Wakefield Epistula 2004-05

WAKEFIELD SCHOOL

Epistula

SPRING 2005

Faculty and Administration Faculty Retreat, professional development, leading beyond pages 2-5 Wakefield...

Kudos Scholars, Cappies, national language exams, sports, Shangri-La...

pages 6-13

Campus Buildout We grow!... pages 14-15

Teaching to

Passions

The fourth and fifth grades at Wakefield were totally restructured this year, through logistical machinations that affected the entire Lower School. Why? To allow teachers to teach what they are the most passionate about.

The results dwarf expectations. Beams one ecstatic fourth grader, “It’s not even like school! Everyone wants to come every day.” The members of the fourth and fifth grade team share their experiences, their methods...and their passion. page 18

Academics Science Day, passionate teachers, interdisciplinary work, snakes... pages 16-23

The Arts Plays, performances, nominapages 24-27 tions...

The Larger World Cambridge, Montreal, Philadephiia, Dominican Republic, Bormio, West Virginia, Thailand--and The Plains... pages 28-31

Alumni News So...What’s new?...pages 32-35

Faculty & Administration Wakefield Faculty Begins the Year with Retreat, Reflection The Wakefield faculty began this year’s week of teachers’ meetings prior to the opening of school with a two-day retreat, conceived by the school’s Student Strengths Committee under the guidance of school counselor Amrit Daryanani.

The first day of the retreat was held at Hemlock Overlook, the George Mason University Center for Outdoor Education, where facilitators guided participants on the low-ropes course and on various team-building and problem-solving group exercises

“We hope that in these retreats we are paving the road for us all to be reflective educators.”

Day two, held on the school’s campus, was designed to utilize the previous day’s learning in two ways—through a presentation entitled “Living Within Your Heart” by Teresa Zutter, Director of Alternative Education in Fairfax County and a recipient of a Teacher of the Year award for Fairfax County; and then through intensive time spent in smallgroup discussions on questions intended to tie the retreat’s experiences to the upcoming year of teaching. The focus was not on solving all of the questions, but on identifying the questions most useful for the school community to discuss throughout the upcoming year as tools for growth and

improvement.

The idea that a committee devoted to cultivating student strengths begins its work with the faculty is central to the Committee’s and the Administration’s thinking, and is further reflected in this year’s re-organization of the fourth and fifth grades to allow teachers to teach what they are truly passionate about. The climate for student success begins with an energized, thoughtful, and empathetic faculty.

“This retreat is intended in part to allow teachers to experience a situation that models kids’ experience at school, dealing with the unknown,” says Mrs. Daryanani. “Ideally, it will increase both our empathy and our insight—empathy for students in their learning process, and insight into our own processes as educators, into how our students feel, and into how we can allow this knowledge to affect our work.

“We hope,” she says, “that in these retreats we are paving the road for us all to be reflective educators.”

In addition to organizing the Faculty Retreat, the Student Strengths Committee also facilitated the lecture series by Dr. Larry Silver in the fall.

A national leader in the fields of child and adolescent psychiatry, Dr. Silver’s presentation provided a roadmap for parents and educators who wish to explore the particular challenges that many children struggle with both at home and at school. Dr. Silver, the author of more than 150 publications and books, is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center, and is a former Acting Director and Deputy Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

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WAKEFIELD COUNSELLOR HAS DOCTORAL WORK CHOSEN FOR BOARD OF REGENTS STUDY Ms. Amrit Daryanani, counselor and head of the Student Strengths Committee, has been selected by the Board of Regents at Ohio State University to be a student representative/ example for her Ph.D. program as the program moves ahead to meet full accreditation standards for Ohio.

Ms. Daryanani attended an Ohio Board of Regents meeting in March to be interviewed as part of a panel, and her learning projects were used as examples of what students are producing at the doctoral level.

Her case study, in particular, was highlighted. It is a qualitative study that isolates protective factors in an animal shelter that serve to prevent compassion fatigue.

SPRING 2005

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Faculty Pursues Diverse Professional Development Wakefield benefited this academic year from the professional development activities of a number of faculty members, starting last summer and continuing through this spring.

In November Dorothy Fontaine and Kelly Mihalyov attended the Conference on English Leadership, an event affiliated with the National Council of Teachers of English, where they presented a joint paper on “Formal and Informal Systems of Faculty Mentoring.” Dr. Fontaine also presented a paper at the fall VAIS conference on “Teaching the Ancients in Modern Ways,” focusing on the teaching of Homer and Sophocles through the lens of literature as opposed to that of classical studies. She also attended a summer institute on curriculum development in San Diego, entitled “Understanding by Design.”

Lower School Curriculum Assistant Edie Drosselmeyer attended a two-day workshop on dyslexia this year. Mathematics Department Chair Tony Wilson and mathematics teachers Marilou Giacofci, Jamie Auch, Laura Ingoldsby, and Cyndi Williams attended the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in Baltimore, and Spanish teacher Wendy Wuest attended the FLAVA conference in the fall along with Foreign Language Department Chair Karen Falcon. Science Department Chair Shannon Bowen also attended a regional National Science Teacher’s Association conference in Richmond.

Ms. Bowen also participated, along with tenth grade Literature teacher Tutt Stapp-Harris, on a VAIS Visiting Team this year, joining with a dozen other VAIS teachers and administrators in conducting the 10-year evaluation for The Potomac School in McLean. And Upper

Of the course, and her studies, Ms. Paine says, “It has hijacked my whole soul”—high praise, and surely enough to encourage anyone to pursue his or her own academic dreams.

School English Department Chair Matt Zontine was awarded a welldeserved trip to the VAIS Experienced Teachers’ Institute, a three-day

gift of rest and intellectual adventure designed to recognize, re-energize and inspire the VAIS’s most valued professionals.

Eleventh grade English teacher Michelle Paine, in pursuing her master’s degree in English through the Breadloaf School at Middlebury College in Vermont, found herself at Oxford University’s Lincoln College last summer for a six-weeks course on Darwin. The focus of the course (and the direction of Ms. Paine’s intended Ph.D. work) is the use of literary devices by Darwin and others in their scientific writing, and how post-Darwin fiction writers and poets such as Dickens, Hardy, Tennyson, and Arnold used Darwinian conventions. Of the course, and her studies, Ms. Paine says, “It has hijacked my whole soul”—high praise, and surely enough to encourage anyone to pursue his or her own academic dreams.

Michelle Paine, aglow in front of Blenheim Palace near Oxford.

Faculty & Administration

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Foreign Language Department Chair Karen Falcon Leads at Wakefield, in Virginia, and Nationally Foreign Language Department Chair Karen Falcon has shared her expertise far beyond the classrooms of Wakefield School this past year, making extraordinary commitments of time and energy to further the teaching of Spanish throughout Virginia and the U.S. Helping the National Endowment make Spanish films available to all Mrs. Falcon was selected last summer to participate in a summer institute at the University of Virginia entitled “Spanish Film: History, Interpretation and Pedagogy.” Part of a three-year National Endowment for the Arts grant to U.Va. professor David Gies, the institute was a first stage towards the ultimate goal of establishing an online archive of film clips of Spanish movies for both students and teachers, accompanied by vocabulary lists, cultural explanations and activities. Participants in

the course watched more than 15 movies, choosing clips from them and working to develop the website material to accompany them. Mrs. Falcon said she had learned “a lot about film and modern Spain, but also all kinds of computer technology…I felt like I would be a different person at the end of the three weeks because the amount of Virginia SOL-directed lesson planning AND computer use were both miles beyond anything I’d ever done before.”

Following up on this beginning, Mrs. Falcon attended the annual University of Virginia workshop for Spanish teachers on April 9, and she says that “it was exciting to see the progress as [the project] has moved into a more technical stage. My area of expertise was in transcribing and editing the Spanish words exactly as they are spoken in the films – it turns out actors rarely follow the words in the screenplays precisely.”

“Putting on my presidential hat” Mrs. Falcon has also served for this past year as the President of the Virginia chapter of the AATSP (American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese). In addition to presiding over the Annual Spring Meeting during the April U.Va. workshop, she has balanced a host of other administrative and developmental duties as well. “My term has been interesting,” she says, “scrambling to keep up with many changes in the national AATSP organization, an almost 30% increase in the size of the Virginia Chapter, and the communication technology necessary for talking to members, which has forced me to learn technical skills.” At the spring meeting the most important topic was the AATSP’s plan to make the National Spanish Exam available only online starting next year. Wakefield is one of many schools in Virginia that will be challenged to figure out how to do that, it’s Mrs. Falcon’s task to facilitate the transition not just for Wakefield, but for the entire state.

Endless summer?

And for the summer: Like Maggie Doyle and Carolyn Wyrsch, Mrs. Falcon will be reading AP tests for a week in June. Then in July, the Virginia AATSP will be sending her to the National Conference in New York City, where she will be one of two delegates representing the Commonwealth.

Wakefield students get to benefit week in and week out from Mrs. Falcon’s nationally-recognized leadership and expertise.

SPRING 2005

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History Department Chair Is Both Local Hero, Fulbright Scholar The impact of Carolyn Wyrsch’s scholarship and service is felt from Fauquier to Japan Among the busiest faculty members at Wakefield, Carolyn Wyrsch finds time not only to teach her classes, chair the History Department, and oversee Wakefield’s vigorous Service Club, but also to pursue her own professional development with zeal. This academic year began with a wonderful surprise bonus for Mrs. Wyrsch’s hard work over the previous summer—and has ended with yet another surprise regarding future work. “…the greatest discovery of my life…”

Last summer, Mrs. Wyrsch attended a Teacher’s Institute at the Virginia Historical Society’s Center for Virginia History in Richmond. The focus of the Institute was on slavery in Virginia, and on helping teachers to incorporate the history of American slavery into their curriculums by providing access to the VHS’s extensive collection of primary sources.

During her research, Mrs. Wyrsch read the journal of a slaveholder and plantation owner named Chappalear, who recorded information about the unusually cold winter of 1854. He went on to say: “Great sickness in our family among the slaves. Charity died on the first of November, her daughter Melvina died three weeks later, and her son Charles on the fifth of December. Her son Wesley died several days later, and Alfred died since Christmas. The typhoid fever is still raging.”

Upon her return from Richmond, Mrs. Wyrsch met with her long-time friend and collaborator

Karen White, director of the AfricanAmerican Historical Association in The Plains, to discuss her experiences in Richmond and to begin formulating lesson plans. When Mrs. Wursch shared what she had read of the five slave deaths, Mrs. White was stunned: She knew from her own research that a slaveholder in northern Fauquier named Chappalear had lost five slaves to the 1854 typhoid epidemic, but their names had never been known.

