Stoneleigh-Burnham Schoolthe bulletin2012FALL / WINTER

ENVISIONING OUR

FUTURE

Stoneleigh-Burnham School is an academic community that fosters an international

perspective. We inspire girls to pursue meaningful lives based on honor, respect and

intellectual curiosity. Each student is challenged to discover her best self and graduate

with confidence to think independently and act ethically, secure in the knowledge that

her voice will be heard.

Angel 2Soobin Ryu ‘13 Monotype

T H E M I S S I O N :

ON THE COVER: From left to right, Seonna Bristol ’17, Xiaohan (Summer) Zhao ’13, and Claire Lane ’16

Inside: NASA engineer and alumna Carissa Tudryn Weber ’96 transports us to Mars.

2 Guided by Our Mission, Vision, & Values A letter from Sally L. Mixsell ’69 Head of School

4 A Trimester in Photographs – Fall at SBS

6 Envisioning Our Future The Five-Year Strategic Plan for Stoneleigh-Burnham

8 Finding Her Voice: Mary Pura ’13 on Expressing Herself Through Performance

10 Raising the Bar: Reinforcing the Strength of our Equestrian Program by Jennifer Eremeeva P’15, Member of the Board of Trustees

12 Our Foundation for the Future by Liz Feeley, Director of Development & Alumnae Relations

14 Taking Curiosity to Mars: In a male-dominated field, alumna Carissa Tudryn Weber ’96 leads by Susanna H. Thompson

16 Like Mother, Like Daughter: Vicki Zialcita Strousse ’74 and Daughter Kate ’13 Share A Common Bond

18 Reunion

20 Alumnae Events

22 Class Notes

40 In Memoriam

42 Coda – You Are What You Read by Shawn Durrett, Chair of the English Department

We’d like to know what you think! Do you have story ideas? Send comments on the Bulletin and story ideas to sthompson@sbschool.org

in this issue:

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the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012

We received news a short time ago of the death of a stu-dent’s mother. In Nigeria.

Our student, a sophomore, had lost her father when she was five. Telling her that her mother had just passed away, then, was one of the saddest days of my career. And yet, I knew she would be all right because we would wrap ourselves around her, literally and figuratively, to let her know she has support. And a home. And people she can rely on to be there for her. This is our community, and what I had sensed would happen, did…and does each time one of us needs some TLC.

Being a small school has particular ad-vantages, the biggest of which is prob-ably being known by those around you. This is true of the adults on our campus as much as it is of our students. There are multiple challenges community members face over the course of a year, and it is so comforting to know that others know them well enough to care to be there for them. This is also true, of course, in our happiest moments. How proud we all were of Jane Logan ‘14 when she brought home first place in After Dinner Speaking and a third for her Dramatic Monologue at the Individual Independent School Public Speaking Championships in Calgary last October, qualifying her to compete in the World Individual Debating & Public Speak-ing Championships in South Africa this spring. We roared with enthusiasm as Chinwe Okorie ’13 signed on the dotted line to commit to playing basketball at Mississippi State University for the next

four years; and we are always delighted when any girl gets up in Housemeeting for the first time and speaks to the as-sembled group. One way or another, each year feels full of emotional ups and downs, but we are holding each other safely and encouraging growth, and trust, and risk-taking every day.

Part of my job includes keeping an eye on the future, and so one of the burn-ing questions for me is, “How do we guard the special sense of community that we have as we move our way into the future?” A part of what you will read here addresses some highlights of our strategic vision, in many ways the answer to that question. Last spring we fleshed out the vision by creating the tactical steps to turn our dreams into reality. Guided by our mission, vision

and values, we have divided our vision into several overarching areas: Student Experience, Teaching and Learning, Staff Experience, Enrollment, Buildings and Grounds, Development, Communica-tions and Community Collaboration. The full document will be made available on our website.

This year we are taking the action steps toward our future, and the momentum is building. With last year being the largest fundraising year in recent times, we continue to build our capacity as an IB School; we have faculty members working on several initiatives in order to carefully develop programs in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), residential life, service learning, and sustainability/environ-mental responsibility. We have added a required one-term freshman course in Technology and another for sophomores in Rhetoric. We have developed a master campus plan to turn to as we prepare to make some capital improvements to campus. We have created a sharp focus in our publications, marketing, and eventu-ally new website (coming soon!). We are working to increase faculty and staff salaries, and more.

I thank all of you who have helped us maintain our special community with your many gifts of time, talent and trea-sure. It is significant, and those of us who live, grow and work in this environment are very grateful.

Guided by Our Mission, Vision, & Values

Sally Mixsell ’69, Head of School

This year we are taking action steps toward our future, and the

momentum is building.

