The Gryphon: Spring/Summer 2019

SPRING/SUMMER 2019

THE

Gryphon The Cambridge School of Weston Magazine

JANE’S JOURNEY The Cambridge School of Weston pays tribute to Head of School Jane Moulding and seventeen years of progressive leadership at CSW.

2 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2018–19 Benjamin (Ben) Alimansky ’87 Chair, Investment Committee

Allie Altman P’12 Harmony Bickerton ’19 Boarding Student Representative

James Bonsey Orly Burnes ’19 Day Student Representative

Christine Chamberlain ’63 Co-Vice Chair of the Board

Philip (Phil) DeNormandie ’67

THE GRYPHON, SPRING/SUMMER 2019 Jane Moulding, Head of School Andrea Finnerty, Chief Development Officer Emma Fedor, Director of Marketing and Communications Diane Stansbury P’20, Assistant Director of Alumni/ae and Parent Engagement Jeanette Origel, Communications Specialist

Evelina Galper P’14 Faculty Representative

Ann Gorson P’16 Co-Vice Chair of the Board; Chair, Development Committee

Cynthia Harmon Snowden Henry P’16,’18 Chair, Governance Committee

Eli Keehn

CONTRIBUTORS Sherrill Bounnell P’19 John Butman P’02 Russ Campbell Photography Jared Charney Photography Diane Garthwaite P’99

Faculty Representative

Tom Hill P’20,’22

Jin-Kyung (Kay) Kim P’15,’16,’18

Julie Johnstone P’21

Chin Lin P’18

Edison Kao ’21

Assistant Treasurer

Satinder Parmar ’17

Jane Moulding

Danya Tribuna ’19

Head of School

Rebecca Parkhill ’85, P’17 Secretary

DESIGN

Alexander (Alex) Rosenthal ’08

visiondesigngroup.com

Sarita Gandhi Shah ’86 Chair of the Board

Jesse Tauriac P’19 Susan (Sue) Vogt P’14 Daniel Wolf ’65 Treasurer (interim); Chair, Finance Committee

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 the Admissions Office 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

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Spring/Summer 2019

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Gryphon Contents 2 On the Quad 9 Featured Course 10 Faculty/Staff Spotlight 12 Jane's Journey 19 Celebrating Leadership in Progressive Education 21 Bon Voyage 22 A Victory for CSW 23 Shadowing Jane: Satinder’s Cup of Tea 24 Be the People 26 Then & Now 28 Class Notes 34 Alum Spotlight 37 My Five 38 Graduation 2019 42 Reunion!

Bits and Pieces by Ellie Turner ’19, April 2019, pencil and found paper, for “Drawing: Collage.”

2 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

ON THE QUAD Diversity Day Back in January, CSW welcomed educators from the Red Hawk Native American Arts Council to host a keynote performance and discussion. Later, community members gathered for student- and faculty-led workshops designed to expose participants to traditions, practices, concepts, languages, and culinary delights from cultures in the U.S. and abroad. A sampling of workshops from the catalog is below: Ancient Indian Dance Every Bead Tells a Story Henna Tattoo Hong Kong Food & Culture 101 If I Can Then You Cantu: A Guide to Loving Your Hair Israeli Dance Mofongo Fiesta: Celebrating Puerto Rican Culture Through Cuisine Noodles from Around the World Stepping into Black History Yiddish and Yiddishkeit

ON THE QUAD • 3

Two Earn National Scholastic Award Medals CSW students won 59 Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards this year, with 32 Honorable Mentions, 14 Silver Key Awards, and 13 Gold Key Awards across 15 different categories. Of the 13 Gold Key Awards received, two went on to earn National Awards from the organization. Tommy Shenefield ’19 earned a Silver Medal for his whimsical art portfolio titled “Moments of Wonder.”

Julian Applebaum ’19 won a Silver Medal in the “Personal Essay and Memoir” category for his personal essay, titled “Politicized Womenhood.”

Malik Gomes Cruz ’19 Earns Frederick Douglass Scholarship

Sounds of the World

CSW’s “Sounds of the World” ensemble performed live at Berklee College of Music’s Alma Berk Hall in March. The performance featured composers from Kurdistan, Lebanon, Argentina, Canada, Boston, and

Switzerland, including “Swing States” by Miranda Scripp ’21 and the world premiere of “Alp Dream,” by Music Department Chair Michael Weinstein. The performance was conducted by Charlie Dietel ’19.

Malik Gomes Cruz ’19 has been accepted to the Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholars (FDDS) program at American University. As a program scholar, Malik will receive a scholarship covering tuition, board, and fees for all four years of his collegiate career. Out of over 700 applications, only a handful were awarded the scholarship. Throughout his years at CSW, Malik has served as a dorm leader for the Trapelo dorm as well as a leader for a number of student organizations. He has participated in NAIS’s People of Color Conference (POCC) and Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC), and has been closely involved in the planning and execution of numerous campus events.

Congratulations, Malik!

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Dance Concert The 2019 Dance Concert was an event to remember, with stunning, studentchoreographed pieces addressing some of the most pertinent issues of our time.

ON THE QUAD • 5

CSW Announces 2019 Alorie Parkhill Learning and Travel Fund Grantees CSW is thrilled to announce that Tony Loreti P’11,’13 and Po-wei Weng have been awarded grants from The Alorie Parkhill Learning and Travel Fund for Teachers in the second year of this program. Grants from the fund may be used for travel, study, and any form of learning and exposure that follows the recipients’ scholarly interests, with a goal of allowing recipients to grow in their knowledge and background in disciplines and subject areas that excite and engage them, before bringing their learning back to students and colleagues at CSW. Tony, who currently teaches photography and manages the Community Gallery, submitted a proposal to “explore the current state of fashion design in three cities that have long defined fashion— London, Paris, and Milan.” He is interested in the “tension between the established tradition of the fashion industry in these cities and the many forces that are pressuring it to change…(hoping) to discover how the industry is finding the balance between convention and the avant garde, and in particular what it means to be a fashion designer now.” Tony will research

traditional institutions of fashion design and history, visit with young designers, and explore firsthand the expression of street style in each of the three cities. Based on this work, he will design a course that integrates visual art with social and cultural history to help CSW students understand the role of fashion design in U.S. culture.

Po-wei, Mandarin teacher, chair of the Language Department, and international student advisor, proposed to “scrutinize how global education is perceived, defined, and implemented in different countries

through visiting a number of educational institutions (high schools, universities, and other organizations) in the United States, as well as across Asia and Europe.” Through this extensive international study, Po-wei seeks to “gain a comprehensive knowledge and global perspective of global education, to learn the achievements and challenges of programs in the local institutions, and finally to determine how I can facilitate building a strong, integral, and sustainable global education program in support of CSW’s mission and values as a leading progressive educational institution.”

Michael H. Feldman ’67 Social Justice Day This year’s Michael H. Feldman ’67 Social Justice Day theme was “Equity in Education.”

The day started with a panel featuring Hayden Frederick-Clarke, Director of the Cultural Proficiency Office of Opportunity Gaps of the Boston Public Schools; Dmitri Holzman, Director of Education Justice Campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy; Jesse Tauriac, Assistant Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer, and Associate Professor of Psychology at Lasell College; and middle school teacher Erika Waldeck.

In the afternoon, students, faculty, and staff broke out into workshop groups led by the panelists and six other esteemed guests, to discuss topics such as equity and inclusion at the college level, youth engagement in Chicago, the history of indigenous boarding schools, and the fight for equity in education in the United States and South Africa.

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WE ARE Back in 2013, faculty member Taposhi Biswas had an idea. After a few years at CSW, she’d started to observe a common utterance amongst students and faculty. Whether it was in response to an idea, concept, event, or other occurrence, she kept hearing people say: “That’s so CSW” or, “That’s so NOT CSW.” As a scientist, she wanted to dig deeper. Why did so many people keep saying this? And what did they mean when they said it?

So she set up a community survey that posed respondents with one simple question:

What is the ONE thing that CSW should/ will NEVER change, or get rid of?

In other words, what is the one most important thing that makes CSW “CSW”?

She gathered up the responses and came up with the creative idea of sharing them via an original piece of artwork. Time ultimately got away from her, however, and the project never got off the ground. But she didn’t forget about it.

Flash forward to Fall 2018, when Taposhi determined the project was worth a revisit.

Not only would the comparison between the two years yield a more dynamic result, but she decided that this year, in particular, would be an interesting time to pose this question again given that the school is about to undergo a number of significant changes — namely the welcoming of a new head of school and the transition to six mods.

“As a scientist, you don’t often get the chance to do longitudinal studies,” Taposhi says. “So when an opportunity comes around, it’s not something you pass up!”

So she sent the survey out again, and got to work reviewing and sorting the answers she’d received. It eventually became clear that most responses (across both survey years) fell into six categories: The Mod System, Student-Centered, Inclusion/Community,

Individual Voice, Art, and Relationships. The question then became about how best to display the information.

“It was important to me that things be fluid and free, rather than grounded and fixed,” Taposhi shares. Her vision ultimately entailed printing and cutting out each of the submissions and — without any editing or censorship — attaching them to interconnected pieces of string. A different color string was assigned to each of the six themes she’d observed, with a special, almost-transparent silver string connecting pieces having to do with the idea that “CSW is changing.” The entire piece came together in an installation titled “We Are,” which went on display in mid-January and was featured in the End-of-Mod 4 Show.

As they experienced the exhibit, visitors were able to see which answers had come from 2013, and which were from 2018.

According to Taposhi, despite the school having undergone a number of changes over the past five years, many of the values touched upon in the responses remained the same, but were framed by different contexts. For example, many participants in 2013 talked about the significance and value of gatherings like Town Meeting, whereas in 2018, many respondents focused on the importance of student agency in terms of creating new leadership opportunities or choosing courses.

“That, to me, was an example of how, while the school may shift in the way that it implements values, the values themselves haven’t actually changed,” Taposhi says.

She also noticed that many of the responses were longer and perhaps more fervent now than they were before, indicating that the school may be in an especially meaningful or pivotal moment in time.

For her own part, Taposhi is grateful to be part of a community where she, as a science teacher, doesn’t have to be pigeonholed into one discipline or genre.

CSW is a place where students and faculty alike are encouraged — and even expected — to explore many things, as evidenced by her interest and artistic vision in executing this piece.

ON THE QUAD • 7

Urinetown!

By Danya Tribuna ’19 The Theatre Department took on the satirical show Urinetown as its spring musical production. The show takes place in a city suffering from a 20-year drought, where the water shortage has led to a governmental ban on private bathrooms. Citizens are forced to use public amenities managed by a dominating enterprise known as Urine Good Company. Spearheaded by Caldwell B. Cladwell (Ryan Rosenthal ’19), the company profits by charging citizens an access fee to the restrooms. Having to pay for a basic human right proves demeaning to inhabitants of the town, as the financial hardship of pricey public bathrooms becomes burdensome. Fortunately, the show’s hero, Bobby Strong (Jack Mayer ’20), tired of the tyrannical corporation’s manipulation and irresponsibility, takes it upon himself to pry his community from the evil grips of capitalism.

Spring Sports Round-Up Congratulations to our Spring athletic teams on an exciting season of competition and fun!

