THE BRIDGEA PUBLICATION OF PHOENIX COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

Winter 2015

Andrew Rodin Headmaster

Roz Bolger Abero ’89 Assistant Head of School

C. Ryan Joyce Director of Advancement

Patrick McHonett Director of Admissions & Marketing

Leslie Kornreich Feldman ‘99 Director of Alumni Relations

Katie Charles Director of Annual Giving & Stewardship

Kaitlan Cady Assistant Director of Admissions & Advancement

Lydia Rodin Advancement Events Coordinator

Largo Photography Feature Photography & Special Events

Other photography: PCDS students, faculty, and staff

We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please email The Bridge at communications@pcds.org.

Oops! Our mistake! In the Winter 2014 issue of The Bridge, we noticed two important mistakes: Tracy Schwimmer was mistakenly left off the Board of Trustees list, and Katherine Werth was not identified as a “lifer” in our Class of 2014 section. We sincerely apologize for these errors!

© 2015 Phoenix Country Day School. All rights reserved.

This Page: Seniors of the boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball teams watch a preview of the next THRIVE project on the Detmer Family Video Board at the grand opening of the Najafi Gymnasium.

Back Cover: PCDS Lower School Choir performs the school fight song at the Blue & Gold Rally.

THE BRIDGEPhoenix Country Day School, Winter 2015

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Contents

Departments

2 Message from the Headmaster20 Faculty Announcement21 Arts Spotlight 201522 Athletics Recap 201540 Alumni Events42 2015 Alumnus of the Year44 PCDS Athletic Hall of Fame46 Eagle Alumni Athletes in College54 Alumni Profiles59 Class Notes74 Save the Date: Bridge-the-Gap, Athletic Hall of Fame, & Alumni Reunions75 Annual Report on Giving88 Save the Date: PCDS Masters’ Lecture Series

Features

4 Meet the Trustees

6 What is a Country Day School?

8 Founders’ Lawn Dedication

10 Graduation 2015

14 Faculty News

16 Meet The New Face of Project Excellence: Molly Williams

18 New Faculty Spotlight: Ben Sullivan, Head of Middle School

24 Building a National Champion

26 PCDS Innovation: Striving and Thriving

32 PCDS THRIVE: One Year In

86 Alumni Spotlights

PCDS MISSIONPCDS prepares promising students to become responsible leaders and lifelong learners through an education that emphasizes intellectual engagement, independence, collaboration, creativity, and integrity.

ON THE COVERThe Golden Circle: Three members of the Class of 1965—Jean Singer Kilker, Christopher Walker, and Libbie Lawrence Gibson—prepare to lead the Class of 2015 through its graduation procession.

Read about the inaugural inductees on page 49.49

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s this magazine makes it to your home, we are introducing to our local community our brand new, state-of-the-art Najafi Gymnasium and Garvin Family Walk of Champions. This extraordinary structure and accom-panying promenade will complement our current gymnasium—which we’re now calling the Alumni Gym—in countless and critical ways (see page 38 for more details).

For the last several months, I’ve had the pleasure of taking scores of curious onlookers for tours—students, teachers, parents, Trustees, neighbors, and even a crew from a nearby Catholic school that’s heard we’re the school to watch. Without fail, the reactions are exactly the same, right down to the first words out of their mouths when they step into the new gym for the first time: “Holy cow!!”

I think that “Holy cow” is, in part, a reaction to the sheer vastness of the building. But I’ve come to believe that “Holy cow” is probably much more than that. What I think people are saying is, “This is really a first-class facility.” Or, “This sets a new standard around town.” And it resonates because it’s exactly what we heard when we opened the new Dady Aquatic & Tennis Center almost exactly a year ago.

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Message from the Headmaster

Andrew Rodin, Headmaster

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What people are noticing is that, at Phoenix Country Day School, we strive to do everything with the highest possible quality in mind. Whether it’s a new teacher that we’ve hired, a program that we’re launching, or a facility that we’re building, we have our sights set beyond where most others would attempt to go. It’s what our students, families, and alumni expect, and, inter-nally, it’s the only way we want to do things.

It’s an honor to be a small part of a large and dynamic community that for more than half a century has held the bar high and modeled what an educa-tional experience can—and should—look like. As you leaf through the pages of this issue, I hope you will take notice of the unusually high quality of all that continues to take place at the school so many of you have loved for decades.

Andrew M. Rodin P ’19, ’19, ’25 Headmaster

“It’sanhonortobeasmallpartofalargeanddynamiccommunity

thatformorethanhalfacenturyhasheldthebarhighandmodeled

whataneducationalexperiencecan—andshould—looklike.”

Andrew Rodin, Headmaster

FAST FACTS ABOUT HEADMASTER ANDREW RODIN

At PCDS since 2011

Education

M.A., Stanford UniversityEducation Administration and Policy AnalysisB.A., Columbia UniversityPolitical Science

Previous Experience

Friends Academy North Dartmouth, MA

• Headmaster• Coach

St. Anne’s-Belfield School Charlottesville, VA

• Head of Upper School• Teacher

St. Albans School Washington, D.C.

• Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

• Dean of Students• Teacher• Coach

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Meet the Trustees

BOARD OF TRUSTEESTaylor Burke President

Charlene Whitfill Executive Vice President - Trusteeship

Donna Johnson Vice President - Advancement

Michelle Hosmar Vice President - Facilities Planning

David Lewis Vice President - Finance/Operations

Charles W. Shields Vice President - Finance/Investments

Tracy Brennan Don Dady Paulette Dodson Nicholas S. Firestone ‘84 Adam Goodman David LewisTim Louis ‘81Jordan RoseMargaux RosenTracy Schwimmer Wendy Selig-Prieb

Ex officio:Andrew Rodin Headmaster

Augustine Gomez ‘99 President, Alumni Association Board

Molly DeFilippis President, Parents’ Association

Advisory Trustees:

Beverly Bradway Ax Susan J. Bansak Daniel J. Donahoe III Bennett Dorrance Susan Garrity Samuel Garvin Donald R. LobackHerbert J. (Tim) Louis Nan P. Miller Jahm Najafi Ellie B. Nolan Frederick M. Pakis Nicholas J. Sakellariadis ‘69 Jonah Shacknai Shoshana B. Tancer Garth Wieger Gay F. Wray

Top Row, left to right: Adam Goodman, Charles Shields, Tracy Brennan, David Lewis, Andrew Rodin*. Middle Row: Molly DeFilippis*, Tim Louis, Donna Johnson, Taylor Burke, Michelle Hosmar, Augustine Gomez*, Don Dady. Front Row: Paulette Dodson, Jordan Rose, Wendy Selig-Prieb, Tracy Schwimmer, Charlene Whitfill. Not pictured: Nick Firestone and Margaux Rosen* ex officio

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This year marked a leadership transition for the Board of Trustees, with Jahm Najafi wrapping up his second of two Board presidencies and passing the torch to Taylor Burke.

Taylor Burke is President of Rainy Partners, a family private equity/investment firm with operating businesses and investments in real estate, financial services, sports and entertainment venues, and restaurants. Prior to his current role with Rainy Partners, Mr. Burke was a successful entrepreneur, having built businesses in the consumer finance and professional sports industries.

Mr. Burke’s philanthropic efforts have been focused on improving the lives of children in our commu-nity. In addition to serving as President of the Board of Trustees for PCDS, Mr. Burke is also a Board Member of the Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation; President of the Burke Family Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting children’s charitable causes in Arizona; a Director of the MaxInMotion Foundation; and a Chapter Officer of the Young Presidents Organization.

Julia and Taylor Burke have three children at PCDS: Bianca in 6th grade, Bowen in 5th, and Remington in 3rd grade. All three began their journey at PCDS in Pre-K. Mr. Burke told The Bridge:

“ I am truly honored to serve as President of the Board of Trustees. I look forward to helping shape the future of an institution that has had such a positive impact on my family and has been an integral part of our life for over a decade. I am fortunate to serve at a time when the school is in a wonderful position, with positive momentum and quality leadership. I am particularly appreciative as a PCDS parent for the opportunities PCDS now affords my own three children, as it did for two brothers and a sister who preceded them. I look forward to working with our talented and dedicated Trustees, our Headmaster Andy Rodin, and his outstanding staff, as we work to maintain the beauty and integrity of what is already in place, to ensure the successful implementation of the school’s strategic plan, and to continue making our THRIVE Campaign a resounding success. It is my expectation that we will continue to meet the needs and lofty expectations of the PCDS community, its students, parents, and alumni.”

communicates its decisions widely, while keeping its deliberations confidential.

9. Board composition reflects the strategic expertise, resources, and perspectives (past, present, future) needed to achieve the mission and strategic objectives of the school.

10. The board works to ensure all its members are actively involved in the work of the board and its committees.

11. As the leader of the school community, the board engages proactively with the head of school in cultivating and maintaining good relations with school constituents as well as the broader community and exhibits best practices relevant to equity and justice.

12. The board is committed to a program of professional development that includes annual new trustee orientation, ongoing trustee education and evaluation, and board leadership succession planning.

Principles of Good Practice for Boards

The board is the guardian of the school’s mission. It is the board’s responsibility to ensure that the mission is relevant and vital to the com-munity it serves and to monitor the success of the school in fulfilling its mission.

The following Principles of Good Practice are set forth to provide a common perspective on the responsibilities of independent school boards. The board and the head work in part-nership in fulfilling these principles.

1. The board adopts a clear statement of the school’s mission, vision, and strategic goals and establishes policies and plans consistent with this statement.

2. The board reviews and maintains ap-propriate bylaws that conform to legal requirements, including duties of loyalty, obedience, and care.

3. The board assures that the school and the board operate in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, minimiz-ing exposure to legal action. The board

creates a conflict of interest policy that is reviewed with, and signed by, individual trustees annually.

4. The board accepts accountability for both the financial stability and the financial future of the institution, engaging in strategic financial planning, assuming primary responsibility for the preserva-tion of capital assets and endowments, overseeing operating budgets, and par-ticipating actively in fund raising.

5. The board selects, supports, nurtures, evaluates, and sets appropriate compen-sation for the head of school.

6. The board recognizes that its primary work and focus are long-range and strategic.

7. The board undertakes formal strategic planning on a periodic basis, sets annual goals related to the plan, and conducts annual written evaluations for the school, the head of school, and the board itself.

8. The board keeps full and accurate records of its meetings, committees, and policies and

National Association of Independent SchoolsPCDS is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), which sets forth guidelines for independent school governing boards.

WELCOME TAYLOR BURKE, NEW BOARD PRESIDENT

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People often ask, what’s a “country day school” anyway? As one of the only country day schools in the southwest, it’s an understandable question for our families and alumni to ask. Read on to learn about our particular brand of school.

How did country day schools begin?The Country Day School movement began in late 19th cen-tury America as a new model of progressive education. Six pioneering college preparatory schools that opened from 1854 to 1890 provided the structure and campus location format that would guide many more country day schools that would be founded around the country for the next 100 years.

Why “country”?When these schools began cropping up, the nation was a very different place. To avoid the troubles that plagued industrial cities of the early 20th century, the schools were sited in the “country,” which would later be known as suburbs.

Why “day school”?“Day Schools” were created as an alternative to boarding schools, preserving the best elements of the boarding school experience—including the educational rigor, camaraderie, and character-building aspects of the best college prep boarding schools—without losing the benefits of living at home.

What is a Country Day School?

Private schools have many names. Some are called academies. Others are called preparatory schools. Then there are the country day schools.

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How did PCDS become a country day school?The Phoenix Country Day School story began in 1960, when a group of educational visionaries set out to create a non-sectarian, nonprofit, college preparatory day school based on the traditional east coast private school model. In the fall of 1961, PCDS opened its doors to 93 students with a faculty and staff of fourteen. PCDS graduated its first senior class 50 years ago, in 1965.

Is there any official link among country day schools?There is no official link or governing body that binds together the more than 60 country day schools around the U.S., though many (including PCDS) are members of the National Association of Independent Schools. Nearly all stay true to the original country day vision as secular, college preparatory schools located in suburban settings and focused on the education of the whole child. n

Left: The PCDS campus in the shadow of Camelback Mountain in 1965, the year its first graduates left for college. Above: The campus today—40 acres in the heart of Paradise Valley, with all classrooms renovated within the last 15 years. Below: Upper School students studying in Noyes Courtyard

Founders’ Lawn DedicationA Tribute to Visionary Founders and Committed Leaders

On a beautiful evening this past April, over sixty current and past members of the PCDS Board of Trustees gathered on campus to dedicate “Founders’ Lawn,” the grassy expanse be-tween the Lower and Middle divisions at PCDS. Over dinner, the group shared stories of PCDS’s early days and discussed the school’s bright future with a group of current students.

Headmaster Andrew Rodin addressed the esteemed group responsible for the creation of PCDS:

“ It’s a distinct honor to stand before you today, on our newly-dedicated Founders’ Lawn, and say to you with

great confidence that PCDS—the school all of you dreamed about and nurtured through the years—is in fantastic shape. We’re a school that has set the pace for extraordinary and well-rounded education in Arizona, and is now recognized as one of the finest independent schools in the country.”

With the dedication of Founders’ Lawn, which also serves as the site of our Upper School graduation each year, we ensure that all students—past, present, and future—recognize the proud lineage of this amazing institution. n

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Left to right: Student panel; Bill Torrey; Founders gather on Founders’ Lawn

Below left: Headmaster Andrew Rodin and then-Board of Trustees President Jahm Najafi unveil the Founders’ Lawn plaque.

Left to right: Steve Greenberg and Bob Kosower; Shoshana and Robert Tancer; Guests dining next to Founders’ Lawn

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COLLEGE DESTINATIONS 2015

Cesar Alonso Acosta The University of Arizona

Carlos Alvarado Arizona State University

Meryl Ax University of Denver

William E. Bassoff Emory University

Anna Bodney ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Steven Bolden Morehouse College

Anhad Singh Brar Adelphi University

Shannon Marie Burke Georgetown University

Caroline Cogliani Chapman University

Wesley Curci The University of Arizona

Lilia Dashevsky Arizona State University

Alexandra Paige Davis ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Sage Druch Rochester Institute of Technology

Jesse Edwards Scripps College

Remi Edwards Claremont McKenna College

Bernardo Fonseca Arizona State University

Reilly Freret ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Grace Gilberg Wellesley College

Brianda Godoy St. Mary’s University of San Antonio

Morgan A. Gonzales University of Virginia

Wynston Hamann Westmont College

Sophia Hill University of St. Andrews

Dylan Hong Tufts University

Lina Khan University of Southern California

Congratulations to the PCDS Class of 2015!

Headmaster Andrew Rodin confers a diploma on Grace Gilberg at the Class of 2015 graduation.

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Kyle Kinnie Stanford University

Carson Lee Krause ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Staley Lane ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Falen M. Leyba ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Jorge Manzanares St. Mary’s University of San Antonio

Guadalupe E. Martinez ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Bond McGillivray Bucknell University

Amelia Meyer Rice University

Daniel Minard DePaul University

Kyle Steven Money ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Amelia Montooth University of Southern California

Paulina A. Moreno Pepperdine University

Joshua Munoz The University of Arizona

Claire Myers ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Phoebe Newton Barnard College

Lance Winston Nino Cornell University

Pejmon Noghrehchi The University of Arizona

Andrew Novoa Brown University

Ben James Owens California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Sarah Rose Petrides Brandeis University

Sreya Ravi University of Southern California

Kendall Reaves University of Colorado at Boulder

Nihaal Anugu Reddy ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Eva Renee Reynoso Arizona State University

A favorite tradition: PCDS faculty and staff shake hands

and share hugs with processing graduates before the

graduation ceremony.Caroline Cogliani, Shannon Burke, Anhad Brar, and Steven Bolden

during the graduation ceremony

Morgan Richman Williams College

Bryeson Michael Rodgers Princeton University

Cassidy Server University of Denver

Daniel N. Shuster ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Mariel Francesca Krockover Sokolov Washington University in St. Louis

Bryce Stockslager Baylor University

Sean J. Svejda University of California, Berkeley

Sabrina Whitfill Brown University

Ben Whitmore ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

Jessica Patricia Lee Winssinger Claremont McKenna College

Allison Winter Boston University

Rana Zayanderoudi ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

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AWARDS 2015

Art Department AwardAmelia Meyer

Rhode Island School of Design Award Anna Bodney

Theatre Arts AwardSarah Dailey

Jazz Band Award Alexa Niño

Strings AwardWynston Hamann

Choir AwardLeah Chanen

English AwardAmelia Meyer

English Award for CompositionMorgan Richman

History AwardKyle Kinnie

Salo Baron PrizeWill Bassoff

Mathematics AwardBryeson Rodgers

Rensselaer MedalNicole Thumma

Science Award Morgan Richman Sean Svejda

Bausch & Lomb AwardBenjamin Lee

Spanish AwardTara Dugel Anita Sheih

French AwardAmelia Montooth

Latin AwardGaby Walton

Mandarin Award Daniel Bashir

Robert Hendrickson Community Service Award Cole Dady

Eagle AwardsClaire Myers Bryeson Rodgers

Athletic Department Prize Morgan Gonzales

Most Outstanding Athlete AwardsGracie Gilberg Nihaal Reddy

Margaret Madden Speech PrizeJorge Manzanares

Senior PrizesWill Bassoff Gracie Gilberg Kyle Kinnie Sabrina Whitfill

Galen Brewster Leadership PrizeKyle Money

Geoffrey D. Campbell AwardBryce Stockslager

Victor D. Feeney PrizeBryeson Rodgers

Faculty PrizeMorgan Richman

Left: Faculty Prize winner

Morgan Richman addresses the

Class of 2015 at graduation.

Above: Athletic Department

Prize winner Morgan Gonzales

with friends before graduation

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NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Ten members, or nearly twenty percent, of the PCDS Class were honored in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program, an academic competition for recognition and scholarships for high school students nationwide. More than 1.5 million juniors nationwide, in over 21,000 high schools, participated by taking the 2013 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Each year, those scoring highest in each state are named Semifinalists. To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record, be recommended by the high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

National Merit Semifinalist Reilly Freret

National Merit Finalist Kyle Kinnie

National Merit Commended Student Lance Niño

National Merit Finalist & Scholarship Recipient Andrew Novoa

National Hispanic Recognition Scholar Andrew Novoa

National Merit Semifinalist Ben Owens

National Merit Finalist Sarah Petrides

National Merit Finalist Sreya Ravi

National Merit Finalist Sean Svejda

National Merit Commended Student Sabrina Whitfill

National Merit Commended Student Jessica Winssinger

PCDS LIFERS: CLASS OF 2015These students attended Phoenix Country Day School from Pre-K or Kindergarten through their senior year.

“ To me, being a lifer is more than just a title. It symbolizes not only a student’s loyalty to PCDS, but also the school’s steadfast commitment to that student. Calling PCDS home for 14 years, I’ve seen friends come and go, build-ings fall and rise; but the changes I’ve witnessed over the years attest to the school’s ability to adapt and improve itself, while continuing to provide the best educational opportunities to students. Being a part of PCDS for so many years is a blessing that shaped me as an individual, a scholar, and a member of society. I will forever remem-ber and be indebted to the generosity, inclusiveness, and wisdom that PCDS imparted upon me during the most impressionable years of my life. I can’t say anything more than a sincere and wholehearted ‘thank you’ to PCDS for all it has done for me.”

Bryeson Rodgers ’15, Princeton ‘19

Back row to front, left to right: Bryeson Rodgers – Princeton University; Carson Krause – ASU, Barrett, The Honors College; Claire Myers – ASU, Barrett, The Honors College; Wynston Hamann – Westmont College; Sarah Petrides – Brandeis University; Amelia Montooth – University of Southern California; Sabrina Whitfill – Brown University; Staley Lane – ASU, Barrett, The Honors College

FACULTY NEWS

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Along with the well-deserved awards and accolades for our students, each year PCDS recognizes its outstanding faculty and staff for their work within our community. The School recognizes outstanding faculty in a variety of ways, one of which is through endowed chair awards.

Current Chairs:

Toni Hall, Lower School Science Dorrance Family Chair for Science Presented in 2013, award given every three years

Katie McKean, Middle School History Loback Family Chair for HistoryPresented in 2013, award given every three years

Pre-K Faculty Team Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Foundation Chair for English Presented in 2014, award given every three years

PCDS Faculty and Staff Awards

In June, the following faculty and staff mem-bers were recognized as award recipients:

Ken Thommen, Upper School Librarian Rex L. Allison Chair for Excellence in Teaching

This award, named for former Board President (1964-66) Rex Allison and presented annually since 1988, pays for the teacher’s salary and a $1,000 stipend to the teacher as a nod to his or her outstanding work with PCDS students.

Gabi Ragsdale, Upper School Administrative Assistant Korzay-Tashman Staff Award

This award, new in 2015 due to a generous donation to the THRIVE Campaign from Pinar Tashman Korzay ‘90 and Naci Korzay P’22, is presented every two years (alternating with the Korzay-Tashman Faculty Award) to a staff member who serves the PCDS community in an extraordinary fashion, dis-playing integrity, loyalty, and hard work. The staff member receiving this award will be gifted a total stipend of $4,000 over the two year span of the award.

GabiRagsdale,UpperSchoolAdministrativeAssistant,Korzay-TashmanStaffAward

KenThommen,UpperSchoolLibrarian,RexL.AllisonChairforExcellenceinTeaching

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MASTER TEACHERSIn 2015, PCDS began a new program for faculty recognition and professional development: PCDS Master Teachers.

Master Teachers work in parallel with Department Chairs, and in unison with Division Heads, to help each teacher on campus hone his or her craft. The first- ever PCDS Master Teachers are Andrea Avery (Upper School English), Liz Olson (Middle School Math), and Nichole Pope (Lower School Third Grade).

Ms. Avery, Ms. Olson, and Ms. Pope will spend the majority of the 2015-16 school year creating, with the support of all PCDS faculty, the Portrait of a PCDS Classroom (similar to our Por-traits of a Lower, Middle, and Upper School Graduate).

ACCLAIMED BOOK DEBUTS FROM PCDS DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION, DR. RICHARD RENDE

In September, Perigee Books (a division of Penguin Books) published the latest book from Dr. Richard Rende, Phoenix Country Day School Director of Curriculum & Instruction, titled Raising Can-Do Kids: Giving Children the Tools to Thrive and Survive in a Fast-Changing World. Rende, a developmental psychologist, co-authored the book with author and entrepreneur Jen Prosek (Army of Entrepreneurs), using real-life examples of various business leaders who look back on their childhoods for clues to their accomplishments. The book identifies seven traits entrepreneurs need including curiosity and risk-taking, and discusses ways to cultivate these qualities in children.

The book has already received glowing praise from Publisher’s Weekly, BookPage,

as well as from many developmental psychology and parenting experts. Kenneth Ginsburg, MD, MS Ed., from the University of Pennsylvania writes, “(The authors) masterfully weave together developmental science, expert opinion, and practical examples to build a solid and engaging case that we must shift our parenting focus if we are to raise a generation of children prepared to lead us into the future…The book is written for parents, but is a gift to this generation of children.”

