her own retirement The pandemic has put a pause to those, but there’s no doubt that Stacy will make those celebrations happen as soon as anyone could You can reach her in retirement at sholloman@yahoo.com F
Lisa Bagchi
Middle School English teacher Lisa Bagchi didn’t get to go to Roeper as a child, but she got to teach at Roeper for almost her whole career and figures that was probably a worthwhile swap When she was six, her family applied to Roeper (she still has her acceptance letter), but they weren’t able to swing it financially She went instead Birmingham Schools Every time she went up Adams to Derby, though, she chuckled at the Styrofoam wig head someone, in some shenanigan, had stuck on the roof of Roeper, where it stayed for years “That’s the place for me,” she’d think
After graduating from college and getting her teaching certificate in secondary English, Lisa was subbing in the area in 1997 when her mother called her to say a long-time sub position had opened midyear at Roeper Lisa was subbing at Dondero in Royal Oak that day, called from the classroom phone at lunch, and started at Roeper that week The school hired her to finish the year, teaching 6th and 9th grade English, and then hired her full-time that fall “So I didn’t go to school at Roeper, but this is where I grew up,” she said . “I was just a whipper-snapper when I arrived here at 27 ”
Lisa had always expected to teach high school English but was surprised to find that “I fell in love with 6th grade,” she said As she thinks about her approach to teaching, joy and play are the two qualities she seeks to elicit, and she found the playfulness of 6th graders in sync with those qualities . As a Middle School English teacher, her goal was to develop in her students “a passion for reading, to engender the idea that stories are so much fun ” She has taught Core and Elective English classes and a few Health classes, as well of course as going to Wolverine more times than she can count, Toronto and Chicago Lisa has also enjoyed being a homeroom teacher, appreciating the opportunity to get to know whole families and their dynamics
“Roeper shaped me in understanding about human beings, how to nurture kids, help them feel important, confident and cared for,” she said “I’ve always said, I’m so spoiled There is so much joy in the small classes, and in the diversity of kids — every one of them a Roeper kid . Every day is like theatre ”
Lisa took four years off after her son was born and came back to Roeper in 2004 She briefly tutored at another school while she was off, which renewed her affection for Roeper . Asked what the school had meant for her as a teacher, Lisa said, “I don’t even have the words for it This school gave me so much and created such a foundation for me . The roots formed here will be with me forever ”
The decision to leave Roeper was not an easy one, but she felt it that if she was going to explore something new, now, after 19 years at Roeper, was the time “The next chapter will be marked by exploration, tapping into new passions, and finding new things,” she said . Lisa will offer one-on-one tutoring and explore possibilities to expand the teaching that she loves into a larger, more holistic guidance or counseling path . She is a painter and also wants to rekindle her passion there You can contact Lisa in the future at lisabagchi20@gmail. com F
KIT PASSINGS
SHEILA TANNER CAIN, CLASS OF 1971*
Sheila passed away in Michigan on April 14, 2020, at the age of 66 as the result of complications from multiple sclerosis Sheila was the first African-American student at Roeper when she entered in 1955 at the age of two Her mother, Dr Natalia Tanner, was a pioneering pediatrician in Detroit who had gotten to know Annemarie through an informal child development study group that met in Detroit Sheila attended Roeper through ninth grade and then transferred to Cass Tech in Detroit for high school Roeper had several buses in those days, and starting at age three, Sheila rode the bus from her home in the Russell Woods neighborhood of Detroit as it picked up students all the way through Birmingham In a 2010 interview, she talked about how fun the bus was, particularly in the 1960s when the talk got more political . “If you didn’t watch the news the night before, you really didn’t have much to talk about on the bus,” she said
A dancer and an actress all through her time at Roeper, Sheila became part of the Children’s Touring Theater at Cass Sheila went to the University of Michigan as an undergraduate and also for law school, graduating in 1978 She specialized in maritime law and joined a firm in New York City . She stayed only a few years in New York and returned to Detroit in the early 1980s, where she resided for the rest of her life There will be a memorial at a later date, according to her sister, Anita Cain Longs ‘74* The family requested that anyone desiring to make a donation in Sheila’s memory contribute to the COVID-19 organization of your choice F
BETH SARA GREENAPPLE
Beth, former Stage II team teacher and mom of Nadav Pais-Greenapple ’17, passed away on March 2, 2020 after a long battle with brain cancer Beth was a lifelong educator and lover of music, and brought her love for music, her singing voice, and her guitar with her wherever she could, making an indelible impact on many in the metro Detroit Jewish community She was a founding member and early president of the Jewish Gay Network of Michigan, and made huge strides in pushing for the acceptance of LGBT Jews in the local community . F
KIT
AlumniUPDATES
CHARLIE UCHNO ’18 > became SNUGS National’s CFO SNUGS National’s mission is to organize free swim instruction for special needs children by engaging university students with their communities . Charlie is currently earning a Bachelor’s degree in physics and economics at Yale and hopes to start his own summer camp for children of all abilities someday . In addition to joining the team at SNUGS National, Charlie also works as a lifeguard, captains his intramural broomball team, and plays saxophone in Yale’s marching band .