CSW is proud to announce that the following student-athletes received All-League recognition this spring: IGC Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse - D2 Alaina Hauber ’20 Emma Sullivan ’19 IGC Girls’ Varsity Tennis Sara Cooper ’20 Sascha Deng ’19 MBIL Varsity Baseball Josh Hyams ’19 MBIL Boys’ Varsity Tennis Surya Rajamani ’22 MBIL Varsity Ultimate Lucas Hill ’20 Reed McIntosh ’19 Sam Shaw ’20

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FEATURED COURSE

FEATURED COURSE • 9

Understanding Hayao Miyazaki through Literature Best known for masterpieces such as My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Spirited Away (2001), Japanese animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki is widely regarded as an immense creative force and master storyteller. The study of his work could easily fall within a number of fields and genres — art, film, history, or even science. But here at CSW, students are provided the chance to study Miyazaki’s works in depth through an English course known as “Understanding Hayao Miyazaki through Literature.”

Storyboard sketch by Edison Kao ’21

Chimera by Rachel Benfield ’21

Princess Mononoke by Grace Campbell ’19

In addition to film study, the course engages students through extensive reading assignments to better acquaint themselves with many of Miyazaki’s inspirations.

They begin with readings about Shinto, Buddhism, and shinbutsu-shu ˉgo ˉ, the coalescence of the two religions. They also explore a number of Japanese folktales and ancient texts to glean literary, historical, and cultural context. When they watch Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), for example, students read Mushi mezuru himegimi (The Lady Who Loved Insects), a tale from the Heian period in Japan. They might also talk about how, in many ways, the protagonist reflects Nausicaa in Homer’s Odyssey.

“Miyazaki’s works explore themes such as environmentalism, social justice, and feminism, and various challenges that the individuals face in their world. He blurs the line between good and evil and in a few of his films, he paints a pretty bleak picture of the future,” says teacher Ayako Tanaka.

“But then when I look at his works and read his interviews, I get the feeling that Miyazaki created — and continues to create — these masterpieces for the youth. His films remind us that the world can be an ugly and confusing place, and his young characters have no other choice but to face it. They struggle in their journeys and for many, it’s no fairy tale ending. But somehow in their

own ways, in the midst of all that chaos, they always find beauty in this world.”

For their final projects, students are tasked with creating their own fantasy worlds and stories that pay homage to Miyazaki and his work. In truly progressive fashion, they are afforded a number of options for tackling the assignment. They can create a song or dance with a complementary written component, write and illustrate their own graphic novel, conceptualize their own two-hour movie, or create a storyboard and accompanying essay.

“It’s not your typical English course,” says Edison Kao ’21. “Many of the concepts and goals are the same, but you get to approach them in new and creative ways, and with so much fascinating context. I’ve learned a lot about Japanese culture, animation, filmmaking, and the process that goes into creating a visual narrative like the ones Miyazaki creates.”

For Ayako, the course is fun to teach, because it gives her the chance to share a window into her own culture with her students. She especially loves when she can expose students to the beauty of Japanese words. One of her favorites is tenshoku, which roughly translates as “to find one’s calling or vocation” — a concept she feels every day she gets to teach this course.

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FACULTY/STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Eli Keehn English

Eli Keehn joined CSW’s English Department in 2011. Early in his time here, he co-taught a Beowulf course with Head of School Jane Moulding, and has since gone on to teach student favorites like “The Odyssey,” “The Films of Alfred Hitchcock,” and “Harry: White Masculinity in American Literature.” He also runs CSW’s Writing Center and is currently serving a term as a faculty representative on the Board of Trustees.

What’s your approach when it comes to teaching writing?

I’ve found that teaching writing can be really complicated. Writing a traditional assignment for a teacher who is grading you is a bizarre thing to do compared to how writing works in the real world. Nobody is writing school essays in their professional lives unless they’re an English literature scholar or something. Too often, writing for school is seen as this super hard, taxing, isolated thing, and I try to break out of this pattern and add more energy to the experience. It’s just so much healthier to talk to someone about your process while you’re doing it or — to the extent that an assignment allows — write with somebody. I think it’s important to make it more open and collaborative, and to vary the types of assignments we give students.

What kinds of writing assignments have you found to be most effective?

There’s one assignment — and credit goes to Katie Sauvain for the idea — where the charge is to write a profile of another student or community member. Students observe their chosen subject in their daily life and have a few interview conversations with the goal of writing a sort of New Yorker style profile. And they turn out so interesting to read. There’s something about the assignment that really helps students take risks and play around with structure.

Persuasive essays, of course, are a more classic structure for an English curriculum, but trying to find models in the real world and imitate those, is also something that I think is a really really important part of the process. It’s interesting, because it used to be a very classical thing to do. That was how school used to work in the old days of the 1600s — writing imitation poems — but I still think it’s a helpful thing to do today.

Talk about what it’s like teaching English in the Mod System. What are some of the opportunities opened up by such a model?

The Mod System works super well for what I do. It’s just so structurally easy to say, okay, we’re just going to read this one book, intensely, for 20 or so days. Get on the train, because it’s happening. And it lets you build classes that are so specific and in-depth. The tradeoff is that you can’t do, say, a survey of 19th-century American lit, but I think it’s okay to make that sacrifice so that you can focus on just one thing, and make contextual connections as you go. If it’s working right, we’re choosing texts that relate to a greater context. When we read Virginia Woolf, for example, we consider the entire movement of British modernist writing and the overlap it has with a number of other fields — like, in Woolf’s case, the Theory of Relativity or Cubist Impressionist art. Those are the classes I

feel the best about, the ones that don’t feel limited, but still have a clear focus.

What’s “progressive” about the way you run your classroom?

This is something I’m constantly needing to check myself on. I’ll regularly ask myself: how is this assignment feeding into the values I have about progressive teaching?

And if it’s not, how can I adjust it? For progressive educator and theorist Alfie Kohn, a big part of what’s different between a progressive school and a traditional school is a genuine effort to take kids seriously and treat them with the authentic respect that you would give an adult. And for me, that shows up in the way I find opportunities for kids to show their strengths.

Another thing — and I think I learned this from Tom Evans P’06,’10 — is that it’s important not to limit your definitions of success, and to see that there are many different ways that students can succeed that may seem very different from what your preconceived notions of success look like. So I always try to keep that in mind with assignment design, giving students multiple ways to complete them. It’s not making things easier or dumbing it down; it’s about finding creative approaches that allow students to demonstrate an understanding of patterns and themes, but in a way that both challenges them and matches their strengths.

FACULTY/STAFF SPOTLIGHT • 11

FEATURE

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JANE'S JOU R N E Y The Cambridge School of Weston pays tribute to Head of School Jane Moulding and 17 years of progressive leadership at CSW.

By John Butman P’02

JANE’S JOURNEY • 13

JANE

Moulding, then Jane Rowley, discovered her calling when she was just eight years old. It was at the Coleshill Church of

England Primary School, in the village of Coleshill, just east of Birmingham—there she discovered for the first time that she loved learning. She loved her teachers, especially Mrs. Meeson, who seemed to know everything. Jane resolved that she, too, would become a teacher. Not that anyone in the family had experience in the teaching profession. Neither of her parents had been to college. Her father, Charlie, was a journeyman baker at Uptons, known for his bread and pastries. Her mother, Eva, looked after the five kids and worked at the pub or as a crossing guard when she could make the time.

Jane set off on her educational path. She attended Coleshill Grammar School. Then it was on to the University of Warwick, where she studied English and German and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with double honors. In the spring of 1975, she received a postgraduate certificate of education at the University of Nottingham, with a focus on English and modern language teaching methods.

That summer, Jane married Linton Moulding and they honeymooned on England’s south coast. In the fall, Mrs. Moulding, first- year teacher, took her place before a class of middle schoolers at her alma mater, the King Edward VI School, ready to introduce them to the joys of English and German.

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I

knew nothing of Mrs. Meeson, the Coleshill School, or Jane’s early life in England when I first met her a quarter of a century later, in the fall of 2001. Jane was interviewing for the position of head of school at CSW and I was one of a group of parents who had been invited to meet and interview her in the faculty room in the Kluchman Building. We felt a sense of urgency about the interview, partly because CSW had been through an unsettled period of leadership, but more because we were in shock in the days following 9/11. It seemed that everything was in flux and the future uncertain. The selection of CSW’s new head seemed critically important.

In our conversation with Jane, we saw that she was a serious, resolute person, clearly eager to commit herself to the role of head.

She did not try to charm us, although she had a subtle, slightly cheeky, sense of humor. She did not deliberately try to impress, although her ability to take questions and answer them with careful but unlabored ratiocination was impressive. She seemed thoughtful and focused. She had a certain reserve, a sense that there was a great deal more to her than was easily surfaced in a group conversation. Maybe that was because she was a Brit? Possibly.

She had not been a head of school but, at the time of our interview, she was director of the middle school at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (BB&N) in Cambridge, which meant she had shouldered many of a head’s responsibilities. Prior to her tenure at BB&N, she had taught English at the Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill and had served as head of the English Department as well as dean of faculty. She had also had an interesting set of experiences prior to coming to the United States. Jane and Linton had lived in the Hague for a couple of years, where she worked as a substitute teacher. Most intriguing, they had moved to Tripoli, Libya

in 1981 where Linton had a job with an American oil service company. There Jane taught ninth-grade English at the Oil Companies School to an extremely diverse group of forty kids hailing from twentythree nations.

During the interview process, the question that some asked in relation to Jane’s experience was about “fit.” Would Jane fit with The Cambridge School of Weston and its community? After all, both BB&N and Beaver were perceived to be relatively traditional seats of learning, focused on college prep. We at CSW thought of ourselves as more progressive. How would Jane’s philosophy comport with an institution that valued individualism, hands-on learning, the arts?

In January of 2002, the board of trustees decided to find out. We voted to offer Jane the job and she accepted.

IF

CSW anticipated a period of adjustment to the new head, Jane and Linton had their own adjusting to do. They had been happily living in a beautifully restored Victorian condo within dogwalking distance of Harvard Square and the Charles River. Now they would be ensconced in an arts-and-crafts-style house on Fairhope Road in Weston that was in need of tender loving care. The roof leaked in a heavy rain, the septic system gurgled, the window sills needed replacing, the kitchen had not been updated since, well, who knows when? But there was potential for a garden, many trails that Tyler—their Corgi—would enjoy, and a nice view over the campus. The original tract of fields and woodlands had once been a golf course. To Linton, an avid golfer, that counted as a slice of paradise. And there was even a built-in ironing board. Really, what a bonus.

That fall of 2002, Jane and Linton’s view over the campus was quite different from what it

2002

2003

2004

Jane announced as next head of school

Jane teaches first CSW class: “Beowulf & Grendel”

Master campus plan unveiled

First season of seniors’ “Tea With Jane”

is today. Next to the art building, where the Garthwaite Center for Science and Art now stands, was an open space, a well-traveled trail leading through it from the quad to the top of the hill. The Mugar Center for Performing Arts and “The George,” a building named after Jane’s predecessor George Cohan P’90, were both brand new.

The fresh tar of the parking lot, recently enlarged, looked raw. There was no field house, no fitness center. The basketball court was in the outdated French Gymnasium, the sidelines so narrow that players sometimes crashed into fans. The board of trustees met in the conference room next to the dining hall, our deliberations accompanied by the clatter of the ice machine.

The curiosity about Jane, her background, her educational approach, and her intentions for the school continued to bubble along beneath the surface. Would she change things? If so, what? At a reception with trustees that fall, Connie White ’54, a past trustee and devoted alum, asked Jane a question that startled her. “During Dolph Cheek’s time,” Connie said thoughtfully, referring to one of CSW’s iconic heads, “there were a lot of issues around the length of boys’ hair and whether they should wear ties.

