Keeping in Touch, Spring 2017

THE ROEPER SCHOOL COMMUNITY MAGAZINE

Keeping In Touch

EMBRACING COMPLEXITY VOLUME 10: 3 SPRING 2017

In Memoriam It is with great sadness that we share news of the passing of two Roeper alumnae.

SARA PORTER ’95 Sara passed away on March 13, 2017. She delivered a healthy baby boy a week prior, but succumbed to an infection. Please join us in keeping Sara’s family in our thoughts, including her parents Richard and Judi, and siblings Rick ’91 and Brian ‘99*. Sara was married to Dominic Gillette, and they had three little boys together.

SUSAN ZBIKOWSKI ‘76 Susan passed away on Monday, February 13, 2017. She was a licensed attorney in Michigan since 1987, specializing in trial and appellate cases. Her family and numerous friends were shocked at her sudden passing. Susan enjoyed foreign travel, cooking, and horseback riding.

She loved animals and owned a horse, a dog, and two cats. She was always pleasant and had an outgoing personality. Susan was preceded in death by her husband, Bruce, and is survived by her brother, Mark ’74, and nieces and nephews. She will be missed by all who knew her.

KIT

TABLE OF CONTENTS David Feldman Head of School david.feldman@roeper.org Denita Banks-Sims Director of Development denita.banks-sims@roeper.org Keeping in Touch Editorial Committee Katie Buchmann Editor Bonnie Schemm Art Director

Contributors Lisa Baker Denita Banks-Sims David Feldman Karen Johnson Susannah Nichols Juliette Olejnik Marcia Ruff

FEATURES

DID YOU KNOW? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 David Feldman, Head of School SENIOR PROJECTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Lisa Baker, Upper School Director MARA & THE GEORGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Susannah Nichols, Upper School Faculty SHEPHERDING A SENIOR PROJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Karen Johnson, Upper School Faculty THE PEOPLE AND THE IDEAS BEHIND MAKING ROEPER A SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Marcia Ruff, School Historian

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ALUMNI NEWS AND EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Juliette Olejnik, Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Fund A NOTE FROM JULIETTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Juliette Olejnik, Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Fund PARTING THOUGHTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Denita Banks-Sims, Director of Development & Publicatons

THE ROEPER SCHOOL 41190 Woodward Avenue Bloomfield Hills Michigan 48304 248/203.7300 www.roeper.org

PREVIEW OF THE 75TH LEGACY ISSUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Selected photos from the Come Home! Alumni Weekend

ON THE COVER The Roeper School is an independent coeducational day school for gifted and talented students preschool through grade 12 and an equal-opportunity institution

This Persian miniature painting was inspired by the “Sinbad” story in The Arabian Nights, painted by Betsy Laansoo, Stage IV.

EDUCATING AND INSPIRING GIFTED STUDENTS TO THINK AS INDIVIDUALS AND TO ENGAGE AS A COMMUNITY WITH COMPASSION FOR EACH OTHER AND THIS WORLD

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KIT

David Feldman Head of School

DID YOU KNOW?

In my early years of teaching, my middle school English classroom was located on the end of a long corridor where the middle school building connected to the lower school. In the adjacent classroom on the other side of the connecting hall was a longtime kindergarten teacher who I was told had been teaching at the Laboratory Schools for over 45 years. It seemed everyone in the building knew Vivian, respected her work, but didn’t seem to talk much or share much about the fact that year after year kindergarten children moved through this woman’s classroom having had an amazing introduction to the world of learning.

She was one of many veteran teachers in the school who had developed a solid reputation, and folks in the community just came to expect that people like Vivian were the norm at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.

One day while I was sitting at my desk reading essays, I looked out the window of my classroom door and noticed a large white rabbit hopping down the hallway. Smiling, it was clear to me that the kindergarten classroom pet had once again escaped and was seeking the freedom that any pet spending a full day with five-year-olds would certainly seek. Not seeing anyone chasing after the bunny, I got up from my chair and went to corner the ball of white fur before he was discovered by my well intentioned, but a little overly cuddling middle school students.

Picking up the rabbit by the scruff of his neck, I carried him back to the kindergarten classroom where I found Vivian setting up her classroom for a hands-on science exploration. Seeing me walk in with the rabbit, she smiled and thanked me for catching the escapee and invited me to sit and join her. We hadn’t talked much since I arrived, and I saw this was a wonderful opportunity to get to know a new colleague.

As she finished her set up, I sat by her desk and noticed several books: You Can’t Say You Can’t Play; Kwanzaa and Me; The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter; and White Teacher — all of the books had one thing in common — their author was Vivian Paley. I discovered in our conversation that Vivian was, in fact, the author of 10 books, and she was a MacArthur Foundation Genius Award recipient. It turns out that my classroom neighbor was this unassuming, long-time early childhood

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educator who was an internationally renowned teacher, author, and scholar.

In our lives we don’t always see and fully appreciate what is right in front of us. Vivian Paley is a well known educator who has spoken across the globe on topics of early childhood education, diversity, and child development. She has been recognized for her writing, her research, and her vision — but at the Lab School, she was just Vivian; a highly respected teacher among other strong peers; the kindergarten teacher just down the hall.

Last fall, I had another Vivian moment when I traveled to the National Association for Gifted Children Conference. Lower School Director, Lesley Hosey; Middle and Interim Upper School Director, Karen Johnson; School Historian, Marcia Ruff; and I were scheduled to make a series of presentations on the history and philosophy of The Roeper School and how we were marking our 75th anniversary. As I checked in at the registration desk and received my conference badge, the woman behind the counter looked at me and said, “Wow, The Roeper School, what an amazing place.” Not sure what was happening, I politely thanked her and began to move toward the room where I was scheduled to talk.

As I met people attending the conference, or even as I just passed attendees in the hall, I found people reading my name badge. They would get this big smile on their face, share some kind remark about the school, and often express their desire to make a “pilgrimage” to our campus. What I began to realize is that The Roeper School’s reputation in the national and international gifted community is both well known, and deeply respected. Our history and philosophy has been celebrated by these educators and continues to be richly honored within circles of teaching and learning.

Many people at the conference knew George and Annemarie personally; many had studied the Roepers’ writings and our philosophy; some were educators trying to start their own gifted schools; and some were academics who knew of our school from reading our peer-reviewed journal — The Roeper Review. Did you know that since 1978 The Roeper School, through The Roeper Institute has published a scholarly journal in the field of gifted education?

The Roeper School’s reputation in the national and international gifted community is both well known, and deeply respected.

We are known as the school that understands that giftedness is something a child is and not something a child does.

The Roeper Review is an international, quarterly, refereed journal publishing scholarly articles that pertain to practice, policy, applied research, and theory in all dimensions of gifted education.