As Mrs. Wyrsch told Anita Sherman of the Fauquier Democrat in an interview, “It was a magical moment when we realized that these unnamed slaves were now named.

Slavery was so dehumanizing. To be able to give even some dignity to their lives means so much to me. It was thrilling, the greatest discovery of my life, and if I never do anything else I feel so good about this.”

New frontiers There is, however, irony in Mrs. Wyrsch’s assessment. It seems she

will indeed be doing more, for many, and soon—and again, not only here at Wakefield, but far beyond as well.

Mrs. Wyrsch received word this spring that she has been accepted into the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Program. She will travel to Japan with a small group of other teachers from October 9-24, 2005, to study Japanese culture and education.

Competition for Fulbright programs is fierce, and the one into which Mrs. Wyrsch has been accepted will do more than simply fuel her own teaching. As the end result of their experiences in Japan, all participating teachers will create curriculumand professional-development materials for other American teachers, and will share them with colleagues in their area during the following year.

Mrs. Wyrsch is the second Wakefield teacher to be honored with acceptance into Fulbright’s Japanese program: Wakefield’s Director of Studies Margaret Doyle participated in 2002.

Kudos Laurel Kehs Is Named National Merit Scholar In May officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of the 2,500 distinguished high school seniors who have won National Merit $2500 Scholarships for 2005.

Wakefield senior Laurel Kehs has been awarded one of these prestigious scholarships. Laurel is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Glenn Kehs of Winchester.

The students who received the coveted scholarships were chosen

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trants.

Laurel came to Wakefield in 2002 from Handley High School in Winchester. In addition to maintaining top grades in a schedule laden with AP courses, Laurel is a member of the swim team and competes at the state level. “She takes everything in stride,” says Maggie Doyle, Director of Studies. “She handles a tremendous amount of academic challenge, and yet makes it look easy. She is a wonderful scholar.”

Two other Wakefield students were recognized in the fall as Commended Students by the NMSC: Emily Pierce, daughter of Wendy and William Pierce of Gainesville, and Lindsay Graves, daughter of Donna Rice of Broad Run and Stuart Graves of Fairfax Station. Commended Students placed among the top five percent of students who entered the 2005 competition.

Sophomore Named Virginia Historical Society Scholar

Senior Laurel Kehs

from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding students who reached the Finalist level in the 2005 National Merit Scholarship Program. More than 1.3 million juniors in nearly 21,000 U.S. high schools entered the 2005 National Merit Program by taking the 2003 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program en-

Siggi Hindrichs, daughter of Werner and Rebecca Hindrichs of Middleburg, was named as a Blanton Scholar for 2004 by the Virginia Historical Society, one of only twenty such students chosen statewide.

The competition was open to all Virginia public and private high school students enrolled in a U.S. history or government class. Selection was based on the quality of a submitted research paper, and on references.

The twenty chosen students spent Oct. 21 and 22 at the Virginia Historical Society attending a conference, the highlight of which was a session exclusively for the Blanton

Scholars with Pulitzer Prize-winning history writer Rick Atkinson, author of An Army at Dawn.

Wakefield History Department Chair Carolyn Wyrsch says that, because of Siggi’s “avid interest in history and the historical writing process,” she was a natural choice for the Blanton competition.

Siggi’s paper, entitled “The Sleeping Giant Awakens: The Decision That Created Operation TORCH and How It Revealed the Tensions Between Americans and the British,” was researched primarily at the Fort Hood Library in Texas, where she went specifically to search for the primary documents she needed. “I was able to access Army orders of operations [from 1942], Navy orders of operations, many original documents,” she says.

The Blanton paper had to be exactly four pages, and Siggi’s first draft started out at nine. “I loved it at nine,” she says a bit wistfully, “but once I realized that the paper really needed to be short because of the narrowness of the topic, then I liked editing it down. I was very pleased with the result.”

Sophomore Siggi Hindrichs

SPRING 2005

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Eight Students Nationally Ranked in Annual Foreign Language Exams The national language exams held in March yielded many accolades for Wakefield students, eight of whom were ranked nationally.

For Le Grand Concours, the national French exam, an amazing five Upper School students were nationally-ranked: Erica Eickhoff, grade 9, Level 1B [6th in No. VA/DC chapter, 7th in nationals]; Lindsey Morgan, grade 10, Level 2A [4th in chapter, 6 th in nationals]; Arash Hadjialiloo, grade 11, Level 2A [7th in chapter, 9th in nationals]; Siggi Hindrichs, grade 10, Level 3A [9th in chapter, 11th in nationals]; Jennifer Nicolaisen, grade 10, Level 5A [8th in chapter, 10th in nationals].

In the Lower School, fifth grader Ciara Hutchison was also nationally ranked in Le Grand Concours.

In Latin, Erica Eickhoff received a gold medal (summa cum laude ranking) for the Latin II exam, and Julia Falcon, grade 10, received a silver medal (maxima cum laude) for the Latin I exam.

Three Wakefield Cappies Critics Published in Area Papers This Year Congratulations to Wakefield Cappies critics Shannon Dempsey, Sara Jameson, and Rachel Squire, who each had work chosen for publication in area newspapers this year by the administrators of the Cappies program for the National Capital Area. The Cappies program promotes excellence in student theatre by organizing a network of student theatre reviewers. All Wakefield participants in this demanding program spend many evenings and afternoons on the road seeing the theatrical offerings of the 46 other schools in the National Capital region, and writing and submitting their reviews for possible publication. Excerpts appear below:

“‘If a man’s not himself, then what the hell is he?’ This is the question that is answered when Centreville High School’s production of Heaven Can Wait takes you into the dual worlds of Joe Pendleton, tough-talking Jersey boxer, and of the idyllic yet quirky bureaucracy of Heaven.”

—review by Shannon Dempsey for Heaven Can Wait at Centreville High School, published in the Washington Post, Fairfax edition

“The set was simple, but in the center was located a shallow pool. At first, many were skeptical about how well the actors could handle themselves with such a splashing distraction, but all fears soon subsided …All who beheld this lovely performance went away astounded – bewitched by the eerie magic that wound its way into the hearts of the audience.”

—review by Sara Jameson for Morph at Robinson High School, published in The Connection

“Suburbs. An annihilating inconvenience to some; a home to others. No matter what you call them, though, the suburbs are everywhere—and ever-growing. The cast and crew of Flint Hill School’s Spofford showed how an influx of city-slickers changed one man’s ideals about everything, including the meaning of his own life.”

—review by Rachel Squire for Spofford at Flint Hill School, published in the Washington Post, Fairfax edition

Cappies critics Sara Jameson, Shannon Dempsey, and Rachel Squire

Kudos

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Fall Varsity Teams Snag Volleyball Tourney Win, All-Conference Accolades, and Four Top-Three Conference Finishes Fall Banquet Awards Varsity Girls’ Tennis MVP: Megan Lee MVP: Josie Ziluca MIP: Caroline Oldfield Coach’s Award: Sarah Lindner Coach’s Award: Suzanne Gendreau

All-Conference Smiles: Pictured are fall 2004 DAC and MCAC All-Conference athletes Sam Kott (Golf, 1st team); Lilly Withers (Volleyball, Honorable Mention); Meagan Douple (Volleyball, 2nd team); Angie Hicks (Field Hockey, 1st team); Erica Eickhoff (Field Hockey, 1st team); Laura Prahlad (Field Hockey, 1st team); Liz Webb (Cross Country, 1st team); Josie Ziluca (Tennis, 1st team); Megan Lee (Tennis, 1st team); and Tatiana Duchak (Cross Country, 1st team). Not pictured: Kris Genther and George Hales (Soccer, Honorable Mentions); Katrina Borden (Cross Country, 1st team); Calder Withers (Golf, 2nd team); Suzanne Gendreau and Sarah Lindner (Tennis, 2nd team); Morgan Vandermast (Field Hockey, 1st team).

Varsity Boys’ Soccer MVP: Kris Genther MIP: Joey Rose Coach’s Award: George Hales Varsity Field Hockey Offensive MVP: Laura Prahlad Defensive MVP: Kelly Davidson MIP: Julia Danker Coach’s Award: Emily Phipps Varsity Golf MVP: Sam Kott MIP: Chris McElaney Coach’s Award: Nick Maria Varsity Girls’ Volleyball MVP: Lilly Withers MVP: Meagan Douple Coach’s Award: Ainsley Treptow

Regular Season Winners! Four fall teams finished in the top three slots of their

conferences for the regular season, with Golf, Girls’ Cross Country, and Girls’ Tennis finishing second in the DAC and Field Hockey finishing third in the MCAC. Pictured are team captains for their winning sports: Sam Kott (Golf); Hannah Wine (Field Hockey); Alex Mantoni (Golf); Liz Webb (Cross Country); Kate Matthews (Field Hockey); Laura Prahlad (Field Hockey); Emily Phipps (Field Hockey); and Megan Lee (Tennis).

Volleyball Tournament Spirit!! A spirited cheering section spurred the Varsity Girls’ Volleyball team on to victory in their first annual tournament! The girls swept Massanutten, St. Margaret’s, and the Miller School for the victory.

Varsity Boys’ Cross Country MV Runner: Daniel Peacock MI Runner: Will Napier Coach’s Award: Chris Collins Varsity Girls’ Cross Country MV Runner: Katrina Borden MI Runner: Sarah Christian Coach’s Award: Julia Falcon Superlative Award: Elizabeth Webb

SPRING 2005

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Winter Season Brings Rewards for Old Sports and New

Holiday Tournament sweep, State swimmers mark a warm and wonderful season Winter Banquet Awards Varsity Girls’ Basketball MVP: Kate Smithers MIP: MK Napier Coach’s Award: Liz Webb Varsity Boys’ Basketball MVP: Sam Kott MIP: Beau Letard Coaches’ Award: Brad Danker Varsity Girls’ Squash Co-MVP: Katherine & Liza Wood MIP: Michelle Hytner Coach’s Award: Lisa Hytner

According to Girls’ Varsity Coach Tommy Veith, organizer of this year’s tournament, what made the tournament such a success was how evenly the teams were matched—and not just in their playing. He said that the other three schools—Trinity School, the McLean School, and Tandem Friends School—were “in spirit and sportsmanship very much like Wakefield.”

Coach Veith observed that while almost every game was a closely fought contest coming down to the final plays, that after each game, players from each side were chatting together, getting to know each other, and generally showing the kind of camaraderie that an event such as this is supposed to promote. “The games were tense, and the quality of the basketball was very good,” he said, “but the quality of the day for everyone—players and fans and parents alike—was also an important part of what made it a success.”