Reflecting on the impact of his research and authorship on his role at Phoenix Country Day School, Dr. Rende states, “The process of critically evaluating current developmental research—and the implications for how we raise and educate children to be primed for the highest level of success later in life—reinforces the commitment to using our ‘Portrait of a Graduate’ vision state-ments as benchmarks for cultivating the overall experiences our students have at PCDS. We go beyond the highest level of academic preparation to ensure experiences to foster the many cognitive, personal and social skills that will position our graduates to thrive throughout their educational, professional, and personal lives.”

Dr. Rende has been the Director of Curriculum & Instruction at PCDS since 2013. Prior to joining PCDS, he was a professor at Brown University. He holds a BA from Yale, an MA from Wesleyan, and a Ph.D. from Penn State. He is a frequent contributor to Parents.com and other national outlets focusing on child development.

Meet the New Face of Project Excellence

Molly Williams ast spring, after eight years as the respected PCDS Lower School counselor, Molly Williams set her sights on a new PCDS adventure. After the school cast a wide net in search of an individual who would best fill the position as the new Director of Project Excellence, the perfect candidate ended up being a talented member of our very own community. Mrs. Williams has watched Project Excellence, which was established in 1987, blossom into an award-winning community outreach program. Although reluctant to leave her Lower School friends and families, Mrs. Williams felt that the mission of Project Excellence—to make a positive impact on the lives of students from non-traditional backgrounds—spoke directly to her desire to re-engage an external community that has meant so much to her through the years.

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Mrs. Williams, who identifies as Latina, knows what it is like to grow up around poverty and challenge. She attended an at-risk, public high school located in her hometown of San Diego, CA. Mrs. Williams reminds us that San Diego is not just full of sandy beaches and glistening waters, but, like any big city, has sections of town where students can get easily lost trying to navigate the pressures of the inner-city streets. Mrs. Williams said she was able to survive her daily high school stressors because she was recognized as an athlete, she took her classes seriously, and she became an active member of her school’s yearbook committee.

While Mrs. Williams witnessed major distractions to the learning process on a regular basis, she relied heavily on the guidance of faculty members who took their jobs and their students’ lives seriously. It was really the compassion and dedication of these mentors, as well as her parents’ voices, that kept her working toward a greater goal: to attend college.

“I am proud to say that I am a first-generation college graduate,” shares Mrs. Williams. “I watched so many of my bright and talented friends waste their futures because they lacked the hope provided by just one adult to be their light.” She hopes to inspire Project Excellence students and families by being that light—the way others had encouraged her—with the hope that more of these students will choose to pursue higher education. Not only does Mrs. Williams hold a B.S.W. from Concordia College with an emphasis on Social Work, she furthered her training in Social Work at Arizona State University, where she received an M.S.W.

Currently, PCDS has a handful of Project Excellence scholars on campus, primarily in the Upper School, where Mrs. Williams’ office is now located. Mrs. Williams intends to continue to support these individuals as valuable, contributing members of the greater PCDS community, as well within their home communities—and to grow the number of Project Excellence students on campus through the next three to five years. Mrs. Williams told The Bridge:

“ I am excited to be gathering a team of energized, compassionate faculty mem-bers who are committed to supporting Project Excellence as it re-establishes itself. It’s time to bring Project Excellence back home—to re-double our efforts to support our unique students as they navigate the sometimes tricky waters of a challenging PCDS experience.”

PCDS and Project Excellence are fortunate to have Mrs. Williams’ leadership and fresh perspective as we continue to develop this hallmark program that has been a part of PCDS for almost 30 years. n

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“Iknow,intheend,thatourPCDScom-munitywillbenefitfromtheirpresenceatleastasmuchasthesescholarswillbenefitfrombeingatourincredibleschool.”

Molly Williams, Director, Project Excellence

What is PCDS Project Excellence?

Project Excellence is an award- winning community outreach program established by PCDS in 1987. The mission of Project Excellence is to enrich, engage, and empower first-generation college-bound students from local public schools and partner- ing organizations. We provide resources, academic enrich-ment, and opportunities that encourage intellectual, cultural, and personal growth.

n the spring of 2015, following Mort Dukehart’s announcement of his retirement after six years as Head of the Middle School, PCDS formed a Search Advisory Committee to identify the best possible candidate to be their next Middle School leader. A national search unfolded and, after interviewing numerous candidates, the committee decided a certain internal candidate for the position would be best for the job: Ben Sullivan, who was working with the PCDS Admissions team.

With an extensive background in school leadership, “Mr. Sullivan was the unanimous choice because of his undeni-able passion for working with young learners and his proven track record of inspiring and mentoring teachers,” according to Headmaster Andrew Rodin. Mr. Sullivan firmly believes in the PCDS mission and is excited to work with a school vision that matches his own educational philosophy.

New Faculty Spotlight: Ben Sullivan, Head of Middle School

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WhenMr.Sullivanisnotinspiringstudentsintheclassroom,heisdoingsoonthegolfcourse.Atalentedgolferhimself,Mr.Sullivancreditsgolfforteachinghimhowtomanagelifestressors,especiallyhowtokeepacoolheadwhenoutsidepressuresappeartobeoverwhelming.

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A native of the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York, Mr. Sullivan received his B.A. from Arizona Sate University with a major in Psychology. He attended Lehigh University for both his M.A. and Ed.S. in School Psychology and rounded out his extensive training by receiving a Principal’s Certificate in School Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Sullivan began his career in education in 1999, and since then, he has served in a variety of capacities in schools— as a teacher, psychologist, and principal. Most recently, Mr. Sullivan served as BASIS Scottsdale’s Head of the Lower School (grades 5-7). Mr. Sullivan’s breadth of experience and relevant knowledge will further strengthen the already high-caliber Middle School program offered at PCDS. Mr. Sullivan explained:

“ My over-arching goal is to further develop a love of learning and engagement in our students, as well in the teachers who guide and instruct them. When a teacher has a love for their craft and a desire to share their knowledge in a dynamic fashion, that’s when our students feel inspired. It’s incredible to watch how that inspiration triggers a desire for further conversation and exploration within our students.”

In addition to mentoring teachers, Mr. Sullivan plans to con-tinue to build on the technological opportunities available in the Middle School. Coding, programming, and design are three areas of particular importance to Mr. Sullivan. It is development in these three areas that will continue to separate our students from the pack and will give our students an advantage in an increasingly intricate world, Mr. Sullivan explained.

When Mr. Sullivan is not inspiring students in the classroom, he is doing so on the golf course. A talented golfer himself, Mr. Sullivan credits golf for teaching him how to manage life stressors, especially how to keep a cool head when outside pressures appear to be overwhelming. When not playing 18 holes, Mr. Sullivan can be found hiking the trails of the Sonoran Desert, remodeling his home with his wife, or play-ing with his two dogs, Kepler and Sagan.

As Mr. Sullivan continues to immerse himself in our PCDS universe, he can be seen in every crevice of the PCDS campus—getting to know our programs, our students, our families, and our faculty and staff. The stars burn bright for our Middle School’s future with Mr. Sullivan leading the way. n

“WeloveMr.Sullivan.He’sfriendly,approachable,andcanbereallyfunnyduringMorningMeeting!”Finn Riester, 8th Grader

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FACULTY ANNOUNCEMENT

Celebrating a Career Dedicated to Children

Middle School Counselor Judy Mitchell Retires

This past spring, after dedicating the last 35 years to supporting PCDS students, Judy Mitchell retired from education to spend time with her family, including her son Brian Hoblit ‘92. Ms. Mitchell burst onto the PCDS scene in 1979 as a fourth grade teacher

and over the years served in a variety of roles, most notably as Middle School counselor.

In his announcement of her retirement to the PCDS community, Headmaster Andrew Rodin wrote, “For decades, students and colleagues alike have sought Judy out for advice and for comfort. They recognize in her a keen sense of the bigger picture—of where things fit and how they play together—because Judy has always been someone who’s paying attention to all things big and small.”

Ms. Mitchell brightened everyone’s experience at PCDS, particularly during the challenges of emerging adolescence in Middle School years. She was a friend always willing to

lend an ear or give a supportive nudge in the right direction. During her time at PCDS, her impact was felt by thousands of PCDS students, faculty, and staff.

After the announcement of her retirement, the outpouring of support and shared memories of Ms. Mitchell was immediate, particularly from alumni scattered

across the globe. Eric Schaefer ‘91 wrote on the PCDS Alumni Facebook page, “Ms. Mitchell is the best of the best. I will never forget meeting her for the first time in 1984 when I moved to Arizona and started at PCDS… She was, and is, an indispensible part of my education and who I am today.” Added Erin McKinley Heusser ’99, “I still use her ‘triangular breathing’ techniques she taught us as eighth graders…at the time, we all giggled and found it silly, but it stuck and has come in handy over the years!”

From one-on-one conversations to leading the Middle School counseling class Yourself and Others, to cheering on students from the seats of sporting and arts events each year, Ms. Mitchell has been a fixture at PCDS, and we wish her only the best as she spends well-earned time practicing yoga and cherishing time with her grandchildren. n

Ms. Mitchell in 1989, ten years into her career at PCDS

“BeingretiredgivesmetimetorememberwhatIlovedmostaboutPhoenixCountryDay:servingtheneedsofchildrenandtheirfamiliesandworkingwithtalented,caringcolleagues.”

Judy Mitchell on her retirement from PCDS

ARTS SPOTLIGHT 2015

Zombie Prom Wins at ASU Gammage Awards

• Sally Tepper ’18 won “Best Stage-Manager” and Matt Corsillo ’17 won “Best Male Actor” awards at the ASU Gammage High School Musical Theatre Awards.

• All four lead performers—Sarah Dailey ‘ 16, Harrison Rooney ‘18, Matthew Corsillo ‘17, and Kira Kirby ’16—were nominated for outstanding performances in a leading role.

• Amanda Slate ‘17, Madison Dever ‘17, Samantha Dady ’18, and Jem Stern ‘18 were nominated for outstanding perfor-mances in a supporting role. Natalie Prieb ‘16 was nominated as Honorable Mention for her portrayal of “Sheila.”

• Becka Troche ’16 applied the zombie’s (Harrison Rooney ‘18) make-up every night. The challenge: Rooney appeared on stage before becoming a zombie, and then Troche had just 12 minutes to apply make-up to his arms, hands, hair, face, and neck before Rooney was to be back on stage as the zombie!

• This little-known show was brought to us by Lisa Zima, MS music teacher and Zombie Prom’s Musical Director.

• Keith Burns, U.S. drama and English teacher, was the Director and Technical Director of the production.

• Hillary “Tink” Hirsch choreographed the show, as she has for over 20 years!

• Stagecraft students Branch Williamson ‘17, Max Svejda ’17, Sam Svejda ‘17, and Madison Dever ’17 built the set and painted the backdrop of the local nuclear power plant. The image of the power plant was a rendering of the Springfield Power Plant from the television show The Simpsons.

• Poster for Zombie Prom was designed and created by Sophia Bailey ’18.

• Mr. Burns states that Zombie Prom was perhaps the most fun of all the productions he has worked on at PCDS.

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The 2015 PCDS Spring Musical, Zombie Prom, was a huge success, both on stage and during awards season. The show, which included both Middle and Upper School students, is based on a book by John Dempsey and Hugh Murphy, with music by Dana Rowe. It is a girl loves ghoul rock and roll comedy musical set in the 1950’s, featuring tremendous performances by all PCDS actors. The production was nominated in multiple categories in the first-ever ASU Gammage High School Musical Theatre Awards. Some highlights include:

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ATHLETICS RECAP 2015

Eagles Athletics: By the Numbers

The 2014-15 athletics year finished with a multitude of successes. With over 50 teams available to students in grades 5-12, over 80% of our students participated in at least one sport last year.

6 Graduates of the Class of 2015 who will

continue playing their sport at the NCAA level:

Jesse Edwards, soccer, Scripps College Remi Edwards, soccer, Claremont McKenna College

Morgan Gonzales, golf, University of Virginia Sarah Petrides, softball, Brandeis University

Morgan Richman, volleyball, Williams College Alison Winter, swimming, Boston University

Pictured left to right: Sarah Petrides, Morgan Richman, Allison Winter, Morgan Gonzales, Jesse Edwards, and Remi Edwards

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2 PCDS Varsity Coaches named Coach of the Year:

Jerry Keever, Girls’ Varsity Tennis Sean Newland, Girls’ Varsity Basketball

2 Varsity State Championships:

Swim and Dive and Boys’ Tennis (Doubles)

1 Varsity State Semifinalist team: Girls’ Varsity Basketball

2 Varsity State Quarterfinalist teams: Boys’ Basketball and Boys’ Soccer

5 State Playoff Qualifier Teams: Girls’ Softball, Volleyball,

and Tennis; Boys’ Baseball and Tennis

3 All Division First Team Individual Honors

4 All Division Second Team Individual Honors

13 All Division Honorable Mention Individual Honors

53 All Section Individual Honors

8 Medalists in State Swimming Finals

2 State Diving Champions

1 Top Female Golfer in the State Tournament

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PCDS students love to argue; take a bunch of smart, talented, thoughtful students from a wide variety of backgrounds and put them in an environment where you’re expected to speak up, and you’re bound to have some great debates.

This past year, the Upper School’s already strong Debate program expanded to include Speech, and the school added a robust Middle School Speech & Debate team. And, through the incredible efforts of its participants and coaches, the School’s first year as a full-scale Speech & Debate program was a doozy. After winning multiple state competitions, PCDS qualified nine Middle and Upper School students for Nationals in Dallas in June (see sidebar). This was huge!

While the both the Middle and Upper School teams per-formed spectacularly, an incredible milestone was achieved by Bella de Roos ’19, who won the national title in both the Dramatic Interpretation and Prose Reading categories, while also placing seventh nationally in Duo Interpretation.

Bella spoke of the shock of winning the first national title in Dramatic Interpretation:

“ When you’re standing on stage and they call out each placing with a name, each performer is ready to step for-ward to thank the announcer and receive their trophy. As I stood there, barely able to keep myself still, it hit me: I was standing amongst the top six performers in the country for this category. As each name was called, my mind kept spinning faster and faster. First top twenty-four. Then top twelve. Then top six. And now, they had just announced the third place winner, meaning I was one of the top two in

the country. They proceeded to announce the second place winner and I was ready to step forward. But they didn’t call my name. I was completely and totally shocked.”

And then, at the announcement of the winners of her second event, Prose Interpretation, she was similarly flabbergasted:

“ The lady who had given me my trophy for Dramatic Interpretation came up to give me my trophy for Prose, and she stopped to ask, ‘Wait…is this your second win?’ I was speechless—which is ironic at a Speech and Debate tournament. I could not be more thankful to my coaches and teammates. I could not have gotten where I did without them.”

The Middle School Speech & Debate coaches, Ryan Joyce (PCDS Director of Advancement) and Erik Dominguez (PCDS Middle School Spanish Faculty), credit community support as a key to the program’s success in its first year. “We are so grateful for the incredible support of the school adminis-tration, the faculty, and the many parents who volunteered countless hours (and snacks!) to keep our students thriving.”

This year, its second in existence, the Middle School Speech & Debate team boasts over 115 students on the team (nearly half the entire Middle School!), supported by five coaches. It feeds seamlessly into the nationally recognized Upper School Speech & Debate team that boasts nearly fifty members. Both teams will look to continue their successes as a top national team at the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament this year in Salt Lake City. n

Building a National ChampionIn its first year of existence, the PCDS Middle School Speech & Debate team placed among the top five

programs nationally, capped by one competitor’s two national championships! In the program’s 90-year history, this was the first time a Middle School student has ever won two titles in the same year.

Bella is the first student ever to win multiple national titles in the same year in the 90-year history of the national competition.

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2015 PCDS Speech & Debate National Tournament Results

Upper School Results

Jason Greenfield: Top 15 in the country, Impromptu Speaking; Top 50, Expository Speaking

Parker Whitfill: Top 16 in the country, World Debate

Jillian Gilburne: Top 50 in the country, Expository Speaking; Top 80, Impromptu Speaking

Oliver Marsden: Top 80 in the country, Impromptu Speaking

Middle School Results

Middle School Team: School of Excellence Award (Top 5 in the country)

Bella de Roos: National Champion, Dramatic Interpretation; National Champion, Prose Reading; 7th place, Duo Interpretation

Matthew Peterson: 2nd place, Declamation; 3rd place, Duo Interpretation

Sophia Corridan: 3rd place, Duo Interpretation; 5th place, Dramatic Interpretation

Max Montrose: 7th place Duo Interpretation

Bikram Takhar: Top 12 in the country, Impromptu Speaking

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n September of 1961, the United States Congress enacted three monu- mental pieces of legislation—the Foreign Assistance Act, the Peace Corps Act, and the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act. These Congressional actions, signed by President Kennedy, reflected the aware-ness of an ever-flattening world, allowing the U.S. to provide international support to war-torn nations and increase the free flow of knowledge and cultural understanding through what has become the Fulbright Scholars program. These were bold steps from the U.S. as it looked beyond its borders to build a better world for generations to come.

That same month, Phoenix Country Day School opened its doors to the best and brightest students in the Valley. And, over the course of the ensuing half-century, PCDS solidified itself as the premier private school in the state, competitive with the top national prep schools by most any measure, from stan-dardized test scores to college matriculation, class sizes to quality of faculty.

As the School celebrated its milestone 50th Anniversary during the 2010-11 school year, it took appropriate opportunities to reflect and celebrate its foundation of students, faculty, and alumni. At the same time, it steered its gaze ahead to a very bright future, full of opportunities and challenges

I

PCDS Innovation:

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Striving and Thriving

facing our students and the teachers who guide them. The School faced issues that hit at the core of its identity and mission: how do we continue to provide the top educational experience for our students, embracing time-honored traditions for all PCDS Eagles, while evolving to prepare our students for the new challenges of a 21st century global environment?

The challenge facing PCDS for its second half-century is similar to that undertaken by the U.S. Congress in the 1960’s—how do we push outward and upward to adapt to the ever-changing world around us?

We started at the same place we often do when faced with a challenge—we spoke with our students. Understanding that the student experience is paramount to everything we do at PCDS, we began exploring opportunities to nurture the best environment possible. Through work with leading inde-pendent school consultants, and a deep dive into our own inner workings as a community, the Middle and Upper School faculty redesigned its daily schedule in order to maximize student engagement.

Left to right: Upper School students utilize technology in the classroom; Mr. Swingler supports a student in his Astronomy class; Students admire creative works during Arts Walk; Lower School students check in on their latest 3-D printing project.

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Both divisions moved from a harried daily schedule full of 50-minute class periods, buffered by brief five-minute breaks, to a modified “block” system. The new schedule, which continues to be in practice, has all students in the Middle and Upper divisions of PCDS attending four class periods per day, each lasting 75 minutes. And, rather than a rushed, five-minute break between blocks, “brain breaks” now range from 15 minutes to an hour for lunch and activities. The move to block scheduling allows for deeper engagement with the classroom material, more productive time used in the science lab, art studio, or gym during PE, and an opportu-nity for teachers and students to apply different approaches to learning, from group work to student-led presentations, and more.

When the new schedule was enacted in the fall of 2011, the change in the student culture was immediate. There was a marked difference in student homework and stress levels —preparing for four classes for the next day was vastly different than preparing for seven. The level of student dis-cussion in a 75-minute block fostered deeper learning than the more common 50-minute lectures of the prior schedule. With stress levels lowered, student engagement within the community increased. One of many such examples: Since the schedule change, participation in PCDS athletics has increased dramatically. Last school year alone, almost

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CURRENT SENIOR

Senior Iya Agha dreams of being a brain surgeon, and has loaded her senior schedule with extra sci-ence classes, in addition to a full plate of clubs and extra-curricular activities.

Iya is registered for five classes, plus her college coun-seling meetings with Ms. Raab, and her independent study with Ms. Damore in fall 2015. Here’s just one day in her schedule this fall.

7:40 a.m. Iya drops off her younger brothers at the Lower and Middle School

7:50 a.m. First Class: English IV: Monsters in Ancient & Modern Literature

Mr. Coon and the class discuss morality in Stoker’s Dracula

9:05 a.m. Morning Break: Senior Speeches in Dorrance, followed by

a break in the Quad9:55 a.m. Second Class: Statistics Students work in groups on scatterplots

and validity 11:10 a.m. Lunch Break: After grabbing a bite in the student center,

Iya meets with Ms. Damore to discuss research for her independent study, The Biochemistry of Nutrition

12:10 p.m. Third Class: Conceptual Physics Students engage in a lab studying laws of

conservation of momentum1:25 p.m. Afternoon Break: Grabbing a snack in the Student Center and

catching up with friends1:45 p.m. Fourth Class: Human Evolution Ms. Smith discusses phylogenic trees, and

differences among species3:00 p.m. Prep in the training room with Mr. Etheridge

before soccer practice3:30 p.m. Varsity girls’ soccer practice with Coach McKean5:30 p.m. Headed home for dinner, time with family, and

homework

PCDS features a balanced, student-centered schedule that emphasizes choice, engagement, and responsibility that best prepares students for college.

three-quarters of Middle School students participated in an after-school sport, as did over 70% of Upper School stu-dents. Within that Upper School athlete cohort, 50 students played two sports, while an additional 16 played all three seasons. Simply put, there is greater opportunity to be a true “student-athlete” at PCDS than was previously possible. And that’s good for the entire community.

Engagement at PCDS goes beyond sports and academics. Co-curricular offerings such as Robotics, Speech and Debate, after-school enrichment programs, clubs, and community service are all thriving examples of the ways in which our students apply themselves beyond the classroom. From winning multiple national championships (See Speech and Debate Article on page 24), to the tinkering that begins with Middle School Lego Robotics and later flourishes with our Upper School FIRST Robotics program, to our award-winning theatrical productions (See Theatre article on page 21), the PCDS mission to engage the whole child extends far beyond the classroom.

But the core of the PCDS experience remains the exceptional work done between students and teachers in the classroom. Through a strategic partnership with Stanford University’s Challenge Success program, PCDS has worked with all con-stituencies—students, parents, and faculty—to evolve the educational experience to best support the healthy growth of our students, maximizing their engagement with classroom material for enhanced learning.

Some of the core PCDS tenets that have been enhanced through the partnership with Challenge Success include opportunities for students to take unique courses and expe-rience teaching styles that foster a depth of discovery, rather than rote learning. To that end, there have been substantive changes to the PCDS curriculum at each grade, while not losing the rigor and engagement that has been a staple at PCDS since its founding. Math instruction in the Lower School has been modified to foster a spirit of inquiry, giving ample opportunities for our youngest students to wrestle with big problems and develop solutions in their own way. In the Middle School, cross-curricular work within a grade level enables a deeper understanding of material. One example:

In the PCDS 6th grade, coursework from multiple disciplines tackles a single concept—such as microbiology. In Sarah Gaumer’s 6th grade art class, students are drawing cellular organisms to scale, just moments after studying the struc-tures of those cells in Deb Wood’s 6th grade science class. According to Ms. Gaumer,

“ When students are presented with material that links up to another subject, they develop a deeper and more rich understanding of the concepts. And, students that may be less confident in one area will find different ways of understanding the content as experienced through the other class(es).”