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A Letter from the Head of School

Gifts are tax-deductable as allowed by law.

the bulletin S P R I N G 2012

YOU are linked by to the Stoneleigh-Burnham

GIRLS of today. TRADITION

Keep the

TRADITION alive with a gift to the Annual Fund.

• Give online at www.sbschool.org/gift

• Use the enclosed gift envelope to send a check or charge a gift to your credit card

• To set up a monthy gift, call the Development Office at 413-774-2711 x 262

Ways to give:

3

Above Left:RVAL Champs, Varsity Soccer huddles before a game. Above Right: Caroline Lord ’14, Jane Logan ’14, Mary Pura ’13, and their coach Karen Pleasant travelled to Calgary to compete in the International Indepenedent School Public Speaking Championship.

Above Left: Cassidy Rowley ’16 at the Fall Horse Trials. Above Right: Francesca Eremeeva ’15 (on the right) and Saskia Ahmad ’13 took Overall Champion and Reserve Champion (respectively) in the Woodedge Stable “A” Horse Show in New Jersey.

the bulletinF A L L / W I N T E R 2012

Editor

Susanna H. Thompson

Design

Peter Chilton

peterchilton.com

Editorial Board

Mitch Anthony P’12

Liz Feeley, Director of Development & Alumnae Relations

Sally L. Mixsell ’69, Head of School

Contributors

Jennifer Eremeeva, P ’15, Board of Trustees

Liz Feeley, Director of Development & Alumnae Relations

Mary Pura, ’13

Andrea Reynolds, Assistant Director of Development

& Alumnae Relations

Susanna H. Thompson, Communications Manager

Photography Contributors

Andrea Tehan Carnes

Cody Gantz & Natalie Eidelman

George Halkett

Michael Merritt

John Nordell, P ’17

Susanna H. Thompson

Sara Tsou

Student Art Contributor

Soobin Ryu ’13

Change of address?

Email abridge@sbschool.org or

mail to the Alumnae Office.

Stoneleigh-Burnham School574 Bernardston Road, Greenfield, MA 01301

413.774.2711www.sbschool.org

the bulletin is printed with vegetable based inkson 55% recycled FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)

certified paper, with 30% post consumer fiber.

Above: Cross country prepares for the RVAL Invitational hosted at SBS.

Above Right: Emily Zraunig ’14 and her parents during science class on Family Weekend.

Right: 9th graders around the campfire during their class bonding trip.

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Above: Students, staff, and faculty focused the month of October on Breast Cancer Aware-ness. We held a 'dress down' day, walked in the Rays of Hope initiative, and knitted lots of pink scarves and hats for surviviors.

Head of School Sally Leach Mixsell ’69

Board of Trustees

Kathy Seyffer Opdycke ’70, Chair

Allison Porter ’89, Vice Chair

Rich Hubbard P’00, ’02, ’05, Secretary

Annette A. Cazenave ’74, Treasurer

Shayna Appel ’78, P’04

Dr. John Barrengos

H. Michael Chung P’14

Nancy Corsiglia ’74

Anne Quantrell Dennen ’70

Kimberly Eldridge ’92

Jennifer Eremeeva P’15

Charles Gledhill P’13

Rebecca Knapp ’85

Barbara Mayo Llewellyn ’69

Mary Maloney ’69

Laura B. Richards ’60S

Helene A. Robbins

Sharon Lewis Gaffey ’68S, Alumnae Board President

Sally Leach Mixsell ’69, Ex-officio

Nancy L. Diver ’53B, Emerita

F. Michael Donohue, Jr. P’78, Emeritus

Elinor Johnstone Ferdon ’54B, Emerita

John McNear P’79, Emeritus

Elizabeth T. Stout ’61B, Emerita

Left: Members of the Volley-ball Team celebrate a team dinner at Goten Restaurant.

Below Left: The Cross Country team were RVAL Champions this year!

Below: A: 9th graders in a 'hu-man-knot' team-building exercise. B: New international stu-dents get a tour of campus during orientation. C: We celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival on Sept. 30th with mooncakes for everyone during lunch. D: Community Service Club participated in the Source to Sea Connecticut River Watershed Cleanup of the Green River.

B

D

A

C

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the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012

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Strategic Vision

At the heart of our Strategic Vision is student experience. In the dorms, in the classroom, on stage, and in athletics - each student is encouraged to articulate her opinions and find her unique voice.

ENVISIONING OUR FUTURE

When Sally Mixsell ’69 arrived as Head of School five years ago, she knew SBS needed

a plan for the future. She immediately put together committees, brought in an expert

(and SBS parent), and started the process of developing a Strategic Plan. Alumnae,

trustees, parents, students, faculty, and staff were all asked to weigh-in. The result? A

comprehensive vision for the future of our School. The following pages highlight a few

keystone pieces of our plan. Please visit sbschool.org/strategicvision for a comprehensive

look at the entire document.

