The Gryphon: Fall/Winter 1718

THE

fall/winter 2017–18

the cambridge school of weston magazine

Justice for All

Meet four alumni/ae working to create a more equitable and inclusive world.

2 • The

Gryphon Fall/Winter 2017–18

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2017–18

THE GRYPHON, FALL/WINTER 2017–18

Benjamin Alimansky ’87 Chair, Investment Committee

Jane Moulding, Head of School

Harmony Bickerton ’19 Boarding Student Representative Christine Chamberlain ’63 Co-Chair, Governance Committee Philip DeNormandie ’67

Rebecca Schultzberg, Director of Alumni/ae and Development Diane Stansbury, Director of Alumni/ae and Parent Engagement Emma Fedor, Content Manager

Rachael Dorr P’07 Secretary

CONTRIBUTORS

Evelina Galper P’14 Faculty Representative

Russ Campbell P’19

Ann Gorson P’16 Chair, Development Committee Cynthia Harmon Kaiko Marie Hayes ’81 Liam Baxter-Healey ’18 Day Student Representative Snowden Henry P’16, ’18 Co-Chair, Governance Committee Jin-Kyung Kim P’15, ’16, ’18 Chin Lin P’18 Richard McCready P’13 Jane Moulding Head of School Rebecca Parkhill ’85, P’17 Assistant Secretary Deborah Pressman P’10 Alexander Rosenthal ’08 Sarita Gandhi Shah ’86 Vice Chair of the Board Ingrid Tucker Susan Vogt P’14 Chair of the Board John Welch P’15 Treasurer; Chair, Finance Committee

Grey Goss ’18 Liz Linder Dino Rowan

DESIGN Vision Brand Experiences The Cambridge School of Weston is an independent, coeducational day school for grades 9 – 12 and post-graduate study. Inquiries for academic year admission should be directed to Trish Saunders, Director of Admissions, at 781.642.8650.

The Gryphon welcomes class notes and photographs by alumni/ae, parents, and friends. Please email submissions to alum@csw.org; call 781.642.8619; visit www.csw.org; or send to: Alumni/ae Relations The Cambridge School of Weston 45 Georgian Road Weston, MA 02493

CONTACT To contact the editor, email gryphon@csw.org Website: www.csw.org

Po-wei Weng Faculty Representative Daniel Wolf ’65 Assistant Treasurer

Cover photography: Mark Culliton (upper left) by Angela Rowlings Olivia Buntaine (upper right) by Alex Washburn Anand Jahi (lower left) Courtesy of Anand Jahi Sonny Oram (lower right) by Sam Murray

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THE

Fall/Winter 2017–18

Contents 2 Leading Thoughts 3 On the Quad 10 Featured Course 12 Faculty Spotlight 13 Alumni/ae Survey 14 Justice for All 22 Class Notes 26 In Memoriam 27 My Five 28 Noteworthy 30 Then & Now 33 CSW Community Events

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Gryphon Fall/Winter 2017–18

Leading Thoughts Out in the World CSW has always been committed to building a strong, just community. In fact, we firmly believe that justice and equity are crucial to our success as a school. From our very early days, we have worked hard to ensure that each student, and each adult, is valued as a full and important member of our community. The work we do today to create a place where equity and inclusion matter is a beautiful extension of the efforts of many in our past — carried on with thought and determination by so many of our current community members, including our board of trustees who recently held a retreat where they dug deeply into issues of diversity and inclusion.

Over the past few months, under the leadership of our new Dean of Equity and Inclusion Rosanna Salcedo, we have continued to advance our thinking and our practice around social justice, equity, and inclusion. One of the goals of our strategic plan, developed by our board, is to “Invest in training, systems and communication about inclusion, naming it as a foundational tenet of our educational philosophy and a core value of our community.” In support of that goal, we have been considering questions such as “How do we ensure that our social justice requirement is relevant and meaningful for all students?”, and “What does it mean to find and exercise your voice

here on campus, and in the broader world?”

This fall, we have extended the discussion to include CSW families, hosting programs that parallel some of the work our students do each day.

As I travel around the country engaging with our graduates I am humbled by the ways in which they have taken their CSW education out into the world. In our feature article, we highlight four alumni/ae who are using what they learned at CSW to have a positive influence on their communities, and on society as a whole. Their stories are emblematic of the ways our alumni/ae are changing the world, giving back to the world, and promoting the power of a progressive education.

I have the honor of seeing and feeling this power every day. CSW’s role in furthering work in equity and inclusion is a vital one, certainly even more so in these complex times. I know you will join with me in this celebration of our efforts.

Our deepest thanks to our “Partners in Progress,” the many generous community members who’ve continually supported our school. The enclosed Report on Philanthropy illustrates the wide range of involvement.

We are grateful for your engagement. Please stay in touch.

Jane Moulding, Head of School

TEXT ONGOES THE QUAD HERE • 3

On the Quad

Radium Girls For their fall production, the CSW Theatre Department presented D.W. Gregory’s Radium Girls. Inspired by real events, Radium Girls traces the plight of a group of watch dial painters in 1920s New Jersey, whose repeated exposure to radium begins to take a serious toll on their health.

Grace Campbell ’19 gave a powerful performance as Grace Fryer, a young, acquiescent do-gooder, who works diligently in her job as a dial painter. But as the play progresses and Grace’s health continues to deteriorate, she slowly allows herself to question authority and to stand up for her rights in the courtroom. Her transformation is as powerful as it is disturbing.

In lieu of providing a printed program, the Theatre Department used the Red Wall gallery to share cast and crew bios and historical context surrounding the use of radium and the women’s movement, including profiles of the real people — like Kathryn Schaub (Emilia Ibarra Sánchez ’17) and Irene Rudolph (Alex Sinclair ’21) — who inspired the characters in the play.

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The People We Met This Summer Over the summer, students, faculty, and staff had the choice of reading The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline; All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr; or The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig. Read on for a sampling of discussion workshops that were offered to readers.

Dearly Beloved…

Write and perform eulogies for the fictional characters who didn’t make it in the summer reading novels.

Tiny Houses: Creating Small-Scale Models

Draw a small-scale model of a place that is special to you. How would you render this place? You will then hide something special in a place in your model. What would it be?

Where would you hide it?

Welcome to CSW

Write a CSW acceptance letter to one of your favorite characters from the novel. What do you think they will love about this place?

What can you say to get them to come here?

That’s My Jam!

Create Spotify “mix tapes” for the people we met this summer. How will you justify your choices based on the characterization provided in the text?

Fast Fashion

Using paper, markers, and tape, design and create a piece of clothing or outfit that either symbolizes or describes a character from any one of the four books.

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Perform a character study through the creation of wanted posters, in doing so exploring ideas from the book. Create prints and learn calligraphy techniques.

ON THE QUAD • 5

Family Visit Weekend The CSW community welcomed families to campus in October for Family Visit Weekend. The festivities began with open classrooms, affording parents and guardians the opportunity to shadow their children and enjoy an inside look at their daily lives. Visitors also met with teachers, advisors, dorm parents, and college counselors, and were treated to numerous student performances including an outdoor, lunch-time jazz performance and the fall mainstage production of Radium Girls. Parents had the chance to attend affinity group meetings, cheer on our Field Hockey, Volleyball, and Soccer teams, and enjoy a presentation of the school’s mission and values statement

by Dean of Equity and Inclusion Rosanna Salcedo.

Fall Athletics Update We are proud to announce that eight of our studentathletes earned All-League recognition this fall in four different sports: Miles Ogen-Powers ’18 for Boys’ Cross Country; Katie Baum ’21 and Bella Patel ’20 for Girls’ Cross Country; Max Bowen ’18 for Boys’ Varsity Soccer; Leena Hankaoui ’21 and Caroline Keppler ’18 for Girls’ Varsity Soccer; and Kelsey Ortiz ’19 and Fiona Swope ’18 for Girls’ Varsity Volleyball. Cross Country had one of their best seasons in years, and both our Girls’ Soccer and Volleyball teams made the IGC tournament.