< MAHA HASHWI’s ’16 impact as the Muslim Student Association President at NYU Tandon School of Engineering was recently highlighted in the Washington Square News, NYU’s Independent Student Newspaper For Maha, being the president of an organization that does incredible things is not just about the status or the title; it’s about the statement she makes by simply being a woman of faith in a world that often portrays Muslim women oppressed and subordinate . “My focus and interest has always been on environmental and social justice, together,” Maha said “My goal is to work with communities to try and speak for them, with them and help them I don’t know what that means for me, but I know that’s what I want to do ”
< CLARA BIRD ’14 is a graduate student in the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna lab at Oregon State University Her current research is focused on using drones to study how gray whale behavior varies across space, time, and individuals off the coast of
Oregon . Clara has also done work with the Duke University Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing lab using drones to study Adelie penguins, humpback whales, and minke whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula
ANNA GILLIKIN ’16 > was the featured alumni presenter at the annual Alex Frank Poetry Collective held in the Dean Acheson Theatre on March 6, 2020 She read three poems: Love Poem, Two Birds, and a piece from a series of alphabetical alliterative poems titled A In addition, Anna also delighted the audience with a bonus poem during open mic called God’s a Capitalist, Just Like the Rest of ‘Em
CONNOR WELSH
’10 > matched into Barrow Neurological Institute, located in the Greater Phoenix Area, for a four- year residency in neurology with plans to pursue a fellowship in neurocritical care and interventional neurology . He is graduating in the top 10 of his class of 260+ from Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona Connor is still active in music and music journalism, releasing his sixth album this summer and is also an editor for an online music news/review publication He is engaged to Paige Fratamico, a surgical trauma nurse, and they are planning to marry in Petoskey this September
CHARLIE WHITE ’05 & Meryl Davis were inducted into the U .S . Figure Skating Hall of Fame! Charlie and Meryl competed together from 1997 to 2014, becoming the longest-tenured ice dancing team in U .S . Figure Skating history . They won two world championships, three Olympic medals, five Grand Prix Final medals in a row from 2009 to 2013, and six consecutive U .S . titles from 2009 to
Juliette Olejnik Direcotr of Alumni Relations & Annual Fund
PHOTO COURTESY OF WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
2014 The duo went out on top, winning their Olympic gold medal as well as a bronze medal in the team event in 2014, in addition to going undefeated in their final two seasons .
ALEX GOROSH ’03 recently directed and narrated a short film for The Nantucket Project in partnership with Intel . Around the world, cities are growing To understand how we may be able to adapt to this urban population boom, Alex traveled to Tokyo, the biggest and arguably the most efficient city in the world https://vimeo.com/386 752593?fbclid=IwAR228ZowstTsK6NqzTeV1HuI5f 0c_vbZAm661LMss7Ry0FdWaMndtN7vzA0
< HERMAN MARABLE JR ’80 was the alumni keynote speaker at this year’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr . Candlelight Walk on January 20, 2020 Herman spoke eloquently of being a young child in Flint in the late ’60s and the courage his parents reflected in sending him — on a bus — to a school in Bloomfield Hills . Herman talked about how foundational his Roeper education was to his decision to pursue a legal career devoted to justice Today, Herman continues to inspire citizens from young to old as a creative and respected District Court Judge in his hometown of Flint
HEATHER JOY THOMPSON ’95 > was recently featured in the Dove Amplified Textures TV commercial, My Hair My Way “Heather Joy, US Diplomat, is un-stoppable, confident and beautiful!” You can view the commercial at www.ispot.tv/ad/ nYz6/dove-amplified-texturesjourney-to-natural-hair.
LAUREL ROBINSON SHADA ’16 recently published her first ever cookbook, Antonym of Opulence, containing 30 pages, 20 unique recipes and more than 25 full-color photographs . Many of her recipes are centered around floral and botanical flavors Recipes include Floral Chocolate Chip Cookies, Violet Lavender Jelly, Iced Orange Blossom Latte, and Banana Charcoal Smoothie Fifty percent of every sale will be donated equally between Campaign Zero, Advancement Project, and Helping Hand The other 50% of profits will go toward producing her next cookbook To purchase Laurel’s book, please visit https:// badcompanyart.bigcartel.com
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Roeper alumni across the country found various ways to support and elevate the Black Lives Matter movement For example, NICK MERMIGES ’01 was featured in a June 2nd news story in Columbia, SC, for defending peaceful protestors pro bono — “Our first amendment gives citizens the fundamental right to peacefully protest It’s the job of
courts to protect our constitutional rights and our fundamental rights . ”
DR. ANN MARSHSENIC ’89, > Roeper graduate and current Roeper parent, was featured in a Detroit Free Press article titled “Olympic Athlete-Turned ER Doctor Attacks Coronavirus as Foe: ‘We are going to win .’” We’re so proud of her work on the frontlines!
about their time at the school and conducted a series of work-shops focusing on their careers beyond Roeper . The biannual event continues to build community and connect Roeper’s past, present, and future .