Right: 6th graders show off their art and science interdisciplinary projects, drawings of cellular organisms to scale.

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“Wecontinuetoseekcross-curricularopportunities—wherewecan

blendthebestofmultipleofferingsintosomethingthat’smultifaceted

anddeeplymeaningfultobothourstudentsandteachers.”

Andrew Rodin, Headmaster

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The greatest opportunities for personalized academic en-gagement abound within the Upper School, where students blend grade-level core requirements with a wide array of challenging academic electives. In the last two years, the Upper School has added over 25 new courses, in every discipline, from Studies of the Russian Novel (an English class with Sarah Driscoll) to Global Terrorism (History, from Dave Martin) to Engineering Design (an interdisciplinary math, science, technology elective from Sue Mazzolini), and more. A point of pride that evidences the importance of student choice: Of the 64 members of the PCDS Class of 2015, no two students have the same senior schedule; each schedule is unique to each student’s academic interests.

Upper School history teacher Dave Martin remarked about the growth of the course offerings in his department, as well as its importance for PCDS graduates entering a tumultuous global environment:

“ One of the most exciting changes that I’ve seen is de-signing new electives that engage our students in the world they inhabit. No generation of PCDS grads have had the opportunity to study international relations and engage in real diplomatic crises as they happen. No grads can study ISIS, al-Qaeda, and domestic terrorism in both a historic context and as the events unfold daily. In other words, we have become the richest that I have ever seen in terms of providing historic contexts for exactly what the kids see, hear, and face in the world.”

In his “State of the School” speech to founding trustees of the PCDS community this spring, Headmaster Andrew Rodin said,

“In the true spirit of our founders, we’re not satisfied with the status quo. We continue to look at new ways to ed-ucate our children. We continue to seek cross-curricular opportunities—where we can blend the best of multiple offerings into something that’s multi-faceted and deeply meaningful to both our students and teachers.”

Whether as a four-year old in Pre-kindergarten discovering new words and skills, a Middle School student engaged in a community service activity (see Make-A-Difference Day sidebar), or a senior diving deep into an independent study along with a skilled faculty member, our students are ready to look beyond our borders, seeking to make an impact on the world around them. Much like the generations spurred to action by the legislation of 1961—including PCDS grad-uate Glen Goodman ’00, who was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2011 to conduct a year of research in Brazil—PCDS prepares its students to apply their education to better the world around them, in ways both big and small. n

Impact: PCDS Makes a Difference

PCDS prepares its students to make an impact in their surrounding community. Each year, grade levels, divi-sions, clubs, and sports teams support organizations throughout greater Phoenix. Make-A-Difference Day has become an annual tradition where classes are suspended and we take our Middle School students out into the community for service activities. This year, Middle School students selected five organizations to support: Rachel’s Challenge (a kindness initiative spurred by the Columbine shootings), Feed My Starving Children (a food pantry in Tempe), The Olmalaika Girls’ Home (a Kenyan refugee support group), Children’s First Academy (a literacy project for Phoenix home-less youth), and the Somali American United Council (supporting thousands of Somali refugees).

Middle School science teacher Deb Wood addressed the PCDS students on the morning of the event, high-lighting its importance:

“ We are hoping that you will realize that service to others begins with small kindnesses and that helpful hands and hearts build compassion for others. Today, we will give back as a PCDS com-munity…tomorrow, it will be up to you to decide what you do next. Will you continue to make a difference? I hope so.”

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Going Global: PCDS Students Serve Native Populations in India and New Zealand

Earlier this year, PCDS Upper School students and faculty ventured off into the world to make an impact in some areas that needed it most.

Inspired by PCDS alumnus John Schubpach ‘06 and the his charity, Squalor to Scholar, thirteen students and three faculty chaperones went to India for a week to experience the culture and to support some of the world’s poorest communities. Beyond seeing sights like the Taj Mahal and Red Fort, our students did homestays with Indian families and worked with the Salaam Baalak Trust, who take children off the streets of Delhi, giving them homes and education. The students visited the small village of Galthani, where they helped students with homework, and spent three days building an addition onto a shepherd’s home, from digging foundations to building walls brick by brick. As one student commented, “The community service was hard work, but rewarding, because we got to see a final product in this person’s home.” Finally, the group visited the Carmel Convent School—the same school supported by Schubpach’s charity—to deliver new technology to the students and teachers.

At the same time, nearly 8,000 miles away, a second group of thirteen Upper School students traveled with Matt Guthrie and Catherine Smith to New Zealand (or “Middle Earth” from Lord of the Rings fame). Mr. Guthrie, who teaches the LOTR books in his Science Fiction and Fantasy course in the Upper School, took the students on a tour of the Hobbit sites and Weta workshop in Wellington, including receiving special permission for students to take photos with Frodo’s sword and Gandalf’s staff from the films. In Mr. Guthrie’s words: “Tears were shed.”

Ms. Smith, who teaches Cultural Anthropology in the Upper School, led the students as they engaged the native Kiwis of New Zealand, and later did a service activity clearing a local park, thereby removing invasive species and making the environment safer for the native species of the area.

Each year, the Upper School offers international programs for students to engage in cultural and service activities throughout the world. On tap for spring and summer 2016: PCDS students will travel to Cuba, France, and China.

“Thecurrentcropofstudentswillleaveherewiththemostprofoundknowledgeofwhatishappeningintheirworld,theirlives,andtheirfuture.”

Upper School history teacher Dave Martin

Community service in India… …and nearly 8,000 miles away in New Zealand

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L E F T : T H R I V I NG H E R E , T H E R E A N D E V E R Y W H E R E . P C D S S T U D E N T S A N D A LU M N I R A I S E T H E I R T H R I V E F L A G A C R O S S T H E W OR L D.

ON E Y E A R I NW H AT A D I F F E R E N C E ON E Y E A R M A K E S!

It’s incredible what a community can accomplish when it puts its collective mind to it. And it’s pretty clear that the entire PCDS community has decided to make the THRIVE Campaign, the largest in School history, a rousing success. Rapidly but thought-fully, we have revitalized our athletic complex by opening the Dady Aquatic & Tennis Center, Najafi Gymnasium, and Garvin Family Walk of Champions. That these facilities are up and running just over one year into the public phase of the THRIVE Campaign is nothing short of remarkable, and this outstanding progress is due to a record number of donors to the campaign, at all levels.

While our students are already reaping the benefits of these first projects, it is with tremendous confi-dence and excitement that we embark on the third of four facilities projects in the THRIVE Campaign: The Cole Center for Art, Science & Innovation. As students head out on Spring Break this coming March, we will officially close the Hormel Arts Center and Madden Hall this March in order to open the Cole Center for

Art, Science & Innovation in August for the begin-

ning of next school year.

The Cole Center is not just about bringing outdated

facilities up to date; it’s about designing a flexible,

integrated, and adaptive space that can meet the

evolving needs of our students, faculty, and staff—

not just now, but into the future.

After the completion of the Cole Center, we will turn

our attention to a renovated administration building.

And we are always seeking support for the PCDS

endowment, the financial foundation of all great

independent schools.

We have accomplished so much through the THRIVE

Campaign so far, but we cannot achieve all that we

want to for our students without everyone’s sup-

port. Please contact Roz Bolger Abero ’89, Assistant

Head of School (roz.abero@pcds.org) or Ryan Joyce,

Director of Advancement (ryan.joyce@pcds.org) to

discuss ways in which you can get involved.

Since 2000, almost all PCDS academic spaces have been renovated or rebuilt, with the exception of one critical facility. Hormel Arts Center and Madden Hall were built over 20 years ago as the home for Upper School science and art class-es. There, our students go beyond the fundamentals with courses like Marine Biology, Desert Ecology, Sound Design, Coding as Art, Engineering, and Robotics. However, the facilities and equipment have not fully evolved with the curriculum and interests of our students, nor with the advances in science and innovation in recent years.

We are thrilled to introduce the Cole Center for Art, Science & Innovation, a modern arts and sciences hub that will become a beacon of excellence, collab-oration, and experiential learning when it opens in fall 2016. In a building that combines the question asked by science, “What can we do?” with answers brought by art and innovation, “Here’s how,” the possibilities are endless.

The new facility will be flexible and open, providing for ample opportunity to collaborate, design, and build—but also to imagine and discover.

Some features of the renovated space:

OVERALL DESIGN

• Visibility: More glass to create not only more brightness and natural light, but better sense of connection about work being done

• Flexibility: Moveable furniture, writable surfaces, and resources to support dynamic learning for the 21st Century student

• Collaboration: Plenty of spaces for students to come together to work on projects

C O L E C E N T E R F O R A R T, S C I E N C E

& I N N O VAT I O NRenovations Begin March 2016 • Projected Opening August 2016

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CAMPAIGNAMBASSADORS

In the second year of the public phase of the THRIVE Campaign, PCDS launched the Campaign Ambassadors Program with a special evening at local hot spot Steak 44 in September. The THRIVE Campaign Ambassadors are leader-ship donors who, by virtue of their gift, are personally invested in the success of the Campaign. They understand each campaign project, and are willing to spread the good word of the Campaign, bringing others into the fold. Campaign Ambassadors can assist in three ways:

1) Explaining projects and the difference they make

2) Introducing other families, alumni, and community members to the Campaign

3) Expressing gratitude to others who invest in the Campaign

MAKER SPACES/ROBOTICS• Wood shop, metal shop, and large indoor testing space for those creations• Partnership with ASU’s Tech Shop for use of even more specialized tools

and materials

SCIENCE LABS• Larger, modern lab spaces with a flexible design that allows faculty to

create classroom spaces suitable for lesson material

ART SPACE• Thoughtful and flexible workspaces that inspire creativity and innovation• Additional opportunities to support growth in Middle School art classes

SOUND LAB• Specialized equipment and space acoustically designed for sound testing

and creation

SPECIALTY LAB• A smaller, customized lab specifically for students conducting independent

research

HUDDLE ROOMS• Several glass-enclosed huddle rooms as well as open huddle spaces for

groups of students to gather to work on projects or catch up on homework.

PRESENTATION ROOM• Attractive space set aside for formal presentations or lectures for

larger groups

COMMON GROUND• The “spine” that runs the length of the building, full of comfortable

spaces for students to plug in their laptops, collaborate on projects, or simply hang out for a bit

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Current Floor Plan Future Floor Plan

Taylor Burke, PCDS Board President, at Steak 44 for the Campaign Ambassadors Program launch

INDOOR ATHLETIC COMPLEX — $6MOPENED OCTOBER 2015

Features Najafi Gymnasium and Alumni Gymnasium

with Garvin Family Walk of Champions between them.

DADY AQUATIC & TENNIS CENTER — $8.5MOPENED AUGUST 2014

Features an Olympic-sized competition pool,

a smaller teaching pool, and new tennis courts.

COLE CENTER FOR ART, SCIENCE & INNOVATION$4M — OPENING AUGUST 2016

Upper School renovations will update classrooms and

labs and create a hub of innovation on campus.

TO G I VE , C AL L 6 02 .955 .820 0OR G O TO P C D S.ORG / THRI VE

$2M $4M $6M$0

$10M

JANUARY 2014 LEADERSHIP PHASE

OCTOBER 2014PUBLIC LAUNCH AT

BLUE & GOLD

T H E L A R G E S T C O M P R E H E N S I V E C A M P A I G N I N S C H O O L H I S T O R Y

$8M

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$12M $14M $16M $18M$22M

MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED US REACH OVER $16.5M IN PLEDGES AS OF NOVEMBER 2015

T H E L A R G E S T C O M P R E H E N S I V E C A M P A I G N I N S C H O O L H I S T O R Y

$20M

NAME YOUR LEGACYNAMING OP P ORT U N I TIE S

INC LU DE :

C L A S SRO OM S

L AB S

P O OL L AN E S

S C ORE B OARD S

BL E AC HE R S

TE N N I S C OU RT S

OFFI C E SU I TE S

OU TD O OR SPAC E S

S C H OL AR SHIP S

FAC U LT Y C H AIR S

For a full list of naming opportunities visit pcds.org/THRIVE

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING — $3-4MCOMING 2017

Will provide a new home for several offices as well as a

new welcome center and alumni mentoring suite.

ENDOWMENT — ONGOINGEndowments ensure the school’s

financial strength for years to come.

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There is nothing more exciting for our community than knowing that PCDS is continually improving. We are thrilled to report that, thanks to the support of so many, year two of the THRIVE Campaign is off to an incredible start with the opening of our second major project—The

Najafi Gymnasium and Garvin Family Walk of Champions.

Garvin Family Walk of Champions&

Najafi Gymnasium

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It was just last year that PCDS opened the Dady Aquatic & Tennis Center, and this new indoor athletic complex has opened to great fanfare. With this new facility, the athletic phase of the THRIVE Campaign is finished, wrapping up a complete renovation of the southern portion of campus. This second gymnasium dramati-cally increases available court space, eliminating later practices that interfere with students being able to be home for dinner with their families. Pun intended, it is a true game-changer for the school.

PCDS officially opened The Najafi Gymnasium and Garvin Family Walk of Champions for our students and faculty on October 23, 2015, with a favorite student tradition: the Blue & Gold pep rally. The greater PCDS community will also have the opportu-nity to see the new space during a special night of boys and girls varsity basketball on December 4, for an event we’ve dubbed “Game On!”

We are also pleased to announce that these new spaces will have some new names:

• The spectacular new gym is called the Najafi Gymnasium, named for Jahm and Cheryl Najafi, along with their children Cameron ’19, Olivia ’19, and Sophia.

• The arcade between our current gym and the Najafi Gymnasium is the Garvin Family Walk of Champions, named for Sam and Rita Garvin and their children Sam ’16, Allison ’19, and Lauren ’19. This space features trophy cases, a stage, and serves as a major thoroughfare into the Upper School.

• And speaking of our current gym, we have decided to recognize the decades of alumni who know it as their only gym by calling it Alumni Gymnasium, which is still very important to us.

• In addition, the new pool and tennis center that opened at the beginning of last year was recently named the Dady Aquatic & Tennis Center, named for Don and Dominique Dady and their children Cole ’16, Samantha ’18, and Jessica ’20.

On the right you will find a few facts and figures about the Najafi Gymnasium and Garvin Family Walk of Champions. We are so very grateful for the community’s support of these transformative projects. While we celebrate the opening of these facilities, we’re not done yet! PCDS still needs your support with each of the THRIVE Campaign projects. Remember, your gift is tax deductible, pledges can be paid in install-ments up to five years, and naming opportunities still exist at the gym, pool, and tennis courts, as well as for the upcoming Art, Science & Innovation and Administration projects. Please contact the PCDS Advancement Office to learn more or to give. n

Below left: Student-designed sculpture, “Agave,” in Walk of Champions. Below right: Tours being given to THRIVE donors

NAJAFI GYMNASIUM

• 20,700 square feet Capable of hosting 850 visitors—the entire student body, faculty, and staff

• Six court gymnasium Enough court space for different teams to practice simultaneously. We can now accommodate national basketball and volley-ball tournaments

• Home and Away locker rooms Separate space for PCDS students and coaches, including flat screen televisions in home locker rooms to review game film

• 20’ x 30’ projection wall School videos, game highlights, and team announcements are just a few ways this giant projection screen will be utilized

GARVIN FAMILY WALK OF CHAMPIONS

• Living tribute to all PCDS teams past and present, both athletic and academic

• Outdoor event space to host team events, Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame inductions, and various school functions and performances

• Upper School Access Connection through the Walk of Champions to the Upper School Quad from the main Upper School/Athletics parking lot

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Dear Fellow Eagles,

Greetings! The 2014-15 school year was a year of records for our alumni events, particularly with our Annual Holiday Party in Phoenix on the Del Frisco’s balcony drawing over 155 alumni, family, and friends. This was by far the most well-attended Alumni Holiday Party in PCDS history! In April, class reunions were celebrated at the annual Bridge-the-Gap event, where alumni enjoyed gourmet food, cocktails, music, and dancing. That evening, Hollywood film producer Bob Simonds ’81 was honored as the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year and PCDS athletes from the Class of ’65 were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. What an exciting night! If you have not attended an alumni event recently, we would love to see you at the next event, either here in Phoenix or at any of the gatherings we hold from coast to coast!

As for the Alumni Board, this past year we welcomed seven new board members who have added a remarkable amount of insight and energy. I am also happy to announce Randall Steckler ‘80 as Vice President and Tiffany Westlie Pondelik ‘00 as Secretary of the Alumni Board. We look forward to benefiting from their continued work and leadership as executive members. Additionally, I would like to thank Janelle Plaza Lika ’98, Melissa Tominac Stewart ’98, and Brian Snyder ’01 for all of their work on the Board. While we are sad that their tenures have concluded, we know they will continue to be active, valuable members of our alumni community.

This past school year was also a year of “firsts” with the inaugural induction of the Golden Circle (those who commemorate their 50th PCDS high school reunions), and the launch of our PCDS mentorship program, PCDS:Connect. Who better to mentor our younger graduates than like-minded PCDS alumni who share a similar passion and drive for success? Through PCDS:Connect, we finally have a formal vehicle to bring alumni together in a mentor/mentee capacity. If you are actively seeking a mentor or are interested in mentoring, please visit www.pcds.org/alumnimentorship for more information.

It is safe to say that 2014-2015 was an eventful, recording-breaking year. However, the Alumni Board is committed to making this year even better than last. We are constantly seeking ways to enhance alumni engagement and participation and to improve our events. Now, through PCDS:Connect, we hope to continue to add value long after you took that final walk across the bridge as a student.

It is an honor to continue to serve as the PCDS Alumni Board President and I am excited for 2016! Please continue to stay in touch and fill us in on all the new and wonderful events going on in your lives. I look forward to seeing you all at one or many of the PCDS events that are planned this year.

Best Regards,

Augustine H. Gomez ‘99

MESSAGE FROM THE ALUMNI BOARD PRESIDENT

Augustine H. Gomez ’99 Alumni Board President

ALUMNI BOARDRandall Steckler ‘80 Vice President

Tiffany Westlie Pondelik ‘00 Secretary

Carolina Lopez ‘82

Nicole Blaustein Spracale ‘87

Clarissa Simek Robinson ‘88

Sarah Vieh Dworkin ‘98

Aylin Tashman Kim ‘99

Elizabeth Reahard Oviedo ‘04

Alex Ashby ‘05

Bryan McLaren ‘05

Ben McRae ‘07

Caitlin Wilenchik ‘08

Eric Fram ‘09

Sophia Boyer ‘10

Adam Sidi ‘14

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The Office of Alumni Relations is pleased to announce that all school yearbooks have been digitized! Whether you graduated in 1965 or 2015, you can now peruse your favorite PCDS memories online. Each yearbook can be searched by name or keyword. Visit www.pcds.org/alumni today to check them out!

HISTORY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

In Sympathy

We are sad to report the passing of these former faculty and staff members over the last year:

Barbara Hendrickson Former Evening Eagles Faculty

John Ordini Former Chief Financial Officer

Gary Quick Former Upper School Science Teacher

Class AgentsClass Agents serve as important ambassadors for Phoenix Country Day School as well as conduits between the School and their classmates. Each Class Agent keeps his/her finger on the pulse of his/her class so the Alumni Relations office can better serve and connect with our graduates.

We offer our sincere thanks to our current Class Agents who are listed below. Is your class missing a Class Agent? Do you have a genuine affection for PCDS and a willingness to engage with your fellow class members? If so, we would love to get you on board! Please email alumni@pcds.org for more information.

2015 Remi Edwards & Nihaal Reddy

2014 Michelle Greenfield & Adam Sidi

2013 Alex Hosmar & Philip Rody

2012 Nimra Khan & Samantha Kaplan

2011 Rachel Epstein & Rachel Chanen

2010 Hannah Keogh & Sarah Bauer

2009 Anne Inkpen & Zinnia Daas

2008 Caitlin Wilenchik & Lauren Motzkin

2007 Ben McRae & Mathew Cowlin

2006 Joel Fineman & Julie Bauer

2005 Alex Ashby & Callie Thompson

2004 Elizabeth Reahard Oviedo & Brigit Donovan

2003 Lizzie Vieh

2002 Laura Neller Lanigan & Colin Jeffery

2001 Brian Snyder & Nadia Fazel

2000 Tiffany Westlie Pondelik & Glen Goodman

1999 Augustine Gomez & Aylin Tashman Kim

1998 Sarah Vieh Dworkin & Melissa Tominac Stewart

1997 Eric Cornwell & Jerry Mischel

1996 Arden O’Connor & Ashley Waters Gundersen

1991 Lisa Brook King

1989 Roz Bolger Abero

1988 Clarissa Simek Robinson

1987 Nicole Blaustein Spracale

1986 Lisa Salvatore Steele

1982 Carolina Lopez

1980 Randy Steckler

1979 Greg Haus

1978 Ana Maria Lopez

1968 Sheryl Gillett

1965 Jean Kilker

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On Saturday, April 25, PCDS Board of Trustees President Jahm Najafi presented Robert Simonds ’81 with our 2015 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year award. Bob was joined by

several members of his family, including his mother, daughter, and sisters.

2015 Alumnus of the Year: Bob Simonds ‘81

Mr. Najafi presented Bob with a plaque, Bob thanked the audience, expressed his gratitude to PCDS and said, “None of this would have been possible were it not for the great teachers, outstanding education, and supportive community at PCDS. It is clear that all of those qualities and more exist in the school today, and I am proud to be an alum.”

Bob Simonds ’81 is a film producer and the Chairman and CEO of movie studio STX Entertainment. His over thirty Hollywood studio movies have generated well in ex-cess of $6 billion in worldwide revenue,

including Cheaper by the Dozen and The Pink Panther with Steve Martin, Big Daddy and The Waterboy with Adam Sandler, and This Means War with Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hardy. Throughout his hands-on producing career, Simonds had the single best studio track record for profitability on his films. As a member of the 1981 Phoenix Country Day School state championship baseball team, Bob was inducted into the PCDS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011. Bob lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Anne, and their five children. n

Left: Bob with his daughter, Charlotte, at Bridge-the-Gap Celebration. Right: Headmaster Andrew Rodin and then-President of the Board of Trustees Jahm Najafi present Bob with the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award. Below: Bob in class, 1979

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1990 Nick Sakellariadis ’69

1991 Steve Talley ’69

1992 Cleve Jones ’72

1993 Robin Mullen Waldmann ’72

1994 Carolyn Polson O’Malley ’65

1995 Michael Pachtman ’70

1996 Jim O’Connor ’77

1997 Herman & Cathy Lewkowitz ’79

1998 Anne Brook, Honorary

1999 Fritz Henze ’67

2000 Clarissa Simek Robinson ’88

2001 Tom Kempner Jr. ’71

2002 Laurie Wray ’80

2003 Barbara Jones Hirvela ’70

2004 Peter Spiegel ’88

2005 Arden O’Connor ’96

2006 Joan Hay ’67

2007 Ana Maria Lopez ’78

2008 Rebecca Moran ’95

2010 Kirstin Gormley-Ghaster ’89

Margi Woods Brown ’85

2011 Eric Felten ’82

Matt Rollings ’83

Stanley Casselman ’81

Jacques deLisle ’78

Peter Spiegel ’88

Apichai Shipper ’87

Paul Wernick ‘90

Rhett Reese ’87

2012 Leora Romney ’82

John Schupbach ’06

2013 Herb Stratford ’83

Mukesh Vidyasagar ’93

2014 Mae Sue Talley

Past RecipientsOutstanding Alumnus/a of the Year Award

“Bobwasveryintelligent,engag-

ing,wittyandinquisitive.Hewas

thecompletepackageinvolving

academics,thearts,andathletics.