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ON THE QUAD • 7

Into the Wilderness This fall, twelve students spent a mod break backpacking through the wilderness of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. One group, led by Science Teacher and Barn Dorm Parent Kevin Smith and PEL (Progressive Education Lab) fellow Sarah Nelson, completed the Carter-Moriah Trail along a section of the Appalachian Trail near Carter Dome. The other, led by Barn Dorm Parent Leah Wang, began near Carter Notch, and hiked over Zealand Mountain and along the Bondcliff Ridge, ending at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center.

The Wilderness Program offers three multi-day excursions each year. In addition to the fall trekking trip, students also may partake in a winter snowshoeing expedition in the White Mountains, or spring sea kayaking trip off the coast of Maine. In addition, there are typically 3 to 5 micro-trips, where students can try snowshoeing, rock climbing, or hiking over a shorter period of time.

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The Power of PEN

Showtime!

The Progressive Education Network (PEN) held their biannual national conference in October, welcoming hundreds of educators with an interest in progressive education and issues of social justice to the Boston area. A number of CSW faculty members participated in the event either as attendees, volunteers, or presenters, and the school itself was one of five local institutions to open up its campus to conference attendees for immersive site visits.

The End of Mod Show always surprises and delights. Here are a few highlights from Mods One, Two, and Three!

Over a dozen PEN and Progressive Education Lab (PEL) colleagues from around the country visited CSW on Thursday, October 5th for the chance to meet with CSW Dean of Academics Chris Ellsasser, tour the campus, visit the End of Mod Show, sit in on classes, and talk with CSW teachers, students, and administrators. Representatives from all four PEL schools were in attendance, in addition to students from The Putney School in Vermont.

ON THE QUAD • 9

Master Class Professional dancer and CSW alum Adrian Hoffman ’12 returned to campus in September to teach a master dance class.

Adrian led participants through an active warm up involving stretching, movement, and cardio exercises, before launching into choreography.

“Nailah Bellinger breeds such a passion in her students and doesn’t let them accept anything less than their best attempt in learning and pushing their boundaries,

regardless of concern over the outcome,” Adrian says of CSW’s Dance Department chair. “It’s a lesson that has served me deeply in my career and one that makes the students a joy to teach!”

Adrian currently splits his time between Seattle, where he is a dancer in the contemporary dance company, Whim W’Him, and Los Angeles, where he works as a freelance performer in music videos, on stage, and in film.

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Featured Course

Human Rights in Motion

FEATURED COURSE • 11

Developed in 2015 by history teacher and former international lawyer Anjali Bhatia, the Human Rights in Motion course seeks to build an awareness in students of what human rights are and how they can establish these rights for themselves and for others. Students read two texts, one examining the invention of human rights (Inventing Human Rights, by Lynn Hunt), and the other discounting the efficacy of human rights (The Endtimes of Human Rights by Stephen Hopegood).

“One is total advocacy and the other argues that there really is no point,” says Anjali.

“We explore both of these perspectives and everything in between. The idea is to open up the forum for students to give them background. To give them the ability to assess, to see where we establish our rights, and to learn how we advocate for them.”

In addition to these sources, students also review the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the United Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The class then applies the knowledge gained from these documents to conduct case studies, looking at on-the-ground issues and violations of human rights, taking an analytical approach to their assessment.

“We look at issues systematically, making an effort to remove ourselves from an emotional response, and moving towards a more thoughtful and practical response,”

shares Anjali. “These topics can bring up a lot of emotion, and in order to be effective, it is essential that we know what the foundations are, and are able to have a balanced view of things.”

As their final assignment, each student tackles a case study on their own, focusing on a particular issue that they identify as being a violation of an article from the UDHR. In the process, students research the laws — local and international — that support, or should support, the right in question, to document whether or not it is a violation. They identify who has the responsibility to protect a right, and then they provide recommendations.

Senior Namik Muduroglu ’18 chose to examine LGBTQ rights in his home country

of Azerbaijan, a country where he says many view homosexuality as a disease.

“This assignment forced me to confront my complicated feelings on the issue and really articulate my thoughts to the class,” he says.

“And now I have my opinion, and a strong case study showing how complex the situation is. We all have different views, but if our thoughts are valid, well-documented, and well-argued, they are respected here.”

Human rights are always changing, hence the “motion” piece of the course title. “We are constantly evaluating, adapting, and interpreting a foundational piece of thinking,” says Anjali. “That is why it is so important that we keep the discussion open, arming ourselves with the knowledge to be able to have that discussion.”

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Q: What do you wish the world knew about CSW? A: I wish the world knew two things: The adults who work here care deeply about our students, and take the responsibility of working with them very seriously. CSW is sincerely committed to making the world a better place by helping to shape the young people in its charge to be responsible, engaged citizens and just, ethical leaders.

Rosanna Salcedo Dean for Equity and Inclusion Q: In your opinion, what makes CSW different from other organizations with respect to equity and inclusion?

A: Most of the adults at CSW are already engaged in their own personal and professional journeys with regards to equity and inclusion. They understand concepts like privilege, systemic oppression, microaggressions, etc. So when we have discussions, the core framework is set, which frees us to dig deeper and challenge ourselves more. This community also understands that engaging in this work will be uncomfortable at times, and that discomfort is part of the growth process.

Q: What do you see as the biggest area of opportunity for CSW when it comes to equity and inclusion?

A: Because we are small, because as a community we are inclined to be caring, because we have prioritized equity and inclusion, we can really be a model for other schools. We are well-positioned to demonstrate that an excellent education does not preclude equity and inclusion; and that in fact only by leveraging all perspectives, strengths, and talents will a school be able to deliver an truly excellent education.

Q: If you think about the work you have set out to do here, what do you see as your biggest challenge?

A: The biggest challenge is creating a space in this community where students and

adults can develop at their own pace. While we want to ensure that everyone fully engages in this work, we also need to make sure that no one is alienated or left behind.

This means having patience for the process, knowing how to help people grow in developmentally appropriate ways, and understanding how to support each other when we falter. In the short term, we continue to seek opportunities to regularly address this challenge with the student body.

As we work to implement the strategic plan, we are also considering how the process of maintaining an equitable and inclusive community is represented in our curriculum and programming.

Q: What advice do you have for others who seek to make equity and inclusion a higher priority in their own lives and communities?

A: Whether it’s obvious to you or not, our lives are interdependent, and we depend on the earth for subsistence. It behooves us then, to take care of the environment, and of each other, in order to thrive. Selfishness is short-sighted.

We all have a role to play, something to contribute to the improvement of our society.

For me, it’s participating in the development of healthy adolescents. So ask yourself: What is my role in society? What is my contribution? How am I making the world a better place, not just for myself and my family, but for others? What can I learn from my neighbor? What can I offer those who are less privileged? How can I use my privilege and power for good?

Holly Henderson ’59 December 4, 1941 – September 6, 2016:

Working to create the kind of world we want to live in Holly Henderson ’59 was a devoted alumna of The Cambridge School of Weston and a member of the Patience Lauriat Society. She came of age in the 1960s, part of a generation that redefined values and spoke up for change.

“When I hit the world, it was the 60s, and we were looking at a whole different model of what society was like, and what we wanted to be and do… what kind of

world we wanted to live in, and how to make that kind of a world come about.”

Holly’s abiding passion for social justice and inclusion was reflected in the estate gift that supports the new Dean of Equity and Inclusion position. Her generosity allowed us to create this senior position and ensures that talented leaders like Rosanna can work actively toward the ideals that Holly held near and dear to her heart.