This is the first year that Wakefield has won its annual tournament.

Boys All-Tournament Brad Danker Adham Yusupov MVP Sam Kott

Varsity Boys’ Squash MIP/MVP: Matt Bohn Coach’s Award: Sebastian Watt Varsity Swimming Co-MVPs: Alex Floyd, Tatiana Duchak, & Laurel Kehs MIP: Adam Koling and Brittany Breeden Coaches’ Award: Chris Stone, Rachel Squire, & Lanie Alphin

Qualifiers for State Swimming Championships Laurel Kehs Jake Alphin Lanie Alphin Tatiana Duchak Alex Floyd Chris Stone

DAC All-Conference Winter Athletes Laurel Kehs--Swimming Jake Alphin--Swimming Tatiana Duchak--Swimming Sam Kott--Basketball Kate Smithers--Basketball

Girls All-Tournament Kate Smithers Erica Eickhoff MVP Liz Webb

Kudos

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Lower School Winter Shootout: The fourth annual Lower School Winter ShootOut lived up to its reputation as both a skills-builder and a community-builder in the Lower School, and everyone took in the spirit of a day intended to reinforce the pure fun of relaxed and friendly competition.

Naturally, such a day requires many hours of notso-relaxing planning and hard work beforehand. Parent organizers Deb Swedberg, Kathy Gravett, Ruth McElroy, and Amy Hinchman headed up the massive effort窶馬ot to mention the exceptionally kind and prudent referees, a.k.a. Wakefield Upper School basketball players Alex Barrett and Michele Lalonde!

Hoop-de-Doo!!

You name an element of great basketball, and it was at the Winter Shoot-Out! Clockwise from bottom left: Sage coaching...the drama of the jump-ball...the high-five...the fast break...and GREAT referees! (actually, the latter can, perhaps, be found ONLY at the Winter Shoot-Out!)

SPRING 2005

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Successful Archwood Lacrosse Tournament Complements a DAC Championship and a Stellar Spring for All Sports Wakefield’s Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse Team swept the Archwood Tournament this year, going 3-0 on the weekend and running its record to 12-1. After dominating Trinity-Meadowview 11-2 and McLean 11-4, the team met a strong Queen Anne’s School squad. Trailing 2-6 at the half, Wakefield outscored Q.A. 7-2 in the second half to notch a thrilling 9-8 victory. Zack Power had his best game to date in the goal, making 12 saves, including 4 critical ones in the frantic, exciting 4th quarter. Players named to the All-Tournament team were Michael Heim, Beau LeTard, Aaron Phipps, Sam Kott.

The Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse team secured third place in this year’s Archwood Tournament by recovering quickly from a tough first-round match to improve with each successive game. After losing solidly to girls’ lacrosse powerhouse Gunston Country Day School Friday, they dropped a heart-stopping game to Mercersburg Academy 7-6, only to return later that afternoon to defeat McLean School 14-5. Wakefield’s All-Tournament girls included Lilly Withers, Josie Ziluca, Jordon Ross, and Erica Eickhoff.

The girls finished third for the season in the MCAC, while the boys’ team went on to clinch the DAC Championship for the first time, making this a season to remember!

Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking! Lacrosse was not the only

game in town for boys this spring—a very young and up-and-coming tennis team started from nearly nowhere to secure a couple of great wins by season’s end, with all Middle School-age players; and determined volleyball veterans Calder Withers (at left, #24) and Brad Danker (in the air) rekindled interest in the two-years-absent volleyball team, happily taking on new players who had literally never played before and then going on to the semifinals of the DAC Tournament! Tennis coach Kristal Breeden and volleyball coach Roz Sarmiento-Williams are still smiling.

You made us proud, tennis and volleyball players—thanks!

Soccer Power: First-year Wakefield soccer coach Ms. Kelly Mihalyov, above, had big shoes to fill—those of Neil Hammond, last year’s DAC Coach of the Year. But fill them she did, as her soccer girls, short on seniors but long on experience and determination, made it to the semifinals of the DAC Championships and finished third in regular season play!

Champs AGAIN!: The Middle School Girls’ Soccer Team remained

undefeated in Middle School play for an incredible third straight year, clinching the PAC-VI Conference Title in a tight and exciting final against Highland. Coach Seth Obed not only led his team through its demanding season of conference play, but also sought out other competition for his skilled players, with their only loss of the season coming from the JV team at the Collegiate School in Richmond. Congratulations!!

Kudos

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A Passage to

Shangri-La

Clockwise from top left: Margriet Langenberg & Joe Manson; Holli & Moses Thompson; Deetzie Sigl; Anjela Guarriello Stacey Lukens, and Peter Quinn; Charlie Rose and friend; Frances Heim; Chryssi Benitz & Cynthia Benitz-McClory.

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SPRING 2005

Clockwise from above: Mark Ohrstrom; Angela & Elroy Sailor; Tucker Withers & Evan Jones; Boris & Gretchen Brevnov, Scott & Lisa Abeel, and Brian & Celeste Vella.

Left, Jimmy Swansbrough; above, Lisa Winick, Elizabeth Finnan, Libby Atkinson, & Tina Boyd.

E

ach year, it seems beyond belief that the Wakefield Parents’ Association could possibly equal the splendor, saavy, and—well, pizzazz of the previous year’s auction. Yet each year, the Auction Committee manages to dream up an evening so sumptuous, so imaginative, and so transporting that everyone leaves at the end of the night with giddy sighs of bliss, not knowing exactly how they did it, but incredibly grateful that they did.

This year’s auction, themed “A Passage to Shangri La,” was no exception. No sooner did Wakefield officially open its new gym than the Auction Committee set about disguising it—and disguise it they did, as amazing orbs of light hung suspended from the ceiling, orchids and dogwood centerpieces graced every table, pastel lights softened every surface, and the Gene Donati Orchestra evoked thoughts of no exercise but dancing. The theme’s implication of transport to a hidden, magical world could not have been more fully realized.

Naturally, the auction is the fundraiser of the year as well as the social event of the year, and the 2005 Pizzazz served its mission beautifully in this way as well, gleaning hundreds of donations from the community for the live and silent auctions and netting more than $89,700 in proceeds for Wakefield.

For all of this, Wakefield owes its deepest appreciation to the devoted members of the Auction Committee, most especially Auction Co-Chairs Anjela and Ted Guarriello and Stacey and Mel Lukens, and Committee Chairs Holli Thompson, Juli Clifford, Frances Heim, Laura and Paul Glennon, Mary Ann and Tucker Withers, Mary Graham and Leslie Ladau, Deetzie Sigl, Anne Viega, and Harriet Clubb.

Campus Buildout

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N

o, pain, no gain—and after the planning, the financing, the designing and redesigning, and, most especially, the CONSTRUCTION, Wakefield is now past the pain and on to the gains—many of them—of its latest phase of facilities expansion.

F

irst to be completed was Bohn Field—the fully-transformed lower playing field now named for its patron, Robert Bohn, father of Matt, grade 9, and Robbie, grade 5. Next in line was a fabulous set of new tennis courts, four of them, ending the long years of Wakefield tennis teams’ having to travel the countryside in search of “home” courts. And a much-improved traffic pattern and pick-up-and-drop-off system was facilitated by a new bus-lane in the redesigned upper parking lot.

SPRING 2005

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T

he next stage was the longest coming and the hardest to wait for—the new gym! Now a reality, the 17,000 square foot gym boasts 9,000 square feet of gleaming maple flooring and comprises the gym, locker- and changing-rooms, a fitness center, and a training room, as well as athletic offices and space for concessions. It is Wakefield’s first fully athletically-focused building, the original gym having been designed from the start as a multipurpose room—so it felt like (and was!) a HUGE step forward.

A

s to the future, Wakefield is even now in the process of contemplating the next phase. The school’s existing Master Plan being around ten years old, the Trustees felt it was time to revisit that plan and begin envisioning the next ten years. A long period of brainstorming, debating, and dreaming has brought that re-envisioned Master Plan very close to fruition now, and soon both the county and the school community will begin to hear the details of the exciting growth that is before us in the next decade.

Academics

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First-Ever Science Day Engages Middle and Upper School Students in Stewardship, Compost, Physics, Fun On Monday, April 25, students at Wakefield School spent the entire day engaged in earth-friendly science, art, and stewardship activities in the school’s first-ever Science Day. Timed to complement both Earth Day and Arbor Day, the festivities were under the direction of Wakefield Science Department CoChairs Shannon Bowen and Amanda Gonczi.

“The purpose of Science Day is to provide students with science related activities and opportunities that they would not otherwise be able to have within the time of their regular science instruction, with the emphasis on conservation and wise use of natural resources,” says Ms. Bowen.

Students signed up in advance from among nearly 20 different activities, including two full-day outings off-campus: a trip down the Shenandoah River to see the effects of a chemical spill on the diversity of

life in the region, and trail maintenance on the Appalachian Trail near Front Royal. Half-day activities off

On-campus activities took full advantage of Wakefield’s large and open campus, while teaching skills to help keep it and other open spaces healthy, balanced, and beautiful. campus were an ornithology lesson at Bull Run Preserve, a trip to a waste water treatment facility in Warrenton, and trips to the Airlie Foundation research site for stream monitoring.

On-campus activities took full advantage of Wakefield’s large and open campus, while teaching skills to help keep it and other open spaces

Olivia Muss, Chris Collins, and Elena Stock, absorbed with their planting; Sarah Christian , Nicole Tobin, and Julia Falcon watch a red-tail hawk , conveniently in flight over the ornithology group!

healthy, balanced, and beautiful. Students were able to work on the school’s organic garden, help build a school compost bin and learn the how-to of composting, learn invasive non-native plant species and help scout them out and remove them, build and place bird-houses all over campus, landscape and plant the new upper parking lot, help paint a huge landscape mural on an outside wall of the Lower School, learn and practice some of the fine points of nature photography, and see slide shows of the Galapagos Islands and of orchids.

All activities were run by knowledgeable, experienced presenters, many of whom are either scientists or professionals in their fields.

Upper School students enrolled in chemistry and physics got to participate in the most coveted activity: setting up a real hot-air balloon and learning the physics and chemistry behind its functioning.

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SPRING 2005

Clockwise from top left:Sarah Lindner and Sam Davis in the organic garden; students learn from arborist Aaron Dickinson; Brad Bahnson, gardener--who knew?; Lindsey Morgan, Allie Fitter, and Chris Collins hold down the parachute; ...and then they got up!; Catzby Pitzvada and Ted Sacripanti collaborate on a birdhouse.

Academics

Teaching to

T

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Passions

he idea came about last year, when Lower School Head Mary Steensma was thinking about how Lynette Bates’ then-parttime contract was structured.