I’m curious, Jane—will you bring back rules about uniforms, or hair length, or ties or anything like that?”

Jane wondered: is this a test? Connie himself wore a tie. Did he definitely want boys to wear ties or definitely not want them to wear ties? She really had not thought about this issue. Would it even be possible, in a school where everybody was on a first-name basis, to suggest that boys wear ties? Would they even know how to tie one?

Such questions perplexed Jane a little, even vexed her now and again, because she thought of her educational philosophy as fundamentally aligned with that of CSW. In every one of the schools she had engaged

2006 “Changing Lives” Capital Campaign kicks off

2006 First NEASC re-accreditation under Jane’s leadership secured Athletic fields undergo improvements and facilities barn opens

JANE’S JOURNEY • 15

with—in England, Holland, Libya, and Cambridge—she had been attuned to issues of culture, independence, experiential learning, community, diversity, inclusion. She heartily supported the CSW mission and approach. She saw the school as a warm, nurturing place that worked especially well for kids who sought a path different from that available in public school or more traditional independent schools. As a teacher, she saw great value in the Mod System.

He was steeped in progressive principles, based largely on the works of John Dewey, then a major voice in American intellectual life and an ardent advocate of education reform. The new education, as it was known, centered around pragmatism and individual responsibility, genuine interest in the work (“passion” in today’s parlance), and the role of the teacher as guide, rather than as task master. The school should serve the student, not the other way around.

Trustees were not the only ones to wonder about Jane’s intentions. Questions came from faculty members, too. A year or two into her tenure, Jane found herself in an intense discussion with a long-serving teacher. They disagreed on some issue— neither one can remember what it was— and emotions started to rise. At last, the teacher looked at Jane in a kind of exasperated, yet imploring way. “You don’t really love CSW, do you?”

Not only did Connie’s question lead Jane to think deeply about essential school values, it propelled her to dig into CSW history.

Although the school has roots going back to 1886, when Arthur and Stella Scott Gilman founded The Cambridge School for Girls, the institution we know today was essentially founded in 1930 when an educator named John French was appointed head. Jane came to see French as the true founder of the modern school, as its intellectual and spiritual wellspring.

Jane identified not only with French’s principles but also with his leadership style.

He was a reader and a scholar, warm if not demonstrative, slightly reserved but deeply committed and always engaged with students, faculty, and the community.

French served the school for seventeen years, from 1930 to 1947, one of its two long-serving, iconic leaders—the other being Marion Adolphus “Dolph” Cheek, head from 1951-1968, who Connie White had referred to.

The question, more of a statement really, came out in such a way that Jane could have taken it as friendly chiding and laughed it off. Or she could have assured the teacher that, yes of course, she did indeed love the school. But it seemed important to speak her true feelings.

2007

2008

The Garthwaite Center for Science and Art opens

Jane and Dean of Student Life Aaron Hirsch travel to Taiwan and South Korea

2009 “Changing Lives” Capital Campaign officially closes with $19,748,890 raised

“No, I don’t love CSW yet,” she said. “I don’t give my love easily. I am open to love. But I believe you really have to think about what love means.”

2011 CSW celebrates its 125th anniversary

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The idea inflamed the imagination of Diane Garthwaite P’99, then in her first year as chair of the board, and she made a generous financial pledge that put the plan into the realm of feasibility. Still, it was little more than a vision. How would such a center work? What would it look like?

Where would it be sited? How much would it cost? Would the community support it?

Should Jane be asked to take on the responsibility of leading a campaign?

The idea gained momentum. Trustees voiced support. More seed money was pledged. Jane accepted the challenge to take on new responsibilities as strategist, fundraiser, and spokesperson.

This was just one of many such engagements which demonstrated to Jane that CSW is a highly emotional place. People do love the school. They value its role in education and society. They feel a deep personal connection to the community. As a member of the board of trustees for eleven years and chair for three, I saw emotion bubble up many a time in our meetings.

One could never predict what issue— admissions, finance, athletics, a dorm, the trees—would touch a nerve or produce a declaration of principle or fervent statement of belief. The voices would rise in pitch, shoulders would tighten, tears would well up, and I knew that I was gazing once again into the deep reservoir of love and caring that parents, alums, faculty, staff, and students feel for the school.

Jane also learned that CSW is a place where performance, personal vulnerability, individual connection, humor, and individualism are valued—and she pitched herself in. She picked up on French’s tradition of holding teas for seniors at the head’s house. She willingly made a fool of

herself, if and when the occasion required.

She became known for her karaoke rendition of ABBA’s "Dancing Queen." She rode in triumphantly at the finale of Threepenny Opera. And, perhaps most memorably, she shut down school to celebrate the Red Sox World Series victory in 2004. Proof positive that Jane and Linton, who had become U.S. citizens only the year before, had their hearts in the right place.

IN

Jane’s contract, it was clearly stated that the school would not embark on a capital campaign within her first five years as head. She had virtually no fundraising experience, after all, and had never been a head before. She wanted to learn the ropes before plunging into raising money.

HaHa. In the fall of 2003, art teacher Tom Evans P’06,’10 and science teacher Marilyn DelDonno presented to the board of trustees a bold vision for a new school facility like no other. It would bring the teaching of art and science together. There would be studios and laboratories housed within, experimental artists and artistic experimenters working side by side.

2012

2013

2014

The Progressive Education Lab program commences

CSW celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Module System!

Social Justice curriculum requirement established

The Warren House dorm opens New Mission Statement announced

For everyone involved in the initiative, which was essentially everyone in the CSW community, the creation of what became known as The Garthwaite Center for Science and Art was a transformative undertaking.

It was not the first capital campaign for CSW—indeed, the Mugar Center campaign had recently wrapped up—but it was the largest to date and the most ambitious in scale and scope. Not only did it focus the community on a goal, it catalyzed conversation around key issues of curriculum, culture, finance, and the future.

The Garthwaite Center, which opened in 2007, provided the school with a signature building, as well as a fourth corner to complete the quad. The building process caught the early wave of going green and expressed our sense of social responsibility.

It brought unexpected but welcome attention when it was named one of the nation’s Top Ten Green Projects for 2008 by The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment.

Just as important, the generative drive unleashed by the project spilled over into other important efforts, most notably the

2015 “We Are Building Our 21st Century – The Campaign for CSW” capital campaign kicks off Second NEASC re-accreditation under Jane’s leadership secured

JANE’S JOURNEY • 17

forging of a mission statement and the development of a campus master plan, both processes involving all school constituencies.

The improvements continued with the 2012 opening of the Warren House dormitory and the 2016 creation of the Health and Fitness Center, appropriately nicknamed “The Fit.” It is hard now to remember the days when science classes met in cramped labs and the sign at the head of the driveway was so faded one could drive by and not know CSW was there.

JANE

may not have been aiming to equal the longevity of John French and Dolph Cheek, but she has. Not only is she tied—at seventeen years—as one of the three longest-serving heads at CSW, she is one of the longest-serving heads of any independent school, at a time when the average tenure is around eight years.

One characteristic of longevity is stability, and one measure of stability is an institution’s ability to manage and sustain itself in the face of vicissitudes, ups and downs, crises and triumphs. In Jane’s seventeen years, she and the school have had to navigate economic downturns, layoffs, deaths, departures, disturbances, and disruptions—as well as gains and advancements. At the end of many a trying day, Jane’s long-serving executive assistant, Sherrill Bounnell P’19, would suggest that a soak in a Calgon bath might be in order.

Jane would sometimes excuse herself to take a restorative walk with one of a succession of Corgis who shared the house with her and Linton.

But no crisis ended in catastrophe. As Jane recounted at the gala head’s farewell event on May 4th of this year, she would often return home and tell Linton about the wrangles of the day. Linton would listen patiently and ask at last, “Well, do you think you screwed it up?”

2016 The Health and Fitness Center opens CSW partners with Harvard’s Global Health Education and Learning Incubator

Jane would ponder. “I don’t think so.”

“Well you’re alright then!” Linton would exclaim with cheery confidence.

This calmed her. After all, Linton has a Harvard MBA. He must be right.

Another aspect of stability is financial security. An institution with a healthy balance sheet and sufficient reserves is a stronger, more sustainable, and potentially more creative place than one in want. When Jane became head of school, the endowment hovered at a meager, even precarious, $1.5 million. During her tenure—thanks to good stewardship and to the contributions of thousands of students, faculty, alums, parents, administrators, and friends—the endowment has risen almost tenfold, to around $12 million today, and a total of some $25 million has flowed into school coffers. That is not enough to make us complacent, perhaps, but it helps keep the attention where it should be: on education.

Then there are the relationships and partnerships Jane has developed over the years—long-term connections with faculty and staff, students, parents, and alums, as well as other educators. Jane has developed particularly strong ties with alums of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Perhaps because those

2017 “The Campaign for CSW” closes with $9,200,846 raised

were the French and Cheek years, when the heads brought both stability and forward movement, were deeply engaged personally, and also seriously committed to progressive education. The alums of that era may see the same qualities in Jane.

During the nearly twenty years I’ve known and worked with her, I have observed Jane’s remarkable constancy. Through the challenges we faced together as head and chair, we were always able to discuss, deliberate, and resolve. Jane was always engaged, present in the moment, respectful of other people’s views, caring in her approach. And now and again she would come free of her reserve to reveal some personal view, marvel at a work of art she had witnessed, praise a book she was reading, or performance she had attended.

She would send me a funny birthday card each year and once gave me a tea mug emblazoned with the motto “Made of Stern Stuff” above a depiction of a hedgehog. An example of her ability to praise and tease at the same time.

Through it all, Jane retained the love of school, learning, and teaching that first arose at the Coleshill school. Not only did she continue to teach English when

2018

2019

CSW joins Harvard’s Making Caring Common project

6x6 schedule and PACE co-curriculum to launch in September 2019

Jane teaches her last CSW class: “Jane’s Journey”

18 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

“There is a developed belief that we have something to say to the world. People see us as the voice of progressive education.”

schedule allowed (she had not read Beowulf before she taught it at CSW), she also kept up with her education, doing a stint at Columbia University’s Klingenstein Center in 2005. The Progressive Education Lab (PEL), a genuinely pioneering initiative, was largely Jane’s brainchild. It brought together four independent schools to create a program to teach teachers the ways of progressive education through a year of residency followed by an internship. The muchadmired program produced some twenty-five teachers who now carry the banner for progressive education in schools on both coasts. During Jane’s time, CSW also initiated the PACE (Promoting Awareness and Community Engagement) program, established a social justice requirement, and put high value on diversity and inclusion.

The campus, which has always been beautiful, is more beautiful than ever. To walk the paths on a cold, sunny winter morning or a leaf-amber afternoon in fall is to be entranced by the landscape and the way people move about and live within it.

We possess a hidden gem, self-contained but expansive, with its conurbation of neighborhoods—the educational heart, the residences, the athletic complex—each with its own character.

The most significant and long-lasting of Jane’s legacies is the shift in reputation. The Cambridge School of Weston is now widely regarded as a national and even international leader. As Jane puts it, “There is a developed belief that we have something to say to the world. People see us as the voice of progressive education.”