FACULTY TEXT GOES SPOTLIGHT HERE • •13 13

ALUMNI/AE SURVEY

Thanks for your input!

Many thanks to those of you who participated in our recent alumni/ae survey. As promised, we are pleased to share some of the findings with you.

6

A DEEP SENSE OF CONNECTION

BROAD PARTICIPATION Six decades of alumni, from the Class of 1940 to the Class of 2017.

WHAT WORDS DO ALUMNI/AE USE TO DESCRIBE CSW?

Progressive

Creative Artistic Inclusive Unique Diverse Challenging Innovative Supportive WHAT SORTS OF EVENTS ARE ALUMNI/AE INTERESTED IN? Connecting with other alumni/ae locally Reconnecting with faculty Participating in career/mentoring programs

75%

75% Almost

Over

feel very or somewhat connected to CSW

would recommend CSW to a friend or family member

90 Over

75% Over

are very satisfied or satisfied with their decision to attend CSW

CSW ALUMS CAN BE FOUND ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF CAREERS Writers, lawyers, software engineers, artists, physicians, and more.

Interestingly enough… many of the survey respondents were in the education field.

%

agree with the statement “I am proud to be a CSW graduate”

SEND US YOUR STORIES!

% 5 8 Over

want to see more stories on fellow alumni/ae

Didn’t have a chance to participate?

Visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CSW_ALUM to share your perspective with us.

feature

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Gryphon Fall/Winter 2017–18

Justice for All Meet four alumni/ae working to create a more equitable and inclusive world.

CSW thrives on difference — on the diversity of talents, strengths, and passions that our students and their teachers bring to campus every day. Whether we engage around a major world issue, or a smaller school issue, we do better when we consider different ideas and opinions as we forge ahead with the change and transformation we believe in as a school.

“Lean into discomfort” and “take space, make space,” are two phrases we use to guide conversation on campus. But our commitment extends further than simply providing a diverse learning environment. It is essential that students recognize and absorb the values we share here as integral to greater society, finding ways to promote equity and inclusion in other sectors of the world, beyond CSW. We checked in with four CSW alumni/ae who are doing just that. They are: a classical theater enthusiast looking to open up the traditional narrative to historically marginalized voices; a social activist providing former gang members with the training and support they need to attend college; a lifestyle blogger disrupting the fashion industry with content dedicated to LGBTQIA+ modes of expression; and a community organizer working to build a “new economy,” that is radically different from the corporate capitalist system we’ve come to know and accept.

Get ready to be inspired.

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Olivia Buntaine ’11 Project Nongenue

Olivia Buntaine ’11 has always felt an intense connection with classical theater — Shakespeare in particular — but found from a young age that she couldn’t always identify with the depictions of female characters in such works. So when she was cast as Hamlet in a CSW production of the Shakespeare classic, she was thrilled. It was an experience that has influenced Olivia’s work in theater to this day.

“At CSW, theater was about being a part of a team and delivering a message the world needed,” Olivia recalls. “It wasn’t just about one star; it was about supporting each other and really finding the truth of enduring texts. The way CSW taught us to look at social justice first, in pretty much every interaction, is something that has stayed with me, and is really the basis of the company I have now.”

That company is Project Nongenue, a creative endeavor “dedicated to centralizing the voices of women and other marginalized identities within classical theater in an attempt to revitalize and reframe the role of those populations in some of our oldest stories.” The idea, in large part, was a culmination of Olivia’s personal observations as a working actress and show business

Photo by Alex Washburn

professional. She recalls a summer spent undergoing classical theater training in England, where she was repeatedly told that her female characters were too outspoken, too strong, and too radical. Back in Los Angeles, she could only watch in frustration as she saw countless women, people of color, queer actors, and others regularly passed over for roles simply because they didn’t fit into the strict definition of what Shakespearean and classical theater were “supposed to” look like.

“I literally cannot overstate how important CSW was in creating the person I have become. The experimentation phase most people get in college, I got in high school.

It is something that I am grateful for every single day.”

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“So I took a leap of faith and cast an all-women production of Julius Caesar, where we played the roles not as men, but as women,” shares Olivia. “And let me tell you… the amount of talent, and hunger, and excellence I saw in those women in that play was incredibly moving.”

The experience solidified Olivia’s conviction that everyone, and not just a certain segment of the population, should be able to take ownership over these iconic stories that have “formed our cultural definitions of right and wrong, our government, and everything in between.”

Most recently, Project Nongenue put on a production

of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Although she did not plan it this way, Olivia commented that this production was certainly timely, given the viral #MeToo movement and the spotlight it has shone on the widespread problem of sexual misconduct in American culture. The central plot of Much Ado centers around a lie that is told about a woman character named Hero, who is accused of sleeping with someone else the night before her wedding. And in the entire play, Olivia points out, no one ever asks her if it’s true.

“People assume that Hero is passive, with little to say,” explains Olivia. “But if you actually look at the text,

“CSW taught me that ‘the other’ was not something to shy away from and gave me the freedom and ability to discover who I was in a very real sense. It was an incredibly impactful experience for me.”

Mark Culliton ’82

College Bound Dorchester

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every time there’s exclusively women on stage, she talks non-stop in perfect verse. When men are on stage, she barely says anything. So to me, that reads something about fear, and not being able to speak your truth because of certain power dynamics.”

It is an example that mirrors the challenges still facing women today. And although Olivia is excited to see the climate evolve to a place where it is more socially acceptable to believe women, she feels strongly that there is still more to be done.

“The work we have left is to actually start talking to

men about what consent means, and how to be conscious of the power they have in the world,” she argues. “Because this isn’t something that can just be solved by women speaking out. It has to be a conversation between men and women, with men understanding the gender power norms that have been placed upon them that they may not even be aware of.”

One thing is for certain: it’s projects like Nongenue that will bring us one step closer to achieving that understanding.

Mark Culliton ’82, CEO of College Bound Dorchester (CBD), is on a mission. His goal? To put an end to systematic generational urban poverty in Boston and beyond. His approach relies on the engagement of what he calls “core influencers,” often disruptive, but charismatic, leaders in neighborhoods plagued by high incidences of violence and crime. Many of these influencers are gang members who have exhibited patterns of criminal behavior. But instead of seeing these young people as the problem, Mark sees them as the solution.

“We believe it’s gang members who can end generational poverty and gang members alone that can do that,” says Mark. “We have to look to the group that we traditionally see as the problem, change our viewpoint, and believe in their ability and possibility. If we do that, through their transformation they can really uncorner and unlock communities that have been stuck for generations.”

CBD fosters transformation by providing academic and social-emotional support for students working to complete high school equivalency exams and transition to a post-secondary model. Once students matriculate to college, CBD helps them to secure financial aid and acquaints them with the various academic resources at their disposal. Childcare also is made available to those who need it.

This past year, CBD raised eyebrows with the official launch of Boston Uncornered, a program that provides participants with a living stipend of $400 per week for 33 to 35 hours of academic work and development, in addition to the usual social, emotional, and educational support services administered by the parent program.

The name, Boston Uncornered, speaks to the constraints felt by those impacted by urban poverty, and the lack of options they have when it comes to supporting their families. With the stipend, students are able to focus on their learning, without having to resort to criminal behavior as a means of financial stability.

“Amongst our stipended, uncornered students, we have a 70% matriculation rate to college,” Mark shares.

“In contrast, fewer than 1% of gang-involved individuals in America typically matriculate. To see a jump like that is unheard of.”

Much of the program’s success may be attributed to the fact that CBD primarily hires former gang members, and people familiar with the living conditions of potential students, to lead community outreach efforts.