“Lynette taught both math and science to the fifth grade,” Mrs. Steensma says. “It suddenly occurred to me—she teaches the math, but what she really loves is teaching science. Would she like to teach all of the science to both fourth and fifth grades?”

When she went to Mrs. Bates with the idea, she got a resounding “Yes!” But, of course, this decision could not happen in isolation. If Mrs. Bates taught all of the science, would Cyndi Williams like to teach all of the math?

Mrs. Williams was equally excited—and so the idea took another step. Mr. Enoch then jumped on the chance to teach all of the literature.

The four continued to meet and brainstorm and plan, and the more they did, the more enthusiastic everyone became. To trade in the subjects you just tolerated teaching for teaching all day the one thing you are the most passionate about—this seemed too good to be true to all three teachers. All they needed was a history teacher—and right on cue, as if the idea was simply meant to be, there came along a new teacher who wanted to teach only history and geography: Katie Hutchison, the final member of the newly-minted fourth and fifth grade team.

Innumerable benefits

“If you want to cultivate student strengths, why not begin by cultivating teacher strengths?” Mary Steensma says with a smile. And indeed, the benefits of the new system seem nearly as innumerable for the students as they are for the teachers.

For one thing, students get to have the same teachers two years in a row. Since each teacher is teaching his or her own blockbuster subject, that means two consecutive years of blockbuster courses in all four subject areas, from teachers you come to know well. And this concentration of excellent preparation comes right when students need it most—in the critical years before the transition to the Middle School.

Students benefit not only from the specialization of the course, but also from its integration. The four teachers work as a team—and since all four teachers have every fourth and fifth grader every day, they focus in team meetings on individual children, comparing their observations, and discussing both problems and solutions together.

“The course that ties it all together”

Another excellent benefit—and excellent preparation for the Middle and Upper Schools—is what the new system gives to the teaching of Composition.

“In the afternoon each teacher teaches a composition/grammar/

spelling course to his or her own homeroom students,” Mrs. Steensma says. Appropriately entitled “English,” the course takes an integrated approach, teaching the three disparate areas as three parts of the same communication skill. And this course receives a full 1½ hour block each day—a serious commitment of time to a skill Wakefield holds at the center of its educational mission.

And best (and most innovative) of all—each teacher’s own afternoon English course is slanted to reflect that teacher’s subject area! So Lynette Bates’ English course revolves largely around science—they spell science words, and write a comprehensive science research paper to accompany their science project. Likewise, Mrs. Williams’ English course reflects her focus on math, Mr. Enoch’s on literature, and Mrs. Hutchison’s on history.

They do enrichment reading that relates to their subject areas as well. (“How many math-related stories are there?” this interviewer asked doubtfully. “Plenty,” Mrs. Williams replied, and showed a whole shelf full.)

In this way, fourth and fifth graders have already had a two-year dose of something very similar to what they will re-encounter in the ninth and tenth grade Interdisciplinary Composition courses. “This is the course that ties it all together,” says Mrs. Steensma. “This is where they see the connections.”

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A new day

Making this change required wholesale re-organization of the Lower School schedule. Every grade was affected, since key to the plan was arranging things so that the four team members could have a serious block of time in the day in which they were all four free, to facilitate the

team approach. This meant rotating all of the fourth and fifth grade “specials”—music, art, foreign language, and PE—into a back-to-back position each day, a logistical task of Herculean proportions. But it was done.

It’s new day in the fourth and fifth grade in more ways than just

scheduling, though—it’s literally a whole new way of teaching, of learning, and most especially, of transforming every corner of the day into an activity driven by passion. And stepping into any fourth and fifth classroom, at any time of the day, reveals that this is happening in practice, not just in theory.

Ghost in the Machine: Lynette Bates and the Logic of Science

W

hen asked if the new fourth and fifth grade arrangement allowed her to cover more material, Lynette Bates paused, then said unequivocally, “Deeper. Not faster.”

This, she is quick to point out, is a good thing. “You can tie it to critical thinking,” she says. “You have a continuity, and you’ll have them for two years, so you can have higher expectations.” Then, when you add her own passion for the subject to the mix, “They respond to it,” she says. “They can tell if you think it’s important. Then they give it more energy.”

Mrs. Bates’ face lights up at the mention of the role of teaching logic in the teaching of science. “Logic gives both fun and safety,” she states firmly. “When you try something in science, you know it may not work— and yet you can always say to yourself, ‘But I know that I can try again, and that I can figure it out.’

“Being wrong is good!” she asserts in her orator’s voice. “Scientists make their greatest strides when they are wrong and they have to fix it. It is OK to make mistakes—but it’s not OK to repeat them! You have to learn from them and move on.”

Students, she says, are somehow more comfortable with this important lesson in the context of science.

The kids clearly know the drill.

“I want you to figure out what would happen if you reversed the current in this system,” she tells her class. Immediately they all look down at their

“Fourth Grade Science, November: Adopt-a-Planet. A team of two

will adopt and research a planet. A research paper will be written along with original poetry about their planet. Students will then construct their planet to scale out of Styrofoam.

Oral presentations will be given in December while special music selected by the team to represent their planet is played in the background.”

“Fifth Grade Science, November: Work, Power, and Simple Machines. Students will invent a com-

Undivided attention: “If you have a vested interest, then they will,” says Lynette Bates.

diagrams of batteries and wires and lights and begin to hypothesize quietly. “Do I care if you’re wrong?” she asks. “No!” they chorus, without looking up. “Do I care if you’re thinking?”

“Yes!” they all reply, still working. It is the only moment of rote anything that is to be observed in class.

The spunky and challenging projects that accompany this handson, logic-based learning are enough to inspire anyone to want to re-take some slept-through science course of the past (if you could have Lynette Bates for your teacher):

pound machine consisting of six simple machines that will perform a task of their choosing. They will brainstorm and interview people before inventing their machine. They will advertise their invention, write a slogan, and submit a blueprint, along with a paper that explains the machine’s purpose, how it works, and how the six simple machines work together to complete the task. Then they must build the machine. Oral presentations showing the inventions in action will culminate the project in mid-December.”

And get this—the machine has to actually work. It must complete the task! And if it doesn’t?

Mrs. Bates grins. “They can always re-design it! As many times as they like. It’s good to be wrong!”

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Teaching Literature and Character: Fourth & Fifth Graders “Drop Everything and Read” for Global Causes--and for Mr. Enoch

W

akefield’s fourth and fifth grade classes are reading with dual enthusiasm this year, since their literature teacher Joel Enoch has expanded his yearly DEAR project (“Drop Everything and Read”) into a year-long combination of marathon reading and pledged fundraising for humanitarian causes.

The 70 students each committed themselves and their reading time to one of four causes—Habitat for Humanity, the Heifer Project, the Humane Society, and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital—and sought pledges from family members, friends, and neighbors for every hour of reading they do beyond the required one hour per week of outside reading.

The final, end-of-the-year count is not available yet, but as of the midyear tally on December 15, the 70 students in grades four and five had read 128,563 minutes, or 2,142.7 hours.

Money collected so far totaled $1,368.11. And the year was only half way through!

A Matter of Character

Everyone knows how busy Wakefield students are, and how busy families are today. And everyone also knows that, in general, Wakefield students like to read, and do read.

But where does this turbo-powered drive to read come from? How do you harness extra hours of voluntary commitment from already hardworking kids?

Joel Enoch believes that you do it by connecting them to something larger—something outside themselves. And he sees that connecting as an important part of giving life to Wakefield’s often-repeated words about teaching character. “‘Character issues’—that’s not a course,” he says. “You can’t teach character and values like it was a subject. You have to be connected to something. Getting the kids to think about global issues, and to think about how they can make a real difference—that teaches them character.”

Mr. Enoch says he chose charities that he knew would “speak to the hearts of children.”

Stand and Deliver

The students had another chance to connect to a cause outside themselves this year—in their persuasive speeches. The task was to persuade their classmates that the organization they chose, representing an issue important to them, was worth supporting financially. The students evaluated each other on the persuasiveness of each speech and on its credibility.

The 1st place winners had money from the class donated to the organizations that they represented: the American Bird Conservancy, the National Institute for Literacy, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Other groups represented in the speeches included the Arlington/Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless, the American Red Cross, the NAACP, the American Cancer Society, Big Brothers/Big Sisters International, and MADD. “Their speeches were amazing,” Mr. Enoch says. Probably—amazing work in response to a truly meaningful task.

Invested: Cyndi Williams on the Stock Market, Calculators, and the Beauty of Chaos

I

n the interests of full disclosure, it should be stated that, even though the premise of the new fourth/fifth grade system is that each teacher is teaching his or her absolute favorite subject, Cyndi Williams’ absolute favorite subject is—history.

She feels, though, that math is something that she is uniquely able to teach. “Math is a field where I feel I really do understand why children don’t get it,” she says. “I can explain it to them because of that. I under-

stand it because of how I learn—and I am still not an auditory learner!

“You have to seek how you learn,” she says with conviction.

“Math is the perfect place for that.”

Apparently, a glimpse of her classroom first thing in the morning reveals that this seeking is happening apace. It sounds straight forward enough: “Well, first they come in and the four groups get their buckets, and they set up their manipulatives. They know what to do. Then I go over the

vocabulary and objectives for the lesson. We check homework, and I teach the lesson. Then we have closure.”

However, Mrs. Williams says, the actual experience is often not so

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decorous as it sounds. “Sometimes it’s crazy! Some kids are checking the stock pages in the newspaper to see how their stocks are doing, some are on the internet checking stocks, others are working on their spreadsheets, others are working on their group presentations—sometimes a visitor will come in and sort of say, ‘What are they doing?’ I say, ‘I have no idea! But they seem to know, don’t they?’”

And indeed, the classroom is purposeful. There is an astonishing array of math learning tools in the room, tucked into every nook and cranny—blocks and books and games and a math stories shelf and tools of

every sort—including calculators.

“Absolutely they use calculators,” Mrs. Williams says. “It’s a tool.

Math isn’t rote memorization of multiplication tables and endless long division—that’s what we’re trying to get away from! You want them to start seeing it as a means to an end. See this?” She shows a long table that gives quick answers to basic computations, one of which is on each desk.

“We use this in a game we play.” It’s a hard game, and its point isn’t the computations—it’s the result of the computations, the idea that they help you get to. “It’s application,” Mrs. Williams says fervently. “It’s all about application.”

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the stock market project. The students research the companies, discovering in what countries their products are sold and what good the company does the world, if any. They calculate percentages of loss and gain, create Excel spreadsheets to report their findings, observe the impact of world and political events on their stocks. They work in groups to assemble all of their learning into group reports on their companies.