Articles are thought provoking and often interdisciplinary. The Roeper Review aims to enhance the development of gifted individuals and the improvement of the world through more attention to giftedness, talent development, and creativity guided by ethical awareness. Diverse topics include: theories and philosophical analyses pertinent to giftedness, talent, and creativity; gender issues; curriculum studies; instructional strategies; educational psychology; elementary/ early childhood/secondary education of the gifted; emotional, motivation, and affective dimensions of gifted individuals; differentiating instruction; teacher education; tests, measurement, and evaluation; and program development.

Established by George and Annemarie as a way to ensure that research in the field of gifted education continued within schools of education and in the classrooms across the globe, the Review is a publication that keeps Roeper in the forefront of research in gifted education. While Annemarie would have told you that she would have liked the Review be more about day to day classroom stories, the publication itself is seen as a scholarly journal of great substance, and its articles are read in teaching methods classes around the globe.

Researchers and educators in Schools of Education rely on this peer-reviewed journal as a dependable source for the latest information in the field.

The Roeper School is the oldest independent school for gifted children in the U.S.; until this year we were the only independent gifted school serving PreK – 12th grade students. Through our outreach we have partnered with other schools for gifted children like The Opus School in the Netherlands. Opus is a school that partners with Roeper on a student and teacher exchange and has developed its program based on the philosophy and values of George and Annemarie Roeper.

Students from Opus travel frequently to Marienau, Germany, to learn about the origins of the Roeper family and our school.

Having set the standard for what a gifted school program looks like, and how to continue to invest in the scholarly research in the field, The Roeper School has earned a reputation for being a place that respects the voice of the individual child and personalizes the learning experience for a gifted student. We are known as the school that understands that giftedness is something a child is and not something a child does. When George Roeper talked about being a citizen of the world, he was fully aware of the progressive philosophies sweeping the globe and how such methods and understandings would connect with gifted teaching and learning.

Like Vivian Paley’s experience, we know there are many strong educational leaders around us; we know we are not alone in what we can bring to the discussion of teaching and learning. However, like Vivian, it is not an overstatement to say that we are recognized by our peers, and valued and honored across the world for the philosophy and practices we have established in the world of education. For those in the day to day world of taking our children to school, it is easy to think of Roeper as that little school down the road, but there is so much more to us then the cursory glance perceives.

We are not a community that is particularly comfortable bragging about our successes and our standing, but I believe it is critical for our community to know that we are an institution with a rich past, a powerful present, and that people in our field are looking to us to provide continued vision and leadership into the future. George and Annemarie would have it no other way! F

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KIT

Lisa Baker

Upper School Director

SENIOR PROJECTS

Like most ideas that thrive at Roeper, the George A. Roeper Festival of Senior Projects and StudentDirected Productions was conceived after a conversation with a student and supported by dedicated faculty. Many schools frame “Senior Project” as a three-week period following AP exams where all seniors stop attending classes and engage in required internships or other work outside of school. However, Roeper Senior Projects are not required; they are chosen. They are not an “add-on;” they are a Capstone Project and take at least one semester and sometimes a full year to complete.

In the last 10 years, 138 students have completed 135 George A. Roeper Senior Projects, and no two have been the same. Although there may be similar themes, every project is unique. Matt Wagner rebuilt a sailboat while Andrew Romano designed and crafted a cherry bench that sits in the senior hall to this day.

Jake Mickley, Grace Krysinski, Eric Burbulla, Dan Thibedeau, Hale Williams, Amy Romano, and Clara Bird tried their hand at teaching, but no one taught the same subject or topic. Artists like Mika Thewes, Liam Kirby, and Lauren Walkiewicz created art that challenged us to think differently about the media and method. Ned Baker, Adela Jaffe, Amelia Hefferon, Marcel Hite, Adarsh Shah, Eric Roennecke got their peers involved and brought their work to the Roeper stage in memorable Senior Directed Productions or films. Emma Kirby and Matt Gerendsay crafted works of fiction that took our breath away while Chase Gorland and Tom Hickey crafted scholarly papers that left us speechless. Adam Alpert recorded a rap album while Marie Carrozza created a cosmetics line that she continues to operate, and her sister Jackie wrote and illustrated a children’s book with the help of Stage II students. Every one of these students, and the 110 others who have not been named directly, picked one question or area of interest, explored it deeply, and impressed us all with their vision and dedication.

Our students risk something in choosing to do a Senior Project. They put themselves on the line and hold themselves to their own high standards. They learn to do this sort of work over their careers at The Roeper School. Senior Project Festival is not a high school program; rather it is a Roeper program. Teachers at every grade and stage at Roeper know that when our students are given the structure and support necessary, they will seek out opportunity and drive their own learning and work. It has been my greatest honor to witness each of these projects from inception to fruition.

Huge thanks to a community of students, parents, alumni, teachers, staff, and administrators throughout the school who have supported this endeavor and will surely keep it strong for decades to come. F

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Teachers at every grade and stage at Roeper know that when our students are given the structure and support necessary, they will seek out opportunity and drive their own learning and work.

Susannah Nichols

Upper School English Teacher

KIT

MARA & THE GEORGE When Mara Jaffe was a student at Roeper, her leadership was the stuff of legends: marshaling her ninthgrade class to defeat the seniors in Spirit Week, planning a sophomore trip to Stratford to facilitate new friendships, and lobbying Student Government to purchase a grill for school-wide social events —where Mara herself would be found preparing hot dogs for everyone.

But most everyone knew that hot dogs were not the extent of Mara’s culinary skill: she was a master chef in the making. Whether serving as an apprentice in the kitchen of Forest Grill (now Forest) or performing as chief architect for the Junior-Senior Dinner, Mara’s dedication to her craft was unwavering. Her ambitions didn’t stop with delicious meals: she also wanted to create environments and experiences to complement those meals. Her instincts for hospitality were evident in all her Roeperian endeavors.

Mara realized the fortune she’d had in being able to manage and execute such a complicated project, and she considered how other students might be able to realize their ideal senior projects in the same way she had.

When it came time to craft her senior project, Mara’s passions for cooking and leadership dovetailed in her plan to create a pop-up restaurant: for one magnificent Sunday, Mara took over Supino Pizza in Eastern Market to launch The George, named for the school’s founder. She conceived the menu (including sea scallops, oxtail ravioli, and pistachio cake as options), made contacts for food and resources, and most impressively, recruited and trained a staff of about a dozen of her peers to serve as cooks, hosts, and servers. Most of these students had no restaurant experience but thrived as virtual professionals at The George because of Mara’s guidance. She invested them in her vision and held them to a high standard without ever being condescending or too harsh.

Throughout the process, Mara was willing to take feedback and be flexible in her vision. She was willing to scale back on particular facets of the project and remained upbeat and positive in figuring out how to accommodate the greatest number of people while maintaining the sanity of herself and her staff.

