bulletin magazine - spring 2009

Spring 2009 Volume 46.Number 1

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Frank E. Schoonover, Forward! They are Ours! Oil painting, 36" x 27", 1918 Displayed in the Tower Hill Alumni House

Frank E. Schoonover, Forward! They are Ours! Oil painting, 36" x 27", 1918 Displayed in the Tower Hill Alumni House

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in this issue...2 ..............Headmaster letter

3..............The Arts are Alive and Well at Tower Hill School!

4..............Jim Morris: From Tower Hill to Hollywood

6 .............The Art of Anna B.

8 .............The Past Illuminates the Future

10 ...........Dave Nichols: From Legalese to Art

12 ...........The Art Continuum: .......... Artist and Teacher

13 ...........Photography as Process

14 ...........In Celebration of Letty Downs

15 ...........Fulfillment on the Horizon

16 ...........Tower Hill School News

18 ...........Moving Beyond the Advanced .......... Placement Program

19 ...........The Three R’s of Curriculum Evaluation

20 ...........Multiculturalism and Diversity .......... at Tower Hill

22 ...........New Roles

23 ...........Coming June 2009: .......... Summer at Tower Hill

24 ...........On the Hill

26 ..........50th Reunion

27 ...........Alumni Events

28 ..........John’s Notes

35 ..........In Memoriam

Headmaster Christopher D. Wheeler, Ph.D.

2008-2009 Board of Trustees

Lance L. Weaver, President

David P. Roselle, Vice President

William H. Daiger Jr., Treasurer

Linda R. Boyden, Secretary

Michael A. AciernoCherise Taylor-AlexanderTheodore H. Ashford III

Dr. Earl J. Ball IIIJane H. Carey

Robert W. Crowe Jr. ’90Dr. Robert C. Director ’67

Ben du Pont ’82Charles Elson

Frederick S. FreibottMarc L. Greenberg ’81

Thomas D. HarveyPierre duP. Hayward ’66

Michael P. Kelly ’75Ellen J. Kullman ’74

John E. OsbornKeith Stoltz

Matthew T. Twyman III ’88Dennis Zeleny

Acting Director of Development Kathryn R. Warner

Editor, Director of Communications Nancy B. Schuckert

Class Notes Editor Senior Development Officer

John C. Pierson Jr. ’59

Photography Jim Graham Joe Smolko

Nancy B. Schuckert

Layout/Design Kedash Design

Submissions to the Bulletin, suggestions for articles, photographs or letters are

welcome. Mail information to the Development Office, Tower Hill School,

2813 West 17th Street, Wilmington, DE, 19806

or email [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit

submissions for space and content.

Tower Hill School welcomes students of any race, religion, color or nationality.

The school does not discriminate in its administrative policies or in the

administration of its program.

If you would like to submit Class Notes, check our updated sport scores or

read about the latest events sponsored by the Alumni Council, please visit our

web site at www.towerhill.org.

Cover: Jim Morris ’73, General Manager of Pixar and producer of WALL-E, pictured with his mother Jean (Jamieson) Lewis ’47, during

a visit to Tower Hill.

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2 Tower Hill BulletinSpring 2009

Homecoming 2008 was a terrific celebration.

I enjoyed connecting with alumni, parents, students and friends during the

numerous festivities—including the 5K run/walk, the many athletic events and

lunch under the tent next to the renovated athletic fields. A most pleasurable and

interesting part of the weekend for me was attending the 50th reunion dinner on

Saturday evening with the Class of 1958 at the Wilmington Country Club. The

class toured the Delaware Art Museum earlier in the day and attended the cocktail

reception featuring the photography of alumna Angeline May ’93 on display in the

Lower Lobby of the Arts Center.

Art has certainly remained an integral part of the lives of the Class of 1958. Their

enthusiasm for and dedication to the arts has inspired us to make the visual arts

our focus for this Bulletin. Inside are articles about a number of talented people,

including three alumni—Jim Morris ’73, Anna B. (McCoy) ’58, Dave Nichols ’58—

each of whom followed a unique path to the arts; two faculty members—Kirby Smith

and Gabe Rothwell—whose artistic talents are being tapped daily by students in the

classroom; and a world renowned artist—Frank E. Schoonover—who was a Tower

Hill parent and grandparent. Tower Hill is proud to own and display a number of

Schoonover’s paintings and drawings.

One of the many joys of my job is sharing in the various events at the school

involving the arts. Our students are featured in a number of shows and performances

during the spring. As I write this letter, the annual Evening of the Arts is quickly

approaching on April 29. Students are currently preparing their artwork for display

in the halls of the entire school, and the Upper School instrumental and vocal

groups are working on their musical arrangements. Our Upper School will present

the Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress on April 18-19, and the 5th Grade

will perform the Kabuki, a highly stylized classical Japanese dance-drama, on

April 27-30. In May the Middle School vocal and instrumental concerts will

conclude our fine and performing art events for the year. The arts are alive

and well at Tower Hill School, indeed!

This Bulletin also contains articles that both reinforce Tower Hill’s traditions and

validate the school’s ongoing evolution as we prepare our students for the larger

challenges of the 21st century. We address topics such as multiculturalism and

diversity, curriculum for the future and “going green.” Finally, don’t miss “John’s

Notes” and updates from your classmates. I hope that you will enjoy this Bulletin.

We welcome your feedback on this issue and your ideas for future issues.

April 2009

Yours for Tower Hill,

Chris Wheeler, Ph.D., Headmaster

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3Spring 2009Tower Hill Bulletin

are Alive and Well at Tower Hill School!

are Alive and Well at Tower Hill School!

ver the years, the arts often had to struggle at Tower Hill, although

student interest was always high. Today our commitment to music,

drama and the visual arts is evident in the breadth of our curriculum,

our outstanding faculty and facilities, and all who have made the arts

an integral part of their lives since leaving Tower Hill. One only needs to walk

through the display of paintings and sculptures in our ever-changing artist series in

the P.S. du Pont Arts Center, attend the all-school Evening of the Arts in the spring or

view the fine works of art throughout the school to comprehend the importance today.

This issue of the Bulletin focuses on the visual arts at Tower Hill. Perhaps the most

important evidence of passion for the visual arts is seen through the lives of our

Tower Hill alumni who have pursued a career in art and our faculty whose teaching

by example inspires young students to see the importance of art in their lives.

O

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DFrom Tower Hill to Hollywood

By Kathy Warner and Nancy Schuckert

Jim Morris: espite all his success, Jim Morris ’73 remains as down-to-earth as is humanly possible for a guy who’s worked on some of the biggest movies of all time and just received the Academy Award for producing the Best Animated Feature Film. He never forgets his roots as a Tower Hill student who grew up in the New Castle home where his mother Jean Lewis ’47 still lives today. He credits his Tower Hill teacher, the

late Jim Wood, with encouraging him to make movies. “I just got the bug, and I started making movies at Tower Hill,” Jim said, “and he persuaded me that it was O.K. to go to film school.” The camera Jim used in his early movies was a 35mm that his mother bought him at Lincoln Camera in Wilmington. The actors were his Tower Hill classmates.

Kate Edgar ’73 remembers this about Jim’s first movie: “Jim was a great

photographer in high school (he still is), and I think he did most of the photos in our yearbook. I forget when he got his first movie camera, but I do remember working on his first animated short. I was his production assistant; he was the producer and director. One didn’t have video cameras in those days but 8-millimeter or Super-8 film cameras. The first film he did, a table-top animation of some walnut shells doing the “shell game” on his mother’s

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Tower Hill Bulletin Spring 2009 5

process. Then comes the design and production, which often takes four years and over 500 people working on the computer animation. One of the methods that animators use to understand experiences and emotion is to videotape themselves, so they can better create the visual animation of their characters. As production manager, Jim explained the many other roles in his current job—marketing, budgeting, scheduling resources, hiring composers and managing the recording. So what’s next? Jim is working on several new movies, including Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Cars 2 (2011) and The Bear and Bow (2013).

Jim’s advice for students is to have an objective and always keep it top-of-mind. “Life may take you in various directions—sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left—but keep your mind on your objective, and you’ll reach your goal.” After his presentation, Jim marveled at the changes to the physical facilities of the school, while a number of his fans talked with him and got his autograph!

Jim lives with his wife, Gail, who is a landscape artist, and two daughters in San Anselmo, California. He missed his 35th reunion only because he was traveling in Asia to promote WALL-E. But he’ll be back for his 40th. “I love Delaware. I don’t get back as much as I’d like.”

coffee table, was made with stop motion, shooting a few frames and then moving the shells slightly to create the illusion of motion, much like claymation, a form of stop motion animation using clay—without the clay. It was fun because it recapitulated the way the early film pioneers first animated film. Later, when we were studying American History (I think in eleventh grade), his project was an animated history of the building of the transcontinental railroad. Filmmaking techniques and technology have come a long way since then, and Jim has been one of the innovators here. And these days he has many, many more people helping to make his films. But his passion for filmmaking clearly started when he was at Tower Hill.”

As the General Manager for Pixar Animation Studios, he served as producer of the critically acclaimed 2008 summer blockbuster WALL-E. He managed the production of the Studio’s features, shorts, DVD content and theme park activities. Prior to Pixar, he served as president of Lucas Digital Ltd. and managed its two divisions—Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound. During his tenure, Jim guided the largest visual effects facility in the entertainment industry winning Academy Awards for visual effects in Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her and Forrest Gump. Other notable projects under his management include Mission Impossible, Star Wars and the first three Harry Potter films among many others.

Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in Film Production and a master’s degree in Television, both from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Jim began his career as a stop-motion animator and worked for a period of time making commercials for J. Walter Thompson and producing documentaries for PBS. But making movies was his passion, and he left upstate New York for the West Coast.

His first break was being hired at Lucas Light and Magic in 1987. He was the visual effects producer for two 1989 movies: Always, directed by Steven Spielberg and the Oscar-winning The Abyss, directed by James Cameron. While at Lucas’ company, Jim was at the center of the film industry’s transition from the old school of filmmaking to the digital age. “Gradually everything moved to computers. It had a kind of frontier town feel to it,” Jim remembers. “It wasn’t just a learning curve; it was an invention curve.”

Tower Hill was thrilled to have Jim and his mother visit the school November 18, 2008, the day WALL-E was released in DVD. Faculty and students from the film-making and web site design classes crowded into Lista Lincoln’s (Middle School Computer Science Teacher) classroom to hear the alum talk about his journey from Tower Hill to Pixar.

Jim began his talk by articulating the major objective of his work—to take an inanimate object and give it personality or “grounded believability” for the audience. Step-by-step he walked students through the beginning process of making an animated film—writing drafts, creating numerous storyboards and composing a rough sound track. With only one in ten movies actually getting made, he always stresses the motto “fail soon” in the creative

Left: WALL-E, a 2008 Pixar computer-animated science fiction film, was produced by Jim Morris ’73.

Far Left: WALL-E won the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and the 2009 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The film was also nominated for five other Academy Awards.

Left Bottom: Jim Morris ’73 talked with students in November 2008 about how his passion for filmmaking began while he was a student at Tower Hill.

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6 Spring 2009 Tower Hill Bulletin

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ow many of us knew when we were very young what we wanted to be when we grew up? From as long ago as she can remember—probably age four—Anna B. McCoy always knew that she was going to be an artist. And when one understands her family background—her mother was a Wyeth, yes, that Wyeth, and both her parents were artists—it’s no surprise. When she was growing up she would leave school at 3:00 p.m. each day to go to her aunt’s studio to be trained in painting. After a couple of years at Bennett Junior College, she went to the Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts, where her father was a teacher for 25 years, to continue developing her skills. It’s hard to know for sure whether her genes or her training made her into the artist she is today, but in this Brandywine area so filled by outstanding painters, Anna B. as we know her now, “Anne” as we knew her when she went to Tower Hill, is one of the best known and most talented.

This past fall provided a remarkable experience to talk to Anna B. about her background, both as a painter and a young lady. She was mature enough to go to her mother after her junior year and say she wanted to leave Tower Hill, when she realized that she was getting caught up in the social competitions that are normal at a co-ed school. She then spent her senior year at the Shipley School as a boarding student, retreating to the attic of the school in the evenings and weekends to sketch and paint. Even back then, art had grabbed her and began leading her through her life. Today she is able to verbalize what she may not have been able to do then, knowing that she needs to draw and paint all the time. That is why she now carries a pad in her purse or in the car

H so she can jot down a drawing or idea as it springs to her creative mind.