Hetookfulladvantageofwhat

PCDShadtooffer!”

Bob Kosower, Bob’s varsity baseball coach and current Associate Director of Athletics

Outstanding Alumnus of the Year

2015

Robert B. SimondsPhoenix Country Day School, Class of 1981

On Saturday, April 25, 2015, the Phoenix Country Day School Board of Trustees, in conjunction with the Phoenix Country Day School Alumni Association, proudly bestows upon Robert B. Simonds ‘81

the honor of Outstanding Alumnus of the Year.

Between his sixth and twelfth grade years at PCDS, Bob was a leader on campus. As an athlete, a scholar, and a musician, his classmates and former faculty recall him as being a truly creative artist, a

hard worker, and a consummate team player. We were pleased to induct Bob into our PCDS Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the 1981 Arizona State Championship baseball team.

Bob has further distinguished himself through service, professional achievement, and commitment to a variety of causes. Phoenix Country Day School is proud of Bob’s honors at Yale University and for his many professional accomplishments in the Hollywood film industry, namely his thirty major studio

titles that have generated more than $6 billion in worldwide revenue. As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of STX Entertainment, Bob has further solidified his stature as one of Hollywood’s greats. We also honor Bob for his advocacy of water rights and policy issues, as well as his board involvement with the Yale School of Management, California Chamber of Commerce, RAND Corporation’s Center for Global Risk and Security, and his governorship of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

County.

Bob epitomizes the virtues and goals that PCDS holds dear: we strive to graduate students who love learning and pursue wisdom; use their talents and skills for the greater good; are adaptable, resilient, and responsible citizens in their local communities, their nation, and the world; and who engage in life with both honor and integrity. Accordingly, Bob is a most worthy recipient of the Phoenix Country

Day School Outstanding Alumnus of the Year award.

Plaque that was presented to Bob Simonds at the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year ceremony

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PCDS Athletic Hall of Fame2015 Inductees

The seventh annual PCDS Athletic Hall of Fame induction honored three outstanding individual athletes and our school’s first varsity athletes from 1965 as part of a spring weekend of festivities.

The Honorees:

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Robert Portnoy ‘85Robert Portnoy ’85 will always have a special place among PCDS’s most outstanding student-athletes. As a student, he was a personable young man of character, dedication, and strong work ethic. There was no doubt that Rob was a leader- —he was a person whom everyone looked to for stability and guidance. When you combine this with his outstanding athletic ability and dedication to academics, you have the complete student-athlete. It is not surprising that Rob was captain of his varsity soccer, varsity basketball and varsity baseball teams. A gentleman on and off the field, Rob played four years of soccer (twice voted MVP), four years of bas-ketball (twice voted MVP), and four years of baseball (three times voted MVP). He was voted by the coaching staff as the school’s Most Outstanding Athlete, and he also won the coveted Eagle Award for character, sportsmanship and lead-ership. Rob received All-State recognition in each of the three sports he played. After graduating from Stanford University, Rob played professional golf for seven seasons. Now in his 17th year as a play-by-play broadcaster, Rob is currently the voice of the Lobos at the University of New Mexico calling Lobos football, men’s basketball and baseball games.

Heather Stocker Steinbock ‘88At PCDS, Heather Stocker Steinbock ‘88 took advantage of all the opportunities provided to her, and was a four-sport star. Her impressive statistics include: four years on the varsity volleyball team (two-time MVP); four years on the varsity basketball team (two-time MVP); four years on the varsity softball team (one-year MVP); and co-founder of the cheer squad. Heather won All Region awards in volleyball, basketball, and softball and was All-State in volleyball and basketball. She won the prestigious Eagle Award for sports-manship, character, and leadership in sports, and followed that by being voted as the school’s Most Outstanding Athlete. Everyone knew Heather was a star, elected captain in all four sports, but it was the way in which her star shone that made her so special. Heather led with a natural grace, warmth and humility. After graduating from Chapman University, Heather became a Vice Director of Admissions at Chapman and continued her work there for five years before working for a start-up company in Palo Alto. Heather now serves as a leader in her community in Los Gatos, California where her home is the neighborhood gathering spot.

Left: Robert Portnoy ’85 at the Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, pictured with a photo of his 1985 Varsity Baseball Team. Right: Heather Stocker Steinbock ’88 at the Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, pictured with a photo of her playing volleyball in 1987

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Kristen Oelze ‘042002 and 2003 were special years for PCDS varsity volleyball. During those two years, Kristen Oelze ‘04 led the Eagles to the state championship game where they finished as state runner-up each year. Thanks to Kristen’s leadership and skill, she helped to put PCDS Eagles volleyball on the map. Kristen won many PCDS athletics honors including Most Valuable Player Award all four years. She was an All-Metro Region performer and in her senior year was selected as Metro Region Player of the Year. In conjunction with that honor, she was selected to the Arizona Republic All State team. Kristen went on to play volleyball at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated in 2008 with a degree in economics. Kristen is currently working as a vice president of a money management firm in Phoenix. She still keeps her hands in volleyball playing in local tournaments and leagues , and helped coach the PCDS volleyball team this fall!

1965 AthletesFifty years ago, in 1965, the PCDS Upper School had a student body of 64. The 8th grade class was allowed to participate in varsity sports, which pushed the number of eligible student-athletes up to 88. The 1964-65 school year marked the initiation of the first varsity football team at PCDS. A total of 22 boys from 8th through 12th grades showed up in early September, coached by Mr. Rist, Mr. Hickox, and Mr. Eiseman. PCDS played 5 games that season, and to quote the 1965 yearbook, “Our lack of scores made little difference. Football was a great experience and it was a lot of fun.” That school year also marked the first year of competitive wrestling. Coach Tooker and the team wrestled one match against Judson and came away with a 15-13 victory, which signified an undefeated season! In addition to football and wrestling, the other sports offered to students in 1965 included baseball, basketball, soccer, track & field, and tennis (tennis being the only sport offered to women). Our 1965 sports team mem-bers laid the groundwork for our student-athletes today. As we reflect on Phoenix Country Day School’s athletic successes, we know that if it were not for their commitment in the school’s early years, our athletic programs may not be where they are today.

1965 athletes in attendance at the Hall of Fame Induction were: Larry Bonoff ‘67 – Football, Soccer, Tennis, Virginia Clifford Anders ‘68 - Tennis, Dan Foote ‘69 – Wrestling, Christopher Walker ‘65 – Football, Basketball.

Left: Associate Athletic Director Bob Kosower, Kristen Oelze ’04 and Athletic Director Shane Lewis at the Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Right: Kristen with the 2004 Varsity Volleyball Team

Left: PCDS Athletic Director Shane Lewis, Christopher Walker ’65, Larry Bonoff ’67, Virginia Anders ’68, Dan Foote ’69, PCDS Associate Director of Athletic Bob Kosower. Right: 1964 Varsity Football Team

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Eagle Alumni Athletes in College

In its over-fifty year history, many PCDS graduates have gone on to play sports at the collegiate level at a wide variety of fantastic colleges and universities. In fact, since 2000, almost 10% of PCDS graduates have gone to college as athletic recruits, playing a range of sports at the NCAA Division I, II, III, which nearly doubles the national rate from other independent schools, and triples the national high school average rate.

In addition to being gifted, hard-working, and talented enough to play a sport at the college level, our students have been especially prepared to uphold the “student” part of the “student-athlete” experience in college. While not all of our college athlete graduates have gone on to play professional sports, their athleticism and prowess did contribute to stellar experi-ences at some of the best colleges and universities in the world and, in turn, in their personal and professional experiences beyond graduation.

Nic Meyer ’12, a member of Amherst’s baseball team, has helped contribute to his team’s NCAA Regionals qualification three years in a row, and his team won the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship in 2013. Individually, Nic has made the NESCAC All-Academic Team in 2014 and 2015. When we spoke with Nic, he said,

“ The best aspect of my PCDS athletic experience was being able to play three sports, as that really helped me increase my overall athleticism and conditioning. So even when I focused on only baseball in college, I still reaped the benefits of the cross-sport training I did at PCDS. PCDS did an excellent job of helping me to balance challenging academics and athletics. Some of the best teachers I’ve ever had were at PCDS and I still happily reminisce about their classes today. Those teachers were instrumental in helping me to be prepared for a college-level workload, and I cannot thank them enough.”

PCDS alumni who are currently college athletes are:

AJ Hess ‘12 – Southern Utah University Basketball

Danielle Lee ‘12 – Harvard University Swim

Nic Meyer ‘12 – Amherst College Baseball

Brandon Purcell ‘13 – Tulane University Football

Maddie Stern ‘13 – Wellesley College Diving

Andrew Garner ‘14 – University of Arizona Golf

Margaret Loncki ‘14 – Claremont McKenna College Soccer and Golf

Alex Melikian ’14 – Occidental College Softball and Volleyball

Remi Edwards ’15 – Claremont McKenna College Soccer

Jesse Edwards ‘15 – Scripps College Soccer

Morgan Gonzales ‘15 – University of Virginia Golf

Sarah Petrides ‘15 – Brandeis University Softball

Morgan Richman ‘15 – Williams College Volleyball

Allison Winter ‘15 – Boston University Swim

Meyer

Here, several of our alumni college athletes share their thoughts on how PCDS prepared them for college-level competition and for the college experience more broadly.

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AJ Hess ’12 has been a starter for Southern Utah University’s varsity basketball team for the last three years. AJ shared:

“ PCDS really instilled me with a good work ethic and a team-oriented mindset. Academically, PCDS prepared me incredibly well for college. Also, socially, PCDS allowed me to come out of my shell, which has been extremely helpful in making friends and connections.”

Alex Melikian ’14 told us:

“ I originally went to Occidental for volleyball, but during my first year, the softball coach recruited me to the softball team. PCDS helped prepare me for college-level competition by teaching me to be a team player and also by helping me better my volleyball techniques and form. During practice, I always chase down every ball and go after everything—this drive was taught to me at PCDS. The school in general did a great job preparing me for college! I’m better than most of my friends at time management, especially during sports season, and PCDS gave me a great foundation to build upon. Also, PCDS definitely prepared me for the workload in college!”

Margaret Loncki ‘14 is a member of the varsity soccer and golf teams at Claremont McKenna College. Last year, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps soccer took first place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). Margaret won the individual SCIAC Championship in golf last year, while her team finished in second in the conference.

“ Being at PCDS taught me how to balance a rigorous academic schedule while playing many sports, as I played for PCDS soccer all four years, PCDS golf my senior year, club golf all four years, and club soccer for my sophomore, junior, and senior years. Those athletic experiences at PCDS prepared me to take it up a notch when I got to Claremont McKenna!”

Danielle Lee ’12 is a member of Harvard women’s swim and dive team, which won the Ivy League Championship in 2014. Danielle is a two-time Division I NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving qualifier, and two-time Ivy League champion in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke. She is also the Ivy League record holder for the 100-meter backstroke and Harvard’s record holder for the 100- and 200-meter backstroke. Danielle is also the Eastern College Athletic Conference champion and record holder in the 100-meter backstroke and holds pool records in 5 out of the 8 Ivy League schools. When asked how PCDS helped to prepare her for college athletics, Danielle responded:

“ Although it may seem like swimming is an individual sport, there is a big team element to it. The PCDS swim team was small, but gave me a good sense of ‘team’ that is now magnified ten-fold at Harvard. Also, Coach Mike Maczuga played an instrumental role in my swim-ming success. His practices made my transition into collegiate swimming very smooth and I was well-prepared for practicing and racing at Harvard. He always encouraged me and believed in me. The challenging PCDS high school courses made the shift to taking college courses less of a shock.”

We wish all of our college athletes a successful 2015-2016 season and look forward to hearing about their accomplishments in the coming year! To learn more about the universities to which past alumni athletes have matriculated and the sports they played, visit the PCDS website. n

Hess

Melikian

Loncki

Lee

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Do You Remember Your Class Gift?

The graduating classes of Phoenix Country Day School have a longstanding tradition of leaving meaningful class gifts behind to serve as their living legacies. Many classes identified something that would be useful to future students, or something that would enhance the school in some way. Below, you’ll find a brief history of senior class gifts that are still alive and well on campus!

The Class of ’95 gifted the PCDS flagpole.

The Class of ’99 donated the sound system that is still used in the gym today!

The Class of ’01 donated a prominent eagle statue, which is perched above Madden Hall.

The Class of ’02 donated a wooden stool to each Upper School faculty member, adorned with signatures of each member of their class.

The Class of ’08 donated a bench for students and faculty to relax and enjoy the Upper School cactus garden.

The Class of ‘12 installed a metal landscape ornament near the entrance to the Hormel Arts Center. Upper School science teacher, Catherine Smith, thinks that it perfectly resembles a double helix.

As a way of boosting school spirit, the Class of ‘14 chose to resurrect the PCDS Fight Song by way of a large banner that now proudly hangs in the gym.

Thanks to the Class of ‘15, Upper School students are able to utilize the new slate tile wall in the Student Center for collaborative projects, daily messages, random thoughts, and more!

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The Golden Circle is an honorary group comprised of all classes who have celebrated their 50th reunions. In June 2015, the members of the graduating class of 1965 were our very first inductees. Clad in gold robes, Golden Circle mem-bers crossed the Daley Bridge with the graduating class and sat in the VIP section. During the ceremony, Golden Circle members were invited to stand and be recognized. Once inducted into the Golden Circle, members have an open invi-tation to return every year to welcome new inductees and to march during graduation, reminding our current families and all others in attendance that PCDS enjoys a truly rich history.

The Golden CircleInaugural Inductees of 1965

“TheGoldenCircleinductionwasameaningfulexperience,andIconsidereditaprivilege.ItwasbothanhonorandfuntobeapartofthatceremonyandIlovetheGoldenCircledesignation.MayEaglescontinuetosoar!IammostproudtobeaPhoenixCountryDayEagle.”Libbie Lawrence Gibson ‘65

Above: 2015 Golden Circle Inductees, left to right: Jean Singer Kilker ’65, Christopher Walker ’65, and Libbie Lawrence Gibson ‘65 crossing the PCDS bridge during the graduation procession. Above right: The Phoenix Country Day School Class of 1965 at their Upper School Graduation ceremony. Back row, left to right: Christopher Walker, Paul Scharf, Jeffrey King, Terry Thompson, Peter LaPrade, Stanley Jones, Laurence Zussman, William “Jud” Bright. Front row, left to right: Jean Singer, Carolyn Polson, Joanne Lynch, Paula Silverman, Libbie Lawrence, Martha Jane Rice

What’s Old is New AgainReflection on a “New” Gymnasium

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In 1986, Phoenix Country Day School unveiled the school’s first-ever indoor gymnasium. As part of the fanfare surrounding the grand opening, the school’s newspaper at the time collected enthusiastic quotes from students about the new facility. Almost 30 years later, in October 2015, PCDS held the grand opening for the Najafi Gymnasium and Garvin Family Walk of Champions. Check out what our students said about these new facilities, then and now.

Then, in 1986…

Yash Muley ‘16

“ The new gym is a work of art that will be something special to PCDS for a long time. It will be the best gym in Arizona and close to being the best in the nation.”

Libby Williamson ‘17

“ The new gym has already become the center of spirit and community for PCDS. As a captain of the cheer team, I’m excited to cheer on our teams as they make history in a truly spectacular setting.”

Ida Jackson* ‘19

“ Throughout my almost ten years as a PCDS student, it’s amazing how many wonderful changes have taken place on the campus. The new gymnasium is simply extraordinary!”

Elsa Jackson* ‘22

“ I am very excited about the new gym! I can’t wait to have P.E. and play volleyball on the brand new court. I was super impressed with the Aquatic Center and now I am thrilled about the Najafi Gymnasium! It’s something all of PCDS should be proud of.”

Meyla Milian- Sanchez ‘17

“ The new Najafi Gymnasium provides such an amazing opportunity to revive PCDS’ school spirit! The students’ wild energy during the annual Blue & Gold assembly defi-nitely exemplified what it means to be a proud PCDS eagle and there’s no better feeling than being in the nest.”

Jacob Bain ‘16

“ The new gym truly represents the direction that not only PCDS athletics is taking, but also the school as a whole. The locker rooms are extra- ordinary, and I am looking forward to every minute of basketball season.”

Nikasha Patel ‘18

“ Beautiful, huge, impressive— these words cannot capture the full magnificence of our gym. It’s a perfect addition to PCDS, and I cannot wait to play in this first-class facility.”

Sam Garvin ‘16

“ The new gym is a dream for any high school athlete. We now have one of the nicest athletic complexes for a high school in the entire state and country, and it’s only going to continue to improve our athletic program.”

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* Eric Jackson ‘86, father of Ida and Elsa, is quoted in the original 1986 article when he was an Upper School senior.

Emme Kate Hackett* ‘22

“ I can’t wait to play volleyball, have PE, and go to dances in the new gym—it’s awesome!”

* Ian Hackett ‘89, Emme Kate’s uncle, is quoted in the original 1986 article, when he was an Upper School freshman.

…and now, in 2015.

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Eagles Soar Around the CountryIn fall 2015, regional alumni gatherings were held in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston and New York City. The Blue & Gold Alumni Tent returned for a second year and we were thrilled to unveil the Walk of Champions display cases immediately prior to Blue & Gold, with many alumni in attendance.

The Walk of Champions runs between the two PCDS gymnasiums, and highlights our athletic successes throughout the years. It includes championship trophies and plaques in the large Walk of Champions display cases, as well as team and individual photos, athletic uniforms, equipment, game-winning balls, racquets, helmets, hats, and more. The Walk of Champions unveiling and reception also provided an opportunity for alumni to get a special look at our new Najafi Gymnasium.

Stay tuned for information regarding an alumni event in your area! If you have not done so, please make sure to “friend” our Facebook page, “PCDS Alum,” and ensure that your contact information is up to date via www.pcds.org/alumniupdate.

Blue & Gold Alumni Tent: Mathew Cowlin ’07, Ben McRae ’07, Kristen Oelze ‘04

Garvin Family Walk of Champions Display Unveiling: Athletic Hall of Fame Member Billy DuMone ’90 in front of the Walk of Champions display cases. Billy’s varsity letterman jacket appears in the background.

Blue & Gold Alumni Tent: Liz Foglesong ’03 with past parent Pauline Tom

Blue & Gold Alumni Tent: Randy Steckler ’80, Greg Haus ‘79, Laurie Wray ‘80, Evan Lewis ’81, Jeff Miller ‘80

Phoenix

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Los Angeles

Los Angeles-area alumni at the October 2015 Alumni Gathering, featuring a guided beer tasting by beer expert Hallie Beaune ‘95

Boston

Boston-area alumni at the October 2015 Alumni Gathering, featuring Jeopardy! with Upper School English Teacher and former Jeopardy! contestant Lance Coon

Washington D.C.

Washington, D.C.-area alumni at the October 2015 Alumni Gathering, featuring Time Magazine Reporter Elizabeth Dias ‘04

New York City

New York City-area alumni at the October 2015 Alumni Gathering, featuring a guided wine tasting with David Burke Restaurant Group Corporate Wine Director Natalie Dulaney ‘00

Sierra Seip ‘04, Natalie Dulaney ’00, Carolyn Daucher ‘04

Upper School English teacher Lance Coon with NYC-area graduates

Quite a ProductionA Conversation with Rhett Reese ‘87 and Paul Wernick ‘90

hett Reese ‘87 and Paul Wernick ’90 met as students at Phoenix Country Day School. Today, they are Hollywood writers and producers who have collaborated on multiple television and film hits. Rhett attended PCDS for Upper School from 1984-1987, and Paul attended for his 8th grade and freshman years from 1985-1987. Paul continued on to study at UCLA, while Rhett received his undergraduate degree from Stanford. To date, they have co-written the movies Zombieland, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and the upcoming Deadpool, as well as the television series The Joe Schmo Show. Combined, they have written and produced over 20 films and television shows.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with Rhett and Paul about their professional work together, and their shared academic roots. Here’s what they told us:

INTERVIEW

What are some of the PCDS experiences that had the biggest impact on you? Were there faculty members whom you appreciated or found most inspiring?

Paul: Mr. Dashnaw, who was my history/social studies teacher, left a mark in a great way. My 8th grade English teacher, Mr. Keller, was another. He was so eccentric and so awesome. Curtis Perry, my basketball and flag football coach, was also inspirational.

Rhett: What I enjoyed most about PCDS was the faculty. I had some of the very best teachers I’ve ever had during my years at the school. Frankly they were as impressive as my college professors. Math teachers Bob Wilson and Bob Wolpert were both incredi-ble. History teachers Jeff Stokes and Paul Schweikher had a phenomenal relationship, and taught us not only history, but also how to write and think and prepare for tests. It was all the academic stuffing we could eat. The English department was great, too, particularly Lance Coon. When I got to college I felt prepared academically—I didn’t lack for anything.

Paul: Another great memory was our New Horizons trip to Catalina in 8th grade. Also, when I was a freshman, Rhett and my brother were seniors, and we ditched school together to go see the girls softball team play in Wickenburg. We ditched to show our school spirit, and we got detention because faculty were there and saw us! Life’s great experiences—you’re a freshman, ditching—big adventure.

Rhett: And then there was our senior prank where we put hay bales and sandbags in all of the corners of the quad so people couldn’t enter school. The administration thought it was funny for 10 seconds…

Were you friendly with each other growing up? Did you always have aspirations to work together professionally?

Rhett: I was friends with both of Paul’s older brothers, and my brother was in Paul’s class so we definitely knew each

other. The school was so small that, really, everyone knew everyone. We had 37 people in our graduating class and we all knew each other so well. It was a big family. We had a support system, and everyone had everyone’s back. There were no out groups or cliques, everyone felt included.