Mara’s meticulous attention to detail and long-term planning resulted in a near-flawless operation and rave reviews. But even after such a smashing success, Mara didn’t bask in her glory. She realized the fortune she’d had in being able to manage and execute such a complicated project, and she considered how other students might be able to realize their ideal senior projects in the same way she had. Mara took the proceeds from The George and used them to launch the Senior Project Fund: a pool that provides financial support to students who encounter expenses in the execution of their efforts. F

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KIT

Karen Johnson

Interim Upper School Director

SHEPHERDING A SENIOR PROJECT While there is a notable diversity of characteristics and dispositions that could be said to define giftedness, there are some things that gifted individuals consistently possess. In particular, gifted students demonstrate a profound complexity in their thinking and an intense appetite for pursuing their passions. The scholastic experience at Roeper regularly affords students the chance to explore their own intricacies in thought and zeal for learning. In many ways, the Senior Project represents a mighty union and expression of a student’s affinity for intellectual complexity and their propensity for intensive study.

Faculty mentors for Senior Projects wear a different mantle for each student they shepherd through such an undertaking. Sometimes it’s that of a counselor who offers support because of an unsuccessful first attempt. Other times it may be that of an area expert offering information and guidance. Whatever the role, advising a Senior Project is really only a bit part in an ambitious student production. Perhaps one of the things I have come to appreciate most about working with students on their Senior Projects is that the effort really is about the process and not the end result. To be sure, the final product is indeed spectacular, but how a student arrives at that product tells a story that is uniquely Roeperian.

In the spring of 2016, Reyne Lesnau came to me to ask if I could help with some cosplay they were developing for the Motor City Comic Con*. The real challenge was to come up with a costume that would be impressive in its detail and also thrifty in its expense. Reyne and I worked for two solid weeks putting together the cosplay; we managed to turn an uninteresting, oversized blue lab coat into an ornately crafted tailcoat, and the other elements of the costume were just as successful in their transformation. Perhaps the most satisfying part of the endeavor was the fact that the cosplay had absolutely nothing to do with curriculum — I had known and worked with Reyne since they were in sixth grade, and I was under no obligation as their teacher to provide guidance. Simply put, it was a project that appealed to both of our crafty senses, and it was fun.

As the fall of Reyne’s senior year rolled around, they approached me about a senior project that would encompass the creation of two, fantastically elaborate cosplay costumes. One of the things to note here is that Reyne could have chosen a senior project on just about any topic, and it would most certainly be brilliant: they are as gifted in science as they are in the arts. In many ways, Reyne’s choice to build costumes has been the perfect fusion of their complex mind and intense passion, but perhaps more importantly, the choice carries the essence of their personality. A Senior Project should have the trademark of the student; it is something that anyone could look at and say, “Yup, that’s Reyne.” I am very much looking forward to Reyne’s presentation and celebrating the uniquely crafted endeavors of our other seniors. F

(Editor’s Note: Reyne’s marvelous costumes took first place in Cosplay at the Motor City Comic Con that was held at the Novi Suburban Collection Showplace the weekend of May 19 – 21, 2017. Congratulations, Reyne!)

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Perhaps one of the things I have come to appreciate most about working with students on their Senior Projects is that the effort really is about the process and not the end result.

KIT

Marcia Ruff

School Historian

THE PEOPLE AND THE IDEAS BEHIND MAKING ROEPER A SCHOOL FOR GIFTED CHILDREN At the May 1957 PTA meeting, as was his practice at the last meeting of the year, George Roeper recapped the year’s accomplishments: fundraising for scholarships, square dances, library improvements, and the change that was on everyone’s mind. “Of course, the most important development of the past year was our ‘Gifted Child Project,’ the second school in the nation,” he said.

“We have gone into that with great enthusiasm and interest but also with the bewildered feelings you have when stepping into a mysterious darkness.”

“We have gone into that with great enthusiasm and interest but also with the bewildered feelings you have when stepping into a mysterious darkness.”

George Roeper 1957

While George may have described himself with his usual modesty, the truth is that it was a remarkable achievement. The only other elementary school in the country that was explicitly educating gifted children was Hunter College Elementary School in New York City, a lab school affiliated with Hunter College. After only a year, this small private school in Michigan already had a national profile.

Roeper’s status today as the oldest independent school for the gifted in the country was only possible because of the thoughtful process George and Annemarie implemented, and the dedicated supporters they inspired.

The process began with a change in the school’s legal status. In May 1956 George transferred the school, which he had owned solely until then, into a non-profit educational trust so he could solicit grants and donations. He, Annemarie, and their attorney, Morris Stein, of Butzel, Levin, Winston & Quint, became the Trustees of the new organization. As George told the PTA with some amusement, “Of course, the school never made profit before and operated always as a non-profit institution. But now it is the legalized purpose not to make profit.” While the Trustees were the only voting members of the new organization, they also established for the first time an Advisory Board of parents and supporters to give advice and assistance.

It was a daunting prospect to give up control of his school, so George wrote into the Trust agreement the values he wanted to prioritize. The school could not discriminate based on race, creed, or gender, and the highest priority for spending should be for scholarships, so anyone who would benefit from the school could attend.

Next was a gala dinner on June 1, 1956, to officially launch the Gifted Child Project (GCP).

The keynote speaker was Gunnar Dybwad, another German intellectual refugee who had come to this country in 1934. At the time, Dr. Dybwad was the executive director of the Child Study Association in New York City, a national parent education group.

More famously, he was an early and prominent advocate for the idea that meeting the special needs of children was a civil rights issue, not a medical or social work issue that was solely the responsibility of individual families.

In his speech that night, George extended that idea to gifted children, who many believed were being underserved. “There were many gifted and talented ones among (the school’s) children, but we never thought of them as a national resource,” said George. “Today we know we need these children. We have to go out and try to find them …

It is for this reason we embark on the specific task of reaching and educating gifted children where we can find them, regardless of creed, race or socioeconomic status.”

A number of parents were foundational to the success of the GCP, but there were three families whose long-term support warrant special mention.

Henry and Susan Moses, whose daughter, Carol, attended Roeper, could be counted on to provide seed money for projects and quietly fill holes in the budget. Henry was President of Performance Measurements Co., and Susan’s family founded Peoples Outfitting, at one time the largest department store in Detroit. One of the classrooms in the Quad Building is named for her parents, Andrew and Elsa Wineman. Susan was co-chair of fundraising for the Gifted Child Project, and Henry took charge of publicity. Both served on the Advisory Board from its inception.

As George commented 10 years later at the school’s 25th anniversary celebration, “The school could not have had the physical development without the very generous assistance of Sue and Henry Moses. Henry has in many talks with us set our sights in the right proportion, taught us to think big, to think ahead and try the unusual. But we did not only get advice, we also got financial support to such a degree that new additions and new buildings could not have been possible without Sue and Henry Moses.”

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Co-chairing fundraising with Susan was Carolyn “Curly” Levin, who taught in the nursery school from 1949 – 1964, in addition to an extensive volunteer career in anti-poverty programs for children in Pontiac, as well as many other causes. Curly and her attorney husband, A.J. were close personal friends as well as philosophical companions to George and Annemarie in their passion for social change and commitment to equity. When Curly passed away in 1966, Annemarie observed, “All were of equal rank to her and worthy of her greatest efforts. This in turn brought out the best in them.