Ironically, given the early scrutiny of her progressive bona fides, I think of Jane as quintessentially CSW. She came to the school almost as one of our students would: as a talented person looking for a new and distinctive niche. She devoted herself fully to the school, just as John French and the progressives would have wanted. She found her way, blossomed, developed her voice. The school changed her life, as it has for so many students. I know it did for my son, Jeremy ’02, who discovered philosophy at CSW and followed his passion to a Ph.D. It is something that I, like so many other trustees and parents, often wished for myself. How might my life have been different if I had attended CSW? It is interesting to remember that when Jane interviewed for the head’s position, the omnipresent (if mostly unexpressed) worry was that she would change the school more than it would change her. Well, as Eric von Hippel ’59, P’09,’13—a triple

threat as alum, parent, and trustee—put it at the farewell event in May, “Jane, you managed to change the place without altering our fundamental principles.

Somehow, you brought change but did not screw things up!”

Eric let out a head-back, full-throated laugh and the entire audience joined in.

But what about the love? Well, as Jane remembers it, there came a moment in her fifth year, 2007 or so, that she removed all doubt about her feelings. On stage, at morning assembly, she declared her love for the school for all to hear. Over the years, she has demonstrated that love time and time again, and leaves CSW a stronger and more competitive, stable, diverse, inclusive, and educationally potent school community than ever.

We owe Jane our gratitude, but should not forget to thank Mrs. Meeson, too, for setting Jane on the path that brought her here.

JANE’S JOURNEY • 19

Celebrating Leadership in Progressive Education Over 400 community members gathered on campus on Saturday, May 4, to honor Jane and her 17-year tenure as head of school and to celebrate CSW’s enduring mission as a leader in progressive education.

Guests enjoyed refreshments under the tent on the athletics playing fields before moving into the Health and Fitness Center for the main program. Current board chair Sarita Gandhi Shah ’86 and co-chairs Christine Marston Chamberlain ’63 and Ann Gorson P’16 got the main event started with the welcome. Next, former board chairs Diane Garthwaite P’99 and Susan Vogt P’14 shared a brief video presentation, before officially launching The Jane Moulding Fund for Leadership in Progressive Education — AKA Jane’s Fund.

Following personal reflections from past board chairs John Butman P’02, Michael Pappone P’02, and Anki Wolf ’67,

the audience was treated to a dance and spoken-word tribute featuring alumni/ae, students, faculty, staff, and friends from a wide range of years. The performance, which included live music, covered the timeline from Jane’s initial installment to the present.

Community members Amy d’Ablemont Burnes P’19, Harmony Bickerton ’19, Orly Burnes ’19, Robert Friesen ’71, Susan Shapiro Magdanz ’71, Frantz Batoh, Anjali Bhatia, Jennifer Jones-Clark P’05, and Sheila Watson P’12,’17,’19 then took to the stage in pairs to present Jane with a number of gifts, including a binder full of all her Pocket Change (Jane’s weekly blog)

posts, and a Jane’s Farewell t-shirt, featuring all her tour stops on the back!

Eric von Hippel ’59, P’09,’13 later offered personal remarks and invited Jane to the stage for a few words. The formal program ended to the tune of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” which Jane has become notorious for singing, karaoke-style, during all-school assemblies.

At the end of the night, the crowd went back outside to join John Thompson P’05,’07 in a toast to Jane and the future of CSW. The mood in the tent was joyful, celebratory, and proud, as glasses clinked and community members took a moment to appreciate CSW and all that it stands for.

20 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

A Look Back...

JANE’S JOURNEY • 21

Bon Voyage

A letter to Jane from Diane Garthwaite P’99

Dear Jane,

I’ve been struggling with how to write you a “retirement” letter, and getting nowhere. How to thank you for steering our slightly leaky but enormously creative ship through 17 years of both calm and turbulent seasons? I remember your first visit to CSW with your arm in a cast, bringing some sorely needed British panache to our crunchy-granola campus.

You leapt full bore into the deep end of life at CSW, bringing a clear, collaborative, and consistent vision of a sustainable campus that is now thriving.

You have led us through a particularly

You have been a generous and inspirational

I will miss poking my head around the

critical nexus of technology and culture,

teacher for me in so many ways, most

corner of your office, receiving your

continuing to enhance and showcase the

particularly in the arena of philanthropy. I

cheery welcome and a “cuppa,” patting

integration of arts and science that is one

have learned firsthand how transformative

whichever Corgi happens to be visiting

of the lynchpins of our school. You have

philanthropy can be when partnered with an

that day. So basically, I’m not writing you

steered us through the early years of a

eloquent leader who can inspire others to

a “retirement” letter. Instead, consider this

new century with grace, eloquence, and

reach for a dream. You have given our

a deeply fond ‘bon voyage’ as you embark

dedication to the tenets of progressive

community a rich vision of what we all can

on your next journey. You are leaving

education that have been at the heart of

accomplish and have helped us achieve goals

behind a strong and creative school

CSW. We all have our “voice;” you have

we never thought attainable. You have led

poised to engage fully in the challenges

shown us at CSW how to shout it out,

CSW with wisdom from the head, generous

and opportunities of this 21st century.

shine our light, and engage in the world.

warmth from the heart, and enormous good humor (Dancing Queen, anyone?).

With much affection, Diane

22 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

A Victory for CSW

By Julie Johnstone P’21, Assistant Head of School For the past thirteen years, I have had the privilege of viewing Jane both as a head of school and as a mentor and supporter of my growth as an administrator. Throughout my tenure at a previous school, I worked with four very different heads of school.

While each head had their own strengths and leadership styles, it was not until I worked with Jane that I was able to understand firsthand what it means to work with a truly collaborative leader.

Jane’s style of distributed leadership demonstrates trust in her colleagues and provides those who work with her the space to develop and hone their own leadership skills. During the time that I’ve worked with Jane, she has consistently provided me with opportunities to pursue new and exciting projects. One of the projects that I am most proud of is the work that was done in 2014 to approve the design and construction of the Health and Fitness Center.

Now, to truly understand the scope of this achievement for Jane and CSW, you must realize that this project started in the fall of 2009. At that time, we were working on a strategic plan with a pillar dedicated to health and wellness. Jane had appointed me co-chair of the committee with a member of the Board of Trustees. One of the programmatic imperatives was to plan the design and construction of a new gymnasium. While the old “gym” was certainly quaint and provided a home court advantage, it was woefully undersized for our four basketball teams.

As a committee, we were determined to make our shared vision a reality. We wanted a space that supported our current offerings but would also allow our program to grow and flourish.

Over the next five years, I worked with three different trustee co-chairs to refine our plans and put forth a proposal to the Board of Trustees. During this time, I would provide periodic updates at board meetings.

Finally, after four years of committee work, proposals, and presentations, we were poised and ready for the board to vote on funding. In the days leading up to the May 2014 board meeting, Jane and I conferred with various trustees and members of the administration. We planned and scripted what we would say. We had side conversations and meetings with trustees to make sure we thought of every question that might be asked. We were prepared, we were confident, and we were ready.

On a warm evening in May, the board of trustees convened their meeting. There were numerous items on the agenda that preceded the critical vote to move forward with design and construction. Finally, the time came, and the pitch was shared. After a presentation in which we’d crossed all of our T’s and dotted all of our I’s, the motion was made, and the vote was taken. The board of trustees unanimously supported allocating funds to design the building and to begin site work. Jane and I looked at each other in disbelief. It almost seemed too easy. We were prepared for pushback and a bevy of concerns and questions. But what we experienced was appreciation and support for all the work we had done to get us to this point. Later that evening, we traded text messages about our victory, but more importantly, CSW’s victory.

Fast forward to 2019. We now have a beautiful building that meets the needs of our current program — a building that is

designed to support both our athletic program and the wider school community.

One of Jane’s lasting gifts to CSW is her dedication to renewal and transformation.

During her tenure, the school has successfully renewed a number of buildings to support the school’s mission and its students.

The story of the Health and Fitness Center is but one example of how Jane’s leadership has manifested itself during her tenure. Her unwavering trust and faith in her colleagues to develop and deliver upon their own ideas, is truly inspiring. The building of Warren House, the introduction of the PACE curriculum, and the success of our Affinity and Alliance student groups are all products of proposals brought forth by people who were passionate about a program and were instilled with the confidence and support to bring those ideas to fruition. We have Jane to thank.

JANE’S JOURNEY • 23

Shadowing Jane: Satinder’s Cup of Tea

By Satinder Parmar ’17

It was my final year at The Cambridge School of Weston. I was a resident and dorm leader of Trapelo dorm. In keeping with an All-Boarders Weekend tradition, my dormmates and I were preparing our performance for Fractured Fairytales, a highly anticipated annual event in which residents of all four dormitories on campus create personalized renditions of various tales, incorporating facets of CSW culture. I was tasked with playing the role of “Headmaster Jane Moulding” for Trapelo’s rendition of Harry Potter, a role that would soon take on new meaning for me, although I did not know that at the time.

Just a few weeks later, I was meeting with Anjali Bhatia, my senior capstone advisor, brainstorming ideas for what I would choose to do for my important capstone project. I was on the fence of what I wanted to do—perhaps something about bhangra (traditional Punjabi dance)? Or maybe making a documentary about Sikh diaspora experiences in the United States? One day, I jokingly mentioned something along the lines of “becoming Jane Moulding” to Anjali, and to my surprise, she supported it and convinced me to email Jane about my (still developing) idea.

Jane responded to my email with openmindedness and invited me to sit down for a conversation. Together, we established a game plan that would not only satisfy my capstone requirement, but also provide me with the opportunity to learn about leadership and school management. For my capstone project, I would be shadowing Head of School Jane Moulding.

From the beginning, Jane was very accommodating of me and my project. We met regularly and forwarded each other some interesting reads. I also had the

chance to shadow some of Jane’s private meetings and even attended two board meetings. Through these experiences, combined with research and readings, I was able to explore the line between management and leadership and be involved in discussions about CSW’s institutional goals and the long-term strategies that would need to be put in place to achieve them.

Looking back, my capstone project gave me an incredible opportunity to consider my own leadership skills. Even today, I think about the important takeaways from this project within my collegiate leadership roles and professional journey. I am currently a sophomore at the American University’s Kogod School of Business, and I regularly

notice how my discussions with Jane, on topics ranging from organizational hierarchy structures to satisfying different stakeholders, have impacted my ability to process, reflect, and analyze.

Two years post-CSW, I am proud to have completed a capstone project that has continued to impact my studies and perspectives. Moreover, I am appreciative of Jane’s willingness to collaborate, even going so far as to patiently and openly accept feedback from me—a high school senior at the time—over the course of my project. It was my pleasure to be able to catch up with Jane over tea in DuPont Circle this past spring, and I wish her the best in her future endeavors!

BE 24 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

THE PEOPLE

BE THE PEOPLE • 25

CSW’s Junior State of America Chapter Earns High Honors in the organization who embody the values in the JSA motto, “Be the People,” and demonstrate extraordinary leadership and service to their communities. In addition to his role as leader of CSW’s chapter, Julian served as director of activism for JSA Northeast this year, working to coordinate initiatives for all of the Northeast’s 40 chapters. He can also be credited with bringing in a number of high-profile speakers to JSA meetings and conventions, including the director of grassroots activism for the NRA and an immigration lawyer with vast experience at the U.S.Mexico border.

“You can be the most brilliant thinker scholar, leader out there, but if you haven’t found the way to communicate your ideas to other people, it doesn’t mean a thing.”

So says Julian Applebaum ’19, the leader of CSW’s 2018-19 Junior State of America chapter, a growing group of students whose interest in and passion for politics and civic engagement has been nothing short of inspiring. Founded in 1934, JSA is an American, non-partisan youth organization meant to equip high school students with the leadership and knowledge necessary to be effective debaters and civic participants.