In all of this, the word “math” rarely comes up. But math it is—and, says Mrs. Williams, “We’ve raised the bar. And they pick up on our enthusiasm.”

Katie Hutchison Indulges: It’s a History/Geography Major’s Dream

W

hen we commented on the unusual number of globes in Katie Hutchison’s classroom and asked exactly how many there were, she responded, “Well, there are nine” [read, “of course”]—said in a way that implied that she hoped we would soon move on to better questions. Apparently, anyone off the street should know that a fourth and fifth grade history/geography classroom requires a minimum of nine globes.

And welcome to the world of Katie Hutchison—where the world, its past, its people, its everything is a matter of such importance, is cause for such excitement, that one is feeling breathless almost as soon as the room is entered.

“You just can’t imagine,” she says. “You major in history without ever thinking you will actually DO anything with history. Well, I’m DOING HISTORY! I mean, this is REAL HISTORY! It’s just amazing!”

Mrs. Hutchison completed her Master’s degree in education in De-

cember, and she had thought that after that, she would get a bit of a breather. But then the Wakefield position came along, and it was too good to pass up.

“Mrs. Hutchison, you know what I figured out?

There’s writing in math, and science in history, and...”

“No, there was no break,” she says. “I was up on the computer at 12:30 am, and my husband asked me what I was doing. ‘I thought you were through with all this for a while!’ he said, but I told him, ‘No, you don’t understand! I just found this website on the archaeology of ancient Sumerians!”

Her students imbibe this spirit.

“They come in in their free time, for fun,” she says. “They’ve been in this week working on these cuneiform characters baked in clay…” Sure

enough, little clay tablets are drying all over every surface.

Mrs. Hutchison is an enthusiastic advocate for the team-teaching approach as well. She says, “I can go to Lynette and ask, ‘Do you cover the water cycle?’ and then go to Cyndi and ask, ‘Can they handle the electoral college?’” This approach does more than just avoid repetition—it reflects the deeply interdisciplinary nature of the work. And this, too, is imbibed by the students.

And it’s the spirit that they imbibe that counts to Mrs. Hutchison.

“If they forget exactly who Chief Seattle was—well, we can revisit that later. But if they leave thinking, ‘Wow—history’s fun!’—now that’s what you want!”

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Interdisciplinary Work Gains Momentum

Interdisciplinary work has always been present at Wakefield, but since the inception of the Upper School’s Interdisciplinary Writing program three years ago and the integrated re-organization of fourth and fifth grades this year, everyone seems to be more on the look-out for opportunities to meld different areas of learning.

Among the happiest of the marriages in the Upper School writing program is the collaboration between tenth grade composition and oral history. The many competing demands of this task—to do effective historical research and present it correctly, to contrast this research with an oral history and understand the differences between them, and especially, to undertake the responsibility of telling someone else’s story with integrity and respect—make for both excellent history learning and excellent writing challenge.

Mrs. Doyle’s A.P. Government students experienced the popular combination of politics and statistics when they worked with A.P. Statistics teacher Marilou Giacofci on the science of polling public opinion.

First the class conducted a “straw poll” to determine general student interest on the subjects of national security, the environment, and the then-upcoming presidential vote.

Once this was done, Mrs. Giacofci taught them how to do a true polling—a “scientific sample.” Students designed and redesigned their questions, trying to anticipate the effects of subtle re-wordings of the same idea, and learned the mathematical difficulties of getting “true” polling results.

On Oct. 7, the Upper School Earth Science class travelled to Marshall Cemetery for a multipurpose scientific investigation.

The students first learned how to map the area accurately on a graph, exactly placing each individual stone. They then took a survey of all of the tombstones in the cemetery, learning to identify the type of stone each is made of without any damaging or invasive

Clearly, pen and paintbrush together can sometimes yield a richer result than either one alone. testing, and recorded each stone’s date of placement, its shape and horizontal or vertical placement, directional facing, location with regard to trees, and lichen and moss growth.

All data was then brought back to the classroom to draw conclusions on the weathering qualities of different types of stone, the effect of various placement factors on the degree of weathering, and the effects of various plants on stones’ weathering. Finally, the students designed visual methods to summarize and present their findings, and created guidelines that people may consider when choosing the type of stone most suitable for a long-lasting grave marker at a particular site.

The Upper School does not have a monopoly on imaginative uses for interdisciplinary work, though. Sandwich Day is Nov. 3, and the second grade was there, all day, with sand-

wich applications that went well beyond mere lunch. Math activities that day were themed around the “Silly Sandwich Shop,” where, among other things, students could build hypothetical sandwiches from a menu of ingredients and figure the price of each sandwich combination.

In literature class, the second graders learned the key components of a good story by building a “Juicy Story Sandwich” from a story they read together, featuring Title and Author as the bread, Setting as the lettuce, Characters as tomato slices (a Juicy Story Sandwich can have more than one!), Plot as either ham or veggie-burger (student’s choice!), and the Climax as the Swiss cheese.

The second grade also utilized the time-honored duo of art and writing when students were asked to dream up an imaginary animal and then describe it. An incredible bestiary emerged from their imaginations, from the yellow, black, and orange wotashi, who lives on beta fish and trash and is, according to Becca Harvey, “very unintelligent,” to Craig MacDonald’s bewildering black manterray, who manages to be “mean, cuddly, and strong.”

Seth Kott’s creature, though, takes the writing spotlight: “My animal is a flying time wizard. He eats all evil things. He eats nuclear bombs.

He is mean, sassy, and stinky. He lives on Mount Everest.” Far from resembling Gandalph or Dumbledore, the mysterious flying time wizard is an amorphous, iridescent blue shape that nearly disappears into its background. Clearly, pen and paintbrush together can sometimes yield a richer result than either one alone!

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THIRD GRADE INTERDISCIPLINARY ADVENTURES The 3rd grade’s April trip to the Kennedy Center to hear the National Symphony Orchestra’s Young People’s Concert program, An American Salute, also provided more than just great musical enrichment. In addition to hearing the full NSO perform a variety of symphonic music by American composers including George Gershwin and Aaron Copeland, students will make curriculum connections to American history, the perfect spring segue to their fourth grade American History course.

The 3rd grade’s spring musical production, Aesop’s Fables, also provided a great theme for working on an integrated curriculum throughout the year. The students studied fables in their literature classes, and they gained experience in the art of storytelling in special seminars, including one with the Shenandoah University Players following their production at Wakefield of The Fabulous Fable Factory. Our 3rd graders have become masters at determining the “moral of the story” in their own words during their study of the western world’s foremost moralist. It even found its way into Mardi Gras, as everyone worked together on the “Aesop’s Fables” float! Art, music, history, and literature make a potent brew.

Science Department Co-Chair Links Middle School Science Curriculum to Smithonian, to Cornell--and to Snakes Ms. Amanda Gonczi, Co-Chair of the Wakefield’s Science Department and a Middle School science teacher, has received a $750 grant from Virginia Naturally to fund a Middle School project in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institute, entitled “Abiotic and Biotic Characterization of a Biodiversity Plot.”

The project will further work begun several years ago in an ongoing collaboration between the school and the Smithsonian’s Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment Project.

The school has an established hectare plot that Wakefield science classes have helped to monitor over time in a variety of ways. This particular round of monitoring will characterize rainfall amounts, rainfall quality by pH, nutrient and mineral composition of

the soil, nutrient content of green plant tissues, and species diversity and abundance of rodents on the biodiversity plot. All students in grades 6, 7, and 8 are participating as part of the required science curriculum.

The project will provide practical data that can be used by the Smithsonian in evaluating the biodiversity of our area, as well as allowing students to gain experience at field research techniques and to increase their understanding of the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem.

In addition, Wakefield has just become part of Cornell University’s birdwatching and data gathering group, Project Bird Feeder Watch, which was profiled in National Geographic magazine in September. Students in grades 4 and up will be able to participate in this new voluntary endeavor, which will provide useful data for Cornell’s study of bird populations, distributions, and migratory patterns, while also fostering interest in the hobby of birdwatching.

[Ms. Gonczi also has BABY SNAKES available--to qualified responsible owners only! She bred them herself, curious about how the genetic traits of two different species of garter snakes would pass on, and the project became part of the 7th grade’s study of genetics and heredity. She poses at left with mom Daizy and an as-yet-unnamed baby. Any takers??]

The Arts A Man for all seasons

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Theatre teacher Chris Guyotte shows he understands the stage, the school, and the students

Chris Guyotte--just another bald diety.

I

n his first year at Wakefield, Chris Guyotte has staged five uplifting productions, with the common theme of individual empowerment. They also reveal a lot about him: Puss-in-Boots, unabashedly imaginative, from a script (his own) that asked of the sixth grade that they do no less than abandon themselves to utter make-believe.

Crimes of the Heart, a quirky story about a group of women re-uniting to support another who—poor

thing!—has just killed her husband.

Very, very unusual.

Good King Wenceslas, the holiday play. Was it supposed to be funny—with the Page pulling out “fuel” (a pre-packaged Pine Mountain “log”) and “sustenance” (a rubber chicken) for the peasant family?

Or was it serious—with the traditional carol delivered via beautiful, operatic solos by the King and the Page?

Well—you couldn’t quite tell. Maybe it was both?

“The White Liars” and “Black Comedy,” two one-acts by Peter Schaeffer. The guy who wrote Equus? Yes, that’s him. Isn’t that a little, well, hard for high school students? You bet. Isn’t it sort of— umm, mature?? Sure was. So how’d it go? Incredibly.

And The Yellow Boat, the eighth grade production. And while the title might sound like typical middle school fare, it’s actually about a boy who dies at age 8 of AIDS, and how everyone’s prejudices about the disease inhibit our empathy and our compassion.

S

o, who is this Chris Guyotte?

Imaginative, quirky…when he’s being funny you’re not quite sure if he’s serious, but when he’s being serious, there’s no doubt about it at all.

But best of all, who he is is Wakefield’s new theatre teacher— and it looks like he plans to settle in

Left and right: Alex Floyd & Julia Petty, and Sara Jameson & Siggi Hindrichs, in Crimes of the Heart. Above right, Brooke Robinson as Puss-in-Boots facing the two-headed monster of Andrew Boyd and Will Harvey.

here for a while, given the scope of his dreams for the future of Wakefield’s theatre program. In his first year, he has shown amazing understanding of students of varying ages, of the art of teaching, and of the culture and climate of Wakefield, itself quirky, imaginative, and a blend of the funny and the serious. A match made in Heaven? It would seem so.