It is wonderful how many faces light up when her name is mentioned.” When the Domes opened in 1969, a classroom was dedicated to Curly.

Dr. Alfred Thomas was an early, generous, and loyal supporter of the school who provided an important connection to the African-American community in Detroit. A prominent physician in the city, Dr. Thomas was on the Detroit Board of Commerce, a member of the first Human Relations Committee of the Detroit Police Department, and an originator of the annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner for the Detroit NAACP chapter, the first such event for an NAACP chapter and still a nationally renowned annual dinner. He agreed to serve on the first Advisory Board in 1956, providing valuable validation for the school. His daughter Linda graduated from the school’s first ninth grade in 1965. A former Tuskegee Airman and a dashing man who loved to entertain, Dr. Thomas was a man who lived life fully. Linda recalls the many occasions her father “spontaneously took it upon himself to provide some extraordinary experience

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for a group of children — to give them a kind of experience which they could remember as a glimpse of the fun that life could hold — in some unique and magical expression of it which they were not likely to see in the same way again.” For a number of years, Dr. Thomas hosted an end-ofthe-year party for the Roeper faculty and staff at his estate on Marion Island in the Detroit River.

THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS After the gala announcement of the launch, the next step came on June 18 with the start of the week-long meeting of the Gifted Child Institute.

Earlier that year, George had reached out to Dr. A. Harry Passow at Teachers College of Columbia University, the most prominent contemporary academic in gifted child education. George persuaded Dr. Passow, who became a close friend of George and Annemarie’s, to assemble and chair a group of educators and psychologists to develop a curriculum for gifted children according to the best ideas of the time.

Dr. Passow and his family drove out to Michigan in their station wagon, thinking to make a vacation out of it. Later he recalled arriving at the school on a summer Sunday afternoon to the surprising sight of the June Fair, the school’s annual fundraiser and community party, when the Bloomfield Hills campus was transformed into a circus. He hadn’t met Annemarie, so they made their acquaintance amidst the cotton candy and games. The next morning, with school over and the campus shifting into camp mode, the Institute went into session.

The group included national and local members.

Dr. Passow invited Dr. Miriam Goldberg, also of Teachers College and his frequent collaborator, as well as Marie Spottswood, the former Headmistress of the progressive Fieldston School in Manhattan, who was currently heading the Oakwood School in North Hollywood, California, a start-up school founded by a group of left-leaning parents in the movie industry. From the Midwest came Dr. Robert De Haan, a faculty member on the Committee on Human Development at the University of Chicago; Dr. Anton Brenner of the Research Staff of the Merrill-Palmer Institute in Detroit, known nationally for its research into

George persuaded Dr. Passow, who became a close friend of George and Annemarie’s, to assemble and chair a group of educators and psychologists to develop a curriculum for gifted children according to the best ideas of the time.

early child development; Dr. Marie Skodak, head of psychological services for the Dearborn Public Schools; and Dr. Elizabeth Drews, a gifted young feminist who was an assistant professor at the University of Buffalo and director of the psychology department for the Lansing Public Schools. George and Annemarie and several members of the school faculty rounded out the group.

Dr. Elizabeth Monroe Drews, consultant to the school in gifted education.

Photo courtesy of Portland State University.

The group took a holistic approach to their task, concerned about both intellectual and emotional well-being.

The group took a holistic approach to their task, concerned about both intellectual and emotional well-being. They contemplated the meaning of learning, rejecting a curriculum that emphasized acquisition of facts and information for its own sake, choosing instead to acquire fact and information “as a means for interpreting and understanding the present and predicting the future.”

The organizing and integrating aspects of the curriculum focused on two areas, paying attention to the specific needs of gifted children: motivation (how to nurture a love of learning), and selfawareness (developing a grounded and comfortable sense of self). A moral objective was also assumed. As the summary of the proceedings noted, “The development of the personality should also entail the growing desire of the child to develop his talents for their own sake (the need for self-understanding and self-fulfillment because of the talent he has) coupled with a sense of responsibility for the application of his talents for the benefit of society and the service of mankind.”

Finally, the group called for special attention to encouraging gifted girls to envision contributing to society beyond home-making.

The classroom curriculum was a multi-cultural and multi-dimensional program called, simply and appealingly, People and Their Problems of Living. Students would study a wide range of cultures past and present, incorporating myths, culture, technology, and aesthetics, and develop skills in writing, research, experimentation, critical thinking and physical manipulation. The goal was to acquire a broad understanding of how the world works and how they could engage with it, which largely followed the philosophy already in place at the school. As an admiring Dr. Passow commented years later, “The curriculum was essentially what George and Annemarie believed in. We just put a little patina on it.”

George and Annemarie hired a school psychologist to do IQ testing so they could bring that expertise into the school and learn from it. Actually, “hired” probably isn’t the right word, since the school psychologist was the remarkable Margaret Littmann, mother to Paul, Marianne and Terry, students at the school, and another one of the energetic and visionary people who helped make the school what it is. Margaret came on staff in 1959 and retired in 1974. She turned first her fees and then her salary back to the school for scholarships, contributing $100,000 over the years.

She funded and organized the first school library, and quietly purchased needed items all around the school. One of the founders of the National Association of School Psychologists, Margaret was an active and effective advocate for children all her life. Her husband, Sidney Littmann, Chief Engineer at Giffels & Rossetti, was also a valued advisor and friend to George and Annemarie. He was on the inaugural Advisory Board and served as Chairman from 1958 – 1971.

Annemarie and George flanked Sidney and Margaret Littmann at a farewell party for the couple.

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SETTING THE PLAN INTO ACTION When classes resumed in the fall of 1956, City & Country was officially a school for gifted children.

Anyone who was already a student could remain (60% of the current students tested at an IQ of 130 or above), but all new students were gifted. At the PTA meeting at the end of the year, George expressed his satisfaction that initiating the Gifted Child Project had not altered the atmosphere of the school. “Relationships and friendships were formed across the lines of giftedness,” he said.

“Several children were elected in the student government who are not among our gifted ones, and friendships have been formed regardless of the special abilities of the children. This is important, yes, it is essential, and the whole project might stand or fall upon this issue. I believe we would fail if the children would begin to think they are something better as human beings because they are superior academically.”

As George listed the work that had been done during the year to implement the program, the carefulness of his planning was clear. First, he had responded to the widespread interest in their work.

Harry Passow had written a detailed summary of the Institute’s findings and recommendations. The Birmingham Board of Education generously printed copies for distribution to the many schools that requested copies. George presented a course in gifted children during the year, and he noted that the school’s parents were greatly outnumbered by teachers, principals and superintendents from area schools.

Second, a robust professional development program had been provided for the teachers.