CSW’s chapters have come and gone over the years, but it’s clear from this past year that the group is very much “having a moment.”

Under Julian’s leadership, attendance and membership in the organization has more than doubled in recent years, with an average meeting attendance of six in 2017-18 vs. fifteen in 2018-19. The group also welcomed 11 first-time conference attendees this year and has been active in its fundraising efforts to make conference attendance accessible to a wider number of participants. As a result, group members were able to attend six different conferences this year, where they debated on topics such as the pros and cons of

dictatorships, nationalism, economic protectionism, and of course, whether or not “hip hop is dead.”

“I’m proud of a lot of things,” Julian shares, “But the most rewarding part for me has been seeing other members of our chapter come out of their shells… To think this club could cultivate an interest in politics and grow a sense of confidence in students that could set a trajectory for their lives is an amazing thing to think about and an amazing feeling.”

The group has also led a number of on-campus events this year, including an all-school presentation on the 2018 Massachusetts Ballot Questions and a letter-writing campaign for Indigenous People’s Day. They also initiated “Global Citizenship Week” at CSW, which included an informative community conversation about why global citizenship matters, what it looks like, and which topics community members might want to involve themselves in, providing examples such as Brexit, elections in Israel, and political turmoil in Venezuela.

All of this exciting work culminated a number of high honors for the chapter.

Julian was named JSA Statesman of the Year at Spring State 2019. Statesman of the Year is awarded each year to notable leaders

CSW’s chapter was also named Runner Up in the campaign for JSA’s National Chapter of the Year, and William Feng ’20 was elected Lieutenant Governor of JSA’s Northeast State, the second-highest leadership position in the organization.

William’s election came about following a hard-fought grassroots campaign, complete with speeches, social media hype, and a call to join the “Feng Gang.”

“William was running against two other people, both of whom had been on the cabinet before,” Julian explains. “No one knew who we were… William won, not because he had connections, but because we worked hard and people felt like they could relate to us.”

As Lieutenant Governor, William will help lead state conferences, choose who is on his cabinet, and have a big role in setting the vision for the upcoming year for the Northeast. CSW congratulates Julian, William, and all of the members of our JSA chapter on a truly outstanding year.

Interested in making a gift in support of CSW’s JSA chapter? Please contact Chief Development Officer Andrea Finnerty at afinnerty@csw.org.

26 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

Then

TEXT GOES HERE • 27

&

NOW

28 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

CLASS NOTES

1940s Jillian Hanbury Poole ’48 writes: The seeds that CSW planted in me during my happy boarding school years have continued to grow and blossom, enriching every decade of my life. My time in that vibrant world, a world shaped by many options of creative classes with imaginative assignments to explore, and so many choices for activities around campus, both taught me and formed my life. I learned leadership by trial (and error!) and developed a love for it, which encouraged me to practice the skills throughout my life on projects both in my career and a wide range of volunteer activities, national and international. I escaped from the war in England.

Nobody made fun of my British tricks, but I worked hard to Americanize, which enabled me to blend into the richly diverse CSW community. John French was one of the extraordinary leaders in my life, and I still regard him as such. During the weekly assemblies he would perch on the edge of the stage while dangling his legs and chat. There were often winning stories to make a point. There was never a reprimand. Never a raised voice — simply a discussion — a practice I tried, not always successfully, to adopt with my own staff. CSW enriched my brain, fertilized my imagination, taught me the tools of leadership, and through example, ways to guide those designated to support the project at hand. I have always felt the object of life is to be useful. I ended my professional career after 20 years of leading fundraising for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The next 20 years, I created and ran a volunteer foundation to assist arts

Karen Webber Mulhauser ’60 receives the 2018 Perdita Huston Human Rights Award

Paintings by Helen Drake Muirhead ’54

organizations in post-Communist countries in arts management to help them support themselves and grow their programs. I have continued to work with and help many nonprofits to reach their goals. Thanks to CSW, my life has certainly been varied, great fun, and useful!!

time together at supper. Otherwise, I keep busy coordinating a kids’ chess club at my local library, taking classes at the local OLLI, and working to turn PA blue. Happily, we had some success this November.

1950s Robert Jenks ’50 writes: Virginia and I moved south to North Carolina in 1999, and I retired from ADP shortly thereafter. We live in a great community called Cypress Landing in Chocowinity, NC. I attended Brown University and spent 16 months in Korea (courtesy of the U.S. Army). Upon returning home I enrolled at Babson College, where I earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. After briefly working for Sunkist Growers, I received an invitation from Babson College to be the Assistant Director of Admissions. Eventually, I became the Director of Admissions for Fairleigh Dickinson’s Teaneck, NJ campus. Later on, Grahm Junior College (Kenmore Square, Boston) asked me to be dean, which I was happy to accept. When the Vietnam war ended, I left Grahm and went to work for ADP, being very successful selling their payroll service. I became a retiree shortly after we reached NC, and became

actively involved in making wooden jigsaw puzzles, and also became an “on call” employee of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, as well as a singer in the Beaufort County Choral Society and my church choir (Louise Aiken, music teacher, would be pleased to know it). Somewhere along the line, I learned to sail, bought a 30-foot sailboat and sailed from Marblehead to the Azores and Africa. Dick Colten ’50, Ed Borges ’50, and I stay in contact with each other. I would be happy to hear from other classmates.

Linda Howard Zonana ’54 writes: My husband, Howard, and I are still chugging along, our lives not radically changed by our encroaching creakiness. I retired from my position as a clinical social worker two years ago, but Howard (a forensic psychiatrist) still likes to go off to work each day. We had a fabulous trip to Egypt last fall with Road Scholar, something I recommend. I’ve always longed to see the pyramids, which we did — and so much more — with an amazing boat trip up the Nile!

Mary Lemann Goldman ’54 writes: I was so happy to have a visit from Helen Drake Muirhead ’54 and her husband in Woods Hole in May 2018. We got together with Ursula Rowan ’54, Bruce Beal ’54, and Julie Swope Child ’52, who were also in Woods Hole for a fine

Helen Drake Muirhead ’54 writes: My bird paintings were part of an exhibit, “Birds Together,” alongside my great grandson Caleb JordanMcDaniels’ bird photographs February 23 – April 5, 2019, at the Corte Madera Library in Corte Madera, CA. It was a delight to have my work as part of this show.

Susan Homer ’57 writes: Still in the same spot since 1971, in Albuquerque, and still working on my house and property on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande and the city, to the Sandia Mountains.

My only child, a son in San Francisco, has an only child, a daughter, and I visit with them here and there several times a year. The four of us just ran in the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot in San Francisco. Reading Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry; I hope that Cambridge School students are too, and are learning the creation story they tell. Not a new story at all, at this point, but one that doesn’t seem to have entered the zeitgeist. We are depending on you, beautiful students.

CLASS NOTES • 29

Heather Reed and members of the Class of 1966.

1960s Karen Webber Mulhauser ’60 received the 2018 Perdita Huston Human Rights Award in December 2018. She is officially a Veteran Feminist of America. The award is presented to strong advocates of eliminating discrimination against women and girls around the world, and who have made significant contributions for greater gender equality through increasing economic opportunity and development, promoting human rights, and supporting peace and security. She is also a former UNA-NCA president and former UNA-USA national council chair, and currently serves on the DC Human Rights Commission. She was chosen because she greatly embodies the life and work of Perdita Huston, a lifelong advocate of human and women’s rights. “Perdita Huston was certainly not one to say, ’It can’t be done,’” Karen shares. “Perdita was a journalist, a women’s activist, and a human rights leader.”

Robert Wasserman ’60 writes: Avoiding retirement. Working in Liberia on policing issues for the Carter Center; coordinating a reform effort of police in Saudi Arabia; initiating a new policing model for Chicago; reforming how public housing security is done in Philadelphia.

John Darrin ’65 writes: I still lead a few group trips to various spots throughout the U.S., often featuring National Parks. Since retiring from teaching, I have had a small business catering to adventuresome seniors who are willing to travel with Curmudgeon & Friends. We have spent at least three days in every state except Mississippi, where we plan to visit in October. My one year at CSW helped me to readjust to the world of co-education and opened my eyes to a broader world view. I wish I had spent more years in the school’s nurturing yet challenging environment.

R. Laurence Davis ’65 writes: I retired from the University of New Haven at the end of August 2018 and have moved my base to Concord, NH. I continue to work at Camp Pemigewassett and in November, based on my work at Pemi, was presented with the New England Environmental Education Alliance’s award as its Outstanding Non-formal Environmental Educator. I continue to be very active and am still doing my research on the hydrology of San Salvador Island.

Marc Mitchell ’66 writes: I have moved to Berkeley after 30 years living in Weston. Retired from Harvard, but now on UC Berkeley faculty. Went skiing with Al Adams, former head of CSW. New grandparent of Arlo with another on the way. I also saw Robin Finnegan ’66 recently.

Heather Heath Reed ’66 writes: It is with profound sadness that I share with you that my beloved Bill died on February 7 after a sudden, brief illness. After our 30th reunion, Bill was dubbed an honorary member of the Class of 1966 and I thank you all for that.

He felt like one of us and loved reunions and the opportunity to talk with each of you and hear your stories, both past and present. Bill had a wide and wonderful smile and infectious laugh and was a kind, gentle soul who touched hearts. Thank you for welcoming him so completely.

Richard Shapiro ’66 writes: I retired in 2014 after 37 years of lawyering. Used to joke that my retirement schedule was: 1. Do nothing all week 2. Rest on the weekends. However, this winter I went skiing Wednesdays and Fridays (which ended as soon as winter ended). I am in a hiking group on Tuesdays and play duplicate bridge on Mondays and Thursdays. My wife, Kathy, and I recently visited Tony Barnston ’66 at his home in NJ. Virginia Giritlian ’69 writes: It has been wonderful reconnecting with friends from Cambridge School on Facebook. I love seeing the posts of my colleagues and feel honored to have them share their lives with me.

I am also still quite close to my friends from Cambridge School, Greg Fleeman ’68 and Ann Ogden Helpern ’70, whom

I see often. As for me, I am raising my two teenagers in Los Angeles as a single mom, one of whom, Connor, is a member of Screen Actors Guild, which offers extensive programs for young actors. I have recently launched a fortune cookie company named after him called “Connor’s Cookies of Fortune,” with messages of self-esteem for teens and tweens. We would love to have you visit us on the web at connorscookiesoffortune.com.

Roger Low ’69 writes: I have been in Florence, Italy since 1984, when I obtained the position of first cello in the Orchestra del Maggio Fiorentino under the direction of Zubin Mehta. Retired from the orchestra since 2010, I have taught cello at the University of New York here in Florence, as well as privately, and also have participated in numerous chamber music projects and recitals in Europe, the Orient and the States.

My wife, Elena, a native Florentine, and I have been together since 1985. We enjoy traveling whenever possible, and most recently have been to Thailand, Cambodia, and Cuba. A special salute to my classmates of 1969!

1970s Janet Austin ’70 writes: My small handwoven tapestry, “Another Forest Through the Trees,” was included in “Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water,” a traveling exhibition including 10 artists each from the U.S., U.K., and Australia. It was exhibited at Australia National University (Canberra), Australian Tapestry Workshop (Melbourne), Riversley Art Gallery, Nuneaton, U.K., The Guildhall, Much Wenlock, U.K., and finally, the Bob Owens Gallery at University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA, U.S. You can see an image on my blog at austintapestry.blogspot.com.

