B rooklyn Friends School has signed a long-term lease to move the Upper

School to One MetroTech Center, more than doubling the size of the current facility and adding to MetroTech’s vibrant academic campus.

“The new Upper School building, a complete, building-within-a-building that is a three minute walk from our Pearl Street school, represents a dramatic step forward for our Upper School that has been many years in the making,” said Head of School, Larry Weiss. Proximity to our Pearl Street building and having the requisite square footage for our program were key factors in choosing the MetroTech location, Dr. Weiss explained.

“The bonus comes with being an integral part of a thriving academic campus represented in MetroTech, the benefits that will accrue to our students and fac-ulty as a result of this proximity,” he said, “and likewise the sig-nificant contributions Brooklyn Friends School will continue to make in strengthening the down-town Brooklyn community.”

For the last nine years, Upper

The Next Chapter in BFS History

New Upper School Facility To Open in MetroTech, September 2015

School students have been taking classes at 55 Willoughby Street – 17,000 square feet – and using Pearl Street facilities, such as sci-ence labs, visual and performing arts studios, and the cafeteria. Moving to the new space at 116 Lawrence Street at MetroTech Center allows all of the facilities to be housed in one building.

Designed by FXFOWLE

approximately 240 students in grades 9-12.

Brooklyn Friends School has strategically planned to increase its enrollment, adding one new class starting in preschool every year since 2008. The school is now in Year 6 of this plan. As the earlier grades expand to three sections per grade, it has become imperative to utilize every avail-able space in the 77,000 square foot Pearl Street building for Preschool, Lower School, and Middle School programs.

Occupied by BFS since 1972, the Pearl Street building has undergone extensive renovations over the past seven summers, with considerable improvements made on each of the building’s seven floors and the open-air rooftop playground. There are now 775 students from preschool through high school at BFS, and another 90 students are part of our program through Horizons at Brooklyn Friends School, a summer and afterschool enrich-ment program for area public school children.

In addition, the school leased and built out 6,000 square feet of space on the ground floor of a residential condominium at 189 Schermerhorn Street in the summer of 2011 for a stand-alone Family Center at Brooklyn Friends for two year-olds. More than 50 children are enrolled in the center every year, far exceed-ing expectations for the program.

– Joan Martin

➜ LEARN MORE ABOUT Brooklyn Friends School’s strategic expansion over the past eight years and view photos of the new and renovated facilities at brooklynfriends.org/facilities

architects – industry leaders in school design – the three-story, 40,000 square foot facility will have approximately 15 class-rooms and seminar rooms and include four science labs, three art studios, a black box theater, dance and music studios, and physical fitness space. It will open to students in September 2015 and will accommodate

Head of School Larry Weiss (sitting center) signing the lease for the new Upper School facility, with (clockwise from left of Larry) BFS CFO David Kleiser, BFS Upper School Head Bob Bowman, and the new facility architects, Tim Macy and Sylvia Smith of FXFOWLE.

BROOKLYN FRIENDS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

VOL. 10, NO. 1 WINTER 2014

desirability and feasibility of relocating the Family Center, Preschool, and Lower School to a new site look very different in 2013. After three years of unsuc-cessful searching for an early childhood/Lower School site, the Board agreed to change the expansion facilities program to a search for a permanent home for the Upper School. It took just over 18 months after that deci-sion to locate and sign a lease for the build-out and long-term rental of a 40,000 square-foot Upper School facility on the MetroTech campus three blocks from Pearl Street.

Finally, the Visiting Commit-tee Report did identify chal-lenges that faced BFS in 2009 and that we still need to work through. Specifically, the report refers to the need for BFS to “retain a sense of oneness in two [now three] separate, self-con-tained buildings” and “preserv-ing a sense of community in a school that will potentially become a third larger” [and has actually already become more than 27% larger].

These, and many other areas for future improvement, will be explored further in the 2014 Self-Study document currently in preparation.

In friendship,

Message from Head of School Dr. Larry Weiss

NYSAIS is the accrediting body of BFS, and every five years a team made up of faculty and administrators from BFS’ peer schools (usually other member schools from NYSAIS) visit our school after having carefully reviewed a detailed Self-Study document that BFS faculty and administrators have prepared over the prior 6-9 months.

The Self-Study examines every aspect of school operations at BFS, including not only our academic program but also the school’s financial condition, facilities, future plans, gover-nance structure, faculty and staff qualifications and evalua-tions, health and safety proce-dures, and relationships with parents, alumni, and other constituencies.