According to Sally Booth, a teacher at the school since 1947, some of the teachers were intimidated by the thought of teaching gifted children (although they’d been teaching them already — just not labeled as such). A few were also still struggling with the idea of elitism and what felt to them like an abandonment of children who would have benefited from the developmentally-based program at the school but would no longer qualify. They were aided with their concerns when Dr. Drews came down from East Lansing for weekly inservice trainings about the characteristics of gifted children, their psychological and motivational differences, and classroom practices such as individualization of teaching reading and math.

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Dr. Drews became one of Annemarie’s closest friends as they conducted a years-long correspondence about humanistic psychology, giftedness, creativity and moral values, and feminism. Highly gifted herself, Dr. Drews had graduated from college at age 18, and earned her PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan. An early feminist, she was the only full-time scholar on the American Council of Education’s Commission on the Education of Women, which ran from 1953 – 1961. She was named to the President’s Commission on the Status of Women established by John F. Kennedy, Jr., in 1961. Betty Friedan credited Dr. Drews with providing the intellectual foundations behind the formation of the National Organization of Women (NOW) in 1966. Upon Dr. Drews’s untimely death in 1976 from a brain tumor at age 61, Annemarie expressed to the school her sadness because “this is a great personal loss, but also a loss to the school, or at least its past, and the gifted child movement in general.”

During that first school year, Dr. Irving Siegel, the Director of Research at Merrill-Palmer, also led two sessions on gifted children’s understanding of concepts and how it differed from the norm.

Indeed, research that Dr. Siegel and Annemarie conducted together demonstrated that gifted children moved through Piaget’s developmental stages at a different rate. They published a paper on their work in 1966 in the British Journal of Educational Psychology.

The recommendations of the Institute helped sharpen the focus of teaching and curriculum throughout the school. There was a broader

Professional Development seminar at Roeper with George (left) and Annemarie (to his right) and Jo Shotka (to his left). To the right of Annemarie are Elizabeth Drews, Charlotte Whitney, Margaret Littmann, and Bernie Cohen (bowtie). The other teachers are unidentified.

As George listed the work that had been done during the year to implement the program, the carefulness of his planning was clear.

There was a broader emphasis on critical thinking, which was a new enough concept that George took pains to explain to the parents that it didn’t mean criticizing, but accuracy of thought through distinguishing facts from assumptions.

emphasis on critical thinking, which was a new enough concept that George took pains to explain to the parents that it didn’t mean criticizing, but accuracy of thought through distinguishing facts from assumptions. Josephine Shotka, the long-time first-grade teacher, had introduced critical thinking units into her class. She presented a paper on it at a state education convention to great interest, and it was published in a national education journal in 1960.

School and try to help develop a national network of schools for gifted children. As for Sidney, when Morris Stein, one of the original three Trustees, wanted to step down in 1959, Sidney took his place, demonstrating the confidence George and Annemarie placed in his advice and perspective.

Sidney continued to serve as a Trustee until 1977, when he and Helen (who had also become a Trustee) retired and were named Honorary Board Members.

Electives were expanded to provide a broader and more stimulating curriculum by adding classes in Art, Music, Dance, Shop, Science and Newspapers. Some of these, like Dance, had been after-school classes, but now they were available in more depth during the school day. Professor Ernst Scheyer, a nationally known art history professor at Wayne State University, traveled out from Detroit on a Greyhound bus to teach a Humanities class to the older students in 7th and 8th grades.

Thanks to the passionate commitment of academic experts such as Harry Passow and Elizabeth Drews, and parents such as Henry and Susan Moses, Curly and A.J. Levin, Alfred Thomas, Margaret and Sidney Littmann, and Helen and Sidney Barnes, the vision in George and Annemarie’s heads took shape and stature in a remarkably short period.

By the second year, George’s confidence grew, with no more references to “bewildered feelings” and “mysterious darkness.” In his end-of-year speech to the PTA in May 1958, he observed, “We became more settled with our project, more sure of ourselves, and knew better where we are going.

Our research thanks to Dr. Drews and Mrs. Shotka has taken a noticeable step forward. It begins to shape up more clearly what we can demand of superior students.”

During that second year, the school continued to raise its profile and extend its outreach. Helen Barnes was particularly instrumental in those efforts, along with her husband Sidney, a banker at Michigan Credit Union. Their son, Bill, was a student at the school, and over the years Helen and Sidney were stalwart supporters at all levels.

After the school waited a year for its non-profit status, Helen made a call to a Washington friend and the tax document arrived two days later.

Helen organized a flower show and lecture to raise money for a color film of the school, and led the effort to fund and produce the Gifted Child Project’s first brochures. Even when Helen was on vacation in Arizona, she networked for gifted child education and flew out to Los Angeles to catch up with Marie Spottswood, the Institute member who was at Oakwood School. There Helen persuaded actor Robert Ryan, who was a founder of Oakwood, to come visit City and Country

“Time has proven us to be right with the Gifted Child Project,” George told the PTA at the end of that second year. “This was particularly highlighted when Sputnik came (October 4, 1957).

This has given the education of the talented an enormous life all across the nation. We have found increasing recognition for what we are doing and we have won in general the cooperation of the public schools, whose administrators often refer to us and watch our progress. Time is with us, and the future will justify even more the reorganization of our grade school as a school for gifted children.”

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Hollywood actor and Oakwood School founder Robert Ryan (left) visiting Helen Barnes and George Roeper here in January 1958.

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KIT

Juliette Olejnik

Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Fund

ALUMNI SIGHTINGS SOCCER On October 14, 2016, many alumni came back to play in the alumni soccer game held on The Roeper School’s brand new outdoor soccer home field located at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac.

Everybody’s favorite bus driver Tonia O’Rourke, with Erik Zinser ’06 Top Row (L to R): Jordan Veillette ’12, Jack Silver ’06, Tom Allen ’13, David Lauer ’08, Edward Shivers ‘14*, Dan Royal ’07, Jake Mickley ’08, Max Whipple ’15, Brad George ’09, Jacob Saslow ’09, Tegan Jones ’00, Nick George ’06, Tricia Haslinger ’09, Erik Zinser ’06. Bottom Row (L to R): Spenser Solys ’13, Paul Talpos ’07, Abrahim Hashwi ’13, David Veillette ’13

CLASS OF 2004 REUNION The Class of 2004 held an informal reunion at Great Lakes Coffee on December 27th.

Rear table: Alex Wiggins ’00, Omar Jamil.

Annie Magid-Beal Blauw, Sade Benjamin, Adam Front table: Kaitlyn Hernandez, Matt Nahan, Dan Wilmers ’03, Alexa Johnson, Kaitlyn Hernandez, Keller, Andy Baum, Brian Ziegler, Jared Karlow ’06, Matt Nahan, Dan Keller.

Danielle DeGain, Chris Glazek ’03, Annie Magid-

Beal Blauw, Sade Benjamin.

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Brian Ziegler, Jared Karlow ’06, Danielle DeGain.

Also attended but not photographed: Paul Del Giudice, Michael Ploof.