Anna B.’s one- on-one teaching approach tells a lot about her as an artist. She ensures the novice understands the tools and rules of the painter. Different brushes create different images and one brush itself may create a different picture depending on how the painter uses it; experimenting with what is held is important in understanding what should be used. There are also guidelines that need to be followed. Because of her understanding of how things work, Anna B. doesn’t need to follow those basic rules the way a beginner would, but she certainly did when she started out.

While all mediums are different for Anna B., she probably prefers oils. They take so very long to do—maybe months—whereas a watercolor portrait may be “finished” in several hours. However when you make a mistake in watercolor, you basically tear it up and start over again whereas with oil, you can scrape it off and paint over it. It is clear that a tremendous amount of work goes into a painting; it is not simply that creativity overwhelms the artist when they sit down, and the painting flows onto the page in a matter of minutes or hours.

It was wonderful catching up with Anna B. on a couple of occasions leading up to the writing of this article. If you have not seen any of her work or her collections of works from her family, that should go to the top of your list. It’s an experience well worth it. We are proud to call her one of our own and proud to share her with others.

The Art of Anna B.

Three Apples (detail), oil on linen, 21 1/2" x 29 1/2", 2004

By John C. Pierson Jr. ’59

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Frank E. Schoonover, Joan on the Hilltop

Oil painting, 36" x 27", 1918 Displayed in the

Tower Hill Alumni House.

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Illuminates the FutureIlluminates the Future

A lexis de Tocqueville wrote, “When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.” Although this concept generally refers to history, application clearly extends to the potential that art can play in one’s life. Throughout Tower Hill’s history, the student body and staff have been surrounded with fine works of art, undoubtedly with the intention of “illumination.”

Just five years after the opening of the school in 1919, a generous benefactor established the beginning of Tower Hill’s art collection. He gifted the school with nine large (36” x 27”), exquisite oil paintings and four deftly drawn pen and inks by local artist and illustrator Frank E. Schoonover (1877-1972). They were the originals for illustrations depicting scenes from the extraordinary life of the fearless and determined Joan of Arc. The nine oils comprise the complete set of full-page illustrations used in Joan of Arc (1919) written by Lucy Foster Madison.

Over the years, the paintings have hung in Tower Hill classrooms and the library, as seen in various photos and remembered by students who often had specific favorites. Most popular is Forward! They Are Ours! which could easily have been the rallying cry used in both academics and sports. Certainly, The Warrior Maiden and Joan on Hilltop inspire even the casual viewer. Currently, two of the paintings hang in the Alumni House while Gooseberry Spring, showing the small children with young Joan gathered around the

By Louise “Fibbie” Schoonover Smith ’59

The Past

pond, is located in the Lower School Library. The other six hang in the Upper School Library.

Thanks to the generous donations of Tower Hill alumnus Michael Neville, the foremost conservator of Schoonover’s works, all of the oils have been conserved during the past four years. The pen and inks from the Tower Hill Joan of Arc collection are on display in the Alumni House.

Schoonover, an early student of Howard Pyle, followed his mentor’s admonition to “experience what you paint.” He

traveled in both the United States and Canada to photograph and paint people, events and places. Many of his works are historical documents, revealing social conditions at the turn of the century, lives of the early Hudson Bay indigenous tribes and environmental conditions along the Brandywine and Delaware Rivers during the 1930s-1960s.

Fondly remembered art teacher Eugenia Rhoads, who taught at Tower Hill between 1928-1936, often invited Mr. Schoonover to talk to her students about his adventures, illustration as a profession and his paintings. This he loved doing, being a raconteur at heart. No known recording of those talks exists, but there is one of a story-telling session he spent with a group of children at the Delaware Art Museum that preserves his whimsical style.

Schoonover’s connection with Tower Hill extends beyond his art and sharing experiences with students. His children, Cortlandt (Pat) ’30 and Elizabeth (Biz) ’34, as well as his granddaughter Louise (Fibbie) Schoonover ’59, graduated from Tower Hill.

The Frank E. Schoonover Fund, Inc. recently co-published with Oak Knoll Press the Frank E. Schoonover Catalogue Raisonne. It is a two volume, boxed set that includes over 3000 images and the text results of extensive research on Schoonover’s 2510 major works. Revisiting de Tocqueville’s thought, like the Joan of Arc paintings, this catalogue illuminates the past for future generations.

Above: Gooseberry Spring was painted in 1918.

Left: Frank E. Schoonover

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ave Nichols ’58 had a successful career as a general practice lawyer. After moving to Bellingham, Washington, in 1971, he served on the Superior Court for 20 years. Feeling that he did not want to be defined by his job, Dave did what few lawyers ever do—he retired from the bench.

Dave had dabbled in painting in college but never thought about it as a career. Today he spends his time painting in his art studio adjacent to his home on Lake Whatcom in the state of Washington. He experimented with both oil and watercolors, and through a “trial and error” process returned to oil painting, which has proven most successful for him. Dave’s paintings emulate the Brandywine artists of the Delaware/Pennsylvania area where he grew up. He exhibits his artwork at Bellingham Blue Horse Gallery, among other places in the Northwest.

Dave is a Harley-Davidson enthusiast and a father of three. He and his wife Dot travel often. He toured Tuscany, Italy, last May to “hone his painting.” After his visit to Wilmington for his Tower Hill 50th reunion, he and Dot traveled to France. As Dave said to the rest of his ’58 classmates, “Ain’t retirement cool!”

D

Dave Nichols:From Legalese to Art

Dave Nichols, Idaho Dusk Oil painting, 18" x 24", 2008

Right: Dave Nichols, Ft. Casey Woods, Whitby Island

Oil painting, 10" x 20", 2008

By Kathy Warner

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K irby Smith, the Chair of the Art Department at Tower Hill, joined the faculty in 1990 from the Haverford School. Kirby received his undergraduate training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and his Master in Fine Arts from Syracuse University. Kirby is a remarkable artist in his own right. His work has developed through his observation of the art of his own students, and their skills have grown by watching him create. Kirby describes his life as a teacher and an artist this way.

“I do not separate the work I do in my studio at home from the studio work I do here at Tower Hill. I see them, to a degree, as a connected continuum of experiences and experiments. One studio is intensely private while the other is equally intense in its public view. I am equally an artist in each place.

“There is that rush of magic when I witness an epiphany while I’m painting or while I’m teaching that amounts to the same inexhaustible exhilaration, one driving the other…seamless. Often, as I stand aside my teacher role with my students, seeing them as it were from above and separate, I can see ah-ha! moments lighting up like a festival of candles.

“In my studio, that light is far from extinguished. Then I bring my discoveries and struggles back to class and work with my students. It all works—the thrill and the trouble are one in the same attached to the force of being alive. To sever the two for some reason would be tantamount to

The Art Continuum:

artificiality and inauthenticity. Neither an artist nor a teacher can fake it any more than a great runner can fake a victory. The victory rests in the health of the link or connectedness—the ligare.”

Cat Glenn, who is a senior in Kirby’s Studio Art class commented, “One thing that makes Mr. Smith such a great art teacher is the fact that he does the projects with us. It enables us to get more involved and excited about the art because he shows us how excited he is to participate with us.”

Many of Kirby’s paintings were on display in November as part of Tower Hill’s visiting artist series in the Lower Lobby of the Pierre S. du Pont Arts

Center. Other shows where Kirby has displayed his works include the following:

• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York

• Munson-Williams-Proctor Museum, Utica, New York

• City Hall, San Francisco, California

• Project Artaud, San Francisco, California

• Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Haverford School, Haverford, Pennsylvania

Artist and Teacher

Kirby Smith’s painting Tribute Money measures a massive 72" x 72"

By Kathy Warner

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P hotography is complicated. It is at once art, science, document, liar, revealer of truth and preserver of memory. Proliferation of the photographic image has shaped and continues to shape our world. Photographers are attuned to the power of a photographic image, but often the passion extends beyond to the process of photography.

The magic of photography is that mysterious change that happens when the film is exposed to light. At that moment the four dimensions of our world are transformed, reduced to the two dimensions of a sheet of film. Film makes real the fleeting, captures the ephemeral and solidifies the momentary.

Photographs are slices edited out of time. Generally, one conceives of a photograph as a fraction of a second.

Photography as ProcessThat is rarely the case with a uniquely designed pinhole camera that has a fine hole through which the exposure is made rather than a lens. The small opening forces relatively long exposures, typically ranging from a minute to a half hour. This longer exposure offers time for reflection as the transformation is taking place.

Viewing photography is a meditative practice. Working with a pinhole camera provides the freedom to let go of meticulous technical control. There is no viewfinder through which to compose the image. While experience teaches one how to predict the angle of view and compose reasonably well, the process requires faith. Backup exposures are rarely shot or adjustments made to fine-tune an image, allowing faith in the process to embrace each success vigorously.

Instead of using a tripod, the camera is placed in contact with the earth, affording an unconventional vantage point. Scale is exaggerated; pebbles become large stones, fallen saplings appear as big as redwoods, and trickling brooks are transformed into wide waterways. Subjects, small streams, are constantly in flux, from raging torrents, to a slow trickle; volume fluctuates but movement is constant. Long exposures allow this movement to become solid. Water becomes organic glass sculpture; light splits and refracts off of the surface; water disappears and becomes a vapor. Only through time does this occur, and only through photography is this made visible, made real.

By Gabe Rothwell, Middle/Upper School Art and Photography Teacher

Above: Gabe Rothwell, Flumine (030-2) Pinhole Photograph, 2007

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in Celebration of Letty Downspark-like setting for numerous benches where students can gather. Letty Downs, in whose memory the courtyard is dedicated, would have loved it.

Alletta Laird Downs, known simply as “Letty” to her friends and relatives, was the daughter of William Winder Laird Sr., one of Tower Hill’s 11 founders. She was among the school’s first students and spent her formative years at Tower Hill. She died in 2005 at the age of 92.

Letty never had children of her own, but she had 12 nieces and nephews who adored her. All of them attended Tower Hill, as did a few of her grandnephews and others in her extended family. Letty believed in the importance of education and in the type of education that Tower Hill offered. Her financial support made it possible for many students to attend Tower Hill, and most of the beneficiaries never knew where the money came from.“Letty epitomized the behind-the-scenes philanthropist. She never sought the spotlight. She was as genuine as you can be in your goals and intentions,” says Middle School teacher Wiz Applegate ’79, who came to know “Cousin Letty” after marrying into the family.

Letty Downs celebrated her 80th birthday in June 1993 with all her grandnieces and grandnephews.

The plaque above, dedicated to

Letty Downs, is located in the

renovated flagpole area pictured to

the right.

Those who knew Letty Downs say that the flagpole area/terrace is the perfect way to honor her. She was an outdoorswoman who loved fishing, hunting and gardening. An avid conservationist, she preserved 350 acres of open space in Hockessin and northern Wilmington. Her nephew and Tower Hill trustee Pierre Hayward ’66 said, “Aunt Letty celebrated the values of community, kindness and caring, and she would have been pleased to see how the flagpole area encourages camaraderie among students. She believed in honoring those who served our country, so it is fitting that this is also the setting for the flagpole and the memorial marker dedicated to those members of the Tower Hill family who died in service to their country.”

“We are proud to honor Letty Downs with our beautiful garden,” Headmaster Chris Wheeler adds. “We can all benefit from her example. She lived her life joyfully, active and engaged in her world, giving freely of her time, talents and resources for the betterment of the community.” In keeping with the example of how Letty Downs led her life, the entrance area was paid for by a donor who asked to remain anonymous.

IBy Theresa Gawlas Medoff

t is late afternoon on a sunny, fall day and the flagpole area is buzzing with activity. Exuberant Upper School athletes tumble out the gym doors, hurrying to the fields for practice or to board buses for away games. Middle School students, just dismissed from their own sports period, relax on benches or gather in small groups, talking and laughing as they await their rides.