As everyone waits eagerly to hear what next year’s theatre season will hold, here is a bit about the man himself: where he came from, how he became a theatre addict, and what he finds to love about Wakefield School.

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A

sk Chris Guyotte about his experiences before coming to Wakefield, and the first thing he will tell you is that this is his first traditional teaching job (emphasis his).

Before finding Wakefield, he was convinced that the non-traditional setting was the only one for

At top, Rachel Squire in “White Liars.” Below, Shannon Dempsey and Jen Nicolaisen in “Black Comedy.”

him. He has taught theatre for nine summers to middle and high school students at the famed Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. He also taught theatre at a conservatory in Michigan—but again, though it

was a full-time job, it was still a nontraditional, non-classroom setting, as the program was an after-school one.

“At Interlochen I discovered that I had an appetite for teaching,” he says.

“As an artist, I love teaching.” But he never saw himself in a typical classroom setting.

He had also taught at the college level, but he says that that also was not for him. “I love the college environment,” he says, “but not college teaching. I like teaching basic ideas,” introducing people to the power of theatre for the first time.

There is another reason for his desire to teach high school students.

“In high school, theatre saved me,” he says. “I found a niche, a place where I belonged. Without theatre, I would have failed. I think theatre has the power to save others as well.”

Claiming to have been terrible at math, he even credits theatre with giving him the motivation to learn that least-favorite subject. “I had to learn enough,” he says, “to be able to paint the stage. I had to be able to mix paint without having to make a five-gallon batch of each color!”

Mr. Guyotte comes from a big family—a big family. He has 13 siblings, 28 nieces and nephews, a total extended family numbering close to 50. He says that the sense of esprit de corps, of working together, that is essential in theatre just comes naturally to him. He has always remained close to his family, even choosing to do his undergraduate studies at Plymouth State College in New Hampshire, mainly because it was just six miles from home. After this the larger world called him further away, and he received his MFA from Wayne State University in Detroit and his MA from The University of Illinois.

A

job search profile once generated for Mr. Guyotte said that he “likes interesting challenges.”

“Doing theatre in a gym!” he laughs. “Now there’s an interesting challenge!”

Yet his dreams for Wakefield theatre do not include having that situation last for long. He sees a space dedicated specifically for theatre, to create the atmosphere that builds an audience. He sees a studio theatre series, conducted out of a black box theatre...a full season of middle school productions alongside the upper school’s...radio plays...maybe a radio station?

“This is an exciting place to do theatre,” he says. “It’s at the beginning of the process. I can shape the program to what I want it to be.”

But best of all, Chris Guyotte simply likes Wakefield. “I like the tenor of my classes,” he says. “The students enjoy being treated like adults.”

Angie Hicks and Jamie Davis in the tense final moments of “White Liars.”

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Grandparents’ Day: For Sentimental Reasons

Wakefield’s annual Grandparents’ Day celebration for the Lower School took place on Tuesday, November 23, and once again the Lower School had worked hard all autumn preparing for this musical and theatrical honoring of their elders. This year’s program featured the music of the Greatest Generation, with Lower School stu-

dents crooning the classics like old pros—“For Sentimental Reasons,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” “What a Wonderful World,” and many others. In addition, students created “Grammy Awards” for their grandparents, citations stating the unique qualities for which that special relative deserves recognition.

The Kindergarten class in full regalia; Monica and Freeman Marvin flank one of the day’s honorees.

“Hither, Page!”: the Annual Holiday Play

Each December the gym is transformed into a candle-lit dinner theatre for the combination of the junior class lasagna dinner and the seasonal production of Archwood Community Theatre, a heterogeneous group composed of Wakefield students, faculty, and parents.

This year’s production, a musical, was “Good King Wenceslas,” with the King himself was played by Mr. Ray Karns, choral director of the auditioned Middle School chorus, who has performed with numerous international and American opera companies as a lyric bass.

Wakefield parent Mrs. Keith Stroud of Warrenton also had a prime role. A professionally trained oratorio

Ray Karns as the beneficent king himself; Keith Stroud smiles with “daughter” Grace White;Ian Fontaine and Steven Davis pay homage.

soprano, she currently sings at Washington National Cathedral with their symphonic choir, and is the mother of David, grade 5. The role of the Page was sung by ninth grader Hunter Morrison (himself an opera devotee!).

Members of the 8th grade Theatre and Music Intensive Study classes also had roles or were assisting backstage. The 5th grade rounded out the cast, in roles that required them to sing and dance as well as speak. “Their roles were actually the most challenging,” said the production’s music director and Wakefield Fine Arts Department Chair Chris Mulligan. Wakefield theatre teacher Chris Guyotte directed.

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The following students were nominated for National Capital Area Cappies “Critics Choice” Awards for their performances in Wakefield’s spring production of “White Liars” and “Black Comedy.” The productions themselves also received nominations.

Best Ensemble Cast—“White Liars” 2005 Critics’ Choice Play—“White Liars” & “Black Comedy” Cameo Actress—Lisa Hytner Cameo Actor—Alex Floyd Comic Actress in a Play—Megan McShea Comic Actor in a Play—Ian Revere Featured Actress in a Play—Sara Jameson Featured Actor in a Play—Ian Revere Lead Actress in a Play—Rachel Squire Lead Actor in a Play—Hunter Morrison

Megan McShea and Hunter Morrison fumble in the dark in “Black Comedy.”

Megan’s performance as Mrs. Furnival won her finalist status for Best Comic Actress in the region.

After the initial voting, Megan McShea had made it into the final round—one of only five actresses still in contention for Best Comic Actress out of the region’s 46 schools!

All Cappies critics in the region will vote on the final awards, and the winners will be announced at the Gala at the Kennedy Center later this spring. Good luck, Megan!

Aesop’s Fables Delights Audience and Cast

“An opportunity for everyone to shine,” was how director and Fine Arts Department Chair Christine Mulligan described the third grade’s spring musical, Aesop’s Fables.

The energy and excitement of the third grade actors was amazing, as students were transformed, through the genius of Wakefield’s costuming phenome Nancy Hutcheson, into cows, frogs, crows, lions, sheep, mice, turtles, and even grapes. “It was

a great show for eye-candy!” she said with pleasure when it was all over.

According to Mrs. Mulligan, the production took virtually no classtime away from other subjects, the entire preparation being done in the students’ music classes, save the dress rehearsals themselves. “It was great to see that the arts really are fully integrated into the students’ day,” she said. “Even a big production like this was done with very little disruption.”

The third grade brought to life, among others, “The Ox and the Toad” (top right), “The Tortoise and the Hare” (far right and right), and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” (left).

The Larger World

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Eight Travel to Montreal for Model U.N. Symposium Eight Wakefield students traveled to Montreal in November for the Secondary Schools United Nations Symposium, an international Model U.N. conference held at McGill University. Joining with other students from all over North America, South America, and Britain, they immersed themselves for four days in the world of international politics, learning first-hand the role of one country’s viewpoint within the process of global decision-making.

Wakefield’s delegation was made up of juniors Arash Hadjialiloo and Laura Martin and sophomores Julia Falcon, Harrison Fischer, Alex Fraser, Siggi Hindrichs, Lindsey Morgan, and Jen Nicolaisen. The school had been assigned to represent the countries of Grenada and Bolivia, and our students sat on four

different committees: Disarmament and National Security; Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Issues; Nonaligned Movement; and Special Session on Indigenous Peoples. In addition, one student, Lindsey Morgan, was assigned to the international press corps, representing The Cape Times (South Africa).

To prepare for the trip, according to Model U.N. faculty advisor Marilou Giacofci, each student had to outline his or her country’s position on three committee topics, and then prepare a position paper. The students then had to work together to prepare three committee resolutions to be presented jointly by Bolivia and Grenada.

By all accounts, the trip was an enormous success. “It was great,” said Harrison Fischer, who repre-

Around the table from from left, Harrison Fischer, Alex Fraser, Nicole Tobin, Julia Falcon, Arash Hadjialiloo, Siggi Hindrichs, Jen Nicolaisen, and Lindsey Morgan.

sented Grenada on the Non-aligned Movement Committee. “It’s really interesting. You learn so much.”

Topics undertaken by this committee included AIDS in Africa, the reconstruction of Iraq, and the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

UNESCO World Heritage Site Conference Draws Students to Historic Preservation

Senior Shannon Dempsey, at right above, spent a month at Cambridge University last summer studying creative writing and broadcast journalism. She worked on the creation of a literary magazine for the group (in which she was also published) and created a 5-minute documentary entitled “Summer Flings” which she and her group members edited down from over two hours of gathered material.

Tenth graders Sarah Christian, Elena Stock, Harrison Fischer, and Daniel Peacock participated in a UNESCO World Heritage Site Conference in Philadelphia on January 27-30, along with their history teacher Carolyn Wyrsch. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

The workshop focused on the local and global significance of the 788 cultural and natural sites around the world that are inscribed on the World Heritage List, and on the threats they face today. The workshop also discussed the educational value and potential of these sites, and the importance of their inclusion in the education curriculum.

According to Elena, the purposes of the conference for students were to increase awareness among student leaders of the purpose and importance of World Heritage Sites, and to encourage activism among students in protecting these sites. She said the conference addressed “ALL of the World Heritage Sites—they wanted us to see the whole perspective.”

In addition, Elena said, she hoped the conference would serve to increase awareness among the adults committed to the preservation of these international treasures of the excellent use they can make of committed students in working towards their shared goals.

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“World View” Clubs Sponsor Speaker, OxFam Dinner, Model U.N. on Haiti and the Dominican Republic On February 4 – 5, 2005, Wakefield’s Service Club partnered with the World Cultures, Model United Nations, and Amnesty International Clubs to sponsor a weekend event to address the many needs of the U.S.’s neighbors in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

On Friday night Dr. Gil Irwin, founder of the Northern Virginia Medical Missionaries, addressed the community at an “OxFam Dinner” to raise awareness of the desperate needs of residents of these countries.

An OxFam Dinner simulates the dining patterns throughout the world.

What each person ate at the dinner was determined by “luck of birth” (simulated here by the luck of the

draw), not “merit,” and the few people at the candle-lit table who were served a full turkey dinner had to squirm guiltily while most of the participants waited in long lines to receive beans and rice.

Saturday was devoted to a Model U.N. Security Council. In two sessions, this body addressed a hypothetical military crisis and the humanitarian tragedy that followed.

The $700+ raised through the OxFam dinner went to support the Heifer Project, a unique relief organization that will provide food- and income-producing domestic animals to villagers that Northern Virginia Medical Missionaries supports, to help them become self-sufficient.

Dr. Gil Irwin, who spoke on his years of experience providing medical care in Haiti and the Dominican R.epublic. Copywrite 2005, Jan Davis/Bull Run Observer.