CLASS OF 2006 — 10-YEAR REUNION The Class of 2006 celebrated its 10-year reunion on December 27th. They gathered in the Acheson Theatre on the Birmingham Campus and then continued the celebration at Our/Detroit Vodka in Detroit.

Back Row (L to R): Ali Dietz, Erik Zinser, Nick Green, Nathan Wilmers, Josh Pool, Brian Dunn, Nick George, Joey Toland. Front Row (L to R): Mary Wilcox, Hannah Lawrence, Emily Lardner, Alex Sims, Lindsay Scarlett, Fiona Ruddy, Amber Joiner-Hill

ALUMNI BASKETBALL GAME There was a great turnout for the Alumni Basketball Game on December 30th. Alumni representing graduating classes from as early as 1970 to as recent as 2016 played a fun and exciting game.

Standing (L to R): Dale Scarlett ’70, Trace Sheerin ’15, Jake Mickley ’08, Calvin Lind ’16, Abrahim Hashwi ’13, Chistopher Smith ’10, Scott Thomas ’05, Mike Terranova ’06.

Kneeling (L to R): Kalin Sellers ’09, Ryan Zinser ’10, Corray Lett ’02, Adam Kochanowski ’15, Erik Zinser ’06, Nick Robinson ‘11.

More basketball photos

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Above: Alumnus Kevin Deustch ’91 and family pictured with Denita Banks-Sims.

Upper: Denzel Canales ‘10*, Nick Robinson ’11, Mike Terranova ’06, and Scott Thomas ‘05. Lower: Cachet Colvard ’11 and Ann Finkel ‘11.

Left: Shani YapaKimpson ’08, Roeper grandmother Miss Mary Lee and Juliette Olejnik

Upper: Zoe Miller ’08 and Corray Lett ‘02. Lower: Erik Sinka ’87 and his son

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. CANDLELIGHT WALK Roeper held its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Candlelight Walk on Monday, January 16th. The program featured a short film followed by discussions, dinner, candelight walk to the Domes, and special remarks from Curtis Scott ‘71. As a student, Curtis delivered remarks at the dedication of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Domes in May 1970. This was Curtis’s first time back to campus since he graduated, and he shared that even though the campus has added buildings and looks much different than it did 40 years ago, it still feels like the same Roeper he remembers.

Curtis Scott ’71, David Shapero ‘71, Juliette Olejnik, and Dale Scarlett ‘70.

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Above: David Feldman, Adam Harris ‘17, Liam Judd ‘00.

Left: Denita Banks-Sims and Mrs. Doris Chenault Hood.

Colleen Shelton, Curtis Scott ’71 and Sander Cohen ‘94

CHICAGO ALUMNI GATHERING

David and Elane Feldman met with Chicago area alumni Ned Baker ’08, Illia Vihos Mazurek '84 and Robert Conner ’95 on January 27th.

ALEX FRANK POETRY COLLECTIVE 100% Detroit Cool: The annual Alex Frank Poetry Collective was held on February 2nd. Sara Talpos ‘93 traveled from the Ann Arbor area with her husband to read selections from her poetry collection.

After writing and publishing poetry through 2013, Sara has transitioned into science writing. The evening’s lineup also featured current students and faculty as well as special guest poet, Carla Harryman.

100% Detroit Cool is an annual event that honors the memory and spirit of Alex Frank ‘95.

Left: Sara Talpos ‘93, guest alumni author.

Above: Muse Event Planner Leah Trunsky ’19, English teacher Kelly McDowell, Alumni Relations Director Juliette Olejnik, guest author Carla Harryman, and English teacher and Muse Advisor Kelly Piontek.

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NINTH GRADE TRIP TO WASHINGTON, DC On March 20 – 22, Roeper’s 9th grade class embarked on an educational field trip to Washington, D.C. During their trip, they met with alumni who live and work in the area. Alex Dickinson ‘04 led a nighttime tour of Washington monuments, Brad Rourke ‘83 and Jacob Courville ‘00 invited students to their places of work, and the following alumni joined small groups for dinner and informal conversations about what it is like to live and work in Washington, D.C. — Miranda Beebe ’84*, Alex Dickinson ’04, Erin Milbeck Wilcox ’04, Mary Wilcox ’06, Ali Dietz ’06, Tina Krysinski ’09, Shekina Hockenhull ’12.

Counterclockwise from top: Alex Dickinson ’04 leading a nighttime tour of Washington, D.C., monuments.

Brad Rourke ’83 meeting with students at the Kettering Foundation.

Shekina Hockenhull ’12, Ali Dietz ’06, Alex Dickinson ’04, Tina Krysinski ’09, Erin Milbeck Wilcox ’04, Mary Wilcox ’06, & Miranda Beebe ’84 pictured with all the 9th grade students before dividing into small groups for dinner.

Tina Krysinski ’09 having dinner with Roeper 9th graders.

Shakinah Hockenhull ’12 and Mary Wilcox ’06 having dinner with Roeper 9th graders.

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ALUMNI VISITS < David Shapero ’71 and Amelia Currier ’71 stopped by the Hill House on December 7th to reminisce about their years at Roeper.

They are pictured in the "Art Attic" where the two spent much of their time as students. Amelia recently moved back to Michigan after working as an artist in Reno, Nevada, for 25 years. > On December 15th, Sue Gass ’61* visited the Hill House and recalled memories of her early school years in the Hill House.

Pictured from L to R: Marcia Ruff, Sue Gass ’61, Denita Banks-Sims, Juliette Olejnik.

On March 14, Mignon Hayes ’67* stopped by the Hill House to share stories of how her time at Roeper changed her life. Pictured from L to R: Denita Banks-Sims, Mignon Hayes ’67, Juliette Olejnik.

^ Karen Roeper and Jane Flint led an embodied awareness class with Middle and Upper School students, teaching techniques to become aware of physical responses as clues to emotional needs.

Karen Roeper ’66* spent three days at the school in February teaching her body awareness program called Essential Motion. She was joined by her colleague Jane Flint, and it was fascinating to watch them adapt the program on the fly for students from Stage II through seniors. Karen and Jane held small-group and individual sessions with teachers as well. Karen’s work is about helping people develop a dialogue with their bodies to balance the constant dialogue with their heads. This practice creates a body-mind mix of information she called “embodied awareness” that allows one to move through the world more playfully, authentically, and comfortably, with less judgment and more compassion. She has taught it to individual clients and has trained teachers around the world.

You can learn more at www.essential-motion.com.

^ Energized students engulfed Karen Roeper at the end of her class with Cathy and Susie’s Stage III students. < At the end of the day, Karen and Jane led an extended session with teachers to share practices of non-competitive and non-judgmental body awareness and movement.

Pictured from (L to R): Jane Flint, Karen Roeper, Venee Natarajan, Brittney Mattson, Mary McGeehan, Michelle Lane, Lisa Momblanco, Michele Buttermore, Colleen Shelton, Jensen Sprowl, Cathy Wilmers. F

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KIT

Juliette Olejnik

Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Fund

ALUMNI UPDATES

CAITLIN DOYLE ’95 Caitlin Doyle ’95 published her children's book, Girls Can Do Anything, in the UK and US. From groundbreaking inventions to feats of endurance, Girls Can Do Anything is a compendium of more than 200 of the smartest, strongest, fastest and most incredible women whose achievements have contributed to the world we live in today.