Mark believes that there is an untapped reservoir of workers who are eager for the opportunity to positively impact their communities, and that they are the ones who are best able to reach out to particular gangs or crews, recruit new students, and make real inroads with local communities.

“If you were part of a gang when you were young, and have made it through to age 35 or 40 without getting killed or in jail for life, you desperately want to give back,” Mark says. “But the truth is it’s very hard for you to find a job.”

Undaunted by their criminal pasts, CBD trusts and hires people with stories like this one, and in doing so builds stronger and more genuine relationships with the communities in need of help.

The movement is objectively about uncornering individuals, but it’s also about uncornering minds, according to Mark. Too many people are too quick to judge those with troubled backgrounds, preventing them from accessing their full potential.

“I have incredible hope and real expectation that these guys and these guys alone will actually be able to do something that we’ve been unable to do for at least 50 years since the war on poverty,” Mark says. “Because it doesn’t take much to give them the ability to make positive choices. And when they do, you can feel that ripple throughout their communities. I am incredibly excited for the uncornered movement to spread throughout the country.”

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“I felt really lucky to be a student at CSW because I could explore my identity and feel safe at a time when I didn’t feel safe in many other aspects of my life, being openly queer. CSW was really special in that way.”

Photo by Sam Murray

Sonny Oram ’06 Qwear

If you were to put it the most simply that you could, my goal is to save lives.

So says Sonny Oram ’06, the founder of Qwear, a style website highlighting LGBTQIA+ fashion and modes of expression. Back in 2011, as fashion blogs were rapidly growing in popularity, Sonny noticed a hole in the sphere: there were very few options for the queer community.

“I was starting to grow into myself and shopping in the boys’ department, which felt more authentic to me,” Sonny says.

“And I was finding things that fit and I wanted to share that with the world. I envisioned a space for queer people to share our various expressions and see one another.”

And thus, Qwear was born. What started as a Tumblr page quickly grew into a highly popular online community offering style profiles, interviews, reviews, essays, inspiration pieces, and events geared toward the queer community. In the few years since its founding, the site has grown substantially, already expanding

representation in significant ways. Qwear recently partnered with the UK brand Topman, with Sonny serving as their first trans model, and posts like, “9 Plus Size Cuties Share Tips for Androgynous Style,” have garnered thousands of hits.

“You hear the word androgynous and you think of someone thin, with no real secondary sex characteristics,” says Sonny. “And one of my goals with Qwear is to challenge that, because there are so many people writing in, saying ‘I want to dress androgynously but I don’t think I can because I’m a bigger person.’” The post is now one of the top sites that comes up when you type “androgynous style” into Google.

Another issue Sonny is passionate about is bringing femme voices and expressions to the forefront. According to Sonny, the queer scene was once focused primarily on a masculine aesthetic, to the point where people in the community were questioning whether femmes should, in

JUSTICE FOR ALL • 19

fact, be considered queer, when so many of them dressed in ways associated with straight women adhering to the patriarchy. To combat this idea, the editors of Qwear make an effort to share profiles of femmes of varying identities, allowing them to articulate the ways in which their style is queer to them — whether or not that style consists of heels and dresses.

But it’s not just femmes that can find a home for themselves on Qwear. The idea is to unite the entire queer community as a whole. “Our community is so big,” says Sonny. “On one end, you have gay cis men, who are arguably completely mainstream at this point, with more money and privilege than ever before. On the other end, there are trans women of color being murdered.

And then you have everyone in between.” The goal, for

Sonny, is to use a common subject of interest — in this case, fashion and style — to bring people together, so that they can all feel “united and able to fight for those with the least amount of power.”

Which brings us back to ultimate goal: saving lives.

“For many of us, clothing is really life or death, especially for trans feminine people,” argues Sonny. “I envision a world where we don’t have to think about what clothes we’re wearing in order to feel safe.”

There is still a lot of work to be done, but Sonny sees great potential in the next generation, which seems to be more open about queerness, and more focused on issues of social and environmental justice. While recognizing that there will be more hard times to come, there is hope that conditions will continue to improve.

Anand Jahi ’04

New Economy Coalition

When Anand Jahi ’04 was a sophomore at CSW, he took Overview of U.S. History, a requirement for all tenth graders. But this version of the course was dramatically different from what Anand says he learned in middle school. Drawing on perspectives from progressive historians like Howard Zinn, his experience in the class mobilized him as an activist, and led him to become involved with the Boston-based youth organizing group, Project HIP-HOP (Highways Into the Past History Organizing as Power). The program, founded by ACLU members, looked to educate members of the “hip-hop generation” on issues of civil rights, and equip them with the training necessary to prompt social change.

For Anand, his involvement was merely the beginning of what would ultimately become an invested passion in social justice work.

Today, Anand is Program Director at New Economy Coalition (NEC), a network of organizations working together to “build a future where people, communities, and ecosystems thrive.” The institution advances its mission by bringing like-minded organizations together; sharing and disseminating the stories that promote their shared vision; and offering direct support in the form of financial grants or staffing.

“There’s a lot of debate about what New Economy work is,” says Anand, “but for me, it’s about creating an economy that is owned and governed differently than

Photo courtesy of Anand Jahi.

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“My time at CSW was incredibly formative in my trajectory to doing social justice work. I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.”

the corporate capitalist economy that we live and engage with most of our days. It’s about industries being either worker-owned or community-owned and governed.”

NEC works primarily with worker cooperatives, credit unions, land trusts, and other institutions that provide a service or good, or organize something to meet people’s needs. NEC also has over 200 organizational members, many of which are research, advocacy, and community organizing groups. Anand’s role involves bringing these organizations together at gatherings, like the biannual “CommonBound” conference, and convening smaller groups to work on specific issues on a more sustained basis. He also is deeply involved in movement engagement work. Anand was a member of the policy table during the development of the Black Lives platform and has worked closely with the movement to identify opportunities for the two organizations to support and collaborate with one another.

Anand’s path to NEC was one paved with years of community organizing. As an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, he served as a tutor and mentor at Ase Academy, an academic and cultural enrichment program serving inner-city Philadelphia middle and high school students. Upon graduation he was hired full-time as a student coordinator. While at University of Pennsylvania, Anand also was part of student groups working to support the unionization of AlliedBarton (now Allied Universal) campus security guards and Philadelphia taxi drivers.

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After University of Pennsylvania, Anand embarked on a one-year Philly Fellows fellowship at the Education Law Center, where he focused on public education. The opportunity introduced him to the youth organizing group, Youth United for Change. He describes his three years there as “the hardest and most rewarding” work he has ever done. When major education budget cuts threatened to shut down all thirteen of Philadelphia’s accelerated schools — schools for over-age, undercredited young people — he helped to organize a large-scale, citywide campaign to pressure the city to increase district funding and make accelerated schools a higher priority. In the end, they were able to bump accelerated schools up from number 13 to number 3 on the city’s list of priorities, in doing so saving 11 of the 13 schools that had been in danger of closing. The campaign also helped to earn $53 million from the city for the school district.

“I may have been the main adult working on the campaign,” says Anand, “but it was the young people in these accelerated schools who really got the job done.

And it was amazing to see this group of people, who are used to getting the short end of the stick, actually holding their elected officials accountable and winning!

It was a really inspirational thing to watch.”

Today, it’s people like the students he worked with in Philadelphia that keep Anand motivated. “I’ve seen the impact of what happens when we organize an economy in the way that we have it, that prioritizes profit over all else,” he says. “There are too many people out there suffering as a result of economic injustice.” Looking ahead, he believes that change for the better is possible and that it’s simply an issue of us as a society deciding to do it. “I’ve been part of communities that have decided to oppose the bad and build up the good,” he says, “so I know it’s possible.”

If Anand’s experiences teach us anything, it’s that concrete change doesn’t happen overnight. Change comes about through time, energy, and determination.