My interest in film began at PCDS through the film festival that Mr. Stokes and Mr. Schweikher coordinated. We watched 15 movies, wrote reviews about them, and discussed them as a group. This was really one of my first exposures to film. I remember that we watched High Noon and Casablanca. It really did inspire me and I became the movie reviewer of the Day Star, the school’s newspaper, thereafter. This was experiential learning that you just didn’t get at other schools.

How did you each get your start in the entertainment industry?

Paul: Out of college, I was a local news producer for 10 years, then I went into reality TV, and our first partnership was the creation of The Joe Schmo Show. I went from local news to reality to feature films.

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ReeseandWernick

havewrittenand

producedover20

filmsandtelevision

shows,including

Zombieland,GI Joe,andDeadpool(dueinFebruary).

ALUMNI PROFILE

Rhett: I started as a feature screenwriter, and after a couple of movies I decided that I wanted to become a writer and became a screenwriter, primarily with kids movies.

Paul and I were still buddies living in L.A. when we came up with idea for The Joe Schmo Show. Now we write and will hopefully direct before all is said and done.

We came back to the PCDS campus to speak with students when Zombieland came out—that was really gratifying. It was really cool to see eager young people who were curious. We would be interested in doing something similar after Deadpool comes out!

What’s next for your collaboration?

Rhett: We hope to have projects that we can direct, but right now our plate is pretty full and we have more scripts that we wrote that we are trying to direct and another one that someone may direct. So there are lots of irons in the fire—that’s what screenwriting is about.

What advice would you give to young alumni looking to make it behind the camera in Hollywood?

Paul: Persistence!

Rhett: More than ever before, the tools to be a moviemaker are at your disposal at a young age. When we were young, video cameras were huge, and we were weighed down by 45 pounds with no editing equipment available. Now, the tools

are in your pocket to make movies and edit them yourself. Barriers to entry are less, so there’s no reason to not begin writing and directing your own stuff in high school. There will be a time when you look back and be ashamed at what you did, we all have those instances, but you are on a good path to get started now with the technology that is accessible to you. Also, learn as much about the world as you can—a good liberal arts education is as important as screen writing and filmmaking. Get that well-rounded education. To be a great writer you have to have something to write about.

Since we have so many PCDS alumni in the entertainment industry, do you have any connections to other PCDS alumni through the work you’re doing?

Rhett: We’ve talked about working with Bob Simonds ‘81. He’s a nice, high-energy guy. We were also in touch with Travis Adam Wright ‘89, who is a screenwriter. We also see Asher Landay ‘07 socially—he was working at ICM for a while. The other guy who would have become the biggest deal of all in Hollywood was Gregg Hoffman ‘81. He was a Disney executive and his sister was a senior when I was a freshman. Gregg produced the Saw movies and he tragically died at age 40 of a brain aneurism. He would have been huge. He was a really great guy.

We wish Rhett and Paul best of luck as they wrap up filming on Deadpool! For release updates and trailer clips, please visit: www.foxmovies.com/movies/deadpool. n

Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese on the set of Deadpool

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“MyinterestinfilmbeganatPCDSthroughthefilmfestivalthatMr.StokesandMr.Schweikhercoordinated.”Rhett Reese ‘87

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Lighting the Developing WorldLesley Silverthorn Marincola ‘04 and Bryan Silverthorn ‘01

Siblings Lesley Silverthorn Marincola ‘04 and Bryan Silverthorn ’01 were both PCDS lifers. Today, they serve as the CEO and CTO of Angaza Design, which provides metered energy to the developing world, allowing customers to purchase clean energy for phones, lights, and other devices on a pay-as-you-go basis. Their focus is currently off-grid households in Sub-Saharan Africa and India.

Armed with degrees in product design and mechanical engineering from Stanford University, Lesley formerly worked at Amazon with the Kindle design team, and as a design consultant working with clients like DirecTV, Genentech, Qualcomm, and Volkswagen. Lesley was recognized by Businessweek as one of “America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs”, is a World Economic Forum Young Global Shaper, and was named a Forbes “30 Under 30” Entrepreneur.

Bryan drives technology development at Angaza with a range of experience to match the breadth of Angaza’s engineering efforts. His work in industry has ranged from embedded firmware to enterprise software to robotics hard-ware, backed by a computer science degree from Cornell and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin. His ability to create novel solutions led to the creation of Angaza’s pay-as-you-go data transfer technology.

In a conversation with Lesley, she shared more about Angaza Design, her impetus for starting the company, and their goals for the future.

Angaza Design is based in San Francisco and Kenya. Their pay-as-you-go products allow households to pay weekly for their energy needs, at a cost lower than that of the kerosene they currently use in their homes. Products are distributed by people in the villages where consumers live, and then they collect ongoing payments. “Our team in Nairobi inter-faces with distribution partners, running credit and teaching end-users how to use the technology.”

Looking to the future, Lesley explained that they want to expand Angaza very quickly. Their products are already in seven countries, but they want to continue expanding their geographic footprint and the types of products offered; they are especially interested in technology that would allow them to introduce electronic cook stoves to replace open fires, which are costly and bad for respiratory health. Angaza also hopes to bring small water pumps to farmers.

With regard to their roles at Angaza, Lesley focuses more on fundraising and relationship building, while Bryan focuses on technology. The siblings didn’t always plan to work together, but Bryan’s computer science background and Lesley’s design and engineering background became a winning combination.

When reflecting on PCDS, Lesley said, “PCDS instilled in me a love of learning that I probably didn’t appreciate as much then as I do now. The interaction with teachers and the variety of subjects we were exposed to were very special. Dr. Allison is the classic PCDS faculty member—she taught me how to communicate effectively, which is key as an engineer. I know that is true for Bryan as well, since he loves reading and writing in particular. Biology with Mrs. Dann also stands out as a pivotal PCDS educational experience for me.”

When asked to share advice with students interested in entrepreneurship, Lesley said, “You have to be able to try something quickly and cheaply and be honest with yourself when something isn’t working. Also, take design classes! My undergrad experience was never labeled as entrepre-neurship, but the concept of evaluating a need and then designing a product is core to entrepreneurship. At the same time, I run the business side of our company, so I would also advise engineering and business experience, because those create the nexus for success.”

To learn more about Angaza Design, visit their website at www.angazadesign.com. n

ALUMNI PROFILE

Lesley and Bryan meeting with Angaza consumers

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Adam Sidi ’14 (ASU, Barrett, The Honors College ’18) and Angelica Sisson ’13 (Catholic University of America ’17) speak with the Class of 2015 during their Senior Lunch.

During the 2014-15 year, we had a number of opportunities for our young alumni to come back to campus to share their knowledge and expertise with our current students and parents. Young alumni panels provided opportunities for our students and parents to learn about the transitions to college as well as offering a forum for learning more about the college experience in general. If you are a young alumnus/a interested in coming back to campus to share your expertise or to participate on an upcoming panel, please let us know by emailing alumni@pcds.org.

Morgan Schwartz ‘14 (Smith ’18) returned to the PCDS campus during her winter break from college to help Upper School Science teacher, Catherine Smith, in her AP Biology class. They ran a lab together using equipment new to PCDS; they isolated cheek cell DNA and then replicated the DNA in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Young Alumni Back on Campus

Young alumni who served as counselors during the 2015 PCDS Summer Program

Zinnia Daas ’09 (University of Arizona ’13), Garron Rodgers ’13 (Chapman ’17) and Mariclare Rethore ’13 (Simmons ’17) participate in a 2015 Parents’ Association panel.

Rachel Chanen ’11 (Harvard ’15), Matt Prusak ’11 (USC ’15), Lauren Chanen ’12 (Brown ’16), Jonathan Rooney ’14 (Tufts ’18) participate in a January 2015 Upper School panel.

Extraordinary Educators Sasha Borsand Glassman ‘99 Supports Our Schools

CDS Alumna Sasha Borsand Glassman ‘99 and her husband Rodney are no strangers to large-scale commu-nity projects in support of education. Sasha is an elected member of the Madison Elementary School District Gov-erning Board and serves as corporate counsel for a global electronics manufacturing company. Rodney leads the External Affairs & Government Relations practice at Ryley, Carlock, & Applewhite and serves as Vice President of Board Development for the Boy Scouts of America Grand Canyon Council. Reflecting on her passion for learning and desire to pass that on to future generations, Sasha attributes much of her success to the phenomenal education she was lucky to have received as a PCDS student.

Together, the Glassmans co-author the Jeremy Jackrabbit book series, stories focused on issues of sustainability, illus-trated by school children, which have been distributed for free to over 180,000 kindergartners across Arizona. Teaming up with local businesses and foundations to underwrite printing and publishing, their books feature hands-on-lesson plans with forwards written by Arizona State University’s President Dr. Michael Crow (their newest title to be released this spring, Jeremy Jackrabbit Builds a House, will feature a forward by

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey). To learn more about the five books in the Jeremy Jackrabbit book series, visit: www.jeremyjackrabbit.com.

In the spring of 2012, Sasha was visiting Montgomery, Alabama where Rodney was serving as a Captain in the JAG Corps at Maxwell Air Force Base. During her visit Sasha noticed cars with license plates decorated by rulers, pencils, apples and the slogan “Helping Schools.” Sasha learned that Alabama’s special license plate for education raises extra funds for their public school system. Sasha asked Rodney, “Why don’t we have one of these in Arizona?” And with that question, Sasha and Rodney Glassman had identified their next community project: the “Extraordinary Educators” license plate.

Upon returning home, they ran a bill with friends from the Arizona State legislature to create the “Extraordinary Educators” license plate, which is now available at www.servicearizona.com. The plate has a dark green chalkboard background with a bright red apple and the slogan “Support our Schools.” At the nominal price of $25 per year, $17 from each plate is contributed to the Arizona Community Foundation which distributes the funds through a statewide mini-grant process to support “extraordinary” classroom projects for teachers.

For Sasha and Rodney Glassman, who made the creation of the “Extraordinary Educators” license plate a reality, it’s all in a day’s work as parents committed to the future of their two young daughters. n

“Themorewecandotosaluteourteachersanddriveresourcesintotheirclassrooms,thebetteroffwewillallbeasArizonans.”Sasha Borsand Glassman ‘99

Rodney and Sasha Glassman holding the Arizona Extraordinary Educators license plate. To purchase your “Extraordinary Educators” license plate visit www.servicearizona.com.

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ALUMNI PROFILE

Here’s what some of our other alumni have been up to…

Charles de Trenck ‘81 is enjoying his role as PCDS parent to daughter Arianne, Class of 2023!

1982

Laura Levy ‘82 bought a small farm in the bucolic Skagit Valley of Washing-ton state and plans to use her design skills and knowledge of horticulture to create a vibrant, working, sustainable small farm.

Carolina Lopez ‘82 keeps busy with work and family. She enjoys and is honored to be a part of the PCDS Alumni Board where she feels con-nected to her youth and treasured childhood memories. She is very ac-tive in helping the less fortunate and assisting in getting medicine and aid to developing countries. Carolina is still keeping her love of the arts alive by producing a full-length animated movie called Noah’s Ark, which will be released in 2016.

1981

Kati Lorant Vance ‘81 has a daughter who is now in high school and is an avid horse rider and artist.

Farley Weiss ‘81 recently relocated to Boca Raton, Florida. “My wife Jessica and I have six children, three boys and three girls ages 3-15. We both work for the law firm of Weiss & Moy that my father of blessed memory started over 40 years ago. I am president of the firm and I do trademark law and Jessica does immigration law. The firm’s main practice is patent law and my brother Mark Weiss ’83 works with us. I was honored to be inducted into the PCDS Athletic Hall of Fame three years ago. My induction inspired me to play more tennis and I have since twice won the tournament for the top men’s player at a local public tennis court. I also spend my spare time serving as president of a national Jewish organization called the National Council of Young Israel. The organization is a member of the Conference of Presidents of National Jewish Organizations. It has allowed me to meet foreign leaders of France and Spain as well as major government officials in Israel. I can be reached at my email at fweiss@weissiplaw.com.

1969

Bruce Miles ‘69 reports that “Emma and I have been in Portland, Oregon for five years now and love it more each day. Unfortunately because of all of the nice things Oregonians have been saying about living here and the TV show Portlandia, housing prices and rents have jumped dramatically and those crazy California transplants are ruining our previously mellow free-way driving. Work has been good in the voiceover world, including recent national commercial work for Wheat Thins and Target Stores, lots of char-acter work for video games big and small, and lots of highly technical medical narration. Rarely a dull day around here. I have a website where you can view and listen to some of my work: www.brucemiles.com. Anyone up for a reunion of the 1960’s gradu-ates before we all need walkers and wheel chairs?”

1972

Lisa Babcock ‘72 writes, “I’m a work-ing geologist, married with three kids, one who is following in parents’ foot-steps, and two in college. I am also a step-mom to three more kids and grandma to four. On Facebook. Ain’t life grand!”

1974

Kati Weingartner ‘74 still works at ASU and is Living La Vida Loca. “Is it time to jump?”

We collect many Class Notes each year and cannot guarantee that all submissions will be printed. Class Notes are written in an individual’s own words.

SavetheDateforReunion2016!April 29 & 30, 2016. Visit www.pcds.org/alumni for more details.

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with frequent volunteering in both the LS library and in her children’s classrooms, Clarissa is active locally, and continues to serve on the PCDS Alumni Board, as a Forest Highlands Committee Chair, and as a Director on Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s Lead-ership Circle. Her latest adventure is the adoption of a new golden retriever puppy, named Barley, who joins their existing menagerie of two dogs, three fish and two hermit crabs!

1989

Roz Bolger Abero ’89 is still loving her job as Assistant Head of School at PCDS, and now it’s truly all in the family as her husband Inaudi is the Assistant Coach for Varsity Soccer and their son Edu is in 4th grade at PCDS. She loves running into PCDS alumni around town and on campus, and she still hangs out with PCDS friends Jennifer Wilson Juhl ‘89 and Katie Cesal Hennessy ‘89.

Miko McGinty ‘89 is living and work-ing in Brooklyn. She and her husband Nathan have two sons, Xander (3) and Kaz (7). Miko’s husband is an artist and she is a graphic designer working primarily on art books with museums. Miko “really enjoys seeing updates from classmates on Facebook.” She’s looking forward to seeing artist Laurel Sparks’ ‘90 solo show in New York at the Kate Werble Gallery, katewerblegallery.com.

and his third for the Notre Dame Shake-speare Festival (NDSF), Grant previ-ously served as the Founding Artistic Director for the Richmond Shakespeare Festival (VA) at Agecroft Hall. High-lights there included helping to develop Richmond Center Stage, touring to 23 states and more than 200,000 people, and fourteen consecutive years playing Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol for Two Actors.

This spring, Will Duffy ‘88 returned a 1st edition Paddington Bear book that he checked out of the PCDS Library in the 1970s.

Will Duffy ‘88 returning his book to Lower School Librarian Evelyne Macrodimitris

Clarissa Simek Robinson ‘88 and her husband, Brian, recently moved just down the street from PCDS, which makes getting their three children, Lilly (‘22), Ellie (‘25) and Josie (‘26), to school each day even easier. Along

1986

Andy Shanken ‘86 has just published Into the Void Pacific: Building the 1939 San Francisco World’s Fair (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015).

1987

Nicole Blaustein Spracale ‘87 “has been busy building my business and executive coaching practice. I recently joined the Board of Directors for the SySTEMS School, and the ASU Mentor Network. Speaking of men-tors…I’m excited to be part of PCDS Alumni Mentorship committee—are you signed up to mentor? Let me know how I can help you get more involved!”

1988

Meredith Schneider Hofer ‘88 is currently working in her family’s busi-ness. “We sell luxury timepieces on the web and can be reached at www.feelgoodwatches.com.”

The Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival (Michigan) recently welcomed accom-plished actor, director, educator, and the Ryan Producing Artistic Direc-tor of the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Grant Mudge ‘88. Now in his nineteenth year as an artistic director

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Jennifer Wilson Juhl ’89 is in her 15th year of running her own CPA firm in north Scottsdale. She has been mar-ried to Todd for 20 years and daugh-ters Avery (12) and Emerson (9) enjoy playing volleyball and softball just like their mom. The family cheers on the Arizona Cardinals every Sunday and enjoys watching HGTV together.

Avery Juhl pitching a game this past spring

Carrie Judd Setta ‘89 and family have just passed their five-year mark in the Tampa area, “and couldn’t be happier with our decision to leave the Chicago winters behind. I am approaching 13 years with UnitedHealthcare, now working mainly with Major Accounts and Public Sector business. My most recognizable client is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. My job has also afforded me the opportunity to participate as a mentor at the Young Women’s Leadership Symposium through the National Diversity Council, a great yearly event that I really enjoy. My nine-year-old daughter is now in 4th grade, and has just joined the West Pasco Girls Fast Pitch Softball League. We couldn’t be more excited for her!”

Jodie Shtabsky ‘89 has been living in Cave Creek for over 10 years. After 11 years with a mutual fund company she decided to try something different and now serves as a Care Plan Man-ager coordinating in home care for older adults. She reports that “life has treated her well”.

In July, Kerstan Ruffer ‘89 saw Daryl Sparks Prietto’89, “which was awe-some! She visited me in Lake Oswego, Oregon, just outside of Portland and it was GREAT seeing her! My kids are all doing well and now they’re almost 12, 10, and 7. And, I’m extra busy as the new VP of Sustainability on the PTA Board at school so essentially I have an unpaid full time job…but it’s great!”

Daryl Sparks Prietto ‘89 pictured with Gabriel, son of Kerstan Lincoln Ruffer ’89

Lisa Lincoln ‘89 and her husband Na-than are enjoying life in San Francisco with their 20-month-old son Zoran.

Katie Cesal Hennessy ‘89 is a pedi-atrician in private practice in North Scottsdale where she occasionally crosses paths with PCDS alumni fami-lies and regularly takes care of current PCDS students. “It’s very special to have this bond with my patients and I enjoy hearing about new develop-ments at the school. I tell my young patients that it is uncommon to still be friends with people you met in middle school, but I’m lucky to still get together regularly with Roz Bolger Abero ’89 and Jennifer Wilson Juhl ‘89, who are like sisters to me. I am also blessed to have two amazing daughters and an always supportive husband.”

Mary Beth Warner ‘89 has “spent most of my career working in jour-nalism, in one form or another. I went to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and spent some time working at daily newspapers and weekly magazines. After spending four years in Berlin I am now living with my family in Washington, D.C.”

Mary Beth Warner ‘89 and family on vacation in Hawaii

Both of Christine Grau’s ‘89 children, Gabby and Tommy, are in the PCDS Upper School, and Christine can’t be-lieve that her youngest is now driving!

Terri Kalloch ‘89 is still working for the Maricopa Community College District and lives in Peoria. She and her partner recently bought a pop up camper and look forward to exploring campgrounds in Northern Arizona.

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Sargent Pillsbury ‘89 sends “Greetings from Los Angeles. My 2015 is going great so far. I’m keeping busy with my interior design practice here in LA and finding some ‘me’ time as well. I’m writing this post from the Turkish countryside as I travel with my father and youngest brother on a Yale alumni educational trip. We started in Istanbul and then moved down the Bosphorous to the powerful Gallipoli war memorial. We are now seeing the ancient cities of Sardis, Pergamon, and most exciting, Ephesus. The art and architecture is proving incredibly inspirational and I can’t wait to return to work and get my first Greek temple to design. I see fellow LA area alumni Amy Levine Hammer ‘89, David Landau ‘89 and Jenna Cooper ‘87 on occasion and recently got a chance to see Kirsten Gormley Ghaster ‘89 and her amaz-ing husband Brad as they vacationed in Palos Verdes. I also see Bennett Dorrance ‘89 and his busy brood as they come mainland to see family and friends. Any classmates making their way through the LA area please say hello (sargent@spdesigns.net).”

Gregg Anderson ‘89 writes, “I have a delicious wife and doubly delicious kids (Jaiden, almost 3, and Solange 10 months), have lived in Miami for 20 years now and I work for Carnival in Compensation & Performance Man-agement consulting.” Gregg keeps up with classmate Travis Wright ‘89.

After over 25 years, Michelle Rotman Jassem ‘89 still loves living in New York City with her husband Corey and daughters Piper and Crosby, ages 12 and 9. She is a passionate volunteer for Every Mother Counts and Cookies for Kids Cancer, and loves getting to spend summers in the Hamptons and cheering at her girls’ gymnastic meets. To commemorate her 25th year of living in NYC, Michelle ran the New York City Marathon!

As she sent her update, Kirsten Gormley Ghaster ‘89 was headed to Maui to celebrate her 11th wedding anniversary with her husband, Brad. She is happily a non-mom but a proud ‘Gigi’ to seven grandkids in the Ghaster family, with another on the way.

Amy Levine Hammer ‘89 moved to Westlake Village, CA with her husband Adam, son Yale (10) and daughter Chloe (7). Yale is an orange belt at his martial arts studio, plays golf and also piano. Chloe is an awesome soccer player with AYSO, plays piano, and takes hip hop dance lessons. Needless to say, Amy’s afternoons are quite busy. She volunteers during the day at her chil-drens’ elementary school and is also busy planning a fall festival for the City of Westlake Village.

Daniel Pinney ‘89 completed his Ph.D in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern Mississippi in December 2013. He married his longtime partner, Emily Renee Lyons, in October of last year, with Grant Mudge ‘88 officiating. He lives in Tucson, where he is “writing science fiction, looking around in somewhat desultory fashion for adjunct teaching work, and keeping house for his wife while she finishes up her dissertation in English Literature at the University of Arizona.”

Jason Cohen ‘89 lives in Atlanta with his wife Leslie and their two beautiful little girls, Jorie (3) and Braelyn (5). He is co-owner of Atlanta EWC Group LLC, which holds European Wax Cen-ter franchises. He also serves as an Application Sales Manager for Oracle, and despite living in Atlanta, still roots for the Cardinals and the Arizona Wildcats.

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1996

Alexandra Rethore ‘96 sends a “long overdue hello! Big news here is that, after a year of living bi-coastally, I took the plunge and relocated to LA after more than 12 years in NY. I am currently running new markets for a venture- funded start-up called onefinestay so I am on the road a lot, but feel lucky to have found a new home with a lot more space and a lot less attitude than I found in NY! I’m also pleased my sister Abigail ‘01 joined me out here earlier this year, though both of us still make time to go back East. I’m still in touch with the fabulous Arden O’Connor ‘96 (and family), but would love to hear from others.”

1997

Rebecca Rethore Schimmoeller ‘97 married Bjoern Schimmoeller in the spring of 2014. Together they are happily braving Boston winters and relishing what spring, summer and fall offers there, too. As owner/chief wine educator of Pour Favor Wine Events, Rebecca considers herself lucky to have found a niche in an industry she loves —curating high-touch, no-fuss wine receptions, dinners and workshops that build community, inspire conversa-tion, and otherwise enhance company meetings and events.