“Pick me up at the flagpole.” That refrain has rolled off the tongues of generations of Tower Hill students. After all, the towering flagpole was an easily identifiable, convenient place to meet. But the entrance by Weaver Gym was not always an attractive setting. Indeed, when rains had been particularly heavy, the small dirt area above the retaining wall turned muddy. The alcove near the gym doors offered a waiting area sheltered from the street but no comfortable place to sit. Two years ago an expansive brick courtyard was built and now trees, shrubs and brilliantly colored flowers create an attractive,

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Promises Made...Challenges Accepted... Fulfillment on the Horizon

with a challenge—“Build it and we will play!” And play they have, earning state championships in field hockey, girls’ lacrosse and tennis and a third consecutive state championship in sportsmanship for the 2007-2008 school year. Football produced a 9-1 season and earned its first ever tournament appearance while baseball raced to a 19-1 regular season and postseason play. Over 30 Tower Hill athletes earned All State honors and Caitlin Van Sickle was named State Player of the Year in both field hockey and girls’ lacrosse. In November our girls’ field hockey team won the state championship, continuing the tradition of team excellence. The Hillers have won 18 championships since 1973, including eight out of the past nine.

We can look back with pride on the last three years. The Board’s promise of a transformation is nearing completion. Our locker rooms have been renovated and Weaver Gym, which alumni know as the “girls’ gym,” has been completely refurbished with new lighting, backboards and an upgraded floor. Stoltz Alumni Stadium has been built and DeGroat Field now sports state-of-the-art

Field Turf®, stadium lights and a beautiful new concession stand. Richardson Field is now surfaced with Astro Turf Pure Grass®, the preferred surface for field hockey and lacrosse and now includes stadium seating and a press box. The News Journal has referred to our girls as “rulers of the rug” in complimenting their amazing record on turf at home and at the University of Delaware. The Lower School and the After School Program now enjoy new and expanded playgrounds. The excitement will continue this spring when our student athletes will begin play on the new Frank E. Acierno Fields across Rising Sun Lane. The magnificent baseball/soccer complex is wonderfully designed, beautifully landscaped and a real complement to St. Amour Gardens.

The Campaign for Athletics is on schedule. We have funds for over 92% of the Board’s $12 million challenge. Fulfillment is approaching as the expansion and remodeling of Carpenter Field House begins this spring, and its completion in March 2010 brings the campaign to a close. Once again, as our founders did for past generations, this Board of Trustees and our generous donors will have provided superior facilities that represent all that is modern in thought and design to serve future Tower Hill families for generations to come.

I n January 2006 the Board of Trustees, emulating the leadership and stewardship of the founding fathers, formally announced the Campaign for Tower Hill Athletics and unveiled the Athletic Facilities Master Plan. This document detailed not a mere “facelift” but a transformation of our facilities and our campus, unparalleled among independent schools—not just in our geographic area but across the country. The plan represented a promise made to future generations of Hillers who would compete on fields and courts as fine as can be found.

In Tower Hills’s April 2007 video presentation “For the Love of the Game,” shown as part of the Spring Social, Tower Hill student athletes responded to the Board’s promise

By Jack Holloway

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By Jacquelyn Hamilton, Head of Lower School

As an educator I have learned that an effective school nourishes the academic, social and personal development of

its students. In such an institution, everything hinges on the presence of bright, passionate and caring teachers. We have such a faculty at Tower Hill. As a Lower School faculty, we believe that connecting children to new ideas and sound values will yield great results and make a difference in the young lives placed in our care. This year, we continue with the development of curriculum, character and community.

Curriculum for our new Tower Tots three-year-old program, which launches fall 2009, reflects our belief that

By Pam Matsanka, Head of Middle School

When we think of Middle School, we immediately think of action, both physical and mental. Our Middle School students

are an active, smart bunch, and our activities and classes this year have reflected that.

Action abounded this past fall on the Sandy Hill trips. The Fifth Grade took part in activities designed to help them become more comfortable with their new teachers, and the Sixth Grade worked together to build confidence to scale walls, cross a poisoned swamp, pass each other through a man-made spider web and climb a pole while being harnessed to a partner. At Cape

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Tower Hill School News

young learners develop cognitively through exploration, discovery and experimentation. Theme-based learning will occur in an environment that fosters literacy, mathematical thinking and scientific inquiry through a variety of multisensory activities. This model is also play-based and encourages the development of social skills that will cultivate one’s ability to maintain collaborative relationships for a lifetime. In addition, faculty continues work in creating, rethinking and mapping curriculum in each content area to insure that a sequential, balanced and developmentally appropriate program exists for each grade.

Character is comprised of those values that lead to self-respect, dignity, reverence and concern for the lives of others. The development of character emerges in early childhood and continues to be refined throughout one’s life. This year we created a more explicit Character Development Curriculum,

coordinated by Dr. Amy Cuddy, School Psychologist. Parallel to this is the service-learning curriculum, which encourages our children to identify needs within our community and to develop ways to meet those needs.

Our sense of community is nurtured through gatherings designed to help us get to know each other better and to celebrate individual and group accomplishments. This year the After School Program (Extended Day) became a part of the Lower School community. We are delighted to have the newly renovated facility and the participation of more faculty under the direction of Natalia Vekker. Amy Bickhart, Assistant Head of Lower School, is the liaison in bridging this extension.

We continue our work to integrate active inquiry, creative imagining, problem solving and thoughtful reflection into the Tower Hill experience, discovering ways to remain focused on what really matters in teaching, in learning, in life.

Henlopen the Eighth Grade learned about the history and geography of the Lewes area. An exciting, new part of the trip was the orienteering course where they used a GPS to navigate their way on a pitch-black night. Fortunately, all made it back to camp!

There has been plenty of action in the classrooms, too. The Fifth Graders were apprehensive at the first of the year but have adjusted quite well. The Sixth Graders have been very comfortable with their active day—working on the SMART Board®, our interactive touch-controlled white board, and completing Science labs. Seventh Graders began their first year of a foreign language and interscholastic athletics, and completed a course called disAbilities Awareness, which focuses on becoming familiar with people with physical, cognitive and mental challenges. Field trips have been taken to the Brennen School for the autistic and to a group home, and

H. B. du Pont Middle School students with cognitive and physical challenges came to Tower Hill for a rousing game of handball. Finally, our Eighth Graders held their own presidential debate. Portraying Barak Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, they argued about national issues eloquently, educating us all! On Election Day they ran a mock election. In addition, sports have been an exciting part of the year, and all teams have been quite successful.

Gone are the days of sitting in class and listening intently all day. While we certainly expect our children to sit, take notes, answer questions, work on projects and listen quietly much of the time, we have found that action can create good energy and stimulating learning situations as well. The energy and action of the Middle School has been exciting this year!

MIDDle School

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on how to recycle more and with help from our trash hauler and parent Kevin Shegog, we have changed our collection system. Two compactors now reside in the back driveway—one for food waste and one for the rest. By doing this, the contents of the trash compactor go to a recycling center, which separates out the various components of the recycling. The end result is that we are paid a percentage of what is made on the recycling, and we are not paying fees at a landfill nor filling up the landfill. The first time the trash and recyclables were picked up 1.13 tons went to the recyclers rather than the landfill!

We continue to find ways to increase our recycling and are thankful for the many faculty/staff members and students who are passionate and committed to a greener Tower Hill.

By Dan Hickey, Head of Upper School

A few days this past fall encapsulated what is wonderful about the learning opportunities at Tower Hill. In the course of eight days,

the Upper School students interacted with several experts in various fields, enhancing the already outstanding education they receive in the classroom. We were visited by parent and now Governor Jack Markell, who spoke about issues facing Delaware and answered many student questions. The visit was arranged entirely by one of our seniors. One night later, as part of the Forum lecture series on the 1960s, Professor Robert Dallek, a noted Kennedy scholar, addressed our students about the Kennedy mystique and drew parallels between JFK’s presidency and the

By Harry Baetjer, Associate Headmaster

There has always been a good deal of conversation about how Tower Hill could be more earth friendly, and the

new associate headmaster position has provided the opportunity to encourage and create an awareness of efforts inside the school to be more “green.” But going green is far from new at Tower Hill.

Four years ago a recycling program was started to make math fun, and it is now a school phenomenon with Amy Bickhart, Lower School Assistant Head, leading the way. On any given morning if you come in the main doorway, you are likely to see three or four Lower School

Tower Hill School News

UPPEr SCHOOL

TOWEr HILL IS grEEnEr

political climate at that time.

Two days later alumnae Dr. Timi Lee ’98 visited biology classes. Timi is currently a veterinary general practitioner in Manhattan. She explained the many procedures she performs daily; her favorites are dermatology, dentistry and ultrasound. Dr. Lee helped students understand the anatomy of a female cat as they assisted her in a necropsy (autopsy) of a preserved cat. Having studied in the same biology lab ten years ago, Dr. Lee also demonstrated how biology has shaped her career. Elliot Mitchell, Upper School Science Chair who taught Timi, said of the visit, “Nothing is more rewarding for a teacher than to see our outstanding and talented alums return to campus in order to enrich our current students. We are lucky to have so many alums willing to spend time in the classroom. They are great role models and provide career insights for today’s Hillers.”

A few days later Brian Smigielski ’98 visited our Physics classes. Brian

graduated from John Hopkins and is currently working on his doctorate at the University of Washington studying Quantum chromodynamics. He talked about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator with a 27 km circumference, which crosses the border between France and Switzerland. Physicists hope to find answers to subjects such as anti matter, super symmetry, string theory, matter and the Big Bang. Brian was able to present complex material in an extremely accessible way, especially to our captivated Ninth Grade students.

These experiences, which would be rare for most high schools, are a common element of the Tower Hill Upper School. These opportunities allow students to connect the many things they study to the real world and give them glimpses of the extraordinary possibilities toward which they might direct their Tower Hill education. It is also a welcomed opportunity to connect past and present Hillers in a mutually beneficial and meaningful way.

students and two teachers working their way quietly down the hallway. They have a wagon, and they stop at each door to pick up the blue recycling cans, which have been weighed and recorded by students. The paper eventually makes its way to bins on the backloading dock where it is picked up thanks to Paul Bickhart and then recycled. With the paper they collect going directly back to the paper companies to be reused, the Lower School has created one of the most efficient paper recycling processes possible!

Tom Pierson, Director of Facilities, and his department have worked to eliminate cleaning products that are not environmentally friendly. In addition they have been collecting batteries and fluorescent lights for proper disposal. Tower Hill obviously produces a great deal of trash. We began conversations

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T he Advanced Placement program began in the 1950s when the Ford Foundation sought to improve the transition between the last two years of high school and the first two years of college. The pilot program, involving seven secondary schools and an initial eleven subjects, was launched in 1952. The program grew to include 27 schools by the 1955-56 academic year, when the College Board was asked to take over what became “A.P.” Colleges and universities began to grant credit for good scores on the exams. In recent years many public schools turned to A.P. as a means of strengthening their standard curricula. Today, the College Board offers 37 A.P. exams. The number of students taking exams has ballooned at the expense, many believe, of the quality of the original program. In addition, though many colleges and universities will grant advanced placement for high scores on certain A.P. exams, many have also ceased to give actual credit or will do so for only the very highest scores.

The Tower Hill faculty has spent the last few years studying the degree to which A.P. still meets the needs of our students. We have been prompted to do so both by concerns about the problems associated with quality being eroded by quantity and the parallel investigations of brother and sister schools of comparable caliber many of whom are now beginning to shed A.P. courses and exams from their programs.

We have concluded that in order to offer the most challenging, engaging, creative and inspiring courses possible, we must move beyond the Advanced Placement curriculum for our most demanding courses. While there is always comfort in using an established and well-respected curriculum, we have increasingly begun to see areas where adhering to an outside, at times rigid program, does not serve the best interests of our students and may stifle opportunities for deeper learning,

Moving Beyond the Advanced Placement Program By Dan Hickey, Head of Upper School and Harry Baetjer, Associate Headmaster

exploration of current advances and creativity of instruction.