T h e F i v e - Y e a r S t r a t e g i c P l a n f o r S t o n e l e i g h - B u r n h a m

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the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012

M a r y P u r a ’ 1 3 o n E x p r e s s i n g H e r s e l f t h r o u g h P e r f o r m a n c e

b y M a r y P u r a ’ 1 3

photography by Paul Franz

One of the reasons why I chose to come to Stoneleigh-Burnham School in 2010 was because I

knew that I would be given countless opportunities to express myself through the arts and in general education. The disappearance of the arts in the United States has become an epidemic and truly a tragedy for today’s youth. But here at Stoneleigh-Burnham School, we feed off every chance to express ourselves, either on the stage, in the classroom, or in front of the student body. Our goal is to help

each girl find her own voice and indeed every student is able to attain a voice.

A girl at Stoneleigh-Burnham School be-comes involved in many different varieties of performance at some point in her year. Not only is a student given the opportu-nity to receive an education in the arts but is also taught with incredible passion presented from our faculty. Their level of experience and knowledge truly makes a difference, and because of their approach to teaching, performance means a great deal to me at this school.

Whether I am doing leaps on the dance floor, reciting a monologue on stage, playing Bach on my violin, or reciting an After-Dinner speech, I know that I am receiving valuable life lessons.

When I am dancing, it’s not just about the technique, for me it’s about being in tune with who I am as a young woman. By expressively moving in new and innova-tive ways, I am continually increasing my self-esteem and confidence level. One of the classes that I am taking in the Interna-tional Baccalaureate program is IB Dance.

FINDING HER VOICE

8

Strategic Vision – Student Performance

“We will offer our students more opportunities to engage in service, performance, and competition, both on and off campus. These opportunities will permeate the culture of the School in all departments.”

- from Strategic Goal #1: Student Experience

Last year, I had to create a five-minute routine for this class. After spending many days experimenting and creating my own personal dance-style, I had enhanced my level of understanding of performance. I learned that dancing isn’t just something that one does. Dancing is used to express one’s most inner emotions. It was truly

special to tell a personal story on stage and know that my school would highly respect what I was doing.

I didn’t only find out who I was in dance class, but also on the stage in a school production, chamber music, and in debate. When I participated in the school play, “Happy End,” last year, I had no idea what a rewarding experience it was going to be. As I stood up on stage, with the bright lights glaring me in the eyes, I was able to remain tall and take on a new per-sona. Each day I watched young actresses continue to grow in confidence and in personality. Together we would sing and act proudly each night. This type of per-

formance made us work together, which is also a major factor in the music program. When I play the violin in chamber class, I love that I am helping to create beautiful music with fellow students. Instead of shyly stroking our bows softly against the strings in embarrassment, we are proudly projecting the sounds of our instruments for the community to enjoy – together.

Finally, I believe the Debate Program is a guiding force in enhancing our per-formance in all types of settings. We are taught that our voices truly matter in today’s society. Debate teaches us to talk more eloquently, face our opponents in the eye, and to lose the fear of expressing

a question without hesitation, present a project with confidence, and work col-laboratively in group projects. This school absolutely knows that performance helps make better students and a better learning environment.

I know that sometimes we are frightened to step out of our comfort zone. I admit it is tempting to just sit and do only what is required of us to do. But where is the fun in that? Fear is a powerful thing, but all it does is prevent us from doing what our hearts yearn for us to do. It doesn’t matter what an SBS student chooses to do, here, as long as it is something that motivates and inspires her.

one’s opinions. When we perform in front of judges during tournaments, we are able to walk away feeling proud of our voices.

By participating in all different types of performance here at Stoneleigh-Burnham School, what we have learned helps us in any academic classroom. We can answer

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the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012

R e i n f o r c i n g t h e S t r e n g t h o f o u r E q u e s t r i a n P r o g r a m

“Okay, let’s raise the bar to two-six.”

Riding Director Mina Payne-Williams ’77 is always an island of calm when she indicates that a jump in the riding ring needs to be moved to a higher level. I always squeeze my eyes shut in fear as my daughter Franny ’15 competently gathers the reins of her horse, and heads for what to me seems a jump the size of Mt. Everest.

“Good job, Franny,” calls Mina, the signal that I can open my eyes again.

Riding is just one of the many ways Stoneleigh-Burnham School offers its students ways to increase their confidence and find their voices. In learning to ride, students challenge themselves to forge a relationship of mutual trust with their

mounts. They learn teamwork as they help one another get ready for horse shows and share the walk from school to barn. They gain confidence with each jump, even if their parents have to keep their eyes shut as they do it.