Masada Siegel ‘89 and Audrey Siegel Ehrenstein ‘85 in Paris

Tina Critchfield Huber ’89 is the co- creator of MadPax, 3D inspired back-packs for kids of all ages. “It has been the biggest adventure of my life and I am incredibly grateful for it. MadPax is now distributed in 15 countries; allowing kids from around the planet to express themselves in more than 4 designs. MadPax. Expect Packarazzi!”

1991

Kerr Lordygan ‘91 is an editor at Rotten Tomatoes. He recently got to chat with The Visit director M. Night Shyamalan, producer Jason Blum, and actress Kathryn Hahn about secrets kept in tool sheds, alternative cuss words, and some of the weird things that fans present to horror filmmakers. Check it out at: editorial.rotten toma-toes.com/article/video-m-night-shy-amalan-is-creeped-out-by-jason-blum/

1992

Rebecca Dicken Kano ‘92 is working part time as an urgent care physician and is home in the Boston area most of the time taking care of her five chil-dren with her husband, Zachary.

1994

Jessica Cooper Brodie ‘94 is enjoying her role as PCDS parent to son Jackson, Class of 2029!

Daniel Durchslag ‘89 is a partner at the law firm of Cohen Kennedy Dowd & Quigley in Phoenix. He is married to Kristen Brook ’95, who is an Assistant United States Attorney in the national security division of the Phoenix, U.S. Attorney’s office. Together they have five kids (four pictured), including their daughter, Dylan, who recently turned one year old.

Masada Siegel ‘89 is a freelance reporter who has covered the globe endlessly and had great adventures from playing with the penguins (wild ones) in South Africa to rating top notch restaurants in Paris, France. Last year she won a prestigious journalism award, the Lowell Thomas Award, in the category of “Personal Comment” where she focused on the lifelong friendships she made while traveling solo internationally. When she is not wandering around the world and writ-ing about the beautiful places she has seen, she is interviewing interesting people from President Gorbachev to gold medalist Olympians. She also consults for businesses and the gov-ernment on security issues. Many of her friends have suggested she run for Congress, as she has common sense and believes in working together to achieve greater success. (Feel free to connect with her if you want her to pursue this adventure.)

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In July, Matt Ferris ‘97 and his wife, Candice, celebrated the first birthday of their twin sons, Knox and Pierce. The family lives in Dallas, Texas where Matt is a partner with the Winstead law firm.

Phil Weinmeister ‘97 recently au-thored a book entitled, Practical Sales-force.com Development Without Code. The content for this technical book came from his experience building Salesforce.com-based solutions for a variety of clients around the United States. The book was published at the close of 2014 and can be purchased from Phil’s Amazon.com author site: amazon.com/author/weinmeister. Phil is currently a principal business analyst for EDL Consulting and lives in the Atlanta area with his wife and four children.

1998

Sarah Vieh Dworkin ‘98 reports that “We celebrated Emily Gray’s ‘98 growing family at a baby shower this September. Elizabeth Benoit ‘98, Anamay Carmel ‘98 and I were de-lighted to celebrate little girl Gray, who will be making her arrival in December.”

1999

Krista Scott ‘99 recently took a posi-tion with Child Care Aware of America. “I am the Senior Director of Child Care Health Policy and I am the project director for the Healthy Child Care, Healthy Communities project in part-nership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I work with states to promote healthy active living policies and practices in child care settings. Days are busy and fun.”

Whitney Pozgay ‘99 is still living in New York with her husband, Parker Argote, running their women’s ready to wear line WHIT and their diffusion line WHIT TWO.

After a long battle, Aylin Tashman Kim ‘99 was finally awarded her second medical device patent this past spring. The device should be available com-mercially in 2016. On a personal note, she enjoyed spending time with her family in Turkey this summer.

In the past year, David Levy ‘99 be-came an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. David is Associate Actuary at Argo Group in Chicago, IL. He and his wife, Allie, who is Director of Capital Mar-kets at GGP, just celebrated their 7th anniversary.

Christopher Frederick ‘99 is a radio host for Chicago’s 103.5 KISS FM. He is also a pilot for Pilots N Paws, a non-profit organization that matches rescue, shelter or foster animals with volunteer pilots willing to assist with transportation to their new homes.

Christopher Frederick ‘99 holding puppies he helped rescue

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2002

Gabriel Bruffy-Holmes ‘02 graduated from Emergency Medicine residency in the summer of 2014. He has since re-located to Frisco, Texas and is currently the Medical Director of an Emergency Department in the area.

Sophie Nye ‘02 recently completed her MA at New York University in International Education and joined the Scholar Rescue Fund at the Institute of International Education (IIE) as Com-munications Officer. Located in New York City, IIE is a private not-for-profit leader in the international exchange of people and ideas.

Michaela Skloven ‘02 writes, “Hi! I continue to work as a chef in NYC, and this past winter I launched my own Personal Chef business. I live in Brooklyn with my fiancé, Matt. We’re getting married in October in Paradise Valley—in my parents’ yard. Our big travel plan this year will be two weeks in Japan for our honeymoon!”

2003

After finishing his PhD in physics, Lance Labun ‘03 was a postdoctoral researcher in Taiwan for two years, and is now in his second postdoctoral position at UT Austin. “I work on the-ories to describe quantum effects in strong electromagnetic fields, such as particle-antiparticle pair production, which is a potentially experimentally accessible analog to Hawking radiation. While in graduate school, I met another student of physics, Ou Zhang, and we married in 2013, with several PCDS alums in attendance. She works on theories to describe the internal struc-ture and interactions of protons, which remains one of the hardest problems in physics. She graduates this coming year, and then we look forward to the scholars’ challenging ‘two-body prob-lem’: finding positions at the same or nearby universities.”

Sarah Pachtman ‘00 is a Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellow at the Hofstra North Shore Long Island Jewish School of Medicine in Manhasset, NY and is “loving every minute!” She is happy to help anyone interested in medical school or obstetrics and gynecology!

2001

A judge in Phoenix recently upheld a 2013 ordinance stating that all dogs and cats sold from local pet stores must be rescue animals. Lawmakers and animal lovers believe that the law will help to put an end to puppy mills. Eric Fraser ’01, argued the case in court on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States.

In April 2015, Brian Snyder ‘01 won a $3.2 million verdict against the Phoenix VA Hospital in a medical malpractice trial in Federal Court. It is one of the highest verdicts in recent history against the VA. Also, he and his wife’s daughter, Mia, just celebrated her first birthday. In a very private ceremony, Mr. Bob Hendrickson was donned the honor of Great Godfather.

Ashleigh Levison ‘01 completed her vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic and will finish her uveitis fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in December. She has joined the Retinal Consultants of Arizona as a retina and uveitis specialist and will start in January 2016.

Ashleigh Levison ‘01 pictured at her vitreo-retinal surgery fellowship graduation at the Cleveland Clinic

Augustine Gomez ‘99 is currently enrolled in a full-time MBA program (Class of ‘16) at the University of Arizona while continuing a full time career in real estate investments. “I am also preparing for a half marathon in November with the goal of completing a full marathon in January. GO EAGLES!”

Kelly Noble ‘99 was recently recruited over to MiMedx, the global premier processor, marketer and distributor of human amniotic tissue. Their products promote bioactive healing and tissue regeneration in applications from multiple therapeutic areas including opthalmology, spine, chronic wounds, dental, orthopedic surgery, sports medicine and urology. “I’m loving it!”

Amanda Mabbitt Westlake ‘99 writes, “My husband, Garret, and I are still enjoying life in Tempe. I work part-time as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at St. Joseph’s and spend the rest of the time trying to keep up with our almost three-year-old son, Griffin. I love being able to share my favorite memories of Phoenix with them!”

2000

Since relocating to Phoenix from New York, Tiffany Westlie Pondelik ‘00 has started a wine consulting firm, Cru Consulting, focusing on wine events, education and market consulting. She is thrilled to be participating on the Alumni Board in 2015-16 as the Secretary and is expecting daughter #2 in October 2015.

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Ashley Becker Marshall ‘03 and her husband “were blessed with a sweet, rambunctious and fun-loving son last October. Our baby Jack instantly cap-tured our hearts (and energy!), and watching him grow over the past several months has been the most incredible, rewarding and fulfilling experience in the world. Although my favorite ‘job’ is being Jack’s mom, I still work full-time at Comcast in the Content Acquisition department, where I lead deal negotiations with content providers for our SVOD products and services.”

In January 2015, Michael Scullin ‘03 began working at Baylor University as an assistant professor in the psychol-ogy and neuroscience department. He is the director of the Sleep Neuro-science and Cognition Laboratory and his research investigates the sleep-based physiological underpinnings of memory, health, and aging.

Christie Wieger ‘03 has “recently opened up a dance studio in North Scottsdale called DC Dance AZ where we focus on quality, technical dance education and providing our students with an appreciation for dance, theatre, and the arts. My husband and alumnus, Garrett Wieger ‘02, and I are also en-joying watching our beautiful children Sophia and James blossom and grow!

Yuki Kondo-Shah ‘03 currently works as a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China. She will be living in China with her husband until 2017.

Ali Matthews ‘03 is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of 224 Apparel & Design, a company that she started with her husband (based in Scottsdale). “We are a referral-only fashion forward custom apparel com-pany, with a focus in the collegiate and Greek apparel industry. We currently work with 400+ universities, both nationwide and in Canada. I’d love to share more if interested!”

Sam Trimble and Veronique Millon ‘03 were married at the Sanctuary on April 18, 2015. Several PCDS alumni were in attendance, including Rebecca Dalton ‘03 , Stephanie Yee ‘03 , Katie Luciano ‘03, Julie Carland ‘03, Liz Foglesong ‘03, and her brother, Sebastien Millon ‘00.

Photo credit: Kinkade Photography

Kaitlyn Caughlin ‘03 and Jessie Weiser ‘03—who were classmates at PCDS, and roommates at Pomona College—welcomed their daughters into the world just 20 minutes apart on December 6th, 2014! Emily Jane Oney (Kaitlyn’s daughter) was born in Phoenix, AZ and Elana Miriam Feller (Jessie’s daughter) was born in Cam-bridge, MA. The babies met for the first time in March 2015.

Jessie Weiser ‘03, left, with Elana and Kaitlyn Caughlin ‘03, right, with Emily

2004

Elizabeth Smith ‘04 writes, “This year my college sweetheart, Jason, and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary. We got married in a small family cer-emony, and the wedding party has yet to be planned! Career-wise, I took a new role at American Express, man-aging our largest global luxury clients such as Cartier, Tiffany, Chanel, and Gucci. Jason has made the transition from criminal defense attorney to craft butcher, so suffice it to say we are eating well and enjoying life!”

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Adina Hirsch ‘04 completed her MBA at USC’s Marshall School of Business in May. She recently started her new role with PwC in their healthcare strategy consulting practice. Adina is looking forward to starting new chapters both professionally and personally since she will also be get-ting married October 10th in the Los Angeles area, where she currently lives with her fiancé.

Adina Hirsch ‘04 and Rebecca Hirsch ‘06, pictured at Adina’s MBA graduation

Toddlers Eliana Abelson, Gabi Abelson (Jennifer Lewkowitz Abelson ‘04 & Ben Abelson’s girls), and Jonah Lewkowitz (Adam Lewkowitz ‘02 and Alison Lewkowitz’s son) spent some quality beach time together this summer.

From left to right: Eliana Abelson, Gabi Abelson, Jonah Lewkowitz

This summer, sisters Laura Reahard ‘07 and Elizabeth Oviedo ‘04 traveled aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line Gem to see brother Tommy Reahard ‘02 perform with The Second City.

Leah Bloomberg ‘04 is currently pursu-ing her doctorate of nursing practice at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. She will graduate in 2019 as a PMHNP (psychiatric mental healthcare nurse practitioner). “I owe my curiosity in this field to the liberal arts education I previously received at both PCDS and Whitman College. I am so grateful to be an alumna of both!” she says.

2005

Bryan McLaren ‘05 currently works as the President and CEO of Zoned Properties, Inc., a strategic real estate investment firm headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over the past year, McLaren completed an Executive Masters for Sustainability Leadership and a Masters of Business Adminis-tration. While away from the office, McLaren spends most of his time training and racing Ironman Triathlon events around the world. He has been honored to participate as a PCDS Alumni Board Member over the past year and looks forward to continuing in that role in the future.

Brigit Donovan Monahan ‘04 “got married on Friday, May 29, 2015! My new husband Barry is English and so I will be relocating to London for a few years. I am still working as a doula through my company Auntie B’s Maternity Care and More. Can’t wait to see what the next year brings. Other weddings I attended from the 2004 class this year were Jon England ‘04 to Liz, in DC on Saturday, April 18, 2015 and Chris England ‘04 to Jen in Colorado on Saturday, August 8, 2015. Other big news, Greg McGrath and his wife Gabrielle had their first child in Jan-uary, a son named Jackson Alexander.”

Brigit Monahan ‘04 with husband Barry

Chris England ‘04 with his wife, Jen

Jon England ‘04 with wife Liz

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After a few years of teaching yoga in Arizona, Heather Moreira ‘05 moved to San Diego in 2013. “I met my husband Chris about a week after moving! We got married August 1st, 2014 in Del Mar and enjoyed a won-derful honeymoon in Italy and Greece. We bought our first home in San Clemente, CA and then welcomed our baby girl, Knightley, on May 4th of this year. While I was pregnant, I obtained my California Real Estate license. I’ll be starting with Keller Williams in San Clemente after I enjoy a few more months at home with our sweet girl.”

Anne Slovin ‘05 recently created the role of Mica Segal in the premiere of the klezmer opera The Property at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, with music by Wlad Marhulets and a libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann. This fall, she will be a part of the Midwest premiere of Sumeida’s Song by American com-poser Mohammed Fairouz. Based in Chicago, Anne will return to the Chicago Symphony Chorus for a third season, and continue to sing for anybody who will listen!

Anne Slovin ‘05 pictured at one of her performances of The Property at the Lyric Opera of Chicago

KC Lewis ‘05 writes, “I received my law degree from Northwestern University this summer. I am currently studying to take the Oregon Bar Exam and will be starting a fellowship as a Special Pros-ecutor with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office this fall.”

Justin Abbate ‘05 recently started working as In-House Counsel at a venture capital and management/consulting firm.

John Kester III ‘05 recently graduated with his PhD in Environmental Dynam-ics from the University of Arkansas. He will be starting as a Research Associ-ate at The Sustainability Consortium starting this fall.

2006

From John Schupbach ‘06: “Believe it or not, Squalor to Scholar’s first students will be entering 5th grade this coming April! We’ve grown this year to nearly 200 full-time scholars, many of whom continue to be loyally supported by members of the PCDS community. If you haven’t been to www.squalortoscholar.org recently, it’s worth a quick look! In June, I finished my second year of medical school and worked for the rest of the summer at athenahealth, a rapidly growing digital health company, on creating the tools and channels nec-essary for universally portable health information. In August, I took another dream opportunity to strengthen my understanding of healthcare and ed-ucation on a global scale as an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School. I will graduate in 2017, at which time I will return to the Mayo Clinic to finish medical school and residency. Thank you to my loving family and all the people at PCDS who continue to sup-port Squalor to Scholar, our students, and me on this odyssey.”

Becca Hirsch ‘06 graduated with her masters in Marital and Family Therapy from University of San Diego in May of 2015. From there, she accepted a job as a couples and sex therapist at a private practice in downtown Chicago. Becca also contributes to Time Out Chicago’s blog writing about dating and relationships.

Joshua Johnson ‘06 is currently work-ing as a general surgery resident phy-sician at the University of California Riverside School of Medicine. “I am enjoying it greatly and while I am un-decided as to my ultimate subspecialty I am strongly considering both vascular and plastic surgery.”

On September 26, 2015, Grady Wieger ‘06 and Jake Ban celebrated their marriage in Santa Barbara, CA. Accompanied by close family and friends, including Aubrey Jacobs ‘00, Garrett Wieger ‘02, Christie Wieg-er ‘03, Tara Wieger ‘04, Julie Bauer ‘06, Joel Fineman ‘06, and Caitlin Lisa ‘06, Grady and Jake enjoyed a meaningful ceremony followed by great food and a night of vigorous dancing. They look forward to the adventures ahead, including a hon-eymoon across Europe in the spring.

Dathan Hamann ‘06 is a dermatology resident physician at Ohio State Uni-versity and lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wonderful wife, Liza.

2009

Anna Silverman ‘09 is a second year medical student at George Washing-ton University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She spent the summer as an innovation intern at The Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pedi-atric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Medical Center. She col-laborated with physicians, surgeons, engineers and physical therapists in product development and clinical trials for medical robots. “This experience reinforced the exciting possibilities of technology in medicine and surgery,” she said.

In May, Jack Schwimmer ‘09 grad-uated from Southern Methodist University with an MBA and an MA in Arts Management. “I started working full-time for Interlochen Center for the Arts in June as their new Engagement Officer. Although the organization is based in Michigan, I moved back to Phoenix and am based here. I am helping to develop pilot programs engaging alumni, parents, trustees and advocates in four cities and creating a new virtual engagement center for Interlochen.”

Hal Cohen ‘07 married Lindsay Simon on May 10, 2015. After studying for a year in Jerusalem, Israel, Hal and Lindsay are back in Arizona where Hal practices law.

2008

Lauren Motzkin ‘08 is living in Brooklyn, NY and works at the Solo-mon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation in the Global Communi-cations Department.

Kaylie Marsh ‘08 completed a Masters in Public Administration with a Non-profit Management concentration in December 2014 at the University of Colorado–Denver, and moved back to Phoenix, where she accepted the position of Executive Director at the Camp Swift Youth Foundation.

Caitlin Wilenchik ‘08 is currently working at the Department of Justice for her legal internship while at George Washington University Law School and is in her rookie year with the Washington Redskins Cheerleading team.

Felisia Sainz ‘06 got engaged to Nicholas Peter Tosches III, and they will be married in April of 2017.

John Tierney ‘06 graduated from medical school at Temple University in May. He moved Chicago to shorten his commute to Notre Dame football games and to start a surgery residency at Rush University Medical Center and Cook County Hospital.

Chloe Brandon Charlton ‘06 graduated from veterinary school with a doctorate in veterinary medicine. “I am now Dr. Chloe Charlton, DVM. Special thanks to Dr. Smith for encouraging me to love science, and to pursue my dream of becoming a veterinarian.”

2007

Scott Bixby ‘07 is a senior editor and political correspondent at Mic News in New York City. A newly minted Brook-lynite, Scott shares custody of a betta fish named Latrice Royale with his boyfriend, actor Andrew Keenan-Bolger. He recently learned how to skateboard.

Rick Selling ‘07 is working at Amkor Technology headquarters in Tempe as a Senior Accountant in their External Reporting department. He has been a certified CPA since November 2014.

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Katharine Onofryton ‘10 moved to South Africa in 2014 to research great white sharks and hammerheads. “Look for me on next year’s Shark Week. I’m headed to veterinary school for fall 2016 to specialize in marine animal medicine.”

Sophia Boyer ‘10 just returned from her fourth summer session of volunteering at Paul Newman’s camp for children with seriousness illnesses. She lives in Washington, D.C., where she is the Government Affairs Coordinator for the NFL.

Michael Perry ‘10 is an Army first lieutenant currently serving as an infantry platoon leader in the “Band of Brothers,” 2-506th Infantry, in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Camp-bell, KY, just outside of Nashville, TN. He recently completed Army Ranger School and Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA, and is excited to finally be leading Soldiers in an operational unit.

In her first year of adult life, Salona Patel ‘10 moved to NYC and started working at Bloomingdales buying for men’s fashion. “It has been an amazing experience living my dream out here and I can’t wait to see what happens next!”

Kevin Crain ‘10 completed school last June at Stanford where he studied philosophy (B.A.) and computer science (M.S.), focusing on the intersection of probability and decision making. The last four summers struck up a lasting love affair with the Lake Tahoe Basin. Each summer brought along different roles at a family camp in the area, from leading hikes to instructing waterskiing. Summer 2015 consisted of visiting distant family relatives and beginning the job search, which will likely keep him in northern California and involve technology. Please let him know if you are ever in the San Fran-cisco area and would like to catch up: 602-684-0106.

2010

Alexis Myers ‘10 began her second year of nurse practitioner school at Vanderbilt University School of Nurs-ing (VUSN) in Nashville, TN. She is the founder and president of the first Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) student nurses organization at VUSN. This group aims to pro-mote awareness of AAPI health dis-parities and give a voice to those of AAPI background. Her group won 1st place at VUSN’s Diversity Day poster competition with their poster about the specific health needs of AAPI populations and their implications on future nursing practice. She encour-ages everyone to visit their website to learn more about AAPI health issues: vusnaapi.wordpress.com/

Alexis Myers ‘10 pictured with the Asian American Pacific Islander student nurses group at the Vanderbilt Diversity Day competition

Bianca Cervantes ‘10 was recently appointed as the new community- based program manager for Boys Hope Girls Hope of Arizona, a non-profit aimed at building academic and college readiness.

Eric Fram ‘09 lives in LA’s newly- dubbed Sawtelle Japantown with his neighbor, Varun Mokhashi ‘09. He works as the co-founder of Zippy Brain, a mobile application production com-pany that focuses on educational games. Starting this year, he is also a member of the PCDS Alumni Board.

Varun Mokhashi ’09, Mark Zhang, ’09, and Eric Fram ’09 spending time together in Los Angeles

Janey Zitomer ‘09 moved to Brookline, MA after graduating from Brandeis University in 2013. She is an Associate Editor at the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), a membership organi-zation that provides vetted entrepre-neurs with the resources and social capital they need to succeed. Since living in Boston, she has enjoyed many a Red Sox game—and even a few Boston College football games—with fellow ‘09 classmate and neighbor Harrison Kent.

LookingforPCDSAlumniGear?Contact alumni@pcds.org to see what we have in stock!

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After graduating from Tulane Univer-sity in May, Rachel Epstein ‘11 moved to NYC in June where she has been working at Creative Artists Agency, pursuing her passion for entertainment.

Thomas Wall ‘11 reports “life’s great.”

On May 16th, 2015, Dylan McAdam ‘11 received his Bachelor of Arts with a major in biology and minors in geogra-phy and philosophy from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He will begin pursuing his interest in wild-life film by interning at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival in Wyoming this summer and fall. Check out his portfolio at dmcadam.portfoliobox.me!

Ashley Sylvester ‘11 graduated cum laude from Santa Clara University in June where she was inducted into the honors societies for Political Science (Pi Sigma Alpha) and French (Phi Sig-ma Iota). Since the beginning of April 2015, she has been working at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. She is planning on joining the Daughters of the American Revolution as a new member.

Nithin Pusapati ‘11 graduated with dis-tinction from Duke University in May, with a Bachelors of Science in Evo-lutionary Anthropology, Biology, and Chemistry. After graduation, he began medical school at The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.

Kirea Mazzolini ‘11 graduated from Pomona College in May 2015 and started at Baylor College of Medicine (in Houston) in July.