In general, time previously spent “covering the material” in A.P. courses, which teachers have felt compelled to do when students faced exams with broad parameters and vast numbers of detailed factual questions (which is largely done through lecture-based instruction), can better be spent on teaching skills and tailoring courses to the individual learning styles of students. Here are just a few specific examples from our teachers of how moving beyond A.P. will benefit our students:

•The European history course could skip briefly over events of secondary importance but likely to appear on the A.P. exam in order to consider a book on a particular theme or topic written by a master historian. Time will also become available for a sophisticated research paper.

•In the A.P. Art program, collaborative works are unacceptable; sculpture is not accepted in a 2-D portfolio or a drawing portfolio, just as drawing and painting are restricted from a 3-D portfolio. Because of these restrictions, students are deprived of developing massive areas of study and interrelationships. By moving beyond A.P., we can bring challenges to our students that relate to a broader, deeper life experience and that are more personally meaningful.

•The A.P. Biology course is very dated. For example, it does not mention the Human Genome project or HIV. Many A.P. science courses do not allow for interdepartmental or interdisciplinary work. The requirements of the course also preclude writing a research paper or conducting in-depth lab research.

•The move beyond an A.P. curriculum has opened the doors to much more exploration of foreign languages and cultures. More time is spent in class using the target language to communicate among students, within

the classroom or with other schools via webcam, watching foreign news programs, welcoming native speakers to talk with our classes, hosting school exchanges and reading recent periodicals or texts

•Our English department dropped the A.P. curriculum nearly 20 years ago. A.P. English Language and Composition and A.P. English Literature and Composition have long since been replaced by courses such as The Literature of Social Justice, Love and Mystery in American Folk Literature: Old Weird America. The quality of engagement and the work done by our students has only improved, and alumni responses overwhelmingly indicate that our students are exceptionally prepared for college level work.

Tower Hill is at the forefront of a movement to improve the student experience and is in the more than respectable company of schools including Exeter, Lawrenceville, St. Paul’s (NH), University Laboratory School (IL), Brearley, Fieldston, Haverford, Westtown and other premier private institutions in making our independence work to strengthen the education that we provide. While the numbers are still relatively small, it is a movement that has momentum, national exposure and is familiar to the college community.

There are some points that deserve to be highlighted. It will still be possible for students to prepare for the A.P. exams as we move away from the specific A.P. courses, and we will continue to support those students who wish to sit for the A.P. exams. Some advanced courses will even retain significant portions of A.P. course material. Simply put, we’re keeping what’s good about A.P. but freeing ourselves to move beyond it where appropriate.

In addition, we are very confident that this direction will have no negative implications for college placement. We surveyed a few hundred selective

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hen Tower Hill was founded in 1919, Headmaster John David Skilton “supervised a standard course of study, which included mathematics, science, English, history, French and the classics, all intended to prepare students for college or technical school.” Essential to this curriculum were the “three R’s”—reading, writing, and arithmetic—which are still important today. However, as our students prepare for the future, they face the challenges of a digital and technical world where information increases exponentially, distances decrease rapidly and options multiply daily.

As educators we need to continue to ask the important questions. Is our curriculum timely, up-to-date, appropriate and integrated? Is our curriculum aligned within departments, across grade levels and between divisions? Do our students do too much work or too little? Are our students prepared for the next class, the next grade level, the next division or for college? Does the academic program at Tower Hill prepare our students for the 21st century?

To address these questions, the faculty at Tower Hill is evaluating the curriculum with the goals defined by another “three R’s”: articulate, review and renew.

Articulate • To articulate a curriculum a school creates a manuscript of the academic program. Tower Hill is adapting a computerized framework to develop a dynamic and flexible description that focuses on the students’ learning experiences. The process, called curriculum mapping, produces a tangible product that supports the other two R’s of the curriculum work: review and renew.

review • As the faculty creates the new curriculum maps, groups will review the program. We will look for overlapping concepts and/or gaps in content or in skills. We will insure that the curriculum prepares students for transitions between subject areas, grade levels and divisions. This important review process will lead to the third R, renew.

renew • Articulating and reviewing the curriculum facilitates communication and collaboration among faculty. As discussions occur and discoveries are made, the faculty will reflect on and renew the curriculum. The goal of this step is to continuously improve the academic program and by extension the students’ learning experience.

During our Fall In-Service Day, the faculty spent concentrated time talking about the program. Teams of teachers poured over material documenting current trends and planning for future topics. Several groups focused on big picture discussions; other groups worked side-by-side as each individual teacher mapped his/her own course. Overall, the faculty was actively engaged in curriculum evaluation.

Through the “three R’s” of curriculum evaluation—articulate, review, renew—we hope to build on the goals that Tower Hill School established in 1919: to provide a rich learning and academic experience that will prepare our students for the future and the challenges of the 21st century.

colleges and universities before committing to this path. The scores of responses we received were nearly unanimous in their assertions that our students would not be hurt in the admission process by not taking A.P. courses. Here are a few representative survey replies from highly selective institutions:

•[We] consider Tower Hill to be an excellent school with a very challenging curriculum. If it is decided that Tower Hill will no longer offer A.P. courses the students will not be penalized. We understand that the most challenging courses at Tower Hill are equal to those offered as A.P. at other schools.

•I am very familiar w/ Tower Hill and know its excellent reputation and thus the nomenclature of your courses will not affect in any way [our] review of TH applicants.

•We would always look for the most rigorous courses, regardless of whether they would be A.P. or not…We would not discriminate if A.P. was not available. There would be no bias against students enrolled at a school that did not offer A.P.

Thus, we are confident that this advancement to our curriculum is in keeping with Tower Hill’s tradition of offering the most challenging and innovative program available and have subsequently begun work to implement modifications to the curriculum that will allow us to go “beyond the A.P.” for the 2009-2010 school year. Not only are we certain that this approach will have no harmful effects in the college admission realm, we have actually been congratulated and encouraged by several college representatives for proceeding in this direction.

The foundation of the success of our program has always been knowledgeable, dedicated and creative faculty, and indeed it was the faculty who initiated the movement to go beyond the A.P. program—not as result of trying to be fashionable or different, rather in an earnest desire to provide the most meaningful education possible for our students.

W

The Three R’s of Curriculum Evaluation By Carol Pepper, Director of Curriculum Development

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Established in 2002, Tower Hill’s Office of Multicultural Development strives to raise awareness, promote equity and advocate necessary changes to make Tower Hill a more global, inclusive and diverse community. Recognizing various religious/multicultural holidays and events, holding numerous multicultural assemblies and sharing diversity information with the broader community are just a few examples of diversity education and awareness. Tower Hill is currently the only school in the greater Wilmington area that supports a position for multicultural development.

Numbers and Retention EffortsOver the last five years, we have seen significant growth in our student of color population. Compared to 11% in 2003, this year we opened the school with a record 20% students of color. Our Pre-Kindergarten holds the highest student of color population in the school: 33%.

Tower Hill’s faculty and staff of color population have also grown from 3% in 2005 to approximately 11% this year. These numbers, along with our numerous multicultural initiatives, reflect Tower Hill’s commitment to making our community more diverse.

In addition to the recent success in recruiting students and faculty of color, we have also implemented retention and multicultural development programs to address the different needs of our

Multiculturalism and Diversity at Tower Hill By Jorge Pardo, Director of Multicultural Development

population. The Home and School Association’s PAATH (Parents of African-Americans at Tower Hill) Committee was created to support the school in ensuring that the richness of the African American experience is treasured, celebrated and valued as an integral component of the educational traditions of Tower Hill; faculty and students participate annually in national and local diversity conferences; and an advising program for students of color was designed to monitor and support academic success.

Multicultural Development EffortsOur diversity work at Tower Hill is not based on numbers but rather on raising awareness and exposing the entire community to different perspectives that reflect the local, national and global world in which we live. Throughout our community, diversity and multicultural education play a key role during the school year.

Our new Diversity From Within newsletter has sparked positive discussion and brought greater light around the concepts of multiculturalism and diversity. It has also allowed both students and faculty to share their news, thoughts and ideas on a variety of multicultural topics. Each newsletter features a faculty essay and/or perspective based on personal experiences with multiculturalism and diversity. We have published terrific

articles from faculty like Mr. Bagley’s Barriers to African American Education and Mrs. Schaffer-Ouladdaoud’s Religious Diversity. The newsletter also includes information about student activities, diversity curriculum initiatives across the school and upcoming events.

Throughout the year students and faculty attend multicultural seminars such as NAIS’ People of Color Conference and the Summer Diversity Institute. This past November teachers attended a conference led by the Multi-Cultural Resources Center of Greater Philadelphia Independent Schools called Teachers Teaching Teachers. Our three Fourth Grade teachers presented a workshop to other teachers about their Underground Railroad curriculum and how to incorporate multiple multicultural discussions into the language classroom.

Lower SchoolOur Lower School exposes young minds to different cultures and engages in almost daily multicultural activities that promote understanding of multicultural and religious events and holidays. It is very common for teachers to invite guest speakers to talk about a particular multicultural holiday like Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. Visitors spark multiple discussions and classroom activities around such multicultural events. The introduction of Spanish in the Lower School this year is yet another step in offering students a broader

Our Diversity Statement Tower Hill School believes that diversity in beliefs, cultures and points of view in all aspects of school life broadens and enhances the educational experience. n Tower Hill is committed to cultivating an environment that supports diversity and respects every aspect of our community constituents. We strive to promote equity in all cultural areas identified by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS): ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. In Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, we value different perspectives as a source of strength and creativity. We take great pride in recognizing, understanding and respecting the distinct identity, dignity and individuality of each member of the community.

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perspective of different cultures and traditions. What better language to introduce than the one spoken by our largest minority group in the U.S.—Hispanics.

The entire Lower School was involved in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month. Kindergarten classrooms played the I Have a Dream speech, a peace march was held at lunch and there were dramatic readings, a reader’s theater presentation and numerous daily lessons on respect and courage.

Multiculturalism is celebrated in art and music classes. Students decorated the Lower School hallways with different forms of artistic expression during the Black History Month. Our First Graders recently learned Geef Jij mij die Schoen, a singing game from the Netherlands and sang or listened to songs with feline themes originating from Hungary, Italy and the Hopi Native Americans.

Middle SchoolSeveral years ago members of the Middle School faculty along with DFRC (Delaware Foundation Reaching Citizens with Intellectual disABILITIES) created a now mandatory Octave program called disAbilities Awareness. It is designed to help students understand that people with disabilities are just like the rest of us, provide students with the opportunity to meet and share fun activities with people of many ages who have disabilities and introduce them to individuals in our community who work either professionally or as volunteers to improve the quality of life for people living with a disability. In an article in Diversity From Within last year, former Middle School Head John Newlin said, “In the four years the program has run, every student has had the opportunity to meet and work/play with people who have cognitive disorders at such places as the

Richardson Park Learning Center, the Brennen School for students with autism, and the Sterck School for the Deaf.”

Another mandatory Octave program is called Teens which provides Eighth Graders the opportunity to discuss how values play an integral role in good decision making, hot teen topics and multicultural issues.

Middle School students are also quite involved in a variety of multicultural and community service activities. Last year, Seventh Graders wrote letters to soldiers in Iraq and to Holocaust survivors. Eighth Graders have buddies from the East Side Charter School in Wilmington whom they mentor and engage in group activities and events at both schools.

Upper SchoolThe Diversity Club is one of the most active clubs in the Upper School. Members meet almost weekly and attend multiple conferences throughout the year. In early December, six of our top student leaders attended NAIS’ Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC), the most well-known and largest student diversity conference in the nation. During the four-day conference, students explored the themes of identity and various angles of diversity. They were encouraged to reflect personally, act locally and think globally. After the conference, the students shared their skills and knowledge with their peers and held an Upper School student-led diversity assembly. They also attend other regional conferences like the Springside All-For-One Conference and the McDonogh School of Baltimore Diversity Conference. For the last two years, our students have led workshops at the Springside conference.

In February 2008 students organized

and held the first student diversity leadership conference in the region. Nine schools from Delaware and Pennsylvania were present for a full day of speakers, small-group discussions and a number of group exercises led by students.

This past March the Diversity and GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) Clubs, along with the Office of Multiculturalism, organized Tower Hill’s first Multicultural Film Festival. The event featured four thought-provoking films under the genres of foreign, multicultural and diversity club selection. Each film was introduced and followed by a student-led discussion.