But the work is always worth it.

GET INVOLVED! Feeling inspired? Learn more about the projects mentioned in this article and find out how you can get involved by visiting the websites below: Project Nongenue projectnongenue.org

Qwear qwearfashion.com

College Bound Dorchester collegebounddorchester.org

New Economy Coalition neweconomy.net

TEXT GOES HERE • 21

Each mod, and every year, CSW students engage in transformational journeys from inquiry to impact. Like any important and life-changing travel, those journeys require resources — in this case, inspirational faculty, diverse curriculum, and quality facilities.

For some students, the journey also requires assistance in the form of financial aid.

When you become a Partner in Progress, you provide direct support to CSW’s bold learners and creative thinkers as they discover who they are and how they can make an impact on their community and the world.

MAKE A GIFT TO DEMONSTRATE YOUR ENDURING CONNECTION TO CSW, AND YOUR LASTING COMMITMENT TO FUTURE GENERATIONS OF STUDENTS. www.csw.org/partnersinprogress

WE ARE Partners in Progress T H E

C S W

A N N U A L

F U N D

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Gryphon Fall/Winter 2017–18

Class Notes fantasized about what living in a foreign culture would be like, if only they could pierce the tourist veil and stay long enough to make themselves at home. Available in Paperback and EBook http://www. marylouweisman.com.

John Anthony Lyon ’64 writes: Thank you Joe Schaff, Mr. Green (Latin teacher who turned me on to Carmen Burana), Blackie (reading remedial), Mr. St. John and so many others that made Cambridge School the learning experience of excellence.

1960s

Anne Kristen Petersson ’67 writes: This photo is me with my greatnephew, the first of the new generation in our clan. I’m still living in Manhattan and working as a translator. I’m uptown and my brother Mark is downtown. I’m sure you might remember him. In 2007 he and his wife Natalie Cash adopted twins from Awasa, Ethiopia.

Now they are almost 12. From the moment they arrived I was like a third parent. So I never had kids, but I had kids! We are full of deep love and deep loss. Like so many.

Our father Bob died in 2011 and our mother Suzy died last year. We were with them the past 10 years and more, often every weekend. My two years with Joe Schaaf studying and playing and singing, his divine teaching, his endless kind perfections, to this day are still like the center of my life.

Wild Iris by Susan Landor Keegin ’63

1940s

1950s

Walter Hill ’42 writes: I am 93 years old. John Woodard was a classmate.

We still chat to each other. My days are — morning trying to help in general and afternoons spending about three hours on a lathe turning wood objects.

Margery Stern Riddle ’52 writes: Rather suddenly, in my early 80s, I find myself virtually homeless (from fires). Yet, thanks to alum and virtual clouds, I can recover much of what is important to me (my friends from Cambridge) and perhaps complete my 10-year project on cats’ ability to understand and learn the English language and grammar.

Would love to hear from any who’d like to share thoughts on housing, fresh starts, and old friends.

Nancy Lindau Lewis ’45 writes: For years I met annually with Josie Fisk Singer ’45, Susie Lurie ’45, and Sally Romer Evans ’45 — alas no more! But I intend to get in touch with Ruth Okamoto ’45, Neal Nathanson ’45, Sam Warner ’45, and Serge Karpovich ’46 (maybe book group or poker club?) Still living in Bethany: writing, reading, and spending time with my sister Judith Lindau McConnell ’42.

Larry Nathanson ’46 writes: I am continuing my education — a lifelong experience — at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement despite my antiquity (age 88). I both teach and learn in a pedagogic environment much like CSW!

Thomas J. Davis ’53 writes: Lots of cruising, some even to Boston from Montreal via Bar Harbor, ME. Always wear my Gryphon hat in Europe, no one ever knows Cambridge School but I try.

Award winning writer Mary-Lou Cohen Weisman ’55 published her fifth book, Playing House In Provence: How Two Americans Became A Little Bit French. An original twist on the travel memoir, this is a book for all travelers who have ever stopped in front of a real estate office and

Marc B. Haefele ’61 writes: Still living in Santa Monica with my wife Vivian.

As a 75th birthday present from Southern California Public Radio, I was awarded a contract for another year as on-air cultural affairs commentator. I can be heard at KPCC on line. I continue to be in touch with Arthur Krim ’62, Esther Pasztory Misckolczsy ’61, and Michal Goldman ’62. It is good to be alive.

Susan Landor Keegin ’63 writes: April showers brought New Paintings available from Susanlandor.com.

Judith Fletcher Getman ’63 writes: I recently moved to Camden from Thomaston, Maine and I am really enjoying walking around my new town. Camden was very familiar to me but living in a town is different from being there sporadically. The walks on the residential streets are picture perfect and I love my new house!

Emily Davis ’69 writes: I am still running Speleobooks, my cave and bat book and gift store, but have also partnered with Bat Conservation International and we are now fundraising for them with

CLASS NOTES • 23

our batgoods.com website. My husband, Mike Warner, and I have continued our adventures by adding time on to conference trips around the world. We managed a few weeks in South Africa, a trip to do bat research and map a cave in Fiji this year and a trip to Australia and New Zealand this summer. We see no reason to retire at this point.

Anna Dibble Newton ’69 writes: In May 2015 I moved to Portland, Maine from Landgrove, Vermont, where I’d lived the previous 25 years. My husband died in 2013, I sold our house, and moved. I continue to work as a visual artist and writer.

Had my first solo show in Maine this summer at The George Marshall Store Gallery in York. Will have another at the New Haven Lawn Club, New Haven, CT. I’m also writing a memoir about the 3.5 years when I lost my husband, mother, and a dog. A tale of survival! My website: http://www. annadibble.com.

1970s Robert J. Friesen ’71 writes: After working on strategy, operations and clinical effectiveness projects at Texas Children’s Hospital and their pediatrics group, Texas Children’s Pediatrics, for three years, we are now starting a fascinating project with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia — ranked second in the nation and first in the world for research — to “reimagine pediatrics”. The project will rebuild pediatrics, starting from a primary care base, considering everything we know today and a no-holdsbarred assumption for changing the ways in which health and patient care are delivered from a population-wide to an individual basis. It boggles my mind every waking moment. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Other than that,

for our girls - Corona and Milena, 15 and 10 respectively. I took Milena “glam-packing” — which is to say that we did real backpacking but stayed in inns — and took Corona on a grueling but deeply rewarding 4-day bike tour.

I dragged them both off to a remote mountain monastery for almost a whole week of meditation, hard work, silence, and ABSOLUTELY no Internet or even, really, electricity. We went to Ashland and saw a really excellent staging of Mary Zimmerman’s Odyssey.

And, we sat around the house, ate starchy snacks and twiddled with our phones. Best Summer ever.

Gail Dickersin Spilsbury ’71 at the launch party for her podcast Red Line with actress Anna Gravel and director/producer Fred Greenhalgh.

I’m enjoying being “less poor”, having proudly attended my twin sons’ university graduations last May, and am celebrating by spending as much free time as possible disrupting the peaceful quiet of perfectly nice, unsuspecting towns around the Midwest on my Harley. Among my greatest pleasures is staying in touch with everyone who has been connected to the ’71 + Friends reunions, whether they attended or not. I know it’s a long time later, but I want to thank all who attended and produced the biggest reunion fundraiser ever in 2016. It was all about the love for the school and each other, and we delivered with attendance, supporting wishes from those who could not attend, and bottom-line giving like no other group. Long live that spirit. Bien fait, mes amies.

Gail Dickersin Spilsbury ’71 has created a podcast: redlinepodcast. com. The serial fiction podcast tells the story of Pia LoMonte, 29, who arrives in Boston for her first teaching job at the Haskell School in suburban Wessex. But her dream is to live in downtown Boston near the famous,

trundling Red Line. How far will Pia go in her love affair with handsome, successful, but problematic Rod Tucker, just to fulfill her dream?