Zachary McVay ‘10 spent the 2014-2015 academic year teaching 3rd grade at Archway Cicero Academy in Scottsdale, and is currently teaching 6th-8th grade Latin at Cicero Prepa-ratory. Future plans include getting a realtor’s license and moving to Italy. He continues to honor his mother’s mem-ory, who passed in April from cancer.

2011

After graduating from Texas Chris-tian University with honors, Christine Stockslager ‘11 began her next ad-venture at Emory University’s Doctorate of Physical Therapy School earlier this summer. “Once again, I can proudly call myself an Eagle, but I will still continue to cheer on my Horned Frogs from afar. I am currently in my second semester of the three-year program, and I happy to say the first semester went great! I have made amazing friends, become involved in student senate as technol-ogy officer for my class, gotten back to playing tennis, been a part of some awesome charity events, and explored my new city of Atlanta. I look forward to the opportunities that await me in this new and exciting chapter of my life.”

Ryan Dougherty ‘11 started Ph.D. work in Combinatorial Design Theory, specifically in constructing covering arrays of minimal size using a com-pact representation of them.

Matthew Prusak ‘11 is moving to Indo- nesia after graduating from USC to work as a management consultant with Bain & Company.

Margaret McCain ‘10 is working for a video production start-up in Nashville, Tennessee called 3 Sons Media as a researcher, writer and associate pro-ducer. “We do sports and corporate content, including in-game and net-work videos for the Cleveland Browns. I’ve loved the collaborative culture of Nashville. Come visit! It’s not just country music here, I promise.”

Diana Hsu Schron ‘10 spent the past year in Boston creating a mural de-signed by artist Ambreen Butt for the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan. She had many exciting holidays traveling with family and friends to destinations in Europe including Paris, Berlin, Am-sterdam, and Tuscany. It has been a spectacular gap year, and Diana is looking forward to starting her first year at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine this fall.

Morgan Shepard ‘10 ran the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon and in doing so, raised over $5000 for the American Association for Cancer Research in memory of her father.

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AreyougettingmarriedlocallyandwantthePCDSEagletoshowup?Contact alumni@pcds.org so we can make it happen!

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2012

JB Stockslager ‘12 is now a senior at SMU, and “served as a Cox School of Business Senator and as Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity President. I helped start our student spirit program, The Mob, working hand-in-hand with the marketing team in the Athletic De-partment. I also worked with a group to create the first student-led building proposal ever at SMU. It was passed by the Board of Trustees and I am cur-rently serving as the Student Center Committee Chair, where my main focus is to make the center project run as has been approved. I am also a Student Representative to the Board of Trust-ees for the Athletics Committee, who runs everything related to athletics at SMU.”

Nimra Khan ‘12 began her senior year at Columbia University. She will be graduating in May with a bach-elor’s degree in Psychology. This semester she is interning for Jimmy Choo Headquarters in their Public Relations Department.

Liam Dempsey ‘12 is working as a ghost writer in NYC as well as working for hyperballad music ad and scoring projects including independent film and television advertising. He recently worked on a line of Revlon ads featur-ing a Robert Palmer cover. He is in his senior year at NYU.

Harrison VanDolah ‘12 is preparing to go to China this January (interim program)! His declared majors are Chemistry and Asian Studies (Chi-nese) “but we’ll see how long that lasts. :) Miss everybody!”

James Hobin ‘12 is a lead program-mer of the second version of Smarter Objects. This work has been published in ACM CHI and ACM UbiComp. See www.smarterobjects.org for more information.

2013

Leila Noghrehchi ‘13 is pursuing a B.A. in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona. She is majoring in Middle Eastern and North African studies with a double minor in Persian Language and Pre-Health. She is currently studying for the MCAT, and hopes to be ready to apply to medical school by next summer. She is currently working as an EMT and is head of the Iranian Cultural Associa-tion of Tucson.

Pauline Lillian Shongov ‘13 is a 3rd-year Fine Arts major at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning with a concurrent degree in Cognitive Semi-otics of Film as a College Scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University. Her first short film moloko was officially selected and screened at the Ivy Film Festival at Brown Univer-sity this past spring. She just finished a semester in NYC where she interned at Gagosian Gallery and has just start-ed her fall semester in Rome.

Henry Roden ‘13 was recently admit-ted to the Eller College of Management as a double major in Finance and Management Information Systems at the University of Arizona, and started his junior year this fall. This summer, he had the opportunity to intern with Turtle Reef Holdings, LLC in Alexandria, VA, where he experienced the front lines of U.S. government contracting. He also took some time to attend a speech program in Cheney, Wash-ington, where he was able to work with people with moderate to severe speech impediments, as well as fur-ther his own speech. ”It’s hard to believe I started school at PCDS only four years ago!”

Jacob Feder ‘13 is a junior at Brown University, and he recently completed an internship at Apple.

Garron Rodgers ‘13 is a junior at Chapman University in Orange, CA where he is double majoring with a B.A. in Theatre Technology and a B.S. in Business Administration. Last spring, out of thousands of applicants, he was selected to be one of eight students to participate in an Elite Training program with the world- famous company, Cirque du Soleil. The program was held in May 2015, located in Las Vegas, and was in part-nership with USITT (United States Institute for Theatre Technology). He was trained on all of Cirque du Soleil’s state-of-the-art automation equip-ment (including stage automation, lifts, winches, and flying performers in a 3D space), got in-depth backstage tours, and networked and interviewed with Cirque du Soleil’s top executives. “It was a life-changing experience and really helped me get a foot in the door at the top entertainment company in the world.”

2014

Adam Sidi ‘14 writes, “I was fortunate this summer to intern at STORE Capital (NYSE:STOR) in their acquisitions department and have been asked to stay on during the year in their under-writing department. STORE has approx-imately 50 employees and almost four billion dollars under-management.”

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Aashay Sanghvi ‘14 “finished up an awesome gap year where I interned at PCDS’s Advancement Office, traveled the world, and built startup companies at a firm called Tallwave. I am now a freshman at Harvard College and incredibly excited for what the next four years have to offer!”

2015

This fall, Bryeson Rodgers ‘15 began his first year at Princeton University and is excited to start his adventure towards a B.S.E. (Bachelor of Science in Engineering) degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering! He is also “having tons of fun adjusting to the new people, sights, and culture of a new city and place to live for the next four years.”

Morgan Gonzales ‘15 is currently in season—playing golf for the University of Virginia.“ It has been an amazing time here at UVA, and I’m so lucky that PCDS prepared me for the rigor-ous academic workload. Although it’s been a crazy transition with a hectic schedule trying to balance practice and class, I know that UVA is the best place for me and I can’t wait for the months to come. Go hoos!”

PJ Noghrehchi ‘15 writes, “I am a freshman at the U of A Honors College, majoring in Business in the Eller College of Management, as well as being a Pre-Med student. Thus far, college has been awesome! I absolutely love the university that I chose to attend and I can’t wait to see what my fu-ture here will be like. After attending PCDS, I found my transition into college to be somewhat normal and

not overwhelming. I definitely came in prepared academically, and PCDS has allowed me to have an edge on the rest of my class. Being ahead gave me more flexibility to focus on what I am interested in. I love my campus more after each day, and the school spirit here is insane! I’m excited to THRIVE here in the Wildcat Country, and as always, BEAR DOWN!”

Upon graduating this past June, Lilia Dashevsky ‘15 left to work in Congressman Paul Gosar’s (AZ-04) Washington, D.C. office for her second summer as a press intern. Shortly after her arrival, Lilia was offered a paid position as the Congressman’s staff assistant in his Gold Canyon office in Arizona. Lilia is now the youngest-ever paid staffer in Congressman Gosar’s office, and it is believed that she is also the youngest paid Congressional staffer in the Arizona delegation.

Lilia Dashevsky ‘15 with Rep. Paul Gosar

This summer, Michelle Greenfield ‘14 interned at SANCCOB, which is a penguin rehabilitation center in Cape Town, South Africa. SANCCOB works to help injured and stranded seabirds and releases them when they are well enough to survive and thrive in the wild. For more information about vol-unteering or donating to SANCCOB please visit www.sanccob.co.za/.

Sydney Portigal ‘14 recently trans-ferred to Emory University in Atlanta. “So far my first couple of weeks here have been great; Atlanta is an amazing city and I’ve met some amazing peo-ple. I’m looking forward to the PCDS Alumni party in December!”

After completing her first year at the University of Edinburgh, Gabby Shacknai ‘14 interned for PBS News-Hour in Washington, D.C. over the summer. There, she worked mostly for NewsHour Extra, a website that pro-vides teachers of grades 7-12 with free lesson plans based on current events. Gabby is very much looking forward to returning to Scotland for her second year in studying English Literature and History.

Do you have news to share? We are always excited to hear from you. Please send pictures and details about a graduation, a new job, a birth, engagement or marriage announcement, a recent trip, a new hobby, or a visit with another alumnus. Email your news to the Alumni Office at alumni@pcds.org. We look forward to learning what you have been up to!

74 74

Save the Weekend to Celebrate!APRIL29and30,2016

Athletic Hall of Fame Induction

Outstanding Alumnus(a) Award Presentation

Alumni Weekend 2016 Honoring the Reunion Classes of ‘06, ‘01, ‘96, ‘91, ‘86, ‘81, ‘76, ‘71, & ‘66

The Fourth Annual Bridge-the-Gap THANK YOU Celebration

75

ANNUALREPORTON

GIVING

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OPERATING STATEMENT 2014-15 FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2015

The 2014-15 Operating Statement supports the School’s continuing commitment to retain a superior faculty and to upgrade the physical plant. The following financial data is a summary, assembled from our annual audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015. The financial data presented in this annual report does not represent a complete financial statement presentation in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Copies of our annual financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015, along with the auditors’ report, are available for review upon request from the Business Office.

Income

Tuition and fees $17,271,199

Contributions to operating fund (Annual Fund) 806,677

Contributions with donor-imposed restrictions 4,431,669

Endowment Contributions 114,905

Investment dividends, interest 1,336,634

Market gains/(losses) on investments (1,563,401)

Loss on disposition of assets 0

Other miscellaneous income 69,224

Total Income $22,466,907

Expenses

Salaries and benefits $12,021,144

Instructional expenses 1,138,490

Financial aid & tuition remission 1,715,612

Facilities operations and maintenance 797,574

Auxiliary services 283,007

Administrative expenses 996,194

General operation expenses 471,252

Transfers to Net Reserves 5,043,634

Total Expenses $22,466,907

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Dear PCDS Community,

It’s an understandable question: What does “advancement” in schools even mean?

Our job as an Advancement team is literally to advance the school, through our relationship-building and fundraising efforts with current families, alumni, parents of alumni, and friends. Our directives are taken directly from the PCDS Strategic Plan.

The Advancement Office works on:

• Growing the Annual Fund and encouraging support through the Arizona Tax Credit programs

• The multi-year THRIVE Campaign—from communicating about it to raising the funds that make the projects possible

• Connecting with our 50+ years of alumni, locally and globally, through events, communications, and our alumni mentorship program

• Correctly receiving, processing, and reporting on gifts made to the School• Appropriate donor recognition• Putting on outstanding community-building and fundraising events through-

out the year• Promoting PCDS through a engaging and informative communications

strategy so that all constituencies, both locally and nationally, are aware of the incredible PCDS experience

Last year we introduced what was a largely new team, and I am proud to say that this team has truly crystallized into a focused and strategic group of positive and hard-working individuals who strive each day to advance the School. In other words, the Advancement Team helps PCDS THRIVE.

Roz Bolger Abero ’89 Assistant Head of School

ADVANCEMENT TEAMRoz Bolger Abero ’89 Assistant Head of School

C. Ryan Joyce Director of Advancement

Leslie Kornreich Feldman ‘99 Director of Alumni Relations

Katie Charles Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship

Kaitlan Cady Assistant Director of Advancement and Admissions

Lydia Rodin Coordinator of Special Events, Advancement

YOUR ANNUAL FUND

DOLLARS AT WORK

From left: Katie Charles, Kaitlan Cady, C. Ryan Joyce, Lydia Rodin, Leslie Kornreich Feldman ’99, and Roz Bolger Abero ’89

Advancing PCDS

FINANCIALAID

GENERAL OPERATING

PROGRAMEXPENSES

12%75%

13%

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Founder’s Circle - ($50,000+)

Jennifer Mee Cole & Christopher H. Cole

Najafi Companies

Cheryl & Jahm Najafi

Headmaster’s Circle - ($25,000+)

Anonymous

Atlasta Catering & Event Concepts

Kristine & Steve Short

Richard Burke

Julia & Taylor Burke

Linda F. Noyes Charitable Lead Trust

Katherine Portanova ‘96

Barbara & Zeb Portanova ‘97

Clarissa Simek Robinson ‘88 & Brian Robinson

Aquilae - ($15,000+)

Amanda & David Crisalli

Dominique & Don Dady

Louis Foundation, Inc.

Julie & Herbert J. Louis

Roundtable - ($7,500+)

Stacy & Timothy Casten

Century Foundation

Amy & Timothy Louis ‘81

Deborah Carswell & Stephen Corrigan

Shelly & Mark Detmer

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Foundation

Theresa & Michael Gregory

Donna & Stephen Johnson

Tracy & Jeffrey Katz

Jennifer Chase & Laurent Poole

Rite Hite Foundation

Cheri & Brett White

Daisy & Bart Steiner

Gemma & David Tedesco

Phoenix Society - ($5,000+)

Anonymous

The Ax Family

Kathy & Lawrence Bain

Polly & Scott Bindley

Joo & David Cantor

Donna & Douglas Currault

Paulette & James Dodson

Bridget & David Fletcher

Stephanie & Adam Goodman

Lindsay & Jason Hope

Kristin & James Lassetter

Melissa & Dave Mullard

Sabrina & Reed Porter

Wendy Selig-Prieb & Laurel Prieb

Nicole & Lawrence Russo

Jenifer & Keith Swisher

Mary & Dennis Wise

Kim Komando & Edward Youn, III

Sheila & Michael Zuieback

Eagle Fellowship - ($2,500+)

Courtney & Jeffrey Beyersdorfer

Stacy & Richard Cooper

Sybil Francis & Michael Crow

Polly & Glenn Culpepper

Marilyn & Robert Fransway

Susan & Mark Greenfield

Hall of Frames

Michelle & Michael Hosmar

Sara Kaplan

Carol Colombo & Louis Kirby

Bonnie & Terry Maffi

Susan & Marcus Mamolen

Colin McCavitt

Judith & Kent Mueller

Dr. Shelly Gandhok & Dr. Manoj Rawal

Julie & Vasif Sabeeh

Anne Marie & Timothy Schaub

SC Johnson Fund, Inc.

Tracy & Marc Schwimmer

Kathryn & David Sellers

Susan & Charles Shields

Molly & Rick Sodja

Denise & Kent Voss

Charlene & Jim Whitfill

Kimberly & Michael Yue

Leadership Circle - ($1,000+)

Ann & Andrew Abraham

Ruth Bristol & Felipe Albuquerque

* Rebecca & Ken Allison

Angela Ratnam & Brian Allmendinger

Yasmin & Manish Amin

Annaliza & Kenneth Anaeme, M.D.

Anonymous

Erin & Christopher Ashby

Stephanie & Jonathan Ashman

Jo-Ann & Lowry Barfield

Nadia & Faran Bashir

Laura & Jeff Beraznik

Alice Cho & James Bergera

* Betty & Philip Bienert

Kathryn & Brett Bishov

Lisa Borowsky

Linda Jorgensen-Bracher & G. Alan Bracher

Narinder & Jugroop Brar

Tracy & William Brennan

Georgia Buelow

Linda & Jeff Campbell

The Carlyle Group Wealth Sharing Program

Renie Cavallari

Elisabeth & Paul Cereghini

Joe & Maria Cooper

Carrie & Joseph Davis

GIFTS TO THE ANNUAL FUND

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Molly & Nick DeFilippis

Larraine Ho & Pravin Dugel

Idara & Ini Ekpo

Tracey & Chris Elsie

Holly & Kevin Fechtmeyer

Alisa & Earl Feng

The Firefly Trust

Andrew C. Norris ‘81

Joan B. Norris

Jonathan B. Norris ‘77

Nicholas Firestone ‘84

Lisa & David Fujii

Sandra & Tracy Gamble

Katherine & Morton Genson

Alexis & Bonsal Glascock

Judith & Herbert Gold

Iulia & Alan Hauser

Henry Family Foundation

Leslie & David Lewis

Jamie Herzlinger

Sandi & Jeff Hunter

Kerry & Eric Jackson ‘86

* C. Ryan Joyce

Angela & Robert Keller

Wei & Ken Kinnie

Jill & Burt Kohler

Praveena & Ramkrishna Kothur

Kim & Matthew LaVelle

Tami Dairiki & Evan Leibner

Toni & Don Loback

Ashley Humes McDonough ‘04 & Chris McDonough

Kate Groves & Warren Meyer

Margaret & Steve Minard

Jeanne & Chad Miraglia

Michelle & Kevin Moriarty

Edit & Robert Murray

Nicole & Peter Nakaji

Susan & Fred Newton

Heather & Robert Novak

Erin & Craig Olschansky

Kathleen Weber & Geoffrey Ossias

Claudia & Shahram Partovi

Sheetal Chhaya & Sandeep Patel

Sara & Brandon Perry

* Kathryn Ann & Michael Peters

Colleen & Tom Peterson

Kara & Mark Peterson

Terry & Savas Petrides

Dana & Peter Powell

Melissa & Thomas Radic

Jules & Andrew Rafal

Shirley Michels & Bernard Rethore

Mirja & Timothy Riester

* Lydia & Andrew Rodin

Leigh & Brent Roland

Cyndi & Jamie Rosenthal

Andru Roysden ‘07

Mari Fukami & Jon Sabol

Saks Incorporated

Ruth & Al Siteman

Ronald Slayen

Toni & Craig Stein

Marci & Fife Symington

Shoshana & Robert Tancer

Debora Tennant

Lauri & Eric Termansen

Barbara Dawson & Samuel Thumma

Stacy & Michael Tucker

Sarah & Ramsey Umar

Thuy & Marvin Vo

Lisa & Brian Walsh

Sonja & John Wanebo

Lea & Lou Werner ‘87

Ellen & Ian Whitmore

Karen & Glenn Williamson

Jennifer & Frederic Winssinger

Community Circle - (up to $999) * Rosalind Bolger Abero ‘89 & Inaudi Abero

Jennifer Lewkowitz Abelson ‘04 & Ben Abelson

Maha & Nabil Abou-Haidar

Jenifer & Ayad Agha

* Loreta Aguirre

* Sarah Aguirre

Faryal Adil & Wahaj Ahmed

Patricia Aw-Yang & Melvin Alvarenga

AmazonSmile

* Robin Anderson

Anonymous

* Heather Arguello

Patricia & Blair Ashner

Haritha & Satya Prakash Atmakuri

* Andrea Avery

Misrach & Ermias Ayele

Lyn Bacon

Luisa & Berke Bakay

* Nicole Barber

Alison & Michael Bassoff

* Kristie & Gary Berg

Jennifer Berg

Wendy & Edward Bernatavicius

* Rebecca Bernhardt

Fabien Bertault

Erin Loback Berthiaume ‘95

* Carelie Bisinger

Patricia Refo & Don Bivens

Meredith Savage & Sean Bock

Kelly Bockrath

Sarah & David Bodney

* Joseph Boehle

Gail & Ron Bolden

Mary Lynn & David Bolger

* Alli Booth

Mirav Bradshaw

GIFTS TO THE ANNUAL FUND

* Denotes Faculty/Staff Family

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Doris Warriner & Bryan Brayboy

Robyn & Steven Brenden

Alex Brigham

Jasmine & Nathan Brown

Karen Cimera Brown

Kristina Floor & Christopher Brown

* Karen & James Bruntz

Susan & Richard Burnham

Clare Burnham ‘07

* Karen & Keith Burns

* Katherine Burrell

* Kelly Butler

* Barbara & Patrick Bzdak

* Kaitlan & Cory Cady

David Calica ‘99

Jennifer & Michael Caplan

Carol Caplan

Alejandra & Reyes Chaidez

* Katie & Bob Charles

* Jenny & Kevin Cherilla

Rebel Rice & Adam Chodorow

Susan & Steve Chung

Heather Clark

Clarvue - Division of MDR, Inc.

Lora & Nicholas Cogliani

Jennifer Cohen

Krista & Gregory Cohen

Maileen & Mitchell Cohen, M.D.