The Tower Hill Forum series is another great venue for meaningful multicultural education and discussion. This year’s theme America in the 60s has sparked discussions on civil rights and the Kennedy presidency. Three years ago, the Forum’s theme was dedicated to diversity and entitled Restructuring Diversity: Access to Opportunity. Over the years the Forum has hosted extraordinary speakers such as foreign ambassadors, Martin Luther King III and Congressman John Lewis on topics from civil and women’s rights to peace in the Middle East.

Looking to the Future We look forward to continuing our efforts to recognize, understand and respect the distinct identity, dignity and individuality of each member of our community. For updated information about our diversity initiatives, go to www.towerhill.org and click on About Tower Hill and then Diversity at Tower Hill where you’ll find our diversity statement, recent news and announcements, past diversity newsletters and valuable links for students, parents and alumni.

If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize

the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place. Margaret Mead, American Cultural Anthropologist

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New Roles...making a differenceAmy Bickhart, Assistant Head of Lower School Educators like Amy Bickhart enable us to affect institutional change at Tower Hill. As assistant head of the Lower School, Amy continues as a teacher in our Prekindergarten program. Of Amy’s fifteen years in education, seven of those have been in the Lower School at Tower Hill. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Education degree with focus on Elementary Education.

Amy works with the Lower School head and Lower School faculty in various ways. In preparation for the implementation of a full day Prekindergarten program, Amy’s effort, energy and enthusiasm assisted faculty in completing the necessary work. Through collaboration with Jean Snyder, Lower School teacher, and other Lower School faculty, Amy initiated the development of the Tower Tots three-year-old program. Tower Tots adheres to the guidelines of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and flows seamlessly into our Lower School program at Tower Hill.

As the Lower School liaison for the After School program, Amy collaborates with Natalia Vekker, Director of After School, and plays a role in facilitating the bridge between the Lower School and After School Program.

Amy continues her fine work with the Admission Office in coordinating the Pre-School Admission process through the Prekindergarten and Kindergarten coordinators, Lower School psychologist and head of Lower School.

Susan Kelly, Director of Annual GivingSusan comes to us from the University of Delaware where she was the director of annual giving and development services. Susan supervised a staff responsible for increasing gifts and donors through annual giving appeals, as well as managing the university’s donor database and gift processing operations. Susan managed the creation of the donor relations program to help ensure proper stewardship of endowed funds, and she oversaw the leadership giving societies. Prior to working for the University of Delaware, Susan was the development manager for the National MS Society in Wilmington. Susan’s son Sean, now in his second year at Tower Hill, moved up to our Kindergarten class in the fall.

Trisha Medeiros, Dean of Students and Service Learning CoordinatorThe role of dean of students has undergone a number of changes over the years. In fact, at one point, it totally disappeared! Such is not the case today, and it actually is a role that has been expanded for this year.

Ms. Trisha Medeiros has worn many hats in her time at Tower Hill: librarian, director of community service, dean of Grades 9 and 10, teacher of the service learning course in the Upper School. She now teaches one section of American History to the Eleventh Grade. In her role as dean of students for the entire Upper School, she is responsible for student life—academic performance of students, discipline and student activities, including community service. She also coordinates the advisor system for students.

The comprehensive dean of students’ role is a return to the way it was many years ago, but the added service responsibilities are new. Ms. Medeiros must have more than 24 hours in her days.

Natalia Vekker, Director of After School Program What excitement there was when Tower Hill parents toured the beautifully renovated After School (Extended Day) facility at the beginning of this school year! That excitement continues as our parents see the happy faces of their children at day’s end, receive consistent communications and note homework practices that reinforce the work of the school day. Under the very competent direction of Natalia Vekker, the After School Program reflects the practices and values of our Lower and Middle Schools.

Natalia Vekker has been an educator for 23 years and an educator at Tower Hill School for 18 years. Upon the retirement of Carol Trippitelli last spring, Ms. Vekker was named director of the After School program. Natalia holds a Master of Science degree in Business and Accounting and accreditation in Early Childhood Education. She works closely with Amy Bickhart, Assistant Head of Lower School, and Jacquelyn Hamilton, Head of Lower School, to effectively bridge the Lower School and After School programs. Our After School program continues to develop under Natalia Vekker’s caring and supportive leadership.

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E arly in life Paul Capodanno learned how important and rewarding it is to be passionate about his work while developing strong relationships with the people he came in contact with on a daily basis. His mother “Mrs. Cap” was a teacher and administrator at Ursuline Academy and his father a teacher and guidance counselor at Conrad High School and Brandywine High School. Before arriving at Tower Hill this past July, Paul spent 13 rewarding years at Centreville School where he was Assistant Head of School responsible for admission and financial aid, summer programs and intramural/interscholastic athletic programs. Known for ensuring that students, parents and faculty were valued and respected, he has enjoyed developing the same rewarding relationships since his arrival at Tower Hill last summer.

As the new director of the summer program, Paul is excited to introduce a wonderful opportunity for children when they participate in the new summer program being offered at Tower Hill beginning in June 2009. Summer at Tower Hill will provide children with an enriching summer experience while enjoying a break from the rigors of the school year. The program is open to Tower Hill families as well as the community and will allow parents the option to choose summer experiences for their children in the areas of academics, enrichment, athletics and day camp. The academic review courses will provide students the opportunity to reinforce skills learned during the past year and/or help students get a head start for the coming year in a pressure-free environment. Enrichment classes will be designed to be fun, stimulate curiosity and encourage a love of learning. Athletic camps will provide students the opportunity to participate in specific sports to develop their individual skills. Finally, the day camp will be filled with numerous fun,

Coming June 2009: Summer at Tower Hillhands-on activities. Both day camp and athletic camps provide the option for early morning and late afternoon care.

Summer at Tower Hill will be held on the state-of-art Tower Hill campus, which includes the recently renovated athletic fields, playgrounds and After Care building. The Arts Center, Music building and classrooms will provide facilities unparalleled in the area for summer learning. Most importantly, the teachers and counselors involved in the program—the majortiy are Tower Hill faculty—have been carefully chosen for their expertise and passion, as well as their ability to develop positive relationships with children while bringing their subject material alive in a way that is engaging and entertaining.

Parents and alumni are encouraged to share the word with extended family and friends about the summer opportunities soon to be available at Tower Hill. For additional information on Summer at Tower Hill, go to www.towerhill.org and click on Summer Programs.

Academic ReviewThe academic review classes will be available to students in Grade 1-8 from June 22-July 17. The 4-week sessions will be held from 8:30-10:00 a.m. Monday-Friday. Class sizes will be small to allow for individual and small group instruction. Academic review classes planned for the summer are Reading, Writing, Mathematics and Study Skills.

Enrichment ClassesThe enrichment classes will be available to students in Prekindergarten-Grade 12 from June 22-August 14. The classes will be offered in 2-week sessions, and most classes will be held from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Monday-Friday. The following enrichment classes will be offered this summer:

• Art • Cooking • Drama

• Foreign Language • Literature and Creative Writing • Music • Prep Courses • College Essay Writing • Prekindergarten/ Kindergarten Readiness • SAT/ACT Preps • Science • Sports • Technology/Photography • Woodworking

Athletic CampsWeekly sports camps will be offered to children in Grades 4-9 from June 15- July 31. The camps will run daily from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. with optional early morning and late afternoon care available from 7:30- 8:30 a.m. and 2:30-5:30 p.m., respectively. The following have been planned for the athletic camps:

• Baseball • Boys’ Lacrosse • Field Hockey • Football • Girls’ Lacrosse • Boys’/Girls’ Soccer • Sports Plus (a variety of different sports)

Day Camp A theme-based day camp will be offered for children in Prekindergarten-Grade 8 from June 15-August 14. The option of half-day and full-day camp will be available. The camp will run from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday with optional early morning and late afternoon care available from 7:30-8:30 a.m. and 2:30-5:30 p.m., respectively. Day camp activities will include thematic activities, arts and crafts, cooking, swimming, field trips and more!

For information, go to www.towerhill.org or contact Paul Capodanno at 302-472-7370 or [email protected]

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1. Sandy Wang, Head of Lower School from 1989-2006, cuts the ribbon at the dedication of the new Lower School playground on September 5, 2008. The playground was dedicated in honor of her service and commitment to Tower Hill and its youngest students.

2. The Upper School Choral group, under the direction of Jack Burnam, presented their winter concert on December 17.

3. Fourth Graders enjoyed playing the drums during their trip to Williamsburg in 2008. This year celebrates the 41st year that the school has traveled to Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg.

4. The field hockey team captured its fourth straight state title last November, tying the national record for the most high school state championships.

5. As part of the disABILITIES Awareness course, Seventh Graders participate in a giant parachute activity with students from the Meadowbrook Program at H.B. du Pont Middle School.

6. The Upper School presented Creep Show, a series of three short, scary plays, during the Halloween weekend.

7. The 80th annual Tree Trim, one of the many traditions remaining at Tower Hill, proved to be a special event for all divisions of the school.

8. The First and Second Grade students perform Under the Sea, a musical written and choreographed by Lower School Music teacher, Sara Bush.

9. Robert Dallek, U.S. historian and biographer of John F. Kennedy, was one of nine outstanding Forum speakers this year on the topic “America in the ’60s.” The Tower Hill Forum is in its 11th year and has been possible by the generosity of the Rappolt family in honor of Gabrielle ’93, Sarah ’96 and Bill ’99, and in recognition of the dedication, scholarship and professionalism of the Tower Hill faculty.

10. The Blue and Gold Club and the Diversity Club joined forces this year to sponsor the Blue and Gold Fashion Show and International Dinner. The event raised funds for the Delaware Foundation Reaching Citizens with Intellectual disABILITIES.

11. Second Graders proudly show their voting cards during the Lower School Election in November.

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memories of those we had known. The irrepressible Pat Williams emceed the sharing part of the program, where he asked classmates to relate their defining moment at Tower Hill—what anecdotes!

The following classmates and spouses attended: Alice Beasley Hupfel and Petey Edmiston, Joan and Larry Beck, Pat and Walt Brayman, Pat and Larry Burdick, Liz Evans and John Caggiano, Amy Chase and Dickey Rust, Molly Chase Wiellette, Stephanie Conklin and ruly Carpenter, Shirley and Terry Corkran, Susan and rob Flint, Betsy Henry Caldwell, Julie Johnson Lindquist and Carl, Janet and Bob Kidd, Pat and Henry Law, Carolyn Lewis Richmond and Stew, Cynthia Lewis LaMothe and Jack, Ann Lunger Jones, Dorothy and David nichols, Laverne and Bill robertson, Penny Wright Smith, Peggy and Merwyn Soash, Doris and Stan Stager, Margie and Hunt Stockwell, Bob and Alice Warner Donaghy, and Pat Williams.

The weekend was a huge success and reminded us of how deep our roots and affection for our classmates go.

T he Class of l958 began its historic half-century celebration at Homecoming Weekend on October 17—what a super reunion it was! Friday night Rob Flint generously opened his childhood home to smiles, hugs and rich conversations, which were enhanced by a delicious catered dinner and appropriate free-flowing beverages. Saturday morning began with tennis and a 5K-run for early birds, followed by a tour of “Tower Hill today” with Headmaster Chris Wheeler and most aptly led by Associate Headmaster Harry Baetjer, bringing many of us nearly to our knees as we admired with relish the facilities, art work, concepts of education and handling the challenges of teaching in today’s competitive and technical worlds. Our Senior Room of yore did have much more charm and animation than the current more staid space. The school offered a barbecue lunch en plein air next to the Alumni House that was followed by grandstand athletic events and/or a lovely docent-lead tour of the Delaware Art Museum,

a half-century celebration

arranged by Alice Beasley Hupfel. All reunion classes were invited by the school to a social hour in the Lower Lobby of the P.S. du Pont Arts Center: there piano music and professional cameras captured us in our cross- section of life—Hillers sporting garb from mod to mood, depending on the years beyond Tower Hill. The school honored our class by treating us to a fine dinner at the Wilmington Country Club. We sincerely thank Kathy Warner, Acting Director of Development, for her interest, help and goodwill in making us feel so welcome and keeping us organized.