In each of these subject areas, our Self-Study details the school’s actual policies, proce-dures, and accomplishments with an emphasis on describing BFS’ areas of strength and areas requiring ongoing improvement.

The Visiting Committee’s primary job is to evaluate, in a written report, the accuracy of the self-study’s factual presenta-tion and analysis of strengths and needed improvements.

Re-accreditation confirms that a school is actually per-forming in a manner consistent with its statements to constitu-ents and the general public about how it performs. In other words, the faculty, administration, and staff of a school demonstrate that the school knows itself and presents itself honestly and openly.

The NYSAIS accreditation process requires that a Self-Study and peer Visiting Team

report every five years. The de-cennial visit, which occurs every tenth year, is the more compre-hensive evaluation of the two, with a larger visiting team and a more detailed set of require-ments for the Self-Study. Our 2014 visit will be carried out by a decennial visiting committee.

To establish a context for the substance of our upcoming visit, and the progress that BFS has made over the past five years, we can look at three key points in our most recent NYSAIS Visit-ing Report of April 2009.

This report, which was gener-ally positive, noted the projected

enrollment growth of approxi-mately 35% over the next 10 years (from 634 in 2008 to 858 in 2018) “seemed very ambitious.”

Looking back to 2009, such a comment was warranted given economic conditions at the time. However, the fact that BFS opened the current 2013-14 aca-demic year with an enrollment of 822—an increase of 27.4% over 2009—provides clear mate-rial evidence that our progress towards achieving the ambitious goals of our Strategic Plan are well ahead of schedule.

The 2009 Report paid sub-stantial attention to the IB Program, which was in its earli-est period of implementation. The Visiting Committee noted significant progress reconcil-ing “the competitive nature that may accompany high academic expectations and Quaker val-ues” with the observation that “greater clarity and consensus had been achieved as a result of the introduction of the IB program.”

In 2013, as we welcome by far the largest class of 11th grade IB diploma candidates, 34 out of 57 11th graders, the IB program is well-established and growing in the quantity and quality of its course offerings.

With regard to the 2007 physical plant expansion plan that was just getting underway, the 2009 Visiting Committee noted that the Business Office had provided them with an 11-year Strategic Financial Plan that showed BFS developing sufficient resources to purchase a new building to house the early childhood program and Lower School.

As we now know, both the

2 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter WINTER 2014

Re-accreditation

confirms that a school

is actually performing

in a manner consistent

with its statements to

constituents and the

general public about

how it performs.

A n especially important event that will take place during the

2013-2014 academic year is the April 6-9, 2014 NYSAIS

(New York State Association of Independent Schools) Decennial

Visiting Committee’s evaluation of Brooklyn Friends School.

WINTER 2014 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter 3

Top photo and above: The BFS forensics class had a guest visitor from the NYC Police Department and were able to “suit up” and experiment with criminal forensics techniques.

Forensic Science at BFS

D ead Men Tell No Tales. Says Who? Ask the seniors in the Upper School’s Forensics: Chemistry and Crime class and they will tell you the dead are blabbermouths once you learn how to listen.

“Why does a dead body get big?” the teacher asked. The question kicked off a screening of a gruesome 60-second time lapse video showing a dead, decomposing, bloating, greenish pig.

“Gas buildup,” called out one student.“Yes, what kind of gas?” asked their sci-

ence teacher (and Upper School Head) Bob Bowman.

“Carbon monoxide.”“Yes.”“That is nasty,” complained one student

about the video.“You chose death!” Bob reminded the 12th

graders for the umpteenth time with mock exasperation.

Indeed these Upper Schoolers had chosen death, or more accurately the new science elective Forensics: Chemistry and Crime co-taught by Bob and Upper School Science teacher Lyubov Obertnaya.

Bob, who holds a PhD in Physical Chem-istry from Columbia University and was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Kansas and Colgate University, continued with the squeamish student. “Why did you sign up for this class?”

“Because there isn’t any math involved.”He and Lyubov, who was sitting among

the students that day, chuckled. “You’re wrong,” said Bob.

Lyubov got the student back on track. “What month was it when the pig died?”“And why do we care?” Bob added. “How

accurately after two weeks can we go back and determine when the animal died?”

This class session, a followup to the previ-ous week’s visit from a detective from the NYPD forensics unit, focused on determining time of death. Clues to look for:

Bugs. “Anyone remember the fancy word for that?” asked Bob.