Terry & Eric Cole

* Dell Taylor & Jerry R. Cook

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Christina Zhou & Charles Cooper

* Donna Corbett

Clint Corcoran ‘03

Marlene & T. Corcoran

Lisa & Michael Corridan

* Elaine & John Crabb

* Jennifer Cunningham

Dian & Michael D’Avanzo

* Sara Damore

* Cindy Davis

Peter de Marneffe

Katrin de Marneffe

Michael Dean

Christina Orozco & Anibal Deciga

Nancy Harris Deignan & Marilu Deignan

Melinda & Thomas DeMark ‘93

Deutsche Bank

Elizabeth & Daniel Dever

* Erik Dominguez

Erin & John Dover

Shannon & Brian Dowdall

* Linda & Ira Drate

Kathleen & David Drewitz

Sheila Druch

Caroline Thompson ‘05 & David Dubick

* Shawn Ducusin

* Paula & Mort Dukehart

Sandra & Edwin Duncan ‘70

Sarah Vieh Dworkin ‘98 & Nate Dworkin

* Sasha Eden

Elaine & John Ehmann

Meg & Curtis Ekmark

* Christian Eriksen

* Sadie & Kai Etheridge

* Jennifer Evans

Elizabeth Byrnes & Barton Faber

* Leslie Kornreich Feldman ‘99 & Andrew Feldman

Katy & John Fielder

* Julie Fine

Julie Firestone

Tammy & Stephen Fisher

Katherine & Allan Flader

* Maurine Fleming

Marian & Deron Florey

Rafael Fonseca

* Sarah Forster

* Cynthia Fowler

* Valeska French ‘93 & Cynthia Frenczek

Jill & Michael Freret

* Maki Fullerton

* Pam Gagner

* Judson Garrett

Rita & Samuel Garvin

Joan & G. Kenneth Gates

* Sarah Gaumer

Natalia Wilson & Garth Gemar

* Carla Cose-Giallella & Tony Giallella

* Yolanda & Greg Gilbert

Sonia & Narendra Godbole

* Jacqui Goertz

Lisa & Eric Goldberg

Augustine Gomez ‘99

* Sarah Driscoll & Jese Gomez

Iris & Matt Gordon

* Lisa Culbertson & Eric Grabski

Tara Brodkin Grauer

Robin & Russell Grossman

* Michelle Gurnee

* Matt Guthrie

Naima & Steven Guy

Stephanie Vithoulkas Hackett ‘91 & Jason Hackett ‘88

Andrea & Everett Hale

* Antoinette Hall

Tammy McLeod & John Hamilton

Angela & Edward Harris ‘88

Kim & Gregory Haus ‘79

Amanda & William Hayden

Justine & Jean Heinzelmann

Angelica & Gerry Hernandez

Judy & Trevor Hill

* Michelle Hill

* Jeanel Hoagland

Sean & Mary Hobin

GIFTS TO THE ANNUAL FUND

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Adrienne Meredith & Brian Hoblit ‘92

Mary Pendleton Hoffer

Alejandra Holwerda

Tracey & Jonathan Hott

* Michele & Bryan Huskey

Steve Hutchinson

IBM

* Diane Ingold

Intel Matching Gifts to Education

Olivia & Andres Irlando

* Jaki Ivins

Alisa Jost

Dana & John Kay

Anita & Rajkumar Khandelwal

Jennefer & Kristine Kieran

Aylin Tashman Kim ‘99 & Louis Kim

Carolina Lopez-Garcia ‘82 & Charles Kirkland

Kathy & Randy Kirsch

* Nick Klemp

Kathy & Dave Kloeber

Ashley DornBrook & James Knapp

Andrea Kolich

Pinar Tashman Korzay ’90 & Naci Korzay

* Jean & Robert Kosower

Sandra & David Koster

Jane & Harold Kwa

Sara Dhanani & Nooraly Lalji

Sarah & Marc Lamber

Ann & Gary Lane

Laura Neller Lanigan ‘02 & Kyle Lanigan

* Julie Larrea

Tina Lassila

Tracey & Michael Lazarski

Elisabeth & Jeremy Lee

* Jacqueline & Don Lee

Diana P. Powles & Phillip D. Lett

* Cristina & Shane Lewis

* Nathan Lewis

Alison & Adam Lewkowitz ‘02

Blake Lewkowitz ‘07

Cathy Tancer Lewkowitz ‘79 & Herman Lewkowitz ‘79

Genevieve & Eli Leyba

Mercedes & Richard Liljegren

Victoria & Steve Lindley

Jeannie & Carter Lloyds

Elizabeth & Carsten Loelke

Lunchbox Wax Salon

* Mikenna Mack

* Evelyne & Aristotle Macrodimitris

* Daniel Majeski

Barbara & John Marguerite

* Sheila Marks

Dana & John Marsden

* Debbie & William Martin

Gurjot & Dharminder Marwah

Allison & John Mathews

Farnaaz & Craig Maurice

* Susan & John Mazzolini

Jackie & Brandon McDermott

* Valerie McDonough

JL McGee

Stephanie McGillivray

* Jessica & Patrick McHonett

* Andy McKean

* Katie McKean

* Stephanie McLachlan

Bryan McLaren ‘05

Sally Ball & T. M. McNally

Hilary & James McNicholas

Benjamin McRae ‘07

Medtronic - YourCause LLC

Ana & James Melikian

Elizabeth Meng

* Brian Mensinger

Claire & David Merkel

* Mary Kay & Dennis Meyers

Microsoft Giving Campaign

Lori & Adam Miller

Nan P. Miller

Racquel & Jamir Miller

* Laurence Mills

Serena & J. Andrew Montooth

Deanna & Weston Montrose

Priscilla & Paul Moore

Gabriela & Jose Moreno

* Hallie Mueller

* Jesse Munch

Susan Biegner & Warren Murff

Kelly & Alvin Murphy

Heather & John Nassar

Jennifer & Christopher Neck

* Carol & Eric Neufer

* Sean Newland

* Kelli Newsome

Ellie & Patrick Nolan

* Maria & Alex Nolasco

Kendall & Louis Novoa-Takara

Cari & William Oberfield

Karen & George Odden

Florina Lezama & Juan Olea

* Elizabeth Olson

* Desiree Ong

Amy & Robert Orenstein

Joanne Shen & Robert Ortega

* Alvaro Otalora

Elizabeth Reahard Oviedo ‘04 & Nicholas Oviedo

Kimberly & Hal Owens

* Kateland Owensby

Kris Pagano

* Christine & Bruce Palmer

Kimberly & David Paltzik

* Patty Pang

Priya & Gunjan Parikh

Pamela & Irwin Pasternack

GIFTS TO THE ANNUAL FUND

* Denotes Faculty/Staff Family

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Indu Gupta & Maitray Patel

The PCDS Maintenance Crew

Carol & Richard Peairs

Elizabeth Perla ‘00

* Brandon Perry

Barbara Pritzlaff Pierce ‘74 & V. Douglas Pierce

Rebecca Feaster & Admiral Harold E. Pittman

Amanda & Jeffrey Ploederl

Tiffany Westlie Pondelik ‘00 & Miles Pondelik

* Nichole Pope

* Kristin Pruett

Susan & Frederic Purtill, Jr.

* Lynn Quartermaine

* Jessica Raab

Lyvie & Ralph Racine

* Gabrielle & Jon Ragsdale

Sabrina & Seth Redden

Denise & Naveen Reddy

* Cheryl Slomkowski & Richard Rende

Elisa & Fernando Reynoso

* Bethany Richardson

Lisa Richardson

Lisa & Michael Rodgers

Elizabeth & Raymond Rooney

Elaine Rosenthal

Kathy & Burke Rosenzweig

Barbara Pockaj & Michael Rossides

* David Rowe

Sharon Rybarczyk

Joanna Solowska & Myllin Safir

Sage Dining Services

Shereen Elhalawaty & Islam Salama

Alpa & Ashesh Sanghvi

* Aashay Sanghvi ‘14

* Kimberly & Eric Saur

Laura & Daniel Schwartz

Jack Schwimmer ‘09

Max Schwimmer ‘07

* Jill Scott

Ruth & Jay Server

Christine & Zaheer Shah

* Ian Sharp

Lucy & Wilson Sheih

Ulrika Sandbacka & Hani Shennib

* Jaime & Terrance Sheridan

John Sheridan

Shelly & Charles Sherman

Dimitri Shivkov

Candice deSaint-Antoine & Brent Shuster

Sel & Aaron Shuster

Adam J. Sidi ‘14

Sarah & Charles Sidi

Taucha & Kyle Silk

Elizabeth & Carl Silverman

Jennet Kirkpatrick & Daniel Silverman

Jennifer Simone

Lenka & David Siroky

* Marti & David Skloven

* Joshua Skolfield

Ilene & Peter Slate

* Catherine Smith

Olivia & James Smith

Iva & Tracey Smolens

Amy & Brian Snyder ‘01

Mitzi Krockover & Jacque Sokolov

Monica Miller & Michael Souccar

Nicole Blaustein Spracale ‘87 & Steve Spracale

Kristi & David Stearns

* Jennifer Sterling

Lucy Marshall & Robert Stern

Melissa Tominac Stewart ‘98 & Michael Stewart

Laura & Matthew Stockslager

Christina Stringer

* Lauren Strohacker

* Tracy & Robert Sucato

* Benjamin Sullivan

* Michael Swingler

Rajinder & Gurvinder Takhar

* Kavita Tatapudi

Lee Kuan Hong & Keng Boon Tee

Kathy & Babak Tehranchi

Dana & Steven Tepper

* Barbara & Kenneth Thommen

Elizabeth Thompson ‘07

* Lisa Tolentino

* Trudy & Hugh Tom

* Teeraya & Samuel Tomlin

Laura & Richard Traulsen

* Jennifer Treadway

Natalie Troadec

Laura & Vladimir Troche

Pritpal & Paramvir Tuli

* Claire Tyra

Theresa & Josh Vella

* James Waller

Brian Wand

Laurie & Michael Wang

Sarah & Ethan Wessel

Amanda Mabbitt Westlake ‘99 & Garret Westlake

Kelly & Michael Whalen

Harriet & Michael White

* Dean Wilkins

Rhonda & Bart Willett

* Molly & Jason Williams

Gabrielle Goodrick & Calvin Winter

Michelle & David Woker

Ann & Joe Wong

* Debra Wood

Melinda & Robert Xanthos

* Stefan Youngs

* Lisa Zima

Emi & Stephen Zimmerman

GIFTS TO THE ANNUAL FUND

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$2,500,000 and above

Burke Family Foundation

Jennifer Mee Cole & Christopher H. Cole

Cheryl & Jahm Najafi

$1,000,000 - $2,499,999

Dominique & Don Dady

Rita & Samuel Garvin

$500,000 - $999,999

The Louis Family

Phoenix Swim Club

Sheila & Michael Zuieback

$250,000 - $499,999

Alexander Brigham

Roger S. Firestone Foundation

Theresa & Michael Gregory

The Brandi & Michael Minor Family Charitable Fund

$100,000 - $249,999

Susan Sly & Chris Arkeveld

Anonymous (2)

Kathy & Lawrence Bain

Ann & Richard Carr, G ‘20 ‘20

Molly & Nick DeFilippis

Shelly & Mark Detmer

Bridget & David Fletcher

Stephanie & Adam Goodman

Donna & Stephen Johnson

Tracy & Jeffrey Katz

Pinar Tashman Korzay ‘90 & Naci Korzay

Dana & Peter Powell

Wendy Selig-Prieb & Laurel Prieb

Shirley Michels & Bernard Rethore

Mirja & Timothy Riester

Leigh & Brent Roland

Jordan & Jason Rose

Penny & Robert Sarver

Tracy & Marc Schwimmer

The Werner Family

$50,000 - $99,999

Atlasta Catering & Event Concepts

Polly & Scott Bindley

Donna & Douglas Currault

Judy & Herb Gold

Kristin & James Lassetter

Leslie & David Lewis

Bonnie & Terry Maffi

Susan & Charles Shields

Christopher Walker ‘65

Charlene & Jim Whitfill

$25,000 - $49,999

Alice Cho & James Bergera

* Betty & Philip Bienert

Tracy & William Brennan

The Dorrance Family Foundation

Elizabeth Byrnes & Barton Faber

Fisher Marketing Group

Freeport-McMoRan Foundation

Jamie Herzlinger, Sydney ‘14 & Alexa Portigal

Jill & Burt Kohler

Cathy Tancer Lewkowitz ‘79 & Herman Lewkowitz ‘79

Kris Pagano

The Petrides Family

* Lydia & Andrew Rodin

Alpa & Ashesh Sanghvi

Jennifer Kirkpatrick & Daniel Silverman

Jason Singer

Marci & Fife Symington

The Tehranchi Family

Denise & Kent Voss

Jennifer & Frederic Winssinger

$10,000 - $24,999

* Roz Bolger Abero ’89 & Inaudi Abero

Susan & Stephen Bansak

Jo-Ann & Lowry Barfield

Amanda & David Crisalli

Paulette & James Dodson

Augustine Gomez ‘99 & Family

Susan & Mark Greenfield

Rachel & Richard Herold

* C. Ryan Joyce

Kate Groves & Warren Meyer

Gabriela & Jose Moreno

Sabrina & Reed Porter

Jules & Andrew Rafal

Laura & Daniel Schwartz

Mitzi Krockover & Jacque Sokolov

$5,000 - $9,999

Anonymous

Arbone Equipment Corporation A Rite-Hite Company

Stacy & Timothy Casten

Joshua Cohen

Thomas DeMark

Michelle & Michael Hosmar

Mary Dell Pritzlaff

Amrita & Praful Reddy

Nicole & Lawrence Russo

$1,000 - $4,999

Anonymous (2)

David & Jessica Barranco

Humberto Duarte ‘03

Susan C. Firestone Foundation

The Helen Clay Frick Foundation

Susan & Thomas Garrity

Janelle Plaza Lika ‘98 & A.J. Lika

GIFTS TO THE THRIVE CAMPAIGN (as of publication date)

* Denotes Faculty/Staff Family

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Paul Schweikher Legacy Fund

Alex Ashby ‘05

Riva Syrop & Stanley Casselman ‘81

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Adrienne (WS) Pang & Charles de Trenck ‘81

Aron S. Drayer ‘90

Christopher England ‘04

Robert Felix ‘99

Carrie & Barton Hechtman ‘79

Jennifer Wilson Juhl ‘89 & Todd Juhl

Jacqueline Norton

Caroline Perry ‘07

Kimberly Yamanouchi ‘74 & James Sackett

Tierney & Scot Torrey ‘89

Amanda Mabbitt Westlake ‘99 & Garret Westlake

Rex Allison Chair for Excellence

Rex Allison Education Foundation

Youngest Red Haired Son Endowment

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Carol & Richard Peairs

Linda Bryant Memorial Endowment

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Carol & Richard Peairs

Victor Feeney Memorial Endowment

Mary Feeney ‘71

Nancy & William Henze II ‘67

James Roof Humanities Endowment

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Anna Munczek Memorial Endowment

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Carol & Richard Peairs

GIFTS TO DESIGNATED FUNDS

Katherine DeLongy O’Connor Memorial Endowment

Maria DeLongy

Project Excellence Endowment

* Rebecca & Ken Allison

Daniel Foote ‘69

Alexandra Rethore ‘96

Shirley Michels & Bernard Rethore

Shoshana & Robert Tancer

Erik Weihenmayer

Robert Wilson Scholarship Endowment

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Mary Lu Syllaba Memorial Fund

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Carol & Richard Peairs

The Noyes Endowment for the Arts

Linda F. Noyes Charitable Lead Trust

Yellott Faculty Grants Memorial Endowment

Shelly & Charles Sherman

Other Funds

Ann & Richard Carr, G ‘20 ‘20

Tracy & Marc Schwimmer

Chinese Studies Endowment

Renee & Chida Tse

Extended Day Fund

Steve Garrity ‘00

Elizabeth Perla ‘00

Julie & Gary Linhart ‘88

Toni & Don Loback

Susan & Marcus Mamolen

Elizabeth Meng

Claire & David Merkel

William Torrey

Sarah & Ramsey Umar

Karen & Glenn Williamson

Up to $999

Faryal Adil & Wahaj Ahmed

Stephanie & Jonathan Ashman

Doris Warriner & Bryan Brayboy

Heather Clark

* Judith Mitchell & Lance Coon

Erin & John Dover

Marian & Deron Florey

Lisa & David Fujii

Sonia Abhyanker Godbole ‘90 & Naren Godbole

* Lisa Culbertson & Eric Grabski

Courtney Lewis ‘00

Leslie & Robert Lewis

* Daniel Majeski

Elizabeth McGee ‘99

Sally Ball & T. M. McNally

Lori & Adam Miller

Wanda Mills-Bocachica

Kendall & Louis Novoa-Takara

Indu Gupta & Maitray Patel

Lisa Richardson

Ellen & Richard Rodin

Vadi & Thiru Roopan

* Aashay A. Sanghvi ‘14

Peter Sczupak

Kimberly & Michael Yue

GIFTS TO THE THRIVE CAMPAIGN

$1,000 - $4,999, Continued

* Denotes Faculty/Staff Family

We Did It!

Annual Fund $815,682 Total Dollars Raised

10% Increase from the Prior Year

1,733 Total Donations

75% Parent Participation—a new record!

100% Board of Trustees, Faculty & Staff, and Alumni Board Participation

THRIVE Campaign $22,000,000 Goal for Campaign, Launched October of 2014

$12,800,000 Dollars Raised between October ’14 and end of last school year

$16,815,118 Current Total Dollars Raised as of November 28, 2015

PCDS Tax Credit $606,940 Total Dollars Raised

18% Increase from the Prior Year

398 Total Donations

To learn more about PCDS philanthropy and the transformational impact of these donations, please visit www.pcds.org/support-pcds

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Thank you to our incredible families, alumni, faculty and staff, for supporting PCDS last year!

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Alumni SpotlightsThis fall, several of our regional alumni events featured the expertise of PCDS graduates in the towns we visited. In Los Angeles, beer expert Hallie Beaune Jacobson ’95 led a lively guided beer tasting. In Washington, D.C., Time Magazine reporter Elizabeth Dias ’04 engaged the group with details of her recent trip through the U.S. and Cuba with Pope Francis. Lastly, in New York City, Natalie Dulaney ’00 shared her wine expertise through a tasting at one of her David Burke restaurants. We are delighted to highlight these three talented women in this year’s issue of The Bridge.

CLAIM TO

FAME

Hallie Beaune Jacobson ’95Hallie Beaune Jacobson ’95 was a lifer at PCDS, having at-tended from kindergarten through 12th grade. After PCDS, she matriculated to the University of Puget Sound where she received her BA in Theatre Arts. After college, Hallie pursued acting in Los Angeles, and, as she shared,

“ As is typical of actors, I began working at a well-known beer bar in Santa Monica called Father’s Office. We had to know everything about the 45 or so different craft beers we were serving. I enjoyed learning about the flavor profiles, history of the styles, and stories about the breweries. I wanted to share this knowledge with everyone coming into the bar.”

At the time, Hallie noted that:“ Most people were overwhelmed by craft beer and didn’t know a hoppy beer from a malty beer, so my friend, Christina, and I decided to start a beer education blog, which we called The Beer Chicks. There weren’t many women writing and talking about beer back then, and we thought we could dispel many misconceptions about craft beer by being both beer experts and women. As a result of the blog’s success, we got a book deal and wrote our first book, The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer, followed by our second, The Naked Brewer; Fearless Homebrewing Tips, Tricks & Rule-breaking Recipes (both published by Penguin NY). From there, we did a few TV spots as beer experts on shows like Hell’s Kitchen and did a special on The Cooking Channel called Eat This, Drink That. We continue to do beer projects to-gether and helm an annual beer festival in downtown L.A. called the Los Angeles Craft Beer Crawl, which sells out to thousands of craft beer lovers every year and features over 100 different craft beers from 50 breweries. Additionally, I work for Allagash Brewing Company as one of their Southern California Territory Managers. They make award-winning Belgian-style craft beers like Allagash White witbier, Curieux bourbon barrel aged tripel, and Farm to Face peach sour out of Portland, Maine.”

On her experience at PCDS, Hallie adds, “ I appreciate my thorough education from PCDS. No mat-ter what we pursue in life, it’s important to be able to speak

intelligently on a number of topics, to be able to craft a piece of writing, and to have varied interests. I’m grateful for the reading I did in my years there. I remember classics like Lord of the Flies and Fahrenheit 451 in the early years, and vast amounts of great poetry and Shakespeare in the later years in Mr. Coon’s AP English class—I’m sure this lead to my interest in theatre in college. I loved the creativity that was present in my art classes with Mr. Cook (I took as many art classes as I could) and the attention to detail in Mr. Martin’s Civilization I.”

Aside, she says, “ I did a play set during the Plague when I was in college, and I remember feeling like I knew quite a bit about that time from his class!”

Returning to her PCDS experience, Hallie adds, “ I am also thrilled that I got to play sports with Ms. B. and was forced to learn to play clarinet in the band. In my current role with Allagash, I meet many different people across the city, and I feel like I can connect with them on a number of topics thanks to the depth and breath of my PCDS education.”

To learn more about Hallie, please visit: www.thenakedpint.com.

Jacobson

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Elizabeth Dias ’04After graduating from PCDS, Elizabeth Dias ‘04 received her bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College and later pursued her Masters in Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary. She first joined Time Magazine in 2009 as an intern at the magazine’s Washington bureau. She reported from the New York City office while completing graduate studies in religion, and then returned to Washington as a reporter in 2011 to cov-er national news, immigration, and the 2012 presidential race. She was named a correspondent in April 2014, and won the 2014 Supple Religion Feature Writer of the Year Award.

She regularly writes political and cultural features on American spirituality, and has written Time cover stories on topics rang-ing from Pope Francis to Trayvon Martin and the transfor-mation of religion in America. She has also interviewed the Dalai Lama and recently traveled with Pope Francis during his September 2015 visits to the United States and Cuba. She has been featured on the PBS Newshour, C-SPAN and NPR. Her book What Did Jesus Ask: Christian Leaders Reflect on His Questions of Faith debuted in October.

In her conversation with D.C.-area alumni, Dias credited Upper School English teacher Becky Allison for inspiring her appreciation of writing:

“ The foundation I learned about writing at PCDS carried me through college, graduate school, and to my profes-sional life. I am grateful daily! Where would I be without Dr. Allison? The investment PCDS educators made in my life has been invaluable.”

Elizabeth plans to come back to the PCDS campus this spring to share more about her professional experiences with parents and students. Stay tuned for more details! In the meantime, make sure to follow Elizabeth on Twitter @elizabethjdias and check out Time Magazine for her latest reporting.

Natalie Dulaney ’00After joining PCDS in the fourth grade, Natalie Dulaney ’00 later graduated to pursue a fine arts degree in theatre at New York University. After graduating, she ultimately relocated to Colorado, where her family had moved shortly after she had graduated from PCDS. There, she found her way to the food and wine industry by accident. She worked in a restaurant in Aspen where, according to Natalie,

“ I was lucky enough to befriend the sommelier of the restaurant. He was the first to really introduce me to the world of wine. From there I was hooked. I looked for jobs where I could begin working with wine. I registered for the first of many courses and examinations with the Court of Master Sommeliers. That was approximately eight years ago. Since then I have worked as a sommelier and wine director in a number of restaurants in Aspen. In June of 2014, I was offered the opportunity to move back to New York to oversee the wine programs for the David Burke Group. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to grow and learn and I am very glad to have made the move. I am continuing to pursue my education and advancement with the Court of Master Sommeliers and have applied to sit again for the Advanced Level examination in 2016.”

Natalie reflects on her PCDS experience, saying,

“ I attribute much, if not most, of my success to my PCDS education. It was far and away the most thorough and comprehensive academic education in my life. I would not be where I am today without the academic foundation I received at PCDS. From 4th to 12th grade there are many educators who made a mark on my life, large and small.”

The next time you find yourself in New York City, make sure to visit Natalie at one of the David Burke Group’s fine restau-rants. She’ll be sure to help you select a wonderful wine to pair with your meal! n

Dias Dulaney

PRESENTS

PCDS MASTERS’ LECTURE SERIES

SAVE THE DATE FOR THIS FIRST-EVER ALUMNI-ONLY OPPORTUNITY!

March 3, April 7, and May 5, 20165:30 – 7:00 p.m. Arizona time

Available on campus and online!

Learn (Again) from the Master Featuring Upper School History Teacher

Dave Martin

This three-part series will draw from Mr. Martin’s new course, Global Terrorism.

More information will be sent to alumni in the coming months.

Stay Connected to PCDS!

Alumni: “Friend” PCDS Alum on Facebook, and let us know where you are and what you’re doing!

www.facebook.com/

phoenixcountryday

www.instagram.com/

phoenix_country_day_school

www.twitter.com/

PCDS_Eagles

www.pcds.org

To learn more about Phoenix Country Day School or participate and support any of the issues highlighted in this issue of The Bridge,

please contact Roz Bolger Abero ’89, Assistant Head of School, or Ryan Joyce, Director of Advancement, at 602.955.8200.

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPhoenix, AZ

Permit No. 1213

PARENTS OF ALUMNI:

If this magazine is addressed to your son or daughter who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the Alumni Office of his or her new mailing address at alumni@pcds.org. Thank you!

Phoenix Country Day School3901 E. Stanford Dr. • Paradise Valley • 85253 • www.pcds.org