Sadly, the most enthusiastic of our anticipated “reunioners,” Sarah Worthington Greening, whose proposed class questionnaire elicited sayings and secrets that were then mailed from England to all participants, was unable to attend due to her husband’s illness— a real bummer.

During our dinner, the names of our deceased classmates were read, and those present were able to offer

By Dave Nichols ’58, Julie Johnson Lindquist ’58, members of the 50th Reunion Committee

5Oth Reunion

The Class of 1958 pictured at the Homecoming Alumni Reception on October18.

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a half-century celebration

Alumni events in 2008 ranged from sporting and social events on campus to regional receptions throughout the year. Our goal has been to nurture and deepen the connections between alumni and with Tower Hill School.

We are always looking to create events and programs that will appeal to all ages, and we appreciate your feedback and suggestions.

Alumni Events

1. The golf carts line up for the start of the alumni golf outing at Hartefeld National Golf Club.

2. Alumni joined in the 2nd annual alumni field hockey game played on the new turf surface of Richardson Field. Joining alumni are Patty Marshall, Associate Director of Athletics (back row, far left); Wiz Montaigne Applegate ’79 and Betty Richardson, Girls’ Athletic Director 1951-1996 (back row, far right).

3. Alumni and their families, students, faculty and friends take off at the starting line for the Homecoming 5K Run/Walk on October 18. The fall weather was perfect for the weekend of events.

4. Get ready! Get set! Go! Homecoming 2008 was kicked off on the new track of DeGroat Field with the fun run for kids.

5. Alisha Wayman Bryson ’91, Alumni Council President 2007-8, and Monty Hayman ’87, Alumni Council President 2008-9, at the golf outing June 2008.

6. Participants of the June 2008 golf outing enjoy cocktails and a buffet at Hartefeld National Golf Club following the day of golf.

7. Tower Hill’s annual golf outing for alumni, parents and friends was held on June 3, 2008, at beautiful Hartefeld National Golf Club. From left to right: Barbara Gehret, Cherry Gillespie, Tory Diffenderffer and Peg Weymouth.

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john’s notes

1959 50th Reunion YearSallie and Andrew “Sandy” Smith are happily retired in southern Alabama, right nearby to grandchildren. Sallie pursues her love of teaching by tutoring young children with learning problems while Sandy volunteers for conservation organizations. When he is not doing that he is fishing: “the catching is sometimes slow, but the fishing is always good.” We expect to see them both back here next October for a big reunion.

1960Gail Rothrock Trozzo was so happy to have the support of some classmates and friends at the memorial service for her mother last December. She specifically mentioned Terry Collison and Barbara Dawson Streuli, as well as friends Nancy Keith LeFevre ’53 and Alice Beasley Hupfel ’58.

1961We have received word from Jock Hannum that they all had a great day on October 10, 2008 when his son Jordie ’94 married Kim Cook, a wonderful young lady from Hadley, Massachusetts.

1963Tillie Page Laird continues her travels around the world. “After visiting Finland and Russia in June, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a party in London in October followed by another trip to London in December. In January/February we’re off to Argentina, Antarctica, the Faulkland and South Georgia Islands.”

1966The picture below of Barbara Bours Brady, Debby Jones Engel, and Anne Oldach, all in the Class of 1966, was taken in Blue Hill, Maine, where the three classmates got together.

1927Elizabeth Bailey Siner enjoyed Christmas in Richmond with the Paton girls and her seven great-grandsons and one granddaughter.

1949 60th Reunion YearMary Whiteside Dewey’s days and travel are centered on painting, from France and the Loire to Kennett Square and later Whitby Island.

1950Nancy Ritter Raftery has been busy with graduations recently. In Scottsdale, Arizona, two grandchildren graduated last spring, a boy from ASU and a girl from high school who is now attending Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. She also wrote a while ago to tell us she had two grandchildren at the Severn School, and the headmaster there is former Hiller Doug Lagarde ’80.

1952Joe Mosbrook recently published a book Looking Back at Eagles Mere, a history of the small community near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which he and his family used to visit during the summer months.

1954 55th Reunion YearThis is a reminder that the class has its own website—www.towerhill1954.com—with “juliajones” of special interest. Charles Atkinson asks classmates to leave a note in the Guest Registry.

1955Diana Wardenburg Maxmin seems to be enjoying life in the Wilmington area. “I am retired—playing bridge, chasing grandchildren and volunteering with the U.S. Probation Office.

1956 Carol McGrew Getty, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Park University in Parksville, Missouri, was awarded a Fulbright grant to teach in the Ukraine in 2008. She taught at the Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, helped develop curriculum and programs and consulted.

Barbara Bours Brady ’66, her husband Bob Brady and Mrs. Bours view artwork by guest artist Mark Turner in the P.S. du Pont Arts Center.

Friends from the Class of 1966, including Barbara Bours Brady, Debby Jones Engel and Anne Oldach, met in Blue Hill, Maine.

once again this year we’ve enjoyed hearing from alumni around the world about what’s going on in their lives. We encourage you to share your news with other hillers and now it’s easier than ever. just email us at [email protected].

I hope you enjoy reading the following pages.

F r o m t h e d e s k o F

1967We learn from Dr. Lynn Gamble, Professor of Anthropology at San Diego State University, that she has had a new book published about the Chumash Indians of the Santa Barbara Channel region.

1968The Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia honored Gil Birney as the Collegiate Coach of the Year last May. Birney has been the rowing coach at Bowdoin since 1995, where his infectious energy and leadership have propelled the Polar Bear crew teams to unprecedented successes. In 2003 in the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta in London the Bowdoin women raced to the semifinals and the men to the quarterfinals in the international races.

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hit. I was the creative executive for these spots. It was really fun and a great way to teach people about issues of Burma.”

1973Cheryl Rusten is now “doggedly” searching for a new position in non-profit management in Philadelphia, having left the Pew Charitable Trusts. Allegra Hamman has just finished her Master’s degree in Herbal Medicine. In the January 13 edition of the Greenville Commmunity News there was a cover article about Paul Hughes and his “Great Green Home Show” on WILM radio here in Wilmington. Paul is devoting lots of his time to educating people in how to live a “greener” life, not just in recycling household goods but even to investing in companies which practice a “socially responsible” stewardship in the environment. Jeannette Brokaw Lindvig writes that the Class of ’73 thoroughly enjoyed their 35th reunion with 24 alums and spouses attending dinner at Buckleys and 25 joining the group for breakfast at Longwood Gardens.

JOHN’S NOTES

1970Steven Director is still in private practice in Wilmington and also serves as vice-chair of the Tax Appeal Board of the state of Delaware and was recently elected chair of Planned Parenthood of Delaware.

1971After many years at Tulane University, Dr. Richard Hart has moved to Ohio State University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. On November 5, 2008, he was involved in a panel discussion in honor of the 10th anniversary of John Glenn’s historic return to space. The topic of the discussion was “Engineering and Medicine: The Prescription for an Aging Population.” Prudence Fenton asks us to check out her latest project at www.burmaitcantwait.org. She said that originally they made these spots to educate people about what was going on in Burma and other regions. “We launched the campaign May 1 and then a day later the cyclone

1974 35th Reunion YearMilda Castner writes that she is looking forward to the next Tower Hill reunion, and in the meantime she seems busy enough with her law practice, her horses and dogs, her husband and two sons (one in college, one in high school). Last September the DuPont Company tapped Ellen Jamison Kullman as its next chief executive, giving the company its first woman at the top spot in its 206-year history and a new leader to push forward an institution reshaped under Charles O. Holliday Jr. She served as president and director starting October 1, then took over as CEO on January 1. Kullman currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Tower Hill School.

1975Jim Ehret was married in Wilmington on June 21, 2008, to Lori Sullivan. Both extended families, including Jim’s two children (Mike, 16; Jen, 13) and Lori’s one (Cattie, 16) were in attendance.

The Class of 1973 continued their 35th reunion celebration at Buckley’s Tavern on October 25, 2008. Attendees included and Kirk and Jeannette Brokaw Lindvig ’73, Teresa and Nick Tepe ’73, Dave and Adele Ashley Axon ’73, Kate Edgar ’73, Rusty Rusten ’73, Holly Hoopes Hudimac ’73, Rick Gay ’73, Rick Cairns ’73, Allegra Hamman ’73 and Doug Schmidt, Jack Egan ’73, Jeff Kreshtool ’73, David Shields ’73, Wendy and Larry Knotts ’73, Trudi Brock ’73, Pannill Taylor ’73, Ivy and Jim Fairbrother ’73, Bob Cannon ’73, Joe Arminio ’73.

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JOHN’S NOTES

1977Susan Dickson is the Chief Groundskeeper of the Woodbury Forest School in Virginia.

1979 30th Reunion YearTy Roberts was inducted into the Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame at a banquet held November 25, 2008, at The Terrace at Greenhill, becoming the seventh Tower Hill member of the Hall. He won eight state championships in the jumping events, four in the triple jump. His 49’ 2” triple jump broke the state record of Ken Williams ’76 (and was subsequently broken by current record-holder, Mike Roberts ’98, at 49’ 5½”). His 23’ 9” long jump in 1979 was the longest in Delaware history. In his senior year, he

was first-team all-state running back in football, became the leading scorer in Tower Hill basketball history, won the Penn Relays triple jump and was named Delaware’s athlete of the year by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Ty was introduced by his former coach, Bob Behr. Others at the ceremony were classmates Dan Knotts ’79 and Wiz Montaigne Applegate ’79, teammate Williams, and faculty members John Pierson ’59, Steve Hyde ’59, Harry Baetjer, George Stetson, Deb Kaiser and Bob King. Master of ceremonies was Chuck Durante ’69. Also honored at the banquet was the 1972 University of Delaware mile relay team, anchored by Ed Mongan ’69, whose 3:14.2 remains the university record. Tower Hill is also represented among the 89 Hall inductees by Chuck Hobbs ’65, Ginger Smith ’66, Jeff Brokaw ’69, Ed Mongan ’69, Ken Williams ’76 and coach Bob Behr.

1980There was an article in the recent trade publication Pharma Voice about Adriann Weiler Sax listed under the heading of “100 Most Inspiring People.” She has been recognized for her ability to motivate and spark enthusiasm and is rapidly rising up the ranks in the pharmaceutical business. “Every person who works with Adriann Sax gets to experience an environment that supports confidence, education and fun.” Marion Grover Radin and her husband just spent six months living in Beijing. Her twin daughters, born in China, attended a Chinese elementary school and are now fluent in that language.

1981Talley Brown stops in at Tower Hill from time to time and continues to tutor small children in the area.

1983Lt. Col. Eric Brumskill has checked in again from Hawaii to bring us up to date on his family and his career plans. On July 28 he and his wife Tracy welcomed their son Darius Elika Lee into the world, and both mother and son are doing well. Eric is still stationed at Hickam AFB, fast approaching his 20 years of service but will continue his career with the USAF until he does

or does not make “full bird colonel.” Apparently he sometimes steps on toes and is not always politically correct—hard to believe, Brum! He also wrote us that he had a fabulous time at the 25th reunion with Tracy and Darius by his side. If anyone makes it to Waipahu, Hawaii, give him a call.

1984 25th Reunion YearLarry Beckler, a lawyer in NYC, writes that recently Alison Cashman Contento came to the big city to film a safety training video for NYC public schools and included Big L’s son Harrison in the shoot. Maybe he’s a star in the making!

1985, 1987Yours truly bumped into Sandy and Stark Thompson, parents of Doug ’85 and Gregg ’87, recently at Brewsters in Hockessin, and it was fun catching up with each other and the children. She told of her latest grandchild (see Births) and stated that both Tower Hill grads are doing well.

1988Dr. William Bailey is now an Associate Professor at Columbia University in the Applied Physics Department. Andrew Dickson is an Upper School English teacher at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, a “born teacher” according to his mother.

1989 20th Reunion YearGreg Weinig took the time to write announcing the birth of his daughter Lucy who joins her now three-year-old brother Henry.