Of late, it has been a real pleasure to keep my eyes wide open to the exciting changes happening at the Stoneleigh-Burnham Equestrian Center. In 2009, I was part of a group of parents, equestrian profes-sionals, athletic coaches, and admissions officers convened by Head of School, Sally Mixsell ’69. Our task was to make a thor-ough evaluation of the school’s Equestrian Program and contribute recommenda-tions to the Board of Trustees as part of the school’s overall strategic plan. The

Equestrian Program has historically been a fulcrum of Stoneleigh-Burnham’s strength as an all-girls school, and our commit-tee wanted to identify ways in which we could strengthen the program to create the virtuous cycle of attracting and retaining student riders who could benefit from the program, while also making riding avail-able to girls with no previous experience. We looked at specific improvements to the physical plant of the barn, an expan-sion of the range of riding disciplines offered to the students, and an increased integration of the Equestrian Program with Stoneleigh-Burnham’s established academic Equine Sciences course series.

In February 2012, Stoneleigh-Burnham took a big leap towards achieving these

RAISING THE BARB y J e n n i f e r E r e m e e v a P ’ 1 5 P h o t o g r a p h y b y J o h n N o r d e l l P ’ 1 7

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Strategic Vision – Equestrian Program

goals with the appointment of George Halkett as Director of the Equestrian Center. George’s outstanding career has focused on instruction and competition. A native of Scotland, he served as a member of the Queen’s Household Cavalry in the British Army, competed internationally, and coached students to international competitions including the FEI Samsung International, Volvo World Cup, and the International Intercollegiate World Championships. Before his return to Stoneleigh-Burn-ham, George was Director of the Equestrian Center at Albion College, where he designed and oversaw the construction of a state of the art equestrian center, and recruited students.

George has brought limit-less enthusiasm, energy, and commitment to his new responsibilities, and in the short time he has been at Stoneleigh-Burnham, he has moved mountains, work-ing in excellent tandem with, and as a very effective liaison between Mina’s team at the barn and the department heads at school. George seems to be everywhere – straw sun hat perched firmly on his head, he rides the tractor to check the new cross-country course, he shares jokes with students in the halls, pops into the Admissions Office to speak to a prospec-tive rider, or joins the Development team for a successful discussion with a potential donor. George has earmarked a number of projects to increase the Equestrian Center’s efficiencies, including the new cross country course and new footing in the wooded trails around the campus. Footings in both indoor arenas and a

new water complex are both underway, as is much needed drainage of the fields surrounding the barns. George also over-saw upgrades to the fences and the Fuller Lounge.

George is full of ideas to raise the bar even further. “I am determined to educate our students that there is so much more to

riding than sitting on a horse,” he says about his efforts to bring the British Horse Society (BHS) Certification to Stoneleigh-Burnham School in the academic year of 2013-14. Recognized in 32 countries, this prestigious program prepares well-qualified instructors and stable managers. Like the International Baccalaureate, so successfully implemented at Stoneleigh-Burnham in recent years, the BHS is structured in stages and certification is administered by outside examiners. BHS is a natural complement therefore to both the International Baccalaureate as well as to Stoneleigh-Burnham’s existing Equine Sciences program. This addresses the school’s goal to provide students who wish to pursue a career in Horsemanship with a firm academic footing at the high school

level. Once implemented, Stoneleigh-Burnham will be the only high school in the United States to offer the BHS Certifi-cation – enhancing the school’s appeal to international and domestic students who seek to combine rigorous academics with top level riding.

Plans are also in place to expand the range of riding disciplines offered to Stoneleigh-Burnham riders so that the school excels in all as-pects: eventing, dressage, hunters and jumpers. Under George’s leader-ship, Middle School rid-ers now have their own IEA team, giving these younger students the chance to compete in the interscholastic arena and preparing them to be strong members of the school’s High School IEA Team. For the first time

in a number of years, a group of top riders will travel to Wellington, FL with George in March to compete in that prestigious national competition.

In a few short months, George Halkett has galvanized students, teachers, par-ents, trustees, and alumnae and friends of Stoneleigh-Burnham. His seamless integra-tion with his colleagues in Admissions, Buildings & Grounds, Development, Ath-letics, and Academics has already moved the school many strides closer toward our goal of making Stoneleigh-Burnham’s Equestrian Center one of the finest second-ary school facilities in the nation.

“We will enhance existing programs

outside of the academic curriculum so that

students are offered broader and deeper

opportunities through which they may gain

confidence and develop voice.”