Things become more complicated when the school’s prized parent, billionaire Tian Wu, falls in love with Pia. Amid laughter and outrage, an unpredictable plot unfolds.

Zachary Keating Smith ’72 writes: I am indeed well and this Summer has been a delight. Since I dropped out of the tech biz and am working primarily as a Zen priest I have a lot more time to spare than Marsha, my wife, does and have taken advantage of this to become the informal camp director

Linda Nathan ’73 has published When Grit Isn’t Enough: A High School Principal Examines How Poverty and Inequality Thwart the College-for-All Promise. During her fourteen years as founder and co-headmaster of the urban high school Boston Arts Academy, Linda Nathan began every year with a promise to the freshman class; all of them would graduate and all would continue on to either college or a career. After stepping down in 2014, Nathan began a deep interrogation of that promise. She increasingly felt troubled that she may have promoted a false myth about equality and opportunityone that pushed the responsibility for success onto her students’ shoulders without acknowledging

We Want to Hear from You! This issue includes notes submitted from June to November 2017.

Everyone is invited to submit news to the alumni/ae office.

Please email news and photos to alum@csw.org

24 • The

Gryphon Fall/Winter 2017–18

lovely seeing those ’82 class members that showed up. Big thanks to the group that organized the effort to get a good showing.

The campus is more beautiful than ever and the new buildings are quite impressive. Hawaii is still beautiful, so any classmates that head out this way please be sure to look us up.

the structural inequities they would face as they pursued their lives after high school. In her new book, Nathan confronts long-held assumptions about college access and takes a sobering look at how current practices and policies push poor and first-generation students off the college track. Revealing how the pursuit of a college degree left too many of her students with impossibly huge debts and limited paths to middle-class lives, Nathan also investigates how career and technical education done well might provide a viable alternative to the four-year degree.

Hester Kaplan ’77 writes, I was finally getting to my Spring/Summer Gryphon when I saw this: “English teacher Samantha Simpson has a new piece entitled ‘Blood Type’ in the recently published ‘Beautiful Flesh: A Body of Essays’.” I also have a piece, “The Private Life of Skin,” in that anthology and got a big kick discovering that one book has two connections to CSW. Cassia Wyner ’79 writes: My kitchen and design business continues to flourish. I look forward to having more time to explore new things as I enter the empty nest stage of life; both my boys are now in college!

1980s

Lawrence H. Liggins ’80 writes: I returned to campus in July for a quick visit. I am currently living in NJ and play the flute. I enjoyed my days at CSW learning Raku.

Dashka Slater ’81 writes: My newest picture book, The Antlered Ship (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster) came out on September 12th and I’m pretty darn excited. The book tells the story of an inquisitive fox who embarks on a voyage with a herd of hungry deer and a flock of adventure-seeking pigeons to find the answers to life’s most important questions. Illustrated by the magnificent Fan Brothers, it has received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly, and is an IndieNext pick for

fall 2017. If you’re a teacher or a librarian (or know someone who is), note that I’m currently booking School Visits for Spring 2018. Visit www.dashkaslater.com for more information on School Visits and upcoming book events.

Nancy Nicholson ’81 writes: American Glass Now, sponsored by the American Glass Guild, was created by Mary Clerkin Higgins and myself in order to encourage artists to bring a fresh and versatile look at a treasured medium by exploring what they find fascinating and evocative about glass, and to share their vision with an expanded public.

This year I served as Exhibition Chair, which entailed selecting the jurors, organizing the selected artists, designing, building and installing the exhibit, and creating the postcards and catalog (soon to be published). Much thanks to Rick Prigg and Tony Glander for their help with the installation, and to Mary Clerkin Higgins for her many years serving as Exhibition Chair and her continued support. Thank you to the jurors Lindsy Parrott, Susie Silbert and Diane Wright for their time and their wonderful curation of this show.

Serge Marek ’82 writes: Aloha all: Had a fantastic time with my wife Kelly at the 35th reunion. It was

David Kluchman ’82 and his wife Chris hosted a small gathering of alumni parents for a CSW strategic plan discussion with Head of School Jane Moulding. This small event provided guests with an insider’s view into how CSW arrived at the current strategic plan and how the community can help execute the plan.

Symon Rankine ’86 and Sarah Dunne ’86 were married on the beach in Kitty Hawk on 04/14/2014 (it takes them a while to get around to announcing things). The small secular ceremony was officiated by the Reverend Aaron French ’85, and guests included Piper Rankine ’85.

Both Symon and Sarah have elected to retain their birth surnames. The couple lives with their dog and cat in Midcoast Maine, where Sarah is the archivist and librarian for the Owls Head Transportation Museum (owlshead.org); Symon is still getting paid to fly jets. Incidentally, the uncredited B&W photograph of Jeff Hayes ’86 that appeared in a recent Gryphon issue was a yearbook photo taken by Symon!

Eliza Kluchman Klureza ’86 writes: This spring my husband and I celebrated our 25th anniversary, our older daughter Maggie graduated from Wellesley College, and our younger daughter Caro graduated high school. Late August

CLASS NOTES • 25

2017, Caro started her first year at Vassar while Maggie started her PhD in chemistry at Harvard. So, we’ll have an empty nest out here in Sudbury and those mid-life milestones keep flying past as we get ready to turn 50 next year.

Damien M. McCaffery ’87 sends a warm hello to my classmates, from lovely Philadelphia! I wanted to share with you all that in 2015, my work was published in a collection of essays on music and irony (This Is the Sound of Irony, ed. Katherine L. Turner, Ashgate, 2015). Here’s the link: https://www.routledge.com/ This-is-the-Sound-of-Irony-MusicPolitics-and-Popular-Culture/ Turner/p/book/9781472442598 Basically, my chapter The Narrowing Gyre of Music Recommendation (Chapter 15, final essay) is about how the recommendation algorithms in music services like Pandora and Spotify, while promoted as a means for the user to discover new music, often wind up offering a narrower range of music. I owe a whole lot of whatever good music taste I may claim to the mixtapes made for me by dear friends and CSW classmates Hilary Schroeder ’87, Seth Boyd ’88, and John Farrington ’86. I claim exclusive responsibility for all of my bad taste.

Dave G. Levavi ’89 writes: I was accepted to the Graduate School at the University of South Dakota (USD) as an online member of the class of 2019, and I’m pursuing a Master of Science in Health Services Administration. As a result of my experience at CSW, for graduate school I determined that attending a small university would provide me with the personal attention that I prefer, while simultaneously giving

me access to the academic resources that only a research university can provide. USD is the smallest flagship state university in the United States, and the only one with a population of less than 10,000 students. I can be reached at www.davidlevavi.tel and I’d be happy to hear from other members of the class of 1989!

1990s Larisa Kingston Mann ’91 writes: In 2016 I started my current job, as an Assistant Professor of Emergent Media in the department of Media Studies & Production at Klein College, Temple University, Philadelphia PA. I am enjoying getting to know the students and my colleagues as well as Philly and its many charms. I am also still DJing locally and internationally, and organizing events in NY, Philadelphia + beyond including a monthly event called HEAVY in NYC. Noted Thai writer and artist Prabda Yoon ’92 has published The Sad Part Was, a collection of stories that may be the first work of contemporary Thai literature to be translated into English in the 21st century.

Museum Voorlinden presented a duo exhibition featuring the artist couple Shio Kusaka and Jonas Wood ’95. It is their first two-person exhibition in Europe. The couple lives and works in Los Angeles.

2000s Composer Jesse O. D. Novak ’00 is responsible for all of the songs, and most of the score, for the animated comedy series BoJack Horseman.