Organized chronologically, this stimulating fact-o-pedia is subdivided into subjects — science and innovation, sports and endurance, arts and literature, politics and world-building, business and industry, world records, and unusual achievements. The profiles are presented in double-page spreads with illustrations, photographs, quotes and trivia highlighting the straightforward text.

CHARLOTTE WHITNEY STEVENS Charlotte Whitney Stevens taught art classes at Roeper throughout the 1950s until she left in 1959 with her husband, Bill Whitney, and family to move to Olivet, Michigan, where Bill taught art at Olivet College. An artist for 70 years, at age 93 Charlotte epitomizes the Roeper value for life-long learning; last winter the college mounted a retrospective exhibit of 40 pieces of her work at the Olivet College Art Gallery. To view Charlotte’s diverse work, please visit her website: charlottewhitneygallery.com.

LISA VIHOS ’77 The Story of the Lilongwe Reading Garden It was exactly a year ago in March that I learned I had been selected by my undergraduate alma mater, Vassar College, as the 2016 Time Out Grant recipient. This is a grant given each year to a Vassar alum who puts forward an idea for a risky, unusual project that could not be accomplished without taking a break from normal life. Having a boost from an anonymous donor also helps.

Friend Joanna Learner, left, with Charlotte Whitney Stevens next to "Democracy, Tiananmen Square," acrylic on canvas, 24"x36"

I remember the day I got the phone call. I was with my sister, Illia Vihos Mazurek ’84, and we started jumping up and down. What was my risky and unusual project? It was to build a children’s reading garden in Malawi. Why a reading garden, and why Malawi, you may ask. I had met a group of graduate students from Malawi who were getting their Masters degrees in early grade reading instruction at Lakeland University, where I used to work.

When they came to Sheboygan, they fell in love with a place called Bookworm Gardens, a reading garden for children. From their first visit to the garden, they said they wished they could have such a place in Malawi someday to help increase literacy in their country.

This is where I jumped in and proposed the project to Vassar. Since August of 2016, I have been to Malawi twice to begin the process of building this garden on the grounds of the Lilongwe Teacher Training College and Demonstration School. My first trip was short and exploratory.

Trip number two was last December, and I got to spend more time talking to teachers and children at the school. I was lucky to be accompanied by a friend from Sheboygan, Geralyn Leannah, who is a retired reading specialist. Thanks to my friend, Roeper art teacher Jarie Ruddy, we brought an art project with us that we introduced with the help of local artist, Elson Kambalu, to a group of 70 fourth graders. We had shared the story, The Boy Who Harnassed the Wind (in both English and the native language, Chichewa) out in the garden area on a Monday. (This is the story of William Kamkwamba, who took it upon himself to bring electricity to his village by building a windmill from junkyard scraps.) Then, on Tuesday, we brought recycled bottles, untwisted hanger wires, tape, and Sharpie markers. The children had a wonderful time making pinwheels, just the way the students at Roeper did. The next day, they drew more pictures, imagining what kinds of things should be in a reading garden. The whole experience was quite transforma-

tive for me. Friends were made, seeds were planted.

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Lisa Vihos ’77 (white hair) in Malawi with the artist Elson Kambalu, another friend named Arichie Kaliza who helped, and a group of the children who made pinwheels.

The 4th graders from the Demonstration School in the garden area listening to the story, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. (The woman sharing the book is not Lisa, but a friend who went with her — Geralyn Leannah, a reading specialist from Sheboygan.)

It would be hard enough to build a garden like this — one that highlights letters, words, and stories — right in my own backyard, let alone on the other side of the world. Fortunately, because of my friendships with the graduate students who have all returned home, I have a lot of people on the ground who can help make this project happen. We have located the folktales and other stories we want to highlight, and I have also engaged the help of a landscape designer here in Sheboygan, Kelly Bahrs. Kelly did quite a bit of the design for Bookworm Gardens, and she has donated her time to create a professional design for the Malawi project. The next step is to work with the school to locate the right contractor, engage a horticulturalist, find artists who can make sculptures, raise some more funds to build the garden, and even see if I can enlist the help of William Kamkwamba himself.

I know there are a lot of people who will help me and a lot of people counting on me to make this happen. One of the teachers at the Demonstration School wrote to me in January of this year: “The children want to know when the garden will be built!” Soon, I wrote back. Very soon!

Lisa lives in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where she works as the Development and Communications Coordinator for the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership. Her third poetry chapbook, This Particular Heaven, was just published in 2017 by Kelsay Books.

The garden design

by Kelly Bahrs, another of Lisa’s new friends from Sheboygan.

APRIL MUELLER ’11 I took two gap years to pursue a modeling career in Japan, then matriculated to New York University as part of the Class of 2017. After four successful years, I am graduating summa cum laude, recipient of the George-Granger Brown and Harold Seidenstein awards for excellence in chemistry, a member of two National Chemistry Honors societies — Phi Lambda Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa — and a member of the Women in Science program at NYU. After graduation this spring, I will take a gap year to continue my senior honors thesis work with Dr. Marcus Noyes as a pre-PhD Postdoc research assistant at NYU Langone Medical Canter Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology. Our research rests on the edge of Systems and Synthetic Biology, focusing on the development of tools that allow us to understand the binding potential of the common protein domains important for biological functions. Using comprehensive, synthetic screens of these protein domains, the goal of our research is to understand the complete functional capacity of a protein and not be limited by the sometimes small set of functions that have evolved. This approach has the added benefit of producing new proteins with novel functions that can be applied to therapeutic applications such as protein inhibition and precise genome editing. During this gap year, I will be applying to MD/PhD programs in structural biology, synthetic biology, and bio-organic chemistry. F

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KIT

Juliette Olejnik

Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Fund

ADDITIONS TO THE ALUMNI FAMILY

ENGAGEMENTS

FIONA RUDDY ‘06 & SPENCER OLINEK ENGAGED JULY 23, 2016 WEDDING FALL 2018 IN DETROIT, MI CHIGAN

DAN THIBODEAU '13 & ALYSSA FLYNN '14 ENGAGED DECEMBER 23, 2016 WEDDING JUNE 2018

JENNA SLAUGHTER ‘04 & DAVID DAVIS ENGAGED NOVEMBER 22, 2016 WEDDING APRIL 2018 IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Babies, Babies, Babies!

Chelsea Wilmoth Pleak ’06 & Jason Pleak welcomed

POPPY MICHELLE PLEAK April 18, 2016 7 lbs 11 oz • 21 inches Caitlyn Doyle ’95 & Will Fardell

announce the birth of

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SAOIRSE NIAMH DOYLE FARDELL

September 2016

(Her name is pronounced “Seer-shuh”)

MORE Babies, Babies, Babies!