– From Strategic Goal #1: Student Experience

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the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012

OUR FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE F u n d r a i s i n g G o a l s f o r o u r S t r a t e g i c V i s i o n

b y L i z F e e l e y , D i r e c t o r o f D e v e l o p m e n t & A l u m n a e R e l a t i o n s

It is common knowledge a strong foun-dation is necessary for any structure

to sustain itself and endure. Stoneleigh-Burnham School is no different. We have created a strategic plan and master cam-pus plan as a blueprint for laying that foundation to catapult us into the 21st century and ensure that we continue to be exceptional leaders in girls’ education.

Earlier in this edition of the Bul-letin, Head of School Sally Mixsell writes about the special aspects of the Stoneleigh-Burnham community and how our strategic plan stays true to the “mission, vision, and values” that are at the core of the Stoneleigh-Burnham experience.

Sally, our Development team, and I have logged many miles over the past four years visiting with alumnae and attending events around the globe. Community is a resounding theme in our travels. Whether the

story is about an alumna exchanging email addresses with another to stay in touch after an event; or alumnae from the late ’60s becoming friends after a cocktail party brought them together in southern California; or words of encour-agement posted on Facebook by friends and virtual strangers alike, in support of an alumna stricken with cancer, I am consistently reminded of the remarkable community our School fosters on and off campus.

Thus, it has become increasingly ap-parent to me that community is our foundation, and the building blocks for that strong foundation are our alum-nae, trustees, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the school.

As we look forward and create tactical steps for the Develop-ment area of our

strategic plan, our number one goal is to keep it simple and transparent. We want you to be informed about where we are and where we are going.

Our primary long-range goal is to “build and act upon a robust and comprehen-sive development plan.” We will grow the annual fund to enhance our School’s ability to provide an exemplary girls’ educational experience. A related short-range goal for this fiscal year is to surpass the record setting Annual Fund dollars of $234,718 raised last year ($13,000 more than our previous five-year aver-age). The Annual Fund provides opera-tional expenses not covered by tuition; deferred maintenance, financial aid, and professional development for teachers, to name a few things. This year we have

increased our Annual Fund goal to $250,000.

Another step in our strategic plan is to increase the per-centage of alumnae,

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Strategic Vision – Development

THE ANNUAL FUNDLet’s reach our goal!

The Annual Fund includes unrestricted gifts and restricted gifts that are budget relieving for operational expenses (financial aid, faculty professional development, the IB program, etc).

*Fiscal year 2013 dates from July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013.

**As of November 30, 2012.

$250,000GOA L

$60,000Raised to date**

Fiscal Year* 2013

Want to know more about our Strategic Vision?

Visit sbschool.org/strategicvision for the entire document.

Our Development & Alumnae Relations team (from l to r) Anne Bridge, Liz Feeley, Ashani Petrizzi, and Andrea Reynolds.

“We will build and act upon a robust and comprehensive Development Plan with a focus that includes a clear and distinct vision of the future of fundraising at SBS; goals of participation from each constituency; and planning and prioritization of a capital campaign that includes endowment.” – From Strategic Goal #6: Development

parents, and friends of the school who support the Annual Fund on a yearly basis. Our alumnae participation has grown 3 percentage points over the past two years. Let’s continue on that trajec-tory – ultimately, we are aiming to reach the independent girls’ schools national average for alumnae participation. The national average is 24% and our alum-nae are currently giving at the rate of 13%. I am confident we will eventually tip the scale over the national average. The Class of 1988 is leading the way this year by re-establishing Reunion class gifts to the School. We invite all classes celebrating a milestone year to join ’88 in giving back to the School.

One of our most important goals is to emphatically say “thank you” to each and every donor. We will also build membership of our Leadership level donors, our True Blue annual fund do-nors, and our Planned Giving Society members. Members of our Alumnae Association, Parents’ Association, and friends of the school have made an im-pact over the years and have displayed confidence in our mission.

And that mission is to provide a founda-tion for a successful future for young girls to become their best selves and find their voices at Stoneleigh-Burnham School. The building blocks are you, our alumnae, trustees, parents, and friends.

I am excited, honored, and privileged to be leading the charge and working with all of you to build and maintain a solid foundation for a small school that makes a big impact in our world.

There is a great deal to celebrate and much appreciation to send your way. We will be publishing a special Annual Report for fiscal year 2012 (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012). Look for your copy in the mail during the month of January.

Opposite page: From left to right: Mary Mason '16, Seonna Bristol '17, Xiaohan (Summer) Zhao '13, Claire Lane '16, and Mary Pura '13 envision the future of Stoneleigh-Burnham School.