Reprinted with permission.

The weekend was inspiring not only as a fundraiser for such a worthy cause, but as an opportunity to see a devoted group of students beginning careers of humanitarian and political activism.

Class Day: “Valuing Differences and Individuals”

A Class Day was held on Friday, February 11, in the afternoon.

Class Days are times set aside to build community in the school, and to have learning experiences outside the classroom.

This Class Day’s theme, “Valuing Difference and Individuals,” allowed pairs of classes in grades 1-12 to understand aspects of what it means to respect and value those people and situations that are outside their own range of experience. Sessions and activities were “Understanding Physical Challenges,” “The Military as Peacekeepers,” “Differences in Learning Styles,” a community service project with economically disadvantaged citizens of The Plains, a visit to the Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier, and a trip to Marshall Manor.

Diane Leggette helps Alex Floyd experience life as an amputee.

Curator Karen White of the Afro-American Historical Association talks with the sophomores and fourth graders.

Junior Hannah Wine and fifth graders Isabelle Byers, Carter Dale, and Bobby Breeden teamed up to interview residents at Marshall Manor about their experiences.

The Larger World

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Ski Week in Almost-Heaven Snowshoe in West Virginia was once again the spot where Wakefield continued its Winter Sports Week tradition of family skiing fun. Over 40 families, with a total participation of 275 skiiers from the Wakefield community, came together for four wonderful days of skiing and racing on some of the best terrain in the area.

An excellent social event as well, Ski Week pro-

vided plenty of down-time for families, students, and adults alike. Next year, Mrs. Watt, who organized this year’s event, said she hopes to put in place a system whereby students whose families cannot attend may come along, too, under the supervision of attending Wakefield faculty. The code for Ski Week is “the more, the merrier!”

Happy skiiers Tara McClory, Maddie Dale, Nico, Atty, and Bryan Benitz, Ross Ozburn, Chris McElaney, Spencer Sherwood.

Ski Week in Also-Almost-Heaven The 16th Annual Wakefield Winter Adventure took place in gorgeous Bormio, Italy, from February 19 – 27, 2005. The trip was once again organized by the intrepid Pat Tucker, and it served up her usual brew of excellent skiing, bountiful culture, and great food and fun.

Located in the heart of Lombardy region north of Milan, where three valleys meet, the village of Bormio is rich with traditions, history, and spectacular ancient ar-

Above, from left, Pat Tucker, Mac and Merline Murray, Meg Reedy, and Tom Tucker. Left, Eleanor Dunnigan.

chitecture, as well as diverse choices of alpine and crosscountry ski areas.

Thirty-one lucky Wakefielders, including students, parents, faculty, and friends, shared dining, dancing, sightseeing, more dining, and, of course, skiing. The Hotel Sant’Anton housed everyone beautifully, and the moonlight sledding was exactly what you’d expect moonlight sledding to be—wonderful.

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Will Napier--Wakefield Senior, Talisman Editor, World Traveller As he slogged through the demanding college application process last fall along with seniors everywhere, Will Napier had an enticing parallel activity going on that punctuated the drudgery—he was also busy going through the arduous-but-compelling process of applying to be an exchange student next year through Rotary International. Now accepted into the program, Will will spend the next academic year in Thailand, and to say that he is excited is an understatement.

To all who know Will, his curiosity about the world and his eagerness to meet it head-on are hallmarks of his personality. Below, in his own words, is a summary of what’s to come, and how he’s feeling about it.

I

have lived in Front Royal my entire life. In that time, I have attended, save pre-school, one school: Wakefield School. I know no other school or town.

My student exchange to Thailand is being sponsored by Rotary International, a universal service organization. Rotary works to promote the ideals of service, high ethical standards, goodwill and peace throughout the world. Both my parents are Rotarians.

I will be staying in Muang Udon Thani City, in Udon Thani Province, Thailand. This is a relatively large city, a transport hub in Thailand, up in the Northeastern part of the country, a region known as Isan. It is south of Laos, and about 350 miles north of Bangkok.

I will be essentially retaking my senior year at Udonpittayanukoon School. I will graduate twice, once from Wakefield School, and a second time in Thailand. I leave the first week of August and must spend a minimum of 50 weeks in Thailand (a requirement for the program). Therefore, I will return sometime mid-July, perhaps.

As Rotarians, my parents have hosted a number of exchange students and adults traveling under the guidance and support of Rotary International. Since I was in kindergarten, my family has hosted students

and adults from Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and France. I was interested in experiencing the other side of an exchange: being hosted.

I hope that this experience will provide a global approach to my future and will open my eyes to new and undoubtedly challenging views on the world.

My application required that I choose 10 countries which participate in Rotary youth exchanges. Thailand was my second choice, so I am thor-

oughly excited! I had chosen at least one country from each continent because I was so unsure about where I wanted to go—I wanted to go to them all. Italy was my first choice.

I participated in a short-term exchange program with Rotary two years ago. This entailed a 5-week stay in France, mostly in Brittany, in a tiny town in the Gulf of Morbihan called Locmariaquer, where the family I stayed with spent “holiday.” I spent the tail end of my trip in their hometown of Lille, a very large city in the northeast of France, near the Belgian border. I also took a trip three years ago with my French class from school to Paris, the Loire, and Normandie.

I hope that by spending a year abroad in Thailand I will learn to adapt to new circumstances, and to take an amazing adventure. It’s an unbelievable opportunity: a completely new language, new school, new town, new family, new climate—a new life, completely. I have no idea what to expect, which only adds to my excitement.

I hope that this experience will provide a global approach to my future and will open my eyes to new and undoubtedly challenging views on the world. I hope that this experience will make the world seem smaller and will reveal, as I have often thought, the connectedness of the world.

Alumni News 1980 Susan Courtney, along with her husband David and their daughter Natalie are settling into their new home in Ashburn, Virginia, after moving from Springfield.

1981 Deborah Chadwell happily writes that her first granddaughter, Kyah Lorraine Robertson, entered the world in 2002.

1983 Susan Goodman has been keeping busy with her two sons, Michael and Jacob, and is currently leading their Cub Scout Troop. She is also serving as the Program Director for the Cub Scout Day Camp.

Besides running her mail order business from home, Morag Houston, is working part time in the local schools helping children with special needs. She and her family also keep busy enjoying picnics and hillwalking around the beautiful mountains where they live in Scotland.

Rob Dickey announces that Farm Bash, an annual party he hosts, will be on June 4, 2005. Visit farmbash.com for more details.

1984 Read all about it: “Teens Go Hungry to Help Others” an article by Kimberly Haeringer on washingtonpost.com, tells the story of two local youth groups that were among the half-million teenagers from churches of all denominations nationwide who participated in the 30 Hour Famine Fast to raise money for starving children around the world.

Stephanie Prince reports that she and her family are enjoying life in Charlotte, North Carolina.

She began homeschooling her children this year and is loving it. They are busy with sports, church activites and having fun with friends!

Laurel Harry and family have officially relocated to Costa Rica. Laurel reports that the house is nearing completion and

PAGE 32 Cancun and the Yucatan this August.

The Harry Hacienda they are all doing very well. She encourages anyone who is looking to escape to visit!

Kingsley Hellems Brinkley is enjoying her historic home (aka “The Money Pit”) in Fairfax City, Virginia. She recently attended a 40th surprise birthday bash for Marie Brooke Banfield ‘83 and enlarged some old yearbook photos for the event. She has also been spending time with Heather Jenkins Dedrick ‘84.

Val Paluck writes with great enthusiasm that he and his wife, Cameron, welcomed Luna Natalia, a beautiful baby girl, into the world on December 12th (seen togetherin photograph to right) 1985 An article in The Daily Mason Gazette announced that Robert McDonnell, the course ratings processor for Institutional Research and Reporting (IRR), was named Employee of the Month at George Mason University in October. Robert has worked at George Mason for over four years. Congratulations on a job well done!

Doug Brooks is settling into the new home that his wife, Kathy, custom designed. They are both really enjoying their jobs, Kathy as an interior designer with The Futura Group and he as an analyst with the U.S. Coast Guard. They are looking forward to expanding their vacation geography with a trip planned to

Between juggling his job and family of 10 children, Paul Hartung found time to report that he just completed a joint “in-part” war fighting exercise with the Navy. As a reward, he will be representing his unit, as Commander Second Fleet JFACC, in a similar exercise. He recently ran into former classmate, Doug Brooks, while on base and had lunch together after 19 years!

Nicholas Bischoff just purchased a house in Seattle, WA ,and is currently recording his second album with Elvis Costello’s rhythm section backing him up. He has also exhibited his artwork, both painting and photocollages, in galleries in LA, Portland and Seattle.

1986 Brian Dotzler reports that his wife is currently on active duty in the Air Force stationed in Okinowa, Japan. He has taken the year off to watch their children.

On September 25, 2004, Larry Tarr married Noreen McGinn. The happy couple is now residing in Oakton, VA. Ann Waesche currently lives in the mountains of Colorado and spends a great deal of time in the back country skiing, biking and climbing. She works as a massage therapist at the Indian Springs Resort.

Kate Galusza will be traveling to Virginia in August for her sister’s wedding.

They are also planning a family vacation to Scotland.

1987 Sharon McAllister Painter reports that she vacationed with her sister, Mary McAllister Haskell ‘89, in St. Augustine, Florida. Sharon is the proud aunt of Havalin, who was born in June.

Townley Mailler Knudson reports that she just moved back from Thousand Oaks, CA, after her husband’s command-

SPRING 2005

PAGE 33

Complete the FuturePerfect Survey Today We are preparing to launch the first Wakefield Alumni Association Directory in June 2005! With your help, this database will allow you to reconnect with old classmates, teachers and new alumni who have similar interests, shared alma maters, careers, hobbies, etc.

If you have not done so already, we ask that you please take a few moments today to complete the survey! Thank you to the many alumni who have completed and returned the survey.

If you have lost, or did not receive a copy, and would like to be included, please contact the Development Office at 540.253.9861 or email Sarah DeBenedictis at sdebenedictis@wakefieldschool.org.

ing officer tour of VX-30, US Navy.

While there, she was fortunate to run a county-wide commission on children and families. They are now in Arlington catching up with friends and family!

Chris Holland is the leasing and acquisitions manager for Pursuit Development Company. He identifies retail tenants for commercial properties, and suitable sites for development. In his previous job at Walt Disney Feature Animation, he served as camera operator for such films as Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear. He reports that his hobby is golf and living in Florida allows him to enjoy it year-round. He has been married to his wife, Abi, for two years and in July, they welcomed a healthy baby girl, Sadie, into the world!