Shani Yapa-Kimpson ’08 & Joel Kimpson ‘08 welcomed

CHLOE ISAIA KIMPSON February 5, 2017 • 4:04am 5 lbs 7 oz • 19” Big Brother Carter (6) is so excited about his new best friend!

Amanda Sommerfeld ’97 & Andrew Case are the proud parents of

LENA EDDY CASE Elizabeth Windram Laraki ’96 & Othman Laraki

March 29, 2017 • 3:49pm 8 lbs 10 oz • 19.5”

announce the birth of their third son

ZAKARIA CHARLES LARAKI May 8, 2017 • 0:07am 7 lbs 14 oz • 19”

Congratulations to All! If you have good news to share — engagement, wedding, baby, whatever — please send all the details to juliette.olejnik@roeper.org Photos are always welcome!

Byron Pink ’96 & Catherine Archer announce the birth of

FIONA MAY PINK May 22, 2017 • 10:04am 7 lbs 7 oz • 20”

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KIT

Juliette Olejnik

Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Fund

A NOTE FROM JULIETTE

This 75th Anniversary year has been full of celebratory events to honor Roeper’s rich history. I feel fortunate to have joined the Roeper community during a year when countless alumni and staff were coming back to campus to celebrate this milestone year with us. Each event has provided incredible opportunities to meet individuals from both the present and past who have a deep love and appreciation for the school.

As you can see from the alumni section of this Keeping In Touch issue, the past year has been filled with opportunities for alumni to return to campus. Over Memorial Day weekend, Roeper held its first all-alumni reunion since 2002. Alumni and their families traveled from across the country to participate in activities ranging from guided campus tours and community service projects, to evening events featuring alumni entertainers, dinner and dancing. Throughout the weekend, I found myself experiencing numerous goosebump moments as I witnessed old friends reconnect after losing touch for decades and heard stories about Roeper moments that profoundly influenced the lives of our alumni.

There are more than 2,000 Roeperians around the world who share memories of performing in the Big Dome, running up and down the big hill, hanging out with teachers and addressing them by their first names, learning on classroom couches (and sometimes a bathtub), and encountering mentors that forever changed their lives. These experiences, and countless others that are unique to Roeper, are what bond our alumni to each other and to the school.

Just because our 75th Anniversary events are coming to a close, we hope alumni and friends of the school will continue to visit. There is no doubt that Roeper is a special place, and for many coming back to Roeper feels like coming home. After less than a year in my new position, I already feel strongly connected to the school and the community. It has very quickly become a place where I also feel at home. During my short time here, I have learned that the Roeper community is caring, compassionate, and welcoming. It is a place where you are accepted for who you are, and when someone asks the question, “How are you?”

— they truly want to know!

The Development “Crew” (L to R): Denita Banks-Sims, Juliette Olejnik, Katie Buchmann, Julie Gillikin, Anna Gillikin ’16, and Shani Yapa-Kimpson ’08. (Not pictured Marcia Ruff and Bonnie Schemm)

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Just because our 75th Anniversary events are coming to a close, we hope alumni and friends of the school will continue to visit.

KIT

Denita Banks-Sims

Director of Development

PARTING THOUGHTS Among the hundreds of Roeper community members who shaped the 75th Anniversary year of remarkable commemorative celebrations, there are two individuals for whom the Roeper community owes immense gratitude. They are Marcia Ruff and Bonnie Schemm!

Bonnie and Marcia — the very definition of “form and function” — have imbued every element of this historic celebration with their unmatched and consummate integrity.

They are partners to all community members, and no task or request goes unanswered or untended.

The results are clear, and we all enjoy the benefits of their incredible skill and deep affection. Their contributions to Roeper are ubiquitous!

Through decades of vigilant research and documentation of The Roeper School legacy by Marcia and inspired and creative design branding by Bonnie, they continue to deliver a stirring portrayal and narrative of our community.

They have gifted us with a renewed appreciation of our origins and our promise, and I offer this reflection from T.S. Eliot:

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time

Thanks for honoring us all!

Photos Upper: Marcia with daughter Emi ’09 and husband Tom Wilkinson.

Yours,

Lower: Bonnie and her family — (standing) Nicolas ’96, Bonnie and Leonard, grandson and Roeper 8th grader Cameron, Jeremy ’92 and his wife Barbara; (seated) Bonnie’s sister Marlyn and next to her, Bonnie’s granddaughter Olivia (9).

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A PREVIEW OF THE 75TH LEGACY ISSUE ...

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Many thanks to all the photographers who shared their memories from the Alumni Weekend with us!

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1–Terrence Way ’09; 2–Hale ‘09 & Bob Williams; 3–Arthur ‘68 & Ken Ensroth ’72, Michael Tilchin ’72, David Shapero ’71; 4–Brett Kline ’09; 5–Roberta Jones (former staff); 6– Jason Mood ‘96 & Katherine Jenne, Matt Verbaan ‘91; 7–Kristi Gibson-Berg ‘10, Anna Nowinski ’10; 8–Anna Gillikin ’16 & Leilah Tinsley (her dad is Jason Tinsley ‘94); 9–Max Milstein ’02; 10–Andrew Tarnow ‘96, Patrick O’Connor ‘78, Phaedon (Stage III), Kari (staff) & Matteo (7th Grade) Papadopoulos, Jeremy ‘92 & Cameron (8th Grade) Schemm; 11–Christy Dunn Cohen ‘94, Adam Smock ’87, Sander Cohen ’86, Erin Sullivan & Jason Hammond ’89.

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12–Anika Kumar ’02, Rikki Mack ’02, Corray Lett ’02; 13–Brian O’Connor ’78; 14–Cheryl Blau ’80, Rick Noel ’80; 15–Dick Halsey (former staff); 16–Qiana Lillard ’94; 17–Claire Stano ’00, Denita Banks-Sims (staff) & Kevin Chen’s ’02 son; 18–Shani Yapa-Kimpson ’08, Tom Roeper ’61*, Juliette Olejnik (staff); 19–Aaron Appel ’12, Blane Rucker ’12*, Daniel Hurwitz-Goodman ’11, Simone-Alyse Ewell ’12 Sarah Skoropa ’12; 20– Adam Acey ’89 & Alicia Schneider Acey ’89; 21– Carol Appel, Lizzie Zucker Saltz & David Saltz ’80; Joel Appel; 22–Luis Mendez & Sara Puzey Mendez ’96; 23–Jen Ohno Maher ’87, David Lauer ’08; 24–Andrew Baum ’04, Gordy Fall ’06, Michael Ploof ’04.

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THE ROEPER SCHOOL

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PAID PERMIT NO. 16 BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI 48304

41190 WOODWARD AVENUE BLOOMFIELD HILLS â&#x20AC;¢ MI 48304-5020

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Thank you, Roeper Community for the Best Birthday Celebration ever!

Have a great Summer filled with Good Times & Safe Travels.

See you in September!

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