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the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012

In the midst of Olympic fever this past summer, if you were like most Americans, you diverted your eyes

ever so briefly from Michael Phelps in the pool to the control room of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. As you watched, you likely felt twinges of anxiety as the group of blue shirted engineers sat nervously behind computer screens waiting for the Mars Rover “Curiosity” to histori-cally touch down on the Red Planet. And if you were like me, you were scouring the control room for women. But not only did Curiosity survive the “7 Minutes of Terror” through the Entry, Descent, and Landing phases – there were six women engineers in the control room, being broadcast to television screens (and observing young girls) around the world.

Of course the group of engineers sitting in the control room and viewable on our screens was just a small fraction of the countless NASA employees, vendors, and outside consultants who worked on the $2 billion, multi-year, and multi-national effort. Among those whose faces we couldn’t see was our very own 1996 graduate, Carissa Tu-dryn Weber. Carissa’s contributions to Curiosity were far-reaching – she worked on or led a total of three proj-ects for the rover including motor drive electronics that could withstand the extreme temperature fluctuations on

Mars; electronics associated with the flight aspect of the Rover; and elec-tronics on the Rover’s skycrane that would play an essential part in the Entry, Descent, and Landing phases.

But long before Curiosity was even in the planning stages, Carissa was only dreaming of working for NASA, per-haps even becoming an astronaut. She credits a Middle School science teacher who first encouraged her preexisting fascination with space, but ultimately she decided to come to Stoneleigh-Burnham so that she would be able to focus on math and science in a small school environment. “That’s what I loved about Stoneleigh-Burnham,” Carissa told me over the phone. “Its size enabled lots of one-on-one interac-tion with teachers. I could easily go to my teachers for extra help and to ask more questions.” She also recalls that SBS helped her become “a really well-rounded person.” After graduating in 1996, Carissa went on to earn a Bache-lor’s Degree in Mechani-cal Engineering from Catholic University where she also ran track and field. As a senior at Catholic University, Carissa was selected to attend the highly com-petitive and

Taking Curiosity to Mars

b y S u s a n n a H . T h o m p s o n

I n a m a l e - d o m i n a t e d f i e l d , a l u m n a C a r i s s a T u d r y n W e b e r ’ 9 6 l e a d s

photography by C+N Creative – Natalie Eidelman, Cody Gantz

14

Focus: Alumnae Perspectives

prestigious NASA Academy Program at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She was honored with the Thomas Edison Award, which "is a special commendation of the Acad-emy for the individual who combines genius with an understanding of the human nature." It was given in honor of Carissa’s "understanding of the need to develop the complete team, which is the spirit of the NASA Academy."

From the NASA Academy Program, Carissa went on to earn a double Master’s degree in 2002 from MIT in mechanical engineering and materials science engineering, which positioned her well to focus on technologies that could withstand the unique conditions on planets like Mars. Her work on Cu-riosity began after her graduation from MIT when Carissa moved to Califor-nia to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. When I asked Carissa about what it felt like to watch Curiosity touch down safely on Mars, she replied, “It was a big relief

for a number of reasons – first of all, just to see how beautifully everything worked out. When I think about all the hours and meetings that went into the project, watching it land made me realize just what it takes to accomplish a feat like this.” The three varying proj-ects for Curiosity that she worked on presented numerous challenges to Ca-rissa personally and to her teams. Every aspect demanded comprehensive test analysis, failure mitigation, complex innovations of electronics to decrease mass of the Rover, while holding up to the extreme temperature fluctuations found on Mars and produced by the Rover itself, and contamination control (to avoid sending our own traces of life to Mars). In the years of problem solving and engineering on each proj-ect, Carissa knew that she couldn’t always solve every puzzle herself. She worked with countless individuals at JPL and outside vendors, knowing that solutions would come from efficient and uncompromising teamwork. She credits the foundation of her belief in the power of teamwork to her time in an all-girl environment and says, “Part of that well-rounded perspective I got at Stoneleigh-Burnham prepared me to understand the impact of a team over an individual.”

As Curiosity crawls over the rugged and alien surface of Mars, it’s hard not to imagine the dramatic impact that its discoveries could have for our own planet and humankind. Carissa said, “With all of the instruments on Curiosity, it has significant potential to find organic compounds [the building

blocks of life] on Mars. I have high expectations that something will be found – I’m really excited to hear about the discoveries.” For all of us back on Earth and here at Stoneleigh-Burnham, it’s tremendously inspiring to know that one of our graduates played such a significant role on a project that could garner the biggest discoveries of our century. Carissa’s story is impacting a new generation of students; her example is used in a new course on Global Technology that was designed around one of our strategic plan initia-tives to enhance our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum. When I asked Carissa if she had advice for these students, she replied, “The most important piece of advice I have is for the students to meet people, make connections, and volunteer. Down the road, you may need a recommendation for a job or project that could change your life.”