“Insects?” asked a student.Bob couldn’t help but laugh. “No, ento-

mology. Anybody watch Bones?”Heads nodded. “Best show ever,” added

Lyubov.The list of factors helpful in determining

cause of death continued. Bloating, decaying, shrinking, bubbling.

Next they try out their newfound decay-ing pig knowledge on a human, collaborating to solve a problem on a worksheet. Plot the following temperature measurements [in Cel-sius] taken at 30 minute intervals on a murder victim. Using your graph, estimate the time of death.

“What keeps you warm?” Bob asked the

class. “Being alive. Use Google for good in-stead of evil for once and convert 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius,” Laptop keyboards started clicking.

After they were done Googling they opened up their spreadsheet software to input data and create charts, extrapolating backwards to find the time when the murder victim’s body temperature would have likely been 37 degrees Celsius.

The worksheet problems only got tougher, mimicking real life forensic science obstacles. What if the body was found in the month of August in Tasmania, or was found near an electric heater that is still operating?

The takeaway was clear. Death is more complicated than we think, and that’s exclud-ing the emotional factors.

“How do you know when someone’s dead?” asked Bob.

“No pulse,” said one student with certainty.“Not necessarily. The truth is, the defini-

tion of death has changed throughout history. In the 17th century anyone in a coma or with a weak heartbeat was considered to be dead. Scientists still can’t agree. Is it the end of blood circulation? The end of brain activity?”

Time was up and students began pack-ing up. Earlier in the class, in response to a student comment, Bob had described a kids’ TV show from the early 1970s named HR Pufnstuf. He called up the show’s sing-songy opening credits, replacing the decaying pig video on the large classroom screen. Standing before it with intended irony, he pinpointed the lesson for the day. “Death is a process, not a single event.”

– Jeffrey Stanley

ALUMNI/AE CLASS NOTESby Lekeia Varlack ’99

Would you like to be listed in the next edition of Class Notes?We would love to hear from you! Feel free to call, write or stop by the alumni office. How are you doing in school? What accomplish-ments have you achieved? Where are you working? Have you gotten married? Any children? What is new in your life? We can be reached at 718-852-1029, ext. 208, lvarlack@brooklynfriends.org, Brooklyn Friends School, 375 Pearl Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201

1990s Dr. Yolanda Pierce ’90

contributed the article “Why God Is a Mother Too” to Time magazine’s Mother’s Day issue. Yolanda is the professor of African American Religion and Literature at Princeton Theologi-cal Seminary. She is also the author of Hell without Fires: Slavery, Christianity and the African American Spiritual Narrative. In between mentor-ing, community activism and research, she is also working on another book. Wishing you continued success, Yolanda!

Congratulations to Karim Lopez ’95 for successfully fundraising for The Last Days of Hustling, a film he wrote and directed. Karim, an accom-plished filmmaker, has produced, written and/or directed over twenty short films. His works have been featured at several film festivals, including a 2012 premiere at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival’s Spotlight Series, for the documentary, Let Fury Have the Hour. His films have also been broadcasted on BBC, A&E and the Documentary Channel, just to name a few. Keep up the great work Karim, we’ll be watching!

Let’s wish Hannah Janal ’99 good luck as she relocates from NYC to Los Angeles for a development internship at the distinguished production company Parkes/ MacDonald in Santa Monica. She is currently pursuing her MFA from Colum-bia University while working on

4 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter WINTER 2014

green entrepreneurial ventures such as consulting for the eco-friendly surfboard startup Greensurf.

2000s Art lovers rejoice! Dana James

’04 recently opened Elgin Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. The gallery showcases artwork from budding to mid-career artists with a focus on representational imagery. Elgin is currently seeking BFS alumni with an interest in art, PR, or writing to intern at the gallery. elgingallery.com

Nick Powell ’05, a journalist for City and State, was featured on NY1’s Reporters Roundtable debating issues about the recent NYC primaries. BFS parent and The Road To City Hall host, Errol Louis, moderated the discussion. Nick, an accom-plished journalist, has also written for several publications including The Philadelphia Gazette, The Greenpoint Gazette and The New York Times.