30 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

and will probably do more as the years go by. I remember the fostering atmosphere of CSW and my beautiful and incredibly talented classmates often. And the time I got to drive the dump truck.

Celeste Nossiter ’70

Celeste Nossiter ’70 writes: After 30 years in the college textbook industry I am retired and loving it.

I’m heavily involved in the local fiber arts community, teaching and designing knitwear. I also help organize fiber festivals and fun events. I live outside of Albuquerque with my animal family: three cats, three sheep, three goats, ducks and geese, and a Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dog. Life is good!

Anne Peterson ’70 writes: Aloha!

Never say never: Late last year, I married Lonnie T. King, MD, a retired AF pilot and Navy ENT surgeon. My dog Casey and I have moved to be with him on the western side of Hawaii Island.

I’m loving the new culture, new friends (human and canine), and the opportunities to build more skills in photography.

Sarah Perkins ’71 writes: This year I will be honored as the 2019 Master Metalsmith at the Metal Museum in Memphis, TN. A retrospective exhibition of my work will be on display starting on September 29, 2019. I’d love to see any CSW alums at the opening!

Jennifer Pinck ’73 was awarded the Legacy Winner at the ENR Regional Best Projects ceremony in Boston, December 2018. Her

company, Pinck and Co., also was recently acquired and is currently part of the Anser Advisory team that works with middle-market companies to unlock growth opportunities.

Janis Rosenberg ’73 writes: Heritage Education Resources, Inc. (HER) was founded and received its 501(c)(3) in 1997. Its mission is broad brush: to develop and provide resource materials and services to those interested in exploring heritage and cultural diversity. Since its founding, HER has conducted research in domestic violence, affordable housing, and archive creation. Out of this research, books have been published in 2007, 2018, and today.

In addition, out of HER I have submitted a manuscript at the invitation of Palgrave-MacMillan Press exploring the work of Quaker educator Rachel Davis DuBois who, between 1925 and 1950, created programs for school and community from folklore and her expertise as an educator. Like DuBois, HER is committed to social justice at all levels, and works with the public to achieve a cultural democracy.

Robert Valentine ’74 writes: I have lived in Israel working in high tech since 1991. I’m still playing guitar and doing artwork

Jeffrey Day ’75 writes: Logan Porter ’75, Franklin Davis ’75, and I reconnected for a couple days in Washington, DC. Totally enjoyed the great weather, cherry blossoms, and each other’s company. Two years ago, the three of us met for the first time in four decades in the Florida panhandle. Logan, a boardcertified family physician, lives and works there as a hospitalist.

Logan has four children, three 20-somethings and a soon-to-be adult. We plan to meet next in Boston. Franklin lives and works there as an IT problem solver for some of the biggest companies in the world. Franklin has two children in their 20s. After more than 40 years of reporting and editing — beginning with Logan on the Gryphon’s Eye — but most of it for Bloomberg BNA, I’ve retired to do a variety of volunteer things, including refereeing DC public school youth soccer games.

I have two 20-something kids and am enjoying life more than ever.

Frank Lawson ’76 writes: Greetings! I have such fond memories of my two years at CSW: two expedition courses in Canada led by Sharon and Mike Forney, rooming with Rob Sayre ’77 down in the New Boys dorm (Rob — what are you up to now?), friends made, and wonderful teachers that led me to the classroom myself. The journey to the classroom took a while: I first spent ten years as a chef in various parts of the country. While on vacation in Rome I heard a violinist playing and I was hooked, so I took up the violin and somehow (I was really pretty awful) got a violin scholarship to American University.

While at AU, I found time

somehow between cooking in Georgetown, being a full-time student, and playing on the school’s Ultimate team. I ended up getting hurt and discovered what athletic trainers did in regards to sports medicine. I spent the next three years volunteering in the training room.

After graduation, I picked up a graduate degree from the University of Virginia’s Sports Medicine program. I was never going to cut it as a violinist so I had plans all set to join the Washington Redskins Athletic Training staff, but while working in the training room at UVA a very beautiful nurse limped into the training room. I took care of her ankle and we fell in love and got married. Marian and I also loved Charlottesville, so we stayed and have raised two wonderful kids and three wonderful Godchildren. I have spent over thirty years in the classroom at a great high school. I teach dualenrollment pre-med classes. CSW has played a huge part in my success as a teacher. Teachers like Bob Smith taught me to think outside the box, be creative, and be innovative in project-based education. CSW was ahead of its time! Any alums/classmates — would love to hear from you!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me at flawson@k12albemarle.org.

Christine Hardy Emily ’78 writes: My husband and I moved to Arizona in July 2018. Enjoying hiking and traveling. Taking in the history of the west.

David Paradise ’79 writes: Just thought I would update my moving situation by saying I moved next door from 408 to 409. After ten years they moved me next door and gave me a new carpet because the person who lived here died! They had someone live here in between the time she died and the time I moved in. Still haven’t had a drink yet, it’s been over 30 years since I have been drunk!

CLASS NOTES • 31

1980s Sarah Jane Liberman Horton ’81 writes: To remedy the empty nest syndrome, I have started going to an open mic on Tuesday nights in Brooklyn at The Jalopy Theater, 315 Columbia Street (just north of Redhook). I’m there most weeks.

Would love to see other CSW folkies — come play!!! Sign up before 9 p.m. to get your name on the list. Show ends at midnight. Visit the theater for info at www.jalopytheatre.org.

Kimberly Bordley ’83 writes: I am a single parent with two children who I put through college by myself. I have kept in contact with several of my fellow alumni/ae over the years. I am currently in the process of purchasing my first home. And have recently got an upgrade in my current position at my job. I was a Practice Assistant II and now am a Senior Practice Assistant.

Harper Scott Della-Piana ’83 writes: Here’s some good news on a sad day: On the eighth anniversary of the sudden death of Billy Ruane ’76, the City of Cambridge approved the dedication of “Billy Ruane Square,” which will mark the corner of Brookline and Green streets where Sonia now sits at the space of the old T.T the Bear’s Place. The square named in Ruane’s honor is not too far from where his ashes rest at The Middle East Upstairs, and sits next to Mark Sandman Square on the corner of Mass. Ave. and Brookline Street, dedicated to the late Morphine frontman.

Peter Galvin ’83 writes: Greetings CSW Family! This year I am celebrating 20 years of love and adventure with my amazing partner, Cynthia Elkins. We live with our two adorable doggies just outside Shelter Cove, a small coastal town in Humboldt County, CA. I am also celebrating 30 years

working with the Center for Biological Diversity, an endangered species protection group I co-founded just six years after graduating from CSW (was I really that young?). I was sad to read that CSW Professor Thomas Lewis passed away a few years ago. He was my favorite CSW professor and changed my life with his campus printmaking shop and by bringing us to several anti-nuclear protests. R.I.P. Professor Lewis. A few years ago, we had a nice visit from Emily Snelling and her daughter, Jess.

Several years ago, I had a few nice visits in the DC area with Rob Garner ’83 and I’ve connected with a few classmates over Facebook. Looking forward to hearing from more folks from my era at CSW. I feel very lucky to have attended CSW! David Barker ’84 writes: In November, my wife Rocío and I welcomed our second child, Bruno, who joins his brother Gabriel in our home in Santiago, Chile. I have been working as a screenwriter and editor of films, most recently the Netflix documentary, The Edge of Democracy, about the rise and fall of popular democracy in Brazil, of which I was co-writer and editor. I am very sorry to learn of the death of classmate Julian Mills ’86, with whom I played in several bands including Drunk Tank (1988 – 1992).

George Saulnier ’84 writes: At the end of 2017, I bought a lovely house in Pittsburgh. In August of 2018, I quit my day job and spent three months in San Francisco working on a production of Uncle Vanya playing the title character.

It was very well received. I am back in Pittsburgh working at keeping this acting career going.

Christopher Roberts ’85 writes: After a lifetime spent in the northeast, we moved our family to Austin, Texas, four years ago so I could work at the University of

Texas. “We” means me, wife Alexis, and daughters Beatrix, Willa, and India. Beatrix is back north now, as a freshman at Wesleyan University (alma mater of both mom and dad). I was thrilled to spend a day with David Schafran ’86 last month, who was in Austin for work.

Chatted with Andras Jones ’86 not that long ago, and had coffee with Julia Bovey ’87 last time I was in New York. Always happy to connect with CSW folks, though there aren’t many here in Austin!

David Levavi ’89 writes: My wife, Ravit, and I are still living in Las Vegas, Nevada, where I’m a technical writer and she’s a financial analyst. I’m in my final semester at the University of South Dakota where I’m getting my master’s in public administration and public health.

I’m also applying to health science and management doctoral programs and I recently earned my Six Sigma Green Belt and ScrumMaster certifications.

Visit me online at dlv.co.il to see what I’ve been up to!

1990s Caitlin Patterson ’90 writes: I love the alumni/ae gatherings in San Francisco! I dared two guys I

met at the last one to write a class note, so here goes mine!

Just had a wonderful visit from Melanie Temin ’90 and her family here in Oakland, CA. And planning a future trip to Italy with Martha Proctor ’90. Italy will be a stopover for me on one of my twice-a-year trips to Istanbul, where I work with at-risk street animals. My nonprofit is KEDI Cat Rescue. We fund and facilitate International adoption projects for Istanbul’s cats and dogs in need while raising awareness of the distinct challenges they face.

Learn more on our Facebook page or our new website: kedifilm.com.

Constant Southworth ’90 writes: I recently completed my undergraduate degree concentrating in European history.

I’m considering continuing education to an advanced degree in world history.

Rachel Nussbaum Wichert ’91 writes: I accompanied my mom, Martha Nussbaum, at a gala event in December. The event celebrated my mother being awarded the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture for her work as a philosopher in the areas of sociology and human emotion.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Everyone is invited to submit news to the Alumni/ae Office.

Please email news and photos to alum@csw.org.

32 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

Guy Yanai ’95 writes: In 2017, I had a solo show, “Love of Beginnings” at Galerie Derouillon Paris in March 2017; a solo show, “Calm European” at Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam, in April 2017; a solo show, “Speak, America at Ameringer McEnery Yohe” in July 2017; and a solo show, “Barbarian in the Garden” at Praz Delavallade, Los Angeles, in November 2017. In 2018, I had a solo show, “Boy on an Island” at Galerie Conrads, Dusseldorf, in March 2018, and several group shows at Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles, La Montagne Gallery, Johannes Vogt Gallery, Galerie Derouillon, Flatland Gallery and at Miles McEnery Gallery. In 2019, I will have a solo show, “The Conformist,” at Praz-Delavallade, a solo show at Miles McEnery Gallery in September 2019, and several group shows at Galerie Conrads and at Flatland Gallery.

Katherine Heinle Perry ’97 writes: We are expecting our second child, due this summer!

Faculty member Agnes Voligny recently visited Peter MacquartMoulin ’98 in Bangkok! Peter writes: I have lived in Bangkok for the last three years. My wife and I have a nine-month old child. I have shared with Agnes my fond memories of CSW and how much I value my CSW experience. I currently run a startup with big plans to improve women’s reproductive health in Thailand.

My work ties in well with Agnes’s “Algebra 2” and “Global Health” curricula. I plan to visit the States, and hopefully CSW, within the next year.

2000s Rebecca Maciel Carter ’00 writes: I work for an adult education non-profit organization, helping local employers with large-scale hiring needs. Our organization targets our job training programs towards unemployed and underemployed individuals who can’t afford a traditional education.