Aiyanna Sezak-Blatt ’03 writes: Greetings from Asheville, North Carolina, from a proud CSW Alum!

My debut book, A Tangled Tree, My Father’s Path to Immortality, will be published on June 1, 2017,

by Logosophia Books. I began my explorations in creative writing during my years at CSW, with Brian Walker, Ted Munter and John Kusach, and have dedicated myself to the craft, practice, and journey since then. I’m thankful for the love and encouragement I received in my high-school years! I am so very thankful to be a part of this powerful legacy. I look forward to reconnecting!

Annie Bickerton ’04 writes: For the first time ever I’m no longer in the Northeast! I moved to Los Angeles this Labor Day to follow my partner who is from CA. Luckily I kept my job at MDRC in policy research, and now work and live in Mar Vista. I’ve been extra politically active since the elections and have been raising money for Emerge, a national training program for Democratic Women who want to run for office, and am leading an activism and political camp that will be taking place in spring 2018 (www. campdeepstate.us). I would love to hear from CSW alumni doing similar work out here in CA.

Jake Carman ’04 and Clara Hendricks ’05 welcomed their second daughter into the world on June 13, 2017. Rosalie Jane Carman is a happy and healthy baby, and big sister Bridget loves her to pieces.

Jacob Sagrans ’05 writes: In May 2017 I graduated from McGill University with a PhD in musicology.

My dissertation was on the links between the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge and the early music revival from the mid-twentieth century to present. I am now living in the Boston area and would love to reconnect with other alums nearby.

Julia A. Gladstone ’07 presented a one-on-one performance called Empathy for the Figure through Art

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in Odd Places Festival in November.

The work distills questions of embodiment and improvisation into an intimate, sensorial encounter mediated by relational objects. She was recently awarded a DAAD fellowship in the Performing Arts that will support her research and work in Berlin, Germany this upcoming spring.

Rory Blunt ’10 works as a Heat Management Test Engineer at Jacobs Technology. He writes: I moved to Ann Arbor, MI about a year ago after contemplating a MS in mechanical engineering at Ohio

State. Now I test cars for heat protection and power train cooling.

Emma Ward ’10 is starting her eighth year in Los Angeles, and was recently promoted to the role of Associate Casting Director on her latest project for Freeform, “Famous in Love.” She has worked on a variety of projects in the last three years, including “Lucifer” for FOX, “Valor” for The CW, and “Training Day” for CBS. Her IMDb page can be found under the name Emma Everitt Ward.

Maryann Thompson P’08, ’13, ’20 writes: Daughter Emma Rose ’13 graduated in May (from Vassar), with the film department’s prize for cinematography! The department screened her film on a big screen after the awards ceremony!

Margaret Whitlock ’13 will be joining faculty member Diana Baruni on the CSW trip to France during Mod 5 in early 2018.

Lysander E. Christakis ’13 writes: After graduating from college, I am starting a PhD program at Princeton University in the physics department in the fall.

Mary Elizabeth Seals GP’13, ’17 writes: My granddaughters Ivy ’13 and Sylvia Blake ’17 loved their educational experience at CSW. Alma Bair P’13, ’14 writes: Jason Bair ’14 is very happy at Colorado College and is finishing up his Physics degree this year. Next year he is staying on for his Masters in Education and will likely stay in Colorado to teach!

Aiden Kolodziej ’17 published an article in the Cornell Sun titled Risley Dining: What Makes Cornell Tower Above The Rest.

In Memoriam W. Deter Straub ’45 Thomas L. Hall ’49 Nancy Braverman Mamis-King ’50 Jane Reisman Jampolis ’55 Virginia Durr ’58 Fenwick Smith ’67 Kari M. Mitchell ’95 Jeremy Simon ’14 Addison Parks P’14, ’16, ’17 FACULTY Althea Karr Alorie Parkhill Mary Lou U. Osur Joe Schaaf

Remembering Joe Schaaf It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of former CSW Trustee and Music Department Chair Joe Schaaf.

In 2014, students from the Class of 1964 dedicated a rehearsal room in Joe’s honor. We share the official citation from the event below:

Joe was head of the Music Department from 1960 to 1972, during which time he helped to make music a central component of life at CSW. Throughout his career, Joe mentored countless young musicians towards fruitful careers in music as teachers, performers, and conductors at acclaimed institutions all over the world. His love and dedication for CSW, The Putney School, Kinhaven Music School, Greenwood Music Camp, and the many other organizations he was affiliated with, endures to this day through the music created under his direction.

With heartfelt gratitude, The Cambridge School of Weston Class of 1964 honors Joe Schaaf, who remains for us an enduring presence. His sterling musicianship and habitual professionalism demonstrated to us the dignity of personal excellence. His uncompromising values fostered in us the joy of communal effort. It is his influence that most unites our class. Over 50 years ago, Joe instilled in us his love of music with an energy that continues to nourish and sustain us. We count ourselves extremely fortunate to have had such an extraordinary mentor and model.

Our hearts go out to Joe’s family, friends, and former students.

CSW will be hosting a memorial sing in Joe’s honor at this year’s reunion. Alums from the classes of 1960-1972 who are interested in helping to organize this event should please contact the Alumni/ ae Office at at alum@csw.org.

MY FIVE • 27

My Five 1 2 3 4 5

JALEN HOLMES ’20

CHARLOTTE KAFTAN-LUCKERMAN ’19

ELI KEEHN English Teacher

ALISON SAFFORD Visual Arts Teacher

Describe a memorable moment from your time at CSW.

A memorable moment for me at CSW was ​when I was chosen to be a Peer Mentor. I knew as a ninth grader that I eventually wanted to become one because I loved the work that they did, so when I was actually chosen I was super excited.

The first mod of this year I took pinhole photography. This was the first time I used a dark room or did anything with a non-digital camera. A pinhole camera when looking at it does not seem like it could take a picture, so for me when I took my first picture and then developed it in the darkroom it was so cool. I will always remember this class.

My first graduation, in June of 2012. I barely knew anyone in the senior class that year, but the joy, humor, and honesty of the ceremony confirmed that this was the right place for me to work.

Many good fun times, but two that stand out are dancing in the Alice Room with Seung Hye Kim ’14 and Zia Amador ’14 not long after my colleague Karl Fisher had passed away unexpectedly.

Another was at the culmination of the Amsterdam Social Design trip, when the students presented their amazing projects to Dutch artists and designers… they were so proud of their hard work and so was I.

What was the last movie you saw in theaters?

The last movie I saw in theaters was Annabelle: Creation… that was back in August, I know...

Thor: Ragnarok.

Lady Bird — a funny, lovely, tough movie about a young woman’s senior year of high school. Saoirse Ronan is wonderful as the main character, but her parents, especially her mom, felt to me like the true heart of the film.

I saw the movie Manifesto set up as an installation, about 14 scenes on 14 screens… it was a game changer for me. It can be hard for people to understand how art is part of historical as well as contemporary life, and Kate Blanchett’s brilliant reading of artists’ manifestos made me think, cry, and remember why I am an artist.

If you could time travel, would you go forward or backward and why?

If I could time travel I’d go to the past because I have a horrible memory so if I time traveled I could more easily jog my memory.

I would go forward in time because I want to see my future. Also I believe that if we travel back in time it could mess history up. Plus all the stress of getting into college, and finding a job could disappear. I would have the ability to know what college or job I would go to.

Forward. In part because I have a soft spot for bad sci-fi and want to be on a spaceship, and in part because I believe that we are capable of evolving in a positive direction as a species and I want to see what that looks like.

I would have to keep it small and think I would go back to being a child, dancing on the feet of my great aunt Mary, or seeing Patty Smith or the Raincoats perform in the early days.