Look out for written works by Willa Rubin ’12. She is currently attending Oberlin College to pursue her interests in writing, history, the arts, and technology, while contributing to the Oberlin Review. http://oberlinreview.org/author/330/. Willa is also writing editorials for Women You Should Know including a piece entitled “What I Learned from “Girls” a reflective commentary about the hit HBO TV show. http://www.womenyoushouldknow.net/author/willarubin/

1960s

Next time you’re browsing the web, check out Steve Bromberg’s ’68 wokeupthismorning.net where he often mentions influ-ential BFS teachers while writing his thoughts on “baseball, blues and what’s in the news….”

1970s Author Ed Weiss ’76 recently

shared his book Peter Pigeon of Snug Harbor with the BFS library. Recipient of the 2006 COAHSI Literary Award, his book is described as a classic story about “growing up - the hardships, the triumphs and the amazing people you’ll meet along the way.”

BFS celebrates Ken Adams ’78 President & CEO of Empire State Development for being awarded The Human Spirit Award on June 4, 2013 by Brooklyn Community Services. Congratulations Ken!

Dane Paige ’79 is CEO and founder of USA Ballers in Tampa, Florida. USA Ballers is

Dana James ’05 Ed Weiss ’76 with a poster of his bookKarim Lopez ’95 Glynis Cooney ’85

considered one of the premier youth basketball programs in the Tampa Bay area and was ranked 6th in the state of Florida and 8th in the nation under USSSA Youth Basketball.

1980s You may catch Academy

Award winning actor/ director/ producer Fisher Stevens ’81 on your favorite TV show or even the big screen. A professional in front of or behind the camera, Fisher most recently directed the comedy/ drama movie Stand Up Guys featuring Hollywood heavy hitters Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin released early 2013. Congrats & keep up the great work, we’ll be watching!

The reviews have been great for Daughter of Camelot written by Glynis Cooney ’85. The novel has been described as “ a fast paced adventure…. filled with terrific suspense” by the Good Reads website. Congratu-lations Glynis!

WINTER 2014 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter 5

➜ CLASS AGENTS NEEDED Would you like to be a class agent? Reconnect with your class, assist in planning alumni activities, be the voice for your class, inspire alumni to participate in BFS happenings. Contact Lekeia Varlack ’99, Director of Alumni at 718-852-1029 ext. 208 or lvarlack@brooklynfriends.org for more information or to sign up.

JANUARY 8, 2014Young Alums Day11am, starting at Pearl Street for lunch and moving to Willoughby Street for an informal get-together with BFS students and teachers.

APRIL 29, 2014BFS Spring Gala at Brooklyn Bowl

JUNE 7, 2014BFS Alumni Day at Pearl Street

Upcoming Alum Events

I t was a busy November weekend for Brooklyn Friends as Head of School

Larry Weiss, Director of De-velopment Karen Edelman and Director of Alumni Lekeia Varlack ’99, visited Maryland and Washington, DC for two events. On a beautiful fall Satur-day, former students and faculty joined us for a lovely luncheon at Brookeville Farms Inn in Olney, Maryland to celebrate the legacy of a Brooklyn Friends treasure, Alberta Magzanian. Ms. Mag-zanian, as her students call her even to this day, held various positions during her tenure at Brooklyn Friends (1961-1981) including History Teacher and Head of Upper School. Though her role changed, one thing’s for sure, her impact on her students was undeniable as her former students and faculty celebrated her with fond memories, anecdotes and stories of inspira-tion. Students and staff traveled from near and far to attend this commemorative event. Those

Celebrating a Brooklyn Friends Treasure

ALBERTA MAGZANIANwho could not attend, submit-ted heartfelt messages that were compiled and presented to Ms. Magzanian. Alberta, who was in attendance, was delighted by the outpouring of love and respect by her former students and col-leagues. After a brief speech by Alberta, it was clear to see her dynamic spirit and passion that captivated her students decades ago, was still present on that day.

The well worn textbook from history class, circa 1967

Support BFSPlease remember the Brooklyn Friends Fund in your charitable giving plans. To learn more about giving at Brooklyn Friends, visit brooklynfriends.org/donate

Congratulations to Jacob (Jake) Buhler ’12 - Jake made the Dean’s List at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Keep up the good work!

This news will come as little surprise to those at BFS who know him – Abraham Axler ’13 was recently elected President of the University of Virginia Class of 2017! Hooray for Abraham!