I live in Vermont with my husband and my twin toddlers, who just turned two.

Lucy Bickerton ’04 with baby boy, Calvin.

Alexis Iammarino ’01 writes: I’m delighted to share news about a recent publication I completed as part of an ongoing curatorial project that runs here in Maine.

“Hole History” is the expanded show catalogue from a recent exhibition I curated called “Hole History Show: Origins of the American-style Donut.” This collection of art, performance, and writing responded to a claim that the hole in the donut was singularly invented by a 19thcentury sea captain from Rockport, Maine. The book is available at several regional Maine public libraries and Maine historical societies and is available for purchase online at Printed Matter, Inc. Keep your eye Upon the Donut, I say!

Charlie Litwin ’02 writes: I’ve moved down to Oaxaca’s Pacific coast, living the dream.

Welcomed our first baby boy in March.

Stefan Hildebrandt ’02 writes: I moved back to Germany in 2016 after finishing my Stanford MBA. Married to Caitlin Hildebrandt and expecting our second son in June of this year. Started a real estate development firm in 2016 and growing rapidly.

Peter Macquart-Moulin ’98 with Agnes Voligny.

Simcha Halpert-Hanson ’03 writes: I’m entering my third season farming and have just started work with Next Barn Over farm in Hadley, MA. It’s a gift to work with land in this capacity and the experience has generated — along with reading Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer — a deeper understanding for me of the ’more than human’ world and my relationship thus. This past year, I started a couple Jewish prayerrelated projects in Northampton, including a weekly chant-based prayer service called Avodat Lev (heart work) that meets at the local synagogue. I also cofounded an intersectional liberation-oriented minyan, called Nishmat Shoom (garlic eaters minyan). In the fall, I will be entering rabbinical school at Hebrew College in Newton, MA. Annie Bickerton ’04 writes: I started the new year feeling more like an Angeleno after passing the one-year mark here in LA. I spend much of my free time on local politics; I just ran (and lost) a race for delegate to the CA Democratic Party and do a lot of work to help progressive women get elected. I’m drawing and sewing again recently and am in love with my newest family member, Lucy Bickerton ’04’s baby boy, Calvin.

Margaret (Maggie) Hunter ’06 writes: I have completed two master’s degrees — one in clinical social work (licensed) with a concentration on immigration, and a second in immigration law.

I was immediately hired out of grad school by Heartland Alliance, the umbrella organization for immigrant services in Chicago.

I’m fluent in French and Spanish, so I’m able to work with clients using their native language, including preparation of documents to present in court for movement within the court system. My current assignment is with Victims of State-Sponsored Torture (police violence), and my clients are seeking asylum. It is tough work. I have also written articles for professional journals and presented at conferences.

Carra Cheslin ’07 writes: I recently moved from DC back to New England, splitting my time between Vermont and Maine.

Arielle Oseki Robbins ’07: This year is a big year for me! I got engaged and will be getting married on July 5, 2019 to an amazing man, Parker Singleton. I will also complete massage school and be a LMT before the end of the summer! I will add this skill to my healing arts practice, Flow State Healing, and use it to bring Thai Massage, an amazing

CLASS NOTES • 33

Miwa Robbins ’07 with fiance Parker Singleton.

healing art, to a greater audience.

I am excited to continue to grow my family and my healing arts practice and see where life takes me next.

2010s Emma Ward ’10 writes: I joined Rapaport/Baldasare Casting in June 2018, and have since worked as an Associate Casting Director on Legends of Tomorrow, Riverdale, Arrow, and Katy Keene. My IMDB page can be found under the name Emma Everitt Ward.

Lila Bhide ’12 writes: Beginning in 2019, I will be overseeing a new neighborhood wellness project as the Garden Coordinator at the Aquinas Center in Philadelphia. I have years of experience with farming, youth engagement, food justice, and cooking. I helped lead youth and farm programs with The Food Project in Boston and have worked locally with Urban Tree Connection and the University of Pennsylvania. I am excited to spearhead this project.

This greenhouse will allow us to extend our growing season, and increase the amount of food we can provide for the community.

We will be growing organic, local, culturally relevant foods and teens will be able to use things from the garden to create

added-value products that can be sold year-round under their Kasama Farmstand brand that does good by doing well. The creation of the Garden Coordinator position, and the pursuit of grant funding for this work, is an intentional effort to engage in the wider movement for food sovereignty. This effort will strengthen the Aquinas Center’s presence as a place where many cultures and traditions converge, building solidarity across something that unites us all: food!

Shari Quashie ’12 writes: Since graduating from CSW in 2012, I attended Howard University for two semesters, which was not a good fit for me. I transferred to Bard College and graduated with a BA in literature in 2016. I just completed my master’s in communication at Columbia University in the city of New York.

I just launched the first issue of Shuga n Spice magazine with a co-founder. Please support me by visiting the website at shuganspice.com.

Mei Swartz ’12 writes: I’m working at McLean Hospital with teenagers who are struggling with depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. I’m responsible for teaching a classroom of six patients emotion identification

Melanie Friesen ’67 and Katie Karaulova ’18

and coping skills as well as co-leading therapeutic groups.

May, and moved to Philadelphia to start working!

Joshua Zaleznik ’12 writes: After a season-long internship last season with the Miami Marlins, I was promoted to a full-time role as a graphic designer for the digital marketing department. I now am in charge of all visual media for web, social, and email marketing for the Marlins.

Lillian Wilcox ’18 writes: I am going to school in Tennessee and I love it! Come visit in Sewanee!

Emma Rochon ’15 writes: I just accepted a job as a cybersecurity architect with Comcast in Philadelphia, PA. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University Bloomington in

Ekaterina “Katie” Karaulova ’18 recently visited Melanie Friesen ’67 in Melanie’s hometown of Vancouver, Canada. This was the first in-person meeting of Katie and Melanie, who previously had exchanged virtual communications.

Katie and Melanie enjoyed sharing CSW stories and getting to know one another.

IN MEMORIAM Nancy Lindau Lewis ’45 Joan Braverman Pinck ’46 Phoebe Bridgman Scholl ’46 Joan Brockway Esch ’48 Rosamond Peterson Berg Basset ’50 Rachel Ingalls ’58 Vali Dagmar Kahn ’94 Dorothy LeMessurier P’72,’75,’78

34 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

ALUM SPOTLIGHT

Jenni Konner ’89 Jenni Konner ’89 is a writer, producer, and director, best known for her work on the HBO series Girls and Camping.

We caught up with Jenni to learn more about her career path and her experiences working as a woman in Hollywood.

Talk a little about your experience as a student at CSW. Can you speak to how your time here has impacted or shaped you in some way?

My time at CSW gave me a strong sense of independence. I had Warren Carberg as a writing teacher and he was a really warm, wonderful man. I didn’t know at that point that I wanted to be a writer, necessarily, but he was always really supportive and helped to make school a really positive experience for me.

Transport yourself back to high school.

If you had told yourself back then that you’d be doing what you’re doing now, what would your reaction have been?

I think I would have been relieved! My grades were not terrific… I honestly had no idea in high school what I wanted to do at all.

How did you get your start in the television industry?

After school, one of my first sort of “real” jobs was at Tribeca Productions, which is Robert De Niro’s company. I started as an assistant and moved up to creative executive, and I spent a lot of time taking writers out to lunch and drinks and giving notes on scripts. I’d ask them what their lives were like or how they got started, and I started to realize that this was maybe what I wanted to do. I quit my job in

development and became a waitress, because I realized there was no way I could write and keep doing what I was doing, because it sort of uses the same muscle.

That gave me more time to work on a script with a friend of mine. It didn’t sell, but it made enough of an impact to get an agent.

From there, I moved to Chicago where my husband was in grad school, and I flew back and forth to Los Angeles to write with my partner. Our first real job in writing was for Undeclared, Judd Apatow’s first show after Freaks and Geeks — a show we were obsessed with. That got us into television, and I fell in love with it. Judd runs a show in a very specific way, which is that he’s not very interested in what your level of experience is. It’s a meritocracy, and all of the writers get to be on the set for their episodes being filmed and during casting and editing. Because it was my first job, I didn’t know how rare that was.

How do you decide what kinds of projects you take on?

Honestly, I just go after projects I feel passionately about or artists I feel passionately about. I really enjoy pushing other people’s voices forward, as well as my own, so if I think someone has a really unique voice, I would love to be involved with getting them into a position where they can get produced and supervised.

ALUM SPOTLIGHT • 35

It’s no secret that Hollywood and the television and film industries have been dominated by men — particularly in important behind-the-scenes roles. And even when women are getting hired, the pay gaps have been substantial. Do you think this is changing?

You know it’s funny, I’ve heard from agents, and there are men who say “I can’t get involved right now, because I’m a white man.” And I would like to say that that is insane. I think it’s bullshit when people say that — when they think things have changed that much. The numbers reflect that we are moving incrementally towards a more equitable business, but incrementally. In my experience, there’s still a ways to go. I’ve heard that for a lot of older television shows that have been going on for a long time it’s still predominantly men in the director’s role.

You once shared that you think it’s important not to make a high-low distinction when it comes to feminism and feminist issues. Can you talk more about that?

Sometimes I feel that there is a lot of earnestness in feminism, and I truly understand that, because it’s serious

business. But that said, I think sometimes the way to get further along, or get a different audience, is to have a little bit of humor or playfulness. I mean even the women’s march had that. They had playful hats that everyone wore, and it was certainly social. I remember as I was driving in, I stopped at a rest stop bathroom, and there were ten people in line with pussy hats. So, there was obviously a playful side to it, but it was also very empowering at the same time.

What advice do you have for young women looking to make a difference and have their voices be heard?

One of the mistakes that people make is that they write something — a screenplay, a pilot — that they get so attached to, that they don’t keep writing. And I think the best thing you can do is write a script, write draft after draft after draft until you like it, and then write another one while people are reading it. And then write another one. Just keep on writing! I think there are two kinds of writers — I mean, not really — but there are two versions of writers. There’s those who work and those who don’t. And those who don’t aren’t really writers. You have to be able to sit down and do it. And not just

talk about it. I would also say to look for like-minded people. There are a lot of fantastic people — men and women — who want to help push women’s voices forward.

Last question: what are you reading, listening to and/or watching right now?

Pen15 is my favorite new show. The concept is that it’s two grown women playing middle school students, surrounded by actual 14-year-olds, and that is a funny joke in itself, but it’s so much more than that.

It’s truly about the intimacy of female friendship. And it’s also hilarious.

I’m reading The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker and I really like it. I also loved My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It’s a literary thriller, it’s really great.

I love true crime podcasts. I really like listening to “My Favorite Murder,” which is weirdly like a comedy podcast, but it’s about murder. It’s two comedians telling each other the stories of murders and surprising each other with the stories of true crime. And it’s not making fun of true crime in any way — they take it seriously — but they’re very funny.

The Jane Moulding Fund for Leadership in Progressive Education The Jane Moulding Fund for Leadership in Progressive Education (Jane’s Fund) was created to celebrate Jane’s wise and caring leadership of CSW. The Fund will honor Jane’s extraordinary commitment to our unique mission and her ability to innovate around it. It will also ensure that future leaders of the school have the resources necessary to execute and expand upon the important work accomplished under Jane’s steady hand.

“I want the world to know who we are and how we equip students to solve problems, live creatively, and lead intelligently. I hope we can continue to be a place where new ideas are played with, where diversity of thinking and being can be respected and harnessed.”