Carissa credits her belief in the power

of teamwork to her time in an all-girl

environment

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the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012

Kate: How would you describe yourself when you were at SBS - your personality, your likes/dislikes?

Vicki: I started out being very nerdy. I was a city girl who came to the country. And I was homesick in the beginning. I was in octet so I was singing everywhere and all the time. And so I guess, at least in my yearbook anyway, people refer-enced my singing and my voice and that I should keep singing.

K: What type of student were you?

V: Bad. I was just looking over some old report cards. I actually brought some so you could compare to your junior year. It took me a while – maybe three years – to start focusing on my schoolwork. My teachers thought I was lively and spirited, but not necessarily one to do more than I had to.

K: What would you do for fun?

V: Well, we would ride the van to town, ride the van to Deerfield. Get lost in the woods. Walk to town. We had a lot of fun activities. We could go skiing in the wintertime. Even to colleges for con-certs. One time we even went to see Yes at what was then the Boston Garden. And that was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time at Deerfield. They had mov-ies every weekend and they had a nice theater. And we’d go there for movies and football games. All kinds of stuff.

K: What traditions did you have when you were at SBS? Did you have a fa-vorite?

V: When I was here, at Christmas time, the senior class was responsible for deco-rating the school in a theme. And I think being woken up by my big sister and being shown how the school was deco-

rated, was one of my favorite traditions. The one that is the most memorable was when they did the school up in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” And after every game that we had, we’d go have cider and cookies in Bonnie’s house.

K: What did you do for Mountain Day?

V: We would go to the local Greenfield State Park and barbecue and hike around and play and take the senior class photo. We’d rearrange ourselves into our class year for photos.

K: Talk about how the big sister program went while you were here, please.

V: I don’t really know how a big sister was chosen for me my freshman year, but I remember my big sister was Libby Ramage ’68 and she ended up going to Barnard. She was a very talented artist. Lindy King ’72, who has unfortunately passed away, was a big sister of mine another year. And Cinda Savage Yaremo ’72 was a big sister of mine.

K: How were your little sisters chosen?

V: I chose them. I probably chose more than I was supposed to have (laughing).

K: How do you think you changed or grew when you were at SBS?

V: Well, I turned into a country girl instead of a city girl. After living in Greenfield, I never went to a highly populated place again except to visit. How else have I changed? I grew up. I became responsible. A contributing member of society.

K: What was the best part of your experi-ence at SBS?

V: Gaining early independence. Learning how to problem solve.

K: How do you think SBS has changed since you were here?

V: The buildings look pretty much the same. Well…there are new buildings, but the old buildings are the same. It’s beautiful – I love it. How has it changed? I think it produces more responsible young women – I’m sorry to speak for

Like Mother, Like Daughter: K a t e S t r o u s s e ’ 1 3 i n t e r v i e w s h e r M o m , C l a s s o f ’ 7 4

Have you ever wondered what your mom was like in high school? Recently, Kate ’13 sat down to interview her mom, Vicki Zialcita Strousse ’74, to find out. Despite a few changes (no more smoking under the back stairs), it seems Stoneleigh-Burnham School has proven to be a vibrant backdrop for both mother and daughter.

“You said you wanted to go to boarding school. It took a lot to

let you go.”

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Focus: Alumnae Perspectives

my class like that. I’m just so impressed with how you’re turning out Kate. You learned to focus a lot earlier than I did.

K: Good segue Mom. How did you decide to send me to SBS?

V: You said you wanted to come. You said you wanted to go to boarding school. It was a very difficult decision. It took a lot to let go of you. I was talking to someone the other day – emailing with a former classmate – who said there was no way that she could let her daughter go away at the age that she went away and at the age that you went away. I decided that you were capable of making that decision yourself. And if it were possible for you to come here, that you should. Because I loved it here. And I wanted you to have that opportunity.

K: How do you think I’ve grown or changed since coming to SBS?

V: How have you changed? I don’t know that you’ve changed Kate. You’ve always been a pretty cool kid. You still are a pretty cool kid.

K: Thanks Mom. What do you think the best part of SBS has been for me?

V: I think that you’ve really benefitted from small classes, more individualized attention. And learning how to problem solve. And figure out relationships. A whole different level than if you weren’t living with the people who you are study-ing with and doing everything with.

K: What are your goals for me in my remaining time at SBS?

V: To do better than I did. And to figure out some good colleges to look at. Do well on your SATs. I also want you to have a good time Kate. Don’t kill your-self working so hard.