In MemoriamMary C. Zaehringer ’43Anthony F. Donegan ’45Jennifer Oliver ’47Ron Scheman ’49Judith Glass Kase ’51Charles Aquavella ’52Jay Romm ’56Deborah Reich ’78Katie Fredricks Bohan ’86Temah Mollison ’87Ilse Henry - Former Faculty Gil Zalman - Former Faculty

After Saturday’s lunch for Ms. Magzanian, a smaller group of alumni, faculty and current BFS grandparents enjoyed brunch at the popular restaurant, Old Ebbitt Grill, in

Washington, DC. Though the previous day we were acknowledg-ing the influences of the past, this time the talk was centered around the exciting developments in Brooklyn Friends’ future. We discussed the upcoming annual events, such as the Holiday Sing and Grandparents Day as well as the vision for the newly acquired Upper School facility. Our guests shared their memories, experiences and suggestions for Brooklyn Friends. We ended the brunch with a delicious dessert and a renewed appreciation for the input and dedication of the extended BFS community. A great time was had by all! – Lekeia Varlack ’99

If you would like BFS to visit, or you are willing to host an alumni event in your city, email lvarlack@brooklynfriends.org.

Alberta with Sandra Cohen ’69, Joshua Farber ’69 and Betty Chang ’69

Sharing the School’s Future

Among the guests at the BFS brunch in DC were (from left) grandparents Judy Smore and Joan Bauerlein, faculty alumnus Don Knies, and Bill Bielefeld ’97.

B FS teachers Marna Her-rity and Kevin Cooney joined forces and spent

two and half weeks this sum-mer visiting and teaching at the Kisangura Schools in northeast Tanzania. The schools are in Mugumu, which sits alongside the Serengeti National Park. Roughly 1,100 students attend the primary and secondary schools there, and they come from a wide area throughout the region, some biking or walking as much as five miles to attend.

Marna first visited the Ki-sangura schools in 2006 and has spearheaded connections between BFS and Kisangura ever since. She visited again in the summer of 2010, and shortly afterwards formed a middle school faculty committee to explore ways to develop the relationship. Science teacher Kevin Cooney joined the committee because, he says, “I am interested in building ties for our students in schools around the world.” Kevin suggested undertaking a summer trip to the schools. With support from Head of School Larry Weiss and BFS professional development funds, the two were on their way.

Once on the ground, the BFS teachers met with Kisangura School administrators, Kisan-gura village leaders, and two nonprofits working in the area. Because their visit coincided with school being in session, the

pictures of animals near their home, the 6th graders depicted a typical dinner, the 7th grade topic was “this is my family,” and the 8th graders drew scenes around the subject, “how I get to school.” The artwork from both schools was displayed at BFS, and students created a question-naire for visitors to complete after viewing the works. Marna

6 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter WINTER 2014

BFS teachers did what they do best: teach. They taught math, science, and civics lessons, led outdoor group games, and observed many classes. “The students were so curious about life in America, what subjects are required at BFS, what kind of music our students enjoy, what sports they play,” recalled Marna. “They were eager to prac-tice speaking English and teach us phrases in Swahili – they were absolutely delightful.”

After the summer experi-ence, Marna and Kevin are more committed than ever to deep-ening our commitment to the Kisangura schools. Marna spoke frankly about their vision. “Our goal is to continue a two-way cultural understanding and for this to broaden into an all-BFS community effort.” she said. “For example, last year BFS Middle Schoolers and their Kisangura peers exchanged drawings with each other depicting parts of their lives. The 5th grade drew

is now working to facilitate a program for our Preschool students to connect with Kisan-gura’s youngest children.

Before their trip this sum-mer, Kevin got approval to take three of the science department’s unused microscopes and two unused netbooks to donate to the Tanzanian students. Direc-tor of Technology Greg George is

Strengthening the Connection between Brooklyn Friends and Kisangura Schools

A JOURNEY OF HOPE, LOVE AND COMMITMENT

by Jeffrey Stanley

The New York Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends established the African Education Committee in 2000 to raise funds in support of Kisangura Friends Primary School, specifically to enable children whose parents had died of AIDS to attend the school. Over time, the Brooklyn Friends School community has become in-volved in many levels of support for children in the Kisangura schools.