1990It was a good year for Ashley Altschuler. He made partner in his law firm in January 2008, and his wife Shoshana gave birth to Hudson Ashley, a boy, on December 18, 2008. Hudson’s big sister Lily seems happy with the new addition. Lilly attends International Preschool. Fleming McCoy Ackerman enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving meal with classmate Braxton Jones Lynch in Paris, Kentucky, on her horse farm. “Nothing has changed since she still reminds me to wear boots on a farm.” Tripp Leonard married Julie Tucker in Richmond, Virginia with loads of Hillers on hand on April 26, 2008.

The annual Healthcorps Benefit held in April 2008 in New York City to raise funds for health care awareness programs sponsored by Healthcorps for the public school system in America. The event raised over $1.5 million to invest in special health, nutritional and fitness education programs. From left to right: Seval (Mimi) Oz Ozveren ’79, Lisa and Mehmet Oz ’78, New York Nets basketball star John Sparks, Fashion Designer Donna Karan, Mary Ann Kelly ’79, Dot Kent and Multi-Grammy award winning singer LL Cool J.

Ty Roberts ’79, pictured with Bob Behr, was inducted in the Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame.

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Spring 2009Tower Hill Bulletin

share information on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator with a 27 km circumference that crosses the border between France and Switzerland. Dr. Timi Lee also visited the Upper School biology classes last October. She currently works in Manhattan as a Veterinary General Practitioner. Dr. Lee explained the many procedures she performs daily. Having studied in the same biology lab 10 years ago, Dr. Lee demonstrated how biology has shaped her career.

1999 10th Reunion YearPaul Stemniski is a research engineer with Wright Medical Technology, Inc. in Arlington, Tennessee. His work in the implant division focuses on knee implants. Daniel Oren is with the Navy Band and is a versatile musician for NATO Band as well. He auditioned for the Navy Band at the U.S. Naval Academy in May 2006 and was accepted on the piano and the trumpet.

2000Aileen Heiman is spending the year in Jerusalem, working on her Masters in Jewish Education.

2001Heidi Johnson has been hired as a pediatric sleep nurse at CHOP while her twin sister Heather Johnson Pitamber and her husband have moved to San Antonio. Morgan Hendry is a rocket scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system located at the California Institute of Technology. JPL spacecrafts have visited all known planets except Pluto.

2003It’s great that moms often keep in touch with us when alums do not. Word comes from Chris Livadas about her three sons…After graduating from Johns Hopkins in 2007, Peter Livadas is living and working in Washington, D.C. (and playing hockey with Jake DuPont). Jonathan ’05 is in his Senior year at Dartmouth, playing lacrosse and majoring in Economics. Christopher ’07 is in his sophomore year at Cornell, playing lacrosse and enrolled in the well-known Hotel School. Amanda Schuckert has

JOHN’S NOTES

1991 Elizabeth Noseworthy Fitzsimmons and her husband Trevor are happily settled in New Delhi, India where she is spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy. She would love to see some Hillers over there but realizes that that may not happen often. Alison Behr received her MFA in photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design after a ten-year teaching career at St. George’s School in Rhode Island.

1993Labor Day Weekend 2008 was the wedding of Carmen Wallace to Leigh Ferrin in Seattle, Washington. In addition to groomsmen Bardis Vakili and Mark Smolko, other Hillers in attendance were Eric (Gizmo) Galuskin, Matt Little, Abbi Keller, and Tucker Pierson. Yours truly was thrilled to be a part of the festivities and thoroughly enjoyed the whole affair from the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island for the wonderful Friday night picnic to the Saturday evening wedding in downtown Seattle. Whoever said that Carmen can’t sing and dance! Charles Page is proud to announce the adoption of his daughter Scarlett, born in June 2007. She came home with the Pages in March 2008.

1995Though it is rather late news (see Births!) Trip Black and Nicole (Wilmington Friends School ’96) were married August 12, 2006, at the Greenville Country Club. Their son Tucker was born April 24, 2008.

1997Heather Weymouth Lowry recently began the MBA program at the University of Colorado.

1998 Brian Smigielski talked to the Tower Hill physics and biology students on October 20. Brian graduated from John Hopkins and is currently working on his doctorate at the University of Washington. He is studying Quantum Chromodynamics at the University of Washington. Brian came back to Tower Hill School as part of his 10-year reunion and extended his stay to

been working at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston after graduating from Boston University. She has been accepted to the University of Pennsylvania Vet School for fall 2009.

2004 5th Reunion YearRosalind Lynam continues to get so much out of her college career. As with so many of our graduates, she does much more than just go to classes with an occasional travel abroad. As her mom wrote a couple of years ago, Ros is at American University in the School of International Service and has volunteered with school programs in Slovakia, Honduras and Bolivia. She then studied in Havana for a spring semester. In addition she worked in a law office, “vetting” material for then Presidential nominee Obama. Her plate has been very full.

2008Anna Teruya was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches’ Association (NFHCA) Division III All-New England East Region first team. While MIT has placed at least one student-athlete on the All-Region team in each of the past five seasons, Teruya is the first freshman in program history to earn this distinction. Starting all 19 games this season for the Engineers, Teruya ranked second on the team in goals (nine) and points (21). Both of those totals ranked her third among all NEWMAC freshmen. The NFHCA honor follows Teruya’s selection to the NEWMAC first team All-Conference last week. Sports Illustrated magazine recognized Caitlin Van Sickle for receiving state player of the year in both field hockey and lacrosse, for achieving 53 goals and 26 assists in lacrosse and 26 goals in field hockey her senior year, and for leading Tower Hill to state titles in both sports. Caitlin joined the University of North Carolina field hockey team this past fall.

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john’s notes

BirthsIt’s a Boy1983 Darius Elika Lee to Tracy and Eric Brumskill on July 28, 2008

1990 Hudson Ashley Altschuler to Shoshana and Ashley Altschuler on December 18, 2008

1992 Caleb Paul to Monica and Chris Ward on May 20, 2008

1993 Willcox Mott Elliott to Tucker Pierson and Travis Elliott on January 21, 2009

1995 Tucker Lewis to Nicole and Trip Black on April 24, 2008

Weddings1990 Trip Leonard to Julie Tucker in April 2007

1993 Carmen Wallace to Leigh Ferrin on August 30, 2008

1995 Trip Black to Nicole on August 12, 2006

DeathsMary Atkinson George ’55 on May 31, 2008

Joseph M. Barsky Jr. ’40 on January 25, 2009

Ruth Booker Ellis ’33 on May 3, 2008

David Braunstein ’40 on October 4, 2008

Baird C. Brittingham ’49 on March 2, 2009

Barbara Brown Cheetham ’39 on October 20, 2008

Henry W. Bryan ’30 on May 15, 2008

Edmund N. Carpenter II ’39 on December 19, 2008

John D. Carroll ’81 on March 6, 2009

Charles R. Ellis Jr. ’53 on May 4, 2008

F. James Funk Jr. ’37 on December 6, 2008

Frances P. Hardy ’69 in March 2009

Scott E. Hedley ’69, on April 30, 2008

Karen B. Knox ’71 on August 16, 2008

Rosa Laird McDonald ’34 on January 3, 2009

Wilhelmina Laird Craven ’34 on July 30, 2008

Diane Marvin Grant ’47 on September 13, 2008

Ruth Reese Cox ’32 on June 11, 2008

Sally S. Rinard ’62 on June 11, 2008

Webster B. Ulin ’51, on September 29, 2008

William E. Weisbrod ’55 on September 20, 2008

Former FacultyCalvin L. Bourgeault on January 17, 2009

Tom Hartmann on November 7, 2007

It’s a Girl1985 Valerie Stark to Natalie and Doug Thompson on May 22, 2008

1989 Lucy Brock to Elizabeth and Greg Weinig on St. Patrick’s Day, 2008

1989 Elena Brynn to Tina and Steuart Markley in February, 2008

1993 Scarlett Marian Mi-Hui was adopted by Charles Page and his wife in June, 2007

1998 Eleanor Anne to Megan Callahan and Matthew Kelty on September 23, 2008

Trip Black ’95 and his wife Nicole were elated about the birth of their baby boy Tucker Lewis Black in April 2008.

Attendees of Trip Black’s wedding from left to right: John Raymond, Meredith Perny ’96, Geoff Bucknum, Rosalie Bucknum, David Larned ’95, Sarah Larned, Trip Black ’95, Nicole Black, Carrie Raymond ’95, Tina Pragoff, Craig Zeisloft ’96, David Pragoff ’95, Rory Glaeseman ’95 and former Tower Hill headmaster Tim Golding.

Attendees of the wedding of Carmen Wallace ’93 in August 2008 in Seattle. Seated: Benjamin Wagner, Abbi Keller Wagner ’93, Leigh Wallace (bride), Tucker Pierson ’93. Standing: Jody Vakili, Bardis Vakili ’93, Mark Smolko ’93, Carmen Wallace ’93 (groom), Matt Little ’93, Travis Elliott, Erik Galuskin ’93, John Pierson ’59.

Tower Hill alumnae, supporters and students enjoying the wedding of Tripp Leonard ’90 and Julie Tucker in Richmond, Virginia from left to right: Barbara Mitchell, Betsy Williams, Allison Crowe Stautberg ’85, David Williams ’53, Emsy Tepe ’96, Emily Tepe, Rhett Mitchell ’91, Julie Tucker Leonard, Virginia Lee Leonard, John Tepe ’65, Abby Podolsky ’17, Maggie Podolsky ’19, Lee Leonard Podolsky ’85, Andy Podolsky, Tripp Leonard ’90, Therese and “E”(Ed) Dennis ’90, Jane and Rob Crowe ’90, Dan Flynn ’89, Stacy and Michael Gummey ’90, Sally and Steve Hyde ’59. Top Row: Holly Mitchell ’85, Patrick Leonard, Jen and Rory Conway ’90.

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L ast fall students in the Seventh Grade wrote to Lance Corporal Alan “Hunter” Fellows, who was serving on the front lines in Afghanistan. The young Marine attended Tower Hill during Lower School, a fact that helped bring the reality of soldiers fighting in an all-too-real war closer to home.

More than a month after the letters had been mailed to Hunter, they were returned to Tower Hill unopened. The package was then hand-delivered to Hunter’s mother, who lives in Wilmington, for her to forward to his new address. What a surprise to discover that Hunter was, in fact, home on a very short leave and could receive the letters in person right then and there!

Hunter devoured the letters, laughing, smiling, getting choked up at the wonderful words and wishes from Tower Hill’s Seventh Graders. Without being asked, he then volunteered to come into Tower Hill the next morning to surprise the Seventh Grade, thank them for their letters, art work and cards, and answer their questions about his life in the service. How serendipitous it was, too, that the day that this appreciative young Marine came to school to visit—November 10—was also the birthday of the United States Marine Corp, which was founded on November 10, 1775 in Philadelphia.

What follows is a sampling of their words, excerpted from their often long and frequently decorated letters:

I hope the war is over soon, and once again, thanks for keeping the United States safe.

Sincerely, Michael

What is it like to be at war? My family has a long history of military service. My great-great grandfather was a Five-star

General in WWII, and my great uncle was also an Admiral in the war. My uncle recently left the Navy, and my grandfather was in the Marines. I can’t imagine the courage it takes to fight in a war. I don’t think I could do it. How much food and water do you get per day? What are the sleeping arrangements like?

From, William

This is my first year at Tower Hill, and I love it! My favorite part is the food. How’s the food in Afghanistan? I hope that it isn’t too bad…Thank you so much for serving our country. It takes a really dedicated and brave person to do that, and I admire you very much!

Sincerely, Alexa

So what is life in Afghanistan like? Is it horrible, boring and hot? Where do you sleep at night? In a tent? I wish you luck in the world, and I hope you had a wonderful birthday.

Your pal, Nate

First of all, I want to thank you for your time you are giving to save my freedom and protect our country…I can’t imagine how scary it must be to find yourself so far from home and in danger every minute of the day. Maybe it will help to know that we are thinking about you and praying for you and all the other soldiers. I’ve always heard that soldiers become more like brothers because they depend on each other and protect each other.

Your friend, McKinsey

Thank you for serving in the Marines to protect your country. I admire your courage. Is it true you can take a computer apart and then put it all back together? That must take a lot of concentration and focus. Does it ever get lonely being over there all the time and away from your family at home? Have you ever been injured in the line of fire? What do you get to do when you aren’t fighting? Do you read? Is there any television over there? Are there video games? I love video games….