— Head of School Jane Moulding

FUND PRIORITIES: Supporting and Expanding Progressive Leadership The Fund supports activities and programs that both reinforce CSW’s position as a leader in progressive education and enhance the school’s ability to deliver a transformative educational experience.

Access and Financial Aid In an effort to make CSW accessible to students across a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, Jane’s Fund will support initiatives, scholarships, recruitment strategies, and professional training that help to build and maintain a diverse and equitable community at CSW.

Curriculum and Program Development As the world around us rapidly changes, it is crucial that CSW adapt and evolve its curriculum to instill our students with the skills they need to thrive in an increasingly complex world.

Gifts to Jane’s Fund will provide faculty and staff with the training, tools, and resources necessary to spark innovation and creative curriculum design, allowing the school to stand out and exemplify progressive leadership in a compelling way.

Income from the fund will make an immediate impact on the school and help the school grow its endowment. Funds will be split: 40% to support funding priorities in CSW’s annual operating budget over the following four years, and 60% to the CSW endowment.

Data and Technology Infrastructure It’s no secret that technology moves fast. In order to not only keep up, but stay ahead of emerging trends, it is crucial that the school cultivate a robust but flexible technological infrastructure that allows administrators to make informed, strategic decisions and fosters efficient, productive workflows.

Since The Fund’s official launch on May 4, over 100 alumni/ae, parents, and friends have made gifts ranging from $25 to $1,000,000, raising over $1.6 million to date. We invite you to join them and make a gift to support CSW’s leadership in progressive education.

Physical Plant Efforts towards physical growth and expansion are futile without a habitual routine of maintenance and care. An investment in Jane’s Fund helps the school fulfill its commitment to maintain a green and sustainable campus with vibrant learning spaces that enhance the student experience.

www.csw.org/jane-fund

MY FIVE • 37

MY FIVE

By Ben Duffy-Howard ’19

1

2

3 4 5

ANNE REARICK VISUAL ARTS

LOUIS HUTCHINS ENGLISH

DESCRIBE A MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM YOUR TIME AT CSW:

I was watching a CSW soccer game one day, when I realized I needed my coat.

I took a shortcut through this woodsy area and got both my legs and feet completely stuck in the mud! I slowly extricated myself and arrived at the Art Building like a giant mud beast! I was totally covered.

Before I actually started teaching here, I attended a Discussion Assembly because I was curious about what it was. I was blown away by how many teachers and students got up before the entire school and shared their thoughts in an open and honest way.

Karaoke at assembly.

CSW felt like such a community while we were all singing together. The best part of course was when our head of school sang Dancing Queen, and it’s become a tradition every year since. Her last performance was last week. We’ll miss you, Jane!

My sophomore year, llluminarium was held inside due to rain. As is tradition, the light parade came at the end of the night. Due to the weather, there were only two bike-riders in the parade.

For whatever reason, the audience and I began to clap excitedly for them.

There we were, out at night in the rain, clapping for what might have been half an hour.

WHAT DECADE HAS THE BEST MUSIC?

The 80s had the best music.

The 60s had the best music because there was just so much going on musically at that time.

It’s a tie between the 60s and the 90s.

The 2010s, also known as ‘now.’ In a sense, it ‘has’ almost all of the music one could have listened to in all the previous decades, thanks to a wonderful innovation known as the ‘Inter-net.’ In what other decade could you hear former child actor Corey Feldman performing over a dubstep instrumental with Snoop Dogg, then listen to Mongolian throat singing, all while only giving a fraction of a cent to the artists?

I love both dogs and cats but I only have cats at home.

I definitely like dogs more than cats.

Both! (But dogs)

I’d have to say cats. They make much more of an effort not to step on things, which I can appreciate as someone who relies on the ground as storage space.

Also, they don’t bark at me.

IF YOU COULD LEARN ONE MORE LANGUAGE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

I’d learn Basque.

It would be Russian because I would love to read in Russian.

American Sign Language

Having studied Spanish and had the opportunity to study abroad, it has occurred to me that the Spanish language lives largely in particularly warm countries. As someone with an appreciation for more frigid climates, I suppose learning Russian would be the logical choice.

WHAT FAST FOOD RESTAURANT HAS THE TASTIEST FRIES?

Don’t eat at fast food restaurants, sorry.

I don’t eat fast food.

McDonalds is classic.

Ultimately, I think there are several worthy contenders as far as quality goes, so I will instead make the deciding factor on this one quantity, in which case Five Guys is the clear winner.

DOGS OR CATS?

HANNAH WINTHROP ’19

TOMMY SHENEFIELD ’19

38 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

GRADUATION 2019

THE

weather was pleasant and sunny and the mood joyful and proud as students, faculty, staff, alumni/ae, family, and friends came together under the tent to celebrate as a community on June 7 for the 133rd commencement exercises at The Cambridge School of Weston.

This year also marked the final graduation for Head of School Jane Moulding, who drew on the words of poet Andrienne Rich and her 1978-1981 collection titled A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far, to open her remarks. She went on to reference poets Arundhati Roy and Juan Ramón Jiménez, and, in typical Jane fashion, made sure to quote two of her favorite films: My Cousin Vinny and Moonstruck.

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40 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

“How many times have members of this class made us sit up and listen during their tenure here at CSW?” Jane asked as she expressed her great hope for and belief in this upcoming generation of scholars.

“What a privilege for us all to stand, on the brink of hope, believing in the power of youth to lead us forward, and, whenever we can, give way to your energy, focus, and ‘wild patience.’”

The Class of 2019 elected math teacher and department chair Marvin Gutierrez and English teacher Samantha Simpson to offer commencement addresses this year. Marvin began by comically expressing his shock at being selected, asking, “Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to keep my comments to myself?

Especially here at CSW? And now you all have somehow managed to put me in a situation where I have the mic? And you did this on

your special day?” His final advice to students was as follows: “1. Give yourself time to gain political and economic capital. Establish yourself and then act as needed; 2. Not all tears have equal value; 3. Learn to live with contradictions; and 4. You will be judged on how well you can hold a door.”

In her address, Samantha spoke to the power of the “multiverse,” or the idea that “every time you make a choice, any choice, you create a universe in which you made the other choice,” citing examples from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Jorge Luis Borges’s “The Garden of Forking Paths,” and, of course, the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. “You can choose and revel in the fact that you have the power to create new universes and to imagine them,” Samantha shared.

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The first student speaker was Malik Gomes Cruz ’19. In his remarks, Malik shared a personal and heartfelt thank you note to the CSW community, calling out those who had an especially meaningful impact on him. “I have learned an immense amount from each member of this community, and without them, I wouldn’t be the person I am today,” he shared. “CSW has taught me to be multifaceted, open-minded, curious, and a critical thinker by questioning the world around me and accepting failure by using it as motivation.”

The final speaker of the day was Tommy Shenefield ’19, who spoke to the effects of change on the individual and on the community. “If you view change as a series of massive, horribly important events — graduations, marriages, funerals — then the very idea of change can seem unbearable,” he said. “But changes are much more than these events that you receive fancy invitations in the mail for. You change

every time you learn something new, every time you dye your hair a different color, every time you make a new friend, every time you sneeze. I suppose that the learning and friend-making has a greater impact than the sneezing, but still — everything we do changes us, even if it is in a minuscule way.”

Later, science teacher Marilyn DelDonno and facilities staff member Jim Cook read names, as Jane Reynolds (English/ Residential Life), Tom Evans P’06,’10 (Visual Arts), Ryan Jacobs (History), Nailah Randall-Bellinger (Dance), Ben Ibbetson (Languages), Jermaine Thibodeaux (History), LeeAnn Brash (Mathematics), Patrick Foley (History), Taposhi Biswas (Science), and Todd Bartel P’14,’19 (Visual Arts) handed out diplomas.

Congratulations to the Class of 2019! We are so proud of you.

42 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2019

REUNION!

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Thank you to everyone who was able to join us at CSW Reunion 2019!

This year’s highlights included a Thompson Gallery Exhibition and talk featuring Jennifer Langhammer ’89 and Richard Nocera ’92, a questionand-answer session with current CSW students, and “Postcards from CSW,” a learning journey made possible by the Alorie Parkhill Learning and Travel Fund for Teachers.

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Who’s Who 1.

Anjali Bhatia, Caroline Friedland ’13, and Emma Scrimshaw-Hall ’13

2. Roland Gibson and Jane Moulding 3. Judy Rosenkrantz ’69, Stephen Ervin ’69, Melanie Friesen ’67, and Miranda Haydn ’69 4. Stephanie Emmet ’10, Kayla Kleinman ’10, Haley Grove ’09, and Leah Shorser Gentile ’10 5. Jana Kaplan ’74 and Madeleine Perlman ’89 6. Bob Loss ’69 P’97 7. Jane Moulding, Judy Rosenkrantz ’69, and Rick Brotman ’69 8. Anna Whitney ’21, Rayne Moss ’21, and Roland Gibson 9. Alison Safford, Elizabeth Gaines ’69, Nicolas Finck, and Jacob Sagrans ’05 10. Jane Moulding, Judy Rosenkrantz ’69, and Robert Vickers ’71 11. Earl Darlington ’72, David Fax ’72, Aubrey Langford ’72, and Roland Gibson 12. Miranda Haydn ’69 and Melanie Friesen ’67 13. Anna Whitney ’21 and Theo Smith ’19 with alumni/ae 14. Pierce Nichols ’94, Grethe Thilly ’94, Nancy McKinney ’93, and Jamal Davis ’94 15. Judy Rosenkrantz ’69, Arthur Berndt ’68, and Miranda Haydn ’69 15

LEARNING WITH REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS

A gift to Partners in Progress provides opportunities for students to engage in hands-on, experiential learning.

Imagine your most rewarding learning experience. Chances are, you weren’t sitting behind a desk. At CSW, we believe students learn the most through the work they do themselves, and that they remember best what they have discovered for themselves. Learning here is active and experiential, with realworld applications. Students regularly engage with course content through lively debate, hands-on experiences, labs, studios, rehearsals, service-based learning, and fieldwork. They tackle questions that matter, using strategies that will remain with them throughout their lives.

Each gift to Partners in Progress, CSW’s annual fund, helps allow students and faculty to get up, get out, and explore beyond the classroom, creating meaningful opportunities for lessons and experiences that would not be possible without your generous support. We hope that you will join other CSW community members in supporting Partners in Progress today, and help to make this unique, eye-opening education available to each and every one of our students.

BECOME A PARTNER IN PROGRESS TODAY

Visit www.csw.org/support to learn more about the many ways you can contribute.

“At CSW, you get to take on the professional role of someone who would be analyzing the topics, whether it be a director of a short film, a Supreme Court lawyer, or an ancient Macedonian historian. In U.S. Constitution, we got to develop our own cases for a real-life issue that was being argued in the Supreme Court at the time (Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission), and on the final day we presented in front of a court of justices comprised of CSW students and adults — including Jane Moulding!”

It's Capst — JOSH ’19

WHAT’S THE NEXT ADVENTURE?

American University (2)

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45 Georgian Road Weston, Massachusetts 02493

HELP US GO GREEN! In an effort to reduce our eco-footprint, we’ll now be sending only one Gryphon per mailing address.

If you would like to receive separate copies, please contact us at alum@csw.org.

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Artwork created by the Mod 6 “Installation Art” class, conceptualized by Roma Bartel ’19