1988 From Tokyo, Japan, Takashi Takenoshita reports that he just became a partner at McKinsey, a management consulting firm.

1989 Mary McAllister Haskell had her first

child, daughter Havalin, in June 2004.

She is currently living in Crested Butte, Colorado, reports her sister, Sharon McAllister Painter ‘87.

company is headquartered. They are loving small town life with their golden retriever, Tiger and are expecting their first baby in May 2005.

In a letter from Mark Whitehead’s mother, we learned that he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a degree in electrical engineering in 1994, then earned his Master’s Degree in software engineering from National University in San Diego, CA in July of 2000.

He is employed by a subsidiary of the Boeing Corporation in Anaheim.

Have you made your gift to the Wakefield School Annual Fund?

Gabrielle Lee and Doug Barnes, and their two children, Jake and Jenna, recently moved to Irmo, SC. Croom Lawrence writes that he accepted a position as Vice President for RTC Relationship Marketing, a pharmaceutical advertising company, in Washington, DC. He is very happy to be back home!

1991 Check out the May issue of Popular Science Magazine to see John Viega, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Secure Software based in Falls Church, who is featured in an article entitled “I A t t e n d e d ThisHacker Conference and All I Got Was All the Data on Your Hard Drive.”

Mason Ryan (seen right) , son of proud parents Hugh Ryan and Jayme, decked out in his first Halloween costume.

Katherine Lawrence Melton, reports that she and her husband, Andy, have recently moved from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Findley, Ohio where Andy’s

The most important donations we receive are from our alumni who know how valuable their Wakefield education has proven to be in their lives.

Help us to declare record support from alumni in 2004-2005.

Please give as generously as you can to Wakefield’s Annual Fund!

1992 Jennifer Torneden reports that after gaining experience in the finance industry she decided to take her skills abroad and has been living in Zurich, Switzerland for five years. The travel and language opportunities have provided her with adventure and learning experiences that were not possible in the United States.

Learning German has opened her eyes to another culture and allows her to collaborate with her Swiss colleagues better. She has also been busy skiing the Alps and hiking around the beautiful lakes.

Michelle Egan happily reports that she became engaged in December with plans for an August 2005 wedding. She will finish graduate school this May and will be completing her first year teaching at Paul VI School in June.

1994 After traveling through Europe and South America, Devon Porter writes that he now realizes that his favoriate place in the world is right here in Virginia. Devon is currently a Vice President with Sona Bank.

1995 Celine Senseney has recently moved to Tbilisi in the Republic of Georgia. After the defeat of Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, her position at the Senate Democratic Policy Committee was terminated. She decided this would be a good opportunity to leave domestic politics to

Alumni News work in the field of international development. She is now working at Transparency International writing issue briefs and working on their parliamentary reform project. She also reports that her mom, Madame Senseney (former Wakefield teacher) is well. She is teaching English in Paris.

1997 After graduating from William and Mary with a degree in computer science, Stewart Hopewell entered Florida State University to get his Master’s Degree in film. He graduated in August of 2003 and moved to Los Angeles for work and to pursue his dream of an Oscar!

Melissa Rowe and Victor Trimarchi recently purchased their first home in Front Royal, VA. They have also just acquired a 90 pound pit bull puppy.

Katie Duffy is working in New York City at a charter school as Program Coordinator. Her responsibilities include introducing art, music and other activities to children in East Harlem. She is also getting married in June and Nadia Abulhasan ‘98 will be by her side as a bridesmaid. She reports that her parents (former Wakefield teachers) have moved to Naples, FL, and her sister Winnie ‘96 is also planning to move to Florida.

Since receiving her Master’s Degree in Classics from the University of Virginia in May 2004, Anne Wadlow, bought a small farm in Keswick, Virginia. She is also pursuing a PhD in Classics from UVA.

regional following. Check them out at www.organgrinderrecords.com to learn more about them! Jennings is also an online journalist with breakingnews.com covering terrorism and international safety issues.

1998 Congratulations to Justin Bohardt and his new wife Hazel who wed on October 9th. The happy couple are residing in Virginia Beach, after honeymooning at Walt Disney World.

PAGE 34

The Return of the Silver Bucket Challenge

In December, Jeanne-Marie Stevens completed her Master’s Degree in severe disabilities at the University of Virginia.

She plans to substitute teach in the Spring before having her own classroom in 2005-2006.

Van Carney graduated from Goucher College magna cum laude with a degree in Continental Philosophy. According to one of his professors “he changed the nature of the entire course with his final thesis project.”

1999 Seth Roberts and his wife, Emily, will be moving to Antwerp, Belgium in May to work at James Madison University’s International Program at the University of Antwerp.

2000 Adam Downs reports that he graduated from UCLA last June with a BA in Theater. He followed through with his plan to drive across the country and relocate to New York City to pursue his dream of acting. He is also keeping busy as a waiter and bartender.

Cara Speziale is currently living in Beacon Hill in Boston. She is attending graduate school at the Boston Architectural Center to get her Master’s Degree in Architecture. She has been in Boston for almost two years and writes that she is loving it!

Alison Squire has settled into her very first apartment in Washington, D.C., and is teaching special education at Clark Elementary School as part of the DC Teaching Fellows Program. She is pursuing her certification and Master’s Degree in Education. She also reports that it’s nice being close to home!

Jennings Carney and his brother, Van ‘98 (see 1998) have a musical group called Pontiak that are gaining a strong

Tim Eicher graduated from Princeton University in May 2004 and is now at-

A great time was had by all who played in the Silver Bucket Challenge game on December 11, 2004. Alumni who came out to play and support the event include Lindsay Hanson ‘04, Valerie Lalonde ‘04, Jennifer Anderson ‘01, Don Mark ‘00, Seth Roberts ‘99, Jason Zingg ‘99, John O’Neill ‘84, his wife Bethany and their daughter, John Piper ‘84, his wife Tracy and their two children, Sarah Mattingly ‘83 and her husband Matt, Rob Dickey ‘83 and his wife Audra Zobus, all seen below.

Congratulations to the white team which included Jennifer Anderson, Don Mark, Matt Mattingly and John Piper who proudly accepted the Silver Bucket after sweeping the mighty red team for the victory!

Thanks to all who participated in the Silver Bucket Tournament!

SPRING 2005

PAGE 35 tending Georgetown Law School. He also purchased a home in Maryland.

Kelly LeTard reports that she spent six months in Australia visiting family and enjoying time off after gradution.

2001 In a recent email from his sister, we learned that Josh Stevens finished his work at Franciscan University in August, in a record three years. His plans include spending the year doing mission work across the U.S. and enrolling in seminary in the fall of 2005.

Erin Boutwell, a senior biomedical engineering major at Virginia Commonwealth University, writes that her year is going well and is very busy. She reports that she made the Dean’s List the past four semesters and was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, the nation’s second oldest honor society and most prestigious engineering honor society, last year. She is also a member of the Student Government Association. She recently completed an internship with the University of Cincinnati, funded by the National Science Foundation, doing tissue engineering research. She plans to get a PhD. in biomedical engineering with a specific concentration in rehabilitation engineering.

Rich Danker, in his senior year at Lynchburg College, is keeping busy writing for The Lynchburg Current. He recently sent several copies of articles which have been published.

Allyson Floyd has spent this past summer studying in London. During her time in Europe, she visited Dublin, Ireland, Edinburgh, Scotland, and Swansea and Cardiff in Wales. She also backpacked for a week with friends in Paris, Nice, Venice, Florence, and Rome. Allyson will graduate from New York University in May and is deciding whether she will stay in New York City for a while or move to Los Angeles. She has been keeping busy doing lots of extra and background work for films and television.

A senior at Colorado College, Jonathan Will, changed his major from Pre-Med to Physics. He will graduate in 2006 after completing a few additional courses.

He loves Colorado Springs and feels there are good tech opportunities out there so he is planning to get a job this summer while working to finish his degree.

Adriana (Adya) Richardson is currently studying in Rome, Italy. She also plans to study at The Catholic Education Foundation in Lviv (Ukraine) during the summer.

Lain Carney is preparing to graduate from Goucher College with a degree in Continental Philosophy.

2002 Adam Piper reports from the University of South Carolina that he was recently re-elected and sworn into a second term in the Student Senate. He also appeared in various local, regional and national newspapers including USA Today regarding legislation which he sponsored in February. He was nominated for the Student Triumph Award on Campus. He is a political science major and plans to return home to Virginia to help manage Russ Potts’ “Independent Republican” campaign for Governor.

Congratulations to Katherine Prahlad, who received The Elizabeth Rockefeller McCain Prize at Ursinus. This award is presented annually to the student who has shown the greatest ability in the use of English language as evidenced by work in composition and literature. Kate will be studying abroad this spring at the University of Ireland at Maynooth.

Amanda Huffman was crowned Miss County Fair of Fauquier on July 15th. Her prizes included a $500 scholarship and she represented the County at the statewide fair on January 8th in Williamsburg.

Amanda is a junior at the University of Virginia.

Maria Woloshyn, a junior at the University of Virginia writes that she walked the Camino de Santiago this summer in Spain. The walk includes over 500 miles during 32 days.

Ashley Ozburn is a currently a junior at the University of Virginia where she is studying architecture. She will be studying abroad next fall in Copenhagen, Denmark.

While living in Arizona, Mac Ridge is studying medicine at Pima Community College. He is hoping to transfer into a Boston pre-medical program before heading on to medical school.

2003 Katlyn Ozburn is in her sophomore year at North Carolina State and is studying criminology. She is also busy competing on the gymnastics team.

2004 M i c h a e l Mozelle, seen at right in uniform, is enjoying his first year at Virginia Military Institute.

We enjoyed seeing Michael during his holiday break while on campus for a young alumni college panel in early January.

2016 & 2017!

Wakefield’s future alumni, A l e x a n d e r, Nicholas, and Simon Kuntz, currently living in Australia, are seen here heading off to their first day at school!

Wakefield School 4439 Old Tavern Road Post Office Box 107 The Plains, Virginia 20198

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid The Plains, VA Permit No. 1

Mardi Gras ~ Medieval Faire

PAGE 36

iMardi Gras found the

Lower School gym transformed into a shimmering green, purple and gold fantasy, as floats and costumed students paraded proudly and the fifth grade King and Queen ruled with flair. New Orleans was surely feeling the competition on its heels!

The venerable Medieval Banquet emerged this year as the Medieval Faire--same great costumes, food, and competitions, but with the addition of characters and a narrative twist surrounding the betrothal of the King! The story played itself out over the course of the afternoon. The eighth grade provided the leadership (and stayed in character!)