Top Row L to R: Joe Varkle ‘03, Screen-writer/ Producer, Rim-rock Pictures; Jessica McGlory ‘09, Head of Growth, Verb Energy; Mara Jaffe ‘13, Corporate Chef, High-way West Vacations; Theresa Andare ‘98, Staff Psychologist, Hawthorn CenterState of Michigan; Jannina Barefield Norpoth ‘99, Violinist; Composer/Orchestrator, PUBLIQuartet, New School University/Mannes School of Music
Bottom Row L to R: Morgan Elliot Andahazy ‘95, Storm Director & Director Service Operations, DTE Energy; Victoria Moore ‘08, Electrical Engineer, Consumers Energy; Jon Wilcox ‘03, Freelance Illustrator and Graphic Designer; Ann Marsh-Senic ‘89, Emergency Medicine Specialist, Independent Emergency Physicians; Alison Lisi ‘07, Staff Attorney, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Not pictured: Patrick O’Leary ‘05, Software Engineer, Microsoft
ROEPER ALUMNI returned to the Middle/ Upper School Campus for PHILUMNI DAY (Philosophy + Alumni = Philumni) on February 27, 2020 They graciously shared stories
(From L to R) AKILAH RUSSELL ’11, KRISTEN RUSSELL-ALLEN ’03*, Mike and Jarie Ruddy standing next to an exhibit honoring CLIFF RUSSELL ’74 during the school’s Martin Luther King, Jr . celebration and Candlelight Walk . The vision to further honor Cliff’s legacy was inspired by fellow alumnus Curtis Blessing ’69, and his suggestion that Roeper host the exhibit about Cliff that was recently displayed at the Detroit Historical Society
Roeper’s 9th Grade class had a blast on their field trip to Washington, DC! The class posed with alumni on the steps of the Portrait Gallery Alumni are standing in the front row from left to right: Ari Schartman Ben Aissa ‘89, Vivian Chang ‘88, Jonathan Grossman ‘88, Miranda Beebe ‘84, Alex Dickinson ‘04, Fiona Maylath-Bryant ‘15, Peyton Kinchen-Reed ‘17, Janea Wilson ‘18 Special thanks to all of our Roeper alumni who took time to connect with the group Not pictured: Brian Forest ‘03 and Heather Joy Thompson ‘95 F >
BABIES
Bilal Ezzeddine ’02 & Salma Khan
welcomed their second child
ZAYD FARHAAD EZZEDDINE
March 18, 2020
7lbs 10oz 19”
Zayd is a name derived from the Arabic language meaning growth, abundance, and one who makes progress. It is also the name of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’s adopted son.
Farhaad is derived from Farsi and means helper. It also happens to be the name of Zayd’s first cousin, who is one of our beloved nephews.
Rheyn Williams ’01 & Ryan Badgley
welcomed their first child
DAISY PEARL BADGLEY
December 16, 2019
6lbs 3oz 19”
Lansing, Michigan
Denita Banks-Sims Director of Development and Publications
KITPARTING THOUGHTS
I remain in awe of the grit and commitment of the community when significant challenges test us
Lately, I have been recalling my grandmother’s refrain when we experienced and/or witnessed something significantly complex and daunting She would lean on the nearest tree or chair (she didn’t sit very often) and simply say …”This is more than a notion ”
As a child, I stored this refrain in my memory and would occasionally revisit the meaning over time I guess I always imagined it held a deeper recognition than the language implied Maybe because I also was never quite clear that the “notion” was as mundane as a trinket or a passing thought
It seems clearer now that her pronouncement of the distress as a notion versus a crisis — was not intended to diminish the worry, but rather as a way to regard the trouble as the many, many others that we all face over a lifetime She was resilient and her strength emanated from a well of capacity that belied my childlike understanding
The Roeper School similarly relies on a foundation that a notion can be withstood because our origins are proudly rooted in adversity and reaffirmed by countless feats of resiliency
I arrived at Roeper in the late 1980s and from those days to now, I remain in awe of the grit and commitment of the community when significant challenges test us . The remarkable and immediate response has always included a reaffirmation of our fundamental values:
> a commitment to justice rather than power;
> a commitment to serving gifted students;
> a commitment to need-based financial aid and scholarship;
> a commitment to low student teacher ratios;
> a commitment to highly discerning admittance practices
These ideals hold in difficult days because of the commitment of the Board of Trustees, Faculty and Staff, Parents and Students and Roeperians across the globe These foundational principles demand a constancy and fidelity that serve us when times are good and when bad times arrive at our door
“It is more than a notion” … but I am confident that this period will emerge as another time where our resiliency will prevail
Please stay safe and well, and keep in touch!
Yours,