In her day, Vicki ’74 used to hang out with

friends on the bookcases in the Capen Room.

photography by Michael Merritt

the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012

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A: The Class of ’62B gather around the piano for a Reunion sing-along.

B: Late ’80’s: Susan Wires ’87, Leah Garland ’87, Cindy Deane Mahr ’87, Damiane Adamczyk ’87, Francie Rosenstein Remmert ’87, Stephanie Moeckel-Cole ’87, Lisa Admas Zewinski ’87 and Suze Stutzman Genereux ’85.

C: Rachel Whetzel Casselman ’72 shows off her SBS blazer at the Reunion dinner.

D: 1962 SPH are all smiles! Susan Brett Goodwin, daughter Lindsay Goodwin, Dee Grayson Saffery, Carole Karp Barnett, Barrie Off Bergener and her sister Caroline Coffay.

E: 2002 class members celebrate 10 years! Sarah Kretzenger, Ashley Girard, and Erika Lovley.

F: 1992: Ashley Guertin Whitney, Kimberly Eldridge, Flora Christensen Loomis and Tracy Allison Evans have fun at diinner.

G: Bill Hamilton, Lynne Sannella Hamilton ’62S, Caroline Coffay and her sister Barrie Off Bergener ’62S.

H: Kathryn Whitney Mansfield ’77, her mom Judith Howard Whitney Terry ’56B and Bob Terry.

Opposite Page:

A: Karin Whittemore ’72 and Trustee Annette Cazenave ’74 catch up at the cocktail reception.

B: Bridget O’Brien ’82 and Moira Leech James ’82 enjoy dinner at their 30th Reunion.

C: Class of 1972 returned to campus in great numbers for their 40th!

D: Sally Mixsell presents the Distinguished Alumna Award to Judith Howard Terry ’56B.

E: 1972 celebrate their 40th Reunion: Liz Devito, Sally Hafer, Wendy Cadley Presley, Melissa Leach Dickson and Charlotte Lewis-Hankus.

F: 50th Fever! Members of the Class of 1962 MAB: Patricia Wood Cochran , Christine Kovacs Durkin , Libby Montague Mundy, Sarah Caldwell Anderson and Kathy Conathan Reardon

G: Students Zanny Merullo ’16, Chinwe Okorie ’13 and Rosemary Chinasa ’15 greet Charlot Martin Taylor ’62S, her dog, parakeet, and granddaughter Charlotte at Reunion.

H: Terry Martin Maitland ’62B and husband Frank.

I: Head of School Sally Mixsell presents Lily pins to alumnae returning for their 50th Reunion.

A B

C D E

Reunion

F

G

H

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Alumnae Events

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C D

E F

A: Patricia Yuengling ’64S, Julie Steiner Stone ’67S, Sally Mixsell ’69, Jacquie Wieber Woods ’48S, and Amy Nolan Woodruff ’68B enjoy an afternoon at the San Diego Zoo!

B: Former Trustee Regina Rockefeller and Equestrian Director George Halkett at a school fair in Vermont.

C: Bette Schein McDonald ’41S and her daughter Katherine in Denver, CO.

D: Liz Feeley, Bob Hechler, Sally Mixsell ’69 and Beverly Lockwood Hechler ’57B enjoy dinner in Kansas City.

E: Heather Walker Wentworth ’64B and Sally Mixsell in Heather’s Garden. In our Spring edition we mistakenly listed Heather as Class of 1968B.

F: Kayla Ryan ’03 joined in the fun at the NYC event.

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A B

C D

E

FA: NYC Wine tasting event in May - Front row (L to R): Julie Matt ’92, Kristen Landino ’98, Dara Raskin ’01, Joyhdae Albert ’01, Caisey Jefferson Kakascik ’00 Second Row: Ayesha Soto ’00, Kayla Ryan ’03, Laura Lavallee ’04, Anna Griniuk ’01, Jessica Meese ’04, teacher, Aileen Logan-Tyson, Sam Torres ’08, Janelle Batta ’07, and Liz Feeley.

B: Joydae Albert ’01 and Kristen Landino Agnihotri ’98 at the NYC wine tasting event.

C: Student Alumnae Association members Brandi Weyers ’13 and Emilie Uwase ’13 greet guests at the Equestrian Wall Of Fame.

D: Ms. L-T (Aileen Logan-Tyson) and Janelle Batta ’03 celebrating a re-union at the NYC wine tasting event.

E: Barrie Off Bergener ’62S, Sally Miller Fuller ’63S and Liz Feeley enjoy lunch in Glenwood Springs, CO after a beautiful hike!

F: Dara Raskin ’01 and Caisey Jefferson Kakascik ’00 in NYC.

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the bulletin F A L L / W I N T E R 2012