What’s the strangest thing you believed as a child?

The strangest thing I believed as a child was that underneath my house was another house but 100 times smaller and that housed animals.

When I was younger my father would pretend to take money out of my ears. He would somehow take a coin from his pocket without me knowing then put it right next to my ear, pull on my ear, then show me the money. For the longest time I thought that I actually had money in my year that just somehow magically appeared there.

I was convinced New York City was right in the middle of New York State. I found maps unconvincing.

My father convinced my brother and I that a Tasmanian Devil named Erna lived in a hole in the backyard, which we thought was both fantastic and terrifying. Took me a while to figure out that wasn’t true, but I didn’t trust that hole for years.

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose?

My choice of superpower would be ​to transform into anything I want, whenever I want. ​

I would choose the ability to live underwater. Since a young age I have absolutely loved the water. If there is any form of water near me, I am always in it. Also who wouldn’t want to be a real life mermaid? It would be amazing.

Teleportation, or if that’s not available, an improved attitude towards driving.

Biking (along the canals of Amsterdam ideally) is the closest thing to magic there is, I would have that be my superpower… biking anywhere and whenever I wanted.

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Gryphon Fall/Winter 2017–18

Noteworthy

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3

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As part of TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art 2017, artist Jonas Wood ’95 received the amfAR Award of Excellence for Artistic Contributions to the Fight Against AIDS in recognition of his generous support of amfAR’s programs at a ceremony in October.

Miguel Arteta ’83 won Best Director for his film, Beatriz at Dinner, at the 32nd annual Imagen Awards. The Imagen Foundation seeks “to encourage the positive portrayals of Latinos in all forms of the entertainment media and to reward the excellence of those entities or individuals whose productions elevate the image and status of all Latinos.”

Patrick Bai ’21 (1) has been accepted to the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (YPO) at the New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School. Each year, over 1000 musicians between the ages of 14 and 18 apply for one of just 90 spots in the prestigious YPO, the school’s senior-most orchestra.

Art teacher and Thompson Gallery director Todd Bartel (8) was invited to exhibit and donate a work to the Bennington Museum in support of a fundraiser for the museum. Invited artists were asked to contribute works of art inspired by or related to an 1810 Nichols Goddard musical clock.

Lila Blaustein ’19 (3) has been honored with an Outstanding Youth Volunteer award from the Needham Community Farm for her hours of service and “demonstrated qualities of exemplary leadership.” The award was presented by Rep. Denise Garlick at a ceremony this fall.

Andrea Mendez Cerame ’18 (4) represented CSW and Massachusetts at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders this past June, completing the program with an official Award of Excellence.

David Durlach ’76, was named a StudioDaily 50 Awards Honoree at the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention.

StudioDaily describes this award as a celebration of “key creatives and technologists whose leadership and influence are breaking new ground in media and entertainment.”

A group of students led by club Sociedad Latinx (2) made regular trips to Costco in Waltham this fall to purchase supplies to ship to Puerto Rico and those affected by Hurricane Maria. More than just a shopping trip, the intent behind the effort was to help the people of Puerto Rico heal and get back on their feet in the wake of crippling devastation to the island and its infrastructure.

NOTEWORTHY • 29

6

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Jennifer B. Pinck ’73 was honored by Boston Business Journal, which included her company Pinck & Co. in its list of top LGBT-Owned Businesses in Massachusetts. Pinck & Co., founded in 1998, was #4 on the list.

Saramarie Puzzanghera ’18 and Sophie Williamson ’18 (6) are two of roughly 34,000 scholars named Commended Students in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Out of the 1.6 million plus students who entered the 2018 competition by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, Saramarie’s and Sophie’s scores placed among the top 50,000.

For a week in July, dance teacher and department chair Nailah Randall-Bellinger (7) took part in a collaboration of movement, music, and spoken word workshops at Boston’s Institute for Contemporary Art, culminating in a powerful improvisational performance in front of a live audience.

Photography teacher Anne Rearick was the recipient of this year’s artist residency for the imageSingulieres Festival in Sete, France. For one month, Anne photographed rural life in Basque Country following her belief that “everyone has a story that deserves to be told.”

8

Suzanne M. Rivera ’87, PhD, Vice President for Research at Case Western Reserve University, co-edited Specimen Science. The book, published by MIT Press, considers the legal, regulatory, and ethical perspectives on balancing social benefit and human autonomy in biospecimen research.

The Paddle8 online art auction in support of CSW raised over $300,000 this fall. CSW is enormously grateful to all of our organizers, bidders, and contributing artists, including many alumni/ae and friends. Thank you for all that you do to support and spread the CSW mission.

The Theatre Department’s Gwenn Smaxwill (5) retired from CSW this year. Gwenn began working as a designer, seamstress, and costumer for CSW in 1975 and has brought life and color to countless CSW productions.

Congratulations, Gwenn!

Po-wei Wang, CSW’s international student advisor, Mandarin instructor, and director of the International Creative Arts Program, presented the workshop “Singing the Words, Experiencing the Tones: Music and Teaching Tones” at the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association’s Annual Conference in Springfield, MA.

30 • The

Gryphon Fall/Winter 2017–18

Then & Now

THEN & NOW • 31

32 • The

Gryphon Fall/Winter 2017–18

Bug in the Dining Hall Last issue, we shared this photo of a Volkswagen Beetle in the Dining Hall and asked if anyone knew where it came from. The letters came pouring in! Here are a few of the responses: “One morning, we breakfasting boarders encountered a blue-gray ’55 VW belonging to dorm warden Alan Laufman, sitting in lieu of a breakfast table, complete with salt and pepper shakers on top.

Someone had broken into the car to roll it into the dining hall. It was a cold snowy morning.” — Marc Haefele ’61 “The old photo in The Gryphon of the VW Bug in the dining room was in 1960. The car belonged to my dorm parent who we all really liked but loved to tease because he had no appreciation for the American sense of silliness. He never smiled and always complained that ‘you Americans smile too much’ but he was a real sweetheart and we loved him.” — Jane Spitz ’64 “I was a day student, and recall arriving in the morning to see the car in its impossible location. I stood in awe of the boarding students who had pulled off such a stunt. My wife, Nancy Wood Brownlee ’61, distinctly remembers the salt and pepper shakers on the car roof.”

— Carroll “Buzz” Brownlee ’60.

The Thompson Gallery Presents:

With Eyes Open The Thompson Gallery is pleased to present With Eyes Open, the third of four shows celebrating the work of women artists. The exhibition reflects on the state of women’s voices in the arts in 2017 by bringing together The Cambridge School of Weston, originally the Cambridge School for Girls, and The National Association of Women Artists (NAWA), originally known as the Women’s Art Club.

NAWA — With Eyes Open December 19, 2017 through March 2, 2018

GALLERY TALK Saturday, January 20, 2018 1 – 2 p.m.

ASSEMBLY SLIDE SHOW February 5, 2018 10 – 11 a.m.

Save the Dates

CSW COMMUNITY EVENTS 2018 CALIFORNIA ALUMNI/AE GATHERINGS Sunday, February 11, 2018 (Los Angeles) Tuesday, February 13, 2018 (San Francisco) WASHINGTON, D.C. ALUMNI/AE GATHERING Tuesday, April 3, 2018 REUNION WEEKEND Friday, May 4 through Sunday, May 6, 2018 GRANDPARENTS AND GRANDFRIENDS DAY Friday, May 18, 2018 ALUMNI/AE ULTIMATE FRISBEE GAME Friday, June 1, 2018

45 Georgian Road Weston, Massachusetts 02493

End of Mod Show

Every five weeks, the CSW community is enriched, enlightened, and inspired by the art created during that mod. Follow us on social media to see highlights.

ARTWORK BY: Binghao “Leo” Deng ’20