Sincerely, Patrick

What is it like to be a Marine? My dad always says that I would make a horrible Marine or other soldier because it is impossible to get me out of bed in the morning….

Your friend, Zach

I have a cousin who is in the Army in Iraq, and it is really hard, knowing he is in danger, but I just think good thoughts…I was just wondering if you ever get scared or homesick in Afghanistan. I get homesick a lot when I am sleeping over at a friend’s house, so I cannot imagine what you are going through.

Your friend, Jamie

…My last question is: does everyone have to have a really short military haircut?

Sincerely, Mia

…To me, you are a hero. Whenever you feel down, remember that there is always hope.

Your pal, David

Just keep this in mind: there are people looking out for you in the world, and I’m one of them!

Your friend, Sammy

Seventh Graders Write To A Soldier “In Harm’s Way” By Gale Flynn, Middle School English Teacher

Lance Corporal Alan “Hunter” Fellows

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john’s notes

Faculty/Staff Field hockey coach Robin Adair coached the girls’ team this year to their fourth straight state title. The school now has 18 state championships in field hockey. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations Record Book, those 18 titles tie a national record for most high school state championships won in field hockey. Severna Park (Md.) won its 18th title this past fall. Bob DeNigris, Upper School math teacher, is one of three men who have presented a course for The Arden Club about the Science of Political Economy. Bob presented the first class called “Henry George and the Single Tax.” Jorge Pardo, Upper School Spanish teacher and Director of Multicultural Development, presented two lectures this past fall. The first, for the New York State Association of Foreign Language teachers, was entitled “Defining and Creating a True Language Immersion Experience” in Saratoga Springs, New York. The second, in Philadelphia, was a workshop entitled “Meaningful Global Diversity Initiatives in the Language Classroom” which was under the heading of Multicultural Resources Center of Greater Philadelphia Independent Schools. The three Fourth Grade teachers at Tower Hill, Laurie Edinger, Jane Boarman and Mark McNulty, teamed together in November to present “An Underground Railroad Experience” for that same Multicultural Resources Center. Leslie Sysko, Upper School English teacher, who publishes under the name of L.J. Sysko, has several poems that have been included in various literary magazines. First, a poem titled “Volcano” appeared in the Winter 2008-2009 issue of

Ploughshares, which was guest-edited by Jean Valentine. Two poems “Burn” and “The Young Poet Dates Her Mentor” appeared in the New York Quarterly. A poem titled “The Motorcycle Ride” appeared in the Winter issue of 5am, a journal published by Ed Ochester and Judith Vollmer. And, finally, a poem titled “Vanilla” was published in www.dirtynapkin.com’s Summer issue along with an audio recording by Leslie. This past summer Ellen Dolmetsch, Lower School Librarian, had the good fortune to go to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts and to meet Eric Carle! She toured the museum that showcases his art and also the space devoted to traveling exhibits featuring other illustrators. Ellen created a poster of photos from her trip that she placed on the wall outside the Lower School library. Deb Kaiser (in center below),

former Volleyball Coach and Physical Education Teacher, was inducted into the Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on December 3, 2008. Deb started the volleyball program at Tower Hill School and coached our girls for 29 seasons, working with over 1200 young women during her career. Deb has served on the state volleyball committee since its inception and has been an advocate for the sport throughout the state. Deb’s teams had a total of 323 wins and 158 losses. Her Independent Conference record was 231 wins with just 53 losses—an 81% winning percentage. Over the years, Deb’s teams have won 16 Independent Conference Championships, five undefeated Conference Championships and qualified for the state volleyball tournament 26 out of her 29 seasons. Joe Smolko, Computer Department Chair, English Teacher and Webmaster, was

Tower Hill Establishes Speakers Bureau The Tower Hill faculty is looking for experts in every imaginable field and walk of life who are prepared to volunteer to make classroom visits and speak to students about their work, research, life experiences, etc. If you have an area of expertise or know someone who has special qualifications and would make a visit without charging a fee, please let us know. Our hope is to maintain a list, a kind of internal speakers bureau that teachers can turn to for assistance. In the past we have had classroom visits by Holocaust survivors, veterans, poets, business leaders, physicists, veterinarians, political scientists, and the like. Now we hope to broaden the scope of this process and systematize our contact lists. Please get in touch with Ellis Wasson at [email protected] if you wish to nominate yourself or other candidates for the list.

Deb Kaiser, center, is joined by Tower Hill faculty and friends, during her induction into the Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

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In Memoriam

JOHN’S NOTES

awarded the William L. Kitchel II Faculty Chair at the 2008 graduation services in May. He was recognized by his peers for his passion as a teacher, his creativity with technology and the timeliness and content of the Tower Hill web site. Fourth Grade teacher Mark McNulty made an author visit this past fall to Saint Frances Cabrini School in San Jose, California. The Fourth Graders at this school have started their past four school years by reading The Sea Shack, Mark’s debut novel for young readers. Mark spent time with students from grades 2-8 discussing the book and helping them get excited about their own writing. It allowed him to connect with his readers in a meaningful way and to also bring new ideas back to Tower Hill School. Kathy Lamborn, Middle School Science teacher, spent three weeks this past summer in the beautiful, lush, and friendly country of Thailand as part of a course offered through Miami University of Ohio. She spent time in Khao Yai National Park, a remote forest monastery in northeastern Thailand and

in Bangkok where she stayed with a Thai family. Wiz Applegate ’79, Girls’ Lacrosse coach and Middle School History teacher, was named Lacrosse Coach of the Year in 2008 by the Delaware Interscholastic Girls’ Lacrosse Association of Coaches for the second year in a row. After winning the state championships in 2006 and 2007, Wiz coached the girls’ team to another state title in May 2008. Nancy Martin, RN, MSN, NCSN, passed the certification exam and became a nationally certified school nurse this past summer. The certification is voluntary and represents a national standard of preparation, knowledge and practice. Scott Zeplin, Middle School teacher, completed his master in Music Education from West Chester University in December 2008. Matt Copeland (in center right), Maintenance and Facilities, was honored this past November for his 10 years of service to Tower Hill. Matt chose to leave and work for his family’s

business. His can-do attitude, friendliness and huge heart left an inedible mark on the entire Tower Hill community. On behalf of faculty, staff and trustees, donations were made so that two American Elm ‘New Harmony’ trees could be planted in his honor.

Former Faculty Madalyn Schultz Petit is Co-Chair of the 2009 School Nurse International Conference to be held in July of 2009 at Monmouth University in New Jersey.

Matt Copeland, pictured with Pete Hayward ’66 (right) and Ruly Carpenter ’58 (left), receives a plaque for his service with Tower Hill.

Tom Hartmann . 1922–2007 . By Steve Hyde ‘59

Tom Hartmann died on November 7, 2007. He was a member of the Tower Hill faculty, starting in September of 1952 and left to become headmaster of St Mark’s School in Dallas, Texas after the 1957-58 school year. Although his tenure as a Hiller was brief, in some respects it was memorable. One of Headmaster Brooke Stabler’s early hires, he succeeded Jim Williams as head of the Upper School history department and remained as such until he left. During his last two years at Tower Hill he was its first Dean of Students. His interest in politics, his outspoken enthusiasm for Princeton (from which he graduated Cum Laude in 1948) and his enjoyment of sports and coaching was most evident. He coached all three boys’ sports—football, basketball and baseball—at the Middle School and Upper School levels. His knowledge of New Jersey schools helped expand the boys’ varsity schedules as Hun (his first teaching job), Newark Academy and Delbarton all became part of the school’s athletic schedule. Mr. Hartmann interrupted his stint at Princeton to become a Marine dive-bomber pilot in the Pacific during World War II, flying 89 missions in a year and a half and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. His later years were spent on the faculty at Rutgers earning a Governor’s commendation for service.

continued on page 36

Great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of this publication. We sincerely regret any errors or omissions and ask that you notify us so that our records can be updated.

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In MemoriamCal Bourgeault . 1926–2009 . By John C. Pierson Jr. ’59

In the 1950s and 1960s, Cal Bourgeault formed half of the entire Music Department at Tower Hill, and many of his former students and colleagues remember him fondly for his passion, honesty and sincerity. When he died on January 16, 2009, on his 83rd birthday, there were many glowing tributes, including one from two former students at Temple University who are naming their first child after Cal. He clearly made an influence on their lives as he did with many students and faculty here.

He began teaching at Tower Hill in 1951, after spending time in the Army Air Corps and and completing his B.S. in Education and his masters. For 27 years Cal and Bill Carveth ran the music department with Cal handling the vocal end and Bill the instrumental parts. Who can forget the many productions Cal directed and staged; alums still talk about The Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, to name just two. He was responsible for the faculty performance of Guys and Dolls, a hallmark production with, in some cases, suspect talent. Cal was usually involved in local music productions himself, from the Brecks Mill Players to the Brandywiners, and when he left Tower Hill in 1977 to teach at Friends Select School in center city Philadelphia, it marked the end of an era.

Cal was a pilot of note, maintaining his pilot’s license until age 73, and many people have told of the experiences from riding along with him. His sense of humor showed when he had a somewhat-reluctant ride-along with him and began singing “Nearer My God to Thee.” He was a devoted member of Friends Quaker Meeting, an important part of his life. His passing was one of those “blessings” as he had spent the last three years in a nursing home with dementia. Cal is survived by his wife Sheila, two daughters (Gwen and Lucy), and their mother Cynthia. Donations in Cal Bourgeault’s name can be made to the Tower Hill Upper School Choral Music Program.

Rosa Laird Hayward McDonald ’34 . 1916–2009 . By Pierre du Pont Hayward ’66 Rosa Laird Hayward McDonald, a generous benefactor and courageous leader for the causes in which she believed, died peacefully January 3, 2009. She was born Rosa Packard Laird on August 24, 1916, the youngest of five children of William Winder and Mary A.B. du Pont.

She and her four siblings attended Tower Hill, a school in which her parents played an active role as founders. She graduated from the National Cathedral School Washington, D.C. in 1934. After college Rosa returned home to a job as “girl Friday” at the du Pont family airport on Centre Road. She ran the control tower, kept the books, cleaned the bathrooms and made friends with all of the pilots and mechanics who worked at this busy hub of private aviation. She became a registered pilot at the age of 21.

Rosa had a military curiosity and uncovered information about the WWII role of the Nepalese Ghurka regiments which fought brilliantly alongside the allied troops in both theaters. Learning that government had all but forgotten these unsung heroes, Rosa created a program of privately financed care for the aging and often indigent soldiers. Because of her long commitment to the Ghurka Welfare Trust and to publicizing the story of these brave warriors, she earned the admiration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who made her an Honorary Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1992.

Rosa had a love for the large carnivores and because of her support for the Philadelphia Zoo, she was given naming rights for a number of their collection, including a champion Bengal tiger that she christened NAROPI, an acronym using the letters of her four children’s names.

A generous donor to Tower Hill, she instilled the importance of continuing the tradition of her father and the other founders to keep Tower Hill a leader in educational excellence. She donated the current headmaster’s house to Tower Hill when her family outgrew it; she was one of the major donors for the Brooke Stabler Music Building, which is now the Prekindergarten building; she provided funding to renovate the St. Amour garden where her mother grew up; and she was the major donor for the Lower Lobby in the P.S. du Pont Arts Center. Finally, Rosa anonymously helped with financial aid to families who otherwise would not have been able to attend Tower Hill. She was justifiably proud of her distinguished heritage, but prouder still of the accomplishments of those she helped.

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Ran for office

Got my dream job

Took an exotic trip

Got (another) degree

Quit my day job

Had a baby

Got published

Retired

Got married

Starred on You Tube

Became a grandparent

Ran a marathon

[email protected]

I just...

Whatever your news, we want to hear it.

Send us an email—we’ll publish your news or photo in Class Notes.

And we’ll make sure you’re up-to-date on what’s new at Tower Hill.

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Anna B. McCoy, Virginia Mertensia (detail), watercolor, 13 1/2" x 12", 2004

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bulletin magazine - spring 2009

Documents

tower hill school news18

am2 tower hill bulletinspring

tower hill alumni house

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jim morris

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