Although impoverished, Tan-zania has struggled to become a leader in education. Since in-dependence in 1961 literacy has risen from 10% to a remarkable 75%. “I realize we can’t save the whole world but here’s one little part of the world where we can and are making a difference,” Marna stressed. She cautioned that real change there will pro-

preparing to donate many more of our used netbooks. Marna and Kevin hope to orchestrate a three-way collaboration in which BFS donates netbooks, the Kisangura Village Coun-cil provides modems, and the Kisangura School purchases air time, in order to get the students online to increase our abilities to communicate and collaborate.

vide a longer-term commitment. “Primary school’s only manda-tory there through middle school age,” she explained. “Tuition is free in Tanzania but parents have to pay for uniforms, testing fees and school supplies.” High school is optional and applicants must pass an aptitude test to attend. After high school, exams are required to make it into col-

WINTER 2014 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter 7

Strengthening the Connection between Brooklyn Friends and Kisangura Schools

A JOURNEY OF HOPE, LOVE AND COMMITMENTlege. These exams are in English, a language that is not widely understood in Tanzania.

Why should BFS go to all of this effort beyond merely teach-ing our students to be charitable? Marna and Kevin hope a sister school relationship will be of great benefit to the entire BFS community. “We want our stu-dents to expand their knowledge of the world, of other cultures,” said Kevin. “I’m a science teacher, and one thing we talk about in 7th grade Science is the importance of water to life, and the water crisis is a major issue in that part of the world. We want to make our students part of a larger community. It’s an impor-tant part of service learning.”

The passionate man of science admits that he also had a per-sonal curiosity to satisfy. “The Great Rift Valley runs through Tanzania. It’s not that far from the school. That’s where human life originated.” Despite some mild difficulties in their journey and an adjustment to a bit of culture shock, Kevin came home fulfilled and eager to continue the work there. “It was good to combine travel and service. We were able to bring something useful to the people there. I took away a great experience.”

Marna ended on a somber and sobering note about the cul-ture shock she now experiences here at home on a daily basis. “Yesterday I found 150 pages of wasted paper in a printer at BFS,” she said. “That’s not just from our students, it’s from all of us. We don’t realize what we have. At Kisangura, I was ripping pieces of paper in half for stu-dents to write on because paper is such a precious commodity. What I think about every day when I wash my hands is, I can turn on the faucet and have fresh running water. Every drop of water the children at Kisangura primary school use has to be carried from a well a quarter of a mile away. If they want to drink it they have to boil it first. I ask myself - how much are we wast-ing every day?”

Kevin and Marna in Tanzania

Address Service Requested

Vol. 10, No. 1, WINTER 2014 The Newsletter is published four times a year for BFS families, faculty, alumni/ae and friends.

Joan Martin, Editor

718.852.1029brooklynfriends.org

Non-Profit Org.

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There is no doubt that being a middle school student these days is no walk in the park. When I think back about

my own experiences as a middle school student, I wish there were programs in place that would offer students the support needed to keep them moving in a positive direction.

While we grew up with “Bullying 101” – bullies in training – this has morphed into a microwaved version, kind of like bullies on steroids, complete with technological advancements we could not have imagined. Enter the world wide web and “Cyber Bullying”.

There is, however, one thing that remains the same – the need for allies to support us. As part of the Ally Week presentations at BFS this October, we were privileged to hear Mr. Jamie Utt, Educator and Consultant. Jamie specializes in providing students and adults the tools to transform educational environments into the safe havens needed to reach one’s educational potential. Jamie spoke of his own middle school experience, which I am sure paralleled many of our own. An insecure adolescent just wanting to fit in, he became so frustrated by the teasing he experienced, that he created a list of things he should never do in school, in order to protect himself and his feelings. This list included no smiling, no laughing, and avoiding most group activities.

One day, as Jamie recounted, an older, popular student named Audrey Mendez witnessed him being teased about his smile. While she did not confront the bullies at that time, she waited until there was a moment to speak with Jamie alone. She told him that he should not listen to the others, and that he

had a very nice smile. This gave him the confidence to move forward. It showed that one person can make a difference, and inspired Jamie to be that person to others.

Everyone needs an Audrey Mendez at some time in their life. I feel strongly that if we live by her example, someone will be there for us, in our time of need. Bullies are strong only if we remain silent.

– Barry Davis, Head of Middle School

Guest Essay

Bullies Are Strong Only If We Remain Silent

Ally Week guest speaker Jamie Utt

Middle School Head Barry Davis

I wish there were programs

in place that would offer

students the support needed

to keep them moving in a

positive direction.

This is a reprint of Barry’s first blog for the 2013-14 school year. All the school’s division heads and all preschool and lower school classes have blogs. To read more, go to brook-lynfriends.org/blogs